Belgian GP - Preview

Has it really only been four weeks? For F1 fans the enforced summer drought has felt like an eternity but fear ye not petrol heads the Grand Prix boys are back for the second excitement packed half of the 2010 Formula One season.

Kicking off the countdown to the end of the season is the majestic Spa-Francorchamps circuit, located deep in the heart of Belgium.

It is one of the most iconic and celebrated tracks on the F1 calendar, mostly due to the fact that it's a 'proper' circuit. It has a super-long straight, tricky hairpins and the daunting sweep of Eau Rouge. It's flipping fast too. There's more - it also has three (yes 3!) decent overtaking opportunities. Combine all of that it's own micro climate that more often than not produces wet and exciting races and you have one of the very best venues for racing on the planet.

As ever we can expect some controversy with the flexi-wings that feature on the Red Bull and Ferrari cars. The FIA are toughening up their front wing deflection tests to try and catch out the teams from running their front wings close to the ground when at speed. However, the ruling body admits that it doesn't really understand how the system works so don't bet on the clever engineers at Red Bull or Ferrari being caught out just yet.

Some folk think that it's the front part of the floor that's being manipulated for the wing to bend - whatever is going on it's no surprise that the fastest teams have the felxi-wing solution. You can bet that McLaren are kicking themselves at not thinking of this innovation. Oddly they seem to have fallen quite far behind in the development race in 2010 which has been one of their strongest attributes as a team over the past few years.

Renault and Mercedes should be fighting for best of the rest as Michael Schumacher returns to one of his truly special circuits. He has six wins so far in his career at Spa. A seventh victory seems a long shot considering his frequent form though.

Celebrating his 300th race is the evergreen Rubens Barrichello. Since the Brazilian started in 1993 he has driven for Jordan, Stewart, Ferrari, Honda, Brawn GP and now Williams and seen many rule changes and competitors come and go. It's quite an astonishing feat and looks set to continue - Williams are very happy with their old charger too. As the current ban on in-season testing means an experienced head in the cockpit is extremely valuable. They don't come with any more experience then Rubens now do they?

author: Simon White     published: 26/08

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