Belgium GP Betting Tips

Move To The Front Of The Grid With Top Tips And Odds With Betsafe And PLANETF1

After the summer break, we now head into the real nitty-gritty part of the 2016 season with just nine races left on the calendar. However, with world championship leader Lewis Hamilton in such great form, is it now a case of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’ the brilliant Brit retains his title?

The Belgian Grand Prix is next up on the agenda, and Betsafe, in association with Planet F1, are in pole position to give you a quick refresher of events in Germany as well as a potted history of all things Spa.

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Happy Holidays For Hamilton

The German Grand Prix was essentially a mirror image of the previous race in Hungary. Nico Rosberg put down an early marker in qualifying by claiming pole position, before undoing all his hard work with a poor start off the grid.

This time it was wheel-spin that proved to be Rosberg’s downfall, turning his home Grand Prix weekend from initial delight to ultimate despair. It is a only a short run down to Turn One at the Hockenheimring and Rosberg not only saw his team-mate and title rival zoom past, but two raging Red Bulls in the form of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen as well.

From then on, those watching the race unfold on TV barely saw Hamilton again until he was weaving his way past the chequered flag for a sixth time in seven races – testament to just how in control the three-time world champion was the entire afternoon. It was his first lights-to-flag victory since Japan in 2015 and he became the first F1 driver to win four races in a calendar month.

However, the same cannot be said of Rosberg. During Lap 29, as he was trying to salvage some glimmer of joy to hold on to before the summer break, the German’s overtake on Verstappen was deemed to be too aggressive by the race stewards, who handed him a five-second timed penalty just to add to his troubles.

The woe did not end there, either, with a faulty Mercedes stopwatch costing him an extra three seconds in the pits before he eventually limped home in fourth place and 19 points behind in the title race. In stark contrast to Hamilton, Rosberg was off the podium for a fifth time in the last eight races.

Second-placed Ricciardo and third-placed Verstappen had their feet firmly on the podium, though, and those impressive finishes saw Red Bull charge past the Prancing Horse of Ferrari in the constructors’ standings for the first time since Abu Dhabi in 2014.

Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen finished fifth and sixth respectively in what was another flat performance by Ferrari, tipped by many to push Mercedes – 173 points ahead – all the way this season. Standards have certainly dropped, with the former once again openly questioning in-race strategy decisions for everyone to hear over the team radio. How the mighty have fallen.

Speaking of which, McLaren – 182 Grand Prix victories to their name – are continuing to show some signs of progression in their Honda relationship, with Jenson Button’s respectable eighth-placed finish becoming the team’s seventh points-scoring finish of the season.

His fellow Brit Hamilton may seemingly be untouchable now at the head of the pack, but the reliability issues he had to endure at the start of the season are about to catch-up with him…for one race at least.

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What To Expect At Spa

Hamilton was struck with one blow after another in the early rounds of the season. Seeing Rosberg win the first four races of the season would have stung, but what would have hurt more was the fact that there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening due a plethora of problems with his car.

He is not completely over them, either, as the Brit reached the maximum penalty-free limit of five turbochargers and MGU-Hs in Austria. He has been nursing his current engine ever since, trying to preserve its performance for as long as possible before the inevitable arrives in the form of a 10-place grid penalty for taking another new engine

He is not completely over them, either, as the Brit reached the maximum penalty-free limit of five turbochargers and MGU-Hs in Austria.

He has been nursing his current engine ever since, trying to preserve its performance for as long as possible before the inevitable arrives in the form of a 10-place grid penalty for taking another new engine.

Mercedes are even toying with the idea of giving Hamilton two new engines to last him until the end of the season and taking all the punishment in one race – which many experts are predicting will come at either Spa, or the following race at Monza.

Hamilton has admitted himself that it gives Rosberg a “free race” to get back on the winning trail and, more importantly, back in the world championship hunt.

As for the competitors behind Mercedes, Ferrari will be desperately trying to end all ‘crisis’ talk with strong performances between now and the end of the season. Their first task now is to show everyone that they are still competitive and that means putting Red Bull back in their place again after their recent revival.

Under-pressure Maurizio Arrivabene has said Ferrari will only be “looking ahead” and not back on what has been a pretty miserable season so far. Showing some signs of life at Spa would certainly lift some of the doom and gloom that seems to be suffocating them.

About Spa The Circuit

Spa-Francorchamps is a place that many F1 fans hold very dear to their hearts. Its stunning location, the challenging nature of the track and its rich racing history all combine to make this one of the stand-out races on the calendar.

The original circuit used to be a whopping 15 kilometres back when it hosted its first race in 1922, but even though it is just less than half of that now in its current guise, Spa is still the longest track that the drivers will tackle this season at just over seven kilometres.

The circuit comprises of 19 corners with the Eau Rouge sequence (Turns Two, Three and Four) widely regarded as one of the best racing sections of all-time. Those quick corner combinations and high-speed straights takes the average speed up to 227 km/h, while the huge amount of elevation change ensures that only the very best can truly master this iconic track.

There will be 44 laps in total, with Sebastian Vettel currently the proud owner of the fastest lap around Spa after a stunning time of 1:47.263 here in 2009.

Past Winners And Track Suitability

Vettel (2011 and 2013) is one of only three current drivers who are multiple winners in Belgium, with Lewis Hamilton (2010 and 2015) and Kimi Raikkonen (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009) part of a very exclusive club. The latter certainly has VIP status as he is just one of a list of six who have emerged victorious three or more times at Spa.

The others? Juan Manuel Fangio (three times), Damon Hill (three times), Jim Clark (four times), Ayrton Senna (five times) and, at the top of this mighty mountain, Michael Schumacher with six victories, three of which came in a marvellous mid-90s hat-trick.

The iconic German gave Ferrari four of their 16 total victories at Spa which puts them top of the all-time just ahead of McLaren, who have 14. Hamilton ended a 60-year wait for four-time winners Mercedes last year, while Red Bull and Williams have been the winning constructor on three occasions respectively.

Those with really strong aerodynamic packages will have the most joy on race weekend, as a lot of corners fall away from under the drivers and that will really test their downforce and grip.

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