The action speeds towards Belgium after a McLaren one-two finish in Hungary with Max Verstappen keen to win his home race and extend his lead in the Drivers' Championship.
2024 Belgium Grand Prix
Sunday 28 July 2024 – 15:00
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
We may just have a race for the Constructors’ Championships on our hands with McLaren cutting Red Bull’s lead at the top of the standings to just 51 points with their one-two finish in Hungary.
There’s a good chance Red Bull’s lead will be cut further as Max Verstappen faces a 10-place grid penalty after exceeding engine allowance limits.
To Win Race Outright
Lando Norris 5/4 | Max Verstappen 22/10 | Oscar Piastri 9/2 | Lewis Hamilton 14/1| George Russel 14/1 | Charles LeClerc 25/1
Previous Race – Hungary
Hungary produced yet another cracking race with the twin McLarens of Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris claiming a one-two finish. The latter was unselfish, although he did protest somewhat, as he handed his teammate the victory allowing Piastri to overtake him with just a few laps remaining.
The twin McLarens were joined on the podium by Lewis Hamilton who backed up his win at Silverstone with a solid third-place finish.
Like Hamilton, Charles LeClerc took full advantage of the reigning World Champion’s meltdown, with Mad Max Verstappen almost causing two crashes that allowed the Ferrari man to claim fourth, while Verstappen settled for fifth.
There was another Ferrari man in the Top 6 as Carlos Sainz rounded out the major points-scoring positions.
Red Bull’s day was made worse with Sergio Perez only able to muster up a seventh-place finish. He was followed across the line by the luckless George Russell. The final two positions in the Top 10 went to Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll.
A three way jostle for position between Russell, Ocon and Perez off the line ⚔️ #F1 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/ioeHdEMmSI
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 23, 2024
Track – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
While most tracks that have endured safety changes have become tame lapdogs, Spa is still a snarling beast that’s capable of taking even the most experienced driver’s head off. The sweeping high-speed corners are the chief danger here.
One can’t speak of the 19 hair-raising corners without mentioning Blanchimont. This challenging and extremely dangerous turn leads to the start/finish straight, and while it is a great zone to have a dive at an overtake, it has caught many a driver out in the past.
Another area of the circuit that will really test drivers’ ability is the left-right-left sequence of turns which starts at the bottom of the Eau Rouge corner and runs through Radillon. This segment contains a steep climb that leads into a marvellous uphill right-hander.
As seems to be the case every year at Spa, there’s a bit of rain floating around but the forecast is predicting a bit of a dry afternoon for the main race with the most rainfall set to fall during Saturday’s qualifying sessions.
Value Bet
Lewis Hamilton – Podium Finish – Yes 7/4
He’s bagged three podiums – including a win at Silverstone – in three of the last four races and he’s also got a tidy record at Spa winning the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2020 races while finishing on the podium in 2021.
There’s enough value on having another crack on the ‘Brit for a podium finish.
To Win Race Outright
Lando Norris 5/4
Max Verstappen faces a massive penalty here which means the two McLaren’s are best placed to take the win this weekend. I reckon McLaren will look to advance Lando Norris’ tilt at the Drivers’ Championship here, so my money is on the Brit taking the win.
