As happened in 2022, the compounds selected by Pirelli for the Belgian Grand Prix are C2 as P Zero White hard, C3 as P Zero Yellow medium and C4 as P Zero Red soft. Together with Silverstone and Suzuka, Spa-Francorchamps is a circuit that subjects the tires to considerable forces. The most difficult point for the tires is the combination between the compression of the Eau Rouge and the Raidillon climb in which, at high speed, the driver must first turn to the left while the car is crushed on the asphalt by the downforce and then climb quickly with a bend to the right and then to the left to enter the Kemmel straight.
The characteristics of the track
Spa is the longest track in the Formula 1 championship. The circuit was built in 1921 and measured 14,9 kilometres. The current length is about half that. The 7.004 kilometers of the track are covered by Formula 1 cars only 44 times in a Grand Prix. In 2022 the strategies that the teams adopted in the race were almost all two-stop with the use of all the compounds available Max Verstappen, who started from fourteenth position on the grid due to a penalty, won the race after an extraordinary comeback, starting on Soft and completing the rest of the distance with two stints on Medium.
Ferrari, the most successful team at Spa
Spa-Francorchamps is one of the reigning world champion's favorite tracks but it also has a place in Charles' heart Leclerc who won his first Formula 1 race with Ferrari in Belgium in 2019. The Italian team is the one that has achieved the most victories (14) since 1950 while Michael Schumacher is the driver with the most first places (6). The Belgian Grand Prix circuit is the one with the greatest difference in altitude between different points on the track. The highest is the Malmedy curve (about 468m above sea level) and the lowest is the Paul Frere curve (about 366m) for a difference of 102,2m: a height higher than that of Big Ben.
Pirelli, Isola: “Belgium challenging for the riders and the tyres”
To present the last appointment before the summer break, Mario's words were not lacking Island, head of Pirelli's Motorsport area: “Only a few days of break and Formula 1 faces a new appointment, the last before the summer break. This weekend the Belgian Grand Prix will take place, one of the most prestigious in the history of this sport because it takes place on a particularly demanding track, for the drivers, for the cars and also for the tyres."
"For this race we chose the same trio of compounds used last year – C2, C3 and C4 – which offer a wide range of strategic options in the event of a dry race. Weather conditions are traditionally a very important factor during the race weekend and the move of the date of this edition - from the first event after the break to the last race before the break - should not have any effect: any prediction risks being proven wrong."
Pirelli warns: “Watch out for the weather”
“Furthermore, the length of the track – the longest on the calendar – and the ups and downs – Spa has the highest altimetric variation – mean that a driver may find himself facing wet asphalt in one point and completely dry in another. other".
“The novelty of the 2023 edition will be the weekend format, given that Spa will be staged for the third time in the season – the previous ones were in Baku and Spielberg – on Saturday Sprint, with the Shootout in the morning and a 100 km in the afternoon.
With only one hour of free practice available on the Friday before qualifying - the day which, at the moment, is most at risk of rain - there will be even less time to fine-tune the cars in view of the rest of the weekend on a track which usually sees the largest differences in terms of aerodynamic configuration between those who favor the aerodynamic load to go fast in the second sector and those who want a more "unloaded" car, able to make the most of the top speed on the straights and be thus able to attack and, if necessary, defend itself adequately. The double race will further increase the spectacle of a Grand Prix which remains one of the best of the entire season."
SOURCE: Pirelli F1 Medium
