Track name: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Times the race has been held here: 49
First GP: 1950, won by Juan Manuel Fangio
Total number of race laps: 44
Complete race distance: 052 kilometers (191.415 miles)
Pit lane speed limit: 80 kph (50 mph)
Pitlane length: 390m/0.242 miles, estimated time loss 22s
2016 winner: Nico Rosberg, 1:44:51.058
2016 pole position: Nico Rosberg, 1:46.744
2016 fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, 1:51.583
Most wins (Driver) Michael Schumacher (6)
Most wins(Team): Ferrari(16)
Lap record: Sebastien Vettel – Red Bull– 2009 - 1:47.263
Smallest winning margin: 0.288s, in 1990.
Circuit Length: 7.004km/4.352 miles (longest of the season)
Direction: Clockwise
Turns: 19
Distance to Turn 1: 265m 0.165 miles
Longest straight: 2.015km/1.252 miles, from Turn One, La Source, to Turn Five, Les Combes
Fastest corner: 301km/h (187mph), Turn 18
Slowest corner: 64km/h (40mph), Turn Two
Top Speed: 345km/h/214mph, on the approach to Turn Five
Full throttle: 66%
DRS Zones: Two, on the approaches to Turns One and Five
Key Corner: Turn 10, a double apex left-hander called Pouhon. The approach is downhill and fast, 300km/h (186mph), and the entry is blind; the drivers need to demonstrate total commitment to be quick
Fuel consumption: 2.3kg per lap, which is high
ERS Demands: High. There are several long straights, along which energy deployment is vital.
Brake wear: Low. There are only nine braking events around the lap
Gear changes: 48 per lap /2,112 per race
Safety car likelihood: High. Accidents at Spa-Francorchamps are usually high-speed and, as a result, there’s an 80 per cent chance of the Safety Car.
Tyre choices:
Weather: Hot (27). It rains here often, and can be wet at the back of the track, yet dry at the front.
Chance of rain: 47%
Grip levels: Medium.
Run off: Average.
A lap around Spa.
You start off with the hairpin at La Source. It’s a very low-speed corner. You need a good exit to go flat out up to Eau Rogue and then you’re on to turn five, the first right-left corner. That’s normally in fourth gear. Turn seven is quite good fun. It’s a high-speed corner going down. Then you’ve got turn eight with tricky braking. You need to be well positioned on the right hand side of the exit for turn nine.
Then you’re downhill again massively to the double-left turns 10 and 11 – the fastest corner of the circuit. Then it’s on to the second right-to-left corner, carrying a bit more speed than you did into (turns) five and six.
The next double right hander is very important to go to the backstraight, which is very long. You then go through the Bus Stop chicane – you need big braking. Then you have a very tricky low-speed corner, where the exit and the traction are tricky. It’s very difficult. If you get it right, you get a good lap time.
