After the long summer break, F1 is finally back. The racing resumes this weekend, at the historic Spa circuit. With just 14 points separating the top two in the championship, the fight this year has been incredibly close and the race is set up to be a good one.
So far this year, the track record has been broken at every circuit visited by F1 and Spa is unlikely to be an exception. With the higher downforce cars, we could see spectacular times in qualifying on Saturday. With Ultrasoft tyres also introduced to this circuit for the first time, this is likely to offer an additional performance boost for the drivers.
Offering ultrasofts here was a surprising move for Pirelli after the high speed failures a couple of years ago at this circuit involving Vettel and Rosberg. Tyres have again been a problem a few times, most notably at Silverstone where Ferrari suffered 2 punctures. It will certainly be unlikely that we see any one-stop strategies on Sunday!
Weather may also be a factor, with some rain forecast across the weekend. It is unlikely to impact qualifying or the race but may influence practice 3, which is the sesssion where the teams prepare the cars for qualifying.
Vandoorne unfortunately will have to serve a 35-place grid penalty on Sunday due to power unit changes, so he will be starting at the back for his first home race. Huge support will also be given to Max Verstappen in what is the closest circuit to being his home race. He has been impressive here in the past, especially in the 2015 season with some impressive overtakes. With the Red Bull team hoping to have made some performance gains, he may be in contention for a podium finish.
Overall, however, Mercedes are expected to dominate with championship leader, Vettel, admitting Mercedes were the favourites for the win. But motorsport is unpredictable and, if weather does play a part, we could be in for an exciting battle come Sunday.