From one historic site to another, the season has been gaining momentum and means we are approaching the last doubleheader before the August holidays. As the gaps at the top of the standings get closer, but questions remain over who will compete and where in 2027, there is a lot to talk about heading to Spa-Francorchamps.
A title fight that continues to close
luck has not been present Kimi Antonelliof the team in the final races, and the Italian saw opportunities to extend his lead in the championship slip away on several occasions.
Of an advantage over Lewis Hamilton of 66 points reaching Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix – three races ago – now he is barely 25 clear points of teammate George Russell after the last race at Silverstone, with Hamilton just 32 behind the leader.
It’s still a complete race victory, but it can also disappear in a weekend, as the British Grand Prix presented. On that occasion, Antonelli looked set for at least a second place finish, if not victory, before a problem with the wheel guard slowed him down and ultimately prevented him from scoring.
Pace is not a concern for the championship leader, but after a remarkable run of five consecutive wins (his first five wins in F1), he has now suffered reliability issues in two of the last three races.
With ferrari showing the level of performance needed to put pressure on Mercedes at both Barcelona and Silverstone, and red bull the same in AustriaToto Wolff’s team cannot afford to make too many concessions from a pace point of view to reduce the risk of retirements.
Verstappen after a restart
The positivity that surrounded Max Verstappen and Red Bull’s level of performance after the Austrian Grand Prix quickly disappeared in the following race in Britain, as the Dutchman slid at high speed when fighting for the podium.
That retirement was attributed to a lack of downforce after the rear wing’s straight-mode mechanism closed, and a similar issue was suggested when Verstappen crashed in Q3 at the Red Bull Ring.
After the race, Verstappen himself said he felt he needed a few days “to reset and try again” as he had been frustrated by the incident, but was also facing a number of questions about his future plans.
The four-time World Champion has been linked with a movement to McLarenbut it won’t address what your thought process will be next year. Speculation led Mark Webber to refute any notion that Oscar Piastri I was looking for a movement as a result, saying: “McLaren has repeatedly said that they want it long term and Oscar is focused on that.”
However, until Verstappen confirms his 2027 plans, he is likely to remain at the center of the rumours.
Drivers’ decisions closest to 2027
Verstappen is not the only driver who could in theory to be on the move next yearHowever, with several teams currently having vacancies or options that have not yet been activated.
The uncertainty surrounding Verstappen plays a big role in the fact that there is no confirmed move yet, because teams and drivers are waiting to see where there might be vacancies. Front seats tend to be the most coveted, so any chance of one becoming available often has a knock-on impact on drivers who are currently less competitive.
But if they already have them identified, then teams won’t want to miss out on their preferred lineups either and will do everything they can to secure them as soon as possible.
With the summer holidays being a time when drivers often prefer to find out their plans for next season, the final pair of races in Belgium and Hungary could well see an acceleration in negotiations within the paddock.
An iconic place
Several tracks tend to get regular mentions when drivers rank their favorite circuits to race and, like Silverstone, Spa-Francorchamps is certainly one of them.
Unlike Silverstone, there are significant elevation changes around the lap, with the steep drop from La Source followed by a noticeable compression as the cars begin to climb even more sharply through Eau Rouge and Raidillon.
There is also Pouhon, where the cars are at the limit of grip when sliding downhill in the middle sector, and the high-speed run towards the final chicane which can also allow drivers to establish an overtaking move in the hard braking zone.
As with all circuits this season, it remains to be seen if there are any areas where the challenge may have changed as a result of the latest regulations, but Silverstone certainly proved to be an exciting test during both qualifying and race sessions last time out, and Spa-Francorchamps has often had the potential for exciting on-track battles.
A wet first session of 2026?
Another thing that Spa-Francorchamps has potential for that can also have a significant impact on racing is wet weather.
The track is located in the Ardennes, deep in the Belgian forest, and it has rained at some point during the race weekend on multiple occasions. Since the length of the track is over seven kilometers (or 4.3 miles), there may also be specific parts of the circuit that become wet while other sectors remain dry.
The theme of running in the wet has been a recurring one this season so far, mainly because we haven’t seen a collective session in the rain with these cars. Some teams completed the race in the wet during the pre-season shakedown in Barcelona, while others carried out Pirelli tire testing in the wet, but most are yet to experience a 2026 chassis and tires when it rains.
That means it will be a steep learning curve for the grid if it rains during the race weekend. Given previous examples of racing at Spa, you can never rule this out, even if the forecast is for bright sunshine, but at the time of writing there certainly appears to be a risk on all three days.