The FIA shares track limits details along with changes to circuit, the DRS zones and the names of stewards for F1 Belgian GP.
The track limits for F1 Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps remains the white lines as noted by the FIA Race Director, with no additional information about any corner or escape road. But there is a huge list of changes to the circuit from the 2023 event.
There has been resurfacing done at large portion of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and safety items added as well, in terms of guardrail and kerb changes. They are:
- New asphalt from exit Turn 17 until entry Turn 2 including the fast lane in the Formula 1 pit lane.
- New asphalt from exit Turn 4 until entry Turn 8.
- New asphalt from entry Turn 14 until exit Turn 15.
- New gate installed between Turn 1 and Turn 2 on LHS.
- Drainage improved between Turn 2 and Turn 3 on LHS in the run-off.
- Drainage improved in Turn 9.
- New combination kerb installed in Turn 9 on LHS.
- New opening installed in Turn 16 on RHS.
- Guardrail replaced with concrete walls and FIA fence in front of MP4C for 100m.
- Guardrail replaced with concrete walls and FIA fence in front of MP5 for 120m.
- Guardrail replaced with concrete walls and FIA fence in front of MP7B for 100m.
- Guardrail replaced with concrete walls and FIA fence in front of MP13 for 100m.
- Guardrail replaced with concrete walls and FIA fence in front of MP14 for 210m.
- Guardrail replaced with concrete walls and FIA fence in front of MP15 for 450m.
- New concrete wall at entry Turn 12 on LHS.
- The white line in Turn 1 on LHS has been moved further to the left to reduce the distance between the white line and the end of the kerb.
- The white line in Turn 7 on LHS has been moved further to the left to reduce the distance between the white line and the end of the kerb.
- The white line in Turn 9 on RHS has been moved further to the right to reduce the distance between the white line and the end of the kerb.
- The white line in Turn 13 on RHS has been moved further to the right to reduce the distance between the white line and the end of the kerb.
- The white line in Turn 14 on LHS has been moved further to the left to reduce the distance between the white line and the end of the kerb.
- The white line in Turn 15 on LHS has been moved further to the left to reduce the distance between the white line and the end of the kerb.
As for the DRS zones, the first one’s detection zone is 240m before Turn 2 while activation is 305m after Turn 4 which is a change from last year’s 230m after Turn 4. The second zone’s activation is 160m before Turn 18 while activation is 30m after Turn 19.
Looking at the FIA stewards, Felix Holter will lead the team of Mathieu Remmerie, Enrique Bernoldi and Loic Bacquelaine, as the governing body noted about the continuation of the filming of the F1 movie for this weekend too.
In addition to the above, Max Verstappen us bracing for an engine change by Red Bull for this weekend’s Belgian GP after one of his power units was destroyed in Canada. Since then, he was destined to have an additional one with a penalty.
And Red Bull has chosen this weekend where there is a chance to overtake, even though Verstappen is unsure if he can fight back like in previous years, as damage limitation will be the key goal for the Dutchman and also Red Bull.
“Likely, yeah, I knew of course that it is coming,” said Verstappen about potential engine change. “So that’s not a surprise to me. We will find out on Sunday how good that is going to be. Some tracks naturally are a bit better than others. Of course on a street circuit, you wouldn’t want to have an engine penalty. So yeah, most likely it will be here.
“Probably yes [damage limitation will be the goal]. If you look at our last few races where we haven’t particularly been the fastest, I wouldn’t say that with 10 places extra we have a chance of winning. But again, a race can always be turned upside down with moments. We have to be open minded and try to make the best of it. That’s what we’ll try to do.
“At the moment, I also don’t know how competitive we’re going to be here. In a few places there’s new tarmac, so we need to see how the tyres respond to that as well. So, still a lot of unknowns. Obviously with the weather, quite a bit of rain expected on Friday and Saturday. So we just need to follow the weather and just progress through the weekend, and see how competitive we are.”
Here’s FIA Race Directors’ note: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2024%20Belgian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Race%20Director’s%20Event%20Notes.pdf
Here’s latest from FIA on F1 Commission meet
Here’s FIA undertaking tests in Belgium, Netherlands
Here’s Netflix sharing Senna release date
Here’s link to a F1 Discord channel, join in to interact