Belgian Grand Prix preview: 'I love Spa-Francorchamps'

Published on 26 August 2020 by Johan Peeters

We’re headed to Spa! Is this your favourite track on the calendar?
"I love Spa-Fracorchamps, it’s my favourite circuit on the calendar so I’m always looking forward to driving there. It’s a bit more old school as well so there’s not too much run off in some places. The elevation changes throughout the whole track, you go up and down and there are not too many slow corners, which is always very nice in an F1 car because you really get to experience the full speed and the middle sector at Spa gives you that."

What is your favourite part of the track?
"My favourite part of the track is Pouhon especially, the fast left hander, it’s really fast. Getting the balance right in sectors one, two and three with the long straight and infield is crucial and so there are always compromises here and there. You’re also running quite low downforce, so low wing, which means the car is really alive and moving around which makes it more exciting."

Spa marks the start of the next triple header. What are your thoughts heading into the Belgian Grand Prix?
"We’re second in the Teams’ and Drivers’ Championship so now we just need to try and keep the momentum going. There are lots of long straights which of course means you can overtake here, but also I expect the guys behind us in qualifying will be very close and knowing Mercedes have a lot of power they will obviously be very quick too."

Do you think this track will pose one of the toughest challenges yet?
"Over the last few years it has been a bit up and down in terms of results for us but you never know. We don’t expect this race will be our favourite this year in terms of the layout suiting our package but we will be pushing hard as we have done at every race and maximising the result as a team."

How much are you going to miss the ‘Orange Army’ this weekend?
"The Orange Army are normally out in full force at Spa so it's a shame we won't have any fans this year but hopefully they will enjoy the race at home on TV and I hope everyone will like my new special edition Spa cap for this weekend."

Has it been good to have a weekend off?
"It’s been nice to have a weekend off, especially after the triple header which you can’t just keep on doing all the time, so hopefully everybody in the team has enjoyed a rest and is recharged, ready to go again!"