After an 80 million euro renovation of the circuit, aimed at improving car safety and preparing for the return of motorcycle racing, Spa is expected to offer a different feeling for riders and teams. While some changes, such as the reshaping of the crash barriers at Raidillon, will have little impact on performance, some readjustments will need to be made for areas that have been resurfaced and changes to gravel traps.
As Mario Isola, head of competition at Pirelli, said: “This year Spa has undergone some of the biggest changes we have seen since we started going there in the modern era of Formula 1. As well as new asphalt on five corners, there are new gravel traps in four corners, which are much closer to the edge of the track.”
“Drivers will have to be more careful with the limits of the track, and there is also more risk of sharp gravel being brought back onto the circuit. The epic nature of Spa remains unchanged, however, all the traditional challenges that make the circuit so exciting always being there.”
While most teams won’t find out the impact of the surfacing and track changes until this weekend, it has emerged that Red Bull have already been given a taste of the changes as part of an operation promotional. In it, posted on its social networks and entitled “From simulation to reality”, the Austrian team presented the preparation of Max Verstappen before the Belgian Grand Prix.
It begins with a few sequences around the simulator, before the team completes several laps of the new Spa circuit at the wheel of a demonstration RB7. Filming seems to have taken place at the beginning of the year, as construction work still appears to be going on in the background, even though the main elements of the circuit have been completed.
It is quite rare for teams to run single-seaters, even historic ones, on circuits present on the calendar, but this is authorized by the regulations. The F1 Sporting Regulations provide for historic cars, such as the 2011 RB7, that teams are free to test them whenever they wish, but they must run on demonstration tires prepared by Pirelli and the FIA must be informed of the project.
While running such an old car on demo tires doesn’t offer Red Bull much of an advantage over this weekend’s Belgian GP, getting a preview of the impact of resurfacing and works on the track will not have done any harm.
