Formula One blasts back into life at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend and Britain’s Lewis Hamilton thinks he can emerge from the race in the lead of the world championship.
“It’s going to be a very exciting grand prix,” says Lewis. “Our car should be competitive because it’s quick in a straight line and it has good stability through high-speed corners, both of which are important at Spa. We want to take the fight to Red Bull and come away back in the lead of the world championship.”
Lewis’s retirement from the Hungarian Grand Prix last time out allowed Mark Webber to steal a four-point lead in the championship table. But Lewis isn’t worried; he thinks the remaining seven races of the year will be closely fought between the top three teams.
“There isn’t much between McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull,” says Lewis. “Red Bull were very quick at the last race, but I don’t see them holding that advantage at every circuit. The competitiveness of the teams will vary from track-to-track, so consistency will be important. It’s going to be an exciting fight and I’m up for it.
“The key to this weekend’s race at Spa is to arrive prepared. The four-week break was a great opportunity for everyone in the team to spend time with their families and get refreshed, but we don’t want to arrive at Spa feeling too relaxed because that’s when you make mistakes. We must feel ready and hungry for success.”
The summer break included an enforced two-week factory shutdown, when none of the 12 teams on the grid were allowed to work on their cars. But that doesn’t mean we should expect the same pecking order in Belgium as we saw in Hungary. Spa’s layout is much faster than the Hungaroring’s, and it has some high-speed corners through which the bravery of the drivers counts for a lot.
“The whole lap at Spa is great to drive,” says Lewis, “but there are two corners in particular that everyone talks about: Eau Rouge and Pouhon. Eau Rouge has been eased since the likes of Ayrton Senna raced at Spa, so it’s easy-flat and nothing like as challenging as it was back in the day – unless it’s raining. If it’s wet, you have to take a deep breath on the approach to the corner!
“In terms of challenge, Pouhon is the new Eau Rouge. The approach is downhill in seventh gear, at about 180mph, and you grab sixth without braking just before you turn in. You’re then trying to get back on the power as early as possible and keep your foot nailed through to the exit. It’s a great challenge.
Lewis claims that this year’s McLaren is the most stable car he’s ever driven through fast corners. That gives him every reason to be confident about his prospects for this weekend’s race, but he can’t help wondering what it would have been like to race at Spa in the 1988 McLaren MP4-4 that he drove recently at Silverstone.
“To begin with I drove the car slowly,” he says. “But I’m a racing driver and after a few laps I couldn’t help increasing the pace to see what it felt like at speed. I was very impressed: through Copse it felt very stable and had a lot of downforce. It was pretty amazing.
“Spa would be unreal in that car – and dangerous! Ayrton and his team-mate Alain Prost were much more exposed in the cockpit of that car than we are today. You can see how thin the chassis is and it’s easy to imagine a wishbone puncturing the cockpit and breaking your leg. Those guys were heroes.”
For the record, Senna won the Belgian Grand Prix in ’88; it would be thrilling for Lewis to do the same on Sunday.