It seems there's no stopping the reigning world champion as the teams head to Belgium for what should be a cracking race at Spa-Francorchamps.
Belgian Grand Prix
Sunday 30 July
Spa-Francorchamps
To Win Race Outright
Max Verstappen 27/100
Lando Norris 10/1
Sergio Perez 10/1
Lewis Hamilton 12/1
George Russell 25/1
Oscar Piastri 33/1
Charles LeClerc 25/1
Previous Race
Max Verstappen extended his lead atop the Drivers’ Championship with his seven win of the season as he was first across the line at the Hungarian Grand Prix. This was the Dutch ace’s seventh win of the campaign and it seems there’s not stopping him on his way to completing his Drivers’ Championship hattrick.
It was a rather profitable Grand Prix for Red Bull with Sergio Perez also scoring a podium finish as the Red Bull man brought his car across the line behind the McLaren of Lando Norris, who produced a brilliant drive to claim second spot.
Norris’ teammate, Oscar Piastri, ensured a very profitable points return for McLaren at the Hungaroring as he brought his car home in fifth, sandwiched between the Red Bulls of Lewis Hamilton (fourth) and George Russel (sixth).
It was then all Ferraris and Astone Martins with the Prancing sSag duo of Caharles LeClerc and Carlos Sainz taking seventh and eighth respectively, while former Ferrari man and current Aston Martin main man, Fernando Alonso, took ninth and his teammate, Lance Stroll, claimed tenth.
Track
While most tracks that have endured safety changes have become tame lapdogs, Spa is still a snarling beast that’s capable of taking even the most experienced driver’s head off. The sweeping high-speed corners are the chief danger here.
One can’t speak of the 19 hair-raising corners without mentioning Blanchimont. This challenging and extremely dangerous turn leads to the start/finish straight, and while it is a great zone to have a dive at an overtake, it has caught many a driver out in the past.
Another area of the circuit that will really test drivers’ ability is the left-right-left sequence of turns which starts at the bottom of the Eau Rouge corner and runs through Radillon. This segment contains a steep climb that leads into a marvellous uphill right-hander.
Belgium tends to get a bit of rain at this time and it looks like there will be more this weekend with steady showers forecast through Friday to Sunday.
Last year’s race was dominated by Red Bull with Max Verstappen claiming first and Sergio Perez crossing the line in second. They were joined on the podium by the Ferrar of Carlos Sanz.
Value Bet Podium Finish – Lando Norris – Yes
Lando is really coming to age this season and I was very impressed with his drive this past weekend. I can see him bagging another podium finish here.
To Win Race Outright
No other way to go here except a Verstappen win. He is an extremely short price to win it but he’s already won nine of this season’s races and he also has a handy record in Belgium winning the last two editions of the race.
