A two-weekend break for Formula 1 is ended with a pre-summer shutdown double-header, starting at the 2025 Belgian Grand Prix with plenty of headlines entering the event.
Spa-Francorchamps welcomes the third sprint weekend of the season with Red Bull the focal point following the axing of Christian Horner after the British Grand Prix.
With that storyline set to dominate proceedings before the track action begins, eyes will then turn to how the battle for the title – in particular how Oscar Piastri bounces back from his Silverstone disappointment – will pan out.
A fresh start for Red Bull
Red Bull took over the old Jaguar operation ahead of the 2005 F1 season but for the first time this weekend, the team will race without Horner at the helm.
Perhaps the end of his tenure was not so surprising given the turmoil of the past 18 months both on and off track, yet the timing did take everybody by surprise.
Now, Laurent Mekies is tasked with rebuilding the Milton Keynes-based squad for the rest of the season and into 2026, whether that is with or without Max Verstappen.
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For this weekend, the sprint will afford Verstappen a chance of returning to the podium after a difficult British GP where the car simply didn’t work with its set-up in the wet, having taken a stunning pole position. He will be buoyed by what will be feverish support in the country of his birth, with plenty of Dutch fans crossing the border to line the Ardennes hills around the circuit.
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How will Piastri respond?
Piastri’s lead in the drivers’ title race was cut at Silverstone as McLaren team-mate Lando Norris won out in front of his home fans.
But that was down to a penalty for the Australian that forced him to surrender a lead he had controlled having moved past Verstappen in the early stages. It was a silly penalty under no pressure that drew ire from Piastri, though given the time to digest the situation it is likely he now accepts the punishment.
Piastri has been singled out as the calm head out of the two intra-team title rivals, with Norris perhaps the most likely to falter under pressure. Now we have the first opportunity to see how the championship leader will rebound after a setback. Will it be a statement weekend for Piastri? Or will we see a blip continue?
Sprint back into action
Just the one practice session to enjoy on Friday before sprint qualifying sets the grid for Saturday’s shortened race. That means that, result-dependent, the two McLaren drivers could be level on points going into Sunday’s grand prix.
But the changed format and lack of fine-tuning time does often present an opportunity for a pecking order change and perhaps the most excited will be Lewis Hamilton, who has finished in the top three in both Saturday sprints so far including victory in China.
McLaren secured a one-two in Miami’s shortened event, but in both China and Miami the Sunday top 10 was largely shuffled compared to the Saturday classifications.
Spa has held a sprint before, back in 2023, so teams will at least have some understanding of how the weekend could pan out. That doesn’t make the challenge that much easier, though, especially if weather cells pop up in the forest – as they often do.
Sauber putting Williams on alert
Nico Hulkenberg’s fairytale podium at Silverstone finally put an end to his unwanted record of most races without a top-three finish in F1, but it also springboarded Sauber up the constructors’ table.
The 15 points it earned has taken the Hinwil-based outfit from ninth in the standings to sixth, ahead of Racing Bulls, Aston Martin and Haas – a huge financial boost at the end of the season if the table remains the same.
But looking at recent form, only three teams have scored more in the last four races with Sauber tallying 35 points – that’s 30 more than Williams, which has struggled after a strong start to the season. That will be of concern to the Grove squad as it looks over its shoulder before the summer break.
Crucially for Sauber, Gabriel Bortoleto is starting to show the pace that earned him junior championship titles and, if some luck falls his way, he will emulate the result he picked up in Austria and give the team a two-pronged attack on fifth in the constructors’ standings. That would be some turnaround for the team given it finished woefully last in 2024.
Another chance offers itself with the sprint this weekend, with the 18-point gap Williams currently has likely at risk, unless it can turn its own fortunes around.
