Belgian Grand Prix Preview

Formula One usually travels to Spa-Francorchamps for the Belgian Grand Prix after a period of rest and respite but in 2020 matters are of course a little different. There has been no summer recess this year and instead Haas F1 Team is gearing up for a fourth race in August, this time at the venerable Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Located in Belgium’s picturesque Ardennes Forest, the circuit was born 99 years ago in 1921 when the triangle formed by the roads linking the villages of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot were used for a motorcycle race. Four-wheeled machines soon joined the scene and the Belgian Grand Prix was created, with its original fearsome 14km road circuit part of the inaugural Formula One world championship season in 1950. 

The current track remains a favorite of Formula One drivers and stretches out over 7.004km across the undulating landscape, featuring fast and sweeping corners such as Pouhon, Blanchimont and of course the Eau Rouge/Raidillon complex, revered throughout the motorsport environment. It is the longest circuit on the calendar, 1.1km longer than Silverstone, and poses a set-up challenge for teams, with the throttle-heavy first and third sectors counterbalanced by a lengthy middle segment that incorporates medium- and high-speed turns. Teams also need to keep an eye on the sky: Spa-Francorchamps’ location within the Ardennes Forest means it is susceptible to changeable conditions, with showers known to strike some corners while others remain bone dry. 

Haas F1 Team drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen have both gone well at Spa-Francorchamps. Grosjean sealed the 2011 GP2 Series title at the track while a double victory in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2012/13 catapulted Magnussen towards Formula One. Haas F1 Team captured a double-point finish at the event in 2018, with Grosjean seventh and Magnussen eighth. Haas F1 Team is out in search of more points this weekend and beyond, after recently joining all existing outfits by pledging its commitment to Formula One’s new Concorde Agreement. 

Formula One’s Belgian Grand Prix, the seventh round of the 2020 championship, runs August 28 through 30, with practice Friday, qualifying Saturday and the 44-lap race scheduled to get underway at 15:10 local time (09:10 EST/14:10 BST) Sunday.

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

Haas F1 Team committed to the new Concorde Agreement last week along with the nine other Formula One teams. Can you share what the decision-making process was behind Gene Haas’s commitment to moving forward for another five years in the sport and what it means to both yourself and the team in general?

“I guess Gene (Haas) looked at it and Formula One’s still a very good tool for getting his brand name, Haas Automation, out in the world. It works – otherwise he wouldn’t be doing it. He loves the sport as well. Even if it is a big financial commitment, with the new regulations coming in, it should make the playing field more even and the commercial aspects better for the smaller teams – so as a result he has decided to continue. For me, it means – even at the moment when we’re not running competitively, we’ve got a Formula One team which works, and that’s more down to the team than to me. I’m part of the team though, we all work together, and in the end, Gene believes in the team. Everybody is, for sure, happy to be moving forward now with the agreement signed.” 

 

Does the signing of the Concorde Agreement and the new technical regulations coming in 2022 mark the boldest turning point in Formula One’s storied history? Do all these measures add up to give an outfit like Haas F1 Team a truly competitive shot, both on and off track, in the sport?

“The budget cap should level the playing field, it will level the playing field – just maybe not in the first year, but in the mid-term for sure. The payments, to make it more equal, will also mean the smaller teams get a little more revenue. It’s never enough for the small teams by the way, but it levels the field and that should be the aim of a sport – any day, anybody can win. It’ll take a while until that happens but for Formula One it’s a big step in the right direction. Times change and I think Liberty did a great job in adapting to those times and making changes when it was needed. It was needed a few years ago, but it’s better late than never.” 

 

With the Belgian Grand Prix usually marking the second half of a Formula One season – does it feel a little strange preparing to go there with only six races under the team’s belt?

“Everything seems strange this year. It feels like we’ve already done more than half a season of racing, but even if we’ve only raced six events, we’ve been working hard from March onwards. It’s been a long season even if people don’t see it given we only started racing in July. So, it definitely feels like we’re over halfway, even if we’re not. We just need to keep doing what we do.”

 

After six races in seven weeks, and with a third Formula One triple-header starting this weekend in Belgium – how demanding, both physically and mentally, is this new-look 2020 calendar on the team? It’s unprecedented in terms of the history of Formula One but could you see this becoming more normal as the series looks to add additional races in the future?

“We have to treat this as an exceptional year. A lot of the staff did not work for much of the first half of the year, so they could fill their energy tanks up. So, I think it’s a little bit lighter, but going forward, you cannot make this the normality. People cannot do this. We shouldn’t try to do this because it’s not productive.”

 

With no plans for any upgrade packages coming this season, does that allow the team to better understand the core concept of the VF-20 and is that a benefit looking ahead to the 2021 season and the continuation of this car package?

“That is the plan. We need to understand this car, the VF-20, and build on that. We can try to iron out the issues we have this year for a better 2021.”