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Belgian Grand Prix: Formula One live blog

26th August, 2018
Where: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
When: 11:10pm AEST
Number of times held: 73
First held: 1925
Most wins (drivers): Michael Schumacher (6)
Most wins (constructors): Ferrari (16)
Circuit length: 7.004 km (4.352 mi)
Race length: 308.052 km (191.415 mi)
Laps: 44
Dan Ricciardo races for Red Bull for the last time (Photo: GEPA pictures / Christian Walgram)
Roar Guru
26th August, 2018
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After a month’s vacation and much movement amongst the driver market, Formula One racing returns with the already intense championship battle set to resume in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. Join The Roar for a live blog of the race, starting from 11:10pm AEST.

The scenic Spa-Francorchamps circuit lends its iconic 7km circuit to the long-running Belgian Grand Prix, blending stunning undulation with exceptional high-speed corners.

With a single lap of Spa, one of the longest on the Formula One calendar, the Belgian Grand Prix is comprised of 44-laps – though they are always quite eventful laps.

24-points is the difference between the two title protagonists in Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, who have won five and four races in 2018 respectively. Hamilton’s record at Spa boasts three wins, whilst Vettel has two to his credit.

Ferrari have not won in Belgium since 2009, which was the fourth victory in Belgium for Kimi Räikkönen. The Scuderia has penetrated previous Mercedes AMG strongholds this season, such as Canada and Silverstone, so could Spa be an addition?

Qualifying saw the two title protagonists lock out the front-row, as it was Hamilton who took advantage of the wet conditions to take pole position ahead of Vettel.

Behind the silver and red duo, it was a trio of midfield cars that found themselves in the top five, with Esteban Ocon claiming an emphatic third for the new Racing Point Force India team.

Despite having surrendered their constructor’s points for 2018, the Pink Panthers will start from the second row of the grid, with Sergio Perez qualifying fourth.

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Romain Grosjean placed his Haas ahead of Räikkönen’s Ferrari too in fifth, with the Finn’s side of the garage having made a strategic error towards the end of Q3.

The Red Bulls locked out the fourth row of the grid, in what was a disappointing session for them – given that the rain should have aided them.

Valtteri Bottas meanwhile will drop to the rear of the grid from tenth, having incurred penalties for going over the limit of allocated power-units.

One-stop strategies have been the trend in 2018 and Spa could be no different. Medium, soft and supersoft tyres are on hand provided that the race is dry – though there is a strong chance for showers to intervene.

With breaktime over, the championship is set to rage on. Tune in on The Roar from 11:10pm AEST for live blog coverage of the Belgian Grand Prix and the next chapter in this 2018 title race.

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