PREVIEW: Round 8 around Spa-Francorchamps

We are back in action this weekend with the pre-penultimate round of the 2025 FIA Formula 3 campaign, from Belgium and Spa-Francorchamps.

The Ardennes always holds something unpredictable in store in terms of the racing, and this year looks set to be another case of must-watch F3 action.

Here is all you need to know ahead of Round 8.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Free Practice kicks the action off on Friday at 09:00 local time before Qualifying follows later in the day at 14:00.

The first race of the weekend is on Saturday, with the Sprint Race scheduled for 09:15 local time and is followed by Sunday’s all-important Feature Race. That is set to get started at 08:30 to bring the F3 action to a close.

STAT PACK

• Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Mari Boya brought the number of different winners up to 9 after their respective Silverstone victories
• Campos Racing now lead in the Teams’ Standings and have achieved the most podiums so far in 2025, with 10 rostrum appearances including four victories
• Spa-Francorchamps is the longest lap of the season at 7.004Km in length
• Along with Barcelona, Spielberg and Budapest, Spa is the only other ever-present venue on the F3 calendar since the inaugural 2019 season
• Freddie Slater will drive for Hitech TGR this weekend, his second F3 appearance this season after Sakhir earlier in the year

FROM THE GRID – Martinius Stenshorne, Hitech TGR

“It’s quite high-speed. You have low speed corners as well, but the characteristic of the track is more high-speed. It’s a difficult track to get right with all the high-speed corners. With track limits, it’s more difficult to get now but still possible, but the corners are nice.

“Overtaking is best after Eau Rouge along that straight and then into the last corner, those are the two best overtaking opportunities.

“Usually, the weather is most difficult to predict. Knowing when it’s going to be wet or dry, usually it’s wet, but getting the tyres right is the most difficult part of the weekend.”

TECHNICAL PREVIEW

Pierre-Alain Michot, FIA Formula 3 Technical Director

“The long straights and technical second sector combine to create some thrilling racing and a challenge for the teams and drivers alike. The first and third sectors are opposites to the middle one, with downforce king from Turns 5 through 14, though that places strain on the tyres with the long radii corners especially impactful on wear. Otherwise, the long blasts down the straights offer great overtaking opportunities, with the heaviest braking event coming at Turn 18 ahead of the final corner and the second DRS zone of the lap.”

PIRELLI PREVIEW

Medium is the compound in use over the Belgian weekend. Much of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit was resurfaced last year and the new asphalt offers improved grip, which could lead to graining on the tyres. Drivers can gain quite a tyre performance advantage if they are able to manage this phenomenon, especially in the many high-speed corners in two sectors of the track. If graining is not an issue, then attention turns to managing the tyres’ thermal degradation, which is relatively straightforward as the long straights provide cooling opportunities on both axles. The variable that cannot be controlled is the weather. Changeable conditions are the order of the day in this location and it’s not unheard of to have some sections of wet track while other remain dry.