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What to Watch for: Some of the key storylines to look out for at Spa-Francorchamps
The penultimate round of the season is here as the drivers and their teams prepare to fight it out once more at the longest track on the calendar, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
With just two race weekends left in the year, the Drivers’ Championship is set to go right down to the wire as just 30 points separating the top six.
So, as we head to the historic venue, let us look at some of key storylines to look out for.
STEALING A MARCH
As previously mentioned, the top six in the title race are separated by just 30 points which means it is still all to play heading into the final two rounds.
Last time out in Budapest, it was Leonardo Fornaroli that made big gains in the battle finishing on the podium in the Feature Race while the rest of his rivals struggled to score points.
WHAT WE LEARNED: Some of the key takeaways from Round 8 in Budapest
The race weekend before that at Silverstone, it was Arvid Lindblad who completed the historic double, while Luke Browning won the Spielberg Feature Race from Pole Position.
Heading to Spa, one of the six will be hoping that if this trend continues it will go in their favour, especially the likes of Christian Mansell, Dino Beganovic, and Oliver Goethe, who will want to close the gap before heading to the final round in Monza.
Look for all six to try and get off to a flying start in a bid to get the upper hand this weekend.
CONTINUING MOMENTUM
For several teams and drivers, the 2024 season has not been the easiest in terms of results, but their form has improved on late, and they will be looking to carry that not only to Spa and Monza but into the winter.
Teams like Van Amersfoort Racing, Rodin Motorsport, and AIX Racing have hit their strides in the second half of the season, as have ART Grand Prix.
AIX achieved their first Formula 3 victory in the Budapest Sprint Race while ART achieved their first Feature Race win since 2022 at the Hungaroring as well.
BUDAPEST WEEKEND ANALYSIS: How Fornaroli caught up with his title rivals
Additionally, VAR and Rodin have both earned recent podiums finishes in the longer events and solid points scoring results.
As well as that, teams like Jenzer Motorsport have shown a glimpse of what they have in store, with their performance at Silverstone – where all three cars qualified in the top 10 and Matías Zagazeta finished on the podium in the Sprint Race – and they will be hoping to replicate that at two more historic circuits to end the year at Spa and Monza.
Ending the season on a high and carrying some positive momentum into the winter months and possibly in 2025 can never be undervalued and all 10 teams will be looking to do just that.
WET WEATHER DECISIONS
The forecast for this weekend looks quite mixed with rain expected on both Friday and Saturday.
We saw at Silverstone for both Qualifying and the Feature Race how the weather can make a big difference and can affect the outcome of the weekend.
Therefore, if the rain does hit before or during Qualifying, making the correct decisions on tyres and at the right time will be key.
As will be building up the confidence in the car, especially for the high-speed Sector two. It’s a section of the track that puts a lot of emphasis on the drivers trust in their machinery, to brake as late as possible and to throw their cars into the corners. But in the wet, that is amplified even more.
Building confidence in the car for those Quali laps will be big for the drivers in Qualifying.
But even if they cannot over one lap, Spa is a track that brings a lot of opportunities during the races, and especially when there is rain.
So, it is important for the drivers to keep it clean, make the right decisions in the races and to make the most of their opportunities.
As we saw in last year’s Feature Race the decision to start and stay on the Wet tyres was the correct one, with Taylor Barnard the huge beneficiary as he went from starting in P10 to the top step.
A wet race can definitely be to your benefit if you do the right things.