FILE PHOTO: Formula One F1 - Belgian Grand Prix - Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium - August 26, 2018 McLaren's Fernando Alonso after crashing at the first corner. (Reuters)
Lap distance: 7.004km. Total distance: 308.052km (44 laps) 2018 pole: Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes one minute 58.179 seconds. 2018 winner: Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Ferrari Race lap record: 1:46.286, Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Mercedes, 2018. Start time: 1310 GMT (1510 local)
- BELGIUM This year's race will be the 52nd Belgian Grand Prix at Spa. Eight of the last 17 have been won from pole position. Mercedes have won three of the last four Belgian GPs.
Michael Schumacher won a record six times at Spa, including from 16th on the grid in a wet 1995 race.
Spa is the longest lap of the season and one of the fastest, with an average speed of around 230 kph. Cars are flat out for about 70per cent of the time.
Four current drivers have won at Spa: Kimi Raikkonen (2004, 2005, 2007 and 2009), Hamilton (2010, 2015, 2017), Vettel (2011, 2013, 2018) and Daniel Ricciardo (2014).
- RACE WINS Hamilton has 81 victories from 241 races and is closing the gap to Schumacher's record 91. He has also won 59 of the 112 races in the V6 turbo hybrid era that started in 2014. Vettel, third on the all-time list, has 52.
Vettel has not won since his victory at last year’s Belgian Grand Prix.
Ferrari have won 235 races since 1950, McLaren 182, Williams 114, Mercedes 97 and Red Bull 61. Former champions McLaren and Williams have not won since 2012.
Hamilton has won eight out of 12 races so far this season and has a 62-point lead in the championship over team mate Valtteri Bottas, who has won twice. Red Bull's Max Verstappen has also won twice.
- POLE POSITION Hamilton has a record 87 career poles, Vettel 56. Only three races so far this season have been won from pole - Bottas in Azerbaijan and Hamilton in Monaco and France. Max Verstappen took the first pole of his Formula One career in Hungary on Aug. 3.
- PODIUM Hamilton has 144 career podiums. Vettel has 117. - POINTS Hamilton has finished the last 24 races in the points. He holds the record of 33 scoring finishes in a row. Verstappen has scored more points than anyone, including Hamilton, over the last four races. - MILESTONE Thai driver Alexander Albon will make his Red Bull debut at Spa after replacing Frenchman Pierre Gasly, who returns to sister team Toro Rosso.
Source: NDO