Belgian Grand Prix 2016 Preview: Start Time, TV Info, Weather, Schedule, Odds

After a four-week break, Formula One returns this week for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. The fast, undulating circuit south-east of Liege, near the German border, is a favourite among drivers and about as close as any current track gets to the high-speed layouts of the sport's early years.

Lewis Hamilton, you may remember, won six of the last seven races before the summer holiday to open a 19-point lead over his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg, in the drivers' standings.

Hamilton won last year at Spa, as well as back in 2010, when he was still racing for McLaren. Among the current drivers, though, Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen has the best record in Belgium, taking four wins in five races between 2004 and 2009 (the Belgian Grand Prix was not held in 2006). In fact, only Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna have more wins at Spa, while Jim Clark also has four.

After starting the season with four straight wins, Rosberg has just three podium finishes in the last eight races, despite driving the best car on the grid. He needs to start beating Hamilton again before the gap between them becomes a gulf, as there are only nine races remaining this year.

At the same time, although he needs to push Hamilton, Rosberg must control his aggression, in case it costs him what is perhaps his best shot at an F1 title.

Spa is notorious for rainy weather, which only adds to the spectacle of the most exciting arena in grand-prix racing, but the forecast for this weekend looks hot and sunny, according to F1's official weather partner, UBIMET.

If you are missing the rain at any point this weekend, check out David Coulthard's recollections from the nearly disastrous 1998 Belgian Grand Prix, courtesy of long-time F1 journalist and author Gerald Donaldson.

Also, watch out for Esteban Ocon, who makes his F1 debut this weekend with Manor, replacing Rio Haryanto. Ocon's battle with his team-mate, Pascal Wehrlein, another rising star, should be a fascinating story for the remainder of the year.

Keep reading for a full race-weekend preview, including TV times, championship standings, a circuit map and guide, tyre and DRS information, weather forecast, odds and session times.

Current Standings

Charles Coates/Getty Images

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton.

Hamilton extended his championship lead at the last race in Germany, with Rosberg struggling to a fourth-place finish.

Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo created a bit of breathing room between himself, the Ferrari drivers and his Red Bull team-mate, Max Verstappen, after finishing second at Hockenheim.

Here are the top-10 drivers heading into the Belgian Grand Prix:

Position	Driver	Points
1.	Lewis Hamilton	217
2.	Nico Rosberg	198
3.	Daniel Ricciardo	133
4.	Kimi Raikkonen	122
5.	Sebastian Vettel	120
6.	Max Verstappen	115
7.	Valtteri Bottas	58
8.	Sergio Perez	48
9.	Felipe Massa	38
10.	Nico Hulkenberg	33

As ever, Mercedes extended their constructors' championship lead in Germany, and the Silver Arrows have won 11 of 12 races this year.

The battle is tight for second place, though, with just 14 points separating Red Bull and Ferrari, with the Bulls now on top following a double-podium in Germany.

Here is the table for the constructors' championship:

Position	Team	Points
1.	Mercedes	415
2.	Red Bull	256
3.	Ferrari	242
4.	Williams	96
5.	Force India	81
6.	Toro Rosso	45
7.	McLaren	42
8.	Haas	28
9.	Renault	6
10.	Manor	1
11.	Sauber	0

Circuit De Spa-Francorchamps

Wikimedia Commons/Will Pittenger

At 7.004 kilometres, Spa-Francorchamps is the longest circuit on the current F1 calendar, although it is less than half of its original 15-kilometre layout.

Corner names like Eau Rouge, La Source and Blanchimont are imprinted on the minds of all F1 fans, and each one has seen more spectacular moments than many circuits.

"The first lap you go through flat out, you feel sick, like you’re on a rollercoaster because it goes up and down," said Romain Grosjean about Eau Rouge and Raidillon, per Haas' race preview. "You’re thinking, will I make that for the race? But, once you’ve done it once, it’s all OK and you just enjoy the g-forces."

Check out the official F1 circuit guide video for a lap from a driver's perspective.

(Note that the map above counts the kink after La Source as a turn, but the FIA official circuit map does not. For the turn numbers referenced below, subtract one from the numbers in the map pictured here.)

Turn 1 (La Source)

La Source is incredibly tight, particularly for the first corner of a race. With some cars still accelerating off the grid while others are already braking for the hairpin, it is rare to get through the first turn without a few bumps at the Belgian Grand Prix.

The corner is the slowest on the track, at just 90 km/h, before the cars accelerate downhill.

Turns 2, 3 and 4 (Eau Rouge and Raidillon)

One of the most famous sections of any F1 track, Eau Rouge is the left-hander at the bottom of the hill, taken at more than 300 km/h, before the cars blast up and over Raidillon, ideally without lifting off the throttle.

Turns 5, 6 and 7 (Les Combes)

After the lengthy Kemmel Straight comes the right-left chicane called Les Combes, followed quickly by another right-hander.

The drivers brake to approximately 160 km/h for the chicane from well over 300 km/h on the straight.

Turns 8 and 9

After a short blast, Turn 8 is taken in fourth gear at about 135 km/h, followed almost immediately by the 185-km/h, left-hand Turn 9.

Turns 10 and 11 (Pouhon)

This multi-apex left-hander is taken at 265 km/h and requires complete confidence from the drivers in their cars.

"The whole circuit feels very flowing and you can appreciate the size of it," said Jolyon Palmer in Renault's race preview. "Pouhon is a very quick double apex left and it is probably the biggest challenge now. It also goes downhill so you pick up so much speed—even with the run off, if you get it wrong you’ll be off."

Turns 12, 13, 14 and 15

The drivers will reach speeds of more than 300 km/h again after Pouhon before braking to approximately 185 km/h for the chicane of Turns 12 and 13.

A quick straight follows before the double right-handers of Turns 14 (Stavelot) and 15.

Turns 16, 17, 18 and 19

The final section of the lap is very fast. Turn 16 is taken flat out at 325 km/h before a slight lift for Turn 17. The cars will hit 330 km/h or more before braking heavily for the final chicane (Turns 18 and 19), taken at about 100 km/h.

From there, the drivers enter the relatively short start/finish straight for the run back to La Source.

The circuit map is from Wikimedia Commons. Speed data is from the FIA's race preview.

Belgian Grand Prix Tyres and DRS Zones

Peter J Fox/Getty Images

For the eighth time in 13 races, Pirelli are offering teams a choice of medium, soft and supersoft tyres for Belgium.

There is quite a range in the teams' tyre selections with several drivers, including Rosberg (but not Hamilton), opting for four sets of mediums, the hardest compound available. The Ferraris, Saubers and Haas' Esteban Gutierrez, meanwhile, have just one set of mediums available.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Merc drivers have only four sets of supersoft tyres each, while most teams opted for six or seven sets.

"For the tyres, it's a demanding track with the sort of high-energy loads that make it absolutely thrilling to drive," said Pirelli motorsport director Paul Hembery, per the company's race preview. "It's not easy to find the right setup but with such a long lap and plenty of overtaking opportunities, there are a number of different strategy permutations possible."

DRS Zones

There are two DRS zones and two detection points at Spa. The first detection point is on the run from La Source to Eau Rouge and the activation point is on the long Kemmel Straight, between Turns 6 and 7.

The second detection point is just before the braking zone for the final chicane, with activation on the short start/finish straight, heading back to the La Source hairpin.

Belgian Grand Prix Weather

Martin Meissner/Associated Press

Spa may be notorious for rain, but the forecast is calling for sun and more sun this weekend.

If there is going to be rain, it will probably come on Sunday afternoon, when UBIMET forecasts a 30 to 40 percent chance of showers.

According to AccuWeather, the high is 30 degrees Celsius on Friday and Saturday, dropping to 28 degrees on race day.

Belgian Grand Prix Odds

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The Silver Arrows are heavy favourites in Belgium.

With Hamilton expected to take an engine penalty, Rosberg is a slight favourite over his team-mate according to several oddsmakers.

What isn't surprising is that the Mercs are heavy favourites over the rest of the field, followed by the Red Bulls and Ferraris.

The best odds available for the top-10 favourites at Spa are:

Driver	Odds
Nico Rosberg	1-1
Lewis Hamilton	2-1
Daniel Ricciardo	10-1
Max Verstappen	11-1
Sebastian Vettel	14-1
Kimi Raikkonen	30-1
Nico Hulkenberg	200-1
Sergio Perez	200-1
Valtteri Bottas	250-1
Felipe Massa	400-1

Selected Others

You can get 5-2 odds for Kimi Raikkonen to finish on the podium—a decent bet, considering his career record at Spa. Of course, he's only finished in the top three once in the last seven races, as Ferrari has struggled compared to Red Bull.

The safety car is a staple feature of the Belgian Grand Prix, particularly with the often-poor weather. With sun expected this weekend, though, you can get 7-4 odds that Bernd Maylander's services will not be needed.

All odds are taken from Oddschecker and correct at the time of publication.

Belgian Grand Prix Session and TV Times

Peter Fox/Getty Images

Here are the times for the three free practice sessions, qualifying and the race:

Session	Day	Time
Practice 1	Friday	10 a.m.
Practice 2	Friday	2 p.m.
Practice 3	Saturday	11 a.m.
Qualifying	Saturday	2 p.m.
Race	Sunday	2 p.m.

The above times are in local Francorchamps time (CEST, UTC+2). You can convert the times to your local time zone using the helpful tool on the official F1 website.

TV Times

In the United Kingdom, Sky Sports F1 and Channel 4 will have live coverage of all the sessions. The programming start times are as follows (all times BST):

Session	Day	Time (Sky Sports)	Time (Channel 4)
Practice 1	Friday	8:45 a.m.	8:55 a.m.
Practice 2	Friday	12:45 p.m.	12:55 p.m.
Practice 3	Saturday	9:45 a.m.	9:55 a.m.
Qualifying	Saturday	12 p.m.	11:55 a.m.
Race	Sunday	11:30 a.m.	12 p.m.

In the United States, NBC has live coverage of all the sessions on NBCSN and the NBC Sports app, with programming start times as follows (all times EDT):

Session	Day	Time
Practice 1	Friday	4 a.m. (NBC Sports app)
Practice 2	Friday	8 a.m. (NBCSN)
Practice 3	Saturday	5 a.m. (NBC Sports app)
Qualifying	Saturday	8 a.m. (NBC Sports app)
Race	Sunday	7 a.m. (NBCSN)

Enjoy the race and the rest of the weekend.

Matthew Walthert is an F1 columnist for Bleacher Report UK. He has also written for VICE, FourFourTwo and the Globe and Mail. Follow him on Twitter:

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