As we head closer to the halfway point of the 2025 Formula One season, the grid heads to Spa this weekend for the Belgian Grand Prix, with the championship battle heating up at McLaren.
While Ferrari and Mercedes search for consistency, Red Bull have a new face leading them. With plenty of storylines in play, here are our preview and predictions for the 2025 Belgian GP.
Not only has this season been rough for Red Bull on the track, things are going downhill off it too. They lost their star designer Adrian Newey at the start of the season and, amid rumours of four-time world champion Max Verstappen joining rivals Mercedes, they sacked their long-serving team principal Christian Horner.
Red Bull and Horner had gone hand in hand since the team’s inception, with Horner serving as their boss since the first season, overseeing multiple championship wins. After a tumultuous season outside the paddock, however, the Brit was sacked as the team brought in Laurent Mekies from VCARB.
The Belgian GP will be the first race in the team’s history without Horner at the helm. On top of that, they have a car that is unable to fight for wins or challenge the likes of McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari.
Off-track issues on top of their on-track troubles bear bad omens for the Austrian outfit. Expect them to have a rough weekend in Spa as things seem to continue spiralling out of control.
Lando Norris’ win in Silverstone has cut championship leader Oscar Piastri’s lead to a mere eight points. The two McLaren drivers are now trading blow for blow every weekend, with even the smallest of errors from one being capitalised upon by the other, as seen in Austria and the UK.
The intra-team battle will carry on into Belgium, where McLaren haven’t won since 2012, when Jenson Button took the win. Belgium hasn’t been the happiest hunting ground for them in recent years.
That said, given the car they have this time around, and the fact that it will be a Sprint weekend, expect both Norris and Piastri to come out all guns blazing before heading into the mid-season break.
Pole position prediction: Oscar Piastri / Lando Norris
Race winners prediction: McLaren / Ferrari
If there has been one side that has surprised all, it has to be Sauber. The Swiss team, who have struggled at the bottom of the table for most of the last five years, have proven to be strong midfield contenders this year and sit pretty in sixth place in the Constructors’ standings.
Sauber come into the Belgian race weekend on the back of four back-to-back points outings, with Nico Hülkenberg having scored his maiden career podium last time out in Silverstone. The Ferrari engine is seemingly sitting well with the rest of their machinery, as Sauber continue to pick up crucial points.
With more points on offer thanks to the Sprint weekend, expect Sauber to have another strong showing and leave Spa with a good haul of points.
Circuit: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Venue: Stavelot, Belgium
Practice Session 1 time: 16:00 IST, July 25, 2025
Sprint Qualifying Session time: 20:00–20:44 IST, July 25, 2025
Sprint time: 15:30 IST, July 26, 2025
Qualifying time: 19:30 IST, July 26, 2025
Main race time: 18:30 IST, July 27, 2025
Where to watch: F1 TV Pro / FanCode
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