F1 Belgian Grand Prix betting preview, free tips, where to watch

Where to watch

Sky Sports F1, 2.10pm Sunday

Best Bets

Lewis Hamilton to win the race
1pt 7-2 Betfred
Daniel Ricciardo top-six finish
1pt 9-1 general

Background

There will be a dark cloud over the Spa-Francorchamps circuit after French driver Anthoine Hubert was killed in a crash during the Formula Two race at the circuit on Saturday.

The Belgian Grand Prix has seen several first-lap incidents in recent years, but the drivers are likely to be extra cautious this year given the circumstances.

Charles Leclerc stormed to his third pole position and is odds-on to score his first career victory and what would be Ferrari's first of the year. Sebastian Vettel in the other Ferrari lines up alongside the Monegasque driver.

Lewis Hamilton missed out on the front row by just 0.015 seconds after an eventful day. His Mercedes mechanics faced a race against time to get Hamilton's car ready for qualifying after a crash in final practice.

Race preview

Ferrari have set the benchmark for engine power this season and were expected to have the edge at the high-speed Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

So it has proved so far, with Ferrari topping every timed session.

However, during longer runs on Friday Mercedes looked in better shape than the red cars while on the medium tyre Max Verstappen's Red Bull caught the eye.

The temperature is expected to drop considerably on race day so the teams are somewhat in the dark over tyre strategy.

The most likely scenario is that Leclerc will be uncatchable, but if he starts to struggle with his tyres then Hamilton could come into play.

A tactical gamble paid off massively for the world champion in Hungary, where he made up 20 seconds in 20 laps to overhaul leader Verstappen in the closing stages, and the standout driver of his generation could prove overpriced.

The Mercedes has had the measure of the Ferrari in the twistier sections of the track this weekend and, despite lacking in power, Hamilton could get an overtaking opportunity if he can look after his tyres.

Other markets

With Alexander Albon set to make his Red Bull debut from the back of the grid there should be a great battle for sixth place behind the Ferraris, Mercedes and Max Verstappen.

Spa specialist Kimi Raikkonen has been putting his Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo to good use and will start the race from sixth on the grid.

However, his qualifying time was not as fast as the Renaults of Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg, who were arguably the surprise packages of qualifying.

Both drivers incur five-place grid penalties for fitting Renault's latest-spec engine but even from 11th Ricciardo looks value to claw his way back up to the sixth place where he qualified.

Among the cars starting ahead of him are the McLaren of Lando Norris, who has not been as competitive as usual this weekend, and the wildly inconsistent Haas cars.

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