In other news, Formula 1 confirmed the full calendar for next year! There will be a record 22 races. with a new track in Vietnam and the Netherlands’ Zandvoort circuit joining the F1 calendar early in the season. Unfortunately, Germany’s Hockenheimring has been scrapped. This comes as particularly heartbreaking news as the 2019 German Grand Prix was exhilarating and incredibly exciting, thanks in no small part to the unpredictable weather.

Looking ahead to this weekend, the Spa-Francorchamps circuit is one of the longest on the calendar. The 44-lap circuit has it all: high-speed corners, long straights, and windy corners, not to mention the chicane at the end. In 2018, Lewis Hamilton took pole but it was Sebastian Vettel of Ferrari who took P1 - his last win to date. The German will be hoping that Ferrari can pull themselves together to get a similar result, although it’s unlikely as the Prancing Horses are rather embarrassingly yet to get a win in 2019. With the Italians floundering, it may be up to Red Bull to provide the biggest threat to Mercedes. An exciting pairing of Verstappen and Albon could provide the necessary pressure on Hamilton and Bottas at the top of the grid. I’m so excited!

Home Driver Watch

There are no Belgian drivers in Formula 1 following McLaren’s dismissal of Stoffel Vandoorne. Don’t be surprised if it feels like yet another home race for Verstappen, though - there will be plenty of Dutch fans travelling the short distance to Belgium to support their poster boy.

Predictions

Driver of the Weekend: I hate picking him because it always feels like such a cop-out, but I’m going to go with Lewis Hamilton. He usually dominates towards the end of the F1 season - he won six of the last nine last year - and I have no reason to believe that 2019 will be any different.