Sergio Perez: “At Spa, your heart beats a little faster”

This weekend, Formula 1 returns to a special circuit: the Spa-Francorchamps circuit has hosted races since the start of the World Championship (until 1970, it featured a different layout covering 14 kilometres instead of 7). The hilly circuit winding through the forests of the Belgian Ardennes is truly special!

Spa is a completely different challenge!

Cadillac driver Sergio Perez says ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix: “Spa is a completely different challenge to any other circuit on the calendar. It’s not just much longer. Your heart always beats a bit faster there, too. It’s a very fast circuit and unusual in that you experience negative G-forces when going through the Eau Rouge sequence of corners.” The legendary Eau Rouge chicane is a dip. Then it’s uphill via the Raidillon onto the Kemmel Straight, where the exit is blind behind the crest. A very special section, but also notoriously dangerous.

Former Red Bull Racing driver Perez said: “It’s going to be interesting in terms of energy management, handling and tyre management, so we’ll be focusing particularly on that on Friday whilst also analysing the further developments we’ve brought with us.” So there are new parts for Cadillac too!

At Spa, engine power plays a particularly important role. Cadillac is sourcing its power unit from Ferrari this year. The new energy management system, introduced at the start of this season to accommodate the power unit’s increased electric component, is likely to pose a huge challenge for all drivers: the Spa circuit is largely full-throttle, with only a few slow corners where the batteries can be effectively recharged.

Confidence in the car is key

Perez’s team-mate Valtteri Bottas said ahead of the Spa race: “We’ll have to work hard this weekend to fully realise our potential. We often think that Spa is all about speed, but in reality the circuit is more balanced. It’s a track where the driver really needs to have confidence in the car to go flat out through the fastest corners and take the kerbs at high speed. We’ve put in an enormous amount of work at the factory to ensure we start this weekend with a good base set-up that allows us to get the most out of practice and build on that from there.” Cadillac has recently been struggling with extreme reliability issues with its brakes. Good news for the US team: at Spa, it’s cooler again this year than in the weeks leading up to it, when F1 was racing in extreme heat at times.

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17.07.2026 - 13:15