Get ready for Round 13 of the 2019 season with our official race preview – think of it as your McLaren encyclopaedia for each race weekend.

Hear from McLaren drivers Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris, get insight from Team Principal Andreas Seidl, and learn more about the wider team with our Spotlight series.

Round 13

Where	Spa-Francorchamps
When	30 August - 1 Sept
Start time	15:10 local, 14:10 BST
Laps	44

Carlos Sainz #55

“It’s been good to take a break over the summer and to see family and friends after a busy first half of the year. Everyone in the team deserved some time off. With batteries recharged, it’s time to go back racing! The ambition is to keep up the good results and fight for the highest spot possible in both Championships. There are still many races to come this season and I’m sure we’ll enjoy some good battles in the midfield.”

“Belgium is an incredible track and one of my favourites on the F1 calendar. I enjoy everything about this weekend. The unique layout of the track, Eau Rouge, Radillion, the atmosphere with the fans...it just makes the weekend one of the most special of the year and we are ready for it!”

Lando Norris #4

“I’m really excited to get back in the car again. It was nice to take some time out and recharge, but I’m ready to go again. I’ll be working flat-out for the rest of the season, getting prepared for the races ahead with my engineers and making sure I’m on top of the fly-aways to come at tracks that I’ve never raced on.

“I’ve driven at Spa quite a few times though, including in FP1 last year. I also made it to the podium in F2 last year as well. I’ll be ready to hit the ground running and start pushing from my first lap. It’s an awesome track, definitely one of my favourites, and I can’t wait to go racing there again this year.”

Andreas Seidl, Team Principal

“The summer break has been a good opportunity for the team to relax and spend time with family and friends, but now we’re focussed and ready to go racing again We now look to keep our momentum going into the second half of the season. As always, we must focus on ensuring our race operations are as good as they can be, that includes strategy, pit-stops and reliability.

“The midfield battle will continue to be tight until the end of the season, so it’s crucial that we keep giving our drivers the best chance at scoring points each weekend. We want to consolidate our current position and maintain our positive trend. Much of the midfield battle will be decided back at the factory, as well as on the track, and Carlos and Lando have done a fantastic job so far. We now look to keep moving forward together as a team. This fight will continue right up to the end of the season.”

Tech heads

Race distance	308.052km / 191.424 miles
Distance to Turn One	265m / 0.165 miles
Corners	19 (9 right, 10 left)
Tyre choice	Hard C1, Medium C2, Soft C3

 

Spotlight: Lucinda Beaumont

The spotlight is rarely shone on the team outside of the garage – but the contribution is no more and no less important. While a rapid pit-stop, bold overtaking move or decisive strategy call earn the plaudits, successes are just as dependent on engineering an upgrade in record time, manufacturing high-quality components, and carrying out stringent analysis and simulation. Every part of the operation needs to work in harmony to see progress on a race weekend. This is the ultimate team sport.

We are a team together. And these are some of our employee, partner, and fan stories.

When did you start working at McLaren?

I started at McLaren back in 2011. During my time I’ve moved around the group companies a little bit (but always in a track-based role!) – I started out at McLaren GT, then I moved on to the Pure McLaren Driving Experience with McLaren Automotive and then moved to my current role in Partnerships at McLaren Racing.

Please can you tell us a summary of your job description?

My role is to maintain and grow the relationships with our partners through strategic activations based around their business objectives.

Unlike other F1 teams, McLaren has partnerships which extend beyond Formula 1 - some work with us in IndyCar, GT racing, Cycling, Automotive and our Applied Technologies business. So I work across a broad range of partnerships across the whole Group. I have been fortunate enough to work with some big global brands.

What do you love about your job?

I love working for such a passionate, talented, resilient and dedicated team both on and off the track. We have a fantastic racing heritage but also a very exciting, innovative technology and Automotive business.

What are you doing when the lights go out?

Usually I will be in the back of the garage hosting a group of our partner guests – we give a small group of VIP’s the opportunity to watch the race within the garage listening to team radio, looking at the data screens and seeing the pit-stops up close.

Last thing a driver said to you?

Good question, it’s been the F1 summer shut down so it has been a little while since I last saw them both. I think it was probably Lando saying ‘thank you’ after I gave him a large swag bag of free Logitech G gaming kit!

What’s the highlight of your McLaren career so far?

It’s difficult to pick just one highlight, I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in the launch of McLaren Automotive’s first GT car (the 12C GT3), the launch of the McLaren P1, witnessed a 24 hour race win for the 650S GT3 and also the Indy 500 in 2017.

In terms of Formula 1, I’d say my first race with the team sticks out as a big highlight – I’ve not been with the team for a win or podium (yet) but I can’t wait for that to happen.

What is your earliest McLaren memory?

My dad has always been a big fan of cars and motorsport, so when I was growing up we would always have F1 on throughout Sundays. 

#FearlesslyForward