WEEKEND WARM-UP: Ricciardo the latest driver to light up silly season ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix

The circus returns after the summer break to Spa-Francorchamps, and plenty has changed since the cars were packed away after the Hungarian Grand Prix. The technical regulation changes have taken something of a back seat after all sorts of driver market announcements…

The latest of which is that Daniel Ricciardo and McLaren are parting ways. Will the Australian Honey Badger stay in the sport? If so, which team could he move to? Is a shock return to Alpine a possibility – or even a sabbatical from F1?

READ MORE: Szafnauer says Alonso departure announcement is 'absolutely no distraction' for Alpine as they aim to consolidate P4 in Belgium

As for the action, Max Verstappen has a healthy lead in the championship but will those aforementioned technical changes make a difference to the pecking order? Charles Leclerc will be hoping for more luck in the second half of the season, as he looks to eradicate any mistakes and take the fight to his Dutch rival. Carlos Sainz was going from strength to strength in the last few races, and will want to keep things interesting up front.

Along with Belgian-born Verstappen, Lando Norris and Lance Stroll can both count this as a home race courtesy of their Belgian mothers, with Norris having some unfinished business here after his crash in qualifying last year.

Join Rosanna Tennant and Lawrence Barretto in Weekend Warm-Up and hear from the drivers ahead of the race weekend via the video player above.