Caryss Green, '25 - Editor
The first Belgian Grand Prix was held in 1924 as a non-championship event. Then in 1950, it was one of seven circuits raced in Formula 1’s first championship. Juan Manuel Fangio won the race followed by his teammate, Nino Farina for an Alfa Romeo one-two finish.
The Belgian Grand Prix was built in 1921 by designers Jules de Thier and Henri Langlois van Ophem. The original 14.9 km track used public roads between Francorchamps, Malmedy, and Stavelot. In 1979, the track was redeveloped to less than half of its original length. At 7.004 km per lap, the circuit is the longest on the current calendar.
The circuit features 19 turns and two DRS (Drag Reduction System) detection zones. With some of its more famous turns being the Eau Rouge and Raidillon sequence, the race is run to 44 laps with the total distance being 308.052 km. Valtteri Bottas holds the fastest lap record for the circuit with the lap time of 1:46.286 he set in 2018.
Micheal Schumacher has claimed the most victories at Spa, winning six times, including in 1995 when he won after starting 16th on the grid. Out of the current drivers, only four have won in Spa. Lewis Hamilton has won four times in 2010, 2015, 2017, and 2020; Max Verstappen has won three times in a row in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Charles Leclerc and Daniel Ricciardo have both won once, Leclerc in 2019 and Ricciardo in 2014.
Safety cars have been featured in 18 Grands Prix at Spa. They were used in 7 consecutive races from 2015-2022, and the 2023 sprint race was started after four formation laps behind the safety car.
In the 2023 season, Max Verstappen won both the sprint and the race. In the sprint, Oscar Piastri and Pierre Gasly finished behind Verstappen on the podium, and Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc rounded out the podium in the race.
The Belgian Grand Prix is also the location of two recent fatal crashes. In 2019, Anthoine Hubert and Juan Manuel Correa were involved in a brutal wreck. On the second lap of the Formula 2 feature race, Hubert’s car went into the barriers and bounced back into the path of Correa. Correa’s car hit the area around the cockpit of Hubert’s car at around 160 mph. Both drivers were taken to the track’s medical center where Hubert was officially declared dead. Correa suffered spinal injuries and two broken legs. Hubert’s car number 19 has been retired from use in F2, and the Hubert Award has been introduced to the FIA F2 end-of-season prize ceremony in Monaco. The more recent crash occurred in 2023 and involved Dilano van’t Hoff. The crash occurred during race two of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at Spa-Francorchamps. The wet conditions and heavy spray from the cars led to extremely low visibility on the track. Van’t Hoff’s car ended up sideways on the entrance to the Kemmel Straight and was T-boned by another car driven by Adam Fitzgerald. After the crash, the drivers were taken to the medical center where they declared Van’t Hoff dead. Fitzgerald was hospitalized for several weeks with a broken sternum, elbow, and four vertebrae.
The drivers are always aware of the risks when they race, especially in poor conditions. Formula 1 drivers have admitted to feeling in danger when in such poor conditions. Pierre Gasly has said the crash reminded him of, “situations [he has] been in, in the younger categories in Spa, in similar conditions.” Additionally, Lando Norris said that, “when you’re not in the car you don’t realize how bad it is.”
To help increase driver safety in wet conditions, the FIA has announced that prototypes for standard-specification wheel arches were being tested to reduce the spray from the cars. They are not intended to be used every time the track is wet, only a few times a year.
Many people have called for the removal of Spa from the calendar or a redesign of the track. Fernando Alonso however, said, “I don’t know if it’s a problem of Spa itself. I guess Monza, if you find a car in the middle of the straight, you will not see it. It’s just that poor visibility.”
While the history of the Belgian Grand Prix may have some darker times, the eradication of the race is not necessary. A simple redesign leading up to the corner of the crashes could prevent drivers from reaching a high enough speed as they did previously and the development of spray-reducing wheel arches, would both serve to protect the drivers and the future of the iconic circuit.
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