25/08/2011
At 7.004km Spa Francorchamps is the longest circuit on the Formula One calendar, and it’s quality as well as quantity that the venue of the Belgian Grand Prix venue provides.
From the slight uphill start - heading into the tight La Source first corner down the hill to the Eau Rouge / Radillon transition from downhill to steep uphill before blasting down the Kemmel Straight, into Les Combes, Bruxelles, Pouhon, Campus, Stavelot, Courbe Paul Frère and Blanchimont before blasting down to the chicane and back on to the start-finish to repeat – Spa Francorchamps is an extravaganza of epic corners and delights for those lucky enough to tackle its challenges behind the wheel of a Formula 1 car.
Even from its early days, Spa Francorchamps has stood out as something special with a course laid out on the public roads between the towns of Spa, Malmedy and Stavelot with a first race scheduled for August 1921. That there was only one entrant for that year and the race was cancelled fortunately did not stop the evolution of what has become one of motorsport’s best known destinations.
In 1922 the first race did take place, followed in 1924 by the first 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps – an event which still runs today. The first Grand Prix taking place a year later, won by Antonio Ascari, father of two-time Formula 1 champion Alberto who went on to win the race twice in 1952-53.
Spa was on the calendar for the first season of Formula 1 in 1950 and has remained a frequent fixture ever since, with time off in 1957, 59, 69 and 71 as well as a more extended leave of absence later on.
The original circuit was certainly a high speed venue, and as the cars became faster, so safety concerns raised their head. Spa lost the Belgian Grand Prix to the new venue of Nivelles-Baulers for 1972 and 1973, and Zolder for 1973, 1975-1982 and 1984.
For 1983 a new heavily revised Spa was back on the F1 calendar and after a solitary return to Zolder, the Belgian Grand Prix has subsequently always taken place at Spa, however the race has not always been on the calendar, with no event in 2003 and 2006.
The circuit is famed for its extreme undulations, and it’s one which rewards pure engine power with a strong top end especially rewarded for the drag up Raidillon and for the Kemmel Straight which follows.
If engine power is rewarded, then the aerodynamic efficiency of a car is highlighted for all to see as sufficient downforce is required without too much detrimental drag.
The Ardennes location gives the track its undulation nature, and it also lends the circuit another aspect for which it is renowned; the weather.
Rain is a frequent visitor to the circuit and due to the track length it’s possible for one part to be soaking wet, and another bone dry. The long length of a lap also brutally highlights those who get it right – and those who get it wrong – with their tyre choice when conditions are variable. Seven kilometres at Spa on the wrong tyres will send any driver from hero to zero in front of remorseless eyes.
There is seldom a dull race at Spa, and it terms of wins Michael Schumacher heads the table with six to his name. Schumacher made his F1 debut in Spa in 1991, and this year 20 years on he will race again.
After Schumacher, it’s Ayrton Senna – uncle of LRGP driver Bruno – who comes next with five, with Jim Clark and Kimi Räikkönen on four. Juan Manual Fangio and Damon Hill have three wins apiece, whilst Ascari, Emerson Fittipaldi, Niki Lauda and Alain Prost have a brace each.
An Enstone team has won the race, taking honours in the 1992 and 1995 race in the Benetton guise, with Michael Schumacher at the wheel.
For 2011? Who’s to say?
Credit: Lotus Renault GP (www.lotusrenaultgp.com)
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