Belgian Grand Prix – History, Facts and Stats | Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

In the early years, Spa Francorchamps was a treacherous 14km track designed for speed, which used mainly local public roads. Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps first hosted Grand Prix racing events as far back as 1925 and was also part of the first year of the modern World Championship in 1950.

Belgian Grand Prix History:

To some, the Belgian Grand Prix was considered to be the first Grand Prix to be hosted after the conclusion of the Second World War. Whilst not an official Grand Prix, the 1946 Bruxelles Grand Prix, a sportscar race was referred to as the "Belgian Grand Prix" by various media sources. The Belgian Grand Prix would move to other tracks at Zolder and Nivelles in the subsequent years before a return to Spa on a much shorter and safer 7km circuit in 1983. Apart from two years when the race wasn’t held in the 2000s, Spa has remained a constant presence on the Formula 1 calendar ever since. 

The 2020 Belgian Grand Prix was one of few on the calendar to take place on its originally scheduled date. As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and restrictions on mass gatherings in Belgium, the event was under considerable threat of being canceled. However, organizers received special permission for the race to take place behind closed doors. In June 2020, Spa’s contract to host the Belgian Grand Prix was extended to 2022. Fans were back at the track for the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, but were not treated to any Formula 1 racing action. Wet weather made the race the shortest in the sport’s history, with just a handful of laps being completed behind the Safety Car. 

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Belgian Grand Prix Facts:

• The fearsome Eau Rouge/Raidillon corner, arguably the most famous on the current F1 calendar, features an elevation change of 35 meters from its lowest to highest point.

• Of current drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton share the best record at Spa with four victories. Sebastian Vettel has won three times. 

• In 2019, Charles Leclerc became the first driver to score a maiden Grand Prix Victory at Spa since Michael Schumacher did so in 1992.

• Fernando Alonso has never taken a victory at Spa during his F1 career.

• Max Verstappen was born in Belgium to a Belgian mother, but decided to represent The Netherlands, where his father comes from. Nevertheless, Spa became his defacto ‘home race’ before the Dutch Grand Prix rejoined the calendar, and thousands of Dutch fans come out to support him here.

• At 7.004km long, Spa is the longest current F1 circuit. Despite this, it has one of the smaller spectator capacities on the current calendar (70,000 fans)

• Spa is not only famous for Formula 1. It also holds other popular annual events, including the Spa 24 hours and the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps for sportscars.

• The entry list for races at Spa was usually shorter than those at other events during the early years of Formula 1, largely due to the track’s fearsome nature.

• Despite taking his first F1 victory at Spa and going on to win the Belgian Grand Prix for four consecutive seasons, Jim Clark detested the track.

• Bruno Senna set the only fastest lap of his F1 career at the Belgian Grand Prix in 2012. Strangely, that’s something which his Uncle Ayrton never achieved, despite winning six Grands Prix at Spa.

• Michael Schumacher is the only driver to have won the World Championship at the Spa Francorchamps track. He claimed his seventh and final title here in 2004.

• 12 of the last 21 Belgian Grands Prix have been won by less than five seconds. The largest win margin here came in 1963, when Jim Clark won by 474 seconds!

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Belgian Grand Prix Stats:

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