It has been said at many racing circuits in many parts of the world that the weather is unpredictable at best. Fans and teams alike need only wait a moment and it will change. Nowhere is this truer than the Belgian Grand Prix. The track sits nestled in the picturesque town of Francorchamps near, but not in, the town of Spa and is infamous for its temperamental weather. The weather is so unpredictable at Spa that it has been known to be dark and stormy on one part of the circuit while being sunny and dry on another part simultaneously. The weather, however, is not the only tumultuous thing about the Belgian Grand Prix; the race has a long and brilliant history.
From the earliest years of racing the area known as Spa-Francorchamps has been associated with motor sports. The circuit was built to host Grand Prix racing, and the first Belgian national race was held at the racecourse at Spa in 1925, although motorcycles had roared around the track as early as 1921. In 1923, the Spa 24 hour race came into being and paved the road for Grand Prix racing to come.
The first Grand Prix, held in 1925, took place on the long and fast nine mile circuit at Spa. Italian Antonio Ascari won the race in an Alfa. Unfortunately, Ascari would go on to lose his life in the next race, the 1925 French Grand Prix. The Belgian Grand Prix was not run again until 1930, with the modification in which they left out the Malmedy Chicane. That race was won by Louis Chiron and became a race of epic proportions over the giant, challenging track.
In 1939 the birth of the magnificent Eau Rouge corner came into being. The corner would bypass the Ancienne Douane section and go on to become one of the most famous corners in motor sport. Race conditions, however, were horrific. Between the weather and the track changes, chaos ensued and British driver Dick Seaman was killed. He had been pushing his Mercedes to the limit and going around the Clubhouse corner skidded precariously off the rain covered road and hit a tree. His car burst into flames and he would later die from the injuries he incurred. His teammate, Hermann Lang, went on to win the race. It was a tragedy which shook the Grand Prix world. Shortly thereafter, World War II broke out and the race was not run again until 1946.
Change had swept Europe and the Belgian Grand Prix was no exception. The track had been shortened in order to make it faster and cleaner. It had gone from an astonishing 9 miles to 8.7 miles, with the elimination of all the slower corners. Every corner, except La Source, was now a high speed corner. With these changes in place, Spa-Francorchamps became one of the fastest, most breath-taking, and terrifying tracks on the Grand Prix circuit. In 1946 the winner was Eugene Chaboud in his a Delage in a performance that was extreme even by racing standards.
In 1950, the Formula 1 World Championship was introduced. Again Alfa Romero showed their flare for the track and Argentine Juan Manuel Fangio and Italian Nino Farina dominated the race without contest. 1953 found Antonio Ascari’s son Alberto take charge in his Ferrari, with the Alfas suffering mechanical difficulties. By 1955 it was Fangio again, this time in a Mercedes, and his team mate Stirling Moss who ran the race. Racing was in an era of change: cars, drivers, and circuits were all developing at a pace which was staggering and sometimes left disaster in its wake.
Spa was one of the most challenging of tracks. If drivers made a mistake, even chose a wrong line, they lost entire seconds from their lap times. Lifting too much in a corner had the same result, precious seconds were lost and with them sometimes Championships. This made racers drive harder, push the limits, and cross lines. Crashes in those days were often serious or fatal and punishment for the slightest mistake was swift and painful. There were no radios so communication was limited and what lay on the other side of a corner was a much a mystery to the driver as the crew in the pits. The unpredictable weather did not help any of this and only contributed to making the Belgian Grand Prix one of the most fearsome tracks Formula 1 encountered.
In 1960 the Belgian Grand Prix experienced one of the darkest moments in Formula 1 history. New designs from teams such as Cooper and Lotus had pioneered new rear mid-engine cars. These cars were lighter, faster, and more responsive. They had not, however, been tested at Spa and no one knew how the new cars would perform. In practice, Stirling Moss crashed his Lotus due to a mechanical failure, breaking both legs, three vertebrae, and many of his ribs. Mike Taylor, also in a Lotus and also with mechanical failure, crashed hard as well. Taylor crashed into trees near Stavelot, however, and was trapped in his mangled car for a long period of time with serious neck and head injuries before help arrived. The race was to be no better. Englishman Chris Bristow, driving a Cooper and known for being an impulsive and aggressive driver, touched wheels with Belgian Willie Mairesse, another driver known for being aggressive. Bristow lost his control of his Cooper and the car flipped, rolling numerous times throwing Bristow from the wreckage. Bristow hit a barbed wire fence and was decapitated. It was then, only five laps later, that another Englishman, Alan Stacey, was hit in the face by a bird on the Masta straight, just past where Bristow had died. Stacey lost control of his car and hit an embankment that catapulted the car into a field 25 feet below the track. The car was immediately engulfed in flames, Stacey was killed instantly. It was the most horrific Grand Prix weekend Formula 1 would experience until Imola 1994. Jack Brabham went on to win the race and Jim Clark went on to score the first of many Formula 1 points by finishing 5th.
1967 saw American Dan Gurney win in his Eagle creation. It was the Eagle’s only F1 victory and to be the end of an era as 1968’s race brought the introduction of wings as an aerodynamic device. Influenced by American Jim Hall’s Chaparral, wings had come to F1. As cars became faster and lighter, they also became more dangerous. In 1969 Jackie Stewart visited the track on behalf of the Grand Prix Driver’s Association and demanded improvements. The owners of the track refused and a boycott ensued and the race was not run again until 1970.
The track was moved for a short period of time, over to Zolder. While there, Niki Lauda scored back to back wins in 1975 and 1976. Mario Andretti won in 1979, dominating for Lotus in its debut race. Zolder, however, will always be remembered as the place where Gilles Villeneuve was killed during practice for the 1982 Belgian Grand Prix. His Ferrari flipped after a collision with German Jochen Masss, going in the Butte corner. Villeneuve was thrown from the car and sustained serious injuries to which he later succumbed to that evening at the hospital.
Again the race moved to Spa-Francorchamps in 1979 with the track being shortened to 4.3 miles. The sections of the track which had once gone past towns and forests had been removed and the new track rejoined the old at the straight that flowed to Blanchimont. Alain Prost won the first race there and the new track was a hit.
In 1994, after the horrific tragedy at Imola, a chicane was installed at the bottom of Eau Rouge. The next year, however, it was gone and Schumacher won the first of three Belgian Grand Prixs. In 2001, he would win his 52nd Grand Prix there, surpassing Alain Prost’s all-time record of 51 wins. In 2006, the Belgian Grand Prix was again off the schedule due to improvements. It was back to stay in 2007, however, in a race that say Kimi Raikkonen win from the pole.
Now the track sits like royalty in the Formula 1 calendar. It is a fan and driver favourite and one of the most scenic tracks on the circuit. Its future is secure, nestled firmly in the Formula 1 schedule, one of the most prestigious events in Grand Prix racing. It is a track with a history as tumultuous and fast paced as racing itself; a battlefield in which heroes were made and lost, and in the process, became legends.
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