{"id":5893,"date":"2018-08-24T20:24:22","date_gmt":"2018-08-25T00:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=5893"},"modified":"2018-08-24T23:36:10","modified_gmt":"2018-08-25T03:36:10","slug":"belgian-gp-history-stats-circuit-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2018\/08\/24\/belgian-gp-history-stats-circuit-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Belgian GP \u2013 History, Stats, Circuit Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 13th<\/sup> round of the 2018 Formula 1<\/strong> season will take place this weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit<\/strong>. The Belgian Grand Prix<\/strong> will see the return of F1 after the almost month-long summer break. The season resumes at the very traditional Spa<\/strong> circuit with nine races to go . The circuit is set in the rustic surroundings of the Belgian Ardennes<\/strong> countryside.<\/p>\n

Belgian GP \u2013 History, Stats, Circuit Guide<\/h1>\n

This historical circuit is one of the most challenging high-speed and technically demanding circuits on the calendar. The traditional nature of the circuit has made it a popular venue among the F1 fraternity and fans.<\/p>\n

The History<\/h2>\n

The original track was built using the public roads around the towns of Spa<\/strong>, Malmedy<\/strong> and Stavelot<\/strong> in the 1920s. In 1950, the fifth race of the first Formula 1 World Championship was held at this narrow winding track. The hilly 14-kilometre route was a high-speed track with quick directional and elevation changes around the fast corners. In the 1960s, major crashes causing injuries and fatalities were common.<\/p>\n

In 1966, Jackie Stewart<\/strong> (racing for the BRM team) suffered a high-speed crash that caused him to start a crusade for better safety at all tracks. The lack of safety at Spa finally led to the boycott of the Belgian GP by the drivers in 1969.<\/p>\n

After one final race in 1970 at Spa, the Belgian GP was hosted at the Zolder<\/strong> and Nivelles<\/strong> tracks in Belgium until 1982. In 1983, F1 returned to the modern seven-kilometre long Spa circuit, the longest circuit on the current F1 calendar. The circuit conforms to the contemporary safety standards, but still retains most of the iconic corners of the original circuit.<\/p>\n

Alain Prost<\/strong> won the first race on this newly-configured track for the Renault<\/strong> team. From 1985 onwards, the Belgian GP has always been held at Spa (except for 2003 and 2006 when the Belgian GP was not held).<\/p>\n

The Teams and Drivers<\/h2>\n

The Ferrari<\/strong> team has recorded 12 of their 16 Belgian Grand Prix wins at this circuit. They are followed closely by arch-rivals McLaren<\/strong> with 12 of 14 wins in Belgium at the Spa circuit. Mercedes<\/strong> has four wins at Spa. Red Bull Racing<\/strong> and Williams<\/strong> (four overall wins) have three wins each at Spa.<\/p>\n

The inaugural race was won by the great Argentine Juan-Manuel Fangio<\/strong> (driving for Alfa Romeo at that time). The \u2019Regenmeister\u2019 Schumacher<\/strong> has won six times at the Belgian GP to top the drivers’ leaderboard. The seven-time world champion launched his career with his first race for the Jordan team at Spa. The German scored his first GP win at this venue in 1992 for Benetton. In 2012, he achieved a final career milestone, when he marked his 300th<\/sup> race at Spa. Many F1 fans will remember Schumacher\u2019s great drives at Spa with nostalgia.<\/p>\n

Ayrton Senna<\/strong> has been the second-most successful driver in Belgium with five wins in the 1980s. Damon Hill<\/strong> with three wins, including the Jordan team\u2019s first race win in a classic race in 1998, shared the spoils with Schumacher during the 1990s. Jim Clark<\/strong> won a total of four times at the old Spa circuit in the 1960s. The first-ever winner of the Belgian GP, Fangio had a total of three wins to his credit at the old Spa circuit.<\/p>\n

Among the current drivers, Kimi Raikkonen<\/strong> has four wins to his credit. Lewis Hamilton<\/strong> has three wins here. Sebastian Vettel<\/strong> has two wins at Spa. Daniel Ricciardo<\/strong> has one win when the Mercedes drivers collided in 2014. Belgian Stoffel Vandoorne<\/strong> of McLaren will race at his home Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

The Circuit<\/h2>\n

The 7.004 km Spa-Francorchamps circuit<\/strong> with 19 corners<\/strong> (medium and high-speed corners) and several long straights is one of the fastest tracks on the F1 calendar with an average speed of 240 km\/h. The race is run over only 44 laps on the longest circuit in F1.<\/p>\n

The first and second sectors require a low downforce setup with the long straights taken flat out, but the twisting middle sector with ten corners requires a higher downforce setup. So a medium downforce setup is a compromise to balance the requirements of the different sectors. The long laps are done at full throttle 70% of the time and the fuel consumption is high. The brake-wear is low, but high loads are placed on the engines and tyres.<\/p>\n