Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Encyclopedia
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is the venue of the Formula One
Belgian Grand Prix
and the Spa 24 Hours
endurance race. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event, 25 Hours of Spa, run by the Uniroyal Fun Cup. It is one of the most challenging race track
s in the world, mainly due to its fast, hilly and twisty nature. Spa is a favourite circuit of many racing drivers and fans.
Designed in 1920 by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem, the original triangle-shaped course used public roads between the Belgian towns of Spa
, Malmedy
, and Stavelot
. The track was intended to have hosted its inaugural race in August 1921, however this event had to be cancelled as there was only one entrant. The first car race was held at the circuit in 1922, and two years later saw the first running of the now famous 24 Hours of Francorchamps
race. The circuit was first used for Grand Prix
racing in 1925.
The old Spa circuit was essentially a speed course with drivers managing much higher average speeds than on other race tracks- a factor that made Spa very popular from its inception. Back then, the Belgians took pride in having a very fast circuit, and to improve average speeds, the former slow uphill U-turn at the bottom of the Eau Rouge creek valley, called the Ancienne Douane (until 1920, there was a German Empire
customs office here), was cut short with a faster sweep straight up the hill, called the Raidillon. Until 2000, it was possible to travel over the race track when it was still a public road. At Eau Rouge, southbound traffic was allowed to use the famous uphill corner, while the opposite downhill traffic had to use the old road and U-turn behind the grand stands, rejoining the race track at the bottom of Eau Rouge.
The old race track continued through the now-straightened Kemmel curves to the highest part of the track, then went downhill into Les Combes, a fast, slightly banked downhill left-hander towards Burnenville, passing this village in a fast right hand sweep. Near Malmedy
, the Masta straight began, which was only interrupted by the fast Masta Kink between farm houses before arriving at the town of Stavelot
. Then the track blasted through an uphill straight section with a few kinks called La Carriere, going through 2 ultra-fast turns (an unnamed right-hand turn and then Blanchimont) before braking very hard for the La Source hairpin, and that rejoined the downhill start finish section as opposed to today where the start-finish section is before La Source.
Like the Nürburgring, Spa became notorious for fatal accidents, as there were many deaths each year at the ultra-fast track, especially at the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix
where 2 drivers, Chris Bristow
and Alan Stacey
were both killed within 15 minutes (although Stacey's accident was caused by a bird hitting him in the face) and Stirling Moss
had crashed at Burnenville during practice and was severely injured. When Armco was added to the track in 1970, deaths became less frequent there but the track was still notorious for other factors. The Ardennes Forest had very unpredictable weather and there were parts where it was raining and the track was wet, and other parts where the sun was shining and the track was completely dry. This factor was a commonality on long circuits, but the weather at Spa was always and more unpredictable than other long circuits, combined with the fact that it was an ultra-high speed track with all but 2 of the corners (La Source and Eau Rouge) being extremely high speed made it one of, if not the most dangerous race track in the world. Multiple fatalities during the 1973 and 1975 24 Hours of Spa touring car races more or less sealed the old circuit's fate, and by 1978, the last year Spa was in its original form, the only major races held there were the Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix
and the Spa 24 Hours
race.
In 1969, the Belgian Grand Prix was boycotted by F1 because of the extreme danger of Spa. There had been 10 fatalities in total at the track in the 1960s, including 5 in the 2 years previous. The drivers demanded changes made to Spa which were not possible on short notice, so the Belgian Grand Prix was dropped that year. Armco was added to the track and sections of it were improved (especially the Stavelot and Holowell sections), just like Armco had been added for the 1969 Le Mans race. One last race there the following year
on the improved track still was not satisfactory enough (even after a temporary chicane was added at Malmedy just for that race) for the drivers in terms of safety. F1 would not return to Spa until 1983
on the modern track.
Masta was lost to F1 racing after the 1970 race
. Jackie Stewart
's crusade to improve safety in racing was set in motion by his crash there in 1966
, when his BRM ended upside-down in the cellar of the farmhouse on the outside of the corner, with fuel gushing out of the tank onto Stewart, who had broken ribs to add to his misery. At this point, many of the Formula One drivers disliked Spa (including Stewart and Jim Clark
, who had some of his greatest wins there) because of the immense speeds that were constant on the track. While he was spectating at the 1972 12 Hours of Sebring
, Stewart attempted to organize a boycott of the Spa 1000 km race that year, a move that was not respected by many of the drivers, because Spa was still popular with many drivers.
Another particularly gruesome story comes from the 1972 24 hour touring car race. During one of his pitstops at night, Hans-Joachim Stuck shouted to his co-driver Jochen Mass
over the noise that he should "look out for body parts at the Masta Kink". Mass arrived there expecting to see bits of car all over the road but was appalled to discover it was in fact bits of a marshal.
After Masta, and at the end of the subsequent Holowell Straight, there used to be a sharp hairpin at the entrance to the town itself, which was later bypassed by a quicker, banked right hand corner. Another fast section of road in the forest leads to Blanchimont. Here, the new short Grand Prix track of 1979 joins the old layout.
Eighteen Formula One World Championship Grands Prix were run on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit's original configuration, which was boycotted by F1 in 1969, before the revised circuit banished it to the history books in 1979. The lap record of the old triangle-shaped track is held by the French driver Henri Pescarolo
, at an average speed of 262 kilometres per hour (163 mph).
where speeds in excess of 330 km/h (205 mph) can be reached. Since inception, the place has been famous for its unpredictable weather. Frequently drivers are confronted with one part of the course being clear and bright while another stretch is rainy and slippery.
The circuit probably demonstrates the importance of driver skill more than any other in the world. This is largely due to the Eau Rouge and Blanchimont corners, both which need to be taken flat out to achieve a fast run onto the straights after them, which aids a driver in both a fast lap and in overtaking.
, drivers race down a straight to the point where the track crosses the Eau Rouge
stream for the first time, before being launched steeply uphill into a sweeping left-right-left collection of corners with a blind summit. Properly speaking, the Eau Rouge corner is only the left-hander at the bottom. The following right-hander that leads steeply uphill, which was introduced in 1939 to shortcut the original hairpin "Ancienne Douane", is called "Raidillon". The corner requires a large amount of skill from the driver to negotiate well and the long straight ahead often produces good overtaking opportunities for the best drivers at the following "Les Combes" corner. The corner was tighter and narrower (it was made wider in 1970, when the circuit was updated) on the old circuit than it is today on the current circuit, which made it considerably slower.
The 2005 and 2006 F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso
explains: "You come into the corner downhill, have a sudden change [of direction] at the bottom and then go very steep uphill. From the cockpit, you cannot see the exit and as you come over the crest, you don't know where you will land. It is a crucial corner for the timed lap, and also in the race, because you have a long uphill straight afterwards where you can lose a lot of time if you make a mistake. But it is also an important corner for the driver's feeling. It makes a special impression every lap, because you also have a compression in your body as you go through the bottom of the corner. It is very strange - but good fun as well."
The challenge for drivers has always been to take Eau Rouge-Raidillon flat out. Regular touring car
s can take the corner at 160–180 km/h, Formula One
at over 300 km/h. This is due to the huge amount of downforce on the cars. World Champion Jacques Villeneuve
once spoke of the effects of downforce saying that to get through the corner they have to go faster as the faster the car is going the more downward force there is, thus explaining the phenomenon of Eau Rouge flat out.
Still, a loss of control in this section often leads to very heavy shunt as usually the rear-end of the car is lost and the impact is most of the times lateral. Eau Rouge has claimed several victims over the years, including Stefan Bellof
in a Porsche
sportscar, Guy Renard during the 24h of Spa-Francorchamps in 1990 in a Toyota Corolla GT and also caused Alex Zanardi
's in 1993 and Jacques Villeneuve
's spectacular off in qualifying in 1999, which he described as "My best-ever crash", followed by his team-mate Ricardo Zonta
's similar accident, leading cartoonist Jim Bamber
to show BAR boss Craig Pollock telling Zonta: "Jacques is the quickest through Eau Rouge, so go out there and do exactly what Jacques does…"
Following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger
and Ayrton Senna
at Imola
in 1994, the following F1 races saw the introduction of chicanes made of piles of tyres. The entry to Eau Rouge was obstructed in such a way in 1994, although it was returned to its previous glory the following year. The corner was slightly modified for 2002, but still retains its character.
Testimony to the fame and beloved character of the Eau Rouge corner can be found in fan reaction to the Istanbul Park
circuit in Istanbul
, Turkey
. When fans first got to see the course configuration at the start of the weekend of the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix
, many noted that an uphill kink on the back straight was very similar to Eau Rouge; many jokingly dubbed the kink "Faux Rouge" (a pun on the name of the original Spa corner using the French word "faux", meaning "false").
. This high-speed left-hand turn, present in both the old 14 km circuit and the new, shorter, 7 km track, is the final sweeping corner of the track before the Bus Stop chicane, which leads to the pit straight.
This turn and the approach to it have caused serious accidents over time, the most recent being in 2001, when Luciano Burti
lost the front wing of his Prost
due to a clash with Eddie Irvine
's Jaguar, losing front downforce and steering, leaving the track at 185 mi/h and piling into the tyre wall, the impact knocking him out and burying the car into a mound of tyres. Problems have also occurred in lower classes of racing with Tom Kristensen
having a very violent crash in a Formula 3000 car in 1997 after running wide on the entry to the Blanchimont turn and subsequently hitting the wall effectively throwing the monocoque back out in the middle of the track, where it was hit by numerous cars before coming to a complete halt.
The run-off area is narrower than in other turns taken at this speed, plus the fact that behind the protective barriers there is a 7-8 meter drop. This is the first turn taken by the cars after the new track rejoins the route of the old 14 km track. Blanchimont was also the scene where in 1992 after Erik Comas
had crashed heavily during Friday's session, Ayrton Senna stopped, disembarked his car and sprinted to help the injured driver, with other cars driving past at racing speeds.
, new bans in tobacco advertising
have been imposed, and as a special case, Formula One is facing a major threat regarding this point. Due to these political and legislative circumstances, Grand Prix
in this circuit was left out of the 2003 calendar
as a response to the internal tobacco legislation in Belgium. The event was tagged as a World Class event within the national senate, and thus it was saved for the 2004 Formula One season
. The section known as the Bus Stop chicane was reprofiled for 2004 with an additional sweep to the right.
Spa was dropped from the Formula One
calendar in . The organiser of the event went bankrupt in late 2005, and therefore the planned improvements to the race track
and paddock
had not yet been made. The Wallonia government
stepped in and provided the necessary funds, but too late for the 2006 race to take place.
As of 2007, tobacco advertising bans limited the number of sponsors from the industry finding the sport appealing. As of 2010
, only the Scuderia Ferrari
Marlboro still had tobacco branding, however the team recently dropped the Marlboro "stripes" from their race cars after accusations of it being linked to subliminal advertising. In comparison, in 2003 five teams (half of the teams competing) had tobacco branding on their cars.
Formula 1 returned to Spa for , with a modified track layout. The Bus Stop chicane was moved back towards Blanchimont and the La Source hairpin moved forward. This allowed more space for the new pit lane. The modifications gave a longer start/finish straight
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
Belgian Grand Prix
Belgian Grand Prix
The Belgian Grand Prix is an automobile race, part of the Formula One World Championship....
and the Spa 24 Hours
Spa 24 Hours
The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race was run under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium...
endurance race. It is also home to the all Volkswagen club event, 25 Hours of Spa, run by the Uniroyal Fun Cup. It is one of the most challenging race track
Race track
A race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...
s in the world, mainly due to its fast, hilly and twisty nature. Spa is a favourite circuit of many racing drivers and fans.
The triangle
Spa, Belgium
Spa is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region and Province of Liège. It is situated in a valley in the Ardennes mountain chain, some southeast of Liège, and southwest of Aachen. As of 1 January 2006, Spa had a total population of 10,543...
, Malmedy
Malmedy
Malmedy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region, Province of Liège. It belongs to the French Community of Belgium, within which it is French-speaking with facilities for German-speakers. On January 1, 2006 Malmedy had a total population of 11,829...
, and Stavelot
Stavelot
Stavelot is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Stavelot had a total population of 6,671. The total area is 85.07 km² which gives a population density of 78 inhabitants per km².-History:...
. The track was intended to have hosted its inaugural race in August 1921, however this event had to be cancelled as there was only one entrant. The first car race was held at the circuit in 1922, and two years later saw the first running of the now famous 24 Hours of Francorchamps
Spa 24 Hours
The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race was run under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium...
race. The circuit was first used for Grand Prix
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...
racing in 1925.
The old Spa circuit was essentially a speed course with drivers managing much higher average speeds than on other race tracks- a factor that made Spa very popular from its inception. Back then, the Belgians took pride in having a very fast circuit, and to improve average speeds, the former slow uphill U-turn at the bottom of the Eau Rouge creek valley, called the Ancienne Douane (until 1920, there was a German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
customs office here), was cut short with a faster sweep straight up the hill, called the Raidillon. Until 2000, it was possible to travel over the race track when it was still a public road. At Eau Rouge, southbound traffic was allowed to use the famous uphill corner, while the opposite downhill traffic had to use the old road and U-turn behind the grand stands, rejoining the race track at the bottom of Eau Rouge.
The old race track continued through the now-straightened Kemmel curves to the highest part of the track, then went downhill into Les Combes, a fast, slightly banked downhill left-hander towards Burnenville, passing this village in a fast right hand sweep. Near Malmedy
Malmedy
Malmedy is a municipality of Belgium. It lies in the country's Walloon Region, Province of Liège. It belongs to the French Community of Belgium, within which it is French-speaking with facilities for German-speakers. On January 1, 2006 Malmedy had a total population of 11,829...
, the Masta straight began, which was only interrupted by the fast Masta Kink between farm houses before arriving at the town of Stavelot
Stavelot
Stavelot is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Liège. On January 1, 2006, Stavelot had a total population of 6,671. The total area is 85.07 km² which gives a population density of 78 inhabitants per km².-History:...
. Then the track blasted through an uphill straight section with a few kinks called La Carriere, going through 2 ultra-fast turns (an unnamed right-hand turn and then Blanchimont) before braking very hard for the La Source hairpin, and that rejoined the downhill start finish section as opposed to today where the start-finish section is before La Source.
Like the Nürburgring, Spa became notorious for fatal accidents, as there were many deaths each year at the ultra-fast track, especially at the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix
1960 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1960 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 19 June 1960. It is remembered as one of Formula One's darkest days due to the deaths of Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey and the serious accidents of Stirling Moss and Mike Taylor.The results highlight an unusual...
where 2 drivers, Chris Bristow
Chris Bristow
Chris Bristow , was a British Formula One driver from England....
and Alan Stacey
Alan Stacey
Alan Stacey , was a British racing driver. He began his association with Lotus when he built one of the MkVI kits then being offered by the company. Having raced this car he went on to build an Eleven, eventually campaigning it at Le Mans under the Team Lotus umbrella...
were both killed within 15 minutes (although Stacey's accident was caused by a bird hitting him in the face) and Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
had crashed at Burnenville during practice and was severely injured. When Armco was added to the track in 1970, deaths became less frequent there but the track was still notorious for other factors. The Ardennes Forest had very unpredictable weather and there were parts where it was raining and the track was wet, and other parts where the sun was shining and the track was completely dry. This factor was a commonality on long circuits, but the weather at Spa was always and more unpredictable than other long circuits, combined with the fact that it was an ultra-high speed track with all but 2 of the corners (La Source and Eau Rouge) being extremely high speed made it one of, if not the most dangerous race track in the world. Multiple fatalities during the 1973 and 1975 24 Hours of Spa touring car races more or less sealed the old circuit's fate, and by 1978, the last year Spa was in its original form, the only major races held there were the Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix
Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix
The Belgian motorcycle Grand Prix is a motorcycling event that was part of the Grand Prix motorcycle racing season from 1949 to 1990.-Multiple winners :-Multiple winners :-By year:...
and the Spa 24 Hours
Spa 24 Hours
The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race was run under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium...
race.
In 1969, the Belgian Grand Prix was boycotted by F1 because of the extreme danger of Spa. There had been 10 fatalities in total at the track in the 1960s, including 5 in the 2 years previous. The drivers demanded changes made to Spa which were not possible on short notice, so the Belgian Grand Prix was dropped that year. Armco was added to the track and sections of it were improved (especially the Stavelot and Holowell sections), just like Armco had been added for the 1969 Le Mans race. One last race there the following year
1970 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1970 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Spa-Francorchamps on June 7, 1970.- Classification :-Notes:* Pole Position: Jackie Stewart - 3:28.0* Fastest Lap: Chris Amon - 3:27.4*Last win: Dunlop...
on the improved track still was not satisfactory enough (even after a temporary chicane was added at Malmedy just for that race) for the drivers in terms of safety. F1 would not return to Spa until 1983
1983 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1983 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on May 22, 1983. After 13 years, the F1 circus returned to Spa after the track had been shortened...
on the modern track.
Masta Kink
The Masta Kink was one of the most fearsome sections on any race track in the world, requiring skill and bravery in equal measure to get it right. After a long run from Malmedy, the cars would reach top speed before having to negotiate Masta, a high speed left-right chicane, and a good exit speed was vital as it was followed by another long straight run to Stavelot. This was a very fast and very dangerous corner because it was situated right in the middle of 2 very long unbroken straights both about 1½ miles long (2.4 km).Masta was lost to F1 racing after the 1970 race
1970 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1970 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One race held at Spa-Francorchamps on June 7, 1970.- Classification :-Notes:* Pole Position: Jackie Stewart - 3:28.0* Fastest Lap: Chris Amon - 3:27.4*Last win: Dunlop...
. Jackie Stewart
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart, OBE , better known as Jackie Stewart, and nicknamed The Flying Scotsman, is a Scottish former racing driver and team owner. He competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Championships. He also competed in Can-Am...
's crusade to improve safety in racing was set in motion by his crash there in 1966
1966 Belgian Grand Prix
The 1966 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Spa-Francorchamps on 12 June 1966. It was the second round of the 1966 Formula One season. The race was the 26th Belgian Grand Prix which to this point had only been held at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit...
, when his BRM ended upside-down in the cellar of the farmhouse on the outside of the corner, with fuel gushing out of the tank onto Stewart, who had broken ribs to add to his misery. At this point, many of the Formula One drivers disliked Spa (including Stewart and Jim Clark
Jim Clark
James "Jim" Clark, Jr OBE was a British Formula One racing driver from Scotland, who won two World Championships, in 1963 and 1965....
, who had some of his greatest wins there) because of the immense speeds that were constant on the track. While he was spectating at the 1972 12 Hours of Sebring
12 Hours of Sebring
The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida...
, Stewart attempted to organize a boycott of the Spa 1000 km race that year, a move that was not respected by many of the drivers, because Spa was still popular with many drivers.
Another particularly gruesome story comes from the 1972 24 hour touring car race. During one of his pitstops at night, Hans-Joachim Stuck shouted to his co-driver Jochen Mass
Jochen Mass
Jochen Richard Mass is a former race car driver from Germany.He participated in 114 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on July 14, 1973 at the British Grand Prix...
over the noise that he should "look out for body parts at the Masta Kink". Mass arrived there expecting to see bits of car all over the road but was appalled to discover it was in fact bits of a marshal.
After Masta, and at the end of the subsequent Holowell Straight, there used to be a sharp hairpin at the entrance to the town itself, which was later bypassed by a quicker, banked right hand corner. Another fast section of road in the forest leads to Blanchimont. Here, the new short Grand Prix track of 1979 joins the old layout.
Eighteen Formula One World Championship Grands Prix were run on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit's original configuration, which was boycotted by F1 in 1969, before the revised circuit banished it to the history books in 1979. The lap record of the old triangle-shaped track is held by the French driver Henri Pescarolo
Henri Pescarolo
Henri Pescarolo is a former racing driver from France. He participated in 64 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 22 September 1968. He achieved one podium, and scored a total of 12 championship points...
, at an average speed of 262 kilometres per hour (163 mph).
New layout
Over the years, the Spa course has been modified several times. The track was originally 15 kilometres (9 mi) long, but after World War II, the track had some changes. In 1930 the chicane at Malmedy was eliminated and bypassed, making the course even faster, but the chicane was re-installed in 1935, albeit slightly different. In 1939, "Virage de Ancienne Douane" was eliminated and cut short, thus giving birth to the Eau Rouge/Radillon uphill sweeping corner. In 1947, the chicane at Malmedy was again eliminated and bypassed, and was made part of the Masta Straight. The slight right-hander that was originally Holowell (the corner before Stavelot after the second Masta Straight) was eliminated. And finally, instead of going through a slight left-hander that went into the town of Stavelot and a sharp right-hander at a road junction in Stavelot, a shortcut was built that became a very fast, very wide right-handed turn that bypassed Stavelot. All these changes made the final configuration of the old Spa circuit 14 km (9 mi) long. All these changes made Spa the fastest open road circuit in the world, and in the final years of the old circuit, drivers could average 150 mph (241 km/h) on the circuit. The biggest change, however, saw the circuit being shortened from 14 km (9 mi) to 7 km (4 mi) in 1979. The start/finish line, which was originally on the downhill straight before Eau Rouge, was moved to the straight before the La Source hairpin in 1981. Like its predecessor the new layout still is a fast and hilly route through the ArdennesArdennes
The Ardennes is a region of extensive forests, rolling hills and ridges formed within the Givetian Ardennes mountain range, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France , and geologically into the Eifel...
where speeds in excess of 330 km/h (205 mph) can be reached. Since inception, the place has been famous for its unpredictable weather. Frequently drivers are confronted with one part of the course being clear and bright while another stretch is rainy and slippery.
The circuit probably demonstrates the importance of driver skill more than any other in the world. This is largely due to the Eau Rouge and Blanchimont corners, both which need to be taken flat out to achieve a fast run onto the straights after them, which aids a driver in both a fast lap and in overtaking.
Eau Rouge
The most famous part of the circuit is the Eau Rouge / Raidillon combination. Having negotiated the La Source hairpinHairpin turn
A hairpin turn , named for its resemblance to a hairpin/bobby pin, is a bend in a road with a very acute inner angle, making it necessary for an oncoming vehicle to turn almost 180° to continue on the road. Such turns in ramps and trails may be called switchbacks in American English, by analogy...
, drivers race down a straight to the point where the track crosses the Eau Rouge
Eau Rouge
The Eau Rouge is a small, 15 km long stream in the Belgian province of Liège, right tributary of the Amblève. It starts in the Hautes Fagnes and ends in Challes, near Stavelot in the river Amblève....
stream for the first time, before being launched steeply uphill into a sweeping left-right-left collection of corners with a blind summit. Properly speaking, the Eau Rouge corner is only the left-hander at the bottom. The following right-hander that leads steeply uphill, which was introduced in 1939 to shortcut the original hairpin "Ancienne Douane", is called "Raidillon". The corner requires a large amount of skill from the driver to negotiate well and the long straight ahead often produces good overtaking opportunities for the best drivers at the following "Les Combes" corner. The corner was tighter and narrower (it was made wider in 1970, when the circuit was updated) on the old circuit than it is today on the current circuit, which made it considerably slower.
The 2005 and 2006 F1 World Champion Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso Díaz is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion, who is currently racing for Ferrari....
explains: "You come into the corner downhill, have a sudden change [of direction] at the bottom and then go very steep uphill. From the cockpit, you cannot see the exit and as you come over the crest, you don't know where you will land. It is a crucial corner for the timed lap, and also in the race, because you have a long uphill straight afterwards where you can lose a lot of time if you make a mistake. But it is also an important corner for the driver's feeling. It makes a special impression every lap, because you also have a compression in your body as you go through the bottom of the corner. It is very strange - but good fun as well."
The challenge for drivers has always been to take Eau Rouge-Raidillon flat out. Regular touring car
Touring car racing
Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars. It is notably popular in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Scandinavia and Britain.-Characteristics of a touring car:...
s can take the corner at 160–180 km/h, Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
at over 300 km/h. This is due to the huge amount of downforce on the cars. World Champion Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...
once spoke of the effects of downforce saying that to get through the corner they have to go faster as the faster the car is going the more downward force there is, thus explaining the phenomenon of Eau Rouge flat out.
Still, a loss of control in this section often leads to very heavy shunt as usually the rear-end of the car is lost and the impact is most of the times lateral. Eau Rouge has claimed several victims over the years, including Stefan Bellof
Stefan Bellof
Stefan Bellof was a racing driver who is famous for setting the fastest lap ever on the Nordschleife configuration, at the Nürburgring, setting the time in a Porsche 956 in 1983...
in a Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
sportscar, Guy Renard during the 24h of Spa-Francorchamps in 1990 in a Toyota Corolla GT and also caused Alex Zanardi
Alex Zanardi
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi is an Italian racing driver and paracyclist.He won two CART championship titles in North America during the late 1990s. He also had a less successful career as a Formula One driver...
's in 1993 and Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...
's spectacular off in qualifying in 1999, which he described as "My best-ever crash", followed by his team-mate Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Zonta
Ricardo Luiz Zonta is a Brazilian racing driver.-Early career:Born in Curitiba, Brazil, Zonta began karting in 1987, winning his first race shortly thereafter. The following year, he was runner-up for the Curitiba Karting Championship, and in 1991, he won the title...
's similar accident, leading cartoonist Jim Bamber
Jim Bamber
Jim Bamber is a British artist and editorial cartoonist specialising in motorsport, who is best known for his motor racing related caricatures which incorporate his distinctive driver designs, that now adorn every issue of Autosport magazines as well as his annual compilation of cartoons from the...
to show BAR boss Craig Pollock telling Zonta: "Jacques is the quickest through Eau Rouge, so go out there and do exactly what Jacques does…"
Following the deaths of Roland Ratzenberger
Roland Ratzenberger
Roland Ratzenberger was an Austrian racing driver who raced in Formula Nippon, Formula 3000 and Formula One...
and Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
at Imola
Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari
The Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari is an auto racing circuit near the Italian town of Imola, east of Bologna and east of the Ferrari factory in Maranello....
in 1994, the following F1 races saw the introduction of chicanes made of piles of tyres. The entry to Eau Rouge was obstructed in such a way in 1994, although it was returned to its previous glory the following year. The corner was slightly modified for 2002, but still retains its character.
Testimony to the fame and beloved character of the Eau Rouge corner can be found in fan reaction to the Istanbul Park
Istanbul Park
Istanbul Park , also known as the Istanbul Racing Circuit or initially Istanbul Otodrom, is a motor sports race track in Akfırat County east of Istanbul, Turkey. It was inaugurated on 21 August 2005...
circuit in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. When fans first got to see the course configuration at the start of the weekend of the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix
2005 Turkish Grand Prix
The 2005 Turkish Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on August 21 at Istanbul Park in Istanbul, Turkey. This was the first Formula One race to take place in Turkey.-Friday Drivers:-Qualifying:...
, many noted that an uphill kink on the back straight was very similar to Eau Rouge; many jokingly dubbed the kink "Faux Rouge" (a pun on the name of the original Spa corner using the French word "faux", meaning "false").
Blanchimont
The Blanchimont turn is one of the most fearsome turns in Formula OneFormula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
. This high-speed left-hand turn, present in both the old 14 km circuit and the new, shorter, 7 km track, is the final sweeping corner of the track before the Bus Stop chicane, which leads to the pit straight.
This turn and the approach to it have caused serious accidents over time, the most recent being in 2001, when Luciano Burti
Luciano Burti
Luciano Pucci Burti is a Brazilian racing driver who briefly raced in Formula One.-Career:His early career saw him graduate through the usual channels and he found himself in British Formula 3 driving for the crack Stewart Racing team...
lost the front wing of his Prost
Prost Grand Prix
Prost Grand Prix was a Formula One racing team managed by former world champion Alain Prost. The team participated in five seasons from 1997 to 2001.-Purchase of Ligier:...
due to a clash with Eddie Irvine
Eddie Irvine
Edmund "Eddie" Irvine, Jr. is a former racing driver from Northern Ireland. He grew up in Conlig, County Down, and was influenced by his parents, who were also involved in motor racing...
's Jaguar, losing front downforce and steering, leaving the track at 185 mi/h and piling into the tyre wall, the impact knocking him out and burying the car into a mound of tyres. Problems have also occurred in lower classes of racing with Tom Kristensen
Tom Kristensen
Tom Kristensen is a Danish racing driver. He has won many championships in auto racing but his most famous achievement is being the only person to win the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans eight times, six of which were consecutive...
having a very violent crash in a Formula 3000 car in 1997 after running wide on the entry to the Blanchimont turn and subsequently hitting the wall effectively throwing the monocoque back out in the middle of the track, where it was hit by numerous cars before coming to a complete halt.
The run-off area is narrower than in other turns taken at this speed, plus the fact that behind the protective barriers there is a 7-8 meter drop. This is the first turn taken by the cars after the new track rejoins the route of the old 14 km track. Blanchimont was also the scene where in 1992 after Erik Comas
Érik Comas
Érik Comas is a former Formula One driver from France. He was French Formula 3 champion in 1988, and then Formula 3000 champion in 1990, after scoring the same number of points as Jean Alesi in 1989 but losing on a count-back of positions. He participated in 63 Grands Prix, debuting on 10 March...
had crashed heavily during Friday's session, Ayrton Senna stopped, disembarked his car and sprinted to help the injured driver, with other cars driving past at racing speeds.
Recent problems
Due to the introduction of a new legislative order in EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, new bans in tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising
Tobacco advertising is the advertising of tobacco products or use by the tobacco industry through a variety of media including sponsorship, particularly of sporting events. It is now one of the most highly regulated forms of marketing...
have been imposed, and as a special case, Formula One is facing a major threat regarding this point. Due to these political and legislative circumstances, Grand Prix
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
in this circuit was left out of the 2003 calendar
2003 Formula One season
The 2003 Formula One season was the 54th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2003 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 9, 2003 and ended on October 12 after sixteen races...
as a response to the internal tobacco legislation in Belgium. The event was tagged as a World Class event within the national senate, and thus it was saved for the 2004 Formula One season
2004 Formula One season
The 2004 Formula One season was the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship season, running from March 7 to October 24, 2004. The season was dominated by Michael Schumacher and Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro...
. The section known as the Bus Stop chicane was reprofiled for 2004 with an additional sweep to the right.
Spa was dropped from the Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
calendar in . The organiser of the event went bankrupt in late 2005, and therefore the planned improvements to the race track
Race track
A race track is a purpose-built facility for racing of animals , automobiles, motorcycles or athletes. A race track may also feature grandstands or concourses. Some motorsport tracks are called speedways.A racetrack is a permanent facility or building...
and paddock
Paddock
A Paddock is an enclosure for horses. It may also refer to: People*Algernon Paddock , American politician*Charlie Paddock , American athlete and actor*Del Paddock , American baseball player...
had not yet been made. The Wallonia government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
stepped in and provided the necessary funds, but too late for the 2006 race to take place.
As of 2007, tobacco advertising bans limited the number of sponsors from the industry finding the sport appealing. As of 2010
2010 Formula One season
The 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One season of World Championship motor racing competition. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race...
, only the Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
Marlboro still had tobacco branding, however the team recently dropped the Marlboro "stripes" from their race cars after accusations of it being linked to subliminal advertising. In comparison, in 2003 five teams (half of the teams competing) had tobacco branding on their cars.
Redevelopment for 2007 season
With a new financial backer, the renovation started on November 6, 2006 and finished in May 2007, costing around €19 million.Formula 1 returned to Spa for , with a modified track layout. The Bus Stop chicane was moved back towards Blanchimont and the La Source hairpin moved forward. This allowed more space for the new pit lane. The modifications gave a longer start/finish straight
Modifications for 2010 season
New tarmac runoff was added to the inside and outside of Les Combes for the 2010 race, in line with the prevailing trends at other Formula One circuits.External links
- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
- One lap at Spa Classic 2011
- BBC guide to the track
- BBC Belgian GP circuit guide
- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps History and Statistics
- Satellite picture by Google Maps showing both old and new layout
- http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=10823160676200214313,50.429060,5.977450%3B13040135868525020935,50.407936,5.965528%3B4870981229736577332,50.430270,5.958080&saddr=Route+des+Combes+%4050.429060,+5.977450&daddr=50.428643,5.99287+to:Rue+de+Chefosse%2FN68+%4050.407936,+5.965528+to:N640%2FRoute+de+l'Eau+Rouge+%4050.430270,+5.958080&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=14&via=1,2&sll=50.421097,5.985575&sspn=0.036476,0.072269&ie=UTF8&ll=50.426347,5.983086&spn=0.072943,0.144539&t=h&z=13Satellite picture by Google Maps] with the old layout highlighted
- Spa Upgrade Work Begins
- Spectator testimonial of visiting Spa-Francorchamps
- Circuit info from official F1 site