Along with Monaco, Monza and Silverstone, this is another of the great classics on the Formula 1 calendar. There have been 68 Belgian Grands Prix since 1950, the first year of the World Championship: 2 were held at Nivelles, 10 at Zolder and 56 at one of the very best tracks in the world, Spa-Francorchamps.
To win at Spa is to become a legend of the sport. Back in 1950 the track was 14 kilometres long, while today it’s around half that distance, but it is still the longest one on the F1 World Championship calendar.
Given it’s geographical location in the centre of Europe, many people drive to the Belgian Grand Prix, which is very handy.
It means one can ignore the maximum luggage rules relating to air travel and so one can bring one’s entire wardrobe to Spa. From sun tan cream to a Sou’wester raincoat you could need it all. Truth is, everyone is actually disappointed if it does not rain over the race weekend, so intrinsic is a damp track to the character of this event.
“After a tough Sunday in Budapest, I’m looking forward to Spa even more. We showed a good turn of speed last week, so I’m confident we can continue that in Belgium and push for points on Sunday.”
I’m looking forward to Spa
Daniel Ricciardo “We really turned things around in Hungary. The whole team worked very hard to give us an improved car and we were particularly happy with how we managed the tyres in the race, which meant we were the only car to make a one-stop strategy work, that was really the key to score points. It was brilliant strategy and teamwork! That last race was a real confidence boost, so I’m keen to see what we can do in Spa which is obviously a very different type of track. Driving Spa is always special and I particularly enjoy the elevation changes, the way the track climbs and drops, which we don’t experience at many tracks during the year. Most of the corners are high speed, very challenging, kind of old school. We often get mixed conditions in terms of the weather, it could be a bit like the weekend in Silverstone, where we did a lot of laps in the wet, so that gives me confidence if we have rain this time.”
That last race was a real confidence boost
Yuki Tsunoda