Spa Francorchamps – A Blast from the Past

Ask the current Formula One drivers to name the most challenging circuit on the calendar and you can be sure that a good proportion will give the answer as Spa. It is no exaggeration to call Spa Francorchamps, the extraordinary circuit in the Ardennes in Belgium, legendary; other descriptions include daunting, challenging and spectacular. Not too long ago we could also have included downright dangerous, but the modern truncated version – still the longest on the calendar – comes complete with modern safety features that rival any other circuit. What is it, then, that makes this place so special? Let’s roll back the years to the very beginning of the legend.

The Roaring Twenties

In the 1920’s motor racing was enjoying something of a golden period; major manufacturers – Mercedes-Benz, Bugatti, FIAT, Alfa Romeo – all built cars for various classes of racing in the decade, and circuits were springing up throughout Europe. The original city-to-city Grands prix had whetted the appetite of the manufacturers, the public and the drivers, yet the tragedies of the 1903 Paris-Madrid race – nine fatalities were recorded – led to the realisation that purpose-built circuits were the way to go. The trend had begun with the opening of the famous Brooklands Circuit, at Weybridge in Surrey, a venue that would later combine the developing automobile and aircraft industries in one enclosed space. Brooklands never re-opened after the Second World War, and what is left is now owned by Mercedes Benz and forms a museum.

Monza, on the other hand, opened in 1922; the grand Italian circuit was considered modern by any standard, and much of what was there then remains now. The banking is no longer used, of course, but the basic layout – with some modern amendments – follows the same course as the original. It is said that, for that first race in 1922, half of the cars on the road in Italy ventured to the circuit car parks.

Spa was, and still is, a different matter; a circuit originally made up of public roads – a trend that would be copied by the likes of Rheims and Rouen in France – it offered a different sort of challenge to the purpose built tracks. The changes of incline were quite dramatic, and the speeds achieved equally so. The original lap was around 15km (just over nine miles), and it became slightly less – but quicker still – with some revisions. The circuit held its first race in 1922, the planned 1921 opening having been abandoned thanks to there being just one entrant, and the first Grand Prix was held in 1925. The winner was Antonio Ascari – father of the 1950’s F1 star Alberto – driving an Alfa Romeo P2. Spa would hold Grands Prix regularly throughout the 1930’s, yielding wins by legends such as Louis Chiron, Tazio Nuvolari. Rudolf Caracciola and Herman Lang, and would return to the calendar following the war. When the modern World Championship began in 1950, Spa was a natural choice, and it remained on the calendar – with a few exceptions – until 1970.

The 1960’s and the Safety Campaign

It is difficult for today’s fans to comprehend just how different – in many ways – Formula One was fifty years ago. Serious injury in a modern F1 car is a rarity in the extreme; there have been no fatalities since the death of Ayrton Senna at Imola, 18 years ago. During the 1960’s this were not so certain; it is a sad fact that serious injury or death in a racing car were far from scarce. In the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix, for example, Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey – both promising young – were killed in separate accidents a few minutes apart. In that same meeting Stirling Moss had a serious crash in practice, and was badly injured. Complacency was the order of the day – Motor Racing is Dangerous as it says on the ticket- but there was a new breed of driver on the way, one that realised racing could be exciting, thrilling and spectacular, but also a lot safer. Some of the greatest drivers in the business hated the place – Jim Clark, for one – and others recognised that it was simply too dangerous for the modern F1 car. Sir Jackie Stewart- interviewed in this issue – became the man who would head the safety campaign.

In 1969 the drivers, led by Stewart, collectively boycotted the Belgian Grand Prix after the circuit organisers could not make the changes they demanded. Although there were improvements made, and a race run, in 1970, the race was again cancelled on the grounds of safety in 1971. The ‘old’ circuit would never see an F1 car again. For the record, and it gives an idea of the depth of the problem, that 1970 race was won by Pedro Rodriguez in a BRM, at an average speed a shade under 150mph. That was 42 years ago.

The Modern Era, and the New Spa

The concern over safety was not limited to Spa; many of the old-school public road circuits – Rouen les Essarts and Rheims in France for example – had been left behind in the rush to build new, shiny and safe circuits – and it is remarkable to consider that the Nurburgring – that 14 mile monster in Germany – would be used for the German Grand Prix until 1976, when Niki Lauda’s fiery accident demonstrated the futility of racing on such a long track. New circuits appeared to take the place of the old: in Belgium the circus went to Nivelles, a circuit so bland that it could not have been further removed from the majesty of Spa, and Zolder, one that the drivers found challenging yet was no replacement for the old place either.

In the background, the organisers at Spa Francorchamps were working on an idea: they surmised that, by using the section from La Source – the hairpin at bottom of the circuit – and taking the road through Eau Rouge, then up the hill towards Burnenville, if they constructed a new section that veered right across the infield, missing out the old section that ran high in the mountains past Malmedy and Stavelot, they could reconnect to the old part of the circuit at what is now known as Stavelot, and then run through Blanchimont down to the starting point at La Source.

The result was a circuit around half the length of the original, but still with many exciting features and retaining the atmosphere and spectacular beauty of the place. The plan was a success and, in 1983, F1 triumphantly made its way back to its new favourite track. That race was won by Alain Prost in the turbocharged Renault, and the Belgian Grand Prix would alternate between Zolder and Spa for a couple of seasons, before the latter secured the race annually.

Problems with sponsorship issues – namely the tobacco advertising ban – saw the race dropped for one season in 2003, then – having been reinstated – the race organisers filed for bankruptcy a couple of years later. A new owner came in and the race, on a yet again revised circuit, was restored for 2007. There is talk of Spa alternating with one of the German circuits as financial concerns hit once again, but no confirmation is forthcoming. At the time of writing Spa remains on the calendar for 2013 and beyond.

The Allure of Spa

A question I am often asked by young F1 fans is: which overseas Grand Prix should I go to? It is tempting to tell them to experience the glamour, colour and spectacle of Monaco, or to visit Monza and take in the thrill of the tifosi-led fever, or to save up and head to Singapore for the unique party atmosphere of the night race. Tempting, but in all seriousness I would advise them to consider Spa, a place that is absolutely unique in F1 terms.

Of the circuits used today only four can trace their history back to 1950, and one of those – Silverstone – was only a few years old. The others – Monte Carlo, Spa Francorchamps and Monza – are all survivors from the 1920’s. Monza is a tremendous experience, Monaco like nothing else, but Spa is a racing circuit, a pure and dedicated cathedral to speed. Watching on television does not convey the gradient changes – try walking down from La Source to Eau Rouge then up the hill, and you realise just how steep it is – and nor does it give you a true picture of the beauty of the setting. It’s not a place to go for guaranteed sun, but it’s definitely a place where you can watch the greatest drivers in the world on the greatest remaining F1 racing circuit.

There is something about Spa Francorchamps that makes it stand out from the crowd; the modern Tilke-dromes, anodyne and stripped of all character, ensconced in clearly defined parameters and owing nothing to nature, are a necessary evil in the name of safety - that we accept. However, Spa is still there, providing great races, and as safe as any circuit. Spa Francorchamps shows how it can be done – indeed, how it should be done. It’s a throwback to a different time, a time when fearless young men wrestled powerful, heavy beasts around the road circuits of Europe, a time when Grand Prix racing was a long way from becoming a corporate entity. Spa stands proud as the last bastion of the old guard, a jewel in the crown of F1, a magnificent place where the ghosts of the past lurk, constant reminders of times gone by.

Article written by Steve Turnbull