Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Belgium

The Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium is the longest circuit used during the Formula One World Championship series. At 4.3 miles a lap, this circuit takes an F1 car nearly two minutes to complete, which is a long time in F1 terms. Because of the length of the circuit a complete race is only 44 laps.

This track is a great favourite of the drivers because of the fast, challenging corners, particularly the Eau Rouge corner, but there are some concerns over the high speeds and the overall safety of the track. This was emphasised with the very fast, terrifying crash of Luciano Burti in the 2001 race.

However, the vast majority of the drivers would not want to see any major changes made to the layout of the circuit as they relish the challenge. The cars travel at up to 205 mph, but it is the overall speed of nearly 150 mph that puts such demands on the cars and the drivers.

The cars are on full throttle for 63% of the circuit and the skill at this circuit is knowing which corners can be taken at full throttle and when the drivers need to “lift off”.

The circuit is an awesome track with wonderful scenery and a great atmosphere with some spectacular changes in gradient around the circuit. It is unusual for a Grand Prix circuit to have so many changes in gadient and this produces extra challenges for the drivers and the cars. There are quite a few places where drivers can overtake other cars, but they do need to be close behind the other car and the drivers do need to be positive and brave.

The teams never have the opportunity of testing on this circuit and the all of the set ups for the cars have to be determined during the practice sessions or from past information.

The big uncertainty at this circuit is the weather. The Ardennes are renown for having their own micro-climate and the weather can change very quickly and most years it rains at least once during the weekend. Because of the high speeds, when it

does rain visibility is a real problem when two cars are following closely behind each other. A lot of the teams pay a small fortune to try to obtain accurate weather forecasts and this information is very fiercely protected.

This circuit nearly always produces memorable races with some wonderful overtaking moves. The weather adds an element of unpredictability and when it rains during qualifying it can result in some very unusual line ups for the start.

The Spa circuit has a great reputation for racing and this is well deserved. This is a race not to be missed.