Belgian Grand Prix: Memorable Moments

Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull Racing drives on his way to winning the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of Spa Francorchamps on August 28, 2011. (Getty Images)

Spa Francorchamps is a seven kilometre marvel that comprises of some of the most challenging corners and runs through the Ardennes forest. And as if that wasn’t enough, the generally wet weather ensures that the Belgian Grand Prix is one of the most memorable events on the Formula One calendar.

Spa has been host to the Belgian Grand Prix since the inception of the World Championship in 1950 (but the track hosted races since 1921). As time passed and the cars improved, Spa became one of the two most feared tracks on the calendar – the other being the old Nurburgring in Germany.

With “sex being safe and motorsport being dangerous” in those early years, accidents were bound to happen and Spa, unfortunately, had more than its fair share. Things turned ugly when a drivers’ boycott led to the 1969 edition being called off due to poor safety standards.

As the iconic Spa was revamped, it is these riveting incidents (listed below), which have defined the Belgian Grand Prix down the years:

2008 Belgian GP: Kimi Raikkonen or Lewis Hamilton: Who weathered the storm?

An unusually dry afternoon for most of the race, it started to pour during the final few laps. Most drivers were caught out by the slippery tarmac, and Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton were among the lot who did.

What made the situation even more enthralling was both were fighting for the lead on the penultimate lap in sectors two and three. First, Raikkonen lost control behind Hamilton and ran wide at Pouhon but he didn’t lose much ground as then Hamilton ran wide, trying to pass a backmarker.

That gave the Finn the lead but it didn’t last long as at the very next corner the rear stuck out, and he spun. It was advantage Hamilton again and it stayed that way till the end (until the ludicrous penalty) because Raikkonen ran wide (again) – this time in the Blanchimont section – spun and aquaplaned into the barriers.

2000 Belgian GP: Hakkinen-Zonta-Schumacher

It has been labelled as the best overtaking manoeuvre of all-time.

Getting a perfect tow from Michael Schumacher ahead of him out of Eau Rouge, Mika Hakkinen stunned everybody by passing his arch-rival while lapping a backmarker. Ricardo Zonta was left helpless as the two championship contenders whizzed past either side of him.

Here’s how it was done:

Rain! Rain! Rain!

Believe it or not, 20 consecutive Grand Prix weekends at Spa have seen the weather gods play spoilsport. Imagine what kind of a challenge the drivers had to face on the old 14 km monster.

Rainbows form over the track following qualifying for the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix at the Circuit of Spa Francorchamps on August 27, 2011 . (Getty Images)

1982 Belgian GP: Adieu Gilles

Formula 1 didn’t become a relatively safe sport until after Ayrton Senna‘s accident. Even after shifting the race from the dangerous Spa-Francorchamps to a low risk track like Zolder, accidents didn’t stop and in 1982 claimed the life of one of the best drivers ever – Gilles Villeneuve – during qualifying.

Legend has it that Gilles was hell-bent on beating the lap time of teammate Didier Pironi after the unfair treatment he received at San Marino earlier that year. Whatever the case, we lost a fascinating prospect just due to poor safety standards.

1966 Belgian GP: Jackie Stewart’s crusade for safety

Jackie Stewart suffered the worst accident of his career at Spa in 1966. As his car overturned, he was unable to pull himself out from under the burning car. Had it not been for teammate Graham Hill and Bob Bondurant, Stewart would have surely lost his life.

From there on, Stewart turned his attention towards improving safety in the sport and led the contingent of drivers against the organising authorities. On many occasions, he and his team had threatened to boycott a race but somehow the situation was brought under control until the 1969 Belgian Grand Prix where Stewart finally had his way.

Things didn’t improve dramatically very soon but Stewart’s determination combined with the governing body learning lessons from further fatal accidents of Jochen Rindt, Piers Courage, Francois Cevert, Ronnie Peterson, Tom Pryce and many others gave rise to a series of reforms, which has made what F1 is today in terms of safety.

1960 Belgian GP: Darkest weekend in the history of F1

Many would consider the 1994 San Marino weekend to be the worst but there was one at Spa, which beats that. During the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix weekend, two drivers – Chris Bristow and Alan Stacey – were killed during the race.

One can only imagine Jim Clark’s state of mind when he had to swerve more than once to avoid Bristow’s headless body lying in the middle of the track. Not only that, Stirling Moss and Mike Taylor crashed heavily during the weekend and suffered serious injuries.

Masta Kink

No discussion about the history of Spa-Francorchamps is ever complete without the mention of Masta Kink. Now, Eau Rouge is considered to be one of the most challenging corners but it pales out when compared to the Masta Kink on the old Spa circuit.

It was basically a quick left right with farmhouses either side of the track and very close to it. One mistake, and bam, one crashes into one of the houses.

In those days, the drivers used to take the corner at over 150 mph; nowadays Eau Rouge is taken at that speed but with four layers of fireproof clothing and a full-faced helmet made out of bulletproof material in a car with so much downforce that it is capable of running upside down inside the Monaco tunnel.

Compare that to the 50′s when the drivers basically sat inside a ‘tub’ with just a t-shirt, goggles and a basic helmet to protect them and preferred to jump out of their cars rather than being strapped inside when an accident seemed inevitable.

Think that’s enough daredevilism? Famous F1 journalist Denis Jenkinson used to be seated inside one of those farmhouses near the Masta Kink because he thought it would be the best position to analyse the driving styles of various drivers.

The Belgian Grand Prix is one of the oldest and revered on the calendar along with the British and Italian Grand Prix’s and we hope that Bernie Ecclestone – or his successor – would be sensible enough to keep the race on the calendar.

Everybody would agree that most of the new races outside Europe don’t have the required atmosphere and therefore it would be good for the sport to return to its homeland.