Formula 1 arrived at one of their most iconic racetracks, mighty Spa-Francorchamps! A Sprint weekend before the summer break…

THE AREA

The circuit is situated in Stavelot, a town and municipality in Wallonia, located in the province of Liège, Belgium.

Stavelot's origins trace back to the founding of the Abbey of Stavelot around 650 AD by Saint Remaclus (Saint Remacle). It emerged from a former villa, occupying the borderland between the bishoprics of Cologne and Tongeren.

Historically, Stavelot was the seat of the Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy, a small independent region within the Holy Roman Empire, governed by the abbots of Stavelot. The principality ceased to exist in 1795 during the French Revolution. Following the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Stavelot became part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, while Malmedy was incorporated into the Prussian Rhineland. In 1830, Stavelot became part of Belgium, with Malmedy joining later in 1919.

During the industrial revolution, Wallonia ranked second only to the United Kingdom in industrialization, capitalizing on its abundant coal and iron deposits.

As for the Liège Province, it stands as the only Belgian province sharing borders with three countries: the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg. The capital and largest city of the province is Liège itself. Nearby, the city of Spa attracts numerous tourists as one of Belgium's most popular destinations, renowned for its natural mineral springs and the production of "Spa" mineral water, which is exported worldwide. Spa is situated just south of the nearby village of Francorchamps.

In 2021, Spa was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

THE CIRCUIT

The Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps is nestled within the picturesque Ardennes Forest and, contrary to its name, it is not located in Spa itself. Instead, it lies in the vicinity of the town of Francorchamps, within the boundaries of the municipality of Stavelot, with a section also falling within the boundaries of Malmedy. Over the course of its history, the circuit has undergone several redesigns, with the most significant taking place in 1979. During this modification, the track was shortened from a 14.100 km (8.761 mi) circuit, which utilized public roads, to a 6.947 km (4.317 mi) permanent circuit. The primary reason for this transformation was to address safety concerns related to the old circuit.

The original circuit was initially conceived in 1920 by Jules de Thier and Henri Langlois van Ophem. It utilized public roads to link the Belgian towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy, and Stavelot. The circuit's inaugural race, scheduled for August 1921, was unfortunately canceled due to the participation of only one driver. However, the first car race at the circuit took place in 1922, and in 1924, the renowned 24 Hours of Francorchamps race was first run. Grand Prix racing commenced at the circuit in 1925.

A notable feature of the original circuit was the Masta Kink, regarded by Jackie Stewart as "by far the most difficult corner in the world." Negotiating the Masta Kink demanded a combination of skill and courage, as cars raced at top speeds after a long run from Malmedy. The Kink involved a high-speed left-right chicane, and a good exit speed was crucial, as it led into another long straight run towards Stavelot. Positioned in the middle of two unbroken straights, each approximately 1.5 km (2.4 km) long, this corner posed great danger and excitement. Speeds in this section could reach a breathtaking 310 km/h (190 mph). However, due to safety concerns, the Masta Kink was removed from Formula 1 racing after the 1970 season.

A total of eighteen Formula One World Championship Grands Prix were held on the original configuration of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, which, however, faced a boycott by F1 in 1969.

Throughout its history, the Spa-Francorchamps course has undergone various modifications. In 1939, the "Virage de l'Ancienne Douane" corner was eliminated and cut short, resulting in the creation of the iconic Eau Rouge/Raidillon uphill sweeping corners. Nevertheless, the most significant alteration occurred in 1979 when the circuit was shortened from its original length of 14.100 km (8.761 mi) to 6.947 km (4.317 mi). In 1981, the start/finish line was relocated from the downhill straight before Eau Rouge to the straight before the La Source hairpin.

One of the noteworthy features retained both in the old 14.100 km (8.761 mi) circuit and the newer 7.004 km (4.352 mi) track, is the Blanchimont high-speed left-hand turn. This turn marks the final sweeping corner before the chicane, which leads to the pit straight.

In a tribute to the Belgian racing driver Jacky Ickx, turn 11 of the circuit was named the "Jacky Ickx corner" starting from the 2018 Belgian Grand Prix.

Among the most famous series of corners at Spa-Francorchamps is the challenging Eau Rouge/Raidillon combination. Regretfully, is has been the scene of multiple accidents over time. Notably, in 2019, a fatal crash occurred involving Formula 2 driver Anthoine Hubert, and more recently, on July 1, 2023, another fatal accident took place involving Formula Regional European Championship driver Dilano Van 't Hoff.

The weekend started with the news that Max Verstappen was to take a Five-Place grid penalty on Sunday’s Grand Prix as Red Bull changed his gearbox.

FRIDAY

It was wet… very wet.

FP1 was extra important as the teams and drivers worked on the set-up of their respective cars before qualifying and both races (Sprint and Grand Prix).

FP1

With the weather gods playing a part, the first and only practice session got underway. As much as this session was the only practice time the teams would have the whole weekend, only six drivers had set timed laps during the first ten minutes of the session. Full wets were the tire of choice, as there was so much water on the track, and it was raining as well.

Every team had the logical pressure to test the cars and track, but perhaps Mercedes and Alpine were the ones pressured the most, as Mercedes brought new sidepods, a new rear wing, and revised floor edges, and Alpine, a new floor. Both in need of data to understand their respective new parts.

With approximately half the time remaining in FP1, the FIA made the decision to Red Flag the session due to several cars, notably, Logan Sargeant's Williams, going off track and leaving his car stranded at Les Combes.

Following the conclusion of the sole practice hour for the weekend, Carlos Sainz set the pace with a time of 2:03.207, securing the fastest lap in the shortened FP1 session. Behind him, Piastri, Norris, Leclerc, and Perez also displayed strong performances, rounding out the top five positions on the time sheets.

QUALIFYING

Just before the qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps, it was confirmed that Otmar Szafnauer, Alan Permane, and Pat Fry were to leave the Alpine team immediately after the Belgian Grand Prix. Bruno Famin was appointed as the Interim Team Principal in their absence. Additionally, it was revealed that Pat Fry had been approached by Williams Racing a few months ago, and starting from November 1, 2023, he will take on the role of their Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

As the blue sky began to emerge, Race Control made an announcement that the qualifying session would be delayed by 10 minutes, commencing at 5:10 PM local time.

A reminder, Q1 is eighteen minutes long, Q2, fifteen minutes, and Q1, twelve minutes.

Q1

Even though it wasn’t raining anymore, the threat of rain was there, the track was very wet, and with as little running during FP1, these first 18 minutes proved to be crucial for everyone.

On a drying track, and in the final stages of Q1, track position proved key, as Charles Leclerc did the fastest lap, a 1:58.300.

Alex Albon, Zhou Guanyu, Logan Sargeant, Daniel Ricciardo - whose best lap was nullified due to exceeding track limits - and Nico Hulkenberg found themselves struggling on the other end of the table.

Q2

The track evolution proved to be immense, with lap times continuously plummeting, all while the lingering presence of rain added an extra layer of suspense… And WOW… what thrilling last laps!

In the end, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas, and Esteban Ocon got eliminated from the session. At the front of the pack, Piastri showcased impressive speed and secured the top spot, closely followed by Sainz and Leclerc. Surprisingly, Verstappen could only manage tenth best!

Q3

And then there were ten… Q3 was delayed a bit as the marshals went to sweep some gravel up on track.

WOW, WOW, WOW! What a FANTASTIC Q3! In the end, it was Max Verstappen the fastest… A shocker, yeah, right… But behind him, it was Charles Leclerc getting second place, but inherited Pole once Verstappen’s 5-place grid penalty was applied. Then came Sergio Perez in the other Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes, Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris from McLaren, George Russell, in the other Mercedes, and both Aston Martin of Fernando Alonso, and Lance Stroll.

Kevin Magnussen received a 3-place grid penalty for the race on Sunday for unnecessarily impeding Car 16 (Leclerc) from T11 to T15.

SATURDAY

Ah, the picturesque Ardennes Forest, picture perfect! but there is a reason why it is so lush and green… Water… Lots of water… And true to its nature, it started raining before the Sprint Shootout.

By the way, the Sprint Shootout follows the same three-session knockout format as usual qualifying, but each Q1, Q2, and Q3 segment has been shortened to address engine and tire concerns the teams had:

•           SQ1 has been shortened from 18 minutes to 12 minutes.

•           SQ2 has been shortened from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.

•           SQ3 has been shortened from 12 minutes to 8 minutes.

The top eight finishers of the Sprint race get 36 points, distributed as such: the winner gets eight points, second place, seven points, and this continues descending down to one point for eighth place.

SPRINT SHOOTOUT

Unsurprisingly, the start of the shootout was delayed as the track was just too wet for safe racing. At various points along the circuit, small rivers had formed, further highlighting the challenge posed by the abundant water presence on the track.

SQ1

By the time SQ1 started, it wasn’t raining, and the track was drying up, hence track evolution was mighty, and those ready to take the risk at the end would possibly end up with the fastest times.

As expected, the track evolved quickly, and it was Max Verstappen on top. Eliminated were Yuki Tsunoda, Valtteri Bottas, Kevin Magnussen, Zhou Guanyu, and Nico Hulkenberg - who wasn’t able to set a timed lap as Haas sent him with not enough time to get to the line on time.

SQ2

The Sun showed its face for the first time in the day, but the ten-minute session started in a similar way as SQ1, with everyone on intermediate tires.

In the final three minutes, Lance Stroll gambled on medium slick tires, but ended up in the barriers at Turn 8, bringing out the red flag with just 29 seconds left on the clock. This hurt Albon, Sargeant, and Alonso, neither of them was able to set a lap time.

As the session was not resumed, and regretfully, Daniel Ricciardo, Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, Lance Stroll, and Fernando Alonso did not proceed into the next phase of the competition. Verstappen was the fastest BTW…

SQ3

The top ten had just eight minutes to set the fastest lap they could, but with a fast-drying track, and such a short amount of time, everyone came out rather early on the soft compound slicks.

In a thrilling showdown, Max Verstappen managed to snatch pole position by a razor-thin margin of just 11/1000 of a second, narrowly surpassing the blisteringly quick Oscar Piastri. The Ferraris of Carlos Sainz, trailing by a mere 0.025 seconds, and Charles Leclerc, 0.195 seconds adrift, secured strong positions in the starting grid.

Behind them, Lando Norris, Pierre Gasly, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez, Esteban Ocon, and George Russell, formed an impressive lineup for the upcoming race. The stage was set for an intense battle on the track, where every fraction of a second would count in determining the victor.

SPRINT

Thirty minutes before the start of the Sprint, which was already delayed 35 minutes because of the delayed shootout, cars took to the grid. But since it started raining quite heavily just a few minutes before the established start time, it was delayed yet again.

Finally, the Sun came out, and it was announced that the race was to start at 5:35 PM local time, albeit behind the safety car, that meant everyone had to start on full wets (blue sidewall).

The formation lap started but instead of a 15-lap mad dash for points and glory, the Sprint was shortened to 12 Laps. Then, the FIA decided to continue with the safety car, and the race was shortened yet again to 11 Laps. It was all about visibility rather than standing water…

Finally, the race started, and it was a rolling start. Half the field pitted for inters. And after three laps, it was Piastri leading from Verstappen! Gasly, Perez, and Hamilton just behind them.

Then, Alonso made a mistake and went out and onto the gravel at Turn 11… Safety car came out.

Racing resumed and Verstappen was informed that Piastri was struggling with a tire. A few laps later Verstappen retook the lead. Then, Hamilton crashed into Perez while trying to overtake him. He was later handed a 5-second penalty. Perez’s RB19 was damaged by the contact, and it was retired from the Sprint on Lap 8.

Unsurprisingly, Max Verstappen, in the country of his birth, won the Sprint race. An impressive Oscar Piastri finished P2, and Pierre Gasly was third for Alpine. And after Hamilton penalty was applied, the final order was the Ferraris of Sainz and Leclerc, Norris, Hamilton, and Russell, the top eight.

SUNDAY

Even though it rained during the Porsche race earlier, it wasn’t ’t raining, but it was cloudy and a bit chilly. The biggest challenge for the drivers and teams was the little data gathered in dry conditions… There were a lot of unknowns for this race…

The race started with Leclerc keeping his leading place, while Perez defended his own from Hamilton. By the time Hamilton reached La Source, he had Sainz to his right, and an overly enthusiastic Piastri saw an always narrowing gap but three into one doesn't go, Piastri and Sainz came together, both cars sustaining damage. Piastri retired on the same opening lap.

Up ahead, and on the same Lap 1/44, Perez drove past Leclerc at the end of the Kemmel straight, taking the lead of the Grand Prix.

By Lap 4/44, Perez was ahead by two seconds, behind him, it was Leclerc defending from Hamilton, who in turn had Verstappen on his tail. Alonso was fifth, having passed the damaged Ferrari of Sainz.

By Lap 6/44, Verstappen, having cleared Hamilton, begun pursuing Leclerc. A lap later, Verstappen set the fastest lap of the race so far and was within a second of Leclerc. A couple of laps later, Sainz had dropped to tenth and went into the pits for a set of mediums.

By Lap 17/44 Verstappen finally overtook Perez to take the lead of the Grand Prix.

Sainz finally retired his Ferrari on Lap 23/44.

Having Hamilton realized he was not going to be able to challenger Leclerc for third, two laps from the end, he pitted for a new set of medium tires, and on the last lap, he set the fastest lap of the Grand Prix, getting an additional point to his 12 points for fourth place.

Aston Martin secured fifth place with Alonso and ninth place with Stroll. Then came George Russell in the other Mercedes. Initially, Lando Norris lost several positions, but a timely switch to soft tires as light rain started falling proved to be the right call, leading to a commendable seventh-place finish. Esteban Ocon and Yuki Tsunoda completed the points by securing eighth and tenth places for Alpine and AlphaTauri respectively.

That was a thrilling and very entertaining race just before the Summer Break. Utter domination in a superlative drive by Red Bull’s Superstar Max Verstappen. Belgium was his 10th win of the season, with eight in a roll (consecutive). Max was also voted Driver of the Day by the F1.com fan

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