In Numbers: 10 Spa Statistics

Summer break is just around the corner, but before we can put our feet up for a few weeks, there’s the small matter of taking on Formula 1’s longest track, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

As we know all too well, the 19-turn course can throw up plenty of surprising results and with changeable weather the norm in the Ardennes Forest, who knows what might happen this weekend?

To get you in the mood, here are 10 statistics you need to know ahead of the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix.

George Russell returned Williams to the front row of the F1 grid with his qualifying performance in the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, and with the race only lasting for one solitary Safety Car lap, he scored our 312th podium finish since the establishment of Williams Grand Prix Engineering in 1977.

The Les Combes chicane at Turn 6 sits 470m above sea level, whilst Stavelot at Turn 15 is 373m - this swing of 97m is the highest elevation change on the calendar.

Damon Hill’s victory in the 1994 Belgian Grand Prix – the anniversary of which is this Sunday – is one of the oddest in F1 history as it was achieved without ever leading a lap of the race. Michael Schumacher was first across the finish line until being disqualified for a technical infringement, leaving Damon’s Williams as the first legal car to reach the chequered flag!

Spa 2021 set the F1 record for the shortest-ever Grand Prix with just a single lap completed, surpassing the 14-lap Australian GP of 1991. A Williams finished second on both occasions, with Russell’s P2 matching Nigel Mansell’s 1991 result.

The run from Turn 1 at La Source to the entry of Les Combes at Turn 5 is taken completely at full throttle, meaning drivers are on the loud pedal for at least 23 consecutive seconds.

The original 14-kilometre incarnation of Circuit Spa-Francorchamps was the fastest circuit in F1 history when it staged its final race in 1970, and to this day has only been surpassed by Monza.

At the first race on the modern, shorter Spa circuit in 1983, Keke Rosberg’s efforts to keep his non-turbo Williams in contact with the turbocharged frontrunners saw him beat all the other non-turbo competitors by 43 seconds!

Our first-ever podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps came in 1985, when up-and-coming British driver Nigel Mansell scored the best result of his F1 career in second place. It would not be his career-best for long, as he won the following two races with us, eventually claiming 28 wins with the team, more than any other driver.

Despite being much shorter than the original layout, modern day Spa-Francorchamps measures 7.004km in length, the longest circuit on the calendar. The next longest is the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, coming in at 6.201km.

In the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, Williams topped the charts through the speed trap, which is situated just after cresting Raidillon. Logan registered 323.1 km/h, whilst Alex was second with 320.4 km/h.