Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Spa, Belgium · On the current calendar
Seven kilometres through the Ardennes forest, and the circuit drivers name first when asked for a favourite.
Circuit layout
Race historySeven kilometres through the Ardennes forest, and the circuit drivers name first when asked for a favourite.
Circuit
- Circuit
- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
- Location
- Spa, Belgium
- Length
- 7.004 km
- Corners
- 20
- Race laps
- 44
- Race distance
- 308 km
- First GP
- 1950
- Opened
- 1925
- Grands Prix
- 59
Last winner here
Lap record
About Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Spa-Francorchamps is the longest circuit on the Formula 1 calendar and, by near-unanimous agreement among drivers, the best. It runs through the Ardennes forest on a layout that still traces the character of the original 15 km public-road course used until 1970, with more than 100 metres of elevation change between its lowest and highest points.
Eau Rouge and Raidillon are the reason for its reputation. The compression at the bottom of the hill loads the car with several times its own weight, and the blind crest at the top has to be taken on trust before the Kemmel Straight opens up. That straight is the circuit's principal overtaking zone, but the run through Pouhon, Stavelot and the Blanchimont left — a corner taken flat at over 300 km/h — matters just as much to a lap time.
Spa's other defining feature is its weather. The circuit is long enough that one end can be soaked while the other stays dry, and races here have been decided, shortened and occasionally abandoned because of it.
Notable facts
- The longest circuit on the current calendar at 7.004 km.
- Michael Schumacher made his Formula 1 debut here in 1991 and took the first of his 91 wins at the same circuit a year later.
- The 1998 Belgian Grand Prix opened with a 13-car pile-up on the run to Eau Rouge on the first lap.
- The original road course, used until 1970, measured almost 15 km and ran through the villages of Malmedy and Stavelot.
Grands Prix by decade
59 races, every decade from the 1950s to the 2020s.
Most wins — drivers
Most wins — constructors
Every Formula 1 winner at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
59 World Championship Grands Prix have been held here between 1950 and 2026.
