Ferrari view of Spa

Spa-Francorchamps: legendary challenge always new

Spa-Francorchamps, 27th August 2009 – The famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit, one of the temples of motorsport, is the oldest and most fascinating track in the history of racing. The Belgian track, situated in the Ardennes, was inaugurated in the 1920s. Back then it was around 14 km long and surrounded the towns Malmedy, Stavelot and Francorchamps. Already then it was a challenging circuit with long and very fast straights and the famous Eau Rouge, the uphill left-right-corner, which is still the most challenging corner of the whole championship.

After the Second World War the track started hosting Formula 1 races, but was extremely dangerous. Therefore at the end of the 1970s it was decided to build a new track with some part of the old circuit included, combined with new corners such as the Blanchimont or the Kemmel straight. In the year 1979 everything was ready for the Belgian GP after some years of its absence. In 1980 the double-chicane, the so-called Bus Stop, was introduced between the Blanchimont and La Source. In1983 the first Grand Prix after the modifications was held and after further smaller changes, the last ones in the year 2007, today the track is one of the most spectacular and exciting circuits on the race calendar. The most spectacular parts are the corners La Source, Eau Rouge, Malmedy, Rivage, Stavelot and Blanchimont.

Ferrari has won 15 times on this track - from Ascari in the year 1952 with the 500 F2 to last year with a victorious Massa with the F2008. Schumacher holds a personal best here on this track: he crossed the line first six times at Spa, four times with Ferrari.