© Vladimir Rys

Big In Belgium: Our Top 5 Spa MomentsSpa-Francorchamps is the ultimate old-school F1 track. Apart from perhaps Monza, there’s nowhere else on the calendar that harks back to the golden age of grand prix racing.

It does the things proper F1 circuits do: there’s a left-right kink taken almost flat and in which the compression is such that you expect a driver to emerge a centimetre shorter at the end of a race; there’s a massive straight that disappears into the forest; there’s a sweeping, tricky downhill section, and there’s a frighteningly fast left-hander that takes courage and commitment to take at full tilt. It’s got trees, hills, mists and mystique. It really is the daddy of Formula 1 tracks.

And as such it tends to only reward the bravest and best teams and drivers. Michael Schumacher won the Belgian Grand Prix six times. Ayrton Senna was on the top step on five occasions and from Jim Clark to Juan Manuel Fangio to Emerson Fittipaldi to Niki Lauda and Alain Prost, the list of repeats winners at Spa reads like a who’s-who of grand prix greats.

We’d like to think we’ve also played a part in the legend of Spa-Francorchamps too, as over the years we’ve forged a few of our own highlights at the Ardennes track. Here are our favourite five…

Alex Shines in Spa Debut© Vladimir Rys

2019–Alex’sTeamDebut

Announced as our driver during the August break last year, didn’t have much time to prepare for his debut race with the Team at Spa but he demonstrated he definitely had the right stuff with a debut to remember.

With the team electing to fit his car with a new engine Alex was relegated to the back of the grid after qualifying but in the race he put in a brilliant, battling performance to rise from 17th on the grid to P5 at the flag.

“In the first stint I struggled with grip in the dirty air and couldn't overtake anyone,” he said. “But once we pitted for the soft tyres, the car came alive and I was like – now we can do something! The last lap was really good, I had a good fight with Sergio and it made for some good racing.”

Good racing is an understatement. Desperate to get past the Mexican in the closing stages Alex got close and tucked into the racing Point’s slipstream on the way through Eau Rouge. He made his move on the long Kemmel Straight, but Perez drifted across the track to close the door. Alex stuck to his guns and with both right-side wheels off track and churning up grass and dirt he kept his nerve and made the move stick.

2018-Max'sHomePodium

In front of an army of jubilant Dutch fans, Max scored his first ‘home grand prix’ podium finish in 2018 with a superb drive to third place that was largely set up at the start.

A tricky qualifying session left Max seventh on the grid but at the start all hell broke loose on the run to La Source. Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg outbraked himself and slammed into the back of Fernando Alonso’s McLaren, which became airborne. In the chaos that ensued Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen collided and the safety car was released. He soon managed to pass the Force Indias of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez at Les Combes and settled into a well-managed race to a lonely third place. It was the 16th of his career and the Team’s 10th at Spa.

Max Crosses The Line In P3© Vladimir Rys

2014-Daniel'sSpaShoey

Sometimes you get handed and opportunity in a race and in the words of Daniel Ricciardo all you then have to do is ‘lick the stamp and send it’.

At the start of the 2018 race Mercedes Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, involved in an increasingly bitter title fight, collided while tussling for the lead.

And who was there to mop up – none other than smiling assassin Ricciardo.

The Aussie took the race by scruff of the neck and stormed into an unassailable lead as Rosberg battled back to second from the rear of the field. In the closing stages Daniel had to carefully manage his tyres and the gap back to a hard-charging Rosberg but he took the win with style and celebrated with another trademark shoey. “We had some really good pace and surprised ourselves. It feels a bit surreal, but another win is very cool – very cool,” he said.

Daniel Sprays Some Spa Champagne© Getty Images

2013-Sebastian'sSecondWinInSpa

Sebastian’s second career win in Belgium probably remains his best at the circuit.

On Saturday, the Red Bulls had been bested by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton but while Vettel and teammate Mark Webber were forced to settle for P2 and P3 respectively the pair knew from Friday running that their race pace was the match of the Mercedes.

It still required one of them to get past Hamilton, however, and on Sunday it was Vettel who managed it. The German pulled off a great move on the run to Les Combes on the opening lap (not easy as the RB9 was by far not the quickest car through the speed trap at the end of the Kemmel Straight) and the rest is history. With free air to race into, Seb managed the race to perfection to claim the Team’s 50th win.

Seb Stands On The Top Step© Getty Images

2011-FirstTripToTheBelgianTopStop

Up until this year Seb’s luck hadn’t been the best at Spa. He dropped out with steering issues in his first attempt in 2007 and then finished fifth, third and 15th over the following three years – the last being a race in which he seemed keen on banging wheels with every driver on the track as he battled to come back from following early troubles.

He put all of it behind him the following year, however. On Saturday he nailed his ninth career pole with aplomb but in pursuit of more grip in the session the Team opted for an extreme camber angle and this caused excessive blistering. For the race the Team was told to operate within a margin and after the start Vettel said the opening phase of the race was “more research and science than racing.” The R&D didn’t hurt his race however and Seb then drove a flawless race to convert a brave strategy that included an early stop and also to make great passes round the outside on Rosberg and Fernando Alonso.

Seb On His Way To Victory© Getty Images