Belgian Grand Prix – Key Facts

The 2008 edition that eliminated Kimi Räikkönen from the battle for the world title

It’s Lewis Hamilton on McLaren-Mercedes starting in pole position. But from the second lap, he handed over the lead to the Finnish driver by spinning at La Source hairpin. For almost the entire race, nothing happened at the front.

On the 41st lap, rain makes its appearance and spices up the race. For two laps, Räikkönen and Hamilton will engage in a superb battle. It will end in the wall for the Finn who is less comfortable on this wet track than his English rival.

Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari watches the duel from afar and crosses the line in second place. He is finally declared the winner by default after Hamilton was penalized 25 seconds. The stewards decide that he gained an advantage by cutting the chicane during his duel with Ferrari No. 1, even though he returned the position to Räikkönen.

On the evening of the Grand Prix, we know that the fight for the title will be between Massa and Hamilton, with the outcome that we know at the end of the season.

In 2012, Romain Grosjean builds a reputation

The starting line is quite short at Spa before the first turn. But this first turn is the Source hairpin. The entry speed is therefore relatively low, but the cars are still close together, and the track is not very wide. Therefore, the moment of the start is often a crucial act in this Grand Prix.

In 2012, it’s the fiery French driver Romain Grosjean who animates this start. He takes off perfectly, but quickly takes up the entire width of the track by veering to the right against Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren. The latter becomes a passenger in his car, which catches the rear wing of the Frenchman’s Lotus.

These two single-seaters in distress then dangerously collide with Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari and Sergio Perez’s Sauber. No harm to the drivers, but the single-seaters are completely destroyed.

This accident will earn Romain Grosjean a one-race suspension at the next Grand Prix, the Italian one.

In 2019, Charles Leclerc wins his first victory thanks to a team strategy.

Upon returning from the summer break, the Ferraris are transformed. The red cars have managed to increase the power of their engine, allowing them to clinch pole position on this Belgian track. In fact, Charles Leclerc delivers a remarkable performance here by dominating the rest of the field in all the Q1, Q2, Q3, FP3, and FP2 sessions. The only session where he missed out is FP1, where he is in second position behind his teammate Vettel.

In the race, his hegemony continues in three stages. He manages the start perfectly, but the safety car has to come out on track following the incident between Räikkönen and Verstappen. The Dutchman crashes his Red Bull into the tires at Eau Rouge.

In a second time, at the second start given behind the safety car, the Monegasque driver remains the leader. During this time, Sebastian Vettel changes strategy and takes advantage of passing his teammate during the pit stops. Leclerc is still faster, and Vettel is ordered to let his young teammate pass. Which he does without any reluctance.

For the third part, it is the team strategy that prevails. In the middle of the race, Lewis Hamilton comes back very strong on Vettel who manages to contain the attacks of the Englishman until the thirty-second lap. The strategy worked, Lewis Hamilton couldn’t get close enough to Leclerc to overtake him at the end of the race.

This is Charles Leclerc’s first F1 victory, just like a certain Michael Schumacher in 1992. Especially, it is doubly emotional for the young driver as he achieved it the day after the tragic accident of his childhood friend Anthoine Hubert. He dedicated his victory to him as soon as he got out of his car.