Aerial view of Eau Rouge and Raidillon at Spa-Francorchamps surrounded by misty forest.

17 July 2026

Why Spa was F1®'s most feared track.

The Spa-Francorchamps that Audi Revolut F1® Team races on for the first time this weekend is very different to the circuit that first earned the Belgian Grand Prix its fearsome reputation.

Since first being used for racing in the summer of 1921, Spa-Francorchamps has tested drivers in a way that very few other circuits can claim to have done. Nestled within the Ardennes forest, in the region of Wallonia, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps was once a sprawling, 14km-long triangular-shaped track which made use of public roads linking Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot.

The original Spa circuit was not for the faint-hearted. Decades of demanding bravery and precision from every driver willing to take on its challenge built its reputation. Grand Prix entry lists for the Belgian race during Formula 1®'s formative years were much smaller than those for other World Championship events as a result.

While it remains one of the greatest circuits on the F1® calendar, the sport's evolution towards greater safety has shaped the Spa-Francorchamps that Audi Revolut F1® Team will race on this weekend. Despite decades of redevelopment, it remains one of Formula 1®'s toughest tests of confidence, compromise and teamwork.

Sunrise aerial view of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps surrounded by mist-covered forests and rolling hills.

The villages of the Ardennes.

In the early 1920s, two Belgians – a newspaper owner and a racing driver – joined forces to build an enormous racing track, using long, sweeping public roads that linked the neighbouring areas of the Wallonia region. Even by the standards of circuits on the early Grand Prix racing scene, Spa-Francorchamps stood apart. It was one of the fastest European road courses, with massive elevation changes at high speeds branching through expansive forest scenery. It was not a permanent racing facility. Instead, it stitched together three villages using ordinary public roads.

Belgian countryside with open fields, rolling hills, and a distant wind turbine.

Francorchamps:

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps' start/finish straight has always been in the village of Francorchamps, though the start line did not move to its current position until 1983. What is now the first corner was once the last. This section combined the legendary Raidillon hill with a series of fast kinks that redevelopment later straightened into today's Kemmel Straight.

Alt: Historic town square with a stone fountain, colorful buildings, and a church with twin towers under a clear sky.

Malmedy:

Bypassing the current track after the Les Combes chicane, drivers used to turn left instead and head west towards Malmedy. The Masta and Hollowell Straights stretched for almost 5km between Malmedy and Stavelot, linked by the brutal Masta Kink.

Alt: Red historic building with an archaeological site in the foreground and a colorful sculpture standing on a paved walkway.

Stavelot:

The Stavelot area is now home to the official Spa Francorchamps museum, where F1® fans can learn more about the track's illustrious history. After the Stavelot turn – one of the few slow-speed sections of the mammoth track – the drivers headed south back towards the Blanchimont area of the current circuit, which remained open to public traffic until the early 2000s.

Historic Formula 1 race car driving through a village street near the Belgian Grand Prix circuit.

Why drivers feared Spa.

The legendary Masta Kink, a long-lost fearsome double bend which required flat-out commitment with little to no margin for error, was one of the defining features of Spa's original layout. It captured everything drivers loved about the track, and everything they feared. Jackie Stewart once referred to the Masta Kink as "by far the most difficult corner in the world".

Spa's biggest challenge was its relentless nature, where the flat-out turns required commitment or else seconds of lap time would be lost.

The old Spa circuit existed in a time where safety was not paramount. There was little to protect the drivers as they hurtled through the Ardennes at terrifying speeds. Beyond the occasional hay bale, there was little to distinguish the circuit from the roads locals drove on daily. Trees, houses, ditches and telegraph poles lined many sections of the makeshift track, all hazardous without safety barriers.

Scenic country road through the Ardennes landscape leading toward Spa-Francorchamps.

Trackside barriers and fencing overlooking a corner of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

The area's notoriously changeable weather added another layer of risk.

In the 1966 Belgian Grand Prix, Stewart himself fell victim to the Masta Kink, when he exited the road at high speed and hit a telegraph pole, breaking his collarbone. The Scotsman ended up stranded upside down in a ditch, fuel spilling into the cockpit. Because of the circuit's enormous length and the limited medical presence around the track, fellow drivers had to help Stewart escape the wreckage.

Yet Stewart was lucky. Unlike a growing number of drivers as the 1960s progressed, he survived. A series of fatalities and other serious incidents left the majority of drivers convinced that the situation at Spa had become untenable.

Low-angle trackside view of Spa-Francorchamps curbing with grandstands in the background.

A boycott that changed Formula 1®.

Stewart's experience was a defining moment in Formula 1®'s growing campaign for improved safety, a campaign which continues to this day. His 1966 crash was one of the factors which established Stewart as Formula 1®'s leading advocate for improved safety.

Drivers boycotted the 1969 Belgian Grand Prix, with Stewart leading the uprising. Circuit owners could not complete the safety work competitors had deemed necessary in time for the event, and teams withdrew, cancelling the race.

F1® returned the following year. A temporary chicane and rudimentary barriers satisfied the drivers' demands. However, that would be the final Belgian Grand Prix on the original Spa circuit. The event moved to other tracks, leaving the legacy of Spa's original layout a chapter in the history books. Spa had to change.

Track-level view of a sweeping section of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps with barriers and surrounding forest.

How safety changed Spa.

This marked a turning point, with safety now central to the sport. F1® returned to the Ardennes forest in 1983, 13 years after it had last raced there, on a much safer, shorter and redeveloped iteration of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

The reimagined Spa carefully retained much of what made its predecessor revered. Corners like Eau Rouge, Blanchimont and the newly created Pouhon preserved its character and flow, while the removal of extensive public road sections set the circuit up for continued evolution alongside Formula 1®.

Curving section of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit with colorful curbs winding through the landscape.

Close-up of a Formula 1 racing slick tire showing worn rubber and yellow sidewall markings.

Modern Formula 1® continues to apply the lessons of its own history, and of other racing series. Tragic incidents within the last decade have prompted further refinements to Spa's layout: re-aligned tyre barriers now stop cars bouncing back onto the racing line through blind crests, and expanded gravel traps slow cars in trouble more effectively.

Spa's reputation endures. Precision and commitment remain essential, even as the circuit continues to evolve. The cars are faster and the safety standards far higher, but Spa still rewards the same qualities it always has. This weekend, Audi Revolut F1® Team races there for the first time.

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