© Getty ImagesCircuit Scout: Spa-FrancorchampsAlex Albon reviews one of the paddock’s best-loved tracks.
Ifthere’sonecircuitthatneedsnointroduction,it’sSpa-Francorchamps,butaswe’rehere,we’regoingtowriteoneanyway!
Spa has been a regular fixture since the championship’s inaugural season. Although it’s not hosted a race every year it has been the mainstay in Belgium since 1985. Over the years, like many classic tracks, it’s had a few iterations and changes to the circuit as cars and safety standards have improved.
The current layout that we’ll be racing on this Sunday features 19 corners, over 7.004kms of track for 44 laps. The total race distance is 308.052km and the current lap record was set by Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas in 2018 with a time of 1:46.286.
Circuit Scout: Spa-Francorchamps© @sou_draws
Fresh from the summer break, we sat down with Red Bull Racing Honda’s Test and Reserve Driver Alex Albon to take us through a lap of Spa and tell us what he thinks of this iconic location.
“This is a favourite track amongst drivers,” said Alex. “And is Max’s favourite track. There’s not been many juicy, historic things happen here over recent years though. What stands out is turns five and six with Lewis and Nico – but we’re Gen-Z now and we don’t think of those things,” he jokes.
Spa has the biggest elevation change of any circuit on the calendar and even though that can cause cars downforce issues, it also hurts the teams when they go out for their evening exercise at the track. “Running this, I can tell you from experience, is a killer! It’s not one of the best circuits to do your track runs on,” Alex explained, before saying his go to treat might be the reason he needs to run the circuit. “They love a mayonnaise and curry sauce combo on the pomme frites – it’s pretty good and you don’t get that anywhere else.”
With the introduction done, it’s time for Alex to take us on a lap of Spa…
On the current 2021 calendar, Spa has the longest lap and it is a high-energy and quick circuit, so Alex explains that you want to: “Have the tyres as cold as possible at the start for the best lap time.” He goes on to add: “This makes turn one an absolute nightmare, it can be super slippery and there are often crashes there, Max had one in 2019 with Kimi Räikkönen, and it was turn one where Grosjean took out nearly the entire pack and received a race ban.”
Max Makes Contact At Turn One© Vladimir Rys
After turn one, you hit the DRS detection zone before heading into turns two, three and four. “It’s known as Eau Rouge and Raidillon, and is a very simple set of turns, but you need to drive smoothly as it minimises drag and gains lap time.”
After the Kemmel Straight you come up to the next set of turns and this is where the action happens. “It’s a great overtaking spot,” explained Alex. “It’s a really well-made corner because there are so many ways you can overtake. You can overtake on the inside at turn five, but you can also overtake on the outside of turn five and it gives you the inside line for the corner at turn six. This set of corners offers a lot of options. But then you head down hill and come to turn eight, there is a lot of understeer here, which makes it a frustrating corner to drive.”
Alex Navigates The Track© Getty Images
After coming out of turn nine you can hit the next two turns flat out – some of the time. “The track is so high-speed that with the right downforce you could make turns 10 and 11 flat, but that’s not necessarily the fastest way to get round the whole circuit, so sometimes it’s flat and sometimes it’s not. If you can make it flat it’s a nice feeling, but requires big balls to do it,” said Alex. You then head to two more high-speed corners. “Turns 12 and 13 are really good and enjoyable, every driver loves a high-speed corner, but you have to be precise.”
Alex has had nothing but praise for Spa, until it comes to the last two corners of the track. “Turns 18 and 19 are great overtaking spots and it’s also possible to overtake on the outside at turn 18 and get the inside line for turn 19, but these two corners are my only criticism of the track and that is because when compared to the rest of the circuit, it feels so slow,” Alex said.
Those last two corners ruin the flow for Alex, and it’s represented in his final score. “The track would be 10/10, but because of the way turns 18 and 19 change the entire track I have to drop it one point. So, if Spa want to revaluate the last corner it will get my seal of approval and get the prestigious Alex Albon 10 out of 10!” he jokes.
Alex Albon Trackside© Vladimir Rys
