Belgian Grand Prix – Taking a Bath in Spa

Alan Stacey's car

Yesterday’s qualifying session for the Belgian Grand Prix resembled an episode of Whacky Races as the rain fell, and several drivers struggled to keep their car on the road. I confess as a viewer to enjoying a grand prix a lot more when there’s a splash of rain, because it invariably throws a cat among the pigeons and makes a race much more fun.

But perhaps that attitude betrays my complacency when it comes to the welfare of the drivers. I like to see the cars spinning off the track, but my brain doesn’t really compute the associated risks to the poor lads inside those cars. It’s 16 years since Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenburger were both killed in the same weekend at Imola – the last formula one casualties in a long roll call of young men who died whilst searching for more and more speed.

Certainly, the F1 authorities have become more and more safety conscious in the last two decades, and there is no doubt that a formula one car is now safer than at any time in history. Only a few weeks ago, Mark Webber’s Red Bull car took to the air at 150mph before flipping and smashing into a tyre wall. Unbelievably, Webber walked away from what was left of his car.

Because of the frequency with which drivers leap out their cars after they slam into the barriers, and because of the time that has passed since Senna’s death, we as viewers have perhaps become ignorant of the risks these drivers take every time they get into the cockpit.

This weekend’s grand prix is taking place at Spa which is, like Germany’s Nurburgring, one of those venerable European grand prix venues which can trace its lineage all the way back to the earliest days of motor racing. Fifty years ago, in 1960, when the circuit took a considerably longer route around the Ardennes forest, the race was the scene of four horrific crashes.

Stirling Moss

In practice on the Saturday, Stirling Moss had an accident at the Burneville sweep – a shallow corner which was taken at full speed – and broke both of his legs. Shortly afterwards, Mike Taylor – participating in only his second grand prix – was thrown from his car after the weld on his steering column failed leaving him unable to direct his Lotus away from the edge of the road. Flying into the forest, Taylor was left paralysed.

The following day, during the grand prix itself, Chris Bristow lost the racing line at Malmedy – part of the same long right hander where Moss had crashed the day before. Bristow was a twenty-two year old with a reputation for reckless driving, and lost control whilst defending his position against Willy Mairesse of Ferrari. His car spun over the embankment around the corner and, when he hit a barbed wire barrier at the edge of the forest, he was decapitated.

Only five laps later, on the same bend, Alan Stacey’s Lotus also left the road. Spectators said that he was hit in the face by a bird, which led to speculation that he was knocked out before the crash. Stacey was an extraordinary young man who had previously lost a leg, and used a motorbike twist grip on his gear stick to help change gear. His car drove over a waist-high barrier into thick forest, and Stacey was killed instantly.

This was the only time in formula one history that two drivers have died during the same race. Although the Spa circuit is now much shorter and a great deal safer than it was fifty years ago, it has still seen a lot of crashes in the last few years. That combined with a propensity for rain means that the Belgian Grand Prix is one of the most anticipated races of the year.

I’m looking forward to this afternoon’s grand prix, and I’ll admit that I’m hoping for a little rain to add to the excitement. But I hope the drivers stay safe.

Words by Sport Billy. Images from Bundesarchiv and The Cahier Archive.