ATLAS F1 - THE JOURNAL OF FORMULA ONE MOTORSPORT
Belgian Facts, Stats and Memoirs

By Marcel Schot, Netherlands
Atlas F1 Magazine Writer



As if the Ferrari domination wasn't overwhelming enough this season, it's now time for the Belgian Grand Prix - where Ferrari has dominated in the past more than on any other circuit. The Maranello team leads in any statistical category - including wins, poles, podiums and fastest laps - although in recent years, Ferrari suffered a slight setback where wins were concerned, winning only three times since 1996.

Gerhard Berger (Ferrari) in 1995 Those three wins came courtesy of Michael Schumacher, one of the kings of Spa. In the ten times the German visited the circuit, including his debut in 1991, he was on the podium seven times and won five times. Surprisingly, this doesn't have much to do with a good qualifying performance: Schumacher never scored a pole position at Spa! The World Champion's only front row start was in 1994. In fact, driving for Ferrari doesn't give a lot of hope in qualifying at Spa. Since the new track made its debut in 1983, Ferrari has just scored one single Pole Position.

In 1995, Gerhard Berger scored pole by going out very early in Saturday qualifying, after Friday's session had been an all wet affair. On Friday the Austrian had also been the fastest, beating then Benetton driver Michael Schumacher by two tenths of a second. On Saturday the day started out dry, but overcast.

Both Ferraris were among the first to go out, contrary to the Williamses and Benettons. Actually, Schumacher didn't have much choice, since his car was still being repaired after a shunt in free practice during the morning hours. When the German finally was able to get on the track, rain had started falling again and Berger's Pole was secured. Come race day, things appeared to haven't mattered all that much: Berger retired and Schumacher won from 16th on the grid.

Damon Hill battles with Michael Schumacher at Spa, 1995It is generally assumed that the Spa weekend has at least one rainy day. If we look at the last ten years, there indeed have been only three weekends which did not have a rainy day.

Apart from the front runners, the eyes of the world will also be focused on Anthony Davidson in his second race. It will be a difficult race indeed but not because he'll have difficulty qualifying his Minardi, since not qualifying at Spa is a rarity: the last one not to qualify was Giovanni Lavaggi back in 1996, when he missed the 107% by a mere two tenths of a second. The difficulty lies in this being Davidson's second race. The stats of second races over the last 20 years look quite grim, to say the least.

Number of races: 114
Not qualified: 26 (22.8%)
Retirements: 51 (44.7%)
Point finishes: 8 ( 7.0%)
Best result: 5th (Michael Schumacher, David Coulthard, Heinz-Harald Frentzen)
Best grid position: 3rd (Jacques Villeneuve)

Due to the fact that the Belgian Grand Prix is always a long time after the start of the season, when most drivers make their debut, only eight drivers in history have driven their second Grand Prix at Spa:

Driver          Year    Grid    Race
Toni Branca     1950    13      10
Frad Wacker     1953    15       9
Jim Clark       1960     9       5
Jo Siffert      1962    17      10
Chris Amon      1963    15       -
Guy Ligier      1966    12       -
Jackie Oliver   1968    15       5
Ronnie Peterson 1970     9       -

These stats look more hopeful for Davidson, as well as the list of names. If driving the second race at Spa is any measure, a career in management might be something for the 23 year old. Siffert, Amon, Ligier and Oliver all managed their own team later on in their career and Fred Wacker was even chairman of the SCCA, the Sports Car Club of America.

This year's Grand Prix offers a few more records to break for Michael Schumacher. Of course his tenth win of the season would give him the lead in that category. However, with a win at Spa he would also break a tie with Ayrton Senna for most victories in the Belgian Grand Prix. A podium would break his tie with Alain Prost for most podiums in Belgium, while eleven laps in the lead would put the German ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio for most kilometers lead in the Belgian Grands Prix.

Whatever the result will be, unless Ferrari score win, pole and fastest lap - or nothing at all - a remarkable symmetry will be broken. Currently Ferrari has scored 155 wins, 155 poles and 155 fastest laps in a devlish 666 races started.


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Volume 8, Issue 35
August 28th 2002

Articles

A Question of Speed: CART vs. F1
by Ross Stonefeld

Civil War of Motorsports: CART vs. IRL
by Thomas O'Keefe

Jo Ramirez: a Racing Man
by Jo Ramirez

Belgian GP Preview

The Belgian GP Preview
by Craig Scarborough

Local History: Belgian GP
by Doug Nye

Belgium Facts, Stats & Memoirs
by Marcel Schot

Columns

The Belgian GP Quiz
by Marcel Borsboom

Bookworm Critique
by Mark Glendenning

Elsewhere in Racing
by David Wright & Mark Alan Jones

The Grapevine
by Tom Keeble



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