(Paris) The Belgian F1 Grand Prix, long threatened with disappearance, will be on the calendar until 2025 after the one-year extension of its contract, Formula One, the organizer of the world championship, announced on Friday.
The legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit, very popular with drivers and fans and the longest of the season with its 7,004 kilometer track, was already on the calendar during the first F1 world championship in 1950. It has since hosted 56 Grands Price.
The circuit has recently benefited from significant improvements and an increase in its capacity.
The 2023 edition was once again a great success with the presence of 380,000 spectators during the weekend of July 29 and 30, an increase of 20,000 people compared to 2022. On the track, the now triple champion of the Dutch world Max Verstappen (Red Bull) had been untouchable with two pole positions and two victories in the sprint and the Grand Prix.
“Spa is synonymous with F1 […] and is very popular with fans and drivers so I am delighted to extend our partnership until 2025. The promoters have made great strides in recent years to improve infrastructure and l ‘fan experience’, emphasized Formula 1 President Stefano Domenicali.
Safety has often been a concern on the Walloon circuit, especially when it rains and visibility is very poor.
On July 1, a few weeks before the F1 GP, the young Dutchman Dilano van’t Hoff died after hitting a wall and then being hit during a contested round of the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA). under the rain.
Four years earlier, Frenchman Anthoine Hubert, who was competing in the Formula 2 championship, was also killed at Spa in similar circumstances, even though it was not raining, his car having been violently hit after bouncing off a wall.
