Which F1 drivers do well at Belgian Grand Prix with Michael Schumacher successful at Spa

Follow us on Google Discover

Formula 1 has staged the Belgian Grand Prix ever since its inaugural 1950 season and has solely visited Spa since 1985, so F1 Oversteer looks at its most successful drivers.

Spa-Francorchamps is one of the circuits that Formula 1 has visited the most down the years as the spiritual home of the Belgian GP. It is also a favourite venue for many drivers and fans, who have regularly seen dominant streaks in the Ardennes region from the race’s beginning.

Juan Manuel Fangio won the very first Formula 1 running of the Belgian Grand Prix after the series gained the naming rights in 1950. The Argentine also became a repeat winner in 1954 after seeing Giuseppe Farina and twice Alberto Ascari make it to the top step of the podium.

Michael Schumacher is the most successful F1 driver at the Belgian Grand Prix

But no driver has been as successful at the Belgian Grand Prix as Michael Schumacher has to date. The seven-time Formula 1 drivers’ champion secured six wins around Spa during his career with wins with Benetton in 1992 and 1995 plus Ferrari in 1996, 1997, 2001 and 2002.

READ MORE: Five unforgettable Belgian GP from Schumacher vs Hakkinen to a 13 car crash

Schumacher also ended the dominance of the previous racer to own the status as F1’s most successful driver at the Belgian GP in Ayrton Senna. The Brazilian had won five times at Spa, including taking one with Lotus in 1985 plus four-in-a-row with McLaren from 1988 to 1991.

Senna matched a feat only Jim Clark had previously achieved from 1962 to 1965 driving for Lotus by claiming four consecutive Belgian GP wins. Only they also won three in a row until Schumacher came along, with Kimi Raikkonen and Max Verstappen doing threepeats since.

The Belgian GP has seen 13 repeat winners as a Formula 1 race

Verstappen became the 13th Formula 1 driver to secure repeat Belgian GP wins in 2022, just a year after the Belgium-born Dutchman won at Spa for the first time. He then completed a hat-trick in 2023 to become the first F1 racer to do so since Raikkonen from 2004 until 2007.

F1 did not visit Spa in 2006 owing to refurbishments at the circuit, marking the last time that there was not a Belgian GP on the calendar. Formula 1 also kept away from Belgium in 2003 amid the country’s strict rules banning tobacco advertising at a time of its significance in F1.

The Belgian GP has seen 11 F1 drivers secure repeat wins at Spa

While F1 has witnessed 13 repeat winners of the Belgian Grand Prix, only 11 of those drivers took repeat victories at Spa. Emerson Fittipaldi got both of his Belgian GP wins at Nivelles in the early 1970s, while Niki Lauda went on to secure both of his Belgian GP wins at Zolder.

Zolder also staged the only Belgian Grand Prix victories that Gunnar Nilsson, Mario Andretti, Jody Scheckter, Didier Pironi, Carlos Reutemann, John Watson and Michele Alboreto sealed.

Yet Spa did not have to wait long during its time on the Formula 1 calendar to see drivers get repeat Belgian GP wins. Ascari registered successive wins in the Ardennes for Ferrari in 1952 and 1953. Fangio also took back-to-back Belgian GP wins racing for Maserati and Mercedes.