Why Pole position at Spa Isn’t Always a Dream Start? Exclusive

• By Dr. AK Rana

At most circuits, pole position is a golden ticket—you start ahead, control the pace, and defend your position into Turn 1.

But at Spa-Francorchamps, being on pole can feel like being a sitting duck with a target painted on your rear wing.

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The Setup: From La Source to Les Combes (Turn 1 → Turn 5)

The race starts at La Source (Turn 1), a tight right-hand hairpin that immediately bunches up the field.

Then the real chaos begins: Drivers go flat-out through the sweeping, iconic Eau Rouge (Turn 2) and Raidillon (Turn 3), climbing steeply uphill.

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That leads into the Kemmel Straight, which ends at Les Combes (Turn 5), a prime overtaking zone.

This is where aerodynamics and physics start ganging up on the pole-sitter.

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Slipstream: The Invisible Slingshot

As the lead car punches through the air, it creates a low-pressure zone behind it.

The trailing car, tucked in close, faces less air resistance,like cycling behind someone or drafting in NASCAR.

What it means for F1:

The car behind gains speed more easily while saving fuel and energy.

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By the time they reach the end of the Kemmel Straight,

they’re often going 10–15 km/h faster than the leader.

That’s not just an edge—it’s an automatic overtaking boost.

DRS: The Legal Cheat Code

From Lap 2 onward, DRS (Drag Reduction System) is enabled on the Kemmel Straight (Turn 4 to Turn 5).

This system opens a flap on the rear wing, massively reducing drag.

A driver within 1 second of the car ahead gets to use it.

At Spa, that means 200–300 extra metres of top-speed firepower.

Combine that with the slipstream?

The pole-sitter often can’t defend, even with perfect driving.

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Why Pole Position Feels Like a Trap at Spa

Instead of gaining a lead, the driver starting P1 might:

Take Turn 1 (La Source) cleanly…

But see two or three cars looming in the mirrors as they exit Turn 3 (Raidillon),

And lose the lead before Turn 5 (Les Combes)—even without making a mistake.

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This makes drivers prefer starting P2 or P3, where they can sit back, charge up the slipstream, and pounce, almost effortlessly.

Oscar Piastri won pole position at spa, although in sprint qualifying but still a pole for the mini-race ahead. He seemed bothered, as if when you are trying to come 2^nd and accidently, by mistake you came at 1^st position.

Max Verstappen used to come at pole position but started race, way down in the grid, due to engine/power unit changes, and still won the race. That was a different era definitely!

And before this, it was almost not possible to win the race from pole position.

Sure, Oscar would be trying a different strategy for Saturday qualifying!

And we would love to see that, overtakes at turn 1, by whom, over whom.

Drop your thoughts in the comments.

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also read Can Oscar Piastri win at the Belgian GP? Big fight