Who was the first Formula One World Champion?

The inaugural Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) World Drivers’ Championship, which commenced with the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on May 13, 1950, consisted of just seven races. Aside from the British Grand Prix, those races were the other four Grandes Épreuves, or ‘Main Events’, from 1949 – namely the Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten, Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps, French Grand Prix at Reims and Italian Grand Prix at Monza – plus the Monaco Grand Prix and the Indianpolis 500.

However, while World Championship points were awarded for the Indianpolis 500, as they were for the next decade or so, none of the European Formula One drivers participated. Consequently, it was the only race of the season that was not won by one of the three-car Alfa Romeo team; victory went to Califonian Johnnie Parsons, representing Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser.

In Europe, though, the Alfa Romeo GP Tipo 158, affectionately known as the ‘Alfetta’, or ‘Little Alfa’, reigned supreme. Realising 350 brake horsepower and capable of a top speed of 180 miles per hour, the car was driven to victory at Silverstone, Bremgarten and Monza by the leader of the Alfa Romeo team, 44-year-old Giuseppe Antonio ‘Nino’ Farina, and at Monaco, Spa-Francorchamps amd Reims by his illustrious 39-year-old team-mate Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio would go on to dominate the rest of the decade, winning the World Drivers’ Championship five times, in 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956 and 1957 but, in 1950, it was Farina who came out on top, clinching the inaugural title, albeit narrowly, by winning the final race of the season.

Where, and what, is Eau Rouge?

Strictly speaking, the Eau Rouge is a minor tributary of the River Amblève, or Amel, which flows through the province of Liège in eastern Belgium. Eau Rouge translates into English as ‘Red Water’ and the watercourse takes its name from its red hue, due to deposits of ferric oxide or haematite. However, Eau Rouge is also the name of a corner on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, or Spa, for short, in Stavelot, Belgium, situated at the point where the track crosses the stream for the first time.

Eau Rouge is, almost certainly, the most famous corner in Formula One motor racing but, in truth, it is just the first part of a very fast, left-right-left sequence that constitutes turns 3, 4 and 5 on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. At the start of a Grand Prix, cars have just a short run into the first corner on the circuit, a very tight right-hand hairpin, known as La Source and, thereafter, accelerate downhill to Eau Rouge.

To avoid any confusion, though, Eau Rouge is the left-hand kink at the base of the dip; the steeply uphill, right-hand corner that follows is known as ‘Raidillon’, which translates as ‘Steep Path’, and the corner sequence finishes with another kink to the left at the crest of the rise. Before World War II, Eau Rouge was followed by a right-hand hairpin, known as Ancienne Douane but, to make the circuit faster, the hairpin was cut off by the corner known, since 1939, as Raidillon.

Historically, the Eau Rouge – Raidillon climb was considered the most challenging corner in Formula One. Technological advances and safety modifications have reduced its overall difficulty but, granted it is driven flat out, at speeds in excess of 300 km/h, it should continue to produce the same adrenalin rush, for drivers and spectators alike, as it always has for some time yet.