On this day: Schumacher broke Prost's F1 win record at Spa 25 years ago

Michael Schumacher claimed his 52nd Formula 1 victory at the Belgian Grand Prix on 2 September 2001, surpassing Alain Prost’s long-standing record of 51 wins at Spa-Francorchamps — a milestone that arrived 25 years ago today.

Prost had held the record since 1987, when he first matched Jackie Stewart’s tally of 27 victories before going on to nearly double it by the time he retired in 1993. That same season marked the continued emergence of Schumacher, who by 2001 had grown into a four-time world champion. His victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier that year had drawn him level with Prost on both wins and titles, with Schumacher clinching the 2001 drivers’ championship with 94 points to David Coulthard’s 51.

Prost himself was gracious about the inevitable. “He deserves this kind of record,” the Frenchman said of his successor. “I know he has been motivated very much to get this kind of record, which is understandable. You cannot win more than 50 races if you’re not good and he is the best at the moment, one of the best of all time.”

The race itself was far from straightforward. Schumacher started only third on the grid after qualifying on a drying track, with Williams locking out the front row through Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher, who had gambled on dry-weather tyres earlier than their rivals to go two seconds faster.

Chaos intervened before a lap had been completed in earnest. A heavy collision between Prost Grand Prix’s Luciano Burti and Jaguar’s Eddie Irvine at the high-speed Blanchimont curve triggered a red flag, leaving the Brazilian concussed and ruled out for the remainder of the season. The first four laps were declared null and void.

Williams’ advantage evaporated at the second start. Montoya stalled on the grid for the second formation lap, while Ralf Schumacher’s car was inexplicably left on its jacks by the mechanics, sending both FW23s to the back of the pack. Michael Schumacher inherited the lead and was never seriously threatened.

Benetton’s Giancarlo Fisichella inadvertently aided the record attempt by charging from fifth to second at the restart, effectively bottling up the other frontrunners behind him. Schumacher had already built a 20-second lead by lap nine, when he made his first pit stop, and he maintained that advantage to the flag.

The record Schumacher set that afternoon in the Ardennes would stand until Lewis Hamilton surpassed his eventual tally of 91 victories in 2020.