Stefan Bellof - Effect and Legacy

Effect and Legacy

After Bellof's death at Spa, teams became unwilling to allow their expensive drivers to compete in other races that were not part of the championship. Fellow Formula One driver Jonathan Palmer was injured in an unrelated accident during a free practice session at the same meeting, with the result being that many teams would have drivers' contracts tightened to prohibit them from competing outside their respective championships. Bellof's talent had been noted by many of the rival teams that he had been competing against in Formula One, including an offer from Ferrari for the 1986 season, with a meeting scheduled with Enzo Ferrari before his death.

Today, he is often mentioned as Michael Schumacher's childhood racing idol, and during an interview for the January 2007 issue of the '911 and Porsche World' magazine, teammate Derek Bell felt Bellof's death was caused by lack of discipline in his driving style, and that the blame for his death lay with those around Bellof, including team personnel, who should have allowed him to mature.

Recently, Bellof's family donated his racing mementos to the local Sammler und Hobbywelt museum for public display. The donated items included his go-kart from his early racing days, his racing overalls and helmets from his works Porsche and Tyrrell days and trophies. There is a karting circuit named in his honour known as Motorsportarena Stefan Bellof, located in Oppenrod.

In 2009, a poll of 217 Formula One drivers chose Bellof as their 35th greatest Formula One driver, in a survey conducted by British magazine Autosport.