The entry list for the event was reduced to thirty cars after the Brabham team failed to arrive due to financial difficulties and an impending sale. This absence eliminated the need for a pre-qualifying session. The driver lineup saw one change at the March team, where Emanuele Naspetti made his Grand Prix debut as a replacement for Paul Belmondo.
The qualifying sessions were marked by several high-speed accidents and the eventual collapse of the Andrea Moda team. During Friday practice, Ligier driver Érik Comas suffered a heavy crash that left him briefly unconscious. Ayrton Senna stopped his car on the track to assist Comas, reaching into the cockpit to shut off the engine and mitigate the risk of fire. Comas was subsequently withdrawn from the event on medical advice. Gerhard Berger also experienced a significant accident during a wet practice session, crashing at 160 mph at the entrance to Eau Rouge; although his car caught fire, Berger was uninjured.
Four drivers failed to qualify for the race. Christian Fittipaldi, returning to Minardi after missing four races due to injury, was unable to make the grid. He was joined by both drivers from the Andrea Moda team. Roberto Moreno was over five seconds slower than Fittipaldi, while Perry McCarthy went off the track at Eau Rouge at 170 mph. McCarthy reported that his steering had jammed, a fault team owner Andrea Sassetti admitted was known to the team as the steering rack had previously failed on Moreno’s car. McCarthy left the team following the Friday session. On Saturday afternoon, Sassetti was arrested in the paddock on allegations of fraud and forging documents, and the event marked the final appearance for the Andrea Moda team in Formula One.
The race began with Gerhard Berger retiring immediately from sixth position due to a transmission failure at the start. Nigel Mansell overtook Ayrton Senna for the lead at the end of the second lap, followed by Riccardo Patrese. When rain began to fall, most of the field pitted for wet-weather tires. Senna chose to gamble on the rain stopping and remained on track, briefly leading the race. However, the track eventually began to dry, rendering the strategy unsuccessful. Senna fell to 12th position after a late pit stop.
Several mechanical failures and collisions occurred throughout the 44-lap distance. Jean Alesi retired following a collision with Mansell at La Source that resulted in a puncture. On lap 26, Ivan Capelli suffered an engine failure while battling Johnny Herbert for sixth, causing him to spin into the gravel at Blanchimont. Thierry Boutsen retired after a spin on lap 28.
Michael Schumacher took the lead as the track dried, benefiting from the timing of his pit stops. In the closing stages, both Williams drivers suffered engine-related issues, with Mansell hampered by a broken exhaust. Schumacher maintained his lead to win by a comfortable margin, marking the first victory for a German driver since Jochen Mass in 1975 and the first full-length Grand Prix win by a German since Wolfgang von Trips in 1961. Mansell and Patrese finished second and third, securing the points necessary for Williams to win the Constructors' Championship. Martin Brundle finished fourth in the second Benetton, while Senna recovered to fifth after passing Mika Häkkinen on the penultimate lap. Häkkinen secured the final point for Lotus.
The 1992 Belgian Grand Prix holds several statistical distinctions in Formula One history. It was the first of Michael Schumacher's record 91 Grand Prix victories and the first of his six wins at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. The race was the final time a car equipped with an H-pattern manual gearbox won a Grand Prix. Additionally, the event marked the 500th World Championship start for Ferrari as a team. With eighteen cars classified at the finish, it recorded the highest number of finishers for any race in the 1992 season.
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