Formula One: Round 13, Who Will Reign Supreme at Spa?

It will be a great weekend, but let's look at the circuit itself and its history.

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The return of Spa—Francorchamps was one of the most eagerly awaited aspects of the 2007 calendar.

The original track was a challenging, but hugely dangerous, eight-mile blast through forests and villages, and was never going to last long in the safety-conscious modern era.

Sure enough, it was removed from the schedule in 1971 and the Belgian Grand Prix moved to the safer, but comparatively insipid, locations of Nivelles and Zolder.

But in 1983, Spa was back. Although the new circuit was shorter and safer, it remained faithful to the spirit of its previous incarnation.

Legendary sections, such as the spine—tingling plunge through Eau Rouge and the Blanchimont sweep—were retained, and even the new link segment contained plenty to test the drivers—above all the fast double left-hander of Pouhon.

Unsurprisingly, both versions of Spa have been dominated by the truly great racers, with Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Jim Clark taking multiple wins on the old track, and Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher doing likewise in the modern era.

Spa was the scene of many of Schumacher’s most memorable moments, including his Formula One debut in 1991, his first win a year later, a famous charge from 16th to victory in 1995, a crushing, wet-weather win in 1997, and his last title clincher in 2004 (even though he finished second in that race to Kimi Raikkonen).

Political issues saw the race temporarily dropped in 2003, while the need to comprehensively revamp the tired paddock led to Spa being scratched from the calendar again three years later.

Its return was universally welcomed, for although the current generation of cars make Spa less of a challenge (flat-out runs through Eau Rouge now being disappointingly routine), it remains a sublime location for grand prix racing.

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Now lets move onto my article.

After the awful race at Valenica last week, we now move onto the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, a circuit which was recently voted the greatest ever in a poll on B/R.

Felipe Massa secured a very dominant victory on the wide-open streets of Valencia and will be confident to make it two in a row. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen suffered an engine failure and will be desperate to get back to winning ways on the track that he adores.

Lewis Hamilton took the sensible option last time out and settled for second place, realizing that eight points was better than nothing. His teammate Heikki Kovalainen showed great pace yet again, and he is now starting to show why McLaren have so much faith in him.

BMW Sauber are back, that is for sure, but Nick Heidfeld must improve on his terrible day in Valencia, which he described as "my worst performance ever."

A bit harsh really, but Robert Kubica was on the podium yet again, and whilst many are writing him off in the title race, it only takes one crazy race and he is back in the fight.

The mid-table battle is reaching its climax, and it is now certain that the fight is down to Toyota and Renault.

Red Bull doesn't have the consistency needed to maintain their challenge, something that will deeply frustrate the departing David Coulthard.

Jarno Trulli says that he is confident of a strong result at Spa because they have a strong engine, whereas Renault are believed to be about 30-40 BHP down on the other teams.

Timo Glock can produce a great performance at the hardest of times, and perhaps there could be another podium in the cards, should he have the appropriate luck required to make the podium.

Fernando Alonso had a disappointing outing in Valencia, with big disapproval from the fiery Spanish crowd. He will look to bounce back in a big way, but I see that very hard as the Renault powerplant is badly down on power.

With the Renault engine so down on power, I struggle to see how Red Bull and Renault can believe that they will get a good result.

Mark Webber is desperate to finish the season so that they can utilize their new aero package for the 2009 rules, a package which some industry insiders believe could be one of the best next year.

With Adrian Newey at the helm, it is hard to discount that rumour.

Fernando Alonso's future is still the topic of much speculation, and with reports stating that he has signed a one-year deal with Honda, one must question whether he is reliable enough to take a gamble on.

Williams have bottomed out this season.

They had a good start to the season, with both Nico Rosberg and Kazuki Nakajima regularly fighting for the final points.

However, they have gone backwards in their development, and it is now believed that they have completely given up on this year and the KERS technology is the main focus.

Honda is very unstable right now, with both of their drivers' contracts quickly running out, one must wonder whether an entirely new lineup is being considered. As pointed out in another article, rumours are suggesting that the lineup could be Fernando Alonso and Danica Patrick.

Now, my opinion is this: Why would anyone choose Patrick?

She has won just one race in the IRL series, and now that they have road races, she is performing badly each time. If she cannot cut it there, what makes anyone think that she can cut it in Formula One?

Alonso would be a very good choice, and he is apparently very high on Ross Brawn.

He would prefer a one-year deal, as he prepares to move to Ferrari, but what does that say for Honda? Are they prepared to take a risk on a man who is just filling the gap before an inevitable move and a woman who is still not up to the quality required? Only time will tell in this case.

Scuderia Toro Rosso had a great weekend in Valencia, and they should have been on pole, but the ridiculously high kerbs caught out Sebastien Vettel as he pushed to the limit. Had the kerbs not been so stupid, he would have had pole, and with the field spread that everyone experienced, who knows if they could have had a first win?

Sebastian Bourdais' future is at risk, and Gerhard Berger confirmed so in an interview on the official F1 website.

He said that Bourdais must prove that he deserves his place next year, not something that you want to hear towards the end of your rookie season.

Force India? Dead in the water, concentrating on next season surely, so expect the back two grid places to be occupied the Indian team.

Prediction time.

I can see "the Iceman" getting back on his throne here, and Massa making it a good weekend for Ferrari. However, their engines must last the distance, and after two consecutive failures, can anyone be confident on their reliability?

1. Kimi Raikkonen
2. Felipe Massa
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Robert Kubica
5. Heikki Kovalainen
6. Jarno Trulli
7. Timo Glock
8. Nick Heidfeld
9. Sebastien Vettel
10. Sebastian Bourdais

There we have it, a one-two victory for Ferrari and the return of the Kimster. I will say this though, my predictions and hang on one thing: their 2.4 litre, V8 powerplant in the back of their Ferrari's.

What are your thoughts? Who will take victory at Spa? Can anyone be confident of a Ferrari victory after their engine woes as of late?

Thanks for reading.

R.I.P Phil Hill 1927-2008

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