This year's Belgian Grand Prix may not go down in history as the greatest race in Formula 1 history, or even the greatest race at Spa-Francorchamps, but it almost certainly will go down in history as the greatest race of 2004. And that's a shame.

It's a shame because it took 14 races before all the elements of a great race were present. There was drama, strategy, a beautiful, difficult and revered track, a mixed up starting grid, spectacular crashes that left cars destroyed but drivers intact, surprises in the points paying positions and, horror of all horrors, passing. Those elements should be in place every weekend, not once a year, or every second year depending on the whim of tobacco nazis and Bernie Ecclestone.

This year's Spa race was a glimpse into an alternative universe of what could have been, where McLaren, Williams and Renault all had something to throw at Ferrari, where drivers attempted to overtake one another on track with daring moves, some of which worked and others that ended in tears. On lap one there was even the sight, however brief from the helicopter shot high overhead, of cars going three-wide up Eau-Rouge, even though that event precipitated the carbon fiber carnage that followed. While in the end the result was virtually the same, two Ferrari's on the podium, the journey to that point wasn't perceived as preordained and predictable. It was a race where the outcome was still in doubt until Kimi Raikkonen crossed the finish line. Would Michael make a charge? Would Raikkonen's engine last? Would his Michelins last? In the not so distant past there were often races like this. Will we have to wait until the distant future for another?

Perhaps the greatest shame of all is that the powers that be will look at the race and say, "Well, it is Spa, after all," as if no other track is expected to put on that type of show. Hockenheim is left in name only, the current venue perhaps more fit to the giant lumbering sedans of NASCAR, and a shame to one of the great names of German Grand Prix racing. The top speed blasts through the forest are a fading memory, visible only as a cynical grassed over swath, the tarmac ripped up as a final insult to the majesty of a now emasculated track. Germany suffers the double indignity of having its other Grand Prix venue, the Nurburgring, a pale ghost of it's former glory under the name of Nordschleife. Throw in the elimination of the A-1 Ring in neighboring Austria, itself a shadow of the Osterreichring, and you come to the realization that Hermann Tilke has an awful lot of work to do before he actually comes close to replacing God as the ultimate designer of an F1 track.

Spa was also the proof that the current edition of Grand Prix car is able to put on a good show, they just need the right circumstances. The rain during qualifying mixed up the grid a bit, the original intent of the disastrous qualifying format currently in use. It also gave Tony Purnell a bit more ammunition for his version of qualifying; 10 lap shootouts. We had a 10 lap and 4 lap version in this race courtesy of the Safety Car.

Spa was full of "what-ifs" for probable future unemployed drivers Antonio Pizzonia and Ricardo Zonta, both well into the points when their steeds expired. Both were outpacing their much more experienced, and higher regarded, teammates. For Jarno Trulli, Felipe Massa, David Couthard and especially Rubens Barrichello, determination and great work by their teams' pit crews enabled them to get back into the race after damaging their cars, with the last three in the points. For Christian Klein, it was a chance to show late in the race that he may possess more than just Red Bull backing. For Sauber it was about as good as it could get; finishing right behind the two Ferraris. Unfortunately for Gianmaria Bruni, it was one more chance to prove that he just doesn't get it. He was punted from behind in the Eau Rouge mayhem by his teammate, then bumped into by Georgio Pantano. After Bruni and Pantano exited their cars and were walking off the track, Bruni was gesturing at Pantano in a generally unfriendly manner, when in fact it was Bruni who took out Pantano.