Nine more years of the Hungarian GP has been signed off apparently. Last season that race appeared to be run under 'full course yellow' conditions. To the uninitiated that means no overtaking was allowed or occurred anywhere on track during the race. This year pulling up a deckchair alongside the M3 would have proved better entertainment.
Staging an F1 race there is an injustice to the sport. It's fraudulent in a way only Lance Armstrong could fully appreciate. Thank God this weekend's contest is guaranteed to be a whole lot more exciting. That's because if God really is a racing driver then this, Spa-Francorchamps, is probably what heaven looks like.
Ironic really as the Belgian circuit has sent 51 people back to their maker. July 21st 1973 was its darkest day with three people killed during the Spa 24 Hour race. Forty years hence, in modern day F1 safety, the tail doesn't merely wag the dog, it has wrapped itself around Fido's neck, slithered under his collar and is dragging him in circles around the living room floor.
But this place is different, it's the one that got away, it is stuck in a time warp taking us back to the halcyon days of when, and to quote former McLaren team manager Alastair Cadwell, "sex was safe and motor racing was dangerous."
Last year amidst opening bend chaos Romain Grosjean attempted to decapitate Fernando Alonso and when it rains here, like it invariably does, to petrol heads the ensuing carnage is like a fully-fledged wet dream.
I love the place, from the 150 degree opening bend throughout the ensuing four miles featuring track parts possessing names which simply evoke romantic thoughts of a whack-off load of F1 lifestyle homogenised with adrenaline filled wheel-to-wheel racing.
The Kemmel Straight evokes visions of a Middle Eastern battle ground. La Source: A cross between a downtown Los Angeles ghetto and high-class gentleman's club. Pouhon: A martial arts weapon designed to break your leg clean in two without you knowing it had happened. Rivage: An outrageously expensive fine silk shirt from a French Haute Couture fashion house purposely made to make women fall at your feet regardless of the misshaped torso it's draped around.
Sincerely the synthesis of speed, undulation and challenging corners gives the genuine opportunity to race and therein Spa symbolizes the very best of what the sport has to offer.
Prophecy
A broad elucidation of events will see an incident packed race – a safety car appearance is understandably considered an odds-on chance – which could result in some very speculative big-priced selections bearing fruit.
I'm talking mad shit like both Toro Rossos finishing in the points, a Sauber driver to make the podium, less than 17 race finishers, Massa claiming the fastest lap and even Raikkonen not to finish the race. The latter is a 5/1 shot incidentally.
You may mock, but you were the people who were laughing until the pee ran down your ankles when, four weeks ago, I suggested Kimi could return to Ferrari. That scenario is now considered an even-money chance.
I've mentioned Toro Rosso, Sauber and Massa because they have one thing in common, a Ferrari power pack, which might not be custom made for this 44-lap rollercoaster ride like an old Volvo estate at a banger racing contest but it will be a whole lot more comfortable than it's been at some of the venues it's been paraded around recently.
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