Belgian Grand Prix - Drivers Ready To Drive At Spa
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Sep 04, 2008
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Who doesn’t love Spa-Francorchamps? Ask any of the drivers, and they will tell you it ranks at the top, or very close to the top, of their favourite tracks.
“It’s one of my all-time favourites,” says championship points leader Lewis Hamilton, whose McLaren team are celebrating the 40th anniversary of founder Bruce McLaren scoring the marque’s maiden victory here on June 9, 1968.
“Even before I first came here, which was back in 2002 for a Formula Renault race, I played it on my computer - it was always one of the best tracks. It has probably the most exciting corner in Formula One, Eau Rouge, and it’s one of the few circuits where you really feel like you’re actually going somewhere; you blast off into the forest and get to the top of the hill and can feel the whole circuit beneath you. It’s one of the best challenges in Formula One.
Both Ferrari drivers love Spa, too. “I have won here,” says Kimi Raikkonen, “and that always feels like a major accomplishment. It is something special at a place like this.”
“How can you be a racing driver and not love this place?” says European Grand Prix winner Felipe Massa, who aims to add Spa to the growing list of venues on which he has been successful.
Over at Renault Fernando Alonso, who won here in F3000 in 2000, admits: “Spa is one of those exceptional circuits on the Formula One calendar. Like all the older tracks, there is always a very special and warm atmosphere. For the drivers, it is an unbelievable challenge and is a very enjoyable place to drive a Formula One car. I have never won at Spa [in F1] and hope that one day I can add a win here to my list of achievements.
Jenson Button, who has high hopes with Honda if, as seems likely, it is wet this weekend, says: “All the drivers love going to Spa, and for me, it is one of the most beautiful circuits that we race on with fantastically green surroundings. For a driver, the circuit has one of those layouts which has everything and gives you a real buzz to drive, just like Suzuka and Silverstone.
