The stream that changed F1

It's a small stream running through the Liege region of Belgium. In the whole of it's 15km length the Eau Rouge stream has no remarkable features and is of no significance in the geological world. Yet utter those two French words to anyone who's ever seen a motor race and they will evoke feelings that even words like Senna struggle to produce. Below is a picture of the stream to demonstrate just unremarkable it is:

Picturesque? Yes. A nice place to be? Yes. One of the most famous names in motorsports? You bet.

Of course it's not the stream itself that brings the fame, but the landscape that it has carved through the woodlands that make the name famous. The area around it is a valley carved out of the mountainsides over thousands of years. Allowing for a wooded area to be transformed into possibly the most stunning location an F1 car has driven round for many a year. Of course given that there are numerous towns and villages in the area there had to be roads built to get about. These criss-crossed the area in the early part of the 20th century forming an almost perfect triangle between the towns of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot, so, humans being humans, people had to have a race. The circuit that was created was one of the fastest and most dangerous in the world. However, all the track did around the annoying stream it had to cross was loop round in a slow section called Ancienne Douane. However in 1939 the organisers decided to use a short cut that swept up the valley giving the circuit a much better flow. I doubt they realised they icon they had just created.

The corner, existing now in the same form it has since 1939, is the first point after the start finish straight at which the circuit crosses the stream. It is approached on a steep decline down the side of the valley from the La Source hairpin (in itself an evocative name). The cars launch over the stream into a massive compression as they flick to the left, bottoming out as they are launched up the other side of the valley at 180mph. They then navigate the ferocious Radillon corner (strictly speaking 'Eau Rouge' is only the left flick at the bottom) arching back to the right before hurling themselves to the left over the blind summit.

The Main reason for the awe inspired by the group of corners is simply the gradient. It is not only the steepest gradient in F1 but comes after a descent that would seem steep were it not for it's position. The combination of the two creates forces not seen elsewhere in F1. The car is pulled downwards by gravity whilst being forced upwards by the gradient. The driver is flung to the right, left and then back to the right again whilst undergoing all this. The cars 'bottom out' as they go beyond the limit of their suspension travel and the whole chassis contorts under the enormous loads its being put under. The forces involved are mind boggling. Nowadays the corner is easily flat out in an F1 car, but the knowledge of this doesn't fit with the sounds you hear as the cars tackle it. Purely due to the gradient the cars decelerate up the slope. That's more than 800 bhp being reigned in purely by gravity. Astonishing.

F1's stars of tomorrow tackle Radillon

The impact that the Eau Rouge section has on people is massive. Walking round the circuit for the first time people immediately plan when they are going to see Eau Rouge. If you walk from the Les Combes entrances clockwise round the circuit your first glimpse of the area is from the Bus Stop area. It's not of the track, just a view of the tree line across the valley taking a sudden, noticeable dip. People who come to this area for the first time point across the valley. No matter where they're from it sets the pulse racing. The problem with writing about Eau Rouge is that words and pictures can never, ever, do it justice. Not one bit. The gradient is steeper than any picture shows it to be. The speeds cars go through there is just mind boggling and the blindness (if that's a word) of the crest of Radillon is unbelievable. Don't believe me? How about Fernando Alonso?:

"You come into the corner downhill, have a sudden change [of direction] at the bottom and then go very steep uphill. From the cockpit, you cannot see the exit and as you come over the crest, you don't know where you will land. It is a crucial corner for the timed lap, and also in the race, because you have a long uphill straight afterwards where you can lose a lot of time if you make a mistake. But it is also an important corner for the driver's feeling. It makes a special impression every lap, because you also have a compression in your body as you go through the bottom of the corner. It is very strange - but good fun as well."

Meanwhile below all this, the stream keeps on its gentle way through the mountains, none the wiser of it's lasting impact.