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.

So that was Spa? To say it lived up to expectations would not do it justice at all. The place is something else from the moment you arrive. When on a coach you're sent off on what is deemed to be a shorter route... through a tiny village on a hillside. The village it turns out is also the coach car park. This after you've spent at least an hour going down a single track lane through the woods from the main motorway.

As you walk up to the entrance all you can hear is the cars, not because of proximity but simply because of the location of the track. It's set right on the hillsides around the small stream of Eau Rouge, a name that almost dwarfs that of the track with it's significance. The hillsides steep gradient amplifies the already mesmerising sound, filling the adjacent valley and heightening the sense of excitement as you approach. If you head to your left as you approach your sense of excitement will only be heightened as you find your way blocked by orange jacketed officialdom unless you posses a gold ticket. The tunnel under the track is the only way for you to go, so you can still hear the cars but again your view is blocked, so under you go, into a small area surrounded by fellow fans all rushing to get toward the viewing areas. Then, suddenly, there it is. You're stood looking down on the cars below you as your first glimpse is from about 30 feet above the track. No other track I have been to puts you in this position. You're stood on the edge of a cliff looking down on the track, with people in front of you who have been there for hours. It's not just a track, newer tracks like Valencia the week before do not offer this kind of experience. This is before you've even approached the well known areas, this is an un-named corner between Rivage and Pouhon. That's the brilliance of Spa. Everywhere has something to offer, I didn't find myself at a single spot where there wasn't either an amazing view of the track or something unique.

Perched on the edge of the path you get a great view of the cars

So the First impressions are good, but that's nothing yet. Wander a little further and your at what the drivers say is one of the most difficult corners in the world; the double apexed Pouhon. A corner approached by both cars and fans down a steep hill, it has a massive spectator bank to the right and trees obscuring the rest of the corner to the left. The cars dive into a cauldron cocooning them between fans and failure, desperately attempting to judge the one downshift that will be the only thing that slows them through the corner. A couple of seconds late and they'll hit the corner too fast, to early and the electronics on the gearbox override the order to change down. Yet again the setting of the circuit causes the atmosphere to be electric. People are perched on the top of the bank in chairs 4 deep but at the back you can still see perfectly. Meanwhile thousands more are sat on the steep bank, often dug in with mini shovels. Behind them Sausages and Hamburgers are being served alonside Waffles and Beer. The whole atmosphere is intoxicating. You can hear the cars straining against their gearboxes during the crucial change whilst turning and you feel a part of the whole experience.

Nico Rosberg Attempts to get Pouhon right

You can spectate on almost every part of the track with a general admission pass, in the next part of this post I'll talk about the Qualifying experience pressed up against the fence on the entrance to the bus stop...

My kind of Spa

It's magic, it really is. I haven't even got within a day of setting off for my first visit and I'm already excited. What do you expect? Since I was about 11 I've wanted to go to Spa to witness the Belgian GP. It's amazing that a small country in the north of Europe can have produced such an evocative race track. Those who have only witnessed motor racing on TV have never quite experienced the full reality of what makes it wonderful. Spa is one of those places where that wonder is magnified. Firstly at any race there's the sight, a TV camera does not do anything justice. The direction changes and speeds have to be seen in real life when it comes to the higher end of the spectrum. For example a Le Mans Prototype looks like it's trundling along like you or I down the A605 when on TV. Stand next to the Hanger straight and it's nothing like it, 170mph looks amazing, it just does. That speed isn't there on it's own remember, each car is hurtling past you on its way round but a silent race would not be the same. The sound and feeling of a car going past is something else. The sound of an F1 car as it screams past is diluted on TV, it's not a painfully loud sound (In fact the M25 is harder to listen to), but it is an awesome sound. It fills the air around you channeled by whatever fencing may be around the track, echoing of surrounding buildings. The rumble of the sound waves is felt as well. In the pit of your stomach the sound builds into a vibration that digs into you, ensuring that that sound is not just all around you. That sound is entering you. You become a part of what is going past in a way that nothing else can produce. All the while your eyes are being assaulted by the cars going past and your nose is picking up the scent of motorsports. The smell of a race meeting can't be found by a normal road. It's something far more wonderful. A heady mix of race fuel, oil, tyre smoke and whatever is around you. If you don't like it then don't bother with motorsports. It may only be a smell, but that smell is as big a part of your experience as what you are seeing. This is all an almost indescribable effect, each of your senses is being stimulated. No other spectator sport does that for you, you certainly don't get it sat in front of the TV. All of this happens at every race track, but some are more special than others. Spa-Francorchamps is as much a part of F1 as Ferrari, McLaren and Williams. It's been there since the 20's in it's various forms. The modern day circuit, though undoubtedly one of the best in the world, is still but a shadow of it's former self. Neutered for safety it still has corners that strike fear and excitement into the heart of any racing drivers.

The modern Spa Circuit

Originally set between the Belgian villages of Francorchamps, Malmedy and Stavelot the circuit was a fearsome 15km monster snaking it's way through the Belgian forests. Before it was reduced for safety reasons it contained the fearsome Mastah kink, an incredible high speed left right kink that was crucial to the lap. It was this section that lead to the old circtuits downfall. One particularly gruesome story from the 1972 24hrs race gives an idea of why the circuit had to be changed: During a pit stop during the night HJ Stuck shouted to his co-driver Jochen Mass to tell him to 'watch out for body parts at the Mastah kink'. Mass arrived upon the schene expecting to find bits of car, but instead discovered it was in fact bits of a Marshall. The new circuit hasn't lost much of it's ancestors qualities though, barely 2 years after F1 returned to the track it claimed the life of Stephan Bellof in a sportscar crash. Eau Rouge, Blanchiment and La Source are the only parts remaining of the old circuit. Eau Rouge is perhaps the most famous corner in the world. A high speed left-right-left up a steep incline over a blind crest it is one of the most challenging corners for any driver to master. Until 2000 it was still possible to drive a large portion of the track as public roads. If you really need more proof that this is one of the best circuits around then perhaps Micheal Schumacher can persuade you:

"It is without doubt the best circuit in the world," Schumacher says. "The kind of atmosphere you get at Spa is something akin to the old Nurburgring. It is the only place which still has this quality and atmosphere. Eau Rouge is really the most tremendous corner. It is like flying downhill and seeing a big mountain in front of you. You get the feeling that you are driving into the road and then you go up and it is a sensation which is probably the best you can experience and the most satisfaction you can have as a racing driver."

Spa is motorsports at it's best, I hope that I can convey at least some of what makes it so fantastic over the next week.