2018 Belgian Grand Prix: ninth time lucky for Ferrari?. Ferrari has not won at Spa since 2009.

Spa-Francorchamps is one of just four circuits on the current calendar to have featured in the inaugural Formula 1 world championship back in 1950. At 14km, the original track was long and fast. The current iteration – still fast and long, by modern standards – measures 7km and retains many the of the original corners such as La Source, Stavelot, Blanchimont and the famous Eau Rouge, the high-speed flick which drivers approach downhill at around 300km/h before enduring a 1.7g compression at the bottom of the slope and heading steeply up the other side. They all combine to produce one of the fastest average speeds of the year, with around 70 percent of the lap spent at full throttle.

Eau Rouge and Raidillon
One of the most spectacular pieces of track in the world. The barriers used to be much closer, punishing the slightest error, but even today it has to be treated with respect: making a slow exit almost invariably means losing a place.

Pouhon
While the iconic Eau Rouge hogs the limelight, a little further round the Spa-Francorchamps lap quietly lies another epic challenge for the F1 driver and his car. Turn 10, more commonly known as Pouhon, is a double apex left-hander, approached downhill and fast – at around 300km/h – with a blind entry. Total commitment is needed to be quick through here.

Bus Stop and La Source
You arrive here on the run down from Blanchimont with the brakes having now cooled. A slow exit means laying yourself open at La Source, after the finish line. The hairpin after the start is very tricky: in 2012, Romain Grosjean played skittles with the pack, even flying over Alonso’s Ferrari.

Yes, Scuderia Ferrari have won the Belgian Grand Prix a record 16 times (12 of them at Spa), but the Maranello team has not triumphed at Spa since 2009. The man at the wheel on that occasion? Kimi Raikkonen, of course, the Finn beating Force India’s Giancarlo Fisichella by just 0.939s. In more recent times it’s the Scuderia’s title rivals Mercedes who have dominated Spa for the past three seasons, with Lewis Hamilton triumphant in 2015, then-team mate Nico Rosberg in 2016 and Valtteri Bottas last season. Of course, the Silver Arrows probably would have won in 2014 too without Rosberg and Hamilton’s famous coming together.

List of Ferrari wins: