David Coulthard's Red Bull guide to Spa

We asked Mr Coulthard what it was like driving a Formula One car through Eau Rouge, one of the most famous sections of track on the calendar, and what he liked about the track and its surroundings...



“I would say that at least 90% of the drivers would put Spa forward as their favourite grand prix circuit. It is the unique challenge of the track which involves a lot of climbs - most famously Eau Rouge - and a lot of dips on the back of those climbs like Pouhon in the middle of the lap.

“The start of the lap is a fairly straight forward hairpin La Source. Out of La Source you're immediately thinking about the daunting, flat-out in sixth gear Eau Rouge corner, which, although easier today than it was several seasons ago because of the improvements in the cars is still an awesome feeling. The feeling of the car being compressed into the tarmac and the lateral load and the sidewalls of the tyres literally stretching on the side of the wheels is just incredible and just to top it off when you come up over the top of Eau Rouge you have got no visibility, no knowledge of, at 170 miles an hour, what lies above and you rely completly on the flag marshals if there is an incident.

“Eau Rouge still lives up to its billing, no question. You drive a car at that speed through that level of compression and elevation, then that's a rush, that's a roller coaster ride. You know that if the car fails at that point it's going to be a huge accident, so I don't care what any driver says, you don't go through there making adjustments on your steering wheel. Both hands are on the grips and you're fully focused.

“That really gets your adrenaline pumping for the rest of the lap.

“The next area of significance is the drop down through Turn Ten, a double apex fifth gear very fast left-hander where you feel as if your neck has been pulled from your shoulders. Then you get the fast chicane through 12 and 13, 13 where Schumacher famously spun across the kerbs in 1994 and was disqualified for his plank being too thin.

“The end of the lap is signified by the exit of turn 14 which dictates your speed all the way through flat-out Turns 15, 16 and 17 and it's a long section flat-out until you get to the big stop at the old Bus Stop chicane.

“Unfortunately this was changed a couple of years ago and it's definitely nowhere near as good a corner as it used to be, but it brings you back down to a very low speed before you exit on to the start-finish line and hopefully deliver a good lap time. It's a long lap at very high speeds and there's always a high possibility of wet weather.

“It's a beautiful region, but it's countryside, so it doesn't have the glitz and glamour of a Monte Carlo but it's been on the grand prix calendar for decades and it deserves that billing. It's a nice track and it's nice to go to all these different regions, you don't want them all to be sweat boxes.”