The Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps is a brilliant mix of cross country hike and top flight motor race.
The wooded hills of the Ardennes make for some spectacular viewing. Top tip: bring some bungee cords.
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Eau Rouge: from further down this fence, crane your neck a bit – or use the banking behind, and your elbows – to see the cars through one of the most famous corners in Grand Prix racing, even with just a general admission ticket. Or, stand right here to see them fly across the brow of the hill afterwards: shocking the first time you see it, and the second, and the third… Fact: Eau Rouge is actually just the first left hander at the bottom of the hill (where the track crosses the Eau Rouge stream, hence the name). The right hander immediately after is the Radillion.

Kemmel: the 1km straight at the top of ‘Eau Rouge’ is a prime overtaking spot, notably where Hakkinen dodged past Zonta to take Schumacher in 2000. There’s a big TV to catch the rest of the action, and a good view over the rest of the circuit.

The best all-round view is surely from the outside of the Rivage Hairpin at the top of the circuit. Even the fastest cars struggle to top 50mph. That’s Sam Bird, by the way, an up-and-coming British driver – also tester for the Mercedes F1 team – on his way to pole position in the GP2 race (which he won the next day). With the pits in the distance, are you getting the extent of the elevation change around Spa-Francorchamps? 104m between the lowest and highest point. Calves ache after the first day and spasm by the end of the weekend.

The best view full stop though is from inside at Rivage. 100% recommended. It’s the closest and clearest we’ve ever come to F1 cars at full tilt, skipping over the bump on the way in, popping, banging and grinding. Here, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo, superstar in waiting.

Nico Rosberg went down a notch in our estimation because the Swedish fans behind called him Niho Roseberry. That’s how you pronounce it in Swedish. Roseberry?!

Typical of the sweeping views from the high banks, exactly like on the telly. Here, the nameless left hander after Rivage.

More or less the same place but looking down towards Pouhon. Anywhere around here gives you the longest view of the cars.

A Force India in the wet, on the way into the fearsome, spectacular, fantastic, flat-out double left hander at Pouhon. Warning: this banking is perilously steep.
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You’ll have to take our word for it. Pouhon is a great place to watch the cars, absolutely flat out, no braking, majestic on the exit as they power towards the Fagnes chicane. Maybe not such a great place to watch the race from though, particularly from ground level when there’s raised banking behind… That mini ‘giant TV’ was just about visible from around the recovery vehicle but, worst of all, the corner’s super high speed exaggerated the gap between the cars to the point that, by lap three, it was obvious Vettel was going to win the race.

Poke your camera through the convenient cut outs in the catch fencing at Fagnes. The head-on view of their high speed flic-flac direction change is unfortunately obscured by advertising hoardings.

Not parked with exactly the millimetric precision they are in the paddock but the long line of absolutely brand spanking new trucks parked out by Fagnes means there’s plenty to look at between sessions.

The whole back of the track – Campus, Paul Frère and Stavelot – is off limits so this is the first view of the circuit after Fagnes: the inside of Blanchimont with Kemmel in the distance. The cars flit past so fast it’s hilarious. You have to see it, but it’s a shame there’s no grandstand on the outside to see the cars at their imperious best, through the long, full throttle, double kinked straight at the end of the lap.

The Bus Stop chicane, the final corners. The guaranteed action-packed classic overtaking spot – complete with cut outs in the catch fencing for unencumbered pictures – but if you want to watch from here on race day you’d better turn up early, like Thursday.
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Now see the circuit from the driver’s point of view, Kimi Raikkonen . Click full screen bottom right to watch.
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Also see Driving to the Belgian Grand Prix.
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