The Track 
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, looping gently through the Ardennes, is as important as any of the races on the F1 calendar as Monte Carlo and Monza. It is everything a modern F1 circuit shouldn't be, and the fans love it for it. It is overly-long, at over 7km, it is a nightmare for spectators to traverse around, thanks to the surrounding forest and the almost-constantly muggy weather, and it is still really quite dangerous in places. But all of that can be forgiven, because the drivers and fans alike can't get enough of watching an F1 car lapping the track. If it were a person, it'd be the mad old uncle who you only see once a year, and always delivered slightly disappointing presents, but you let him off because occasionally he gets drunk on sherry and starts up a sing song. Or something.
The circuit has changed much throughout the years, from the imposing, and dangerous even for olde F1 standards, 14km monster of the 60s, which used to throw drivers into the surrounding scenery with gleeful abandon, it has now been sanitised down to it's current layout. The challenge for drivers still remains though, with the flat-out Eau Rouge section the inspiration for a thousand Jacques Villeneuve shunts, and the 190mph Blanchimont corner the site of Luciano Burti's infamous crash back in 2001. Conditions are usually mucked up further by the weather, and the forecast for the weekend looks reassuringly unsettled.
The track can be seen in all it's glory here: http://tinyurl.com/2v3npa, and you can zoom out a smidge to make out the old layout in all it's terrifying glory, should that be something that strikes you as worth doing.
Talking Points
The man to watch over the course of the weekend is the current world champion, who has had a rotten few races recently, which has left him trailing behind Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton in the championship. The Belgian Grand Prix last year though, was the beginning of his late-season charge that eventually saw him capture the title. So despite the calls from some for Ferrari to throw their collective weight behind the better-placed and in-form Massa for the rest of the year, Raikkonen probably sees this weekend as his chance to get back into the fight. Another retirement is the spectre that haunts Kimi though, he really can't afford another one.
Aside from that, the title really can't be won or lost in a weekend just yet, but this may be a weekend of damage limitation for the current points leader Lewis Hamilton, with Ferrari expected to have the edge on pace over the McLaren team.
Behind the frontrunners, F1's midfield is looking as completely confusing as ever. Though BMW seem to have rediscovered their early season pace, the other contenders for the lower points places, Toyota, Renault and Red Bull, have dropped off the outright pace in recent weeks, with Williams and Toro Rosso seeming to be the form sides. But whether this translates to anything much is anyone's guess. A man to watch might be Adrian Sutil, who raced brilliantly here last year (albeit holding down 11th place for Spyker) and tends to come into his own at real drivers circuits.
Modern Classic
2004
I'll be honest, I can't really remember what happened in this one. The basic facts gleaned from an old race report shows that Kimi Raikkonen won, Mark Webber caused an accident and Juan Pablo Montoya and Jenson Button had tyres go on them. But the reason this is here is more narcissism than anything, as the 2004 Belgian Grand Prix remains the only race that I have ever attended in the flesh. Shock, horror.
So my real memories of the weekend are meeting Montoya, my (then) favourite driver, and acting every inch as pathetic as the screaming girls you see on footage of The Beatles landing in America, seeing Olivier Panis eat some pasta, and sitting in a particularly soggy grandstand for two and a half hours of Saturday morning, watching nothing because the practice session was cancelled because of the weather, and sharing exotic beers with a chirpy, rotund German man, who's knowledge of English happily stretched as far as knowing the lyrics to "Singin' In The Rain".
One Year Ago
One year ago, Kimi dominated, Alonso and Hamilton came to blows (again) and the post-race doughnut made a welcome return to the racetrack. Read. It. Here.
Facts and Guesses
Number of Laps : 44
Lap Record : 1:45.108 (Kimi Raikkonen - 2004)
2007 Pole : Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
2007 Winner : Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
Free Practice 1 & 2 : 10:00 & 14.00 (Local Time) / 09.00 & 13.00 (BST) - Friday 5th September
Free Practice 3 : 11:00 (Local Time) / 10.00 (BST) - Saturday 6th September
Qualifying Start : 14.00 (Local Time) / 13.00 (BST) - Saturday 6th September
Race Start : 14.00 (Local Time) / 13.00 (BST) - Sunday 7th September
On Patronise
The Belgian weekend will all be covered here, of course, by hook or by crook. So bear in mind that even if your telly breaks, all the online streams are blocked and you can't load up just about any other website, there is still an alternative. Us.
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