Drama and danger at its absolute height, Spa-Francorchamps has thrown everything at Formula 1. In return, the fans have loved it back.
Though the current 4.4-mile-long track is considerably shorter than the former layout, it still rivets and inspires anyone who races on it.
It was part of the inaugural Formula 1 world championship schedule, back in 1950, a race which was won by Juan Manuel Fangio.
But its overall history, since, is too gargantuan for a single article, such is the year-upon-year fascination with this race.
But here are some resounding memories and stories from the race, through the years.
Parallels between Schumacher and Spa
Let us start with Michael Schumacher, whose Formula 1 career almost ran in parallel with this event. In 1991, he made his debut in the sport for Jordan Grand Prix. He would astonishingly qualify in seventh place and ahead of full-time Jordan driver, Andrea de Cesaris.
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The German's race would scarcely last a few corners, though, as he had burned clutch. But the statement had already been sent, a burgeoning talent had made their way to the F1 paddock.
From the next race, Schumacher would drive for Benetton and start his quest for world championship glory.
First came the maiden win, at Spa just a year after his debut. He would then go on to win at the track a further 5 times (a record for the event).
By the time of 2004, Spa would pay a poetic tribute to his career, as it was the scene of his record-setting seventh world championship-winning triumph.
The modern king of Spa
After Schumacher and before Verstappen, Kimi Raikkonen was the electric force within the Stavelot woods. A winner of the 2004 race, after he started from tenth on the grid, and again in 2005; 2007 and 2009, the fast corners of this fearsome track were ones in which the Finn mastered better than anyone.
Jim Clark's inarguable greatness
The Scotsman, a winner of the world championship in 1963 and 1965, produced a legendary drive of adaptation and assurance in the former year.
Starting from sixth, the Lotus driver quickly found himself in the lead of the race. But worsening gearbox troubles required him to drive with just one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding the gearbox in place.
Clark then stayed in fourth gear throughout the rest of the race and remarkably cruised to victory, at what was a track he both loathed and revelled at.
The sport's crux on safety
Sir Jackie Stewart, three times a world champion, become a crusader for better safety in motor sport. Where did this motive largely stem from? Spa.
At the 1966 race, such was the vastness of the old circuit, Stewart had entered a rain patch from what was a largely dry circuit. He speared off the road and finished his accident in a nearby ditch.
The fuel tank was severed, and poured onto the injured Scot. Fellow Brit, Graham Hill, rescued Stewart and brought him to the 'medical centre', which was akin to a tent.
Stewart had broken his shoulder, among many other injuries. But the farcical situation did not end there as the ambulance got lost en route to taking him to hospital.
Formula 1 will never be completely safe, but the push to mitigate some of the ludicrous hazards traces its origins to this woeful situation.
The tragic passing of a great
Even 16 years after the original pleas to improve safety within Formula 1, the sport lost one of its most daring sons in a crash at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Though not at Spa, but instead the Zolder circuit, Gilles Villeneuve lost his life after he collided with Jochen Mass in a savage qualifying accident.
What made the Canadian so loved and daring was his relentless pursuit of speed, and the commitment he abided by. But he also cherished loyalty, for which he was outraged to have lost with teammate Didier Pironi.
After feeling that the French driver had broken a team order and stolen his race win at the previous event's San Marino Grand Prix, Villeneuve vowed to never speak to his former friend again.
Moreover, he wanted to beat him. But fate would have it that the next track would be Pironi's strongest, Zolder. Vowing to outqualify his now enemy, Villeneuve was set to fall short by mere hundredths of a second.
But such was the absurdity of the-then qualifying rules, which limited drivers to just a couple of push laps, Villeneuve was either heading back to the pits or pushing on worn tyres.
Either way, a high-speed collision with Mass sent the Ferrari tumbling in the air and spat the Canadian out of it.
He was pronounced dead by the end of the day. Robbing the sport of one of its most inspirational of figures.
Expensive crashes
Whether at Zolder or more commonly at Spa, crashes have been aplenty. In 1998, the start of the sodden race was red-flagged after a memorable incident which saw more than a dozen cars collide into one another.
The visibility so poor and with the track so narrow, declining downhill to Eau Rouge, cars were steaming into the awaiting-impact, with images that resonate with fans still to this day.
With all this rain it stirred up memories of Spa. Oh and how Murray Walker could make something dramatic, even more so. How he’s missed.
— Formula One History (@F1History1950) February 11, 2024
The huge 13 F1 Car crash of the 1998 Belgian GP where on the first lap David Coulthard lost control of his McLaren, causing a multiple… pic.twitter.com/Hio7x0IyHb
One by one, the crunching impact of carbon fibre pounded the air, as there was simply nowhere for the drivers to go.
But there have been a litany of other incidents, and seismic ones too. Unfortunately many, particularly in the early days of the world championship, were fatal.
But a year after the aforementioned multi-car pile up, the two BAR drivers placed a costly bet. They challenged each other to take the uphill Eau Rouge/Raidillon section flat-out.
Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion and son of the late Gilles, crashed first and heavily too. Then teammate Ricardo Zonta suffered the same fate.
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