The return of Spa-Francorchamps was one of the most eagerly awaited aspects of the 2007 calendar.

The original track was a challenging but hugely dangerous eight-mile blast through forests and villages, and was never going to last long in the safety-conscious modern era.

Sure enough, it was removed from the schedule in 1971 and the Belgian Grand Prix moved to the safer but comparatively insipid locations of Nivelles and Zolder.

But in 1983, Spa was back – and although the new circuit was shorter and safer, it remained faithful to the spirit of its previous incarnation.

Legendary sections such as the spine-tingling plunge through Eau Rouge and the Blanchimont sweep were retained, and even the new link segment contained plenty to test the drivers – above all the gorgeous fast sweep of Pouhon.

Unsurprisingly, both versions of Spa have been dominated by the truly great racers, with Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio and Jim Clark taking multiple wins on the old track, and Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher doing likewise in the modern era.

Spa was the scene of many of Schumacher's most memorable moments, including his Formula 1 debut in 1991, his first win a year later, a famous charge from 16th to victory in 1995, a crushing wet-weather win in 1997, and his last title clincher in 2004.

Political issues saw the race temporarily dropped in 2003, while the need to comprehensively revamp the tired paddock led to Spa being scratched from the calendar again three years later.

Its return was universally welcomed, for although the current generation of cars find Spa less of a challenge (flat-out runs through Eau Rouge now being disappointingly routine), it remains a sublime location for grand prix racing.

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