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Formula One: Stirring championship duel to continue on classic circuit at Spa

27 August 1999

INDIANAPOLIS--The magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit, home of the Belgian Grand Prix, is the stage for the 12th round of the Formula One World Championship. It's also the next round in the championship duel between Eddie Irvine in the Ferrari and Mika Hakkinen in the West McLaren-Mercedes.

Although he leads Hakkinen by just two points, 56-54, Irvine said that this weekend's race is not crucial for the championship.

"Everyone keeps trying to say how important this race will be," Irvine said, "but they are all important. Every Grand Prix carries the same number of points, and as long as we are still ahead after the last race, who cares what happens here? I don't care whether I score zero points here, just as long as I am ahead when we have finished the season."

Neither Irvine nor Hakkinen has ever won a Grand Prix at Spa. "I don't believe it is a problem," Hakkinen said. "There were a couple of other circuits where I hadn't won before, and it happened this year. I am here to do the maximum with the team.

"The team's work and motivation are at their maximum at the moment, so I see no reason why we shouldn't perform well here, or in the other races before the end of the season."

Hakkinen admitted that his chances of winning Sunday's race are better because Michael Schumacher is not racing.

"Eddie (Irvine), please don't misunderstand," Hakkinen said, "but he (Schumacher) is a two-time World Champion, so obviously he's a very challenging competitor on the circuit. He is not here, so obviously my life is easier."

Schumacher's first Grand Prix victory came at Spa in 1992, and he also won the race in 1995, 1996 and 1997. But this year Schumacher has to miss the Belgian Grand Prix as he is still recovering from a broken leg suffered in the British Grand Prix.

Irvine claims that he's not nervous about the upcoming battle. "I am having a wonderful time," Irvine said. "You do get nervous from time to time, but I have to say that I haven't been particularly nervous in the last few races. I don't know why not.

"But everything is going great. We have had excellent reliability this year, apart from the slight hiccup at Imola and the problem in Hungary. But if you look back over the past two years, the Ferrari has been by far the most reliable car in F1. That is an important strong point for us."

Before his victory in Hungary two weeks ago, Hakkinen had three consecutive unlucky races.

"I should be leading it by 30 points at the moment," Hakkinen said. Spa-Francorchamps is a true road-racing classic. Public roads still make up parts of the circuit, which sweeps and plunges through the Ardennes Forest. To meet modern F1 standards, Spa was shortened from its original 8.7-mile (14.0-km) length to 4.3-miles (6.9-km) in 1983. The track, however, retained its daunting and challenging nature, and it's a favorite among the drivers.

"I like the place," Alex Zanardi said. "I love it actually."

Comprised of everything from slow corners (like the famous La Source hairpin) to high-speed challenges like the equally famous Eau Rouge turn, Spa is, said Stewart-Ford driver Johnny Herbert, "the most demanding circuit on the calendar because it presents such a challenge." Jacques Villeneuve loves speed -- be it the Indianapolis 500, which he won in 1995, or tearing around Spa.

"Spa is an amazing track, and I just really like racing on it," Villeneuve said. "I've never been particularly successful there, although I have managed to get good results in qualifying. It is a pleasure to drive the circuit. There are great corners, and the track follows the landscape in a majestic way.

"When you complete a lap at Spa, you feel like you've done something, that you've traveled somewhere. Eau Rouge is a brilliant corner that you can take flat out. Hopefully, I can still do that this year."

Set at the bottom of steep hill, Eau Rouge is a fast kink that flicks the cars up another steep hill.

"You take Eau Rouge at about 165 mph," Stewart-Ford driver Rubens Barrichello said. "You carry a lot of your speed at the entrance, which is downhill, and hold that through the exit, which is uphill. The g-force, the compression on your body, is incredible."

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