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Red Bull pole-axed the opposition at the Hungaroring four weeks ago. Will Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel turn in a repeat performance at Spa-Francorchamps?

That could turn on the consequences of the FIA’s revised front wing test. The teams’ cars will be subjected to heavier loads to make sure they aren’t bending too much at high speed.

The RB6’s front wing was drooping noticeably in Hungary and this is how many people believe it extracted the one-second-per-lap performance advantage it had over Ferrari.

But if the new test fails to clip Red Bull’s wings, Ferrari and McLaren could be in for another weekend of watching the RB6s disappear into the distance.

Vettel goes into this weekend knowing he’s started the last four races from pole position but has only won one of them.

That’s been the story of his season: despite having set seven pole positions he’s only won twice.

You wouldn’t bet against him taking another pole position at Spa – he was very quick here during the race last year – but what he really needs is 25 points on Sunday.

Webber, meanwhile, will be hoping to avoid the misfortune that spoiled his race last year. He picked up a drive-through penalty after being released into the path of Nick Heidfeld.

McLaren suffered its worst result of the season so far at the Hungaroring.

How well it fares at Spa should provide an indication of whether its drivers will be able to stay in the running for the championship over the final races.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button won’t have to do much to improve on their performance at the circuit last year – both were taken out before they’d completed half a lap.

Ferrari is back in the title hunt and has good form at Spa, winning the last three races here (although Hamilton was the winner ‘on the road’ in 2008).

Perhaps surprisingly, Fernando Alonso has never won the Belgian GP, but he’s in good form at the moment and within striking distance of championship leader Webber, making it a genuine five-way battle for title honours.

The sensation of last year’s race was Force India, with Giancarlo Fisichella taking a shock pole position and chasing Kimi Raikkonen hard for the win, but the team is playing down its chances of repeating that performance this weekend.

Nonetheless, the prodigious straightline speed the Mercedes-powered VJM03 has shown all season should pay dividends in the mostly flat-out first and third sectors of the Spa lap.

Sauber seems to be in the ascendancy at the moment, getting both cars home in the points for the first time this year in Budapest.

The C29 was quick at Catalunya and Silverstone – two other tracks which feature several high-speed corners – so Spa should also suit it.

You’d be hard pressed to find any driver who doesn't relish the spectacular Ardennes circuit.

Even if Sunday’s race turns into a procession, it’s great to see F1 cars in action at a venue where they can really show what they’re capable of.

The seven kilometre trip around Spa is packed with drama – from the rollercoaster of Eau Rouge, through the dizzying speed of Pouhon and the quick-fire change of direction at Fagnes.

If you’ve never been to an F1 race before, Spa is a great place to start.

The steepness of the climb out of Eau Rouge and through Raidillon – and the speed with which an F1 car changes direction there at 190mph – has to be seen to be believed, while the plunging valley section is also a spectator’s delight.

As well as being one of the best circuits F1 visits – probably the very best – Spa’s weather often keeps the teams guessing as well.

We’ve seen countless times in the past here that a few drops of rain can transform a race into an instant classic.

The sheer length of Spa makes for a couple of complications – not least in qualifying, where drivers have to get out of the pits extra-early in time to get all their laps in.

It also makes life more difficult for race strategists, as the cars come by the pits less frequently meaning there are fewer opportunities to make a pit stop. At least traffic shouldn’t be too great a problem.

During Michael Schumacher’s three-year retirement, when he was dwelling on a return to F1, this must have been one of the races he most wanted to come back for.

Since his first race here for Jordan in 1991 Schumacher has had a great affinity with Spa.

After that attention-grabbing debut qualifying performance he won six times at the track and captured his last world championship here in 2004.

He returns this year desperately hoping for something to show from his comeback season.

Worse, he knows that whatever he does on Saturday he is doomed to start 10 places further back in punishment for his dangerous driving in Hungary.

But if we’re going to get a glimpse of the old Schumacher magic anywhere this year, it’s surely going to happen at Spa.ITV-F1