Spa-Francorchamps is a track far removed from the sanitised Hockenheim and the anodyne Hungaroring, from where we put down the script of the 2010 F1 season four weeks ago.

We pick it up again at one of the classic tracks, one designed over millions of years by Mother Nature rather than a few months by Hermann Tilke's CAD programme, and one which should see the front-runners contrive to post similar lap times, albeit getting there in very different ways.

As we saw last year with Giancarlo Fisichella's surprise second place for Force India, the first and third sectors should be eaten up by those with a horsepower advantage, the best low-downforce set-up and, for this year, a well-developed F-duct system - step forward McLaren and Ferrari.

But the middle sector, which includes the Les Combes chicane, the twisting Rivage and Malmedy series of corners, the almost-flat-out downhill left-hander at Pouhon and the sweeping bends of Fagnes, is made for the championship-leading Red Bull RB6.

The winning team will be the one which is able to take the very different demands of the seven kilometre track and tune their car around it, creating the best compromise between top-speed capability and downforce creation.

The bookies think that Red Bull are best placed to win the race, with Sebastian Vettel a best price of 5/2 and current title leader Mark Webber 5/1, and it's difficult to explicitly oppose the pair given that their qualifying advantage at the last race in Hungary was over a second.

But this is a very different track to the Budapest circuit, and one which the RB5 struggled to conquer last year - their drivers could only qualify eighth and ninth at a race they were expected to win comfortably, while Webber finished outside the points.

This year's car is admittedly far superior to the 2009 version, the team having ironed out many of its flaws, but while the pair should dominate qualifying, events at the German Grand Prix showed that it is far from unbeatable in race conditions if a rival car performs to its maximum potential.

The Renault-powered RB6 could struggle up the long, deceptively-steep Kemmel straight in sector one, a part of the track where those with a top-speed disadvantage could be left as a sitting duck by more-potent cars in race conditions.

Indeed, Sportingbet make Hockenheim winner Fernando Alonso their market leader and it's easy to make a case for the Spaniard given the prodigious straightline performance of the F-duct-equipped Ferrari F10, allied to its excellent braking and traction performance. 

Alonso, who is yet to win at Spa, should have the quickest car for at least the first half of the lap, right up to the entry of Pouhon, and it's worth bearing in mind that Ferrari have also won the last three Belgian grands prix.

The team are also planning on introducing a significant upgrade to the rear of the car to counter the advantage that the Red Bull has with its underbody aerodynamics.

Although Alonso possibly represents the best value of the main contenders at 3/1 it must be acknowledged that the more rigorous stress tests set to be applied to the cars' front wings and floors could pose problems for Ferrari and Red Bull.

Both teams claim they are not worried and that the components in question are flexing within the limits of the rules, but history suggests that any change in procedure by the FIA does tend to have the effect of closing up the field if the competitive order looks like being stretched.

McLaren could be the team with most to gain if indeed the tests do force their rivals to modify their cars, but without any major upgrades due to be introduced at Spa, it's difficult to get excited by the 11/2 and 14/1 quotes on Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button this weekend.

The gap to the front-runners will certainly be closer than the 1.7-second chasm we saw in Hungary but even the Mercedes engine allied to the most refined F-duct on the grid is unlikely to thrust either man back to the head of the field.

Both drivers will likely be hoping for rain across the weekend and, as usual at Spa, it looks as though their wish will be granted.

At the time of writing (lunchtime Thursday) the Ardennes track is currently sat under a blanket of rain and the weather is set to continue in that vein across the weekend.

With no stand-out value at the head of the market we'll look a little further down the list for opportunites, starting with Renault driver Robert Kubica. 

Kubica has been kind to us on occasion this season and this could be another chance to get the talented Pole on board at tasty prices.

His Renault is being fitted with the F-duct for the first time this season, which, considering their straightline speed has been impressive all season, should allow them to run more downforce than their rivals at this track.

Renault is not a team who would immediately spring to mind as a contender around this track, but the bookies agree and have written off Kubica too quickly, pricing him at 80/1 for the win and 14s for a top-three finish, both of which look overpriced.

Also, Adrian Sutil should be well-equipped to challenge as part of the Force India team which nearly won this race last year thanks to Fisichella.

He's shorter than Kubica for the race win but makes appeal at 5/2 to finish in the top six - six points finishes from the last seven racesunderline the German's improved consistency, while the Mercedes-powered car should be at its best once again here.

PICKS:
Small stake on Robert Kubica to win at 80/1 (Stan James - 1/5 1,2,3).
Medium stake on Adrian Sutil to finish in the top six at 5/2 (Blue Square).