Marcus Simmons enjoys Spa, salutes officials who encourage proper bravery, and looks back at when 18-year-old Jenson Button first sampled an F3 car

Spa-Francorchamps is a tiring place to work. It's vast, it's hilly, and I wouldn't have it any other way. But with temperatures nudging the mid-30s through Thursday and Friday morning, it was rather energy-sapping.

To see anything worthwhile you have to walk a long way at Spa. The media centre offers hardly any view of the track (thanks, Herr Tilke), Eau Rouge is a bit of a nonentity for Formula 3 cars these days – easy-flat, although there are various degrees of kerb usage at the top of Raidillon. Instead, you have to go to Les Combes or Rivage (if you've got a bike), Pouhon or Fagnes if you haven't.

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