Much like the weather, fortunes at Spa can change in a heartbeat, as many of the top Formula One drivers can attest. Sebastian Vettel collided into Jenson Button there just last year, while Fernando Alonso suffered his only retirement of the 2010 season, proving even the best of drivers can be tamed by its 19 turns.

At 7 kilometers in length, the longest circuit on the schedule is one of the fastest and most dangerous tracks on the planet, and only the most attentive of drivers are rewarded.

Red Bull, which leads the constructors' title by a commanding 103 points, enters Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix certainly looking to regain momentum after having seen Ferrari and McLaren combine to win the past three races. The team's sheer speed may make it the early favorite in Belgium, but recent results say otherwise. Not since 1998 -- a race that featured a spectacular pileup in the early moments -- has a manufacturer aside from Ferrari or McLaren been victorious there.

The Circuit of Spa Francorchamps is a 2011 destination where Red Bull has struggled, relatively speaking. The Austrian outfit has never won at Spa, one of five tracks on the calendar this season that has not yet yielded a victory for the team (not including India). Last year was a step in the right direction, as Mark Webber finished a close second behind Lewis Hamilton.

Still, for a team that is renowned for sheer speed, it's downright puzzling to think that Spa as well as Monza, two of the fastest tracks in Formula One, are two of Red Bull's least successful venues.

While the future of Spa is still very much undecided, its history is rivaled by only a handful of tracks. Originally twice as long as the current version, the old track was so dangerous that F1 ceased travel to it following the 1970 edition. The race returned 13 years later, but the circuit looked much more like it does today. Speed still ruled, but quickness in qualifying did not translate into race victories.

Alas, in the past 17 races at Spa, only three pole-sitters have won (Mika Hakkinen, 2000; Michael Schumacher, 2002; and Kimi Raikkonen, 2007). In each of the past two years, the man on pole has wound up runner-up and just a combined 2.4 seconds behind the race winner.

Aside from the typical front-runners, a constructor to keep an eye on this weekend is Force India, as the team has had considerable success at Spa recently. In each of the past two seasons, Vijay Mallya's squad has left Spa earning a season-high points total, and the 19 points earned by the team at Spa is its most of any track. Just two seasons ago, Giancarlo Fisichella took pole there, and with Paul di Resta fresh off a career-best finish at Hungary, a solid day is not out of the question.

But di Resta is not the only rookie to watch Sunday. Sauber's Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado of Williams won here in GP2 last year, and Perez will need a good finish there if he has any hope of catching up to teammate Kamui Kobayashi in the championship standings (trails 27-8). It's very possible that at least one rookie will score a solid finish, as six drivers making their Spa debuts in F1 since 2005 have finished eighth or better.

One rookie who did not fare well in his first start at Spa was Michael Schumacher. Twenty years ago this weekend, Schumacher made his F1 debut with Jordan. He was quick in qualifying but never completed the first lap of the event with clutch issues. Nevertheless, Spa was the site of his first F1 victory just a year later, his first of 91 wins in the sport.