Ferrari head to their home race looking for a consolation, after a miserable weekend in Belgium all but ruined their title chances.

F1’s most famous team boast the biggest cheering section around, with the Tifosi painting the grandstands in a massive shade of red to support their idols; but unless the (Red) Bulls are infuriated by the scarlet flags waving in the crowd, a victory would be more than surprising. Whilst the team have no reason to be uncompetitive, their main trouble is that the minnows of the field have every reason to be punching above their weights. Both Renault and Force India boasted phenomenal straight-line speed at Spa – a handy trait to have for a circuit famous for being the fastest in F1. A radical shake-up of the field is unlikely, but Adrian Sutil managed a front row place in qualifying last year, and Sebastian Vettel took an incredible wet weather win with the former Minardi team - if any similar shocks are going to happen, this could well be the place to witness them.

Fernando Alonso will be looking to forget the Belgian race, where his championship challenge crashed and burned. It could’ve been worse though, with the FIA ruling not to punish the Scuderia further for their blatent team orders at Germany. For now the championship is off the agenda, but big points to cheer the tifosi are needed. A repeat of Alonso’s gung ho approach at Belgium won’t go amiss, though many remain sceptical about just how many mistakes he has made now he’s back at a front-running team. But credit to him: when he has pulled it together, he’s usually sc0red the maximum amount of points available.

Felipe Massa had a very respectable race at Belgium, with the Ferrari car less competitive than form suggested. He has nothing to lose, and you’d think that if a Hockenheim-style situation came up, he wouldn’t be asked to move aside. Look out for Massa as a dark horse, who finally seems to have got his head around the narrower tyres introduced this year.

So overall, Ferrari should be both fearful and optimistic of the weekend ahead. The field will be much closer than usual with any one of five or six drivers fancying their chances of taking a win. Yet this season has been surprising enough that you sense a couple of those drivers may not even make it through to Q3 – but Ferrari have been competitive lately, so don’t rule out another podium appearance.

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