By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) - Red Bull's Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel have an immediate chance to hit back at Formula One leader Jenson Button in Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix after drawing a blank in Spain last weekend.
The fast and flowing Spa-Francorchamps circuit is a complete contrast to Valencia, with sweeping corners and far cooler temperatures, and the Red Bull duo should feel much more in their element.
"Spa should suit our car much better so I think we should be better prepared," team boss Christian Horner told Reuters after a disappointing European Grand Prix that he defined as "hopefully a blip."
"I think there is still very much all to play for."
Button, winner of six of the first seven races of the season, finished only seventh on Sunday in a race won by Brazilian team mate Rubens Barrichello.
The Briton, on the surface still as laid-back and relaxed as ever, has now scored only 11 points in his last four starts and his performances suggest he is feeling the pressure as the championship enters the decisive phase.
Barrichello is 18 points adrift with six races remaining while Australian Webber, who had finished on the podium for four races in a row before Valencia, is a further 2.5 behind with Germany's Vettel another 4.5 behind.
"The team has proven that we are quick when it is hot and Spa will be the telltale of whether we are quick when it is cold," said Button, who has only once finished on the podium at a Belgian track famed for capricious conditions.
"This Friday coming is a very important day for us to see if we have made improvements in the cool conditions."
BADOER TEST
Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen can be counted on to go well at Spa, having won three of the last four races at one of his favourite tracks.
The Finn, chasing his third podium finish in a row, should get an additional boost from the KERS energy recovery system that only Ferrari and McLaren are using.
Raikkonen's pace will only add to the pressure on 38-year-old stand-in Luca Badoer, the Italian who struggled in Valencia as replacement for injured Brazilian Felipe Massa and needs to raise his game to keep the seat.
McLaren's world champion Lewis Hamilton, whose car has gone from back to front in a turnaround as remarkable as Brawn's sudden supremacy at the start of the season, will be eager to make amends for last year's controversy in Belgium.
The Briton was demoted from first to third in 2008 for cutting a chicane, with Massa handed the victory retrospectively.
"Despite making some major improvements (to the car), we go to Spa knowing that the circuit's high-speed configuration is unlikely to play to the strengths of our car," said team principal Martin Whitmarsh.
"Having said that, our new technical package makes us confident that we'll be strong contender for points."
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Sonia Oxley)
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