Button: Eau Rouge 'challenge' a media obsession.

Formula One returns to the splendour of Spa-Francorchamps this weekend, bringing with it the annual question of whether drivers can - or will - take the awesome Eau Rouge corner flat out.

While some, like Jenson Button's future team-mate Jacques Villeneuve, set themselves the personal challenge of attempting the combination of corners as fast as possible, the Briton feels that the motorsport media's obsession with Eau Rouge has blown the task out of proportion.

"I think the challenge is more in the heads of the media than the drivers!" he said, "Sure, it is exciting and different, but it's just one corner. You won't win a race by only being quick through there!"

Instead, the Renault driver judges other parts of the high-speed 4.3mile blast through the Ardennes forest to be just as taxing.

"Blanchimont is a great corner - exciting and a little bit scary," he admitted, "The complex at the end of the straight [Les Combes] is important for a good lap time, and also the double fifth-gear left-hander at Pouhon."

For 2002, the circuit has been lightly modified, with changes on the exits of Eau Rouge and the Bus Stop chicane. Although drivers in the recent Spa 24 Hour race suggested that the modifications meant less precision was required on a fast lap, Button is reserving judgement until seeing the alterations for himself.

"I don't know what it will be like to drive, but it's definitely a lot safer now, and that's a step forward," he said.

The track's characteristics may be unique, with its steep gradients and switches between public roads and the purpose-built circuit, yet Button insists he will be looking for many of the same qualities in his set-up as at any other venue.

"Like pretty much everywhere else, the car will need to be well-balanced, and I'll be looking for it to work well in the high-speed corners as well as having a good change of direction," he explained, "It's definitely my kind of circuit, and we should be competitive."

Button spent two days after the recent Hungarian Grand Prix training with members of the Renault F1 Human Performance Centre in readiness for the Belgian race.