It’s seemed like a long old summer break, but Formula 1 is back, and at Spa no less. There are plenty of reasons to love the circuit, but for me the highlight is one of F1′s greatest corner names: Pouhon.

I’m looking forward to hearing how David Coulthard pronounces it in the commentary – especially since he won’t need to concentrate on getting Nick Heidfeld’s name right. If memory serves, Jonathan Legard used to really make a meal of Pouhon. So to speak.

It’s the start of a good run for corner names, with Monza next on the calendar. That means only one thing: Curva di Lesmo.

Just to prove that I’m not entirely childish, a couple of races after that it’s off to Suzuka, home of my very favourite corner name: Spoon Curve. Presumably named because it looks a bit like a spoon. Brilliant.

Sadly, with Istanbul Park likely to be absent from the 2012 calendar, we’ve probably already said goodbye to my final corner name highlight: Turn 8.

Most of the new circuits are distinctly lacking in both imaginative corners and imaginative corner names. Turn 8 at Istanbul Park might have only a generic label, but through sheer force of character, it’s broken free and come to mean that turn 8.

The Turkish Grand Prix might not have accomplished much in its seven years, but making a proper corner name out of a sequentially assigned number is something, I suppose.

Photo Credit
Pouhon, Spa: Nick Redhead, Flickr – Some rights reserved
Turn 8, Istanbul Park: ph-stop, Flickr – Some rights reserved