Welcome to Spa, where music can be heard in the distance. The sounds of DI-RECT’s ‘Times are changing’ echo, a fitting anthem from the musical friends from The Hague.
There was a time, not so long ago, when as a Formula 1 reporter, you would discuss with Max Verstappen during the Belgian Grand Prix about deliberately replacing parts, accepting a grid penalty in Spa. The reasoning was that he was so fast in the Red Bull that he could still win. And so it happened, from the sub-top or even the midfield.
There was also a time, not so long ago, when as a Formula 1 reporter in Spa, often around mid-season, you didn’t even need to know how much lead Max Verstappen had in the World Championship standings. The assumption was that he would become the champion anyway. And so it happened.
But times are changing.
Now there is a time when a comeback race is already looming without a grid penalty. The reasoning is that Verstappen, instead of ‘definitely winning’, is ‘probably not going to win’. The lead in the World Championship standings has turned into a deficit. And ‘becoming the champion anyway’ has been turned into ‘not becoming the champion’.
Times are changing, Spa is no longer the place where Verstappen could be the temporary king of Belgium. Or, could it be this weekend?
Because one thing has never changed: you should never count him out.
And stranger things have happened on this circuit.
