We left him still victorious in Hungary at the end of July.

We find him after the summer break as the big favorite: the Red Bull driver has an 80-point lead over Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) and arrives at "his favorite circuit", the legendary Spa-Francorchamps track.

In the Belgian Ardennes, the native of Hasselt, some 100km to the north, won last year after a mock Grand Prix - just two laps behind the safety car, due to the deluge that set in fell on the circuit.

The Dutchman then followed up at home in Zandvoort with a victory, to take the lead from Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).

This time, his first opponent is Monegasque, drives a red car and is above all very far behind.

Nine races from the end, Verstappen has all the cards in hand and could even afford to grill a joker during this sequence of three Grands Prix in three weeks, also with Italy at Monza on September 11.

Apart from a possible failure of the Red Bull, as in Bahrain and Australia at the start of the season, it is difficult to see what could prevent it from winning, or in any case from the podium (8 victories and two other podiums in 13 races).

Spa on borrowed time

It remains to assimilate two novelties.

First, the very demanding Spa layout has been modified in several places, to reinforce the safety of the pilots after several accidents in recent years, including that of Frenchman Anthoine Hubert in 2019.

"The improvements to the circuit have made it a little more + old school + with the gravel traps, which is a good idea. It's my favorite track, so I'm looking forward to it," Verstappen rejoices in advance.

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Gravel traps in the shape of a trap for single-seaters, but also a corrected red Raidillon de l'Eau: with wider clearance zones, this famous 17% climb followed by a bend, in which the pilots launch themselves as in the unknown, must now be safer without seeing her mind change.

Improvements to hope to keep the Grand Prix in Belgium: like Monaco, the extension for 2023 has not yet been signed with Formula 1, while the French GP will no longer be part of the calendar next season .

Even if the 2023 edition could be saved, the rest could be dotted or at least in a rotation system between several European races.

Porpoising

Second novelty of the weekend, the International Automobile Federation (FIA) introduces a new technical directive concerning the phenomenon of rebounds felt by single-seaters this season.

To reduce this "porpoising", which can be painful or even dangerous in the long term for the drivers, the FIA ​​is reacting.

Monitoring the oscillation of the cars using sensors, it has defined the maximum oscillation values ​​in which they can evolve, in order to avoid reaching critical values ​​which could harm the health of the drivers.

"For us, it's not a major problem," said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner before the break.

"The most important discussion is about a potential rule change for next year."

"It could be a major redesign of the car if the flat bottom was raised by 25mm as they (FIA, editor's note) are considering. And you could say it's not just for safety reasons," he said. he continued, aiming without mentioning Mercedes.

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Very affected by porpoising, Mercedes is campaigning for such a measure.

Unlike Red Bull or Ferrari, the former dominant team, now 3rd force on the board, has not found the solution to end the rebound without losing performance.

© 2022 AFP