Formula 1: Is Max Verstappen back to his ‘old self’ after Belgian Grand Prix?

2016 Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg suggested that Max Verstappen is back to his “old self” after crashing in the Belgian Grand Prix. Is he right?

Max Verstappen’s first-lap crash in last Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix prompted criticism from 2016 Formula 1 champion Nico Rosberg, who just last month stated that the Aston Martin Red Bull Racing driver is the best in Formula 1.

Rosberg stated that the 21-year-old Dutchman is “back to his old self” after he made contact with Alfa Romeo Racing’s Kimi Raikkonen in turn one of the 19-turn, 4.352-mile (7.004-kilometer) Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps road course in Stavelot, Belgium.

Verstappen got off to a terrible start from fifth place, as has become far too normal for Red Bull Racing this season, and ended up wedged between Raikkonen, who had started alongside him in sixth, and the inside wall.

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With Raikkonen ahead of him, he found himself too squeezed up against the wall to make a move, and he couldn’t back out of it at that point. As a result, contact was made.

Raikkonen briefly went airborne, while Verstappen’s steering rack broke. As a result, just seconds later, he lost control of his car and crashed, nearly taking out Raikkonen again in the process.

Verstappen was known for these kinds of incidents throughout his first few seasons in Formula 1, so much so that he took on the undesirable nicknames of Crashstappen and Vercrashen.

But is it fair for Rosberg to say that this incident shows that Verstappen is back to his “old self”?

Before Sunday’s race, it had been more than one year since Verstappen finished a race outside of the top five. Nobody else was riding a streak of more than two consecutive top five finishes, and Verstappen’s streak was all the way up at 21.

To add onto that, his most recent two non-top five finishes both came about due to mechanical issues. Exclude those, and his streak was at 25 races.

Verstappen himself hadn’t made a meaningful result-altering mistake since the third and final practice session for the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix last May.

He had a car capable of taking the pole position and dominating this race, but he wrecked in this session and could not qualify as a result of it. After starting in 20th (last) place, he could only navigate around traffic on the tight city streets to finish in ninth.

Teammate Daniel Ricciardo won the race from the pole position after leading all 78 laps despite the fact that a loss of power early on in the race relegated his pace to 20 miles per hour slower than his rivals on the straightaways. He still won the race by 7.336 seconds over Scuderia Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in second place.

Since then, Verstappen had practically been flawless. A total of 27 races took place between the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix and the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix, and as referenced above, he was forced to retire from two of them due to mechanical issues. In the other 25 races, he recorded 25 top five finishes, 15 podium finishes, four victories and an average finish of 3.04.

So to say he’s back to his “old form” after one crash, a crash that only happened because of the disastrous starts that Red Bull Racing have experienced all season long, is laughable considering his “old form” involved him wrecking on a regular basis.

Look at the argument from the flip side.

If a former champion goes winless for several seasons in any for of motorsport and then wins a single race, are they back to their championship form because of that one win?

You wouldn’t hear anything of the sort.

The mere suggestion that Max Verstappen is back to his “old form” because of his Belgian Grand Prix run-in with Kimi Raikkonen is nothing shy of ridiculous. He could end up in the wall again this week as well, and it still wouldn’t change the fact that he has made massive strides since the Crashstappen days of his Formula 1 career.