Plus ca change, plus c’est la meme chose, as they say in France. The more things change, the more they stay the same. And so it proved with Formula One as it returned, hopefully refreshed, from its summer break.

Several teams brought new bits to try at Zandvoort, and proceeded with renewed hope. And for much of practice and qualifying, when the changeable weather did its best to combine with the relatively short but challenging 4.2km track to compress laps times and close up the field, it was possible to convince oneself, at least for a while, that Red Bull might just be vulnerable.