Alright when was that again.....?

[John-Eric Saxén]

Redbull missed that scoring juggernaut 2 seasons ago when they neglected Ricciardo. A guy who looked more 'number one driver' material than Max.

Perez, his camp marketed him like he's golden. They tried it on Russell at Williams but failed going against a Merc young gun. Sadly for Albon, and other upcoming young drivers, they lack the backing to keep or get a seat. I'm really happy that George Russell banged the drum about 'a certain mexican' trying to steal his seat. Perez is not a neutral good guy. He played the card Vettel played on him. But I think he deserved to go rather than a young upcoming driver. Not an Albon fan but he's in the conversation so I'm gonna sound like it. Or yeah, I'm a fan of them young group, Russell, Leclerc, Norris, Albon... I like them all.

Perez, when paired with a top driver will show his flaws. Max will hand him his ars and I will laugh about it. But well, the goal is to seal the deal and get the seat for now. We'll see.

A 24 year old guy isn't a young upcoming driver anymore. With the Haas driver line-up change, I think that's about the average age on the grid next year. Perez in turn is "only" 30 years old and at an age where Hamilton had only won two titles. Albon lost his seat due to lack of ability, not backing. Actually there were rumors Red Bull's major Thai owners would have preferred him in the seat.

 

[Dude27]

Both Gasly and Albon were talented drivers in the wrong team. You can't pair Verstappen with a young talent, he's going to eat them alive. You need a more experienced driver: Webber and Ricciardo did great at RBR. Perez will do too. I don't expect him to match Verstappen in pure speed, but in a race, he could do score podiums and even a win or two.

Not him, this SOB team... they have a good training program but they are screwing their young pilots anytime they try them: no time to mature and learn the ropes, you perform or you die. Not fair for these young talented drivers. they are crushed and left with very low self esteem (Gasly was lucky to rebound like he did but we all admit his first win was the result of mostly luck). I really hope Gasly or Albon (even Kviat but with less chances) will one day win a championship for a NOT redbull team! a big middle finger to Christian and Marko... Gasly or Albon would be fools to resign in 2022 for a team who despise them...

 

[Dude27]

It's also a sport where they are contracted, as part of the Russian GP deal, to have a Russian on the grid.

Sochi is one of the races I would be happy to get rid of... We need Zolder, and Watking Glens back and brand hatch long would be also amazing to try for F1.

 

[Dude27]

Nice guys finish last. He was always way of the pace of Max. Max needs a team mate that can run behind him and play tail gunner and keep rivals off.

or who can beat him... ;-) I am not sure Checo will be the typical second driver in this car... He won finally a race and is hungry for more... for some drivers, the first was the most difficult. Now, he is in a top car able to win race with better chance than the racing point one. 2021 will be very interesting to see...

and anyway, if he performs under the expectation, Christian and Marko will be quick to give him the boot and give back his seat to Albon... these two are ruthless.

 

[Damage Inc]

Do racing point get the 2020 Merc next season, they were basically in the 2019 in 2020.
If so i expect Vettel to be at the sharp end again.

was it the chassis as well? I looked into it and there was controversy over the brake ducts being too similar to Mercs. The chassis is called something else from the Mercs, but I have no idea if that's the norm for customer cars. Thing is with vettel is I think he's as skilled as Lewis in the driving department but Lewis destroys him mentally.

 

[TOONS12]

was it the chassis as well? I looked into it and there was controversy over the brake ducts being too similar to Mercs. The chassis is called something else from the Mercs, but I have no idea if that's the norm for customer cars. Thing is with vettel is I think he's as skilled as Lewis in the driving department but Lewis destroys him mentally.

Maybe, but Lewis pre Merc dominance used to destroy himself mentally, i mean he still does if it doesn't go his way.
Obviously if you are in a dominant car wining stuff breaking records you are in a position to mentally dominate some, especially if they are in a bad situation themselves ...

For example during Vettels dominant years Lewis was destroyed.

Hence his 2013 rants about F1 being boring and Red Bull having the best car etc....

Vettel strikes me as the guy who seems the most down to earth about what they actually do and has a nice humour and doesn't take it all too seriously.
I think he will be in a great place next year....

Well, if we have a world left that is..

 

[zwiss]

For those that haven't seen it: how can you NOT love Checo?

 

[JuanManuelFangio]

Yesss

 

[JohnnyH3]

Finally a team WOKE UP & signed an AWESOME driver. Congrats CHEKO let's just hope the "energy drink people" don't LET YOU DOWN!

 

[Kindly]

Strange that it didn't fit for Albon. Worth noting it didn't fit for Gasly either. It is a bit of a poison chalice in that regard.

 

[Kindly]

Williams was always my favourite team in F1. Their cars are still my favourites to drive. It is still really fun to sim race a 1996 Williams or a 2004 Williams for example. Sir Frank will always be legendary for building a winning team from humble beginnings.

 

[TOONS12]

Strange that it didn't fit for Albon. Worth noting it didn't fit for Gasly either. It is a bit of a poison chalice in that regard.

Well in fairness Albon's CV is better than many drivers. He can also look back on going wheel to wheel with Lewis. He just needed to cheer up a bit.
Problem is they are all very entitled rich kids.
Compare them to any MotoGP riders and you'll see.

They are in a bubble from about 6 years old.

When Joan Mir was few races away from being MotoGP champion, he was asked about pressure:


"Real pressure is on the people that can’t pay their rent because of these conditions, the coronavirus and all of this, and that can’t bring food home," Mir explained.

"For sure when I hear questions about pressure, I think about that and say, 'I don’t have pressure. This is my job. I will be super good anyway'. So I’m privileged."

 

[fatal4you]

Actually Perez replacing could lead two laughable scenarios.

Scenario 1:
Perez outclasses Verstappen and RB will be like "Oh no we wasted so many years with Verstappen and his pointy cars"

Scenario 2:
Perez performs worse than Albon and RB will be like "Oh no we replaced Albon with a worse version of Albon"

2021 will be great - it's topic will be "Who is the dumbest?".

The contesters:

- McLaren - Replacing a good Renault engine with a new chassis for a Merc engine instead developing the chassis that you had in 2020.
- Riccardo leaving Renault for McLaren instead of staying
- Vettel spinning in Racingpoint instead of retiring
- RedBull - Replacing your 2nd driver with a new 2nd driver instead of building up your 2nd driver
- Haas - Mazepin

 

[Navigator]

mod-edit: seem you don't handle moderation all that well.

 

[Dude27]

This...

"Real pressure is on the people that can’t pay their rent because of these conditions, the coronavirus and all of this, and that can’t bring food home," Mir explained.

 

[BP]

If, it is always if. I agree mostly. But how I am looking at this is:
1) From team perspective I wouldn't want driver that had "experience" as with year with Ocon or Button
2) Experience? They don't need that, they have driver that has only what, 3 seasons less than Perez.
3) 2013 McLaren was , and I don't think any of drivers got most out of it. If any did I would say Button before Perez. So same as Albon if car is bad to drive Perez will be very far from Max.

All this, in personal opinion of course.

I understand, but experience doesn't only mean number of years in F1, but also years with various teams under various types of leadership and various cars. Max has only known Red Bull/Horner/Marko and Newey-designed cars, whereas Perez has been exposed to multiple teams/cars/engineers/etc...not to mention just coming from driving practically a 2019 Mercedes for a season. That insight might prove very valuable for Red Bull, which could benefit everyone on the team.

Whether Perez can take the fight to Max remains to be seen, but I do think he's one of the best acquisitions they've gained in years.

 

[John-Eric Saxén]

Actually Perez replacing could lead two laughable scenarios.

Scenario 1:
Perez outclasses Verstappen and RB will be like "Oh no we wasted so many years with Verstappen and his pointy cars"

Scenario 2:
Perez performs worse than Albon and RB will be like "Oh no we replaced Albon with a worse version of Albon"

2021 will be great - it's topic will be "Who is the dumbest?".

The contesters:

- McLaren - Replacing a good Renault engine with a new chassis for a Merc engine instead developing the chassis that you had in 2020.
- Riccardo leaving Renault for McLaren instead of staying
- Vettel spinning in Racingpoint instead of retiring
- RedBull - Replacing your 2nd driver with a new 2nd driver instead of building up your 2nd driver
- Haas - Mazepin

1. Then that means they found a new number one driver in Perez and they don't have to deal with Verstappen's contract extension demands plus that proves the car was actually really good rather than Max being super (doesn't seem a likely scenario to me).
2. Replace Perez with Albon then, Albon is still available for them any time they need him.

To me it's a win-win move regardless. There's an added bonus as well, Perez has now driven a Mercedes 2019 replica with a Mercedes engine, which could provide very valuable information for Red Bull.

 

[Appie Kuipers]

Haas is seriously thinking about a possible alternative for Mazepin.
It all is’nt any good for there name.

 

[BabyGotBackmarker]

Seems like the reportage going around is centered on his deletion of social media posts, including his apology. It still doesn't tell us anything for certain. A lot could depend on how many long-term plans were made at Haas with the investment of Dimitry Mazipin in mind. Other than the much-needed financial windfall, there's no percentage in keeping Nikita Mazepin around. Callum Ilott or Robert Schwartzman should have had that seat from the very beginning based on merit alone, period.

 

[paracletus]

Hulkenbourg would be the big choice around here, but his days in F1 are probably over. Probably someone else - someone with untold riches. $

That said, I don't really care what the kid alleged did in truth