Perez, The Elephant in the Room??
Discussion
Leithen said:
But they don’t care. As long as Max is delivering it suits them perfectly to have a rolling sequence of canon fodder to be spat out, and their No.1 driver’s ego massaged.
That is not the case at all. They care very much about both drivers as you need both drivers on their a-game to win the Constructers Championship. That's where they win the big money. They win nothing for one of their drivers winning the Driver's Championship. I see an imminent return to business as usual with RBR and Perez.
Loads of race tracks between now and Singapore to suit the car, that’s a lot of points on the board.
VER will establish an unassailable drivers champions lead.
PER will haul enough for at least third in the drivers.
RBR will hoover points while the Donkeys and Papayas take from one another.
I wish it wasn’t so for enjoyment of the sport, alas, Newey is all conquering.
Loads of race tracks between now and Singapore to suit the car, that’s a lot of points on the board.
VER will establish an unassailable drivers champions lead.
PER will haul enough for at least third in the drivers.
RBR will hoover points while the Donkeys and Papayas take from one another.
I wish it wasn’t so for enjoyment of the sport, alas, Newey is all conquering.
Dave200 said:
Another weekend, and another moment of mental weakness from Perez. Squeezing KMag against the wall was a totally unnecessary move.
This. What a clown. I thought Sky coverage of it was pathetic as well, they were showing a freeze frame of Perez taking a completely different line up the hill than the cars in front as he moved across to block KMag and drove in to him, and stated that SP was taking the racing line and KMag should have backed off when he was already moving alongside. Great move and probably would have made it stick if he hadn't been run off the track.daqinggregg said:
What is the cause of “a lack of viable options” drivers don’t want to be part of a ‘winning team’?
Compliant number two drivers is my guess. They need a fast, reliable driver that will toe the party line and not bother Max. There's plenty of teams that offer a more viable racing opportunity for incoming drivers.
Leithen said:
I wonder how much he is being paid? Less than the damage incurred at Monaco?
That car looked like a total write-off, there wasn’t one original-looking part left on it and three corners were totally missing. At best they have a chassis which might serve as an emergency overweight spare, after extensive repairs have been made to it - which means they’re probably laying-up Chassis #4 as we speak.
There could be PU and gearbox damage as well, with possible sporting penalties to come at the sharp end of the season.
The Twitter opinion seems to be $2-3m, which is almost certainly amateur speculation, but it looks like seven figures unless the chassis is somehow intact. That’s maybe half a dozen design or engineering staff sacked off the F1 team for the rest of the year, to go and help Newey with his pet project.
Marko said that damage is a significant factor in their development resources, because they aim to be as close as possible to the cost cap (insert catering joke here), so having a driver qualify almost last and then get his car smashed to bits on the first lap isn’t exactly optimal!
thegreenhell said:
Paddock rumour is that they will announce a contract extension for him pretty soon, mainly due to lack of viable options.
I've said it a few times before already but who can they really put in that's a step up from Perez?Norris, Alonso, both refused multiple times.
Is Tsunoda actually better than Perez? I'd say in his current form he's at least equal but we've seen quite a few drivers move from STR to RB in recent times that looked really promising but 3 races in people were calling for said drivers head already. He's also linked to Honda so perhaps a strong likelyhood he'll end up replacing alonso at the end of his contract and RB probably want a more permanent solution.
Hamilton, Leclerc, signed up and very unlikely to happen even if all the moons and stars aligned.
Piastri, as if Mclaren lets him go, and that car is getting so good now does Piastri even want to move?
Sainz seems the most likely option but wanted a lot more money than RB wants to offer. And we've seen Max v Sainz already, with Max beating the much more experienced Sainz already.
Anyone else on the grid...an improvement on Perez? Nope.
Personally I wish Albon was given another shot. No idea if it was under consideration but the 3 year contract he just signed with Williams is a great offer for Albon, if not only job security wise. He knows what it was like to race against Max and how deep he needed to dig.
Bas Jaski said:
Personally I wish Albon was given another shot. No idea if it was under consideration but the 3 year contract he just signed with Williams is a great offer for Albon, if not only job security wise. He knows what it was like to race against Max and how deep he needed to dig.
He turned them down apparently. daqinggregg said:
What is the cause of “a lack of viable options” drivers don’t want to be part of a ‘winning team’?
Hamilton - Signed to FerrariLeClerc - Signed to Ferrari
Norris - Signed to Mclaren
Piastri - Signed to Mclaren
Russell - Signed to Mercedes
Alonso - Signed to AM
Tsunoda - doing OK, but not setting the world alight
Ricciardo - undeniably struggling, despite flashes of speed
Both Alpine drivers not spectacular
Both Sauber drivers - see above
Both Haas drivers - one gone to Audi, the other is Mr Crashy
Stroll - need we say more
Albon - signed to Williams
Which only leaves Sainz. Word is he has a huge offer from Audi and there's talk of a bit of friction between camps when he and Max were team-mates at Toro Rosso.
RBR won't take a rookie, so it leaves only Perez. Weird really - you'd think they'd have the pick of the field.
I have a theory (I maybe wrong) that drivers who start racing in karts very young (Schumacher, Verstappen) like a pointy car, with a balance that the front is very grippy and the rear moves around. This can be very fast but difficult to drive if you come to it from a more balanced setup. The constructor will always favour the setup of the faster driver so the development of the car will be away from the slower driver.
So, RBR need to find a driver who likes the same setup as Max.
So, RBR need to find a driver who likes the same setup as Max.
CocoUK said:
I see an imminent return to business as usual with RBR and Perez.
Loads of race tracks between now and Singapore to suit the car, that’s a lot of points on the board.
VER will establish an unassailable drivers champions lead.
PER will haul enough for at least third in the drivers.
RBR will hoover points while the Donkeys and Papayas take from one another.
^^^ This Loads of race tracks between now and Singapore to suit the car, that’s a lot of points on the board.
VER will establish an unassailable drivers champions lead.
PER will haul enough for at least third in the drivers.
RBR will hoover points while the Donkeys and Papayas take from one another.
So far Perez has played his part in 2 WCC's, a 2nd and 3rd place in the WDC, plus had a significant role in helping Max win the WDC in 2021. Unless he has a complete implosion over the next few months I think he'll keep his place.
The only realistic alternative would be Tsunoda, but Red Bull have been burned by Max's no. 2's in the past so I can't see them taking a risk on someone when they don't need to. Shame for Yuki as he's really impressed me this season, seems to be a lot more mature and consistent. It would be interesting to see what he could achieve in the senior team.
No top line driver wants to move to a toxic team run by their number one driver, to play second fiddle to him whilst enduring Horner's attention with an old racist wandering about at the back of the garage for good measure.
The only drivers that would consider it would have to need to move there and they already have someone of that talent in the seat, Bottas would be a natural choice as a proven number two but I doubt very much he would entertain such a move.
Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff