Team mate battles 2020: The final score – Verstappen vs Albon

2020 F1 season review

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Since Daniel Ricciardo left Red Bull at the end of 2018 the team has been without a driver who can consistently operate anywhere near Max Verstappen’s level.

So concerned was the team by Pierre Gasly’s performance over the first leg of last season that he was demoted in favour of Alexander Albon. His replacement collected points more consistently over the remaining races, but lagged well off Verstappen in qualifying. Nonetheless this was credible stuff from a driver who’d only sampled F1 machinery for the first time earlier that year, and the team elected to give him a full season.

Hopes Albon might find the one-lap pace to back up his race performances were dashed; if anything he fell further away. While Verstappen could tame the RB16’s twitchy rear, Albon seldom found the stability he craved.

Lewis Hamilton, Alexander Albon, Red Bull Ring, 2020
Hamilton cost Albon a podium in the season-opener
But Red Bull didn’t drop Albon as hastily as they ousted Gasly. The team talked up their willingness to give him time to prove himself. Although, of course, both the potential replacements they had to hand – AlphaTauri pair Gasly and Daniil Kvyat – had previously been assessed and discarded.

The best thing that can be said about how Albon measured up to his team mate is that, like Valtteri Bottas, he is up against one of the best in the business. But unlike Bottas, he didn’t have as competitive or as compliant a car to do it in. Even Verstappen found the RB16 a handful at times, particularly in the early stages of the season.

But even with all these caveats, the number make grim reading for Albon. He never out-qualified Verstappen all year – he only got within three-tenths of a second of him once – and never finished ahead in the 11 races where both saw the chequered flag.

Defending the team’s decision to persevere with Albon until the end of the season, Christian Horner said at the penultimate round that “Alex’s average is still closer than Pierre’s was last year”. By the end of the season that wasn’t the case. Ignoring Gasly’s Azerbaijan and Canada results last year due to circumstances which made them unrepresentative, and discarding the two wet qualifying sessions from this year, Albon’s deficit was 0.522 seconds compared to Gasly’s 0.495s.

Over his brief spell in the car at the end of last year Albon averaged 0.433s away. That included one race – Suzuka – where he matched Verstappen to within a thousandth of a second. But this was not something which ever looked like happening again during 2020.

Red Bull kept the faith all year that Albon might edge closer to the form he showed at the end of 2019. It took him until the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi, where he crossed the finishing line within sight of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes, to do it. But that may have been too little, too late.

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Positive gap: Alexander Albon was ahead; Negative gap: Max Verstappen was ahead

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Race-by-race summary: Verstappen vs Albon

AUS STY HUN GRE 70T SPA BEL ITA TUS RUS GER POR EMI TUR BAH SAK ABU
Max Verstappen Q
R
Alexander Albon Q
R

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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75 comments on “Team mate battles 2020: The final score – Verstappen vs Albon”

  1. Yeah, it seems that Albon more or less stalled at about the same defecit to Verstappen he ended last year on

    1. @bascb it’s actually worsened slightly compared to his 2019 form, where the gap was “only” about 0.45s to Verstappen on average.

  2. Watching another F1 show on Youtube they mentioned that Horner and Marko had to talk Mateschitz into bringing Perez on board to replace Albon. I’m guessing the fact the 51% of the RB empire is owned by the Yoovidhya family has been a key influence on how this has been handled.

  3. Red Bull psychologically killing yet another driver.

    1. Sink or swim at Red Bull. Worked for Vettel, Ricciardo and Verstappen.

      Bottas at Mercedes is a broken man.

      1. I tend to be critical of Red Bull’s driver program in how they waste a lot of drivers who aren’t up to their high standards (of driving and/or dealing with stress?) who might be solid backups when needed, or in other RB racing activities @deanfranklin but having said that, I think we can add Sainz Jr. to your list too, he seemingly only wasn’t promoted bc. they didn’t want the Verstappen/Sainz apparently difficult relation to re-appear at Red Bull, but it wasn’t him failing at driving or dealing with expectation, so I think we can count him as a success for the program.

        PS. yes, he didn’t really do super at Renault, but McLaren certainly redeemed, and now on to Ferrari even if they aren’t at their best and he’s intended as a temp if Mick Schumacher delivers.

        1. Schumacher jr wil have to deliver Russell like performances in the what looks to be the worst team, unlikely going by his inconsistency in F2. He will likely be close to Mazepin, while Sainz jr is coming off two fantastic seasons, arguably the best driver in 2019. Sainz and Leclerc could be a Sainz-Norris level partnership for several years at ferrari. Ferrari looks to have the best driver lineup of 2021.

        2. Look at the merc programm.. even more devasating then RBs..
          Wehrlein, Ocon, Russell.. great talents but lost for the sport or waiting for a place that never will come..

          1. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
            19th December 2020, 0:59

            Good point

        3. Sainz becomes Ferrari’s Bottas, so good call from RB

    2. By showering him with praise and well meaning words in the media despite poor performance. Looking for ways to help him improve. By replacing his race engineer with a more experienced replacement. By sticking by him for 18 months. By no doubt working with him throughout to try and pinpoint where he was lacking and could be improving.

      Man that psychological warfare in the Red Bull camp must have been hell for poor Alex.

      1. Man that psychological warfare in the Red Bull camp must have been hell for poor Alex.

        It’s F1. He should go get a job or move to a lower formula if he’s not cut out for it.

        He’s in one of the four best seats in world motorsport (although daylight to the top 2).

        Red Bull don’t owe Albon anything.

        1. He was being sarcastic

    3. Red Bull have given more new drivers an opportunity in F1 than any other team on the grid. Albon and Kvyat have no one but themselves to blame for not making the most of the opportunity.

      1. @kingshark The same with Gasly in the senior team.

      2. One could argue though that they were promoted too soon.
        Mercedes (as boring as their driver line up may be) seems to choose to let Russell grow into the seat in the limelight rather than throwing him in the second they thought/saw he was faster than Bottas.

        1. Merc go the other way. George is clearly ready but they might stunt his growth by not letting him move up and flogging a dead horse in Bottas for another yet.

          1. It could be as simple an explanation for keeping Bottas is 1. keeping to their promises, since they signed Bottas on and 2. not wanting to rework the survival cell for next season, since they would have to make it bigger to actually fit Russel in if they want to sign him.

        2. @coldfly Seems you’ve been gone for a bit so nice to see you back. While I get the ‘promoted too soon’ argument, I also think that this being F1, the pinnacle, once you’re in there should be only so much coddling a team(s) can do. You’re supposed to be ready which is exactly why you’ve made it to F1. I realize that’s not always just black and white though.

          But I just wanted to add to that, I’m envisioning, once Liberty and Brawn’s vision starts taking effect next year and beyond, not just with the cars but with the budgets etc, an F1 field that is far closer, and more challenging for the drivers given the closer combat that should ensue more often. I think Championships starting in 2022 are going to be harder fought and earned for the winners. So I also think just getting into F1 even on a lesser team means one will have to be ready quite quickly, as lesser teams become less distant from the pack, and the drivers need their racecraft much sooner in their F1 careers and much more often. They won’t just be trundling along at the back all the time, and handcuffed in dirty air to boot. Oh sure there will still be the lesser teams and the have teams, but I think new drivers better be prepared to get into the mix, as they always should anyway, or else they simply do belong in F1, but perhaps especially the new F1.

          1. Second last line should read ‘simply don’t belong…’

            Third line of second paragraph should read ‘taking effect in 2022…’ not next year as I texted.

          2. Agree, @Robbie. Ideally drivers should be ready when they join F1 (give them a few races to adapt), and following should be less cumbersome. The latter could come with the next generation cars, the former only if there were a feeder series from which only the best could be promoted to F1 (maybe an idea).

            Seems you’ve been gone for a bit

            Yeah, I noticed that the comments on this site were less so from fanatics like us, and more from phanbouys and conspiracy theorists. I don’t mind fans having a preferred driver (I know you support Max) and that this might impact their comments. But too often it became a shouting contest leaving behind proper arguments. I hope that now that the season is finished we can go back to a more mature discussing forum, and enjoy the great articles and analyses of this site.

          3. @coldfly Good stuff and yeah I have to admit I have wavered time and again at my participation level for exactly the same reasons.

        3. @coldfly, and ditched Ocon and burned Wehrlein and so on…
          Being a Mercedes young driver is a recipe for disaster it seems

      3. @kingshark mind you, by virtue of Red Bull’s programme having operated for substantially longer (nearly two decades now) and also having recruited far more drivers in total – over 70 drivers now – the weight of numbers alone is going to favour Red Bull if you just look at it in terms of raw numbers.

        There is also the question of whether the type of junior team that Red Bull developed has necessarily been an overall positive development for F1 and for junior series such as F2 and F3, given that those driver programmes have also created issues in those junior series that have impacted the progression of drivers into F1, but that could be said to be a separate debate in and of itself.

    4. Wait, F1 is a mental clinic? We’re all expected to deliver doing our jobs. He didn’t apply to drive a taxi, but to race against others. He kept losing his battles, almost all of them, so what do you want them to do? This is not a life or death situation, he can always find another line of work or less competitive competition. He’s not one of the 20 top racers in the world, is that so bad? Should he stay just so he feels better? He had a chance, it was a great adventure, he should consider himself luckier than most. Ah and it came with a fine paycheck.

    5. Really? It seems clear he is just not good enough. He had 18 months and if you look at the numbers he is annihilated. If you look at the races, he did not really improve. What did Red Bull do wrong? They gave him the chances and he did not deliver, so he has to go. That’s how it works in the world of grown ups.

  4. The scores are definaly very clear, So hiring Perez makes now sense.

  5. I think that Albon was heading for the win at the first race, the Austrian GP, until the collision with Hamilton and what a difference that would have been. He would still have a big margin to Verstappen but that win would give him a big boost for sure. But that is just an exercise of an alternate reality…

    The difference of pace was indeed too much. I commented that Perez would probably be as slow, and he might start as slow but I seriously doubt that Perez will finish the year with a similar gap to Verstappen… Assuming he does get Alex’s seat

    1. Race win with mechanical failure few laps from end interesting concept.

      1. Soraya Pellegrini
        18th December 2020, 8:24

        The only reason why he had issues with his car at the end is bc he got damage from his collision with Hamilton. He literally was hit and shoved right into the gravel:(

      2. They retired him because he was out of the points but had he been chasing Bottas for the win maybe they wouldn’t and th car might have made it till the end. I believe the team admitted more or less to this.
        Nevertheless I said it was an exercise of alternate reality…

        1. @bakano are you sure about that? If you go back and listen to Albon’s radio messages during the Austrian GP, he was reporting back to the team that the engine was losing power and cutting out before he retired – if he’s the one that’s reporting issues first, then that would seem to suggest it was a genuine issue.

          Are you possibly thinking of the Eifel GP, where Albon was in the lower reaches of the top 10 when the team ordered him to retire from the race?

          Soraya, whilst there have been some who have suggested that was the case, given that Verstappen had also been reporting electrical problems that resulted in a loss in power early in the race, there were those who suspected that Albon’s retirement was more likely to be linked to those issues.

          Honda’s comments about that race also seemed to be a bit inconsistent with what was observed. Honda did put the blame on the collision with Hamilton, but then they did also confirm that Red Bull had completely changed the entire electrical systems on both cars because both Honda and Red Bull had some concerns about “anomalies” in the electrical systems.

          If it was supposedly purely down to that collision, why would you then need to fully replace those electrical systems on both cars if Verstappen wasn’t involved in any collisions and supposedly should have been fine? It sounds more like the sort of change you’d make if you had concerns about a potential manufacturing fault that impacted both cars.

          1. anon, I admit I don’t remember all of the details but I do remember Horner saying something in the lines of Lewis “robbing” Alex of the win, even though Alex later retired. That made me wonder at the time why were they so convinced Alex would win (but is true he was faster and on better tyres than both Mercs at the time) even though he suffered a mechanical issue…
            Well, Ricciardo did win a race with an engine issue that I guess they would have retired if he was well outside the points, so I also assumed it could be a similar thing.
            That was my theory but again, just an futile exercise in “what if”, funny nonetheless but difficult to discuss as any alternative outcome is on the cards.

            I do feel the need to explain my logic though 😉

    2. It was not a win.. he was second at that stage. Well behind VER.

  6. Shocking numbers.

  7. Jelle van der Meer (@)
    18th December 2020, 8:04

    I don’t recall having seen more one sided numbers like this certainly for someone in a podium car.

    Think the 28 laps Albon was ahead must have been at Turkey GP after Max spin.

    1. Schumacher was more dominant in the 90’s.

      1. But that was a championship car..

    2. @jelle-van-der-meer by my count it was 25 laps in Turkey and 3 in the rest of the season. Ouch.

  8. This is why Verstappen is the best on the grid (in my opinion).

    If Max had Bottas as teammate he’d have a similar level of dominance over him.

    He’ll rip Perez apart.

    1. @deanfranklin Outscoring Perez is less relevant than both finishing in the top-four consistently and being able to help the team in strategic options against two Mercs.

    2. The reason a Perez – Verstappen line up can work is that this is not about either of them “winning” or “destroying” the other.

      As @jerejj mentions, it is about having a team of drivers that can bring in the results to have a chance of pushing Mercedes in the races and not being hundreds of points behind by mid season.

      Nobody will expect from Perez to beat Max overall, possibly not even he himself (although with the form he is on, who knows). That is not the reason they signed him. They need him to qualify solidly, get the car into Q3, start close to Max, not fall back into the midfield but push Mercedes into having to think harder about their strategy, be a rear gunner for Max the way he was for Stroll in Turkey for a large part of the race. And pick up the podiums from Bottas. Or pick up the spoils if Max has any issues.

      1. They need him to qualify solidly, get the car into Q3, start close to Max, not fall back into the midfield but push Mercedes into having to think harder about their strategy, be a rear gunner for Max the way he was for Stroll in Turkey for a large part of the race.

        @bascb
        Agree. I’d say with reasonable certainty that Perez can deliver on all those points as well. Plus, I think Perez can make alternative strategies work really well due to his great tyre management. Strategically, Mercedes could have their hands full… and if there’s one chink in Mercedes’ armour right now, I would probably say it’s strategy.

    3. Take it easy, maxi-fan! Just wait and see, wait and see…

    4. Absolutely right. It is impossible for any other driver to perform at the same level as Max runs that RB. He will destroy Perez.

  9. Honestly I can’t help but think we’re looking for the ‘problem’ in the wrong place. 2 drivers we know are good (otherwise they wouldn’t have been in that car in the first place) have struggled in the Red Bull

    1. Clearly, they are not that good.

    2. It is tough to accept by the haters but maybe Max is just that special.

      People keep referring to his teenage years. Brilliant but inconsistent back then, the 23y old Max is at a different level now.

      Fair chance he would have finished 2nd in the WDC in the pink merc. We will see that next year if he breaks Perez like Albon

      1. Yes, I’m in your line of thinking. I expect Verstappen to make Perez look pretty ordinary.

        One of the reasons why F1 and drivers can be debated forever is because it’s so hard to make a case for one driver over another. Who really does true driver analysis? In tennis we can discuss technique, backhand, serve, volley, physical traits, etc. Same with football(soccer) or other sports. On the other hand, in F1 we hardly ever hear anything intelligent about what makes certain drivers special, technique, skills, etc. At most we talk about how well one driver overtakes another one or how consistent or reckless they are. That’s why it’s easy to make a plausible case for and against any driver. Instead I try to use my eyes and not pay too much attention to what people say.

        My individual “eye test” is telling me that Max will wipe the floor with Checo. Hopefully I’ll be wrong and Max will turn out to be just a “little bit” better.

  10. I’d give this one to Verstappen ;)

  11. He was way more punchy than Gasly who was totally anonymous and overawed by RBR and by Max. Alas Albon’s slightly nervous personality, or so it appears, is just not robust enough to cope with either RoboMax’s innate talent or RBR’s slightly Williams-esque treatment of their drivers.
    Who knows if that sliding doors moment when Lewis T-boned him off, losing him a good early podium or even win, could’ve galvanised him further? Later performances suggest otherwise but he’s not dead in the water yet, if Perez gets an almighty coshing in qually then his performances may be reappraised and Kvyat has shown even limited ability drivers can get back in with the right attitude

  12. Does anyone ever think that Red Bull’s treatment of the drivers are worse than Ferrari to Vettel in 2020?

    1. Vettel deserved it especially after being insubordinate Russia last year and not accepting blame for the completely avoidable crash with Leclerc in Brazil. Not only that but Leclerc had better pace throughout the season.

      Why would you keep one of the most expensive drivers on the grid when he’s getting beat by a second year driver?

    2. Honestly, I’m mostly puzzled by the “Red Bull treats their drivers so poorly” narrative. As if drivers are baby’s that need to be cuddled and hugged and don’t need to perform ever lest they be told off.

      Red Bull is one of the top teams on the grid, they have every resource imaginable available to either of their drivers. They have simulators, they have the best engineers, the best hospitality, they have the absolute best of the best at a driver’s disposal in, what should be considered, is the top of the top of motorsport at that. It doesn’t get any better than that.

      So if you come into that environment, and your performance is poor, why does the blame lie with the team? In Albon’s case especially you can’t argue he didn’t have the team’s support. Horner and Marko defended him every poor performance. Tried to find the positives. They changed his head engineer in an effort to help him. They share all of Max’s data with Albon. They didn’t dump him at any point or even told him he’d be gone at the end of the season or that he’d have no chance of redemption.

      If that’s “worse” treatment, then I don’t know. Vettel was unceremoniously dumped by the team, no negotiations, nothing. Binotto wasn’t publicly supportive of him at all during the season and I doubt the two said much more than the bare necessities to one another during any given race weekend. That’s poor driver treatment. What Albon got, wasn’t poor treatment at all. It’s just a simple fact that a seat in a top team comes with a responsibility to perform. A responsibility by the driver to perform. If you don’t, you’re out, that’s not poor treatment, that’s just not meeting what is expected of you.

  13. Honestly, I’m mostly puzzled by the “Red Bull treats their drivers so poorly” narrative. As if drivers are baby’s that need to be cuddled and hugged and don’t need to perform ever lest they be told off.

    Red Bull is one of the top teams on the grid, they have every resource imaginable available to either of their drivers. They have simulators, they have the best engineers, the best hospitality, they have the absolute best of the best at a driver’s disposal in, what should be considered, is the top of the top of motorsport at that. It doesn’t get any better than that.

    So if you come into that environment, and your performance is terribly poor, why does the blame lie with the team? In Albon’s case especially you can’t argue he didn’t have the team’s support. Horner and even Marko defended him after every poor performance. Tried to find the positives. They changed his head engineer in an effort to help him. They share all of Max’s data with Albon. They didn’t dump him at any point or even told him he’d be gone at the end of the season or that he’d have no chance of redemption.

    If that’s “worse” treatment, then I don’t know. Vettel was unceremoniously dumped by the team, no negotiations, nothing. Binotto wasn’t publicly supportive of him at all during the season and I doubt the two said much more than the bare necessities to one another during any given race weekend. That’s poor driver treatment. What Albon got, wasn’t poor treatment at all. It’s just a simple fact that a seat in a top team comes with a responsibility to perform. A responsibility by the driver to perform. If you don’t, you’re out, that’s not poor treatment, that’s just not meeting what is expected of you.

    1. this was @Dave above

    2. So you change him for another driver who you dont know if will perform… Smart…

      1. Yes, smart. You already know Albon doesn’t perform, so the worst case scenario here is a lateral move.

        Since you already know the outcome of Albon staying is not a positive one, the gamble is 100% worth taking, it’s almost a no-brainer.

    3. @aiii Agreed and well said. Let’s note that in the article above, written by Keith who I consider inside F1, he hasn’t spoken about AA’s poor treatment, nor the car being Max’s designer car. DR certainly never complained about that. Nor did Max complain about it being DR’s car when he first joined the team in 2016. Has AA even complained about anything other than the handling? Complained about poor treatment, or it being Max’s car? I’m convinced that ever since MV’s sarcastic ‘not bad for a number two’ comment, certain fans who choose to, because they aren’t RBR fans, have perpetuated disgruntled fans’ opinions over and over like they are fact. Like Max has a contract ala MS/Ferrari or like RBR are a known one-rooster team like Ferrari.

      But hey, as we have seen in the US, some people will believe anything.

  14. I am a massive Albon fan and I still think he has alot of potential. It’s just that the RB car is designed specifically for Verstappen, and the #2 driver be damned, he needs to adapt or get the axe.

    Unfortunately for Albon, adaptability is a key feature for a racing driver.

    Perez has proven he has the talent and speed, so there’s really no need for further justification or explanation. Hopefully Perez can really take this opportunity to shine his Star, as I have always held the opinion that his time at McLaren came too soon in his career.

    I just hope Albon is able to find a seat somewhere in F1 and return on 2022, there is enough talent in him for him to be considered worthy of a drive.

    1. I am also supportive of Albon, even though the stats don’t make that point.
      And even though his racing consistency (hence the few points) was not that good this year, I do recall Albon as a driver with a special nick for great overtakes. Albon gave us most overtakes in unusual place this year. And those were based on skill rather than luck.

      1. Agree. The overtakes are the reason I think he still seems to have some potential and deserves a 2nd chance in F1, with another team of course. Now, with RBR, it’s the right decision. We all want to see a 2nd car fighting the Mercs.

  15. Albon, like Ocon and Latiffi, got truly Vandoorned by their teammates this season :)

  16. Albon was so bad it was hard to find a caption featuring both bulls.

    1. Bullseye and Bullsh* t

  17. But Red Bull didn’t drop Albon as hastily as they ousted Gasly.

    Give it a few days, if rumours are correct, Albon will go from racing in the main team to being outsted for 2021 (or forever), whereas Gasly had the chance to recover at Alpha Tauri for a year and a half, before he was confirmed for 2021…

    Gasly’s case was harsh, but he was given a second chance… Albon had a whole year for himself, but might’ve destroyed his F1 career altogether.

    1. It was Albon himself who stated he would not drive for another team then RBR!

  18. The whole Red Bull situation reminds me so much of Benetton in the early to mid 90s.
    Like them, Red Bull are trying hard to challenge the dominant team and decide to put a young promising driver out of the blue in their cockpit and end up building a team around him.
    Funnily enough Verstappen and Schumacher appear to be quite similar in driving style, talent and their absolute determination to win (sometimes at all costs).
    Red Bull today, like Benetton then, remain unhappy with their second driver and burn through them at an astonishing rate but I don’t think that will change until they change their philosophy.
    I don’t believe that Albon or Gasly are bad but by having to drive a car, which solely was designed to suite Verstappens’ very aggressive driving style, their deficits to him are even highlighted.
    But who knows, maybe they are right and their way is the only chance to steal a title from Mercedes.
    Schumacher did it in 1994 after big rule changes (and other things of course) in a car designed around him and was beaten on pace only once the whole season when his teammates or substitutes were absolutely nowhere.

    1. @roadrunner Disagree with you on a few things. I don’t believe MS/Benetton cared one iota for their second driver, just as it became at MS/Ferrari, and we have heard the tales of his teammates being treated like second class citizens, not allowed to see MS’s data, but MS allowed to see theirs.

      And Max’s car is not solely designed for him, at least not nearly in the way that MS’s were, and they do actually care about their second driver and want to help him get up there fighting at the top. Max dominated his teammate in a natural way, whereas MS’s domination was manufactured.

      Keep in mind too, if RBR had their way they’d still have DR on the team. And DR never complained about being shut out of data nor about him having to drive Max’s car, just as Max had no complaints about joining the team in 2016 and having to suffer DR’s car. It’s just not the way they fly.

      1. Hey Robbie,
        well, it’s always difficult to tell to which extent a car is designed to suite a certain driver. But I think it’s obvious that Verstappen prefers a stable front while being capable of dealing with a nervous rear and for the last couple of years the Red Bull had exactly these edgy characteristics.
        I can’t imagine either that they would go Albons way when he and Verstappen differ about the direction of development.
        Same with Ferrari an Benetton. The faster driver gets prefential treatment. Nothing malicious about that, It’s just the way they choose to run the team.
        I’m curious to know btw whether the telemetry thing was just a one off or even only a Johnny Herbert urban legend because at least Schumacher’s teammates at Ferrari had access to his data.
        The difference between Gasly/Albon now and Verstappen in 2016 is probably Verstappen himself. You can put him into anything with wheels and he’s fast immediately which is another similarity to Schumacher 1991.
        Fair point though that the second Benetton driver was left behind. Plus having Schumacher and Flavio Briatore around you doesn’t help with your confidence.
        It’s also true that no Red Bull driver have ever complained about beeing treated unevenly. They just get replaced very quickly when they underperform.
        Considering Ricciardo: On a lonely evening in quarantine he is probably banging his head against a wall and asking himself what he was thinking when he signed with Renault.

        1. @roadrunner Fair comment. Not convinced that Max necessarily likes the car that way either, and we may be seeing him in his car with that weak back end dialed out and being pretty solid. Perhaps it’s something else about his setup to achieve that, that bugged AA and kept him uncomfortable, although at times he definitely found some comfort, and he showed some talent amongst other cars.

          Yeah perhaps MS’ teammates saw his data, but they were also driving a car that imho has never had more resources put into one driver’s car in F1, including LH’s, before or since. And that’s because of the literal contract, as evidenced by Reubens Austria 02 post-race remarks.

          As to DR, I wish he had stayed. RBR and Max sure do too. But hey…Perez. Here we go. Can’t wait.

          1. Let’s not get fooled by some papers (IF they really existed!!!) and/or some remarks! Schumacher at least had the decency to ”play guilty” on the podium, then gave back the win. Also, Ferrari had the decency to play all these games somehow “behind curtains”. Mercedes took it to another level by robbing 1 win from BOT in plain sight…. audio+video!

  19. Twice the amount of points with Max having 4 more DNF’s then Alex out of 17 races .. that just sums it up to me!

  20. Red Bull 1-1 Racing Point: Max insults Lance in front of the referee. After the match, Max is only given a two-match ban, which Racing Point found totally unfair.
    Racing Point 4-0 Red Bull: Then…Anarchy Begins. Lance, Checo and Hulk team up and constantly foul Max whilst trying to avoid getting sent off, which eventually didn’t happen.

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