Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Autodromo do Algarve, 2021

Perez’s performance “really coming together” at Red Bull – Horner

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In the round-up: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says he’s pleased with the progress Sergio Perez has made since joining the team.

In brief

Horner pleased with Perez after first three races

Perez finished fourth in last weekend’s Portuguese Grand Prix, his best result since joining the team at the start of the season. Horner said the team’s new hire showed he is “getting there” despite a challenging weekend.

“Here’s been really difficult because of the wind and so on. But you can see just the races are coming together for him.

“When he was in clean air he managed to pass Norris – who passed him fully off the track, again another track limits inconsistency. Once he was in clean air, he was doing the same lap time as the leaders and at certain points was setting the fastest lap.

“So I think it’s really coming together for him. I’m happy with the progress he’s making and it’s only with more time and experience that everything just comes together for him.”

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

Monaco open to limited fans for F1 and FE

The Automobile Club de Monaco has confirmed arrangements for limited numbers of fans to attend this weekend’s Formula E round and the Formula 1 grand prix later in the month.

Up to 6,500 will be permitted to attend the EPrix, with attendees drawn from “residents, students, workers and clients of Monegasque hotels, and also to those persons receiving invitations directly from the ACM”, the club stated.

The Monaco Grand Prix will be open to 7,500 spectators on each of the three days when F1 cars are running and 3,000 on the Friday.

Wilson returns to Indianapolis 500

Stefan Wilson will return to the Indianapolis 500 this year for the first time since 2018, when he was leading the race with five laps to go when he had to pit. The younger brother of IndyCar race-winner Justin Wilson, who was killed in a crash in 2015, will drive a sixth entry for Andretti.

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Comment of the day

Lewis Hamilton’s approach to racing is a logical conclusion of current F1 regulations and car design, says MichaelN:

“He also often doesn’t keep trying lap after lap. He’ll just sit there and then takes the opportunity.”

This kind of goes hand in hand with the way modern F1 is. To get the maximum performance out of a car under race conditions, a driver has to ‘sit there’ for a bit and then deploy all of it at an opportune moment. They trick is keeping up with the car ahead while doing this setup work, which is where the Mercedes’ innate performance comes into play.

Another two factors that help is that the defence Bottas put up wasn’t very impressive, nor can it be expected to be given his role within the team. Verstappen has wised up and is thinking long term, as he said outright this weekend. Red Bull thinks they have a shot at being in the title battle this year and they’ll let Hamilton run wide to close off Verstappen’s exit for now. We’ll see how things develop between the two teams, and the drivers, as the picture of who has a chance at the title becomes more clear. If Verstappen goes back to fighting for race wins rather than the title, one would expect him to not put up with such driving.

That said, one can’t argue with the results. For this weekend, Hamilton’s approach worked and he got the win.
MichaelN

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60 comments on “Perez’s performance “really coming together” at Red Bull – Horner”

  1. Robert Wickens is one tough dude. Thumbs up!

  2. With regards to the first article of this page, is this a reliable source? The Daily Mail also reported that Mercedes are not happy with Bottas, and could potentitally replace him with Russell before the season ends.

    I don’t think replacing Bottas with Russell is a good idea, especially that Mercedes are locked in a battle with Red Bull for the whole season. Also, that move would be “Unmercedes style of management”.

    1. Mid-season replacement would be a little tough on Bottas. He hasn’t been that bad and George in Portugal didn’t seem like a prize either.

      Additionally, it would be incredibly difficult to execute as Williams and Mercedes relationship isn’t like Red Bull / Alpha Tauri where all drivers are contracted to Red Bull and swap is contractually easy.

      The real challenge for Mercedes is to manage Bottas’ motivation / role in the team once it is (inevitably) confirmed that George will be in the seat for 2022.

      1. @sumedh Perez’s contractual situation could be different from Gasly & Tsunoda, so I’m not sure putting him at AT would be an option. He’d more likely end up without a drive altogether if RBR let him go.

    2. I agree. But I believe mercedes won’t do that, that will damage their reputation. They are loyal to their current drivers. If they decide to part the ways with Bottas then it will be the end of this year. Unless mercedes is in a difficult position because of RBR duo they won’t do that.

      I mean, Bottas is not that bad considering the fact that he is fighting against Lewis. His qualy and race pace is better than Perez, so why bother.

    3. @krichelle DM originally reported about this matter & the source is apparently from within the team, so decently reliable, but I still doubt Mercedes would go Red Bull style. More likely for next season when everything starts from 0 points-wise.

    4. ian dearing
      5th May 2021, 8:49

      Mixed Apex said Bottas was out at the end of the season and that was from a ‘usually reliable source.’ I would be surprised if Bottas is out mid-season.
      The only concern I would imagine Merc having is whilst I would expect Perez to give way for Max if required, I doubt whether Bottas would if he believes he is on his way. And if it remains this close between Ham and Max the No 2s will play a major role in how the driver championship plays out.

    5. Classic British media ‘influence’ to help a countryman and sow discord in the opponent’s camp

    6. ian dearing
      5th May 2021, 10:07

      Are we missing the obvious? Bottas being replaced mid-season by https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1389865606145626112

      1. RP (@slotopen)
        5th May 2021, 12:45

        Ha! Very nice.

        1. Oh shoot… Can we trust Grosjean? :P

    7. RP (@slotopen)
      5th May 2021, 13:16

      Bottas is doing fine. Mercedes need a wingman, not an ace.

      When Bottas is replaced it will be more about ensuring Hamilton’s replacement than his performance. Just like Leclercs move to Ferrari was all about Vettel.

      This is why Russell’s behavior at Imola is so problematic, and why he apologized so profusely. He knows will only only bring up a stronger driver if he has absolute confidence they will not cause discord.

  3. Adunlucas
    5th May 2021, 5:51

    Swap mid season would do more harm than good to mercs. George would take some time to get fast enough to be ahead of Perez that surely will be performing well within next 3 races. And when he gets used he could take points from Hamilton. Something very bad must happen to make Mercedes give up on Bottas before season ending. The Germans want both the constructors and drivers titles. Bottas has been doing his part to get these titles last few years

    1. @Adunlucas He probably wouldn’t be allowed to fight and take points away from Hamilton under normal circumstances.

    2. someone or something
      5th May 2021, 13:45

      George would take some time to get fast enough to be ahead of Perez

      We saw him jump in the Mercedes at short notice last season, and he immediately performed on Bottas’ level, if not better.
      Granted, this may just have been exceptional luck, but seeing as he didn’t even have the time to properly learn the steering wheel settings, one could argue that he would’ve performed even better if it had been a planned seat swap.

      I think Russell performing worse than Bottas at first would’ve been a reasonable assumption if we hadn’t seen proof of the exact opposite just 5 races ago

      1. someone or something Well said, but I still don’t think Mercedes will or should replace VB with GR mid-season, but I 100% expect it for next year and will be shocked if they don’t.

        1. someone or something
          5th May 2021, 23:56

          @robbie
          Yeah, to be honest, that rumour simply makes no sense. Nothing’s changed, Bottas is still weak enough for Hamilton not to worry about him, but just strong enough to make it look like a proper competition when Hamilton passes him. And Mercedes are again leading both championships. It’s working out for them.
          So, I’m not even sure Bottas’ll get the boot at the end of the season. With Hamilton continuing, they may want to keep this asymmetrical symbiosis alive. Unless Hamilton extends for more than a year. In that case, it may not be in Mercedes’ best interest to let Russell rot at Williams. He’s likely to be the team’s future, just not right now.

  4. COTD seems to be an insult to Verstappen. Also it does not make much sense. How or why would “thinking long term” for Verstappen, or even for Red Bull the desire to win this year’s title mean that he somehow lets Lewis (deliberately??) run away with victories early in the season?

    1. I presume the implication is Verstappen won’t take unnecessary risks. Better to take home 18 points, than to try a risky overtake for an extra 7 points and end up going home with nothing.

      If you have no hope of the championship, then the points aren’t as important so your aim is the race win. In that case it’s worth the risk, because you have less to lose.

      1. Yes in the interview on Friday Max already indicated the Portugal weekend was about damage control for him in the championship. Clearly this track suits the Mercedes. I guess 18 points is the best you can control damage so not a bad weekend

      2. ian dearing
        5th May 2021, 8:58

        If there is no hope of the championship for Max, Ham would just revert to letting Max pass. As Ham said to Max in Brazil over the Ocon crash ‘why get involved with someone you are not racing’.
        I think Horners point was that if its still close as the season goes, the more Max will risk it. But the same could be said of Ham, and Rosberg has said it often enough. Ham is a master at just going over the limit in wheel to wheel combat and getting away with it.

    2. It’s not meant as an insult to Verstappen. Verstappen and Horner are quite vocal about seeing this year as the first time they really have a shot at fighting Mercedes for the title. That requires a different approach from the one they have been forced to take in previous years by the lacking performance of their car and engine, which was all about scoring a couple of wins when the rare opportunity presented itself. They weren’t constrained by thinking about the season as a whole, and now they are.

      We’re not talking huge differences in approach of course, but the way Hamilton claimed the exit of the corner required Verstappen to make a split-second decision and I think the outcome reflected a changed approach. Maybe by the end of the season we’ll look back and say Verstappen didn’t fight Hamilton hard enough. But for now both drivers are probably happy with the outcome. Hamilton will feel he intimidated Verstappen a bit and be pleased he took the race win, and Verstappen will be keen to have taken a good number of points after yet again being able to battle with the Mercedes cars.

      1. MichaelN Well said. As Max has also said, paraphrasing, last year they would have been over the moon to get the results they are now, so early in the season, and this year already they can feel a bit disappointed if it doesn’t go quite their way, so they have to keep that perspective in mind (and are) and be quite grateful to be in the position they are. Last year, even after only a small number of races, it was becoming apparent that they were going to spend the whole season alone in second unable to touch Mercedes and nobody able to touch them. This year is so far entirely different.

  5. Russel vs Hamilton will bring chaos in the long run, mark my words. George is not only competitive but also talks too much, he cannot keep his mouth shut. He will play all kinds of psychological games against lewis when it is necessary. If I was Mercedes I would definitely put a number 2 clausel into his contract until lewis retires. That will bring harmony.

    Bottas is like Kimi 2.0, no bull***. Just drive and make points, just what Toto wants.

  6. F1oSaurus (@)
    5th May 2021, 7:18

    Lets be honest, Perez was just poor again. He was 7 tenths slower than Verstappen’s “fastest” time in Q3. The difference is that Red Bull car is the class of the field and therefore being 7 tenths slower cost him no places. For Albon 7 tenths slower in Q3 meant he would drop 5 places down the order.

    Perez was so slow during the race that the only purpose he could serve for Red Bull was to try and use him as a doorstop for Hamilton. And then he was so useless at it that Hamilton thought Perez was a backmarker.

    Worse still, Perez has the same race results as Albon had in 2020 after 3 races. While Perez is driving the fastest car of the field and Albon was in a car that was significantly slower than Mercedes at the start of the season. And in 2020 Racing Point had a car that could actually challenge Red Bull. While the first car behind Red Bull now is at least 10 seconds back.

    Plus Albon had a DNF on a technical issue while Perez had himself to blame for his 0 point result in Imola.

    So realistically, Perez has a much easier job and yet he’s bringing home results just as poor as Albon did.

    1. @f1osaurus
      Don’t forget he’s only done three races at RBR, so he’s in the same position as Sainz, Ricciardo, and Vettel as a driver who changed a team for this season. Nevertheless, he’s definitely an improvement from Albon.
      Red Bull was a clear second-fastest last season too, but Albon just couldn’t use that against the top midfield.
      QLF gap is irrelevant as long as he’s up in the mix to limit Mercedes’ strategic options in the races, something Albon couldn’t do last season bar Abu Dhabi. A change was justified as Albon didn’t really get anywhere despite getting a full season and even a more experienced race engineer during the season (unlike Gasly in the same position).

      1. F1oSaurus (@)
        5th May 2021, 10:58

        @jerejj That he just swapped teams is an explanation for why he has performed poorly. it does not take away the fact that he has performed poorly so far.

        Nevertheless, he’s definitely an improvement from Albon.

        That’s just the point. He has clearly NOT shown any improvement over Albon. At all! Even if you don’t take into account that Perez has a much easier job.

        And no, Red Bull was not a clear second faster last season. When Albon was 7 tenths behind Verstappen then he would be well down the order in Q3.

    2. @f1osaurus

      Red Bull car is the class of the field

      Perez is driving the fastest car of the field

      😄

      1. F1oSaurus (@)
        5th May 2021, 10:53

        @balue Well yes he is. Clearly Red Bull have had the fastest car since testing. Their drivers have not taken full opportunity of what was possible with their car, but on occasion they have shown to be faster than Mercedes in pretty much all sessions including the race.

        1. That’s incredible. So you are you actually saying that from your analysis, it’s just been because of Hamilton and Bottas’ great skill, and Verstappen and Perez’ poor skill that the Mercedes cars are taking poles and wins? Much in the same way they did all those years previously, despite having inferior machinery? Well I guess I have to trust you on this, since I suppose you are just an objective truth-searcher here for an honest discussion and don’t have an agenda to push or anything..

          😄

          1. F1oSaurus (@)
            5th May 2021, 11:52

            @balue Did you actually watch the Q3 sessions and races this season?

            Like Bahrain where Verstappen got pole with 4 tenths ahead, had the fastest car all race, but then wasted a lot time on a poor middle stint on the wrong compound tyres. Still was fast enough to get back to Hamilton, then wasted his only overtake by going off? Red Bull fastest car, but indeed Verstappen blew it. Verstappen even admitted so since he claimed he could pull a 5 to 10 second gap to Hamilton in a few laps.

            Imola also poor qualifying for Verstappen, but at least he had a good start and won the race. So fastest car and won.

            Portugal, Verstappen had the fastest lap in Q3, but wasted it by going off track. Had the fastest lap of the
            race but also wasted that by going off track. So again fastest car. but also again, failed to score to the potential of that car.

            Not sure how this is so hard to understand for you?

            And also note that I’m providing facts to support my statements. While you just … well … nothing.

    3. @f1osaurus did you watch the race? After he got past Norris, Perez was pretty much on the same pace as the Mercedes and Verstappen until they stopped. More than Albon ever did.

      Also, he wasn’t 7 tenths slower than Verstappen was he… Max went off track and gained an advantage and had his time deleted, so that time shouldn’t be in the discussion. In addition, Perez’s Q3 lap was set later than that, when the wind had picked up and made the final sector much trickier. Going back to Imola – both drivers made mistakes that cost them a couple of tenths, but Perez still ended up ahead- again, far, far better than Albon.

      1. F1oSaurus (@)
        5th May 2021, 17:16

        @tflb Albon did the exact same thing. Drive at the same pace as the leaders when they are cruising. A long distance behind the leaders

        In fact, Albon was faster than Verstappen at the end of the Styria race. As was Perez actually. Albon kept Perez behind while Verstappen was overtaken by Bottas.

        That Q3 time for Verstappen should be in the discussion because it shows how much faster that car was. Verstappen messing up his Q3 does not make Perez faster.

        Besides, Verstappen clearly lost time losing the car like that for that removed lap, so if he hadn’t made that mistake he would have been a few tenths faster even.

        Either way, Perez scored exactly as much points as Albon did while Albon had a technical DNF and Perez didn’t. So in what alternate reality did Perez do any better at all. Let alon “far far far better”. And Perez has a much much much more competitive car. So Perez really did far far far worse.

        1. I just see he has the pace though compared to albon, he outqualified verstappen at imola! True that verstappen made a little mistake, but albon was capable to fail at outqualifying verstappen for a whole season!

        2. Lorrydriver1
          5th May 2021, 18:05

          The Checo fanboys will not get it. Checo was given soft tyres during the race to set the fastest lap and had to have several goes plus coaching by team to get a decent lap in! and when he got it in he was told it wasnt fast enough. Bottas gets tyres and within a lap beats Checo’s time. Max stops gets fresh rubber and within a lap also beats the fasted lap (although it was deleted for track limits) The reality is Red Bull are looking at the data and can see Checo is just painfully slow TBH. I have to say when I saw Checo’s time at Imola I was shocked and impressed. I personally gave Checo no ore than 3 races before we will be dropped. Fortunately for him Max has made so many mistakes so Checo looks better than he is driving. Imagine Max on pole and winning three out of three races and Checo on the same point she has now. Would anyone still think he was better than Albon? Checo only looks ok because Max messed up.

        3. This nonsense was discussed just a couple of days ago in another site. Apparently for some Verstappen fans the times that must be taken into consideration to determine his pace are ideal times, while for other drivers, specially his teammates, these same fans appeal to actual times.
          Either choose ideal times, they are published every weekend, or actual times for both drivers. Perez wasn´t 0.7 s slower because you chose to deduct time for Max and add time to Perez for the same kind of circunstances. Perez objectively looks like a better prospect because he has been able to match Max race pace, beign within 0.3 s in qualifying, matched milestones in only three races and all while adapting to a new enviroment. Probably three more races and we will be able to correctly judge him in the following races, when his adaptation period ends.

        4. I don’t remember Albon out-qualifying Max in any race. 🤔

      2. I can see both sides of the argument here, I’d say perez is in the mix, I saw he was going at a decent pace once he got rid of norris, so it’s not fair to say he isn’t an improvement on albon, and don’t forget albon initially at red bull wasn’t terrible, but he’s been REGRESSING the second season, went down to gasly’s red bull level!

        However, verstappen didn’t go anything going wide, so yes, that 7 tenths doesn’t reflect well on perez, and even this year depending on track, could mean being behind a couple of midfield cars, not what you want to put pressure on mercedes.

  7. I’d have thought Porsche partnering with long time partner Penske in IMSA and WEC (including a return to LeMans for Penske since 1971!) should valid a mention (even if its just the badged LMP2)

    Sportscar365 story here

  8. I still miss Justin Wilson and to this day I still think of him.

  9. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    5th May 2021, 8:48

    When you look at how much newcomers and drivers who have swapped teams are struggling this year you’d have to say Perez is doing one of the better jobs, especially with who he is up against. Sainz looks like he will be close to Leclerc when he settles and Alonso seems there or there abouts with Ocon but a little down on pace from what we expected from the great man. Ricciardo seems to be really struggling. All in all the incumbent drivers seem to have had huge advantage. Really interested to see how it pans out over the season, who will stay calm and adapt and who will let the psychological team mate battle get to them and start overdriving.

    1. @rdotquestionmark I would say similar to the others. His Imola race was a complete shambles.

      But interesting how Horner has really changed his tune. Normally he is almost as blunt as Marko, but now the arm is firmly around Perez’ shoulders.

      1. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
        5th May 2021, 11:12

        True, I think Perez has overdriven and made mistakes but I think he’s showing a raw pace the others haven’t been able to match at Red Bull for a couple of years and Horner is encouraged about where it’s heading.

        1. Right. Perez has not yet shown whether he can perform. Bahrein he recovered from P20 and was clearly faster than the non top teams but it is not clear whether he could have kept up the pace of the frontrunners. Imola also is not a would proxy because it rained. In Portimao he showed for the first time race pace and, especially with the mediums he was on par with the frontrunners but he was several seconds behind. Is there some improvement? It looks like it. However, I’d like to see him closer to frontrunners to see what he is capable of.

          Also, his pace on softs was poor. Not necessarily a fault of his own since tyre selection in Portimao was tricky, so perhaps the soft was not as good. Again, let’s see Perez’s progression !

        2. Indeed, that’s my point: if you lack speed you can’t just get it, if you have it but make mistakes you can fix them, that’s why they’re more tolerant, albon and gasly were going nowhere.

  10. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    5th May 2021, 10:50

    I quite like Perez but so far personally I think he’s underperformed. His first race comeback was good and wasn’t his fault given the car issue, but Imola was disasterous despite the excellent qualifying and in Portimao he got overtaken at the start, got the place back and then lost it again and only regained it because the Red Bull’s a stronger car. If Red Bull’s intention was to have two strong drivers to challenge Mercedes that’s still not currently happening, and he’s being flattered by Bottas being equally as poor.

    I hope this upcoming race he has an absolutely stellar weekend to make me regret saying this though!

    1. F1oSaurus (@)
      5th May 2021, 11:00

      @rocketpanda Bottas had a full free pitstop on Perez. Of course that was after Perez was sacrificed, but still it’s not like Bottas is equally poor. Bottas was in the fight for most of the race (until he got the exhaust issue).

      1. Adam (@rocketpanda)
        5th May 2021, 11:43

        I’d say Bottas was anonymous in Bahrain, as equally dismal as Perez in Imola and despite starting on pole in Portimao fell to third and never looked like he had the pace of either Hamilton or Verstappen. He’s no more “in the fight” than Perez is at the moment and both need to actually have a particularly good weekend. I’m sure it’ll come for both of them but currently there’s quite a gulf of quality between Hamilton & Verstappen and their team-mates.

        1. F1oSaurus (@)
          5th May 2021, 11:59

          @rocketpanda Bottas was anonymous in Bahrain as in about 10 seconds behind the leaders and then going (and getting!) a fastest lap? How is that even remotely the same as the a complete disaster Perez had when he didn;t even make it through Q2?

          Imola was bad yes, but in Portugal Bottas did the best that could be expected. He focused too much on Q3 setup as he usually does (as that is his only chance at beating Hamilton), but he was close behind the leaders until his exhaust issue.

          Plus again he attempted at got the fastest lap. Which he could only do because Perez was just an utter mess so far behind Bottas that Bottas had the availability of that free pitstop.

          Perez scored just as much points as Albon did in the first 3 races last year and Perez has a much more competitive car.

  11. RE…. COTD.

    This kind of goes hand in hand with the way modern F1 is. To get the maximum performance out of a car under race conditions, a driver has to ‘sit there’ for a bit and then deploy all of it at an opportune moment. They trick is keeping up with the car ahead while doing this setup work, which is where the Mercedes’ innate performance comes into play.

    That isn’t really just something unique to modern F1, That’s been the way racing in general has been for decades.

    You catch the car ahead & if you can’t get by quickly/easily you sit behind & figure out where your faster as well as looking at the characteristics of that car/driver to look for opportunities. If you see a potential opportunity you wait for the best time to have a go while also trying to pressure the car ahead into making a mistake.

  12. Right or wrong, striking how Red Bull are supporting Perez publicly. They want / need him to succeed. And not a lot of alternatives to him right now too. It’s the right approach. Let’s assess him at the end of the season.

    1. someone or something
      5th May 2021, 14:05

      @gabf1
      I found RB’s report for Albon in 2020 much more striking.
      Imola was embarrassing, but he’s shown good pace in qualifying and races, more so than any team mate of Verstappen’s since Ricciardo left. With that in mind, and the fact that he’s only been with the team for 3 races now, anything but support for him would be madness.

      1. someone or something
        5th May 2021, 14:45

        report -> support

        1. someone or something Agreed, and he’ll get full support all season. Nico asked Perez post-race how his comfort level was with the car and he said still nowhere near what it should or needs to be. It simply takes time or F1 is too easy. As well to keep in mind, and I mean no insult to SP by this, does anyone think he is a Max level driver? But I think he is also stoked to be on the best team in the best car he’s ever had, so I think there is much more to come from Perez. Asking him or any driver to match Max is a tall order, but Perez is already doing great all things considered, and it will only get better for him, I and think he will have the car to show us more than he has ever been able to show in his career so far.

          1. Yes, and he outqualified verstappen at the 2nd race, I know there was a mistake from him, but albon was regularly a second behind, so couldn’t take advantage of such mistakes and never outqualified verstappen in 2020 at least.

  13. Perez is an obvious upgrade from Albon. Clearly faster, more experienced and calm. We can say that in 3 so-so races.
    Albon was all over the place all the time, very crash prone, bringing habits from lower classes and overall slow.

    Not even Kvyat was that disappointing driving the Red Bull, and his cars were worse than those Albon raced.

    1. Lorrydriver1
      5th May 2021, 18:14

      Disagree. The current RB is class of the field and whatever we say or think makes no difference because Horner and co see the data and know it. Albon was a junior rookie given a chance, Perez is coming in as a “race winner” experienced hire. RB went out of their programme to bring him in so any excuses are just not acceptable. Incidentally, Checo’s issues with Maclaren where not just the races but his performance in FP and qualifying where he crashed several times. If you watch his previous incidents, Imola is not a one-off. Checo has a habit of losing control and crashing. We saw that with his incident with Ocon at Imola too. I am really not convinced by that guy Checo and his fan base..what’s mad is the same people absolutely hammer into Bottas who clearly performs better.

      1. Bottas? He was terrible this season, he was miles off the leaders’ in the first race, made an absolute disaster in imola, and even in the 3rd race he wasn’t able to keep the lead, or even the 2nd place with a mercedes stronger than red bull at least in race pace.

      2. Lorrydriver1 As usual when someone is not a fan it is ‘excuses’ and when someone is a fan, or ok with a driver, it is ‘reasons.’ You are making an unfair comparison to AA and VB when it comes to SP, at least for the time being. AA, while not having the car under him, also had had 9 races behind him from the previous season, and so would have been at least somewhat more comfortable or at least knowledged as to what to expect. And the team with knowledge of what to expect with him in terms of setup work etc. And of course VB performs better…he better, since he is well engrained with the dominant car for several seasons now.

        You are giving Perez no patience to get used to the car and the team and they to him, and that to me means you think F1 is that easy that he should be able to just hop in the car and be on it. That is simply not the reality, obviously. He is not the only driver needing time being new to a team, and everyone within F1 as well as the commentators at the last race get that very well. Why do you think F1 is or should be that easy? I know I want it to be hard enough, challenging enough, that indeed we see what we are seeing, which is drivers new to teams needing time, and the teams time with the drivers as well. It’s always been that way, with perhaps the odd exception, and I hope F1 stays that hard if not harder and more challenging going forward.

    2. Indeed, kvyat has been underrated, he did a lot better than gasly and albon at red bull, and just cause he was worse in a midfield car doesn’t mean he was worse in a top car, and people kept pushing for gasly to get back to red bull, ridiculous imo, some drivers are just not suited to a top car.

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