In the round-up: Former Mercedes team principal and ex-F1 motorsport director Ross Brawn said Red Bull should give Max Verstappen a more competitive team mate.
In brief
Perez “not putting up much competition” for Verstappen – Brawn
Brawn, who ran Mercedes’ F1 team in 2013 when Lewis Hamilton arrived as team mate to Nico Rosberg, said Red Bull should have a driver line-up as competitive as theirs was. Hamilton won back-to-back titles for Mercedes in the following two seasons, but Rosberg took the title from him the following year and then retired.
Sergio Perez has won just two races this year to Verstappen’s 17. Brawn wants to see Verstappen face a stronger team mate.
“What I’d love to see, quite frankly, is is someone more competitive in the other car,” he told Talksport. “Because unfortunately, Sergio’s not putting up much competition for Max. And even when you get a dominant car, if you can have someone in the other car who’s giving them a hard time and we think of Rosberg and Hamilton, that was a great year in a year when Mercedes were dominating.”
Brawn, the architect of F1’s technical regulations which were introduced last season, is hopeful other teams will narrow the gap to the dominant Red Bull next year. “Even though they have this domination at the moment, you will see it in time,” he said. “And we’re seeing little indications. I mean, McLaren with Norris and occasionally Piastri they’re knocking at the door, keeping them honest, let’s put it that way.
“Over this winter, I’m optimistic there’ll be a reset. When you’re at the front, you have the advantage of being able to start the design of your new car earlier because you’re competitive enough, and that’s where that domination can sometimes run for several years.”
Rising chance of rain for Las Vegas Grand Prix
A long-range weather forecast issued by the National Weather Service for Las Vegas indicates “a 50-60% chance of above normal” rain late next week, when F1 will holds its highly anticipated new round. Las Vegas typically sees around 11 millimetres of rainfall in November.The first race on the new Las Vegas Strip Circuit is already expected to be one of the coldest of all time, as the competitive sessions take place late at night, and qualifying is scheduled to conclude at 1am on Saturday morning.
Lindblad rues second-half slump
Red Bull junior driver Arvid Lindblad regretted losing his substantial mid-season lead in the Italian Formula 4 champion to eventual champion Kacper Sztuka. Lindblad’s score after 13 of 22 races was over twice that of Sztuka’s who trailed him by 113.5 before winning all bar one of the remaining nine races to clinch the title.
“We had a couple of issues that we weren’t quite able to get on top of. That was unfortunate because we had a really good start to the year, a really good first half with a good margin, a buffer in the Italian championship.”
“That we unfortunately lost, we, as a collective, had a really poor performance towards the end of the year and we struggled a lot,” he admitted. “Especially towards the end of the year, Kacper Sztuka and the US team got very strong, they did an incredible job and made a massive step in the second half of the year.” Lindblad ended the season third in the series behind Sztuka and McLaren junior Ugo Ugochukwu. He will graduate to FIA Formula 3 next year, remaining with Prema.
Nielsen’s new deal
Nicklas Nielsen will continue to drive for Ferrari’s World Endurance Championship Hypercar team next year. Although he and team mates Antonio Fuoco and Miguel Molina did not score the team’s sole win, at Le Mans, they finished ahead of their team mates in the points, taking joint third behind the Toyota drivers.“Nicklas is a fast, young driver who grew up in the Ferrari family where, following victory in the one-make series, he has racked up at least one international title every season until 2022, before finishing third this year in the FIA WEC Drivers’ standings,” said Ferrari’s global head of endurance and Core Clienti, Antonello Coletta. “We’re proud to renew his contract.”
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
'Steve Hill, CEO of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said last month that taxes collected from the three-day race weekend were estimated to be $87.5 million — $25 million of which will go toward K-12 education. He said that “whether they realize it or not, everyone in the state will reap the benefits.'
The heart of the action: Inside Las Vegas Grand Prix’s $10K VIP spaces (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
'The Las Vegas Grand Prix is the only race on F1’s calendar where every ticket, general admission to VIP, includes all-inclusive food and beverage options.'
How Macau became a launchpad to Formula 1 (FIA)
Martin Donnelly: 'A lot of people said we got lucky, but the track was still wet in places for the race, especially out of Lisboa and up the hill. I was on slicks but I just drove within reason, trying not to throw it into the wall. You had to wait for the track to dry out and, as it did, I got quicker and quicker and pulled away and won. Not long after that I got my first F1 test.'
Strangest Question? - Behind The Visor (AlphaTauri via YouTube)
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Notable posts from X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and more:
The ProSieben broadcaster in Germany will not continue its deal to show live Formula E races next season. A significant blow as more free to air coverage is lost after Channel 4 made a similar decision recently. #FormulaE
— Formula E Notebook (@fe_notebook) November 9, 2023
@f1lasvegas Take a sneak peek of the #LasVegasGP trophy 🏆 #F1
I don’t know if it has occurred to those travelling to Las Vegas from Europe next week, but with an 8 hour GMT/9 hour CET time change, there will be many people really struggling to stay awake for practice and qualifying sessions that begin at midnight local time #LasVegasGP 🇺🇸
— Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman) November 9, 2023
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Comment of the day
Baasbas expected more from Ferrari’s special Las Vegas Grand Prix livery:
I was thinking they would incorporate in the design a dice or two, or maybe the roulette table they have at strategy HQ.
Baasbas
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Nick T.
10th November 2023, 0:12
When the only designer (paired w/some of the famous names he worked with) who could ever even hope to challenge Newey speaks, you must listen. Checo out. Alonso in.
Or at least Daniel who despite having 5 more mechanical DNFs than Max, beat him in their 2.5 seasons together. They were a fun pairing, Horner loves both like sons (even if he’d let Max get away with anything) and they love the same set up.
AlanD
10th November 2023, 0:28
Nick, Brawn wasn’t a designer. HE was a race engineer, technical director, and eventuallly team principal. Schuey’s championship winning Benneton was designed by Rory Byrne. Byrne went on to design the Ferraris. The aerodynamicist for the Brawn GP car was Bigois who is now the aero guy at Ferrari.
James Bond (@jamesbond)
10th November 2023, 0:39
Thanks AlanD, I like this kind of info.
Nick T.
10th November 2023, 5:09
I’m aware, but he was good at putting the right pieces together and finding loopholes for performance/design. It’s why I specified while working along with many famous names. He was just the conductor. Damn good race engineer and strategist though.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
10th November 2023, 7:13
Your entire first sentence suggests otherwise.
anon
10th November 2023, 8:29
AlanD, strictly speaking, you and Nick T. are kind of both right – whilst you are correct that, when working for Benetton and Ferrari, Brawn was the technical director, he did undertake design work for the Lola-Haas team from 1985-1986.
jhg103 (@joshgeake)
10th November 2023, 11:45
In fairness, he was a designer when he was at Williams and for a while at Benetton.
S
10th November 2023, 1:26
Brawn’s statement here must be taken with its author in mind. He’s now essentially a commercial/sales guy for Liberty’s F1 project, after all. Of course he wants a better competition, because that’s ultimately what validates his job.
And Brawn’s own team was almost as one-sided as Red Bull currently is, as was Mercedes under his leadership – both from the driver’s side and from the team’s management.
MichaelN
10th November 2023, 15:07
Both Barrichello and Rosberg were not hired to be ‘competitive’ with Button and Hamilton. They just were, sometimes. In Rosberg’s case the sheer tenacity of the guy made life for everyone harder than they ever wanted it to be. So the second he quit Mercedes replaced him with a compliant ‘wingman’ – in their own words.
The only team to put two Big Guy’s together on purpose was Ferrari in 2014. And that was a failure because Räikkönen was unable to carry his strong Lotus-form forward, and instead became a poorer version of even Pérez, scoring just one meager win from 2014 through 2018, and being nowhere close to either Alonso or Vettel.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
10th November 2023, 23:27
Quite possibly true, however Rosberg was already at Mercedes, and whilst Schumacher may have been past his best, I don’t think one could have considered Rosberg as second rate during this period, nor do I think that him being competitive with Hamilton was particularly surprising.
stefano (@alfa145)
10th November 2023, 0:20
there you go, driver change at Red Bull next season confirmed
Billy Rae Flop
10th November 2023, 2:26
Few driver changes would be properly competitive. Probably leclerc, maybe sainz or George. Maybe Lewis in the races, fernando in the races. Not convinced Riccardo will compete tow to toe with him considering max was either equal or slightly better in 2018. 6 full seasons ago.
I feel all mentioned would do better than Perez but then it just depends on several factors. And in a close fight max will certainly receive some favour, whatever kind it may be. As has been seen before in the redbull camp. Both with seb and with max.
CP
10th November 2023, 6:39
Lol Lewis would wipe the floor with him as would Alsonso.
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th November 2023, 8:02
Based on which information … Max was Nico boegyman when Nico had the best car in 2016 and Nico beat Lewis. But make it so Give Lewis a contract with Red Bull i know Max doesn’t mind ….(what did he say on this topic .. That would be fun…)
A M (@amam)
10th November 2023, 19:38
Max was Nico boegyman when Nico had the best car in 2016
Max was a boegyman for everyone in 2016 because he was reckless. Max has since improved, but back then the drivers complained he was a danger on track and as a consequence, the FIA had to introduce the Verstappen Rule. Nico was in a tight championship battle, he had too much to lose to get into any unneccesary battles with Max. Context is important.
NoelyNoel (@noelynoel)
10th November 2023, 8:07
I really want to believe this, I do. But Max has had a handful of seasons to gain 100% compatability with the Red Bull design ethos, and it works incredibly well. Both Lewis and Fernando are comparable with Max in terms of skill, but I’m not sure either of them would jump in today’s Red Bull and instantly be competitive.
GongTong (@gongtong)
11th November 2023, 7:25
@amam it’s worth remembering that that same “Verstappen rule” was quickly dropped following input from teams and drivers. Having achieved very little.
I agree he was reckless at times back then, but his pushing of the boundaries was frankly marvelous. As it always is when a new generational talent arrives and attempts to put their mark on the sport.
At the risk of sounding like a fanboy, and kicking the usual hornets nest, the drivers didn’t complain because Max was dangerous. They complained because he arrived and used standard race tactics from karting and junior series, in a formula one car. Something they couldn’t do and it made them look bad.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
10th November 2023, 11:47
I don’t think you’re right.
Max is just in the zone at the moment. It would take a run of bad luck and/or DNFs because of contact with other drivers to really shake him from where he is.
I mean, Checo is no Max but he isn’t that bad! Arguably, McLaren have had the strongest car at a few circuits this season but that hasn’t stopped Max making the difference every time.
Have to say though, I would loooooove to see Alonso as his teammate. Red Bull would stop being the ‘nasty team’ in my eyes if they gave F1 fans that pairing for a few seasons.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
11th November 2023, 7:22
McLaren have arguably had the second strongest car at a few circuits! Also, other than Perez the RB team is on amazing form.
GongTong (@gongtong)
11th November 2023, 7:28
@sonnycrockett not only is Perez not THAT bad, people were very excited about him being put into the seat. And he had a very good crack at it at times, early on.
I think he’s been broken now though. I find it hard to imagine any of the current crop being able to sustain a challenge.
Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
10th November 2023, 13:32
I think that probably only Alonso, Hamilton and possibly Magnussen could properly deal with the grief Marko would be giving them. And with that, only Alonso and Hamilton would be able to give Max a decent challenge in the team. I’d vote for Alonso as I don’t think he’s pull any punches in press conferences or on the radio if he felt he was getting a lesser car/strategy.
F1Fan
10th November 2023, 0:20
Maybe the other drivers like Alonso should believe they can beat Verstappen in the Red Bull. Lando doesn’t or would have jumped ship. The only viable option is Charles who can’t seem to get rid of his obsession of winning with Ferrari.
Brawn while right should also just also probably go back and see why it was fun – mostly down to Hamilton having off days every few races and slacking off allowing a good but non elite driver like Rosberg win 7 in a row.
Verstappen isn’t one to allow that and he made Rosberg look a 2nd rate driver at multiple races in 16, specifically Canada, Silverstone and Brazil.
Don’t think anyone is beating or even fighting this guy over a season in the same car. With a car advantage like Hamilton had end of 2021, sure I can see around 3-5 drivers beat Verstappen consistently.
MichaelN
10th November 2023, 15:10
It’s always easier to look good when you have nothing to lose. Verstappen could bully and force his way through because he was a non-factor in the championship whereas both Hamilton and Rosberg could ill afford to tangle with him.
MadMax (@madmax)
10th November 2023, 19:27
21 the cars were pretty even, and only some RD decided the WDC in Verstappens favour.
A M (@amam)
10th November 2023, 19:46
Worth mentioning that Rosberg was good enough to beat Michael Schumacher 3-0 while Perez is regularly being outqualified and beaten by multiple drivers in slower cars (e.g. Norris, Hamilton, Alonso, Russell etc). Quite simply, Rosberg was a cut above Perez. As for Verstappen making Rosberg look second rate, that is just fantasy. In 2016 Max was reckless. Max has since improved, but back then the drivers complained he was a danger on track and as a consequence, the FIA had to introduce the Verstappen Rule. Nico was in a tight championship battle, he had too much to lose to get into any unnecessary battles with Max. Context is important. Horner use to even tell his drivers to “get their elbows out” against the Merc drivers because Horner knew, the Merc drivers would rather back out than risk being taken out by Max, because they had a championship battle to consider.
dot_com (@dot_com)
10th November 2023, 23:25
I can’t agree with anyone who thinks that Rosberg was not a top driver. In the Williams he was amazing, always delivering more than that car should. He beat Schumacher and Hamilton in the same car, although obviously Schumacher wasn’t the same man as he was at Ferrari. Who knows how many WDCs he would have won if he stayed at Mercedes – he had the upper hand on Lewis at the time he retired.
Peter707
11th November 2023, 17:00
Depends on how one defines “top driver”. I think Rosberg was a typical “very good driver”: quick, skillful, able to beat anyone on his best days, yet one level below the absolute top (which is very rare, maybe 1-2 drivers per decade – Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton and Verstappen so far in this century, I think).
Dusty
10th November 2023, 1:00
They should invite Rosberg to Red Bull
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th November 2023, 5:04
Ahah, that would be like jumping from a pot to the grill (that’s the literal translation of the italian saying, don’t know if it has a different translation in english), but it means: as if hamilton as team mate wasn’t draining enough, I really doubt he’d be ok with an improved version of his previous team mate now!
David
10th November 2023, 9:04
“out of the fire and into the frying pan”
SteveR (@stever)
10th November 2023, 18:00
Almost right, just reverse it.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
10th November 2023, 1:13
Bring back Brawn GP, just for one season. If they can get an entry.
Billy Rae Flop
10th November 2023, 2:26
Don’t think the teams will be happy with a new team lol
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th November 2023, 5:06
Well, if the team only stays in f1 for a year like brawn gp originally did, and don’t steal prize money for that year, they’ll probably be fine!
grat
10th November 2023, 20:38
If you can convince someone to spend a few hundred million developing the car, sell the team for $1, and put the best engine on the grid in the back, you might replicate the Brawn GP success.
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th November 2023, 8:04
I don’t think Mercedes would like that losing their team for 1 season…..
Edvaldo
10th November 2023, 2:09
They will get a competitive teammate for him when they stop dominating.
While at the top, they want to break records, rewrite the history books, promote their brand, take everything they can from it.
When they’re not, who cares, they’re not winning anyway.
Billy Rae Flop
10th November 2023, 2:30
Sounds cool untill you realise nobody really cares to see them win this way at all. At least in the first three years of the hybrid era there were many memorable moments, battles both for the lead of races and for the title. This current dominance is very forgettable.
Pretty sure redbull at least want someone who will at bare minimum always finish second and then sometimes challenge for a win.
Tommy C (@tommy-c)
10th November 2023, 2:15
I don’t think it’s as simple as Brawn makes out. Albon and Gasly have both proved worthy of their places on the grid and Perez was always highly regarded, hence he got the Red Bull drive in the first place! I think the “problem” is that Max is just that good. I can’t really think of a driver who could slot in at Red Bull and consistently challenge him from the get go. Even if McLaren is marginally better than Red Bull next year, I still fully expect Max to bring home the championship.
Billy Rae Flop
10th November 2023, 2:36
Leclerc would give him a good run but too much for redbull. Don’t see why Lewis wouldn’t in the races and maybe Fernando as well. Carlos, George and lando you would think at least can do better than Perez but I get the feeling that for them it would depend on the car and how they manage to drive it.
At the end of the day max stays where he is, with the team he’s essentially alway been with, with the car he’s pretty much had for 2 season and with two important team persons that want him to do best.
So it will always be difficult for anyone coming in unless they perform immediately, and then the difficulty will be that.
Also think Daniel. Could do better than Perez but 2024 might be too soon for him. Also max has no doubt improved a lot in 6 years.
Todfod (@todfod)
14th November 2023, 8:32
Kind of agree about your assessment of Leclerc. He’s the only driver on the grid that has the talent to go quicker than Max. However, he’s a lot more error prone and inconsistent (as shown this year). So, its difficult to say whether he’d beat Max over an entire season.
The only other drivers I think can give Max a run for his money are Lewis and Fernando. Both of them have great racecraft and consistency, although Lewis has slightly more natural pace, while Fernando is more consistent in extracting the performance throughout an entire season, even when the machinery is not optimal.
Lando and George just don’t have the experience of winning races and fighting for championships, so I wouldn’t think they’re ready to take Max on yet. Carlos would get smashed by Max, atlhough not the same way Perez is getting smashed.
To beat Max, you’d need to get under his skin and throw him off his best from time to time, and I can only see Charles, Lewis and Fernando taking Max on in mental games.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
10th November 2023, 7:20
Perez has been on the out after the feud with the Verstappens. Its clear his mentality is broken, he has no rhythm of his own when he is in the car and he is constantly reacting. This is not the mind of someone who is going to master their environment, but for someone who is being held captive. Unfortunate for Perez, hes a good racer, but hes clearly the #2, and clearly not going to be considered by the guys engineering the car.
If you want to see more competition between teammates, you have to have a more competitive field, otherwise the #1 will always get the lions share of the attention at RBR, that will never change. Mercedes were different, even to the point of the appearance of sabotage to get there other guy a championship.
Max has been their #1 since he joined the team. It is what it is. They just have a car that is almost 2 seconds faster than any other car in trace trim. Some of that is down to the implicit traction control being used by the Honda PU on down shifts/enginebraking, some of it is down to a superior floor, and the other competitors not being as strong as they should be. Probably down to budgets, habits, and a little cheating by RBR.
Doggy
10th November 2023, 12:21
You lost me with “…a car almost 2 seconds faster than any other…” might as well said that RbR is the only F1 car and the others are F3.
Everyone is allowed to have their own opinions, but not their on reality. Even if saying something like makes you sleep better at nights.
MadMax (@madmax)
10th November 2023, 19:23
Over the season 2s is probably not far from the truth. They simply dont reveal it most of the times.
osnola
10th November 2023, 12:22
The only real cheaters are Mercedes. Even two time disqualify driving an illegal car.
MadMax (@madmax)
10th November 2023, 19:24
The cheaters are those breaking the budget cap, not the ones risking a bit too much with the car setup. Your hate bias distorts your reality.
anon
10th November 2023, 8:50
@tommy-c when you look at the long term trend of how people on this site commented about Perez, there were quite a few who used to complain that Perez was an overrated pay driver.
In the early part of his career, there were those who questioned if Perez really was any better than Kobayashi, given that Perez finished behind Kobayashi in 2011 in the WDC and only narrowly beat him in 2012. His time at McLaren in 2013 was considered fairly disastrous, and whilst things improved when he went to Force India, he wasn’t regarded as much better than Hulkenberg (if anything, the attitude seems to have been that Hulkenberg was better), and a few questions were raised about how good Perez was when Ocon drove alongside him after that.
The main year that Perez seems to have been highly regarded is in 2020, when he had Stroll as a team mate and expectations were low given the financial troubles of the team at the time.
MichaelN
10th November 2023, 15:16
Pérez showed promise very early on, but after his failed and troubled year at McLaren in 2013 he spend the rest of the time driving at a midfield team, in no small part due to his formidable financial backing. And there was no sign that anyone further up the grid was interested in hiring him again. After he was again dropped, Red Bull picked him up because they had exhausted their own supply of young talent.
Ideally, Red Bull wants a fast driver who is willing to play second fiddle. That’s never been an easy combination to find, as every fast driver fancies himself the next champion. That even got into Ricciardo’s head – and he was barely able to keep up with teenage Verstappen.
Billy Rae Flop
10th November 2023, 2:19
I was also thinking this the other day, but it’s two years too late.
The Dolphins
10th November 2023, 2:29
Ironic statement from Brawn. During his time at Ferrari, Rubens was capable of challenging Michael on quite a few occasions only to be instructed by Brawn to let Michael through.
Bob
10th November 2023, 10:46
Exactly
I don’t like Brawn (or Todt) having their opinion about or having influence on modern F1, because back in their days, they were really bad for the sport.
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
10th November 2023, 11:49
Yeah, but that’s just a ‘Ferrari thing’ isn’t it? You don’t have two roosters in a henhouse etc.
Doggy
10th November 2023, 12:24
That is exactly what I thought. The level of hypocrisy in Brawn’s statement is uncanny.
Not just Ferrari. When He was at Brawn, obviously Barrichelo was no match for Jenson.
MichaelN
10th November 2023, 15:22
Quite a few being when? Barrichello was a match for Schumacher in only a handful of race weekends throughout their many years together. He was gifted more wins by Schumacher than the other way around.
The only two times Barrichello was asked to move aside for a meaningful place was in Austria 2001 and Austria 2002. In both cases it made total sense, because already at that stage Barrichello was nowhere in the championship.
In 2001: Schumacher (36), Coulthard (28), Barrichello (14)
In 2002: Schumacher (44), Montoya (23), Ralf Schumacher (20), Barrichello (6)
The 2002 swap was pointless in retrospect, but Williams had already won that year and was rightly – at the time – considered a potential threat.
Coventry Climax
10th November 2023, 2:31
Well, Las Vegas is hyped alright, but I can’t say I share the anticipation even one bit.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
10th November 2023, 2:48
I’m in the camp that didn’t think Rosberg was all that good. He was an OK driver but nowhere near as capable as a Max, Alonso, Hamilton etc.
What happened in the year he won really was Hamilton wasn’t really even close to the top of his game, primarily because the car was way ahead of any competition and I believe he didn’t really rate his team mate to the point of being complacent.
It was that, not having a “competitive pairing” that made that year closer than it should have been, and I suspect Rosberg himself knew exactly what would have happened in the following year, so rather than suffer the embarrassment of being thrashed like Checo, he pulled the pin.
The problem we have at RBR is that Max doesn’t even look like becoming complacent, and there are very few (if any) that could challenge him in a car that is as good as the one they have at the moment.
Addme (@dontme)
10th November 2023, 8:19
I think people have a bit of a problem with naming the skill difference. Hamilton is an elite talent, but that doesn’t mean that the guy who challenged him on pure hard work is “not good”. I see it a lot, not only in F1. You have great guys and for some reason the others who have less skill don’t belong there according to people. No middle ground. There is only great and bad.
After seeing Rosberg race, he is very good. Some of the qualifying laps he did were excellent. It was also the case at that time that if you came out of the corner in first place the chances were very high you would win the race.
And all the fans would live to see a challenge to max, but I doubt red bull wants that. They have it sorted now.
Doggy
10th November 2023, 12:32
Lewis is among the best in F1 history, no doubt about it.
However, almost every teammate that Lewis had (Jenson, Rosberg, and Russel) was able to beat him or match him (Alonso).
The problem is that this season Max has been so far ahead, performance wise, that is making second guess every person, thing, etc because it’s so hard to believe what he achieved in 2023.
Edvaldo
10th November 2023, 15:20
I doubt people would be asking for this so much if Perez was at least doing a decent job, but he isn’t.
He got a great car but any person watching this for 5 seconds can see he’s not better than any of the drivers around him on the positions he mostly races at. So why do they insist on re-signing him then, if he’s obviously not the best option?
If he was at least a decent number 2, we could see him taking advantage of Max’s less good weekends (which did happen a few times this year), like Bottas used to do every once in a while and even he himself did at the beginning of the season.
But again he complains the development of the car doesn’t favour him.
Max would be the favourite against any driver currently, but Perez is obviously not up to par. Everything better than what he’s been doing would be welcome.
A M (@amam)
10th November 2023, 19:54
Max got outqualified by Sainz (and barely beat him in the race head to head-2015), got outqualified by Ric (2016) and lost to Ric over the season in 2016 and 2017. So Max is not invincible. The real problem is that Perez is poor.
Todfod (@todfod)
14th November 2023, 12:16
I don’t think Max lit the world on fire in his first 2 to 3 seasons. He showed flashes of brilliance in 2015 and 2016, but it was only after the half way point in 2018 where he had found consistency, speed and error free driving.
Since 2019, it’s hard to argue that there’s been a driver as good as Max. I feel any comparison with Max’s pre 2019 form is irrelevant in the current context. He’s improved by larger leaps and bounds than any other driver on the grid.
grat
10th November 2023, 20:44
Rosberg, at his best, was about 9/10ths the driver Hamilton was. But that’s actually pretty high praise. I think had anyone else on the grid, including Max or Alonso, been Rosberg’s teammate from 2014 to 2018, Rosberg would have been a multi-year championship winning driver.
He was unfortunate enough to run into the one driver as a teammate who could reliably get that small edge on him.
But Rosberg dug really, really deep in 2016, had Hamilton’s garage crew from 2013-2015 on his side in 2016, and focused 100% on wringing every ounce of performance out of himself. He went a bit mental, to be honest.
What’s truly impressive to me, is that he realized that. He knew what it took to beat Hamilton, and did it– and decided it was too much work to do it again, and instantly retired. Most racing drivers don’t have the introspection required for that kind of self-evaluation.
It should also be noted that he drove circles around Schumacher– and while Schumacher wasn’t at his peak any longer, and wasn’t desperate to win, he was still a formidable driver.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
11th November 2023, 10:50
A good analysis of Rosberg I think. He was good at that time and in that car. But he was not actually as good as Hamilton really.
Chris Horton
10th November 2023, 3:14
Oh come on.
Rosberg would win from the front, but how many times did he overtake Hamilton to win a Grand Prix?
The reverse happened on multiple occasions.
Nico had a great 2016 season and I was rooting for him, but let’s not kid ourselves.
melanos
10th November 2023, 3:22
Nico Rosberg was not that good, maybe, but certainly much better than the competition.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th November 2023, 5:00
This is when someone like brawn should say: “Over this winter, I’m optimistic there’ll be a reset”, like he actually said, and then I personally would add “And if there’s not, we’ll make it happen!”
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
10th November 2023, 5:00
Because if you just wait for the other teams to catch a force like red bull atm you can wait almost a decade like with mercedes.
Doggy
10th November 2023, 12:40
The thing is that the change (we will Make it happen) has a date: 2026.
Therefore, RBR won’t have a decade of dominance. It’s (will possibly) 4 years. Once of the shortest ones in recent history compared to Ferrari/Schumi & Merc/Ham.
This is
A M (@amam)
10th November 2023, 19:57
A decade?? Ferrari pretty much caught up in 2017 and 2018 and mounted a challenge for the title
The Dolphins
10th November 2023, 20:23
@amam 2017 was the only “close” season as I recall and had it not been for Seb’s 2 retirements it would have been really close. However I don’t know the timeline of when Ferrari started going into the gray area of PU performance either so for that reason I don’t give them as much credit for their performance during that period (it seems mainly 2018). Seb gets full marks for his efforts though.
A M (@amam)
10th November 2023, 20:48
2019 was the gray area re PU. 2018 was legit. Ferrari did well with the car in 2018. Some sites rated the SF71H the best car of 2018. Seb did well in 2017 but arguably threw 2018 away with too many errors
Jere (@jerejj)
10th November 2023, 5:33
The rain chance seems pretty non-existent from what I’ve looked at, though, or at least for the relevant hours & I doubt people travelling to the event from Europe will have difficulties staying awake for FP2 & QLF.
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th November 2023, 8:18
So far ahead only large systems they can predict somewhat. And they are talking about such system which could be there around that time. But cold and rain that not good for Perez or Red Bull …
I would check the weather about 5 days ahead that is reliable for 90% if the weather systems aren’t too difficult (not mulitiple systems very close to each other makes this unreliable.
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th November 2023, 8:19
Just checked it there is rain around those days so it’s possible it wet atleast 1 of those days
Jere (@jerejj)
10th November 2023, 8:33
Indeed & I was actually supposed to refer to predicting being too far in advance anyway or something along those lines.
SteveP
10th November 2023, 9:27
Multiple systems close together, hmm, sounds sort of British Isles standard. 90% certainty for the next 24hrs is not a given.
MacLeod (@macleod)
10th November 2023, 13:52
Come on in the States 90% certainty in the next 24 hours should be possible? And it’s the European Standard btw (British Isles included)
Electroball76
10th November 2023, 8:25
Brawn could take over the Mercedes team for £1. Then sell it to Honda for 500 million.
SteveP
10th November 2023, 9:21
Social Media:
I’d say the viewpoint needs to be changed.
Don’t think US times, think GMT/CET – the traveller stays mentally on GMT (or CET) has an early “night” at 21:00 GMT and gets up for an early “breakfast” ready to make the race at 06:00 GMT (qualy is a later lie-in as that’s at 08:00 – 09:00 GMT)
Probably give the practice sessions a miss.
Tim (@tsgoodchild)
10th November 2023, 10:12
It will never happen under Horner’s watch. If there is one constant in all of Red bull’s history, it is their inability to manage two high performing drivers. Having a clear number 1 and someone else to pick up the pieces when its there is what works with the team. Right from the outset when the team started there has been an obvious lead driver – and even Mark Webber openly stated Vettel would have protection as normal. So we can all hope that someone of the like of Norris being teammates to Max…but it won’t happen in the world of Red Bull.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
10th November 2023, 11:35
Teammates to Max, not with Max? A secondary member?
And not we all thanks. I see no reason for a BOP handicap like a Russell or Norris to be forced upon them.
Tim (@tsgoodchild)
10th November 2023, 12:49
Okay.
MadLewis
10th November 2023, 10:59
Max would kill everyone on the current roster if they were teammates. Max is only 26 and still growing.
LyndaMarks
10th November 2023, 12:23
I don’t think I’ve ever been as disinterested in a new circuit as i have been las Vegas.
The circuit looks awful, It’s just as awful to drive in the game and we all know that is because creating a good circuit was secondary over been able to show the Vegas neon lights a million times a session.
It honestly has to be one of the least interesting and least imaginative circuit layouts I’ve ever seen. And i think the only one that comes close is actually the Las Vegas car park circuit from 1981/82.
Miami is terrible as were Valencia and Sochi but at least they have/had at least one corner or section that was somewhat interesting and/or quite challenging. The Vegas track is just devoid of anything interesting or especially challenging.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
11th November 2023, 10:54
+ 1. It’s a huge marketing and money generation exercise, that’s all. Racing is very secondary.
Dex
10th November 2023, 14:46
I’m not sure that Bottas is a better driver than Perez. A better qualifier, probably not as good a racer. After all, he proved to be no challenge for Hamilton either, and we were waiting for years to see him replaced (it was one of out favourite rants here, wasn’t it?). Also, I’m pretty sure that Verstappen is a better driver than Hamilton too, which further raises the bar in that team. But yes, I wish they hired Alonso, that would be something spectacular to see. Verstappen would probably still win championships, but I’m sure that Alonso would score more wins than Perez, and he’d surely be a regular on the podium when he doesn’t. And I’d never bet against him doing better than that either. God, why did he make himself so undesirable on the market… We’ll never get to see this.
MadMax (@madmax)
10th November 2023, 19:16
I am pretty sure Ham is the better driver…
Edvaldo
10th November 2023, 21:00
Mate, Bottas couldn’t beat Hamilton but he wasn’t beaten so handily and so frequently by other drivers with lesser cars than him like Perez does 2 times per month.
You don’t even need to compare them to their teammates, just look at their results. The only reason Perez is keeping this 2nd place is because there’s no clear better team behind him. A little bit more of consistency for any of those 4 teams and he’s done for.
F1 Fan
11th November 2023, 17:28
That tends to happen when your teammate destroys you from P9 and you don’t know what to do. Bottas was much closer to Hamilton but that doesn’t anything else about Perez.
Edvaldo
11th November 2023, 18:35
What does this have to do with Perez not having the measure over the rest of the field on a much superior machine?
Ferdinand
13th November 2023, 12:50
I do not agree with Brawn at all. It would only make the race winning team more predictable and more dominant. The last thing I would like to see is a repetition of the 8 years streak of Mercedes. We now are only in a 2nd year of Max domination and the battle behind him is at least entertaining. If it would be for sure that the other RB would win if Max doesn’t it would make it more boring imho. Needless for Brawn to chip in but it fits the narrative strategy they put in place at Mercedes so not a surprise at all.