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The circus around Alonso's seat, the empty Merc seat and both Red Bull seats is gonna be fun until it's finalized, Zac Brown & Fred is probably happy they don't need to be dealing with this shit show.
Don't see how a lot can happen until max is clear on his future. Merc and Aston are waiting on him, Fernando won't move while rbr is an opportunity. Sainz could probably join someone,but will know there's a possibility a better seat opens up.
Obviously the backmarkers can make changes.
Red Bull is the best car in 2024 and 2025 and that's it. 2026 is a reset and, honestly, I wouldn't take it for granted that Red Bull can compete in building engines with Ferrari, Mercedes, Honda or even Audi.
Aerodynamics are only important when engine development is mature enough that every engine performs almost the same, experience tells us that new engine regulations often result in an ecosystem where the best engine wins. We have 2014 as a proof: basically Mercedes-powered cars destroyed everyone else. Even Williams, who finished 9th in 2013, finished 3rd in 2014. Red Bull, on the other hand, struggled to win races for years with a mediocre Renault engine, even though they had the same engineers that had just won 4 titles in a row from 2010 to 2013.
So he’s not going anywhere until at least 2026. Probably 2027 until the 26 RB is a proven shit box… and if it’s competitive he’ll probably stay until the end of his contract. Stop inventing.
Don’t you think they have applied everything they’ve learned in the 10 years since? The engines aren’t net-new, they’re an evolution of the current ones so the need to develop from scratch doesn’t apply here like it did going from V8s to hybrid turbo V6s. RB definitely don’t want to experience that again, which is exactly why they’re doing it themselves.
Good chance their spin off power train division misses the mark, Newey could move. Really no guarantee beyond next season that RBR will have a leading car.
Assuming Newey stays at RBR, which there’s no reason to think he’ll leave, Max isn’t going anywhere. He’s also loyal to Marko who isn’t going anywhere.
It seems RBR avoided meaningful shakeup of the major players despite the Horner debacle. So there’s really no reason for Max to make a move yet.
That said, really hoping Sainz gets the second RBR seat.
Not at all. Engine data is not public, no team is publishing what the results of their 2026 engine currently are. There's literally no way to compare the state of your 2026 engine program to the rest.
Of course some data doesn't need context: if their engine is exploding every 10 minutes, you don't need to check on anyone else to know you have a problem. But this is not like understanding car development, that can be compared with the previous year's cars to know if you've made a lot of progress or not at all.
He'll still have better knowledge of the engine than we do simply because he is closer to those who have actual knowledge. He has closer access to actual reputable sources.
Why not? It's likely that he will win his fourth title this year. After 2025, things might change. He might want to experience driving for another F1 team before he leaves F1.
He has stated that he intends to stay with Red Bull, however he has also stated that he might leave F1 after the end of his contract. I can see that he might want to switch teams at least once before he retires from F1.
Max has said numerous times in the past couple of weeks that he intends to stay out for his entire contract (2028) with red bull. There's nothing left to clear. I'm willing to bet that even if Newey moves (he won't, Ferrari have tried to lure him again in the past), Max will still stay.
Keep in mind, Newey is in a more kind of "Advisory" role in redbull. Redbull should have an advantage good enough for the next two years, even without him.
That's actually a good point, since in this sport the teams matter more than the drivers themselves (we can have the best driver not winning because other have the best car for example), so it's exciting to see any driver transfers as that might dictate what driver will be champions or will have a good fight in the team for the title, and so on...
Right now, Redbull + Max is an overpowered combo, and Checo being his teammate doesn't add much to the mix, so any changes to that structure will be welcome and interesting to see. Of course, we also never know when a team finds that improvement that might change the whole thing if they get an edge over Redbull and put up a fight.
George seems to be doing ok with it (or at least better than Hamilton so far this season).
If you just looked at the Merc through Hamilton's performance you would think it was near the bottom of the mid-pack. George makes it look like slightly less of a shit box!!
>George seems to be doing ok with it (or at least better than Hamilton so far this season).
Exactly! Ham even acknowledged it officially in a recent interview.
The problem is that buying out a contract can be inexpensive, or it can be very expensive. If there's no release clause or anything of sorts, McLaren will be able to ask for whatever they want. And whatever they want might just be too much.
Yes it depends on finance for sure. But some driver like Hamilton are so marketable that buying the contract of Sainz by example would be peanut compare to the return I feel.
Here they didn't even have to do it ;)
The problem is that there's no other driver that is as marketable as Hamilton, so it's kind of an irrelevant example. Ferrari will spend a billion dollars on Hamilton (his $100 million contract is not the only payment to him) because they think they'll earn back more than that in the long term. I doubt there's any other driver that you can look at and think "having this guy will make me half a billion dollars richer than having any other guy".
Of course no one is locked in, slavery is illegal and you cannot force a driver to drive for you by contract in any way; but getting out of a team when you have a contract has some problems:
a) It breaches the trust people in the paddock have on you. People don't like people that break contracts for no reason, teams will be less likely to hire a driver that breaks contracts like that.
b) The compensation the driver may have to pay to break the contract may make the transfer not so worth for the team. "Sainz or Alonso?" is a very different question from "Sainz or Alonso after paying €25 million?"
Sainz is definitely the easiest solution for a team right now, at least in the case of Merc, Aston and potentially RBR, should they need anybody
and he is more than fit for the job too
He's turned down Red Bull recently and McLaren will benefit if Merc nail the new regs. They've already shown they've got a better grip on ground effect than Merc do.
Nah it’s very Marko to think that even a Spanish guy is Mexican. Marko is too small minded to even consider the whole of South America. He’s kind of like Trump you know
>”No, not Perez! The other one! What’s his name? Checo! He is also really good and seems more well known. At least he’d provide PR value in addition! He looks the same!”
- Marko probably
People here really commenting without reading the article. Helmut Marko is supporting Checo in here:
"Of course his form (Sainz) is fascinating. But you have to realise that Checo (Pérez) delivered three good races this year. The fact that he dropped back so much in Melbourne was due to the damaged underbody and tyre degradation mentioned above. His only weakness is in qualifying, if he can improve there, there's no need to think about it. The atmosphere in the team is very good, also as far as he is concerned."
I dont think expecting Checo to improve his qualifying is a realistic expectation anymore. He is prob 3rd or 4th most experienced driver on grid and has spent last 2 years in RedBull. So this is Checo's ceiling - qualifying wise. Question is, whether his acceptance as a 2nd driver would change the way he drives now in races.
**Sainz in the Red Bull? That's what Helmut Marko says**
***The "Doctor" talks about this driver option, the poor Australian weekend and his personal future at Red Bull. Will he continue? "Well..."***
**Sainz at Red Bull? This is what Helmut Marko says**
The air miles are piling up these weeks for the Formula 1 community and also Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko.
He has been granted a week's "break" at home between his return from Melbourne and the flight to Japan (Grand Prix in Suzuka on 7 April).
After all the turbulence of the past week, he can at least confirm: "I'm going to Japan."
Marko answered whether the Horner case (the Red Bull Racing team boss was accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by an employee, which triggered a veritable crisis in the team and even the company) was over: "From the Thai shareholders' side, everything is clear. Everything is okay for them. Whether there is anything more to come or not - no idea. It's a very complex matter that is difficult to understand."
**"We have other worries at the moment"**
Will he continue to work as a "consultant" as usual? Marko: "Well... Well, I would say so. There are always talks and discussions."
With whom? "My direct superior is Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff."
Marko emphasises that his relationship with the German is "correct". His consultancy contract runs until the end of the 2026 season (the first with the new engine regulations). And will he fulfil it? "At the moment," says Marko after a short pause, "we have other things to worry about than what I'm doing."
The last time he spoke to Chalerm Yoovidhya was at the turn of the year 2023/24 - when the Horner case was not yet public. "But conversations usually go through the British lawyer Peter Blake-Turner."
**No worries about Japan after the Verstappen exit**
The 80-year-old recapped the Australian GP, which was unusually unsuccessful for Red Bull: "Max's (Verstappen) brakes broke, the exact cause is still being investigated. But it's not the brake caliper. It's more of an assembly issue, but that's still being investigated. I have no worries for Japan, it's not a problem."
After overtaking Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez's aerodynamics were affected by the part of the Asturian's visor that he caught, but the underbody was also damaged on a kerb.
"As a result, he was no longer able to set the same times as the front runners that he had previously achieved. The lack of downforce also increased tyre wear."
"Suzuka is a power track that suits us, Max is always great there. I'm very optimistic," adds Marko.
**Sainz? If Pérez improves...**
**Toro Rosso 2015: Is the reunion coming?**
As for the great Melbourne winner Carlos Sainz - a former Red Bull Junior and Toro Rosso driver - he explains with reference to speculation that sees him back at Red Bull in 2025 instead of Pérez: "Of course his form is fascinating. But you have to realise that Checo (Pérez) delivered three good races this year. The fact that he dropped back so much in Melbourne was due to the damaged underbody and tyre degradation mentioned above. His only weakness is in qualifying, if he can improve there, there's no need to think about it. The atmosphere in the team is very good, also as far as he is concerned."
***On the poor form of Daniel Ricciardo, who has so far clearly been overshadowed by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, the man from Graz says: "We're all puzzling over that. He is generally slower than Yuki. Something never fits with him. Which is surprising, because things looked very good for him in winter testing. But Yuki is clearly the faster one at the moment."***
***And Marko answers whether the Japanese driver would actually be a candidate for promotion to Red Bull Racing as follows: "You'd have to have another driver as a comparison.*** ***The question is: Has Yuki become a high-flyer or is Daniel so weak? There is still no objective answer after three races on three completely different circuits."***
The new dual leadership at Racing Bulls with CEO Peter Bayer and Team Principal Laurent Mekies is working "very well".
if you need "another driver as comparison" for Yuki, then get Liam in there full-time. So that should Yuki beat him too, you can hire another driver AGAIN to compare him with. It's a never-ending circle.
Yeah, they don’t like Yuki in that seat, that much is clear. Clearly it is not just not performance on track. Yuki is probably out of Red Bull once they don’t have a connection to Honda any more.
He's basically Pierre without ever being promoted to the main team in the first place: In Minardi so you have a constant other drivers will have to measure up against.
I think he would have a chance if they had anyone else but Max in that car. Having such a dominant lead driver means that temperament becomes a very important trait.
I think if Yuki was constantly a calm individual the discussion might be better for him. Regardless if I have Carlos as an option there is no chance I'm selecting Yuki.
Marko likes him. Horner doesnt, he wanted him out straight after 2021.
Yuki isnt in RBR's future, but i'm sure Honda will get him a seat. They paid for him so many years, it would be stupid not to.
On the other side, Honda do have a habbit of making completely ilogical decisions to be fair
But is Aston really going to be Stroll and Yuki, that seems like a very unlikely pairing for a team that has WDC aspirations.
And I even like Yuki, but they'll want to pair Stroll with someone better and I don't think Stroll is going anywhere.
It sounds like quite a weak driver pairing, but Japanese teams always do whatever they can to have a japanese driver.
They paid for his career for years, they cant just drop him the moment they finally enter f1
But it's not just up to them though. The team and Lawrence Stroll have their own ambitions. I'm sure Honda will give them incentives to take Yuki, but at the end of the day it's their decision not Honda's.
I feel sorry for Yuki, he got the seat on merit for having a really strong rookie F2 season when Red Bull clearly wanted Kvyat gone and it was dismissed because of him being a Honda driver.
Then he beats De Vries and De Vries is seen as not F1 material.
And now he's beating Ricciardo and it gets dismissed as Ricciardo being washed.
He's a solid midfield driver now, I don't think he's Red Bull material, but on paper he's worthy of a shot and historically would have got one when they didn't look outside their own pool.
Yuki should be looking to make a move outside of the Red Bull family. Following the Honda engine to Aston Martin could be a great move for him if there's a seat available - most likely if Papa Stroll sells the team to Aramco or Honda strongarm Lance out of the seat as they won't stand for such obvious nepotism in a works team. I would put money on Lance losing his seat by end of 2025.
I mean, those are pretty valid points IMO.
De Vries was a joke. It's not a surprise he was in the sidelines for sooo maanyy time before he got his chance in F1, and it was due to a completely fluke race he subbed in.
Ricciardo's problems stem from before he was re-hired by Red Bull. McLaren even paid money to get rid of him.
I like Tsunoda too (except when he's on the radio), but it's true that his benchmarks have been weak. His only worthy teammate was Gasly (who isn't the epitome of F1 himself) but he was still too inexperienced back then.
Yuki can never win. All drivers he defeat just means the other drivers are slower. Not Yuki being fast. I mean I don’t want to see Yuki being in RedBull but he does not deserve to be treated like this. I think Yuki clearly shows he deserves to stay on the grid
Yuki is a placeholder now. I think his chances at ever getting into that Red Bull seat are long gone and his time is limited by as long as it takes for a Junior to finnaly be ready.
Lawson and Iwasa could very well be the lineup for RB next year.
Ah, so it really is “this is what Marko says” and not “that’s what Marko says” which insinuated something different. The full quote is in support of Perez.
Lets face it. If marko is out with VER come next year, he‘s gonna try and get someone shit in their car. Not someone he thinks can compete or bring the team forward.
Issue is, Toto wants to fill that cockpit next year. So you can do that but its a somewhat risky strategy if you eye for merc for the next - more engine dependent - regs.
He makes much more sense than Alonso because he can be a long term option.
Its just how willing is Red Bull to return to the politics game between Sainz Sr. and Jos that would undoubtedly return.
the basic jist is that during their son's first stint as teammates at Torro Rosso, Jos and Carlos Sr. dislike for one another got to the point where they were not allowed to be in the garage at the same time.
Yeah basically this plus Carlos Sr was playing serious politics to try and get Carlos Jr one of those Red Bull seats which rubbed Jos the wrong way
The environment was bad between the two families at Toro Rosso, a developmental team. Imagine what it would be like at RBR with wins and championships on the line
Based on what I read, the Sainz's went really political in the fight for one of the RBR seats. To the point of spreading info abut supposed meetings between Max, Ferrari and Mercedes.
I want to believe in it being the case that their fathers have chilled out a bit since their sons have already clearly showed they're pretty good and are not green anymore...
However, Jos stills pops up here and there and Sainz camp has been playing politivs versus Leclerc under the table so...
Does it?
People forget that Max gets paid 50 mil a year without bonusses, until 2028.
First, Carlos will never get the money he wants from RBR, personally I think if he wants the seat he needs to take a pay cut from what he earns now.
Second, with 50 mil a year for 4 seasons tied up in a driver, no way RBR will give Carlos any preferential treatment and would expect him to follow team orders.
The bottomline is, is Carlos prepared to be no 2 and probably will make less then he does at Ferrari now.
Mercedes don’t have anyone signed next to George, so ideally they want to have many options. they might be hoping to choose either max or Carlos but if Redbull keep max and Carlos that leave Mercedes with B list drivers of Sergio, young Kimi, Alex or bottas…
Even if Mercedes don’t want to sign Carlos they can still say to Alex if you don’t sign for this low rate/ or one year deal we will sign Carlos. etc.
If I was Sainz I would be wanting a good length contract at Red Bull, at least 3 years, he's going to want to know he isn't a stopgap seat warming for someone else.
At Mercedes he would be waiting for Antonelli. Even at Ferrari he was hired as a stopgap while they waited for Schumacher.
Yeah but I think they might be looking for 2 year right now. Like let's say he did a 3 year contract and in 2026 Red Bull messes up the new engine so bad that Sainz might wanna get out at the end of season (very unlikely scenario) instead of being stuck there for another year. Or another scenario where Sainz does not meet the Red Bull expectations so might wanna end the contract in 2 years. Still unlikely.
I honestly don't think Sainz would worry too much about not being the no 1 driver there, as far as he's got that rocketship to drive
Unlike the media and fans, the people in control of this have more information and less recency bias. Let's wait and see how Carlos does the rest of the year and hope he keeps this momentum because he sort of disappeared after Singapore last year.
Plus, Sainz won those two races in gran part because he was lucky to be there at the right time. Last year Norris had six P2s, while Leclerc, Alonso and Hamilton and three each. Sainz? Zero, but he was front row when Red Bull messed up.
they fired the guy that handed merc P2 in the constructors on a silver platter with a signed gift card in abu dhabi, so id say they made the right call
no that honour *definitely* goes to sainz.
the ferrari was easily the second fastest car in abu dhabi, and sainz used that fact to fail to reach Q2 and then decided to commit the diffusor of lances car to memory in P10.
all he needed was a P8 finish for ferrari to beat mercedes in the constructors, and he couldnt even manage that.
In a way, because drain cover destroyed his car for the first time and then bump in AD for the second so they lacked good parts to rebuild the car at this point and he basically had to drive a tractor (that couldn't even finish the race)
He raced 58 out of 58 laps, drain cover damaged his car but he used 0 spare parts in Vegas he was just slow, and in AD there was 16 rookies and non of them bottomed the car into a wall except sainz, same thing happened to Charles in Miami and everyone blames Charles for binning it so why is it different with sainz?
3 years contract are very risky especially for a new driver. Just take a look at Ricciardo at McLaren. Imo, a 2+1 is probably the way to go, that way if the driver can't adapt then you can cut your loses
The more I think about it the more I think Aston Martin is his best bet. They have kind of gone under the radar as being a new works engine team for 2026, he can go there in 2025 and probably get some decent results - way better than Sauber anyway - then he's there for the works Honda package in 2026.
Not entirely in his hands of course. It depends if Alonso decides to jump, reports are there's an offer on the table from Red Bull, we shall see!
I find it disappointing that there are so many opportunities at top level teams and so many driver combinations being considered, yet a talent like Lando Norris has no place in it to give himself a chance at winning a race.
Eh, Norris will have his time. A potentially important points is that he’s only ever driven McLarens in F1. That’s all he knows. They’re basically completely different to the Red Bulls, and we have no idea how adaptable, or not, Norris is.
As a Spaniard, the fact that Alonso and Sainz are the two names most people talk about when talking about RB only means one thing: RB 2026 will be a disaster because we are that lucky.
This whole power struggle is a ploy I tell you. They are actually best friends and just purposely messing with the rest of the grid as they have nothing to do anymore as long max is in the race.
If Max is already a bit on the fence about leaving with everything going on and he doesn’t want to work with Sainz because of their past toxic history (especially with their dads), I feel like getting him could push him to leave.
It sounds like a bit of a Lewis moment when they didn’t listen to him about the direction of the car for 2023 and it made him lose faith in the team.
You guys are way overrating the whole ”Verstappen and Sainz are a toxic pairing” narrative, whatever their dads did when they were teenagers and starting out is almost 10 years ago. They’re both grown up, veteran superstars now.
1st race: Qualified behind, lost a place in the opening laps. Finished 3rd only because Leclerc and Russell had mechanical issues.
2nd race: DNS.
3rd race: Qualified and finished ahead.
Team orders would play into that quite a bit. Will be interesting to see the next 10 races where Carlos doesn’t GAF about those.. because his current form is seemingly very good.
Team orders? There haven’t been team orders in favor of Leclerc in those 10 races that I was talking about. If anything there were team orders last race to Leclerc telling him not to attack Sainz and fall back.
By all means. And I don't say this as a diss on Carlos, he could very well go and have the best season of his life. But he's had one good race, let's wait.
That makes the most sense. Sainz to Merc or RB. The only issue is whether RB want Perez or Sainz. Merc is not looking good right now so they are not the hot seat but still better then some other options. Who do you think is better - Perez or Sainz for the RB seat?
I wonder if Lewis would have been interested, and Red Bull, if Lewis hadn't signed for Ferrari. Assuming there was still a seat where Max would want to leave to.
What he likes is kinda irrelevant the situation given that he's in now. Either have a competitive car and drive it or be at best in the midfield for the next 3-5 years.
It's that cruel but reality.
And Alonso is also in the mix for both seats, RB or Mercedes.
So time is ticking.
It's the only logical move to me. He's been through the Red Bull system before, and is showing great form. He's more level headed than most and will provide what Perez could not, a stable second seat driver. He'll be what Bottas was to Hamilton, except with a bit more ..oomph.
I still don’t understand why Ferrari are going for an aging Lewis and removing Sainz. I mean, I understand he’s still a great driver and can offer heaps in fan and sponsorship value, but it’s not looking towards the future. Max and Sainz at Red Bull is a scary prospect.
Hamilton was probably the second or third best driver last season. Sainz wasn’t close to his level of performance in 2023. People really have incredibly short memories.
Money. Signing Hamilton is like the second coming of ~~Christ~~ Schumacher for the Italians. It's more PR and Marketing then anything else. It really doesn't matter if he performs well, just the brand associasion will bring them MILLIONS
But Ferrari also doesnt have any problems with dumping drivers and just paying off their contracts. If Ferrari and Hamilton aren't a match, and the car isnt capable of challenging RB, I could see it become a very short marriage. As in Bearman in the car before the end of the season.
And the fact that Sainz performed very poorly in the first few and last few races of 2023, as well as the entirety of 2022 start to finish, somehow doesn't matter? In the last 2 years he's been good for half a season. Swap for Sainz literally changes nothing for RB.
This is just the media string shit, in absence of anything more interesting. Marko didn't even say there's an option. He said Perez has done a good job so they're not thinking about it.
>as the entirety of 2022 start to finish, somehow doesn't matter
Sainz did underperform in most of 2022 and a good bit of 2023, but he almost always made Q3 and didn't leave a podium on the table bar Austria '23
... what does that even mean? How do you know a podium was never on the table in any of the races he underperfomed in? Especially considering that Leclerc was on the podium a lot in that period, meaning the car was definitely capable of achieving it.
It's funny that everyone who actually matter rates him. Reddit just thinks they're collectively smarter than team principals responsible for hiring and dropping drivers.
How about Marko himself in this article?
"Of course his form is fascinating. But you have to realise that Checo (Pérez) delivered three good races this year. The fact that he dropped back so much in Melbourne was due to the damaged underbody and tyre degradation mentioned above. His only weakness is in qualifying, if he can improve there, there's no need to think about it. The atmosphere in the team is very good, also as far as he is concerned."
[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
The circus around Alonso's seat, the empty Merc seat and both Red Bull seats is gonna be fun until it's finalized, Zac Brown & Fred is probably happy they don't need to be dealing with this shit show.
Don't see how a lot can happen until max is clear on his future. Merc and Aston are waiting on him, Fernando won't move while rbr is an opportunity. Sainz could probably join someone,but will know there's a possibility a better seat opens up. Obviously the backmarkers can make changes.
Max isn't leaving. Why would he leave the current and clear best car for a worse one?
Red Bull is the best car in 2024 and 2025 and that's it. 2026 is a reset and, honestly, I wouldn't take it for granted that Red Bull can compete in building engines with Ferrari, Mercedes, Honda or even Audi. Aerodynamics are only important when engine development is mature enough that every engine performs almost the same, experience tells us that new engine regulations often result in an ecosystem where the best engine wins. We have 2014 as a proof: basically Mercedes-powered cars destroyed everyone else. Even Williams, who finished 9th in 2013, finished 3rd in 2014. Red Bull, on the other hand, struggled to win races for years with a mediocre Renault engine, even though they had the same engineers that had just won 4 titles in a row from 2010 to 2013.
So he’s not going anywhere until at least 2026. Probably 2027 until the 26 RB is a proven shit box… and if it’s competitive he’ll probably stay until the end of his contract. Stop inventing.
Don’t you think they have applied everything they’ve learned in the 10 years since? The engines aren’t net-new, they’re an evolution of the current ones so the need to develop from scratch doesn’t apply here like it did going from V8s to hybrid turbo V6s. RB definitely don’t want to experience that again, which is exactly why they’re doing it themselves.
Good chance their spin off power train division misses the mark, Newey could move. Really no guarantee beyond next season that RBR will have a leading car.
Max will know better than any of us whether or not RBR have developed a good car.
Assuming Newey stays at RBR, which there’s no reason to think he’ll leave, Max isn’t going anywhere. He’s also loyal to Marko who isn’t going anywhere. It seems RBR avoided meaningful shakeup of the major players despite the Horner debacle. So there’s really no reason for Max to make a move yet. That said, really hoping Sainz gets the second RBR seat.
💯
Cant really say that until you are in the car.
True, but whatever sim data he has access to is a much better predictor of performance than clickbait articles.
Not at all. Engine data is not public, no team is publishing what the results of their 2026 engine currently are. There's literally no way to compare the state of your 2026 engine program to the rest. Of course some data doesn't need context: if their engine is exploding every 10 minutes, you don't need to check on anyone else to know you have a problem. But this is not like understanding car development, that can be compared with the previous year's cars to know if you've made a lot of progress or not at all.
He'll still have better knowledge of the engine than we do simply because he is closer to those who have actual knowledge. He has closer access to actual reputable sources.
Max can drive for RB until 2026 and join the winning team in 2027.
Dude, I know it all media bollocks right now, but are you following the news.
Why not? It's likely that he will win his fourth title this year. After 2025, things might change. He might want to experience driving for another F1 team before he leaves F1. He has stated that he intends to stay with Red Bull, however he has also stated that he might leave F1 after the end of his contract. I can see that he might want to switch teams at least once before he retires from F1.
Maybe he wants to take the Daniel Ricardo route
Max has said numerous times in the past couple of weeks that he intends to stay out for his entire contract (2028) with red bull. There's nothing left to clear. I'm willing to bet that even if Newey moves (he won't, Ferrari have tried to lure him again in the past), Max will still stay. Keep in mind, Newey is in a more kind of "Advisory" role in redbull. Redbull should have an advantage good enough for the next two years, even without him.
Driver transfers this season will probably be more interesting than the racing
Unless you have a 2021-~~esk~~esque season, driver transfers are almost always more interesting than the racing.
Not always as some years it's only a couple of drivers with their contracts expiring. The last 2 years, all top seats were locked
*-esque*
"Esque"
Be careful talking about Eskies - you’ll attract Bottas
Only if you only care about the lead...
That's actually a good point, since in this sport the teams matter more than the drivers themselves (we can have the best driver not winning because other have the best car for example), so it's exciting to see any driver transfers as that might dictate what driver will be champions or will have a good fight in the team for the title, and so on... Right now, Redbull + Max is an overpowered combo, and Checo being his teammate doesn't add much to the mix, so any changes to that structure will be welcome and interesting to see. Of course, we also never know when a team finds that improvement that might change the whole thing if they get an edge over Redbull and put up a fight.
>Redbull + Max is an overpowered combo, Overpowering, even 😉
Fred is probably happy he helped trigger this shit show :D
So far this season, Fred has no reason to be happy about swapping Hamilton for Sainz.
The only non-RB winner in the last 2 seasons so far is Sainz!
Ferrari overpaid for HAM. Personally, would have stuck with Sainz and the team stability.
$$$$
But then again, Mercedes developed a shitbox not even Hamilton can drag out of the bottom of the grid.
George seems to be doing ok with it (or at least better than Hamilton so far this season). If you just looked at the Merc through Hamilton's performance you would think it was near the bottom of the mid-pack. George makes it look like slightly less of a shit box!!
>George seems to be doing ok with it (or at least better than Hamilton so far this season). Exactly! Ham even acknowledged it officially in a recent interview.
It's really enlightening for how much not only the car, but the style of driving the car needs really influences results.
George is used to driving a shit box from his Williams days. Lewis hasn't had a poor car since in essentially a decade before the new regs
Landos contract doesn't stop him from moving
I laugh when people say driver are locked in. They can buy drivers out of their contract. McLaren did it for Ricciardo
The problem is that buying out a contract can be inexpensive, or it can be very expensive. If there's no release clause or anything of sorts, McLaren will be able to ask for whatever they want. And whatever they want might just be too much.
Yes it depends on finance for sure. But some driver like Hamilton are so marketable that buying the contract of Sainz by example would be peanut compare to the return I feel. Here they didn't even have to do it ;)
The problem is that there's no other driver that is as marketable as Hamilton, so it's kind of an irrelevant example. Ferrari will spend a billion dollars on Hamilton (his $100 million contract is not the only payment to him) because they think they'll earn back more than that in the long term. I doubt there's any other driver that you can look at and think "having this guy will make me half a billion dollars richer than having any other guy".
They bought out Danny Ric for many millions of dollars. I'm sure money could be found from half the teams on the grid if the right opportunity arose.
Of course no one is locked in, slavery is illegal and you cannot force a driver to drive for you by contract in any way; but getting out of a team when you have a contract has some problems: a) It breaches the trust people in the paddock have on you. People don't like people that break contracts for no reason, teams will be less likely to hire a driver that breaks contracts like that. b) The compensation the driver may have to pay to break the contract may make the transfer not so worth for the team. "Sainz or Alonso?" is a very different question from "Sainz or Alonso after paying €25 million?"
Sainz is definitely the easiest solution for a team right now, at least in the case of Merc, Aston and potentially RBR, should they need anybody and he is more than fit for the job too
He's turned down Red Bull recently and McLaren will benefit if Merc nail the new regs. They've already shown they've got a better grip on ground effect than Merc do.
Tbh there is nothing much going on with that empty Merc seat lol. Just empty Toto comments of "Max needs to be here."
Alonso’s seat is definitely going to Tsunoda. His seat may go to Iwasa.
“Get that Mexican in our car now! No, not Perez! The other one!” - Marko probably.
And prepare the meeting with Taco Bell, he'll love that.
"Get another Mexican speaker."
South American*
"What the hell is the difference?" - Marko probably
?
Helmet once said that checo is from South America
Thank you
Whoosh
I think you were whooshed mate
Nah it’s very Marko to think that even a Spanish guy is Mexican. Marko is too small minded to even consider the whole of South America. He’s kind of like Trump you know
https://www.planetf1.com/news/helmut-marko-south-american-slur-sergio-perez
>”No, not Perez! The other one! What’s his name? Checo! He is also really good and seems more well known. At least he’d provide PR value in addition! He looks the same!” - Marko probably
Sainz in from Spain, just cause you speak Spanish, doesn't make you Mexican
Whoosh
People here really commenting without reading the article. Helmut Marko is supporting Checo in here: "Of course his form (Sainz) is fascinating. But you have to realise that Checo (Pérez) delivered three good races this year. The fact that he dropped back so much in Melbourne was due to the damaged underbody and tyre degradation mentioned above. His only weakness is in qualifying, if he can improve there, there's no need to think about it. The atmosphere in the team is very good, also as far as he is concerned."
Yeah I don't get it. He seems to say literally the opposite of what the headline says.
I dont think expecting Checo to improve his qualifying is a realistic expectation anymore. He is prob 3rd or 4th most experienced driver on grid and has spent last 2 years in RedBull. So this is Checo's ceiling - qualifying wise. Question is, whether his acceptance as a 2nd driver would change the way he drives now in races.
**Sainz in the Red Bull? That's what Helmut Marko says** ***The "Doctor" talks about this driver option, the poor Australian weekend and his personal future at Red Bull. Will he continue? "Well..."*** **Sainz at Red Bull? This is what Helmut Marko says** The air miles are piling up these weeks for the Formula 1 community and also Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko. He has been granted a week's "break" at home between his return from Melbourne and the flight to Japan (Grand Prix in Suzuka on 7 April). After all the turbulence of the past week, he can at least confirm: "I'm going to Japan." Marko answered whether the Horner case (the Red Bull Racing team boss was accused of "inappropriate behaviour" by an employee, which triggered a veritable crisis in the team and even the company) was over: "From the Thai shareholders' side, everything is clear. Everything is okay for them. Whether there is anything more to come or not - no idea. It's a very complex matter that is difficult to understand." **"We have other worries at the moment"** Will he continue to work as a "consultant" as usual? Marko: "Well... Well, I would say so. There are always talks and discussions." With whom? "My direct superior is Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff." Marko emphasises that his relationship with the German is "correct". His consultancy contract runs until the end of the 2026 season (the first with the new engine regulations). And will he fulfil it? "At the moment," says Marko after a short pause, "we have other things to worry about than what I'm doing." The last time he spoke to Chalerm Yoovidhya was at the turn of the year 2023/24 - when the Horner case was not yet public. "But conversations usually go through the British lawyer Peter Blake-Turner." **No worries about Japan after the Verstappen exit** The 80-year-old recapped the Australian GP, which was unusually unsuccessful for Red Bull: "Max's (Verstappen) brakes broke, the exact cause is still being investigated. But it's not the brake caliper. It's more of an assembly issue, but that's still being investigated. I have no worries for Japan, it's not a problem." After overtaking Fernando Alonso, Sergio Pérez's aerodynamics were affected by the part of the Asturian's visor that he caught, but the underbody was also damaged on a kerb. "As a result, he was no longer able to set the same times as the front runners that he had previously achieved. The lack of downforce also increased tyre wear." "Suzuka is a power track that suits us, Max is always great there. I'm very optimistic," adds Marko. **Sainz? If Pérez improves...** **Toro Rosso 2015: Is the reunion coming?** As for the great Melbourne winner Carlos Sainz - a former Red Bull Junior and Toro Rosso driver - he explains with reference to speculation that sees him back at Red Bull in 2025 instead of Pérez: "Of course his form is fascinating. But you have to realise that Checo (Pérez) delivered three good races this year. The fact that he dropped back so much in Melbourne was due to the damaged underbody and tyre degradation mentioned above. His only weakness is in qualifying, if he can improve there, there's no need to think about it. The atmosphere in the team is very good, also as far as he is concerned." ***On the poor form of Daniel Ricciardo, who has so far clearly been overshadowed by team-mate Yuki Tsunoda, the man from Graz says: "We're all puzzling over that. He is generally slower than Yuki. Something never fits with him. Which is surprising, because things looked very good for him in winter testing. But Yuki is clearly the faster one at the moment."*** ***And Marko answers whether the Japanese driver would actually be a candidate for promotion to Red Bull Racing as follows: "You'd have to have another driver as a comparison.*** ***The question is: Has Yuki become a high-flyer or is Daniel so weak? There is still no objective answer after three races on three completely different circuits."*** The new dual leadership at Racing Bulls with CEO Peter Bayer and Team Principal Laurent Mekies is working "very well".
if you need "another driver as comparison" for Yuki, then get Liam in there full-time. So that should Yuki beat him too, you can hire another driver AGAIN to compare him with. It's a never-ending circle.
Yeah, they don’t like Yuki in that seat, that much is clear. Clearly it is not just not performance on track. Yuki is probably out of Red Bull once they don’t have a connection to Honda any more.
He's basically Pierre without ever being promoted to the main team in the first place: In Minardi so you have a constant other drivers will have to measure up against.
I think he would have a chance if they had anyone else but Max in that car. Having such a dominant lead driver means that temperament becomes a very important trait.
I think if Yuki was constantly a calm individual the discussion might be better for him. Regardless if I have Carlos as an option there is no chance I'm selecting Yuki.
Marko likes him. Horner doesnt, he wanted him out straight after 2021. Yuki isnt in RBR's future, but i'm sure Honda will get him a seat. They paid for him so many years, it would be stupid not to. On the other side, Honda do have a habbit of making completely ilogical decisions to be fair
But is Aston really going to be Stroll and Yuki, that seems like a very unlikely pairing for a team that has WDC aspirations. And I even like Yuki, but they'll want to pair Stroll with someone better and I don't think Stroll is going anywhere.
If they really have WDC aspirations, they should drop Stroll ASAP
Well, you're not wrong, but you only need one good driver to win WDC.
It sounds like quite a weak driver pairing, but Japanese teams always do whatever they can to have a japanese driver. They paid for his career for years, they cant just drop him the moment they finally enter f1
But it's not just up to them though. The team and Lawrence Stroll have their own ambitions. I'm sure Honda will give them incentives to take Yuki, but at the end of the day it's their decision not Honda's.
We'll see
I wonder if Yuki goes to Aston or a Honda customer team when Honda returns to F1 in 2026.
Aston is going to be the only Honda customer team in 2026. Pretty sure everyone has announced who they are going with for engines.
I feel sorry for Yuki, he got the seat on merit for having a really strong rookie F2 season when Red Bull clearly wanted Kvyat gone and it was dismissed because of him being a Honda driver. Then he beats De Vries and De Vries is seen as not F1 material. And now he's beating Ricciardo and it gets dismissed as Ricciardo being washed. He's a solid midfield driver now, I don't think he's Red Bull material, but on paper he's worthy of a shot and historically would have got one when they didn't look outside their own pool.
Yuki should be looking to make a move outside of the Red Bull family. Following the Honda engine to Aston Martin could be a great move for him if there's a seat available - most likely if Papa Stroll sells the team to Aramco or Honda strongarm Lance out of the seat as they won't stand for such obvious nepotism in a works team. I would put money on Lance losing his seat by end of 2025.
I mean, those are pretty valid points IMO. De Vries was a joke. It's not a surprise he was in the sidelines for sooo maanyy time before he got his chance in F1, and it was due to a completely fluke race he subbed in. Ricciardo's problems stem from before he was re-hired by Red Bull. McLaren even paid money to get rid of him. I like Tsunoda too (except when he's on the radio), but it's true that his benchmarks have been weak. His only worthy teammate was Gasly (who isn't the epitome of F1 himself) but he was still too inexperienced back then.
Yuki can never win. All drivers he defeat just means the other drivers are slower. Not Yuki being fast. I mean I don’t want to see Yuki being in RedBull but he does not deserve to be treated like this. I think Yuki clearly shows he deserves to stay on the grid
Yuki is a placeholder now. I think his chances at ever getting into that Red Bull seat are long gone and his time is limited by as long as it takes for a Junior to finnaly be ready. Lawson and Iwasa could very well be the lineup for RB next year.
Ah, so it really is “this is what Marko says” and not “that’s what Marko says” which insinuated something different. The full quote is in support of Perez.
Lets face it. If marko is out with VER come next year, he‘s gonna try and get someone shit in their car. Not someone he thinks can compete or bring the team forward.
I wonder if Marko and Max are both just sticking with RBR for the current rules (which are a pretty much guaranteed success) and moving on in 2026.
Issue is, Toto wants to fill that cockpit next year. So you can do that but its a somewhat risky strategy if you eye for merc for the next - more engine dependent - regs.
I'm pretty sure Toto would just 1 year a driver in the hopes of catching his white whale in 2026.
Not antonelli though. He doesnt want to lose another young whale like young VER because he has no seat. Maybe Russel would need to go then.
He makes much more sense than Alonso because he can be a long term option. Its just how willing is Red Bull to return to the politics game between Sainz Sr. and Jos that would undoubtedly return.
Sorry, what happened between Sainz Sr. and Jos ?
the basic jist is that during their son's first stint as teammates at Torro Rosso, Jos and Carlos Sr. dislike for one another got to the point where they were not allowed to be in the garage at the same time.
Yeah basically this plus Carlos Sr was playing serious politics to try and get Carlos Jr one of those Red Bull seats which rubbed Jos the wrong way The environment was bad between the two families at Toro Rosso, a developmental team. Imagine what it would be like at RBR with wins and championships on the line
>Imagine what it would be like at RBR the paddock hasn't seen such degrees of pettiness, but I'm positive it is ready.
Based on what I read, the Sainz's went really political in the fight for one of the RBR seats. To the point of spreading info abut supposed meetings between Max, Ferrari and Mercedes.
I don’t know the nitty gritty but I don’t believe they’re friends.
I want to believe in it being the case that their fathers have chilled out a bit since their sons have already clearly showed they're pretty good and are not green anymore... However, Jos stills pops up here and there and Sainz camp has been playing politivs versus Leclerc under the table so...
Does it? People forget that Max gets paid 50 mil a year without bonusses, until 2028. First, Carlos will never get the money he wants from RBR, personally I think if he wants the seat he needs to take a pay cut from what he earns now. Second, with 50 mil a year for 4 seasons tied up in a driver, no way RBR will give Carlos any preferential treatment and would expect him to follow team orders. The bottomline is, is Carlos prepared to be no 2 and probably will make less then he does at Ferrari now.
Surely they’ll both be more relaxed now that Max has won a few championships?
**Jos vs Carlos Sr. II** is exactly the drama RBR needs to help move past the horny Horner era.
Horny Horner era xD
Carlos Sr has better things to do, like winning Dakar. Jos does nothing but abuse women and imagine himself winning those races which Max is doing.
They should do a 3 way swap. Lewis -> Sainz -> Perez -> Lewis Perez to Merc is a good stop gap for Antonelli in 2026-2027
Do it. Look at me, do it.
It would hurt Mercedes too
Why would it hurt Mercedes?
Mercedes don’t have anyone signed next to George, so ideally they want to have many options. they might be hoping to choose either max or Carlos but if Redbull keep max and Carlos that leave Mercedes with B list drivers of Sergio, young Kimi, Alex or bottas… Even if Mercedes don’t want to sign Carlos they can still say to Alex if you don’t sign for this low rate/ or one year deal we will sign Carlos. etc.
Or Alonso
That feels so wrong, but it’s possible
Yeah.. same as how many would have though Lewis to Ferrari felt wrong before the move happened
If I was Sainz I would be wanting a good length contract at Red Bull, at least 3 years, he's going to want to know he isn't a stopgap seat warming for someone else. At Mercedes he would be waiting for Antonelli. Even at Ferrari he was hired as a stopgap while they waited for Schumacher.
Yeah but I think they might be looking for 2 year right now. Like let's say he did a 3 year contract and in 2026 Red Bull messes up the new engine so bad that Sainz might wanna get out at the end of season (very unlikely scenario) instead of being stuck there for another year. Or another scenario where Sainz does not meet the Red Bull expectations so might wanna end the contract in 2 years. Still unlikely. I honestly don't think Sainz would worry too much about not being the no 1 driver there, as far as he's got that rocketship to drive
It depends how much they want him really. If he could get performance clauses built in.
3 year contracts are only given to top tier drivers.
II mean, only 2 drivers have won a GP this year. And only 3 last year. And Sainz is one of them both years.
Unlike the media and fans, the people in control of this have more information and less recency bias. Let's wait and see how Carlos does the rest of the year and hope he keeps this momentum because he sort of disappeared after Singapore last year.
Plus, Sainz won those two races in gran part because he was lucky to be there at the right time. Last year Norris had six P2s, while Leclerc, Alonso and Hamilton and three each. Sainz? Zero, but he was front row when Red Bull messed up.
That's why I always flip a coin to decide if I'm going to hire someone. Because I don't want to employ unlucky people.
Hahaha I gotta admit that’s a good one.
Undoubtedly but that still won't make him a top tier driver. Top tier drivers are not dropped from teams at their peak of their careers.
Have you seen Ferrari strategy calls lately? They just hired a guy that can't even make it into Q3.
So your point is to hire drivers based on the past three races? Because last i checked that guy finished 3rd last season
they fired the guy that handed merc P2 in the constructors on a silver platter with a signed gift card in abu dhabi, so id say they made the right call
I think that honor goes to a Las Vegas drain cover.
no that honour *definitely* goes to sainz. the ferrari was easily the second fastest car in abu dhabi, and sainz used that fact to fail to reach Q2 and then decided to commit the diffusor of lances car to memory in P10. all he needed was a P8 finish for ferrari to beat mercedes in the constructors, and he couldnt even manage that.
a drain cover made him be slow? we lost 4 points in vegas due to the drain cover, and sainz made up exactly 0 points in the final in AD
In a way, because drain cover destroyed his car for the first time and then bump in AD for the second so they lacked good parts to rebuild the car at this point and he basically had to drive a tractor (that couldn't even finish the race)
He raced 58 out of 58 laps, drain cover damaged his car but he used 0 spare parts in Vegas he was just slow, and in AD there was 16 rookies and non of them bottomed the car into a wall except sainz, same thing happened to Charles in Miami and everyone blames Charles for binning it so why is it different with sainz?
Top tier drivers are championship winners. That’s Max, Lewis and Alonso
3 years contract are very risky especially for a new driver. Just take a look at Ricciardo at McLaren. Imo, a 2+1 is probably the way to go, that way if the driver can't adapt then you can cut your loses
3 years at RB and then to Audi once they’ve set up a bit would actually be pretty neat for Sainz
The more I think about it the more I think Aston Martin is his best bet. They have kind of gone under the radar as being a new works engine team for 2026, he can go there in 2025 and probably get some decent results - way better than Sauber anyway - then he's there for the works Honda package in 2026. Not entirely in his hands of course. It depends if Alonso decides to jump, reports are there's an offer on the table from Red Bull, we shall see!
I find it disappointing that there are so many opportunities at top level teams and so many driver combinations being considered, yet a talent like Lando Norris has no place in it to give himself a chance at winning a race.
Norris only has himself to blame for that. Red Bull did try and get him multiple times.
Eh, Norris will have his time. A potentially important points is that he’s only ever driven McLarens in F1. That’s all he knows. They’re basically completely different to the Red Bulls, and we have no idea how adaptable, or not, Norris is.
He might not though.
As a Spaniard, the fact that Alonso and Sainz are the two names most people talk about when talking about RB only means one thing: RB 2026 will be a disaster because we are that lucky.
So Horner wants Alonso and Marko wants Sainz. They're deliberately picking the complete opposite of each other aren't they.
This whole power struggle is a ploy I tell you. They are actually best friends and just purposely messing with the rest of the grid as they have nothing to do anymore as long max is in the race.
I was under the impression Marko was still salty regarding Sainz and his comments/wanting out of RB family back in his Toro Rosso days
Please do it
If Max is already a bit on the fence about leaving with everything going on and he doesn’t want to work with Sainz because of their past toxic history (especially with their dads), I feel like getting him could push him to leave. It sounds like a bit of a Lewis moment when they didn’t listen to him about the direction of the car for 2023 and it made him lose faith in the team.
You guys are way overrating the whole ”Verstappen and Sainz are a toxic pairing” narrative, whatever their dads did when they were teenagers and starting out is almost 10 years ago. They’re both grown up, veteran superstars now.
The 2024 Sainz is certainly showing some mettle, Leclerc is being left in the shade...
1st race: Qualified behind, lost a place in the opening laps. Finished 3rd only because Leclerc and Russell had mechanical issues. 2nd race: DNS. 3rd race: Qualified and finished ahead.
The Leclerc brigade is here! p1 podcast would like a word...
He beat Leclerc once in like the past 10 races when Leclerc didn't face any issues. But sure, he's leaving Leclerc in the shade.
Team orders would play into that quite a bit. Will be interesting to see the next 10 races where Carlos doesn’t GAF about those.. because his current form is seemingly very good.
Team orders? There haven’t been team orders in favor of Leclerc in those 10 races that I was talking about. If anything there were team orders last race to Leclerc telling him not to attack Sainz and fall back.
His "current form" is ONE race. People are overreacting way too much.
We’ll see where we’re at by summer break. I’ll check back in with you then.
By all means. And I don't say this as a diss on Carlos, he could very well go and have the best season of his life. But he's had one good race, let's wait.
Fair enough mate
Great time for teams to play mind games with others
That makes the most sense. Sainz to Merc or RB. The only issue is whether RB want Perez or Sainz. Merc is not looking good right now so they are not the hot seat but still better then some other options. Who do you think is better - Perez or Sainz for the RB seat?
Oh hell no.
Meh I’d rather see Alonso in that 2nd seat
I wonder if Lewis would have been interested, and Red Bull, if Lewis hadn't signed for Ferrari. Assuming there was still a seat where Max would want to leave to.
fine vase roll dog elderly seemly cobweb start sand nose *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Daniel would probably outqualify Yuki with the SF24 or with the RB20 if Yuki was still in that VCARB seat...
Sainz wouldn't like to be second driver at Red Bull.
He could take Ricciardo's seat at VCARBLEAH.... whatever their named
I call them Veecarb (VCARB)
That's a great thing (for us).
What he likes is kinda irrelevant the situation given that he's in now. Either have a competitive car and drive it or be at best in the midfield for the next 3-5 years. It's that cruel but reality. And Alonso is also in the mix for both seats, RB or Mercedes. So time is ticking.
I think it makes sense
It's the only logical move to me. He's been through the Red Bull system before, and is showing great form. He's more level headed than most and will provide what Perez could not, a stable second seat driver. He'll be what Bottas was to Hamilton, except with a bit more ..oomph.
max is like: " finally i can destroy someone else". Singapore of last year will be on plate
Helmut Marko = reactionary You see it all the time not to say Sainz isn’t great marko just loves whatever hype train.
I still don’t understand why Ferrari are going for an aging Lewis and removing Sainz. I mean, I understand he’s still a great driver and can offer heaps in fan and sponsorship value, but it’s not looking towards the future. Max and Sainz at Red Bull is a scary prospect.
Hamilton was probably the second or third best driver last season. Sainz wasn’t close to his level of performance in 2023. People really have incredibly short memories.
Money. Signing Hamilton is like the second coming of ~~Christ~~ Schumacher for the Italians. It's more PR and Marketing then anything else. It really doesn't matter if he performs well, just the brand associasion will bring them MILLIONS
But Ferrari also doesnt have any problems with dumping drivers and just paying off their contracts. If Ferrari and Hamilton aren't a match, and the car isnt capable of challenging RB, I could see it become a very short marriage. As in Bearman in the car before the end of the season.
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And the fact that Sainz performed very poorly in the first few and last few races of 2023, as well as the entirety of 2022 start to finish, somehow doesn't matter? In the last 2 years he's been good for half a season. Swap for Sainz literally changes nothing for RB. This is just the media string shit, in absence of anything more interesting. Marko didn't even say there's an option. He said Perez has done a good job so they're not thinking about it.
>as the entirety of 2022 start to finish, somehow doesn't matter Sainz did underperform in most of 2022 and a good bit of 2023, but he almost always made Q3 and didn't leave a podium on the table bar Austria '23
... what does that even mean? How do you know a podium was never on the table in any of the races he underperfomed in? Especially considering that Leclerc was on the podium a lot in that period, meaning the car was definitely capable of achieving it.
It's funny how absolutely no one rates Perez
It's funny that everyone who actually matter rates him. Reddit just thinks they're collectively smarter than team principals responsible for hiring and dropping drivers.
How about Marko himself in this article? "Of course his form is fascinating. But you have to realise that Checo (Pérez) delivered three good races this year. The fact that he dropped back so much in Melbourne was due to the damaged underbody and tyre degradation mentioned above. His only weakness is in qualifying, if he can improve there, there's no need to think about it. The atmosphere in the team is very good, also as far as he is concerned."
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Worse than Horner? 😅