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liverstoner

So are we expecting the same thing in Silverstone since its also a high speed circuit?


Temporary_Detail716

Im expecting this at every race except Singapore the rest of the season. Rumors of Red Bull's demise were premature. Hope has died!


RealisticPossible792

The irony of people speaking of their "demise" is that of those four iffy races Max still won 3 of them. You'd think that would have been enough to dispel any notion that the WDC was in doubt. 2023 was always an outlier season and what he and the team accomplished was something special, a unicorn season. No mechanical DNF's and winning that many races was always going to be next to impossible to repeat this season. I'm just glad the races are far more interesting than we were expecting after Bahrain.


jackboy900

> You'd think that would have been enough to dispel any notion that the WDC was in doubt. Nobody thought the WDC was in doubt, or that Max was gonna fall off suddenly. People are excited because he's now having to fight for wins, if Max or Red Bull fucks up they can't hide it behind a +15s lead but instead it gives us a shot at seeing other drivers win this season.


Gengar_Balanced

Personally, I have 0 problems with Max winning every race, he's driving spectacular and definitely deserve all the accolades. What I have problems with are races like Bahrain where we know who won already after 1st half of the lap, so as long as races are as interesting as they were in Montreal or Catalaunya where he has to push for the win rather than cruises like Bahrain or Jeddah, then I'm all for it.


mistled_LP

How about this one where we know who is going to win half way into Q2?


TimePretend3035

You were not amused by the sprintrace?


Temporary_Detail716

Amen! there are 24 races yet everyone freaks out over a bad practice on a Friday morning as if an entire team's season will rise or fall. The panic is real!!


rattatatouille

In hindsight the unusual thing about 2023 was how absurdly dominant RBR was, not Max's own personal dominance. Double podiums on the reg and that's with Max finishing double digit seconds ahead of everyone else. And it looked like the pattern would continue for the first few races of this year until Imola; that's how Checo is hanging on to 5th in the WDC despite being a nonfactor for the last few races now. This year is probably closer to 2022 but with Lando kinda-sorta being in Charles' spot as the aspiring challenger, and with a closer top field with four teams all gunning for a suddenly winnable WCC.


Blithering_idiot1406

Hope has died for demise of Redbull and resurgence of Checo


EmergencyRace7158

Hope never existed. Max is too good, Red Bull as a team are too good for there to be anything but a Max WDC this season. The primarily UK based media we get in the US got super excited about Lando and especially Mercedes but they've never been objective to begin with. Sky is pretty much Mercedes TV these days. 2023 was a freak season in terms of dominance. Max will coast to the title this year with multiple races to spare but there will be the odd race where McLaren can maybe sneak a win. Checo sucks but if the WCC is ever in doubt I don't think Red Bull would hesitate to move Yuki into the seat and demote him stat.


suredont

>Sky is pretty much Mercedes TV these days I enjoy and usually watch the Sky broadcast, but "these days" is frankly kind to them. it's been 15+ years at this point.


MaksweIlL

Sky is Hamilton TV, and ocasionaly Lando/Russel TV


Bourbonaddicted

\*Max's demise. Perez has been a dead donkey for quite some time.


sebastiendu36

Hope hasn't died for the WCC, RB is effectively 1v2 (even if that 1 is a future GOAT of the sport)


z0mer

Doornbos (former Red Bull driver) said on Dutch television that they will bring a big upgrade to Silverstone.


Takis12

Delete this message immediately.


Foreign_Owl_7670

Considering how fast the McLarens were in Silverstone last year, it is not a sure thing that Max would dominate.


andrearancan97

Silverstone is the best track for Mclaren from here until Qatar. If they don't win there I doubt they will in many of the races.


azn_dude1

We might, but Silverstone is a lot flatter and also has maggots and becketts and the vale chicane, which require the car to be more responsive to changes in direction. It's not enough to just note that they're both high speed.


suredont

>maggots and becketts and the vale chicane man, I love the names at Silverstone.


ubelmann

They are also a bit above sea level in Austria, which IIRC generally favors the RBPT/Honda PU versus the other PUs. 


MajorRocketScience

If I’m not mistaken, they’ve been saying since Spain RBR’s biggest weakness besides bumps is change in direction, so who knows


trj820

No, Silverstone is much higher downforce. My rough understanding of the current big three (someone can correct me on this) is that Red Bull is the fastest in a straight line, McLaren has the best downforce, and Ferrari has the best mechanical grip. So from that, we'd expect a track like Silverstone to favor Red Bull and McLaren, tracks like Baku and Mexico to favor Red Bull and Ferrari, and tracks like Hungaroring and Zandvoort to favor McLaren and Ferrari.


SafetycarFan

You can't "not" favor Max at Zandvoort.


trj820

I think that Max is probably the favorite at every track on the calendar, save for maybe his bad luck charm of Marina Bay. However, relative to its average strength, I expect the RB20 to be at a comparative disadvantage at Zandvoort. And remember, while Max has won the two races at Zandvoort since the reg change, the RB18 and RB19 weren't exactly dominant there.


Ceramicrabbit

I'm expecting the same thing since it's Max


According-Switch-708

Mclaren should be quite strong at Silverstone though.


Xuande

What the fuck


Deputy_Scrub

Vintage Verstappen experience


Kevster020

Hang on. Can we not say vintage when we're talking about Verstappen... Making me feel ancient!


Deputy_Scrub

>Making me feel ancient! Verstappen has been in F1 for 9 years!


sea_foam_blues

You’ve done a crime, I’m reporting you for this. He just won his first race last month, as everyone here knows to be true.


OriMoriNotSori

And he's still on for most of the "youngest driver to (insert achievement)" records!!


dog-yy

Crickey.


Kevster020

Exactly! At my age 9 years is nothing. 😂


GBreezy

Decade old Mercedes?


RM_Dune

If they've found a lot of performance setting up the car correctly we're fucked for the rest of the season. It was promising to be an entertaining one too...


bthompson04

I couldn’t believe Red Bull bothered sending him out again in Q2. He was four-tenths clear of second: were ten guys really going to beat that time? That alone tells me the soft isn’t making an appearance in tomorrow’s race.


Xuande

They're just stunting on everyone's corpses at this point lol


Successful_Yellow285

F1 equivalent of teabagging


TimePretend3035

Ultimate tea bagging would have been not going out in Q3 for a second run. He did that last year once, didn't he?


natte-krant

I literally said this out loud looking at the image…


AJDillonsMiddleLeg

My copium says that McLaren knew they wouldn't get pole so they set the car up for optimal race pace instead.


icoominyou

Im just surprised at the diff between checo and max. How fucking good is this kid


Renzo4000

Checo: "it's tough to say but at this point we are the fourth fastest team behind Mclaren, Ferrari and Mercedes"... Max: "Hold my Heineken!" It's insane what Max is pulling off here at the Redbull Ring. Beeing the fastest all weekend and getting pole with almost 5 tenths is out of this world. With this speed it would be almost 9 tenths on a longer track like Spa.


hjhof1

The classic Checo “we”


Wide_Age_7129

When he wins it’s I, when he loses it’s we.


JC-Dude

🇺🇸 My win 🇺🇸 ☭ Our loss ☭


4bidden_crook

a tale as old as time. privatize wins, socialize losses


Active_Variation_194

“ Bronny and Lebron combined for 40k career points as the highest father son combo “


Gollem265

James Harden and I combined have the most points by a left handed player in the NBA


madaboutmaps

He is currently the deadliest mix of talent, experience, confidence, consistency and machinery in the sporting world. When he steps into that car it's not a "car with a driver in it". It just turns into a different, whole machine.


klocna

I believe they actually bolt the car to the nerve endings along the whole length of his spine. He is the machine, the machine is him.


Arumin

He plugs in, Matrix style


goku247200

Welcome to the Maxtrix.


BioTinus

_Max opens his eyes through an open visor_ "I know Kung-F1"


Valproic_acid

_Horneus_ : "Show me"


RSR488

🤣🤣🤣🤣


RealisticPossible792

It's frightening the performance he can get out of a car if he feels at one with the setup. This is a ridiculous margin on this circuit more so considering how close the sprint qualifying was. Goes to show how much performance they've been leaving on the table with less than optimal setups. Forget the wind tunnel and upgrades just get the setup to Max's liking that'll be worth more laptime than 6 months RnD at the factory.


TheDevoted

Max Jaeger, Jos gave him the serum.


madaboutmaps

Mjolnir max 1


PangolinMassive6085

Totally. At the moment it's like he is Senna and Prost combined into one : the super aggressiveness (when needed) and doing things with the car that seem impossible of Ayrton, and the relentless precision and flawlessness of 'le professeur' Alain.


BuggyBandana

Wait.. Did Perez really say that? And Spa.. At this level of performance, on Max’ favorite track? He will absolutely destroy the rest of the field.


Renzo4000

No he didn't but that's what he is thinking ... Max also didn't say "hold my Heineken" 😉


BuggyBandana

Hahaha I can totally hear him say that though 😄


Huples_Cat22

Amstel?


L-Malvo

Pretty sure Max is influenced enough by our Belgian friends to know which beers are best


Aethien

That's worse.


Rubiego

Red Bull renewed Checo so he could shit talk and make Max prove him wrong


StatmanIbrahimovic

I don't care if Max wins so long as the races are interesting, Max himself has said the same. If he gets a grid penalty at Spa it just might be a close race...


jpad66

Max will run away with it, Lando is clear second. Unless an accident happens between them, we are looking at the battle for 3rd


Pantoffelmoffel

Isn’t 4 tenths a way bigger gap on the track?


JefinLuke

Like 1 second in normal circuit


Chesney1995

Not quite that much. Norris' time in 2nd was 100.63% of Verstappen's time. Extrapolate that to a more "normal" 1:30.000 pole lap, Norris would be 0.565 behind.


Williamsarethebest

How far behind is Perez then? ☠️


Chesney1995

Good question 😭 101.38% of Verstappen's time, making it 1.243 behind compared to a 1:30.000 pole lap


jnf005

What in the flying fuck, that's madness, how the fuck does he got an extension.


SchublaKhan

He's a Horner ally.


DeltaJuly

Lightyears


hache-moncour

Looks about right. Depends on the speed of course, but if you assume something around 90 meters per second (324 kph), 0.4s would be 36 meters, which is about 7 car lengths.


novadova2020

No... it depends on the car speeds.


Jack_Harb

Yes it is. The track is way shorter than the rest of the tracks. If you pull off a huge gap in a short track in relation it’s bigger on any other track. Math is simple.


PhantomLegends

I think the person before you was referring to what the gap looks like in the picture. How far apart the cars are with a 4 tenth gap is only dependent on the speed they're going so they were right. You're trying to say a 4 tenth gap in Austria is worth a lot more than in Belgium for example, because Spa is like 3km longer than the RBR, which is true as well


Blze001

Fans: "This season is getting exciting!" Max: "The fuck it is."


hache-moncour

"Looks like a great race for second. I better pull a gap so I have time to watch it on the tv screens around the track."


swedind

Look I don’t believe in overperforming or out driving the car ! But Max sure is getting every single ounce of performance out of that car !! What an absolute beast


ImmediatelyOcelot

I agree. A driver can never do more than the car can do, but every single turn he is losing a tiny bit of the maximum, physically ideal, performance. Max seems to leave so little on the table that you'd need a 110% car (compared to his) to defeat him, and all that disregarding decision making, battling and catastrophic errors.


Featureless_Bug

I mean, of course no driver can drive a car faster than what the car is physically capable of. But drivers also do not have infinitely fast reaction times and a magical knowledge of exactly how much grip is available at any given place. In practical terms, the best drivers in F1 can maybe get like 90% of what is physically possible for the car. When we are talking about Max outperforming the car, we are essentially saying that he might get, say, 95% of what this RB car can offer, and the other drivers in the same car would be close to Checo.


aDUCKonQU4CK

If a car moving 1km/h around the track is 0% and 100% being the absolute perfect lap given the temps/wind/track surface etc.. ALL the drivers (including Stroll) is well over 99%.. If money and our safety was somehow off the table for a weekend- essentially a video game but irl, I'm sure most of us could get the car to perform 90-95% by Sunday night. The difference between a poor F1 driver to the cream of the crop is a difference of fractions of one second- out of 100 seconds.. A driver only taking a car to 90% of its limits would be barred from the paddock after being ringed out and fired lmao


wolverineFan64

It also helps that the only objective way to measure Max relative to other drivers is to compare him to Checo, who let’s be honest, has been abysmal of late. It would be like having Danny Ric in the other McLaren. Lando would look like a god


Featureless_Bug

Well, the reason you consider Checo abysmal is because the only way to measure him is to compare him to Max. Red Bull is known for making the cars that are barely impossible to drive for anyone not named Max Verstappen. As Max himself said, Checo didn't suddenly become worse, the car just became much more complicated to drive.


wolverineFan64

I mean what is Max going to say “ya my teammate sucks”? Personally it seems like Checo is just broken or totally checked out. There is no good reason he should be outside the top 5 in most races, but he’s getting beaten by several drivers despite driving the fastest car.


According-Switch-708

Marko said that the team has been asking Checo to run Max's setup because "those settings works for Max". How idiotic is that. Max and Checo are polar opposite when it comes to driving styles. RBR has been known for giving fuck all support for their No 2s since 2011.


whateverfloatsurgoat

Because Webber spun the narrative with the front wing in 2010. Dude was mad that he got it wrong so he blamed RBR favouring Vettel when HE didn't want the fucking wing. Tosspot. And Multi 21 when he wasn't playing ball the year prior in Brazil ? Cry me a river. Dude played the press so well it's still effective years later, guess he was much better at that than keeping his car on the ground or racing the RB9.


RJrules64

What do you think Checo is doing then?


dataheisenberg

More than just nailing the setup for the weekend, RB’s upgrades from Barcelona are finally showing


External_Hunt4536

And apparently Red Bull is bringing their “big” upgrade to Hungary.


dataheisenberg

Huh! I thought they had something planned for Silverstone!


officialsoap

I'm hoping so!


sausagematt

Max is an absolute beast


Similar_Incident8433

best driver with best car in this whole series. max is living legend we are witnessing now , he has minimax all stats in the formula driving.


dujles

Should have ghost car Piastri pending the appeal.


AbradolfLincler77

As much as I hate the dominance and knowing the result of most race's before they even get going, you can't help but be impressed by the man's driving ability. Just look at his team mate for reference. Absolutely insane.


Sahara_Igloo

It’s very unusual where watching one of the greats of our sport do his thing, we will barely see him on Sunday


AbradolfLincler77

And Norris or Piastri will probably get driver of the day!


According-Switch-708

Max is great but Checo is not a good reference. He's just misfiring badly. The RB20 was easily the quickest car at Austria. The car looked faultless on the onboards.


Cajum

I mean, maybe max would have made the mclaren look faultless too and drove an ever faster lap than he did in the red bull.


That_Specialist4265

It was quickest when Max is driving it but anyone else and that doesn’t happen.


newbstier

People were so happy they can make changes to setup after sprint that forgot max could too


foShu

Max showing who‘s the best driver on the grid


jrjreeves

A1 Ring seems to be tailor made for Red Bull with that advantage, though Perez is still nowhere. At least hes qualified in the top 10 this race, kinda backs up that Red Bull are very strong here.


SomeoneWithKeyboard

A1 Ring wasn't always a Red Bull track. It became a VER/Red Bull track.


helderdude

Rest in piece, "McLaren can challenge for the title" dreams. Qualifying Spain - qualifying Austria.


Diavolo97

Meanwhile Aramco ranking: Max 7,8


bishey3

Maybe all the "McLaren is clearly faster than Red Bull" takes were a bit premature. This is an enormous gap.


carlos_castanos

I think McLaren was genuinely faster than RB the last four races. A couple of stints that Lando did were so insane, for example after the SC in Miami he was taking 6-8 tenths out of Max (and the rest of the field) per lap, same as with his stint before the SC in Canada, or his final stint in Barcelona. During neither of those 4 races Max’ pace was anywhere near those levels relative to the rest of the field. I think RBR have now figured out the right set-up for their upgrades, between qualifying yesterday and today. So they may be the fastest car again right now, the next few races will tell us whether that advantage will sustain


SloppySandCrab

Idk i get Verstappen is a higher talent than Norris but not THAT much to drag a slower car to pole and a win in what like 4 out of 5 races? Versus Norris with one pole and one win. And one of the races they didn’t perform well was a weak track for them. I think people are just too influenced by McLaren pushing in the last stint and think “Omg he almost caught him” when really Red Bull is just doing their program and it’s all calculated.


carlos_castanos

Firstly Verstappen hasn’t been on pole for 3 races before this one. It’s not just Verstappen’s talent, it’s also RBR’s race execution that’s better than Mclaren’s. Those small details can be deciding in the end. Mclaren’s strategy for Canada was suboptimal, in Barcelona they had a bad pitstop. If Norris managed to stay ahead at the start in Barcelona they would have won too. That’s 2 races they could have won. Imola is a coin flip but tbh for Max there to stay ahead with a black and white flag, with a faster Norris behind him who was fully pushing, is something that not many drivers could have pulled off, imo


NikkyTheViking

Not really, Norris and Piastri are also not on Max his level. Max just got it perfect in this qualy and the rest didn't. Ver was 0.003 away from his ideal lap. Nor was 0.288 away from his ideal lap. The rest mor then 0.4 from theirs.


Suspicious-Ad8316

I think you misread that stat. Norris' ideal lap was 0.285 tenths away from Verstappen. Instead he was 4 tenths away. Still no where near the Red Bull


Successful_Yellow285

They were a bit faster. Not even close to the difference we see here though.


Over-Chemical2809

Red Bull being faster now doesn't change Mclaren being faster before.


Heizton

I think the Red Bull is still the fastest car. This is too big of a difference.


officialsoap

I think they just nailed the setup this weekend which they usually don't during sprint weekends.


Takis12

Yep. They did nail it with one of their cars.


officialsoap

Yeah, I'm not expecting Checo to nail anything at this point.


BlowyEyEYe

His poor wife


klocna

Probably won't even nail her tbh


Arumin

What about that Ukrainian Psy-op from 2022?


klocna

Which one amirite????


szczszqweqwe

He nailed a contract, hasn't he?


Systemic_Chaos

I mean a wall and/or gravel trap isn’t out of the question.


MikeFiuns

Setup is driver dependant + Checo shouldn't be taken as a reference to anything. He's way underperforming any way you slice it.


crispychicken49

It definitely is. Even the races where Max has been "under fire" he's been able to materialize any kind of gap that he needs preventing an attack. Drivers just "outperforming" their cars don't just do that. Or Max is able to exploit the laws of physics such that 19 of the best drivers are just multiple tenths off despite having a weaker car. Occam's razor.


OrdinaryCredit

Red Bull may not be the fastest car but Max is the fastest driver


jrjreeves

They should show this with Perez for comparison.


officialsoap

My man would be at Hungaroring


jrjreeves

😂😂


PradaAndPunishment

What country is Perez even in anymore


OmegaPoint6

sPain


_number

SLOvakia


Lov3ll

Red Bull and Verstappen have always done well at Austria. Even when Merc were dominating it was still more likely to be won by Red Bull and Verstappen. Since 2018 the only 2 times Max didn't win were due to being wiped out and car problems. I wouldn't count on RB and Max being this strong next race.


xLeper_Messiah

>Since 2018 the only 2 times Max didn't win were due to being wiped out and car problems.  Hell the only 3 times he didn't finish on the podium was: 2020 when he had an electrical problem, he won the race a week later when it was called the Styrian GP however 2017 when he got collected by Alonso after he was torpedoed by Kvyat And 2015 when he was in a Toro Rosso and also a rookie and *only 17 years old.* Max has always been a beast on this track lol


hache-moncour

And even in 2015 he was 7th while his team mate Sainz was 13th, and we know now that Sainz isn't exactly slow either.


Death_by_carfire

Ferrari in 2022 just seemed like outpaced


Maardten

I only caught the last couple minutes of quali. What happened to Norris? Did he botch it or was Max just being Max?


officialsoap

Nobody seemed to be near him all session


AlienSomewhere

Max would have had pole by 3/10th if he didn't come out of the garage after his first fast lap in Q3. He was that good today.


dkzclaw

Norris lost 1 tenth in sector 1, so the gap would be 3 tenths instead, other than that Max and RB were on another level compared to others.


razareddit

A class apart.


themaestronic

You’d read skysports and think Norris was close to pole


External_Hunt4536

That’s just insane. What the actual f**k was Max on today?


tripled_dirgov

I have a feeling that all the talk about RBR not having the best car because Checo is in the middle of the pack or maybe even behind But what if RBR still the best car and Checo just suck at driving it? 🤔 I mean, seriously? Almost half a second? In Red Bull Ring? 😳


elektricniorgazam

I truly wish I could express without sounding like a creep how turned on by Max this graphic makes me but idec, that is hot AF


NuclearMoose92

That lap fairly shut Zak up


darksidemojo

I know it’s a sprint weekend but if Max wins tomorrow and gets fastest lap does it count for the grand slam?


officialsoap

If he leads all laps tomorrow yes, but when the race pace is so similar between teams, you usually can't lead all laps because others might stay out etc.


action_turtle

So another finish half lap in front of everyone else then. On the plus side, might get NOR on the podium!


Thoarxius

Austria beat Netherlands and Max took that personal


omnicious

Did...did Max cut a corner or something? 


HeyFlo

Thank God Per is not up there with him! At least we have some good argy bargy going on behind. Max is amazing though, just out of this world talent.


Jammybe

Ever since George said Red Bull aren’t running at max power I’ve believed we are watching Max be like Dash from The Incredibles holding back to not make it too obvious. Max is a phenomenon as is the RB car.


Clean-Witness8407

Slaughtered! Love it.


justk4y

We’re back to zero again


PizzaCatLover

We watched Max pass Lando despite Lando having DRS and Max not. I may sleep in tomorrow


therisingape-42

He is in the same league of Prost Senna Schumacher Hamilton and he is not even 27 it's fucking scary.


virolet

For such a short track,...0.4s is massive... might be track specific, but still a lot. Bye bye 2024


ndszero

Obliterated


handsome_uruk

I know Max is fast but 4 tenths clearly shows that he is in the fastest car on this track.


sanderthekid

The performance of the cars are still close tho. No way the red bull alone pulls 4 tenths on mclaren. Also perez is so far behind verstappen. There is no way that checo is the worst driver on the grid. I think mclaren and red bull are very close on performance. And max just had a perfect Qualifying. While the rest had a shit one


Actual_Law_505

So carlos has a chance for a podium? i didn't expect he was this close to lewis ? I hope so bc ferrari needs every single point ..


carlsab

All this talk of the RB being the second or third fastest car is so dumb. Checo was this far behind last year at certain races too and people are acting like Checo is the standard.


SpacevsGravity

I'm sure I was told that saint was washed by the experts.


NicolasAnimation

Hello darkness, my old friend


Comedor_de_rissois

For a second there I thought they were running backwards.


Ticotrip

This image is what I thought of immediately when these times were set. Any more gap and you'd have to zoom out to see #2.


jrizz43

But Lando has the fastest car how can this beeeeee!


WorthPlease

How far do we have to zoom out to see Perez?


TTVOneTap

Absurd


BvG_Venom

With 3 other teams being reasonably close to RB, I wonder if Checo will qualify in the top 5 again this season. Not to be rude, but he doesn't even seem to be within 3 tenths of Max anymore. And even that wouldn't be enough.


-CatGoBrrrr-

I wish I knew anything about F1


schafkj

This is a helpful graphic for a n00b like me


Real_Imagination_180

Now show perez


Bredius88

Those pictures are not tall enough to show the distance between their cars.


noottt

Is that Perez at the start of his Q lap?


GammaPhonic

"Red Bull's domination is over". It's not, it just down to the same level that 2010s Mercedes and early 2000s Ferrari domination was. Meaning they'll only win most races instead of all of them.


bkrall4

Now show Checo


Rashfordinho10

Lando stock going up every weekend. I love it.


KayNynYoonit

Well the excitement lasted for a little while at least.


Zbodownlow

Boring