Formula One world championship

link1896

is a man of many talents
DR doesn’t seem to have the ability to move teams and adapt to different cars easily, so a mid to back of the pack team might be thinking he’s a poor fit for them too.

The “what if I’d stayed at RBR” thought must be eating him up.
 

caad9

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It's bloody cutthroat when you can't even drive the car prior to signing.

I feel for him a bit, the team has hundreds of staff and they can't get the car to a point where he is comfortable driving it.
 

smaj

Likes Dirt
My guess is he'll need to at least start equalling Norris in performance in the next 2-3 races or they'll be an energetic renegotiation of his contract, or Mclaren will dump him at the end of the season.
Seems like Zak's making noises already. Shame to see him do so badly in Monaco, he's had a couple of years of being right "on it" there, and I love watching a good quali at Monaco.

Even Hamilton is struggling with the car this year. I would've loved to have seen Hamilton vs Russell in the 2020 Merc (or second-half 2021 Merc).
 

Asininedrivel

caviar connoisseur
The “what if I’d stayed at RBR” thought must be eating him up.
Undoubtedly but I still think he was right to go. Christian Horner has a solid track record of being hopeless at managing drivers and there's no doubt Ric was / would've been second fiddle to Verstappen in every way (which hasn't exactly worked out for any of his successors except for Checo, who is happy playing the #2 role). Ricciardo never would've won a WC with RBR as long as Verstappen was there and the bullshit around that crash between the two of them at Baku in 2018 was probably the last straw.
Seems like Zak's making noises already.
Yeah :( Hopefully it's just more motivation to beat Norris.
 

smaj

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Yeah :( Hopefully it's just more motivation to beat Norris.
I think all it takes is one good race from Dan, and the talk will drop away e.g. after Monza last year. This year I've felt Dan's seemed more on top of the car, close to Lando in quali, so I am always hopeful :)

Sainz is going through the same stuff with Ferrari this year. Becomes a bit of a downward spiral where the driver starts to overdrive the car, every crash is more of a disaster than normal, etc.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Mostly, how did Hamilton get driver of the day? I would have thought George or Lando more likely candidates? Or Ocon as the world's fastest roadblock?

Looks like the FIA might step in and make Merc sort out the bouncing. Both their drivers were clearly in pain from the thumping on the straights.
 

tubby74

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6g loads on that bouncing how many times over 90 minutes? Thats going to make you walk like an old man vert soon.
 

madstace

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He's always banging on about oppression when he should be more worried about compression (of the spine).

In another news, the Piastri mid-season rumour seems to be getting stronger, here's hoping! With Latifi out that would only leave 2 guys trading on their fathers name, a step in the right direction.
 

tubby74

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if mercedes push for the FIA to do something to make the rules less prone to bouncing, surely the answer would be a minimum ride height which is what everyone else does but merc don't want to do as it would make their car even less competitive
 

crash3

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...second fiddle to Verstappen in every way (which hasn't exactly worked out for any of his successors except for Checo, who is happy playing the #2 role.
Not so much anymore it seems. Though Daddystappen seems to think any strategic advantage should be handed straight to his son. What a wanker.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Not so much anymore it seems. Though Daddystappen seems to think any strategic advantage should be handed straight to his son. What a wanker.
Checo is definitely #2 at RBR. Checo will only win races when he cannot gift them to Joss's boy, like Monaco for example. As for the championship if there is trouble with #33 and he is out of the championship then all RBR will be behind Checo to secure the win (s).

Having said that Checo is still doing an outstanding job.
 
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smaj

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Checo's doing a great job as #2. He's only 21 points behind in the WDC. It'd be great to see Red Bull have to reconsider/go through verbal gymnastics if Verstappen had a bunch of no-points finishes (unlikely as that might be).

This year's car really seems to be gelling with him too, especially in quali. He's lost a bit of the light touch with tyres though, which I thought was always his strong suit.
 
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