Soldato
Come on Max! Lets have another RB dominating year...
F1 Season 2024 - Pre-Season Thread
- Thread starter chrismscotland
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Soldato
He still got 2nd in the drivers championship though!
If he actually was a donkey, he'd be in the glue factory by now
They probably would've turned him away.
Soldato
He couldnt get more than 2nd though!!
Soldato
Except quite a few races he couldn’t even do that!
Soldato
2nd overall in the Championship is good enough!
Soldato
Why would RB want that? TBH I'm not sure they were even fussed about him getting 2nd. They don't want internal competition - that would just rattle Max. They want a comfortable DC and CC, not competition.
For the WDC, you're either first or you're last - I get that some drivers care for their CV, but it has very little value to the team. Getting first in the WCC is the priority, whether 1 driver does 90% of the work, or 2 drivers do 50% of the work each.
Obviously from a viewer perspective, we want to see some competition. Hoping the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Alonso get consistent cars this year.
Caporegime
The question is whether they're going to get that comfortable WCC with a poor second driver, and whether Max is going to need a decent rear gunner at some point. A better driver in the second seat and Red Bull would probably have taken the WCC in '21.
Soldato
Driving the most dominant F1 car ever Perez only managed 9 podiums in 23 races (3 of which were only 3rd), 8 times started outside the top 10, finished 4 times out the top 10 with an average finishing position of 4.5 (for comparison both Hamilton and LeClerc average finishing position was 4.9) and, again on average, over 30 seconds off the lead. With rumours throughout most of the season that he’d be dropped and some suggestions of him being dropped mid-season.
Or another comparitive stat, Bottas’s average finishing position for his 5 years at Merc were 2.9, 4.4, 2.7, 4.3 and 5.1. So only finishing worse than Perez in the closest season we’ve had in years.
But yes, let’s not look at it holistically and ignore all that when reviewing how Perez performed and focus on the only redeeming thing of his 2023 season.
From a viewer perspective it’s boring having such a rubbish second driver. But if Merc or Ferrari get closer to Red Bull, especially if they can steal a win or 2, Perez is not finishing 2nd. Given both Merc drivers and both Ferrari drivers are better than Perez, that dumps him to at least 4th in the WDC. At that point the WCC is in doubt.
Simply put, Perez is not good enough and has been flattered by a vastly superior car.
I just hope other teams are close enough that Red Bull can’t just say, “it’s fine, max will get enough points for us to win the championships.” Perez obviously isn’t a muppet or he wouldn’t be in F1. However there is something about the characteristics of that car he doesn’t seem to click with. (And they will never change if it means compromising the cars design..)
Caporegime
Pérez is an ordinary midfielder, promoted into a position where he's up against a truly great driver in a team utterly focused on that one driver, and where his one real strength (an ability to make the alternative strategy work by running long on tyres) doesn't help. He's had a pretty good career for a man of his talents, so I don't feel too bad for him.
His big money backing isn't the pull it used to be either, so I'm not sure where he'll go when Red Bull decide they're done with him - Haas maybe? If KMag doesn't perform this year, I can see them thinking Pérez would be a great replacement - but what's in it for Checo in that arrangement? Would he want to end his career trundling at the back after fighting for podiums in the Red Bull?
Soldato
He still secured 2nd in the drivers championship.
Soldato
A few drivers, who are rated, have already proved that they couldn't deal with the characteristics of the car.
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Soldato
Most definitely. The juxtaposition of an F1 driver being rubbish has always amused me.
There’s no doubt Perez is a brilliant driver and better then 99.9999% of people. But in the tiny tiny sample of 20 F1 drivers, he’s a bit meh.
Exactly. I think there's two issues with Perez though, it's not just him being a bit naff. RB have, and always will develop the car towards Max's style -- so that also makes the gulf in ability look much wider.
But like you say, if Merc and Ferrari (and Mclaren) are even slightly closer this season then Perez is going to be totally embarrassed, very quickly. Hamilton nearly took P2 off him last year in the third/fourth fastest car...
I think that’s what separates the good from the great. Some drivers can drive whatever is underneath them whereas others are a bit lost if the car doesn’t suit their style. Max, Lewis and Alonso are probably the only current drivers that can maximise their performance regardless of what they are driving.
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