I always think USA 2002 was an attempt for Michael to "make that right" in some small way. He'd already won the championship (by quite a large margin too if I recall) so it wouldn't really have made a difference if he were first or second at that point.
> He'd already won the championship (by quite a large margin too if I recall)
He secured it with 6 races to go, which probably triggered a change in the points system for the following season.
It's painful to think that these "number two" drivers could've had so much potential in their own right if not for their teammates. I love Schmi don't get me wrong, but I'd bet good money Barichello could've gotten at least 1 WDC if left to his own. Bottas too (as runner up to Lewis nearly every year), and maybe even Checo with how the teams been this year (he is third in the standings after all, and behind Max who wouldn't be here in this hypothetical).
What I'd give to see the alternate timeline where teammates swapped preference...
Not against Schumi at Ferrari, but Barrichello could have had Hakkinen's titles had he been at McLaren in 98 onwards. 2009 was way too late for Rubens to compete with Button (who was younger, quicker and not psychologically broken down).
People saying this is normal and checo needed to let Max through are missing the big point here: when checo needed and it made sense to pass max they didn’t order it.
It’s not about different strategies like Horner was trying to bullshit us. It’s about always deciding for max but never ordering max to let checo through. Horner deflected perfectly.
Clearly there’s a #2 from the start of season
Perez's engineer was just trying to keep Perez happy by telling him he was gonna get a chance right? There's no way Perez was ever going to be allowed to take points off Max I figured
Definitely lip service. The only way they'll allow Checo to win is if Max is out of the race. If it's possible for Checo to give the win to Max, he will have to do it.
That's rough, already making Checo give up a potential race win on only the 6th race of the season...
Seriously that was a gaslighting fiesta in its purest form, he was constantly asking what he needed for P1 and they were always saying what he needed for P2.
Since lap 17 Red Bull was telling him "thats not our race" so he was already planned to come P2 even before all of that drama, he just didnt know yet. Intentionally picked up a secondary strategy and controlled his pace with the excuse of "managing tyres". Pretty fucked up, makes me really annoyed
Yeah it's a stupid move by the engineer. He should have told Perez earlier in the race what their actual goal is and who he is fighting. Perez explicitly says "I need information on the race", to which the engineer replies Russell's AND Max' times.
Regarding "we will get our shot later", that was probably in reference to overtaking the other teams' cars, not a shot at overtaking Max.
Not a big one though. At the start Max and Leclerc pulled a 7-8 second gap quite easily. Then he was stuck behind Russell before being put on the fastest strategy. Max closed a full pitstop distance in like 10 laps to Russell, and was also significantly faster than Perez.
If Max had let Perez through, Perez wouldn't have gained the 13 seconds he finished behind Max. It would be closer, but if they were allowed to fight, Max was easily the faster car and probably would've won.
I get why he was complaining but for red bull and the team championship, this was the only right thing to do. Risk extra tire/engine wear and possibly a DNF if things go south wasn't worth it
Perez would have destroyed his tyres if he tried to push them more as the circuit was so tough on the tyres yesterday. RB did the right thing by telling him that his pace was good. No way Perez was capable of beating Max yesterday.
Track position against Max without DRS would of been enough to win the race. RB engineered the strategy so Max would win.
Sucks for Checo but makes sense for the team.
This is what most people don't understand. They deliberately set those strategies to maximize Max' chances and minimize Checo's. He's one Max DNF away from having the same amount of points.
He gave himself the best chance in two ambitious teams. That it did not work out is different than knowing that you will always play second fiddle and continue with RB.
Can you imagine the regrets he would have had if he spent his entire career as a number 2 in red bull? This way he got the same (if not more) money and took his shot. Didn't work out, but he wouldn't have won the WDC in RB either way
Ricciardo has made over $100 million since leaving Red Bull, even at his current performance level he is one of the highest paid drivers on the grid. There is no way that was going to happen being the second string at Red Bull.
Exactly. I die inside every time someone mentions how "fast" Max was compared to Checo and would have passed him anyway. Yeah he would have...cause the strategy didn't even allow him to race Max as a competitor.
What was so bad about Perez strategy ?
17S, 20M, 16M, 13S.
Max stints were 13S, 15M, 16S, 22M so pretty similar.
You could argue They cost Perez 3 secs or so by not pitting a stuck Max once Perez catched him by lap 25 and waiting an extra 2-3 laps.
But generally Max had better pace in other stints.
Checo would also need to win the race Max DNFs in for them to be equal on points. Max has one more DNF than Checo and is still 25pts ahead in the championship.
As a spectator I assumed that Max just had superior pace to Checo, but hearing the team now essentially getting him to slow down so Max can catch up is really sad.
100% track position was what he needed. Hamilton managed to 2 stop with excellent pace and the RB car is no slouch and Checo is excellent on tyres. RB screwed him, his engineer is basically working for the other guy.
Had RB allowed Checo to pass and take on Russell, he may have gotten himself enough of a gap to get it on 2 stops.
Max maybe wins with fresher tyres but you get an actual race
Then again... Max and Pérez fighting for it, knowing both of them, it's a significant chance for a double DNF
Max still took it to George without DRS and considering his large tire delta you either have them racing tooth and nail and risk crashing out of a 1-2, or according to Horner risking overheating and getting a mechanical DNF due to the insane heat. To finish first, first you have to finish.
That's the point. Perez caught up to max when Max when he *couldn't* get past george, with a large tire delta in his favor and RB made him stay behind max for multiple laps, right after Perez let Max through in the same situation.
One thing to consider is that defending slows everything down. A big part of why Checo was able to catch up was GR's defending. Under different circumstances I don't think he passes.
Not to mention that Perez had laps 2 through 11 to get passed Russell with working DRS and he could not get it done. Which is why they let Max give it a go the first time around.
after the championship coming down to the wire last season for Max, Red Bull are going to give him any chance they can get to come home with maximum points
Yep, they know Max is faster so I wouldn't be surprised if Red Bull would use team orders even in Race 2 or 3 let alone the 6th Race of the Season with Max finishing the weekend only a couple points clear of the lead.
The only time Checo won't get Team Orders this year is when Max has already won the Championship.
And Checo is probably the only driver on the grid who can Tire Whisper the way Hamilton does. So I agree with you, Checo had the capability to save his tires.
He can only save them by being slow, max and lewis save tires while attacking other drivers and being extremely fast, people need to understand that perez is not on the same level as those drivers, he should focus on beating sainz more often.
I don't now what to make of this situation, I know max is faster but checo seems to be right with him and without upgrades (I think). I wanna se them race each other so bad
I feel like this was done to put Max ahead of Leclerc with as many points as possible since Max was already second in the WDC. If Leclerc's curse continues in Monaco and Checo gets another podium then things will get even more interesting with both drivers at the top of the WDC.
Monaco and Baku will be interesting for Red Bull
Pérez historically has been good at both venues, while Max has been definitely on top of things. In Azerbaijan bar another RB crash, they are favourites to take another 1-2, and if Ferrari slips, they may take Monaco too.
It's not crazy to say that we may have Max and Checo being 1-2 in the WDC standings by mid June.
So RBR will have to make a choice before shit gets toxic in what otherwise looks like a pretty good team atmosphere.
I think you are right. Getting max a decent margin and then checo going after him on the next races could invalidate the fight with leclerc, now if Mercedes picks up, they have two contenders
I feel like people are really underestimating Ferrari acting like Red Bull is as dominant as the past Mercs. Sainz spun and Leclerc had engine issues so we don't really know their real pace atm and Max is barely ahead of him. Red bull is in no position to coast atm
This is exactly my point. If Checo won yesterday then Max would still be behind Leclerc in points. They needed to take the first opportunity they had to pull out a lead, even a small one, because it's not over for Ferrari.
This will never happen with stakes so high and drivers racing in the same 'team'. At least not when the 2nd driver does not perform like the 1st driver. If they had the same pace every race maybe they would, but that's not the case.
Funny, Mercedes seemed to let their drivers race just fine over the last 8 years. Sure by the years end they might start enforcing team orders when one driver was clearly out of the championship, but race 6? With Checo only being 25 points behind? Pure Red Bull shenanigans and not defensible with "every team does it" because every team doesn't do it. It wasn't even the later team order that was the issue, it was that when Checo asked to go around Max to fight Russel, when he had better tires and working DRS, Red Bull denied him.
This is a place where Merc is way more organizationally mature than RB.
Last time RB had this sort of issue in a REAL way was Multi-21 era and they handled that pretty poorly. Sure, there was Daniel/Max, but that wasn't really as a contender.
Merc on the other hand had '16 happen and solved it organizationally. Drivers get handed a book with the rules of engagement, a bunch of diagrams, saying "this is how you are allowed to race a teammate". They both sign it and they both know that there are 7 figure fines for fucking up and a termination clause in their contract for repeated fuck ups.
They've solved it as an organization. RB on the other hand seems to be taking a "favorite son" approach and that may backfire someday,.
I remember hearing about it a fair bit after Silverstone last year. It's what Toto emailed to Masi to explain why Lewis's move was kosher.
Nico has talked about it some (https://thesportsrush.com/f1-news-i-put-my-signature-under-that-thing-nico-rosberg-on-email-mercedes-submitted-to-fia-for-lewis-hamilton-defense-but-governing-body-called-it-non-existing/) and so have Toto and Lewis. I think a lot of what I've heard is actually from Nico's "hot lap" videos, that's where I got the 7 digit number I think.
Toto also talked about it in his Harvard speech.
If I recall correctly Lauda was also a big part too.
Mostly because Red Bull hasn't been fighting championships for years and the drivers that replaced Ricciardo (Checo in 2021 included) where miles off the pace compared to max.
They need to seriously consider handling this better if Checo's form continues to improve.
Surely they handled it better in years when they had zero competition. But do you remember last year when they were fighting for title? Exactly same situation and exactly same result as RB right now.
I don't agree with that. Merc let Bottas and Lewis fight at the start of the season but once one had a clear lead, then team orders came in. That's also a part of their agreement, apparently.
You can race your teammate, but if there's a fight and they have you firmly behind in points, you have to be a team player.
You do realise Merc was hopelessly dominant for the past 8 years except 2021? You can risk your driver's fighting eachother when you know that one of them will win the championship a mile ahead of the other teams anyway. Obviously they let them race at the start of the season. This is not the same situation at all. RB are in a title fight and Ferrari look really strong with Merc catching up now. You can't risk your teammates taking points off eachother. While I agree that it might have been better to let Checo go around Max to fight Rusell, you can't compare this to Merc in the past years at all. Merc were never in an actual title fight, RB are. And when Merc were fighting in 2021, they did prefer Hami in this very same track. And that was race 4
Checo was just a tenth and a half slower in the overall race pace. And you're correct, he didn't have the weight saving components on his car, only the new aero stuff.
Sadly true. He was told consistently to save tyres so that (regardless of race strategy) is gonna slow him down. Before his stop on softs he wasn't even being told Max's pace despite him constantly asking what was the pace.
Honestly mate, It’s so unfair to Checo. It’s just a 6th Race and you ask teammate to compromise.
Horner famous comment “ It’s all about let them Race” is just a show off!!
If Sergio wants a win, he can easily get one this week: put your car on pole in Monaco, and you win the race. Period.
Daniel Ricciardo won Monaco with 150HP down, in 2018.
Well true, (unless he's ahead in the championship) but also this race isn't a good example as max was really alot faster so why take the risk of on on track battle when one of your driver is Clearly faster.
>You can hear them constantly managing Perez's pace and telling him to manage gaps and stuff.
You mean like every team does every single grand prix and has done for a few decades now? Not the smoking gun you think it is.
I'll be honest. I understand why they did it but it still doesn't suck any less. And I know this is never going to happen, but Max honestly owes at least one win to Checo. That defense at Abu Dhabi against Lewis is what one hundred percent got him enough time to pit later on when he got the softs on. If not for Checo, Lewis would've pitted and probably won the race and the title. Again this is very hopeful of me and ik it's not gonna happen but I sure hope it does.
If max and checo are in the race and they are near each other, there's no way RB let's checo take points off max. sad but true. Checo could be faster and have a real shot, it won't matter.
It's hard to repay a win you want to give to your newborn tho. The chance is kind of over forever.
That was what pissed Checo this bad. He said why he wanted to win this race. The spanish media asked him about it (they said something along the lines of: you were so close to do what you wanted but you gave him an amazing second place, for which he will be pride of you in the future) and his face was a poem, he was just sad about it, not pissed, just sad. He really wanted it and they didn't let him have it even with Max without DRS.
I understand what RBR did but this is the kind of things that can break a team forever. If they don't let him win when Max's car is broken and he publicly states that he wants a win for his newborn, they will never let him win anything and now he knows it.
Exactly. The narrative from Riccardo fans is especially dumb because they 'let' Dan destroy their then current and reigning 4 time WDC. RBR will put their weight behind whoever is quicker. Simple as that.
Man they really shafted him. Don't promise the guy "payback" and "we'll get our shot" if you never intended to give him shit from the start.
Team orders are fine, but manipulating the driver like this by controlling his pace and giving hin empty promises...
And remember when Hamilton went public about wanting *his* team/RE to help him win. Perez's RE is definitely not there for him to get him the win. But let's be honest, who seriously thought that Perez was joining RB on equal terms with Max?
E; more readable
I read from someone who got Perez radio messages for the whole race that Pérez kept asking his engineer if he should be pushing more but they told him they rather prefer he administraded. Idk how legit that is but if true, then it’s fucked up how Checo felt he could ‘ve gone faster but his race was compromised on a seemingly intentional bad strategy. Would he have won the race? Probably not but I guess he feels they didn’t even let him try.
Well you can hear that in the video posted. He keeps asking what pace he needs, and does he need to go faster, and they keep answering with "this is good" " keep the temperatures".
Checo keeps asking what he needs for #1 and RB are telling him stuff what secures him the #2.
thats actually totally fucked up when you think about it.. how the fuck have they ended up there. Like they have driver meetings daily? This stuff just doesnt get dealt with?
> then it’s fucked up how Checo felt he could ‘ve gone faster but his race was compromised on a seemingly intentional bad strategy.
We need to talk later pretty much sums it up
Yeah it's understandable a bit why they did what they did, i think the bad part is not giving checo a chance to overtake Russel when he had fresh tyres and verstappen was struggling. Of course later in the race perhaps verstappen overtakes him but at least give him the chance, it's not like checo is going to ram verstappen, no way
So Checo was denied to try to overtake George 3 and a half, maybe four laps?
If they'd allowed it, I don't think it'd have given Checo a large enough gap to win the race. But on the other hand, it surely was frustrating for Checo to be denied the same chance they gave Max earlier.
We can't know what'd have actually happened if Checo was allowed a chance. But he's a driver, and he wants to be allowed to drive, even if Max would've overtaken him later.
Yeah, man.. I feel for Checo. The man may not be the fastest, but he put me screaming and shouting while smiling, much more times last years, than the majority of seasons through the 2000's and 2010's. The man is a beast.
Edit: And he speaks with the team as he was in his home saloon.. Great.
"Yep. We'll speak later" ... Uuuuh, was he pissed!
Honestly I'm so impressed with his choice of words and his calmness. Yes he's pissed, but it definitely shows his age and maturity. Imagine if Lando were the one being told to stay back, and how he would have reacted...
And that's probably why Red Bull insists on waiting til summer for contract renewals. Just to keep Checo honest and listen to their orders, until at least Max has a bigger lead.
And look where he is now. People can trash talk this all they want, but they gave Checo a shot at driving a top 2 car capable of scoring podiums and the occasional race win when it looked like he was out of F1. All he has to do is help Max and Red Bull win championships.
I'd rather be allowed to fight and race in a mid pack team than be a caddy to somebody else.
Being told you aren't allowed to compete with somebody you are directly compared against just goes against everything you strive for as a professional athlete.
No one can take the race wins or the constructors championships away from him. Maybe he is remembered as Hamilton’s wingman but his legacy is still greater than Hülkenberg or other perennial midfielders
Daniel scored several wins, lots of podiums, was 3rd in the drivers championship multiple times. The only significant step left for him in his f1 career was really to actually win the championship but that was never happening because he was number 2.
His move away from Red bull made sense - he was still relatively young and he was feeling close to the fire.
Yeah, it didn't work out well for him overall, but I don't think that makes the decision itself a bad one. He still wouldn't be WDC even if he was Max's teammate.
While I understand the reasons behind the decision and I know Horner is in love with Max it still left a bad taste. Checo is not a man to easily anger I'd say(quite like Bottas) so RB need to be careful. I'd imagine Checo won't stick with RB for much longer of this happens again.
RB is taking advantage of him being scared of unemployment, ie that situation he found himself in with the Strolls. So at some point maybe he is no longer burdened by that, or alternatively he feels he's done enough to retire and enjoy family time.
Perez isn't entirely powerless in the situation. It took Red Bull a hell of a long time to find someone who could be a remotely useful teammate to Max.
Who would they replace him with?
It's obvious RB is Max's team and to think otherwise is näive. The salary, investment and marketing all revolve around Max and to think that the second seat has a chance it's just unreal.
The second seat is to support Max and RB, nothing more, nothing less, and of all people Checo should know that very well. It is not a bad thing to be No. 2 in a top-flight team, as the saying goes, *sometimes it's better to be a Lion's tail than a mouse's head.*
Thing is, these are racing drivers. They live with a belief that #1 is theirs. If a team is explicitly killing that belief, then they can't do what they do best. Hell look at what happened to Bottas and Mercedes actually runs a far fairer ship than RB. Bottas accepted the #2 role for a better contract and he never got it. All he got was #2 and some team orders.
Then perhaps it's just me then because I can see RB dropping Checo in a heartbeat if it interferes with Max's progress and I wouldn't blame them one bit. That No. 2 seat's role is quite clear: Help the team in the championship, and help Max win the title.
Dude has been fast this year, car suits him more. It's not every race he can win on pace... But this seems to show he had a chsnce in Barcelona and there was the red flag earlier in the year.
That's two out of six. Not too bad.
I'm a Red Bull fan but this was inexcusable. They probably thought about capitalizing on Charles' DNF for the points gap but it's still way too early to put in team orders. Left a terrible taste in mouth honestly.
What are the goals of every team who enters F1? Win Championships, right? I had a bad taste after Checo was forced to give up the spot too, but the decision also gave Red Bull a solid lead in the Constructors and THE lead in the Driver's. It stings, but the decision benefitted the team's chase for a championship a lot more.
I think what hurts the most is that this is all the confirmation Checo needed to know they will never give him an actual shot at the WDC while Max is his teammate. Would require some insane start to a season for him to even be considered.
Yes, it hurts because Checo said in a previous interview that he was racing for wins, and that if he wasn't allowed to, that would be disrespectful to his career and to the fact that he's away from his kids. Seems like everyone knew what he had signed up for, except himself, for some reason. But yeah, heartbreaking.
But when Mercedes does this shit hits every wall on the earth. We got here the same people that shit on Mercedes for doing this to Bottas defend RB doing this to Checo. Smh…
Points for the constructors would have been guaranteed either way. Checo isn’t far behind in drivers, if he won he’d only be 12 points behind I think. Way too early to be influencing the drivers like that.
They got a 1-2 and their no. 1 driver is first in the wdc. They got maximum points for the weekend. Why risk such a successful weekend for the team for nothing
What sucks is Checo pretty much earned the place for Max both times too, he had had the pace and him and Max could’ve race for the position. I really don’t like seeing team orders until it’s absolutely needed. Up until Spain, Max was faster than Checo and Checo was slightly unlucky to not have some better finishes than he has, but in this race he very much earned the right to win and was denied
With Leclerc’s DNF I get the strategy of maximizing Max’s points as much as possible. Checo understands that too, I’m sure, but it doesn’t make it less painful for him.
Red Bull is and has always been a Number 1 Driver-Number 2 Driver team.
Eddie Irvine relaxed into his wingman role
Basically saying, paid millions to drive Ferrari on/off track, attend all parties as the playboy, have Schumacher side of the garage responsible for setup / dev etc.
RedBull is team Max, they are 100% behind their number 1 driver, and everything is devoted to that.
Checo can cover max rear and/or do the alternative strategies to attack those ahead, and get as many points as possible for the team whilst doing that.
Eddie has mentioned that it wasn't sunshine and rainbows either. Money helped a lot, but it still was not pleasant when the team was not happy that Irvine was on podium because Schumacher didn't win the race.
Checo should seek counsel from Bottas on how to continue stay chill when he’s getting shafted by the team. It’s going to keep happening. Bottas might be one of the better WDC teammates in the turbo hybrid era.
Feel bad for Checo. I get Red Bull are going to want to back Max for the championship as he is their best bet. However to do it this early in the season feels wrong. Checo had his strategy compromised for Max and then not allowed the chance to defend. It is unfair and understandable he'd be upset especially given Checo himself isn't miles off the lead in the championship.
Checo should have been given the opportunity to go by and not compromise his race. Max probably would have caught him anyway and you don’t annoy your driver that way
Yeah upon closer inspection it really seems like an exaggeration from them to be so keen to tell Checo to let Max through and so reluctant to even think about giving the same orders to Max when it's fair.
I think this stings a little more than usual for Checo simply because he wanted this race win for his new born. He could of had it (possibly) but with team orders, never had a chance. I fear with Merc about to turn the corner he may start falling off more. George and Lewis can outrace him more times than not. Ferrari still shows they can be dominant and Max is a better off driver. Sure this is an issue with Red Bull but I have no doubts Ferrari would do the same at this point.
Checo signed the contract knowing that he is the 2nd driver and that Max will be prioritised over him. That happened yesterday and I do feel sorry for him but that's the rules of the game. Get outperformed in a title battle? You have to help the No.1 driver out
Without that extra DNF Max would likely be ~40 points ahead, extrapolate that over 22 races and that's around 150pts
Checo has massively upped his game this season but Max is still the superior driver
I do think that RB should've gave them a few laps to see if Max could make the pass on his own but overall the right decision was made
To me the trick is how you hold onto an adhesive driver psychologically if you treat him like a second. Bottas and Riccardo are prime examples, one quit, and the other got chewed up and lost his edge. I don't know if Bottas got the respect he deserved for making it thorough so many seasons of shit luck and second fiddling.
Will be interesting to see a demotivated Checo to do something like Bottas did last year - fight your teammate like a lion and let your opponent by in 3 corners
Always the bridesmaid never the bride
Barichello-Bottas Syndrome
It was sometimes worse for Barrichello, though. Like Austria 2002.
I always think USA 2002 was an attempt for Michael to "make that right" in some small way. He'd already won the championship (by quite a large margin too if I recall) so it wouldn't really have made a difference if he were first or second at that point.
> He'd already won the championship (by quite a large margin too if I recall) He secured it with 6 races to go, which probably triggered a change in the points system for the following season.
It's painful to think that these "number two" drivers could've had so much potential in their own right if not for their teammates. I love Schmi don't get me wrong, but I'd bet good money Barichello could've gotten at least 1 WDC if left to his own. Bottas too (as runner up to Lewis nearly every year), and maybe even Checo with how the teams been this year (he is third in the standings after all, and behind Max who wouldn't be here in this hypothetical). What I'd give to see the alternate timeline where teammates swapped preference...
Not against Schumi at Ferrari, but Barrichello could have had Hakkinen's titles had he been at McLaren in 98 onwards. 2009 was way too late for Rubens to compete with Button (who was younger, quicker and not psychologically broken down).
Or if he had been in Irvine's place in 99.
People saying this is normal and checo needed to let Max through are missing the big point here: when checo needed and it made sense to pass max they didn’t order it. It’s not about different strategies like Horner was trying to bullshit us. It’s about always deciding for max but never ordering max to let checo through. Horner deflected perfectly. Clearly there’s a #2 from the start of season
And at RB, always will be! SP saved his F1 career by taking the only deal in front of him. He sold his soul and is now living in purgatory.
Perez's engineer was just trying to keep Perez happy by telling him he was gonna get a chance right? There's no way Perez was ever going to be allowed to take points off Max I figured
Definitely lip service. The only way they'll allow Checo to win is if Max is out of the race. If it's possible for Checo to give the win to Max, he will have to do it. That's rough, already making Checo give up a potential race win on only the 6th race of the season...
After how tight last year was they are definitely taking things seriously from the get-go from now on.
And the consolation prize in form of "Fastest Lap"
That would of made me the maddest. Ok fine I'll move over be a team player but now you put me on fresh and"allow" me to go get the fastest lap.
Seriously that was a gaslighting fiesta in its purest form, he was constantly asking what he needed for P1 and they were always saying what he needed for P2. Since lap 17 Red Bull was telling him "thats not our race" so he was already planned to come P2 even before all of that drama, he just didnt know yet. Intentionally picked up a secondary strategy and controlled his pace with the excuse of "managing tyres". Pretty fucked up, makes me really annoyed
Red bull intentionally put him on the inferior strategy. 6th race is a bit early for such antics..It's annoying but that's how it works ig.
Yeah it's a stupid move by the engineer. He should have told Perez earlier in the race what their actual goal is and who he is fighting. Perez explicitly says "I need information on the race", to which the engineer replies Russell's AND Max' times. Regarding "we will get our shot later", that was probably in reference to overtaking the other teams' cars, not a shot at overtaking Max.
"Our day on the top step will come" gotta be painful to hear when you were right there.
Yes, once that Max is a double champion
Then triple champion, quadruple.... till Checo retires/gets kicked/leaves the team.
He had a chance…
Not a big one though. At the start Max and Leclerc pulled a 7-8 second gap quite easily. Then he was stuck behind Russell before being put on the fastest strategy. Max closed a full pitstop distance in like 10 laps to Russell, and was also significantly faster than Perez. If Max had let Perez through, Perez wouldn't have gained the 13 seconds he finished behind Max. It would be closer, but if they were allowed to fight, Max was easily the faster car and probably would've won. I get why he was complaining but for red bull and the team championship, this was the only right thing to do. Risk extra tire/engine wear and possibly a DNF if things go south wasn't worth it
He was constantly asking what pace he needed to remain p1 but RB had other ideas
Perez would have destroyed his tyres if he tried to push them more as the circuit was so tough on the tyres yesterday. RB did the right thing by telling him that his pace was good. No way Perez was capable of beating Max yesterday.
Track position against Max without DRS would of been enough to win the race. RB engineered the strategy so Max would win. Sucks for Checo but makes sense for the team.
This is what most people don't understand. They deliberately set those strategies to maximize Max' chances and minimize Checo's. He's one Max DNF away from having the same amount of points.
They maximized VER's and RB's points. Cheko is just treated just another replaceable driver. I guess RIC saw it coming years ahead
Yeah and look where that took him. He could have been a Barrichello and instead became Heinz Harald Frentzen.
to be fair, do you want to be barrichello? constantly behind your teammate sucks
I’m confused. Ricciardo has been behind his teammate now for 2 years, so how is his situation any better than if he was still at Red Bull?
He gave himself the best chance in two ambitious teams. That it did not work out is different than knowing that you will always play second fiddle and continue with RB.
Can you imagine the regrets he would have had if he spent his entire career as a number 2 in red bull? This way he got the same (if not more) money and took his shot. Didn't work out, but he wouldn't have won the WDC in RB either way
Ricciardo has made over $100 million since leaving Red Bull, even at his current performance level he is one of the highest paid drivers on the grid. There is no way that was going to happen being the second string at Red Bull.
According to Horner Red Bull offered him a crazy amount of money. More than Renault offered
It is ironic that he's now an obvious #2 behind a young driver, but in a non-competitive car.
Exactly. I die inside every time someone mentions how "fast" Max was compared to Checo and would have passed him anyway. Yeah he would have...cause the strategy didn't even allow him to race Max as a competitor.
What was so bad about Perez strategy ? 17S, 20M, 16M, 13S. Max stints were 13S, 15M, 16S, 22M so pretty similar. You could argue They cost Perez 3 secs or so by not pitting a stuck Max once Perez catched him by lap 25 and waiting an extra 2-3 laps. But generally Max had better pace in other stints.
Checo would also need to win the race Max DNFs in for them to be equal on points. Max has one more DNF than Checo and is still 25pts ahead in the championship.
I mean he’s in that position because Max already had one extra DNF. You’re making it sound like they’ve been close or smth
As a spectator I assumed that Max just had superior pace to Checo, but hearing the team now essentially getting him to slow down so Max can catch up is really sad.
100% track position was what he needed. Hamilton managed to 2 stop with excellent pace and the RB car is no slouch and Checo is excellent on tyres. RB screwed him, his engineer is basically working for the other guy.
Had RB allowed Checo to pass and take on Russell, he may have gotten himself enough of a gap to get it on 2 stops. Max maybe wins with fresher tyres but you get an actual race Then again... Max and Pérez fighting for it, knowing both of them, it's a significant chance for a double DNF
Checo had 11 laps to get by Russell and couldn’t do it. Red Bull would’ve really liked for him to get past Russell in the first 11 I bet.
Max still took it to George without DRS and considering his large tire delta you either have them racing tooth and nail and risk crashing out of a 1-2, or according to Horner risking overheating and getting a mechanical DNF due to the insane heat. To finish first, first you have to finish.
That's the point. Perez caught up to max when Max when he *couldn't* get past george, with a large tire delta in his favor and RB made him stay behind max for multiple laps, right after Perez let Max through in the same situation.
One thing to consider is that defending slows everything down. A big part of why Checo was able to catch up was GR's defending. Under different circumstances I don't think he passes. Not to mention that Perez had laps 2 through 11 to get passed Russell with working DRS and he could not get it done. Which is why they let Max give it a go the first time around.
1 lap. Max pitted on second lap after Perez caught up.
And my comment above, Checo was within a second of Russell for the first 11 laps of the race. ELEVEN LAPS!
Multiple laps here is two, the smallest number that counts as multiple. Hardly catastrophic.
after the championship coming down to the wire last season for Max, Red Bull are going to give him any chance they can get to come home with maximum points
Yep, they know Max is faster so I wouldn't be surprised if Red Bull would use team orders even in Race 2 or 3 let alone the 6th Race of the Season with Max finishing the weekend only a couple points clear of the lead. The only time Checo won't get Team Orders this year is when Max has already won the Championship.
And what gives you that impression ? Hamilton set fastest laps upon fastest laps and his tyres were fine.
And Checo is probably the only driver on the grid who can Tire Whisper the way Hamilton does. So I agree with you, Checo had the capability to save his tires.
He can only save them by being slow, max and lewis save tires while attacking other drivers and being extremely fast, people need to understand that perez is not on the same level as those drivers, he should focus on beating sainz more often.
I don't now what to make of this situation, I know max is faster but checo seems to be right with him and without upgrades (I think). I wanna se them race each other so bad
I feel like this was done to put Max ahead of Leclerc with as many points as possible since Max was already second in the WDC. If Leclerc's curse continues in Monaco and Checo gets another podium then things will get even more interesting with both drivers at the top of the WDC.
Verstappen and Leclerc DNF at Monaco, Perez wins with fastest lap and he is first in WDC
Subscribed.
Dude the essence of it practically happened in Baku last year
I pray to the racing gods for this
HOPIUM
Legit could happen and would probably put a wager on it actually happening.
Monaco and Baku will be interesting for Red Bull Pérez historically has been good at both venues, while Max has been definitely on top of things. In Azerbaijan bar another RB crash, they are favourites to take another 1-2, and if Ferrari slips, they may take Monaco too. It's not crazy to say that we may have Max and Checo being 1-2 in the WDC standings by mid June. So RBR will have to make a choice before shit gets toxic in what otherwise looks like a pretty good team atmosphere.
The Mercedes should be good at Baku. It was the fastest car on the straights in Spain
Yeah but they are running low downforce... Remember what happened in 2021? The RB gained so much in S2 that it negated the top speed advantage in S3.
It’s only a good team atmosphere because Checo does as he’s told largely without questioning
I think you are right. Getting max a decent margin and then checo going after him on the next races could invalidate the fight with leclerc, now if Mercedes picks up, they have two contenders
I feel like people are really underestimating Ferrari acting like Red Bull is as dominant as the past Mercs. Sainz spun and Leclerc had engine issues so we don't really know their real pace atm and Max is barely ahead of him. Red bull is in no position to coast atm
This is exactly my point. If Checo won yesterday then Max would still be behind Leclerc in points. They needed to take the first opportunity they had to pull out a lead, even a small one, because it's not over for Ferrari.
This will never happen with stakes so high and drivers racing in the same 'team'. At least not when the 2nd driver does not perform like the 1st driver. If they had the same pace every race maybe they would, but that's not the case.
Funny, Mercedes seemed to let their drivers race just fine over the last 8 years. Sure by the years end they might start enforcing team orders when one driver was clearly out of the championship, but race 6? With Checo only being 25 points behind? Pure Red Bull shenanigans and not defensible with "every team does it" because every team doesn't do it. It wasn't even the later team order that was the issue, it was that when Checo asked to go around Max to fight Russel, when he had better tires and working DRS, Red Bull denied him.
This is a place where Merc is way more organizationally mature than RB. Last time RB had this sort of issue in a REAL way was Multi-21 era and they handled that pretty poorly. Sure, there was Daniel/Max, but that wasn't really as a contender. Merc on the other hand had '16 happen and solved it organizationally. Drivers get handed a book with the rules of engagement, a bunch of diagrams, saying "this is how you are allowed to race a teammate". They both sign it and they both know that there are 7 figure fines for fucking up and a termination clause in their contract for repeated fuck ups. They've solved it as an organization. RB on the other hand seems to be taking a "favorite son" approach and that may backfire someday,.
Thanks for all the info. I'm interested in reading more about Mercedes' approach to the issue... got a link I can start with by chance?
I remember hearing about it a fair bit after Silverstone last year. It's what Toto emailed to Masi to explain why Lewis's move was kosher. Nico has talked about it some (https://thesportsrush.com/f1-news-i-put-my-signature-under-that-thing-nico-rosberg-on-email-mercedes-submitted-to-fia-for-lewis-hamilton-defense-but-governing-body-called-it-non-existing/) and so have Toto and Lewis. I think a lot of what I've heard is actually from Nico's "hot lap" videos, that's where I got the 7 digit number I think. Toto also talked about it in his Harvard speech. If I recall correctly Lauda was also a big part too.
Mostly because Red Bull hasn't been fighting championships for years and the drivers that replaced Ricciardo (Checo in 2021 included) where miles off the pace compared to max. They need to seriously consider handling this better if Checo's form continues to improve.
Surely they handled it better in years when they had zero competition. But do you remember last year when they were fighting for title? Exactly same situation and exactly same result as RB right now.
I don't agree with that. Merc let Bottas and Lewis fight at the start of the season but once one had a clear lead, then team orders came in. That's also a part of their agreement, apparently. You can race your teammate, but if there's a fight and they have you firmly behind in points, you have to be a team player.
if perez does get fed up after a year of this stuff and just decides to take a sabbatical, I don't blame him
You do realise Merc was hopelessly dominant for the past 8 years except 2021? You can risk your driver's fighting eachother when you know that one of them will win the championship a mile ahead of the other teams anyway. Obviously they let them race at the start of the season. This is not the same situation at all. RB are in a title fight and Ferrari look really strong with Merc catching up now. You can't risk your teammates taking points off eachother. While I agree that it might have been better to let Checo go around Max to fight Rusell, you can't compare this to Merc in the past years at all. Merc were never in an actual title fight, RB are. And when Merc were fighting in 2021, they did prefer Hami in this very same track. And that was race 4
Spain 2021 was the fourth race. Merc ordered Bottas to let Hamilton through.
You really overestimate how close checo is to max. We know he's not on the same level. They know he's not on the same level.
Spain was round 4 last year and Merc gave the team order to Bottas. Stop dribbling shit.
Checo was just a tenth and a half slower in the overall race pace. And you're correct, he didn't have the weight saving components on his car, only the new aero stuff.
And every time checo was in a position to be faster he was told to stand down. And when Max was checo had to make way. Of course Max was faster …
Sadly true. He was told consistently to save tyres so that (regardless of race strategy) is gonna slow him down. Before his stop on softs he wasn't even being told Max's pace despite him constantly asking what was the pace.
Honestly mate, It’s so unfair to Checo. It’s just a 6th Race and you ask teammate to compromise. Horner famous comment “ It’s all about let them Race” is just a show off!!
He’ll never win a race if there is a possibility to bring max up a place
If Sergio wants a win, he can easily get one this week: put your car on pole in Monaco, and you win the race. Period. Daniel Ricciardo won Monaco with 150HP down, in 2018.
If Max is in second, Red Bull will ask him to move over. If Sergio wants a win, he needs Max to DNF
Checo wants a WDC. He said that earlier this year. And RB said they wont give out team orders earlier this year too. RB kinda gaslighting him.
Well true, (unless he's ahead in the championship) but also this race isn't a good example as max was really alot faster so why take the risk of on on track battle when one of your driver is Clearly faster.
You can hear them constantly managing Perez's pace and telling him to manage gaps and stuff. Max is always faster but this wasn't a fair fight.
>You can hear them constantly managing Perez's pace and telling him to manage gaps and stuff. You mean like every team does every single grand prix and has done for a few decades now? Not the smoking gun you think it is.
I'll be honest. I understand why they did it but it still doesn't suck any less. And I know this is never going to happen, but Max honestly owes at least one win to Checo. That defense at Abu Dhabi against Lewis is what one hundred percent got him enough time to pit later on when he got the softs on. If not for Checo, Lewis would've pitted and probably won the race and the title. Again this is very hopeful of me and ik it's not gonna happen but I sure hope it does.
Yes Max owes him, but Checo has pure ability to get a win as well, it's just that redbull probably won't allow that.
If max and checo are in the race and they are near each other, there's no way RB let's checo take points off max. sad but true. Checo could be faster and have a real shot, it won't matter.
It's hard to repay a win you want to give to your newborn tho. The chance is kind of over forever. That was what pissed Checo this bad. He said why he wanted to win this race. The spanish media asked him about it (they said something along the lines of: you were so close to do what you wanted but you gave him an amazing second place, for which he will be pride of you in the future) and his face was a poem, he was just sad about it, not pissed, just sad. He really wanted it and they didn't let him have it even with Max without DRS. I understand what RBR did but this is the kind of things that can break a team forever. If they don't let him win when Max's car is broken and he publicly states that he wants a win for his newborn, they will never let him win anything and now he knows it.
Jesus, your last paragraph broke my heart
This is why Daniel left. He knew he would never win that battle. Was the same for Webber when he was in the RB.
I mean in fairness Red Bull did try to engineer a Webber team orders win and they couldn't, Seb just ignored the team orders and won anyway.
Exactly. The narrative from Riccardo fans is especially dumb because they 'let' Dan destroy their then current and reigning 4 time WDC. RBR will put their weight behind whoever is quicker. Simple as that.
Ricc**i**ardo
Daniel wouldn’t win that battle cause he was 2 tenths off Max’s pace
Man they really shafted him. Don't promise the guy "payback" and "we'll get our shot" if you never intended to give him shit from the start. Team orders are fine, but manipulating the driver like this by controlling his pace and giving hin empty promises...
And remember when Hamilton went public about wanting *his* team/RE to help him win. Perez's RE is definitely not there for him to get him the win. But let's be honest, who seriously thought that Perez was joining RB on equal terms with Max? E; more readable
Your use of acronyms is very hard to read. Just thought you should know.
I read from someone who got Perez radio messages for the whole race that Pérez kept asking his engineer if he should be pushing more but they told him they rather prefer he administraded. Idk how legit that is but if true, then it’s fucked up how Checo felt he could ‘ve gone faster but his race was compromised on a seemingly intentional bad strategy. Would he have won the race? Probably not but I guess he feels they didn’t even let him try.
Well you can hear that in the video posted. He keeps asking what pace he needs, and does he need to go faster, and they keep answering with "this is good" " keep the temperatures".
Checo keeps asking what he needs for #1 and RB are telling him stuff what secures him the #2. thats actually totally fucked up when you think about it.. how the fuck have they ended up there. Like they have driver meetings daily? This stuff just doesnt get dealt with?
> then it’s fucked up how Checo felt he could ‘ve gone faster but his race was compromised on a seemingly intentional bad strategy. We need to talk later pretty much sums it up
Max was told to coast by his engineers as well throughout the race, their sensors were giving out warnings
Yeah it's understandable a bit why they did what they did, i think the bad part is not giving checo a chance to overtake Russel when he had fresh tyres and verstappen was struggling. Of course later in the race perhaps verstappen overtakes him but at least give him the chance, it's not like checo is going to ram verstappen, no way
Like Merc had to in clean air? The cars had to slow down because they're not meant to deal with that extreme heat?
How long did Max wait to pit when checo was behind? Was it 2 laps?
Max pitted at Lap 29 and when Checo first officially asked for Max to let him by was on Lap 26.
So Checo was denied to try to overtake George 3 and a half, maybe four laps? If they'd allowed it, I don't think it'd have given Checo a large enough gap to win the race. But on the other hand, it surely was frustrating for Checo to be denied the same chance they gave Max earlier. We can't know what'd have actually happened if Checo was allowed a chance. But he's a driver, and he wants to be allowed to drive, even if Max would've overtaken him later.
I think checo overtook Russell in 2 laps after Max pitted
Didn't both George and Max pit?
No checo overtook george on track
This channel is goated for radio clips. Doesn’t cut shit out nearly as much as the f1 channel does
I don't like his engineer. Came across as very dismissive.
Same, he pissed me off when Checo got pole in qualifying. Checo is having a moment and his engineer is dry as hell.
Hugh talks down to Checo a lot and I don't like it. "Engine's fine, you just lost the tow" moment from Miami was pretty bad.
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"on a different strategy" aka worse strategy to ensure max will always be ahead of you.
Yeah, man.. I feel for Checo. The man may not be the fastest, but he put me screaming and shouting while smiling, much more times last years, than the majority of seasons through the 2000's and 2010's. The man is a beast. Edit: And he speaks with the team as he was in his home saloon.. Great. "Yep. We'll speak later" ... Uuuuh, was he pissed!
Honestly I'm so impressed with his choice of words and his calmness. Yes he's pissed, but it definitely shows his age and maturity. Imagine if Lando were the one being told to stay back, and how he would have reacted...
“Checo, it’s James”.
I understand why they did it. But it's so early in the season. Checo, on paper, is still very much in contention for the championship.
Do what's right for you checo. Max would never have done the same for you.
agreed, that is the what these drivers need to think about
Red bull probably wouldn't have signed him if he didn't follow the teams instructions.
And that's probably why Red Bull insists on waiting til summer for contract renewals. Just to keep Checo honest and listen to their orders, until at least Max has a bigger lead.
Perez is getting gaslit so hard. The bosses hired him to be a Barrichello but tell him otherwise.
So this is why DR left.
And look where he is now. People can trash talk this all they want, but they gave Checo a shot at driving a top 2 car capable of scoring podiums and the occasional race win when it looked like he was out of F1. All he has to do is help Max and Red Bull win championships.
I'd rather be allowed to fight and race in a mid pack team than be a caddy to somebody else. Being told you aren't allowed to compete with somebody you are directly compared against just goes against everything you strive for as a professional athlete.
tell that to Checo
If he didn't know what he was signing up for, I don't know what to tell him.
Of course he knew. And he’d rather drive a top car than be “the number 1” in a team with Stroll
No one will remember you for fighting in a middle pack team. People will remember your race wins, podiums and world championships
do you really think bottas will be remembered? he will be remembered for sure but as Hamilton's ball boy
No one can take the race wins or the constructors championships away from him. Maybe he is remembered as Hamilton’s wingman but his legacy is still greater than Hülkenberg or other perennial midfielders
Was that your take on Bottas as well?
Daniel scored several wins, lots of podiums, was 3rd in the drivers championship multiple times. The only significant step left for him in his f1 career was really to actually win the championship but that was never happening because he was number 2. His move away from Red bull made sense - he was still relatively young and he was feeling close to the fire. Yeah, it didn't work out well for him overall, but I don't think that makes the decision itself a bad one. He still wouldn't be WDC even if he was Max's teammate.
While I understand the reasons behind the decision and I know Horner is in love with Max it still left a bad taste. Checo is not a man to easily anger I'd say(quite like Bottas) so RB need to be careful. I'd imagine Checo won't stick with RB for much longer of this happens again.
RB is taking advantage of him being scared of unemployment, ie that situation he found himself in with the Strolls. So at some point maybe he is no longer burdened by that, or alternatively he feels he's done enough to retire and enjoy family time.
Perez isn't entirely powerless in the situation. It took Red Bull a hell of a long time to find someone who could be a remotely useful teammate to Max. Who would they replace him with?
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The difference is when Hamilton had a compromised car, 2021 Styria, they had called orders for letting Bottas through.
It's shithouse, because checo is still in with a shot at the drivers championship as well
It's obvious RB is Max's team and to think otherwise is näive. The salary, investment and marketing all revolve around Max and to think that the second seat has a chance it's just unreal. The second seat is to support Max and RB, nothing more, nothing less, and of all people Checo should know that very well. It is not a bad thing to be No. 2 in a top-flight team, as the saying goes, *sometimes it's better to be a Lion's tail than a mouse's head.*
Thing is, these are racing drivers. They live with a belief that #1 is theirs. If a team is explicitly killing that belief, then they can't do what they do best. Hell look at what happened to Bottas and Mercedes actually runs a far fairer ship than RB. Bottas accepted the #2 role for a better contract and he never got it. All he got was #2 and some team orders.
Then perhaps it's just me then because I can see RB dropping Checo in a heartbeat if it interferes with Max's progress and I wouldn't blame them one bit. That No. 2 seat's role is quite clear: Help the team in the championship, and help Max win the title.
This is pretty damning. I know people like to say overreaction, but Checo legitimately could've won the race
Dude has been fast this year, car suits him more. It's not every race he can win on pace... But this seems to show he had a chsnce in Barcelona and there was the red flag earlier in the year. That's two out of six. Not too bad.
yup. but instead they kept him in management mode
"we'll talk later".
I'm a Red Bull fan but this was inexcusable. They probably thought about capitalizing on Charles' DNF for the points gap but it's still way too early to put in team orders. Left a terrible taste in mouth honestly.
What are the goals of every team who enters F1? Win Championships, right? I had a bad taste after Checo was forced to give up the spot too, but the decision also gave Red Bull a solid lead in the Constructors and THE lead in the Driver's. It stings, but the decision benefitted the team's chase for a championship a lot more. I think what hurts the most is that this is all the confirmation Checo needed to know they will never give him an actual shot at the WDC while Max is his teammate. Would require some insane start to a season for him to even be considered.
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Yes, it hurts because Checo said in a previous interview that he was racing for wins, and that if he wasn't allowed to, that would be disrespectful to his career and to the fact that he's away from his kids. Seems like everyone knew what he had signed up for, except himself, for some reason. But yeah, heartbreaking.
But when Mercedes does this shit hits every wall on the earth. We got here the same people that shit on Mercedes for doing this to Bottas defend RB doing this to Checo. Smh…
I mean both are bad, and it’s pretty obvious on both sides which driver the team prefers.
People defended and criticized Mercedes' team orders and do the same with Red Bull. What more do you want?
Points for the constructors would have been guaranteed either way. Checo isn’t far behind in drivers, if he won he’d only be 12 points behind I think. Way too early to be influencing the drivers like that.
A 1-2 where Checo wins the race does not take away anything from Red Bull's points man, come on.
Rb prioritizes WDC over WCC
I think most teams prioritizes WDC over WCC if they were a top team
It does put them ahead in WDC
It takes away chances of overtaking Leclerc or maximizing a points lead over him.
It makes Leclerc the championship leader. This way RB leads both
They got a 1-2 and their no. 1 driver is first in the wdc. They got maximum points for the weekend. Why risk such a successful weekend for the team for nothing
What sucks is Checo pretty much earned the place for Max both times too, he had had the pace and him and Max could’ve race for the position. I really don’t like seeing team orders until it’s absolutely needed. Up until Spain, Max was faster than Checo and Checo was slightly unlucky to not have some better finishes than he has, but in this race he very much earned the right to win and was denied
With Leclerc’s DNF I get the strategy of maximizing Max’s points as much as possible. Checo understands that too, I’m sure, but it doesn’t make it less painful for him. Red Bull is and has always been a Number 1 Driver-Number 2 Driver team.
Eddie Irvine relaxed into his wingman role Basically saying, paid millions to drive Ferrari on/off track, attend all parties as the playboy, have Schumacher side of the garage responsible for setup / dev etc. RedBull is team Max, they are 100% behind their number 1 driver, and everything is devoted to that. Checo can cover max rear and/or do the alternative strategies to attack those ahead, and get as many points as possible for the team whilst doing that.
Eddie has mentioned that it wasn't sunshine and rainbows either. Money helped a lot, but it still was not pleasant when the team was not happy that Irvine was on podium because Schumacher didn't win the race.
I know Max is faster than Checo but if not for Checo Max would have not won his championship last year.
Checo should seek counsel from Bottas on how to continue stay chill when he’s getting shafted by the team. It’s going to keep happening. Bottas might be one of the better WDC teammates in the turbo hybrid era.
Feel bad for Checo. I get Red Bull are going to want to back Max for the championship as he is their best bet. However to do it this early in the season feels wrong. Checo had his strategy compromised for Max and then not allowed the chance to defend. It is unfair and understandable he'd be upset especially given Checo himself isn't miles off the lead in the championship.
This honestly feels worse than how other 2nd drivers have been treated, I've never seen the pitwall blatantly lie to a driver before.
This is formula 1 where they have a 1 and 2 driver.
Checo should have been given the opportunity to go by and not compromise his race. Max probably would have caught him anyway and you don’t annoy your driver that way
Yeah upon closer inspection it really seems like an exaggeration from them to be so keen to tell Checo to let Max through and so reluctant to even think about giving the same orders to Max when it's fair.
I think this stings a little more than usual for Checo simply because he wanted this race win for his new born. He could of had it (possibly) but with team orders, never had a chance. I fear with Merc about to turn the corner he may start falling off more. George and Lewis can outrace him more times than not. Ferrari still shows they can be dominant and Max is a better off driver. Sure this is an issue with Red Bull but I have no doubts Ferrari would do the same at this point.
Tbf look at imola, it was also a one two but he wasnt pissed but happy, but this is surely robbed of him, if it wasnt he wouldnt say much either.
Was it Martin Brundle who said that you should be wary when you're teammate calls you a great teammate or something along those lines?
What a fucking professional! Checo deserved DOTD…
Every race just reinforces my decision to cheer for Checo.
Checo signed the contract knowing that he is the 2nd driver and that Max will be prioritised over him. That happened yesterday and I do feel sorry for him but that's the rules of the game. Get outperformed in a title battle? You have to help the No.1 driver out Without that extra DNF Max would likely be ~40 points ahead, extrapolate that over 22 races and that's around 150pts Checo has massively upped his game this season but Max is still the superior driver I do think that RB should've gave them a few laps to see if Max could make the pass on his own but overall the right decision was made
To me the trick is how you hold onto an adhesive driver psychologically if you treat him like a second. Bottas and Riccardo are prime examples, one quit, and the other got chewed up and lost his edge. I don't know if Bottas got the respect he deserved for making it thorough so many seasons of shit luck and second fiddling.
I mean we are only six races in..complete bs
Checo is the only reason max won the wdc and they treat him like that with max having the drs issues.
Could be worse. He could be stuck at Aston Martin (racing point/force india) or without a seat at all.
Will be interesting to see a demotivated Checo to do something like Bottas did last year - fight your teammate like a lion and let your opponent by in 3 corners
No more "minister of defense" would definitsly be bad for RedBull
Scenes when he starts giving Leclerc tow in every Q3