I did read the post re chassis performance. I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make. Look back through F1 history. The dominant driver in the wet ends up being the dominant driver full stop. Ricci is pretty average in the wet. He wouldn’t be able to tell which way Max went. It’s no surprise that RB favour Max as he is the better raw material. If he can learn to control his temperament, he has a shot at being one of the greats. No one has ever said the same about Ricci.
Ricci has consistently outscored Max, so I don't think dominance in the wet means squat...1pt in the wet is still just 1pt...and it's an even more telling story if what you say is indeed true, that the team has favored Max this whole while yet he hasn't been able to outperform Ricci. 2018 so far: Ricci 118 vs Max 105 2017 Ricci 200 vs Max 168
I agree with your critical comments on Vettel. I used to be his biggest fan, particularly because of that magical drive at Monza (where I do not agree with you, that was pure magic, akin to Senna in Donington). But he is normally best when out in front and not pressured. Which makes his failure in Hockenheim all the more unforgiving: Out in front, no pressure and throws it all away. And yes, Baku this year was horrible too. And Singapore and Baku last year as you pointed out. The list of mistakes is growing. Also agreed that Hamilton makes fewer mistakes.
OMG! If true Ricci might have done a Hamilton (when he went from McLaren to midfielder MB) instead of a Barrichello (from Ferrari to Honda). Interesting if it pans out.
No driver is perfect. That is of course the way of the world with humans. This year he must not make a preventable mistake and lose the title. If so then the team has to question his continued drive there. Maybe not release but certainly question and review his status. Any objective team would I think. Too many poorly timed errors.
There are two key people at Red Bull: Dietrich Mateschitz and Adrian Newey. Everyone else is replaceable, I don't think Newey is going anywhere.
Interesting indeed, but let's not forget that by the time Lewis joined the team, Schumacher and company had sorted out the car. Please go back and see how the results got better during the season for Mercedes.
I do not agree he was being a ''coward'' and left. He never made a secret of his love for Ferrari...there's footage of him when he was a child saying all he wanted to was race for Ferrari. In his Red bull days (post Ferrari engined Toro Rosso) he was quoted as saying going to Fiorano with his dad and watch Michael test his Ferrari's lap after lap... The Red Bull wasn't great, the engine certainly wasn't. Vettel suffered loads of reliability problems early on with the car and an opportunity presented itself: A drive at Ferrari doesn't open up every day; Vettel snatched it with both hands. The deal was done quite early on. Red Bull knew he was leaving, so obviously he gets no involvement in certain meetings, he doesn't get the preferred strategy anymore, he doesn't get the newest parts as quickly...This is standard stuff for a driver leaving a team, 4x champion with them or not.
Yep. And Red Bull has far deeper pockets than Renault...Newey enjoys freedom at RBR he's unlikely to find anywhere else.
It was quite a different story back then: EVERYBODY thought he just made the biggest mistake of his career.
Not on the long therm....he was leaving a former semi-works team that was loosing support to join a full factory works team. And just because the members of this forum did not know by then what the new Mercedes in the hybrid era would be like does not mean that Lauda had no clue as well...And it was obviously Lauda who convinced Lewis to join Mercedes....
Was rumoured and denied months ago before any voices of Ricci moving there. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/137064/renault-rules-out-bid-to-lure-newey Although Bob Bell has just stepped down...
RB sends a big fat NO to Alonso taking the seat. Gee, what a pity. It would be fun seeing Alonso trash another Honda car! https://www.planetf1.com/news/red-bull-rule-out-signing-chaotic-alonso/
He was gone long before that. The donuts despite Horner's reprimands, him constantly saying "this won't last forever" in 2012, etc... it was all writing on the wall. He accomplished what he wanted at Red bull and wanted to do the same in a Ferrari. I don't think he put much effort into racing in 2014 as it went to getting Alonso's seat. He is also his own agent so...no daddy or professional to go knock on the doors for him.
Bingo. He's a very smart guy. The Tifosi are a difficult bunch to say the least. Schumacher took a while to win the title also. What where they saying about him in 97? What where they saying about him in 98 (Monaco, Belgium, Suzuka)? Or 1999....or 2000? Mistakes happen. A tiny mistake or explainable error gets nitpicked to death here...As if everyone is ****ing faultless. It's ridiculous, frankly.
This is the rub, NO ONE can be on the mark 100% of the time. I've seen pros crack for literally no reason on the track. Its like golf. Racing is a hugely mental sport, as soon as there's a hiccup it can go bad, really fast. Best case, after a short reset they're back in it. We were testing a couple months ago and that "crack" cost almost 5 seconds a lap. They just lost the concentration for a few laps after a bird strike. .. that's the difference between a win and 10th place..
And being his own agent he snuck in his last Red Bull contract a get-out performance based clause. After meeting with Domenicali while going to Maranello to “buy a Ferrari for his dad” his Red Bull started having all kinds of problems... Just hope he doesn’t have a similar clause in his Ferrari contract and his dad doesn’t like Mercs
Well...If Seb can’t clinch the title this year I don’t think he will be able to live down his blunders with the Tifosi.
Yes agree'd. If its due to error of his own vs purely car function. A review might be possible. The press will do their own!
I do agree with this also. But then again...what's the point really? No drivers are available. The pressure of a potential Ferrari drive has already gotten to Leclerc it seems, he's been making a large string of avoidable mistakes since really coming into the spotlight (or are they being shown now more than before because he's got public interest? As he made mistakes before as well). Unless Ferrari dig very deep and buy Ricciardo from Renault, I can't see it happening. Forget Lewis and Verstappen. Both will be far too expensive to buy out from their contracts. Seb is under a lot of pressure now....
Just like the Tifosi NEVER forgave Schumacher for Jerez in 1997, Spa in 1998, Great Britain in 1999, Austria in 2002, Imola in 2005 & Monaco in 2006, right?