I like PER, but sadly it does seem like his best performances come when he’s in need of a new contract. Right now, I think the Constructors’ Championship is wide open given RBR are fighting with one arm tied behind their back, whereas McLaren, Ferrari and even Mercedes are starting to come good. Max may well run away with the Drivers’ title, but it’s a flip of the coin for the Championship that pays the bills.When are RBR going to get jacked off with PER? LEC started in 10th, PER in 7th and LEC glided past....... but struggled to much more and PER couldn't even do anything with that.
During the Canadian GP weekend, Horner went into some more detail about the contract that was offered to Perez, which suggests that the Mexican driver sticking with Red Bull for 2026 and the new power unit regulations is not guaranteed -:I wonder if RBR's new contract with PER comes with a cooling off period?
"Well, 1+1=2, so it's a two-year contract. As with any contract, there is all kinds of things in it, but that is, of course, between the driver and the team."
I actually wonder about that specific to Dan. Clearly he hasn't set the world on fire this season, but the fact remains that it was his performance in the testing the RB19 that convinced Marko/Horner to stick Dan back in the Alpha Tauri / VCARB. This year's VCARB01 is definitely nowhere near as good as the RB20, so it's hard to say that Dan wouldn't do any better with different machinery. Same could be said for Yuki of course, but there's no recent evidence of his work in an RB19 (or one of its recent predecessors).RBR contracts have always been team contracts, but equally don't think Dan or Yuki would be doing much better in the better machinery.
Its definitely more exciting when someone other than Max and RB predictably take the lead — its so interesting. Piastri is an amazing driving — so young and talented enough to win soon I thinkAgreed @MARTINE - one of the more exciting races of the year.
Such a shame to have the race decided that way, but it had definitely been brewing for a while there. Definitely shades of VER vs HAM back in '21. Max is undoubtedly one of the best drivers out there, but today's race suggests that the dominance of the RB17/18/19 (and to a lesser extend this year, the RB20) has really flattered him in terms of being able to perform without the pressure of close quarters racing.
What could have been for Oscar were it not for his deleted lap in Quali? Great drive from Daniel today with an unorthodox strategy (i.e. the seemingly very early pit stop). On a track like the Red Bull Ring, the smallest of errors will punish your lap times and Dan seemingly had the measure of Yuki in both Quali and race trim. Who knows whether performances like this will be enough to salvage his position in the team, but it certainly won't harm his chances.
Don't think Dan's strategy was that unorthodox. The Haas's ahead of him did almost the same.. more about tyre wear and track gaps on a short track.Great drive from Daniel today with an unorthodox strategy
Perhaps my phrasing was a tad clumsy. RIC's strategy was clearly mirroring the Haas of MAG with both cars pitting very early (Lap 10). In that respect, it wasn't so unorthodox. However, whilst HUL went on Lap 11 (which wasn't so surprising) and ALO went on Lap 14, nobody else on the Mediums pitted until Lap 19, with PIA being the last to pull the trigger (Lap 25). Obviously there were different strategies at play here, but the fact remains that by pitting on Lap 10, RIC - and MAG, for that matter - was going to suffer more with tyre life later in the race compared to many of the cars around him and in that respect, was not on the "optimum" strategy. Ultimately, RIC made it work in what proved to be a solid performance (and ultimately a good strategy call from the team).Don't think Dan's strategy was that unorthodox. The Haas's ahead of him did almost the same.. more about tyre wear and track gaps on a short track.
I think Ant Davidson offered a very thorough analysis of the situation and in all cases, VER was pretty much dead to rights. Not that I always agree with Stewards’ decisions, but they do have all the data and telemetry and in this case, they felt VER was in the wrong. NOR was certainly at risk of a penalty for track limits, but it would be interesting to know whether the Stewards were taking some of VER’s late defending into account and using some discretion in application of track limits?Corners like that one are set up for accidents like this. Both guys taking different lines to the same point and both think they are in the right.
Certainly RIC now seems to be in better form than PER. RBR may already regret resigning PER.Who knows whether performances like this will be enough to salvage his position in the team, but it certainly won't harm his chances
I think Ant Davidson offered a very thorough analysis of the situation and in all cases, VER was pretty much dead to rights. Not that I always agree with Stewards’ decisions, but they do have all the data and telemetry and in this case, they felt VER was in the wrong. NOR was certainly at risk of a penalty for track limits, but it would be interesting to know whether the Stewards were taking some of VER’s late defending into account and using some discretion in application of track limits?
As mentioned earlier, I rate VER as one of the best drivers out there, but he is often guilty of suggesting that when he tries something against another driver, then it’s perfectly fine, but if someone else tries the same thing against him, it’s “ridiculous” or “stupid”. He would earn a lot more respect if he occasionally just owned up to his mistakes rather than blaming everyone else.
In any case, at this rate, the remaining races in this season could get very spicy…
Why I don't like Max from the first seasons. Personally I think cars have become to large for the tracks. Let's go back to the 1960's Brabham and Ferrari size cars.I think we might see more of this in the season, as the Red Bull car does not seem to be as dominant this season (or at least at Austria) as the last few, but this was a matter of time before this happened. I recall the first few seasons of Verstappen moving around under braking and not giving other drivers sufficient space numerous times without being punished, and after a few collisions, it seemed to be that drivers had read the room that the stewards were not going to call out Verstappen on this, and other drivers generally avoided racing in close proximity to Max. Then the Red Bull became the dominant car and people never really got the chance to be racing alongside Max until now, and in this case it was Lando Norris who was going to defend his part of the track and both drivers suffered the consequences. A few more of these and Verstappen might start to learn.
Really nice race by Oscar Piastri, and also more evidence that Ferrari have made a blunder/mistake by letting Sainz go.
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Norris was complaining about Verstappen changing directions multiple times before the incident. The final (and most obvious) blocking move by Verstappen was what caused it, but they should look at that data to see if there was a pattern of behaviour. I don't think Verstappen's accident was an innocuous as it looked but the result of an intent over a series of laps. ie. premeditated.Not that I always agree with Stewards’ decisions, but they do have all the data and telemetry and in this case, they felt VER was in the wrong. NOR was certainly at risk of a penalty for track limits, but it would be interesting to know whether the Stewards were taking some of VER’s late defending into account and using some discretion in application of track limits?