Stylus_XL
I think this race was a good demonstration of why the previous claims that Merc, Ferrari and AM had gotten closer to Red Bull were very short-sighted. RB entered the Canada GP weekend claiming it would be their toughest race of the year and yet they still won by ten seconds.
Realistically, the gap that RB has over the rest of the field is insurmountable with in-season upgrades alone. Also consider that RB are likely to be running their cars conservatively for better reliability now, and Max is winning many races from lights to flag without pushing especially hard.
Tsunoda has Honda backing him, which quite literally bought him more time.
As ruthless as Red Bull can be, I didn’t think this would actually happen. AT doesn’t seem to be enough of a priority for RB anymore to get this panicky about poor driver performance. Maybe this is less about Nyck underperforming at AT and more about freeing up a seat to start auditioning replacements for Perez.
Hmm if that’s true he would have been seriously ragging the car around on the limit, which I can’t believe RB would risk in a test session. Sounds like RB are leaking tall tales to the press to mount pressure on a certain driver.
Wouldn’t be a wise choice for Charles unless he is very confident that he can be faster than Max on average - it would be a better bet to stay at a big team that is fully behind him. I think this is why Lando turned down Red Bull repeatedly.
Also don’t think this is a good choice for Red Bull - they need a Hamilton-Bottas lineup and not Hamilton-Rosberg lineup. It’s too risky unless you have the best car by a large margin, and with the cost cap and aero restrictions Red Bull can’t be absolutely sure that their car will have this much of a clear advantage in the next two seasons.
I think you’re trying extra hard to be generous but it’s undeserved. Checo is a good driver but he seems to need near-optimal conditions to qualify well - the right circuit, the right track conditions, the right weather. The problem is that you’re often not afforded that much stability on a race weekend and the last few races have demonstrated his inability to adapt. Until he finds a way to handle difficult conditions he’s gonna continue to get creamed by Max.
As for him doing a good job - he’s not even achieving the bare minimum, which should be a podium every weekend at the very least. The only reason why his performances haven’t caused major concern at Red Bull yet is because the pace of the RB19 means that Max doesn’t need a wing man this season.
The Field Is Closing Up To Red Bull™
I always found his slightly dour nature quite endearing but I have to say he was not very inspiring in his recent Beyond the Grid interview when asked to explain Alpine’s present and future ambitions.