If Marco or Max go, other other will go with them. Maybe to Merc? Horner will hang on IMO but to what end without Max? Interesting that in that Autosport article Marko suggests that Max is their biggest asset. Bigger than Newey? I don’t think so. So where would Newey end up?
I got that wrong - meant to say who will wake up in the shower and realise it was all a dream ? Anyway . I have said recently that IMHO if Horner goes , Newey will follow him to Aston Martin .
As good as Max is, he needs RedBull more than they need him, at least over the next 2 years. If he vacates that seat there’s going to be a huge queue of drivers looking at both the seats at RedBull as a chance to win a WDC.
Newey is getting ready to retire and sail off. He doesn't need a new F1 project. He should give his design to every team then take a bow before casting off.
The car looks a lot less impressive in Perez's hands. Obviously youd expect the replacement to be better, but there's not that many great drivers available. It's a 44yr old Alonso, Sainz or Albon realistically. That's not as bad as losing Newey obviously, but it's two or three tenths gone for the team if it happens
With Horner, Marko and the contract that Max is reported to have, it does sound like Red Bull are about to collapse. If either Horner or Marko is pushed out is sounds like Max will leave and that then means other key figures could choose to jump ship too. That might really close the grid for next year but I doubt anything will come of all this turbulence.
Oh they'd have won last year anyway for sure. I'm more thinking about 2025. If it's Leclerc-Hamilton Vs Albon-Perez then Ferrari would only need another tenth or two to make it game on. If Max is still in the car then it's very unlikely Ferrari can make up a half a second.
The car is obviously the best, but it’s the extra that Max brings that’s enabling them to smash records and switch focus to the following year so early, thus mitigating the RRA. If Max walks away from RedBull for next year you’d expect Alonso to get one seat, but also someone like Norris to buy their way out of their contract and claim the other seat. In that situation you’d expect RedBull to be odds on to win the title again given the race pace advantage. Realistically only Aston, Mercedes and Ferrari could pay Verstappen’s salary - he’s not going to appeal to Aston whilst Lance is there and whilst they have a lot of potential their ultimate competitiveness going forward is a big unknown. Likewise Merc is a huge gamble for Verstappen whilst they show no signs of understanding how to make a fast car in the ground effect era. Ferrari could - and if the opportunity comes up - should go for Verstappen, even knowing that means potentially paying Hamilton not to drive for them for a couple of years. You can see how this deal would work for both parties, Ferrari are only a couple of key elements a way from being winners, locking down the best driver on the grid for the foreseeable future is a big part of that puzzle heading in place ready for the next ruleset - Verstappen lands in the best paid car, and probably the second best seat in the sport. The flipside of all this however is that he’d be vacating a huge salary and the best seat on the grid, along with leaving the best all round team of the last 20 years. For someone who’s shown such a winning attitude it seems like madness. Is it really realistic that he loves/owes Marko so much that he’d be prepared to do that?
The penalties are harsher now, but still don't really work with Haas showing that one car can do an illegal overtake and then block half the field to help the other. Midfield teams will be doing that a lot this season. I still think they need to bring back the drive through
give perez no 1 standing amd actually back him with set up and imo he would win the wdc in a canter too.
Watched the F1 Academy races this afternoon, and there was some good moments. They really need to give them cars with a bit more go though, even if it's only a step up to F3 levels, otherwise it feels like the F3 Academy.
I think there is a lot of silly talk out there re Verstappen. There are no places to go so he will stay at Red Bull. Lewis, I think he has made the right decision to go to Ferrari. Merc are still not getting it right. Eventually they will, but Lewis has lost his enthusiasm at Merc. He was very annoyed they didn't listen to his suggestions and that broke the magic for him. In the absence of Verstappen Merc will have to settle for Sainz or Albon. The Thai owners of Red Bull want to keep Albon in their sights. Alonso I would rule out, you need someone who is going to be around for the new era. I think Sainz to Merc is the likely outcome.
