Paa wrote: ↑08 Jul 2024, 22:19
The whole Ricciardo reloaded stuff was just a waste of time. If it was not clear after McLaren that he was done, it should have been clear after the first few races at AlphaTauri.
Agree with you completely, it was all based on some filming day run post Silverstone-2023 and Horner decided, that was that. Based on a sample size of 1.
Paa wrote: ↑08 Jul 2024, 22:19
They should have had Lawson in the car since last year so now they would have data if he can get next to Max or not (+experience for Lawson).
Now it's clear that neither Ric nor Tsunoda is ideal for the big team and Lawson is still an unknown so there are only bad options available.
Perez is a lost cause anyway. I was the guy who defended him the most when he got the new contract, saying
(i) he deserves one last chance, as 'experience' will kick in at some point
(ii) not-rocking-the-boat is pretty important, considering 2025 is the last year of current regs anyway
(iii) Redbull care more about WDC than WCC
But the way his control over the car has simply 'sunk' is mind-boggling. Being 0.8 to 1s slower than teammate in quali - that difference doesn't exist even in Williams with Sargeant, I dont remember it was this bad when Russel-Latifi were a pair. There is no excuse for Perez. No, there isn't. The last straw has been chewed up.
However, all is not lost.
Lawson is the ideal candidate to be given 1/2 a season to prove. Even if he scores a few scattered points here and there, it wouldn't be any different to what can be expected from Perez anyway.
Moreover, Lawson looked pretty racy and clever in his tussles with Tsunoda for a brief while last season. It's the perfect opportunity to try him. May be he turns out to be a hidden gem, and if so, perfect for the #2 driver - young, will not demand equal treatment, home-grown driver in the starting phase of career so will be in 'gratitude mode' for atleast the next 2 years.