Bill wrote: ↑07 Dec 2019, 17:21
I don't help if the team explicitly says they want to make Max the youngest world championship in f1 history .it's pretty clear were focus is in terms of drivers preferences in car setup and development trajectory.
There's a lot to put in defense for Daniel and claim stuff, pointing out the 'obvious'.
But the thing is, all that happened in 2019 @ RedBull happened in absence of Daniel.
We have no true idea of how it would have been had he stayed.
Sure, they want to make Max the youngest WDC ever. That doesn't bode well for Daniel's prospects, true.
I'd say all the more reason for Danny then to beat Max and prove them otherwise in the same team.
But even then, let's look at the truth: where is he now then? which WDC prospects are in his lap now?
ZERO. If he stayed at RBR a year more, i'd be inclined to say he would have shown his worth another season.
Now, he is almost totally off the radar, which is never a good thing.
And now, he finds himself for 2020 in a far worse condition:
NO WDC or winning capable vehicle at all, a team once again reconfiguring itself because of bad results,
and his new teammate won't be a washed-up, dried-out, unmotivated grey driver like the Hulk was,
but Esteban Ocon, a Mercedes protogé, a young gun which was claimed before that is 'the next thing',
with lots of money and sponsors to back him, an excentric, outspoken and explosive driver,
and above all, a
french driver that has found himself a way into a
french team with a
french team principal who loves all that is
french so much that i'm pretty sure he has
bedsheets with a napoleon print on it and the french flag as pillows. Well, i'm pretty sure i'm exegerating there,
but the point is, Ocon will be welcomed at Renault with open arms and eyes are aimed much more at
Ocon for 2020 than they will be at Daniel for 2020.
What doesn't help is that ocon has been 'out' of the game for a year, so if Ocon manages to beat experienced
Ricciardo, that will be measured out in great exegeration and will be really bad for Daniel.
Much,
much worse actually, then it would
ever have been if/when/how Max would have beaten
Daniel in any way whatsoever.
Daniel thus has put himself in a dire situation really.
It could have been great, sure. IF the Honda combo didn't work, and if Renault proved to be competitive,
like they surely will have claimed lured and/or lied Daniel with when deciding to go for the yellow and black.
If the car would have been competitive and he would have beaten Max in a RB whilst driving a Renault,
sure, that would have been worthwile and gold.
Instead, he finds himself in a struggeling team (performance wise), had a bit of a hard time adapting,
is batteling TORRO ROSSO instead of RedBull, with little to no believable progress for 2020, all along whilst
being a driver with a
very big paycheck, so if Renault finds Ocon to be as good or perhaps performing
even better than Daniel, it'll be over real soon with the 'fun', which, in the end, really wasn't there at all.
Cyril is a hole with the letter a in front of it and will throw DannyRic under the bus, in the mud, and sling
monkey material in his general direction the moment he sees it fit.
So really, Daniel absolutely
needs to beat Ocon in all aspects for 2020 to keep his worth and game up.
Only then will he have a chance for a Ferrari or Mercedes seat.
If he gets beaten by Esteban Ocon.....well, it's bye bye to the Mercedes seat, and he loses credibility to grab
himself a Ferrari seat as well as the paycheck he can demand or sign up for. Not to forget, that he probably
can also kiss himself that Renault seat goodbye aswell as they'll opt for someone much cheaper right away.
Daniel really put himself in a very, very difficult situation and he did it all himself, and it was far from neccesary.
It’s been a pretty surreal season for me and I can’t thank everyone who’s helped me to get here enough. There are areas I know I need to improve, so let’s make 2020 even better!
