[ 2020 ] Aston Martin RedBull Racing F1 Team - Honda

[McMika98]

"He never hits the kerbs"? Where on earth did you come by this fact? What does it even mean? LOL
I am very sure Perez will at least be Verstappen's "Bottas".

Just watch onboards if you have F1 TV, perez has a very gentle turn, takes a much wider approach. If he gets within 2 tenths i will be very impressed.

[Mchamilton]

Average qualifying gap will be at least 3/10ths between max and Sergio, at least. He's never been a particularly fast qualifier. Then red bull will pretty much not let him pass max in the races if they're fighting Mercedes.

[toraabe]

In Q Perez should be about 2 to 3 tenths behind Max at worst, which is acceptable.

In the race though, he may be faster, no one knows for sure.

Verstappen will be slightly ahed in qualifying due to outright speed, but Perez is beside Hamilton the best in tyre management. He knows exactly how to be first when it matters. Verstappen has probably got the best teammate since Riccardo or even better. Do expect hard duelling between the two in races....

This is probably the best strat for RB next year. Max to go balls out as always, while Perez plays the long game, even at the expense of qualifying outside the top 5 on medium tyres.

From the off, (lets discount Bottas for now) Lewis and Max run away and use up each others tyres.
By the time new rubber is needed Perez should be within or close to the pit window.
Providing Perez and Bottas are still in the top 6, I see Perez outlasting Bottas on med tyres by quite a distance, depending on conditions, and coming out of the pit close to the top.

This of course does not account for the Forceracingmartin cars or what the Merc powered Mclarens are like.
Vettel? no idea but Stroll seems good on tyres, so could well be in there, and the Mclarens could be between Peres and co and the leading cars.

Much could change by next year though with the narrow floor and different spec tyres.

Exactly. Perez just knows how fast he has to drive in the stints to be in front at the end. His soft driving style is how he can get with one stop but verstappen probably has to go twice in the pits... Good for Red Bull. Bad for the rest. They will probably have much more flexibility in due to strategy next year.

[Sieper]

Max is probably thé best driver on tire management, picture perfect car placement lap after lap. Used every inch. F.e. Last race both Bottas and Hamilton had a lock up, max tires were still totally fine. They even ran cold at some point, Gianpiero radioed it in and max increased pace and started to built extra 3-4 tenths on Bottas every lap.

[McMika98]

Max is probably thé best driver on tire management, picture perfect car placement lap after lap. Used every inch. F.e. Last race both Bottas and Hamilton had a lock up, max tires were still totally fine.

200% agreed. He is criminally underrated in making his tyres last whilst following cars closely. Even the GOAT Lewis struggles to follow closely behind and make his tyres last. Max's precision every corner is something.

[Stu]

It will be very interesting if he can’t get within 0.5 sec of Max in qualifying or be ‘there’ to support an aggressive RB strategy on race days....
How will the perception of Albon & Gasly change IF that happens?
Well done to Perez anyhow, I hope that he does REALLY well.

[Mattchu]

Great news regarding Perez [always seems a likeable, good natured lad], I was hoping for more raw speed from Alex Albon but he`s been a dissapointment overall.

This is quite a swerve from Red Bulls previous policy and maybe points to there not being many top class drivers around at the moment.
Even after the Abu Dhabi grand prix the impression was Albon was going to stay in the seat. Maybe Sergio knew, if he did, he was very convincing that he didn`t have a clue...I reckon he`s a good poker player...

[Big Tea]

Max is probably thé best driver on tire management, picture perfect car placement lap after lap. Used every inch. F.e. Last race both Bottas and Hamilton had a lock up, max tires were still totally fine. They even ran cold at some point, Gianpiero radioed it in and max increased pace and started to built extra 3-4 tenths on Bottas every lap.

But he can not save them and race Ham at the same time. He can either make Hamilton use his up staying at the front or go easy on them.

[Sieper]

That will indeed be very interesting bigtea. We also sadly missed this on Sakhir with the opening lap lock up by Leclerc. I would have so loved to see Russell really being pushed by Verstappen. So unfortunate Bottas had his little moment right in front of Max’ nose and then leclerc incredibly overestimating his own abilities. Now we won’t know Russell’s ultimate pace for another year.

[Big Tea]

That will indeed be very interesting bigtea. We also sadly missed this on Sakhir with the opening lap lock up by Leclerc. I would have so loved to see Russell really being pushed by Verstappen. So unfortunate Bottas had his little moment right in front of Max’ nose and then leclerc incredibly overestimating his own abilities. Now we won’t know Russell’s ultimate pace for another year.

I am expecting there to be lots of close battles in the mid teams. This of course will have a knock on to teams like RBR as even is the cars start infront of midfield, they will have to re-pass them after pit stops, and the more performance in midfield, and midfield drivers, the harder it will be to get passed.
Not only due to not having blue flags as they are there by right, but even if a driver thinks ' this is not my race, let him go' he is much less likley to be accommodating if he is scrapping with one or two other cars as a second lost allowing a pass could lose him 2 places in his own fight

[Wouter]

[JRindt]

It will be very interesting if he can’t get within 0.5 sec of Max in qualifying or be ‘there’ to support an aggressive RB strategy on race days....
How will the perception of Albon & Gasly change IF that happens?
Well done to Perez anyhow, I hope that he does REALLY well.

If nothing else, this will be the greatest takeaway in hiring Perez. They can at least measure up their stable of drivers with a known quantity

[the EDGE]

Great news for F1 as a whole, not a Perez fan but he has proved he deserves to be there where plenty of others on the Grid now and in the past haven’t. He will certainly be in the mix and push Max (not that he needs any pushing). Will be interesting to see if can really challenge him

What this decision really shows to me however is the fact that Marko has failed in his job again with yet another driver tossed to the side, even when he has 4 seats to fill

The loss of Danny & Carlos really hurt them, they need to take better care of their talent

I wonder how long it will take for Perez to get cheesed off of being treated as a number 2 like Webber and co. were

[Zynerji]

Great news for F1 as a whole, not a Perez fan but he has proved he deserves to be there where plenty of others on the Grid now and in the past haven’t. He will certainly be in the mix and push Max (not that he needs any pushing). Will be interesting to see if can really challenge him

What this decision really shows to me however is the fact that Marko has failed in his job again with yet another driver tossed to the side, even when he has 4 seats to fill

The loss of Danny & Carlos really hurt them, they need to take better care of their talent

I wonder how long it will take for Perez to get cheesed off of being treated as a number 2 like Webber and co. were

I agree that this shows the blowback from Marco's "Anyone can win in our car" mentality with young drivers. They have lost Vettel, Ricciardo and Sainz, and are an open opportunity away from losing Max.

Leadership is everything.

[rogazilla]

Let's not get too far ahead about Perez get cheesed off because I don't see him challenge Max on pace. Even if he takes care of his rubber, Max is not someone who wears down tires like Bottas does either. It hasn't been a problem with Max as far as protecting the tires. Although this will be a good comparison. It is not like everyone is rushing to sign Perez like Danny or Carlos.