BMMR61 wrote: ↑23 Dec 2024, 07:47
Bringing it around to a McLaren point, I think Oscar, for such a quiet personality, has some level of bravery. Some may disagree but I have seen it in aspects of his driving. I think he may develop into the nemesis of Max, Abu Dhabi turn 1 may just be the first chapter of something dramatic. He appears to have a certain Max self containment without the outright ruthlessness levels of Max. It sets an anticipation for McLaren v Red Bull in 2025 that is exciting, though it risks official intervention should it get too obviously gladiatorial. Maybe Oscar could unwittingly or otherwise play a foil for Lando at the front of the field, as I think it will be some time before Lawson gets on the pace of these guys.
Exciting times in 2025 for McLaren I'm sure!
I agree that Oscar seems unfazed by Max and that may become very important. We have to keep in mind that Lando started in a inferior McLaren and was easily bullied for years by the top cars, including Max. This inevitably leads to Lando being more cautious and less cutthroat against him. I was super frustrated how easily McLaren's would yield to "better" cars few years ago.
Oscar entered into F1 just as McLaren started to become podium capable, this reduced amount of "yield to a faster car" he had done. He is also very cool and doesn't doubt himself as much so he tends to fight hard when he is able to. I was most impressed by some of his overtaking where he was able to pull overtakes where others would not. On the other hand, his overall pace wasn't always the best and as many good overtakes he had, he had many situations where he couldn't overtake for a long time. I hope he can improve his pace in his third year. This would help both Lando and the team to achieve more.
About Max - I think he will hit a metaphorical wall when he ends up having to fight multiple drivers for the championship. When his fight is against 1 person (like against Lewis or Lando late this year), he can easily intimidate and force a crash if needed. But the moment two drivers are fighting him for a title, he will lose all the advantage he has, any type of crash would be catastrophic in that case. Unfortunately for us, in 2024 Oscar was not as fast as Max and could almost never challenge him to bring about these type of problems for Max.
