Silly season 2021-2022-2023

[djos]

Bet he regrets not staying, given how much the car come alive in 2021 til present.
I bet Norris is another one who regretted not taking the offer. The chance of being at the top of the WDC alongside Max would have been the best option for him. RB would have had the best driver pairings on the grid.

Sometimes you need to leave to find out how good you have it ... I've certainly made that mistake in my professional life.

[JordanMugen]

RB would have had the best driver pairings on the grid.

I'm not sure I would say that Verstappen+Norris is necessarily a better pairing than Russell+Hamilton, IMO.

Personally I think signing Leclerc makes more sense for Red Bull. Leclerc is frustrated with Ferrari and we know he likes a similar oversteering car as Verstappen. So that seems a better fit than Norris, IMO. So I would like to see a Verstappen+Leclerc lineup at Red Bull.

[AR3-GP]

RB would have had the best driver pairings on the grid.

I'm not sure I would say that Verstappen+Norris is necessarily a better pairing than Russell+Hamilton, IMO.

Personally I think signing Leclerc makes more sense for Red Bull. Leclerc is frustrated with Ferrari and we know he likes a similar oversteering car as Verstappen. So that seems a better fit than Norris, IMO. So I would like to see a Verstappen+Leclerc lineup at Red Bull.

Leclerc and verstappen already ran into trouble with the karting rivalry. I wonder if that would not just blow up in RB's faces. Norris seems like the more interesting pick to me.

[djos]

RB would have had the best driver pairings on the grid.

I'm not sure I would say that Verstappen+Norris is necessarily a better pairing than Russell+Hamilton, IMO.

Personally I think signing Leclerc makes more sense for Red Bull. Leclerc is frustrated with Ferrari and we know he likes a similar oversteering car as Verstappen. So that seems a better fit than Norris, IMO. So I would like to see a Verstappen+Leclerc lineup at Red Bull.

I reckon RBR would be crazy to hire CL, yes he's fast, but he makes too many costly mistakes.

[mendis]

RB would have had the best driver pairings on the grid.

I'm not sure I would say that Verstappen+Norris is necessarily a better pairing than Russell+Hamilton, IMO.

Personally I think signing Leclerc makes more sense for Red Bull. Leclerc is frustrated with Ferrari and we know he likes a similar oversteering car as Verstappen. So that seems a better fit than Norris, IMO. So I would like to see a Verstappen+Leclerc lineup at Red Bull.

It would be the most compatible pairing as Leclerc is less Sparky than other considerable drivers on the grid. They have battled with respect on the track. It would be ideal for Red Bull.

[Zynerji]

RB would have had the best driver pairings on the grid.

I'm not sure I would say that Verstappen+Norris is necessarily a better pairing than Russell+Hamilton, IMO.

Personally I think signing Leclerc makes more sense for Red Bull. Leclerc is frustrated with Ferrari and we know he likes a similar oversteering car as Verstappen. So that seems a better fit than Norris, IMO. So I would like to see a Verstappen+Leclerc lineup at Red Bull.

It would be the most compatible pairing as Leclerc is less Sparky than other considerable drivers on the grid. They have battled with respect on the track. It would be ideal for Red Bull.

I'm not sure that Charles has the constitution to handle being trounced every weekend..

[JordanMugen]

It would be the most compatible pairing as Leclerc is less Sparky than other considerable drivers on the grid. They have battled with respect on the track. It would be ideal for Red Bull.

Agreed!

I'm not sure that Charles has the constitution to handle being trounced every weekend..

Why would that happen? That seems very unlikely. At the very worst case if Red Bull luck out then Leclerc might be Tier 1B like Nico Rosberg (or Nigel Mansell?), but I think Leclerc is Tier 1 myself.

I would say it is almost certain that Leclerc would be consistently faster than Sergio Perez.

Lecelrc says he is slowly starting Ferrari contract talks for 2025 & onwards, but surely he would be crazy to extend there given Ferrari's consistent lack of true excellence?! Perez is off contract for 2025, so Red Bull should pounce and obtain Leclerc's signature IMO.

By the start of the 2025 season, Verstappen might be a 4xWDC (fingers crossed), so he might welcome the competition to keep himself amused.

Maybe it would go as badly as Montoya's move to McLaren as you seem to imply, but I doubt it.

[Zynerji]

I'm not a fan of Charles. I rate him with Webber and Barrichello.

[AR3-GP]

It would be the most compatible pairing as Leclerc is less Sparky than other considerable drivers on the grid. They have battled with respect on the track. It would be ideal for Red Bull.

Agreed!

I'm not sure that Charles has the constitution to handle being trounced every weekend..

Why would that happen? That seems very unlikely. At the very worst case if Red Bull luck out then Leclerc might be Tier 1B like Nico Rosberg (or Nigel Mansell?), but I think Leclerc is Tier 1 myself.

I would say it is almost certain that Leclerc would be consistently faster than Sergio Perez.

Lecelrc says he is slowly starting Ferrari contract talks for 2025 & onwards, but surely he would be crazy to extend there given Ferrari's consistent lack of true excellence?! Perez is off contract for 2025, so Red Bull should pounce and obtain Leclerc's signature IMO.

By the start of the 2025 season, Verstappen might be a 4xWDC (fingers crossed), so he might welcome the competition to keep himself amused.

Maybe it would go as badly as Montoya's move to McLaren as you seem to imply, but I doubt it.

if RB really want to cripple Ferrari, they would sign Leclerc. I doubt that will happen though.

I also think that sporting wise, it's not healthy to stack all the strong drivers into 1 or 2 teams. We would never know how good the Aston was without Alonso there.

[DDopey]

Bet he regrets not staying, given how much the car come alive in 2021 til present.
I bet Norris is another one who regretted not taking the offer. The chance of being at the top of the WDC alongside Max would have been the best option for him. RB would have had the best driver pairings on the grid.

Sometimes you need to leave to find out how good you have it ... I've certainly made that mistake in my professional life.

Opposite happens also. Sometimes you stay too long not seeing how terrible it really is. I’ve made that mistake. And I think it is happening to Lando.

[djos]

True, I’ve been there too, getting out was a huge revelation.

I’d be concerned that Lando has become a specialist at driving flawed handling cars and may not be able to adapt to a good handling one.

[mendis]

True, I’ve been there too, getting out was a huge revelation.

I’d be concerned that Lando has become a specialist at driving flawed handling cars and may not be able to adapt to a good handling one.

What logic is that? Alonso drove bad cars before getting into winning Renaults and won 2 championships. Same was with Button when he won in 2009. Driving bad cars makes one a stronger driver.

Sometimes it's other way round is true. Driver that entered in winning cars then got into bad cars and disappeared from scene like Jacques Villeneuve.

[JonoNic]

True, I’ve been there too, getting out was a huge revelation.

I’d be concerned that Lando has become a specialist at driving flawed handling cars and may not be able to adapt to a good handling one.

George is a good example that your concern about Lando is flawed. Lando will be fine if he gets the opportunity.

[djos]

True, I’ve been there too, getting out was a huge revelation.

I’d be concerned that Lando has become a specialist at driving flawed handling cars and may not be able to adapt to a good handling one.

What logic is that? Alonso drove bad cars before getting into winning Renaults and won 2 championships. Same was with Button when he won in 2009. Driving bad cars makes one a stronger driver.

Sometimes it's other way round is true. Driver that entered in winning cars then got into bad cars and disappeared from scene like Jacques Villeneuve.

I’m not saying he can’t adapt, I’m just saying that it could be an issue as he’s never driven a “normal” F1 car.

[djos]

True, I’ve been there too, getting out was a huge revelation.

I’d be concerned that Lando has become a specialist at driving flawed handling cars and may not be able to adapt to a good handling one.

George is a good example that your concern about Lando is flawed. Lando will be fine if he gets the opportunity.

The Williams cars were just slow, no one has ever called their handling abnormal.