Manoah2u wrote: ↑20 Oct 2017, 17:20
RB must have been seriously afraid to see him leave to the competition, which suggest the competition was seriously trying to snatch him away from RB.
Fact that he signed must mean RB have something positive to offer him those coming years, otherwise he wouldn't have extended his deal surely.
He said himself 'he wants to be in the fastest car'.
In my opinion, RB is betting heavily in terms of cutting down the Merc and Ferrari PU advantage by pressurizing the FIA to cut down oil burning. With oil burning volume getting reduced to 600ml from 1.9 litre/100 kms and Renault also working on getting some qualifying performance on their PU, RB has every reason to believe they would be competitive next year.
As for Max extending the contract, I was guessing it would be a no-brainer. He can't go to Ferrari as I am 200% sure, Ferrari wouldn't hire him for as long as Vettel is the alpha. With the kind of matured form that Hamilton is in, it is difficult to go and perform against him at Mercedes. Besides, Max is just 20 years old and he can afford to wait and watch the progress that RB is going to make. I also strongly believe, there are going to performance related exit clauses, which would allow Max to leave RB before 2020, if RB won't get to a certain level.
RB is certain to let Ricciardo go after 2018 and would bring Sainz back in to the RB. For Ric, he is 28 and is desperate to get into a championship winning machinery, so he wouldn't be waiting to see RB come back to championship winning ways. I have a hunch that, Ric would end up in Mercedes for 2019 and Bottas would go to Ferrari.