Sergio Perez signs for Redbull

[Nitrodaze]

Red Bull didn't have the car or reliability this year to challenge Mercedes. Why would it be any different next year?



If for some miracle that Red Bull is now comparable to Mercedes, I agree totally. It could be very interesting season.

If they don't, it will still be interesting for Red Bull as we see the Max vs. Cheko drama play out. Cheko has a mean streak in him. He is not going play support driver to max (which is what RB was having Albon do).



Personally, I think Albon did fine this season for it being his second year and being thrown among the sharks. I believe he will be on the grid again. If I was going to throw a red bull driver off the grid it would be Gasly.

Yes, Redbull underperformed this year. The chassis was not quite where it should have been for most of the season and the engine could not match the Mercedes engine for most of the tracks. But they were also operationally not at their best. Hence, they missed lots of opportunities to exploit those occassions when Mercedes or its drivers were underperforming.

You don't need the outright fastest car to win the championship. If you don't have a fast car then you must be highly efficient to ensure you take any low hanging fruit that comes your way. 2018 and 2019 seasons where Mercedes were slower than the Ferrari are good examples.

But after thinking some more about your post. You have a point also. Redbull has failed to show they can run two strong cars. Perez is going into the weaker side of the Redbull garage. That side has yet to setup the car to the satisfaction of their drivers. So it might be a frustrating experience for Perez on that side of the garage. Hence, Redbull might not actually achieve the goal of having two strong cars on the grid.

[F1nKS]

Yes, Redbull underperformed this year. The chassis was not quite where it should have been for most of the season and the engine could not match the Mercedes engine for most of the tracks. But they were also operationally not at their best. Hence, they missed lots of opportunities to exploit those occassions when Mercedes or its drivers were underperforming.

The hope has to be that with Perez in the mix this might have make Mercedes make some bad strategy calls. Mercedes when under pressure seemed to be not bulletproof. Unfortunately they were not under that much pressure in 2020.

But after thinking some more about your post. You have a point also. Redbull has failed to show they can run two strong cars. Perez is going into the weaker side of the Redbull garage. That side has yet to setup the car to the satisfaction of their drivers. So it might be a frustrating experience for Perez on that side of the garage. Hence, Redbull might not actually achieve the goal of having two strong cars on the grid.

I hope that since Redbull pulled the string on Perez they are going to go all out and make sure Cheko has their full support. So many exciting story lines for 2021. Can't wait.

[Nitrodaze]

The hope has to be that with Perez in the mix this might have make Mercedes make some bad strategy calls. Mercedes when under pressure seemed to be not bulletproof. Unfortunately they were not under that much pressure in 2020.



I hope that since Redbull pulled the string on Perez they are going to go all out and make sure Cheko has their full support. So many exciting story lines for 2021. Can't wait.

With the current crew they have on the second side of their garage, l sincerely doubt they would. They would need to make some significant changes to that side of the garage to ensure that firstly, they have parity of equipment between Verstapenn and Perez. Secondly, that the calibre of mechanics in the Perez garage is of the same quality as that of Verstapenn at least. These are the areas where Redbull appear to be failing.

They are going up against the best team in F1 history. Certainly the strongest in the hybrid era. And against a seven times F1 driver world champion who is still hungry and not showing any signs of slowing down yet.

Redbull have an uphill task which demands nothing less than exceptional operational efficiency and great chassis as the bare minimum. Improvement in the engine performance would help greatly. Even so, Mercedes shall demand nothing less than excellence in all departments to beat them.

Besides, Redbull are looking like a team that is psychologically beat already. Asking for engine freeze showed desperation to find a way to slow down Mercedes. The need to make it easier so that they can better be on equal pegging in other to find a way to beat them showed a profound weakest mentally. Afterall, they won four consecutive constructor and driver world titles exactly the same way Mercedes are doing it. I didn't hear of an engine freeze then.

[truefan72]

But after thinking some more about your post. You have a point also. Redbull has failed to show they can run two strong cars. Perez is going into the weaker side of the Redbull garage. That side has yet to setup the car to the satisfaction of their drivers. So it might be a frustrating experience for Perez on that side of the garage. Hence, Redbull might not actually achieve the goal of having two strong cars on the grid.

That too is my only worry.
RBR has shown that they play favorites in a detrimental way to their ambitions.
This has not always been so overtly present as in the Verstappen era of this team.

While Vettel was clearly thier golden boy, At least the team had competent crew on Webber's side, and the car was not purpose built for Seb.
To me things started going downhill fast after the summer of 2018 when Ricciardo was clearly beating Max then suddenly suffered problem after problem, shaite strategy and a complete malaise by the team. It was always funny to hear that fraud Horner talk about his surprise that Ricciardo was leaving the team, when they did everything possible to effectively push him out and compromise him. It got worse with Gasly and even more so with Albon.

We shall see what will happen with Perez, who is not a man to be trifled with and carries significant gravitas in the tune of $43M in sponsorship he brings with him. He will not be a push over. And will vocally voice his displeasure at any shenanigans.