[dfox]

Originally Posted by E92inNC

Early on in his RB tenure, he was delivering results similar to what Bottas was doing at MB, steady podiums with the occasional win. Then for whatever reasons, starting midway through 2023, his qualifying pace steadily declined followed by his race results. The number of times he failed to reach Q3 last year and his race results was not indicative of the pace of that car. He became a mid-fielder. Max is not that much better than him that the points gap is almost 3x, it looked like he had checked out mentally.

He often had issues with qualifying. He was never an all out fastest driver, but was great at eeking out great race pace and being easy on tires. As noted above, he placed well in early 2024. He didn't check out mentally, RB just ignored him and kept making mistakes with the balance of the car that Max was able to drive around. Horner straight up admitted it.

I am not a Max fan, but it's clear that he's absolutely the best driver on the grid, much better than Checo.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

My friend ,that's not sure yet ...

A FIA investigation team has been sent to Maranello and England (Woking, Surrey + Brackley) and it depends from what the findings will be regarding the cheating DRS wings .
The FIA has video evidence of the cheating (flexible) DRS wings during the pre-season testing in Bahrein.

Inside Maranello: Quickly hida the strawberry fuel additiva and the funny wingas..the Ben boss is coming !!!

[Killed by Death]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Inside Maranello: Quickly hida the strawberry fuel additiva and the funny wingas..the Ben boss is coming !!!

We changed the smell to pineapple

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

We changed the smell to pineapple

Aha could be pina collada then with a dash of white rum and pineapple, very un-Italian to fool Ben and his inspection entourage

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

We changed the smell to pineapple

Ferrari won races with the strawberries (!)

[wizardofOz]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Inside Maranello: Quickly hida the strawberry fuel additiva and the funny wingas..the Ben boss is coming !!!

Plot twist, there were actually five Italian girls waiting inside Maranello for Ben and only one was available in Woking

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by wizardofOz

Plot twist, there were actually five Italian girls waiting inside Maranello for Ben and only one was available in Woking

Cut backs in third world Britain...

[wizardofOz]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Cut backs in third world Britain...

You are too modest... We're on the brink of extinction..

The Italian girls offer more than pasta and the one in Woking is a part timer

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Ferrari won races with the strawberries (!)

No wonder VET was sneering like Cheshire Cat

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by wizardofOz

You are too modest... We're on the brink of extinction..

The Italian girls offer more than pasta and the one in Woking is a part timer

Probably a spare from Girls Aloud heheh

[wizardofOz]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Probably a spare from Girls Aloud heheh

Cringe...

[wizardofOz]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

No wonder VET was sneering like Cheshire Cat

If nothing else, I hope Charles will have a breakout year and close the gap to Max if not Lando

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Killed by Death

We changed the smell to pineapple

Killed by Death

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Killed by Death

Wow what a show there in Milan and the fans cheering the two drivers, really enjoyed it.

[HeelToeShift]

Originally Posted by dfox

He often had issues with qualifying. He was never an all out fastest driver, but was great at eeking out great race pace and being easy on tires. As noted above, he placed well in early 2024. He didn't check out mentally, RB just ignored him and kept making mistakes with the balance of the car that Max was able to drive around. Horner straight up admitted it.

I am not a Max fan, but it's clear that he's absolutely the best driver on the grid, much better than Checo.

Yes, you're right on everything here. Checo did early on mention issues but they thought it was more of him trying to drive the way Max does with Max's setup vs an actual problem. There isnt a single other driver driver on the grid who would have won the WDC in the RB20 in 2024 besides Max. Max is flat out so good at getting performance out of any car, any setup that ended in a case where so much talent actually masked the reality of it - the car was not that good. This was probably also the case in 2023 - the car was nowhere near as good as what Max was able to achieve with it. That's the biggest difference - in the past the Mclaren, the MB were so dominant it was easy to win, and in the case of MB so fast and with it's material HP advantage didnt need much other than someone in the driver's seat to win whereas the RB needed someone who could actually extract 100% of it because doing that was an absolutely daunting task.

[E92inNC]

Originally Posted by dfox

He often had issues with qualifying. He was never an all out fastest driver, but was great at eeking out great race pace and being easy on tires. As noted above, he placed well in early 2024. He didn't check out mentally, RB just ignored him and kept making mistakes with the balance of the car that Max was able to drive around. Horner straight up admitted it.

I am not a Max fan, but it's clear that he's absolutely the best driver on the grid, much better than Checo.

We must have watched two different Checo seasons last year. I agree Max is the best driver on the grid but Checo has been able to stay relatively close to him his first few years at the team. The last 2/3rds of 2024 would say RB had the 3rd or 4th best car and he managed 2.5 points/race over the last 18 races, that tells me he knew this time at RB was likely done and he checked out.

The team has tailored the car to Max well before Checo’s arrival as they should have since he is their young title contender and had shown the ability to become an all time great. Still, Checo started out as a fairly good #2 until.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by E92inNC

We must have watched two different Checo seasons last year. I agree Max is the best driver on the grid but Checo has been able to stay relatively close to him his first few years at the team. The last 2/3rds of 2024 would say RB had the 3rd or 4th best car and he managed 2.5 points/race over the last 18 races, that tells me he knew this time at RB was likely done and he checked out.

The team has tailored the car to Max well before Checo’s arrival as they should have since he is their young title contender and had shown the ability to become an all time great. Still, Checo started out as a fairly good #2 until.

Checo's 2024 season in order :

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

Wow what a show there in Milan and the fans cheering the two drivers, really enjoyed it.

LEW landed on his b@lls or tailbone (!) Ough ... => https://www.reddit.com/r/formuladank...t_mustve_hurt/

[dfox]

Originally Posted by E92inNC

We must have watched two different Checo seasons last year. I agree Max is the best driver on the grid but Checo has been able to stay relatively close to him his first few years at the team. The last 2/3rds of 2024 would say RB had the 3rd or 4th best car and he managed 2.5 points/race over the last 18 races, that tells me he knew this time at RB was likely done and he checked out.

The team has tailored the car to Max well before Checo’s arrival as they should have since he is their young title contender and had shown the ability to become an all time great. Still, Checo started out as a fairly good #2 until.

Checo fell off, I don't deny that. The first 1/3 of the season he was 2nd in the WDC, and then he flatlined. I don't think it's coincidence that both Horner and Marko admitted that there were issues with the car, and that they didn't really listen to Checo because Max was still performing so well. I hope to see Checo at Caddy.

[Hlsilver]

Originally Posted by dfox

I hope to see Checo at Caddy.

I mean we can all agree that one of the seats at Caddy is guaranteed to go to Danny Ric right? For a new team, no driver is more marketable to fans than him.

[MoeTE87]

Originally Posted by Hlsilver

I mean we can all agree that one of the seats at Caddy is guaranteed to go to Danny Ric right? For a new team, no driver is more marketable to fans than him.

I agree! I think its a must to be honest to start out strong in marketing..not so much in scoring points.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

LEW landed on his b@lls or tailbone (!) Ough ... => https://www.reddit.com/r/formuladank...t_mustve_hurt/

He forgot the car was on a rolling jack...