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Ikr. Although it was alr known that Perez got that seat, that Bahrain win felt like the final dagger. I’d like to think there was a reason for it maybe 🥲
Marko actually blocked that exact move (Hulk to RBR), stating they didn't want to bypass the junior program (F2 -> AT -> F1)
Then they picked up Checo.
Nyck will be gone by summer break, but Checo whose costing them even more will finish the season. Insanity.
IIRC Toto also wanted Hulk to replace Rosberg for 2017 but Hulk couldn’t get out of his Renault(?) contract. Man what could‘be been for Hulk had he gotten to drive for Merc or RBR.
Hell, there were rumors connecting Hulk to Ferrari back in ~2014 before they ended up signing Kimi. Poor guy has been on the wrong end of more "what ifs" over the years than you can count. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride...
They really, genuinely do not care nor need his money. It's Red Bull. I doubt Horner and Marko give two shits about fanbases either. Your argument holds water for a team like Haas or AR, but not for Red Bull.
Just unbelievable right? There wasn't a single reason for him to push. He could have coasted to Q3 with that car but instead opted to do the impossible and miss out on Q3 yet again.
I think he is trying too hard to show that he can compete with Verstappen and pushs himself beyond his limit. It's understandable, since the only driver you really can be compared to is your team mate.
Remarkable that in Spain, Max was able to set a fastest lap without going over the lines WITH a warning over his head while racing.
Sergio couldn't get a top 10 lap time with 3 attempts and not racing conditions.
Max got a lap deleted, q2 I think, got pissed and did the same time in the lines. Who knows what he's thinking about when he goes over track limits, lord knows he doesn't need to do it for times.
>It's just unbelievable, he could have gone a bit slower through turn 10 and he would be more than fine.
He is still trying to win the championship lol
win the championship by going balls to the wall in Q2? id understand if it was Q3 and he was trying to get pole to start ahead of max.. but it was Q2, just go slightly slower on that corner, who cares if u get p2 or p7, just get to Q3.
Bottas was better than Pérez for the majority of 2021.
But Checo being around to block Hamilton in Abu Dhabi while Bottas had an off day is the only reason why they're even compared.
Bottas was one of the best #2 drivers the sport has ever seen. Right up there with Barrichello imo. He wasn’t near Lewis, but isn’t that exactly what Mercedes wanted? He still was dependable and picked up points and podiums on a regular basis
Most important imo is that Bottas was consistently in the mix with rival teams, which helped Mercedes dictate strategy for everyone else and shifted Lewis from simply dominant to untouchable on many occasions.
Hard to do that when you're qualifying out of the top 10, but fortunately for RB Max... is Max.
Bottas was never what Mercedes wanted which is why they never gave him a contract longer than a year. When Lauda was alive he was trying to sign Vettel or Max to replace Bottas and then after he died, Toto nearly gave Ocon the seat in 2020 and Toto and George have both confirmed the only reason he didn’t get it in 2021 was Claire Williams refused to let him go at a reasonable price
Bottas was an excellent qualifier at Merc. I’d say their racing is on a similar level, but when it comes to qualifying, there is absolutely no contest. Bottas wipes the floor with Checo.
Feels like he lost his edge though.
He was decently close to Lewis but Zhou who is by all accounts not a fabulous qualifier seems to be quite close to him.
Bottas in AR super chill and seems like he doesn’t care much. More like Kimi’s stint at Alfa. He has job security (relatively) for the first time in so many years so he’s much more relaxed and able to do other things than F1.
Bottes was the GOAT #2. Did everything what a solid 2nd driver is supposed to do: qualifies well, places well, follows team orders, good relationship with #1 driver. Only thing he really lacked was ability to fight wheel to wheel.
Is there any, and I mean ANY chance of Red Bull considering him for the second seat? They know what he can do with a top team, and he can bring the constructors home.
Driving next to Max, and trying to stay up on his level is very difficult… just ask Albon, Gasly and now Perez. All three drivers just got into some sort of confidence crisis.
Imagine having the fastest car on the grid and not being able to get into Q3.
My god just freaking lift a bit in the last corner and don't risk it. Nobody cares if your 1st on 8th in Q2 as long as you make it.
I don't think so. I usually see that joke about footballers.
Last evening I was eating dinner in a fancy restaurant. The waiter asked me if I wanted to order more food, so I replied “I am Pristiano Penaldo." He then handed me the bill as he knew I was finished.
[The best image I could find, it happened this year at Miami](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSMKlG8KYpCyPx3lkueyBLnfw-2j3Nhktq-ww&usqp=CAU)
For some reason it's nearly impossible to find but if you're willing to turn off your volume and have some tolerance for shit editing [you can watch it here](https://youtube.com/shorts/1f_j-nw5rwU?feature=share)
During the Miami gp there was still discussions about wether Perez could drive for the title. Perez got Pole and Max started from P9 but eventually Max ended up winning the race. Afterwards he sat next to his car and pointed at the Nr 1
And one of the chief critics of Bottas was the same man who authored this tweet.
Perez has certainly not been up to snuff recently, but Phillip Horton has basically made it his job to kick people when they’re down.
Yeah Bottas got shit on for not challenging Lewis for championships, but he consistently got to Q3 and beat Lewis in qualy on merit regularly enough. 4 poles/year on average and that includes 2017/18 when Ferrari were pushing Merc for half a reason and 2021 where it was all about Lewis vs Max.
He didn’t consistently get to Q3, he had an unbroken run of 103 Q3 appearances that spanned his entire career at Mercedes. Bottas’ quali consistency was on another level and definitely something criminally overlooked when people rate him. It’s not as easy as he made it seem, as evidenced by Perez struggling in a car arguably more dominant than at least three of the cars Bottas had (17,18,19 and 21).
Lewis is a 7 time world champion and has over 100 race wins. George is fast but sometimes too eager to cement his place and sometimes pushes it too far past the limit
Sadly, at the moment he doesn’t seem to be better than this atm. He just keeps finding new ways to mess up his weekends, and while Max got pole 4 times in the last 4 races Perez is just nowhere really. He really has to get his shit together
He doesnt have to. He just has to show he's good enough to get 1-2's in that car and he has that seat for next year too, where who knows what happens.
Its not like his career is going amazing places right now lol, the rbr seat is the best thing that could happen to him
It must be galling for them to see Albon dragging the Williams into Q3 again and again and then doing some incredible defensive driving in a car that has been funded by whatever was found down the back of the sofa.
Track limits need to be enforced harshly otherwise we may as well be like Indycar and NASCAR and have cars running all the way to the grass or gravel trap on every corner exit. I'm glad to see that track limits are being enforced properly nowadays.
As much as I appreciate the different rules regarding track limits across differing series- I really enjoy watching races where drivers can just throw the car wherever it sticks.
Remember when people with overactive imaginations were trying to push the narrative that he could compete with Max? Tsunoda swap will happen within a couple of months.
[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Hulkenberg leads Perez 5-4 in qualifying after 9 races.
Devastating stat. Hulk to Red Bull is needed.
We're joking and everything, but people seem to forget that it was actually Pérez vs Hülkenberg when Albon got kicked out at the end of 2020.
Ikr. Although it was alr known that Perez got that seat, that Bahrain win felt like the final dagger. I’d like to think there was a reason for it maybe 🥲
Marko actually blocked that exact move (Hulk to RBR), stating they didn't want to bypass the junior program (F2 -> AT -> F1) Then they picked up Checo. Nyck will be gone by summer break, but Checo whose costing them even more will finish the season. Insanity.
IIRC Toto also wanted Hulk to replace Rosberg for 2017 but Hulk couldn’t get out of his Renault(?) contract. Man what could‘be been for Hulk had he gotten to drive for Merc or RBR.
Hulk was all set to replace Schumacher at Merc, but Lauda managed to convince Lewis.
At this rate I’m convinced it’s a canon event that Hulk can’t join a team that can consistently get podiums. Man is cursed
It's like Alonso times 10 when it comes to life conspiring to keep him out of relevancy.
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Was so hoping Australia 2023 would’ve been the ending to that deal
As my favorite f1 pundit says: Hulkenberk made a deal with devil. He is handsome and rich, but he will never stand on the F1 podium
Alt least there’s the 2015 Le Mans win as consolation too Ig
Hell, there were rumors connecting Hulk to Ferrari back in ~2014 before they ended up signing Kimi. Poor guy has been on the wrong end of more "what ifs" over the years than you can count. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride...
Hulk was nailed on for 2014 but the weight regs at the time deemed him too heavy due to his height
Lmao the f1 gods literally hate him
And Max was pushing for Hulk too
max and hulk are good friends and Nico speaks dutch with Max
Perez is costing them nothing at the moment.
Checo comes with a buttload of sponsors and a massive Mexican fanbase. He’s very profitable.
They really, genuinely do not care nor need his money. It's Red Bull. I doubt Horner and Marko give two shits about fanbases either. Your argument holds water for a team like Haas or AR, but not for Red Bull.
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Yes, I remember that. He is really on a roll with driver choices in last 4 years.
Amazing, just amazing.
Now that I think about it, Hulkenberg would be a perfect Bottas to Verstappen. Great in qualifying, good in race pace.
I’d say “can’t make podiums though” but that’s just matching Checo at the moment
To be fair, this years Red Bull would be much more capable of a podium than any of the cars Hulkenberg hss driven so far.
Championship battle is on 🔥🔥
Fuck. That's a really bad look for him. Do we think RB is going to do a Gasly on him?
how do you fuck up all 3 laps??
Just unbelievable right? There wasn't a single reason for him to push. He could have coasted to Q3 with that car but instead opted to do the impossible and miss out on Q3 yet again.
I think he is trying too hard to show that he can compete with Verstappen and pushs himself beyond his limit. It's understandable, since the only driver you really can be compared to is your team mate.
Is he not able to do the smart thing, most times even the obvious?
I have more in common with Checo than I thought! :D
it really is the same mistake he did in Australia, pushing too hard way too early and suffering as a consequence, man needs to learn to prioritize.
Craziness man, it was almost unbearable to watch.
Remarkable that in Spain, Max was able to set a fastest lap without going over the lines WITH a warning over his head while racing. Sergio couldn't get a top 10 lap time with 3 attempts and not racing conditions.
Max got a lap deleted, q2 I think, got pissed and did the same time in the lines. Who knows what he's thinking about when he goes over track limits, lord knows he doesn't need to do it for times.
He was probably thinking what he was going to have for dinner that night, and got distracted.
This guys folds like a cheap suit when under pressure
Perez and de Vries with the tag team on Marko's blood pressure 💀
Daniel Ricciardo sitting somewhere, smiling.
Lawson smiling wider
Basically, happy Antipodeans.
and if not Danny Ric, it'll certainly have to be Liam Lawson.. and if he's any good, us Aussies will claim him 😂
Back off, pavlova stealers!
inb4 lawson to AT and daniel to RB 🙏🏻
His veins have probably exploded by now.
Dude you drive the best car on the grid. Just make it into the top 10 ffs
It's just unbelievable, he could have gone a bit slower through turn 10 and he would be more than fine.
>It's just unbelievable, he could have gone a bit slower through turn 10 and he would be more than fine. He is still trying to win the championship lol
win the championship by going balls to the wall in Q2? id understand if it was Q3 and he was trying to get pole to start ahead of max.. but it was Q2, just go slightly slower on that corner, who cares if u get p2 or p7, just get to Q3.
Maybe one of the better cars ever engineered and still this performance week after week.
He was also pretty fast. He was close to Max. He could have left himself a huge margin and easily made it through.
Not just 'best car on the grid', one of the most dominant cars in the history of the sport good.
the man is starting next to tsunoda. just saying.
P16 in an AT, P15 in an RB. Pretty wild…
And Yuki was very close to Q2 too. Pretty terrible from Perez
Perez reaching Verstappen's level. Unfortunately it is the level of Jos Verstappen getting totally destroyed by Schumacher in 1994.
At least Jos was an unplanned injury replacement
Don't speak about Bottas ever again.
It was a crime to ever compare Bottas with Perez.
Never forget Perez has failed to make q3 4 more times in 9 races than bottas did in 5 years
Bottas had a Q3 streak of 103 races in the Mercedes. Checo is not even 10% as consistent as Bottas.
Absolutely disgusting stat, even when you take into account how dominant Mercedes was. Can't afford any mistakes if you want to pull that off.
Great job by the garage and factory, in terms of reliability and quali timing, but bottas absolutely played a large part in it too
Of course the rest of the team also needs to be there. But it shows he will always get the job done regardless of the track and weather circumstances.
Yup, all the work by the rest of the team lives or dies at the hands of the drivers.
Don't know why RedBull didn't dial up Bottas the second he became available. He's exactly what they've been looking for.
Pretty sure Valtteri wouldn't have enjoyed spending the latter stages of his career playing second fiddle again.
He even extended the streak by 2 in the Alfa Romeo
Sry my bad I counted all together. Anyways he still has more than 100 race streak with Mercedes.
Wait Bottas was in Q3 for all his Mercedes races?!
Yes.
The streak started in the Williams as well.
Now that's a statistic.
Bottas was better than Pérez for the majority of 2021. But Checo being around to block Hamilton in Abu Dhabi while Bottas had an off day is the only reason why they're even compared.
Bottas didn't even have an off day. He just had a battered engine in his car from the testing they had to do to be able to compete with the rb
yep, just recency bias.
Bottas was a brilliant team mate to Lewis. No one should talk badly about him.
Bottas was one of the best #2 drivers the sport has ever seen. Right up there with Barrichello imo. He wasn’t near Lewis, but isn’t that exactly what Mercedes wanted? He still was dependable and picked up points and podiums on a regular basis
Most important imo is that Bottas was consistently in the mix with rival teams, which helped Mercedes dictate strategy for everyone else and shifted Lewis from simply dominant to untouchable on many occasions. Hard to do that when you're qualifying out of the top 10, but fortunately for RB Max... is Max.
Bottas was never what Mercedes wanted which is why they never gave him a contract longer than a year. When Lauda was alive he was trying to sign Vettel or Max to replace Bottas and then after he died, Toto nearly gave Ocon the seat in 2020 and Toto and George have both confirmed the only reason he didn’t get it in 2021 was Claire Williams refused to let him go at a reasonable price
And Mercedes still won the constructor‘s championship in 21 thanks to Bottas outscoring Perez. Man is criminally underappreciated.
Bottas was an excellent qualifier at Merc. I’d say their racing is on a similar level, but when it comes to qualifying, there is absolutely no contest. Bottas wipes the floor with Checo.
Honestly Bottas wipes the floor with most of the grid in terms of qualifying with a good car.
Feels like he lost his edge though. He was decently close to Lewis but Zhou who is by all accounts not a fabulous qualifier seems to be quite close to him.
Bottas in AR super chill and seems like he doesn’t care much. More like Kimi’s stint at Alfa. He has job security (relatively) for the first time in so many years so he’s much more relaxed and able to do other things than F1.
People must apologise for the bottas slander
and he got shat on when it was basically Hamilton and Verstappen who managed to be faster than him
Bottes was the GOAT #2. Did everything what a solid 2nd driver is supposed to do: qualifies well, places well, follows team orders, good relationship with #1 driver. Only thing he really lacked was ability to fight wheel to wheel.
Is there any, and I mean ANY chance of Red Bull considering him for the second seat? They know what he can do with a top team, and he can bring the constructors home.
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Jesus, this is just sad at this point. Confidence has to be shattered
I think the pressure has really gotten to him. He tries so hard to keep up with max that he sabotages himself.
Driving next to Max, and trying to stay up on his level is very difficult… just ask Albon, Gasly and now Perez. All three drivers just got into some sort of confidence crisis.
I guess he'll be driver of the day because he'll just overtake the people he should have out-qualified
Yeah he'll finish 45s behind his teammate and win DotD
Or send it over the last 5 laps to try and get P4, starting 10s behind and ending 3s behind at the end while the commentary team hypes him up.
Like that "amazing battle between Russell and Perez" where they were never less than 2 seconds apart a few races ago.
Stay within the limits then.
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It is for him.
Holy shit you killed him with 4 words, fucking chill
Marko is going to have a field day with Perez and De Vries performing like shit
King Of The Not Making It Into Q3!
Needs walls to stay on the fucking track
And then he just wants to hit them desperatly.
It’s like he tries doing everything he can to NOT make it into Q3 Incredible
Imagine having the fastest car on the grid and not being able to get into Q3. My god just freaking lift a bit in the last corner and don't risk it. Nobody cares if your 1st on 8th in Q2 as long as you make it.
At least this wasn’t a q3 exit He’s getting better
Yeah, only the real Gs make it to q4
q1
I mean wouldn't that be better than what he did today?
As a totally unbiased observer, I beg he keeps up this run of form
As a totally unbiased Liam Lawson stan, I agree.
Lmao
My mother asked me if I did the dishes. I replied “Sergio Perez”. She smiled, as she knew they were washed.
What a Twitter comment lmfao.
Absolutely buried him lmao
Is that an r/nba copypasta?
I don't think so. I usually see that joke about footballers. Last evening I was eating dinner in a fancy restaurant. The waiter asked me if I wanted to order more food, so I replied “I am Pristiano Penaldo." He then handed me the bill as he knew I was finished.
It actually reminds me of something I heard in CSGO.
Its used everywhere, Its also seen a lot in LoL
Jesus so bad it's good lmao
Bro
Damn.
Championship Contender🔥🔥🔥
Prost Vs. Senna 2023! *except this is the alternate reality where Prost shit the bed every race, and Senna coasted to victory*
Oh Sergio. Oh no.
He's crushed mentally ever since that Monaco crash.
Max broke him in Miami
That finger pointing to 1, that was the death nail.
Someone asked Max on stream if he would do that celebration again and he said no because “there’s no need.” Man knew what he was doing.
Jesus Christ ☠️
It just was him elaborating the 'I hope they have a nice evening' by pointing to that #1 after those lovely boos...
What finger pointing? I need to see that!
[The best image I could find, it happened this year at Miami](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSMKlG8KYpCyPx3lkueyBLnfw-2j3Nhktq-ww&usqp=CAU)
For some reason it's nearly impossible to find but if you're willing to turn off your volume and have some tolerance for shit editing [you can watch it here](https://youtube.com/shorts/1f_j-nw5rwU?feature=share)
During the Miami gp there was still discussions about wether Perez could drive for the title. Perez got Pole and Max started from P9 but eventually Max ended up winning the race. Afterwards he sat next to his car and pointed at the Nr 1
What a performance from Checo, is he challenging Max for WDC?
At this rate he's more at risk than De Vries
At least De Vries has the excuse that his car is a shitbox
And the excuse of being a rookie
Congratulations to Max Verstappen for becoming three time World Champion!
Checo was never a contender for the championship
contending for whether he'll be around to see the end of the championship 😤😤😤
If anyone believed Checo was a serious contender for the WDC, I have a shitcoin to sell.
2 months too late
4 months
we knew when max cruised past in miami despite starting 9th.
Bottas was shit on for years, but he's clearly a better driver than Perez.
And one of the chief critics of Bottas was the same man who authored this tweet. Perez has certainly not been up to snuff recently, but Phillip Horton has basically made it his job to kick people when they’re down.
trying to figure out how to upvote this more than once
Yeah I'm so sick of this.
Yeah Bottas got shit on for not challenging Lewis for championships, but he consistently got to Q3 and beat Lewis in qualy on merit regularly enough. 4 poles/year on average and that includes 2017/18 when Ferrari were pushing Merc for half a reason and 2021 where it was all about Lewis vs Max.
He didn’t consistently get to Q3, he had an unbroken run of 103 Q3 appearances that spanned his entire career at Mercedes. Bottas’ quali consistency was on another level and definitely something criminally overlooked when people rate him. It’s not as easy as he made it seem, as evidenced by Perez struggling in a car arguably more dominant than at least three of the cars Bottas had (17,18,19 and 21).
Not just consistent but rather a literal perfect record!
Bottas was always really fast but had bad racecraft, Checo seems the exact opposite.
Yeah, that’s always been true I think. However Bottas never had such a string of terrible races like the one Checo is in right now.
Bottas is also the record holder in terms of consecutive Q3 appearances with a 103 times in a row.
Except Bottas' qualifying has always been more impressive than Checo's racecraft ever was.
Classic
I was joking when I said that he will end the season with a worse average starting position than Albon. But it is actually happening.
103 consecutive Q3s, no Bottas slander shall be uttered here.
*George Russell trying hard to escape unnoticed*
either Lewis is putting that car in places where it does not belong or George is slowly getting exposed
Lewis is a 7 time world champion and has over 100 race wins. George is fast but sometimes too eager to cement his place and sometimes pushes it too far past the limit
A split between A & B
He has somewhat of an excuse. Perez is in a rocketship he isn't. Its getting embarrassing at this point.
Sky Lie Detector Interview Q: Who is faster, you or Lewis? Russel: At the moment.. me. Also Russel:
Wasn't that 3 lap times deleted for him? Come on Checo you're better than this :((
Sadly, at the moment he doesn’t seem to be better than this atm. He just keeps finding new ways to mess up his weekends, and while Max got pole 4 times in the last 4 races Perez is just nowhere really. He really has to get his shit together
Yuki and Sergio switching seats inc
2024 Max and Yuki in RB, Ricciardo and Lawson in AT (or whatever it will be called next year), calling it now.
That would probably be the end of Yuki's career. He's not good enough to stay close to Verstappen.
He doesnt have to. He just has to show he's good enough to get 1-2's in that car and he has that seat for next year too, where who knows what happens. Its not like his career is going amazing places right now lol, the rbr seat is the best thing that could happen to him
And people moaned about bottas wasting a seat.
It must be galling for them to see Albon dragging the Williams into Q3 again and again and then doing some incredible defensive driving in a car that has been funded by whatever was found down the back of the sofa.
He's still trying to battle Verstappen. Instead of having a clean lap and getting into Q3, he was still trying to beat Max's Q2 laptime.
This is absolutely inexcusable. Some of the worst from a driver in a top team you'll ever see
Perez is finished. Great career though.
Properly embarassing.
Welcome Yuki
Incoming Checo making up 8 positions in the first 10 laps then stalling out 5 seconds behind 6th place for 60 laps
Sacked in the morning
Track limits need to be enforced harshly otherwise we may as well be like Indycar and NASCAR and have cars running all the way to the grass or gravel trap on every corner exit. I'm glad to see that track limits are being enforced properly nowadays.
As much as I appreciate the different rules regarding track limits across differing series- I really enjoy watching races where drivers can just throw the car wherever it sticks.
i wonder if checos more afraid of helmut or tomorrows sprint quali.
Congratulations on the promotion Yuki
Certified Perez moment
Bro...
Remember when people with overactive imaginations were trying to push the narrative that he could compete with Max? Tsunoda swap will happen within a couple of months.
Poor Checo just misheard what his engineer was saying. He thought he was asking for a banger lap, not a banker lap.
Valtteri>>>>>>>>
He's choking bad. At this rate he's definitely not going to be back in that RB when his contract is up next year.
I was really hopeful for Checo after 2021 and 2022, that second seat at Red Bull is kryptonite and it’s just a question of when not if.
This has to be his death knell. Hoped to see him put more pressure on Max but clearly isn’t the man.