This is starting to get embarrassing for Checo. I thought people were exaggerating how precarious his position was but if he keeps performing like this RB might actually be forced to take action.
Imagine if RB had an actual competitor, Checo couldn't support Max at the front at all if he keeps going like this.
I also thought the "Checo washed" comments and discussion about his seat being in jeopardy were an overreaction a few weeks ago. At this point though, I'm expecting Redbull to drop him any moment.
I really don't think Yuki would be an improvement. He's been inconsistent and his highs haven't exactly been amazing. They'd be better going for Riccardo or the Hulk or Sainz imo.
My hot take is that Yuki is pretty much set to take the second RB seat pending Perez’s overall performance. If Perez continues to be abysmal, I’m sure that RB will drop him using a performance clause in his contract.
Everyone likes to rag on Yuki but since Gasly has left, Yuki stepped out tremendously. Not to mention that he’s been dragging that shit box to mid-field a handful of times. Helmut Marko even commented on Yuki’s performance and Marko never compliments anyone unless you’re Max and Vettel.
De Vries is going to get dropped to make way for Liam Lawson.
I'm right there with you, I was grinning the whole time watching him. So happy to see those upgrades coming through for McLaren. Lando deserves a good car.
He’s just not looked impressive recently. Even his race pace when you take into consideration the performance of the car.
I’m not sure I want to see Albon back in given how well he’s doing at Williams, but I feel like we need to see someone else in there sooner rather than later.
Albon was directly behind Perez, like crossed the line within a couple seconds at most, and was .5 of a second faster. Half a second. I'm sorry for Perez fans because he has shown before that he can do ok at qualy, enough to keep up, and he's shown he can defend like a lion. But there's no excuse here. He got beaten by Sergeant in a Williams FFS, who was right behind Albon. They all drove the track in the same conditions.
Curious, how do you know the team put him on that spot at the front? Maybe Checo is so nervous and anxious he 'asks' for those kind of actions as he thinks that will help him? I have seen panic in people before and they make the wrong calls all the time. And I have seen some that get worse when it just keeps on getting bad for them; they will force others in the team to make mistakes because he will 'demand' the action for he thinks it will help him.
I see this as a typical panicky move by a guy who has lost his way and the team is starting to give in because there is no helping a panicked man that will trust none from where the help might come. Classic mistake to make and that is all on Checo.
Love to see McLaren back at the front, very interesting to see so many teams getting competitive. Just ignore Max and it’s a bloody interesting season.
A very interesting quali, and hopefully an interesting race tomorrow as well.
Delighted by the surprise performance by the two McLarens, happy for Piastri especially. Up until this point I was feeling none of the rookies were making much of an impact. I don't usually root for McLaren but I definitely will tomorrow.
Perez needs to get his shit together or it might be curtains for him...
Feel like printing some "FREE SAINZ" shirts lol
Ferrari have locked him in 2nd place driver spot, but he's looked at least equal to Leclerc this season.
We all know Norris is great but Piastri looks the real deal too. Exciting future for McLaren if they can build on this, especially with the new wind tunnel coming online soon.
It's insane seeing someone pop up to the very top of the column, and then just watch their name get relentlessly pushed down as driver after driver gets their fast lap in. Gripping stuff.
Perez’s saving grace is that he is in the fast car and can come back through the pack to reclaim some points or a podium.
Luckily for RB Max is winning all championships on his own so whilst not great it’s not terrible.
If his race performances were off too he would have been gone before now. RB dropped Gasly and Albon for less however more was at stake then when they were not smashing everyone else.
People need to stop voting him driver of the day though.
Pumped for McLaren. Loved Zak’s reaction in the garage.
It is really best case scenario for Perez to have an off period. Max is winning everything and there is a large fight for second best so the rest of the available points are being spread around every race. As long as Checo has an occasional good race, there is absolutely no risk for the constructor's for Red Bull.
I can't believe Lando is still just 23 years old. McLaren better give him a damn good car for the long term, he can put up some exciting championship contending seasons.
Well this return of rain and the customary Ferrari Haas fuckup caused several drivers to not be able to put in a good lap... I'm afraid our Williams boys won't even get to Q2
They're supposed to be a "sister team", I think I've heard noises about it going back to being more of a B team soon, which I assume would involve more parts sharing.
Yeap, apparently RB will start sharing allowed parts with them, next year. Similar, I suppose to Ferrari/Haas. So, no guarantees that will mean a performance upgrade but at least they should have more money to spend on the parts they have to develop themselves. Maybe.
It's sad how badly he's drowned in F1, especially after such a promising drive at Monza last year. Kinda like Michael Andretti or Jan Magnussen, it just isn't happening for him.
He should for this race. I don't really understand how under the radar he's gone this season, he's been impressively close to Norris for a rookie all year.
It was in the final 3 minutes of Q1 and several drivers, especially Perez, stood still too long in the pitlane exit waiting for the green and the tires lost temperature. It really disadvantaged several drivers
Perez just failed to do a good time. Although he kinda got shafted by being the first one out after the red flag on used tires, since he was drying the track for everyone behind him.
Perez was overly cautious on his final lap. He really doesn't look comfortable in the wet as we've already seen this season. Took too few risks and just ended up slow.
Was a red flag 3 minutes before the end. So everyone had a single chance to set their top time. Especially with the track drying. Perez just didn’t set a good enough time. Maybe if he waited a little bit longer to set a time the track would‘be been a bit faster. It was improving a lot.
Checo absolutely should have been able to get through. The team didn't help him by putting him out at the front after the red flag, but there's not really any excuse for not making it this time.