He talked a massive game during the opening races, but he’s failed to get into Q3 at half the races so far. It’s incredible how Verstappen just stomps everyone thrown into the other car, young or experienced, and in every area. I honestly don’t think Checo “the tyre whisperer” Perez is better than Ver at tyre-saving, nor strategy, nor raw pace…
Is there anyone who RB would feasibly replace Per with? Maybe Norris? I’m not a huge fan personally, but I know he’s got plenty of cachet at the moment.
Ricciardo is the reserve pilot and he’s waiting for a chance to return. Perez is just making Horner’s decision easy, he won’t be around much more if he doesn’t improve his racing.
Exactly. Verstappen didn’t leave Ricciardo in the dust when they were teammates. Admittedly, Verstappen had not yet reached his prime, but I’m still certain Ricciardo would do well in the second car.
Are we forgetting that Ric got absolutely destroyed by Norris? I don’t think he’d do better than Checo.
with the fact that Danny is a reserve at Redbull i’m sure the team has all the simulator data and know exactly which driver is the quicker of the 2. But i think if they did swap the 2, pace is only a small factor on that decision.
Maybe Ric meshes better with the way the RB handles? He had a very established driving style at RB which didn’t wind up translating to the way the McLaren ran. Maybe throwing him back into a RB/RB adjacent car will help bring out the better performance he exhibited in the RB.
Ricciado is done. His speed has gone as his time with McLaren proved. I love Ricciado of old, he was great, but now he can’t do it like he used to.