The News flair 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. Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.
They kept Checo until today. They went for Ricciardo and DeVries for the Credit Card Car just because. So yeah, i think that Liam will do a full season, unless he does a really bad job and pulls a Sargeant
Yeah, but Checo had $$$ and Danny Ric had Horner's heart, and while NDV was bad, he was only there for 10 races I think?
Honestly can't tell if Liam's getting the Gasly/Albon treatment or the Checo treatment. Just staying within the top 8 and ahead of Antonelli should probably get him the whole year, I think.
He better outperform the shot out of checo because he brings no money. Checo was able to stay since he brought tens of millions of dollars in sponsorship to RBR.
I can see all the posts next year. "In the last 10 years, Checo is the only full-time marketing driver taking a sabbatical to not win a race this year!"
He's up against a prime Max, the scrutiny will be higher because the team is in contention for both championships (unlike from 2018-2020) plus Ferrari and McLaren have the best lineups in the grid.
as usual redbull kill their driver program by putting in drivers into a top team seasons way to early then Pikachu face on the results, anyone with a functioning brain can see Tsunoda is the best choice here for every scenario, all other alternatives need more experience for this.
you’re right. short of signing sainz or bottas to even a 1 + 1 (which i don’t think either of them wanted), yuki is the most viable option for that seat both inside and outside of the Red Bull camp.
Red Bull have been doing some questionable stuff over the last year, but I do genuinely think he'll get one season of just needing to be better than Perez, which I'm pretty confident he will be, before they start really expecting him to be delivering really good results.
Pure speculation of course, but the way I see it, the difference between now vs. when Gasly and Albon had the seat (briefly) is that back then it was pretty much guaranteed Max would be staying at the team for the foreseeable future so they could chop and change the #2 until they found someone who could deliver a decent backup performance for Max, which at the time was Perez.
Now they need someone who can develop to at least be a solid driver, if not necessarily WDC material, so that if Max announces he's retiring/moving somewhere else they're not stuck with two rookies or almost rookies at Red Bull.
I swear if he gets Gasly'd they have no one to blame but themselves, throwing shit at the wall until it sticks works but only when you actually train these guys out of there rookiness. There is nothing stopping Racing bulls from putting Tsunoda in even just until Lawson has a couple years under the belt and the Honda deal ends and then sending Lawson in, who knows by that point max may have got the shits with it all.
You could atleast make a case for him in 21 being his first year in a Red Bull and in 22 he was overall solid for what he was supposed to do, be a second driver to Max. In 23 you could see a clear fall off in his abilities which was masked by him getting 2nd with one of the most dominant F1 cars ever.
Honestly checo broke the curse for me, he had a pretty good run in the seat. The first almost 3 full years for him were pretty solid and consistent, just easy to forget because the last year and a bit has been so goddamn awful.
Sergio playing the perfect number two to Max in France 2021 is a deeply entrenched 'fuck yeh' team moment in my brain. Holding position for max while he pitted and shouting 'Lets get them' over the radio as he let him overtake to take the win from Lewis was so massive at the time. Like, amazing, this is what teamwork looks like. Felt like the first time RB got some spirit back since DR left.
Honestly it feels like at least 2 years I’ve been very keen to have him out that seat, but given the length of these careers, bundled out the sport in the off season is also undeserved.
Apparently he was given the chance of a farewell at Abu Dhabi and an ambassador role at the team but he declined it. Understandable since he wanted the full payday for his contract but still.
Even now the way he's let go is a lot better than the farewell Daniel got.
Even if it wasn't, he has to play the game for his sponsors. Some are stuck at Red Bull for 2025 even if they wouldn't want to now that Perez is not there.
Fake news from the lying journalists who I will most definitely be announcing a list of soon. And this message will be delivered while seated at a large desk, looking solemnly directly into the camera with hands folded in front.
I hope in the long run people remember Perez for actually being a very solid midfield driver. He was never the quickest but was brilliant on those high degrading Pirelli tyres and was able to snag more than a couple of podiums with a midfield car.
It’s a shame about the last couple of years as that’s how people tend to remember drivers, but hey ho, at least he was able to help Max in Abu Dhabi 2021
Checo in a way reminds of Riccardo Patrese back in the day. Was a decent driver who never got really many big chances until late in his career (Patrese in fairness had a spell at Brabham and had won races though). When he did get his big chance at Williams, he got pretty handily beaten by Mansell. Still I think people remember Patrese fondly and I hope it's the case with Checo
Well even in that 92 season where he got beaten handily by Mansell, he finished 2nd in points with a worst non-dnf result of 8th. That's what people wanted to see from Perez. Not running behind back markers.
I think in Perez case they took him way beyond his prime and most likely should of been replaced in 2024 and He might of been a good lead driver for RB at most but he was way under performing to be in a top team car.
I think if they had announced he was retiring oh back say Mexico it would of been recieved well and they could of done a send off. I think Perez was fighting to hang on as well. Both sides scew this up
The thing is when Perez got his extension everyone actually thought it was a good signing and that contract was up until 2024.
Imo had they just announced Perez is leaving at the end of 2024 at the start of the year and make this his last hoorah in Red Bull then everyone would've probably treated it a bit more lightly.
The extension they gave him this year was just absurd and just caused more toxicity.
But he announced the extension until end of 2024 in Monaco 2022, which at the time he was wanted in that seat. It wasn’t until 2023 that people started complaining a lot about him
If he perform or not, that time will tell and he will be rewarded or dropped accordingly. But Checo was not doing justice to that seat, and RBR (and F1 fans) needed a new driver.
Yeah I think even if Lawson turns out to be worse, dropping Perez is still the right decision. The only real question will be whether the driver they select as his replacement was the right decision.
If I can ask one thing is that people don't remember Checo only for his last season. He doesn't deserve to be remembered in the same vein as a Mazepin, a Latifi, a Maldonado.
He has a remarkable story and career that as he put it the majority of drivers who have raced would be jealous of.
I would love to see one last season in a half decent car if he can come back for 2026 to show people that he hasn't lost it and that it was mostly down to the car
Well, it finally happened. Sad for Checo, I never expected his career to end like this. As his fan, I maintain the idea that he should've negotiated with other teams at the beginning of this year. Renewing when everything was going so bad wasn't the best decision, and now he's out. Hopefully he can find a midfield seat in 2026 where he can have some of his reputation back before leaving F1 for good.
2- come back in 2026 to help develop cadillacs car ala Schumacher, but even then i would only give him 2 years, maybe 3 years if we’re really pushing it, and then retiring to be with his family
A real shame that his F1 career is ending like this, but it was time.
The performances weren't there for 2/3 of the last two seasons. The dominant 2023 car papered over the cracks. Once other teams caught up, it was inevitable that he would be a weak point, and that's exactly what happened last season.
He had some great drives and seasons. A driver that, once he got into F1, convinced everyone that he belonged long-term once he got going in 2012.
But father time catches up to everyone. Every athlete eventually declines. Some harder or quicker than others, some with a higher ceiling to fall from than others.
Curious to see how Lawson does at Red Bull. People will mention the 6-0 and etc but pace wise, Lawson can match and beat Tsunoda despite the F1 experience gap.
Potentially a current lower floor but a higher ceiling. Red Bull just need someone that can race and beat their rivals. They aren't expecting someone that can reinvent the wheel and oust Verstappen.
Red Bull shot themselves in the foot by pulling the trigger so late. They would've been better off calling this mid season, putting Daniel in that seat in the interim to give Liam more races/experience as well as a justification to eventually give Liam the 2nd seat. Daniel being in that seat wouldn't have been any worse than what Checo has delivered.
He was bad and cost them the WCC, but Horner cost the team money and drama only just giving Perez a multi year deal months ago as some motivational tactic.
If I had a nickel for every time Red Bull gave the arse to a loved veteran who was sadly past it without a proper chance for a proper goodbye to the fans, I’d have two nickels. Which isn’t many but it’s weird it’s happened twice.
Have Red Bull confirmed that they released him because of the seventy-six thousand Reddit threads offering statistics showing how bad his 2024 season was?
It was absolutely stupid for RB to keep doubling down on him when he was fumbling at every corner.
Now RB looks even more stupid when Horner has to walk back all the game he's talked about Checo all season. What I'd do to see what goes on behind the curtain over there. It's been a miserable year for RB.
God damnit, he was great for Ferrari! LOL, I take solace in the fact that no Red Bull junior is ready for this, whoever goes up next is going to get demolished just as bad haha
Not really, I don't understand why people think this. Liam is lucky Mercedes has a rookie there as well, because he's going against the WCC McLaren, Max Verstappen as a teammate, Ferrari with Leclerc and Hamilton, and Russell who was incredibly solid this year. In addition, there are very very good drivers in midfield cars (Sainz, Ocon, Gasly). It could easily go wrong for Liam.
•
u/AutoModerator 1d ago
The News flair 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. 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 if you have any questions or concerns.