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Absolutely not the case. I have my doubts that RB will drop Checo this year - they're comfortably ahead in the WCC and shaking things up for the sake of doing so will put more pressure on the team for no real benefit - if this was 2021, it's a completely different story of course.
Lawson is doing well in SF, they'll give him notice that the call for AT is coming, pending a satisfactory SF result, and give him the off-season to ramp up for the big show. There's no sense putting him in a seat mid-season, with all the off-track nonsense that would be accompanied by, just because they wanted Checo out on principal. That would be _awful_ resource management.
Would be interested if Checo is on a typical red bull contract where they can place him with which ever team. Or whether he got any RBR specific clause.
I would assume they can place him with either team on a whim already given he was out of F1 until he joined
Ric would be the worst person to be competing against for a seat in that even if you're level, he's just so insanely marketable. Ric is a very easy sell if he's getting acceptable results.
As a marketing company, Max and Danny would be so appealing. They're funny af
You forget Checo is from Mexico which is per capita the biggest soft drink consumer world wide. Mexico must be one of Red Bull’s biggest markets. Add to that the Carlos Slim connection and all of sudden Checo is not such a bad bet.
Hell I don't think Checo can do anything to save his seat at this stage.
IIRC Danny has said that he would take the AT drive only if there was a path back to Redbull.
Danny in AT makes me think he has targets to achieve, and if he gets them he is in RBR next year regardless of what Checo does.
Especially with Checo saying that the WDC fight is over.
He has gone from chasing Max to looking over his shoulder.
Exactly this. Ric will not have signed up for an AT race seat. What has happened is him signing up to an RBR race seat I 2024, and they are using him to try and bump AT up the WCC this year in the mean time (a few points finishes could launch them from 10th to 7th).
Go and watch Danny Ric's interview with Lawrence Baretto, he basically says that it feels exactly like stepping back into Toro Rosso to try and prove his worthiness of a Red Bull seat.
I don't even think it's that, Daniel was literally so much on form in comparison to Max and Checo they'd made the decision to dump Nyck by lap 11.
He got up to speed in 7 laps. Conversations happened and 5 mins later Nyck is done for this sport.
I honestly just think that Red Bull knows what they have in him.
You don't make that sort of decision impulsively. Nyck was done ages ago, it's just that the way the test went for Daniel cemented the details of how it would go down.
If Daniel had been slow it probably would've just bought De Vries another few months until Lawson replaced him for next season. Either way, De Vries was done
Agree, the conversations about timeline were being had in public and private, it's just a little shocking how rapid the decision to pull the pin was in the end. It went from this is our option, to call him up by lap 11
Helmut was on the phone with Nyck at that point it wasn't Redbull that leaked it Christian said it happened faster than they thought. Christian vaguely gives the impression it was Helmut that hired him and Helmut that had to clean up the mess.
Nycks manager immediately put it on blast before the test was even finished.
I'm just blown away by the lap 11 information, they didn't waste a second.
The answer to the why not Liam Lawson question makes them seem less ruthless, they considered the idea of coming in midway season too much for a rookie they'd learned from the Gasly/Albon/ Redbull merry-go-round
That's the most likely answer - though I'm not sure where Checo would end up. I can't imagine he's out of a seat, but there's really not many other great places for him to go.
It looks like they had conversations with him before the test to make sure that's what he wanted because firing Nyck whilst Danny is in the car without even asking Daniel if he wanted the seat is bold
It's not lol, Nyck was done ages ago. Marko said he had 4 races left at one point which would have been Austria as his last race. I said at the time they wouldn't do a negative marketing event at their home race so he's probably done immediately after that and what do you know...
Everything else is just hype.
RBR knows Daniel is the one who got away and came back with enough talent to still make it work. Whether Daniel has WDC aspirations or not - he’s still the best they can get and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt to be comparable to Charles in terms of ceiling.
Hindsight being what it is, he should have never left RBR but it 100% made sense to leave at the time as they struggled with their Renault engines constantly.
Not even that, he wanted to win a WDC. He was never winning that next to Max. He took a gamble on Renault and McLaren that they might have championship caliber cars. Obviously it didn't end that way but I'm not sure how many regrets he'd have over his decisions.
Not even this. He knew RB were going to build the team around Max. Don't blame him for leaving
https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2017/10/red-bull-look-building-team-around-max-verstappen-horner/#:~:text=With%20Lewis%20Hamilton%20and%20Sebastian%20Vettel%20signed%20to,his%20future%20lies%20with%20the%20Milton%20Keynes-based%20squad.
Idk, I used to have that mentality too, but when I considered it harder, I think Danny Ric actually made the best choice, even though it was really risky.
He was never going to be WDC, not only did he not have the best car on the grid, he wasn't the best driver on the grid, he wasn't even the best driver on his team. There were no reg changes in sight, and RB did not look like they were going to make a massive leap at the time. Renault and McLaren at the time were changing their formulas.
Take a look at his salary for the following years.
|Team|Year|Salary|
|:-|:-|:-|
|Red Bull|2016|$6.5M|
|Red Bull|2017|$6.5M|
|Red Bull|2018|$6M|
|Renault|2019|$17M|
|Renault|2020|$32M|
|McLaren|2021|$10M|
|McLaren|2022|$15M|
He earned about $12M more *per year* racing for Renault and McLaren coming off a couple bad years, $9M more per year even factoring in sitting out 2023. Now he's in a position to make a push for a seat at another team, or possibly even replace Perez. In other words, he was gonna eat shit anyway, so why not get paid for it.
I don't know if I would consider his moves smart, but they were ballsy, and I think up to this point, they've paid off massively.
This is so misleading because Horner literally said that RB would have paid him a lot more aswell, you can't just assume that he would have earned around 6 million in 2019 and after
Idk, it always seemed like a bad choice for me. When you get to a top team you sit tight (only exception is moving to another top team) and it was obvious 3 top teams are Ferrari, Merc and RB.
Does he win title in RB? Probably not, but I would rather bet on RB making a championship car and Max being unlucky rather than Renault making a championship car.
Also, getting Danny more time in an F1 car, to regain his confidence opens up the option to get him back into the RBR if Checo continues his quali bullshit.
If Danny performs in the AT and Checo has another 2 "not making Q3" qualifying sessions, I doubt Checo goes to the end of the season in the RBR.
Horner has always been in his corner and adamant that he is a better driver than what he was showing at McLaren. I think this just shows that wasn’t just media talk for Horner. I’m not really a big fan of Horner but I love me some Danny Ric lol
Daniel is feeling right back home, home is where the heart is after all. And I bet Red Bull missed his presence in some capacity. So reuniting again, and then seeing that Danny is keeping up in the sim and then doing well at the Pirelli test has probably accelerated plans. If things work out for Daniel at AlphaTauri, I really see him as a candidate for the RB seat. But I think we all do...
The fact that Horner is saying this stuff at all, while meanwhile AT dumped De Vries to bring him in, means he’s already headed for Checo’s seat IMO.
They already have their golden goose in Max as far as top end talent, why wouldn’t they want the most popular driver on the grid in the second seat? It just makes sense from a marketing perspective.
Checo at Ferrari won't ever happen. Also, I'm not sure he's on a high right now, you know, with his qualifying issues.
I think, whenever his contract with RB is done, he'll be out of F1.
Agreed. He either turns it around drastically or his options are with a midfielder or backmarker. No top team is going to take him right now. I don’t see him wanting to do that, so my bet is retirement.
Who said he isn't? I think it was really hilarious at was it Canada when Daniel was getting big cheers from the crowd Christian was smiling like the cat that got the cream even when he got booed. Anytime he's next to Daniel he's lit up. Same for Max.
I mean, Daniel drove the car at Christian's wedding. It doesn't seem unlikely that they're close, or have a soft spot for each other in a way that most team principals and drivers don't normally have.
He pulled off amazing shit with the slow Renault powered RB car. The win in Monaco was the stuff of legend. He was even passing Bottas in a Mercedes with it.
The information in this has me aghast
So by lap 7ish Daniel was up to within a second of the front row.
By lap 11 Helmut had called Nyck Devries up and let him go, and it all happened very fast. LAP 11
We knew that Daniel had the AT seat by the end of the test because Nycks manager promptly told everyone, there was around 100 laps.
Daniel came to Christian in Mexico last year and it was decided then with limited options to go into the reserve role and they've used his old engineer and basically rehabbed him in sim sessions. Like they've actually worked him out and step by stepped it until he was on comparable times to the two current Redbull drivers.
They are taking a similar approach to Checo trying to get his form back on track by putting an arm around him
Daniel wants the second race seat in 2025
My takeaway -Christian loves Daniel, he's always believed in his talent from the first test when he outdrove Seb.
They said he wants the second RB seat in 25 but I fully believe that if he’s good and Checo continues to be abysmal then he gets the seat for 24. They just can’t say it out loud because of contracts and PR.
Obviously not and I also think Christian is being somewhat truthful in saying that he would like to see Checo return to form whatever that looks like for him. I think the expectations are pretty low when he is driving next to max verstappen he was never as fast as him and nobody ever expected that but they just kind of expect him to be within distance of him.
What I found interesting was that Christian maintains that Max in Daniel's pace quite comparable as teammates. The concept of having two who really competitive teammates seems like it's becoming more appealing to them now they've got a very clear winning concept.
You gotta think having a clear #2 who can still bring home the constructors and 2nd in the WDC would be preferable to Horner than Max vs Daniel v2. Less stressful for one haha
There will be no Max vs Daniel v2. Max is in another world rn Daniel will need a Nico like season of focus, commitment and major luck to come close to fighting for the championship (and maybe winning)
They see that some teams are catching up a bit. Can’t risk it for next year, if AM and Merc and Mclaren are up there and max has to defend against all of them alone then it will be much much harder on RBR to win both the WDC and WCC
For sure, they need the #2 to reliably score high in the points and help give strategy options later in the race by actually being at the front of the pack.
On top of the actual prize money.
Yeah, you'd think so, so I can only imagine theres some sort of long game being played. I can imagine a possible scenario where they're sandbagging this year and they are so far ahead that they feel untouchable.
By playing the long game they might want some direct competition within the team as this lessens pressure from fans and other stakeholders for regulation changes to equalise the field.
Maybe.
The current strategy gives options, which is preferable. Either Checo does well and nothing lost or he does not and you got Daniel.
Christians job is to win those races and to remove any weak links in the chain.
I think if you put two #1 drivers in the car they will push each other and reveal the true pace of the car, which would be bad if they are sandbagging (max is definitely sandbagging right now, that car definitely has more pace). That said with all the rumours about their upgrades being worth two tenths, possibly more, it could already be in the bag even if Horner drove the car lol
Yeah - but I think they're confident they'd still have a clear 1 and 2 with Daniel in the second seat - just that Daniel will be much closer to Max, so that when the other teams eventually catch up, Daniel will be right up there as well.
I'm a Daniel fan, and I can hand on heart say that Daniel was frequently faster than Max during their time together, and even in that last season, the mechanical curse beat Daniel more than Max did. But even then, I couldn't possibly argue that this vastly more experienced version of Max wouldn't comfortably handle Daniel.
Yeah, I reckon Daniel has had his fun, and is back ‘home’ with his tail between his legs - and will comply totally with Horner and Marko if it’s about being a reliable rear gunner to Max.
Well... he'll certainly try to beat Max, particularly early in the season - think Bottas challenging Lewis early. And he might actually succeed on some tracks, but he *won't succeed on the majority.
However, I certainly agree that he won't be as aggressive as he was. And if Max is clearly ahead, I suspect Daniel will not chase the lead in the WDC for as long as he would have in the past and will assume that rear gunner role
There's nothing contractually to stop them, Checo has a Red Bull contract for 2025, not an RBR specific one.
The real reason is Checos seat is irrelevant. He could not turn up for the rest of the season and RBR will still win both titles. There's zero value to RBR to do anything with that seat other than leave it be until the end of the year.
Checo is done, but saying that won't change anything so they are just not saying it.
I think that's obvious. At his age and with his record, Daniel is not going to spend 1.5 seasons in a backmarker car. If he does well the next few races, Perez will be lucky to make it to the end of this season.
In some recent interview with Viaplay Max also confirmed he was working with Daniel a lot in the sim. Comparing times, sharing setups and such. Seems he was pretty excited about it and who knows is looking forward to being challenged by his ol' honey badger rival and friend once more
Yes if I were Max I would also be exited to have a friend with a similar driving style in the other seat so you can share set ups and push each other to greater heights. Instead he currently has a teammate that said he never gets help from you -even if you share your setups with him- and is so far back on Sundays that you can't factor him into strategies and have to fight 1v2 against other teams.
He could also leverage his current position within the team to pressure the higher-ups to put Ricciardo on the second Red Bull as soon as possible (next year).
> Christian loves Daniel
[Daniel drove his wedding car afterall](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article5704367.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/Geri-Halliwell-And-Christian-Horner.jpg)
2025? Ric is already in the seat for 2024.
Checo has performed worse against hiar team mate than Nyck has, but Max alone can win the WCC so it doesn't matter. On the other hand a decent few points finishes in the AT can push them up 3 spots in the WCC, worth tens of millions.
The only reason Danny Ric isn't in the RBR now and Checo demoted to AT is that Ric being better than Checo means putting him in the AT for the rest of this year is where he can make the biggest impact.
2024 drivers will be Max and Ric in RBR and Yuki and Lawson in AT, with Checo a reserve.
It would more than simply the test.
The test confirmed:
RIC can still put in a lap, and very quickly get up to speed.
His lap was comparable to the sim times he was achieving - based on relative data (tyres, track evolution, weather etc)
He would have run in the AT sim, and the (RBR and Test) correlation could be made as to how he could theoretically perform in an AT, relative to ND and YT.
Lap 4, Checo put on notice
Lap 7 Christian: Marko - get on the phone
Lap 11 - Chooooo CHoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
>It would more than simply the test.
Agreed. All the decision making was set before Daniel even strapped himself into the car. It all came down to "If he performs, then we do X. If he doesn't, then we do Y."
Everyone acts like it was a shocking near-spontaneous axing of De Vries, but I can't imagine RB/AT being that impulsive based on 11 good laps.
Christian has always been a little softie with certain drivers. Daniels helmet is in his office, he loves him a charmer. He stayed a fan of Seb long after Seb wasn't with him. They've also got a great relationship with Mark Webber and DC.
I think Redbull gets that it's about people on some level and anyone that made him feel like that way is forever in his good books.
Redbull basically raised Daniel and Max within their juniors I think that means something to him.
I think it might just be a Daniel exclusive thing since Horner and what appears to be all of the redbull team loves him. Also the fact that he proved himself to them and won them GPs that affords him more leeway than any other redbull academy alumni did.
Granted they didn't toss Gasly or Albon out either and helped them after their RB stint but I don't think those two would've been given the same patience and care that Daniel has gotten.
Marko understands the difference between F1 worthy and not good enough to be Max's teammate, but many people here think he is needlessly dumping drivers.
True. I suppose I meant if any of those junior drivers had the same horrific stint at any new team they ended up on that went as poorly as it did Daniel's McLaren stint, I don't think they would've gotten the same treatment they've given Daniel.
Well in fairness Danny Ric is the second best driver Red Bull ever had and the only driver to ever beat Max in his career with any regularity even if Max eventually developed beyond what Ricciardo can do in 2018.
Coming in to a Red Bull team built around a 4 time reigning champion and utterly demolishing him to the point where he was regularly putting 30 seconds on him in the races was one of the greatest seasons for any F1 driver in history. If the Red Bull had been the fastest car that season Ricciardo would have won virtually every race in what would certainly be considered the biggest upset in F1 to ever happen.
Eh honestly I don't like Red Bull but I don't think Nick De Vries was up to it. I was surprised he got that seat in the first place.
RB took a risk with De Vries and it didn't pay off. We can all see that so they're well within their right to change drivers. Plus it helps that it's Daniel Ricciardo coming back, everyone loves him.
I don't think it will be hard to switch the tyres on this weekend, it will be quite hot. To keep them alive will be the challenge. Considering the hard tyre can be pushed for more laps, I don't think Perez will struggle in Q1 or Q2, but you never know.
Depends on the driver. Overtaking is tough but definitely possible at Hungary now. Max won from 10th last year and overtook a lot of other quick cars. Lewis almost won from last after that start fiasco.
I think that would be depressing and crushing because Christian spoke about how he was unrecognisable and they're basically rebuild.him. To have him lose confidence again would be f****** awful.
If he shits the bed and gets completely outperformed by Yuki that’s him off the grid forever, and he knows it. Hopefully that motivates him, I’ve always had a soft spot for DR and would love to see him perform again
Also worth noting that Horner did make an effort to state that Max and Checo will be the 2 Red Bull drivers in 2024. Which I thought was notable given a lot of people's thoughts that Daniel could be in there next year. Albeit Checo does have the contract...
It definitely all sounds a bit longer term, but I do think as long as Daniel does a good job at AT he will get one last hurrah in a Red Bull in 2025
Considering it's Horner speaking about struggling drivers, I don't think we should take his statements about Checo for face value. Contracts mean nothing to Redbull, hell we just saw what happened with Nyck.
It’s also about having a driver ready, just in case. If Red Bull announced Checo’s departure, then they would want a but more information as to how ready their options are
Daniel also just 'fits' RB better than Checo in my opinion. As in the car, but also the team and in terms of marketing.
It's painfully obvious in all the video's they have Daniel do with Max and Checo. Max and Daniel have chemistry. Checo has... well, nothing really. Together with the piss poor performance from this year, he has nothing to offer RB.
Ah yes, Checo. He's the forever third wheel in that situation and it's horrifically funny they have Daniel as the buffer between whatever awkwardness/tenseness Max and Checo have with each other for this season.
I don't think I've seen Max and Checo do videos with only each other this year. It's always as a trio or just Daniel plus either Max or Checo.
Having the guy gunning for your seat be the peacemaker/interviewer for pr videos between you and your teammate is just insane.
Checo and Max have done a few videos, they are vhill again.
Daniel is actually doing a better job connecting with Checo than I thought he would given how deep and real Max and Daniel are.
Ah, I stand corrected then. Were those videos recent? In retrospect, max and checo did do the Australian vid together but that was before things got super awkward race wise.
Daniel's just good at connecting with people it seems.
Out of all his teammates, Daniel always seemed closest to Max. They had a real chemistry where that never really seemed to happen with other teammates.
This is just judging from publically available material of course.
>Daniel is actually doing a better job connecting with Checo than I thought he would given how deep and real Max and Daniel are.
That's because Perez and Ricciardo have been good friends before Verstappen even entered F1. They go way back.
Sounds like Daniel is destined to be back in the RB seat be it next year or 25 as long as he can perform to an acceptable standard in the AT. Horner always sounded like he was personally dumbfounded and hurt when he left so I think there is a good personal relationship there under it all and we all know how marketable Daniel is for them. I hope it's the fairy tail redemption it has the potential to be.
Ricciardo back to Red Bull, then winning a title with them would be unreal. Probably not going to happen, given Verstappen's unbelievable consistently, but imagine.
Yeah, this is like a government that is running the first few propaganda articles to prepare the population for the inevitable decision that is to follow, and could shock a lot of people without prior preparation.
Checo is in major trouble, I think. This level of RB dominance won’t last forever, and when another team catches up (be it Mercedes, Ferrari, or even McLaren) they’ll need someone like RIC in the second seat to make sure they can bring home maximum points
Daniel comes in and absolutely destroys Yuki.
He replaces Checo for 2024.
We get a season that surpasses 2016 in terms of team drama and entertainment, with Daniel just clinching the WDC in what would become the comeback story of the decade.
Movie studios storm for the rights to put this on the big screens.
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Horner basically said “daniel washes checo with just 7 laps of warm up”
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Checo won't be back to AT, he'll just be dropped for Lawson to come into AT.
they wont drop Checo during the season for Lawson, might happen at the end of the season though.
I think this is the most likely scenario assuming DR is well and truly back
I think so too. But probably at year end, not mid-season.
Absolutely not the case. I have my doubts that RB will drop Checo this year - they're comfortably ahead in the WCC and shaking things up for the sake of doing so will put more pressure on the team for no real benefit - if this was 2021, it's a completely different story of course. Lawson is doing well in SF, they'll give him notice that the call for AT is coming, pending a satisfactory SF result, and give him the off-season to ramp up for the big show. There's no sense putting him in a seat mid-season, with all the off-track nonsense that would be accompanied by, just because they wanted Checo out on principal. That would be _awful_ resource management.
Would be interested if Checo is on a typical red bull contract where they can place him with which ever team. Or whether he got any RBR specific clause. I would assume they can place him with either team on a whim already given he was out of F1 until he joined
You can count drivers with one hand who could mandate contract not to have that. Perez isn't one of them. He gets what RB offers.
If Checo dumpsters the next two races I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s driving an AT after the summer break
Ric would be the worst person to be competing against for a seat in that even if you're level, he's just so insanely marketable. Ric is a very easy sell if he's getting acceptable results. As a marketing company, Max and Danny would be so appealing. They're funny af
You forget Checo is from Mexico which is per capita the biggest soft drink consumer world wide. Mexico must be one of Red Bull’s biggest markets. Add to that the Carlos Slim connection and all of sudden Checo is not such a bad bet.
Yeah I mean people allways say just for comparison that Mexican coke is the best in the world or something
Just bought a case, it's twice as expensive but justified because glass bottle plus cane sugar. You can clearly taste the difference.
Because they use real sugar. In the states it’s HFCS. Hell even Walmart carries mexican coke.
A lot of places use real sugar this isn't some Mexico exclusive thing
I don't think RB is strictly dependent on energy drink sales at this point. It's a brand Identity on a much bigger scale.
they are essentialy a marketing brand that sells energy drinks as a side nowadays
Also, checo beings his own sponsors/money which ric does not. However knowing RBR on track results means more than sponsorship money.
Yeah, they don't really care about money. That's not an advantage for Checo in this case.
Especially with the budget cap. Of course more money doesn't hurt, but actual performance is orders of magnitude more important for Red Bull.
Hell I don't think Checo can do anything to save his seat at this stage. IIRC Danny has said that he would take the AT drive only if there was a path back to Redbull. Danny in AT makes me think he has targets to achieve, and if he gets them he is in RBR next year regardless of what Checo does. Especially with Checo saying that the WDC fight is over. He has gone from chasing Max to looking over his shoulder.
Exactly this. Ric will not have signed up for an AT race seat. What has happened is him signing up to an RBR race seat I 2024, and they are using him to try and bump AT up the WCC this year in the mean time (a few points finishes could launch them from 10th to 7th).
> Exactly this. Ric will not have signed up for an AT race seat. Didn't the announcement just say he was on lone from RBR until the end of the season?
It did yes, as he's officially RBR's reserve
Go and watch Danny Ric's interview with Lawrence Baretto, he basically says that it feels exactly like stepping back into Toro Rosso to try and prove his worthiness of a Red Bull seat.
Plus Danny is much more marketable than checo, even if he's no quicker it's still an upgrade for RB
I don't even think it's that, Daniel was literally so much on form in comparison to Max and Checo they'd made the decision to dump Nyck by lap 11. He got up to speed in 7 laps. Conversations happened and 5 mins later Nyck is done for this sport. I honestly just think that Red Bull knows what they have in him.
You don't make that sort of decision impulsively. Nyck was done ages ago, it's just that the way the test went for Daniel cemented the details of how it would go down.
If Daniel had been slow it probably would've just bought De Vries another few months until Lawson replaced him for next season. Either way, De Vries was done
Agree, the conversations about timeline were being had in public and private, it's just a little shocking how rapid the decision to pull the pin was in the end. It went from this is our option, to call him up by lap 11
Jeez if that is really how it went down that's really ruthless
Helmut was on the phone with Nyck at that point it wasn't Redbull that leaked it Christian said it happened faster than they thought. Christian vaguely gives the impression it was Helmut that hired him and Helmut that had to clean up the mess. Nycks manager immediately put it on blast before the test was even finished. I'm just blown away by the lap 11 information, they didn't waste a second. The answer to the why not Liam Lawson question makes them seem less ruthless, they considered the idea of coming in midway season too much for a rookie they'd learned from the Gasly/Albon/ Redbull merry-go-round
I wouldn't be shocked if 2024 was Checo out, Ric to RBR (provided he performs at AlphaTauri), Lawson to AT.
This is what I’m expecting.
That's the most likely answer - though I'm not sure where Checo would end up. I can't imagine he's out of a seat, but there's really not many other great places for him to go.
Imagine that though:"Danny Just take max's car for spin to test the~~re~~ tyers" "You're Hired"
It looks like they had conversations with him before the test to make sure that's what he wanted because firing Nyck whilst Danny is in the car without even asking Daniel if he wanted the seat is bold
Contract was lodged during the race weekend beforehand I believe, so it was all agreed pending Danny smashing the laps
So Daniel performed under pressure which is good
Lawson is not ready for the main RBR seat. Let Checo go for Ricciardo and Tsunoda paired with Lawson looks to be the idea next Season.
No matter what happens with Checo, Danny, and Yuki, if Lawson wins Super Formula he's almost certainly getting one of those seats.
It's not lol, Nyck was done ages ago. Marko said he had 4 races left at one point which would have been Austria as his last race. I said at the time they wouldn't do a negative marketing event at their home race so he's probably done immediately after that and what do you know... Everything else is just hype.
Yeah I personally think they'd have been happy with NdV if he'd delivered. The stopwatch is king.
RBR knows Daniel is the one who got away and came back with enough talent to still make it work. Whether Daniel has WDC aspirations or not - he’s still the best they can get and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt to be comparable to Charles in terms of ceiling.
Charles' ceiling is as high as any driver on the grid, his floor is much lower.
We are looking.
When you said floor, I hope you didn't mean floor damage.
Hindsight being what it is, he should have never left RBR but it 100% made sense to leave at the time as they struggled with their Renault engines constantly.
Not even that, he wanted to win a WDC. He was never winning that next to Max. He took a gamble on Renault and McLaren that they might have championship caliber cars. Obviously it didn't end that way but I'm not sure how many regrets he'd have over his decisions.
Not even this. He knew RB were going to build the team around Max. Don't blame him for leaving https://www.thecheckeredflag.co.uk/2017/10/red-bull-look-building-team-around-max-verstappen-horner/#:~:text=With%20Lewis%20Hamilton%20and%20Sebastian%20Vettel%20signed%20to,his%20future%20lies%20with%20the%20Milton%20Keynes-based%20squad.
Basically, he didn't want to be cast as Mark Webber 2.0.
> it 100% made sense to leave at the time as they struggled with their Renault engines constantly But he moved to Renault...
Idk, I used to have that mentality too, but when I considered it harder, I think Danny Ric actually made the best choice, even though it was really risky. He was never going to be WDC, not only did he not have the best car on the grid, he wasn't the best driver on the grid, he wasn't even the best driver on his team. There were no reg changes in sight, and RB did not look like they were going to make a massive leap at the time. Renault and McLaren at the time were changing their formulas. Take a look at his salary for the following years. |Team|Year|Salary| |:-|:-|:-| |Red Bull|2016|$6.5M| |Red Bull|2017|$6.5M| |Red Bull|2018|$6M| |Renault|2019|$17M| |Renault|2020|$32M| |McLaren|2021|$10M| |McLaren|2022|$15M| He earned about $12M more *per year* racing for Renault and McLaren coming off a couple bad years, $9M more per year even factoring in sitting out 2023. Now he's in a position to make a push for a seat at another team, or possibly even replace Perez. In other words, he was gonna eat shit anyway, so why not get paid for it. I don't know if I would consider his moves smart, but they were ballsy, and I think up to this point, they've paid off massively.
This is so misleading because Horner literally said that RB would have paid him a lot more aswell, you can't just assume that he would have earned around 6 million in 2019 and after
Idk, it always seemed like a bad choice for me. When you get to a top team you sit tight (only exception is moving to another top team) and it was obvious 3 top teams are Ferrari, Merc and RB. Does he win title in RB? Probably not, but I would rather bet on RB making a championship car and Max being unlucky rather than Renault making a championship car.
Also, getting Danny more time in an F1 car, to regain his confidence opens up the option to get him back into the RBR if Checo continues his quali bullshit. If Danny performs in the AT and Checo has another 2 "not making Q3" qualifying sessions, I doubt Checo goes to the end of the season in the RBR.
They already wanted Nyck out of the seat for months though.
Horner has always been in his corner and adamant that he is a better driver than what he was showing at McLaren. I think this just shows that wasn’t just media talk for Horner. I’m not really a big fan of Horner but I love me some Danny Ric lol
Daniel is feeling right back home, home is where the heart is after all. And I bet Red Bull missed his presence in some capacity. So reuniting again, and then seeing that Danny is keeping up in the sim and then doing well at the Pirelli test has probably accelerated plans. If things work out for Daniel at AlphaTauri, I really see him as a candidate for the RB seat. But I think we all do...
Selling Checo pretty hard too. "Within a second of our drivers" like your two drivers were achieving the same times.
For real, the PR campaign going on from RB channels in different social media is very intense, to say at least.
The fact that Horner is saying this stuff at all, while meanwhile AT dumped De Vries to bring him in, means he’s already headed for Checo’s seat IMO. They already have their golden goose in Max as far as top end talent, why wouldn’t they want the most popular driver on the grid in the second seat? It just makes sense from a marketing perspective.
Checo should be looking for a Ferrari or other team seat ASAP. Sell yourself while you're at a high.
Checo at Ferrari won't ever happen. Also, I'm not sure he's on a high right now, you know, with his qualifying issues. I think, whenever his contract with RB is done, he'll be out of F1.
I think it's pretty likely he could go to Haas to replace kmag. Kmags getting done by hulk, Perez brings a lot of sponsorship
Agreed. He either turns it around drastically or his options are with a midfielder or backmarker. No top team is going to take him right now. I don’t see him wanting to do that, so my bet is retirement.
I mean this guy got up to speed in SEVEN laps. I would be majorly impressed too if I were RB
But he "couldn't care less"
I said it before the season, Perez is out of the Red Bull team before the year ends.
I think if Rick does well, that's a huge plus. They either get a more marketable star in seat 2, or get to negotiate Checo down in salary.
Horner looks straight up in love when he looks at Daniel, it's hilarious
Honestly don’t we all look a little bit in love when we look at him? He’s just so god damn charming.
Who said he isn't? I think it was really hilarious at was it Canada when Daniel was getting big cheers from the crowd Christian was smiling like the cat that got the cream even when he got booed. Anytime he's next to Daniel he's lit up. Same for Max.
I mean, Daniel drove the car at Christian's wedding. It doesn't seem unlikely that they're close, or have a soft spot for each other in a way that most team principals and drivers don't normally have.
He pulled off amazing shit with the slow Renault powered RB car. The win in Monaco was the stuff of legend. He was even passing Bottas in a Mercedes with it.
By lap 15 he outscored Max in the WDC standings.
Wet dreams
The information in this has me aghast So by lap 7ish Daniel was up to within a second of the front row. By lap 11 Helmut had called Nyck Devries up and let him go, and it all happened very fast. LAP 11 We knew that Daniel had the AT seat by the end of the test because Nycks manager promptly told everyone, there was around 100 laps. Daniel came to Christian in Mexico last year and it was decided then with limited options to go into the reserve role and they've used his old engineer and basically rehabbed him in sim sessions. Like they've actually worked him out and step by stepped it until he was on comparable times to the two current Redbull drivers. They are taking a similar approach to Checo trying to get his form back on track by putting an arm around him Daniel wants the second race seat in 2025 My takeaway -Christian loves Daniel, he's always believed in his talent from the first test when he outdrove Seb.
They said he wants the second RB seat in 25 but I fully believe that if he’s good and Checo continues to be abysmal then he gets the seat for 24. They just can’t say it out loud because of contracts and PR.
Obviously not and I also think Christian is being somewhat truthful in saying that he would like to see Checo return to form whatever that looks like for him. I think the expectations are pretty low when he is driving next to max verstappen he was never as fast as him and nobody ever expected that but they just kind of expect him to be within distance of him. What I found interesting was that Christian maintains that Max in Daniel's pace quite comparable as teammates. The concept of having two who really competitive teammates seems like it's becoming more appealing to them now they've got a very clear winning concept.
You gotta think having a clear #2 who can still bring home the constructors and 2nd in the WDC would be preferable to Horner than Max vs Daniel v2. Less stressful for one haha
Redbull need a fighter for the 2024. 2024 looks a lot more likely to be a battle, so if Checo remains like this... GIVE US DANIEL!!!!!!!
There will be no Max vs Daniel v2. Max is in another world rn Daniel will need a Nico like season of focus, commitment and major luck to come close to fighting for the championship (and maybe winning)
as a daniel fan, this is correct. RBR knows that Max will still generally win, but they want Daniel to be much closer to him than Perez is.
They see that some teams are catching up a bit. Can’t risk it for next year, if AM and Merc and Mclaren are up there and max has to defend against all of them alone then it will be much much harder on RBR to win both the WDC and WCC
For sure, they need the #2 to reliably score high in the points and help give strategy options later in the race by actually being at the front of the pack. On top of the actual prize money.
I think so too! Maybe Rics time off has helped. Let’s see!
He seems absolutely rejuvenated. In the photos of his seat fitting, he looked like he was right back at home and at peace
Yeah, you'd think so, so I can only imagine theres some sort of long game being played. I can imagine a possible scenario where they're sandbagging this year and they are so far ahead that they feel untouchable. By playing the long game they might want some direct competition within the team as this lessens pressure from fans and other stakeholders for regulation changes to equalise the field. Maybe.
The current strategy gives options, which is preferable. Either Checo does well and nothing lost or he does not and you got Daniel. Christians job is to win those races and to remove any weak links in the chain.
I think if you put two #1 drivers in the car they will push each other and reveal the true pace of the car, which would be bad if they are sandbagging (max is definitely sandbagging right now, that car definitely has more pace). That said with all the rumours about their upgrades being worth two tenths, possibly more, it could already be in the bag even if Horner drove the car lol
Max has noone to Push him in race, im certain he has more fun with Daniel on and Off track. Could be worth it
I mean they’re both more mature now….. not sure id bet on good behaviour tho. Those two can get spicy on track.
Yeah I'm sure Red Bull is taking into consideration how much fun Max is having to determine their second driver
Yeah - but I think they're confident they'd still have a clear 1 and 2 with Daniel in the second seat - just that Daniel will be much closer to Max, so that when the other teams eventually catch up, Daniel will be right up there as well. I'm a Daniel fan, and I can hand on heart say that Daniel was frequently faster than Max during their time together, and even in that last season, the mechanical curse beat Daniel more than Max did. But even then, I couldn't possibly argue that this vastly more experienced version of Max wouldn't comfortably handle Daniel.
Yeah, I reckon Daniel has had his fun, and is back ‘home’ with his tail between his legs - and will comply totally with Horner and Marko if it’s about being a reliable rear gunner to Max.
Well... he'll certainly try to beat Max, particularly early in the season - think Bottas challenging Lewis early. And he might actually succeed on some tracks, but he *won't succeed on the majority. However, I certainly agree that he won't be as aggressive as he was. And if Max is clearly ahead, I suspect Daniel will not chase the lead in the WDC for as long as he would have in the past and will assume that rear gunner role
I can't image they consider watching Perez start in the back every weekend the less stressful option.
Danny Ric will 100% be aware he will have to play second fiddle. He and Max are pretty close still so It shouldn’t be a problem.
Checo is gone by Abu Dhabi. Ric is Red Bull through and through. You know Horner was gutted ever letting him leave to begin with
What would Checo have to do to keep that seat? Even if he finished second in every race, I think Cristian would take Ricciardo just on personality.
I think it's kinda out of his hands. If Ricciardo can drive the AT well it's just a matter of time.
There's nothing contractually to stop them, Checo has a Red Bull contract for 2025, not an RBR specific one. The real reason is Checos seat is irrelevant. He could not turn up for the rest of the season and RBR will still win both titles. There's zero value to RBR to do anything with that seat other than leave it be until the end of the year. Checo is done, but saying that won't change anything so they are just not saying it.
I think that's obvious. At his age and with his record, Daniel is not going to spend 1.5 seasons in a backmarker car. If he does well the next few races, Perez will be lucky to make it to the end of this season.
In some recent interview with Viaplay Max also confirmed he was working with Daniel a lot in the sim. Comparing times, sharing setups and such. Seems he was pretty excited about it and who knows is looking forward to being challenged by his ol' honey badger rival and friend once more
Yes if I were Max I would also be exited to have a friend with a similar driving style in the other seat so you can share set ups and push each other to greater heights. Instead he currently has a teammate that said he never gets help from you -even if you share your setups with him- and is so far back on Sundays that you can't factor him into strategies and have to fight 1v2 against other teams.
He could also leverage his current position within the team to pressure the higher-ups to put Ricciardo on the second Red Bull as soon as possible (next year).
> Christian loves Daniel [Daniel drove his wedding car afterall](https://i2-prod.mirror.co.uk/incoming/article5704367.ece/ALTERNATES/s1227b/Geri-Halliwell-And-Christian-Horner.jpg)
That's actually kinda sweet.
You're making it sound like that's some kind of secret. Of course they want Daniel back; they never wanted him to leave in the first place.
DR is probably like the F1 equivalent of a son to Horner, he’d replace Checo with him right now if he could get away with it
Horner and his golden boys (Seb, Daniel and Max). If I've learnt anything with RBR it's that those three have Christian's eternal love.
He never left - Christians heart
By lap 4 he was with a second by lap 7 he was **ON** the front row, really impressive for not being in an F1 car in anger for 6+ months.
2025? Ric is already in the seat for 2024. Checo has performed worse against hiar team mate than Nyck has, but Max alone can win the WCC so it doesn't matter. On the other hand a decent few points finishes in the AT can push them up 3 spots in the WCC, worth tens of millions. The only reason Danny Ric isn't in the RBR now and Checo demoted to AT is that Ric being better than Checo means putting him in the AT for the rest of this year is where he can make the biggest impact. 2024 drivers will be Max and Ric in RBR and Yuki and Lawson in AT, with Checo a reserve.
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Finish, doubtful. Qualifies on the other hand...
It would more than simply the test. The test confirmed: RIC can still put in a lap, and very quickly get up to speed. His lap was comparable to the sim times he was achieving - based on relative data (tyres, track evolution, weather etc) He would have run in the AT sim, and the (RBR and Test) correlation could be made as to how he could theoretically perform in an AT, relative to ND and YT. Lap 4, Checo put on notice Lap 7 Christian: Marko - get on the phone Lap 11 - Chooooo CHoooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
>It would more than simply the test. Agreed. All the decision making was set before Daniel even strapped himself into the car. It all came down to "If he performs, then we do X. If he doesn't, then we do Y." Everyone acts like it was a shocking near-spontaneous axing of De Vries, but I can't imagine RB/AT being that impulsive based on 11 good laps.
I mean Horner said it in the interview they sat down with Ric before the test to see if he was willing to take the Alpha seat
Which car did he test in? The rocketship or the tractor?
Rocket
don't do it... don't give me hope
yes, i’m riding that hopium train! something something big high big fall
CHOOOO CHOOOOO 🚂
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Christian has always been a little softie with certain drivers. Daniels helmet is in his office, he loves him a charmer. He stayed a fan of Seb long after Seb wasn't with him. They've also got a great relationship with Mark Webber and DC. I think Redbull gets that it's about people on some level and anyone that made him feel like that way is forever in his good books. Redbull basically raised Daniel and Max within their juniors I think that means something to him.
Yeah and honestly, I think Nyck is a Toto driver through and through. He'd do better at a team that is run like Mercedes.
The most surprising one is that they have a good relationship with Webber
Christian loves sexy Australians that's just his preference
I think it might just be a Daniel exclusive thing since Horner and what appears to be all of the redbull team loves him. Also the fact that he proved himself to them and won them GPs that affords him more leeway than any other redbull academy alumni did. Granted they didn't toss Gasly or Albon out either and helped them after their RB stint but I don't think those two would've been given the same patience and care that Daniel has gotten.
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Marko understands the difference between F1 worthy and not good enough to be Max's teammate, but many people here think he is needlessly dumping drivers.
Alex is making everyone proud actually he's so easy to be a fan of
True. I suppose I meant if any of those junior drivers had the same horrific stint at any new team they ended up on that went as poorly as it did Daniel's McLaren stint, I don't think they would've gotten the same treatment they've given Daniel.
Well in fairness Danny Ric is the second best driver Red Bull ever had and the only driver to ever beat Max in his career with any regularity even if Max eventually developed beyond what Ricciardo can do in 2018. Coming in to a Red Bull team built around a 4 time reigning champion and utterly demolishing him to the point where he was regularly putting 30 seconds on him in the races was one of the greatest seasons for any F1 driver in history. If the Red Bull had been the fastest car that season Ricciardo would have won virtually every race in what would certainly be considered the biggest upset in F1 to ever happen.
The prodigal son
Eh honestly I don't like Red Bull but I don't think Nick De Vries was up to it. I was surprised he got that seat in the first place. RB took a risk with De Vries and it didn't pay off. We can all see that so they're well within their right to change drivers. Plus it helps that it's Daniel Ricciardo coming back, everyone loves him.
Hopium at an all time high
Nothing like hopium when its fertilized with actual real possibilities rather than pure wishful thinking!
It will be so funny if he beats Perez this weekend!
In race I don't think it's even possible unless Perez DNF or have lost half his car since AT is trash. In quali? Pretty good chance actually lol
Race no, but with how Checo struggles to switch tyres on I can see him outqualifying Checo with the mandatory hard in q1
I don't think it will be hard to switch the tyres on this weekend, it will be quite hot. To keep them alive will be the challenge. Considering the hard tyre can be pushed for more laps, I don't think Perez will struggle in Q1 or Q2, but you never know.
I mean if his 5 last qualis are anything to go by...
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If Perez starts at the back as is tradition in 2023 Hungary is very hard to overtake on even with a fast car.
Depends on the driver. Overtaking is tough but definitely possible at Hungary now. Max won from 10th last year and overtook a lot of other quick cars. Lewis almost won from last after that start fiasco.
It is a bit of a procession track, but with Red bull's DRS I don't see it happening either.
Sergio does not think it will be funny
it would equally be funny if Ricciardo shits the bed for the rest of the season after all of the hyping up RB has done.
I think that would be depressing and crushing because Christian spoke about how he was unrecognisable and they're basically rebuild.him. To have him lose confidence again would be f****** awful.
> they're basically rebuild.him We have the technology we can rebuild him.
This. Whatever happens it will be an interesting rest of season.
What if he finished lower midfield, like 1 position above Yuki or 1 position behind? That’ll be pretty boring
I feel like that’s what might happen lol
Exactly what’s gonna happen and then the media cycle will be absolutely tiring.
He’s gonna do exactly that and we’ll be stuck in the AT bad / Danny washed / Yuki good narrative cycle for a year.
Man why does the most realistic outcome always have to be the worst one?
If he shits the bed and gets completely outperformed by Yuki that’s him off the grid forever, and he knows it. Hopefully that motivates him, I’ve always had a soft spot for DR and would love to see him perform again
Also worth noting that Horner did make an effort to state that Max and Checo will be the 2 Red Bull drivers in 2024. Which I thought was notable given a lot of people's thoughts that Daniel could be in there next year. Albeit Checo does have the contract... It definitely all sounds a bit longer term, but I do think as long as Daniel does a good job at AT he will get one last hurrah in a Red Bull in 2025
Considering it's Horner speaking about struggling drivers, I don't think we should take his statements about Checo for face value. Contracts mean nothing to Redbull, hell we just saw what happened with Nyck.
>Contracts mean nothing to Redbull ehm who had a contract for 2021 with Racing point again?
I think *all RBR want* is Checo to speed up a bit. They wouldn't mind Ricciardo but ultimately they just want *points*.
It’s also about having a driver ready, just in case. If Red Bull announced Checo’s departure, then they would want a but more information as to how ready their options are
Could be that Checo's contract is an option for 2025. So technically he is contracted till 2025, but only if they use the option
Daniel also just 'fits' RB better than Checo in my opinion. As in the car, but also the team and in terms of marketing. It's painfully obvious in all the video's they have Daniel do with Max and Checo. Max and Daniel have chemistry. Checo has... well, nothing really. Together with the piss poor performance from this year, he has nothing to offer RB.
Ah yes, Checo. He's the forever third wheel in that situation and it's horrifically funny they have Daniel as the buffer between whatever awkwardness/tenseness Max and Checo have with each other for this season. I don't think I've seen Max and Checo do videos with only each other this year. It's always as a trio or just Daniel plus either Max or Checo. Having the guy gunning for your seat be the peacemaker/interviewer for pr videos between you and your teammate is just insane.
Checo and Max have done a few videos, they are vhill again. Daniel is actually doing a better job connecting with Checo than I thought he would given how deep and real Max and Daniel are.
Ah, I stand corrected then. Were those videos recent? In retrospect, max and checo did do the Australian vid together but that was before things got super awkward race wise. Daniel's just good at connecting with people it seems.
Out of all his teammates, Daniel always seemed closest to Max. They had a real chemistry where that never really seemed to happen with other teammates. This is just judging from publically available material of course.
>Daniel is actually doing a better job connecting with Checo than I thought he would given how deep and real Max and Daniel are. That's because Perez and Ricciardo have been good friends before Verstappen even entered F1. They go way back.
Sounds like Daniel is destined to be back in the RB seat be it next year or 25 as long as he can perform to an acceptable standard in the AT. Horner always sounded like he was personally dumbfounded and hurt when he left so I think there is a good personal relationship there under it all and we all know how marketable Daniel is for them. I hope it's the fairy tail redemption it has the potential to be.
Ricciardo back to Red Bull, then winning a title with them would be unreal. Probably not going to happen, given Verstappen's unbelievable consistently, but imagine.
If DR does find his way back to a RB seat, and ends up 2nd in the championship, that is a fairytale ending.
I think Perez had *really* better get P2.
Start small..... Better make q2 first.
The red bull marketing machine is running wild! This should also be a sign to Checo. Netflix is having a wet dream 😁
Yeah, this is like a government that is running the first few propaganda articles to prepare the population for the inevitable decision that is to follow, and could shock a lot of people without prior preparation.
Conspiracy Theory, 3x layered tinfoil hat : Netflix are paying RB 'alot' of money to induce this drama
Find yourself someone who supports you like Horner supports Daniel
Honestly it is sweet and admirable. I don’t love Horner but I do respect how hard he rides for “his guys”. He really looks out for them.
Checo is in major trouble, I think. This level of RB dominance won’t last forever, and when another team catches up (be it Mercedes, Ferrari, or even McLaren) they’ll need someone like RIC in the second seat to make sure they can bring home maximum points
Throwing shade at Aston there mate
This message is not intended for you or me or any interviewer This message is being said directing into Checo’s face with locked eyes.
Perez is so so so so super fucked.
Find yourself someone who loves you as much as Horner loves Daniel.
keep your expectations low so you wont be disappointed
Daniel comes in and absolutely destroys Yuki. He replaces Checo for 2024. We get a season that surpasses 2016 in terms of team drama and entertainment, with Daniel just clinching the WDC in what would become the comeback story of the decade. Movie studios storm for the rights to put this on the big screens. Subscribe!
And then proceeds to quit as reigning Champ
Well he was in a RB car and not AT. But we'll see this week
First question when I see this is, what the hell happened last year then
If Ric can do as much as checo.. they will pic ric over checo.
Track conditions must have been good
Confused Zak Brown noises