2024 Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir, Feb 29 - Mar 02

[JPower]

RB20 is not superior. Otherwise both drivers would be far ahead.

Of you compare all the car’s except Max The field is very close and without RB all others seemed to have temperature issues.
They solve their temperature problems and…whoosh gone is Perez his 2nd place.

That Max has the ability to adapt to a car and maximize its performance is the Max factor. And he’d probably do the same trick in every other car.

I can think of plenty of races where Bottas looked average in a "dominant" Mercedes.

[Sieper]

RB20 is not superior. Otherwise both drivers would be far ahead.

Of you compare all the car’s except Max The field is very close and without RB all others seemed to have temperature issues.
They solve their temperature problems and…whoosh gone is Perez his 2nd place.

That Max has the ability to adapt to a car and maximize its performance is the Max factor. And he’d probably do the same trick in every other car.

I can think of plenty of races where Bottas looked average in a "dominant" Mercedes.

Mercedes always have very equal drivers and do not give team orders, I think I read that today the last time in here.

[SoulPancake13]

Why can't it be that Red Bull have a mighty car and that Max is an amazing driver? Come on now. There's no need for hyperbole on either end.

[Sieper]

Why can't it be that Red Bull have a mighty car and that Max is an amazing driver? Come on now. There's no need for hyperbole on either end.

They clearly have. You can read that in the RB20 and the RBR team thread. It’s just all the sour “just the car” posters that sometimes will get a response. And if they then come back to actually speak some truth that is much appreciated.

[Rikhart]

Mental gymnastics, here we go. Max’s 32.6 lap time puts to bed any notion of that car not being dominant. He was toying with the field all race long from lap 2 and onwards, Ferrari and Merc problems or no problems. This was worse than anything we saw in 2023. And this is an interim car, waiting for a big upgrade to unleash the full concept.

This is pretty much the conclusion I came to, remains to be seen how accurate it is over the next few races.

[SoulPancake13]

Why can't it be that Red Bull have a mighty car and that Max is an amazing driver? Come on now. There's no need for hyperbole on either end.

They clearly have. You can read that in the RB20 and the RBR team thread. It’s just all the sour “just the car” posters that sometimes will get a response. And if they then come back to actually speak some truth that is much appreciated.

Sure. But to act like Max would do this in all cars on the grid is a bit much, don't you agree? Max has plenty of moments in his career to show off his talent, we don't need to rely on stupid hypotheticals.

[Sieper]

Full battery and brand new soft tires with only 18 laps of fuel left. The 32.6 is not realistic as a possible lap time.. That was just to get the fastest lap.

[Sieper]

Why can't it be that Red Bull have a mighty car and that Max is an amazing driver? Come on now. There's no need for hyperbole on either end.

They clearly have. You can read that in the RB20 and the RBR team thread. It’s just all the sour “just the car” posters that sometimes will get a response. And if they then come back to actually speak some truth that is much appreciated.

Sure. But to act like Max would do this in all cars on the grid is a bit much, don't you agree? Max has plenty of moments in his career to show off his talent, we don't need to rely on stupid hypotheticals.

You reply to me, but it was not me who said that. I would never say that. Max has spent 7 years waiting for a car that was capable of winning a WDC.

[SoulPancake13]

They clearly have. You can read that in the RB20 and the RBR team thread. It’s just all the sour “just the car” posters that sometimes will get a response. And if they then come back to actually speak some truth that is much appreciated.

Sure. But to act like Max would do this in all cars on the grid is a bit much, don't you agree? Max has plenty of moments in his career to show off his talent, we don't need to rely on stupid hypotheticals.

You reply to me, but it was not me who said that. I would never say that. Max has spent 7 years waiting for a car that was capable of winning a WDC.

I am aware! Just wanted to give some context behind my first reply.

[dialtone]

Full battery and brand new soft tires with only 18 laps of fuel left. The 32.6 is not realistic as a possible lap time.. That was just to get the fastest lap.

With everyone else on hards, while fighting at least another driver.

[Sieper]

Full battery and brand new soft tires with only 18 laps of fuel left. The 32.6 is not realistic as a possible lap time.. That was just to get the fastest lap.

With everyone else on hards, while fighting at least another driver.

Indeed. If you already have all the cards stacked up for you it becomes an unfair advantage. In fact, there was just one driver who could have any hope of the purple lap, that was the very long running Alonso. But they put him on hards that last stint and it just wasn’t in the car anyway.

[f1isgood]

I think RB have a car with a clear edge over the competition. But I don't think they'll win 20+ races this year. I think they will win the titles comfortably but not in a fashion like last year as I believe this car to have tracks where others will simply be more competitive.

[SSScoffee]

RB20 is not superior. Otherwise both drivers would be far ahead.

Of you compare all the car’s except Max The field is very close and without RB all others seemed to have temperature issues.
They solve their temperature problems and…whoosh gone is Perez his 2nd place.

That Max has the ability to adapt to a car and maximize its performance is the Max factor. And he’d probably do the same trick in every other car.

I can think of plenty of races where Bottas looked average in a "dominant" Mercedes.

I like Bottas, but he was flattered by the old Mercedes being easy to drive. Max Verstappen's Red Bull is tailored to suit him only, but there's no way Perez is a full second slower than Max. That being said, there's no one catching Red Bull right now. They're probably the only ones who truly understand these regulations. And they weren't even pushed last season. They can outdevelop everyone in a season

[f1isgood]

RB20 is not superior. Otherwise both drivers would be far ahead.

Of you compare all the car’s except Max The field is very close and without RB all others seemed to have temperature issues.
They solve their temperature problems and…whoosh gone is Perez his 2nd place.

That Max has the ability to adapt to a car and maximize its performance is the Max factor. And he’d probably do the same trick in every other car.

I can think of plenty of races where Bottas looked average in a "dominant" Mercedes.

I like Bottas, but he was flattered by the old Mercedes being easy to drive. Max Verstappen's Red Bull is tailored to suit him only, but there's no way Perez is a full second slower than Max. That being said, there's no one catching Red Bull right now. They're probably the only ones who truly understand these regulations. And they weren't even pushed last season. They can outdevelop everyone in a season

This is the most important part of the discussion. People seem to ignore this aspect of the current ruleset. Other technical teams don't seem to have a similar level of grasp over what to do. The RB car has the best ride, is the most stable and works across a variety of tracks unlike the others -- for e.g., McLaren worked and is likely to be very competitive only on tracks with lots of high speed corners for instance.

[GrizzleBoy]

One of the double edged swords of being a champ who only ever won in a red bull is that the entire world knows your contract includes being the favoured driver and that the management setup dictates that your team mate will never challenge