Sieper wrote: ↑01 Nov 2020, 23:00
NathanOlder wrote: ↑01 Nov 2020, 22:32
Just looked at the qualy pace of last seasons car to help gauge how Gasly and Albon did. Now looking at last season, and using Max vs Mercedes as the gauge (Ferrari were cheating in the 2nd half of the season so thats why I havent included them in the calculations)
The whole time Gasly was in the RedBull , Max averaged 0.529 behind Mercedes in qualifying.
The whole time Albon was in the RedBull, Max averaged 0.177 behind Mercedes in qualifying.
So the whole time Gasly had the car, it was nowhere near as competitive as when Albon had the car. This is why I believe Gasly is a much better driver than Albon. Add to this that Albon was outscored by Kvyat while they were team mates (Alb 16pts, Kvy 27pts), and Gasly had the better of Kvyat (Gas 32pts, Kvy 10pts) There is zero evidence that Albon is better than Gasly yet so many people seem to think Albon deserves to be there more than Gasly.
First, why do you think so many people think Albon deserves it more. Many of us wanted to keep Gasly on, I certainly was fine with that. He had gotten the seat for that year, let him have it. But people were screaming for his blood. Now the same is happening. I am just saying, let Albon drive, it is now his year. But people are again screaming for blood.
That is one thing. people don’t think Albon deserves it that much more, they just want him to have his time. All that switching in season and the noise does not help anybody within RBR. Not at all.
Then your reasoning. Max won one race this year on merit and has 1 front row qualy. He won several last year and had pole on merit. RB15 was more competitive. Also, this year the party mode is gone and only since that happened the qualy gap has reduced. I know you follow F1 as closely as I so you can’t have forgotten. It surprises me the gap is only .177 the whole time Albon is in the car. I thought it larger. Do you have data of the gap for this year pre and post one engine mode?
Points is never a good thing. Gasly was incredibly lucky collecting 25 points in Monza. I don’t mean he drove bad, he drove great, but it was a perfect storm to be in that position. And Kvyat was on the podium in Germany last year. But only because they put him on the slicks early as he was so far behind Albon they could take the gamble with him, he had nothing to lose. Those are just 2 things of the top of my head, but those things skew the numbers, points say a lot, but the teams know the pace the drivers can achieve. Their decision making etc. Etc.
Their is likely much more than zero evidence. F.e. What people mentioned earlier, Albon was faster than Gasly after the switch. Both drove the RB15.
I don’t know who is better, they both are in F1 based on their junior series driving, not based on buying a seat.
I thought Gasly was hard done by, but by the time he left, he really needed an out. I think that if he had stayed all year he would have been destroyed as a racer. He went back to STR with a half year to get his head straight and prove to himself and the world he was not a total fail, which is what he seemed to be at Red Bull.
In addition to this, by the end of the year the other teams would not be considering him worth while, so he would be out. It was cruel, but the best thing all round.
Albon is in a similar bind right now, but does seem to at least have vocal support from the team, and people involved in F1 seem to understand that it is the car that is the destroyer, and not Albon is a Z list.
I do still think Albon should be moved out of the seat, for the same reasons Gasly was, but it seems he does not have the safety net of getting his old job back.
It is even worse as there are 3 or 4 drivers waiting to come into the 'minor' seats, and come with a hot reputation v Albons.
I think one way or the other Albon will soon be out, with very limited choices.
As I said above, I would love to see someone like Hulk come in for one race to see how an experienced driver could handle it. If he had as torrid a time as Albon, then we would know, the team would know, and Albon would feel a lot better.
If Hulk came in and run on Max gearbox, then we would also know this is a driver problem. Would Albon pick up enough experience to overcome it? I doubt it without moving to another car for a few years
When arguing with a fool, be sure the other person is not doing the same thing.