aMessageToCharlie wrote: ↑27 Jul 2021, 13:13
El Scorchio wrote: ↑27 Jul 2021, 12:08
zibby43 wrote: ↑27 Jul 2021, 04:53
Very encouraging news. I didn’t realize Checo had been only lagging behind by 1 race.
Still, we’d never see that sort of unequal treatment at Merc.
I was just thinking that. Imagine the outcry if Hamilton got updates before Bottas. One rule for one team, another for everyone else....
Let's not pretend that BOT is any less of a #2 driver than PER. If Mercedes was running into any kind of shortage on parts, they would go to HAM 100% and I don’t think that's controversal or wrong in any way.
Every team in Red Bull's situation would do that. No point in keeping Mercedes on any higher altar in these matters. In 2013, Mercedes was happy to gain podiums after a disastrous 2012 to the extent that, Brawn gave clear team orders to maintain positions in Malaysia. He said, they were even ready to give one arm to get a result like that, if that result would have been offered in 2012.
If other teams starts performing and the competition wraps up and results starts drying up for Mercedes, they would go the same route as Red Bull. It's just the competitive position and flushed with money, Mercedes let (in the past) their drivers fight and produce parts. Letting the driver take win away from team mate with open team orders or using a driver to give a toe for competitive benefits, comprosing the other driver's starting position, is no less an indication of unequal treatment (so to speak). One can always try to prove it right by attaching favoring context to it, but the reality is, it is not an equal treatment. Team comes first and so is the case for Red Bull too and so would be with every team.