Tsunoda did not do that bad, the field is just extremely tight. I remember when Bottas qualified top 3 with larger deficits than Tsunoda to Verstappen. The car does not matter, Verstappen is just that good. Even in 2022 when Verstappen was complaining about understeering, he still beat Perez. Did Perez take 50ish points from Verstappen back then?mwillems wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025, 21:49I understand, but there's a lot more work to do to get Yuki to challenge Max, not just about driver ability, but also getting a car that can be driven by more than one person. That stuff is pretty serious deficiency in the team, whereas if Piastri was .1 a lap slower, Lando would have walked to the title. That isn't to big up Lando, he's not a brilliant driver, Max is.Gillian wrote: ↑07 Dec 2025, 21:43Not sure what you mean.
I checked the results btw and removed Piastri everywhere he finished in front of Norris and then moved Norris up a position. It gained him about 47 points. It is interesting that in most of those results Verstappen + at least 1 more driver where in front of Norris as well. I'm saying a better teammate to Verstappen would/should have been in that gap as well. That's a 40/50 points swing right there.
But taking favourites and team allegiances aside, circumstances helped mitigate the forces working against Max and helped get him deeper into the championship.
On a seperate note, Max has been a great driver this year, his demeanour both on and off the track has equalled his talent.
Hope to see him in an Orange car in 2027![]()
This whole yadayada of Red Bull being a one man team, custom one man car, one man strategy is just tiresome. Maybe when the guy is 40+ and beyond his prime, it will start to matter but until that time comes, he will be beating anyone on the current grid, no matter what car they drive.
And btw I have no allegiance, I'm a neutral fan and just love excellent drivers, like Senna, Schumi, Verstappen. I guess that makes this team thread the only one where you can post safely.
