I mentioned this last week and it was raised over the weekend again about Red Bull not being able to mount a proper challenge. If we look at Mercedes they have a very good car backed up by two excellent drivers plus a great technical team. Red Bull is their closest challenger yet they struggle to mount a challenge over race weekends.
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Albon is clearly not quick enough as he has the same opportunities as Max during qualifying and just doesn't perform. The team are clearly carrying a passenger right now and that is no good for everyone involved.
Verstappen unfortunately is on his own as Alex Albon The Red Bull second driver is just not good enough. Verstappen has had 6 podiums in a row including a race victory this season and lies second overall in the drivers standings.
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I have no problem pushing talented youngsters into the fray if they are good enough. This is not Alex's fault as Red Bull made this decision and it is backfiring. Formula One is about the best of the best and clearly Alex is not in that category.
Ever since Daniel Riccardo left Red Bull they have struggled to replace that caliber of driver. When max and Daniel were driving together they were challenging for honors regularly and the team had choices with various strategies. they had the opportunity to out think their rivals on the track by opting for different tyre strategies and clever pit stops undercutting the others on the track.
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Similar results every weekend is just not good enough.
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Albon has been given a good run to show if he is good enough and he isn't even challenging for podiums so he has to go.
Pierre Gasly replaced Daniel Riccardo and lasted half a season before being replaced by Alex Albon. Alex has done a mediocre job so far but hasn't really helped Red Bull achieve what they should have.
The race is Spa this weekend was a prime example as Max had no choice as he is fighting two cars every weekend. Alex is way down the field and is not able to apply any pressure so the team has options.
Alex complained that he was pitted and the team put on the medium tyres when they should have been the hard tyres. I agree with him on this but it was an experiment to help Max to see the time differences on the various tyres. Alex is being used as a test dummy right now as he is not seriously challenging and should understand the reasons why.
It is crazy to think that they both have the same car yet the results are so far off when comparing their season so far. It must be tough knowing you are not in the same class and it is becoming more and more apparent every weekend. Red Bull have no choice but to replace him at the end of this season and I am sure it will happen.
The team needs help by having a driver who can challenge for the podium along with Max. Mercedes are having it all too easy right now as the choices are with them and whatever Max does they can counter by using one of their two drivers to copy their tactics. If there was another car in the mix this would not be so easy and would put pressure on their rivals.
I would assume they are lining up Nico Hulkenberg for next season as that would make sense and give them an aggressive driver who could match max at the top. There is the choice of going back to their World Champion Sebastien Vettel who doesn't have a seat next season. Christian Horner has said no to that option but I am sure it is still on the table. How could you not even consider a driver who you know and has delivered their only World titles in the past (2010,2011,2012,2013).
Next season should be more interesting as teams will fine tune their driver line ups still. Albon may be a nice guy and all that but he certainly isn't good enough and could be without a seat next season.
