An interesting replacement. I hope he adapts to the car and can get a good result.
Very excited to see Russel vs Bottas😁
Yes I am excited to see Russel in a competitive car, but it is a big ask to expect him to match Bottas in his first outing. If he can get within 0.5 in qualifying he will have performed well. It will be key to see how he races and reacts to the new pressures of a fast car.
You are right, Bottas is very strong in quali but on race day he makes mistakes too often. I hope Russel qualifies close enough so he can fight on race day😁
I am so excited for George to get into that car on Friday! To be able to see what anyone else can do in that car is going to be quite the spectacle. Also, interesting to see how Bottas holds up against him..
Haas doesn't seem like they care and just want to be a Ferrari C team it seems like.
So...
You know how this all works, at least from a drivers perspective. You have the Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull, and McLaren drivers programs. Each of these starts with young kids in carts and goes through all the levels of open wheel to F1.
Most of the teams are aligned with one of the programs. Also note who the driver managers are... you might be surprised that the Mercedes program drivers are managed by Toto Wolf and include Russel and Ocon. All Red Bull drivers are managed by Helmut Marko etc.
Yes I know how it works but Haas made a big deal that they aren't there to just make up the numbers and want to be competitive. This is the opposite of being competitive and making up the numbers.
I think Bottas has had a lot of bad luck recently that does not easily get picked up just watching the races. The steering damage he picked up in Turkey that made the car un-drivable and two punctures in Dubai made him look bad unfairly.
Having said that, you make your own luck, and when you're on top, things flow your way.
Russell has no excuses not to be competitive. Same track, same car won the race. Do or do not, there is no try. Top 4 in qualifying at a minimum, Albon qualified 4th last weekend, and was more than a second off Hamilton’s pole time. My conspiracy brain says that Russell will suffer a DNF/puncture if he is ahead of Bottas in the race.
It's actually a different track, they are using an oval outer circuit. Albon for comparison has driven the Red Bull all season and has never got close to Max.
So he has to get into a new car, with a new team, on a new track, with no testing and drive it as well as a teammate who is settled in and actually a very competent and experienced driver. That would be VERY impressive. It is a daunting prospect, so much to absorb in an impossibly short time.
If he can do it his bum will almost certainly be in a decent car next season. Career changing opportunity, so no pressure then. How would you cope?
As for conspiracy, I don't understand, what for and why?
