Sergio Perez signs for Redbull

[Nitrodaze]

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After much delibration, Redbull finally decided to demote Albon to Reserve driver and replaced him with Sergio Perez. After the few wobbles that we have seen in Verstapenn, it seems Redbull has gone for experience and consistency which is abundant in Sergio Perez. This has got to be one of the strongest lineup on the grid for 2021. Certainly enough for Mercedes and Ferrari to take note of.

Perez who inspite of missing out on two races due to COVID and a DNF on course to a well deserved 2nd place podium, still managed to finish 4th in the driver's championship in a midfield car that seemed to have an up and down performance.

Racing Point kicked him out for Vettel but he has landed squarely on his feet at Redbull whom are still trying to sort out their engine for the 2022 season. It is interesting to note that Perez landed in a seat that Vettel was ruled out of. What does that say for Vettel?

[Zico]

I wasn't really expecting this news but I'm delighted for Sergio, he definately deserves it after such a strong showing in the second half of the season.
Its going to be very interesting to see how he fares in the 2nd RB seat. Will he adapt to a tricky car or will he struggle like those who have had it before him?

[Jag_Warrior]

Finally! A driver who loses a seat gets an even better seat... purely on merit! After the disappointment of seeing that trash, Nikita Mazepin, slithering onto the 2021 grid, this is wonderful news. I'm not the biggest Perez fan, but I'm happy that he got this drive. Too bad for Albon. I was really pulling for him to improve and keep the Red Bull ride. But he just wasn't up to it. All is not lost for his career - he wasn't ready for the main Red Bull squad.

[Nitrodaze]

Finally! A driver who loses a seat gets an even better seat... purely on merit! After the disappointment of seeing that trash, Nikita Mazepin, slithering onto the 2021 grid, this is wonderful news. I'm not the biggest Perez fan, but I'm happy that he got this drive. Too bad for Albon. I was really pulling for him to improve and keep the Red Bull ride. But he just wasn't up to it. All is not lost for his career - he wasn't ready for the main Red Bull squad.

He had a baptism of fire really. Shame he could not take it up another notch. Perez really earned that drive.

[F1nKS]

I'm disappointed for Albon. I think he is getting a raw deal and believe he deserves to be on the grid than some that will be in 2021. I think he is much better driver than Gasly and they should have let him drive for Alpha Tauri, instead of rushing the Japanese driver.

I'm happy for Cheko. Racing point were idiots for cutting him. I think with him and Seb they would have made it interesting in 2021. He will finally get a chance to be fighting for podiums every race with Red Bull - so that will be exciting for Cheko fans.

I think 2021 will be like 2020 and Mercedes and Hamilton will dominate regardless. That means it will be Max and Cheko fighting over 3rd. So yeah, they probably will be a stronger 2nd place team if they don't have chemistry problem and take each other out at the start of the races.

Personally, I think Red Bull had two choices.

1. Think long term. Continue to work for 2022 when they will have a chance to put up a car that might compete for the championship. That would mean keeping Albon and continue to working on him to improve on his weaknesses. He could match Max for race pace, his problem was qualifying.


2. Think short term - roll the dice and go with Cheko and put the best driver lineup they can put for 2021 even though it will hurt them long term. Even maybe they had decided that with the engine issues - 2021 is there last year.

[Steve Boyd]

working on him to improve on his weaknesses.
Do Red Bull do that?
I thought they just dropped juniors in at the deep end on a sink or swim basis.

[Zico]

Do Red Bull do that?
I thought they just dropped juniors in at the deep end on a sink or swim basis.


Yeah, the 2nd RB seat is a weird one. I've never been able to quite work out whether their No2 drivers relative performance compared to Max is due to a severe lack of garage/engineer support or a car handling/driver style mismatch... or a bit of both.

[Nitrodaze]

I'm disappointed for Albon. I think he is getting a raw deal and believe he deserves to be on the grid than some that will be in 2021. I think he is much better driver than Gasly and they should have let him drive for Alpha Tauri, instead of rushing the Japanese driver.

I'm happy for Cheko. Racing point were idiots for cutting him. I think with him and Seb they would have made it interesting in 2021. He will finally get a chance to be fighting for podiums every race with Red Bull - so that will be exciting for Cheko fans.

I think 2021 will be like 2020 and Mercedes and Hamilton will dominate regardless. That means it will be Max and Cheko fighting over 3rd. So yeah, they probably will be a stronger 2nd place team if they don't have chemistry problem and take each other out at the start of the races.

Personally, I think Red Bull had two choices.

1. Think long term. Continue to work for 2022 when they will have a chance to put up a car that might compete for the championship. That would mean keeping Albon and continue to working on him to improve on his weaknesses. He could match Max for race pace, his problem was qualifying.


2. Think short term - roll the dice and go with Cheko and put the best driver lineup they can put for 2021 even though it will hurt them long term. Even maybe they had decided that with the engine issues - 2021 is there last year.

I think if Bottas have another bad year like this 2020 season, Redbull would be better placed to punish Mercedes severely with their new line up. With the consistency of Perez, the points would most likely be much closer. As Mercedes may be punished more effectively whenever they have an off day on sundays.

Perez in the Redbull is very exciting. He is ready to chase a championship down as this is really his last real chance to do so. It would be interesting to see the relative speed between Verstapen and Perez. I am expecting sparks to fly between these two. It would certainly be a very interesting season in 2021.

Albon had his chance, l doubt he would ever get another. But you never know, Kyvat had a second chance.

[F1nKS]

I think if Bottas have another bad year like this 2020 season, Redbull would be better placed to punish Mercedes severely with their new line up. With the consistency of Perez, the points would most likely be much closer. As Mercedes may be punished more effectively whenever they have an off day on sundays.

Red Bull didn't have the car or reliability this year to challenge Mercedes. Why would it be any different next year?


Perez in the Redbull is very exciting. He is ready to chase a championship down as this is really his last real chance to do so. It would be interesting to see the relative speed between Verstapen and Perez. I am expecting sparks to fly between these two. It would certainly be a very interesting season in 2021.

If for some miracle that Red Bull is now comparable to Mercedes, I agree totally. It could be very interesting season.

If they don't, it will still be interesting for Red Bull as we see the Max vs. Cheko drama play out. Cheko has a mean streak in him. He is not going play support driver to max (which is what RB was having Albon do).


Albon had his chance, l doubt he would ever get another. But you never know, Kyvat had a second chance.

Personally, I think Albon did fine this season for it being his second year and being thrown among the sharks. I believe he will be on the grid again. If I was going to throw a red bull driver off the grid it would be Gasly.

[airshifter]

I was glad to see this announced. Sergio has managed some good drives in mid pack cars, and I think he has a lot of potential in a top car. It should also be an interesting pairing, as often the great drives Perez put in were the result of the long game and tire management. Max seems to just push and hope it works out. I can see a lot of differences in pit strategy, which will give Merc fits covering both of them when the RBs suit a track enough to challenge.

[Nitrodaze]

Red Bull didn't have the car or reliability this year to challenge Mercedes. Why would it be any different next year?



If for some miracle that Red Bull is now comparable to Mercedes, I agree totally. It could be very interesting season.

If they don't, it will still be interesting for Red Bull as we see the Max vs. Cheko drama play out. Cheko has a mean streak in him. He is not going play support driver to max (which is what RB was having Albon do).



Personally, I think Albon did fine this season for it being his second year and being thrown among the sharks. I believe he will be on the grid again. If I was going to throw a red bull driver off the grid it would be Gasly.

Yes, Redbull underperformed this year. The chassis was not quite where it should have been for most of the season and the engine could not match the Mercedes engine for most of the tracks. But they were also operationally not at their best. Hence, they missed lots of opportunities to exploit those occassions when Mercedes or its drivers were underperforming.

You don't need the outright fastest car to win the championship. If you don't have a fast car then you must be highly efficient to ensure you take any low hanging fruit that comes your way. 2018 and 2019 seasons where Mercedes were slower than the Ferrari are good examples.

But after thinking some more about your post. You have a point also. Redbull has failed to show they can run two strong cars. Perez is going into the weaker side of the Redbull garage. That side has yet to setup the car to the satisfaction of their drivers. So it might be a frustrating experience for Perez on that side of the garage. Hence, Redbull might not actually achieve the goal of having two strong cars on the grid.

[F1nKS]

Yes, Redbull underperformed this year. The chassis was not quite where it should have been for most of the season and the engine could not match the Mercedes engine for most of the tracks. But they were also operationally not at their best. Hence, they missed lots of opportunities to exploit those occassions when Mercedes or its drivers were underperforming.

The hope has to be that with Perez in the mix this might have make Mercedes make some bad strategy calls. Mercedes when under pressure seemed to be not bulletproof. Unfortunately they were not under that much pressure in 2020.


But after thinking some more about your post. You have a point also. Redbull has failed to show they can run two strong cars. Perez is going into the weaker side of the Redbull garage. That side has yet to setup the car to the satisfaction of their drivers. So it might be a frustrating experience for Perez on that side of the garage. Hence, Redbull might not actually achieve the goal of having two strong cars on the grid.

I hope that since Redbull pulled the string on Perez they are going to go all out and make sure Cheko has their full support. So many exciting story lines for 2021. Can't wait.

[Nitrodaze]

The hope has to be that with Perez in the mix this might have make Mercedes make some bad strategy calls. Mercedes when under pressure seemed to be not bulletproof. Unfortunately they were not under that much pressure in 2020.



I hope that since Redbull pulled the string on Perez they are going to go all out and make sure Cheko has their full support. So many exciting story lines for 2021. Can't wait.

With the current crew they have on the second side of their garage, l sincerely doubt they would. They would need to make some significant changes to that side of the garage to ensure that firstly, they have parity of equipment between Verstapenn and Perez. Secondly, that the calibre of mechanics in the Perez garage is of the same quality as that of Verstapenn at least. These are the areas where Redbull appear to be failing.

They are going up against the best team in F1 history. Certainly the strongest in the hybrid era. And against a seven times F1 driver world champion who is still hungry and not showing any signs of slowing down yet.

Redbull have an uphill task which demands nothing less than exceptional operational efficiency and great chassis as the bare minimum. Improvement in the engine performance would help greatly. Even so, Mercedes shall demand nothing less than excellence in all departments to beat them.

Besides, Redbull are looking like a team that is psychologically beat already. Asking for engine freeze showed desperation to find a way to slow down Mercedes. The need to make it easier so that they can better be on equal pegging in other to find a way to beat them showed a profound weakest mentally. Afterall, they won four consecutive constructor and driver world titles exactly the same way Mercedes are doing it. I didn't hear of an engine freeze then.

[truefan72]

But after thinking some more about your post. You have a point also. Redbull has failed to show they can run two strong cars. Perez is going into the weaker side of the Redbull garage. That side has yet to setup the car to the satisfaction of their drivers. So it might be a frustrating experience for Perez on that side of the garage. Hence, Redbull might not actually achieve the goal of having two strong cars on the grid.

That too is my only worry.
RBR has shown that they play favorites in a detrimental way to their ambitions.
This has not always been so overtly present as in the Verstappen era of this team.

While Vettel was clearly thier golden boy, At least the team had competent crew on Webber's side, and the car was not purpose built for Seb.
To me things started going downhill fast after the summer of 2018 when Ricciardo was clearly beating Max then suddenly suffered problem after problem, shaite strategy and a complete malaise by the team. It was always funny to hear that fraud Horner talk about his surprise that Ricciardo was leaving the team, when they did everything possible to effectively push him out and compromise him. It got worse with Gasly and even more so with Albon.

We shall see what will happen with Perez, who is not a man to be trifled with and carries significant gravitas in the tune of $43M in sponsorship he brings with him. He will not be a push over. And will vocally voice his displeasure at any shenanigans.