You may well be right. However, as I gaze into the tea leaves (okay, coffee grounds) there are two things that make me think Mercedes will be more aggressive. The first is Toto stepping back and reducing his role. As the leadership transitions, I can see a new team principal wanting to make a longer-term strategic call -- in effect setting themselves up for a run like Toto & Lewis had. The second is Mercedes' broader culture: they are not ones to rest on their laurels. And with large investments in the "next generation" cars ahead, they'll want to put themselves in the best position to win longer term. Mercedes' culture can be ruthless. I think they will be. But who knows: I'm just speculating here!
To a certain extent, Lewis is already showing signs of the ravages of time, he drives way more conservatively now than when he started. {So is Max, by the way.}
Thanks. Red Bull doesn't look worried though. Marko is usually eloquent about team matters, but he hasn't said a word on the subject.
Right now if Honda doesn't commit, is it such a bad thing? If no team is willing to supply red bull an engine the FIA literally will throw the engine manufacturers in a hat and whichever is drawn, supplies Red Bull. It would be pretty bad if they end up with Ferrari though. Whoops.
As you say, it wouldn't be the end. Red Bull would get a motor. But as a fan I am always happy to see (and hear) a Honda motor trumpeting its way around a track. And I am even happier when theirs are competitive motors.
https://f1i.com/news/384552-red-bull-to-give-verstappen-lowdown-on-honda-before-sochi.html Red Bull says it will fill in Max Verstappen before next week's Russian Grand Prix on the steps Honda is taking to improve the reliability of its engine following the Dutchman's two successive DNFs. Verstappen was sidelined early on by an engine problem at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza and was then hit with another power unit issue at the start of last weekend's Tuscan Grand Prix that ultimately led to the collision that caused his demise from the race. At Mugello, the Red Bull charger, stranded in the gravel trap on the opening lap of the race, vented his frustration over the radio, saying: "This is what you get with this f**king **** show". Horner says his driver's disappointment was warranted. "Max's frustration at another DNF is totally understandable," Horner told the Red Bull website. "From the very first lap in Mugello he was on it. We had a very fast car and some real progress has been made with the balance of the car. "That is what was so galling for him. In the heat of the moment when you have gone from the adrenaline of the start to the disappointment of ending up in the gravel trap, it is only natural to vent on the radio. "We really felt that in the race we could take the fight to Mercedes. He had done the hard work in beating Lewis [Hamilton] off the line and it was going to be game on, but of course that did not materialise. Horner says his team will regroup ahead of Sochi and inform Verstappen of ongoing developments regarding Honda.
It seems a fitting end to the Vettel era if that happened; leaving Red Bull with the best chassis and aero talent and no real engine to push it forward.
Translation: Max is getting nervous that he won't have a front running car at Red Bull and might have to jump ship if he want to capture championships in his early career.
Agree'd. I think 2022 he decides what is left of his time at RedBull. He has a free time then. No contract after 2021 I believe. He will show more impatience if he has another DNF soon. Its all on Honda now it appears lol
The joke is that there is no place for Max to go. There is only one good engine in the entire series...all the rest are just fillers and rolling chicanes. Nations have cultures the dominate their industries and what they produce. The problem with Renault is that they are French. The problem with Ferrari is that they are Italian. The problem with Honda is that they are Japanese. The problem with Williams is that they are British. Mercedes is a winner because they are German. The US culture is, "we don't show up unless you bomb us." There is nothing Max can do but drive like hell and hopefully get in a Mercedes. But the truth is that he arrived in the sport when it is already in major decline.
Max arrived at a point in time where your ability to drive any given car is not being rewarded. Only your ability to get in the fastest car maters at all.
I'm not sure that's entirely true. Let's not forget that Max has a performance clause in his contract. And if Helmut Marko is to be believed (and that is always open to question) Max's contract says the "maximum allowable" engine gap is 0.2 sec / lap. Honda's presentation better be convincing.
With luck, they could end up with a Renault engine !! It would be fun to watch how Abiteboul would get on with Horner, Marko and else ... McLaren has shown this year what can be expected from Renault power.
But he didn't though did he ? His McLaren was loose for the first half of 2009 season and he scraped together 9 points in that period.
Half a season? You really reaching for straws when you only look at have a season. Hey why not look at 1 or 2 races instead? The Mclaren was loose 2009-2013. Ham still won races. Winning with a loose car, old news. Winning with 3 tires is the new standard.