The Mercedes Driver Dilemma 

The way Wolff sees Antonelli, he would drop Russell right now if Verstappen decided to go to Mercedes next year😂

In which fantasy world would Antonelli even get close to Russel right now let alone beating him? Not only he is making big jumps between categories but also he hasn't even been crazy impressive in f2, and the jump between f2 and f1 is pretty big. Also how Verstappen would perform in a Mercedes is an uncertainty, he drove only for red bull his entire career, see what happened to Checo this season, he surely didn't suddenly forget how to drive, is just unable to find his footing in this car, drivers performance can oscillate massively from car to car. All things considered and since Hamilton is leaving, Russel is the only safe bet they have.

MAX MERC IS BAD BC 2021

Kimi is absolutely not beating him lmao

@@quase3Verstappen drives in a car that is visibly unstable and incredibly hard to drive. I’m sure it wouldn’t take him long to get adjusted to the merc

But Sainz was never all that so its reasonable why Ferrari got Hamilton

@@Wickey934 Sainz and Leclerc had the best dynamic. They had the perfect gap between each other. Not to close and not to far away from one another either. With Lewis in the team there's gonna be lots of trouble.

@@Warrioruk We will see, but Sainz and Leclerc were definitely not perfect. Their driving styles are so different it doesn’t help in car development

@@Wickey934 I agree to a certain point. Sainz is an upper-level Bottas in the sense that he followed team orders, yet recognized the big picture and took the reigns into his hands for a team win. He will never be the WDC, but he is an all-around driver to boost any team, and Ferrari needs someone to elevate without dominating; Hamilton joining might disjoint that. Ferrari is losing a lot by dropping him, but the chance to have a 7x WDC is an opportunity you take any day.

@@mtbgeologist I don't really agree. Sainz is Bottas calibre drivers and would be perfect for ferrari as #2 if he didn't want to be the first driver himself

Mick :

George has had the worst of luck over the past 5 races, while the inverse has happened with Lewis.

@@AndyFromBeavertonyeah idk why George gets hate he’s clearly as fast as Hamilton. A bit inconsistent but he is the type of guy to just go for outrageous things if it means he can win. We have yet to see him in a dominant car I’m sure he wouldn’t t be as reckless

George played second fiddle to Hamilton? You people are so delusional.

Russell has never played second fiddle to Hamilton, tf?

Lol no it won't be. George will just be relegated.. Like all of Max' teammates

@@JamaicanMeCrazy None of Verstappens recent teammates have got anywhere near him. He's world class.

​@@footballnerd277his teammates haven't exactly been top tier tho. Sainz - above average Riccardo - beat max Gasly - given half a year Albon - basically a rookie Perez - lol only Riccardo was someone who was actually a top driver, wake me up when he has a WDC teammate.

​@@JamaicanMeCrazyRussell would return to Williams to partner Sainz.

@@footballnerd277 russell is not perez or albon, until max faces a fast driver as a teammate then we can see

Imo the reason George always seems to fall back during the races is that his qualifying and race starts are far more impressive than we maybe give him credit for. He put it p4 and overtook for a podium place in zandvoort despite Lewis going out in q2, as well as Silverstone, Bahrain and Spain being similar. it seems very much like leclerc putting the car places it should be (unfortunately that does include the wall sometimes...)

U can’t count spa because he was driving an underweight car

@@P17RAS oh yes that 1.5 kg was surely what made the difference lol

@@quase3 no I’m not saying that. I genuinely thought it was a world class drive from George however the underweight car tainted it. I don’t think you realise how much of an impact that can make

​@@josephharding2668exactly remember when he put this w15 at p3 in Bahrain and just fell back.

Russell and Albon at Red Bull in 2026. 😍

I Hope no rb Will be ass in 26

Which version of George has shown you that he can win a title? George has literally thrown away more race wins than he actually won. Austria was a gift so he has one truly earned win in his whole career and about 4 he should have won. Not champion material in my view.

what sport have you been watching?

I agree with Charles not with George

Based on what? It took George 2.5 seasons before he even scored a point at Williams. Yes it was a bad car, but seriously, 2.5 seasons? And at Mercedes he's beaten Hamilton 1 year out of 3. But Hamilton is past his best and overrated anyways.

​@@audellscarlett5362tbh, neither is Max. when it comes to an actual fight Max cracks under pressure. Maybe this will be the year he learns to maximise points instead yoloing.

It's Lewis at McLaren 2007 level of pressure, but now with Antonelli it's even more of a risk as Lewis was already a GP2 champion and 22 years old.

Cuz Vettel since post Hockenheim 2018 was already in a decline while Hamilton is still driving at the very top of his game. And lets not forget Leclerc drove against a 4 time world champion while Russell drove against the GOAT

Vettel's last years at Ferrari aren't really comparable to current Hamilton, Russel has had a mixture of errors and bad luck but still looked impressive in these past seasons, while driving cars that mercedes keeps going back and forth with and unable to deliver front row performance. If mercedes a championship contender car next season, that will be the true test for Russel, up until now even without the mistakes he wouldn't have been able to achieve much other than a couple of wins as he had, if is mercedes is up there next seasons then we'll see if he is capable of fighting for a title or not.

@@quase3for sure beating Hamilton who’s still massively motivated from having his 8th title robbed by Masi is a much harder challenge than beating Vettel out of his prime. But it’s still the case that Russell hasn’t ousted Hamilton and that’s why the doubt is therein Wolff’s mind and that’s why he thinks they need Verstappen

@@selder_7 but would anyone just leave Hamilton in the dust in the same car? Verstappen or Leclerc or anyone else on the grid?

Dude Hamilton is a badass driver 😂 idk what you expect lol Im pretty certain lewis could compete with max and win on occasion and depending on how quickly he could adapt he could give him a run for his money in the same car honestly

Max at Ferrari in 2026

Dude I really want this to happen now haha. Imagine Ferrari strategy plus Verstappen's explosive personality. That would be a sight to behold ​@@Hehehehhehehehehehehehhe78

Yes but I don’t think the outlook of Mercedes would have been better with max until 2020. Even then, I think you would have anouther lewis and Nico situation. It sucks missing out on max, but it was for the betterment of the team in the medium term, maybe even long term if max signs with merc in the next 2-3 years

@@agamernamedwill2585 it would have been a Nico Lewis thing internally. But the important part is red bull would not have had Max. And I'm not sure Daniel (first guess as to who would have been their #1) would have won 2021 for example.

@@agamernamedwill2585Max would‘ve beaten Hamilton eventually in equal machinery. Probably from mid 2018 onwards. Surely Hamilton would‘ve left at some point after realising that Max is simply better than him. Max also wins the championship in 2021 no matter who sits in the other Merc seat or the RB in 2021.

Straight swap between Max and George maybe?

No kimi has to go

@@jacob4tee Toto won't let that happen. If Max joins, there is a window for have Kimi mentored by Max on the championship mentality. Max won't race after 2028 (my take personally based on what he said), so it gives an opportunity for Max to mentor while possibly gaining another WDC or two if Merc nails it.

@@mtbgeologistwhat did max say about not driving in another four years?

@mirzahasicic2039 Russell nikada nece biti sampion, pravi dosta gresaka pod pritiskom, nije ni čudo sto Mercedes zeli Maxa, treba im neko ce biti vodja tog tima

Toto will drop George if Max want to join.

i dont think toto would drop kimi like that considering how much he wants him, unless of course kimi underperforms then it might open up that option but even during that one practice, despite crashing, everyone saw how much pace he had

@@nakki123 that is my strong bet

@@ishqiahmed4315 or maybe Toto just wanted to prevent Kimi doing an Oscar and signing with another team!

Mercedes won't drop Kimi and I doubt that they will sign Max if George and Kimi get along really well.

The thing is these multi billion companies don’t go off of “vibes” like people on the internet do.

@@juliovazquez8141​⁠​⁠They do, more so than you think. There is a reason why teams are unable to win the championship at times despite having the fastest car on average due to their misplaced faith ("vibe") in their driver choice. The biggest offender of recent memory is probably Ferrari, losing 2018 and 2008 despite having the fastest car on average due to being complacent with their driver choices. Williams does it too, notably in 1994 and 1991. Teams are eating up vibe almost as much as the casual audience do, blindly believeing a quality of a driver just because they have championship credentials or good history in junior formula. It's not completely their fault either, because there is no way of telling whether a driver is just all hype or is actually fast until another driver expose their true level in the same car. For every driver that warrants their hype like Lewis Hamilton or Max Verstappen, there is also a driver that got hyped way more than their actual ability like Damon Hill or Sebastian Vettel.

And F2 , F3

@@hetjoch2792 beat lando😉

lol GR is a good qualifier I won’t argue. GR race pace is garbage and he clearly doesn’t have the head for pressure. I’m not going to comment about him vs Lewis as they are in two different parts of their career and 2022 Lewis was coming off arguably the most disappointing moment in his career. Right now if you had a car capable of winning a championship would you want GR or LH? Be honest with yourself. I think I know who Toto would pick…

​@@audellscarlett5362"he doesn't have the head for pressure" Sakhir '20, Brazil '22, Monaco '24, Austria '24, Belgium '24. Those ring a bell? Also there's no point in asking who Toto would choose to lead the team to a championship because that chapter of time has come and gone

⁠@@audellscarlett5362 do you realize that if GR’s race pace is garbage, then LH isn’t special for beating a garbage driver. His race pace is good if you put him next to anyone but Lewis or Max.

And people act like Toto singlehandedly decides the lineup. He doesn’t, the Mercedes board have more power than him and they love George. I won’t be surprised if George outlasts Toto in Mercedes.

Survivorship Bias.

Better than Norris but no where near Leclerc. Turn tv on while watching

@@Wickey934 It's an opinion mate, take it easy.

@@Karandriy Opinion based on what? I want to see your arguments

@@Wickey934 Maybe you should read definition of opinion, just in case. Have zero mood to chat with toxic troll like you.

@@Karandriyin which universe is Russell better than Leclerc

fr russell and verstappen on same team will be absolute chaos they would take each other out at start of the race

@@kokushibo7464 too real☠️

Problem with George is that hes not beating Hamilton on Sundays even though he outqualifies him

​@@AB-tf2ikWhats their race head to head?

I mean...he ain't wrong is he? 😂

@@navdeepsingh3508 I would argue he is, or atleast not totally right. This driver championship isn't a real fight, thats something Aldas likes to make clear at every occasion when its about the question whether mclaren should use Oscar as Lando's wingman. You can talk alot about Lando's starts this season, however there are two things I think are missed by Aldas: 1. Lando was a good, reliable starter in the past seasons and right now has to always remember, when he crashes out of the race its likely the already big mountain he has to climb to even mount a championship challenge this year is doubling in size - Oscar doesn't have this problem/thought in the back of his mind on lap one, he wants to make sure he is not put into the wingman role of Lando, so is naturally going that little more aggressive than Lando. This edge made the difference in italy for example. 2. Mclaren admitted that especially in hungry their settings for the engine and the clutch were not ideal, causing wheelspin in second gear - mind you, both mclaren weren't great of the line in that race. It very well may be that Oscar managed to do a better job at working with a tricky car to start but that doesn't make a driver like Lando from "championship material" to "good midfielder only" - at least in my eyes. Combine this two and I think its harsh to say after half a dozen races (with a racewinning car) with quite a few mismanagement errors on mclaren side makes Lando not championship-material. When driving against Max who can work with this kind of lead in a still very decent car (not the quickest on most occasions right now, but not that far off) you have to be absolutely perfect nearly every time to even a have chance on surmounting this kind of lead. Mclarens slow start to the season plays a huge role in this point deficit Besides, yes, Oscar has been impressive considering he is in his second season, however Norris still beats him far more often than not in qualifying and race pace wise its either extremely close or he is ahead by a bit. Good example is Zandvoort: Lando managed to pass Max while Oscar got stuck behind the Ferraris and Mercedes, leading to Oscar finishing 30 seconds or more behind his teammate. Race pace is hard to judge at the moment as clean air makes a huge difference and overtaking got so difficult again sadly. When team mates are so close as Lando and Oscar are its hard to distinguish a small edge by Lando over Oscar (or vice versa, however I would expect Lando to have a small edge - something "the race" agress with me) Saying that Oscar is the outright better driver than Lando while they are both in quite different situations in this current season (one having a chance on the title, the other clearly being out of it) based on this season only is just an emotional, very coloured picture for me. The next season will be a real test to compare both. Besides, if Oscar had done a better job at the start of the season he could have been at Lando's place instead. I could say based on that he is "not championship material" but that would be equally baseless like Aldas statement about Lando in my eyes.

@@Eragon-wv5td I mean he just said it exposes driver when put in spotlight...and that's what is happening imo. But Lando most likely will get the championship anyways since red bull is gone so doesn't matter much.

That’s the difference between a good driver and a great driver. Great drivers that we’ve seen Max, Lewis. I think GR is closer to a LN type than a LH or MV type.

What is this theory based on? He has been racing alongside Hamilton, never had a chance to drive a front grid car so what is this based on?

I don’t get why he can’t be great tho This guy has gone toe to toe with Lewis And this season (ik the points say otherwise) he has been by far better than Lewis this year I believe. Context was key in this season. For me apart from max and Lewis obviously The candidates for future WDC is Russel, leclerc or Piastri. Russel deserves more credit and shouldn’t be dismissed for a shiny new toy who hasn’t really even proven himself in f2 either…

​@VirkStar321 how's he been better when he's more than 20 points behind Lewis? "Points aside" That's literally the point of F1. To be number 1, so the points that you've just put aside do matter

@@Mohagnito94 Points always matter but they’re arbitrary when neither driver is in contention for the wdc…. the points gap is nowhere near indicative of their relative performance. Russell had a dnf and a dsq in the two races Hamilton won…. that’s quite literally a 50 point swing so obviously Hamilton will look like the clear better driver (which he still is). The fact of the matter is GR has done far better this year against Lewis than the points gap would suggest.

​@@Mohagnito94he is only behind coz merc cost him like 60+ points in 3 races.

Mercedes didn't "push out" Lewis. He left by his own decision.

​@@yannickvaz694 you probably said they "pushed" out Valterri with their 1 year contracts.

They've probably given him a 1 year contract to start to see if he performs. If he ends up being the next Sargeant they'd have to kick him out easily. He'll probably have a multi year deal by the end of 2025

You can’t add up anyway….

​@@yannickvaz694they didn't offer him a multi year contract and a lifetime ambassador role. Something they could offer to Max

Mick wrecked the car in half that one of reasons why he not getting a chance y’all need to stop putting Yuki in same category as zhou and lance at least he can back it up un like the other

@@deionjordan9651 that HAAS was garbage and Gunther a horrible team boss, especially for a rookie. And Ferrari dropped him out of their program out of the blue. Imagine the pressure on him. Having done all that is required, being F2 champ and he would've joined HAAS knowing that as part of the Ferrari program he might get a shot at Ferrari later on. And yeah he crashed a few times. Most drivers do but unfortunately in his case the damage was a lot. No one wants to do it. If these were crashes where the damage wasn't so much (something he or no driver can control) no one would be bothered about that. Yuki's presence in F1 is cos he's Japanese and Honda supply engines. If not for that he wouldn't be in F1 cos he isn't a junior champion nor has he showed some wow performance till date. Not a single performance where people would sit up and take notice. He's been somewhat consistent but that's about it. Yes he does belong with Zhou and Stroll in that them being in F1 has more to do with other reasons than their driving.

Russell Is special sainz no

You think Norris has good season and deserves to win a championship?

@@Wickey934 Yeah I think it's been pretty decent, and he has a good chance to win. I think anyone at the sharp end of the table deserves to win the title. As for who will actually win, I don't really mind as long as there's jeopardy in it.

Has he though? Qualy yes. If you had one race to win a championship are you back GR or LH right now? Be honest with yourself.

@@audellscarlett5362 not saying it’s not close, but I think George has just been more consistent

@@negsterarchive7911 yeah, consistently racing backwards 😂