Wynters wrote: ↑29 Jun 2025, 01:03
Tamping Russell down only makes Hamilton look worse, which was the whole point. Most of the people dunking on Russell were Verstappen fans desperate to find any way to make Hamilton look bad. If Hamilton beats Russell, then it's worthless because Russell was rubbish. If Russell beats Hamilton then it just shows how bad Hamilton is, etc, etc.
Russell is an excellent driver (as he has repeatedly shown). There are very few on the grid who could be competitive with him.
As this year has shown, he is the most consistent driver so far. Arguably, more consistent than Max despite the car being more inconsistent in performance. When the car stands well, he can produce Vegas 24 and Canada 25.
Max joining Mercedes would be death knell for Kimi. The car would move away so drastically towards Max that Kimi would look like the other Red Bull drivers of recent times, totally hopeless. Given Kimi hasn't proved anything glorious exactly and I can't see him doing anything in 2026 either with Max in the other car, finding a seat elsewhere would be a nightmare for him. There will be pressure on Toto to find his replacement. May be a Williams seat in 2027 or 28 if Toto manages to influence James.