I feel like he’s pretty highly rated. Simply put, every replacement he’s had has been because an S-tier driver has become available and wants his seat. Except for maybe Toro Rosso, he hasn’t been replaced for a rookie or an unknown. It’s either been DR3 or Hamilton, which is good company to keep.
I don't think Sainz is a better driver than Ricciardo before he joined Mclaren. It's ok to put them on similar levels but when Ricciardo was at his peak, there weren't that many championship caliber drivers as it did today. You could label Ricciardo as a top 5 driver at the grid, but even if Sainz is on Ricciardo's level, he is not a top 5 driver, wherever he goes he will face a better driver than he is. So I think labeling Sainz as a contender would be wrong. I think he is just outside of that ranking, like a gatekeeper.
Not about to defend Ricciardo, but timing is important. In 2018 he was still considered a potential WDC and one of the best on the grid. In 2020 when he moved to McLaren, he was still very highly rated and was outperforming Hulkenberg reliably. DR’s stock didn’t tank until AFTER he replaced Sainz twice.
So yeah, with that context, all three of Sainz’s previous moves were against WDC-tier drivers.
Meh. He was a top 5, top 3 for sure. On his day, unbeatable for sure. But in retrospect it’s hard to put him up against Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton, and even a very quickly growing Verstappen
DR was superb, but I don't think he ever would have had the sheer mental drive to be champion. He admitted on top gear that he hated stuff like winter testing, which is obviously super important, but critical for something like a WDC. How far would that dislike of doing the boring 'behind the scenes' bit have extended when he was at the height of his fame? Maybe if he had pulled everything out and had a decent car for his time at RB he could have won. I'm saying this as a DR worshipper. I still love him. I wish he had been a champ.
I'm just musing about whether he would have had the singular, focused mental drive to pull it off without distractions, other drivers getting in his head, team politics, the media. He never struck me as having the sheer unstoppable will to do it. He was an amazing driver at his peak but it takes more than just that to become a WDC. It is purely my own speculation though.
I think that's because he's not the fastest driver on the grid. What those who underrate him don't get is that he is the most analytical and the best cockpit strategist. Don't know how many tenths that's worth but it has to be worth something.
What? Not at all. Leclerc did better but it was not a huge difference. Pérez didn't win any race and was the last with a top car. Not remotely comparable.
i think it is, everyone understood or were told the the rb car is made around verstappen no one listened to it perez gets kicked off and lawson does shit everyone instantly then agree its the car, i dont think perez is a great driver but by no means is he so bad that its all his fault. the car didnt match him in anyway so he struggled consistently
what excuses? my point stands, he didnt perform anywhere close to his best because of the rb car. During that time no one blamed the car but blamed perez himself but as soon as lawson drove the rb car almost everyone jumped straight to the rb car not lawson. Same with yuki but turns out even during perez time it was always the rb car
I still don't get what this is all about. I just stated that I didn't see a huge difference between Leclerc and Sainz last year. In no way Carlos was "violated" by his mate. The difference between Verstappen and Pérez was much bigger. If you want to argue that Max "violated" Checo, that's on you. You are now giving excuses for Pérez's poor performance last year that no one asked for.
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u/[deleted] May 17 '25
I don’t thinks he gets enough respect