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One of the jokes on MercedesAMGF1 twitter last night. One thing I do like is the teams do joke around with each other. There is quite a bit of friendly banter amongst the rivalry. This would never happen on Haas's racing budget as Magnussen was using old parts in some of the races this season.
Funny enough this was raised a few weeks ago when they were interviewing Toto Wolff and Christian Horner on separate occasions. Christian the team principal of Red Bull laughed it off but would love Hamilton in his car. Who wouldn't as I am quite certain the Red Bull challenging a Mercedes team without a Hamilton in the Mercedes and in your car would be a different story.
Toto was adamant though that he would never have Verstappen and Hamilton as team mates. Verstappen has proven what a strong adversary he is fighting week in and week out. Riccardo quit Red Bull prematurely as Verstappen was showing him up when Riccardo should have been the number one driver.
When Hamilton had a strong rival in the car next to him with Nico Rosberg the relationship and the team suffered. The two were close friends from the go karting days and the pressure of having to win and beat each other became too much.
Toto mentioned about the falling out and how it was uncomfortable to be around them. Things got so bad after Nico won the world title he retired from the sport. Something had to give and Nico parted ways even though he could still be racing today.
It was not surprising that Mercedes went for the quietly spoken Valtteri Bottas who never seems to complain. He is the perfect racing partner for Hamilton as he is a definite number two who wins occasionally. He is not a genuine threat and why the relationship works so well.
In the past we have seen teams get the two top drivers together and it never ends well. McLaren had Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost partner up and that was pure madness. You would never think they were team mates and only cared about themselves.
Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello is another great partnership that worked in harmony as Rubens played a supporting role and why Ferrari was so successful. The role that Bottas plays is exactly what Barrichello did for Ferrari all those years ago.
Both Bottas and Barrichello could have been the number one drivers on any other team but seem to understand the role they are playing. Lately Bottas has questioned some tyre choices as he seriously is trying to mount a challenge to show he is no push over.
Verstappen at Red Bull doesn't have a proper second who plays a supporting role and why his fight has been a lonely battle. Verstappen needs a Bottas type driver who will push him to perform his best and offer a different challenge. Red Bull cannot compete against Mercedes with one car every week and need two cars challenging so the team can at least put some strategies in place like undercutting at pit stops and out smarting Mercedes.
This is another reason why Alex Albon has to go this season and be replaced with someone who can deliver consistently in the top 3 or 4 every weekend. This is a big decision and expect Hulkenberg to be named either next week or the weekend of the Istanbul grand prix.