the ongoing downfall of Checo is really astounding. Maybe I'm just losing perspective on his performance because his teammate is checks notes on track to be one of the true GOATs, but it really seems like he's been beefing it.
I think everyone is overreacting on checo. He is in 2nd place and red bull will win everything this year. I doubt they will end his contact early if this is still the scenario by the end of the year. He will be gone after 2024 though.
I think people who claim he'll be gone over the summer are overreacting for sure. There is no need for RB to be that drastic. He has, however, been pretty underwhelming, and I think Red Bull will for sure consider their options going into '24. They can afford to give him the rest of the season to sort himself out, but if they expect other teams to be able to close the gap sooner rather than later then they need a number 2 who is more consistent.
What baffles me the most is that he was incredibly on point in the first 4 races. Nobody believed that he was actually gonna challenge Max, but he really delivered. And then comes his traditional mid season slump that he has every year for some reason
At this point it's pretty clearly at least partially psychological. Which in itself isn't great. He was on the pace today for the first time in months, but could he maintain a cool head and just keep it between the lines in Q2? No, he just had to push the limit to try to prove himself.
With a little bit of luck Max will have won the WDC once Mexico runs around and will take the weekend off to go sim racing. That might give Checo a chance.
Not that Sargeant has been outstanding or anything, but this weekend I believe Albon had the upgraded car (that clearly seems improved) and Sargeant didn't. He was actually on a decent lap too before getting too cautious in sector 3. He still might not be good enough for F1 in the end, but I don't think he's doing as bad as some people say, and certainly not as bad as De Vries. He's occasionally shown glimpses of pace, at least.