Former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok sat down with the “Fast Lane” podcast to discuss the path to the championship for Mercedes and Red Bull. As a result, when discussing the role of Valtteri Bottas as the second Mercedes driver, Chandhok had some hot views from his recent races; especially after the announcement of Bottas’ move to Alfa Romeo.
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Karun Chandhok saw in Zandvoort and Sochi. “Since it became known that he was gone … Sochi was Valtteri’s weakest race of the year for me. He started 16th ahead of Max and Leclerc and there is a point in the race just before it rained he was 14th; and he started in a Mercedes and basically let Max through too. “
Analyzing the Finn’s race, Chandhok said: “That’s the sign of a guy who’s checked out.”
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While bottas stood on the podium in Monza and rightly won the sprint race Russian GP Moving was unexpected. Bottas is known as the king of the autodrome; Expectations were high, although he was pushed back to 15th place in a “strategic” move.
Is Chandhok on the money with his analysis? With 16 rounds of the season, Bottas has not yet won a race. With the remaining 7 likely to favor Hamiltons Championship run, will team orders botch Bottas until the end?
Chandhok also said that the psychological aspect of the game plays a crucial role. “His qualifying performance clearly tells you that there is a lot of speed in it, but unfortunately he’s only just checked out mentally.”
Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez in their roles
The lack of defense against Verstappen was zilch in Sochi and surprised everyone. But even if Bottas has “checked out” his role as the second man in? Mercedes He has proven himself repeatedly to be Lewis Hamilton’s perfect teammate.
Formula 1 F1 – Italian Grand Prix – Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza, Italy – September 10, 2021. Mercedes ‘Valtteri Bottas celebrates pole position for the sprint qualifying with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in second place REUTERS / Massimo Pinca
Chandhok also mentioned this when looking at Perez’s performance this season. As a second driver with Red Bull that the team trusts Czech for strategic placements to push for more points in both championships. However, when it comes to the top three places in the race, Sergio Perez is rarely around.
The Indian commented: “The only two races he played in this role were Baku and France. I think in the rest of the races he was never close enough to get into the mix to give Mercedes those strategic difficulties that Red Bull wanted to do. “
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It wasn’t the ideal qualification, in the end we ran out of slipstream.
We have everything we need to move forward tomorrow and look for a great position! Undoubtedly a big step towards understanding with the car / team, although the result doesn’t show it (for now). #ItalianGP #ChargeOn pic.twitter.com/khodsjc5yB
– Sergio Pérez (@SChecoPerez) September 10, 2021
Both drivers drove spectacular races this season; Checo is in his debut season with the big team while Bottas is leaving for a smaller team. The coexistence of the situation also contributes to how seldom the second drivers played a strategic role in the races.
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The closer it gets to the tip of the board, the closer we get to the end of the season. There are still questions left for the next seven rounds: Will Bottas win before he leaves Mercedes? Will Perez climb onto the podium this season? And who will win the championship?
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