I keep hearing that Checo Isn’t performing well.
I see it this way: so far this year, he has had 2 wins, 5 podiums, 2 pole positions, 2 fastest laps, and a 1st and 2nd in sprint races.
With the exception of Monaco, he has finished in the top 6.
Sure, he’s no Max Verstappen, and the team knows that, but he is putting his Red Bull towards the top pretty consistently. He gets screwed sometimes in qualifying, but he makes it up and scores good points for the team.
He’s second in the driver’s championship pretty handily as well.
Maybe I’m missing some context, so I’d like to know what the rest of you think about it.
This isn’t unprecidented though. All the way back to 2000, the second driver in the dominant car has had similar performance with the exception of 2014 - 2016 when Lewis and Nico absolutely dominated.
Go back and rewatch those seasons, compare it to this year’s RB plus tires that are better understood and a monster DRS that should have him past most cars without any trouble. This is an easy job for Checo (or should be), I’d wager most of the drivers on the grid would be able to make a 1-2 stick. Marko knows this, Ricciardo in AT is soft pressure to warn Checo he needs to step up or step away.