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No bumps this season, eh?
It's been a fun year if you just ignore Max.
And Mercedes/McLaren both have interesting teammate dynamics for different reasons.
Mercedes has a young pup in Russell that feels like he has to prove himself against Hamilton and in the process they keep getting tangled (though I don't think Russell did anything wrong today). And at McLaren they are going to have some real questions to ask themselves if they're in any sort of championship/points fight - might Piastri be better than Lando? If so, does Zak Brown have the stones to create a true team order?
Afterall, Ferrari absolutely refuses to do so and it's taken probably a dozen or more points off the board for them this year. They could be neck and neck with Mercedes for P2 if they'd pick a D1 and adjust strategies accordingly.
And Ferrari...guys, c'mon. I didn't feel like this was a good track for the SF-23 but they had a real disaster on their hands before Russell/Hamilton had their collision. And AFTER the collision, they had a chance to continue to draw closer to Mercedes. As a Ferrari fan, that just annoys the hell out of me. Really - a fuel system issue keeps you off the grid altogether? Dammit guys - that's some Williams shit.
I mean Red Bull has this thing on lock for at least 1 and probably 2 more seasons. They're just way too far ahead of anyone else and the spending caps will keep anyone from catching them in a single season. If anyone gives them a shot next year, it'll actually be McLaren, IMO - because they have the pace especially on fast tracks.
Mercedes doesn't have the pace and Ferrari doesn't have pace without awful tire degradation. I don't know how you just fix that in an offseason or even 2.
With Red Bull so dominant, Ferrari duffing a real chance to put themselves in strong shape for P2 in the constructers is a big deal.
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