I appreaciate Saward's longevity and stuff, but I can't even remember the last time his speculations came to fruition. I think this one is backed by facts, but greatly exaggerated and turned into a chain of speculation to make a long piece.
1) I highly doubt that RBR committed contractually to put Ricciardo, and only possibly Ricciardo in the seat, in the event Checo is dropped. I doubt he was in any position to extract that and unless the RBR lawyers are incompetent.
2) I'm sure the potential to triple his earnings in the case of a Red Bull switch is there... but automatic 5m to 15m? Just like that? I don't know, Rick. Most likely just that the bonuses there are higher... as one would expect.
3) Yes, I'm sure Checo has performance provisions that they could activate to drop him without penalty. It's unlikely that it's easy to hit or they would have dropped him already. And if they could and they didn't... what would be materially different to exercise them the second time around? Maybe McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes do a big leap, sure, but hardly newsworthy to take that and speculate all the way to a front page story.
Most likely explanation is that writing clickbait on Pérez is great for business, it's the off season, and there are bills to pay.
Edited by Collective, 04 December 2023 - 15:28.