Marko is a windbag, this is one of those moments when I agree with him 100%, I posted above, as soon as I saw the time sheets from Day 2 of testing, I was convinced the Silver Arrow can be driven to a championship by anyone on the grid.
https://www.grandprix247.com/2019/05/17/marko-a-second-class-f2-driver-showed-how-good-mercedes-is/
Quote:
The Russian driver did a solid job in the cockpit, racking up 128 laps – more than any other driver on the day -with a best lap time of 1:15.775 which compares to Valtteri Bottas’ best effort of 1:15.551 set a day earlier, in similar conditions.
This, of course, did not go unnoticed by sharp-tongued Red Bull consultant Helmut Marko who told Auto Bild, “The fact that a second-class Formula 2 driver can immediately fastest in the Mercedes show how more superior it is. More superior than ever.”
Mazepin, who finished second in the 2018 GP3 Series, has not had the best of starts to his rookie F2 campaign but it still early days.
In another case of ‘billionaire-funds-drive-for-son’ scheme, which is trending in the top flight, Mazepin is on the Mercedes radar most probably because his father is funding a full private testing programme in a 2016 car with the World Champions.
A similar strategy used by billionaire Lawrence Stroll with his son and Williams.
Mazepin senior has gone one (or two) better by enlisting Mercedes to mentor his son and groom him for F1. He is scheduled to have five test sessions at a reported cost of €10-million.
On the subject, Marko wasn’t finished, “What surprised me was that Mercedes did not even try to hide it and didn’t prevent Mazepin from setting the best time of the day, so the superiority is very clear now.”
The same thing happened in Bahrain during in-season testing, early last month, when George Russell also topped the timing screens after his day-long stint in the W10, having spent the race weekend at the same venue, four seconds off the pace in the woeful Williams.
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Remember everyone screaming Vettel was winning because of the car and it wasn't the driver, I have not heard that much this year. Is it because the #2 driver is right there fighting with Hamilton? Whereas Webber was no where to be found most seasons?