[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by BTCC frog

But I think the statistics suggest that Valtteri Bottas was much closer to Lewis Hamilton's level than Sergio Perez is to Max Verstappen's. If you don't believe that is because of more preferential treatment at Red Bull than Mercedes, then either Bottas must be better than Perez, or Verstappen better than Hamilton, at least during their times in the respective aforementioned teams. Also, as I said before, from my own personal recollections, I remember never going into any weekend thinking it was a foregone conclusion that Hamilton would beat Bottas (apart from 2021), and not being totally shocked when Bottas got the upper hand. I even bet on him sometimes. But I have always felt extremely confident that Verstappen would beat Perez on any given weekend, and have very rarely been proven wrong.

There are lies, damned lies and statistics! But I think your most telling point is what people would expect of the two drivers. Like you, I "expected" Hamilton to beat Bottas, but I "know" Verstappen will beat Perez.