Away from the drama at the front in Canada, there was another story that was overlooked this past Sunday.
Pierre Gasly endured a miserable race in Montreal in what was perhaps the clearest indication yet that the Frenchman isn’t ready or upto the challenge of driving for Red Bull.
Not only was he beaten by Daniel Ricciardo in qualifying, he then failed to challenge either of the Renaults and would eventually finish eighth in the race, having found himself stuck behind the Racing Point of Lance Stroll.
His poor start of the year has been understandable, he was promoted to the team earlier than expected and anyone now going up against Max Verstappen can’t be anything less than perfect.
However, despite some signs of improvement, it is clear the Frenchman will not reach the same level as the Dutchman anytime soon, regardless of whether Red Bull want him to or not.
This is a problem because, since stepping up from Toro Rosso in 2016, Verstappen has had to continually raise his game to compete against Ricciardo and likely wouldn’t be as good as he is without the Australian.
Despite his already immense talent, at 21, Max does still has plenty of room for development too, and without the competition of a strong teammate, it is possible that potential might not be fulfilled.
While it’s still early in the year, Red Bull also don’t look like showing the same rate of development with the RB15 that they have in recent seasons.
It has been acknowledged that the chassis isn’t as strong as its predecessor and, like most, the team has struggled to adapt to this year’s Pirelli tyres.
But with two drivers that only have a combined five years of Formula 1 experience between them, it is possible their feedback might not be as strong to direct the key areas for improvement.
Then there’s the future when eventually, Red Bull want to challenge for championships again. While Verstappen is probably the man most likely to do that, he will need a teammate that can help him in that bid.
Certainly, right now, Gasly is not the driver who could do that, particularly given the thought of him racing against the likes of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
But the problem is finding a driver who would fulfil all those criteria, particularly given Red Bull’s currently small driver stable.
Enter Sebastian Vettel.
A reunion with the German would be just what Red Bull needs to form a dream team with Verstappen, plus he has his years of experience at the team to help push them forward.
It’s a move that would probably signal a different stage in Vettel’s career, but given Christian Horner’s policy of treating drivers equally, there is no reason why Sebastian also couldn’t achieve further F1 success.
Verstappen ought to relish the prospect of going head-to-head with Sebastian too if he knows what is right for his career long-term.
At some point, if he wants to be champion, he’ll have to take on the establishment and beat them so why not have one of those drivers in the same machinery?
As for Vettel, he too would have a lot to gain by returning to where he won his four world titles.
Despite his best attempts, the dream of following Michael Schumacher and becoming champion at Ferrari simply hasn’t worked out as he wanted.
While the Italian team has tried to change and come close to getting it done, the same weaknesses which impacted Fernando Alonso during his stint remain and may well not be overcome for some time yet.
When they are, Charles Leclerc will have likely become the man at Maranello, so there’s no reason for Vettel to want to stay beyond his current contract.
There have been stories of the 31-year-old considering retirement after 2019 and it is probably more than likely that is the case.
But Red Bull was the team he helped to build and heading back there would provide him with the environment to refind his best form, if not the driver that dominated F1 for four years.
It’s not exactly like he’s lost contact either as he’s often seen chatting with his former colleagues in the paddock, and though beating Verstappen would be a big task, at this stage of his career he has nothing left to prove.
When the history books are written Vettel will be a Red Bull legend, not a Ferrari one, so if his F1 career is now in its twilight period, why not sign off with the team that helped create it.
Certainly, it would be better than walking away with the tail of the Prancing Horse between his legs.
