If Pérez was the team’s No. 1, he would be able to fight for the title, says commentator Kosta. Stanek must fight to win, he said

Jiří Košta is a commentator of formula races on Sport TV. In an exclusive interview with Ruik, he talked about how he thinks the forces are spread before the start of the season and why he thinks George Russell won’t beat Lewis Hamilton. He also spoke briefly about the only Czech driver in Formula 3, Roman Stanek.

F1 has completed pre-season tests in Spain and Bahrain. Did you and do you follow?

I followed the tests in Spain and Bahrain. Personally, I think everything changed between the tests. Mercedes presented us with a completely different car (with a minimal sidewall concept – ed.) compared to Barcelona and personally I think it’s all changed.

So who will fight for the title?

In Barcelona it looked like it might be Ferrari, now it looks more like Mercedes again, who are on their way to their ninth title (in the Constructors’ Cup).

How can Red Bull have a say in this fight?

The first time we saw the real RB18 monocoque, well not a mock-up, we were like wow. The side skirts, the rear wing, the overall aerodynamics look great. But Red Bull is not exactly brimming with optimism, unlike Ferrari and Mercedes. Even though Mercedes have a completely different car now than they had in Barcelona, Mercedes were already happy with the way things were going there and they were feeling good about it.

So what could the balance of power be?

For me, so far it’s Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull. But in Red Bull there’s Max Verstappen, the reigning world champion, who can always squeeze a lot out of a monoposto. So I wouldn’t completely dismiss Red Bull, but maybe the start of the season will catch them a little off guard.

There’s been an unexpected replacement for Russian Nikita Mazepin in the Haas team. Do you think Kevin Magnussen can keep up with Mick Schumacher?

If anyone can get in the car at the last minute and beat anyone, it’s Kevin Magnussen. In this case, I think Haas made a good choice by taking him and not any junior. Even last year the still young F1 team had two rookies, which means that experience disappeared last year. I think Magnussen is a fantastic choice and I think he’ll be firing from the first practice.

And what do you think about Pietro Fittipaldi not getting the seat? A few days ago you were talking about it on social media as almost a done deal.

You’re right, we had it straight from the family who were counting on Fittipaldi to race in F1. But I think Haas put one and one together and said the money didn’t help them last year and they need experience and talent.

So they took Kevin Magnussen. I believe it was very last minute as there was speculation about Giovinazzi, Hülkenberg or Schwarzman and just Fittipaldi. Apparently Guenther (Steiner – Haas team principal) sat down with Gene Haas (team founder) and said, “We lacked experience, let’s put this Kevin in”.

Theonly newcomer of the season, China’s Kuan-yuZhou,is also a big name. Does he surprise or do you think Alfa Romeo will let him go after one season?

For me personally, he’s also a big unknown because we could see that Alfa Romeo basically has no sponsors. On the contrary, they still have to add something to (Valtteri) Bottas’ salary and Zhou will pay part of it. And it’s certainly not small money.

We haven’t seen his performance yet, there have been a few times when a driver hasn’t done well in juniors and then he’s come along and done well in F1. I hope Zhou will surprise us pleasantly and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him. I don’t think it will be such a bust as Mazepin’s though.

Of course, we mustn’t forget George Russell, who will be alongside Lewis Hamilton in Mercedes this year. Could he be a title contender?

That’s one of the big questions this season. For example, my commentator colleague Tomas Richtr has been saying since Russell’s contract was signed last year that Russell will beat Hamilton. And I asked him if he thought the rookie would beat the seven-time F1 champion.

I don’t quite see it. I think Lewis is well entrenched in the team and he doesn’t have those titles by accident, even though a lot of people think and say it was just the car. I think Russell will tend to be like Valtteri Bottas when he came to Mercedes. He’ll have a few bright results, but then his speed and pace will slow down.

Could there be collisions between the Mercedes drivers? Russell’s not such an experienced driver after all..

I think it’s more the nature of the drivers that’s different. Valtteri is more of a gentleman and a pro in all circumstances and how he was able to handle some situations, I don’t think anyone else could. Others would have either left by now or started to cause some problems for Mercedes.

As for George, he didn’t go through an easy time either and kept Williams afloat and supported the team even when they were still running last. George is more of a hot head in personality than in teamwork, so I think as a team (Mercedes) they will operate very professionally.

What about Sergio Pérez? Will he trouble Max Verstappen at Red Bull already this year?

I think if Pérez was with the number one team he would be capable of fighting for the title. Last year, with a couple of exceptions at the beginning of the season, Checo (Pérez’s nickname – ed.) basically made no mistakes. He did a thousand percent of everything he was supposed to do for Red Bull.

He helped Verstappen tremendously and if it wasn’t for some uncaused collisions, he would have been third overall (in the championship). It will probably be similar to Mercedes, so if Verstappen has problems, Checo will be there and ready to fight for the win. I think he will surprise us a lot later this year.

And finally, a question for the Czech Roman Stanek in F3. Is this year the key year for him to try to fight for F1?

In terms of results, Roman doesn’t necessarily need to win the title or be in the top 3 overall. He’s in his third season in Formula 3, he’s also driving for a championship team, so he just has to win a race. And if he doesn’t win with this team, then it’s going to be very difficult for him with Formula 2.

We don’t know what will happen with F1, of course, but Roman is busy right now, as they say, and he has everything to fight for the title and surprise this year. Now it’s up to him and I have a lot of faith in him.