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F1 Contract Negotiations: The Ultimate Guide to the 2024 Williams Contract Negotiations Saga (EDITED)

If you've ever asked yourself "what really happened during Carlos' contract negotiations?" and "how much do we really know about it?" - this is for you!

I compiled all the relevant quotes and bites from the assorted podcasts, interviews and press conferences, made a handy timeline, and presented it oh-so nicely. Now, all the information about the "secret meetings" in "various hotel locations" can be found in one place! Enjoy💙

Chosen sources: Full list in the last slide!

How Sainz Will Turbocharge Williams - with James Vowles | F1 Nation Podcast (5 August 2024), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zodLL9POfeE.

EXCLUSIVE: Late nights, secret meetings and colossal contracts – James Vowles on how he signed Sainz (29 July 2024),  https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/exclusive-late-nights-secret-meetings-and-colossal-contracts-james-vowles-on.2KTdZFiYOsMCIRT6GdRlLA.

‘He's an incredible driver’ – Vowles says Sainz is top of Williams shortlist for 2025 (7 June 2024), https://www.formula1.com/en/video/hes-an-incredible-driver-vowles-says-sainz-is-top-of-williams-shortlist-for-2025.1801235335357520279.

Sainz poised to announce F1 deal with Williams in Barcelona (June 2024), https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/06/20/sainz-poised-to-announce-f1-deal-with-williams-in-barcelona/.

Vowles has his ‘heart set’ on signing Sainz as he says ‘odds are in my favour’ for Williams to secure him (29 July 2024),  https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/vowles-has-his-heart-set-on-signing-sainz-as-he-says-odds-are-in-my-favour.6tOC9hN3OfIO24JLvY8JMm.

Vowles describes 'emotional reaction' from Williams team to Sainz signing as 'largest I've ever seen' (8 August 2024),  https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/vowles-describes-emotional-reaction-from-williams-team-to-sainz-signing-as.3THrWsaiypWlASRFJhkztP.

Sainz believes Williams can make an F1 performance leap akin to McLaren with their “very strong project” (August 2024), https://www.pitdebrief.com/post/sainz-believes-williams-can-make-an-f1-performance-leap-akin-to-mclaren-with-their-very-strong-project/.

James Vowles: On The Right Track With Albon + Sainz | F1 Beyond The Grid Podcast (2 October 2024), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMyUNzNETuk.

Carlos Sainz: Pain, Pride + Potential | F1 Beyond The Grid Podcast (4 December 2024), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26PsKeH_ytA.

Carlos Sainz’s First Day at HQ! | No Place Like Grove (4 February 2025), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzJjy24Ix1M.

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Start with this post for context.

So per the advice from @dumbf1sketches, I started searching for F1-related site maps and planning applications. Googling stuff like "f1 paddock planning applications" and so forth then led me to this forum which led me to this list of planning documents for Silverstone from which I was actually able to download the plans and they were a MOTHERLODE.

I went through the entire 100+ page planning document and extracted out the images and info that I thought were relevant, based on what my non-construction/architect-trained brain was able to parse.

I'm going to split what I found into two parts:

This part, part 1, which is about the pit buildings (garages + what lives above and beside the garages). This is the long skinny compound of buildings that stretches along the pit lane (and usually sits in front of the hospitality buildings - so you'll have hospitality || pit buildings || pit lane || race track)

Part 2, about the media and hospitality floorplans

Note: the pit building plans are all split into "1-22" and "22-44" (the two different halves of the pit buildings corresponding to different garages/compounds). In some cases, if the plans are the same or there's nothing interesting in one of the halves, I've only included one of them; in some cases I've included both.

Predictably, tumblr killed the resolution of these images a lot, so they're all in an imgur album here and linked individually underneath the tumblr embeds. Note that if it opens to an imgur page where the image is still kind of small even when expanded, you can right click + open image in new tab (make sure the URL ends with .png to be sure you've got the actual full res version, basically).

Pit buildings: elevations

high res

I believe this is the front/back of the building. It's actually a pretty familiar visual from the TV broadcast: you can imagine the cars pulling into their garage bays, but the most important note is how at the end of the garages, we're attached to what I believe is "Pit Building 1" in the Australia site map. As we'll see in the floorplans below, this houses race control and other neat stuff.

Not including 22-44 because they're basically just more garages and I think a utility tower or somesuch.

Pit buildings: ground floor

1-22:

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On the right-hand side of our image we've got our row of garages, no surprise there

I'm gonna try and do a post on the layout of the individual garages btw since I was researching that too. But we do also tend to see into those a lot during race day.

What's really worthwhile here is the left-hand side of the image: the technical/administrative complex with utilities, race control, offices, and meeting rooms

Not embedding 22-24 because it's just garages, building services, a washroom, etc.

Pit buildings: first floor

1-22:

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This has the podium! So this is super helpful to me because it means I could now write that a podium-nabbing driver would climb the stairs from their garage to Pit Building 1

We've also got the driver's briefing & press conference area right behind the podium, and a cafeteria on the other side of it (unclear who uses the cafeteria - I'm assuming press/media)

Then on the other side of that HUGE press room we've got assorted offices and lounges. Also unclear to me if this is for team/driver use or admin, media, etc.

Then, to the right of the "photographer's seats" section, we've got lounges lounges lounges, storage and corridors - I THINK those uniform blocks (which we'll see continued in the 22-44 half of the diagrams) may be team-specific.

Note that Monaco has a special layout Charles actually refers to this area (above the garages) as "hospitality" and both the first and second floor are explicitly team offices and meeting rooms. So it seems like a safe assumption that everything to the right of photographer's seats may be team-specific?

This has the podium! So this is super helpful to me because it means I could now write that a podium-nabbing driver would climb the stairs from their garage to Pit Building 1

We've also got the driver's briefing & press conference area right behind the podium, and a cafeteria on the other side of it (unclear who uses the cafeteria - I'm assuming press/media)

Then on the other side of that HUGE press room we've got assorted offices and lounges. Also unclear to me if this is for team/driver use or admin, media, etc.

Then, to the right of the "photographer's seats" section, we've got lounges lounges lounges, storage and corridors - I THINK those uniform blocks (which we'll see continued in the 22-44 half of the diagrams) may be team-specific.

Note that Monaco has a special layout Charles actually refers to this area (above the garages) as "hospitality" and both the first and second floor are explicitly team offices and meeting rooms. So it seems like a safe assumption that everything to the right of photographer's seats may be team-specific?

22-24:

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Same pattern repeats of lounge + storage + corridor.

Pit buildings: second floor

1-22:

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Looks like mostly terraces & VIP lounges. If anyone notices anything interesting I missed about this floor call it out in the comments/tags!

22-44:

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Biiiig terrace.

Pit buildings: third floor (roof)

1-22:

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Roofs, another terrace and VIP lounge.

22-44:

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It's... a roof.

Pit building: special extra roof

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Note that this is 1-12 not 22 - this presumably corresponds to the area in the third floor diagram above that's not covered/blacked out.

So... that's an example floor plan of a pit building/garage! A couple of other interesting tidbits from the Silverstone pit plans:

There's a pedestrian tunnel running underneath the pit lane and race track

Could be a fun little detail if you have people walking around the paddock/track.

Here's the side elevation of the end of the pit buildings

This is what they'd look like if you were looking at them from either end. In case it's helpful to visualize.

There's a scrutineering building, a starter's platform, and a shower building

Tumblr won't allow me to upload any more images into this post, and the plans for those don't provide too much value to me plus I can't really tell where they sit in the paddock relative to other buildings. But they + the pedestrian tunnel and side elevation are all on imgur here, and good to know that they exist, especially "shower building" as a whole separate thing!

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Does anyone know of any resources - websites, tumblrs, forums, clay tablets, I'll take anything at this point - which contain things like... idk. Detailed maps of paddock layouts (most of the official maps I find are geared towards fans coming to see the race and just have big blobs for like, ENTRANCE and PARKING 1 and FIRST AID PAVILION and maybe one area just called PADDOCK - and then the track maps just show the track & garages), explanations of how drivers will usually move around the space on race weekends and/or after races (ultra specific example: do they usually... walk/cycle/scoot from the garage down the pit lane to the media pen after sessions?? or are there pathways on the other side of the garages? or what?), just anything along those lines.

A while back when I was trying to do this kind of research, I found one Ferrari video which showed that, in Monaco at least, all the meeting rooms for debriefs etc are above the garage. That's the kind of info I'm trying to hoard. Because I've seen lots of videos taken at the track/in the paddock but they're usually these isolated, zoomed-in snippets, so one of the most challenging things for me right now about writing scenes set at the track is just - convincingly visualizing/describing and, more importantly, stitching together Space. Like okay they're Outside Hospitality but what does that look like and what does it connect to? Even if I'm describing it vaguely I want to have the image and map fixed at least somewhat clearly in my head.

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if you made it this far, thank you! <3

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So, I did another one. The 2025 F1 Season Beginner's Guide. Genuinely honoured that a few people requested it and sorry for all the mistakes I've missed. Please enjoy the many recycled jokes from last year and the 2025 exclusive slide "Paddock Pets".

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🌸 нσω ƒ1 тєαмѕ ∂єνєℓσρ ιη тнє σƒƒ-ѕєαѕση 🌸

Every Formula 1 season brings new challenges, and teams must continuously evolve their cars to stay competitive. The process of developing an F1 car is a year-round effort that involves cutting-edge technology, engineering expertise, and strategic planning. Here’s how it all happens:

Regulation and Rule Changes

Each season, the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) may introduce new technical regulations that impact car design.

Teams must carefully analyse these rules to ensure their car complies while also finding innovative ways to maximise performance within the limits set by the governing body.

During The Season

2024 McLaren F1 Car

Teams analyze data from the previous season, assessing where their car performed well and where improvements are needed. This includes evaluating tire wear, aerodynamics, power unit efficiency, and reliability.

Aerodynamics

F1 Car Under Wind Tunnel Aerodynamics

Aerodynamics play a crucial role in F1 car performance. Teams conduct wind tunnel tests and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations to refine the car’s shape, optimize downforce, and reduce drag. These adjustments help improve cornering speed and straight-line performance.

Power Unit Optimization

The hybrid power unit is another critical aspect of development. Teams work with engine manufacturers to improve fuel efficiency, energy recovery systems (ERS), and reliability while ensuring maximum power output. Fine-tuning cooling systems is also essential to prevent overheating during races.

Materials and Weight Reduction

F1 teams use advanced lightweight materials such as carbon fiber to reduce weight while maintaining structural integrity. Engineers constantly search for new materials and manufacturing techniques to make the car as light and strong as possible.

Simulations and Virtual Testing

Before a new car even hits the track, teams use driver-in-the-loop simulators to test various setups and performance characteristics. Virtual testing helps identify potential weaknesses and refine the car’s setup before physical prototypes are built.

Pre-Season Testing and Development Updates

Once the car is built, teams conduct pre-season testing to gather real-world data and fine-tune setups. Based on test results, modifications are made to aerodynamics, suspension, and power unit settings to optimise performance before the first race.

Continuous Development Throughout the Season

Car development doesn’t stop once the season begins. Teams introduce updates, such as new front and rear wings, revised floor designs, and suspension tweaks, to gain an advantage over rivals. These updates are based on ongoing data analysis and track performance feedback.

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all of sebastian vettel's helmets from 2005 to 2022 📷 @.1hlm / twitter

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A General History: Points

Hello, this post is a response to an ask about the points system throughout history. Enjoy!

So, like most things in F1 the points system has changed a lot since it's inception. As stated in the ask I received, it has changed so much that it is pretty difficult to compare past drivers points to what modern drivers score. But why? And how? Let's dive in.

1950s: The Early System

The first points structure in F1. The system awarded points only to the top five finishers, along with one point to the fastest lap. It was simple and created to make counting points easy, but fair, for a much smaller grid. It went as follows:

1st: 8 pts 2nd: 6 pts 3rd: 4 pts 4th: 3 pts 5th: 2 pts

1960s-1990: Big Shifts

During this time there were a few key changes to the original system. For one, the fastest lap point was removed as they hoped to encourage consistency over speed. The points also expanded to include the 6th finisher as well as the grid size grew. The number of points first received also changed to nine. It went as follows:

1st: 9 pts 2nd: 6 pts 3rd: 4 pts 4th: 3 pts 5th: 2 pts 6th: 1 pt

The most unique thing about this era of F1 is that only certain points counted toward the championship, most often the top five or six best results. This was to stop the domination of a single driver who had an overwhelming amount of wins and even the playing field a little. So even if a driver won ten races, only five of the wins would count. This changed in 1981 and full season consistency was brought back to the limelight. This was done mostly because F1 was gaining in popularity and there was a desire among new fans to increase the rewards for victory.

1991-2002: Rewarding Victory

In 1991 the amount of points a winner gets was once more increased, from nine to ten. This was once again in order to get more rewards for finishing first. It was also because it was becoming more common for specific teams to dominate, and they wanted to incentivize them to go after wins even if they were leading the championship. The rest of the system stayed the same, and was as follows:

1st: 10 pts 2nd: 6 pts 3rd: 4 pts 4th: 3 pts 5th: 2 pts 6th: 1 pt

2003-2009: Expanding

This time saw an increase in how many finishes earned points. Second changed to a higher number to make podiums more equal as well. These changes were made in order to reward more drivers for their performance, and to deal with the growing number of teams and drivers. They also hoped to increase competitiveness by giving midfield teams a chance to score points. It was as follows

1st: 10 pts 2nd: 8 pts 3rd: 6 pts 4th: 5 pts 5th: 4 pts 6th: 3 pts 7th: 2 pts 8th: 1 pt

2010-Now: The Modern Era

In 2010 the points system was completely overhauled. There were more teams, more rider, more fans, and more attention. They wanted to make F1 even more of a spectacle and knew that fans wanted to see their drivers score points. It expanded to cover the top ten finishers and rewarded even more points to the top step. This new system was also created to help make championship fight not as tight, which is pretty contradictory to what F1 usually does. It also served to put much more emphasis on podium finishes. The fastest lap point was added back in 2019 as long as the driver finished in the top ten, and showed a new emphasis on speed. The current system goes as follows

1st: 25 pts 2nd: 18 pts 3rd: 15 pts 4th: 12 pts 5th: 10 pts 6th: 8 pts 7th: 6 pts 8th: 4 pts 9th: 2 pts 10th: 1 pt

Sprint race points were also added in 2021. What it means is that points can be scored outside of the main race and count toward the championship. This was added to create more excitement around the championship, and also cause some chaos for fan entertainment. The initial 2021 system only awarded the top three finishers, but now the top eight receive points, with 1st receiving 8 pts and 8th receiving 1 pt. This was changed in 2022 after backlash on how little the sprint results mattered.

So that is an overview of the points system. If you notice, most changes are due to three things; grid size, fan desire, and speed vs consistency.

I hope I answered any questions had.

Cheers,

-B

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Top 5 Vettel hairstyles :)

You're a criminal, and you know you are. Anyway, here's my TOP 5...

...and a look back at the styles he's had throughout his career, full of typos as per norm.

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the full carcar (carloscar) timeline (or, a carlos sainz and oscar piastri primer)

Oscar Jack Piastri 

He was born on April 6th, 2001, in a suburb of Melbourne close to Albert Park. He is the eldest sibling and has 3 younger sisters. His grandfathers were mechanics and his father co-founded HP Tuners, a tool used for tuning and modifying the performance of vehicles with electronic control units. His mom, Nicole Piastri (née Mcfadyen) is a naturopath who specializes in botanical medicine and natural birthing practices. The entire family is pretty private, but the family was well-off enough so that they could support Oscar’s motorsports career.

Left to Right: Hattie, Mae, Nicole, and Edie (3 of Oscar's sisters with his mom) (Photo by Kym Illman)

Unlike Carlos and a ton of other drivers where they started off pursuing a career in motorsports by karting, he started in remote-control racing. He started karting in 2011 at age 10, but it wasn't until three years later that he began taking the sport more seriously. His career then progressed rapidly; in 2016, he made his debut in single-seater racing. He moved to the United Kingdom to further his racing career in 2016, finishing sixth in the 2016 CIK-FIA World Junior Championship in Bahrain. The following year, he was the British Formula 4 vice champion, with his dad’s company HP Tuners sponsoring him.

In 2018, he participates in Formula Renault Eurocup and places 8th, spends one more year there, and places 1st. Through 2019-2021, he’s on a winning streak: he wins F3 and F2, and is Alpine’s reserve driver for the 2022 season.

British F4 Vice Champion (Photo by Jakob Ebrey) | F3 Champion (Photo by Joe Portlock)

In 2018, he participates in Formula Renault Eurocup and places 8th, spends one more year there, and places 1st. Through 2019-2021, he’s on a winning streak: he wins F3 and F2, and is Alpine’s reserve driver for the 2022 season. He is also available as a reserve driver for McLaren, and he participates in some test sessions throughout the 2022 season: he drives at COTA, Losail, and Silverstone.

In 2022, we also get the infamous tweet: Oscar saying that he will not be driving with Alpine for the next year. When Sebastian Vettel retires, he opens up a seat at Aston Martin, and reports emerge that Oscar is supposed to join Williams in 2023, and Alpine will keep Alonso and Ocon. Alpine then tweets Oscar will take Alonso’s place, and then Oscar rejects the claim. His contract announcement with McLaren comes out in September, saying he had signed with them July 2022, and the rest is history.

Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro Cenamor Rincón Rebollo Virto Moreno de Aranda Don Per Urrielagoiria Pérez del Pulgar

He was born September 1st, 1994, in Madrid. He is the middle child to two other sisters, Ana and Blanca, and is son to Carlos Sainz Sr, a World Rally champion. His grandfather, Antonio Sainz, was in charge of the Bolivian honorary consul in Madrid, helping with generous financial contributions. Right before Carlos Jr. was born, his grandfather got into a serious scandal when he was found shooting and killing a man after he stole a bag from his wife. He was not charged but did turn himself in to the police. Carlos Sainz Sr’s sister buys a car for him at 11, and he becomes obsessed with racing, but wants to try to be the best at everything, and is a squash champion at 17. Antonio forces him to study law, and he gets through 2 terms, before debuting in rallies. He wins 2 world rally championships and becomes vice champion 4 times. His family is extremely rich, as compound surnames like “Vázquez de Castro” in Spain belong to nobility or at least, the upper class. Blanca, the eldest daughter, received a degree in Business Administration and even studied at Northeastern. Ana, the youngest daughter, also received a degree in Business Administration and Management but works within the real estate sector. They are all very close to Spanish royalty and nobility.

Photo from Twitter

Carlos begins his career in karting in 2006. (Mind you, Oscar is 5 in 2006...) After competing in smaller series, he wins the Asia-Pacific KF3 title in 2008 and finishes runner-up in the Spanish Championship. In 2009, he secures the Junior Monaco Kart Cup and comes 2nd place in the European KF3 Championship. Carlos becomes a part of the Red Bull Junior Team in 2010. He makes the switch from carts to open-wheel cars in 2010, and although he competes in a variety of series, his most notable finish from 2010 and 2011 is 1st in Formula Renault 2.0. 2012-2014, he competed in F3, GP3, and Formula Renault 3.5. Before GP2 became F2, he never actually competed in it, skipping the series. He races in an F1 car for the first time in Silverstone in 2013, and at 20, he signs to race with Toro Rosso for the 2015 season. 

“Spanish youngster Carlos Sainz, whose father and namesake was a double world rally champion in the 1990s, will race in Formula One next season with Toro Rosso in the youngest line-up on the starting grid.” - Article by Eurosport

For a lot of his career, Carlos was always compared to his dad, living in his shadow. From the beginning of 2015 to the middle of 2017, Carlos races for Toro Rosso. He gets a new teammate in 2016, partnering with Daniil Kvyat after Max is promoted to the Red Bull senior team and Daniil is demoted. His results in the F1 world championship went from 15th to 12th to 9th.

In 2017, he leaves Toro Rosso for Renault. Helmut Marko spoke about his decision, saying “"It was his bad luck to get Max as a teammate. The atmosphere between the two [Sainz and Verstappen] at Toro Rosso was quite toxic.” He referred to both of their parents as being toxic and creating that toxic atmosphere, making their children hard to compete with each other.

“Sainz was a strong performer at Toro Rosso alongside Max Verstappen in their rookie 2015 season, matching him in qualifying. But his reputation never took off, and while he was always a promising young driver, clearly capable of some excellent performances, few seemed to believe Sainz was a prodigious talent. When Verstappen got promoted to Red Bull’s senior team a few races into 2016, Sainz was left at Toro Rosso. Though not in the same spotlight as Verstappen, he comprehensively outperformed the demoted Daniil Kvyat over the next 18 months. However, it had become clear to Sainz he lacked a path to the front with Red Bull. He always denied that Verstappen refused to be his team-mate again, but if it was not the young Dutchman’s preference it was almost certainly Red Bull’s, as the team did not want to pair Verstappen with Sainz.” - Article by The Race

He spends 1.5 years at Renault, then signs with McLaren. He was on loan from Renault to Red Bull, and he was unable to resign with them due to not being free from his contract early enough. Renault also conveniently decides to replace him with Daniel Ricciardo, who ultimately joins Renault in 2019, and Carlos goes on record saying he left Renault without any bad feelings. Ultimately he decides his Plan B is McLaren (as Alonso decides to retire at the end of 2018), and he signs with them, a “multi-year” contract.

He takes his first podium with McLaren at the 2019 Brazilian Grand Prix, finishes in 3rd place, and in 2020, he takes his second podium at Monza, finishing in 2nd place. He also takes 1 fastest lap at the 2020 Styrian Grand Prix. Ultimately, he had very successful seasons with McLaren, finishing 6th in the WDC back-to-back, and he is offered a 2 year contract by Ferrari to replace Sebastian Vettel for the upcoming 2021 season. Daniel Ricciardo, funny enough, replaces him at McLaren (they are swapping seats lol).

Photo from SkySports

From 2021-2024, he remains with Ferrari, scores 3 wins, a number of podiums, and stays close behind his teammate, Charles Leclerc. And now, we are here, the start of The Carcar Timeline.

The Carcar Timeline

Australia 2015 - A String of Invisible Fate

"Piastri shares another memory from the Australian GP Oscar Piastri has another memory from the Australian GP. Back in 2015, the Aussie was one of the grid kids for the event. Grid-kids were children who used to hold the flags of each driver’s nationality. Piastri was assigned Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat. Unfortunately for young Oscar, he was unable to meet the Russian driver as Kvyat was unable to start after a transmission failure." - Article by The Sports Rush

He was standing not far from Carlos!!! THE FIRST CARCAR CRUMBS! Thank you @a-amvryllis for posting these photos!

Spa 2023 - The Story Begins with a DNF

Lewis Hamilton starts 3rd, Carlos Sainz starts 4th, and Oscar Piastri starts 5th

Lewis is fighting with Carlos going into turn 1, on the outside of Carlos

Carlos has a slight lock-up going into turn 1, and to avoid contact with Lewis, he has to turn inward

Oscar ultimately has to take the inside line to Carlos going into turn 1, and is squeezed into the wall by Carlos

They both DNF due to damage from the incident, deemed a “racing incident” by the FIA

In an interview, Oscar tells the media: “I had a pretty good launch, I was getting alongside Carlos and then he kind of jinked to the inside a bit and I obviously had to get out of the brakes to not get hit. My nose was kind of there and at that point, it was too late to try and back out, so unfortunately I ended up in contact. A shame to end so early."

Carlos, on the other hand, tells the media: “I was on the attack with Lewis into Turn 1 and I think I pretty much had the move done and then I received a bit of contact on my rear-right,” reckoned Sainz afterwards. “If you want my honest opinion, I think it was a bit of a mistake by Oscar trying to go through side-by-side into [Turn] 1. If you look at the last seven, eight years, everyone who has tried that move, it’s never really worked and has generated a bit of a crash when you look at the past races. So yeah, I don’t know if it was a bit of a lack of experience, a bit optimistic, but again a racing incident that cost us a race."

The Infamous Tweet that got Carlos slightly cancelled because he blamed Oscar 😭

Zandvoort 2023 - Big Yikes in Qualifying

During Q1, Carlos was exiting the pit lane behind Valtteri Bottas, and was unaware of Oscar's presence

Oscar was on a slow lap

As Carlos pulled across to take the natural racing line into turns 2 and 3, Oscar was forced off track and had to brake suddenly to avoid contact with Carlos

Carlos is ultimately given a 5000 Euro reprimand, as Ferrari did not warn Carlos about his proximity to Oscar until they were alongside each other

Monza 2023 - Free Practice 3 Inchident

At turn 1, Carlos and Oscar go side-by-side, and Carlos forces Oscar to go wide to avoid a collision

Carlos is shown the black-and-white flag for the incident

The commentators go on to say "it's always these two, isn't it?" (and it's true because sometimes you just beef with your younger enemy)

Yuki is also upset with Carlos too due to some congestion on track, and him getting in the way 😭

Abu Dhabi 2023 - More Free Practice Inchidents

Oscar is approaching a turn when Carlos is in the racing line on a slow lap

Oscar believed that Carlos had impeded him on his lap, accusing him of "dangerous driving"

Ultimately, nothing comes of the incident, except for the fact that we get our signature "Classic Carlos" moment

During qualifying, Carlos also is criticized by Daniel Ricciardo, saying he's "always the culprit" with impeding (thank you @scrappyracers for sending this)

Saudi Arabia 2024 - Minor Complaining

During FP2, Oscar is told that "Sainz is pushing" and slows down to the left side of the track, to let him pass

But then, Carlos doesn't think that this is sufficient, throws his right hand up and gestures at Oscar as he passes him like "what tf are u doing" and says the following radio message

The onboards can be found here, thank you @eightyonefour for posting!

Miami 2024 - When Carcar Went Mainstream

Through the middle of the race, around lap 34, Carlos attempted an overtake on Oscar

Oscar pushes Carlos wide to defend his position

Carlos then states that Oscar should give the position back for pushing him off the track

No penalties were given here, as Oscar was overtaking on the inside and his front tyres were ahead–therefore, this was a legal move

On lap 35, Carlos attempts another overtake on Oscar, and has a slight-lock-up

There is contact! The cars touch, but Carlos makes it past

Oscar tries to retake the position, but has a major lock-up, and has significant front-wing damage. He ends up replacing his front wing, falling from P4 to P13

Carlos is given a penalty after the race for causing the collision due to "losing control of his car" and he drops from P4 to P5

(it's worth noting Oscar literally has no radios of him even acknowledging this fight with Carlos, he just talks about the vibrations of the rear wing)

Monaco 2024 - The Soulbond is Acknowledged

We got this very funny moment of Oscar trying to offer Carlos the microphone but getting ignored

While Charles was on pole, Oscar was in 2nd and Carlos was in 3rd, and on the first lap, Oscar didn't get away as well as Carlos did so Carlos caught up to Oscar

They went side by side at the first corner and Carlos rubbed against Oscar's floor, leaving him with a front-left puncture

After the red flag, all the grid positions were restored, so they ended up racing each other all the way until the end of the race

At the press conference, Carlos was lying down first and then Oscar decided to come join him

Then, when starting the press conference, Carlos tried to offer his phone to Oscar (boyfriend behavior)

In the interview, Carlos goes on record saying:

"for some reason oscar and i, we seem to have a magnet recently between each other, for some reason that i don't understand because we get on well and everything is okay but we always seem to find each other on track" from here

They acknowledged the soul-bond

The Crusty White Dog

They both own crusty white dogs. Do you guys think they share it

Instagram Saga

Carlos does not follow Oscar on Instagram.

Oscar follows Carlos on Instagram.

Oscar has never once liked any of Carlos' posts (I can confirm. I have scrolled through the thousands of posts he has.)

this is the current timeline, let me know if i've missed anything! and i hope you enjoyed my little brief intros about the drivers too!

[f1-primers]

wait would you u want to explain the context of multi 21?

MULTI-21: A HISTORY LESSON

MODERN ASSUMPTIONS:

it has been over a decade since the 2013 malaysian grand prix. as the years have gone on, people have forgotten, or smoothed out, the minutiae of it.

when people talk about multi-21 nowadays, it tends to fall under three headings:

• evil supervillain seb was addicted to winning and didn’t care about his team. selfish emotionless robot. got booed for a year and deserved it

• cunty brat seb was a disobedient child and refused to listen to his team and faced no consequences ever because he was red bulls special little boytoy

• poor mark webber was betrayed by his team as he had been for five years. the win was his and seb stole it

but of course, nothing is ever so simple

BACKGROUND

by 2013, sebastian and mark had been teammates for 5 years, and part of the extended red bull “family” for 7.

when they became teammates in 2009, mark was the older, more experienced head. seb was the young wunderkind who already had a race win under his belt, more than mark had.

(ironically, mark won his first race in germany in 2009. seb wouldn’t win his home GP until 2013. seb has since called mark’s 2009 german gp win as one of the most impressive drives he’s ever seen.)

anyway. let’s go back in time. it’s japan. it’s 2007. and it is raining. it’s lap 45, under the safety car after alonso crashed out. the rain is TORRENTIAL, and mark (red bull) is running in 2nd. he’s so sick that he’s vomiting in his helmet. seb (toro rosso baby. 20 years old) was 3rd. hamilton was leading, and braked quite dangerously. seb was caught out by this, and crashed into the back of mark. both of them had been running in the podium places, and both had to retire. mark called seb a kid without experience fucking it up. seb cried in his garage. this is the first time they crash. mark later referred to it as the first time they made love on track because he’s a freak

fast forward to turkey 2010. they are teammates now, and have been for over a year. fuji 2007 had largely been forgotten. water under the bridge. they are fighting for the championship against ferrari and mclaren. mark got pole, but around lap 40 seb had caught up to him as mark had to save fuel. they “merged towards each other” (generous). mark didn’t give seb enough space, seb was too over-eager. people will have different opinions. unless you’re helmut marko, who will always back seb, since seb is a product of the red bull academy whereas mark wasn’t. mark went on to finish on the podium, seb had to retire. seb was PISSED! (sexy). this is seen as the start of the ��rivalry” by many.

britain 2010. aka the mark-webber-slams-water-on-desk moment. seb was given the new front wing from marks car for qualifying because he was a better qualifier because his had broken in fp3. he would ultimately get a puncture in the race, whilst webber with the old wing came first, and graced us with the “not bad for a no.2 driver” radio message.

so, where are we by summer 2010 and spring 2011? fuji was no one’s fault really, turkey was six of one half a dozen of the other, but mark felt the team favoured seb. britain made that feeling CONCRETE in marks mind. then seb won the title in 2010 after not leading until the final race of the season. in the press conference before abu dhabi 2010, seb kept getting asked if he’d let mark past it if would win mark the championship, and he kept evading the answer. see, mark had been ahead in the championship, but he qualified 7th while seb got pole and won. so, come 2011, webber was convinced the team favoured seb. however, seb was by far and away the better driver.

so. britain 2011. an underrated moment of the vettel webber rivalry. mark qualified on pole, with seb p2. seb quickly took the lead in the race. later on in the race after some botched pit stops and drama, mark was close to seb. red bull told mark NOT to pass seb.

mark ignored this team order. he tried to pass his teammate, but ultimately failed to do so. it’s often forgetting in vettel/webber rivalry lore that mark was the first of them to ignore a direct team order. the difference was he just wasn’t able to make the overtake. here are two interesting quotes from just after the race:

and now. brazil 2012. another forgotten multi-21 backstory. it was the last race of the season, and seb was fighting for his third straight championship, only alonso could possibly beat him. mark qualified 3rd, seb 4th, and alonso 8th. seb had a rocky start to the race, which resulted in him being hit from the back & spun around. he pulled off the mother of all recovery drives to win the championship. alls well that ends well right? wrong. horner admitted a few years ago that seb felt that mark was to blame for the rocky start by forcing seb into the wall. horner even went as far as to say that this lack of teamwork was directly in sebs mind when malaysia 2013 came around. that that was seb’s revenge.

conspiracy theorists will say that mark forced seb towards the wall because he wanted his mate alonso to win the championship over his teammate. definitely possible but not confirmed.

so. here we are. malaysia 2013. it’s been 5 years of crashes, ignored team orders (mark), favouritism (seb) and finally an almost championship-ruining shove towards a wall.

seb qualified on pole, mark 5th. but mark took the lead after the first round of pitstops. around lap 46, seb was gaining on mark, who was on old hard tyres. team orders came through for seb not to fight mark. multi 21 literally means that car no 2 should stay in position ahead of car no 1. just as mark ignored team orders in britain 2011, seb ignored them here. the only difference was seb actually got past. mark was furious (“yep that’s good teamwork!”) seb, a bad liar, was hilarious (“i was really scared… all of a sudden he was moving… i had to…”) horner was regretting most of his life choices (“this is silly seb come on.”)

seb won the race. the most awkward of all cool down rooms ensued (“multi 21 seb. yeah? multi 21”) seb chugged an entire bottle of water. poor lewis hamilton just trying to disappear into thin air. underrated moment is you can see a clip of seb trying to explain something to mark and neither of them are having a good time. on the podium interviews after mark said “seb will have protection from the team as always” - harkening back to his long-felt belief that the team favoured seb, yet ignoring his own history of ignoring team orders, and ignoring brazil 2012.

seb would later apologise.

…

three days later seb would rescind that apology.

(“i was racing i was faster i passed him i won.”)

at this stage, seb had been the dominant driver for four years running and some crowds had grown annoyed at him, so used this as an excuse to boo him at basically every race for the summer swing of the season. seb spoke at the end of 2013 about how hard this was for him, and how he was thankful for the support of his family and girlfriend during the hard times. it’s important to remember that seb was only in his mid 20s when all this booing and controversy was happening. it’s a lot to shoulder, especially when you’re only doing what you’ve always done, what you’re being paid to do: winning.

mark would retire at the end of the 2013 season, though apparently he had already made up his mind before malaysia.

seb would stay at red bull for one more year before moving to ferrari.

when asked in 2022, seb said he wouldn’t change what he did in malaysia 2013. and in my opinion, he’s right.

unlike the mclaren clusterfuck of hungary 24, there was YEARS of history between vettel and webber before multi-21. grudges, crashes, hurts, pride, friendship, rivalry, championships lost and won. this was the cumulation of their entire careers to date, all of their mistakes and their motivations for better or for worse.

basically, it was never so simple as “seb ignored team orders because he was an arrogant brat” or “poor mark the team never liked him” it’s… well it’s all of the above. cheers for reading. fuck me i went on a bit

[f1-primers]

Life on the Limit (2013 - YouTube - free to watch) documentary about F1 and how the sport changed to become safer over the years. it's interesting from that perspective alone, but it also has plenty of history about what racing was like in decades gone by. worth a watch!

[f1-primers]

hello!! i appreciate you for this blog so much, this is one of the most helpful things i’ve come across! i wanted to ask if you could guide me to any resources on sebmark history (sebastian vettel and mark webber) thank you so much!! 🫶

ooooh thank you! i haven't seen many sebmark primers so putting this out there to followers - anyone got any good posts i can add to the collection!?

[f1-primers]

Hi! I've made a compilation of Oscar Piastri's iconic DRS tweets that you might be interested in adding to his lore page? https://www.tumblr.com/hereandnowhere-onboards/752089223600963584/oscar-piastri-the-drs-chronicles?source=share Thanks for your primers, I've found them really helpful!

shared! thank you - always makes me happy when someone thinks to send me something :)

[f1-primers]

Oscar Piastri: The DRS Chronicles

I couldn't find a full compilation of all of Oscar's legendary DRS tweets, so I've pulled together as many as I could. Please let me know if I've missed anything!

July 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020

December 2020

January 2021

April 2021

June 2021

July 2021

September 2023

May 2024

Oscar Piastri TikTok video dated 17 May 2024.

[Reply to Karglass’s comment ‘how your relationship with drs is going ??’]

There’s probably a lot of people wondering what this question is about. In F3, my DRS was VERY temperamental, and I think basically half the season it worked very intermittently, sometimes didn’t work at all, and if you want to scroll back far enough on my Twitter, on my X, then you will see the DRS chronicles from that year. So, yeah, we’re all good now, have been for a while, now that I’ve said that I’ve definitely jinxed it because that’s what happened last time I did this, but yes, since then we have been all good, yeah.

[f1-primers]

this is so cool - anyone interested in pro cycling, go & give them a follow!

👋 Welcome to @pro-cycling-primers! 👋

So. We've all seen the trailers now: Netflix is dropping season 2 of Tour de France: Unchained, and inspired by the fantastic work of @f1-primers, I thought I would start this sideblog to create an introduction of sorts for new fans, and eventually create a repository for all sorts of informative posts here on cyclblr :)

Welcome! Please feel free to ask questions or submit your own primers/introductions on anything you like; particular race/edition of race, rider, team, rivalry, history, lore, tech, whatever!

This post will change as this blog grows and more primers are posted :)

[f1-primers]

F1 and VO2 Max Training

(x)(x)(x)(x)(x)

What is VO2 Max Training and why do drivers do it?

VO2 Max is the maximum amount of oxygen the body absorbs during exercise and can measure aerobic fitness levels. VO2 = Volume of oxygen consumed by the body per minute - it is one of the strongest predicters of heart disease and death. It is the best measure of cardiac and respiratory fitness available.

VO2 is measured in ml (of oxygen) / kg (body mass) / minute

How much oxygen the body consumes - the amount of blood the heart pumps per minute and how much oxygen was taken from it.

Now...why do F1 drivers need this?

Drivers put extreme demand on their cardiovascular, respiratory and overall physical health during races. Their bodies are subjected to enormous amounts of g-force and experience extreme heat and stress. They need a lot of energy to do this and as a result can burn a lot of calories per race.

VO2 max training is a useful measurement to assess a drivers endurance at their maximum during exercise which they are subject to during a race. The strain they're under during a race would require their bodies to be pushed to the max, requiring optimal oxygen intake and energy production.

It can ensure drivers are fit enough to endure the stress they subject their bodies to despite the environment within the car - maximum speeds/ heat. It gives drivers and their teams a greater understanding of how hard they can push their bodies and also how they can further maximise their performance during races.

Want to know a bit more about the science? Read below.

Now the (more) science-y bit - oxygen is used in respiration and as you breathe in oxygen the lungs turn it into energy called ATP (adenosine triphosphate). This powers the cells and helps release the CO2 in the body that's created during respiration when you breathe out.

The greater a persons VO2 max, the more oxygen a body can consume and the more effectively the body can use this to create the maximum amount of ATP energy and the better the body can handle aerobic/ cardio exercise.

During the test the goal is to get to maximum exercise to determine max heart rate, vo2 max and an estimated lactate threshold. The test measures oxygen consumption and CO2 production using a mask to determine values. The goal is to run at a comfortable speed but not too comfortable for around 10 minutes to max out oxygen consumption and heart rate. During the test heart rate is measured using the ECG dots you can see on the chest.

The Fick Equation is used to calculate VO2.

VO2 (mls O2/ minute) = cardiac output (stroke volume x cardiac output) x arteriovenous oxygen difference (difference in O2 content between arterial and venous blood - how much O2 is used by tissues in systemic circulation).

So in short, VO2 is how much oxygen the body consumes - how much blood the heart pumps per minute and how much oxygen was taken from it.