#2015 toro rosso rookies

[notyourmusebby]

Helmut Marko: “the atmosphere was quite toxic”

The atmosphere:

[kingofthering]

Carc Primer : come meet the Spanish boyfriends

Marc Marquez, MotoGP rider. Carlos Sainz, F1 driver. Two Spaniards of the same generation who were brought together by various circumstances and who are now very good friends, as demonstrated below.

NATIONAL SPORTS AWARDS 2015

Oldest photos of them I could find are from the 17th of November 2015 when they attended the National Sports Awards in Madrid.

HONDA / RED BULL

Marc has spent his whole carreer with Honda. Carlos was a RB junior driver and then drove for Toro Rosso up until 2017. I couldn't find more content than what you have right after (from pre-season 2016, you can see more pictures here).

ESTRELLA GALICIA

The Estrella Galicia 0,0 Youtube channel is a gift. They had Carlos and Marc in the same commercial but separately in July of 2015 (video) and June of 2016 (video).

We can see them on screen at the same time on this video from March of 2017.

In 2018, they shot this beautiful thing.

(gifs source by @rookie-ofthe-year)

In July of 2021, they shot a video for the Artesanos del paddock series of videos.

In November of 2021, they were both involved in some promo stuff for the 5th season of La Casa de Papel. Here you have some backstage thing.

In December of 2022, Estrella Galicia made them visit MEGA (the EG museum) and they looked very boyfriends while doing it (video).

(gifs source by @c2-eh)

They interviewed each other (video in English - video in Spanish). They talked about how Carlos should try a motoGP bike one day (the way Marc says "claro que te gustaria" lives rent free in my mind).

They filmed a "this or that" video that Carlos published for Marc's Birthday (video). It has Marc saying "you guard it [my beer] and I dance" and the two of them challenging each other to a race (we're still waiting).

EG also made them pour beers (video) and we had some intense heart eyes action from Marc.

(gifs source by @c2-eh)

You can find more pictures from that day here, the "then and now" insta reel here. They also did some VR stuff, with Marc inadvertedly grabbing Carlos' hand (pictures & video).

In January of 2023, EG released a commercial for their new 0,0 beer with them (insta reel) and you can see Marc handing the beers to Carlos saying "you're stronger" and after Carlos struggles to understand the mechanism, Marc has to take the beers from him (saying that the guys from motoGP are stronger).

MADRID

In early 2022, Marc (and his brother Alex) moved to Madrid. Carlos helped him, he said : "Since I found out he was coming to live in Madrid, I tried to help him adapt himself and feel as comfortable as possible in my hometown [...] I don't live in Madrid anymore, but I go back there every weekend and try to meet him. We met twice for dinner, I have shown him the gym where I train, he is also training there now, and we have a lot of contact." (article)

They indeed trained together earlier this year, with the following photos from January 2023 (insta post).

During the World Cup, on the 1st of December 2022, they watched the Spain - Japan game together with friends (and made a joint insta post for their selfies).

You can find a group picture of that night here. And now, very important things to witness : Carlos feeding Marc omelet from his fork and playing the plane game with him (video) and the two of them discussing while Marc is seating at Carlos' feet in a very babygirl fashion (video). The scenes are from All In (Marc's Prime Video documentary), you can see Carlos in episode 5.

(gifs source by me)

INSTAGRAM

You can find them in each other's comments (for example here or here). Here you have Carlos filming Marc while he was sleeping in early 2017.

Also, this is Carlos wishing Marc a Happy Birthday in 2021 (here) via EG. And Marc was watching the Bahrain GP (2023) and I'm making it count as Carlos support (photo here).

OTHER

I couldn't find out where this was from but have some leather jacket Carlos.

And then, something that might be EG related but I'm not sure so we're putting it here. An event at the Barcelona Grand Prix in 2019 with Marc's brother and Carlos' dad. More photos here.

In March of 2023, Ignacio Rivera, president of Estrella Galicia, talked about Marc & Carlos in an interview. It’s pretty interesting and I will just highlight one quote (translated to the best of my abilities) :

But it’s sure that the understanding between the two was building while they were participating to events and publicity campaigns together. There, you could see how they supported each other and competively provoked each other. It’s fantastic for us to do sponsor activities with the two because you can immediately perceive their affinity.

FANDOM CONTENT

This is where I do promo for myself and my friends. I've written a couple of fics for them, you can find them on my AO3 (one, two, short stories). @c2-eh also wrote a very beautiful and very hot fic for them and @backwardscapcarlos makes the best moodboards.

I also made a dedicated gifset for them, which you can find here.

We're all obviously looking forward to more content so please join us in the Carc madness.

[blorbocedes]

"Mercedes was offering a paid F2 season in 2015 with a view to F1 the season after, probably with a Mercedes customer team. “All that we could offer them that Mercedes could not,” recalled Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, “was an F1 drive. Because we had Toro Rosso.”

The Verstappens had gone into Max’s first season of car racing knowing F3 was a big step and figuring the following season would be the title campaign. But here they were fighting tooth and nail for the title immediately and being offered F1! Jos had leveraged Mercedes’ interest to great effect and Marko was determined to land what he saw as a generational talent, someone he’d been trying to bring into the fold for years. Finally, Jos had ‘allowed’ that to happen. It was almost as if they were doing Red Bull a favour in agreeing to terms. But what terms; the combination of Jos’ shrewdness, Max’s talent and Marko’s determination not to let it escape saw Red Bull commit not just to three seasons of F1 (the first two of them at Toro Rosso) but the freedom to walk in the third year if he was not promoted to the senior team.

The power dynamic of the 17-year-old rookie within the Red Bull group was therefore unique. Every other driver had spent years proving to Red Bull they were worthy. Red Bull had almost to prove it was worthy of retaining Max – and Marko was enthralled."

he had them gagged since the start

jos' own career got fucked in part due to he was never the talent max is, and stronger part due to management absolutely fucking him over in a way that stunted his career. so he was determined max would not only have his options open, but options from the best teams. the goal was always mercedes but redbull was the one time crazy enough to put a teenager in the cockpit, and mercedes already had their 1-2 seemingly locked in for years.

max was the boy wonder who could

[dear-ao3]

A different anon but as someone deeply fascinated by Esteban Ocon and the redbull musical chairs here are some extra notes:

Estie bestie is currently at Alpine formerly Renault since 2020. And back in 2018 (ie when he was in Racing Point) there were rumors linking him to the Renault seat Daniel would take in 2019 so that’s possibly why his and Lances friendship survived

Unrelated but Alpine/Renault is currently the Frenchest team to ever French. It is (or at least was) partly owned by the French government through their stake in Renault (Alpine got renamed cause Alpine is the sports car brand of Renault. Not that they make any sports cars I believe they made maybe one in 2017). The current two Alpine drivers are the aforementioned Estie bestie and Pierre Gasly (both French. Also childhood friends to enemies to they have to tolerate each other now) and while their current reserve driver is an Australian, he will hopefully for his own good take a page out of his countryman’s Oscar Piastris book and hightail it out of there for his own good. The most likely replacement for him would be Victor Martins. Also French. The Alpine factories are in Enstone (UK) and Viry (France) so that’s the least French part of that team

Now back to our regularly scheduled programming of rbr 2nd seat:

So rbr started by buying the Jaguar team in mid 2000s after afaik getting fed up by Sauber who they used to sponsor. Also at that time Sauber was sponsored by Petronas, Mercedes’ current title sponsor. Fun fact

The two drivers that they started with was David Coulthard who no one cares about in this story and Mark Webber, Australian, first victim of rbr 2nd seat shenanigans

At some point (for the 2009 season I think?) Seb Vettel, German, certifiable little shit at that time, replaces Coulthard

Insert a highlight reel of Seb Vettels warcrimes between ~2010 - 2013, which culminate in Multi-21 Mark Webber retiring after the 2013 season. He gets replaced by Toro Rosso driver/Red Bull junior Daniel Ricciardo, Australian, happy go lucky guy and our next victim in a couple of years

2014 brings new regs for the cars and Red Bull struggles to adapt. For context Seb went from a 9 win streak at the end of 2013 to no podiums in 2014. Yeah. So he runs away to Ferrari for 2015 to become a victim of Italian incompetence instead

He gets replaced by Daniil Kvyat, Russian, the most forgettable man in this story. Also he is pretty new into F1, it’s his second or third year there

2015 is sorta meh for rbr but the two Daniels are sorta even. And then 2016 happens

Here’s the thing; Daniil decides to play bumper cars in Russia and China right off the bat at the beginning of the season, one of the victims being former rbr golden child Seb. Now there’s more lore that I don’t remember but it culminates in him being replaced for Spain 2016 by Max Verstappen, Dutch, aged like 18 at that time

Max goes on to win his first race with Red Bull because Mercedes (the best team on the grid) is in the throes of a civil war and their drivers take each other out. There could be novels written about those two drivers btw

The next two and half years are a slow process of the garage slowly going from preferring Danny Ric to preferring Max. Highlights include Baku 2018 and then Dans redemption win in Monaco the same year. There could be novels about this as well but we culminate in Dan leaving for Renault

And then we get to the real musical chairs. He gets replaced by Pierre Gasly, French, third victim of rbr 2nd seat

He has a shite start to the season and ends up getting replaced by Alex Albon, Thai, a rookie that year, midway through the season after Christian Horner, Mr Ginger spice, swore up and down he won’t

Intermission: Toro Rosso liked playing musical chairs as well and Pierre Gasly only got an F1 seat at the last few races for 2017, Alex got told he’s racing in 2019 (his first season) days before preseason testing. With no experience in an F1 car. And there’s a world of difference between a shit car (Toro Rosso) and a good car (Red Bull). Yeah they were ultimately victims of rbrs shitty management, especially Alex since he does wonders in a Williams now

Rbr decides to drop Alex after 2020. Except they usually promote Toro Rosso drivers and the two Toro Rosso drivers right now? Pierre Gasly and Daniil Kvyat. Yeah

So they end up hiring Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez, Mexican, who knows if he will be racing next year. Idk if he got an extension or if they hired him for four years, either way his contract is supposed to last until end of 2024 season but right now how Mr Ginger spice is acting… yeah

Also, Daniel just came back to rbr as a driver for Alpha Tauri (former Toro Rosso) after a mid season swap that was widely regarded as shittily done so there are very little contract issues that would stop Red Bull from hiring him, a marketing departments golden boy, a good friend of Max, as the second driver to maybe finally have a good team

(Red Bull has never ended 1-2 in drivers standings. Checo is currently second but Sir Lewis Hamilton can do wonders sometimes)

So to reiterate the seat movements:

It’s Webber -> Ricciardo -> Gasly -> Albon -> Perez in that metaphorical seat which when rb had a clear first and second drivers it was usually second drivers seat

And (Coulthard ->) Vettel -> Kvyat -> Verstappen for that other seat. The one that if rb had a clear first and second drivers was usually first (Vettel, Verstappen after ~2018)

Bonus fun fact about Liam Lawson, one of the threats for Checos seat:

He is born in 2002. He’s younger than Fernando Alonso’s career by several months, upwards to a year

He is the guy that knocked Verstappen out of quali in Q2 in Singapore and consequently broke the several year long streak of at least one car always in Q3 that Red Bull has been holding

There is always a debate if he has a guaranteed seat from rbr or not at some point. There were rumors of a guaranteed for 2025 a while ago but who knows…

Sorry for rambling so much I have thoughts haha

forgot i’ve been sitting on this ask for a month lol but yes. red bull second seat drama is indeed fascinating. and now there is aparently another rumor that arthur leclerc might come up to f1 through racing bulls (alpha tauri) which would disrupt the process again.

[jussst-lurking]

Lesbian Lestappen

Ok, seeing a picture of girl Max unlocked an entire fucking story idea in my brain! Here goes (this is long btw):

It would sort of be lestappen through the years (cliché I know) but!!! they’re both girls. So imagine, Max and Charlene in karting as the only girls and they are both really really good, Max was basically winning everything in the regional Dutch championships, and even though it’s her father who’s doing this with her, she’s always compared to her mother (maybe also because ppl see that she’s talented but no one thinks she’ll actually take this further than karting).

Meanwhile Charlene is really successful in the regional French championships and when they both start racing internationally and against each other and as the only girls in the classification people start whispering about them. Some see them as promising young talents, others don’t look on them as favourably.

Anyways, the two of them get pitted against each other a lot (as society tends to do with women and girls) and they constantly fight each other for wins and they cannot fucking stand each other (especially Charlene, because Max tends to get the better of her more often than the other way around, and she really has this mindset that there can only be one girl here.)

Fast forward a couple years: in a shocking move that nobody saw coming Toro Rosso offers Max a drive for 2015. People are outraged, say she’s too young at 17, say she won’t be able to take the pressure, write disgusting speculative articles about whether she’ll be able to keep up with the boys, or that she’s getting the seat because she’s a girl or some shit (as if you’d get preferential treatment in motorsport when you’re female). Anyways, Max enters the sport and serves absolute cunt, not taking shit from anybody, achieving multiple p4 in a car that clearly doesn’t belong there, she’s battling with many of the well established drivers and wins (sometimes) but she also gets criticised a shitload for her ‘overly aggressive’ driving style, with many calling it unnecessary and dangerous, others even joking that it’s not ladylike to drive that way. Max obviously doesn’t give a shit, says that’s the way she drives and that people should deal with it.

Then, in 2016 more shocking news: they’re putting her in the Red Bull not even half way though the season. People criticise the move left and right, again the arguments of her being too young, too immature, unable to handle the pressure of a top team, that she’s driving too aggressively and will only bring the team down etc. Max shuts them up by winning her first race for the team, with an RB 1-2 in Malaysia, and that phenomenal drive in the wet in Brazil. Rules get changed because of her, older drivers are afraid of her (see: Nico Rosberg in Abu Dhabi 2016) and the discourse around her never really stops.

People also see how well she’s getting on with Daniel, and oh, they’re vile about it! Say she’s flirting with him and manipulating him and all of that good stuff. Some people think she slept her way into that rb seat anyways…

At the same time, Charlene is setting the junior categories on fire, winning f3 and gp2 in a row, both times as a rookie, and it’s hard to look away from her. It seems almost inevitable when it gets announced that Charlene will debut in f1 with Alfa Romeo. Like with Max, there’s backlash, but maybe less so because Charlene proved herself by winning 2 junior categories in a row. Still, some question the direction f1 is headed in. (Also when f1 gets rid of the grid girls and many see it as pandering to woke culture and all of that. Maybe they even try to blame Max (and Charlene) for it.)

There is an absolute shitstorm when Ferrari kicks out Kimi (of all people!) and signs Charlene for 2019. People say the nastiest shit about her.

She doesn’t want to admit it at first, but all the vile comments and inappropriate interview questions get to her and so she reluctantly seeks out Max.

Max herself is dealing with the news of Daniel leaving and people blaming her for it, saying the team is building around her, trying to make her the first female world champion and so on.

Charlene confides in Max that she’s struggling with all the things people say about her and that she sometimes questions whether she actually deserves the seat. Max tells her that people are assholes and that Charlene shouldn’t listen to them because she 100% deserves that Ferrari seat, but also that it’s harder for them here, that they basically have to be twice as good to get half the recognition and therefore it’s important to just keep pushing, keep your head down and do the talking on track.

Things heat back up between them in 2019: they are in a fierce battle for 3rd in the championship and shit hits the fan in Austria, people are taking sides, pitting them against each other even more. The battles they produce are some of the most entertaining races of the entire season.

Things calm down in 2020, what with the pandemic and Ferrari being shit, there isn’t really much happening between the two of them except for that incident in Sakhir.

But then 2021 comes around and Max has her first proper chance to fight for the title. She grabs her opportunity with both hands and leads the championship by Monaco. Even though Ferrari is better this year, Max and Lewis are in a league of their own and all the attention is on them. Then, Silverstone happens. A heated battle turns into all out war, splitting the fan base, and Max is getting slandered and demonised by the media and she has so much pressure on her shoulders. She appears to handle it well, but Charlene sees all the vile and sexist shit people are saying about Max and she absolutely is not having it and reaches out to Max to make sure she’s ok. They start a tentative friendship, mostly bound to the paddock and even though Max isn’t saying it and it’s not visible from the outside, her friendship with Charlene, who can relate to her in a way others can’t, gives her so much strength to keep going. Max wins her first Championship in the most controversial fashion possible, but she holds her head high and ignores the people calling her a fake champion.

She takes the number 1 for herself, mostly because that’s what she always wanted, but also to remind people who the reigning champion is. The gold details on her helmet and the golden boots are there to highlight it even more.

2022 starts with a bang, the new regulations seem to be working as Max and Charlene battle for the win and for the championship. Everybody is surprised by how well they seem to get along with each other, and despite multiple attempts by the media to put the two against each other, they have nothing but kind words to say. The battle for the championship doesn’t last very long though, because Ferrari keeps screwing up the strategy and suffer from unreliability. Max is Charlene’s number 1 defender when people try to put the blame on her. They get closer, get into a habit of discussing their races together and sometimes they go out after a race or meet up in a hotel room to watch a movie to unwind. Max is always there to comfort Charlene after a bad race and they both start to fall for each other (or maybe in Max’s case she starts realising that she’s had feelings for Charlene for a while now) and then, probably in Austria (because where else would it be) Max ‘accidentally’ ends up kissing Charlene during their race debrief that evening. Max apologises but Charlene says there’s no need to and kisses her. They get together and everything and Max wins her second title and then maybe they appear at the fia gala together but they don’t explain anything? And all of f1 is going crazy about what that means and so on and so forth, and then there are those cryptic pictures on instagram and then in 2023 they are so obvious and when Charlene gets pole in Baku Max just straight up kisses her, but they both refuse to elaborate on it, and that’s how everyone gets to know they’re dating.

[bunnieshoneys]

hello! im new to f1 and ur fic helped me kickoff my interest :3 ur f1 answers have explained things clearly to me so far so id like to ask what makes verstappen so dominant the past yr (and prolly this yr as well) srry idk if u even rate him highly but id like to hear ur thoughts on this !!

the short answer to this is that adrian newey (red bull racing’s main engineer) has built an utter rocketship. that car is largely untouchable, and i think that you could put a good ten drivers off the grid into that car (instead of verstappen) and theyd win a WDC with it. however, you are presenting me with an incredible opportunity to yap about max verstappen so i will

i do rate him highly. there is no doubt that he is the standard right now. but i am also of the opinion that hes the product of a very perfect set of circumstances that will never happen again. he is undeniably talented, but look at leclerc (a similarly talented generational driver) and his career and it becomes clear that its not Just his talent thats got him this far and to be this dominant over a prolonged period.

note: im not just saying this about leclerc because im a leclerc fan. verstappens manager has said theyre on a similar level and a LOT of people have compared them, including max himself.

anyway lets start at the beginning!

max’s dad is an ex-f1 driver, jos verstappen. he wasn’t particularly good. never won a race. hes also a grade a asshole (he has a domestic violence charge that he actually went to prison for, and has admitted to doing some awful things to max in childhood). i dont really want to give him any credit at all, but this meant that max a) grew up in the f1 paddock and b) had a lot of connections.

he was pretty dominant in karting, and won a LOT. in his 2013 season he won two european championships and beat leclerc for the world championship, becoming the youngest to ever do it. at this point he was already being noticed by f1 teams, including red bull and mercedes (i dont think ferrari or mclaren ever made a serious attempt to get him, but i could be wrong). he never NEEDED to sign for a driver program to finance his career so him signing was always based on the team’s ability to get him into F1 as soon as possible - RBR had a junior team, toro rosso, whilst mercedes did not and had just committed to Hamilton/Rosberg long term and could not offer him a seat, hence he went to red bull.

the reason i mention this is because if he’d ended up in a different team, i think he’d be percieved very differently. he very almost paired hamilton at merc in the dominant years, and whilst max is good, hamilton was incredible in those years.

he then competed in formula euro for a bit, with van amersfoot which was a bit of a shit team, and still podiumed and won. he tested a f1 car for the first time that year also (suzuka 2014, ten years ago) and impressed bosses with his laptimes, and signed to toro rosso in 2015, where he partnered carlos sainz, who was much more experienced and who he outscored. four races into 2016, he replaced Kyvatt at red bull racing, partnering Ricciardo, and the rest is (sort of) history.

in 2018, ricciardo believed the team was prioritising max (and i dont think he was wrong) and left for renault. until 2021, RBR trialled Gasly and Albon, and found neither satisfactory, then put perez in the seat for 2021. since ricciardo left, verstappen has not had a teammate on the same level as him. i think this has made him look, at times, better than he is.

i still think max is very, very good. but i think we’d see a different driver paired with someone like leclerc or alonso compared to what we see now, in terms of dominance, because theyd be challenging for at least race wins, if not for the championship.

hamilton in his era had rosberg up until 2016, then bottas, who are both miles better than the a) rookie teammates he paired in 2019-2020 and b) sergio perez.

similarly, leclerc has had much more competitive teammates to compare to (and also active sabotage from his own team, but i digress) in the form of 4x WDC Sebastian Vettel and Sainz, and soon Hamilton. (ferrari also, in 2022 particularly, did incredible amounts of damage to leclerc’s reputation by prioritising sainz, the slower driver, so this isnt quite a clear cut comparison but oh well)

the reason i keep using leclerc as a comparison point is because he is the same age and competed against max a lot in karting categories.

theres also the fact that verstappen has been with red bull a long time, and they know him very, very well. his relationship with GP (his race engineer) is very good, and with other team personnel. this goes a long way - leclerc is similar with ferrari, russell with mercedes and norris with mclaren in terms of how long theyve been with the team. this helps with setup, driving style and generally just being comfy within the setup.

ive talked a lot but: TLDR: verstappen has started young, had connections in the sport, a clinically insane amount of talent, and a junior program and team that invested a lot in him, even when he made mistakes, and now has an insane support system and a team built around him. he also has a very, very good car but hes still definitely the one making the difference.

sorry for the long post anon!

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 168/332

2016 Australian GP

Alright. After these few months of hiatus on my side it is time to get back to our project and watch the 2016 season. As always, let’s set some context before we start.

Team changes :

Surprisingly we are back to 11 teams? Ohhhh Haas is joining the competition! Tbh I didn’t even notice they weren’t there until now lol.

RBR and Toro Rosso stopped working with Renault (remember the drama at the beginning of the 2015 season? no surprise there) but they actually… are still… using Renault engines? except they’re called TAG heuer? Very confused. Anyway Toro Rosso is back on a Ferrari engine so that’s also weird.

Renault is however back as a team as they purchased Lotus

Marussia is now called Manor Racing and are now using Mercedes PUs

Driver changes :

So Haas is joining with Grosjean and Gutierrez. In 2015 Grosjean was with Lotus and Gutierrez was a reserve driver.

Renault hired Joylon Palmer as a new F1 driver and originally he was supposed to race alongside Maldonado who had a contract with Lotus. But in the end, his sponsors were “unable to fulfil their contractual obligations to the team” and he was replaced by Magnussen who had a contract with McLaren in 2015, as a reserve driver I believe.

Marussia/Manor also changed their line-up and started with two rookies which is a bold move : Pascal Wehrlein and Rio Haryanto (literally never heard his name).

There was also mid-season stuff but we’ll talk about it as it happens.

So all in all here’s how we’re starting the season :

Ferrari : Seb + Raikkonen

Force India : Perez + Hulkenberrg

Haas : Grosjean + Gutierrez

McLaren : Alonso + Jenson

Mercedes : Nico + Lewis

Manor : Haryanto + Wehrlein

RedBull : Ricciardo + Kvyat

Renault : Magnussen + Palmer

Sauber : Ericsson + Nasr

Toro Rosso : Verstappen + Sainz

Williams : Massa + Valtteri

Calendar changes :

We are in for no less than 21 races this time. Watching these seasons is obviously gonna get longer and longer, I hope you are patient.

The European GP is back on the calendar but is now happening in Baku rather than Valencia. 

The German GP is back on the calendar. 

The order is also changed with the Russian GP happening earlier in the year and the Malaysian GP happening later in the year which feels weird but makes sense. 

Rule changes :

From Monaco onward the drivers are allowed to change helmet designs for one weekend per season

Some ridiculous change was implemented to artificially make the car louder because idiotic fans at the time criticised the new engines for not being noisy enough apparently

The teams now have more tokens to develop the PUs 

The pre-season tests were reduced from 3 to 2

New “ultrasoft” tyres for street circuits, and Pirelli is now bringing 3 different dry tyres instead of 2 : the third one (the softest available for the weekend) is only given to the teams reaching Q3 and then the drivers have to choose what 10 tyre sets they want for the race and have to use 2 different compounds during the race

The stewards have more power to enforce track limits 

Any driver that causes an aborted start has to start from the pit lane

The gearbox penalties are now applied in the order in which they were given

The VSC is now also used during FPs

The drivers are now able to use DRS as soon as the VSC period is ended rather than having to wait 2 laps for it to be activated again

The quali format was revised just 2 weeks before the season began! However the new format was abandoned just 2 GP in because it was heavily criticised. I don’t exactly know what it was, we will learn about it as we go.

The stewards have more power to monitor radio comms in an attempt to end coded messages and driver coaching. There was apparently a controversy about it during the season though and it was later relaxed a bit but we will also see that as we go.

The superlicence was also made more difficult to apply for because of the controversial way Max got his at 16 after only 1 F3 season.

And that’s it for preseason context. Let’s get started!

Oh funny! I can see Lewis doing that thing that surprised everyone in the 2023 Canadian GP in the skysports opening, you know, the head shaking?

They are taking the 2016 class photo. And already they are saying that the new quali format was scrapped after one race. The team principals were unanimous about it. But it still needs to be voted by the commission. Renault still thinks they can tweak it to make it work. Hill says the first session was the most interesting when it should be the other way around. Lewis is on pole though ! Hill says it immediately puts to rest any rumour, like he was spreading, that Nico might have the upper hand after the end of the last season. Let's see exactly what this new format was about with the quali report.

So after 7 minutes in Q1 the slowest driver was eliminated. Nico went wide, but after 7 minutes Wehrlein was the one at the bottom. Then Kvyat was also sent away. People are shaking their heads in the garages. Q2. Magnussen was the next one out, followed by Jenson, and Alonso. Apparently there was a lot of time with no cars on track. Q3, Seb got provisional pole but Lewis did better. We hear a radio message saying "we are not planning to go out" with 4 minutes to go. Zero cars on track. The drivers are walking around in the pit lane. Nobody is happy with this. It makes no sense. 

Then we hear all the TPs saying it's shit. Then Lewis, with a gorgeous pair of clear glasses, says "Let's find out what the fans want. Has anyone asked?" 

In the end, the starting grid goes Lewis, Nico, Seb, Raikkonen, Max, Massa, Sainz, Ricciardo, Perez, Hulkenberg. 

Horner says himself the TPs are a "pretty dysfunctional group" but for once they were unanimous about it. They decided to go back to what it was the previous years. He says the problem is not the quali format. But Ted wonders if they know what it is the fans want, which is closer racing. Horner, in a rare good moment, says the issue is each team is trying to protect their own competitiveness when they need to look at the bigger picture. And so he thinks it should be taken out of the teams' hands and someone else should be deciding. But basically, as Hill explains, what he's rooting for is Bernie making the decisions, and Bernie is his friend. So. Yeah. 

Hill says Nico has been defensive in his interviews. (But I'm wary of his opinions because he's an idiot.) And AGAIN they mention Lewis spending maybe too much time on catwalks or red carpets but AGAIN they admit he proved them wrong already this weekend. Istg. Like I said the other day about the 2023 season they've been saying this for decades and they just keep going even though he's shown them otherwise time and time again. 

Lewis says getting pole was incredible and thanks the crowd. He says he hopes the race will be more exciting for them than it was yesterday. Johnny asks if he's worried about any car behind him but he says he's only looking forward. 

There's a segment about Mercedes' filming day.

Johnny is there. He finds Lewis. "There he is! Having fun?" he asks. There's a pause. "Does it look like it?" Lewis says with a smile. It's not his favourite time of the year I think. Johnny asks him what it is he needs to drive a car fast. "I'm surprised you're asking me that question," he says. He then answers he thinks it's because he's willing to go further than most. 

The filming is happening in the W07, so the 2016 car. "It's dancing about all the time," Lewis says from the cockpit. "It's just like targeting, like with a gun." I have zero idea what that means. When he's asked if he's happy to be in the car, he says it's amazing. 

As we see Lewis and Nico side by side in the background talking with someone during the car reveal, Simon says things seem pretty relaxed here. Mercedes again seems competitive although the question of how Ferrari will fare against them remains. 

Lewis was asked if anything less than winning a WDC would be a failure to him now. He says it's not all about winning although naturally that's their goal. "It's about the journey as well." We see him chatting, smiling, with Nico.

"How much do you enjoy the psychological games with your teammate and how much is mischief?" Simon asked Nico during their shared interview. "Physically harder and harder," Nico says. Lewis agrees. "We're getting older," Nico continues. "Crazy, yeah," Lewis adds. "I've seen some grey hairs on you. So yeah, you know how it is." Nico smiles wide, Toto is standing between them. "You're only 6 months behind me, man." Nico and Toto are still smiling while Lewis is deadpan. They want it to be fun and relaxed but that's not really how it feels. Back to the part of the interview where Lewis is alone. Simon asks if he enjoys bickering with someone he's known and raced against for so long. Lewis reiterates that ever since he was young he's honestly never tried to play any games. He's dead serious throughout these snippets btw. Not smiling. Not warm. Not friendly. Dead serious. Again with the "do your talking on the track" from Anthony. He says of course they have to do these interviews and things are being taken literally and twisted. He says there are pictures of him smiling in press conferences while Nico is thinking about something and has a straight face (they illustrate it with a moment from the 2015 US GP press conf) "and they say there's something going on, you know… [...] People like 'oh this is mind games'." 

Meanwhile Nico is smiling and teasing. Everybody has strengths and weaknesses he says, and of course he knows Lewis very well now. But, he adds, the most important thing is for him to get the job done and perform at his best. 

Lewis on his side says he has mount everest to climb this year. People are gonna be pulling to make him slip and get ahead. He says he'll have to work harder than he's ever worked in his life to stay ahead because every year they get stronger. He talks about these "youngins" coming while he's getting older.

Now he cracks a smile while we cut to a serious Nico. Lewis has beaten him in the past few years so, he admits, the odds are in his favour. "And it's gonna be tough to beat him, he's done better, you know, recently." But that's the kind of challenge he loves. They're already asking Lewis if the championship is his, they haven't even started racing yet. Lewis shuts it down. "The championship is never yours until you've actually got it and taken it home." 

On the grid, Brundle asks Niki if his boys are allowed to fight even if it means they end up in the boonies. Niki says they are not allowed to end up "anywhere", they can fight each other (I think? I don't understand what he's saying very well) but they have to watch Sebastian and their tyres. Brundle says they are now allowed to talk about strategy over the radio. Niki basically says they already fucked up with the quali change so it's good they quickly went back on their decision about that. Brundle asks if he's concerned about the Ferraris. "You never know." The tyres are new, it's hot, it's an open race. 

It's time for the first race of the season. 

Formation lap. They changed the starting procedure from two clutches to one clutch. I have no idea what it means but it might be relevant to some botched start so let's mention it. 

And while they're lining up on the grid once again one RedBull is stopped right in the middle of it. It's Kyvat. He's stranded behind the safety car. What now? Yep. The lights are flashing on and off. It's a second formation lap. The marshals run to Kvyat. He's confused about the procedure. He's out of the car running around in the garage, unsure what he's supposed to do. 

Here we go. 

They are racing! 

OH MY GOD. SEB IMMEDIATELY GETS HIMSELF BETWEEN THE TWO MERCS! AND HE TAKES THE LEAD WHILE RAIKKONEN FINDS HIMSELF IN P2 IN THE FIRST CORNER! Ohhhhh the Ferraris are HERE. Let's go! Lewis has fallen down though. It's Nico in P3. Lewis is battling a Williams. Unbelievable! As Brundle notes though, the problem is probably mostly due to the start procedure change. The mercs struggled to get away. Magnussen has a puncture. And that's lap one. The order now goes Seb, Raikkonen, Nico, Max, Massa, Lewis, Sainz, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo and Alonso. 

Gutierrez, P20, reports problems with his engine. Lewis is just half a second away from Massa now but Sainz is also less than a second behind him. Lewis attacks! And he overtakes Massa from the outside! And we get the start replay. Seb's start was really outstanding and then Lewis got caught between Nico and the side of the track (not by Nico's fault, just racing) and that's how he fell further back. Nico is closing on Raikkonen now. Meanwhile Lewis is half a second away from Max. He takes a look but the straight isn't long enough to attack yet. 0.3. But he's stuck behind him! The tyres are graining.

It's lap 10. Ricciardo overtakes Massa right in front of the grandstands, the crowd is loving it. Lewis : "I can't get past the guy". Nico is also still behind Raikkonen. Lewis is told on the radio to extend this stint. Some pitting in the midfield. Valtteri overtakes Palmer for P11. And Nico pits! Ricciardo and Alonso are also in the pits. Nico is out in front of Hulkenberg. And Lewis is heard on the radio saying there must be another strategy as he can't stay stuck behind Max and Bono says, again, they're trying to go longer. But now if he pits, or if Max pits, they'd end up behind Hulkenberg. Seb pits from the lead. He's out in front of Nico but it's so close and Nico attacks! Seb defends! Damn that's RACING. Raikkonen is asking to be boxed. Max has pitted. He overtakes Valtteri for P9. Nico sets the fastest lap. Verstappen overtakes Jenson for P8. And Seb is catching Lewis now. And he overtakes him for P2. Now what. They went long and they are a full pit stop down on them. Nico is getting close as well. They are on different strategies but Lewis is making no move to let him go, of course. Eventually he pits. Raikkonen is also there. Raikkonen gets the supersoft so you wonder why they made him go longer. Lewis, on the other hand, gets the medium as we expected. He's gonna hope to get to the end. He's out in front of Massa in P– oh it's a crash! Gutierrez is in the gravel. OH GOD THERE'S A CAR UPSIDE DOWN?! It's Alonso! He's out. But he's not okay. He's limping and then he folds over himself with his hands on his knees, as Gutierrez exits his car. Gutierrez jogs to him as Alonso starts to walk again. They shake hands. The marshals check on him as he leaves the gravel. Oh my god. The car is. I don't know how to describe that. Shredded. You wouldn't be able to tell it was a car if it wasn't for the wheels sticking out at weird angles. Seriously. I think it's missing the front part? Unbelievable. How did Alonso walk away from that? Loads of debris on track as well, of course the safety car has been deployed. Several cars pit, expectedly. Here's the replay of the crash. Holy shit. I don't even know how to paint that picture. Alonso is coming up behind Gutierrez. He decided to switch sides. His front right catches on Gutierrez rear left. The axle immediately breaks which sends him violently into the barriers while Gutierrez gets a rear puncture that sends him spinning. All the other wheels of Alonso's car break in the crash. The car is sent sliding into the gravel trap. The sudden deceleration sends the car spinning upon it's axis. Full barrel roll and a half in the air above the gravel trap. It lands kind of halfway upside down on the rear part of the cockpit (thankfully not the front part, I mean he'd have. Lost his head. Possibly.) It bounces back up and finds itself almost upright and then I can't see anymore because there's so much debris, gravel, dust and smoke in the way. The race is redflagged. 

So it's lap 19. Seb is in the lead, followed by Nico, Raikkonen, Daniel, Verstappen, Sainz, Lewis, Massa, Grosjean and Hulkenberg for the top 10. It's terrible for Merc's strategy : they kept Lewis out for nothing. He pitted, found himself down the field, and now everybody can change tyres and it will have been for nothing. We won't know how that strategy would have played out. We see Alonso walking back past his wreck of a car. He's taken the helmet off and is giving thumbs up to the crowd that applauds him. It's unbelievable that he's okay. Really. Lewis is out of the car. Walking away with his helmet on. We hear Gutierrez confirm on radio he is okay and immediately asking "is he okay?" The wreck is on the crane now and the only wheels left are folded and dangling beneath it, and the left side pod is entirely missing. Vaporised upon impact. 

They change Lewis' front wing. Now Lewis is on the pit wall talking with his engineers. We have a restart time. They're getting ready to go again. 

The accident prompts talk of the halo. Crofty wonders if it would have trapped Alonso in the car. It would have saved his head if he'd landed on the front part of his car rather than the rear, man. Brundle says when he crashed he found himself in a similar position as Alonso and it would have been an issue especially if the car had been on fire. 

Lewis is still on mediums. So they intend to go on with this strategy. Nico has been put on the mediums. The Ferraris are on supersofts… They will have to stop again. Mmh. Interesting. 

And they go again, under safety car for a lap. Seb backs them up. Here we go. Verstappen overtakes Ricciardo. Seb is already getting away, 1.3 ahead after 1 lap. Raikkonen is in the pits?! On the radio we hear him say he broke something. Oh yeah, it's smoking. As soon as he slows down it catches on fire. It's over for him. Lewis is closing on Sainz. But he's 10 seconds behind Nico. He needs to get moving. At the front, Seb is trying to get a gap big enough to pit. Ericsson gets a drive through because his team was working on his car too late after the restart signal. 

It's lap 30. Seb is 3.1 seconds in the lead. Nico, Daniel, Verstappen, Sainz, Lewis still P6, Massa, Grosjean, Hulkenberg and Valtteri for the top 10. Jenson pits. Crofty notes he's the first one of supersofts to do so. Lewis is wheel to wheel with Sainz but he’s on the outside and can't overtake him still. Sainz says he needs to stop. He pits. He goes again. He's out in P12. People are switching to the medium as the track temperature goes down. Ted says Nico is winning this race. Verstappen pits as well, but nobody was ready and it's a loooong one. He's down in P12. Crofty thinks he might have made the call himself. Anyway Lewis up in P4. Max : "How many times do I have to say I’ve got problems with my tyres? I wanted to pit first." Apparently he'd been asking for a tyre change for a while and possibly he just went for it as they wouldn't pit him? Ballsy. Ferrari need to pit Seb. Because the Mercs don't necessarily need to stop again. And Nico is only 1.1 behind Seb. And here we go, he pits. It's the softs and ohhh they struggle to put them on! That's bad for Seb! 5.6 stop! He's out ahead of Massa in P4. It means he's chasing Lewis now. Sainz and Verstappen are basically on Palmer trying to overtake for P9. "Can I try to get past?" Max asks. "Yes," is the answer. Ohhh my god I would be so stressed if I was them because now they're chasing each other and it's very close. In a very amused voice, Crofty notes we've already heard Max's colourful language this race and he expects more over the radio now. "Let me try because this takes too long," he says. "Let's do it," the engineer answers. But Sainz isn't told to move aside. Meanwhile Lewis is gaining over Ricciardo. 

Lap 40. Nico is 9 seconds ahead of Daniel, himself just 1.2 ahead of Lewis. Then come Seb, 8 seconds down, Massa, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Valtteri, Palmer, and it's the two Toro Rossos still fighting each other. Verstappen : "Come on we have to do something." Sainz is told to push. "I am pushing. Don't tell me to push." He's told otherwise they will swap next lap. Oh and Ericsson is really slow on track now, as we cut to images of Alonso, all smiles, walking around the paddock. Max attacks, Sainz locks up. The positions don't change. Sainz is actively defending against Max. Franz Tost shakes his head as he watches on. And now, Lewis has DRS over Daniel. Let's go. 0.4. 0.2. And it's done. 10 seconds to catch Nico. And Sainz FINALLY overtakes Palmer. Verstappen tries to follow and he's wheel to wheel with him down the straight. He just about makes it. Daniel pits from P3, out in P5. Verstappen chases Sainz. Ricciardo overtakes Massa for P4. Lewis is not closing on Nico… Verstappen : "Always when I’m in front I’m pulling away, now you don’t let me pass, it’s a fucking joke, really." 

Lap 50. Lewis is still 10 seconds off Nico, Seb 3.7 off him. Then Daniel, Massa, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Valtteri, Sainz, and Verstappen. But suddenly, less than a lap later, Lewis is 8.2 away and Seb 2.8 behind him. Perez is told his brake wear is critical and he won't be able to make it to the end if he keeps it up. And Lewis makes a mistake, he outbrakes himself, and Seb is right behind him. 0.6. 0.5. Phew. Oh. Verstappen spun. Ohhh they made contact. Yeah well. Not surprised. Sainz locked up and Max hit him. Back to the front. Seb is half a second behind still. 3 laps to go. OH AND SEB LOCKED UP AND GOES DEEP! He went on the grass and that ends the chase. Lewis is 5 seconds away now. He apologises over radio. 

And it's the end of the race! 

Nico, Lewis, Seb. 

Lewis and Nico briefly hug as they get out of their cars. Ohhh. Seb goes to Lewis as he dries his hair. He talks to him. Then Lewis takes a step away with a big grin as Seb throws his cap at him. Cheeky.

They walk away talking, while Nico is left behind.

They talk on the way to the podium. Seb elbows him. 

Nico for some reason hugs Mark Webber who's doing the podium interviews. Lewis dumps champagne on him as he talks to the crowd.

And Seb dumps his on Mark.

Lewis says the team has done a great job but it was tricky out there. He loves that they had to come back from "far behind". Glad that no one was injured in the crash as well. He says it's impossible to follow around here. But a great result for the team. Seb asks Webber if he wants more champagne. Webber says he gets drunk really fast these days and Seb says "I know, I know you do, and then you start singing summer '69, remember?" Nico and Lewis are talking during his interview. 

Niki says they wanted competition but that's too much competition! But he's happy with the result. He doesn't know what would have happened without the red flag, if it was in their favour or not. He refuses to speculate. He thinks the bad start was indeed due to the new procedure. 

Also noteworthy : Haas managed to score points in their first ever race. 

Oh okay so they've already decided to introduce the halo in 2017 so that's why they're talking about it so much (no they didn't? i don't know why i wrote that? was it supposed to be the case and in the end they didn't or did i get that wrong?) The ex-drivers seem to mostly think it's a bad idea but Jenson says it's a good thing. 

Alonso is not blaming anyone for the crash and he's just happy to be here. 

Lewis is happy with his damage limitation. He doesn't think the issue at the start was due to the procedure but possibly wheelspin. He says the start itself wasn't "shocking, wasn't the worst" but then he got pushed off by Nico into turn 1 and then he lost ground and he's grateful he was able to recover. The journalist says Mercedes did an awful lot of work on the medium tyres over the winter and did that win them the race? He nods.

He says the hard thing is to know how long and how hard you can lean on your tyres. He says when he had 20 laps left he thought he wouldn't make it because they started sliding but they kept going. Then he locked up at some point and Sebastian was "on his tail" and after that it was so slippery. He tells about it all with the most childlike smile and enjoyment.

He says the team did a great job with the strategy. He says they did expect Ferrari to be close, but he says Nico doesn't seem to think he had trouble following them so it'll be interesting. He interrupts himself. "You know once Sebastian was behind me," his eyes crinkle, "I was excited because I was having a race with Sebastian you know but unfortunately this track doesn't allow you to have serious battles”. 

Nico says he had a good start but Seb had a flying start. He also says he never looked behind him, didn't know someone was there, didn't feel contact with Lewis and apologises for anything he might have been a part of there. 

They also talk about the fight between Max and Sainz and finally the journalists are a bit critical in that they say it shows that Max is young because he lost his head a bit and if he'd been cooler he might have gotten further. 

Absolutely losing it at Ted mentioning Iñaki Rueda seen holding his head on the pit wall after the race realising he'd fucked up their strategy.

[singaporesainz]

People like to call RBR toxic and whatnot but I genuinely believe that if Checo was in any other team and had a stinker of a season like he had in 2023 he would get the boot faster than you can say Lawson/Ricciardo. Bfr everyone, he came 2nd out of a miracle and because of how OP RB19 was and because at the beginning of the season Max had issues while Lewis had them at the end. You simply can't tell me Ferrari would keep a driver that struggled to make it to Q3 when their other driver (albeit it's Max and not any chump driver) is CONVINCINGLY dominating the field. I'd like to see RBR Versainz now that they don't have The Dads as involved; I think Carlos wouldn't flop but it would be hard because Max has similar car preferences to Charles (but like on crack) and it's just good business for RBR to keep him as their development goalpost rather than making an easier to driver car that doesn't shit on their 2nd driver...

i don't know if any other team would boot him after one poor season, i think it all depends on the season the team in question is having. like if he were to be in sauber (for example) and performed "poorly" but the team as a whole also had a pretty mid to avg season i dont think they'd fire him right away. but if he were in ferrari while they were top of their game, in the fight for a wcc and he performed like 2023 then i can sorta see them booting him from the team. i mean look at latifi: williams kept him for 3 season and all he brought to the table was 9 points over that time. there were other options, other pay drivers, and better drivers in general but williams stuck with him for 3 whole seasons.

honestly, i feel like more people were surprised that red bull didn't demote him or fire him, esp with the way they did nyck last year. and i know it has a lot to do with the contributions and genuine skill he brings to the team in seasons prior. like i get why they didn't. but you would think, with the way they dropped nyck in his rookie season, they would have higher and more intense expectations for checo. and i don't think i would go as far as call red bull toxic because when they love their drivers, they love their drivers. i think they are more cut-throat than most.

now with that out of the way, versainz i think would get along sooo well this time around. not that they didn't before or don't now, but as you said it's different now that dads aren't as involved. and as someone who is partially biased to carlos, i think he would recover and match up fine to max in a red bull. i don't think things would ever be evenly matched between them as a whole, but i think carlos could've and would've done more in a red bull if he was given the chance. i mean he wasn't that far off max in a toro rosso in 2015. and even when max was in a red bull and he wasn't, carlos was still managing to lug that car up into the top 10. so yeah i think versainz in a strong rb season would be unstoppable. but maybe im just biased.

[keepthedelta]

but then drivers rarely have as much political capital as max does right now/// why do you think he has so much power? Marko has obviously always had favorites and while Christian has been TP Marko has always seemed to be the one with the final say. I wasn't a fan back in Vettel's Red Bull days but have Marko's favorites always had as much political capital as max?

i think a lot of it comes down to the fact that max is a generational talent. whether you like max or not, i don't think any reasonable person can really disagree that max is a genuinely extraordinary driver.

he's an incredibly adaptable driver, both in terms of being able to adapt to the car and to the conditions of the race. he wins in the dry, he wins in the wet. he wins when he starts at the front of the grid and at the back. even as a rookie in a toro rosso (the 2015 toro rosso was actually a pretty decent car and frequently outperformed the actual red bull but it's still worthy of praise) he could compete with the top teams and much more experienced drivers. now, in his 9th season, he is an incredibly complete driver who rarely makes mistakes.

i also don't think it's an exaggeration to say that nobody else on the grid can compete with him. drivers like barrichello, webber, bottas, and now checo prove that it takes a lot more than having the best car on the grid to become world champion. even if you gave every other driver on the grid a red bull, i still think max would win. the only other drivers that would even come close would be lewis and fernando, who are also generational talents.

having that kind of driver in your team is a huge asset, especially when you consider max's age. lewis and fernando are the only two drivers who are even remotely close to his skill level, and they're proving that older drivers can be competitive, but eventually, they will leave f1. max has a lot of experience, but is still only 26. i know that he probably will just leave the moment that he's contract is up if the red bull isn't great at that point, but in theory, he could still be incredibly competitive for more than a decade to come.

there isn't a single team on the grid who wouldn't jump at the chance to have him as a driver, so for red bull, keeping him under contract to them is always going to be a priority, which in turn gives max a lot of space to make a lot of demands in terms of his contract and what he wants from the team. previously, max had clauses written into his contract that gave him an escape if the engine (i want to say it was a honda engine but i can't quite remember) wasn't good, so even before he was a world champion, his skill as a driver and the fact that lots of other teams wanted him meant that he could put himself in a very good position.

i think you also have factor in how long max has been with them. he's been part of the red bull family for a very long time. he first tested for them in f1 in 2014, began driving for toro rosso in 2015, and was promoted to red bull in 2016. this team is all he's ever known in f1, and he is clearly well liked by them. multiple rbr mechanics and engineers have spoken publicly about how good his working relationship with the team is, he has a great relationship with gp, and give half a chance i think christian horner would adopt him. being with a team for that long, and getting along with them that well does give you a lot of influence, because a decision that affects you will also affect the team. it's relatively easy to replace small numbers of people who are disagreeing, but it's a lot harder to replace large groups. i also think it's worth pointing out that red bull is a relatively young team. they have only existed since 2005, and of their 108 wins, max has 49 of them. he has won more races than any other red bull driver, and will probably win more championships. he kind of won the constructor's championship by himself this year, and as the team are the ones who benefit from that, they value him incredibly highly.

as for helmut marko...

without knowing all of the intimate details of the red bull management, i would say that quite a lot of helmut's influence on the team came from his friendship with the company's now dead owner dietrich mateschitz, who has said that he didn't believe in having lots of friends or in social occasions. he once said that the only reason he went out was to convince himself that he wasn't missing out on anything and i can't think of a better way to do that than hanging out with helmut marko. personally i don't think helmut marko has ever done his job, which i think is to lead the red bull driver program, well. red bull have played musical chairs with their seats basically for as long as they've existed, in part because they don't actually develop their drivers a lot once they're in the seat, they just hope for a generational talent (max, seb) and let the others compete in a battle royale.

i have no idea whether seb was a favourite of marko's. i presume they were at least amicable as seb won red bull (and toro rosso) their first race, their first championship, and then three more championships. but regardless of if he was a favourite, i think he had power and influence within the team (especially in regards to his competition with mark webber) because of his professional success. like all f1 teams, red bull is a business. they want to win, and seb was the one who did that for them. i can't say for sure whether seb had as much power and influence within the team, because ultimately, he chose to leave red bull for the ferrari dream, but i would say that like max, the power that he did have within the team was a result of his personal skill and accomplishments.

[sourstroll]

Tags: Carlos Sainz/Fernando Alonso, set in 2015, hero worship kind of, unhealthy attachments, jealousy, multiple orgasms, older man/younger man

WC: 3,359

Because I love the idea of Fernando charming all the rookies, I had a thought about him and Carlos!!

Fernando absolutely loving when the younger drivers call him their role model or hero.

The intense love he receives from Carlos when he joins Toro Rosso is almost overwhelming, but Fernando loves getting his ego stroked more than anything.

Carlos doesn’t make an effort to hide his feelings, either.

It’s like having a lost little puppy begging for you to take them home, following you around and insisting upon your greatness. Carlos says it all the time, that he can’t believe he gets to have his hero as a friend and a competitor, always gushes to Fernando about how great he is and how he hopes to have a championship title like he does. Fernando is aware that the last thing he should be doing is indulging Carlos in his very obvious infatuation.

Fernando can pinpoint exactly when the lines started to blur between them. Things started to shift in Germany, when Toro Rosso happened to be in the same hotel as McLaren and Carlos found his way to Fernando’s room during almost all their free time. Fernando was good; he didn’t try to touch or coerce or any of the other things his colleagues would warn him not to do, just listened to Carlos talk and talk about whatever, watched his expressions and excitement as he spoke. He realized after that, that he liked spending time with Carlos, despite how obvious his crush was.

Maybe it was their drunken kiss in Monaco, initiated by Carlos at some random house party. Fernando hadn’t fought it at all, hadn’t tried to push Carlos away or insist he was no good for him. In his intoxicated state, it actually felt nice, Carlos eagerly shoving his tongue into his mouth and not pulling away even for a second. He can still remember the ‘talk’ Lewis and Sebastian had with him the day after. They scolded him for being a perv and implored him not to start any morally dubious relationships with rookies. Fernando knows it would do him some good to heed their warnings, but he was never one to follow the rules, not exactly.

Everything changes at Monza. He wasn’t even sure how Carlos had snuck into the McLaren garage, undetected, only an hour before lights out. Carlos pushed him into his driver room and pressed him up against the door and kissed him without a word, hungry and hot and wet, no elegance to it. Fernando had grabbed onto Carlos’s shoulders and pulled away immediately, but Carlos begged for Fernando to kiss him again, to have his way with him if he wanted. Fernando felt something inside of him twist and turn, changing the most fundamental parts of him, his desire at the forefront now, unshielded by his reservations.

Fernando didn’t fuck him then, he knew it’d be impossible for Carlos to drive afterward. But, he did kiss him back finally and flip them around so it was Carlos pressed against the door. He did in fact push his knee between Carlos’s legs and let him hump his thigh desperately, and he did enjoy watching every minute of Carlos fully giving in to the pleasure. The image of Carlos’s hips stuttering against him as he came in his fireproofs was something Fernando would always hold close to his heart. Fernando’s favorite part was watching Carlos continue to rut down onto Fernando’s thigh until his whole body shook, his legs weak, even after he came, babbling about how he didn’t want it to end.

It’s in Japan, a couple races later, when Carlos gives him no choice but to give in, fully.

Carlos invites himself to Fernando’s hotel and the older man has to say yes. He doesn’t even intend to do anything with him but whine about their days and maybe watch a movie or two, but Carlos has other plans.

“Can we talk, Nando?”

The question comes suddenly and without warning, not even a few minutes since they’d entered the room. Fernando was sitting on the edge of his bed while Carlos was standing before him, blocking his view of the TV he’d been trying to watch. Fernando’s hands turn clammy, not sure whether he should be worried or not about what Carlos wants to say.

“Yeah, of course,” Fernando says sincerely and pats the spot beside him, watching Carlos with furrowed brows as he sat down. He can’t help but notice how distraught he looks, how his eyes almost glisten with emotion.

“I know we’re not together, I shouldn’t even care about this, but-“ Carlos starts, a bit sad and frantic with his words. “Max told me you took him out to lunch a few days ago. You didn’t even tell me,” Carlos huffs, wincing as if he’d actually been cheated on. “I-I just feel like.. I wanted you to just be happy with me. Max is great, I know, and maybe he’s a better driver than me and he’s cuter than me, but I don’t think it’s fair that-“

Fernando had to stop him, he couldn’t let Carlos continue to think that anyone else was as special to him as he was. The older man did it by pressing a soft kiss to his mouth, and he didn’t pull away until he could feel Carlos relax. The realization that Carlos’s feelings were bigger than both of them didn’t make him want to run or hide— the fact had nestled itself in the back of his mind, always there and present and sometimes scary, but it had prepared him sufficiently for Carlos to go and spill his guts to him.

Fernando pulls away and is silent for a few more seconds. “You’re jealous, Chili?” Fernando says endearingly, reaching up to cup the side of Carlos’s unkempt, stubbly face, watching the way it made him short circuit, just one simple touch.

“Well, yeah, because..” Carlos tried to explain, still stuck on the kiss he’d just received, trailing off. Fernando had never made the first move before. “I don’t even know how you feel about me, but I like you so much,” he murmured. “Even if you think I’m just some stupid rookie.”

Fernando didn’t know it went this deep, Carlos’s devotion. He had never considered himself someone who was easy to love or someone who gave out his love to just anyone. Hearing Carlos be open and honest was new to him, yet welcome. It was a breath of fresh hair, having him be so hopeless about their relationship.

“It was just lunch,” Fernando answered Carlos’s initial concern, raising a brow at the younger boy and dropping his hand to his lap, intertwining his fingers with his. “You don’t have to fight anyone for my attention. I promise.”

Carlos truly felt like crying, like the weight on his shoulders had been lifted. “Why don’t you touch me, then?” Carlos sighed. It was much more blunt than he’d normally ever be, but it was something that had been heavy on his mind for quite some time. Fernando was so confusing in that regard, being reluctant to touch him but readily saying he was only seeing Carlos.

Fernando knew that was bound to be one of his talking points, letting out a laugh at how absurd it sounded. “The other drivers watch us, you know that, right?” Fernando countered, still gently holding Carlos’s hand in his own. “When you look at me for too long, when I talk to you instead of them, when you spend all your free time with me. They see that. And they think I’m a pervert,” Fernando smirked.

“You’ve been called worse,” Carlos noted, which got him yet another hearty laugh from Fernando.

“I know. But you’re so young. I don’t want to ruin your chances to explore. I don’t want to tie you down,” Fernando says, serious and quiet.

Carlos feels that familiar, searing frustration start to bubble inside him. Maybe Fernando had a point; Carlos was too young to be deciding that he was in love and that he only wanted one person, but Carlos wasn’t concerned about possibly making a ‘mistake’. What he had with Fernando was not a mistake, he’d never see them that way.

Instead of fighting Fernando further on the issue, Carlos leaned back in and kissed him again, climbing into his lap so he’d finally understand how serious he was about only being his. Carlos pulled away to look down at Fernando, just to stare at the beautiful face he’d fallen so hard for. “When we were together, at Monza, I don’t think you realize how happy you made me. I would’ve skipped the race if you wanted me to,” Carlos admitted.

Fernando isn’t surprised by Carlos’s shameless allegiance to him, hands roaming up and under the younger man’s shirt, feeling his warm skin. “Is that when you figured out that you liked me a lot?” He teased, tone soft. Fernando could read between the lines; it wasn’t a confession of love, more like a restatement of the truth, that Carlos had eyes for him and only him.

Carlos’s face flushed a deep red, nodding wordlessly and kissing him again, selfishly licking into his mouth so he could taste him, the mint of his toothpaste and the lingering taste of his favorite tea, tasting like perfection.

Fernando had Carlos pinned down onto his bed in minutes, making quick work of getting their clothes off so he could finally take what was his. He’d only gotten a taste of how Carlos got when he felt good, the distant memories of suppressed moans and gasps from Monza swirling in his brain. “Que bonito,” Fernando purred as he tugged down Carlos’s boxers, the young driver already half-hard, thick cock bobbing as it sprung out. “Perfecto,” Fernando hummed, his lips gravitating to his neck, licking and biting and speaking sweet nothings into his skin.

Carlos couldn’t believe this was happening, that he was finally going all the way with Fernando. The older man meant everything to him, he was everything he wanted to grow into, he was all that it took to make him feel loved and happy and content. Carlos feels too exposed as Fernando undressed him, but he ignores his anxiety, instead spreads his knees and invites him in, silently begging to be taken. “Tócame,” he breathed, gasping when Fernando complied and wrapped a hand around him, using his precome to make the slide easier.

Fernando only has his boxers on as he starts taking Carlos apart, the slow twist of his wrist making him squirm and keen under him, as if he’d never been touched before. In many ways, he feels the same way about Carlos. He couldn’t see himself wanting to do any of this stuff with anyone else, he simply didn’t do this with anyone else. He just hoped he wasn’t some phase for Carlos, that the reason he wanted him wasn’t his glory, his titles.

Fernando strokes him a few more times before he scooted down the bed, comfortably positioned between Carlos’s tanned thighs. He wasted no time leaning in and taking the head of his cock into his mouth, sucking and lapping at it, being messy about it. He knew he made the right choice to start this way when Carlos squeezed his thighs around his head, one hand tugging at his hair firmly, the other fisting the sheets beneath them.

Carlos didn’t want to admit such an embarrassing thing about himself, but he was so sensitive, it didn’t take much for him to come, especially when this was the only person he’d wanted for several months now. It was too much and not enough, making him crazy yet silencing all his woes at the same time. “Fernando,” he moaned, not daring to look down at him. He knew that one look at the older man and he’d be spilling all over himself. “Please, please.”

Fernando knew Carlos was particularly sensitive. He gathered that from making Carlos come with just his thigh and his kisses. What he was more interested in was how many times he could make him come, how many would it take to have Carlos a blubbering mess beneath him. Fernando supposed that was the good thing about being older, the fact that he had more experience.

“Relax, papi,” Fernando said after pulling off, licking careful, fat stripes up and down his length. “I’ll take care of you,” he assured, pressing a trail of kiss to his hip, then down the inside of his thigh, slipping his tongue down between Carlos’s cheeks to swipe over his entrance, making sure to stroke him with his free hand.

That seemed to do the trick, Carlos relaxing and tensing all at once, letting out a contented squeak. His legs spread even wider and his hips chased the feeling of Fernando eating him out. He’d never had someone do that to him before, and it was quickly becoming his new favorite thing. Fernando’s tongue felt impossibly hot against him, soft and wet, his hole fluttering wildly, clenching around nothing and waiting impatiently to be filled. Fernando’s rough, calloused hands felt like heaven on his cock, slick from his own spit. When Carlos got the courage to look down between his thighs, he was done for—Fernando was looking up at him as he licked him, pretty brown eyes glistening in the dimness of the hotel room. Carlos could almost see the way his jaw moved, not shy about opening him up with just his tongue. Carlos couldn’t even warn Fernando as he came all over himself, thick ropes of come shooting onto his happy trail and all over Fernando’s fist, which was milking him through his orgasm.

Fernando felt blessed to be able to see Carlos in action, making him feel so good that he couldn’t last more than a couple of minutes. “Good boy,” he praised as he emerged from between his thighs, moving his hand in agonizingly slow strokes and leaning down to lap up the mess he’d made. Fernando made sure to lick him clean, letting go of his cock in favor of leaning up and kissing him harshly, wanting Carlos to taste himself.

Carlos mewled into the kiss, dizzy at the taste of his come on Fernando’s tongue. He was still feeling hazy as he felt Fernando’s hands grip his thighs right behind his knees, pushing his legs forward and spreading him apart even more. Carlos could feel his cock stirring back to life just at his lover calling him good, praising him for doing nothing but enjoy himself. “Need you, please,” he pleaded, trying not to come yet again at the sight of Fernando spitting in his hand, stroking his own cock to get himself lubed up. Everything about the older man made Carlos’s heart race, even the simplest habits and details.

“What if I break you?” Fernando asked teasingly, rubbing the head of his cock over Carlos’s waiting entrance, twitching against him.

“Ruin me,” Carlos insisted, letting his head rest back against the pillows, eyes squeezed shut in anticipation.

That was all the confirmation Fernando needed, slowly pushing forward and slipping into Carlos’s soft heat. He was tight, so tight that Fernando briefly wondered if he’d ever done this before. He was easily distracted by the way Carlos seemed to suck him in, like he’d die if he didn’t bottom out soon. Fernando struggled to keep his breath even, nails digging into the younger boy’s skin.

Carlos was inconsolable, letting out sweet cries at how perfect he felt, completely stretched and full. “Nando,” he groaned. “Big, really big,” he babbled, locking eyes with Fernando again, prompting another kiss between them. “Do it, fuck me,” he purred, forehead pressed against Fernando’s.

Fernando knew he couldn’t be so careless, he had to start with a little more eloquence. “Like this?” He asked and drew his hips back, starting up a steady, down-tempo rhythm, making sure Carlos could feel every inch.

Carlos nearly went cross-eyed at the sheer amount of pleasure he felt just from the glide of his cock in and out of him, never mind the absolutely intoxicating feeling of Fernando rubbing his sweet spot, his legs shaking in his hands. “God-“ he whined, arching up into him and going to cover his face with his hands, knowing what was about to happen. His own lack of self-control on display once more. He knew he must’ve been red and hot to the touch, too embarrassed to let Fernando see him like this.

Fernando was wholeheartedly taken by how shy Carlos still was, even while he was balls deep inside of him. It was endearing, something Fernando admired about his favorite little rookie. “Do it,” Fernando murmured, mimicking Carlos’s earlier words, encouraging him to let go and not feel bad about it. “For me, mi tesoro.”

Carlos came between them with a whimper, moving his hands to grip Fernando’s shoulders, exhaling breathy, broken moans into his ear as he wrapped his arms around his neck and pulled him down, needing the close contact.

Fernando didn’t mind the mess between them as he buried his nose in Carlos’s neck, breathing in the heady, musky scent of his cologne mixing with his sweat, thrusting faster and harder into his boy. It felt more intimate than Fernando had ever expected, the two of them wordlessly moving together, graceful, like they were meant to fit exactly like this, only soft noises and breaths between them. He let go of Carlos’s legs and felt him wrap them around his waist, no space left between them. Fernando rutted into Carlos with a sense of urgency, chasing the euphoric feeling of being squeezed like a vice. Their skin slapped together rhythmically, filling the room and joining the symphony of their moans. Usually, Fernando didn’t struggle to last, but it was difficult to keep his cool when Carlos was all olive skin, long lashes, saccharine moans that turned breathy as his pace increased, the perfect storm for a timely demise.

Fernando came with a low groan against Carlos’s neck, filling him up to the brim with his seed. He could feel the way Carlos squeezed around him when he came, his legs getting tighter around him. Fernando loved that Carlos was desperate to keep it all inside.

Carlos couldn’t bear to let go just yet, barely through the afterglow and needing Fernando to stay stuck against him, just like he had been to the older man through their whole relationship. “No more dates with my teammates. Or yours. Or anyone,” Carlos said, feigning seriousness, but still heaving for his breath.

Fernando mustered up a weak chuckle and kissed anywhere he could reach, his shoulders and collarbones, until Carlos’s grip had loosened up enough for him to press another one to his lips. “Okay, mi amor,” Fernando agreed easily. “But, I might have to take Max out again if I get to have you like this.”

Carlos relaxed into the bed, staring up at Fernando with wonder and adoration in his eyes, one hand mindlessly playing with the hair at the nape of the older man’s neck. “I already told him to stay away from you,” he admitted, looking coy, like he knew that it was maybe a bit much to say such a thing to someone who had no intention of stealing his idol from him.

“You’re going to get me in trouble, Carlito,” Fernando tisked and looked down between them, placing a tender hand on Carlos’s hip and pulling out, his cock mostly soft now, eyes watching intently how his come dripped out of him.

“You love it,” Carlos laughed, looking even more beautiful than before, limbs splayed out on the bed and sticky with his own fast-drying come.

“I do,” Fernando smirked. He planted one last kiss on Carlos’s cheek, his way to seal their fate before he stood up, wanting to clean Carlos up and make sure he had plenty of rest for their practice session in the morning.

[mcgnussen]

timeline of kevin magnussen and f1 teams interested in him (that we know of):

kevin has been in f1 for years now and by looking at his career, it can look like a “fall from grace” and that the only team left on the grid interested in him is the smallest one, but when you look at all the different offers and opportunities he has had, it quickly becomes apparent that kevin has had times where he could pick and choose.

i have chosen to show the seasons kevin might have driven for the other teams in the timeline. so for example, the force india talks took place in 2013, but they wanted him to drive for them in 2014. so if you are wondering when kevin was talking with all these teams just assume it was the year before than what is shown in the timeline. i’ll explain each year down below anyway.

* means no actual seat was offered but it was on the table (and by seat i mean one of the two primary seats, testing and reserve driver is not included)

TIMELINE (2008-2022)

2008-2013: mclaren* 

2014: force india (aston martin), mclaren

2015: mclaren*, williams 

2016: renault (alpine)

2017: renault (alpine), haas

2018: haas

2019: haas, ferrari*, toro rosso (alpha tauri) 

2020: haas

2021: haas*, williams*

2022: haas 

2023: haas

2024: haas

more details below!

2008-2013: kevin was in the mclaren academy in these years with the goal of a f1 seat. throughout the years, he beat all the other drivers in the academy in testing including drivers stoffel vandoorne and a very young alex albon.

2014: in his book, kevin reveals that he basically had signed with force india with the help of mclaren, so he could have his rookie year without “top team” pressure and then go on to drive for mclaren from either the 2015 or 2016 season. plans changed at the last second and kevin was given the mclaren seat instead and perez was “demoted” and got the force india seat. and we all know what happened next... sigh. 

2015: during the 2014 season, williams asked kevin about his contract for 2015. ron dennis told him his seat for mclaren would be secure for 2015, so kevin stopped talks with williams (honestly fuck ron dennis and the mclaren board at that time, i hope they all have a permanent butt itch. i’ll write all about this at some point.)

2016: kevin signed on with renault for their f1 comeback for the 2016 season after mclaren fired him... on his birthday (once again, fuuuuuck ron dennis and his stupid face).

2017: renault wanted to sign kevin for another season, but it was obvious renault was not interested in keeping him around for the long term, and also he and cyril did not get along, so instead he accepted an offer from haas. remember when all the stories came out about the many drivers renault were talking to and then kevin jokingly told the press he believed everyone, including the pope, had been offered a renault seat? and then renault threatened to sue him? fun times. i’ll also write about this later in the season.

2018: FERRARI! okay, so in the book, kevin reveals that in 2018, he was asked by ferrari to do simulation work for them. haas accepted it and everything was done in secret, he became ferrari’s “shadow simulator driver”. kevin believes this was due to his great start to the season and leclerc’s horrible start to the season with sauber. ferrari suddenly started to doubt if leclerc was good enough to replace kimi at ferrari. had charles not gotten back on track as he eventually did, kevin believes he might have been offered the ferrari seat for the 2019 season. but this is all speculation, ferrari never offered him the seat or even paid him for his work. but obviously, it is pretty significant to be asked to do this. we know how the story goes from here. leclerc got his shit together and then he eventually took over the simulation work again and got the seat for the 2019 season. still with haas, kevin was also interested in the vacant red bull seat after daniel announced his move to renault. however, red bull had already signed with gasly from 2019, but they offered him gasly’s toro rosso seat. since haas was doing better than toro rosso in 2018 and k-mag was happy in the team, kevin chose to stay with haas.

2019: new contract with haas.

2020: after being told that his contract would not be renewed for the 2021 season unless he brought a big bag of money, there was some interest from williams. kevin talked with them, they also wanted some sponsorship money, so he assumed that’d he be replacing latifi if he said yes. when he found out it was russell he was meant to replace, he immediately said no. kevin was not interested in becoming a pay driver anyway, and he certainly did not want to see russell out of f1. he basically called the williams team shady for even considering this.

2021: kevin doing his thing outside f1.

2022: m*azepin and his daddy’s dirty money gets the boot... and KEVIN RETURNS! he was the only one they contacted and he’s been offered a multi-year deal. as far as we know, it’s a two-year contract with the option for another season beyond that. so we are guaranteed kevin until the end of 2023, at least. hopefully we get him for longer.

and these are just the f1 teams! there has been a lot interest from outside f1 too, i know mercedes wanted him for dtm back in 2015 and he has basically had offers from all the formula e teams, and then there’s imsa and indycar and le mans. i’m just happy that kevin’s talent and skill is recognised by so many teams. for all it’s worth, i think kevin’s time in haas has been really good for him on so many levels... but i can’t help feeling if he had accepted the toro rosso seat for 2019, he might have been where perez is now. imagine max and kevin on the same team, it would have been absolute glorious chaos. also, i wish he would have started his f1 career in force india instead. had he done so, i am sure his rookie season would have been celebrated instead of judged so harshly. but oh well, such is life. at least, we get a lot of guenther and kevin content! 

[f1]

Formula 1: United States' Logan Sargeant doesn't feel 'extra pressure' at Williams

United States' Logan Sargeant finished fourth in the Formula 2 Championship to secure his F1 licence for 2023 season Logan Sargeant says he does not feel any weight of expectation as a result of being the first American to have a full-time Formula 1 seat for 16 years. He was officially named as a Williams driver on Monday and will partner British-born Thai Alex Albon in 2023. Sargeant, 21, said: "I have prepared the best I can to be the best driver I can possibly be. "Hopefully I can represent them well and make them proud, but I don't feel it's any extra pressure." Sargeant will be the first American driver to have a full-time F1 race seat since Scott Speed at Toro Rosso in 2006-7. Alexander Rossi drove five races for the now-defunct Manor Marussia team in the closing stages of 2015. Before Speed, the last American in F1 was Michael Andretti, who did most of the 1993 championship for McLaren alongside Ayrton Senna before being dropped three races before the end of the season. F1 has long wanted a successful American driver to consolidate its place in the world's biggest market. The sport has seen significant growth in the US in recent years, much of it attributed to the success of the Netflix series Drive to Survive, and Sargeant's debut is likely to generate significant interest. Williams is owned by private equity group Dorilton Capital. Asked whether being an American was a factor in his being chosen by the team, Sargeant said: "I like to think it is a happy coincidence. I put in the hard work over the past however many years, made the commitment to move to Europe when I was young to make this dream a reality. "I feel like I've had a very good junior formula career. And (I'm) just looking to closing that chapter and move on to what's next." Williams announced last month that Sargeant, a member of their junior driver programme, would win the seat as long as he secured an F1 licence. He did that by finishing fourth in the Formula 2 Championship, which concluded at last weekend's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He graduates to F1 after a single full season in F2 but said he believed he was ready for the move. "I feel like I've had a good three or four months of build-up knowing it's a possibility," he said. "I don't feel it's too quick, I feel it's about right and I am super-excited to get going." And he said a handful of outings for Williams in practice sessions this season had "given me the best chance to get out of my comfort zone and improve the most". He described Williams' decision to sign him and "a huge honour and a dream come true". Williams team principal and chief executive officer Jost Capito said: "He's had a strong rookie season in Formula 2, and we are excited to watch him make the step up in Formula 1. We are here to support that journey with him." via BBC Sport - Formula 1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/

[trustclips]

Red bull umsatz 2013

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Global leading energy brands based on sales 2013.

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unit sales of Full Throttle energy drinks 2015-2021 unit sales of AMP energy drinks 2015-2019 sales of Rockstar energy drinks 2015-2021 sales of Full Throttle energy drinks 2015-2021 Total workforce of Red Bull worldwide 2011-2021.Red Bull's number of cans sold worldwide 2011-2020.Red Bull: global sales growth 2020, by leading market.Not only is Red Bull an energy drink, they also own Formula One teams such as Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso, and soccer clubs such as RB Leipzig, and New York Red Bulls. They currently have about 20 flavors available. Their unit sales have been steadily increasing since 2015. They are the leading energy drink brand in the United States, as of 2021. Red Bull was first introduced in 1987, by Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. Despite energy drinks having the reputation as a college student’s drink, it is the 30 to 49 year old age group that consumes the most amount of energy drinks regularly. It is also often used as a mixer in alcoholic drinks. Energy drinks are frequently consumed on college campuses to help students stay awake for long nights of studying and homework. Energy drinks are banned in several areas of the world and are occasionally age restricted. They contain high amounts of sugar and caffeine, which can be harmful if consumed in excess. dollars for the 13 weeks ended on January 1, 2022.Įnergy drinks are a type of drink that are created to stimulate energy in consumers. Retrieved March 20, 2013.In 2021, United States sales of Red Bull energy drinks amounted to approximately 1.53 billion U.S. ^ "Red Bulls Sign Forward Peguy Luyindula".^ a b "Red Bulls Sign Midfielder Marius Obekop and Forward Rafhinha".^ a b "Red Bulls Sign Rookie Midfielders Michael Bustamante and Ian Christianson".^ "Red Bulls Sign Midfielder Jonny Steele".^ "Red Bulls Acquire Midfielder Eric Alexander".^ "Red Bulls Sign Midfielder Ruben Izquierdo".^ "Red Bulls Sign Brazilian Star Midfielder Juninho".^ a b "New York Signs Red Bulls Academy Players Santiago Castano and Amando Moreno".^ a b "Red Bulls Acquire Josué Martínez and Allocation Money from Union".^ "Red Bulls Acquire Defender Kosuke Kimura from Portland Timbers".^ a b "Red Bulls Acquire Forward Fabian Espindola and Defender Jamison Olave from Real Salt Lake".^ Current roster Archived at the Wayback Machine.Statistics Appearances and goals As of DecemNo. Traded for Josué Martínez and undisclosed allocation money

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Signed on free transfer after trialing during the season Signed on a free transfer after trialing during preseasonĪcquired in exchange for conditional draft pick Signed on free transfer after trialing during preseasonĪcquired for undisclosed allocation moneyĪcquired in exchange for conditional supplemental draft pickĭrafted as 13th pick in the 1st round of the 2013 MLS Supplemental Draft subsequently signedĭrafted as 22nd pick in the 2nd round of the 2013 MLS SuperDraft subsequently signed Signed as a Home Grown Player along with Santiago Castaño Signed as a Home Grown Player along with Amando Moreno See also: List of Major League Soccer transfers 2013 In #Īcquired with Jámison Olave for undisclosed allocation moneyĪcquired with Fabián Espíndola for undisclosed allocation moneyĪcquired for undisclosed allocation money, and the rights to academy player Bryan GallegoĪcquired with undisclosed allocation money for Sébastien Le Toux Main article: 2012 New York Red Bulls season Squad

[il-predestinato]

How did you get into shipping Lestappen? Who did you like first, Max or Charles?

The sequence of events went like this:

I liked Max first. I started watching F1 in 2015 because my boyfriend (now husband) is a huge fan and wanted us to watch together. Immediately, I was drawn to the Toro Rosso rookies Max and Carlos. My main sport at the time was Premier League football, and I knew that I was a huge sucker for the young-gifted-prodigy-who-might-become-GOAT-one-day storyline. So naturally, I rooted for Max. My other favourites were Nico and Lewis (both of whom I still adore to this day). Brocedes was the first ship I liked, followed by Versainz.

When Charles started F1 in 2018, I wasn't a fan. I didn't have a good reason. I learned he was a childhood rival of Max, who by this point I've already spent 3 years rooting for - so naturally I didn't want to like Charles.

Also, I think I was unfair in comparing Charles' karting records against Max. For one, when you're that young - the amount of experience and international races you entered in really mattered a lot - and while Charles was by no means poor by normal standards, he did not have the money or opportunity to enter in as many competitions as Max did when they were competing head to head in the early 2010s. I don't think I understood that for a long time. I remember reading an old karting article from 2013(?) and being confused when the writer ranked Charles above Max - until I did a bit of digging and realized that Charles' results against him WERE truly impressive given the differential in their experience at that point. Max's karting records are still legendary, but I didn't give Charles enough credit for a long time.

Anyways, at some point, near the end of 2019 - I stopped being illogical, stopped calling him French, and bothered to learn a little bit about Charles' personality and backstory... and well, the rest is history. I was doomed. You can't learn about Charles - truly learn about him - and not just completely adore him in the end. 🥺

Around the time I started liking Charles is also when I started getting into Lestappen - starting in 2020 and even more in 2021 (when I started writing them). I blame all the lovely writers for pulling me into that sinkhole. I can even pinpoint the exact story that did it for me. Then I realized - forget the fanfics... their real life story and rivalry is more poetic than anything we can make up.

Now my whole blog is just Lestappen brain rot. Oops. 😁