#he lost the goat of f1

[lewishamiltonstuff]

Hehe 🤭

[vicsy]

Daniel Ricciardo and tennis – a masterpost (of sorts).

To start things off, here is a video of Daniel playing tennis that I think about way too often, especially lately, with the recent paddle mania that took over the paddock.

A few things I could note here, apart from the fact that Daniel himself said that if it wasn't racing, he'd go pro in tennis:

old school-ish (european) one handed backhand which is actually rather solid! Daniel said many times that he is a big fan of Federer (a true goat) and Daniel's technique here is pretty much imitating Roger's smooth and satisfying backhand strokes.

it is just a couple of hits but ball placement court wise in not bad - all past the half court mark, down the line, then cross court and close to the baseline.

his movement on the court itself comes off a bit wonky in comparison to regular players but I do like how he attacks the short ball (even if he swings a bit too wide but it still works).

Some assortment of interesting facts:

Apart from his love for Roger Federer, Daniel was a big Andre Agassi fan.

In 2021 Daniel and Lando stayed up to watch British teenage tennis player Emma Raducanu (who is an avid F1 fan and her fave driver is Daniel) win the US Open, her maiden grand slam tournament. This was right before the win in Monza and McLaren 1-2.

In 2020, Daniel took inspiration for his "Equality" face mask from the four time grand slam winner Naomi Osaka and called her a "strong voice" (which she rightfully was). Lewis Hamilton also considered Naomi a great inspiration in raising awareness of several social issues.

When Daniel was a kid, he would smash his racquet if he lost (that's so real of him and i do that too):

Ricciardo is widely regarded as motorsport’s nice guy. But when does the mongrel come out? "I’m a born competitor. As a kid I was a sore loser. If it was a tennis match, I’d smash a racquet or something," he said, laughing. (source)

Once Daniel was playing with his cousin and apparent he got a little outplayed, so in retaliation Daniel hit his cousin point blank with a tennis ball (which hurts A LOT). His cousin cried and then Daniel's dad gave him "a clip across the ear". Daniel also talks about it in one of the Grill the Grid videos. (big thanks to @go-daniel for finding the article and the video to back this story up!)

Daniel is childhood friends with Marcus Stoinis (an Aussie cricketer) and they grew up together playing tennis, driving to Dunsborough south of Perth and they would play tennis together for the whole day, practically hogging the court. (via this post)

Now, to the photos!

Carlos and Daniel playing a tennis match in 2013. Daniel won 6-3 2-6 7-6. It's from Daniel's old twitter post.

Daniel and Jannik Sinner in Piatti Tennis Center in 2020. Jannik is an Italian darling and current world number 3 on the steady rise to the top (i love my carrot boy so much).

Daniel on court.

Daniel attending semifinals of Wimbledon 2021.

Daniel with Juan Martín del Potro during Miami 2023 Grand Prix. Del Potro, now retired, was a prominent tennis player from Argentina, a "gentle giant" and he is also a fan of Fernando Alonso.

Daniel with Matteo Berrettini (and Francesco Carrozzini in the middle), Italian tennis player, current world number 142, during Met Gala 2023 (the way i yelled when this photo dropped omg).

It is all I have managed to gather for now but I will update if I stumble upon something new.

[russilton]

Alright I’m listening to beyond the grid, my notes are going here if I have any:

- THIS WAS RECORDED RIGHT AFTER SINGAPORE?? bruh poor guy

- Shov calling George up to comfort him bruh I love shov he looks after his guys

- “Oh my god he’s hit the wall- then I hit the wall” is unintentionally a hilarious delivery

- Legit glad to hear this growth in George, he’s changed his mindset on how much he criticises himself and he’s sticking to that promise last year where he said he wanted to exist more outside of the track, find his passions and person away from the job.

-“He lets Lewis get away with it! but when it comes to me it’s like- [he has all these safety warnings] but I can’t wrap myself up in bubble wrap”

- don’t put baby in the corner he wants to do the extreme sports too

- [Toto can’t treat Lewis like his kid because Lewis was a household name before Toto joined the sport, but he signed me as a 16 year old I guess so it’s not paternal but-] it’s paternal George

- George really lives 200m from Toto and Susie oh my god child

- He did in fact say all three of them (Lewis, George, Toto) are learning to free dive, sometimes together because he finds it RELAXING

- George is learning to spend more time under water and not push it but Toto however keeps trying to go deeper and deeper

- BOX BREATHING! (it’s fantastic for panic attacks by the way, I fuckin love box breathing)

- “I can feel the car through my bottom” George drives with his ass confirmed (it was among other things but those aren’t as funny)

- he never felt not at home in the team in 22, since he’s been part of the family for years, it was more that the whole team was feeling unstable because of its new place not in a winning position

- “in 2021 max won the championship… or at least there was a battle” this man is trying so hard not to start an argument about 2021

- “at what age did it become a career and stop being fun” “probably when I was 11 years old..” oh so you’ve been experiencing the horrors for a decade that tracks

- without Toto’s funding George thinks he never would have touched F1, in his days you didn’t get picked up by F1 teams during karting, and without Toto funding his journey, George couldn’t have been able to continue beyond F4. That’s why he stressed so heavily his need to win that year or he might have lost it all.

- new baby is his brothers, his sister just has her husband and a dog lmao

- on imola and Valtteri: “I did give him a phonecall!… which he did not answer.. but we’ve never spoken about it” “is that because you never speak at all?” “No! No we’ve spoke all the time, around drivers parades and around the paddock” (they get on well now, it’s just considered part of the job, but George has learned from it, and how to accept sometimes going for more than the maximum only ends badly)

- Austin is George’s 100th Race

George ends the podcast monologuing about Lewis and how excited it was to be racing without max in Singapore

- George prefers Brazil to potentially winning Sakhir, because he wouldn’t have felt like he truly earned it, because he wouldn’t have put the work into the W11, and he wouldn’t have had lewis’ pressure

Tldr: he feels like he truly earned his Brazil win because he had to fight the Goat for it

- “Brazil it- it truly felt earned, for all of the hard work everyone had put in, for all of the hard work I had put in, the pressure that I was under from Lewis for the last fifteen laps of the race I think, because he is the greatest driver of all time, and you know every single weekend I go out, practice, Quali, race, you are direct compared to the greatest driver of all time, and having that sort of fair fight was extraordinarily rewarding for me and uh, and why it is an incredibly satisfying position for me to be in, and an incredibly privileged position for me to be in because not many drivers get that chance”

- “I don’t think I’ve ever been pushed as hard in my career as I have in these last year and a half (against Lewis) and that gives me the confidence I can do it”

- “I recon I’ve got a good 15 years left in me”

[kylewalker-peters]

thinking about your bake off AU....... me and claudia were discussing an F1 version i would personally love ur thoughts on this

this is genuinely the best au ever and i can never do it justice but here's some ideas i have

this is so hard because there's like 50 million footballers and 20 spaces in this god awful sport. and i also don't wanna do like just a straight comparison either cause the idea of comparing any footballer to lewis... i'd throw my own self in jail

right so i dont care about taa at all but you do so in light of the southgate news he's giving the vibe of "guy who won junior series in his rookie or second season, got to like alpha tauri and then was overlooked for a promotion to one of the big teams in favour of everyone else" despite somehow winning a race in a shitbox of a car and if southgate was in charge would probably be sent off to fe or indycar or something to free up a seat.

okay i know i said i wouldnt do comparisons but sadly i DO think though not at all equal deccy would end up being the danny ric of the grid like un four chew nat lee he does have the charismatic appeal and also the glow up. outside of that comparison i think he ends up being a solid midfield driver, there's always rumours of him making the step up but everywhere is already taken and the contracts never align and people just don't want to spend money buying him out because it'd be so high because he's so key for said midfield team so he gets a couple wins but he never challenges for a championship. OR i'd argue grealish could fill that danny role but i truly truly do not think that man would be smart enough to remember what all the buttons on that steering wheel do. like it's just not happening is it... i can suspend disbelief in an au only for so long. he'd crash trying to push one button cause he'd look down trying to find it rather than remembering to concentrate on the bloody track

if i give spurs players past and present some championships the way i cannot give them trophies at spurs erm... look away. but also dembele wins like 1 championship but is forever an underrated driver and people don't appreciate his racecraft but other drivers on the grid hate to battle him because they know he's sooooo good. wait jan and mousa teammates yeah!!!!!!!!! they win a championship each. gonna say harry and son are teammates at some point and absolutely DOMINATE because the work SO well together and helping to develop the car. dele and eric ARE teammates when dele first breaks into the sport like they WERE the blueprint back in the day we cant ignore. would have dele and son as teammates but it'd only be for like half a season and then dele's arc gets DEPRESSING!!!!!!! it's like if pierre had been demoted to alpha tauri and then flopped there too and been demoted out of the series altogether. i do think richy and romero as opponents but also actual teammates era would leave them like ocon and perez bitchy tweets and all because there wouldn't be the need for getting along that they have rn and that's important to me.

sissoko is a FLOP like nicky latifi but arguably maybe worse, has one good season but just fully is not a good use of a seat but then he goes to a different obscure series i cant think of and does well because i said so and also i'd be sat at home rooting for him even as he finishes 3 laps down and calling him the GOAT. no wait it's like when he scores he gets a podium and i'd have passed out and filmed the ceremony like i was literally there.

winksy and international baby girl kinda scream "i was ripped off with the promise of an f1 seat by zak brown and all i got was this stupid t-shirt" and then stay in indycar or something

maguire drives for like fucking haas or something and you genuinely do not know what he'll do. he seemed fine, decent, good even in junior formula and got his big move to f1 and just lost the plot. he's either anonymous in races or is being a Menace but even in his quiet races there's always the anticipation that he'll smash into another driver just to make himself feel better. like there is Always the chance of a safety car or a red flag if he's starting either because he's crashed into someone else or just decided to take himself into the barriers. you don't want to drive against him because you don't want to blink and suddenly have DNF-ed because of him.... but he also might get a penalty that boosts you up the grid without puncturing all 4 of your tyres somehow so... swings and roundabouts

marco reus is one of those goated goated goated drivers maybe we'll say he's like a lifelong ferrari fan like he is bvb and he signs to their academy and does well in junior series and spends the odd season at sauber/alfa and when he gets to ferrari everyone's like oh shit here we go and then the car is absolute CRAP but he simply wont abandon ferrari. like he's there forever he's the ride or die for that stupid team and instead of injuries we'll say it's constant DNFs and so he never wins a championship but he's hands down one of the biggest what if drivers. he's also so kind to younger drivers and if he can guide them in any way to make sensible contract decisions and help them mentally not pin everything on winning championships then he will.

like i hate ferrari but dare i say then here comes jude bellingham starboy?..... no i shall. he wins f3 and f2 as rookies at a super duper young age (rather than skipping junior categories like a certain dutchman) and ends up in the sauber by the time he's 17, in the ferrari by 18 and teammates with marco. if the ferrari garage was competent and the car wasn't a pile shit it'd be embarrassing for other teams... sadly that isn't the case. they make the best out of a bad situation and the genuine talent both of them possess drags that team to places it shouldn't be. marco is coming to the end but still got it and while still competitive he'll retire before he has to find a lower team. very much a mentor to jude as he progresses in as much as you can be in an individualistic yet team based sport. think we still see jude's temper sometimes flare up though over his career he deffo gets a hold of it and he deffo calls his engineer fucking shit at one point for a bad strategy but i also think he's not content to stick with ferrari if they're going to be rolling the circus into town every week and unlike marco WOULD jump to merc if they suddenly started outperforming (anyway this got too close to real life so let's leave that there)

as much as i hate to say this about my best friend erling, he's giving me red bull driver vibes I'm so sorry to myself and also him.

WAIT i've only made players drivers lemme see if any would be good engineers. maybe it's just because every tom dick and harry says he's smart but like i DO see ben davies being a good engineer maybe he can be sonny's. or wait hang on maybe i make dier dele's engineer rather than teammate hang on wait no hang on let's do that instead. i know there's nothing but hot air and joe rogan quotes up there but i think that would actually be soooooooooo perfect.

conor coady and tyrone mings are absolutely engineers and they work on the same team just managing a driver each and the social media/marketing team is constantly bullied into releasing footage with them after people clock they're not only fit but also good mates. so it'll be a video with drivers being silly and then INSTANTLY the exact same video concept but with those two.

jordan pickford either engineer or deranged team principle that is good at his job but also calls someone the c word over the radio and causes the PR team a sleepless week trying to deal with it.

dare i say hugo is the dilfy team principal who leads his team to like 10 championships in a row? yes i will.

[yesterdayiwrote]

There's a thread on Twitter from F1_Jordan at how Toto is losing the political battle of F1, and he has been since 2020.

I know that it's normal for staff to move about teams, but Merc have lost a lot to RB and Aston Martin, especially PU staff. I don't like him, but Christian Horner has clearly put a plan in place to build RB's future now, and in the new regs. Toto has done nothing. Lewis is the GOAT but he cannot be expected to continually dragging that team and car. Something needs to happen. Merc need to get their stuff together, and improve their car for next year and decide which concept to use. If not, they are heading for a slippery slope down the grid.

I’m not sure I entirely agree this is the case, because that implies Merc were only strong because of outside forces and not because they built the best car or did the best job on track.

I *do* think there’s an argument that F1 are making a concerted effort to ‘move on’ from Lewis because they now believe (rightly or wrongly) that as a whole they are bigger than him and they’re setting up ranks for a time when he won’t be there anymore and can’t rely on his name draw to prop themselves up… and that they’re forcing this rather than letting it happen organically but that’s a different question altogether.

I think Toto is a bit lost this year, but I’m not sure what steps he can physically make from a management perspective to do anything? Start firing people because they got the concept wrong? That won’t do anything much for morale and won’t fix it. Start hiring in desperately? That won’t do much to fix it either.

RB have the upper hand right now but it’s not like they’ve swept in from nowhere it has been quietly building for a while so there’s nothing to stop Mercedes coming back. They’re not completely at sea even if they’re off the pace. They’re definitely third fastest if not closer to second fastest now. Most of Christian’s ‘plans’ stem from power train decisions and changes (which have all ultimately been rescinded) and Merc aren’t in a position to play around with things like that. The only other area is their driver pool, and whilst I think Merc have manoeuvred themselves into a dead end and haven’t planned accordingly with their drivers, as many drivers as RB have, I’m not sure they’re ultimately in a better position?

[lewishcmilton]

There's a thread on Twitter from F1_Jordan at how Toto is losing the political battle of F1, and he has been since 2020.

I know that it's normal for staff to move about teams, but Merc have lost a lot to RB and Aston Martin, especially PU staff. I don't like him, but Christian Horner has clearly put a plan in place to build RB's future now, and in the new regs. Toto has done nothing. Lewis is the GOAT but he cannot be expected to continually dragging that team and car. Something needs to happen. Merc need to get their stuff together, and improve their car for next year and decide which concept to use. If not, they are heading for a slippery slope down the grid.

yeah

[kyogos]

Not to be that fan but Webber was and is still such an underrated driver. He was so nearly a World Champion and so easily could have been more than once with team support and different team choices along the way and god, I live for the what ifs. He won Monaco. He won Monaco twice. Only good, incredible drivers win Monaco.

And yet so many just know him as being Vettel’s team mate or that guy who flipped his car a few times

[fcb-mv33]

"Max fans are the worst"

Just some of the people team LH have sent horrific abuse to;

Nicholas Latifi and his family (death threats, hate online, racist abuse) for Abu Dhabi (despite Nicholas doing literally nothing wrong)

Alex Albon and his family (death threats, racist abuse, horrific comments about his mother and her past) for supporting Max and Redbull and quotes taken out of context deliberately to hate on him

Max Verstappen (body shaming, hate online, horrific comments referring to his upbringing and father, death threats/wishes; a lot of references to Silverstone 2021) for Abu Dhabi (despite doing nothing wrong)

Sebastian Vettel (hate online, body shaming, was called a white supremacist) for empathizing with Masi's position, saying Michael Schumacher will always be the goat F1 driver for him and that he hopes his record stands a little longer, essentially for not complying to s/ewis shippers hc version of him, despite doing nothing wrong

Michael Masi (hate online and death threats, listen I don't like the guy either but once you jump to death threats you've crossed the Rubicon and lost any validity in your argument)

Mick Schumacher (hate online, horrific comments referring to his father and his accident) for "causing Latifis accident which caused the safety car etc" despite doing nothing wrong.

Like ofc not all drivers' fans are angels (and the bad eggs don't reflect the good) but you can't say shit unless you call out the problematic fans in your own camp. That's only a handful of examples I've seen on here Tumblr, insta, twitter, etc from team lh

Anon…I’m speechless which doesn’t happen often but this is amazing😌🥰🧡🧡

Look there are bad fans in each fan group but Lh fans have more than others….they try to justify everything by saying ‘but this happened to Lewis’ thinking that the abuse they give is less…but it isn’t.

They now have this fucking god complex that they can give abuse and not be held responsible which is a joke…there is no need for the abuse these drivers have faced for supporting Max…Max won and he deserved it end of. I have seen some say it is apparently racist to like the last lap of Abu Dhabi…I for one loved the last lap, their behavior is a joke

(Latifi it turns out had to hire security when he went somewhere after Abu Dhabi. Daniel and Lando have also got shit for supporting Max as well)

[malaceinthepalace]

F1 2021 Let me start off my saying to max verstappeen congratulations he is an amazing driver and this isn’t his last drivers championship, but Jesus titty fucking Christ did the FIA and the sporting body make it easy on him. Imagine in a boxing match one of the competitors just round houses the other, or in basketball a player is allowed to take the ball like a running back to to rim with out dribbling (not a far stretch from the non traveling calling league now). The competitors and the fans would cry afoul rightfully so. This was the case for Max all season, granted I said it to my friends after Russia when Max took an engine penalty and finished 2nd I said that Max won it then (at that point on merit and skill) because Lewis failed to match his feat in Hungry when he took an engine penalty from pole only seeing him recover to 5th. Max lost less on his mistakes either due to Hamilton mistake on the FIA not holding him with in the rules of the game. The ruling in Brazil and the lack of any teeth on the penalty Max got in Saudi Arabia make me look at Micheal Massi the race director, the guy who unlapped the cars which gave max the world title this guy makes $51k a year. Think about that the guy who is in charge of races and this year made horrible calls causing Charlie to roll his eyes from heaven from running the race at spa to the events I spoke about earlier makes $51,000 a year. I played in the nba during a time where the officials where cheating to win money. NBA refs make more money and have a similar amount of control as to deciding the outcome of the event. To me it looks and sounds like he was bribed his calls so an undeniable bias towards the Red Bull driver and where completely inconsistent with the racing rules. If I were Mercedes I would get a financial detective and look at the accounts of all of the Red Bull team even close family members and friends. Second reason why Hamilton lost this year was his teammate next year that seat will be filled with Russell and to be honest Mercedes should have taken Bottas out of the car for the last two races bc twice this year Lewis has had wins taken from him due to the stellar 2nd drivers of the winning race car. Checos defense tool life and limb out of Lewis similar to when Alonso fought like a lion keeping Lewis at bay for his teammate to take his maiden f1 victory. Can you even remember when Bottas has kept anyone behind him in the 2nd best car on track over the past 3 seasons? It’s like he races like a demon when Lewis is P2 but let’s everyone else pass him with ease. Over the years, I have felt Mercedes owed it to him bc he has given up race wins for Lewis’s championship but as this season unwound more and more I saw how he’s is not a good driver. He should have taken 10-20 points off max this year by winning races Lewis was out and keeping the 3rd best car with the 2nd best driver behind him. If I were alpha Romeo I would be concerned bc if he can not compete on the best team for wins then how the fuck is he pushing thanksgiving shit box even into the points? They would be better off bringing back the iceman or Gio. Back to Lewis, over the past 15 seasons he has proven hands down he is the GOAT but when you look at ‘16 and ‘21 and how he didn’t sweep the turbo hybrid era the answer to how do you beat him is to wreck him and play Schumacher and Alonso type machiavellian and games, not what he does which is show up to the track and show his excellence with in the rules of the game. To be honest, like how A-Rod still has all his records, money, and fame even after it was found that he is a cheat by taking PEDs, this tells everyone to cheat to win be it wrecking your competitors or driving like a complete asshole of I’m a young F1 driver what’s being said is to drive with no regards for the rules and I feel this will end up being a dangerous precedent that was set by the lack of balls on Massi and the lack of clarity of the rules.

[sir-lancelot-strulovich]

a little f1 history lesson about lewis championship with mclaren (i say a lesson because i am writing a paper about a part of the history of f1 and i am finishing my history degree, if anyone wants more info on that, hit me up)

when lewis won his first championship with mclaren in 2008, it was completely different to the ones he has won with mercedes. and i am here to tell you about it.

i am not taking the credit away from him in anyway whatsoever, but f1 has changed a lot in those 13 years, cars have changed, regulations have changed and drivers have changed.

in 2007, in lewis' rookie year, he came second in the championship, 1 point behind kimi and tied in the points with fernando (he was tied in wins, but had more second places than the spanish driver, so that put him above in the championship). some say that because of spygate that year, both lewis and fernando were not allowed to win the driver's championship as a punishment, so they lost on purpose. mclaren was a dominant car, having both drivers in the top 3, but were disqualified from constructors' championship because of spygate.

in 2008, when lewis won the championship, he won by a point from massa. massa actually had driven the perfect championship but was fucked but due to exterior circumstances and ended up being the second driver most affected by crashgate (only behind nelsinho). Brazil 2008 was a representation of felipe's championship (do everything perfectly, but still lose due to something that was not under your control). mclaren was again one of the best cars (according to the constructors' standings, the second best), and it was the year that lewis probably had his weakest teammate in heikki kovalainen (sorry heikki fans, but i think he finished 7th or 8th in the standings compared to lewis 1st, and again, i am not taking away the merit of lewis' dominance over his teammate).

from 2009 to 2012, the years in which lewis was in mclaren, things started to change in mclaren and started to change to lewis as well. in the f1 world, brawn gp showed up in 2009, with their double diffusers, and took the paddock by storm. red bull racing also started to show strength having their first f1 win (also, fun fact, in 2008, when seb won with Toro Rosso in monza, it wasn't decided yet if red bull or toro rosso would be the number 1 team in the red bull family), and mclaren wasn't a dominatn car anymore. lewis still dominated his teammate (heikki finished in 12th) but he finished 5th in the championship, behind both brawns and red bulls. mclaren finished 3rd in the constructors (throw back to the controversial lance statement, being the goat might mean you can get 3 or 4 places more in the car, but still is tough af, specially to do that consistently due to the car you have. but lewis is a goat, and did get more out of the car). in 2010 jenson joined as his teammate, a breath of fresh air for lewis having another defending champion as his teammate so he was back to having someone to fight against. lewish finished 4th that year, behind 2 red bulls and a ferrari, jenson right behind him in 5th. this was the beggining of red bull dominance era. mclaren wasn't a dominant car.

2011 was a strange year for lewis (@formulinos wrote about it beautifully, detailing lewis and nicole's relationship and how all of that was a huge mess, so go read that). i guess this was the year in which all that mess affected him the most, cause for the first time he was beaten by a teammate. lewis finished in 5th in the championship, while jenson was 2nd. this was probably lewis' worst season since his debut in 2007 and it also shows that even the best of the bests can have a tough time sometimes (and still become a fucking goat a couple of years later). according to the constructors, mclaren had the second best car

In 2012 lewis was back to beating his teammate (by 2 points, lewis in 4th, jenson in 5th). Kimi was back in f1 with lotus, both ferrari and mclaren were being shitshows, but ferrari was the better shit show and came in second in the standings (or also, Fernando was in his best form of his life, made a shit ton of points, and if he was in the dominating car *cough cough rbr which he could have gone to instead of seb in 2009 but I can tell you all about it on another day* he would have won that championship). that is another example of a fucking great driver unfortunately not winning the championship due to an inferior car.

from 2013 on, lewis was in mercedes and we all know how that went with mercedes taking dominance in the hybrid era and lewis only being beaten again by a teammate in 2016, which is a whole other story. but what i wanted to say from this is, lewis is (in numbers he is of all times but also in many other ways) the best f1 driver of this generation (i won’t say of all times in general just so i don’t have to get In another argument because it ends up being much more subjective), even tho there was a 5 year gap between his first championship and his second (which if I am not wrong, its a record in f1 for being the longest gap, or is it schumacher’s? my math is really bad when it comes to years), because it is impossible to be dominant and win a championship if you don’t have the best car on the grid. just like in 1993, which you had senna in the form of his life, but he still lost on the championship to prost who was in a williams that can be considered one of the best f1 cars of all times, not even the fastest driver of all times (talking about raw speed) could beat Williams electronic suspension that was driven by another fucking great driver.

this is also to warn people that, if for whatever reason, in 2022, mercedes loses its dominance due to regulation changes, or lewis goes to another team (you never know, he might want to partner seb in aston martin), or even he decides to drive in another category just for the sake of it (imagine lewis in formula e), he might not be the champion because it is FUCKING HARD to do that if you don’t have the best/dominant machinery, and lewis not winning in the near future will not mean that he is losing his speed.

(sorry for any spelling mistakes or runover sentences, i did not proofread this and I haven’t written this much in english in a while)

[bottaslicious]

Why do people think george or another younger driver would go to merc and do automatically better than valtteri? it even sounds like an insult to lewis, like some kid would beat him easily right now? is this just young fandom narratives and favorites or are there any commentators actually saying that? (i don't get any race broadcasting, I just watch free highlight usually)

Buckle up folks, I’m about to make every party saaaaaaaad. Even ones who didn’t think they’re a part of this.

To answer your question we must return to the time when Lewis and Nico were teammates. Even then people were calling for Nico to be booted because he didn’t perform on the level Lewis did. We must remember the dynamics and what Mercedes was building at the time - they weren’t the dynasty yet, Lewis, a world champion and known prodigy, came in to replace 7-time WDC Michael Schumacher and Nico had won one race, so despite the fact that Nico had been in the team longer Lewis had a certain edge to him.

One thing must be accepted right away. Lewis’ titles are more valuable than most others’ for a variety of reasons. And each time he wins another one, the value increases exponentially.

What was Nico’s greatest weapon was his history with Lewis. They knew how they work and what weaknesses could potentially be exploited. And even if Nico says Lewis’ biggest weakness is his distracted slumps, he’s mistaken - it’s the fact that Lewis gets paranoid as shit. So whenever Lewis did hit that distracted slump and suddenly Nico performed above him, he became suspicious and thought the world is plotting against him.

“But Iikku, he’s like that today, too!” you say. “Where are you going with this?”

Ah, but he isn’t. Not to the same degree. 2016 marked a turning point to Lewis. He had to examine himself, see what was that cost him the title, what effect the unraveling of their friendship had on him. Pre-2016 Lewis and post-2016 Lewis are two different people because Lewis has learnt to get out of that paranoia or use it to his advantage. And the irony is that by beating Lewis in the same team, with the same car, Nico Rosberg made sure that no one else would ever be able to do the same.

So enter Valtteri. No race wins, considered a prodigy (more on that later). We can’t compare Nico and Valtteri without acknowledging the differences. Nico was racing against someone who had 1-3 titles and he knew intimately, and chose to take advantage of that even with the price that it had, ultimately hurting himself in the process as well. Valtteri has been racing a man who is going to equal Schumacher’s impossible records, in a team that has been built around Lewis. He has none of the advantages Nico had, and to make it even worse - he has this code of honour that he won’t play mind games, that he wants to beat Lewis fair and square.

Let’s take a break to consider F1 as a business. Which has more value - the 4th, 5th, 6th, and most importantly, 7th title of a driver with international appeal even to audiences others can’t appeal to, or the first title of a driver, that granted, does come in with a built-in brand and history that appeals to a large audience but still much smaller than the first driver’s?

I’m not saying it’s intentional, but I don’t believe top teams are able to treat their drivers 100% equal unless they know that other teams cannot match them on track at all - and that has not been the case with Merc since, oh, 2016.

And now we can get to George. I can honestly say this - you people don’t understand what you’re asking for when you want him the Merc seat.

Let’s compare Valtteri and George, because we have the data! George’s first two seasons can be compared to Valtteri’s first. In 2013 there were more cars on the grid and the dynamics were somewhat different but both cars are shitboxes, the team is(was?) the same and guess what - they’re literally achieving the same things. So I’m sorry to say this but if you want George to be Lewis’ teammate, you’re essentially asking for the same thing as now but instead of an experienced midfield, regular podium-getter guy you want to put someone without points against the GOAT.

Not to kink-shame, but that’s sadomasochism.

And to finish this off with making everyone sad, we’ll talk about the Lost Generation of F1.

What I mean with a generation here is more narrow than an actual generation - it’s about 4 years, people that have raced each other since kids, same age, same experiences, contributing to the same parts of history. The Lost Generation in question culminates in one year - 1989.

In 2013, there were three prodigies that were labeled “future world champions” - it was a fact *George Russell voice* that they’d win the title someday. Valtteri Bottas, Daniel Ricciardo, and Jules Bianchi had bright futures ahead of them and they were going to fight over the title against one another one day.

It hasn’t panned out that way.

Daniel and Valtteri are both above the age when you win your maiden title in the modern era - it’s not impossible, absolutely not, but you can’t deny the effect that Lewis’ dominance has had on their careers, and others’ as well. And if there’s a possibility for Lewis Hamilton to take titles 8, 9, 10 and beyond - what does it mean for these two?

“George Russell to Merc” is a cute idea, but it’s naïve to think he’d be able to match Lewis Hamilton now. Dissecting the fandom dynamic is a different essay (which I’d be able to make but I’d get like, murked), but the only thing that George Russell has going on for him on the grand scheme of things is his age and that he might be still around after Lewis isn’t.

[outofbodyinjury]

I don’t get how people reconcile thinking both ‘Alex/Pierre were promoted too quickly’ and ‘George should be in the Merc at 2022’.

Pierre showed the most promise of the three overall in his rookie year - 4th at Bahrain, 7th at Monaco, 6th in Hungary in a shitbox TR. 29 points in a car not much faster than the Williams (Hartley came 19th in WDC, to Pierre’s 15th). Daniel decides to leave, so Pierre is promoted after a year. Goes to Red Bull, drives himself mad comparing himself to Max, lacks the experience to overcome the issues with the car, and goes into a spiral.

He’s demoted, and Alex Albon is put in the seat. Alex has had a good TR half season - not quite matching Pierre’s record, but not too far off Kvyat and scoring points regularly. Alex initially does okay. Where is he now? Spiralling. He doesn’t seem to compare himself to Max as much as Pierre did, but he’s increasingly frustrated, complains on the radio, and is likely to end up out of F1 next year.

Now Max is an incredible driver, as shitty of a person as he is. They want to put someone who has never scored a point next to Hamilton? Look at Vandoorne, who was destroyed by his teammate aaaand... lost his seat.

If you (correctly!) identify that premature promotions have hindered Alex and Pierre, you should not want George next to Lewis. You should want him to move to a midfield team first where he can actually do some racing, without wanting him next to the GOAT.

a. this is such a long anon, is this even legal

b. this is such a complete and nicely rounded analysis I don’t know why you came to me and didn’t just post it yourself. I don’t even have any commentary, it’s just good, I agree, I think most people should agree

c. I don’t really think that the people who spend their energy maligning valtteri are really paying attention to what a crucifixion it is to partner lewis

d. and they should start paying attention before they think more about hoicking out valtteri to replace him with george

I really love george but dear lord, he’d get vandoorne’d. alonso’d. whichever you like to say. again, the concept of his brilliance comes from his junior series performance, and lord knows that (likely unfairly, but still) doesn’t correlate to f1 success. I mean. hulk is right there. 

so yeah the notion people throw around that valtteri should be replaced with george so that george can win the ship in 20-fucking-21 over lewis just so he can stick it to max is frankly one of the most delusional f1blr pipe dreams. looks like a freaking HVAC system in here. a whole hotel fire suppression sprinkler system.

[thebigjezza]

THE GREEN FLAG | 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix

Hi guys, I’m new to Tumblr and thought I’d use this as a way of expressing my opinions on F1 Races, Motorsports and my other interests. Today I’d like to start a new series called “The Green Flag” where I give my opinion and rundown on the race that just happened. Today’s race was the season opener, the 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix!

I left disappointed at the result, given Lewis Hamilton has won yet again but let’s make no mistake this has been one of the best races for a long time. I can’t remember the last time we had a fight for the lead that actually counted for something. Today we were shown exactly what we’ve wanted for years now. A race which could end with either driver on the top step which promises to create an exciting title fight.

Max Verstappen, whilst he didn’t win, was the absolute class of the field. Clearly the faster driver in a great car. The ironic thing about this weekend is that Red Bull screwed themselves. There were so many mistakes that cost them this race. Firstly, gambling Sergio Perez on the mediums during Q2 which ultimately knocked him out meant the team were at a disadvantage with only one car up there. Following that, Perez’s car turned off during the formation lap which meant another start had to be done and, more crucially, meant there would be one lap less. One lap in which Verstappen certainly would have caught Lewis Hamilton and become only the second driver to lead the championship that didn’t drive for Mercedes since 2014. However, ultimately these two things were negligible. Red Bull consistently made poor strategy decisions. It was clear looking at Fernando Alonso that the undercut was powerful and they let it happen. Twice. Mercedes were so aware of this that they covered off a potential undercut that Red Bull had no intention of making. I hope they have not become the new Ferrari (of old); quick on track but with poor strategy decisions.

As for Lewis Hamilton, this race showed why he is the GOAT. The odds were completely against him. His tyres were 10 laps older than Verstappen’s, he could barely extend the hards, he locked up multiple times but there was one particular incident at Turn 10 that was costly AND his car was clearly worse than the Red Bull- albeit marginally. He should not have won that race, the team definitely didn’t deserve to, but it is testament to his talent to he still pulled out a victory. However, we need to note something. The track limits are an absolute joke which ultimately cost Verstappen victory. I understand the overtake was illegal, and completely agree with that. However, this malarkey about “only when gaining an advantage” needs to stop. You either police track limits or you don’t. Picking and choosing situations only undermines our sport. Plus, Hamilton continually doing it to gain lap time is “gaining an advantage” even if it hasn’t helped him overtake anyone. The FIA have consistently failed at this, and they need to get better.

As for other mentions quickly, Lando Norris deserves a lot of credit. Faced against a beast like Daniel Ricciardo- easily one of the top 5 drivers in the field- and starting behind him Lando somehow made mincemeat of him. I don’t expect this to be the norm- Daniel is bedding in after all- but this is the best time for Norris to strike and he’s done exactly what he needed to do. For now. Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez had amazing races- especially Perez from where he started; I cannot praise him highly enough. However, I am expecting no less than P4 from now on as that’s what Red Bull need if they’re going to take wins.

Nikita Mazepin- as expected- was disappointing. Enough said. Sebastian Vettel was a sad case today. I really hope this doesn’t become a trend of his. He was languishing at the back of the field, on poor strategy, and his collision with Ocon just seemed like a scream to end the misery. What once was considered a brilliant move of optimism and revival for Seb seems to be going the way of his Ferrari tenure. His interview seemed exactly like they all had been throughout 2020. Dejected, frustrated and hopeless. I fear that Seb has finally lost it. I pray this is not true.

Fernando Alonso had a good weekend before his brake problems, which I don’t think he should be upset about. He was consistently at around P7 the entire race, which for a near 40 year old man is amazing. He had his first Q3 appearance since 2018, on his debut from 2 year hiatus, which is quite a feat and he was faster than Ocon all weekend. Sadly, he was not rewarded, but Nando’s time will come.

Finally, a quick shoutout to Alfa Romeo! They seem to have made good strides and whilst they weren’t rewarded today they do seem like they can bridge the gap to the lower midfield. 

As far as a season opener goes, it couldn’t be more nail biting. If the rest of the season is like this, and God I hope it is, then we truly are in for a good one this season. To give some hope to my friends that were sad, like me, at the outcome I leave you with this: The winner of the opening race has not been the champion for the last 5 years (4 seasons). Goodnight

F1 FANTASY TEAM:

-----------------------------

Sergio Perez (Turbo Driver)

Sebastian Vettel

Fernando Alonso

Carlos Sainz

George Russell

McLaren

Raceweek Points: 110

Total Points: 110

IMOLA PREDICTION:

P1- Max Verstappen

P2- Valtteri Bottas

P3- Sergio Perez

- Yuki Tsunoda for top 8 finish

[kartikwadhwa]

Gratitude 12-12-2021

Grateful to witness a formula one season for the ages. Gutted for the way in which Lewis lost. He was leading untill the last lap, and then FIA/ Michael Masi (Race Director) decided some weird stuff, Max got big time lucky. Absolutely gutted for Lewis seriously. He has my entire heart. What a champion he has been over the years. This will only make him stronger. Backing him to go all the way next season. Still can't get over what happened. Will take a long time to digest. For me, he is the ultimate driver the game has ever seen. He is the fucking GOAT. The heart was in the mouth all along the race. Although, barca draw today away at Osasuna has somewhat helped me in slightlt softening the Lewis blow. Tonight is the derby, where the bragging rights of the city is at stake, we are on red hot form, and winning today will practically seal the tittle. Need to win, anyhow, to make me feel more better. This is the stuff when you are a sports lover/ enthusiast. It sucks your entire energy, kills you when your team/ player losses and at the same time your rival wins. But this is the beauty of all the games/ sports in general. There is one winner and one loser, you need to be grateful for every win and gracious in every loss, just as Lewis was today. Come on man, grateful to witness the F1 season finale today still, it is all thanks to Netflix, where I watched the Drive to Survive series and made me fall in love with yet another sport. Forever grateful. Let's go, vamos & siuuuu. Meditation is due for today, will do in sometime. Yesss boysss!