#it's the lestappen world and we're just living in it

[notafanjustpassionate]

Not the "Elvis Leclerc" 😂😂

[lestappenforever]

So, I’m like a realist, right? Sure, yes, I ship people from time to time but I know it’s just for funsies. So, I saw a lestappen edit last week and was like “hey cute guys, what’s up with these two? I better check it out.” and have fallen into a bit of a rabbit hole it seems. So I’m back in the real world now, where Max is in a long term relationship and Charles has a girlfriend, and am wondering: how does one explain Max’s behaviour? Does he just have a friend-crush on Charles? Has he always wanted to be friends with him since they were young and it was just hard since they’ve been rivals for so long? Does he envy him maybe since his father wasn’t a pos and he still turned into a great driver? Is it a “it’s lonely at the top” kind of situation, where he’s never been able to make many friends his own age? (I’ve seen Charles with a bunch of friends outside of racing, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Max with any, but that could be on me.) I mean, a blind person could see that Max takes every opportunity to talk to him or be close to him and he knows stuff about him I’d personally be too embarrassed to admit (like getting his “stupid” quote exactly right or knowing about the twitch thing with his girlfriend forgetting her keys, etc.). I guess I’m looking for the actual non-shippy explanation for this behaviour cause it fascinates me. What are your two cents on this?

Hi anon, and welcome to the world of Lestappen! We're happy to have you. ❤️

I will preface this by saying that shipping is solely for fun, and I don't actually believe Max and Charles are in a secret relationship or anything of the sort. The majority of Lestappen shippers on Tumblr are on the same page about this, with some exceptions, but there are exceptions to anything. And a big part of shipping is speculating, being delusional about them, and overanalyzing things.

Now, in terms of a non-shipping explanation as to why these two behave the way they do around each other, I think it's a combination of all the reasons you've already listed. And the thing about Max and Charles is that they have known each other for so many years. They have been in each other's orbit, in one way or another, for the majority of their lives, and there is no denying that they have seen each other as one of — if not the — biggest rival they've had since they were children. Despite the fact that a lot of the current drivers on the grid have raced each other at some point before F1, there doesn’t seem to be any of them that have the same sort of rivalry that Max and Charles have, which goes so far back. And that kind of bond is one that I believe sticks with you forever.

Now this is not a delusional take at all, as this quote by Armando Filini, manager of the Maranello Kart, the first team for which Leclerc raced, proves: “They were always fighting. It didn't matter if they were competing in a tie or in a final, if it was raining or if the track was dry. Once we were in Genk, Belgium, in the first free practice, and they went on track. Charles and Max met, began to push each other and almost hit each other, with the risk of being left out. Jos Verstappen and I were glued to the fence to look at them and he turned around and said to me: 'These two will fight forever. They will fight even in F1′. A prophecy”.

Even though Max and Charles obviously haven’t been best friends for the majority of the time they've known each other, and they've only started building what appears to be a genuine friendship in the last few years, they share a connection that has been evident to people around them since they were little.

Max's comment from last season where he said that he wasn't surprised both him and Charles were sitting in that press conference together because he always thought that if he made it into F1, Charles would too, is just another testament to how tied together they actually are. And Charles' fond recollections of their karting days in the past season shows that it's a mutual thing: that Charles feels that same bond with Max that Max feels with him. And I think this is the whole baseline for why they've never been able to be normal about or around each other: because they go so far back and their lives are so intertwined that I honestly don't think either of them is fully capable of treating the other as just any other colleague or friend, because they don't see each other that way. They're something more, and by that I don't mean they're secretly in love with each other — they just have this bond that goes beyond normal friendship, forged through years of rivalry, envy, conflict, mutual growth and respect, and eventual friendship.

I have a childhood friend sort of like that: obviously not with the rivalry and drama that comes with the surroundings in which Max and Charles met and grew up, but someone that I share a bond with that I don't share with any of my other friends, old or new, and it's honestly my most treasured friendship because it has helped shape me as a person in a profound sort of way. He's not my closest friend and not the friend I talk to the most since we live on different sides of the country and our paths haven’t crossed much in the past few years, as is often the case when you grow up and become an independent adult. But when I do talk to him and hang out with him, it kind of feels like coming home. And to me, it seems like Max and Charles share that same type of bond.

This is just my personal take as I obviously don't know Max or Charles, and this is all based off of watching their interactions and watching their relationship develop over the past few years, as well as deepdiving into their history in the past. But this is the explanation that makes sense to me.

[thatguywasvaping]

🏎️💨 THE FORMULA 1 TAG GAME! 🏎️💨:

i don't know who else to tag honestly but thank youuu @wisteria-wisteria for tagging me 😉

1. Who or what got you into F1?

i've been wanting to tell this story to someone cuz i think it's so dumb

so well, my dad and my cousins are HUGE f1 fans they always talk about it on the family gc. it was the mexico 2023 gp (we're mexican btw and just like every single men in mexico they love checo) and we all know what happened to checo in that race so they were fuming and honestly i was enjoying it and all the memes on twt

anyway i never really cared about the sport, to me it was just men going vroom vroom in circles for an hour but then the brazil gp came

we were in my grandparents house, i was in the living room and they were watching the race obviously, it was just about to start and then something magical happened that changed my whole life... charles leclerc crashes on the formation lap and i thought omg who's this dumbass 🙄 but then i heard his voice with that sadness you only hear in eastern european gay porn saying "why the fuck am i so unlucky?", i was like damn he's so me, my dad was asking me to traduce what he was saying, i had no context of everything that happened on the season but i could just think damn is this not the first time that it has happened to him? poor bro

then i saw him get lost in the motherfucking woods and i was crying laughing at this point wondering who the hell is this guy?

i made a mental note to search his name on twt later, anyway the race went on and i was actually getting invested in it, i remember my cousins had to leave but they were all i want to see checo pass hamilton bla bla bla and i had no idea who hamilton was but i wanted to see it too it was so exciting. when i got back home i went into a charles leclerc rabbit hole in twt and tumblr and tiktok, then i learned more about all the other drivers and as someone who was lacking content of my man finn wolfhard i was getting bored and seeing this guys being a chaotic mess and getting content of them every weekend i was like fuck it they're my new blorbos especially charles❤️

and now here i am :) the end.

2. Who was the very first F1 driver you supported? Do you support them now? Have your opinions on them differed or stayed the same since then?

i am a charles leclerc girlie and i will always be he's my sunshine i will fight anyone who dares to say something bad about him, i just love him so much he's so determinated and passionate i am so sure he will achieve his dream but he's also very kind, charming, funny. his history is also so amazing to me, his mental strenght is unbelievable and has motivated me to keep going no matter what, he's very dear to me, i admire him so much and i don't think it will ever change because he amazes me more and more everytime.

3. Who’s your current favourite F1 driver?

charlieeee obvi but i've also been very obsessed with max lately they are fighting for p1 in my favorite drivers championship every single day hahahah

maxie poo i love you babygirl 😘

ok but now seriously MAX VERSTAPPEN YOU ARE A FUCKING LEGEND AND DESERVE ALL THE HAPPINESS IN THE WORLD he means a lot to me now too

i love lando and oscar also i hope they achieve amazing things with mclaren they have so much talent and potential i know they will be great

and ofc mi gente latino 🇲🇽✊ checo pérez you are my dad and i support you no matter what also he's so unintentionally funny as max said i'll just call him lovely 😌

4. Is there a driver pairing or pairings you support? What made you attracted to that pairing in the first place?

LESTAPPEN MY GOD when i tell you that i think about them every day i'm not joking at all

my roman empire as the tiktok kids would say

i just love them for the same reasons everyone else does they have been racing against each other for most of their lives and of course they've had their rough patches but they respect each other and love racing together, they push the limits and will do everything to win but they always keep that mutual respect and admiration

i got into them with the inchident video it's just hilarious max being all mad like no it's so unfair 🙄 and charlie being like just an inchident 😘 I CAN'T THEY'RE SO ICONIC LIVE LAUGH LOVE LESTAPPEN we love emotional support rivals

also shoutout carlando, maxiel, charlos, chestappen, landoscar they are so funny love seeing them do stupid shit but also have each others back

5. Do your parents, siblings or relatives have a favourite team and/or favourite driver(s)?

my dad will die for red bull especially for checo, i don't really know my cousins favorite drivers but they like ferrari and one of them has a charles leclerc cap and a valtteri bottas one so i think them

i'm kind of a closeted f1 fan lmao because most of my life i've been like it's so boring just them going in circles but now i'm obsessed but also if i say i like it now they would be like you just like it because the drivers are good looking

and i mean YEAH but fuck just let me enjoy it and it's also my first season i'm still learning give me a break bruh

6. Do you have any favourite races? Are there any that stand out to you the most?

like i said this is my first season and i started pretty late but they first race i ever watched from start to finish was ✨las vegas 2023✨ and as a charles fan i will never forget that last lap where i was mourning p2 already and all like well let's hope for the best on the next race😔 when all of a sudden i see this mf overtaking checo, it was 1am and when i tell you i JUMPED from the couch and started screaming and jumping around, genuinely i will never forget it

7. Do you have a favourite circuit? Can be from the past or from the current calendar.

i don't really know about each circuit that much but i like monaco

8. Have you ever been to an F1 race in real life? Feel free to tell us your experience going to one if you like.

naaahh they're expensive af maybeee one day i'll go to the gp in mexico city but in a very distant future

9. Have you ever met an F1 driver in real life?

i see checo's face in every corner in my city does that count?

10. Do you have a favourite F1 car? If so, what is it?

i like the mercedes' cars just for the mere reason that they look cool to me and since i don't know all the technical stuff i think i could give you a pepper answer once i learn more

11. Do you have a favourite one win wonder?

not really ✌️

12. Do you have any favourite quotes from the F1 world? This can either be inspirational or hilarious.

when max said "i always thought that if i would make it to F1, charles will also make it"

what can i say i love my babygirls

[blorbocedes]

okay, so. you love brocedes, you love lestappen. the arcs seem so polar-opposite so here go essay wild should you wish (mainly bc i would love to read it. and feel free to talk about carlando as well bc that too is a wildly different dynamic to brocedes and lestappen.)

what makes you love each?

do you have a favorite between the two (or three). does one pull on your heartstrings more than the other?

are there similarities?

<3

hi Xiao ☺️ here's my carlando essay so I'll focus mainly on the brothercedes and lest we stappens here. strap yourself, im about to maxplain

first thing about me: my favourite trope in the whole world is friends to lovers (crowd booing) it's having a shared history, the familiarity, how you can only truly hurt someone you love [and the possibility of reconciliation, to come back home insert seb clip about rbr]

brocedes is actually why I got into f1 fandom! i saw ONE (1) Richard Siken edit and it was over for me

literally. i have not used tumblr in 7 YEARS i used it just for lurking and that goddamn edit compelled me to write my first fic (during the writing of which I found out they still lived in the same building??? i lost my mind and have not found it since)

lestappen was a see it to believe it moment, I watched miami gp and saw these two championship rivals being Cute and Max's earnestness to talk to charl got to me. i was like oh yeah okay I see it. i don't choose anything I like, I either see The Vision or I don't -- and while brocedes is like I'm an archeologist excavating a fallen city trying to figure out what happened piece the lore, lestappen is happening In Front Of Our Eyes we're witnessing the stars getting crossed, the history in the making <3

I might have the most confusing layout cause I'm a max girlie whose pfp is charles, and header is brocedes named blorbocedes while I pray on merc's flop era 😭 (ending but never forgotten), while rooting for redbulls [sorry but I've seen my Ferrari girlies SUFFERING, I'll stick to my world champion 🥰]

in many ways, lestappen and brocedes are like a foil to each other (crowd booing, we get it u did literary analysis in highschool once) where brocedes were a childhood friendship gone wrong, lestappen are childhood rivals turned tentative friends. there's just something very compelling about a world champion and his main rival trying to keep a friendship alive while directly competing, and having years of shared history to get there. brocedes DREAMING of becoming teammates, world champions together; both max and charl saying how they have a mutual respect now that they'd both made it to f1. And that's before even touching the cut throat life and politics of getting into f1, the concept of being golden boys.

my favourite lestappen and brocedes parallel is that lewis and nico's first karting race nico led the whole race then on the final lap, lewis crossed him and won the race; and compare with the Inchident™️ but Nico & Lewis became best friends, whereas Charl held an admittedly one sided grudge against Max during their karting days.

brocedes is everything that went wrong, lestappen is how it can go right (we can learn from lovers past who didnt make it)

do I have a favourite? yes. brocedes. i, yeah. they light my brain on fire.

HOWEVER, I enjoy brocedes as a reader and consumer, whereas as lestappen I am compelled to write for them (also I'm the only one who gets them and everyone else is wrong 😤) I suppose it is a bit passé to say anything outside of "ahh I write for myself and inherent love for writing" fuck that lol I write for attention I like it when people read my shit and we can talk about it 🥰🥰🥰 I also disagree with popular fandom interpretation with lestappen (which is fine, it has a huge audience so it clearly works for a lot of people) but that's why I have to write my own food for them. I have so many lestappen wips 😭

(like I don't think charl is a soft fragile thing who needs taken care of, even tho I also mine charl pain for content so like I Get it but also no one else gets it, and don't fucking get me started on the 'jos verstappen's A+ parenting' tag that's another essay in itself)

[lestappenforever]

hi again!

did lestappen really unfollow each other after the Austrian gp 2019? why?

ps: im new here

Hi anon, and welcome to the unhinged world of Lestappen lore! We're so happy to have you. ❤️

Now have a seat and get cozy, because it's story time.

Charles made it into F1 in 2018 and after spending his maiden season at Alfa Romeo Sauber, his life-long dream finally came true as he was snatched up by Scuderia Ferrari to replace the man, the myth, the legend that is Kimi Räikkönen. Needless to say, 2019 was a big year for Charles. His first season in the team he had always dreamed of driving for. He was ready. He was hungry.

Now, enter Max Emilian Verstappen, who at this point had already been in F1 since 2015, when he was signed at the ripe age of 17. Already a seasoned F1 driver, which is impressive as fuck at that age. At this point, Max and Charles were following each other on social media. After all, they'd known each other for most of their lives, had grown up together in karting, and were now competing at the top level.

Today, we know Austria as the Lestappen holy ground following that podium in 2022. (Borderline pornographic podium celebration? Don't mind if I do.) But, it had potential to become the Lestappen holy ground even back in 2019, because Max and Charles were on fire. Talking, laughing, joking, mirroring each other in the pre-race press conference, and generally acting like teenagers with a crush. (As you do with your emotional support rival.) Things were good. Great, even.

And then Sunday rolled around, and the race happened. Charles and Max were doing what they do best and what they love the most, namely fighting each other on track, likely having the time of their fucking lives. But then this overtake happened, there's a little bit of contact and Charles briefly ends up off the track, and Max goes on to win the race, with Charles finishing P2. (Anyone else hearing "He's just unfair. I'm leading, he wants to pass, he push me, I push him back" and "Nothing, just an inchident"? in their heads watching that overtake? Just me? Okay.)

Charles was pissed, absolutely convinced that Max had done something wrong, that it wasn't a clean move, and the move was investigated, as all similar moves are. FIA, however, ends up deeming it a clean move and Max doesn't get a penalty, meaning his win stands. And, well, this is where Charles Leclerc shows the world what it means to truly be ✨dramatic.✨ (We love a dramatic king in this house, ngl. Nothing is more entertaining to me than grown-ass men acting like children.)

A look that could kill? Check. Dramatically fixing your cap? Check. Looking away dramatically while plotting someone else's demise? Check. Looking like finishing P2 is not a huge accomplishment in your first season in Scuderia Ferrari? Check. Squeezing past as the winner getting drenched in champagne because you're not about to stand there and watch him celebrate? Check. Whatever the fuck this face is? Check.

Now, here's where it gets really fucking hilarious: Charles and Max fly home from Austria on the same flight. On this flight, where Max is probably sitting in Charles' direct line of sight, Charles goes to Max's Instagram and unfollows him. Probably glaring at Max the entire fucking time. Because he's a fully grown adult man capable of making reasonable, mature decisions when things don't go his way. Clearly. And Max, upon noticing this (or his team noticing it), remembers that he is also a fully grown adult man capable of making reasonable, mature decisions, and responds by unfollowing Charles back. Obviously.

It has been four years and our boys have clearly moved past the events of Austria 2019, but the Great Unfollowing has remained. Has it become an inside joke between them, which is why they're still not following each other after all these years? Probably, if Charles threatening to unfollow Matt from P1 with Matt & Tommy during a Ferrari challenge (and fucking following through on the threat, too) is anything to go by. Does it still make me cackle every time I think about it? Abso-fucking-lutely.

[lestappenforever]

hi angel c:

wanted to wish you and all your anons a good race evening! this two weekends are giving us enormous amount of lestappen content but I'm not complaining at all ._.

I take into account that the entire Lestappen launching may be PR but... don't you think this is kinda too much? I mean I don't see the reason for Christian to post photo of Max and Charles and moreover today's greeting of him and Charles... I'm confused .-. maybe I want to see Charles in RBR so bad that I start to notice and exaggerate the things that are not even there but greeting the others teem principal? o_O k im taking it

I follow some distant but still opinionated F1 sources that are not connected with shipping at all and the funny thing is that even people who are not delusional are seeing changes in behavior of these two or at least notice that they are somehow perceiving each other differently in comparison to other drivers. as if they were constantly emphasized and treated specially by each other. it’s just that: from year to year they get closer and closer, more calm and open. and that's beautiful

I have the feeling that we are witnessing the history and dynamics that are far from an end. their story is literary from the very beginning and I expect the same development. and at the moment we're getting it

it all as if we are missing something and seeing too much at the same time. and it's an amazing feeling. it irritates and in parallel fuels me with passion and interest

i see that everyone enjoyed yesterday's conference. that was two-domestic-idiots-in-love and third-wheeling- Steve Carlos. and I still don't know how to survive that "what?🥺🥰" from Charles. his voice and expression became so soft😭 or nervous Max (great thanks to Body language anon I already adore you). or all of that glances and giggles. I WASN'T PREPARED FOR THAT. I've lowered my expectations from Mexico so much that now I'm in a fucking complete "wtf is going on" situation. I anticipated a lot of Checo content but then Ferrari boys managed to put a red tractor on the first row and we got all of that

I don’t think that my ask now carries any meaning, I just wanted to share. I'm admiring you and your blog from a shadow right now but I'm always here c:

I have some serious mental issues these days, curing from depression and CPTSD is never easy. to a large extent, my reason for waking up every day and living now is Formula 1 and all its content including intrigues and investigations, theories and guesses, races, technical updates, challenges and shipping of pilots which I've found fun. so if anyone here is in the same condition as me, then know that you are not alone and one day we'll get through it

so yeah let's watch a great race and live laugh love lestappen

love ya 🖤❤️

Denis once again coming into my ask box and gracing me and everyone else with an insight into such a beautiful mind.

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts, Denis. It makes me so happy when I see your name in my inbox, and every ask you send carries so much meaning. Please don't ever doubt that. ❤️

I'm so sorry to hear that you’re struggling these days. If you ever need to talk, please don't hesitate to come to me. I love you so much and you deserve the whole world. And thank you for sharing your incredible kindness - I'm sure there are going to be people reading this who will definitely relate and appreciate knowing they are not alone. Because they’re not, and neither are you, Denis. Ever. 💕

Fingers crossed for a Lestappen podium despite the rough start to the race! 🤞

[lestappenforever]

when i said we needed more lestappen content, i did not expect to be lovebombed with content like this sdfjksdhf it's lestappen world and we're just living in it

Max and Charles are the OG Lestappies.