#not even halfway through the season they seemed to toss the wdc out

[leqclerc]

no conspiracy or whatever, but i think charles is being treated the worst amongst "young" drivers who are supposed to be their team focus/future/hope. and he is the one, outside max, that has proven the most for his team. this doesn't make any sense

It's not even a conspiracy, it's just the truth 😭 The sad part is absolutely no one saw this coming. Not now, not in a season where Ferrari has the car and has the driver and, well, at least initially had the ambition. Of course I knew how most people end their term at Ferrari, but I think I (and a lot of of other people) stupidly assumed 1. it wouldn't be so bad since he's one of their own, a product of the FDA, and surely that has to mean something, how ugly could things get?, 2. it would happen much, much later down the line. Like, years. I thought it would be... I don't know, Ferrari consistently giving him under-performing cars or something that would cause a rift. But whatever is happening now, the way he's being sidelined for no good reason that isn't motivated by internal politics and big sponsor money...it's shocking and frustrating because it just doesn't make logical sense.

I've thought about this in regards to this question that's been coming up lately of what are Charles's options if not Ferrari? We're in this relatively new situation where a lot of academy drivers have graduated to the 'big' teams - Max at RB was first, then Charles at Ferrari, Lando at McLaren and finally George at Mercedes completing the big four. Hell, even Alpine (who were genuinely regarded as having one of the worst academies in terms of young driver to seat ratio) are looking to put Oscar into a seat, even if it means loaning him out for now. And I think for the most part they're all doing right by them. Max is obviously in the best situation at the moment, with the team fully supporting him and being sort of built around him. And it paid off, he got that first title, and at the rate he's going, he's going to be picking up a second come November.

Anyway, safe to say this current situation is the last thing I expected: didn't have Ferrari giving up on Charles on my 2022 bingo card yet here we are. And the thing is everyone else can see his talent - hell, rival TPs are praising him; he's been getting more compassion and understanding from his rivals than those within his own team, including his teammate. It's not like he's had a performance drop-off or is being genuinely outscored and outperformed by his teammate which makes Ferrari reconsider their priorities. He's been giving them his 120% since the moment they signed him and especially this year, and it was so heart-wrenching to watch him keep repeating that he still believes in the championship as much as he did at the start of the season when it seemed like he's the only one out of the team that does.

I can't think of another team, certainly not any of the top teams, that would do what Ferrari did in Silverstone. It defies all logic to not prioritise your championship contender when his main rival is having a bad day at the office. A vulnerable Max is a gift that very rarely comes around and they just threw it away and they're claiming it was the right decision. And now they've caused an even bigger mess with the ambiguity of having their drivers so close to each other in the standings. They've been reluctant to put their faith and trust in Charles and failed to have the basic respect and decency to make him the number one driver, the one who will bring them that title if they only let him, when it never should have even been a question.