#‘we should have pitted Carlos earlier’

[wafflesrisa]

Oh wait is it a toxic family when the father refuses to take accountability and instead blames the kids for his mistakes? And as a result the kids are unwillingly shoehorned into roles where one is the golden perfectionistic never allowed to criticise the family child, and the other is the black sheep difficult selfish disobedient child?

And the golden child is about to explode because he’s never allowed to have his own opinions and so when he feels real frustration at his father, he can’t land the blame there and so he’s conditioned to blame his sibling instead?

And the black sheep child just takes the criticism and the blame and learns to become overly defensive, because he’s learned no one will watch his back but himself, not even his sibling?

Oh wait it’s not a toxic family.

It’s Scuderia Ferrari

[dizzyduck44]

So let me get this straight. This weekend

Lewis makes some sarcy comment about Lando losing the lead in the sprint.

Lando leads race start to last corner, dragging his teammates arse round in his DRS the whole way, to then gives up the win on the line against team orders.

Stewards went for a tea break during quali, arrived back for Q3.

Max gets given a single place grid drop, losing pole.

Max goes on the war path with George, squares up to him on the drivers parade, (insert swear word of choice where you think appropriate) “I hope you and your FIA buddies are happy”.

Oscar cuts the pit white line in front of Lewis and is under investigation before the cars make it to the grid. 😡

Race starts, Lewis jump starts, Lando nearly takes the lead at the first corner.

Esteban (who unbeknownst to anyone was driving his last race for Alpine) collides with Franco in the first corner.

Two corners later Lance Stroll drives into Alex and gets a 10 second penalty and 2 penalty points.

Lewis gets a 5 seconds penalty for the jump start.

Liam then gets a 10 second penalty and 2 penalty points for causing a collision.

Maybe from earlier contact Alex’s wing mirror decides to go solo and sits on the start finish straight.

FIA has a meltdown. They turn the pit straight into a disco light, yellow/green/yellow/green/yellow/green/yellow/green. Double yellow. We select double yellows. No back to single yellows. No we really think this should be a double yellow.

Meanwhile drivers are pottering around, Max is pumping in fastest laps, race continues until Valtteri takes out the mirror and makes a bad situation 30 times worse.

The FIA have to do something now right?

NO.

Because by now Max wants the world to burn and has started screaming he doesn’t think Lando lifted during the flag Hokey Cokey.

Well Max they ain’t got time to care about that, because Lewis and Carlos now have punctures.

Someone at the FIA remembers they employ a safety car driver for a reason and send him out.

Safety car goes through the pits so the debris can be moved. (This option was available to them 10 minutes earlier) and Lando nearly runs into the back of Lewis who suddenly slams on.

Calm decends for a few laps. Until. Yeah it’s Max again. “Anything from that yellow flag?” (Remember this later).

Safety car is coming in, cars seem confused about when Max will go. Max and Lando are on the radio saying the safety car lights are still on. Lando’s team tell him they aren’t.

We start racing.

Hell breaks loose.

The stewards decide that Lando didn’t lift during the double yellow, despite the fact they didn’t know what flag to put out, and it changed as he passed the sign. 10 second stop go penalty and 3 penalty points.

Now I am well aware there will have been people watching who have never even heard of this penalty. Apparently the last one given was 2018. For comparison, the FIA gave Max a 5 place grid drop for the same offence at the same track last year. The same year they allowed a tractor and Marshalls on the track in the pouring rain with no flags.

Lewis gets a second penalty, this time a drive through, again don’t see many of those, it’s normally penalty added to your race time. By now I swear they are just looking for penalties they haven’t handed out yet this weekend.

And a 10 second penalty and 2 penalty points for Alex for causing a collision as well.

Sergio also gets investigated for dangerous driving.

BUT WAIT

We then give George a 5 second penalty and a penalty point for driving too far behind the safety car.

Post race Max continues to rant about George and how he effectively begged for the grid penalty and decides now he was asking about Lando as he thought “he had got DRS from a back marker” and wanted to be sure that was why he caught up. Note earlier comments he asked TWICE about.

Lando with zero context of what the world has just seen, takes it hard and thinks he is responsible for the whole shit show.

Oscar gets given a reprimand for his earlier pit lane incident.

Ted Kravitz has confirmed that the lights on the top of the safety car did in fact go out. But the drivers can’t see them because of a spoiler on the back of the car! The ones underneath did in fact NOT go out.

AND THEN

Fans have found Ferrari might not have lifted during the double yellows either!!!!

Seriously when pissed off fans are more on top of data than the stewards, what is even the point?

The FIA need to realise they are there for the safety of the drivers, teams and spectators. This is the point the teams need to band together and address the FIA, what were you doing for 8 minutes with debris on the track? You’ve handed out one of the harshest penalties for a situation you created. Two drivers had punctures because of a situation you created.

Honestly I know Esteban won’t be on the grid in Abu Dhabi, Lewis seems to have zero motivation to do it. Unless you are McLaren, Ferrari, RB or Alpine do you even care about this race?

Seriously so many errors were made in the running of this race today I would say strike it from the record, but Zhou and Sauber got points!!!! And that would be far too cruel.

But I leave you with this thought. The FIA can stop a race and abandon it due to poor driving standards. Does this go both ways? Can drivers stop and abandon a race for poor stewarding standards? Today would have been a strong candidate.

[mysteriouslyjovialcolor]

Las Vegas 2024

-Fun Fact: Listening to the national anthem at 12:50 am does not make you feel more awake, but hearing a 1D song in the background of the pre-race interviews does

-Props to Franco Colapinto and the Williams garage for getting back into shape so quickly

-Charles!!! Let’s go!! He really loves those p4s!! How does he manage those starts???

-“It’s a brave man who makes a move against Kevin Magnussen” Hehe

-Go Nico!

-Alpine being the bane of my existence right now

-Seeing Yuki and Nico in p7 and p8 just feels right

-Fernando Alonso is just going for it! I need him to have a good race for once

-Also, Zhou p12??

-“Here comes Charles Leclerc…” And there goes Max Verstappen!!

-Alonso?? Oh he had softs on

-Oscar false start?

-Alpine, you’re back to being good babe

-“I think Charles has to get this move done on George Russel” I think his move on Carlos Sainz was what was more important

-Woah that replay between Kevin and Liam, so close to contact

-Come on Lewis, come on, come on

-Ohmygodd Max!! Lewis!! Aaaaah!

-Yuki and Pierre!!

-Why the hell are the graphics showing Charles p4? Fix that immediately!

-Lewis! Lewis! Lewis!

-Charles and Lando pitting now??

-Ferrari if you mess this up for me I will be having words

-Max and Lewis again!! Making moves!

-Max stuck in a Mercedes sandwich. It’s giving old times

-Okay it’s fine I guess, the pit stop, for Ferrari (but why is Charles behind Carlos)

-Okay Red Bull be good

-No way Merc is double stacking… yeah they’re not

-Okay okayyy Ferrari

-Oh no Ocon? What was that pit stop?

-Would it be crazy for me to manifest a Hulk podium? Yeahh, never mind, he just dropped way down after that stop

-Cool how George still got back out in the lead after pitting

-“No power!” Oh no Pierre. Oh god that’s so unfortunate, so so unfortunate

-Come on Lewis, come on, come on

-Yes!

-Ah Yuki!!

-Charles and Checo (Vegas 2023 I miss you)!

-Okay Checo really needs to pit now

-“I think Hamilton unquestionably has the pace” I’ve been waiting so long to hear that

-We forgot way too quickly how bad that Alpine was, Brazil got us dreaming too big

-“We’ll come back to you” agshsjsvshajnabs

-The way I’ve been urging Lewis on for the last five laps

-Nico! Nico! Nico!

-Lol how is Yuki stuck in a McLaren sandwich again

-“Man these guys are fast on the straights”

-Can people stop with the “shelf-life” comments? So distasteful

-Zhou’s doing pretty well isn’t he?

-“Can we just get a race without problems?” Alex I’m so sorry

-How are Checo and Liam even near each other right now?

-Oh come on Charles

-“Swap positions” Ooh I wasn’t expecting that. Are Ferrari finally taking things seriously??

-Oh my god, Carlos whyyyy?

-“Stay out, stay out, stay out” Come on!!

-Checo finally overtaking the Sauber

-Why not have just let Carlos come in?? Now he might have a penalty? Surely that’s not good

-“Wake up guys! Come on!” Ughhh

-Why hasn’t Lando pit yet?

-I am still so annoyed about Ferrari. What are you doing??

-“His arch rival- nemesis really” The 2021 season was really one for the ages

-I love when Max knows when to play it safe

-George having so much time between him and p2 to pit

-How was I praising Ferrari strategy five seconds earlier?

-How many times are we going make a joke about Yuki’s airport incident? Please just shut up

-Okay Sauber, I had way too much faith in your pit stops there for a second

-If Merc pulls team orders I will scream

-“ All the traffic in one group behind Tsonoda” Why’d that make me laugh

-It’s so funny how I was saying this is giving old times, with a Merc 1-2 and Max p3

-Alonso!!

-Woah Checo! Let’s go! That’s was amazing!!

-“Do you want me to try and keep them behind or what?” “I think you should yeah”

-Still don’t get why Carlos is ahead there

-So confused about this whole Ferrari situation. What is going on?

-Like how is Carlos somehow helping Max cover off his teammate?

-Last five laps. I know we have this in the bag but I’m not trusting that car until it crosses the checkered flag

-“What a talent. What a team” LETS GO BABY

-“He picked his battles well” YES HE DID

-“It’s victory in Vegas” “That’s four in a row Max, four in a row” “Ohmygodd what a season”

-Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah

-“Vegas baby” I wonder if the baby George fan was awake to see this

-“Formation flying for Mercedes-Benz”

-“Never thought this was possible” The way he pulled through right when it was critical

-Yea!! 4! 4! 4! 4!

-Aw this team

-George and Max hugging! Yuki congratulating Max! Max and Fernando!!

-The other team mechanics nodding their head in acknowledgment>>>

-Aah so happy right now!!

-“I also have to go there?” He’s so cuteee

-“Oh he’s got his own car” Haha

-Max and GP!!

-“I think they got a little spoiled last year with the wins” 😭😭 MAX

-The chants of “Max, Max, Max” in the background>>>

-Ah I’m so so happy

[landofourwins]

Hi babee, just love all your takes about Lando and Carlos so I am gonna hold your hand while I tell you this (if you have not seen it already) but *ding dong* Lando hate is on again! (Nobody missed it)

Basically, in an interview Max said he would’ve easily won the Championship in a McLaren or in a Ferrari “even earlier”. Now, neglecting all the technical analysis we could do about it to prove whether he is wrong or right.

Lando basically said while laughing “haha, that’s an interesting take, he should be a comedian.” Period, stop, that’s it. You know, just answering with the same sarcasm of every-fucking-body else in this forsaken sport trying to express their own opinion.

And guess what? YEAH IT HAPPENED AGAIN, HATE ON LITTLE LANDO NORRIS. Because how dare he defend his team? How dare he say his own opinion? How dare he contradict Max?

How dare he BREATHE?

The funniest thing? Charles said a very very similar thing, more like “yeah Max is exaggerating a lot”.

But for Charles people were like, “oh God Charles you’re so right my love always defending the team (the same team they were yelling at two days ago for not “”””favouring””””” him??? Wtf???) they could never make me hate you” *dick sucking noises* *tongues slurping on asses*

And that also brings me to another question. Do you or do you not think that the majority of lecfosis/lestappies (basically the same thing) are also Lando haters? Do you or do you not think it’s a patholocial condition?

Great talk, waiting for your answers, love your answers.

hi honey!!

ty!! you're one of the first to say that lmao 💕💕

I SAW I SAW!! max babes you wouldn't survive a DAY with the mclaren pit wall, god knows i barely do. in the wake of thanksgiving i would like to declare i am NOT thankful for the mclaren pitwall (i think it's thanksgiving idk)

i've talked about it multiple times with others, the mclaren (illegal mclaren come back to me my love) was good. for a few races.

the ferrari was good, for a few races.

the merc was good, for a few races.

the red bull was good, for a few races.

people like to think of the mclaren of this season as the red bull of last season, it's not. there hasn't in my opinion been a definite dominant car for more than a few races.

so no max babes, you wouldn't have won in the mclaren!! at least, not in the way he thinks he would ...

yes how dare lando breathe? crucify him! he dared to speak a word!

the fucking what is the word ugh english is failing me. YES!! the double standards in this sport is insane. the god "il depression" can go and say whatever the fuckity fuck he wants, no matter how offensive and be praised. the so called "white savior" dutchman can ALSO say whatever he wants, and be praised.

but oh no, let's crucify lando for saying something NOT EVEN THAT BAD. let's crucify Lando for something he didn't say! which we took out of context! and refuse to be corrected on! just crucify Lando for existing!!

but no, let's praise il depression for saying the exact same fucking thing if not worse, but crucify lando!! sounds fun!! right? *ahem ahem sarcasm*

ALSO !! lecfosi talking about how sharl has never had favouritism!! never!! bro? is you blind? that man is the second coming of whatever god they want to compare him to according to ferrari.

"oh carlos is a nepo baby" for what? working to get his spot? for working hard? sharl's whole 😤i'm not mister nice guy anymore😤 and shit, depressing really (i think i lost my point somewhere in this essay)

sharls, babes, when have you ever been screwed over by team orders? carlos already pulled over once. the races he did bad: his choices, he chose the strategies (which is admirable to try and fuck around when you need points). charles has i don't want to say blatantly favored but oh god. favorite child, he's the password child. someone hack ferrari and try "charles16" for the password!

lost my point again omfg sorry

yes!! i do think most lecfosi are lando haters! and lestappies as well!!

on the lecfosi: they are like, an insecure tween, in a way. (SOME OF THEM , MY SHARL MUTUALS ILY WITH MY WHOLE HEART) the second ANY driver does better than sharl, they're the wicked witch of the fucking west. i can admit when someone has outperformed lando and whatnot, but they REFUSE to believe that il depression isn't jesus reborn.

they like to bring other drivers down to hail sharl le-loser (ty for that one kavi mwah 💋). i personally haven't done that for lando, so idk the thought process. but point here: sharl bad = IMPOSSIBLE

on the lestappies: i fear them, with my whole being, toes to my fuck ass bangs. when lestappies try to compare themselves to carlando an angel loses it's wings and andrea st*lla probs loses another braincell. carlando ≠ lestappen, carlando is real fruendship, lestappen... they barely interact. they interact like as many times as i've been to church.

like the idea of lestappen could be cool. childhood rivals to adult rivals and whatnot. but like. max is ... levels .. better than il depression. so, doesn't really work imo.

BACK TO THE POINT OMFG. yes lestappies and lecfosi are mostly lando haters. bc they can't stand the idea that these fuck ass wannabe religious symbols aren't the shit. (you wanna know what the shit is ... makkinen ... look it up ... i love them)

went off the golden brick road again omfg 🧘‍♀️🧘‍♀️ yes lestappies and lecfosi are mainly lando antis for no valid reason expect their limited brain capacity (SOME OF THEMMMMMM)

i do think it's a pathological condition, called having an ego and being delusional.

anon ily sorry for the essay pls come back again i love your message smmmmm 💞💞💞💞💗💗💗💕💕💕

[chussyracing]

That twitter account has since clarified that Carlos was actually lifting in those turns for most of the race, not just the last laps, so that data set doesn't prove much. That being said though, I do still believe Carlos was likely purposefully keeping Max in his DRS. We know he's done it before to hold off a faster threat from behind. He was lifting for most of the race at that turn, but not all of it. He should have pulled ahead enough to drop Max from DRS and let Charles pass earlier to more safely ensure the 3-4 finish. Knowing how he strategizes though I am sure that he was very aware if he gave Charles enough laps it would be a fight so he waited.

i will be honest, i didn't even notice anything during the race besides the fact that charles was one second faster than carlos behind max (also caused by the fact that charles was sped up by lewis with the same lap times behind him and both were also faster than george in p1). the data can always be manipulated a certain way and it just depends on the way you look at it and hwat you decide to focus on and what to omit. there is also the thing that if you are close behind someone and using drs you are obviously faster than after you overtake them and suddenly have a gap and clean air in front.

my issue during this race lies completely outside of this moment though (you can even go on and say max had nothing to work towards and chalres should have overtook him on his own without carlos' "help" and that is valid and true). the problematic part i see are the fights in moments they can hurt us the most. if we were in mercedes' place with next best car 8 seconds behind and with 5 laps to go, by all means, fight and try to grab that win for yourself. as long as you keep it nice and clean, it doesn't matter who wins becuase you maximise the points for the team and carlos is not obliged to help him get p2 in wdc. my point is that you cannot fight in the middle of the race when you are in the conserving part. you cannot fight at the start of the stint when you know your biggest weakness is warm up and graining and you already pitted once with the same issue. you SHOULD fight towards the end of the race, towards the end of a stint and at the start of the race where the offset is zero. and the most important part is: you always have to make sure not to cause a double DNF at this point of the season when funds are low, every point counts and you are slowly trying out stuff for 2025.

[lestappenforever]

After an epic race (yes it was epic, and not just because Red Bull dominated, but because of the racing you RBR haters), here’s my analysis of it (I can’t believe I woke up at 7 and focused but it’s what you do for the thing you love/want to achieve)

Let’s start with the homeboy who the word impressive doesn’t even begin to describe or explain how amazing he raced today, starting p10, loosing position at the standing start, regaining and overtaking in the S’s of Suzuka, which by the way everyone was beyond impressed by, and just his overall race today showed how much he grew, especially after Pierre left AT. He’s taking on that leader role, despite being the younger driver, but what he’s doing so far this season is something that he should be proud of, and should not be turned a blind eye to (I’m looking at you Helmut Marko).

Continuing with RB, Daniel actually had a decent weekend, till that crash of course, but what was he to do, narrowest part of track, and he was looking at his mirrors, Alex is the one who came out of nowhere in Daniel’s blind spot, and they both couldn’t do anything.

There is something wrong about Logan’s car/chassis. Simple and easy, and Williams are, as we say in Egyptian Arabic, just being/acting stupid. He did well, considering his confidence that is, most probably, shaken. But that car DOES NOT TURN. Its not just a touch of understeer, its Logan turning the steering wheel almost all the way, and the car not moving as he wants. Justice for my boy if we’re being honest (Since Australia, I’m a Logan defender till the day I die, especially because this is not the Williams or James that was “we’ll take care of you and trust you” its the “Valtteri it’s James” and I’m here for it)

There is something wrong with that Mercedes power-unit, after 4 races, I can kind of actually see it very clearly. These cars don’t have the straight line speed or sometimes the speed in general to be competitive, and the only reason one of the cars with the pu was on a podium was because Max DNFed

McLaren were going good, until they royally fucked up Lando’s strategy. Like he was going good, tyres were good and he was managing them well in order to pit with the front of the pact, but then they pit him with Charles, to “undercut George” which failed and made him loose positions, yeah they pulled a Ferrari to be honest, and what sucks is that this is a McLaren-friendly track. Oscar did all he could, but in all honesty, at the end of this race, it was experience over all else, which allowed the race to end in Fernando, George, Oscar. And no, I’m not saying Oscar had a bad race, quiet the opposite, but Fernando defended him well, and George just used his more experience to make a move on Oscar when the time was right, and it worked.

Ferrari. Ferrari oh Ferrari, what the Fuck have you done? Granted, Carlos had a good race, but not a podium finish, he wasn’t that impressive, it was just Ferrari pulling a Ferrari, fucking up Charles’ strategy and race by telling him “we’re not racing Carlos” but then telling Carlos to race?! This is the real reason why I didn’t want Charles to renew with Ferrari, because they never fucking learn. And honestly as I said it earlier, Jules would be incredibly proud of Charles’ drive today, because in all honesty, everyone is, even Max and Checo who are now the biggest Charles defenders in the cooldown room and I’m gere for it.

The rest of the grid honestly didn’t have that much , Mercedes not doing well on strategy, it was just driver talent especially at the end of the race, Aston were good, with Fernando defending and Lance’s overtakes, despite the car not being that good (again discussed in the merc pu), Alpine are on a slow and steady climb, though still the slowest, at least they’re able to reach Q2s with Esteban, who is surprisingly performing better than Pierre, Haas didn’t do great, overtakes and overall performance good, but no points and Valtteri is showing that despite leaving Mercedes even after 3 years, he’s got it, despite the car being bad.

Last, but certainly and definitely not least, and in all honesty, the best team on that damn grid. Pole an P2 converted to a picture perfect 1-2 in the race, pulling 4 fastest pitstops (3 2.1 and a 2.0 with Max’s second pitstop), fastest lap, working well on strategy in order to maintain positions despite the tyre deg not being the best, Max’s performance of that car, reputation era for sure, but a silent killer type, Checo’s confidence and consistency in that car is something that has to be studied. Oh my god that whole team is just everything all others wish to be and more. They should be proud, like we are, and especially after Australia, this 1-2 has got to feel extra good, with everyone doubting and saying they are over, because they aren’t, and a team that is able to come back after years of not being the best, to utter dominance can definitely come back from a bad weekend

It's always such a treat to read your post-race analysis! Please keep them coming this season. ❤️

As always I don't have much to add.

I actually get the team order from Ferrari (for once). Carlos was on newer tyres and Charles could have been under serious threat from Lando had he spent time trying to fight Carlos. Besides, we all know there will never be a team order frol Ferrari where Carlos is asked to defend Charles, and even if there was, Carlos wouldn’t have listened. So I don't actually have an issue with the team order today, which is a weird feeling.

Red Bull are impressive as hell, and they absolutely should be proud of themselves.

I'm excited for China in two weeks now!

[ilprinciperosso]

I wasn’t angry, then I saw a video of Carlos’ father complaining to Spanish tv about Ferrari’s strategy today and how it damaged Carlos. He wanted Ferrari to use Charles as a roadblock against Perez (maybe he saw a different race ‘cause I clearly remember Charles pushing Checo on the grass to defend at la roggia).

Also if we want to talk about strategies that could have been better than for sure they should have pit a Carlos earlier, cause waiting two laps only allowed Checo to get closer to both Carlos and Charles… that way though Carlos would’ve probably lost the position on Charles.

So I cannot really see what he can complain about.

This is why I don’t like Carlos honestly. Instead of being happy about the podium (which was possibly the best he could achieve today) either him of his family will always start useless fights (don’t come at me saying that it was Carlos sr saying this and that Carlos has nothing to do with it… that man is literally managed by his own family in this business)

Also, simply cause at this point I’m being petty, I’d like to remember to Carlos sr that the only race his son managed to win in his whole career was because of those shitty Ferrari’s strategies… so I’d think better before speaking next time

[petit-papillion]

FP1

Lots of running on track in this one session on a track we haven't been to since 2019. Despite it having rained just a day earlier, the grass in turn 7 suddenly catches fire and the session is briefly red-flagged so the marshalls can put it out.

Sprint Quali

Track again on fire at the end of SQ1. In SQ2 RUS unexpectedly out, ZHO unexpectedly through to SQ3 to the delight of the Chinese crowd. Light rain but conditions fine. LEC P2. Then rain arrives for SQ3 and everyone is skating like Bambi on ice. Charles spins, crashes into the barrier but miraculously has no damage to either wings. He does go into the pits to have his car checked and get new tyres. It's cost him time and he ends up only P7. Max and Lando go off track, get their laps deleted, then Alonso takes pole, then Hamilton, then Norris. NOR gets his lap deleted again, and just as we think HAM has sprint pole, it is reinstated! Crazy quali!

P1: NOR / P2: HAM / P3: ALO

Sprint

Chaotic start that sees Norris lose pole immediately and drop numerous places. Of course VER eventually works his way up to the front from P4 and wins by 13 seconds. Behind him lots of battles take place between ALO, SAI, LEC and PER. At one point ALO and SAI collide, leading to some floor damage for SAI and a puncture for Alonso, ultimately retiring him from the Sprint (he later also receives a 10-second penalty for causing a collision). PER takes advantage of all the squabbling in front of him and moves up to 3rd. LEC tries some daring passes on SAI who resorts to pushing LEC completely off track in a move Nico Rosberg deemed penalty-worthy (but FIA deemed not worth a further investigation after noting it). LEC fights back though and passes SAI with a wonderful overtake for a P4 finish.

P1: VER / P2: HAM / P3: PER

Quali

In Q1 SAI hits the gravel in the last turn, spins, and luckily ends up only barely hitting the barriers on the other side of the track. The car is stalled for 1 min 17 seconds before he is able to restart it, while the session is red-flagged. He limps home on the ruined tires and without a front wing. Car is repaired by the time the track is cleared of gravel. Aston Martin later filed a complaint that he was stopped on track too long and should have been penalized, but as usual the FIA rules are too vague (what is too long?) and the complaint is dismissed. Lewis shockingly doesn't make it through to Q2 and qualifies P18.

P1: VER / P2: PER / P3: ALO

Petit's Race Notes

Carlos tried to fight Charles at the start leading to not only RUS but also HULK to get ahead of both of them.

Charles was going to work his tyre management magic again with a 1-stop, but BOT's car died and caused a safety car allowing everyone to pit.

Right before the start Lance Stroll missed seeing the train of cars in front of him braking and ended rear-ending RIC quite spectacularly (ultimately leading to RIC retiring) which also damaged PIA's car.

More chaos at the restart as K-Mag made a pit maneuver on Yuko who ended up retiring.

Then it rained penalties: 10 seconds for STR and MAG for causing a collision; 10 seconds for RIC for overtaking HUL during SC (and because he couldn't serve it before he DNF-ed, it will be a 3-place grid penalty in Miami); SAR also gets a 10-second penalty for a SC infringement.

The Ferrari's are not doing as well on the Hards as on the Mediums and we cannot catch NOR (who had been sure the Ferrari's were faster than him before the race started) and PER, but we do stay ahead of RUS and ALO (whose team gambled with putting him on Softs during the SC, and were forced to pit him again).

ZHO gets to park on the grid and soak in the love from the Chinese crowd as the first Chinese driver to ever drive in the Chinese GP. 🥰

Top 3: P1: VER | P2: NOR | P3: PER

Fastest lap: Fernando Alonso

Driver of the Day: Lando Norris

Fastest pit stop: Red Bull/Max Verstappen (1.90)

[cherrari]

imo charles hasn't had as many impressive overtakes because he hasn't really needed to overtake? a lot of his strategies this year have relied on going long, or being otherwise out of sync with everyone. he's made some excellent moves, including getting past george today, or alonso in singapore. in 2022 ferrari was neck-in-neck with red bull, so there were more opportunities for those big flashy overtakes for p1, p2, etc. idk, i've seen charles make a lot of excellent moves this year, but maybe that's because i have his onboard open. i think he can still pull off those vegas-style overtakes, he just hasn't had a chance to do it this year.

(also if this is about baku, there was no overtaking oscar with that rear wing)

idk if i'd agree getting past george today was impressive? merc and george in particular were horrible. george was over half a second slower than charles, i don't really see what's impressive about passing that much slower of a car. and i fully believe if he'd been smarter he could've easily been p2 (that is, pushing harder at the start so carlos never passed him and then he would be the one taking advantage of lando locking up at the end)

maybe that's because i have his onboard open

i also watch his onboard every race and while i think there's many areas he's excelled in this/last year, i don't think overtaking is one of them

a lot of his strategies this year have relied on going long, or being otherwise out of sync with everyone

i don't like rating things that haven't happened and so far this year, you are correct he's rarely been in a position to overtake, which means he has not done many overtakes, which means i'm not going to definitively say he can since they haven't happened. there's way more impressive things he has done this year IRT tire management, defending, and so on that should be praised rather than his mostly non-existent overtakes

if this is about baku, there was no overtaking oscar with that rear wing

my point about baku is about how he stayed out for one lap longer (returning to what i said about ferrari fixating on going long), nothing to do with him not overtaking oscar after. he lost a crazy amount of time on his in/outlaps bcs of the dying/cold tires that was just unnecessary. the entire situation of oscar passing him could've been avoided if he'd pit one lap earlier. the sf-24 and charles are both great on tires but those mediums were falling off a cliff

i also don't understand the logic of "if we let oscar pass we can pass him later" when 1. the mcl38 is notoriously good in clean air, 2. it's baku. like of course they couldn't have predicted the mclaren illegal wing so i don't fault charles himself for not passing back, i just don't get why it was even something they considered vs. the safer option of doing his outlap at the same time as oscar, therefore lessening the chance of oscar catching him on cold tires. i blame ferrari more for this than charles though, i only brought it up as an example of them not being proactive enough

ferrari's strategy has improved a lot this year though so i'm not too bothered by these kinds of failures. like i think it did lose charles the race but it was ultimately a small error with huge consequences, and i'd like to think they learned from it

and again i'll be happily proved wrong tmrw if charles decides to unleash the beast or whatever, i just don't think he's shown anything this year that points to him being one of the best overtakers on the grid atm. he's not bad or anything but he's not sending it down the inside either

i hope none of this sounds mean btw. i truly don't mind if anyone disagrees w me in the end we're debating bcs we all love charles and i think that's what's important 😁

[dear-ao3]

alright several of you have asked so we have an update on F1 Silly Season 2024. ill do this to the best of my ability, feel free to peer review me.

update: february 1, 2024

several things have happened:

number one, gunther steiner: at the beginning of january, gunther steiner, team principal of haas (the shit team) was more or less fired by gene haas, the team owner. not really confirmed exactly Why but it seems like gene was pissed that gunther was trying to get the team more money and blamed the failing of the car on gunther for the last several seasons. gunther was kind of the whole identity of haas and the paddock meme and funny guy (after danny rics) so now they're kind of just There. he was replaced by ayao komatsu, who had already been working at haas as the trackside engineering director (so he was already working on the cars). unclear if this will really change anything about the cars themselves especially because haas basically said that they didnt have enough time to develop their car this year so it'll probably be bad again.

number two, charles leclerc: he was the first driver to sign a new contract in mid january. he re-signed with ferrari, literally no surprise there. it was not announced how long his contract with ferrari is but we know its multi-year. like i said originally, he will likely not leave this team.

number three, lando norris: also not surprising, but lando norris re-signed a contract extension with mclaren. what was surprising was that his current contract is not up in 2024, hes officially signed with the team until 2025. so, slightly odd that he would sign an extension with them now. when he was asked about it he said something along the lines of "its not something i wanted to have to worry about in the future" and theres also the whole bit of him basically growing up at the team because hes been associated with them more or less for several years now. again, we dont know how long his extension is for, but we do know that mclaren will at least have the same lineup (norris and piastri) through 2026. this puts them in a very good position because well they're kind of the only team with confirmed drivers at this point.

number 4, sir lewis hamilton: in the absolute biggest surprise career move of the century, even bigger than when danny rics left redbull to go to renault in 2019, sir lewis hamilton signed a contract with ferrari. this is surprising for a great many reasons:

hes mercedes's golden boy. their guy. hes won them 6 drivers championships. hes been there for ten years. we all thought that he would stay in a merc

his contract was not up in 2024, it was up in 2025

charles leclerc is the other confirmed ferrari driver. charles is ferrari's golden boy. they call him il presedentio. its been confirmed by ferrari that he is the priority. he wants to win in a ferrari. hes been their #1 driver for a few years now. theres no way in hell hes going to tolerate being bumped to secondary driver at his own damn team

lewis hamilton is a 7 time world champion. he wants to win his 8th one (he should have already but thats a different story). he will not tolerate being the #2 driver when hes been the merc #1 driver for so many years.

basically this is going to be worse than the brocades civil war. that ended with nico rosberg retiring.

toto wolff, mercedes team principal, re-signed as the mercedes team principal earlier and was like "yeah i want to win another championship with lewis" can i get an L in the chat

ferrari has kind of been all over the place. the pit stops, the strategy, everything. charles and carlos basically did their own strategies towards the end. mercedes might have gone downhill but they at least have had their shit slightly together. lewis is either going to make ferrari better or he is going to have his spirit broken

again, NO ONE SAW THIS COMING

we dont know how long his contract is, but its multi year (likely 2)

the mclaren boys are all going ham on twitter about this and it’s fucking hilarious.

number 5, carlos sainz: lewis signing at ferrari has knocked carlos sainz out of a seat for 2025. we knew that his contract negotiations with ferrari weren't going well, but we still had some hope. no one knows where he will end up. audi is interested in him, but they wont be an official team until 2026 so he could either sign with another team for a year, sign with stake f1 team kick sauber (which will turn into audi) or be a reserve driver. any way you look at it, he seems to be at the end of his career now after getting booted from ferrari (unless mercedes signs him but thats unlikely)

number 6, the mercedes seat: so now theres an open seat at mercedes. this is notable because there wasnt supposed to be an open mercedes seat until At Least Next Year and we still have 13 drivers who need to renew or sign new contracts, plus all the rookies and reserve drivers who want into f1. so mercedes have their fair pick of drivers. it could be alex albon, who is at williams and did a damn good job in a bad car last year. plus, williams has a mercedes engine so he is already somewhat associated with the team. he was favored to replace carlos at ferrari but that’s clearly not happening anymore. could be carlos. could be anyone. my personal favorite is fernando alonso because he would make totos life hell. so basically. silly season just got sillier. this does explain tho why lando re-signed with mclaren a year early, because he was probably approached by mercedes about driving there.

thats all for now. the car launches start tomorrow and i can assure you its only going to get sillier from here.

Sorry i tried to scroll past but, i know nothing about f1 other than max verstappen is fast, my dad doesnt like lewis hamilton, fast car goes in a loop and sometimes expodes. Could you give me a crash course in f1 drama? Im very intrigued. Whats the tea as it were?

a terribly loaded question, but i will do my best. i’ve talked about some of the drama before like the red bull second seat and the chronicles of haas but allow me to briefly try my hand at explaining the nightmare that is the upcoming silly season

under the cut we go

silly season is when the drivers go through contract renewals, extensions and switches. usually it’s confined to the first half of the season (march-july) but it has been known to extend all the way to the last race of the season and they like to switch people around at random sometimes. driver contracts are complex, there’s a lot of money involved and basically You Are The Face Of The Team so if you have a shit season then you make the team look bad. but at the same time you could have a shit season because you have a shit car. it’s sticky stuff.

so. there are only twenty seats in formula 1. 10 teams. each team gets two drivers. (there’s also reserve drivers but we’re not going to get into that). who ends up with a contract is largely up to the teams, they can pull the contract out from under people they can also cut you mid season. they’ve done it before.

of the 20 drivers on the grid, 14 of them have contracts expiring at the end of the year. yes. 14. you see how this could get complicated.

so let’s meet the teams.

red bull racing. they came first this year (and last year) in the championship. like aggressively first. like they won the championship by over 350 points. they are definitely the team to beat. but if you end up with a seat at red bull, you do have to deal with max verstappen being your teammate and he won all but three of the races last year. he’s the golden boy. red bull are also notoriously silly when it comes to contracts and famously swap people mid season who aren’t performing.

mercedes. merc is home to 7 time world champion lewis hamilton and they have won the championship a great many times, though not since 2021. they are kind of in their flop arc and their car the last 2 years has been pretty garbage, but they have still made it work because they were able to come in second last year.

ferrari. god help the poor little meow meows with a ferrari contract. ferrari is a notoriously great team and they’re trying to get back to the top again but their strategy every single time has fallen short. to the point where their drivers are the ones doing the strategy in their cars while driving. they came in third last year and have been decently consistent at getting first in qualifying and then getting beat by max verstappen on race day.

mclaren. they’ve definitely worked their way up over recent years. they ended fourth last year and have had some championship wins before but not nearly as many as say merc and ferrari. their team ceo (owner? director?) is a little interesting and their car started out a pile of flaming hot garbage at the beginning of the year but they did manage to get their shit together.

aston martin. they are owned by canadian billionaire lawrence stroll, father of lance stroll (one of the drivers for the team). they’ve undergone several name changes over the recent years (force india, racing point, etc). they positively slayed at the start of the season and then one day they sucked. they finished fifth in the championship.

alpine. the frenchest french team. they’re (i think?) still partially owned by the french government. both of their drivers are french. (their drivers also hate eachother but we’ll get to that. just know they’re in the middle of a modern french civil war). they had the opportunity to have a good rookie driver (oscar piastri) this past year but in a thrilling twitter battle, he publically flamed the shit out of them and went to mclaren instead (and slayed). they're usually solidly middle of the pack. they ended sixth in the championship.

williams. williams has been one of the back of the grid teams for the last many years but they have finally started to get their shit together and don’t quite suck as much as they used to. all of the points this year were scored by only one driver though (except one but we’ll get there). they came in seventh.

alpha tauri. they are the sister team of red bull. so technically redbull owns both teams (meaning they can swap drivers between teams. they like doing this.) they’ve just kind of been There for awhile but they did slay towards the end of the season when one of their drivers led the race for several laps. basically tho, this team is the gateway to redbull. they came in eighth.

alpha romeo. recently renamed to stake f1 team (but sometimes they are going to be called kick sauber. this is a whole other drama post and i’m not getting into it). they’re also just kind of there. generally unproblematic. seems that really great drivers who get ixed out of a contract for a younger driver end up here or young drivers who are in their early years are here before they go to a better team. they ended ninth this year.

haas. oh haas. goofy team. they suck. point blank they suck. they keep loosing sponsors because they suck, they don’t win ever (one time they came first in qualifying last year). they cursed themselves in australia in 2018 by not tightening their tires and its been downhill ever since. they came 10th. their team principle got let go (fired?) who’s to say today.

so those are the teams. it is important to note that:

-there is a cost cap. each team is allowed to spend no more than 135m per year.

-not all cars are equal. some things are standard. they all undergo the same testing. but the cars are all very different. so you can be a good driver but stuck in a shitty car. which makes it impressive if you are doing well in a shitty car.

let’s meet our drivers!!!

starting with the guys who’s contract is not ending in 2024:

max verstappen. 3 time world champion. 26 years old. general beast on the track. he dominated the whole season. he’s currently racing for red bull and has a contract with them through 2028.

lewis hamilton. 7 time world champion. 39 years old. he drives for mercedes. he will not leave mercedes until he retires. he really really wants to win an 8th world championship and is willing to stick it out a few more years as long as merc still believes in him. his contract expires in 2025.

george russell. the other merc driver. 26 years old. hes aggressively british and says thinks like blimey unironically. walking meme. got his merc seat in 2022 right when they entered their flop arc by getting his tractor of a williams to finish second in qualifying in the middle of a rainstorm. his contract expires in 2025.

lando norris. mclaren driver. 24 years old. he has notably never won a race in his five years of formula one (mostly because right when his car finally was good enough max verstappen was 20 seconds ahead of anyone) but he is regarded as Very Good. he has only ever driven for mclaren. and even though there is another year left on his contract there is mass speculation that he will not renew his contract with mclaren after it expires and he may move up to one of the top teams (red bull, merc, ferrari) (tho i think he doesnt hate himself quite enough to go to ferrari). his contract expires in 2025.

oscar piastri. the other mclaren driver. 22 years old. this was his rookie season and he positively slayed. like people compared his rookie season to lewis hamiltons rookie season. he also had the positively funniest start to his rookie year because alpine announced that he would be driving for them (he had been their reserve driver and in the alpine academy) and he posted a tweet that basically said yeah thats false i never singed anything with you and im going to race with mclaren instead (he dodged a bullet) and then alpine tried and failed to sue him for $4m USD. he signed a contract extension with mclaren this year and his contract expires in 2026.

lance stroll. aston martin driver and son of the aston martin owner. hes doing ok, tho there was conspiracy that he wanted to quit and have a tennis career awhile ago. but basically since his dad owns the team it seems that hes guaranteed a seat for as long as he wants one.

so now. moving onto the good shit. the people who have contracts expiring in 2024. hold onto your hats people.

charles leclerc. (everyones favorite slutty little soup can). 26 years old. he is currently at ferrari and he has been since 2019. notably, he was given the longest contract in the history of ferrari after a stellar rookie season at sauber (renamed to alpha romeo, renamed to stake f1) where he got the tractor of a car consistently into the points. having the longest contract in the history of ferrari was a flex at the time, but now its likely how he will introduce himself at therapy sessions. ferrari have fucked this man left right and center up the ass with a plastic lunchroom spork. hes talented, he can drive, and he can drive well. but the strategy that ferrari has absolutely sucks. either something is wrong with the car (see him blowing out his gear box on the formation lap in monaco, his car completely crapping out and spinning into the barrier in brazil before the race even started) or they fuck up his pit stops or put him on the wrong tires and honestly its just frustrating. but will he leave??? likely not. you'd have to pry ferrari out of his cold dead hands and at this rate that might be where this is headed though there has been some minor speculation of him going to another team like merc or red bull, but merc doesnt have any open seats and red bull is a whole other dumpster fire of drama. ferrari are going to have to pay him a boatload of money to make him stay.

carlos sainz. the smooth operator. 29 years old. ferrari driver. previously carlos was at toro rosso (renamed to alpha tauri), renault (renamed to alpine), and mclaren before signing with ferrari. he has been at ferrari since 2021 and has voiced that he would like to stay with them for however long he can. there is speculation that lando might replace him at ferrari (but landos contract is not up until 2025) and there is also some speculation that alex albon might replace him. while charles is clearly the golden boy at ferrari, carlos is slightly slower but also definitely consistent. he was THE ONLY non red bull driver to win a race this past year, in Singapore after max verstappedn was knocked out of qualifying by alpha tauri reserve driver liam lawson (more on him later) and because he basically came up with his own strategy in the car while he was driving.

sergio perez. aka checo. red bull driver. 33 years old. and oh boy here's where we open the can of worms. checo was previously at racing point (renamed aston martin) and it was very near the end of the 2020 (?) season and he was out of a contract. he had a bonkers race where he was knocked to the back of the grid and then overtook everyone and somehow ended up winning (there is more to that story but just trust me) and christian horner, red bull team principle, mr ginger spice and definite disney villain called him and said congrats sir you have a seat at red bull! well. fast forward. hes been causing problems. problems as in crashing a lot, generally not doing great and pissing the crap out of red bull. it is basically guaranteed at this point that he will not be getting a contract extension. there was actually talk this year of him losing his seat mid season to one of the alpha tauri drivers, because remember, red bull owns both teams and they can switch them whenever they want to (and they have!) but ultimately this did not happen. even though checo has a seat at red bull until the end of 2024, its mass speculated that he is going to get switched with an alpha tauri driver, probably daniel ricciardo (more on him shortly) mid season because there is a speculated clause in daniels contract that says that if checo isn't performing well in the first few races daniel is getting his seat.

daniel ricciardo. 34 years old. alpha tauri driver. man oh man what a guy. outside of being the prankster of the paddock, he has one of the most batshit careers of anyone currently on the grid. he started out at red bull and was showing real talent and skill and was on track to win things (and was!) and was there until the end of 2018 when max verstappen (his teammate) started getting preferential treatment and also red bull started having a lot of problems with their engines (which were being outsourced from Renault (now alpine) and another team on the grid) and well very very long story short he made the surprise move of the century and decided to sign with Renault (which makes no sense they're the one with the engine problems) and was there for 2 years before moving again to mclaren where he was reportedly not treated very well and had a hard time driving the car so they mutually ended his contract with them early and he basically retired at the end of the 2022 season and became a red bull reserve driver. then halfway through the 2023 season alpha tauri ixed one of their drivers, nyck de vries, because he wasnt doing well and promoted daniel back up to a full time driver at alpha tauri (which we know is only a step down from red bull) but then he broke his hand in a crash in zanvort (?) and then he was replaced for a few races by formula 2 driver liam lawson (who we will also talk about) and then he came back to finish out the season in alpha tauri after he was cleared. daniel has admitted openly that he never should have left red bull and he was given bad advice to do so. hes towards the end of his career at this point and its well known that he Really Really wants to finish out his career at red bull again. he and max have already been teammates before and they do work well together and daniel is great driver (see his comeback in texas (or maybe it was brazil?) this year). so. Pretty Sure that daniels going to get either an extension at alpha tauri or go up to red bull. thats what we all want. get this man in a red bull we need him there biblically.

liam lawson. now technically liam is not actually a formula 1 driver. hes a formula 2 driver, but he was daniels replacement for five races and there has been some speculation and some confirmed news about him so hes getting included. when he was racing for f1 he was at alpha tauri. hes 21 and looks like he belongs in the movie grease. no one was expecting him to slay in formula 1 and he positively knocked everyones socks off. the scene: Singapore. which, if you'll recall, is the one race that a not red bull driver won. this was largely because liam lawson slayed the absolute game in qualifying. the qualifying part of racing determines what order the cars start in on the grid for the race and theres three parts, the first two parts the bottom 5 drivers each time get knocked out and then the top 10 complete for the last 10 spots. liam lawson knocked BOTH max verstappen and checo perez out of qualifying in the second round by going very slightly faster than them, effectively fucking up red bulls race and allowing carlos to win. and he also scored points in that race, which no one was expecting. now thats all fine and dandy, but here's the speculation: hemlut marko (im pretty sure) (who is somehow decently involved in the decision making at red bull though i couldn't tell you how) said that he thinks that liam lawson will be in an f1 seat no later than 2025. meaning that he will probably get offered a contract this year. and hes already raced for alpha tauri. red bull have sunk a good amount of money into him. they clearly want him. so if he gets offered an alpha tauri seat in 2025, that means theres a good chance danny rics is going to red bull. do you SEE how the plot here is THICKENED

yuki tsunoda. age 23. currently at alpha tauri. and fun fact, the only alpha tauri driver to race there the whole year. he had three separate team mates. he is slaying and hes often slept on. he has a bit of a temper and likes to shout on the radio and also hates working out (they had to force him to move to italy or something to work out, long story) but hes been kinda killing it. he led several laps in the abu dhabi race this year and hes decently consistent. people think theres possibility that he could get moved up to red bull on account of the fact that he is younger than daniel and clearly has more years in him,, but there is also possibility that he might not because red bull like to make stupid decisions. and if he doesnt get moved up to rebel, will he stay with alpha tauri? we don't know.

alex albon. age 27. currently a williams driver. alex albon is another one with a batshit career. he started out his rookie year in 2019 at alpha tauri then got moved up to red bull halfway through the year when red bull decided that pierre gasley wasnt doing a good enough job (more on him later) and stayed with red bull for a solid year and a half until he lost his seat in 2021 to checo. he has been with williams for the last two years and is basically carrying the team. like. williams as a team scored 28 points this year. and alex albon scored 27 of those 28 points. and as we know, williams is still kind of in their shit arc (though they are doing much better. they didnt score any points for a solid 2 (?) years. so this is an improvement.) and if you can get a shit car to perform you catch the eye of bigger teams. now, alex has already been a red bull driver. and he was on the cusp of podiuming two separate times when lewis hamilton ran into him. this (among a few other things) basically killed his chances at getting resigned at red bull because he wasnt ""performing"" and red bull are bitches who love to win. but some people think that red bull should give him another shot. like daniel, hes already been max's teammate and he can definitely drive. but theres also talk he might go to ferrari because ferrari think that he might compliment charles's driving style (or something). but going to ferrari at this point is kind of suicide. so.

logan sergeant. age 23. the only american on the grid. the other williams driver. he just finished his rookie year. he scored a grand total of one single point this season, in texas, and it was because charles leclerc and lewis hamilton both got disqualified because the floor of their car had more wear (by literally less than millimeters) than it was allowed to, bumping him up from 12th to 10th. he has never done better than alex albon. he was also the very last driver to get a contract for 2024, with williams waiting until i think december of 2023 to announce his contract extension. clearly, hes on thin ice. but people have also said that he needs time to get used to formula 1 (other people have pointed out that oscar piastri slayed his rookie season this year and this statement about needing time is largely false). where logan ends up next year though will largely depend on how well the 2024 season goes for him.

fernando alonso. 42 years old. many people like to point out that oscar piastri is actually younger than fernando's racing career. he won tiktok creator of the year (somehow) and is also a 2 time world champion. he retired a few years ago, just to show back up again and slay. during the first half of the season when aston martin had a zoom zoom car he killed it, and then they had problems on top of problems and he didnt do well. except for that one race in brazil where he came in third, beating checo by literally .05 seconds. he hasn't really made any hints about retiring a second time and he is kind of carrying aston Martin right now (he scored 205 points this season, coming in 4th and tying in points with charles leclerc, lance stroll only scored 74 points this year.) and they did have their best year yet this year. (though they are relatively new).

pierre gasley. 27 years old. french. drives for alpine. the french team. previously he raced with toro rosso (now alpha tauri), then got promoted to a red bull driver in 2019, then halfway through the season they decided he wasnt doing a good enough job and he got demoted back down to alpha tauri. then he won a race with alpha tauri just to stick it to red bull. after the great oscar piastri contract twitter war, he was signed as alpines second driver, with Esteban ocon being the other driver (more on him soon). estie bestie and pierre (both french) were childhood friends and now hate each other for unknown reasons and basically feuded on the track for most of the season. french civil war at alpine. he scored 62 points in 2023 and came in 11th. not really sure where he will end up, it is possible that he will stick it out at alpine.

esteban ocon. 27 years old. also french. currently driving for alpine. another one with a silly bonkers career. he started out at force india and had a baller few seasons there but his teammate at the time was checo, and checo didnt really cooperate with him too much and caused some drama that cost estie bestie some places and some points. max verstappen also beat him up in the garage once. thats not really relevant but it did happen. anyway, after the owner of force india was arrested for .... i don't remember what maybe it was embezzlement or bankruptcy or something money related, the team was backed by lawrence stroll and became racing point. but all of that happened mid season and lawrence was basically like look ill back you guys for now but next year my son gets a seat (lance) so one of you two (checo and estie bestie) have to go. and ultimately they let estie bestie go even though he was more consistent because checo had more sponsors and they needed money. so he was out of formula 1 for a few years (but was a merc reserve driver) and then went to Renault, which then became alpine. he did come in 12th though overall this season, just behind pierre. so. will alpine keep both him and pierre and keep the civil war going? whos to say.

nico hulkenberg. 36 years old. haas driver. in his 200+ f1 races he has never been on the podium and he really really wants to be on the podium. unfortunately this will never happen in a haas because haas fucking sucks. and everyone knows it. he is getting towards the end of his career though. though! stake f1 will become the mario Andretti and audi team in 2026 (don't question it) and they have supposedly voiced interest in nico. so we will see if he hangs on that long to end up at audi. for now tough, hes definitely hating it at haas. though, haas are going to have a different team principle next year so maybe that will change things. i have a sneaky feeling through that haas will probably end up with another 2 rookie drivers because everyone else is smart enough to not race for them.

kevin magnussen. 31 years old. haas driver. hes another deeply interesting character. he has had one podium. in his rookie season. in his first race. and none since. kevin started at haas in 2017 and then left at then end of 2020 when he basically got kicked off because the team needed money and they wanted to bring in drivers with more sponsorships. these drivers were mick schumacher and nikita mazepin. so kevin basically was forced to retire after the 2020 season. this went decently well for haas. until russia invaded ukraine right before the start of the 2022 season and, well, nikita was Russian and it was never distinctly proven that his dads company (who was sponsoring the team) wasnt also funding the invasion. so nikita got fired and they were literally like 2 weeks out from the start of the season, down a driver. who are you gonna call? kevin magnussen! and hes been back ever since. but hes clearly getting annoyed with haas. there was one great clip from this year where his car caught on fire and he kind of just stared into to, clearly hoping it would burn for a long time. so the likelihood of him extending his contract is looking slim.

valtteri bottas. 34 years old. currently a driver for stake f1 (alpha romeo, kick sauber, whatever you wanna call it). previously, he was a mercedes driver and notoriously helped lewis hamilton win a great many championships, until he lost his seat to george russell in 2022. there was a rather awkward part of the 2021 season where valtteri knew that he was out of a merc seat the following year and kind of just chose violence. he slayed. then he went to alpha romeo, grew a mullet and made a calendar of his ass. quite the glow up if you ask me. hes also very interested in cycling. honestly though, i have my own personal speculation that hes going to retire at the end of this year.

zhou guanyu. 24 years old. driver for stake f1 (alpha romeo/kick sauber, etc etc). hes doing alright. he just finished his second season, in his first season he was majorly out qualified by valtteri but this past season he managed to out qualify him a good 6 times. which is decently good for the tractor of a car hes driving. its possible that he could get a contract extension, but like logan, its probably going to depend on how the 2024 season goes for him.

and thats all the drivers. theres also a few others i didnt talk about, like some other f2 drivers who want seats and mick schumacher, who is currently a merc reserve driver, all of which could be contenders for f1 seats. but one things for sure. this is going to be the silliest fucking silly season.

feel free to add on and peer review me

[f1]

McLaren exercise right of review over Norris penalty in Canada for unsportsmanlike behaviour

McLaren have confirmed that they have lodged a petition for a "right of review" over the stewards’ decision to give Lando Norris a time penalty for what the panel described as “unsportsmanlike behaviour” during the Canadian Grand Prix. After George Russell triggered a Safety Car by crashing into the wall and littering debris on the track, McLaren instructed both Oscar Piastri and Norris to pit for fresh tyres, with the latter accused of driving deliberately slowly in order to create enough of a gap for a ‘double-stack’. EXPLAINED: ‘Unsportsmanlike behaviour’? Why Lando Norris was handed a 5-second penalty in Montreal Norris was subsequently given a five-second time penalty for those actions and wound up outside the points-paying positions in 13th, with team mate Piastri crossing the line two places ahead of him. However, shortly after qualifying for this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, in which Norris placed fourth, McLaren issued a statement announcing their right of review plans – something seen earlier this season with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz – and why they had come to the decision. This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences 2023 Canadian Grand Prix: Russell hits the wall to trigger Safety Car in Montreal “We can confirm that the McLaren Formula 1 Team has lodged a petition for a ‘right of review’ regarding to Article 14.1.1 of the of the FIA International Sporting Code, on the Stewards’ decision to impose a 5-second penalty on Lando Norris for ‘unsportsmanlike behaviour’ under the Safety Car at the 2023 Canadian Grand Prix,” read the statement. “We are very supportive of the FIA and the Stewards, and we trust them while they carry out what is a difficult job. We appreciate Stewards need to make decisions in a short timeframe, analyzing complex scenarios and often with partial information and multiple elements to consider. READ MORE: Norris reflects on ‘unfortunate’ penalty that costs him points after ‘enjoyable’ Montreal outing “In Canada, we were surprised by the penalty and uncertain as to the rationale behind the decision. We spoke to the Stewards immediately after the race to help understand the reasoning for the penalty. “The FIA’s regulatory framework has tools and processes which allow them and the sport to deal with the operational complexity of Formula 1, especially for decisions which need to be made during the race. This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences 2023 Canadian Grand Prix: Norris handed five second penalty for Safety Car offence “The ‘right of review’ is one of those processes which showcases the strength of the institution in allowing decisions to be reviewed, should that be in the best interest of the sport and this is something McLaren fully embraces and supports. “Given this provision, the team took the initial explanation onboard and decided to review the case in a calm and considered manner, performing comprehensive due diligence, which included looking at the precedents. READ MORE: Norris hails McLaren as updates aid P4 qualifying charge in Austria despite ‘messing up’ lap “After this careful and extensive review, we believe enough evidence exists to a submit a ‘right to review’ to the FIA, which we have done so. “We will now continue to work with the FIA closely, in the same constructive and collaborative manner in which we normally do, and will accept the outcome of their deliberations and decision.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[dizzyduck44]

How much bad luck can one guy get?

I was talking to someone earlier about the bad luck Lando Norris suffered towards the end of this season. However it dawned on me that actually his bad luck started way earlier, even when he was amazing people. The harsh reality it that only one of these things had to change to give him “best of the rest”. So which do you want to change?

Imola - had there been no red flag allowing Lewis to unlap himself and charge back through the field then Lando was a comfortable P2 instead of P3.

Austria - I still to this day don’t understand how there was a penalty for this none contact “infringement”, this became even more contentious after Max in Brazil. However without the penalty Lando finishes P2, not P3.

Hungary - first victim in Budapest pinball, who knows what the car could have brought home.

Spa - we all know it should have been a red flag before he hit the wall. He knew it, Seb knew it, the only people who didn’t know it it seems are the FIA! Would have been a strong quali and would have lead to health points in the none race.

Russia - I said it at the time and will say it again. The chances of a race where it rains that heavy that late in the race are tiny. We won’t see another one for a decade. For the team to then misread the weather is insane. To lose your first win with those circumstances, heartbreaking.

Austin - oh Carlos Carlos Carlos. 5 laps he managed to drag out the I let A McLaren through argument. Yes Daniel overtook Lando the corner before you gave it back and you might have been confused at first but come off it, the argument you gave was I let a McLaren through. He knew. The place should have been given back long before DRS was enabled. The fact it hadn’t 5 laps later should have been a penalty (would have been if it wasn’t a Ferrari). Whether Lando would have scored well that race as he seemed out of sorts, we will never know.

Brazil - was this the only time this season we saw so little contact cause a puncture? Should have been strong points not 1.

Qatar - the punctures. It was raining punctures. Lando was one of the last to stop, don’t understand how his went.

Jeddah - again our old friends the FIA. Every crash all weekend in F1 or F2 at that corner was a red flag. As soon as it happened it was going to be a red flag. Why it didn’t get shown immediately and drivers were allowed to pit under yellows thinking no red flag was coming is ridiculous. Losing 6 places because the FIA were having a senior moment is hard to swallow. Then to be the one to brake save shunting into the crashed car whilst those around you play dodgems and no one gets penalised or pushed back to their position at the last timing line before the red. Lando must have thought he’d kicked someone’s puppy in the stewards room that weekend.

Abu Dhabi - bloody slow puncture. When we think back to George in Sakhir is this the new code for not yet kid? 🤷‍♀️

As I said it only takes one of those things not to happen. I’m not sure I remember a driver having quite a run of bad luck like this. And out of your control bad luck. Not the Bottas pit stop or the Charles Monaco fiasco, genuine the world hates me bad luck.

[slow-button-off]

People which are saying the plastic bag made sainz so much slower are probably the same that are saying lec should argue more. But if you want success as a team you have to trust people to do their job. E.g. I work in equestrian sports my rider does not check the truck before we go to a show its my job to have everything packed and organised. He doesn't come early to see if I make his horse ready for him to get on and perform. It's my job so I do it and his job is to ride. Lec job is driving...

... ran out off space so here comes the rest lec is the driver so he should be focusing on his driving and not arguing about strategy or even made the strategy up. There are strategies on the team that are paid for doing there job. So don't blame a driver for trusting some to do their job. And on the other hand mattia is on the pittwal as well he is the boss of lec how oft you can arguing with your boss at your on work before he will shut you up? Sometimes people seem to forget drivers employee

Hiya!

There are so many reasons as to why the whole Charles needs to be more assertive and argue more argument is complete BS.

The first thing is that some people say he should just slam his fist on the table and demand first driver status. Which first of all he pretty much already has and has always had since 2019. But the other thing is it's not like he has much leverage. He isn't a wdc yet and while we all know he is great he doesn't have the "credentials" to ask for that yet. (Also there are enough people that already think that he is too comfortable with being favoured so he'd be getting shit anyway)

But yeah you are right! It needs to be a collaboration between the pitwall and the drivers. Because the pitwall doesn't know how the driver feels and the driver only get's info about the laps of the guy in front and the guy behind essentially. The pitwall has everyones times, knows all the gaps so they know if they can safely pit or not. They have info on how the tyres on other cars are performing. They have their own tyre sim. All of those are things that the driver in the car doesn't have.

So there needs to be a healthy exchange and there is for the most part. Just because you don't hear it on the main feed doesn't mean the driver isn't talking! And Ferrari need to be better at listening to Charles.

There are times when drivers are discussing strategy in the race, they all do it here and there but nobody would be doing it to the extent that they want Charles to do it.

Also Carlos quite literally gets praised for strategy decisions he didn't even make! (Monaco, and the reason he wasn't pitted earlier for hards in Hungary wasn't that he was arguing the call but mostly that he didn't have to /could cover anyone. Where as Charles was forced onto the hards to cover Max, and he couldn't have gone with softs at that time)

Lewis and Max (they get brought up in this often) have a team that they can trust. And they very rarely have to or do argue strategy. This idea that they'd be doing it were they driving for Ferrari is imo not right.

All of those calls where they want Charles to make his own choice were undercuts where he was informed to pit really close to the pit entry and there isn't much time to argue because if you wait an extra lap you've missed your chance. (Look at Monacos first pit).

It's easier to argue calls when you either have a massive advantage over the rest of the field or you are like 4th and taking a gamble might put you second.

The issue isn't Charles it's the pitwall needing to learn that they don't have to react to everything with Charles. That they can in fact also use Carlos for fucking once to cover someone. And that they need to listen to Charles because believe it or not the man does know his shit about tyres.

Anytime Charles was weird about the tyres in practice, he "struggled" in Quali both Ferraris end up having major issues with their tyres in the race like Hungary.

[donaidk]

False Confidence - Chapter Nine

I finally finished up this part after losing creativity and the will to write for a bit. This story really has become my little baby, and I put quite a bit of my true feelings into it. There's just only one Chapter remaining of the season, but I might be bringing a second season if I get enough ideas together. I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it 🤗 Thank you everyone who followed through with the story 🧡

TW: car crash

Inspiration song

Masterlist | Taglist/Queue | Request

Chapter Eight | You’re here | Chapter Ten

After the second GP in Italy, the media backlash turned out to be just as violent as we anticipated. A few stood up for me and my reaction while others couldn’t understand how my team let me lash out without any punishments. It seemed to simmer down by the time we arrived back in Italy and I was brave enough to accept the usual amount of interviews after reducing the amount for the last two weekends. I still welcomed the break with wide arms, getting to spend a few days well away from the gym was never something I hated. Even though both Mark and I travelled to Turkey a week earlier than we had to be there, he let me have a day off before getting back to our almost usual pre-race schedule. The only difference was that instead of a track run before FP1 I was invited to Lando’s. Following our talk after my crash, everything seemed to get back to how we naturally acted around each other and seeing how we forgave the other one his team invited me to the team celebrations they planned for the start of the day. A month ago, with where my brain was then, I would have declined their offer just because I knew it would get the fans talking, but now I won’t pay so much attention to them. This approach was the healthiest option for everyone, but most importantly me, as it lowered my anxiety level to almost zero.

After finally getting up and out of my hotel room, I had to spend a few minutes with the team at the hospitality but at least I had the chance to put my things down in my room there before walking down to the pit lane. The McLaren team was already around their garage and I could see some balloons and other decorations on the walls and the outside area. When you had to celebrate on a race weekend you made the most of what you could get, and the team did their best in my opinion to make it look a bit more festive.

“ Good morning! ” I quickly greeted everyone, standing next to Carlos with my hands deep in my pockets. “ I timed it well, not having to take part in the decorating. ” I let out a laugh, seconds later shivering from the breeze and just burrowing myself deeper into the neck of my jacket.

“ Not like they needed too much help. It looked like this by the time most of us arrived. ” Carlos shrugged his shoulders watching with me as they made some last tiny changes with the balloons before deeming it perfect and done. “ Are you coming to dinner too? ” He asked, turning to me a bit as everyone else mingled around us.

“ That’s the plan if no one from the team minds. ” I nodded a little, turning the little box between my fingers, still inside my pocket. I was still debating if I should give it to him now or rather after today’s work finished. “ I know the people wouldn’t mind, but it’s still a team dinner. And I’m not a part of it or any kind of member. ” I added before Carlos could say anything, as I knew it would be the next thing I hear from him.

People were looking out for Lando, meaning we could mindlessly chat away without giving the plan away to him. When Henrik and the other camera guys got ready we all knew he must be close and everyone quieted down. We waited for him to finally come through the little hallway that led from the paddocks right into the garage, and shouted ‘Happy Birthday’ at him as soon as he was visible. Lando seemed surprised and maybe even scared for a second before we could see the smile in his eyes as he came closer. I let his team congratulate him first before I took just a step closer but still stayed further away, more like lingering in the background. Even if I knew most of the people in his team, thanks to him introducing us, it was still a bit uncomfortable to be among them after how rude I acted for the whole year towards one of their drivers. Deep inside I knew they probably wouldn’t hold it up against me, wouldn’t even really care. If they did they would have not invited me so I could celebrate with them. Just as I got back from my thoughts Lando stepped away from the last member of his crew, looking around the room when they told him something before patting him on his back, and just seconds later his eyes landed on me.

“ Guess this is my first present. ” He let out a laugh, coming closer and hugging me immediately, not giving me time to second guess myself. “ Who do I need to thank for inviting you and then actually getting you here? ” Lando asked, letting go of me and stepping back a little.

“ Mostly Carlos and Charlotte, with Zak backing them up when I wasn’t sure about if your team would be okay with it. ” I let out a sigh, knowing that getting me to attend was still probably a bit harder work than it should have been with my new approach. “ But I would have come over anyways, just not when you’re celebrating with your team. ” I shrugged a little, the smile staying on my face as I could see them getting the cake out.

I could see he was about to say something when everyone started singing, two of his mechanics bringing out the cake that had all of his colours and pictures of him and Carlos all over it. I watched as he blew out the candles and then started slicing the cake up while both he and Jon joked about how it probably doesn’t really fit in any of his, Carlos’ or my dietary plan. They were probably right, but we all knew one slice wouldn’t do any real harm to us, even less if we compensated with just a bit more training for the day, next to our usual amount. We were athletes but not the ones who had to give up everything positive about life luckily.

As I wanted to be at least useful, after missing the whole decorating part, I stepped next to Charlotte and helped hand out the slices to everyone as Lando cut them. We took one each from the last three, stepping away a little to leave space around the small table. I listened to the bickering between Carlos and Lando with some of the crew joining in for a burn or two on the two of them. Being good friends meant you won’t get hurt by a few harder words as you always knew they either didn’t mean it or it had a joke side to it. It was quite a bit of time later when somehow the crowd disappeared into the garage and even though we could still hear them, we were mostly alone. It felt like the perfect moment to give him his little present.

“ I have a little something for you. ” I pulled out the box from my jacket pocket and handed it to him when he put down the paper plate from his own hands. “ Nothing luxurious, but I hope you will like it. ” I added with a chuckle as he slowly opened it up, the excitement clearly visible in his eyes as the box came apart finally.

“ You’re making me do math for my birthday? What a lovely gesture... ” He snorted with a frown crawling onto his face as I couldn’t hold back my laughter, taking my phone out. I already searched up the coordinates on my map so I could show him perfectly what place they resembled.

“ It’s more like geography, but you would never know. ” I rolled my eyes, handing the device to him while the blue and yellow coloured bracelet was in his other hand. “ If you don’t know the place with this much help I’m going to be disappointed. ” I let out a sigh, watching his face intently as his lips finally stretched into a grin.

“ You think I wouldn’t recognize our karting track? ” He asked back laughing, but as he gave back my phone he probably saw my eyes roll again and the next chuckle got stuck in his throat. “ I mean… There was a chance for it… Maybe… ” He added, making me chuckle as we both knew he could be all over the place sometimes. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he needed more tips to finally realise what the coordinates on the little metal plate at the middle pointed to.

“ There was a very big chance… ” I squeezed his shoulder gently, watching as he put down the little box and got the bracelet around his wrist, tightening it a little. “ It will fit your racing suit. ” I told him, letting out another laugh as I knew that was a girly thing, to match all of our things together. It was in his usual blue-yellow-orange colours, but I knew he wouldn’t mind wearing it to outfits that didn’t fit the colour scheme.

“ Thank you. I love it. ” He grinned at me, hugging me for a quick second where I gladly squeezed him back but let the others steal him for some photos. In the end, even I was pulled into some of them right next to Lando of course, but I really didn’t mind and it was lovely of them to really let me be part of the whole celebration. “ Now you raised the standard for my next gift to you. ” He let out a laugh but turned with his head towards the others who were calling his name from inside the garage, making me look up as well.

“ Go, we have a race weekend to get through before we can really celebrate. Dan would roast me to bits if I was late to the briefing anyway. ” I let out a sigh, pushing a bit on him to get him to move so I wouldn’t feel as bad leaving the little party and him behind for my own team duties. I did get one last hug from him but then we parted ways, going in different directions as he entered their garage and walked down to ours.

Even though real-life events sometimes gave us a bit of breathing room, we had to get back to our tasks when they happened to fall so close to or more like onto a race weekend. As much as I would have liked to stay and celebrate right now with them, and would have probably done if my team wasn’t further down the paddock, but I had my own meetings and data to go through before getting to the first practice session. On these occasions, you had to push everything else behind until you had actual time off track to get back to them. It was ruthless in a way, but at the same time very similar to any profession where your job had to be first during weekdays. The only difference is that we only lost 3 or 4 days of the week, the others staying less stuffed and giving us more free time. But for that to feel actually relaxing you had to give your everything for those other days.

The race itself didn’t go the best for any of us with just one point for Dan and 11th for me. It didn’t feel great after a DNF and just an 8th in Portugal and the 3rd Italian race of the season, but it was the reality we had to live with. With only three races remaining we had to realise what our current standing meant and where we could still improve or not. I was quite happy with a mid-position for my first ever F1 season, and Daniel did quite well to be in the top third even though everyone knew he tried to bring even more out of the car before leaving for McLaren. That was another thought that left everyone with a sour aftertaste, knowing we won’t be working together as closely as we’re doing now after the end of the season. I felt fortunate that he was the one to get me used to the team and working in F1. Without his positive outlook on everything, it would have been even harder and more complicated, than the change from F2 already was.

I couldn’t be truly angry with him as I knew we all had to look out for ourselves and our own journeys as a priority. Everything else had to come second even if they were our best friends on the grid. It also wasn’t like he was leaving the whole championship. He was still part of the grid and was going to be there every step of the season, just not in the same garage. At least we could both take on another challenge and not just get stuck in a part of our lives. Mine was Alpine while his was McLaren, at least for the next season. After that we will maybe leave those new people as well, taking another step. Or maybe not. It wasn’t the right time to make plans for so much in advance even before we could see how our new teams will do with their new cars. Until then we still had time with our current team and car. The time that I also planned on spending more of with Lando, just as I was advised to by almost everyone who I talked about this with.

With everything wrapped up for the weekend and the team letting us go early, I had all the time I could need on my hands to get ready for the night. I didn’t want to overdo it of course but still made sure to wash my hair, curl it a little and get the prepared dress on before it was time to leave. The text that Lando sent me just ten minutes before the planned leaving time surprised me, but I was glad to leave together with someone else. We only had to walk a street or two down, taking an elevator to the top of the building, but I was glad I would have company to spend the time with. I was just about to call him if he was ready or not when I heard a knock on the door and I stood up immediately to answer it. Swinging the door open I was met by Lando in a light white shirt, black blazer and slacks. His whole look reassured me that I didn’t overdress the occasion with my choice of a short cream coloured, velvet looking, tighter fitted dress.

“ Fancy. ” I smiled, stepping outside the room without any kind of greeting and there was an immediate smile getting onto his face. “ At least I don’t feel out of the place. ” I added, locking my door and following him to the elevator. It was already late enough for the hotel to be almost empty, finally letting us use the lift without having to wait for minutes.

“ Says you, who looks like she has a dinner date with the Queen. ” He shook his head, stepping right next to me and still looking down at me. I was never a fan of heels, but when I did my choice was usually a smaller one that didn’t help much with my height.

“ The Queen? I’m not sure she would be delighted by my outfit. ” I stepped through the automatic doors and let Lando push the right button to take us down to the lobby. “ Lucky I’m not dressing up for her in the near future. That would be pretty boring. ” I shrugged my shoulders a little, fixing the straps that were quite loose and slipped a bit at my movement.

“ Who are you dressing up for then? ” Lando asked, his voice the usual joking tone while his eyes were of someone unsure about his words. He was someone to get anxious easily, but rarely when we were spending time together.

“ Well you know, there’s this boy. He’s celebrating his 21st and I felt like the occasion deserves some fancy clothing. ” I shrugged again, letting out a laugh when at first he was confused and then finally realised I was talking about him and his party. “ You’re the worst. ” I rolled my eyes, leaving the elevator as soon as the doors slid open.

He caught up to me by the reception, both of us giving our keys to the guy behind the table, before leaving the building of the hotel. The temperature wasn’t in the 20s but it was still enjoyably warm, which was perfect for lighter clothing. I would even say it was perfect for our few minutes long walk, cooling us down before a night of drinks, great food and all night long laughter. Their team was known for the chemistry they all had between themselves, and fortunately, they did not keep it private on these team outings. I could feel a wider smile getting onto my face as we entered the rooftop restaurant and everyone was already around the reserved table, right next to the railing. We quickly greeted everyone as soon as we walked up to them and looked around for an empty space. From the two remaining seats available I gladly let Lando sit down next to Zak, myself taking the seat next to his with my back towards the view. I was never a huge fan of heights and could do without remembering constantly how high up we were at the moment.

We were well into our dinner already when Lando made the decision to take off his blazer, which was natural as the air still felt warm on my skin as well. But it also showed me that he was already wearing the bracelet I gave him on Friday, and I couldn’t hold back from reaching out and turning it a bit so the little metal plate would be on top. He was just talking to one of the mechanic’s from his side of the garage, but he still looked at me, without any falter in his face, and smiled at my creations first before looking back up at me. I returned the smile, only pulling back my hand after he already looked back at the others, not realising my fingers were still touching both his skin and the material of the bracelet. I was glad when Charlotte pulled me into a conversation, getting my thoughts back to reality and giving me a chance to distract myself from whatever got my brain frozen for a second.

No one was really surprised when we could hear sparkler sounds and soon enough a waiter appeared, holding up another decorated cake. It was smaller and less detailed, but it was the taste and the thought that mattered anyway. I gladly offered to help with the cutting, passing out plates that already had slices on them to everyone who was up to having a bit of dessert after everything else. In the end, I took one for myself as well, not having enough willpower to go against some delicious chocolate cake when it was offered so kindly. Sadly, it was gone in a blink of an eye, but the content feeling from the great company, few drinks and almost three full courses of meals was on the perfect limit that you didn’t want to cross. It was the kind of content happiness that made you a bit sleepy, no matter if you were at home in close proximity to your bed or at a birthday party with loud music around you. My body just decided it was time for a nap at that exact second.

Leaning back a bit in my seat I listened to the conversations around me, turning more towards Lando, Zak and Jon. It was sometimes strange to see people who you associate with one place or activity, in a more everyday setting. Although Lando wasn’t someone that I only knew from work, the other two fit the description perfectly. Neither of them was someone I talked to outside of the paddock, even though I would have had the chance to attend some programs that got people from the grid together. I felt like I went through this year and never lived through it truly. I missed opportunities to get to know people more, while one of my main goals was getting to be part of the community that’s around the paddock. It’s the only thing you can have while you’re travelling all the time, far away from family and the friends you have at home. Hopefully knowing all this now, next season would be a bit more chill and easier to get used to the people around us.

“ You okay? ” Lando made me look up from my hands and right at him. It took me a second to feel the weight of his hand on my thigh, right over my knee and my brain froze even more. My face must have displayed my emotions better than I myself understood them, as he immediately sent me a confused look, squeezing my leg a little to get me to talk.

“ Yeah, content and happy, just a bit sleepy on the side. ” I let out a sigh, forcing a smile onto my face although keeping it there was less of a struggle. I could still get deep into my thoughts, but I didn’t let my mood depend on the memories that get back to me anymore. They don't matter if I can’t change them now. “ The others? ” I asked as I realized both Zak and Carlos disappeared from their seats in the timeframe I wasn’t paying attention to them.

“ Zak got a phone call and Carlos decided we were a boring company without him. ” He pointed at the Spaniard, standing a few seats away from us, animatedly talking with a few of the mechanics. I had to chuckle at his movements and I could feel Lando was in the same state as I felt his handshake before he pulled it back. “ If you don’t pay attention he could easily knock you out by accident. ” He added and I could feel his arm coming up onto the backrest of my chair.

“ I’m the teammate of Dan… think I was trained well enough to duck out of the way in no time. ” I had to let out a laugh, looking back at him but I could feel how my blinks got slower and deeper by every passing second. “ Although, right now he would probably get me before I could even realise his movements. ” I rolled my eyes a little at my own slowed downstate.

“ Come here, you. ” I still heard his chuckle before he pulled his chair closer to mine, his arm over my back pulling me closer to him. “ Do you wanna go back to the hotel? ” He asked as I turned a bit towards him and let my hand rest onto his shoulder.

“ Not alone, but this is your party. I don’t want to crash the mood by forcing you to walk back with me. ” I shook my head a little, closing my eyes and gave up the fight I had with them just seconds ago. “ I’m good like this. Just wake me up if someone tries to talk to me or I start snoring. ” I shrugged but had to open my eyes a little when he pulled my legs into his lap and got his blazer around my shoulders. He seemed sure about his choices and realising how comfortable this position was, I just let it happen and relaxed into his body.

I never really dozed off, but I wasn’t paying as much attention to the others or the conversations as I did before. Somehow there wasn’t even a tiny bit of embarrassment or regret in me by how I pretty much blocked Lando from doing anything else than sitting right next to me and practically making sure I won’t fall off my chair. Probably not the birthday night he imagined, but as it was his own offer that I gladly took him up on, there was no space for regret from his side. Just as his hand on my back and the kiss he placed, on the top of my head, showed me that regret was the last thing he thought about in connection with our position. I didn’t even mind when he got back into a conversation with Zak, their voices serving as a great background noise that drowned out the quiet music or the sounds of the city behind us.

The dinner lasted for another thirty minutes before people started leaving to get back to the hotel. I could have left alone, or with someone from the team I knew a bit better, but I rather chose the option where I waited for Lando so we could get back together. I didn’t have to wait for long as just a minute after the last plates and glasses were taken away he let out a yawn as well. Standing up from our seats we took our time to bid goodbye to everyone who decided to stay longer still. We took the elevator down to the bottom floor and decided to walk back as it was quicker than having to wait for a taxi. We walked mostly in comfortable silence, both of us tired from the weekend and dinner itself enough to just enjoy the city noises until we got back to the hotel and up to our floor.

“ Thank you for coming. It made the night at least two times more fun. ” Lando broke the silence as I stopped in front of my door. His was a bit more down the corridor but it didn’t seem like he would leave until I got inside.

“ I should act like a deadweight more then. ” I grinned up at him, swiping the card on the lock and pushing the door inside as soon as it unlocked, while I could hear his suppressed laughter. “ Thank you for having me. I know it was all a team celebration but I’m really glad I could take part in it. ” My legs moved on their own, taking a step closer to him and I pulled him into a quick hug before stepping back.

We wished the other good night before I stepped inside my room finally and Lando turned around gingerly to get to his own room as well. It was hard work to force myself into the shower, but I never regretted it and would say I was even glad that it gave me the chance to sleep in. Not having to squeeze in a morning shower freed up the necessary time for me to wake up later and get to the airport immediately after breakfast. It was a quick change from the relaxed state of last night, but I knew we will have some time to rest after landing as we all had a whole week before the GP in Bahrain. It was my choice to travel early and rather spend time there with Mark than go with the normal plan and fly with the team a few days later. It seemed like a better solution for the jetlag, as I would be well over it by the time we had to get back to our training schedule.

The first few days were quite lonely and a bit too calm for my liking, but it all kicked up as soon as Dan and the remainder of the team arrived in Bahrain as well. We had a few less formal meals and programs together before we woke up on Monday and had to get back into the usual race week mindset. That meant starting the weekend with our usual interviews on Thursday, by the schedule that was decided on the previous day. I really didn’t know how to feel about my name right under Lando’s, although it was more surprising that they didn’t put us into a session together already during the season. It was of course intentional after all the pictures McLaren posted of the birthday dinner, even though there was nothing that could be deemed special or one they could see things into. Henrik did send us one where I was dozing off on Lando’s shoulder, but that was never publicly shared with the fans and we weren’t planning on changing that. Pictures like that one were only for us to see.

It was great to see Lando again and exchange a few words before we were ushered into the room, changing places with Carlos and Charles who probably had enough of the questions. With the end of the season coming up everyone was more and more invested in the future teammates rather than the current ones. I got asked about Dan and the fact that he’s leaving more frequently as well but luckily since my blowup during that grid interview my experience got better and I was asked professional rather than personal questions every occasion. I had a feeling that today would be an exception, but for once I was fortunately wrong. No one drifted onto sensitive topics or tried to trick us into saying things that would sound worse out of context afterwards. Springing from how the fans reacted to the pictures, it gave me peace of mind that we won’t be feeding into it with the media content of the weekend at least and I was still positively looking forward to everything when we said our goodbyes. We left the building together with Lando and Charlotte, deep into a conversation that lasted right until we had to separate at our garage in the middle of the paddock.

After such a positive Thursday, we were delighted that it followed us into the weekend, giving us successful free practice sessions and quali. We didn’t unlock any hidden powers or won everything even before the race started, but mechanical problems stayed far away from us and both Dan and I felt like the car was at least stable and we could push it a bit harder than usual. What no one thought could happen was everything just going wrong on Sunday. Not for us particularly, but for just Formula 1 in general.

The minute I heard Aaron, who I never heard panicking before, came onto my radio with rushed words, quickly informing me about the safety car, I knew something must have gone wrong. I realised how terribly off I was about the severity of the situation, as soon as we took a turn and could see the flames in the background. For a second I only hoped it was just something off track breaking down, but my tiny bubble of hope was broken in no time as Aaron informed me about the accident and what’s gonna happen next. The red flag couldn’t come soon enough, and although all my life I did anything just to get behind a steering wheel, I couldn’t wait to get out of the car after it was parked in the garage. Seeing the replays of the footage didn’t help one bit, making my skin itch from my racing suit and genuinely my only thoughts were about leaving the track and race behind before I could see another second of Romain’s accident.

Seeing him walk away from the scene on his own legs was the only positive thing that came out of that night. Although everyone had to get back into their cars and finish the race, I would have put all my money on the fact that no one could really get their head back into the game fully. The podium ceremony still felt lonely without the spectators around the track, but that day it was even worse with everything that loomed over them as we watched them receive their trophies and open up the champagne. I don’t think anyone could hold grudges against them for going forward with the celebrations as they still deserved it for their work throughout the race. But also everyone could feel how the emotions were truly off and not one bit like during any of the other podiums we had during the season.

“ Tonight is off for everyone, and we’re gonna start packing tomorrow afternoon. Everyone needs rest and time after tonight’s events. ” Cyril announced as soon as we got back to the garage, and I could hear several relieved sighs around me but my eyes were fixed on just one part of the whole space.

As far as I could remember there was never an occasion where I felt scared sitting in a kart or any single-seater until today. Looking at the car with a tense group of mechanics and engineers around me I couldn’t imagine getting inside that machine ever again. Even during the restart, it was a struggle to push myself into the cockpit but now, after getting a chance to think everything through, it felt almost impossible to get my legs to walk me closer. I just stared at it from my seat next to Aaron and followed the covering fabric getting pulled over it for the night and next few days. This time I would have been glad if there was a week break between two race weeks again, but without a location change, it was logical to have them right after the other.

“ Hey, Winola. Call me if you need someone to talk to. ” Dan offered, before leaving the garage. I could only nod with a tiny forced smile that left my face as soon as he got out of my sight.

It took me twice the time to change back into my normal clothes and pack my things up than usual, but eventually, I got down to the parking lot. I was glad Mark offered to drive us, as I wasn’t about to trust myself with a car and traffic. We were back at the hotel in no time and we separated as soon as he was sure I was fine to be left alone. What he didn’t know is that even though I opened my door, just as quick I already closed it back again and turned around. It was easy to find Lando’s room by the number and after taking a deeper breath I knocked on the wood a few times. I was just about to give up after a few minutes of getting no answer when I could hear talking that seemed like the people were getting closer and closer to where I was standing.

I didn’t have much time to ponder on my next choice as the people turned the corner just a second later and it would have been already late to run away. I didn’t expect to see Charles walk up with Lando and for a second I could only hope that I wasn’t intruding on their plans by showing up at his door. From the two of them, only Charles seemed a bit surprised but he got over it quickly, saying his goodbyes and leaving us alone together. By the time I turned back towards Lando, from watching the other boy walk away, he already opened his door and stepped aside to let me inside. I gave him a dim smile while passing him and walked right towards the bedroom so we could sit down.

“ How are you? ” Lando asked as he dropped his bag down on one of the armchairs and got two glasses of water for both of us. “ Other than what happened today of course. No one is okay about that. ” He handed me one of the waters and I took it with a small smile as my thanks.

“ Mostly okay. Shaken up, and dreading getting back into the car. But otherwise fine. ” I nodded, when he sat down next to me, and not even thinking about my actions I leant into him. “ Realised how close we are to a disaster every time. ” I was debating mentioning this, but in the end, I couldn’t hold it back.

“ We might be, but we do everything to stay as far away from it as possible. That’s the only thing we can do alongside following the rules. ” Lando answered, his arm coming up around my shoulders and I didn’t need more to turn around a bit and hide my face into his hoodie at his clavicle. “ Today wasn’t the best example, but we could still see how much the safety improvements can help during accidents. ” He declared and I had to agree with him, as we all knew Romain would have been worse off in an older chassis and with a slower medical team.

“ It’s scary that it could be anyone. ” I murmured, letting him take the half-full glass of water away from me before I could have spilt it on ourselves. “ Even the ones closest to us. ” I felt like adding as my now empty hand immediately held onto the fabric next to it that turned out to be his hoodie again. I’m pretty sure I would have been embarrassed by the way I was holding onto him like a koala if I had seen it from the outside. Luckily there were no mirrors that could have made that possible.

“ I would be more surprised if you felt different. We’re all people with feelings and not some kind of machines who fight through every experience emotionless. ” Lando shrugged his shoulders gently, making sure he wouldn’t hit my head with the movement. “ This will sound cruel, but I hope that you will never get used to it and turn into someone who’s always cold. You fit your fiery behaviour the best. ” I could feel as he leant his head on mine gingerly, before letting it rest back on the headboard again.

“ Even if I lash out daily and get anxious or frustrated by the smallest things? ” I asked him quietly but the little squeeze he gave me was an immediate answer together with his nodding that I could feel in his whole body. “ Then I hope you don’t mind me staying either. You’re too comfy. ” I added, burrowing my face deeper into him and getting my legs over his to make it even more comfortable for myself. He probably didn’t enjoy my turning and tossing as much.

“ Even if you wanted to leave I wouldn’t have let you. ” He shook his head, pulling the duvet over us, although we both knew we should have a shower and change into sleeping clothes before truly falling asleep. But it could wait for a few minutes.

[altaruwusmolboiz]

I'm just going to answer these questions about Big Time Rush.

What OTPs in your fandom(s) do you just not get?*

Definitely Kames. I can at least understand why you'd ship the guys with each other, but this one is just not a good one.

Are there any popular fandom OTPs you only BroTP?*

I guess I'd have to say Jomille. They're very much friends but Jo is just pretty straight in general.

Have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion?

No.

Do you have a NoTP in your fandom? Are they a popular OTP?*

Once again, Kendall and James. I don't really understand the hype for it.

Has fandom ever ruined a pairing for you?*

I used to like Jarlos more, and I can still see it, but it's no longer my favorite ship.

Has fandom ever made you enjoy a pairing you previously hated?*

Not for this fandom.

Is there anything you used to like but can’t stand now?*

The Logan love. He's a cool character, undoubtably, but he's definitely the worst BTR boy and he doesn't deserve to be an excuse to hate on Camille, who has done virtually little wrong.

Have you received anon hate? What about?*

My account isn't big enough for that.

Most disliked character(s)? Why?

Jett. He's okay sometimes but he reminds me of a person I wouldn't be able to stand in real life. On the show, he's fine. Also the Jennifers. I do not trust anyone who find the Jennifers even iconic because they don't ever do anything.

Most disliked arc? Why?

Logan's arc in the final episode. Logan is very much one of the most complex characters in the entire show. He's very well written. But the last thing he wants to do in the show is see a slime pit? I'm not falling for that. I really didn't like the final Big Time Rush episode much at all.

Is there an unpopular character you like that the fandom doesn’t? Easily Camille. She's my favorite character that most people either hate or brush to the side. The show kind of did this in Season Four too.

Is there an unpopular arc that you like that the fandom doesn’t? Why?

I wouldn't say there's a particularly unpopular arc, but it seems that most people agree that Kendall should have chosen Lucy but I dsagree.

Unpopular opinion about XXX character?

Lucy isn't that great, she's just a goth (She's not bad, but I'm just so and so on her).

Unpopular opinion about your fandom?

Logan is cool. He deserves the hype and is a nice character. But, it isn't the Logan show. He has a girlfriend and other friends. Deal with it.

Unpopular opinion about the manga/show?

I cannot see any of the boys being together. They may've had crushes on each other at one point, but none of it lasted very long. They've been through too much as friends for me.

If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

The complicated thing about Big Time Rush is that I would change the James and Lucy storyline but I don't think it works bad for what it is. To me, James and Lucy are both gay, but they are done very well as enemies to lovers and I totally get that.

Instead of XYZ happening, I would have made ABC happen…

Like I said earlier, I'd make Logan's last storyline way different. I do like that he had simple dreams after all of that, but it'd be nice if he at least passed his doctor test instead. I felt like we were leading up to that and I'm kind of dissapointed. I also just didn't like how Jo and Lucy suddenly got all of the spotlight in season four and Camille just kind of died down.

Does not shipping something ‘popular’ mean you’re in denial and/or biased?

I think it really depends. Yeah, some people just dislike Jendall and Lomille because they are straight, but I do think that there's valid reasons to dislike those ships and I don't blame anyone.

What is the one thing you hate most about your fandom?

The Camille hate that goes with love for Logan.

What is the purest ship in the fandom?

Easily Jo and Kendall, but Carlos and Kendall and James and Carlos share a bond like no other.

What are your thoughts on crack ships?

I think most of them are cute! It's one thing if they make absolutely no sense and are just there because neither character would have anyone else, but I don't mind it otherwise.

Popular character you hate?

I wouldn't say there's a character I hate, but Lucy wasn't my favorite. I don't think anyone loves the Jennifers, but they were the absolute worst.

Unpopular character you love?

Kelly has never done anything wrong.

Would you recommend XXX to a friend? Why or why not?

I don't have many IRL friends. The two main ones I do have both watched Big Time Rush before.

How would you end XXX/Would you change the ending of XXX?

I didn't love Big Time Rush's finale, and there's a lot I would change. I don't like Griffin so I'd get rid of that storyline, and I've already went off about my hatred for Logan's storyline. The only one I was really that good with is Carlos.

Most shippable character?

Carlos, mostly because he doesn't really get shipped with any of them so they can all be possibilities.

Least shippable character?

Katie because she's a kid. Moving past that, I'd say Jo. I just cannot see her with anyone besides Kendall.

[bumbleberrysky]

alexa, play candyshop (bass boosted) | 03

pairing: gabriel x reader genre: soulmate au, canon divergent around s13, hurt/comfort, humour, future smut (probs) wc: 3.7k rating: sfw warnings: none really

You knew there was a reason some divine power brought you to the Winchesters all those years ago, but to this day you still have no idea what that reason is. It’s something you’re destined to find out soon though, especially when you return to the bunker after months away and find not only a new face, but one that belongs to someone who up until that point you’d thought was dead. What does his return have to do with the changes you’re suddenly experiencing in yourself? Will you finally find out the reason you’d been brought here in the first place? Maybe…

Chuck works in mysterious ways after all.

prev. || next

“Well, whatever it says, we’re gonna have to wait until Cas and Dean get back before we can decipher it.”

You huff, sparing a glance to the angel huddled in the corner, resting his head against the drawers beside his bed. It’s been a few days since you’d first come back and you wish you could say you’ve had all sorts of good progress with Gabriel, but the truth is that you haven’t. He has receded so far into himself that a part of you is actually worried the archangel you knew is gone completely.

“I’m a bit worried,” you admit quietly to Sam after a moment. He turns his gaze to you and you hold it. “He’s… he’s worse than I thought.”

And, put bluntly, you’d thought he was bad.

Sam doesn’t say anything, merely releases your gaze and turns to survey the room once more; the walls are plastered in a scrambled mess of what you can only guess is enochian. You’re not sure when Gabriel had the chance to do it, but you know that earlier you’d visited him to offer him a portion of his grace back and he’d refused, so you’d left and when you returned some time later the walls were like this.

“Did Dean say when they were going to be getting back?” you ask, wringing your hands.

“He didn’t respond to my text, so I can only assume he’s driving.” Sam huffed a laugh. “Cas forgot to charge his phone again so I can’t reach him either.”

You purse your lips, trying not to smile. Of course, it is the little things that Castiel forgets. Like that wireless technology needs charging, that Beyonce is too well known to be used as a cover name, and those straws that don’t always come with fast food drinks.

You’re about to speak when the faint sound of metal hitting metal echoes through the bunker, heavy footsteps on steel stairs following suit.

“Well, I guess that saves us asking,” you say, patting Sam on the arm as you move past. The two of you depart Gabriel’s room, sparing him one last concerned glance before you close the door behind you.

“I’m home! And I brought food!”

Yeah, that’s definitely Dean. You just hope Castiel came in with him so he can see his brother and read the scribble on the walls.

x     x

 The scribble, as Castiel informed you, is a thrilling account of Gabriel’s Story, so to speak. What happened to him after his so-called ‘death’, and you tuned out for a fair amount of it (mostly during the detailed recount of time spent with porn-stars in Monte Carlo) but heard the important bits, like how he was traded in to Asmodeus and what the Prince of Hell then proceeded to do to him for the years following.

It saddened you, despite it being largely something you already suspected if not knew.

After listening to Castiel read the enochian on the walls, you’d had to leave. Uncharacteristic of you, and Dean had given you an odd look as you passed him in the hallway, but you couldn’t spend another minute in there. You felt bile rising to the back of your throat.

You really don’t have an explanation for why you’re reacting so strongly, so viscerally, to everything that has to do with Gabriel. Like you’d affirmed earlier, you only really met and interacted with him a handful of times! You aren’t close with him, haven’t known him extensively—

So why do you have this gaping pit of loss and grief in your stomach, like you’ve lost a limb?

It doesn’t make sense, and you’re not sure if you can make it make sense, honestly. You’d like to be able to put it on the backburner too, but every time you try it just creeps its way back to the forefront of your mind. In a bid to distract yourself, you hole yourself up in your room for the rest of the day, marathoning whatever dumb show is on TV. If you’re lucky, the entertainment channel might have old reruns of Neighbours. That never fails to make you laugh with its exaggerated soapy drama.

To your disappointment, the only thing playing in a marathon fashion is Family Guy, and with a sigh you bundle up in your covers and resign yourself to the afternoon. Well, if you wanted to numb your brain then this result isn’t so bad after all.

You spend the rest of the afternoon in your room, and pass out at some indiscernible hour. When you wake next, it’s a ridiculously early hour of the next morning and the TV is still running. You have a cramp in your neck from your odd sleeping position, and you rub it with a scowl as you emerge from the blankets and turn off the TV. You slept way too long, and there’s no way you can get back to sleep now.

Begrudgingly, you slip from your bed and into a standing position, relishing in the stretch you feel as you lengthen your tight, tense limbs. The floor is cold against your feet but you’re too lazy to search for the slippers that came with your room and instead just go on your way. Destination: kitchen.

You feel like a ghost, wandering the silent halls of the bunker. Dean is most definitely passed out by this point, and Sam… well he’s probably asleep, but you wouldn’t bet on it. That psychopath could also be out jogging. You’re so zoned out that you don’t even realise you’ve reached the kitchen until you stub your toe on the doorframe.

“FUCK!” you curse, managing to restrain yourself from howling like a lunatic just barely, at the last second. You double over, heaving in a big breath. Of course it had to be the little toe—

“y/n? Are you alright?”

The low, gravelly tone that brushes your ears is familiar and always welcome. You stick your thumb up so Castiel doesn’t worry while you grasp your bearings. When you find your voice, you follow up the gesture with a squeaky, “Fine! Peachy.”

“I would remind you that I can tell when you are lying, but I don’t think you aimed to be very believable.”

You straighten, throwing Castiel a bright smile despite the pain still throbbing in your foot. You should have looked for the slippers—this is your hubris catching you slipping.

“Sorry Cas, I shouldn’t be sarcastic. I’m fine, but I think one of these days I’m gonna break my toe for real on that stupid doorframe.”

Unfortunately, this isn’t your first run-in with the doorway. If anyone asked, you would tell them that the design of the hallway is atrocious and that door is not where it’s meant to be. Well, it’s not where you expect it to be every time you come to the kitchen, and is clearly an obvious design flaw.

The angel lets out a soft noise of understanding, lips twitching in the ghost of a smile. “Perhaps. You don’t seem to have very good luck with doorframes.”

“Nope, I definitely do not,” you respond, shaking your foot out before moving over to the fridge and checking to see if Dean bought strawberries. A noise of delight escapes you as you find what you’re looking for, several punnets stacked in the back corner. Ah, and they say old dogs can’t learn new tricks—Dean is a very good learner with the proper motivation!

(Pavlov would be proud of you.)

Castiel has a smile on his face as he watches you remove one of the punnets, hopping up onto the bench facing him and flicking the plastic open. He approaches, movements fluid and calm, and for a few moments you sit in comfortable silence. He is the first to break it.

“y/n… are you alright?” At his repeated question you give him a confused look, and he hurries to elaborate. “I mean… with everything. With Gabriel. I noticed how you left, yesterday.”

Ah. Well, you knew that you hadn’t been subtle, but you hadn’t been sure whether anyone was going to question you on it. You munch on a berry as you think, gaze flicking to the side. You wouldn’t dream of telling Sam or Dean about the odd sensations you’d been feeling, despite the fact they knew how you’d reacted to the news of Gabriel’s death, but Castiel… you felt comfortable confiding this in him.

“Well… yes, and no.” You drop the top of the strawberry into the lid of the punnet and reach for another. “To be honest, I don’t really understand what is going on with me. It’s like… super overactive empathy. It just hurts, to see him that way. And it makes me sad, knowing what he went through. Painfully so.”

Castiel nods, light eyes on you as he listens attentively and with care. You chew through another two berries before continuing. “Hearing it straight from him—well, as straight from him as it could be, I suppose—it just got to be a bit much for me. I had to leave. It just… made me feel a bit sick, is all.”

The look on the angel’s face is pensive, and it’s as though you can see his mind whirring a mile a minute behind the sky of his eyes. “I see,” he murmurs, gaze flicking to the side as he thinks. “Well, you are a very kind soul, so I am not surprised by your empathy. Though, if it is affecting you so strongly…”

He pauses, eyes finding your own again. “If you feel ill again, come find me. I’ll help as much as I can.”

You smile at him, every moment as sincere as you’ve ever been. “Thanks, Cas. I really appreciate it.”

x     x

Sam must have done or said something to Gabriel while you were locked up in your room, because there seemed to be a sudden change in his progress.

For the better, you think. Well, you hope.

He was a little less withdrawn, a little less manic and fidgety. He still doesn’t really speak, and doesn’t react well to loud noises or sudden movements, but Sam told you he had spoken last night.

To correct him about calling the Monte Carlo porn-stars ‘hookers’, of course. You’d wanted to slam your head into the tile wall when you’d heard that.

The day passed quickly after your encounter with Castiel, and you spent it cleaning and polishing your weapons—you don’t want to go down as that one stupid hunter whose greatest folly was improper upkeep of her arsenal. Only when you’d polished your machete to a gleaming shine did you admit that it was likely time for a break. You thought it had only been a few hours, so when you wandered out and found that it was actually almost dinner time, you’d been pretty surprised.

Sam had run into you in the hallway and filled you in, and afterwards had insisted on accompanying you to the kitchen. It seems you spend a lot of your time there, now you think about it.

The large, industrial-feeling space is where you find yourself now, making a lazy stir-fry from pre-packaged vegetables and beef. You’d tasked Sam with cooking the rice since he’d insisted on lingering for conversation, and since you trust that he’s more capable than his brother you don’t bother checking on his progress.

“Castiel was worried when he first saw Gabriel, but after seeing the writing he’s happy because it means the Gabriel we know is still in there, somewhere.” Sam updates you from your side, sniffing and peering into the wok before you in mild interest. “That smells good. You sharing?”

“Maybe,” you answer him, giving him a sly look. “Depends… you got any of that guilt-free ice cream hiding in the freezer?”

Sam peers around to make sure his brother isn’t listening before nodding, “Back corner, behind the frozen berries. We got a deal?”

“Pleasure doing business with you, young Winchester,” you answer with a shake of his hand, putting on an accent for his benefit. He snorts, moving away to grab two bowls—good timing, you have to note, since the stir-fry is almost done. “Kind of sad you still have to hide it from Dean, though.”

“Are you kidding? He has a nose like a bloodhound for sweets,” Sam says, coming back with porcelain in tow. “Did I ever tell you about the time he found an industrial-size bag of Hershey’s kisses I bought? I hid it in the vents in the dustiest corner of the library, and he still found it. That was meant to last me months and he tore through it in a week.”

You blink, mildly impressed. You knew he had a sweet tooth but you didn’t know it was that bad. “Dude, get your brother some therapy.”

Sam snorts, muttering something about how it would be easier to herd cats and juggle at the same time. You’re distracted for the moment by an errant thought that filters across your mind at the mention of chocolates.

Gabriel, in his time spent as a trickster, developed quite the soft spot for them… could it…?

You stir the food before you once more before taking the wok off the heat, moving it to the wooden chopping board on the bench; Sam takes initiative and turns off the stove behind you, something you’re thankful for.

You’ll have to test your theory after dinner.

x     x

The chocolates and candies you’d left for Gabriel after you’d had your dinner are, to your delight, gone the next time you see him.

You’d placed them on a tray for him outside the room and knocked, letting him know you had left him something. Of course, after that no matter how much you wished to stay you forced yourself to be on your merry way so he could retrieve them in peace. The rest of the night had been spent arguing with Dean about the proper name a werewolf-vampire hybrid should be called—not because you have an important opinion on the matter, of course, but because Dean gets very fired up about the subject and it’s very funny to behold.

Back to the point, when you’d returned on your trip past Gabriel’s room this morning (on your way to the kitchen, as anyone would expect), the tray had been placed neatly to the side with the wrappers twisted into the shape of a big, shiny bow. Kind of impressive, especially since you have no idea how he got them to stay stuck together like that.

It made you happy, though, that he’d eaten them. Angels don’t need to eat, of course, but he’d seemed to develop a taste for them ever since adopting the mask of Loki so you thought it might help make him feel a little more like himself.

You try not to think about it too much because it actually makes you a bit embarrassed— why are you so invested? You don’t quite want to know.

Currently, you’re settled in the library with your legs crossed and a tome on celestial beings in your lap. By your side is a plate of celery and a jar of peanut butter, and Dean, who is seated at the oak table with Castiel across from him, is giving you periodic looks of disgust and twisted curiosity. He’d started off attempting to read up on some monster—you suspected it was Werepires, after last night’s argument—while Sam popped off to the store for groceries, since Mary and Jack were meant to be returning tonight. The keyword to note here is attempting; each crunch of celery between your teeth yanks his gaze from the book to you and you can tell its wearing on him. Castiel says nothing, having discovered candy crush on his phone earlier, and merely glances between the two of you every now and then with a faint look of amusement.

“Alright,” He finally breaks after your third stick of celery, giving it a look like it personally offends him. “How can you eat that? Just use a spoon if you like peanut butter so much.”

“What the fuck, ew,” you comment, chomping loudly before dipping the stick into the jar for another coating. “I hate peanut butter.”

“You’re sitting there practically eating it out of the jar!”

“I get cravings sometimes, Dean!” you throw back, somewhat defensively. “It’s like when people eat vegemite—no one likes it, but you get cravings for it, you know?”

“What—ew, no, I don’t know!” Dean’s face has now crumpled into a complete look of disgust at the mention of that particular spread, and he shudders as he regards you. “Every time you leave I almost forget what a freak you are, and then you come back and I’m reminded all over again.”

The way he says it has no bite whatsoever, and you flash him a grin. You don’t realise Castiel has even been paying attention until he speaks, the humour lacing his deadpan tone the only give-away that he’s teasing.

“That wasn’t very nice, Dean. You eat some weird things for a human yourself—like that greasy, fried dessert from the stall in the food festival we drove through.”

Dean at first looks like he wants to argue, but at Castiel’s example a flush of green instead washes over his features. “Ugh, god that was gross. Don’t ever let me buy before I try at a food market again, Cas.”

Castiel snorts softly, turning back to his phone, “You have my word.”

Dean seems to have forgotten he was shaming you for your celery topping, his attention now directed back to the book before him. His face is still kind of pale and you assume he is now adequately distracted enough for you to continue eating in peace. After consuming the rest of the celery in your hold, you go to turn back to your own book. It isn’t meant to be, though, because in the next second the familiar sound of the heavy metal bunker door creaking open splits the air and Sam’s bright voice follows after.

“We’re back! We brought fried chicken.”

You slam the lid back on the peanut butter, putting it on the plate with the celery and launching to your feet in record time, the book unfortunate collateral. It’s like you’re possessed as you zoom into the kitchen, stomach alive and stirring at the mention of chicken despite the fact you’d already been eating.

Upon entry to the kitchen, you’re faced with two new people you have yet to be introduced to—considering you’re familiar with most of Sam and Dean’s other contacts by this point in your friendship, you presume that these two must be Jack and Mary, the Nephilim and the Winchester brother’s resurrected mother, respectively.

“Hello!” you greet, darting forward to help Sam with the food. He gives you a look that tells you he knows exactly why you’d come to help and gives you the bag full of groceries instead of the one with chicken, just to spite you. Your face falls into a pout but your voice is still cheery as you continue, “I’m y/n, I hunt with Dean off and on.”

Both of their faces light in recognition, and you realise that your reputation has preceded you. Exactly which reputation depends on which brother mentioned you—you imagine Dean would have had some very interesting comments to add.

“Hello,” the woman, Mary, speaks, and you’re taken aback by how soft-spoken she seems in contrast with the badass aura and get-up she’s got going on. You’re a little surprised to see her, considering she’s the same age as you presume she would have been when Sam was a baby. “I’m Mary, I’m sure you’ve heard about me. It’s a pleasure to meet you, and… thank you for looking after my boys over the years.”

You beam a grin and it must come across as a very shit-eating one because you hear Dean groan from the next room over as he ambles to join the crowd in the kitchen.

“Don’t encourage her,” he says gruffly as he enters the kitchen, hugging his mother and ruffling Jack’s hair before following his nose to the bag with the chicken in it. “She’ll never let it go.”

“I’m Jack!” Your attention is torn from the previous interaction and redirected to the youthful blonde man next to Mary, grinning at you brightly. “I’ve heard so much about you—it’s nice to finally meet you!”

“Oh, you’ve heard about me?” you can’t help yourself from asking, and you hear Dean’s groan echo behind you. “All good things, I hope.”

It’s a little unfair of you to be fishing in the Jack pond for little tidbits you can use to bully Dean later, considering he’s literally barely a year old and doesn’t really know better to keep his mouth shut, but it is what it is. The question left you out of habit more than anything.

“Oh, definitely,” Jack answers, going to help Mary the second he sees her struggle with a bag from the corner of his eyes, “Well, mostly. Dean—”

“Okay, that’s enough!” Dean interrupted loudly and pointedly, not-so-subtly holding his finger to his mouth to tell Jack to shut it. “Dinner time! Everyone into the library, we have a lot to catch up on.”

Begrudgingly you let it go and follow his directions. He has a point; there is definitely a lot of informing to be done, especially regarding the archangel in the room down the hall.

You take a seat and wait for your meal to be served. The night passes quickly from that point on, the brothers cracking out some beer and Dean snickering when you turn your nose up at it (bad experience, better not to remember it). You get to know Mary Winchester and Jack Kline a little better, and now with all of your heads put together you hope you can come up with a solution to the issues around Gabriel and his recovery.

Well, that and you’re going to see if you can get some good material out of Mary to tease the brothers with. When in Rome, after all!

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