#2015 toro rosso rookies

[notyourmusebby]

Helmut Marko: “the atmosphere was quite toxic”

The atmosphere:

[janesurlife]

Best rookie pair

[leclerqueensainz]

FRENESI (C.S 55) (EN VERSION)

PROLOGUE

Pairing: Carlos Sainz Jr. X Louise Evans ( OC)

Synopsis: Carlos Sainz is a scoundrel. That's what all the women he's slept with — and the list is not short — always say after having their hearts destroyed by the Spanish heartthrob. Carlos Sainz Jr. is the worst scoundrel of all time. But worse than being a scoundrel is liking to be a scoundrel. But even the worst scoundrel can have his heart tamed. And when Louise, Carlos' best friend, asks him to give her a baby, Sainz finds himself caught up in a frenzy.

Long dormant feelings resurface, and Carlos realizes that winning the world drivers' championship won't be his only challenge.

WARNING: THIS IS A +18 STORY and contains: Sex scenes and explicit sexual language, reproduction kink, swearing and a few other things that I may or may not be forgetting.

ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE!

Carlos Sainz is a scoundrel. That's what all the women he's slept with - and the list is not short - always say after having their hearts destroyed by the Spanish heartthrob. Carlos Sainz Jr. is the worst scoundrel of all time. But worse than being a scoundrel is liking to be a scoundrel. Don't get me wrong, Carlos cannot be considered a bad guy in general; he is just a millionaire playboy who can't keep it in his pants when it comes to a beautiful woman. However, in his defense, he has always been a thoughtful lover during sex. He cares not only about receiving pleasure but also about extracting it from his "victims." He doesn't mind spending hours and hours pleasuring a wet pussy, or fulfilling a strange fetish so that his nighttime company can reach the highest peak of pleasure. In Carlos's mind, if his partner is screaming or crying for more, then it's worth it. However, being the cause of the greatest sexual delight for women also ends up contributing to his reputation as a womanizer, dog, scoundrel, heartbreaker, etc. So, it's no wonder that he is taken aback by his best friend Louise's request.

However, being the cause of the greatest sexual delight for women also ends up contributing to his reputation as a womanizer, dog, scoundrel, heartbreaker, etc. So, it's no wonder that he is taken aback by the request of his best friend Louise. — You want me to what?! — He asks, stunned. — I want you to impregnate me. — She says, biting her lips and staring at him with dark Bambi-like eyes. Carlos breathes astonished, unsure of how to respond. He looks around the living room of Louise's apartment, searching for any sign of a hidden camera. Dios! This must be a joke. Carlos is aware that his best friend hasn't been doing well in terms of mental health. But now it's like she's completely gone mad. Louise is Carlos's oldest friend. They met when Carlos joined Toro Rosso in 2015, while Louise had just started interning in the communications department at Mercedes. They would constantly bump into each other in the paddock, with her always behind Lewis and Nico, and Carlos trying his best to prove his talent in his rookie year in the category. During that time, it was just looks and nods as a greeting between the two, but a few months later, the first signs of flirting from the driver began. Always a compliment about what Louise was wearing, or about how her work was impeccable, even though he wasn't exactly sure what the girl did. However, Louise always rejected Carlos and said she was there not to flirt with playboy drivers but to seize the incredible opportunity that could greatly boost her professional career. And that was the rule she stuck to firmly until Sainz gave up and they both got closer to being two rookies who needed someone to trust. As the season progressed, what was initially just pleasant company for each other progressed into a solid friendship, and soon enough, the two were inseparable, of course, except when they were focused on their respective jobs.

This brings us to this moment, with Carlos staring at his best friend as if she had grown two heads on her shoulders. Carlos is neither dumb nor blind; it's obvious that he finds Louise attractive, and only he and God know how much he has fantasized about taking this woman to bed. But giving her a child - as tempting and sinful as the thought of hearing her moan and be filled with his seed underneath him may be the hottest thing he has ever imagined - is certainly the peak of madness. — Have you smoked Lando's weed again? — Carlos asks, as that is the only explanation that comes to his mind. — No! I am completely sober, well, aside from a few glasses of wine. But I only had them to gather the courage I needed to ask you. — She says plainly, leaving Carlos even more terrified. Standing up, Carlos took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand while the other rested on his hip. Louise, watching from the sofa where her friend had been sitting just minutes before, tries her best not to laugh at the situation. In Louise's mind, what she is asking for is quite simple. She is 27 years old, turning 28 in a few months. Throughout all these years of her existence, it seemed like something very serious was influencing her love life, as none of her relationships lasted longer than a year. Even Carlos had had longer relationships, with a fling here and there, but still, longer ones. Louise has always dreamed of having her own family, and the maximum time she has given herself to have children is by the age of 30. However, over the years, she realized that the only man who remains in her life after getting to know her is Carlos.

So when she finally broke up with her twentieth boyfriend, Roy, who was a nice guy but seemed more excited about plants than about her in lingerie, she decided to skip all the hassle of finding the perfect guy and instead continue her lineage with the help of her best friend. Of course, if he's willing to go along with this madness.

Louise isn't ugly she's very aware of it, with the amount of compliments she gets when she walks in the paddock or notifications from strangers and acquaintances in her social media DMs, she can't deny it. However, even though she's highly coveted, she hasn't found any man good enough to procreate with. She wants her children to have good genes, and that's not asking for too much.

She also knows Carlos isn't the most honorable guy in the world; God knows she's judged her friend as a gigolo dozens of times, but she loves Carlos. And he has great genes.

Carlos is handsome, very handsome, actually, a spectacle of a man. With thick, dark hair like a Disney prince, large eyes deep brown, a long nose, full lips, and of course, a perfect body. Carlos Sainz Jr. is truly a hottie. Does he have a questionable character? Yes! But he's still a hottie.

However, beyond the beauty the man possesses, what pleases Louise the most about Sainz is his dedication to everything he considers important, and that majestically includes their friendship. Louise would trust her life to Carlos with her eyes closed.

Carlos has always treated her very well, even after all the rejections she had given him during the beginning of their friendship.

He has always been kind, and attentive, and moved heaven and earth for her to have everything she needs, whenever she needs it. Does she want raspberry ice cream that's specifically sold in a city thousands of kilometers away from where they are? Don't worry, Carlos's assistant can take a jet and go get it for her; after all, it's not like Tina has anything more important to do than fetch ice cream from the middle of nowhere. All good.

Or when Louise has a sudden breakup with a guy she really liked, Carlos doesn't mind staying up all night listening to her cry on an endless call, even if it's been a tough day of racing and his body is begging for a good night's sleep. No, Carlos would stay with her. He would listen to her speak ill of Roy, Ben, Jude, Lorenzo, Michael, or any other bastard who had hurt her best friend's heart.

To outsiders, Carlos Sainz was a heartless womanizer. But to Louise, he's the nicest and kindest man she's ever met. And secretly, that might have also contributed to none of her relationships going anywhere.

Roy would never send an assistant flying miles away just for her to get a damn ice cream. To be fair, Roy didn't have an assistant, let alone a jet, but there have been times when he refused to go to a bakery around the corner from her apartment to buy the sweet bread she was craving. They fought, she told him to leave, and an hour later, an exhausted Carlos with tousled hair showed up at her door carrying a suitcase and a box of bread in every flavor for her.

And it's no surprise to anyone that Ben wouldn't stay up all night to hear her talk about a silly series or movie she watched during one of her long trips. After all, Ben is a very busy lawyer who doesn't have time for nonsense, only to sleep with the 19-year-old secretary who had started working at his firm. A curse, a middle finger, and three hours later, Carlos shows up with a bottle of wine and the hoodie he knows she loves and watches all the movies and series she wants.

None of these jerks would be good enough to do these things for Louise, only Carlos. Carlos is a womanizer of women and a great pilot for the world, but for Louise is the only person who really matters.

It turns out there will always be comparisons. No matter how many people she dates or tries to create her story with, no man or woman will ever be like Carlos. What they have is something unique and special, which goes beyond the barrier of friendship or even a romantic relationship. They were simply born to be.

For all these reasons and many more, she had made up her mind. Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro Cenamor Rincón Rebollo Virto Moreno de Aranda Don Per Urrielagoiria Pérez del Pulgar Jr. will be the father of her future child. Well, that's if he accepts and the way the Spaniard is looking at her, she might need a few more things to convince him.

— Carlos, please! - She says, pouting, which for a woman of almost 30 is ridiculous, but every effort will be worth it.

— Dios, Louise! No!— he says, running his hands through his hair in an exasperated way. - -You can't just ask me to put a baby inside you just because you're in a crisis!

Carlos throws himself back on the sofa next to her.

— This isn't a crisis! — He looks at her with an arched eyebrow. — Yes, it may be a crisis, but Carlos, I'm going to be 30!

— Yes! In two years, Louise! — He grabs her shoulders. - You're still young and you're a sensible woman, I mean, at least you used to be. — Louise digs her nails into Carlos' bare thigh, making him cry out in pain.

— I'm still sensible, Sainz! And that's exactly why I want you to get me pregnant! — Louise shouts, getting up from her seat on the sofa and standing in front of the pilot.

Even though Carlos is fighting hard, he's still a man and his flesh is weak. He evaluates every inch of his body covered only by a T-shirt, which he happened to know very well because it was his Real Madrid shirt.

— Come on, Cabron! Don't tell me you don't find me attractive. Do you know how many people would love to put a baby in me? — She asks and leans in close to his ear. — It's been eight years of you wanting to have sex with me, Carlitos. And today I'm begging you to throw me on that bed, or that sofa, or whatever the hell place you want. I want you to take off my clothes and fuck me until I have a part of you growing inside me. - Her lips lightly touch his lobe.

Carlos swallows dryly, the images of him bending his best friend over in every corner of the house, making her moan as he thrusts inside her without stopping until every drop of his cum drips into her... Oh! Dios!

Louise realizes that her goal of seduction is working with the way Carlos tenses up underneath her.

— Come on, Carlos... — A kiss below his ear — We could do this so well... - Another kiss on the jaw. — Imagine a mini part of both of us running around... - She licks his neck.

Carlos closes his eyes and lets himself imagine the scene. A mini him, or a mini Louise running around everywhere. He takes her or him to the paddock to watch him or her race a Formula 1 car. He allows himself to be even more daring and imagines not only the child already born, but also Louise pregnant with her second child, wearing a loose summer dress, with a big round belly and...

Carlos gasps and involuntarily tilts his head to the side so that Louise has more access to his skin. One of her hands moves slowly up his firm, dark-haired thigh. The sharp nail slowly scratched the sensitive skin, so close to his cock. Just a few more centimeters and...

— You don't even have to be his father if you don't want to. I can take care of everything, he won't even need to know you're the father and...

And then came the bucket of cold water. Of course, it's only because she wants a baby. Carlos feels a bit stupid for letting himself believe for a moment that the idea of making a family with him was what Louise wanted. She doesn't want a family with Carlos, of course not. She just wants him to be the father of her child.

Carlos quickly gets up and throws Louise onto the sofa. His mind was racing and a bizarre burning in his chest.

— What the fuck, Louise! You've really lost your mind! — He paces back and forth frantically.

— Carlos, what's the matter? - She gets up from the sofa too. — I thought you wanted me to be happy!

Carlos stops for a moment, his mouth tasting bitterly of anger. How dare Louise say that? Carlos has already made it more than obvious that he would do anything to make her happy. He would give up almost everything he owned for her, even set fire to Madrid if necessary!

He really thought that this was something that wouldn't even cross her mind. But this? Just being the cock that will empty inside her so that she can have a fucking baby — all babies forgive him - and then wanting him to act as if she were nothing to him, that's too much. Out of the question.

— If you want to play the black widow, Louise, you should know better than to think I'm the wrong guy for it. - He says, grabbing his jacket and turning towards the door without looking at her. — I don't care what anyone says about me. I'm everything women say and then some, but even so, I'm not an idiot who shirks my responsibilities. I expected more from you.

He opens the door and leaves.

Standing in the middle of the living room, Louise looks at the door her best friend has just left. She's confused, but above all, sorry.

[boxboxblog]

Driver Profiles: Yuki Tsunoda

Updated December 2024

Name: Yuki Tsunoda

Age: 24

Nationality: Japanese

Years in F1: 4 (AlphaTauri/VCARB 2021-Present)

Number: 22

WDCs: N/A

Driving Style: One of the newest drivers on track, Tsunoda is known for his aggression, raw speed, and temper. He drives in an extremely modern way, compared to many of the older drivers who still drive with traces of more classic styles. He tends to pull bold overtakes and does a lot of late-braking maneuvers, and this allows him to be very assertive in wheel-to-wheel situations. On the negative side, Tsunoda's temper and aggression leads him make mistakes, and he has been criticized for his lack of consistency. This aggression also means he pushes the car very hard, and wears out his tires fast.

History:

Tsunoda was born to a racing family, with a father racing in the Gymkhana Car Competition in Japan. He grew up around the track, and started karting when he was 5 years old. In 2006 he won the series championship at the Nakai Inner Circuit, where he had watched his father race. He started professional carting in 2010, joining the JAF Junior Karting Championship, before moving to the regional class in 2013 (winning that series) and to the national class in 2014. In 2015 he placed second in the All Japan Karting Championship FS125 Class.

(Young Tsunoda in his karting days)

In 2016, Tsunoda graduated from Honda's Suzuka Circuit Racing School in the advanced formula class and became a member of the Honda Formula Dream Project. In the same year he made his single-seater debut in the F4 Japanese Championship  in a one-off event in Suzuka. At this race he earned his 1st podium. 2017 was when he started his first full season in the F4 Japanese Championship while also competing in the regional championship. He would go on to get 1st in the regional and 3rd in the national championship. 2018 Tsunoda would continue in Japanese F4, and win the championship with 7 race wins.

(Tsunonda in the F4 Japanese Championship series)

2018 Tsunoda would join the Red Bull Junior program after Honda became engine suppliers for the F1 team. He joined the FIA Formula 3 Championship that year, winning one race in Monza and achieving 9th in the standings. Tsunoda also competed in the Euroformula Open Championship during this time, and finished 4th in the standings. Early 2020 it was announced that Tsunoda would be moving up to Formula 2 for the 2020 season. Before that, he competed in the 2020 Toyota Racing Series and placed 4th.

(Tsunoda on top step of podium during F3, along with future RB teammate Liam Lawson, left)

His 2020 F2 debut was a relatively positive for a rookie, with some high points finishes and podiums, but also a few races where he scored very low. He finished his season in 3rd. During that season he test drove his first F1 car, for Toro Rosso/AlphaTauri. He would go on to be announced for the 2021 AlphaTauri lineup.

(Tsunoda during F2 days)

His first year at AlphaTauri was a mix between good and bad. While he had some fantastic results (highest being 4th) he also had some very poor ones, often finishing outside of points and being our paced by his teammate Pierre Gasly. However, he was near universally praised for his rookie season, with the F1 Technical Director calling it the best rookie season he had seen in a few. 2022, however, was a difficult year for Tsunoda, usually finishing outside of points position. His best finish was 10th, and this race ended a streak of zero points finishes. He was outpaced by his teammate once again, and would finish 17th in the championship

(Tsunoda and Gasly in their AlphaTauri's)

He would be retained by AlphaTauri for 2023, partnering Nyck de Vries (who would be replaced by Daniel Riccardo halfway), and would have another difficult year. He would score low points a handful of times throughout the season. the most positive moment for Tsunoda was in Abu Dhabi, where he led the race for a short time, his first lead ever. Unfortunately he would drop down to 8th, but still showed improvement.

In 2024 AlphaTauri rebranded to RB (often called VCARB) and Tsunoda was retained. He has had a more positive year, outpacing teammate Daniel Riccardo (who was replaced by Liam Lawson after the Singapore GP), but still regularly ends up outside of the points. In the 2024 Japanese GP he would happily finish in 10th, becoming the first Japanese driver since 2012 to score points on home soil. The most positive aspect of that year for Tsunoda is that his qualifying pace has been stellar, regularly making it into Q3. He finished the season 12th in the standings.

He is set to remain with RB for the 2025 season.

(Tsunoda with the 2024 VCARB car)

Major Races:

2021 Bahrain GP - His debut race in F1, he finished in 9th scoring some points for his team. He made some fantastic overtakes during the race, including a memorable last-lap one on Lance Stroll. It was an impressively confident race despite his inexperience.

2021 Abu Dhabi - His highest finish ever of 4th, he took advantage of the chaos, overtaking on his teammate to take the higher finish of the two AlphaTauri's.

2022 Emilia Romagna GP - One of his strongest race performances yet, he finished in 7th after multiple bold, yet crafty, overtakes. He showed his evolving race craft and willingness to push the limit in a lesser car.

2022 Spanish GP - While his finish was not fantastic (only 10th) he showed remarkably improved composure compared to previous races. This displayed how Tsunoda was evolving as a racer, and how he overcomes his main weakness to make his race craft better.

2024 Japanese GP - A happy race for Japan after Tsunoda became the first points scorer on home soil since 2012. While he did finish just inside the points (10th), it was a monumental day for Japanese fans and Tsunoda.

Cheers,

-B

[bunnytalksf1]

Verstappen, the achilles' heel of Red Bull Racing

NOTE: this post ignores (for the most part) the consequences of Horner's sexual assault / harassment allegations. These also play a role in the power struggle at Red Bull, but since I am taking a big picture look at the politics and teammate pairings of the team from 2016-now, Horner's allegations only play a small role because the public knowledge on them is limited.

Max Verstappen joined the Formula One paddock in 2015, pairing Carlos Sainz in Toro Rosso at the age of seventeen years old, making him the youngest Formula One driver to start a race.

He was never going to be just any rookie. This was a child, who, at the time, had incredibly limited single seater experience - a few starts in Formula Euro, and karting championships to his name. On the other side of the garage, Sainz wasn't massively experienced, either, and both experienced some bad luck, but Verstappen came out on top.

In 2016, an ultimatum was posed to Ricciardo and Kyvat, who were the drivers in Red Bull Racing: the driver that performs better will stay, Verstappen is coming in. Now 18, Verstappen was promoted mid-season to Red Bull Racing alongside Daniel Ricciardo, and amongst the cries that Red Bull had made a mistake, he won his first race with the team in Spain, 2016, after both Rosberg and Hamilton crashed out.

From then on, his talent was widely recognised and praised, despite the mistakes he made as he tried to find the limits of the car and the media. He quickly became competitive enough to challenge the much more experienced Ricciardo, and arguably enough to chase him from the team, signing with Renault for the 2019 season.

But it's 2024, now. Why go back to 2018? Why go back at all?

The Red Bull Racing junior program has always been one of the most ruthless. You perform, or you're out. There's no patience afforded, and their drivers sink or swim. The thing is that the drivers that DO swim tend to be some of the most talented in the sport: Ricciardo, Vettel, Verstappen. And in 2019, with Ricciardo Renault-bound, Red Bull suddenly had a big gap to fill in their team, with no one particularly suitable to fill it.

Pierre Gasly got the callup from Toro Rosso, where he'd been a full-time driver for one season, in 2018. Alex Albon replaced him in Toro Rosso. He underperformed hugely compared to the much more experienced and talented Verstappen, resulting in a mid-season swap between him and Albon (who was in his first season in the sport). This swap, though, was not only motivated by a potential performance gain for Red Bull, but by the majority Thai ownership of RBR, who were eager for Albon's promotion, and Horner ultimately reaped the rewards for this - it becomes more important later.

Gasly performed much, much better this time around in Toro Rosso, and there were cries for him to return, although Horner and Marko both stuck to their guns (and likely to investment pathways) and kept Albon for 2020, where his performance was bad enough to drop him.

Ricciardo blindsided the team by leaving them. Horner himself had said at the time that they put everything on the table to keep him, "everything he asked for". Ricciardo's move, meanwhile, was at least partially motivated by not wanting to be the next Mark Webber, caught unaware by a young prodigy and relegated to being a number two driver whilst he won championships. Red Bull had no talent in the wings worthy of being paired with Verstappen, and it showed, until they signed Sergio Perez from Racing Point (now Aston Martin) for the 2021 season, where Verstappen won his first championship against Lewis Hamilton. Over the course of the season, Perez played the ultimate team game, defending for Verstappen and trying to take points off Hamilton to help in the fight for the drivers', which Red Bull sorely wanted to win.

Perez was under no illusions about what his role was in the team: support Verstappen, even, at times, at the cost of his own race. A solid and dependable number two driver to back up their prodigy. And to some extent, it worked: Red Bull have been constructors' champions two years running (22, 23) and secured a 1-3 finish in the drivers' in 22 and a 1-2 in 23, for the first time in Red Bull's history.

Cut to January 2024: Christian Horner, the Team Principal of Red Bull Racing, is accused of alleged (but very likely) sexual harassment and assault against a member of staff. From this, a power struggle that was previously just under the surface of the team's operations suddenly begins to boil over. The Austrian side of Red Bull reportedly wants Horner fired, but Horner takes them to court and with the backing of the Thai side, which owns 51% of the company, Horner is allowed to keep his job. What has followed, throughout 2024, is the culmination of everything that this team has done since 2016, leading to now what is very likely to be the loss of the constructors' title, and perhaps even P2 in that title race.

Team performance fluctuates all the time, so maybe this shouldn't be that surprising. Red Bull were always going to lose a few key players in terms of their engineering team: brain drain is a very real thing, and Mercedes already experienced it in the wake of their dominant era in 14-20. However, losing Newey was preventable, and has seemed to hurt them in a big way, pretty immediately. It's debateable whether losing Newey has contributed most to the loss of performance, a technical directive on asymmetrical braking, or whether they were on the wrong development path this whole time and its only become apparent as other teams (McL, Merc, Ferrari) have begun to find the right one. But either way, a team and driver combination that has looked utterly dominant and unbeatable throught most of 2022, and all of 2023, has fallen to P5/P6 drives, with no clear idea of when they'll get back to challenging for wins, with a championship in the balance.

The politics in Red Bull have become more and more toxic, too, sprawling over into VCARB, where Tsunoda seems helpless in the power struggle between Marko (who seemingly wants him promoted to RBR), and Horner, who has been fairly vocal about wanting Ricciardo back in that seat. As a result, Tsunoda and Ricciardo are subject to seat swap rumours every race weekend, and Tsunoda seems cursed to rot in Red Bull's junior team without chance of promotion given Horner's unwillingness to test him in Red Bull's cars. With Perez underperforming, and a stalemate in their own junior team, RBR have no second driver. Verstappen is all they have.

Perhaps this is part of the reason that he's Red Bull's biggest weakness, whilst also being their greatest strength. For a while, they've relied on his talent and his skill, and neglected building their other talent, sticking to the sink-or-swim brutality that created him. Outside of Red Bull's own junior program, RBR has reportedly held (for the most part, informal) talks with Leclerc (22), Norris (23), and Alonso (24), all three of which have turned them down. Whilst all three have reasons for not wanting to leave their current teams where they're prioritised and on an upward trajectory, there's definitely an argument to be made about Verstappen being formidable to go up against and scaring drivers away from partnering him - he arguably has ended the top-flight careers of Ricciardo, Gasly, Albon and Perez in his time at Red Bull. It's made filling that second driver seat a complicated task, much like Mercedes during Hamilton's era of dominance, except they had Bottas.

But recently, Verstappen has been Red Bull Racing's weakness in the development race, too. Allegedly, the current negative trajectory of the RB20 began in Barcelona 2023, when Perez began to struggle with the car, but the engineers simply did not realise, since Verstappen was still winning, and by big margins, with the same car.

Just as a side note: I'm not sure this is entirely true. All teams play the PR game, and retroactively trying to make its drivers look better is something that I wouldn't put past Red Bull. The car being on the wrong development path also doesn't mean much in a) early stages of said development path and b) when literally every single other team (minus maybe McL at the end of the 2023 season) is on an an worse development path.

So, if we take these comments at face value, then Verstappen's ability to drive difficult cars / outperform his car has directly negatively impacted them in the development race in 2024, as the team was more inclined to listen to him than Perez, its second driver. Finally, as we come into the back half of the 2024 season, the team is realising its errors, and trying to pull itself back into the championship fight. On top of that fact, Red Bull has no clear choice for a second driver who can reliably be close to Verstappen when fighting for constructors' since its neglected its talent since Verstappen is so strong, and hasn't been able to pick up any considerable talent from outside their own pool because (at least partially) Verstappen is so intimidating to go head to head with as a teammate.

So whilst Verstappen single-handedly won the team the constructors' in 2023, in 2024, he's becoming their achilles' heel - their biggest weakness. And if he chooses to leave what is a dying team, what will Red Bull have left?

[superm4ks]

Top 10 essential Verstappen races list please!

I habe been watching since I was a literal infant but I kinda took a break from 2014 until 2018 so I missed a lot of teenage Max lore. Now I treated myself to some f1tv for Christmas and want to rewatch a couple old races!!!

Malaysia 2015 Baby boys first points on his 2nd ever f1 start. Drags that lil toro rosso to q3 and then beats both red bulls. Also very funny to listen to the sky commentary because they dont take him seriously at all but he keeps doing things with that car he shouldnt be able to do so they have to keep talking about him and they're so annoyed about itnklfdjgkfdj

Singapore, 2015 classic max race. car d1es at the start. somehow makes it back on track 1 lap down, waits for his main character moment. gets it on lap 13. breezes past the field. gets told to swap positions. literally yells 'NO' and does not do it. U thought brazil 2022 was shocking, well. Educate yourself

USA, 2015 first of all there was a whole hurricane happening bro like a literal hurricane everything about thsi race is like .. what is going on. Hello. Is that Elton John???? Mind you, its Max's rookie season. Austin with wet conditions is the race track equivalent of a fucking minefield I think like half the grid retired. And still, u will witness that lil boy bring the fight to Merc and Ferrari. He actually fought Lewis and Seb Vettel for a podium. In a toro rosso. yeah

Spain, 2016 anime protagonist race. lil babby makes the jump to the big sister team amid much mockery and controversy, and wins on his debut. I can't say this enough. Max has made a career out of owning up to bitches. Every single time. Mercs take each other out, Danny ric gets inexplicably put on a 3 stopper ((lmfao)), and Max holds off fucking RAIKKONEN on DRS!!!! for like a billion years. Not a wheel out of place. And not even his defining moment of the year. For that, u gotta go with--

Brazil, 2016 He became MOTHER age 19 in Interlagos. Nothing else to say. if ur a verstappie u gotta watch Brazil 2016 like twice a year for ur troubles

China, 2017 just a super underrated race imo. Imma go on a tangent for a bit sorry but one of most insane aspects of Max's move to f1 is that he did so with 1 year of experience in f3. Like f3 had been the strongest engine he'd driven up to that point. f3 cars are fast but they're not f1 fast. So Max was supposed to be like a lil squid in a bowl of sharks. To anybody else it wouldve been extremely intimidating and scary to make that jump and its likely they would've sacrificed speed just because they didn't have that confidence in the car yet. And there'd be nothing wrong with that, thats just normal. Well Max never did normal. Seb put it perfectly and Im pretty sure he's not the first driver to comment on this, but Max goes for moves that nobody in their right mind would even dream of attempting. Shit that takes a special type of instinct, but more than that, a complete lack of fear. And with that comes the other side of the sword, which is the recklessness. Max was a reckless driver. A lot of drivers can be reckless, especially if the car doesn't allow them to just cruise to podiums, but Max was a child. This race is so important in his curriculum because it solidifies that his recklessness is not foolishness, but necessity. Bro passed 9 cars in one lap and held off danny ric with older tires. This after a disaster quali where he finished second to last because of an engine problem. To come back from that and get a podium the way he did, its a character drive. It showed who he was and Max was the future

Mexico, 2017 here. Yeah

Austria, 2018 quali is a must watch for this one. Listening to Max educate his engineers on 'discipline' for even DARING to ask him to pass danny ric prolly makes that move to Renault less confusing. Like u cant fight that. That is not a mf who will ever let u win a world title. But he didnt show it just during quali. This race is important because u can compare it some of his most dominant 2022 victories, in a car that would literally spit out its own tires and explode if Max idk farted or something.

USA, 2018 ok I'm biased but max has never come to the US and not served. Idk why its kind of funny but every time he steps foot in here he stunts and gets super wet and looks amazing. He's also absurdly good in US circuits for no reason. Like Max says, u gotta know how to defend not just attack. Prolly one of the most impressive defensive performances from him here, against none other than sir hammer herself. Lew had fresher tires and a championship winning merc and still couldnt crack lil bro with his renault engine, cap and a dream. Also they literally installed a whole new curb on the track specifically to make drivers stick to track limits and called it the verstopper and that. literal tears in my eyes yk look at this shit

Look at her . anyway

Enjoy thjs humble selection of our fav boy genius/fbi most wanted best hits. Next up

✨😤 Part 2 😤✨ Part 3 🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨

[blorbocedes]

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

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

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

he had them gagged since the start

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

max was the boy wonder who could

[dear-ao3]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So to reiterate the seat movements:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sorry for rambling so much I have thoughts haha

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

[moonvisi0n]

2015 Formula One Round 1&2

Felt random when I picked it but after finishing the Malaysian race I knew it'd be an exciting season. Don't know where to start so I'll just go by who's in the photos—THIS GRID'S REDBULL AND TORO ROSSO LINE UP !!! THIS GRID'S ROOKIES. I'm just more realizing that every season I pick to binge IS the perfect season to get into (Cuz I don't mess around apparently),

Rookie Max Verstappen. What haunting words. He DNFed his first race and the camera cut to his father in the Redbull garage, evidently furious. He was only 17. He placed 7th in Malaysia, becoming the 'Youngest points scorer' in Formula One.

OH You thought a young Max Verstappen in the Redbull/STR family would be enough for this grid—BOOM Carlos Sainz Jr. I won't say anything more because this dude needs to announce where he's going to be in 2025 (holy shit a decade since this season) it's actually not funny anymore Except when it was when KMag pointed at him like 🫵 and 👈 That's who the cork is

Max replaced the previous title holder of F1 coming of christ (youngest driver to score points), Seb Vettel, who now sits in a shining Ferrari with the Schumacher comparisons already beginning. Just like they did in 2007 for funnily enough his teammate this season, KIMI. Apparently, in his last year with Redbull, he only led 2 races—Imagine then winning your first race with Ferrari:

Obvi the overarching story of this season is Hamilton's THIRD championship ! And probably a Rosberg🫳(and therefore Hamilton) tragedy in the making hehe

This rant screams Redbull diehard and/or fake Ferrari fan who doesn't understand true tifosi but I SWEAR I know what DRS is🤞

But just in general, why this season? I guess:

Divas, the lot of them

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 168/332

2016 Australian GP

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

Team changes :

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

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

Renault is however back as a team as they purchased Lotus

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

Driver changes :

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

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

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

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

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

Ferrari : Seb + Raikkonen

Force India : Perez + Hulkenberrg

Haas : Grosjean + Gutierrez

McLaren : Alonso + Jenson

Mercedes : Nico + Lewis

Manor : Haryanto + Wehrlein

RedBull : Ricciardo + Kvyat

Renault : Magnussen + Palmer

Sauber : Ericsson + Nasr

Toro Rosso : Verstappen + Sainz

Williams : Massa + Valtteri

Calendar changes :

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

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

The German GP is back on the calendar. 

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

Rule changes :

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

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

The teams now have more tokens to develop the PUs 

The pre-season tests were reduced from 3 to 2

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

The stewards have more power to enforce track limits 

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

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

The VSC is now also used during FPs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There's a segment about Mercedes' filming day.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here we go. 

They are racing! 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And it's the end of the race! 

Nico, Lewis, Seb. 

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

They walk away talking, while Nico is left behind.

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

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

And Seb dumps his on Mark.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sourstroll]

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

WC: 3,359

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Can we talk, Nando?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[f1]

Logan Sargeant proudly shows off new F1 helmet with American flag on it ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix

America's new F1 hero Logan Sargeant shows off his stars-and-stripes helmet for the first time, as he prepares for his race debut in Bahrain season opener By Alastair Talbot For Dailymail.Com Published: 15:17 EST, 8 February 2023 | Updated: 15:17 EST, 8 February 2023 Formula One's only American driver, Logan Sargeant, has revealed his new Williams helmet design ahead of his rookie season on some of the world's most challenging race tracks, following his step up from Formula 2. The 22-year-old - who hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida - finished fourth in F2 last year and is set to compete at the Bahrain Grand Prix next month with car No. 2 for Williams - the nine-time championship-winning British motor racing team.  On Wednesday, he showed off his new racing suit tailored in Williams' traditional deep blue color - a distinctive trademark of the group since its first F1 entry at the 1977 Spanish Grand Prix. However, Sargeant's helmet design is what has gotten F1 fans purring for what lies ahead, as it proudly displays its drivers roots by showing off the American flag on its two sides.  Neatly enough, the flag is also lined up with the helmet's visor, while Williams' 'W' logo is also painted in Star and Stripes in a tribute to its drivers. Williams Racing has released Logan Sargeant's helmet design for his rookie Formula 1 season The 22-year-old will be F1's only American driver next season and its first one since 2015 Sargeant's number two was painted in the American flag's colors, paying tribute his roots Sargeant previously competed in F2 driving for Rodin Carlin, another British motor racing team, and ended up winning the competition's Rookie of the Year award.  And ahead of his F1 debut on March 5, Sargeant is doing his best to stay grounded. Asked at the team's livery launch on Monday if he had rewarded himself for securing a dream job, the youngster, who moved to Europe at 12-years-old to compete against the best in karting, said no. 'More hours in the gym,' he said. 'I haven't treated myself. 'I've just stayed exactly as I was last year in terms of I'm still living in the same place in London. On my own, enjoying the hours in the gym, enjoying the time on the sim [simulator]. 'I know it sounds boring, but that's about all I've been doing.' Sargeant will be the first U.S. driver to race in Formula One since Alexander Rossi in 2015, as he's replacing Canadian Nicholas Latifi at Williams.  All being well, he also has the chance to be the first to do a full season since Scott Speed at Red Bull-owned Toro Rosso (now AlphaTauri) in 2006.   Sargeant will be the first U.S. driver to race in Formula One since Alexander Rossi (pictured) Sargeant finished fourth in last season's Formula 2, winning the Rookie of the Year Award With three U.S. races on the calendar, including a home round in Miami and a new floodlit spectacular in Las Vegas, the American is stepping into a bright media spotlight but he said he was well-prepared. 'Coming into the sport, straight into a year where there's three U.S. Grands Prix is a special opportunity and a privilege at the same time,' he said. 'F1 in America is clearly at its peak and its still on the way up, which is a massive positive. You can see how many questions from friends and family and how curious people are about the sport. 'It's funny, people text me now and be like ''I didn't realize how big of a thing this could eventually be or how big F1 really was'',' he added. 'It's a completely different world now in terms of America. Everyone knows what Formula One is now over there. It's nice to see the transition.' Share or comment on this article: Logan Sargeant proudly shows off new F1 helmet with American flag on it ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix  via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

[il-predestinato]

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

The sequence of events went like this:

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

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

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

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

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

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

[maxgovroom]

for people wondering whether max is a good driver or he only just relied on his car this year to win the wdc i’m gonna be straightforward and say max is objectively an amazing driver.

we’re talking about a guy who won about 23 titles in karting alone, multiple drivers who have raced against him during that time have said that he was the benchmark, he was the guy to beat.

then we move on to single seaters when he’s around 15/16 where he had just one season of formula 3 (and he participated in another formulas but not really full time) and came 3rd in the standings as he got narrowly beaten by his arch enemy from brazil esteban ocon (who, let’s be honest, was in a better car and had been more consistent in the earlier part of the season).

at the time he signed with red bull to be in their academy and by the end of his season in formula 3 it was announced that he would be joining the toro rosso team in 2015 at just 17 years of age. this wasn’t very unexpected as max had racked up a lot of wins and pole positions in f3 and had dozens of previous titles that by this time every single team in formula 1 wanted him. we’re talking about the paddock filled with rumours about who was the lucky team that got max verstappen into their ranks. and after declining mercedes’ offer as they couldn’t guarantee him a seat in formula 1, max and his dad signed with red bull.

max qualified a number of times in the top 10 in his first year and even got two p4 finishes in races where his aggressive style of racing shined as he made incredible overtakes on much older and much more experienced formula 1 drivers. his first year was very impressive and he won rookie of the year at the fia gala as well. then we move onto 2016 where daniil kvyat was having a rough time in the red bull car and couldn’t get the results the team expected from him. so, prior to the spanish gp it was announced that max would replace him in the senior team and kvyat would be relegated to toro rosso.

max qualified on the second row for his first race with the big team and was able to take the lead after the mercedes teammates crashed each other out of the race. he managed the race perfectly and brought home his maiden win on his first race with the senior red bull team, an achievement that described by niki lauda “will never happen again”. and the rest is history, max was able to get several wins and podiums in every year that followed proving to red bull they had made the right decision when promoting him.

if y’all want more details i’d recommend watching this video https://youtu.be/ocT64A0WvG4

[mcgnussen]

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

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

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

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

TIMELINE (2008-2022)

2008-2013: mclaren* 

2014: force india (aston martin), mclaren

2015: mclaren*, williams 

2016: renault (alpine)

2017: renault (alpine), haas

2018: haas

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

2020: haas

2021: haas*, williams*

2022: haas 

2023: haas

2024: haas

more details below!

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

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

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

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

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

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

2019: new contract with haas.

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

2021: kevin doing his thing outside f1.

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

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

[moonvisi0n]

2015 F1 Rounds 3&4.

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CHINESE GRAND PRIX & failing Renault engines

My fear of speaking too soon jinxed me, I was prematurely praising this grid's Redbull & toro Rosso lineup srry yall 😬🤞

It was funny Cause at the beginning of this race, they even praised Verstappen and his boy genius kid Wonder excellence, and immediately commenting on how poorly Kvyat started his season—ONLY for Max to stop his own race LAP 54/56. Both by an engine problem happening for the team and sister cause it got Ricciardo, SAINZ, and Max again !! in Bahrain !!

Look at this magnificent photo though, the marshalls desperately trying to roll the Toro Rosso corpse of rookie Max Verstappen into the pit before the pack crosses the final lap led by LH (& boo sc) !!

BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX & Räikkönen on Rosberg

Something switched in Rosberg and Räikkönen for this race because the Mercedes, Ferrari, Mercedes, Ferrari quali result lineup at the start was really pit dancing & havin' great ol' battles at all moments ;D

Unfortunately, Vettel eventually lost it at some point cause he ended up closer to Bottas & sometimes Massa. WILLIAMS UP FRONT. well rather up the grid Claire Williams miss u

Fortunately, the dog in Räikkönen (& bc of break problems for both Rosberg And Hamilton) was able to get 2nd, And look at LH and KIMI here tho, fav races fr 😎 (prob) Too much AURA, I've been charmed, impressed, I'm never not thinking of them and their lore>

Promise these blogs won't just be about big names and P1s, P2s, P3s hehe & IK wins are both bc of racer AND team, Loved loved seeing that George's win in Austria was equally celebrated with (and sometimes because OF) their home team efforts, In this race Toto Wolff was asked if "Nico's mistake" cost Mercedes a 1-2 but he immediately refuted this, saying it was "ours" and things the team will look into 💪💪 Big balls, big bucks sport I guess

2015 Mclaren here for a good time not a long time <3 & I'm so ready for Jenson Button to button it up in 2009 F1 but just know so far every time they get to him in the starting grid I go ☹️ he's been so far back ☹️ It’s rough out here for my guy (Drivers with only 1 championship year)

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