#and people who are saying lando is not a wdc material

[stachesainzcore]

I just saw someone hating on Oscar but I also saw multiple people hating on Lando like now I don't even know if we see the same race? Yes I personally believe the position should have not been given up. But also did y'all not hear the radio messages to Lando? Like the team were literally subtly kinda of? threatening him to give the position to Oscar. Please stop this madness it was purely a team fuckup. Not Lando's and definitely not Oscars! Lando fans hating on oscar is like the worst case scenario rn because the team has fucked up Oscar's race to prioritise Lando's multiple times ya let's not forget Silverstone right! Both of them deserved the win. But Oscar was standing on the top step of the podium so it won't really change anything. Lan&Osc were not at fault today. Please people get a grip.

[forzalando]

Seeing Someone

Lando Norris x friend!reader (female reader)

summary: Lando is finally ready to tell you how he feels when he overhears you say that you've started seeing someone - but overheard conversations aren't always what they seem. wc: 5.5k author's note: a few disclaimers: 1. let's all pretend that everyone has to spend a few weeks at MTC before the start of the season and they commute to/from London. 2. therapy and mental health help are so important - i purposefully left some things vague because people go to therapy for a variety of reasons and it should be normalized! i also didn't want things to get too heavy or potentially upset anyone by choosing to elaborate on something they relate to/hits a little too close to home. 3. this was inspired by a post i saw on my dash that said "when you said you were seeing someone i was hoping you meant a therapist". this originally started out more light-hearted, but the angst came out and i couldn't stop. feeling a little insecure about this one - thoughts and feelings in the comments/reblogs/my inbox would be so cherished and appreciated :) once again, special shoutout to @sof1shticated for being my beta reader. couldn't do this without you, Mel! warnings: mentions of reader going to therapy, mentions of reader drinking, a few curse words (i think), and angst! but there is a happy ending (even if it's a little open-ended)

Lando had searched the entirety of McLaren HQ at this point and started to worry – you were quite literally nowhere to be found. Usually, this wouldn’t phase him, since you were notorious for getting distracted or caught up in conversation with everyone you came across. You especially found ways to delay leaving MTC when you had to be there physically – the commute from HQ back to London each day was objectively the worst part of everyone coming together in the weeks leading up to each new season.

Today, however, the two of you had plans to get dinner at your favorite restaurant in London and you would never miss a chance to devour your favorite scallop risotto, cheese garlic bread, several glasses of wine, and a heaping mound of tiramisu for dessert.

He stopped speed-walking abruptly when he saw a familiar head of brown hair out of the corner of his eye.

“OSCAR,” Lando shouted, his speed-walk turning into a run. “Oscar, have you seen Y/N? She told me to meet at her office at 5:00pm but it’s 5:30pm and she is literally missing. She better have a good excuse, I hate being late.”

“Missing? Are you sure she’s not just caught up in a meeting? I saw her heading to Zak’s office around 4:45pm, did you check there?”

“Zak’s office, of course! The one place I didn’t check. Thanks, Osc, you’re the man.”

Oscar rolled his eyes – “Anytime, Lan. What are you running late for? Hot date?”

Lando didn’t miss the wiggle of Oscar’s eyebrows and slight smirk. It wasn’t a secret to the Australian that Lando had a crush on Y/N – although Lando had never confirmed or denied it, it was pretty obvious to anyone who spent more than 30 seconds around them.

“Ah, something like that,” Lando said nonchalantly, a bashful blush making its way to his cheeks.

“Good luck, mate!” Oscar threw a wave over his shoulder as he heard the retreating sound of Lando’s trainers smacking against the floor.

In truth, although you and Lando were just friends and Lando was terrified he may ruin that, he had plans to tell you about his feelings for you that night at dinner. It had been almost a year since you started working for McLaren, and almost a year of Lando pining after you in secret. He spent most days trying to convince himself he was content just being your friend, but he was determined to make 2024 his year. His first win, hopefully of many, maybe even WDC contender material, and finally plucking up the courage to be honest with you.

As Lando hurriedly approached Zak’s office, he could see that the door was slightly ajar and heard your voice trailing through the opening.

“I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me, Zak. And a massive thank you for approving the time off on such late notice.”

“Anytime, Y/N, you know you’re like family to me and everyone here. You sure you’re ok?”

“Yes, I’m seeing someone. It’s still new so I’m not set on him yet but I have a really good feeling about it, I’m really starting to wish I had called him sooner. He actually suggested the days off, I’m seeing him on Tuesday and hopefully things continue to go well.”

Lando’s heart dropped to his stomach – all week he had been thinking about tonight. How to tell you, how you might react, how nervous he was, and each day he grew even more anxious. He was panicking – what was he supposed to do? How could he sit across from you all night knowing that he’d missed his chance?

“That’s so good to hear,” Zak said earnestly. “Keep me updated and enjoy your days off.”

Lando could hear chairs scraping and scrambled to leave the scene before you walked out of Zak’s office to find him eavesdropping. He got about 50 feet down the hallway before he heard your voice from behind.

“Lan,” you shouted. “I’m so sorry, I’m totally late but I had to meet with Zak about something and his last meeting went way over.”

You jogged a little to catch up to him – a bright smile on your face that made his heart rate skyrocket and his palms grow sweaty. He couldn’t see you feeling like this. Not tonight, not when he could barely keep himself from telling you that he would be a much better boyfriend than whoever you were dating.

“We still on for dinner? I grabbed everything I needed from my office before I met with Zak so if we leave right this second and ignore the speed limit, they may seat us,” you bumped his shoulder as you joked.

Unable to help himself, only thinking about how hurt he was even though you’d done nothing wrong, Lando blurted out an excuse. “Actually, I was trying to find you to tell you I can’t make it.”

He tried not to react when he saw your face fall a little, but he told himself it was because you were disappointed about the last-minute change in plans and not that he wasn’t going.

“You should still go though,” he offered quickly. “I’m sure you have someone you could take with you!”

Your eyes spotted Oscar across the hallway and you smiled slightly – it had been a while since you had spent time with him and you knew he was having a rough week.

“Yeah, I have someone in mind,” you mused, focusing your eyes back on Lando. “Is everything ok? Are you not feeling well?”

“No, I’m fine, I just forgot I have plans.”

“Well, we had plans. You scheduled over me?”

“It’s a last-minute thing. Date thing. Last-minute date thing.”

“Oh,” you gasped. “Oh, that’s great!” You plastered a fake smile on your face – hoping that he was just as oblivious now as he apparently is to your feelings. “I hope you have a great time, she’s a lucky girl! I’ll see you on Wednesday, I’m taking a couple days off!”

Before he had a chance to say anything else, you sped off in search of Oscar to bribe him to accompany you to dinner. While you set off across the room, Lando smacked himself in the forehead and groaned.

“Why did you tell her it was a date, you idiot,” he mumbled to himself. Now, it was his turn to speed walk through McLaren HQ, but if he had turned around just for a moment, he would have caught you stopped in your tracks staring at him longingly as he walked away.

You shook your head and sighed, continuing your quest to find the younger McLaren driver and rope him into an evening filled with good food and, if you were being honest with yourself, probably a few tears.

A few moments later, you spotted floppy brown hair bouncing as Oscar walked toward the employee parking lot.

“Oscar!” You yelled after him, increasing your pace to catch up to him.

“Hey,” he said, confusion evident on his face, “I thought you were going out with Lando?”

“He’s got a date,” you blurted. “He has a date and he canceled on me and it’s fine. I am fine. But I want my scallop risotto and tiramisu so you’re coming with me.”

“Sure, Y/N, lead the way.”

Oscar was, to put it extremely lightly, confused. Lando was completely enamored by you – anyone with eyes could see it. Oscar was wholly convinced that Lando was going to officially ask you out at dinner tonight, especially after the brief conversation they had while you were late to meet up with him.

Yet, here he was, sat across from you in a dimly lit room as you sipped on your third glass of wine and, with all the subtlety of a neon sign, wiped a tear from your lower lash line.

“It’s not that I’m not happy for him, I’m so happy for him. But canceling last minute is a dick move, right? It’s a dick move. I know I’m just his friend, sometimes I feel like just a colleague, but I’m not being dramatic, right?”

Oscar stared at you blankly – his eyes wide and a look of pure fear on his face. He considered himself good at most things, great at quite a few, but comforting a crying woman was bottom of the list of Oscar Piastri’s skills.

“It’s totally a dick move,” he nodded his head eagerly in agreement. “I just don’t get it – when I saw him earlier he was frantic trying to find you. I think he’d scoured the entirety of MTC, he was out of breath when I found him.”

“Well, at least he had the decency to find me and tell me in person that he planned on ditching me.”

“Yeah, but that’s just it, it didn’t seem like he was trying to find you to tell you that. He complained about being late and when I asked him if he had a hot date, he blushed.”

“He is literally on a hot date.”

“Ok, well, when I asked him I meant did he have a hot date specifically with you.”

You scoffed and set your glass down – as much as you loved Oscar and you knew he’d never judge you, if you had any more wine you’d end up sobbing and not just wiping stray tears away.

“As if! Lando has never once made a move on me even though I flirt, or at least try to flirt, with him any chance I get.”

“You flirt with Lando?”

“I made him a personalized Spotify playlist, had Stroopwafels overnighted to him from The Netherlands after Vegas, bought him a sweater for his birthday with a card that said ‘to match your eyes’, and I compliment him every time I see him.”

“That’s your idea of flirting?”

“Well, yes.”

“Y/N, that’s just being nice to people. You’re nice to everyone. Lando is not going to understand that you’re a little extra nice to him and that means you’re trying to woo him.”

You huffed and slumped in your seat, crossing your arms over your chest. “Ok, well, how would you flirt with Lando?”

“Did you seriously just ask me that question?”

“Yes because apparently you know all about flirting! And by the way, Logan thought I was coming onto him when I was just being nice so some people would consider my actions flirtatious.”

“That doesn’t count, Logan thinks Uber drivers are flirting with him when they say ‘have a nice day’.”

You and Oscar shared a laugh at the mention of your mutual friend – somehow an even more hopeless case than you in the world of romance.

Your laughs turned to giggles and eventually died down completely. A sigh climbed its way out of your throat, the sudden change in your mood evident to Oscar.

“It doesn’t matter anyway – he’s seeing someone so no more trying, and according to you failing, to flirt.”

“You don’t know how serious it is, maybe this was a first date and it’ll go horribly. He definitely doesn’t have a girlfriend if that’s what you’re worried about, he was just saying the other day that Lily and I make him feel painfully single. We can ask him about it on Monday!”

You frowned a bit and tried to recover, but Oscar noticed the way your face fell slightly. “I’m actually taking a few days off, I need some personal time. I won’t be back at MTC until Wednesday.”

“Is everything ok? You don’t have to tell me but if you need anything, you know I’m there for you, right?”

You smiled at Oscar – it was a rare thing to find such great friends in the people you worked with, but you got so incredibly lucky with the McLaren team, especially Lando and Oscar. “I know that, Osc. You’re a gem.”

With a nod of understanding, Oscar changed the subject to something more pleasant, and you enjoyed the rest of your evening with your friend.

When Wednesday morning rolled around, you felt like your stomach might explode from nerves. You had resisted texting Lando over the past few days to ask about his date, you didn’t want to seem too eager and hoped it would come up naturally in conversation during the day. You hadn’t talked to Oscar much, though he’d texted you a few times to check in, but you wondered if he had talked to Lando at all and if he had details on how well Lando’s date went.

You arrived at MTC fairly early, hoping to get a head start on your day. Winter break was nearly over, and you were swamped with finalizing everything for the start of the 2024 season. It wasn’t until lunch that you saw Lando at all and he just so happened to be waiting in your office, sitting comfortably in your chair, while you were walking back from your latest meeting.

“Lando! What are you doing here?”

“I, uh,” he scrambled. “I was just…I don’t know really. I guess I wanted to see you, we haven’t talked in a few days since you’ve been out.”

“Well, we’ve both been busy. You could’ve texted me. How was your date?”

“It was good. Great. How about yours?”

You smiled remembering your evening with Oscar, assuming he had told Lando at some point that he had accompanied you. “Honestly so fun, we had the best time. I hope we get to do it again soon.”

Lando cringed – jealousy rearing its ugly head as he looked down at his feet before answering. “Same, I’ll probably go out with her again this weekend.”

“Good for you,” you gritted. “I’m glad you had fun. I actually have a million things to do so if there’s nothing important…”

“Yeah, yeah, sorry. Just wanted to see you. I guess we’ll catch up soon? Hope you enjoyed your days off.”

Mustering up a fake smile, you told him definitely, awkwardly standing as he rose from your desk and left your office. As soon as he was far enough away that he couldn’t hear you, you groaned. The tension between you and Lando was unbearable, though you didn’t understand why it seemed to mostly be coming from him. Before you had a chance to think any further, you could hear your phone buzzing from inside your bag and begrudgingly pulled it out to see a text from Oscar.

did you go on a date over the weekend?

no? why are you asking me that?

well then why did lando just sit across from me and say ‘did Y/N tell you anything about her date?’

he was just in my office, I asked him how his date went and he asked about ‘mine’. i assumed he was talking about Friday and that you told him i brought you?

i never told him, i guess he thought you brought a real date?

You paused before responding to Oscar, confusion evident on your face and in your lack of response. Before you could type out a reply, two more texts came in.

ok something is up because i just told him that i went with you on friday and he said “i know, i saw you in her insta story in the reflection of a wine glass, i’m talking about yesterday”

insane that he looked close enough to see me in your wine glass but not the point

i literally haven’t been on a date in two years

let me figure this out

You slid your phone back into your bag and pulled out your laptop – your Lando problems would have to wait until you were at least somewhat caught up after missing two days so close to the start of the season.

Meanwhile, at a conference room table in MTC, Oscar was confused. Which, as of late, was a common occurrence when it came to you and Lando.

“Mate,” Oscar addressed Lando, “if you’re not talking about Friday, what date did you ask Y/N about? She hasn’t been on a date in forever.”

“Well then he must have canceled on her because she was supposed to have plans yesterday, it’s why she took days off.”

“I don’t know the exact reason why she took days off but she told me on Friday that she was and didn’t seem too happy about it. Said it was personal reasons.”

“Going on a date is personal.”

“Not ‘take two days off of work’ personal! Where are you even getting this information?”

Lando looked away sheepishly, afraid to admit to Oscar that he had eavesdropped on a private conversation between you and Zak. With Oscar looking at him expectantly, and a bit like a pissed-off Mum, he blurted it out.

“I heard her talking to Zak! Last week on Friday, when I was looking for her, she was in his office and the door was cracked. She had asked him for a couple days off and talked about how she recently started seeing someone and was seeing him again on Tuesday aka yesterday.”

Now Oscar was really confused. You had cried over Lando publicly on Friday, and he knew you fairly well, which meant there was no way you would be crying over Lando and going out with someone else four days later.

“I think you need to just talk to her because I promise you, she is not seeing someone. Also, what do you care? You ditched her for a date on Friday.”

Oscar had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he watched Lando’s face fall.

“Lando, tell me you didn’t.”

“I might have.”

“Jesus, Lando, you heard 30 seconds of a conversation and decided to lie to her? Because what, your ego took a blow? Some caveman instinct?”

“No, I don’t know, honestly. It just slipped out! I had planned to ask her out for real and when I heard her say ‘I’m seeing someone’, I just didn’t know how to be around her. I couldn’t be around her that night.”

“You need to go talk to her. Apologize. Preferably, immediately.”

Lando jumped up from his seat and sighed. “You’re right. She might kill me, and she has every right to, but I have to talk to her and apologize to her. Wish me luck!”

Before Oscar could do what Lando had asked, Lando raced off towards your office, barely stopping himself from tripping over his own two feet.

Across MTC, you had just settled your mind and gotten into a groove of catching up on emails and making progress on deadlines. As soon as you thought to yourself that the day was going better than expected, your office door flung open and Lando Norris was standing stiff in your doorway.

“Lan, I told you that I’m busy. What is going on?” Annoyance was evident in your voice and Lando cringed knowing that this conversation was probably not going to be very pleasant.

“Why did you take time off?”

Your body straightened in shock, of all the things he could have asked you after bombarding you in your office, you wouldn’t have guessed he would pry into your personal life.

“That’s none of your business, Lando. If you were worried about me, you could have reached out, but I haven’t heard from you since you ditched me on Friday.”

Lando could see the hurt on your face, he could see it evident in your body language. He thought back to how you had looked upset immediately when he told you on Friday that he couldn’t go with you – when he told himself it had nothing to do with you wanting to spend time with him.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I’m sorry for that, it wasn’t – I mean I didn’t, I didn’t want to not go. I just didn’t know what to do.”

“Ok, I’m totally lost. You didn’t know what to do about what, Lando?”

He steeled himself for your reaction – something he had learned by being your friend for the past year was that you held trust and truth in high regard. You didn’t like being lied to, and you didn’t like people trying to dig into your life or get information you weren’t willing to share.

“I heard you in Zak’s office. I wasn’t eavesdropping on purpose, I swear, I was looking for you because you were late meeting me. Oscar told me you might be with Zak so I went there and the door was open. And I heard you. So I lied and told you that I couldn’t go to dinner, I don’t know why I said I had a date. All I could focus on was how hurt I was, I just couldn’t be around you and then I felt so stupid and terrible for lying so that’s why I didn’t text you at all.”

You were completely and utterly perplexed – you couldn’t even react with anger at the thought of Lando listening to a private conversation and outright lying to you. What could he have overheard that he was so upset about?

“Lando, I’m still confused. What did you hear? How did I hurt you?”

“No, no, you didn’t hurt me. You have no idea how I feel about you – I was going to tell you that night.” Lando was word-vomiting at this point, he never wanted you to find out this way but he couldn’t stop rambling. “I have had feelings for you for so long, and I finally decided that I was going to tell you even if I was convinced you don’t feel the same. And now I know you don’t because you’re seeing someone and – ”

You interrupted him sternly, allowing the anger you were feeling to come forth and shoving down your confusion. “I’m not dating anyone? Is that why you asked Oscar about my ‘date’? Where did you get that idea?”

“You told Zak that you’re seeing someone and that it’s new but things are going good. I heard you say you were seeing him again on Tuesday.”

Your eyes doubled in size – if you weren’t so pissed off, you might have found humor in this, but you felt heat rising to your cheeks and your stomach churned at the thought of divulging your personal struggles.

“Lando, I’m seeing a therapist,” you hissed.

He froze for a moment, then scrambled to shut your door which was still ajar from him barging in.

“A therapist? Are you okay? What’s going on, why didn’t you tell me that you’ve been struggling?”

“No, no, you don’t get to do this right now. You don’t get to make me less angry by being kind and caring.”

“I’m not doing it to make you less angry, Y/N, I genuinely – ”

“I don’t care, Lando! You eavesdropped on my private conversation, misunderstood the context of that conversation, and then you lied to me. You hurt me. And now, because you got your feelings hurt and did things you shouldn’t have done, I have to share something I wasn’t comfortable sharing with you just yet.”

Lando was speechless – you could see the remorse on his face, the tears threatening to spill from his eyes, but in that moment you wanted him to feel even worse than you were.

“And you want to know the worst part,” you cried. “I feel the same way about you. I cried to Oscar at dinner because I thought you were with someone else, that you would have rather been at dinner with a different girl.”

“Y/N, I’m so sorry. Can we please just go somewhere and talk? Really talk this out? I know I messed up, but this doesn’t have to change things or how we feel about each other.”

You wanted to, god, did you want to – you knew Lando hadn’t done any of this on purpose. You knew he didn’t have malicious intent and you knew how hurt he probably felt at the idea of you being with someone – it was exactly the way you felt when you thought the same about him.

“I think you should go, Lan”. Despite every part of you wanting to sit and talk, you knew that you needed some time to settle down.

“Ok,” he whispered. “When you’re ready,” he paused, swallowing the lump in his throat, “if you’re ever ready, you know where to find me.”

His posture made you feel sick as he left your office – Lando was always confident, shoulders back and head held high, but as you watched him through the glass walls surrounding you, he was hunched over. Dejected. You’d only ever seen him that way a few times – after he was torn apart by the media or after making a mistake during a race.

It hurt you to see him that way. But, he had also hurt you, and you needed time.

It had been two weeks since “the incident” with Lando – that’s what Oscar started calling it and it stuck. Fight felt too strong, disagreement felt too weak, so it became something nameless. Undefined. Indeterminate. Exactly like what existed now between you and Lando.

Oscar and Lando were set to leave for Sakhir in a week and you wouldn’t see them again until you joined the team for the Australian GP. If you didn’t work things out with Lando before they left for testing, it would be well over a month without a resolution.

The thought made your eyes burn with tears – you were still upset but more than that you missed Lando. You didn’t even have to wonder if he felt the same because you’d seen him around MTC. He looked just as awful as you, if not worse, yet you couldn’t bring yourself to start a conversation.

You began packing up your things to leave the office, grateful beyond belief that it was a Friday and you’d have two days without seeing Lando’s familiar curls everywhere you turned. At least at home, you would only see them behind closed eyes and wouldn’t have to blink back tears.

A knock at your door startled you, but you assumed it was your team lead looking for your latest analytics report. At least there was one thing you could be happy about – the car data was phenomenal and all signs were pointing to an amazing season for McLaren.

You told whoever was knocking to come in, not looking up from your bag as you rifled through your files. “So sorry, Tom, I meant to bring this to you earlier but I – ”

A throat clearing cut you off, and you looked up to see Lando standing in your doorway with a bouquet of your favorite flowers and one of those cheesy “I’m sorry” balloons in his left hand. You almost giggled, but then you looked at his face and your heart dropped. Dark circles under red-rimmed eyes - he looked awful. 

“I know you said you’d reach out when you’re ready to talk, and I wanted to respect that and give you all the space you need. But, we’re both miserable. At least I think you’re miserable, I know I am. I miss you terribly. I miss my friend. And if that’s all you’ll ever be to me, I can respect that and I will cherish it because the past week has been the worst week of my life.”

“Lando, I – ”

“Please, please let me get all of this out. Please let me apologize.”

You smiled slightly, nodding your head for him to continue.

“I’m sorry for invading your privacy. It wasn’t on purpose but I should have left as soon as I heard you talking because I know how important trust is to you. I violated yours and I’m sorry. I’m sorry for lying to you. It doesn’t matter if I was hurt, I could’ve just said I wasn’t feeling well or asked you about what I overheard immediately. After apologizing for overhearing, of course. I’m sorry that it took Oscar talking sense into me for me to come to you in the first place. I’m sorry that I hurt you and I’m sorry that I behaved like a child instead of talking to you about my feelings. My actions made you feel forced to tell me something personal that you weren’t ready to share. I’m so sorry, and I hope you know that I’m here for you always.”

He let out a deep breath and you watched his shoulders relax slightly for the first time in two weeks. You knew he was sorry – you’d known how sorry he was immediately when he started explaining and apologizing the first time around, but you just weren’t ready to hear it yet.

“Thank you, Lan,” you whispered as you walked towards him and took his free hand in your own. “I know you’re sorry and I know that this was all a misunderstanding that just got out of hand.”

“I am also sorry for springing my feelings on you. I wanted to tell you properly, ask you out properly, but I couldn’t explain myself without telling you. I ruined everything, it was woefully unromantic.”

“Yeah, that was a bit shit, I didn’t get my big grand gesture or anything.”

Lando’s eyes grew wide, a hopeful gleam in them. “I mean, would you – is that something you would still want? I don’t want to pressure you and I don’t want to assume that you still feel the same.”

“I do,” you said softly. “But, I think we should work on really moving past this before we officially jump into anything more.”

“I completely agree. However, I do have a reservation for two in about forty minutes to make up for ditching you, if you’d like to join me? Otherwise, I’ll have to bring Oscar. He won’t stop talking about the cheese garlic bread.”

“No, Lando, you don’t understand. He ordered three baskets. I went home and typed an apology email to Zak for ruining his diet.”

You both erupted in giggles, leaning into each other for support and out of habit. It felt so good to laugh, the weight and stress of the past two weeks rolling off in waves as Lando’s shoulder bumped yours and you heard the unmistakable laughter that you’d come to love so much.

“Maybe we should bring him anyway,” you pondered. “He’s been an exceptionally good friend to us both the past couple of weeks.”

“He can come next time, I’d like you to myself for the evening. If that’s ok?”

“More than ok, Lan. I’ve really missed you.”

He leaned in quickly, kissing your cheek gently and then nuzzling his nose against your neck, inhaling the scent of the perfume he’d gifted you for your last birthday. “Not as much as I’ve missed you,” he objected, his eyes glimmering slightly. Wet eyelashes fluttered against your neck as he stayed tucked into your side for a few more moments.

“We’re going to be late,” you whispered, with a sincere lack of urgency.

“Can we go back to my hotel room instead? Watch a movie and order in? Jus’ wanna hold you.”

Your heart constricted – as much as you wanted to tease him and say he owed you a night out and your favorite meal, you wanted nothing more than to spend the night in Lando’s arms.

“Of course, Lan. I think I need that too.”

On the way to Lando’s car, you passed Oscar who gave you both a knowing smile and a short wave. If you asked him if he had been waiting for you guys to leave, he would deny it. He would deny being so invested in your reconciliation that he waited close to an hour after he could leave for the day to make sure you were both ok. He would also deny that he tracked both of you and when it dawned on him that you were skipping your dinner, he sped to that little Italian place and stole your reservation for an order (or two) of cheese garlic bread.

He couldn’t resist sending a poorly taken picture to the group chat with the three of you and you burst out laughing when you opened it.

“Lan, Oscar somehow stole our dinner res,” you giggled, turning your phone to show Lando an unmistakable basket of bread and a follow-up text with several heart emojis.

Lando held his phone up to snap a quick selfie of you two cuddled up in bed, him leaning in for the second time that evening to place a gentle kiss on your cheek. Almost immediately after it delivered, your phones lit up with another text from Oscar.

HOT DATE FR THIS TIME?

You and Lando looked at each other and smiled, the mutual understanding of where you stood with your feelings evident.

not quite yet, but soon :)

[landoscaring]

my thoughts on monza '24

let me preface this post with a big fucking heave of a sigh

[siiiiiigh]

i gotta admit that i was nervous for this one. the tension has been building up, the pace has gotten stronger, and the media have had a field day commenting on mclaren's strategy. it's been stressful.

on the one hand i gotta say as a mclaren purist that yeah, this blows, but also the fact that this is what we're worrying over? two wdc-potential drivers in our team??? the pace being too good??? like. yeah. give me this over the DNFs and the shit car.

but then.

ugh.

i support lando and oscar equally. always. until the day their contract's up. that being said:

McLaren need to make up their minds

Oscar didn't do anything wrong today

Lando wasn't going to win the race even if he'd kept P1 from the beginning because the tye strat was off anyway

the media NEED TO STOP THE NARRATIVE AROUND OSCAR HELPING LANDO SCORE A WDC BECAUSE THAT'S NOT WHAT LANDO WANTS. do you think he wants to win a wdc because his teammate, who he knows is competitive enough, rolled over and let him through? fuck no, that's not the lando we know

i completely understand the frustration some fans have, but it's misdirected. IF mclaren stepped the fuck up and gave clear orders to both their drivers, this wouldn't be such a shit show

i don't fully agree that team orders are the way to go, but also, i would appreciate if they just made up their minds about it already? time's running out

some fans' takes about this whole thing are just...bad

insert taylor swift quote about "you wouldn't have survived in the asylum they raised me" or whatever because hah, this is nothing, you guys. a few people would've fainted with the way things happened with lewis and nico, mark and seb, prost and senna... and countless more. this sport is RUTHLESS. and CUTTHROAT. it's not tiktok edits with taylor swift songs in the background. oscar did what he knew he could do under the orders given to them both (papaya rules)

in a way i think this needed to happen -and has been building up for a while- for a few reasons, a) for mclaren to wake the fuck up and make up their minds already, b) for fans to realize that oscar is not lando's lapdog and he fully intends to fight for race wins, and c) that just because we like to imagine they're bffs or boyfriends in our fan spaces it doesn't mean they got to be okay with each other all the time. let them be upset. let them be angry. it is what it is.

it was a great race. probably one of the best we've seen all season. as a retired ferrari fan (but really, everyone is a ferrari fan in this sport) i thoroughly enjoyed watching charles win today. he deserved it on grit alone. and their strategy worked, which is something that mclaren needs to learn from.

i will continue to support these two idiots in their highs and lows. neither of them are perfect, and there's so much room for improvement. they're young. allow them some grace when you comment about how this or that should've happened. lando is wdc material, yes, but he wants and needs to earn it.

that's all, folks

[valyrfia]

I have seen a lot of criticism on Charles’ mentality because he didnt fight the team’s order telling him to hold position. People are saying he lacks the edge to win WDC.

Do you think Charles should defy the team order from a technical point of view?

He needs to learn to push back against team orders more often, yes. But to say he lacks the edge to win a WDC is ridiculous. We all saw him in 2019 eat up Sebastian Vettel despite team orders. The difference with yesterday is that Max Verstappen in a Red Bull is currently a little unbeatable, and Ferrari is now P2 in the constructors only 4 points off of Red Bull due to Charles helping them to maximise points. Charles could have fought Carlos quite easily and probably overtaken him for P1, but they would have wasted precious tyre deg and Carlos could have been easily overtaken by Lando then, especially since Carlos's tyre deg was higher than Charles's in the final laps, thus losing Ferrari three points.

So Charles obeying team orders was probably the right thing to do for the team on this occasion. The only issue I have is everyone going "oh Carlos is the only one who can beat Max Verstappen! Charles is so washed! Ferrari fired the wrong driver!" without looking at the whole picture. Both times, Charles has graciously played the role of second driver when needed in order to secure the team a win (a role Carlos has not reciprocated, lest we forget Vegas). It's just unfortunate that the only times Carlos beats him in a quali head to head are the times that Max is out of commission and Ferrari has the chance of fighting for a win. But I believe Charles's time will come again, after all seven front row starts in a row isn't too shabby.

Someone (I forget who) said it best in that this season for Charles will likely parallel Max's 2020 season, which was quietly fantastic. Apart from retirements, Max didn't finish a race below P6, which he only did once and then rest of the time finished in the top 3, pulling in two wins along the way. In a lot of ways, it sets Charles's 2025 season up to also parallel Max's 2021 season, a new teammate, the year before new regs, and an ever-improving technical team at the factory.....well I'll leave it up to you to draw conclusions.

Additionally, Max didn't win a championship until his seventh year in Formula 1, up until then there were also washed allegations surrounding him, and look at him now. The 2024 season is Charles's seventh season. Charles is only approaching his prime. He's still the third youngest driver to ever win a grand prix, and has a pole count equal with some WDCs. Just because Charles followed team orders in order to help secure his team two wins in an era that has otherwise been absolutely dominated by Max Verstappen in a Red Bull does NOT mean he's not WDC material.

[nyoomfruits]

osctober day twenty two

prompt: inevitable word count: 200w

There’s ways people talk about winning, albeit races or WDC’s. Almost as if it is easy.

You will win your first race. You will win another. You will win a WDC. Like there’s an inevitability to it, as long as you are good enough. Like Oscar hasn’t seen, over the years, that it is just as much about your choices as it is about your craft.

Charles could’ve won this year. Lando could have. Max could have.

But still it is Oscar who takes the top step at the podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, who wins the race, who wins it all.

Tomorrow they will say he was inevitable. They will mention his meteoric rise through the lower categories, they say they’ve always known, they say he was a mastermind, choosing McLaren over Alpine, like he always knew how that was going to work out. They will quote Mark Webber saying he never realized he wasn’t WDC material until he met Oscar.

But now, for just a moment, Oscar can hoist the trophy over his head, stare down at the cheering crowd, and know he did this, he fought for this, he gave his blood sweat and tears for this.

Tomorrow, he will be inevitable, and the day after that, it will be someone else.

But for now, he is Oscar Piastri. The 2025 World Driver Champion.

[landhoe-norris]

i know i said i was gonna leave f1 alone for a while, but things are weighing heavy on my soul right now and i need to get them out. they're jumbled so just bear with me.

first of all, i'm gonna put it very plainly that i did not and i will not celebrate piastri's win. it feels incredibly hollow, and i don't think a single driver would be happy about a win where your teammate had to slow down for you to jump a 6,2 second gap.

there's always the same thing when it comes to lando, and him saying that he's faster on the radio. people comment on every single social media that he should "be faster then, race harder." well, do you know what happened yesterday and what oscar should've done? he should've been faster. it's a fact that he does not have Lando's race pace and that he still has so much to learn, especially regarding tyre management.

they're in the same car. according to social media, piastri is the better driver out of the two: more mature, faster, more reliable, more level headed, more of a championship material. let's just ignore the fact that he came into a team on the up and up and after only six months had a car capable of getting podiums (although that was mostly just lando, you know). luckiest driver in years.

what happened yesterday was a travesty. it showed how incapable of running a good strategy mclaren are, and how they are still always looking backwards instead of looking forwards.

and don't even get me started on the caps. who the fuck brought them? it better be piastri's team cause if it was mclaren it is one of the most disgusting things i have ever witnessed.

if oscar was allowed to fight at the start, then why was lando not allowed to fight til the end? why did mclaren decide before the race how it would end? why was lando told 25 laps before the race was over, that he should give back a place that he was then not allowed to gain back by racing oscar? why was lando pitted first? why was he not told how things would go before he was called into the pits? why did will and andrea emotionally manipulate and blackmail him into giving up his win?

i am beyond disgusted with the way this has been handled and brown and stella's refusal to acknowledge the way the team behaved towards lando (especially on the radio), and stella's "oscar is the youngest on the team, but the wisest" comment which must be a fucking kick in the stomach to lando's mental health.

lando is an incredible teammate and team player, and i don't want to hear a single thing about how piastri has been shafted time and time again because fuck that. they have been shafted the same amount of times (also welcome to mclaren, who have been fucking lando over for years. deal with it).

i don't believe piastri will repay lando for this weekend, the man didn't even publicly thank him post-race. i have zero expectations of mclaren cause they have clearly decided who their number one is, and who they want to lead the future. and it's not the guy who could've been 69 points behind verstappen after this weekend (a verstappen who is furious to his team cause they're fucking up left, right and centre). red bull is in a crisis, they only have one driver who is doing shit at that team and even that driver is barely getting on podiums lately so lando absolutely has a chance for that wdc. well he had a chance, let's see how mclaren and piastri will fuck that up for him as the season progresses.

how in the hell has someone who has given his heart and soul to the team for the last 5.5 years, someone who has given them 21 podiums and a win, many poles and fastest laps and is 24-fucking-years-old being relegated to the back for someone who has been there for 18-months?

how has the communication at mclaren dropped so badly since stella took control? and how in the fuck do we justify will plainly lying to lando about the condition of his tyres to make him slow down?

how are they going to repay him? cause i have not seen a single thing from them since 2019 that shows me that they will ever support lando in a 1-2 situation like they have with their aussie drivers.

i have zero respect for anyone at mclaren, except lando. i will never root for this team again, and they only have one driver as far as i'm concerned.

if you in any way feel that lando was at fault for anything that happened yesterday, you're a shit person. that's it.

[f0point5]

I feel like Im beating a dead horse, but I'm seriously SO tired of seeing people complaining about the penalties Max got in Mexico and how they need to be more strict WITH HIM. Like I'm sorry but you can't have separate rules for one driver just because you don't like his driving style. This is how Max has driven since he got to F1. Does he go a little overboard sometimes, yes but I wouldn't call his driving dangerous.

In Austin when Lando got the penalty - his fans were arguing Lando shouldn't have gotten in and Max should have regardless of the rules because it was "unsportsman like" to push someone off track yet there was no outrage when another driver push another driver off the track. In Mexico now that Max WAS penalized they're sayin that he should have been given a HARSHER penalty because he ruined Landos race. The goal post is always moving in regards to Max.

Now that there are only 4 races left of the season, I feel like people are complaining more and more about Maxs diving because he's "ruining" Landos WDC attempt. Like are you expecting him to just see him coming up behind him and be like oh I should just let Lando go by.

At this rate, if Lando is near Max on a corner he's just going to intentionally go off track and claim Max pushed him and Max will probably get penalized. Its also frustrating seeing Lando fans hoping for a Max DNF "because he deserves it". God forbid you tell them you want Lando to DNF and they lose their minds.

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. I've some how got on the side of trash talking Max TikTok and its a struggle.

I don’t think any one with even the barest of wheel knowledge is arguing that the penalties should have been higher and if they are they’re just talking from bias and I like to think they’d acknowledge that. Because that line of thinking is baseless and nonsensical. It’s fine to not like a driver or like a driver but you can’t advocate that the rule be completely made up depending on who is involved in the incident. That is unsporting.

Again, according to the rules, it doesn’t matter if Max punted Lando straight into Venezuela - they don’t hand out penalties according to the consequences of the action. Everyone knows this. So no you don’t get extra harsh penalties just because you “ruined” someone’s race.

Thing is, it’s pretty rare that the guy ahead in the championship doesn’t have the car to fight the challenger. It’s a unique situation that Max’s fight is with his own equipment after managing to get himself far enough ahead early in the year. Also rare that there’s such a disparity in the wheel to wheel racing skill between two title challengers on top of a car disparity. It’s created a unique set of problems.

People want to talk about “sportsmanlike” like it’s a real thing, some code of ethics. It’s not. It’s literally whatever the people who are actually in the sport say it is (not what HannahF1McKaren on twitter decides it is, mind you). I think McLaren bullying a driver into letting his teammate past to gift him a win in front of everyone is unsportsmanlike. But that’s me.

They’ve been calling Max dangerous since he entered f1, meanwhile it’s the FIA whose decisions have routinely caused more material harm to drivers. It’s Lewis Hamilton whose driving ended up giving another driver a sustained concussion. Villeneuve is out there saying Max is going to kill someone but he’s the one whose driving resulted in an actual death.

People like who they like, whatever, but when they start talking shit that’s when I just check out lol.

[fangirl-dot-com]

Get to Know Me - Formula 1 Edition

Who is your favorite driver – Charles Leclerc (but Max comes a close second) 

What are your favorite teams – Ferrari, Red Bull, and McLaren

Which track is your favorite – Monza! My car is named after the track as well and it was the first GP I actually watched! 

When did you start watching Formula 1 – technically it was Zandvoort 2023 but Monza was the first race that I actually knew what was going on

What are the best races you’ve watched – Singapore 2023 (for obvious reasons) and the Las Vegas GP 

Which retired driver was your favorite – Kimi Räikkönen

Who is your favorite team principal – Toto Wolff

What do you think the standings are going to look like for the 2024 season – uhhhh, Red Bull is going to be P1 by the skin of their teeth because McLaren looks so strong (and hopefully Ferrari will come second or third again)

Who is your dream driver line-up – ooooo Max and Charles, 100% even if it’s not possible    

Do you have a controversial f1 take – I have a lot…um…one being that (this hurts me) but I’m really doubting that Lando and Charles are WDC material. I could get into a whole rant about this, but just because of either unreliable cars, devotion to a crappy team, and multiple driver mistakes…yeah, imma leave that here (pls do not come for me) 

What driver do you wish was on the grid this year – the man who was able to beat Max Verstappen into Q3, the one and only, Liam Lawson 

Which driver do you wish wasn’t on the grid this year – CHECO PEREZ 

Is there a track that you would get rid of – Miami (3 US GPs is so much – that or Qatar cause it’s so hot and detrimental to the drivers) 

Who do you think is the GOAT – Schumacher, definitely

Which f1 driver do you think would win if they went go-karting – Charles, he does the annual Jules fundraiser and wins, so I think he’d be a little more in tune than the drivers who don’t seem to go karting usually 

Have I ever been go-karting – no, but there’s an Andretti Karting near my house and I plan to go this summer 

Do you think you could drive an f1 car – no, but make it automatic and you’d have to pry my dead body out of the seat 

What is your favorite f1-related quote – one I say a lot is “if you have a problem, change your f-ing car” that and “KI-KI-KI- RAH…KI-KI-AYE”  

Which livery are you most excited for – McLaren, I LOVED stealth mode 

Which team do you think is going to surprise everyone – McLaren and Williams?? (hoping internally that Ferrari actually has built a competitive car) 

Which team do you think will disappoint people this year – Ferrari, Mercedes, and maybe Williams (they have a lot on them and I hope they don’t switch Logan out early) 

Do you plan on attending a race this year – sadly no…but for 2025 when I graduate, I plan to go to COTA 

Which driver would you most like to meet – Logan or Max (I’d be terrified to meet Charles, feel like he’d judge me in french) 

Do you watch other motorsports of just f1 – just f1 for now, I’ve actually have watched an irl NASCAR race, and the endurance racing looks so interesting 

Do you have any f1 merch – I have lots! (t-shirts, red bull cans [is that merch?], vintage Ferrari bomber jacket, the Lego McLaren f1 car) 

[myimaginarywonderland]

People mocked Fernando for saying Lance is WDC material but I really don't think many of you see the full picture.

Of course Lance isn't on the level like Charles was, he isn't seen as such a raw talent and I doubt any Lance fan would deny that.

But the thing is for a driver to be WDC material, the driver doesn't have to be one of the best there is. The driver just has to be good in a good car with a full team behind him to support him.

Nico didn't necessarily win because he was better than Lewis. He just capitalized in every way he could and got lucky for example when Lewis DNFed. Doesn't make his championship less legitimate just like Lewis first isn't less legitimate because he only won in with 1 point by circumstances.

To be a WDC you don't have to be the greatest driver ever, you sometimes just have to be good when others aren't.

When looking at Lance I think the one thing you can't deny is that he has an entire team behind him that will do the most to give him the best result possible. Could we say the same about Charles last year? Ferrari then fucked up multiple times with their strategy. It didn't matter than that Charles was an excellent driver when your team actively seems to be against you (seems being the key word since Ferrari is just a disaster all around.)

But even if you have an entire team behind you, see Lando, that doesn't help when they built you a dog shit car. They can be supportive all they want and you can be great as well but that doesn't change the fact that the car is actively preventing you from showing your full potential.

Or take it in George case. You come into a championship winning team with one of the best drivers ever, only for them to compleltly bottle the new car they build and seemingly lose the great all around package they once had.

The way all these teams are heading is frankly to disaster. They have all seemingly taken steps even further back then last year in some cases and if you are a young driver like the three mentioned, then you start to question where a future might lie with this team.

But Lance case is compleltly different. Lance has an numerous occasions even before 2020 shown how great he can drive in certain circumstances with the right package. And then, in 2020 when he had a car that allowed him to show his true potential he did show it but he also got a massive blow which was his horrible streak of being involved in accidents that he wasn't at fault for, basically being a passenger and seeing his results slip away from him.

And then in 2021 he had an entirely different challenge which was having a multiple WDC up against him whilst being in a midfield car. While that was a challenge, I think it was also a turning point for Aston Martin. They started planning, developing, heading towards the idea of a championship competing car. But they have always made sure to make clear that it will take time.

That the development to a car, a team that can win races, win championships takes time. And all that time Lance has been a constant in that team. Aston Martin knew that neither Checo or Seb where going to be younger drivers who would be their focus on the future. Both weren't drivers who would wait to win a championship since they have already been in the sport for so long or have already done that.

This is not meant disrespectful at all but if you want a younger driver to build a champion around, of course your focus will be on Lance. People like to say how long he has been in F1 already but also seem to forget that Max (someone who many considered a child prodigy) took 5 season before he ever was in a competive car for a championship. People also seem to forget that Lance even with all those seasons is only 24. He's even younger than Charles.

So,back to the point I was trying to make: Maybe Lance isn't WDC material in the raw race craft like Charles. He's also maybe not a strategic driver like George.

But Lance out of all these drivers currently looks the most likely to have a balanced all around package to be able to achieve a championship.

When Fernando says Lance is WDC material, he is aware that Lance can have incredible drives, has an entire team that is backing him, building a championship winning car with him and has gained enough experience to also know where he has to match and improve himself would he ever in a position for a championship. Aston Martin said they would take time and well, they seem to be building towards their goal.

[charles-leclerc-official]

Thank you for your analysis! I love reading them. Watching the race can make me very emotional, looking at data and think what the data could tell is a good way to calm down.

I wonder whether you would like to talk a little bit about how you view Lando as a driver. Some say he is a WDC material, the other say it's just a media hype. As I learned that he makes a new record of having most podium when did not achieve a championship, I am quite curious.

Oh thank you so much! I find that people very much like to make up what happend and the numbers can really assure you one way or the other. It's always so nice to hear when someone appreciates the analysis :')

As far as Lando goes, I want to start with the disclaimer that I am not as familiar with all the details of his career and data etc. I am by no means a Lando expert so take this all with a grain of salt.

I think that Lando is a good driver and he is near the top of the field. Do I think he's WDC material? As of right now no, but that could easily change.

If you are wondering about why he's so hyped in the media the answer is because he's British. F1 and F1 media has a major bias towards British drivers, so you will see them hype up drivers like Lando sometimes when it doesn't seemingly make sense. Now this isn't meant to shade anyone, it's just a good media bias to be aware of. I do think Lando has had many performances across his career that are very worthy of hype.

Lando is a young driver who will be in F1 for quite a while so he has a lot of time and room to develop and work towards getting that maiden win(which I do believe he will get)

Also his record is most podiums without a race win(not championship)

[f1-birb]

i think i'm just going to start my summer break early now that i've blocked a few more people and really curated my dash.

i obviously hope lando has an amazing home race of course (hope jenson's manifestations work out for him) and i'll be following along on my dash for updates but idk i don't have any more energy to waste on the bullshit that is f1 media and fandom this week

but idk lando can't win regardless of what he does on or off track and it's so tiring.

he's literally coming off a dnf that max was at-fault for and penalized for (and half the people trying to use other pundits and drivers to jump to max's defense are taking other's quotes out of context. nowhere did jenson say max didn't deserve a penalty, he said he didn't deserve a penalty harsher than the one he got. daniel and several other drivers straight up admitted in their statements that they hadn't even seen the incident 💀). he said some things in the heat of the moment and apologized for them. somehow he still got canceled by max fans "for thinking max was just going to hand him wins." max comes out with his own statement word-for-word supporting everything lando just said — and somehow it's disrespectful when lando says it but "mind games to get under lando's skin" when max says it. and now somehow we've reached this conclusion that lando just isn't wdc material since he can't put aside his friendship and actually stand up to max and i just??? just a few days ago you guys were calling him abusive and weak-willed for asking for an apology lest "he end his friendship with max" (which was also a misquote where the media tried to translate an english quote into italian and then back into english, lando never said anything about ending their friendship altogether last weekend), so which is it, is he this big bad bully or this shaking chihuahua to max because i can't keep up with the narrative changing literally every hour at this point

anyway those fans (and it's not even max fans exclusively it's usually the lando-hating lestappies who apparently missed like every lestappen on-track battle prior to 2022 insisting lando can't race wheel-to-wheel and we need charles' superior racecraft back but if i comment on that claim with the lestappen battles prior to 2022 when max couldn't pull the "yield or we crash" strategy because he was trying to recover from 2 dnfs, i'll get myself in trouble) have already kind of ruined this weekend for me because it doesn't even matter what he does on track. he could win, he could flop, he could get a podium, he could dnf — they're going to find something to pick him apart over anyway. so like best of luck to lando but i simply cannot lol

"so which is it, is he this big bad bully or this shaking chihuahua to max because i can't keep up with the narrative changing literally every hour at this point"

and it's the narrative about Max as well that's apparently getting painted, on one hand it seems to be "oh poor baby waby Max, he's too good and too nice, he can't choose his own friends because he chooses horrible peoples" and now this new one of "hehehe look at Max and how clever he is, playing mind games and manipulating dumb little Lando" like sorry he cannot be both, and the second one doesn't make him a good friend btw

but yeah, take the break if you need it, I fully stayed off socials bar DM's for 2 days after lap 65 lol so I totally get wanting and needing a break

[nobrakes]

thinking about the number of times daniel had the whole press and f1 ""experts" saying his career was done, his run was over, just to then watch him prove them wrong and have for a day or two everyone singing his praises and talking about how great he is and "remember how good was his fight against verstappen" just to then watch his name being dragged through the mud a few months later again gives me emotional whiplash. not to be all: "bla bla i care about this white rich man" but i do care about this white rich man lol and trying to grasp the emotional strength that it takes him to still be confident, still be sure of himself, still face each day and not give up is astounding. insane how motorsports (and formula 1 specifically) leaves no room for struggle, no room for taking time to adapt.

this perspective carries not just to daniel who is the driver i support but also to other drivers because when they say that "you're only as good as your last race" it sounds brutal and an incredibly harmful mentality, because well...it IS, but also, it's the way the business works, one day you're winning and standing on a podium and the next you're getting dragged in front of millions of people the internet, and you haven't lost any talent or skill, but the mentality of being "old news" is there.

what I am saying is, give these men a break or whatever, take a nap or smth idk

[fcb-mv33]

You may disagree with me but I’m curious of your take on my opinion as it has caused many an argument between me and some friends 😬

I don’t think Pierre is as bad as some people say he is. I don’t think he is as good as he believes (I guess we should all be our own biggest supporters…) but there are definitely worse drivers on the grid. In fact, there are some I genuinely wish to see removed from the grid to give the opportunity to other drivers who are being overlooked cause they are there (take a guess at who I’m talking about 👀). I think he’s pretty average. Not terrible but nothing spectacular. I’m also not a fan of his and I sometimes forget he’s even participating in a race… However, I think he has suffered a little from being in the same age group as those who have been considered the future of f1 since they joined (Max, Charles, Lando and I think people add George into that equation). With drivers like that around who are referred to as generational talent and people guessing when they are gonna win their first title (or next one in Max’s case), I think he’s a driver that’s easily forgotten. Will he look like a stronger driver if they weren’t around? Maybe - a few would tbh. Is he WDC material? Probably not but I guess if he had a car that could compete for race wins more often, who knows. Some friends disagree with me and think drivers like Esteban and Lance have more of a chance then him but I think we all agree it would be shocking to see any of them win a WDC.

No anon I do actually agree with you!!

I think Pierre isn’t a WDC material but I do think he is capable of winning a few more races in the future. I think the fact he is in a generation with Max, Charles, George, and Lando like you said is making it harder for him. I’m not the biggest fan of Pierre whatsoever, his comments about Red Bull and Max annoy me and like you said I think he really thinks he’s better than what he is BUT I do think he’s a talented driver and is capable of being the top of the midfield.

I think drivers like Max and Charles he won’t beat, (Max especially at the moment but he is in a league of his own which is gonna last years) but drivers like Ocon and Stroll he is definitely better then…I think is he gets in the Alpine or Aston Martin he will have them 100% beat.

[f0point5]

A lot of you don’t even rate Lando, saying how he’s in the fastest car and still can’t put together a convincing win (safety car, almost going into the wall several times despite being in the lead etc), and that he’s not wdc material at all. But if he’s a driver of that level you think he’s down at then I think to be performing like this in the first season of having a car that can win is a job well done, and hopefully is a good learning experience for the next.

Driver ratings are subjective.

But I think people who don’t acknowledge that Lando is a very good driver are just being deliberately dense. But for me he’s also in a cohort that’s very hard to rate with any accuracy. So it’s fair enough if people think some drivers are better.

I think “not WDC material” is such a pointless phrase. A lot of drivers are “WDC material” with the right car in the right year. Was Lando near the level he needed to be to win this year? No. But the results show that well enough. Are there other drivers who could have done more with the pace advantage? I think yes. But we’ll never know. It doesn’t change the fact that he is a great driver who kind of had this pace advantage thrust upon him with no real chance to get used to it before everyone was already demanding he win a championship. He did what he could do, and that is still a lot. Just let the guy be good.

[f0point5]

My unpopular opinion is that Oscar is not going to be that great of a driver that everyone thinks he will be. Don’t get me wrong, I used to be one of those people who thought he was wdc material but I think the tides have turned for me however I still really do hope I’m wrong. He’s been in a rocketship and he’s still not able to match Lando, who many think will never be ‘that driver’. And while I get he’s still relatively inexperienced and everyone always thinks he’s got a higher ceiling than Lando, but I’m not really seeing it anymore. Considering Lando went from p17 to p5 in Mexico last year in a non rocketship even with the sc and Oscar only managed p8 from p17 in a rocketship and with Singapore and not being able to get close to Lando idk anymore

I’m reserving judgement on this one. Clearly he hasn’t had the season people were expecting but I also don’t think it’s time to be like well he’s a Perez. He seems to have struggled more as the car has developed, maybe he needs time to get to grips with it. I think he’s got a lot of raw talent but as we know that doesn’t always translate into results so…

I am so far standing by the higher ceiling than Lando comment but at the same time, it doesn’t matter where you ceiling it if you never even get the ladder out. I think if there’s not an upturn by the end of the season people would be justified in saying we maybe judged it too quick.