#and the mercedes i wanted on pole is p7

[serchive]

charles out in q2 and the strike of charles and max being the only drivers on pole for 15 races in a row ended too

[pickingupmymercedes]

Home is wherever you are - Lewis Hamilton

request: I was wondering after hearing Lewis saying that he is looking to going home after the Canadian gp. Can you write a sort piece of the agony he has in his voice and he just want to be in the arms of his loved one.

pairing: Lewis Hamilton x Reader!

warnings: angsty, mentions of Mercedes fuck up, Canada 2024 and that post quali interview

wordcount: +1K

a/n: I've had this sitting in my drafts since Canada, but I wanted to wait a bit for things and the rumors to settle down before I reread it and posted. I'm still salty on that hard tyres at the end though.

As always, I'm open for feedback, come say hi!

______________________________________________________________

The cheers of the Montreal crowd celebrating a Mercedes's pole echoed in Lewis' ears long after Qualy had ended. He had led every free practice session, feeling the car was finally locked in with him. But in Q3, something had been missing. Maybe it was luck, maybe a fraction of a second's hesitation. Whatever it was, it had cost him dearly.

P7. A miserable P7 after dominating practice all weekend.

He plastered a tired smile on his face for the cameras and interviews, his own disappointment evident in the lack of the usual glimpse to his eyes.

“What’s going on in your mind after that qualifying session?” one reporter asked, leaning in expectantly.

Lewis shrugged, trying to keep his composure. “Nothing much, just looking forward to going home,” he'd mumbled to the reporter's query about his thoughts, the words leaving a bitter taste in his mouth. He knew it was a curt response, but he couldn’t bring himself to elaborate. All he wanted was to escape the scrutiny, the forced smiles, and the disappointment that hung over.

Home, at least for that night though, was the hotel room that felt more like a business conference room these days, devoid of warmth or the one person who could chase away the guilty he felt for not leaving up to his own expectations.

Back in London, Y/n scrolled through post-quali highlights, her smile fading with each dejected clip of Lewis. He wasn't just disappointed, he looked defeated. A knot formed in her stomach, the all so familiar feeling of helplessness twisting with the protectiveness she always felt towards him.

9 pm. Ridiculous, she knew, but the need to hold him, to be around him, was an urge she couldn't ignore.

"On the first flight out," she typed furiously, the message a lifeline thrown across the Atlantic. "There in 10 hours, tops. Around 2 am, your time"

The phone buzzed to life almost immediately. Lewis' voice, sharp with disbelief, echoed in her ear. "Y/n, are you insane? It's the middle of the night for you!"

"Doesn't matter" she cut him off, shoving clothes into a duffel bag. "I'm coming. Just... don't argue."

The next hour was a blur of packing, the phone pressed tight against her ear as Lewis argued, pleaded, then finally relented with a weary sigh. By the time she boarded the plane, the weight of exhaustion had settled in, but the worry for him was still deeply rooted.

The 9-hour flight felt like an eternity. Touching down in Montreal, she hailed a cab, the city still wrapped in the pre-dawn darkness. At the hotel, her heart hammered against her ribs as she used the spare key the hotel provided, the beep of the door lock seemingly taking longer than normally.

Three a.m. The monotonous hum of the air conditioner was broken by the door creaking open, Lewis propped on one elbow at the bed, his eyes looking tired and a bit sunken.

Before he could understand what was happening, she rushed forward, engulfing him in a tight hug. The familiar scent of his aftershave and the warmth of his body flooded her. He stiffened for a moment, then melted into her embrace, burying his face in her hair.

"You shouldn't have come" he mumbled; his voice thick with sleep.

"Had to." she whispered, stroking a hand down his back. They stayed in each other’s arms, the only light coming from the bedside table, a silent language passing between them, a comfort only they could offer each other.

Finally, he pulled back, hesitantly sitting up on the bed. The suite was grand but cold, much like it always used to be, only this time it also happened to mirror the emptiness in his eyes.

He waited for her to strip from her clothes and pull one of his discarded t-shirt over her head before gesturing for her to join him. The silence stretched once she took him in her arms, thick with unspoken questions and a heavy feeling of disappointment.

"Quali," she finally ventured, her voice soft.

He let out a humorless laugh. "Bottled it. Again."

"C’mom" she countered, her voice firm. "It happens, Lewis. Even to the best."

He looked at her, his eyes raw with a vulnerability he rarely showed the world. "Again, and again?! Maybe this was my real only shot this year."

The weight of his words settled on her like a lead blanket. This wasn't just about a bad qualifying session; this was about a season slipping through his fingers, about the gnawing fear that that was probably how the end of his years with Mercedes would be like.

The pressure, the constant fight to live up to expectations, it was a burden he carried mostly alone, a burden that threatened to crush him.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't offer him a magic solution, couldn't guarantee a win. But she could, at the very least, offer him a safe harbor, a haven from the storm.

"I just don’t understand" he said after a while, his voice raw with emotion. "I felt so good about the car all weekend."

"I know," she replied softly. "You did everything you could. Sometimes, things just don’t go our way, no matter how much we want them to."

He sighed, pressing his face closer to her. "It feels like I’ve let everyone down. The team, the fans... myself mostly."

"You haven’t let anyone down," Y/n insisted. "You’ve given it your all, like you always do. That’s what matters. And no one who truly cares about you would think any less of you for it."

Scooting closer, she took his hand in hers, the warmth a meagre offering against the chill that had settled over him. "You're one of the best drivers on that sport, Lewis. And you know that."

He squeezed her hand, his gaze flickering with a flicker of defiance. “That’s not enough. You know how it goes, we’re only as good as our last race."

"Then you keep going because you’re Lewis Hamilton," she said firmly. "You’ve faced tougher challenges than this, and you’ve always come out stronger. There will be other races, and you’ll have more chances." She cupped his face, her thumb tracing the worry lines etched around his forehead. "I believe in you and you need to believe in yourself again. Remember why you started. Remember why we watch you race."

His gaze softened, but his mind still seemed lost in thought. He leaned into her touch, a silent plea for the belief she always seemed to possess. "I’ll always be here to remind you of that" she promised, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "You’re not alone in this, Lew. Not ever."

The race day dawned grey and damp, mirroring Lewis' mood. The strategy meeting was tense and when the decision for the strategy was announced, a flicker of doubt crossed Lewis' face on using those hard tires.

The race itself was far from normal as usual, the ever thread of rain, the chaotic pit stops and strategies. Lewis fought his way through the pack, competition momentarily pushing the doubts aside. But at the end a “free pitstop” he wasn’t considering had him emerge on hards – a strategic decision that left him to fight even more with the car and potently lose on all the pace he had been building.

Lewis' blood ran cold. It felt like a betrayal, a deliberate attempt to stop any chances of fighting for the podium with him trapped on the slower tyres. He crossed the finish line in P4, the roars a distant echo in his ears.

Back at the hotel, Y/n watched, with an aching hear, how he couldn’t hide his disappointments to the media, his face a mask of controlled frustration almost letting loose.

Later that night, as the cities lights twinkled outside their plane heading to Los Angeles, Y/n pulled out her phone. "Look," she said, handing it to Lewis.

The screen buzzed with tweets and comments, the familiar #TeamLH trending worldwide. Messages of support, fans and commentators alike dissecting the race strategy, and vowing that Lewis had the pace to fight for that podium.

"They got your back. And I fear they’re not leaving." Y/n said softly, squeezing his hand with a soft chuckle. “I told you, you’re not alone in this. You’ve got an army of supporters who believe in you, just like I do.”

He leaned in and kissed her, feeling some of the weight of the day a bit lighter on his shoulders. “Thank you,” he whispered. “For everything.” his voice hoarse but laced with love. "We'll come back stronger next time. But before that, Roscoe’s waiting for us in California"

Y/n smiled, her heart brimming with pride for the man beside her. Home wasn't just a place, it was a feeling. And in each other’s arms, their home could be found even across the Atlantic.

______________________________________________________________

TAGLIST - @saturnssunflower @xoscar03 @chocolatediplomatdreamerzonk @happy-golden-hour @vicurious28

@0710khj @thecubanator2 @neilakk @bigratbitchsworld @adriswrld

@fearfam69691 @cmleitora @goldenroutledge @timmychalametsstuff @jpgnsf @priopp123

If you’d like to be added to my taglist you can leave a comment or send me a dm/ask.

[cheriladycl01]

My love, is mine all mine - Max Verstappen x Norris! Reader x Charles Leclerc Part 1

Plot: Norris' Twin sister is also a driver in the 2021 line up and is in her rookie era. Not only do the commentators struggle to now talk about the pair in the race, but they also struggle to talk about talent. What happens when two drivers find her eye-catching.

A/N: A lot of back story explaining the 2021 season so far!

"So when we talk about the Norris twins, obviously due to Y/N being female it has pushed her career back further than her brothers, where she is debuting into McLaren alongside her brother we will be able to see a real test of talent"

"Yes i think it will be really interesting to see them both in the same team competing against one another while still driving for that same team. They have very similar driving styles and I can imagine them helping one another out when it comes to pole positions and keeping both of them within the top ten for points" Jenso replies to Nico.

This was from an interview at the start of the 2021 season, just before your first race in Bahrain. When Zac Brown reached out to you, you were more than happy to take up the offer. Being able to not only race alongside your brother once again but by being his team mate as well had you so excited for the season.

Bahrain went really well, Lando being in his 3rd year of Formula 1 and within the same team now felt comfortable in his car, and it had the pace this year and he came P4, you had some difficulties where you weren't fully used to the difference in the F1 car, compared too your old F2 but still managed to wrangle 6 points for the team in P7.

Imola came after a larger break where you and Lando got to travel home for a few weeks before and check on everything in the MTC before travelling to Italy. Lando got a podium in P3 and like the interview had said, he kept enough of a time gap to help you defend of the two Ferrari's behind you. You came P4. To say that Charles wasn't happy with this, as you knocked him down a place was an understatement.

Portugal was the week after and you travelled straight there, sightseeing with your brother, Daniel, Carlos and Charles. You would often leave them in bars and clubs and find yourself in cafe's and museums. Portugal wasn't as good as a race as you could have hoped, but even with car issues you still managed to get points in P9, while your brother came P5.

After this race, where you went straight to Spain, you started to get home sick. Only having your brother by your side as your parents and other siblings couldn't come out for the last few races due to their own busy schedules. Spain was an incredible race for you making you feel better for the next week ahead. You came P4 managing to overtake Charles on the last lap, which again heavily annoyed him, and very nearly catching up to the Mercedes in P3 while you left your brother in the dust in P8.

There was another break after this race, you and Lando both went home you saw Max and his girlfriend who you'd missed dearly and your family, then Charles had invited you and Lando to come spend some time on his yacht in Monaco with his younger brother who you knew of from the F2 garage when he'd been invited to come watch.

You had been nervous for the race in Monaco, it was a difficult track and so far, you hadn't been in a position where you hadnt gained the team points. However Monaco was clearly not your race, from the mixture of your nerves and car issues you came P12, while you brother stood on the podium, in P3.

The next week in Azerbaijan went so much better, with Max, and both Mercedes not having pace, you'd managed some effortless overtakes and insanely quick pit stops. You'd had a second pit stop and was on fresher tires that your brother so you were behind him, you were flying and going much quicker than him but your engineer didn't want you to go for the overtake.

You did anyway against their advice, pushing until you were behind Charles Leclerc's Ferrari, you went for a cheap move that you knew was safe but would have him fuming in interviews afterwards until you were up alongside Pierre Gasly, you were P4 and he was P3, driving alongside him you couldn't tell who went over the checked flag until you heard from your radio engineer that this was your first podium win.

You cried... of course you did. But this was the start of a rocky patch for you and Lando, he was fuming at you the minute you got out of your car. You were asked not to go for the overtake but you did anyway. He was yelling in your face angrily, taking away the beaming smile.

Lando hadn't realized you'd got your first podium, he was just angry that you'd bumped him down a place. You looked upset on your podium, a sad smile as you raised you trophy, stood up there with Sergio and Sebastian. They'd both given you a hug trying to cheer you up having seen on the TV what happened with you and Lando.

"Well done on your win Y/N" a voice startled you as you turned to your side seeing Max Verstappen stood there congratulating you.

"Thank you. I'm sorry about the DNF, France will be better next weekend for you I'm sure" you smile, a light blush held on his face.

"I'm also sorry about how your brother reacted. I've been in this sport for 6 years now and as a word of advise sometimes you have to go against what your team ask of you, you gained more points for the team today than you would have if you did stay put behind your brother. So take it as not only as a win for you but a win for McLaren as well" he smiles before pulling you into a comforting hug. His words had really hit you, nobody had said that to you today, but then again Seb and Checo probably didn't here the opposing radios yet as they'd been on the podium with you.

"Thank you, i really needed to here that Max" you smile genuinely.

"Hey, that overtake was so risky!" a voice shouts over, and thundering footsteps stand behind you.

"Huh?" you'd asked looking over your shoulder, Max's gaze following yours.

"Charles, leave her alone!" Max says with pointed eyes at the Ferrari golden boy coming close to you.

"No, she needs to stop doing overtakes like that at the last minute. They are dangerous and have no thought behind them, you even put your own brother at risk today because she can't listen to her own team" he yells his exaggerated hand gestures going everywhere.

"Her overtakes today was phenomenal. She just got her first podium, her brother has already spoiled that don't make it worse by being a prick" Max says, but Charles is fuming and too far gone that the stuff coming out his mouth is there from pure anger.

"She shouldn't have even had that win today! It's not fair, she shouldn't even have that seat!" he exclaims, Max gasps and you look down.

"Charles!" he exclaims, but before you can hear anything else you are out the door running towards the McLaren motorhome. You packed up your stuff saying quick apologies to the engineers who would take anything you left behind. You didn't have a car here so you walked from the track to the hotel, a few people spotted you but thankfully didn't interrupt seeing the tears streaking down your face. They must have seen both Charles and Lando yelling at you today.

You booked a flight to London for that night, you had your bags packed and sent to the airport before you had Seb offer to drive you to the airport.

"Thank you Seb, I really appreciate it" you smile, looking down at your phone. It rung with Lando's icon popping up. You pressed decline and put your phone on do not disturb.

"It's okay. I saw the videos of Lando and Charles with you surfacing. I'm sorry" he admits, rubbing your shoulder, as you turned to look away from him so he couldn't see the tears coming down your face.

In no time you were at the airport, you'd thanked Seb who promised he'd see you in France and asked you to let him know when you were safe and home.

You sat in the airport alone, your covid mask on, but you knew people still recognized you as you went through security and waited for the plane where they would take pictures of you. Some even came up asking for pictures or signing their merch, but where it was so late there wasn't too many that it alarmed you or security.

When you landed in the UK, your dad was right there pulling you into a hug, cussing his son out saying how he should have been there to celebrate the win. You cried to him, telling him about how shit you felt after what Lando and Charles had said.

"Lets go home" he says rubbing your shoulders.

As you both walk into the house, you can overhear you mum and younger sister on the phone to someone.

"No mum, I just want to know if she's home safe" you hear your twin's voice across the phone.

"Look hunny, your dad's gone to the airport but I don't know if he's got her yet. She's upset though Lando" you hear your mum reply.

"I know, and I know its my fault, i didn't realize she got the team more points because she overtook Charles and Pierre. I didn't get to apologize because she left right after the race"

"Because you were?" his mother pushes and he groans.

"Mum"

"No Lando where were you"

"At the club"

"Yes you were at the club, celebrating while your sister was packing her bags in her hotel room crying her eyes out because she gets her first win in F1, and her brother cant even congratulate her and watch her podium with the rest of their team? She'll see you in France but for now she needs some time alone" you mother rants at him.

"Arghhh that boy Flo, can you believe him. When i next see him, i swear to god!" she exclaims and you and your dad finally make yourself known.

"Hey guys!" you try to smile, but it doesn't reach across your face like they are used to. Flo immediately runs up to you pulling you into a hug. You started to cry into her again, before Cisca, your mother and father all join in the hug.

"Come, we'll order your fave tonight as a treat okay?" your mum guides as she sits you down at the table.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhh @georgeparisole @dakotatankbig @youcannotcancelquidditch @zzonsbeek @tallbrownhairsarcastic @mellowarcadefun @ourteenagetragedy @otako5811 @countingstacksandpanicattacks @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @hopexcroc @mirrorball-6 @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover

[leclerc-s]

i did something bad - part two

THE CHARLOS BREAK UP

masterlist//previous//next

BRAZIL 2023

daniel ricciardo please tell me charles did not get into an argument with carlos.

teagan horner charles did not get into an argument with carlos. carlos got into an argument with him, two very different things.

max verstappen what was the argument even about?

charles leclerc doesn't matter it was bullshit.

mark webber clearly not, if you two came to blows.

pierre gasly carlos said he was shit driver and and that he only had the red bull seat because he was 'fucking horner's slut daughter' or that was the tailend of what i heard.

pierre gasly not to mention he punched teagan in face because she stood in front of charles hoping to stop the situation.

alex albon well i'll be damned.

yuki tsunoda so we all follow that one gossip account? because i know none of you were near when this happened.

liam lawson i do. how else am i supposed to find out that fernando alonso was visited by taylor swift last week in austin? daniel ricciardo it's fun to follow them. one time they said max and i were hooking up, we weren’t, but i liked the tweet to fuel them more. pr was not happy that week.

mark webber christian's been awfully quite this entire time.

max verstappen we're planning on how to torpedo into carlos in brazil. i'm the sacrifice because i've already won the championship. checo perez he supposed to fail at getting pole position in quali next week to end up behind carlos. sebastian vettel pulling a kvyat i see, i respect it max verstappen the only time i'll do something like kvyat. yuki tsunoda HE PUNCHED TEAGAN?! WHAT THE HELL?? WHERE IS THIS MAN?!

liam lawson yuki, think about your actions. charles is getting fined for what you’re thinking about doing (i think)

yuki tsunoda do i look like i give a fuck?

pierre gasly we ride at dawn!

mark webber you two are perfect for each other

sebastian vettel YOU’RE IN A MEETING GET OFF YOUR PHONE GASLY!!!

yuki tsunoda that should be your sign gasly, come back to alpha tauri! daniel can take your seat at alpine

daniel ricciardo hell no. i saw what they did to my fellow aussie, oscar. do you think i wanna get sued by them?

teagan horner we’re back, carlos is still pissed but so is my dad.

mark webber how’s your face after that punch?

teagan horner i have a sick black eye. i look like i got in a bar fight. i got the proper texas experience. christian horner this isn't a laughing matter teagan. you could've been seriously hurt. sebastian vettel he's right teagan, it could've escalated to something worse. max verstappen so is the plan still on to crash into carlos or not?

charles leclerc not, i want to do it. who gives a fuck on where i end up in the drivers championship, i'm already p7. let me do it brocedes style.

daniel ricciardo ah, 2016 spainsh grand prix, those were good days.

sebastian vettel you got p4 and max won daniel ricciardo they were good days because both mercedes dnf'd

max verstappen he won't do it

sergio perez i'll gladly help, we can have a repeat of yesterday.

charles leclerc deal and sorry about that, again.

sergio perez it could've happened to anyone, besides it was my fault

alex albon so...talk about a dramatic brazilian gp

lewis hamilton why is it always thing 1 or thing 2 starting the awkward conversations? lando norris they have nothing better to do alex albon listen here you muppet!

logan sargeant (i'm so sorry lewis) it's giving brocedes 2.0

nico hulkenberg be grateful you weren't around then sargeant. those were dark times.

lewis hamilton i feel like you're being a little dramatic about it.

kevin magnussen we aren't. everyone walked on eggshells because of you two. toto could never seem to catch a break.

fernando alonso it seems you're the old one lewis, if your memory is failing already.

lando norris kinda surprised it took this long for those two to go at it a la brocedes

charles leclerc i was sandwiched, what was i supposed to do? crash into checo for the second time in a row?

carlos sainz not crash into me. you had no problem crashing into sergio last week.

charles leclerc well, checo is the one retiring this year, not you. you'll have plenty more races.

carlos sainz since when do you call him checo?

carlos sainz and i was on pole! i could've won!

max verstappen at charles' expense no less

george russell "horrified looks from everyone in the room"

daniel ricciardo i don't know if i should be impressed that you know taylor swift lyrics lance stroll coming from the guy who sang our song in an interview word for word last month. daniel ricciardo at least i wasn't the one spamming the groupchat with taylonso memes

lewis hamilton how did this become the mess it has?

fernando alonso this is the only time i will ever wish sebastian was still driving. at least he could control these baboons.

nico hulkenberg who are you calling a baboon, nando?

fernando alonso if the shoe fits, nico, if the shoe fits

LAS VEGAS 2023

pierre gasly i will be throwing hands with fred and the rest of ferrari’s f1 team, starting with carlos.

alex albon but we gotta give charles credit, defying team orders the way he did in vegas? respect, it further proves ferrari would keep sacrificing his race even if he was on pole and leading the majority of the race.

liam lawson what did we expect? it's ferrari, and that strategy was a shit one, even i know that. charles had been leading for 35/50 laps and they wanted him to let carlos through? who was down in p6? yuki tsunoda ferrari has shit for brains pierre gasly and it's not like carlos would've been able to make it past checo, oscar, danny, and max to get the win. in the end, lando and alex overtook him, alex who's in a williams! you would've given me a few more laps and i could've overtaken him.

daniel ricciardo also, rumor has it that piero ferrari is like super pissed they let charles go.

mark webber of course he’s pissed, charles was their golden boy, he won monza. the first to do so since 2010 when fernando had won.

liam lawson i think the biggest fuck you to ferrari would be having charles win both monza and imola

sebastian vettel i like this kid, where did christian find you?

pierre gasly outside of yuki’s home. he picked him up by the scruff of his neck and said, “i want you to be our reserve driver at alpha tauri” liam lawson he found me in a dumpster outside of his home. sebastian vettel i hate both of you

teagan horner i thank god everyday that there is only one race left until the season is over

¡leclerc-s speaks! would carlos ever act like this? probably not, doesn't mean i'm going to stop writing it this way. i think people react in different ways when they're hurt and unfortunately in this fic carlos is lashing out. don't worry, i'm going to fix their relationship, just not for now, i like drama. would any of these events happen irl, no way, but what's the fun in fanfic if you can't exaggerate events at least a little?

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[papaya-queen]

THE ALCHEMY – Paul Aron x Y/N

Hey ! I've written some new stuff ! This is a Paul Aron x reader inspired by the song The Alchemy by Taylor Swift. As always, if there's any mistakes please tell me. Hope you like it :)

word count : 1011

Paul was one of the best rookies the F2 championship had seen in a while. Having at least one podium every weekend, leading the championship... The list of achievement was long, enough to make Mercedes regret their decision of letting him go. Having one the F1 team practically begging for you to back to their academy was a great feeling but something was missing. Something that would make enough impact for him to be considerate in the F1 seats for the next season.

His maiden win

He wanted to come out on the market as a winner and not only a good driver. He would prove to everyone that he could go to F1. He wanted to bash Mercedes and go elsewhere. He had the car, the talent, the confidence, he just needed the moment. Now, for the Silverstone Grand Prix, he was more determined than ever. Especially with his girl in the crowd.

Y/N and Paul were high school sweethearts. They met in an assemble one time, becoming friends, best friends. Eventually, one time after class, Paul had the confidence to ask the girl on a date. You could say it went well. They were now together for almost 3 years. When they graduated, Y/N started going to Uni, she wanted to become an engineer in motorsport. She could not attend all of Paul’s races, but they made it work. She went to one or two weekends and Paul would always fly back to Tallinn. They supported each other like no one. Paul would always talk about your great achievements in Uni and Y/N could not stop yapping about her boy leading the F2 Championship. She was more than exited to finally come to a race. The finals ended and she was enjoying her break. Paul and she choose Silverstone as their together race weekend.

They took the plane to London early in the week to spend a few days off. Enjoying the beauty of England, shopping, chilling together. They got I ❤️ London matching shirts, took pictures, ate in restaurants. Living like a normal couple. Sometimes, a fan or two would interrupt their time but they were the kindest heart, always took the pictures and chatted a little.

Friday came fast. Paul was in the Hitech motorhome, preparing his qualification session, putting his fireproofs on, training his reflexes, revising the track. Y/N was chilling on the couch, watching her boy. He settled newt to her, leaning in her touch as she started brushing his blonde curls.

“You’re going to kill this, love!” she said. They cuddled on the couch for a long time before the quali. Inevitably, Paul had to go in the car. Y/N followed him, helping with his helmet, reassuring him as much as she could.

He went out in quali, easily passing Q1 with the best time. He continued the quali confident, setting yet again the best time in Q2. Then in Q3, he pushed the car to the limit, setting an incredibly good lap. Ollie came with a better lap just after. With only 1:00 left, Paul went and pushed the car again. He gained time in every sector, hopping it would be enough to take the pole. As he finished his lap, his engineer screamed in the radio:

“AND THAT’S POLE POSITION,1.2 SECOND AHEAD OF P2!”

-

The result of the sprint race was okay. With the reversed grid he was starting P10 and finished P7, grabbing points for his standing. The feature race was starting. From the Hitech garage, Y/N was staring at the screen, hoping that nothing would disturb her boy’s race. He was leading, putting time between him and the second driver. The pit stop was quick, and he did not lose any position just time between him and Ollie who tried to get him. She was holding her breath for the last ten laps. Everything was going so well. Ollie was far behind. Y/N knew it was over for him to try for P1. Paul was pushing even more than before, getting the fastest lap and even more time on Ollie. He crossed the finish line as first and Y/N started crying. She ran outside the garage with the engineers and team. They started chanting his name as he parked behind the P1 sign. He ran over to the team, lifted in the air by all the mechanics. Ollie and Kimi arrived in P2 and P3 and joined the celebration. Even if they were rivals now, they still are teenage boys and best friend. Paul was so involved in his team and friends’ celebrations; he didn’t saw his girlfriend before he climbed the first step of the podium. The tears were still flowing Y/N’s cheeks as the Estonian anthem resonated. She was so proud of her boyfriend. As soon as the anthem ended, Ollie and Kimi grabbed their Champagne bottle and opened them in sink to spray the winner. Paul was drenched in champagne by his friends, eyes closed, stepping down the podium, blinded by the alcohol. He finally managed to dry his face, opening his eyes again. He saw his girl with his team, and he knew he could not wait any longer. He ran down the stairs to the track, leaving Ollie, Kimi, his trophy on the podium. He grabbed Y/N and put her down in front of him. Her hand on his cheeks, his hands in her hair, the slight smell of champagne in the air, the people watching.

“I’m so proud of you, love” she said pressing her forehead against his.

“You’re my lucky charm, Kallis!” He responded before kissing his girlfriend.

The moment was truly magical, like a Disney kind of kiss. All romantic with their friends, the team, the public cheering for them. All of this ruined by Kimi’s idea of pouring the rest of his champagne bottle on the young couple from the podium. Paul and Y/N laughed it off, they could not care more when they were having the moment of their life, looking at each other with the biggest heart eyes.

[shes-homeward-bound]

Crash and Burn | Chapter 11

Summary: You’re the first female driver to compete in the Formula 1 World Championship in decades and it's your second year of navigating through a male-dominated sport. Your talent and drive to prove yourself made you vicious on the grid. Your seemingly unshakeable confidence was never questioned- until a certain Ferrari driver made you crash and burn.

Pairing: Carlos Sainz Jr. x Reader

Chapters: 11/11

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 4.6k

Posted on: 05/25/2023

masterlist

A/N: The final chapter is finally here. I am so sorry for the wait. I wanted to make sure that it was all wrapped up and cute and fluffy just for you guys. Thank you so so much for taking the time to read whatever I write. I appreciate every single one of your comments. It was so fun writing for Carlos and a driver reader.

Finally, after many years in Formula One, Carlos Sainz had gotten his first pole position here in Silverstone. He cheers and scrambles out of the car and immediately gets congratulated by Charles and Max. He couldn’t believe it. After years of hard work, he has finally gotten the best chance to win a Grand Prix. He was thrumming with excitement and disbelief, he still couldn’t believe it even when they started interviewing him. Once finished, he walks back to the pitlane and is met with a flurry of kisses.

“P1! P1! P1!” you chanted. “Babe, you did it!”

You give him a crushing hug and he returns the favor. It’s been almost 2 months since the accident and he was finally comfortable enough to hold you as tight as he wanted. 

“I didn’t expect it! I thought I was doing bad out there.”

You give him a peck on the cheek. “This is your weekend, Carlos. You can do this!”

You and Carlos part ways only to have him meet you in Aston Martin hospitality so you could drive together back to your place. You offered to let him stay in your apartment for the British Grand Prix so Carlos let his parents have his hotel room. 

After a shower, you and Carlos lounged in your living room trying to decompress as much as possible. Dinner was cooking in the oven and you leaned on Carlos as you both sipped on your electrolyte drinks. The night before the race was essential and your performance coaches were adamant that you send pictures of everything you ate and drank. Rupert and Anna were so used to staying by your side and monitoring everything, but to give you two privacy, they resorted to constant messaging making sure you were prepping for the race. The oven dings and you pull out the baked salmon, roasted vegetables, and baked sweet potato. You send the text to the group chat and place your phone face down on the kitchen counter. 

Despite seeing Carlos almost every week, it didn’t mean you got to spend much time alone. It was one of the busiest parts of the season and you were always in meetings, needed for simulators, and doing things for media and promotions. The only times you would interact was a quick kiss if you happened to pass by, sometimes you couldn’t even see each other at the end of the day because you were too tired. You and Carlos were always surrounded by other people, so times like this were precious because you were finally alone. 

Carlos joins you on the kitchen island and helps you set up the plates and utensils. The last time you were doing something domestic was back in your apartment in Monaco. While you were eating dinner, you made Carlos do some manifesting with you. He rolled his eyes but did it anyway, he would do anything to make you happy. You qualified for P7 so Carlos included you and manifested that you would find your way to third place and share the podium with him. While you would love to, you had Charles, the Red Bulls, and Mercedes to worry about. You know you would have more podiums to come but it was Carlos who needed this. He wasn’t having the best season, and you wanted this to boost his confidence. 

You both wake up from a restful sleep and immediately start your race day routines. You and Carlos drive over to the hotel where Pierre and Yuki were staying to have breakfast with them. You were still a little superstitious about it so you never missed race day breakfast with Pierre. So far, everything was going alright, you and the boys safely made it to the circuit and split up to go to find your teams. 

It’s a few hours before the race and you are sitting in Aston Martin hospitality sipping on your electrolyte drink while you contemplate your life. Two months ago, everything was seemingly falling apart. Your relationship with Carlos was on the line and you were in one of the most ridiculous scandals in all of motorsport. You were in a huge car crash but were able to walk away and recover from your injuries. It’s so strange to look back and see how different your life was. Now, you and Carlos are happier than ever and you have just signed a contract to continue your next two years in Formula One with Aston Martin. Life finally seemed normal again and that scared you.

If things are good, then something bad is bound to happen. You know that’s a horrible mindset to have but after the accident, you’ve been having trouble staying positive. You find yourself paranoid that you would lose every good thing in your life. Carlos knows how you feel and he does his best to be there for you but he was busy too, so you did your best to keep these thoughts to yourself. Anna set you up with a therapist and you’ve listened to the advice she’s giving you. You’ve been getting better at staying positive, this is why you made sure to take some time every day to think about the good things in life. Like in this moment where you just sit and people watch. Aston Martin’s hospitality doors were constantly opening and each person was just as interesting. There were the new interns who would shyly look at you, one of Seb’s engineers who was always nervous, and the guys from your pit crew who were all pumped up and waved at you. 

The rest of the day was a blur as your anxiety increasingly spiked. You wanted this win for Carlos and it was beginning to affect you to the point Anna made you go for a quick run to shake off some of your nerves. It helped for a little bit but by the time you were in your car and doing the formation lap, you were buzzing with anticipation. 

You breathe deeply and do your best to get into the racing mindset. Once all the lights turn off, you send it. You had a fantastic start when you heard the screech of metal from behind you. You whip your head to see one of the Alfa Romeo’s careening past your car. You start swearing when you notice they are upside down. You had already driven too far but you looked in your side mirror to see they crashed into the fence.

“Holy shit! Who was that?” you yell into the radio.

“Red Flag. Red Flag. Proceed to the pitlane.”

You start breathing heavily. “Who was that? Valtteri? Guanyu?”

“It was Guanyu. We don’t have information yet, make your way to the pitlane.”

You looked ahead and everyone’s lights were flashing as you all slowly drove to the pitlane. Carlos’s car was ahead and you let out a sigh of relief, at least he was safe. Once everyone was parked and you received the ‘okay’ to leave the car, you scrambled out and ran to the pit wall. 

“What happened?” your eyes grew big as flashes of your accident appeared. “Are they okay?”

“Zhou, Russel, and Albon are out,” says your strategist. 

He points to the screen that was showing live helicopter and drone footage. It looked bad, Gunayu’s car was wedged between the fence and a barrier. You squint and see that George was on the scene, and see ambulances for Alex and Guanyu. Breathing hard, you find yourself having to use one of the engineers to help with your balance. You squint at the screen just hoping that you would be able to catch a glimpse of him moving in his car. You didn’t even notice you were hyperventilating until Carlos appeared in front of you and told you to breathe slowly. He brings you close and you bury your head against his chest.

“I can’t look anymore, let me know when he gets out.”

Carlos holds you and tells you little updates while you close your eyes and work on breathing slowly. After a minute, he tells you to look up, and that's when you see Guanyu safely get out of the car. You sag onto Carlos and tears start streaming down your face, as quickly as possible, he leads you deep into the garage where you can let all your emotions out and away from the cameras. Someone hands you a tissue and you do your best to contain yourself. Now that you knew the boys were okay, you needed to get back into racing mode. That’s when you suddenly remember Carlos and his predicament.

“Carlos! You’re P2 right now!'' You look at the tv screens and you can see that the marshalls and other staff members were cleaning up the area and restoring the barrier. Guanyu's car was still stuck and the people on the cranes still had to figure out how to get it out. “They’re going to redo the line-up. This is your chance to get your position back!”

Carlos just looks at you and smiles. You had just relived a trauma and here you were trying to get yourself together for his benefit, he did have the greatest girlfriend. He makes you sit on the floor and he sits on the ground so that your legs are touching. 

“Don’t worry about me, I just want to make sure you’re ready to race. I’ll make sure Max doesn’t get ahead of me. I know I can win this, I can feel it,” says Carlos. 

You lean your head on his shoulder and take in a shaky breath. “I’ll be okay to drive, it was just so strange to see an accident so similar to mine. I’ll make sure to visit their garage after to see if we can see Guanyu.”

You and Carlos see Rupert peeking into the Aston Martin garage and the both of you laugh. It was time to go back to work. Pressing a kiss on your forehead, he wishes you luck. You take him by the shoulders and look at him sternly. 

“Max is going to attack and be aggressive right away. He’s already pissed it’s a restart but that’s okay because you're faster and smarter. You can do this!” you say giving him a quick kiss and a shove out of the garage.

The engineers pull you aside and show your data from the start and they tell you what you have to do to achieve the same results. The team principal pulls you aside to see if you were mentally okay to race and you reassure him that you were okay. He seemed hesitant to believe you but when he sees the intensity in your eyes, he knows you won't disappoint him. Seb finds you sitting with Anna and your pit crew. He squats down and gives you a reassuring smile.

“How are you holding up?”

“I’m a little embarrassed. I got emotional but I'm okay. I’m just glad to hear the boys are safe.”

He nods. “I talked to George and he told me Guanyu is fine and just a little shaken up. The medics were able to get him safely out of the card news. Us drivers are insane, something huge happens like this and all we do is take a moment, shake it off, and go back on the track.”

You look at him gratefully and nod.

“We’re all crazy, but that’s what makes us the best in the world,” he says, squeezing your shoulder. 

The team principal says that the race starts in ten minutes so you go to the bathroom and go over your different strategies with the engineers one last time. You look for Carlos, and when you see that he was already in the car with his helmet on, you laugh. The other drivers were still in their garages, he was the only one out there. Making your way over to his Ferrari, you bend down and get at eye level with him. You stick your pinky finger out and he hooks his with yours.

“Don’t forget what I told you, faster and smarter. You got this.”

You see him wink at you through his visor. Using the halo to stabilize yourself, you lean down and kiss the top of his helmet. The pit crew that surrounded him smiled at the gesture, they wished you luck as you headed to your car. The other drivers start trickling onto the pitlane and you’re met with Anna who gives you a pep talk. With your helmet and seat belts on, you closed your eyes and imagined yourself going through the corners of Silverstone.

Because of the accident, some of the guys may be a little hesitant at the start so you plan on using that to your advantage. You have had a strange relationship with driving after the accident. Yes, 30 minutes ago you may have been crying over the crash but that was because it was so similar to the one you had. You find yourself much more aggressive than you were before the accident. You weren’t too cocky about it where you put yourself in more danger but you drove with absolutely no hesitation. The fans noticed and loved it, your family was expectedly weary but they trusted you and your judgment. Since the crash, you have been top 10 in every race and you plan on keeping it like that. 

A formation lap is done and when all the lights go green, you floor it. Turns 1-3 were smooth and once you’re on Wellington Straight, you finally let yourself breathe again. Your strategist tells you you moved up two places making you P5. This excites you, maybe you can make it to the podium with Carlos but you don’t get too excited. You had a whole race ahead of you and anything can happen. You have some interesting battles with Fernando, Lando, and Charles battling for 4th place. You almost had a close call with Fernando and you had to bite your tongue so you wouldn’t lash out at him through the radio. You resort to grumbling incoherent swears at your engineer and he just comically responds with “I know” knowing it was completely Fernando’s fault you almost crashed into him.

You let out a whoop into the radio when you cross the finish line. You finished P5 and was happy with your performance and was even more excited knowing that Carlos got his first-ever win. Parked in the pitlane and clambering out of the car, you clap Charles on the back but before he could even acknowledge you, you were sprinting away from him. Running as fast as you can, you make a beeline for Carlos and jump into his outstretched arms. He holds you tight and after a few moments he rips his helmet off and you do the same. You beam at each other as you clasp your hands around his shoulders, he was glowing and his eyes sparkled.

“Congratulations Carlos Sainz, you’re a Grand Prix Winner,” you say as he holds you tightly. “I am so proud of you and I love you so much.”

He smiles and brings his hands to your face, he was speechless as his heart beat fast at all the celebrations around him. Carlos kisses you deeply and the engineers and other teams around him start cheering loudly. You let go of him and he gives a little cheeky wink. While he hugs his parents and sisters, you get weighed and make your way back to the barricade. Carlos leaves to go to the cool-down room and with the help of his cousin and manager, you climb over the barrier to join his team and family. Carlos Senior and his sisters congratulate you for your p5 finish and Reyes gives you a bone-crushing hug, not caring at all that you are drenched in sweat. 

The announcer calls Carlos’s name and he steps outs waving at the fans who cheer him on. Once situated on the podium, Carlos looks down from the podium balcony, he can’t help but choke up. Just below him were the most important people in his life. The sea of red, his family, and you look up at him with smiles on your faces. He watches as you clutch his mother and sister’s hands and bounce in anticipation during the national anthem. Here he was about to receive a P1 trophy and he has never been happier or more grateful. Carlos knew his life was good, he wanted to be in motorsports and now here he was living the dream. He never thought he needed companionship until he met you, a person who would understand his goals in life and know how much dedication is needed for Formula One. 

When Carlos clutches his trophy, he meets your gaze and smiles softly. He had a second chance to deserve your love and he wasn’t going to mess it up this time. He knows what you both share is a once in a lifetime and he will never do anything to jeopardize your relationship. He caught a glimpse of what it would feel like if you were no longer in his life and he never wanted to feel like that again. 

—

August 2022 - Formula One Summer Break

The cool blue water looks more and more enticing as the hot sun beats down on your body. You prop yourself onto your elbows and see Carlos on the other side of the boat talking to Lando and Alex. You look around the yacht and see drivers and their friends or significant others lounging on the deck. You were floating somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea with a bunch of exhausted Formula One drivers with sore bodies. Toto Wolff offered his yacht to George for a couple of days to kick-start the summer break. George invited everyone but the younger drivers with no spouses and children were the only ones who took up the offer. The day after the race was usually painful and you and your friends could not wait to get back to Monaco.

You look at Charles sitting on the chaise lounge next to you, staring off into the horizon. The last few months have been rough on the Ferrari drivers but it was Charles who was suffering. He was leading the championship but bad luck just kept hitting him every weekend.   

You tap him on the shoulder and he looks at you with his eyebrow raised.

“Do you ever have moments where you just can’t believe that this is your life? I mean– I’m on a yacht with my closest friends and coworkers. It just happens they’re all Formula One drivers which means that I am one of you,” you say blissfully looking out into the ocean and the faint outline of France and Monaco. “I can hardly believe it.”

Charles looks at you and smiles. Ever since the accident happened, you were always so verbal with your gratitude. You would be doing the most mundane things such as doing the track walk or toasting bread and you would stop, smile and strike up a conversation with the closest person. There was a time when Carlos was holding your hand in the paddock and you stopped walking just so you could lift the clasped hands, and marvel at it for a few seconds before telling Carlos how much you loved him. Those who witnessed it couldn’t stop smiling, they loved your love.   

“We are so lucky,” agreed Charles. “Sometimes I forget, but times like this remind me how lucky I am to be alive and feel the sun or laugh with my friends.”

You look at him as he wistfully gazes toward the direction of Monaco. He thinks of those he had lost, remembering to live each day like it was his last. Charles is ashamed to admit it but sometimes he’d forget so he was glad to have someone like you in his life to remind him what was important. 

“That accident you had in Miami–” he stops before his voice cracks. He lets out a puff of air and breathes deeply. “I can’t imagine how painful that must’ve been.”

“You know, I don’t think I’ve thanked you enough for all the help and support you’ve given me and Carlos this year. Especially after the accident. You were always there to help us and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.”

Charles waves his hand nonchalantly, “I know you would've done the same if roles were reversed.”

Sometimes you would go back to the footage of the accident, you felt a phantom pain in your chest every time you saw the car careen towards the barrier. What hurt the most was seeing how people were reacting to it, you remember seeing Carlos and Lando watching the screens intently but not Charles. You could see the scene so clearly, him facing away from the monitors and breathing hard, his skin pale at the thought of your demise. When you were at the hospital he doted over you, stayed by your side whenever Carlos or Anna had to leave. You remember the way he and his girlfriend would visit you whenever they could when you all got back to Monaco. It made you smile to think of the good friends you had in your life. Charles was right, you would do the same exact thing if roles were reversed. 

Changing the subject to each of your performances this year, Charles starts talking about his frustrations with himself and the car. The two of you get distracted when you see Daniel push Yuki off the boat which leads to Pierre throwing Daniel into the water. Everyone starts cheering and laughing, their smiles turning mischievous as they eye the other people around them. You and Charles look at each other and grin as you get up and start running to the other side of the boat. 

Charles charges toward Pierre and with a yelp, they both crash into the water. You approach Carlos and he turns around with his hands already out to defend himself.

“Amor, no. Don’t do it,” his voice slightly panicked. He eyes the cold blue water and looks at you sporting a cheeky smile.

“What?” you say innocently. “I can’t give my boyfriend a hug?”

You lunge for him but he quickly moves out of the way. The two of you dance around each other playing a cat-and-mouse game. Ultimately, you manage to shove him off the deck but not before he catches your hand and pulls you in. The shrieks turn to laughter as you and the others splash around in the ocean. The contrast between the scorching sun and the cold water became a comfortable medium so you and Carlos decide to stay in and float for a while. The others went back into the yacht but since the sea was relatively calm, you thought you couldn't waste this opportunity to relax in the water.

Carlos lets out a sigh of contentment.

To you, the cold water was especially relaxing since every single muscle in your body was still screaming. A couple of days ago, you had gotten a podium for P3 in Hungary and that race had depleted all your energy. You were racing hard the last 10 laps of the race. George was right behind and the two of you got into some very intense battles but in the end, it was you who was spraying champagne onto Lewis and Max.

“I told you the water would feel nice,” you say, poking him on his side. 

You’re both staring at the clouds and blue sky but you don’t have to look to know that he was grinning ear-to-ear. He reaches for your hand and tangles his fingers with yours, ensuring you don’t drift away from him. You feel like you’re floating toward the sky, the only thing tethering you to Earth is Carlos’s dependable and firm grip. Sometimes you think about what might have happened if you chose not to forgive Carlos. You shiver just thinking about it. Maybe you wouldn’t have gotten into an accident or it could’ve been worse and resulted in permanent injuries or death. All you know is that Carlos is the love of your life and you would do it all over again even if it meant it would end in heartache. The thing is, you don’t think you ever have to worry about that. The universe has given you the perfect partner and despite any upcoming hardships, you know that you belong to each other and nothing will ever change that.

 The two of you enjoyed each other's company in silence until the water became too cold and you needed to get back on the yacht. Carlos helps you up onto the deck and head straight to the outdoor dining area. Everyone is already helping themselves to the food so you sit down and wait because Carlos insisted that he would make your plate for you. Lando teased you relentlessly but you just shrugged. Your boyfriend was excessive when it comes to taking care of you, he knows you could always make your coffee or grab a jacket if you’re cold but whenever you are with him, you barely lift a finger. Of course, you protest whenever he does this but he loves to spoil you so you let him.

Later that day after the sunset and the boat had docked in Monte Carlo, you, the other driver, and their girlfriends were pre-gaming in the lounge area. Everyone was dressed to the nines because you were going to the club and celebrating Max’s win and your third podium. Lily and Carmen compliment the emerald green cocktail dress and you grin when you tell them that Carlos had gifted it to you. This then leads to all the girlfriends scolding their partners for never gifting them a dress to their taste. The boys start hounding you about what kind of gifts you’ve given to Carlos and they are silenced when he flashes his watch you had gotten for him for his win in Silverstone. 

You sidle up to Carlos while his fingers glide over the silk and rest on your hip. Looking up, Carlos smirks down at you as your friends loudly squabble about who has the best sense of style. Everyone was throwing tipsy insults at each other, but it was all part of the banter. Carlos kisses the side of your head making you smile as laughter bubbles out. You wrap your arms around him and inhale the citrus and sandalwood. Feeling his gaze, you look up to see his dark brown eyes looking at you in pure adoration. Placing a hand on the side of his face, you pull him towards you and press a kiss on his lips. 

Here you were in a beautiful dress with the man of your dreams in your arms. You were performing well in the highest level of motorsport breaking records and boundaries for other women out there. A year ago, you were so focused on your work that every single thought was about becoming a world champion or getting as far up the grid as you can. You had to work harder than the boys just to prove that you belonged in this sport just as much as they did. Now that you’ve proven yourself, it makes that fire within you burn brighter. You want to be the best, you want to break records and show the world that you have what it takes to dominate the sport. It was strange to be competing with your boyfriend but it makes you better, some would even say ruthless. This is why you and Carlos work so well together, you teach him to enjoy and savor life while he helps you keep that laser focus on your goals.

You were now leaning against Carlos’s chest with his strong arms holding you close to him. His body gives you warmth as a cool sea breeze brushes past you. As the two of you admired the twinkling lights of Monte-Carlo at night, you can’t think of a better person to spend the rest of your life with.

---

Thank you for all the love. Feel free to send fic requests, I'm itching to write about the other drivers!

Tagged: @oyesmendes, @forzaferraris, @harley-sunday, @thatoneidiot16, @haterpenny, @mysticalnightenthusiast, @laura-naruto-fan1998, @helluvahazelnut, @starjane312, @thatchickwiththecamera, @sticksdoesart, @xscorpioxmoon, @sanne-p, @idkiwantchocolatee , @ruledchaos, @callmequeenbeee, @nochillnel, @dr3lover, @urbankaite2, @justharrysworld, @ohthemisssery, @zoobabystation, @fangirlingcontent-blog, @dan3avacado, @compulsiveshit, @iamasimpingh0e, @inurdreamms, @kodzuskook, @imsoconfused2903, @urbankaite2, @nsprinz, @loveofmylife12 , @capela-miranda, @organasith, @c0k3z3r0na, @thelightnessofthebeing @verstfosi, @glitterquadricorn, @bloomingpresent, @troybolton-14, @vio111a, @marvelousmendess, @bbbbruins, @itssherlockedontheinside, @secretlysoft444,

[bunnytalksf1]

Norris' championship hopes don't rest on beating Verstappen. They rest on beating Leclerc.

Buzzy headline to catch attention, it's hyperbole. Bear with me, and read the whole thing.

After Monza qualifying, its becoming more and more clear that McLaren is fastest. They're still playing the underdog gimmick up a lot during race weekends, but:

The most important thing is that Red Bull is clearly much slower. They've lost out in the development race compared to McLaren and Mercedes, and Verstappen starts P7 for the Italian GP compared to Norris' pole. If the positions stay as they are (unlikely, but I digress), the points difference whittles down to fifty, with eight races left. Norris genuinely has a shot at the championship, should he consistently perform, and the Red Bull continues to underperform in the next few races (they're unlikely to be strong at Singapore, which is definitely a worry).

But Norris has underperformed at key moments. He has yet to keep the lead of a race past turn one when he starts on pole. Despite being lauded as a dominant victory last week, I struggle to get behind him because the ONLY reason Norris won that race by such a margin was the Red Bull being slow and difficult to deal with. Verstappen is inhuman, but like every driver, performing miracles is out of reach.

So, Leclerc. Even his harshest critics and journalists who tend to undermine him had to sit up and take notice last week at Zandvoort as he fended off Piastri for a P3 finish, and Ferrari delivered a successful undercut on Russell. On Saturday, he said a podium would be a miracle: on Sunday, he delivered it. Sainz, too, was fast in race trim, and finished P5, ahead of Perez in the other RBR and Russell in the Mercedes. Helmut Marko praised Leclerc for fending off Piastri for them so Verstappen didn't lose P2.

Leclerc has been quietly delivering these performances all season, though. A one-stop in Suzuka. P2 in Australia, moving up through the pack. The podium in Austria and in Zandvoort, against the odds. P4 in Bahrain, with a one-hundred degree brake imbalance. His stellar win in Monaco. He's been hampered by the Ferrari's struggles in qualifying and a blip in Saturday performances in the early season. So why do I bring him up in the title fight when Norris' target is Verstappen, and Leclerc sits in P3?

Well. Leclerc proved last weekend that he has the ability to take on a McLaren, and come out on top, with tactical driving designed to make his opponent burn through his tyres. He's smart, a good qualifier, good at tyre management, and overall clean. And he's in a car that, at least in today's qualifying, was within two tenths of the McLaren. Two tenths, in Leclerc's own words, is a close enough margin for him to deliver something special. The Monza upgrade package has improved the balance, and next up is Baku, then Singapore, two tracks Ferrari historically has performed well at.

But it's not just Leclerc: if the closest margins are between McLaren, Mercedes and Ferarri, with RBR slightly on the backfoot, in the next few races, Norris will not just have to contend with Verstappen. He'll have to contend with Leclerc, Sainz, Hamilton and Russell, who are all incredibly capable and want to win just as badly, and have proved their worth this season at different races, with some incredible performances and consistency from all of them. They might not be directly in the title fight, but they still have the ability to take points from Norris by performing better, if the margins in race pace and qualifying are similar enough. This isn't even mentioning his teammate, who has ben firm about not wanting to step aside and gift Norris wins for the sake of the drivers' championship, given the large points difference at this stage.

Norris is also worse at delivering under pressure than all these drivers, at least in key moments. They are now becoming key chess pieces in the game here, with the ability to, alongside Verstappen himself, take key points off Norris and limit his ability to close the gap to the leader of the championship. To close the gap without a VER DNF, he needs to score BIG points totals for the rest of the season: realistically, he cannot be off the podium, and he needs to be P1 or 2 as much as possible.

So, if you're watching eagerly for the outcome of this championship, don't get tunnel vision. Keep an eye on Leclerc, Piastri, Hamilton. They might become more important than we realise, if the cars are close enough.

[landograndprix]

Hi! I just learned about F1 and some drivers but don’t know where to start learning or what to learn about F1 racing 😭😭😭 I really want to get into F1 so if you could recommend me something or idk anything to help me that’ll be great

Okay so I think knowing the basics goes a long way so here's a simple explanation—

The grid consists of 10 teams with each 2 drivers ⤵

red bull -> Max Verstappen, Sergio 'checo' Perez

mercedes -> Lewis Hamilton, George Russell

ferrari -> Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz Jr

Mclaren -> Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri

Aston Martin -> Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll

Williams -> Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant

racing bulls -> Yuki Tsunoda, Daniel Ricciardo

Alpine -> Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly

Stake -> Valtteri Bottas, Zhou Guanyu

Haas -> Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg

there's third drivers as well who for example take the seat of a driver who's fallen sick and aren't able to race that weekend but we'll get to that once it actually happens 😅

Race weekends consists of three days ⤵

Fridays are for free practice 1 & 2

Saturdays are for free practice 3 & qualifying

Sundays are for the race

* schedule is different during sprint weeks, you can read about that here.

- free practice 1,2 & 3

Are sessions where teams and drivers get used to the track and test car setups and gather data and all that.

- qualifying

Determines the starting grid.

The first five drivers with the slowest laptime will be eliminated in Q1

In Q2 the next five slowest drivers are eliminated

Q3 will determine the top 10, the driver with the fastest lap will get pole position, so will start in p1.

- race

should be simple, just the race.

the drivers who finish in the top 10 all get points.

P1 - 25 points

P2 - 18 points

P3 - 15 points

P4 - 12 points

P5 - 10 points

P6 - 8 points

P7 - 6 points

P8 - 4 points

P9 - 2 points

P10 - 1 point

+ 1 bonus point for the driver with the fastest lap, that is if they place in the top ten.

++ there's a thing called Driver of the day where we can vote for who we think deserves to be called driver of the day but they don't get points for it

there's the drivers championship for the drivers obviously and the constructors championship for the teams.

tires ⤵

Softs –> the fastest tire, but are likely to wear out before the harder ones do.

Mediums -> somewhere in the middle tire. usually slower than the softs and faster than hards, should also last longer then softs and shorter than hard.

Hard –> don't have a lot of grip but should last the longest.

intermediates -> used on a wet track as well as a drying track

full wets -> for the heavy rain

flags ⤵

Green flag -> means the track is clear

Red flag -> means the race has been put to a stop and all cars should make their way back to the pits. Most likely after an incident or during risky weather conditions

chequered flag -> first one to see this flag is the race winner

yellow flag -> means the drivers need to slow down most likely due to debris on the track, a driver's spun out

sc -> Safety Car is put on track when an incident blocks the track and/or leaves a lot of debris. The drivers need to stay behind the sc until the marshals have cleared up.

vsc -> virtual safety car put out for minor incidents, where no safety car is on track, but drivers need to slow down to a required delta.

* there are so many flags but I feel like these are the most important ones for a beginner to know

honestly, there's so much to f1 and I'd be here for hours if I have to talk about it all but my best advice is to watch the races, look things up, watch stuff on YouTube and driver wise, if you want to get to know them more, look up their teams YouTube channels they do challenges and all that and hell, some drivers have their own channels and most importantly, don't be afraid to ask others if you're confused about something..I remember my first f1 race 😅

got you some links that might help you 😘

f1

f1 glossary

f1 beginners guides

f1 YouTube

drivers

Charles YouTube

Carlos YouTube

Lando YouTube + quadrant

[vro0m]

Hi! I was wondering why you're quite against conspiracies? Is it like a thing of you privately kinda believe them but don't want to encourage them or you just don't believe anything unless there's proof?/gen

All scandals that we know should have started as conspiracies right? So it's not like all of them could be wrong?

Conspiracy theories and rumours aren't the same thing. Conspiracy theories come from the fans and are based on next to nothing but their own feelings. Rumours sometimes come from the paddock and may or may not turn out to be true. And I try not to do rumours until there's proof, or I'm very clear it's speculation when I do, because it is.

Importantly, there's also a lot of rumours and conspiracy theories that never turn out to be true, actually most of them don't. We just forget them when it turns out they're wrong, or they fade in the background when something else comes up. Thinking otherwise is survivorship bias.

I especially don't pay attention to rumours nor conspiracy theories when they don't make any sense. Thinking Mercedes is voluntarily sabotaging Lewis so instead of getting a frontrow they get a pole and a P7 makes absolutely net zero sense any way you look at it.

[myimaginarywonderland]

Hello people it's me. After struggling how to do this, here's finally how I am uploading my post about Lance's F1 career.

I decided to hit you guys with the qualy comparisons of him and his teammates first and foremost. It's just data where I highlight the Qualifyings he did better in but I thought it would be nice to see how far of he actually was.

Before going into my very long rant (about 8000 words) that I tried to keep as objective as possible I do want to note that of course there will be personal opinions and comments throughout as I am also just human and a fan as well. And with that note, let's dive in

Lance Stroll's journey to F1 and the question of why he is probably one of the most underrated drivers on the current grid

Lance career began in 2008 when he first started carting. During 2008 and 2009 he won multiple championships in the Canadian junior category. 2010 saw him winning the Rotax Mini Max of the Florida winter Tour. In that same year he was signed on by the Ferrari driver academy. Considering he was only 11 at the time and had basically only just started carting, that was a huge deal. Yes not every signed driver by Ferrari makes it blah blah but they made it very clear that they saw potential in him and wanted him to be racing in Europe for them. So, 2011 saw Lance first time competing in European championships. In one of those he was 9th for example. The just mentioned WSK-Euro Series in KF3 saw some familiar drivers such as the winner, Max Verstappen. Some other names that might sound family for example P2 would be Esteban Ocon or George Russell in P7.

2012 and 2013 saw him once again in many carting championships before he started Formula racing in 2014. He competed in the Florida Winter series where he got a pole and two podiums once again up against Max and drivers such as Tatiana Calderón or Antonio Fuoco. But most importantly from that year, he won the Italian F4 championship by nearly a hundred points. 2015 saw him competing in the European F3 championship where he finished 5th after the following drivers (all names many of you will be family with): Jake Dennis, Charles Leclerc, Felix Rosenquvist and Antonio Giovinazzi. That same year also saw him finishing 8th in the Macau GP behind once again driver such as Charles Leclerc and Felix Rosenquivst. He also in that year won the Toyota racing series by over a hundred points. This year he also left the Ferrari driver program and joined the Williams academy. He became their development driver for 2016.

In 2016 he once again competed in the F3 to this time win it by a nearly 200 point advantage. P2 saw Maximilian Günther and P3 was none other than George Russell. He also raced the Daytona 24 Hours where his team finished 5th overall.

Before we move on F1, I do feel the need to address something that has been brought up multiple times. The rumours that Lance had a better car because his father was rich, that his team-mates never had a chance etc. I think that is complete bullshit and frankly manly used to underline his talent. Even with the best car, the worst driver would do something wrong. Sure you can call him mid but considering the huge gap he had in his second year, I think it's fair to say he had talent in him. Also the fact that Felix regularly comments on Lance posts does not seem like there is any bad will against him. Yes, he had better equipment etc. to win but the way he wrapped up the season still speaks to his talent.

2017- The start of it all

Lance started his F1 career in 2017 with Williams. His team mate then was Felipe Massa. This was a huge leap considering Lance short experience with Formula racing and it was understandably questioned. Nonetheless 2017 saw him starting alongside Felipe who jumped into that seat after Val signed with Mercedes following Nico's retirement. I think it is also noteworthy to mention here that in 2016 he already was a development driver for them so there was always the probability for him to drive. I personally think he could and should have done another year in Formula racing (F2) but that is my own opinion. What people however also seem to forget is that will it might have been to early for him in F1, he did have a bit of experience as the Williams development driver. And considering that they had just lost Val who looked like one of the youngest and most promising drivers on that grid, it made sense for them to search for another young driver for their team.

He made his depute in the Australian GP. During that third free practice, he crashed as he was going too fast which then resulted in him having a penalty (he qualified last.) At the race start he gained about 7 places before he had brake issues and had to retire the car. His second race saw him qualifying tenth but immediately taken out on the first lap by Sergio (could be argued for a race incident but I think there's more blame on Perez.)

Now, his third race same him time wise qualify closer to his team mate but only in 12th place. In the race he flat spotted his tyre and did an early pitstop before his collision with Sainz. (Sainz came out of the pit lane very quick and just dive bombed into him. He was behind even after exiting the pit lane so Sainz should have waited for Lance to drive past.)

Russia finally saw a turn around in his luck. He once again qualified 12th and finished the race in P11. His fifth race after that saw him just mere 3 tenth off his team mate but sadly out in Q1 and overall he finished P16.

Monaco saw him crash out in FP2 and qualify 18th. He got up to 15th and then later in the race had to retire because of overheating brakes. Luck once again not on his side.

Canada finally saw a change when he not only qualified 7th but managed to come 9th in the race. He finally scored his first points in his home race.

Then Azerbaijan happened and for the first time ever Lance out-qualified his team mate and got 8th. But that is nothing compared to the drive he managed to pull off in that race. He wasn't the quickest but he once again proved that sometimes just consistently driving is enough to get into a good position and then profit from it. Many of the top teams drivers dropped out due to penalties or problems but that doesn't discredit Lance consistent drive in the top 10 which managed to get him a podium spot. Incredible how he managed to keep a gap and his place and only just missed out because of Val in the last corners. If not for that he would have gotten P2. A great race from him.

Next race once again not a great Qualifying in P18 but still managed P10. The first two laps saw Lance move up to P11 and then hang around that most of the race.

Next race he qualified 16h (penalty moving him up 1 place) and dropped to 16th .

The next race he qualified 17th and finished 14th. His qualifying was hindered by Kvyat.

After that he got once again unlucky and because off a damaged rear wing was only able to set one lap which meant he qualified 18th and finished just outside the points in 11th.

Then, something I feel like many people also don't know, Lance started the next race as the youngest driver ever on the front row (he originally qualified only 4th but penalties of both RedBull drivers put him up to second place.) During that entire qualifying he was only slightly off from the top 3 teams. Did he drop back during the race? Yes, he only finished 7th but you have to consider that his car did not have the race pace to compete with any of the three top teams and he wasn't even in the best midfield car. Side note, this was a wet qualifying and just behind him was Esteban. Funnily enough that changed in the race where he and Esteban where the best mid field drivers behind the top teams.

The next race yet again saw him qualify 18th and yet he finished the race in 8th. A chaotic race with many DNFs saw Williams massively profit, especially Lance. After that the following race saw him qualify 13th and once again finish 8th.

After that another qualifying in 18th. That race saw Lance up to 11th before he sadly went off and then seemed to struggle with the car. After that he ultimately failed to finish as a result of a puncture on his front wheel.

In the US GP he qualified 17th as a result of a penalty for him hindering Romain. The race saw him finish 11th, just outside of the points. Mexico saw him qualify 12th and finish in 6th. A great race from him where he was in the top 5 until Seb overtook him.

After that he once again qualified 18th and finished 16th. He was two laps down after a problem with a front tyre. The last race saw him qualifying 15th and he finished 18th .

Another incident that many like to blame him for here is the post-race crash with Seb. Bizarre but truly only because it seems like neither is really fully at fault. Also, if this is one of the only things you can use against a driver, maybe you might want to reconsider if he truly is such a bad driver. Anyways, I still put a video here for anyone that is interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRAN9pzdwsw

So, what does that mean for his first F1 season?

Well, his qualifying besides Imola you could argue was lacking pace and I absolutely will agree that it was bad. Then again what would you expect in someone's first F1 season, especially when up against a solid driver like Massa? Still, his qualifying definitely should have been better, I will agree. He was too inconsistent and too far off. In comparison to Massa he seemingly could make up places more easily though. All of the negatives are clearly overshadowed by the fact that in his first F1 season he was only 3 points behind his team-mate with double the amount of DNFs.

Not to mention that he not only is one of the youngest podium sitters but he is also the youngest front row starter (All in his first season.)

He had 4 DNFs of which he was not at fault for anyone of those (maybe in the racing incident but then again I see the blame more at Perez side than anyone else’s.) Yes he had about 3 free practices were he crashed then again he is was a rookie. Sure it's not great but accidents like that happen especially when you are not only new to the car but the entire form of racing.

So, all in all if you look at his statistics:

For his first season he managed a podium, a front row start and 6 points finishes in maybe the 6th best car? He finished just three points behind his team-mate in 12th (with 40 points) in the overall standing. His average Qualifying position was 14 and his average race finish was 11th.

Considering he had no F1 experience, had only been racing in Formula championships for 3 years at that point and was up against Felipe Massa who is still regarded very highly, I would say he did quiet al-right.

If anyone is interested in his DNFs, so you can form your own opinion:

Sadly I can't find a video of his first incident but the race is easy to find.

Here is him and Perez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka11N-hLshE

Here is a video of him and Sainz colliding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDNGfCTpJpQ

This was in China where he had a puncture on his front wheel (Also he could barely avoid Daniel since it is hard to steer when your wheel is like that yet he still managed to not make it into a big incident which I think deserves some credit)

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/japan- 2017-lance-strolls-puncture/907887256034924/

2018- a season to forget

Now in 2018, without a doubt there was a huge step back which is because that car was truly not it. I would say it was the worst car on the grid, therefore you should take these results as the lest credible. That Williams wasn't predictable in many ways and you could probably name this as the season the team went downhill. With Sergey as a new teammate and Lance only a year in F1, there also was the problem with having inexperienced drivers to give feedback for that car and lead the team.

In the opening race he qualified 14th and finished in that same position. After that he qualified 20th and finished 14th again. China saw him 18th and once again finish 14th .

Then he just merely missed out on 10th and qualified 11th and somehow managed to get into the points at 8th. I should mention however that this race saw may DNFs but I think he still did a good job with that car.

Spain saw him 19th but he managed to finish 11th in that race. Again capitalizing from DNF but still impressive considering he qualified behind his teammate. His bad qualifying continued with 18th and saw him finish in 17th .

Sadly at his home race it wasn't much better with a 17th place and DNF after a collision with Brendon Hartley. France saw him qualify last again and DNF as a result of a tyre blow out.

After that he finally managed to get into Q2 again, qualifying 15th and finishing in 14th , getting a 10-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.

In Great Britain Lance had to start from the pit lane because parts of his car were changed and still managed to finish 12th. Once again he was able to profit from some unfortunate DNFs but still a good drive.

In the 11th race he qualified 19th and once again had a DNF as a result of a problem with his brakes (They retired the car during a safety car period).

The next race saw him qualify 15th but start from the pit lane due to changes under Parc-fermé which meant he only finished 17th. Spa saw him qualify 19th again and finish 13th.

Monza finally brought good results in a 10th place in Qualy and a 9th place finish. He was nearly the best of the rest in a car that somehow just seemed to work on that track. Probably his best race of that season. A great drive.

After that he qualified 20h again and finished 14th. Once again making up places and outplacing his teammate.

Russia saw him last in Qualifying and 15th in the race. Then he qualified 14th and finished 17th.

The US GP saw him qualify 18th and finish 14th. Qualifying in Mexico saw Lance 19th again but he finished the race in 12th.

That picture didn't really change much in Brazil where he once again was 19th and finished 18th. And the season didn't really end on a high. Qualifying last and finishing in 13th.

So, how can we sum this up?

Well, even though this season was arguably his worst he still somehow got 6 points which is 5 more than his team mate Sergei Sirotkin. While his Qualifying still was lacking(an average of 17), it is still impressive that with that car he managed to have an average race finishing position of 13th. It is also notable that he was often times making up at least 3 places in his races where he finished higher which given the struggle that car seemed to be is worthy of noting. In comparison to his team-mate it is clear that Lance struggles in Qualy but consistently finishes in a similar position.

Out of the two of them he also managed to get multiple points finishes even though he qualified further back, something which I would argue is a strength of him. Yes most of their points finishes were as a result of the others misfortune but still, they had to capitalize during these races and most of that did come from Lance. Also, quiet a bit of Qualy saw him closer to his teammate.

Here's the DNFs for anyone that is interested:

Canada was arguably the biggest one where I understand why people might blame Lance but seeing how unpredictable that oversteer was and how he struggled with the car I would say it was more a racing incident than anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPn_GCa3mU

The tyre blow out in France https://twitter.com/F1/status/1010997824928878592

There isn't anything about Germany but watching the race you will see them retire the car towards the end.

2019- a season of change

Lance went to Racing Point and now has Sergio Perez as his team mate. Obviously with Lawrence buying RP and saving that team as well as Esteban losing his seat, Lance was not at all well received and already was guaranteed to be heavily judged, more so than what would have likely been fair. While I do get that point of Esteban losing his seat, I would also argue that the team of Sergio and Esteban was clearly not working and would have in the long run probably cost that team more points than they liked so I think there also is a tactical reason behind it.

In Australia he qualifies 16th but what people don't remember is that in Q1 he and Checo were only separated by less than a tenth of a second. That race sees Lance finishing 9th. After managing his tyres longer than Perez he managed to stay in the top 10,even closing in to 8th while having to keep others behind.

The second race of the season sees Lance qualifying 18th and finishing 14th. Next race Lance qualifies 16th and finished 12th.

The fourth race sees Lance qualify 16th and finishing 9th. He made up a flew places and was even closing in at the end.

Spain sees Lance qualify 17th and not finishing after coming together with Lando.

The next race saw Lance qualifying 18th just behind Sergio and ultimately finishing 16th.

Lance home race once again sees him qualify 18th just under a tenth behind Sergio. He manages to finish in 9th place. Just going to add this little video that quickly shows some of the moves he made . A great race for him.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/canada-2019-stroll-puts-on-a-show-for-his-home- fans/824107727965322/

The 8th race sees him in 18th but he manages to finish the race in 13th, just a place behind Sergio.

Austria once again sees Lance just a tenth behind Sergio in 17th and that race he finishes in 14th.

Something very similar happens the next race when Lance is just about a tenth of Sergio and qualifies 18th. That race he finishes 13th.

The German GP sees Lance finally in Q2 in 15th place. That race he comes 4th. An incredible drive to the surprise of many considering this is a wet race where a lot of drivers got themselves out of podium positions. Yes he was leading that race for a short while and was potentially on for a podium but I don't think there is any way he could have beaten that Ferrari or RedBull/Toro Rosso package who just seemed more dominant. Yeah sure you could argue what would have happened but the fact was, Racing Point made the smartest decision that race and got the maximum points thanks to Lance driving.

After that great race he qualifies 19th and finishes 17th.

In Belgium he qualifies 13th but due to changes of car parts starts from the back. Despite that he still finishes that race in 10th place.

The next race he finally manages to outqualify Sergio by quiet a margin and gets himself into Q3 and 9th place. Sadly he drops back to 12th in the race.

In Singapore he once again is less than a tenth behind Sergio in Q1 but sadly only manages P16.

During that race he gets up to 13th place.

Russia sees him P15 (P14 after a penalty for Pierre) and then up to P11. He just missed out on points.

In Japan he once again outqualifies Sergio and get P12, managing to climb up to P9. He finished just behind Checo.

Mexico saw him 16th and getting up to 12th.

In the US GP Lance once again by a huge margin manages to outqualify Sergio and gets 14th place.

In the race he finishes 13th. In Brazil he qualifies 17th and DNFs. The last race sees him qualify 13th and sadly not finishing.

This was an incident at Monza that many like to use against Lance where Seb clearly rejoins the track in an unsafe manner causing Lance to nearly crash. Lance does it similarly and I agree that it was stupid from him but also Lance clearly was on the racing line and his engineers should have told him who was coming from behind as every driver would want to go back into the race and away from the racing line. You can clearly see by the speed of the cars behind that the field was close together. Still not a good manoeuvre from Lance but in my opinion different from Seb.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2019-italian-grand-prix-vettel-and-stroll-collide-at- monza/269709670687851/

So what can we say about Lance's season?

I think he showed a step up in Qualy. If you look at his and Checo's times in most Q1s they were often less than 3 tenths apart and they were times when Lance was even less than a tenth off. I think he was still inconsistent but his Qualifying definitely improved. And I think the big points gap is largely down to Lance qualifying further back. You can see that there are quiet a few races where they made up the same places but because Lance qualified further back so he got less points.

Then again you have to question how much of their points or performance difference might be down to Checo having been with the team for a longer time and being a more experienced driver.

Did he outperform the car? Did Lance underperform? I think you can see progress here from Lance and I think many people misjudge their points difference. You also have to see that Lance in that year could have gotten a podium and scored the teams highest result. If you round their averages, Lance qualifies 15/16th place and finishes 12 while Sergio qualifies around 12/13th place and has an average finish of 10th .

Here's the DNFs for anyone that wants to check them out:

This is Lance and Lando. Honestly, for me a pure racing incident. Lance didn't expect Lando to make a move there, Lando might have been a bit too enthusiastic with that manoeuvre. I wouldn't put blame on one of them, just a simply misjudgement and miscommunication that cost both of them the race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.spanish-gp-norris-stroll-clash-brings-out-

the-safety-car.6060938080001.html

In Brazil he ran over debrief and as a result of that might have broken his front suspension.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.brazilian-gp-stroll-retires-with-front-suspension-damage.1687522499774886264.html

In Abu Dhabi there is firstly a first lap incident which damages his car. I can see fault on his part but I also think that this is just a typical first lap incident that is unfortunate. I couldn't exactly find a clip where it shows him retiring but ultimately a brake issue forced him to retire.

2020 and the story of what could have been

Oh 2020 my behated. Lance is still with Racing Point and still has Sergio as a team mate.

The first race saw him qualify 9th and than immediately out of the race. He had to retire with engine issues and could have possibly scored points had that not happened (he would have likely been P8 or P9.) The next race saw qualify 13th and finish 7th just behind Sergio. An incredible drive that saw him defending his position until the line quiet literally.

Hungary saw him start from P3, an incredible Qualifying and finish P4, just behind the Mercedes and Max. He was basically a top driver during that weekend. There was no better result to achieve.

The British GP after that ended with him in P9 after starting P6.

In the Anniversary GP he started P6 and finished in P6.

The sixth race saw him start from P5 and finish in P4. Once again being the best outside of the expected top 3.

It continued so well with a start and finish of P9 in Spa.

It got even better when Monza came and Lance managed P3 after starting P8. Yes, he did throw away a potential win but I am certain that he would have been overtaken by Sainz anyway because he had more speed that weekend with the McLaren package so I don't think he could have ever finished higher than P2.

And then it went downhill with Mugello, kick-starting the “What ifs”. From P6 (he moved up after Perez took a penalty) to a DNF. A puncture sent him to the barriers possibly costing him a podium.

Before going off he was P4 chasing P3. At the very least he would have gotten a P5 finish.

Next up was Russia where Lance qualified 13th. When I say it starts to go downhill, I mean it. He was fighting for P11/P12 and then got taken out by Charles. I am certain he would have at least got P10 if he hadn't crashed out, potentially even up to P8.

The next race Lance misses out because of Covid so on to Portugal we go. He qualified 12th, not bad. Then of course there is the incident with Lando which for me personally was a racing incident but I can see the blame on Lance. It was an ambitious move, some might cool it reckless but so many people would be praising any other driver if that had worked. It ultimately resulted in him having to retire because of that damage.

Next up was Imola where Lance started 15th and finished 13th. Due to contact with Esteban during the first lap he had to pit early and that basically ruined any chance he had at the race.

And then Turkey happened. The heartbreak and elation that weekend inspired. First off all, if anyone tries to discredit Lance Pole as anything other than possibly one of the greatest Qualifying results in the last years I am smashing their heads with a hammer. Yes that Racing Point was a fast car. Yes, they obviously could be podium contenders if Mercedes or RedBull messed up. But considering Max reputation and Lewis pure race craft, I don't think anyone thought that they would be anything other than the top 2 drivers. And in comes Lance with a lap about 3 tenth faster than Max in a worse car.

Incredible. And then Racing Point saw that and + Sergio's P3 and went “Nah, we can only have one of them on the podium.” During that race I genuinely thought the first 30 laps that Lance would win. And then they go against his pit call which turns out to have made things worse (no pace) and discover later on that Lance had a problem with his front wing which slowed him down. Therefore he only got 9th.

I don't really want to talk about Bahrain because the only thing that mattered about that race was seeing Romain get out of the car but I have to if I want to recap Lance performance. I am going to keep it short. He qualified 13th and didn't finish as he was turned upside down by Kvyat. Would have probably been a points finish but truly nothing of that race really matters or mattered other than Romain being okay.

The next race finally saw something good again with Lance qualifying 10th and being third on that podium. This was overshadowed by Sergio's win but it was a great result from him and the team.

The last race saw Lance in P8 and finishing in P10.

Spain had a great start for him again which I just want to add here.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.spanish-grand-prix-stroll-overtakes-bottas-with-amazing-start.1687526223371988110.html

So, what is the overall season summary?

This was without a doubt Lance best season. I mean come on. The only reason why people think he did bad is because they merely look at the points which you can't. Lance had so many DNFs this season where he wasn't at fault and which meant he missed out on huge points. I don't doubt that if he only had half of the DNFs or even if Turkey had gone the way it should have, he would very much be closer to Checo. Without a doubt he was never as close to a team-mate than he was in 2020. Even Qualy shows how mostly they were so close pace was. I think he would have had at least 2 other podiums (Mugello and Turkey) if luck had just been a bit more on his side. So therefore I think he would have had at least a 100 points. Sadly that didn't happen.

But this was undoubtedly his greatest season so let's just collect his achievement that he did have: He got the best qualifying results of the team that year, a pole and a third place. He also got two podiums and two fourth place finish. All the races expect 1 that he finished were Top 10 finishes. He outqualified his team mate multiple times.

Here are the DNFs if anyone wants to look them up:

There is no clip I can find of the Austria GP since they basically just call him into the pits.

The Mugello DNF (This is a fairly heavy crash so don't watch it if you can't see stuff like that) A possible puncture, another incident completely out of his hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ebaeSw8ZE

This was Russia where Lance got taken out by Charles. I don't really think it's the worst attempt I have seen but yeah, blame to Charles because he clearly saw Lance if that camera perspective is anything to go by.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-russian-grand-prix-sainz-and-stroll-crash-out-in-chaotic-sochi-race-start.1687515300528811143.html

Lance and Lando's collision during the Portuguese GP (I can accept that the move by Lance wasn't the smartest and I can also fully understand why people blame him.) However I think so many people jumped on this because of the Free Practice incident between Max and Lance where it was clearly just a miscommunication and misunderstanding.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-portuguese-grand-prix-stroll-and-norris-collide-at-turn-1.1687510148078074772.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QJTAVnaLRI

(This is said Free Practice accident)

Kyvat flipping Lance (again you shouldn’t watch this if you cant deal with heavier crashes). Some say racing incident, I would say more blame an Daniil but I am just happy Lance was okay especially after Romain's accident before.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-bahrain-grand-prix-stroll-flips-and-crashes-after-kvyat-contact.1687510862145773128.html

2021- up against a champion

Now it's time for change! Not only is the team now Aston Martin but Seb is Lance new team mate. And the car is well there.

In the first race Lance outqualifies Seb and not only starts but also finishes in 10th.

Imola presents a similar picture where Lance outqualifies Seb and gets 10th place. And he finishes 8th! Sure he got a 5 second penalty for leaving the track but that is still a good start to the season.

In the third race it starts to go a bit downhill with Lance qualifying in 17th and finishing in 14th , just behind Seb in 13th.

Spain once again sees Lance start and finish in the same place, this time 11th. That qualy saw him just miss out on P10 where he was off less than 10/1000. He had some good battles though like with Fernando.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-spanish-grand-prix-stroll-wins-wheel-to-wheel-battle-with-alonso.1699487558908336755.html

The next race is good once again. Lance qualifies 13th and finishes 8th. Considering that this is Monaco and there isn't really any overtaking opportunity, that's huge especially with Seb finishing P5.

Baku sees well a bit of a downer. First he has his Qualy crash (Absolutely his mistake then again hitting the wall happens to many drivers) and during his race he suffers a tyre blow out which causes him to crash

(See the qualy crash here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txr4NfOoZys).

In France he once again fails to set a qualy time to get out of Q1 but more as a result of bad timing. He couldn't have predicted the others would crash so no fault on him there. He even managed to set a lap which was sadly deleted but would have been faster than Sebs. He somehow manages to get back to 10th place just one behind Seb in the race.

Styria sees Lance qualify in P10 and finish in P8.

The next race once again sees him P10 in Qualy and then the race finishes with him in P13 with a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

The tenth race sees him start in P15 and finish in P14 in the sprint. In the actual race he gets P8.

Hungary looks promising with a P12 start but then well carnage happens. I will comment on those incidents in a bit.

On to Spa where he qualified P15 but was sent back to P20 as a result of the collision in Hungary. I won't talk about this race because it was still one of the biggest jokes and bullshit things this sport has done in recent years. Lance got a penalty for the work done under the stopped race. All in all a weekend to forget.

Zandvoort could be promising with a P12 start. Nothing major happens, he also finishes P12. He has a moment with Seb where Lance moves across from Seb to possibly cover him off from overtaking him. Dangerous driving I will admit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLT3XQ96FAY

Monza sees him Qualify 12th and manage to get up to 10th during the sprint qualy. In the race he finishes P7. He does another borderline move on Seb which I won't deny. I however feel like people over dramatize it. For me that wasn't nice but it was still okay. The only reason why people really criticize it so much is because you shouldn't do that to a teammate. Again I can understand why people dislike it but that still doesn't take away from the great job Lance did that weekend, considering he just missed out on Q3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rRMnO3mmPY

Russia is there, with a P8 start and a P11 finish. But we obviously have to talk about it. Not only did he have a great start where he overtook multiple cars but he also hit the wall and had contact with Seb. He hit the wall as it started to rain but he was still able to keep going. The incident with Seb is well yeah Lance fault. But I think it wasn't so much mean spirited as more plain underestimating space and possible struggle with the conditions. Seb even said that it was a misunderstanding and that Lance probably didn't see or expect him there.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-russian-grand-prix-mega-stroll-start/228625209311917/

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-russian-grand-prix-onboard-as-stroll-slides-into-the-wall.1712063737151581609.html

Turkey has a P9 start and a P9 finish but once again shows Lance skill as it is a wet race.

The next GP sees a P12 start and P12 finish. Quiet a race though as Lance was first spun by Nicholas Latifi and then nearly had a collision with Mazepin.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-united-states-grand-prix-nicholas-latifi-and- lance-stroll-collide/248666900567613/

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-united-states-grand-prix-mazepin-strolls-close- call/402411924879898/

Mexico comes with a slap of penalties so qualy doesn't really matter anyway. He also crashes in Qualy. https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-mexico-city-grand-prix-stroll-crashes- out-of-quali/627086791628083/

Still a P14 finish though.

Brazil once again sees the useless sprint Qualy which manages to get Lance up from P15 to P14.

Nothing really happens in that race position wise for him so he stays P14. However he has a scrap with Yuki which honestly was just Yuki in my opinion trying a way too ambitious move. They actually fought quiet a bit that race. Lance retired in the race as a result of the damage he suffered from the accident in the first lap.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-sao-paulo-grand-prix-tsunoda-and-stroll-collide-at-interlagos.1716425125628029095.html

Quater sees Lance in P12 and he manages to get a P6 finish! A great drive from him especially considering that he had to make his tyres last longer.

The penultimate race sees both Astons struggling in Qualy with Lance in P18. He manages to get up to P11.

We don't want to talk about Abu Dhabi because it was a robbery and a shit show but we have to because people keep saying it was only bad for Lewis when drivers like Lance where also massively effected by the FIAs incompetence. He started P13 and finished that race but by god was it a nightmare. I am just going to leave the comms between him and his engineer here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK5SbgqcjIA

My summary:

While last season showed how great Lance can be, this season was huge for him in terms of development. Not only did he outqualify Seb multiple times but he also was incredible consistent.

Almost every race saw him somewhere between 8 or 12th with an average finish of 11th. Yes Seb has more points but almost half of those came from his podium (which I am absolutely not discrediting or taking away, just merely pointing it out.) If you consider that Seb has over 10 years in that sport compared to Lance rushed into it and now being in his 5th + Seb being one of the greatest for many, it truly speaks to Lance credit how close he was to him and how much he managed to consistently score.

I won't deny that this however also is the season where I would argue Lance had some questionable manoeuvres and many borderline racing incidents. This however also shows that even with a car that wasn't great Lance was consistently in the midfield battling for points.

Here's the DNFs:

Baku which sadly was just out of his hands

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-azerbaijan-grand-prix-stroll-escapes-heavy-high-speed-crash.1701823437935060912.html

The Hungary chaos from multiple perspectives. You can clearly see that Lance is of course at fault for it but he immediately recognizes that and apologizes. There's been mistranslations where it looks like he blames Val which is not true. He knows he fucked up. Drivers look up but yeah totally on him although I will say I first thought he was trying to avoid that carnage by going onto the grass. In his interview after he says he possibly ran over debrief which given the carnage in front of him isn't hard to believe. So yeah, for me personally more of a domino effect then anything.

Valtteri's bad start set a series of unfortunate events into motion.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-hungarian-grand-prix-drivers-react-to-turn-1- crash.1707071583705474820.html

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.lance-stroll-reacts-to-disaster-hungarian-grand-prix-start-crash.1706899140973058269.html

2022- a shitbox in green

Another year at Aston Martin with Seb but instead of a bad car they now got a green tractor to honour Sebs environmental perspective.

In the first race Lance qualified 19th and finished 12th. The second race sees Lance start in P15 and finish P13 but a lap earlier due to a longer pit stop and damage after coming together with Alex.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-albon-found-to-blame-for-clash-with-stroll.1728538480607161440.html

Australia sees well a bizarre qualifying. Lance and Nicky crash during Q1 for which Lance later gets penalized. In my opinion completely undeserved. As you can see, Nicky clearly moves over to let cars pass which Lance then does only for Nicky to seemingly want to retake that position very fast with a much to small gap. I don't fully blame Nicky but I understand why Lance didn't expect him to come back so quickly and I personally see it as a bad communication example more than an accident where you have to shift blame.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-australian-gp-qualifying-latifis-car-destroyed-in-bizarre-crash-with-stroll.1729611513723725817.html

In the race he manages to get back up to P12.

Imola once again has a sprint weekend which doesn't affect Lance who still remains P15. In the race he manages to get back to P10.

The new Miami race sees Lance qualify from P10 but due to an issue he has to start from the pit lane. And still he gets P10.

The sixth race he quallified 18th and finished 15th. He didn't really score points but he could have scored higher had he not been spun around by Pierre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lSP08f5Slk

Next up was Monaco. Lance qualifies P18 and finishes P14. He hit the wall during the formation lap but then again it was a wet race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-monaco-grand-prix-latifi-and-stroll-hit-the-barriers-on-wet-formation-lap-in-monaco.1734171020113023239.html

Baku saw Lance qualifying 19th and not finishing. His Qualy which I will give people was bad. Like crashing twice (also the second time was a result of the first) isn't what you should expect from someone who at that point was 5 years in F1. However he had engine issues that entire weekend which is also why he didn't finish so you start to wonder if they maybe played a tiny role.

His home race saw him qualify P18 again but he finally got points again with a P10. His move on Seb was dangerous and probably cost Seb a position or two. But also, Lance start in that race was like incredible. What a great start.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1591574059808165888?lang=de

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1587415154936930304

Silverstone sees Lance start last and finish in 11th. A good start which saw him avoid all the chaos in front.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7_Elsl4jGM

Austria once again sees a sprint which means he goes from P17 to P13. Nothing changed in the race and he finished in P13. Some battles that were nice but ultimately with the Aston Martin tractor not that great.

The next race saw Lance once again in P17 and finishing in P10. An incredible race from him and I just want to show his start because we rarely ever saw how great his starts can be and how close the midfield is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOaKfdx6wrw

Hungary saw Lance qualify P14, finally into Q2 again. The race saw him finish P11. Considering he got spun around at one point by Daniel I would say that's a good result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5I-95BkUK4

Next up was Spa where Lance once again got into Q2 and qualified 14th. Because of penalties of other drivers he started P9 and finished P11.

Zandvoort saw him even into Q3 and qualify P10 which is also where he finished the race. Up next was Monza where he was once again starting from P17 but because of penalties got pushed up to 12th which was very promising. Sadly he had to retire the car because of breaks overheating.

The next race had Lance start from P12 and finish in P6. And then Japan came back. Lance only qualified P19 but finished P12. The start he had to that race was just wow. During a wet race he not only managed to overtake multiple cars but he also just quiet literally drove past them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwJvwpCnRwU

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-japanese-grand-prix-lance-stroll-makes-lightning- start-to-go-from-19th-to-p11-on-opening-lap.1746188182712421933.html

Next up was the US GP where he qualified 7th which considering he was best of the rest in a car that was 9th fastest deserves a shout-out. Especially when it put him up to 5th because of other penalties.

Sadly his race was over rather quickly. He DNFed after colliding with Fernando.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2022-united-states-grand-prix-fernando-alonso-and- lance-stroll-come-together/885762125676389/

I have seen people say that Lance move is dangerous but you are allowed to move over to defend from an opponent, some of you need to remember that. Yes he should have moved more clearly but there was still like Lance said enough space. I think it was just a bit misjudged which lead to the racing incident. But yes I can see why people were to put blame on to Lance since he should have not just moved a bit or could have defended it later. He got a penalty for his move which would be applied in Mexico. A penalty that I agree with because his defending was too robust and late.

Mexico saw Lance start as a result of his penalty for last race. He finished 15th.

Brazil saw him qualify 15th and finish 16th in the sprint. What he did during the sprint to Seb I'll agree was a bad move. In the race he managed to get back up to 10th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hCpPzHBQ1k

The last race saw Lance start 14th and finish 8th.

I think looking back on it now especially comparing it to 2021 and 2020 which were undoubtedly some of Lance best performances, it's hurts seeing 2022. There were many mistakes made by him and I think a lot of that is also down to him just not seeming to be comfortable with the car plus Aston just struggling in general. Lance Qualifying was definitely lacking and there is no doubt that he clashed more with Seb than he should have. I won't say many of the incidents he had that season reflect good on him.

However I think it's truly unfair that people would judge him based of one season that was bad when he had a car that was nearly the worst car on the grid. It is also very clear that controlling that car was very difficult.

I also raise the question again: How much better do we expect him to perform against Seb? This isn't me dismissing his incidents this is merely looking at results.

How much can you really expect from Lance to be close to Seb in that car without trying to diminish as arguably the better driver? How much can we compare their performances? Or rather how much can we judge Lance especially when he was against Seb, a 4 time world champion, a runner up multiple times?

If we were to merely look at results for this (which I have started before aren't everything), we will see that really they aren't that far apart. In the races where both of them finished they are mostly only 2-3 places apart which is interesting if you consider that Lance often qualified further back.

But, like I said results don't speak for everything so if you were to say which season was Lance worst, I would probably say this.

I want to draw your attention now though to some positives from that season like Lance amazing start in Japan which shows he is talented.

Or the fact that Lance got Aston Martin's highest Qualifying that season with 7th which turned into a start from P5 after penalties of other drivers were applied. He also had the most positions gained and was in the top 10 for most overtakes in that season.

Here are the DNFs:

This is Lance and Alex making contact which resulted in both of them out of the race. Personally a racing incident for me as they seemingly both misjudged the space or weren't expecting the other to turn in. I would argue it's a bit ambitious from Alex but I don't think it was penalty deserving on either end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDg9cweEbew

Side-note: I also don't know why people think Lance crashes a lot or is know for his dangerous driving. Sure during his first season he crashed twice in free practice and had a few DNFs but almost 80% of his DNFs are either not his fault or simple race incidents. Then again he had 2 other free practice crashes in his second season but that doesn't make him a bad driver? The worst he ever clashed with another driver was Seb in 2022 which I will give people. However I really don't see why people say he is famous for colliding with others when many couldn't recall any incident that involved him and another driver that wasn't in 2022 or the last season. He isn't memorable for bad driving although 2022 might reflect badly on him.

So what is the conclusion?

Why did I title this document the way that it is? That is simple to answer. I completely mean it.

In his career if we ignore 2018, Lance has had/has the following teammates:

- Felipe Massa, who was nearly a WDC

- Sergio Perez who was one of the best midfield drivers at that time

- Sebastian Vettel, a 4x WDC

and now Fernando Alonso, a 2xWDC.

People forget that not only was Lance in F1 with very little experience at an early age but he has also had world class drivers, some regarded as the greatest as his teammates.

Not only that but he has consistently improved over the years and had rarely any bad clashes that he was responsible for.

The worst he did was against a 4 x WDC in one of the worst, if not the worst car on the grid, a car that he didn't feel confident in and that was hardly able to be predicated and difficult to control. That was his worst year in F1 where a lot of the mistakes where his fault without a doubt.

But people truly forget how great Lance can perform, especially in the wet and how he dominated Perez in 2020 until his streak of luck was cut short to no fault of his own. Not only that but he outqualified Seb in 2021 multiple times, was more consistent than him with his race result etc.

Not to mention the things he has already achieved.

He is one of the youngest podium sitters, the youngest front row starter (all from his first season), has multiple podiums (and would have had more if not for his unlucky streak in the later half of 2020), has a pole and has managed to be close to many of his teammates (if you don't only lock at results.) Not to mention that even though his qualifying was inconsistent, he always had good standout performances.

And he is one of the best starters on that grid. There are some races where he just drives past 5+ cars like it's nothing which often shouldn't even be possible with his bad car.

Yes, he was inconsistent in Qualy many times and yes he had some questionable drives but the later can be said for almost any driver on the grid. Drivers are bound to make mistakes and also sometimes experienced ones because it happens.

Considering how well he is doing in this season with a still healing injury, I truly do not get how he is this discredited and underrated. When it comes to teammates he has arguably had some of the hardest to compete against in the last years.

Not to mention he came into this sport without anyone believing he deserved there. He even questioned his own place in this sport which is bullshit considering he had enough wins and champions to warrant an F1 seat.

[f1]

McLaren doing an Aston Martin is a good example for Mercedes Wolff | 2023 British Grand Prix

McLaren’s sudden emergence as the second-fastest team in Formula 1 this weekend gives Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff encouragement about the progress they can make. In the first race where both MCL60s are running the team’s major upgrade package, McLaren claimed second and third on the grid for today’s British Grand Prix, behind pole-winner Max Verstappen. Wolff likened the gains McLaren has made to Aston Martin’s leap forward following the end of last season. “I think it’s very encouraging to see that Aston Martin found massive chunks of lap time from last year to this year,” he said. “And in the same way you see that within the season McLaren are doing that. “That is something that you need to take your hat off to, if we see that consolidating, and certainly for us a good example of how you can turn around things.” While Red Bull have been undefeated so far this year, several different teams have been their closest rivals at different races. “It’s quite weird how that fluctuates,” Wolff admitted. “You would have said for a long time into the season that Aston Martin was the second force and probably our biggest competitor, obviously with Ferrari. “Then suddenly you have McLaren in the mix in Austria, clearly one car had the upgrade and he was very fast. Today both cars have the upgrade and they are second and third on the grid. So absolutely it seems like they have made a massive step in understanding and performance.” Formula 1 is in its third season since introducing a cap on teams’ spending and the Aerodynamic Testing Regulations which handicap the top performances in the championship by limiting their development time. Wolff said the close competition behind Red Bull shows these rules have worked. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free “We have all been part and active in designing regulations which would allow, over time, smaller teams to catch up and level the playing field. If you look at Albon today on single-lap performance he is right there, and Aston coming back like we discussed before and McLaren. It’s what we wanted. “If you take Max out of the equation – having said that, I mean, he’s four-tenths quicker than the top eight teams on a 90-second lap, so that’s not a huge chunks anymore – but everybody else is within two-tenths. From P2 to [P7] is two-tenths and that shows us that the regulations work. “It’s damn tough and it’s going to continue to be like this, but we knew that.” George Russell and Lewis Hamilton qualified within six-hundredths of a second of each other for Mercedes in sixth and seventh places. That was several places higher than the team achieved during practice on Friday, where it introduced a new front wing for its W14, and Wolff believes they got the most out of their package as it stands. “I think everything performed as we expected. We had to find our reference points yesterday that’s why on the stopwatch maybe it didn’t look too great. But everything was solid and there was nothing we could say today didn’t perform as expected. Just not good enough.” Bringing the F1 news from the source RaceFans strives to bring its readers news directly from the key players in Formula 1. We are able to do this thanks in part to the generous backing of our RaceFans Supporters. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the equivalent in other currencies) you can help cover the costs involved in producing original journalism: Travelling, writing, creating, hosting, contacting and developing. We have been proudly supported by our readers for over 10 years. If you enjoy our independent coverage, please consider becoming a RaceFans Supporter today. As a bonus, all our Supporters can also browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below: Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 British Grand Prix Browse all 2023 British Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[racingliners]

F1 Re-Watch 2013: Round 18 - USA

Yeehaw! (sorry, couldn't help myself). What can I say the 2024 testing hype is getting to me and I really want to finally finish my 2013 watch through before the first race of the season, so we're on Austin!

Again, very few memories of this race bar Seb's first and only win at COTA and the very iconic "We have to remember these days..." team radio 🥹

So let's get into it!

As far as I can remember, they just had regular Pirelli podium caps instead of the cowboy ones but I could be wrong.

Honestly I don't mind COTA as a track that much. It's not one of the greats but it is decent.

What the fuck is Hulkenberg doing in 4th??????

Starting the grid order whiplash early I see

Speaking of, let's get into it: Seb pole and Webber P2, normal for 2013; Grosjean P3; Hulkenberg P4 (WILD); Lewis P5; Val P9 (hell yeah); Jev P14 and Jenson P15 :(

OH we also have Heikki Kovalinen filling in for Kimi as he missed the last two races of 2013, he lines up P8.

Mediums and Hards are the tyre compounds for this race.

[Formation Lap]: It is also Quite Warm™️. To the point where it may become a 2-stop race due to thermal degradation.

"Mercedes don't care if they're 19th and 20th so long as Ferrari are 21st and 22nd" um... I care

[Start/Lap 1]: Grosjean takes P2 at turn 1!!!!

and Lewis takes P3!!!!!

and we already have yellow flags

aaaaand they're gone

shit Sutil's in the wall (he's fine)

aaaaaaand Safety Car

well that was certainly a first lap.

Sutil's girlfriend facepalming is a mood

[Lap 2]: Bernd Maylander sighting!!! Our forever Driver of The Day.

[Lap 3]: as it's a SC there's really nothing much going on apart from shots of people in garages

and the replay of Webber's start was actually fine, it was just where he'd positioned the car that led to him losing places

[Lap 4]: Hi Ted!!!!

woo SC in this lap

let's go zoom zoom!

Seb's had a great SC restart, I miss it when they didn't stress me out

[Lap 5]: "We think Jenson might have a bit of front wing damage" fUCK

racing gods stop being mean to my boy

[Lap 6]: Seb leads by 1.9 seconds like the GOAT he is

Alonso is down in P7 I have zero idea how that happened.

and once again I'm quite compelled by just watching the cars go round even though there's nothing much happening sdvhvhd

[Lap 7]: Webber is catching up to the back of Lewis 👀

[Lap 8]: Not Maldonado having a wobbly front wing (possibly from the contact with Sutil)

[Lap 9]: again nothing much happening but cars going around the track are fun to just watch 😅

[Lap 10]: Though Webber's dropped back from Lewis a tiny bit

Jenson is in the dizzying heights of... P14 🥲

Hulkenberg is also the conductor of a little DRS train in P5

[Lap 12]: a shot of the McLaren pit wall since there's so little racing happening

[Lap 13]: Lewis getting a little snarky with Bono instantly being followed with a shot of the Merc pit wall dbhdfjbshfdj

and Webber gets past Lewis!!

The TV feed literally cut to it as it was happening so I got a bit of a fright

It was a saucy move though, round the outside of turn 16

[Lap 15]: Once again asking where I can get myself an emotional support Bono

also also HOW is Rosberg down in P11 but Hulkenberg is in P5. Nico be serious for a minute please.

and by be serious, I mean get your pretty little head further up the field and be the superior Nico

...Not Hulkenberg being faster than Lewis too 😭

once again asking Mercedes to get their shit together

JENSON SIGHTING!!!!!

[Lap 16]: He's chasing down Massa for 13th

the TV feed following Jenson and immediately getting a Seb fastest lap, the racing gods are Sebson truthers

[Lap 17]: Seb onboard!!!!! He exists!!!!

he also has a 6.3 second gap over Grosjean

"I've got no grip man" every race we get closer to the maiden 'Bono my tyres are gone'

[Lap 19]: Anyway I haven't done a top 5 overview yet, it's: Seb, Grosjean, Webber, Lewis and Hulkenberg

Speaking of Nico v Nico, Rosberg takes P10 from Ricciardo

It was a good move too! Started in the braking zone of turn 16 and ended around turn 18, probably the longest bit of racing we've had so far

[Lap 21]: And Jenson makes his first and possibly only stop

he comes out in P16 😭

[Lap 24]: Bottas pits from P8 and comes out in P10

[Lap 26]: I think Lewis got the message after the third box Bono, but I appreciate the dedication to the bit (Lewis has made his one and likely only stop, like many mediums off for hards)

[Lap 28]: Seb finally makes his first stop! And also for the hard tyres

Lewis jumped Hulkenberg at his stop!!!!!! God!! Bless!!!!

also also 🚨WE ARE FINALLY AT HALF DISTANCE🚨

and honestly thank goodness, this race has not been it thus far

[Lap 29]: Webber also makes his first stop

and oof 2.3 second stop.

I wish I could say that Fernando made a great move on Gutierrez but the on board camera was at a funky angle so I didn't actually see it

[Lap 30]: Grosjean has pitted and comes out between the two Red Bulls

aaaaaand a Seb fastest lap 👌

oof Lewis is not happy this race 😩

[Lap 31]: Perez passes Gutierrez on the main straight

[Lap 32]: Nico Rosberg finally gets himself into P11

and lol at the fact you can barely hear Ross Brawn on the TV feed.

the V8 engines said "I've had enough of this guy"

[Lap 33]: Top 5 overview since it's been a while: Seb, Grosjean, Webber, Lewis and Hulkenberg

Webber is only within a couple of seconds of Grosjean though

And Jenson is still in P14 🥲

Rosberg takes P10 from Di Resta down the inside of turn 16!!!

Another very fun move 👌

[Lap 34]: And Valtteri briefly took P8 from Gutierrez

for a 2013 Williams that's basically winning a grand prix

[Lap 35]: I can't believe I'd forgotten about the rotating cameras on the front wings 😵‍💫

BUT Valtteri re-takes P8 - through the esses section!!!!

another peach of a move 👏

[Lap 37]: Webber's been dropping back from Grosjean by half a second...

Comms don't think he has a problem but biiiig oofs

"Rosberg's starting to catch Bottas" oh the 'Nico's sudden retirement causing Valtteri to take his seat' of it all

[Lap 38]: Webber just did the fastest lap, he's fine

meanwhile Jenson's in P13!!!! progress!!!!

Being a Jenson fan in 2013 was rough, let me tell you

[Lap 39]: *crosses off 'Andrea Stella talking to Fernando in Italian' off my bingo card*

huh, Massa made a second stop for mediums

inch resting

nvm IT PUTS JENSON IN 12TH!!!!!!

[Lap 40]: Seb sighting!!!!

[Lap 41]: livery watch: oh the navy and gold Toro Rosso livery how I miss you...

[Lap 42]: Rocky once again telling Seb to slow down dfvhdfvhd

unstoppable force vs immovable object

Rocky and Bono are the founders of the Exhausted Race Engineers Club

[Lap 44]: and we now find ourself in the very strange universe where Alonso (in a Ferrari) can't get past Hulkenberg (in a Sauber)

You'd think it would be an immediate pass, but no

[Lap 45]: and Fernando finally gets the move done on the exit of turn one

Lewis is the next car ahead...

potential stress inducing battle aside, another Seb sighting!!!

He is unbothered, moisturised, flourishing

[Lap 46]: Jenson closing up to the back of Di Resta

[Lap 47]: damn Fernando is already within DRS range of Lewis

the old man is old manning again

[Lap 48]: Speaking of old men, Webber's back in DRS range of Grosjean

[Lap 50]: Still catching but not quite close enough

Lewis is back to 2 seconds ahead of Fernando

and most importantly on midfield watch, Valtteri is still in P8

Jenson's into P11!!!!!!!! WE MAY STILL GET POINTS!!!!!!

oh a Simon Rennie sighting for the girlies (gn)

[Lap 52]: 🚨5 laps remaining!!!!🚨

honestly the second half of the race was much better than the first, curse you one stop races

Jenson is 2.4 seconds from P10, I'm not sure if he's going to make it

[Lap 53]: you know that "I wanna see my little boy" vine? That's me every time the TV feed cuts to Seb

[Lap 54]: Jenson is now 6 tenths behind P10

come onnnnnn JB

[Lap 55]: We literally have 2 laps left

can't type. too invested in watching the Jenson v Ricciardo battle.

HE TAKES P10 ON THE EXIT OF TURN 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

that's my guy that's my bestie

[Lap 56]: Last lap!

looks like everyone else is going to hold position

[Finish]: AND SEB WINS IN COTA!!!!!!!!!

His 8th win on the bounce, which at the time made him the first driver to do that in one season. MY GOAT!!!

rest of the Top 10: Grosjean, Webber, Lewis, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Perez, Bottas, Rosberg and Jenson

well, that kind of felt like a race of two halves, which I'm very much pinning on the one stop strategy the bulk of the cars ran. But WHEW once the drivers didn't have to conserve their tyres the racing was great! Loads of battles up and down the field which was so fun to watch.

Next race, and the last one of 2013 - Brazil!

[rehcciardo]

Cursed Austria

I’m rewatching the qualifying right now, because I wasn’t at home and only could watch a bit on my way home on my mobile phone. I don’t know why I punisch myself so much because it still hurts.

So what we had today?

Q1:

Both McLarens struggeling because of issues? Okay I think they fixed the problem on daniels car in the end of FP1  but his whole practice session was about to figgure out what the hell was wrong right? Damn. But I guess this track doesn’t suit this car anyways but of course I’ve been silly to have hopes it will be better than Silverstone.

Daniel ended on P16 and his time was goddamn close to get into Q2. But to be honest I didn’t want to see Pierre out in Q1 either. I really don’t want to decide wich one should have got into Q2. Even I would prefer Daniel if I have to.

Again both Aston Martin were out in Q1 as well and Seb’s last lap got deleted  and he ended on P20. But due of Bottas grid penalty he will start on P19. But maybe he can gain some positions during the sprint race tomorrow. He did very well in Silverstone last weekend and I’m sure he can do it again!

Q2:

One of the most frustrating things in Q2 was Norris, who told his engeneer that he would be afraid of useing the brakes? What the actual fuck? This is horroble. A driver needs to have faith in his car and being afraid of braking is one of the worst things which could happen. Fuck!!!!!

And another qualifying without my beloved Alpha Tauri guys. It hurts so much. But why didn’t they delete Perez lap during the qualifying? He absolutely crossed the track limits and wouldn’t be in Q3. I really don’t understand the fact why they investigated this case of track limits afterwards while they deleted every other’s drivers laps before? This is ridiculous! Because of that Gasly couldn’t go into Q3 and didn’t had the chance to improve his time. I don’t know if he could have but yeah Gasly was robbed in my opinion!

But to end Q2 with something really positive. Both Haas made it into Q3 and I couldn’t be happier for Mick. Please let him have a good weekend when everyone of my other favourites have issues on the car or are struggling like hell or have been robbed.

Q3:

Not a good start into the austrian gp for Mercedes. Lewis had a fantastic lap and then crashed into the wall. And can we talk about those ‘fans’ who were cheering about lewis crashing out? Are you fucking serious? It’s okay to don’t like a driver but cheering when he crashs out is the shittiest behavior I can think of. Espacally after we have seen what frightening accidents can happen last weekend. I have really no words left to tell you how I feel about this. I’m truly disgusted of this kind of behavior. When you booing or cheering  because someone have a crash, you can’t consider yourself as a F1 fan in my opinion.

The next Mercedes in the wall. Right after the Q3 session has been restarted, Russel crashes out either. I was sitting in front of my phone and couldn’t believe what was happening. Mercedes are finally both back with a good pace and everything and  they crahed out. It’s more than frustration for me right now. Let’s hope the mechanics are making a good job right now to repair the cars.

And how close was it between Max and Charles? Max literally got the Pole Position in the very last meters of his final lap. This was really exiting to watch!

To come to the good things again. Mick on P8 and Kevin on P7 and with Perez deleted laps of Q3 thwy even start on P7 and P6 tomorrow! YESSS BOYS! Well done. Rocking the sprint race tomorrow!

It really looks like the austrian ground is cursed. This was a hell of a qualifying if you support McLaren, Aston Martin, Alpha Tauri or Mercedes. At least I think Mercedes can get their cars ready for tomorrow but I guess they could have fight for the third position today and it’s unfortunate that they couldn’t. But I’m still happy for Mick <3

[formula365]

Making the pendulum swing - Turkish GP review

There are a lot of reasons motorsports fans love a race in a wet track. For one, rain is a great leveller, reducing the advantages of superior machinery and enhancing driver ability. Another reason is that it is fun to see some of the greatest drivers in the world have to wrestle with the steering wheel; reduced grip, at least to this level, is not a desirable outcome for every single race, but to have it on occasion makes for some great entertainment. And some spins are always a bit of fun to watch.

But the main reason why racing in the wet is so exciting is the unpredictability. These are special races, in which the logic of faster driver in a faster car will win does not (always) apply. Everybody loves an underdog, and these races are the biggest opportunities for unexpected winners in modern F1. Wet races can also provide plenty of changes in momentum, with the pendulum swinging in favour of one driver or another; if someone looks like being in control by lap 10, they might be out of it by lap 20 and back in it by lap 40.

This is exactly what we had in Istanbul this Sunday. Particularly in the first half, several drivers seemed to have the upper hand but, for one reason or another, they ended up falling down the order or, at the very least, could not compete with the eventual winner. In different periods of the race, Stroll, Perez, Verstappen and Albon all seemed like having the perfect set of circumstances to win the race. But Stroll couldn’t keep his tyres from graining, Verstappen and Albon spun out of contention and Perez decided to roll the dice and take the old tyres to the end, sacrificing pace for track position.

Perez’s strategy almost worked. Yes, he was significantly slower than several drivers behind him, and almost lost a place in the podium on the last lap, but he did manage his tyres superbly, as he usually does, to finish in a fine second place. It was, however, not enough to deal with the one man that continues to rise and astonish with how he makes the pendulum swing towards him.

Lewis Hamilton knew after qualifying that he didn’t need to do much in the race to clinch the world title. Bottas had struggled even more than he had, and was three places behind. Stay out of trouble, avoid crashing early and ensure Bottas finishes behind. The Finn made his job even easier by spinning on the opening lap and falling towards the back, from where he never recovered. A scoreless Bottas meant the title was in the bag. Hamilton didn’t need to push.

But he still went for it. He was stuck behind Vettel for a considerable period of time, which meant the Racing Points were too far down the road. As the pendulum swung between different drivers ahead of him, the champion-elect never really seemed with a shot of winning. But Hamilton bid his time and once he had clear air, he saw there was still an opportunity. And he is not one to waste opportunities. He clearly wanted to win the championship in style, not simply have it fall on his lap. In the past, he hasn’t often had the change to secure the title with a win. He wasn’t going to let that go this time around.

In the end, while all the other drivers who were there, or nearly there, made mistakes and lost their cool, Hamilton disappeared down the road, finishing a whopping 30-seconds-30 ahead of the pack. It was another demonstration, as if we needed more, that he does stand head and shoulders above everyone else on the grid. The young pretenders will have to wait a bit longer to dethrone him, because he shows no sign of losing his ability with age.

I try to not focus too much on the winners of a race, and not to write too often about Hamilton, but he makes it really difficult not to. He is a unique talent in the history of the sport and we should very much enjoy watching him while we can. Although there is plenty of talent in the coming generation, we might not see another driver like him for a long while.

Talking points * On Saturday it seemed impossible that we could see a Hamilton win. The Mercedes were completely out of pace, and it was Racing Point and Red Bull who had the fastest cars. It was an intense qualifying, that finished with a first pole for Lance Stroll. The Canadian gets a lot of stick because of his father’s money, but he does have bags of talent and he showed it on Saturday. The race might not have gone his way (Racing Point reporting there was damage to his front wing which caused the excessive tyre graining) but he should take comfort that, after a tough couple of months, he showed what he is capable of. He should use Saturday as a motivator to finish the season strongly. * Saturday also provided another concerning moment in terms of safety. At the start of Q2, drivers were sent out on track while marshalls were still in a run-off area, with a crane, recovering Latifi’s car. If your heart went racing back to Suzuka 2014, you were not alone. Race direction justified it by saying they had been informed the crane would be gone by the time drivers reached that point of the track, but there is no justification to even take that risk. A delay of 2 minutes would have been fine. After the issue with the marshalls on track at Imola, this is the second race in a row with less-than-optimal decisions from race direction. We should hope it’s not a trend, but Michael Masi appeared defensive afterwards and said he didn’t think anything should have been done differently. More than the decision itself, his reaction after the fact is not a good sign. * Wasn’t it great to see Vettel up on the podium again? He has had a torrid year, but had a quietly good race and was there to take advantage of his teammate’s error on the final chicane. It was probably his last podium in red, to leave a slightly sweeter taste to the end of his years with the Scuderia. * It was also great that he was there congratulating his great rival on another title. The respect Seb and Lewis have for each other is exemplary, both of them clearly aware of the hardships they had to go through to reach the very top. It’s a shame we didn’t get to see them go toe to toe more often in their careers. It should have been the great rivalry of this generation. * Sergio Perez’s form since it was announced he wouldn’t stay at Racing Point: P5, P4, P4, P7, P6, P2. And those P7 and P6 would have been P5 and P3 without strategy stumbles from the team. It’s ridiculous if he’s not on the grid next year. * McLaren continue to do what teams that reach the top do well: maximise their results and score valuable points even when their car is not the fastest. Both their cars started behind both Racing Points and Renaults, and yet, of those four drivers, only Perez finished ahead of them. Sainz had a bullet start and kept a cool head to finish P5, just behind the group fighting for the podium. His teammate had a horrible start and was last off the line, but recovered brilliantly to P8, and had a blistering pace towards the end, setting a fastest lap that was a second faster than the next best one. The car’s development might not have gone the way they hoped, but in every other aspect, this is a team firing on all cylinders. * Bottas had a nightmare race, seemingly incapable of keeping his car on the road. The team revealed he had suffered damage in a first lap contact with Esteban Ocon which could help explain his miserable day. Regardless of the causes, P14 is not a results anyone expects at Mercedes. At least now he is free to race the last 3 GPs without the title in his mind. I wonder if a pressure-less Bottas might put up some more of a fight in the coming weekends. * The two Red Bull drivers missed out on huge opportunities this weekend. After the first round of pit stops, the race was arguably Verstappen’s to lose, and, well, lose it he did. He was too greedy when trying to overtake Perez and destroyed his tyres in a spin, which forced to a second stop that effectively ended his race. If he was miserable after missing out on pole, I can’t imagine how he must have felt after the race. As for Albon, he is very much running out of time to impress the Red Bull hierarchy. After Verstappen spun, he was in great position to at least claim a podium, but like the Dutchman, he couldn’t keep his car on the road, and opened the door to Hamilton. To make matters worse, the driver who is apparently being considered to replace him finished second. Red Bull have said he will have until the end of the year to grab that seat, but one has to wonder how much can he genuinely do in the last 3 races after missing out on so many opportunities before? * What a tremendous qualifying from Alfa Romeo. Their pace disappeared on Sunday, but on Saturday Kimi and Gio were two of the stars, putting their cars in Q3. That this happened on Sauber’s 500th Grand Prix entry was only fitting; they couldn’t score points, but there was something for the team to celebrate about the weekend nonetheless.

* Renault’s topsy-turvy season continues. After 2 podiums in 3 races, they leave Turkey with just one point and their hopes of reaching third in the constructors’ championship dashed. They should do well in the final races of the season, as the power hungry Sakhir and the long straights of Yas Marina will favour their car, but if they want to be in the mix up front, they need to better understand the car and what makes it work (and what doesn’t). They have shown they can put together a competitive car, but they can’t win titles if they don’t show up every weekend.

[formula-one-thoughts]

Styrian Grand Prix Race Weekend Review

Whilst I think we can agree any racing is good racing, there is an argument to be made that qualifying for the Styrian Grand Prix was more exciting than the race itself. One of the most rain-drenched sessions I’ve ever seen, all of the drivers exhibited incredible skill. I honestly expected far more chaos and crashes than we saw, but was grateful that we were treated to some spectacular displays of driving with only one red flag punctuating the session.  The Racing Points did NOT seem to enjoy the rain, but someone who did was George Russell, who managed to pull off a spectacular P12, and then was promoted to P11 following Charles Leclerc’s grid penalty. It was Williams’ first appearance in Q2 since Brazil 2018, and it was wonderful to see George display the talent he so clearly has (despite his race not going quite so well). The Uno reverse card came out at Ferrari, with this time Vettel pushing Leclerc out of Q3, the German only able to manage P10 at the end of the day. The battle for pole was primarily between the two drivers who have gained the strongest reputations for commanding a rainy track: Hamilton and Verstappen. But while Max put in a brilliant performance, demonstrating great control as he saved his car from a nasty accident after sliding through the final corner (the kind of thing we first saw in Brazil 2016), it was Lewis’s day. He put in a completely commanding final lap that cemented him as back in the game after a disappointing last weekend, the gap between him and Verstappen a mind-blowing and unheard of 1.2 seconds! Sainz, Ocon and Gasly also impressed, qualifying P3, P5 and P7 respectively.

Due to the wet qualifying, everyone had a free choice of tyres come race day, with most drivers electing to begin on the softs. Almost instantly it was all over for Ferrari, an ill-judged move from Leclerc taking their weekend from bad to worse. It goes back to the saying that you can’t win a race on the first lap, but you can easily lose one. His attempt to go down the inside of Vettel was completely unnecessary, and both drivers paid the price (Leclerc did apologise profusely and accept all the blame). With their car not even looking ‘best of the rest’ and this being their second race ending collision in four races, you get the feeling Sainz might be feeling a little less than happy about his upcoming move to the Scuderia. The incident necessitated a safety car for a couple of laps whilst the remains of Vettel’s rear wing were cleared off the track.

The majority of the race was not super eventful, with only one further retirement – Esteban Ocon. Hamilton pulled away from Verstappen and the trio of Hamilton, Verstappen and Bottas in turn pulled away from those behind them. The midfield was closely bunched together for much of the race with lots of good battles, Perez in particular making his mark with a remarkable drive where he was up to 5thfrom 17thby lap 49 (having also pitted), pulling out fastest laps all over the place. Stroll was not able to make quite the same impact, struggling to pass Ricciardo for most of the race. Sainz’s race was rather ruined by a botched pit stop that put him out at the back of the group that included Norris, Ricciardo and Stroll, but he did manage to set fastest lap (and set a new lap record), giving McLaren their first consecutive fastest laps since 2011.

It really started to heat up on lap 67, with Bottas finally catching Verstappen, who was struggling with older tyres and some front wing damage. It looked like the Finn had got him, but Verstappen pulled off an insane move to regain the position, if only for 1 lap. It really showed Max’s passion that despite knowing Valterri was in the faster car and would eventually pass him he still put up an amazing fight, providing the fans with the entertainment we wanted. In my opinion, this drive, fight, and unwillingness to give up are the qualities of a future world champion. Perez finally caught Albon, but suffered damage that seriously compromised his speed, causing him to drop back. Lando Norris has come alive at the end of both races so far, and it’s great to see. Over the final 2 laps he went from 8thto 5th, capitalising upon Stroll and Ricciardo’s battle that saw both cars go off-track, and then passing the ailing car of Perez on the penultimate corner. The Mexican was soon caught by his teammate and the Renault, and the trio crossed the line three abreast, Perez just clinging on to 6thwith only a second separating Norris in 5thand Ricciardo in 8th. It was a Mercedes 1-2, with Hamilton putting in a totally dominant performance to win the race.

One of the most powerful moments of the weekend came during the podium celebration, when Stephanie Travers, Mercedes’ Trackside Fluid Engineer, accepted their constructor’s trophy. She is one of only NINE women ever to stand on an F1 podium, and the only woman of colour. I want to talk about gender diversity in the sport more in another post, but the importance of Stephanie standing up there alongside the drivers cannot be understated. Representation is so important, and the fact that women and young people of colour could see someone who looked like them on that podium says there is a place for them in the sport. I would read Lewis’s Instagram post if you want to find out more about Stephanie, and I think he was certainly instrumental in selecting her to join him for the champagne. Other teams should take note; although this is only a start, it was a display of genuine (rather than just performative) allyship.

Ferrari need to get their act together for Hungary this weekend; if they don’t show any improvement then I can’t see them having much of a chance of success for the rest of the year. Apart from Sainz’s pit stop it was a great weekend for McLaren, who stand 3rdin the constructors championship, with Norris maintaining 3rdin the drivers (with over half the points he managed to get all of last year). Toto Wolff has said he expects Red Bull to be a threat at the Hungaroring, but he has been known to make these kind of comments only for the Mercedes to appear stronger than ever, so we shall have to wait and see. Verstappen was narrowly beaten by Hamilton for the win last year, but managed to secure his first pole position, and has performed steadily there over the years. However, this is arguably the track where Hamilton has seen the most success – he has won 7 out of his 13 races there, and could be set to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of most race wins at the same circuit. Whatever happens, I can’t wait for more racing.

[junker-town]

F1 live stream: How to watch Spanish Grand Prix online

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes is on pole for the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday.

Lewis Hamilton is on pole for the F1 Spanish Grand Prix after an excellent qualifying session. He’ll lead off Sunday’s race from Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, alongside the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel on the front row.

The grand prix will get underway at 8 a.m. ET for those wanting to watch in the United States. Television coverage will be carried by NBCSN, and a live stream will be available online via NBC Sports Live.

Valtteri Bottas struggled on his final lap in the third qualifying session but will start third on the grid alongside the other Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen. The third row, as has been the case recently, is occupied by the two Red Bull cars of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo.

The most surprising addition to the front four rows is Fernando Alonso of McLaren. This season has been miserable for McLaren, who have had engine failure after engine failure. But Alonso, widely considered to be the best driver in the field, put his car seventh overall on the grid.

“It was definitely a good qualifying for us and P7 is a gift,” Alonso said. “So we’ll see what we can do from here. It’s a nice change to be in Q3 and P7. I think yesterday we had the potential, but we had strange sessions – the failure in FP1 and very short running in FP2. Today, we put everything together.”

The final spots in the top 10 were occupied by Sergio Perez of Force India, Felipe Massa of Williams and just making it was Esteban Ocon of Force India. Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen of the American-owned Haas team didn’t make it out of the second qualifying session.

It should be an entertaining battle between Mercedes and Ferrari at the top of the grid. They’ve gone back and forth this season, and both the Consturctors and Drivers Championships are still up for grabs, with any of the four from the two teams able to take the top spot.

Below is all the viewing information for Sunday’s race.

How to watch the Formula One Spanish Grand Prix

Date: Sunday, May 14

Location: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Barcelona

Time: 8 a.m. ET

TV: NBCSN

Online Streaming: NBC Sports Live