#daniel signed with mclaren BEFORE the 2020 season started!!!!

[likelylarks]

xx

[dear-ao3]

go on. explain the drama. edge of my SEAT.

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT I GOT 45 MINUTES INTO TYING THIS AND THEN TUMBLR DELETED IT SO WITH THAT BEING SAID here we fucking go AGAIN

The Curse Of The Second Red Bull Seat

so there are 10 f1 teams, they range from good to bad to mid. one of the teams that is doing outstandingly well right now is red bull. and they have a driver named max verstappen. he’s dutch, and a cat dad. he’s winning pretty much everything at the moment. if everyone’s job is car go fast his job is car go so fast it practically flies.

but all f1 teams have 2 drivers. and f1 has two championships, the drivers championship for the individual drivers and the constructors championship for the teams. each driver gets points when the finish 10 or higher in a race and those points determine who wins the drivers championship and then the two drivers points get added together for the constructors championship. hence, very important to have two strong drivers.

the red bull curse starts all the way back in 2018. at the time the drivers were max verstappen and daniel ricciardo. max was signed to red bull in 2016 and daniel was signed in 2014. max was not on his absolute winning spree yet and he was still quite young, through red bull were still doing decently well.

daniel ricciardos contract with red bull was up at the end of 2018. danny rics is australian, a goof ball, paddock prankster, once sang a song about touching his scrotum and tickling his nutsack (tho perhaps is was the other way around)

he was doing well at red bull (he won in monaco!) and had several podiums and wins with them. but there was something that he didn’t like about them and that was the engine. now every year each team builds a new car to race either brand new or they modify an old one (within certain specs). red bull is not a car company, they are an energy drink company so they don’t have the luxury of being able to go to their factor and individually making all the parts for their cars the way mercedes and ferrari etc do. teams are allowed to outsource parts and redbull was outsourcing their engine from renault (a french brand which happened to also be another f1 team at the time) (they are currently called alpine) and the engines were not doing so great. they kept overheating and causing problems and costing danny rics wins.

enter christian horner, red bull team principle, disney villain and husband of ginger spice. he is very unhappy with the engine as well (and he made some funny comments to renault team principle at the time, cyril, about it) and he wanted to keep daniel as a driver. so red bull announces halfway through the 2018 season that for the 2019 season they would be partnering with honda for their engine. honda had never appeared in f1 before so this was new territory and some people thought this was a risky move.

one of these people was daniel ricciardo. tho, christian horner and everyone else was convinced that daniel was going to stay, they gave him a contract with everything he wanted but he absolutely shocked the world by announcing that he was leaving red bull and signing with renault for 2019.

this was weird for a few reasons, 1. renault made and used the vey engine he was having problems with at red bull and 2. they were not as competitive if a car as red bull. but he still went there and raced for renault for 2019 and 2020 before announcing at the start of the 2020 season that he was signing with renaults rival, mclaren for 2021. re raced with mclaren for 2021 and 2022 and flopped there before mutually terminating his contract a year early and half retired and was a third driver for testing and pr for red bull in 2023 before getting put in the alpha tauri(red bulls less cool sister team) to replace nyck devries over the summer then broke his hand in a crash and was out for several races. this weekend is his third weekend back. this will be come relevant later.

it’s worth noting that in 2019 when danny rics left red bull and max specifically started doing a whole lot better, had no more engine problems and had a fighting chance at winning.

after losing daniel ricciardo red bull signed pierre gasley, a french guy with interesting hair. he was going but red bull was confident in him. at this point they were still trying to beat mercedes and sir lewis hamilton in the drivers and constructors championship so they needed to be on their a game. pierre was in for half a season before they decided that he didn’t have what it took as he kept falling further down the grid and getting less points.

halfway through the season red bull made the choice to swap him with alex albon, who was racing for alpha tauri (the team may have still been called toro rosso) at the time. so halfway through the season alex, who is half british half thai, part cat and just made a silly cereve commercial in his hotel room with his golfer girlfriend, was in. albon did well, he took awhile to get the hang of it but he did score decent points for red bull. he almost placed on the podium twice before getting knocked off track by lewis hamilton.

worth noting that there was speculation that christian horner may have regretted the swap between gasley and albon. pierre went on to win the race in monza in 2020 in the alpha tauri (a medium shit mid field car which is much slower than the red bull). he’s now racing for alpine (previously called renault)

so 2020 was an interesting year, especially towards the end. and especially for sergio (aka checo) perez. checo at the time was racing for racing point which had been previously called force india before the team owner was arrested for money sillies and it went up for sale. it was bought by lawrence stroll, a canadian billionaire whose son, lance stroll was racing for williams at the time. (williams is a whole separate post but all you need to know now is that they were shit at this time). lawrence bought force india with the caveat that his son would be taking ine of the seats, kicking out esteban ocon. they left checo cause he had more sponsors and they needed money.

though for the 2021 season lawrence had announced that he was rebranding the team to aston martin and signing four time world champion sebastian vettel, leaving checo without a seat.

f1 only has 20 seats so if you find yourself without a contract you either retire, become a reserve driver or go back to f2. checo was going to retire if he didn’t have a seat.

he raced his little heart out tho in bahrain and after getting knocked to the back of the grid fought his way up to first and won the race. christian horner called him after and told him that he was being signed to red bull for 2021, replacing alex albon. alex now drives for williams.

checo arrived right at the start of the max doinancd. max won his first drivers championship in 2021 and also in 2022 and 2023, red bull won the 2022 and 2023 constructors championships, so perez did help them get good points but he was lacking a little.

this year has been weird for him. he’s been not finishing a lot of races due to damages and crashes or ending up further down then they want. and remember, he needs to be keeping up with max which is already a tall order.

in suzuka this year checo bumped into hamilton on the first lap and pitted to replace a few parts then went back out after getting a five second time penalty for the accident. he ended up crashing into kevin magnussen at the hairpin on lap 15 and retired his car. he got another penalty to serve at the next race because he wasn’t finishing that one. red bull then decided to instead give him another car to go out in to serve the penalty in and he went out for a few laps then retired that car. he also crashed on the first lap of his home race in mexico, outraging the entire country.

perez is currently about 20 ish points head of lewis hamilton in the debra championship. he’s in second place. while checo has a contract for 2024, there have been rumors that if he can’t hold onto second in the championship (keep in mind there are 3 races left) he will be getting replaced for 2024. this is not confirmed. not even remotely. but, if he does there are three theories as to who is getting the seat. so let’s get into the theories.

daniel ricciardo.

he has already raced for red bull and raced with max on the same team. he is currently in the alpha tauri and red bull have been knows to swap drivers like that before as seen with pierre and alex. it is known that he wants to be in a red bull again before he retires for real. however, he is slightly older which is a risk. he has appeared in a lot of content with max recently and qualified (and i think finished?) above perez in austin.

2. fernando alonso.

fernando is a spanish two time champion, oldest driver on the grid. he’s currently racing for aston martin but there have been rumors that lawrence stroll is selling aston martin because they didn’t do enough of a good job providing a car for his son. if he sells aston martin fernando wants out. and fernando had the talent that red bull needs.

3. charles leclerc

charles is currently a ferrari driver and he’s very good but he’s getting fucked left right and center up the ass with a spork by the ferrari strategy. he does have a seat with ferrari for 2024 but at the mexico gp last weekend he came in third (after running into checho during the first lap) and christian horner of all people defended him in that accident saying there was nowhere for him to go. this is odd because christian horner is an absolute ass who never does this at all ever. ferrari did not aparently show up to celebrate charles podium win and he went to the after party with red bull. he has also appeared in the red bull ig posts recently. ferrari aparently does want to keep him tho and there is a rumor that they are signing alex albon when his williams contract is over in 2025 so be charles teammate.

also there was a tweet from an f1 journalist last week saying that he didn’t want to believe the rumor that he had heard in the paddock and then he said nothing else. people think he is talking about the red bull seat.

so what will happen to the second red bull seat? no one knows.

[lilghostiequinni]

Podium & Champagne Kisses

Main Masterlist Lando Masterlist

Pairing: Hamilton! F1 Mercedes racer!female oc (Layana) x Lando Norris

Warnings: Fluffy,

Summary: For the first time in history, there is no photo finish that can choose the winner of a Formula One Grand Prix. It becomes less about the win and more about the champange.

Requested: NO / yes

2024 - Silverstone

Lewis Hamilton stood before a few interviews talking about his emotional, record-breaking 9th win at his home race of Silverstone.

His sister had gotten to him even before their father, toughing her arms around Lewis, tears streaming down her face.

When the hug was over, she looked at him, and he nodded. She moved out of the way for their father, then went over to Lando and hugged him, having a long-time friendship with the McLaren driver.

But now, Lewis drew back to the present after talking to his team for a few minutes, he was told it was okay to make the announcement of his replacement in the 2025 season.

He stood in front of the interviewer and the microphone; the question he was asked was, "Who would you like to replace at Mercedes next season?"

"Well, there are a few different answers to that question on who I would like to replace me because there are many great drivers who have and are being considered, and I was given the okay by the team and Toto to tell who would be replacing me. It was a long and lengthy decision on who. It was decided that my little sister, Layana, would be taking over my seat; she actually doesn't know yet that she's being offered the seat. So, Surprise!" Lewis said at length.

The interviewer expressed surprise, as did Layana, who was inside the Mercedes garage watching the interviews.

When Lewis got back to the garage, he told his sister that what he said was true, that she was, in fact, the new driver for Mercedes with George come 2025.

The week between Silverstone and Hungary, the contract between Mercedes and Layana Hamilton became official, and it was announced that Layana Hamilton would be taking her brother, Lewis's seat at Mercedes in 2025.

It was accompanied by an article detailing the career that Layana had followed.

The article/

Layana Hamilton's rise to Formula One seat in Mercedes

Layana Hamilton started her career in karting alongside other drivers such as Lando Norris, George Russell, and Alex Albon. She raced in Formula 2 alongside both drivers, opting out of joining the 2019 season of Formula One. She entirely changed motorsports for the 2019 season, opting to be a backup reserve driver for McLaren F1 but pursuing the season in the sport of MotoGP, the motorcycle version of Formula One.

In 2020, Hamilton returned to the sport of Formula One as a reserve driver for McLaren. During the 2020 season, she had gone off to the 24-hour Le Mans race, replacing Norman Nato in the Rebellion Racing at the last minute.

In 2021, Layana returned as a reserve driver, actually being able to race in Silverstone for a sick Daniel Riccardo and again in Russia.

2022 wasn't much different than 2020, having just been a reserve driver and again racing in the 24-hour Le Mans, changing teams to the Toyota Gazoo Racing, replacing Mike Conway for the race after what happened about 2 days before the race.

In the 2023 season of Formula One, Hamilton was offered a death at McLaren F1, which she did not take again, opting instead to move to the new McLaren team in the latest endeavor of the F1 Academy, eventually winning the season. She was also added to Ferrari AF Corse at the last minute in place of James Calado.

In the latest season of 2024, she moved from McLaren to Mercedes in F1 Academy and is again leading the championship. Layana also again competed in the 24-hour Le Mans race and, for the second time, with the winning team of Ferrari AF Corse.

So, it can be expected for great things from Layana Hamilton in the coming 2025 season.

Layana Hamilton celebrated her contract signing at Mercedes with her long-time boyfriend, Lando Norris. She went out and celebrated and partied because she got a seat.

She was ready, though before she offered, she wasn't ready. It didn't feel right each time she offered, and this time it felt right, it felt different.

Lando had been with her through it all. He knew the circumstances of other seasons that she turned down in previous seasons.

Lando knew why it didn't feel right each time. It was because of Lewis. He knew that it was different because of her brother, it wasn't some team offering her a contract like the last two times, it was her rock for the better part of her life, her big brother that offering her something she wanted.

2025 - Silverstone

It was Layana's first home race.

Her nerves were almost getting the better of her when arms wrapped around her from behind.

"It's okay, love. Just breathe. Come on. In. Out," It was Lando, Layana knew just from the tone of his voice.

Layana followed him with her breathing, calming down with each breath.

The race started with Lando at the pole and Layana at the second.

Before the end of the first lap, Layana was leading, and Lando had fallen behind Max into second.

5 laps to go, and Layana and Lando had been switching lead of the race the whole race.

When the chequered flag waved, it was a tie.

Lando and Layana crossed the finish at the same time. Not even a photo finish could determine the winner. The stewards determined that they both won.

"And the winner of the 2025 Silverstone, for the first time in history, is a tie. The winners are Layana Hamilton, for her maiden win in Formula One, and Lando Norris, for his first win at his home Grand Prix.

After that, there were bottles of champagne and kisses til there was no air in their lungs.

There was also the publication of Layana and Lando's relationship when he kissed her on the podium.

A/N: Follower Cele 1, here. I'm a little behind. I know that's what I'm doing today.

Tags: @poppyflower-22 @samantha-chicago @barcelonaloverf1life @tallrock35 @ellen3101 @llando4norris @hellothere9597

If you want to be removed from a tag list, let me know so I don't keep tagging you. If you are striked through, I don't know if you want to be tagged, but just let me know if you want me to continue or stop

[racewinners-landoandsam]

You are so right about the team and orders. In Hungary when they guilt tripped Lando into fixing their own mistake, the team told him “you can’t win a championship on your own, you’ll need Oscar” okay like when are you going to make that happen? When is Oscar going to pay that forward? Wouldn’t the smart thing in Monza have been to tell Oscar to hold up and cover Lando then start building a gap? It does feel like Lando is on his own at times with McLaren.

I know it’s been a year, but Carlos was more of a teammate to Lando in Singapore, than Oscar was today.

you're so true about singapore. carlos did something that benefitted him and lando, oscar only did something that benefitted himself, it meant lando lost a place as well.

lando has been loyal to the team since they signed and supported him. he did work experience around the garage when he was eighteen, so he was ready to start the following year. he's had interest from other top teams, but has chosen to stay with mclaren. he's had talks with red bull and chosen to sign a mclaren contract the very next day.

six years he has been loyal to this team. he has never been out qualified by a teammate, even in his rookie season.

in 2019 he finished the championship 47 points behind his more experienced teammate.

in 2020 he closed that gap down to 8 points behind carlos, and helping to secure 3rd place in the championship.

in 2021 there was so much talk about daniel embarrassing lando out of the sport, he responded by beating his teammate who had been in the sport for 8 years longer.

in 2022 he increased that gap and outscored him by 85 points, which ultimately ended in daniel losing his seat.

in 2023 lando beat oscar by 108 points, which is crazier when you think about how many people were talking about how good oscar was in his rookie season.

lando has proved again and again how good he is, even when the machinery he's given isn't as good as he makes it look. the mclaren has only really been good since austria 2023, and since then lando has had 17 podiums, including 2 wins. before then he's had 6 podiums. he was the only driver not in the top three teams to get a podium in 2022.

there is a reason so many of the older/former drivers like lando so much. fernando, lewis, nico, jenson, have all spoken about how good lando is. all championship winning drivers, surely that counts for something.

when nico rosberg is telling zak brown they need to prioritise lando, surely something clicks there. when your driver is second place in the championship with their competitor not qualifying well, surely something clicks there. i'm all for drivers racing, but mclaren have a chance here. they may keep it up for next year, they may even keep it up when the regulations change. but why risk it, when they have a chance of a championship this year.

lando has stuck with mclaren through the bad years. joined with a team that had one of their worst years in 2018. he watched his teammate get a win in 2021, followed the team orders and stayed behind, then at the next race he got so close to his win, but mclaren let him make the decision about the tyres, which never should have been his decision. then in 2022 the car was awful, mclaren were no where near with the regulations, but he got a podium regardless. in 2023 the team got it right, but he still accepted that he wasn't going to get a win, max was too far ahead. now the team have two good drivers, a car that looks to be the fastest at most tracks, yet they still keep bottling wins, and still won't prioritise lando's championship.

oscar is doing much better this year, his race pace has improved a lot, but lando is faster. we all know how much faster he was at hungary, but he still listened to team orders, because he is a team player, and surely at some point he should be rewarded for that.

surely at some point his loyalty, and his skill should be seen and rewarded. he has been the top driver since 2021, it makes no sense that oscar keeps getting preferential treatment.

it kind of feels like gentle parenting. lando got a win, so oscar should get a win too. it's stupid.

anyway, sorry for rambling, i'm pissed off at the moment, and needed to do the research to prove how stupid mclaren are and how amazing lando is!!

[boxboxblog]

Driver Profiles: Carlos Sainz

Hello, this is part of a series where I focus on one driver on the current (as of Oct 2024) grid and give an overview over their career and driving styles. I will be going in championship points order. Enjoy!

Name: Carlos Sainz Vázquez de Castro

Age: 30

Nationality: Spanish

Years in F1: 9 ( Toro Rosso 2015- Oct 2017, Renault Oct 2017-2018, Mclaren 2019-2020, Ferrari 2021-Present)

Number: 55

WDCs: N/A

Driving Style: Sainz is most well known for his strategy more than anything. Regularly during races it is his suggestions on strat that are chosen, and most often they yield positive results. Beyond strategy, he has a calm and effective tire management and calculate decision making skills. All of this together leads to very intelligent driver, and allows him to be one of the smoothest drivers on the track. While he can be aggressive when needed, it is tempered by his patience (similar to teammate Charles Leclerc). The negatives about Sainz is that he tends to overthink in races. This is mostly due to his strategic and cautious way of racing, but it does not let him make split-second decisions very easily. He tends to not rely on his instinct very much.

History:

Sainz is the son of Rally World Champion Carlos Sainz Sr., and with his fathers racing fame came pressure at a young age. Sainz started his career in karting in 2006, after participating in smaller series in Spain. In 2008, he won the Asia-Pacific KF3 title, as well as finishing runner-up in the Spanish Championship In 2009, he also won the Junior Monaco Kart Cup, and was runner-up in the European KF3 Championship. In 2010 at age 16 Sainz raced in Formula BMW, and was added to the Red Bull Junior Program. He finished his season in Formula BMW in 4th place.

(Young Sainz sitting in Fernando Alonso's Renault)

During 2012, Sainz raced in both the Euro Series and British F3 Championships. He did well in both series, gaining multiple pole positions and podiums, but did not get particularly close to winning the championships.

In 2013 Sainz signed with a GP3 team to compete in that years championship. He was a midfielder during this time, and his highest finish was P7. He then competed in Formula Renault 3.5 the same year, and had a difficult year there as well.

In 2015 Sainz was brought up to Formula 1 to drive for Toro Rosso, Red Bull's junior team, opposite Max Verstappen. His time with Toro Rosso was difficult for Sainz, regularly experiencing mechanical problems and crashes. His first season with them he would find himself 15th in the championship. 2016 would see Sainz get his best career finish of P6, but still is counted as a rather negative year for the Spainard. 2017 was Sainz's best year with Toro Rosso, finishing at the Singapore GP in 4th place. Shortly before this race it was announced Sainz would be on loan to Renualt for the last 4 races and the 2018 season. Sainz stated it was unlikely he would return to Toro Ross. He never did.

(Sainz with teammate Verstappen)

The 2018 season with Renault saw Sainz have significantly more positive results. He qualified in the top ten for the beginning races, and finished in the points for all but one. For the next races, he would consistently score points. however, this was not enough for Renault and he was replace by Daniel Riccardo for the 2019 season. Happily for Sainz, he was able to sign a contract with Mclaren to replace his one with Renault.

(Sainz when he was with Renault)

The 2019 season and his first year with Mclaren saw Sainz achieve even better results. While his first three races were unfortunate, after he consistently scored high points right behind the top 3 teams and finished above his teammate, Lando Norris. He would go on to get his maiden podium at the Brazilian GP after Lewis Hamilton received a post race time penalty. Unfortunately the rest of the season was rather negative for Sainz, encountering engine problems, pit problems, and other things that made him DNF multiple races. 2020 was a more positive year, which saw him achieve more podiums and finish 6th in the championship.

(Sainz in his Mclaren)

In 2021 Sainz joined Ferrari opposite Charles Leclerc, by the far the most successful team he has been a part of. While he had some issues during the year, he also had a majority of his highest results, finishing the season in fifth and ahead of his teammate. 2022 saw his maiden win at the British GP. Won in a difficult rain race, he showed that he had the chops to keep up with his Championship battling teammate, and had a variety of positive results that year. He ended in fifth in the championship that year, this time behind his teammate. 2023 was a rough year for every team but Red Bull, however Sainz was the only non-Redbull winner that year at the Singapore GP, which was a mark of honor that year.

(Sainz after securing maiden win)

This season Sainz has shown to be an impressive driver and teammate, regularly getting on the podium and winning the Australian GP. While he is behind is teammate in points, he has had a strong year and is on the table to be one of the multi race winners this year.

(Sainz getting champagne poured on his head by teammate Charles Leclerc at the 2024 Australian GP)

Major Races:

2019 Brazilian GP - Sainz first podium finish, he achieved it after Lewis Hamilton received a time penalty post race. Regardless, he has a strong race and was able to compete with top teams ina. midfield car.

2020 Italian GP - Driving withe Mclaren, he achieved a P2 finish, his highest at the time. Again, we see Sainz has a talent for pulling the maximum out of his car.

2021 Monaco GP - His first podium with Ferrari, the Monaco GP is a prestigious and difficult race. On top of that, it is an early race, and displayed how fast Sainz adapted to the Ferrari car.

2022 British GP - His first win, this race was a wet one which saw multiple DNF's from other drivers. His skill in wet weather allowed him to battle with top drivers like Hamilton and take the win.

2023 Singapore GP - As the only non-Red Bull winner that year, this race result will always show how strong his race craft is. Whiel he held the lead for most of the race, a late safety car threatened his position. In a spur of genius he used Mclaren driver Lando Norris as a buffer to the attacking cars behind, keeping Norris within DRS range but not allowing him by. By far the most impressive use of DRS I have seen from a front car.

2024 Australian GP - Shortly after his appendix surgery, Sainz won through pure race skill, and got Ferrari there first 1-2 of the season, giving them a major lead in the championships.

2024 Monza GP - While Sainz did not even finish on the podium for this race, he acted as a perfect teammate while letting Charles Leclerc (who had the faster pace) by and helping defend his teammate against attacking cars. He ended in a strong 4th.

That's all for Sainz. Up next is Lewis Hamilton (which will be a long one)

Cheers!

-B

[n0vazsq]

Gone forever | EO31 x DR3

summary . . . Esteban Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo were always stuck together, as if joined by the hip. But then what happens when Daniel leaves for Mclaren, drifting away from Esteban?

request . . . yes!

word count . . . 475

warnings . . . angst?

notes . . . this is my first time writing a request so it isn't that good! i didn't know what to write about so i just randomly wrote stuff! hope you like it anon <3

Esteban has always admired Daniel, from when he first started at Red Bull until he became his teammate at Renault.

The day Esteban found that Daniel would become his teammate, he nearly fainted. One of his long-time heros would be racing alongside him, in the same team.

It didn't take long for them to start getting closer, as if they were pulled together by some magnetic force. The chemisty between them was undeniable, everyone could see it.

Every day was spent together, they never did something without the other. They told everything to each other, not hiding anything.

It was obvious that there was more to them than being friends. A blind person would be able to tell that they weren't just friends.

In every interview they did, they always managed to talk about the other. They could be asked a question about the car pace, but will always somehow mention the other.

"We have Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo here with us! Daniel, can you tell us about whether you're confident about the car?" The reporter says, his eyes wide with admiration.

"I am very confident about the car, it seems good so far. And obviously, Esteban and I will do a great job. The team is sure that we'll be in the points. Esteban is also a great driver, can't fumble with his driving." Daniel answers, his head nodding with that signature grin on his face.

At the end of 2020, Daniel signed with Mclaren. He couldn't bring himself to tell Esteban, it would break everything between them.

Eventually, Esteban found out. He was mad, disappointed. How could Daniel do such a big thing and not tell him? Surely, Esteban would tell Daniel if the same thing happened to him.

They were best friends after all.

It was 2022 now, the news of Mclaren dropping Daniel spread like wildfire. Esteban knew it would've happened, Oscar had told him.

He told him how he'd signed with Mclaren. He'd told him how they were going to drop Daniel.

Esteban didn't know how to feel. One side of him felt happy, that's what you get for not telling me. And the other side of him felt sorrow, Daniel won't be in Formula 1 next season.

Daniel had called Esteban the next day, just before the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He'd sobbed on the phone and told him about how he missed him, how he was wrong and how he wanted that friendship back.

Esteban had listened to him, he felt sorry and pity for Danny. But  he was hurt, paining. Esteban was greatly affected by Daniel leaving Renault.

His performance had changed, he stopped scoring points, his cheerful demanour had changed into a sorrowful, depressed one.

He wanted Daniel back, he really did. But their friendship was gone forever, never to be healed back again.

Esteban hung up the phone, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Danny was gone, out of his reach.

He was gone forever.

[zyxwl2015]

Excerpts from Lando Norris biography - part III

(There aren't too many behind-the-scenes stories anymore — mostly stating things everyone knows, F1 was postponed due to Covid, online racing happened, F1 resumed, Lando did this in this race, Lando had a new teammate, Lando moved to Monaco, etc etc)

Every one was extremely happy for Lando after his first podium at Austria 2020, including Trevor Carlin: "He is doing everything right and the results are coming and I am very proud of him" and "Lando is the nicest person you could ever meet"

Charlotte recalled in Eifel GP 2020, the marketing team's office was right next to the drivers' room and the walls were paper-thin, and —

We were working in the marketing office and we could hear this giggling from the drivers’ room next door… I went into their drivers’ room to speak to them and they were both lying on the massage bed watching YouTube or Instagram videos together. We all started pissing ourselves laughing at first, but I then said to them, “What the fuck are you doing? Why aren’t you in the garage? Everyone is looking for you!” I was like an ogre telling them off all the time. But that was the point where I and some others in the team realised that they actually enjoyed spending time together.

(Oh my Carlando heart 🥰)

Going into the 2021 season, he started to become more strict with certain things, especially diet and training: he stopped eating pizza, started to do more training and running (even though he "still hates it with a massive passion"), etc, to step up his performance. By summer break there's a noticeable change physically from when he first entered F1

Charlotte on Lando at that point:

When Carlos left, I think Lando got a bit nervous again, because he was a bit like, “Well, this guy’s obviously won seven races. He’s a known quantity, and he’s got a really good reputation.” I felt like Lando’s confidence had grown so much over the two years he had with Carlos. When Carlos left and we signed Daniel, Lando was a bit like, “I’ve really got to step up.” That was when I noticed that Mark, his manager, and Jon, his trainer, were building a positive environment by explaining that Norris had all the tools and experience and should not be putting pressure on himself… I used to call him kiddo, in fact I still do, but that was the time when I thought this guy actually could be really good and it will be really interesting to see the comparison. Some thought Dan would just come in and absolutely smash him, but he didn’t. You could certainly see a change in Lando, just the way he carried himself, the way he spoke, his whole demeanour. He was just so much more confident in himself while being self-deprecating.

(I love Charlotte 🥹)

Charlotte on Lando and Daniel's relationship:

At first, they were both definitely trying to suss each other out. We never thought they would not get on, but they just didn’t spend any time together… There was never any animosity between them, it was just they didn’t hang out. Andreas Seidl would have a meeting with both drivers before the race every Sunday. It’s called a “pre-race objectives meeting” and he would basically lay the law down and tell both drivers they are in it together. You drive for the team, no driver is better than the other, no one gets preferential treatment, you do what’s best for the team result, that kind of thing… Both drivers were team players and we needed that because we knew we were struggling and that Ferrari would be back up there again. Both of them then started spending more time together in engineering meetings and worked really hard on it. I can’t fault either of them. Both their work ethics are just unbelievable … but they started to work together quite a lot and from then, their relationship started to change and they started to get on really well.

McLaren keeps the Monaco 2021 trophy (as always), so Lando keeps the presentation box "because it is the coolest thing, a bespoke Louis Vuitton number" (😂)

Charlotte on Lando's relationship with McLaren team members:

He had worked with the boys for a long time by now, but he knew everyone, not just them by name, but their girlfriends, their wives, their kids, their families, their situation. He’d take the team out bowling or for dinner. I think he really understood the value of trying to galvanise people around him and that made him part of the furniture.

After the accident when he got mugged at Wembley Stadium, Charlotte messaged him saying she's so sorry. The whole McLaren team was being very supportive as well. When Lando went to the factory, he was really subdued, "he was worried because he thought he was going to be in trouble because of the watch getting stolen." Ofc Charlotte gave him a big hug

Charlotte described how different the mood was post Monza vs post Russia, especially during the last few laps, "It felt like the slowest time of my entire life, like watching a slow train crash."

[rumour] Ben Hunt says according to rumours, the contract he signed in mid-2021 (just before Monaco GP) was worth £6m a year, the one he signed beginning of 2022 (current one) was £50m for 4 years

[The End]

[formulaocean]

Just some thoughts on almost driver team pairings and the potential butterfly effects from each, all very much AU.

Lewis Hamilton decided Mercedes was just too big a risk from McLaren in 2013. This resulted in their second choice (Hulk) joining Nico Rosberg instead, both giving Hulk podiums and wins and giving Rosberg the 2014 championship a couple years ahead of schedule. Maybe Lewis as Niki Lauda’s number 1 choice in a fading McLaren still joins Mercedes in 2015 but he’s joining a team where Nico is their most recent champion and as such their competition over the next few years is less resentful and Nico has the confidence to fight without mind games . In short brocedes but they were both champions before becoming teammates and it changes everything.

Carrying on from this thought in normal 2016 Nico Rosberg tells Toto he’s retiring at the end of the season regardless of the outcome far earlier than he actually does and they do manage to sign Hulk before he signs with Renault again ending his podium drought.

Toto gets his wish and when Valteri is struggling in 2018 on his one year contracts he actually does manage to sign Max Verstappen from 2019. Does this mean there’s a Max v Lewis championship battle ahead of schedule? I can definitely see it for 2020 in the HAM-BOT-VER podium era as well as 2021 of course. Knock on effects involve Daniel Ricciardo staying on at Red Bull and although I can’t see him beating Lewis or Max in 2021 the dominance of the car in 2022/3 may have made him a world champion if losing his edge was a result of his McLaren days rather than a natural progression. If it was a natural progression it is also more likely that Charles could have had a proper shot at the championship in 2022 as he did beat Checo (barely) even with Ferrari being Ferrari that year and it would be interesting to see how dominant Red Bull would have been in 2023 potentially without a driver that’s 15 seconds ahead- I can see multiple race winners for a start even if they get the championship.

A long shot that would likely never have happened but Sebastian Vettel returns to Red Bull in 2021. Ferrari drops him early on in 2020 (let’s say Checo never won that glorious race and he stays on at what becomes Aston Martin for a straightforward swap) and Red Bull was very much looking for a more experienced driver and what’s a better storyline than having Seb return to partner Max? This has ramifications of if Seb got his edge back and it was a three way title fight in 2021 plus he stays longer in the sport with a fast car, or if he was more a Checo/Valteri figure but managed to take valuable points off Lewis (let’s say Silverstone) for a less controversial end to the championship. You also get more of a relationship between Max and Seb instead of just parallels and likely some weirdness from Charles about that too. It’s definitely a bit of a middle finger to Ferrari as well.

The Ferrari Driver Academy does the sensible thing and does not listen to Haas about wanting German sponsorship. Thus Mick goes to partner Kimi at Alfa Romeo instead and gets a more functional team to develop in. Would definitely be curious to see if that would have made a difference!

Ron Dennis does not put a rookie in the fastest car on the grid but still speed runs his progression. As such Fernando gets his third world championship and Lewis still gets his a year later (sorry Kimi).

Oscar Piastri does in fact go to Alpine. This could mean Daniel Ricciardo stays on another year at McLaren with no broken contract when the car actually does get fast (would be interesting to see if he could make that work or not) and also that they might have a spare seat in 2025 where they would court one of their favourite sons for a Carlando reunion in a McLaren that could potentially fight Ferrari long term. Alternatively Alpine is breaking apart at the seems and Mark Webber still does his a plus managing and gets Oscar out of there for 2024 anyway. For 2023 it would mean that Pierre Gasly stays on at Alpha Tauri and that whole mess of Alpha Tauri musical chairs is avoided.

BONUS. Honda pushes for Max to join Aston Martin in 2026 just as he’s potentially looking for an out from Red Bull amidst new engine regulations and an uncomfortable environment. We know they want to work with Max again already. There may not be a championship fight but we do get Alonso and Max as a chaotic and sensational teammate pairing doing more than the car is capable of and a team where all drivers, manufacturers, and financial backers are properly pushing in the right direction. Or maybe he joins after Fernando takes a step away from driving and is in the back room pulling in those points with Lance still around.

BONUS. I just like to think of the pure chaos that would be a George and Max teammate pairing that is not going to happen but would be pure gold. Max gets infinitely annoyed at Mercedes for not knowing how to build a car but has enough experience fighting for wins and podiums in previous not too competitive Red Bull cars that he makes the best of it but George makes it very very hard at times and he is so not used to a teammate that won’t just get out of his way at this point that the “princess dickhead” tiffs become very common. George has a bunch of resentment that he’s not treated as first driver even now and from his side he’s not about to let Max pass just because he’s Max Verstappen and it’s just very funny to watch. Alternatively (in very much crack territory here) Horner has enough of Toto posturing about Max and signs Checo for one more year before stealing George in 2026. Toto shows up for a duel at dawn.

[blamemma]

OMG emma, I swear I have been writing an Engineer!Max/Driver!Daniel story for the LONGEST time, I’ll try to summarize where it’s at here:

Okay so, let say Simon retires as Danny’s engineer a little early (sorry Simon ily) and Max starts as Danny’s race engineer in mid 2016. At first Danny thinks it’s a joke right? Like there’s no way this 17-yr-old kid is gonna be as good as Simon?? Except Max is GOOD. Better than good, actually. He’s the best. Because it’s MAX (and Max is Max). 2017 is a little bit of an adjustment period for them but then they GET IT RIGHT in 2018 and Helmut gets his wish: Danny wins the WDC that year and then his random RB teammate (idk who it would be and it’s not important for the story) wins it in 2019.

RB are on top and everything’s great. Danny and Max are so flirty on radio and F1 Twitter is losing it after every interaction between them, rumours are also abound in the paddock about them. But Max eventually ends up a little put out that everyone thinks they’re sleeping together (they most definitely ARE) because he also wants to be taken seriously, not always in the background, attached to Danny’s wins and loses.

He wants to prove himself basically, that he’s a good engineer because he just IS a good engineer and that it’s not just because it’s him and Danny. So in 2020 he jumps to Mercedes in a shock-exit a-la-Danny-to-Renault. Even more shook-ness he actually helps Lewis re-take the WDC that year, and the vibes are just RANCID at the final race. Like, Max is there with Lewis and Mercedes and can’t even look at Danny and Christian trying to console the team after the loss. F1 Twitter found dead, etc. etc. Danny hasn’t had a win in two years at this point (since he and max cooled things off in 2019) and finally snaps, and it’s announced by the next season that he’s moving to McLaren in 2021 (queue the ominous music)

There’s like six chapters of Max just sitting in Mercedes watching Daniel struggle in McLaren and just the LONGING and PINING is too much for everyone. They maybe break at some point before Danny leaves the grid and have really tender, desperate sex where Danny literally tells Max: “I miss you, I can’t do anything without you. You ruined my whole fucking career and my life, you know that?”

Cut to Danny being signed as RB’s third driver and then Max getting a call from Christian since he wants BOTH of his golden boys back. They’re in some office in Milton Keynes when Christian asks him outright: “how much?” and Max just stares at him because it’s not about the money at all. It never was.

“Of course, I would only come back to work with Daniel again.”

And Christian, to his credit, doesn’t even look surprised.

END SCENE!

ok u need to let me know when u publish this because i am hooked!!!

[slutforpringles]

Daniel Ricciardo was the fall guy despite McLaren’s all around struggles

Daniel Ricciardo’s struggles behind the wheel of the McLaren made him the perfect fall guy for the struggling Formula 1 team.

The 33-year-old Aussie endured a tumultuous two-year stint with the Woking-based outfit as he struggled to emulate his Red Bull days.

As we all know those lofty heights of seven race victories didn’t come to fruition, the Perth native did however claim McLaren’s first Grand Prix victory in some time as he edged out teammate Lando Norris.

As the two seasons dragged out, the team’s struggles only went from bad to worse but it was Ricciardo who was constantly in the spotlight and being thrown under the bus.

McLaren finished third in the constructors standings in 2020, behind only Mercedes and Red Bull. The signs from that season were evident and it’s why hopes were high when Ricciardo made the switch from Renault.

But in Ricciardo’s first season the team fell down to fourth in the standings as Ferrari leapt above them.

Last season they fell another spot as they were overtaken by Alpine.

And yet it was the Aussie who had the finger pointed at him for struggling to deliver, despite the car simply not being up to scratch to deliver the results the team were dreaming of.

McLaren boss Zak Brown, who became public enemy number one among Aussie F1 fans, said Ricciardo often stole the headlines despite other struggles plaguing the team.

“We started [2022] with some challenges in testing with the brake ducts. The car was okay,” said Brown as per RacingNews365.com.

“Then we had our driver-related issues that we were working through which took the attention, the headline.

“Meanwhile, underneath the surface, I wasn’t happy with the pace of the development of the racing car. That was the second half of last year – if you look at the pace of development with some of the other teams where they started and where they ended, versus where we started and where we ended.”

Those remarks however from Brown, whether he meant to or not, continue to place the blame on Ricciardo.

Yes the normally smiling assassin struggled to make an impact, with only seven finishes inside the top 10 during the 2022 season.

But his teammate Norris remained in the clear despite going backwards on what he’d achieved the season before.

Norris has long been touted as a potential Formula 1 world champion, but even he couldn’t come close to the level many believe he’s capable of.

The 23-year-old only managed to secure on podium finish after spraying the champagne four times in 2021.

In 2023 with Norris and Aussie rookie Oscar Piastri, the McLaren struggles have been laid bare with the team fifth in the constructors standings.

All 12 of their total points came during a chaotic Australian Grand Prix. Both drivers finished well outside the points during the opening two races of the season.

With Daniel Ricciardo no longer in the garage, Brown is going to have to find a new fall guy to blame the team’s struggles on.

(x) 

[ontrackwithelisha]

𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ ▀▄▀▄▀

In celebration of Lando's 100th race this weekend, I think it's only appropriate to recap the amazing years he's had in his f1 career.

▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄ ▀▄▀▄▀

2019

In February 2019, The British-Belgian driver was contracted to drive for Mclaren in the 2019 Formula One World Championship, meeting his first teammate of his career Carlos Sainz Jr, later becoming a beloved duo in Formula One.

Scoring his first Formula One points when he finished sixth at the Bahrain Grand Prix. However, at the Belgian Grand Prix the rookie missed out on his best career finish yet due to a power failure on the final lap.

In his rookie season he finished with three consecutive point finishes, finishing the season eleventh in the drivers' championship, with 49 points.

This year he also re signed with Mclaren to stay with them until 2022 due to such a successful rookie year.

2020

In 2020, the first race of the season was the Austrian Grand Prix where Norris qualified in fourth place, but was later elevated to third place due to a grid penalty for Hamilton, making this the highest grid position of his career yet and the highest grid position for Mclaren since the 2016 Austrian Grand Prix. Norris set the fastest lap of the race, and due to the 5 second penalty for Hamilton infront, Lando Norris had achieved the first podium finish ever of his career, making him the third youngest driver to finish on the podium in Formula One History.

Norris got six consecutive point finishes in the season between the British and Tuscan Grand Prix. He finished fourth at the Bahrain Grand Prix and fifth at the closing race of the season, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Alongside his teammate Carlos Sainz, they brought Mclaren to third place in the constructors' championship. Ending the 2020 season in ninth in the drivers' championship with 97 points, just 8 points behind Sainz.

2021

Norris met his new teammate for the 2021 season, Daniel Ricciardio, as Carlos Sainz left Mclaren to join Ferrari.

At the season-opening, he finished the Bahrain Grand Prix in fourth place. At the following race of the season, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Lando was set for second before being overtook by Hamilton with just three laps remaining, however he still achieved his second Formula One podium finish as he passed the chequered flag in third place. Lando also equalled his highest-grid position at the Styrian Grand Prix, starting third as Bottas recieved a Grid Penalty.

The following weekend at the Austrian Grand Prix, he started in second place after setting a time of just 0.048 seconds behind Verstappen. He finished the race to claim his third podium of the season, coming third.

At the British Grand Prix, Norris set the fastest time in the Friday Qualifying, also finishing fifth in the sprint qualifying and fourth in the Grand Prix, meaning he moved up to third place in the drivers' championship.

At the Italian Grand Prix, Lando finished fourth in the sprint qualifying, soon becoming third as Bottas recieved an engine penalty. The driver managed to finish the race second, behind his teammate Daniel Ricciardio, achieving his fourth podium of the 2021 season and securing a one-two finish for Mclaren for the first time since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix.

He finished the 2021 season in sixth in the Drivers' Championship, and this impressive year of racing led to Lando signing with Mclaren once again, staying with the team until 2025.

2022

For Norris the 2022 season brought a new era of Formula One with it, a chance to further develop himself and his Formula One career.

Lando took third in the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, which ended up being his and Mclaren's only podium finish of the season. At the Monaco Grand Prix Norris came sixth and secured the fastest lap while doing so.

Despite only securing one podium, Lando still finished the 2022 season seventh in the Drivers' Championship, with 122 points, Mclaren finishing fifth place in the Constructors' Championship.

2023

This year for the 2023 season, Lando has stayed with Mclaren where he has met yet another new teammate Oscar Piastri, a rookie in Formula One. For the first few races of the season the Mclaren team had not been performing as well as other teams, finishing seventeenth at Bahrain. In Saudi Arabia Lando was eliminated in Q1 while qualifying.

However at the Australian Grand Prix, Norris finished sixth and Piastri finished eighth, scoring their first points of the season. The British Grand Prix meant that Lando had got a new best start with a second place qualification. In this race Lando Norris even held the lead for the opening laps after having such a successful start, further managing to hold off Lewis Hamilton for the race and taking a well-deserved second place after such an incredible drive. This finish meant that Lando had become the first Mclaren driver to finish on the podium at the Silverstone Track since Lewis Hamilton in 2010.

In Hungary, Lando started third and finished second, scoring a back-to-back podium for the first time in his career.

And in Singapore fans saw the bond of Carlando return to their screens as Carlos Sainz assisted him in holding off the Mercedes drivers until the end of the race, allowing Lando to gain yet another podium finish for this season and doing it alongside his close former teammate Carlos. His result at the Japanese Grand Prix, taking his fourth podium of the year, meant he took the record of the driver with the most career points without a win.

The success of Lando Norris makes it clear to see that his win is just within his grasp, a truly incredible driver with the full potential to become a World Champion in the future. Congratulations to Lando as he races in his 100th race this weekend, what an amazing couple of years this driver has had, and although he hasn't had the most smooth-sailing couple of years, the potential of Lando Norris should not and can not be ignored.

[rickybaby]

I think it’s time we address the argument that constantly gets brought up when it comes to Daniel - that he is not an adaptable driver

It’s a point that mclaren (esp Zak) constantly exploited last year to justify his exit and one that apparently came about based on his two years at Renault

I don’t agree with the whole narrative that he didn’t perform well in his first year at renault because he wasn’t used to the car when he actually outscored his teammate who had been with the team before him. What if he was already getting the maximum out of a bad car and his 2020 performance was not only down to him driving the wheels off the car but also Renault actually working with him to give him the car he needs. Which truly, kudos to Cyril and his team. They knew there was a reason they spent 25mil to get a race winner and they knew they better listen to him when it came to feedback.

For whatever reason mclaren decided to get a driver of Daniel’s calibre and refused to listen to what he had to say about the car. They knew Daniel had a particular braking style which would not gel well with their car but they signed him irrespectively. Yeah Daniel did badly in mclaren. It’s a fact. The evidence is in the data, but I feel that it’s incorrect to say he didn’t try to adapt. He’s not some magical unicorn that he could just drive the car off the bat. It’s ignoring that he won a race in 2021 and he was much closer and even outscored Lando in the second half of the season. Because he worked to adapt to the car even if that meant forgetting his natural style of driving that made him fast and picking up weird habits

The thing about 2022 for me is that he didn’t get a chance to adapt to the car. The first 2 races were a dud because the car was nowhere and he basically got ordered to not overtake Lando in the most strange way at his own home gp. Then they go to imola and he has that first lap incident in the rain with Carlos and then the problems in qualifying in Miami which truly ends his weekend. Then it was downhill from there.

If you ask me to pinpoint the exact time when McLaren started their campaign against Daniel, for me it’s somewhere between imola and Miami cause I remember clearly Daniel going on the daily show and McLaren not posting about it when they somehow found the time to post Lando’s selfie from his brother’s wedding? Then of course Monaco comes around and the whole exit clause comments form Zak.

Meanwhile Daniel was digging deeper and deeper trying to find what’s not working and getting further away from finding a solution while the rest of them sat back without doing anything waiting for him to trigger his exit clause all while Zak brown was playing Russian roulette with his seat.

So yeah he never stood a fighting chance to make 2022 work

[f1]

OSCARS AWARDS: The stunning stats behind Piastris stellar junior career as he gets set for F1 debut

Oscar Piastri will graduate to F1 with McLaren in 2023 – taking Daniel Ricciardo’s spot alongside Lando Norris – as he looks to build on an enviable racing record to date and perform on the big stage. Ahead of his Grand Prix debut, we decided to run through his motorsport exploits so far and look at the key stats and numbers he's notched up along the way… -- 3 -- Piastri has won three single-seater titles on his way to the F1 grid, claiming the Formula Renault Eurocup crown with French outfit R-ace GP in 2019 before landing back-to-back F2 and F3 championships with Italian squad Prema in 2020 and 2021. READ MORE: McLaren rookie Piastri explains why he chose #81 as his race number for 2023 He also finished second to British racer Jamie Caroline while contesting the 2017 British F4 championship with Arden Motorsport – the outfit co-created and formerly run by now Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. -- 14 -- With Piastri’s racing taking him across the UK, Europe and beyond, he won races at 14 tracks while climbing the ranks, starting with Oulton Park, Snetterton, Knockhill and Silverstone in British F4, before adding Spa-Francorchamps, the Nurburgring, the Hungaroring, and the Yas Marina Circuit in Formula Renault Eurocup. On his promotion to F3, Piastri grew the list with wins at the Red Bull Ring and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with the Bahrain International Circuit, Monza, Sochi and Jeddah following in F2. It means he has already triumphed at nine current F1 venues. Piastri progresses to F1 with McLaren on the back of a glittering junior racing career -- 16 -- During his time in the aforementioned categories, Piastri delivered plenty of eye-catching qualifying laps to bag himself 16 pole positions. Six of those came in British F4 in 2017, five in Formula Renault Eurocup two years later, and five throughout the 2021 F2 campaign. -- 21 -- In addition to a healthy pole tally, Piastri raced his way to a total of 21 victories from 2016 to 2021, again hitting six in British F4, then taking seven in Formula Renault Eurocup, two in F3 and six in F2. The Australian also set 21 fastest laps during the same period. READ MORE: ‘He’s a very strong team mate to learn from’ – Piastri excited to work with Norris at McLaren -- 46 -- Given his victory record, Piastri unsurprisingly made plenty of podium appearances from F4 to F2, taking home 46 trophies in just over five years of competition. That gives him a 35% rostrum conversion rate for all the single-seater races he has contested up to this point. -- 60.5 -- After pipping Sauber junior Theo Pourchaire and fellow 2023 F1 rookie Logan Sargeant (now signed to Williams) to the F3 title, Piastri enjoyed a dominant victory margin in F2. He ended the 2021 season 60.5 points clear of Ferrari-backed Robert Shwartzman, with now Alfa Romeo racer Zhou Guanyu nine further back. This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences Oscar Piastri's best moments so far -- 105 -- Piastri was a scoring machine across his junior career, with 105 points finishes giving him an impressive conversion rate of 80%. However, this would have been even higher if a handful of guest appearances during the 2018 Formula Renault NEC championship had counted for points. -- 131 -- To put the above numbers into more context, Piastri’s points, podiums and wins until now have come from 131 races, spanning his first outing in F4 UAE at Yas Marina on December 16, 2016 to the F2 finale at the same venue on December 12, 2021. READ MORE: Why Ricciardo reckons his McLaren struggles can give replacement Piastri a ‘head start’ in his maiden season -- 1,343 -- Across those 131 races, and with various scoring systems in place, Piastri amassed a whopping 1,343 points, with attention now turning to what he can achieve when he arrives in F1 and begins the latest chapter of his burgeoning motorsport career. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

[cobraonthecob]

it's not something drive to survive started (though that show loves those narratives because that is drama central). sports have been looking for their next young talent since like forever (due to most sports being so physically demanding that if you are really talented, then you have to debut as a teen you likely have to stop your professional career in your mid 20s because your body can't keep up [or you could just have a mediocre career all your life or do it as a hobby, but that's boring], and that's assuming you're not in a sport like figure skating that breaks you in two years and dumps you for the next young talent [content warning/trigger warning for described state-sanctioned child abuse and eating disorders]) and motorsport isn't immune from it even if motorsport gives surviving drivers a very long career

anyways, the overall tl;dr is that if a rookie underperforms, they get dropped and find another motorsport discipline. most drivers who leave f1 usually go do endurance, indycar, nascar, formula e, or super formula. it's also a matter of being lucky enough to sign onto the right team at the right time: either you join a midfield team when they're great (like yuki in his debut year with the at02), or a midfield team who starts shit, but then figures their shit out (like mclaren in 2023 or liam when he got to reap the rewards of nyck's and yuki's contributions to upgrading the at04) during the course of the season or a strong team gets an extremely talented driver at the right time (lewis in his debut year beat fernando alonso on countback, five 2nd places to fernando's four, earning him p2 in his rookie year). sometimes the stars align for somebody really talented, and sometimes they're just like 'eh, you've got better things to do in this motorsport discipline here'

sebastian vettel joined the grid when he was 19 (in 2007), and then redbull got very invested in finding a young talent before the other teams did, and they struck gold with max (also because of max there was a rule in place to keep everyone under 18 out of an f1 team until toto really wanted his own max verstappen and found antonelli). the reason why there was a carousel of max teammate's after daniel left for renault was because redbull managed to start building cars that could really challenge for the WDC and WCC, and in order to snap up both, you can't put all your eggs in a max verstappen basket

you have to make sure the other driver can be a step above the other team's second drivers. in 2021, even though max was awarded the wdc, the wcc went to mercedes because valtteri was more successful at scoring higher points than checo. that's the interesting nature of formula 1, where it's two competitions in one where you have to be better than your teammate, but your teammate has to be better than another team's second driver

now the problem was, pierre just didn't mesh well with the car, and was dropped in favor of alex, a rookie who was doing better than kvyat (who was dropped for max, so it would make no sense to swap pierre for the guy redbull dropped for max). they gave alex a little bit longer time to adapt due to the fact that he was a rookie, but after 2020, with checo having lost his seat at racing point but with a race win where in the first lap he was p20, alex was dropped from the line-up as redbull realized that no one in their junior team was remotely ready (as yuki would be debuting in 2021) to handle the pressure of being max's teammate, and instead have been using checo since checo had been in the sport just as long as daniel had

with nyck (i'm assuming that's the nick you're referring to and not nicholas latifi), the issue was that he was a 28 year old f1 rookie who insisted he wasn't really a rookie and was primed to destroy yuki (which is old for athlete standards) only for everyone to find out that the at04 was the worst car at the start of 2023 alongside with daniel being seatless and making the prodigal son and coming back to redbull. now, i don't claim to fully know the details of what's going on behind the scenes, but daniel has stated that 'going back to redbull would be a fairy tale ending for his career' and there was no way redbull would just drop checo for a driver who got thrashed by a driver whose career started in 2019 vs daniel's 2011 (daniel was also paid millions not to drive for mclaren lol). so with a struggling 'not a rookie and i'm ready to thrash yuki tsunoda' nyck de vries and redbull wanting safety nets in place as checo's form dipped that season, they put daniel in until he broke his hand and liam stepped in and everyone went 'where the FUCK were you hiding this one????'

now vcarb's stuck in a dilemma for that second seat lmfao. you have daniel, whose career has been dipping since he left redbull (though he occasionally has flashes of the old daniel, where he has gotten a podium and a race win before that disastrous 2022 year) but he has been in the sport since 2011 and has been able to attract very strong sponsors (he's why we have that title of visa cashapp rb). but now you have liam, who scored p9 at a track he's never been at before, and one of the toughest tracks on the calendar, and is the new face of the grid

now the narrative is no longer keeping the older drivers, because if you venture onto social media, you will see an influx of people ask why drivers like valtteri or hulkenberg are still around (you are only as good as your last five races, even if you're a 10x grand prix winner or a consistent strong midfield driver, though this mentality is very absent when it comes to fernando, though i partially blame that on fans hating lance so much they actually do their research OR they are fernando fans and just want one more victory for fernando, so they turn all their hate onto lance when it comes to that other seat in aston martin). now fans push for more young talent, especially because there's a long line of f2 champs who didn't get a seat

or you're guanyu, who did get p3 in the standings in his graduate year and was unlucky to get the promotion over rookie champion oscar piastri (despite the fact that if oscar had a free shot at alfaromeo, he would currently be languishing in that paint can on wheels) and white fans have heart attacks over a person of color scrapping every bit of advantage they can get to make it to formula 1 (because guanyu moved to europe at 12/13 in order to even have a shot at the higher formulae). guanyu is now currently trying to get that cardboard box disguised as an f1 car onto the grid, and yet people are clamoring for theo pourchaire or whatever other sauber driver they have to be a part of sauber next year, even though valtteri is also struggling with this car. what a rookie is going to do is only get the fandom's ire when they can't resurrect a fossil

with logan, he was williams's top scoring junior driver in f2 (in his first and only f2 season, he was p4 in the standings) and with williams saying farewell to nicholas latifi and nyck de vries (disastrously) choosing alphatauri, williams chose to pull in one of their own academy drivers rather than felipe (who is part of aston martin's driver academy but is the champion of f2). williams's problem is that the car is pretty awful for a rookie to drive (2022's car was so bad that they only specialized in straightline speed, which is why that car was so successful at monza and nyck got extremely lucky that alex got appendicitis then + not at any other circuit, otherwise he probably would've been like jack aitken [stepped in for george who stepped in for lewis at sakhir 2020, didn't place anywhere near the points and has now moved onto other motorsport disciplines]), which is why you see alex and logan having weird crashes because their car was like 'this is too much, fuck everyone, bye'.

which becomes a nasty cycle: none of the top teams want to sign a rookie because they don't want to deal with expensive crashes and no big name sponsor to help foot the bill (i have not seen ferrari sign on a rookie and redbull literally has vcarb to dodge that problem), but that means the midfield teams have to be the ones to get rookies on the teams in the first place, even if that car is a trash can on wheels like the 2021 haas, 2022 williams, 2023 alphatauri, or the 2024 sauber. then, when rookies aren't performing well, it's off to the next rookie even if that rookie will do just as badly

I feel like I’m F1, when the teams see a younger driver that’s good there too eager to try and get them for the upcoming season and rush them into F1.

Also I feel like it’s been happening since when DTS came out. It happened with Pierre, Alex, Nick, Logan.

Maybe it’s just the pressure of trying to do so well because of how they did in the F2 and such, but F1 also comes with challenges that a tough🤷🏽‍♀️

So now, I’m kinda worried for these new drivers coming into F1 because if they don’t give their teams the results they want, what’s going to happen??

What’s y’all thoughts?

[mcgnussen]

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

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

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

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

TIMELINE (2008-2022)

2008-2013: mclaren* 

2014: force india (aston martin), mclaren

2015: mclaren*, williams 

2016: renault (alpine)

2017: renault (alpine), haas

2018: haas

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

2020: haas

2021: haas*, williams*

2022: haas 

2023: haas

2024: haas

more details below!

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

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

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

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

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

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

2019: new contract with haas.

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

2021: kevin doing his thing outside f1.

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

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

[ilovejevsjeans]

How Olympian race engineer Tom Stallard helped coach Daniel Ricciardo to Monza victory

Daniel Ricciardo and the ever-improving McLaren team were seen as a match made in Heaven ahead of the start of the 2021 season. But while it all came good at the Italian Grand Prix, Ricciardo’s win at Monza was a product of hours and hours of unseen work, and some confidence-shaking moments along the way. F1 Staff Writer Greg Stuart sat down with Tom Stallard, the man who’s race engineered Ricciardo throughout 2021, to trace the arc of that breakthrough Monza win.

You could make a strong case that Lap 52 of the Monaco Grand Prix marked the nadir in Daniel Ricciardo’s first season with McLaren. As the Australian exited Sainte Devote and accelerated up the hill, he dutifully jinked left to allow team mate Lando Norris to lap him, Norris acknowledging the gesture with a wave from his cockpit. Norris would go on to finish third. Ricciardo, who’d brilliantly won in Monaco just three years earlier for Red Bull, finished out of the points in 12th.

That was May – and yet just four months later, Ricciardo had taken McLaren back to the winner’s circle for the first time since 2012, capping off a superb Italian Grand Prix weekend with an emotional victory at Monza, and leading Norris home in a McLaren one-two.

How did that happen? Ricciardo’s race engineer Tom Stallard has been the man F1 fans have heard soothing and chivvying Ricciardo over team radio this year, a year in which success has been harder to come by than many had anticipated – and he was naturally delighted when Ricciardo combined all his learnings to take the assured win in Monza, his first victory since that 2018 Monaco triumph.

“I was super proud,” Stallard tells me as we chat in the paddock in Sochi, “because we've worked really hard this year to be honest, and it was nice to see him executing everything that we'd talked about and worked on.

“Obviously he did a fantastic job, but he actually did the job that we'd been talking about and working on together. He's a top driver, obviously, joined our team as a top driver, but we’ve actually had to work at it quite hard and in Monza, he really executed that.”

Why didn’t Ricciardo and McLaren gel immediately? Ricciardo’s stellar second half of 2020 with Renault – during which he took two podiums and finished every race in the points – combined with McLaren’s sharp upward trajectory and the arrival of Mercedes power units at the team for 2021, meant that many earmarked the Ricciardo/McLaren combination as a potential surprise package this season.

But despite claiming points in his first four races for the team – including convincingly leading Norris home in Barcelona – right from the off, Stallard says, there were issues.

“I think the Bahrain race [where Ricciardo finished P7 to Norris’ P4 on his McLaren debut] he did quite well, but that was with a lot of time in the car in the [Bahrain] test – I mean, not a lot of time but a bit of time at the test, and a circuit that suits him well,” says Stallard.

“And then at Imola [where Ricciardo finished P6 as Norris claimed a podium in P3] we kind of exposed the problems, if you like, that he was having with the car, and we understood the struggle that we would have.”

As you might expect from an engineer of Stallard’s experience (he joined McLaren back in 2008) his first reaction to the situation wasn’t to panic, but to put in place processes to help bring Ricciardo on.

“We put in place a plan of what we needed to do differently and how we needed to react. And since then actually, we've been on an upward trajectory from that point, but you don't always necessarily see that from the outside.

“There have been a number of races where after the race, he's been frustrated and I've been reassuring him that actually we are seeing progress, and we don't have the good results yet but they're coming.”

So what was it about the MCL35M that wasn’t suiting Ricciardo and his driving style?

“Ultimately,” says Stallard, “all the drivers would choose the same thing, which is very good rear stability, and front end that increases as you add steer. That is totally universal, but the truth is that having a car that does that is the Holy Grail of Formula 1 design; every team up and down this paddock is trying to do that, and succeeding to a greater or lesser extent.

“We have a car that understeers and that's been something that he's had to adapt to and modify his natural approach to get the best out of.”

One thing Stallard is at pains to point out is that, for all of Ricciardo’s famously insouciant manner, beneath the gigawatt smile there lurks one of the world’s top racing drivers, with a work ethic to match.

“Obviously Daniel seems like the most laidback guy in the world,” says Stallard, “but behind the scenes, under the water, the duck feet are going quite quickly.

“Because we were in lockdown and he was in Los Angeles [over the winter break], we did most of his initial integration virtually, and during that phase, he learnt all the switches, what all the toys do, how to use the steering wheel.

"We spent a lot of time talking through the strategy with Daren [Stanley], our strategist. And actually all the communication side, all of the switches, all the controls, he had completely down by the time he went to winter testing.

“He's been in the factory loads, doing the simulator, partly working on his driving with that, but also giving feedback to the team about what he wants from the car,” adds Stallard.

“And at no point during the phase where he was getting up to speed with our package did he question that there was any kind of, the team backing the other driver, or the engineers didn't know what they were doing, or the car was set-up wrong. He just knuckled down, got on with the work, and I think that the whole team has a lot of respect for him for that.”

Ricciardo endured an up-and-down run of form leading up to the summer break, the lows including a tough Styrian Grand Prix where he finished 13th to Norris’ fifth and a Hungarian Grand Prix where first lap contact with Charles Leclerc hobbled his McLaren, leaving him 11th at the flag.

But Ricciardo appeared rejuvenated after the summer break, nailing his best qualifying of the year at that point with P4 on the grid in Belgium – while after a race to forget for the whole McLaren team in Zandvoort, Ricciardo then put together what would ultimately be his winning weekend in Monza, qualifying P5 on Friday, racing to P3 in Saturday’s F1 Sprint before claiming that sensational victory in the race.

Indeed, it was Ricciardo’s anger at qualifying P5 on Friday at Monza (and just 0.006s off his team mate) that seemed to indicate that a change had come in the Australian’s expectations of the level he should be performing at – with Stallard noting the key difference in Ricciardo since the summer…

“I think the ‘frustration at being P5’ thing was there all along,” says Stallard. “For me, the difference with the break is that it helped him not overthink it, so he's adapted better to the way you have to drive our car without it being completely conscious every corner, what you need to do.

Daniel's easy to work with, because if you give him a problem to solve, he goes away and works at it, so the work ethic's always been good, which makes life easy,” adds Stallard. “He doesn't defer responsibility away from himself; he takes a lot on the chin, which means some of what I've had to do is keeping him, let's say, up, because he's taken a lot of responsibility for things himself.

“But from my side, that means he's great to work with, and that collaboration is very strong. And when we got to Monza, we both had a lot of confidence in each other, so that made the result in Monza feel very natural.”

Going forward

Ricciardo leading McLaren to their first victory since Jenson Button’s 2012 Brazilian Grand Prix triumph, and their first one-two since the 2010 Canadian Grand Prix, was a fantastic moment for all at McLaren, and one that was warmly welcomed by most in the F1 paddock.

But Stallard was under no illusions during our chat in Sochi that Ricciardo is still on a journey to being fully comfortable in McLaren’s MCL35M car this season – a point Ricciardo would then back up himself a few days later when, despite finishing P4 in the Russian Grand Prix, he admitted that “there is still some stuff missing”.

“In Monza, the circuit and our technical package aligned well,” says Stallard, “and actually last year we came second there, so it's a circuit that suits our car and obviously Daniel did a very good job putting it all together, and the strategy was correct.

“He now understands how to drive the car; I think he's felt that himself rather than it just being explained to him, which means we have made another step. But it's a much more linear process than it appears from the outside.”

What Ricciardo does have in his corner, meanwhile – apart from the work ethic and talent that have made him an eight-time Grand Prix winner – is a race engineer in Stallard who has been an elite athlete himself, forming part of Great Britain’s silver medal-winning men’s eight rowing crew at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

And Stallard believes that his own experience as an athlete can help get the best out of Ricciardo, who signed to McLaren on a three-year deal that will take him into Formula 1’s bold new era of regulations with the team.

“In this sport, 20 years ago, the race engineers were very much engineers,” says Stallard. “But now we are coaches, and so we're using the data to guide the drivers in how to get the best out of the car.

“So I see myself now as a coach and I have a lot of experience of being coached, whereas a lot of the other race engineers… don't necessarily have the same experience of being coached. And I think that does give me an insight in terms of the struggles that people have when being coached, especially in a sport where on the way up, drivers often aren't coached that much and it gives me a good ability to manage the pressure and stay calm in what would be a pressured situation as well.

“And I also think that on any journey, although I describe it as a linear process, there's still ups and downs, and there'll be events in the future that are more difficult and that we'll have to respond to and react to. It would be naive to think it's plain sailing from here – but I think that it's a good next step.”(X)