#european championships 2020

[www98vikitoo]

Sobbing crying throwing up, im so glad Stili made a comeback like this after tragic hoop and not ideal ball😭❤️

[ifindus]

Scotland's going all out for the Euros this year ✨🎉

It's Scotland's fourth year in the European Championship's finals (1992, 1996, and 2020) and there's a banger making rounds

[httpiastri]

PERFECTLY FINE – Y/N PROFILE

full name: y/n harper

date of birth: june 3rd, 2005

birthplace: cambridge, england

family members: william harper (father); sarah harper (mother)

teams: prema racing (2020-2023), campos racing (2024-now)

driver academy: red bull junior team (2019-now)

instagram: yourusername

best friends: jak crawford, dino beganovic, pepe marti

racing record:

2020 italian f4 championship – third place (six podiums; two wins)

2021 formula regional european championship – fifth place (four podiums; one win)

2022 formula regional european championship – second place (nine podiums; three wins)

2023 fia formula 3 championship – second place (five podiums; three wins)

2024 fia formula 2 championship – ongoing

trivia:

– y/n harper is the only child of four-time world champion william harper. her father was a ferrari driver for a total of eleven years and won his first two titles with the italian team in 2007 and 2008, before moving on to drive for red bull. there, he won his second championship in 2010 – only to move back to ferrari and take his last title with them the following season. as of early 2021, he's the head of the ferrari driver academy.

– y/n began karting at the age of seven, starting off with being coached by her father but later moving on to getting a trainer of her own. she joined the red bull junior team for her last year of karting and has stayed in the academy ever since.

– american f2 driver jak crawford joined the junior team one year later, and he and y/n found each other instantly. the two have been best friends, as well as neighbors, since then.

– y/n began being romantically involved with teammate paul aron during the summer break of the 2022 freca season. however, the pair split up almost a year later. she then started dating ferrari academy driver oliver bearman in late july 2023.

– y/n was homeschooled between ages 14 and 16 so that she could focus more on her driving.

– besides racing, her interests include skiing, baking, reading, and journaling.

– despite often being held back by her own performance anxiety and imposter syndrome, she is very set on and clear about her goal; getting into formula one. she has claimed that she will never truly be satisfied until she stands on the top step of the podium after an f1 race like her father did so many times.

series masterlist

[cheriladycl01]

The Deeper Connection - Zhou Guanyu x ChildhoodBestfriend! Reader

Plot: You made friends with Zhou when he first came to the UK to pursue his driving career, and you were like two pee's in a pod. When he reaches F1 and life gets busy for the both of you he finds solitude in your childhood hideout.

A/N: I haven't been that active lately with finals coming up, however I'm still trying to post regularly!

You'd grown up in Sheffield all your life, you lived in a very nice home and came from a pretty well off family. With a dad in oversea real estate and your mum as a business owner and entrepreneur in the UK you wouldn't ever have to ask for anything twice.

The trouble was that you tried out so many hobbies and none of them really tended to stick.

Ballet when you were at three, didn't work with zero hand to eye coordination.

Horse-riding when you were five, didn't work after you got bored with how slowly you were being taught to ride.

Acting school when you were seven, didn't work when you were bullied for only being there because of mummy and daddies money. This completely made you loose your passion for it.

Swimming when you were eight, which you had to stop because of a medical condition with the cold water in the winters and your body temperature not mixing well.

Space camp when you were nine, didn't work because you were bored where you already knew everything they talked to you about because it was a special interest of yours.

Pottery when you were ten, whenever something broke you got really disappointed and sad with yourself and eventually it became something you only did every now and then to avoid burnout.

Gymnastics when you were eleven, didn't work after getting bored within the first weeks and it taking up too much time.

You were 12 when you met Zhou Guanyu, he moved into a house down your road in the gated woodland community of large and wealthy farm homes and mansions.

You guys became close almost straight away, you'd spend every night in the treehouse that his dad built him when they first moved in. But he wasn't always around, some weekends you'd knock on his door and no-one but the maid would answer explaining that the family weren't around.

She'd let you into the house, where you'd wait for him in either his bedroom or out in the treehouse. Sometimes he wouldn't come back until 10pm, and you'd be curled up on his beanbag in his room, asleep and his parents would have to call yours suggesting yet another sleepover.

After 3 years of knowing him, you found out where he'd been going and why he was home schooled just like you. He would kart, but now he'd got into Italian Formula 4 and he wouldn't be home as much.

You'd cried begging him not to go, Zhou really was your only friend and even though it had only been three years of friendship you'd attached yourself to him insanely quickly.

Not that he minded of course.

Your managed to go see one race with him, it was in Monza and he'd won it all. And that weekend he asked you to be his girlfriend. You of course said yes, as a two giddy sixteen year olds and went on from there.

The distance got easier when he was in the European Formula 3 championship in 2016. You being 17 weren't actually allowed to make your own choices yet, but the minute you turned 18, 5 months after Zhou, you were following him around to each race.

At this stage taking a gap year before you were due to go to university was better for you, and Zhou. In 2018, he got the news he'd be going to Formula 2 for the 2019 and you'd been accepted to Oxford.

For that first year you made it work. You visited him at races when you had breaks from university and he would come stay with you in your small uni accommodation in the off season or when he had longer breaks into between races.

But when 2020 rolled around, and you were forced to be separated by the growth of COVID-19 your relationship fizzled out. You pushed and pushed trying to keep the sparks there but one day, Zhou phoned you explaining that he couldn't do it anymore.

You'd cried so much that day, and you'd never felt more alone. The only place you thought to go that was safe was the tree house, you could get there through the side gate and you knew Zhou's parents were in China on business only leaving the maid there.

So that's what you did, you laid there curled up in a blanket Zhou brought you, crying until it got darked and you started to scare yourself looking into the dark woods.

When you were younger and you thought you heard or saw something in the woods, Zhou would hold you close explaining to you it was just your imagination and you'd immediately feel a sense of calm wash over you.

You left the treehouse that night getting on the last train you could think off back to Oxford.

Zhou continued in F2 in 2021, but got progressively more busy when competing in a small stint of the Winter F3 Asian Championship, of course you kept up to date with him.

You loved the boy and you didn't ever think you'd stop.

When the announcement of his promotion into F1 happened you cried happy and sad tears. Happy he'd achieved his dream, but ultimately sad he was in the big leagues now and he would definitely have no time for you.

He had a phenomenal first year and you watched every single race, even getting up at absurd hours to watch him. You cheered him on all the time and would get anxious whenever you had to stop or DNF.

Silverstone with the Russell incident was the worst. You parents had to hold you tightly as you cried seeing just how bad the crash was. Seeing George run over to his flipped over car that he couldn't get out of and a red flag being called.

You ran out the house going straight to the treehouse. His parents watched as the 22 year old climbed up the old rickety ladder, bag in hand and red bloodshot eyes.

They knew you'd seen his crash and you wanted some space.

What did shock them was the fact that you consistently came back every night for a few weeks.

It was a warmer night and you still had your blanket but there wasn't a need for a hoodie when you first came out. You were just laying there on the wooden planks looking out of the little skylight in the breaking wooden roof at the stars.

"Hey" a voice says softly making you turn to the ladder.

"Zhou?!" you explain sitting up quickly looking at him. Not that you hadn't seen him on Instagram or in his post race interviews but he'd grown into his face. He was as handsome as ever.

"Mmmmm" he sighs, almost in a grunt sort of way. He comes next to you and lays down, not coming to close scared that you'll leave if he pushes to close.

"Your star is up there tonight" he says raising his hand and pointing to the brightest star between the tree line. He'd named it your star when you'd spend the first night out here.

"How's it been, travelling round the world?" you ask softly turning to look at him, laying on your side. He turns onto his as well to also look at you.

"Lonely" he whispers with a sigh, pushing some of you hair behind your ear making you hold you breath as his fingers brush along the side of you face and down to your lips before recoiling his hand back.

"But your so busy and round people all the time!" you argue confused as to why he would ever feel lonely.

"I think sometimes even though I'm surrounded by people, they aren't people that get me... you know?" he asks turning onto his back, looking up at the sky.

"I think i feel the opposite" you laugh.

"What do you mean?" he asks, his gaze not wavering from the sky.

"I feel like i have absolutely no-one around me, but everyone i do bump into can see right through me" you sigh, having struggled at work recently as a graduate and new employee, working from home.

"Seems like we both are out of our comfort zones then" he offers with a sigh.

"Mmmmm i did have my comfort zone at one point" you say, it came out pointedly which you didn't intend.

"Yeah?" he asks, looking over at you again.

"Yeah it was you. I don't think I've ever experienced a connection like I have... had with you" you sigh.

"Had, you don't feel that way anymore?" he asks with a sad frown, that makes a frown of you own appear.

"You broke up with me in one of the loneliest periods in my life, It's always just been you Zhou, I've never had anyone else and then you were just gone ... I- you broke me and took a part with you" you sniffle, not sure how else to describe the heartbreak you were feeling.

Some people had their heart broken, where it would splinter all over and someone would come along and patch it back up until it healed.

Some people had their heart broken, where it would completely shatter and all the pieces are spread out and someone has to come along and pick up all of those pieces and puzzle them back together.

Some people have their heart broken, where it again completely shatters but the culprit takes a piece of that heart with them so that if theirs a time when someone else does come around and fix it it's never fully fixed, beating but never full.

And Zhou had that piece of your heart and no-one had put back the remaining parts of your heart, you'd gradually started to do it yourself but it was proving to be a long process.

"I-" he starts but chokes on his words.

"I think, I'll always love you Zhou Guanyu..." you whisper sitting up, your hair loosely falling over your shoulder.

"I know I'll always love you. And I want to take back everything I did! I need you in my life!" he says looking over you, making you look down.

"You cant take it back Zhou..." you start before looking up seeing his teary expression. "But i think we could start again. I don't want my heart back, it's yours to take... all of it forever. Your only going to be it!" you smile, knowing this was your chance to have him back.

He was your soulmate you were sure of it.

He leans up and pulls you into a kiss.

"I promise from here on out, I'll never leave you again again!"

Taglist:

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[architect-2015]

Hand In Hand | mapi león

◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤

In which Kennedy Russo and María León have been a couple since Russo debuted at Fc Barcelona in 2020 - this well know to the public - so after the Fifa WWC 2023 the lioness gives insight of the pain caused by the spanish federation, she tells the players story.

◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤◢◤

The Call Up

Kennedy’s life since joining Barcelona has been as sweet as it could be, a record breaking transfer from Manchester United, winning league title after league title, winning the Champions League after the heartbreaking defeat the previous year and The summer of 22’ winning the European Championship along side her little sister Alessia.

But the joys of her international careers do not match those of her girlfriends, after their quarter final knockout in the Euros tournament, the truth began to spill about the Spanish Football Federation: the lack of respect for players, the harmful environment and the disrespectful head coach - Jorge Vilda.

María León had always been one to speak her mind, never let her thoughts and opinions be squashed by others. So she did what was right - She took a stand.

Mapi and 14 other Spaniards resigned from the national team, with a dream for change. A dream that turned into a nightmare.

The Federation took no notice of these players.

The game carried on.

So when the World Cup call ups were around the corner, they knew they had to give up their childhood ambitions to win a World Cup, to stand up for what is right.

————

In the cozy living room of Mapi León’s home, the couple laid out on the sofa - arms tight around one another. A conversation needed sat unspoken plaguing the air.

“Would you be okay if i played?” a shy mumble left Kennedy’s mouth, she obviously wanted to play as anyone would in a World Cup but she also wanted to support her other half.

María shifted undeath the 27 year old, sitting them up and holding her girlfriends face in her warm hands.

“mi corazón, of course you should play, you’re coming off the back of your biggest international win you can’t give up on your World Cup dream just because of me. That can’t happen, I’ll make sure it wont happen.”

Mapi’s voice was thick with emotion. She hadn’t given up on her dream - simply put it on the back burner - so the fact Kennedy would consider sacrificing hers made her angry. Not angry at her girlfriend, she could never be angry with her but angry with the world that power hungry men like Vilda not only effected her career but the game as a whole.

“Cariño you’ll go, you’ll play for your country, your sister, you’ll play for yourself and i’ll be here cheering as loud as i can being as proud as i can.”

————

The Tournament

The older Russo had excelled during the tournament, many sung her praises complementing her performance and goal scoring ability and her link ups with her younger sister.

She was making her opinion know with her now well recognised celebration, creating a ‘M L’ with her hands into the closest camera. A nod to her partner back home.

Getting through to the final was the best night of her career this far, celebrating with her team, her sister and her best friend Lucy Bronze - a women who had shared experiences of world cup disappointment like Kennedy.

To then find out Spain would be joining them well that was a feeling she couldn’t put into words, fear, excitement, being endlessly proud of her spanish friends for making to their first final but most of all anger, anger that María and many other couldn’t have their World Cup moment, anger their dreams had been taken away, anger that selfish men once again had come out on top.

————

The Final

{María❤️}

mi corazón, good luck with the game tonight. You’ll play amazing and hopefully you’ll be the one lifting that trophy! te amo! xxx

It was half time and the lionesses were down 1-0, a beautiful goal from Olga had put the spaniards infront. The eldest Russo had been yellow carded in the first 45 minutes for straight up shouting at the spanish head coach - every wrong action he made, she countered with a word to the referee or to his face. It was now clear that the young women had a strong desire to make this match miserable for the man. It’s the least she could do after all the damage he’s caused.

A speech from Sarina and Millie had instilled some determination into the squad but walking back out from the tunnel had been the thing to create a fire inside of Kennedy.

The second half had now been played in until the 87’ minute after a saved penalty from Jenni Hermoso, one in the opinion of Kennedy was well off the penalty spot.

A well timed pass from Lucy Bronze had Kennedy flying past the spanish back line, continuing her run towards Cata Coll, slotting it with a perfect strike into the top left corner.

The crowd erupts, before Kennedy could process what had happened, she had fallen victim to a human pile on- tears of overwhelming joy overflowed from her eyes.

A whistle was blown, a VAR check.

The words ‘possible offside’ had create a looming feeling of fear within the midfielder.

[CHECK COMPLETE: OFFSIDE]

The floor seemed to fall from beneath her feet, breath leaving her chest involuntarily, the spanish chants invading her ear as sobs left her mouth. Arms looked around her frame: Lucy. “Head up Russo we have time, we’ve got to keep going”

Many minutes of added time passed until the final whistle blew, they failed, they had lost. He had won.

Crashing to her knees - in that moment she couldn’t find it in herself to feel happy for her Barcelona teammates, she couldn’t begin to imagine how this would effect María’s international career, she could only feel the guilt seeping in. She was offside. She has ruined the lionesses chance of becoming world champions. She let her country down.

Whilst her time stood still as she laid there on the grass, the world moved on.

A delicate hand was placed in her back and her sister’s floral perfume surrounded her like a blanket of safety. Alessia. Her manicured hands hooked underneath her older sisters arms, pulling her into a sitting position.

All the adrenaline had left Kennedy , making a feeble attempt to support herself only led to her head falling onto the shoulder of her sister, looking for some form of comfort. A comfort she knew could only be provided by María.

It felt like hours that the sister duo sat on that pitch, their shirts now soaked with sweat and tears. A sobbing Lucy Bronze had joined the circle, arm in arm the three walked towards the tunnel of spaniards - who were eager to hold the trophy in their grasp.

The walk was agonising, through the rows of players, to shake hands and then to be bestowed with a silver medal. She like Mapi lived with a ‘second is the first loser’ mentality.

Her time on the pitch concluded with watching the trophy being lifted from afar, her eyes glued in the celebrations of the man she despised.

————

The Interview

“So Kennedy tell me how are you feeling?”

She hated interviews, especially after a loss.

“Uh- It’s hard you know. I’ve now had the opportunity to play in three world cups and i’m honoured to have done that but it’s just not a nice feeling to inch closer and closer every time to then fail, in the biggest moment of my career i was offside so… yeah it’s not a nice feeling at all.”

Anyone who was watching the interaction could tell that the Russo women was actively trying to keep her emotions at bay. Little things like tapping her foot, the furrow between her brown, and most noticeable rubbing her thumb harshly across the skin of her wrist - above a fine line tattoo of a lion.

“You are referring to your goal that was not allowed due to it being offside, do you agree with that decision?”

“Well it’s not up to me to undermine the decisions made by the referee, whilst some of them i do not agree with at the end of the day it’s not my job. I guess it just wasn’t in our cards to win today and yeah we’re all disappointed but we’ll come back from this. Train harder, play smarter. Our squad is full of young people who are no where near finished with their world cup dreams.”

“Now we saw you had some confrontations during the game with the spanish head coach, are you allowed to comment on that?”

“I mean i’m probably not but i can say i do not like Jorge Vilda, not as a coach and not as a person. When you are given the role of a head coach it is your job to keep your players safe, to respect your players, to respect the game and make sure your players have a good working environment. He does none of that. He abuses the authority he has been given and i find it disgusting. The RFEF and Jorge Vilda have shown on countless occasions their lack of professionalism.”

“And can i question you on your celebration from this tournament?”

“Of course so, my celebration is for someone back home, someone i said i would play for and i did. It was upholding my promise i made to her and to others that you shouldn’t let someone else tarnish your desire and whilst they cannot be here, i am so i said i’d carry that desire for all of us.”

“Is that in reference to the players of the spanish national team that are not here? You also said ‘she’ and it’s public knowledge that you and a certain Mapi León are in a relationship, did you see play for her”

“Every footballer has dreamt of playing and winning a world cup, and to be able to do that is the greatest achievement anyone could have. We know as players especially as women that things don’t always go our way - but to be able to stand up for what you believe to the scale those women did and continue to do is incredible, i’m so unbelievably proud of them because fear is a big factor in taking a stand. You could protest but if you fear the results, you won’t get anywhere. I stand hand in hand and in full support of those women. The game cannot progress unless there is change.”

————

Kennedy Russo - England national player - fined for statement made in a post match interview in regards to RFEF and Jorge Vilda.

In a post match interview after world cup final loss, Kennedy Russo who plays for the England National Team and FC Barcelona was fined by the RFEF for some comments she made on their in her words ‘lack of professionalism’

Whilst Sarina Weigman or The Lionesses are yet to comment on this, the decision was made to send Russo back to Barcelona prematurely.

————

Back home

There was no place she would rather be.

A silver WWC medal was sat on a shelving unit above her tv, among other items she had won over the course of her career.

Walking through the shared house towards the bedroom was the most exciting part. Finally being reunited with María after this last month.

Opening the door, a warm light flooded through the windows. Mapi laid asleep under the thin layer of sheets and a little black furball had taken his place on Kennedy’s pillow.

Taking a seat beside her girlfriend, her hand begins it’s course through her bleached hair. Leaning down she places a delicate kiss on her partners neck, seemingly waking her up in the process.

“Buenos días, sleepyhead”.

“Mmm? mi corazón? hola”

María shoots up from her position to wrap her arms around her lover, her face concealed in Kennedy’s neck. Tears of relief are flowing down her cheeks, she had missed this. She had missed her.

Russo shifts them so her girlfriend is sat on her lap whilst Kennedy’s back is against the light green headboard. Whispers of reassurance dance around the room as many kisses are placed on any exposed skin.

“I’m so proud of you Cariño but i’m so glad you’re back”

And while the World Cup had not gone the way anyone had planned, it was alright. This was all they needed - no medal could ever match the love they hold for one another.

wow a non WWE fic, i might start writing some more woso stuff but who knows also i dint speak spanish so some stuff might be incorrect ❤️

[coimbrabertone]

A Postmortem on the Competitive Era of MotoGP

Okay, that is a very dramatic title, and hopefully, a year from now I'll be able to look at this and say I was wrong, but...I think MotoGP's competitive era is over.

First let me explain what I mean by competitive era.

Grand Prix motorcycle racing, more so than other forms of motorsport, I think, is prone to eras of complete dominance. Agostini in the 60s and 70s, Doohan in the 90s, Rossi in the 2000s, and Marc Marquez in the 2010s. Marc Marquez's run of dominance, however, came to an abrupt end at the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix.

Here, Marquez crashed riding maniacally to make his way to the lead. Marc broke his right arm and started a multi-year struggle with injury that would impact his 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons. This would also ultimately end Marc's relationship with Honda, as at the end of 2023, he decided to move to a Gresini Ducati.

In the meantime, MotoGP was wide open.

Joan Mir on a Suzuki won the 2020 championship on consistency over the Petronas Yamaha of Franco Morbidelli, with teammate Alex Rins in third.

Fabio Quartararo on a factory Yamaha won 2021 over the raw speed of Ducati's Pecco Bagnaia and Suzuki's Joan Mir.

Pecco Bagnaia got the upper hand over Fabio Quartararo in 2022, with additional challenges from the Gresini Ducati of Enea Bastianini and the Aprilia of Aleix Espargaro.

Bagnaia won again in 2023, but it was a new cast of characters around him. Instead of being pressured from outside, he was being pressured from within as the Pramac Ducati of Jorge Martin and the VR46 Ducati of Marco Bezzecchi challenged him for the championship.

2024, however, is when things started getting stale. Jorge Martin won the championship over Pecco Bagnaia - the same top two from last year, just in a different order - whilst Marc Marquez on the Gresini Ducati was third, and Enea Bastianini on the factory Ducati was in fourth.

Five years with four different champions.

Suzuki riders, Yamaha riders, factory Ducati riders, and satellite Ducati riders.

It was variety, it was amazing.

However...it was already getting stale this year.

Ducati has been the strongest for a few years now, I admit that even as someone who initially was in favor of Ducati dominance - my logic being that Honda and Yamaha have dominated MotoGP for so long that it was nice to see a European bike take a turn on top - and they've really mastered it this year.

KTM didn't win anything this year.

Aprilia only won two sprints and a single race.

The entire winning constructor column on Wikipedia is a sea of Italian flags without interruption.

And I fear it's only going to get worse for 2025, because Marc Marquez will be on a factory Ducati. After four years of being broken and one year of being on year old machinery, I fear that we may be seeing the Marquez revenge tour for the next few years.

Now, I'm sure for Marquez fans, they'll have a lot of fun.

But...I'm not a Marquez fan.

I'm a Ducati fan, I suppose, but even then, I'm more of a competition fan. The last few years I've found myself turning away from Ducati and becoming an Aprilia fan. The problem with Aprilia, however, is that Aleix Espargaro and Maverick Vinales are good riders, sure, but they're not the kind of riders Aprilia needs to take the fight to the Bolognese.

So Aprilia has made a change for 2025.

Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi.

I think this is a good change. I don't like Martin, his personality rubs me the wrong way and I've spent the last two years rooting against him, but hey, it's Aprilia nabbing the reigning champion, so I understand why they'd want that.

Marco Bezzecchi I'm more excited about. I like him more as a rider, and while I expect Martin to be faster, I hope Marco gets some success too, because then I could at least enjoy some of Aprilia's successes.

Assuming, of course, that Marquez doesn't go and win everything next year.

Will KTM be able to provide any resistance? Maybe. Pedro Acosta is impressive, and Brad Binder has put on some performances at the end of this year to finish ahead of Acosta in the standings, but neither of them have finished any higher than second, so...what they can do depends on where the 2025 KTM is.

The same goes for the new Tech3 KTM lineup of Maverick Vinales and Enea Bastianini, two riders I like - I was glad to see Vinales succeed at the USGP, while Enea has been the rider I've rooted for in MotoGP ever since I became an active fan - they're both moody riders. On their day, they're invincible, problem is that their day doesn't come around nearly often enough to mark a consistent challenge.

And to add insult to injury, Pierer Mobility Group is suffering poor sales globally.

This is why Tech3 is going to be a KTM team instead of a GasGas team, because Pierer is refocusing their marketing on their core brand to try and regain stock value.

So...maybe they can challenge, but I'm not particularly optimistic.

Yamaha? They're gonna need a hell of a lot more speed if they want to challenge.

Honda? Look, yesterday at the Solidarity GP, Joan Mir crashed on the Honda and Neil Hodgson went "oh it's Mir time" so...the less said about Honda right now, the better.

Especially with Repsol gone.

How about the rest of Ducati?

Well, Bagnaia still won eleven races this year, so he's certainly still a force, but is he capable of beating Marc Marquez on equal machinery? I hope so, but given that Bagnaia just got beat by Jorge Martin on equal machinery, I'm not sure if I'm optimistic.

There is also only going to be one more factory-spec Ducati in 2024. Pramac has gone over to Yamaha, while Ducati has given a single GP25 to VR46, putting it in the hands of Fabio Di Giannantonio.

I think Digia will be good on the GP25 this year, and maybe he'll win a couple of races, but I expect him to finish somewhere between third and fifth. Third if no one else can challenge Ducati, fourth or fifth if the likes of Aprilia or KTM can start to pressure the Ducatis.

So overall, I think most races next year will finish with Marquez and Bagnaia in the top two slots, and everyone else fighting for third. The bright side for everyone else, I suppose, is that both Marc and Pecco can be crash prone, so maybe that's where all the other wins will come from.

Will that be good?

We'll see.

Was this competitive era good?

Yes.

Hearing about 2020 and 2021 and paying attention to the very end of the 2022 season is what made me want to become a MotoGP fan. I watched the entire 2023 season on janky streams, I was relieved as hell to see the 2024 season come onto Max so that I could watch MotoGP legally and safely - and share it with my racing friends - so for me, this competitive era has been great.

The entire reason I'm writing this blogpost is because I'm scared that MotoGP is turning for the worse just as I've become a fan.

So what era do I think is most comparable to this competitive era?

The early 2000s. Let's say 1999-2003 for instance.

1999, Mick Doohan gets injured and suddenly the best 500cc GP rider is out of the picture. Alex Crivillé on a Repsol Honda and Kenny Roberts Jr. on a Suzuki battled for the title, with occasional appearances by the other two Repsol Hondas of Tadayuki Odaka and Sete Gibernau, as well as Max Biaggi who was dragging that Marlboro Yamaha forward.

2000 continued the trends, with Kenny Roberts Jr. winning on the Suzuki, Valentino Rossi pressuring him on a Nastro Azzurro Honda run by Mick Doohan's former crew. Max Biaggi on the Marlboro Yamaha was third, with a huge variety of satellite riders involving themselves as well. The Emerson Hondas of Alex Barros and Loris Capirossi, the Red Bull and Antena3 Yamahas of Garry McCoy and Norifumi Abe, Carlos Checa on the other Marlboro Yamaha, and Alex Crivillé struggling on the overpowered - no literally, it had too much power - Repsol Honda, only taking one win in his title defense.

2001 was a turn towards dominance with Valentino Rossi on that Nastro Azzurro Honda, but we still saw wins from Max Biaggi on the Yamaha. We saw the Pons team - now West Honda - continue to pressure the front with Capirossi and Barros, and Sete Gibernau won a single race on the Suzuki. Interesting how that happened twice in a row. In 1999, Crivillé on the Repsol Honda won the title just to win a single race in 2000, while in 2000, Roberts on the Suzuki won just for Suzuki to only take a single win in 2001 with Sete Gibernau at Valencia.

2002 I think lines up with 2022. Valentino Rossi, now brought into Repsol Honda, wins the first 990cc title over Max Biaggi on the Marlboro Yamaha. Tohru Ukawa on the Repsol Honda and Alex Barros on that West Honda also challenge for wins on the same bike as the champion, playing that Enea Bastianini role.

2003 then, is the Honda show much like 2024 was the Ducati show. Valentino Rossi on the Repsol Honda, Sete Gibernau on the Telefonica Gresini Honda, and Max Biaggi, now on the Camel Honda - Pons with a new title sponsor - with Loris Capirossi at Catalunya playing that Maverick Vinales at COTA role as the sole win for a different manufacturer.

2004, however, marked the end of that era. Valentino Rossi went to Yamaha and still won the title in dominant fashion. Five Hondas in the top six but it was Rossi on top with nine wins on a bike that hadn't won since 2002. That shattered the idea that Valentino Rossi was simply the best of the Hondas, instead, he was the best in the world, perhaps the best ever.

And maybe on an optimistic note, in 2025, his protege, Pecco Bagnaia, will prove that he is more than just the Ducati champion. Perhaps Bagnaia will weather the storm of Marc Marquez as his teammate and win the championship anyway.

MotoGP seems to be in a bad way, with Ducati dominant, Bagnaia having been beat by Martin, and Marc Marquez coming into Ducati and threatening to dominate.

But in 2003, everyone swore up and down that the 990cc five-cylinder Honda was the best bike in the world, only for Rossi to go onto the Yamaha and win anyway.

Honda seemed invincible in 2003, but Yamaha beat them in 2004.

Marquez seems inevitable in 2024, but maybe someone can stop him in 2025.

Maybe Pecco, maybe Martin on the Aprilia, or maybe the Japanese will shock everyone and somehow bounce back.

It's unlikely, but...maybe there's still hope.

[st4rg1rl-16]

━━ ✶✶˖° 𝗪𝗜𝗞𝗜𝗣𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗔 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗙𝗜𝗟𝗘 | 𝗡𝟰𝗦.

𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴(𝘀) ━ 2019 to 2023!f1 grid x driver!female oc

𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗲 ━ english is not my first language, I know I already said it but just in case hshshsh also I know there are some things that may not be accurate but let’s pretend they are for the sake of the fic 😙👌🏻

𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 ━ @namgification @burberryfilms

ARABELLA TORRES GONZÁLEZ

Spanish racing driver

Arabella Torres González (born May 26 2000) is a spanish racing driver. In 2016 and 2018 she won the Formula Two championship. In 2019 she acquired a place in Formula One with Scuderia Ferrari, in 2021 she signed an eight-year contract with Mercedes.

Name                  Arabella Torres González

Nickname(s)     La diabla, Bella Donna, Speedy

Born          26 may 2000 (age 21) Leganés, Madrid, Spain

Nationality 🇪🇸 Spanish

Relatives Oliver Torres (brother)

Teams                 Ferrari, Mercedes

Active years      2019 —

Car number 9

Wins              18

Podiums              41

Career Points    859

Pole positions 13

Fastest laps      8

First entry 2019 Australia Grand Prix

First win 2019 Spanish Grand Prix

Last win 2021 Turkish Grand Prix

2021 position        2nd (393)

Website arabellatorres.com

She is known for being the only woman to be an official Formula One driver since Giovanna Amati in 1992 and the second female driver with points since Lella Lombardi in 1976, thus creating history in the world of motorsport. At the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix she took her first victory, becoming the first woman in history to win a grand prix.

After a competition against Valtteri Bottas with whom she remained tied in terms of points during the last three races of the 2019 season, she won the title of sub champion in the drivers' world championship giving Ferrari the second place in the constructors' world championship.

In 2020 she suffered a horrible accident that made her unable to finish the Tuscan Grand Prix, after that race her results during the last eight races went down.

In the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix she returned to the podium (and in the championship) in second position after a close competition against Max Verstappen due to losing control of her car causing both of them to almost collide, but she managed to regain control and finish the race without no harm.

Her younger brother, Oliver Torres, is a Moto GP driver for Yamaha Motor Racing.

𝗕𝗜𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗛𝗬 ↓

Arabella was born in Leganés, a Madrid’s municipality, on 26 may 2000, as the eldest of two siblings: she and her little brother, Oliver Torres. Since she was a little girl she grew up with Formula 1 at home, as her father was a big fan and never missed a race although she was not too interested in the motor world of until one of her uncles gifted her brother a mini kart for christmas that she ended up using it, which sparked her curiosity about cars.

Her interest in cars began to grow, she began to watch Formula 1 with her father and her uncle, she noticed car brands and models and was passionate about car movies. She has mentioned several times that the Fast And Furious saga is one of her favorites.

From December 2018 to December 2020 she resided in Monte Carlo, Monaco. In 2021 she bought an apartment in London, England with her partner, the spanish football player Hector Bellerin. She currently lives between Monte Carlo and London.

𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗥 ↓

Torres began her racing career in karting at the young age of 9, competing in different categories. She won the Spanish Championship in the novice category in 2009, won the cadet category in 2010 and two more consecutive times. In 2013, in the KF3 European Championship she had a horrible accident when she reached second place, thus being the only race that she has not finished, a tire on her car burst causing her to fly several meters until she crashed into a fence in front of the stands. She had several spinal injuries and had to undergo surgery several times so she had to retire for a year, losing the opportunity to be signed by the Red Bull Junior Team.

At the age of 14, a year after her accident she returned to the world of motorsport in Formula 3 with Prema PowerTeam, finishing in sixth position in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, in 2015 she finished on the podium in second position.

In 2016 she signed with the Ferrari Driver Academy and entered Formula 2 where she won first place in the 2016 and 2018 seasons.

Two years later, in 2019, she was announced as a driver for Scuderia Ferrari for Formula 1 alongside Charles Leclerc. During her contract with Ferrari she raced 38 races of which she won 9 and came second in the 2019 drivers' championship.

On December 13 2020, during the race in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari announced that Torres would not be part of the team for the following season and a week later it was announced that she would be replaced by Carlos Sainz Jr. On March 2 2022 during the presentation of their new car Mercedes announced, after almost three months of confusion about Arabella's future in Formula 1, that the driver had signed a contract with them for a duration of eight years, that is, until 2029.

𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 ↓

𝗥𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗦 ↓

𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗖 𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 ↓

𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥 𝗩𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗦 ↓

𝗛𝗢𝗡𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 ↓

𝗡𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗦 ↓

𝗥𝗘𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗦 ↓

𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗟𝗜𝗡𝗞𝗦 ↓

[mecachrome]

hi! @ anon here is my lando accent infodump lmao:

so like landos accent is an ancient secret scientists worldwide have been spending centuries trying to analyse... but im gonna try to sum it up to the best of my abilities

his accent definitely changed with both private school AND international karting / single seaters but what complicates the matter is that his accent was weird to begin with

so using the reference clips k already picked out bc theyre actually rly good:

lando starts off (as far as we know, obvs by the time we have interviews of him he was already heavily involved in karting) with a weird accent

the main building blocks are definitely standard southern / londony working class. but there's also a distinct bristolian twang: notice the "foinal" and "mah mayn competition" and "jamie caroloine" lol (beloved). that bristolian twang is the first thing that goes away once he goes to secondary & is pretty much imperceptible today which is incredibly tragic to me

aside from all that is the weird foreign quality which has stayed in his accent to varying degrees over the years: these sort of flat, almost south african sounding vowels

part of it is 100% his mum & flemish roots. like, the reason i mention south africa specifically is bc i rmbr multiple ppl throwing it out as a guess, & it makes a lot of sense to me considering the dutch influence on the ZA accent. theres also his dyslexia, which often makes him trip over sounds / unsure of some pronounciations / simplify words in his head, and im almost certain that also contributes to his vague 'foreign' tinges

BUT if it was just those things it rly wouldnt explain why it fluctuated sm over the years. like we leave 11 year lando off sounding slightly european, but by the time we return to him at his formula 1 debut in 2019 i see ppl in the comments genuinely unconvinced that hes even british. he pronounces small 'i' sounds as long (think "a-nee-thing") and 'a' sounds flattened almost into 'e's (think "beck" instead of "back"). my reference for plotting where landos accent is at has always been how he says the name max (convenient that hes had by now 2 championship rivals and a best friend with that name) because at its most exagerrated it almost sounds like "mex"

i think what happened to get him to that point was like. as soon as private school flattened the regional twang his accent became even more absorbent than it had been before, and hanging out with so many international people brought out the european aspects of his own accent as well as had him borrow a few of their pronounciations

in 2019-2020 he was either living with sacha fenestraz (french-argentinian, has subtle and imo very charming argentinian accent) or alone & struggled to reconnect with old friends, bc of first the pressures of his rookie year and then the pandemic. this all changed massively in 2021 - at work he got an EFL teammate, at home he had max move in with him, in his social life he started hanging out more with tom bale and connor hughes and british youtube circles. 2021 is also when his accent solidified way more as 'standard southern' & i think it makes sense considering everything

nowadays his accent still varies & still carries some shades of his unique foreign pronounciations but it rests pretty consistently at 'standard southern'. what pushes it into different directions a bit is probably hanging out w garrix & other dutch ppl, as well as him adopting maxf's horrible little habit of mimicry which has him either pulling out the bankai bulgarian even out of context or, on the opposite side, placing the completely incongruous 'bunda' and 'man' into his vocabulary. OH and the even more baffling occasional brummie touches, also from maxf

tldr lando does have the ambiguous euro accent but its a bit more complicated than just spending time in international circles bc i think he is predisposed to speaking like that

as an addendum bc the english class police will come for me: by working class i just mean not posh

HLKSDFHLH kira this is such a dense text i don't even need to add anything!!! i've also seen people be like >WHY DOES HE SOUND SOUTH AFRICAN??? which mildly amuses me but yes all of this makes sense! and omg sacha's accent is sooo fun to me, i remember watching this interview where he talks about it (answering in spanish while his parents spoke to him in french 😭) and identifying as more argentinian than his sister etc. it was very charming. anw tl;dr as you put it i think a lot of it is just him and maxf possessing a natural inclination toward mimicry and a wide social circle LOL

[lokideservesahug]

For How Long!?! -Extras

Extra 1: Y/N Y/L/N - Timeline

-°•°•°•°•--•°•°•°•°--°•°•°•°•--•°•°•°•°-

Pairing: Logan Sargeant x fem!driver!Reader. Oscar Piastri x reader (platonic), Arthur Leclerc x reader (platonic), Mick Schumacher x reader (platonic)...

Warnings: None that I can see.

Notes: This isn't a SMAU (sorry). Also this could be added to/altered. And I hope to put out the next chapter pretty soon...

Also!!! I got way too far into writing this before finding out that a driver can only win F2 once (or rather after they win it, they can't return)....so for my own sanity, that rule doesn't exist or if it does then it came into place after Y/N won 5 championships😅

-°•°•°•°•--•°•°•°•°--°•°•°•°•--•°•°•°•°-

2012- Age 11

Y/N Signed with Red Bull Racing for them to sponsor her in her karting career. This was a part of the Red Bull Recruiting Scheme (RBRS).

2017- Age 16

Y/N becomes the first woman to race in The F3 European Championship. She goes on to come second in the drivers championship.

2018- Age 17

Y/N meets F3 rookie Oscar Piastri and the two become friends (they still are to this day). She wins the F3 championship and recieves an offer to move up the ranks and into Formula 2. She runs into Logan Sargeant, he asks her out and the two start dating yet don't tell a soul.

2019- Age 18

Y/L/N Moves Up to Formula 2 into the newly established Red Bull Racing Formula 2 Team. The RBRS terminates any connection with lower leagues of racing but establishes a Formula 2 team. Y/L/N is the first woman to ever enter F2. She also signs as Red Bull's F1 reserve driver. Y/N even stood in for (and came 3rd in) a race after Pierre Gasly became extremely ill. This makes her the first woman to ever get on the podium in an F1 race and also one of the youngest drivers to ever start a race.

Y/N meets driver Mick Schumacher and the two become good friends despite their different teams. Y/N went on to come second in the championship, narrowly missing Nyck de Vries for points. She is also awarded the Anthoine Hubert award.

2020- Age 19

Y/N once again, comes runner up in the Formula 2 championship by loosing to her good friend Mick Schumacher by a few points.

Red Bull Racing renew a contract for the next 2 years to be a team in Formula 2 and they sign Y/N's new teammate, Liam Lawson. Y/N continues to race for them and for the third year in a row, she comes second in the Formula 2 championship due to a technically issue with the car causing her to DNF (huge scandal in the F2 world). The media also sees Y/L/N "meeting" rookie Logan Sargeant and the pair become extremely close...

2021- Age 20

2022- Age 21

Liam Lawson swaps teams to race for Carlin with Logan Sargeant. Y/L/N once again comes second in the F2 championship. People are confused by her lack of wins or lack of moving to other motorsports categories (especially with her F1 podium in the past). Y/L/N is unable to win due to the amount of races and points missed by driving in F1 (as a reserve driver). She does however score many more points and podiums in F1.

2023- Age 22

In mid December, Y/N receives a call from Aston Martin F1 executives. They invite her to have a meeting about possibly racing for them that year. Y/N goes to the meeting and leaves having signed for Aston Martin Aramco F1 team for the 2024 season. This is because Lance Stroll dropped out for undisclosed "personal reasons"

Y/N meets Arthur Leclerc. The pair become very good friends - this is aided by Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri's Formula 1 debuts and subsequent exits from the F2 scene. Y/N wins the F2 championship finally, making history for women in motorsport. Not long after, Red Bull announces the retirement of their RBRS programme and they pull out of junior motorsports to "focus on the current success of [their] Formula 1 team"

2024- Age 22 (not yet 23)

It is publicly announced that Y/N Y/L/N is replacing Lance Stroll to race at Aston Martin for the 2024 season...

-°•°•°•°•--•°•°•°•°--°•°•°•°•--•°•°•°•°-

Thank you for reading. As always likes, reposts and especially feedback is greatly appreciated.

Please don't copy, translate or steal my works without permission.

Taglist: (I didn't know if I should do this or not because it's not a chapter but oh well)

@nikfigueiredo

@mysoulispainted

@leclercings

@hiireadstuff

@a-beaverhausen

@d3kstar

@nichmeddar

@lozzamez3

@stinkyjax

@littlesatanicassholebitch

@insanedeathwish

[s-u-w-i]

The annual European Figure Skating Championships sketches, a seventh year already! ⛸ Previous years can be found here - 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017

[fascinatingmale]

Matty Lee

British diver and Olympic Gold Medallist won Gold in 2015 at the European Games and  the 2017 European Diving Championships. Matty and Tom Daley won Bronze and Gold in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

At the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup in Japan, Matty and Tom Daley won Gold in the synchronized 10m Platform.

Matty was appointed an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in 2022 for his service in diving.

[colie-nne]

mystery solved

pairings: formula 1 grid x fem driver!oc

warnings: none

a/n: hello, this is the first fic of my Valiente series, there's more information about Valentina in my previous posts. Feel free to request or share some ideas, I would gladly do them if it fits.

December 21, 2020

Throughout the 2020 season, fans as well as media personnel are unable to comprehend Alfa Romeo’s plans for next year’s season. Rumours have circulated that an upcoming driver will soon join in on the race and would continue to break records as well as the news as long as they are seated. However, after a year of keeping information confidential, a legend in the sport had maybe managed to ruin their plans to surprise the world.

A video posted by Formula 1 themselves— F1 Drivers Look Back On Their 2020 Predictions!— gained massive attention after the statement of the one and only, The Iceman, Kimi Raikkonen set the entirety of the association in flames.

Read more below

“It says that Mercedes will finish in first place,” Kimi had stated, showing the scribble filled card to the camera.

Entertained, the interviewer can only laugh, “Is that what it says?” Kimi who’s clearly just there for the entertainment went along, “ Yeah, it says finish- uhh Mercedes,” pointing at this writing one the paper to emphasize that he in fact predicted that Merceds had indeed won.

“Second is uhh- it’s there cause it will soon happen,” he nonchalantly says, which interested the interviewer to push through, “What does the second one say?”

“It says V’s seat confirmed and then a tick mark,” directly as he looks off to the side. “V? You mean by Vettel? Are you confirming a seat for Sebastian Vettel in Alfa Romeo for the next formula 1 season?” inquiring him, Kimi can only shake his head for a no.

“A-No, Not him. But I was still right, what a surprise!”

The clip not only added fuel to the fire but pictures of an unidentified fellow had also surfaced online. A person was reportedly seen attending to as well as entering Alfa Romeo’s garages and motorhome, they were also seen around the paddock with McLaren’s very own Lando Norris. 

McLaren’s CEO Zak Brown had denied the team's connection with the mystery person. Alfa Romeo's CEO has also chosen to not speak up about the rumours. However, pieces of evidence from the past month can serve as hints that this unknown person would be the new Alfa Romeo driver.

January 2021

Just in! Alfa Romeo confirmed the rumours that have been circulating since the beginning of late last year. The Formula 1 team also released the identity of their upcoming driver as pictures of them had been released at the end of last year.

Valentina Corbyn is known to be the one who won the 2015 European Championship, followed by the world title in 2016 and is the only female in the line-up during that time. Her future despite being unclear when she started her karting career, had flourished throughout the years and had managed to sign a contract with the Alfa Romeo F1 Team and would soon be driving alongside Kimi Raikkonen.

It may be surprising to some but the 18-year-old's contract had been ongoing for two years before her initial signing in early 2020. In signing with Alfa Romeo along with a seat in this year's season, the team has also confirmed that she will be replacing Antonio Giovinazzi, who will be the team's reserve.

In appointing her as the replacement for Giovinazzi, will her dreams lead her and the team to higher places or will it be its downfall?

[boxboxblog]

Driver Profiles: Carlos Sainz

Updated December 2024

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 2021-2024, Williams 2025)

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)

2024 Sainz had a relatively positive year, with a few standout performances and a few terrible results. Notably he crashed out of both Baku and Brazil. However, he won in Australia and Mexico, so kind of a mixed bag. He finished 5th in the standings.

He is set to join Williams for the 2025 season.

(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.

Cheers!

-B

[exasperatedsportsfan]

The other day I was thinking about how in MotoGP, the junior championships (Moto3/125cc, Moto2/250cc) count towards the tally of someone's World Championships, like Valentino Rossi being a 9 times World Champion with only 7 of those being in MotoGP/500cc, or Marc Marquez being an 8 times World Champion with 6 of those being in MotoGP.

So I started thinking about how many World Champions would be in the F1 grid if their junior championships were given the same "status".

The championships that I looked into are these:

GP3 Series and F3 European Championship, which in 2019 merged and rebranded as FIA Formula 3 Championship

GP2 Series, which in 2017 rebranded as FIA Formula 2 Championship

FIA Formula 3 Championship

FIA Formula 2 Championship

I decided to look at the current grid, plus the 2025 rookies, and present my findings to you:

Valtteri Bottas: 2011 GP3 Series champion

Pierre Gasly: 2016 GP2 Series champion

Lewis Hamilton: 2006 GP2 Series champion

Nico Hülkenberg: 2009 GP2 Series champion

Charles Leclerc: 2016 GP3 Series champion; 2017 F2 champion

Lando Norris: 2017 F3 European champion

Esteban Ocon: 2014 F3 European champion; 2015 GP3 Series champion

Oscar Piastri: 2020 F3 champion; 2021 F2 champion

George Russell: 2017 GP3 Series champion; 2018 F2 champion

And, out of curiosity, I checked out the racing records of Seb, Kimi, Jenson, Mark, and Nico, and the only one with a junior championship (that fits my criteria) is Nico

Nico Rosberg: 2005 GP2 Series champion

So the conclusion of this (super random and a bit pointless) analysis is that things don't change too much.

When you add the F1 WDC you have Lewis with 8 world championships and Nico Rosberg with 2.

Then you have 2-time world champions Charles, Esteban, Oscar, and George; [I find it cute that all of them did it back-to-back, they were definitely on a roll] and

1-time world champions Valtteri, Pierre, Hulk, and Lando.

tbh I thought that there were going to be a few more, but this shows you that championship wins are not the only important thing (quality?) to make an F1 champion...

[i-am-church-the-cat]

Logan Sargeant is a silly little guy

@vii-tto idk why but it wouldn't let me tag you. Hopefully you see this. also @spell-of-the-rain i added things if you want to check out 75-87

But here's the list of things i know/want to know about logan sargeant

Favorite Actor is Brad Pitt

Favorite Movie is Wolf of Wall Street

Favorite food is a hamburger

Has a boat and often goes deep sea fishing

Lived in London since he was 15

Lose Yourself by Eminem is his favorite hype up song

Is a Dolphins and Heat fan

Enjoyed “No Man, No Cry” by Jimmy Sax

Drinks iced lattes with oat milk

Pumpkin spice lattes?? Edit 12/16/23: No

Has been to Wimbledon

Knows what cricket is

Has a rescue dog named Coco

Also enjoys hockey Edit 11/1/23: Supports the Florida Panthers NHL team and has gone to at least 1 of their games with his friend Kyle Kirkwood

Does he follow college football?

What does he think of the new Miami head coach? 

If not for motorsport, does he think he would have gone pro in a different sport, and if so which one?

Enjoys listening to 50 Cent (is also a big rap fan in general)

Can he speak any other languages with any degree of familiarity?

Cannot draw

Can make a sandwich (other foods?)

Rates all food from one bite and with weird decimals

Gritty-ed in his f1 car

Makes the Williams photographers look like they take good photos

Does he have an English or a Florida driver’s license? And does he still have US citizenship even though he lives in the UK? What kind of visa is he on?

Top three female athletes? (Serena Williams, Simone Biles, and Megan Rapinoe are all acceptable answers) 

Collects Aussies and Kiwis for friends

Does he like the snow? Prefers the heat but does he like snow?

Does he like Missy Elliot? (Requirement) 

“Basic Halloween Bitch”

Calls people “mate” but in an American accent which will never stop being funny

Eye Crinkles™️

Does not have a set eye color he’s just too mystical for that

Has never been to a concert (presumably too busy with racing)

He can swim, he can drive, but can he ride a bike? Edit 11/15/23: He can indeed ride a bike

American commercial cars or  European ones?

Has an older brother but is like an older brother to Benny’s kid

Likes marshmallows

Does not like black beans

Did not think apple could be chips

Knows how to sail??

Knows how to golf

Can paddle (required for any F1 driver)

Lost the F3 championship in 2020 bc of a DNF in the last race

Can he sing??

Does he drink energy drinks? Red Bull or Monster? 

He and Duracell are passionately making out

Blush is very pretty 

Wears a lot of baseball hats

Somehow beat jet lag (expat king)

Mostly spends his nights in but he has some nights out (presumably very interesting ones)

Has an iPhone with a blue case

He looks very pretty in blue

His eyes are sometimes blue

Blue=fav color?? Edit 11/6/23: favorite color is Ocean blue (credit to @spell-of-the-rain)

Pretty insecure (armchair diagnosed anxiety)

Close with his brother and parents but maybe not his extended family?

Is Florida State his college team?? (Worst thing a man can be is a Florida St fan) Edit 12/16/23: believing that FSU got screwed over this year is acceptable

Did he graduate high school??

Did he ever consider going into NASCAR or did moving to Europe at a young age kind of set in stone his path towards open-wheel racing?

Hair is blond/dirty blond

Does he vote in American elections?? (If he supports RonD I cannot stan)

Burger Sauce™️

Logan Hunter Sargeant, certified Frat Bro, most American man ever

Has seen peaky blinder and presumably stranger things

Knows how to carve a pumpkin but has not celebrated Halloween at home in a bit

Possibly dating some instagram model

Caused $4 million in damages, gets payed $1 million a year, and supposedly brings in $30 million in sponsors

Key phrases: “Locked in”, “Bam/Boom”, “Done and dusted” Additions 11/1/23: "Oh hell yeah", "I think you're a little lost here, Chief". Additions 11/6/23: “Yeh” (gets quieter throughout the word (how it’s one syllable??)), “on the bounce” (credit to @spell-of-the-rain i believe)

Joined the Williams Driver Academy in 2021 

Got stuck in F3 bc he didn’t have the money to move up

Driver for Carlin in 2022

Former teammates include Liam Lawson, Oscar Piastri, Frederick Vesti (Edit 11/6/23: Max Fewtrell possibly?)

DOB: December 31, 2000

5'11

Had a giveaway for gloves he used to win an F4 race on Twitter in 2017 and both Lando Norris and Max Fewtrell replied

Originally his number was 3 but he switched to 2 for F1 (to much fan consternation who thought he had so many better options)

Childhood best friends with Kyle Kirkwood, a current Indycar driver

Logan's older brother Dalton raced in NASCAR until 2018

Did a commercial for Sport23

Does not have cowboy boots as of COTA 2023

Born in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA

lived in Switzerland from 14-15(?)

knows the conversion rate for a kilometer

is taller than a tuna fish

Podiumed at the Macau Grand Prix in 2019

Won the CIK-FIA championship when he was 14 Additions as of 11/1/23

Loves waffles but they are not his favorite dessert

Very patriotic (oh hell yeah)

is the first American F1 point scorer in 30 years and the first one to score on home soil since 1989

Went to see the Nets in NYC (but would have preferred to see the Knicks)

has a custom Miami Dolphins jersey with his last name on the back

Claims to know all the lyrics to "Ice Ice Baby" (credit to @formulaaone) (Edited 11/6/23)

Additions as of 11/6/23:

Under the same talent agency as Alex Albon

Has the same manager as George Russell

George Russell was his mentor coming up

Went to a catholic private school (credit to @wenevrknew)

Does not like fish? (Credit to @spell-of-the-rain)

He runs weird (in my opinion as he reminds me of my brother when he was 12 (he ran very strangely))

Karted in Las Vegas when he was a kid

Can he drive a stick shift? (Alex believes he cannot)

Enjoys video games

Refers to his car as “she”

Knew how to attach a visor to his helmet prior to February(? Could’ve been March but before the season) 2023

Additions as of 12/16/23

Broke his arm in a 2014 German Karting Championship when Marcus Armstrong took him out at T1 (credit to @spell-of-the-rain )

Has gotten his head eaten by the Golden Knights mascot

If he could have any superpower, he would like to teleport

Has never flown a drone

Favorite racing movie is Talladega Nights (sad Mater noises)

Does not trust other people to drive him

Would rather sleep in then get up early

Considers himself fairly organized

His mother makes a very good sweet potato casserole

Got his habit of worrying from his mom

“Santa’s Little Helper”

Driving for Williams Racing Formula 1 Team in 2024

Got out qualified by his teammate every race of 2023

[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

Their Ring , Their Rules: How The Kliq’s Influence Impacted Pro Wrestling

Professional Wrestlers are like fans in a few ways. They also have lifelong friendships with other wrestlers as well do with people from our childhood whether it be neighbors, teammates , classmates, or colleagues at work. These relationships can be either positive or negative. In the world of professional wrestling, a group of five wrestlers with different personalities came together to create one of the most influential groups. This group is known as The Kliq.

The Kliq was a group consisting of Kevin Nash ( Diesel ) , Razor Ramon ( Scott Hall ) , Shawn Michaels , Hunter Hearst Helmsley ( Paul ‘Triple H ’ Levesque), and X-PAC/Syxx/123 Kid ( Sean Waltman). The group was mainly known backstage and forming in the WWF in the 90s. The Kliq would hold a little power by helping each other advance their careers and use it to influence their rivals’ careers in a negative light. The group caused some controversy in May of 1996 after a match at a house show at Madison Square Garden. This would be known as the ‘ Curtain Call ’. They would break kayfabe by embracing after the match and embracing each other before Scott Hall and Kevin Nash would leave for WCW. They would also be known for starting the most popular factions in wrestling , D-Generation X (DX), and the New World Order ( nWo). Sean Waltman would be among member of both factions. The group was formed in 1994 by Michaels , Waltman, Nash, and Hall. Levesque would join in 1995 after leaving WCW for WWF. Shawn Michaels would state that the name for their group came from Lex Luger due to them always hanging out backstage. They all had individual success during their careers as well.

Scott Oliver Hall ( Razor Ramon ) was born on October 20,1958. He would become a four time WWF Intercontinental Champion, one time WCW World TV Champion, two time WCW United States Heavyweight Champion, seven time WCW World Tag Team Champion ( 6 with Kevin Nash and 1 with Giant/Big Show/Paul Wight). Hall would also be the winner of the 1997 WCW World War 3 Battle Royal. Hall would also have a run in TNA and win the World Tag Team Championship with Eric Young and Kevin Nash. He would be a two time WWE Hall of Fame inductee in 2014 as a solo inductee and 2020 as a part of the nWo. Hall passed away at the age of 63 on March 22, 2022. His nickname was The Bad Guy.

Kevin Scott Nash ( Diesel ) was born on July 9,1959. He is a one time WWF World Heavyweight Champion, One time Intercontinental Champion, a two time WWF Tag Team Champion with Shawn Michaels ( Two Dudes with Attitudes), a five time WCW World Heavyweight Champion, World War 3 1998 Battle Royal Winner , Spring Break Cannonball Champion 1998, nine time WCW World Tag Team Champion (6 with Scott Hall , 2 with Diamond Dallas Page , and 1 with Sting). He would also have a run in TNA and become a two time TNA Legends Champion, 2009 Feast or Fired Winner ( Tag Team Championship opportunity) and a one time TNA World Tag Team Champion with Eric Young and Scott Hall. He has also appeared in a few movies such as ‘ Magic Mike ’ and ‘ Magic Mike : XXL ’. He would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as a solo inductee in 2015 and in 2020 as a member of the nWo. Nash is also the host of the podcast, ‘ Kliq This ’, which launched in 2022. He is known as Big Daddy Cool and Big Sexy. Nash also served in the US Army as a Specialist from 1981-1983.

Michael Shawn Hickenbottom ( Shawn Michaels) was born on July 22,1965. He is a three time WWF Champion, one time WWF European Champion, One time WWE Tag Team Champion ( with Triple H ) , the winner of the 1995 and 1996 Royal Rumbles , three time Intercontinental Champion, one time World Heavyweight Champion, five time World Tag Team Champion ( 1 with Triple H , 1 with Stone Cold Steve Austin , 1 with John Cena , and 2 with Diesel), fourth Triple Crown Champion and the first WWE Grand Slam Champion. He is a two time WWE Hall of Fame Inductee, the first one as a solo inductee in 2011 and in 2019 as a member of DX. Michaels is now the Senior Vice President of Talent Relations and head of Creative for WWE NXT. He is known as The Heartbreak Kid , Mr.Wrestlemania, The Showstopper, and Chef Michaels ( shout out to the IWC). He is signed to a WWE Legends Contract.

Sean Michael Waltman ( The Kid/123 Kid/Syxx/X-PAC) The was born on July 13,1972. He is a two time WWF European Champion, four time WWF Tag Team Champion ( 2 with Kane , 1 with Bob Holly/Hardcore Holly , and 1 with Marty Janetty ) , the winner of the 1995 WWF World Tag Team Championship Tournament ( with Bob Holly/Hardcore Holly as his partner), a one time WCW Cruiserweight Champion, a two time and final WWF Light Heavyweight Champion. Waltman would join Hall and Nash in TNA and become a one time X-Division Champion, the winner of the 2005 Chris Candido with Alex Shelley as his tag team partner. Waltman would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of DX and in 2020 as a member of the nWo. In 2016, he would start a podcast called ‘X-PAC 1,2,360’. He is also a martial artist and is currently signed to a WWE Legends contract.

Paul Michael Levesque ( Triple H ) was born July 27,1969. He is a nine time WWE Champion, a five time World Heavyweight Champion, two time WWF European Champion, one time WWE Tag Team Champion ( with Shawn Michaels) , five time Intercontinental Champion , 1997 King of The Ring , seventh Triple Crown Champion, winner of the 2002 and 2016 Royal Rumbles , winner of the 2006 Road To WrestleMania Tournament Winner , second Grand Slam Champion , two time WWF World Tag Team Champion ( 1 with Shawn Michaels and 1 with Stone Cold Steve Austin ) . Triple H would be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019 as a member of DX. He is now the head of Creative and Chief Content Officer of WWE.

My Final Thoughts:

The Kliq is the , if not , one of the most influential factions in pro wrestling history. They changed the game. All of these wrestlers are legends in their own way. I also adore their friendship as well. I’ll be meeting Kevin Nash at WRESTLECADE this year and I’m hoping to meet X-PAC there too!

Love You All,

- Kay

@rrigamortis @84reedsy @kliqrulez @outsiderswolfpac