#ferrari renewal 2024

[valyrfia]

I just want to point out the two seconds in the video where you see karting Charles give an interview. An interview that we are all familiar with, because it's the one where Max is sitting right next to him.

I'm sure the video is heavily edited and Charles maybe wasn't actually standing in front of the screen watching all of those clips - but the fact is he chose to put this specific clip in his video. And there's a possibility he stood there in front of that giant screen and actually watched it.

Of all the clips to put in a video about his love for F1 and Ferrari - he had to include one with Max (even if Max is off frame). I'm not sure what to make of this, but it felt important to point out.

Thank you for pointing that out anon! I think it's just a fun little manifestation/Easter egg for both Charles and us. Ultimately, if Ferrari manage to create a championship-worthy car, it will be Max who Charles is fighting for the title, just like it was all those years ago, and in a lot of ways, Charles has re-signed with a Ferrari not only to win a championship, but to beat the current world champion, Max. Shipping goggles aside, Max and Charles have always been pretty insistent on labelling the other as their career rival (from 2018 Max telling anyone who would listen how him and this Sauber rookie are the next Seb and Lewis, to Charles's "I want to beat him as much as he wants to beat me, and that's the way it has always been") and this just feels like quite a natural continuation of regularly scheduled Lestappen shenanigans.

I lied it's actually a nod to how Lestappen Gate was instrumental in securing Charles's contract.

[petit-papillion]

and to think that all this started with the renewal of charles' contract.😂😂 Everyone saw it as an invitation to throw out all the announcements this week

Hi Anon!

No kidding! Never a dull moment now, it seems. I find it really funny (as in, interesting) how

First McLaren was really quick to announce Lando’s extension after Charles’s was announced - when he was not really on anyone’s list because his contract was not up at the end of this year. Almost as if Zak may have known about what bomb was about to drop…

Then the mother of all announcements: Lewis to Ferrari 🤯

Mercedes’s rumoured preferred replacements for Lewis would’ve been… Charles and Lando - now neither available.

Rumours that Alex may have been offered a contract by Red Bull quickly followed by Marko saying Daniel Ricciardo is not available to go to Mercedes, because he has a long-term contract. Nobody asked, Herr Doktor Helmut. Worst kept secret in the paddock that they will have Danny replace Checo sooner rather than later…

Anyway, Alex still being mentioned A LOT for the future open seat at Merc, so today James Vowles casually mentions his contract too extends beyond 2024.

So contracts are magically longer than first announced, which would’ve resulted in a really boring silly season, if it weren’t for Lewis’s surprise move to Ferrari. Someone still has to claim that seat. And Carlos still needs a new home. So far I am really pleased with how this (early) silly season is playing out, because it’s made this last part of winter break go by a lot faster.

[Could’ve done without the Christian Horner news from today - hope this is sorted out properly soon, and those involved are appropriately dealt with/supported.]

[redclerc]

charles leclerc really dunked on that whole rancid family with a single twitter like, what a way to start the day

[5sospenguinqueen]

Mean Left Hook - Charles Leclerc x Ferrari! Reader

Summary: Silly season brings forward more children for Charles and YN. And how best to welcome into the world of F1 than to crochet them a gift. 

2024 silly season. Fluff. Humour

Pinterest pics

Requested: Yes by @illyrianprincess

F1 Masterlist

I have so many fics to finish off but i saw this request and it possessed me lol

This can be read as a standalone but for more fluff, crochet and terrible puns, read Needle Little Love

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haasf1team just posted

liked by its_ynln, charles_leclerc and others

haasf1team ollie’s on the grid for ‘25

5,027 comments

its_ynln amazing news! well done, ollie

→ olliebearman thanks, y/n/n

charles_leclerc can’t wait to have you on the grid next year, mate

→ olliebearman thank you. i hope to put all your tips to good use

→ user father and son reunited once more  

→ user okay i didn’t know how badly i needed these two to be on the grid until right now

→ user yes! we know she’d take such good care of him

→ its_ynln @/charles_leclerc we’ve got another child

→ charles_leclerc well, you did agree to a big family

→ user they’ve talked about kids!! 

oscarpiastri well done, ollie. looking forward to spending time with you on the grid and at family dinner

user poor ollie is going to find out just how slow that haas is 

jackdoohan congratulations, mate

→ user @/alpinef1team jack announcement next?

→ its_ynln yes, please 

→ jackdoohan being nice doesn’t erase the fact that i still don’t have a dinosaur 

→ its_ynln 🖕🏻🖕🏻

its_ynln just posted

liked by olliebearman, pierregasly and others

its_ynln welcome to the grid, ollie BEARman. you must be BEARy excited to be joining the world of f1

3,316 comments

its_ynln i tried to make him haas style but turns out i didn’t have red, white or black

→ scuderiaferrari no red?! where’s your team pride? where’s your forza ferrari sempre

→ user girly isn’t gonna get renewed after this scandal 

olliebearman thank you, yn! now my most prized possession. Fluff Von Haas will be attending every race weekend

→ user fluff von haas 😍

user charles and yn really are his parents lol

arthur_leclerc good luck @/olliebearman, you’re going to need it dealing with her puns

→ its_ynln charles doesn’t do the dad jokes so i have to

→ oscarpiastri she’s the dad who stepped up 

→ charles_leclerc whoa, stop trying to take my role in this family 

user look at how sweet she is @/scuderiaferrari. now renew her contract 

user you can’t break up the family @/scuderiaferrari. announce her seat for next year

jackdoohan okay, i see how it is. i’ve got to get an f1 seat to get a dinosaur 

→ user haha poor jack still doesn’t have his dinosaur

→ user i bet it’s because he said he couldn't wait to get rid of her before she was announced for ferrari last year 

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scuderiaferrari just posted

liked by charles_leclerc, maxverstappen1 and others

scuderiaferrari signed, sealed and delivered. ferrari are pleased to announce @/its_ynln has renewed her contract. we look forward to racing with you for seasons to come

5,547 comments

user finally! 

user seasons?! queen got that multi-year contract

→ user she’s not going ANYWHERE

charles_leclerc oh mon dieu, i’m going to have to deal with her for many years

→ its_ynln don’t act like you didn’t know before me

→ oscarpiastri oh fuck, i’m going to have to deal with her for many years

→ arthur_leclerc @/oscarpiastri try having her be part of your family 

→ user i think arthur is forgetting that oscar is their son 

→ user not the leclercs acting like she won't be with them forever. we've seen the way charles looks at her, he ain't ever letting her go liked by charles_leclerc

charles_leclerc i couldn't imagine anyone else being my teammate ❤️

→ pierregasly it’s because no one else can “cheer you up” after they beat you 

→ its_ynln well, they could but i can’t imagine i’ll forgive him for cheating on me with one of you

user omg charles and yn racing side by side for multi years

→ user il predestinato and la principessa

olliebearman yay! can’t wait to share the track with you next year

→ its_ynln me too! it was so hard not to comment that when haas announced you 

→ user excuse me, you’ve known for a month and you let us suffer! 

arthur_leclerc like they would ever pick anybody else for that seat

→ its_ynln is this you being nice to me?

→ arthur_leclerc no. it’s just the forza ferrari running through me

francisca.cgomes woo! that’s my girl. i’d have built you a team myself if they hadn’t taken you back

→ pierregasly you’ve never offered to build me a team

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alpinef1team just posted

liked by its_ynln, pierregasly and others

alpinef1team dreams doo come true jack doohan will complete our line-up for 2025

3,310 comments

its_ynln and you thought you were rid of me! 

→ its_ynln although it’s on you this time because you’ve followed me to f1

user i swear yn was the first like

→ user and comment

→ its_ynln shh, i’m secretly really proud and happy, but don't tell him that

→ user i love how she went from “i’m not babysitting” to getting charles to adopt more grid kids

pierregasly félicitations, jack. welcome to the team

oscarpiastri aussie aussie aussie

→ jackdoohan oi oi oi

→ danielricciardo oi oi oi

→ user they’ve been summoned 

user yn’s been liking these rookie announcement posts so fast 

→ user gotta ensure she’s up-to-date on her grid kids 

user omg guys do you think jack will finally get his dinosaur now

→ its_ynln no

→ jackdoohan can you tell i’m the least favourite child

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charles_leclerc just posted

liked by lilymhe, scuderiaferrari and others

charles_insta weekend away with mon amour, without the kids (and the crochet needles)

2,211 comments

arthur_leclerc it sickens me how much you love each other 

→ charles_leclerc you were the one begging me to tell her how i feel 

→ its_ynln and you were the one constantly telling me how attractive he was, and how funny, and how kind, and blah blah

oscarpiastri come back, the other two scare me

→ olliebearman oi

→ jackdoohan i resent that statement

→ user when did they adopt jack?

user love how the only relationship content we get is from charles 

carlossainz55 wow, did she let you drive?

→ its_ynln yes, and i tell you, death himself was riding in the back seat 

→ charles_leclerc oi! 

→ user we've all seen the hairpin video charles

user always forget how stunning yn is until charles posts her liked by charles_leclerc 

francisca.cgomes the prettiest girl 

→ charles_leclerc yes, yes she is

→ its_ynln love you lots

→ user i love how we can’t tell whether she’s talking to kika or charles

→ pierregasly definitely kiks 

its_ynln i could spend forever with you and never get bored 

→ charles_leclerc tu es tout mon cœur

→ user the perfect couple on and off the track

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jackdoohan just posted

liked by its_ynln, alpinef1team and others 

jackdoohan fucking finally i said getting a seat would be when i got a dinosaur, didn't i

1,647 comments

it’s_ynln will you leave me alone now? i made you three!

→ jackdoohan i mean, i saw a really cool crochet koala the other day ;)

→ its_ynln you know, i have a mean left hook 🪡

→ oscarpiastri i thought getting to f1 meant i was free from your bickering but you’ve followed me 

→ scuderiaferrari @/its_ynln you were told last year that you’re not allowed to publicly threaten drivers. do we have to make you sit through the powerpoint presentation again?

user at least you didn’t have to sleep with her

→ jackdoohan i thought i deleted that comment

→ charles_leclerc ha, like he could do a better job than me

its_ynln seriously though, congrats jack. It’ll be totally ROARsome to have you on the grid next year 

→ jackdoohan thanks mum

→ charles_leclerc mum? is there something you’re not telling me?

→ jackdoohan you’re my dad, boogie woogie woogie

→ user f1 rookies, getting adopted by the ferrari power couple since 2023

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Requests open! Just delayed lol

Tag list

@peachiicherries @rosecentury @c-losur3 @heavy-vettel @evie-119

[cheriladycl01]

Ghost - Oscar Piastri x UnknownDriver! Reader Part 5

Plot: Reader is the first female F1 driver of the century, however no-one knows that as you are a ghost on the grid. You started in 2022, coming in P12 in the championship. You get moved to Red Bull Racing in 2023 with the off year for Sergio Perez.

Staring the 2024 season was nerve wracking. You’d only come to Red Bull on a 2 year deal of 2023 and 2024 until Sergio was supposed to come back.

So at the start of the season, this could have been your final year racing full stop.

The only people who had confirmed contracts past 2024 were Max (till 2028), Lando (till 2025), Oscar (till 2026) Valtteri (till 2025), Lewis (till 2025) and Lance because everyone knew that he’d keep his seat all the time his dad is bank-rolling Aston Martin.

Some people, like Logan weren’t confirmed to be driving in 2024 until the very last minute. Everyone was stressed.

Fast forward after the winter break and you’d had no talks with Christian about your seat.

Then the new on the 25th of January came.

Charles Leclerc Extends Ferrari Contract

And then again on the 26th of January …

Lando Norris Extends McLaren Contract.

But the worst, the one that caused you the most panic was the 1st of February.

Lewis Hamilton to Leave Mercedes

Lewis Hamilton to Join Ferrari in 2025.

And now you were panicking big time, with all these contract renewals, of team principles desperately trying to keep their drivers.

And yes, there was now a Mercedes seat free, but Lewis left for a reason and Lewis is the most loyal person let alone driver that you know. So there must have been a reason as to why he left. You just didn’t know what it was yet.

It also meant that a great driver like Carlos Sainz was now gunning for a seat … maybe even your seat.

And you couldn’t help but think that’s why Christian was holding out on renewing your contract.

But with the allegations against Christian, and everything else going on, there were no conversations being held on your behalf.

Nobody was reaching out to you, so you’d have to show the whose boss. You were going to prove that you could be the number 1 driver and you were going to prove you deserve your seat.

Testing came around and you were fast, faster than Max. You also had learnt after last season better tyre management. So your tyres were holding up well. And everyone could tell you were a better driver now than you were last season.

But again, you couldn’t tell right no who was and wasn’t pushing themselves while you were sandbagging and starting to doubt yourself as a driver. You ended up throwing yourself into training, and it was basically all you did. Sim Racing, Working Out, Diet planning. You hadn’t gone out with friends or family in months nervous for your first race in Bahrain.

All of your friends, specifically the ones on the grid were worried about you, knowing the pressures that came with their sport.

Lando Mando

Hey Y/N, haven’t heard from you in a while. Hoping you’re all okay! <3

Dutch Lion 🦁

Hey, what’s going on. You were quiet at testing :(?

AlbonO

Lily said you seemed of the other day … I agreed with her. You okay? 🫶🏼

No text from Oscar…

Bahrain came around far to quickly. And you were quiet. Thankful you weren’t on the media panel, you were just being asked by the Red Bull Social Media staff to do track walks, but they could all tell that you weren’t off highest spirits, and tired more with Max who had stopped pestering you.

Everyone was more worried at the fact you hadn’t replied but you were in fact at the races and actively on your phone.

They couldn’t help but think you were ignoring them, but little did they know, the ball of anxiety that sat in your chest and stomach got a little bit worse every-time you even thought if replying.

So you ignored them.

FP1 came and you were overthinking everything. You didn’t have to be insanely quick here, you just had to see how the car felt in Bahrain, and get comfortable with the track again. You hadn’t raced here in nearly a year now.

You ended it on P12.

The Sky Sports commentators assumed you were still sandbagging, which you and Max both had been in Pre Season Testing.

FP2 was later that day and you gained two places, feeling better when the guy in P2 in FP1 (Lando) was now all the way down in P20. That’s was the thing with Free Practices you could be anywhere on the board and I didn’t really until FP3 prove anything.

“Y/N can we have a minute of your time please!” An interviewer smiles kindly and you just nod, no words.

“How is the car feeling after today?” She asks and you nod.

“Good” you say.

“Yeah? Thats unsurprising with the year Red Bull had last year with not only a fantastic car but fantastic drivers. Do you feel as though that hardcore dominance you guys had last year is tightening up this year? ” she smiles and you nod.

“Yeah, I think it’s obvious who the top constructors are right now, and I think there will be teams out there to give us a run for our money” you admit with a shrug and the interviewer tenses a little at your blunt and very forefront replies.

“And is there any talks of any contract negotiations with you and any team on the grid” she asks and you freeze up a little before looking up at her.

“No there isn’t, thank you for your time” you say before walking away and back to the Red Bull Motorhome.

You slept awfully on the Thursday night, going into the Friday. FP3 came and again you improved coming in P8, however you could see Horners shake of ‘disapproval’ and you couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Qualifying, which is as later in on the day came and with Max setting pole, you’d hoped to be quicker. And you weren’t, you ended up starting in P5.

Which in hindsight wasn't bad, but you were starting behind George and Carlos with Fernando next to you and Lando and Oscar behind you. You could see HIM in when you were getting into the car and in your rear view mirror as you did the formation lap.

"Now, before this race starts. It's important to note that today is very very important for so many drivers!" David says as the helicopter camera follows the cars on the formation lap.

"Mmmm yeah and why's that Crofty?" Ted asks.

"Well Ted, with that Mercedes seat open... and with so many contracts ending everyone, and I mean everyone will be looking to prove themselves in this race" David advises as they watch them come round one of the last corners.

"Yeah, particularly Y/N and Carlos. Obviously there's been no confirmation of either of there seats its just a waiting game really" he nods and then they wait for the lights to go out.

You have an insanely good get away, coming up right behind George and overtaking Carlos on the straight, getting onto the right side of turn 1, meaning you kept P4.

Over halfway through the race, you were now up to P2, having kept your tyres longer than most, and being able to keep up with softs for the end laps of the race.

You kept a steady flow behind Max with a small time gap. You were on fresher tyres and you were on the softs meaning you were statistically driving quicker than Max.

"Overtake?" you asked into the radio, you were basically riding Max's bumper at the point and you could tell that the tyres were starting to degrade more than they should have been.

"Horner doesn't want to loose a 1-2, he needs you to defend for Max. Plan C" he says and you huff. You understoof the team orders. If you overtook now, you were risking Charles taking over Max and splitting a 1-2. You fell back away from Max, attempting to create a DRS train behind you to give Max some lee-way ahead.

"You know, Y/N is such a fantastic driver. Team orders, basically make it so that she isn't going to get this win to help Max, but she knows it's helping the team in the long run. She's honestly one of the most loyal drivers I've ever seen. She's never fought against team orders..." one of the commentators admits as they watch Charles not be able to get round you and Carlos pulling up behind him going down the grid.

You ended up on the podium, next to Max and Charles on the otherside of him as you each lifted up your trophies and sprayed champagne at each other.

For people viewing it was the first time you looked genuinely happy since the start of the season laughing and messing with Charles and Max.

You hoped it was a feeling that would last throughout the rest of the season, especially if it was your last.

Oscar was there, at the podium despite coming P8. He watched as he was genuinely concerned for you after reports from his friends suggesting that you might not be okay.

He wanted to see, and despite everyone seeing that you were happy messing around, there was a moment when most eyes were probably on Charles and Max goofing around where you looked down wiping the champagne of your face and your eyes went back to the dull and unhappy look.

He was hurt by what you did, but he also hurt you back as a stupid and petty way of revenge and he didn't know how to fix that.

He needed to enlist the help of his closest confidents.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul l @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @viennakarma @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @seomako @urdad-hot @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount @styl1shl1v

[thearchercore]

I say they aren’t revealing the contract length so its less embarrassing for them down the road if they flop in 2024 and Charles leaves :p

that man most likely girlbossed iron exit clauses. the moment ferrari don't stick to their promises, he would likely start to engage with other offers immediately. he's in his prime, and if he loses all faith in his own team, and he cannot do anything about it, he could leave.

he's not dumb, like some people on ig or twitter make it sound like that. but he's actually really smart when it comes to negotiating from what we've seen, and we can see it on little details, like charles getting a separate contract renewal without carlos. or when they did not specify the years which is ODD as hell, def not the usual practise.

there are tiny details you can see, and im still definitely seated to see how this situation evolves. people are saying "rip lestappengate" like it's over but i believe it's quite the opposite, we're now just seeing the result of it.

charles publicly flirted with red bull to gain advantage for his ferrari negotiations, this super extra announcement was the result -- ferrari is letting him take the lead in car development, they are building a winning car FOR charles (did not mention carlos) so there are signs they may be going in the direction of charles as a leader.

only time will tell, but lestappengate essentially was about giving charles a team with a championship winning car to fight max properly on track, and if he can achieve that at his own team with this new contract, then good for him.

if not, red bull still keeps showing interest in charles, so kicking off lestappengate 2.0 wouldn't be unrealistic.

[leclerrari]

“I’m so sorry, but I suffer from short-term memory loss”. Those who have never seen Nemo probably won’t understand the reference, signed in this case by the very charming Dory. A reference that I use to address a problem that seems to afflict many “fans” (the quotation marks are not used by chance) of the pinnacle of motorsport. Following the - extraordinary - victory of Carlos Sainz, in fact, I found myself reading various comments which, rather than praising the Spaniard’s performance, preferred to bring out how “Ferrari renewed the contract of the wrong driver”. None of these were journalists from Marca, much less from AS. I’m talking about long-time Ferrari “tifosi”, regular visitors to our platforms, who have pointed out that Leclerc has only won two races more than the mistreated Sainz. Consequently, getting off the wagon of the person who was about to win in Bahrain, at the steering wheel of the red car, in his second appearance wearing the Cavallino suit, or in Austria, before being escorted out by Max Verstappen, or in Singapore, again in 2019, before he was subjected to an undercut by his own teammate. Getting off the wagon of the person who achieved two podiums with the SF1000, of the person who was on the verge of winning in Silverstone at the steering wheel of the SF21, a car with which he even achieved two pole positions (how can we forget the one in Monaco, lost without even having the chance to race). Of the person who was mocked by a Virtual Safety Car in Jeddah in 2022, the year in which his power unit broke while he was dominating both in Barcelona and in Baku, the year in which he was the victim of the worst of treasons in Silverstone and of strategies bordering on embarrassment, as in Monte-Carlo and Budapest. Of the person who was vice World Champion in 2022, of the one who before the 2024 Australian Grand Prix was returning from seven consecutive front rows, of the one who collected 23 pole positions: only Michael Schumacher, in Ferrari, did better than him. Carlos, unlike Charles, has always been able to be in the right place at the right time (Singapore 2023 and Australia 2024) taking advantage of the circumstances like no one else has and, certainly, of the not excellent weekends of his teammate, which unfortunately for Leclerc have coincided with the very rare failures of Red Bull and Max Verstappen. This, for those who suffer from short-term memory loss, was Charles’ fault, this is the reason why Ferrari would have “renewed the contract of the wrong driver”. This is what has led many to get off the wagon of the monegasque, a wagon that they will soon be forced to chase on foot. On the other hand, “those who don’t have a good memory must have good legs”.

— Alessandro Morini Gallarati for Hammer Time Magazine

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Wild Nights || CL16 {Epilogue}

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x songstress!reader Summary: With a new album out it needs promoting and you find yourself missing Charles while you are in New York for a talkshow interview. Warnings: 18+only, flufffff WC: 1.1k

F1 Masterlist || One || Two || Three || Four || Five || Epilogue

February 2025 “I wish you were here,” you whispered into the phone that you weren’t supposed to have in the talk show studio. “I’m shaking like a leaf.”

“You’ll do great, my love,” he reassured you and you could hear a lot of background noise from the other people at the airport. “I’ll see you soon.”

No sooner had the call ended that the studio lights dimmed and the live audience fell silent.

“Now our next guest really needs no introduction,” Jimmy Fallon began to say while you nervously paced behind the curtain, until Bea pulled you to a stop, “her debut self-titled album went platinum and I have no doubt her new album, Safety Car, will be just as good. Please, put your hands together for Y/N.”

Bea gave you an encouraging push and you forced yourself to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. No matter how many times you took the stage for a concert, or an interview, you still found yourself nervous - but you equally loved the thrill that came with it.

Once you were sitting in the chair the jitters faded away and you fell into the rhythm of answering the questions he fired your way.

“So, Safety Car, talk me through this album. How did you come up with the name?”

“Obviously Charles is a huge part of my life, we have known each other for a couple of years now, and this album was made collaboratively with him. That’s all him on the piano with pieces that he composed, so the journey of this album gives a glimpse into that relationship we have, especially the ups and downs that come with life. 

“I’m not sure if you keep up with Formula One, Jimmy, but when there’s danger on the track they deploy a safety car to guide the drivers through that peril. This whole album is about being each other's safety car and helping navigate the other through those hard times.”

“Wow, that is so wholesome and sweet,” he gushed before looking down at his cue card. “But what exactly is ‘that relationship’? Because we know you and Charles are together, everyone and their dog knows you two are together, but there was never actually any announcement as such and now there’s rumours that you secretly tied the knot while you were at the Vegas Grand Prix this year?”

You tipped your head back with a laugh. “You’ll have to ask him that because I don’t think he ever officially asked me out. We kind of just collided and stayed that way.”

“So you aren’t together?” he gasped like it was some scandalous news but you just gave him a wink.

“We love each other dearly, I mean, we found each other when we were both going through a difficult time and helped each other to heal. Any chance we have at seeing each other we take but we have always been aware that the reality is that our lives are in very different places. Charles’ work takes him all over the world and with my second tour coming up there just aren't a lot of places where our lines intersect.” 

The crowd sighed sadly but you shrugged it off with a smile as you continued, “Neither of us would ask the other to give up on their dreams, that wouldn’t be love then, would it? It’s what inspired my first single Love Is Letting Go. Charles had an amazing 2024 season and has renewed his contract with Ferrari, and his dream is to win a championship with them in particular so he’s very focused on that for this coming year and I’m so proud of him. Maybe one day our lives will be at the same pace but for now we cherish the moments we do get.”

“Oh don’t we know it,” the host chuckled. “We have all seen the photos floating around whenever you two hit the town. Looks like you have some pretty wild nights out together.”

“We do have a lot of fun. Why not? Life’s too short, might as well be wild and free.”

“That is true, but are you free? How else do you explain this photo?”

A picture appeared on the screen that had been taken inside the infamous White Chapel in Las Vegas. It wasn’t exactly clear who was in the photo because of the costumes but it didn’t take a genius to work out who was standing at the altar getting married. 

Pierre’s brown hair stuck out the front of a slick jet-black coifed wig while Bea’s white halter dress barely contained her boobs as she twerked against him. It was a little harder to tell it was you and Charles in front of Arthur, who had bought an online Certificate of Ordination so he could be the celebrant. Your brother-in-law had spent so long trying to find a printer in the hotel that he was last to arrive and left with a Star Wars costume.

“Well, Jimmy, I believe that is Darth Vader, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, and Bonnie and Clyde. And it looks like they are having one hell of a time.”

“That’s all you’re gonna give us?” he asked with a chuckle and mock disappointment as he shook his head. “Fine, fine. Can you at least give us a song?”

The small side stage was dark when you took your place at the microphone but when the lights came on and illuminated the piano it wasn’t Bea that was sitting there as planned.

The crowd screamed as they saw Charles and your eyes widened, a smile growing as you drank him in after a long two weeks apart. “You’re meant to be on a plane.”

“I got on an earlier one,” he said, the piano microphone picking up his soft words as he sent a wink to the camera, “so I could support my beautiful, talented wife.”

The air froze for a split second before chaos erupted and the audience cheered.

You looked across the stage at Jimmy as a smile broke on your face. “Uh-oh, busted!” You reached into your pocket and slipped the sedate diamond ring you had chosen, opting for something smaller than the huge rock that Charles would have gone for, and slipped it back on your finger that had felt empty without it. “I guess this makes us pretty official.”

Charles teased the crowd as he played the wedding march tune. “There was never any doubt in my mind.”

Tagging: @91vhs @alwaysclassyeagle @applespiez @ravenqueen27 @booksobsess @tempo-rary-fix @baw-sixteen @im-an-overthinker @notleclerc

[onlyonetifosi]

BEHIND THE CAMERA -> CHAPTER 11

<- previous series masterlist my main masterlist next ->

anon: sorry for this very small chapter, but i wanted to write about it

The end of the year brought a bitter chill to the Leclerc family, not just from the biting winter winds but from the lingering disappointment in Arthur's heart. Yn could sense her little brother's dejection as he sat in the cozy living room of their Monaco home, surrounded by the warmth of family. Arthur, the youngest Leclerc and once-promising F2 driver, found himself at a crossroads. His dreams had been shattered with DAMS choosing not to renew his contract, leaving him questioning his worth as a racer.

Pascale, the matriarch of the Leclerc clan, wrapped her arms around Arthur. "Mon chéri, you are not a failure. Racing is a tough world,success comes not only from victories but also from overcoming challenges, and setbacks are part of the journey"

Charles, the elder brother, added reassuringly, "You still have so many opportunities, Arthur. You'll bounce back stronger. It's just a bump in the road, not the end of the race."

Lorenzo chimed in, "Tu es toujours notre champion, même dans les moments difficiles. (You are always our champion, even in tough times)"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sun hung low over the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as the Leclerc siblings gathered at the pit lane. Yn felt a surge of pride and anticipation as she watched her little brother, Arthur, prepare to take the wheel of Charles' scarlet Ferrari. The familiar aroma of petrol and rubber hung in the air, mixing with the nervous excitement that buzzed around the pit.

Charles, the eldest of the Leclerc siblings, leaned against the pit wall, his eyes fixed on the Ferrari with a mix of pride and concern. Yn could sense the weight on his shoulders as the team prepared for the upcoming Formula 1 season.

Arthur, having faced a challenging season in F2, had found himself without a seat for the upcoming season. However, fate had a different plan for him as Ferrari welcomed him as a development driver. The Barcelona test was Arthur's chance to prove himself, driving the same car that his older brother would soon race in the 2024 Formula 1 season.

"Allez Arthur. Montre-leur ce que tu as dans le ventre!" (Come on, Arthur. Show them what you've got!) Yn told him, her words a mix of excitement and encouragement.

Charles patted his brother on the back, saying, "This is your moment, Arthur. Show them what you're made of."

Arthur, his eyes gleaming with determination, climbed into the cockpit. The roar of the Ferrari engine echoed through the circuit as he sped down the straight.

Lorenzo, their older brother, stood nearby, offering a reassuring nod to Charles. "He's got this, Charles. Arthur has the talent, just like you."

Charles managed a small smile, appreciating Lorenzo's support. The roar of the engine drowned out further conversation as the Ferrari roared to life. Yn couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement as the car pulled out onto the track.

Yn exchanged a look with Joris, whispering, "Il a tellement grandi," (He has grown so much).

Pascale, stood with a proud smile, capturing the moment on her phone. "Regardez-les! Mes enfants extraordinaires!" (Look at them! My extraordinary children!)

Joris, Charles' best friend and Yn's boyfriend, stood beside Yn, squeezing her hand gently. "Il va tout déchirer sur la piste, tu verras." (He's going to tear it up on the track, you'll see.)

Yn grinned, her eyes never leaving the speeding Ferrari. "I know he will, Joris. I just hope he gets a chance in F1 this season."

As the red blur of the Ferrari streaked by, Arthur's skill behind the wheel was evident. The radio crackled to life, and the team's communication with Arthur began. "Comment ça se passe, Arthur?" (How's it going, Arthur?) Charles asked through the headset.

"Ça va bien, Charles! La voiture est incroyable!" (It's going well, Charles! The car is amazing!) Arthur's voice crackled back, a mix of excitement and determination.

taglist: @love4lando@gcldtom@im-mi @hiireadstuff@celesteblack08@reblog-princess@sunf1ower16@janeholt3@athena-artemis-dorian-gray@minkyungseokie

[valyrfia]

I am VERY skeptical about the RBR Charles thing but they (see: Charles, RBR personell of all kinds) keep being SO WEIRD AND SUSPICIOUS about it

Yep yep yep. I go through cycles of being completely convinced and then calling myself delusional, but the fact remains that Max changed his tune on being teammates with Charles recently, Charles keeps talking about Max in interviews praising BOTH his performance and the car, Christian Horner is posting Max and Charles on Instagram as is the RBR account. I genuinely believe Red Bull are at LEAST trying to seriously poach him.

I'm still unsure as to whether they're working towards 2024 or 2025 (as Red Bull have proven with the recent talks with Lando, they're more than happy to buy out someone's contract), but I am leaning more towards 2025, and I believe that Charles at RBR is a real, serious possibility in 2025. Let me explain why.

First, Checo still has a contract through 2024 and while Red Bull aren't always great with honouring contracts, I think the recent popularity and love they've witnessed first-hand for Checo in Texas and Mexico might change their mind on letting him go early. Ultimately, Red Bull Racing is marketing for Red Bull, and Checo obviously brings in sales in North America, and them mistreating Checo might lead to a sales dip in that region. This is why I think, despite the media frenzy, RBR are highly unlikely to drop Checo for 2024. There is no way that RBR is renewing Checo's contract, but at least he can see it out and they can part ways without much damage to either of them at the end of the F1 2024 Season.

Charles's current contract with Ferrari is also up at the end of the 2024 season. Again, even though 2023 has been absolute dogshit for Charles and Ferrari, I don't see that contract ending early. For one, Charles has apparently been promised that the 2024 car will be developed according to his needs and preferences, and it is ridiculous to leave a team who has made you that promise, even if that team is as flakey as Ferrari. I think Charles is waiting to see if the team does change in 2024 before he pushes for contract renewal. It's important to note here that contrary to popular opinion, I believe the ball is completely in Charles's court here when it comes to renewal. He is the Ferrari golden prince, he is Ferrari in a way that no driver really ever has been before, I think it was evident in Monza this year most of all. Carlos drives for Ferrari, and Charles is Ferrari and you could see it in the way that the tifosi treated them. They love Carlos, they adore and worship Charles. This is how Charles managed to convince them to build a car for him in 2024, and it's how I believe Charles is putting off the contract negotiations. This is a key point. Carlos's extended media team and family have complained several times about Carlos not being able to begin contract negotiations because of Charles in some way and Ferrari unwilling to negotiate with Carlos until they've settled Charles (I think this is due to the fact that they only intend to keep one of them and they'd like it to be Charles, but that's an essay for another day). So Charles has himself in a position where he doesn't have to commit to the team unless he sees that it is going to grow in the way he wants it to.

To quote Charles, "I view it in a way that whenever I won’t believe in the project anymore, that probably will be the time when I’ll have to go away. Because it’s in these kinds of situations that you don’t get the best out of yourself, that you don’t help the team as much as it needs to be helped. But this is definitely not the case at the moment. I believe in the project as much as I’ve ever believed in the project before. Especially since Fred arrived. So for now it’s clear. Then it’s also clear that I want to win. But I believe in this project and I’m sure we are working in the right direction.”

So maybe 2024 happens and Ferrari brings a championship-contender car, in which case Charles signs with Ferrari, they get rid of Carlos and probably bring in Alex Albon as a n2.

But I'm not interested in that outcome, I'm interested in what is (in my mind anyway) the far more likely outcome, sheerly due to money and Ferrari internal politics (which again, whole other essay!) which is that nothing really changes for the better at Ferrari. Maybe Charles gets a win by sheer luck and a slightly better car, but overall the strategy continues to not favour him, and Charles in general loses faith in what he refers to as the project. And we know from Charles himself that when this happens, this is when he goes away.

So I've presented an argument for why Red Bull are going to let Checo see out his contract, I've presented a strong possibility for why Charles might be looking to leave Ferrari at the end of 2024. Now I'm going to try and convince you of why out of all the options it'll be Charles joining Red Bull.

First of all, from Charles's point of view regarding teams. I'm going to rule out Alpha Tauri, Haas, Williams, Alfa Romeo, and Alpine, either because they're junior teams or I don't see them willing to fork over huge amounts of money to get Charles onboard. This leaves Mercedes, McLaren, Aston Martin, and Red Bull.

Out of all the non RBR options, I'd say that Mercedes is the most likely, but both their drivers are signed until 2025. There is always a possibility that Lewis Hamilton decides its time to leave the sport and buys himself out of his own contract, but I think that's not likely to happen next year.

Similar to Mercedes, both McLaren drivers are signed until at least 2025 and both look likely to honour that contract. Red Bull have tried to poach Lando multiple times, and Lando doesn't seem too keen on it yet, so we can assume that he intends to at least see his current contract out. Aston Martin is slightly trickier because I see them as being willing to fork over the millions needed to get Charles Leclerc to drive for them, but on the other hand they don't look close to producing a championship car, and Charles Leclerc is not switching away from Ferrari to not win a championship.

So, this leaves RBR as Charles's best destination for 2025 were he to leave Ferrari. Not only do they have a seat opening up, but they also have shown themselves capable of constructing recent championship-winning cars, and outclass every other team almost every weekend on strategy at the moment. Now that we've established that Charles's team of choice would be RBR, the final point of the argument has to be establishing why Charles would be RBR's driver of choice over let's say, Lando or Daniel.

To me the answer is simple, as so eloquently illustrated by my great friend and scholar Nat (@tsarinablogs) in her The PR of Lestappen in 2023 Essay (also known as Lestappen Gate 2023), Charles is not just good at PR, he's brilliant, and Red Bull isn't a racing company, it's a marketing venture. Having Charles on board would be their greatest asset and Charles has done much to make himself desirable, from being personable in almost all fan interactions to building a solid digital following, to being sometimes sneaky and subliminal with his sponsorship messaging (him always putting on APM Monaco immediately after a race, even before the podium and interviews, hell even Charles and Privateplanegate yesterday), to signing with a literal US entertainment agency. I cannot stress enough how the timing of the WME signing is not accidental, this is Charles making himself be seen as a highly desirable PR asset. Charles has the second highest following on social media out of any current driver, second to only 7 TIME WDC WINNER LEWIS HAMILTON. That sort of audience, and the kind of exposure it can bring to your team and your brand is insane.

Also, as an addendum to Nat's essay using something she herself brought up to me yesterday: any PR for RBR is good PR because it means that Red Bull as a concept is sticking around in people's heads, which means they're more likely to notice and buy the drinks off the shelves. Extrapolating from this we can see that Red Bull signing Charles would ultimately be better marketing than Red Bull signing Lando just because of the absolute uproar it would cause. Whether you think that Red Bull saved Charles from Ferrari, or Charles betrayed Ferrari for Red Bull, or Charles saved himself from Ferrari, or Red Bull as the Big Evil Team poached the Prince of Ferrari, there's a compelling narrative in there and people will talk about it for years to come.

Finally, not to talk about the driving aspect of motorsports, but Charles is the best fit for Red Bull driving-wise as well. Him and Max have spoken in the past about how they both prefer very similar types of car (ie. strong oversteer, borderline undriveable to anyone else) which would make car development much easier for the team. Christian Horner has also been pretty candid about wanting two n1 drivers à la Lewis and Nico (although without the toxicity), and whether you believe that Charles matches Max in equal machinery or not, Charles's racing record is a lot stronger than Lando's or Dan's (the two other possible competitors for the RBR seat). Charles fits the bill, driver-profile-wise, of the complement to Max that Christian Horner is looking for.

So, long story short, I am watching Ferrari VERY closely these next few months. If the SF-24 doesn't make Charles happy, I am going to make a bold claim that we will see Charles Leclerc driving for Red Bull in 2025.

[gayferrari]

hello!! i love your blog <3 i do have to say that i wasn't a charlos fan (?) but now thanks to you i'm obsessed!! i was wondering if there's like lore or key moments that feel like basic information to know

thank you!!!! I'm happy u enjoy it here❤️ I do have to say EYE wasn't a charlos fan either when I started this blog. I wasn't planning on it. I can't remember when it started but it was in between them beefing in China and them beefing in Spain. Something about how they keep finding their way back to each other showing genuine warmth and mad sexual tension but also they aren't really friends and "when my helmet is on I have hated him and he's hated me" or whatever Charles said. Absolutely unhinged (positive).

There's a lot of genuinely cute charlos lore from earlier days (2021 / first half of 2022) that I WILL revisit one day. However if I had to make a top 5 of my personal favourite bits... they're all post-Silverstone 22 and they all have the common theme of "wow I can't believe they still look at each other like they need a room after THAT."

I think it really drives home the weird sexually charged push-pull goofy vibe of their relationship the rest of the time

5. Singapore 2023. That was a sexy Carlos moment first and foremost, obviously but the reason I'm counting it as a charlos moment specifically is that Charles's driving coach recently came out and said what we were all thinking: that watching his teammate have a flawless weekend from start to end while he couldn't quite catch up motivated Charles enormously to Never Let That Happen again(*) and metaphorically lit a fire under his ass and he's now having the best season of his life. Thinking about this seminal post by @/steviethenarwhal about how Charles and Carlos are constantly used as a benchmark for each other (among other things, it's a great post) and also thinking about how massively competitive they are in everything they do. Singapore 2023 is a charlos moment. to me.

(*) it just happened again in Mexico. I hope this lits another fire under Charles's ass for 2025 reasons

4. China 2024. The time Charles's manager said they had made up with a big kiss. They had a hissy on-track scrap during a sprint, which was already kinda sexy if you're into that (as a divorce enjoyer. I am) and then Charles's manager had to go and said they'd made up with a kiss. They're never escaping the toxic couple coded allegations.

3. Interlagos 2022. PLEASE CONSIDER THE CHAMPIONSHIP. This is a fundamental charlos moment to me because it encapsulates so much about 22... Charles going from triumphant to struggling at wdc p3 in a season that was full of blunders, while Carlos also got his first win and had some amazing drives that season but they were overshadowed by the dramatic irony of Charles's failed championship bid. Anyway, Brazil: Charles in P4 during a race where RBR are struggling, with Max already crowned champion, this could be his chance to make up points on Checo who was currently wdc p2. Except Carlos is ahead of him and heading for a podium. Charles asks for a swap on radio, a bit whiny, a bit shameless. Every point counts. He said: give me my teammate's podium 🥺 Charles who historically has really been a good boy when it comes to complying with team orders even when he had to grit his teeth and bear it, now asks for this one thing. Except it's a pretty outrageous request, a gifted podium 😳 He doesn't get it but god I love that he asked. If u squint this is kinda representative of charlos's whole dynamic at Ferrari that's like “guy married into his wife's family” (Charles is the wife). This race lives in my head rent-free.

2. This mid-January 2024 pictures of them driving to Maranello together.

This picture is SO important to me because of the context. It's mid January. Charles is about to announce his contract renewal. He knows Ferrari are talking to Lewis. Carlos knows his contract renewal has stalled. He might already know it's not happening. In all of this: they are still driving to the factory together. They are STILL. Driving to the factory. TOGETHER. If this doesn't scream I could throttle you sometimes but I can't give you up. I don't know what does it.

(whose pov is this from? either)

1. MONZA 2023. CHARLES BEEFING WITH CARLOS'S MUM VIA TWITTER LIKES. CARLOS POLE. CHARLOS ON TRACK BATTLE 😳 and they looked SO HOT that whole weekend.

[sainzinnorris]

it's just fucking disgusting. look, the main highlight wasn't even about ferrari not renewing sainz's contract. it's on how less you care about him that you've announced it so early on in 2024...so fucking disrespectful. all i feel right now is rage.

[hibiki-on-the-rock]

It is very obvious that there is a change in direction among the high ups in Ferrari:

Ferrari Chairman publicly back Charles in a BBC article but did not mention Sainz at all (I also found the timing of this BBC article interesting - right at when there are lots of noises about Charles’s contract renewal);

Fred said Charles is the leader; and laid the blame on Sainz for his result at the last race;

The official team photos included one picture with Fred putting his hand on Charles’ shoulder which kinda implied his vote of confidence in Charles; and

Ferrari announced they will develop the 2024 car in accordance with Charles’ preference.

All the signs indicated that Ferrari is (finally) putting Charles ahead of Sainz, make him the de facto #1 driver.

Does that mean Charles has renewed his contract? Nope I don’t think so.

To me the biggest hint is (again) the BBC article with John Elkann. If there was a contract extension, that was the perfect opportunity to announce. But Elkann did not even mention anything about Charles’ future with the team. That article seems like a desperate plea from Elkann to Charles.

I still agree with all the lestappengate scholars that Charles has a pre contract with RBR. And he used it beautifully to force Ferrari to meet his demands.

My prediction is that Charles will not sign an extension until he has an idea how Ferrari’s season will unfold next year. Charles would lose his bargaining power if he signs with Ferrari so why not using the pre contract to gain more? So, RBR!Charles is still a possibility!

[dayslynthesix]

grandiosity doesn't win championships.

ferrari could be the biggest f1 team, the most successful one, the most famous, the most victorious in history, but that's in the past.

today, ferrari is a joke.

plain and simple.

it's not about ferrari not being capable of building a winning car, they can. we saw that earlier 2022. is the fact that they don't know how to build a winning team, and that's a shame. it's nothing switching team principals every once in a while, it's nothing putting good drivers to drive good cars when the team is broken.

it takes more than a winning car and a winning driver to win a championship. it takes a winning team, a winning mentality.

grandiosity doesn't win championships, competence does.

i know the dream: to be the driver who will finally win with ferrari. it's beautiful, but it's unrealistic. alonso thought he could do it, ferrari failed him. vettel thought he could do it, ferrari failed him. leclerc, their il predestinado, thought he could do it, ferrari failed him. hamilton probably think he will be able to do it, but ferrari will most likely fails him as well.

again, and again, and again.

in order to be world champion dreaming and waiting it is not enough. alonso, vettell, massa, leclerc, all of them wanted, all of them dreamed, and it wasn't enough.

the 2024 season is a eternal was flashback of the 2022 season, fred vasseur is exactly like mattia binotto, the problem was never just the team principal, the problem is way deeper than just the team principal. is the full team. is the bigger ones. they renewed leclerc's contract promising him a winning car, they keep promising him a championship they know they're not able to give him. vasseur keeps blaming their drivers as if we can't see the races, hear the radios, we know it's not on them. we know it's on the team. and there's no one taking responsibility for another failure of the team.

the dream to win with ferrari is beautiful, but it's just that: a dream.

and a note for that: i trust charles, i trust his instincts, i trust he know what is best for him! i don't trust ferrari. i haven't in a while. and i think ferrari doesn't trust themselves as well. their on that eternal stage of "we are developing", it's been 15 years. they went no where with their development. forza charles sempre. but i don't have anymore forza ferrari in me.

[cheriladycl01]

Ghost - Oscar Piastri x UnknownDriver! Reader Part 5

Plot: Reader is the first female F1 driver of the century, however no-one knows that as you are a ghost on the grid. You started in 2022, coming in P12 in the championship. You get moved to Red Bull Racing in 2023 with the off year for Sergio Perez.

Over the winter you'd not really done much. You'd spent time with family, and then done a bit of solo travelling in which you ended up bumping into Lando randomly in Finland.

You'd spent a lot of time with Christian and Max and the Red Bull HQ looking at the car for 2024 and whether you'd still be in a rocket ship.

You could tell this year wouldn't be as dominant as Red Bull were last year, you knew the Ferrari and McLaren would be up there fighting for the points.

The start of the season was stressful. Lewis announcing his leave from Mercedes and would be joining Ferrari in 2025 meant that there was a free seat available and Carlos Sainz had no confirmed seat.

There was some heat on you, you'd worried so much that you'd actually gone to Christian's home in pure panic about your seat. You didn't want to have your seat removed like Perez did in 2023.

He'd confirmed that he had no reason to get rid of you and presented you with a contract extension until 2028. The longest Red Bull contract extension in the last few years. 5 years of commitment with a currently best performing team.

You'd be stupid to turn it down.

"Y/N, it's great to have you here with us today. Thank you for joining us, first things first. Congratulations are in order not only for your incredible season last year, but your 5 year extension in the Red Bull Family, how does it feel knowing that you and Max will continue on together now that you both have your contracts running out at the same time?" the interviewer asks.

"Thank you for having me, and thank you for that! 2023 was a great season, not only as a learning experience but for no longer being Ghost. I didn't think 2023 would be the year for a win but with a great team like Red Bull backing me it was sooner rather than later a win would occur even alongside some of the best drivers that are currently on the grid! As far as my contract extension goes, it's a really funny story of how I was offered it!" you start with a little laugh.

"Do tell!" they exclaim looking over you.

"Well, I went to Christians house. I was worried with the Lewis move that my seat would be 'up for grabs' and came to him in a slight panic and yeah he wanted me until 2028 and I think i would have been very silly had I not accepted that proposal" you smile.

"And were there other talks about you switching seats at all?" he asked.

"I mean, there's always talks and whispers. I had Toto reach out to me, I had Mike Krack call me. But the most interesting was Zac Brown's phone call!" you chuckle remembering speaking to the McLaren Team Principle before he'd renewed Lando's contract.

He'd basically said a seat was up for grabs, if Red Bull removed your seat because he thought Oscar and Lando would potentially take that seat. Then Lando extended his contract and Oscar hadn't said anything so he called you again to say that it was just Oscar now which is when you went to Christian as rumours had circled last year about him wanting to have another Max Verstappen in RedBull.

"Care to comment on that conversation with Zac?" he asks you, looking at his notes seeing that he had only asked one question so far as he didn't think he'd get this much from you.

"I don't think I can just because of the nature of the conversation we had, but there was multiple conversations across the board over the winter break between loads of different drivers and team principles because of that one move so I can imagine the start of 2025 and 2026 with those new regulations will be different"

"Yeah that's going to be very interesting, we're all very excited. Obviously with the mention of Zac we're brought onto the Oscar situation, obviously there was a true rivalry that I think went deeper just racing after you revealed yourself as Ghost... has that relationship improved over the winter?" he asks and you actually felt ready to fully speak out on the situation, you felt safe on this podcast and heard.

"Well, I don't like to talk about it to much out of respect for Oscar but recently he's not been very polite in the media. I had to sign an NDA when i signed with RedBull to not reveal anything about my identity until Christian Horner said I could. I could have lost my seat if I'd told Oscar and I'd worked so hard to get where I was. So I upset him, by not being honest with him when I posed as my own PR manager... but I still hold a lot of respect for him and he was at one point one of my closest friends on the grid. I hope this year he's able to just focus on racing on not make childish comments like he did last year" you say seriously knowing it was time that you should really start to speak out on the matter as it was only getting worse with time.

"Thank you for speaking out on this!" the interviewer smiles before asking a few more questions all about racing and your predictions for the 2024 season.

You left and the week later you were catching a flight to Bahrain, you weren't travelling with the team and managed to get a first class seat from London to Bahrain. You were boarding when you saw a familiar face.

"You've got to be shitting me" you said stopped by your chair pod in first class seeing none other than Oscar.

"Huh?" he says fully looking up to see you and hos face turns sour.

"Great, just great!" he sighs turning away from you.

"So fucking childish!" you exclaim putting your bag down under the seat.

"I may be childish but at least I'm not a liar!" he scolds with a frown on his face.

"Oscar, as much as I loved you... i wasn't about to risk a career I'd worked so hard for and can be snatched from me in seconds if someone better performing comes along!" you admit looking over him once before taking your seat and sending the partition that separated you guys from each other and putting a lock in place.

You thanked the air-host when he came round and offered you a drink and an extra blanket for the duration of the flight. He also asked you to take a picture with him which of course you did and you ended up giving him your Red Bull team hat.

Afterwards you had a small nap, waiting for dinner where the partition was pulled down by the airhost.

"Look Y/N..." Oscar tries as his food is placed in front of him.

"I'm trying to enjoy my meal Osc, I wont entertain this" you sighed not looking over at him and continuing to eat the fancy pasta dish in front of you.

"I'm trying to apologize can you stop being so stubborn!" he says with a raised voice making people look towards the pair of you thanks to the disruption.

"Your calling me stubborn when your the one making the apology. All you've done for the past 6 months is chat shit about me Osc, you were my friend and I wanted to tell you for so long, but I couldn't so don't call me stubborn when you've hurt me too!" you cry before pulling the seat separator up just wanting a moment to collect yourself.

After 20 minutes, and some silent crying on your half and plates having been collected, he pulls the separator back down making you look over at him with red puffy eyes.

He opened his arms up with a guilty look on his face. You looked at him a little shocked before nodding and climbing over and laying on top of him in his lap. He wraps his large arms around you and you nuzzle down into his neck, your body shaking against his as you sob. He pulls you tightly against him.

"I know, I know! I'm so sorry" he whispers into your ear holding you and rubbing your back.

"It was so scary Osc, I lost my best friend just as the highest point of my career and life was about to start!" you cry against him, wrapping your own arms around him and clinging to him like a teddy bear.

"I'm so sorry, I was so angry and then i just kept screwing up and I got more and more mad when you didn't retaliate because you are such a good and kind person and I'm not" he says with a few tears of his own.

"I was so scared I lost you. Have a lost you?" you ask looking over at him and he smiles a puffy cheeked smile at you.

"I think i should be the one asking that" he sighs holding you and kissing your forehead.

"Always, you'll always have me Osc" you say nuzzling down further into the crook of the hoodie he was wearing.

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[thearchercore]

Lando’s comments about not being bffs with max is for sure directly related to lestappen gate. 

We’ve know since the summer that Charles is Ferrari’s priority to resign. (Remember we even thought it was going to be announced in the summer?) they’ve been working hard to make sure Charles feels positive about 2024 and comfortable in the 2024 car and feels like he can win a championship with Ferrari. And Charles was full steam ahead ready to renew.

It all changed in Singapore. Charles was shafted by Ferrari and Carlos was prioritized. Carlos prioritized Lando instead of his teammate - helping him stay in DRS even though he was a competitor. In the cool down room he said that what happened to Charles was “none of his business”.  Charles raises all fucking hell and Ferrari sees they’re about to lose their il predestinato.

Suzuka happens next week. And then there’s a break before Qatar - and Charles goes back to the factory in Maranello. He’s there for a week, while Carlos is no where to be seen and never shows up. Charles has a sit down interview in Qatar where he talked about feeling positive for the future and the developments for next year's car and genuinely seemed excited for the new car.

This was all before the mess of the last few races, when we saw the real development of lestappen gate. And the possibility of Charles going after Red Bull, not feeling like he can win with Ferrari. And the emergence of lestappen as being friends. publicly at least, cause we all know they’ve been close for ages. 

Ferrari gets desperate to keep Charles and will stop at nothing to retain him. Prioritizing his contact negotiations, giving him whatever he wants, making sure he knows he is the priority and they’ll do whatever they need. They hired Fred for him, and Fred is hiring and replacing like money is free to get a better team for Charles. And made it clear - the 2024 car will be suited to Charles and what he likes. 

Now who isn’t the priority? Carlos. His contract negotiations have basically stopped because they don’t care about him right now. There’s constant talks about how it’s likely he won’t reach a deal and Ferrari already has a shortlist of who they will pursue and why they’d be a great fit, to the point Spanish media is taking these so seriously that they’re shading Ferrari. Even the Spanish GP was talking shit about Ferrari on Twitter. 

Fred shades Carlos as the Vegas GP, saying Vegas was their best race of the season (even above their only team win). Fred shades Carlos again for his crash in practice in Abu Dhabi, saying that the Vegas pothole was bad luck but he said Carlos crashing in practice was “something else”. 

And with Singapore and everything that followed after, we see Charles and Carlos move from friends to barely interacting except for required events and videos. Carlos sees clearly that he is 2nd to Charles and will be considered that way with everything going forward, and is not happy about that. 

So that brings us back to: Max and Lando. Max respects Charles more than he does any other driver on the grid (hello he apologized to Charles in Vegas for turn 1?? When has he ever apologized for anything that happens on the track). Max is taking Charles’ side and even if he knows Charles is only using Red Bull to get a better Ferrari contract, he supports him cause he genuinely loves racing against Charles in a proper car. And besides the respect, they’re great friends. 

Lando’s allegiance is obviously to Carlos. And he’s hearing all of it from Carlos and his being pissed. And I can fully see it coming up in convo with Max (after all Max and Carlos were teammates and friends once upon a time) and Max not fucking having it and standing on Charles’ side. And suddenly there’s the divide and Lando refuses to say they’re friends, because he’s so behind Carlos. 

And it all just further enforces how powerful Lestappen is together. 

solid points! my little own theory was that lando wants to go into 2024 with an internal goal to be THE rival to max (how realistic that is, that's another discussion) and so the friendship with max no longer benefits him.

when lando was up and coming driver, the clout that he got by hanging out with max benefitted him. he was seen partying with the world champion, got more publicity thanks to that etc. it was in general a very appealing friendship to be in for lando.

fast forward, mclaren built a car in the second half of 2023 that could fight max in certain scenarios (singapore comes to mind). however, lando did not manage to maximise the potential due to little driver errors that always cost him a better starting position.

it's 2024 now, ferrari and mercedes have great drivers but they are fully dependent on the state of their car and the team strategy. mclaren seemed to work out some of that already so mclaren goes into this season maybe more confident than they should be.

lando's friendship with max no longer benefits him, he will be now seen as a rival, not a friend. he could be fighting him on track, and so he probably wants to push his own agenda and distance himself from max. in this scenario, carlos is a safe option as any other friend on the grid (i assume tensions will rise between carlos and oscar as oscar will no longer be a rookie)

on the other end, charles is doing the exact opposite, he maximised potential of ferrari's car and also stopped following ferrari's pr guidelines. in vegas or abu dhabi, he hung out more with max than his own teammate. during the winter break he had only one scheduled appearance with another f1 driver on the grid, again, max.

charles publicly connecting himself with max does no good for ferrari's image and how they're pushing the "friendship" between carlos and charles. in that sense, charles is not hanging out publicly with max because it benefits him, quite the opposite.

he's doing it to manipulate the narrative and take over some control himself.

that's how i see the situation right now. it will be definitely interesting to see how these grid dynamics develop because yes, they are co-workers but also in the season where so many contracts expire, it's also a big powerplay so there's definitely a lot of decisions behind the scenes