#im under no false belief george is running round thinking max should choke- those are JOKES

[russilton]

Okay this is probably a sensitive topic but I find your blog to be really fair and balanced despite the drivers' fans from both sides may not think so. Anyway my question is that why do you think George should dislike Max (even Alonso) or refrain from hanging out with them? They're not great people sure but he's their co-worker. Not everyone can spend their careers isolating himself like Lewis has done, his reasons for doing so are justified so I am not blaming him at all, but George doesn't HAVE to do it. He can and should enjoy a relatively peaceful co-existence with his colleagues. He, Max, Lando, Alex have things in common too, they're in stable relationships, they are close in age, it makes sense for them to be casually friendly. He and Max will not be besties but I don't think it hurts to have a cordial relationship with your colleagues especially when you aren't personally affected by whatever they've done. Lewis is great but his burden is uniquely his, George or anyone else can't be expected to share it. I think it's a bit absurd to expect George to dislike his colleagues on Lewis' behalf especially when he will spend longer with them than Lewis. Lewis and George aren't even close enough to demand that sort of loyalty. I am sure Lewis knows and understands this too. I usually agree with a lot of what you say but I believe we shouldn't police who George can or cannot be friends with.

Because, I tend to not be friends with people who are dicks to my friends, particularly if those people are racist.

“Lewis is great but his burden is uniquely his” not to be rude anon, but no the fuck it ain’t. The burden is on everyone else to be anti racist, not on him to stand up to dehumanising treatment. That’s the bare minimum.

That’s all I really need to say- further rant under the cut because I was writing at 5am and it’s basically a given.

It’s a bit of an unfair twist to say Lewis has “isolated himself” when the treatment he’s isolating himself from is heavily laden in micro aggressions and on track behaviour that could have killed him.

Also, not to be that George fan, but if you really need a point not about Lewis - the vitriol aimed at Lewis and subsequently Mercedes ABSOLUTELY effects George. He has been subject to mocking and harassment from Red Bull fans from the SECOND he he was rumoured to have signed for Merc. He has spoken more than once about how horrible it feels to be Boo’d at tracks, because he is in Mercedes.

None of those fans gave half a fuck about him when he was in Williams, but when he became Lewis’ teammate suddenly his every interview was being called PR trained because it didn’t shit on Lewis or was actively praising. Some of you might not have been around for “PR63” but I sure was, and Merc comments would be full of homophobic tweets from Red bull fans, when they weren’t calling him a cry baby. Max may not be directly responsible for his fans- but he’s frankly never stopped them, if anything he ENCOURAGES them.

Max himself has also called George names, made thinly veiled homophobic insults, had people imply max wanted to attack him. Max said that George was being dramatic and attention seeking for being heartbroken after Sakhir, publicly undermined his efforts as GPDA director to increase safety, to the point George himself called him out for it, said that George should get out of his way when George wouldn’t just let him overtake in Baku, and more. On and off the track Max has insulted and belittled George, the people George loves (Alex, Lewis, Mercedes), and made his job both more dangerous and more boring.

Being cold to Max isnt out of the blue either- George was the first person to speak up about AD21 (literally while the race was ongoing, look up the infamous unacceptable tweet) and was one of the first to condemn piquet sr’s (Max’s defacto father in law) comments at the beginning of last year, to the point man other drivers copied his statement. My point is George has been frequently and outspokenly against stuff max does to the limit he is allowed to say. Shit I have friends who aren’t George fans who say they only thing they like about him is he will not fail to throw a dig at Red Bull and Max if he can- yes it’s for him but he is also using his privilege. Lewis doesn’t get to say those things or he’s labelled a bad sport, attacked by the press, sometimes even F1 itself and FURTHER ostracised. But George can say it, and often he does. It’s probably not “loyalty” that makes him do that, but just… basic friendship?

Let’s be real, I have to look the other way often about things both George AND Lewis do, they travel in circles I’ll never touch, and speak to people I don’t care for, and say shit I dislike. We live profoundly different lives and our bubbles are so different they might as well be on different continents. I don’t expect George calling him mv0 or telling everyone he hates him, the same way lewis doesn’t, because they work with him. But working with someone doesn’t grant them an automatic right to friendship. And frankly f1 drivers have this weird relationship with friendship vs teammates vs on track fights as it is

Just because someone is your coworker doesn’t mean they have to be your friend, especially if they’re a bigoted fuckin asshole.