#max just reminds me so much of seb's domination era

[warcriminalpastry]

red bull golden boys

Seb and Max parallels

them in white fireproofs>>

always #1s

the grid’s sun kissed blondes

they trademarked this pose for legal reasons

them with silly hats

as footballers

absolutely loved and adored by their team

with the man who designed their winning cars

Michael transferring his legacy on to them

+

bonus

their mutual love for Ferrari boys

[yesloulou]

ALEXIS, I just reblogged your ask about how checo has been flopping since ausgp and your whole point of the narrative remind me of something I’ve been trying to put into words for so long and I think I’ve finally GOT IT:

As much as racing bros don’t want to admit it, F1 isn’t just about racing. It’s theatre and spectacle like literally ALL FORMS of entertainment is. And there always has to be a story. Look at how a large section of F1 fans have termed this season as “boring”. Even during the merc domination years, there was a clear story: Lewis going after record after record (“how high can he climb” type narrative) and he had the nico rivalry to bolster his title reigns. Seb also had a very clear narrative for his return to the title scene.

Max, as much as I love him, doesn’t really have a “story” per say and checo is NOT anywhere close to providing him with one. But who has a better story this season than Daniel Ricciardo? The whole Icarus falling, prodigal son returning, tireless underdog storyline is ALL RIGHT THERE. And that’s why he’s been generating the most headlines all season, even before he got into the AT seat.

While we’re on the subject, who has a better story WITH MAX expect Daniel Ricciardo? His favorite teammate, the only one to beat him in equal machinery, the one who’s clawed his way back to the top after so much struggle while Max has had so much success? Just imagine how much more Max’s third title would mean if it came down to him and Danny in that last race, than him and Checo…who he’s already dominated all season 🙄 It’s actually a disservice to Max more than anything that he doesn’t have a real “battle” like he did with Lewis and Charles the last two years.

But they have Danny there as their ace they can pull out and suddenly EVERYONE is invested in seeing them go at it, even if its only one more time. In short, this is my essay that I’ll be second to RB headquarters as to why they need to switch Danny over in Vegas 👼

What you said!!!

(Btw saying max's season doesn't have a story is not a dig at all imo. He has no story because him and the new reg rb cars have been unchallenged. It really just speaks for how good he is as a driver and rb has been as a team.)

I really enjoy looking at the juxtaposition of how F1 exists because of the athletic spirit of pushing human performance to the extreme but at the same time is a media/entertainment event at its core. Especially in the context of Daniel's career, since he is a bit of an outlier in terms of career trajectory vs marketability (and is therefore more telling of how F1 functions as an ecosystem).

It's really no secret that F1 doesn't thrive under single team dominance. The more competitive the field is, the more interest there will be for the races and ultimately for the sport (source: domenicali himself). People's interest then translates directly into F1's livelihood bc F1 as an organization profits primarily through selling broadcasting rights and ad opportunities. Now that RBR has built themselves a gap even bigger than F1 had expected (source also domenicali) with no signs of slowing down or as you pointed out, alternative marketing angles/entry points like the lewis/nico situation, this season has begun to bore, which will hurt F1 financially, if not already.

On the other hand, it's against sportsmanship for F1 to do anything that can be considered manipulation to change this reality (it was explicitly stated that F1 "cannot intervene" RB's dominance). Domenicali's best bet (and what F1 has been doing so far) is to exercise budget caps in hopes of a convergence over time and a shortening of RB's cycle of dominance, with 'hope' being the keyword since there are way too many factors for anybody to really predict how this RB era will ultimately play out. While the hoping and waiting continue, F1 is in need of other ways to keep their seasons interesting. And you're absolutely right about this being where Daniel's marketability (existing and potential) comes into play. On top of the fact that people are simply massively interested in him in or out of a car, front or back at the field**, he also has the potential ability to make the championship itself interesting again, something Ferarri, Merc, Checo (and Domenicali himself for the time being) have all failed to do. As marketing-minded as F1's management is (remember when Domenicali literally flew to nyc for red bull's 2023 car launch with horner but then decided last minute to not attend in order to give Ford the full spotlight?), I wouldn't be surprised at all if they welcome Daniel's comeback as much as his fans, or maybe even more so due to its financial implications.

This is ofc not to say F1 can or will do anything about it (just like on principle they can't intervene RB's dominance). But if you think about it, at this point, everyone -- fans, media, sponsors, suppliers (the amount of ford/daniel content we've seen so far), Red Bull as a team, F1 as an organization, even (or like, especially) Max himself -- all want to see and benefit from Daniel coming back on top (except for maybe Checo but at the rate he's been going lately i actually don't know anymore lol). This is a momentum whose importance should not be underestimated. This is exactly why, even though Daniel's stock was at an all time low after mclaren, he was given opportunities and tool sets to rebuild and reestablish himself in this otherwise extremely exclusive, brutal in nature sport. Red Bull (and Mercedes at one point) does not do this out of charity or nostalgia. They're simply an acting agent for this momentum.

Anyways, this is why I think Daniel's F1 career is far from over. People who are quick to conclude "without a wdc ricciardo can't just come and go like alonso" fail to recognize that even not racing, Daniel generates more public interest than the majority of the grid**, an interest that ultimately ties back to this sport, which puts him in a very unique position.

** According to google, Daniel created thee biggest headline F1 has had in the past 3 months, with his overall google search volume ranking 3rd amongst all drivers despite not actively racing.

[skitskatdacat63]

I say this lovingly, WITH LOVE, bc I love Lewis, but RB dominance early 2010's Lewis was a brat and a petty bitch, he only ever even really touched Jenson in those post quali pics if he was in the middle, boy did not like being 2nd or 3rd and there's 3 years of pics to prove it lol

which makes those specific pictures you posted look even FUNNIER because Seb and Jenson always had fucking heart eyes at each other

you're bang on with Mark though, man had the most irritating little shit as a teammate and often was relegated to 🧍‍♂️ on the end unless he caught Jenson's heart eyes first

Omgggggg yes!! Every once in a while I'm reminded again of Lewis's McLaren era Twitter drama and I have to go look at them again. Though I've been watching Tooned lately so I'm so used to their more friendly competition buddy-buddy relationship in that, and I'm looking at all these pics like "oh wait yeah a bit of tension!"

I think its very interesting to look back on these, bcs nowadays people will get on drivers asses so much if they don't look happy for their teammate beating them(i.e. the beginning of this season with Max and Checo, everyone would start some shit about how Max looks upset and how he can't even bear to pretend to be happy.) I look at this like, wow you would not like the older eras then! Not that I was personally there but looking back at certain teammates. It's so funny with teammates pairings like Slagclaren and Martian. Just straight up ignoring each other or looking openly pissed(I think about Seb Hungary 2010 so much.)

The language of touch is such an interesting thing when looking at these pics when they're all standing together? As I said, Jense almost always has his arm curled around Seb's shoulders and Seb's leaning into him. Whereas whoever else is with them(for podiums as well), mostly just has the accustomary one hand behind whoevers in the middle's back. You can almost always tell just at a glance who's happy and who's unhappy with the results just by how close they're standing and how touchy. And Seb and Jense are always happy for each other 🥺🥺🥺

Anyways, that's why I like 2011, because it's RBR and McLaren together at the top, with other teams occasionally getting up there. And it's two teammate partnerships where they're bitchy and salty with each other, but then Jense and Seb who are literally married rivals, so their teammates are forced to be the awkward third wheel. But omg I love the ones where it's Seb and Jense standing like a married couple and Lewis just standing however far apart he can without not being out of the pic:

But the Hungary one in particular is still sending me 😭

HE'S SO DONE WITH THEM!!!!

Also also, so true what you said about Mark catching Jense's eyes first! You made me think of this pic: