#my opinion on george has changed over this season

[silentreigns]

George managing to turn the majority of the F1 community against him in a day after improving his image these past few weekends with good results. Definitely did not anticipate him becoming the main character these last couple of races

[ruminiscence]

Paris: A Year Abroad in a short film

Audio: "Burnt Norton" by Lana Del Rey, a rendition of the original poem "Burnt Norton" by T.S. Eliot.

Where do I even start? Paris has wholly shaped me in ways I never imagined. We refer to Paris as the city of love, but I'm now more inclined to call it the city of art - which only leaves more room for love in your heart. There is so much to contemplate and appreciate in frequenting the vast array of art museums here - from the Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Musée de l’Orangerie, the Centre Georges Pompidou, and many more. Not only has my perspective on art expanded, but so has my worldview. That’s because art is truly everywhere in this city; art can be found in the walkable streets amidst the rich architecture, the fashionable outfits seen in daily life, and even the exquisite decor in stores and when you cheekily peek into Parisian appartments!

There's always something new to discover in Paris, I'm almost saddened at the thought of the things I've yet to discover or missed. The treasures to unveil in Paris move far beyond the typical tourist hotspots we all know and love. I am obsessed with Parisian boutiques; they are chic and unique (that unintentionally rhymed) in the best way possible. One of my favourites is La Tonkinoise à Paris, located in the 11th arrondissement. This particular arrondissmenet is the best in Paris to be honest, it holds a special place in my heart as I had the wonderful opportunity of living there, so perhaps you can say that I am somewhat biased. Still, I can confidently say that this animated, hip and creative neighbourhood is one everyone should have the chance to explore.

La Tonkinoise à Paris, owned by the lovely Chantal, is my favourite hidden gem in Paris. I had the pleasure of befriending Chantal as I ended up frequenting her store one too many times; I've garnered quite a collection over time. This boutique offers a wide range of eccentric and sustainable jewellery, with her earring creations being the show stoppers, in my opinion. Her jewellery is composed of rings, pearls, brooches, charms, and watches, all unearthed in flea markets and recycled. I love that every piece of jewellery indeed is a unique piece. The decor changes based on the season and theme of her new collections, making it an ever-changing and exciting shopping experience. This is honestly the best jewellery store I have ever been to in my life! I wish the pictures I took could do the jewellery and the boutique's decor justice, but it simply won't, I'm afraid.

Now, onto food, I genuinely need to figure out where to start here. My favourite authentic French restaurant would have to be 'Le Potager du Père Thierry', located in Montmartre. Although it's incredibly small, I love the cosy vibe; I feel like I can enjoy delicious food with friends without feeling surrounded by strangers. Surprisingly, it's also very quiet (yet packed) - I guess the food is just too distracting.

As of late, my favourite non-french restaurant has to be 'Big Black Cook' (let's ignore how inappropriate that pun is, though funny). It's located in the 2nd arrondissement and serves Caribbean food, my friend claims that it was the best meat she's had!

For brunch, I recommend Café Méricourt in the 11th arrondissement. Their green Eggs & Feta are absolutely incredible and quite innovative as far as brunch places go.

As for a boulangerie - seriously, anywhere, literally anywhere in Paris, go to your nearest bakery; there need not be a big fuss - you're in for a scrumptious baked treat regardless!

I'm ever so grateful for the chance to have lived in Paris for an extended period; you cannot appreciate Paris in its entire splendour from a mere short-term visit. The city is an actual work of art; art is everywhere in the city, from the street performers and musicians, the light filters through the trees, the city's many architecturally rich bridges, the picturesque cafés and boulangeries, the beautifully presented food, the way that the city's many different neighbourhoods each have their own distinct character and vibe. In Paris, art is everywhere.

[christelightlavo]

My Ever-so changing opinions : TV show version

I will go from the two most controversial (in my opinion) to going over one by one.

You love but everyone hates : Riverdale, it's more wattpad then the actual wattpad movies ya know??? Do I take the series seriously? No. Do I like it as a series for its storytelling, characters? Not even a bit. Do I find it so entertaining because it's like it's written by a suger high seven year old who just loves sex? Yeah. It's like being high without the weed. The story is shit, the characters are shit but when you off all your brain cells and just watch. It becomes my favorite wattpad comedy.

You hate but everyone loves : Big bang theory, I have the opposite feeling with this one. I love the characters, they are iconic but I can't help but take them seriously ya know? The show is for nerds but it makes fun of nerds. It's dated in some areas and honestly ever romantic relationship except Amy and Sheldon made me very uncomfortable. But even so, I genuinely likes the characters so much so that Young Sheldon is in my top 10 TV shows.

Favorite TV show : Heartstopper, my heart stoped watching this. I am a simple bi girl who was SO DAMN happy with Nick. I am a simple girl, who loves Charlie's story. I am a simple girl who compared my bff with Teo. I am a simple girl who may or may not have a mini crush on Ellie--- you get my point.

Favorite protagonist : Fiona from shameless, I like her. She is like very comforting and loving but bites and is just tired you know? Like she was one of the first protagonists to make me cry. Shameless is pretty much a series that has many main character's but Fiona is the center head of the story in my opinion.

Favorite Deuteragonist : stiles stilinski from Teen Wolf, I am a very simple girl.

Favorite Antagonist : Void stiles from Teen Wolf, a very very simple girl.

Best story : Anne with an E, whenever I see someone talking about this series they mainly focus on the romance which is pretty good but the characters, their stories and the messages are genuinely great. I like almost everything about this story. That being said, I am still watching it, I am a slow watcher give me a break but from what I see, This is worth the watch.

Favorite Intro : Got a secret. Can you keep it swear on this one you'll save~ better lock it in your pocket, taking this one to the grave~ *nostalgia rushing in me.

Have not watched but want to : Young royals, I have heard it's good. The cast seems intriguing but I just didn't have the time :-(

Best cinematography : Stranger Things season 3.

Favorite ending : Heartstopper season 3.

Favorite season : Teen wolf season 3B.

Favorite pilot episode : Pretty little liars, the first episode brought in so much intrigue and levels of mystery that me who watched it after it's downfall was hooked. Even though I knew it would lead to shitty reveals, it is still very well done.

Favorite episode : Big time rush, last episode. It made me smile.

Would like to watch again : Hannah Montana, I miss my childhood.

Would never watch again : Riverdale, do I find it funny? Yeah. Will I watch it again? Nope.

Favorite plot twist : Young Sheldon, George senior not actually cheating on Mary and it being just Mary cosplaying. They did it very well and made it believable to why Sheldon as an adult would still believe that George cheated while maintaining that the man was a loving father and husband. It also hit hard after his death.

Should have more attention : Anne with an E. And also heartstoppers but it already does thankfully.

*points at @fandom-stealer * do your thing.

[neptunescore]

zak brown hater anon here and heheh. I can’t explain how happy I am seeing Zak Brown look of disappointment after the race. Literally giggling and kicking my feet. I think I’m thriving. McLauren and RedBull were pretty equal but of course McLauren had batter pace at the end. Honestly I’m not mad about this race but also not too happy because this is a triple header. As a McLaren hater I pray on their downfall but as an Oscar fan if they must be successful I hope he’s the one winning.

ANYWAY, while I’m here I guess I’ll talk about the recent drama with Mercedes. My personal opinion, I’ve been thinking about this for a long time but I think Mercedes wasn’t pushing Lewis aside. Did they make questionable decisions? Yes 100%. But at the same time I don’t think they’re purposefully disregarding him just because he’s moving to another team. He’s been with them for years and while I heard Mercedes didn’t offer a promising deal to him in the end it was up to him. Lewis is getting older and it’s his career. Like what he said in DTS to Toto that Toto can continue being in the sport but he can’t. That’s just not possible.

It’s great progress that Mercedes is finally picking up the pace but I do not think the reason the car “magically got better” is because of the recent drama. Some people may have been joking but to those being serious, improving a car does NOT take a weekend. It takes weeks- months- even until the end of the season- to improve the car. We have seen that over the past few races Mercedes have been increasingly faster and a better race pace but it is not because of Lewis and his fans saying he’s being sabotaged. They are still a team and they have their morals and competitiveness- they want to win- why would they push it all away just because their driver is moving to another team?

One thing to note, I do think the social media admin was feeling a bit goofy and was not paying attention to Lewis as much as George. In one way, it’s reasonable with their standings but in the last few races I think it became apparent that the admin is just not paying attention to what’s happening with Lewis. So I understand people’s a very towards that.

I think it’s important to factor in that most of this escalated mainly because of the fanbase. And it kinda disgusts me how everyone is joking (and agreeing with the person who wrote the email) about the email that proceeded to defame the crew in Mercedes (especially Toto and George). If there were any members that WERE against Lewis, I believe it still shouldn’t excuse putting it up against the entire team because then it’s punishing the entire team for a few people that might not even hold important positions to make a difference. (In this scenario I’m talking they aren’t on the same level as who’s on the pitwall). Everyone saying “oh, car is better and not f**ked because of the email” is kinda bs. I will say Mercedes is now making sure they equally support both Lewis and George on social media but on track, the car was always the same. Strategy made the difference and you can argue that George gets the better strategy than Lewis but in the end they are a team. Whoever is in a better position to gain more points will receive the better strategy.

Lewis will always be Mercedes champion but it also doesn’t mean Mercedes can’t win without him. I’ve seen some recent tweets defaming George and- hate him all you want- but he’s a competitive driver. He may not have the skills to make up for it like Nico, but he’s consistently gaining experience and has shown his growth. A good example being the amazing start in the Spanish GP. Yes, he complains a lot, but don’t all drivers? People forget George looks up to Lewis and even if their relationship may have changed over their years as teammates it does not change that Lewis was and still is his role model.

anyone can disagree with me on this ofc. You can think Lewis gets the short end which is totally fine (I can understand your points, don’t get me wrong) but at least do not praise the email for defaming multiple people that might not even be involved if there is anything happening behind the scenes. I love Lewis and I was giggling and kicking my feet seeing him on the podium. I’m super excited to see what else Mercedes can bring to the table and try to fight for wins in the upcoming races. I’m a max fan but Lewis is really close up there (funny, isn’t?) so I can’t wait to see them fighting on track again soon. I feel like I my lifespan extends whenever I see them together on podium and fighting on track.

thank you for coming to my ted talk 🫶

ZB❌️ ANON!!! I missed you pookie😔✋🏽

God, SAMEEE. Like after his comment on how lando could be winning championships if they had the best car, the visceral and pure need that arose in me to see him swallow his words, literally none of u will understand how deep it went😭. BUT LOOK AT MY MAXY FULLFILLING ALL MY DESIRES AND SHOWING THEM THERES A REASON HES CONSIDERED ONE OF THE BEST!!! I LOVE HIM!! And I agree on the oscar part as well, like I'm the biggest mclaren hater to exist (the TEAM, NOT the drivers, please don't come at me ppl😭), but if they're doing anything successful I'd love to watch oscar bring it, acc... ugh, I don't know, I never wanna see that ugly orange on the podium (this is NOT me hating on the drivers, if they're on the podium then they deserve to be there, I just hate mclaren alot guys😔✊🏽)

Moving on to the mercedes drama, I've already made so many posts abt it, but ur ask summarises my opinions perfectly (as always🫶🏼). The main thing pissing me off is the fact that some fans genuinely believe that email, or if they don't, they still joke abt the things that were being said in it. Like, do they not understand how VILE the whole email was?? It literally accuses george of SLEEPING WITH HIS BOSS, says they're plotting to KILL LEWIS, and then makes the most indirect threats against George's own wellbeing. That's absolutely batshit crazy. There's no way anyone should believe/ joke abt that.

As a young POC girl (and just as a fan in general), I literally adore lewis, but the fact that when he was asked abt the hate george was receiving, he just chose to brush it aside and say how 'he's never heard of it' rlly got me irritated. Like, at least tell ppl that any kind of hate, in general, towards any driver is just straight up wrong❌️ and should not✋🏽 be a thing they do.

Anyway, fans that r saying lewis ended up on the podium bc they finally stopped sabotaging his car after the email are just a new level of delulu. I won't even explain this because no f1 fan needs an explanation on how long cars take to be built/ adjusted🙂. Also, in the end these comments are just taking away from lewis' efforts, bc despite the shit car, he STILL managed to put it up on the podium (tho the car rlly did seem to suit this track)

Overall, I personally (none of u need to agree with me) think merc is NOT sabotaging lewis (why would they, the team needs points so bad😭) but they ARE acting shit towards him, especially the social media team.

I love ur Ted talks ZB❌️ anon, come by whenever u want❤️ (what's ur opinion on the carlos and charles situation btw)

[lapelduide]

Listen y'all. I love Simon&Daphne, Kate&Anthony, Charlotte&George and Penelope&Colin. I love all of them and I can WITHOUT HUMILIATING ANY OF THEM FOR FLATTERING ANOTHER. They all are good in their own ways. You can love s1, s2 and QC -i do too- and I respect that but I have no respect for those who are bringing down upcoming s3 for praising QC. Saying it can never be as good as QC. Fr why can't it be? It surely can. Colin and Penelope are complex characters playing by wonderful actors.

You may not like Penelope and Colin but as it has been said before s1 Anthony was unlikeable too and it literally takes 2 episodes for people to fall in love with him. So why can't you love Polin too?

I sometimes wonder are we actually watching the same series with those who are saying Pen is evil and Colin is selfish.

Well the reason I felt the need to write my thoughts down was a comment I saw. A fans comment basically saying she/he and most of the fans -you are a single person talk for YOURSELF wtf- will not watch s3 if there will not be Kate and Anthony as much as s2. That Penelope has so much screen time and that's why "most of the fans" don't like her.

First of all I think toxic Kathony fans need to understand that their season was season 2. They can't have the whole series and can't be the main focus all of the upcoming seasons. GET OVER IT. IF YOU WANT TO WATCH THEM AS MAIN COUPLE GO AND REWATCH SEASON 2. If you are going to watch s3 just for them then simply don't watch.

And Penelope having so much screen time? I don't think so but even if she does, it is understandable. Because guess what?- She is Lady Whistledown! SHE IS IMPORTANT. If you are disliking a character because of this shitty reason then don't blame the character. I personally don't think there is something wrong about her screen time, in fact we are understanding Pen's pov. -I mean I hope WE are. At least I do.-

I can't understand why some people can't assimilate s3's main couple? One way or another the explanations I read was nothing more than excuses.

-Pen should have character development through season 3 and Polin season should come after that? She will have this in s3.

-There is so much to solve? Well that is one of the reasons why it will be exciting.

I am not even going to talk about the ones who are saying Penelope should BEG Colin, Eloise and Marina; the ones who are saying Colin doesn't deserve Pen, the ones who are saying Pen doesn't deserve Colin; defending Colin loves Marina, that Polin shouldn't be the endgame etc. Huh, I have seen enough.

Anyways. Nobody can change my opinion about how good s3 will be but I was furious after reading that comment. So thank y'all for reading my little verdantly TED Talk.

Since I am so nervous... here are some gifs for some relaxation. (I wish i could create gifs too...)

[church-history]

A brief comparison of the liturgical prayers of the TLM (traditional Latin Mass) and the Novus Ordo.

Most practicing Catholics know that major revisions were made to Roman Catholic Mass in 1969, but aside from the language of the liturgy, what has changed?

The Latin Mass has nearly twice as many prayers as the New Mass.

Orations

Of all the rotating prayers (orations) 83% are unique to the TLM. In the new missal, 669 of the original 1,273 orations have been removed, and of the remaining, only 13% were left unchanged.

Reverence

Even the number of times the priest kisses the altar, genuflects, and makes the sign of the cross, has been severely reduced

A Different Cycle of Scripture Readings

The new Roman missal has a three year cycle - a well intentioned attempt to expose the laity to more scripture in the Mass. However given the nature of the three year cycle, it's inevitable that the readings will not align as appropriately and succinctly as the specially chosen readings of the older one year cycle when it comes to specific feasts and the liturgical seasons, a choice of quantity over quality unfortunately.

I leave it to the reader to decide for his or herself whether the older one year or newer three year cycle is preferable.

The Last Gospel

Catholics who have never attended a Latin Mass may be surprised to learn that following communion and dismissal, there is a lengthy gospel reading called The Last Gospel (John 1:1-14).

Why the last Gospel?

From the notations of the 1962 Roman Daily Missal:

The Mass began with the longing cry of the Old Testament: "Send forth Thy light and Thy truth!" It could not be concluded in a more worthy and more sublime manner than with the words of St. John: "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory as of the Only-Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."

And according to Catholic author Msgr. George J. Moorman, in his book, The Latin Mass Explained:

This reading, in the course of time, was added to the Eucharistic service on account of the great reverence the early Christians entertained for this portion of the Gospel and because it contains a summary of the benefits of which we are made partakers through Christ’s Sacrifice. The service was introduced by the prayer of the priest: ‘Send forth Thy Light and Thy Truth!’ It could not be concluded in a more becoming manner than with the words, ‘AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH, and dwelt among us; and we saw His glory, the glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.’ At the words ‘AND THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH’, the priest and the people kneel on one knee in token of adoration of the mystery of the Incarnation, which is expressed in these words, and to indicate that the Son of God came from Heaven to earth. When the priest has finished the reading of this Gospel, the server answers, ‘Deo Gratias’—‘Thanks Be To God.’ These are the last words of the Mass.

Unfortunately this beautiful gospel passage and it's place of honor have been completely removed in the New Mass, and it's omission may even (as a matter of personal opinion) have contributed to the enormous number of people who leave Mass early immediately following Holy Communion.

Conclusion

Dearest Reader, I have attempted to be objective and only present facts in the above, however it may be clear to those of you who are familiar with my blog, where my biases lay. I am a Latin Mass Catholic, I love the traditional liturgy and will never stop advocating for the timeless Mass of ages that has brought untold numbers of faithful to the Lord for over a millennia. However, I make no judgment on the faithful who prefer the New Mass, nor do I mean to suggest that the Novus Ordo is in any way invalid. I only ask that all consider the information I have compiled and do your own research, that you may come to your own well informed conclusions. God Love You!

If any have questions or further interest in the topic of the Traditional Latin Mass my DMs are open or you may send an 'ask', I will answer or redirect you to the best of my ability.

(Credit to The Mass of the Ages project for images above)

[gemstone-ruby]

Season Finale Ramblings

Oh I feel so vindicated after watching to finale of The Gilded Age! Please note I do NOT have the extra context that comes with the show's extras yet (podcasts, interview, etc.) and I have only watched season two once but I am still filled with (a little too much) giddy energy about the ending so this is going to be a wall of text be prepared...

Thoughts and spoilers after the break

Lets start with Peggy: when I tell you I let out a sigh of relief when she left that man standing in the park! Mr. Fortune is MARRIED with -insert number of kids here- one of which is a newborn. You're telling me your wife just gave birth and you're making googly eyes at the new journalist who works for you???? TRASH. Now don't get me wrong, I could write off the kiss in the barn as a heat of the moment thing for the plot or whatever, but I think KNOW I would have been really pissed off and disappointed in how they took Peggy's character if they let that storyline continue into an affair. I wish Peggy the best of luck with her author dreams now that she has her start.

Ms. Marian: Girl, I am so happy you found your voice, dusted off your spine and got out of that engagement. For season one, in my opinion, she was pining so much for her old life that it made her lie to herself. She lost everything and everyone she knew in the blink of an eye and had to immediately put on a brave face and table her grief because Agnes hated her brother. I do think she loved Mr. Raikes but I think that love was rooted in her using him as a way back to "real life" once they got married. So much so that she ignored the signs that Raikes was being seduced by high society life in New York. She really grew as a person this season but when she accepted Dashiell's proposal, I thought she was sliding back downhill into the quiet housewife everyone expects her to be. I'm glad she's finally taking life into her own hands and I'm glad Larry Russell might be getting a happy ending with her as well. We shall see...

Speaking of the Russells: A big beautiful congratulations to Mrs. Russell for winning the opera war...however...I think it might come back to bite her in the ass when Gladys, and most importantly, Mr. Russell find out she basically sold her daughter off to the duke to do so. I love Mr. and Mrs. Russell as a unit, THE power couple, but George made it clear that he doesn't give two shits about playing the grand game of society. He only plays for his wife because his family's happiness is all he wants; if Gladys is falling for another man and Bertha tries to force her into the duke's arms, the power couple is going to clash. HARD. You already saw a brief look at that potential conflict when Mr. Russell was facing charges for the train crash and all Mrs. Russell could think about was a ball. He didn't even tell her when he was going ON TRIAL ffs! Yes they were at odds when Bertha found out about Turner coming onto him but in that instance George was working for forgiveness from his wife; the train derailment had him ready to bare teeth over his wife's lack of empathy. Mr. Russell already promised his daughter he would have her back when it comes to her marriage; this is not going to resolved without at least one relationship dynamic in the Russell household changing forever...

And FINALLY SOME KARMIC JUSTICE FOR ADA!!!! Omfg this woman could not catch a break for the life of her. This wise, kind soul had to live years as a spinster and (as I'm sure she probably thinks) a leech on the fortune her sister had to marry an awful man to get. When she at last finds a good man to love and live out her golden years with he fucking gets cancer and dies almost as soon as they get married. This woman could not get more than a second of peace. But when Bannister turned to her and crowned her head of the household with one question it's like the stars aligned! You could see it in her face when she realized she was finally, not her sister's equal, but her superior by Agnes's own old world standards. And I know that Agnes loves her sister in her outdated way, but in my opinion, it was also extremely patronizing. Agnes ruled her household with an iron fist, so much so that literally every one living under her roof, from the servants to her family members, have secrets they're keeping in fear of losing their way of life by angering her. Now, dear Aunt Ada, gets to take the rinds and I can't wait. Ada is kind but not naïve, wise but not authoritarian, and she realizes that the world is changing and society along with it. Everyone in the Van Rhijn house may now have a chance at happiness their own way now that they have a mistress who has no interest in changing who they are for the sake of other people's opinions.

I want to stress that I am not bashing Agnes. At least I'm not trying to. I know her way of thinking is a product of her time mixed with the horrors and injustices she had to face to get to where she is in life. But her being stuck in survival mode has sank her ship and nearly alienated her from her own family. She should take this changing of the guard as her sign to give it a rest, to TAKE a rest. Do I think she's going to: NO. I think she's going to be a bitter pain in the ass now that she has virtually no power.

I'm going to end this by saying to look forward to seeing if and how Mrs. Astor will move forward. She does not seem to be the type of woman to fade off into the night silently in defeat. I would say she may team up with Ms. Turner/Mrs. Winterton but not only does Astor know her secret now but I think she's about two seconds from spiraling in a BAD way and losing that rich husband of hers. I mean look at the temper tantrums she threw every time she lost something to Mrs. Russell.

If they do not renew this show for another season, I will haul myself from the Brooklyn Bridge (I'm joking.....mostly )

[myimaginarywonderland]

Something that I think is quiet interesting is the future of RedBull. It has always seemed obvious that around 2026-ish Max was likely to leave F1 for a while, maybe eben forever to pursue other racing series. And I don't want to talk about that but rather what that means for the team itself (as a big RB hater simply because I dislike most people affiliated with the team.)

RedBull is very obviously not waiting for a talent like Seb or Max to come up through their own academy again otherwise they wouldn't have renewed Perez and would have already given Lawson a shot. Most of the RB juniors are in F2/F3 and have decent to good results but clearly nothing that fits this Golden Boy track both Max and Seb had to a degree.

So that begs the question who will be their lead driver? Again, RB just acts like a first and second driver team. Seb established himself. Then he left where we had a weird time that it sort of flopped around but the closest was probably Daniel who was always likely to be replaced as soon as Max came into his own form and the sport for that matter.

The structure of the team has pretty much since 2009 been that there is a lead driver and a second driver. You can argue this developed alongside RedBull becoming a top team with Seb for example just simply estaishing himself etc. But it's undeniable that it works for them and I don't see why they would stray from that concept.

Red Bull has always gunned for the younger promising drivers. Be it Seb for the time he was there or now Max. Not to mention the dozen of Torro Rosso drivers who were good but not quiet enough who are now flourishing in their own racing series.

So, considering they clearly are not aiming for someone within their own programm, who is their future plan when Max decides to leave? The most obvious answer of course and the most likely one is that they will look at the grid and clearly aim for one of the best, youngest drivers. There is a huge promise with RB if a driver of that position comes in because he is in some way essentially guaranteed the number 1 seat in that team.

The most interesting and intriguing question here is who would fit into their role. Now, granted I am only working with this year's and next years potential grid but I think it's guaranteed that before 2027 there will not be another major talent coming into F1 that hasn't already been talked about/hinted at this year.

That leaves a narrowed down list actually of vets few drivers most of who in my opinion can already be excluded.

Charles is clearly in the Ferrari long game. I would not be surprised if he retires with them and will never change teams.

George and Kimi are clearly the duo for Mercedes for the next say 5 years? George has always been Mercedes plan for after Lewis and regardless what happens, I think it's obvious that sooner or later Antonelli will end up at Mercedes partnering George.

Now before I come to the actual two people who I believe it will narrow down to, I will just quickly explain why I won't even bother talking about anybody else. Drivers like Sainz or Esteban sadly fall into that same category as Drivers like Hulkenberg or Ricciardo. They are good but they are stuck in between the past generational talents (Seb, Lewis and Britney) and the future (Charles, Max, George etc.) They fall in between and will therefore only ever really be back up Drivers since the big teams are focused on their talent that went through their academy, training etc.

Now, who I think the actual future battle for the lead in RedBull once Max decides to leave comes down to, is the McLaren drivers.

Sooner or later (most likely after next season, potentially already after this on) McLaren will have to decide who they are going with for their future. They will have to prioritize one driver. You can't just have two drivers like Lando and Oscar who both show so much promise, on equal grounds because sooner or later you will be confronted with having to prioritize one over the other or one will maybe establish himself more when it counts which then brings the question of "Does this mean we will now make him the leader?"

With Norris current behavior it is obvious he is gunning for a fight with Max while Oscar is still adapting to the car as well as driving in F1 (It is only his second season.) Once Oscar adapts and if this form of McLaren continues, next year will poss a big question which is "Should Oscar get the hang of the car and get up there with Lando, who is the main guy that will be fighting among Max?" I am sure that McLaren would first let them just drive, wait for their results etc.

But again, the point where they have to decide "Who is our main guy?" will come and the other driver who loses out in that will still so clearly be a contender for a top seat. Should Max leave within the next 5 years, I truly believe that RedBull would get whoever loses out in that battle and put them along Max for a season or 2 before they become the main driver.

I personally believe 100% that Norris is McLaren through and through (in the worst way possible because I am still a hater.) Since he arrived in 2019, McLaren has felt to me like his team, a team built around him especially with his close connection to Zak Brown.

Which to me means one thing and offers one of the most exciting possibilities to the future (I might just stop hating RB for him): Oscar taking over as the RB golden child. While RB have made their interest in Norris quiet clear for years now, I always assumed that McLaren would be Norris team. Not for a second have I ever thought that would change or is in question.

So the most likely scenario to me for the next 5 years is the Duo of Max and Oscar at RedBull and Oscar taking over as the lead driver there once Max decides to try endurance racing.

[delicatesoundofthunderr]

Lock-up ~ Chapter 3

{Charles Leclerc x Reader}

chapter 2^

•••

I woke up the next day to something unexpected. The video with Max went viral as expected, but for the wrong reasons.

The editor of the video didn't cut out the talk I had with Max while eating the dish, and everyone was going crazy over it. One account in particular stood out.

@F1.drama

Oh my god the talk Y/N had with Max... you can genuinely tell she likes him!! I think they're more than friends yall...

Also look at this from Spain!! You can't tell me they aren't in love!!!

@luv.y/nn: Wait I kinda see it...

@iheartf1: Let's talk about Charles tho. What Y/N said was true...

-> @F1.drama: okayy but like. Y/N is overreacting cuz she's mean to him too...

-> @iheartf1: with good reason.

@chloe.gal: You're onto something... The hands on the helmet!!

The person thought I was overreacting with Charles, but most of all... People thought Max and I were dating?? He's like a brother to me...

I immediately called my manager, pissed. She was expecting me.

" Listen Y/N, this could be great. It would put all the focus on you and Max, and probably gain us some sponsors." Jill proposed.

" Um, I'm not-" I start.

" Don't worry, we wouldn't publish anything official. Just let you and Max do the acting. This way everyone is more attracted to it since it's so secretive. You don't lose anything acting a bit flirty with Verstappen, Y/N. Consider it quickly..." my manager reasoned.

She's not totally wrong. The cameras would be on us at all time. Great advertising to people who don't even watch F1. We would be a power couple...

" Fine."

" Perfect! Max has already been informed, and he said he'd do it only if you agreed." Jill said happily.

" Alright then." I was still unsure about this whole thing.

•••

Present - Italian Grand Prix

" Welcome back to Monza, ladies and gents! Our starting grid consists of... Max Verstappen followed by Charlesc Leclerc, then it's Y/N L/N in third and George Russell in fourth. Next is..." the commentator finished the grid.

" Let's view a replay from this morning's interviews..." the other said.

Past - This morning, Italian GP interviews

" I heard Mercedes have made some admirable changes to their cars. Russell is right behind you. Scared?" The woman questioned.

" They were also supposed to have admirable changes in quali, and that didn't stop me from passing them both. I'm not worried." you answer.

The woman smiled, and another man asked a question.

" Now, Y/N, rumours are you're dating Max! Any comments?" he excitedly asked.

" None." you say, smiling to add fuel to the fire.

All the reporters suddenly bombarded you with questions, so you quickly left while giggling without looking back.

It was Charles' turn to answer some questions from the media.

" So Charles, there seems to be only friction between you and Y/N since the start of the year. She seems to be confused as to why she's the only one you're tense with, even though you have other enemies." A snobby reporter asked.

" I have my reasons, and so does she. Let's keep it private and talk about racing instead." He answered impatiently.

" What about Max and Y/N's relationship, what do you think about that?" another reporter shouted.

Charles jaw clenched ever so slightly.

" I think it will only bring them disadvantages on track, and tension off-track. Stupid move from their part," Charles annoyingly admits.

" That is your opinion about relationships off-track?" someone yelled out.

Charles hesitates for a moment.

" Absolutely. We are all friends to a certain extent, but bring love into this and it's over. It'll end badly, mark my words. Now if anyone has a question about the car, please?" Charles desperately said.

Present- Italian Grand Prix

" Ouch... Charles Leclerc, forever a heartbreaker it seems! Let's see how this all unfolds as the cars are placed on the grid." the announcer concludes.

Y/N POV

This is my time to fucking shine. Two respected drivers in front, my race to win.

The lights are off, and I have a remarkable start that leads me to already fighting Leclerc at the first corner.

He's a remarkable defender, and unfortunately so am I. My defence often outshines my offence. Still, I know how to overtake well and I'm starting to see a habit that Leclerc has. He's often directly on the apex, meaning I still have place to overtake him without losing speed.

I try overtaking him after a few laps that I used to close the gap between the both of us, and it almost succeeds. There's a chicane coming, and I know that's when I need to do it. The job would be done afterwards, not many were able to overtake me.

The chicane comes quickly, but sure enough when we come out of it I'm in front of him.

Even through all the noise, I hear the crowd cheer for me. I'm half Italian, after all.

Stroll crashes later on in the race, meaning the safety car was deployed. This was my chance to pass Max in front. I needed to have the quickest reaction time.

I hear Chris tell me it's the last lap before the safety car leaves, and I prepare myself.

Max and I react almost instantly. I have the upper hand and now we're wheel to wheel going into the second corner, and third, and fourth... And finally, at the fifth turn, I speed through the same chicane I overtook Leclerc in and I am now leading the race. The crowd roars.

•••

max and y/n fake dating era 🫢

will this end well?

hope yall enjoyed 💞

[atopvisenyashill]

Dances of the dragons; what are things you like about the story in the show and book.

Well clearly I’m very fond of Rhaenyra and her little family. Something I really like exploring in fiction is ~blended families~ having been born into one myself and I find it fascinating especially in the pseudo-medieval context of a song of ice and fire. The complexity of balancing this family with what the world at large considers proper, of protecting this family when it's very existence is a threat to the established order of things.

I also really love the whole Aegon/Sunfyre and Baela/Moondancer stand off. I think the narrative aspects of it are amazing and it fits their characters so well. Baela being purposefully kept out of the war, kept even from defending Dragonstone, going off on this long shot stand off against the leader of the enemy faction and then she fails. I think what is often forgotten about Baela in this instance is that her amazing bravery is worth nothing in the end. Aegon still takes Dragonstone, Rhaenyra is still murdered, and worst of all, Moondancer dies and Sunfyre is mortally wounded. All she does is help kill two more dragons, help kill the power of her own family, sacrificing her own beloved dragon, her own agency later in life, for nothing not even a temporary win. Then you have Aegon as Sunfyre's only rider, Sunfyre feeling Aegon's distress and sacrificing his own life to come save Aegon, taking not one but two life ending crashes to the ground all for love of Aegon, and then just dying and leaving Aegon such a mess he's dragging Baela out and threatening to become a kinslayer with his own two hands in front of the entirety of King's Landing. The moment Sunfyre dies, Aegon is dead. They are too connected in a way many of the other bonds are not. It's not just like Vhagar or Caraxes mindlessly going into death because it's what their riders want from them; no, Sunfyre seeks death out in a vain attempt to save his rider, after Aegon goes through deliberate pains to separate himself from Sunfyre to spare Sunfyre the same fate as Vhagar, Caraxes, Arrax, or Meleys.

Also that final confrontation between Aegon and Rhaenyra - that i hope you died / you first, you are the elder exchange - is soooooo good. The way Aegon traumatizes the Younger the way Helaena and Jaehaera were, completely screwing over his own heir in his rage, and Rhaenyra's body isn't even safe from being sexually abused when she's dead.....George was cooking here.

As for the show, I think the casting is leaps and bounds better than the main show. I think probably the weakest links on the cast are (I'm about to get tomatoes thrown at me here) Ewan, Emily, and Sonoya but I don't think any of them are bad by any stretch. Emily does some amazing work showing Alicent's despair and anxiety and intelligence. I would put her on the same level as Maisie in the original show - she needs some time to find her feet as an actor but you can see her growing and changing as an artist and performer before your eyes. Sonoya has a bit of a lackluster script to work with (it's hard to adapt Mysaria, she's just a bunch of awful ~far east~ stereotypes rolled into one upsetting character) and she's also clearly struggling around her accent. I'm hoping she'll pull a Peter Dinklage next season and get used to the accent. Ewan is also here I guess (*kanye shrug* I think he looks too old and little Aemond was leagues better, sue me!!). But everyone else is just on their mark constantly, elevating the script with their own ideas or acting choices. And what I'll give Condal, Hess, and Miguel is that they also let the actors have a say in the characters. In my opinion, the best shows always include actor input. Three of my favorite shows in fact - Leverage, Battlestar Galactica, and Farscape - all include rather long arcs for several characters that came because the actors said "can we dig into what motivates my character more? i wrote out a backstory if you're interested" or "i'm not sure my character would react that way, i think it would go this way" and the writers listened and let them be part of the writing. I love to drag these writers for all the best ideas coming from the actors but I find it commendable that instead of plugging their ears to minor pushback like D&D did, they said "damn tom, olivia, this carriage scene is so much better the way you're doing it, go crazy" or "hey matt you're doing some great acting here, tell us what you're thinking, let's dig in" and emma has talked extensively about how they let them really dig into gender performance as they wrote the character.

Maybe that doesn't seem like a big compliment but, at the risk of sounding too cheesy, I think art is a conversation ya kno?! It's a push and pull between the performers, the writers, the cinematographers, the special effects, as well as the viewer. When you see art as a dictatorship, it stifles what you're saying. But when you bring in fresh eyes, when you collaborate, I think you are more likely to have a much more polished, much more beautiful end product. And I think in allowing like, Emily Carrey the ability to read her own queerness into Alicent and then portray that on screen made for an Alicent that feels so much more real than if Emily was forced to simply read the words on the page without emotionally connecting to it! Look at how Stephen Dillane and the guy who played Barristan were clearly phoning it in because they weren't listened to! Look at how clearly annoyed Gwendoline and Nikolaj were at the ending there because they didn't like how the plot was going! When the artists are involved in the making of their own craft, it's just better!

(but what about Rhys, you say, didn't you once say he had negative charisma? yes, yes he does, i think he's wildly overrated as an actor and i don't understand the appeal but i think otto himself is also devoid of charisma so rhys fits!! i am a hater sorry!!!)

Anyways, yes, I love Rhaenyra and Aegon because I love deranged gay older sister - violent beefy young brother duos from hell with all my heart, I love Baela the Burnt with all my heart, and I love all the actors and the collaborative nature of HOTD.

[starrwrrld]

13, 16 and 19 for the F1 ask game 🏎🏎🏎🏎

hello ellie!! :)

13. favourite rivalry/battle?

the obvious answer is lestappen. those bitches could be fighting for p19 and id be rubbing my hands in glee and waxing poetry about their flopaganza. but besides that, carcar being carcar is always a delight to watch.

otherwise, it would be checo versus the fired rumours, the FW46 versus the mechanics and max versus the urge to inchident-drop or meow on stream.

16. Which driver surprised you the most?

hmmm... i thought this through and from the more... dominant teams, it has to be george. dont get me wrong, i have always thought of him as a pretty good driver, but two (or three wins if you take spa into consideration just because) in a season as competitive as this one is pretty impressive.

from midfield teams, franco performed pretty well, especially for a rookie thrust mid-season, into a car as unreliable as the FW46.

19. Did you change your opinion of any driver? If so,who?

mwhahahaaaa lando. he was technically one of my blorbos at one point but this season, especially post-miami or even like post canada if you will, has made me realise that i like him only when he is not winning which-, yeah well it is what it is ig lmao.

this was fun, but i had to contain myself from over-yapping asdfgh

mwah <3

f1 ask game

creds to the real expert @mothlau on providing commentary on the competitiveness of this season and helping me look past my dissociation ;) <3 (ily)

[chussyracing]

why no team did well in canada (an opinion/personal rant about canadian GP)

Red Bull Racing: Max had a problematic Friday and partly also FP3 with the ERS system and more set up issue related to the high kerbs. He put it in p2 and won the race anyway. Checo was out in q1, he qualified p16 or wherever. He had a problematic race, contact with Pierre right at the start, damage on the car, getting stuck at the bottom of the field, going through a wet patch, spinning out and ending his race with a crash.

Mercedes. I'm not sure what exactly happened in the house of Mercedes but seeing the interviews makes me feel a bit uneasy. Everyone knows that Lewis would be set aside for important meetings about the future of the team. Of course George is and should be the priority in the team rn, because he will be their main driver from next season. George had a chance to win and messed up slightly. Then he lost another chance that the safety car gave him with an overcut. On the other hand, I'm glad they pitted when they had the opportunity with the pit window open thanks to Fernando, it was a good call to go for fresh tyres - although it was slightly confusing to put Lewis on hards with 10 laps remaining (maybe they didn't have new mediums for him at that point and didn't want to add those which are already a few laps used). Lewis' post race interview was frustrating to hear knowing he struggled so much when it looked like he could go on to win the GP at certain point. (Also George saying Lewis cost him the P2 with that overtake and losing a bit of time with that fight....)

McLaren. Lando started higher so to a certain point it makes sense he should get priority in the race. On the other hand as a team, currently p3 in the constructor standings, you should work together and try to get as many points as possible. When Mercedes got close behind, Oscar was defending and Lando drove just a bit faster to be about 2 tenths over the DRS range for Oscar which made him an easier target for a full team of coworking drivers behind him. And then after, during the last restart when Mercedes had freshest tyres after a double pit stop they did, Oscar was an easy target again. Max had a great start, he got about 3 seconds away from Lando in a short time. Oscar's radio said that the target is protecting Lando's position and defending from behind. He managed fairly well until the contact with George (where honestly, it was a bit opportunistic from George considering Oscar was ahead and closing the gap). And certainly you cannot be fully satisfied with Lando's race either knowing his team had the pitstop ready and knew about the safety car, but made him miss the pit entry while everyone behind pitted. That allowed them to warm up their tyres well before Lando came out slipping on the fresh slicks a lap later - something which cost him a position at least.

Ferrari. This one is obviously a disaster start to finish. Both cars out in q2 after a set up that favoured wet conditions for dry quali. Last time i felt happiness was when Charles got two positions at the start. Ever since he got the engine issue which just kept getting worse and worse each lap and he was losing over 1,5s on straights alone, he was slower than Williams and at one point even Sauber. It was like he had negative drs and his braking references were all of and changing to worse as he went by. It kind of made sense to do a call for hards (if only they did it a little bit later on when it wasn't supposed to rain anymore). It also made sense to reset the system as he stopped and hopefully resolve the issue (and again to be fair, it got slightly better). Sadly, the timing was very unfortunate with the weather conditions, he was losing too much and had to pit once again for inters. My personal opinion is that they changed his engine between friday and saturday (because he already has quite a lot in his pool of components and it makes sense to use an older engine with more mileage during a free practice to preserve the newer ones for the important sessions). One point to Carlos for not immediately calling for the positions to get swapped with Charles when e fell behind him. Carlos was over-performed by his teammate this weekend and that's ok, but he fell to p15 at the start and then later on gained one position over Logan. There was still a chance for points at least if only he didn't slip, spin into the grass and crash into Alex. The damage was too substantial to continue, and even if they could fix it, the chance for points was pretty much lost.

VCARB. Daniel started sooo high up in p5 or something?? And they fumbled it so bad. He had a false start and got himself a 5s penalisation for it which hurt his race a lot. As much that Yuki got in front of him at a certain point of the race. What the team did was encourage Daniel to fight for that position with Yuki directly. Ultimately, he was the one to miss the turn and spin out of points on his own, but it was heavily encouraged by the team's decision.

Alpine. Pierre had a bad start with the collision with Checo. That hurt his race significantly as he fell all the way behind Esteban who started much lower with his 5 places grid penalty from Monaco. As the drivers slotted behind each other, Esteban was ordered to let Pierre by in hopes he would catch up with a car in front (was it a VCARB? i cannot remember), which he didn't. At the end Esteban asked to change the positions back which is common practice - he didn't get a positive answer for that though.

Haas. They did such a good job with the initial call for full wets while others started on inters. Kevin climbed up all the way to p4 and Nico climbed out to p6 (or was it p8) after being out in q1 the day before. Then they stopped Kevin to change to inters (once again a good call) and it went down from here. They didn't have tyres ready for the pit stop and he lost out a lot of time in pits. Nico was left out to die on the wets basically and when he pitted, he already lost a big part of what he gained by then.

Sauber. What a bad weekend at the start with two crashes by Guanyu and a spin from Valtteri. As if that wasn't enough, they had to change the spec of their wins to a different one which is contradictory with the parc fermé rules - that gained them a pit lane start for both drivers. They were fighting at the back of the field and went through another horrendous pit stop which killed any idea for points for the team.

Aston Martin: probably the only team that didn't mess up too bad. Lance has been doing relatively well, only touched the wall of champions once in quali and was doing very well during the race. Fernando has been coming out of two terrible weekends, he seemed to be doing like a fish in the sea with the wet and colder conditions in Montreal. If his team did a bit better job in the pit stops, he wouldn't have lost a position on track in favour of Lewis (because Mercedes had a great pit stop).

Williams: oh dear, if the missing chassis and spare parts from 2023 cars weren't enough, then this race sure was. The quali was quite good to them, both got out of Q1, Alex even got into Q3. There was a slight chance of getting into points with both cars seeing they had the pace at the start of the race. Sadly, Logan didn't have too good of a start. Logan crashed slightly and caused a YF. He could continue though. Later on he crashed again and it ended his race and neutered the pace for the rest of the field. Alex was unable to do anything to avoid the collision with Carlos who spun out in front of him and the contact ended his race as well and brought out another safety car.

TLDR: no team can be seen as a winner, although McLaren, Mercedes and Aston Martin all did pretty very well.

As a fan of course I like a bit of unpredictability and getting proved wrong when I was to guess a result of a race. I love LOVE multiple winners, as many as possible in a season. The rest though? The visibility on the first lap, the multiple cars crashing out... that's not it.

[forzalando]

f1 asks

thank you bestie bae @sof1shticated for the tag!!

who is your favourite driver?

charles leclerc, you are everything to me

do you have other favourite drivers?

yes!! lando norris (2nd fav), oscar piastri, lewis hamilton (tied for 3rd fav), max verstappen, alex albon, george russell, yuki tsunoda HAHAHA honestly i like most of the current grid

who is your least favourite driver?

i try not to be negative because at the end of the day, someone probably loves the driver i like the least! they've all made me mad at one point and i'm sure they will again lol i try not to hold a group of rich men to super high standards hahaha but at the moment, carlos sainz because of his never-ending beef with oscar for no reason

do you pull for drivers or do you like teams as well?

i find myself supporting drivers instead of teams! but most of my favs align to the teams i like the most

if you like teams, what team do you pull for?

mclaren + ferrari but my loyalties lie where my favorite drivers go. i have a soft spot for williams as well!

how long have you been into F1?

this is my second season! i started watching at the beginning of the 2023 season

what got you into F1?

my best friend natalie wouldn't stop talking about it and i was annoyed that i had no idea what she was talking about hahaha i also fell in love with charles, sue me. so i started googling like a mad woman, subscribed to espn+, watched dts, the youtube lore videos. and here we are.

do you enjoy fanfic/RPF?

yes! as long as what is written is respectful and not put in front of the drivers, write whatever you please :)

how do you view new fans?

welcome, welcome, welcome!!! i'm also a newbie and, in my opinion, no one fan is better than another based on when a person took interest!

if you could take over as team principal for any team, who would it be and why?

hmmm aston martin (purely because i look great in their colors) or red bull so h*rner would be jobless. maybe alpine because i think i could do a better job than bruno blindfolded.

are your friends and family into F1 as well?

i have a couple friends that are into F1 and it's so lovely! F1 isn't super popular where i am from so it's nice to have friends that share the interest! one of my coworkers also loves F1 and we always gossip in the office post-race weekends lol i am on medical leave right now so i haven't been able to message him about lando's first win and it's killingggggg me

my dad joins me in watching sometimes (even though he has no interest at all) purely to spend time with me which is so sweet

are you open to talking to other fans/making friends?

always!!! some of my best and longest friendships were forged on this site lol my blog has changed focus quite a few times but i have friends that i've made from previous fandoms i dabbled in that have been in my life for 10+ years! i'll never say no to chatting or making new friends, connecting with others is the most special part of life! feel free to message me whenever!

no pressure tags! feel free to answer publicly or message me about how you would answer: @arieslost @scuderiahoney @lavenderlando @foreveralbon @ssprayberrythings and anyone else who would like to answer!

[sunskate]

CPom on Polina Edmunds's podcast pt 2:

Choreo from last year- what did it feel like to have the newness in choreography and those names inspiring you C: they're the best choreographers in the world - they produce good programs after good programs - it was a dream to work with them, they bring such a creative energy every day, from Marie-France, Madi, Sam- they have such a vision and a genius about skating. it's a dream to work with A: last year I was coming from an injury and a shortened off season, so everyone came together to strategize what the best music was and how to connect everything together. We're really happy to have had the team we had, because it made my comeback very good

Last season was a breath of fresh air after a couple challenging seasons- missing Nationals in 2020 because of covid, then 2021 finishing 7th at Nationals, Anthony's injury, though you finished the season strong at 4CC with a bronze medal- You came back brilliantly this season- you went to your first Worlds - talk about the impact-

They were in contact with someone who had covid and found out 3 days before they left, didn't have covid but couldn't go to Nationals. C: i wish my test came back positive because at least then would be missing because i was sick. perfectly healthy but had to sit at home. was crying all the time A: pretty devastating - felt like they were in the best shape they could be in. wanted to redeem themselves from not the best performance at Skate America that year. so having that opportunity taken away was devastating. that was when we made the decision to move on from Igor. hard times make better people, but it was hard. also wouldn't have my dog George if it wasn't for that. C: when they got the call [that they couldn't go, Anthony] didn't say anything, but stood up, said I'm getting a dog, and left my house A: i stayed off social media that week [of Nationals], and as soon as it was over, i drove to Ohio to get my dog, George

Support systems- what was it like to move to Michigan without your parents at a young age- how has that impacted your life? C: when I moved, I didn't really speak English (!!!) was really hard communicating with people, i missed my parents so much. now I'm grateful for the experience- I'm super independent, I can easily live by myself, it's taught me a lot, but back then it was hard A: for me I lived with a host family for 2 years. so it was definitely different but it wasn't a big shock. once i moved away around the age of 15/16, it got difficult quickly, because I missed that family dynamic. I missed my parents, my brother - I took it for granted before. time difference [to California where his parents live] made it difficult. learned a lot of valuable lessons. learned independence earlier

Anthony's injury, what was your mental state through surgery -- A: ankle - 2015 a bad sprain early in their career. neglected it. were finally getting international competitions, didn't want to take valuable time away - fought through the pain, some days it was really bad. got worse year after year. got opinion after opinion saying get surgery. then finding time to do it. figured the end of the olympic quad was the best time. and it was a great decision because able to do things now he wouldn't be able otherwise. [about mental space] - we just had had a pretty rocky season. it was a really difficult 3 months of recovery- really was unsure where the partnership was going, if I even wanted to continue skating. took a lot of evaluation of my life, where I wanted to go. beneficial to take a step back and look because i established clear goals for myself and my life To Christina, what was your mental space then- how did you approach the following season after-- C: the transition season from changing coaches was really difficult. the approach to training was so different from what we were used to. before we did it to please other people or out of fear (!!!) and then once we moved, we didn't have that aspect any more. you kind of have to do it for yourself because you like doing it and because you want to get better yourself. and learning that transition was really hard, and you saw that struggle in most competitions. and getting to Nationals, that was a really hard Nationals, The offseason was hard for me as well - there were a few shaky moments, and I was training by myself, long and sometimes it's boring, but once we made clear goals for the following season and got together, we approached training with a completely different mindset, we dove into what the coaches were saying, of trusting their process, trusting their training and really giving everything we have, and it's really paid off. I'm happy we had that rocky season because it's taught us so much, and now our mindset for training and competition is so different than before

What were the goals you set out- C: we had some results goals, but we mostly focused on trusting the process. trusting what we were given that day, if we were tired, that's ok, it's normal, just trusting what our coaches wanted. that was one of our main goals. approaching competition differently -doing it for ourselves, whatever the outcome with judges, points - as long as we're happy with what we did, that was enough. Results- make the world team. we always told ourselves, if we don't make it but we skated our best then that's ok, and it just didn't work out, we'll try harder next season. those were our goals

And you guys did it, congratulations, high five

[georgegraphys]

The media and him and whoever else have claimed him and Elkann have already begun speaking about all the things Ferrari can do to be more inclusive and how to accommodate for his well everything. Do you reckon it'll actually play out the way he thinks it's going to play out?

Unless they had specific contracts about it with the DURATION signed, yes. If it's only a vague clause, a vague promise, no.

But let's be HONEST here. Ferrari has their own organizational culture for DECADES. Elkann can speak all the time about it but for it to change will take YEARS not just in a matter of months (less than twelve months even to his official move to Ferrari in the 2025 season). To be honest, I think it'll be messy? Charles is 27. Let's say LH stayed for 1-2 years. He'll be 28/29 atp. He doesn't have all the time in the world to wait and let Ferrari prioritize someone's eighth WDC while he himself has yet to get his first. It's not going to be all flowers and gardens. Especially if Elkann is openly favouring one side over the other, it won't be pretty.

Ferrari is Charles' team just as Mercedes is going to be George's and Red Bull is Max's. For this rich oligarch mf who holds 70% of the voting shares in the board to suddenly choose someone else is not going to be pretty. So far we don't know Piero Ferrari's stance, the non-exec directors stance, and stuff. But judging by how things go in Mercedes, it won't be all pretty and flowers for their PR team too as LH is definitely not a Carlos Sainz who is willing to do those PR contents with Charles 24/7. Their strategy has to change and it'll cause a bit of a chaos too.

Back to Elkann's sugary sweet promises, my point still stands. This is a team that is very strong and holds their culture tightly to themselves (Mercedes is more of like a... melting pot?). For them to suddenly change in >1 year to welcome his arrival in Ferrari, BIG ASS DOUBT. Organizational cultures don't change that fast and Ferrari seems to be filled with traditionalist proud people so opposition to the change will appear. For the ambassadorships and philanthropic promise? As long as there is a contract, yes. If it's a sweet promise, no. But honestly I find so much slack in their brands that I can't believe they're together because they just don't fit?? Not in a racing way but in culture, norms, values, PR, branding ways. In Mercedes, they mold to whatever LH wants. But in Ferrari, where the saying goes "no one is bigger than Ferrari"? 😅😅 I'm sure everyone knows what I meant.

Take this lightly as it is my personal opinion. I don't think it's long term. Ferrari looks like a very traditionalist fixed culture company. Doubt anything would change for one man. No matter who it is or whether they're important or not, I don't think it'll change/they'll adapt the philanthropy stuff LH brings forever. But the ambassadorship? Idk unless it's a contract, Ferrari might've pulled a Mercedes

[princessofmerc]

Can’t post this on main, but it is kinda strange that George’s performance is always meh on saturday but pretty much ok/close to Lewis on sunday/sprints.

If he really has confidence issues, they wouldn’t translate on saturdays only, right? It would be a constant, in my opinion.

Find it quite interesting to consider: rumours of Lewis’ contract stalling, George and Lewis being very close in pace, George being mr Saturday but now struggling to qualify well, and Lewis still having the edge on him on race pace because of experience…

If you know what I mean.

I understand where you come from.Lewis has the edge on him in race pace because he started Formula 1 the year after George started karting in championships. He's so much more experienced, and hey he's the most succesfull driver in the history of the sport maybe it is a little bit down to that. Let's also not forget that he's had a pretty consistent environment at Mercedes, with Bono being his race engineer for years. The newest change is Mike becoming his performance engineer, but Mike has been looking over Markus shoulder the whole last year. George is still relatively fresh, in Formula 1, as main driver at Mercedes, he's had his race engineer being changed after his first season with him (and yes I do think Riki treated George differently than Markus does). The fact that George is that close already is a massive hint to where he can go.

In regards to qualifing I think it's a little bit of the inconsistency around George's team. Added with the fact that Mercedes' quali strategy works on a good day (Sending out the cars as late as possible) and kind of clashes with the way George drives those quali laps.

Whereas Lewis is the kind of driver who usually puts out a banger lap first that he then looks to improve, George has always been quick but his steps in improvement and extracting the most from the car are usually massive. I remember an interview from Nicky (might have been his beyond the grid episode) where he stresses how amazed he is how much George can pull out of the car lap after lap and still find ways to improve. George is the kind of driver who arches to improve everything he does, to some it comes out as taking himself (too?) seriously or having no chill, but he's a man who knows what he wants and he's willing to do it. While Williams often sent Nicky and George out ahead of the rest of the quali train and that usually helped George because he got more time to extract more performance out of his car, Mercedes kind of goes for the opposite. That comes from years of having a strong if not dominant car and the way that Lewis drives.

We know, and it's been that way since last year, that the current Mercedes is struggling with quali pace and balance and basically comes alive in races. We've seen it all over the year where usually George ends up in the midfield or even at the back and goes through the entire field except maybe the Red Bulls. We've seen it yesterday I don't know how many cars George passed in a sprint race. The Mercedes doesn't seem to have the tyre degradation issues Ferrari (adn their sister teams) are often struggling with. George's qualifying is as good as it always has been but if you spend your only Practice session hugely in the pits you can't get confidence in the car. And the way Mercedes do quali maybe doesn't suit his style. Also the midfield is actually pretty close. Wasn't everyone in Q1 within a second? That shows you how small the margins are.

Sorry this kind of got long and I apologise if this is not the answer you were looking for. I think there are things going on at Mercedes that currently make it seem that they're benching George. But the engineering side is so fond of him. These guys want to work with George, remember Mike E geeking out that George is basically a little engineer and that it's refreshing because he actually understands and cares about the technical side (a dig probably mostly in Rosberg's direction). These guys have worked with so many World Champions, they won a championship with Brawn that seemed impossible to win just weeks before the first race. I'm not trying to say: don't make your own opinion, or I absolutely think Mercedes is fucking him (socials certainly are). I also get a certain frustration especially about strategy and the way George is treated by Toto and the socials. I just think that it's an essential time trying to keep Lewis with them while having one driver secured. I hope this makes sense it's early, I'm tired (got off from work 7 hours ago, slept for 5)