#q1 2017

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[thehaniverse]

HYBE vs Min Hee Jin - The Full Timeline

[Last updates: June 1st 2024]

Hi guys, Han here, and LORD, this has been one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, but I hope this is helpful to all those who are trying to follow this mess in its entirety.

Important notes:

I've included the pre-audit timeline to help you understand the history and context of everything that's happened

I will be updating periodically with new information

I will try to keep entries to the point, and highlight the main points given by each side without adding too much of my own opinion - so make your own conclusions!

Credits to TMIKpop on Twitter for most of the translated news articles as I'm far too lazy, busy (and dyslexic) to read all those Korean articles myself.

I tried to include sources as much as possible in the more recent news, but honestly, I'm going to be a little lazy with this as I don't have enough free time to go back and find sources for things that happened way in the past or are already well-known up to this point. Feel free to send me sources in my ask box though!

Green text indicates the latest updates for those following!

Also for reference, here are the key involved characters (and name abbreviations that will be used throughout this post.)

Bang PD (Bang Shihyuk, HYBE Chairman & BigHit CEO)

PJW (Park Jiwon, HYBE CEO, ex-CEO of NEXON Games)

MHJ (Min Hee Jin, ADOR CEO, ex-SM employee)

VP L (Lee Sangwoo, VP of ADOR, ex-financial division at HYBE)

VP S (Shin ??, VP of ADOR)

NJs (NewJeans), LS (Le Sserafim), IL (ILLIT), GFRIEND & BTS

BHM (BigHit Music), SouMu (Source Music), BELIFT & ADOR

Items with * are accusations by either ADOR or HYBE, but that haven't been 100% verified as true or false. Things that have been verified won't have any *.

Similarly, (RUMORS) that seem to have some basis in reality based on existing evidence but have not been explicitly stated by either side are also included. Also disclaimer: I am not pro-HYBE nor pro-MHJ, I have my personal opinion but I've tried to keep this as impartial and unbiased as possible. I've just presented the news that has been released, if it tills one way, that's just how it is.

Without further ado(r LOL), let's begin!

2019~2021

MHJ joins BigHit Ent as Chief Branding Officer for all labels - this is in preparation for Bighit Ent becoming HYBE.

*Between then and 2021, MHJ suggests making a girl group to Bang PD, and they agree to make the group under SouMu rather than BHM. However, MHJ is never officially employed at SouMu.

*Bang PD promises that MHJ's group will be HYBE's first girl group.

All NJs members join SouMu (Minji joined in 2017 / Hani 2019 / Haerin & Danielle 2020 / Hyein 2021)

*NJs' debut is pushed back initially because of COVID, then again due to contract issues, resulting in LS being ready to debut first and PJW telling MHJ that NJs will no longer be the first gg from HYBE. MHJ claims the reason for NJs' debut delay is because they didn't like her creative vision though.

2021

Q1 (Exact Timing Unknown)

Bang PD starts developing LS with SouMu as he wants to create a group featuring known members, Chaewon and Sakura from Iz*one.

*NJs' debut is pushed back initially because of COVID, then again due to contract issues, resulting in LS being ready to debut first

PJW tells MHJ that NJs will no longer be the first gg from HYBE.

*MHJ is upset that another gg is being developed under Source and claims that it's because Bang PD didn't like the direction she was taking NJs and abandoned her to work on LS instead.

MHJ later agrees to the new debut schedule, with LS debuting just 2 months before NJs, and decides that is enough time for her to promote NJs.

Feb/Mar

HYBE is officially established as a company with Bang PD as CEO.

May

PJW is announced as the new CEO of HYBE.

Bang PD continues as CEO of only BGM but only the chairman of HYBE. This means he has no say in the daily operations of HYBE, but can make big decisions that go to the Board of Directors (BOD). Note: Each label under HYBE has its own individual CEO.

GFRIEND is officially disbanded without any notice from SouMu.

*MHJ is accused (by HYBE staff) of taking almost all of the SouMu staff to ADOR resulting in SouMu not having enough staff to manage GFRIEND and LS. SouMu also had a lot of debt from the training of NJs that they would no longer see a return on as the profits would go to ADOR so they needed to take dramatic measures. (RUMOR) SouMu had already sunk a lot of money into LS (and NJs) and expected LS to be more popular as they were debuting under HYBE, so they decided to terminate GFRIEND at the end of their contracts without warning.

November

ADOR is officially established so that MHJ can have full control over her group's image and development, rather than answering to SouMu CEO and Bang PD.

HYBE gives 16.1B won investment for the establishment of ADOR

Bang PD gives MHJ 2B won to buy 2.8B won worth of ADOR stocks (amounting to 20%, 2% of which she later shared out to her two VPS.) He also gave her 2.9B of HYBE stocks as part of her official recruitment package as CEO of ADOR at only 23% of the actual share value (aka she got a 77% discount). However, MHJ sold 1,000 shares in mid-Nov and another 1000 shares on 8 Dec 2022, earning 760M, and walked away with an additional 120M in cash just 15 days after her investment. // Source: Silsa Journal

2022

May

LS debuts from SouMu

*HYBE claims they shortened their promotional period in order to give MHJ enough time to promote NJs ahead of their debut, but MHJ shows Kakao messages of PJW specifying that NJs should not be promoted ahead of LS' debut so they can benefit from the speculation of them being MHJ's group.

LS' debut is overshadowed by the Garam scandal.

(RUMOR) While Garam was later found to be innocent and misrepresented in the media (ie she was protecting a friend from a bully, not actively bullying someone), many believe MHJ was the one who leaked the information to the press to jeopardize LS' debut. This comes from the statements from HYBE that they have evidence of her collecting and leaking artists' private information.

July

NJs debuts with ZERO pre-debut promotion, instead dropping an incredible amount of content for the debut promotions. Note: While MHJ claims HYBE tried to stop her promoting at all before their debut, she has not provided any evidence. It is the responsibility of each individual label to plan and execute their artist's promotions.

End of Year

Thanks to NJs' successful debut, ADOR has paid off a majority of their debt to HYBE, and now only owes 4B won.

2023

Dec // Source: Donga Ilbo

Bang PD lends MHJ money to buy cheap stock options (intentionally discounted by HYBE for her to buy) and MHJ uses the loan to buy a 20% stake in ADOR. This means she gets paid her shares on top of her 1M USD annual salary as CEO. Note: I couldn't confirm this, but it's believed she is the only CEO of any HYBE label that has stocks in her company. BHM is private so there are no stocks and it is owned completely by Bang PD, while the other labels' stocks are owned 100% by HYBE.

MHJ buys the shares on the following conditions: + If she decides to quit, HYBE is obliged to buy the stocks back and pay MHJ 13 times [ADOR's profit from the last 2 years x her % of shares] + She can quit from Nov 2024 and has a non-compete clause for 2 years where she must maintain a 4.5% stake in ADOR. Note: This means as a stakeholder she can not establish her own company or work for a company that will directly compete with ADOR for those 2 years, as she can not do work that can potentially devalue her shares. This is standard in many industries.

MHJ later shares 2% of her shares to executives of ADOR: VP S and VP L. Note: It is unclear if she sold them or gifted them.

Q4 (Exact Timing Unknown)

VP L leaves their position in HYBE's financial team and starts to work at ADOR under MHJ.

*HYBE accuses VP L of downloading a bunch of HYBE's private financial data that he should no longer have access to, and giving it to MHJ to later use to try and blackmail HYBE into selling their ADOR stocks with the investors she is colluding with. This would mean the majority of ADOR stocks would be controlled by people who support MHJ's decisions.

2024

Feb // Source: Donga Ilbo

MHJ tries to negotiate the terms of her contract with HYBE. She requests the following: + The 13x valuation of her shares be increased to 30x. Taking their value from approximately 100B won to 270B won. (This would be 5.5x the amount of profit she actually made with ADOR in 2023.) + The complete removal of the non-compete clause, allowing her to cash out all of her stocks and start/work for a competitor company immediately after leaving the company.

Additionally, she asks for the ability to make decisions regarding outside investors by herself as the CEO without HYBE's input.

HYBE rejects all of her requests because they would be complete financial losses and risks to HYBE. Negotiations stop as neither side will budge.

It is also around this time that HYBE gets the tips that MHJ is planning a management takeover with outside investors.

Mar

HYBE received a tip that MHJ is planning to try and make ADOR independent by gathering investors who support MHJ to buy up the majority of ADOR shares.

[23rd~29th] MHJ and VP L share messages about selling ADOR after 'emptying it like a shell', how to make ADOR independent, and how they should blackmail HYBE and ruin HYBE's reputation. *HYBE believes the 'empty shell' comment means terminating NJs' contracts with the majority shareholder power from the investors MHJ was meeting. Note: MHJ has confirmed the existence of these messages but insists they were just jokes between disgruntled employees. HYBE retorts that these plans are too specific and detailed, and they found additional evidence to prove they were more than just empty words.

[25th] ILLIT debuts with 'Magnetic'

April

[3rd] MHJ submits an internal complaint to HYBE and BELIFT that IL's concept is copyright infringement of NJs and that HYBE has the obligation to protect them. She requests they respond by April 23rd or 24th (not clear.)

MHJ also complains to the parents of NJs that HYBE is trying to sideline NJs with IL.

[22nd] HYBE and BELIFT submit a 6-page response to MHJ. Note: She later claims that she didn't receive any response, but HYBE provides proof that she received it, so she changed that they replied last minute so she couldn't prepare for the audit, but the response doesn't mention the audit because they are separate issues. However, MHJ believes the audit is all because of the IL situation.

HYBE carries out and publically announces the ADOR audit. This results in an 8% drop in HYBE stocks. (Whistleblower will be revealed later!) *They claim to find evidence of her plans, the illegally obtained company and artist information, and more.

[23rd] MHJ holds a 2.5 hour press conference in retaliation. *She doubles down that she believes this is all because of the complaint she filed and that HYBE (and particularly Bang PD) has hated her and NJs from the beginning. Conference Transcript Here:

[24th] This was also the deadline for which all company devices needed to be returned for the audit but MHJ refused to return her work laptop (and still hasn't as far as I know.) *MHJ claims the timing of the audit was intentional to jeopardize NJs' comeback, however, HYBE provided copied devices to all the employees. She has since not given any justification for not returning her laptop and NJs comeback is continuing as scheduled.

[26th] While HYBE initially stated they wouldn't respond on the day of the conference, they later released a full statement addressing the key points of MHJ's argument. HYBE's full response in English:

NJs's fans (Bunnies) sent trucks to HYBE requesting that MHJ stop using NJs and their parents to protect herself and that NJs stay within HYBE.

NJ's parents refuse to accept calls from HYBE but express their support through newspaper interviews.

Both NJs and BTS RM announce their comebacks set for May 24th. (HYBE's stocks recover thanks to this.) MHJ paints this as HYBE trying to crush NJs with their biggest group because NJs surpassed BTS - HYBE retorts that BHM picked the date first and advised her to change the date, but she insisted on having NJs' comeback on the same day.

[30th] HYBE calls an extraordinary general meeting with the BODs, but the ADOR executives and MHJ do not attend, meaning they have to file a legal suit requiring the MHJ, VP S and VP L to attend the ADOR BODs extraordinary general meeting on May 31st instead.

Other things of note that happened between the 22nd to 30th:

News reports broke that a petition for re-investigation regarding a 2017 allegation against BTS for Sagaeji was passed to the KFTC & Ministry of Culture, Sports & Tourism. Days later the organizations responded by clearing the charges and asking that all musicians be as honest and forthcoming as BTS. It was later discovered at the hearing that MHJ was behind this situation, and ordered her VPs to create a buzz around the issue to distract attention from her. // Sources: Link / Yonhap News

Similarly, following the accusation from HYBE that MHJ was talking to her 'shaman friend', a rumor broke that BTS were members of a cult that the chairman of their university (Cyber Global University) is rumored to be part of. The Chairman denied being part of a cult, and HYBE/BHM released statements denying the allegations too.

(RUMOR) "K-ARMYs" sent trucks and funeral wreaths to HYBE dissing the company and pleading allegiance only to BTS until May 7th. The following day, these were replaced by trucks from "Bunnies" showing support for MHJ - contradicting the prior trucks sent criticising her. The suspicious timing, the unusually fast fundraising, the contradictory message, the hiring of bodyguards to protect the wreaths, and other strange coincidences cast doubt on if any of these trucks are actually from fans. Many believe MHJ is funding these herself to paint the image that fans are on her side, or at least hate HYBE, justifying her own discontent with HYBE.

May // Source: Biz Chosun

[7th] MHJ files an injunction to Seoul District Court to block HYBE from using their 80% share of ADOR to vote her out (fire her.)

[10th] ADOR BOD agreed to HYBE's request to hold the extraordinary general meeting to discuss the dismissal of MHj (and the two VPs.)

*The same day, prior to the BOD announcement, MHJ's side said a styling team leader was subject to improper coercion during the audit. // Source: Lee Daily HYBE later retaliated explaining how the audit was conducted and that when the staff wanted to stop, they respected her wishes. Furthermore, HYBE said they found evidence of embezzlement and improper payment receipts for ADOR staff. // Source: Newsen ADOR denied that the payment methods were normal and legal, but definitely they are not. // Source: Newsis However, the staff did come forward to say she felt pressured and blackmailed with the embezzlement claims if she didn't comply with the audit. // Source: Ilgan Sports

[12th] An email from "NJs Parents" to HYBE is released to a newspaper, the contents of the email describing how Bang PD did not greet the girls in the elevator, and how they are their parents were upset by it. HYBE retorted that this was not true, and that the email was fabricated by VP L and MHJ and they had proof of this. // Source: YTN A parent of NJs later gave an interview with Ilgan Sports revealing the email was in fact written by MHJ, based on conversations she had with the parents. She also claimed PJW had said the girls would take a break for 1.5 years in order to find a Grammy worthy producer for NJs and that the parents were worried about their careers. // Source: Ilgan Sports HYBE denies any such statement and that they plan to continue NJs schedules as planned. //Source: Seoul Newspaper

[13th] YTN reports HYBE has selected a new CEO for ADOR to replace MHJ once she's voted out, and that they will reveal all of the results of the audit at the court hearing.

Controversy about NJs new song 'Bubble Gum' being plagiarised from a 1982 song called 'Easier Said Than Done' by British Rock Band ShakaTak. // Source: Biz Chosun

[14th] HYBE filed a complaint with the FSS due to insider trading carried out thanks to a tip from MHJ's side about the upcoming public scandal. Note: It's complicated and is about additional people not mentioned until now, so I will link the thread explaining it. It is relevant however, as it backs HYBE's claim that MHJ had planned to ruin their company image as part of her management takeover plan even before the audit. LINK

[17th] The hearing for MHJ's injunction takes place. Each side has 30 minutes to present their arguments and evidence. The below tweets summarize the main points.

HYBE's Side:

ADOR's Side:

Although MHJ requested her Kakao messages not to be shared publically (despite her already showing some), a reporter did recreate the messages. (He copied them word for word but recreated the image so it doesn't break the rules.) The messages show her hatred for women in general, particularly a female employee who was reported assaulted by one of the VPs. Messages Translation: LINK Message Source: LINK LINK

[17th] NJs members and their parents all submitted petitions to oppose the dismissal of MHJ and request that MHJ and NJs continue to stay under HYBE - these petitions were submitted before the hearing where MHJ's disparaging comments against NJs were revealed. // Source: Hankook Ilbo

A petition signed by 10,000 NJs' fans, and various petitions from ADOR staff members was also submitted to the court in favor of MHJ.

Various staff from HYBE (Pdogg (BTS producer), CEO Han Seongsoo (Pledis founder and producer of Seventeen), CEO So Seongjin (Source Music), Son Seongduk (BigHit performance director), Kim Seonghyun (BTS and Le Sserafim’s creative director), and Slow Rabbit (TXT producer)) filed petitions in favor of HYBE showing strong loyalty from various labels and artists. //Source: News 1

[17th] HYBE's Q1 results were released and showcased how NJs/ADOR is not as valuable an asset as MHJ is painting them out to be. This goes against MHJ's argument that HYBE is trying to crush her because NJs are getting 'too big'. LINK

[17th] The whistleblower who tipped HYBE off to make them do the audit is revealed. Long story short it was one of the associates of the investors MHJ had been trying to get to buy shares of ADOR who reached out to HYBE. MHJ has claimed during her conference she never met any investors and that HYBE should prove who they are. Now that they've been named, she's still deflecting because it was VP L who met with the investors rather than MHJ herself. // Source: LINK / Biz Chosun

[17th - yeah, a lot happened this day] MHJ accuses HYBE of trying to make her commit 'Albun Pushing', as well as complaining about the distribution deal with UMG - HYBE retaliates denying the allegations and provides evidence of MHJ doing the exact thing she accused them of, and also explains how the UMG benefits all artists and has already benefit NJs. // Source: LINK Note: This is NOT Sajaegi, but it is still a tactic to inflate sales. The difference is Sajaegi is the company buying the albums themselves, whereas this album pushing is forcing distributors to preorder more stock and then hold events (like fansigns) to help them sell out after.

[22nd] BELIFT also filed an official defamation suit against MHJ. // Source: Hangkook Finance // Note: In Korea, you can sued for defamation even if what you said is proven true if it is deemed not beneficial to the general public and detrimental to the person/entity who was defamed. If found guilty, this would be grounds for MHJ's injunction to be canceled.

[24th] This day is the deadline by which both sides can submit additional evidence before the courts make their decision on whether to pass MHJ's injunction (stopping HYBE from voting her out) or not. // Source: YNA

[24th~19th] Various text messages, supposedly from HYBE's legal argument are leaked to the public. They contain damning messages that show that MHJ was planning (in detail) the takeover of ADOR/NJs prior to the debut of ILLIT. As the messages are 'leaked' it is hard to prove their validity, but MHJ later states (on the 30th] that the messages were taken out of context (not that they were lies/edited.) // Source: KBS

KakaoTalk Message Translations are available here: PannKpop

[25th] PJW met with 3/5 NJs' mothers and guaranteed that they would be able to carry out their Tokyo Dome performance plans regardless of MHJ's status after the injunction - despite MHJ refusing to share the files/information related to the concert plans. // Source: Ilgan Sports

[30th] The court rules in favor of Min Hee Jin. They admit that while she did plan a management takeover and take action that could be harmful/disadvantageous to HYBE, she did not do anything that would be detrimental to ADOR which is her prime responsibility, and that the loss of MHJ to ADOR could be harmful. // Source: Hankook Ilbo

This injunction temporarily stops HYBE from firing MHJ unless they can prove she is bad for ADOR or that she has committed some sort of criminal offense against HYBE. // Source: Kyunghyang Newspaper

HYBE says they will respect the court's decision and act accordingly (likely file an appeal.) MHJ announces she will do a press conference the following day. She also claims that the dismissal of her two VPs will be against the court's decision, but technically they aren't covered by the injunction. // Source: Seoul Newspaper

[31st] The ADOR extraordinary general meeting takes place.

HYBE fires the two VPs who worked under MHJ and replace them with with three Hybe officers. Kim Joo-young, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), Lee Jae-sang, Chief Strategy Office (CSO), and Lee Kyung-joon, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) were appointed at the EGM. //Note: The CHRO is a woman, which is interesting due to MHJ's disparaging comments about working with women according to the messages allegedly leaked by HYBE. // Source: Yeonhap News

This new BoD line-up for ADOR means MHJ is outnumbered 3:1 in any decision and is seen as a way for HYBE to keep her in check.

Note: I haven't included notes from MHJ's conference yet as I haven't watched it for myself yet! I also don't know what parts will be relevant to the main timeline later, so I will update again a bit later.

This is all the information so far, I've skipped some of the common knowledge things like the details of the IL plagiarism or cult accusations because I think they just muddle the whole timeline and are very inconsequential.

I will continue to update this page as things continue to happen. And I want to show out TMIKPOP from Twitter one more time as I wouldn't have been able to put this together without their tweets.

[estebanocon]

Ok, here's my recap of seeing Esteban over the Singapore GP! I've been attending every Singapore GP since 2017 and have supported Esteban each year. For me the highlight from this year was finding out that not only does he recognise my face, he also knows my name. 🥹

The video above is a compilation from two days: Thursday and Saturday. Full story below the cut. 👇

PRE-RACE WEEKEND / ESTEBAN'S BIRTHDAY

I've been travelling since late July and my flight back to Singapore from Vancouver was actually on Esteban's birthday. I had already committed to editing a video to celebrate his achievements at Alpine. Some of you (bless y'all, seriously) answered my open call for art/video/message submissions and I spent the afternoon before my flight putting it together. I'm happy I got it done and I was even happier when Esteban commented thanking us for it just before I got on my plane. You can watch the video on Instagram here.

THURSDAY

A.K.A. The day after I arrived back in Singapore after 2 months on the road and a 16-hour time difference. I have no idea how I wasn't severely jetlagged lol.

I got to the paddock entrance after 1pm, early enough to still get a spot in front of the barrier, but gosh there were so many people this year. Either F1 has really exploded in popularity (especially with the younger generation) or we just have more fans from overseas coming to Singapore for the race (why tho, it's so hot y'all). Luckily I had a friend with me and he was kind enough to help me take videos when Esteban arrived.

My friend hadn't hit record yet so the video missed Esteban saying "good to see you again, how are you doing?", and you can scroll back up for the rest. ☺️ He thanked me after I asked if he'd seen the birthday video and then there was an awkward moment when I didn't know if we were doing a fist bump or a handshake but man's a gentleman and didn't make me feel weird about it. 🫠

I don't know why after seeing him so many times I still get nervous but I was, and I struggled to take the cap off my marker so he could sign my cap. He very kindly took it from me to open it himself but my marker betrayed me and wasn't working properly (now that I think about it, it also happened the very first time I asked him to sign my hat back in 2017 🤡). Thankfully the girl next to me offered her red marker which actually worked (though Este stabbed the life out of it first to be sure). 🙏

I initially wanted to hang around in the evening with some friends who were coming after the pitlane walk. But at 7pm it was already super crowded and I don't even know why (all the drivers, TPs and media are already in the paddock at this point and won't come out till late that night). So yeah, I just went home to not tire myself out before the race weekend actually started.

FRIDAY

I've accumulated quite a bit of merch since last year so I was bringing a different one on each day for him to sign haha. In the selfie I'm wearing a shirt he signed the day before.

I normally try not to take up too much of his time because he always does his best to make sure all the fans get something from him. I only had one shirt for him to sign but after he did, he continued standing in front of me so I just took out my phone for this picture and then he went on his way. Este is bestie fr. 😭🫶

I didn't hang around outside the paddock again on Friday night because I went to watch OneRepublic. ✨

SATURDAY

The best day for me because this was when I managed to get most of my selfies (including with Mick, who I missed on Thursday because he came with Esteban and obv I have priorities) and also because Esteban managed to drag the car out of Q1. 👏

It was also a good day because I asked Esteban if he could write my name on the cap and as I was trying to spell it out for him, he cut me off because he knew, he just didn't see it was me at first because some guy had draped a huge flag over my friend and me for him to sign. 😭🫶

We tried to wait outside the paddock after qualifying but they started chasing us out at 12am and since they had armed police out in full view, we decided to not fk around and find out. (At previous SGPs they'd stay in the van so we never actually saw them.) Also didn't help that Esteban chose that moment to leave so people started mobbing him and even though he tried to stop at first, security physically pushed him to the exit. 🥲 (which was probably for the best tbh)

SUNDAY

I actually gave Este the wrong hat to write my name on (I wanted him to write it on the cap from his store, not the Alpine one) so I had to ask him again and he kindly obliged.

That night I was lucky to catch him just before he left the circuit, there were some fans running alongside him because he wasn't stopping but he stopped when he saw me. 😭🫶 I got a quick hug and he said see you next year so I guess the greedy mfs at SGP are going to continue getting my money smh.

BONUS ESTE'S BESTIES

Here's a picture of stuff I got signed by Este, as well as some gifts I got from other Esteban fans! And also, a picture of me and Fiq who I met for the first time on race day.

[herohimbowhore]

Daniel Ricciardo: Castles Crumbling

Revisionism and recency bias are perhaps two of the most common things that you'll see in Formula 1 and discussions of how we view drivers. It all goes back to the saying "You're only as good as your last race." This, while true in some sense, is only part of the picture when it comes to a driver and the legacy they'll leave in the sport. One race does not define a driver, just as a small portion of a driver's career does not define the driver.

But in commentary and fan discussions, we continue to see that revisionism and recency bias continue to define driver's careers on everchanging standards.

This season, the argument would be that that Carlos Sainz is a better driver than Charles Leclerc due to any of the following reasons:

He's won a race this year

Ahead in the points

Consistently finishing races in the points

But looking at their careers as a whole, the argument falls apart.

Another case of this is Lewis Hamilton in 2022. He finished behind his teammate in the points, didn't win a race, etc. And that year alone had people questioning if Lewis Hamilton was washed or if he should retire. But again, looking at the career as a whole and not zeroing in on one piece of it, makes the argument fall apart.

A driver's legacy isn't based solely on a piece of their career. Alex Albon's career isn't going to be defined just by the Red Bull years, nor is Pierre Gasly's. Sebastian Vettel's career isn't just defined by his time in Ferrari or Red Bull or Aston Martin. Nor is Carlos Sainz's career going to be defined by his time in one team.

However, when it comes to Daniel Ricciardo, the revisionism and hate is strong. Especially in fan spaces like Twitter.

The two years at McLaren are by many considered to be a definer of Daniel's career, completely ignoring or disregarding what he was able to do in Red Bull and Renault.

In one instance he's a PR merchant, in another he can't draw a crowd.

He gets the car to Q3, qualifies 4th, and spends the whole weekend in 10th -> well then people will say it's the car.

Both he and his teammate don't make it out of Q1 with about .006 separating them -> well then obviously the driver and not the car on that specific track

Castles Crumbling is a song that inherently fits the change in the narrative around Daniel. The premise of Castles Crumbling is your legacy falling apart and no longer being loved by people who were once fans. This is a defining feature of Daniel Ricciardo's public perception in recent years as everything he does is defined by the McLaren stint.

Once, I had an empire in a golden age

I was held up so high, I used to be great

They used to cheer when they saw my face

Now, I fear I have fallen from grace

Once, I was the great hope for a dynasty

Crowds would hang on my words, and they trusted me

Their faith was strong, but I pushed it too far

I held that grudge 'til it tore me apart

Despite what people perpetuate now, coming into McLaren, Daniel was highly regarded and considered a great driver. He was THAT guy.

Netflix's Drive to Survive did a lot in helping Daniel transcend from the normal bounds of an F1 driver. He was the first one to be fully on board and give them so much access to him, his thoughts, and his life. A move that wasn't reciprocated by other drivers, so in that first season, it was all about him from start to end basically. He also had the personality to match.

But even before that, Daniel has been the the guy. Just look at any number of grown men that have taken his sweaty race boots and drunk champagne out of them.

Gerard Butler (USA 2016)

Christian Horner (Malaysia 2016)

Max Verstappen (Malaysia 2016)

Nico Rosberg (Malaysia 2016)

Mark Webber (Germany 2016)

Lance Stroll (Baku 2017)

Sir Patrick Stewart (Canada 2017)

Martin Brundle (Austria 2017)

Adrian Newey (Monaco 2018)

Lewis Hamilton (Imola 2020)

Zak Brown (Monza 2021)

Lando Norris (Monza 2021)

Any number of Red Bull staff over the years

People all around the paddock

Some happily, some with pure disgust, others taking the shoes right off Daniel's feet for a shoey.

Daniel at Silverstone in 2017: "DC took my shoes off and then in Austria, Martin was frothing for it."

Daniel wasn't just his personality as so many would like to say. The racing was there.

In 2014, Daniel came into Red Bull and beat his four-time world champion teammate. He was Red Bull's only race winner that year with three wins. During his first year with Red Bull, Daniel finished third in the championship, just behind the two Mercedes.

Once more in 2016, Daniel finished third in the championship, just behind the two Mercedes. His only win of the year was Malaysia 2016 and with it came the iconic podium of Daniel, Max, Nico, and Christian all taking turns to drink out of the same race shoe.

Nico Rosberg in 2023, talked about his time racing against Daniel in 2016 and said:

"He's such an awesome personality, one of the best wheel-to-wheel racers out there. If I saw in my rear-view mirrors, [Ricciardo] was one of the last guys I would like to see there at the time, with Max Verstappen."

2018 for Daniel was filled with reliability issues and engine problems. Out of the 21 races that year, Daniel retired in 8 of them. He had two wins that year - China and Monaco.

Going into Renault, Formula 1 World Champion and Renault Advisor, Alain Prost, called Daniel worth every penny that the Renault would be paying him

"Daniel is more expensive than other drivers. When you need that to help the team we did it. Money is not a problem but it has to be justified. We have two top drivers, maybe one of the best lineups in F1 today."

With Renault, people forget that 2020 was one of his best years. While he didn't win any races, Daniel did have two podiums. He gave Renault their first podium in about nine years. Additionally, Daniel finished 5th in the championship, higher than anyone would have expected out of the unreliable Renault. He was doing wonders with that car.

Going into McLaren, Daniel was a highly valued asset. And while many like to say he went to McLaren for the money, salary estimates show that going to McLaren was actually a significant pay cut.

With an approximately $22 million pay cut in cash earnings, the move to McLaren cannot be defined as a cash grab. Doing something for the money doesn't usually mean lowering your value by millions.

My foes and friends watch my reign end

I don't know how it could've ended this way

Smoke billows from my ships in the harbor

People look at me like I'm a monster

Now they're screaming at the palace front gates, used to chant my name

Now they're screaming that they hate me

Never wanted you to hate me

So how did we get from being a highly valued driver to endless public hate by fans?

Well revisionism and recency bias.

Daniel’s time with McLaren was admittedly very bad.

(sidenote: Dropping Daniel was the best thing that McLaren could have done for all parties involved. No one can deny that, but how McLaren and Zak Brown conducted themselves was wrong. Say what you will about Red Bull's ruthlessness; Red Bull is upfront about it, and they don't drag the driver around making apologies or videos promising to try harder and signing another driver while doing all that.)

The car and driver did not mesh. But what most people tend to ignore is that the car design was inherently difficult to drive. It was unpredictable. One could argue that Lando was performing well in the car., but Lando has only driven a McLaren. Whereas Daniel's driven an HRT, Toro Rosso, Red Bull, and a Renault. Instead of helping Daniel with the learning curve or setting the car up in a manner that aligned with his driving style, Daniel had to change how he drove.

With all the McLaren struggles, people have chosen to focus on just that phase. Completely ignoring that Daniel was doing wonders with the Red Bull when the car wasn't great and he was doing wonders with the Renault.

Daniel's time post-Red Bull was not all bad and certainly not deserving of the vitriol and hate he receives when there are other drivers who have much less to show for on the grid.

He got two podiums with Renault in 2020 -- the first podiums that Renault had gotten in years. He was 5th in the standings.

And let's not forget that Daniel got McLaren its only win since 2012. Maybe you can say that the only reason Daniel won is due to the Max and Lewis crash or that Lando was told to stay behind. However, Daniel overtook Max at the start while Lando lost a position to Lewis. Daniel had been the one to take his shot when it mattered. As for the team orders to hold position, well Daniel could have gone faster if he wanted to as we can see with him pulling out the fastest lap on the final lap.

(A random thought that came to me during the research for this: do we think Christian Horner wants a Daniel-related tattoo as well and hates that Cyril and Zak have Daniel-related tattoos? Because if I was in Christian's position, I would want that tattoo. Like you put all this time and investment into a driver and then two other team principals that either took him away from you or couldn't get the most out of him have tattoos chosen by Daniel.)

[mysteriouslyjovialcolor]

Spain 2016

- “Big shock” Williams knocked out in Q1 ???

-Can’t believe they took each other out in lap 1

-Man covered his face with both hands and then threw his steering wheel -valid

-They replayed the crash like six times

-Williams used to be good??

-Danny leading 😭

-He was only 18

-Damn never led a lap before this

-“Carlos definitely does deserve a front running team” (He’s holding off two Ferrari’s rn with an old Ferrari engine- little does he know he will be driving Ferrari soon)

-Aww I wish Carlos stayed p3

-Fun seeing Vettel and Raikkonen race tho

-“Young Sainz says not this time”

-Toro Rosso and RB have such similar looking cars

“Nice strategy by Red Bull, that’s racy, that’s good” [DANIEL WHY DID YOU LEAVE]

-Neither Mercedes drivers taking off the helmet until now (12 laps into the race)

-MV33 incoming

-Kinda wanna be in that “treehouse” to see that Mercedes conversation

-MV33!!

-“Don’t want team orders” rRiight, the hell are papaya rules then

-Why don’t these old races show the leaderboard properly

-Just now realizing these cars don’t have halos

-“Let them (brocedes) sort it out like men” “behind the motor homes” lol

-Nico H 😢

-“Nico Roseberg will drive for Mercedes in 2017” Ha I wish

-I really need that leaderboard

-How did Ricciardo lose this race, he’s so far ahead

-I’m assuming they messed up the pit stop strategy

-…or not??

-Yay youngest ever lap leader

-Boo don’t undercut the child

-The lack of radios in this race is throwing me off

-First ever Dutchman to lead a GP!!

-Where did Carlos go?? They just stopped showing the man

-Forgot Danny and Seb were teammates

-Aaaah Max is in the pits, how does he win from hereee

-I don’t know why I asked, Ferrari probably messed up a strategy

-Hm actually don’t think they did

-Pfft they did

-why is it “Ves” it’s supposed to be “Ver”

-The no radios is really throwing me off!

-Ayy pretty sure Danny lost because of that pit stop

-“Verstappen can win this can’t he”

YES HE CAN

-oh no!! Fernando 😭 ( I did not see that coming)

-MV33!!

-Okay that Ericsson radio was a jump scare

-come on Daniellll

“Last of the late breakers!!” do it again 😭

-Ahahaha “racing or ping pong”

-6 more laps!

-Would be nice if Danny made podium

-God imagine the emotions leading that race

-🎶Jenson Button 🎶

-3 more laps!

-Come on Daniel!

-Aaaaaaaah

-When did Valterri overtake Carlos

-Oh no!! Daniel whyyy!

-Final lap!

-Incoming youngest race winner!!

-MV33!! MV33!! MV33!!!!!!!!!!!!

-The marshals are so cute

-HE IS SO CUTE WTH

SO TINY

SO TINYYYY

IM SOBBING

[rickybaby]

The Daniel Ricciardo show at Silverstone 2017

Daniel got knocked out in Q1 after suffering a turbo failure in Qualifying. He would start the race in 19th and charge his way through the field to finish 5th.

Ricciardo was putting in the hard miles with the drive of the day in his wake. Not only that but he had to do the job almost twice over. An early charge up the field to 12th was wasted when he went wide and dropped once again back to 18th. He duly set about the task again and pulled off move after move, displaying the commitment and judgment in overtaking that has proved so exciting. Points might have been the target but by the time he dealt with the Force India cars of Esteban Ocon and Sergio Pérez, the Australian had made it clear he was not satisfied with scraping into the top 10. (x)

[jiinjiinjarra]

Ranking (Jin & Jungkook Ranking and Key Phrases)

Q1: Which member seems to be suitable to have a heart-to-heart talk with?

#5 JIN 870 votes #6 JUNGKOOK 189 votes

🐹: Who do you guys think is #7?

🐰: V hyung!

🐱: Shouldn’t it be Jungkook, since he’s the maknae?

🐻: No, Jin hyung is definitely in the lower rank.

~ 

🐹: That’s right. V would unexpectedly give really good answers.

Q2: Who do you want to make lunch box for you?

#1 JIN 10292 votes #3 JK 928 votes

(🐹: It has to be me when comes to cooking!)

🐨: It’s just V and I who can’t cook.

🐹: You’ve burnt a pan before! (laughs)

~ 

🐹: Hobi’s cooking level is average.

🐰: It’s not very delicious and it’s not awful (laughs).

Q3: Who likes to talk for a long time on the phone?

#4 JIN 1915 votes #5 JUNG KOOK 542 votes

🐰: I don’t make calls! Sometimes when I think I have been talking for 30 minutes but it has only been 1 minute. I was so surprised.

🐹: I hate phone calls too. I like to contact people by texting. Even when I make calls, I would be like “hey, check your texts” and then end the call. (laughs)

Q4: If you go to the seaside together, who would be the noisiest member?

#2 JUNG KOOK 3741 votes #5 JIN 374 votes

🐨: Although I’m #7, I can be unexpectedly quite noisy.

🐹: Unexpectedly, I can be super noisy!

🐰: Unexpectedly I’m not noisy. (laughs) 

🐹: Yeah, Jungkook isn’t noisy. I feel like Jimin and I will have fun until we collapse. 

~ 

🐱: Unexpectedly I’m not noisy. 

🐹: That’s not unexpected at all! (laughs)

~ 

🐨: That’s right, but Jungkook would go missing if he secretly goes off by himself.

Q5: If you had to pick the first alien in BTS, who would you pick?

#5 JUNG KOOK 637 votes #6 JIN 371 votes

🐹: This is made for V, right? (laughs)

~ 

🐱: After I had the appendix surgery, I couldn’t go to the space. (laughs)

🐰: I want to go~

Q6: The member can do bungee jump without hesitation?  

#1 JUNGKOOK 10657 votes #7 JIN 273 votes

(🐰: Bungee jump is fun!)

🐨: #7 Jin hyung got so little votes. (laughs) There isn’t a big difference between #3 – 6.

🐹: Hey, including #7, there isn’t a big difference. When have I left such impression on you guys? (laughs)

🐿: Those who picked Jin hyung wrote, “Jin hyung has broad shoulders, so the air resistance would be really big.”

ALL: (bursts out laughing)

🐹: Wow, this is very scientific! (laughs)

🐥: A lot of people wrote for #1 Jungkook, “it seems that he can jump easily.”

🐰: Yes! That’s right.

Q7: Who do you want to be a comic duo with?

#2 JIN 2752 votes #7 JUNG KOOK 508 votes

🐻: Jungkook is #7 so unexpected. Isn’t he funny in Japan?

🐰: No, my image in Japan is handsome/ cool.

🐨: But Jungkook is the most hilarious, he has the ability to make people laugh.

🐥: No, recently Jin hyung is the funniest.

🐻: Yeah, I think Jin hyung is #1!

Q8: Who can’t get up? (Who’s weak in the morning)?

#2 JUNG KOOK 3590 votes #7 JIN 103 votes

🐰: The most energetic in the morning is Hobi hyung, hyung always gets up the earliest.

🐹: Even if Jimin gets up early, he takes a long time to prepare.

🐥: I’ve been trying recently.

🐹: Huh˜? But I can smell that someone was late today (sniffs)

~ 

🐨: #2 Jungkook actually can’t get up, just like it’s written here “Jungkook might get angry if you wake him up.”

🐻: During the trainee days, I prepared a surprise for Jungkook’s birthday but he didn’t get up no matter how many times I’ve knocked on the door. I had to pull his legs to the living room. (laughs)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BTS // Japan // Japan Official Fanclub Magazine (JPFC) // Vol. 5 // 2017 // Pt. 5

Scan Cr. jiinjiinjarra (me); Translation Cr. kimmy-trans

[onenettvchannel]

LATE-BREAKING THIS MORNING: Southern Californian animated YouTube star and VTuber nominee 'JaidenAnimations' wins U$D1M in MrBeast's Online Game Show Challenge in North Carolina [#TeleRadyoSerbisyoEXCLUSIVE]

(Written by Miko Kubota and Rhayniel Saldasal Calimpong / K5 Tele-Serbisyo Patrol #4 reporter of OneNETnews & Station Manager and President of ONC, and Freelance News Writer, Online Media Reporter and News Presenter of OneNETnews)

GREENVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA -- Southern Californian 2D-animated YouTuber named 'Ms. Jaiden Kiyomi Dittfach' wins the 'MrBeast' YouTube Challenge outlasting 4 YouTubers as contestants, who were participated in an online-only reality game show at a disclosed television-like studio in North Carolina, United States of America (U.S.A.) after eliminating 50 of the biggest social media & video influencers and personality individuals including ValkyRae (Rachell Marie Hofstetter), Odd1sOut (Robert James Rallison), Kai Carlo Cenat III, Logan Alexander Paul, KSI (Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatunji), Nick Channing DiGiovanni, The Game Theorists (Matthew Robert Patrick [MatPat]), MoistCr1TiKaL (Charles Christopher White Jr.), LilyPichu (Lily Ki) and Pokimane (Imane Anys).

This was recently surpassed last Wednesday (July 10th, 2024 -- Eastern local time) after hitting 300 million subscribers from a video-sharing platform YouTube (owned by Google's Alphabet), as according to ViewStats. 'TeleRadyo Serbisyo: Dumaguete' was first to cover the only entertainment scoop from our internet media partners at OneNETnews.

For context between those individuals aside all of that… Mr. James Stephen "Jimmy" Donaldson, better known by his online alias 'MrBeast' is a 26 y/o North Carolinian-based YouTuber, online personality, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and the now - online game show host & executive producer of himself. Mr. Donaldson started as a YouTuber alone in the late mid-February 2012 when he was just 13 y/o old and intially went by the former channel username 'MrBeast6000'. His early content included Let's Plays and older videos estimating the wealth of other YouTubers.

Fast forward to January 2017, he went viral with his "counting to 100k" video, gaining tens of thousands of views in a few days. But today, due to increased demand of popularity, Donaldson's content evolved to feature elaborate challenges, large giveaways and high-production value. Several sponsors and partnerships endorsed related to him in product placements and virtual goodies online. In the early Q1 2024, his own studio in North Carolina was now completed. The rest remains history within the present day.

While Ms. Dittfach on the other hand, better known online as 'JaidenAnimations' in Los Angeles, California; who was an independent 2D-animator, VTuber, gaming YouTuber and the 6-time Streamy Awards nominee, famously known for her engaging story-time animations that cover a variety of topics, from personal experiences to general anecdotes.

Dittfach primarily creates videos centered around video game stories like Pokémon (Pocket Monsters) and even the now previously declared - Virtual YouTuber (VTuber) during a Sub-a-thon broadcast debut in December 2022. Her main animation channel has over 12 million subscribers, while their gaming channel including her VTuber debut surpassed 1 million subscribers. Lastly on their official Twitch gaming and LIVE reaction channel received 965,000 followers at the time of this writing scoop. She only won previously an award in the Animated category of the 2020 Streamy Awards.

Now, 50 of the biggest YouTube creators were confined in a cube, battling various challenges from the start in his own studio as pre-recorded during the process in the making and filming new online video and later released on Saturday (July 13th, 2024 at 12nn -- Eastern local time). The task, simple on paper, demanded mental and physical endurance as in-person contestants navigated eliminations through basketball shots, a Squid Game-inspired sugar cookie challenge, and a high-stakes Jenga competition. Think about as a qualifying-like rounds and later advanced in the semi-finals.

17 YouTuber contestants in the 3rd challenge of Jenga were eliminated, while 7 of them in the 4th challenge of 'Steal or No Steal' are also eliminated with guest Canadian host of "Deal or No Deal" and "America's Got Talent" named Mr. Howie Michael Mandel. Down to 10 YouTubers in the 5th semi-finals challenge, an intensive MasterChef-inspired team cooking competition to be judged with Mr. Joseph Christian Chestnut, Nickelodeon's iCarly reboot star actress named Ms. Miranda Taylor Cosgrove, and IShowSpeed's Darren Jason Watkins Jr.

In a team cooking challenge… Kai Cenat, Ayaanle "AJ" Shabeel, Logan Paul, El Rubius' Rubén Doblas Gundersen and SpriteDer SPD's Prite Netijen Netirattanapaiboon were eliminated. Leaving only the last 5 in the grand finals unveiling the MrBeast YouTube millionaire, which may either subjected to tax or tax-free in some states of America per contestant individual.

At the grand finals, as part of the last 6th challenge… Amixem's Mr. Maxime Chabroud, Ms. Dittfach, Ms. Alexandra Valeria Botez, Mr. Ludwig Anders Ahgren and Mr. DiGiovanni battled for a jackpot prize inside one of 5 briefcases, moderated by MrBeast himself.

In the first round with the unofficially tied majority vote of 2 points goes both to Dittfach and Ludwig. He won the tiebreaker round for another 2 points but, Ludwig didn't make the cut and goes home with nothing, then proceeds anyway with a final 2nd round. At the end of it with a final majority vote of 3-1 goes to Ms. Dittfach, now declared officially a video platform winner worth U$D1M (or nearly PHP58.45M). Taxes will be immediately shouldered by MrBeast and received her Diamond Creator Award since 'JaidenAnimations' reached late above the 10 million subscribers mark in June 2021.

Per the short vlog-like conference money box, sat beside 'MrBeast' obtained exclusively thru 'TeleRadyo Serbisyo: Dumaguete', Dittfach's proceeds of U$D1M prize will sent them over to the art school in her home state of California and selected states in their home country for those supportive and active subscribers nationwide on this video sharing platform: "It's hard for a lot of (aspiring animation) artist out there. I'd really like to send a lot of them to art school", JaidenAnimation said.

Dittfach made it through to the very end and secured the impressive U$D1M prize from 'MrBeast'. Afterwards, she will soon complete her animation degree after graduation, making it full-time professional 2D-animator and VTuber altogether in Southern California. You can see a full video available right now on his official YouTube channel of 'MrBeast'. A big congratulations to JaidenAnimations!

SCREENGRAB and LOGOS COURTESY: MrBeast via YT VIDEO & Jaiden Dittfach (JaidenAnimations) BACKGROUND PROVIDED BY: Tegna

SOURCE: *https://x.com/MrBeast/status/1811019365514428859 [Referenced X Network Tweet Post via MrBeast] *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SNThp0YiU4 [Referenced YT Video #1 via MrBeast] *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-ySUjrJFcI [Referenced YT Video via Pokimane] *https://twitch.tv/videos/2196800638 [Referenced Twitch VIDEO via JaidenAnimations] *https://indianexpress.com/article/trending/trending-globally/mrbeast-next-challenge-50-famous-youtubers-competing-1-million-for-subscribers-9443915/ [Referenced News Article via The Indian Express] *https://www.sportskeeda.com/us/streamers/news-mrbeast-1-000-000-challenge-contestants-full-list-youtubers-participated-video [Referenced News Article via Sportskeeda] *https://tribune.com.pk/story/2479628/jaidenanimations-wins-mrbeasts-1-million-youtube-challenge-outlasting-logan-paul-and-ksi [Referenced News Article via Tribune Pakistan News Bureau] *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWcldHxHFpo [Referenced YT Video #2f via MrBeast] *https://mrbeast.fandom.com/wiki/Jimmy_Donaldson *https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaiden_Animations *https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-inside-mrbeasts-14-million-top-secret-filming-studio-2023-5 [Referenced News Article via Business Insider] *https://www.wnct.com/news/mrbeast/best-of-mrbeast-inside-mrbeasts-top-secret-14-million-studio/ [Referenced News Article via WNCT-TV's CBS 9: Greenville] *https://www.streamys.org/nominees-winners/13th-annual-nominees/ *https://www.youtube.com/creators/how-things-work/get-involved/awards/ *https://www.hrblock.com/tax-center/income/other-income/taxes-on-prize-winnings/ [Referenced Editorial Article via H&R Block] *https://osgamers.com/frequently-asked-questions/how-much-is-taxed-if-you-win-1-million-in-california [Referenced Editorial Article via Old School Gamers News Bureau] and *https://bartleylawoffice.com/faq/how-much-tax-is-taken-from-lottery-winnings-in-california-solution-found.html [Referenced Editorial Article via Bartley Law Office]

-- OneNETnews Online Publication Team

[unpluggedfinancial]

How Bitcoin is Probably Gearing Up for a New ATH

Bitcoin has consistently demonstrated its resilience and growth potential since its inception. As we observe its price movements and market dynamics, it becomes evident that Bitcoin might be gearing up for a new all-time high (ATH). Understanding the importance of ATHs in the context of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can provide valuable insights into the potential future trajectory of this digital asset.

Historical Performance and Previous ATHs

Bitcoin's journey has been marked by several significant ATHs, each catalyzing a surge in investor interest and mainstream media attention. The 2017 bull run saw Bitcoin reach an ATH of $19,783 on December 17, 2017, driven by a combination of retail investor frenzy and increasing awareness. Similarly, the 2020-2021 bull run pushed Bitcoin to a new ATH of $68,789 on November 10, 2021, fueled by institutional investments and macroeconomic factors.

Current Market Indicators

Several indicators suggest that Bitcoin is poised for another ATH:

Institutional Investments: Companies like MicroStrategy have acquired approximately 230,000 BTC as of 2024, worth billions of dollars.

Adoption Rates: PayPal reported over $5 billion in crypto trading volume in Q1 2024.

Technological Advancements: The Taproot upgrade, activated in November 2021, has enhanced Bitcoin's privacy and smart contract capabilities.

Regulatory Developments: The SEC's approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 has provided a more stable environment for growth.

Factors Contributing to the Potential ATH

Increased Adoption and Mainstream Acceptance: Major banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs now offer Bitcoin-related services to their clients.

Technological Advancements: The Lightning Network's capacity has grown to over 5,000 BTC as of 2024, improving Bitcoin's scalability.

Macroeconomic Factors: With U.S. inflation rates hitting 7% in 2021, Bitcoin is increasingly seen as a hedge against economic instability.

Geopolitical Influences: Countries like El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender demonstrate its potential as a global, borderless currency.

The Importance of Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) into Bitcoin

Dollar-Cost Averaging (DCA) is a strategic investment approach where an individual invests a fixed amount of money into an asset at regular intervals, regardless of its price.

Benefits of DCA:

Mitigates market volatility

Reduces investment risk

Provides a disciplined approach to investing

Example of Successful DCA Strategy: An investor who consistently invested $100 weekly in Bitcoin from January 2019 to December 2023 would have seen a return on investment of over 300%, outperforming many who attempted to time the market.

Practical Advice for Implementing DCA:

Start with a fixed amount that fits your budget (e.g., $50-$500 per month)

Set a regular investment schedule (weekly or monthly)

Use reputable exchanges with automated purchasing options

Remain consistent regardless of market conditions

Expert Opinions and Predictions

Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest: Predicts Bitcoin could reach $1 million per coin by 2030.

Plan B, creator of the Stock-to-Flow model: Forecasts Bitcoin reaching $100,000 by 2025.

Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy: Believes Bitcoin will replace gold as a store of value, potentially pushing its price to $500,000.

Potential Risks and Challenges

While the prospects for a new ATH are promising, potential risks include:

Market volatility: Bitcoin's price can fluctuate by over 10% in a single day.

Regulatory risks: Potential government crackdowns or unfavorable legislation.

Technological issues: The need for ongoing development to address scalability and security concerns.

Conclusion

Bitcoin's potential for reaching a new ATH is supported by a combination of historical patterns, current market indicators, and strategic investment approaches like DCA. As we move forward, staying informed and considering long-term investment strategies will be crucial for navigating the cryptocurrency landscape.

Key Takeaways:

Bitcoin has a history of reaching new ATHs, with the current record at $68,789.

Institutional adoption, technological advancements, and macroeconomic factors support potential growth.

Dollar-Cost Averaging can be an effective strategy for investing in Bitcoin.

While expert predictions vary, many see significant upside potential for Bitcoin.

Be aware of risks and challenges, including market volatility and regulatory uncertainties.

As you consider your investment strategy, remember that the cryptocurrency market is highly volatile. Always conduct thorough research and consider consulting with a financial advisor before making investment decisions.

🌐 Blog: Unplugged Financial Blog Stay updated with insightful articles, detailed analyses, and practical advice on navigating the evolving financial landscape. Learn about the history of money, the flaws in our current financial systems, and how Bitcoin can offer a path to a more secure and independent financial future.

📺 YouTube Channel: Unplugged Financial Subscribe to our YouTube channel for engaging video content that breaks down complex financial topics into easy-to-understand segments. From in-depth discussions on monetary policies to the latest trends in cryptocurrency, our videos will equip you with the knowledge you need to make informed financial decisions.

👍 Like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated with our latest content. Whether you're a seasoned investor, a curious newcomer, or someone concerned about the future of your financial health, our community is here to support you on your journey to financial independence.

[vro0m]

vro0m's rewatch - 179/332

2016 German GP

Last race before summer break!

Okay so. Nico has been the fastest every session of the weekend. Apparently, he had an electrical issue on his first hot lap during quali but still managed to put in two good laps under pressure afterwards while Lewis made a mistake. So yeah no surprise he's on pole, Lewis ended up 0.107 behind him. Then it's Daniel, Max, Raikkonen, Seb, Valtteri, Hulkenberg, Perez and Massa. Lewis hasn't outqualified a teammate on this circuit since 08, btw. 

He's acting very chill during the parade, saying he doesn't have a strategy to go against Nico because he likes being spontaneous. He also agrees with Buxton that the RedBulls and Ferraris are closer than they've been to them since Monaco. 

For some reason, Seb has taken part in a "seat swap" with an ambulance driver. On a track. After giving each other advice, Seb gets to drive the ambulance and the ambulance driver gets to drive a Ferrari 488 gtb for a lap. The ambulance driver, in the Ferrari, does a 2.17:00. Seb gets impatient in the ambulance, it's not fast enough. He turns the sirens on. And he does it in 2.10:48 lol! 

Meanwhile Daniel is praised for his form during the season by the skysports journalists, although he seemed to have had a moment after Max won his first race for RB. And in parallel we're told of Kvyat's demise. He was out in Q1 and has given a honestly kinda heart wrenching interview during which he seems at a complete loss as to what's happening to him and he's obviously battling tears. Horrible. The journalists are questioning RB’s system that has a high turnover and chews and spits out young drivers at a high rate. Nothing has changed to this day. Brundle says that's also the system that gave him his chance to begin with so he "can't complain too much", because he’s an asshole.

In other news there was a strategy group meeting and here's what came out of it : from that weekend onward the stupid team radio ban was lifted ; quali sessions will be stopped in case of double waved yellows (remember the controversy with Nico?) ; from the next season, there will be standing starts in case of wet conditions after a safety car period at the beginning of the race (huhhhh? So they go for a few laps behind safety car THEN do a standing start??? weird af I guess we'll see if it really happens…) ; and they can't make changes to the car during red flags periods in races (this one must have been overturned since then). Simon also explains there will be no halo in 2017, actually. 

There's an interview with Max where he explains some of his overtakes to Anthony. Interestingly, we hear he's been getting a bit of heat from a number of other drivers, especially older ones, after some of his moves in the last race, that really pissed off Raikkonen. His position on it is “if it had been against the rules I would have gotten a penalty”. Brundle claims it's just what happens when "the new king arrives" and the same thing happened with Schumacher. Everybody agrees, including Max in his interview, that the move was on the limit.

Nico also gave an interview. Brundle says in Sochi he introduced him as the man who couldn't stop winning. At that point he'd won 7 in a row, and since then he's won 1 in seven races. He asks what's gone wrong. Nico says the opposition has had a cleaner run since then, especially Lewis, and that's who he should ask what's changed. "For sure. Something's changed with him," he chuckles. He's not worried, that's how it is in sports, it ebbs and flows. He feels great. The battle stays great. He's a bit frustrated about Hungary because he'd been better all weekend at everything except in turn 1 and that's what made the difference. It's down to details. He's talking so much jesus. He says he's got over it in a couple of days and he's ready to go again. It's his home race– second home race of the year. Brundle asks if he's watched that turn 1 and what he thought and he says of course you can tell in hindsight I should have done this or that but in the moment it's difficult. Brundle asks if he was more careful because they've made contact recently. No. Lewis was beside him and he couldn't shut the door. "Because if he's there, he's there." He says then it's up to him to brake later and go on the outside or something but Lewis braked much later and got it right. "You can see his car all over the place but he just managed to get the corner and… So, fair play."

Brundle says Lewis has tapped him on the track and poked him in the press conference in Hungary– Nico interrupts "what did he say? Oh yeah." Brundle answers anyway : about the double waved yellows. "Oh yeah yeah." – "Don't you sometimes just wanna–" Brundle continues but Nico interrupts again : "It wasn't a poke in the rib, it was just a… A bit of a…" he sighs, makes a face, "I don't know, a wrong picture that he gave. Which I felt the need to correct," he smiles. "Don't you get angry, doesn't he make you angry?" Brundle asks. "No, for sure no. Because I've learnt to make sure I focus on my job." He says all he thinks about is getting his job done and not what Lewis does. "That wouldn't be the right approach." Brundle reminds us he signed a contract for two more years, which means with the current year 3 potential championships. What is he gonna do to beat "this guy" and win a title? "Well you know he's a, he's a great driver so it's always gonna be a big challenge, and I never expect it to be easy against him but the challenge is awesome that's what I race for you know?" (I mean that's also the reason you stopped but I enjoy the tragedy of it.) "You know that better than anybody else, don't you? That you just love being up against one of the best out there, it's great because that's where the biggest thrill comes from when you know you've beaten a great opposition." Brundle says it sounds like he still thinks of himself as not as good as Lewis. "I'm not gonna say what I think in my mind I'll keep that to myself but don't worry I'm feeling good," he chuckles as Brundle tries to get him to talk anyway. He says he's excited to race here but he's also aware of the fact that he's beat him the last two years. So he needs to try to up his game to turn it around. Brundle asks if he thinks it feeds Lewis' confidence when he says he's the benchmark. "It's not my aim obviously to feed his confidence so… Let me know if he says yes, cause I'll change what I'm saying then." He chuckles. "Are you too nice a man to beat him?" Brundle asks. "That discussion is a bit strange," he says, and I agree. "3 races ago I was too mean a man, now I'm too nice a man, then it went back again to mean, it's like, I don't know where you're coming from." He's amused. He says he attacks as he needs to to win races.

Brundle asks what are his strengths and what are Lewis weaknesses, where does he see an opportunity. He shrugs, raises his eyebrows. "You give me some ideas. What do you think?" As Brundle thinks, he adds "maybe I can confirm them". Brundle says "I don't know, he has got relentless speed, hasn't he?" Nico says that's a known fact. Brundle continues : "In racecraft he seems like he's a bit stronger than you sometimes, you seem like you're– thank you for the question so I'll go through the answer." Nico laughs. Brundle claims Nico thinks about the weekend more and is more cerebral about the way he goes at it where Lewis is more instinctive (we've talked about how that's bullshit and probably racist before at some point). Nico jumps on the opportunity to say maybe the infamous yellow flags are a good example : he knew exactly what needed to be done to make sure it was safe but get the best out of the situation. Brundle says he got a bit of hate on twitter for saying he admired the move and his racing instinct– Nico interrupts : "but it wasn't instinct, it was prepared!" Brundle is surprised. Me too because it makes no sense, it's not like he could have foreseen it. He asks how he prepared for it then. He says it's just knowing the regulations. So he's just still on a campaign to defend that he obeyed the regulations and they don't say what Lewis said they do, I guess. 

Afterwards, Ted is talking with a journalist, Michael Schmidt, who apparently knows Nico very well. He asks him about who Nico is both as a driver and as a person. Schmidt says as a person he's very well educated, maybe too correct. Ted asks him to elaborate and he goes on saying that you need to only think about yourself in this business, all great champions do. They agree that Keke didn't care about anybody and Nico's different from his father. He repeats Nico is very well educated and a good driver "but I think he had to work very hard, to learn a lot, to drive a lot to come to the level whereas somebody like Lewis it's his natural talent, he doesn't have to work as hard to be as fast as Nico." I can't emphasise enough how much I hate this rhetoric. Prompted by Ted, Schmidt agrees Nico might be a little too soft, in some cases. He gives Hungary as an example, "Lewis intentionally driving slow" and adds "I think Nico would never do that." Arguable. To beat Lewis in the same car, Schmidt thinks Nico needs lucky circumstances, or maybe bad luck for Lewis, or Lewis "coming into a mood where he is distracted". He says if Lewis is in good shape and Nico is in good shape, he doesn't think Nico has any chance. 

Oh! We see baby Mick during the anthem! He was 17 then.

Anyway. Time for the formation lap. 

And they're racing! 

Oh holy shit. Lewis takes the lead, and he's followed by the two RedBulls into turn 1! What went wrong for Nico? Seb also overtakes Raikkonen, while Max has overtaken Daniel. Lewis has a solid lead very quickly into the first lap, while in the background we see Nico cutting on the grass as he tries to overtake Ricciardo. The Ferraris are battling it out closely behind. Now Nico is under pressure from Seb. At the end of the first lap, Lewis is 1.3 in the lead ahead of Max, Daniel, Nico, Seb, Raikkonen, Valtteri, Hulkenberg, Jenson, and Massa. Nico attacks Ricciardo again, they're wheel to wheel, Daniel has the advantage of being on the inside in the next corner and pushes Rosberg off a bit but not completely enough that it would be considered aggressive. Nico is told to remember the plan for the first 4 laps, but surely that plan was based on the idea he'd be leading, right? Meanwhile Max is told that Lewis has been told to look after his tyres (don't know if it's true) and so they will do the same for now. When we come back from the many, many start replays, we see a bit of front wing on the track. Shortly after we see it comes from a contact between Haryanto and Wehrlein. Verstappen complains of the rear tyres. 

It's lap 10. Lewis sets the fastest lap. He's 4.3 seconds ahead of Max, followed by Daniel +1.6, Nico +1.2, Seb +2.3, Raikkonen +1.4, Valtteri +4.2, Hulkenberg +2.1, Jenson +1.9 and Alonso +1.7. Verstappen pits and Mercedes also calls in Nico, rather than Lewis, in their attempt to try to catch Daniel. It's not a great stop for Nico, 3.5. Ricciardo pits, he's still ahead of Rosberg. Raikkonen complains of his tyres. It's hammertime! And Lewis comes in. He gets on softs, meanwhile Nico was put on a second set of supersofts. It's a good 2.5 stop. He's still in the lead of course. Raikkonen pits. Nico is told he's on plan B (lol). Lewis asks for the gap and is informed of everyone's strategy : Max and Nico on supersofts, Ricciardo on softs like he is, gap to Verstappen 5.8. Nico is closing on Daniel. On a replay we see an issue with Raikkonen's pitstop.

And it's lap 20. Lewis, Max +6.7, Ricciardo +1.3, Nico +1.6, Seb +4.7, Raikkonen +4.6, Valtteri +7.6, Hulkenberg +4.1, Jenson +4.3, and we never saw who was in P10 because we cut to replays. I feel like this is gonna be pretty straightforward and kinda boring to the end. Verstappen is unhappy with his tyres. Yeah really not much happening, those on the soft tyres have the better strategy. Massa pits and he's had contact in the first lap and he's been struggling since and they're now keeping him in for a looong time, checking the car. He leaves again. It was a 19.5 stop. Nico comes in as well. 2.6. Seb is complaining about blue flags as usual. Verstappen pits to cover Nico, while Nico was told to push hard. And he attacks Max! He pushed him wide! Max attacks back but can't make it. He's still very close though. Then slowly falls behind. Ohhh okay. On the replay it gets shadier. So Nico catches up to him on a straight and positions his car on the inside. Just as he does so, Max makes a slight move to cut him off, one of these twitches that he often does and are… Well… controversial?

It's too late to close the door on Nico so he keeps going straight instead and brakes further in the corner, then brings it in towards Nico who had to adjust his trajectory due to Max's move but also maybe somewhat purposefully takes the corner slightly wider than needed, and that's how Max finds himself off track.

As soon as the corner is done, Nico makes room for Max to rejoin the track.

Of course, on the radio, Max says Nico pushed him off. Yeah he did. Also you did try to cut him off lol. It's under investigation. For some reason Linkin Park is there.

Anyway all that happened on the 30th lap. Lewis, Daniel +11.5!, Seb +8.5, Raikkonen +2.7, Rosberg +2.4, Max +1.0, Valtteri +10.6, Hulkenberg +3.1, Jenson +7.3, and Magnussen +16.4. With this type of gaps it might get really really boring. Seb pits. Lewis is told things are kicking off and he should keep the pace up. Where, Bono? Where is it kicking off? Please tell me. Rosberg is attacking Raikkonen, so maybe he's right and then there's a second investigation for pushing someone off involving Grosjean and Magnussen. Raikkonen pits. And that's a 5 second time penalty for Nico! Oh and Ricciardo pits and gets the supersofts again which is extremely weird because they're not working well and degrade very quickly… Lewis pits as well 2.2, also on the supersofts… Nico is not happy with the penalty. "Can you explain to them that I was full lock on the steering wheel and I couldn’t steer more. And he moved in braking, that was the big problem. That’s completely not allowed." He's right about the moving under braking thing being very shady. It doesn't allow you to push people wide though. Crofty says Max did move and then realised Nico was there and stopped his move which is what I saw as well. Lewis is told he's on plan B and most of the field is. Basically they all went to a 3 stop strategy, which explains them being back on supersofts. Shortly after, the engineer reassures Nico : "You’re doing a really good job there Nico. Gap to Verstappen is 3.2. Remember everybody’s one a three-stop. You are P2 at the moment. So just need to pull that gap and it’s yours." Massa is retiring. Now Daniel is catching Max. 

On lap 40, Lewis, Nico +7.4, Max +3.3, Daniel +0.6, Seb +10.2, (Grosjean complains of smoke coming out the car), Raikkonen +3.1, Hulkenberg +19.3, Valtteri +1.3, Jenson +7.7, Alonso +3.2. Daniel overtakes Max, unsurprisingly. Of note, Daniel is on supersofts and Max on softs, and the opposite should be true after the next round of pit stops. Max says he even has understeer on this tyre. Daniel is told Nico is struggling a bit. He is currently very very fast. He's half a second behind. Seb is told to box but he refuses. Nico pits, serves his penalty, gets the softs. They waited more than enough, the stop lasts 12 seconds. Seb is told they need to box to undercut. "They're miles away! Who do you want to undercut?" Verstappen. Who is 8 seconds away. So it’s ridiculous. And then he's told to stay out. Max pits. Lewis pits. Raikkonen pits. As we thought Max is now catching Daniel very quickly. Ricciardo is told to push to make a gap to Verstappen. And he sets the fastest lap. 

It's lap 50. Daniel is closing rapidly on Lewis now, the gap being 7.4. Max is 2.5 behind, followed by Nico +4.9, Seb +4.3, Raikkonen +9.1, Valtteri +8, Hulkenberg +14, Jenson +11, and Alonso +4.8. As the journalists are saying, unfortunately for Lewis, now might be the time when he's thinking about turning his engine down to save it. Ricciardo is still gaining very very fast. 1.6 seconds in a lap. The gap is down to 6.5. Lewis is asking about Nico's best. 6.3. Lewis picks up the pace. He's also on softs while Daniel is on supersofts. The gap goes back up to 8.

Lap 60, almost done. Lewis, Ricciardo +6.9, Verstappen +2.5, Rosberg +6.0, Seb +8.8, Raikkonen +10.3, Valtteri +25.4, Hulkenberg +3.2, Jenson +11.4, and Alonso +3.6. Nasr is retiring but he can't even make it into the box, he stops at the beginning of the pitlane. Lewis reports some spots of rain on his visor. 

And it's the end of the race! 

Lewis wins. He's sharing the podium with both RedBull drivers. Nico is 4th, so Lewis leaves for the break with a 19 point lead. 

"Get in there, Lewis! Great work, mate. Beautiful start, fantastically managed. Awesome race, mate, well done." Lewis thanks everyone. 

Niki says Nico was unlucky and the RB did better than they thought they would. About the penalty he says it was on the limit and the decision is 50/50. He says Nico won't be happy to go into the break with Lewis ahead. 

Lewis is high as fuck, whooping continuously. He has a mohawk? He's jumping up and down. Happy about his start, waving to the grid girls "Hi ladies!" HIGH high. Like flying. 

He kisses his trophy and throws it in the air again. Good spraying. He and the Merc representative drink from their trophies. Meanwhile it's Ricciardo's first shoey and the journalists are very confused by the concept.

Some whistling by the crowd when Lewis salutes everyone in his usual manner. He was very happy about the race. It was pretty straight forward. He says he's proud to be here for Mercedes, he's been with them since he was 13. He says he didn't make any mistakes, stayed optimistic after a tougher day Saturday. 

During Ricciardo's interview, Lewis seems to be waving individually to each of his fans he can see in the crowd. Actually I think there's more Max fans than even Seb or Nico fans here. 

Lewis says he's gonna relax during the break and spend it with his dogs, and family and friends. (He says it in that order). He poses for a photo with both RedBull drivers. Then it's just the two of them as he leaves. 

Post race, Nico says none of the parts of the start were good and he didn't expect to be penalised for what he thought was a good battle. He says he doesn't care about the 19 points, the harder thing is losing the race the way he did. On the replays, Anthony shows images that seem to indicate that he indeed was on full lock and unable to turn more than he did, due to the fact that he braked late because of Max's move. 

Toto says a win is a win and they've won all races so far except the one they took each other out. Great record sheet lmao. He still calls it bittersweet. He says they don't understand what happened with Nico's start and lack of pace, then there was the issue with the pitstop. Apparently they had a stopwatch failure. Damon Hill asks how it is possible that Nico is doing great in quali but Lewis is still disappearing in the distance during races. He says it wasn't always like this, there's a human in the car and you need to feel comfortable in all aspects. He had an awful start, and got penalised. Simon asks if Lewis is going to take his new engine and hence the penalty in Spa. Toto says they haven't decided yet. They're trying to penalise him as little as possible. 

Lewis is still high af. He gets to the media pen jumping like a boy with a huge grin on his face.

He acts like he didn't know the gap is now 19 points but I don't believe him lol. "Wow is it that?" he says. "Holy crap I hadn't even realised. Huh. Awesome." He's completely deadpan. Then he repeats awesome with an only slightly more coherent body language, throwing his head back and closing his eyes. "Oh my god that's really good," he says still in the same conversational tone of voice.

Rachel comments it looks like relief. He says no it's not relief which boy what was it then. You just looked to the heavens hearing it. Either you're a bad actor or a bad liar. Maybe both. He says he didn't know and it's just nice, he was 43 points behind at some point. "What a day, what a great race from me," he says completely naturally.

"I wasn't expecting to be this strong as I was today." He had a great start, Pez has been working very hard on helping him get off the line better and more consistently. "And the work has really paid off so big thanks to Pez and all my guys in the garage" who struggled with him earlier in the year. He sighs. "It felt like we were all doing something wrong, (inaudible) we were just working hard." And it has finally started to pay off. It's a well deserved break. "My engine guys, my engineer Bono and Ricky, those guys are doing a fantastic job as always and… I'm just super, super happy with today, you know."

He says about the day before, when he "personally fails knowing better after his 23 years of driving" (again with the ‘I've been here for a long time’ thing) "you kick yourself and you hope to not do it again". He says that day feels the opposite because he delivered the way he was supposed to. He knew he had pace, he worked the tyres just right, he was never under threat from the guys behind, and no mistakes, he smiles wide, "which was really really nice, no lock up or offs or anything like that so, very very happy with that and…" He looks down and smirks.

"I'm not leaving you with any opportunity to ask me any question," he adds quickly and they laugh. "And lastly I just want to say a big big thank you to my fans, they've been supportive. Fans have turn up here in Germany and regardless of yesterday they've been like 'you're gonna win tomorrow you're gonna win tomorrow' and that positive energy those guys continuously throw at me and show through social media or letters or whatever it is means the world to me so big thank you to them I hope they all have an amazing holiday cause I'm definitely gonna have one," he starts bouncing again and giggling.

Rachel says she has one question if that's alright. "No, no, no," he says. "Just kidding."

She says he shared the podium with two RedBulls and we saw at the end they were pushing a bit and so maybe he had to take more life out of his engine than he'd have liked. How much of a threat does he think they will be in the second half of the season? He says there's a quota which you're able to use with the engine "and I was nowhere near it." He says he turned it down right from the early stages of the race to see if he could maintain and manage the gap to them that way and he was able to. He only needed to turn it up in the last stint when they started picking up the pace and he was looking after his tyres. The gap shrunk pretty quickly and when it got to 6 he thought it was enough, he chuckles.

So he went back to normal race mode and was able to match and then pull away a bit. He didn't need more than that. 

At the end of Ricciardo's interview, during which they watched some replays, they show that while that happened, Lewis walked by and tried knocking his cap off. 

Ohhh and extremely shady moment in press conference : Max said of his battle with Nico "I had to go off the track otherwise we would have crashed" and Lewis was sitting next to him with his head down hidden by his cap so he wasn't audible but Ted thinks he said "yep" and Max then said "yeah Lewis knows what I'm talking about" referring to their own Austrian incident. Like Max’s main racing skill isn’t putting his car in the way and forcing the others not to crash with him lol. Anyway.

In his final interview, Brundle says Lewis didn't feel like he was leading after the previous race because he had to take the engine penalty. Does he feel like he's leading now? Lewis sighs, he's out of breath from the post team photo running. "I feel I'm closer to leading it." He never thought he'd come back from being 43 points behind to being 19 points ahead. "I just didn't give up. We just didn't give up. These guys have worked so hard. Both here and back at the factory." He's super grateful for his engine holding on as long as it is but they do have an engine penalty ahead. "The life that it's led and the laps that I've led with it," it's as good a buffer as he could get in these circumstances. Brundle says it seems like their car isn't as good in traffic (I think? His question was unclear.) Lewis disagrees as in not more than the other cars, there's a lot of turbulence in traffic. He doesn't think their car is more impacted than others but he might be wrong, he says. "Fortunately today I didn't have to be too much in traffic," he smiles. He says it was a bit gusty that day and when you get behind backmarkers you can definitely feel the car being unsettled. But it's not different from his previous cars. Brundle asks if at some point he thought "come on guys, where are you today?" Lewis smiles, then chuckles. "No it was never like that but I was never really under threat which is a really nice thing to think and to know." He told his team to tell him when he needed to pick up the pace because he was managing and he was able to turn the engine back up when he needed to. Brundle asks where he's heading for summer break. "It's gonna be the most amazing summer break all I can say is tomorrow I'll be on the beach sipping on pina colada, enjoying…" He breaks into laughter. "Enjoy the sun! Enjoying, I'll be smiling from ear to ear from today and from these last few races." Again he goes nostalgic, what is up with that in this season? – saying he's been with Mercedes since he was 13, it's his 49th win, he's happy he won on Mercedes’ home turf. Brundle asks if the 4th title is within touching distance. "I have every belief that it's possible to do it, I've got incredible support back in the UK but also around the world from many Brits but also people from different nations." He thanks them to the camera for their love and support. He says he doesn't feel like he could race with a full heart like he did that day if it wasn't for them.

[aqtsusa1]

[ilovejevsjeans]

2017- GB- Dan qualified in P20 after experiencing a turbo failure in Q1. He got up to P12 but then went off on lap 5 and came back on in P18. He didnt let it stop him and fought his way through most of the grid to finish P5 

“I would give this race ten out of ten in terms of fun. I think you could say that in the last six races the Honey Badger has certainly shown up on Sunday and it’s been great fun.” (X)

[forelsketparadise]

stats after the season

Ferrari scored their first 1-2 finish since Singapore 2019 at Bahrain.

Ferrari led the every single lap of a GP at Bahrain since Spa 2018.

Zhou Guanyu scored his first F1points of his career and for Alfa Romeo in Bahrain by getting P10 (1 points).

Nico Hulkenberg is still the driver with most points scored without a podium. 

Valtteri Bottas scored his first points for Alfa Romeo at Bahrain by getting P6 (8 points).

Daniel was outqualified by a teammate for the first time at Bahrain. He had previously outqualified all his teammate at that circuit. 

Charles is the first Monegasque to lead the championship.

58 pit stop at Bahrain was the most since 2016 Germany grand prix.

Lewis got out in Q1 for the first time since Brazil 2017 in Saudi Arabia.

Sergio Perez scored the first pole of his career in Saudi Arabia. He is also the first Mexican driver to ever take a pole in F1. Also the 103th driver to get pole.

Saudi Arabia was the first race without a Schumacher or Vettel since Portugal 1994.

Saudi Arabia marked Lewi’s 180th race with Mercedes. The most by any driver with any team. It surpassed Michael Schumacher 179 races with Ferrari. 

Charles got the first pole for ferrari in australia since Kimi 2007 15 years ago. 

Valtteri’s record of 103 Q3 appearances broke in Australia where he failed to get into Q3 by qualifying P12.

Carlos loses a 33 race finish streak in Australia where is the first one to retire. Eifel 2020- Saudi Arabia 2022

Carlos also lost a 17 point scoring streak in Australia. Styria 2021- Saudi Arabia 2022.c

Alex got his first points for Williams in Australia by getting P10 (1 points)

Charles scored his first grand slam in Australia. The first for Ferrari since Alonso in Singapore 2010.

Charles the first driver to win from pole in Australia since Lewis Hamilton in 2014.

George’s first podium for Mercedes comes in Australia where he got P3.

Zhou first DNF at a race came in Miami though he had one in sprint race at Imola the weekend before.

Charles’s took Ferrrari’s first pole in Cota.

Abu Dhabi was Lewis’s 200th race with Mercedes.

this year is the first time since 1979 that most drivers (Checo, Carlos, George and Kevin) scored their maiden pole in a single year. it has been 43 years since then.

It took Haas 142 Grand Prix to get their first pole.

Kevin’s pole put Denmark as the 24th Nation on pole.

[the-hacker-news]

The Interdependence between Automated Threat Intelligence Collection and Humans

The Hacker News : The volume of cybersecurity vulnerabilities is rising, with close to 30% more vulnerabilities found in 2022 vs. 2018. Costs are also rising, with a data breach in 2023 costing $4.45M on average vs. $3.62M in 2017. In Q2 2023, a total of 1386 victims were claimed by ransomware attacks compared with just 831 in Q1 2023. The MOVEit attack has claimed over 600 victims so far and that number is still http://dlvr.it/Sw7ymt Posted by : Mohit Kumar ( Hacker )

[hamaonoverdrive]

gaaaaaaaaaah SHWD official vol 2 release got pushed back again 😭 it used to be Q1 2024...

I bought the doujinshi releases of chapters 1 and 2 thru a proxy from Booth back in like, 2017. you have no idea how happy I am to see this get an official print localization 🥹 even if I have to wait an extra year.....

[novemberdevils]

Im glad you enjoyed my ramblings and best believe that I will be annoying you every day because I will reread every day until I have everything memorised.

and for the quali times believe me when I say it’s much appreciated by me, this might be tmi and a bit weird but I have a notebook that I started to write in back in 2017 for each Ferrari driver session-fp, quali, fastest and slowest lap of the race and then I added the sprints- and now I have a spreadsheet of Nico and Jack quali and I eat it every time when they are so close to each other.

AND YES THE MEDIA THERE IS INSANE and I cannot thank you enough for capturing it, like do they actually think if they asked them oh why are you not close to your teammate they would get them tea and gossip? Like come on now.

ALSO THANK YOU FOR MAKING NICO THE CUNTY ONE, like not even talking about their personalities but the team they drive for, for Ferrari you have to be perfect because anytime you are less than you would receive backlash, and we have seen a million times no one is exempt from the heavy burden that is Ferrari image; and for Jack it’s extra because he is one of their own rather than a driver who they singed simply because they are good addition to the team, Jack IS the one they believe would bring them back so he is heavily scrutinised for everything he would do and say, and him being an American is not helping his case, people think Americans do not belong in f1 and we have actually seen it happen recently so it’s not insane for that to be a plot vs Nico being in redbull, redbull is a drink company not a car company; so their image isn’t in danger if they don’t perform and they let their drivers race rather than playing a game of politics, redbull is also clear on who is the second fiddle is and they will not hesitate to use that to their advantage, Nico isn’t outcasted in the grid simply because he is Swiss. So the idea of Jack being the one who worries about his image is 100% valid for a number of reasons, I cannot wait for the imola and monza gp to arrive so I could see Jack being half way through a mental breakdown from the stress -also what is the reaction of the italian fans of Jack being the one who they believe would bring them a wdc and wcc? Are there scepticism of him being and American or is he adored by them?-

I like that you also added indy to the fic rather than having it be just f1, I could see the headlines for when Jack go and visit Trevor -if he would do it- being like yeah he should stay there because that where he belongs but the reality is he doesn’t belong in any grid because of his nationality-f1 because it is mainly European and in indy he might feel like an outcast because he choose to travel far away to race in f1 we all see the headlines for when a driver fails to perform in f1 and makes the switch to indy and how they get torn to shreds-, I also wanted to ask what is Jack’s deal w NASCAR? Because I remember when Quinn told him that he might have some NASCAR in him after all and Jack was upset that he said that.

I hope you enjoy my commentary and best believe that I will be rereading and coming here every time I see something I want to scream about -it would be a lot I hope you are ready-

!!! i will never be mad at these rambling asks in my inbox. a highlight of my day forreal. ik i already said it but i love talking about this fic so much (anyone who follows me on twitter can probably tell lol) and i love hearing what other people have to say about it, and this both lets me hears your thoughts and lets me yap! so i love

honestly i respect it. quali times are soooo they are just so. sometimes (mostly for q1/q2 esp with some of the drivers lower in the top 10) i am spamming random numbers but sometimes i make them like a tenth or something off each other on purpose. or make one of them lead q1 and q2 then just not get pole in q3. mwahaha. too much power in my hands. i did used to write f1 rpf and obv you Can make up an entire season for the plot over there but i never did, and i am having entirely too much fun making up the entire season. oh for reference i am following the 2025 season schedule (sans sprints, as advertised lol) so that part is not made up. but half the grid is and the 2025 season has obv not happened yet. but that's the race schedule it's following - same applies for f2 and indy

YES EXACTLY THIS like if i had gone the other way around nico would've been the ferrari driver, but i like jack as the ferrari driver better for The Narrative. and yes the only american narrative... a lot of expectations coming from a lot of different directions all kind of sitting on top of him, which he is definitely coping well with (lie). and i definitely need to go more into the italian fans' opinion of him! thank you for bringing that up... i do like to think it's pretty split - some people (ferrari fans in general) just really want to see them do well, and if jack is going to be the driver who brings them good results then they'll support him for it, but there are some who are mad at him on the principle that he's an american. and i am actively writing the imola gp right now and let me tell you. Uhm. it's kind of growing legs and running away from me

and just bc i mentioned the social media stuff i will say i have too much fun writing those bits, even if i hate coding the html so bad. like all of these fake twitter people i made up i have headcanons for and some of their opinions idk how much has been revealed via their tweets... but i was on f1twt for a little while (and i still see a lot from it) and it is. wild over there. so i couldn't not include it

yeah i was always really interested in the differences between f1 and indy as someone who watched both - yes, they're both open-wheel racing series, but they're really not all that similar to each other outside of that. the regulations and the cars and everything is totally different, and some drivers do really only find success in one or the other. i was about to make a comment about something that i realized is from a chapter i haven't posted yet... so nevermind. but jack does kind of contribute to the whole "oh my god just go to indycar" shit in his own way, as much as he hates people telling him that. he doesn't want to move to indycar, and people aren't telling him to because they think he would be better or even good over there, but just because they want him to "stay in his lane" as an american driver. which is part of why he wants that damn championship so bad. maybe then they'd leave him alone

okay and the NASCAR thing. maybe i go into it more when they're in miami? i can't remember now lmao BUT - even tho most of the shit jack gets is about going to indycar, there is also a sector of people who think he should fuck off to NASCAR, or just some US-based racing series, whatever it is. and quinn is a retired NASCAR driver, so there are some people who are like. well why didn't they just ALL do NASCAR. only quinn did - jack and luke both went to/stayed in europe (quinn did move to europe w them initially then he moved back to the US bc he missed people too much and didn't really want to try for the whole f1 thing). it's implied luke also gets some flack for being in the feeder series, but he's on a smaller stage so not nearly as much as jack does. so it pisses jack off when quinn says things about how well he would do in NASCAR because jack hates people saying things like that to him - he would feel the same about quinn saying similar things about indy, but quinn is more inclined to comment on NASCAR because he used to drive in that series

and if anyone is going to get the reference that is quinn being a retired NASCAR driver maybe it will be you anon...

love the commentary! i hope my responses aren't too long/too much lol i get distracted