#rip my bull

[cookinguptales]

watching my doordash delivery person on the map like

[finifugue]

something about red bull being where world champions go to kill and ferrari being where world champions go to die

[meiloorunsmoothie]

okay new girl who i just met 10 minutes ago, sure, i'll introduce you to jeremy jordan

[slythereen]

Oh my! I really really need to see the rest of your tag commentary for the Essay!!!!!!!!!

breaking: tumblr (rightfully) tries to silence area maniac’s deranged rambling but the people* won’t stand for it!!! (*one pitying anon)

right so regarding tsarinablogs' glorious essay on rbr, ferrari, and the lestappen marketing phenomenon… the only substantial point i had to add is about ferrari. because nat is totally right, it doesn't make sense for ferrari to be actively engaging in promoting the lestappen friendship if the payoff is charles moving to rbr. not unless their only aim is basically damage control and making the inevitable breakup look amicable.

but if you look at the austin lestappen interactions — and the rbr-ferrari interactions in general this season — ferrari isn't really an active collaborator in the agenda. time to get crazy:

the great rbr-ferrari sticker war

yes, we're coming back to my favorite topic briefly (my beloved rbr-ferrari sticker war agenda). this is the most actively involved rbr-ferrari interaction, though. and it was initiated (accidentally, in fairness) by christian horner.

belgian grand prix (nicely compiled video)

we start with christian covering the ferrari emblem on a fan's hat. this is one of those from-a-distance videos, i don't believe it was initially shared by rbr. not entirely an intentional engagement.

ferrari does start the actual engagement on social media by posting the first "sticker war" video and tagging rbr. they also directly reference rbr's yeti stickers tradition (which, as far as i can tell, is new this season with their yeti sponsor and i think belgium was the first gp they mentioned it) (which is curious in and of itself).

rbr retaliates. war is on. eventually, f1 gets involved with a cute recap... and that's when they go from just responding to one another in comments to actually tagging each other.

what else did we have going on in belgium?

a lestappen podium

rbr debuting (i believe) the yeti cooler on socials

carlos infamously having war declared on him by the entirety of f1twt for bully oscar

so, you could say ferrari actively instigated the sticker war. this has no real lestappen involvement and appears to be entirely the admins having fun with one another. it's also very conveniently timed as a distraction for ferrari and an opportune advertising moment for rbr and yeti.

dutch grand prix (max's home race)

a pause in the sticker war for the dutch grand prix. what we do get is rbr posting lestappen on main (the mclaren camcorder saga) and rbr posting some content about their yeti (and the new yeti sticker tradition). (just as a side note: travel stickers to add to yetis is a bit of a niche Thing; very on brand for the sponsorship deal.)

(similarly, a pause in monza — all ferrari, all the time, for monza. we get the lestappen quali podium and charles asking the crowd not to boo max.)

singapore grand prix (ferrari sacrificial altar)

again, we see ferrari instigating the interaction — now with tagging rbr on the posts. interestingly, rbr tags yeti in response and ferrari's comment on rbr's retaliation brings it back to the yeti sticker tradition. with this "attack" actually targeting the yeti cooler, it's making it all look very... yeti-focused.

but singapore is also when rbr doubles down on the lestappen content — and gets more loud about it. the infamous "lecstappen alert" post. we also got some photos of them chatting in the paddock (which, i believe, were not posted by either rbr or ferrari but were out there adding to the Vibes this weekend).

meanwhile, ferrari is dealing with peak ferrari civil war mode this weekend after blatantly sacrificing charles to defend carlos' victory and then not acknowledging it in the slightest in favor of propping up the "cool carlando operation."

japanese grand prix (f1 takes the score)

rbr initiates the on-going war this time around and makes sure to advertising their new suzuka hats while they're at it. ferrari retaliates. and once again, we see f1 doing a recap/summary of the on-going fight. no lestappen in sight once more...

... but rbr also posts lestappen crumbs, in the form of max talking about his suzuka race start from 2022. which means smiling at a video of one of his battles with charles.

after the race, ferrari is back in civil war mode after carlos complains about being "sacrificed" in suzuka and ferrari gets heat for their interesting quali strategy that put them in this situation in the first place. no post-race hi-jinx this time around.

qatar grand prix ("everybody is a ferrari fan")

rbr initiates the conversation again. this time, ferrari's only response is to like the photo. but this was after the sprint race and after max had already been crowned for the third time; not exactly a time when ferrari wants to be adding to the max agenda.

plus, by this time we had already seen the videos and photos of charles congratulating max immediately, before everyone else. this moment wasn't posted by rbr or ferrari, naturally, but it is out there and being spread around by the end of the time rbr starts posting the ferrari photo.

we also saw charles offering max glowing praise and talking about how much max and rbr deserves it, because they still had to fight even while having a dominant car. on one hand, this is a lot of respect for his childhood rival. on another, it's adding to the idea that hey, even with a super dominant car, the driver's talent matters (so if you catch me in a super dominant car in the near future, keep that in mind, media).

carlos had the dns for the qatar race, there were the obvious health concerns going on that definitely took up everyone's attention. no need for ferrari to do any distracting pr and therefore no reason to engage in the lestappen/rbr narrative for the weekend, despite rbr tagging them.

which brings us to...

austin grand prix and the lestappen resurgence

so far we've seen a fairly consistent rbr-ferrari conversation going on around the stickers and yeti sponsorship. but it definitely has tapered off and has shifted towards rbr being the one to engage and keep the conversation moving on social media. plus, we've been getting more and more of charles and max interacting in the background of all this, casually being friends (and being subtly pointed out by rbr).

and if you look at the austin interactions, ferrari isn't as much of a collaborator in the agenda. rbr is the clear instigator and driving force behind all of the lestappen media interactions — and they more or less force ferrari's hand.

obviously, the great lestappen padel date (cough, competition) sets the tone for the weekend. charles and max hanging out, outside of f1, publicly, is certainly a choice. i think they've always been closer than they let on (at least since covid-era), but the "rivals" narrative had them limiting their public interactions... so why now?

and then, of course, austin goes on a mission to overload us with lestappen. and rbr gets on board with that, quickly. starting with the press conference and lestappen gossip session... which, sure, is controlled by the f1. but max sitting next to charles and as far from daniel on the couch as he is? a choice imo.

next up we have our glorious quali session, and rbr starts in on the lestappen on main agenda. they heard us begging for the congratulations photo and they delivered (twice — with christian posting it personally, too).

with max not even being in the quali presser, you could just call this good opportunism. photos showing max being gracious and friendly with charles despite being upset about his lap being deleted is great pr and a great excuse to post about max and make it about max, to a degree.

we get lestappen being lestappen on saturday morning. so far, so good... a great parallel to the shots of max congratulating charles, this time with max taking the p1 (to rbr's delight).

following the sprint (and max's slight terrorism against charles)?

rbr posts lestappen again (three times), this time calling them out by name twice, and emphasizes that this is the second day in a row that they are giving us lestappen content. they tag charles again, but not ferrari this time. this is what i mean by forcing ferrari's hand — rbr has been posting their driver a lot.

and ferrari did essentially the bare minimum to keep up the fun rivalry vibes (responding to the post with the “back at ya” which in and of itself frames it as them just reacting to rbr). rbr is the one who doubled down by responding to that (the “we’re giving you what you want” reply). so while it looks like cute and very sus coordination, i would say rbr is definitely driving it. and rbr is driving it a lot.

(one strange exception: ferrari posting the charles answering questions video and posting him talking about padel with max. idk. you would think that they would cut it, or charles would have had to ask to include it if this is his agenda, or... something. that detail is just an odd one to me and may suggest greater ferrari support of the agenda.)

ferrari’s non interaction could say two things, i think. either:

they want to make it look like rbr is trying too hard and they are just humoring it (in line with ferrari’s stuffy reputation)… or,

it’s not their narrative and they’re doing what they must to not look too stuffy by not engaging at all (esp. after they joined in with the carlando propaganda previously).

i am inclined to think it's the second option, just based on rbr's behavior and the oddity of the sudden increase in content amidst ferrari's civil war and rbr's own internal second seat drama.

the sticking point for me is trying to figure out what ferrari’s agenda actually is with their recent social media approach, then. it seems far-fetched that they are just bad at social media and keep missing the mark. but seeing the vision… idk man.

if they’re being deliberate in trying to enrage fans it feels like it has to be leading to a driver swap. setting up a narrative of "something clearly isn't working, ferrari is doing awful, we need change" and then magically "fixing" it all with a driver line-up change. in my mind, this only works if they are trying to oust carlos — it would explain the stupid strategies and blatant favoritism, as well as serves as a convenient (and true) scapegoat for the shitty car we have this season. charles talking to espn this weekend about the 2024 car direction and how it is leaning in his direction? curious timing, that.

the alternative, of course, is that charles has already signed with rbr or ferrari suspects that he will. then isolating charles to the point to trying to remove their brand from him and be able to stand alone once he leaves makes some sense... however, not a lot.

the issue with taking a deliberate strategy like this is that it is very risky. they risk pissing the fans off too much. they also risk jeopardizing their results, especially if they are letting bad strategy calls go on purpose to drive the malcontent. you'd have to believe ferrari is willing to give up points and risk their reputation (at least temporarily) to commit to the bit.

which... it seems like charles, at least, is looking towards 2024. this year and this car are a wash. max and rbr already have the championships. maybe it's not such a bad time for ferrari to risk it and throw away some races to feed their agenda. but still, they look incompetent as shit. it's a bad look. and this type of strategy only works if they anticipate a radical turn around next season (and can say "look, all that junk last year was just growing pains and transition, fred came in and this is his first year with just him and his direction, and it's all good now").

their recent behavior is just... shitty. and you would think a brand like ferrari would be better than that. you have to believe there's probably an agenda in there somewhere, because it's hard to believe that they are just that bad at media. and there's not a whole lot that really ties into them playing along with rbr.

so, basically... i'm not sure if they really are playing along with rbr at this point. i think rbr has the narrative in hand when it comes to lestappen, though towards what aim... idk. maybe it's all just leading up to some ea sports shit. maybe rbr just wants to capitalize on charles' likability and boost max's reputation. maybe this is more about charles having more free reign with his image and brand lately, and charles deciding to be more open with his friendship with max (and, of course, more open about the idea that other teams want him). maybe ferrari is just along for the ride and doing damage control.

whatever is going on, it's something. there has just been way too much weirdness with charles' behavior and attitudes, rbr's actions, charles not having a renewal announcement yet, rbr's own seat issues, ferrari's very weird media angles, charles making big moves with his personal brand...

rbr lestappen may have felt like a pipe dream at the start of the season, but idk. let's not forget that max once walked back his statement about not being on a team with charles because you can't have two number ones. i believe his new answer was something to the effect that sure, he and charles could drive for the same team. and, of course, charles' response was always "why not?".

in sum: shit's happening. i'm hoping it's lestappen-in-red-bulls shit.

[eirianerisdar]

Christian Horner just said with his whole chest that “Checo had a solid race”

P5 to P6 with both Ferraris ahead of you is not a solid race.

[checo-max]

bulls arriving at the paddocks yesterday ⍮ 📸 rbr on threads

[formulawolff]

guys why is every brand now suddenly partnering with red bull—

[hiphiph00ray]

I literally lost five years off of my life because of Fernando and Checo's fight for third (I'm a fernando fan and a checo fan)

[memento-morri-writes]

This is far from my best work, but it's 1:30am, and I needed to get this down before I slept or lost my mind. So here, take a snippet of Rook seeing Zara again for the first time in 3 years.

Trying, and failing, to keep his voice from shaking, [Rook] said “Hello, Captain.” Mouth still open in surprise, [Zara] replied “Well, hello yourself.” The reality of what she was seeing seemed to hit her as she rounded the desk. “Rook, is that really you?” He nodded. “It’s me.” Zara ran towards him, stopping just short of touching him, and said “What did she do to you?” Rook’s heart stuttered and he had to brush his fingers together to confirm Sigmar’s ring was still in place. Could she possibly see through its illusion? But then he remembered what Lanny had said. She knew where you were. His throat clenched and he choked out “Two years.” A wave of grief swept across Zara’s face as she said “I’m so, so sorry.” Rook shook his head vigorously. “It’s not your fault.” Zara ignored him. “It is my fault. I failed you. As your captain, it’s my responsibility to keep you safe, and I failed you.” Rook wanted to say something, to reassure her, but she pushed on. “She sent me letters, told me all the terrible things she was doing to you. I… I let you down.” Those words hit Rook with the force of a dozen cannonballs. Lanny had said that Zara knew Wolf had him, but knowing that Zara had been aware of what Wolf was doing to him… somehow that was more painful than any wound Wolf had ever inflicted. He barely managed to force his next words out around the lump in his throat. “Where were you?” And why didn’t you come? “She said she’d kill you if I came to get you. Or if I hired anyone to get you. You’re standing here because I stopped sailing.” 

(honorary one-time tag for @space-writes bc I remember you enjoyed my other bits about Rook and Zara.)

[impossible-rat-babies]

I’m realizing now that my da world state is just. wow tragic romance huh

[lonewolflink]

me, having slept ~5/6 hours a night for the last 10 days, working 16 hour days to try to finish this fuckass dissertation: brain no thinik good i can't do this i'm so tired also me: a statistical analysis of pierre-luc dubois x ovechkin's uptick in goals after finding a new stick he liked last season = ovechkin is going to score 50 goals this year and break the all time record (and PLD will hit 60/70 points as his centerman). in this essay i will also also me: ovechkin should sign a 1/2 year extension so he can hit 1000 goals, and piss off all the pittsburgh fans and xenophobic canadians haters who say he's an empty net/PP merchant

[rubywingsracing]

Did Daniel Ricciardo write Pity Party by Lovelytheband? Cuz that’s what his most recent insta post is giving 😂😂😂

[thepavementsings-archive]

Yuki get behind me

[givemerent]

he drown

WYAT THE HELL NOO STOP 😭😭

[slythereen]

so glad i decided to be crazy and compile my rbr-ferrari* (*rbr-charles) post during austin bc after hitting the image limit on it i wouldn’t have even had the space to include all the new mexico mayhem 💀

[wyrddogs]

Related to what I just reblogged, I have to share this because I’m still baffled (and angry):

Took Kermit out to do some rabbiting in our usual area, a few hours later than I normally do. At that time of day, I occasionally run into other dogwalkers, which is not normally a problem.

A guy and his girlfriend were biking on the levee above us, and their bully mix started trotting down to where Kermit and I were in the field. I picked Kermit up and called, “Please call your dog!” The guy responded, “She’s friendly!” And I said, “My dog is small, please call your dog!”

There was a pause, then the guy dropped his voice an octave and said, “No. I’m not going to call my dog. You’re an idiot. Put your dog down. My dog is friendly.”

The interaction went downhill from there. We went back and forth a few times, with him continuing to call me stupid and refusing to call his dog, and praising his dog whenever it got closer to me (it was interested in Kermit, not acting aggressive, but was also a 60 pound bully mix so I was not going to let that interaction happen). I finally told him to fuck himself and started walking back to my car.

My car was not close, and the guy screamed at me the entire time. Calling me names, calling me stupid, mocking me for being afraid of his scary attack dog. Commanding me to stop and come back and put my dog down. His dog followed me all the way back to my car; I yelled at it once when it got too close to me. I put Kermit in my car, put my hands on my hips, and stared at the guy until he finally stopped screaming at me, called his dog, and biked off. His girlfriend was dead silent the entire time.

I have had all manner of reactions to me asking someone to call/leash their dog, but this is the first time someone tried to turn it into a power play. I think what made me a target was a) I’m female, b) I didn’t immediately comply to his orders, and c) my dog is small.

In this particular case I don’t think pepper spray or kicking the dog would have been the correct answer. When I disengaged the guy was content to stay on top of the levee and cuss me out from there. If I’d touched his dog, he probably would have come down to engage with me personally. We were remote enough that the only other person present was his girlfriend. The speed that he escalated in response to a reasonable request, and how comfortable he felt ordering me around, really worried me.

This is the worst/most aggressive response I have ever dealt with. And I think it would have gone differently if I’d had Bindi (a large aggressive dog) or been a man. He would have respected me more. Instead he felt the need to put me in my place.