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dear-ao3 · 9 months ago

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guess whos back! back again! its nico rosberg the chinese gp! for the first time since 2019 f1 graces shanghai and let me tell you, it was insane, it was astounding, it was wild, it was astoundingly not really focused on the cars at all! what happened??? quite simply, the paddocked was graced, or perhaps cursed depending on who you are, by the presence of one nico rosberg. what does that have to do with the race? well today is april 28, 2024 and yes its a whole week late but i am back to take you through all the twists and turns (literally!) of the weekend

first off, as i said, the last time f1 raced in china was in 2019 and it was the 1000th f1 gp (affectionately named f1000). and at the time of the 2019 chinese gp:

-sir lewis hamilton only had 5 championship titles (he now has 7) -max verstappen had only won 5 f1 races (hes won over 50 now) -yuki tsunoda was racing in f3 -zhou guanyu was racing in f2 -it was lando norris's, alex albon's and george russell's rookie f1 year -daniel ricciardo was racing for Renault in his first season with them -pierre gasley was racing for red bull -it was charles leclerc's third race for ferrari (this is now his 6th year with them) -toro rosso was still a team -fernando alonso was retired -ollie bearman was still in karting (and 13 years old) -haas was sponsored by rich energy (and still a half decent team) -carlos sainz and lando norris were teammates -valtteri bottas was leading the world championship -daniil kyvat was still on the grid -alex albon and carlos sainz still had appendixes -sebastian vettel was still on the grid and racing for ferrari

so its been a hot minute.

it was also a sprint weekend (a short race in addition to the long race). meaning the weekend schedule was:

friday: 1 hour practice session. qualifying for the sprint race. saturday: sprint race. qualifying for the real race. sunday: real race

a normal weekend is three practice sessions, qualifying then race. which gives teams more time to run different set ups and test things, especially if they have upgraded their cars for the weekend.

so. its the first time they've raced here in 5 years. oscar, logan, zhou, and yuki have never raced the track at all. its a very technical circuit. and they decided to make it a sprint weekend and limit their practice sessions. sounds smart! boy i hope that doesnt turn out to be a bad idea!

(max verstappen thought it was a very bad idea. and he said so. he told everyone during a press conference that he thought it was "not the smartest thing to do." and well, if you can count on max for one thing its to win. if you can count on him for a second thing its to maxplain. and if you can count on him for a third thing its to be brutally honest in interviews.)

but before we can get into that. the media sillies.

aside from every team posting the "the last time we were in china!" things (which i neatly summarized up at the top thank you very much) there were some interesting gems from this weeks media

alpine posted a video of estie bestie, pierre and jack doohan (the reserve driver) dapping up the admin and well:

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i dont entirely know what i was expecting with that one but this seems about accurate. i think esteban ocon could kill someone with his dapping.

mclaren asked lando and oscar if they had prepared for the race. they decided to be sassy about it:

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they are never beating the twin allegations. also what on earth is the temperature here???? why is oscar in a t shirt and landos wearing like 3 layers?

speaking of mclaren they have a goofy little lego series that they do with lego that lando and oscar voice on instagram and this episode was about wine tunnels and it was very funny and goofy, oscar turned the wind tunnel power too high and lando got blown out of the car

lando also reposted this throwback video from his instagram from the last time that f1 were in china and he got shoved off the track by daniil kyvat

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oscar also finally made a tiktok. and then his mom roasted him on twitter:

and then the very long and much awaited mclaren v williams paddle match was announced (unclear if it happened? not sure i dont think it did) and oscar went on the williams team torque podcast, which was appropriately unhinged as everyone expected. they talked about who would survive the zombie apocalypse longest (not at all, just longest) and oscar was voted to die first because of his poor paddle skills, he would try to hit the zombies with his racket and then miss and die.

danny rics made a half quart basket ball shot (it could also be three point i dont know anything about basketball)

and lewis hamilton went racing in tokyo (again!) he did this a few years ago and he had to do it again

pretty much every team posted some variation of the drivers and the tortured poets department ("tortured drivers department" (____ team drivers department"). and also speaking of taylor, in the song imgonnagetyouback, she says "im an aston martin that you drove straight into a ditch" this was perhaps a dig at fernando after a whole bunch of Fernando is Dating Taylor rumors surfaced i think last year (idk where they came from and im too scared to ask)

regardless tho, aston had the opportunity to do the funniest thing and they did:

this was also zhou's home gp. he is the first chinese f1 driver to race in china. he was clearly very excited to welcome all of the other drivers into his country and he reposted pretty much everyone's special helmet reveals onto his instagram story which was very sweet. and he tool valtteri around on a tour (and valtteri did the little k pop finger hearts for some reason??? who allowed this)

speaking of special helmets. the special helmets for china fucked really really hard. normally i dont talk about them too much cause theres too many but these ones fucked so!

zhou's hemlet was inspired by the shanghai underground system:

and then alex albon's helmet was a panda. it was very cool but also slightly terrifying. especially when they showed his front driver cam.

and george and valtteri both had helmets inspired by the year of the dragon:

and silly season. lets remember what this post is actually about for a second and talk about silly season.

-supposedly, lance is going to be announced that he is getting resigned soon. though in some interviews he seems unsure of his future at the team which is odd given his dad literally owns aston martin. people have been speculating if he has a seat for next year at all.

-carlos is reportedly talking to audi, red bull and mercedes. aparently audi has made him an insane offer that red bull cant match.

-also reportedly mercedes has approved a high salary contract in an effort to get max verstappen

and with that out of the way. we can get to the good stuff. practice 1. the only practice session. and most importantly, the commentators.

we knew that nico rosberg was going to be in the paddock this weekend. we knew he was likely going to announce something or host some interviews. but we were NOT expecting him to be in the commentary box the whole weekend with crofty. or at least, i wasnt.

what does that mean? well he was commentating on the cars going vroom with our other commentary bestie (sometimes worstie) crofty. and look. the energy. the vibes. positively absolutely unhinged.

who is nico rosberg? if you need a refresher hes the 2016 f1 world champion. born in germany, raised in monaco, sir lewis hamilton's childhood best friend from karting. the two of them raced at mercedes together from 2013-2016. and unfortunately it was then that their relationship absolutely deteriorated because they were fighting against eachother for the world championship. which meant crashing, playing mind games, being generally bad teammates and insane. nico finally beat lewis in 2016 and then immediately announced his retirement. nico is seemingly over the falling out they had and talks about lewis every chance he gets. lewis basically goes out of his way to avoid saying nicos name. but they live in the same apartment building.

now, thats who he is, not necessarily how he acts. he gives zero shits. perhaps negative shits. the field in which he grows his fucks is barren and has been barren for perhaps ever. he is a sky sports presenter purely when he feels like it and already has a shit load of money so he doesnt really need the paycheck at all. meaning he can kinda say whatever he wants. and he does. he is also the number one lewis hamilton fan. he actively cheers him on in the commentary box on live tv.

nico rosberg, if he had been on tumblr back in the day, would have been the one to edit the infamous john green cock post. that is the exact energy he has.

anyway. all this to say that nico is an absolute ball of sass. he also curses people. earlier on this post we talked about the lewis hamilton thirst trap selfie curse. the nico rosberg curse is similar. if he posts a picture (usually selfie) of a team or a driver or someone on the grid is visible in the background then they usually do bad. same thing if he throws his support behind someone when hes commentating or interviewing. they usually somehow very inevitably flop.

you might be wondering, is this really real? well. it was real enough for mclaren to post this at the belgian gp last year:

so! who did nico curse this weekend? keep reading to find out! youve already gotten this far, you might as well keep going :)

is he a reliable narrator? absolutely not. not at all. hes the textbook definition of an unreliable narrator. there are several theories floating around that hes just starting to say random weird shit to get lewis to talk to him again and absolutely fabricating the truth

the meme of nico rosberg this weekend was basically: he showed up to his ex's (lewis hamilton's) workplace, cheered for him on live tv, called bs on several people, served massive amounts of cunt, actually gave very good insight onto the cars and what the hell was happening and then left.

(and here is the part where i interject my opinion here. by all accounts nico was a god awful teammate to lewis when they were fighting for the championship, theres been hints that lewis was also not the best, but most of the blame seems to fall on nico. we know nicos clearly over it and trying to move on with his life. lewis barely talks about it. outside of f1, theyre both pretty private people so basically we dont really know where they stand with eachother and were only getting nicos insane (and probably at least a little unreliable) side of the story. this all being said, clearly it was a hard time for the both of them. if lewis does not want to talk about the whole ordeal or acknowledge nicos presence, he does not have to. it is entirely his own business. personally, i dont think that lewis owes him anything. bottom line is that he basically got fucked over and betrayed by his best friend and hes totally within his right to not want to talk about the whole thing or publicly apologize to him when the whole thing was already in the spotlight and exaggerated by the media when it was happening. and should nico be talking about their shred past this much when lewis clearly is uncomfortable about it? probably not in my opinion. but that is not the point of this post. im just reporting what happened this weekend and that was that nico once again ran his mouth about lewis hamilton and lewis ignored him)

anyway. back to practice 1. nothing overly interesting happened, it was mostly just nico and crofty bantering but it was hilarious so i am going to include it.

nicos sass was evident from the exact second he started speaking. barely 6 minutes into practice and he had already mentioned lewis hamilton twice (entirely unprompted and unnecessarily) and he had rattled off lewis's 2007 race stats. as in. oh that put a gravel trap in the corner where lewis lost his championship in 2007.

they talked about fernando alonso signing an extension at aston. nico was quick to point out that fernando said it was "probably" his last contract not "definitely." and then crofty brought up the fact that fernando's team says that physically, Fernando is 10 years younger than his age. nico was terribly unimpressed by this statement, saying "let’s remember that team fernando are good at spinning the truth and exaggerating, so take that with a pinch of salt."

nico had very much to say about everyone's tire strategy. because, lets remember that despite his insane amounts of sass, he does actually know what he is talking about. he was a world champion and he knows a whole fuckton about engineering and the cars and really throughout the weekend was able to explain some incredibly complex stuff in very simple terms. im not 100% sure, but i think crofty and martin brundle who are usually in the commentary box are not drivers. is it was really cool to hear someone explain what was happening who actually knew what was happening and could explain the exact intention behind certain parts, why specific things were bad, etc. which is not normally something that we get to hear. sometimes they will have drivers come sit in the commentary box, but not for a whole weekend and none as articulate as nico.

but the tire strategy. he shitted on a lot of people's tire strategy, especially ferrari, who started the session on the soft tires. which is a weird decision because at the start of a session the track is not wam or broken in and people generally save the softs for the end when the set up is tweaked and the track is good and broken in to practice a few qualifying laps. and he also based mercs strategy cause quite oppositely they were on hards the whole time and didnt practice one single qualifying lap.

the most interesting thing to happen during practice 1 was that the grass lit on fire.

yes you heard that right.

the grass. lit on. fire.

down by turn 7, a huge patch of grass caught on fire. the reason? well our trusty commentators had this to say:

"how do you think that happened?” “i do not even want to speculate on how that happened”

(turns out it was sparks from the titanium skid blocks on the bottom of the car getting blown by the wind and igniting the grass)

they red flagged the session to put out the (rapidly burning) grass. which was bad news for everyone cause their one and only practice session got cut even shorter.

reguardless. nico and crofty continued spitting out gems like:

“you’re the cleverest man i know nico” “you must not know very many people”

and then nico started to talk about the french civil war (alpine). which was interesting considering he was involved in a civil war of his own back in the day.

alpine brought an upgrade to their car this weekend. well. just one car. esteban's car. because he has been driving better than pierre (pierre, for context, as of fp1 had not gotten out of q1 of qualifying once, scored any points or had even one overtake the whole season thus far, which is unfortunate cause we know he can drive hes just in a shitbox car).

why give it to just one driver? sometimes its done that way to compare the two cars to see what's working. but i think that this was because alpine had planned the update for miami but pushed really hard to get everything ready for china, so they could only get it onto one car

(danny rics also had a new chassis and haas had an upgrade and i think so did aston martin?)

nico audibly shuddered at the mention of only one driver getting an upgrade and said that it is usually a "political nightmare" when that happens, especially if it hasn't been talked about before the season starts. which sounded eerily like a flashback to his own great brocedes civil war with lewis. worry not my friends, there were more comments about this to come.

all in all the upgrade went decently for estie bestie, who finished in seventh. pierre, meanwhile, finished practice in 20th. and had this radio:

"guys this is not acceptable. i haven't learned anything. absolutely nothing."

also unhappy with his car, unsurprisingly, was one sir lewis hamilton. who at one point went on the radio and said "the car is really bad mate."

and if youre wondering if nico had something to say about this, well, he did: "i would like some more specifics other than just bad. that doesnt tell the engineers too much."

there was also something someone said about one of the braking zones being comparable to a "warm cuddly teddy bear." and man, i often wish that there is a camera in the commentary box, but i especially wished for one then so that i could see nico's face as he said "i have no idea how you managed to compare a teddy bear to a breaking zone"

they also discussed red bulls strategy of examining ferrari's tire degradation in australia (?) (it might have been japan but i have australia written so just know that it is One of those two) to help them with their tire deg in china. nico, unsurprisingly, found this utterly preposterous because australia has the Exact Opposite tire deg as china (apparently) and he said "i think thats a load of rubbish"

crofty laughed and said "nico rosberg everyone. hes here all weekend."

and boy, was he.

aside from the antics. you will never guess who was p1 in practice 1.

go ahead. wager a guess.

if you guessed max verstappen you would be wrong.

if you guessed oscar piastri you would also be wrong.

if you guessed pierre gasley i am concerned cause i already said he came in p20.

it was none other than LANCE STROLL. pulling out a p1. from who knows where. ariana what are you doing here Indeed.

though it was highly thought that red bull was sandbagging once again. and lando was on an absolute flyer of a lap until he went off the track and had to abandon the lap and didnt get to try again.

nico said that lando stood out to him. as did aston martin. we will see if one of them gets the curse.

in the meantime. sprint qualifying

it was bonkers. it was insanity. it had me on the edge of my seat. (well not really, i was sitting on the floor). and, most importantly, it was raining.

this is the first time this year that we have had some real rain during a session. and boy oh boy, nico was excited. audibly excited. i could practically hear him tapping his feet in excitement. but the rain wasnt quite there yet. it was Coming. Looming, even.

q1 was relatively chill. as chill as it possibly could be with rain looming in the distance on a track that had been recently resurfaced, which would make it even slipperier.

due to the rain threat, everyone wasted no time getting out and starting to set laps. sometimes they take their sweet ass time, not today.

nico was continually impressed as he watched lando split the red bulls with his q1 time, saying that "i got my first win here (in china) maybe he will too!!" nico, sir, this is a lot of talking about lando. hopefully you are not cursing him!

then they kept cutting to alex's (mildly horrifying) onboard camera:

and crofty of course had to ask the burning question that we were all thinking: “nico rosberg would you have been seen in a panda helmet in your glorious years in f1?”

and nico, in true nico fashion said: “no i would not but it is quite cool”

yuki ended up having some form of car problems and got out in q1, all the way down in 19th place. also out in q1 were the other predictable people, williams and alpine.

logan tried to say during the sprint that "gasley impeded me!" and when they cut to the replay nico immediately called bs saying "no he didnt! oh come on! seriously!" and race control seemed to agree with him cause no one got a penalty.

most interestingly was at the very end of q1 when the grass lit on fire again:

this naturally delayed the start of q2 a little. which gave us just enough time for nico to yap more. this time about daniel ricciardo. who! for the first time this year was set to out qualify his teammate because he had gotten through to q2 when yuki had not. and nico had nothing but praise for him: “can we praise daniel ricciardo he’s half a second up his teammate” he is doing exactly what he is supposed to be doing!

it was also at this point that the rain start time started to get projected for about 14 minutes from then, perfectly between q2 and q3, which nico thought was "perfect!" seriously. he sounded like he was jumping out of his seat with excitement.

meanwhile, ted kravitz from the pit lane came on to say he was going to investigate the grass fire part two, electric boogaloo. everyone agreed that it was strange the grass had lit on fire again, especially after it had rained recently. ted went as far as to say "is there something about the chinese grass that makes it more flammable?"

while ted tried to consult free range grass, there was a race in the pitlane to get out onto the track first. "race in the pit lane at 5kph!" once again, mr rosberg was bouncing in his seat at the rapidly unfolding chaos.

why were they racing in the pitlane? well! with the threat of rain, everyone wanted to be first on the track to have the most amount of Dry Track Time so they can potentially get in more than one fast lap.

well. everyone except for max, lewis and checo were racing to exit the pit lane. the three of them were still in the garage, with their tire blankets on. this is a gamble. because yes, they will get out later onto the track, but their tires will be warmer, meaning it will take them less time to heat up their tires and they can get fast laps more quickly than everyone else. but, if it starts to rain, they could be at a disadvantage for not getting out faster.

meanwhile. lando norris was on his first flying lap of the session. and nico was taking us through it. everytime he took us through a lap it was incredible, you really got a feel for what the driver was doing, what they were supposed to be doing and where the mistakes were. so i have very painstakingly transcribed his comments for all of you. youre welcome:

"uh here we go! so lando needs to be careful with traffic there (people coming out of the pit lane). um, yeah. into turn 1. (lando accelerates) whooooaaaa! yeah just maximum attack there, bottoming into those bumps, and its such a long corner and you need to hit that apex at the very end where he is now in order to be well positioned for the second part and then all the way out, out to the outside part. and its such a long long turning exit where the rear is always on the edge its very unusual um corners here in this track. braking, careful with the wind from the back there! and he nailed it! he hit that apex beautifully. straight line the steering wheel out there, try and straighten out and here the fastest corners of the track now. here are the fastest corners of the track now this part should be flat out and this first one, bit of sparks to put some more fire in the grass! and then flowing into the next one here, downshifting a little bit and staying all the way to the outside to catch a nice run into this next slower part. and now again oversteering on the exit there, watch out for the gravel on the exit! and here again now going into a very slow chicane, um, important to stay left out of here so you can get a nice run in this next one cause now youre going onto the longest straight, you know. oh! a big snap oversteer there from lando, that can cost time you know cause you will have lifted a little bit and now you are carrying that little bit of a loss of speed through the whole straight. so that was a little bit of a loss there, not ideall for lando. now here (on the straight) youve got the wind from the front but still nailing that braking point, i think he was a little bit careful there actually, it didnt feel like an abolsute hit. bit careful there which makes sense cause if you lock up youre gone. um, and now coming into the last corner, braking softly, taking a lot of speed in and getting on the power quite late because the start finish line comes very soon so the exit is not that important here."

which is so unbelievably detailed. he just draws you in and makes it Interesting. but not as interesting as he made sir lewis hamiltons laps (dont worry dear reader, that is coming up shortly)

everyone was doing pretty much as expected, with the exception of perhaps sauber who was in front of mercedes unexpectedly (nico was quick to point out that "mercedes is struggling")

meanwhile. the rain. it was looming. it was nearly upon the track.

"ive just put my hand out the commentary box door and it is raining and its getting heavier," said one crofty. and then it was officially declared a wet track halfway through george's second flying lap. because the rain was picking up and people were not on wet tires, several people had to abandon any efforts to make faster lap times, meaning that george, nico, kevin, daniel and lance were all out in q2.

and then we had q3. omg. y'all aint ready.

everyone flew out of the pits on their intermediate tires (cross between wet and dry tires) and according to crofty it was "bambi on ice skates. a young bambi on ice skates. absolute treachery." which was proven by charles leclerc, who went into the barriers and sustained a little bit of front wing damage, but was able to keep it together

and boy, was it an interesting session.

first, track limits were out the fucking window. everyone was slip sliding everywhere and going off the track and having to abandon their laps left right and center. (because during qualifying you have to stay in the lines of the track)

max had two lap times deleted. lando had one. zhou had one. it was becoming clear that it was incredibly hard to stay On the track due to the conditions.

but not for one sir lewis hamilton, who, in the midst of the absolute mess of the last 3 minutes of q3, managed to cinch provisional pole position. and then lando went faster! he cinched poll! until it was deleted for track limits!!! which meant lewis was back on poll for the first time since hungary 2023.

but! just as he was just about to celebrate! landos lap was reinstated! he was back on poll position!! which meant lewis was back to p2!!

"what on earth is going on!" said nico rosberg, speaking all of our minds. "oh my goodness there there will be discussion around that one! we need to see what exactly happened on that lap. but phenomenal job from lando on that lap time! look! hes 1.3 seconds off (ahead of everyone else). cause already for me, like, lewis's lap was the lap of a seven time world champion."

so, aside from nicos gushing over lewis, what on earth happened there? why was landos lap time deleted and then reinstated?

well, crofty surmised that basically. on lando's second to last lap his lap got deleted for track limits in the last corner. when that happens they also delete your next lap because it is seen as getting an advantage for the next lap cause you cut the last corner to accelerate faster into the next lap. however. the team argued back that well its fucking raining so No One would get an advantage from that.

mr nico though, called absolute bs on that saying:

"my summary is. there is gravel there! we dont even need to have this discussion! cause like! its gravel there! you cant go faster on gravel! he was on the gravel! so, um, if it really is that corner that is being debated, cmon, he did a super awesome job and uh, fully deserved (pole position)"

which left us with the following starting positions for the sprint race:

p1: lando norris p2: sir lewis hamilton p3: fernando alonso p4: max verstappen p5: carlos sainz p6: checo perez p7: charles leclerc p8: oscar piastri p9: valtteri bottas p10: zhou guanyu p11: george russell p12: kevin magnussen p13: nico hulkenberg p14: daniel ricciardo p15: lance stroll p16: pierre gasley p17: esteban ocon p18: alex albon p19: yuki tsunoda p20: logan sargeant

of course though, nico couldn't pass up the opportunity to gush over lewis one last time saying that "he did a magical lap there. which is typical lewis in those conditions as well"

nico then Threatened everyone watching, saying "you better wake up for this one!" (the sprint race was at a really early hour in england. it was at 11pm for me, and originally i had intended to not watch it live, but i took nicos threat to heart and decided to watch it live. and subject my mom to it as well. she was a bit confused about who nico was and kept calling him "lewis's friend" but it was good fun

the sprint race was cold. i think it was lando who struggled to get going, putting down some rubber, which nico said was a very bad sign. nico explained the importance of doing burn outs before getting to the grid on the formation lap. “when you’re in second place like lewis you wait for the first driver a little to have them sit longer” so that you have a bit more heat in your tires than them when the race starts. how does he know this? probably because this was something that he pulled back in the day.

the lights went out. away they went.

and nico immediately started to yap about lewis.

lewis had a better start than lando and immediately into turn one, lewis basically shoved lando off the track, knocking him down to p7 as lewis took the lead.

and just like that! pam pam kazam! lando became the first victim of the nico rosberg curse that weekend.

people of course related this to 2021 sochi, the race lando almost won but didnt because he didnt box for intermediates:

lando, always the chronically online bastard, of course liked it as well.

and nico approved of the hijinks: "wow what a smart move from lewis there!!!” (remember this, my dear readers) essentially, lewis didnt even try to really hit the apex of the turn and pushed lando towards the edge of the track.

and so lewis was out in front. leading a race for the first time in awhile. with nico in the commentary box, respectively losing his mind.

but nico did briefly take. break from loosing his mind over lewis to talk about max verstappen, who was down in third position behind fernando alonso. notably, he hadn't overtaken him yet by lap three. and actually, carlos was staring to battle with max which if you know anything about max you know that that is highly uncharacteristic.

so nico said what we were all thinking once again: "can we just say that max looks like he’s struggling what’s going on”

what was going on was perhaps a battery issue or even that the car was in the wrong mode. either way, it prolonged lewis's lead out in the front. and a certain someone one was very pleased with this:

“i’m impressed with lewis so far i was not expecting him to hold on this long with that car he could get the win today” yeah yeah. nico is impressed with lewis. fork found in kitchen. we have all seen it before.

"fernando seems to be struggling to follow lewis on those fast corners” when i tell you we could hear him beaming through the tv. please remember, lewis is in a fucking shit box of a mercedes. it Hardly works.

"it looks to me like we have a lewis who is very very comfortable here today” yes yes, you are right nico, we did. i cant find the clip but i think it was in a post race interview lewis was saying that being out in front leading a race again gave him hope again that he still had it in him, which was both beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time.

and it was about to get more heartbreaking because max was catching up to fernando who was by lap 7, in the words of crofty “the most passive of sitting ducks for red bull”

max passed him not too long after.

crofty at this point just kind of decided to go along with nico and said “hamilton has his old foe behind him” and i dont have it written down but i think it was round here where nico said "cmon lewis! just keep him behind today!"

lewis meanwhile could not hear the cheering fest that was happening in the commentary box. mostly because the drivers cant hear the commentary box. but also because he was having a regular fight with his car.

lets me remind you all briefly that mercedes is in the midst of their shit arc. theyre not doing hot at all. theyre behind mclaren in the championship. lewis has not finished in the top 5 so far all season. george is ahead of him in the championship.

and in case you needed more proof, here is lewis having absolutely no faith in mercedes recently:

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we stan an unbothered king

but anyway. the sprint. it was lap 8 and max was approaching him quickly. and lewis, of course, had a problem.

“this thing won’t turn in the low speed corners!”

ah yes. that would be the problem.

and then he went wide! costing him precious milliseconds that allowed max to gain on him more! (nico, as you could guess, was disappointed)

bono, hamilton's engineer, came on the radio and said "verstappen behind" which was, you know, painfully obvious at that point. Hamilton thought so as well because he said “leave it to me man i can see him”

and well. even though he did see him, max still passed lewis on lap 9.

nico, of course, had things to say on this.

"he could have closed the door properly there’s no reason why not” as in, given max more of a fight. “pity the let him through so easily”

reguardless of how max was able to get past, he still got past. and right off the mark his pace out in front was insane. or at least, that was what nico thought on lap 11: "can i just say that pace from max is insane? hes 1.6 seconds ahead of everyone like what is going on”

and that lead would only extend as the race went on.

so we had max leading, then lewis, fernando, carlos, checo and charles. fernando, carlos, checo and charles were all quite close to eachother and had formed a drs train and were all battling it out for third.

many things were happening. checo had no traction ("believe me," crofty said, even though checo could not hear him "no one else does either") and fernando alonso was under pressure. because if one of them got past him, they were all getting past him.

crofty found it incredibly hard to believe that fernando alonso could feel pressure.

“he’s human," nico rosberg said, probably cursing him. "he must feel pressure”

and then he did feel pressure when on lap 16 carlos finally passed him. and while the two of them were battling, checo swooped in on the inside and passed both carlos and fernando, taking third position. meanwhile, charles passed fernando.

it was then revealed that charles was able to pass fernando mostly because fernando got a tire puncture while trying to keep carlos behind him.

“i told you fernando was feeling some pressure!” nico said in a fantastic gotcha! moment to crofty

two laps later, and one lap before the end of the race, fernando had to retire the car.

meanwhile! back at ferrari! carlos shoved charles off the track. literally. charles had a very appropriate reaction which was "what the fuck?" and then, later "lets speak. we are fighting more...hes fighting more me than the others, but anyway."

the footage was replayed. and nico, who as we know, has a fair amount of experience in teammate shenanigans, originally said that it was not deserving of a penalty cause it was just racing. and then he rewatched the footage and said "actually that might be worthy of a penalty. it reminds me of my time with lewis.”

but while we waited for that to get reviewed by the stewards, max won, lewis came second and then checo came in third. lando apologized to his team over the radio for bongling the race. nico said that that was good of lando to do because he had screwed up in the first lap. and then, he seemingly remembered the curse that he can inflict upon people and called lando a "champion of the future" and said his driving the day before had been "magical"

crofty said that if lando was indeed the next nico rosberg (and lando did once jokingly day that "rosberg retired after his first championship, im going to retire after my first win") "he’s going to get it (his first win) imola cause that will be his 111th gp” (this came back later)

max and checo said the same stuff they usually do in their post interviews so we are instead going to talk about lewis who was excited! and the crowd was excited! everyone was excited! and he said that this was the “best result i’ve had in a long time” though he attributed most of it to the wet qualifying conditions because they were definitely not faster than the mclarens.

and you might be wondering what happened between the two ferraris. well. race control decided that there would be no penalty for carlos for nearly driving charles off.

one person was outraged about this. and if you guessed that that person was nico rosberg you would be correct!

“that’s a bit inconsistent considering 8 years ago” i got a penalty for that!, nico said.

crofty of course egged him on: “a bit miffed on that one?”

“that’s not fair!”

and once they were done, nico put the final nail in the coffin, saying "i would like to now leave and go to ferrari because that wouldd be incredible to hear that engineering meeting when those two drivers meet”

(i believe that it was in the post sprint interviews that we got this photo of carlos, which got memed with the caption, "what are they going to do? fire me??")

and nico didnt get to go to the meeting (for obvious reasons) but he did run into nicolas todt (who i believe is charles's manager?) and notoriously Refuses to talk to sky sports.

however, nico rosberg has what is essentially paddock immunity and he can get anyone and everyone to talk to him. no one seems to be immune. (except lewis but hes well within his right to be). and todt was no exception:

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now i could transcribe what they said here. but its better for you to just watch it yourself.

(nicos jacket, btw, in case you are wondering, is like 2000 euros from louis vuitton. he really came to slay and also stunt on all the usual sky sports people in their classic workwear)

remarkably though. we are not done. because we still have a race. the real race. the main event. the real deal.

so lets go through qualifying

(just so you all know. usually i will watch on my laptop and take notes on my phone, but alas this weekend was a little insane. this weekend i watched qualifying on a bus. and i took notes by hand in a notebook. painstakingly. only for me to forget the notebook at work on a friday. so i had to rewatch it again. sorry if this part isn't as good because im trying to pause this as few times as possible)

now this was unusual because I Think last season they did sprint qualifying, race qualifying, sprint, race and this year they did sprint qualifying, sprint, race qualifying, race. this meant that teams had to pretty drastically change their set ups a little to get back into Qualifying Mode.

but! once again nico was back in the box. but he was Not allowed to talk about the sprint race (much to his general disappointment) because, according to crofty, "some of you getting up early might not have seen it"

nico was annoyed about this because "its very difficult for me because i am looking at all of these drivers and very excited about adding something that happened in this morning's sprint race in my commentary, but i am not allowed to talk about it?"

and crofty, well, gave a very crofty answer. "well you see some people back in the uk might just be getting out of bed now. unlike you they are not up with the larks every single day and i dont want to spoil any highlights for them if they might have set their sky queue to record the sprint race so lets try not to spoil it for them"

aside from that once again, people were having a proper race in the pits. some people were waiting in the "classic british queuing system," some people (like nico hulkenberg) were just plowing through eachother. this happened for all the sections of qualifying. before q2 it got so bad that crofty said "this is formula 1, nico. it is about cars going fast, not stopping in the pitlane and forming an orderly queue." again, there was a slight threat of rain.

all of that out of the way. q1. it was slightly uninteresting, it was pretty darn standard as far as q1s go. except for the fact that it wasnt because none other than sir lewis hamilton managed to get out in q1.

crofty chose absolute violence and let nico take us through the back end of lewis's last flying lap. lets hear what he had to say:

"and here is the pressure moment now for lewis trying to get out of the drop zone, lets hope he doesnt break too late with the tailwind from the back! *lewis brakes too late with the tailwind from the back* and he did! he did exactly like zhou he went off the road even there! that is going to cost definitely some time but i think he was up far enough to still make it through comfortably."

hamilton crossed the line 12th fastest. then danny rics went 9th fastest. lance stroll went 8th fastest. and then george went 5th fastest, pushing hamilton into 15th spot and at risk of getting knocked out, with pierre gasley, Esteban ocon and charles leclerc still on their last flying lap (and set to knock lewis out). pierre gasley then went 9th fastest, effectively knocking lewis out of qualifying. and man. it must hurt to get knocked out of qualifying by an alpine, thats all i gotta say. even esteban ocon managed to get out of q1!

our lovely sir lewis hamilton was set to start the race in p18.

"wow," nico said. "that is painful. that is seriously painful. i mean in 18th position, lewis. i mean though honestly, you know the wind is coming from the back there, hes had a great lap until then, it was really unnecessary to push the limit there so much for lewis. you know, 7 time world champion, thats a mistake that probably should be avoidable."

yes, it probably should have been. but nico did yap about him incredibly yesterday, so perhaps, he got the nico rosberg curse.

nico then continued his psychic reading of lewis's car:

"and he also had the brake balance too far forward, just lost so much time there. i mean, lost at least 4 tenths in that moment which would have easily put him through, i mean easily! what a disaster."

"saph," you might be asking. "surely nico is saying this much about people other than lewis?" not really no. if he was i would be writing about it.

aside from lewis, the people who usually struggled were struggling, like logan sergeant who was having massive amounts of understeer. and according to nico "he was everywhere apart from on the ideal line. in two subsequent corners." he also took a little spin on one of his flyers. he got out in q1.

we got some photos of logan sargeant walking down the pit lane after the end of q1, his hair blowing in the breeze. and people memed it, comparing him to none other than our friend nico rosberg:

(sorry i dont have the source for this, someone sent it to me)

yuki was having problems with his drs, which was not working and then working. he claimed that something must be going on with the car because his lap was "pretty good" he also got out in q1.

as did kevin magnussen and zhou guanyu (much to everyones disappointment)

q2 was also a tad bonkers because of one man called carlos sainz jr. perhaps you have heard of him.

well. the barrier at the final turn definitely has.

coming around the final corner with about 7 minutes left in q2, carlos spun out in the gravel trap and ping ponged across the track to bounce off the barriers.

crofty was quick to say right away "is there damage on that ferrari and has he kept the engine on?"

the yellow flag quickly turned into a red flag, because clearly carlos had not kept the engine on and that meant they would need to recover the car. he was fine, but his car was not and he was out of qualifying.

or was he......

nico said "it looks like that car is in one piece and it looks like he might be trying to get it going again."

and that was exactly what carlos did. he got the car going again. and if ferrari can fix the car, he can continue the session. the front wing was totally snapped and as nico pointed out, his tires were totally wrecked and flat spotted (which makes the car hard to drive because you are bouncing so much in the cockpit) but the steering seemed square (he hadn't fucked up the tire alignment)

there was a red flag, which would help ferrari immensely, because the time was stopped for them to clear debris. nico was very highly convinced that he was going to be able to get going again.

while we waited for carlos's car to get fixed, nico took the opportunity to shade some people, calling "freddy" vasseur (the team principal of ferrari) "a proper racer at heart, and that is what everyone loves about [him]. hes not a businessman, hes just a pure racer" which might as well have been a direct call out to people like, idk, lets say toto wolff.

nico also said that he "likes his dark humor and joking around" (remember that this guy looks like a mob boss and has the stupidest most french accent ive ever heard) "didn't he try to shove carlos's face into his birthday cake? he just underestimated the strength of a formula 1 drivers neck. cause carlos locked up instantly."

this, of course, is what nico was talking about:

and what time was it now? time for the restart of qualifying??? no!! it was time for nico to do another psychic reading of lewis's car!

ted came on the radio to say that mercedes had been trying to fix the car in the low and medium speed corners and had changed the set up to reflect that and asked if that would have caused hamiltons lock up in his flying lap.

"no" nico said, putting on his engineering hat. "they had too much understeer this morning in the race on lewis's car in the slow speed corners so what they would have done is soften the front up a bit which actually would have helped with that braking problem with the front lock up so it will not have been because of a set up change it was just underestimating on lewis's behalf with the wind coming from behind."

he wasnt done wearing his engineering hat though. once the restart happened, he took us through george's braking techniques: "but now its all about tire management, yeah? youre always watching front temperature, rear temperature and how do you bring the front temperature up? you put the brake balance far forwards and you do it from inside so you brake very very hard as hard as you can and you build the temperature up from inside so from the brakes is how you build the temperature into the tire up, less so by driving and swirling and things like that, of course that force is also important for the surface especially. you want to get the whole surface prepared and softened up but the bulk temperature is what is important and you build that up from the inside so he is going to be building that up with brake balance and everything and especially on the rear you need to take it easy on the traction now hes going to be very careful on the exit from the corners cause you dont want to build up load on the rear tires case the rear is always going to be very quick to come up on temperature and you want to start with them right at the bottom of the window when you start the lap."

"like cooking your dinner!" crofty said, just wanting to be included.

nico went along with it. "its pasta aldente!"

now idk about you. but i know nothing about f1 tire temp. and i feel like i kinda get it now. and lets also remember that english isn't nicos first or even third language.

but enough engineering because sir lewis hamilton was being interviewed about his starting position.

"it is what it is," lewis said. he said that he and george have different set ups on the car. "18 is pretty bad. when i was making the set up changes i was like, it cant get any worse. and then it did!" *laughing*

unbothered king once again.

in opposition, and also as to be expected, nico was very bothered.

"lewis always tends to say that he and george has such different car set ups and that is always his excuse, and george will say 'last time i checked the cars are pretty similar' and hes gone again for that, which is quite interesting"

in case you were wondering, here has been a running list of lewis's excuses as to why george is doing better than him:

bahrain: set up risks saudi arabia: return of the bouncing: the bouncening australia: lest confident ive ever felt in the car japan: i couldn't turn shanghai: ive never had so much understeer in my life

aside from that:

daniel ricciardo though managed to out qualify yuki for the second time this weekend and for the second time all season.

nico was impressed: "yeah lets praise him! at this point he is doing exactly what he needs to do now which is clearly beat tsunoda and he has been doing that the whole weekend now. so that has been a very positive progress" he did though get out in q2.

as did, ocon, albon and gasley. lance stroll also got out in q2 by .069 of a second.

and aston martin was not thrilled about this. because guess who was not out in q2? thats right, carlos sainz. guess who also had a crash and turned off their engine? also carlos sainz.

so aston complained about it:

this complaint was dismissed because aparently the article doesnt apply if the car is able to get going again.

heading into q3 nico was back on his bs, this time reading fan signs. one that said "we just got married. this is our honeymoon. watching the formula 1 race. that is awesome."

crofty of course then had to ask: "did you spend your honeymoon at a race track?"

nico almost sounded insulted. "no. no i didnt." but then again, i am decently certain that he got married in the thick of his feud with lewis.

but back to the racing. max was chasing his 6th consecutive pole position. this would have been the first time since lewis hamilton did it in the back end of 2016 and into 2017. (nico was exited to appear in this statistic btw) and he was also looking to get the first five consecutive poles in a season, which hadn't happened since mika hakkinen did it in the opening of the 1999 season. and! red bull was looking to get their 100th pole as a team. and well. hes max verstappen. of course he got pole.

so everyone was racing for p2. and checo perez won that race, with fernando alonso coming in third. though it was very close between him, mclaren and ferrari.

mercedes once again didnt do well. with george in 8th only a tenth and a half off of a haas. "so strange how the incredible mercedes team struggles to understand these new regulations," nico said

and with that, the standings for the race were as follows:

p1: max verstappen p2: checo perez p3: fernando alonso p4: lando norris p5: oscar piastri p6: charles leclerc p7: carlos sainz p8: george russell p9: nico hulkenberg p10: valtteri bottas p11: lance stroll p12: daniel ricciardo p13: esteban ocon p14: alex albon p15: pierre gasley p16: zhou guanyu p17: kevin magnussen p18: sir lewis hamilton p19: yuki tsunoda p20: logan sargeant

onwards and upwards to the race

once again, crofty and nico rosberg were in the box. and we all tuned into the madness once again.

well, i did not tune in live on account of the fact that the race was at three in the morning. but i did watch a good chunk of it in an unlikely place after i finished my work trip and was waiting for my train. and if you guessed that that place was bryant park, new york city, well you would be correct:

and if you ever for some reason get the chance to watch an f1 race in bryant park, the vibes are insanely off the charts. and if you happened to be in bryant park and saw some lunatic watching an f1 race, well, that was probably me.

anyway. is anyone even reading this anymore?

nico started off by telling everyone that "the secret to winning is taking care of your tires” and boy. did he turn out to be right.

lights out. away they went.

immediately fernando was able to pass perez at turn 1, taking p2.

down at the very back of the grid, lewis was already loosing positions because someone at Mercedes thought that it would be a good idea to put him on soft tires. over the radio, lewis said "im making no ground with this tire" and nico, who had loudly voiced before the race that lewis could absolutely work his way up from the back because hes lewis hamilton, said "oh thats not good"

despite this, hamilton put the pedal to the metal and was able to pass both zhou and kevin and was up into 17th by lap 4.

back in the front, fernando was pushing his tires very hard. perhaps too hard. definitely too hard. because perez was able to pass him on lap 5, retaking p2.

meanwhile, charles got revenge on carlos for his move in the sprint the day before by pushing carlos off the track in turn 1.

"did the meeting fred had with them go in one ear and out the other?” crofty asked.

“appears so, i’m enjoying it” nico responded.

nico then continued to be a little shit when a few laps later pierre shouted over the radio that alex albon had "pushed me wide! he just ran me off the track!”

"and that," crofty said. "looked very very similar to sainz's move on his teammate charles leclerc the other day, which he didnt get a penalty for."

"no," nico said. "thats different. im not sure actually now."

"you know," crofty said "the one down at the hairpin? where you got the penalty once and thought that it was a bit wrong that carlos got left off?"

"yeah i dont think it was comparable," nico said. we stan a king calling bs.

lando had meanwhile passed fernando, who really clearly wrecked his tires at the beginning, for third.

hamilton was finally put out of his soft tire misery on lap 10 when he was finally allowed to pit.

pierre also pitted on lap 13 but had a disaster pit stop! the tire wasnt attached correctly and hit one of his mechanics. the mechanic was alright and they were able to get everything in working order again, but it took far longer than they wanted to.

during all of this. lando was still up in p3. and nico was still continually impressed with him. he was clearly feeling bad about the curse that he had inflicted upon lando during the sprint.

red bull did a double stack pit on lap 14, leaving lando in the lead!

by lap 16 nico had decided that no one had mentioned lewis hamilton in awhile and that needed to change so he loudly announced “let’s talk about lewis hamilton a little” but was interrupted by none other than lewis's radio saying "i can’t even catch him (ocon) mate this car is too slow” and nico audibly became excited, saying “that is what i was going to say”

nicos fangirling was interrupted by charles's radio, where his engineer asked him if he was happy with plan d. which people took to mean a one stop. which could work because charles was managing his tires well.

also managing his tires well was lando norris, who was still leading the race and also likely on a one stop. but, max verstappen was fast approaching him and as crofty said: i don’t want to spoil this but if we were writing the manuscript i think max will pass him halfway down the straight” on lap 20.

and low and behold. that is exactly what happened.

nico though was still impressed with lando. and he said that he bet lando would finish p2.

and then things got Interesting. with a capital I.

lap 21. valtteri bottas went off the track into the runoff area at turn 11. his engine was gone.

this was following nico saying that the saubers had been looking goof that weekend. another victim of the curse.

immediately a yellow flag.

then a few seconds later a virtual safety car on lap 22.

everyone started to pit, except lando who was really pissed that he missed the pit lane entry and mclaren didnt call him in.

luckily for him though, he is able to pit on the next lap because there is still a virtual safety car on account of the fact that bottle's car is probably stuck in gear and they cant get it into neutral to move it. they also had seemingly every marshal touching the car to try and move it:

then on lap 24 they call a full safety car.

red bull do another double stack cause their lead gets destroyed by the safety car (because all of the cars slow down to catch up to eachother)

fernando alonso finally pits and its to put on soft tires. which is an odd choice. but ted calls it "just mouth watering"

and then pretty much everyone else who hadn't pitted comes in to pit.

meanwhile, nico, king of giving zero fucks, decided to call out the whole safety car procedure: “idk if the fia optimally managed that because there were like three different decisions there”

and honestly? good for him for calling them out on this. because the whole flagging procedure was already called out in australia when george got stuck in the middle of the track on the last lap and they refused to red flag it.

at the end of the safety car, the standings were as follows:

p1: verstappen p2: norris p3: leclerc p4: perez p5: sainz p6: alonso p7: russell p8: piastri p9: ricciardo p10: stroll p11: hulkenberg p12: ocon p13: hamilton p14: magnussen p15: tsunoda p16: albon p17: sargeant p18: zhou p19: gasley

and everyone, apart from fernando and daniel, were going to try and get to the end of the race on their current tires.

the safety car ended on lap 26. and by lap 27 there was another yellow flag.

why?

well. lance stroll slammed into the back of daniel ricciardo's rb, who had braked as to not hit oscar before the safety car even ended.

and i mean he Literally Drove Into The Back Of Him

remember that new taylor swift song that everyone was saying was about fernando alonso? well this happened and people memed it to be about lance stroll instead, saying "im an aston martin that you drove straight into danny rics"

do i smell the nico rosberg curse? i think i do because nico was praising him not too long before this in qualifying.

lance came on the radio claiming that it was all daniels fault.

later on, after the race, lance also claimed that he "crashed because drivers ahead suddenly braked" and oscar, who also sustained damage from the crash but was able to keep going, said "yes, but everyone else didnt crash into eachother."

danny rics, meanwhile was pissed:

"aparently im an idiot and it was my fault. so that made my blood boil because its clear as day. and it was also behind a safety car. the only thing youve got to do is watch the car in front. im doing my best to not say what i want to say. but fuck that guy. and im being nice still."

and the interview footage of him wasnt much better:

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lance ended up getting a 10 second penalty for this. he did not agree with it and generally was unbothered about the whole thing and refused to take blame for it. the team came out and said that the penalty was harsh and defended lance.

for now though, daniel stayed out.

and literally at the same time. magnussen tapped yuki, causing him to spin out. magnussen meanwhile got a puncture.

“yuki and kevin incident is going to the stewards” crofty announced during the safety car that had come out again.

“it doesn’t need to go to the stewards it can go straight to penalty," nico said.

and go to penalty it did. kevin got a 10 second penalty.

several laps later, there was still a safety car and the drivers were confused as to why.

“i have a change to make," nico announced. "we need better communication between the safety car and us. he has a passenger in the car [the passenger] can talk to us” and honestly. not a bad idea.

finally the safety car came in and come the restart, “we lost bottas with engine issues and we lost yuki with magnussen issues," but “they have all seemed to survive the restart this time with out crashing into eachother”

denial though was loosing positions quickly due to floor damage. and logan received a 10 second penalty for overtaking during a safety car. but it was on a pit lane exit and not really on him, moreso it was on the team. even nico was confused, saying “i’m not quite sure what he did wrong there?”

moments later, daniel had to retire his car.

and crofty said “rb stands for really bad in terms of their race in shanghai”

back up in the front, lando was still holding onto p2 and checo was trying to pass charles to take p3

"he has to be patient," nico said.

"does he have time to be patient?" crofty asked.

"no he does not."

and on lap 39. checo finally managed to get past charles. charles was starting to get upset with the one stop strategy, but unfortunately that was what the team wanted him to do.

also upset with the tire strategy was fernando alonso, who now had to stay on the softs after the whole safety car mess and it was a very bad choice.

nico once again decided that no one had talked about hamilton recently and said "here we go hamilton!" on lap 41 when he tried (and failed) to pass nico hulkenberg. he then succeeded a little while later. crofty said that he couldn't "see if that made toto smile or not." nico said “i doubt it, that was a haas”

fernando alonso decided that he had had enough of the soft tire and decided to pit on lap 44 and came out in p12.

and then it was time for the driver of the day vote. and our favorite little shit stirrer was back. well, he was never really gone. but he was definitely back.

“am i allowed to interfere with driver of the day?” nico asked.

“you can make a suggestion” crofty said.

"my suggestion is lando norris”

and aparently everyone agreed with him, because several laps later, it was announced that lando was on top of the vote. nico was very appreciative. “i appreciate you all listening to my opinion”

and his sass continued as he fought crofty on fernando's late pit stop. crofty thought that fernando was doing well with the late pit, working his way back up through the order. nico was very adamant that it was a bad call and fernando was merely "making the most of a terrible situation”

why did aston do so badly? well. nico was interviewed infront of their garage earlier. bam! the curse strikes again.

and with the race coming to a close, nico then revealed that he was going to be doing the post race interviews when he asked crofty "see though what do you ask max verstappen? were you worried about the race or…”

crofty considered for one long moment. and then said something insane: “ask him what his favorite cheese is”

“what his favorite cheese is?”

“yes in front of the whole world”

“that might be something”

and low and behold. the race came to a close with max p1, lando p2 and checo p3.

lando accidentally pulled into the pitlane instead of the grid cause he and his engineer got distracted talking about his mums birthday, and then he looked lost the entire time.

zhou got to pull up to his own board on the grid and had a very touching moment infront of all the fans.

and in the cooldown room, our top three had a very interesting reaction to daniel and lance's crash:

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nico, meanwhile, had sprinted down to the pitlane like a bat out of hell, hair wild and askew to give the top three their post race interviews. because they were really hellbent on giving him every possible job this weekend. and i did not watch the pre race show so this was the first time i was seeing him.

and i was not expecting him to be wearing A FRINGE JACKET

now i couldn't find a good picture of this so you'll have to tolerate this garbage one that i took:

and yeah its not really Fringe Fringe, but there is fringe there and i was not expecting it. anyway. he did not ask max what his favorite cheese was. unfortunately. crofty was upset about this.

reguardless. we got our lando norris champagne pop (which the broadcast cut off AGAIN but thank god for the mclaren ig account):

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and the trophies were circles. so lando let his intrusive thoughts win and wore it like a necklace after:

meanwhile red bull took it one step further and went hula hooping with it:

and look. there were a lot more nico antics that i logistically cant include because this post is already long enough but heres some highlights:

he got caught instagramming on live tv:

he also turned down a dinner invitation from the other sky presenters

he had a very good conversation with lando actually where he encouraged him that he was definitely doing enough as a driver and to not worry about the first win, because he himself hadn't gotten his first win until his 111th race.

he did the pre show grid walk with ted kravitz and actually made it interesting:

youtube

and you might be wondering. did he actually talk to lewis at all? not that anyone saw. but, lewis did scooter past him, AirPods in, glasses on, hear no evil see no evil style.

(again, see my opinion from the top, i dont think lewis owes nico anything, im just reporting what happened here)

and that just about wraps up shanghai. it was insane. this took me a week to write. it was supposed to be out several days ago but alas, it was not because i got slammed by seasonal allergies and passed out for 12 hours and was also smited by a work trip. and yes, i know that other things have happened since china and they will probably get lumped in with the miami update next week but very very quickly:

-nico hulkenberg signed with stake for 2025 -adrian newey might be leaving red bull -ferrari has blue suits for miami -ferrari is now title sponsored by hp -lando norris wrecked his face at a party

but thats for next time. as far as china goes, it was wonderful. had a blast. thank you mr rosberg for bringing the insanity and i will see you all in miami

Sorry i tried to scroll past but, i know nothing about f1 other than max verstappen is fast, my dad doesnt like lewis hamilton, fast car goes in a loop and sometimes expodes. Could you give me a crash course in f1 drama? Im very intrigued. Whats the tea as it were?

a terribly loaded question, but i will do my best. i’ve talked about some of the drama before like the red bull second seat and the chronicles of haas but allow me to briefly try my hand at explaining the nightmare that is the upcoming silly season

under the cut we go

silly season is when the drivers go through contract renewals, extensions and switches. usually it’s confined to the first half of the season (march-july) but it has been known to extend all the way to the last race of the season and they like to switch people around at random sometimes. driver contracts are complex, there’s a lot of money involved and basically You Are The Face Of The Team so if you have a shit season then you make the team look bad. but at the same time you could have a shit season because you have a shit car. it’s sticky stuff.

so. there are only twenty seats in formula 1. 10 teams. each team gets two drivers. (there’s also reserve drivers but we’re not going to get into that). who ends up with a contract is largely up to the teams, they can pull the contract out from under people they can also cut you mid season. they’ve done it before.

of the 20 drivers on the grid, 14 of them have contracts expiring at the end of the year. yes. 14. you see how this could get complicated.

so let’s meet the teams.

red bull racing. they came first this year (and last year) in the championship. like aggressively first. like they won the championship by over 350 points. they are definitely the team to beat. but if you end up with a seat at red bull, you do have to deal with max verstappen being your teammate and he won all but three of the races last year. he’s the golden boy. red bull are also notoriously silly when it comes to contracts and famously swap people mid season who aren’t performing.

mercedes. merc is home to 7 time world champion lewis hamilton and they have won the championship a great many times, though not since 2021. they are kind of in their flop arc and their car the last 2 years has been pretty garbage, but they have still made it work because they were able to come in second last year.

ferrari. god help the poor little meow meows with a ferrari contract. ferrari is a notoriously great team and they’re trying to get back to the top again but their strategy every single time has fallen short. to the point where their drivers are the ones doing the strategy in their cars while driving. they came in third last year and have been decently consistent at getting first in qualifying and then getting beat by max verstappen on race day.

mclaren. they’ve definitely worked their way up over recent years. they ended fourth last year and have had some championship wins before but not nearly as many as say merc and ferrari. their team ceo (owner? director?) is a little interesting and their car started out a pile of flaming hot garbage at the beginning of the year but they did manage to get their shit together.

aston martin. they are owned by canadian billionaire lawrence stroll, father of lance stroll (one of the drivers for the team). they’ve undergone several name changes over the recent years (force india, racing point, etc). they positively slayed at the start of the season and then one day they sucked. they finished fifth in the championship.

alpine. the frenchest french team. they’re (i think?) still partially owned by the french government. both of their drivers are french. (their drivers also hate eachother but we’ll get to that. just know they’re in the middle of a modern french civil war). they had the opportunity to have a good rookie driver (oscar piastri) this past year but in a thrilling twitter battle, he publically flamed the shit out of them and went to mclaren instead (and slayed). they're usually solidly middle of the pack. they ended sixth in the championship.

williams. williams has been one of the back of the grid teams for the last many years but they have finally started to get their shit together and don’t quite suck as much as they used to. all of the points this year were scored by only one driver though (except one but we’ll get there). they came in seventh.

alpha tauri. they are the sister team of red bull. so technically redbull owns both teams (meaning they can swap drivers between teams. they like doing this.) they’ve just kind of been There for awhile but they did slay towards the end of the season when one of their drivers led the race for several laps. basically tho, this team is the gateway to redbull. they came in eighth.

alpha romeo. recently renamed to stake f1 team (but sometimes they are going to be called kick sauber. this is a whole other drama post and i’m not getting into it). they’re also just kind of there. generally unproblematic. seems that really great drivers who get ixed out of a contract for a younger driver end up here or young drivers who are in their early years are here before they go to a better team. they ended ninth this year.

haas. oh haas. goofy team. they suck. point blank they suck. they keep loosing sponsors because they suck, they don’t win ever (one time they came first in qualifying last year). they cursed themselves in australia in 2018 by not tightening their tires and its been downhill ever since. they came 10th. their team principle got let go (fired?) who’s to say today.

so those are the teams. it is important to note that:

-there is a cost cap. each team is allowed to spend no more than 135m per year.

-not all cars are equal. some things are standard. they all undergo the same testing. but the cars are all very different. so you can be a good driver but stuck in a shitty car. which makes it impressive if you are doing well in a shitty car.

let’s meet our drivers!!!

starting with the guys who’s contract is not ending in 2024:

max verstappen. 3 time world champion. 26 years old. general beast on the track. he dominated the whole season. he’s currently racing for red bull and has a contract with them through 2028.

lewis hamilton. 7 time world champion. 39 years old. he drives for mercedes. he will not leave mercedes until he retires. he really really wants to win an 8th world championship and is willing to stick it out a few more years as long as merc still believes in him. his contract expires in 2025.

george russell. the other merc driver. 26 years old. hes aggressively british and says thinks like blimey unironically. walking meme. got his merc seat in 2022 right when they entered their flop arc by getting his tractor of a williams to finish second in qualifying in the middle of a rainstorm. his contract expires in 2025.

lando norris. mclaren driver. 24 years old. he has notably never won a race in his five years of formula one (mostly because right when his car finally was good enough max verstappen was 20 seconds ahead of anyone) but he is regarded as Very Good. he has only ever driven for mclaren. and even though there is another year left on his contract there is mass speculation that he will not renew his contract with mclaren after it expires and he may move up to one of the top teams (red bull, merc, ferrari) (tho i think he doesnt hate himself quite enough to go to ferrari). his contract expires in 2025.

oscar piastri. the other mclaren driver. 22 years old. this was his rookie season and he positively slayed. like people compared his rookie season to lewis hamiltons rookie season. he also had the positively funniest start to his rookie year because alpine announced that he would be driving for them (he had been their reserve driver and in the alpine academy) and he posted a tweet that basically said yeah thats false i never singed anything with you and im going to race with mclaren instead (he dodged a bullet) and then alpine tried and failed to sue him for $4m USD. he signed a contract extension with mclaren this year and his contract expires in 2026.

lance stroll. aston martin driver and son of the aston martin owner. hes doing ok, tho there was conspiracy that he wanted to quit and have a tennis career awhile ago. but basically since his dad owns the team it seems that hes guaranteed a seat for as long as he wants one.

so now. moving onto the good shit. the people who have contracts expiring in 2024. hold onto your hats people.

charles leclerc. (everyones favorite slutty little soup can). 26 years old. he is currently at ferrari and he has been since 2019. notably, he was given the longest contract in the history of ferrari after a stellar rookie season at sauber (renamed to alpha romeo, renamed to stake f1) where he got the tractor of a car consistently into the points. having the longest contract in the history of ferrari was a flex at the time, but now its likely how he will introduce himself at therapy sessions. ferrari have fucked this man left right and center up the ass with a plastic lunchroom spork. hes talented, he can drive, and he can drive well. but the strategy that ferrari has absolutely sucks. either something is wrong with the car (see him blowing out his gear box on the formation lap in monaco, his car completely crapping out and spinning into the barrier in brazil before the race even started) or they fuck up his pit stops or put him on the wrong tires and honestly its just frustrating. but will he leave??? likely not. you'd have to pry ferrari out of his cold dead hands and at this rate that might be where this is headed though there has been some minor speculation of him going to another team like merc or red bull, but merc doesnt have any open seats and red bull is a whole other dumpster fire of drama. ferrari are going to have to pay him a boatload of money to make him stay.

carlos sainz. the smooth operator. 29 years old. ferrari driver. previously carlos was at toro rosso (renamed to alpha tauri), renault (renamed to alpine), and mclaren before signing with ferrari. he has been at ferrari since 2021 and has voiced that he would like to stay with them for however long he can. there is speculation that lando might replace him at ferrari (but landos contract is not up until 2025) and there is also some speculation that alex albon might replace him. while charles is clearly the golden boy at ferrari, carlos is slightly slower but also definitely consistent. he was THE ONLY non red bull driver to win a race this past year, in Singapore after max verstappedn was knocked out of qualifying by alpha tauri reserve driver liam lawson (more on him later) and because he basically came up with his own strategy in the car while he was driving.

sergio perez. aka checo. red bull driver. 33 years old. and oh boy here's where we open the can of worms. checo was previously at racing point (renamed aston martin) and it was very near the end of the 2020 (?) season and he was out of a contract. he had a bonkers race where he was knocked to the back of the grid and then overtook everyone and somehow ended up winning (there is more to that story but just trust me) and christian horner, red bull team principle, mr ginger spice and definite disney villain called him and said congrats sir you have a seat at red bull! well. fast forward. hes been causing problems. problems as in crashing a lot, generally not doing great and pissing the crap out of red bull. it is basically guaranteed at this point that he will not be getting a contract extension. there was actually talk this year of him losing his seat mid season to one of the alpha tauri drivers, because remember, red bull owns both teams and they can switch them whenever they want to (and they have!) but ultimately this did not happen. even though checo has a seat at red bull until the end of 2024, its mass speculated that he is going to get switched with an alpha tauri driver, probably daniel ricciardo (more on him shortly) mid season because there is a speculated clause in daniels contract that says that if checo isn't performing well in the first few races daniel is getting his seat.

daniel ricciardo. 34 years old. alpha tauri driver. man oh man what a guy. outside of being the prankster of the paddock, he has one of the most batshit careers of anyone currently on the grid. he started out at red bull and was showing real talent and skill and was on track to win things (and was!) and was there until the end of 2018 when max verstappen (his teammate) started getting preferential treatment and also red bull started having a lot of problems with their engines (which were being outsourced from Renault (now alpine) and another team on the grid) and well very very long story short he made the surprise move of the century and decided to sign with Renault (which makes no sense they're the one with the engine problems) and was there for 2 years before moving again to mclaren where he was reportedly not treated very well and had a hard time driving the car so they mutually ended his contract with them early and he basically retired at the end of the 2022 season and became a red bull reserve driver. then halfway through the 2023 season alpha tauri ixed one of their drivers, nyck de vries, because he wasnt doing well and promoted daniel back up to a full time driver at alpha tauri (which we know is only a step down from red bull) but then he broke his hand in a crash in zanvort (?) and then he was replaced for a few races by formula 2 driver liam lawson (who we will also talk about) and then he came back to finish out the season in alpha tauri after he was cleared. daniel has admitted openly that he never should have left red bull and he was given bad advice to do so. hes towards the end of his career at this point and its well known that he Really Really wants to finish out his career at red bull again. he and max have already been teammates before and they do work well together and daniel is great driver (see his comeback in texas (or maybe it was brazil?) this year). so. Pretty Sure that daniels going to get either an extension at alpha tauri or go up to red bull. thats what we all want. get this man in a red bull we need him there biblically.

liam lawson. now technically liam is not actually a formula 1 driver. hes a formula 2 driver, but he was daniels replacement for five races and there has been some speculation and some confirmed news about him so hes getting included. when he was racing for f1 he was at alpha tauri. hes 21 and looks like he belongs in the movie grease. no one was expecting him to slay in formula 1 and he positively knocked everyones socks off. the scene: Singapore. which, if you'll recall, is the one race that a not red bull driver won. this was largely because liam lawson slayed the absolute game in qualifying. the qualifying part of racing determines what order the cars start in on the grid for the race and theres three parts, the first two parts the bottom 5 drivers each time get knocked out and then the top 10 complete for the last 10 spots. liam lawson knocked BOTH max verstappen and checo perez out of qualifying in the second round by going very slightly faster than them, effectively fucking up red bulls race and allowing carlos to win. and he also scored points in that race, which no one was expecting. now thats all fine and dandy, but here's the speculation: hemlut marko (im pretty sure) (who is somehow decently involved in the decision making at red bull though i couldn't tell you how) said that he thinks that liam lawson will be in an f1 seat no later than 2025. meaning that he will probably get offered a contract this year. and hes already raced for alpha tauri. red bull have sunk a good amount of money into him. they clearly want him. so if he gets offered an alpha tauri seat in 2025, that means theres a good chance danny rics is going to red bull. do you SEE how the plot here is THICKENED

yuki tsunoda. age 23. currently at alpha tauri. and fun fact, the only alpha tauri driver to race there the whole year. he had three separate team mates. he is slaying and hes often slept on. he has a bit of a temper and likes to shout on the radio and also hates working out (they had to force him to move to italy or something to work out, long story) but hes been kinda killing it. he led several laps in the abu dhabi race this year and hes decently consistent. people think theres possibility that he could get moved up to red bull on account of the fact that he is younger than daniel and clearly has more years in him,, but there is also possibility that he might not because red bull like to make stupid decisions. and if he doesnt get moved up to rebel, will he stay with alpha tauri? we don't know.

alex albon. age 27. currently a williams driver. alex albon is another one with a batshit career. he started out his rookie year in 2019 at alpha tauri then got moved up to red bull halfway through the year when red bull decided that pierre gasley wasnt doing a good enough job (more on him later) and stayed with red bull for a solid year and a half until he lost his seat in 2021 to checo. he has been with williams for the last two years and is basically carrying the team. like. williams as a team scored 28 points this year. and alex albon scored 27 of those 28 points. and as we know, williams is still kind of in their shit arc (though they are doing much better. they didnt score any points for a solid 2 (?) years. so this is an improvement.) and if you can get a shit car to perform you catch the eye of bigger teams. now, alex has already been a red bull driver. and he was on the cusp of podiuming two separate times when lewis hamilton ran into him. this (among a few other things) basically killed his chances at getting resigned at red bull because he wasnt ""performing"" and red bull are bitches who love to win. but some people think that red bull should give him another shot. like daniel, hes already been max's teammate and he can definitely drive. but theres also talk he might go to ferrari because ferrari think that he might compliment charles's driving style (or something). but going to ferrari at this point is kind of suicide. so.

logan sergeant. age 23. the only american on the grid. the other williams driver. he just finished his rookie year. he scored a grand total of one single point this season, in texas, and it was because charles leclerc and lewis hamilton both got disqualified because the floor of their car had more wear (by literally less than millimeters) than it was allowed to, bumping him up from 12th to 10th. he has never done better than alex albon. he was also the very last driver to get a contract for 2024, with williams waiting until i think december of 2023 to announce his contract extension. clearly, hes on thin ice. but people have also said that he needs time to get used to formula 1 (other people have pointed out that oscar piastri slayed his rookie season this year and this statement about needing time is largely false). where logan ends up next year though will largely depend on how well the 2024 season goes for him.

fernando alonso. 42 years old. many people like to point out that oscar piastri is actually younger than fernando's racing career. he won tiktok creator of the year (somehow) and is also a 2 time world champion. he retired a few years ago, just to show back up again and slay. during the first half of the season when aston martin had a zoom zoom car he killed it, and then they had problems on top of problems and he didnt do well. except for that one race in brazil where he came in third, beating checo by literally .05 seconds. he hasn't really made any hints about retiring a second time and he is kind of carrying aston Martin right now (he scored 205 points this season, coming in 4th and tying in points with charles leclerc, lance stroll only scored 74 points this year.) and they did have their best year yet this year. (though they are relatively new).

pierre gasley. 27 years old. french. drives for alpine. the french team. previously he raced with toro rosso (now alpha tauri), then got promoted to a red bull driver in 2019, then halfway through the season they decided he wasnt doing a good enough job and he got demoted back down to alpha tauri. then he won a race with alpha tauri just to stick it to red bull. after the great oscar piastri contract twitter war, he was signed as alpines second driver, with Esteban ocon being the other driver (more on him soon). estie bestie and pierre (both french) were childhood friends and now hate each other for unknown reasons and basically feuded on the track for most of the season. french civil war at alpine. he scored 62 points in 2023 and came in 11th. not really sure where he will end up, it is possible that he will stick it out at alpine.

esteban ocon. 27 years old. also french. currently driving for alpine. another one with a silly bonkers career. he started out at force india and had a baller few seasons there but his teammate at the time was checo, and checo didnt really cooperate with him too much and caused some drama that cost estie bestie some places and some points. max verstappen also beat him up in the garage once. thats not really relevant but it did happen. anyway, after the owner of force india was arrested for .... i don't remember what maybe it was embezzlement or bankruptcy or something money related, the team was backed by lawrence stroll and became racing point. but all of that happened mid season and lawrence was basically like look ill back you guys for now but next year my son gets a seat (lance) so one of you two (checo and estie bestie) have to go. and ultimately they let estie bestie go even though he was more consistent because checo had more sponsors and they needed money. so he was out of formula 1 for a few years (but was a merc reserve driver) and then went to Renault, which then became alpine. he did come in 12th though overall this season, just behind pierre. so. will alpine keep both him and pierre and keep the civil war going? whos to say.

nico hulkenberg. 36 years old. haas driver. in his 200+ f1 races he has never been on the podium and he really really wants to be on the podium. unfortunately this will never happen in a haas because haas fucking sucks. and everyone knows it. he is getting towards the end of his career though. though! stake f1 will become the mario Andretti and audi team in 2026 (don't question it) and they have supposedly voiced interest in nico. so we will see if he hangs on that long to end up at audi. for now tough, hes definitely hating it at haas. though, haas are going to have a different team principle next year so maybe that will change things. i have a sneaky feeling through that haas will probably end up with another 2 rookie drivers because everyone else is smart enough to not race for them.

kevin magnussen. 31 years old. haas driver. hes another deeply interesting character. he has had one podium. in his rookie season. in his first race. and none since. kevin started at haas in 2017 and then left at then end of 2020 when he basically got kicked off because the team needed money and they wanted to bring in drivers with more sponsorships. these drivers were mick schumacher and nikita mazepin. so kevin basically was forced to retire after the 2020 season. this went decently well for haas. until russia invaded ukraine right before the start of the 2022 season and, well, nikita was Russian and it was never distinctly proven that his dads company (who was sponsoring the team) wasnt also funding the invasion. so nikita got fired and they were literally like 2 weeks out from the start of the season, down a driver. who are you gonna call? kevin magnussen! and hes been back ever since. but hes clearly getting annoyed with haas. there was one great clip from this year where his car caught on fire and he kind of just stared into to, clearly hoping it would burn for a long time. so the likelihood of him extending his contract is looking slim.

valtteri bottas. 34 years old. currently a driver for stake f1 (alpha romeo, kick sauber, whatever you wanna call it). previously, he was a mercedes driver and notoriously helped lewis hamilton win a great many championships, until he lost his seat to george russell in 2022. there was a rather awkward part of the 2021 season where valtteri knew that he was out of a merc seat the following year and kind of just chose violence. he slayed. then he went to alpha romeo, grew a mullet and made a calendar of his ass. quite the glow up if you ask me. hes also very interested in cycling. honestly though, i have my own personal speculation that hes going to retire at the end of this year.

zhou guanyu. 24 years old. driver for stake f1 (alpha romeo/kick sauber, etc etc). hes doing alright. he just finished his second season, in his first season he was majorly out qualified by valtteri but this past season he managed to out qualify him a good 6 times. which is decently good for the tractor of a car hes driving. its possible that he could get a contract extension, but like logan, its probably going to depend on how the 2024 season goes for him.

and thats all the drivers. theres also a few others i didnt talk about, like some other f2 drivers who want seats and mick schumacher, who is currently a merc reserve driver, all of which could be contenders for f1 seats. but one things for sure. this is going to be the silliest fucking silly season.

feel free to add on and peer review me

#Instagram #not a tag #from saph #saph explains silly season 2024 #again im SORRY ITS LATE #tho tbh i doubt people still read this post #f1 #shanghai gp 2024 #nico rosberg #this was basically the nico rosberg update and im not really even sorry about it he was insane and he came to slay #formula 1 #i think i got most things #i hope i did it justice

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zcorners120 · 2 years ago

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Babe, i love your page and all your work, it’s true a chef kiss. Shit i don’t know if you will take my request or not but i really need naughty f1!seb x driver!reader.

Well they’re teammates. For him she’s so tempting yet so innocent and beautiful. She is basically in her early 20s (sorry i don’t know if you’re comfortable writing this, but if you're not then it’s fine). And sometimes she gets shy around him because he’s her childhood crush, she’s been a fan of him since she was young doing karting. Most of the drivers took interest in her but she only has eyes for seb, now she wants him. Spending most of their time seeing each other at work, they couldn’t resist the desire anymore. He always fantasized to get her writhing beneath him, worshiping her, corrupt that innocent mind of her, giving her the best pleasure, etc🫠 Finally, yk “that” thing happened. The rest, i give it to the expert, you. I hope you get my point. Love you sm babe💗

thank u v much! love u too <3 sorry it's taken me a while to get to this, but im here now ! :)

sebastian vettel x fem!reader MASTERLIST

synopsis; working with your childhood crush is hard. but what's harder is him secretly fantasising about you.

warnings; age gap, sexual fantasies, sexual implications, S M U T 18+, p in v, spitplay, dom!seb, sub!reader, spanking, semi-public sex, masturbation!male

Redbull, a household name. The legacy and glory it established in the early 2010's was something to behold. Sebastian Vettel, their four time world champion, insanely attractive German blonde surfer type that had gotten you into racing.

His face shone, holding up his trophy, frozen in the image that was up on the back of your door. You look up at it, knowing that one day you'll make it with him. He was the birth of your insane crush, as well as your crazy driven work ethic, as you didn't stop racing and pushing till you got to where you are today, in Formula One.

The start of the season; a fresh start for everyone, and you had something to prove with it being your debut. You represented the emerald green, walking into the paddock for the first time as a driver. The nerves were wracking, hands tightly clutching the pass.

It was your first time meeting Sebastian, as he had been busy and not available to attend previous meetings and testing sessions. You were slightly relieved, knowing you'll be awkward around your childhood crush.

"Morning Y/N!" You hear interviewers calling out, trying to grab your attention for some pre-race thoughts.

You wave meekly to them, sporting a small polite smile. You felt your hair flowing briskly behind you, small gold hoops in your ears as you spot your garage, a natural rosy blush tinging your cheeks.

"Well, hello sunshine!" Mike yelled out, grabbing every person's attention in the garage as they turn to you, smiling.

"Morning Mikey." You giggled, feeling eyes on burning on your figure.

You couldn't lie, you were pretty. Pretty beautiful, being offered multiple modelling campaigns, photoshoot opportunities, sponsorships. You took them when you could, having it as a fun little side job, but mainly focusing on racing.

You had received a few cheeky DM's from F2 and F3 drivers when you were also competing with them, but not necessarily feeling interested. Because of a certain blonde? You like to think not.

"Y/N L/N. Pleasure to have you in Aston Martin." You felt a thick German voice speak out from behind you.

You just took the bullet, nervous as you turned around. "Sebastian Vettel. Trust me the pleasure is all mine, I'm honoured to be working with a legend like yourself."

You played it cool, internally thanking yourself for not being weird.

"You okay?" You laughed nervously, seeing that when you turned to face Sebastian, he was taken aback. He looked at you, gazing into your eyes.

As soon as you turned around, it was like a cliché from a movie. The most gorgeous woman he had ever laid his eyes on had fallen into his hands, your hair gently flipping back as though you turned in slow motion. Your eyes had a certain twinkle to them, with a smile kinder than a child with some candy.

"Uhm, yeah of course." He shook his head a bit, coming out of his trance.

"Seb, Y/N, you have a panel right now, make your way to the hall for it." Mike shouted from across the garage, pointing out of the door.

"Alright, one sec! I'm just going to put my stuff away." You gave Sebastian a polite smile, walking to put your bag away.

You left him stunned, standing there smiling like an idiot. He ruffled his hand against the back of his head, walking to the panel.

The drivers sat there, chatting amongst themselves as they waited for you to come in so they could start the questions. You were only a couple minutes lately, but the drivers clearly had a thing for punctuality.

You awkwardly walked in, the drivers gaze averting straight to you. Your once loose hair had now been pulled back gently, graciously in a middle parted ponytail.

Whatever sweet and innocent thoughts Sebastian had of you, had disappeared instantly, making eye contact with you. The thought your hair tied up like that, drove him wild.

"Sorry I'm late!" You said sweetly, taking your seat as everyone giggled around you.

The panel continued, a few questions being asked about how you balance modelling and racing, how you feel about being new in the season, etc.

The interviews finally stopped, bringing it to an end. You step off the platform and start making your way to the door, before being stopped by a tap on the shoulder. You turn to be met with the familiar face of an Alpha Tauri driver.

"Y/N, isn't it? You did really well up there." His French voice spoke out, smirking at you.

"Thanks Pierre, trust me I was really nervous." You laughed, making some nice small talk with him.

What you weren't aware of was the blue eyes staring you down from a corner, clearly jealous, yet having limited interaction with you.

"Yeah, my Instagram's there." You pointed it to Pierre, saying a small goodbye as you rushed to the garage.

In the next coming months, you naturally got closer with Sebastian; now calling him Seb. A few scandals here and there about drivers liking you; but you knew who you wanted.

"Okay, now don't get all nervous like you always do. Be bold." You pointed to yourself in the mirror, hyping yourself up to make some risky moves to Seb.

You look around the office and the garage, and he was nowhere to be found. Usually when talking to Seb, he was quite the flirt, but that's his usual personality. Every time the cheeky boy made a little comment you could feel your cheeks burn up, not having the courage to match the energy.

As you were trying to find the supposed cheeky boy, he was having some cheeky time to himself. He was in his driver's room, door unlocked, some lame Netflix show blasting to avoid any of his noises to be let out.

He found himself in the same situation again; slight sweat forming on his forehead, top slightly exposing his abs, overalls bunched at his knees. Pumping his thick cock, vein adorning his length throbbing against his palm, small groans and moans slipping from his lips.

"Scheiße Y/N." He cursed, imaging your ass bouncing on his cock, the image infatuating his mind. He has these fantasies regularly, more than he'd like to admit. Corrupting you beneath him, leaving your ass with red handprints, screaming his name for anyone to hear.

He loved your innocence, how shy you got around him; even though it felt wrong to like someone so much younger than him. He was aware of his feelings, and yet he couldn't help but imagine your tight pussy clenching against his thick cock, leaving you desperate and writhing and cock drunk; Just. For. Him.

As he was pleasuring himself, you were still trying to find him. It soon clicked that he might be in his room. Storming over there, you could hear some loud sitcom deafening you, 'He must be in his room.' you thought.

You knocked loudly, rapping your knuckles against the white door, not hearing a response. You knocked again, waiting for any source of life behind the door.

"Seb, I'm coming in!" You shouted over the sound, opening the door.

Seb thought it was his imagination playing tricks, but he was severely wrong. You opened the door to see Seb fully masturbating on his sofa, opening his eyes to be met with your agape stare.

"Holy shit. I'm so sorry!" You squeezed your eyes shut, running out from the room. You slammed the door behind you, leaning against it as you tried to process what just happened.

Seb was just as shocked as you, immediately turning the show down and pulling his race suit over his.. extremely hard stick.

"Y/N, are you still there?" He bravely spoke out to the door, hearing you hum a faint 'Mhm.'

He opened the door slowly, holding his hand out for you take. Putting your small hand into his larger palm, it almost killed him seeing the size difference; the tent in his suit becoming a lot worse.

"I'm so sorry I walked in; I didn't think that you were doing.. that." You cringed at your own words, as he sat on the sofa, you joining him.

He looked down, smiling, a conniving plan clearly underway. "What would you think if I told you that I was thinking of you whilst doing.. that."

"Huh-" Your cheeks turned a deeper shade of mulberry red, embarrassment painting itself all over your face.

"Would you like that, Schatz?" His deep voice had some kind power behind it, as he looked deep into your eyes.

"You think of me that way?" You gulped gently, feeling clueless to his dirty thoughts.

"Of course, you're beautiful, and you drive me crazy." He tucked some loose hair behind your ear, your lips moving to his like a magnet.

You bit the bullet, feeling his soft lips softly kiss yours. In that moment, Seb couldn't control himself, his strong hands taking your hips, planting you on his lap. His boner was aggressively throbbing, practically begging for attention. You met his needs, slowly grinding against him.

He groaned into your lips, his hand coming down to smack your ass, as you moan loudly into the heated make out session.

"My little Schatzi likes getting her ass smacked?" He said darkly, watching you nod coyly, with a small smile.

You pulled his race suit down, pooling at his feet as his boner smacked up against your stomach, still on his lap. You wriggled out of his grip, putting on a cheeky strip show for him. Pulling your top off, sliding your skirt down; exposing your matching emerald set. You didn't let the fun stop there, turning around for him to see your ass, bending over and slowly pulling your panties off.

His jaw dropped at the sight of your shaved pussy, glistening with wetness, just for him. You turned back, seeing his once blue and bright eyes now dark and full of desire. You stand in front of him, as he pulls your hand onto the sofa, perfectly placed into missionary. He spits on his cock, you watching as he rubs into his leaking precum.

"C'mon, Seb baby put it in me already." You whined, watching as he smirked.

"Someone's a little impatient hm?" He laughed a bit, still in shock at his many restless nights coming true all in the span of a few minutes.

He slapped his cock against your entrance, pushing his tip into your tight hole, equalling in you both moaning.

"Scheiße; you're so fucking tight." He grunted, pushing his thick cock further in.

You pulled him closer towards you, kissing his full lips as a sense of comfort compared to his cock shattering your world.

"Faster." You breathily moaned out, feeling Seb's hands flip you around onto all fours swiftly.

He smacked your ass, beginning to pummel into you from behind, immediately hitting such spots you never knew existed. You bit your lip, feeling the metallic edge as you try to contain your moans.

"Such a good girl; taking me so well." He praises, gathering your hair as he pulls you up.

"Open." He commands, spitting in your mouth as you fall back down onto your hands, his pace never slowing.

"Fuck, Seb please don't stop." Pathetically begging, the sound of his hips snapping against your ass making you even wetter.

He didn't even care if people heard - in his opinion it made it all the better. He could feel your cunt pulsate around his cock, making him hit deeper.

"Please- I'm going to cum-" You could barely finish your sentence, legs shaking as you felt a tight knot explode; the biggest orgasm you've ever had.

He smacked your ass, never letting his pace weaken, letting you ride out your high.

Gasping for breath, you could feel his strokes become sloppy, you quickly pulled off his dick. Getting onto your knees straight away, you opened your mouth, sticking your tongue out playfully.

"Oh verdammt, you look so pretty like that." He gasped out, letting his white cum paint your tongue and sides of your lips.

You licked his cum up straight away, lips making a smacking noise from your finger. The tiredness hit you both straight away, collapsing on top of each other, snuggling in the post-sex haze.

"And here I thought you were an innocent angel, in reality you're one kinky girl." He laughed, watching you blush and become shy again even though you just had filthy sex.

The next couple months contained a shit ton of sex in a shit ton of different places before deciding to go public, taking the media by storm.

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formulahan · 3 years ago

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[x]

#race of champions 2022 #roc 2022 #f1 #formula one #formula 1 #sebastian vettel #aston martin #a tad chilly for just a t-shirt 😅

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hey-kae · 2 years ago

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Home is Perfect Starts

Part one of the “Home is…” series.

Pairing: Charles Leclerc x singer!female reader

Request: read here

Warnings: language, sexual jokes, some smut.

a/n: okay so the request was for one imagine but this has turned into a series because there are so many scenes i wanna include what would have left us with a fic of 20k+ words so i decided to divide it. Really hoping the person who requested this doesn’t mind.

Just a year ago, you would've never imagined that life would somehow lead you to move to Monaco with the person you were quite sure you'd spend the rest of your life with, both of you looking with so much optimism towards a future that seemed so bright and perfect, slowly building a life together that you two knew you'd pick over anything and everything at any given space and time.

Around two years ago, you were sat unassumingly under the hot stage lights of yet another interview studio, the interviewer across from you asking prying questions and giving you curious looks like she was desperate for you to spill everything you have ever kept a secret about your life into the little microphone clipped onto your shirt. In reality, she wouldn't have exactly minded you giving her exclusive details about the private matters you kept to yourself but she was also aware that such occurrence was practically impossible, not with the intensive media training you had undergone, not with your manager backstage, not with your instance that your private life would always stay private no matter how much you fame might grow. However, her knowing all that didn't really mean that she wouldn't try to throw in the bait and hope for a scoop or some grand story she'd get to take credit for.

The loud cheers of the small crowd as the show resumed airing had alerted you back to reality, the host almost immediately announcing the start of "the fan favorite part of the show, a quick game of Would You Rather."

Fast forward a few questions that seemed eerily safe, you had been met with the one question that had gotten a laugh out of the audience.

"Would you rather skip a relative's wedding or miss a Formula 1 Grand Prix?" The interviewer had asked with a cheeky smile that had perfectly showed that she already knew the story.

"Oh God..." you had kept a smile but looked away for a second, a blush spreading over your cheeks in memory of that day, "How did you find out about this?" A perfectly timed chuckle had escaped your lips as you pushed your hair over your shoulders elegantly.

"We have our ways."

"Oh, quite mysterious!" You laughed a bit, "Alright, alright. Here's the full story but before anyone decides to judge, l ended up not missing any of the two, by the way! This was a few years ago so i was considerably young but... yeah, there was a race on the same day as a family member's wedding. It was a championship decider basically and i really wanted to see who would end up winning so i tried sweet talking my parents out of taking me to the wedding, even tried playing sick but it didn't work out. So, after a big argument with my mom, i ended up going but i'm a girl who has her priorities set straight so naturally, i stayed glued to my phone all the ceremony, what got me a lot of disapproving glares, not gonna lie. And i remember it so clearly, but my favorite driver ended up crashing out during the vows so -god, this is embarrassing- i was literally crying and everyone around me thought i had gotten emotional over what the bride was saying when, obviously, that wasn't the case." You had finished the story with an embarrassed nod and pursed lips.

The following question was one you had cautiously answered.

"Do we get to know your favorite team?"

"Well, everybody's a Ferrari fan. Right?" You quoted Sebastian Vettel with a smug smile since you knew only F1 fans would catch the reference.

How that little statement and a few unconvered pictures of younger you watching races, all decked out in Ferrari merchandise, ended up with you being invited to the Ferrari hospitality at the Italian Grand Prix, your name on the pass hanging around your neck being "Charles Leclerc guest 3" was something you still couldn't wrap your head around.

When your manager had informed you of the invite, you wouldn't have ever assumed that you were invited by the driver himself, not the team so naturally, seeing his name on the pass was a shock, especially given the fact that the two of you had never interacted in the past aside from the follows you had exchanged on instagram after that interview.

During that race weekend, the tension between the two of you had debuted. You had ended up with him in a flaming red Ferrari, helmet on and filming a hot laps video around the track.

You were a bit shy by nature, especially around people you were undeniably attracted to and while locked into the car with you, Charles was quick to take notice of that. It had boosted his ego and therefore his confidence, encouraging him to push the car to its utmost limits, drifting it through the corners and letting the tires screech as they struggled against the black asphalt.

However, the precise moment where the two of you figured there might be something more to the instant connection you had formed was when he noticed how unaffected by the speed you were, cheering him on as he drove instead of freaking out like he had seen in the hot laps videos he had binge watched to know what to expect.

"Oh, come on! I have to find a way to get some screams out of you!" The monégasque spoke before thinking, stepping harder onto the gas pedal as the car shot down a straight, only to realize the double meaning of his words when he saw you struggling to hold in your laughter, your cheeks blushing a deep shade of red before finally allowing yourself to laugh, deeming your attempt to neutralize your reaction as a failure.

Charles absolutely loved your reaction to the dirtier side of his words. Something about the sound of your laugh had caged in his heart, leaving him to grin at you like he could see the future. Likewise, something about the way he had looked at you while you laughed, his eyes glistening in the sun told you he'd be someone special in your life.

While he was still grinning, he worked some buttons on his steering wheel then he drove the car in donuts as you giggled, genuinely enjoying the experience, loving the speed and the smell and sound of the tires.

To your surprise, Charles' comment about getting you to scream wasn't cut out of the video. In fact, it became the star of it. It was actually the spark that ignited the fire between the two of you, especially when that little interaction, more specifically your reactions to it caused fans to ship the two of you.

After that day, you had contacted Charles to thank him for the invite and the experience and that ended up in a meetup then another then another and soon enough the meetups turned into dates then secret getaways. Barely any additional time passed before you found yourself calling Charles Leclerc your boyfriend.

Almost instantly, you started getting spotted sneaking around with him wether it was around paddocks, backstage at your shows, around Monaco or from your tourbus. The first video that went viral and made it harder to play off the rumors was one of Charles in a VIP box at your concert, singing along to practically every song, assuming people hadn't spotted him. The relationship became impossible to hide so, naturally, you went public with a video of him visiting you on tour, playing the piano backstage at one of the arenas to help you rehearse a song. The short clip quickly became a fan favorite to yours and Charles' relief.

The special and wholesome nature of your relationship left you so scared that your schedules would ruin it for the two of you at some point. You loved each other to death. You texted and called and facetimed each other endlessly but it was undeniable that it wasn't exactly normal for a couple to see each other less than once per month sometimes.

Eventually, it became an issue.

Eventually, both of you started realizing that the relationship was being built on texting, calls and facetimes. Not an ideal base in any way.

Eventually, you found yourself locked up in your tourbus, on a video call with Charles who was alone in his driver's room after a qualifying session that hadn't gone exactly well, the both of you choked up with the fear that the rough patch might just be the end of everything.

"It doesn't feel like a relationship anymore." He had said, his eyes dazed as he bit onto his lips from the anxiety the conversation was giving him.

"I know." You had answered with defeat, your eyes tearing up while imagining where this could go.

It terrified you when silence took over after the small sentence.

"I don't want to break up." Charles' voice was shaking as he said that.

"Me neither." The reply was instinctive.

There was close to nothing you wouldn't do to save the relationship.

Charles looked relieved, the next words leaving his mouth with so much ease, it made it obvious he's thought about them before, "We should move in together."

He had studied your reaction to his words so intensely, fearing that he was asking for too much.

"I would love it if you moved in with me. Actually, i want a fresh start with you, a new place that would be just ours, our own little world, an escape from everything. Monaco doesn't even feel like home anymore, the apartment doesn't feel like home anymore. There's always something missing and I'm pretty sure it's you... and i know it won't solve everything but at least we'll get to come home to each other, spend our breaks by each other's side instead of wasting days trying to decide who is flying to who or where to meet up. I just want to wake up next to you, see your stuff next to mine, fall asleep with you sleeping on my chest. I want to hear your presence nearby so life doesn't feel so lonely anymore."

You had stared at the screen for a long time, imagining every word he had said.

The house you owned was already far from your friends and family so moving a bit further wouldn't change a thing. Plus, you loved Monaco and could see yourself living there, especially if Charles was involved in those plans.

It barely took any further thoughts for you to nod with a smile, Charles leaning backwards in his seat in relief.

That weekend, Charles took the track and you took the stage with so much energy and positivity, everyone you both worked with had noticed it.

—

That is how you ended up watching an extremely confused Charles from your seat on the countertop as he tried to figure out the correct ingredients for a cake, a swipe of flour covering his cheek, a frown on his face and a bandana pushing back his hair.

After an extensive apartment-hunting week in Monaco, the two of you finally found a place to call home, a shared apartment that would be your shelter from the your hectic lives outside. It was perfect, overlooking the harbor, cozy but elegant and perfectly suited for both your tastes.

"Charles, let me help you." You suggested for the third time, a smile on your lips as you took in how adorably cute your boyfriend currently looked, an extremely confused expression furrowing his brows.

"No, baby. You already did the pizza dough." He nodded towards the oven where the pizza was being baked, "I want to make you something myself, a small welcome to Monaco, you know?" He grinned up at you, looking away from his phone where he was googling easy cake recipes.

Sighing in defeat, you relaxed against the wall behind you and preoccupied yourself with admiring Charles while he moved, more like fidgeted, around your shared kitchen.

After the long day of cleaning, unpacking, organizing and reorganizing, it was finally starting to sink in that this is your home with the person you wanted to spend all your days with, the same person that you had been barely able to see for the whole year the two of you had been dating. Now, in a very contrasting turn of events, you got to call him home.

Smiling at the thought, you exhaled out loud in content.

"What is it?" Charles glanced at you, smiling himself when he saw how much you looked at peace.

"Fuck...we actually live together, Charles." It came out as a chuckle that made him grin widely at you.

"Doesn't feel real yet."

You hopped off the counter and crossed the kitchen towards him, wrapping your arms around his waist while he was still facing the other way.

"It doesn't feel real but it definitely feels perfect."

Charles smiled at your statement, pulling you around and caging you between his body and the counter, a mindless smile still on his face as he leaned in, his lips meeting yours in a messy, playful kiss.

This was all new. Sure, you've been dating for a while but you never got the opportunity to kiss just because you felt like it, nor playfully and casually since your time together was always brief, always limited, making the kisses either heated or rushed but now, his lips were moving against yours so softly, almost delicately, his tongue lightly grazing against yours as you discovered new sides of each other.

His hands moved up, one resting gently on your neck as the other caressed your cheek just as you felt him smile into the kiss.

"Welcome home, baby." He pulled back and grinned at you, his dimples on full display and his eyes sparkling as if your heart needed more reasons to race. It was at times like this when you realized how much you loved him, at times when he felt so surreal but so yours.

You smiled at him and rested your head on his shoulder, your fingers tracing small patterns on the fabric of his shirt as he stared down at you with an adorable expression on his face, the small smile never falling off his face as he rubbed his hand on your back, feeling you relax into his touch.

"You're gonna let me help you with the cake so we can... do other things?" The question was delivered along with a soft kiss onto his neck then another one under his ear, "Or, you could welcome me with something other than a cake." You put as much distance between the two of you as was possible in this position so you could eye his reaction.

Charles was looking at you with raised eyebrows, amused eyes and a slightly tilted head.

"No, baby. Trust me, you're getting that kind of welcome and okay, maybe we can forget the cake but we're going to eat," he lifted you to sit on the counter, pushing himself between you legs, his lips immediately finding your slightly exposed shoulder, "because i'm done rushing."

Charles brushed your hair behind your ears, his eyes locking with yours for a second before he kissed you again, slow and determined like he was proving a point.

"I'm taking my time with you tonight, baby."

With that final statement and a peck to your neck, he walked away, grabbing the oven mittens to check on the food, only looking back at you for a second to give you one of his signature winks along with a smirk.

"Fuck, Charles... the food won't run away." You complained and received a declining sound from Charles as he took out the pizza, placed it on the counter and began cutting it.

To be fair, the food looked really good.

"Fine." You groaned and headed to the cupboards that had the plates and grabbed two, placing them neatly on the table in the dining room before going back to grab knives and forks, crossing Charles who was carrying the tray of food to the table.

After some minor last touches, the two of you sat to eat, genuinely happy in the simplicity of each other's company in a place that actually felt yours.

Charles seemed to be really excited about just having you by his side as he does things as simple as eating dinner. He was trying hard to balance eating and talking as he rushed stories of his childhood memories in this city that now you too called home.

"It's tiny, i know, but you'll love it here. I promise." He beamed at you as he ate his last bite, brushing his hands together to shake the flour remainings off.

"I know, i love it here already. You -i don't know how to say it- You're just so much happier, i guess, when you're in Monte Carlo. That alone is enough for me to love it." You replied as you too finished eating, catching Charles looking at you in a way that never failed to make you blush.

Following that, you headed back to the kitchen to rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher when a pair of strong arms wrapped around you, lifting you off the ground and walking off to the bedroom with you hoisted over his shoulder.

"Charles, i can walk, you know?"

"Well, not for long."

"Charles!" You squealed as he put you down on the bed and climbed on top of you, giggling and tickling your sides.

"We finally live together." He reminded you with so much excitement as he kissed your face, the both of you chuckling until his lips found yours, effectively changing the whole vibe, the kiss being hungry and needy this time.

"I love you so much." You breathed out the words as things escalated, Charles now fiddling with the back of your bra to get it off while his other hand toyed with your clit and his mouth sucked a hickey onto your neck.

"I love you too, so much." He said the words back just as he felt you grind down on his hand, wanting more.

"Just one second, baby." He assured you, kissing your forehead before tossing away the bra and making sure your panties quickly followed it before his head was between your thighs, his tongue working its magic on your clit. He had you arching your back within less than a minute, you hands moving down to tangle themselves in his hair only to find the material of his bandana slightly limiting the easy access. You mindlessly got rid of it, allowing your fingers to comfortably disappear between his locks as his hand held your other one tightly.

He made you cum multiple times with his fingers and mouth all while giving you small encouraging remarks until you were begging him to just fuck you, and he did.

"Your wishes are my command, angel." He had said before he slipped inside of you, making love to you soft and slow, his body as connected to yours as was possible, his lips never breaking contact with yours, muffling both of your moans while your arms remained wrapped around him, needing to feel him close to you, his skin against yours in such vulnerable moments.

Soon enough, your body shuddered beneath his and you let go, feeling the pressure exploding in your veins, Charles' release quickly following yours.

"Fuck, living with you might be the best thing to ever happen to me." He had said from beside you, still panting after his orgasm, his body glistening with a thin layer of sweat, his cheeks flushed and his lips plump from all the kissing. His arm was stretched out under your head, pulling you to him as you chuckled from his revelation.

"I always knew you were dating me for the sex, Leclerc." You had attempted to joke but Charles took it a bit seriously.

"Ah, tais toi!" Oh, shut up! He pulled you closer so your head was laying on his chest, his hand softly moving around the small of your back, "You know you're so much more than that, right? I mean, you have got to know because, quite honestly, the times we had sex in the past year can literally be counted and that wouldn't make sense but it's not even that. I love you so much, baby. Like, i don't know, i can't even really explain it but... but, yeah, i love you for so many things that are way more meaningful than sex." He went on a rant, wanting to prove you wrong.

"Baby, relax! I was only joking." You giggled, looking up at him, switching positions so you were laying on your stomach, half of your body on top of his as you reached up and cupped his face, moving your thumb softly along his cheek. Charles instinctively leaned into your touch, his eyes closing.

"Still... i don't like hearing you say that."

You nodded and gave him a soft kiss on the chest then dismissed the subject, getting up and putting on your underwear back on along with his shirt, causing him to grin like a lovesick teenager.

You smiled back at him and grabbed his arm to try to pull him out of bed.

"C'mon. We're gonna do some skin care." You proposed but his reaction contradicted yours as he groaned in complaint.

"Please..." you whined, grasping his hands tighter and pouting.

"Oh, no. Don't give me that face!"

"Charles, s'il te plais." please. You brought out one of the very few french expressions you knew, making him raise his eyebrows and giggle before his hand rubbed over his face.

His body relaxed and he allowed you to pull him up into a standing position, the french trick working like always. It reminded you that you needed to try learning the language again.

"Merci, baby." You smiled at him as he put on some boxers, fake glaring up at you through his lashes from his hunched position as you made your way to the bathroom but, as you expected, he was quick to follow you.

Charles watched as you laid out the various products you used usually before pulling out two headbands and turning to face him, moving closer to his body to push the hair out of his face with one.

His hands instantly moved to your waist as you put the headband on him while not-so-subtly admiring his features with a smile.

"How the hell are you so beautiful?" You chuckled, your hands resting on his bare chest while you continued studying his face.

The slight blush that painted his cheeks was unmissable, his eyes disappearing as he giggled, his dimples showing even as he tilted his head forward.

He pulled you closer, hugging you closer as his heart raced and you felt it against your skin. The fact that you had that effect in him was something you truly cherished.

"Have you seen yourself, baby? You're the most beautiful person I've seen." His fingers lifted your chin up and he pecked your lips, then your cheeks and forehead and before you knew it he was peppering small kisses all over your face.

"I love you." Charles said.

"I love you too, angel." You replied, your hands cupping his face for a moment, you body electrocuted with the love that was coursing through it.

With one final peck to the lips, he let go of you and you reached for your own headband, putting it on after tying your hair into a messy bun to get it out of your face.

"First, cleanser 'cause we don't have makeup on." You informed Charles as you grabbed the bottle.

He frowned and reached for a brightly colored jar, bringing it up to his line of sight to read the label.

"Can we use this? It looks fun."

"Yeah, sure, but this is a moisturizer so, at the end." You smiled at him as you foamed up the cleanser between your hands before gesturing for your boyfriend to come closer so you could put the product on his face.

Charles pushed out his head towards you, closing his eyes and pursing his lips so you could rub the cleanser onto his skin.

"Baby, you can talk and open your eyes, you know?" You chuckle and he peaked one eyes open to look at you.

"I don't want my eyes to burn." He complained.

"Oh, i'm sure you'll be fine, angel." You amusingly said then pecked his lips before starting to cleanse your own skin while he stood awkwardly with his eyes still closed and you watched him in the mirror.

"Baby, you look ridiculous." You laughed and Charles groaned.

"Can i wash it off?"

"Yes, of course! It's not a mask or anything."

Sighing in exaggerated relief, Charles grabbed a towel out of the cabinet and splashed water on his face, a couple droplets hitting you as he did so. You followed in his footsteps and washed the cleanser off.

"Now, this!" You grabbed one of your favorite mask. It did an amazing job soothing your skin and since it usually felt really nice and cool against your face, you knew Charles would like it.

"Wait, it's kind of cold." He proved you right as you applied it onto his face, his hand reaching up to swipe some off his face. You pushed his hand away and told him to leave it alone before you put on some yourself.

"We wait 15 minutes now."

You could practically see the idea spark in Charles' mind.

"I'll be back in a second." He walked out of the bathroom, disappearing out of your sight within seconds.

In the time he was gone, you grabbed your phone, checked for any texts and snapped a selfie in the mirror, intending to share it on your story. It was only then that you noticed the purple mark on your neck, making you blush like a teenager.

You saved the picture instead and went to search for your boyfriend when he appeared in the doorframe, carrying a bowl and his phone.

"I brought cucumbers!" He beamed, crunching on a slice as he spoke, "Now, we can look like we are at the spa."

Highly amused by this, you threw in a joke that you already knew was lame.

"Spa?" You made a driving motion with your hands, smiling as you spoke.

Charles narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, "Oh, come on! You know what i mean."

"Oui, i know what you mean." You grabbed a piece of cucumber and ate it, then another piece that you put on one of Charles' eyes.

"No, wait. I wanna put some music first." He grabbed your hand to stop you, unlocking his phone and scrolling through his music before clicking on a song and letting it play softly as he took a seat on the edge of the bathtub and covered his eyes with some cucumbers.

Smiling at the sight, you took a quick, discreet picture of him before you sat by the sink and mirrored his actions, loving that the picture was basically unsharable since he was in just his boxers, making it only yours to see.

While waiting for the time to be up, the two of you chatted about really random things, laughing so much that the cucumbers fell off a bunch of time until the both of you gave up on them. Instead, you had a small, silly photoshoot in the mirror than ended up with one of your favorite pictures of the two of you. Charles had one brow arched and was pouting his lips as he stood behind you while you were giggling at something he had said seconds earlier. It was a picture that would be kept between you and him only due to the choice of clothing, or lack of it thereof, and the painfully obvious mark on your neck.

Then, as his music shuffled, one of your songs came on. You rushed to skip it, groaning in a bit of annoyance but Charles pulled his phone away from you, telling you he loved that song, what left you inevitably enduring the awkwardness of listening to your own voice blasting out of your boyfriend's phone speakers. On the bright side, you got to witness Charles singing along to one of your songs what you found utterly adorable.

"You know, this was nice!" Charles admitted after he washed off the mask a few minutes later. You gave him an "i told you so" look as you patted your own face dry and grabbed the moisturizer that impressed him earlier.

You motioned for him to sit again and stood between his legs when he did, feeling his hands on the back of you thighs as you opened the jar and took a bit of product out, softly massaging it onto the entirety of his face, making sure not to miss any spots. He was smiling up at your the whole time, his eyes shining with all the love he had for you as he watched.

"Done!"

He grinned at you and admired as you moisturized your own skin.

"It feels like, it's really smooth." He gushed, touching his face repeatedly.

You laughed at that, "You were literally complaining just about half an hour ago."

He shrugged, waited for you to finish putting away the products before he pulled you to bed, slipping underneath the sheets with you pulled close to his chest. How could he not hold you so close when he's been dreaming of this for so long?

"Today was a bit tiring." He said, rubbing his eyes as he felt the sleepiness coming close to overpowering him.

"It was." You wrapped your arm around his waist, feeling so safe and serene with him so close, "But it was so worth it. Now i get to come home to you." A smile shone on you face as you looked up at him, finding that his gaze was already glued onto you.

"I love it so much, baby. You don't even know." His last word was interrupted by a yawn, "I love it so much that this is our bed, that you are actually here, not just an image on facetime while you talk from a completely different place. I love it so much that we don't have to calculate time zones as frequently as before, because let's be honest, that is kind of inevitable, and that you aren't a seven hour flight away from me." He lazily spoke, his arms tight around your body, one of his hands sliding down to move your leg so it was draping over his while you faced him and nuzzled your head into his chest.

"I love sleeping next to you too, angel. And I'm so thankful for you and for this. I don't think there is any greater comfort than sharing a home with you Charles. I don't know what i did to deserve you, to deserve so much happiness and love but I'll forever be grateful that you're the person i fell for."

With that, you hugged each other tightly and fell asleep in the safety of each other's arms, under a roof that you shared, not knowing what tomorrow would bring but still looking forward to it.

It was all so perfect.

#charles leclerc imagines #f1 x reader #f1 oneshots #f1 imagines #charles leclerc one shot #charles leclerc oneshots #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc x you #f1 x you #charles leclerc smut

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5seb5 · 7 years ago

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The red bull years

#sebastian vettel #f1 shirt #formula 1 #scuderia ferrari #ferrar #red bull #red bull racing #vettel #seb #5seb5 #motorsport #cars #leave me alone #i know what i'm doing

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vetteldixon · 3 years ago

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Vettel open to more off-road racing after ice debut

by Scott Mitchell, Feburary 7 2022, The Race

Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel says he is “happy to look at” doing more off-road competitions in the future following his ice-racing debut in the Race of Champions.

Vettel was beaten by World Rally Championship legend Sebastien Loeb in last Sunday’s final of the first Race of Champions to be held on snow and ice, held on a track built across a beach and the frozen Baltic Sea in northern Sweden.

The Aston Martin F1 driver had struggled initially on Saturday, when he lost three of his four heats as Team Germany was eliminated at the quarter-final stages of the Nations Cup, but was more competitive in the individual Champion of Champions event.

He won match-ups in a Polaris buggy, RX Supercar Lite and electric rallycross car on his way to the final, where he lost 3-1 to Loeb but ran the nine-time WRC champion close in their final heat in the Polaris.

Asked if he would consider more off-road events in the future, Vettel admitted he had “a lot of catching up” to do but was enthusiastic about the discipline.

“Obviously, you saw that I’m still missing a little bit,” Vettel said. “But I think I enjoy it a lot.

“I always enjoyed watching what they are doing. It is a different discipline so you’re still having fun with a car but it’s just there are a lot of differences.

“But it’s fascinating, we have a chat also over lunch to understand a little bit more, it’s not just you’re in the car and you’re driving.

“Very much like Formula 1 or in any category, there’s a lot of work behind the scenes, doing your pace notes and getting all the information you can, the same with us preparing the race and the analysis after.

“The sport progresses and there’s more to it than just driving which is also a challenge. So, for sure it’s not easy to just jump into it and be very good at it.

“You need the time and experience but if somebody is willing to give me a shot and a chance and has a lot of time, I’m happy to look at it.

“I think it’s something that is as a driver very satisfying, to play with the car and to have more margin.

“Normally when the car steps out you correct it immediately and you’ve lost a bit of time. Here I think there’s much more grey. You are sideways, maybe the timing’s a little bit off but you can correct it.

“Of course, you need to get into that really small window to be perfect. And you saw the difference! But it’s definitely something I enjoy.”

Vettel has been an enthusiast of the Race of Champions for a long time and last weekend was no exception as he made the most of its dramatic change of scenery.

Off-track, he turned heads each morning from Thursday to Sunday with solo runs in a T-shirt and shorts at sub-zero temperatures, was a willing volunteer to swim in the sea when organisers cut a hole in the ice, and he begged for a passenger ride with Stig Blomqvist in the WRC legend’s Audi S1 Quattro.

But the competition’s switch of surface was something he clearly embraced from a competitive standpoint too.

“It’s something that I’m definitely not as used to when it comes to my driving style,” Vettel said.

“Normally, when the car goes sideways, I tried to correct it as soon as possible, and put it back straight, which here is not the fastest way.

“It’s very exciting and I think it’s a great place in the world to be. It was a lot of work, the weather really didn’t help this weekend, and didn’t make the situation easier but the people were great.

“After missing out the Race of Champions the last two years and having the pandemic around the world it was great to be back and great to have a sense of normality as well, as much as it was possible.

“It was a very, very great comeback, and I would really like to come back to a place like this on snow and ice.

“Obviously with Fredrik [Johnsson, RoC president] pride and being on home soil it’s something special but I think it definitely was to be out on the open sea racing each other.

“It’s been fantastic for us to enjoy the different cars and also for the spectators even though today they had a bit of wind in their faces!

“But they seemed very happy and up for it, so I think it was very good.”

#full articles are very handy to have/save so here it is #also there's a good amount of interesting little bits in this one too #the driving style stuff! i wish he'd go more in depth #sebastian vettel #race of champions 2022 #f1 #preseason 2022

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f1 · 2 years ago

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Black Friday is coming and nows the time to grab yourself some amazing F1 deals

2022 was already a gift of a season, with records smashed as a new generation of cars hit the track for 22 flat-out Grands Prix. But with no more races this year to treat yourself to, why not be good to yourself by bagging an incredible Black Friday deal. We’ve got something for every Formula 1 fan, from apparel deals for your favourite F1 team, to discounts on our F1 Topps series, to amazing F1 Experiences promos. Check out our Black Friday deals below. F1 Store There’ll be daily offers on the F1 Store, ranging from 30-60% off from November 21-28. Shop by driver or by team to hoover up T-shirts, caps, backpacks, model cars and much, much more. Check out the F1 Store here. F1 Authentics Own your very own piece of F1 history at F1 Authentics. From race suits and helmets, to car models and even used race car parts, you’re bound to find something unique – made all the sweeter by up to 50% off from November 21-30. Head to the F1 Authentics site here. F1 Topps F1’s collaboration with the legendary Topps cards series also comes in for the Black Friday treatment, with up to 30% off from November 21-28. Find out more here. F1 Print Store Grab yourself an incredible, eye-catching piece of artwork from Automobilist’s F1 Print Store. With posters celebrating everything from James Hunt’s 1976 title-winning McLaren M23 to the final race of four-time champion Sebastian Vettel, you’re sure to find something to brighten up your living space this Black Friday. Simply head to the F1 Print Store here and enter code BLACKFRIDAY22 for up to 40% off from November 21-27. F1 Experiences If the 2022 season has whetted your appetite for heading to a race in 2023, make the experience all the more unforgettable by claiming a 5% discount on fan packages from November 22 to December 2. Head over to the F1 Experiences site and use code DEAL2022 – and book yourself the trip of a lifetime. via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #Black Friday is coming – and now’s the time to grab yourself some amazing F1 deals #Formula 1

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ilovejevsjeans · 5 years ago

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WHY HAMILTON, VETTEL AND RICCIARDO HAVE EARNED A CRUCIAL WIN

Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo have 146 Formula 1 victories between them. They can take a share in another at the British Grand Prix, and the race hasn’t even started yet. But that’s kind of the point.

It’ll be around 17 minutes before the formation lap begins at Silverstone when those three drivers, and others like Romain Grosjean, can take satisfaction in a job well done. That’s when, thanks to F1 and the FIA, a prominent display “in recognition of the importance of equality and equal opportunity for all” will be part of the live TV images before the race for around half a minute.

“As long as we are all there together and get a moment which doesn’t feel forced or rushed, I think that’s most important,” Ricciardo had said on Thursday.

“In Budapest, it was a bit of a mess for the timing so they’ve addressed it now and I think we’ll continue to do as we’ve done just with a little bit more ease and not such rush and chaos.”

It would be disingenuous to claim getting F1’s pre-race anti-racism stand back in a prominent position is the greatest victory of the weekend, and in isolation it might not seem like a win at all.

But F1 was heading down a tricky path in a fractured state and this could be a significant milestone in that journey. And as FIA race director Michael Masi wrote at the end of a detailed set of notes: “I hope the above is clear and provides some clarity and reassurance to the drivers.”

Hamilton, Vettel and Ricciardo have spoken – and acted – with passion and respect on the subject of racism. Others have too, including the next generation of drivers like Lando Norris, but this trio in particular has been at the forefront of consistently explaining why it is important and why it must be continued.

“We cannot ignore what’s happening outside of our racing bubble,” says Vettel.

“And I think the fight against racism around the world that has taken off again in the last couple of weeks and months, I think it is completely justified.

“It is an ongoing process and needs all of us – and that’s not just us racing, I think that would be ignorant – all human beings around the planet to stand up and to try and go against racism, inequality, injustice in any form.

“It is right to try and set the right signs to inspire people because in the end I believe that education is probably the only way out of it.

“It is insanity to think that in 2020 with all the knowledge that we have of the past, and all the lessons we’ve learned that there is still something that does exist that should be out of the question.

“But it’s not, so therefore we need to stand up when we have the chance publicly to send a message – or more so even when the camera’s off and we are living our everyday life and setting the right example, and trying to behave in a way that is right.”

That’s what the official anti-racism ‘ceremony’, held at the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, was all about – a very strong message to a very large audience. But it was made less formal at the next two races and turned into a bit of a rush. It seemed to slip off the agenda and it emerged that other drivers were happy to let that happen.

It’s one thing that all 20 drivers haven’t knelt so far. But as has so often been iterated, that doesn’t matter so long as the 20 are united for the cause.

If some drivers wanted to just drop it and move on, that shatters the illusion of unity. That all 20 seem set to persevere suggests it was more about not understanding the importance of the issue rather than being against it.

To some it will still look odd to see the majority of drivers kneeling and others doing something else. But we’re making baby steps with this issue, which is how Hamilton sees it – progress.

“I spent time speaking to Jean Todt, spent time speaking to Chase Carey and Ross Brawn and had really great conversations with them to understand what they’re planning and what they want to do moving forward, and to make sure they know that we’re on the same team here,” Hamilton says.

“Things like giving us that little bit of extra time at the beginning before the race, so that we can really show how united we are as a sport – because other sports have done a better job at consistently doing that.

“They’ve been really open-minded and I do think that it needs to continue through the year.

“I believe, at the moment, that’s what we’re going to continue to do. I think there’s been some pushback, from some teams maybe.

“But again, it’s a work in progress to get us all together. And I think it’s going in the right direction.”

Different people have different positions on this subject. Not in the sense that anyone morally decent thinks racism isn’t bad, or shouldn’t be ended. But it’s a fact that not everybody is on the same page with how prominent this issue needs to be or what part F1 can play in making a difference.

That’s what has caused division among the drivers and projects an image that the ‘unity’ everybody speaks of might not actually be there.

“After the first race it was then discussed between us drivers, what do we do moving forward,” says Ricciardo.

“Some were in the mindset of ‘OK, well I’ve done it, so why do we need to keep doing it? I showed the support and that’s it’.

“But I think that’s just a bit of education, and I’m not gonna sit here and say I know more than everyone else about the topic because I don’t – but I feel that it was then time to open up the conversation and say well, these are the reasons why doing it once is not really doing enough.”

It’d be great to see all 20 take the knee before the start but that won’t happen and it probably won’t happen all season long. But whatever those drivers choose to do instead, they should be willing to do in front of the cameras for the remainder of 2020.

“It’s not like if someone passes and you wear a black armband, that makes sense, you acknowledge it on that moment and it’s not like you have to do it for the next year or something,” says Ricciardo.

“But this is a cause that is ongoing, and it’s still very fresh for a lot of people, a lot of parts of the world and I think we need to continue honing in on it, and making people aware of it.

“That’s why just doing it once is not enough. If you just do it once, how much do you really mean it?

“I think you have to continue showing your support and your willingness to do something and make a change.”

At this point the knee issue is a distraction from scrutinising whether F1 is really unified on this matter and serious about it. What’s been put in place for the British GP suggests that is the case, as it was in Austria.

The rest is an issue for the drivers to discuss amongst themselves.

Given taking the knee originated as a statement from NFL player Colin Kaepernick against police brutality and racial profiling in the United States, is it a political statement? Or has it transcended its origins and become a gesture of solidarity? Is it really a very sensitive and divisive gesture in some cultures, as has been protested?

And what of the ongoing co-opting of the Black Lives Matter message, originally and ostensibly a simple, powerful statement demanding people recognise the needless killing of black Americans?

As Hamilton has discovered, the association that message now has with controversial political organisations has split supporters of the same cause into factions.

“I’m clearly for more inclusion and ending racism – this whole messaging and movement in my mind is great, and I think it’s only good that we’re putting awareness on this and spreading the word,” says Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. “And I want to participate in that for sure.

“But I don’t want to become political and it’s difficult for me to know how my actions are being perceived by others. I really just don’t want to go into politics and I don’t want to be seen to support groups or organisations that I can’t stand with.”

His team-mate Grosjean says: “Kevin mentioned really a good point that some of the guys have been afraid of being linked to any political movement.

“I don’t think it’s happening but maybe I’m wrong. I’m not linked to any of the political movement.”

This is a delicate issue but if it wasn’t then F1 wouldn’t need to be getting involved. It wouldn’t be a worldwide problem that manifests itself in all sorts of ways – even creating issues that F1 doesn’t go anywhere near, as plenty of people who criticise the anti-racism movement like to point out by asking ‘why isn’t F1 shining a light on X?’.

The solution to inconsistent messaging can’t be that Hamilton abandons wearing a ‘Black Lives Matter’ T-shirt while others wear one that says ‘End Racism’.

For one thing, apparently the other message is on the back of Hamilton’s anyway. But if the drivers are free to make the gesture they choose there is something insidious about forcing the only black driver in F1 to adapt a message important to black culture to avoid causing a problem.

After all, the whole point of this is not to suggest that white hood wearing neo-Nazis are walking around with nooses in every city across the world, assembling lynch mobs.

It’s to raise awareness of the deep-rooted biases that manifest themselves as systemic racism and troubles that are much, much harder to address and fix – which is why something so absurd as racism still exists today.

“I really don’t understand racism,” says Grosjean. “I really don’t understand that it can exist in that way.

“I never experienced it, and talking to Lewis was very interesting and it’s things that you can’t really even imagine.

“I don’t think it should divide us, if anything it should pull us together and help us with our image to stop that because it shouldn’t happen.”

This is at the heart of the importance of what Grosjean (in his role at the GPDA), F1 and the FIA have done, starting with the British GP. The request of arguably the three most powerful driver voices on the topic has been taken on board and acted on.

All 20 drivers will group together for a cause and doing so prominently will help eliminate the underlying feeling that some don’t want to be there.

In the smallest possible way it will be a test of their commitment to this issue and perhaps by exposing them to it more regularly, much like those watching on television, anyone who does have doubts about why it needs to be continued in this fashion will try to understand it instead of trying to end the process.

“The more of an impact we can have as Formula 1, as drivers, the better it is for all of us and the bigger the impact we’re going to have on the future and people growing up,” says Norris.

There’s a bigger part for F1 to play in this fight, with activities of greater substance being set up in the background.

For now, it’s important for all participants to show they are on the same side. And in that sense, what we witness before the British GP should be considered a win. (X)

#lewis hamilton #sebastian vettel #daniel ricciardo #romain grosjean #dan #lewis #seb #romain #blm #i hate the media all stick to the line that they all care cause clearly some dont #they stand there cause they have to not cause they give shit #and saying its a win #cause theyre all there for a few seconds #you can tell a lot of them dont have much of an understading themselves #anyway some good quotes #long post

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outfitandtrend · 3 years ago

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[ad_1] Lewis Hamilton has currently been in hot water with the FIA – Formula 1’s governing body – over his refusal to take off his jewellery while racing. Now, he’s brought the big guns out…The seven-time F1 World Champion was spotted arriving at a Saturday Night Live afterparty earlier this week – the same one attended by Post Malone – wearing an oversized, sleeveless denim shirt, denim jeans, an Amiri trucker cap and Louis Vuitton combat boots. It’s a characteristically eclectic outfit that screams ‘luxury Joe Dirt’, especially considering the monstrous Lincoln Navigator he was riding in. They say Lewis is a weapon on the track but just look at those guns! Suns out guns out baby! He’s not got any firearms, just ~fire~ arms. Of course, if any of the FIA’s stewards or bean counters were anywhere near as fit as Hamilton, we wager they’d be showing off their guns too. RELATED: American Airlines Just Removed A Passenger For Showing Off His Guns Mid-FlightImage: GothamActually, it’s worth being a bit serious about the FIA and Hamilton’s spat around jewellery. For some context: ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, race director Niels Wittich had issued a ‘reminder’ to all teams and officials that wearing body piercings and metal neck chains was prohibited during the competition for safety reasons – a direction that was widely interpreted as targeting Hamilton specifically. Hamilton wouldn’t back down, however, saying “If they stop me [racing] then so be it. We’ve got a spare driver.” He even rocked up to an F1 press conference wearing three IWC Schaffhausen watches (including the new Mercedes team watch), rings on every finger, a Cartier bangle, multiple chains and studs in both ears. Even former rival Sebastian Vettel also backed Hamilton, saying “probably at this stage it’s more of a personal thing and I feel particularly in a way targeted to Lewis. We spoke about underpants as well. Is that the most exciting thing we can talk about?”Lewis Hamilton appeared at a press conference wearing multiple watches, rings, necklaces and earrings after the FIA clamped down on jewelry ban enforcement 👀 pic.twitter.com/6vw2bvA7Jq— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 6, 2022 In the end, Hamilton was granted a special jewellery exemption for the inaugural Miami race – but it remains to be seen whether or not he’ll be rocking his usual bevy of bling at the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend. RELATED: Formula 1’s Miami Grand Prix Is The Fakest Race On Earth – & We Love It [ad_2] Source link

#FASHIONFORMEN

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alexalbert-blog-blog · 3 years ago

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Vettel questions racing in F1 amid climate change

Vettel wore a T-shirt raising awareness of the rising sea levels around the city of Miami during the build-up to the debut race last weekend Sebastian Vettel says the global climate crisis has made him question whether racing in Formula 1 is the right thing to do. The four-time world champion, speaking on BBC Question Time, has become a campaigner on environmental issues in recent times. He…

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techcrunchappcom · 5 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/f1-drivers-explain-different-stances-on-taking-a-knee-at-austrian-gp/

F1 drivers explain different stances on taking a knee at Austrian GP

0:40

Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen says the drivers are against racism but are entitled to make their own choice about taking a knee before the race

Formula 1’s drivers have explained their differing stances on taking a knee ahead of last Sunday’s Austrian GP after 14 of the 20 on the grid made the gesture.

In a public show against racism and discrimination ahead of the season-opening race coordinated by F1 and the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, all 20 drivers wore T-shirts featuring the message ‘End Racism’ as they gathered at the front of the grid. Lewis Hamilton’s T-shirt also included ‘Black Lives Matter’ on the front.

The GPDA said in a statement that drivers would be free to show their support in their own way.

Fourteen drivers also took a knee, six did not, meaning there was no collective gesture as seen in other sports such as the Premier League and by the England and West Indies cricket teams before the first Test on Wednesday.

Hamilton said the pre-race events in Austria represented a “step in the right direction” but believes F1 can do more collectively.

“I’ve never said whether or not I was disappointed at the other guys, but we do need to look at these other sports who ultimately have done a better job in showing their unanimous united front,” said Hamilton to Sky Sports F1.

“I’m so impressed with what football’s done, I’m really impressed with how NASCAR, for example, was one of the first sports to come out to immediately react and hold themselves accountable. We’ve got to do more, being that we’re such a global sport. It is a step in the right direction but there’s no reason why we should be different to a sport like football, which is the biggest sport in the world.”

1:24

Six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton believes other sports have been more united than Formula 1 on the issue of racial injustice.

F1’s drivers on taking a knee

Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen said on social media ahead of the race why they would not be doing so, while other drivers have explained their own personal stances as F1 returned to the Red Bull Ring on Thursday ahead of this weekend’s Styrian GP.

“Formula 1 left us the choice to express ourselves in the way we wanted,” Leclerc told Sky Sports. “We all went [to the front of the grid] and it was clearly written on our shirt to end racism, which is the main message we want to pass through.

“Anybody is free to express it the way we want and that’s what I did, I wanted to stand. I bowed my head to respect this, and yes I’m completely against racism.

“I’ve seen a few things on social media, honestly, that disgust me, to judge someone racist just because he didn’t take the knee for me is not right and it’s definitely not me. But I wanted to do it that way.”

2:05

More F1 drivers explain their decision to take, or not take, a knee at the Austrian GP

Russian driver Daniil Kvyat was another of the drivers who did not take the knee and he explained: “I am really against racism and we as a group of drivers decided that a very strong message would be wearing the T-shirts stating ‘End Racism’. I think that kind of message was very strong and it got delivered to everyone.

“Unfortunately, the gesture of going on the knee is against my mentality of my country where you only go on the knees in front of God, your flag and that’s about it.”

Kimi Raikkonen also didn’t perform the gesture and said everyone has the right to make a personal choice.

“I think generally everyone has the right to do what they feel like,” said Raikkonen.

“All the drivers are definitely against racism and we all had the shirts. I’m more than happy to help on these things but in the end every individual has a right to do how they feel most comfortable.

“F1 and all the teams are doing the best that they can so I think it’s a bit crazy to question things but that’s how the world is unfortunately.”

1:22

F1 drivers show anti-racism support as Lewis Hamilton’s reads ‘Black Lives Matter’ with the rest of the field sporting ‘End Racism’ slogans

GPDA happy with drivers’ support

Sebastian Vettel, who took the knee next Hamilton at the front of the grid, said he wanted to support his fellow multi world champion while also sending a powerful message.

“It was to be with him making the gesture but also sending the message, the message is what really matters most,” said the Ferrari driver, who is a director of the GPDA. “The motivation is quite straight-forward. One is the message that we all try to transmit as drivers wearing the same shirts.

“There was never a second of doubt in my head [about kneeling], first and foremost out of respect for Lewis, and to support him, and the message. That’s why I was happy to kneel.”

Romain Grosjean, who is also a director of the GPDA, added: “There were a lot of discussions and we wanted, and we had, 100 per cent of the drivers united with the message ‘End Racism’, which was something very important for all of us.

“After, everyone has got a different way of showing his support to the movement and I believe that taking the knee was the right message as a sportsman to emphasise the ‘End Racism’ T-shirt that we had.

“But some had a different view and we can all have a different gesture for something that you mean. The GPDA we were very happy that 100 per cent of the drivers were in line with what we wanted and showed the support to Formula 1, We Race As One and End Racism.”

2:05

More F1 drivers explain their decision to take, or not take, a knee at the Austrian GP

Other drivers on taking a knee

Formula 1 drivers were asked about why they did or didn’t take the knee by Sky F1 ahead of the Styrian GP – and here’s how they responded:

Lando Norris, McLaren: “Because I believe in this current period of time for the whole world, we as drivers should try and have the biggest impact we can.

“I’ve been brought up in a very privileged way and I can say I’m very thankful for that, but also I try and help out in whatever way I can for people who aren’t as fortunate.

“I’ve done what I can in showing the most support as possible and that’s what I believe I did on Sunday.”

16:19

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have spoken ahead of this weekend’s second Formula One race in Austria.

Daniel Ricciardo, Renault: “I certainly wanted to [take the knee], after seeing what had been going on. It definitely opened my eyes the last month but obviously it’s been going on for years. Kind of educating myself on the matter more I certainly wanted to. Speaking to other drivers and then understanding that quite a few of wanted to then I was certainly for it.

“We’ve got a platform and a real chance to educate some of the world at least so that was really the reason. I’m certainly in support of the movement and if we get another opportunity to then I will again. But I’m not sure how it’s going to go moving forward. I absolutely stand by that and hopefully people like me can be educated through what’s been going on.

“It’s been cool to learn, devastating at times, and to understand more about it.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas: “We talked about it as drivers what we could do to show our solidarity and support for this movement going on in the world right now.

“Obviously some drivers didn’t decide to take the knee, some did. I decided to take the knee. I thought about it whether I should do it or not.

“At the end of the day, I didn’t want it to be associated with the particular movement, Black Lives Matter. That organisation, I cannot agree with all they stand for, but I can agree to end racism and to be in support of ending discrimination against black people. That’s why I took the knee.

“I thought from my side that was the correct thing to do. I have no issues with the drivers who didn’t choose to take the knee. We are all united in the fact that we are against racism, we are trying to put an end to this and I think every driver and every person is free to show their thought and how to get that across in their own way.”

9:55

Williams drivers George Russell and Nicholas Latifi have spoken ahead of this weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix.

Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri: “I think it was important for us as the Formula 1 community all together as the drivers to send a strong message to support this cause, because it’s something that is important for all of us, all 20 drivers are united in supporting this cause and trying to bring something positive for the people and a strong message with these values.

“So I think for all of us it was important to share this message, even though we didn’t show it all the same way. I think this is really personal to all individuals but the message is supported by all 20 drivers and that’s the most important thing.”

Sergio Perez, Racing Point: “I did it to support anti-racism globally. I don’t think it’s any specific way, I just want to support it all in global terms. I don’t think there is any plan for this weekend but we will discuss with the drivers.”

Esteban Ocon, Renault: “I felt it was important to show my support for the cause, I wore the t-shirt as well. I think what’s happening in the world is difficult, so of course I do what I want and I wanted to express that and show support for the cause.”

Lance Stroll, Racing Point: “I chose to take the knee because I support ending all racism.”

George Russell, Williams: “I thought from my side that was the correct thing to do. I have no issue with the drivers who didn’t choose to take the knee, we all stood united on the fact we are against racism. We are all trying to put an end to this and every person and every driver is free to show their thoughts and how to get that across in their own way.”

Nicholas Latifi, Williams: “For me, I decided to kneel because I obviously support the initiative, and all for ending racism, promoting equality and diversity. Specifically on the grid the message was end racism. Kneeling has been a universal gesture or action used to promote this.”

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#Sports

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