#the real lestappen gate…..

[valyrfia]

guys it’s all clicked into place for me. the gpda instagram being created a week after the drivers planned to make a statement against max’s swearing penalty, the weekend after charles got his swearing penalty, after max yet again criticised the difference in penalties….they are literally behind this. they followed that account at the same time, were two out of only five drivers to follow it (not even george follows it). the gpda instagram IS max and charles scheming

[nico-di-genova]

I’m not saying anything other than that he is suddenly wearing a lot of blue.

(+the airport pics, which I’m not posting because privacy)

[inchidentalmeowmeow]

current mood got me like

[blessed1904]

I'M UNWELL

[wanderingblindly]

Hi there, I might be kind of obsessed with the idea of rbr charles or rbr lestappen so I need to hear the thoughts of some people who might not be in the "lestappen gate 2023" bubble as I am :)) Do you think this can actually happen and become reality? And please be honest. Thank you! :)

omg hi I'm so sorry that you've asked possibly the most verbose person to talk about this, but anyways --

In my opinion, it's highly unlikely but not impossible.

There are three main components to consider here: Red Bull, Max, and Charles (all discussed below the cut in painstaking detail)

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull has invested an insane amount money into Max -- he's the present and future of the team. Therefore, any decisions that Red Bull makes will be weighed heavily against how it affects Max. I split Red Bull's main decision making points into three categories:

Ability to keep Max happy: I'll expand on this in Max's section, but basically I believe Red Bull will want a second driver that keeps Max happy until his 2028 contract renewal -- on whatever terms that means for him.

Willingness to play 2nd fiddle: Although Red Bull has had intense teammate dynamics before (Seb/Mark, Max/Daniel), there's definitely more risk when intentionally stepping away from the obvious first/second driver dynamic. Taking a midfield driver like Checo -- someone who's never going to threaten Max -- makes sense in that regard. Someone like Charles, who could theoretically bring the heat to Max in quali and in a race, poses the question: Is that an amount of risk Red Bull wants to take on (cough cough taking each other out cough)? Horner said he believed that Daniel was "running from a fight" when he left Red Bull -- so maybe it's a risk he doesn't mind.

Someone consistent enough to get Red Bull 1st and 2nd: Obviously a total sweep is the goal for a team at the height of their dominance, both on race day and in the overall points. This is where Checo has famously struggled (we've had an astonishing lack of RBR 1/2 podiums and his quali results are universally laughed at). It's also where one could make the strongest case for Charles. Charles is a known competitor in an inconsistent car; he's strong in qualifying, has produced significant race results, and has a demonstrated amount of internal drive. All things that Checo lacks in regards to producing points for the team. If Horner were to pick someone not in the RBR program for a second driver, someone with Charles's ability to handle disaster without losing his resolve? Highly attractive.

Some may say that Horner is more likely to take someone from RBR to fill the second seat. While there is a great selection, Red Bull doesn't have a demonstrated history of actually using it's development program to promote to Red Bull. So. Get fucked I guess lmao.

Max Verstappen

In most teams, I don't think a driver would have much say on who gets signed for the second seat. However, considering Max is Red Bull, I think his voice would carry significant weight.

I break his motivations down into two sections:

How he defines 'good racing' + need for competition: Love or hate Max, I think it's pretty uncontested that most of his opinions stem from his desire for good, competitive, interesting racing. One also cannot underestimate how intensely drivers crave competition -- they're adrenaline junkies at the top of their game. Therefore, Max's willingness to play along with RBR Charles will depend on if he thinks the best competitive racing is derived from intra-team or inter-team fights. I could see an argument for either: comparing top talent in the same machinery, or a battle of which team (not driver) will come out on top. Hard to say, to be honest. I think it's also important to consider that Max has broken an unfathomable amount of records this season almost entirely uncontested; I'd wager that it's stoked a need for real competition in him (hence why he seems so elated after any battle with Charles or Lando). He's made comments that he wants Charles in a more competitive car, but I don't think he meant that to come at his own expense. I think Max would prefer traditional competition (he's a bit of a traditionalist), meaning inter-team.

Maturity + ability to handle an internal threat: Max has (arguably lol) matured since he last had a competitive teammate. Whether or not Max agrees to a top-tier teammate again will depend on his confidence; does he truly believe he'll beat him every time? Is it worth the risk to feel pushed to his limits? Has he won enough that returning to a true fight is the next goal? How will he handle that? I'm inclined to say that Max would rather be the golden boy of his team -- unthreatened. It seems like he'd rather have competition coming from external sources (see: him not following team orders in regards to Checo).

Charles Leclerc

I don't think it's likely that Charles's desire to win has yet outweighed the Ferrari mythos/personal connection. That said, I don't think it's unlikely that it will eventually. Especially considering how distraught he's been this season -- it certainly could be a catalyst. That said, the following criteria is based on the assumption that Charles would even want to leave Ferrari, which I don't entirely believe atm:

Immediate desire to win: The thing that will push Charles away from Ferrari is probably not personal, it's professional. Charles is a hyper-competitive athlete in a hyper-competitive league; he doesn't have infinite time to wait on Ferrari if he truly wants to win now. Red Bull has a demonstrated history of success and strong team infrastructure (engineering, pit crew, pit wall strategy, etc.). If he wanted to make a move purely based on professional interest, Red Bull would be the team based on current standings. He could go to a team comparable to Ferrari (McLaren, Mercedes, AM), but that would be riskier on an immediate horizon.

Belief that he can beat Max: I believe that every F1 driver probably thinks they could beat anyone else if given equal machinery (and practice in said machinery). It's a sport entirely based on self-assuredness in the car, after all. Charles would only be willing to make the leap if he truly believes he could beat Max on his home turf -- which would be an insane demonstration of confidence, but maybe not as far fetched as some may think. I do wonder if his time at Ferrari has been a hit to his resolve, though?

Willingness to play 2nd driver: If Charles is going to move to Red Bull, a team with an established golden child at the peak of his career, he'll have to be willing to potentially play 2nd driver. Unless he delivers insane results fairly immediately, it's highly likely that Red Bull will always favor Max when it comes to things like team orders, strategy, etc. Plus, he and Max are the same age -- it's not like George who may get to stay at Mercedes long after Lewis relinquishes the 1st driver seat. Again, I think this ties back to Charles's assessment of his abilities against Max's; I do think this is a significant risk though.

In conclusion, I think that Red Bull's motivations factor as a "maybe", Max factors as a "maybe leaning no", and Charles as a "maybe leaning no".

[presdestigatto]

at this fucking point they could announce the transfer tomorrow and i wouldn’t be fucking surprised WHAT THE HELL !!!!!!!!!

[theadderalltoyourstiles]

Christ(an) save our boy 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Quick someone get word to Charles, he doesn’t need a pilgrimage to Lourdes…

Christ(an) already loves him. Christ(an) would bless and absolve him and welcome him into his heavenly embrace. All Charles has to do is made the brave journey from one garage to the next

[thearchercore]

Lando’s comments about not being bffs with max is for sure directly related to lestappen gate. 

We’ve know since the summer that Charles is Ferrari’s priority to resign. (Remember we even thought it was going to be announced in the summer?) they’ve been working hard to make sure Charles feels positive about 2024 and comfortable in the 2024 car and feels like he can win a championship with Ferrari. And Charles was full steam ahead ready to renew.

It all changed in Singapore. Charles was shafted by Ferrari and Carlos was prioritized. Carlos prioritized Lando instead of his teammate - helping him stay in DRS even though he was a competitor. In the cool down room he said that what happened to Charles was “none of his business”.  Charles raises all fucking hell and Ferrari sees they’re about to lose their il predestinato.

Suzuka happens next week. And then there’s a break before Qatar - and Charles goes back to the factory in Maranello. He’s there for a week, while Carlos is no where to be seen and never shows up. Charles has a sit down interview in Qatar where he talked about feeling positive for the future and the developments for next year's car and genuinely seemed excited for the new car.

This was all before the mess of the last few races, when we saw the real development of lestappen gate. And the possibility of Charles going after Red Bull, not feeling like he can win with Ferrari. And the emergence of lestappen as being friends. publicly at least, cause we all know they’ve been close for ages. 

Ferrari gets desperate to keep Charles and will stop at nothing to retain him. Prioritizing his contact negotiations, giving him whatever he wants, making sure he knows he is the priority and they’ll do whatever they need. They hired Fred for him, and Fred is hiring and replacing like money is free to get a better team for Charles. And made it clear - the 2024 car will be suited to Charles and what he likes. 

Now who isn’t the priority? Carlos. His contract negotiations have basically stopped because they don’t care about him right now. There’s constant talks about how it’s likely he won’t reach a deal and Ferrari already has a shortlist of who they will pursue and why they’d be a great fit, to the point Spanish media is taking these so seriously that they’re shading Ferrari. Even the Spanish GP was talking shit about Ferrari on Twitter. 

Fred shades Carlos as the Vegas GP, saying Vegas was their best race of the season (even above their only team win). Fred shades Carlos again for his crash in practice in Abu Dhabi, saying that the Vegas pothole was bad luck but he said Carlos crashing in practice was “something else”. 

And with Singapore and everything that followed after, we see Charles and Carlos move from friends to barely interacting except for required events and videos. Carlos sees clearly that he is 2nd to Charles and will be considered that way with everything going forward, and is not happy about that. 

So that brings us back to: Max and Lando. Max respects Charles more than he does any other driver on the grid (hello he apologized to Charles in Vegas for turn 1?? When has he ever apologized for anything that happens on the track). Max is taking Charles’ side and even if he knows Charles is only using Red Bull to get a better Ferrari contract, he supports him cause he genuinely loves racing against Charles in a proper car. And besides the respect, they’re great friends. 

Lando’s allegiance is obviously to Carlos. And he’s hearing all of it from Carlos and his being pissed. And I can fully see it coming up in convo with Max (after all Max and Carlos were teammates and friends once upon a time) and Max not fucking having it and standing on Charles’ side. And suddenly there’s the divide and Lando refuses to say they’re friends, because he’s so behind Carlos. 

And it all just further enforces how powerful Lestappen is together. 

solid points! my little own theory was that lando wants to go into 2024 with an internal goal to be THE rival to max (how realistic that is, that's another discussion) and so the friendship with max no longer benefits him.

when lando was up and coming driver, the clout that he got by hanging out with max benefitted him. he was seen partying with the world champion, got more publicity thanks to that etc. it was in general a very appealing friendship to be in for lando.

fast forward, mclaren built a car in the second half of 2023 that could fight max in certain scenarios (singapore comes to mind). however, lando did not manage to maximise the potential due to little driver errors that always cost him a better starting position.

it's 2024 now, ferrari and mercedes have great drivers but they are fully dependent on the state of their car and the team strategy. mclaren seemed to work out some of that already so mclaren goes into this season maybe more confident than they should be.

lando's friendship with max no longer benefits him, he will be now seen as a rival, not a friend. he could be fighting him on track, and so he probably wants to push his own agenda and distance himself from max. in this scenario, carlos is a safe option as any other friend on the grid (i assume tensions will rise between carlos and oscar as oscar will no longer be a rookie)

on the other end, charles is doing the exact opposite, he maximised potential of ferrari's car and also stopped following ferrari's pr guidelines. in vegas or abu dhabi, he hung out more with max than his own teammate. during the winter break he had only one scheduled appearance with another f1 driver on the grid, again, max.

charles publicly connecting himself with max does no good for ferrari's image and how they're pushing the "friendship" between carlos and charles. in that sense, charles is not hanging out publicly with max because it benefits him, quite the opposite.

he's doing it to manipulate the narrative and take over some control himself.

that's how i see the situation right now. it will be definitely interesting to see how these grid dynamics develop because yes, they are co-workers but also in the season where so many contracts expire, it's also a big powerplay so there's definitely a lot of decisions behind the scenes

[bon2bonn]

Breakeven

0-0

Mafia!Charles leclerc X Mafia!reader

° Ex!lestappen X reader , ex!Charles leclerc X ex!max verstappen , ex!max verstappen X ex!reader .

Words count : 1.3k

Warnings : violence, guns , grammar, death, not proof read.

*did I get sidetracked/distracted again and started yet another fic that I daydreamed about in a sleep deprived haze ? YEP! I sure did . do I regret it now ? Heck no! . will I regret it later for indulging my mind by writing it instead of focusing on my already full WIP list? Absolutely! . So enjoy🍷!

Charles leaned his back against her side tilting his head on her chest , his hair is tussled and his frown gone as he closed his eyes in content, her arm draped over his shoulder from the back , as her hand rested over his heart with one of his holding onto it as he slept .

Their joined hands raising and falling with every breath he took and his posture calm a relaxed, A major contrast from his usually tense and guarded self . Her other hand rested on Max's hand that he let her hold , tracing over his scared hand as she followed the lines and raised tissue on the back of it , his head resting on her shoulder with hers leaning over his .

All three basking in the cool wind as it breathed around them the place is a small piece of heaven with overgrown trees and wild flowers scattering around and disappearing beyond the treelines , tucked away from the main court where the main families meet to for business .

They Found it years ago and run to whenever they got the chance , taking a fresh breath of air was a rare occurrence as their families increased their responsibilities with every passing day , yet they cherished these fleeting moments even if short and spent in silence, still very precious to them .

She closed her eyes , enjoying the stolen moment of peace , Max's voice cuts through the peaceful haze " Mijn liefje , you have to wake up " . She frowned at his words, but kept her eyes closed " but I want to stay here , with you " she felt him hold her hand gently , lifting it up to place a delicate kiss on the back of it , leaving behind a a tingling sensation that turned into a scorching pain causing her to wince , he whispered in a far away voice " but you know that this isn't real " , she tried to argue back but her words got caught in her throat . And as she strained her hearing she couldn't hear the sound of bustling leaves above them anymore as it fades into a steady ticking bounced around her head before it stopped with the loud ringing of the church bell from the other side of the block . Snapping her awake from the beautifully haunting daydreams that kept plaguing her days .

Moving away from the wall she was leaning on , fighting the urge to scratch at the back of her tightly wrapped hand as she crouched down , readjusting her coms before leaning down into position , sight set on the moving cars as she counted three moving ahead towards the gates, another one barked not far from the front entrance across the street, and another going around for the past hour or so appearing irregularly without a specific timing but not close enough to draw attention, a surveillance team of sorts.

Clicking her coms on as she followed the van one block before it turned a corner and out of sight " Marv , surveillance is heading your way 10 seconds east " the line clicked and the voice answered back " copy that " . Another line connected as she fixed her aim at the last car as it stopped before the gate but no one got out " Jinx here, the back is cleared, no setbacks here , sirens are in position and ready to go " she acknowledged with a "copy that " , swiftly shooting the tires of the the target's car as a precaution , forcing them to get him out eventually to ensure his safety.

Counting her side tasks for the day , the first car had at least three armed guards the , second had 4 armed who posed as a diversion to cover the third which had two armed guards one personal bodyguard along with the target .

She took down the first two guards injuring the third as they stepped out, another one from the second car and three more as they tried to shoot back at her place in the rooftop. Leaving the best for last when two more guards emerged from the said car . She ducked as the last guard aimed at her head , missing twice before he ran out of ammo. She took him out with one shot , Leaving the target with no protection for now .

The silence was defining as she head down the stairs , gun loaded and ready . she called through her Comms " we're on the move, start phase 2, sirens , lock and move " , they answered in confirmation starting their own tasks at hand .

While she approached the car slowly , she found the target first , unarmed and trembling as he babbled on trying to bargain himself out " I'll give you whatever you want, how much ?! 5 million , 9 I'll give you 12 please! Whatever you want!!" As he kept frantically pleading his guard sneaked up on her , trying to grab her by the neck , but was met with a kick and a bullet to the leg caughting him off guard, he stumbled back but grabbed a hold of her ankle dragging her down with him , she rolled away aiming for his head but he took cover with the car door , the target was screaming as bullets kept shooting towards him with one barley taking his ear as he ducked , she groaned as she threw her now empty gun , taking out another one but the bastard kicked it out of her hand , she took a deep breath " you asked for it " she charged at him ducking last second swiping his feet , making him fall face first before pinning him down with both arms pulled behind his back with her knee centered between his shoulders blades , putting pressure down while pulling hard enough until two loud pops were heard , the guard screamed along with the target who held his arms in fear , watching in horror as she now held her fallen gun to the back of the guard's head shooting once before she stood up turning to him .

He tried to scoot back shaking the door beside him in attempt to flee his death , she got in slowly , sitting beside him in a bored manner shutting the door behind her with a swift move, he stilled as she finally looked at him with sharp eyes , feeling cold chills running through his bones he attempted to plead again " I'll give everything you want! Please spare me!" She shook her head as she leaned back into the seat , keeping him cornered as she spoke in a cold voice " you seem to forget our values Mr Matthew , we don't spare traitors , nor do we bargain with death" he shouted at her cursing as he couldn't escape his fate " you're a wretched girl you'll rott in hell! Where you belong !!!!" She gave him a sinister smile as she leaned in close to whisper in his ear " then tell the devil I'm coming for his throne while you're down there" wiping the grin off her face as she shot a final bullet before she got out , closing the door swiftly behind her as she walked away and down the street , clicking her coms back on she updated " target is terminated , Marv status?" stopping by a white van , getting in as she got a response " all clear here , heading out " she looked at the flowing data on the screens before her " copy that " turning to the driver she signalled for him to drive before she reconnect one last time " sirens , your status?" An answer sounds out immediately " targets secured, no casualties, heading out now " satisfied with the results she call out " regrouping in 10 " everyone called back " copy" before she turned off her earpiece, letting the monitor on as they drove back in silence , she filtered through the files in search for what they needed , humming quitely before she stilled with wide eyes in astonishment as she finally came across what she was looking for , smiling devilishly at the screen " Oh , it seems like you've dug yourself a deep hole Mr Ralph , and I'll make sure to bury you in it " .

[darandomstrawberry]

Isn’t Charles Leclerc staying loyal to Ferrari when they fail him time and time again not just the definition of the sunk-cost fallacy?

As someone who only really got into F1 at the start of the year, I like Charles because I saw he was a good driver and I want him to get a WDC. However, I am not a Ferrari fan because all they have proven is that they are an incompetent team that is stuck rooted in the tradition of failing their drivers. Maybe Ferrari has improved over the years but since I started being a Charles fan I have always wanted him to switch. If Ferrari is intent of screwing over Charles’ career then screw them, yeah?

Charles is loyal to Ferrari, it’s basically his family. He doesn’t have the longest running Ferrari contract for nothing. He stays loyal even when his races are ruined by bad strategy for years. It seems it’s gotten to the point where he’s spent his whole life trying to be il Predestinato, that if he gave up now it would have been all for nothing. Years of his career may have been in a way wasted. It would be especially so, if he left now and then Lewis switches and wins, though if Charles isn’t being supported at the moment than it’s unlikely he wouldn’t be favoured next year.

If Charles left he would be gambling with his career, yes, but that’s already what he is doing. The sunk-cost fallacy is often used in reference to gambling. Charles is gambling his career on the hope that Ferrari will one day, well, stop being Ferrari.

I haven’t been a Red Bull fan since back when Ricciardo was still driving for them, but Tumblr has made me change my mind a bit over the last year. While I may not like everything about the leadership and culture of the team, there’s no denying that they are still a great team even without the fastest car and (sorry mum and dad but) Tumblr has made me like Max. I know it is incredibly unlikely for Charles to switch mid season and take Checo’s seat but is it so bad to want it to happen? I just want the man back in the points again. Charles and Max seem to get along well and can put on track differences aside, only really rate each other, and plus Red Bull has literally defended Charles before. Charles had been doing well with Ferrari during the end of 2023 and the start of this year, and obviously we cannot ignore how incredible him finally winning Monaco was. I couldn’t sleep until I’d gotten confirmation that Monaco finally loved him back, but looking at the team’s record as a whole, it kinda looks like a fluke.

Is Lestappen gate becoming a real thing as unlikely as Ferrari not being Ferrari anymore? Yes. But both options require an unrealistic amount of hope so I will wish for my Lestappen teammates.

I’ve seen the Charles Ferrari depression memes a lot over the year and these last few races make it seem like Charles is at the end of his rope with the team. All I want as a Charles fan is that he makes the decision that will give him success.

Forza Charles Leclerc but maybe not Forza Ferrari Sempre.

[2bluetwo85]

Grasping at straws

Red Bull have a second driver problem. They can't keep Checo at this point if they hope to win the constructor's, however, the dilemma is more complicated than one might think because Checo is also massively important to Red Bull because he brings a bunch of money and publicity to the team. Red Bull refuse to promote Yuki for some reason, they want to leave Daniel in VCARB for the sponsorship money THERE, and Liam wouldn't match the sponsorship power.

So, Red Bull need a driver with a large sponsorship and fanbase who also has quite a similar driving style to Max for developmental reasons. This means: a driver who likes a pointy front end so they can drive the car right on the limit. The ONLY driver who meets those two criteria at the moment is Charles Leclerc. Only problem is his shiny new contract with Ferrari. But this new contract is rumoured to have a bunch of performance-related exit clauses, and considering Ferrari's performance since Monaco.....it seems Charles Leclerc might indeed be the missing puzzle piece that Red Bull needs.

[just-an-assbutt]

Unpopular opinion: the Dom!Max/Sub!Charles trope is an oversimplification of their personality traits.

I’ll start with Max. The man loves to push people’s buttons. He thrives on making people angry. His whole career is based on testing the limits and see how much he can push before someone yells at him. He needs people to draw the limits of what he can do so he can test them. He likes to disrupt the peace on interviews and usually says the first thing that comes to his mind, he has no filter and is terrible at controlling himself. He doesn’t care much about consequences and has trouble following orders because even though he understands that there are rules, he likes to break them. That’s not dominant behaviour, that’s bratty behaviour, and brats are mostly submissive at heart. Brats need limits and enjoy the feeling of breaking the rules someone settled for them. Max is constantly looking for someone who would keep him on check and his longest and most dearest friendship in the sport is Charles, the guy who always worked on setting the bar higher for Max to reach, the one who would constantly dare him to push the limits. He has admitted to like Charles because he can bring the real battle to him. Max calls the shots at Red Bull because he’s a great driver, but he didn’t have any power before he proved himself to bring results. And even then, the final call is not his.

Charles, on the other hand, is extremely controlling. He’s a control freak, he likes to set specific rules and limits to everything he does. He sets goals and he accomplishes them and gets very frustrated when people don’t apply to those rules. He’s madly competitive, he gets angry when he loses and has turned off games just to stop them before actually losing. He even used to have a box full of broken PS controls because he would break them sometimes out of anger. The only reason Charles doesn't lash out on Ferrari is because he has a goal settled and he needs Ferrari for that. He has a strong grip on his PR management and persona, he’s an expert on what he should and shouldn’t do in front of the public and that’s the main reason he has a good reputation. Charles likes making rules and impose them on every aspect of his life. The whole “Lestappen Gate” has been mostly Charles pressuring Ferrari to get the power he wanted on the development of the car for the 2024 season, and it worked. Charles has had power inside Ferrari since the very beginning and on the few moments he didn’t, he knew how to manage to get his input to make an impact. That’s dominant behaviour. Dominant people like to be the ones pulling the strings, like to control things and are usually collected and calculating people who need their rules to be followed.

The reason why people usually picture Charles as a sub is because he’s nice, but dominant people can be nice and still be dominant, while submissive people can be difficult and hard to tame while also being submissive. Dom and sub have nothing to do with moods, but with power. Submissive people with bratty attitudes like to defy the power knowing that they don’t have it, while dominant people like to impose their power on others. Max likes to push people when they have the power and gets easily bored when he’s the one making the calls, Charles likes to have the last word on everything and get anxious when he feels that power slipping off of his hands. Charles is nice and polite, but that doesn’t mean he likes being bossed around, Max is defiant and harsh, and you can’t defy anyone if you’re the one with the upper hand.

Even though I don’t actually think they are dating, I’ve seen people picture them with this trope and I strongly believe that, if they dated, they would most likely not behave like Dom!Max and Sub!Charles. I think that at best they could switch once in a while, but I don’t think that Charles could take not having control over a situation too often, even more with the terrible situation at Ferrari and all the bad luck he’s had lately. Those two things are horrible for controlling people and that most likely means that he’d try to keep control over other aspects of his life just to compensate.

So, after this quick analysis, I think that calling Charles a submissive person and Max a dominant one is just an oversimplification of their personalities and mostly a representation of their moods.

[charles-leclerc-official]

random lore questions i would love to get clarification on, did charles actually get mattia fired/replaced by fred? also was lestappen gate actually real? like was there actually serious talks by redbull to try and get charles?

Oooh yes! Okay there is a lot here.

Did Charles actually get Mattia Binotto fired?

In my opinion yes. Now did Charles go to Ferrari and say "I want that man gone" No. However Binotto was fired for two reasons in my opinion. 1. incompetence in his management style at Ferrari 2. To keep Charles happy.

After Silverstone 22 supposedly Binotto had to fly to Monaco to talk to Charles to calm him down. Charles was PISSED with how that race was handled(rightly so, Binotto should pay for my therapy for making me watch that, it was harrowing)

I think that was the nail in the coffin as far as Binotto was concerned. He was fucking things up with their superior driver, and anyone with eyes could see it.

Ferrari is a brand that takes it's image very seriously. Under Binotto the team became a joke. Charles is a crucial part of the F1 Ferrari brand, the Tifosi worship him, Ferrari wasn't in a position to lose Charles.

So Charles isn't happy under Binotto's management, might walk away after his contract is up. Binotto is replaceable. Bye bye Binotto.

I am sure Charles probably made his feelings on the matter very clear to upper management at Ferrari.

I do not think Charles would have extended his Ferrari contract under Binotto's management. Ferrari had to promise a LOT of priority to keep him I think. And rightly so. The way he's made himself the face of Ferrari is very wise in terms of his negotiating power.

Was lestappen gate actually real?

Yes and no.

Yes I do think that Red Bull probably reached out to Charles(he's a top driver, his contract was going to be up at the same time as Checo's, it's a no brainer)

I think Charles played into it to negotiate better with Ferrari. (After seeing the contract renewal and Fred excessively hyping Charles up it's pretty clear Charles got what he wanted)

I think Red Bull was serious about wanting Charles, and Charles wanted to keep the option open in case Ferrari negotiations didn't go his way perfectly. After Binotto I am sure he was way more demanding about what he wanted from the team in terms of his career and pay.

I don't think Charles was as serious about Red Bull as many believed, but he's smart and not at least entertaining the idea, especially while renegotiating his contract would be stupid.

Charles is actually very smart when it comes to his career. He's all giggles and dimples for the cameras, but he's always coming out with what he wants with these things. He's made it very imperative to keep him happy at Ferrari.

Red Bull was very serious about it, and Charles was serious about getting the princess treatment at Ferrari. Fred showed him the five year plan, made it clear that Charles is going to inform the development of the car, paid him an unreal amount of money, and got him Lewis Hamilton. I think that Ferrari's future looks very promising under Fred, and clearly Charles agrees.

Obviously the fact that Max and Charles are friendly played into this. I am sure the fact that they are both competitive and get along well was very appealing to Red Bull when thinking about a driver line up.

Red Bull overdid it because they probably went "we are on the we love Charles arc in the press" and unfortunately for them Max is insane and just was like okay I can just hype Charles that's my job? BET and just did more of what he usually does but made it WORSE. And we love that for him.

I think the part that wasn't real was Charles being about to go to Red Bull, I am pretty sure Ferrari would have had to really fuck up to lose him in terms of their development. I don't think we were as close to lestappen teammates as we thought.

But everything was real I guess. Like Max cannot pretend to save his life so that's all authentic. And Red Bull did post about Charles and Max so much, like the Christmas tree?! And it was about Charles' contract. What wasn't real was the likelihood of Charles actually going to Red Bull. That was a slim chance at best. Charles played to his advantage on both sides and I think he got what he wanted.

Lestappengate was a case of contract shenanigans that led to a lot of entertainment.

So yes lestappen gate was real, but was Charles halfway out the door over to Red Bull during? No

[slythereen]

At first I thought yall were exaggerating and seeing too much with the charles red bull gate, but AGAIN charles with the red bull drivers .....

before he barley use to hang out with max outside of the podiums

It's either lestappen is real or he's moving to red bull lmao

first i lol’d but then i serioused—

look. i know on some level charles to rbr is crazy. however crazier (well, debatable) has happened in f1 and there is definitely something indisputably weird going on with charlie and rbr… if it’s all just an elaborate scheme for rbr’s social media engagement and/or charles’ contract negotiations with ferrari, then they committing to the bit HARD.

now that the skeptical are seeing the vision though i feel slightly less delusional 🫡 welcome aboard it can only get more unhinged from here

[vicisbookishblog]

😱🥺

I'm gonna pass out

[minsuga-pd]

winter break lestappen gate brain rot real