#two hamilton mentions in a row…

[st-twitter-sillies]

:/

[leclercss]

Tainted Love, Part 5 (Charles Leclerc ft Lewis Hamilton)

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Masterlist

plot: in an attempt to fix your marriage, you've reluctantly agreed into being in an open relationship with your husband. so far, it's only been your husband that has taken advantage of your recent arrangement until one night out you meet a man who makes you begin to question your marriage.

pairings: charles leclerc x fem!reader

warnings: (+18) mentions of smut, cheating and some swearing

authors note: sorry for taking so long to post part 5. Life has been life-ing and it’s been so busy. Thanks for all of your kind words in the mean time x

word count: 4.5k

taglist: @ironmaiden1313, @ru-kru, @buendiabebeta, @flwr-quicksilver, @ravioli19, @julesandro, @hornedravenclaws, @thatobsessedreader @pinkangelavenue, @queenofshinigamis, @notleclerc, @paullinne, @bisexualbith, @tempo-rary-fix, @bbygrlllllll, @teenagedreams-cl, @lunamelona, @leclerc16s

“Are you sure you’re okay with us doing it in my car?”

You can’t help but giggle at Charles' question.

“Charles, it’s fine,” you reply in between your giggles. “I’ve had sex in worse places than this”.

Charles furrows his eyebrows at your response. “Like where?”

You giggle again. “Charles, we snuck out of the party so we could have sex. Are you really using the limited time we have to ask me about the random places I’ve had sex?”

“Good point!”

After you and Charles’ close call with Whitney in his bedroom, the two of you put your heads together to find a place where you could have sex without getting caught. And somewhere as far away from Whitney as possible.

And so with the limited options you had thanks to the apartment upstairs being filled with partygoers, Charles had suggested that you guys could go to his car in the garage. And while it wasn’t the most comfortable of places for you two to get busy in, it was much better than your suggestion of finding somewhere behind the apartment building.

So that’s how you ended up here, on Charles’ lap in the passenger seat with your legs either side of his. Your skirt and underwear are somewhere in the backseat after Charles practically tore them off your body.

He’s currently pulling at your top so he can have a front row view to your boobs, which he’s become very attached to in the short space that you’ve known him.

Deciding that you’re not the only one to be practically naked in the car, you start to unbutton Charles’ shirt. He helps you by pulling his arms out of the sleeves before you throw the clothing into the backseat, finding space alongside your discarded clothes.

“You look so beautiful, amour,” he tells you as his eyes are fixated on your body. His hands feel like ice against your skin before they make way to your boobs. He runs his thumbs over your exposed nipples and they harden at his touch. A shiver runs through your body, once more your body instantly reacting to his intimate touched. He gropes your boobs for a little longer before his hands make their way down to your stomach ever so slowly. Your skin is tingling at the sensation of feeling him touching you.

His next destination is your thighs where his fingers dance across your skin ever so lightly, enough for you to start to feel heat in your core. Even in the limited time that you two have down in the garage before you have to account for your whereabouts, he still wants to savour every millimetre of your body.

You can't help but smile at the sight before you. It's almost like he's obsessed with your body. His tongue slightly poking out the corner of his mouth. He's concentrating as if he's studying you so he can remember the image and feel of your body for later.

“If you’re enjoying the view so much, you can take a picture,” you tease him.

He looks up at you with surprise in his eyes but the smirk on his lips tells you his true feelings.

“Are you serious?” He asks. He feels a twitch in his pants at the idea of taking photos of you naked. Until now, he’s been using his mental images from the night and morning you’ve spent together. But to have a photo of you on his phone to keep, how could he turn that down?

“I’m serious, Charles. You can have it for when I’m not around”.

Your hands find their way to his bare shoulders before you run them down his chest, towards his torso and they stop, just resting above his belt. His eyes are fixated on you and your movements. You slowly unbuckle his belt, at an agnoising pace. You hear his breath hitch in the back of his throat as you unzip his jeans.

“The offer won’t last forever you know,” you kindly remind him and flash him a wink. The alcohol that’s still in your system giving you the confidence you need in this moment.

Wasting no more time, Charles digs his phone out of his jean pocket before slowly reclining his chair to get a better angle of you. You help him out by leaning back on your heels. As he opens the camera app, you run your hands through your hair and start to pose for him.

You can’t help notice the smirk that’s plastered across his face as he positions himself. Reminding you of some horny teenager. You thought it might have been a bit of a silly idea to have Charles take some naked photos of you but seeing how joyful he is has reassured you that these photos won’t go to waste.

“Give me a little smile, amour”.

You follow his instructions and he begins snapping away, sniggering to himself as he does so.

“Can you stop laughing at me?” You whine, tempted to grab the phone out of his hand.

“I’m not laughing, [Y/N]. I’m just thinking about how I’ll be using them tomorrow,” he retorts.

You roll your eyes slightly before posing for a few more photos. Once you’ve had enough, you grab the phone out of his hand and throw it into the drivers seat so you have his full and undivided attention again.

You take his face into your hands and lean in to leave a wet, sensual kiss on his lips. He hums slightly into your mouth as he reclines the chair further before his hands find their way back onto your body. Grabbing and pulling at any skin he can get his hands on.

You find your seat again on his lap and slowly begin to rock your hips back and forth against his clothed crotch, feeling his hardness growing beneath you. You continue to rock back and forth as his tongue slips into your mouth. Your tongues meet and move alongside each other with slow but purposeful movements.

You reach out for the top of his boxers and jeans, pulling the material down. Charles lifts up his hips so you can pull them over his bum and they soon find themselves bunched around his ankles.

You take his hard cock into your hands and stroke it a few times. He’s ready to go.

You pull back from the kiss so you can position yourself so you're hovering over the tip of his penis. Your eyes meet and you feel your breath catch in your throat. His eyes feel like they’re staring into your soul.

You feel a twitch down below and so you make sure your hole is lined up with his tip before you push yourself down. His cock begins to fill you up and you both let out a deep sigh.

You place your hands on his chest for leverage and begin to move your hips back and forth. Your pace is slow at first, getting used to the position in the passenger seat and you feel your heart beat start to speed up.

Charles’ eyes never leave yours as you gradually pick up your pace, grinding your hips against his.

“You look so good on top of me, baby,” he mutters, loving the sensation of you riding him.

You’ve now found your momentum and pick up your pace further.

“Mmm… Charles, fuck,” you groan and bit your lip at the sensation you’re feeling down below. Charles’ hands find their way to your hips so he can guide your movements.

The car begins to rock around you, the moment run carrying you and you begin to pick up your pace even further.

“Oh, fuck!”

The sensation of Charles inside of you combined with the thrill of getting caught at any moment by another resident passing through the garage has you throbbing down below. Your moans are rolling into one another.

You feel Charles’ mouth wrap around one of your nipples. His tongue swirling around the sensitive nub. He bits down a little, causing you to squeal in pleasure. One of your hands’ now finds its way into his hair, the other on the ceiling of the car to keep you steady. Your hips still being guiding by Charles.

“Fuck, baby,” you groan in pleasure.

“Do you want me to fuck you?” Charles pants from beneath you. You manage to open your eyes and look down. Charles is looking up at you, his pupils dilating through all of the pleasure.

You nod, not able to string more than a few words together at this point.

Charles tightens his grip on your hips before thrusting up into you.

“Fuck!”

You practically jump at the movement. But Charles doesn’t give you time to come around as begins to thrust up into you, his movements are hard and fast. Skin slapping against yours and you find yourself bouncing on his dick. You try to grab onto anything at this point to hold yourself up. Mouth open as you continue to moan on top of him.

“Keep going,” you sigh.

Charles’ obeys your orders and thrusts into you even harder and faster than before. The car now moving erratically around you.

“Charles, baby”.

You miss the feeling of him on your lips and so you reach down to place your lips on his. The kiss is sloppy, thanks to the movements he’s making beneath you. He wraps his arms around you in a hug and thrusts up into you, he's now hitting your spot over and over.

You squeal against his lips, trying to muster a “fuck”. He slips his tongue into your mouth once more.

You reach down and begin to rub your clit with your fingers to add to the sensation that you’re feeling down below.

Charles is clearly delighted by this and continues at .

“Are you touching yourself, amour?” He whispers into your ear. A shiver runs down your spine.

“Yes”.

You can feel him smirk against your ear.

“And what do you think about when you touch yourself?”

Oh God!

“Yo-“ you can barely get your words out without moaning.

“Come on, you can say it”. He’s teasing you at this point but it’s turning you on even more when he talks to you like this. “What do you think about, amour? When you’re touching yourself”.

He’s somehow thrusting into you even faster now. His movements are getting erratic.

“Fu-, you fucking me, Ch-Charles,” you whine.

That seems to do it as Charles groans and gives everything he has to thrust into you further but he’s at his peak.

“I’m gonna cum,” he grunts into you ear and with one last deep thrust, his cum starts to spill inside of you. French profanities roll off his tongue but you’re too reaching your own peak that you can’t understand what he’s saying.

As Charles begins to come down from his climax, you place your hands onto his chest and pull yourself back up, with the little energy you having remaining, and begin moving your hips against his once more until you feel the knot tighten in your stomach.

“I’m cumming, Charles”.

You let one last moan before your eyes give way and you collapse onto Charles’ chest, his body acting as a cushion for your fall.

You lay in each others arms panting, trying to regain your breath after you both orgasmed. Your head is laying on Charles' chest, rising and falling with each other as he's breathing heavily bender h you. His skin is slightly damp from what you've just done but you don’t mind at all. You can feel his fingers tips dance along your skin as he glides them across your back, soothing you.

As you begin to regain your energy, you look up at him through your lashes and notice him staring at the roof of the car, his chest still rising and falling below. You place a soft kiss on his chest. He feels this and looks down at you with a soft but tired smile on his face.

"I don't think I could ever get tired of this," you don't realise that the words have left your mouth until you see Charles' smile widen. He leans down so he can place a kiss on your forehead.

"Me too, amour," he replies, his voice a little rasp. "I think I could just lay here with you all night".

You reach up and place your hand on his cheek, softly running your thumb over the smooth skin. He's looking at you with so much affection and you feel like you could stay in this position forever. Your body on his, legs intertwined, your heart beating so close to his. You'd almost forgotten that he was still inside you. His penis has softened at this point but it feels so comfortable to have him inside you like this.

"It's a shame that we couldn't spend more of the night together," he tells you, a slight pout on his lips.

You let out a little sigh. "I know. I'm sorry, Charles. I know things are a little complicated when it comes to my situation".

He turns his cheek so he can peck the palm of your hand that's against his face. "I knew what I was getting into with you, amour. You don't have to apologise".

You smile at him. "Are you sure it doesn't bother you?"

"I'm sure," and the tone in his voice doesn't lie. He's confident with what he's saying. "I know how I feel towards you and I can see how you feel towards me. I promise you it's okay".

You rest your head on his chest so you can hear his heart beat against you once more.

"Maybe we can do something more romantic?"

His chest vibrating as he speaks beneath you.

"Like where?"

"I don't know. As much as I've enjoyed having sex in my car, it's not exactly the comfiest place," he chuckles. "Maybe a weekend away, just the two of us."

He has you smiling once more. "I'd like that, Charles”.

A little while later, you and Charles had managed to peel yourselves off each other and decided to return the chaos upstairs before Whitney sent out a search party on your behalf.

You definitely weren’t going to look as presentable on your return as you had when you first rocked up to Charles and Joris’ apartment tonight. But by now people would most likely be heavily intoxicated or high and so your disheveled appearance would be the least of everyone’s worries.

You cherished the last private moments that you would have with Charles this evening before finding your way back into his apartment. Your fingers intertwined as you kissed each other softly in the elevator. Your bodies enjoying the last few moments of intimacy.

“I’m not sure how I’ll be able to keep my hands to myself now,” Charles mumbled against your lips.

You smiled into your kiss.

“Well, if you’re feeling a little lonely, you can always check your camera roll,” you teased.

Charles pulled your bottom lip between his teeth and bites down ever so slightly.

“Don’t tease me like that, amour,” Charles growls. “Not after what we’ve just done”.

You smirk up at him, the Dutch courage still coursing through your body. You decide to toy with him a little more, “Even when your cum is still inside me?”

“Merd-”

His whine is interrupted by the ding made by the elevator and you both find yourselves on the 8th floor, music and voice still going.

You place a final kiss on Charles lips before making your way to his apartment.

“Good night, Charles”.

Your disappearance had gone unnoticed, Whitney was too busy in the birthday boy’s bedroom. Your appearance hadn’t been judged. People were far too drunk to remember your name, never mind the fact that your make up was now half gone from your face.

You’d lightly integrated back into the party but your best friend was up to her own mischief and you were trying to keep your eyes and hands off Charles. But as the drunken partygoers slowly started to filter the way out of the apartment and the night slowly came to close, the two of you found yourselves in the kitchen alone.

You were in a similar position to the one you found yourself in the last time you were here. About a week ago now. Your hands wrapped around his neck. Your lips and tongues moving in synchronisation. Charles’ fingers had found their way inside of you once more. Your soft moans rolling onto his tongue.

The two of you are lost in the intimacy, lost in the moment and lost in each other. The fear of a random person, or even Whitney, walking into the two of you doesn’t scare you. It just feels too good for you to care about anything else.

Your lips leave his and your head falls back as a moan leaves you. Your chest slowly starting to rise and fall.

It doesn’t take much for you to come undone onto his fingers this time, it’s just so natural for you at this stage. Your energy is spent and you hold onto him, held still thrown back. Your heavy breathing is starting to slow down but your eyes are still closed from the euphoria you’re feeling. You don’t even notice his fingers slide out of you, you’re just so lost in your own world.

That is until you feel Charles place a soft kiss on your lips and his voice pulls you back to reality, “Are you okay, amour?”

You slowly peel your eyes open and smile at him. He’s looking at you - you’re not sure if it’s with affection or with concern. You’ve been absent for a little while.

“I’m good. Just enjoying this feeling,” you exhale softly.

You find the energy to pull yourself upright and place your head against Charles’ chest. Your arms wind their way around his torso and you let your body melt against him.

Charles is quite for a moment. You feel his heart beat quicken against you.

“Amour,”

His voice is so soft and gentle.

“Will you stay with me tonight?”

You look up at him and he’s looking down at you nervously. Your mouth slightly agape as you’re not sure what to say.

It’s the first time you’ve ever seen him nervous. And his lack of confidence isn’t helped by the fact that you still haven’t found your words.

You blink.

“Charles, I ca-,” you begin but he shakes his head.

“Don’t worry about it”.

You let out a little sigh as you feel his touch loosen around you.

“Charles, you know I would. But Whitney is here and she doesn’t know,” you begin to explain but he stops you by placing a kiss on your lips.

“I forgot, [Y/N],” it feels weird when he doesn’t call you amour now. “She doesn’t know. It’s okay, you need to get home tonight”.

You flash him a sympathetic smile and you feel guilty for seeing the disappointment in him. He wants you to stay. And you want to stay but you can’t.

Whitney doesn’t know and if she caught you with Charles you’d have to find a million answers to a million questions you weren’t ready to answer.

After reassuring Charles that you would see him soon and one more deep, meaningful kiss, you find yourself outside making your way home and you’re now at your apartment door.

You send a couple of texts before you go inside, one to Whitney to let her know they you had gone home and you’d be getting all of the juicy details from her tomorrow. And one to Charles to let him know you were safe and that you had missed him already.

Once you finally made it inside, you noticed that the apartment is dark and quiet. The only sound you can hear is the ticking of the clock in the hallway. You shut the door quietly and make your way towards the bedroom with your heels in your hand so you don't disturb Roscoe in his sleep.

You're not sure if Lewis is home, it's not like he was keeping you up to date with his itinerary these days anyway.

As you reach your bedroom door, You slowly push it open, it's dark in here too. And you're met with the snoring of Roscoe who's asleep at the foot of the bed. But he's not the only one snoring. You look towards the top of the bed and see a figure in the dark beneath the sheets, lightly snoring away. It's Lewis and he's home, much to your surprise.

You're not sure if you're relieved or nervous about seeing him here after the night that you've just had at Joris' party with Charles. But you don't feel any guilt and you're surprised at the lack of guilt that you've felt since you've started to sleep with Charles.

Rather than wait in the open doorway any longer, you make your way to the ensuite bathroom. Deciding that a quick shower will not only make you feel better in the morning but will feel slightly more respectful when you climb back into bed with your husband. You were already on the edge with Lewis as it was without bringing the scent of another man onto your shared sheets. You were growing to dislike Lewis and his behaviour towards you but you didn't dislike him that much.

As you stand under the hot shower, glass steaming up around you, you shut your eyes and let the hot water soak into your skin. And you begin to think about the night that you've just spent with Charles. You can still feel his touch and kisses on your body. Your hand travelling down to between your thighs and you lightly touch yourself at the memory of him thrusting deep inside of you, filling you with his cum. It was the first time he had done so with you, previously he had always pulled out but last night he was so lost in the feeling of you that he seemed to forget. You didn't mind too much, if anything you felt that it brought you closer to him.

You hadn't known him too long but in the short amount of time you could feel a deep connection, one that you hadn't felt in a very long time. He noticed you and he made you feel seen. But most importantly, he made you feel important. And you only craved to feel him touch you once more.

You let out a little hum as you feel a twitch down below, you're still touching yourself as you think about Charles. You pick up your pace and press harder onto your clit, thinking about how if Charles was here right now, and oh how you wished he was. He’d be taking you from behind. His skin wet and slippy from the shower. He'd have his hand in your hair as he bent you over. You'd be gripping onto the tiles to keep you upright as he thrusted into you. His cum spilling into you once more.

"Fuck," you whine as you realise that you've brought yourself to your peak. As you slowly catch your breath, your mind drifts to Charles once more. If he was here right now, he'd kiss you, arms wrapped around you. It’s almost as if he’s in the room with you, calling you amour.

Was it a mistake not to stay him tonight?

Realising that your shower has taken much longer than planned, you quickly turn off the water and begin to dry yourself off. You take one last look in the mirror and notice the faint marks on your neck that Charles has left. Your fingers find there way to the bruised area and you can't help but smile.

You make your way back into the bedroom, slipping into an oversized tee before slowly climbing into bed. Roscoe still snoring away. As your head hits the pillow, your body finally relaxes and you let out a deep exhale.

Just as you're about to shut your eyes and drift off into sleep, some movement beside you stirs you out of your slumber. You feel Lewis roll over in the bed.

The room falls quiet once more. But not for long.

"You came home," Lewis whispers. You're not sure if it's a question or a statement but it takes you by surprise. You take a moment, deciding on what will be the best course of action to take. Do you pretend you're asleep or engage in a conversation with Lewis? But you feel like the decision is almost being made for you as you feel Lewis' eyes burning into the back of your head.

You roll over and through the darkness you seem him looking at you, his eyes wide open. You feel your stomach drop as he's looking at you and you notice his eyes glisten with some sort of hope.

Your mind lingers back to Charles and the look he gave you tonight when you told him you couldn’t stay. You’re feeling conflicted, you’d worked so long to keep your marriage to Lewis as happy and healthy as possible but these last few weeks have been the reality check that you needed. And you finally find love and passion and meaning again, but this time it wasn’t with Lewis.

But as you lay in bed, and your husband is looking at you like this, you can’t help but find yourself cave.

You know his words have a deeper meaning than what they sound like on the surface.

For so long, Lewis had pushed you to the side. You were so young when you met him and so in love that no matter what he did, you thought. that, through your own naivety he would always come back to you.

And in this moment, he has come back to you. After this past week of him ignoring your entire existence after shouting at you like he had never done before, he's suddenly seen you again. But you're not sure if it's out of love and care or because you're now a different person in your marriage, something he thought you would never be. You were starting to have a life outside of him and maybe this was his last chance to hold onto you, to fight for the version of you that would love you unconditionally.

You’re pulled back to reality when you feel Lewis reach out for you as his thumb starts to stroke your cheek. You're not sure why but you feel your eyes start to well up at the feeling of him touching you like this, looking at you like this.

“You came home,” he says once more, “for me?”

Those two words surprise you.

Your breath catches in your throat but somehow you manage to lie,

"I came home".

[cometomecosette]

Standout moments from "Les Mis" recordings: 1988-1990

My Les Mis watch- and listen-through in honor of the musical's 40th anniversary continues. Now I've reached the end of the '80s and the beginning of the '90s.

Drawing inspiration from @professorspork's Wicked Punctum Project, I'm choosing specific moments from recordings (video or audio, official or bootleg) that stand out the most in my mind, and writing down my thoughts about them.

Complete Symphonic Recording

Gary Morris (Jean Valjean), Philip Quast (Javert), Debbie Byrne (Fantine), Barry James (Thénardier), Gay Soper (Mme. Thénardier), Kaho Shimada (Éponine), Michael Ball (Marius), Anthony Warlow (Enjolras), Tracy Shayne (Cosette)

Anthony Warlow and Michael Ball’s “One more day before the storm…”/“Do I follow where she goes?” in “One Day More."

The CSR was my first Les Mis recording and it’s still the “default” version I tend to hear in my head when I think of the songs. It was almost impossible for me to choose a single standout moment from this recording. But after much internal debate, I finally chose Marius and Enjolras’s counterpoint in “One Day More.” Anthony Warlow’s Enjolras sings his call to arms with such burnished, dignified, stentorian fervor – the spirit of revolution embodied in powerful sound. And in counterpoint is Michael Ball’s Marius, with his equally rich and powerful yet “syrupy” (in a good way) and oh-so-emotional voice, singing of his conflict between love and duty. Their contrasting voices capture the two characters’ contrasting personalities in a beautiful and thrilling way. The moment is only made more exciting by chorus entering behind Warlow’s voice with “The time is now! The day is here” at the end of the passage, and by the symphonic orchestrations.

Honorable Mentions:

*Philip Quast’s militaristic, staccato “You have no rights! Come with me, 24601!” in “Confrontation.” No other Javert has ever sung that line so perfectly, not even Quast himself in the 10th Anniversary Concert.

*Ross McCall’s little cries, gasps, and struggling, pained voice as the mortally wounded Gavroche.

*Barry James’ wild, psychotic laughter as Thénardier as the end of “Dog Eats Dog.”

Original Vienna Cast Recording

Reinhard Brussman (Jean Valjean), Norbert Lamla (Javert), Sona MacDonald (Fantine), Franz Caencsits (Thénardier), Susanne Altschul (Mme. Thénardier), Jane Comerford (Éponine), Felix Martin (Marius), Alexander Diepold (Enjolras), Martina Dorak (Cosette)

Sona MacDonald’s sweet, gentle “Come to Me.”

If I weren’t specifying moments, I’d say that Sona MacDonald’s Fantine in general is the highlight of this recording. At age 27, she was younger than most other early Fantines, with a lighter, sweeter voice than was usually heard in the role at the time. This makes her capture the tragic youthfulness and vulnerability of Hugo’s Fantine, which more mature-voiced “leading lady” actresses can’t quite do. Of the specific moments in her performance, I finally settled on her death as the standout. Her voice is so gentle and tender, and of the Fantines I’ve heard so far, she’s the first Fantine from a replica production to sing the final note gently rather than belting it. (Riki Gal in the Israeli cast and Kútvölgyi Erzsébet in Hungary sang it gently too, but those were both non-replica productions.) In the musical’s early years, Fantine’s last moments seem to have typically been played as somewhat tortured – which admittedly is true to her death in the novel – but this version creates a sense of beautiful and well-deserved peace.

1989 Australia Day Concert

Normie Rowe (Jean Valjean), John Diedrich (Javert), Debbie Byrne (Fantine), William Zappa (Thénardier), Robyn Arthur (Mme. Thénardier), Laurą Hamilton (Éponine), Peter Cousens (Marius), Anthony Warlow (Enjolras), Marina Prior (Cosette)

Anthony Warlow's Enjolras in "The Final Battle."

I’m sure that Warlow’s Enjolras is one of the main draws to this filmed concert. We all know and love him from the Complete Symphonic Recording and here we get to see him! His whole performance is outstanding: so impassioned yet stately and dignified, a true “marble lover of liberty,” and of course his voice is magnificent. But I’d say that his standout moment is “The Final Battle,” where even in concert format, we can tell that this is where Enjolras snaps. Up to this point, his passion has been a contained fire, fierce yet not wild. But after seeing Gavroche die and knowing death is imminent for himself and all his friends too, the breaks come off, and he ferociously roars “LET US DIE FACING OUR FOES!!! MAKE THEM BLEED WHILE WE CAN!!” and “…until the earth IS FREEEEE!!!” This change at the end is much more effective than if he had spent the whole barricade sequence yelling and being unhinged (e.g. like David Burt in the OLC bootlegs).

Honorable mentions (good):

*Marina Prior’s facial expressions as Cosette, especially in “A Heart Full of Love” and as she fibs to Valjean in “Attack on Rue Plumet.” She’s just so adorable and seems so young and sweetly awkward. Even though she was 27, she’s the first Cosette so far whom I can fully believe is a teenage girl. 

*The raw, anguished passion of Normie Rowe's "If I die, let me die!" in "Bring Him Home." I don't think I've ever heard another Valjean put as much into that line.

Honorable mentions (questionable):

*John Diedrich’s ghoulish face makeup as Javert.

*The fact that there are no costume changes for the ensemble, and the men all wear their student costumes, even in their earlier roles like the Bishop, the Foreman, or Bamatabois. As a result, it looks as if the Amis de l’ABC labor in a chain gang, buy Valjean’s soul for God, persecute Fantine, carouse at Thénardier's inn, etc.

*The fireworks in the sky that represent the gunfire at the end “The Final Battle” – that’s right, a brutal mass slaughter is represented by a display of fireworks, which inspire the audience to break into applause, as if they were applauding the revolutionaries’ deaths.

1989 London audio bootleg

Peter Karrie (Jean Valjean), Philip Quast (Javert), Grania Renihan (Fantine), Julian Forsythe (u/s Thénardier), Gay Soper (Mme. Thénardier), Jacinta Whyte (u/s Éponine), Mario Frangoulis (Marius), Michael Cantwell (Enjolras), Janet Mooney (u/s Cosette)

Jacinta Whyte’s fierce, growly “JUUUST the old man and THE GIRL!!” in “Attack on Rue Plumet.” 

With this bootleg, we hear the role of Éponine shifting decisively away from the original Frances Ruffelle model. Jacinta Whyte’s voice is clear, warm, and slightly brassy yet beautiful, without a trace of the “kittenish waif” sound that has defined most Éponine voices so far. And she doesn’t sound as if she’s playing the character as a kittenish waif either. While of course the previous Éponines have also been fierce and defiant in “Attack on Rue Plumet,” this performance takes that scene to a new level. As she belts out her defiance with a snarl in her voice (and follows it with an impressive scream too), it's clear that this Éponine is no broken bird, but a true fighter who can take care of herself on the streets. In the past I’ve head some fans credit Lea Salonga with being the first actress to make Éponine strong and feisty rather than waif-like, but they obviously never heard this one!

Honorable Mentions:

*Michael Cantwell’s annoyed, half-growled “Marius, you’re late!” as Enjolras in “The ABC Café.”

*A very young Mario Frangoulis as Marius just can’t get the lyrics to “A Heart Full of Love” quite right! First, he sings “A heart full of you” when it should have been “…of song,” which probably adds to the intense embarrassment with which he sings the next line, “I’m doing everything all wrong!” Then, much worse, he sings “Your name is Marius Pontmercy” instead of “My name…” :)

Original Stockholm Cast Recording

Tommy Körberg (Jean Valjean), Jan Åström (Javert), Karin Glenmark (Fantine), Claes Malmberg (Thénardier), Beatrice Järås (Mme. Thénardier), Maria Rydberg (Éponine), Richard Carlsohn (Marius), Joakim Jennefors (Enjolras), Gunilla Backman (Cosette)

Karin Glenmark’s urgency and Tommy Körberg’s gentleness in “Come to Me.”

This is just a 21-track highlights recording, but I still managed to find a small standout moment. In “Come to Me,” Karin Glenmark’s Fantine belts “Look M’sieur, where all the children play!” (or rather its Swedish equivalent) in such a delirious, desperate tone, but then Tommy Körberg’s Valjean soothes her by singing “Be at peace, be at peace evermore” (or rather its Swedish equivalent) with utter softness and gentleness. Their contrasting delivery of these two lines perfectly capture the torments of Fantine and Valjean’s compassionate efforts to comfort and help her. Incidentally, I’ve just learned that Tommy Körberg voiced the Beast in the Swedish dub of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. While this album doesn’t convey much of his capacity for the Beast’s initial rage and ferocity– it unfortunately cuts “Valjean’s Soliloquy” and “Confrontation” – it most definitely conveys how lovely he must have been as the gentle, selflessly loving Beast in the later part of the movie.

[maxtism]

personal favorite thing that happened today: read a big ass comment on a senna video about how the commenter wasn’t old enough to see ayrton in his prime before he died and his legacy has always bothered him (because he seemed ‘superhuman’ and ‘without any flaws’ because of his sort of martyr death), but that this video made it clear that ayrton IS human.

that’s not my favorite part, though. my favorite part is the conclusion, in which he says: “there are some drivers that i believe are a notch above (the rest of the drivers, red.), of which senna is one. others are: fangio, clark, stewart, lauda, prost, schumacher, hamilton, and verstappen.”

and to see max, who’s only 26 being mentioned alongside the greatest drivers of all time, even though i personally know that to be true… it just broke me positively. somehow the casualness of this comment made me tear right up. we are truly seeing a one in a generation driver right now. and this person, who has been watching for many years knows that too.

26 years old. already one of the greatest in his field ever, no matter what. 10 wins in a row. 3x wdc. one of only two people who could beat prime lewis. most dominant season EVER. 19/23 wins. jesus christ. jesus fucking christ.

[oceanboy2106]

“Let the ocean take you home”

Heyy tumblr im Jackson, wait do i even need an intro post i mean the sites been dead for a while and im pretty sure its just me myself and i here but i guess having an intro wouldn’t be harmful.

I found out this app existed yesterday while I was using my dad’s computer to complete a totally not last minute school assignment. (it’s not my fault I have shit time management skills) and I guess I got curious about what tumblr even was which led to the creation of this blog to see if I could learn anything about social media and the more mundane side of life in the 2010s- 2020s. If im being honest I don’t really know what to do on this, I mean I think it’s like an online diary which would probably be something my best friend Toby would have more interest in then me but i might as well have fun in trying, right?

Well anyways, here’s a bit about myself (shit why does that sound awkward???)

-im almost 15 years old but 14 and 9 months and 15 are like practically the same thing.

-I like the ocean a lot, I know this is probably cliche but I have a connection to it a real connection. for as long as I can remember it’s felt as if it’s been calling out to me, for me to find it, to come home, to see her- I mean it. sorry don’t know what that was about (wait who am I apologising to)

-I’d like to be a marine biologist when I grow up and if that doesn’t work out then a musician maybe or maybe I could be a performer in musical theatre!!

-Sharks are my favourite animal but raccoons are a close second (I think I’d like them more if Joey stopped calling me a human one-) I love any kind of shark but If I ever had to pick a favourite then maybe the tiger shark or wait the great white shark- shit they’re both pretty good choices, two way tie? (Jack stop talking to yourself) by the way did you know that some species of shark can have up to 15 rows of teeth?? That’s honestly wicked.

-I have two good friends well one’s my family friend Joey who views me more as an annoying little cousin than anything but we still hang out so that counts as something,right? and Tobes who’s been my best friend since he moved to Salus almost four years ago :] if you guys are reading this than Joey you stink (derogatory) and Toby hi!!!

-my favourite music artists are Weezer (im not a loser i swear) the Cranewives, the cure who toby introduced me too, Alex G, Bo Burnham, Tears for fears, foo foo fighters and the clash (i think old music is real neat) and the sound tracks to various musicals especially 92sies!!!

-I like musicals as well I guess im what you’d call a theatre kid my favourite musicals would have to be Hamilton, Falsettos, Heathers and Newsies (both the film and broadway adaptation but I think prefer the 92 film more) honorary mention to Annie which was my comfort film growing up.

-in my spare time I like to play the guitar I’ve been taking lessons since I was like seven and I’d like to think that im relatively good at it, skateboarding well kind of im not the best at it but im not the worst either id skate more but the falling hurts like hell even with my knee and elbow guards, going on walks round my neighbourhood (kind of basic) and causing trouble with my best friend.

That’s all I really have to say.

—————————————————————————

ooc undercut

-hello im Arielle @4rielle and this is a tumblr blog for my oc Jackson.

-im a minor as well as the character so please no nsfw.

-Jack is the protagonist of a novel im writing and I thought setting up a blog for him would be a fun way to explore his character.

-For context Jack lives in an area encased by white walls known as a dome, they’re said to keep people safe from the outside world although Jack is sceptical of this.

-I have a side blog for Jack and the world he’s living in if you’d like to find out more about him @the-dome-of-salus , I’ve yet to post his character bio so keep an eye out for it you’d like. also feel free to send asks about him to my main as well.

-feel free to send in character asks to Jackson!!

tagging

#journal of j.hills

#oceanboy answers

Additional information on Jackson (more will be added)

-his date of birth is the 9th of August 2106 the blog is set between May-July of 2121 a few months before his 15th birthday.

-adopted when he was three it’s a touchy topic for him.

-he believes he has a special connection to the ocean.

-he’s a bit of a loner he isn’t sure why but he can’t click with the people around him which has led him to view the outside world and ocean as a sense of belonging and escapism.

[mysteriouslyjovialcolor]

Malaysia 2016

-Cause I want to see more of Nico Roseberg

-The Malaysian circuit is so aesthetically shaped

-Mercedes 1-2

-“Lewis Hamilton: Second man in history to have a hundred starts from pole”

-Red Bull row 2, Ferrari row 3, Force India row 4

-Now that’s a lineup

-“Plenty of fans here for Nico Roseberg” Yes, me too

-I forgot how bad radio clarity was in 2016

-Massa just didn’t start the formation lap?

-Palmer losing power too?

-“The engine switched off” And Carlos?

-Oh no, Max and Sebastian making contact?

-Sebastian out!

-Wait he made contact with the Mercedes??

-Nico p21? What?!!

-Max: “Sebastian is crazy” Haha I missed him being a menace

-The thing about these 2016 races is that there is guaranteed to be a safety car, virtual or otherwise

-“Carlos Sainz restarted his own car” let’s go baby!

-*sigh* I already miss the leaderboard

-So cool watching Checo and Kimi race each other

-Nico overtake masterclass?

-Woah! Alonso up to p10! Didn’t he start last?

-Yay Nico p12! “Not too bad a recovery”

-Red Bull team drama incoming?

-Ah Grosjean out

-“We think he’s been told not to continue dissing the car” Already predicting the swear ban, they were ahead of their time fr

-Nico: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah I’m getting the positive” So much sass

-Force India double stack!

-“Nico Roseberg having a little go on Nico Hulkenburg” Aaah who do I root for??

-Nico R back to points!

-I really miss the leaderboard

-“There goes Roseberg, down on the inside on Perez” p8!!

-“Mercedes Achilles heel is when they’re running in dirty air”

-Aw Kevin out

-Kimi vs Max!

(Watching Kimi race it out with anyone is always very fun, but apparently these two have been clashing for a few races now.)

-Haha, nvm, he’s in the pits. No battle here

-Oh? Max leading? Red Bull 1-2?

-I asked for it the last race I watched, so this is great!

-Never mind, Daniel pitted and now we’re back to Red Bull sandwich with Lewis in the middle

-Tracking the drivers with these old graphics is so hard

-I’m surprised Nico R has been stuck in p5 for a few laps now.

-Haha Romain’s “Yeah thanks” after being asked how he is, was cute

-Oh Max now pitting?

-Where are the Force Indias, I feel like they just dropped down all of a sudden

-And Carlos too

-“Verstappen and Hamilton: Story of the rest of the race isn’t it?”

-I mean only if Max goes past Daniel- which he could, with the new tires, but let’s see

-“Roseberg can’t make an impression on Raikonnen” How???

-“With a race like this, he surely would be out of the championship lead wouldn’t he?” Boo

-Oh he pit. Perez is through

-“The guinea pig Nico Roseberg” Huh, where did that come from?

-And Perez is gone

-Nico is back behind Kimi in p5

-“Fernando Alonso defending from Carlos Sainz” Let’s go Spaniards

-“Blue flag!”

-Go Nico (H)! He’s in the points!

-A moment of silence for Carlos, who’s out of the points

-Ugh James Vowles mentioned

-How is Nico (R) still p5

-Okay not him getting past Kimi as soon as I said that

-He did make contact tho :/

-Red Bull teammate drama incoming pt2?

<pause>

-That was amazing!

-I haven’t really seen Max and Daniel battle it out like that before!!

-“From the scene of Multi 21, can Christian Horner give a Multi 333?” Yeah no

-Aww young Gasly

-“It’s Lewis Hamilton! It’s a fire!”

-Lewis: “Oh no! No!”

-What the hell? That was so sudden

-“The ever reliable Mercedes engine has forced Hamilton out of the race” That must be devastating

-Red Bull double stack?? Now?? Crazy!

-Oh dear, another Haas has retired

-I’m convinced Lewis’ bad luck came from James Vowles being mentioned over the commentary

-*sigh* Roseberg 10s penalty

-At least my Red Bull 1-2, Maxiel dream podium is back

-I don’t care which one of them wins at this point, as long as it stays a 1-2

-“Do Red Bull feel that actually there’s a sense of justice to Daniel Ricciardo winning today, given what happened in Spain?”

-What happened in Spain?

-Also do the teams really care about poetic justice

-“Does Max Verstappen care?” I mean, I don’t think so

-“Good strategy for them today” Williams??

-“The gap for the championship will be 23 points for Roseberg going into the next race” Yay!

-Have a drink, 11 laps to go” Drinking a warm drink while driving hundreds of kilometers per hour really does not sound fun

-“Okay Roseberg has a 10s time penalty for the collision, you know what you need to do, stay within 10s and we go to the podium” Ha

-Just now noticing how weird the rear wings of these cars look

-Mark Webber somewhere cringing over the fact that they keep bringing up Multi 21

-Oh, Nico’s made it to over 10s?

-Ohmygod Mark Webber is at the race?? That’s hilarious

-Daniel win!!! Let’s go!!! I miss him so much!!!!

-Red Bull 1-2!!

-“Best of the rest after the Mercedes drivers. Number three in the championship battle”

-“Max has turned up and moved the game forward.”

-My favorite teammates fr

-Ohmygod he hasn’t won since 2014?? This win is so sweet then!!! Let’s go!!!

-“The first team other than Mercedes to get a 1-2!”

-Ayy not bad for Force India as well! Nico p8!

-Oh Lewis in his interview sounds so sad

-“I just can’t believe there are 8 Mercedes cars right now and only my engines are the ones that have been going this year. Something just doesn’t feel right” Oh?

-Wow he really sounds defeated

-Aaah Daniel happyyyy

-“Well, I need a drink. Thanks guys! We did bloody good!”

-“One of the most popular man in the paddock and on the grid” Yes baby!!

-“Embraces for Verstappen and Ricciardo” ❤️😭

-(✨post-race Max✨)

-DR: “Told you I’d win one” 😭

-CH: “Thanks for keeping it clean” haha

-Gotta admit Nico going from p21 to p3 was really cool

-Aww Pierre looking on at the podium

-Haha people waving their shoes

-Aaaah the shoeyyyy

-“I just wonder where it goes from here, for the shoe” ahahaha

-Ohmygod they all did it!! Max and Nico too!! Haha!

-Ahaha Mark mentioned Multi 333

-Threw away the shoe too!

-Aww Daniel almost being emotional

-I like these three on the podium. Very fun.

[mediumtires]

no one even mentioning it’s two race wins in a row for merc lmao i am all for goat lewis hamilton supremacy man he deserves all this love and attention and celebrations he did it!!!!!!!! but also. merc back? 👀

[charlesgirl16]

So I am just now watching qualifying. Because I am going to up till 2 AM watching the race tonight. 🙄 Why did I choose this as my sport to be obsessed with? Anyway, so during boring or nerve racking races / qualifying I am singing Please Please Please by Sabrina Carpenter.

Q1 -What the fuck is going on with Isack? Like the commentator from F1TV said This sort of thing should’ve been sorted out during preseason testing or like anytime prior to qualifying at the third GP of the year. I feel bad for Isack he was wincing when the tried to fix it in Q3. And when the issue was not fixed he was able to get into Q2 👏. Liam Lawson already doing better in qualifying.

P16 - Nico Hulkenburg

P17 - Gabriel Bortoleto

P18 - Esteban Ocon

P19 - Jack Doohan

P20 - Lance Stroll

Q2 - Isack was the issue fixed cause that Lap was FAST? Lando 🟪 🟪 🟪 3 Purple Sectors!!! Red Flag 🚩- The grass was on fire for the 4th or 5th time this race weekend 🤦🏻‍♀️. The Ferraris are not looking good. I feel so bad for Yuki🥹, I just don't think he could get the lap together. He also had only one opportunity to get through Red Bull very well could've, and in my opinion should've, let him go out earlier so he had more than one opportunity to get through to Q3. Not to mention that Red Flag. But it’s Christan Horner’s fault regardless. Ollie had a great lap, he sounded so excited to get through to Q3. Also, I am excited that Isack got into Q3.

P11 - Pierre Gasly

P12 - Carlos Sainz

P13 - Fernando Alonso

P14 - Liam Lawson

P15 - Yuki Tsunoda

Q3 - Okay here we go, I feel like the prayer circles I have seen for the Rookies have been working because we have 3 rookies in Q3. George is having a Fantastic lap! Purple middle sector for Max... and then Oscar took it away from him, Two purple sectors for Oscar! Lando didn't have a very good lap idk what happened. Max Verstappen is fast 💨 and not in a very fast car. Come on Lando … Provisional Pole!?!? Max took it away though!!! And Oscar could not match it! This is Max’s 4th Year in a row getting Pole Position for the Japanese Grand Prix. Max sounded so excited to be on Pole, and emotional about it. 🥹 They could never make me hate you.💙

P1 - Max Verstappen

P2 - Lando Norris

P3 - Oscar Piastri

P4 - Charles Leclerc

P5 - George Russell

P6 - Kimi Antonelli

P7 - Isack Hadjar

P8 - Lewis Hamilton

P9 - Alex Albon

P10 - Oliver Bearman

[umgeorge]

pole-sitter george russell is interviewed during the post-qualifying press conference, britain - july 6, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "A very warm welcome to the top three qualifiers for the FIA FOrmula 1 British Grand Prix. In third place, Lando Norris; in second place, Lewis Hamilton; and, taking his third pole position in Formula 1 and his first here at home at Silverstone, our pole-sitter, George Russell. Many congratulations, George. What a performance by you and Mercedes. You won in Austria last weekend. You're on pole here at home. Just how good does this feel?" George: "Yeah, this is definitely one of the best feelings I've ever had on a Saturday afternoon. The car was just insane. When we went out in Q3 it just really came alive and, without doubt, one of the best feelings I've ever had, driving this circuit and crossing the line, seeing my name P1, and then seeing we're both on the front row. We couldn't have even dreamt of that after the first three or four races, so yeah, it feels good." Interviewer: "Have you been surprised by the pace of the car today?" George: "It's been feeling great since Canada, when we brought these upgrades. The two of us have been qualifying in the top three consistently, but it really came into its own today. We were really quick in FP1 yesterday, we struggled in FP2 a little bit, but these conditions just really got the car into a perfect window, and the lap was just really, really nice. And there's no guarantees for tomorrow, for sure, but we feel like we're riding this wave at the moment and, I mean, obviously, for us as a team, I don't know when the last time was we were on a front row, but… 2021, maybe. Maybe before." Interviewer: "George, you say that last lap in Q3 was really, really nice. Just where did you find the time over that first run in Q3?" George: "From turn six to turn nine I gained a lot. Turn six and seven was mega. There was a big headwind through there, so I braked really, really late and I just could carry the speed through the corners. But it was just on rails, the car. I just felt so confident in it, and Q3 we really turned it up, because Q1 and Q2 was very, very challenging. I felt like I was about to get knocked out at various points. The track improving in every single lap, and probably going into Q3 was the most pressure I've ever felt in a qualifying session, because the whole Q1 and Q2 runs, it was, like, on the verge of getting knocked out every single occasion. And I wasn't feeling that confident with myself, but as soon as I went through turn one and two in Q3 I felt good and managed to do the laps." Interviewer: "Well, George, let's throw it forward to the race. With practice being so affected by the weather, just how much confidence do you have in the long run pace of the car?" George: "Yeah, I think realistically we know we're probably a tenth or two behind Lando and Max, but I think we've got a good fight on our hands. But the weather's gonna play a huge part in that. It's been raining and drying up throughout the last couple of days. There's a bit of rain on the forecast tomorrow. We're probably on course for another Montreal-style race, where it's gonna be very changeable, so it's going to be a long race. As I said, we're riding this wave right now, but it doesn't mean anything because tomorrow is where the points are scored, but we're obviously in a great position to fight for victory." Interviewer: "Alright, look, best of luck. Well done today. Thank you."

[time jump] Journalist: "Alex Kalinauckas, Autosport. A question to George, please. Actually, a couple of questions, please. Just going back to that last lap in Q3, I think you started off a little bit slower through the first couple of corners. It was slower at the end of the first sector, but then purple by the end, so can you just explain what was going on at the beginning there? And also, you mentioned the struggles, Q1, Q2. Did the car change much ahead of Q3, for that big transformation? Thanks." George: "The wind picked up on that last lap and you had a bit more of a tailwind through turns three and four, so I think a few of us were brown in that first sector, but then suddenly you picked up so much more downforce through turn six and seven, and in the last corner, as well, when you're going into the wind, so that was probably the reason for it. But no, Q1 and Q2 we were just not trying to use our new soft tires, to allow us to have the two new sets for Q3, and I think we've also saved one set of new softs for the race tomorrow, so the soft is a potential race tire. So when you've got cars that are slightly slower than you throwing tires at it, you're just always on that back foot and that was kind of the reasoning for it. But yeah, the track dried up, and we got into the groove, and the lap times came."

[time jump] NOT SHOWN: Journalist: "Fred Ferret, L'Equipe. A question to the three of you: Do you have an explanation why the Brits are so good in Formula 1?" George: "Yeah, I think, like Lando said, just grassroots in the UK is the most advanced for motorsport, and we're so fortunate to have so many great drivers, and you just push one another along that journey. And I think, also, so many great British drivers in the past who've inspired the youngsters to get into racing." Interviewer: "Okay. Next one." Journalist: "Simon Abberley for Nevis Radio. Question for George and Lewis: You said on Thursday you weren't too sure if you had the car for this weekend. Obviously you're doing quite well with where you're sat, just now. With that in mind and the changeable conditions for tomorrow, have you maybe geared your car more towards the rain, or is this something that you thought could be potentially possible on Thursday but weren't too sure about playing your cards out to the media yet?" George: "I think, if anything, we actually geared up slightly more for the race, which is normally a trade-off you'd always take. You can qualify P4 and get into the lead on lap one, or vice versa. It feels so great for us to be here now, but the race start, things can change very quickly, so we'd always sort of gear it up slightly more for the race. But yeah [laughs], I mean, nothing's changed since last weekend and the car's been performing so well here, so you need to look into it and try and understand why it's been so good, especially in these high-speed corners, because in Austria, Red Bull were miles ahead of everybody, and at the moment we've been the quickest. So yeah, [laughs] it's a difficult sport sometimes."

[time jump] Journalist: "Will Wood, Race Fans. Question for George, please: George, you mentioned that this could be another Montreal-style race. That obviously didn't go quite the way that you wanted, from where you started. How do you make sure that tomorrow works out better for you?" George: "Yeah, thanks for that question. [laughs] We're all racers, we're pushing the limits. I said after Montreal, my sort of risk-reward dial was turned up to the max and that sort of played against me at certain points, and just remembering that the race is won right at the end. It doesn't matter what happens beforehand, so… Yeah, that was a good learning for me. We still came away with a podium, but every single scenario is so different, and… Today, for example, in qualifying, it was raining in just three corners and the rest of the track was bone dry, but those two corners, three corners, people were going off the track, so very, very challenging."

[time jump] Journalist: "Carlo Platella, Formula Passion. Question for the Mercedes drivers: How different is this car to drive, compared to a couple of months ago?" George: "I think we've made some small changes, which has had a big impact. We knew from the start of this year, the baseline of this car is substantially better than what we've had in previous years, but we went from having an oversteer car last year, then to an understeer car this year, and now we've just dialed it back and found the happy medium. And when you've got the balance in a good place, the tire temperatures are in the right window, and the lap time just really snowballs positively. So it hasn't been a substantial change, but it's made a massive difference to the lap time."

[time jump] Journalist: "Taylor Powling for Motorsport Monday. Question to George and Lando: With a mixed conditions race possible tomorrow, will you be encouraging your teams to review what happened in Canada to make sure you nail those changing conditions, if they do occur?" George: "I mean, yeah, absolutely. But as I said before, it was so difficult in Canada. On the grid I increased my tire pressures because rain was meant to hit in twenty minutes' time, which is about twelve to fifteen laps, and it hit in forty minutes, and then that's… Lando was ten seconds behind us, and then ended up ten seconds ahead of us and clearly was low on tire pressure. So [laughs] if the rain hit when it did, we would have been in a good place. As it turned out, Lando was in the right place, so we can do all the reviewing we want. The fact is it's very, very difficult to predict."

[alianoralacanta]

Everything You Never Needed To Know About The Two Race Engine Rule (24-10-2007)

Context: Once upon a time, a driver could use three engines in the same day and simply risk a DNQ for not meeting the 107% rule. (Damon Hill, France 1999 qualifying day. Turns out that if one wishes to set a good time, one's has to do sufficient speedy laps on the track and not on stands in the garage). Then it was decided that was too wasteful and teams were banned from swapping engines between qualifying and the race. This was followed in 2005 with a requirement to use engines for two consecutive races before replacement, unless a race was not finished. In 2008, the requirement increased to 3 consecutive races on a single engine. I received a request to provide some statistics about the two-race engine era. Nowadays, each engine must last an average of 6 races, but teams can arrange that running how they want. A driver who wanted to do the first 3 and last 3 races on the same engine, but not any of the ones in between, is nowadays permitted to do so.

Thanks to neil for coming up with the idea for this entry, and especially to concentrate on the successes. To celebrate the fact that the two-race engine rule is now consigned to history, I will be doing some analysis of how the engine rules have influenced the grid.

Three seasons of careful management, impressive calculation and inopportune explosions will be celebrated in what I think is the most fitting way possible… …a ream of annotated statistics.

Victories Against The Odds

It has been mentioned in Autosport (March 23 2006 edition) that a new engine is worth 10-15hp over a used engine. Therefore, to win with a used engine suggests that the driver didn't have everything in their favour. And we all love drivers who win against the odds, don't we?

The following wins were achieved with a used engine:

2005

Fernando Alonso, Renault, Malaysia 2005 (the first time used engines appeared in a Grand Prix weekend was also the first time they won!) Fernando Alonso, Renault, San Marino 2005 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Monaco 2005 Fernando Alonso, Renault, France 2005 Fernando Alonso, Renault, Germany 2005 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Turkey 2005 (the start of a three-race chain) Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren, Italy 2005 (the first time both drivers in the same team win at least one race with used engines - and consecutive ones to boot!) Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Belgium 2005 (this chain of three events, ending with this race, is the first time used engines win more than one race consecutively) Fernando Alonso, Renault, Brazil 2005

2005 used engine win total - 9 2005 new engine win total - 10

2006

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, Europe 2006 Fernando Alonso, Renault, Spain 2006 Fernando Alonso, Renault, Britain 2006 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, USA 2006 Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, Germany 2006 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Turkey 2006 (first race to be won by someone with a used engine in two consecutive years) Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, Italy 2006 Fernando Alonso, Renault, Japan 2006 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Brazil 2006

2006 used engine win total - 9 2006 new engine win total - 9

2007

Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Malaysia 2007 (first driver to have won the same event with used engines twice) Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Spain 2007 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Canada 2007 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, France 2007 Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Germany 2007 (second driver to have won the same event with used engines twice) Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Hungary 2007 Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Belgium 2007 Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, Japan 2007

2007 used engine win total - 8 2007 new engine win total - 9

Grand total Used engines 25 v 29 New engines

Masters of Used Engines - Drivers

Fernando Alonso (11) Kimi Raikkonen (5) Felipe Massa (4) Michael Schumacher (3) Juan Pablo Montoya (1) Lewis Hamilton (1)

Fernando clearly takes the crown of Master of Used Engines. Admittedly, being in a championship-challenging car for three years in a row does help a little. That said, he is Master or Joint Master of Used Engines in each individual year as well (he shares with Michael Schumacher in 2006, and is the outright winner in both 2005 and 2007). This is quite a statement of skill.

Kimi Raikkonen would probably have done better had his engine been reasonably reliable in 2005 or 2006. Or indeed if he'd ever been on the top step of the podium in 2006. However, he plainly does not require a fresh engine to demonstrate his talent.

Felipe Massa is consistent, having two used-engine victories in both 2006 and 2007 (being in a non-victorious Sauber didn't help his 2005 rating much). Don't be surprised if he shows well in 2008's three-race engine environment.

Juan Pablo Montoya and Lewis Hamilton, in a sense, represent past and future. Juan Pablo used to be an exciting F1 driver. He's still exciting, but he's doing NASCAR now, where they don't mess about with multi-race engines as far as I'm aware. Since he's also refused to return to F1, don't expect him to add to this tally in any series.

If Lewis Hamilton doesn't add any used engine victories in the three-race engine era, then I'm an apple tree. The main reason why he's only had one win in this era is because he didn't compete in 2005 or 2006.

Two drivers have won a race with a new engine in this era without winning one with a used engine: Giancarlo Fisichella and Jenson Button. Jenson is not in the used engine winner list largely because his engine blew in free practise on the Saturday of Hungary 2006. Had it held on, he would a) have had an easier time of winning that race and b) be on the list.

Masters of Used Engines - Teams

Renault (8) McLaren (7) Ferrari (7)

The Masters of Used Engines team award has been hotly contested between three great teams - so hotly that no other team has a single used-engine victory to its credit.

Renault's position in the list is particularly remarkable, since only one driver contributed every single used-engine win to its effort. McLaren and Ferrari required three drivers to achieve their results.

All three of these teams won in two out of the three years the rule was in place.

Poles for Used Engines

Wins with an engine that is minus 10-15bhp are challenging, but what about carving perfect laps with imperfect engines? Surely that's got to be pretty tough.

2005

Fernando Alonso, Renault, Malaysia 2005 (again, first pole at first attempt for used engines) Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, San Marino 2005 (first time a pole-sitting used-engine user didn't win the race pole was obtained in - that comes later for Kimi) Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Monaco 2005 (start of a three-race chain) Nick Heidfeld, Williams, Europe 2005 (first time a used engine is taken to pole by a driver who doesn't win a race with a used engine during the two-engined era) Jarno Trulli, Toyota, Canada 2005 (this three-race chain, ending this race, is the first time a used engine is on pole on consecutive occasions) Fernando Alonso, Renault, France 2005 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Turkey 2005 Juan Pablo Montoya, McLaren, Belgium 2005

2005 used engine poles: 8 2005 new engine poles: 11

2006

Fernando Alonso, Renault, Monaco 2006 (first race where pole was obtained by someone with a used engine in two consecutive years) Michael Schumacher, Ferrari, USA 2006 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Germany 2006 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Turkey 2006 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Brazil 2006

2006 used engine poles: 5 2006 new engine poles: 13

2007

Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Malaysia 2007 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Spain 2007 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, Canada 2007 Felipe Massa, Ferrari, France 2007 Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren, Germany 2007 (first driver to take pole with a used engine at the same race twice) Felipe Massa, Ferrari, Turkey 2007 (second driver to take pole with a used engine at the same race twice) Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Belgium 2007 Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, China 2007

2007 used engine poles: 8 2007 new engine poles: 9

Grand total Used engines 21 v 33 new engines

Clearly new engines are a more significant factor in qualifying than in the race. This was especially the case in 2006, where developments were being completed quickly in anticipation of the 2007 engine homologation rules. Notice that in 2007, new and used engines are more evenly matched in qualifying.

Kings of Used Engine Speed - Drivers

Felipe Massa (6) Kimi Raikonnen (5) Fernando Alonso (4) Lewis Hamilton (2) Nick Heidfeld (1) Jarno Trulli (1) Juan Pablo Montoya (1) Michael Schumacher (1)

There is a lot more competition for this contest than the Master of Used Engines award. The winner of the award is Felipe Massa. He appears to be an expert at teasing speed out of a used engine when qualifying comes around. He was better at it than Michael Schumacher in 2006, and he has held his own in 2007. Very impressive, especially in this era when the pole-sitter often goes on to win.

Kimi Raikkonen's moments of brilliance are more spread out, but you can count on there being at least one in each season. Unfortunately, the poles rarely led to victories (his used-engine victories tended to be born in the adversity of second-row starts - or worse).

Fernando Alonso is a much better racer than he is a qualifier. That said, he won the world championship in 2006 without getting one pole with a used engine, so maybe there's a lesson in that for his rivals…

Lewis Hamilton is, in theory, a better qualifier than racer on used engines. That said, with such a small sample it's difficult to tell.

Michael Schumacher seemed to need a new engine in order to get pole. That didn't stop him from being at the sharp end of the grid a lot of the time, though.

Nick Heidfeld and Jarno Trulli never won a race in the two-engine era despite both getting poles with used engines - surely indicating that both qualify better than they race. While this probably isn't news to Trulli observers, those who observe Heidfeld tend not to mention this when writing about him.

Juan Pablo Montoya's single pole with a used engine is probably because he got most of his poles before the rule was introduced. Qualifying used to be a speciality of his.

Kings of Used Engine Speed - Teams

Ferrari (10) McLaren (7) Renault (3) Williams (1) Toyota (1)

The titans in the 2007 championship fight are the ones that are at the head of this list. That said, the clear Masters of Used Engine Speed are Ferrari, largely because Felipe Massa has driven so many pole laps for them. It's almost as if he needs a used engine before he fully lets himself go. That said, Kimi Raikkonen has also found the Ferrari environment conducive to his natural abilities. Even Michael managed to get pole with a used engine once…

McLaren despite having had four drivers help them get their total, are definitely behind Ferrari. This is largely because none of their drivers got consistent poles in the first place (they kept getting let down by their machinery, then polemeisters Massa and Raikkonen got together at the red team).

Renault can credit their entire presence on this list to Fernando Alonso. Williams and Toyota likewise only had one driver contribute to their totals.

The "It'll Be All Right On The Night" Award for Reliability - Engine Suppliers

BMW (1.67/car/year, 5 total) <1 in Williams; 3 + 1 in BMW Sauber> Renault (1.75/car/year, 7 total) <2 + 2 + 2 in Renault; 1 in Red Bull> Ferrari (3.43/car/year, 24 total) <4 + 8 + 1 in Ferrari; 3 in Sauber; 3 in Red Bull; 0 in Toro Rosso; 5 in Spyker> Toyota (3.5/car/year, 21 total) <1 + 8 + 0 in Toyota; 5 + 3 in Jordan/Midland/Spyker; 4 in Williams> Mercedes (3.67/car/year, 11 total) <8 + 2 + 1 in McLaren> Cosworth (3.75/car/year, 15 total) <1 in Red Bull; 2 + 4 in Minardi/Toro Rosso; 8 in Williams> Honda (4,25/car/year, 21 total) <5 + 8 + 3 in BAR/Honda; 2 + 3 in Super Aguri>

The BMW engines are most likely to be "all right on the night", with Renault closely following. This is a significant factor into both team's successes during the two-engine era - BMW's improvement was helped because it could chase up pesky gearboxes and speed instead of engines. Renault's tendency to stay in one piece helped Fernando Alonso's championship campaigns considerably. Renault is statistically the best engine on offer to customers - lucky Red Bull for having that supply!

There is a large gap to the next engine supplier, then you reach Ferrari. In its own cars the engines have worked quite unreliably until the homologation rules kicked in. That said, three of the eight failures in the works team happened to Felipe Massa during the Malaysian GP weekend, which reduced the pain somewhat. For that matter, apart from Spyker, all its customers got more reliable units than the works team. Maybe the customer engines were slower, but at least the teams could depend on Ferrari to clear out some of the bugs that appear to be inherent in Ferrari engine design.

Toyota is slightly worse than Ferrari, much of which can be attributed to an atrocious run of unreliability in 2006. In general, the customer units do not appear to have had many of the reliability flaws removed - not a good sign, since this means progress is relatively slow.

For all Mercedes developed a lousy reputation for reliability, this would appear to only be justified for 2005. However, eight failures in a year when no other works team had half that many said a lot. Since then, it is clear that lots of effort has been made to send out working units to the drivers, which has been particularly helpful in 2007.

Cosworth was the customer of last resort, which may go some way towards explaining its poor record. Integration into teams was not very high, simply because teams expected to be using another engine as soon as possible and therefore didn't work so well with the engine supplier. Though it is true that lack of money didn't help.

Honda should be embarrassed. Clearly it can send a reasonably reliable unit to customers (as Super Aguri can happily testify), so why can't it send something functional to its own works drivers? No wonder Button and Barrichello look like pulling their hair out at times…

The "It'll Be All Right On The Night" Award for Reliability - Teams

Red Bull (5) Super Aguri (5, across two seasons only) Renault (6) Minardi/Toro Rosso (6) (BMW) Sauber (7) Toyota (9) McLaren (11) Williams (13) Jordan/Midland/Spyker (13) Ferrari (13) BAR/Honda (16)

For the most part, customer teams had more reliable engines than their works providers. The exceptions are Williams and Spyker, who have chopped and changed a lot. Integration, or lack of same, explains their woes quite eloquently.

[bohnsky]

Okay my dear people of the internet. I have thoughts. A lot of them, so prepare for a long ramble post.

First of all I feel like I didn't make it clear that I'm not including Sebastian Vettel in these because the others wouldn't stand a chance. I just love him too much. That being said, welcome to my favorite drivers after seven weeks of liking f1:

1. Alex Albon

My love. I am embarrassed to admit that Lewis almost pushed Alex from 1st . There were a few days in the last two weeks when I honestly thought about putting Lewis on 1 and then I watched the never have I ever and remembered why I love Alex so much.

The sprint race made me sad. I believe that if he hadn’t changed to slicks he might’ve stayed in the points. And for the race today (also very embarrassed to admit that) I almost forgot to be stressed about Alex’ position because I was so busy stressing over the Ferraris and Lando being in the Red Bull sandwich.

2. Charles Leclerc

I thought a lot about putting Lewis on 2nd as well but then I remembered how much I love Charles lol. You cannot imagine how happy I was to see both Ferraris starting top three and seeing Charles taking P2 today. Obviously, I wanted to see him win but Max is just unstoppable.

3. Lewis Hamilton

Now finally Lewis. I spent most of my free time the last two weeks reading Sewis fanfiction and that kind of influenced me a little bit. Lewis is such a sweety and my heart can’t handle him. Him having a bad weekend made me sad. And my brother saying that he wants the older drivers, like Lewis and Fernando, to retire so that younger drivers get a chance made me sad as well. I understand why he said that, but I don’t agree. F1 wouldn’t be the same without them.

Honorable mentions:

(I have so many thoughts on that never have I ever video, so this is going to be about that a lot lol)

Checo. I really don’t know what it is about him. I’ve been annoying everyone about how I want Checo to be able to prove himself again and now he did. I’ve been manifesting it and now I don’t know if I’m happy or not because him being good means that someone else is one place further back. Alex for example. If Checo didn’t drive as well as he did today then Alex might’ve gotten a point. But either way, Checo deserves it and I’m happy he found his form again.

Also the never have I ever. Checo was literally the cutest in that damned video. I melted when he admitted that he practiced a celebration before. And his accent drives me crazy. Now thinking about it, it feels weird that I have so much to say about Checo and for Lewis nothing but ‘I just love him’ lol.

Lando. I love Lando. He’s been on my mind a lot lately. He’s funny and so genuine. And I’ve been kind of obsessed with Carlando somehow. They’re just the most realistic ship in my opinion. And, I know I’m probably the only one but Lando interacting with Carlos Sr makes me really happy. But then again, I’ve been a fan of Carlos Sr way before getting into F1.

Carlos. Yes, Carlando. Especially Carlando on 2nd row for the race made me happy (not as much as Lestappen in front row but still 😀). And the race.. Ferrari fucked him over so bad and I was so mad. He deserved to be on the podium. And again, Checo being good makes me happy but I wanted to see Carlos on P3.

Mick. Reading so many Sewis fics did that to me.

Lance. I just think I like him now and I feel like I have to mention it because last time I wasn’t sure about that.

Nico. Again, I’m German and I like to see a German driver doing good but honestly what he achieves in that Haas is crazy. Damn I had no idea he is that good.

Max. I’ve been thinking a lot about Max lately and if I like him or not because there’s always that little voice in the back of my head saying that he can be really rude but he’s proved that voice wrong so many times. And most of the time when I see him the first thought that comes to my mind is that he is 1) gorgeous and 2) so freaking cute and 3) really nice. Also I’ve been obsessing over his hair. Somehow it drives me crazy.

Also (I hate myself for thinking that way but) I don’t like that no one has even the slightest chance against him but then again, he is just that good and he deserves it. There are so many awful and unfair thoughts in my brain and I have to force myself to see how sweet Max really is but I think I’m finally getting there.

Speed round:

Nyck somehow being very sympathetic, idk don’t ask.

Esteban's accent, I don’t know why his accent in particular but I love it.

Pierre, laughs in Pierre.

Everyone who confidently said that they cried during a movie.

That wasn’t as much as I thought it would be but I’m tired so I’m going to leave it here lol

[elfs-secret-library]

Riordanverse High School AU

*Please note that I made Hazel a year older than she is supposed to be to make her high school age.

Percy(Grade 12): He doesn't have particularly high grades, but is pretty enthusiastic about school events. Especially since Annabeth made it president, he goes to every event to support his wise girl. He and Annabeth was prom king and queen. He is the captain of the swimming team, and is amazing at rowing.

Annabeth(Grade 12): She is the "super involved" person, maintaining high grades while juggling a bunch of extracurriculars. She plays tennis and badminton, is a literal legend in debate club, and is the student council president.

Jason(Grade 11): He is in council as the vice president. He and Annabeth had a epic battle for the council president role by trying to get the most roles. Even though Annabeth won he doesn't feel any resentment towards her, and thinks their friendly competition was fun. He also plays soccer. He is a favorite in the book club.

Piper(Grade 11): She is a theatre kid, and especially loves musicals. She can recite all of the lyrics to every Hamilton song by heart. She had the lead role for the school musical, and everyone fell in love with her voice. She deliberately avoids drama and sticked to this policy even when she and Jason broke up. She also does dance.

Leo(Grade 11): He's the president of the robotics club, and won so many awards over the years that he is practically a legend. He always helps out with the younger grades in the club, giving them excellent pointers. He is the class jokester. Everyone is afraid of him at April fools, especially after that one year when he and Percy teamed up and destroyed everyone in the school with their pranks. People love him and find him annoying at the same time. He loves drama in a non-toxic way. He can often be spotted discussing "the latest tea" with people that tell him all about the latest events. He is the perfect person to go after a breakup, and he is weirdly good in relationship advice.

Frank(Grade 11): He started the archery club at school and is a legend there. He is also a mathleathe and has won so many trophies. He is mostly quiet and awkward, kinda in a more friendly Mr. Darcy way. Did I mentioned that he loves Jane Austen? He read all of them numerous times, but his favorite is Emma. He and Hazel are like an old married couple, and literally everyone ships them. He decided to get out of his comfort zone more and joined student council. It turned out that he had amazing ideas and now everyone is begging for him to run for president next year. He is also good at acting, although he has terrible stage fright.

Hazel(Grade 9): She is amazing at art. Her drawings have won so many competitions. She doesn't like digital art or graphic design, though, so she sticks to her watercolors and oil paintings. She is timid and sweet, but will turn into a tiger if anyone dares to bully her or her friends. She is that one grade nine that has a friend group of grade elevens and twelves. Since she is so nice and kind to everyone, she is a favorite among everyone.

Should I do a part two with Solangelo, Reyna, Calypso, Grover and etc??

[in-the-wrong-direction]

Fringe Day #4

Tit Swingers

One of many shows inspired by the success of Six, this show uses the music gig conceit to deliver a punk rock show about the infamous Anne Bonnie and Mary Reed. The Hellcats perform all their own music supported by Calico Jack on drums. A heady mix of punk rock sea shanties and aggressive anti-establishment bangers bring two under sung pirates to the fore.

The drums were a little loud, drowning out some of the tunes, but that may have been down to the size of the venue and might've been different if we weren't sitting so close to the drums. The cast were fantastic and playing Calico Jack as a himbo sidelined by the Hellcats was a stroke of genius.

44 Sex Acts In One Week

Easily the weirdest show I've seen so far. An aspiring writer barely making ends meet writing articles for a shitty clickbait site volunteers to write a feature article to earn some quick cash. The feature? Reviewing a best-selling sex guru's book by performing all 44 sex acts in it before a 5pm Friday deadline.

What follows is a mad examination of human relationships and how we affect each other as well as the world around us. Over the top characters and live, radio play sound effects make for a very entertaining watch.

La Clique

One of, if not the, best circus show at the Fringe. Can't fault the show, only the venue which packs 'em in to the detriment of sight lines. The acts were all fantastic with some spectacular aerial performances and amazing gymnastics, not to mention some very memorable clowns. If you're not shelling out a premium for a front row seat though, you might have to settle for simply listening to what is undoubtedly a stunning performance by a very talented tap-dancer.

The show is still worth seeing, no matter what seat you're in. La Clique are absolutely fantastic.

Mary, Queen of Rock!

The comparison to Six is obvious and does this show a disservice. This is a phenomenal musical telling the story of Mary, Queen of Scots, supplanting her Catholicism with rock music and her role as a monarch with that of a rock star. It's a little odd, but works really well.

Like I said, the comparisons to Six are inevitable. There's a core cast of women (all Marys; it was a popular name, apparently), delivering greek chorus narration and a contemporary score. And they very knowingly play up to this similarity in their depiction of Queen Lizzie, but that's as far as it goes. The show stands on its own, and in places even surpasses Six, particularly the finale. Where Six rewrites history for an upbeat fantasy ending, Mary, Queen of Rock! opts for the Hamilton approach and finishes on a celebration of a story that only ends sadly if we stop telling it. It's fantastic.

[skiptvads]

[caption id="attachment_1475" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Closest Race of 2023 - Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023 - Personal Thoughts[/caption] Source Singapore 2023 was Carlos Sainz Jr his second win at a Grand Prix but as he very well mention this is his first "Smooth Operation", Carlos IQ went through the roof as he on purpose made Lando Norris defend the front row for him, in this case it was Carlos Sainz getting away when he needed to keep the gap against Lando but on those slow corners giving it back so he could defend his position, at the same time hold up the Mercedes cars; with DRS, I would say that the only two other drivers that have this mind set on the grid are Fernando Alonso, George Russell, Alex Albon and Checo Perez, for the rest of the grid there are very individualist drivers, yes its a sport that you have to be that way to stay on top but this time Carlos Sainz proof its not all the time you need to race just the guy behind/front of you. Ferrari, their car is improving by a lot and as I expected since last year, the superior driver will be Carlos Sainz once he had the car suit him, all Leclerc had before was a fast car design around him, some may say the same thing from Red Bull Racing where the car is design for Max but it is what it is for every second driver on most teams, Sainz all 2022 and 2023 has demonstrate to be the most cold head and smart driver from the two, in Ferrari there is no democracy, its straight dictatorship and it would not be a surprise if we see the team turn the table for Leclerc, after all F1 is a sport where money talks, sports of billions and every single team on the grid is there to win and make a ton of money, as for the car it does look a different animal since Monza, they still have degradation problems but not as bad as before. Over all this is what every Formula 1 driver wants to see, top five cars battling out, I'm not a fan of Verstappen iron fist ruling, its just boring, now that we got McLaren and Ferrari in the Mix is way more interesting and I'm not falling sleep half the race. I have said before, I'm not a Ferrari fan, even if Red Bull Racing got it right Ferrari was still a strong car during the weekend, I thought tradition would continue as Ferrari is for a the most part a one lap car. https://leofinance.io/threads/view/skiptvads/re-leothreads-2p7fs2rqx Here a comment I made on Friday about Ferrari been the two fastest during FP2 [caption id="attachment_1479" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Closest Race of 2023 - Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023 - Personal Thoughts - www.skiptvads.blog[/caption] Source In my personal opinion another driver that did great in Singapore GP was George Russell, after a brilliant/lucky pit stop to put up Medium Compound Tires 2023 (Yellow) after Esteban Ocon car broke down on lap 44 , on this shot he clips the wall right at the corner of this banner but you cant tell how close he was and then broke the right front arm of the car, got no steering so goes into the wall, small mistakes that can end the race in any second but that's just part of the game, during this time Russell was in a lot of pressure from Hamilton, all this happening on the last lap to finis the race. [caption id="attachment_1483" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Closest Race of 2023 - Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023 - Personal Thoughts - www.skiptvads.blog[/caption] Source The most obvious question is, What Happen to Red Bull Racing?, from my understanding their setup was totally wrong, the car would not turn, the car had no grip, you could see how many times the rear complains and basically drift when either Max or Checo demand power, this was not a driver problem, both drivers could not make it to Q3 having same grip difficulties, the resurface areas of the track didn't help them but this was the same for all teams. [caption id="attachment_1484" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Closest Race of 2023 - Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023 - Personal Thoughts - www.skiptvads.blog[/caption]

Source [caption id="attachment_1485" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Closest Race of 2023 - Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023 - Personal Thoughts - www.skiptvads.blog[/caption] Source In my opinion Red Bull Racing took the wrong approach as trying to reverse changes like rear wing and new floor from the car on a track that have change and so did the car, its not the same car from 2022 and both Max and Checo are not the same drivers, specially how Max has dominated the car for the entire year, going back and forward with parts thinking that could be the problem puts them in a position probably of guessing without much time to proof their theories, the team already knew Singapore GP was a race the will have problems based on simulation, from what I have read online their suspension was too soft for this track, not sure if they made such extreme changes where the bumps of the make the car loose grip either when the suspension expands or contracts making the car to bottom out, probably if they had not change the car a bit from Italy they would have perform better. This was not a car design problem nor a driver problem, it was their setup, Red Bull Racing have done a lot more than other teams in history of Formula 1, the only thing that end their winning streak was themself have the car setup so wrong for this race. [caption id="attachment_1486" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Closest Race of 2023 - Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix 2023 - Personal Thoughts - www.skiptvads.blog[/caption] Source With ten laps to go Sainz radio was "Gap to Lando every lap", this was on lap 57 after they were notified Mercedes had new Mediums, closing the gap, not only this tells how smart Sainz was to use Lando as his main defense weapon but how good the McLaren is, this is probably a moment Lando has been waiting for a very long time, McLaren finally has a car with a winning shot to win a race, since Silverstone their car finally wake up and drivers like Piastri and Lando show the world how now their car is a true contender to win races so things are not as easy as before for Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen, yes in Monza they won by a six second gap that could be more and Checo did a good race too for the one two but still things are changing, there still 2025 with the same car concept, who knows if they could keep improving their car but the truth is that Mercedes, McLaren and Ferrari are improving too, even at Qualifying you have one lap cars like the Williams with Alex Albon improving by a lot. Source #formula1 #sports #f1 #redbullracing #ferrari #mercedes #landonorris #hamilton #carlossainz #singapore #grandprix

[f1]

Max Verstappen is brutally told he will NEVER be as good F1's greatest drivers despite racing towards a third-straight world championship triumph

Max Verstappen is brutally told he will NEVER be as good F1's greatest drivers despite racing towards a third-straight world championship triumph Dutch driver has achieved back-to-back World Driver's Championships He is on course for a third-straight title having won eight consecutive races Season resumes at his home track of Zandvoort on August 27th  By Sonny Cohen For Mailonline Published: 11:06 EDT, 10 August 2023 | Updated: 11:06 EDT, 10 August 2023 Max Verstappen cannot be considered amongst the all-time greats of Formula 1 according to former Le Mans 24 hour race winner Richard Bradley. The Red Bull driver has claimed the last two World Driver's Championships and looks to be on course for a third. However, Bradley believes that because Verstappen is yet to achieve a race win with a car that is down the development order, he can be considered with the best Formula 1 has had to offer. Verstappen, though is in the midst of an historic run of form, helping Red Bull smash the record for number of consecutive race wins by a constructor with 12 in a row.  The Dutch driver has contributed eight consecutive triumphs to the tally since Sergio Perez's win at the Baku City Circuit in Azerbaijan. Despite being on course for a third straight title, Max Verstappen still has his doubters 'For me, Max hasn't proven himself properly in a car which doesn't have the capability to win yet,' Bradley explained on the On Track GP podcast.  'I'm not talking one which had a possibility to win, I'm talking one which really didn't have a chance to win. 'But whereas you look at the real greats, Senna, with that 1984 [season] driving the Toleman but then winning in an uncompetitive Lotus when his teammates weren't on the podiums, then he went into a good car. But even when the McLaren wasn't good in '93, he still won races in it.   'You look at Schumacher. He won the World Championship in that Benetton when his teammates were absolutely nowhere, took Ferrari and was winning races in 1996 when, again, they were nowhere. Despite a record-equaling seven world titles, there was no place for Lewis Hamilton on Bradley's all-time greats list. 'You look at (Mika) Hakkinen, he was winning races before McLaren were in a position to win the championship. Prost has won the most races not starting in the top four of anybody in history.' Perhaps surprisingly there was no mention of seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton but there was praise reserved for one his biggest rivals, Sebastien Vettel. 'Going back to the [Sebastian] Vettel factor, Vettel won a race in that Toro Rosso, and was consistently in the top six' Verstappen is well on his way to a third world title, so it appears there may be some time before he is able to satisfy Bradley's criteria for greatness.  Share or comment on this article: Max Verstappen is brutally told he will NEVER be as good F1's greatest drivers despite racing towards a third-straight world championship triumph via Formula One | Mail Online https://www.dailymail.co.uk?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

[lesbiancolumbo]

of course!

so it was a pretty intimate seating experience. when i tell you i was directly in front of him in the first row... it was kinda crazy. it was just him and his friend dan lipton on the piano and you'll have to forgive me because i won't be able to remember the name and order of every single thing he played... my memory is not the best, but it was about a ~75 minute experience and it consisted of a couple of songs and then brian would talk to us and tell stories about these songs/what they meant to him. it was honestly incredible.

here are some songs he played in as close to chronological order as i can remember (again, sorry!): beautiful city from godspell, vienna by billy joel (these are his childhood influences), barrett's song from titanic and what is it about her from the wild party, songs from barry mannilow and sting (the sting song was seven days, i do not remember the barry song name), at the fountain from sweet smell of success (he told two great stories about mike nichols here), his cover of unusual way from nine, a couple of songs with his daughter (one was natasha by rufus wainwright, one was one she had written, i don't remember the name of the third one! it was really cute seeing them sing together :')). he sang you'll be back and talked about hamilton, he mentioned days of wine and roses but didn't sing anything from that show - instead he chose to sing how glory goes from floyd collins and talked about how incredible the upcoming broadway production was going to be. he sang a song off of his christmas album (michigan christmas) which made me laugh cuz it's so iconic of him. he closed the show with who i'd be from shrek and then did a traditional irish song called the parting glass as his encore, which he did mostly a cappella. this was one of the most gorgeous parts of the show because the song ends with the lyrics "good night and joy be to you all".

i might have forgotten a song here and there but it was just such a beautiful night - i cried multiple times over the course of the show - because he clearly loved being there, loved singing with his daughter, loved all the songs he sang and the shows he talked about, even though he said he really never thought he would do a show of songs he'd originated and performed because he really doesn't like to dwell on the past, but doing it for us tonight was cathartic for him. he still inhabited all the different characters as he sang... i just love him. a really, really special show and i'll cherish it forever, and not just because he specifically called ME out in the front row during the concert lmaooooo.

he sure did do that.... he sure did