Oscar Piastri was nearly passed by Carlos Sainz about 50 million times and almost got into a collision with him. Again.
Magnussen hitting Perez, retiring him, Perez, and his teammate Hulkenberg from the race. At this point, he’s trying to get a race ban so that Ollie can have another go at points (question: what team will he be representing in the standings?)
Ocon trying to overtake his own teammate, and getting collided with. His team boss? principal? (I still don’t know what’s going on with Alpine, someone tell me who it was) going on French TV and saying that there’ll be consequences. Or something like that. And getting a 5-place grid penalty for Canada
Rest of Monaco was pretty calm, but CHARLES LECLERC FINALLY FUCKING WON MONACO
That last fucking lap of Indy500. Pato was just so close
rachel: “canada is a circuit that you thrive at. are you excited about the prospect of racing there?”
lewis: “ummm… i’m excited to go to canada! i wouldn’t say i’m excited about the prospect of racing there…”
rachel: “but do you rate your chances a bit more, given what we know now?”
lewis: “i don’t see a lot will be different.”
rachel: “i’m trying to be positive!”
lewis: 😄 “i appreciate it! i mean, i’ll go there and as always, i’m gonna give my absolute everything. and it’s good to see that the team are bringing performance.”
anyways i genuinely and deeply believe that seb is one of the best, well-rounded, most talented racing drivers currently active and i think no matter where he was racing, he'd adapt within less than one season. he's incredibly versatile, everyone who has worked with him praises his quick understanding, intelligence and detailed feedback. he's a genius on track and seizes every opportunity he can and any team across all of motorsport recognizes his talent. so many other drivers know him to be courteous and friendly and so many racing series want to win him (and the fanbase and recognition that comes with him) to drive for them. It's clear that once a team is genuinely happy to have him and listens to him, he's a major force that very few other drivers could come up against.
congratulations to Mme. Pascale Leclerc, who has surely just experienced both the funniest and most unhinged weekend a mother could ever have. Dear fucking christ, I hope your middlest son brought you a bottle of champagne for yourself, ma'am.
I went down a bit of a Martian rabbit hole today and came across these pictures of Sebastian Vettel congratulating Mark Webber for winning the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix.
Uhh…let’s just say I went a teeeeeny bit feral. *glances guiltily down at my broken fingernails* Oops…! 😳
Look at these pictures and tell me they don’t look like they were about to kiss each other right there and then. I DARE you!
Apologies if these images are all out of order. That’s just how I ordered them! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
i am once again compelled to talk about the significance of the "i'll just bring it home" radio message because not only did it feel incredibly poignant and meaningful in the moment despite its simplicity, it quite literally took my breath away when it appeared on screen. after all these years of heartbreak and pain and missed opportunities, charles was comfortable and confident enough to deliver his home race win with unprecedented ease. the fact that this was perhaps his easiest win to date is what makes it all the more significant. everything was on his side this weekend. the car, the weather, the red flag, it all just came together PERFECTLY, as if it was all aligned to help him win. monaco well and truly loved him back this time around. and he was able to bring it home with no anxiety, no stress, no pressure, the only thing in his way being the tears of joy and relief blurring his vision at the end. and they couldn't stop him either. this moment belonged to him. and if that isn't pure poetry i don't know what is.
This whole Monaco 2022 crashgate makes me think back to Monaco 2021. Where a certain other driver also crashed, thereby securing his own pole and ensuring that Max could not improve his time. I’m not talking about the eventual heartbreaking DNS that followed 24 hours later. But before that, there were a whole lot of tongues wagging, of speculation, of suspicion.
Of course, Max wasn’t happy back then either; he made that loud and clear on the radio. But when they asked him - right after that whole ordeal, no telemetry or analysis available to him yet, in the height of his disappointment - whether he thought Charles had crashed deliberately, he said:
But Max didn’t stop there. He defended Charles further:
You know… Monaco, the track where quali is everything and where it’s impossible to overtake, where he was clawing for every point in the championship, while others were snarking and questioning Charles’ motives, where a year later he had clear suspicions about his own teammate immediately (May 29, 2022):
When it came to Checo, he also didn’t hold back advocating for quali rule changes for drivers who cause a red flag (May 29, 2022):
And yet, not for a single fucking second did Max Verstappen even consider questioning Charles Leclerc’s integrity, and he basically called you stupid if you did. This was the same angsty, red-faced teenager who raged “he’s just not fair!” on a rainy day 10 years ago. But here he is, 10 years later, defending that same boy with the stupid floppy hair because he knows him, what kind of competitor he is, what kind of person he is. He cannot even entertain the idea that Charles is capable of cheating. And this - this - is exactly why their rivalry will always remain unparalleled for me.
When Max and Charles talk about the fairness and respect between them, they really fucking mean it.