#still wanted to see felipe drive in f1

[chriss-club]

CONGRATULATIONS 😭😭😭😭

#formula 1 #f1 #lance stroll #bahrain gp 2023 #at least he’s not injured anymore #still wanted to see felipe drive in f1 #maybe another day #i had to change the tags so not to be taken out of context again

[nico-di-genova]

In My Mind, You are Safe

Chapter 4

Read on AO3

“Be safe,” Lance says, leaning down into the car enough that Fernando will hear him through his helmet. It is a bit like Deja vu, pulls at the dregs of a memory, Lance’s last moments in his own car that are still muddled.

Fernando glances up at him through his visor, nods, “Be back soon.”

It is a promise, soothes at the anxiety that prickles along Lance’s spine. Fernando is exceedingly careful in the car these days, in all the ways he can be when he’s doing 300 kph, because he knows Lance is sitting in the garage waiting for him.

Lance cannot race anymore, he’s prone to migraines, his right leg can’t withstand the force required to push down the pedal, the g-forces are a threat to his body that he’s so carefully spent a year putting back together. The FIA will not clear him, no matter how much money his father had tried to throw at them. Instead, Felipe has taken up permanent residence on what used to be his side of the garage - permanent until Yuki replaces him next year. The number 18 exists now only on the small decal Fernando has added to his own helmet, beside the victory cross. The gesture had only fueled the rumors about them, Lance being the first person Fernando greets when he gets out of the car now hadn’t helped.

They’re not subtle, but Lance has earned the luxury of not needing to be. Silverstone especially owes him this, considering it has tasted his blood, nearly claimed him like Lance was the sacrificial lamb brought to the alter. This was the race they had been preparing for, mentally, since Fernando first sat Lance down and explained he wasn’t ready to give up driving.

——————————————

There is an itch under his skin, one he can’t quite reach, when he sits behind a wheel - even if it is the leather wrapped wheel of his Aston Martin as he drives Lance to his physio appointment. His grip tightens around the brown leather, his foot presses harder on the pedal, Lance shoots him a look like he understands. Fernando thinks it looks a lot like jealousy.

They don’t talk about it, the F1 sized car that follows them like a backseat companion, the silent elephant in the room. But Fernando knows the further he pushes the gas, the more Lance looks like it physically pains him. He eases off, lets the speedometer drop back down to a safe range, grabs Lance’s hand that had been tensing around the fabric of his sweat pants and squeezes reassuringly.

Lance doesn’t say anything, doesn’t need to, Fernando can see the tick of his jaw out of the corner of his eye and knows they are close to the breaking point anyway.

———————————

“I want to go back,” Fernando says over dinner, when Lance is chewing a mouthful of roasted veggies and cannot immediately bite back. He tries to be gentle about it, even as he sees Lance’s shoulders tense.

They have been toeing this for months, Fernando snapping because they’ve been stationary in his London home for too long and Lance snapping back because it’s his body that is broken, not Fernando’s, as he likes to point out with spitting frustration. There have been fights, small at first, growing in the past few weeks. Fernando tries not to be mean, but Lance is good at cutting to the bone. They’ve been sleeping in separate rooms.

Lance swallows, stays quiet, his grip on the fork in his hand goes white knuckled. He does not meet Fernando’s eyes, but instead stares down at his plate with resolute defiance.

“I have talked with Lawrence-.”

Lance scoffs, drops the fork so it clatters against the glass top of the dining table. It skitters across the surface before reaching the edge and falling to the ground. Last week it had been Lance’s plate, glass shards exploding across the wood flooring. They’d been fighting about something stupid, the dishes Fernando had left in the sink, a distraction from the conversation Fernando is starting now.

“Lance-.”

“Fuck you,” Lance spits, shoves back from the table with enough force it shifts along the floor, scrapes the hardwood. Lance has been leaving his mark on Fernando’s home like he is trying to prove that he is still there.

“Lance, please-.”

He’s speaking to the retreating back of the man, standing himself because Lance is heading for his room and he wants to stop him before he’s speaking to a locked door.

“Lance-.”

He gets one hand around Lance’s bicep, the fabric of his hoodie, before Lance is jerking away and turning to face him.

“Don’t,” he warns, eyes already dark with the promise of a fight, lips already twisted into a pained scowl. Fernando can see the hurt in his expression, hates that he’s the one to keep putting it there.

“Please, let me explain,” he pleads, reaching for Lance again, needing to soothe the pain from him.

Lance steps back, shakes his head, “Fuck you, Fernando.” His voice is thick, clogged, promises tears even if they haven’t appeared yet.

Fernando swallows back the rising tide of his own.

“You said you wouldn’t go back until I did. You said that.”

“I know-“

“So you’re a fucking liar.”

“No-“

“You talked to my dad. Behind my back. To what? Set up another contract? Was it easier to negotiate now that you could hold caring for me over his head?” Lance wants to hurt him, is trying, stabbing with brutal efficiency because he is tired of being the only one hurting. Fernando gets another hand on him, Lance jerks back away from it like he’s been burned. They’re standing in the living room with their dinner forgotten behind them and Fernando can see the tears forming in Lance’s eyes but he doesn’t know how to stop them anymore.

“I would never Lance, you know this.”

“Do I?”

“Lance-“

“Just stop! Stop. I don’t want to have this conversation with you. Go back to racing, I don’t fucking care. Crash your own car into the wall and then maybe you can join me here again.”

Fernando swallows, blinks, sees Lance’s blood seeping between his fingers in the millisecond of darkness. Lance is still bleeding, and Fernando cannot stop it.

When Lance walks away again Fernando lets him go, jumps at the sound of the door slamming and tries not to think of the way it sounds like an Aston Martin crunching into the concrete.

——————————————

Lance does not go with Fernando to his first race back. Instead, he flies to Montreal and cries in his mother’s arms when she opens the door to him.

He couldn’t drive himself here from the airport, the sun had been too bright and his head had hurt too much and so he’d been forced into the backseat of a tinted SUV and dropped off on his mother’s doorstep. He’s wearing Fernando’s jacket, stolen from his closest as a final fuck you, or maybe a promise that he would be back to return it. It smells like the man, makes the sharp stab in his gut hurt even more. When his mother answers the door he crumples.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she soothes, as Lance sobs in her arms and tries to ignore the throbbing pain in his leg.

Right now Fernando is probably sliding into his race suit. Right now he is thinking of plan A, thinking of winning. Right now he is speaking with Felipe who is driving Lance’s car, with Lance’s team. Lance wonders if Fernando will fuck Felipe too, tell him he’s doing a good job, crash into him and send his whole world spiraling out of control along with his car.

“It hurts,” he cries, unable to tell if he means his body, or his head, or the gaping hole Fernando has left in his chest. It’s all the same at this point, indistinguishable.

———————————

“My son is with his mother,” Lawrence accuses.

Fernando, hair still damp from his shower, skin still flushed from the podium, has the decency to look ashamed. It only makes Lawrence angrier.

“He flew to Canada. Alone.”

“He is cleared to fly, Lawrence-”

“I told you. If you stayed you better mean it. So why is my ex-wife telling me Lance was crying on her doorstep?”

Lawrence can be an intimidating man when he means to be, when Lance isn’t around to make him appear only as a doting father. He makes sure to stand to his full height, tower over Fernando in his temporary office in the Aston Martin motorhome. Claire had told him Lance had only just fallen asleep, after the migraine pills had soaked in enough to make the rest come easier. She’d FaceTimed him while she was lying with Lance in his bed, the brown tufts of Lance’s hair just barely visible from where he was passed out in Claire’s lap. When she spoke, it had been in a berating hush.

Fernando must know about the flight, he doesn’t look shocked to hear Lance is not where he left him.

“I don’t know how to fix this,” he admits, hangs his head. “Racing, I am good at. It is what I know.”

“Yeah. It’s what Lance knew too.”

Fernando jerks like he’s been punched, looks up at Lawrence with shame and hurt.

“I wanted him to come back. I want him in the car beside me. I thought- I wanted to think he could.”

Both he and Lawrence know it’s a lie, both knew there was no chance of Lance racing again. Delusion could only go so far, and the scar on Lance’s abdomen was too large to ignore. When Fernando had asked for his seat back, Lawrence had given it to him on the condition that Lance agree. Instead, Lance is in Canada and Fernando is alone.

He’s wearing a hoodie that’s too big for him, is clearly one of Lance’s, Lawrence almost demands it back. But he is not cruel, and Fernando is hurting in much the same way his son is.

“I told you it wouldn’t be easy,” Lawrence sighs, “he’s stubborn, you’re hardheaded.”

“He is upset I came back,” Fernando mumbles, “I do not blame him.”

“He’s hurt that you could,” Lawrence corrects, places a hand on Fernando’s shoulder. It might be a comfort, or a threat, he isn’t sure which yet.

On the FaceTime Claire had demanded he fix this, while her hand was soothingly working its way through the tangled strands of Lance’s hair. He’s still trying to decide just how he’s going to do that. Fernando has been his friend, someone who he once would have trusted his son’s life with, and now he is the man who has nearly ripped Lance away from him, who Lance loves.

“You have time before the next race?” He asks, less of a question, more of a demand that he make the time.

Fernando thinks it over, nods.

“Book a flight to Montreal.”

——————————————

Lance sleeps a lot now, has little else to do to pass the time. He sleeps because the sheets he’s wrapped up in smell like home, because when his mom sits beside him he feels small and safe, because when he dreams it is the one place he can still be behind the wheel.

He dreams of winning, and wakes to the soured taste of failure. In the end, everyone was right, Lance is not a victor and he will never prove them wrong.

At some point he falls asleep and wakes to Fernando pressing a kiss to his temple, isn’t sure if he’s still dreaming. The scratch of his stubble, the scent of him, like rubber and pine, is strong enough that Lance chases it. His head lifts, his eyes flutter open, and Fernando is staring back at him.

“Nando?” He asks, groggy, reaching a hand blindly for Fernando and finding himself slightly startled when it meets his chin and doesn’t phase through. Sometimes he dreams of chasing Fernando, in the car, or on legs that sometimes don’t support his weight, watching the man slip out of his grasp when he does manage to catch him.

Fernando grabs his hand with his own, leans into Lance’s touch where he’s cradling his cheek. He’s kneeling beside Lance’s bed, in a position that would have Lance aching in two seconds if he tried it. Sometimes it’s funny to remember that Fernando is the older of the two of them. Ironic that Lance is the one who complains of sore joints now.

“Hey, churri,” Fernando greets, smiles softly. In the morning light filtering through Lance’s closed blinds his smile is muted, doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

The nickname is sweet, soothes over the cracked edges of Lance’s ripped open chest.

“How was the race?” He asks, as the last bits of sleep keep his mind foggy, makes him forget to be angry. Instead he is focused on how warm Fernando feels, on the fact that he is wearing one of Lance’s favorite hoodies - the one with the string pulled out because Lance had messed with it so much it had become frayed, made more sense just to remove it entirely.

Fernando grimaces, shakes his head, “I will tell you later.”

“Okay.”

“Can I lay here?” He nods at the sliver of empty space on the twin mattress behind Lance.

Lance nods, closes his eyes because his head is starting to ache again and sleep is the only way to stop it. Water too maybe, if he bothered to stay hydrated enough.

Fernando climbs onto the mattress beside him, nuzzles his nose against the nape of Lance’s neck and presses another stubble rough kiss there. His arm wrapped around Lance’s waist is gentle, hand splaying across his scarred abdomen like he’s trying to protect him from further harm.

Lance feels him breathe, the warm press of him along his back. It lulls him quickly back into unconsciousness.

———————————

Lance’s shirt rides up enough in his sleep that when Fernando wakes it’s to the rough edges of his scar against Fernando’s calloused fingers. Gross fascination has him tracing it, all the way up until he meets the end of it just below Lance’s ribs. He can feel the ghost of Lance’s heartbeat here, hear him snoring softly in his sleep. It’s healed now, the wound, which means that Fernando has not seen it since he stopped having to change the bandages. Lance doesn’t like him looking at it, avoids seeing it himself.

They stopped showering together, and they haven’t slept together since Lance’s accident. Fernando blames himself partly for the latter. Despite how much he wants to, he is afraid to hurt Lance further. Instead, he jerks off in the solitude of his room now and bites his hand to stop Lance’s name from spilling out of him.

“You don’t fuck me anymore,” Lance had complained one night, before the fighting had them sleeping separately, and Fernando hadn’t disagreed.

He is scared, afraid of the damage he has already caused, terrified of wreaking more. The scar under his fingers is proof, unfading, permanent, makes him feel sick with guilt.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers and presses another kiss to Lance’s neck. Lance has told him to stop apologizing, but he doesn’t think he could ever say it enough to absolve himself.

Lance will never race again, and Fernando is already back in the car. Because he is selfish, because he does not know how to sit still, because racing is all he knows and in caring for Lance he is scared he has only hurt him further.

Lance moans in his sleep, shifts back further against Fernando. Fernando holds him, fully, wholly, and hopes it will be enough.

—————————

“If you want me to stop, I will,” he says to Lance later, when they are sitting in the sunroom of Lance’s mother’s house. It’s warm only because of the heater set to high, the snow piling against the windows doing little to help.

Lance, bundled in a blanket and a beanie on the couch beside Fernando, stares at him. Looks hurt for only a second before his brows furrow and it becomes anger.

“What?”

“I’ll retire, if you want me to, I will do it,” he means it as a gesture of trust, as proof that he does not want to lose what they have. Even if not being in the car would make him a little crazy, even if he would always yearn for it.

Lance stares at him. He pulls the blanket tighter around himself, ducks down further into the fabric. It’s the comforter pulled from his bed, dark blue with grey stitching. Fernando wonders if it’s the same bedding he slept under as a teenager. Wonders if this is what Lance might have looked like when he occupied this space as a child.

“You mean more, Lance. More than racing, you know this.”

He isn’t sure what to expect but Lance’s response of, “Go fuck yourself, Nando,” certainly wasn’t at the top of his list.

“You don’t get to put this on me. Retire if you want, but don’t blame me for it.”

“That is not what I meant-“

“Yes it is, of course it is, because you don’t want to stop. You know you don’t. You just want me to tell you to and I’m not going to trap you here. I won’t be responsible for that.”

Fernando watches him, watches as the dim sunlight through the clouds catches the shine of tears in his eyes. Watches as Lance pulls the blanket impossibly tighter, like he’s trying to vanish inside of It. He wants to reach out, pull Lance to him, but is scared to shatter the feeble ground they’re resting on. Too many conversations between them have turned to arguments these past few weeks.

“Because it fucking sucks, man,” Lance sniffles, wipes at his eyes with the fabric of the comforter, “being on the other end, knowing you’re done. I won’t do that to you.”

But I did it to you, Fernando thinks. I did this.

Lance’s blood will not wash off his hands, will not stop dripping through his fingers. He is pressing as hard as he can and Lance is still looking up at him with fear blown eyes and a silent plea. He is mouthing Fernando’s name and all that is coming up is crimson that stains his lips.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he whispers into the quiet space of the sunroom. More of you because so much has already been taken by Fernando’s own hands.

“I won’t tell you to retire. Please don’t make me.”

“What do we do then?”

Lance shrugs, muffles his response against the comforter he folds further into, “I don’t know.”

———————————

Fernando races in Jeddah and Lance stays in Canada. His mind is scattered, unfocused, thinking of a kiss in the fresh snowfall that had felt like goodbye. Which is maybe why he taps the wall on lap 6 and ends his race in the barriers of turn 23.

Lance is the first missed call on his phone when he gets back to the garage. He calls him back immediately.

“Are you okay?” Lance asks, answering after two rings, sounding panicked in a way that is new. Fernando hates it, hates how he can hear the hitch in Lance’s voice.

“I’m fine, cariño, don’t worry. It was small.”

Lance sighs, shaky across the line, “you’re sure?”

“Already cleared by medical. About to go to the media pen now.”

Lance should know this, if he’d been watching as he so clearly had he would have seen how insignificant of a crash it was. Barely anything.

“But the wheel snapped hard, your hands-“

“Lance, I am okay. Promise.”

A bit sore maybe, from the straps digging into his chest, but no more than he’s already used to. Lance still sounds worried, his breath still hitching.

“Lance?”

“Sorry- fuck. Sorry,” he sniffles and it’s a wet sound, thick with snot.

“Baby,” Fernando soothes, feels the familiar guilt at the back of his mouth.

“I’m sorry. I don’t- I don’t know what’s happening,” Lance continues, breathing worsening. “I thought- it was- I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Lancito. You’re okay. Breathe baby, is okay.”

He’s standing with his race suit around his hips in the garage, hadn’t even made it to the privacy of his drivers room because he didn’t think this would be much of a phone call at all. His handler is standing in the back trying to flag him down for the media duties he’s probably currently missing. Lingering engineers keep shooting him confused looks. Lance is panicking on the other end of the line though, safe in Canada wrapped in the security of his childhood blanket and it still isn’t enough to quell his choked breathing.

“Lance. Listen to me. Please. I am okay.”

“O-okay.”

“Completely fine. Some bruising maybe, but is all.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want me to come home, you can see yourself?”

Home meaning to Lance, he doesn’t care whose house it is, as long as it’s Lance who’s opening the door for him.

There’s static on the other end of the line, Lance’s muffled hyperventilating and then, “Y-yeah. Yes, please.”

“Okay, let me finish up here and I’ll get on the next flight. It’s alright. All okay.”

“Okay,” Lance repeats.

Fernando thinks of blood, Lance who’d been choking on it, how Lance wouldn’t have been there to pull him from the wreckage if that’s what it had come to. He wonders if Lance is thinking the same thing.

“Breathe,” he commands one last time, waits until he can hear Lance drawing air into his lungs, and then promises to be home soon. In the media pen he is short, curt, excuses himself with a speed that is unlike him off the track and then rushes back to his drivers room to change. His assistant has already booked him a flight and sent the details to Lance, all handled while Fernando was explaining to SkySports how he had ended his race in the wall.

He thinks about retiring on the plane, has a text to Lawrence drafted, but can’t bring himself to hit send. After all, the crash hasn’t scared him, just made him hungry for the chance to do better in the next race.

————————

Lance doesn’t remember his crash, not outside of the YouTube footage and Fernando’s own account. He doesn’t remember being scared, feeling his body failing him as he bled out steadily on the gravel. But he maybe feels the ghost of it when Fernando crashes.

He tastes copper at the back of his throat, far enough back that it can’t be blamed on split skin when he bites at his bottom lip too hard. They replay the crash, slow it down to discuss the details and Lance feels sick.

He calls Fernando, even though he knows the man is still in the car, only just climbing out of it, and swallows down vomit when it goes to voicemail.

It’s only the front wing that’s damaged, buried in the tire wall. And Lance can see that, but he can’t stop shaking anyway.

His mother sits with him, holds his hand while Lance tries to breathe around his tears. It is perhaps the most vulnerable he’s been with her since he was a child, with anyone, usually trying to hide away on his own before he breaks down. But the panic coursing its way through him glues him to the couch and then keeps him there long after he’s off the phone with Fernando.

He drifts in and out of sleep, takes pills that are offered to him and sips water from a glass with shaky hands when it’s pressed to his lips. At some point someone brings him food, crackers and fruit that he picks at numbly before growing disinterested and falling back asleep.

When he wakes up next it’s with a pounding headache and to the darkness of night. His phone is the only light, bright and harsh, making him squint as he paws for it on the coffee table.

There are two missed calls and six texts from Fernando, the last of which reads ‘here’ and sent two minutes ago.

Lance, barefoot and in a thin sleep shirt, stumbles to the front door with blind relief. Throws it open, despite the snow and the harsh wind, and then flings himself into Fernando’s arms.

“See,” Fernando soothes, cradles the back of Lances head, “All okay.”

————————

“I will retire at the end of the year,” Fernando promises, once they’re back indoors and warming themselves by the fire started by the staff and left running for Lance’s benefit.

They’re curled up on the couch, Lance having stripped Fernando of his shirt so he can inspect the bruises left behind by the straps of the car. Fernando sits with his back sinking into the plush pillows beneath him and Lance sits straddling his lap. He’d buried his face in the crook of Fernando’s neck after inspecting him, ensuring the bruises were just that, and then cried silently while Fernando traced patterns along the ridges of his spine. And then they’d stayed like that because Lance had gone slack against him and his breathing had evened out.

“Give me the year, yes? And then I am done.”

He’d thought about it on the ride from the airport to here, fingers picking at the edge of his phone and biting the inside of his cheek. He’d weighed the cost of his career against the cost of losing Lance and found that F1 would never win in the end. Besides, there was always endurance racing, other series he could entertain himself with. Other things Lance could maybe even take part in. He’s thinking about taking Lance karting, loops around a track, just the two of them, where Lance can maybe start to build back toward something. Because he knows Lance is the same as him, deep down, misses the feel of a wheel in his hand in the same way Fernando had during his brief breaks. When you are raised on it, when it is the only thing you know, you grow to miss the taste of it.

Even if the taste has gone sour with fear.

“One more year?” Lance asks, chapped lips moving against the soft part of Fernando’s neck, “That’s what you want?”

“I want you, Lance. That’s it. It is not the same if you’re not there.” Which is true, Felipe does not race the same, is not as sensitive to the finer bits of the car, does not have the same easy presence that Lance had. It all feels wrong, not at all like the team Fernando had signed on to, even most of Felipe’s engineers are new. And sure, their results are better, but only barely. Lance could drive the car to its limit, Felipe is still too reserved.

The grid is changing as a whole too, enough that Fernando finds himself searching for familiar faces in a sea of strangers. But being here with Lance is easy, feels right, even if the man is heavy against him and the weight of him is making the bruises on his chest ache.

He would hurt for Lance, do anything for Lance, knows that it isn’t the car he wants to be with in ten years time, but the man in his lap. Lance has been here just as long as racing has almost, once as a child who had clung to his father and looked at Fernando with adoration, now as someone who Fernando would consider an equal. He means just as much as a championship might, more maybe.

“It’s you. Always you, okay?”

The car can crash, Fernando will always pull Lance out.

————————

Lawerence has been working his whole life to make Lance smile, and yet it is still Fernando that manages it so easily. Fernando who wins in Silverstone, who stands on the top step of the podium and showers first Max and Charles in champagne, and then turns to douse the crowd below him. It is Lance he aims for, stood beside Lawerence and beaming up at Fernando as the champagne spray showers them in sticky drops.

Lawrence watches his son, the way he cheers Fernando’s name with the crowd, the way he’s sporting Fernando’s team cap backwards on his head, the new one, with the 18 embroidered along Alonso’s number. Because it is not just himself the man is racing for this year, but Lance as well.

The FIA hadn’t wanted to allow the duel numbers at first, but while Lawerence could not buy Lance his health back, he could do this. So 18 finishes next to 14 on the podium, because both numbers are present on Fernando’s suit as well. It is Fernando who will earn the points, but it is Lance who Fernando celebrates.

Lance laughs beside him, and Lawrence cherishes the sound, lets it replace the fading memory of a heart monitor and silence. He lets the champagne soak into his suit, watches it coat Lance’s hoodie and Fernando, and he envisions it soaking away the blood that was spilled here a year ago. Envisions crimson giving way to sweet champagne and the audible sound of Lance calling Fernando’s name.

Fernando is no longer hooking a finger around Lance’s pinkie, praying he wakes up, afraid to touch any other part of him, instead he has slid a metal band onto his ring finger and it glints in the sunlight.

It is nearly as bright as Lance’s smile.

#it is done :) #also this too was written on my notes app #stuck at my parents without my laptop so this is the result #I actually am very proud of this #reviews very much appreciated because this one took a lot out of me tbh #strollonso #strollonso fic #formula 1 #lance stroll #fernando alonso

[fcb-mv33]

Reactions to Max entering f1 at 17

"He is an exceptional talent that comes along only once in decades. Most likely Ayrton Senna [he is comparable to]. And in such a case you must not look at his age. He has been talking with people who are experts when it comes to the development of youngsters and they all say that [in terms of] his mind he is more like 22 than 16.”

"He has been racing since he was four years old - professionally. So we expect him to be competitive from the first race. We are not playing the lottery - we know what we are doing. And success proves us right." Helmut Marko.

"I think it is just one number on your passport, the age. At the end of the day you need to be ready for the challenge and be ready for Formula 1 grands prix. Some people are ready at 17, some people are ready at 28 - that is what we don't know. So before saying anything we need to see how Verstappen does next year and after six to eight races we can see if he was ready or not. But at the moment anyone is ready." Fernando Alonso

"Personally, I do think he is too young." Jean Todt, FIA president

"It's too young because in F1, the risk is high. In F1 you don't go to learn, you have to be ready. F1 doesn't allow you to do too much learning."- Mika Hakkinen

"We consider Max to be as one of the most skilled young drivers of the new generation and we believe he has the necessary maturity and mental strength to take on this challenge successfully. This year he has already demonstrated how well he can cope under difficult conditions."- Franz Tost

"I think that's really positive, it's good for the sport in general. I'm happy for that Seventeen is a little bit young! For sure, we need to wait and see how he's going to perform in his first year. I think the most important thing is that he has the talent; I mean he's quick. I hope he can be clever as well, to learn everything from Formula 1."- Felipe Massa

"He is still a boy so it is very risky. You don't take a 16-year-old, who hasn't even been to university, in the best hospital as a doctor even if he is very good and very intelligent. You need to pay dues; you need to deserve it because that is only how you will become a man."- Jacques Villeneuve

"All the journalists are always asking 'is it only with money that you can get to the sport?' and things like that. It's great to see that if you have the talent and you really deserve it… there have been many examples recently that have made it into F1. That's important, that's good. Of course, it's very young but I think we'll be OK."- Nico Rosberg

"He was seventeen when he drove Grands Prix for Toro Rosso, but he already made such an overwhelming impression there. Max was immediately super-fast. And he showed that during his first race weekend with us. Max did phenomenally in the practice sessions, was even faster in the third practice session on Saturday morning and put Daniel right up against the fire."

"He is doing a great job and driving the wheels off the car and he is racing hard. When sometimes a new guy comes along and upsets the establishment a bit then they do get a bit of criticism and he is not rising to that, he is keeping his head down and enjoying his racing.”

"I don't think he has done anything wrong, he has raced hard, he is exciting and giving it everything every time he is in the car. He loves what he is doing, he is passionate about it. In Brazil, you could hear him - he wanted to go racing on Sunday afternoon - whereas a lot of others wanted to park the car."

“For a guy can’t even rent a hire car I think he’s demonstrated a prestigious talent”- Christian Horner.

“We are not playing the lottery - we know what we are doing. And success proves us right."🧡

#he really proved all the criticize wrong by the end #constantly proud of him #but my heart will always hurt thinking about how quick some of those drivers were #to be dicks to a 17 year old when he fucked up #or how the media were so excited to see him Gail #he deserved a lot more back then #and he still does #rambles #f1 #formula 1 #red bull racing #🦁🧡 #max Verstappen

[myimaginarywonderland]

Hello people it's me. After struggling how to do this, here's finally how I am uploading my post about Lance's F1 career.

I decided to hit you guys with the qualy comparisons of him and his teammates first and foremost. It's just data where I highlight the Qualifyings he did better in but I thought it would be nice to see how far of he actually was.

Before going into my very long rant (about 8000 words) that I tried to keep as objective as possible I do want to note that of course there will be personal opinions and comments throughout as I am also just human and a fan as well. And with that note, let's dive in

Lance Stroll's journey to F1 and the question of why he is probably one of the most underrated drivers on the current grid

Lance career began in 2008 when he first started carting. During 2008 and 2009 he won multiple championships in the Canadian junior category. 2010 saw him winning the Rotax Mini Max of the Florida winter Tour. In that same year he was signed on by the Ferrari driver academy. Considering he was only 11 at the time and had basically only just started carting, that was a huge deal. Yes not every signed driver by Ferrari makes it blah blah but they made it very clear that they saw potential in him and wanted him to be racing in Europe for them. So, 2011 saw Lance first time competing in European championships. In one of those he was 9th for example. The just mentioned WSK-Euro Series in KF3 saw some familiar drivers such as the winner, Max Verstappen. Some other names that might sound family for example P2 would be Esteban Ocon or George Russell in P7.

2012 and 2013 saw him once again in many carting championships before he started Formula racing in 2014. He competed in the Florida Winter series where he got a pole and two podiums once again up against Max and drivers such as Tatiana Calderón or Antonio Fuoco. But most importantly from that year, he won the Italian F4 championship by nearly a hundred points. 2015 saw him competing in the European F3 championship where he finished 5th after the following drivers (all names many of you will be family with): Jake Dennis, Charles Leclerc, Felix Rosenquvist and Antonio Giovinazzi. That same year also saw him finishing 8th in the Macau GP behind once again driver such as Charles Leclerc and Felix Rosenquivst. He also in that year won the Toyota racing series by over a hundred points. This year he also left the Ferrari driver program and joined the Williams academy. He became their development driver for 2016.

In 2016 he once again competed in the F3 to this time win it by a nearly 200 point advantage. P2 saw Maximilian Günther and P3 was none other than George Russell. He also raced the Daytona 24 Hours where his team finished 5th overall.

Before we move on F1, I do feel the need to address something that has been brought up multiple times. The rumours that Lance had a better car because his father was rich, that his team-mates never had a chance etc. I think that is complete bullshit and frankly manly used to underline his talent. Even with the best car, the worst driver would do something wrong. Sure you can call him mid but considering the huge gap he had in his second year, I think it's fair to say he had talent in him. Also the fact that Felix regularly comments on Lance posts does not seem like there is any bad will against him. Yes, he had better equipment etc. to win but the way he wrapped up the season still speaks to his talent.

2017- The start of it all

Lance started his F1 career in 2017 with Williams. His team mate then was Felipe Massa. This was a huge leap considering Lance short experience with Formula racing and it was understandably questioned. Nonetheless 2017 saw him starting alongside Felipe who jumped into that seat after Val signed with Mercedes following Nico's retirement. I think it is also noteworthy to mention here that in 2016 he already was a development driver for them so there was always the probability for him to drive. I personally think he could and should have done another year in Formula racing (F2) but that is my own opinion. What people however also seem to forget is that will it might have been to early for him in F1, he did have a bit of experience as the Williams development driver. And considering that they had just lost Val who looked like one of the youngest and most promising drivers on that grid, it made sense for them to search for another young driver for their team.

He made his depute in the Australian GP. During that third free practice, he crashed as he was going too fast which then resulted in him having a penalty (he qualified last.) At the race start he gained about 7 places before he had brake issues and had to retire the car. His second race saw him qualifying tenth but immediately taken out on the first lap by Sergio (could be argued for a race incident but I think there's more blame on Perez.)

Now, his third race same him time wise qualify closer to his team mate but only in 12th place. In the race he flat spotted his tyre and did an early pitstop before his collision with Sainz. (Sainz came out of the pit lane very quick and just dive bombed into him. He was behind even after exiting the pit lane so Sainz should have waited for Lance to drive past.)

Russia finally saw a turn around in his luck. He once again qualified 12th and finished the race in P11. His fifth race after that saw him just mere 3 tenth off his team mate but sadly out in Q1 and overall he finished P16.

Monaco saw him crash out in FP2 and qualify 18th. He got up to 15th and then later in the race had to retire because of overheating brakes. Luck once again not on his side.

Canada finally saw a change when he not only qualified 7th but managed to come 9th in the race. He finally scored his first points in his home race.

Then Azerbaijan happened and for the first time ever Lance out-qualified his team mate and got 8th. But that is nothing compared to the drive he managed to pull off in that race. He wasn't the quickest but he once again proved that sometimes just consistently driving is enough to get into a good position and then profit from it. Many of the top teams drivers dropped out due to penalties or problems but that doesn't discredit Lance consistent drive in the top 10 which managed to get him a podium spot. Incredible how he managed to keep a gap and his place and only just missed out because of Val in the last corners. If not for that he would have gotten P2. A great race from him.

Next race once again not a great Qualifying in P18 but still managed P10. The first two laps saw Lance move up to P11 and then hang around that most of the race.

Next race he qualified 16h (penalty moving him up 1 place) and dropped to 16th .

The next race he qualified 17th and finished 14th. His qualifying was hindered by Kvyat.

After that he got once again unlucky and because off a damaged rear wing was only able to set one lap which meant he qualified 18th and finished just outside the points in 11th.

Then, something I feel like many people also don't know, Lance started the next race as the youngest driver ever on the front row (he originally qualified only 4th but penalties of both RedBull drivers put him up to second place.) During that entire qualifying he was only slightly off from the top 3 teams. Did he drop back during the race? Yes, he only finished 7th but you have to consider that his car did not have the race pace to compete with any of the three top teams and he wasn't even in the best midfield car. Side note, this was a wet qualifying and just behind him was Esteban. Funnily enough that changed in the race where he and Esteban where the best mid field drivers behind the top teams.

The next race yet again saw him qualify 18th and yet he finished the race in 8th. A chaotic race with many DNFs saw Williams massively profit, especially Lance. After that the following race saw him qualify 13th and once again finish 8th.

After that another qualifying in 18th. That race saw Lance up to 11th before he sadly went off and then seemed to struggle with the car. After that he ultimately failed to finish as a result of a puncture on his front wheel.

In the US GP he qualified 17th as a result of a penalty for him hindering Romain. The race saw him finish 11th, just outside of the points. Mexico saw him qualify 12th and finish in 6th. A great race from him where he was in the top 5 until Seb overtook him.

After that he once again qualified 18th and finished 16th. He was two laps down after a problem with a front tyre. The last race saw him qualifying 15th and he finished 18th .

Another incident that many like to blame him for here is the post-race crash with Seb. Bizarre but truly only because it seems like neither is really fully at fault. Also, if this is one of the only things you can use against a driver, maybe you might want to reconsider if he truly is such a bad driver. Anyways, I still put a video here for anyone that is interested. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRAN9pzdwsw

So, what does that mean for his first F1 season?

Well, his qualifying besides Imola you could argue was lacking pace and I absolutely will agree that it was bad. Then again what would you expect in someone's first F1 season, especially when up against a solid driver like Massa? Still, his qualifying definitely should have been better, I will agree. He was too inconsistent and too far off. In comparison to Massa he seemingly could make up places more easily though. All of the negatives are clearly overshadowed by the fact that in his first F1 season he was only 3 points behind his team-mate with double the amount of DNFs.

Not to mention that he not only is one of the youngest podium sitters but he is also the youngest front row starter (All in his first season.)

He had 4 DNFs of which he was not at fault for anyone of those (maybe in the racing incident but then again I see the blame more at Perez side than anyone else’s.) Yes he had about 3 free practices were he crashed then again he is was a rookie. Sure it's not great but accidents like that happen especially when you are not only new to the car but the entire form of racing.

So, all in all if you look at his statistics:

For his first season he managed a podium, a front row start and 6 points finishes in maybe the 6th best car? He finished just three points behind his team-mate in 12th (with 40 points) in the overall standing. His average Qualifying position was 14 and his average race finish was 11th.

Considering he had no F1 experience, had only been racing in Formula championships for 3 years at that point and was up against Felipe Massa who is still regarded very highly, I would say he did quiet al-right.

If anyone is interested in his DNFs, so you can form your own opinion:

Sadly I can't find a video of his first incident but the race is easy to find.

Here is him and Perez https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka11N-hLshE

Here is a video of him and Sainz colliding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDNGfCTpJpQ

This was in China where he had a puncture on his front wheel (Also he could barely avoid Daniel since it is hard to steer when your wheel is like that yet he still managed to not make it into a big incident which I think deserves some credit)

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/japan- 2017-lance-strolls-puncture/907887256034924/

2018- a season to forget

Now in 2018, without a doubt there was a huge step back which is because that car was truly not it. I would say it was the worst car on the grid, therefore you should take these results as the lest credible. That Williams wasn't predictable in many ways and you could probably name this as the season the team went downhill. With Sergey as a new teammate and Lance only a year in F1, there also was the problem with having inexperienced drivers to give feedback for that car and lead the team.

In the opening race he qualified 14th and finished in that same position. After that he qualified 20th and finished 14th again. China saw him 18th and once again finish 14th .

Then he just merely missed out on 10th and qualified 11th and somehow managed to get into the points at 8th. I should mention however that this race saw may DNFs but I think he still did a good job with that car.

Spain saw him 19th but he managed to finish 11th in that race. Again capitalizing from DNF but still impressive considering he qualified behind his teammate. His bad qualifying continued with 18th and saw him finish in 17th .

Sadly at his home race it wasn't much better with a 17th place and DNF after a collision with Brendon Hartley. France saw him qualify last again and DNF as a result of a tyre blow out.

After that he finally managed to get into Q2 again, qualifying 15th and finishing in 14th , getting a 10-second penalty for ignoring blue flags.

In Great Britain Lance had to start from the pit lane because parts of his car were changed and still managed to finish 12th. Once again he was able to profit from some unfortunate DNFs but still a good drive.

In the 11th race he qualified 19th and once again had a DNF as a result of a problem with his brakes (They retired the car during a safety car period).

The next race saw him qualify 15th but start from the pit lane due to changes under Parc-fermé which meant he only finished 17th. Spa saw him qualify 19th again and finish 13th.

Monza finally brought good results in a 10th place in Qualy and a 9th place finish. He was nearly the best of the rest in a car that somehow just seemed to work on that track. Probably his best race of that season. A great drive.

After that he qualified 20h again and finished 14th. Once again making up places and outplacing his teammate.

Russia saw him last in Qualifying and 15th in the race. Then he qualified 14th and finished 17th.

The US GP saw him qualify 18th and finish 14th. Qualifying in Mexico saw Lance 19th again but he finished the race in 12th.

That picture didn't really change much in Brazil where he once again was 19th and finished 18th. And the season didn't really end on a high. Qualifying last and finishing in 13th.

So, how can we sum this up?

Well, even though this season was arguably his worst he still somehow got 6 points which is 5 more than his team mate Sergei Sirotkin. While his Qualifying still was lacking(an average of 17), it is still impressive that with that car he managed to have an average race finishing position of 13th. It is also notable that he was often times making up at least 3 places in his races where he finished higher which given the struggle that car seemed to be is worthy of noting. In comparison to his team-mate it is clear that Lance struggles in Qualy but consistently finishes in a similar position.

Out of the two of them he also managed to get multiple points finishes even though he qualified further back, something which I would argue is a strength of him. Yes most of their points finishes were as a result of the others misfortune but still, they had to capitalize during these races and most of that did come from Lance. Also, quiet a bit of Qualy saw him closer to his teammate.

Here's the DNFs for anyone that is interested:

Canada was arguably the biggest one where I understand why people might blame Lance but seeing how unpredictable that oversteer was and how he struggled with the car I would say it was more a racing incident than anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPn_GCa3mU

The tyre blow out in France https://twitter.com/F1/status/1010997824928878592

There isn't anything about Germany but watching the race you will see them retire the car towards the end.

2019- a season of change

Lance went to Racing Point and now has Sergio Perez as his team mate. Obviously with Lawrence buying RP and saving that team as well as Esteban losing his seat, Lance was not at all well received and already was guaranteed to be heavily judged, more so than what would have likely been fair. While I do get that point of Esteban losing his seat, I would also argue that the team of Sergio and Esteban was clearly not working and would have in the long run probably cost that team more points than they liked so I think there also is a tactical reason behind it.

In Australia he qualifies 16th but what people don't remember is that in Q1 he and Checo were only separated by less than a tenth of a second. That race sees Lance finishing 9th. After managing his tyres longer than Perez he managed to stay in the top 10,even closing in to 8th while having to keep others behind.

The second race of the season sees Lance qualifying 18th and finishing 14th. Next race Lance qualifies 16th and finished 12th.

The fourth race sees Lance qualify 16th and finishing 9th. He made up a flew places and was even closing in at the end.

Spain sees Lance qualify 17th and not finishing after coming together with Lando.

The next race saw Lance qualifying 18th just behind Sergio and ultimately finishing 16th.

Lance home race once again sees him qualify 18th just under a tenth behind Sergio. He manages to finish in 9th place. Just going to add this little video that quickly shows some of the moves he made . A great race for him.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/canada-2019-stroll-puts-on-a-show-for-his-home- fans/824107727965322/

The 8th race sees him in 18th but he manages to finish the race in 13th, just a place behind Sergio.

Austria once again sees Lance just a tenth behind Sergio in 17th and that race he finishes in 14th.

Something very similar happens the next race when Lance is just about a tenth of Sergio and qualifies 18th. That race he finishes 13th.

The German GP sees Lance finally in Q2 in 15th place. That race he comes 4th. An incredible drive to the surprise of many considering this is a wet race where a lot of drivers got themselves out of podium positions. Yes he was leading that race for a short while and was potentially on for a podium but I don't think there is any way he could have beaten that Ferrari or RedBull/Toro Rosso package who just seemed more dominant. Yeah sure you could argue what would have happened but the fact was, Racing Point made the smartest decision that race and got the maximum points thanks to Lance driving.

After that great race he qualifies 19th and finishes 17th.

In Belgium he qualifies 13th but due to changes of car parts starts from the back. Despite that he still finishes that race in 10th place.

The next race he finally manages to outqualify Sergio by quiet a margin and gets himself into Q3 and 9th place. Sadly he drops back to 12th in the race.

In Singapore he once again is less than a tenth behind Sergio in Q1 but sadly only manages P16.

During that race he gets up to 13th place.

Russia sees him P15 (P14 after a penalty for Pierre) and then up to P11. He just missed out on points.

In Japan he once again outqualifies Sergio and get P12, managing to climb up to P9. He finished just behind Checo.

Mexico saw him 16th and getting up to 12th.

In the US GP Lance once again by a huge margin manages to outqualify Sergio and gets 14th place.

In the race he finishes 13th. In Brazil he qualifies 17th and DNFs. The last race sees him qualify 13th and sadly not finishing.

This was an incident at Monza that many like to use against Lance where Seb clearly rejoins the track in an unsafe manner causing Lance to nearly crash. Lance does it similarly and I agree that it was stupid from him but also Lance clearly was on the racing line and his engineers should have told him who was coming from behind as every driver would want to go back into the race and away from the racing line. You can clearly see by the speed of the cars behind that the field was close together. Still not a good manoeuvre from Lance but in my opinion different from Seb.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2019-italian-grand-prix-vettel-and-stroll-collide-at- monza/269709670687851/

So what can we say about Lance's season?

I think he showed a step up in Qualy. If you look at his and Checo's times in most Q1s they were often less than 3 tenths apart and they were times when Lance was even less than a tenth off. I think he was still inconsistent but his Qualifying definitely improved. And I think the big points gap is largely down to Lance qualifying further back. You can see that there are quiet a few races where they made up the same places but because Lance qualified further back so he got less points.

Then again you have to question how much of their points or performance difference might be down to Checo having been with the team for a longer time and being a more experienced driver.

Did he outperform the car? Did Lance underperform? I think you can see progress here from Lance and I think many people misjudge their points difference. You also have to see that Lance in that year could have gotten a podium and scored the teams highest result. If you round their averages, Lance qualifies 15/16th place and finishes 12 while Sergio qualifies around 12/13th place and has an average finish of 10th .

Here's the DNFs for anyone that wants to check them out:

This is Lance and Lando. Honestly, for me a pure racing incident. Lance didn't expect Lando to make a move there, Lando might have been a bit too enthusiastic with that manoeuvre. I wouldn't put blame on one of them, just a simply misjudgement and miscommunication that cost both of them the race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.spanish-gp-norris-stroll-clash-brings-out-

the-safety-car.6060938080001.html

In Brazil he ran over debrief and as a result of that might have broken his front suspension.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.brazilian-gp-stroll-retires-with-front-suspension-damage.1687522499774886264.html

In Abu Dhabi there is firstly a first lap incident which damages his car. I can see fault on his part but I also think that this is just a typical first lap incident that is unfortunate. I couldn't exactly find a clip where it shows him retiring but ultimately a brake issue forced him to retire.

2020 and the story of what could have been

Oh 2020 my behated. Lance is still with Racing Point and still has Sergio as a team mate.

The first race saw him qualify 9th and than immediately out of the race. He had to retire with engine issues and could have possibly scored points had that not happened (he would have likely been P8 or P9.) The next race saw qualify 13th and finish 7th just behind Sergio. An incredible drive that saw him defending his position until the line quiet literally.

Hungary saw him start from P3, an incredible Qualifying and finish P4, just behind the Mercedes and Max. He was basically a top driver during that weekend. There was no better result to achieve.

The British GP after that ended with him in P9 after starting P6.

In the Anniversary GP he started P6 and finished in P6.

The sixth race saw him start from P5 and finish in P4. Once again being the best outside of the expected top 3.

It continued so well with a start and finish of P9 in Spa.

It got even better when Monza came and Lance managed P3 after starting P8. Yes, he did throw away a potential win but I am certain that he would have been overtaken by Sainz anyway because he had more speed that weekend with the McLaren package so I don't think he could have ever finished higher than P2.

And then it went downhill with Mugello, kick-starting the “What ifs”. From P6 (he moved up after Perez took a penalty) to a DNF. A puncture sent him to the barriers possibly costing him a podium.

Before going off he was P4 chasing P3. At the very least he would have gotten a P5 finish.

Next up was Russia where Lance qualified 13th. When I say it starts to go downhill, I mean it. He was fighting for P11/P12 and then got taken out by Charles. I am certain he would have at least got P10 if he hadn't crashed out, potentially even up to P8.

The next race Lance misses out because of Covid so on to Portugal we go. He qualified 12th, not bad. Then of course there is the incident with Lando which for me personally was a racing incident but I can see the blame on Lance. It was an ambitious move, some might cool it reckless but so many people would be praising any other driver if that had worked. It ultimately resulted in him having to retire because of that damage.

Next up was Imola where Lance started 15th and finished 13th. Due to contact with Esteban during the first lap he had to pit early and that basically ruined any chance he had at the race.

And then Turkey happened. The heartbreak and elation that weekend inspired. First off all, if anyone tries to discredit Lance Pole as anything other than possibly one of the greatest Qualifying results in the last years I am smashing their heads with a hammer. Yes that Racing Point was a fast car. Yes, they obviously could be podium contenders if Mercedes or RedBull messed up. But considering Max reputation and Lewis pure race craft, I don't think anyone thought that they would be anything other than the top 2 drivers. And in comes Lance with a lap about 3 tenth faster than Max in a worse car.

Incredible. And then Racing Point saw that and + Sergio's P3 and went “Nah, we can only have one of them on the podium.” During that race I genuinely thought the first 30 laps that Lance would win. And then they go against his pit call which turns out to have made things worse (no pace) and discover later on that Lance had a problem with his front wing which slowed him down. Therefore he only got 9th.

I don't really want to talk about Bahrain because the only thing that mattered about that race was seeing Romain get out of the car but I have to if I want to recap Lance performance. I am going to keep it short. He qualified 13th and didn't finish as he was turned upside down by Kvyat. Would have probably been a points finish but truly nothing of that race really matters or mattered other than Romain being okay.

The next race finally saw something good again with Lance qualifying 10th and being third on that podium. This was overshadowed by Sergio's win but it was a great result from him and the team.

The last race saw Lance in P8 and finishing in P10.

Spain had a great start for him again which I just want to add here.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.spanish-grand-prix-stroll-overtakes-bottas-with-amazing-start.1687526223371988110.html

So, what is the overall season summary?

This was without a doubt Lance best season. I mean come on. The only reason why people think he did bad is because they merely look at the points which you can't. Lance had so many DNFs this season where he wasn't at fault and which meant he missed out on huge points. I don't doubt that if he only had half of the DNFs or even if Turkey had gone the way it should have, he would very much be closer to Checo. Without a doubt he was never as close to a team-mate than he was in 2020. Even Qualy shows how mostly they were so close pace was. I think he would have had at least 2 other podiums (Mugello and Turkey) if luck had just been a bit more on his side. So therefore I think he would have had at least a 100 points. Sadly that didn't happen.

But this was undoubtedly his greatest season so let's just collect his achievement that he did have: He got the best qualifying results of the team that year, a pole and a third place. He also got two podiums and two fourth place finish. All the races expect 1 that he finished were Top 10 finishes. He outqualified his team mate multiple times.

Here are the DNFs if anyone wants to look them up:

There is no clip I can find of the Austria GP since they basically just call him into the pits.

The Mugello DNF (This is a fairly heavy crash so don't watch it if you can't see stuff like that) A possible puncture, another incident completely out of his hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ebaeSw8ZE

This was Russia where Lance got taken out by Charles. I don't really think it's the worst attempt I have seen but yeah, blame to Charles because he clearly saw Lance if that camera perspective is anything to go by.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-russian-grand-prix-sainz-and-stroll-crash-out-in-chaotic-sochi-race-start.1687515300528811143.html

Lance and Lando's collision during the Portuguese GP (I can accept that the move by Lance wasn't the smartest and I can also fully understand why people blame him.) However I think so many people jumped on this because of the Free Practice incident between Max and Lance where it was clearly just a miscommunication and misunderstanding.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-portuguese-grand-prix-stroll-and-norris-collide-at-turn-1.1687510148078074772.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QJTAVnaLRI

(This is said Free Practice accident)

Kyvat flipping Lance (again you shouldn’t watch this if you cant deal with heavier crashes). Some say racing incident, I would say more blame an Daniil but I am just happy Lance was okay especially after Romain's accident before.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2020-bahrain-grand-prix-stroll-flips-and-crashes-after-kvyat-contact.1687510862145773128.html

2021- up against a champion

Now it's time for change! Not only is the team now Aston Martin but Seb is Lance new team mate. And the car is well there.

In the first race Lance outqualifies Seb and not only starts but also finishes in 10th.

Imola presents a similar picture where Lance outqualifies Seb and gets 10th place. And he finishes 8th! Sure he got a 5 second penalty for leaving the track but that is still a good start to the season.

In the third race it starts to go a bit downhill with Lance qualifying in 17th and finishing in 14th , just behind Seb in 13th.

Spain once again sees Lance start and finish in the same place, this time 11th. That qualy saw him just miss out on P10 where he was off less than 10/1000. He had some good battles though like with Fernando.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-spanish-grand-prix-stroll-wins-wheel-to-wheel-battle-with-alonso.1699487558908336755.html

The next race is good once again. Lance qualifies 13th and finishes 8th. Considering that this is Monaco and there isn't really any overtaking opportunity, that's huge especially with Seb finishing P5.

Baku sees well a bit of a downer. First he has his Qualy crash (Absolutely his mistake then again hitting the wall happens to many drivers) and during his race he suffers a tyre blow out which causes him to crash

(See the qualy crash here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txr4NfOoZys).

In France he once again fails to set a qualy time to get out of Q1 but more as a result of bad timing. He couldn't have predicted the others would crash so no fault on him there. He even managed to set a lap which was sadly deleted but would have been faster than Sebs. He somehow manages to get back to 10th place just one behind Seb in the race.

Styria sees Lance qualify in P10 and finish in P8.

The next race once again sees him P10 in Qualy and then the race finishes with him in P13 with a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

The tenth race sees him start in P15 and finish in P14 in the sprint. In the actual race he gets P8.

Hungary looks promising with a P12 start but then well carnage happens. I will comment on those incidents in a bit.

On to Spa where he qualified P15 but was sent back to P20 as a result of the collision in Hungary. I won't talk about this race because it was still one of the biggest jokes and bullshit things this sport has done in recent years. Lance got a penalty for the work done under the stopped race. All in all a weekend to forget.

Zandvoort could be promising with a P12 start. Nothing major happens, he also finishes P12. He has a moment with Seb where Lance moves across from Seb to possibly cover him off from overtaking him. Dangerous driving I will admit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLT3XQ96FAY

Monza sees him Qualify 12th and manage to get up to 10th during the sprint qualy. In the race he finishes P7. He does another borderline move on Seb which I won't deny. I however feel like people over dramatize it. For me that wasn't nice but it was still okay. The only reason why people really criticize it so much is because you shouldn't do that to a teammate. Again I can understand why people dislike it but that still doesn't take away from the great job Lance did that weekend, considering he just missed out on Q3.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rRMnO3mmPY

Russia is there, with a P8 start and a P11 finish. But we obviously have to talk about it. Not only did he have a great start where he overtook multiple cars but he also hit the wall and had contact with Seb. He hit the wall as it started to rain but he was still able to keep going. The incident with Seb is well yeah Lance fault. But I think it wasn't so much mean spirited as more plain underestimating space and possible struggle with the conditions. Seb even said that it was a misunderstanding and that Lance probably didn't see or expect him there.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-russian-grand-prix-mega-stroll-start/228625209311917/

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-russian-grand-prix-onboard-as-stroll-slides-into-the-wall.1712063737151581609.html

Turkey has a P9 start and a P9 finish but once again shows Lance skill as it is a wet race.

The next GP sees a P12 start and P12 finish. Quiet a race though as Lance was first spun by Nicholas Latifi and then nearly had a collision with Mazepin.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-united-states-grand-prix-nicholas-latifi-and- lance-stroll-collide/248666900567613/

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-united-states-grand-prix-mazepin-strolls-close- call/402411924879898/

Mexico comes with a slap of penalties so qualy doesn't really matter anyway. He also crashes in Qualy. https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2021-mexico-city-grand-prix-stroll-crashes- out-of-quali/627086791628083/

Still a P14 finish though.

Brazil once again sees the useless sprint Qualy which manages to get Lance up from P15 to P14.

Nothing really happens in that race position wise for him so he stays P14. However he has a scrap with Yuki which honestly was just Yuki in my opinion trying a way too ambitious move. They actually fought quiet a bit that race. Lance retired in the race as a result of the damage he suffered from the accident in the first lap.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-sao-paulo-grand-prix-tsunoda-and-stroll-collide-at-interlagos.1716425125628029095.html

Quater sees Lance in P12 and he manages to get a P6 finish! A great drive from him especially considering that he had to make his tyres last longer.

The penultimate race sees both Astons struggling in Qualy with Lance in P18. He manages to get up to P11.

We don't want to talk about Abu Dhabi because it was a robbery and a shit show but we have to because people keep saying it was only bad for Lewis when drivers like Lance where also massively effected by the FIAs incompetence. He started P13 and finished that race but by god was it a nightmare. I am just going to leave the comms between him and his engineer here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK5SbgqcjIA

My summary:

While last season showed how great Lance can be, this season was huge for him in terms of development. Not only did he outqualify Seb multiple times but he also was incredible consistent.

Almost every race saw him somewhere between 8 or 12th with an average finish of 11th. Yes Seb has more points but almost half of those came from his podium (which I am absolutely not discrediting or taking away, just merely pointing it out.) If you consider that Seb has over 10 years in that sport compared to Lance rushed into it and now being in his 5th + Seb being one of the greatest for many, it truly speaks to Lance credit how close he was to him and how much he managed to consistently score.

I won't deny that this however also is the season where I would argue Lance had some questionable manoeuvres and many borderline racing incidents. This however also shows that even with a car that wasn't great Lance was consistently in the midfield battling for points.

Here's the DNFs:

Baku which sadly was just out of his hands

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-azerbaijan-grand-prix-stroll-escapes-heavy-high-speed-crash.1701823437935060912.html

The Hungary chaos from multiple perspectives. You can clearly see that Lance is of course at fault for it but he immediately recognizes that and apologizes. There's been mistranslations where it looks like he blames Val which is not true. He knows he fucked up. Drivers look up but yeah totally on him although I will say I first thought he was trying to avoid that carnage by going onto the grass. In his interview after he says he possibly ran over debrief which given the carnage in front of him isn't hard to believe. So yeah, for me personally more of a domino effect then anything.

Valtteri's bad start set a series of unfortunate events into motion.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2021-hungarian-grand-prix-drivers-react-to-turn-1- crash.1707071583705474820.html

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.lance-stroll-reacts-to-disaster-hungarian-grand-prix-start-crash.1706899140973058269.html

2022- a shitbox in green

Another year at Aston Martin with Seb but instead of a bad car they now got a green tractor to honour Sebs environmental perspective.

In the first race Lance qualified 19th and finished 12th. The second race sees Lance start in P15 and finish P13 but a lap earlier due to a longer pit stop and damage after coming together with Alex.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-saudi-arabian-grand-prix-albon-found-to-blame-for-clash-with-stroll.1728538480607161440.html

Australia sees well a bizarre qualifying. Lance and Nicky crash during Q1 for which Lance later gets penalized. In my opinion completely undeserved. As you can see, Nicky clearly moves over to let cars pass which Lance then does only for Nicky to seemingly want to retake that position very fast with a much to small gap. I don't fully blame Nicky but I understand why Lance didn't expect him to come back so quickly and I personally see it as a bad communication example more than an accident where you have to shift blame.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-australian-gp-qualifying-latifis-car-destroyed-in-bizarre-crash-with-stroll.1729611513723725817.html

In the race he manages to get back up to P12.

Imola once again has a sprint weekend which doesn't affect Lance who still remains P15. In the race he manages to get back to P10.

The new Miami race sees Lance qualify from P10 but due to an issue he has to start from the pit lane. And still he gets P10.

The sixth race he quallified 18th and finished 15th. He didn't really score points but he could have scored higher had he not been spun around by Pierre.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lSP08f5Slk

Next up was Monaco. Lance qualifies P18 and finishes P14. He hit the wall during the formation lap but then again it was a wet race.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-monaco-grand-prix-latifi-and-stroll-hit-the-barriers-on-wet-formation-lap-in-monaco.1734171020113023239.html

Baku saw Lance qualifying 19th and not finishing. His Qualy which I will give people was bad. Like crashing twice (also the second time was a result of the first) isn't what you should expect from someone who at that point was 5 years in F1. However he had engine issues that entire weekend which is also why he didn't finish so you start to wonder if they maybe played a tiny role.

His home race saw him qualify P18 again but he finally got points again with a P10. His move on Seb was dangerous and probably cost Seb a position or two. But also, Lance start in that race was like incredible. What a great start.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1591574059808165888?lang=de

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1587415154936930304

Silverstone sees Lance start last and finish in 11th. A good start which saw him avoid all the chaos in front.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7_Elsl4jGM

Austria once again sees a sprint which means he goes from P17 to P13. Nothing changed in the race and he finished in P13. Some battles that were nice but ultimately with the Aston Martin tractor not that great.

The next race saw Lance once again in P17 and finishing in P10. An incredible race from him and I just want to show his start because we rarely ever saw how great his starts can be and how close the midfield is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOaKfdx6wrw

Hungary saw Lance qualify P14, finally into Q2 again. The race saw him finish P11. Considering he got spun around at one point by Daniel I would say that's a good result.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5I-95BkUK4

Next up was Spa where Lance once again got into Q2 and qualified 14th. Because of penalties of other drivers he started P9 and finished P11.

Zandvoort saw him even into Q3 and qualify P10 which is also where he finished the race. Up next was Monza where he was once again starting from P17 but because of penalties got pushed up to 12th which was very promising. Sadly he had to retire the car because of breaks overheating.

The next race had Lance start from P12 and finish in P6. And then Japan came back. Lance only qualified P19 but finished P12. The start he had to that race was just wow. During a wet race he not only managed to overtake multiple cars but he also just quiet literally drove past them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwJvwpCnRwU

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2022-japanese-grand-prix-lance-stroll-makes-lightning- start-to-go-from-19th-to-p11-on-opening-lap.1746188182712421933.html

Next up was the US GP where he qualified 7th which considering he was best of the rest in a car that was 9th fastest deserves a shout-out. Especially when it put him up to 5th because of other penalties.

Sadly his race was over rather quickly. He DNFed after colliding with Fernando.

https://www.facebook.com/Formula1/videos/2022-united-states-grand-prix-fernando-alonso-and- lance-stroll-come-together/885762125676389/

I have seen people say that Lance move is dangerous but you are allowed to move over to defend from an opponent, some of you need to remember that. Yes he should have moved more clearly but there was still like Lance said enough space. I think it was just a bit misjudged which lead to the racing incident. But yes I can see why people were to put blame on to Lance since he should have not just moved a bit or could have defended it later. He got a penalty for his move which would be applied in Mexico. A penalty that I agree with because his defending was too robust and late.

Mexico saw Lance start as a result of his penalty for last race. He finished 15th.

Brazil saw him qualify 15th and finish 16th in the sprint. What he did during the sprint to Seb I'll agree was a bad move. In the race he managed to get back up to 10th.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hCpPzHBQ1k

The last race saw Lance start 14th and finish 8th.

I think looking back on it now especially comparing it to 2021 and 2020 which were undoubtedly some of Lance best performances, it's hurts seeing 2022. There were many mistakes made by him and I think a lot of that is also down to him just not seeming to be comfortable with the car plus Aston just struggling in general. Lance Qualifying was definitely lacking and there is no doubt that he clashed more with Seb than he should have. I won't say many of the incidents he had that season reflect good on him.

However I think it's truly unfair that people would judge him based of one season that was bad when he had a car that was nearly the worst car on the grid. It is also very clear that controlling that car was very difficult.

I also raise the question again: How much better do we expect him to perform against Seb? This isn't me dismissing his incidents this is merely looking at results.

How much can you really expect from Lance to be close to Seb in that car without trying to diminish as arguably the better driver? How much can we compare their performances? Or rather how much can we judge Lance especially when he was against Seb, a 4 time world champion, a runner up multiple times?

If we were to merely look at results for this (which I have started before aren't everything), we will see that really they aren't that far apart. In the races where both of them finished they are mostly only 2-3 places apart which is interesting if you consider that Lance often qualified further back.

But, like I said results don't speak for everything so if you were to say which season was Lance worst, I would probably say this.

I want to draw your attention now though to some positives from that season like Lance amazing start in Japan which shows he is talented.

Or the fact that Lance got Aston Martin's highest Qualifying that season with 7th which turned into a start from P5 after penalties of other drivers were applied. He also had the most positions gained and was in the top 10 for most overtakes in that season.

Here are the DNFs:

This is Lance and Alex making contact which resulted in both of them out of the race. Personally a racing incident for me as they seemingly both misjudged the space or weren't expecting the other to turn in. I would argue it's a bit ambitious from Alex but I don't think it was penalty deserving on either end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDg9cweEbew

Side-note: I also don't know why people think Lance crashes a lot or is know for his dangerous driving. Sure during his first season he crashed twice in free practice and had a few DNFs but almost 80% of his DNFs are either not his fault or simple race incidents. Then again he had 2 other free practice crashes in his second season but that doesn't make him a bad driver? The worst he ever clashed with another driver was Seb in 2022 which I will give people. However I really don't see why people say he is famous for colliding with others when many couldn't recall any incident that involved him and another driver that wasn't in 2022 or the last season. He isn't memorable for bad driving although 2022 might reflect badly on him.

So what is the conclusion?

Why did I title this document the way that it is? That is simple to answer. I completely mean it.

In his career if we ignore 2018, Lance has had/has the following teammates:

- Felipe Massa, who was nearly a WDC

- Sergio Perez who was one of the best midfield drivers at that time

- Sebastian Vettel, a 4x WDC

and now Fernando Alonso, a 2xWDC.

People forget that not only was Lance in F1 with very little experience at an early age but he has also had world class drivers, some regarded as the greatest as his teammates.

Not only that but he has consistently improved over the years and had rarely any bad clashes that he was responsible for.

The worst he did was against a 4 x WDC in one of the worst, if not the worst car on the grid, a car that he didn't feel confident in and that was hardly able to be predicated and difficult to control. That was his worst year in F1 where a lot of the mistakes where his fault without a doubt.

But people truly forget how great Lance can perform, especially in the wet and how he dominated Perez in 2020 until his streak of luck was cut short to no fault of his own. Not only that but he outqualified Seb in 2021 multiple times, was more consistent than him with his race result etc.

Not to mention the things he has already achieved.

He is one of the youngest podium sitters, the youngest front row starter (all from his first season), has multiple podiums (and would have had more if not for his unlucky streak in the later half of 2020), has a pole and has managed to be close to many of his teammates (if you don't only lock at results.) Not to mention that even though his qualifying was inconsistent, he always had good standout performances.

And he is one of the best starters on that grid. There are some races where he just drives past 5+ cars like it's nothing which often shouldn't even be possible with his bad car.

Yes, he was inconsistent in Qualy many times and yes he had some questionable drives but the later can be said for almost any driver on the grid. Drivers are bound to make mistakes and also sometimes experienced ones because it happens.

Considering how well he is doing in this season with a still healing injury, I truly do not get how he is this discredited and underrated. When it comes to teammates he has arguably had some of the hardest to compete against in the last years.

Not to mention he came into this sport without anyone believing he deserved there. He even questioned his own place in this sport which is bullshit considering he had enough wins and champions to warrant an F1 seat.

#f1 #lance stroll #so yeah this is it guys #if anyone wants to reblog or give me feedback I highly appreciate it

[8celestebells]

Okay so here’s the thing right, I get wanting to live out your dream of getting into formula 1 but at some point we all have to be realistic; like Palou and Pato, like they know they lowkey probably won’t be getting seats in F1 for a while or if ever right… they both accepted that and continue to do their best in IndyCar. But anyways we digress; now I feel like if your gonna make the move to IndyCar I understand wanting it to be with a top team but like seriously though dude that’s also kinda unrealistic, given the top teams are chip ganassi, Penske and Andretti. Maybe Arrow Mclaren. Right realistically only Zac has seen felipe drive, but he has already made his ‘24 lineup for IndyCar, even if he did think he was good enough for their team it’s to late now.

Now I want to give felipe the benefit of doubt and say he declined test driving for Ed carpenter, cause of a scheduling conflicts and not cause they are truly the alphaturi of IndyCar, (in my opinion) but like I love what Robert Shwartzman was talking about (I think a year ago in a interview) that if the opportunity to race came up somewhere else that he would take it cause you lose your talent not racing at all, that not only should apply to just Robert but all f1 reserve drivers who are just waiting around, now I feel like Felipe should have took that chance to test drive ed carpenter’s team car cause not only will it open a door to him but he could potentially get a good team to back him up right.

Now before any of y’all say that IndyCar isn’t a good enough open wheel sport to drive in, yes it is cause any open wheel sport is good to drive in if that what you want to do with your life. Not everyone has that luck Oscar Piastri did and got a seat after being a reserve driver for a year. Now there has always been this conflict of if IndyCar is good enough to have guys from f2 go there to drive instead of being reserved drivers and hope that you get the opportunity to drive In formula 1.

Now here’s my take on this. I think it’s better than just waiting for some kind of miracle to fucking happen and you get an f1 seat. Cause guess what it’s nearly impossible for f1 seats to open up in a team as it is but it’s also nearly impossible to have luck play out on your side and for you to get that seat; cause guess what even if we see lance leave f1 and we see a seat open up in Aston Martin, the chances of Felipe getting that seat are slim. Cause clearly every f1 team looks at various drivers and start to figure out what driver would work best for their team.

Now do I think Felipe should have taken this chance; yes, yes I do I think he’s dumb for not doing it, cause it can open a lot more doors for him, but like I said I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say, his schedule just didn’t work with there’s or that he got a better opportunity somewhere else. But still I feel like you shouldn’t always sell yourself short and he’s doing that by at least not trying.

But ya know no one really knows what his doing other than himself so.

#f1 #felipe drugovich #driver rant

[brasiliangp]

ik you're over the drugovich thing, but i just wanted to comment and i really like ur blog, and it's long sorry 🩷

as a brazilian i do tend to defend our drivers, but i grew up learning that enjoying f1 shouldn’t be taking you to madness or extreme anger/hate, my family was always very cold about separating the personal and professional life of the drivers, you can take as an example schumacher and senna (or any other sport really) said that, i'm really trying to be impartial!!

so do i like drugovich? yes. do i agree with throwing knifes at lance by tweets? no, for me this is stupid and it counts to everyone no matter if they're famous or not. do i think it's the end of the world and he deserves to be punished? definitely not, it's unprofessional but not catastrophic

the likes were a childish action, but you can understand his side at least a little. he is a good driver, with good results and it's trying to prove that he's there for the team, and he's still being tossed out for the guy that it's only driving bc his dad bought the team. and don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that lance is a monster and horrible person, i think exactly the opposite, he's a sweet guy but too inconsistent to stay in the category. if f1 played fair that seat would go for a future promise who could develop their skills (not necessarily felipe),but that's not how it works

and let's break into some of the arguments bc boy oh boy:

felipe would take fernando's seat - not even a single person who actually watches f1 believes in this bs, nando isn't going to be fired, he's not only better driver than lance or drugo (even when he's inconsistent!!) he has name and power. plus, do any of you really see him retraining this season?! the old man still can drive and is here to stay

what he did was horrible - no it wasn't face it, he is just not loved/known as much as the other drivers so you're not willing to forgive him blindly. those tweets weren't nice but lance already faced worst things including from reporters and the f1 fandom, bc i'm pretty sure that if i scroll down into the profile of each person who's accusing felipe at least 90% already threw rocks at lance for really stupid reasons (and the majority of them aren't old situations) so don't be a hypocrite

i never saw smt like this - yes u did, with the old and actual grid, including worst things counting with crimes!! but this is too long and i'm tired, so no list of names bc none of them are secrets. just don't play dumb about the topic, be fair. while you're killing drugo you're also laughing about crimes like they're nothing more than a silly joke

thank u for ur input and kind words <3

#j's asks

[httpiastri]

hi!! so i’m very new to f2 (i’ve only started educating myself on it recently so that i can watch this season and know the teams + drivers), but when it comes to teams, is there a certain team that is capable of winning championships but also isn’t like, the best? like for example, one of their drivers can win the championship while the other driver may not perform as well that season.

(this is so specific i’m so sorry 😭)

dont apologize love!! it's a great question <3

you've chosen a good season to start watching, i think 2024 will be great!! with the new car, everyone will be kind of starting on the same level, and we have a lot of great drivers who will try to prove themselves this year. it's going to be wonderful 🤭

the way i see it, f2 is much more equal than f1, but it's still not completely equal. some teams just don't usually get good results, but there are several teams who are up in the fight for the titles every year. but different teams have different budgets, different levels of skill in their engineers & other staff members, and so on.

so i think i would say that the short answer is yes, some teams occasionally will win the driver's championship with one driver while the other driver finishes far from the top in the standings. i'm not sure if it's because the team has invested more money and time into only one car, because the car just fits one driver better, or because one driver is just better – i guess that differs a lot from year to year.

but i wouldn't say that there's just one team that fits into that category. in 2017-2019, the team's championship was won by another team than the team of the driver who took the driver's title. in those years, the drivers of other teams were just more consistent i guess. in 2020 and 2021, prema had two good years with two drivers who constantly were in the top of the points. in 2022, felipe drugovich was very dominant and only finished out of the points twice. and in 2023, it was a very close fight between the art gp drivers and the prema drivers, but the art gp drivers were more consistent.

i made a quick lil summary of the seasons since f2 (the version we have today) started, feel free to skip it if you want to;

2017 - charles leclerc won the driver's championship, driving for prema, but prema lost the team's championship to russian time (now virtuosi racing) as their drivers came 2nd and 4th in the championship (charles's teammate came 8th).

2018 - george russell took the win in the driver's championship, but his team, art gp, lost the team's championship to carlin (lando's team).

2019 - nyck de vries took the most points, giving art gp their second consecutive driver's title, but the team only came third in the driver's standings with 277 points, since his teammate nikita mazepin only scored 11 points all season. dams scored 418 points and their drivers came in second and fourth in the standings.

2020 - prema took the title, after having come second to last in the 2019 team's championship. mick schumacher won the driver's championship, but only 14 points ahead of virtuosi driver callum ilott. mick and robert shwartzman scored a total of 392 points for prema, while callum and teammate zhou guanyu took home 352.5 points for virtuosi.

2021 - oscar's year <3 in 2021, the team's championship wasn't really that exciting; oscar took 252.5 points, robert (who came second) took 192, for a total of 444.5 points for prema. the second best team, virtuosi, scored 288 in total.

2022 - felipe drugovich was quite dominant, scoring over 100 points more than second-place theo pourchaire (265 points vs 164). his teammate in mp motorsport, clement novalak, came in 14th with a total of 40 points – but without those 40 points, mp would've finished third in the championship instead of first. carlin and art gp were 8 and 24 points behind the team, respectively.

2023 - well, i don't wanna say too much about this season because if i start i think i might not ever finish. but i think you could say that all four drivers (theo pourchaire, frederik vesti, victor martins and ollie bearman, finishing in that order in the standings) of the top two teams (art gp and prema) all showed great pace all season. art gp took only two race wins throughout the season, whereas prema took ten. fred and ollie were extremely unlucky at times, though, and i'm not sure if it's because of the team or truly just bad luck. though, fred losing both of his rear tyres was definitely the team's fault... but other drivers had good pace too, like jack doohan and ayumu iwasa who finished 3rd and 4th, while their teammates finished 15th and 20th in the total standings.

hope this wasn't too long and i wasn't too confusing.... feel free to stop by if you have any other questions or anything love!! 💓

#if i got any numbers wrong i will cry #pls don’t fact check me <3 #asks! #anon!

[f1]

Bottas believes Hamilton 'still the fastest driver on the grid' as he calls former team mate 'annoyingly talented'

Valtteri Bottas has revealed the traits Lewis Hamilton has that make him “the quickest driver on the grid” and what makes working with current team mate Zhou Guanyu “a pleasure”. Bottas and Hamilton were team mates for five seasons at Mercedes – from 2017 to 2021 – with both drivers playing a key role in helping the Silver Arrows win five constructors’ titles during that period. READ MORE: Bottas admits Alfa Romeo’s race day slump in Miami ‘reflects our true pace’ However, while they achieved the team’s goals, from an individual point of view Bottas never quite managed to beat Hamilton over the course of a season, with the Briton winning four drivers’ titles to the Finn's zero during their time as team mates. In his Beyond the Grid episode, Bottas told host Tom Clarkson that he believes that Hamilton – who recently called him a great team mate – was “still the quickest driver on the grid”, despite having not won the title since 2020. When asked what made the seven-time world champion so good, Bottas replied: “Well, first of all, he’s annoyingly talented! On top of that, he works way harder than people actually think outside the race weekends. Hamilton and Bottas enjoyed plenty of success during their time together at Mercedes “And in the race weekends, he’s often the last person to leave from the paddock. It's just that combination and he's got big drive inside him to always deliver and do well. “His average baseline performance is so good and then he's really consistent as well. It makes him hard to beat. When I could beat him, that was obviously a good day.” FULL TRANSCRIPT: Read every word from Valtteri Bottas’s fascinating Beyond The Grid interview Asked if he still has a relationship with Hamilton, now that he races for Alfa Romeo, Bottas replied: “Yeah, we still have good friendship. This season, I’ve travelled with him a couple of times. We always have a good laugh.” Since leaving Mercedes, Bottas has developed a good relationship with his new team mate Zhou, and he explained to Clarkson how the Chinese racer compares to Hamilton, as well as his former Williams team mates Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Massa. “Zhou is a very good team mate and a very nice guy,” said Bottas. “Every team mate is different, it's always hard to compare them. Everyone as a human is different as a driver. For his age and experience, he's really mature. “He's obviously got a good education. He comes from a really sweet family. He’s just a good human being and a really skilled driver. It's been a pleasure. It's been nice to see him grow and get faster.” EXCLUSIVE: Take a behind-the-scenes look at Valtteri Bottas’s 2023 pre-season studio shoot When it was put to Bottas that he has seemed willing to help Zhou since his rookie season in F1, the 10-time race winner responded: “Yeah, definitely. I know that when you join Formula 1, you need some help. There's so much to learn. “Anytime he seeks advice, I'm always there and who knows? Maybe one day, vice versa. We are in this as a team. We definitely want to get closer to the front of the grid. For that, we need to work as a team and we both understand it.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #Bottas believes Hamilton 'still the fastest driver on the grid' as he calls former team mate 'annoyingly talented' #Formula 1

[race-week]

Turkey Race Week Rundown

It’s a bit of a short one this week as this weekend is a bit of an unknown and also life things have been hectic

It's time for the second of three Tilke tracks in a row, and coincidentally my favourite track in the calendar this year. We are returning to Istanbul Park for the 9th running of the Turkish Grand Prix.

The only repeat winners here are Felipe Massa (2006, 2007 2008) and Lewis Hamilton (2010, 2020)

Overview

This track is known for being one of the most flowing yet demanding tracks in modern F1, drivers love it because of how nice yet challenging it is to drive and there isn’t anything else quite like it.

It's a high downforce, tyre limited track, there are corners that are rear limited, specifically the tight twisty ones, but turn 8 is the front tyre killer

Istanbul Park is one of the few anticlockwise circuits on the calendar and because of this, the G Forces are quite tough on the drivers necks especially through the long high-speed left-hander at turn 8.

Last year there were a lot of issues with the track surface, as it had been newly resurfaced shortly before the GP, but F1 and Pirelli seem to be hoping that nearly a year on the track surface will be in better shape and be less of a slippery ice rink.

Overtaking is possible here as this is one of the tracks that was designed specifically to aid overtaking in the modern era, but that doesn’t stop the track from losing its own character, there's plenty of high speed sections and elevation changes as well as a variety of different corner types to keep the circuit interesting.

Corners to Look Out For

All of the corners in this circuit are incredible as this circuit was designed to have good racing but I want to highlight three in particular, and these three have picked up special nicknames over the years.

Turn 1 (Turkish Corkscrew): a sharp downhill left-hander immediately after the front straight, this is quite a tight corner with a hard breaking zone and as such it’ll be a possible overtaking spot for the advantageous drivers.

Turn 8 ( Diabolica): The corner is a fast, sweeping corner with four apexes, similar to one of the multi-apex sections of the old Nürburgring. The high loads exerted through this corner contribute to the circuit's reputation for rapid tyre wear. This is an incredible corner to watch the modern cars go through as they take this corner flat out but its a real test of driver skill.

Turn 11 (Faux Rouge): This corner is barely a kink in the back straight but it will have possible overtaking opportunities due to location, mainly I just included this one as I like its nickname.

Who’s at an Advantage

This is kind of a hard one to predict as we don’t have a lot of data on the modern cars around Turkey, as the conditions last year aren’t the best for analysis but in general, looking at the track characteristics I’ll give it a go.

In terms of the front runners I think Mercedes just pips it, there are a few long straights and Mercedes are typically stronger in the low speed corners, of which there are a few in Turkey, Red Bull will probably be stronger in sector two though.

I think this will be the closest fight between Ferrari and McLaren that we will see this season, there's the longish straights that suit the McLaren, but then the tight twisty corner complexes that are more suited towards the Ferrari, but tyres and strategy will be what sets them apart, I also wouldn’t be too surprised if some of the lower midfield joins their fight too.

Out of the lower midpack my money will be on Alpine, I think they have the strongest car in that category at the moment and it seems to suit the classic high downforce, twisty tracks more than the others.

If rain happens, Williams will be strongest of the backmarkers and some of the lower midfield, that car just has a really good rain set up, if not - they’ll still be topping the back markers.

My Predictions

So we already know that Ferrari plan on taking an engine penalty for Sainz, I could potentially see one of the Mercedes powered teams (McLaren, Aston Martin or Williams) taking a new engine too, as it's a good track to take a penalty on, and not as punishing as some of the next ones.

I could also potentially see there being rain in at least one session.

Strategy

Strategy is very much an unknown for this track as last year was a strange race, Pirelli are taking the C2-C3-C4 tyres, which is a step softer than last year, its a potential two stop, depending on tyre wear as there is not a huge amount of time lost in the pits, but I predict that most of the grid or the midfield at least will be doing a one stop.

#f1 #race-week rundown #turkish gp 2021

[ilovejevsjeans]

Why there’s far more to Russell than qualifying specialism

The old adage in Formula 1 that the first person you must beat is your teammate may be cliched, yet it rings true. Drivers constantly compare themselves with the man across the garage, knowing the importance of becoming the in-house alpha.

It makes qualifying head-to-head records a valued statistic for many drivers. As pally-pally as Lando Norris was with Carlos Sainz at McLaren, he took some pleasure in pipping the Spaniard on Saturdays across their two seasons together (11-10 in 2019, 8-8 in 2020). Fernando Alonso’s 21-0 whitewash of Stoffel Vandoorne in 2018 meant so much to the two-time F1 world champion that he was still trotting out the statistic 18 months later.

But even Alonso’s qualifying prowess looks workmanlike compared with that of George Russell. In his 46 appearances with Williams , not once has he been outqualified by a teammate. He equalled Alonso’s 21-0 sweep in 2019, when paired with Robert Kubica – a grand prix winner – and leads Nicholas Latifi 25-0 in their season-and-a-bit together. The only F1 teammate to ever outqualify Russell is Valtteri Bottas, who pipped him to pole in their single race together at Mercedes – and we all know who really walked away as the moral winner that weekend…

It has led to the moniker of ‘Mr Saturday’ being attached to Russell by TV types, who then rattle out those statistics like tickets from a slot machine every time he makes it through to Q2. As impressive as his qualifying record is, to reduce his significance to that of a quali-day footnote belies the true power of Britain’s burgeoning F1 star. Last year in Sakhir he offered a glimpse of what he could one day do for Mercedes, jumping in at the last minute and making full use of the tools at his disposal. But to be true world champion material requires a greater contribution: it’s being a leader, rallying those around you, and being a figurehead in the team’s progression in every area.

They are valuable skills which those around Russell at Williams have seen him hone since making his debut in 2019. “He’s just got better and better, and developed almost with every race,” says Dave Robson, Williams’ head of vehicle performance. “Not so much in terms of the driving, that’s always been very strong. But in terms of his understanding of the whole game that we play and everything that we need to get right and we need his help with, it’s just improved endlessly.

“His role within the team is particular, he takes it in his stride in leading that. He’s an excellent asset in all regards.”

The evolution into a leadership role was something Russell was required to embrace quickly. As the depth of the team’s plight became clear in early 2019, there was a contrast in the response of the two drivers: while Kubica – the more experienced, seemingly senior head – subsided into negativity, the junior Russell accepted the state of affairs and got stuck in trying to make a difference.

“2019 was an incredibly difficult baptism of fire,” recalls Robson. “Once he’d got his head around the situation we were in, he was extremely good at being clear about the order of the problems that needed tackling.”

Dealing with a car as devilish as the FW42 helped Russell hone his development skills and feedback, helping the team make big strides in each of the past two seasons and move off the foot of the pecking order in 2021. He even gleaned some helpful slivers of information during his one-race sojourn with Mercedes, feeding back to Williams that it should change its clutch paddle designs after sampling a different steering wheel.

The technical understanding he has forged is “right up there” with the best drivers Robson – once a race engineer to Jenson Button and Felipe Massa – has worked with: “His technical understanding of what the car has to do, how the tyres have to work, and some of the compromises you have to make, is now as good as anyone, I think, in the pitlane.”

It has made Russell not only an important asset to his team, but also to his teammate. Nicholas Latifi joined Williams as a rookie in 2020, and while paired with a younger driver who had just 21 grands prix to his name, he was quickly able to lean on Russell to help his own performances as he got up to speed in F1.

“It’s been hugely beneficial to have a teammate like George,” Latifi says. “Definitely in those opening races at the beginning of the year and throughout the year, [I was] learning from him what I can in the data, seeing what he is asking for from the car, what he thinks the car needs to go quicker, when I was just trying to find my feet and get up to the limit – for sure relying a bit on that information was very helpful.”

Latifi’s confidence may have grown into his second season, but he still finds it a “great help” to have such a strong reference in Russell – even when on the wrong side of the qualifying scoreline. “Part of it just stems from having George as your teammate,” Robson says of their head-to-head record. “He does have an incredible ability to pull something out when it really matters.”

But it is not just Russell’s on-track capabilities that have made him such a powerful and important figure within Williams. The soft skills he has developed off-track, knowing how to best work with the team around him and keep heads up – even through the trickiest of times – has been hugely important to Williams.

“It’s not just his technical input, but also the way he interacts with everyone and his positivity,” says Robson. “Although he can, quite understandably, get frustrated in the heat of the moment, his positivity and general way he is so constructive is very good and exactly what we needed over the last couple of years. He’s played a big role.”

At just 23 years old, Russell has a growing voice and authority that few of his peers boast. It has earned him the respect of the entire F1 grid, evidenced by his appointment as the GPDA’s newest director at the start of this year following Romain Grosjean’s exit from the series, wishing to represent “the younger half of the grid”. Internally at Williams, he has also used his eagerness to speak up to good effect, wishing to make himself heard from day one.

There’s something about him: when he talks, people listen,” says Robson. “It’s important, provided he’s talking about the right thing. Perhaps right at the beginning, he didn’t always get [that] right, but it didn’t take him long to suss that out and understand.”

Robson’s comment is another sign of Russell’s willingness and ability to learn from his mistakes, a trait that fits perfectly with the culture built by Mercedes in its evolution to a title-winning F1 juggernaut.

It was something that he has already had to put into action this year, having brazenly pointed the finger at Bottas for their crash at Imola and then proposed a theory that had tinfoil hats quivering across the F1 Twittersphere. On the flight home after the race with Mercedes head honchos Toto Wolff and James Allison, Russell said he was given some “tough love”, but he acted quickly: he apologised, retracted his comments, and vowed to learn from the saga.

It’s exactly the kind of growth Mercedes wants to see, and will undoubtedly be part of its considerations when it decides on Russell’s future for 2022. He is a free agent, as is Valtteri Bottas, the man he would surely replace should Wolff decide the time is right to cash in on his investment.

But where would that leave Williams? Robson does not mince his words, admitting it would be a “huge loss” for the team both on- and off-track.

“It’s been fantastic working with him, right from when we first put him through the evaluation,” Robson says. “It was obvious George had something about him, some genuinely outstanding talent to drive the car. And it’s been probably frustrating at times, but a great journey to be on with him.

“Of course he’d be a massive loss. I think we’ve all put in a lot of time and effort to help him where he needed a bit of help, to guide him, and it would be a real shame to lose that without really seeing the benefits of it in our car.”

CEO Jost Capito says he would “of course” hand Russell the multi-year deal he craves from 2022, should it be viable. “I think he would fit very well to Williams for our future as well,” Capito says. “If he believes in our future, there might be a chance to keep him.”

It is a future that Russell has helped forge for Williams. Steps such as the sale of the team and investment from Dorilton Capital has secured the team’s immediate future, but Russell’s role must be recognised.

Robson agrees, saying he “can take a good amount of credit” for the team’s progress since hitting rock bottom at the start of 2019.

Williams may have a strong history for backing and cultivating young talent, giving the likes of Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg, Nico Hulkenberg, and Valtteri Bottas their starts. But to be the force that helps lift the team out of its hardest moments, acting as the catalyst in its revival, arguably makes Russell the most important of the bunch – even if he doesn’t stick around to enjoy the fruits of his labour. (X)

#george russell #george

[crystalracing]

Archive: The ups and downs of Raikkonen's 2007 F1 title triumphBy:

Adam Cooper

Sep 1, 2021, 8:53 PM

With two races to go in the 2007 Formula 1 season, Kimi Raikkonen appeared down and out. His recovery of a 17-point deficit as McLaren's challenge imploded is one of the greatest comebacks in F1's history and, on the occasion of the Finn announcing his retirement, we dug out the 25 October 2007 Autosport magazine feature explaining his remarkable title season

It took a long time but Kimi Raikkonen has finally won the world championship title that he so clearly deserves. And, of course, it came at the expense of McLaren after his own two near misses with the British team in 2003 and '05.

This was an extraordinary season for the Finn that began with an oh-so-easy victory in Australia that proved to be a false dawn. It was followed by a series of frustrating races that even led some to speculate his future with the team was in doubt. Yet, once everything clicked, Raikkonen was more often than not the man to beat, a position that was obscured by the headline-grabbing battle between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

He had a lot of catching up to do. It's hard to believe now that he was as much as 17 points behind Hamilton at the end of the Japanese Grand Prix, with only 20 up for grabs over the final two races. And a few laps into that race, when he languished at the back after a disastrous strategy gamble by the team, he was staring at a title-losing 23-point deficit.

It's easy to overlook how much is involved when a frontrunning driver changes teams. Raikkonen had, after all, spent five full seasons at McLaren, and was used to the Woking team's systems and way of doing things. Moving over from Renault, the team he'd grown up with, Alonso faced similar challenges.

But Raikkonen undoubtedly had the more difficult job, for he was also filling the shoes of Michael Schumacher. In addition, the departure of Ross Brawn meant he was joining a team that was under serious pressure to maintain its equilibrium, and had also lost the advantages conferred by its special relationship with Bridgestone.

Raikkonen was also up against a team-mate who not only had a year's head start, but enjoyed a special relationship with the team boss. It could all have gone horribly wrong - like it did for Alonso - and the fact it didn't was a reflection of Raikkonen's ability to focus on what really matters.

Alonso had a slight advantage over Raikkonen in that he had a day in a McLaren in December, which accelerated the getting-to-know-each-other process. Kimi had to wait until January until he was free to drive a red car for the first time.

There was a limited amount of testing before Melbourne, and a great deal to learn. And perhaps trickiest of all was the transition from Michelin to Bridgestone, something that caught out many drivers.

"The Bridgestones were like playing on a different field," says David Robertson, who co-managed Raikkonen with son Steve. "Kimi and Alonso struggled. Lewis [Hamilton] when he was on the Michelins [in his early McLaren testing] struggled like hell - he couldn't do anything. He went to the Bridgestones, and it was 'this is it!', because that's the playing field he was used to being on. That's what we all believe, that's what Kimi believed."

Raikkonen left the winter-headline grabbing to others, but when he got to Australia things could hardly have gone any better in terms of making his mark with both the team and the tifosi: pole position, victory and fastest lap. Michael who? But he was flattered by circumstances, not least the fact team-mate Felipe Massa had a problem in qualifying and had to fight through the field.

Things got tougher in Malaysia, where the car's performance was compromised, but he took third and some useful points. Massa's early excursion suggested that Raikkonen had already established himself as de facto team leader.

"The Michelins were quite a bit different when you approached the corner and, in order to avoid understeer, you had to use the tyres in quite an aggressive way. With Bridgestone it's completely the opposite so, if you want to avoid the understeer, you need to be more gentle on turn-in" Luca Baldisserri

That perception changed abruptly in Bahrain, where Massa scored an impressive win, and Raikkonen was some way behind in third. "Australia just stunned us all, I think," says his Aussie engineer Chris Dyer. "It was just such an easy weekend. And really you kind of know that that's not going to last. We came back down to earth with a bit of a thud in Malaysia, especially with Kimi struggling there with the engine, so he was pretty much fighting with one hand tied behind his back. And then Bahrain wasn't glorious."

That weekend at the Sakhir circuit had put a negative focus on Raikkonen, and it was evident that all was not well.

"The problems started more in qualifying, to be honest," says Ferrari engineering chief Luca Baldisserri, "because he was not able to put the lap time together. Even in Brazil he was still struggling a little bit. Then he had problems to understand all our systems, to understand the tyres. At that stage we were not fantastic in terms of starts, and we improved quite a lot.

"The Michelins were quite a bit different when you approached the corner and, in order to avoid understeer, you had to use the tyres in quite an aggressive way. With Bridgestone it's completely the opposite so, if you want to avoid the understeer, you need to be more gentle on turn-in. And that is what he learned. We did some tuning of the set-up, plus he adjusted his style."

That process was still being explored in Spain, the first of a run of four races during which Raikkonen was to earn just 10 points. At Barcelona he suffered a failure after just nine laps, the first retirement among any of the top runners to date.

Another Massa win confirmed that the Brazilian was on the ascendancy. "That was a pretty bad run," says Dyer. "Spain was an electrical problem - we would have been second or third. We probably wouldn't have beaten Felipe there, but I'm pretty sure it was an easy third, with a probable second."

Having been frustrated by the unreliability at McLaren, Raikkonen was hardly impressed. Keen to get home to Switzerland to watch the ice hockey world championship final on TV, he bailed out of the circuit early. The team had let him go of course, but it created the wrong impression at a bad time. Schumacher would never have done that, we observed. Indeed, that very day Schuey left the paddock three hours after the race - and he hadn't even been driving.

The former world champion was a regular presence at that stage of the season, and there's little doubt that Raikkonen was probably as confused as everyone else about his predecessor's exact role. The Finn clearly bristled at naive questions about how much Michael was helping him. After all, he didn't need any fatherly advice from Mika Hakkinen when he started at McLaren and, at that stage, he had just one year's F1 experience behind him.

Early in Q2 in Monaco, Raikkonen made his most costly mistake of the season, clipping the Swimming Pool barrier with the front right after the back had stepped out on him. A trackrod was broken and a wishbone cracked, and he demonstrated his bravery to the team by insisting he still wanted to go out, and would take responsibility. He was overruled, and forced to start 16th. In a race of low attrition, he made laboured progressed up to eighth.

"That was the mistake he made," says Robertson. "Until that point he was right there. I'd say Monaco was the turning point, despite the mistake. He felt he'd conquered it."

Dyer adds: "Monaco was a strange weekend, with an unforced error. He's been looking pretty good up to then, really comfortable all weekend, really happy with the car. A small mistake, and you pay the price.

"Obviously he was disappointed. We're all disappointed when we make mistakes. We're disappointed when the car breaks down on him, we're disappointed when we don't give him quite the right set-up, and he's disappointed when he doesn't do the job."

The pace of the McLarens was such that Raikkonen would probably have been racing for third in Monaco and there was a similar performance deficit in Canada. This time Raikkonen edged out Massa in qualifying, but he had another poor start, and made life difficult for himself by damaging his front wing on the Brazilian's rear tyre. Later he picked up some of Robert Kubica's crash debris, and he was also delayed by having to wait behind his team-mate at the first stops under the safety car. He eventually finished fifth, after what was outwardly another unconvincing performance. The team felt differently.

"To be honest we weren't that bad in Canada," says Dyer. "We had a dreadful start, and then we got screwed like everybody else by the safety car, so it was never going to be glorious. But the signs through the race were that things weren't as bad as they looked."

Indianapolis a week later was to be even better. It didn't look too promising when Raikkonen made yet another bad start and got stuck behind Nick Heidfeld and Heikki Kovalainen but, in the late stages, he showed impressive speed and set the fastest lap as he salvaged fourth, behind Massa.

"Canada and Indy weren't good results," admits Dyer. "But we would see signs we were making progress."

"The really great thing about Kimi is he suffers for about one hour, and then it's all behind him. It's simple philosophy - and I couldn't do it - which is to say, 'That's behind me now, I can't do anything about it. Let's go forward'" David Robertson

Steve Robertson agrees the US race was significant: "In all honesty, it really clicked at the race at Indianapolis. I think he found his feet there in terms of a car he really enjoyed, and was more to his liking. And from then on I don't think anyone can question the fact that Kimi has been the strongest driver. You can't argue with that."

Nevertheless, after Indy, Raikkonen was 26 points behind Hamilton, and at that stage there seemed to be little hope of stopping the McLaren steamroller. But then things began to swing in his favour. At Magny-Cours he qualified only third, but he got ahead of Hamilton at the start and then made the most of the pit strategy to leapfrog poleman Massa. It was a critical race in many ways, not least because it featured him getting the upper hand on his frustrated team-mate.

"We struggled a little bit earlier in the year with the starts," says Dyer. "And, since Magny-Cours, Kimi's starts have been spot-on. I don't think he's lost a place since then, and more often than not he's gained places. The guys have done a fantastic job with the rest of what's required for the start."

Another win seven days later at Silverstone suggested that Raikkonen might be gaining enough momentum for a title challenge, but Nurburgring was to change that. Significantly, he took his first pole since Melbourne, but then the first-lap rain created a lottery. Raikkonen made his life difficult by understeering out of the pit entry back onto the track, and had to run an extra lap on dry tyres.

Once things calmed down, he was destined for a useful helping of points when he suffered a hydraulic glitch, at the very same track where retirements had cost him two titles at McLaren. It was his second failure of the season - the only other DNF to that point among the top four was Massa's self-inflicted black flag at Montreal.

"It was really gutting for me," Dyer admits. "I'd seen him lose two championships before due to reliability, and it's always been one of our strong points. I was not very happy to think that maybe he was going to lose another one here to reliability."

Robertson says the man himself was unfazed: "The really great thing about Kimi is he suffers for about one hour, and then it's all behind him. It's simple philosophy - and I couldn't do it - which is to say, 'That's behind me now, I can't do anything about it. Let's go forward'."

The next three races featured some efficient points-gathering: an unexpectedly close second to Hamilton in Hungary, another second, to Massa, in Istanbul and a third at Monza on a day when McLaren humbled Ferrari at home.

Baldisserri thinks Raikkonen would have beaten Hamilton in Hungary had he not lost a crucial few seconds when he ran off the road: "He lost two seconds behind Hamilton that didn't allow us to change the strategy in the pitstop, which I think we could have done differently."

Then came Spa, where Raikkonen had won the previous two races for McLaren. He took his third (and final) pole of the season and put in a masterful performance that showed beyond all doubt he was on top of his game.

Top 10: Kimi Raikkonen’s greatest F1 races ranked

A season is fought over 17 races, of course, but arguably it was Fuji that ultimately won Raikkonen the title. After three laps, it looked like he was well out of the game after the team's ill-advised (and, as it turned out, illegal) decision to start on intermediate tyres.

"We took the decision that we took," says Baldisserri. "Until the mathematics put you out of the game, our team spirit is to try, and it was the right approach."

Helped by the safety car, but mostly by a largely unsung virtuoso performance that humbled his struggling team-mate, Raikkonen fought back to third place. He was still in the title picture, but... 17 points in two races?

The impossible dream became a little more likely in China, where he hustled his way past the struggling Hamilton - after keeping his tyres in better shape - and logged a superb wet/dry win. And then came Brazil, where there was only one target: a win, with Massa riding shotgun. Incredibly, all the cards fell into place, and Massa played his supporting role. With six wins to the four of each of the McLaren drivers, no one can deny Raikkonen's claim to the title.

"He did everything right when everybody else was spouting off and saying this or that. He just kept his head down, got on and delivered. That's why Ferrari got him, and I know they're thrilled that he managed to do it" David Robertson

"He's put in some fantastic drives this year," smiles Dyer. "He hasn't let us down, but we've let him down a few times. He's gone from strength to strength, the car's been good, and he hasn't really made any errors in the last two thirds of the season. He's cool and he's fast and he just gets on and does the job."

Robertson adds: "He really is a giant - the right man has won this. He did everything right when everybody else was spouting off and saying this or that. He just kept his head down, got on and delivered. That's why Ferrari got him, and I know they're thrilled that he managed to do it."

Baldisserri offers a fascinating footnote to the season: "Michael had input into the team; he was a lot closer to the team. Kimi has a completely different approach, and he tends to accept what we give to him. It's a lot more complicated for us to understand what he needs. With Michael it was a bit easier. And Kimi drove a very good car this year. Michael showed that even with a car that was not so competitive, he could win. With Kimi, I don't know yet."

Wt happened next?

While Raikkonen's talents have never been questioned, it is remarkable to note since his F1 title-clinching Brazilian GP triumph in 2007, he has gone on to claim a further six grand prix victories, the same total he achieved across his title-winning year.

Despite this, and with the exception of his two years out of F1 in 2010 and 2011, the Finn has never been far away from the sharp end of the F1 grid until his second departure from Ferrari in 2018 to move back to the Sauber-run Alfa Romeo squad.

Raikkonen continues to make F1 history through his longevity. After surpassing Rubens Barrichello's record tally at the 2020 Eifel GP, the Finn made his 341st start in last week's washout Belgian GP and assuming the current TBC 21 November date is filled will end his career on 351 race starts.

PLUS: Why the time is right for Raikkonen to hang up his F1 helmet

While Raikkonen may have never hit the heights of 2007 since, his record remains outstanding in F1 to cement his place as an all-time great.

#Kimi Raikkonen #raikkonen #f1

[myimaginarywonderland]

Okay, so this post will talk about Lance but I will also give my opinion on the Lando situation since I think it is important.

First off, I think it says a lot about Lando that he made an apology. Now, be it because of the backlash he faced, because he actually saw the harm he was causing or because he genuinely regrets it, that is something I don't know. What I do know is that by apologising for it, he acknowledges that his behaviour was wrong and that is really important because it shows that he reflected on himself.

While I do still feel irked by something about the message, be it that he isn't naming Lance or Lewis who he both targeted with his actions in different ways and apologise to them directly which he might have done in person, so I am not able to judge it or be it the weird sorry at the end, I can put aside my feelings and say that this was the right thing to do and is also setting an example for his fans who were one of my main issues with all of this. They then know that saying that was not right and might learn from it themselves.

But this post isn't about Lando. This post is about Lance.

As most of you might have heard, Lance was really affected by what happened on track. He can clearly see that he is anxious and uncomfortable in his post race interview and what happened afterwards tells the story (I don't really want to talk about it because this is something private that he did not share and it is like with the story on Twitter something that was shared by other people who he didn't give the right to share it too so I don't want to spread it any further.)

This is who Lance is.

Someone who is sensitive and takes a lot of things personally.

You want to know why? Because he has, as a person, always been blamed for his dad's wealth. As if he choose to grow up with a billionaire dad. As if he is somehow responsible for it.

And he has always been painted out as someone undeserving, someone that doesn't have talent and totally owns his position to the money of his dad.

Now, let me just give you some data because I want to totally discredit this made up stuff with no roots.

In 2015, he won the Toyota Racing Series. He won by a bit over 100 points. The second finisher was his teammate. You might now some of the other drivers who competed in this series for example one Callum Iliot or Artjom Markelow.

Or in 2016,his first season in Formula 3, he finished fifth. The winner of that year was Felix Rosenquvist (a great driver) who was also Lance teammate and had only one DNF in comparison to Lance 5 and a DSQ. Now, there are two other drivers, one that was the runner up in Antonio Giovinazzi and a fourth who was Charles Leclerc. Pretty competitive field if you ask me and to finish 5th as a rookie,is impressive.

Now, fast forward a year to when he won the F3 championship. He won over his teammate by a margin of over 150 points which is so impressive, even with the two more DNFs his teammate, Maximilian G��nther (another great driver) had that is quiet a lot.

Now, if you really want to use the argument that he skipped F2 against him, there is another driver you should be discrediting just as much. You guessed it, M*x V*rstappen. He also went straight into F1 which was a definite mistake but nobody ever likes to say that. I would also like you to remember that Lance did not drive for F1 as a regular driver immediately after he won the championship, no in 2016 he was a test driver, so he could slowly get used to F1. (This is not official but I would guess it's the thought process behind him being a test driver.)

Now, in 2017, his first F1 season, he was teammates of Felipe Massa. Might have heard of him, lost his championship to Lewis by one point, was teammate of Micheal Schumacher and a generally way more experienced driver. Yeah, you wanna know what the difference between him and Lance was in Lance first season? 3 points. And Lance had 2 more DNFs. You know what else he got in his first season? His first podium. In his first season, he became one of the youngest people to ever achieve a podium. With just 7 rounds into his first F1 season, in an okay midfield car with a way more experienced and older driver he was up against, he achieved a podium. And during the entire course of the season, that would remain the only podium for the Williams team that year.

Now, onto 2018. Williams was not as bad as in 2019 but they were still nowhere in terms of pace and he still didn't finish last in the championship (but I don't think we can count this season.)

In 2019, Checo became his teammate. And Checo in my opinion is one of the best midfield drivers, so there was already a lot he had to go up against and he was still so young and had less experience. There is a 30 point difference between them. Make of that what you want but for me, sure it was not Lance greatest season but now you have to think if Racing Point where really that good go be the fifth best car or if maybe, Checo just got more out of the car with his experience and talent. And than, you have to consider that he was still young and only had one season where he was truly competitive (that 2018 Williams was not something you could truly challenge anyone with.) And to then be up to one of the best midfield drivers who is widely appreciated and adored by the paddock, is a lot. Maybe for some of you it was too big of a gap which is alright.

However, don't dismiss his talent. He has had a good junior career and was up to some of the drivers you love and call talented, he even beat some of your faves. Maybe you don't see him as the next great driver but he is not a bad one and truly deserves a seat if you consider his achievements. Maybe he could have proven himself more if he had a season in F2 which is fair but that doesn't take away from anything he has achieved.

And even if you don't see him as talented, that gives you no right to bully him online. He can't change who his dad is.

Now,onto the money. I see a lot of people saying that he is only in F1 because of the money (which I hope you have by now realized is not the case.) But really, let's talk about the money.

Money is something that sadly plays a big role in F1. F1 is above all still a business. And businesses want money. So, why not take someone who has money and talent like Lance? Where are you all saying Michael only got his seat because of money (he is a pay-driver after all or at least he was one when he came to F1.) And now let's talk about his move to Racing Point. Can you truly blame Lawrence for wanting to make his sons dream come true? Wouldn't any father if they had the resources do this? Wouldn't any father want to fufill his son's dream, even if it might be seen as unethical by some or criticized? Would you really care if you saw how happy your kid was? Would you really care if you saw the glow you kid had? I don't think so.

I already said it but he was at Williams before he was at RP. His dad doesn't own that team or have any chairs in it.

Let's forget his profession for a second. Let's say you don't find him talented as a driver or just don't like him, fine. You are entitled to your opinion and sometimes we just don't like people, it happens.

What else would you have against him?

He doesn't post on social media often because people already bully him enough for his family. There is basically nothing you can dislike about him there.

And as a person? He is quiet and basically does nothing to anger people. He is literally just a normal dude. He goes on trips with his friends, he does sports to stay in shape and watches sports. He is not even posting personal stuff because he doesn't want to give people more room to bully him.

If you saw him on the street, would you think he is from a rich family? He does not look like it at all, he looks like that guy from your local sport who is literally just a college student trying to get through life.

And not only was he discredited for all his accomplishments because of something he had no control over but he also saw another driver proudly display a symbol that has been used by people who killed people who belonged to his religion. He saw a driver weat that symbol in cooperation with a company whose boos seems to be a Neo Nazi.

Lance has had to go through to so much shit just because his dad was rich (which Nicky's and Lando's also are, yes I know it's less but it's still more than any of us will probably ever have.)

This boy does nothing wrong.

Did he make a mistake with the maneuvers on Lando? Yes. But he is still so young and also new to F1, he can still learn and is growing as a person and driver. He is expected to perform more just so he proves his worth which he already has because people discredit him for having a rich dad.

Have you seen what he has done this season? He would be in the top 5 had it not been for the last races where none of the DNFs where his fault. Neither was getting Covid or being ill but people literally made fun of him for being in pain, saying stuff like "Did Daddies boy have a little stomach ache?" Yeah, because F1 drivers aren't trainex to perform no matter what, aren't putting their health last when it comes to these things and might have to be really bad if they can't drive and are not even going out of their room.

He has improved so much, he is not blaming other drivers even if they clearly hit him (see Charles) and he stays calm. Because he can't afford to be to emotional since some people would hate him for rightfully calling out others mistakes and just maybe saying that their faves are not flawless and make mistakes (like Charles.)

He has to act a certain way or be a certain way because what would happen if he just showed more of his personality? You call him dull, boring but you don't even try to get to know him. You don't even look up videos where he is more open and comfortable.

He is awkward infront of the press because he has to fear to be discredited or to be questioned about his worth every second.

And all of this pressure, this mask and this pretend eventhough he is just as human as the rest of us. And you see how hard it is, how much he questions himself, how his self-doubt increases and ultimately what happened has happened.

Because while it is just an easy insult for you that you can post anonymously online, it is one of thousands for him.

And you know, he didn't grew up in Europe. Sure he competed with some of the European drivers later one but he didn't have any of them when he started racing and he might already have been an outcast because people would already have seen him as different since his family didn't need to make sacrifices to get him to wear he is now. At least not financially ones. And then, when he came to Europe there were these already formed friend groups and it wasn't easy to get into them. The only friend he had was Esteban and I am so glad. This seems like such an unlikely friendship because they are from totally different backgrounds but that might have been what connected them in the first place. So, with basically only Esteban who liked him from the competitive times, it must have been pretty bad (not to say that the others hated him but I don't think they really cared for him.) I am so glad to see that he now also has Checo and that they get along and I hope that stays this way eventhough all of what has happened (which is also not his fault and I am sure that if he had any say in it, it would have been done differently.) Maybe we can even see their friendship when Checo stays on the grid. And with the potential of Seb next year, that might be the only other friendship or friendly connection he might form.

He is so strong for having to endure the dislike of so many people and he is still so kind and so sweet.

This has been a long post but one that I have wanted to make for a long time. If you got this far, I applaude you.

#f1 #lance stroll

[penske-slut]

so i’m new to indycar but my brother just got us both tickets for pocono so what’s the tldr on the sport? who’s your favorites? also who’s the shitty drivers personality/beliefs wise to stay away from?

i know you said tl;dr but i literally can’t be brief in this context so i’m just gonna give you a short little profile of each driver (just the ones you’ll see racing at pocono) in order of the current championship standings (also i’ve realized i have a hard time explaining indycar to people who don’t already know formula one because i make a lot of comparisons so if you don’t watch formula one just ignore those parts i’m sorry):

1. josef newgarden: basically the personification of a golden retriever puppy. super high energy, gets along with everyone, and a super talented and FAIR driver (see: the newgarden move). he won the championship in 2017 and is currently leading this year’s championship by 16 points

2. alexander rossi: confirmed trump supporter, comes off as an arrogant asshole in interviews, but everyone loves him because of his talent. it’s so hard to hate him because he’s literally that good (here’s an example, and another example), i honestly think he could make max verstappen weep if they were on the same terms

3. simon pagenaud: quickly becoming my all time favorite driver (i love almost everyone on the grid but as i’ve now met simon twice i think he’s my top fave). he won the indy 500 this year and the championship in 2016. he’s very quirky and goofy, kind of like an older version of josef. team penske truly needs will power’s chilled out & relaxed persona to dilute the feral energy from josef & simon lmfao (here is a video that really captures his essence) 

4. scott dixon: the most successful driver on the current grid and one of the most successful in history. i don’t know much about him personally but he seems like a father figure to whoever his teammate is (felix this year) and he has a really cute family too

5. will power: the old, relaxed energy to mellow out team penske. he had a streak of success in the early 2010′s and kind of had a reputation as an arrogant asshole around that time but i think he’s gotten a lot better since then. he won the indy 500 for the first time last year, and the championship in 2014

6. ryan hunter-reay: nicknamed “captain america”, another dad figure on the grid, has a pretty decorated career. don’t know much else about him but he’s very highly respected on the grid, josef newgarden once said he is “just too polite” 

7. takuma sato: very sweet and level-headed, 42 years old and still going strong, has a really comforting presence on the grid. in races he’s generally in the midfield but is capable of surprises, like winning in alabama this year and very shockingly winning the 500 in 2017

8. graham rahal: son of indycar legend bobby rahal. he’s very honest, straightforward, WILL tell you the truth even if it hurts and i respect him for that. has a bit of a temper but always races fair and expects the best out of everyone. he also does a lot of fundraising and charity work for veterans which is coolio (i jokingly refer to him as my brother because his dad and my dad look VERY similar, it’s uncanny)

9. felix rosenqvist: rookie fresh off the boat from formula E. also don’t know much about him but he’s been very exciting to watch so far this year and just got his first podium this weekend at mid-ohio which was very well deserved (he did once say the n-word on instagram, many years ago, and he’s swedish so i don’t expect him to know the history, but... it happened)

10. james hinchcliffe: literally everyone’s fave, not one single person hates him. he’s the beaming ray of sunshine on the grid and gets along with everyone, very similar to josef. if josef is a golden retriever, james is a cuddly little labrador (here is a video of them together from a LONG time ago but nothing has changed)

11. sebastien bourdais: another old boy but a true legend. he won 4 consecutive championships in champ car (indycar’s predecessor... kind of... it’s a long story) and continues kicking ass today. he was in a really scary crash during qualifying at the indy 500 a few years ago and made an impressive comeback. 

12. spencer pigot: i honestly truly do not know anything about him, i didn’t even know he was a full time driver until right now, he just kinda fades into the background...

13. santino ferrucci: another confirmed trump supporter, was kicked out of formula 2 for deliberately making contact with his teammate, using his phone while driving his car, allegedly making racist remarks towards his teammate, etc. (you can read about it here). some people will say he’s had a really successful rookie season but honestly he just got lucky a few times and isn’t that good overall. he comes from money which explains a lot lmfao

14. colton herta: the BABY of the grid. he won his second ever indycar race at COTA this year, becoming the youngest race winner in indy history at 18 years old, one week before his 19th birthday. aside from his mega talent on track, he’s a respectable guy off track and is very mature for his age. if you watch F1 i’d compare him to a slightly more laid-back version of lando norris

15. marcus ericsson: if you’re coming from F1 then you already know him pretty well. he didn’t have much success in F1 but has found his niche in indycar, already scoring a podium in his rookie season. he’s chill and quiet but overall a nice young man

16. marco andretti: a third generation andretti, honestly has no real purpose on the grid aside from being the descendant of two racing icons (his grandfather is mario andretti, his dad is michael andretti), but uhhhh he’s been racing for about 15 years and only has two wins, so... take that as you will. you’ll almost always find him at the back of the grid these days

17. zach veach: by far the tiniest driver on the grid. i stood very close to him this weekend and he was shorter than me (i’m 5′1″) and i wouldn’t be surprised if he hasn’t broken 100 pounds. i don’t know much about him other than his very inspiring backstory (read here), and he has a strong religious background as well.

18. tony kanaan: a fucking FIXTURE on the indy grid. another old man but a legend. he has been racing in indycar for 17 years and did champ car for 5 years, so essentially he’s been at the top class of american single seaters for almost as long as i’ve been alive. he has one championship win (2004) and one indy 500 win (2013)

(skipped ed jones, not racing at pocono)

20. matheus leist: the first driver i ever met in person. he’s really nice and chill, but honestly not much to write home about on track. he’s solid and fairly consistent, but i wouldn’t bet money on him

(skipped jack harvey, max chilton, patricio o’ward: not racing at pocono) 

24. ed carpenter: nicknamed “the oval master” because... he’s really good on oval circuits. he races the ovals for his own team. that’s all i know tbh 

(skipped conor daly, sage karam, james davison, helio castroneves: not racing at pocono) 

29. charlie kimball: don’t know much about him other than that he’s diabetic, and there was a pretty interesting article about how he manages his blood sugar during races (read here). he also has a bit of reputation for being rude/dismissive to fans but i can’t confirm that, i’ve never met him

so that’s it for your grid. you can take that information however you want, they’re just my opinions, someone else might have the complete opposite. also i should add, i really don’t wanna scare you if this is your first race, but pocono is one of two races on the indy calendar that makes me so viscerally nervous i almost can’t watch it (the other is texas motor speedway). again, i don’t want to freak you out, but just so you’re prepared, you will probably see quite a bit of crashing during the race. the AMR/holmatro safety team is one of, if not THE best in all of motorsports, here’s a little (slightly dated) video you can watch about how they do what they do in the event of crashes (warning tho: there is graphic crash footage in that video). despite what some people may say (i’m looking at you, felipe massa), indycar is the hallmark of motorsport safety and most other series have followed them in terms of safety technology innovations over the last 20 years (e.g., indycar has been using safety cars since the 70s, mandated a pit speed limit in 1991, CART mandated HANS for all tracks in 2001, indycar has used safer barrier since 2002, etc.) so if you do see crashing, take a deep breath and remind yourself that they have the world’s best crew taking care of them instantly. if you have any other questions don’t hesitate to ask, & i know you’ll have tons of fun at the race hehe :^)

#indycar #long post #sorry i can't be brief and sorry if this isn't what you asked for fjgslbidfg i got feral #Anonymous

[f1]

F1s new porpoising measures for 2023 over the top Verstappen | RaceFans Round-up

In the round-up: Max Verstappen believes new regulations being brought into Formula 1 in 2023 to reduce porpoising and bouncing are not fully necessary. In brief New porpoising measures for 2023 “a bit over the top” says Verstappen Verstappen has questioned the need for the FIA to impose restrictions on porpoising and bouncing. A new technical directive issued by the sport’s governing body comes into effect this weekend. Further technical regulation changes for 2023 to combat the problem further have also been announced. “At the moment I don’t think it’s very clear how much it’s going to hurt different kind of teams,” said Verstappen when asked about the impact of the changes on car performance. “But I think it’s gone a bit over the top with rule changes because I think already the last races you could see that most of the teams had it more or less under control. And also the teams who actually asked for it had it much more under control.” Ricciardo would consider year out of F1 “if it made sense” Daniel Ricciardo says he would consider missing the 2023 F1 season if it “made sense” as an option to him. The 33-year-old will lose his McLaren drive at the end of this season after the team opted to terminate his contract due to his disappointing performance. Asked if he would consider a sabbatical from F1, Ricciardo said “if it made sense, yes.” “It’s the only racing I’m interested in at this stage of my career,” he said. “F1, it’s what I love and it’s where I see myself if I’m doing any racing. But as I said, if, let’s say, the stars don’t align, and it doesn’t make perfect sense next year, and if it means taking that time off to kind of reset or re-evaluate, then if that’s the right thing to do, then I’m willing to.” Tsunoda did not want to give up first Spa practice to Lawson Yuki Tsunoda admitted that he was reluctant to give up his car to Formula 2 driver Liam Lawson for this afternoon’s first practice at the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Lawson will make his first appearance in a grand prix session today when he steps into the other AlphaTauri belonging to Tsunoda’s team mate Pierre Gasly for the first hour-long practice session. “Because of this FIA rule that rookies have to drive, it’s a good opportunity for Liam to drive a Formula 1 [car],” said Tsunoda. “I figured for me, because why Spa, why the track? I said to the team that I don’t want to swap in Spa because we’re still learning and me and Pierre both agreed that Liam can drive this track.” New Predictions Championship prize added From this weekend the top three players in each round of the Predictions Championship will win a prize: First place: F1 22 for the platform of your choice Second place: BoxBoxBox Track signs tea towel gift set Third place: Motorsport print from Hidden Prints Find out more and enter or update your predictions for the Belgian Grand Prix here: Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Happy birthday! Happy birthday to Victor and Apex! On this day in motorsport Tyre trouble hit Lewis Hamilton while Felipe Massa romped to victory today in 2007 via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net

#F1 #F1’s new porpoising measures for 2023 “over the top” – Verstappen | RaceFans Round-up #Formula 1

[race-week]

for the free practice thing, for teams like aston martin who don’t have a driver academy to fall back on, who do you think they’d pick? also, for red bull it should likely be jüri and liam, right? or do you think liam is still too young and helmut will want to let him drive around somewhere else for another year?

Hi anon, I was going to link you to my initial thoughts on this when I wrote them up ages ago but I don’t agree with what I wrote any more.

For teams like Aston who don’t have a junior programme, and even McLaren and Mercedes who don’t have juniors who are ‘ready’ to get in an F1 car (I don’t see Merc giving an FP session to an F3 driver) they will likely go for drivers who aren’t affiliated with junior academies; my first thought being Felipe Drugovich, Ralph Boschung, David Beckmann, Richard Verschoor possibly.

My other thought with McLaren is them potentially running Pato from their Indy team in the COTA practice.

To be honest I can’t see the teams running these juniors until closer to the end of the season (they all just run them in Jeddah and Abu Dhabi and it’s chaos) so in terms of who Helmut picks for the Alpha Tauri and the Red Bull no one knows except him, he’d likely do it for the highest placed two but he might also try to get all three of them in the car at some point.

#anon ask

[teamjensonbutton]

2017 Monaco Grand Prix - Race Report

Circuit de Monaco, Sunday 28 May

Monaco Grand Prix was a disappointing and unsuccessful race for McLaren Honda.

Stoffel Vandoorne ran as high as seventh during the flurry of mid-race pit-stops, and looked well positioned to bring home a point while running in 10th in the closing laps. Unfortunately, he was caught out at the end of a late-race Safety Car period: with cold tyres and brakes, he understeered into the tyre-wall at Ste Devote, retiring on lap 66.

Stoffel’s one-off team-mate Jenson Button was always going to be playing a weakened hand this afternoon. Consigned to the back of the grid, following a power unit component change, the team’s strategists decided to box him on lap one and allow him to run an alternative strategy in clear air.

But that call was immediately stymied by Sauber’s decision to box Pascal Wehrlein on the same lap. Notwithstanding the five-second penalty awarded to Wehrlein for an unsafe pit-stop release, the first-lap strategy call would define the rest of Jenson’s afternoon.

With no easy route past the Sauber, the team again adjusted the strategy on the fly, pitting Jenson for a set of Options at half distance. He caught the German and attempted to pass him on the inside at Portier. The pair collided heavily – Wehrlein’s car ending up sideways in the tyre-wall, and Jenson’s parked at the end of the harbor-front escape road with a broken left-front corner.

As one race ends, so another begins, and we now turn our attentions towards Indianapolis, where Fernando Alonso will be racing in today’s Indy 500.

STOFFEL VANDOORNE, McLaren-Honda Driver, MCL32-04

“It’s a shame we haven’t come away with any points this weekend. I think we’d all hoped to get a little bit more out of the weekend.

“Towards the end of the race, I knew it would be difficult at the restart. It’s always difficult to heat up the Supersofts, and we knew we wouldn’t be able to cover Sergio [Perez] and Felipe [Massa], who’d switched to the Option behind the Safety Car. That wasn’t an option for us – when you’re in the top 10, you’ve got to keep your position. It was hard to get the tyres and brakes up to temperature, and I just had nowhere to go at Turn One, unfortunately.

“So, this isn’t the result we wanted this weekend, but there are still positives to take away from Monaco: we may still be lacking overall performance, but we’ve made some useful steps forward this weekend.

“There’s still a lot of work to do – but I remain optimistic.”

JENSON BUTTON, McLaren-Honda Driver, MCL32-03

“Today was a disappointing day and one where we couldn’t make any progress. The race was made very difficult from lap one, and then obviously the incident happened with Pascal [Wehrlein]. His tyres were completely gone from lap one – I know because I had the same set of tyres on from the start of the race after I pitted just after the start.

“I had a lot more traction coming out of the previous corner, because when these tyres go on the marbles they have no grip. I thought I was a long way up the inside and then I looked across and saw that he hadn’t seen me, so I tried to back out, but obviously it was too late by then.

“You do struggle to see in these cars, but you don’t think in that moment that the guy’s not going to see me when you go up the inside. I gave it a go and thought it was a fair enough judgment, but it didn’t work out. You never like seeing a car tip over because you don’t know if his head’s going to hit anything, but the most important thing is that Pascal is okay – I spoke to him and he’s a bit shaken of course but the best thing is he walked out okay.

“Today was a bit frustrating, but, as a racing driver, it’s difficult to just drive around at the back and not get to have a go. I had a go, and thought it was a fair enough judgement, but it didn’t work out. I’m sorry to the team for even more damage this weekend. I enjoyed some laps today too, but obviously I never want to damage that car, and it’s not something I do very often. Yesterday was awesome – I loved it – and I’ll take away lots of good memories.

“I hope Fernando has a good safe race this afternoon and we’re all looking forward to it.”

ERIC BOULLIER, McLaren-Honda Racing Director

“Sometimes you visit the Monte-Carlo casino and hit the jackpot; other times you walk away empty-handed. For us, this was just one of those unfortunate days when the luck didn’t go our way.

“We always knew that Jenson would start the race on the back-foot, but it was unfortunate that our attempts to run him in clean air came to nothing after Sauber attempted the very same strategy. It was cruel luck for Jenson that, despite the unsafe release of Wehrlein’s car, the penalty did nothing to tip the odds in Jenson’s favour. The collision was just one of those things, but I’m pleased that both drivers were able to walk away.

“With our focus now turned solely towards Stoffel, we looked set for a decent result. He’d been running on the fringes of the top 10 for the whole race, and his pace on the Option was very promising. Following a switch to the Prime, he still looked set for a points finish, but, on cold tyres and with cold brakes, he understeered into the tyre wall at Turn One when the race restarted after the Safety Car.

“Still, there are positives: I think it’s fair to say that Stoffel has really taken a step forward this weekend, both in terms of his driving and his confidence level with the car; and Jenson showed us all that he is still a great champion and a fantastic ambassador for the sport of Formula 1.

“Finally, to Fernando and our friends and colleagues racing at the Indy 500, I say bonne chance.”

YUSUKE HASEGAWA, Honda R&D Co. Ltd Head of F1 Project & Executive Chief Engineer

“Today's race ended in disappointment, missing out on a potential first point of the season for the team.

“Although Stoffel had to start from 12th, we knew he was competitive this weekend. In fact, he moved up to 10th after his pit-stop with his brilliant performance and a good strategy from the team. I think the performance he showed today was very encouraging and therefore it’s regrettable that he had to end the race having such an unfortunate accident and no points to his name.

“Jenson’s race also had potential, but at Monaco it is notoriously difficult to overtake and he was unable to really push. The accident he had was disappointing; however, he brought great enthusiasm and a cheerful personality with him this weekend, and I think all the members of the team enjoyed racing with him.

"Next up is Montreal, but of course even before then we will be glued to our TV screens to watch Fernando’s Indy 500 challenge.”

#Jenson Button #Stoffel Vandoorne #McLaren #F1 #Formula One #Formula 1 #Monaco Grand Prix #News #Race Report