#cota 21

[russellius]

when were george & yuki partying together i don't think i've heard about this before 👁️👄👁️

oh it wasn't recently!! 😭 iirc this is from the 2021 us gp

#but it lives rent free in my mind still #george with all the drinks in his hands #yuki clinging onto him #like ?????? but also !!!!!! #answered #21 #cota #(i think but please someone correct me if thats wrong) #yuki tsunoda #george russell #usa21

[inhidingxoxo3637]

Miller x Mir '21

#Marquez always #pedro acosta x xavi artigas Aragon 2021 #alonso lopez x pedro acosta Valencia '22 #rossi x Marquez 2015 sepang #Gabriel Rodrigo x ryusei Yamanaka redbull ring practice '21 #Bezzecchi at himself after aragon 2020 #Quartararo at himself post mid season 2020 #marini at himself le mans 2020 #Nakagami x pecco+rins ??? was it catalunya?? it was a spanish round right?? 22 #darryn binder x garcia and Foggia portimao '21 #deniz oncu x darryn binder jerez 2021 #deniz oncu x jeremy alcoba cota 21 #zarco x Morbidelli redbull ring 2020 #vinales x the Yamaha bike redbull ring 22 #vietti x Aldeguer Argentina 22 #motogp

[sea-shelly]

The way sprint races make the actual racing ✨️ worse ✨️

#and all to make friday interesting (so they can make more money) #sundays are BORING bc some of the best moves have already happened #so its just a car parade #like cota 21 was a last lap win [one more lap and i stg lewis wouldve had rhe win] #pretty sure zandvoort 21 was similar #it just means that the faster cars are even more advantaged #like IMAGINE sprint races in turbo hybrid era. christ

[nyehhh-hh]

Why you so expensive??

#.bullshttery #i genuinely liked this one #this particular color AND the one he wore at cota '21 #but..... WHY TF ARE YOU SO EXPENSIVE

[leclercstars]

ROCKSTAR.

Lando Norris x Oscar Piastri x reader

Summary: Your above-average tits catch the eye of the McLaren boys at COTA, especially Lando.

Warnings: slight masturbation implied, frequent mentions of boobs lol

The paddock walk at COTA was something you had been dreaming about for ages. Freshly 21, a little tipsy and excited about your birthday celebrations, you stood in front of McLaren’s garage. After what felt like ages, Lando and Oscar both walked out, making their way down the line to sign various autographs for people.

You were well endowed, and by that you meant your double D tits were hard to miss. It wasn’t like you tried to hide them- your tight orange tank top did a great job of showing them off. As Lando and Oscar approached, you could feel their eyes starting to trail further down your body. They finally got close to you and you held out your McLaren cap for them to sign.

“I’ve got a better idea” Lando said with a smirk making its way across his face.

You handed him your Sharpie and your felt his hand reach over to the ample cleavage poking over the neckline of your tank.

“What if i sign here?” he giggled.

You obliged, obviously, and he scrawled a signature on your left boob. Satisfaction was written all over his face as he admired his work.

“Oscar, there’s another one for you!” he shouted

Oscar hustled over, chuckling as he noticed what was happening.

“Lando- you can’t be serious” he choked out in between laughs. “Are you even okay with this?” he asked you

“Yeah I think it’s hilarious!” you grinned at him.

Oscar reached across the barricade- Sharpie in hand. He chose to lightly cup your right tit to push up the cleavage- certainly bold considering how many cameras were around.

Lando snatched your phone out of your hand once Oscar finished up.

“Pose for me”

You blew a kiss to the camera with the new markings scrawled across your chest. As he handed the phone back to you, you noticed the photos had been sent to an unsaved number.

“Sent those to myself for later” Lando whispered at you and winked as he walked away.

part 2

#f1 #lando norris #f1 imagine #lando norris one shot #lando norris smut #lando norris blurb #lando norris x reader #mclaren #cota23 #oscar piastri #oscar piastri x reader #oscar piastri x you #mclaren x reader #mclaren boys #oscar piastri imagine #oscar piastri smut #landoscar

[maddiericciardostroll]

can i please ask for logan sargeant with i almost do? thank you! <3

I almost do | LS2

in which logan doesn’t consult y/n about his move to london and it becomes the death of them.

fem!reader x LS2

warnings - angst (i cried while i wrote this) , typical male stupidity, breakups

a/n- i’m not really a logan girly but this might be my favorite one yet … there is a part 2 in the works and it’s a happy ending … in a way…

part 2 part 3

your.username

liked by logansargeant , danielricciardo, and 120,346 others

your.username season 21, ep 1.

username birthday without logan??

username he might not be in the states , that’s why he isn’t there

username it’s summer break why WOULDNT he be there…

danielricciardo happy birthday :)

liked by your.username

lando.jpg happy birthday (in a better way than daniel’s)

username oh to be one of y/n’s friends

your.username what are you talking about we are LITERALLY besties ???

logansargeant

liked by williamsracing , alex_albon , and 460,298 others

logansargeant first points at cota 🏈🇺🇸

username you can just tell that y/n wasn’t anyone near this instagram post

username the caption…

oscarpiastri proud of you mate, keep up the good work!

alex_albon that race was even better than that pulled pork (i’m an american now)

username y/n doesn’t follow him anymore?!

your.username

I Almost Do (Taylor’s Version) 🎵

liked by danielricciardo , redbullracing , and 553,625 others

your.username and i hope you know that every time i don’t i almost do.

username i 😭 hope 😭 you 😭 are 😭 happy 😭

username love isn’t real

oscarpiastri call him

username OMG OSCAR IN DRAMA

username oscar mourning just like us

formulaone we will miss you on the paddock y/n

liked by your.username

#fluff #formula 1 #formula one #logan sargeant #ls2 #logan sargeant x reader #logan sargeant x you #smau #f1 #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic

[race-week]

Qiddiya City Track Rendering

This track just seems insane, it was designed by ex-F1 driver Alex Wurz and circuit designer Hermann Tilke

This is expected to be the replacement for Jeddah as the Saudi Arabian GP in 2030ish

It’s planned to have elevation changes of over 108 meters across the 21 corner lap.

In particular the run up to the opening corner is over 70 meters high (over 20 stories), COTA’s run to turn 1 raises just 40 meters

#f1

[p1tstop]

AUSTIN, October 21 2022 — Jenson Button looks on skeptically during practice at COTA. High Two / DPA.

#😳😵‍💫 #jenson button #us gp 2022 #f1 #p1tstop stuff

[f1-birb]

top 5 lando races

and

top 5 lando outfits

oooo these are fun and also so difficult

Lando races in no particular order:

1. Austria 2020 - baby boy's first podium, and tbh still in awe of how he closed a gap of about 6.5 seconds to 4.8 across just over a lap and a half to get himself within 5 of Lewis to snatch P3

2. Silverstone 2023 - I mean come on, P2 at his home race? amazing quali, fantastic start to get ahead of Max, opening 4.5 laps all his ~ "and it's Lando Norris who leads the British Grand Prix!" ~ he was so good with his tyre management and his battles with Lewis with the SC restarts and the wheel to wheel? Silvo 23 will ALWAYS be special

3. COTA 2022 - now I am not COTA's biggest fan but 22 was a special one, Lando catching the debris that snapped off one of his front fairings but still a phenomenal performance and his overtakes, add in the last 2 lap battle with Fernando (whose clash with Lance caused said debris) really enjoyed Lando's drive

4. Mexico 2023 - I just love the recovery drive, from getting fucked in quali by a technical issue that saw him out in Q1 unexpectedly, to playing it smart and cleverly strategy wise to make it back to 5th and the overtakes carving through the field (the ones on George and Daniel stand out a lot) and add on despite it probably not being easy he seemed to really enjoy it

5. Imola 2022 - Lando being the only driver not in Red Bull/Ferrari/Merc to get a podium felt so good to watch, especially since the MCL36 was not that bitch

special mentions too because I love all of him: Singapore 23, Monaco 21, Suzuka 23, Austria 23, and as painful as it ended Sochi 21 because that was a mega mega mega quali and drive from him

now onto the outfits, again in no particular order:

1. something about his whole vibe that weekend

2. pls don't ask me just look

3. real soft spot for this one, and I personally love the colour combos

4. Vegas GP? hated it, but this look? mhm mhm

5. GQ did sooooo good

bonus: he's very very cute but if this shirt is extortionate I'm killing him

#top 5 anything #lando norris #i just love the boy so much okay #birb speaks

[cellarspider]

23/?? Characterization speedrun

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We return to a movie that exposits with all the grace of an inebriated hippo on rollerskates, Prometheus.

Y’know, I have a soft spot for the first movie adaptation of Silent Hill (2006). Yes, we're tangenting to talk about something else I like better, but I swear it's for a purpose.

It mostly sticks to the first game’s content, meaning it limits the number of themes it has to handle. It makes some alterations that affect its interpretation–it switches the gender of the protagonist, alters the religious elements, cuts out the bit where you basically fight Baphomet at the end of the game, but that always felt weird anyway. And, of course, there’s a required appearance by a certain tetrahedron lad, reanalyzed as a punitive figure turned outward on the world rather than inward toward the person that conjured him. I’ll allow it, partly because I saw it when I was a teenager and I thought he was badass.

But what it really nails camerawork, creature effects, and set design. So much so that a lot of the visuals of following games lifted from creative decisions made for the movie. The Silent Hill movie is more a thing of vibes than anything else, and the vibes are appropriately awful.

[Video description: Rose (Radha Mitchell) and Cybil (Laurie Holden) encounter a Lying Figure (Michael Cota), AKA Armless Man or Straightjacket. There’s only a tiny amount of CG here. It was pretty much all Cota’s unnerving shuffle and his willingness to be shoved into blinding, deafening, arm-tying monster-bondage with a breathing tube hidden around butt-height.. We salute you, Mr. Cota, possibly with our feet.]

But where the movie trips and falls is right near the end, where the vibes screech to a halt so that the movie can sit you down and explain the backstory that it already intimated throughout the rest of the runtime.

On a totally unrelated note, Janek has something to tell Shaw.

This barren moon, believe it or not, isn’t the Engineers’ homeworld. Y’don’t say.

You know what would’ve been a better way to set this up? Have somebody ask “hey, there’s nothing but rocks and ominous buildings here. What gives?”, but they literally never do. Not even the biologist, who does no biology in the movie. The geologist, who also doesn’t do any geology, doesn’t note, say, a lack of siltstone that’d indicate running water, no coal of any kind that’d indicate previous growth of plant matter, no signs of oil or natural gas deposits derived from ancient microbes. Lord knows the poor bastards weren’t swamped with work before the script ate them.

But no, there’s no questioning of this. Shaw dictates in her notes “Was there an outbreak here?”, after exploding the head. But that’s it. No, we leave it to Idris Elba explain, as seriously and as military guy-ily as he can. This is a weapons lab or depot, something went wrong here, Janek’s going to do a self-sacrifice if it seems like the weapon might get to Earth. He even says the weapons are in “those vases”, in case you didn’t notice them before.

Consider: Principle photography for Prometheus was done in 2011, from March 21 to June 10 (cite 1). On November 14, Filming began for Pacific Rim, in which Idris Elba gots to play a serious self-sacrificing military guy with the exact same mustache who has an actual character arc, AND was allowed to use his actual accent.

In Prometheus, Janek apparently had more characterization planned, but it was stripped entirely away until all you’re left is a christmas tree, a plot-mandated laxity in keeping track of passengers, and incomprehensible flirting with Vickers. On balance, that’s more than pretty much everyone else gets, but at the same time, what does that tell us? We are left with a man who’s going to pull a heroic sacrifice, essentially because he’s the only other character we know about.

In cut material, Janek was originally going to give a sympathy monologue to Vickers after she killed Holloway, about a traumatic event in his military career: he watched a bioweapons lab suffer a breach that ended with its destruction. That was cut. His motivation was cut. And more, too, you can see the ragged edges of the script. 

“Right, ‘all you do is fly the ship,’” quotes an exasperated Shaw. “That’s right,” says Janek, who told Vickers that in a cut scene.

Despite these pieces missing, I haven’t been drawing on them very often. Why? Because the movie was still full of baffling decisions, regardless of how they edited it down. The movie that’s shot never looks like what gets shown in theaters, but it is still a representative sample of the material, one that was prepared for us to watch.

While Janek’s entire motivation fell off him in the editing room, Vickers gets undermined by what they did keep. Turns out she’s not just nasty to her employees, she’s nasty to her boss as well, because he’s her dad. She’s presented as obsessed with making sure he dies, which, fair, we’ll soon confirm that his only begotten robo-son is pretty big on that too.

…Except this also means they have the same character motivation, which… That can work, but how well does it work as a twist? 

I am not convinced. Vickers has constantly been pulling power plays on David, who’s pushed back a little in return, but they don’t have to functionally be siblings to make this work. Nor does the weird, occasionally robotic behavior from Vickers have to mean “aha, you see, they are both Weyland’s children with daddy issues!”

She could just be a disposable asset of the Weyland Corporation! She’d have a more sympathetic arc that way, because unlike corpos of Aliens past, she doesn’t want to be there at all. She didn’t want them to talk to aliens, she didn’t express any of the usual flimsy “we can profit off of this uncontrollable killing machine” stuff we’ve come to expect. She seemed to just want to get the fuck out of there. And obviously, she’s gonna die, this movie is frequently aping Alien and Aliens, the corpo does not survive. That could be tragic!

But apparently she wanted to be here, taking five years out of her life and career to sit on ice and do literally nothing but make sure her already dying dad actually dies. Okay. 

It’s especially, structurally weird, because the very next scene has David explaining his motivation to Shaw.

“What happens when Weyland isn’t around to program you?”

“I suppose I’ll be free.”

“You want that?”

“”Want”? Not a concept I’m familiar with. That being said… doesn’t everyone want their parents dead?”

This is what happens when you leave a hyperintelligent newborn alone for two years with nobody but Peter O’Toole as a role model. 

This scene and the pre-caesarian one set up a weird dynamic between David and Shaw that didn’t seem sufficiently motivated by the rest of their interactions, in my opinion. It suggests that David has latched onto her in some way, which the next movie certainly confirms. But why? They’ve barely talked, ad most of it was pure exposition or telling David to do something. Is it because she hasn’t been as bad as the others? Because that’s going to change later. 

David’s hopes are pinned on the Engineer rejecting Weyland. This is a reasonable assumption. The way the scene plays out, however, is not entirely reasonable.

And that will have to wait for another day. Before we get to that, I want another ramble all to myself. About something I like.

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Alt-text rambles:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/paulbhartzog/558247427/in/photostream/ 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeble 

https://youtu.be/cOrcwL5MHYg

Overflow Ramble 1

The kitchen counters don’t have any grippy surfaces on them, and no lip. The *stove* has no lip, which I have seen before, but it’s stupid. Most modern designs for stovetops meant for installation on ships have a high lip and/or grippers that hold cookware in place. There are multiple open shelves that have no lip. And there’s yet another piece of Decorative African Art just hung on the wall above a food prep counter, within the potential reach of steam or grease splatter. The chair Holloway sat in last time is revealed to be free-standing, as is the coffee table.

No. No free-standing furniture, unless it’s collapsible and used at rest. Put lips on every counter and table. Have lots of grip mats you can throw down anywhere. The design in here is more along the lines of airline tray tables, which are meant to be stowed during rough flight. There is no way to stow all this shit in a reasonable and timely manner. Airline furniture is also designed according to hostile forces, which, frankly, might be relevant here. This comfy, beige apartment space was designed by someone who did not give one fuck if a glass went winging off that 2m tall open shelf and gave you a concussion.

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(Previous) | (Index) | (Next)

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#Prometheus 2012 #Prometheus (2012) #Many times I have bemoaned the lack of characterization in this movie #but we have also seen what characterization looks like in this movie #so there's no good choice here #this was possibly a more not-good option though #Youtube

[russellius]

2021 US GRAND PRIX

#george russell #f1 #*m #*p #(terrible and life-changing at once) #cota #21 #usa21

[danthropologie]

the prodigal son returns

1.florence and the machine, wish that you were here | 2. abu dhabi | 3. x | 4. florence welch, useless magic | 5. sochi 2020 | 6. stephen adly guirgisthe, the last days of judas iscariot | 7. monaco 2018 | 8. carol rifka brunt, tell the wolves i'm home | 9. x | 10. x | 11. anna akhmatova, the guest | 12. @catilinas | 13. joan bauer, almost home | 14. china 2018 | 15. x | 16. pascal mercier, night train to lisbon | 17. drive to survive s4, monaco 2021 | 18. john banville, the sea | 19. hozier, work song | 20. malaysia 2016 | 21. x | 22. taylor swift, all too well | 23. cota 2022 | 24. x | 25. julia alvarez, gaining my self back | 26. abu dhabi 2022 | 27. ursula k. le guin, initiation song from the finders’ lodge

#daniel ricciardo #mine #m:edit #m:ww #dan #web weaving #parallels #PRODIGAL SON RETURNED BABYYYY #i tried doing this on the new version of the editor so i wouldn't have to combine pics? nightmare scenario literally horrible not worth it #anyways i've literally had this sitting in my drafts since cota it's time to put it into the world

[moonshynecybin]

now that you have experience at a race do you think it would be weird to go alone? i am Considering getting silverstone tickets but i can't really ask anyone to go with me😭 idk you mentioned some weird male fans and keep in mind. i am a 21 year old indian woman. probably not the most common demographic at a motorcycle race in england

it would NOT be weird to go alone i think you’d have a BALL. obviously i can only speak for myself and for cota (who knows what differences silverstone has, esp considering i didn’t go alone and i’m white so it’s a different convo) but i didn’t feel unsafe at ALL and pretty much everyone i met and interacted with in person was really nice ! i WILL say there are maybe a couple of things to be aware of coming in: number one it’s gonna be VERY loud. not just from the motorcycles (though i would bring earplugs just in case, quali was unrelenting) but also just from the shear crush of people. if you don’t do well in crowds just be aware it’s gonna be super crowded etc, especially for the main race… cota had some sensory rooms if ya need, and the grassy spaces helped, but it was genuinely a circus on sunday so be AWARE ! and number two is like. okay it’s a sports crowd. and i am a FIRM believer in the right to be a hater in sports. but that also means (ESPECIALLY with marc marquez #controversialqueen that he is) that the people around you are probablyyyyy going to say something at some point that’s gonna make you suck on your teeth a little bit. bite your tongue etc. so be prepared for that as well ! bitches be stupid ! you just can’t let the stupid bitches get you down !

#someone was dunking on marc for crying in his documentary DIRECTLY behind me during the sprint #and a bunch of people cheered when he crashed around me (although a lot more people groaned) so. take that into consideration #but whatevs that doesn’t effect ME yaknow #motogp #callie speaks #asks #cotablogging #i have felt more unsafe as a young woman at like. a hockey game. there were lots of cool women there i enjoyed

[jennarations]

F1 Tag Game!!!! 🏎️🏎️💨

didn’t get tagged for this, but it looked like fun!

tagging @theory81 @twinkodium @wanderingblindly @nyoomfruits @eyes-likepilotlights @pastryland @lattesqueeze and @theommin if they’d like to play as well! (no pressure and sorry for double tags!)

1. Who or what got you into F1?

My boyfriend’s family actually! They would watch races on sundays and i wanted to be able to be part of the conversations they would have; so I watched DTS (i know i know 😔) but that’s where it began and now i’m more into the sport than they ever were! 😅

2. Who was the very first F1 driver you supported? Do you support them now? Have your opinions on them differed or stayed the same since then?

unconsciously max (my first race was abu dhabi ‘21 and bf’s family was split on max vs. lewis) i liked max’s spunk :) but consciously sharl because he was such a cutie with a sad backstory 🫣

3. Who’s your current favourite F1 driver?

oscar!

but close runner ups’ include sharl, max, lando and alex :)

4. Is there a driver pairing or pairings you support? What made you attracted to that pairing in the first place?

i have read well over 1 million words of lestappen fic so that’s a safe bet for sure,, but i’m catching up at about a half million for landoscar :) just love the dynamics of both!

5. Do your parents, siblings or relatives have a favourite team and/or favourite driver(s)?

boyfriend loves the mctwinks (like he should)

my mother absolutely adores max. she would put him in her pocket if she could.

6. Do you have any favourite races? Are there any that stand out to you the most?

qatar sprint and race, singapore, and suzuka (all from this year!)

7. Do you have a favourite circuit? Can be from the past or from the current calendar.

monaco and suzuka

8. Have you ever been to an F1 race in real life? Feel free to tell us your experience going to one if you like.

nooooo i wish 😭😭 maybe montreal or cota one day!!!

9. Have you ever met an F1 driver in real life?

if i met a driver it would be like meeting the lord face to face and i would simply perish on the spot i believe

10. Do you have a favourite F1 car? If so, what is it?

hmm not really but the RB19 fucks fr fr

11. Do you have a favourite one win wonder?

honestly pierre’s maiden win at monza was just so emotional to watch, especially the podium celebration. it was literally as if he was feeling the weight of the world fall off of his shoulders because he proved his worth and proved that he had the right to be there after a lifetime of dreaming 🥹🥹

12. Do you have any favourite quotes from the F1 world? This can either be inspirational or hilarious.

he does not foksmash my door

you can feel how he is really giving himself to the flute

change your fucking car

lando we can be world champion i said

ki ki AY

#tag game #formula one #f1

[vro0m]

vro0m's rewatch - 185/332

2016 US GP

Alright we're getting so close to the end of this season it took me ages to get through. Round 18 out of 21. It's COTA, and I have a lot of content for it (including videos I'll post after this review).

Lewis is on pole. Nico is 0.2 behind, then it's Ricciardo and Verstappen, Raikkonen and Seb, Hulkenberg, Valtteri and Massa, and Sainz.

Thing is, apparently, Merc had to break curfew to change his fuel injector or something so his reliability problems aren't past him. 

We also hear during Max's interview that they had an hour-long drivers meeting in part about his defensive driving and shenanigans. He's not bothered by it as usual. Later in the broadcast we learn that Charlie has declared that they will now investigate such moving under braking moves reported to them as potentially dangerous manœuvres to try to stop it from happening. The commentators are divided. 

We get a Lewis interview! He says he'd never had a pole in Austin before and he's worked hard for it so he's happy. He says he's always had issues with turn 1. Brundle asks what's on his mind when it comes to the championship with 4 races to go. He says right now he's not thinking too much, except for his job that Sunday. He's had another problem with his engine (the thing with the fuel injector I imagine) and that's something he's "conscious of", but his team said it wouldn't be a problem for the race although he will lose a bit of performance.

But together they'll find a solution and move forward and hopefully it'll be fine. He has a somewhat unhinged smile after that, like he forgot to look unbothered by it and thinks "oh right I need to be more lighthearted."

Brundle sums up where they're at with the points and how Lewis turned it around before etc. Lewis says he just has to try to do the best job. He's got his first pole in COTA, it'd be good if he could do the same thing next week. He says he's never won in Brazil before, so they're all huge targets for him. And the last race is generally a good one, a good track for him. "Your new best friend might become RedBull, you know?" Brundle says, because they can take points away from Nico. "True," he answers. "Daniel can be, Daniel and Max can definitely be very good friends of mine," he starts laughing.

"But we shall see." Brundle says if they're wheel to wheel with Nico, if they take each other out, Nico gains because he'll still be 33 points ahead with only 75 points left for grabs instead of a hundred. Does that enter his head? "It hasn't up until you just mentioned it," he sighs and chuckles.

"But I have to believe that… (he pauses, in his thoughts) I have to believe and trust that that's not… that's not the racer that he is. Regardless of other experiences in the past but… Yeah so I, no, I believe he's gonna put in a fair fight." (Literal chills.) Brundle asks if Nico gets the title, does Lewis think he deserves it? "I mean he's done the job with what he has so, obviously he's not had any reliability problems, so he's done the job– he's had one DNF when we crashed but otherwise he's had a great run of reliability, and he's done the job with it. So, you know. (He thinks.) In terms of who deserves and who's not, I mean he's done everything he has, he's come to do." He says fortunately for Nico, he wasn't able to fight him with equal cars reliability wise. 

Like I said in another race review : Nico will always have won against someone he sees as better than him, and Lewis will always have lost to someone he sees as not as good as he is. 

Brundle asks where he's at on a scale of it's the end of the world if I don't get this championship to I've got three already, I will win more, it'll hurt but I'll get over it. He smirks.

"I'm already looking forward to going skiing at the end of the year. So it doesn't matter what's gonna happen in these next weeks, I'm still gonna go skiing. I'm still gonna get the best day of the year when I'll get on a slope. There will be family, there will be Christmas, so many great things to look forward to." He admits this year has been difficult but again only as far as reliability issues go. But what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Brundle asks how he's gonna sleep (it's the night before the race). "Well Coco snores quite a lot, so I wake up quite often." He breaks into laughter. "She's snoring louder and louder I don't know why. So in the middle of the night you have to give her a kick," he mimes, and laughs. Brundle says he must be kidding, he's fighting for a world championship and his dog is keeping him awake, but Lewis swears it’s true.

Brundle asks if he dreams about the perfect start. "I never actually really dream about racing," Lewis says. He says the worst dream he has and it used to happen when he was younger was spiders.

He says he recently was on a flight and everyone was asleep and he sleepwalked which hasn't happened to him in 10 years (that's pretty unusual in itself, sleepwalking is relatively rare in adults).

"Around the airplane?" Brundle asks. "No no, I just like, I stand up on top of the bed," he raises his arms above his head, "shouting like 'holy–' there's a hu– spider the size of the table, on my pillow. And it's like jumping at me and then I literally was standing and my friend had to put me back to sleep I didn't know about it."

"We woke everyone up, they all thought we were gonna crash." He laughs. 

Simon says he seems in great spirits. Brundle points out he's won there three times but only ever from second place on the grid. He says there's a longer version of this interview (that I won't be able to watch of course) and says he was "really good value" that night. "He's got plenty to say, he's always fascinating to listen to." He does say he sensed that he's more nervous than Rosberg (but then again that would make sense). They also say the team has said that regarding the engine issue it would cause a loss of between a half and a whole second over the course of the whole GP so I guess it's not that much of an issue and Lewis is just still anxious about reliability. 

They're worried about the start, the Mercedes have had pretty bad starts all year, and Daniel is right behind them on supersofts on top of it. 

Alright. Let's race. Formation lap. 

And they're racing! 

They both had good starts! Lewis' car looks a bit twitchy as they get to the first corner but he gets it fine and Ricciardo is getting ahead of Nico now! Two cars went wide at the back. Hulkenberg is last from 7th on the grid, he reports big damage at the front. Just as we hear him we see two cars collide in the midfield. It's Perez and Kvyat. They're back on track very quickly. Seb is relentlessly attacking Max, who overtook him. Valtteri has a puncture. Verstappen got really wide in the penultimate corner. Here's the top 10 at the end of the first lap : Lewis, Daniel, Nico, Raikkonen, Verstappen, Seb, Massa, Sainz, Alonso and Gutierrez. Hulkenberg and Bottas are both in the pits. Seb is very close to Max again, or still. Lewis sets a fastest lap and he's out of Ricciardo's DRS range. Jenson and Gutierrez are battling for P10. Hulkenberg has retired. There's racing in the midfield but nothing very interesting. Then Ricciardo is called in. Raikkonen as well. These supersofts really don't last long. Nico is told they're going for the long game "so push hard now" and he answers pushing hard is not the long game. Max is pitting as well and that's early. He started on the softs. It's a surprise. 

It's lap 10. Lewis, Nico +5.5, Seb +4.9, Massa +7.8, Sainz +2.5, Ricciardo +2.0, Alonso +0.4, Raikkonen +2.6, and Max overtakes Jenson for P9. Lewis is called in. They're responding to RedBull. And Nico is also called in. It's gonna be a double stop then. But Lewis stays out?! Ricciardo up in P4 now. Lewis pits the next lap. This might be close. Quick 2.3. Lewis stays ahead, it wasn't as close as we feared. Lots of pit stops now. Max overtakes Raikkonen for P5. Kvyat gets a 10 second time penalty for the first lap collision with Perez. Nico is told he's the only car on mediums and it's the long game. He's currently faster than Lewis. Seb pits from the lead. Quickly, Nico is under pressure from Max, but of course he's on the faster tyre. Gutierrez has a brake issue, he DNFs. Nico is also around a second behind Daniel. 

It's lap 20. Max is told to make sure he can finish his stint, he's pushing too much. "I'm not here to finish fourth," he answers. Lewis, Ricciardo +5.1, Nico +1.3, Max +0.8, Raikkonen +4.1, Seb +3.6, Massa +13.7, Sainz +8.8, Alonso +7.0, and Kvyat +5.2. Jenson overtakes Kvyat for P10. Max has locked up so he's not pressuring Nico as much now. (Oh Kvyat's contract has been signed.) Seb has caught up with Raikkonen and he's much faster so we're waiting for the team orders to drop. But Raikkonen pits which solves it. Ricciardo also pits. Then Max, but they weren't ready for him! Catastrophic! It's a 9.2 stop. "What happened Max?" – "I thought you boxed me, sorry." Did he start daydreaming or something? Midfield stops, now. Seb is called in. Ohhh. And Max is very slow… 

It's lap 30. It seems to be an engine failure, but he's still going, trying to reset his car… He says he feels something hitting the engine. Let's review the top 10 in the meantime : Lewis is 10 seconds ahead of Nico, then Daniel +15.7, Raikkonen +3.6, Seb +8.5, Sainz +19.6, Alonso +4.2, Massa +8.2, Perez +10.0, and Jenson +3.4. Ted reminds us that he indeed thought something was wrong with the car during Max's stop. He heard the knocking sound he is now reporting. He kept going this whole time staying out of everyone's way but now he's crossing the gravel trap and parking his car on the grass. Virtual safety car. There's an onboard replay. Complete silence in the commentators' cabin as always. I like the way they diagnose car problems by ear, it's fun. Max gets on the curbs, the car vibrates, and as he keeps going it's like the vibrating noise doesn't stop. You hear the hitting very clearly. "Yeah it's something with transmission," Brundle says. Lewis is called in during the VSC. It's great for him. Rosberg also pits. In the end it's not the long game, I guess. Ricciardo : "They got a free pit stop basically." He's told yes. "That's so fucked up". "We have some rear wing drop outs as you may notice," Seb is told. "Yeah, some ! Some is good, keep joking," he answers with a dry laugh. Raikkonen pits and it seems all good but he slows down right at the pit exit and stops! What is wrong! "Why were there sparks at the rear?" he roars. "There was a gun still attached as you left. Stop, stop, Kimi, stop, stop stop." He's trying to back into the pitlane. Incredible! He's really doing it! No he stopped. We see the replay but it's unclear what was wrong. 

It's lap 40. Raikkonen is still reversing into the pitlane. He's made it but the Ferrari mechanics are nowhere? He's out of the race. What a weird thing. He's walking to the garage. On the race transcript I read that they think a tyre is not bolted in properly. Ferrari is under investigation for unsafe release. Top 10 : Lewis, Nico +9.7, Ricciardo +6.1, Seb +10.4, Sainz (brace yourselves) +40.8 (!), Massa +0.9, Alonso +3.5, Perez +17.5, Jenson +8.2, Grosjean +6.9. Ted seems to recall that Charlie said he would start enforcing grid penalties for unsafe release. Weird idea. I feel like the end of this race might be boring. We're just looking at Massa trying to get that P5. Oh Alonso is closing on him as well. 

It's lap 50, I have nothing to say. Oh wait. Nico is closing on Lewis. The gap is down to 6. But like. There's 5 laps left so no worries. Alonso gets ahead of Massa by making contact with him and pushing him off track. Seb pitted? Well it's not like he was under pressure from Sainz but. They're not giving a point for the fastest lap yet, are they? He can't catch Ricciardo either. Front left puncture for Massa because of that contact with Alonso. He pits. He also has the gap to do so without losing places. Alonso is attacking Sainz. Lewis is starting his final lap. Alonso gets ahead, locks up, goes wide, still manages to stay ahead. Very aggressive. 

And it's the end of the race! 

Lewis wins. He gets the congratulations of both Bono and Paddy. If my calculations are correct the gap to Nico must be 26 points now. Seb got the fastest lap indeed. 

I don't know who the Merc rep is, but it's a woman. "Well done Lewis," she tells him.

He smiles and she kisses his cheek as they hug. Cute. The cool down room is otherwise very silent. It's taking ages to get to the podium celebration. 

Oh. Lewis arrives and he has his arm around the Merc rep’s shoulders and while he's holding her hand. So, so, so cute.

Ooooh it's Victoria Vowles ! James' wife. She's so pretty! I didn't know she worked for the team as well.

She gets DROWNED in champagne by both drivers, of course. Several people in the crowd are holding up shoes for Daniel lol. 

Gerard Butler is doing the interviews. Oh yeah, it's Lewis' 50th win! He didn't ask him a question, he just told him that basically. There's really nothing much happening in these podium interviews. 

Toto says it might have been boring for the spectators but for them it was a good one. Hill says we've all been absorbed in "this whole issue with Lewis, Lewis's attitude and his mood and the relationship between the two drivers", but that weekend they were perfect. He asks if Toto talked to them, did they have a discussion. "I think we underestimate the pressure under which these guys are." He says they both have everything to win and everything to lose as we reach the end of the season. "I think there will be things you say, that next day you regret." Hill agrees that the pressure gets to them, he reiterates that this has been a good weekend for them. He describes Lewis as "very relaxed", "very comfortable" and "very sort of magnanimous towards Nico". But he also insists it's gonna come to a crunch, "there's gonna be– we just feel it, can't you? It's coming. You've got three more races. Are you ready?" Toto smiles. "Yeah you know it's interesting because we're not having any games anymore in there. There is no psychological warfare like we've seen in the past years. (👀) It's very calm. They are both in a good mood. But I am always skeptical, you know, I kind of wait whether this is a volcano to erupt or not. So let's wait and see." (Is this the eye of the storm?) 

In his interview, Lewis says it has been a long time coming (his 50th, and his 5th US win). He says he couldn't take his mind off the engine issue they had in quali so he was down on power compared to Nico during the race (Toto denied it).

He says he's relaxed, he's happy to be there and it's nice to have a solid weekend. He was 100% sure of his start, he knew it was gonna go well and it's nice to be in that position after so many ups and downs. "Let the battle continue and hopefully it continues like this." She asks how did he know the start was going to be good, was something different? He says he was just confident that he was gonna get it right this time, he chuckles. They worked hard in the factory during the previous week and found a couple of small changes that he was more comfortable with. She asks if that means he goes to Mexico feeling overall more confident. Not really, he says. Reliability is– he turns around and shrugs in Nico's direction, he doesn't think ‘he’ has the same worries about that, but he himself does. That's the only thing that can get in his way, he thinks. 

Lewis spends a long time in the garage taking photos with more or less famous people, in particular Venus Williams is there. He says he doesn't know why he does so well in the US, he's not more focused, he doesn't have more determination there than elsewhere. The track feels great, his friends are here, there's a lot of British flags out there. Johnny says he's dealing with the pressure well, as he knows he has to win these races and he puts in on pole and wins… Lewis interrupts : "Well I have this weekend," he corrects and chuckles. Johnny brushes it off, saying it's what this is all about : just Lewis doing the job on the track when he has the opportunity. Lewis says it was the longest afternoon because he didn't know if the car was gonna make it. Simon asks why, is it the fuel system change? It was and he insists again he was down on power compared to Nico, it's that and the reliability issues only they seem to have had. Simon calls him out on the power thing, saying Toto told them it wasn't the case. Lewis maintains he was. He says he could potentially lose 1 to 1.8 second in the race. That's nothing dude. Hill says in 2015 Lewis won his title there, is Austin, and then was more relaxed and Nico got the advantage in the last few races. He asks if he's gonna approach these last few races differently now. "I mean, clearly, you know, if you're not focused you can't deliver," he says finally after hesitating a bit. "It's the same for everyone right?" Lewis is not enjoying the insinuation. "Honestly I've been focused all year. I'm just gonna continue to try and do the job I'm doing." He says if he can finish the season driving like this and feeling positive like this he can go into his winter break pretty happy either way. They agree the start was great. "And you've worked on it as well haven't you?" Johnny says. "I mean I've been working on it all year," Lewis says, shaking his head. "True," Johnny says. But this was the first race he knew it was gonna be good, Lewis finishes. "And I know the next one's gonna be good. So…" He also says he doesn't have any new gloves when Johnny implies he does for some reason. Simon sums up by saying he knows what he has to do and that's getting poles, winning races, and hoping Nico gets bad luck. Lewis again says Nico is not having reliability issues. He says normally "the rule" says at some stage of the year you would. But if he has perfect reliability throughout the year then all he can do is do the best job he can. 

Lewis is taking photos with fans. Like he's in the middle of a small crowd of 20-30 people. Being pushed around. Getting touched. Trying to keep them from touching him actually. 

After Ted's notebook, Simon asks the others what they think of the fact that Lewis and Toto are saying different things about the engine issue. Brundle thinks it's Lewis putting pressure on the team, and some powerplay, and so he's exaggerating it a bit because it's yet another issue he's had with his car. Hill agrees, he thinks that's him reminding everyone that the team hasn't 100% delivered on the car. Johnny thinks it's a bit different than that. For him, Lewis basically said he doesn't think Nico is gonna have issues in the last three races and that's Lewis saying I'm gonna lose the championship and this is the reason why I'm gonna lose. At the same time he agrees that's a dig to the team so they make sure it doesn't happen again. Simon thinks you need to have that mentality if you're gonna be a champion. "You know, he's not gonna blame himself, is he?" Hill says Lewis seems to him "someone who's very clear in his own mind that he's better than everyone else" and so he expects to be given the best equipment and that was the deal when he joined Mercedes. He also thinks the mechanics switcharound they did earlier in the year has backfired. They tried to be fair and unluckily Lewis had all these mechanical issues, and it creates conspiracy theories. Brundle says your mechanics aren't the ones putting your engine together though. He also says when you join a new team you don't go "I'm not gonna do too much this first year because I don't know the mechanics", you just have to deal with it basically. Hill says Lewis is also "playing to the gallery" and he's "sending out a story about Lewis's career and himself, and his fans buy it, they love it, they love that kind of, you know, little bit of pressure– he pulls his weight, and he is a big weight in this sport." Johnny thinks that's not something he needs to do. He says we know, if he keeps winning races and loses the championship, that it's not his fault. It was the team's issues. He doesn't understand why Lewis needs to feed into it. Brundle says when you think of the other champions, Prost, Senna, Alonso, then he says Schumi didn't moan he was a team builder, he hardly ever poked the team, but "Nigel would have a moan wouldn't he? Senna– everything was unfair, he thought the whole system was against him." Brundle agrees with Simon that's just how the champions are. Simon tells Hill "you love a good moan, don't you?". Hill doesn't pick up on the joke. "I love a moan!" Simon chuckles. Hill says he did it as well but it can blow up in your face if you're not careful. 

Sensitive topic but I would say my opinion on it is that 1. He's truly had issues Nico hasn't and it's annoying and unfair and he’s frustrated with that. 2. I've said it before but Lewis tends to get a bit paranoid when things aren't under control for him so I do think he might have truly felt someone was messing with him and his engines, although he certainly didn’t mean to say it publicly. 3. He knows there's little chance of him winning and he's indeed preparing the discourse for when he loses. He has to blame it on something else than Nico being better than him. 4. Aside of all this I agree Lewis has kind of written his own legend at times, like Hill says, but first of all they all do it. As in WE all do it. We all have our own narrative for our lives and that’s probably even more the case when so many people are involved in your life and discussing it whether you want it or not. You have to make and tell your story. That’s fair game. Second of all, Lewis has had to do it himself maybe more than others because a lot of the people who were writing the story for him did it poorly and were racist and overall assholes about it. (I mean he did fight journalists about it that season didn’t he?)

Three races to go! 

#f1 #lewis hamilton #vro0m's race reviews #2016 #2016 us gp

[sedicisantidote]

Charles is incredibly fast AND incredibly consistent

1) Bahrain- Won from Pole

2) Saudi Arabia- Ferrari was the second fastest car, Charles came 2nd

3) Australia- Grand Slam

4) Imola- Ferrari was the second fastest car, LEC was running 3rd when he had a small spin near the end and finished 6th, his first fault.

5) Miami- Ferrari was the second fastest car, charles got pole because max made a mistake in his q3 lap and because he overperformed his car. Charles finished 2nd.

6) Spain- Charles was on course to have his second grand slam of the season when the engine blew up.

7) Monaco- Charles drove a flawless race, was leading by a good margin in the race until ofcourse Ferrari made that strategy call. Alex also held him up by not getting out of the way even after NINETEEN blue flags. He finished 4th.

8) Azerbaijan- Ferrari was the second fastest car, he got pole only because he overperformed the car and got an advantage of half a second in the driver focused region of the track. He was leading, had the winning strategy (especially with how the safety car played out) but his engine blew up.

9) Canada- He took an engine penalty, had a shit pit stop, got stuck in a DRS train and still finished 5th

10) Silverstone- Drove a flawless race, was faster than his teammate even with older hards with a broken front wing. Was on course to win and gain a lot of points on max until Ferrari fucked up with the strategy call. (Also, his overtake on copse, which despite being the best overtake of the season wasn't given enough attention because skysport comms do not know how to hype up anyone who isn't british or max)

11) Austria- Won. Drove a flawless race and still kept up the gap somehow, even with a broken throttle pedal for 10 laps.

12) France- his second and last fault of the season, in a car that was had an incredibly unstable set up.

13) Hungary- would have won it if ferrari hadn't pitted him on hards. this is despite him asking for softs (and despite carlos asking for hards who was pitted on softs. so much for your "he can't make strategic calls" agenda)

14) Belgium- Had an engine penalty but a tear off got stuck in his air duct. (Which also caused the pit limiter sensor to overheat and make him speed by 1km in the pits, not his fault)

15) Netherlands- Finished 3rd, had shitty luck with the VSC

16) Monza- Had the second fastest car, got pole from his sheer brilliance and overperforming the car. Finished 2nd. (Never got the chance to fight as there wasn't a safety car restart)

17) Singapore- Started from pole but there was standing water ahead of him, which caused not only him to lose position to perez but also those who started on his side of track including lewis and alonso, lost positions. Literally could not have done anything, he drove perfectly and then ofcourse perez only got a 5 sec penalty despite him falling behind the safety car THRICE.

18) Japan- The tyre eating f1-75 had levelled up and eaten her tyres within the first 3 laps. despite this, he still held on somehow on tyres that resembled slicks and kept fighting perez till the last lap. finished 2nd but was demoted to 3rd, a decision made very quickly unlike the previous gp.

19) COTA- had an engine penalty, drove a flawless race, had great moments including that overtake on perez.

20) Mexico- enough said, the pace was there in the car. could not have done anything.

21) Brazil- Ferrari strategy screwed him over in the quali, leading him to being unable to put a lap time on the board. In the race, finished 4th despite Norris taking him out and leaving him to climb up the grid almost two times from last. Had a brilliant race.

22) Abu Dhabi- literally THE perfect execution, did not have a single misstep or a single lock up, was on the one stop strategy and just showed how underrated and good his tyre management skills are.

If you think that he is inconsistent or whatever, please get some braincells. If he was not your top 2 driver, you do not know what the fuck you're talking about.

#charles leclerc #f1 #f1 2022