#in hindsight i think it's bc i didnt want to grow up and like get a job

[44lh]

Since lewisbian said you're the expert on mclewis, what the hayl did they do to him?

Based on how he acted afterwards, I felt they locked him up in the garage and only let him out when it was time to race

?? when did ale say that 😭 but that is funny that they said that JSJSJSJSJ. putting this under a readmore bc this turned out way longer than i expected lololol

i mean tbh they all but did that 💀 mclaren was like military school, everyone had to have a buzz/crew cut, he had to wear the same exact outfit thursday to sunday. the first year especially was tough bc of the intrateam politics with alonso and who would be the #1 driver. they had prioritized alonso bc he had just dethroned schumacher and was the reigned wdc. that’s why you had things like pitstopgate at hungary 🗿 (vine boom sound). anyway they didn’t give him equal treatment until halfway through the season, and even then they let him rot in china while leading the championship, and he was out for so long that his tyres were literally worn down to the canvas. then he lost the title by one point 🗿 (vine boom x2).

he also talks about how mclaren made him feel like he was a square peg trying to fit into a round hole and it just felt suffocating. back then mcl did a lot of pr stuff that was straight up nonsensical 😭 this is why we rarely see staged lewis videos on merc socials unlike other teams where he’s not just... sitting down and talking. anyway not saying mclaren was the devil incarnate for this, but it was just something that happened and lewis didnt like it, especially because they would just not let him do Anything Else. nowadays he talks about how “distractions” (putting that in quotation marks bc i dont think what he does in his offtime qualifies as distractions) are vital to his success. plus, it helped that he was signing for a younger team and he already had a world championship under his belt to allow him more freedom with his move to merc. mclaren was very different from the ~papaya~ team they are now.

and anyway this is all paired with the fact that mclaren was a dumpster fire on wheels heading towards a cliff. i guess hindsight is 20/20, but it is so easy for me to look back on the 2012 season and see why lewis would want to leave. like turrible pitstops, god awful strategies and approx 54 different mechanical issues in a single race... imagine dealing with all that and still having to get your hair buzzed at kuts r mclaren.

then there was the fact that he grew up with mclaren. i think he joined the mcl driver programme when he was like. 13? he might’ve been the first driver of that program ever. anyway yeah i think he said he just needed space to grow and he didn’t think he’d grow at mclaren where he felt he was perpetually 22 in their eyes. he wanted a team where he could be a leader and he felt like that wasn’t at there.

despite this, mclewis will always always hold a special place in my heart ! there really was just something so romantic about the absolute joy in his face for the 2007, 08 and even the 09 seasons. his happiness was so tangible. and as lewis said, you never forget your first!!! 😣💔

#mp4-22... you're my only ho. #also want to clarify that i am not an express. don't even think i knew how to read in 2007 #EXPERT