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cheriladycl01 · 9 days

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Mercedes Golden Girl - Grid x MercedesSplit! Reserve Driver

Plot: You are the woman to have come the furthest in modern Formula 1, as reserve driver for 3/10th of the grid she's thrown about the shop in the season of 2024.

Credits to csquaredinred for the GIF

Y/N Y/L/N was a name in Motorsport History books. She had currently come the furthest a woman has in F1 in many years.

Following in Oscar Piastri's footsteps, you won F3 in 2022 two years after him while he was storming through F2. You had an extremely dominant season being 30 points ahead of the next person behind you.

F3 wasn't too bad, you had one other girl with you that you were able to hang out with, as the boys were all the same in F3.

It was harder in 2023 when you graduated to F2 and were the only girl on the grid. Obviously you made friends with the boys but you always felt like the outcast, you never understood the 'boys jokes' and sometimes they wouldn't invite you to stuff because 'girls wouldn't like it' and it upset you.

You were very nervous to get into F1, only assuming that gap would be larger than it was in F2. So when you won the championship it only seemed smart for Toto to Promote you to the Mercedes reserve driver, on loan to McLaren and Williams as and when needed.

You'd been in the Mercedes Young Driver and Development Programme since Karting thanks to your family connections to one of the mechanics.

He begged Toto to go see you karting and give you a change and that was when his mind was set to help you further your career where he helped you into F4 and other racing.

There was an open spot in 2024 for you to be a Reserve Driver for Mercedes with Frederick Vesti and Mick Schumacher starting to look at other racing categories like WEC and Indy Car. So having you available in a second was important for Toto, they made a clause as engine suppliers for Williams and McLaren that they could also use you as a reserve driver as long as Mercedes had first dibs on you.

You thought your 2024 season would be pretty slow, only getting to go in the F1 car in Free Practice sessions like you had before but oh boy how wrong you turned out to be.

When Lewis announced he was moving to Ferrari in 2024, you had conversations with Toto Wolff and George Russell to see if that Mercedes seat could be yours, despite their being talk of Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon, Kimi Antonelli, Mick Schumacher and Frederick Vesti all up for taking that seat you hoped that maybe you could get it.

Toto didn't confirm anything and for the first four races, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Australia and Japan you did everything you could for the team, grabbing waters, helping hospitality make food, being chauffeur to any of the drivers who were tired after the races and everyone could see how much effort you were putting in.

CHINA 2024

In China, Logan Sargeant sprained his wrist in training and by the time FP1 came around the medical team said it wasn't safe for him to drive. As the sole and only reserve driver Williams had it was up for you to race.

Williams hadn't had a good season and they were worried having a rookie in the car. Both Alex and Logan had their fair share of mistakes and they were worried about their spending this year. They couldn't afford another chassis until Miami.

They also had yet to gain points with either the boys currently.

You were a lot smaller than Logan so they spent time padding out the car to help you so your neck didn't suffer with the G-Force as much.

By the time FP1 came about the car had been padded out fully.

"And here we have a very nervous looking Y/N Y/L/N who has been confirmed to take Logan's place for the race this weekend and will be partaking in her first F1 race. Awwww look at her talking to Logan and his team..." Ted says as he sees her on screen, talking through what was probably race strategy.

"Yeah, obviously she's done these Free Practice sessions but never a race so I'm excited to see what she can do on Sunday!" Martin says looking at her as she starts to pull her race suit up and put her helmet on.

You get in the car and after some wet conditions and not everyone getting out your fourth fastest on the board.

All the interviews were joking around saying how you were a Mercedes miracle.

FP2 saw you get P12 and you were pretty happy with that result as you weren't trying to drive quickly, you were just trying to get used to the track. You'd never driven the Shanghai circuit so getting to grips on the circuit was difficult.

FP3, went better and you came P9, trying to see how confident you were on the track and you were trying to go the quickest time you could without risking the car too much.

Qualifying was not good, your breaks were faulty meaning you didn't make it pas Q1 saddling up in P16.

"How did you feel about that qualifying session Y/N?" an interviewer asks and you.

"Yeah I think I got as much out of that car as I could on that day. I'm not only learning the track... I'm still learning the car and how it's built and just how different it is from F2. Learning both at once is pretty complicated so I'm personally proud of what I've achieved and yeah I hope the team is proud of me too.

"Yeah Y/N i think you've really got to understand just how amazing what you've done so far this weekend is already amazing and no matter the result tomorrow people will still be incredibly amazed by what you've managed to do in a lower end car" he smiles and you grin back.

"Thank you really!" you grinned, nearly tearing up at the kind words.

Come the Sunday and you were ready and raring to go, Williams had come up with an impeccable strategy that you knew you'd be able to pull something off.

"IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO HERE WE ARE RACING IN SHANGHAI CHINA FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE 2019. AND EVERYONE MAKES IT ROUND TURN ONE, BUT OH MY GOD CONTACT IN THE REAR WITH, WHAT THAT A WILLIAMS AGIAN?" the commentator screams and everyone in the garage is holding their breath, the dust from the gravel trap not allowing them to see which car went into the wall.

Your family were panicking thinking it was you.

"IT'S NOT! IT'S THE RB OF YUKI TSUNODA AND THE ALPINE OF ESTEBAN OCON! AND NOW VALTTERI BOTTAS IS HAVING TO STOP HIS CAR ... LETS REWATCH TO SEE WHAT OCCURED!" the commentator says as they watch the replay of Esteban taking the turn to wide and not leaving enough room for Yuki crashing into the side of him while clipping Valtteri's wheel and wing.

The race went on and you'd managed to climb all the way to 5th thanks to you having insanely good tyre management. It was always one of the things you were condemned for in the lower feeder series is how well you looked after your tyres.

"Y/N is just doing an amazing job, not only is she currently the only one to have not pitted but she's managed to climb her way up the ranks and get that distance she'll need to pit" the commentator says watching.

"I think she's really starting to struggle on those tyres though. I can imagine they'll put her on soft tyres for the last few laps to help her gain those vital positions. Everyone else seems to be on the mediums right now" he explains and on the next lap you called to pit.

However the commentators our outraged as Williams fumble, calling both you and Alex into the pits at the same time.

"Guys what the hell is going on?" you ask waiting behind Alex's car who was getting new tyres and had a very quick pitstop.

However the crew weren't prepared for the double up, so they run getting looking around for what they need for you. It ended up being a 12 second pit stop and you were crying with frustration by the end.

"Y/N I'm sorry we are looking into it" Logan's engineer says and you just ignore.

You came out of the pits in P15 so you had a lock of making up to do.

"AND FOR THE FIRST TIME THIS YEAR WILLIAMS HAVE RECIEVED POINTS, AND BOTH OF THEIR DRIVERS AT THAT DESPITE ALL THAT WAS THROWN AT THEM TODAY THEY HAVE GOT THEMSELVES THOSE VITAL POINTS THAT WILL STIR WILLIAMS IN THE RIGHT WAY!" the commentator yells and as you drive past the pitwall, all engineers from many of the teams are cheering your name making tears come from your eyes, scoring your first point in F1. P10 in your first race.

"You really were just phenomenal out there today Y/N. You had the best tyre management by statistics which is incredible for a reserve rookie... you've just amazed us all!" Naomi smiles at you.

"Honestly its such a great feeling going out there and making the team proud, i think Williams still have so much to work with and I experienced that today but with drivers like Alex and Logan who are both so driven and hard working i can really see them improving throughout the season.

"Do you think you'll do any other races this season?" he asks and you laugh.

"I think I'm lucky as a reserve driver to have been given this opportunity. Obviously my heart goes out to Logan and I hope he makes a full recovery for his home race! But ultimately i dint think I will be called on again this season." you nod.

MONACO 2024

"When you got the phone call from Toto explaining that Lewis wouldn't be able to race in Monaco, you were shocked. It would take something really big to make Lewis not race.

You'd come to the paddock pull of nerves and you felt physically sick. Mercedes, even though their car was pretty shit this year, still had a mid field car and you were going to prove that you could drive it like it was a championship winning car ... if it was any other circuit than Monaco.

Monaco was... well Monaco. It's an itty bitty small street track that didn't have a lot of room for overtakes, had twisty corners that were very unpredictable and could always have a chance of rain.

So yeah you were worried.

Too the point you actually had a panic attack, there you were in your drivers room crying and sobbing over the pressures from media day before going out to FP1.

"Y/N?" you heard from outside your drivers room making you stop completely in your tracks trying to make your crying silent but you were doing this weird little hiccupping sound as you were gasping for breaths.

"I'm coming in!" George says and he walks in, greeted by your red puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"Awwww baby" he says with a pout and pulls you into a hug as you sob more. There wasn't as much pressure on you as there were in the Williams, Mercedes had been constructors champions for 8 years in a row.

"George I'm so scared, what if i mess up!" you cry looking at him and George was nearly brough to tears himself seeing this 21 year old girl sobbing into his chest at the prospect of her messing up.

"What are you worried about messing up!" he asks.

"The race, the constructors championship! Everything!" you cry harder. George stays with you until you both are needed for the Free Practice Session.

Lewis' Mercedes has to be very packed out for you as he was a bulky man despite his height and that was the first issue in FP1. They hadn't packed you out enough and your were struggling a little with the G-Force, some corners the particularly fast ones, your head was flying to the side causing your steering to be a little off.

Despite that it made for a great weekend. George was right, you didn't have anything to worry about and you came P7 while George game P5 having car problems in qualifying meaning he'd had the better overall driver working his way up to the position he had.

"And again Y/N, how do you feel now that you are above Ollie Bearmen in the drivers Championship!" she asks and you giggle. You and Ollie despite being in different driver development programmers had a special bond. You both karted together a lot as kids and you went to the same school as him despite being a few school years above him. You had a sibling sort of bond.

"Yeah, i mean it's a little unfair to compare me at all considering he drove the second best car on his first F1 race... but i think we both stepped up to the challenge well and really took it in our strides. I'm excited to see of there are any teams willing to offer him a seat. I think so much talent from F2 is being wasted and the feeder series doesn't feel like its doing well of getting drivers into F1... so it would be interesting to see a new category added that's closer to F1 than F2 ..." you admit knowing that's how all of the washed out F2 drivers felt that will potentially never get to experience a career in F1.

SPAIN and AUSTRIA.

You were on a yacht, you didn't know whose but you were on a yacht when you had the news that George Russell had fully broken his foot in a crash Canada and they'd need you to step in for two races while it healed. He was getting surgery... of course he was and it should be healed by the time George's home race came around.

Getting to drive alongside your idol Lewis was incredible. He'd made you feel so safe and comfortable the whole weekend and you clung to him in all the media and interviews.

Not that Lewis minded, he found you adorable and didn't want you to feel left out or side-lined. He brought you out for food with some of the other drivers who you got talking to finding out their likes and dislikes. Lewis and Charles would excitedly gossip about them being team-mates for 2025 and whether Toto had found a replacement.

"Well... Carlos told me... and you cant tell anyone... promise?" Charles said seriously as the three of you were stood at the bar. And you nod.

"He's been offered a 3 year contract at Red Bull which is perfect for him to then make the move to Audi!" Charles exclaimed and you let out a breath of release.

The Mercedes seat was still up for grabs.

Spain was incredible, you'd never felt the heat and an atmosphere quite like it and you got you best result yet, coming P5. You kind of blamed that on Max and Perez crashing into each other and the debris messing with Carlos' car meaning Charles, Lewis and Lando took the podium while you and Oscar were just shy of it.

Austria was also good where you came in P8, Aston and Ferrari having had upgrades meant it was a tougher battle with everyone on the grid.

You now had 21 points, and were 10th in the constructors championship despite not being there for all the races which you were pretty impressed with. You'd scored points at all your races.

But it wasn't until Monza that the big one came.

MONZA

You were asked to fill in for Mr Oscar Piastri who had come down with what the medical team deemed invasive tonsillitis and he was not on par to drive.

Again you were nervous but having driven the Mercedes a few times you felt more and more confident.

You and Lando had pretty much spent the whole media day messing around. Lando did it, not only because he liked you but because he knew you were nervous despite the front you were putting on for everyone in the garage.

You and Lando got on like two pees in a pod and everyone found the dynamic hilarious. Lando flirting with you while you were innocently oblivious to his moves.

Lando found you insanely attractive. Every race you turned up at he'd look out for you in the paddock just so he could see you in your Mercedes gear.

Today however, you looked even better rocking the Papaya.

"You look good today!" Lando attempted as he grinned at you.

"Thank you! I got a new helmet design for this one, wanna see?" you ask and he nods. You show him your helmet which was so you, but you'd gone all out making it glittery. One side had Lando's pattern on it from his standard 2024 helmet.

"Oh woah! That looks great!" he grins, watching as you pop it on. He teasingly slaps the lid down making you try to reach up and swatch his hands away and lift the visor back up.

"Lan come on!" you cry frustrated making him chuckle.

Qualifying came and Piastri's now your car had so many issues meaning you were starting in Sunday in P11, which wasn't great. But the engineers promised to fix the issues before the race.

Lando got pole and you were overjoyed no longer caring about the shit show of your Qually.

You were jumping and hugging him as he got out the car and he enveloped you back in the hug.

"I'm so proud of you!" you'd squealed to him, and thank god his helmet was on because boy was blushing hard.

"Thank you!"

Sunday came around and it was carnage.

"AND AFTER A DIFFICULT RACE LANDO NORRIS WINS THE 2024 ITALIAN GRAND PRIX HIS FIRST EVER WIN, HERE COMES MAX VERSTAPPEN IN P2 AND Y/N Y/L/N GETTING HER MAIDEN PODIUM AS A RESERVE DRIVER FOR MCLAREN. WHAT A RACE SHE HAS HAD!" the commentator screams.

All of the Mclaren team were celebrating from the pit wall as you and Lando waved at them.

Being up there on the podium with Lando and Max was like nothing you've ever experienced. You were drenched in sticky champagne and you were laughing and joking with two friends about the victory.

"If that doesn't get her a seat next year I don't know what will" the commentators say before the Sunday Race stops broadcasting live.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @viennakarma @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @seomako @urdad-hot @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount @styl1shl1v

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wondercircuit · 12 days

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lance and the ferrari driver academy: a brief timeline

this covers lance getting scouted into ferrari, his junior career at prema, and the surrounding connections he's had from his fda days that were pretty notable for his development up to his f1 debut in williams. i wrote this as personal reference for myself at first a while ago while writing something else, thus the added subjective commentary in a few bits, but if anyone is interested and can count some of this as useful information for his ferrari-related lore, then great. feel free to tell me if anything is inaccurate!

2008 - 2009: lance jacob strulovitch started competing in canadian karting was winning canadian national karting championships before this, such as the coupe de montreal and coupe du quebec micro max championship in 2008 and 2009. he placed 6th in a world finals at lonato, italy in the mini roc category and in addition, he was winning championships in florida karting competitions. racing coach and karting champion mike wilson tutored lance and mentioned that lance was born with that “killing instinct, and was surprised at the determination he had as a child to fight the back of a pack," comparing this attitude to a young fernando alonso, (who mike had also mentored (interview source ; you can read a brief version without paywall here).

2010: lance was scouted by ferrari at 11 years old, the youngest person signed to an f1 development programme at the time. luca baldisserri, ferrari’s chief track engineer and former engineer to michael schumacher was running the academy as director. lance was allegedly said to be an experiment for the fda to see if they can mold potential into developing an f1 driver from a young age.

baldisserri said the programme to nurture and shape kids with potential was never originally a part of the culture of ferrari and said it was a shot in the dark, knowing how young lance was. it was mentioned as well that mclaren offered lance a spot for their development programme, but lance chose ferrari's offer:

"Though Lance was eager to accept, his parents were reluctant. He was still a boy, and this was a major commitment. "I wanted Lance to digest it," [Lawrence] Stroll says. "With the time and money Ferrari is spending, you've really got to know you want to do this." But Ferrari wasn't the only one interested. Within days, Ferrari's bitter F1 rival, McLaren, heard what transpired in Florida and lobbed in a competing offer. After mulling his options, Lance chose Ferrari, and a few months later, boarded a plane for his first training session at the academy."

— The grooming of Canada's next Formula One driver, The Globe and Mail, 2011.

lawrence initially thought that the scout's offer for lance to join the fda was fake and a scam: "[Lawrence] Stroll didn't believe it. This man was a con artist, a fraud. He was incensed. "I told him, you're full of [expletive] this isn't true," the father recalls. It took a phone call from Italy later that afternoon to change his mind." the article also goes through the sort of training ferrari started him out with and talks about how luca gave lance the token red racing suit when he joined, but lance preferred to stick to not wearing the color, which i think is interesting:

"With the eyes of the racing world upon him, Lance is now trying to keep a low profile. When Ferrari welcomed Lance to its team, Baldisserri presented him with the rarest of gifts: a bright red Ferrari racing suit, just like the one Villeneuve wore. It is the most famous uniform in racing. But Lance told Ferrari it's probably better if he doesn't wear it. "It's like having a bull's-eye on my back," he explains. "The other kids are going to be saying: 'He's a Ferrari driver – go and get him.' " Baldisserri agreed. Everyone is chasing Lance Stroll. So on race day, the famous red suit stays at home and he zips himself into an anonymous blue-and-white uniform."

lance wearing the chiesa corse overalls with the tiny ferrari logo

in the same year, lance participated in a 'friendly' staff karting event at montreal where he's karted with fernando and felipe massa.

(L), lance in 2010 at a staff kart race organised by ferrari in montreal. lance scored p2 in this race behind fernando | (R), fernando and felipe massa who got p3, pictured with lance at the kart race

the ferrari driver academy was very newly established--aside from lance, the programme had checo perez and jules bianchi, who were in sauber and manor, the one other team using ferrari's engine respectively in f1 at the time.

2011 - 2014: lance continued to compete in karting and won the SKUSA supernationals in 2012. throughout this, he continued to train with ferrari. by now the fda had gained a total of 5 members with brandon maisano (who would then go on to be lance's teammate in prema) and rafael marciello added to their roster. jules was the eldest out of the five at 23 years old, while lance had been the youngest at 13.

(L) lance pictured with a few fellow fda members and ferrari drivers of different categories, including (R) giancarlo fisichella and fernando on ferrari's passion day event (essentially an exclusive event shared with fans at mugello) (2012)

one of the trainers at the fda, andrea ferrari (i'm so serious, his last name is literally ferrari) talked about how the five academy drivers had unique training sessions specific to their ages and classes. he's mentioned how he occasionally gets to work with the "senior" driver team aka fernando and massa and the time he spends with them and fernando's physio helps him construct the training plans: "The opportunities of dealing with Alonso and Massa are occasional but significant, according to his accounts. “When Fernando comes to Maranello he has some training sessions with us. We often go for a bike ride in a group of 5-6 people and, needless to say, Fernando always wants to win”, Andrea states. “In addition, I’ve to say he’s a very sociable person. He creates a very friendly environment when we go out for a dinner or five-a-side matches among Ferrari staff members" — (source) fernando has mentioned training at the strolls' home in mont-tremblant, canada after the 2014 canadian grand prix — (source). in the same year, prema released a fun short little interview of lance in f4 where he mentions that his favorite driver is fernando. (even aston martin's team principal mike krack has acknowledged that their meeting in ferrari and the strolls maintaining that connection with fernando since then was an important catalyst to their present time at aston.)

lance debuted in single-seater racing in that year's florida winter series, which was not a championship series, but was organised by the fda. max and nicholas latifi also participated in this series (here is a comprehensive post on lance in the 2014 florida winter series that @lil-shiro kindly put together). lance competed in the italian f4 championship and took 13 podium finishes with prema racing, thus winning the champion title that year.

lance at the podium in 2014, adria, italian f4

2015: lance competes and wins in the 2015 toyota racing series in new zealand in the winter, which consisted of 5 rounds. he competes in f3 europe and ended 5th in the standings for his first f3 season. it was around this year where there were rumours of the fda discontinuing; for context of the situation, luca baldisserri was stepping down from his director's role at the academy, checo left when he signed on to mclaren in 2013. lance also left the fda to sign on to the williams driver development programme in november that year with the aim of getting to work closer with an f1 team. lance described ferrari's training programme to be 'basic' and he was looking for more intensive sim work and actual testing for f1 cars, which the williams' junior programme offered.

on the topic of who else was leaving ferrari, felipe massa was in williams by 2014, and fernando in mclaren in 2015. the strolls still continued to visit fernando in f1 races here and there to show their support:

(L) lance and fernando at the monaco gp, 2015, and lawrence with fernando at the canadian gp, 2015

2016: by now, it was known that luca moved on to race-engineering for lance and working with him directly throughout his f3 euro season that year. luca also had a hand in prema racing's dominance for the respective gp2 and f3 euro categories where he acted as a consultant for the prema junior development team and helped manage structures there, which looked to be a testament of how effective luca was in nurturing and managing young talent, despite having left the fda which he himself had allegedly 'masterminded'. luca was also overseeing mick schumacher's development. there wasn't other known reasons as to why luca stepped down from the fda other than the sources i found implying that the decision was supposedly, or at least partly influenced, by lance choosing to leave ferrari. luca then continued to help oversee lance's development himself even when he signed on to williams junior programme. lance talked about luca a bit here in an autosport article:

"It's extremely important to have him with us and it's great that he will continue working with us. "He's been with me since a very young age, when he chose me to come on the Ferrari programme. "He's very good at watching what's going on between the team and the driver - he's quiet when he has to be, but when it's time to speak up he says some very good things."

— source, Autosport, 2015

it makes sense to want to fully continue seeing through a young kid's development to successfully graduate them into f1 despite it being with a different team. the fda was a new programme, and in comparison to other teams' driver academies eg. williams, mclaren's, red bull junior's programme etc, ferrari doesn't promote rookies directly to their f1 seat, assigning them instead to sauber or haas first before offering opportunities. lance also mentions how he knew it was pretty unlikely that ferrari would let a driver with less experience into the team. i think this says things about ferrari's culture, at least in comparison to the other teams that are more willing to put rookies in their seat (this is constantly debated by fans and pundits across the sport to be extremely pressurizing for young talent but i do feel that you have to also question the alternative that seems to be ferrari's methods. again, all this is highly dependent on other factors as well involving a single driver's experiences and their individual junior trajectory so ultimately, the debate to whether or not a young driver is 'ready' for f1 before they're even actually there is personally moot to me. but alas, i do find it vaguely interesting......)

i'm only focusing on lance's development here so i can't say much on the fda now except for an added anecdote that charles leclerc is currently the only graduate so far to be promoted to the ferrari seat after the obligatory sauber stint for his rookie year. again, solely speaking from a point of comparison to other driver programme's success rates on getting their talent into their f1 team, it makes the fda's effectiveness look a little bit questionable.

anyway, here's more of what lance said on his switch to williams:

“I feel like we can be closer right now with Williams, and I’m working with them rather than just being part of a training camp like at Ferrari. For the future, it’s the right move.” And Stroll also feels Ferrari is unlikely to promote a rookie driver into one of its race seats, while Williams has a proven track record with the likes of Valtteri Bottas, Nico Rosberg and Jenson Button. "Williams has a great history of believing in young drivers, they’ve given many rookie drivers a chance in Formula 1. That was important for us, because Ferrari has a different approach; they tend to take more veteran drivers to fight for the championship."

— source, f1i.com (2016)

[Question] Tell me about your role with Williams… [Lance:] "It’s been a great eight months with them. It’s been fantastic. The cooperation with me in F3 is great, they have the right understanding of me focusing 100 percent on F3 and not getting distracted with Formula 1. They just want me to finish the championship, they’re not pressuring me to jump in an F1 car and doing testing and things like that. They want me to focus on one thing at a time, and that’s great."

[Question] If the opportunity to jump into a Formula 1 race seat in 2017 came up, do you feel you’ll be ready? [Lance:] I do… but it’s easy to say it. I haven’t driven an F1 car yet, so I don’t have a complete understanding of what it’s like. Once I have a couple of tests under my belt, a bit more experience, then I’ll have a much better idea of if I’m ready to make that step just yet or not. At the moment I’m blind in terms of F1. I’ve driven F3, I’ve driven a couple of other categories, but I’ve never really sat in an F1 car. So I don’t know how much different it is to what I’m doing now, how much more complicated it is, how much tougher it is. They are all things I’ll figure out along the road. But if… if it is just another step, and if I’m comfortable in the car, then why not? F3 is a very high level, we’ve seen guys like Max – and I don’t want to use him as the example every time because maybe he’s an exception – but even guys like Ocon, Rosenqvist, these are guys that could do it as well."

— source, Motorsport, 2016

the headline for the motorsport excerpt above is extremely misleading but i think the interview shows pretty good insight to lance's attitude towards his own development and how he's got a good head on his shoulders with self-awareness of his own capabilities, despite having had more opportunities and the financial advantage that motorsports typically needs. he also talks about his former prema teammates felix rosenqvist (currently in indycar) and jake dennis (currently competing in formula e) and how instrumental they were to him in learning about his race craft during his first year in f3. here is a clip on lance back in prema talking about his teammates feat. esteban and lance's long-time driver coach nuno pinto.

at the end of his race season, lance won the f3 euro championship in 2016, the first north-american who's won in the category.

lance celebrating his championship win for f3 euro in 2016.

2017: lance accumulated enough points by then to get a super licence for f1 (which allowed him to skip f2, like max did). this makes lance the second-youngest driver to debut in f1 at 18 years old. while lance isn't tied to ferrari anymore, luca baldisserri continued to be his race engineer for lance at williams to keep seeing through lance's development in his rookie and sophomore years.

lance with luca on the paddock and garages (2017)

overall, the 2017 williams had a decent car (they were 5th in the wcc that year) and lance managed to score his first points at his home race. he also became the second-youngest to win a podium in f1:

lance's first podium at baku, 2017.

that's it! the rest is truly history ♡

if you're interested, here is an external post off tumblr that briefly and neatly goes through lance's f1 career including his racing strengths, driving style and teammate relationships up to the present, written by @strulovic and linked with her permission. i'm sharing it here just because i've found it to be personally useful myself as a starting point when i went down the rabbit hole of digging up research of his fda days.

#lance stroll #ferrari driver academy #a lot of this was canonical reference i was using while writing 1418 f***** au #and i thought to put it up here and share a bit of history* in a condensed fashion #*important and fundamental info i compiled the week after i kept staring at dave's life-changing fanart of ferrari au #*info #disclaimer i don't know how ferrari runs their programme now under jock clear so my own feelings of side-eyeing the fda still remains

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f1-birb · 3 months

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mclaren From signing to the Young Driver Programme in 2017, to his contract renewal in 2024. 💫

#lando norris #nah his 2020 does him so dirty 😭😭#mclaren why would you do that to your boy #but the TRANSFORMATION #look at him 🥺

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singaporesainz · 3 months

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this will be very long, so fair warning, but, as someone who does pay close attention to mclaren, the idea that so many people are already projecting oscar to completely outperform lando so soon makes me a little wary... not only is it underestimating lando but it's also putting a lot of unnecessary expectation on oscar who will still only be in his second year.

learning things like tyre and race management takes longer than most would think, and some don't ever perfect it despite initial promise (though hopefully oscar does!). they're incredibly complex and not just one singular attribute to learn, but rather a collation of dozens and dozens of conditions with dozens and dozens of outcomes. it's hard, and shouldn't be expected within a year or two!

we also can't forget that lando's only just over a singular year older than oscar; the guy is still so young, and the idea that lando won't also be making year-on-year improvements to his intrinsic performance level is a little silly. neither of them are at their peaks yet, especially when you consider that intrinsic performance improvement usually tends to plateau around age 26/27 for athletes.

another important thing to consider when talking about lando's career specifically so far is he has still never had a car which is even vaguely in line with something that suits his driving style – so you could expect another order of improvement from him when he has a car he feels he can really push and rely on. the mclaren's handling has historically been incredibly odd and unpredictable; not knowing how a car will react from corner to corner, lap to lap will have undoubtedly put a cap on maximum performance and the ability to perform consistently, purely inherently with the car's characteristics, especially when you're pushing 110%.

neither driver has reached their ceiling yet, and to try and predict the outcome in this intra-team rivalry as anything other than just "closer than last year" feels a little presumptuous, and does a disservice to both of them.

i won't touch on the sprint win vs. no wins argument for lando and oscar when only "freak" wins have been available to either of them so far, and doesn't really hold water when really assessing talent in depth in the midst of extremely dominated eras of f1. especially when the strategy department of mclaren is still a bit crap.

but yeah. i imagine lando will remain ahead, but it should be closer just by virtue of oscar now having f1 experience at all of these tracks now, and the combined experience of a year in f1 and the comprehensive f1 testing programme he went through with both mclaren and alpine over 2022-2023.

it'll be interesting to see how lando specifically will develop if he's given a car competitive enough that he doesn't have to compromise his personal aspirations (eg. risks in w2w racing, strategy risks, putting it all on the line for a win) to prioritise the team result. until now mclaren has been prioritising low-risk racing, low-risk strategy and low-damage costs for the sake of what is essentially a midfield wcc each year lando's been there, amidst what has essentially been a money-strapped rebuilding phase.

we've only seen glimpses of how aggressive of a racer lando can be by virtue of him also being a smart racer who knows when it's actually worth risking something. seeing how oscar fits in at the front-end will be fascinating to see as well.

multiple years down the line, once both are fully mature, the lando/oscar argument will be a fun one to have, because we'll have the proper information to evaluate them with; but we don't as of yet. and that's partially why mclaren's lineup is so exciting :)

there isn't anyway i can properly reply to this whole post because i wouldn't know any better BUT i will say that i soo appreciate talks like this. i love talking about the nitty gritty, going deeper than what we see from race to race. im working on really understanding the cars and all that, so it was nice to read this.

thanks for taking the time, truthfully <3

#a-nonnie #hot take hotline #lando norris #oscar piastri #mclaren

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scuderlia · 3 months

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posting about Kimi Antonelli again… Toto signed this literal child to the Mercedes Junior Programme when he was 12 years old (in April of 2019). (x)

his 2024 F2 teammate at Prema, Ollie Bearman, joined the Ferrari Driver Academy when he was 16 years old (in November of 2021). (x)

SOME MORE REFERENCE POINTS:

Alpine signed Oscar Piastri into their academy (then, Renault Sport Academy) when he was 18 (in January of 2020). (x)

McLaren signed Lando Norris as a junior driver when he was 17 (in February of 2017). (x)

Mercedes signed George Russell to their young driver programme when he was 18 (in January of 2017). (x)

Ferrari signed Charles Leclerc into their driver academy when he was 18 (in March of 2016). (x)

Red Bull signed Max Verstappen as a junior driver when he was 16 (in August of 2014). (x)

Red Bull officially made Sebastian Vettel a member of their newly-launched junior team when he was 13 (in 2001), though he was accepted/scouted earlier. (x) (x)

Ron Dennis gave Lewis Hamilton a spot in the McLaren Driver Development Programme when he was 13 (in 1998). (x)

obviously a lot has changed in this sport over the years (especially in relation to junior academies) but still… much to think about.

#mercedes who notoriously don't work with super young drivers...#what are they cooking...

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sainzinnorris · 4 months

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the whole bianca situation is so haywire. I'll try to compress my thoughts on it in a few pointers;

1. let's start with the very obvious. i mean we know she's young and stuff, but you're 18. you're a public figure. you're under the drivers development programme for one of the well known teams of f1. you know you have a fan following, you know people look up to you, you should know better.

2. it wasn't a single post. yes that post in particular was extremely offensive. but liking all those tweets about lance stroll isn't gonna make you look quirky or edgy. nor is it going to help you build up a steady career if your first instinct (very childish) is to shit on a driver who's literally already driving in f1 and has enough records to prove all your silly likes wrong ✋🏾.

3. that apology. oml. what was that. using the “my brother has autism“ as an excuse ? and the whole thing about accidentally liking the post when she didn't (the original creator just deleted the post). at least sound like you're apologetic, take up the blame and promise to do better.

with all that being said,

4. i know i don't completely understand the effect her actions have had on those who who of her fans that are autistic , or anyone who looked up at her, finally being happy with mclaren's choice of including her in their programme, but we need to understand formula 1 is an extremely male dominated sport with drivers who all have done or said the most cancellable shit ever and they've gotten away scot free. so before hate tweeting vigorously about how she doesn't deserve an f1 seat ever. give her the same treatment you'd give the men in this sport who have said things like this or worse. it's not to pick sides or to an excuse, but ,people have this terrible habit on hating on women with so much passion it fuels into pure hate and disregard. this situation has escalated to a point people on twitter go like "don't give this women or any women a seat in f1, they will ruin it." . yes. hold bianca accountable for her actions , but don't use this instance to generalize all women striving hard in this sport to leave a legacy. don't use this one instance , one bad example of one female driver to discredit every female driver in the motorsport.

of course if she never learns from her mistake, by all means, the discontent is completely valid and you can channel it in everyway you deem necessary. but she's a human , she makes mistakes. i hope we can all find it in us to forgive and deal with this in a humane manner if she manages to actually grow from this mistake and never repeat it.

#stella's textposts #been wanting to say this for a long time but never got the time to actually say it #bianca bustamante #lance stroll #formula 1 #f1

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f0point5 · 6 months

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there's this f1 academy driver that everybody hype up her name is bianca and she's kinda... she not that good but she has potential and is young but I find disturbing how she presents herself as a Y/N and everybody loves her in a way where she is Y/N is upsetting... making tiktoks about mysterious 'drivers' that are into her, making herself as a parallel of leclerc, and now she's a mclaren driver (their pr tax) and I can't imagine the level of delusion the fans are gonna get with this. Fans has been implying she and ollie(? from f2 had been together and she liking weird comments is just... too much, it remain me of your comment about having a female f1 and how she has to take one for the team, like the driver champion is not very liked because she doesn't act chronically online and is more serious not as 'exciting' over meeting f1 drivers and interacting with f2 drivers

That girl…is a social media genius. Idk if it’s her or her team but she’s killing the game. Idk who anyone is in F1 academy except her, she’s been on my tiktok so much. She’s stunning as well. I don’t follow it but I saw on Twitter she wasn’t in the top 3 in the championship (correct me if I’m wrong) but (again, correct me if I’m wrong) she’s the only one announced as being part of a development programme? I know all the teams will have a female driver next year but she got picked out of the air pretty damn fast for someone who’s not winning. Again, all credit to her she is working her angles. The amount of content I have seen of her and Lewis this weekend…

Ollie Bearman is the next Charles Leclerc he is going to get the fan girls like nothing else ever. Aren’t Bianca and Ollie both with Prema? Maybe that’s why people are shipping them?

I have very little knowledge of this but when I’ve seen content of her I’ve thought the same thing as you. But, I also don’t think this generation of female drivers will be getting to F1, and they have to know that. Bianca is trying to make a career for herself in motorsport, she’s got to get her name and her face and her personality out there, because that’s what gets you commentating gigs etc. I presume she’s looking to do what Naomi Schiff has done, and for that, her social media is pitched correctly.

Would someone as pretty, bubbly, and “thinks she’s the main character” energy like her get eaten alive in F1 by the media and the fans? Yes. But is she ever going to have that experience? Highly unlikely.

She should get her bag 100000%

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a-la-rascasse · 2 years

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Happy birthday BRUCE MCLAREN!!!!! (30/08/1937 - ∞) 🧡💗⚡

“Life is measured in achievements, not in years alone.”

Bruce Leslie McLaren was born in Auckland, New Zealand, he was the son of Les and Ruth Mclaren and was the middle child of three: he had an older sister, called Patricia and a younger one, called Janice. His father, Les, used to compete in two-wheel local races, along with his brothers; but after suffering an injury, he saw himself forced to compete on four wheels. From an early age, Bruce was 'immersed', not only in the world of racing, but of mechanics too: his father owned a service station, equipped with a small workshop, which soon became Bruce's playground; little Bruce used to pretend-play he was 'fixing' his trike, so whenever tools dissapeared, everyone knew who to blame. But soon Bruce's life would abruptly change forever: at-nine-and-a-half years old, he started to feel a sharp pain in his left hip, and developed a slight limp. Mistaken at first for polio, after a couple x-rays, the specialists determined that young Bruce contracted 'Pethese Disease', which meant that his body had cut off the blood supply to the top of his femur. The only cure was to lay down and rest; at first they said for several months, but unfortunately, it dragged on for two years, that he would end up spending in the Wilson Home for crippled children. Left with the left leg shorter than the other, and with a slight limp that he will have for the rest of his life, Bruce had to learn to walk again: first with a wheelchair, then with the help of crutches. As his fascination for mechanics grew, he enrolled for an engineering course at an Auckland college, he left the crutches behind as he was slowly getting his life and freedom back.

In 1952, Les wanted to buy a car to restore, so that he could later sell it and make a profit from it. His big chance came when he bought a 1929 Austin 7 Ulster for only 110$, the only problem was that it came in pieces, so father and son joined forces and worked together on the car tirelessly, but the result was worth it: an open-topped, spoke-wheeled, chrome-grilled, fiery red racing model, ready to hit the race track. Upon seeing the result, something clicked in Bruce's brain, as its roaring engine called for him. With his pure excitment, he persuaded his father in to keeping the Ulster, determined in wanting to learn how to drive it, and the only place where he could do that was the family's garden. Excitment grew even more when Les entered the car for an hill climb race at the Muriwai beach, with the intention to drive it, but unfortunetly he fell sick, leaving Bruce to take the place in the driver's seat. Bruce would compete in his first race, and proceed to win it, getting the first taste of victory. He was only 15 years old. Yet his real official race debut, will come two years later, at the wheel of a Ford 10 Special, at the New Zealand Grand Prix.

Bruce kept on shining, showing his worth at every race he took part in, and in the meantime, he kept developing his mechanical skills, always with his dad by his side. In 1957, New Zealand was part of the 'Driver to Europe' programme, that aimed to help Kiwi drivers to be able to race in the top Formulas, Bruce of course was part of the short list, and given his racing talent and mechanical skills, he was eventually chosen to leave for England, leaving his family behind for the first time. As he was well welcomed in the Cooper team, he graduated to a Formula 2 Cooper-Climax. However, as he was still driving in F2, and leading the championship, he would have his Formula 1 debut at the 1958 German Grand Prix, due to a sudden decision that saw both F1 and F2 cars, compete in the same race. Bruce would finish the race overall in 5th place, meanwhile in the F2 category he finished 1st, meaning that he won the F2 championship.

In 1959, after his big success, he got promoted to F1, racing along side Jack Brabham in the Cooper team. Bruce accepted his role as second driver, and was taken under Jack's wing; he would go and surprisingly have a very successfull first year, where he would score his first podium at US GP, becoming the youngest grand prix winner (he was only 22 year old). The next season was once more very successful: he gained another victory, this time at the Argentinian GP, and ended the season as runner up in the championship, just behind Jack; the following year Jack would leave the team, leaving Bruce to become the lead driver. His third podium would come in 1962, on the most prestigious race track in F1, that is Monaco.

The next year, inspired by now his ex-teammate, Jack, Bruce decided to form his own team, which turned out to be not an easy thing to do, but with some sacrifices and determination, what once was only an idea, will later become real: only after two years spent mainly competing in sports cars races, Tasman series and Bruce taking part in testing sessions to gain more money, he took the big decision to enter his 'young' team in F1. The McLaren team would make its debut at the 1966 Monaco GP. Despite the race ended with Bruce retiring with an engie failure, it didn't dishearten the team, on the contrary, it pushed them to do better, with determination and time, they'd get the results they were aiming for. With Kiwi Denny Hulme joining the team, the car still had a few reliability issues, infact the 1968 season didn't start in the best way, but on the 4th race, held at Spa-Francochamps, McLaren will score its first big victory: after a fierce battle with Pedro Rodriguez on the tricky Belgian circuit, it will be Bruce himself that'll claim his team's first victory. With this big achivement, the following season was even more promising: with Bruce never finishing lower than fifth and with only a retirment, he would end the season in third place in the championship standings; everything was finally working out. Yet the 1970 season was off a bad start: Bruce retired twice, but managed to finish 2nd at the Spanish GP, scoring what would be his last podium. Tragedy would later strike: in June, Bruce would lose his life, while testing his new Can-Am car.

The loss of Bruce motivated the team to continue, to not leave in vain what they've done and went through, because that's what Bruce would have wanted and what he involuntarely taught them, to never give up. With that spirit, McLaren went on, and started winning championships, becoming the second most successful team in Formula 1, only after Ferrari.

What is not often mentioned, is that Bruce showed to be a very versitile driver: one category that he dominated with ease was the Can-Am series in the mid/late 60s, in which he raced with his own cars that were often considered the best in the category, with their innovative, neat designs and incredible speed. Thanks to that, in '67 and '69 he became Can-Am champion.

Active member of the Ford programme, he soon became one of the top tester for Ford, thanks to his mechanical skills and incredible intuitivness. Always for Ford he would take part various times in the 24 hours of Le Mans, and would end up winning it in 1966, with fellow Kiwi and F1 driver, Chris Amon.

His first win in 1959, would grant him the title of youngest Grand Prix winner, a record that he would hold for over 40 years, it would later be broken by Fernando Alonso in 2003.

After Jack Brabham and Dan Gurney, Bruce is the third constructor-driver to have won a Grand Prix in his own car for his own team.

Bruce never lived the glamourous life of the stereotypical racing driver. He's often pictured with his face smeared with oil and dirt of the racetraks, always getting his hands dirty while working with his mechanics on the car. That's what striked people about Bruce, in a world of competition, he was humble, charismatic, humorous and painfully enthusiastic about everything. His warm and disarming smile never disappeared from his cherubic face; even when he would lose, he 'would limit himself to smile less'. 🧡

#happiest of birthdays my beloooooved!!!! 🧡💗🧡💗🧡💗🧡💗🧡💗🧡💗🧡💗🧡💗🧡💗🧡💗💗🧡#I feel so dumb by saying this but I just miss him so much <3333 #and i have to admit that writing this was quite difficult #I just felt a bit emo #but anyways!! HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRUCEY!!!!!#bruce mclaren #classic f1 #f1 #formula 1 #f1 1960s #f1 1970s #mclaren #f1_bdays

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