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dayslynthesix · 8 months

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match point | jenson button x volleyball player!wife

for some dumb reason while i was watching the usopen i got this idea of jenson and here we are so lets goooo

ps: this is a agegap, jenson is 9 years older than the mais character and I made some adjustments to fit the character, all the team mentioned here do exist and are the ones i support in real life

2009, Monaco

It was my dad's favorite time of the year, the Monaco GP and the one and only that we always go to watch, since I was a child. I skipped class that week just to be there, and probably my volleyball couch would be very angry once i went back to college, but family traditions are here for something. My oldest brother, Jeremy, was very close friend to someone inside the Brown garage, so not only we were watching the grand prix but we were also watching the grand prix from the big tv inside the garage.

And Jenson Button, of course.

He was fighting for the championship, something no one thought Brown could do it, especially this year. Jenson and Jeremy were close in age and they had something in common, they really like to party, and that's how they became friends - and also how i got a crush on him.

Jenson won the Monaco grand prix, he was dripping champagne and sweat once my brother introduced us. We shaked hands and shared a polite smile, nothing more. He said hi to my dad and that's all. But he and my brother went partying together, that's for sure. And tomorrow my brother would brag about it, as he always did every once in a while when they went out.

After all, he was one of the Jenson Button friends.

2013, Italy

Main setter of the US national team.

Captain of the US national team.

Number 1 in the setters ranking.

Captain of VakifBank.

That's me. All me. I couldn't believe that i was here. Inside of a court. Playing pro. If you asked me how this happened, I wouldn't be able to answer. One day I was 7 playing beach volleyball with my friends and a few years later I was 23 playing pro in Turkey.

It was the finals of the European Championship, we were down 2-0, all they had to do was to win the current set, but we really wanted that title, and we were fighting for it.

19x13.

19x15.

19x19.

20x23.

21x25.

We can do it. I know we can.

My dad's voice is echoing trough my mind. Play smart. Play safe. Don't risk. You can do it. Your team can do it. Trust them.

2x2 on sets.

We were goind the best of 5.

That title was ours. I had the best of the best. I trust my team. The title is ours.

14x14.

I looked trough the court. I knew where they weren't defending. I knew those players.

I set the ball, my outside hitter put on the block.

I made the first touch.

The libero set to me.

That point was the 14x15 we needed.

Just one point.

We can do it.

We did it.

The court went insane. The cheering. The noise. The hugs. We did it. We won. We were European champions. I made it. I the middle of the noise, the crowd, the yellow jerseys I spotted my family, my mom, my dad, my brother. And him. Jenson was there too. He was there, he was wearing the jersey with my name and number.

Rossi. 1.

The award ceremony was always my favorite part of every competition. The warm. The love. The anticipation.

"And the MVP award is going home. Is going to Turkey, Yolanda Rossi, congratulations, you are the most valuable player on this tournament."

I don't know how I'm here today. I don't know what I did to deserve the blessing of be on court, doing what I love, with people that I love. But I was.

I don't remember how I ended up being held in the air, hugging Jenson Button himself, while he was wearing my name and my number. But i remember that day was the day that we finally had something in common. I remember how we talked about our lives, our family, about England, US, about formula one, volleyball, and I remembered the crush I used to have for him. And that he's an insanely good kisser. And that after that day, there wasn't one sigle day I wanted to spend without him.

2023, California

"We met in very different moments of our lives, Like, I was in college, Jenson was being champion that year. I was 19, I didn't knew shit of life, he was on the road far more time than I was. Looking back, it makes sense why we didn't get along in the beginning. 2009 was a very strange and very distant year. But when we met again in 2013, it was different, I mean, I was in a very different place, I was already in national team, playing pro, at that point, I was the best..."

"You're still the best." Jenson cut me halfway my sentence, taking a smile from the hosts of the podcast we were on.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still the best... but like, 2013 made sense for us. I remember that final match when I saw him wearing that infamous yellow shirt with my name on it, one of my teammates at time had to hold me. And it sounds cliche, brother best friend and so, but I crushed him so hard and took him 4 years to notice."

"It didn't, I knew way sooner. The way you were looking at me on the Monaco podium? I knew it, babe, I always knew. But as you said, the first time it didn't make sense, but later i thought that, looking back, was the right moment, we didn't rushed things and they worked the way they should. Plus, your brother would kill me if I had asked you out in 2009."

"Yeah, he would, and at this point I wouldn't have a husband." The hosts just let us tell them the story. Asking questions once in a while, just letting us talk about it.

"Yolanda had for a very long time the most insane agenda. Like, the club season went from October to May, sort of, and than the national team season was about May to September, she was almost always on court, the free periods of time she had free was like, I don't know, once in a lifetime? And my agenda was also very messy, I was traveling around the world every week and when I was not I was in Turkey with her. At the same time she was a formula one master I was a volleyball master, I got myself thinking where the other team player was missing to defend a ball, how the block wasn't right and sometimes, during a grand prix, she was on the phone with my race engineer talking about strategy, thats why we worked so well together."

Jenson love to tell people about that, it happened twice but he was very proud about how those two times I made the right call.

"I thought about stopping after Rio Olympics, and I did, for a year and a half I was traveling with Jenson around the world, and it was magical, but I miss the court, and the game, and ny teammate so badly that i take myself out of retirement. Rio was the most amazing thing in my life, i achieved my goal, I was a gold medalist at an Olympics. I never thought I could do it twice you know? Winning the title is not impossible, but it is very difficult to hold the gold for the next Olympics."

The flashbacks from that day was on loop on my mind. That game was insane. That atmosphere were amazing. It was one of the best days of my life.

"She called me and she was like "I'm on the final" as if I didn't watched the game for the semifinal, the next thing I knew was McLaren very mad at me because I was going to the airport to see my girl play her first Olympics final, and once I got there, she was also mad at me because I was supposed to be on factory. I didn't care where I was supposed to be."

"He said that but he was also very mad because I lost a game to be there to his final race and imagine how surprised I was in 2017 whe he was racing in Monaco? But we made those sacrifices to be there for each other."

Our wedding was always on topic. Always.

"Yeah, my man of honor were Seb, Mark and Lewis. And Lan's friends kept looking at them with a very intrigued face, as my friends kept looking at that amout of volleyball players walking around. I think that at our wedding there was like 20 gold medals, or more, Lewis, Seb and I together we didn't have the amount of titles they had and that was insane."

"At the end of the night we were almost competitively showing our titles to them, especially Priya and Lewis, they were on each others neck about who was the most victorious and Priya would kill me if she listen to me saying that unfortunately for her, Lewis had more titles than her."

We took a break to have a coffee, take a few pictures, eat something and to finish the episode.

"Yeah, I'm retiring after Paris. I didn't think I was coming back for Tokyo but Karch called me and I went, it was worth the price, but I'm gonna be like 34 in Paris, and all the pre Olympics and VNL apart from the club season is taking the price very seriously, but after Paris I'm retiring, I have achieved all my goals, gold medal, won everything with my teams, world champion, like, I rather retire while I'm still considered the best than to put mediocre seasons in the future."

"She says that but she was on edge once I did that. But our bodies pay the price. Being a high level athlete is very expensive, the traveling, the training, the exhaustion, being away from home, our friends, family... it's difficult, I'll be there for her last set and I'll bring every friend of mine, Lewis said that he and Seb will also be there, and Mark is still believing that she's going to Australia 2028. And fun fact, every time she's at the paddock with me, the young drivers are surrounding her, like, yeah, I'm jealous."

We had amazing 10 years of just traveling around, playing and driving for a living and sharing more things that we could ever hope to. Jenson and I build a life together. We grew and learned things about love that I know I wouldn't lear from anyone in the world. A lifetime wasn't enough to the amount of happiness we share.

jensonbutton

liked by mercedesamgf1, lewishamilton, yrossibutton, aussiegrit and 987.354 others

jensonbutton were just going there to get married and we'll be back soon

yrossibutton cheers to miss and mister button (i still think jenson rossi-button would be insanely good)

jeremyrossi congrats to my favorite people

lewishamilton we still have more titles.

priyacaspari no, you dont

dahliabishop no, you don't

khill1 lol

august 13, 2017

yrossibutton

liked by jensonbutton, formulaone, volleybalnationsleague and 876.321 others

yrossibutton oops, we did it again. THANK YOU to my team, my coach, my family, my husband, my friends and all the support. after rio i find it very difficult to believe that i would be here again, but my people show me how wrong i was and it was a privilege to be on the highest spot on the podium with them one more time. congrats to the brazilian team, they did amazing during these olympics and im honored to play against them. thank you tokyo, you treated me very nicely and ill be forever grateful for these days.

jensonbutton insanely proud of you and the team. well done, girls, amazing volleyball as usual.

priyacaspari we did it! its a privilege to play with you

lewishamilton wow, two in a row? you're about to beat me

jeremyrossi my sister is a badass

maxverstappen1 number 1 for a reason

jensonbutton i know you're dying to make a comment about how the two of you are a perfect match, i know

yrossibutton yeah, i know it too, but maxie im already married

usavolleyball well done, girls. let's keep pushing.

august 8, 2021

yrossibutton

liked by vakifbank, jensonbutton, gg10, usavolleyball and others 678.877 others

yrossibutton last ride with this team couldn't be different. im wearing yellow and black for the past 8 seasons in my pro life, it was a great last ride. thank you turkey, im forever grateful for all those 10 years, thank you girls, i love all and each one of you. gabi, i know you'll be the most amazing captain this team could ask for, it was a pleasure to see you grow and become the amazing player you are. see you all outside the court.

vakifbank thank you, Yolanda. you are the best.

gabiguimaraes10 thank you! it was a honor all those years.

jensonbutton you did amazing, bae

maxverstappen1 i mean...

april 4, 2024

yrossibutton

liked by parisolympics2024, priyacaspari, jensonbutton, lewishamilton and 1M others

yrossibutton three in a row. wow. i dont even know where to start. the first time i put these colors on i was 22, i wear them for 12 years, i won and i lose with them. i was very happy and very disappointed too. 2016 was dream coming true. just to be there and play an olympics i was happy, and we won. 2021 was the "i made it", it was a dream i didn't knew i had it. that gold medal is more than i could have ever expected. this one i have no words to describe. i don't know what im feeling while i hold this medal. or how to say goodbye, but thats it, 12 years later and im resting that shirt, resting the captains belt and saying goodbye to the most memorable career i could ever dream about it. thank you, paris, you'll be forever in my dreams. thank you, girls, you deserved it. to priya and dahlia who are here since 2016, it was an honor and a pleasure to play with you and share more than the court with the two of you. thank you. thank you. thank you.

lewishamilton congrats yoyo, you deserved every second of that, im very proud of you

jensonbutton forever my number 1.

priyacaspari i love you, i love every second of the time we share in this sport

dahliabishop it was meant to be us against the world

gabiguimaraes10 congrats, yolanda. it was a pleasure to play with you and to watch you play. thank you for everything you did. you're a legend.

august 10, 2024

jensonbutton

liked by formulaone, yrossibutton, lewishamilton, charles_leclerc, dahliabishop and 788.988 others

jensonbutton longest pitstop ever.

charles_leclerc ferrari could say that

lewishamilton congrats to my favorite godson, both of your parents are world champion

sebastianbettel congratulations J and Yoyo, you'll be amazing parents.

dahliabishop this child will be surrounded by 3 different sports, make the beats of witch one they'll choose

jeremyrossi tennis, obviously, they uncle have 12 grand slams under the belt

maxverstappen1 they godson have 17 world championships

yrossibutton what kinda of math is that

maxverstappen1 i have 3, lewis have 8, charles has 3, sebs 4, so...

priyacaspari each of us have 3 gold olympic medals, 1 world championship, 3 club world championships and god know how manny leagues

january 14, 2025

yrossibutton

liked by mercedesamgf1, formulaone, lewishamilton, jensonbutton, vnl, priyacaspari, dahliabishop and 989.087 others

yrossibutton welcome to the team elise rose rossi-button, know that whatever tennis, volleyball or formula one you choose you be forever loved.

jensonbutton im the most lucky man in the world.

lewishamilton welcome little lis, we already love you more than you know

priyacaspari youll be an amazing outside hitter, i know that

jeremyrossi i just know youll break all the records

maxverstappen1 next redbull driver

charles_leclerc no

yrossibutton LOL not a chance

jensonbutton kids... no fighting (she's not choosing ferrari)

charles_leclerc i won with ferrari, 3 times ok?

maxverstappen1 after 5 years of suffering, she doesn't deserve this fate

july 14, 2025

i didn't liked this one at first but at the end i still don't know if i do but i hope you enjoy it

xoxo

#jenson button #formula one #f1 imagine #volleyball #jenson button imagine #social media au #formula one social media au #charles leclerc #max verstappen

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myimaginarywonderland · 1 year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2017- The start of it all

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2018- a season to forget

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, how can we sum this up?

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

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

Here's the DNFs for anyone that is interested:

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

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

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

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

2019- a season of change

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

During that race he gets up to 13th place.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So what can we say about Lance's season?

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

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

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

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

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

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

the-safety-car.6060938080001.html

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

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

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

2020 and the story of what could have been

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, what is the overall season summary?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

(This is said Free Practice accident)

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

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

2021- up against a champion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Styria sees Lance qualify in P10 and finish in P8.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Still a P14 finish though.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

My summary:

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

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

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

Here's the DNFs:

Baku which sadly was just out of his hands

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

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

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

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

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

2022- a shitbox in green

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are the DNFs:

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

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

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

So what is the conclusion?

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

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

- Felipe Massa, who was nearly a WDC

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

- Sebastian Vettel, a 4x WDC

and now Fernando Alonso, a 2xWDC.

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

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

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

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

Not to mention the things he has already achieved.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ayliamc · 7 months

Text

Italia

Day 8 - Art Fatigue

Steps walked: 22,802

Flights climbed: 44!

Vehicles ridden: 0

Points of interest visited: 6

Leonardos spotted: where one used to be

A truly luxurious morning today. Not even hampered by the discovery of tickets booked for an earlier time than we expected. ‘Twas a sunny and cool morning, perfect for our plan to hike up for a view of the city. Also our first [and only] time exploring the south side of the Arno. We passed by Galileo’s house. No big deal right? It certainly seems not to be. It’s just a building, now three townhouses, with a little plaque and a little mural. Otherwise unmarked, no pomp, no circumstance. We might have missed it had it not been for Google maps.

I can be seen here pointing at both the plaque and a cat who was walking by. (Have I mentioned I miss the animals?)

A little further up the hill was one of many botanical gardens. We got admission and marveled at the fact that they advertised wifi and offered the password freely, and the password was rejected about seven times before randomly being accepted. No one could make sense of this. But we wandered around the poorly marked garden and enjoyed nice views of Firenze despite my indignation that the map and signage was so senseless.

A little further up the hill was the Piazzale Michelangelo where yet another replica of the David resides, this one in bronze. It also provided a great overlook of the city — evidenced in part by the large crowd we had joined all seeking the same view.

It really felt like we could be looking out onto a city in 1475, the same city Leonardo loved and lived in. The same city that has produced so many great minds. The art mouth, where creativity and genius stems from the wellspring of the Arno.

We made our way back to our room — without using gps! — and had some leftovers for lunch before heading back out into the city.

We had seen signs advertising an exhibit at the Palazzo Strozzi by one of my favorite modern artists, Anish Kapoor. I learned of him in 2009 when we saw one of his exhibits while living in London and was captivated by his work. So I couldn’t resist the opportunity to see another, and bonus: introduce his work to Dan. The exhibit happened to open today! Despite my earlier belief that it opened the tenth of July because of European dating. How lucky that we happened to be in Florence on the opening day of the exhibit! I wish it had been bigger. There weren’t many pieces installed but the ones we saw were incredible, featuring a wax installation I had seen in London and some mind bending mirror and black pieces that made you feel like you were at once falling forward and that the world was shifting around you.

From there we went back to Universo Vegano for a quick snack where I got drunker than I expected from the Aperol Spritz I got in lieu of the hot chocolate I wanted (they were out) but thoroughly enjoyed the hazelnut croissant (Dan got tiramisu),

then back to the Museo Opera dell’Duomo, the museum connected to the Duomo. The museum is housed within the same building in which Michelangelo carved the David, close to its original intended location (the Duomo) and close to its original actual location (outside the Palazzo Vecchio, former home of the Medici family) and a short walk from its current location (the Galleria dell’Academia). Much to my disappointment they did not have his old workshop preserved or on display even. The museum is instead filled with numerous sculptures, most of which were originally built to be featured inside the Duomo. At some point, the put the original pieces in the more protected museum and replaced them in the Duomo with copies. Items of note we saw included:

- the Gates of Paradise, made by a bunch of famous renaissance artists, none of whom are particularly interesting to me

- Michelangelo’s The Deposition, a statue he originally meant to adorn his tomb. But in typically Michelangelo form he got frustrated with imperfections in the marble and smashed it to pieces, leaving it unfinished before it was reassembled after his death

- An altar piece that had some work done by Verrocchio, Leonardo’s first teacher

Our tickets to the museum also came with admission to the crypt below the Duomo so we circled the massive cathedral looking for the entrance. By the time we found it, I was eager to sit down. We had already walked a LOT. At the museum, they’d made me check my backpack (my tiny little bag), and reinforced that the coat check was “only for the museum”. Well I got to experience some more of that “don’t expect things to make sense in Italy” vibe when they turned me away at the crypt for my backpack again, and offered me no solutions as to where I could check it. So Dan went in without me because I was too irritated to deal with it, and I gave my ticket to another woman who wanted to see the crypt but they were sold out. We never even entertained going into the refractory which we also had access to with our tickets. All we wanted to see was the museum anyway.

From there we went to the nearby Palazzo Vecchio. (No backpacks again! At least they had a locker room I could leave it in. Somehow today is the day we visited all the “no backpack” museums. Annoying.) It’s a very old building and as the Medici family lived there, it’s naturally filled with art. Say what you will about the Médicis, but they put a lot of money into the arts. The 1% don’t do that so much anymore. Thanks to the patronship of the Médicis we have works from the likes of people like Leonardo and Vasari and Botticelli.

Leonardo had been hired by the family to paint the Battle of Anghiari in their great hall, but he got bored and frustrated and moved away from Florence before it was ever finished. The incomplete fresco was then ruined when they expanded the room and it was subsequently painted over by a new fresco. There are theories that some of Leonardo’s work remains underneath, Dan-Brown-style conspiracies fueled by the “look and you shall find” message painted into the new fresco.

We saw about a million and a half paintings by Vasari, the frames all Botticelli, and by the end of the tour experienced what I can only explain as “art fatigue”. When we went to Ireland, every castle sighting illicited excitement. But after a week it was like “cool, ANOTHER castle what’s special about this one…” It’s taken three days in Firenze to have the same feeling about 500 year old paintings and reliefs by the great Italian masters of the renaissance. We were a little overloaded with it, and numbed to the magic. We did see Dante’s alleged death mask-but-probably-just-some-sculpture. And another incomplete Michelangelo. And Machiavelli’s old office when he was the Secretary of Firenze.

We had some time before dinner so we went back to the apartment where we both groaned, collapsed onto soft furniture, and sat in near silence for a half hour before we went back out to dinner.

We opted to return to Nirvana, where we had our first meal in Firenze. I got the ravioli again (no regrets) and Dan got a really tasty tagliatelle with truffle sauce.

We’ve certainly made the most of our time in Firenze. And the location of our apartment was beyond ideal, paid for with shitty wifi and a shower that offered me two whole minutes of hot water that night. I will miss this city.

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