#i know he didn’t race for mercedes but wow

[vinvantae]

Unmasked

Part 1/16

Word count : 2.1k

You chewed nervously at the inside of your cheek as you waited for everything to calm down outside. The final race of 2021 had been an absolute disaster and you couldn’t help but feel at fault for it. It was your crash that caused that final safety car, a desperate attempt from George at the restart ended up with you both out of the race.

All you wanted to do was to go and apologise to Lewis, but you knew you couldn’t. You had to wait for the dust to settle before you slid out of your driver’s room and pretend to be a normal member of the Ferrari team, but you were far too shaken up to put on an act. You knew the feeling of having a race win that was supposed to be yours, torn out of your grasp - but that loss had never taken a championship victory as well.

There was a light tap on the door, followed by the Monegasque voice you’d grown so used to. “It’s me. Can I come in?”

You cautiously approached the door, opening it just enough to let your teammate slip in - your back pressing against the cold wood as he turned to face you, concern written all over his face. It was hard enough to fight back the tears when you were alone but now that Charles was with you, you could feel your chest tighten.

His eyes flickered over your face, his expression shifting to concern when a tear finally escaped - slipping down your cheek.

“…I did this, Charl.”

“No. This wasn’t on you. It wasn’t on George either. This was all Masi.” He said, taking your shoulders in his hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. “I wanted to check on you, it was a pretty nasty bump.”

“I’ll be okay, a little shaken up. I want to say something to Lewis I…” you huffed, your brow furrowing - breaking eye contact. “I know you said it’s not my fault but I can’t even begin to imagine how he feels and to not even be able to apologise for my part in it?”

Your teammate shook his head. “He wouldn’t want you to. We should get you out of here while everyone is distracted, I have to get back down to the media pen.”

With a solemn nod you began to gather up your things, your race suit swapped with standard team wear. “That’s one thing I’m not jealous of. You lot are so good at holding your tongue with the press… how you’ve never accidentally called me by my name or used she or her…”

“It’s tough, believe me. Especially when I just want to shake off all those dumb theories that you’re Nico Rosberg or, as I heard recently, Michael Schumacher who never actually got into an accident.”

“Oh wow. I mean, that’s a compliment but yikes.” You grimaced. “Can you check if there’s anyone out there?”

He nodded, before giving you a hug. He fished his phone from his pocket and waved it a little. “I’ll text to give you the all clear, drive safe.”

“Thank you.”

After receiving Charles’ text, you slipped out of Ferrari hospitality, no one even batting an eye at you as everyone moved around for the weekend - your pass listing you purely as Admin, but allowing you access wherever you needed. You couldn’t help but let your eyes flicker to the Mercedes garage, everyone crowded around the doors, clearly desperate to get a word out of Lewis but he was either already gone or hiding away like you had been.

You watched as your fellow drivers walked through the paddock towards the car park - some of them glanced at you but you knew they had no idea who you were. And the way George didn’t even spare you a glance as he walked passed with Toto only annoyed you for a split second. He couldn’t apologise to the person without a face for ending their race prematurely. He couldn’t apologise to someone simply known by their number, Thirty.

After a few races, they all settled in referring to you as such - you weren’t entirely sure where it started. You were sure Ferrari wanted something more gripping but it was the number that stuck.

It was lonely, being faceless. Everyone around you had history, something more than just a competitive relationship. To them you were nothing but another number they had to get passed on the grid. You were jealous of the way Pierre and Yuki laughed together, of the way Carlos and Lando spoke in hushed whispers. You didn’t just want to be an F1 driver, you wanted to feel like one.

It was then you saw Lewis exit out of a side door of the Mercedes building, a hood up over his head and before you could think - your feet were carrying you in his direction. Revealing yourself was not on your agendas for today but, fuck, it was tempting. You climbed over a small fence and lightly cleared your throat.

“Lewis?”

His head snapped up, clearly suspecting he’d been spotted but when he saw a girl in a Ferrari kit - his features softened a little but the confusion remained. “Hi, sorry, I’m just trying to get out of here…”

“I know I’m…” you sighed. “I just want to say sorry for the crash.”

The Brit tilted his head a little. “Hey if anything, that crash was on Williams, not you guys. George was the one who hit Thirty.”

You wanted to tell him, everything about him just made you feel like you could trust him. I am Thirty. But when you opened your mouth to speak again, your words betrayed you. “You deserved to win today… but, uhm, if you want to escape unseen? There’s another exit tucked behind the maintenance building. We’re not supposed to use it but our passes work there anyway.”

He let out a soft chuckle, his eyes flickering over your stance for a moment - pausing at your badge, taking a moment to read it. “Thanks, y/n. I’ll see you around.”

A buzz in your pocket distracted you as he slipped out of sight, so you pulled out your phone and wiped the dusty screen on your trouser leg before cupping your free hand around the screen to read the message.

MB - People are getting suspicious. May need to move to plan B. Meeting tomorrow at 8:30am.

Until recently, there was only plan A - but now, at the end of the season, you felt like they’d created the whole alphabet of plans. You remaining a secret was as big to them as it was to you; the hype of a mystery driver brought more attention to the team than anything else. And despite you being in the sport for several years now, it remained as exciting. Motorsport’s biggest secret was not going to slip away from them now, not without their permission.

You weren’t 100% sure which situation ‘plan B’ was, Mattia and the rest of the team had thrown so many strategies out there - not unlike a race - and must have decided to designate each of them a letter. You considered texting Charles, to know if he had a clue, but you knew he was out with the boys and there was a chance they’d see. He had you saved in his phone as Ferrari Admin, so maybe the text wouldn't seem so bizarre but…

Fuck. Stop overthinking.

Instead you shoved your phone back into your pocket and climbed back over the fence to join the crowds. You slipped out of the paddock with ease, blending in with the last few dribs and drabs of the teams heading back to the hotel. The driver’s parking lot was nearly empty, except for a single bicycle propped up against the rack - Sebastian leant against the wall on the phone. You took a cautious glance around before heading over to him. He was with the team for years, so you always told yourself that it wasn’t weird for you to go over if you were wearing a team kit - he talked to people from Ferrari all the time.

“Hey, y/n. Long time no see.” He smiled knowingly. “Thought you’d be long gone by now.”

“Was waiting for everything to ease off a little, been a bit chaotic with the crash.” You hummed, trying to keep your language as vague as possible - trying your best not to burst into tears from the guilt. “So, they’ve decided to do plan B.”

“Plan b?” The german raised a brow. “Do we know which one that is?”

“Not a clue, but I’m finding out at 8:30am.” Your voice lowered as a small group of Alpine’s team walked passed to get to their vehicles. “Can I call you after?”

He gave you a genuine smile, nodding earnestly. “Please do. I worry about you, kid.”

The older driver watched your demeanour shift as another group of engineers walked by - you cowered away a little, lowering your head. Sebastian was never for the whole faceless driver schtick they were putting you through; when you were on track you were fearless, triumphant but as soon as the helmet came off you disappeared into yourself. It was almost as if Thirty was a different person. He’d had you over for dinner a couple of times and truly got to see you shine and he wanted nothing more than for the rest of the paddock to see the real you.

He cautiously reached out and gave your bicep a squeeze. “Never hesitate to reach out, y/n. I know you feel lonely, but you’re not alone. I’ve got your back.”

“Don’t start, you’ll set me off.” You said, cheeks flushing a little. “I do miss you.”

“We’ll try to have dinner during the break.” He smiled, pulling his helmet on. “Call me.”

Meanwhile, across the city, Charles was sitting in a hotel room with Pierre and Max, his two fellow drivers both nursing a strong drink after the dramatic race. Max wanted to hide away a little while before joining in the celebrations - his win was not how he’d pictured it at all, so he wanted to get some liquor in him before facing everyone.

“For the biggest drunken blabbermouth…” Pierre hummed, making Charles lift his eyes from his phone. “I am truly shocked you’ve never let slip who Thirty is, mate.”

The driver shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. “They could sue me if I did. Not worth the risk.”

“Yeah but c’mon, it’s us.” Max added, nudging his shoulder against Charles’. “Don’t you think we can keep it a secret?”

“I can’t burden you with it. It’s a lot… you don’t understand how much I want to share it. Tell everyone just how amazing they are, y’know?”

Whilst Pierre completely missed it, Max never did. He never missed the way that Charles never said him - not once had he inferred that Thirty was a man like the rest of them. And that intrigued him. If one of his biggest competitors was a woman, he was definitely impressed.

“Well, whoever he is… his driving is very impressive.” Pierre said, leaning back into the sofa. “Some of the overtakes he did before the crash? Wow.”

Charles simply nodded, opting not to correct Pierre in this situation. “Well, do you want to go out for a bit? I have an early meeting tomorrow with Thirty and the rest of the team so I can’t stay out too late.”

“Oooh mysterious. What about?”

Pierre was definitely one of the most nosey about your identity - being the grid’s biggest gossip, and despite being one of Charles’ best friends, he could never get him to slip and it drove him crazy. On more than one occasion he wanted to just go up and talk to you but with a specialist team surrounding you whenever you were in the paddock, it was impossible.

“I don’t know. Just that it’s early.” The Monagasque brushed his friend off. “Let’s just go okay?”

Max gave his friend a sympathetic pat on the back before the three of them head out for the night. Charles trailed a little behind, trying to shake off his nerves. One thing he hated more than you being faceless, was that outside of meetings and sneaky visits to your drivers room, he wasn’t allowed to spend time with you.

You intrigued him and, merde, you were beautiful. It felt unfair that he had a secret teammate that was not only insanely talented and passionate but looks to boot. You had enough on your plate without one of the people you trusted crossing the line by admitting any feelings.

He also had no idea how you felt. So he convinced himself that being your confidant and friend was enough.

Little did he know, the universe - or more specifically, Mattia and the team - had different plans for you.

****************************************************

Next part >>>

Here it is! Hope you enjoy ❤️

I will not be doing a tag list for this fic but appreciate the support you’ve all already shown regardless!

#f1 fic #f1 x reader #f1 x you #f1 #formula one #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc fic #charles leclerc x reader #leclerc x reader #f1 driver x reader #Unmasked Fic

[toppersjeep]

Chapter 5- I’ll Take Him (Charles Leclerc X Carlos Sainz X Reader)

Chapter 4 || Masterlist

Your POV

“What” I said looking at Carlos. “Where’d you go after that party last night” Carlos asked. “Charles drove me home” I said filling out some paperwork. “Sure you expect me to believe that nothing else happened” he said looking at me. “Unlike you I don’t go around screwing whoever I please” I said.

“You know he doesn’t care about you” Carlos said. “He does” I said. “Really.. Y/N you think that he’s gonna fall in love with you” Carlos said I rolled my eyes. “You know he may be dumb but I’m not” Carlos said sitting across from me.

“What are you even talking about” I said. “Do you think I’m stupid” Carlos asked. “Do you really want the answer that question” I said looking up at him. “I know that you have feelings for him” Carlos said. “I don’t know what you are talking about” I said. “I’m not blind” Carlos said.

“Can you stop bothering me” I said. “What can handle the truth that he’ll never love you back” Carlos said. “Carlos go” I said. “You see he’ll date all these other girls and you’ll just be left sitting there waiting” Carlos said. I ignored him. “See you know I’m right he will never ever choose you” Carlos said.

“Stop” I said teary eyed. “Oh.. did I upset you by telling you the truth” Carlos said. “What do you want” I said. “What do I want” Carlos said sitting beside me. “Don’t you have your new girlfriend to annoy” I said. “I’d much rather bother you” Carlos said.

“Seriously leave me alone” I said. “You know what I want.. you nearly ruined my career by letting what happened get out” Carlos said. “And you deserved it” I said. “Then let me make myself very clear you are going to take that job at Mercedes or Red Bull” Carlos said.

“Or I’m going to tell Charles just exactly how you feel and while I’m at it add in some other lies” Carlos said. “If you don’t I’ll make your job harder here for you” Carlo said. “Fine you win” I said teary eyed. “Good girl” he said kissing me. I pushed him away. “Leave me alone” I said.

“Oh I just know you miss me” Carlos said. “Go fuck yourself” I said walking away from him. I began to walk out of the paddock as I ran into Charles. “Oh I’m sorry” Charles said. I didn’t look at him. “Y/N what is it” Charles asked.”Nothing I have somewhere to be” I said walking away.

I then walked over to the Red Bull paddock. I marched my way up to Christian’s office. “Oh hey Y/N Russell wasn’t expecting you” Christian said. “I’ll take the job” I said. “Really you will I thought you heart was at Ferrari” Christian said.

“Well I don’t think it is anymore and I want to win” I said. “I see.. you’re sure this is exactly what you want” he asked. “Absolutely” I said. “Well then my dear welcome to Red Bull” Christian said as I shook his hand. “I’m very happy to be here” I said. “We are excited to have you let’s go tell the team” Christian said.

A little while later…

After the race I walked to my car. But Charles was standing beside it. I could tell he looked angry. I still walked over to him anyways.

“Is it true” Charles asked. “Red Bull” I asked. “Yes is it true” Charles said. “Why do you care so much” I said putting my bag in my trunk. “I thought we talked about this” Charles said. “No you thought you decided for me” I said.

“Don’t act like that” Charles said. “Like what maybe I wanted to better my career” I said shutting my trunk. “Come on now don’t lie to me” Charles said. “What you just don’t wanna hear it” I said. “So you’re leaving after everything we’ve built” Charles said.

“More like everything that you built I’m just a race engineer” I said. “You and I both know that’s not true” Charles said looking at me. “Don’t pretend to actually care about me” I said. “What is this I thought we had a great night.. the other night” Charles said.

“A great night wow you just kissed me” I said. “Yeah I did kiss you that’s not all it was” Charles said upset. “I’ll never be one of your girls” I said. “What did you say” he said grabbing my wrist. “I’ll never be good enough for you face it” I said. “What makes you think that” Charles said.

“I’ll never be the one you want there will always be someone better” I said teary eyed. “Don’t say that” Charles said cupping my cheeks. “Stop just stop” I said teary eyed. “Why are you doing this” Charles said. “Don’t pretend” I said. “I don’t understand what I did” Charles said.

“Please leave me alone” I said. “I can’t do that” Charles said wiping my tears. “Just let me go” I said. “No I’m not letting you go” Charles said. “Charles..” I said looking into his eyes. “Please.. please just tell me what’s wrong” he said resting his head against mine.

“I.. can’t” I said softly. “Just let me in” Charles said. “I’m sorry” I said. “But you can’t leave me at Ferrari like that” Charles said. “I have too” I said. “What do you mean you have too” Charles said. “You’ll be fine without me” I said stepping away from him.

“No I won’t be” Charles said. “I need to do this I can’t be there” I said. “Screw Carlos is this why your making this decision” Charles said angrily. “You know what I made this choice for me” I said looking at him. “You and I both know that’s not why” Charles said. “There you go assuming you know” I said.

“I don’t understand you I really don’t” Charles said. “Then leave me alone Charles I don’t care” I said yelling. “Whatever if that’s what you want I’m done” Charles said. “Then go” I said yelling. “Just leave like everyone does” I said.

“Okay” Charles said softly. I then left the paddock driving back to my place. I just cried the whole way home. I couldn’t believe I let Carlos do all of this. But I needed to protect Charles.

All of the sudden I saw a car following me closely. They they quickly passed me and stopped in front of me. I stopped my car. I realized who it was. So I got out of my car.

“What the hell are you doing Charles I couldn’t crashed” I said walking over to his Ferrari. “Hello” I said as he stepped out of his car. “Shut up” Charles said kissing me. “What are you doing” I said. “I’m not letting you go this time” Charles said.

“You almost made me crash” I said. “I’m sorry… I just can’t stay done with you” Charles said. “I couldn’t let you leave like that” Charles said. “I don’t get you” I said. “But I get you” Charles said. “Don’t push me away” he said. “Charles..” I said he kissed me again. “Shhh” he said still kissing me.

“We should move our cars out of the road” I said he laughed. “Yeah probably” Charles said. “Your crazy you know” I said. “Sometimes people make you do crazy things” Charles said.

____

tags @landologg @cmleitora @janeholt3 @gracielukey

(comment if you’d liked to be tagged as well)

#fanfic #f1 imagine #x reader #red bull f1 #charles lecrelc #carlos sainz x reader #carlos sainz #charles lechair #charles leclerc x reader #f1blr #f1 x you #f1 x reader #love #f1 fic #f1 fanfic #f1

[eleetalks]

MEXICAN GP RACE RECAP

Interesting FP1 with the tests for Pirelli and 5 reserve drivers on the grid.

The 5 drivers were :

Theo Pourchair -> Alfa Romeo

Oliver Bearman -> Haas

Isack Hadjar -> AlphaTauri

Jack Doohan -> Alpine

Frederik Vesti -> Mercedes

Out of these 5 I think Bearman showed geat potential.

Both Ferraris had car issues that oddly enough were repaired before the end of the session.

Didn't get to watch FP2 ( I was way too tired bc of work) and im kinda bummed about it. I saw it rained at some point and after that Leclerc didn't manage good laps, wasn't as fast ?

FP3 was a bit all over the place imo, they tried testong for qualy and race pace... all of it in 60 min.

Albon was really good all through the 3 practices !

Stroll impeding on Sainz was a bit too much, not for the impeding itself but more bc of how dangerous it was.

QUALIFY

I think the main surprise here was Ricciardo, I mean, we all know he is a very good driver but did we expect him to end up P4 ?

Q1

As soon as qualify started, it was clear there was a difference with track temperature. Albon was great during practice but as soon as temp was a bit lower felt a huge difference with the car (could it be he had actual damage?).

Leclerc impressed everyone setting a very good time on Mediums, honestly couldn’t believe it when I saw it.

Norris surprised everyone (me included) by not making it to Q2. It looked like he really struggled to put together a decent lap… and the yellow flag certainly didn’t help.

The yellow flag also made another victim, Sargeant received a 10-place grid penalty for overtaking during a yellow flag.

Q2

As opposed to Q1, Q2 was very uneventful.

Alonso was left out of Q3, this last part of the season is really not being kind to him.

Albon was left out of Q3 for track limits, he really struggled with the car.

Q3

Ferrari got a first row lockout (😍), what could possibly go wrong ?

As said before, Ricciardo got P4… in an AlphaTauri ! Let that sink in ! He really did a miracle !

Perez got outqualified by Ricciardo.

Perez in a RedBull got “beaten” by Ricciardo in an AlphaTauri.

Verstappen got P3, and this is possibly the only track where starting on poleis not the best thing so I think he will be P1 out of Turn 1.

RACE

We knew it was gonna be an interesting race from the start. The Ferraris didn’t have a good start and Verstappen took advantage of that. Perez was eager to do good in his Home race but ended up half on top of Leclerc’s car and being OUT of race.

In the contact with Perez, Leclerc suffered a minor front wing damage that has been investigated for Unsafe Driving Conditions but found in compliance so no further action was taken.

Magnussen had a pretty bad accident, probably a problem with his car, and went into the barriers (hopefully he is okay). This caused a RED FLAG that played in favor for Red Bull and a little against Ferrari (strategy wise); in the restart Leclerc mantiened P2 on Hamilton but then got overtaken by Lewis, also because Hamilton was on Mediums and Leclerc was on Hards.

Norris proved to be a great driver and McLaren proved to have made important upgrades to the car in the second half of the season… from P17 to P5, wow 😮!

Also happy Ricciardo got his first points in this season and too bad for Tsunoda, he was having a good race until that contact with Piastri.

Ferrari didn’t do bad but they proved they have many issues still, especially with hard tyres.

🏎️❤️

#formula one #f1 #formula 1 #ferrari #charles leclerc #carlos sainz #tifosi #max verstappen #mexican gp 2023 #lando norris #daniel ricciardo #checo perez #yuki tsunoda

[lionlena]

Hate run, love speed (Pedro Pascal x racing driver f!reader) part 3/?

Pedro Pascal x racing driver f!reader

Summary: You accidentally pick up a hitchhiker who turns out to be Pedro. You hear from him that he’s not a fan of racing and thinks drivers don’t do much… Then he finds out you’re a rally driver.

Warnings: swearing, small angst, mention of risk of accident and death,abuse from men (but not Pedro!) …

A/N: I’m not an expert on car racing and rally drivers, but I’ve always dreamed of becoming one. So please don’t take anything I write about racing and cars seriously. English is not my native language so I apologize for any mistakes. This is my first xreader so… I’m dying here.

*

Pedro wanted to see you after the race but his agent offered him a lift. He was sure he'd see you anyway, so he decided to be patient.

But he didn't expect to meet you any sooner than he expected. When he saw a familiar looking car, he slowed down. And then he stopped as he recognized a figure standing by the open engine hatch.

It had to be fate.

*

Sleeping on the couch all night wasn't the best idea.You woke up sore this morning, but at least you didn't oversleep. You calmly ate your breakfast, drank coffee and put on your favorite T-shirt. It was going to be a pretty good day.

(yes, this shirt)

 You were listening to your favorite song on the way to the track when suddenly the oil level light came on.

"Huh?"

You were really surprised. You regularly checked the levels of all fluids in the car. Besides, it was Mando. Your reliable car.

You pulled over to the side of the road, hoping it was just a mistake. When you opened the engine hood you knew it was bad. You immediately noticed traces of an oil leak. You could only guess that the oil line was damaged. The engine was hot, so you couldn't check it further. You groaned and held the bridge of your nose. You were sure you were going to be late.

You were about to call one of the mechanics when a black off-road Mercedes-Benz pulled up right next to you. That was weird. People rarely cared about other drivers. But when you saw who got out of the car, you were out of breath.

Pedro smiled broadly.

"Hi. Need a ride?"

You wanted to pinch yourself. How could you be so lucky to meet him again.

You were so stunned that you replied:

"My car is broken."

Yeah, as if it wasn't obvious.

He laughed and replied:

"Yeah, cars break down."

"Yes, but not Mando."

He frowned slightly and you realized you'd said it out loud.

"I'm assuming because it's silver."

"And reliable," you mumbled.

Pedro stepped closer to you, glancing at the engine.

"Hmm... I assume this place is just cursed."

"What?"

He was so close to you that you could smell his cologne. And oh... He was even more handsome than when you first met. Probably because his hair wasn't wet from the rain this time. And he wore a well-fitting blue shirt.

"It's almost the same place my car stopped yesterday," he replied.

You looked around and actually... It was almost the same place.

"Wow... It's actually cursed."

You both started laughing.

"Okay, lock the car and get your stuff."

You blinked in surprise.

"Umm, no. I can't. You're in a hurry for sure. I'll be fine.”

He shook his head and opened the passenger side door.

"Yes, I'm in a hurry. I'm supposed to meet my new co-star... at the racetrack."

"Ooo... Uh. Ok."

You quickly closed the engine hood, grabbed your bag and locked the car. Pedro was still standing there with a big smile and holding the door for you. You blushed a bit at the thought of what a gentleman he was. As you two moved on, you really wanted to ask him more about this mysterious co-star, but Pedro started the conversation.

"Look, I'm really sorry I said yesterday that racing isn't a sport and drivers don't do anything. I don't know why I said that. I guess it's because I used to swim and... God it was so much work and I finally gave up because I was too lazy."

You couldn't hide your slight giggle. Why did he have to be so cute? You couldn't be mad at him even if you wanted to.

"Really, you don't need to apologize anymore. I understand. Every profession has its pros and cons. Honestly, I don't think acting is for lazy people either. You know, all those late-night shoots, interviews, movie promotions. It's also a lot of work."

He looked at you for a moment.

"So you're not pretending you don't know who I am anymore?"

"Literally, a few minutes ago you heard that my car's name is Mando. Does it make sense to hide that I've seen your series and movies?"

"I don't think so. So, is any of your cars named Pedro?"

He winked at you, and you couldn't believe how much he was enjoying it.

"No," you replied quickly. "I only name my cars after fictional characters, and basically... I only have two. Mando and my racing car. And then there's the replacement car but someone named it Iron for Iron Man, and it stayed that way."

Pedro smiled mischievously.

"So what's the name of the racing one?"

"Trade secret," you replied quickly.

This amused him even more. He wasn't going to let go.

"Oberyn."

"What, no? How did you come to that?"

"Because it's yellow."

You were speechless for a moment. You realized that he must have watched the race the day before since he knew what color your car was.

"Javier," you replied with a slight sigh. "Because he's mean and he smokes a lot."

Pedro laughed out loud and... It was such a wonderful sound. Much better than in the videos you've seen.

Suddenly you realized you were already there. You thought Pedro was about to say goodbye to you, but he went straight to the track with you. When you saw your sponsors, you started to suspect that it was all connected somehow.

You were not wrong.

"Oh, there are our stars!" Tom shouted. "I see you two have already met."

"Yes," answered Pedro.

You looked at them completely surprised.

"I don't quite understand what's going on?"

Tom grabbed your hand and said:

"Pedro didn't tell you? You will play with him in...”

"NO!" you growled.

Seeing the surprised and sad face of Pedro, you decided to control your anger.

“I already told you that I am not an actress and advertising is not for me. Pedro is a great actor, but playing with someone like me, we will all come off badly."

You saw that Pedro was about to say something, but Henry beat him to it.

"Leave it to me. Y/N, let's go aside."

Henry grabbed your elbow gently and dragged you a few feet away. Then he asked:

"What do you want? New car, better parts for the old one, more money?"

You ignored his questions.

"Why don't you hire some actress?"

The man moaned.

"Y/N you must understand that this is a business and we don't have unlimited budget. We can't afford two professional, in-demand actors. No offense but you're not going to cost us that much. But it's not just about the money. We need authenticity. We want our customers to truly believe that our cars are for women who break stereotypes."

You groaned and shook your head, but Henry didn't let go.

"Look, if our profits go up, then... Next season, we're going to hire a different coach. The one you choose."

You looked at him shocked.

"For real?"

"Yes. Think about the advantages. You'll make extra money, you'll get more fans, you'll get rid of Ben... And don't tell me you don't want to play with a hottie like Pedro Pascal."

"Uh... All right."

"Ok. Let's go work out the details. Don't worry about training. I already told Ben you're off today."

Henry clapped his hands and gave the others a thumbs up. You got the strange feeling that Pedro beamed, as if he was really glad that you agreed.

What were you supposed to do? The offer was really tempting. You could only profit.

What could have gone wrong?

*

When you were talking to your friend in the evening, her excitement was vibrating on the phone.

"This is fucking awesome news!"

"I don't know," you replied skeptically.

"What is wrong? It's like a dream come true and you sound like someone just killed your puppy."

You rubbed your temples. How were you supposed to explain it?

"It's just too much. Sure, I dreamed of meeting Pedro... Like millions of other women, but that's it. I'm having a good season and all I wanted to do was just ride and win. I have a race in Spain in two weeks, then France... And I'm not an actress."

"Hey, listen," your friend's voice was calm and reassuring, "it's just an advertisement… Several two-minute spots.  Professionals don't always play in commercials. Besides, you said Pedro offered to help you."

"Yeah, when he gets the script, he'll call me and we'll meet."

"Oh, and thats great. Everything will be fine. You manage to keep your nerves at a speed of 200 km / h and you can't cope playing alongside... the hottest actor of this year!"

"Uhhh... You're not helping!"

Your friend laughed and you joined her.

Eventually her excitement started working on you. You started to think that this might actually be a fun adventure. In a few years you'll be able to say that you played with Pedro Pascal himself.

*

Part 2: https://lionlena.tumblr.com/post/717038721131855872/hate-run-love-speed-pedro-pascal-x-racing-driver

A/N: Please reader remember never to get into a car with strangers.... Unless it's Pedro Pascal :D

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal headcanon #javier pena #narcos #oberyn martell #mando

[adrena-dine]

MONZA GP : a summary

Nyck de Vries is a Mercedes driver, that did a free practice for Aston Martin and ended up racing for Williams on Sunday. Defo has more than one hat (like literally)

Lando and Daniel having tattoos of each others’ face in VERY visible part of their bodies

Not Ferrari being in their chicks era for celebrating I don’t remember each anniversary, feels like they’re celebrating anniversaries every year in monza 🤨

Pierre being sick and missing FP

Alex sudden appendicitis on Saturday and Nyck de vries being called in emergency to drive

Bestie literally spent his weekend in 3 different garages but doesn’t have a definitive sit anywhere 💀

Antonio in a Haas 🥳🥳🥳

Esteban’s and Daniel tribute helmets 🥺

Seb pulling out a Roland Garros 80s version look

TIFOSI SUPREMACY 🇮🇹

Charles. On pole. At home. What could we ask more ? (A victory)

Daniel telling Charles that he has big d*ck energy. I mean…he ain’t wrong

adios Porsche, let’s go for 10 more years of speculations 😒

quali being a mess like every year

Carlos didn’t give Charles a toe 🫥

Meanwhile, Felipe Drugovich (congrats for the championship !!) put a mess by visiting garages (he was looking for a toilet seat)

So many grid penalties for so many different reasons that Esteban and Pierre ended up asking on Twitter where do they start

3792920202 different provisional starting grid

Ferrari deciding that they won’t be fool for their home race. But for their home race ONLY the circus is coming back in two weeks 🤡

KIMI IS THERE and he still doesn’t smile 😐

Lewis coming from p19 to p5, and doing a double overtake to people not to forget he’s still a king

McLaren messing up Lando’s start set up 😒

Double retirement for Aston 😬

Pierre is going to have nightmares of Daniel’s rear wing

You know what’s hotter than Charles ? Sergio’s brakes

Fernando « wow » Alonso. If you don’t like your alpine speed be ready for your Aston’s bc it’s going to be worse lol

Daniel Ricciardo being asked to let Lando in and not answering 💅🏼

And his car just ✨stopped✨

Carlos was on fire, man was on A MISSION

GUANYU POINTS VAMOOOOS

When it’s not Ferrari messing up, it’s the fia ruining their race

FIA « safety is our priority » lmao.

Mercedes having another podium with their tractor, take whatever you can sweetheart

NYCK FIRST POINTS + DOTD

The race ending up on safety car, never missed Michael « we want to race » Masi so much

MAX WINS

See y’all in Singapore !

#lando norris #charles leclerc #f1 #daniel ricciardo #sebastian vettel #lewis hamilton #george russell #alex albon #Nyck de vries #max verstappen #sergio perez #carlos sainz jr #pierre gasly #zhou guanyu #fernando alonso

[cloudiness]

Here’s Carlos’s interview for Sky Italia right after the France GP 2022; you’ll find the translated transcript right under the cut.

Unfortunately I had to record this from my tv screen because I couldn’t find it anywhere else but I wanted to share it because Carlos is pretty happy and they also share some laughs..sorry for any mistake or typo, I was kinda in a rush and Davide Valsecchi speaks his own language which is impossible to translate..anyway, ENJOY! ✨🌶

( @whosays75 eccola qui, ho avuto qualche giorno di inferno ma alla fine ce l’ho fatta..qualità salutiamola ma dettagli)

(you can see I’ve put timestamps here and there just so that you can follow along if you need to)

Federica Masolini: Charles Leclerc..microphone…did I say Sainz? I said Sainz..?

Carlos Sainz: You said Leclerc

FM: Because I was reading the rankings, you’re fourth, one point over Russel, did you have water(during the race)? Was is difficult from a physical point of view?

00:18 

CS: I didn’t drink because we are a bit overweight and so I decided to not have the..

FM: Water bag (she said literally ‘canteen’ but we know it’s a bag)

CS: The water bag, because I don’t sweat that much so I’d rather be a tenth faster but it was really hot, especially in the beginning with the ‘hards’, the tyres were very hot, it was really difficult to overtake but then I changed them with the ‘mediums’ and from then on I was faster, I did some good overtaking, I even got to the first positions and then it happened whatever happened but I’m happy of my race.

FM: Could you recount your overtakes with us? Because Davide Valsecchi was particularly excited(while watching he race), I’d start from the one over Russel, with Davide, give us your comment on it.

00:59

Davide Valsecchi: Yes, take a look here because about the one with Russel we said there was pride, aggressiveness,  determination, around the outside at “Signes”, when you’re there the standard is to let the gas go but you pushed it, did it just feel right?

CS: Yes, here I followed his wake then I was beside him and I pushed him a little towards the right side to give him less corner so that I then was on the outside; it was difficult because it wasn’t clean, there was a lot of sand, but we did good, and here you’ll see that I star off good at turn 9 then follow the wake, battery, almost touching his rear tyre, here I pushed him towards the right side of the track to then have more corner and make it, in dire straits(referred to the gesture he makes with the hand under his chin) but I made it. 

DV: Bravo!

FM: How much does this kind of overtaking excites you during the race?

1:46 

CS: There’s adrenaline, there’s a lot of adrenaline, it’s amazing and it’s the reason why I love F1, this kind of moments, right? (These moments) That give you this happiness while driving, that knowing feeling that you’re doing something really dangerous, really extraordinary, that’s what I live for, no? That’s why I’m a driver.

FM: “Da WOW!”(literally ‘something that makes you say wow’) as Marc Genè(one of the commentators) would say, and then we have the one with Perez!

2:11 

CS: Da WOW *laughs*

DV: You didn’t make it around the outside there

CS: No

DV: I mean, you tried but they(Redbull) are faster than Mercedes and you had to give up, but I wonder, after, at this moment, where you are on the outside, he did a move on you, right? before the exit?

2:26 

CS: Yes, this overtake was really difficult because putting yourself in that position is already a hard thing to do but from here we then had like 7/8 turns were we were driving alongside..how do say it?

FM: Alongside

CS: Alongside each other, and you have to think that we were going 250 km/h, 7 turns at 250 Km/h are wonderful and to make them with Checo it’s always an honor because he’s a driver who always respects space and I always had him in my spot…where I couldn’t see him, how do you say it?

2:57 

FM: CIECO! (literally means “BLIND” and it’s pronounced just like ‘Checo’ in Spanish)

CS: Yes, PUNTO CIECO! (blindspot) 

FM: Precisely

*they all laugh because of the involuntary play on words*

CS: And here you see that I can’t do like I did with Russel because he(Perez) has much more speed but here I manage to keep him on the outside, he leaves me space, here we touch a bit and I attempt the overtake around the outside

DV: This idea of cutting the corners, I don’t know when it came to you, but this idea of cutting forced him to close(the trajectory) and made it so that you have inverted the trajectory 

CS: Yes here I keep inverting the trajectory to give me clean air and here he closes, we almost touch, I went on the right and then I threw the car towards the outside to then be on the inside here, it was really wonderful.

DV: Great move!

3:38 

FM: And you also had the strength to talk during this overtake, did you realize that?

CS: *Laughs* In that moment I was fighting for P3 so I told myself if I have to stop and lose 32 seconds it doesn’t matter if it’s now or the next lap so just let me finish this overtake…

FM: Let me have fun!

CS: I wanted to have fun but then they asked me to stop.

4:00

Carlo Vanzini: We also had a lot of fun watching you, I have a question, were you also thinking about the DRS? Because when you went on to the straight you had the DRS and you were just in the right spot to then attack him.

CS: Yes, I was.

CV: That was the real magic.

CS: Yes, I had to take everything into consideration because I knew that if I came first at the DRS line he was going to catch me on the straight. I did good, I wanted to be on the inside to overtake but not too forward so that I could have the DRS, it all worked perfectly and I did it.

CV: If I can ask another thing to Carlos, do you guys think you now have the best car overall?

CS: In quali yes, I think that we’ve proven it in many races that we can take the pole positions with this car, in the race it depends, it changes every race; we are now at the tenth one fighting with Redbull and in Austria for whatever reason we were faster and we had less tyre degradation, in the race before Charles and Max were almost equal, before that one they(Redbull) were faster, earlier we were faster…during the race it’s always pretty close but in the flying lap this car is really strong.

FM: Have you spoken with Charles yet?

CS: No, it’s really too bad for him but we all make mistakes, I made some at the beginning of the year and people were mean to me because they looked like stupid mistakes but, trust me, we’re driving these cars to the limit, right at the front, it’s not easy; we are pushing a lot and when I say a lot I mean A LOT, we are taking many risks and these things can happen, once or even twice a year, it might happen even to Max next in this season, and I completely understand how this kind of things can happen.

FM: Mattia told us “I’ll ask the boys to smile while looking at the data of this car, we have 10 more races to win and above all we have a 1-2 to make in Hungary”

CS: Yes, that would be amazing, it’s what we’re aiming for because we have the car, we just need to keep believing that it’s possible.

FM: Thank you

CS: Thank you

FM: Ciao Carlos, congrats! Grazie to Carlos Sainz, amazing race for him!

#carlos sainz jr #carlos sainz jr. #f1 #i don't even know how to tag this #let me know if something's not clear or big typos and grammar mistakes #videos #video #mine

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 161/310

2015 Singapore GP

Okay so irl it's been about 3 weeks since I've watched the last race so I hope I can remember where we're at in this season, my apologies if it seems a bit disconnected but I think we'll be okay.

Oh wait what. What the fuck. Simon opens by saying it was the most surprising quali session of the season. Seb is on pole and Lewis is ONE SECOND AND A HALF BEHIND?!?!?! What the absolute fuck happened.

On the driver's truck Natalie says Toto said they went backwards that weekend. She asks what they'll do to go forward now. He says it'll be tough but they'll give it their best shot. Apparently they had tyre issues as he says it's a bit cooler and it might help. She asks if he knows what went wrong with the tyres. He makes a face "we have no idea." he chuckles "I have no idea."

He says they haven't figured anything out. (Is he bluffing or is it true?) She says the balance of the car is as competitive as ever, he's as competitive as ever, so if he's able to make the tyres work they have a race on their hands. He says he's going into it to race and to win for sure. They won't know until they're out there but he'll give them hell. She says he's got as much support as usual there. Singapore is celebrating their 50 years of independence. She asks what he loves about the place. He says he likes the weather and street circuits are always the best (lmao absolutely fucking not). 

Okay wow we finally see the grid positions and huuuh. So Seb on pole, then Daniel, Raikkonen, fucking Kvyat is ahead of Lewis Jesus Christ. Then Nico is right behind Lewis, ahead of Valtteri, Max, Massa and Grosjean. 

Okay so it's not really Ferrari doing particularly well, it's Mercedes absolutely bombing this quali. Worrying for the race. But on the good side of things it's Seb's first pole for Ferrari. Natalie interviews him and he's in an excellent mood. He's wearing a cooling jacket and she asks if it's working. He unzips it a bit and asks if she wants to come in. He's driving me feral. Why is he such a flirt for no reason. 

Also Lewis is one win away from equaling Senna now. But I guess it won't happen here then.

Not many interesting things in this build-up. 

We're on the grid. 

And what the fuck. Nico is having issues. He's in the pit lane and can't seem to get his car going. Ted reminds us that in 2014, he couldn't start the car and had to give up, remember? Is it happening again? He thinks he just stalled. Apparently he's on the way now? No he's not. He's still stuck there and now being pushed back. He's apparently on the radio saying he didn't do anything different as the journalists wonder if it's his mistake or something wrong with the car. Apparently the engine has died anyway and they're walking him through a different start procedure. Now the engine is on and the wheels are spinning and they're about to drop him back down. Here he goes. Finally. 

Natalie asks Niki what was wrong. He says it's fixed and it works. He says it's impossible to overtake in Singapore so it's gonna be a difficult race for them but he still hopes for podium finishes. "But a hope is a hope, let's wait and see." 

It's time for the race. 

Formation lap. 

Here they go! 

There was some very very close racing but the order at the front stands. Yellow flags are already waving and Max and Grosjean are out of the top 10. Perez just almost collided with team-mate Hulkenberg! Oh Max is being pushed back from the grid. Did he not start? Loads of lock ups. Max leaves the pits but he's a lap down now. 

Alright so it's boring, just as Niki predicted. Seb is 4.8 seconds ahead of Daniel on lap 10, and the order still hasn't changed since lap 1 : Raikkonen, Kvyat, Lewis, Nico, Valtteri, Massa, Hulkenberg, Perez. People are starting to pit, the supersofts being obviously short lived here. Now Kvyat and Massa pit, Hulkenberg has pitted, and that's a crash! Massa, just out of the pits, makes contact with Hulkenberg who's coming from the pit straight and sends him in the barriers. That's gonna be a Safety Car, surely? VSC. They should pit now. Hulkenberg's car is smoking white and he's struggling to get himself out of the cockpit for some reason. That's making me nervous but here he is. Out and safe. Daniel and Seb indeed pit. Lewis has stopped. Nico pits. Jenson, very very slow… They can't get the front right on. Catastrophic. Anyway the stops don't even change much to the standings, apart from the fact that both Mercs are ahead of Kvyat now. Very very bored. And now we have an actual Safety Car. They go again. Nothing happens. Sainz loses his engine and then finds it again. 

It's lap 20. Seb, Daniel, Raikkonen, Lewis, Nico, Kvyat, Valtteri, Perez, Nasr, Grosjean. Bono says they have to look after this set of tyres. They had to stop earlier than they wanted and they're gonna have to make it last. Now the top 3 are within one second of each other and DRS gets enabled. Lewis notes on the radio : "Vettel's backing up Ricciardo, I think." something might still happen. Hulkenberg gets a penalty I've never seen before in the middle of a race : 3 place grid position for the next GP. Severe. "These guys ahead are driving really slow," Lewis says again. "Or at least Sebastian is." Ricciardo is told to look after his tyres as Seb is obviously not pushing. They're all looking after the tyres, because as we said, they had to pit earlier than they wanted. 

Oh fuck no come on. Lewis says he's lost power. Bono says they're looking into it, they see the issue. "Quick guys, quick!" he says. "We're working on it, we're working on it," answers Bono. He's dropping fast, Nico gets ahead. Kvyat is not far behind, and now also ahead. Lewis is still dropping. Valtteri gets ahead. They give him things to try but he says it's not working. He's calm though. Niki looks baffled. Ted says he thinks it's a KERS problem because of the noise he heard when he went past him in the pitlane earlier. I love Ted for being able to diagnose cars based on noises. "OK Lewis so we see the throttle not going to wide open throttle. Is it the pedal? We can't see anything electrically." But Lewis says he's accelerating to full throttle to no effect. He lost two more places. I'm about to give up on this race and go to bed. "Come on guys, how do I reset the throttle?" He's still calm. "So try HPP driver default zero one, HPP driver default zero one." "That doesn't work," he says moodily now. I can literally hear him pout. "OK so we’re just looking into it, we’ve got multiple issues." He's down in P10 by now. 

It's lap 30. For some reason Massa just went through the pits like he had a drive through but he didn't. He said he was in neutral. What that has to do with it, no idea. He's called to retire the car. Like clockwork, Lewis asks to retire his car as well. "Guys, we might as well save this engine, I’m falling further and further back. It’s impossible now." Bono starts to answer but he continues : "For all we know this driving could just be killing it more. We might be able to recover it." Bono says they're discussing it but they don't believe it to be a risk and are still looking at the opportunities. Shortly after : "It’s really getting a lot worse now, I’m slowing right down. You need to stop me. Brakes are getting cold and everything, I can’t–" "Yeah affirm Lewis. Okay copy that. We see it's all dropping off. Okay Lewis. Box box. Box box." He's down in 17th. This race sucks. He's in. They do a practice pit stop. Kvyat pits, slow stop. Merc still hasn't retired the car. They want to power cycle the car, Ted thinks it's useless. Alonso retires? Out of the blue. Lewis is finally officially out of the race as well. Perez pits, Nasr pits. McLaren think Alonso had a gearbox problem. Perez overtakes Grosjean in what I think is the only overtake that has happened so far. Ah and Kvyat overtook Jenson so maybe not. And there's a Safety Car? 

WHAT THE AVRUAK FUCK WHAT WHAAAAAATTT

THERE'S A MAN ON THE TRACK

HE'S WALKING THERE JUST WALKING

ALONG THE WALL OF THE TRACK 

IN SHORTS LIKE

I CAN'T 

WHAT THE FUCK

Seb frantically signals him to his team : "There's a MAN on the track" he says. It's terrifying actually can you imagine? You don't know what he could do and it's so dangerous. Fuck. We see him hoist himself over the barrier through a hole in the fence. 

What the fuuuuuuck. 

Seb pits, Daniel pits, everybody pits. Raikkonen, Nico, Valtteri, they're going to the end on these tyres now. And so the Safety Car is out but the dude is in so it's. Yeah. Idk. Valtteri takes to the radio to congratulate his team for the good stop which is genuinely cute. Seb asks his team to tell the Safety Car to go quicker. 

On lap 41 they go again. Seb in the lead, then still Daniel, Raikkonen, Nico, Valtteri, Kvyat, Perez, Grosjean, Maldonado, Jenson. There's been contact in the midfield, it was bound to happen, too close too narrow. It was Jenson and Maldonado. Jenson pits with front wing damage. Max overtakes Maldonado for P9. We see Lewis walking into the media pen and tap Massa on the shoulder. Max overtakes Grosjean for P8. (BTW remember he wasn't able to start his car at the beginning of the race and went out one lap down so that's quite remarkable). 

On lap 50, Seb, Daniel, Raikkonen, Nico, Valtteri, Kvyat, Perez, Verstappen, Sainz, Grosjean. Lewis is talking with Natalie, and he's smiling. She asks him if he thinks he had the pace and strategy to win. He stutters and sighs. "I was feeling super optimistic in the car, I really was," he says with a shrug. The guys in the front were on different tyres and he was easily keeping up with them, he explains, so he thought they might be able to race. He says the balance was really nice, and he was just waiting for the moment to push and see what the car could do but he lost power. He hoped they might have a quick fix, "but it never came." She asks him what it felt like for him, when did he realize it was terminal. He repeats he lost power and they told him to make all these changes but none of them worked, and he knew he was about last when he got overtaken by the Marussias and so he knew winning was definitely out of the question. Then he saw them pulling away and he knew that points were also out of the question. 

10 laps to go. After all the trouble he had in this race, Jenson is told to retire the car. McLaren really suck at the moment. 

Anyway it's the end of the race. 

Seb, Daniel, Raikkonen. 

Postrace, the journalists are already saying Mercedes is in a downward dynamic which is retrospectively even more funny than it must have been at the time. 

We also get a compilation of all the times fans invaded the track during the race. In 2003, during the British GP, an Irish man ran down the length track, in the middle of it, while the cars were racing. They're meters away from him and it's terrifying. He had white cardboards with a message on it I can't read. Then in the 2000 German GP, a dude covered with a white sheet except for his head also ran across the track while the cars were coming. He was clearly not trying to get hit but a better way to avoid that is to stay behind the barriers. Oh and did I miss that? Some guy also ran across the track during the 2015 Chinese gp. Did I not see it happen or did I already forget? Well anyway I read on Wikipedia that Seb said this one took a picture : "I hope it was a good one at least. I hope it was in focus." It was a 27 yo British citizen who was taken to court the next Tuesday and offered a 15'000S$ bail that he couldn't pay. He was eventually sentenced to 6 weeks in jail. 

Hulkenberg later accepted his responsibility in the crash with Massa even though he first said it wasn't his fault and apologised to him by text message. 

Also one thing that I didn't notice happening because I wasn't paying attention anymore is that Max was asked in the last lap to let Sainz ahead for 8th place and he refused and didn't let him through. He was backed by TP Franz Tost who said they wanted to swap the cars because they thought Sainz was faster with his new tyres but it wasn't the case and he couldn't catch up. Well. The same thing happened with Lewis and Nico not so long ago right? So it would be hypocritical to criticise Max for doing the same thing.

Anyway there’s not much interesting content in the postrace given Lewis wasn't on the podium for once, but we still get the end of the earlier interview. Natalie says he doesn't seem "hugely phased by it" even though it was an "uncharacteristically difficult weekend". She asks if it's a new approach for him or if that's how he felt all year which doesn't make much sense as far as questions go. Then she adds "because you know that you've got a good car to come back". He says neither of those. "I feel content with the job that I did this weekend," he says with a facial expression that's like "what are you even talking about". He says he got here early, trained, drove the best he could, qualified ahead of his team-mate, was quicker than his team-mate in the race ("it's always a good thing" he adds quickly) and he was feeling good in the car.

He says he thinks everyone did a good job and even though the last couple of races weren't the best for his team, they'll bounce back. She asks if he feels like it just wasn't meant to be this weekend. "Definitely, yep." But he's hoping they'll be able to rectify it for the next race.

#f1 #lewis hamilton #vro0m's race reviews #2015 #2015 singapore gp

[f1]

Hamilton and Russell taken aback by McLaren after front-running pace comes from nowhere

Mercedes drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell reserved words of praise for McLaren after the chrome-liveried MCL60s caught the eye throughout the British Grand Prix weekend, adding another intriguing layer to the fight at the front of the F1 grid. Lando Norris and team mate Oscar Piastri wowed the crowds at Silverstone with a run to second and third in a wet-dry qualifying session, before the home favourite followed Red Bull’s Max Verstappen home for a memorable P2 finish on race day. READ MORE: Verstappen heads local heroes Norris and Hamilton to claim British Grand Prix win That came after a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle with Hamilton, who had benefitted from the timing of the Safety Car to jump Piastri for third and then apply pressure on Norris at the restart – McLaren having taken on hard tyres, and Mercedes softs. Reflecting on his rise from seventh to third, Hamilton said: “Well, firstly, I didn’t do it, the crowd did it. Once again, Silverstone put on an amazing show, we’ve got the greatest crowd here, so a big, big thank you to everyone for supporting. I felt the energy, I felt the support, which is the reason we got back up there. “Also, I just want to say a big congratulations to Lando, and to McLaren, where… It’s my family, it’s where I first started, so to see them back up there, looking so strong… I mean that thing was rapid through the high-speed corners, wow! I couldn’t keep up, but we had a good little battle on the restart. This feature is currently not available because you need to provide consent to functional cookies. Please update your cookie preferences Race Highlights: 2023 British Grand Prix “The start wasn’t so great for me, but the long run on the medium [tyre] was really great. I think this is a good positive for us as a team to know that we’re not that far away, we’ve just got to keep on pushing and we can catch those guys at the front.” Expanding on his fight with Norris, Hamilton added: “Once he [went] through Turn 13 and 14, or 15, he’s gone! We had good performance in the low-speed, we had a good little battle there, just didn’t have the grunt on the straights. RACE START: Enjoy the action as Norris pips Verstappen off the line at Silverstone “But I’m really happy… To start seventh and come third is a mega, mega job, so a big thank you to my team – great pit stops, great work all weekend. I love this crowd!” Having come home fifth in the other Mercedes, unable to clear Piastri over the final stint, Russell shared similar feelings to team mate Hamilton when he jumped out of the car. Hamilton claimed his fourth podium of the 2023 season at Silverstone “The McLarens were super-impressive, they drove a great race,” he said. “I feel bad for Oscar, because he was driving really, really well. I’ve been super-impressed by what he’s been achieving this year and he was the deserving podium finisher. Unfortunate Safety Car timing, that hindered him and hindered myself. “In the end, I think it was a relatively good weekend for us. Our pace compared to Ferrari, Aston and Red Bull was probably better than we thought, but those McLarens have just come from nowhere, so we don’t really know what to think.” DRIVER OF THE DAY: Sensational Norris gets your Silverstone vote Asked if McLaren’s performance give him heart that things can get turned around relatively quickly, Russell commented: “It does, it definitely does, but you need to know where to look. I believe we know where we’re looking and what we’re chasing, but I don’t know. I hope it’s a one-off, but they were quick in Austria as well, which is a totally different circuit. “Regardless, it’s very impressive what they’ve done. Even so, I thought their strategy was the wrong strategy, going on the hards… The soft was such a great tyre, they would have been even further ahead had they put the softs on. Interesting, a bit of head scratching right now.” via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #Hamilton and Russell taken aback by McLaren after front-running pace ‘comes from nowhere’ #Formula 1

[monzabee]

https://www.tumblr.com/monzabee/718869613577961472/httpswwwtumblrcommonzabee718691225611452416

BESTIEE HIII howw are youu ? sorry I was mia for a bit it was my mum’s birthday on Friday so my dad planned a small trip for her so I didn’t get to come on here 😭 but I’ve missed youu !! I saw that your exams are over YAYY so happy for you now you can fully relax so enjoy yourself✨ 🥳!! Also a new Charles fic I will read it today so excited for that 💜!!

That’s a super cool and impressive party trick wow 🌟!! And totally agree Jonathan is really good him as king George always makes me laugh he’s really funny 😂Really that’s nice have fun listening to those vinyls 💖!!! I don’t know much about her but im sure she’s a nice person and as long as they’re happy in their relationship that’s what matters :)

Alsoo bestie the race yesterday I think it was one of the better ones of this season like Max is in his own league but the other midfield and podium place battles kept the race interesting! I’m so so happy for Lewis and the britcedes podium that was nice and hopefully the car keeps performing well ! Also every time I hear these Fernando radios I cannont believe them like who is this sweet supportive teammate haha but it’s really cute and funny too 😂💜 but Charles omg this season has just not been it for him I hope that Ferrari get their act together soon :( andd lastly I’m getting my results todayy !!! I’m nervous but also excited to see how I’ve done 😅

-💖

HI BESTIE!! i'm doing fine, how are youu?? don't apologise for it oh my god😭😭, i hope you had a great time on your trip and happy belated birthday to your mom!💜💜 i am finally free and now waiting anxiously for the results indeed my friend🤭, and i hope you like it!! please let me know what you think!

exactly!! i hope people would leave the drivers' girlfriends alone, especially when they say that they don't want the publicity in the first place😭 but i totally agree with you, jonathan is really great as king george and i love the way he portrays the character🤭🫶

yesterday's race was really enjoyable to watch!! it was a crazy start? very sad for lando, and definitely not the best race for charles and poor yuki for his penalty, but can i just say that i'm so happy that mercedes is finally improving?😭 britcedes looked amazing on the podium and they both did a wonderful job🤩🤩 i honestly can't believe how far fernando's come because he is so sweet with lance like wow??🤭 i've read somewhere that xavi might be fired, but i guess we'll have to wait for an official announcement

#monzabeeasks #💖anon

[racingliners]

F1 Re-Watch 2013: Round 1 - Australia

Well, given how the past few days have gone, I thought I’d have to sideline my next full-season re-watch, but for the moment here we are!

Long story short, I had way more fun than I expected watching the 2022 season back. So I decided I wanted to watch another season in full (only one with much more personal enjoyment value) so I put up a poll and 2013 won. 

Which is very fitting, as 2013 was the year I got back into watching F1, but a little more story time on that when we get to Spain and Canada.

While I watched all of the races from the second half of the season, I think I only watched 3 or 4 races from the first half in full. So a lot of these races I will have never seen before, including Aus (the irony of calling this a re-watch is not lost on me). So much rambling aside, let’s jump on in!

I forgot to add that the first three races will be out of sequence as I watched Malaysia in honour of Multi-21 day back in March

ugh the old F1 intro. Such a core memory, I miss her

fun fact I still try to make the final ‘neow’ sound in time with the intro because autism brain

“Will it be Sebastian Vettel with his fourth [title] in a row?” Yes Crofty. Yes it will.

oh it was cloudy in Melbourne on race day with a slim chance of rain. damn.

Now for the re-watch we’re still going to have starting grid whiplash but instead of “what do you mean X is starting in 12th?!” it’s going to be “Oh my god remember when Adrian Sutil was team mates with Paul di Resta?!”

(I realise this now makes me somewhat of an elder in the fandom and... well it’s too late in the evening my time to be mulling over shit like that)

anyway remember when Jenson was still driving?! 😭😭😭

this was also Lewis’ first race with Mercedes which knowing what we know now about all the success they’ve had makes me so incredibly emo

ANYWAY: Starting grid. and back in my day they started with the front row and went backwards.

RBR 1-2, Lewis P3. Jenson P10. (how tf does Raikkonen win this from P7?????)

DAN AND JEV MY BELOVEDS!!!!!!

ah, the man, the myth, the icon. Pastor Maldonado lines up in 17th

ahhhh cut to Lewis and the Merc crew, you can just about see Bono as well. To think this was just one year before the regs change and the beginning of Merc’s domination of the hybrid era and them becoming utter legends. WILD.

[Formation Lap]: Sorry I ramble a lot when I’m excited but ANYWAY the cars are moving now.

also rip Hulkenberg, his car went poof going to the grid so he didn’t make the start.

Bono and Simon Rennie reporting a chance of rain which... idk if I need that at twenty to eleven at night. (also WOW the quality of radio we have on the TV feed now is so good compared to ten years ago)

the whiplash of seeing Stefano Domenicali in the Ferrari garage as TP. Same ringleader different circus.

[Start/Lap 1]: and away we goooooooo

Seb with a good start, Massa with an even better start and just mugged Webber off the line. Alonso also went from P5 to P3, so Lewis is down a spot

damn Webber went from 2nd to 7th. ouch.

Lewis v Raikkonen for P4.

[Lap 2]: Rosberg watching behind with popcorn

Jenson in 9th... 2013 was the start of McLaren’s current woes and it was a painful year as a Jenson fan 

meanwhile, Raikkonen passes Lewis for P4. the Lotus is zoomy.

[Lap 3]: Man it does feel so strange seeing all the old team names (for any newbies, a lot of the teams on the grid now were teams from the 2013 grid rebranded. That’s why Alpine sometimes get called Team Enstone and Aston Martin Team Silverstone bc they got rebranded so much but the personnel mostly stayed the same).

but anyway a clean first few laps, on the first race of a new season, with a tiny bit of racing???? besties we did not know how good we had it.

Seb just zooming off into the distance. He didn’t win in Aus, but still the story of 2013.

“How long will these super soft tyres last?” it’s been ten years, and yet we still hate on Pirelli. oh my.

[Lap 4]: heh. remember when Perez was a McLaren driver that one time?? (spoiler alert it didn’t end well)

Not Fernando nearly crashing into Lewis at the start bc they were both trying to avoid a very slow Mark. FELLAS.

and Jenson is the first car to stop, supers for mediums.

[Lap 5]: ahem TEEEEEED!!!!!

oh wow he thinks the go-to strategy for the race is a 3 stop. a 3 stop.

It’s been 84 years.

One stop races used to be impressive bc of making the tyres last. but now they’re the norm and quite boring.

[Lap 6]: anyway replays of Dan racing van der Garde (Caterham). Midfield spice!!!

[Lap 7]: The Ferrari’s are both catching Seb. Seb’s tyres are also looking very unhealthy.

and in he pits for his first stop.

[Lap 8]: Massa is still ahead of Alonso. my eye is twitching.

nvm Massa pits to give Fernando the lead.

That’s what, three race leaders in 8 laps???

[Lap 9]: oooh Seb jumped Massa at his first stop. nice.

“Have Ferrari made a mistake with not covering Sebastian Vettel?” ...have Ferrari EVER had a functioning strategy department????

oh wow Raikkonen chasing down Alonso... it really is the 2010s. They even follow each other into the pits.

and they maintain their positions coming out of the pits, just further down the grid.

[Lap 10]: Lewis in the lead!!! (I know, he still needs to stop)

[Lap 11]: Merc 1-2. to think in 2013 that was a rarity 🤣

“Weather wise there are pretty dark clouds coming towards us” I’m in danger

[Lap 12]: Helmet watch: Seb has a super pretty cobalt blue design which I love.

[Lap 13]: “Raikkonen the fastest man on track at the moment” F1 2010s intensifies

Meanwhile the Mercs are still yet to stop while everyone else’s tyres have crumbled

ayyyy Merc engineers and Bono sighting.

[Lap 14]: and Lewis finally pits for mediums

ah yes, 2013 aka try to tell the Merc driver apart by their different shades of yellow helmet. (Nico’s was a brighter yellow, Lewis’ a more sunflower yellow, fyi)

[Lap 15]: And Rosberg pits, giving the lead of the race to... Adrian Sutil. Breathe it in folks.

“evidence there of McLaren’s lack of pace” for comparison, Jenson and McLaren won in Australia the year prior. They were very average for the two seasons before the dreaded Honda years.

[Lap 16]: Anyway I’m just trying to soak up a Force India leading the race. Go get it Team Silverstone.

The main reason why he’s still leading is because he started on the mediums as he qualified outside the top ten (2013 was also way back when you had to start on the tyre you set your Q3 lap on if you were in the top 10)

[Lap 17]: Ticking off my “wow it’s strange seeing Fernando in a Ferrari” comment

[Lap 19]: Obligatory livery watch comment: I miss it when the RBR livery was a glossy metallic sheeny blue 😭

[Lap 20]: Adrian Sutil is still in the lead

THE SCENES

the remaining top ten is Seb, Massa, Alonso, Raikkonen, Lewis, Rosberg, Jenson, di Resta and Vergne

ah. so they think that Sutil holding up the front runners helps Merc in trying to pull off a two stop.

[Lap 21]: Alonso makes his second stop, onto another set of mediums

(this was also way back when we had just two dry compounds of tyre per race instead of the three we have now)

[Lap 22]: Sutil finally makes his first stop, and Seb makes his second.

And Sutil stays ahead of Seb, and they come out behind the Ferraris.

Fun fact, Bradley Joyce of ‘BRAAAAAAAD’ fame, who is now head engineer at Aston, was Sutil’s race engineer.

ROB SMEDLEY!!! Oh I really am showing my age.

[Lap 23]: Looks like Ferrari are trying the two-stop with Massa.

Woot, Seb passes Sutil for P6!

Just to hammer home how bad a race Webber is having, he just passed Perez for 10th.

[Lap 24]: Ah, Ferrari pitted Massa. so much for the two stop.

and this is how Raikkonen gets the lead from starting P7.

[Lap 25]: Oh god. Seb closing up to Fernando.

and cut to “Rain Expected” on the Force India pit wall. I was having a great time and now I’m being ATTACKED.

Ah, Maldonado is beached in the gravel at turn 1. No VSC as that didn’t exist yet, so just waved yellows

[Lap 27]: Rosberg pulls off to the side of the track, Merc went poof

cut to a perplexed Ross Brawn and even more perplexed Merc engineers

[Lap 28]: also also the sky looks DARK 😶

and now the weather, with Simon Rennie

(potential light drops of rain at turn 13)

[Lap 29]: There’s raindrops on Massa’s t-cam

*distressed yelling*

it is indeed, ever so slightly raining. OH BOY.

[Lap 30]: I didn’t even realise that Lewis was in P2 with all the pitstop shuffles. but Alonso is very quickly catching him.

[Lap 31]: and they’re now properly battling. 2010s F1 intensifies.

but oh it’s good to watch though.

oh my god Lewis locked up braking for the corner but still stayed ahead. KING SHIT.

I mean Also did get past in the very next corner. But still, iconique.

[Lap 32]: and he comes in at the end of the lap for another stop which I’ve very much lost count at this point.

[Lap 33]: Both Force Indias are in the top 10???? Team Silverstone intensifies

In weather news I think it’s stopped raining?? so nowhere near enough rain for anyone to think about inters.

[Lap 34]: Ah, Lotus have remembered to pit Raikkonen. I want to say that’s his second stop but I’ve truly no idea at this point.

[Lap 35]: “My tyres are not going to last 23 laps at this rate” Gonna call that the og ‘Bono my tyres are gone’ for the memes.

[Lap 37]: In what I’m now calling Sutil watch: He’s in P3. P3!!!!

we’re way past midfield spice and in full on midfield elation territory.

[Lap 38]: Seb makes his final pit stop. Another set of mediums, and he’s behind Lewis in 5th

“It [Red Bull’s race] could all change when we get to Malaysia next week” nervous laughter

[Lap 39]: So, Alonso in the lead, Sutil P2, Raikkonen P3. Not the top 3 I expected to by typing out. I’m pretty sure that Force India finish off the podium but yeah, still very wild.

[Lap 40]: And Alonso makes his final stop, he comes out behind Raikkonen.

and Seb passes Lewis for P4.

Sutil still has to stop bc he needs to run the super softs.

Massa racing Lewis and it lasted all of two seconds bc of Lewis’ 2-stop strategy.

[Lap 41]: And Dan DNFs with a mechanical fault. He has the worst luck at Albert Park I swear

[Lap 42]: Webber chasing down Di Resta for 8th.

Ooooh and a nice move under braking going into turn 9

[Lap 43]: and Lewis switches over to a 3 stop. He comes out in 6th.

And Raikkonen takes the lead off Sutil, while Alonso is chasing both of them down nearly hand over fist.

[Lap 45]: “Miserable place that is” Ted not rating RBR very highly on his tour of the garages sfhauefh

oh not Sutil getting shown a blue flag when Alonso is racing him for position 😭😭😭😭

[Lap 46]: nvm Alonso passed him anyway, but still, the disrespect

FIA you can and will meet my fists 

[Lap 47]: And Sutil finally pits for the super soft tyres. That was genuinely such a good drive, we love the midfield winning

I’m not going to comment on Crofty’s “papal conclave” stats dive because otherwise I will cry laughing and it’s twenty to one in the morning.

[Lap 48]: them cutting to Martin Whitmarsh on the pitwall when McLaren are 9th and 12th, I would simply pretend there was a bad connection because OUCH

[Lap 49]: Anyway, Alonso is 7.8 seconds behind Raikkonen

And Lewis is catching is old buddy Sutil, 1.6 second gap

oh god MORE RAIN

This race really has had almost everything. whew.

the Aus GP, 100% that bitch.

oh not Brundle detailing the fallout of Lewis’ and Sutil’s friendship live on air WHAT

[Lap 51]: ANYWAY, Lewis is within DRS range, and Webber is pretty close behind them both.

oof Lewis just stormed past. And Webber gets by a few corners later.

and cut to Sutil’s tyres that already look awful wear wise

I’m shaking my fist at the sky and insulting Pirelli

[Lap 53]: Raikkonen still with a solid 7 second lead over Alonso.

[Lap 54]: 5 laps remaining klaxon

[Lap 55]: gap between Raikkonen and Alonso down to 6 seconds.

and replay of Fernando nearly spearing into a Caterham 😶

[Lap 58]: Final lap! And thanks to Brundle I just realised there hasn’t been a safety car at all this race, which for Melbourne is wild.

[Finish]: And Raikkonen wins! Alonso P2, Seb P3.

Massa, Lewis, Webber, Sutil, di Resta, Jenson and Romain Grosjean round out the Top 10.

Well! That was certainly more eventful than I expected, mainly due to trying and failing to keep track of all the pitstops. But we did get some nice splashes of racing, especially in the midfield. And more than expected whiplash of “OH!!! It’s that person!!!”. I will hopefully get used to the 2013 grid again after a few races 😅

But overall, a pretty decent race. As mentioned at the start of the post, I’ve already watched Malaysia, so the next race will be China, and then we’ll be in sync with the 2013 calendar!

#F1 Re watch #F1 2013 re watch #F1 Liveblog

[yesterdayiwrote]

Went reading about Nyck, this is what is said about his "loan": 'De Vries had to repay it with 3% interest per year. He also had to surrender half of any future F1 income. But if he didn't have a place in F1 at the end of 2022, the entire loan would be waived. Schothorst believes that De Vries actually already had a place in F1 in his role as test driver and reserve driver at Mercedes. Especially because De Vries was actually allowed to drive an F1 race in 2022." it's basically loan sharking 1/2

2/2 but what kinda baffles me is that he needed the money to secure his place in F2 (loan was of about 250.000$). I can't remember if Nyck was already under Mercedes back then, I guess not? Because George could afford to get into F2 thanks to being taken as Mercedes junior, so maybe Nyck was self-funding but with basically zero sponsors helping him out, since he had to ask for a "loan" with exploiting conditions? And if Nyck loses in court, will the guy get half of his future F1 earnings? Wow...

Obviously it’s hard to judge without knowing what’s been said, what’s been actually paid and what’s been actually signed.

The fact the guy is suddenly taking issue with his other F1 endeavours now and claiming he should have been paid for them is definitely sus, like why would you not take it up at the time? And I’m guessing there’s a bit of sour grapes that the dates potentially mean he’ll miss out on his payday. Allegedly he’s already been paid back €190,000 in interest alone so he’s only 60k down…

But if Nyck agreed to pay him 50% of his income from f1 activities and hasn’t or is being cagey about what constitutes ‘f1 activities’ then who knows.

It also said Nyck had funding from Jumbo, who pulled all their motorsport funding going forwards except for Max, but I think a lot of drivers have to sign up to potentially shady deals to get their funding through F2 and into F1. Nyck was never a Merc junior and they didn’t fund his junior career, he just got signed to their FE team and did crossover work as a result of that.

I don’t know that the guy will get 50% of all his earnings going forwards, but he could argue that this contract was signed in ‘22 and so he’s entitled to 50% of ‘23 earnings? But that’s just conjecture on my part. I’m not sure exactly what he’s asking for.

[gxtzeizm]

Bonjour

Omg I didn’t realized I wrote secret Santa wrong… 😬

Wow the Singapore GP it’s amazing, it’s actually one of my faves, I’ve been in one GP, but I won’t tell where, cause I don’t want to stop being secret, I think I’m more a Lewis fan than a Mercedes, but they car and everything about it is awesome. My fav driver it’s and always be Seb 💕 he’s the reason I got into this, so it’s kinda sad and it will be a weird season without him. And my favorite team 🤔 …Ferrari, I’m a Ferrari girl, but also McLaren and Red Bull.

And yes, for me it’s also exhausting some races, I try to avoid F1mblr cause it can be… I don’t know, kinda toxic. But hey!! I’m glad i know someone to talk about F1!!

I want to know a little bit more about you, so tell me, another sport you follow? Or a book you like? Are you a Harry Potter fan? Idk 😜

Hope your having a lovely day 💕

Ps. Every time I came to your blog, I really want to reblog and like a lot of stuff

-Your SECRET Santa 🎅🏼

hello my secret santa!!!!!!

that's really cool tho you're even went to a gp before. well i wish i could go to a gp but the last time they had a gp here in my country is 2017 (yes it's you sepang we need you back here).

and yeah, even though i'm still new here in f1 fandom, but somehow i'm already missing seb so much during the race 😭😭. wish that i could know and get into f1 earlier tho istg. and glad that you agree with me that this sports is kinda mental torturing us especially during the race weekend. well yeah, it's too late for turning back tho. i hope that next year will be not disappointing me a lot (i need to get mental and emotionally prepared for next season tho)

so if you asking about other sports that i follow, well actually i'm also following badminton casually but idk if the badminton community here in tumblr is kinda visible. well mostly i'm following it on twitter right now.

i'm so glad that you're asking me about harry potter!!!! well it's been a long time since i watched the movie. idk but i hate that this movie is not being streamed on netflix in my country 😭😭. well i guess i need to use vpn tho. so what's your house then? i'm a slytherin literally. <333

so i hope you're enjoying your day well 💖💖

#ask #secret santa #ouhhh and istg i can't wait for the reveal tho so we can able to interact with each other <33

[f1babe98]

The Legend And The Sister

Warnings: Swearing

Disclaimer: This story is completely fiction. I do not know Jos or Max or Lewis, I am only using them as characters in my story. I mean no offence.

Why are there so many people?

I could barely see three feet in front of me, the crowd was so thick. I tried standing on my tippy toes to see if I could find the Red Bull garage but being 5 feet 4 inches meant I couldn't see very far.

I look around and I locked eyes with a man in a Mercedes t-shirt walking in my direction. He had the most beautiful and warm brown eyes I've ever seen.

“Excuse me, do you know where the Red Bull garage is?”

“Yeah I do.” the stranger chuckled, “it's that one right there.”

I turned my head in the direction he was pointing. There was a sea of people between us and the garage.

“Thank you so much.”

He gave me a warm smile before walking away. I made my way through the crowd and to the garage. I carefully made my way through until I saw the man I was looking for.

“Max?”

The man turned around.

“Yeah that's me. Who are you?”

“I’m y/n”

“Oh shit, wow, it's great to meet you. I can't believe you’re actually here”

“Me either, to be honest.”

We shared an awkward hug before he introduced me to the rest of the team. It felt weird hearing him introduce me as his sister. I had spent my whole life being an only child of a single mother and now here I am at my older brother's Grand Prix, in his garage, meeting his team.

“I can’t believe we've never met before.” Max said as he sat down on the window ledge in his driver room.

“I know, I didn't even know you existed until 6 months ago.”

“It's so weird having a second sister.”

“I know. I was really nervous about reaching out, I didn't want to implode you and your sister's lives.”

“Hey, you didn't implode our lives. My dad did that when he had an affair and got your mom pregnant.”

Max gave me a small smile which I returned. We spent the rest of the time getting to know each other before he had to go do his qualifying. I watched from the Red Bull garage with the team. I had never seen a grad pix before I found out about him and his family, much less been to one live. It was extremely exhilarating, I couldn't wait to see what the race was like the next day. 

During the entirety day, every second of quiet or lull in conversation, my mind wandered back to the gorgeous man with the beautiful eyes. I couldn't stop thinking about his smile and the tattoos on his arm. I wish I had gotten his name. The ride back to the hotel was quiet, Max was exhausted from his day having qualified in second. He had generously arranged my pass for the weekend as well as a room in the same hotel as him so that we could spend as much sibling time together as possible.

That night as I lay in bed I kept replaying my meeting with the beautiful man over and over. Making up fake scenarios of a second encounter before drifting off to sleep.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The next morning I met one of the Red Bull team members down stairs in the lobby before heading off to the race. The garage was much busier than yesterday with everyone running round. I found a quiet corner so that I would be out of the way but still able to watch the race. I slipped on my headphones and got comfortable as the formation lap was finishing.

The start of the race was crazy. Max dropped down to third at the first corner but was able to gain back his place by the seventh corner. He was able to keep his place for the remainder of the race and finish in second.

The whole team went down to congratulate him as he stepped out of the car. I waited on the side next to some team members, unsure of what to do. Max made his way over and gave me a hug in celebration. As I was returning the hug, I looked over his shoulder and my eyes locked with the same beautiful pair of brown eyes that had been haunting me all weekend.

The brown eyes, beautiful face and gorgeous smile I had stuck in my head this whole weekend belonged to the man I had been hearing my new found brother complain about since I arrived. 

As I pulled away from the hug and Max went to get ready for his post race interview, my eyes met once again with the stranger. I felt the butterflies in my stomach go crazy as the stranger continued to look my way during his interview.

After Max had received his trophy and done his remaining interviews, he went up to his drivers room to change his clothing. He told me to wait for him by the exit to the parking lot so that we could drive back to the hotel together.

“So that's why you were looking for the garage, you're Max’s girl aren't you?”

The sudden voice behind me made me jump. I turned around and was met with the stranger walking towards me.

“First off, I'm no ones ‘girl’,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest, “I'm his sister.”

The stranger chuckled, “No you're not. I've met Max's sister and you're not her.”

We stood in silence for a minute before he spoke up again.

“Who are you really?”

“Well Jos decided that he wasn't getting enough at home so he had an affair with a flight attendant, my mother, got her pregnant, didn't tell anyone, ghosted her and never took responsibility. So I believe, if my science is right, that that would make me Max's sister.”

The stranger looked at me in shock. We stood in silence for a while before he was able to form a sentence once again.

“No. this can't be happening. The girl I can't stop thinking about can not be the sister of my biggest rival.”

“Oh you think this is fun for me? Huh? I haven't been able to get you out of my head. How exactly am I supposed to tell the brother that I just found out about that I'm crushing on the man he hates the most in this world?!”

He looked at me and smiled.

“So you have a crush on me?”

“That's not the point. We just need to forget we ever met and move on.”

“What if i don't want to?”

I looked at him in shock. We just met the other day, and let's be honest it wasn't exactly a meaningful meeting. 

“You can't be serious”

“What?  I like you, you're funny and sassy and beautiful. I don't want to forget you. How about this, you give me your number and we won't have to tell Max. Texting isn't that bad. No one needs to know.”

The sound of footsteps breaks us out of our conversation. I look over and see Max walking towards us with his pr person. I look back with wide eyes.

“Hurry”

“What?”

“Make a decision, your brothers coming and if he sees us together he won't be happy”

“Fine” 

I quickly gave him my number before Max reached us. He walked away right as Max reached my side.

“What did he want?” Max asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Nothing, I was just congratulating him on a good race.”

“He's the enemy, we don't consort with the enemy” Max’s pr person, who's name I can't remember, said.

I nodded my head and began heading to the car. The ice in Max's voice told me everything I needed to know about what was about to happen. My brother could never find out about Lewis Hamilton.

#lewis hamilton imagines #lewis hamilton x reader #lewis hamilton #max verstappen imagine #max verstappen x reader #max verstappen

[formula-what]

Brocedes time line for a very patient anon

Lewis quotes in orange, Nico quotes in pink, everyone else is blue.

okay first some background knowledge:

Nico is rich as fuck. only child, born in Germany, brought up in Monaco. son of world champion Keke Rosberg

Lewis was born on a council estate in Stevenage and his dad had to work multiple jobs for him to start karting

Honestly I think the difference in their backgrounds is one of the things that pushed them together, they were both isolated from the rest of the kids, but I’m keeping this purely facts rather than speculation.

2000

They’re both 15 years old and are karting teammates for MBB (Mercedes Benz McLaren) in Formula A

Robert Kubica: “there was always competition. But they didn’t fight. It was friendly competition. There was always laughing afterwards.” // “they would even have races to eat pizza”

They often shared hotel rooms at the races which was a “scene of many wrestling matches between them”

Dino Chiesa (their karting boss) – “many times I was called by reception about some problem in the room. It might be noise, or they might have broken something. They would never sleep so they were always tired the next morning”

“they both liked ice cream so much, particularly vanilla. During the night they wanted to eat ice cream always, so I had to go out everywhere to find some and keep them happy”

Lewis would often persuade Nico to buy him sweets

They would have competitions over LITERALLY EVERYTHING

Lewis: “we always had great competition whether on the racetrack or computer games or playing football”

“probably the first bit of competition we had was when Nico used to ride a unicycle everywhere so I thought, ‘I’ve got to learn how to ride this unicycle. Ive got to be better than him.’ I spent all my time outside the go-kart learning to ride this unicycle”

Apparently it only took Lewis 2 hours to teach himself how to do it

In maybe 2013 ish (when they were still friends) Lewis reflected with– “I have never laughed so much than when we were racing together. Nico was kicking everyone’s butt at that time. We had so great races together and built a great relationship”

“we were just arriving and enjoying go-karts and eating pizzas every weekend, fighting all the time and just having fun, whereas now it’s all business.”

many times they would talk about what they would do when they got to f1, made plans hoping to be teammates and become world champions together.

“Nico would say ‘when I’m in formula one’ and for me it was always ‘if I ever get to formula one’. Because obviously Nico’s dad was a formula 1 driver- he knew he was going to make it.”

F1

Nico joined f1 in 2006 with williams, Lewis 2007 with McLaren. And man I WISH I knew what went down with this two when Lewis nearly one his rookie season (missing out by one point to mr fernando alonso) and then WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP in his SECOND SEASON (again by one point thank you mr alonso)

2008 Australia

Nicos gets his first podium, and ofc Lewis is there (he won it) and they are jumping around in the cool down room. Just, two kids who are literally living the one thing they have spent their whole lives dreaming about together. Lewis won the championship that year and oh wow I can only imagine their celebrations together.

2013

They’re teammates in Mercedes!!!

Nico: “every other day there are moments or things that pop up and I can smirk and thing, ‘that’s exactly the same as it was 15 years ago’”

2013 Malaysian Grand Prix gets an honourable mention. This is the race with red bulls good old multi 21 but merc also had their own team orders, stopping nico from fighting for his first merc podium, but Lewis disagreed with it so it didn’t really spark that much tension between them- more the team.

2014

the start of the turbo-hybrid era so y’all know this was good in terms of performance.

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

They were both fighting for the win and had a collision which prompted a “mock fight” in parc ferme after the race (which I really hope there’s a video of).

Turns out, Nico won because he had used engine modes banned by Mercedes to get a power advantage in the closing laps. which kinda pissed Lewis off

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

Lewis’ fourth win in a row and took lead in the championship. They were fighting till literally the last second and Lewis crossed the line 0.6 seconds ahead of Nico, who says he could have passed him with one more lap.

Lewis defended using the same banned engine modes that Nico had used in Bahrain. Yeah.

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

This is IT. This is peak petty bitch. This is the one people still cry about.

It’s the end of Q3, both of them are out on a lap, Nico ahead of lewis. Nico’s already on provisional pole but Lewis is pretty close.

And then,, Nico just,, parks his car?? He says he made a mistake but the guy doesn’t even crash he straight up just,, rolls to a stop into a slip road. So the yellow flags come out forcing Lewis to abort a lap that was in the makings of pole.

The stewards say it was a-okay but Lewis was convinced it was intentional (and let’s be honest, yeah it probably was) and he even claimed that merc’s data proved it. (low key surprised he didn’t just tweet out the telemetry but I guess he got a stern telling off from mclaren last time)

But *this* is when Lewis tells the world that they aren’t friends anymore. An iconic interview.

Nico then wins the race too, ending Lewis’s four win streak and putting Nico in the lead of the championship.

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis has an engine failure in quali meaning he starts from the pit lane, but he does good to make his way up the pack but THEN there’s a safety car which puts him ahead of Nico but on a different strategy.

Nico asks if Lewis can let him past as he needs to pit again before the end of the race, which will give him the place back anyways. Lewis straight up refuses, he’s on a role here. He started from last, and Nico started from pole, why should he slow down to let his title rival through.

Mercedes strongly suggest that his blocking fucked up Nicos race but Niki Lauda is on Lewis’ side so he doesn’t get punished (We stan a supportive father figure) even though he did blatantly refuse to be a team player.

And guys, this is the last race before the summer break so you know Nico was left seething for four weeks.

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

Second lap, Nico attempts a clumsy move and there’s contact, giving Hamilton a puncture and knocking him out of the race.

There’s a lot of controversy but basically it turns out he crashed with him intentionally, not backing out of the corner to “prove a point”. Nico ended up finishing second but was punished by the team, forced to apologise, and even booed on the podium.

2014 Abu Dhabi

For some reason it ran for double points?? The first time in History??? But idk???

Lewis had a perfect start and went on to win it and take the title, Nico had a problem and was told to retire the car but he kept going anyway and finished 14th. Nico went into the cool down room to congratulate Lewis on the championship win, which. cute.

Lewis claimed his second championship. Which not only was huge because of the inter team rivalry, but also because of the large gap between his first win. This guy had lost out on winning the championship in his ROOKIE season by ONE POINT, and then WON it in his SECOND season, and then there was like a FIVE YEAR gap before he won it again.

2015

Damnnn this car was fiiiinneeeeeee.

They do more laps in testing than any other car AND do it on a single power unit. And then. Australia. They take a one-two THIRTY FOUR seconds ahead of the third place Ferrari.

2015 Chinese Grand Prix

Nico is second in a one-two but claims that Lewis kept backing him up into Seb, trying to compromise his race (and help out his boyfriend).

Lewis gave zero shits: "It's not my job to look after Nico's race, it's my job to manage the car and bring the car home as healthy and as fast as possible. That's what I did."

2015 U.S. Grand Prix

If Lewis wins here he could also claim the title with three races to spare (you have to remember back then the title fight often went up to the last race so this was pretty cool)

Lewis very aggressively forced Rosberg wide at Turn 1 to claim the lead, and then there was some sexy fighting between the Mercs and Redbull all race. Nico led in the closing stages but made a mistake, running deep into a corner and letting Lewis past with only a handful of laps to go.

Nico finished P2 and had not only lost the race but the championship title. Nico was fuming, saying Lewis’ move at the start was “one step too far”.

This is the infamous cap throw in the cool down room. Lewis throws Nico his P2 hat, Nico straight up yeets it back at him. I tear up just thinking about it. They grow up so fast.

2016

Nico had came so close to winning and I guess this was just, the last straw. All or nothing. This year he literally gave it everything he had. Lewis and him stopped speaking, Nico gave up literally the rest of his life and even stopped sleeping in the same bed as his wife and taking care of his kids, instead spending every moment trying to get into Lewis’ head. Honestly, I think he might be the only one that could beat Lewis. Just because he knew him *so well*. He literally threw away like 16 years of friendship. But also it’s like, he had to be world champion. He *had to*. His dad was champion and his whole life he’s been preparing to win it too. Tough luck that he raced in the same era as Mr. Best Driver The Sport Has Ever Seen.

Nico won the last few races of 2015, and the first four races of 2016. Lewis had a couple car problems and Nico had a good lead on him in the championship.

2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Gentlemen. A short view back to the past. Nico had made a switch error on the formation lap causing the car to go into the wrong engine mode. So he was running a lot slower than Lewis, who was fighting to claim back the lead.

Nico closed the door to keep him back, and Lewis lost control on the grass, and spins into Nico and taking them both out of the race in the first lap. This is probably one of the most iconic crashes. I’m pretty sure there’s a clip of this somewhere in black and white with the titanic music over the top.

Niki Lauda blamed this one on Lewis (I guess even a supportive dad has to be critical sometimes) "Lewis is too aggressive. It is stupid, we could've won this race".

2016 Austrian Grand Prix

Nico had been struggling with a brake issue all race but was still on the way to win it. But in the last lap Lewis had caught him up and gone in for the overtake.

Typical Nico not taking any shit, refusing to be the guy that backs out and they collide. Lewis took the win and a damaged Nico dropped to fourth. From first. In the last lap.

Both of them blamed each other and tired dad team boss Toto Wolff threatened team orders in future races.

The stewards blamed Nico for the incident, issuing him two penalty points for failing to allow "racing room" and causing a collision.

2016 Abu Dhabi

In the final laps of the race, Lewis ignored team-orders from his race engineer and the technical director.

He deliberately slowed and backed Nico into the pack hoping they overtake him, and there would be enough of a points difference to win the title.

Nico finished second and won the title by five points.

And then,,, Nico announced a surprise retirement during the FIA prize giving ceremony.

Lewis’ response:

"This is the first time he's won in 18 years, hence why it was not a surprise that he decided to stop.” (We stan a petty king)

“But he's also got a family to focus on and probably wants to have more children. Formula One takes up so much of your time."

“In terms of missing the rivalry, of course because we started karting when we were 13 and we would always talk about being champions. When I joined this team, Nico was there, which was something we spoke about when we were kids. So it's going to be very, very strange, and, for sure, it will be sad to not have him in the team next year."

And now they are kind of on speaking terms but not really, they are both pretty private but I think they are at the ‘awkward small talk when we run into each other at the supermarket’ stage of the break up.

#this got a lot longer than it should have been #long post

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 114/304

2013 Bahrain GP

Oh hallelujah we have a full broadcast again?

Alright well we'll have a quali report but I can already tell you Rosberg is on pole to the surprise of : everyone. However, no journalist believes he has the pace to stay ahead in the race. Lewis, on the other hand, received a 5-place grid penalty for a tyre failure? Ah. So the suspension broke which apparently broke the gear box so they had to change it hence the penalty. He's starting in 9th. 

Look at this f1 mafia talk lmao terrifying

The journalists think they're talking about the tyres, which have been degrading extremely fast in the first three races of the season, as we’ve seen. 

Complete quali report then : Maldonado was out in Q1. Perez is 12th. Jenson made it to Q3. Raikkonen is only 8th and Grosjean 11th. Di Resta and Sutil profited from that as they are 5th and 6th for Force India. Webber has a 3-place grid penalty from China (??? I checked the Wikipedia article after that race and they weren't talking about any penalties, it's almost like Wikipedia isn't a reliable source /s anyway I guess it’s about that dangerous driving thing when he lost his tyre on the track, then), he's 7th. Alonso and Massa are 3rd and 4th. Everyone was expecting Seb to swoop in and get the pole at the last second but as we now know, it was Rosberg this time. It's Mercedes’ first pole since 1955. Damn. It's difficult to imagine nowadays how long it had been since Mercedes was successful (also of course they didn't exist as a team for a good long time but still, hearing such statistics feels weird.)

(I checked and actually they only were a team for two years in 1954 and 1955 before quitting after the infamous accident at Les 24h du Mans. They won the title these 2 years. Then they came back as a proper team in 2010 so these stats are actually pretty useless lol. Anyway.)

Edit as I’m writing the season summary : this actually makes no sense given Lewis was on pole in China?

Rosberg says he didn't expect the pole because they were struggling during the Friday FPs but they worked really hard Friday night. He says he's always finished where he started in Bahrain so it's a good omen, his biggest challenge will definitely be the rear tyres grip and some other teams are doing better with it. 

Lewis (who's chilling with Seb) is asked what he can do from 9th today.

He says "I don't know, we'll see !" it's going to be a tough race for sure but he's looking forward to it. (His hair looks weird).

He thinks– he corrects himself : he hopes he can do some overtaking but it's difficult with these tyres. If you go flat out you have the pace, you can overtake, but to save the tyres they have to drive 80% of what they can do. Looking after the tyres will be the hardest thing today. The journalist says it's insanely hot and they're saying it might be the hottest race in history. Lewis laughs.

She insists : it's true! He says it's not a problem, they're prepared, they're drinking. The tyres are more of an issue. 

It's Alonso and Webber's 200th race starts. I don't care. 

Oh wow yeah, they expect the harder tyre to only last 17 laps?! That's gonna be a MESS.

We get an interview with Lewis! Brundle says "there's a story that you went into the McLaren garage and they politely asked you to leave, is it true?" – "yeah!" he laughs, Brundle asks what happened.

He went to see the guys in winter testing, just to say hi and they were stripping the car down because they had issues. He says he went in with his back to the car so he wasn't looking at it but he was "swiftly escorted out".

Wait. That's all? That's all the interview we get? Ah no phew, it was just a snippet before the ad break. 

Lewis says it was a difficult weekend so far. He messes up an English expression that I don't know of but basically he says it happens and you have to deal with it.

He talks about the issue he had with the tyre. Brundle says a lot of fans think it's unfair that he has to start 9th because he had nothing to do with it. Lewis says it does feel pretty harsh but that's the rule. They agree it's a long race and all about tyre degradation. Lewis says looking after these tyres is a real pain. Brundle asks what he thinks of it because Alonso said in a previous interview he's driving at about 80% (it's funny because they explained earlier when he said that during the driver's parade interview that it came from Alonso and basically all of the drivers have been saying it since then). Lewis agrees with that. But he says it's just the way F1 is at the moment and everyone is on the same boat so you just have to enjoy it. Brundle says Rosberg did 2 pole-worthy laps during quali after his own pole in China but what about race pace?

Lewis says they struggle with tyre degradation during the races. He doesn't quite know what causes it, is it the exhaust? They had that issue at McLaren. They're working on it. Now we hear the McLaren garage anecdote from the snippet again. Lewis says he did get a message from Martin Whitmarsh saying he was welcome at any time which is nice. He's been really supportive throughout his racing career and still is today. Lewis says he's got nothing but love for him. Brundle asks what it feels like to overtake a McLaren during a race nowadays, is it just any car? He says no, it's still THE McLaren, it feels surreal, strange, to be behind a McLaren and thinking that's my old car, that's the car that I've grown up in.

But everyone moves on and experiences something new and he's enjoying it. Brundle asks what he would be satisfied with here in Bahrain starting 9th. He wants to get as many points as possible. "I mean," he explains, "I just wanna get some points." That's gonna be the target. He'd love to get a really good start and push his chances and get a bit higher up. It'd be awesome to get in the top 5, but it's a huge ask. Still that's what he's aiming for.

Ah they're interviewing Jules Bianchi on the grid. They're saying he's impressed everyone so far this season. It's so surreal seeing him here and thriving. 

Alright it's time. Formation lap. 

And they're racing! 

Challenging start for Rosberg, the Mercedes doesn't have the performance to fight the Ferraris and RedBulls. He barely stays in the lead in the first corner. Alonso overtook Seb. Seb overtakes Alonso. Sutil seems to have damage after contact with Massa. Oh Lewis lost a position. This is going to be a difficult race isn't it? Seb attacks Rosberg. He's in the lead but he goes wide and Rosberg is ahead again. Seb is only 0.1 behind and Alonso is also 0.1 behind him, it's just THAT close. Yellow flags? JEV has a puncture. Aaaand Seb attacks Rosberg again. And again. He's ahead. Now both Rosberg and Alonso have the DRS but it's not enough. Lewis down in P11?! Arghh. Alonso overtakes Rosberg. But Rosberg overtakes Alonso. Alonso overtakes Rosberg. Di Resta overtakes Rosberg. Massa has damage. I guess it's from that incident at the start with Sutil. He's now attacking Rosberg. Alonso is called in, he has a DRS problem, it's stuck open. They close it manually. Webber pits. Grosjean pits. Massa overtakes Rosberg. Alonso pits again, the DRS is stuck open again. He won't be able to use it for the rest of the race I imagine. Rosberg pits. We're 10 laps in out of 57. Jenson is also in. 

Seb is called in. Massa pits. Many people pit. Did Lewis? I think so, he's P13 at the moment. Jenson overtakes Rosberg for P7. I'm switching to x2 speed, this is a bad race. P6 to P10 is a close fight. Seb overtook Raikkonen, who hasn't pitted yet, for the lead. Lewis is up in P10 now. I think it's more due to pitting than overtaking. Raikkonen pits. He's behind Lewis. Massa has a puncture, he pits. JEV retires. Jenson and Rosberg are fighting over third place and Jenson wins. Then Rosberg is also overtaken by Grosjean. The Mercedes are really not doing well here. We're 22 laps in. Lewis pits. 

Rosberg is fighting the 2 McLarens over 8th place. But he loses. Seb pits from the lead and stays in the lead. It's not a really interesting race tbh. The tyre degradation really messes things up. Lewis overtook Bottas. That's P10. The McLarens still are fighting each other and they ultimately make contact. Rosberg is still behind. Lewis is P9. 31 laps in. 

That McLaren fight is getting heated, one of them was pushed out. Now Grosjean is in the midst of it. He also touched one of them. Raikkonen overtakes Di Resta for P2. He pits. Jenson pits. Pitting pitting pitting. Massa gets a second puncture. Lewis currently in P3 because of the stops. That's not gonna last as Raikkonen and Perez are closing on him. P4. He pits. Out in P10, just behind poleman Rosberg. Aaaah seriously how can the race pace be that much worse than the quali pace. (Rhetorical question, the answer is mostly tyre degradation). Webber is under investigation for making contact with Rosberg. 40 laps in. 

Lewis is surprisingly closing on Jenson. Rosberg pits. Lewis overtakes Jenson! Didn't see that coming. He's up in P6. Jenson was overtaken by both Perez and Alonso. Jenson pits and Alonso overtakes Perez. Perez got back at Alonso but Alonso is still ahead ultimately. Now Lewis is catching Webber! We're 50 laps in. 

Lewis overtakes Webber for P5! I had no faith for this race I guess that's on me. Grosjean overtook Di Resta for P3. But Webber gets his position back. Lewis is not giving up. Only a couple of laps left… oh my god it's close. Webber resists. Come on. Scaryyyy. Webber is swerving so much. I thought it wasn't allowed? Final lap. Lewis is ahead! 

It's the end of the race! 

Seb wins ahead of Raikkonen and Grosjean. Lewis is P5! 

Let's see if we got a post race interview. 

We did! He has water in his ear lol.

He's satisfied you can tell right away.

The journalist asks if he's pleased with the result. He hums and he says with emphasis "very, VERY happy. I'm massively happy. Just because the race started out so bad."

He said he wanted to get a good start, he got a terrible start "and then I was just so slow!" he says with surprise in his voice. "I was nowhere!" He's so animated it's adorable. "I had no speed at all."

Whatever he did to the car, it wouldn't go any faster. And all of a sudden, after the second stop, it started reacting differently and he was able to push and he had grip again. He thinks it has to do with quali and the change of gear box, something must have modified the car. She says he did some good racing with Mark. He smiles and says at the beginning he wasn't overtaking anyone, he was a sitting duck getting overtaken and it was great to be able to do some overtaking in the end.

He's so grateful for the result. The team did a great job these first four races. "Onwards and upwards!" I like how chatty he gets when he's happy 💜

Time for Europe! 

#f1 #lewis hamilton #vro0m's race reviews #2013 #2013 bahrain gp

[f1]

'Weve got to go for the win' Russell and Hamilton reflect on 'dream' Melbourne qualifying as they eye victory

Mercedes’ George Russell qualified on the front row for the 2023 Australian Grand Prix but he said he was “disappointed” not to get pole position – while team mate Lewis Hamilton said he was going for the win on Sunday. Russell qualified just over two-tenths away from Verstappen in the chase for pole position in Australia, where Sergio Perez’s mistake put him last on the grid and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso settled for P4 alongside Hamilton on the second row. READ MORE: Verstappen claims first ever Melbourne pole as Russell bags front row start After qualifying second on Saturday for his first front row start since Sao Paulo 2022 – where he won the Grand Prix – Russell said: “We weren’t expecting that, that’s for sure. A lot of hard work going on back at the factory, here in Melbourne and wow, what a session for us. The car felt alive; the lap at the end was right on the limit I’ve got to be honest. I was a little bit disappointed that we didn’t get pole position.” He added: “We’ve got to go for the win. Max is going to be extremely fast, there’s no hiding that. I think it’s difficult to overtake around this circuit so the start, Lap 1, is going to be vital. The Red Bull has extraordinary top speed so it’s going to be very difficult to fight with Max but let’s see how we get on… If the opportunity’s there, we’ll go for it.” P2 in Australia is Russell's best qualifying result since Sao Paulo 2022 Hamilton, who qualified third on the grid ahead of Alonso – also the seven-time champion’s best start since Sao Paulo 2022 – said it was a “dream” to qualify so high up after taking P7 on the grid for the first two races of 2023. “I’m so happy with this. This is totally unexpected,” he said. “Really, really proud of the team. George did a fantastic job today, so for us to be up in the two front rows is honestly a dream for us. We are all working as hard as we can to be back right at the front, so to be this close to Red Bull is honestly incredible. “I hope tomorrow we can give them a bit of a run for their money, and we hope the weather is good,” he said. MUST-SEE: Early drama during qualifying at Albert Park as Perez beaches his Red Bull in the gravel Hamilton was elated after qualifying third Reminiscing over his sterling F1 debut here in 2007, Hamilton added that his goal on Sunday was “to get to first”, adding: “I’m going to be hoping for a day like the first year, 2007, Turn 1 here would be awesome. I don’t know if anyone remembers, but that will be awesome if we can do that.” HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the action from FP3 in Australia as Verstappen sets the pace, Perez hits trouble and Nyck ‘Debris’ returns As for Team Principal Toto Wolff, he conceded that Verstappen held the advantage but said Mercedes’ qualifying performance was a much-needed boost for the Silver Arrows. “Yeah, I think [it’s] good starting second and third, it’s been a while since we had no one really in front of our line in P2. So we’ll just try to make the best of it; Verstappen is in a league of his own but maybe we can then slot in. We needed a little bit of happiness and at least for the Saturday today we got some of that,” said the team boss via Formula 1 News https://www.formula1.com

#F1 #'We’ve got to go for the win' – Russell and Hamilton reflect on 'dream' Melbourne qualifying as they eye victory #Formula 1