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#(even if Kimi probably wouldn't think like that but he was definitely just one of Oro's pawns there)
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A thing I noticed about the cost cap thing is that it says the 'rumors' are based according to Ferrari and Mercedes calculations not FIA. Of course Ferrari and Mercedes are going to say things like that, when you're incompetent of course you are going to blame everyone but yourself for your mistakes. By that logic I could just say, according to my calculations everyone in the paddock exceeded the cost limit 🤓. People believing in this rumor really forgot about Valtteri last year, huh? Isn't AMuS the same magazine that said the flexi floor was rbr cheating, that it could cost Max? Weren't they the same magazine that said Alpine was in the right with the Oscar fiasco and that he wouldn't get a f1 seat?
How much do you wanna bet that the self righteous people wanting permanent disqualification of Max and rbr for this rumor will change their tone if it gets revealed that it was Mercedes 🙃? Shouldn't Lewis' championship also get disqualified because of the crashgate scandal? That isn't a rumor, it's proven.
Would they want disqualification of Lewis and Merc? Probably not, their agenda to have a "fair and fun" competition only applies if it is in anyone but rbr's favour. For now it is what it is, just a rumor, look up the dictionary in case you forgot what it's definition is. For now let's leave it there and wait to see FIA has to say.
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Auto-motor-und-sport is generally a reliable source but recently their "rumours" are all proven shit. So, I take what they say with a huge grain of salt.
Since the accusers are Ferrari and Mercedes, the certified cheaters of Formula 1, it makes one think. Ferrari had put their 2020 and 2021 in the bin, so I don't think they'd gone over the cap, but Mercedes makes me laugh, considering all the engines they had tested/destroyed in Valtteri's car to find their limit to safely turn Lewis' car into a rocket ship last year... Even to the point that they weren't able to provide their customers with new engines at the races they had planned to give them (remember Aston Martin and McLaren's delayed new engines).
And ah, the Spygate.... The way ppl are still using it to discredit Kimi winning the WDC on his own merit, because according to the know-it-all fanboys FIA forbid McLaren from winning as a compensation/punishment for the scandal and if it wasn't for that Nando or Lewis would certainly win it instead of Kimi, conveniently forgetting that they were driving copied cars.
Sounds very familiar.
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soyouthinkucanwrite · 3 years
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What did he say? - Daniel Ricciardo one shot
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Update: I just realized it's Carlos' birthday TODAY! I'm so so sorry hahaha I feel like a jerk, but it's just play pretend ok?
Guys, this is based on a dream I had but listen, it’s so weird cause I KNOW this is not like Carlos AT ALL. He’s kind of the vilan in this one... Please don’t be mad if you’re a Carlos fan, it’s just for fun, I swear. I’ll even try to write something with him later to make it up to you guys! Also, I clearly don't know how vacuum works in racing, so again, just humor me and pretend I got it right, ok?
As always, please take the time to let me know what you think, means a lot to me (even if it’s constructive criticism)! And thank you so much to everyone that always does! 💕 Your lovely messages always motivate me to keep writing!
Warnings: angst, jealous Daniel, kind of a dick Carlos (again, sorry! I know he’d never)
.
I was in the “side stage” at the press room for the Austin GP, the first I ever went and of course, the first with Daniel, as his girlfriend. He was answering questions along with Pierre Gasly on stage. There were a few people besides me, including some of the drivers, waiting for their turn to face the press.
"Coco, ¿quién es?" I heard Carlos Sainz whispering to his cousin, nodding his head in my direction.
"No conozco. ¿Creo que es periodista?" his cousin answered looking at me. I just acted like I wasn't listening, or understanding, not sure why though.
"No, si fuera periodista estaría allá fuera, haciendo preguntas" Carlos continued.
"Sí, pero no me parece estar perdida" his cousin commented, they kept whispering but I could hear them very clearly.
"Qué pena, no me importaría darte direcciones" Carlos said with a smirk and I felt really uncomfortable at that, which only made me stay even more frozen in place and wish Daniel came back sooner.
"Si no te conociera, diría que acabas de romper una relación. Ni siquiera puedes ver a una chica alrededor" his cousin said hitting him playfully in the head.
"¿Y te parece esta una chica cualquier? Siempre debes andar con supermodelos, ¿no?" Carlos joked back.
"Vale, tienes razón" his cousin answered him and I was counting the seconds for Daniel to come back now.
"Pero sin duda es nueva aquí. Me recordaría de algo como eso. Tampoco pienso ser americana, ellas no tienen esta-" Just then someone called him.
"Sainz, you're up next" Daniel walked out, coming by my side. "Hey" he said to me and I smiled. "They just asked to wait 5 minutes, something about changing the batteries of the mics" he said looking back at Carlos, his cousin, and Kimi, who was going to be pairing with Carlos in the press conference and was just hanging in the corner by himself this whole time.
"Alright, thanks mate" Carlos answered.
"Hey, have you guys met (y/n)? Carlos, Carlos, (y/n)... (y/n), Carlos, Carlos" Daniel made the introductions grinning like a teenager, probably finding it super funny that they had the same first name.
"¡Hola! Mucho gusto en conocerlos, soy (y/n). ¿Como están?" I extended my hand to greet them, feeling much more confident now that I had a 5' 9" Australian by my side. They looked startled at me and then at each other.
“¿Hablas español?” Carlos asked me.
“Sí, y compreendo muy bien también” I told him and my tone made it clear I knew exactly what they were talking about earlier and didn’t like it a bit.
"Carlos, Kimi, they're ready for you" an assistant called.
"Good one kid" Kimi said to me when he walked past us, winking at Daniel. Carlos followed him to the stage and since I didn't want to just stand there in the remains of the awkward situation with Dan and Carlos’ cousin, I just walked in the opposite direction, outside the press room. Not too long after, Daniel walked after me.
"Hey, what was that about?" he asked, still smiling. Boy, he wouldn't be smiling for too long after I told him what that was about.
"What?" I asked, trying not to make a big deal. He reached for my hand, taking it in his.
"You know what. Come on, what happened back there? Did you guys know each other?"
"No!" I have to tell him now, or he'll think I have something to hide. I took a deep breath. "They were talking between themselves before you come out, in Spanish. And I don't think they thought I could understand" he looked at me confused but then it hit him and his expression changed from confusion to rage.
"What did they said?"
"Nothing, it's not a big deal ok? I just wanted to let them know I could understand, so I just said 'hello' in Spanish, that's all" I said, walking away from the place where we were standing and pulling his hand. God knows I didn't want to be there when Carlos walked out, or better, for Daniel to be there.
"I figured that much. But what did he said? Just tell me" Daniel looked at me.
"Let's just go? Please? It's not worth it. What are you going to do? Sucker punch him?"
"Do I need to sucker punch him? Is it that bad?"
"No! Dan, please, let's just go. This is not going to lead us anywhere"
"(y/n)"
"I'll tell you. Promise. Back at the trailer, okay?" I tried to negotiate.
"Fine"
When we stepped back inside his driver's room, Daniel closed the door and looked at me.
"Alright. Spill it"
"Promise me you won't do anything to him"
"Absolutely not. The longer you stall me, the more pissed off I get"
"Okay” I knew I had no choice and honestly, why should I protect him really? I’m just worried about how this might make Daniel feel. “They were wondering who I was, his cousin was teasing him saying he was only interested because he just ended a relationship"
"That's not all" he said and I didn't answer, just looked away, shaking my head. "Alright. I'm sorry you had to hear that. But you can tell me these things ok? I want to protect you baby" He said stepping closer to me and hugging me.
"I don't want you to cause trouble for something stupid"
"Hey!" he said pulling away a bit to look at me. "This is not stupid. Nothing about you is stupid. It's a big deal baby, that’s plain disrespectful. I want you here with me, always. And I want you to feel comfortable here, okay?"
"I feel comfortable now" I said hugging him closer. He smiled and kissed the top of my head.
"Fuckers" he whispered to himself.
"Promise me you won't confront him. He'll deny, or start a fight. Or both. And besides, it’s not so much what he said, it’s more like how they were eyeing me. And I don't want you to get involved in a scandal" I said pulling away and sitting down in a chair. Daniel leaned against the table, looking at me.
"A scandal?" he laughed.
"You do know gossip is the major product of motorsports, right?" I smirked at him.
"Fair enough" he agreed. "Fuck baby, the things I have to deal with for having a goddess as a girlfriend" he was joking now, so the mood seemed lighter, but knowing Daniel, I knew he hadn't completely let that go yet. I just rolled my eyes at him. Hopefully, the events of the weekend would be enough to get his mind out of it.
.
.
Friday and Saturday kept us busy enough so that we didn’t touch the subject anymore, but I could still catch Daniel staring at Carlos here and there. And I could definitely see Carlos staring at me too, which I tried to avoid at all costs, staying out of his visual field. If Daniel saw that, I don’t know if I’d be able to hold him back again.
On Sunday I’d be watching from the garage with Michael and Blake, which was super exciting, to see all the action from the front row. But I didn’t want to disturb Daniel’s routine, so I tried to stay back a little. Yet, he kept coming to steal kisses and joke around. He seemed really relaxed and confident. He was P5 and I took the care to see that Carlos was P8, so I knew they might race each other eventually but I also knew that Dan would be much more preoccupied doing what he does best and overtaking the 4 in front of him to even think about whoever was behind. Everything was going to be fine, no harm done.
“Alright. Time to go” he announced to me. “Kiss for good luck?”
“Good luck. Just go and do what you do best, okay? And try to come back in one piece” I smiled through the kiss and then watched him take his helmet from the table, wink at me, and turn to walk towards his Mclaren. My chest was tight but I could only pray and hope now.
The cars were already outside the garage for some reason, so Dan was walking out when Carlos passed in front of the orange crew. He stopped to greet some of them and that would be fine, except he was not paying any attention to the people he was talking to. He was looking inside the garage like he was looking for something, or rather someone, cause when he saw me he nodded like he was greeting me and checked me out, head to toes. Dan saw it and looked back inside just in time to see me step aside, behind Michael, clearly uncomfortable with the whole thing.
“Hey... man” Carlos greeted Daniel. And his tone made me sure that it wasn’t even about me anymore. Carlos knew how much it must be bothering Daniel and was clearly using it to try and get him pissed off and unfocused. The thing is, very few things were capable of getting Daniel out of his “all good all ways” vibe, but when they did, you definitely don’t want to be on his way. I’m actually a bit worried about the other drivers now, Carlos included, because Dan just turned back to his machine, like he knew exactly what he was going to do and nothing would stop him, getting inside the car a mere formality. He didn’t even bother to take a second look at Carlos.
“Oh boy” I commented.
“Yeah, I saw it” Michael said to me. “What was that about anyway? I thought they got along fine”. I don’t say anything else, and from that moment on my eyes are glued to the screen in front of us, following any micro movement Daniel makes.
They go for the warm-up lap, which feels like it takes forever, and then, finally, Grid formation. That sign must be broken cause the lights also took hours to change.
3, 2, 1... there they go. Thank god we’re wearing masks, otherwise, my nails and fingertips would be long gone.
The first turn is a sharp one and Daniel had an opening to overtake Perez, the first driver in front of him, we could see it clearly from the drone view, but he didn’t take it. What is he doing?
“What is he doing?” Somebody in the garage voiced my thoughts.
“You had an opening Daniel” the engineer said on the radio.
“All under control. I know what I’m doing. How far are the others behind me?” Daniel answered.
I hoped he wasn’t doing what I thought he was doing but I already knew he was. Being the risk-it-all-idiot he was, Dan was waiting for Carlos to catch up to him. Knowing him, I knew he wanted to race and beat him personally, which was crazy stupid, but wouldn’t take long since Carlos had already overtaken Gasly and Alonso, and was now only a few nanoseconds behind Daniel.
“Come on Dan” I said to myself.
“Come on Daniel” Blake practically yelled at the screen.
I feel like throwing up. He’s gonna get hurt and jeopardize all the work the team put into the weekend just to... to what? I don’t even know. If he gets out of this race alive, I’ll personally kill him.
The race’s still going, no major changes after the first turn. Then suddenly Daniel seems to remember he had a gas pedal, finally getting speed in the big straight and leaving Perez behind. Carlos followed him, seeming to use the vacuum in his favor. Everybody in the garage celebrates, but I’m too focused to cheer along. He’s so close to the podium now. Just keep it up, baby. Carlos is still on his tail.
“Good job mate” the engineer says on the radio. “Watch for Sainz on your right. Bottas’ next”
“Keep me posted on Sainz’s time” it’s all Daniel says.
A couple more laps go and he’s really trying to overtake Bottas, not playing games anymore. Carlos doesn’t seem to try to overtake him even once though, he’s too far behind still.
More laps go by and I can’t standstill. When they’re in the 19th lap, with Max and Hamilton battling each other and taking turns in the lead, Daniel’s voice comes on the radio.
“Let’s be the first to box” I’m not sure what he’s playing at, as it’s still too soon to box, but the team seems to agree.
“Copy that. I’ll let you know when. Let’s get a couple more laps in. Keep this up for now” his engineer answers.
“Understood” Daniel’s voice come through the radio. “How’s Sainz time?”
“At least 1.5 seconds behind you” the engineer informs him.
“Understood” Daniel says.
He’s planning something. Not sure what, and I don’t know if I even could, not knowing much about racing strategies, but it definitely has something to do with Carlos and what happened earlier.
“Ouch!” I hear Michael say and nod towards the screen, making me focus on the race again, and not only on Daniel. Max and Hamilton had touched tires. “They're really going at it, definitely using way more tires than necessary"
"If Dan box before them..." I begin to ask.
"He needs a fast box, gaining speed later and for their box to be slower, but yeah, that's his best shot at them" Michael explains to me.
"Come on baby" I whisper to myself.
Daniel seems to finally get close enough to Bottas, but the Finnish guy won't make it easy for him. Turn 11 on sector 2 will be his best shot now and it's getting closer.
The garage and the radio go silent. Feels like the whole world is holding their breaths while Daniel smoothly overtakes Bottas from his left. And then I almost go deaf with all the cheering around me, it's a podium for Daniel, for now.
Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to last too long, cause once he comes to the box all the other drivers will pass him. It's just so frustrating.
"Good job mate. Spectacular time. Box now" the engineer informs on the radio.
"Box confirmed. We need to ace this, boys" Daniels says.
Not even a full minute later, I hear his car and see it on the screen. I look outside to see the orange machine with the big 3 in front of it, but I don't even have time to try and take a look at him, cause 2.3 seconds later (or at least that's what the TV tells me) there he goes again. The good news is, only Bottas passed him. The bad news is he almost crashes into Carlos when he comes out of the Pit Lane.
Some of the crew were still celebrating the fast pit stop when they realized what happened. I let out a gasp. They touched tires but Carlos seemed to have managed to get away from Daniel, quickly returning to his side a moment later but struggling to keep it up. Dan, on the other side, seems unbothered. He keeps gaining speed, even though the pit exit is right on the first turn.
"Take it easy now mate, even if Sainz passes you, his time is not enough to stay in front" the engineer informs Daniel, clearly worried that the risk doesn't justify the ends.
"Understood" Daniel responds.
We're on lap 30 now and just as the engineer said, Carlos is a full 2 seconds behind Daniel. Bottas still in front of him (which is frustrating for me because he had just overtaken him before the pit stop), then Hamilton, and finally Max.
"Daniel" the engineer calls him. "How're the tires?"
"All good"
"Good. Ready to race, mate? Hamilton's going to box now"
"Before Bottas?"
"Yes, that's confirmed"
"Understood"
I listen to the conversation between Daniel and the engineer closely, but I can't say I know exactly what the implications are.
"Bottas' going to second, Daniel to third again. Let's hope for a slow pitstop for Hamilton, so when he comes out, he comes in third and races Daniel. That's the best-case scenario, so he needs to gain speed now" Blake explains to me.
"Got it" I confirm to him. "What about Bottas? He should box on the next lap right?"
"Yeah. If Daniel overtakes him still on this lap, the difference will be too big for him to recover after his pit stop. Hopefully" He tells me.
There's a lot of 'hopefullys' and 'best-case scenarios' in this conversation, but I'll take it. I start to silently pray right away, eyes glued to the screen to see exactly what Blake predicted unfold: Hamilton pit stops, Bottas and Daniel are the firsts to go up on the positions, then Carlos, Alonso, and Gasly. The first turn comes again and Dan seises the opportunity to overtake Bottas, who, to his credit, is fighting real hard, but Dan isn't letting him take back his position.
Dan is P2 now. Max is almost 3 seconds in front of him. Hamilton comes out of the pit lane behind Gasly, it should take him long to again his positions.
"Bottas to box on this lap mate" the engineer announces.
"Not worried about Bottas. What about Max?" Daniel answers. A few moments of silence follow.
"Box confirmed for Max on this lap as well. Just get closer to him" the engineer instructs.
"Understood" Daniel answers.
"Come on, baby" I cheer silently again.
"Fuck! He's gonna make it" Michael yells. "Come on Daniel!"
Bottas is 2 seconds behind Daniel, and on the big straight Daniel manages to shorten his time difference to Max to 1.8 seconds. The next thing I know, Max is coming down the pit lane, quickly followed by Bottas. Daniel is P1. I can't believe this. Carlos is P2, but he hasn't boxed yet. Surprisingly enough, Alonso is P3 and, not so surprisingly, Hamilton is already P4 and gaining speed.
"Alonso hasn't boxed yet" Blake comments. That's bad news if we were hoping for him to defend his position against Hamilton. I take a look on the TV and they're showing the conditions of his tires, which to me doesn't mean anything.
"Will he be able to hold him?" I ask Blake.
"Not sure, he's tough though and doesn't want Hamilton to win, that's for sure" Blake answers me.
Then we hear Max passing outside, had almost forgotten about him.
"That took him longer than normal" Michael comments and we look at the screen, his pit stop was 3.6 seconds long. An eternity for the Redbull team. But awesome news for us. Bottas had already left the pit lane, his pit stop was 2.4 seconds long.
The grid is now Daniel, Carlos, Alonso, Hamilton, Bottas, and then Max. Alonso is still holding Hamilton back. Normally, I'd guess Carlos would box soon and maybe even Alonso, but since I know Carlos has some personal motivation against Daniel, I feel like he's going to hold on the longer he can and the same goes for Alonso regarding Hamilton.
We're at the final 10 laps now and nothing has changed, except Carlos is dangerously closer to Daniel now. Alonso still hasn't let Hamilton go by him, repeating the Hungaroring events. I hear the signal of the radio, indicating we're about to hear some communication between Daniel and his engineer, and my chest tightens. It's Daniel's voice that comes on then.
"Something wrong. I'm losing power" Fuck. No.
"Sainz is at your tail. Can you hold on?" the engineer asks.
"I don't know. Fuck. It's just not working. How much's the difference?"
"Less than 1 second"
"Fuck. Why hasn't he boxed yet?"
"His tires are in real bad condition. But I don't think he's going to do it now"
"I'll put some pressure on him"
"Negative. Negative. Stay away"
"Not going to touch him. Pinky promise" Bastard. I can hear the smirk in his voice, even though this is extremely dangerous and insane pressure, Daniel's still having the time of his life.
9 laps to go.
8 laps to go.
Carlos almost overtakes Daniel.
"Engine's not good. Can you do something?" Daniel asks.
"Negative. 7 laps to go mate, just hold it"
"Understood"
On the big straight of the 51st lap, Carlos overtakes Daniel, but then on the next turn, Daniel takes back his position. The sequel of turns that follows is the most nerve-wracking thing I've ever seen in my life, they're so close to each other, and at such a high speed that if they simply touch tires they would fly off the track and everything would be lost to both of them, maybe even their lives.
"Hamilton passed Alonso, mate. Watch out" the engineer informs him, and I look at the screen. Fuck.
"Fuuuuck" Daniel says on the radio.
It's the 52nd lap now, only 4 more to go and Carlos doesn't even signal a pit stop. He's going to try to make the whole race without it.
"Ferrari is not happy with him" Michael laughs a dark laugh. I knew he had a history of being stubborn but this is too much.
"His tires are at less than 10% integrity. How is he still going?" I ask.
There's the big straight again and Carlos falls a bit behind Daniel, but I've watched enough to know that that doesn't necessarily mean a good thing. Just as I predicted, he tries to use Daniel's vacuum to gain more speed and overtake him, Daniel doesn't let him through and get in front of him, making him almost go off track. That would be a "normal" movement, except Hamilton was using Carlos' vacuum in his favor and, when Carlos is forced to change directions, Hamilton hits his back left tire, which makes it blows off and it's a mess from then on.
Daniel is far from the whole ordeal by now, safe and sound, thankfully. But Carlos spins in the track, taking Hamilton with him. They both go off track and Max flies by, followed by Bottas, Charles (where did he come from?), and then Alonso.
"Are they alright?" It's the first thing that comes up to me to ask.
"Fuck! That was crazy. Is everyone ok?" Daniel asks on the radio.
"Positive. Everyone's ok. Keep going, mate. 3 more laps to go" the engineer informs him.
"Who's behind me now? Bottas?" Daniel asks.
"Max. But he's at least 2 seconds behind, we should be fine" I hear the engineer say and it's like I can almost breathe again. Daniel's going to win this thing. He's so close now.
"It wasn't Daniel's fault, was it? Can they punish him in some way for the accident?" I ask Michael.
"Don't know. He was defending his position, but he's been closing in Carlos ever since the begging of the race. Depends on how Ferrari and Mercedes spin this, they'll try anything that favors them" Michael explains to me in a worried tone.
They're in the final lap and Daniel's been clearly losing speed. Something's wrong with the engine. But it's the final lap, just a few more moments, come on baby, you can do it. Max is so close to him though, I wouldn't be surprised if the winner was declared based on the replay of the finishing line. The big straight comes up and Dan has to stay out of Max's front, so as to not give him any advantages.
I can barely see it, but at the same time, I can't take my eyes off the screen.
"Full force now mate, final sector. You can win this" the engineer says on the radio but Daniel doesn't respond. Max is right by his side, he's going to pass him.
There's smoke coming out of his car, the whole thing is going to blow off any second now. Oh my god, please just a few more seconds.
5 turns to go.
4 turns to go.
3 turns to go. Max overtakes him. Shit.
2 turns to go. Daniel wins his place on the podium back.
Final turn. Daniel's in the front, barely. They cross the finish line and the whole garage explores with cheering. There are people running outside to wave at him. I can only smile and hold my own head like it would fall off otherwise. He did it. He fucking did it.
"Woo-hoo! Yes! Yes! Fuck yes!" I can hear Daniel on the radio, screaming his lungs out.
"Good job mate. Spectacular work. First-class, really! Well done!" the engineer cheers on.
The next thing I know, Michael is hugging me and lifting me from the ground just to puck me back down and Blake lift me up again. I can only laugh at their excitement. I'm so happy for Daniel I can barely grasp it!
"Let's go!" Blake puts me down and runs outside the garage. I follow him out, to the place where Daniel is stopping the car, a bunch of smoke coming out and some people with fire extinguishers around it.
He's got his fists up, celebrating. But is still inside the car. Then he takes off the steering wheel and handles it to one of the mechanics waiting outside. He gets out of the car and stands on top of it, smokes still coming out from behind. It's a nice picture. I just hoped he got away from that thing before it explodes, but it's a nice picture, can't deny it.
Then he jumps down and run towards the crew, jumping over them, helmet still on. Everybody is celebrating and cheering, I can only laugh and clap at the scene before me. So much joy and happiness going on, the energy is amazing! Then I can see Daniel looking around, but since his helmet is still on, I have no idea what he's doing. Somebody seems to understand though and they wave at me, calling me to come closer. I approach, but I'm still unsure, don't want to get in the middle of the team's celebration. But Daniel grabs me, pulling me closer and hugging me. I just laugh, can't barely see him with the suit and helmet still on. He's saying something, but I can't understand a thing.
"What?" I laugh at his attempts to communicating with me. He opens his helmet visor and repeats.
"I fucking won baby!" He yells laughing.
"I know! I know! You won Dan! I'm so proud! You're the best baby!"
"I need to get this thing off" he says struggling to get the helmet and the balaclava off, when he finally manages to do it, he jumps over the fence that was separating us and hugs me again, lifting me in the air and kissing me deeply, making everyone around us cheer even louder and I smile against his lips. I wrap my legs around him and he keeps kissing me, only after a few seconds do I pull away to breathe and he touches our foreheads. I laugh again, just enjoying the feeling of pure happiness for him.
"I'm so proud of you. You were so good. This is crazy" I whisper to him.
"Get used to it, cause there's more where it came from" he answers kissing me again.
191 notes · View notes
leqclerc · 3 years
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I think 2020 season could turn out to be a blessing in disguise.
Pre 2020 season, ferrari had a good car, and for once solid drivers. But behind the scenes, we can imagine the clusterfuck. Binotto in, maurizio out, and so on.
I think that was a warning sign for them. After all, it's ferrari we are talking about, if you haven't watched f1 you probably only know ferrari. And last year they were a laughing stock. (even Claire Williams was like in dts "happy to see them suffer"). That's why I think they decided to make serious changes at every department.
Improved pitstops yes, smart car changes yes, strategies with actual thought behind yes. Now the tyre issues, again they are working actively towards solving it.
As for seb, I think it was a right time to go. I don't think he would have accepted to be a kimi to charles. Because I truly think his performance in 2019 was a strong "I am ready" message to the team. It was either this year, or in two more years by mick. Sadly all things come to an end.
I also think ferrari probably got scared that Charles would leave if they don't get their shit together. Hence the extention of the contract. And it makes sense, he is after all the most talented driver a 4 time world champion every saw in his 15 years old career.
But I see a new ferrari, with fresh air. Even binotto stop talking shit in media. He was asked about the pit stop issue and all he said was that the fia should consult the teams first for such issues and then take decisions which honestly, it's kinda true.
So yeah, I think their pride and ego was hurt last year and this year they are preparing to come back stronger (hopefully) than ever.
Oh, I think it was definitely a major wake up call. Like you said, they're Ferrari and like it or not they really can't afford to just fuck around with the backmarkers. They had to prove that 2020 was an outlier, that it wouldn't happen again - and most importantly, that they would learn from it.
From Charles's perspective as well I think it was a really important year. I think when you come into a "big team" you naturally expect to start clocking good results and there can be a bit of...you know, you have your rose-tinted glasses on and think this is the best thing ever. And 2020 kind of showed him the ugliest sides of the team - internal discord, lack of performance on track, poor strategic decisions, media backlash, being the laughing stock of the grid, etc. So, in a way, he knows how bad it can get. He's got that out of the way. He's not waiting for the other shoe to drop because he's already experienced that. And I think knowing just how bad it can get and coming back from that will ultimately make him stronger. It already has, in a way.
Also, if he could drive a virtually undriveable car with no straight line speed to the podium not once but twice (it could've been three had it not been for his mistake on that final lap in Turkey)... that's impressive. That has to give him a confidence boost, knowing that came from him and not the car. He's outperformed the car on numerous occasions last year, and he's doing it again this year to put it on pole.
Honestly (and very selfishly) I would've liked to see Seb continue with Ferrari. I mean, seeing them both making progress after the year they had would've been goddamn chicken soup for my wounded soul sjdjefrj But unfortunately I get why things went the way they did. He and Binotto always seemed to have a strained working relationship, even before the whole contract debacle. Realistically there's a lot of things going on behind closed doors that also would've contributed to the split. It's not that Seb lost something or is less of a driver or anything - Turkey 2020 and Baku 2021 speak for themselves - but if he had issues with his higher-ups then obviously that could've impacted his performance and just soured the experience for him. Even taking all that out of the equation, six seasons is a long time to be with one team. If you think about it from a non-F1 perspective, I mean, people do get burned out at their workplace and go look for alternatives to stimulate them.
Speaking of contracts, Charles signed his extension in late December (or at least that's when the news broke, I guess he could've done it at any point before that, but we're just gonna say at the end of or even after the 2019 season.) So, before they knew the 2020 car would be a disaster, I would imagine. Maybe they had an inkling that something wasn't right, but I remember Charles saying they only discovered the true extent of the damage during winter testing and that obviously really hit the team and dampened spirits. But you're right in the sense that they know - they have to - that Charles is a generational talent and genuinely the best shot they've had at winning the championship in some years. If this is what he can do in a mediocre car, just imagine what he could do in a competitive--- *sniped*
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