seb to wec is actually pretty realistic for multiple reasons including:

- much less races

- remember the clean fuel convention thing he was in last year during the summer break? I don't know if he asked rocky or rocky asked him (not rb rocky, endurance rocky) to take part but there was also the presentation of the hydrogen wec cars etc

- a lot of the successful drivers and former drivers there are his friends/like him/would probably not be opposed to working with him and helping him settle in (ex drivers like mark, mr le mans tom kristensen himself, current drivers like kamui kobayashi, loïc duval, mike rockenfeller,...)

- he's been seen hanging with porsche boss guy at the porsche tennis cup in stuttgart. he's been testing that audi at roc. something is brewing. german manufacturers want him sooooo bad

- wec is way further into sustainable fuels and sustainability in general than f1

- an fia super license and previous status as a factory driver award him platinum driver status (fia ranking system for driver ability, platinum is the highest rank), for hypercar this doesn't matter as much since there are no silver/ bronze driver requirements (and bronze drivers, often gentlemen drivers, not permitted) but still putting it here

- amazing fan atmosphere (biased but wec is so much more fun to watch live on track than f1 yall)

- triple crown babyyyyy (fr tho look at seb and tell me he wouldn't be the type to pursue a historic mark of a true champion)

I don't actually follow your blog, or really a lot of motorsports since I only got into in the pandemic so feel free to disregard this ask as I'm sure you've got a lot of drama happening. I really liked your post on the community feeling shafted when drivers see a series as a stepping stone. What's your opinion on Fernando? Like he only pursued Triple Crown/Dakar bc F1 was getting too painful/likelihood of a 3rd title was too low. He does talk of his time there fondly, talks of how much it challenged him and how much he learnt there. He also says for the Indy 500 he knows he'll have to do a full season cause it has to be taken seriously. Unfortunately I feel like him winning WEC is often used as a gotcha for F1 drivers being too good? I want to say not every world champion can adapt or develop the skills to do every kind of series but I might be wrong.

No I completely agree with you! Some series aren't for particular drivers and trying out new ones after time in a sport where things aren't working out is a good idea! You can look at Tatianna doing better in non-open wheel racing and Brendon Hartley winning Le Mans and the WEC champs, but not doing well in F1.

I love Fernando!!! Hes a funny kinda bitchy middle aged man lmao. I think he's got a real passion for racing as a whole that goes a lot deeper than most people realize. From his stints in Rally, to his trying to win the Indy500 and then his success in Le Mans and Monaco and those titles! He is (usually) very positive about the other drivers, the atmosphere and the joy racing in those series gives him! I think he's a great pointer when talking about F1 as a motorsport equal to others, not superior.

I dont think IndyCar is for Fernando. And that's fine! We've seen that in his attempts to get the triple crown (an amazing achievement only one man has ever got in the world). He's one of two men (Juan Pablo Montoya as the other) who are alive and officially in a run to achieve, both being 1 race away from getting it.

JPM and Fernando met their roadblocks in seperate series for their attempts. Fernando, even with his wide expertise, doesn't seem to slot so well into the IndyCar/oval racing aspect. JPM on the other hand has the Monaco and Indy500 wins, but gave up on Le Mans as he just wasn't suited to endurance racing.

Every driver has their strengths. Put the F1 drivers in a FE car, a rally car etc and a good and varied few was struggle because the car simply asks for different things.

I think Fernando going "You know what? This isn't working out in F1 and I don't enjoy it anymore. I'll try something else for a bit." was a BRILLIANT decision.

I think more F1 drivers should branch out like Romain or Kevin or even Nico have after/during their career because you never know what you could find. I mean, Romain is KILLING it in IndyCar. Fernando achieved so much more than F1 drivers focusing on F1 ever did!

F1 often feels disconnected from other motorsports. Theres not the kind of crossover of shared drivers you get in WEC/IMSA/Indy/DTM/FE, probably because both the calendar is unsuited to multiple commitments (which constricrs the drivers) and people (including some past and current drivers) have a superiority complex about it, which really limits them in the end.

Thank you for this question by the way it was SUPER fun to go over and think about! And I hope you have a wonderful day!!!