i’m glad i’m not the only one worried here. great for the team and all, but this feels like chaos waiting to happen. i thought we finally had it. even if we didn’t get a wdc, they couldn’t even bother to try and prioritize charles for once.

You're not alone in feeling like this! Being worried and not immediately jumping for joy and accepting every decision the team makes isn't any less valid. Because this is weird, this is unusual, this is something I never thought would happen. It's a lot to process. I've cycled through all five stages of grief today, from "oh lol funny memes" to "alright what the fuck does this mean for Charles?"

I get that a lot of people are super hyped about this, especially if you've always supported both drivers, I get that it must feel like a dream come true.

I'm so conflicted because on one hand, okay, maybe our concerns are unwarranted, maybe this will be the best thing ever, just what the team/Charles needs, massive success all around. But unfortunately I'm a chronic overthinker with pessimistic tendencies so of course I worry 🧍🏻‍♀️

But also, like you said, I thought Ferrari were done with bringing in world champions in favour of making world champions, you know? This just feels like it's going to complicate something that's already very volatile and complicated all on its own (see: plethora of issues that usually held Charles back, whether it be mismanagement or poor strategy, etc.) It already felt like everything needed to come together perfectly for him to maximise his chance of winning and now they throw this massive curveball and I really don't know what to think. Especially given the "multi year" deal (2+1 is I think the version journalists have settled on.)

It kind of just feels like the issues that already existed with Sainz will be magnified, you know? The media machine around Lewis is huge, so that's going to be ten times as intense (Sky is already putting down Charles and it's just going to get so much worse), the fan wars ten times as intense... It just feels like he can't win in any scenario, like all the work he's put in so far to get Ferrari back to their winning ways will be overshadowed by the new big star signing. If they create a competitive package and start winning when Lewis enters the team (even if Charles did the heavy lifting in terms of feedback and development) he will be credited for the team's success. I mean, just look at the way this misleading narrative of Carlos "single-handedly saving the strategy" stuck. Oftentimes people don't care about the facts, if a narrative appeals to them they will perpetuate it.

Plus, there will be so much pressure on Ferrari to "get Lewis that 8th title!!!" Mercedes's inability to do so soured a lot of fans' relationship with the team. If Ferrari really puts team interests above driver interests, then I'm sure they'd see the value in being the team that makes that happen. History book worthy stuff. Kind of concerned that in the midst of that Charles and his ambitions and goals might fall by the wayside. And he's got way more to lose in this situation—no matter how Lewis's time at Ferrari goes, he's a multiple WDC, no one's ever going to take that away from him. Same with Fernando, same with Seb. Charles has never even had a proper chance to go for one title with the team yet.

Like, if you think about it, you have clear "eras", right? Someone says Red Bull, you immediately associate them with Max and/or Seb. Lewis will, I think understandably, be associated with Mercedes due to his long stint and all the success he's enjoyed at the team. I guess I imagined that Ferrari was finally gearing up to be that with Charles going forward. But this shakes things up massively and while winning a championship with Ferrari was already a tall order, now it's, like, full on a herculean task.