(Putting this in anti tags to be safe but I don't think I'm anti more than just dissapointed)
Myself and some friends were chatting about why it feels bad if Lando wins the WDC
It's because he hasn't had that "wow" drive (yet)
When you look at drivers like Lewis and Max (actual world champions) and Charles and maybe George (both definitely potential world champions), all of them have iconic races that people point to to watch - that is a race that only they (or maybe a select few) could have done at that point in time.
It's the race that everyone talks about, no matter who wins or whatever, everyone is talking about that driver; "did you see what they did though?!"
Sure, load of drivers have had great recovery drives (like Lando now! Baku 2024, 15th to 4th), but could any of them have done what Lewis Hamilton did in 2021 Brazil, last to first in the thick of a championship fight? It really doesn't fee like it- iconic drive from Hamilton, its all everyone was talking about. Wow. Not even Max could do that the same year in Sochi (last to 2nd).
It doesn't even have to be a winning drive- Sure, in 2016 the championship was heating up between Hamilton and Rosberg, but nobody was really talking about that in Brazil because did you see what Max Verstappen did with his car? An iconic recovery drive in the wet that took out other champions like Raikonnen at the same time! Niki Lauda took his hat off for that drive- iconic! Wow.
Even this year in Monza, sure Lando closed the gap to Max but did you see what Charles Leclerc did? He won with a brilliant tyre management, holding off the Mclaren of Piastri! Wow. (We're debating whether this one is truly an "iconic" drive, but Charles has had several of these moments already too, like holding off Hamilton himself to win in Monza 2019 too)
And Lando just... hasn't inspired people the same way?
He's had some good drives but that's kinda it? The best ones we could think of are some of his recovery drives (do you really want a world champions who can only do recovery drives though?) And maybe that time he was leading in Sochi 2021 vs Hamilton? It was painful when he span out (that was more mclarens fault too hoenstly), and people did sorta talk about it... for like 5 minutes until Max came 2nd and the championship talk was back on.
Lando is a good driver, they all are, but he hasn't had a "wow" drive where everyone was talking about him and his skills only.
(Miami we think was more about the safety car and Zandvoort wasn't iconic because everyone had just spent 2 years hating on Max for doing the same thing in the dominant car at the time, and then Lewis before him. Lando wasn't alone in being able to do that. If Lewis, Max, Charles had the car they would also do the same thing.)
So it's just sort of "eh, sure" when people talk about Lando being world champion. Sure, I guess, whatever.
He's not properly "wow"ed us really :/
I was going to post this on Twitter but decided I wanted to a do a long form post. So an explanation of this tweet, which was inspired by the screenshot just below it:
First a disclaimer: I am not at ALL saying Mick is anything like the men I'm about to talk about (I genuinely doubt it). I'm using this response to him hard-launching his relationship as an example of the mindset I see in a LOT of the young female F1 fans. If you read the gossip blogs, you've seen posts like this and worse, particularly on Charles, Pierre, Danny, and Carlos's gfs.
As I said in my tweet, if these young girls knew what it can be like behind closed doors for the WAGs of the rich and the famous, they probably wouldn't make statements like this.
I see a lot of younger fans here on social media posting their imagines and fan fics, and as someone a bit older than them, it does worry me. I know for most people it's simple fantasy and fun, but when I see things like the above I know there are some younger girls that really just don't get it.
My aim in posting this is that maybe it'll be a bit of a reality check for some of those girls. And I don't mean that in a bullying way, I mean that in a "please don't look at these smiling pretty girls with the closet full of designer, perfect body, and seemingly perfect life and feel bad about yourself" way.
Lastly, how do I know any of what I'm about to talk about? I wish I was just chatting shit, but I have lived through all of what I'm posting below as the daughter of a "man" of wealth. His money came from corporate life, not fame, but when you have as much as my "father" did/does, you rub elbows with the famous. Everything I detail below happened to me, my mother, and the wives of my "father"'s coworkers. I'm now watching history repeat itself as I've moved up the corporate ladder and find myself around millionaires and billionaires on a regular basis.
In wealthy circles there's the concept of a "Starter Wife". This is the woman wealthy/famous men marry because they were high school sweethearts, worked together early on, or they dated before the man had his "come up". Sometimes men marry these women and have kids for the SOLE purpose of having the "Family Man" persona. For famous men, this can be good PR. For wealthy men, this can boost their career.
A lot of these men fucking HATE their wives. By the time they have money, they want the freedom of single life back. They can now afford their "dream woman" and loathe being "stuck" with their current wife because of it. Leading to:
These men have all the money and resources they need to live a double life. Not to mention built-in time and an alibi: They're on the road all the time for their job, work trips, events, etc. No time unaccounted for because they're always working.
Some of those work trips to wine-and-dine clients include runs to the local strip club, escorts, and in some cases some of those escorts are of INCREDIBLY questionable age (in reality, they are victims of trafficking). Again, I wish I was talking out of my ass, I have seen this shit with my own eyes and wish to the Gods I hadn't. Then there's also:
This is bad enough when it's a wealthy man whose built that "Family Man" persona to protect himself, but it's even worse when they're famous. No one believes the victims, in some cases the woman is financially stuck and can't just take the kids and run when it happens.
And for some women it hard to leave the man they thought their partner was and, yes, to let the lifestyle go. Speaking of the lifestyle there's:
This is a big one for the F1 girlies I see posting their imagines and fanfics and what not. The fairytale of "he'll make time for me because he loves me and I'd be special. I'd be different."
These men are busy as shit. That Cartier Bracelet you envy on these girls is often a "sorry I missed your birthday". The big bouquet of roses is a "sorry I had to leave our trip early." Yes, we know the joke "well at least I can cry in a Ferrari", but that shit will wear on you more than you can believe. I can't tell you growing up how hurt I was when my performances were missed, major dates were forgotten, or my proud life updates were met with "yeah, uh-huh, hold on I have to take this call."
Of course there are good times, of course there's memories you'll cling to, but when you're out, you often realize how alone you felt in the relationship. Lastly, and most poignant with this F1 WAG nonsense:
You're no longer your own person in a relationship with these men, you are an extension of them. With famous men, you're a part of their "branding".
You have to look a certain way, act a certain way, talk to the right people, have the right friends. In the corporate-wealth world, that means making your partner look good, playing the part of the trophy wife and perfect mother. Smile in front of those coworkers that you know just spent the last business trip drinking, gambling, and cheating on their wives. Wear the right dress to the corporate dinner to make his coworkers envy him, but don't dress too sexy or he'll grow angry and think you're trying to cheat.
If you're dating someone famous, by the GODS, you better look immaculate in every post. You better be there to support him at his events, but if you're there too often you're "attention-seeking". You better have model good-looks, but if you ARE a model, you're "a jobless loser trying to profit on him". Don't post him on your IG, but if you happen to post that you're in the same city as him, you're "dropping hints". If he posts you, it's only because you "probably begged him to".
It's a maddening dance where you cannot win for losing. And once you break up, enjoy letting the world decide if he should have stayed with you, or if they're relieved that he finally got away from "that selfish bitch".
Do what you will with the above. I just wanted to get it off my chest. But I do hope that maybe, MAYBE, it'll give someone that needs it some perspective.
An overworked wishing flower
Daniel disrupting Charles interviews always ๐ Poor charles ๐ณ
The second ao3 stops working I go straight to tumblr. I'm past checking the wifi.
me impatiently to the little french cat boiling me in a stew: chat am I cooked
if you're ok with an incessant amount of boops reblog this so I can get those other 2 badges <3
apparently they were slandering charles on the sky stream today