Okay time for a teary-eyed rant because. Jesus. What. A. YEAR!!!!!! (every driver tagged is mentioned and colour coded.)
Now, I have to say as the BIGGEST diehard lando fan on earth: Oscar drove so immensely well this season. I try to keep it off tumblr because this is a place for me to relax, but I can admit that in my real life I have not been kind to Oscar. I don't like some of the things he's said when he's behind Lando, and the scale of toxicity and vitriol that SOME of his fans have let loose on other fans and the engineers and employees at McLaren is unnacceptable. But that's a conversation for another day, because over the course of this year Oscar has proven himself to be one of the best realised potentials on the grid. Calm under pressure, focused and capable, he is exactly what McLaren needs, alongside Lando, and something that not many teams ever have: not one, but two championship-quality drivers. I'm not only saying this as an Australian, I'm saying this as a person who likes racing: Oscar Piastri will win a championship. It's only a matter of time.
And Max. Good god that man scares me (lovingly). For context, both my parents are massive Hamilton fans, and have never quite forgiven Max for 2021, so strangely enough, despite him being such a massive rival to Lando for the last two years I've often taken a defensive role for Max in my house. I truly do think that he is one of, if not the greatest driver of all time, and to see his comeback this year was nothing short of phenomenal. As Lando has said many times before: you can never count Max out. he proved it this year, and he will continue proving it for many years hence. Max verstappen the man you fucking are.
Honourable mentions. The rookies this year were amazing - all of them, jack included. I can't wait to see what they have in store for them, and I'm going to be keeping a personal eye on one mr Gabriel Bortoleto, because I think he's the one to look out for. Kimi and Ollie you remain my little guys in my heart, Isack has moved me immensely, and Jack, despite the fact we didn't have you for long, I'm glad we did.
Lewis. Fuck, lewis. As I said - both my parents are very very very hardcore lewis fans, so this season hasn't been too fun for them, but I think this season has just showed that no matter what you give him, Lewis fucking Hamilton will always show up, keep going, keep trying. You can't keep this guy down - as much as, I assume, Lewis fans are doomscrolling right now, we all know what's coming. It's practically written in the stars: he'll come back. We'll see him get his eighth. It will happen, I sincerely can't believe otherwise.
WEEYUMS!!! Carlos and Alex are two of my top drivers, both in terms of driving and in personality. As much as I've accidentally killed Carlos off in my fanfics, he was the first driver I supported in a 'fandom' sense - I've been watching motorsports for ages through top gear and my dad in my childhood, but I was never really in the actual fanbase of it until 2019, when my mother sat me down at the breakfast table and told me that it was my duty to marry one of the 2019 rookies so that she could use her hallpass on lewis hamilton (that's true). Carlos was my first driver, the one I gravitated towards immediately. Seeing him on the podium and doing so well in races after being canned by Ferrari is so heartwarming for me as someone who has always backed him in the races (again, despite killing him off so often in my fics). And Alex - my guy. My fucking GUY!!!!! I'm rooting for him so bad. I need him to win a race like I need the blood in my veins, and I think that with the way williams has developed over this season, we're going to see it sooner rather than later. I, for one, cannot fucking wait.
This year has seen some of the biggest divisions within the community we've ever seen. Fans have grown more toxic from every driver's fanbase, people are getting meaner and people are quicker to jump down the throats of anyone who dares say something they disagree with. But I think there's one thing we can all agree on: this is our sport. Sometimes we love it, sometimes we hate it, but we'll always come back to it. Thank you to the drivers, thank you to the engineers, the commentators, every member of every team. Thank you to jenson button specifically, thank you to the animals on track, the water in Charles Leclerc's seat, thank you to first podiums and LEGO cars and DRS. What a year.
dededos
baratheonpilled
blakekathryn
kianamaiart
kaledo-art
theartofmadeline
