incoherent ramblings of a sad sports fan
-> if i said that the "bad habits" that toto didn’t want kimi to pick up at williams are traits that george has that makes him 'difficult' for toto to deal with -> i.e. being a very intelligent, analytical, data focused driver and very vocal about giving feedback. it hurts toto's ego
and toto wanted to keep kimi in a bubble so that he isn’t exposed to any other team style and therefore mercedes behavior is normalized for him and he has no perspective as for how teams 'should' operate - making him easier to handle and manipulate into who he wants him to be
and he wants to shape kimi exactly how to he wants him as a driver and that requires kimi not questioning the team or the car. he's young on purpose. he's in mercedes so early on purpose. toto saw how well it worked with max, getting a young, talented driver in early and lifting them up, didn't he? and thats been the thing, that toto wants to make a new max bc he cant get the og even if he bends over backwards two times over for him.
(- a note here, kimi is not max and we all know it. mercedes is not red bull. if anyone really and truly believes that kimi will stay with mercedes for his whole career as max has done at redbull, then I really dont know what to say to you other than that you lack foresight. imo, having an italian driver, especially one that is performing as kimi is currently, eventually go to the italian team is just a forgone conclusion. even if toto tries to build mercedes around kimi, like rb had done for max, I dont believe that that could supersede kimi's fidelity of country and the opportunity to race for the most iconic team in motorsport. but that is an entirely seperate post and I am happy to yap about it.)
this attempted shaping/molding of kimi is something that toto cant do with george. he's tainted already by outside influence. he's contaminated. george was their test driver for years before he drove for them in f1. he drove for williams and they adored him there. he's been with merc for 5 years and was lewis hamilton's teammate for 3. this is his 3rd set of regs and he has driven some truly shitty cars over the past 8 seasons. he's gdpa director. he knows how things are 'supposed' to work in this way, he has invaluable perspective compared to kimi with the team and with the car. george is also older and more developed mentally/emotionally which ads again to this. he possesses traits that are very beneficial for a driver to have for themselves as an athelete/teammate/pilot but not optimal or easily rebuffed from a tp perspective where you want your driver to play perfect and make winning and domination look easy
- im not saying that kimi isnt smart or babying him, when i call george intelligent and mature/developed (kimi and I are like the same age and i really dont care for his portrayal by the team and f1 at large and I think it is actually a disservice to him in the long run) but you just cant teach experience or perspective, especially bc its only his second year. he's a good driver in a great, if unreliable (for one driver more than the other but thats neither here nor there rn) car. he has peter fucking bonnington as his race engineer. he's winning and he's on top of the world. he, barring the dnfs last season and his reliability issues this season, hasnt had the sort of struggle in f1 that george has had per say. and so, i dont think hes able to really deal with adversity, see here his tendency towards complaining repeatedly on the radio - ex. canada, to the point where toto had to interject, his reaction and refusal to bring in his car at silverstone, despite being ordered to bc it was unsafe to drive, and repeatedly meeting track limits to the point of incurring penalty. *not saying he'll be like this forever, but I find that that behavior is not productive and shouldn't be tolerated, but can be outgrown and it would be for kimi's ultimate benefit if he did* - I dont think that you have to struggle to be a good driver, but it is a part of being an athlete at a professional level, i believe it does make you better as a person and athlete, from an ego and sportsmanship perspective to face struggle and hardship. - knowing nothing but success is not in the nature of sport.
I will say it forever and always, george russell is my favorite loser. and that is said with all the love in my heart. I sincerely think that being at williams made george a better driver. would he have been more decorated had he gone to mercedes immediately instead of williams? - quite possibly, especially with the mercedes dominance of the turbo-hybrid regs. but i find myself going back to niki lauda's speech at the laureus lifetime achievement awards, "winning is one thing, but out of losing i always learn more.", the added layer of lauda being in George's corner and believing that he would be wdc one day and it really just compels me...point being here, george knows how to lose in a way that kimi just doesnt (yet?)
george is a good driver - a great driver - but he isnt, and I dont think even could be, toto's perfect driver, which is toto's ultimate goal for kimi.
even moreso than the narrative of having a 19/20yr, youngest ever 🙄, world champion in his sophomore season and what that means for mercedes - giving kimi a world championship now, favoring him over his more experienced, longer established, older teammate in what was supposed to be "george's season", makes and keeps kimi loyal (and could give him a fuck-off huge ego in doing so)
I really want to like kimi, i really and truly do - but atp I have an issue not just with his behavior and maturity level, both on- and off-track*, but also with what toto is saying about george and the car and how that then blows back and reflects on kimi as well. it does nothing to endear me to toto's wunderkind. that isnt kimi's fault and I realize that, but still it stands. it is not a good look on the team as a whole that this is how they are choosing to treat or portray their veteran driver in favor of the other. kimi himself may not be the perpetrator but it reflects on him all the same - if that makes sense...
(*can and will elaborate on this but not on this post)
-> if you think that I am just being a hater here, kimi is the driver that really got me properly into f1. I liked mercedes and both drivers. i wanted merch and I didnt like the blue of kimi's cap so I got george's black one. ultimately george ended up compelling me far more and so i guess thats how we ended up here.
no matter where you stand on the sabotage idea, I think you have to recognize that what toto is doing right now in his treatment of george is truly abhorrent. undermining your driver, who he supposedly has a close personal relationship with, at every turn, publicly and openly doubting him and his abilities, not recognizing his successes if kimi hasnt done well, and recognizing an ex-driver on the podium over george on the same podium, is truly bad form and behavior unbecoming of such a decorated team principal.
