#ari's rant

[georgegraphys]

In another life, I hope he is not Mr. Mercedes

This write is not a misery porn, this is just a morning mindpiece that I have been thinking since forever.

There has never been a day since I decided to like George Russell that I decided to not be proud of George and not trust him enough to overcome any obstacles that come in his way while keeping his heads up high and continue to move forward with confidence. I have always kept my trust in him, even through his lowest points and mistakes.

But as a fellow competitor and as a human, not a fan, truly as someone who used to compete even if it's not in the same category, I do pity him a lot.

There are a lot of flowers in his career but I feel like a lot of them were just roses with thorns, where he has to "bleed" more just to hold one. This certainly does not happen to everyone but somehow, it happens to George.

Mercedes was labelled as his angel, helped him out of a financial struggle, and funded everything. Mercedes build his brand. "George Russell is Mercedes". But a lot of people ignore, overlook, or is unaware that the price to all of that is a diabolical ~10 year management contract that eventually crawl back to him 4 to 9 years later to give him a hard time over his contract negotiation, career path, and even future exit.

How Mercedes are right now actually shows from the beginning when they told George: “It was absolutely clear from Mercedes-Benz, if you signed with BMW there won’t be an option with Mercedes in the future…’if you sign the BMW contract, we are out’. They told him that in 2016, asking him to gamble everything but giving him no security until 2017. Something they'll continue to do in the future and take things for granted. Selfish bastards.

The other party, Daimler is just similar. There is no doubt that corporate Daimler loves him and is willing to invest on him. Whether or not the fan theories' on "Daimler (G) v. Toto driver (K/L)" is true or not, it is not a secret that they've used George politically and commerically, painting his brand very identical to the corporate values they love so much but in return? They are barely giving anything career-wise. Couldn't even step in back then in 2020, 2025, 2026 to give him the bare minimum: security. For a company that big, if they could, they would but they didn't. It's as if they just want to keep reaping without sowing. Selfish bastards. (x2)

For all of his careers, George has done nothing but his best. He did everything so good. So good that Niki Lauda stopped, paid attention, and put his bet on him. But did Mercedes/Daimler do everything for him? Not even a single thing during emailgate. Do they properly took care of their investment and give their best? No. These people wants to keep their hands clean while being the first person to reap the credits when things go well in George's favour. They want and expects to profit for the world but do nothing to that investment. Selfish bastards (x3)

Toto? He is just the same. Even worse. No amount of Toto Wolff's glaze or defend towards George will make me forgive him for the things in 2021 or 2023 (when he desperately sacrifice anything to make his driver won a thing) or 2024 or 2025. Toto may not have a drivers' preference because Toto is just an opportunistic man that will dispose a talent when they have grown too big for him or strayed away from him. But he clearly sides with people who align to give the most benefit to him and that person is not George Russell right now and anymore. It has happened before and this time it was a new guy. Before it was shown in COTA 2023 and the season itself that he is willing to bend the plot, do the impossible and unthinkable to achieve things and I have no doubt I am seeing it again now. This is not sabotage. This is just the lengths he is willing to go to complete his script that probably worth all the dividends or whatever profit or security he'll get.

Things are getting tiring now.

For years,

It is always George Russell and Mercedes, not even George Russell and Great Britain or George Russell himself. That's sad. A brand who wants to claim everything, yet does nothing for him. That's truly horrible.

Since 2023, I have made peace with the thought of George Russell moving out of Mercedes. I must say the thought of a silly season where other TPs are attracted to George's service is always exciting. Because it gives him an opportunity to move on to a team with equal footing, not stay in a team who demands 200% and is only willing to give the 50% while sweeping all the dirts under the bed.

Never in my time stanning George would I fear the fact that Mercedes would fire him. What I fear is the day he is ready to let go and move on but Mercedes wouldn't or trips him over with that contract of his that is an absolute one-sided agreement.

I must be honest and say that even though I respect George Russell's choice time and time to choose Mercedes again, sometimes one or two thoughts occur in my head where an exit or a whole ass dramatic termination should've just happened. There are more thorns than flowers to this partnership as it goes on if I am being honest.

But if George Russell is willing to walk those path of thorns and embrace it, I have no complaints either and will keep supporting him. Because who am I to deny him of his selfless love? Love is tragic anyways.

What I want to say is that I have all the faith in the world for George Russell. Wins or no wins. This year or another year. I will continue to be a George Russell fan.

But as a competitor, I just wished he didn't have to go through all these hardship, not only just to lift a trophy, but also to feel and accept the same equal effort and security in his career.

I trust that GR1 will happen but I hope in another life, the world can be kinder to him and Mercedes didn't have to happen to him.

I just do not think he deserves this nor it is all worth it to be with someone who does not appreciate you.

[georgegraphys]

Not so important rant but yeah a frustration of mine towards the people who could not respect and see future prospects

As someone who is from "the west" or Europe myself, sometimes people here need to get the fuck out of their "one dimensional western tunnel vision" that immediately interprets one's less popularity in the west to an absolute nugu-isms

If we want to talk about numbers, we have to talk about it objectively. Companies do not take the Asian market lightly. Not only because the technological and industrial advancement in all of Asian countries have been crazy and they need to solidify their market shares. Let's talk about population wise. Asia is home to more than 60% of the population of the world. Being more popular in Asia with those number of population is not an insult or something to be undermined or ashamed of. Heck one should be fucking proud their names made it into part of these 60% minds.

Look at these numbers. The posts of non-George F1 related contents on MB China barely surpasses them. And apparently according to some people, George is not relevant/popular enough because they see things from "Instagram" (a very one dimensional take) and not consider other variables? Other platform? The size of the fanbase regionally? Why is a driver categorized as popular/relevant only if they are widely hailed in Europe? Why do we not take other continents into consideration? Why do we keep undermining them?

Even the sponsors and Mercedes themselves knew and had a reason on why they should put George at the front of every Asian promotion, because they recognize the potential and for them putting George out like that, it is also a means for them to put awareness and claim market share. Had Asia not been important, the boards would not go back and forth Asia.

The world is advancing and all industries start shifting to Asian involvement at one point. Take electronics, who supplied the semiconductors and chips? South Korea. Who supplies nickels for batteries? Indonesia. Who makes the batteries? China. Who is the global hub for IT outsourcing? India. What about electrical and engineering components? They come from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, and many many more. Oils and natural gases? Middle east.

Underestimating or downplaying George just because "oh he's only popular in Asia" and "that doesn't bring anything to the table". First of all, they would be borderline racist for you to think that Asia who holds 60% of the world's population does not have buying power. Imagine if one day these countries just stop producing these electrical, engineering, and automotive components. We'll all in the west be fucked in the ass.

Not only through this George discourse, but I have noticed through many articles and many anons of mine who press unnecessary heavy pointers on "Chinese fans" in a negative light or downplay the role of Asian fans in general. Like whenever people talk about them, they are commonly associated with fanaticism and barbaric actions. Like people in Europe or the US do not do it too? With football? Basketball? NFL? NHL?

These types of takes that undermine or downplay or is borderline racist towards Asian will blast back one day in our faces. If we keep undermining certain groups of people from certain regions, that will just handicap us one day in the future and we will not be able to learn.

This might just be a discourse starting from F1 but this type of mindset will eventually reflect on real life! These exclusivities and one dimensional 'europe-centrist' mindset will only leave us behind because we dwell too much on our past superiority during the industrial revolution and exclusivity while not noticing that global trade and industrial dynamics are shifting and instead of adapting, we think we can do it all by ourselves because we're the oh so great people. No. That is such a bad thing to do.

As a society, if people continue to be like this even in F1, we will not advance hand in hand with others and be left behind. The smallest thing we perceive about F1 right now will translate to how we work in the future and drive our countries.

Point is? NEVER underestimate what other countries or continents do. Today? The leaders might be us or your country. Tomorrow? We might be the one in our feets begging if we keep this mindset of exclusivity. Open your damn mind. Broaden your horizons. And when you do that, you will be exposed to greater success and prospects.

[georgegraphys]

I don't necessarily care about other drivers aside from GR63 and MV33 but I'm gonna say something?

I feel like this whole situation with Logan Sargeant should and could be handled better and all they need to do was just

Tell him the TRUTH.

That's it. 100%.

I feel like what JV-led Williams is doing right now is a bit messy in terms of human resources management. I'm not saying that "Oh he should give him that seat! Poor pookie bear" No. I agree with the fact that Formula One is a competitive sport and you need to prove yourself and secure your own seat through efforts, hard work, and delivering the results on track.

But I just feel icked by how Williams spent their days since 2023, just sort of hanging the seat over Logan's head or since 2024, they just simply keep saying that "if he performs, he'll get it" while not giving him the equal chances and equal car for him to perform in it. "But Ari... It's not like Logan would perform if he had the same car as Alex" This is not the matter. That's not the point. You can't objectively set a standard if you do not give two different people an equal standing. Whether or not Logan will or will not outperform Alex is not the matter, what matters is the EQUALITY in chances. If Logan fails to perform, he'll get whatever decision Williams made for him.

I dislike how they approached this as just stalling, not giving equal chances (and NEVER planning to), sugarcoating things, and more. And in my opinion, it's more evil to do these things than to straight up be honest to your employee and say "your skills are not in the standard we wanted, either you perform or we are not going to renew this partnership sadly". And i'm not talking about "feelings" here. I'm simply talking about human resource management.

The momentum of Carlos announcement to Williams and Logan's departure should not be at the same time. Logan's departure should've been first, again not as a matter of feelings but RESPECT. You can't just go "CARLOSSSSSS SAINZZZZZ oh wait commercial break! thankies logie sarge for whatever you do here good luck at your next endeavor! CARLOSSSSSS SAINZZZZZZ". It's a massive disrespect. Despite F1 being a competitive sport, they are still a company and a company has the responsibility to honour and treat their human resources with respect, regardless of their performance or anything. Just basic common respect.

If you came up with the argument, "work is work, feelings shouldn't come into the talks". This is not about feelings. This is about RESPECT. Every industry, every company/organization/institution you go to now in the modern world, human resources management is one of the things they have to have in their company. No matter if it's an old school institution like the military or modern start up companies. Respect is due to be given to everyone here. Including Logan Sargeant. And basic human respect is given without questions, without merit, without "proving yourself", because everyone working in a company is human.

I feel very icked about how they did all this bullshit since AUS24 or maybe even longer than that while refusing to just straight up BE HONEST to said driver. I feel bad because Logan could've had closure long ago instead of getting treated like this. Not getting your contract renewed or getting fired is a common situation at work but basic respect must be given 24/7, without question and without anything.

[georgegraphys]

I'm honestly fine with this discourse and reaction and I understand why drivers use the media as an outlet for outbursts. This is a high level competition i understand that.

The only thing that icks me from this whole discourse is the part where MV (+ RBR jumping to support MV, which I wouldn't fault them entirely for backing their own driver) used the GPDA director title against George.

I get him being mad. I get him being emotional. But the GPDA part is what rattles me a lot.

Because George did SO MUCH for these drivers. He had to deal with managing the drivers complaint to the FIA and communicating what the FIA wants to the drivers. He's literally that thin string that connects them.

Aside from that being a GPDA director robs his energy and time too. No drivers would even stand for more than 20s listening to Sulayem. George? He fucking did. Like when Alonso confronted MBS about the penalties he got at the beginning of the season, who did Sulayem talk to? George. Not Alonso. But George.

Not to mention the additional hospitalities and PR George must do for FIA's executive guests too aside from his already packed up Mercedes schedule. Also take Jeddah 2022 as an example, who was the one staying up late to discuss the race with Saudi Event Organizers, FIA, FOM, TPs, etc? George. It's a lot on his plate. It's not easy.

When he stood up for Max and the statement was released and everything, the one who got the flames from fans who disagreed is also him because he was the most vocal person about it. Not to mention some people inside the paddock like Toto even talked shit about the statement.

George holds A LOT of responsibilities and did a lot of things 90% of these drivers wouldn't do. Forget the additional hospitalities, some of these drivers won't even take 10 minutes of their time to talk with FIA stewards or Sulayem.

All that and him getting called a "FIA mates" is what icks me a lot out of everything. Everything else is just competition. But this? This is unnecessary man. After everything he did, these drivers wouldn't even shake MBS hands, forget about doing additional hospitalities that take their time and energy for the FIA, they won't even talk to FIA or do half of the things George did

[georgegraphys]

People with personal vendetta against George Russell are not to be trusted in this. And when i mean personal vendetta. I mean personal vendetta.

Not Christian Horner or Fred Vasseur or Helmut Marko type of salty digs or obsession. Those guys don't have serious grudges on him. They may be salty or obsessed sometimes but they still speak facts about him and are able to talk about him in a neutral to good way. Heck even praise him.

I can't believe I came to defend them. But yes they don't have such grudge on George. They are still able to look at things objectively.

But people with personal vendetta like Piquet Jr? He drags George unprovoked. Says shit. Stirs shit. Do that to Lewis too. Those types of people are NOT to be trusted. Because they are unable to look things objectively and clearly. Do not fall for them.

[georgegraphys]

How do I tell George that taking the blame (even only publicly) is not about being a "team person" behaviour but it'll just enable the ignorant and cowardice culture of the team?

I competed a lot and I've seen and experienced teams with cultures like them, sweeping under the rug culture. And I promise you it'll never be good because they will always downplay the accountability that is supposed to be taken. Even if George is just doing it publicly, it's still not good. No accountability taken will just lead to repeated offences. And it SHOWS by how they talked about it on race debriefs. No direct answers. Evading the questions. Laughing at it. Disgusting things man...

And I get it... Team effort whatever but even if you're on a team, a 100 should NEVER be reduced to a 50-50 scale. Just like how there can be ONE person or ONE decision that is pivotal to a success, there can also be ONE person or ONE decision that is pivotal to a failure. And that ONE thing needs to be acknowledged as it is. When you make mistakes, you acknowledge and fix them. Not downplay and turn a 100 to a 50-50??? That's not being nice. That's just enabling ignorance and no accountability taken which could be damaging in the future.

All i'm saying is George shouldn't cover up too much for his team in things like this. I respect him for not flaming his team and throwing a tantrum but sometimes he needs to say that the team fucked up and let them take accountability because sometimes it's just plain stupid mistakes from them.

[georgegraphys]

People need to understand that the way Max and George differently approaches a discourse is not because one is fake and the other is honest but it also correlates to their organization culture.

Both of these guys have each been in Mercedes/Red Bull for years. George has known Mercedes since 2014. Max probably knew Red Bull in the same year. It has been ± 10 years since then and it's clear how their habits and the way they handle media is influenced by the years they've spent in their respective teams.

Mercedes are not the type of team to publicly confront a discourse in front of the camera/media/public eyes. This behaviour is shown several times like when Lewis complained about his car being slow in AUT22(?) and Toto saying something along the lines of "ik the car is slow, just drive" and when George got mad after QAT23 and Toto and Marcus went on the radio directly, telling him to "keep your head down". This behaviour is also shown amongst previous Mercedes drivers or even their academy talents. This culture shows a significant difference from Red Bull's who is known to be fiery, blunt, honest, etc which some probably favours more in terms of "honesty".

But all in all? No cultures are wrong. Mercedes is Mercedes. Red Bull is Red Bull. No one is being a two faced bitch or the definition of honesty and truth. These cultures just show how these organizations are different and they handle things differently. You can't expect 10 organizations in F1 to run the same just because they're in one sport. These teams come from parent companies who had differing principles, values, and business. Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin comes from Mercedes Benz, McLaren, Ferrari, and Aston Martin who handles cars. Red Bull comes from an energy drink company who invested in tons of different sports categories. Forget about analyzing their media behaviours, looking at their branding, logo, sponsors, and everything already explains how different they are from one another regardless of the categories you're fitting them into.

There are no rights and wrongs or "fake or honest" between organizational cultures and how these companies handle the public/media. The cultures are literally chosen by each company because it fits them. Of course those cultures have each of their own pros and cons but that's just their identity. You cannot fit one company's identities and how they work to another. There is a reason why they are unique in their own way.

And it's not even about being an honest angel or a lying snake. It's about how they deliver information to the public. They deliver the same thing, just with different processes and methods. If you can't identify that, you'll misinterpret their messages and it's on you.

[georgegraphys]

WARNING : OPINIONATED, AGREE TO DISAGREE, some speculative things. Mercedes shooter/snowflakes who hate getting their opinions hurt/who close their eyes blind fuck off

I'm a Mercedes defender but you CANNOT say that at ONE POINT in George's career, they can be manipulative af.

Two things can be TRUE, AT THE SAME FUCKING TIME:

1. Mercedes helps and choose George, George loves and choose Mercedes

2. At some point of his career, there were manipulative acts performed by Mercedes.

Let's talk from the beginning

I don't think i need to tell the story about George's powerpoint presentation saga anymore because all of us know it. But shortly,

His manager got a hold of Toto's email > George sent his CV > Toto saw em and invited George > George came ALONE to Toto's office and there were other higher ups > presentation > Toto mesmerized because of how George is very brave to go inside his office and present his "why you should pick me" CV alone without parents/manager > Toto want him in the junior team but can only offer an ass team > George refused for an English team (Carlin Volkswagen) > Toto say "i told you you're wrong but let's keep on contact"

Then George blew his expectations. Did a pretty good season in F3 EU first year. But he got into a financial problem which he later resorted to testing for BMW in DTM as he looked for plan B. He cooked their. First on the record, allegedly beat Audi and Mercedes too. BMW liked George so much that they threw him a $$$,$$$ contract directly. But the testing saga was leaked by an ex-BMW employee who moved to Mercedes and Mercedes came back to George.

Okay, if you're saying "oh awreeee, but george chose mercedes" oh amandaaa, for the second time, it was mercedes who approached george.

Although George in the end DID choose Mercedes, you can't look at this statement and tell me "oh my word! this is so pressure-less! i bet they're having tea over this talk!" 🥰🥰🥰 "Oh but Ari this is normal-" you're talking to me here as someone who will NEVER be in the position of money-less and your dream in the verge of getting over.

The keyword here is "It was absolutely clear from Mercedes-Benz". You are EIGHTEEN or SEVENTEEN with a career most possibly focused on racing. And a powerhouse company said "there won't be an option with Mercedes Benz in the future (if you pick BMW)". And if you look at it, you don't need to be a Law Student or a Comms Student to know that the deal they're offering to George is so fucking ass. Do ALL the sims for Merc, they test you on and off the track. All that and they say "oh but we won't be so sure tee hee~ we'll get back to you in October 🩵🩵🩵". All that while not letting him keep the BMW contract. George did choose Mercedes, but you can't tell me that there is no pressure (or minor gaslighting) at all from a big company who had ventures in GT/DTM/F1 to a 17/18 y.o who had financial problems and is desperate to continue his career.

Second. During this "test" period for George's second year at F3 EU. They also did not allow him to continue with Carlin despite George wanting to because Carlin is supported by Volkswagen. He had to opt for Hitech, a completely new team (rumored to get that discounted price seat in exchange for driver coaching his teammate Mazepin, whose father sponsors Hitech)

You can have a different opinion about this and you might say "eh but that makes sense, it's job obligation" but for me "why let go of Carlin VW when they don't even guarantee anything about George's seat in the junior team"

Other saga of this "shady ass slightly manipulative shit" Merc did? Whatever that Red Bull saga is

The fact that they said this while also thinking about someone else in that Merc seat in 2022 LOL 💀💀💀 Even when George was almost out of his seat in 2020, they'd rather send George to GT or DTM than let him go to Red Bull or other team. In 2020, he was linked to a Ferrari or McLaren seat. You can say "why would you want him-" and I'll say that you only say this because you're in the future now and you know George is in Mercedes. But if you were BACK THEN and he's on the verge of getting his seat grabbed by someone else and his team snoozed around just because they won't let him go, you'd want to bite their neck off too.

But yeah as I said earlier, this is my opinion and some of the red flags I see. You can't 100% glorify Mercedes for helping George. I'm very thankful they helped George throughout his career. George is in his place now partly because of Mercedes. But let's not act like Merc is a divine angel for helping someone out. They did some red flags too. George chooses them, YES. But let's not act like there is absolutely no pressure at all to a minor at that time.