#lan lan

[ma-pi-ma]

Amo i mondi sottili, senza peso e aggraziati come bolle di sapone.

Lan Lan

[babssionate]

Whats your opinion: is there bad blood between daniel and lando?

Hi Anon! I was biting my tongue on this, thank you for sending it in! Many of you know that both of them are my faves and seeing people go crazy on them hurts hahaha

Watching the launch yesterday, it was bound to be uncomfy. They were in the same room, with the same logo on their chest, for the first time and that in front of thousands of eager fans and journalists. I feel like a lot of people are jumping on board of the hate train because they didn’t react the way people thought they would. 

The launch showed: “We are McLaren, the fun team with two young/bubbly guys. Look, we are making music and cracking jokes.” And there is nothing wrong with it, that is the tone of voice McLaren chose for. I applaud that choice, because it fits the team well. It fits the drivers well. Daniel, always bubbly and in for a joke. Lando, young and likes his memes. A couple years ago, after Fernando left McLaren (2018) I noticed a huge shift in the team - they were getting younger in their tone, communications and employees. Just consider how much fame, attention and money they got from all the Lando and Carlos moments. 

Okay, I’m getting to much into my Creative Business brain. Let’s get back to Lan and Dan. When I was watching the launch I saw a bubbly, ever so chill, Daniel and a slightly nervous Lando. I think I made a note yesterday about how Dan is very good at covering up his nerves through acting more bubbly. It’s something I noticed throughout the years and something I started doing (it actually helps). For Lando, we can see when he gets flustered and there is NOTHING wrong with that. 

Both of them were nervous, obviously, and the launch didn’t help them cover it up. You had fans on the screens behind them freaking out, Natalie who knows both of them very well and different segments that were funny but also cringy. 

I think what makes people board the hate train is the thing Lando said before Daniel joined him and Daniel. To sum up what he said, it was something along the lines of: ““I have a huge responsibility now to lead the team with my knowledge and how they work”. I think this is what got people butt hurt. Daniel has a lot of F1 experience: 188 starts, 7 wins and 31 podiums. It’s a beautiful list. But he has no McLaren experience. Lando has been with the team for three years and helped them a couple of years prior to joining F1. He knows everyone, he knows how the team works and he is comfortable in that seat. He is supposed to be a guidance to Dan, he is supposed to show him the ‘ropes’. Sebastian had to do that for Charles with Ferrari in 2019, Nico had to do that for Daniel with Renault in 2019 AND Esteban will have to do that for Fernando with Renault/Alpine this season. 

If you like it or not, Lando is going to have to take on a bit of leadership role. He will have to show Daniel the team and how they work as well as proving that he is faster with his 3 years of McLaren experience. 

So is there any bad blood? I don’t think so, I think they have to get used to each other and Daniel has to get used to the team. After they both get in their rhythm, find their respectable places in the team and have driven a few races - they’ll be completely confident. 

Is there a chance something could turn sour? Yes, obviously. I think the thing we should focus on is McLaren and the way they carry out the tone of voice this season. The fans and media have been praising McLaren for having the best/funniest line up this season and that’s a heavy weight. If they keep doing uncomfortable things with Daniel and Lando, that could hurt. That could turn sour very quickly. But McLaren has some amazing marketing people (definitely people I aspire to be, I mean I just wanna be Charlotte). 

My take away: Please don’t jump to conclusions about a friendship/partnership/colleague situation before it has even begun. I think both of them want to prove themselves and they will head butt from time to time, but they are both adults and got along before McLaren. I’m pretty sure we will have a good laugh with them. But the more pressure we as fans put on them being the meme team and duo, the more distant they will become. It is a heavy load, so don’t put it on them. 

Hope I answered your question Anon! If anyone wants to talk about this further, just send me a message - anon or not 🧡✨

[babssionate]

Heads up my lovelies

I see so many people in tags and on my dash hurt by some of the Quali results and I just wanna cheer you up a bit. So if you click the ‘keep reading’ option I’ll talk about Lan, Seb, Carlos and Dan. I’ll give my view on the situation. Hopefully it will put a small smile on your face or it gives you some hope! 🧡✨

Lando

We gotta start with the boy who surprised us all this weekend. When I was watching FP3 I was amazed to see him in P2, just +0.4 seconds off Max’s time! He was pushing all Quali too! Track limits are rough, he should have been more careful. But it happened to so many other drivers this weekend. Lando of course spoke out and said that he fucked up, but the points are won tomorrow. Lando looks amazing in that McLaren, he got her under control and knows he can trust her when he will battle the people ahead of him tomorrow. If the track limit didn’t occur, we would be sooo proud of him. I am still proud of him! HE IS IN A MCLAREN! He almost put her on one of the front two row spots! Just imagine what he will do tomorrow!

Sebastian

Q2 BABY! From the miserable season opener, where Seb got kicked to the curb and had a horrible race, I see this as a huge improvement. Over the three week gap he has been getting familiar with the car in the sim and I saw that he had found some confidence in Honey Ryder. Lance and Seb were really close in times during all the practices, it looks good. It is just weekend two, we got a long season ahead of us. He should have done one more lap in Quali, it could have saved his Q3 spot. But with the small amount of regained confidence I say that we watch him tomorrow. He could be in the points from turn one onwards. Seb is talented, he is smart enough. Don’t give up on him yet! We are in weekend 2 and already improved from Q1 (weekend 1) to Q2... well what will happen in weekend 3 or 15?

Carlos

Can I just say how proud I am of Carlos? I normally don’t really blog about him, don’t know why actually, but I am so proud. The Ferrari car and team are difficult environments to get used to. All eyes are on him, especially with Charles and his results. Bahrain was his first race and he put the Ferrari on P8, this weekend he might have underdelivered with a P11 but that is still really well for someone who is getting used to the car! He has said that he just didn’t have a good day today, he felt fast but couldn’t put a lap together. Carlos has amazing race pace, he is a Sunday driver (in my opinion) so don’t count him out for some good points tomorrow! He just needs to overtake Lance and he is in the points already!

Daniel

It is funny how three out of four drivers on this list, drivers that fans are most saddened about, are drivers that are new to their respective teams. Daniel, well he is Daniel. He is a fighter, he has amazing race pace and will definitely fight anyone to reach the highest position possible. Today he just seemed to be a bit out of sync with the car, especially compared to Lando and the fast laps he put out. That being said, he is gonna grow over the next couple of races. That McLaren is on fire, Lando is on fire and pretty soon Dan will be too! I wrote a profile about him for my writing minor (I posted it, you can find it here), in that piece I wrote that he is a ‘glass half full’ kind of guy. Let us see his racing glass half full too! I’m gonna have fun watching him battle Lando and the drivers in front tomorrow!

[babssionate]

You better come back boo people are roasting Lando again 😭😭

Lando sweety plsssss shut up.

He did not actually said something wrong tho. He just said that we should stop making fun of mazepin spinning... People were getting mad because of the whole mazepin controversy.

Sigh. Idk everytime these drivers have a couple days off something happens. I feel like you should entertain these drivers Babette (especially the younger ones). Maybe present them your powerpoint 😂😂

Hahaha sweet Anon, I was going to wait until tomorrow morning to answer your message (because ya girl = tired af). Then I saw this post on my dash and knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t answer you. 

This kid... Lando... I swear... 

I don’t watch the streams, but sure he didn’t say anything ‘bad’ or made another idiotic joke. He is defending the actions of someone who shouldn’t be in F1 (my opinion, sorry not sorry). I think @tracklimits​ (the blog I saw the clip from) said it better than I can at the moment: 

“so like lando, who openly joined in with the ‘sbinalla’ jokes about seb, now saying he’ll ban people for saying ‘mazespin’ (a name actually made by fucking sky sports) about a man whose history we all know.”

Lando is already on very thin ice, he now created a crack by doing this. Boyyyyyyy, come on. Why does he get himself mixed up in this stupidity. I do have to say that I recently kind of started to get the inkling that he is acting out just for the fun of it.... but I don’t know if I’m the only one who feels that way?

ANON! HAHAHHA I meaan... I can think of a couple of ways to entertainment these drivers 👀 no, get your head out of the fantasy gutter. I can teach them proper manners, we could watch some movies, play some Clue (I’m really good at Clue)... and then I’ll end the night George Russell style with a big presentation on F1 and why this behavior is stupid 😂

You wanna round them up Anon? Tell them to meet me at my place, I’ll get the snacks ready haha. 

Hope you have a lovely day/night/week and I’m here (tomorrow) for chats about anything and everything 🧡✨

[babssionate]

LAAANNNDOOOOOOO!!!!! IN A FUCKING MCLAREN AND HE KEPT A MERCEDES BEHIND FOR A GOOD CHUNK OF THE FINAL LAPS!

[babssionate]

The boy already looks nervous, now we are sharing backstories that will make him even more shy...

[babssionate]

The suits, the masks and the car 😍

She looks stunning and I love that MIND is displayed prominently!