Need to write this down to organise my thoughts because I'm seriously fascinated with the dynamics between Thierry and his co-drivers.
Yes, he clearly has a very good relationship with Martijn and they work. But whenever he is asked about him - and in these interviews people tend to pile on the praise even if it's not quite like that - it feels he is almost going out of his way to sound as detached as possible ("you don't have to be friends", "we already end up spending so much time together, so it's best to not mix personal time", etc). It is almost cold. If you didn't see the way they interact you would think they don't mean much to each other.
Which takes us to Le Divorce, as he called it himself - with Nicolas Gilsoul.
The facts are known. Surprise parting only a mere days before the start of the season, both saying it was the other's decision and none of them going into details. Speculation: contractual reasons aka money. (in a very interesting podcast dated January this year Thierry actually said the confidence wasn't there anymore and he alluded to important changes in Nicolas' personal life that had an impact also in their work)
This split could have blown up in the media in a different way but none of them was really pointing fingers in public. To me it came across not as hard feelings - but hurt feelings on both sides.
One looks at how Martijn speaks about Thierry and you can clearly tell he sees him as the boss. My perception from the interaction with Nicolas was completely different. They seemed equals and level in every way.
They joked they were like Yin and Yang, that they complemented each other (N the funnier one, T the more serious; T the less affected by pressure, N would take a few days to turn the page, etc).
But in the middle of it all, you could tell they were extremely close.
With Martijn, instead they highlight how similar they are. In terms of approach, how seriously they take the job. And we have to remember that Martijn is a ray of sunshine but he sat down in the car with Thierry, zero testing together and no shakedown, and drove to a podium in Monte Carlo. He is not there to play.
People get more experienced with age, been there, done that. It's entirely possible Thierry has also changed overtime, older and more seasoned, responsabilities, a lot of pressure and time running out to win.
I can't help but think that the situation with Nicolas marked him deeply.
He doesn't want to be closer to Martijn. Professional aspect aside, he just wants someone who he is at peace with and clicks the same way he does, that they are in synch and that above all, requires no effort. He does not want to have friendship or emotions in the middle because it will make it harder if things go wrong at the job they have to do - he literally said this.
Relationships also work like that. You break-up from a very intense relationship, with incredible highs and devastating lows, and next thing you want is just something...simple.
Funnily enough, T+N remind me of Brocedes in a way. Except that Brocedes is a Hollywood story (full of pettiness, big words, high stakes, a lot of drama) while T+N is an European tale. Understated, lurking in the depths, hurt feelings but no fireworks. Two people who probably didn't stop liking each other but could not continue together.
There's so much I have missed, so this perception I have of the situation could be completely off the mark! It's a work in progress.
If anyone who reads this wants to share their own opinions ideas, I'm all ears!
This is the podcast from January which is quite insightful, on You Tube.
The old man had a motive in that disaster of a come-on on Sunday morning. Turned out that he was trying to “soften me up” to ask me to take out a loan from my 401k, and then use HIS bank account information to make the payments on it, because - get this - he never closed out our joint bank account and re-opened it as an individual bank account.
What basically happened is this:
The ex didn’t want to pay me out my half the equity of our house when we split.
This held up finalizing our divorce for MONTHS. I posted about it ad nauseam. Hugo tried to get me to accept $10k. Of course I didn’t. Hugo went and took out a big loan from his 401k retirement fund DESPITE me and my lawyer warning him, “Don’t do that.” Let’s remember that my lawyer was tentatively planning to ask the judge to award me half of Hugo’s retirement, but I decided not to, because I wanted to finalize more quickly and wash my hands of him and live my life.
Instead of paying back the loan on the spot when I refused the cash, the ex paid off his truck, which, okay. Fair. BUT, the retirement fund loan payments used to be done via payroll deduction. Our hospital stopped that and now, loan borrowers have to have the payments deducted from their bank via EFT. The ex failed to make TWO months of payments because the retirement company couldn’t process it using his credit union account number, because credit unions are notorious for being tricky when it comes to electric funds transfer; I always had to have the credit union bank clerk fill out my automatic deposit paperwork for me whenever I changed jobs.
That big loan went into default.
That went into GOVERNMENT collections, not the local county bureau. He’s looking at interest and tax penalties now. I’m sad for him, but this is the biggest fucking I TOLD YOU SO in the history of everything. I told him that a) I’m not crumping my credit with a big loan, b) we are divorced, and c) using his bank information would STILL be considered fraud.
I think what bothers me the most is the continued assumption on his part that his ex-wife will just step in and take care of everything. I told him flatly, no, because I didn’t want another big loan on my credit history, and he said, “what do you even need good credit for? What are you planning to fucking buy in the future??” Wow. See? I’m good enough, apparently, to ask me to bail him out, but other than that, he still thinks I’m a worthless piece of shit that will never accomplish anything without him and his earnings.
In the meantime. THIS worthless piece of shit is keeping up to date on her bills and is taking a trip to Boston next month to see her mother. And this piece of shit is going to make post-Christmas supper for her three kids and her son’s girlfriend three weeks from now, because the kids and I have spent the past three years mending fences after my ex and his mistress tried to poison them against me.
I’m not unproblematic, you know? I’m not. That’s fine. I can ABSOLUTELY be a bitch. But I deserve to be the hero of my own story. My ex needs to get his act together. His livelihood and happiness shouldn’t rely on finding another sucker.
Obsessed with this beautiful painted 18th century-screen I’ve seen used in “Sex & the city” (2003) “Dangerous Liaisons” (1988) -in no less than two scenes. And in “Le Divorce” (2003) in which Isabel (Kate Hudson) thinks it’s an excellent place to hang her soaking wet raincoat to dry.
