Ricks

🧌🏎️ | F1 troll | Piastri believer | MV1 forever | LH44 defender | Miami HEAT fan 🔥 | sometimes trollin’, sometimes sayin’ real shit | 🏁🤙

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

take my posts with a grain of salt 🤓

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Proof that this account is purely for engagement farming with no proof-based commentary 💪💪💪 Don’t interact with this one ever again (including me, this is the last)

[Tirii @tirii_f1]

Sebastian Vettel did it before him with Toro Rosso, Redbull & Ferrari..

There is Fangio, Moss and a lot other drivers bro...

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

@F1GuyDan @tirii_f1 Don’t worry my friend, that account can’t comprehend basic english

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Reading comprehension is off the charts here 🤐

[Tirii @tirii_f1]

Sebastian Vettel did it before him with Toro Rosso, Redbull & Ferrari..

There is Fangio, Moss and a lot other drivers bro...

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

@the_zb_ That’s why he requested on things he is comfortable with in order for him to compete at the top level, add that to a quick car like what he has right now and he can compete for wins. On the other hand, even Max needs a good car to be competitive. No driver can win with a bad car.

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Yeah they already are mad

[Zach Brown @the_zb_]

I’m sure this will make some people mad... 😅

The “Charles only” fans need to do the same thing that the “Lewis only” fans needed to do:

Drink a bit of objectivity juice, and call things as they are, not just from the perspective of your fandom. I often get lambasted here by driver fandoms, because people do not like reading the truth. I don’t care to placate anyone. 🤷🏻‍♂️

That was a masterclass from Lewis, and was why he was signed. He has full control of the team now.

It was a fourth failed weekend in a row from Charles. The updated car is a huge positive for the team, and Lewis is playing the politics game masterfully to poise himself as the source of all positivity. Of course, we know the drivers don’t design cars, and the engineers deserve all the credit there. But he is rewarding their full commitment to prioritizing him with all development and internal favor after his mega-signing.

That’s one thing Lewis does very well, and it may be his biggest asset. He knows that being in the best car at the right time is the path to success, and that diminishing your teammate’s standing then makes the pathway clear for you, making it less of a direct battle. He is being a masterful politician to secure team backing vs his teammates even before the results come, which in turn helps him achieve the results while diminishing the fight from his teammates. He’s always been very savvy at doing that, and when your team delivers a title challenging car that guarantees one of the drivers in that car the championship, you are well off because your teammate is already largely neutralized internally via politicking.

Tip the cap to him for taking advantage of the Ferrari contract situation and Elkann’s eagerness to recreate this environment from Mercedes for him, and ultimately shifting the team away from Charles before the results ever came, specifically so he could deliver them.

It’s ok to acknowledge that Lewis is carrying the team at the moment, just like Charles carried the team last year. It will probably shift around more throughout the year, but Charles simply doesn’t fit this regulatory cycle any more than Lewis fit GE. The non-racing components of this regulation cycle, where the aim is to not push and drive within the limits for energy maximization, is foreign to Charles. He may simply not be able to adapt to them in order to deliver clean execution. Lewis clearly has.

It’s also perfectly reasonable to accept reality, and acknowledge that the team should strongly consider sacrificing Charles this season and throw all efforts towards Lewis for the remainder of the year in strategy priority, to fight for this WDC. It was Charles’ dream to return the title to Ferrari first, but his performances haven’t lived up to that when the opportunity has now arisen.

Lewis is the one in form and the only one in a position to compete for the championship, if Merc have reliability woes. The gap is too large for Leclerc to do so, or to finish ahead of his teammate. You simply can’t recover from 2 DNFs, it is what it is.

Charles is at a career crossroads here, which is very correct to state. He is a great talent, who like Lewis in GE, will be eager for these cars to be gone. But has a small chance to fight back and course correct now, but the environmental change within Ferrari will limit his effectiveness in that. He needs to sharpen his execution, yes, but also his political prowess. Economically, once Lewis was paid on such a large deal the future was set in stone for Leclerc as second priority in Maranello in 2024, and his only option is to beat Lewis in a realm shifted to be suited to him. That will be the hardest task he has faced.

The unknown is which of them if fully prioritized, would actually have the higher ceiling? Unfortunately for Charles he has never been able to secure that level of support within Ferrari and has always had to battle without the full backing. As I said at signing in 2024, that will continue with Lewis here now.

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

@the_zb_ Hard to say that last year but Lewis found a way to turn it around just like your original post stated. That’s why he’s a 7-time wdc and Leclerc is an 8-time race winner.

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

It’s only been 7 races this season 🤣

[Mel⁷🌸 @melleclercs]

I hate to admit it but im slowly losing my passion for F1

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

“Did nothing special” my ass bitter leclerc mfing fan

[zoha @LightninLeclerc]

Lewis and the team did nothing special loool once again a well placed VSC and george russell being a bum plays into lewis’ hands

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

@hamilclercs still a what if for mr. if

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Had the chance in Hungary but as usual, the team screwed his strategy

[ryn 🩵 @hamilclercs]

Had the collective public forgotten about the disaster that was the sf25?

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

@the_zb_ You were spot on mate. They just could not accept the fact that Hamilton is the number one driver right now.

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Every driver is likeable when they’re not winning

[Atharva @bruh_tharva]

I like this guy when he's not winning

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Only max deserves rocketships 😭

[rohi ☆ @cowboynorris]

honey youre familiar

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

I mean George’s race pace wasn’t his strongest suit. I think he’s a better qualifier than he is a better driver on race. 2022 to 2025 has proven that.

[Zolz¹🇿🇦 @zolz98]

Russell's race pace vs Antonelli is genuinely alarming. Antonelli is soo much faster in clean air. But this was always the problem with Russell, Hamilton's struggles in GE era Mercedes just hid it.

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

max to merc, george to aston and fernando retires

[Verstappen News @verstappenews]

Max on Hamilton: "It was a beautiful moment. I think he went pretty quick today from what I saw. It's very special, even if you've already won so many races, to win with your new team, it's very special."

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Yeah good morning loser sore ass CL16s (others weren’t that sore of a loser)

[sim 🇧🇷🇲🇽🇸🇳🇫🇷🇭🇹 @simscircuit]

good morning winners

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

@the_zb_ I agree with this take but I expect Charles to bounce back at the very least of things and maybe get on par with Lewis at the end of the season

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

@F1Clapped Yeah put that Nara leclerc dummy in its place. Dumbass charles fan.

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Man gotta feel for this guy, he thought he was going to catwalk to the title but now is getting screwed over by the team and getting beaten by a teenager

[miko⁶³ 𓆩⁸𓆪 🩷💜💙 #RUSSELLRESET @awkwardstray]

the way here you can actually kinda tell he realised no one from mercedes came for his podium because he seemed much more subdued for the podium compared to the post race interview and conference

[Ricks @vraxricksF1]

Lewis GE era with merc vibes man

[mo ✮ @russellatte]

so mercedes didn't even show up at the podium for george at his 100th gp? wow... i'm amazed