charlsluvvr

Latest Posts by charlsluvvr

this MIGHT BE oscar’s burner account

I'm bored and unable to word vomit on my Google Doc, so here's Charles as random cats from the internet!! Also, this is a sort of part two to this x

Hello, I am a beginner in F1. And I see how everything says that Charles is the king of qualification. All the experts and drivers say how amazing it is. I even read that Vettel said he had never seen anyone like that. And I wanted to know what was so impressive about it? (I mean other drivers also had a lot of pole position)

Hi!! Sorry lovely anon, took me a few hours to get back to you because I wanted to be thorough and back up my claims with evidence!

First things first, welcome to F1!! I hope you enjoy the ride ;)

Then THANK YOU for this question haha! I love talking about my quali king ✨ so I’d love to tell you more about it! Here’s my long answer below

So there are a lot of things to take into account in order to judge (and praise) Charles' skills as a qualifier. Especially if you want to compare him with the other drivers currently on the grid. The obvious is the car. Charles has put on pole cars which absolutely didn't belong there, not only because they were inconsistent, nervous, hard to handle and not very competitive (I evoke this in this post about the pole to ratio discourse) but also very simply because there were much more dominant cars on the grid that should have gotten poles very easily instead of him. Charles has this ability to outdrive the car. Charles is a very late breaker and plays with the throttle and the brakes in such a way that allows him to set incredible laps.

What Fred said after his crash in Miami was quite interesting imo: "When you're fighting for pole, the driver has to push. You can't accuse him of pushing 'too much'. That's how he makes the difference […]. We've seen last year as well: the other drivers had cars for pole but he got it because he pushes more and made less mistakes than them too." but ofc there are a lot of quotes out there praising Charles (from Seb, from Jock Clear etc…) and even before reaching F1 some important figures have praised Charles' speed over one lap (Massimo Rivola, Sébastien Philippe, Fred Vasseur…).

To highlight his incredible accomplishments in qualifying, you can also compare him to some other drivers: for instance, Max who has been in F1 since 2015 has had 32 pole positions with a car that has won the championship twice with quite the margins (-> that means he had a dominant car for a few years now so he's had the possibility to qualify really well) while Charles has been in F1 since 2018 and has had 23 pole positions (with cars that have never won championships ; and in 2018 and 2020 they were nowhere near the front). So Charles has overall 23 pole positions from his 125 entries claims which makes for a strike rate of 18.4%. Max, on the other hand, has 32 poles from 185 entries which makes for a strike rate of 17.29%. Carlos who has been in F1 since 2015 has had only 5 pole positions (and he has had the same car as Charles for 3 years). Lando has been in F1 since 2019 and has only 1 pole positions despite having more than one opportunity (Qatar, Saudi, Abu Dhabi…) to grab poles during the second part of the year in 2023. Same with George Russell, only 1 pole. It's more difficult to compare with Lewis since he's been here for much longer and also has had a championship-winning car for almost a decade but for instance with Alonso, another undeniably great driver, he's been in F1 since 2001 (-> 378 entries) and only has 22 pole positions, so one less than Charles.

If you want another impressive stat that proves how extraordinary Charles is when it comes to quali and how amazing his speed is over one lap -> he ranks 14th on the all-time pole list and that's despite not having always had a front-running machinery. The only Ferrari driver who's had more poles than Charles is Michael Schumacher.

In 2019, his second year in F1 and his first year with Ferrari, Charles managed to grab 7 poles making him the pole king with no drivers starting from P1 more often than him. In 2022, Charles did not qualify in the top 2 only 4 times during the whole season (two of those instances he had a grid penalty and thus didn't necessarily try to fight to get pole). He gained the pole position trophy again that year with 9 poles to his name (usually the one who gets that trophy is the one who wins the wcc or the wdc). At the end of 2023 was also quite impressive with an average qualifying position of 1.4 over the last five races of the season (above any other driver, even Max). Over the years, Charles had the record for the most pole during a season multiple times and even when he didn’t, he usually was the one who grabbed the most if you don’t take into account he most dominant car (like in 2023 where Charles had the most poles outside of Max). So yes other drivers do have lots of poles but Charles’ case is quite special.

In the Head To Head comparisons between teammates, Charles has NEVER been beaten by a teammate in quali over a season. Over his 6 years in F1 (from 2018 to 2023), Charles has always outqualified his teammates from Sauber (Ericsson) to Ferrari (Vettel and Sainz). In 2023, the qualifying gap between Charles and Carlos (so same machinery) was around 4 tenths in favor of Charles. Very regularly, Charles dunks from three to five tenths on Carlos in quali while when Carlos beats Charles the gap is much more closer (usually a tenth or less).

This discourse around his skills as a qualifier is not only based on his many poles: he has pulled some mighty laps out of shitty cars and put it in places it didn't belong in general even if it wasn't necessarily on pole. And even when he isn’t on pole with his car, he is regularly not far off (mere tenths off of it).

What's fascinating to me as well is that you can see the intelligence behind his approach to quali, building up his q3 through different sessions and putting everything together to pull the most out of the car at the right moment.

Charles also has multiple poles on street circuit and that’s an undeniable proof of his talent as a qualifier because street tracks demand precision and talent. In Monaco, Las Vegas, Singapour, Baku… Charles has made some mighty laps there (I’ll forever regret not seeing Charles finishing his lap in Monaco in 2022, that lap could have been magical)

His nickname as the king of quali is undoubtedly rightly earned: he pushes the car to the limit and that’s what makes him extraordinary. He can extract every ounce of performance from a car and more.

Anyway I hope this all helped, sorry it was quite long and there's a lot of numbers and stats 🫣

my favourite thing about chuuya nakahara is that he's just kind of. chill. about everything. he's like, my tragic backstory has no hold on me, i went to therapy and i'm all good now. i'm a bad guy cuz it pays good and my found family happens to be here. what do you mean that's not a good reason, you a cop or something?

someone will betray him and he'll go ok well that's pretty upsetting. they probably had a good reason though. i'll forgive them if they let me get a good punch in. if they're really just a hater they're giving me bad vibes and i don't wanna deal with 'em at all tbh.

things have been done to him that would warrant a lifelong crusade of revenge for anyone else, but for chuuya nakahara it's just, that was super not cool but i'll let it slide if you get therapy with me.

chuuya is down for any crime and thinks moral boundaries are for losers and stuff but he's the nicest guy in the port mafia when it comes to not mistreating his subordinates and probably helps old ladies cross the street. he shows up for a solid 10-20 minutes of screentime per season and makes all the fans fall in love with him while doing the bare minimum, and despite technically being a villain i don't think he's worked against the agency a single time (although to be fair this is often not on purpose). he also does the bare minimum every time he's asked to help in-universe and clearly isn't even trying, and he sweeps anyway because he is ridiculously overpowered and could probably kill literally everyone if he actually wanted to, and i just. no one is doing it like him. you go you unbothered king.

F1 Essays Masterlist

F1 History

- McLaren Spygate 

- Renault Crashgate 

- 2009 Liegate

- The Story of Mercedes

- What happened between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel?

F1 Explained

- F1 Glossary

- Technical Terms: Downforce

- Technical Terms: Rake

- Technical Terms: Overcuts and Undercuts

- Technical Terms: Tyre Degradation vs Tyre Wear

- Technical Terms: Front vs Rear Limited

- Technical Terms: Slipstream vs Dirty Air

- Technical Terms: Parc Fermé?

- F1 Corner Guide

- Tyre Terminology

- Tyre Compounds

- Types of F1 Circuits

- Yellow Flags vs VSC vs Safety Car - what do they all mean?

- What Makes a Slow Pitlane?

- Penalty Points Explained

- Spare Parts, Engines and Gearboxes

- What Penalties can the FIA award a driver?

- Why does low downforce usually mean high tyre degradation?

- Why Can’t F1 Run Reverse Races?

Race Specific

- What is the Purpose of the Coloured Lines at Paul Ricard?

- What is Brake Magic and What effect did it have on Lewis Hamilton’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix?

- What happened to Ferrari in France?

- Why is Daniel Ricciardo Struggling?

- What’s Happened to the Mercedes W12?

Junior Formulae

- F2 New Format

- Superlicence Points Required

- FP1 Young Drivers Predictions

- Driver Academies

- Who out of the 2021 grid has won at least one Junior Championship

Drivers Compared

- Who had the Best Rookie Season?

- Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen Part 1 

- Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen Part 2

- Best vs Favourite tracks

- Driving Styles Masterlist

Junior Careers

- Lance Stroll

- Nicholas Latifi

- Stoffel Vandoorne

Utter Rambles

- F1 Qualifying Sprint Races

- The Lost Generation in F1 

- Mission Winnow and A Better Tomorrow 

- Carlos Sainz - the King of Midfield Musical Chairs

- Sprint Races (a bit ranty sorry)

- The Rich Energy Fiasco (post announcement)

- Why do all Modern F1 tracks look the same

- What Makes a Future World Champion?

2021 Season

- What’s New for 2021

- 2021 Motorsport Schedule

- Current Penalty Points tally (Sept 26th)

- Circuit Masterlist

- Sprint Races and What they mean

- The Cost of Sprint Races

- How I think the Season may pan out

- Each teams weaknesses so far

- Track Characteristics Cheatsheet

- Red Bull vs Mercedes track predictions

- Teams Strongest Tracks, Part 1, Part 2

Ask Lists

- F1 Track Ask List

- F1 Driver Ask List

- F1 Teams Ask List

- F1 Track Ask List - Historic

- F1 Drivers Ask List - World Champions Part 1

- F1 Driver’s Ask List - World Champions Part 2

“A 15 year old (she told us) Spanish girl came up and got Mark Webber’s autograph, and asked if he knew where Vettel was. Webber said ‘He’s the same age as you, he’s playing in a sand pit over there.’”

— Mark Webber on Sebastian Vettel

ferrari civil war will be MILKED on dts. if they dare to make charles out to be the bitter loser one i will commit illegal things

Reckless Driving (Lizzy McAlphine, Ben Kessler) - MV33 & CL16

hii I'm fairly new into f1 and really into data so any directions to where to find it would be really appreciated thank youu

Hi! Yes I got you.

F1 tempo - for telemetry, lap times, tyres, DRS, throttle, brakes, and lap deltas. Allows you to compare laps and full race performance. Extremely useful website. This is the main telemetry resource.

F1 race visualizer - for the order of a race, live race replay, to see who was behind who for how long when overtakes occurred etc

Pitwall - for lap times and lap time comparison. I like this better than F1 tempo specifically for lap times, it's easier to use for that.

These are the 3 main resources I use. After that it's about looking at the numbers etc.

Have fun!

chuuya didn't give dazai a reason to live he just became his hyperfixation presiding over death

2024 Japan Grand Prix Race Analysis

My analysis of the 2024 Japan Grand Prix. Table of contents below detailing the order of the post. We have a lot to cover as this was an eventful race so I am not going to waste time making introductions.

Table of Contents  Ferrari – Race strategy: qualifying and tyre management – Charles: his qualifying and his race – Carlos: his race – In depth data and pace analysis Mclaren – Race strategy – Tyre management/Charles – Pace VCARB – Yuki: his race – Daniel: his crash with Alex Red Bull Mercedes Williams – Logan: his race – Team car problems Stake Concluding Thoughts

Ferrari

Ferrari had Carlos start in P4 and finish P3. Charles started P8 and finished P4. They both further secured Ferrari's lead for second in the constructors as well as keeping the WDC and WCC still competitive against Red Bull.

This race highlighted some areas that need to be improved on the SF-24 but more importantly it also showed some of the massive improvements that Ferrari has made in development and that is what made this race very exciting for Ferrari fans.

Once again the Ferrari strategy was great. It would have actually been good to mid if it were not for Charles having the skill and confidence to go for the one-stop strategy. But this is another race where I don't think they could have done anything better.

As it was with the starting grid positions Charles was looking at maybe getting P7 or P6 with a 2 stop strategy. And that strategy was most likely given the track and how much deg there usually is at Suzuka.

The reason Charles made it to P4 was because of his superior driving and tyre management, and Ferrari listening to him when he said he wanted to go for the one-stop strategy. They listened and it was 100% the right call on Charles’ part. 

Charles outperformed what should have been possible. If you don’t believe me just look at what Max, Lando, Oscar, Checo, Mclaren, and Red Bull are saying about his tyre management. Charles in the SF-24 was the only one who could have pulled that one-stop off. Seriously, the fact that Max didn’t think he could have done it is really all you need to know. They saw that and were genuinely impressed not only by the car but by Charles, because we saw that with Carlos he was struggling more with tyre deg and that was with a two-stop approach. 

So not only was this the best strategy to maximize points for Charles this race given his starting grid position, it was also just a truly phenomenal drive from Charles himself. 

And once again we are seeing incredible strides being made at the Ferrari pit wall in terms of timing and strategy. The pit stops for both drivers were on point. They listened to Charles and went with the strategy he wanted and it worked! 

Everything I saw this race was so promising for the trajectory of Ferrari and Charles’ season, and beyond into 2025 and 2026.

Charles: Race, Qualifying, and Free Practice

Charles ran a truly insane race. The only reason he gained all of the positions he did was because of his choice to do the one-stop and not only that but making it work! He gained every position it was possible for him to take and then some. His tyre management on this high degredation track was borderline supernatural.

Charles pulled off zero to negative tyre degradation on both sets of his tyres. (Negative deg is when faster laps are set as the tyres age) This was without question the best tyre management performance we have seen from a driver in 2024. It is something that no other driver could pull off (either due to skill, driving style, or machinery) and that is why Charles is Ferrari. 

Have I waxed on long enough about Charles and his tyres? Just wait till you get to the Mclaren section.

I also have a lot more to say about his pace and tyres in the data section.

For now let's move on to some of the questions people might have about what happened to Charles in qualifying and FP3.

Charles qualifying position was decided in free practice. I want to try to be brief, so here is a quick timeline of why Charles’ didn’t have the optimal setup for qualifying (this also applies to Carlos because both Ferrari’s underperformed in qualifying, there was a difference of 1/10th between them so it really was just a matter of the field being so tight)

Suzuka is colder during the day than any race we’ve had so far this year. With the SF-24 being so good with tyre deg that is actually a problem because it means that getting the tyres to warm up takes longer. 

The loss of all of FP2 due to rain was a big blow to Ferrari and especially Charles.

Charles has been having more issues getting his qualifying settings right to manage the tyre warming issue. This is due to his personal setup choices and driving style. Being gentler on the tyres in a car with less deg is leading to him underperforming in qualifying. 

So we lost valuable time when Ferrari really needed to understand the SF-24 behavior in the colder Suzuka temps. 

FP3: Charles and Carlos both got in some race sim laps, but only got to squeeze in 1 or 2 flying lap tests at the very end. Charles especially was frustrated by this. I believe that this came from not having the time to complete all of the program they had outlined to prep for qualifying and the race. 

Going into qualifying Charles didn’t have enough data to guide his settings for Q1. They went with a certain setup they hadn’t gotten to fully test and it didn’t work. Which led to them having to send Charles out again in Q1 with a different setup on another set of softs to try to set a better lap in Q1.

In Q3 Charles only had 1 set of softs remaining to set his best lap. It was okay but not enough. I do think that over qualifying he did get settings better on the car and if he’d had another set of softs he might have made it up to P6 (possibly P5) the middle of the field was very close so I don’t think this qualifying placement and time was as bad as it looks. It certainly isn’t great, but compared to his teammate and the rest of the top teams it wasn’t so concerning. 

So the lack of enough free practice to figure out the best qualifying setup for Charles in the colder temps is really what cost them here. I think this is why we saw Charles very frustrated at not having the time to do more flying laps during FP3 and Fred also not happy with the program they ran during all free practice sessions.

All of this does apply to Carlos as well. We’ve seen him qualify better in 2024 too so this was just a matter of the SF-24 settings on flying laps given the colder temps and the track. 

This is a current issue for the SF-24, but it is something that can be developed and I think there are certain upgrades that will address this. It is better to have a car base that is too gentle on the tyres than the other way around. The SF-24 tyre treatment is a good base to work with. This weekend just highlighted areas where improvements need to be made. The unfortunate part was the loss of FP2 because that was going to be important for colder temp data gathering.

I want to once again now take the time to shut down some narratives about Ferrari's race specifically relating to Carlos' lap 46 pass on Charles:

The reason Charles and Ferrari let Carlos pass was because Carlos was on newer tyres and thus had overall faster lap times.

It’s insane to expect a team to keep the car that has faster pace behind. I could see it if it was a difference of 1/10th or something or if it was the last lap of the race, then it’s up for debate. That wasn’t the case here, Carlos with the tyres that were 10 laps newer was almost 1 second faster. Keeping him behind would have not only compromised his race but also possibly Charles’. We don’t want a car just hovering behind the other. As we heard on the radio the main concern was keeping Lando behind. As far as gaining significant placement this race goes we always knew Lando was going to be Charles' competition. If the cars were fighting over pace with this big of a discrepancy in the pace we would have seen disastrous results. 

Charles knew this and this is why he let Carlos by. He was never intending to race Carlos(he literally said this in interviews after). With the way they started on the grid it was not going to be in the cards this race. Charles said as much and he isn’t upset about it. 

“Carlos overtook Charles”: No, Charles let him pass because that was strategically optimal for both Ferrari drivers. 

“Carlos’ pace was better”: No, he was on a completely different tyre strategy, the only reason he was faster is because he did two stints on mediums and then finished on newer hards. Charles overall race pace and tyre management was better. This is just a result of 1. Different starting positions and 2. Different tyre strategies. It’s very hard to do a driver-to driver comparison with blanket statements when they are on different strategies.

“Ferrari gave the order to switch with Sainz”: No, they just didn’t do that, I don’t know what race you were watching.

“They should have told Carlos to defend”: That would have been a bad strategy choice for both drivers. There is a lot more than current track position that goes into strategy calls.

"Ferrari strategy screwed Charles over again": No, Charles chose his strategy(and it was the right call). Ferrari did great in supporting him.

I don't understand why people want to run this narrative that we keep getting Silverstone 22' level strategy calls when that is just not happening.

Now Charles radio after the race may have sounded disappointed and in the heat of the moment he probably was. However in interviews after the race he was very happy with the car (I think he realized just what a good performance he put in) but also I think his big takeaway from this race was that Ferrari have given him a strong base to work with(finally) and he has been only saying more positive things since then.

Ferrari did amazing supporting both drivers. Especially Charles because it was his call to do the one-stop and they listened to him and supported him perfectly throughout running that strategy.

Carlos

Carlos ran a clean race. He gained the one position which is about what we'd expect from the car he was in and his starting position. His performance also gave us really good baseline data for the SF-24.

His race was mostly decided in qualifying and also the fact that Mclaren struggled far more than expected on this track. Ferrari initially thought he might have to fight Lando more for that position but Mclaren's struggle was Carlos' gain.

I also think that just this race in general from him and his driving style was really good data for the SF-24 to inform development and that is awesome!

I don't have a ton to add, it was good, got those WCC points for Ferrari and that's exactly what we want to see from him.

In Depth Data Analysis

The name of the game here is tyre wear. The SF-24 (especially in Charles' hands) has had phenomenal race pace and that is due to the fact that this car is so easy on the tyres. However Charles is the driver who has been able to pull this feature out of the car due to his driving style and tyre management skills.

We are going to look at a comparison of Charles' and Carlos' data to highlight exactly what was so interesting about Charles' pace. And then also adding in Max, because as the driver to beat he is a good benchmark(as well as showing the top performance of the RB-20)

Here is a comparison of lap times between Charles and Carlos, corrected for tyre age(because they were on different strategies)

For the medium tyre I used both their first medium stints. Carlos did two stints on mediums, I used his first stint for comparison because it means both tyres were subject to the same time of day and track temps and conditions. 

Now the lap times themselves here aren’t as important. Carlos and Charles were in different spots on the track and Carlos was in much cleaner air even on that first stint. The real thing to look at is the way Charles lap time stays consistent, and even gets faster as the age of the tyres progresses, while Carlos starts off with his best speed and then gradually gets slower. Carlos’ pace here is an example of what we expect to see - as tyres age they get slower so his pace on these tyres is perfectly normal, by the time he got to lap 14 before he pitted he’d lost more than a second of pace on those tyres (which is normal and expected). Then we can then look at Charles who is getting almost the exact same lap time out of his 11 lap old mediums as the first lap. Where Carlos has lost more than a second, Charles has lost nothing. Furthermore you can see multiple instances of an increased speed on his previous laps, which indicates negative tyre degradation. This goes against general tyre wear behavior and can only be attributed to Charles’ skill in extending the pace of his tyres.

I want to add that both driver’s pace was excellent and that both their performances would not have been possible without the massive leap Ferrari has made with the SF-24 and race pace tyre degradation. 

Again looking at the hards the actual lap time is not important here, Charles and Carlos were running very different strategies at this point. Charles was racing to extend the life of the tyres to pull off a one-stop and Carlos was trying to regain position near the front. What we are looking at is once again the way the lap times increase for Carlos steadily, and just don’t for Charles. 

Charles once again was pulling essentially the same lap time on 11 lap old hards, while Carlos had lost a full second. The sheer consistency here is what is scaring the other teams. 

I want to note here that none of this is meant to make Carlos look bad. I think his runs and tyre treatment were pretty good overall, but when your teammate is defying the laws of physics in the same car it can even make a good drive look not as great. But I have no issues with how Carlos managed, he gave a good example of what I would say is the base deg for the SF-24.

Now I want to compare Charles’ pace to Max’s, again correcting for tyre age. 

This is helpful because this is where we can get a look at match-ups for the future, the strengths of the SF-24 compared to the RB20. 

Here is where it gets interesting. Max on the hards was managing degradation amazingly, right on par with Charles. 

The big difference is on the mediums. After 11 laps Max had lost over a full second of pace on the mediums and Charles had not. 

This gap is where we are going to see big results come in from the SF-24 in the future. If I were Red Bull I’d be worried about this. And this is why they are also specifically worried about Charles, because we see that the SF-24 in Carlos hands is behaving as expected as far as tyre deg goes, the real threat based on the data is the combination of Charles Leclerc and the SF-24. 

Deltas Δ

Now let's take a look at what the change in pace lap to lap looks like for Charles, Max and Carlos. Again using those first 11 laps on the mediums.

Lap deltas are the change in lap time lap-to-lap, and this is a metric that shows if a driver is keeping pace, gaining pace or losing pace. Positive numbers mean a loss of pace, negative numbers are a gain. This is calculated by the equation of (Lap time B - Lap time A = change in pace or the delta Δ) So it's just the time difference lap to lap. This is how we can take a look at the actual pace and correct for lap times (which are not important here)

On it's own this doesn't look like much, yes Charles is managing best, but Carlos is also ahead of Max. This is showing where the SF-24 is better than the RB-20. The fact that of these three drivers Max is the worst on this metric is notable.

However the impressive part of Charles' tyre deg is not in these first 11 laps. Because after these laps Max and Carlos had to pit because they were losing time and their tyres were done.

Charles kept going.

Here is what Charles' full stint on the mediums looked like.

Charles continued to achieve faster laps and negative deltas well into the life of the tyres, and that is what is setting him apart from Carlos and Max.

Not only was Charles achieving negative deltas, he was doing it more consistently as the tyres aged.

For comparison here is Carlos' and Max's data overlayed on Charles full medium stint.

While the first graph on the mediums shows that both Ferrari's were outperforming the RB20 in terms of deg(or at the very least Carlos was on a very similar delta to Max), this is where you see the difference in the drivers. Because Max and Carlos had to pit because they were rapidly losing performance on those tyres(see above time sheets) Charles was not, and he only improved. He more than doubled the life of his tyres in comparison to the other two.

This is the graph that really matters because it shows what each driver was able to do with one set of mediums. And as you can see it's not even close.

This is where you can see the impact of the negative deg over time. Compared to the normal deg we see with Max and Carlos it serves to highlight exactly how outside of the norm Charles was operating.

Charles only continued to improve well beyond the other two. That's what was insane about his tyre management.

Neither Carlos or Max were going to be able to continue their pace (hence the pit)

I feel like the data really speaks for itself. Max and Carlos are good comparisons here, Carlos is a good driver in the same car as Charles, and Max is the current top driver on the grid and is known for his tyre management.

I want to finish this section with the sentence that is chilling the blood of every other driver and TP on the grid: Charles set his fastest lap of his race on 25 lap old hards.

Mclaren

So what happened to Mclaren?

A lot of people were expecting Mclaren to be the second strongest team on this track. And qualifying certainly made it look like that might be the case. With Lando being ahead of Carlos in P3 and Oscar being ahead of Charles in P6 on the starting grid.

So why did both Mclarens get easily defeated by the Ferraris?

I think there are 2 main reasons.

The Mclaren car is not even close to the SF-24 when it comes to tyre deg, that car loses pace much faster so it just cannot fight when a Ferrari comes up behind it.

Charles 1 stop strategy really messed up the team's pit strategy with Lando. 

In Mclaren’s defense no one thought anyone would be crazy enough to try a 1 stop around Suzuka, let alone have zero tyre deg on a high deg track. 

They seemed to be managing their pit strategy with Lando under the assumption that Charles was going to pit twice, and I think they were very worried about an undercut in the pits (after they didn’t get away with it in Australia I think they were very keen to make sure they kept their position)

But Charles didn’t do a 2 stop strategy. He stayed out and his pace on the hards was unbelievable. 

There was really no way for them to see that coming. It’s kind of hard when your main competition decides this is the weekend he’s going to challenge the laws of physics.

(And you thought I was done talking about Charles’ tyre strategy)

Here is a graph of Lando vs Carlos. That was the spot he lost, and you can see that the pit strategy is really what cost Lando the spot. Carlos came behind him on much fresher tyres and by then he'd lost the pace. He pitted too early, and that was due to Mclaren not understanding that Charles is on another level.

His pace was okay on newer tyres, but once they age the drop off was pretty bad. So the Mclaren car needs to improve in the tyre deg department if they want to see either of their drivers beat a Ferrari any time this year.

Furthermore Oscar once again struggled more because he is still the weaker of the two Mclarens when it comes to tyre deg, and on this track that really showed. 

But I think the fact that Mclaren kept trying to figure out when Charles was going to pit for his second stint and then he just didn’t really threw them off and had them making some weird pit calls. 

VCARB

Yuki

Yuki ran what was in my opinion the second most impressive drive of the race. He qualified P10 and finished P10. However to keep that position he pulled of some truly perfect overtakes. He was fighting to finally get that home race point. I was so excited seeing him put on that good of a show for his home fans.

In this race he became the first Japanese driver to score home race points since 2012, and that is just so exciting for Yuki and his fans. It really made that single point mean a lot. I don't think I have ever been more excited for a P10!

Yuki has really been showing what the VCARB car is capable of and it looks really promising. He seems comfortable and I think we will be seeing a lot more points from him this season.

Daniel: Crash with Albon and DNF

Going to be covering Alex and Daniel's crash this section.

On lap 1, Daniel and Alex made contact going into turn 3, resulting in both cars going off the track and ending up in the barriers. Both drivers had to retire from the race.

To me this looked like a result of crowding into that turn in the mid field with neither driver at significant fault. I don't think Daniel was trying to push Alex wide, and I also don't think that Alex mistook that corner. The FIA and stewards agree and Alex and Daniel's story of what happened make sense.

Going into the turn Daniel had the outside line, and he was trying to give room to the Aston Martin(Lance) on his inside. He didn't see Alex on his outside and his wheel made contact with Alex's front wing, causing his car to spin and pushing Alex of the line and into the gravel.

Alex thought he had the outside line to overtake and was in the process of attempting that when Daniel went to give space on the inside, this resulted in the contact and Daniel forcing him wide.

This crash really just was a result of crowing in that corner, Daniel was trying to give space to one driver and inadvertently crowded out another. There wasn't space so he was kind of in a lose-lose situation there.

I agree with the stewards that no penalty for either driver was warranted and that this was the result of midfield crowding, and some bad luck for both drivers. It wasn't a result of bad driving on either Daniel or Alex's part. Even if Daniel had seen Alex I am not sure what he could have done if he also needed to give room to Lance.

Ultimately I am glad both drivers are uninjured. Hopefully they have some better luck in future races.

Red Bull

I don't have a ton to say about Red Bull. My comparison in the Ferrari data section is what was most interesting about this race from the data standpoint.

They didn't do much, the Red Bulls started ahead and finished ahead as expected. Max and Checo both ran a really clean race. Again showing the power of the RB-20.

I will add that this was a really good race for Checo(probably his best this year), and it was nice to see him have redemption after Suzuka 2023.

Nothing terribly exciting to add. Max won again, well done Max!

Mercedes

Mercedes didn't have a great race, but considering that both their drivers DNFed in Australia it was good for the team to get some points. Lewis started in P7 and finished P9, while George started P9 and finished P7. So they swapped positions.

It seems that the Mercedes car might be better on those qualifying laps than the race pace (and even then it's qualifying has been inconsistent)

The most notable thing about Mercedes' race was when Lewis asked if he should let George pass when George came up behind him, and George did in fact make the pass. This was done simply because George's pace was better. Lewis knew this so it was best for the team.

I think that so far we have seen that the W15 is struggling in a lot of areas, and as far as drivers go George has been more comfortable in the car(could be driving style, setup, a combo of the two) than Lewis.

Both are solid drivers, and hopefully they can guide Mercedes into making improvements to the car to get them closer to top points. At this point the car Mercedes has made seems to have fallen short of expectations. Make no mistake though, Lewis and George are both drivers who are much better than the car they are in at the moment.

Williams

I covered Alex's crash with Daniel already so we are going to talk about Logan.

Logan honestly did about the best he could do in the car he had. After damaging both his front and rear wing in free practice and still using the repaired chassis from Australia his car was not in the best shape already going into the race. Additionally the Williams really struggled with grip in the rears and has been all over the place. Suzuka especially seems to have not been suited to it.

Yes on lap 41 Logan went off track into a gravel trap, but that was on a corner that had given more skilled and experienced drivers trouble this weekend so I am not going to fault him too much for that in the car he had. Better cars were having problems there too.

He did have a really strong first stint and was pulling some overtakes. Most of his positions were lost when he did get undercut by some pit stops, and then of course losing time to the gravel trap.

The win is that he finished the race and the car is intact. That may not seem like much, but given the state of things at Williams it's important.

There were some highlights for his race and I will say in terms of raw performance he has not been far off Alex this year. That car of Williams is really hindering both drivers.

Stake

Stake actually had pretty good pace overall. The car is not as bad as it has looked on paper. The main issues has been their slow pit stops (caused by incompatibility between the bolters and the tyre covers apparently) Zhou and Valtteri both showed some pretty good pace and were in positions for overtakes.

Zhou unfortunately had to retire his car due to gearbox issues.

Stake has really been a mess and we have not seen what that car can actually do in terms of performance overall, or what what their drivers are capable of in that car.

They are making attempts to address the pit stop issue and I think if they do that, then we will see both drivers picking up some P10 points at the very least.

Final Thoughts

I think we can all agree that Suzuka was the best race of the year so far from a pure racing standpoint!

Whew, that’s all I got on this race, so I will leave you with this final thought. 

This race was a warning shot from Ferrari.

"and you quite literally cannot win psychological warfare against Charles, so"

hmm I agree that he's good at that, but this sentence feels very final, so I was wondering if you have any examples that support it (this isn't me disagreeing or needing proof btw! I just like remembering petty Charles moments and wondered if you had a particular one in mind when you wrote this)

I mean, his entire career is an example, essentially. He’s incredibly strong psychologically, and he’s patient. He’s always been known (ever since he was a child) to give people the silent treatment and I don’t think there’s a recorded instance of him yielding first.

But in terms of more recent examples, his entire campaign against the Binotto regime, most notably Binotto’s ousting in 2022 and charles getting his way. He still hasn’t mentioned Binotto’s name publicly, by the way.

If anyone wants to hate on Max for doing crazy stuff on the track. Just remember, Charles raced with a broken Ferrari that had no breaks and hauled its rusty ass into P4.

Think before you hate. They’re both maniacs <3

Charles relationship with other drivers is mostly boiled down to jealously and you can't convince me otherwise. Older drivers like Lewis, Nico Rosberg and Seb adore Charles and have for years and people like Max, Alex, George and Pierre who have had long standing relationships with Charles all adore him even through any collisions they've had. The ex drivers who hate Charles like Ralf Schumacher, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve etc all hate him because of jealousy and have had an agenda against him for years even before he was in Ferrari.

Daniel, Sainz and Norris all reek of jealously aswell because their comments are so dismissive and backhanded and their jokes are bland, old and overused but their minor fanbase eats it up. Sainz sees people praising Charles for something and he has to claim he could also do it but Ferrari went down a different path for him. (His fans also have the talent of trying to insert Sainz into everything, the most recent offender is Charles being p1 on lap 17 for Jules and every Sainz fan yapping about how Carlos was p7, like fuck off) Norris gets gassed like he's more achieved than Charles but he's not and I know that pisses him off. Charles is everything Daniel used to be but better and I know he doesn't like that.

Even Fernando Alonso who both by extension of Sainz and because Charles won't ever side with him on penalties has reason to not like Charles but he's fine. He's actually the perfect example, I don't think he cares that much for Charles but he's not insulting and bullying him in media because he's a grown ass mature man (I'll never use those words again to describe Fernando)

Esteban and Charles are backhanded to eachother and still fine. Lance, Checo, Oscar, Zhou, Valterri etc all get along fine with Charles whenever they talk.

And there’s that, anon. No notes, stunning.

tell me you're a lunatic without telling me you're a lunatic

charles and max are a match made in the pits of hell tbh

another great article about recency bias (written by an f1twt member)

https://medium.com/@stillaracetowin/youre-only-as-good-as-your-last-race-fd12e06d7a76

"However, no one seems to suffer more acutely of these double standards than Charles Leclerc. Though newer to the scene, he has made a significant impact since his F1 debut, quickly establishing himself as a top driver with Ferrari. His performances have often outshined the car’s capabilities, indicating his ability to extract maximum performance and secure wins or high finishes under challenging circumstances. Despite showing consistent speed, skill, and the ability to outperform his Ferrari teammates, Leclerc often finds himself under a microscope of heightened expectations and criticism."

"The disparity in ratings, such as Aramco’s driver ratings, further illustrates the underappreciation of Verstappen’s efforts. Instances where Carlos Sainz receives a perfect score for a race in which he overtakes Verstappen, who might have been on course for a win before a DNF, highlight an inconsistency in evaluating performance. Such ratings can inadvertently downplay the difficulty of regularly performing at the highest level."

great article, recommend!

why is charles always facing misogyny from journalists

Charles is a man and therefore can’t face misogyny in the same way. However, he can feel the repercussions of misogyny levied at his vocal and majority female online fanbase. It’s quite wild to see us make excellently thought out takes on twitter and tumblr, all of which make perfect sense and have a logical progression to them, only to be labelled as “hysterical Leclerc fangirls” by men who haven’t bothered to understand how Charles’s pole to win ratio is actually an incredible thing on his part and a damning indictment of the state of Ferrari for the past few years, or by mainstream journalists themselves who like to call us delusional for saying the Sainzes cause toxicity, when there is LITERAL evidence of that provided back to 2015.

I would go far enough to say that this lecfosi hate that’s become trendy amongst everyone is a reactionary pushback against women in F1 spaces because we can cite numbers and statistics in Charles’s favour all we want, and still get hit with “lol Leclerc fan girl who doesn’t know wheel”. I notice that when I make posts favouring Charles on other platforms where I don’t indicate my gender, and use certain speech patterns that men would tend to use over women (ie. Leclerc and Verstappen rather than Charles and Max), my opinion is taken to have higher value and is at the very least, respected. It sucks because misogyny sucks, and make no mistake this is misogyny. Charles feels the repercussions of it because we comprise his fanbase, and women can’t POSSIBLY support a driver because they know enough wheel to consider him generational, it must only be because he’s hot!

Apart from every other reason why Tifosi prefer Charles to everyone, the reason that is often ignored isn't loyalty but Charles level of unbothered insanity. Tifosi are insane and Italians in general are allergic to being normal so Charles embracing it is just a bonus to their already high level of love for him.

You think Lewis would go greet fans at the fence of Maranello and not be confused of why someone is in a tree, Charles wasn't confused he just greeted them, asked if they actually had a better view and if they wanted anything signed and then continued to the next person.

You think Max would not be incredibly weirded out if multiple priests came to bless him and multiple people handed him protection objects and holy water. Charles wasn't he just thanked them for the blessing and wished them well.

I mean the difference between Charles and Sainz is literally night and day examples of Tifosi treatment. Carlos started using the back entrance to Maranello so people stopped showing up as to not waste their time, he complained about fans preferring Charles (playing the victim as usual) so Tifosi posted videos of him doing things to avoid them like sitting in the back of the car, using guest entrances and going through the back. Charles literally stays behind for 40 minutes making sure nobody has their time wasted.

Bottom line is that Tifosi will treat you the way you treat them. They'll be less enthusiastic with you if you're calm with them like Kimi was and they'll be feral and unhinged with you like Charles.

I started answering this and got distracted by Classic FM introducing Charles as driver and composer and playing his new song. Anyway –

Yes. Charles lives and breathes Ferrari and while I still maintain that he would change teams if he knew that Ferrari can’t give him that title, it’s also pretty clear that he would never feel at home the same way he does with Ferrari. Again, he’s been giving them everything for years now, always humble, always open. The fans know and love that. He does all these incredibly nice things for his side of the garage; the team calls him family as much as he does.

(The thought of Max encountering fans in the trees or being blessed did make me giggle.)

He has enough humility to know that Ferrari will always be greater than him, but it’s very clear that he himself wants to become as great with them.

“He's got an excellent image, one that helps him to get away with some absolutely insane things at times.”

Pls elaborate!! Is it some of his more aggressive moves on track or is there some Charles lore I am unaware of? Btw I LOVE LOVE your answers to all of these asks they are giving me so much serotonin !!!

Happy serotonin from my yapping to yours! Thank you for the kind words!

Well, Charles has been successful over the years to make Max seem like the insane one. He has managed to gaslight everyone and their mother into thinking that somehow, it was Max being unreasonable back in their karting days (he even said in Qatar that Max has “calmed down”), like he wasn’t the one that pushed them both into the puddle, getting them disqualified. The only person who’s always been able to see through Charles’ insanity is Max, lol.

But, yeah. Because he’s curated this certain persona, people often forget that his moves on track can be more aggressive than Max’s (not something you’d associate with Charles). He’s pretty and polite, all while essentially ending the (peak) f1 career of one teammate after the other. I think it was my fellow academic @valyrfia who argued that he’s the real teammate ‘killer’, not Max, considering Charles always went up against more experienced and in part more successful teammates and came out on top. It’s happening again with Lewis, everyone assuming that Lewis will automatically come in and become the number 1; all while Charles is plotting and biding his time.

People often see him as weak or pliant, and therefore underestimate him. Sure, some may argue that’s him failing to assert himself in certain ways, but I think he’s built this persona on purpose and to his own benefit.

DELICATE ✰ CHARLES LECLERC

❝'𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞❞

WHEN YOUR reputation is crashing and burning around you, the last thing you need is a boy with pretty eyes who drives a fast car and makes you feel things you really shouldn't be feeling.

✑ charles leclerc x actress! reader series.

✑ general warnings: slow burn, strong language, bullying, sexual themes, f1 race calendar is a mess and it's fixed to fit the story, lots of taylor swift references, the pictures used in this series don't represent the exact looks of the main character and are just for entertainment's sake. please refer to each chapter for specific warnings.

✑ listen to the official soundtrack!

✑ for delicate related posts, check out #📖 delicate (asks) and #⚙️ the garage;delicate (wip), beware of spoilers!

INTRO: who is y/n anyway? ew

i. my reputation's never been worse

ii. do you really wanna know where i was april 29th?

iii. one for the money, two for the show

iv. you and me would be a big conversation

v. i gave my blood, sweat and tears for this.

vi. do i really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

vii. all of my enemies started out friends

viii. 'cause i know that it's delicate

ix. i'm so sick of running as fast as can

x. what a shame she’s fucked in the head

INTERLUDE: this is why we can't have nice things.

xi. it’s okay we’re the best of friends

xii. oh no, i’m falling in love again.

xiii. and all the pieces fall, right into place

xiv. this feels like the calm before the storm.

xv. he was sunshine, I was midnight rain

xvi. it hits different 'cause it's you

xvii. tba

xviii. tba

Boy's Talk (About You) – Chapter 6.1

Chapter 6.1 – after the storm

masterpost. / next.

synopsis everyone has their secrets, a group chat formed by charles leclerc, pierre gasly, alex albon, lando norris and george russell knows all of them. the 'kill the grid' chat has only one purpose: gossiping about other drivers' lives, romantic and social

or, a casual chat leads to charles confessing a crush on max, who's has been his rival since childhood

all of the girls you loved before !!!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ in which pascale leclerc had good intentions — she genuinely did. but she just didn't like his new girlfriend and how was she supposed to know that the girl she was trying to set up her middle child with was there for her own wedding? it's not like they had banners or hoardings for that.

or

for when you meet at the most inconvenient time but fate never really worked accordingly for you. ˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡˚

real life // charles leclerc x fem!reader

warnings - cheating (not by the reader or by charles), arranged marriage, talks of eloping, language, both the reader and charles are bitches (affectionate), reader's fiancé being a stupid asshole, family problems, dysfunctional family.

author's note - hello!!! i'm so excited for this series like i randomly had this idea and i just knew that i had to write it so !!! also, i'll be using a random name for charles girlfriend bc using alex's would be just plain disrespectful and this is FICTION so no hate to alex !!! she seems so sweet <3 i'll try to update this soon but i'll be focusing on my shout out to my ex series first and then start with this so please be patient. thank you so much for reading, i love you <3

chapter i ·˚ ༘

❝oh, are you here for vacation too? nice place, yeah — did you just push my son off the boat? good job, he was talking too much.❞

chapter ii ·˚ ༘

❝what do you mean you're getting married?! ay, no. i wanted to have you as my daughter-in-law.❞

chapter iii ·˚ ༘

❝i don't really like her, to be honest. she's so annoying and irritating and thinks that the world revolves around her and is so pretty — oh.❞

chapter iv ·˚ ༘

❝look, the car is outside. you just have to run and get in. i swear arthur's a decent driver and besides, you only live once — stop yelling at me!❞

chapter v ·˚ ༘

❝oh my god, i should've pushed you off that boat when i had the chance.❞

...more !!!

we have to keep trying: the aftermath (cont. cont.)

continuation of the ao3 fic | part one | part two

PART THREE: THE IN-BETWEEN | 2k

Charles’ first real boyfriend was a friend of a friend, Claude.

He was a handsome alpha two years older than Charles. He was kind and understanding when Charles told him he wasn’t ready to go public. After all, they started courting only a week after the press release on Charles’ second gender came out. So they took it slow, and Claude courted him the traditional, old-fashioned way: gifts, then dates, then Charles introduced him to his family, and Claude to his. Claude didn’t seem to mind that Charles wasn’t ready for sex either. For all he knew, Charles hadn’t been with anyone before. That’s what Charles told him, anyway. It was good. Claude was sweet and he liked Charles and Charles liked him back. He was happy, he thinks.

And then Austria came and went, and Charles, furious that Max of all people stole his first win with an illegal move, flew back to Monaco and ordered a taxi straight to Claude’s place.

The morning after, Charles woke up to Claude nosing at the back of his neck. Charles looked out at the window, at the Mediterranean sea, and murmured, “Do you want to come to a race?”

It was all anyone could talk about in Silverstone: Charles Leclerc’s new alpha boyfriend. 

Charles kissed him in front of the cameras, let Claude into his garage, and took him on a track walk. In the media pen on Thursday, Charles was walking past F1 TV to do his interview with Sky Italia, when he heard Max say, “Charles can do whatever he wants, of course. But he seems rather distracted with that alpha of his. I’m not sure what he’s doing.”

On Friday, Charles was asked about what Max said. He put on his best smile and said, “If I were Max, I would worry more about the race than another driver’s boyfriend.”

After that, Charles made sure to be as public about their relationship as possible. Claude came to more races that year, they vacationed together during the summer break, and Charles called the paparazzi in St. Tropez to catch them kissing on the beach. But it wasn’t just for show. Charles liked him. Liked how he was strong enough to pick Charles up and fuck him against the wall, broad enough to press him into the mattress, to hold him down until Charles’ whole body went lax and all he could do was cry into the sheets. Liked how he didn’t care that Charles didn’t care about second gender norms, and was nothing but proud that his boyfriend was a racer. Liked how he was funny, and how they shared so many of the same friends. Liked how he loved him and was in love with him. He told him that, on his twenty-second birthday, when they had a romantic dinner in Claude’s apartment, and Charles had been so happy that he’d thrown himself onto him, kissed him until Claude carried him over to the bedroom—but he hadn’t said it back, because he wouldn’t have meant it. One day, Charles thought. One day, he told himself, if he tried hard enough, he could fall in love.

And he liked it, having a boyfriend, doing couple things. Having someone all to himself. It was nice and it was new. It was good.

And then the season ended, Claude came to Charles’ apartment one night, and broke up with him.

“It feels like,” he said, then swallowed. “It always feels like you are so far away.”

Charles didn’t understand. He said, “I’m right here.”

Claude laughed, mean and crass. “Are you?” he asked, then shook his head. “Sorry. I just—I can’t help but feel like you are always hiding something. It’s like there’s a part of you I cannot reach.”

That’s not true, Charles thought. I have given you every part of me. I like you. I like you a lot. But he couldn’t get any of the words out. It felt like when he had crashed in Germany. Low-grip, wet asphalt. He couldn’t get the car into his control.

“I don’t—”

“And,” Claude went on, “it is like— I don’t even know. It is like you are only with me because you have something to prove. You won’t even spend your heats with me.”

Charles clenched his jaw. “That is not— That has nothing to do with anything,” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Claude said again. “But I feel like it does, at least a little.”

He dated Charlotte next, through the pandemic. She was an alpha, she was beautiful, and he really did see a future for them together. It was only a month into their relationship that he realized he probably loved her. It was a safe sort of love. A quiet one. Rooted in familiarity, routine, comfort, reliability. But once most of the restrictions were lifted, Charles came to the realization that he loved being with her more than he loved her, that the quarantine was the only thing keeping them together. She did as well, breaking up with him at the end of the 2020 season.

“Is there something wrong with me?” he asked against his better judgement. She was at the door. They broke up the day before, but she came back to collect her things from his apartment, a little luggage sitting by her hip.

She hummed and rapped her manicured fingernails against the handle of her suitcase. “It’s not like you were a bad boyfriend or anything, but—I don’t know. I just never got the feeling that you really trusted me.”

“I do,” Charles insisted.

She shrugged, noncommittal. Then she pursed her mouth, like she was sucking on a lemon, something sour that she wanted to spit out the seeds but wasn’t sure if it was right to, or not. And then she said it. “Not enough to spend a heat with me.”

Charles wanted to throw his hands up in the air and scream. Instead, he sighed, then backed up until he rested against the wall. “Is that really such a big deal?”

So he spent his heats alone. Most omegas did. Sure, not ones in committed relationships, but he didn’t see a problem with it. Yes, they were more painful than the ones before Max, now that his body knows what a heat spent with an alpha is like, now that his body has come to expect a knot in his cunt and a mouth on his neck—but they’re manageable. They’re fine. Besides, he spent ruts with Claude and ruts with Charlotte. What did it matter that he wanted to spend his heats alone?

“No,” she said, gently. “But I think you want something different. Maybe someone different.”

Charles’ heart pounded as he said, “There’s no one else.”

“Right now, sure,” she said, then raised a brow. “But in the past?”

I love you, Charles thought, but the words stalled in his throat.

“Yeah,” she said with a laugh. “Goodbye, Charles.”

She stepped forward and kissed him on both his cheeks, and he was left with the scent of her perfume. Flowers, to cover her alpha scent.

He wasn’t single for much longer, but his next few relationships each only lasted a few weeks at most. He brought each of them to the paddock.

And then, at Silverstone, during the driver’s parade, he was chatting with Pierre and Esteban about the race, but he could hear Max’s voice from behind, loud, like he wanted to make sure Charles heard over the crowd, “How many alphas does he need to go through? Who’s next? Pierre? Seb? Carlos?”

Daniel cleared his throat. “Max, don’t you think that’s a little mean?”

Furious, Charles turned around and saw Max glance at him out of the corner of his eye. Max crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the railing. “Whatever,” he said.

Two hours later, Max hit the barriers at 51 G. .

.

.

As soon as Charles was let out of Ferrari’s debrief, he drove to the hospital. He asked Seb to ask Christian for the details, and luckily, Seb hadn’t asked any questions. He made it just in time for visiting hours. He hadn’t even showered, and he was hastily dressed in whatever spare clothes he could find from his driver room. He smelled like champagne and sweat and he got odd looks from the nurses and patients and doctors in the elevator. He didn’t care.

All he could think about was the last time he had a real conversation with Max.

It was Abu Dhabi 2019. Charles couldn’t take it anymore. Over the past few months, he could tell that Max wasn’t going through his ruts, even though all alpha drivers are advised to go through at least four a year. Max always had this specific pre- and post-rut scent, even when he’s wearing blockers. It’s like burned rubber, but with a hint of sweetness, like marshmallows over a campfire. He asked him straight, if he was skipping his ruts. Max said yes, I am, and Charles—swallowed. His heart was in knots, pressing against the back of his throat. He nodded, then walked away.

He hurried to the wing the front-desk nurse said Max was in, looking for the right room number, looking into the glass panels for anyone that looked like Max. It was night already, and the lights were dim. And then he found the right room. But Max wasn’t alone.

Charles felt rooted to the ground as he met Max’s father’s eyes.

Jos frowned at him, then got up from his seat, and walked into the hall.

“Leclerc,” he said coldly, standing in front of the door, a deep crease between his brows. “What are you doing here?”

Charles’ eyes darted from Jos to Max, Max to Jos. Max’s eyes were closed. He didn’t seem to be hurt, didn’t seem to have any injuries. That’s what Mattia had told him, that’s what Christian reported to the press. But Charles heard Max’s radio after the race. Charles heard that Max had passed out in the car.

“I just—” he started, his heart pounding in his ears. “I needed to see him. Make sure he was actually alright.”

Jos lifted a brow, his face unreadable. He looked back at his son, then back at Charles, and sighed. “He is okay,” he assured. “No major injuries. But he needs to rest if he will race in Hungary.”

Relief slammed into Charles, but it didn’t feel good. He felt anxious. He wanted to step inside, wanted to push Jos out of the way and kneel at Max’s side and cup his face. He felt pathetic. He felt ashamed.

“Good,” he croaked out over the lump in his throat. “That’s— That’s good.”

For a long moment, the hall was pindrop silent. Jos was quiet, but his eyes weren’t leaving Charles. He was a statue, a stone lion guarding a house.

Do you know? Charles wondered. Did Max ever tell you?

“I think you should go,” he said.

Charles looked into the room again, tried to burn this image in his memory. Max is here, Max is safe, he told himself. Max will be alright.

“Yeah,” he acquiesced, his voice hoarse, all gravel-like. What good would it do if he stayed? He wasn’t family. He wasn’t Max’s mate. He wasn’t anything.

He turned on his heels, started walking away, but then he stopped and turned back. Jos was still there, watching him leave.

“Can you not tell him?” he asked, his voice a rush of sound. “That I—”

“I was not planning to,” Jos said, his voice firm, final, and certain.

Charles nodded, bit the inside of his mouth, then walked away.

Once he got to his Pista, he pulled out his phone and saw several missed calls from his boyfriend. He’d put it on silent as soon as he got it back post-race. Guilt filled his mouth. They were supposed to fly back to Monaco together tonight. Charles missed their flight. Right now, Elio was probably thousands of feet in the air, or worse: in their hotel room, wondering where he was, where he went—waiting for him. Charles hadn’t even thought to spare him a text.

Fuck, Charles thought, resting his forehead on the steering wheel. What the fuck am I doing?

.

.

.

tbc…? idk

Sally Jackson really said "drop everything now meet me in the pouring rain" and Poseidon answered

Percy "yes I will absolutely piss of the King of Gods who I just handed a massive electrical killing machine too" Jackson

Google doc with all the bungou stray dogs links.

Google Docs

bsd translations

WARNING: I haven't checked all of these fully and some of these are illegal websites (last time the links where checked : 8/18/23) Contains

Contains:

-All the light novels

-All the mangas and spin offs (gaiden, beast, wan ect)

-beast live action

-anime s1-4

-welcome to the hot springs CD

-stage play

-official art archive

Gods I love them

truly the blueprint

did i complete the chalice of the gods the day it came out? yes and I have no regrets staying up till 4 am to do so

Chuuya: In another live, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you.

Dazai: Chuuya thinks I do my taxes?