Adeus, Lenda

You probably know my F1 story this year.

From knowing nothing to a somewhat paddock protege.

Well, not purely "knowing nothing" though, as some names of the sport's legends had always been exposed to my ears since forever.

Michael Schumacher.

Juan Pablo Montoya.

Giancarlo Fisichella.

Then when I began following the tournament, apparently, there were names I was familiar with, that were still competing.

Sebastian Vettel.

Kimi Räikkönen.

Fernando Alonso.

Lewis Hamilton.

And of course,

Felipe Massa.

Pic's from here.

Long before, when F1 was just still something I gave no credits to, name Felipe Massa on the other hand, always came to my recognition. I wasn't really sure how he had been doing in the sport and even which team he drove for but, what I knew was, that he was among the notable drivers.

Then I started binge-watching the sport. I was so excited by the time I caught his name on the grid in the 2016 Australia GP, because it made me realized that wow, I didn't notice that F1 is blessed with so many famous names! So I began to expect much on him. To give fights, and make the podium less Mercedes-ish.

However as the year went by, he didn't impress much. I was disappointed, and if it were any other kind of sport, and fans like me were of that typical kind of a bandwagon who's just looking for the best performer to be cheered upon, he might had long been dumped already.

But that's just not how F1 works.

It's not just numbers of races you won, or championships you bore.

It's about progress, and consistency. And all the races and tournaments you entered, before you finally tasted the luxury of an F1 seat.

And I knew that Massa had been through it all.

Otherwise how would I keep knowing his name during my F1 clueless era?

It's just, I missed it. I missed it when Massa was on his glorious days, and I caught him in his last acts which turned to be his not-so-nice time of career. It's normal though, really, in the world of sport, to lose your grip after dedicating your life for so long. That's why, there's always the option to retire.

Which Felipe Massa eventually took.

Which I really wasn't pretty amused about.

Because I honestly wished to see more of him.

But all and all yea, that's okay.

At least I got to see it: A Legend's Last Races.

And how the world bid him a farewell he really deserved.

He deserves all the claps from all over the world.

That last home race was heartbreaking, yes.

The tears shed in Brazil were touching, really.

But then it shows just how dear this Felipe Massa is.

So, Senhor Massa.

You've received your sweet goodbyes from your old, loyal fans.

It's time for you to hear it from somebody so new, but really adores you.

"Obrigado, Felipe.

E adeus, Lenda"

Bully

Okay so no F1 Grand Prix this weekend.

I know, sucks, but I have a good idea.

Let's talk about one topic that has been really much talked about lately.

Yea, it's

"VERSTAPPEN vs FERRARI"

(I like how it all starts with the sound of "VER"s)

So happy I could find such beautiful photo of them three. It's from here though.

Collision between the teenager and the two F1 legends happened all the way back before the summer break, if I'm not mistaken. But of course, the most recognized occurrence, the one where it all began, took place in Belgium.

Pic's from here.

Spa is one of my favorite Grand Prixes. Hamilton's blast from P20 something to podium, Magnussen's big crash, clashes all around the places and then, there were Max vs Kimi.

The two was going on a fierce battle all laps long. And this was actually the time where the trend of Max's underbraking started. Oh yeah the kid played dirty many times in front of the Finn. And boy he was was totally pissed.

And he started to be all in rage and kept on swearing on the radio. I even reached the point where I thought after the race was finished, Kimi would come to Max and beat the crap out of that kid. Because dude, it's Kimi Räikkönen. You don't want to mess with him.

It's like a school drama. Where the big guy felt intimidated by spineless guy who apparently is brighter than him. And he begins to be filled with rage. While the smaller one could just defend himself, in an obvious fear.

And when I thought this was hilarious enough, Mexico served some other comedy.

Pic's from here.

Even better.

Because this happened exactly on the last lap. The whole race was so so but THIS happened, exactly on the last lap, thanks to the drama of Max vs Sebastian.

The junior was on P3, the latter was on P4. It was a virgin-tight close head-to-head catch-up until suddenly, on Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez's infamous turn one, Max slipped and rode off track to get a 'privileged' shortcut, leading him to a podium.

But everyone knows that he'd be given penalty so Seb, being an annoying jackass of his own, interrupted Max's celebration by giving him a super "no, no, don't be happy yet, kiddo" gesture while driving along the then-3rd winner.

It was an intense podium switchings.

Verstappen was there already, chilling with the top 2 -which is of course, the Mercedes guys- while suddenly his face changed. That face. Fuck, so funny. A face of somebody being rejected. And to make it even better, it was a kid's face for God's sake. Yes, he was given 5 seconds penalty, causing the German to be the 3rd in Mexico.

Back on track, Seb was being paraded by his fellow Ferrari crews. Oh my God this was so colossal. The young Dutch was out already, and the podium was all for Vettel.

Shit, man.

Verstappen's face.

And Vettel's parade.

It was worth my slept-early-and-woke-up-late-at-night-because-Mexico-is-like-12-hours-later-than-Indonesia sacrifice.

Just look at Max's face when Vettel's moving towards the podium. SO PRECIOUS.

Lol. This bully.

I actually imagined that scene where Verstappen parted ways with his friends (his team), and his brother (Ricciardo) goes away from some other business. He's riding a bike through a slum dark alley, and the Ferrari gang, co-led by Kimi and Seb, is there already, waiting to beat him.

Ha-ha.

Well. I'm not here to judge who's right or wrong, because obviously Verstappen was being unethical but it was just natural to defend himself. And no I'm not on Max's side because my fave is Daniel it has nothing to do with his partner. I'm bringing this up because I never thought F1 would be this much entertaining.

It's just so funny to see how the Red Bull rookie acts.

And it's even funnier to see how the reds react.

But beware, Ferrari.

You can be the bully off-track.

But it's pretty clear so far that on track,

The kid is your fiery, red bully

P.S.: You do know that the plot twist of who gets the 3rd podium didn't end there, don't you? Yes, Vettel was given 10s penalty for underbraking Ricciardo while fighting with Verstappen so eventually, the 3rd place was for the Australian. Fuck MexicanGP. Best one yet.