Studio Ghibli: Project Twenty One

I guess this is my first time ever writing about Studio Ghibli here in my blog.

I've only ever watched around 5 of Studio Ghibli's works. I know, pity. I always claim that I'm into Japanese animation thingy but all I always watch are just Digimon, Naruto, One Piece, and other major mainstream pieces and/or 90s Indo-private-stations-aired series. But I'm not that type of a FOMO person so all these years I've always been like... whatever.

Until finally Dad subscribed Netflix for all of us. Something which, I also didn't mind to miss out because first I'm not feeling FOMO and second, I already subscribed Apple TV+ and Disney+ for myself so, why should I have another streaming service?? And then I remembered that, in February, Netflix added all Studio Ghibli movies to their list. ALL 21 OF THEM!

Then I guess it's just about time.

There's no more barrier between me and these 21 masterpieces.

So just today, in this super chilly and gloomy Saturday, I began my initiative to finish these Studio Ghibli movies. Project Twenty One. I began with "Howl's Moving Castle", which I instantly fell in love with. I would never say no to the magic of Studio Ghibli. And with the addition of such peaceful atmosphere, post-rain breeze, some rugs I spread out by the balcony for my snoozing, hot green tea, warm dimmed lighting and the companies of my cat and Sheriff Woody, I just had one of the best weekends in 2021 so far.

I'm sure this is what Danish people say as "Hygge"

Now I watched 6 movies already. But I'll keep the one I just finished today off of my current Studio Ghibli list for me to include later on after I watch more. Here's my rank so far.

1. Spirited Away
2. Grave of the Fireflies
3. My Neighbor Totoro
4. Ponyo
5. Pom Poko

And it'd definitely change as I finish more movies. Not only "change" as if the list adds up, but also "change" as if the ranks get re-ordered -- because I might have different perspective in watching those movies, some of which was done when I was younger. And dumber.

 

So twenty one movies, unlimited time.

I'm gonna divide it to three stages, seven movies each because if I have to write every time I finish one movie, I'm not gonna lie, pretty sure this ambitious initiative would just end up in the trash of unfinished business.

Yeah three stages would do.

So I'll see you after seven movies!

Second half of 2021 would be magical.

Ghibli-level Magical

All Plot Twisted

Oh look at me.

Six races of Formula One 2021 season had finished and this is my first post. Well don't blame me, it's been boring so far, with Lewis dominating the championship as usual and Max occasionally made things a bit fun. The plot we all knew would be happening.

Things got picked up only two races ago, in Monaco, where Charles Lecrerc hit the barriers during the end of Q3, and forced the quali to stop - making him the pole-sitter, and Lewis on 7th HA! Despite Monaco's nature of almost-impossible-to-overtake - which honestly made it a boring one - and Charles' sad SAD home Grand Prix heartbreak which... well, which he didn't even start thanks to the gearbox condition given the previous day's crash, the race eventually ended in such an exciting lineup:

Lando Norris in P3, Carlos Sainz in P2, and, Max Verstappen in P1.

And the whole championship went crazy.

The first plot twist.

Max's win in Monaco made him lead the championship, four points ahead of Lewis. For the first time since I don't know when, finally it wasn't Lewis that leads the championship. It's somebody else. It's Max Verstappen, and to make things spicier, it's his first time EVER leading a championship. Any championship. Of course this made the entire F1 community "freak out". The stats are like a solar eclipse, or a double rainbow, or any other natural phenomenon, where it only happens once in a blue moon.

Next stop was Azerbaijan. And we knew this would be epic. Because the Grand Prix has its own additional interesting stats. Ever since its inaugural start in 2016 - by that time it was still EuropeanGP - Baku never has a driver with most wins. 2016 was Nico Rosberg. 2017 was Daniel Ricciardo - oh my God I miss his heyday. 2018 was Lewis, 2019 was Valtteri and 2020 was none thanks to Covid. Each of them only managed to win once in Baku, and with Max leading the championship, of course WE WANT HIM to prolong the ritual.

And now enter The Race.

Oh God this will be really messy HAHA

I must say, this was the first epic battle of 2021. Monaco was great, but only because of the result. The race itself was meh. This one, the fucking messed-up - in a good way - Azerbaijan Grand Prix, was a crazy race we hadn't seen in a while. Oh and it wasn't only about the race day. Even the Qualifying Round was chaotic. Because there were FOUR crashes, resulting in FOUR red flags!

Stroll was the first to crash. In Q1. Against Turn 15. Front right tyre got instantly dislodged, red flag waved due to severe debris. Giovinazzi was the second crash. Also in Q1, and ALSO against Turn 15 - lol this is getting freaky, eh? Car stopped in an instant, another red flag waved. Third red flag was sadly because of Daniel. In Q2, and this time at Turn 3. Same cause though: not smooth turning.

During these whole quali sessions, it was always been either Lewis, Valtteri, and Max who scored the fastest lap. Typical, eh? Gasly, Tsunoda, and Alonso, however, progressed through and entered Q3, making it a worth-waiting end of quali -- though of course, we already thought that this would end in the usual LVM or LMV setup. However, the second plot twist of Azerbaijan Grand Prix happened in Q3.

Charles surprisingly scored fastest laps halfway through Q3, .2s ahead of Lewis and .3s ahead of Max. Of course this would only be a temporary shit, and things could easily change because their time gaps were oh so tight. This stayed the same until the very last chance for everyone, where Charles still LEADS and Lewis was still OUT LAP, and... Tsunoda crashed. And session was stopped, and we never knew if Lewis could actually get the pole or not.

BUT HEY, WHO CARES!? Charles was on pole and that's what matters! Max was on P3 and this could only mean that the fight for the leader of the championship would still be on!

Fast forward to Race Day - and oh I swear it was the longest 24 hours of my life.

I don't want to chit chat too much because there will be lots of things to talk about. The lights out? Was blah. No overtakes for the earlier laps, though it only meant that Lewis was not leading. Everyone knew Charles wouldn't stay there forever, c'mon, but at least it'd buy some time for Max to charge on Lewis AND THAT'S WHAT MATTERS! Also, Sergio Perez overtook Gasly early on, making it a RB 3-4 which would be a good news for the team because if that lasts till the end, given that Bottas was struggling so bad far at the verge between getting points or not getting points, at least Red Bull would still be leading the Constructors Championship.

Ever since Lewis overtook Charles on lap 3 - see? It's as if his pole was nothing! - everything went just as usual. The guy led the race, bla bla bla. Boring, boring, boring, skip, skip, skip, all the way to... Lap 12. Where Lewis pitted, smoothly to be honest, but he got delayed for some seconds thanks to Gasly passing through the pit lane just right on time - Red Bull's masterBlan? Perhaps...

And this was the start of all twists.

Hamilton's prolonged pit stop really benefited Max and Checo. It was 4 point something seconds! And when Max pitted a lap after that, it took only 1.9 second, and when he was out of the lane, POOF, Lewis was of course placed behind him! This was the time I realized we would be seeing something special at the end of this race. A WIN FOR RED BULL, HOPEFULLY!?

Our joy lasted only one lap. Lap 14, it was time for Checo to pit. We knew this wouldn't matter much to the positions because Lewis's 4s stop was too fatal to benefit him. But I swear the power of jinx really existed in F1 universe. Checo's crew had a bit of problem with the front tyre and his pit was also delayed, up to 4 fucking seconds. What the actual fuck? Why would this kind of thing always happen to the fan of any drivers except Lewis Hamilton's? I mean, it was all so smooth and blessed but why should this kind of thing happen, really?

So after the forever-second pit, Checo moved out of the lane. I honestly didn't care anymore if Lewis overtook him because that's what usually happened: other drivers - including their own Valtteri Bottas - did well, we were happy, and then these other drivers somehow made mistakes and Lewis got back on track only to fight with Max, which most of the time was unfortunate as well, so the Brit won. Every fucking time. But... not this time.

Because when Checo exited the pit, he was APPARENTLY STILL AHEAD OF LEWIS! With so small gap though, BUT HEY, HIM BEING P2 WAS WHAT MATTERS! The teamwork of both RB drivers would be tested here, and Checo's game of defense would totally be maxed out. THIS IS THE BATTLE BETWEEN RED BULL DRIVERS - plural - AND MERCEDES DRIVER - singular - WE'VE ALWAYS BEEN WAITING FOR!!!

Then Stroll crashed in Lap 31. Tyre failure, to be exact, and then hit the barriers. It was actually so sad because he hadn't pitted, and seemed to be waiting for someone else to make errors let's say at... Turn 15? But apparently he was the one having the crash. And just right in front of pit entry, so no one could take advantage of this unfortunate event...

After the race resumed from Lance Stroll's incident, Top 3 remained the same and it was looking really, REALLY fine. The way Checo defended his position from Lewis' attacks was so crazy, and shrieks-making - I lost count on how many screams I did that night. Another battle worth draining my emotion was of Sebastian Vettel, whom went charging on like his old bull self -- overtaking Charles just at the beginning of the restart, and Gasly some laps afterwards.

Everything looked all on track, but then God of F1 said: "Hell no, this ain't over for you guys." And the major plot twist of Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2021 happened.

Max Verstappen crashed.

The leader of the race, the leader of the championship, crashed. On Lap 46, out of fucking 51. It wasn't a crash between two cars -- it was a crash as a product of another tyre failure. The second tyre failure of the race - and our arch nemesis changed from Turn 15 to Pirelli.

Can you guess how I reacted to this? Well, wrong. No screaming, no screeching, to couch banging, no table flipping, no wall punching, no. Nothing. I was out of words. The only voice that was out of me was so soft, even the most annoying light-sleeper baby wouldn't dare to wake up. I was mindblown, because, BECAUSE OF COURSE I WAS MINDBLOWN -- SHOULD I REALLY TELL YOU WHY???

Max was fucking on a roll, and it was so close for him to win. To win the race and resumed his position on top of the championship. TO WIN THE RACE AND EXTEND THE GAP BETWEEN HIM AND HAMILTON. It was 5 more laps. I swear one minute before the crash I complained to my fellow F1 fans just how 5 laps felt so long and then it fucking happened. Five. More. Fucking laps, and WHY THE HELL SHOULD HE BE HAVING THIS TYRE FAILURE!?

Proof of my complain and how the plot twisted just less than a minute after.

I may be letting all these right now, but back in that day this happened, I really was out of words. It was bullshit. All these emotional rollercoasters since the beginning of the race, oh wait, SINCE YESTERDAY'S QUALIFICATION, all gone, all wasted and useless because this fucking race was going to end like it always ended. "Lewis Hamilton is the winner of Azerbaijan Grand Prix!" oh God I could even hear Croft said that already, even before the race restarted.

I mean, seriously, how did this kind of shit never happened to Lewis? He was a good driver, yes, I can't deny it, but others are as good! But others sometime ran out of luck, so why did this luck never leave Lewis??? Everyone seemed to agree that he's got so much luck, but I just couldn't take that anymore. What happened to Lewis is God play, and it's just beyond my logic.

Well there was a gap between Perez and Lewis, right? Red Bull can still win? Ha ha, of course that's not what happened. Of course God was still with His "Hell no, this ain't over for you guys" crap.

So came the Red Flag.

The fifth this weekend, the one that didn't really feel joyful to me. It was a safety car at first, but then it grew to a questionable red flag and a fucking standing restart. I mean, it was Lap 50 already with the safety car, WHY ON EARTH WOULD YOU STOP THE RACE!? So that it would not end under safety car? No, more like so that it would be Lewis who wins. Gosh, I always had these negative thoughts on him but all these can't be just coincidences, right???

After finding out that they'd be doing a standing restart I was like, okay, it's done. Lewis would be easily snatching the first position from Perez, and oh guess what, the Mexican was having problem with the engine. WHAT ARE THE FUCKING ODDS? :) Might as well just shut down the entire Red Bull team and let Mercedes not only win this one, but each and every single F1 race all the way until 2052 no??? So yeah, that was it for this race.

Lewis would be back on top again, points added from winning Azerbaijan Grand Prix, while Verstappen stuck with his current points. The gap would be too big for the Dutchman to catch up. The only miracle that would refrain Lewis from winning was if he jeopardized himself, crashed himself to the barrier or to the corners, in the name of sportsmanship and honor to his fight with Max. But lol what the hell that wouldn't happen. He was on the verge of winning, and the chance he'd ruin it was like 1:infinity.

I tweeted that 1:infinity wish, not knowing what would happen next...

Around 30ish minutes passed and the race was finally restarted. Though it was like against all odds, I honestly still had a pinch of hope and that's why I stayed to watch. But of course the hope was false. Not long after the lights out for the second time, Lewis overtook Perez.

Of course. That's what meant to happen. Of course Lewis would win. Of course his luck would bring back his favorite position and of course we couldn't do anything about it. All I could do was just stomping the ground in anger and agony, cursing to God only knows who.

However...

You do remember the time when I said "the power of jinx really existed in F1 universe" right? While everything looked all messed up, God of F1 said, for the final time that night: "Heavens no, this ain't over for you guys."

And the ultimate plot twist of Azerbaijan Grand Prix happened.

LEWIS HAD A MAN-MADE BRAKE ERROR CAUSING HIM A MASSIVE LOCKUP CAUSING HIM TO DRIVE WAY OFF TRACK!

AND I WAS LIKE OH MY GOD IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?? I JINXED LEWIS HAMILTON! AND THAT GUY WAS RUNNING OUT OF LUCK! THIS WAS MUCH BETTER THAN SEEING HIM CRASH! THE RACE RESUMED AND LEWIS WAS ON THE FUCKING BACK OF THE GRID, SEEING HIS EASY WIN JUST FLEW AWAY FROM HIS GRIP!

I SWEAR I NEVER CELEBRATED THAT CRAZY OVER AN F1 RACE, EVEN WHEN DANNY RIC WON. THE TWIST WAS SO UNBELIEVABLE TO THE POINT THAT I THOUGHT I WAS A SORCERER OR SOMETHING!? I BET EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE NON-MERCEDES F1 OUT THERE WAS SCREAMING AND YELLING IN JOY AS LOUD AS I WAS THAT DAY, AND EXACTLY NOW AS I AM WRITING IT.

Phew, okay, caps lock off starting now but SORRY I CAN'T HELP IT! I'M WRITING THIS POST IN THE FIRST PLACE BECAUSE I WANT TO TELL HOW UNEXPECTED THE TURNTABLES WERE!

At first we thought Max would win, and then Lewis would win, and then Max would win, and then the crash, and I swear that crash, I lost all my hopes and faith in everything, EVERYTHING, I WAS LIKE, WHAT KIND OF VOODOOS AND SANTETS AND DUKUNS DOES THIS BRITISH GUY OR HIS TEAM IS USING!? His luck - and skill, of course, but luck fucking takes roles too! - are unreachable...

But then it was Perez who won the race, such a worthy pairing to Max's crazy speed, and Vettel came second OH MY GOD VETTEL! We would really do anything to see him win again! And his performance during this race was fucking uncanny! If things went smoothly and both Max and Lewis were still in the race, he'd be placed 4th and still it was a freaking awesome result! What happened was somehow God's doing, a gift to him for all his amazing hard work. He deserved that podium, really.

I had a shooting the day after the race, and of course I had to wear this.

Anyways, CRAZY RACE!

I know I've said that a whole lot time in this blog - although as a fan, it wasn't enough because we want each race to be crazy! - but I swear this time the craziness was different.

The plot twists were unbelievable.
But then again, we F1 fans love
To be twisted!

Dance The 20s Away

You know what's nice?

To be young forever of course lol why God why are we given the concept of age? Well no, okay, no I'm not gonna complain about that now. So hey! Back to the original question: you know what's nice?

To wrap up the years of being 20s real nice.

I just turned 29. But unlike the old me, I'd rather not to make a big fuss of it in this blog. My last birthday post was in... wait let's see... ah, 2017. My 25th birthday. Years after, I kinda felt like I didn't want to keep reminding myself about how I'm getting closer and closer to leaving 20s. So I distracted myself, with my works, my books, my travels, my cats, my ambitions, my every other things expect my age.

But then it came. My 29th birthday. And all of the sudden my "distraction wall" just got tear down. I'm exposed, once again, to the fact that I'll turn 30. And this time shit got even more real because the culprit would come in less than one year.

Well.
No one can deny this, eh?
So I guess it's time for me to give in.
And welcome 30 with grace.

I'm actually doing it now! Exactly one day after my birthday, I fled to Bali for my first ever long trip on the island. The max I ever had was 12 days, and here I am now, writing this thing on my 19th day while I still have one week to spend here. Well I started my last year of being 20s really right—of course I'd do something much better if it weren't for the stupid pandemic so, Bali during this time would be more than enough.

So I'm good for the first month. After this I'd come back to Jakarta, spend the rest of Ramadan, go on an annual family staycation and poof! All I need to think of is just the rest of my 10 months of being 20s. And how would I do that? How could I make these last months of being 20s... worth reminding?

Well, a lot, actually... but one thing I really want to do THE MOST would be...

To dance again.

Yes, literally. At the club, especially, or at a concert, or at some home parties would be okay as well. With some people I like, with strangers, with the presence of boozes, and loud music, and crazy crowd, OH MY GOD I WANT TO DO THAT AS MANY TIMES AS I CAN BEFORE I TURN 30!!!

I entered the pandemic being 27, and now I'm 29. And I have no guarantee that we'll be out of this fucking pandemic while I'm still 29.

TWO. FUCKING. YEARS. Of no dancing. Of no partying with my friends. Of no moving weirdly with some intoxicated guys I made friends with at the club. Of no traveling abroad, and getting into some random dance floor only to get a little taste of what it feels like to dance in that country. TWO, FUCKING, YEARS, of none of that, and I'm getting really weary.

I've had some of my best times on the dance floor during my 20s, and I don't want to leave the age stage not doing that.

20 y.o - 2012 - Singapore
This was just several days after I turned 20.
Oh how amazing life was back then...

21 y.o - 2013 - Bali
So many things happened following AND preceding this :')

22 y.o - 2014 - Bali
Yep these two broke up lol so I had to cover their faces.
Your secrets are safe with me Pong, Gan (trus disebut wkwk)

23 y.o - 2015 - Tokyo
Of course even in a karaoke session I dance!

24 y.o - 2016 - Singapore
At the concert of Imagine Dragons thanks to Singapore GP!

25 y.o - 2017 - Jakarta
Probably one of the messiest dance I ever had.
And it was in my hometown lol wth was I thinking!?

26 y.o - 2018 - Madrid
And this, was one of the fun-est, random-est dance I ever done.

27 y.o - 2019 - Monza
But never thought that the best dance OF MY LIFE was a dance to a national anthem.

I know it's a lot to ask during this uncertain times. One can't really predict what the universe has already prepared for the future. Would it be better, would it be worse, would we be more free to see each other, would there be more restrictions? No one knows.

But I want it. No.
I WANT IT.

I want to dance again with EVERY SINGLE CIRCLE of mine, before I turn 30, before everyone else turns 30 on their respective timeline.

And heck, it's always nice to have a plan, right? I mean, now that we are limited to do stuff we love, a plan would make things feel a bit more... hopeful.

So for now I'd just let the imagination runs in my mind. The good times with all my friends and family, let's just play the scenario in the dreamland, hoping that it'd come.

Although if it eventually doesn't come,
At least I had it well played in the back of my head:

The Last Dances of Being 20s

Sick Sakhir

Previously, on Formula One 2020.

"It's lights out in Bahrain and away we go, Romain Grosjean hit the barrier the car exploded the race was stopped and the medical crews saved the Frenchman, Lance Stroll flew and rolled to DNF, Sergio Perez dominated the top rows only to retire and let go of the podium that he would snatch in several more laps leading Racing Point to a tragic double DNF, giving the glory to the lucky Alex Albon! What a race!"

Gotta admit, Bahrain GP was something.

Not because of the blast, because no one would ever want to witness that. I literally screamed when that Haas car slipped to the edge, hit the barrels and actually BLASTED! I've never seen a fire like that in an F1 race before, and the view was a total horror. Thank God Romain Grosjean made it out and the scene where he jumped out from the blaze remained sanctity to me it never failed making me cry. Such a miracle to see that happening in front of my very eyes...

So yea, Bahrain GP was something, but totally not because of the blast. It's what follows afterwards that made things went saucy.

Lewis Hamilton was tested positive for Covid-19.

That's another news we didn't want to hear, really, though gotta admit the idea of not having Lewis in a race was somehow exciting. But still, speedy recovery, Lewis! Then rumors of who to replace the champ to compete in the upcoming Sakhir GP went like all over the air. First strong candidate was Stoffel Vandoorne, because duh, he was the actual reserve. Then of course Nico Hulkenberg's name surfaced too because he'd been doing that this year for like, thousands of times. But the one that really tickled most of everyone, because we really REALLY wanted it to happen, was George Russell.

Britain's next F1 talent. A driver we knew more than capable enough to sit that Mercedes throne, a driver whom we agreed deserves a better car than that Williams kiddy ride. We wanted him. More than anyone else. And so they heard us.

George Russell was to replace Lewis Hamilton.

I just loved the vibes. Everyone suddenly became a fan of Mercedes, forgetting that they're not a big fan of Lewis. Everyone? Or it was just me? Haha. Predictions on where Georgie would start, whether he'd snatch pole, and ultimately, whether he'd win the race, blew up like crazy. People were also curious on how Bottas would deal with this sudden change, challenged by a fresh, aggressive driver.

Sakhir GP, though took place at the same circuit as Bahrain GP but with different track layout, sadly was broadcasted at night -- meaning that I would have to stay up late. But I didn't care. I watched the quali anyway because I wanted to see how far George would break his own record. I wanted to see him out of Q1 with not much struggle as usual, out of Q2 for the first time, and even strike pole if he could. Well eventually he couldn't but he was second! George Russell would start on the front row, set only .0026-ish below pole-sitter Valtteri Bottas! CRAZY ENOUGH TO START THE GP WEEKEND? YE BET!

Because the actual race was out of the world.

Oh my God. This is going to be all over the place. And too much. Because seriously, the race itself was mindblowing. From the very first lap, even from lights out! It was a freaking 87-lap race but GOD DID I HAVE NO TIME TO BREATHE??

Okay. So let's talk about lineup first. Bottas, Russell, Verstappen, Lecrerc, Perez, Kvyat - like, whaaatt??? - Ricciardo, Sainz, and so on and so on I forgot the rest. But just look at this top 5. Four top teams were there. Then followed by the favorite mid-tiers. WHO DIDN'T FREAK OUT WITH THIS LINEUP? I mean, even if Russell messed things up, which would be fine, because he was only a reserve driver and that car belonged to you-know-who, there were still Max, Charles, Sergio, and Daniel. AND CHARLES!? Literally everyone rejoiced to see him back up there, casually starting fourth like a good ol' fashioned Ferrari! THIS WAS LIKE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF F1 FANS FANTASY LINEUP! Oh the idea of seeing two Mercedes, a Red Bull, a Ferrari and a Racing Point run in a very interesting almost square-like track it gave me a mini o*gasm already.

You can't tell how excited I was when the time was already reaching close. When coast was clear and all twenty cars did their formation lap. And then lights out.

For a split second it was all over the place. Some drivers were still on their current position but already running, until I saw both Mercedes were side by side entering the first corner... revealing that George exited first to snatch the lead.

George Russell. Snatched. The Lead.

AND I WAS INSTANTLY LOSING MYSELF. I screamed as if he was my favorite driver. George Russell led the race, and after overtaking Bottas, he fled away, creating some distance between him and his temporary team mate and then BOOM! Crash happened just behind them Mercedes.

One crash. That made the top three contenders swept away, two of which even had to retire early. Lecrerc booped on the back of charging Perez, sending the pink car spinning and the red car widened to the direction of Max Verstappen. Max and Charles DNF-ed instantly after both ended up kissing the barrier, and Sergio Perez, dropped from almost P3 to P18. FVCKING CRAZY TO THINK THAT IT ALL HAPPENED IN JUST THE FIRST LAP, AND ALL OUR FAVORITES TO BE TODAY'S CHAMP JUST GOT SWOOPED AWAY IN AN INSTANT. Phew. As the competitors fell, now the mid-packers were feasting to get the empty spots.

Things went smoothly for Georgie. Most fights happened in the middle pack, as usual, and both Mercedes swayed on the far front, as usual, but the feeling was unusual. Because I enjoyed it this time. EVERYONE, must've been enjoying that this time. We wanted George to keep on running and just wrap up the race so we could see him as the winner of Sakhir Grand Prix. We did want that, we really really longed to see that, and we were actually seeing that happening.

Until Safety Car deployed.

The type that would change everything.

This time was thanks to Jack Aitken's crash, causing his front nose break and debris all over the track. Thanks to Jack Aitken, which was driving a Williams car. A Williams car which seat was free, because the driver moved to Mercedes. George's usual car.

George entered pit during this period. It was fine until Mercedes decided to do double stack pit, and suddenly... they're being doofus. The crews messed up the tyres set, giving Bottas' tyres to George and the other way around, sending him out of pit in an instant not knowing their errors because Bottas was waiting. They realized they made a mistake when they did Bottas, and that was why it took them forever to do his pit. Long story short, after one lap George was recalled to the pit to switch the tyres again.

Oh my God. I swear when it happened, I'm losing my knees it feels like both of them were disjointed I couldn't stand again. It's as if I was the one being robbed. The best F1 team made a very foolish mistake that looked so unprofessional. COULDN'T YOU FREAKING BELIEVE THAT?? And for that sort of stupidity to happen when the seat was filled by a promising reserve driver, not when His Majesty Lewis Hamilton was onboard it felt like... DID YOU GUYS DO THAT ON PURPOSE???

I was so gutted here. It was lap 64, and all of my excitement towards George was for what? Seeing him now several places behind where he should be, and even worse, behind Bottas?? Seeing that super dumb tyre mixed-up made me question Mercedes' strategy, and whether they'd want to let Bottas give way to George later on. I didn't care about Perez, Ocon, and Stroll in front of them because I thought they hadn't pitted and that they'd give the P1-2 back somehow, but, WE DON'T WANT TO SEE GEORGE FINISH SECOND!

Race resumed, and as expected, George fought for the 4th place. Against Bottas. This was really REALLY concerning because a little mistake would create an unnecessary contact and SWOOSH! Bye bye both Mercedes. I was curling so hard on my couch like a cold cat, not sure how to react to every single too-much-too-bald moves from George. Because hey, it's not his car and it would be easy for him to lose grip!

But that kid really was a crazy son of a Brit. After a few laps, George took on Bottas, closing in, and FOR FUDGE'S SAKE A BIT TOO CLOSE, and finally OVERTOOK BOTTAS YET AGAIN WHICH MEANS THAT HE DID THAT TWICE IN JUST A SINGLE RACE! OH MY FREAKING GOD! I WAS LITERALLY SQUIRMING AND ROLLING HERE AND THERE WHEN THAT HAPPENED! I SWEAR I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD BE CHEERING FOR A MERCEDES CAR LIKE THIS! THE FACT THAT HE'S AN UNDERRATED DRIVER GIVEN A CHANCE TO PROVE HIMSELF REALLY MADE ME LOWER MY EGO AND WOULD WANT TO SUCK UP TO THE TEAM I LIKE THE LEAST! GOD HOW COULD F1 DO THIS TO VICKY AMIN!?!? HAHA!

I skyrocketed from being uber upset to super excited! For a split second I completely forgot about the foolishness Mercedes did, because Russell was now ahead of Bottas. It was just a matter of time until he could kick the three worms off of his way, and there he did! He gained back to P2 in just one lap. Meanwhile Bottas, after getting overtaken by Russell, seemed to be losing it and got raped by Sainz, Danny Ric and even Albon.

But I guess I've made one too many jinx out of George. All of us F1 fans did jinx the poor guy. And we forget the fact that this is 2020, the year of fuckery. Also the fact that this was not Lewis Hamilton, whose luck was divine and beyond compare.

Just before Russell got the chance to take on Perez and snatch back his place, a crazy thing happened. A crazy thing that made me decided that this race was a fucker because it really played with my emotions. From up there being all too excited, crash landing to earth thanks to the idiotic double-stacking-gone-wrong, to high up again until I feel like I reached the climax, now back down even deeper than the center of the hell.

George was called back in.

He got puncture, they said, sending George back to pit for a total of 4 stops which until now I really can't comprehend on why, WHY, did that have to happen??? Why did this have to happen to a pure fresh talent hungry for a boost that could make him go even further??? WHY ON EARTH ALL OF THIS HAPPENED WHEN IT WAS NOT LEWIS HAMILTON WHO WAS THEIR DRIVER, WHEN HE WAS NOT ONBOARD, WHEN HE WAS NOT FIGHTING FOR HIS YET ANOTHER WIN!?!?

That cost Russell his chance to win. He even almost lost his chance to score points because out of pit, he joined the pack on 14th place. Thank God he still made it to the points sector and finished 9th, giving him a sad 2-point finish which happened to be his first ever points. At least he got something but, what's the beauty in that, after for 60 laps or so was looking at the grandeur of being the race winner? I don't know how it was like to be him. I really don't, and I hope I don't ever have to. I feel so terrible, and it wasn't even on me. It wasn't even my favorite driver. I was just being a human.

But then the human side of me wasn't all completely devastated. Because although the man we wanted the most to win the race eventually didn't, the place went to the second-best deserving driver whom I'm sure no one would ever be against it.

The Overlooked Sergio Perez.

The real hero of Bahrain last night. The real driver of the day, if it wasn't for everyone thinking Russell would win, or everyone voting him out of pity. Sergio started 5th originally, and then the crash made him drop to 18th, only above Max and Charles whom both DNF-ed, which means that he was basically at the bottom. But he crawled back up there, slowly but steadily, all while all of us were swooned by George's charm and smooth operation.

From the bottom of the pack to the points sector, Sergio's first meaningful fight was against the weirdly-underperforming-throughout-the-weekend Norris and obviously-not-deserving-an-RB-seat Albon for 9th place. Passing those two, it was apparently fast for him to get even higher. Having an early pit after the crash surprisingly gave him all the benefits as the others started to pit and struggle between medium or hard strategies, Mr Perez went on with the yellow tyre.

His last decisive maneuver was when he overtook both Lance Stroll and then Esteban Ocon, which would stay like that until the end of the race. Little did he know that Mercedes had a plan to "destroy" George's chance to win, and eventually gave free space for him to be the race leader, making his supposedly P3 a winning spot.

Sergio Perez finally won his maiden Grand Prix.

Esteban Ocon got his first podium, Stroll got his second of the year which made it double podium for Racing Point, but I didn't care. I didn't really care about all those additional sugar icings because the main cherry on top was Sergio Perez. He deserved every little second up there on that podium.

And for some time we were really distracted from the sorrow of George's big loss. He was robbed, big time, and we felt really REALLY crushed for him, but honestly, we couldn't ask for a better consolation. Sergio Perez winning Sakhir Grand Prix is the only thing that could really cure our heartbreak and no one would complain about that.

Frantic. Mental. Insane.

We've been waiting for this race, for George Russell specifically, actually, and it gave us endless insanity. I swear I've never been so stuck to a race before I mean, I usually got distracted for like a total of quarter of the race. This time, my eyes were fixed almost all the time.

Well we've been waiting for Mr Russell, but good luck wasn't with him.

But again it's okay. It's MORE THAN OKAY, because the result was as much fulfilling.

So whatever the ending was, really,
Eventually I'd say the same anyway:
That Sakhir was Sick!

Fratelli d'Italia, L'Italia s'è Desta (Ancora)

We thought it’d be just another boring race.

And I thought it'd be a difficult week to go through.

Truth be told, we were all oh so wrong.

Watching Formula 1 had been really, REALLY painful lately. For basically almost every race, we could predict what would happen. A Mercedes 1-2 for both Quali and the actual race, with Max or Racing Points could give a worthy fight. The last good race was Austria, which was actually the first race of the season - so of course it'd be fun because we hadn't watched any race for like 8 months - and it was like, seven races ago... But this was Monza. At least it's a legendary circuit, and it's rude for us to despise it.

However, this was the time I kind of... feel afraid to embrace. Why because exactly last year, I was actually there. I was a part of those tifosi in Monza, in that legendary circuit of Italia, witnessing the shocking win of a Ferrari, in front of their home spectators. It was simply one of the best life experience I could ever have, and today, just staying at home watching the GP from my couch, only able to imagine things thanks to the pandemic, really, it broke me inside out. I was so sure that I wouldn't be able to survive this weekend because, well, let's just say because I'm an emotional crybaby bitch.

Then came the Qualification.

And hopes got a bit high after Quali. With Sainz started third and Ricciardo not so far behind, I felt like it could be a fresh air for the race. And to distract myself from my sorrowful nostalgia. Same Mercedes 1-2 start, yes, as usual, but at least we have a new color up there eh?

Then came the Race Day.

And things got heated up even from the lights out. Bottas somehow lost it - puncture he said - and kept losing places. Both McLarens suddenly emerged to P2-3 with Dan on P4. If it ended this way, which was what I hoped for some times during the race, I’d be more than happy. Same Mercedes win, same LEWIS win, but at least we have a new color up there eh? And who would say no to McLaren double podium win??

Then things got EVEN more heated up when Kevin retired. And safety car deployed, and pit lane closed BUT FREAKING HAMILTON ENTERED TO PIT. This was the major turn of event because Giovinazzi, who did the same thing, got punished with a stop-and-go 10s penalty. It took quiet some time for us to know how Lewis would be punished, AND IT WAS SUCH A WAITING-IN-VAIN MOMENT!

Safety car ended and things got pretty shuffled afterwards, with Lewis still on top, yet both McLarens lost places as they went into pit once the lane was opened again. At this point I was a bit pissed because I really wanted them to win. Pierre Gasly and Lance Stroll, however, with their teams’ “risky” strategy for not pitting, suddenly earned themselves P2-3 spots. Here I was like, well, they would need to pit later somehow, so Carlos and Lando will regain their places soon.

BUT. Little did I know that another big bang would happen.

Charles Lecrerc crash. This accident alone is really heartbreaking because some laps before, Vettel got some brake issues and retired. First retirement of the race, topping their shit performances all weekend. Shit performances in their home grand prix. Shit performances for Sebastian Vettel, in their home grand prix. Shit performances for Sebastian Vettel, in his last year home grand prix with Ferrari. I swear I felt really REALLY bad for him...

Now back to Lecrerc's crash. It was pretty big, and it ended up with a red flag. All cars then returned to pit, and this was the race's next turn of event. A VERY BIG ONE. Because not so long after the red flag announcement, stewards finally decided to give the same stop-and-go 10s penalty to Lewis. And I swear I could hear the whole world celebrating. Because this only meant that when the race resumed, Lewis would drop nastily from top to bottom. Oh he'd drive his ass back to top, for sure, but with the race already gone half way, he might not be the winner and that's for sure.

So now it left us with A VERY OPEN POSSIBILITY for everyone else to snatch that spot Lewis brilliantly ditched. Gasly and Stroll secured positions in P2-3 but we knew it would be P1-2 soon when Lewis served his penalty. Oh yea of course they took the opportunity to switch compounds, so all they needed to do next was just to defend their position without having to worry about tyres.

Raikkonen and Giovinazzi stopped at P4-5 during red flag but we knew that they were not big threats - especially because they switched to softs I mean, why?? Sainz was at P6, thanks to him switching tyres just before the red flag, and this, my friend, was where the drama began.

Then Italian GP 2020 restarted.

It was a standing start, and after one lap, Lewis entered pit and did the penalty. And that was the end for Mercedes for this race. With Bottas struggling, and everyone on top would fight their asses off to defend their place, they wouldn't be dominating today.

Gasly led the race ever since. Sainz charged from P6 to P2, taking on Kimi and Lance, finally battling fiercely with the French guy. For many laps, distance closed in slowly but sure from 3s to .5 ish. At this time, I really wanted Carlos to win. So bad. Because he must really wanted it. He needed to bring a title as he steps into the garage of Ferrari next season. He needed to have at least one win before he’d be struggling next season with Ferrari. He needed this to calm himself before the Italian storm!

But I tried to look from Pierre’s perspective too. This could also be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for him. His team is a total midfield player so an opportunity like this might not happen often later. But I guess most importantly, he needed to prove something with this win. Given that exactly this time last year, he was dropped from RB to Toro Rosso.

I remembered last year in Monza on Saturday, just before the Quali, we had a meet-up and Q&A session with some drivers. Alpha Tauri were on stage, and there was this guy who stood exactly beside me asking some question to Kvyat, and it goes like this:

"Dani, do you think you'd have a future to go back to Red Bull? No offence to you Pierre."

NO KIDDING HE DID ASK THAT! And I swear Gasly's face was so fucking pissed. He was just demoted from Red Bull the race before Monza, and this stupid guy out of courtesy asked this harsh question in his face? I'm pretty sure it bugged Gasly so bad, that so for a year, he'd been fighting hard to prove things wrong. To prove that those people made bad mistakes by kicking him out of the team. This win, can be a nice slap in the face for Helmut Marko.

Battle got even crazier between the French guy and the Spaniard. I swear, it was really intense! Felt like my adrenaline rushed and I didn't even drive the car lol. But believe me, I screamed like an old lady like so many times during these last laps. Especially on the final lap, when Carlos really closed it like sooooo tiiigghhht!

Finally, Sainz couldn't make it. Gasly won.

Pierre Gasly, is the winner of Italian Grand Prix.

I screamed like I was a fan of his. Because hey whoever your favorite driver was, you'd feel the same. You'd feel happy for Gasly. You'd celebrate the end of this Italian Grand Prix. Especially knowing that he became the first French winner since 1994. Sainz was P2, Stroll P3, and this was the second win for ALL THREE OF THEM - Gasly's first was Germany 2019, Sainz's was Brazil 2019, Stroll Azerbaijan 2017.

All these good news, really, it made this race even more beautiful.

We didn’t expect that an Italian anthem would play in Monza this year, given the fact that Ferrari was doing poorly lately. But the universe had another plan. So whoever thought it’d be just another boring race, and I'm pretty sure most of us did, well, we're wrong. I really can’t imagine to have this race with tifosi.

Honestly, I was going to repost last year’s Monza situation as the race ended, because I was expecting that it’d be another Mercedes 1-2 and the race would be boring and totally different with last year. But of course I dropped that plan, because it turned out to be the other way around. So when I thought it'd be a difficult week to go through, well, I was wrong. I got distracted, in a very very amazing way. It became the best one yet. Immediately, instantly.

I came across so many tweets and comments saying that “this kind of race is why I love F1”, literally so many, and I couldn't agree more! We do need variations and unexpected results like this! I’m not trying to be negative here but, it’s just so crazy to see everyone’s euphoria for Gasly’s win. It’s obvious that we’ve had enough of Mercedes domination. Next week we might be back to that pattern, but to hell with next week let’s just enjoy the result of this week first :)

Amazing.

Utterly crazy amazing.

Apparently Italy always have something to offer.

Although yea, this year I just watched it from my couch.

Still,

Grazie, Italia!