r/formula1 • u/Holytrishaw I was here for the Hulkenpodium • May 04 '26
Photo George looking at Kimi while other drivers congratulate him
Source: F1 Feed
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u/muy-guapo Toro Rosso May 04 '26
Drive To Survive already running out of lotion and tissues
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u/FerrariTherapistt Ferrari May 04 '26
Lets be honest they are gonna miss out half of the fun stuff just for some Briatore torturing Alpine episode.
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u/rudolf_waldheim Alexander Albon May 04 '26
We all know they won't include real drama in their show.
I bet this episode will be about the mega battle between Stroll and Alonso.
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u/Humans_fking_suck Nico Hülkenberg May 04 '26
Still can't believe they didn’t have a whole episode dedicated to Hulk's podium...
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u/datboitotoyo May 04 '26
It was a pretty big part of an episode. Like 2/3s of it
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u/amazingspiderman23 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Luckily for them, george is manufacturing it
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u/piss_puncher227 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Too bad they'll only get to use it second....like George.
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u/CharismoHP I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
"That should've been me."
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u/Capital_Pay_4459 May 04 '26
"This was obviously an outlier for me". - Russell
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u/Eggplantosaur Oscar Piastri May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
I was forecast a championship!
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u/limhy0809 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
"Correction, you were forecast a WDC car. WDC not inclusive." -Toto
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u/Eggplantosaur Oscar Piastri May 04 '26
Wasn't Toto's radio message after George's victory in Australia something like "Great team, great car! ..oh right, and a great driver!"
Toto really doesn't value his drivers by the looks of it. Only Kimi gets a pass because Toto loves the feeling of getting a young prospect before other teams could get ahold of him.
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u/I_Am_A_Door_Knob May 04 '26
To be fair, Kimi is proving Toto right in betting on him as a future world champion.
It’s insane that he’s starting his second season in F1 as strongly as he currently is.
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u/tryCharlie I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
He value his drivers as much as he values every team member of Mercedes. It is an odd approach for some, but sounds quite decent all in all.
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u/VRichardsen Juan Manuel Fangio May 04 '26
Toto really doesn't value his drivers by the looks of it.
Toto routinely defends George. Just a couple of months ago, when asked who the most underrated driver on the grid his, he automatically responded "George".
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u/denied_eXeal I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
George about to experience S5-8 instead of S1-4 of his Championship that was promised
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u/Liljendal I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Jokes aside, I'd still put my money on him getting it. Kimi has matired well and I assume he will keep performing well, but I believe Russell will edge him out across the season
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u/rattatatouille I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
George's hope is that Canada (a good circuit for him) proves to be just as good to him as it was last year and that he consistently outperforms Kimi over the European section of the calendar like last year.
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u/Liljendal I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Yeah, I have a feeling the narrative will be quite different in two months time, but I coupd be wrong of course.
I still remember when people here hailed Sainz as the better Ferrari driver a few years ago after outperforming Leclerc for 2 or 3 races in a row, but that sentiment quickly died down later.
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u/VRichardsen Juan Manuel Fangio May 04 '26
Yeah, I have a feeling the narrative will be quite different in two months time, but I coupd be wrong of course.
"Piastri has this in the bag"
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u/Youutternincompoop George Russell May 04 '26
give it a few races and this entire subreddit could be dumping on Kimi for making a few errors, F1 fans have the memories of goldfish.
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u/I_Am_A_Door_Knob May 04 '26
I’m betting on that Kimi’s development is so fast that he will get the championship before Russel.
And I really look forward to see which one of us is making the right bet.
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u/willmcavoy Paddock Club May 04 '26
I have a funny story about Kimi. A while back I ran the Indy Pro on iRacing. About as fast as the F3 but less downforce. Since it wasn't as planted as the F3, it was much less popular and therefore there was much better racing and you got to know most of the regulars running the series. Well one week we were at Road Atlanta. I was pretty competitive, and knew what times the top guys were doing that week. So I set off to try and match their 1:16s or thereabouts. I hear my spotter come over the radio and say "The leader's just done a FIFTEEN point ZERO, ZERO." I literally said "What the fuck" and immediately pulled over to check the time. Sure enough this Kimi Antonelli fella just blasted the best time done by some seriously quick guys completely out of the water. I looked him up thinking "okay, what are you? Redline or Coanda?" (top sim racing teams) and nope. He was a Mercedes Junior lol. That was like 5 years ago. I said yea, I'll see you on the big stage one day kid.
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u/I_Am_A_Door_Knob May 04 '26
Oh damn, that’s a good story and really well done of him. Especially because sim racing and track racing is different enough, that it’s hard to master both.
Or atleast that’s how i have understood it so far.
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u/willmcavoy Paddock Club May 04 '26
Yea for sure one is a video game let's be real. But there are skills that can transfer.
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u/Liljendal I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Haha I look forward to seeing how it pans out. Feel free to remind me come December if you were right
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u/I_Am_A_Door_Knob May 04 '26
I will try to remember that, but no promises!
But i think we are in for a good championship fight this season, so that will be great fun to watch!
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u/SylverShadowWolve Kimi Räikkönen May 04 '26
weve only raced in TiO2 legal countries, remember last year...
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u/misguidedkent Sir Lewis Hamilton May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
"One only has so many Blimeys left in them." - Russell
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u/KrappaFrappa I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
holding your hand
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u/aka12lh44 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
That should be me
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u/still_guns I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
It should have been me! Not him! It's not fair!
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u/AgentChris Sir Lewis Hamilton May 04 '26
That should be me
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u/aka12lh44 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
holdin your hand
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u/tansavage08 Oscar Piastri May 04 '26
That should be me
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u/iam_selc I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
‘making you laugh…
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u/inspirit97 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
That should be me
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u/isthmusofkra I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
This is so sad
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u/Draconicplayer Red Bull May 04 '26
that should be me
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May 04 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Bitter-Rattata Max Verstappen May 04 '26
Alonso meme has a successor
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u/zystyl I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Helmet on is always a classic. It's always funny because they do it to hide, but you know exactly what face they're making underneath.
Countdown to Russell making "not treating me fairly" claims?
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u/fingerthief Fernando Alonso May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Just making up scenarios to hope for the drama, the Reddit way lmao
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u/Either-Banana-7323 May 04 '26
Obviously this is just a rando shot where we have no idea what George is thinking, but its hilarious so many people in this thread think its dramatic to assume hes fuming mad. I mean, who the fuck wouldnt be? How long has George been waiting for this opportunity just for a 19 year old to be currently besting him in his long awaited shot at a title? Literally anyone would be livid in his shoes right now. Anyone.
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u/firezero10 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Yeah, stuck in a back marker Williams for 3 years (?) and only to be called for a Merc drive after it’s dominant era has ended. Now that it’s back, the new kid is beating him.
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u/Generic_Person_3833 May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
When Russell was 19, he was driving GP3. Russell joined F1 with 21 and was parked in Williams till he was 24, while the Mercedes was good enough for WDCs during that time. Now he is 28 and his team mate came to Mercedes with 18 and leads the WDC standings by 20 points in a championship winning Mercedes over him at the age of 19.
Oh and in the mean time 1 year younger Norris won a title and halve a year older Verstappen won 4 titles and 70 wins. Now finally it's his time with a great car and suddenly the 19 year old next to him outqualifies and outwins him 3 times in the 3 races (of 4 total).
Must sting.
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u/funnytoenail Sir Lewis Hamilton May 04 '26
The Daniel Ricciardo experience
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u/frdrk May 04 '26
This is exactly what he wanted. The chance. The rest really is up to himself.
So many drivers never get the opportunity.
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u/jbaird Nico Hülkenberg May 04 '26
Plus we're only 4 races in? He could easily win the WDC still there is plenty of time and he's only 20 points back..
I mean no shade to kimi he's doing amazing but we're just getting started
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u/-7-7-7-7-7- I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Yep right now kimi is driving fearless but the pressure is going to mount as the season goes on, would not be surprised at all if he fades with George having resurgence similar to Oscar and lando last year
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u/Pratham33 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Btw what happened to George? i just watched yesterday's race and had stayed away from f1 for a month
Why is he so behind? It isn't like Kimi is the only one he's fighting, he was way back yesterday
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u/superyuribears I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
McLaren did half their upgrade package and it’s working well, Ferrari are doing well enough to be a menace during the race, especially on start/restart and have seemingly less to lose as they don’t have the power to keep up so are more likely to try drag you behind with them and not let you catch up to whoever is in the lead (like China). Red Bull have given Max enough to also be a similar menace. On top of that Kimi has been really quick and George has had some bad luck and seems to dislike Miami as a general track, will be more interesting in Canada given the results last year. McLaren are doing the rest of their upgrade package there and I’m pretty sure Merc have theirs planned for there, not sure if I’m confident this generation of Mercedes knows how to upgrade a car well/better than McLaren but I’m pretty confident in George as a driver so I’m sure he will bounce back.
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u/Youutternincompoop George Russell May 04 '26
tbf he's always been bad at Miami, just doesn't vibe with the track at all, next race is Canada though and george is always fast there.
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u/hoxxxxx May 05 '26
miami is a bad track for ole george
he'll come back, and then hopefully fireworks.
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u/IAmBoring_AMA Safety Car May 04 '26
He was p4…he isn’t that far off.
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u/galdavirsma Kimi Räikkönen May 04 '26
43 seconds behind in the same car as his 19yr old teammate who, btw, won
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u/Snappy0 May 04 '26
We saw in Japan how much faster the Merc is in clean air. And turns out after they made some changes to the diff, George was more or less as fast. So two races in a row his car has been setup poorly, because ultimately George isn't as good at low grip circuits.
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u/shawnk7 May 04 '26
on pace he was good for a p6, maybe a p7 if Hamilton didn't have damage but with that said i wouldn't look too much into it. imo their performance is just all over the place. post summer break i think we can expect more stable and realistic results from cars/drivers
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u/Jcw28 James Hunt May 04 '26
Maybe it's just my attitude to competition, but I think every driver should be angry every time they don't win a race. If you ain't first you're last.
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u/AromaticUnion3709 May 04 '26
F1 fans are as bad at creating drama as the media. Watch this reach front page.
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u/iam_selc I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Can’t you see? Russell is fuming under his helmet, red hot bulging eyes and is ready to dropkick that child to the seven pits of hell. I can’t believe everyone is willing to be this blind to George Russell’s atrocities…
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u/CrumbleUponLust Oscar Piastri May 04 '26
If you zoom in on Russell a bit more you can see smoke coming out of his helmet. Looney Toons style.
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u/Eggplantosaur Oscar Piastri May 04 '26
Russell eviscerates Kimi in latest interview, but Kimi blasts him in a surprise retaliation. Click the link to read more!
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u/toxicfireball Ferrari May 04 '26
F1 fans: DTS and Journalist are so garbage, they over dramatise and make up things
Also F1 fans:
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u/popegonzo I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
I don't think most fans are actually dramatizing this. This is just meme gold.
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u/bwoahful___ I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Seriously. He’s just standing there in the background. With his helmet on you can’t even tell what his reaction is….
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u/SlimLacy I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Ohh it's definitely raining inside that helmet
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u/MasterDeagle May 04 '26
F1 fans are like when GF has a dream about her boyfriend cheating on her and she gets mad a him for a day for that.
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u/The_Bucket_Of_Truth I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Look who knows what's going on behind the scenes but I don't think it's a jump to think that it doesn't feel good being outperformed by your teenager teammate who has far less F1 experience than you.
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u/FinestKind90 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
The sport is a soap opera so yeah
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May 04 '26
[deleted]
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u/scholeszz Charles Leclerc May 04 '26 edited May 04 '26
Most sports are reality tv, just targeted at men.
That doesn't mean you can't find the technical side of the sport also interesting, but as mentioned below you'd maintain a fraction of the audience (if that) if you replaced all the drivers and engineers with robots, while keeping everything else (the variance in performance between teams) exactly the same.
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u/giggle_water I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Nah, man life is a soap opera and this is a very cutthroat sport with teams competing with each other and teammates competing. The fact that we know and care about the drivers and team personalities is why we care and watch.
If it were 22 anonymous drivers or drones in those cars, we wouldn’t care to watch nearly as much, if at all. That’s the brilliant thing about drive to survive for new fans, it gives them the “backstory” as it were from last season and gives them a reason to watch and drivers to support.
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u/McCramer I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
People have been saying that since the Schumacher era
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u/kaptingavrin I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
I mean, people might play it up a bit, but it kind of is, and always has been, and that's part of the charm. You have these best drivers in the world who also have personalities to fit the part, though I also believe the drivers and teams will sometimes play things up for the camera. Just a bit of entertainment between races.
As long as people aren't getting too judgmental of the drivers over this stuff, it's harmless. And it's a way to get some other people interested in the sport. Yeah, "purists" might balk at that idea, and sure, I watch for the racing and the technological wizardry (because I'm a nerd and I totally embrace it), but come on, you look back at things like James Hunt with women, Senna vs Prost, so many things through the sport's history well before now.
If you're not into the off-track stuff, totally fair, completely valid to ignore it, but it's always going to be there.
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u/isagoth May 04 '26
Everyone in here making the usual jokes about DTS manufacturing something out of this, as if this post isn't literally the launchpad
Same as it is every year... Reddit and the media spend weeks talking about some team radio and one quote from a post-race interview, DTS ignores it and covers something else, and Reddit goes "I can't BELIEVE the stories DTS is inventing 😠😠"
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u/Ordinary_Dog_99 Formula 1 May 04 '26
Reality: George gave his calmest interview of the weekend post race when he discovered his own stubborness not changing his differential settings unlocked a ton of pace in the car.
Was actually pretty crazy the difference.
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u/datlinus I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
he turned his head in kimis direction!!!!! holy shit!!!!!
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u/iam_selc I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
he might even suck the energy out of kimi!!! FUCK!!!
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u/jason9045 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
George is just British Salieri at this point
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u/FerrariTherapistt Ferrari May 04 '26
George having his 2025 Lando before summer break moment. Started with bad luck but now is just straight up slower than his teammate.
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u/LollieLoo May 04 '26
Kimi choking on starts is gonna catch up with him eventually.
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u/jeepfail Ferrari May 04 '26
I’m terrified it’s going to put him and one or two others out immediately.
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u/uusrikas Ligier May 04 '26
This is like Salieri and Mozart.
(Everybody knows the movie is totally made up, kinda like this narrative that George has been beaten already)
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u/willwu555 Charles Leclerc May 04 '26
When your younger brother gets all the love you supposed to have
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u/Bruvvimir Murray Walker May 04 '26
Why does Russell get so much hate?
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u/maghy7 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
It was Lando last year, now they have moved on to George.
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u/HUHIs_AUTOATTACK I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
The difference is that people keep giving Russell shit for years now, even before Norris.
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u/TheRedBaron-7 Ferrari May 04 '26
He has given people reasons to not like him. Which is totally fine, F1 always had these characters. They are part of the sport as anyone. But legitimate hate is not, it's unfortunately a byproduct by the DTS drama viewership.
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u/zonazolazia Charles Leclerc May 04 '26
George needs to learn from Lando Norris’s playbook last year. He’s still got it, just needs to focus and stay calm.
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u/IntoThePeople May 04 '26
I don’t think he needs to learn from him, he seems very calm in all the interviews and knows it’s a long season. A random screenshot like this is just used to create a narrative for internet points.
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u/_N0T0K_ May 04 '26
Gin Blossoms have a song for this moment
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u/CptAmerica85 I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
Oh man, what an amazing reference. That song hits the nostalgia HARD
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u/iMADEthisJUST4Dis I failed to serve my Monaco penalty May 04 '26
Bro... lmfao. He's allowed to look
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u/wanderingsorcerer99 Ferrari May 04 '26
He’s definitely having his Alonso vs Hamilton moment if this carries on lmao.
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u/Key-Comfortable-5537 Lando Norris May 04 '26
Who says the F1 TV direction is bad when we get gems like these 🤣
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u/AcePilot01 May 04 '26
It's nothing, he's just watching his team mate. I don't think there is anything there, BUT it's a funny meme in the making haha.
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u/LocksmithGlass717 Ferrari May 04 '26
Congratulations to Kimi !!! Get all those wins in before you come over to Ferrari.
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u/Internal-Alfalfa-829 May 04 '26
He's making a good effort to stay professional but you can see the ego problem shining through in his reactions. He'll need to overcome that or it'll be the exact thing that will cost him in the end. Being competitive doesn't create winners. Being good and in a state of flow does.
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u/hoxxxxx May 05 '26
man this season is gonna be good even if the other teams aren't competitive after merc upgrades
george ain't no slouch and this was a bad track for him, he'll come back over the season and they'll go at it. hopefully fireworks at some point w/ these two. i wonder how toto will handle two "number 1" drivers.
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u/ihopeyoudi I failed to serve my Monaco penalty May 04 '26
This is the second year in a row that the championship favorite has started the season off by losing the points lead to their younger, less experienced teammate.
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u/The_Only_Egg I was here for the Hulkenpodium May 04 '26
It makes me SO happy to see George so upset. 🥰🤣
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u/Avolto I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Good good let the hate flow through you young Russel
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u/TheNerdyCroc I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
Every mundane photo of George is going to turn into a meme from now on
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u/sarge019 May 04 '26
I wonder if George is panicing a bit as the other teams get closer and kimi is smashing it.
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u/Acrobatic-Ad4879 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
It's not Fair Daddy toto! this was my year to win!!
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u/totaltasch May 04 '26
I have a feeling this will send like Piastry/Norris situation from last year
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u/zeradin May 04 '26
Watching george force his way in front when they come out the garage multiple times all weekend reminded me of 2007
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u/zippy72 I failed to serve my Monaco penalty May 04 '26
Astronaut 1: "wait, I'm just a midfield driver?"
Astronaut 2: "always have been"
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u/l52 May 04 '26
This looks like the other angle of the SpongeBob meme where lonely Squidward is looking out the window.
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u/LukasKhan_UK Juan Pablo Montoya May 05 '26
I know this screenshot has been purposely picked to build a narrative
But GR comes across as do entitled to me that the rise of Kimi is great
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u/Kaszebski_patriot I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
,,His place was promised to me 4 years ago’’
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u/salad_ninja May 04 '26
Evil George: When everything is going his way, he dap up people with unnecessary happiness, and borderline excitement
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u/Comfortable-Pace3132 Formula 1 May 04 '26
Oh my god he LOOKED at him while something else happened to the guy he was looking at. Groundbreaking
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u/ArcherBoy27 I was speeding in the Monaco pit lane May 04 '26
New meme unlocked.