he reminds me more and more of trump. a man who sees no fault in himself, only fault with others. a man who feels he can say and do what he wants and all others should just let it happen or get over it. a man who is never wrong. when there is no defence the whataboutisms start to fly, there is never a backwards step, never a pause to say i didn’t meet the expectations i set of myself today. it’s not something i’d expect him to do in public, f1 isn’t like that. i get why the team back him too. that’s good management, back him in public, bollock him in private. but it’s clear the bollocking just isn’t happening. he’s doing to same shit time after time, race after race. the same sound bites time after time, race after race. i truly believe he truly believes he has done nothing wrong in every single incident he has ever been a part of. it’s all “just racing” and if you don’t understand that it’s because you don’t understand racing. and to some degree, he’s right. he knows far more about f1 than i do. i know far more about spotting entitled, know it all pricks in their echo chambers than he does though. he’s just a trump, a life of entitlement, a life of always having a safety net, a life of not truly understanding what others have to go through, a life of thinking he always knows best and is always right. a life of feeling superior to everyone else. a life of thinking the world is against him, even though he’s has every advantage thrown his way. a life of not caring who he treads on as long as it gets him to the top. he’s just a spoilt brat.
i can’t say i’m surprised by that. he is supported by rabid fanbase who root for him no matter what (driver of the day, though to be fair to him, he did pull the move of the day.) a fanbase who believe wild conspiracies are in place to stop him getting to the top, even though he’s been treated with far more leniency than most. a fanbase who think he’s some kind of messiah, even though he is the embodiment of some of the worst aspects of f1. most f1 drivers are entitled pricks who truly believe they are the best in the world. that truly believe the only thing that is holding them back is a poor engine/team/stewardship of races. most of them also start to mellow when they get a bit older and wiser. most of them start out jumping into gaps that aren’t there because they can’t believe other, more experienced drivers wouldn’t put their car there. most have collision after collision as a result. they eventually learn 3 points are better than no points. inexplicably, max continues to do the same shit, warning after warning, collision after collision penalty after penalty. it’s almost a rite of passage that max doesn’t think he needs to finish walking through.
i just don’t see where max is learning anything. it’s just the same record played race after race. the only difference nowadays is other racers think for him and get out of his way, in his early days they assumed he’d have more duty of care and were surprised to find a car in their side moments later. max never yields. you let him overtake or you crash, you don’t take evasive action and you crash. it’s the same as just ploughing head on into someone driving on your side of the road because you had right of way, even if you had time to get over and avoid an accident. i don’t think he’s left any benefit of doubt now, he’s just a piece of shit.
and i’m not surprised by that. he has a narcissistic piece of shit father who is with him every step of the way. he’s surrounded by piece of shit bosses who follow the same idols of never criticising him and only enabling him. it’s a shame he’s talented. i honestly have no idea why he’s deified by the same people who vilify mazepin. they’re literal caricatures of each other, minus the speed and a few zeros in daddy’s bank account.
he seems to cut an increasingly isolated figure around the paddock, there doesn’t seem to be much chemistry between him and any of his teammates, past or present, or any of the other drivers or teams. there doesn’t even seem to be much begrudging respect. i never see him walking around the paddock making time to say hello or speak to other teams. he probably assumes they should be approaching him and don’t because they are all insanely jealous of him and how fast he is, rather than just because they think he’s a twat. the paddock is a sea of pricks with superiority complexes and egos to match. to not be able to find some common ground among them is a little worrying. the voices of the other drivers defending him seem to get quieter and quieter. it could be that all this is happening away from the cameras or i’ve just missed it completely, but i can’t recall as single moment of it. maybe he wasn’t always like that, maybe just fighting for the title for a few years has broken him. he just comes across as a weird guy, void of any charisma. it’s like all his f1 career personality points went on driving ability and every other aspect of his being was ignored.
i hated the schumacher years, i hated the vettel years. admittedly, the hamilton years are slightly more palatable as he is british, he brings some diversity to the rich daddy’s boy playground, he has a good backstory, and latterly, is trying to use his platform to bring about change (more than a little ironically at any given moment.) i’d still rather someone else won it, at least occasionally. utter domination isn’t good for any sport. however i’d rather see hamilton dominate for another 20 years than have verstappen win one wdc whilst behaving like this as it would only further legitimise his actions in his own mind. there would be somehow even less contrition for things that happened in future.
i’ve completely jumped the fence with regards to max. i have gone from hoping he’d reign it in and fulfil his talent to now being relieved if he never won another race. if both retired tomorrow, the sport would miss hamilton way more than verstappen. the next entitled daddy’s prick would roll off the wagon and the likes of gasly, le clerc and norris would provide the speed and drama. max is beginning to detract from the sport race after race now. every break between races is dominated by people debating his actions in the previous race. hamilton is at least wearing some killer clothes to race weekends and trying to bring about social change. one thing is for sure, max needs to change.
if max wins next week, it will be a testament to his driving ability and he does deserve to win the wdc for that but when all is said and done, he’ll be remembered for being that bloke that was fast and not a lot else. but to be fair to him, he seems like he’s ok with that.
