F1Stuff

DANIEL RICCIARDO

i don’t know about 5 years ago because i wasn’t in the fandom yet but last year to *me* he was pretty irrelevant tbh, like good he won a race but i didn’t really cared for him, but i still saw a lot of support for him on my dash.

this year the tables really turned for a lot of people. It mostly had to do with the fact that during the heat of blm and lewis (his freaking teammate) begged for the other to at least say a word he got radio silence from valtteri . “i’m glad mercedes stands with him in this fight”, kneeling in the first race? i don’t know her (now that he is seems a bit forced tbh) bringing his gf to every race with him, throwing safety protocols out of the window and traveling to france and monaco for the week even if he had a race in the country he already was at like yes he got tested and stuff but so did checo and we all know how that went down….

just to add the #notvegan tiffany posted was just tasteless, i’m not saying yeah he needs to go vegan because his teammate is vegan but not being an asshole about it and maybe going “hey babe, how about delete the hashtag???” is already doing something

in my view things really changed from last year to this year and many people were very upset by it.

I’ve been avoiding this giant Valtteri Defense Post bc i don’t want to be that kind of a person but this will look enough like a conversation for me to go off, so cheers

Valtteri is apolitical by choice and he knows he doesn’t get many things. I’m willing to bet this is the first time he’s forced to enter a conversation about racism on a deeper level than “racism is wrong” or “we are all equal”. His understanding of this is not very developed. However, he is learning and that’s something most people don’t notice. I tried to find this article from a month back but it was buried deep in the internet and lost forever, whatever - the point is that he talked about F1 and diversity, acknowledged the issue and what Lewis is saying and doing and described himself as antiracist, and that word has very much not been a part of his vocabulary before - fuck, in Finland that word will get you labeled radical leftist. The article was in Finnish which is why most people here wouldn’t know about it. He’s taken the knee in every race and stands by what Lewis says. The truth is that’s the extent he understands this for now - but he’s learning. That’s more than many other dudes on the grid right now.

The safety protocols not-breaking is pretty… messy, no doubt. But to get all lawyer-y here: FIA set the protocol. Valtteri asked Mercedes if it’s okay for him to leave between races. Mercedes OK’d this, deeming it safe. FIA investigated this and decided it’s not enough of a breach, unlike with Charles. It would’ve been better if he hadn’t gone back and forth, but he was able to stay in his bubble and not break the rules set by FIA. Essentially FIA’s left a loophole and we shouldn’t be surprised if people exploit it, and it’s FIA’s job to be more strict if they don’t want this - this loophole cannot be exploited equally, either.

What I mean with this is that drivers with families vs single drivers/drivers with a partner have different limitations. Valtteri and Tiffany have been in the same bubble and it’s easier for them to maintain it than say, Vettel or Grosjean. You can’t just pack your entire family and travel from race to race - kids will get bored, breaches are more likely or even impossible to avoid because kids get sick after licking railings or hurt or something all the time. The same reality exists when the family stays home, but two adults are more able to travel together without the same risks - not without risks, of course, because now no one can. Adults usually are able to cut down on licking railings.

To veer into speculation - we don’t know why Valtteri went back between races, and it might not be our business to know. Before the current weight rules Valtteri had a history of getting very sick every winter break because he was so underweight. That hasn’t happened these last two winters and you wouldn’t believe how thrilled a grown man can be about that. I find it difficult to believe that in a short, high-risk season this dude who has suffered from ill health would go home nilly-willy during a global pandemic when he’s the only other guy who has a shot at the title. 

Tiffany being listed as Valtteri’s trainer has been a whole controversy on its own. The thing is, she kind of is? Valtteri didn’t cycle this much before her. And again, his Finnish interviews he’s told that she’s been coaching her and helping him with physical and mental stuff already in February. It might come as a surprise to some people but the WAGs can be more than just that - take Ann Neal and Mark Webber for example.

As for the #notvegan thing I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - it has 100% nothing to do with Lewis. Valtteri is, pardon the expression, a meathead and absolutely does not think about the fact that Lewis is a vegan. He doesn’t have the capacity for that. I don’t think Tiffany is playing mind games for him, either. It’s just a Finn and an Aussie who love food and come from very meat-heavy cultures with strange comedy not thinking their words. To make it that political - in-sport or otherwise - is a choice that the viewer makes.

anyway, Tiffany was in the paddock as one of Valtteri's trainers, and Merc was fine with having her there.

she's also in the unique position of being a traveling athlete herself, as well as not having kids at home (like many of the other drivers' and their partners), so she has more reason and freedom to be at races. it's not as if she just came for shits and giggles—her role is directly relevant to his career; it's not like if marion or hanna etc. had been there

I don't want to be a "defense squad" or some nonsense, I just want people to think twice before they jump to conclusions which they then use as an excuse to be cruel. none of us know what conversations anyone else has, and in that case it's a lot kinder to give the benefit of the doubt.