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I was also around in 2016 for all the Lewis fans who kept insisting Nico was Toto’s little favourite, that he was deliberately trying to secure Nico a championship. I remember one particularly fanatical (if we’re being polite) LH fan who would often refer to Toto as Nico’s sugar daddy because she felt he was getting such preferential treatment which if that isn’t prime fan fiction inspiration then I don’t know what is? I just know people would’ve been writing so much controversial age gap smut about them if F1 was as popular then as it is now.

Back to the original point, no way Toto hates Nico like the Nico haters desperately want him to lol. I think he’s just very much a businessman at heart and it shows in the calculated way he approaches contracts and the like. He is a billionaire after all and you don’t get there treating everyone nicely, to put it lightly.

broadly i agree with you, rest in pieces christian horner but that interview with him and toto in 2021(?) where nico was like "merc got your illegal rear wing banned when are you going to get their illegal front wing banned?" was iconic and i'm not sure toto would have let just anyone get away with that.

i do also think toto is very fickle in his public regard. it's why he vacillates so wildly between calling lewis old and washed one moment and then saying that they're like brothers and lewis asks him for advice with girls (sidenote: the idea of lewis asking toto for advice texting kim kardashian is hilarious to me) in the next depending on where he thinks the public opinion is leaning.