jo

There's a world of difference between saying "Charles has had quite a few bad weekends in a row, that can get to you" and using terms like "really tough mentally" and "super dark". I think the implications of using words like "super dark" should be very clear to everyone.

And for the record, I think there's nothing going on with Charles mentally other than "THIS SUCKS" but that does not give anyone the right to voice any sort of assumptions regarding his mental health, not even Nico Rosberg or any of these former drivers that don't seem to understand they didn't become mind readers just because they were on that grid for a few years.

I'm not trying to argue for never criticizing Charles, but some of you take it so unbelievably far. And what's the need? Genuinely, when the driver you rep is maybe the most self critical person on that grid, what's the need?

It's also just genuinely sad to see that when Charles has a really hard crash that could have actually hurt him a large percentage of his fanbase can't even bother to pretend to care about him being fine, no it's an immediate jump to insults and bringing things from his personal life into the conversation, like those have anything to do with well ANYTHING.

I genuinely have no idea what you're talking about. If the "favorite driver" is Charles, he has been uncomfortable with these brakes since at least Canada and, if I had to guess, a lot of his anger today likely came from the fact he already wanted them gone in Monaco. If the "favorite driver" is Lewis, Charles also said today that a solution for his brake problems could be to go for what Lewis has, which means that what he has right now is different.

Ferrari: FIX THE BRAKES.

There's no issue as a fan of Charles to have your own opinions on his career choices. What I think starts getting really deep in "Why are you even a fan?" territory is projecting onto him your own dream you have for him instead of simply supporting what his actual dream is.

Charles wants to be a world champion with Ferrari. That does not mean he would not be happy to become a world champion with any other team or even that he would never leave Ferrari if he thought staying would prevent him from ever achieving that title. But it would mean that Charles would have not achieved everything he wanted to achieve in F1. Maybe it would be mission accomplished for you but it would not be mission accomplished for him and, in my opinion, that sentiment sort of defeats the purpose of being a fan.

I understand a lot of these feelings come from fear that a talent like Charles could, unfairly, never win a world championship. But F1 is too complex of a sport, with too many intertwined factors, for there to ever be a clear path for someone, especially an outsider like us fans, to say "This is exactly what Charles Leclerc needs to do to win a world championship". And to be completely honest with you, I've seen other cars the past 8 years Charles has been in the sport that to me seem like cars he would manage to win a championship in with ease. I've seen other teams at times look like a better oiled machine than Ferrari. But in the past 8 years, there isn't a scenario for which I can confidently say "Charles would have 100% won a championship in this season with this team" and that has 0 to do with him, his skills, his mentality and everything to do with, 90% of the time, poor driver management on the teams' part that I can't say with absolute certainity Charles wouldn't haven't been a victim of.

Also, I hate that the appreciation, respect even, Charles shows to Ferrari, to the team and to the people who have helped him get to Formula 1, is so often portrayed as a negative thing when it's one of Charles' best qualities. It's extremely rare in this sport to see someone so dedicated to trying to always show, through their words but mostly through their actions, how grateful they are for all the work that has been put into helping them achieve a dream. Hoping to one day be able to give back as much to your team as you feel they have given you by restoring their former glory does not have to be blind loyalty or Stockholm Syndrome and I don't understand why so many people have decided that can't be true for Charles when we know he had one foot out the door in 2022, when we know Aston Martin was showing genuine interest in signing him and he didn't let himself get fooled by all the hype around Newey...