#brain post

secondly, with any interview, there is a massive difference between the words presented vs. how they were said. what does this mean? well, to put it simply, sometimes intent does not come across the same in text vs. in speaking. this happens a lot with Lando's interviews, where he says something jokingly or in an unserious tone, but when his words are written down, they seem much more malicious than they actually were. I'd go hunt down examples, but I want to stay on topic.

now, exactly what he said was:

and here’s a link to the video of the interview

I'm not going to say that he didn't say, in some manner, that you have to have a lot of respect for trump. however, the way in which he said it is what matters to me.

for one, spelling out that someone, regardless of who they are, is a former president of a country and should be respected for that accomplishment is a textbook diplomatic answer. again, this is regardless of who they are. I guarantee you he would've said the same thing about any other political figure in any other context, because this is a safe answer. he's not definitively praising anyone, and he's not bringing anyone down. this is not the response of someone who is a big fan of trump. this is the generic, PR-guided response of someone who can't say anything negative, but doesn't want to say anything too outwardly positive.

notice, for example, how he says that trump said that he was Lando's lucky charm. it would've been easy for him to state that he thought that trump was his lucky charm, but he did not. he could've even said that he hopes that trump comes to future races. again, he did not. this is an important distinction, if a small one. anyways, his body language and facial expressions also make his stance clear. he's not happy to be asked this question, he clearly does not want to answer it. in fact, as soon as he starts answering, you can see him slip into that PR mode as his face drops and he starts giving his response. this is not how someone answers a question about someone they like! and this response, once again, is very generic. he literally only mentions trump by name once throughout his actual response, and without that you could assume he was talking about literally anyone else.

for two, idk about you, but when I'm forced to publicly interact with people I don't like, regardless of the context, I don't usually insult them to their face, because that makes me look bad. and I don't usually have half the amount of cameras on me that Lando does. generally speaking, it's also not a good idea to get on the bad side of someone with as much political power as trump. we all know who he is, and we know that the people that support him can resort to dangerous actions when someone says anything remotely negative about him. so, if remaining neutral is the most negative you can be, then that's the way to go. he had no way to avoid trump - he was literally brought directly to him to shake hands - and was asked a question directly connected to trump.

saying that you have to have respect for someone in a lot of ways is not an inherently positive statement. in fact, something I say a lot of the time when I don't like a celebrity is that I respect their accomplishments, but I don't like their personality. I'm not saying this justifies Lando's response, but I am saying that if you were put in a similar situation, where you're asked a question that demands you speak positively about someone regardless of what you think about them personally (especially if your opinion is negative), you'd have a harder time answering than you think you would.

and finally, Lando is not a US citizen. he does not know the political turmoil happening in this country personally, and I wouldn't be surprised if he only knew the bare minimum of why trump is a bad person, rather than the full itemized list that Americans are very familiar with. at the end of the day, even if he was a trump fan (he's not), he does not vote in the US, nor does he have any sway over actual US voters. we all know the rhetoric of people who like trump, and nothing Lando said personally sets off any alarm bells. I'll admit that I don't love the way he phrased it, but if I could go on another whole tangent about how I hate the way that Lando's (sometimes awkward) phrasing gets misrepresented in text vs. in speech.

bonus round: if you wanted to get upset at drivers interacting with controversial figures, might I direct you to the time that Lewis Hamilton (allegedly) sprayed putin with champagne. obviously this article is tabloid-esque, but you get what I'm saying. this isn't a dig at Lewis, btw, it's just my way of pointing out that it's not new for drivers to be faced with impossible situations regarding political figures.

TL;DR - spreading hate on the internet does nothing. other people will still like the driver you hate. other drivers will still like the driver you hate. if you sincerely do not like a driver, don’t engage with any content they’re involved in. it’s that easy.

first of all, claiming that Max Verstappen is the only one to ever say “simply lovely” is wrong. I know the post doesn’t make that direct claim, but it’s clearly implied since they think anyone else saying it means they’re mocking him. Lando’s been saying it for years.

secondly and more importantly: you don’t know the drivers. they don’t know you. you don’t know their relationships, their personalities, what they do in their free time. all you get is what’s broadcasted to you through the media or through their personal accounts (that are still heavily curated to keep with a certain brand image). I promise you, Max Verstappen does not care that deeply about Lando Norris saying the phrase ‘simply lovely’. I’m sure he’s far more concerned with the fact that his car was utter garbage this last race and that his WDC could come under question if this streak continues. it was not a disrespectful remark, it was not making fun of Max for losing. you are imposing your opinion on the situation as fact. is it a shame that he didn’t get to win his home race? sure, I guess, but he’s also the only guy that’s won it the last 3 times it was raced, so I think he’ll be okay.

you do not get to assign malice because it fits with your view of a driver as a person. this was not a malicious comment. a light dig? maybe. but guess what: Max Verstappen and Lando Norris are friends. offline, outside of the track. which means they know each other and can talk out any issues with each other whenever they see fit. see: Austria. and these are conversations that we as fans will never get to see because that’s none of our business.

I understand not liking a driver, I even understand being annoyed that a driver won a race you wanted someone else to win. but the fact that it’s always Lando catching flack for the most ridiculous things is frustrating. other drivers have said/done worse towards & about others on the grid. other drivers have said worse/crazier in the cooldown room. other drivers have had worse attitudes on track (are we forgetting Charles using his car as a weapon in an FP session earlier this year?). but they don’t get any attention for it because they’re not Lando.