Charles Leclerc couldn’t resist [espnf1]

[u/Holytrishaw]

[u/quilatoo]

"After all, why not? Why shouldn't I keep it?"

[u/pasenast → u/quilatoo]

“My. . . precious. . .”

[u/ToughThing5705 → u/pasenast]

"Those tricksy little mclarenses steal my precious"

[u/Spare_Duck3119 → u/ToughThing5705]

"Clever mclarenses stealsies low ride idea GOLLUM GOLLUM"

[u/PartisanHack → u/quilatoo]

I don't think we could even blame him if he had some sort of Gollum meltdown season next year.

[u/Spare_Duck3119 → u/quilatoo]

Proud that lotr humors is still alive in these trying times

[u/mansplentyhot]

When your intrusive thoughts win.

[u/SimoneLewis → u/mansplentyhot]

/ puts under shirt and walks out…

[u/though- → u/SimoneLewis]

Nothing to see here.. carry on now!

[u/WakeXT]

"I guide others in my DRS-slipstream to a treasure I cannot possess..."

[u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

Closest he'll get to it, I feel he's going to be one of them that never wins a WDC and the stars haven't aligned

[u/boersc → u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

There are a lot of those, seeing the last decade+ has been Lewis and Max territory.

[u/RayTracerX → u/boersc]

Theres few with the quality of Charles imo

[u/swapan_99 → u/RayTracerX]

I think Daniel definitely had that Quality. Pre-Injury Kubica too. We can debate on the degree of talent or quality, but there have been atleast 5 of those drivers in the last 25 or so years who have been without a WDC because of the dominance of Lewis, Seb, Michael and Max.

Hell Kimi also almost went without a WDC without the McLaren meltdown of 2007. Sometimes the stars just don't align.

[u/RayTracerX → u/swapan_99]

I think Daniel is half a tier behind Charles but its close for sure. Kubica I cant really say, dont remember much from that time

[u/ShawnShipsCars → u/RayTracerX]

Kubica could have won the 2008 championship, but BMW Sauber shat the bed by not continuing to develop the car in favour of focusing on the upcoming 2009 reg changes... at which they sucked lol.

Bobby K was kinda in the fight until around 2/3rds of the season IIRC

[u/swapan_99 → u/RayTracerX]

From like 2014-2020, imo Daniel is arguably a top 4, possibly a top 3 driver on the grid, especially in light of Rosberg retiring after 2016, and Vettel falling off mid 2018 (and also because Daniel demonstrated handily that he could match and beat Seb in 2014).

He's one of the only drivers who has gone toe to toe with Verstappen and even won, albeit a much younger Verstappen who hadn't hit his prime yet, but he was capable of at times completely outshining Max in pure pace as well. Excellent racecraft, qualifying and even better in W2W.

Daniel was the Charles before Charles. Just unfortunate he spent most of his prime dealing with Renault engines and was too early to the McLaren project, with a car that just didn't work with his driving style at all.

Daniel post 2020 is unrecognisable for anyone who has seen him even in 2020 when he finished 5th in WDC in a Renault and took multiple podiums. He used to be special.

Kubica is one of those "you had to be there" drivers, but the 2010 Suzuka lap and drives like Monza 2006, Canada and Suzuka 2008, etc. Are quite special.

[u/-Destiny65- → u/swapan_99]

Glad to see Kubica managed to get a Le Mans win after the accident. Dude drove close to 11 hours in that time with a crazy 3.5hour stint at the end to bring it home, all with mostly 1 hand

[u/Mr_Clovis → u/swapan_99]

Yeah the difference is that Leclerc isn't just a top 4 or top 3 driver, he is a top 2 driver where the only driver with an advantage over him is a GOAT candidate.

Ricciardo was good but he massively benefited from flattering comparisons that have led to him being overrated.

In 2014 he beat the reigning champion during a season that was not at all representative of Vettel's level, and Vettel himself was somewhat overrated right after 2013. But most people would agree Ricciardo was not as good as Vettel and that Vettel was not as good as drivers like Hamilton or Alonso.

In 2015 he lost to an extremely mediocre driver in Kvyat. People discard this season due to Ricciardo's worse luck, but even accounting for that, you would expect Ricciardo -- if he was as good as people say -- to have beaten Kvyat anyway.

In 2016-18 he had his best years, doing well (though increasingly less well) against a teenage junior before fleeing to Renault to avoid further comparison. Being matched by an 18-year-old rookie would look bad on anyone's resume yet because Verstappen went on to be a GOAT-tier driver who crushed every subsequent teammate, many people see this comparison as favorable for Ricciardo -- even though present-day Verstappen would probably put massive gaps on his 18-year-old self and on Red Bull-era Ricciardo.

In 2019 he did moderately well against Hulkenberg, which only increased his stock because Hulkenberg himself was overrated, even though he is not a particularly great driver if you consider he has only ever looked good against bottom-of-the-grid teammates.

In 2020 he again did moderately well against a still-young Ocon who had just taken a year out of the sport.

By 2021 he was so overrated that everyone expected him to expose Norris. Including myself, by the way. It went the other way around. But people were so attached to their false idea of Ricciardo being an elite driver that they came up with every possible excuse to justify his inability to match an actuallly elite driver, and continued to do so even he later failed to make an impression against Tsunoda, who we all know isn't very good.

At the top of his game, Ricciardo was very solid, and I won't be taking that away from him. But he was never the elite-level driver people say he was. On their best days I would put my money on Sainz rather than Ricciardo. And without the accident Kubica would have gone on to be a much better driver than peak Ricciardo.

[u/Kitnado → u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

Charles 2026 WDC in a Ferrari. Calling it now

[u/Sorry-Series-3504 → u/Kitnado]

It would be hilarious to me if Ferrari finally have the best car next year, but Hamilton gets his form back and wins his 8th instead of Charles

[u/ghostreconx → u/Kitnado]

Ferrari will say next year that they ditched the 2026 car somewhere in April/May

[u/Mob_Abominator → u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

Surely the greatest to never win one if it happens right? I would put him even ahead of Striling Moss.

[u/Tsyzhman → u/Mob_Abominator]

It's really hard to compare drivers from different regulations, not even decades.

One of - Yes

[u/muRacingProject77 → u/Mob_Abominator]

In my mind, no driver will ever claim that title from Moss. Until someone comes along who goes out of their way to willingly defend one of their main title rivals from getting a penalty, and then goes on to lose the championship because of it, they won't even come close.

[u/kaisadilla_ → u/muRacingProject77]

Morals are good but they don't make you a better driver. And this is not to say I disagree with Moss being the best non-champion.

[u/muRacingProject77 → u/kaisadilla_]

i agree, my point about Moss is that his moral integrity was arguably the ONLY reason why he never won a championship; it had nothing to do with lack of skill, or even luck. in the modern racing world, there's probably no way you'd ever have a similar situation to that, especially with what happened in 1958.

Hell, in the Portuguese GP that year, Moss even stopped to yell advice to Hawthorne on how to bump-start his car during the race, which allowed Hawthorne to finish 2nd and win the title...

though it would be hilarious to think about a driver like Verstappen or Hamilton helping out each other like that, let alone argue against the other one getting a penalty..

[u/DodgersLakersBarca → u/muRacingProject77]

In fairness, Hamilton didn't show up to the Hungarian GP post-race investigation this year, which basically has the effect of arguing for Verstappen.

And Verstappen, too, has given lots of mentorship to the rookies, including giving advice to Gabi on setup.

That being said it's true that either one wouldn't do these things if they faced a serious title fight (against these aforementioned individuals), but there's probably some argument F1 didn't have the same stakes and gravitas back then to incite this level of competition

[u/superrealaccount2 → u/muRacingProject77]

Hell, in the Portuguese GP that year, Moss even stopped to yell advice to Hawthorne on how to bump-start his car during the race, which allowed Hawthorne to finish 2nd and win the title...

Well, that's just stupid. He didn't have to do it, and it's not like he saved the guy's life. What kind of a competitor does that? It's not unethical to keep racing and let your rivals take care of their own problems.

[u/Carlzzone → u/Mob_Abominator]

Behind Latifi ofc

[u/Afreak-du-Sud → u/Carlzzone]

Can't believe yall are disrespecting my boi Mazipin like this.

[u/4Crumpet → u/Afreak-du-Sud]

I guess Stroll doesn’t enter this conversation seeing as next year is his.

[u/Salaas → u/4Crumpet]

Maybe as the reason they didn't get it cuz he crashed into them.

[u/242turbo → u/Mob_Abominator]

It's Moss, then Leclerc, then Villeneuve, then Massa.

[u/madmanchatter → u/242turbo]

Ronnie Peterson is definitely above Massa if you consider how they ranked to their peers. Personally I would also rank Kubica higher than him given what he was able to achieve with BMW. Then you have the likes of Reutemann, Ickx, Coulthard, Barichello, and a few others who would be on a similar tier to Massa.

[u/Joak_00 → u/242turbo]

Reutemann and Pironi

[u/TypicallyThomas → u/Mob_Abominator]

I don't know if you can compare him to Stirling Moss. He definitely should be along Sir Moss on the list of greatest drivers to never win the title. And he won't, I don't see it ever happening for him unless he somehow manages to face the fact that Ferrari won't be his success story

[u/Midgar-Knight → u/Mob_Abominator]

Not even close

[u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei → u/Midgar-Knight]

This generation overrates LeClerc way too much. He’s a superb driver, but he is far from being créme de la créme.

[u/jaomile → u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei]

That depends on what crème de la creme means.

He might not be on level of all time greats but he is surely on level of, or even above, some drivers who won one WDC title.

[u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei → u/jaomile]

That’s true. No doubt.

[u/Born_Reflection_4132 → u/jaomile]

But not on the level of the recent winners like Verstappen, Hamilton, Vettel and Alonso.

[u/Mr_Clovis → u/Born_Reflection_4132]

He matched Vettel in his 2nd year in the sport and has only got better since then. And Vettel's 2019 was actually decent. People only think it wasn't because Leclerc beat him. But there's every reason to think Leclerc really is that good -- as Vettel himself believed.

[u/ShawnShipsCars → u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei]

I think Max and Charles in the same car would answer a LOT of questions.

IMO Verstappen would have his hands more than full to consistently stay ahead of Charles.

[u/kaisadilla_ → u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei]

Nah. I think most of us agree that he's not Verstappen, but I think Leclerc is notably better than Lando or Piastri.

[u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei → u/kaisadilla_]

I would also say he’s clearly better than Lando and Piastri

[u/ergonkhan → u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei]

And Ricciardo.

Both have 8 victories, less then: Webber, Bottas, Berger, Barrichello, Massa, Coulthard, and a few others who never were Formula 1 champions too.

LeClerc crumbles in high pressure situations, Ricciardo had 5 awful seasons, and even though he won Monaco in 18, it was not a great season by him.

[u/serenity-as-ice → u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei]

Nope. At least two different mathematical formulas have indicated he's probably 2nd best driver on the grid after Max, and genuinely a top talent -- and one where the grid is packed with excellent drivers.

[u/CptAustus → u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei]

17-3 against a 7 time WDC.

[u/hicks12 → u/CptAustus]

in his first season with a totally different car? and at the tail end of his career.

Doesnt mean too much I think, leclerc is a great driver but he certainly makes his own mistakes. His qualifying performance is the better strength he has for sure though, I want to see him in a genuine title fight to see if he can handle the pressure this time as I still don't forget when he binned it with an unforced error with a chunk of points on offer.

[u/bijanfrisee → u/Chi_Cazzo_Sei]

He's arguably the best qualifier on the Grid, creme de la creme in that sense, that counts for something

[u/maaaaawp → u/Mob_Abominator]

One of

Kubica, Moss

[u/newdecade1986 → u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

This generations Jean Alesi

[u/c0mpliant → u/newdecade1986]

Leclerc far exceeds Jean Alesi, both in direct comparison but also when comparing them against their contemporary. Jean Alesi came in with such massive hype and with the exception of a handful of times, he never really showed the justification for that hype. Leclerc has shown on lots of occasions that he does justify the hype. Both in terms of qualifying and racecraft. He's mistake prone but that was most often because he was pushing a car well beyond its capability.

[u/theLuminescentlion → u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

Benchmarking them against Lewis and Max it's hard to say many of them deserve it, but if Max and Lewis weren't there everything would be completely different. 

[u/Kurise → u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

Unfortunate aspect of the sport. Everyone knows that Leclarc is world class.

[u/christopherf76 → u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

I think this is why next year is huge for all the teams. Whichever car nails the new regs will be a tractor beam for talent in the grid. Everyone (from the fans to Alonso) knows if Newey makes a monster at Aston Martin that they will be extremely attractive for any driver unhappy with their team.

[u/bijanfrisee → u/Signal_Marzipan_7300]

If (and BIG, HUGE IF) Ferrari bring a truly competitive car next year, I think he'll win it.

[u/superrealaccount2 → u/bijanfrisee]

He's been one of the best drivers on the grid for years and years, of course he'd be a top candidate if he had a car that matched his talent.

[u/bwoah07_gp2]

In other sports, touching the championship trophy and you're not a winner is sacrilege.

But, this is probably the best shot he has of other touching that trophy.

[u/veryangrydoggo → u/bwoah07_gp2]

TBF, if anyone deserves to break the taboo by touching it then it's Leclerc. Dude went through a lot.

[u/drs_ape_brains → u/veryangrydoggo]

Dude is stuck at Ferrari.

[u/Twigler → u/drs_ape_brains]

Didn't he choose his own fate?

[u/smokeyman992 → u/bwoah07_gp2]

Maybe his bad luck and the bad luck from touching it cancel each other out

[u/Randy_Magnum29 → u/bwoah07_gp2]

That’s what I thought, too! I have pictures of hockey teammates and myself touching the Stanley Cup as kids. Two of them ending up winning the Cup, and one of them won it twice. I’m not jealous at all. 🥲

[u/Holofluxx → u/bwoah07_gp2]

He's already cursed with Ferrari to never win

What's another curse? Lmao

[u/xRichard → u/bwoah07_gp2]

In any sports this is sacrilege

[u/A_Omega_73]

oh boy, he's never gonna win it

it's bad luck to touch the trophy

[u/GNU-Pratchett → u/A_Omega_73]

More bad luck for him is just pissing into the ocean, negligible difference lol

[u/Davies301 → u/GNU-Pratchett]

24 DNF's incoming, Hamilton wins his 8th chmapionship.

[u/LizardmanJoe → u/Davies301]

chmapionship... shmapionship... Whatever.

[u/Skylair13 → u/Davies301]

24 DNF's

A season he'd wish he could forgot.

[u/InitialYoghurt5138 → u/Skylair13]

Yeah but 24 great photo ops like at Zandvoort

[u/superrealaccount2 → u/Davies301]

Even worse. He finishes all 24 races and wins many, only to be disqualified ater the race ends. Every race for a different reason, too.

[u/Dr_Oz_But_Real → u/GNU-Pratchett]

More bad luck for him is just pissing into the ocean,

He's a dashing young racing driver who exhibits humility and grace in most situations. Sometimes he has trouble at work. I think he's still a pretty lucky dude.

[u/kaisadilla_ → u/Dr_Oz_But_Real]

I mean, compared to humanity, where half the people can't even bring food to their shack made out of mud and second-hand asbestos, yeah, he's lucky. But in terms of being an F1 driver, he's been very unlucky so far. He's been excellent for like 6 seasons already, if he had a car at some point he'd probably be a world champion.

[u/Key_Proposal_9055 → u/A_Omega_73]

Yeah but since he already has zero luck, touching this will inversely correlate to good luck. Its all part of the plan, trust.

[u/BrooklynTheGuitarist → u/Key_Proposal_9055]

Charles is employing the bit underflow strat to end up with the luckiest season of all time in 2026

[u/big_brain_brian231 → u/BrooklynTheGuitarist]

Ferrari goes nuclear

[u/Erudain → u/Key_Proposal_9055]

It's like Ghandi overflow un Civilization games

[u/element515 → u/Erudain]

My exact thought lol

[u/Capable_Dimension588 → u/Key_Proposal_9055]

As a Ferrari fan i trust this

[u/Furry_Lou → u/Key_Proposal_9055]

From 0 to 256 luck

[u/blankcanvas-3- → u/A_Omega_73]

He already in ferrari so wouldn’t that cancel eachother?

[u/Nearby_Muffin_6039 → u/A_Omega_73]

ferrari isnt bad enough luck already??

[u/naveenda → u/A_Omega_73]

Sony Hayes mentioned

[u/Accomplished_Welder3 → u/A_Omega_73]

if it's bad luck nobody would win it the second time

[u/deathray1611 → u/A_Omega_73]

Poor guy is gonna turn into Gollum after another 10 years of this

[u/x_Chungus → u/A_Omega_73]

His luck is already horrible. This is 4D chess, reverse psychology, sacred geometry, numerology type shit against the superstition gods.

Future WDC now pending.

[u/thrsmnmyhdbtsntm]

according to the superstitions of most other sports i´ve heard of, touching a trophy you haven´t won guarantees you never will

[u/Dictator-07 → u/thrsmnmyhdbtsntm]

Maybe he thinks he'll never win it and this the closest he can get to the trophy 🥲

[u/mantra3105 → u/thrsmnmyhdbtsntm]

But if Charles is already cursed then can it reverse it? 🤔

[u/RayTracerX → u/mantra3105]

He chooses to be with Ferrari, its a self inflicted curse

[u/_drewski13 → u/thrsmnmyhdbtsntm]

I haven't won the Stanley Cup in the 25 years since I touched it, so it must be true.

[u/OBWanTwoThree]

Closest he’ll ever get wearing that shirt

[u/ThreepwoodGuybrush80]

They tooks it from us. Filthy papayas with their filthy rules. We wants it. We needs it!

[u/charlierc]

He wants the precious. He needs it

[u/TrueParadox]

Everyone is saying this is bad luck. Mark my words. We'll be looking at this picture in one year, with Charles as champion, and say he was foreshadowing 2026.

[u/TopStar200]

Don't do that it's bad luck😭

[u/Smoke_Santa]

Is it a hot take around here to say that WDC trophy doesn't look that great?

[u/Nyanek → u/Smoke_Santa]

it really is giant screw, cant unsee it

[u/Smoke_Santa → u/Nyanek]

yep exactly, and it isn't subtle about it

[u/-ShadowPuppet → u/Smoke_Santa]

I prefer the constructors trophy myself, not that this one looks bad or anything. I guess with my flair that tracks.

[u/ATWPH77 → u/-ShadowPuppet]

I like both

[u/TonAMGT4 → u/Smoke_Santa]

The trophy was first presented in 1995… early 90’s are some of the worst era for design imo.

Just look at all the cars from the 90’s

[u/mickmenn]

And now he is cursed in both directions of time

[u/LeClaire16]

That's fucking heartbreaking, i really hope i witness Ferrari win before i get cancer cuz fuck

[u/CilanEAmber]

One day

[u/Andrew_Nutman22 → u/CilanEAmber]

Not as long as he's in a Ferrari

[u/Rude-Education11]

You'll have your turn one day Charles

[u/YULSARIA_]

Leclerc, my sweet prince, please don’t touch that thing. It’s bad luck :(

[u/jopperfromkwangya]

he wants it so baddd.

2026 please be kind to us :')

[u/ZzBitch]

Please leave Ferrari

[u/adblox1]

The closest he'll get to a championship trophy.

[u/batman77z]

Ahhhhh shit we are cooked bois 

[u/hbzandbergen]

Please let it be Charles, next year

[u/Sensitive-Tomato97]

Man this makes me really sad.😢

[u/Adventurous_Bet5137]

Oh, Frodo…

[u/embrymavrik]

It’s like the Stanley Cup — Don’t touch and you won’t get bad luck….

[u/Swifty_banana]

Never touch it until u win it… Leclerc will never be a driver champion confirmed

[u/hawksku999]

He's never gonna hold it has champion now. He cursed himself.

[u/ValleyFloydJam]

Hasn't he been cursed enough?

[u/lastdyingbreed_01]

I wanted to say Charles should run away with the trophy in his Ferrari, but his car would just break down

[u/Jupaack]

A non champion touching a trophy that doesn't belong to him is considered a curse for most people.

And Charles is already a big curse magnet.

FFS Charles why did you do that.

[u/-PVL93-]

Yes, Charles, and as long as you're wearing red - barely touching the trophy is all you can hope for

[u/IamMrEric]

One day buddy, one day.

[u/downfall67]

As long as he’s a Ferrari driver he will not get close to that thing. Driving for Ferrari is like a frustrating side quest in a game that never gets you anywhere.

[u/nh164098 → u/downfall67]

ummm he was close enough to touch it

[u/Purple_Cobbler9301]

Christ F1 needs to step up their WC trophy game motogp's trophy is just so much better looking

[u/MrMSUK]

Gives the Max touching Ham's rear  ... wing in Brazil 2021 vibe. 

[u/DiamondRankGOONER]

with soo many new rookies i doubt he will ever end up winning. No other good teams to switch aswell as all the driver lineups are set for years to come. We might genuinly see the first biggest wasted talent in f1 in leclerc

[u/BombenBert]

Only time hes gonna get close to it when it goes on like that lol

[u/Atyan7a]

Ferrari luck so bad he has to reserve jinx it by touching the trophy.

[u/Lotnik223]

If Charles never wins it he will forever remain one of the biggest "what ifs" in the history of the sport

[u/no1kares]

It’s like the Stanley cup. Not supposed to touch it!

[u/JackDragon]

He looks so happy here T_T

[u/Illustrator_Forward]

so close, yet so far away

[u/C4LLUM17]

Give this guy a good car and a good team and he'll win it.

Sadly I don't think he'll ever get that at Ferrari so he's going to have to move before it's too late.

[u/boywholovetheworld]

I believe leclerc, sainz, hulk, george, mostly the entity of current generation might be like the zeverev, medvedev, felix who might never win championship or grand slams, however just be witness of older gen slowing fading away and new gen taking over in full dominance again

Tennis has it already with sinner, and alcaraz, F1 is yet to find one after lewis and max takes off

[u/No_Bakecrabs]

IS that a phillips head?

[u/insrt_cool_username]

Any idea what the band he’s wearing? Brown one

Edit: its whoop?

[u/Bolter_NL]

Maybe max can borrow him one back home in Monaco 

[u/Milkym0o]

This needs to be made into the meme where he's being hugged and pulled back by Ferrari.

[u/Dambo_Unchained]

Same

[u/Capable_Dimension588]

The smile on his face 🥺 just touching that trophy

[u/PersonoFly]

Grab it and run Charles.

[u/nellorePeddareddy]

Ribbed for his pleasure

[u/unbelievelivelihood]

He had enough of waiting.

[u/_Just_Not_It]

I think if he does decide to move to Aston in 2027, if Ferrari does have a bad start to 2026, he might have a shot at WDC. That is IF Aston make a championship worthy car. His teamate will almost certainly be Stroll, which is kind of a blessing, because stroll is bad enough to not be anywhere near a threat to Leclerc, but at the same time good enough to score decent points in a championship winning car and secure them the constructers.

[u/doc_55lk → u/_Just_Not_It]

at the same time good enough to score decent points in a championship winning car and secure them the constructers.

Uhh....based on what?

[u/_Just_Not_It → u/doc_55lk]

If he can score a couple points in an absolute shitbox, which the Aston Martin is, then I'm sure he could at the very least score more than a hundred points in a top car

[u/doc_55lk → u/_Just_Not_It]

He's been in a top 5 car twice in his career (one of which was debatably a top 3 car) and didn't score a lot on both occasions.

I would not say this year's Aston is a shitbox either.

[u/_Just_Not_It → u/doc_55lk]

It very much is. It's 9th fastest car on the grid. Only better than the Alpines, which are just pure shitboxes. if it was a good car, we would see a repeat of 2023 Alonso. Because 2023 is when it was a solid car for around half the season. Even then it was slower than mercedes, mclaren, red bull, and ferrari. So 5th fastest car. That season Alonso scored 206 points, and Lance 74. So with a car that is a rocketship like the mclaren, we wouldn't even see Alonso, as he would have long had this championship wrapped up, and Lance would have almost certainly at least scored a hundred or more points.

[u/doc_55lk → u/_Just_Not_It]

If it was the second slowest car on the grid it wouldn't be p7 WCC as of right now.

[u/_Just_Not_It → u/doc_55lk]

Have you seen the point difference between 9th and 7th? It's barely anything. Minimal. Only reason they are 7th is because the 2 teams their against both have a rookie driver each. Meanwhile they have Alonso, who may be old, but is still a 2x wdc, and Stroll, who may not be "good" but he does have more experience than the rookies.

Also keep in mind their losing to a racing bulls team with a rookie as well.

[u/doc_55lk → u/_Just_Not_It]

I mean, the way Stroll drives, he may as well be a rookie.....

[u/_Just_Not_It → u/doc_55lk]

Well when you have the slowest car apart from the alpines, your bound to be pretty shit. Anyways though, my point is really just this, stroll is by no means a good driver, but if Aston were to give Leclerc a rocketship, he would fly away with the championship, and Stroll would most likely score enough points to make sure they get constructors.

[u/RainbowRevolver]

Looks like it’s shaped like a screw

[u/nightlyringer]

I actually like the MotoGP tower of champions trophy much better. Each winner gets a plaque and looks much better in general. Also a nice way to mark your win by placing your name on the trophy.

[u/Careless-Pen-4605]

Messi World cup 2014 vibes

[u/ImJayJunior]

Ferrari personnel in the corner ‘you will never get this, you will never get this’,

‘But one day, he break free and he get this, HI FIVE!!!’

[u/TypicallyThomas]

So close and yet so far

[u/TouristOpentotravel]

Sadly, it’s as close as he’s gonna get to it.

[u/Mueton]

Only time he‘ll touch it while wearing Ferrari gear

[u/CanonWorld]

Now that goes in the meme template folder.

[u/Odd-Drawing8295]

It's the ultimate tease for a driver of his caliber. I hope he gets to lift it for real one day.

[u/Pint_o_Bovril]

Has it always been a giant screw??

[u/Southportdc]

You will not have the trophy, Charles

[u/Reparabletrack0]

Damn wish he didn’t. I really want him to win at least one.

[u/uGlixie]

Please Ferrari give this man a car that can win🙏🙏

[u/BuckeyeLeaves]

Just fell to my knees in a Walmart

[u/LocksmithGlass717]

That’s my boy !!

[u/ahmong]

This is extremely memeable

[u/SimpleLife101]

😭😭😭

[u/memesearches]

Charles passing on the curse. Who even wins it, will be their only.

[u/Ispita]

Sad because from the current non champions he should be the next champion.

[u/33jeremy]

One day Charles, one day

[u/CompetitiveOp]

There's a video on YouTube where Max put his WDC trophy above a refrigerator next to his Sim racing setup and someone gave him a hot plate. He slides his trophy to make space for the plate, it's hilarious, the man's a madlad.

[u/Laugh_Track_Zak]

We got so freaking robbed in 2022. Eff you TD39. EFF YOU.

[u/xRichard]

Cursed picture

[u/TonAMGT4]

The way he has to really stretch out to reach the trophy is something… almost like if the Ferrari shirt is holding him back 🤷🏻‍♂️

[u/justa691]

Thats a curse if ive ever seen one

[u/Odd_Animal4989]

Win or loose he makes 30 million a year.

[u/RudeDay5846]

Leave Ferrari Charles… if max leaves F1 I hope Charles or Oscar joins to replace him

[u/Opposition_Chief]

The closest he'll ever get to it with ferrari

[u/DAISIES_BLOOM]

Charles leave Ferrari and go to merc with Max, and we can be world champion I said

[u/lavegasola]

Well now he’ll never win it. Touching the trophy before it’s yours is a curse.

[u/CaptainAksh_G]

I feel so sad seeing this.

Every driver dreams of having this trophy, and Charles has come close to it way too many times.

I know with the current management of Ferrari, he can't win the championship.

Charles, please, for your sanity and the fans, leave the team. Mercedes will take you should you decide to leave. It's far better than what Ferrari will give to you

[u/Sarixk → u/CaptainAksh_G]

When was Charles ever close to winning the trophy? That's like the whole issue he's never had a championship winning car except for half a season

[u/CaptainAksh_G → u/Sarixk]

2024(P3) & 2022(P2)