we'll start by holding hands

We, at least, shaped something different out of the season, a story that had its imperfections but remained a tale not told to death, a narrative with twists, never wanting to be common — there was this, wasn’t there — the two of us, alone in our own weird version of holiness — Catherine Owen

I wouldn't say it's a case of being "better friends" with Lewis. They're just some of the biggest names of their generation, and they were direct rivals for the title several times. It's an interview with a British journalist for British media, with a very specific line of questioning. By own admission, Seb stated that Charles is the most talented driver he came across in 15 years of racing in Formula 1 🤷🏻‍♀️

I get that! It would be nice if he made his support of Charles more... Idk apparent? Like outright say he's rooting for him.

But. This was an interview with the BBC, a British media powerhouse. Naturally, the questions are going to be more biased because of that, skewing towards Lewis and wanting to get a direct answer out of Seb regarding Lewis and his move to Ferrari, because that's what interests them the most. If you look at any British broadcaster or publication writing about the move since it was announced, it's like they've got blinders on. It was all about Lewis and "the eighth". Still is. Like the hype train went supersonic over winter break.

Even in this interview the journalist defaults to "Lewis is trying to bring Ferrari that WDC" like, you know, Charles hasn't been trying to do that since at least 2022. 🤔 And then he's like "you came so close, on a couple of occasions finishing runner-up." Again, like Charles wasn't vice champion in 2022.

So honestly I think Seb actually handled the question pretty gracefully. He's got to give a Lewis-centric response to a Lewis-centric question, but he balances it out by basically saying, well, Charles is there and I know firsthand what he's capable of, let's not write him off just yet. It's not quite "I hope it's Charles who wins the title" with his whole chest but it's not nothing.

Of course major outlets and social media accounts have already taken his answer out of context and are running with just the "He's backing Lewis for the title part!!!!!!" which. 🙄

But he's also told Charles to achieve his unfulfilled dream of winning with Ferrari. When the season was shaping up to be Max v Charles in 2022, he said (I think this was around halfway through the season, where Ferrari had already fucked up numerous times) he thinks Max will take it, but that he hopes it goes down to the wire and that "I hope Charles will pip Max." And then at the end of the season he reiterated his point.

So it's not like he's not rooting for him. It's just that Lewis is the big talking point at the moment while the novelty hasn't worn off yet, and the interview was carried out by a major British media outlet, so y'know. Anyway with the car and team operations are currently going no one is winning any title in that Ferrari anyway 🤐

The last time two cars from the same team were disqualified from the same race was the Japanese Grand Prix in 2019. That weekend Seb achieved (what would be his last) pole position. It was a 1-2 for Ferrari with Seb and Charles, and the 5th consecutive pole position for the team in 2019. Before his disqualification, Charles finished 5th in China which pushed him over 1400 points, overtaking Seb as Ferrari's all-time leading points scorer. The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix 2025. It's been 5 and a half years since the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. If Charles finishes in the points, he will (once again) overtake Seb as Ferrari's top-scorer.

In conclusion: Sebchal is inevitable 5️⃣1️⃣6️⃣

Charles and Sebastian + I Go Crazy ↳ Oh won’t somebody hold me and tell me it’ll all work out Say that there’s nothing to worry about now ‘Cause I’m so sick of the drama and I hate to shout But you drag it out of me * Three words, two hearts, one maybe Say something before I go crazy now My tears, your fears, amaze me But I’m still so devoted to you, it scares me

Banger Sebchal post on F1 Reddit in the year of our lord 2025...