Things Like Charles "upgrading" His Yacht Are Honestly Such A Nice Reminder To Not Let This Whole F1

things like Charles "upgrading" his yacht are honestly such a nice reminder to not let this whole f1 fan thingy I've got going on here get too parasocial. i love f1 as a sport and i admire what the drivers do heavily but that's it. i love the fandom aspect of it so much and im very glad I've got a community to weird out with on tumblr. but f1 as an institution? fuck off. it shouldn't exist. there's so much corruption and power struggles and men that simply should never be given that much power. not to mention that they drive in countries that are at the very least morally questionable. i know that not all drivers get paid outrageous amounts but those that do just do not deserve that. and that's not to say that I would deserve it more or something. it's just that no human should ever be given that much money. no one in this godforsaken world needs to own a private jet or a yacht. i also think it says a whole lot about the ethics of drivers when they move to tax havens such as monaco. at the end of the day it's always nice to have the reminder that as much as they wanna appear normal they do live in a completely different world (undeserved at that) than most people on here and i think it's important to be aware of that and act accordingly.

I'm so sorry if anyone followed this blog thinking it's going to be a fun lil Lestappen experience, only to get hit by this, lol.

But, yes. Yes to everything you said, especially this:

at the end of the day it's always nice to have the reminder that as much as they wanna appear normal they do live in a completely different world

It doesn't matter how much the young drivers (and their partners) in particular are trying to push the 'regular guy' narrative. As previously discussed, not all of them come from wealth, but they very much are rich now. And no matter how nice someone may be, the number one priority of any rich person is this: stay rich, and become even richer.

Here's the thing: no system will ever be fair, or just, or equal. And private wealth has, historically, always played a crucial role in supporting the people, the arts, the sports. So I applaud the drivers for supporting karting, for example, and helping young people to get into the sport. In the absence of a system that will help those in need of support, we do rely on private financial aid. But what I'm getting at is that this charity work, for example, really doesn't do anything to diminish someone's wealth. Even the kindest and most generous people help because they know that they can afford to; because they will still be rich. Even some rich people lobbying for being taxed more might come from the right place, but even after taxing more, the people in question will still hold their shares and get their dividends and own their properties.

Which, I might sound overly cynical. Perhaps I am. I don't want to act like people doing something to help others and to help create a better system isn't important. It is. To some young driver in karting, that donation might mean the world. Even if the rich remain rich, higher taxes would still be collected. I just want to highlight that even the best intentions and actions are happening with the caveat that the system itself won't change; and the rich person's priority remains their own wealth.

And don't get me wrong. I, too, am very much part of that system, so I'm not going to call for a revolution. But I can only laugh at the mental gymnastics so-called Marxists and Socialists today do in order to justify their consumption under the whole "no ethical consumption under capitalism" thing. Anyway, that's just a personal gripe of mine. It is also equally absolutely my firm belief that communism and socialism can never truly be achieved, but that's a discussion for another day.

Anyway. To get back to your initial point and to make it about f1 again. As you said, it is nice to have this community, and to be weird together about f1. But the drivers are not your friends. I'm not saying they're bad people, but these individuals absolutely shouldn't be put on some sort of moral pedestal.

I think with social media encouraging that parasocial relationship, it can be difficult to separate the driver and the person, but it needs to be done if you don't want to be left disappointed. And, by the way, that also very much extends to their partners. Don't treat these girls and women as a parasocial y/n situation. They're just as wealthy and privileged and they very much sell a lifestyle the same way that drivers do. Basically, don't worship these individuals as people and treat them with distance and rationality, as you would with anyone that you don't know at all.

Ultimately, it's important to understand that you can support Charles as a driver without always agreeing with everything that he does as a person. And this applies to absolutely every single driver. I know there's always the Max fans that no longer can support him as a driver because of his relationship, or certain actions. And while I get that, it's literally always been this way; it's just that some fans tend to have a very pick and choose approach to what they deem to be acceptable in terms of 'good' behaviour they can support.

Anyway. Don't treat these drivers as your friends. Don't act like you know them. Don't be disappointed when they act exactly like people in that social class do. Draw a line between them as drivers and as people. And if you can't do that, f1 might honestly be the wrong sport for you.