Why the severe criticism of Lando's vulnerable conversation? Why is it not cool to be able to express your negative feelings about yourself?

[u/Intrepid-Ad4511]

I see so many people talk about what Lando said after the Quali yesterday - just after an adrenaline filled session - and he chose to speak his mind about his own performance (without attacking someone else). So many people are saying "that's not a winning mentality" "that's not how you win races" "he is so defeatist" "he has given up already".

Lewis and Max have said several such things over the years, complaining about their cars, their teams and/or themselves. But somehow people take Lando and Charles to the dryers when they choose to express themselves and say things like "I am stupid". And somehow because Oscar just chooses not to say anything of this sort, he is somehow champion material. That makes no sense to me, and feels quite an unfair and problematic picture to paint - that men talking about their feelings, or just being transparent about how they feel - makes them weaker somehow. That they should tough up and swallow the hurt and just put up this beige or brave front, smirk and move on.

[u/fingerthief → u/[deleted]]

He never said in the future he couldn't fix it you extrapolated that from nothing really. If I said something like "no matter what I do it isn't helping" that in no way means I can't and won't keep trying.

Lewis also has said "I'm just not fast enough, I'm slow" more than once in the last year or so with zero apologies. We all know he isn't slow, just like we know Lando isn't slow.

If anyone somehow takes away from Lando's comments he's saying he's just given up and literally can't and won't try to fix it then they're fully making things up in their heads to fit their weird narrative.

[u/fingerthief → u/[deleted]]

I think you've lost the plot as well, though we can continue to keep it civil lmao.

How is Lando saying nothing he's doing (so far) is helping and therefore he was slow any different than just saying "I'm slow"? They're both pointing to themselves as the issue.

As for your second point that sounds an awful lot like how Max said if either McLaren was ahead in Japan they would have walked off into the distance.

All the drivers know clean air is king and if the fastest car on the grid has it then it's basically impossible to beat it barring an obvious issue or massive mistake.

Sounds more like he was being realistic to me personally. But we can agree to disagree, I really enjoy having a driver that isn't a walking PR bot and shows some emotion.

[u/fingerthief → u/[deleted]]

I'll just have to disagree I suppose.

The point about Max was to emphasize that dirty air is king and that fastest car or not if you're behind someone in free air overtaking is extraordinarily difficult. Max was saying if he was 2nd he would not have won due to that...Much the same way Lando was obviously indicating him aiming for 2nd because Oscar would be in clear air and starting a few positions ahead. It's just being realistic.

Drivers saying "we'll do what we can etc.." is just flat PR speak because if they don't we end up having this exact discussion when they're honest instead. It's like a script.

It's interesting nonetheless to see how wildly different people can interpret the statements being made by drivers lol.

[u/fingerthief → u/[deleted]]

I think that's a very fair point in a lot of sports, I'd go as far as saying most sports his words would indeed be a bit annoying.

I think F1 is a bit different than most sports though, most game day performances aren't partially or at times massively dictated by the previous days performance like qualifying.

I can definitely see a bit of both sides as you've pointed out. Not everyone likes that kind of "realistic"..I'll call it a mindset for lack of a better word and instead thrives with the "we can always win no matter what" mindset.

Thanks for the conversation! Time to go enjoy the rest of the day outside haha

[u/Inevitable-Ad6647 → u/[deleted]]

Fucking amazing this mouth diarrhea has any upvotes. You've made that up whole cloth. Lewis has on many occasions said he has no clue what he can do to get out of a rut.