Charles Leclerc’s girlfriend had to wait a half hour to get into their apartment because he was too focused on the game.
Scuderia Ferrari Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc has taken on a second career as a Twitch streamer during the coronavirus pandemic, but he ran into a hilarious problem at home during a recent broadcast. While playing Dirt Rally, Leclerc had his headphones on and couldn’t hear that his girlfriend was trying to enter his apartment.
Fortunately, Leclerc was paying attention to his Twitch chat, where viewers can interact with him – but there was another hurdle. Leclerc, as many big streamers commonly do, restricted the chat to subscriber-only mode, which reduces the amount of overall messages and forces viewers to subscribe if they want to chat. His girlfriend had to subscribe to his channel and then send him a message on his stream to open up the door after waiting nearly a half hour. The moment Leclerc realized what was happening was priceless.
Resume of the stream: My girlfriend had to buy a subcription to my Twitch to be able to ask me in the channel chat if I could open her the front door. She waited 25 mins downstairs as I couldn't hear my phone, I had the headphones and was very focus on my rally raceđ
Which driver should take Sebastian Vettel’s seat at Ferrari in 2021?
The 2020 Formula 1 season is on hold until July, but major news broke on Monday night that will have a massive impact on the sport in the coming year. Ferrari has confirmed that four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will not return to the team following the 2020 season, as the team and driver “jointly decided” not to extend their partnership.
Vettel’s scheduled departure will leave an opening for the most desired seat in all of motorsports, and it’s yet unclear if the 32-year old plans to look for a new Formula 1 team, change series, or retire from racing.
Ferrari has already invested heavily in a long-term contract for 22-year-old Charles Leclerc, who emerged as one of the top talents in Formula 1 during a breakout 2019 season. With Vettel officially on the way out, there’s no longer a question that Leclerc will be the No. 1 driver at Ferrari – and team boss Mattia Binotto could likely be looking for a new second driver willing to support Leclerc rather than beat him. Who should Ferrari be targeting to take over for Vettel in 2021? Here are the top candidates:
The no-brainer, first call Ferrari should make
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1. Lewis Hamilton
This probably is never going to happen, but Ferrari should absolutely make every effort to find out if it’s possible. While Hamilton would most certainly not accept a No. 2 role alongside Leclerc, he’d undoubtedly give Ferrari the best chance to win a world championship, something the team has not won since Kimi Raikkonen won the title in 2009.
He’s also one of the oldest drivers on the grid at 35, and likely wouldn’t be around for too long, ensuring that Leclerc would still get his time as No. 1 eventually and potentially providing a perfect window for someone like Mick Schumacher to continue developing and then step in when Hamilton retires.
The leading, realistic candidates
2. Daniel Ricciardo
It remains to be seen if Renault makes any serious progression in the midfield in 2020, but for the time being, it seems fairly clear that Ricciardo’s move from Red Bull was a mistake. He’s too good of a driver to be stuck in a car that can only hope to finish 7th each week, and he’s proven over multiple years that he’s capable of winning races and dueling with the best drivers in F1.
He definitely would not be comfortable playing the team order game with Leclerc, so both Leclerc and Ferrari would have to be on board with bringing in an equal (if not better) talent, but he’d also help out immensely in the race for constructors titles over a lesser driver willing to play the late-stage Raikkonen role.
3. Carlos Sainz
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Carlos Sainz was brilliant in 2019, finishing sixth in the standings in his first year with McLaren. One of the most consistent and cool drivers on the grid, Sainz is every bit as talented as Leclerc, but has never driven a car capable of winning races. He already has five full F1 seasons of experience at the age of 25, but clearly has his best years yet to come. The question is whether he’d want to leave McLaren – a prestigious team on the rise, similarly capable of paying him a lot of money – for the potentially awkward political situation of teaming with Leclerc.
4. Valtteri Bottas
Bottas has been an ideal wingman for Lewis Hamilton over the last three years, and Ferrari would clearly like to have the same sort of drama-free setup for Leclerc. Bottas remained with the world champions on one-year deals, but it’s possible that Mercedes could look to replace him with a younger talent like George Russell for 2021. Should that happen, he’d be a sensible, if not exactly sexy, choice for Ferrari.
The long-shots
5. Mick Schumacher
The son of Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher seems destined to reach Formula 1 eventually, but the question is when. The 2018 F3 champion raced his first season in F2 last year, winning once in Hungary, but the current shutdowns have delayed his on-track development in 2020. Jumping into the Ferrari seat straight from F2 would be a monumental leap, and he’d be under immense pressure as a rookie. It seems more likely that Schumacher could land somewhere like Haas, and eventually transition to a bigger team in 2022 or 2023.
6. Antonio GiovinazziÂ
If Ferrari wants to go all-in on propping up Leclerc at all costs, they could do worse than by signing an Italian driver with a decent amount of F1 experience.
Sebastian Vettel is done with Ferrari after the 2020 F1 season.
In a virtual press conference last month, Formula One star Sebastian Vettel said there would be “no discussion” about the possibility of him retiring at the end of the 2020 season. He is, however, ditching Ferrari.
Releasing a statement Tuesday, Ferrari confirmed reports that it and the four-time F1 world champion have mutually agreed to part ways at the end of the season, which is currently paused because of the global COVID-19 pandemic and is not expected to return until July at the earliest. Vettel’s current contract is up at the end of the current season.
The German driver will turn 33 years old in July, and without a ride for next season, his future in the sport remains in limbo â even if he was previously adamant about not retiring. Depending on how other free-agent pieces move around, there could be a place for Vettel with McLaren, Renault or even Red Bull, but his inability to reach a deal with Ferrari could also leave him without a job.
In a statement released with Ferrari, Vettel explained how, despite being in contract talks for a while, the last few months have given him a chance to reflect on his career and future. He said in full:
“My relationship with Scuderia Ferrari will finish at the end of 2020. In order to get the best possible results in this sport, itâs vital for all parties to work in perfect harmony. The team and I have realised that there is no longer a common desire to stay together beyond the end of this season. Financial matters have played no part in this joint decision. Thatâs not the way I think when it comes to making certain choices and it never will be.
Whatâs been happening in these past few months has led many of us to reflect on what are our real priorities in life. One needs to use oneâs imagination and to adopt a new approach to a situation that has changed. I myself will take the time I need to reflect on what really matters when it comes to my future.
Scuderia Ferrari occupies a special place in Formula 1 and I hope it gets all the success it deserves. Finally, I want to thank the whole Ferrari family and above all its âtifosiâ all around the world, for the support they have given me over the years. My immediate goal is to finish my long stint with Ferrari, in the hope of sharing some more beautiful moments together, to add to all those we have enjoyed so far.”
In his first five years with Ferrari, Vettel earned 14 grand prix victories, making him the third-most successful driver for the team. The 2020 season, when it starts, now will be his sixth and final year with the team.
In part, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said in the statement:
“This is a decision taken jointly by ourselves and Sebastian, one which both parties feel is for the best. It was not an easy decision to reach, given Sebastianâs worth as a driver and as a person. There was no specific reason that led to this decision, apart from the common and amicable belief that the time had come to go our separate ways in order to reach our respective objectives.”
