Adrenaline

44 | championship leader

After yesterday's Mexico Grand Prix, rookie Windsor driver Brendon Ellis still finds himself leading the Drivers' Championship by 11 points, which is not as large of a gap as he wanted, but the team's decision to do a double stack in the pits today didn't pan out as hoped. Both Windsor drivers found themselves at the front of the pack early on in the race, but quickly found themselves losing pace, and the mishap in the pitlane only cost them further points. Idris managed to pull himself back up to the front for a modest third place podium, which helped close some of the gap in the points between him and his teammate, but Brendon was caught up in traffic after switching to the medium compound tyres and had to settle for seventh place.

While Brendon remained optimistic during the post-race interviews, fans could tell he was disappointed in the poor strategy and preparedness of the crew which cost him vital points leading up to the final race in São Paulo next week. Luckily for him, this upcoming track tends to suit Windsor cars pretty well, though that does mean he's going up against his teammate with a championship dangling between them in his final year in F1. Johnson has won the last four races in Brazil and is undoubtedly looking to secure his last and final Grand Prix win, which would also secure his record-breaking eight Drivers' Championship title as well.

If Idris Johnson can claim victory at next week's race, Ellis will have to finish at least P3 to claim his maiden championship title. While going up against the titan is no easy feat, Ellis has proven himself as a force to be reckoned with this season, and he's the most likely challenger against Johnson's dominance. Windsor was already rewarded the Constructors' Championship title in the last race, so all eyes will be on the Windsor drivers to see who claims the other title.

Going into the 2021 season, Windsor had a lot of good PR buzz they needed to generate due to the public perception of a certain...hmm... team principal, but they successfully managed to turn things around. This year, polls have shown the public's appetite for Windsor has shifted positive, and a lot of spectators believe the relationship between Johnson and Ellis is one of the biggest reasons. Windsor is a relatively new team in F1, and their driver pairings in the past haven't always been the best. Points scoring? Sure. But not without a lot of off-track drama.

At the last pre-race press conference, Johnson spoke very highly of his teammate Ellis, pointing out his improvements over the two years they've driven together. When asked whether he would congratulate Ellis on winning his first title this year should that happen, Johnson, of course, said there's no other teammate he would be more proud to lose to. Ellis echoed similar sentiments saying that just driving alongside his greatest F1 idol was the biggest honor, and though he hoped for a happy ending to this season, no matter how it ended, he would still be happy with the overall experience.

Who are you rooting for? Personally, though he has many more years on him, we'd love to see Ellis take this year's title. He's one of the most impressive talents we've seen on the grid in years. But we also wouldn't be sad to see Johnson extend his title-wins record and put an end to all of his critics for his final year in the sport.

Let us know down below how excited you are for the final race! See you in São Paulo!

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"Everleigh said Roman almost cried after they fucked up your second pit stop."

        Brendon laughs and I'm thankful we decided on a video call this time. Hearing someone laugh is nice, but seeing it take over their entire body is even better. It's my favorite version of him and I'll take being able to see it as much as I possibly can.