( on screen interview with virginia mcmanus, dakota's sister )

"...dakota is the brains of the bunch. from the day she knew what a car was, she wanted to learn everything. when she was ten years old, our granddad brought her out to his garage and started teaching her how to change a tyre, how to check oil levels. she says this a lot in her interviews, but i'll say it again *laughs* she started driving old race cars when she was about twelve years old, starting with on old stock car from the cup series, and when she was fourteen she was already moving up to single seater cars. we all thought she was going to be a driver one day, if she could get someone to notice just how good at it she actually was. but that's not what she wanted. granddad would take her to all these formula one races, and she always wanted to do what he did. she wanted to be in the pits, where the action was. the path to get there wasn't easy, and it's starting to take it's tll on her, i think. . . if you ask me, she needs to get away from red bull racing before she suffocates."

INSTAGRAM

dakotaelaineee

Outback, Australia

tagged virgini.mcmann

liked by brendanhartley, carlyyy_liang,   yukitsunoda, daniilkvyat, lewishamilton, and others

dakotaelaineee honey, i'm home < 3

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georgerussell63 sometimes i forget your an outdoorsy person and than you post shit like this

-----> dakotaelaineee says the guy who dresses like he belongs in peaky flipping blinders

virgini.mcmann MY SISTER IS BACK YALL

---------- > dakotaelainee now we just need jackson to come back too !

brendanhartley i was literally in australia last week smh ... such bad planning

user82748 look at the scenery !!!

-------- > user86147 its so barren-

----------- > virgini.mcmann you mean 'breathtaking'

danielricciardo3 make sure you stop by the farm and say hi to my parents !! i think my mom misses you

------------ > pierregasly there is no way that your mother misses dakota more than yuki. shes been gone for a day and a half and he's already whining

lancestroll i have no idea how you ca live out in the middle of nowhere like that. . . id go insane

alphataurif1 Where was our invitation, Mac ??

------------- > dakotaelainee lost in the mail, i guess !

SkySports: Motorsport psychologists weigh in on monumental McManus sabbatical

f1wags: we love you dakota <3 please do not listen to what the media i saying about you right now !! mental health is super important and you need to take time for yourself ! also please do not feel pressure to come back for the australian grand prix if you don't mentally feel ready to work in the pitlane, we will support you no matter what your decision is !!

image source: the vanity fair pit lane video from bahrain

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sparkletsunoda WE LOVE YOU MAC !! you are an inspiration to all women in motorsport !!

mcmanus_stanaccount you will come back even stronger ! it will be a good season for you and your team, i can feel it

user4827 i hope she considers the offer from mclaren ! dakota deserves a team that will treat her better than this

------- > sparkletsunoda but back in 2019 didn't someone from the mclaren team spread all those false rumors about her in the press? she was only nineteen years old at the time, and mclaren treated the situation terribly

------- > user7198  maybe she should think about moving to haas. she has such a good relationship with guenther and i know that he would treat her right

------> mcmanus_stanaccount at this point in her career, haas would be a massive downgrade though. performance is just as important as the work environment, and sadly im not sure if shes ever going to find a proper balance

TWITTER

it's always nicer to be home. my plane landed safely in queensland and now it's off to the outback to see my family. thank you all so much for your support right now. the goal is still to be back for melbourne.

xx, dakota

- Dakota Elaine Mac (dakotaelainee )

( onscreen interview with will buxton, formula one journalist )

"... dakota's decision to take time off was really a game-changer for two reasons, the first being that it kind of brings to light the double standards between pit crew and drivers. throughout her career, she has tried to tell people what that other side of f1 is really like, and she's talked so many times about the pressure that people in the pit lane face every day when it comes down to quick repairs and major decisions. essentially the pit crew hold the fate of both the driver and race in their hands, and that's not always easy. and i think the second thing really has been how she's been treated as a woman in this sport. it's no secret that f1 is an old boys club, and everything that chrisitan horner has been spewing, even though he's a bit of a pit wall character himself, has just proved that despite her best efforts and everything she has shown over the past five years, there are still people who really don't want her here."