#2023 lestappen highlights

[cupidskissx]

Max I-don’t-think-too-much Verstappen meet Charles I-don’t-think-anymore Leclerc

x

[for28seconds]

Just Max and Charles being on each other's insta this year.

Baku Austria

Austin Las Vegas

[ezrapearl]

It’s a good time to be a lestappen fan 🥹🥹

[rejectedvinyl]

hear me out

what if max and charles would really become teammates, but not in red bull and not in ferrari? (and most especially not in mercedes lol)

[cupidskissx]

We are all Tommo, Tommo is us!

max and charles:

lestappen nation:

[il-predestinato]

His little giggles when he sees Max filming. 😄

↳🎥: RBR's IG story (Pre-Race Track Parade, 2023 Dutch Grand Prix)

[meep-meep-richie]

I’m still here

[m4xlesbian]

ROUND 22/23 ⸺ las vegas grand prix ✩ 19.11.2023

maple's rating: ★★★★ (9.5/10)

☁︎ click read more facts, highlights & experiences ☁︎

✩ facts

red bull today broke mercedes’ single-season record of 19 wins in a year (set in 2016)

max tied sebastian’s 53 career wins, putting him third in the all-time list behind michael's 91 and lewis’ 103

max is the first driver ever to win in the same country three times in a single year after his us victories in miami, austin and now las vegas

max today won what was the 1,100th world championship event

today was charles’ fifth podium finish of 2023 for ferrari

checo lost a place on the final lap for the second consecutive race

it was checo’s first podium since the last red bull one-two at monza seven races ago

esteban took p4 from 16th on the grid – he has only finished higher once this season (third in monaco)

with p6 for ferrari, carlos has leapfrogged lando and fernando in the standings and moved into fourth in the drivers' championship

lewis’ p7 finish for mercedes means he will definitely finish third in the drivers' championship

fernando, who finished in p9, is the only driver who was alive the last time f1 raced in las vegas in 1982

✩ raceweek highlights

max fucking hating this entire premise 💀💀💀💀💀💥💥💥💥

LESTAPPEN GAY IN THE MEDIA PEN. SOMEHOW 💕💕💕💕💕💕👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩 WHAT THE SCALLOP

carlos ran over draincover 😨😨😨

THE SPHEREEEE 💗💗💗💗💗

mclaren ass 💔💔💔

traffic 🥹🥹🥹🥹

checo out 😪😪😪 lewis out🤔🤔🤔

LOGAN THROUGH TO Q3 💥💥💥💥💥‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

max almost hitting the wall 😭😭😭

LOGANNNN 🦅

MAX TERRORISM ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

CRASH 🫵🫵🫵

fernando damage 😧😧

yuki up nine places

lando‼️‼️‼️‼️ in the wall 💔💔💔💔

lestappen fucking fighting on the radio 😭😭😭😭

5 second penalty 🤣🫵 ‘send him my regards 💗💕💕💗💕💗’

charles overtaking max‼️‼️‼️

GAX FUCKING CRIME. GEORGE 😒😒😒😒😒😒

checo leadingjdjjajajhsjhsjsi

pierresteban BATTLE‼️‼️‼️‼️👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

MAX LEADING ‼️💗‼️💗‼️💥💥💥

charles mistake -> checo overtake 😭😭😭💀💀💀

1.9 stop!! mclaren!!!

THE LAST CHARLES OVERTAKE 😭😭😭

MAX WINNNSSS 💕💕💕💕💗☀️☀️☀️☀️💌💌💌🌷🌷✨✨✨✨🪽🪽🪽🪽

max singing on the radiojfishsijs 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

THE CAR RIDE. I CANTJFJSJHSJSJSJSJ

✩ maple's diary

[cupidskissx]

And Leclarifying 😌😇

MAXSPLAINING

[cupidskissx]

Sergio dissociating after being subjected to yet another Lestappen debrief:

📸 James Moy

[for28seconds]

Hang it in the Louvre

[zandvoort23]

ROUND 1/24 ⸺ bahrain grand prix ✩ 02.03.2024

maple's rating: ★★★★ (8.3/10)

☁︎ click read more facts, highlights & experiences ☁︎

✩ facts

red bull ties with williams for fourth on the all-time win table with 114 race wins!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🍾🍾🍾🍾

max today won his eighth consecutive race 😁✨🌷☀️☀️🍾🍾💌💌💌

max now has two of the four longest winning streaks in history in the past 10 months (10 races, eight races)

this is max's fifth grand slam, tying alberto ascari and michael schumacher’s career totals, third of all-time‼️‼️‼️💥💥💥

max is the first driver to score a grand slam in the opening race of the season since michael schumacher in 2004 🥺🥺🥺🥺

today was max’s 42nd consecutive classified finish (the second longest streak in history behind lewis’ 48)

red bull finished one-two in the opening race for the second consecutive season (max beat checo by 11.987s in 2023)

checo’s p2 today was his best finish since monza 23

carlos’ p3 was only his fourth podium finish since the start of 2023

charles’ p4 gave him 12 points – he only scored six points in the opening three races of 2023 combined

with george in p5 and lewis p7, mercedes scored an identical result to bahrain 2023, but with their drivers swapped over

fernando was p9 – he finished on the podium in the opening three races last year

there were no retirements in the opening race of a season for the first time in f1 history 🥺🥺🥰🥰🥰🌷🌷✨✨

✩ raceweek highlights

✩ free practice

max NOT slaying 🙅🙅🙅

dam that ferrari looks a bit fast

DAMN WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING TO MERC 😵😵😵😵😵

max not sounding stressed though 👍

✩ qualifying

FIRST QUALIFYING OF THE SEASON 😵😵😵😵💥💥💥‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

qualifying being SO close

lewis kinda not impressing :/ oh okay

no incidents in quali! woah!!!

ALPINE. MASTERCLASS. 🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷🇫🇷 (disasterclass): p19 & p20

GEORGE not following the delta (he did not get a penalty. of course)

charles' q2 lap ✨✨✨✨

thank you oscar piastri for that tow. i will remember 💕💕💕💕

MAX POLE MAX POLE MAX POLE MAX POLE‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️💕💕💕💕💕💕💕☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

"ha ha sorry gp!" (gp and helmut bet on whether max got pole or not.)

33 poles for maxy!!!

✩ race

me having trouble breathing during the formation lap (normal occurrence. but still funny) 💥💥💥

OKAY. 🚨🚨🚨🚨 LETS FUCKING GOOOO

max IMMEDIATELY fucking off. who cares about the new drs rule if he can make a 1+ second gap within a lap 💀💀💀💀💀

NICE START FROM CHECOOO WOOOOO

contact between nico and lance 😨👎

charles. poor meow. what is happening to u 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫💔💔

fernando dropping 💔💔💔💔

FERRARI INFIGHTING LETS GOOO‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️💥💥💥💥💥

max building the fuck out of that gap 💘💕💓💖💗‼️‼️‼️🙏🙏🙏

50+ second pit stop for valtteri 💀 why does this always happen to him bro 😭😭😭😭

lewis not having a good time. like. at all 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫 ‘MY SEAT IS BROKEN’ AHHSHAHAHAH 😭😭😭😭😭

carlos 👀👀👀

williams overheating / wheel failure 😨😨😨 bc of their new screen 😭😭😭‼️‼️‼️

MAX LAPPING👀👀👀🪽🪽🪽

fuck you vcarb for doing that to my man yuki. fuck you. fuck youuuu oh my god fuck youuuu‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️👎👎👎👎💥💥💥💥💥💥

max weaving on the way to the finish line 😭😭😭😭😭

MAX VERSTAPPEN WINS THE FIRST RACE OF THE SEASON WITH A FUCKING GRAND SLAM‼️‼️‼️🏆🏆🏆☀️☀️☀️🌷🌷🌷🌷🪽🪽🪽💕💕💖💓💖💓💖🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

checo p2! first p2 since monza 😭😭

✩ miscellaneous

lestappen + george after quali 💀 bye

max laughing at george for thinking he's 0.5 behind per lap 🗣️

new intro screen! max looks cutieful! but its a downgrade for the intro in general 💔💔💔

ALAIN PROST IN THE PRERACE SHOW??? BONJOUR SIR!!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰💥💥💥💥💥

versainz kindaa 👀👀👀😏😏😏

✩ maple's diary

[cupidskissx]

Ships

Week Ending May 1st, 2023

Buddie +4 Evan Buckley & Edmundo Diaz, 9-1-1

Steddie Steve Harrington & Eddie Munson, Stranger Things

Huntlow Hunter & Willow Park, The Owl House

Destiel +6 Dean Winchester & Castiel, Supernatural

Byler +1 Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Stranger Things

Bowuigi -5 Bowser & Luigi, the Super Mario Bros. franchise

Vashwood +1 Vash the Stampede & Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Trigun Stampede

Lumity -4 Luz Noceda & Amity Blight, The Owl House

Lestappen Charles Leclerc & Max Verstappen, Formula 1 drivers

Bumbleby +5 Yang Xiao Long & Blake Belladonna, RWBY

Jegulus +2 James Potter & Regulus Black, the Harry Potter universe

Wolfstar Remus Lupin & Sirius Black, the Harry Potter universe

Hanamusa Jessie & Delia Ketchum, the Pokémon franchise

Chenford +5 Lucy Chen & Tim Bradford, The Rookie

Slimeriana C!Slimecicle & C!ElMariana, The QSMP Minecraft Server

Ghostsoap -2 Simon “Ghost” Riley & John “Soap” MacTavish, the Call of Duty franchise

Wesper Wylan Van Eck & Jesper Fahey, the Grishaverse

Wenclair -2 Wednesday Addams & Enid Sinclair, Wednesday

Raeda -10 Raine Whispers & Eda Clawthorne, The Owl House

Kavetham Kaveh & Alhaitham, Genshin Impact

The number in italics indicates how many spots a ship moved up or down from the previous week. Bolded ships weren’t on the list last week.

[lestappenforever]

Then I want to for obviously Lestappen: 🤤

49. “You're so beautiful." "You are, too, you know."

39.: "Don't leave me alone." "I won't."

xx 😘

Ask, and you shall receive, my lovely. 💕

---

49. "You're so beautiful." "You are, too, you know.", and 39. "Don't leave me alone." "I won't."

Every time they're in Suzuka, Charles really fucking hopes it won't rain.

And every time it does rain, he has a heavy feeling in his chest. In his gut. Because a rainy day in Suzuka always brings back memories of Jules, and the crash that would eventually take Jules from him. From the world.

Although he knows the safety measures that have been impimented as a result of Jules' death have been effective — Romain Grosjean surviving his horrible crash in 2020 was living proof of that — Charles can never rid himself of the hint of anxiety that lingers in the pit of his stomach and in the back of his head whenever it rains in Suzuka.

It doesn't surprise him when it rains at the 2023 Japanese Grand Prix. But it does surprise him that he manages to finish P3 despite it all, just like he had done the year before.

And just like the year before, he's sharing the podium with Max, who of course added another P1 to his absolutely dominating season. The one thing that is different from 2022, though, is the fact that it's Lando standing on the P2 podium step, and not Checo.

It's one of the very few highlights to his otherwise shitty season, and Charles wants to revel in it. Wants to feel happy and proud of himself for managing another podium. Wants to hold on to the joy he sees on the team's faces as he looks down at them with his bottle of champagne in his hand.

And he does, because Charles Leclerc is nothing if not grateful for every positive result he manages.

But there's just something about the rain in Suzuka and the memory of Jules that puts a damper on it all.

It doesn't rain during the podium celebrations, but it does rain later, when Charles is back in his hotel room, standing at the large window and looking at the rain drops pounding against the glass. The rain is so heavy that he can't actually see much aside from the rain.

"You're so beautiful," Max says from the bed behind him, watching as the lights from outside cast a soft glow over the Monégasque's face, making his green eyes sparkle.

The only source of light coming from inside the room is a small lamp on the bedside table, on the opposite side of where Max is laying on his side, propped up on an elbow.

Charles turns his head to glance at him, a soft smile on his face.

"You are, too, you know."

Max mirrors Charles' smile with one of his own as he pushes himself up and swings his legs over the edge of the bed.

Charles turns back to the window as he hears Max coming up behind him, strong arms winding around his waist from behind.

"I bet he's so fucking proud of you up there," Max says, propping his chin on Charles' shoulder and looking up at the night sky outside, even though he can't see much of it through the falling rain. "They both are."

Charles places his hands on top of Max's arms, leaning back into the other man's warmth.

Max is not a religious man by any means and he doesn't know if he truly believes in the concept of heaven. But, he knows how badly Charles wishes for the people he has lost to be able to keep an eye on him, long after they're gone. And it costs him nothing to do his part to assure Charles that they do.

Charles hums. "I wish I could give them something more to be proud of this season."

"You give them plenty to be proud of, every single day," Max says immediately, arms tightening around Charles' waist.

Charles smiles again, a small, soft thing as he leans his head back against Max's shoulder. Max takes advantage of the position by pressing gentle kisses to Charles' exposed neck, making the Monégasque shiver slightly in his arms.

"Cold?" Max asks against the skin of Charles' neck, and Charles shivers again.

"No," he breathes, closing his eyes. "Tickles."

He feels Max smile at that before there's another series of kisses being pressed against his neck.

They stay like that for a long moment, not moving. Not speaking. Just holding on to each other as they listen to the rain against the window.

There's a heaviness in Charles' chest he knows won't disappear until they leave Japan.

"I know you need to go back to your room tonight," Charles begins softly, opening his eyes. "I just —,"

He trails off, biting his lip. They never spend the night together during race weekends, both knowing there's too much of a risk of getting caught.

Max lifts his head from Charles' shoulder and pulls back just enough so he can look at the other man. Charles turns his head to meet his gaze.

He doesn't say anything, waiting for Charles to continue. To elaborate.

"Don't leave me alone. Not tonight."

Max turns him in his arms and reaches up with one hand to cup Charles' cheek, keeping his other arm wrapped around Charles' waist.

"I won't."

It's a promise he makes while brushing his thumb carefully over Charles' cheekbone.

Charles breathes a sigh of relief, not having realized he was holding his breath until that very moment.

Max leans forward, resting their foreheads together.

"Any time you need me to stay, you just tell me. Okay?"

"But what if —,"

"Any time, Charles."

Charles stops trying to argue. Instead, he captures' Max's lips in a kiss. And Max kisses him back, like he does every single time.

The heaviness in Charles' chest isn't going to disappear until he leaves Japan.

But having Max next to him is at least going to make it a little easier to bear.

[cupidskissx]

A Lestappen love story told through their feet, part ♾️:

📸 James Moy

[cupidskissx]

Lines from Charles Leclerc that make Max wiggle his foot like a dog wags its tail:

“memories that were less good became really good with time.”

“moments […] that are very funny.”

x