#a history of Maserati

[guy60660]

Alfieri Maserati | F1 History

[silhouettehistory]

Mid-Engine SilhouetteHistory

Silhouettes of 35 mid-engine sports cars. How many of them do you recognize?

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[apartmentsmoke]

there hasn't been a day since the breakup when buck and tommy haven't thought about each other

there's one day that tommy spends working on his newest project car, a 1969 maserati ghibli he spent too much money on, and as he's cleaning his hands off he thinks okay. i made it a day without thinking about him. a beat later he thinks fuck, then he thinks evan would love the history of this car, because tommy did a dive the same way evan dove into billy boils' backstory - and then the dam's broken. tommy drinks a beer and mopes.

across town buck's not baking. he's not checking his phone. he's getting home from an evening run. he set a punishing pace, focused on step after step, and when he's turning the key to enter his empty loft all he's thinking about is a shower - and then he takes his shoes off. sees the shelf that tommy helped him put up. he sighs, open his fridge, spies tommy's favored beer and bypasses it to grab some flour.

[someone-else-reading13]

life really is a before and after reading aftg. like i’ve been in a lot of fandoms, obsessed over a lot of characters. and yet, there hasn’t ever been a piece of media that has come even close to how much i think about aftg on the daily.

i can’t even begin to count the amount of things/words that stopped being what they were and became references to this series

a hand to the nape? BIG reference

the color orange? reference

a sports team with orange uniforms? REFERENCE

keys, stay, pipe dream? reference

percentages? referenceeee

going for a run? reference

anything written by edgar allan poe? yep, that’s a reference

california? millport? columbia? maryland? reference

majors like math? history? business? reference

Maseratis and CIGARETTES???? REFERENCE

french? german? spanish? more references

armbands? black combat boots? reference

colored contacts and hair dye? you bet, reference

i could go on and on, but i think you get the point.

[frenchcurious]

Maserati A6 GCS styled by Pinin Farina.. - source History's Scape.

[maxwell-grant]

The Penguin Episode 5: "Homecoming" Breakdown

BREANNAH: I think, if Oz had it his way, I think Victor would carry on Oz's legacy. AMY: Do you think that Victor can ever see Oz as his Rex Calabrese? BREANNAH (sighs): I think that is what Oz wants. I think if Oz had it his way, by the end of this series, Victor would want to plan Oz's funeral and have a parade through the streets and be the, um AMY: The biggest parade ever? BREANNAH: The biggest parade ever. - The Penguin Podcast Episode 5

(Art by @butcherbilly)

(Episode 1) (Episode 2) (Episode 3) (Episode 4) (Episode 6) (Episode 7) (Episode 8)

I wanna know who decided to bang up the Penguimobile so meticulously to give it the angriest, most anthropomorpic scarred face a Maserati can possibly have, on the second before it's given a Viking funeral. That thing looks like a wounded animal and I refuse to accept this was accidental.

I knew we were in for something special when it opened with "Did I ever tell of Rex Calabrese" and the Penguinmobile being burned, and then it turned out to actually be a funeral for the Penguinmobile and the history of why Oz wanted a Penguinmobile so badly, why was it so deeply important for him as a kid to dream that one day he'd get a big flashy stupid car to roll down the block with, and what burning the Penguinmobile means to him now.

"It wasn't just a car, it was a chariot. Made a kid with a bum leg feel like even he could be king." "End of an era."

"Only the good die young." Sure hope that bodes nothing terrible for Victor's future.

It is pretty funny that Oz has Tiktok installed on his phone and that this one scene confirms it exists in this universe, the jokes just kinda write themselves there.

Vic sure seems like he's rapidly getting a taste for the action, the decision he's made is bringing a fight out of him no one but Oz had ever really imagined was there. Not only is he getting comfortable with doing violence on Oz's behalf and making his own decisions, but he's gotten to a point where he's starting to actually look up to Oz, seeing him the way Oz wants to be seen.

Oh hey it's the police chief from The Batman, glad that he shows up here, especially in a context where he gets to eat shit.

I wish Eve Carlo showed up more, so far she hasn't really had too much to do although this episode definitely is the most we've seen. Someone who Oz doesn't really have much leverage with because she sees many of the cracks in his image and who's had a target on her back because of him the moment we were introduced to her, her protectiveness over the girls, the stuff mentioned in the commentary, all of that is interesting and I expect we're gonna get more elaboration regarding her down the line - it's already a big question mark whether she'll even survive the show.

"That's what I do, I fix things. That's all I ever fucking do."

I like these moments of pathetic defiance and pained regretful self-serving vulnerability that we get from Johnny Viti in this episode, with Sofia eating the scenery with the power she now holds over him even as what he reveals still very much hurts her.

The painful vulnerability of Francis nearly burning the house down while softly clutching a catcher's mitt, steeling up and joking with Victor about her bruises, and the sheer happiness and pride overflowing from her as she practically dances to the news that her son gassed an entire family to death, God what a character. She waited her whole life for these scumbags to die and die by her son's hand, it's gonna be a real gutpunch when or if she finds out the truth.

Oz doing everything he does so he can come home one day and have his mom tell him she's proud of him, and at the happiest and most prideful we've ever seen (and probably will ever see) Francis, he wasn't there to see it, and it was only because Victor spun a lie for him.

I wanna take a little aside just to highlight some of Shohreh Aghdashloo's comments regarding Nadia Maroni and her final moments, and this is probably the character I'm going to most miss because I was very interested in everything that she brought to the table, the history and the perspective that this character brings to Gotham, and what went into her creation and death.

She's coming from a huge family. She left the revolution behind. She has traveled the seven seas, she has learned a lot, and therefore she herself has been revolutionized. She's where she cannot tell the difference between right and wrong. All she's trying to do is to save her family, her husband, her son, and what's important to them. There is no right and wrong there. Which reminds me of a poem by the Persian poet Rumi, which says, "Beyond the notion of right and wrong, there is a field. Would you like to meet me there?". That's where she is standing.

Her country was invaded. Foreign occupation. Now she needs to make another country her country, and then save herself and her family. And she's willing to do everything to the point that she would even sacrifice herself for this family.

I guess when you go through a lot and do not have time to think about your doings, your past, your present, what's going to happen in the future, you're just involved with something like a snowball that comes out downhil. You really don't think properly. All you do is action, action, and what's right to do right now.

If she had been thinking thoroughly, she would have not done that - The Penguin Podcast Episode 5

‘Why does Nadia go there? She can send people to bring her son back,’” Aghdashloo says of Nadia’s characterization as an Iranian mother. “But she doesn’t, because she calls her son ‘joon,’ ‘dear,’ and she is ready to sacrifice herself for him. We can’t help it.”

Every time an Iranian mother talks to their son, their name is always followed by “joon,” or “dear.” And at the end of the conversation, it usually ends like this: “ghorbunet beram.” “I sacrifice myself for you.” Nadia literally sacrifices herself for her son. That is the best part, for me, of this scene. If she were a real mob boss, she wouldn’t get herself involved with this. But she is a housewife. She makes mistakes. That scene means so much to me. I’ve been asked, “Why does Nadia go there? She can send people to bring her son back.” But she doesn’t, because she calls her son “joon,” “dear,” and she is ready to sacrifice herself for him. Ghorbunet beram. - The Penguin’s Shohreh Aghdashloo Couldn’t Let Nadia Stay Quiet, by Roxana Hadadi,

Having established that, Jesus Christ.

Oh so that's why Shohreh Aghdashloo's name and eyes were superimposed behind the burning car the whole time in the credits, you fuckers, that's why.

The "You know my reputation?" line from the movie always took a whole different meaning with the show, but with that scene, Oz cooking a mother and her son alive while they embraced and gleefully watching it all happen, is the first time we see him deserve the reputation he boasted about, it's a real what-the-fuck moment in a way that even the stabbing in Episode 2 was not, in part because this was not necessary, and it was extremely premeditated. Oz may have done it only after the Maronis locked the door and tried to kill him, he may have done it as payback for them stealing his shrooms and trying to kill him, but he had already doused Taj in gasoline first. He likely expected Nadia to be there to retrieve him. He waited until Taj was in her arms. It's fucking vile and impossible to justify even more so than the other vile unjustifiable things Oz had done up to this point.

Extremely cool and good that, when asked if this is the worst thing Oz has done, Lauren Lefranc very quickly said No. Cool, cool cool, fun times ahead.

I highlight those excerpts where Aghdashloo discusses the character's morality because it is important to how the Maronis function differently from the Falcones, as we'll see with Sal later, but also the fact that Oz is not targeting people who are morally below him. He is not sticking it to the man by attacking the Maronis. Everything Aghdashloo describes above about Nadia's morality and decision-making aligns with how Victor and Oz function, but Nadia has more family to lose, and she respects a code that Oz wipes his ass with and actively exploits to beat them with. The Maronis still think that they can survive in this town by being strong principled gangsters, when this is a city of villains.

Something about the image of a self-pitying American gangster gleefully burning a middle-eastern family alive, under the pretense of payback but largely because he could get away with it.

"I think there's a reason that we're more interested in the life of the villains nowadays than Madame Curie or, you know, Dostoevsky, is the fact that we want to know what happens to a person that turns them from a human into a creature."

“Maybe today, where we’re standing at the junction of history, we need to get to know our villains so we know how to deal with them,” she says with a wink." -

I can't say too many of the Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul comparisons have been particularly warranted, but Oz losing his shit at daylight in a yellow/orange-lit deserted junkyard because he ruined his entire drug batch as a result of his cruel recklessness is an extremely BrBa/BCS moment, no notes.

Extreme credit to Colin Farrell that he's nonetheless able to elicit sympathy, despairing over his lifeline turned to ashes in his hands and begging Victor to get his mom somewhere safe, not even being able to name where exactly she would be, because even his mastery over the city is failing him.

Congratulations Sofia, you've risen up to the role of Batman Supervillain so fast that you even get your own Harley Quinn now

Dr.Rush is almost aggressively pathosless compared to everyone else in the show in a way that I think works for his role, that his presence is wildly uncomfortable to us in a lot of ways, and that he's even breathing speaks still to Sofia's buried need to have someone, anyone, in her corner, even a guy who was complicit in her torture.

It's easy to parse his sticking around as attraction to Sofia and I didn't quite know what to make of it, but Theo Rossi laid out a lot of very insightful commentary on the podcast regarding what he saw as the driving force of the character and those got me seeing Dr.Rush as a genuinely interesting spin on the Arkham psychologist. Even if very much not intentionally, I do think he's actually offering an interesting meditation on the broad strokes of Harley Quinn, specifically what drives an ethical-but-naive psychologist to throw themselves wholesale into submitting before the higher force-of-personality offered by a supervillain, even without being manipulated into doing so.

He, like many of us in life, was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I think that he went in with the best intentions to go into Arkham, and then he realized what Arkham was, and how horrific it was. I think, to deal with that, because someone who gives their entire life to a specific profession is kind of sheltered from real feelings, if you're dealing with other people's feelings. And I don't think he ever really explored his, in a way. So he gets this opportunity, and he sees what she has become, this butterfly. She had become something else. And he was so dying to become something else other than himself. And he had spent all these years after Arkham numbing himself and doing whatever. A lot of this came to me months after shooting (laugh).

There was a very significant part in Ep.2 where she slaps him, and what we had written in there is that he looks like he enjoyed it. It's like that he enjoyed the feeling of pain because he needed to feel something again. I think that he's become so incredibly numb to watching this horrific thing that he basically lost himself, and why he now dedicated his life to doing whatever was because he needed to rectify his soul, in a way, for what he had seen in this horrific thing.

This is someone who's lost in every single way due to the profession that they had followed, which in probably the beginning sounded like a really fantastic idea. I think that it's dedication to something and seeing now, adding on physical violence, this violence he's seeing, this true, horrific thing, and then also adding on guilt, and adding on, "Is she innocent? Am I complicit? How do I-"

And then add on his own stuff of, "I want what you have". How did you come from the depths of the worst place a human can be, to literally be thrown away, like we were just saying about Rosemary Kennedy. How do you come from there to gain your power and be fully in control? And really strut, like this peacock, where you go, "Oh my-How do I get that?". That's the superpower.

RIP in shit Johnny Viti, you died as you lived, being the idiot who thinks this is still about the money and not sending a message.

Like the other piece of shit backstabber in Sofia's life, all she needed him for was to open the door.

Extremely great incorporation of the Gigante name here, as is Sofia going to war with her mother's coat and painting her as a force too great for the Falcones to handle, assembling the final piece of the great burning self-mythology of family injustice she needs to put on a show as a Batman Villain, looking like she stepped out of the Tim Burton movies and declaring the new order everyone's gonna have to get in line with or die.

Sofia once again demonstrates the ways in which supervillains not only exist, but take over the existing orders: She arrives at the table with warpaint and fur, addressing these men as wronged underdogs like her and her mother, showing herself as a boss who will seriously and almost aggressively not screw them over for the sake of getting a cut, who will pay them ludicrously and generously if they stand by her as she chucks the royal lineage of Gotham in the trash and reaches out to their biggest enemies, as she guns down the Reasonable Businessman on the table so they can take the money caked in his brain matter - and only if they address her by her new nom-de-guerre first, of course.

Of course money is less than dogshit to her - she grew up never wanting for it, then she spend 10 years where it never mattered / actively screwed her over, and now she's single-minded on achieving vengeance and viewing money as only a necessary conversation tool - money was what Milos and Viti cared about, and that way of thinking died with them. They were the dinosaurs who thought they could out-reason or just buy out the meteor.

This is how traditional crime gets it's back broken in Gotham: the mob spent two decades with cheat codes to infinite money, and then Batman took it away, and at the moment they most needed to seriously reorganize and adjust for having limited money, the freaks they created killed them and are now taking over with equally impossible promises far more appealing to regular people, continuining the chain of dominoes that reaches all the way back to the day Thomas Wayne saved Carmine Falcone's life and kicks off why and how Gotham City becomes the place where people like the Batman and the Riddler and the Penguin exist.

It is not only the episode where Sofia comes out to the world as a supervillain, but it's the one where Oz begins doing the same, as we'll see in the end.

This new order is also part of why Sofia ultimately extends an invitation to Sal Maroni. A thing that I was not expecting about Sal, that Clancy Brown brought up as soon as he showed up on a post-episode segment, is that Sal Maroni is easily manipulated. He is the closest we've ever gotten to a classic Honorable Gangster, to a strong and silent Gary Cooper type, the Don who genuinely cares about honor and family and fairness, and he is a sucker. A dumb sucker who lost before the story began, only kept losing while in jail, who needed his wife to coach him and do the real work, and now needs Sofia, who's aiming to become an actually successful Honorable Gangster, to come in her place because he can't even avenge his family on his own.

He is not totally defenseless given the prison escape, but really the main reason he's not visibly and immediately and obviously clockable as a dumb sucker is because Clancy Brown is playing him, which fits his role as a counterpart to Carmine Falcone, Gotham's first villain The Hangman, because nobody would expect John Turturro to be the serial killer king orchestrator of everything wrong in the world. Sal is the anti-Carmine Falcone, and that's why Sofia extends him the grace of an invitation. Because he wouldn't have thrown his daughter to the wolves like that over nothing.

She knows he is right about "You Falcones eat your own", it's how she got here after all. I don't think she respects Maroni, but I think she respects every other man in Gotham even less. At least this one actually honors his word, for what good it does him, and he has just as much reason to pursue her war against Oz as she does, and in the new way of things, in this post-Batman world they live in, it is Justice and Vengeance that rule the city now.

Getting to see the horrific state Crown Point's in also goes a long way towards adding justification for Victor's decisions. That was where he lived up until Oz took him in, Squid was the most powerful person in his life up until that moment, that was the apocalyptic tragedy his beloved neighborhood had turned into. Victor has that love for Gotham and that connection to the family that died here, that the city took and he cannot accept that. That's what he shares with Oz, and with Bruce as well. Of course he couldn't leave it all behind to join Graciela in the sunset, of course he couldn't leave this city anymore than Oz or Bruce could.

Oz getting a bitter taste of his own bullshit when Eve maneuvers around his insecure temper tantrum and makes herself small so he can feel big and not endanger her any further, and he knows it - on some level he has to know she's playing him the way he plays everyone else, and he will go along with it.

Crushing stuff in that scene with Francis - Oz spinning too many plates and despairing and sinking morally and emotionally the whole episode, and then when he thinks he gets to just rest, when all he wants is to go back to his mom's arms for a beat, she shreds his heart to pieces and holds his feet to the fire so he will get back to work. Even more fucked up is that this is her doing the best she can possibly do for him at the moment, because that's how Oz gets things done. Through her negative reinforcement, when he's backed into a corner, when he's desperate and with no way out, that's when he gets miracle solutions and right now they desperately need one.

"My ma, she's what keeps me good" - even if that were even remotely true, your mom doesn't want you to be good, she wants you to win.

We're back to the shithole I raised you in and the only way we're getting out is if you become the Penguin, so be the fucking Penguin.

AND SO HE FINDS HIS OWN BATCAVE

Speaking as someone who always liked Penguin living underground as much as (maybe a little more) the Iceberg Lounge, no small part of me is happy that this one gets to do both, and that this choice of lair comes with a whole story. Oz used to play around here with his brothers, and now he's bringing along a new brother to join him down there.

Burned down to nothing but trauma and resourcefulness and the only person who hasn't given up on him, this person who's seeing him the way he wants to be seen, this kid who embodies the best of him, someone who makes this whole thing worth doing in the first place.

BREANNAH GIBSON: (on the comparison to Walter White and Jesse Pinkman) I think that's a great comparison, especially as you get into the later seasons of Breaking Bad where Walt just becomes this sort of, unrecognizable character from the pilot, and Jesse is - is sort of his moral compass. I think, in a way, Oz and Victor have a similar relationship because Oz keeps him around because he wants to mentor him, and in that way you can see that there's something good in Oz.

Like, I know that he says that his ma is good, and I think he believes that when he's saying it to Victor, but Oz would never admit that in the real situation that they're in, Victor is his moral compass here. Victor is the good in the situation, and Victor is that naive kid from the same neighborhood that Oz grew up in, that maybe Oz wants to see succeed.

And if he helps Victor succeed, he succeeds. And I think there's part of that that Oz is really enjoying about their relationship. And especially in this episode, you know, after Ep.3, Victor's all in. He came back for Oz. He saved him. He's now like, "It's the two of us, and there's nobody else." - Penguin Podcast Episode 5

Armed with these, he storms the underground to prove he can do the impossible and build an empire with two buckets.

Not just the faint last hope, but the first thing he has that's actually by his doing - not owned by the Falcones and leased to him in his role as their court jester, not something he's paying other people to let him use, something he took for himself and then grew into a whole thing.

Which is what The Penguin does - he builds and grows and takes over and expands until Batman has to deal with him. Among the Batman villains, he is the empire builder, and this is where he starts. So far he's just been fixing, now it's time to start building.

And I'll leave the final words here with @davidmann95

OZ USES THE SAME ABANDONED SUBWAY SYSTEM AS BATTINSON BECAUSE THEIR HERO/VILLAIN PARALLEL IS ROOTED IN THEIR SHARED LOVE OF GOTHAM (AS WELL AS THEIR CONNECTIONS TO THE FAMILIES THEY LOST AS CHILDREN IN THIS TAKE THAT BOTH LEAD THEM HERE), SO GOOD

we talked around it a little before but this was definitely the 'okay, fuck it, I guess I'm a supervillain now' episode

Oz, the scummy wheeling-dealing doublecrosser trying to keep all his bullshit in the air and maneuver his way into a successful partnership with anyone he can that he can eventually get on top of Someday, reaches the end of his rope

So now The Penguin has to live in his subterranean childhood trauma lair to defeat all his enemies outright by eating Gotham from the inside out with Arkham super-drugs

[boxboxblog]

Women in Motorsports

Hello, this post is answering an ask about women in F1 and F1 related series. Great ask, let's go.

History:

So, unfortunately the history of women in motorsports is a combination of good and bad, but mostly bad. It's a story of limited opportunities, constant barriers, and many female racers being seen as the exception rather than the rule. F1 still to this day is a male-dominated sport, and even as recent as the 2010s many men in F1 deemed female racers to be a bad idea, or that women could not handle it. F1 legend Stirling Moss stated in 2013 or 2014 that "Women don't have mental strength for Formula 1 and would find it tiring" so this really is a culture in F1 that only in recent years has started to change.

But all throughout this history, women did fight for the right to race. Who were these women?

Maria Teresa de Filippis

The first woman to race in F1, she entered the sport in 1958. She competed in five Grand Prix's with Maserati and Behra-Porsche, and finished 10th in Spa. She possibly dealt with the worst of what the F1 world had to offer, as she was even banned from racing at some tracks, even being told at one point that "the only helmet a woman should wear is the one at the hairdresser's". While she only competed for a short time, she was a pioneer for women in motorsports.

Lella Lombardi

Lombardi is probably the most well known women in F1 history. She grew up racing, competing in karting at a young age and then rising up through other series, before being brought into F1 in 1974. She would race in F1 until 1976, and throughout her career would score points multiple times. Even when she left this series, she would still race for many years to come. While she is not the first woman in F1, she is perhaps the greatest trailblazer, as her performance and competitive spirit inspired many future female drivers and even garnered respect from many F1 legends.

Divina Galica

A famous British athlete (part of their olympic ski team) Galica also pursued a career in motorsports after performing well in a celebrity racing event. She competed in karting, then moved into F2 and F1. She raced in three Grand Prix's between 1976 and 1978, but unfortunately never qualified for the race.

Desiré Wilson

Known as one of the most accomplished female racers in the world, Wilson is the only woman to win an F1 race (as of right now), but this was in the non-championship series, Aurora AFX British F1 Series. Her only entry in the F1 championship series was the British GP, of which she did not qualify. Outside of F1, she had a thriving career, competing in Indycar events, winning the Monza 1000km, winning the Silverstone 6 Hours World Championship, winning the South African Formula Ford Championship, racing in Formula Pacific, the 24 Hrs at Le Mans, and more. A truly impressive racer and career.

Giovanna Amati

The most recent female F1 racer, Amati raced for Brabham in 1992. She had three entries, but did not qualify for a race. Outside of F1, she had a great career. She attended a motorsport academy from a young age, competing in her first series, Formula Abarth, in 1981. She then moved up to Formula 3 and Formula 3000 (scoring multiple win sin both series). She was able to secure a place in F1 after serving as the testing driver for Benetton, but her poor results meant she was fired quickly. After that, she went into other series like Monza 1000km, Sebring 12 hrs, the Ferrari Challenge, etc.

Development and Test Drivers:

Sarah Fisher: Indycar driver, tested for McLaren in 2002

Katherine Legge: Tested with Minardi in 2005

Susie Wolff: A Williams test and reserve driver in 2012, and the last woman to take part in a F1 race weekend as she drove in a FP in 2014. Currently the head of F1 Academy

María de Villota: Test driver for Marussia in 2012. Died from injuries in a crash.

Tatiana Calderón: An IndyCar driver who served as the development and test driver in 2017-218 for Sauber.

Jamie Chadwick: 2019 Williams signed her as a development driver until 2022.

Difficulties:

So, what are the difficulties or barriers that have held women back from competing. There are several, of course. In the early days it was general sexism and the belief that women could not handle racing that did it. The g-force of the car was deemed too aggressive, and even with technological advancements that have lowered g-force, this stereotype that women are too physically weak still lingers. The financial barrier is also a big one. Racing is extremely expensive, and securing a strong sponsorship is required to compete at the highest levels. But sponsors also tend to not go for female drivers as they view it more as a risk, because it is such a male-dominated sport. The general treatment female drivers have received over the years has also discouraged many from pursuing an F1 career. They are often treated to a lot more scrutiny and vitriol than there male counterparts, and on top of that are overly sexualized. I don't quite remember who, but one prominent F1 figure once stated that women should not compete because the second they put on a race suit, they are a sex object to be fantasized about. For young women this would be a massive deterrent to continuing their career. In general, the barriers women have dealt with are a mixture of all of these things put together. But what has the F1 world to try and alleviate these problems?

The W Series:

This series came about in 2019, and was a free-to-enter series for women intended to create a clear pathway and offer them more exposure. It was paused in 2022 after funding issues, and today is not in use. This did help launch the initiative to get more women into motorsports and gained the drivers who compete a lot more public attention.

The F1 Academy:

Launched in 2023, the F1 Academy is a series in the F4 category that is designed to provide support for female drivers, as well as higher access to sponsorships opportunities. Many modern drivers say that the biggest difficulty women in modern motorsports face is the lack of sponsorship opportunities, so the academy attempts to alleviate that. The Academy has their own races, but also trains the drivers on technical skills, media training, and physical conditioning. While this program is sometimes seen as controversial, mostly because people feel that it is condescending to put women in a separate category, this is mostly because people do not realize the purpose it. The goal is to help these young female drivers gain attention from sponsors so they can go on to afford to compete in the general categories, like F3, F2, and eventually F1. It is not intended as anything but a jumping off point and training center. Sponsors do not tend to go for young female racers because of the F1 gender bias, so the academy attempts to get rid of this, not replace the lower level series, and help the drivers gain more public attention.

The Future:

So, due to this growing momentum in recent years around women in motorsports, the question comes around; when will be see a woman in F1? I wish I had a good answer to this question. Most people believe that we could see a female F1 driver within the next decade, while others think it may take longer than that. As for how the academy helps, we haven't see the results quite yet. The drivers for the F1 Academy certainly have received much more attention that they would have due to the series, but they are still in the first generation so there are not clear results. The good news is that big name teams like Ferrari are starting to support young female drivers through their junior programs, and so perhaps we will see a female F1 driver sooner than we think. It still is a bit of an uphill battle, but I am optimistic about the future.

Alright, I hope I answered any questions about this topic. As a woman and a motorsport enthusiast, this a topic is very near and dear to my heart. Thank you again for the fantastic ask.

Cheers,

-B

[apoptoses]

Have you ever been reading Devil’s Minion and thinking to yourself, “damn, I just can’t nail down a face for Daniel”? Have you watched Interview with the Vampire and felt like neither Christian Slater nor River Phoenix hit the mark for you?

Allow me to introduce you to James fucking Spader.

Look at him! Is that not the face of Daniel, completely fed up with Armand feeding his cigarettes down the garbage disposal?

He’s got the naive and beautiful face but ALSO the defiant yet beseeching thing down! Also he was like 22 here, which is right around the age Daniel met Armand so he’s at peak Healthy, Pretty Molloy here. No wonder Louis decided to take him home!!

“Do you know what a zip code is, or a tax bracket? I’m the one who buys all the goddamned airline tickets. Millions. How are we going to get millions! Steal another Maserati and be done with it, for God’s sakes!”

Spader is the original 80′s pretty boy you’d assume starred as the leading man in some schmoopy romances or schlocky teen dramas and he did that for a minute. Like check him out in Pretty in Pink-

 Is this not peak Night Island Daniel, in his Miami Vice looking bespoke suit ready to head out with Armand for the night?

Look at him snuggled into his blanket in Tuff Turf, like Daniel hungover and forcibly woken up to honky tonk piano tunes!

But the deliciousness doesn’t end at his looks. Because in true Molloy fashion that man said ‘you know what? I wanna make movies for freaks and weirdos only’

In Sex, Lies and Videotape he plays the sweetest pervert who loves interviewing women about their sex lives, video taping it, and then watching them back naked but not actually getting off! He’s impotent, he’s a gentle and lovely weirdo, there’s vampire!Daniel fodder for days in this one.

Crash is a horny flick that defies all explanation and really you need to go in blind if you’re gonna watch this one, but let me just say this: If Spader and his Wife in this film aren’t the most Daniel and Armand coded couple in cinema history I will eat my shoes. Also there’s tons of beautiful footage of him driving around at night with his blond hair ruffling in the breeze.

Your prefer your Daniel with glasses? Oh, perfect, because in Bad Influence he plays a sweet guy who gets into a fucked up situation with a toxic friend and a sex tape!

In Storyville he lets himself be thrown on the floor and lays there submissively before getting involved in yet another sex tape scandal!

Don’t even get me started on Dream Lover, another smut filled romp (with some filthy deleted scenes if you google the uncut version) which has the most Devil’s Minion promo photos of all time-

Like! Get the fuck out!

I could just go all day about his body of work but some of it you’ve just gotta see for yourself. In pretty much every film you’re guaranteed smut with him being deliciously submissive, extremely gentle with his hands, and down for all kinds of kink. And in most of his movies he gets bloody at least once, like-

this is a shitty picture i took of my laptop but look at the blood at the corner of his mouth! Vampire activities!

In summary, let me hit you with a photo dump:

Daniel laying in a cheap motel room during the chase years!

Daniel with delightful 70s hair!

More glasses!Daniel!

Daniel with a half-buttoned 80′s shirt looking so beautiful it’s no wonder Armand couldn’t NOT turn him!

It’s dark, he’s wet, he looks exhausted!

He’s the ideal beautiful Molloy Weirdo and I will not be accepting any other arguments, goodbye!!

[99orphans]

man i love The Penguin

because they had the balls to say "let's take characters from The Long Halloween, one of the best Batman storylines out there and take the characters and just...not.

The Hangman? mmm how about instead of cops, she kills hookers. mmmm and instead of Sofia, it was actually Carmine and he framed her.

Oh and the titular serial killer who was so good that there were multiple suspects, it took Batman a whole year to figure out who it was, and at capture, he still had Batman thinking it might've been one of his best friends?

Yeahhh actually that's lame, how about now he's just a drug addict aaand we'll kill him off in the first episode.

This surely will make all the fans happy, it's not like this is one of the most beloved arcs in all of Batman history."

They really made a show right before October, my most favorite spooky season, and instead of capitalizing on The Long Halloween, said "meh, generic mobster show"

Not to mention taking the Penguin, the Gentleman of Crime, one of the most famous villains not only in Batman, but also of any villain ever; and now he's a greasy mob rat.

Like i understand we're getting sort of an origin story type thing and all and character development and he's moving up the ranks and stuff but like

WHERE'S THE BIRDS???

YOU'RE TELLING ME SUDDENLY THIS MAN CARES MORE ABOUT MUSHROOMS THAN EXOTIC AVIAN SPECIES??? WHERE'S THE HEISTING?? WHERE'S THE EGGS??? WHY IS HE DRIVING AROUND IN A MASERATI??? WHERE IS MY TOP HAT‽‽‽

i want

a Brennan Lee Mulligan amount

of bird facts

coming from this mobster.

[animentality]

Trans exclusionary feminism is stupid for many many reasons but the most damning reason for me is its inherent belief that all women everywhere are victims, and women throughout all of history have been oppressed victims, and this universal victimhood can be shared by all women of all ethnicities and cultures throughout all of time in memoriam.

Equally and universally.

Not only is this not true, but it's especially ironic because terfs tend to be straight white cis women who are ideologically, as well as genetically, related to suffragettes whose main platform was "Why should black men be able to vote? White women are more important."

It's honestly laughable in between the tragedy.

Like oh, women everywhere know the same pain and experiences?

Yes, white women living on a luxurious 3000 acre plantation actually have the exact same experiences as enslaved black women serving under them.

Yes, white women in South Africa had it just as hard as the black female victims of apartheid.

You're so right.

Idiot.

Trans exclusionary feminism isn't just trans exclusionary. Its intersectional exclusionary too. It's white feminism.

But that isn't shocking.

Terfs tend to be middle class white women whose greatest problem is deciding between a Samsung or an iPhone.

And between a Maserati or a Tesla.

I think of that Bill Burr quote.

Where he says that white women have completely taken over the civil rights movement, by swinging their Gucci booted feet over the line and stepping in front of people of color.

That's what I think when I see terfs here and everywhere else trying to insist that "women" are wholly anything.

The fuck they are.

No group is wholly anything.

People are very complex individuals and there is no fucking hive mind of humans anywhere.

Your labels are arbitrary and pointless, as is your Swiss Cheese of an ideology.

[sunriseabram]

Omg bodyguard Neil please!!

Nathaniel Bodyguard AU | Part 3 | 27/12

Kevin automatically began to back up, nearly falling through the court door as it slammed behind him. It didn’t take more than a second for his guard dog to sense danger, shoving Day behind his back. The blonde was shorter than Nathaniel had imagined five feet to be, but he was a solid presence nevertheless. He could smell the bloodlust radiating off Nathaniel in waves and physically braced. 

Smart boy.

“Nate,” Kevin choked; Nathaniel scoffed.

“The one and only. Still not dead,” Nathaniel replied. “Father really did try his very best. Shame I was better."

Keeping one eye on Kevin, Nathaniel observed Andrew Minyard for what he was. No more than five feet tall, Andrew was nothing more than an idiot in way over his head. His presence was undoubtedly intimidating, as were the four knives slipped into armbands. Still, his apathy barely unsettled Nathaniel, nor did it even slightly surprise him.

Ichirou had provided Nathaniel with a full background check, even though he didn’t bother to read past the basics. He didn’t harbour enough fucks to read into Andrew Minyard’s history, and he didn’t care about it either. All Nathaniel needed to know was that he could kick his ass. That was all that was necessary.

“What do you want?" Kevin asked. “Not that I’m unhappy to see you, Nate, I swear. But you usually don’t come around for no reason.” Kevin took a shuddering breath. “Are you here to kill me? I swear I can be better. I can do more, Nathaniel–”

“Relax, Day.” Nathaniel stubbed out his cigarette against the black paint of the Maserati, watching Andrew’s eyebrow twitch in annoyance. “I’m not here to kill you. I’ve come to collect you. Think of it like a free yakuza taxi service.”

>

[butterflyintochains]

Legacies And Love Stories

Summary: Adriana Fangio is 23 years old, and is the youngest grandchild of the five time world champion, El Maestro, Juan-Manuel Fangio. She's been slowly working her way up through karting and single seaters her whole life, winning glory at home in Argentina since she was a kid. All in the hopes of getting that precious seat in her beloved abuelo's sport. So, when Formula 1 announce their eleventh team, everything changes for her.

In more ways than just one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

London, February 2025

God, this city is huge, bigger than Buenos Aires for sure. The flight from the sun-kissed summer of home to the rainy winter of London for the unveiling and team announcement was agonizingly long. But, she's had a couple of days to sleep it off. It was her 23rd birthday a couple of weeks ago. Now, today is the day where she finally gets to make her abuelo proud of her. She's ready to go at last, and slides abuelo's signet ring onto her index finger. The contract was nice, four years at 20 million. She'll be the first woman to have a permanent seat in Formula 1, she's sure her grandfather is smiling down on her today. She'll even be racing for his team and engine supplier. Alfa Romeo and Maserati. Finally, Adriana gets in her car to the O2 Arena. She'll meet her teammate there, it seems. ''Nice ring, miss, where did you get it?'' Her driver asks.

Adriana smiles, and says. ''It was my grandfather's.'' She never leaves home without it, it's the one thing she wanted most when she started driving. To have him with her. The drive goes by in silence, and she's dropped off behind the arena. The event manager comes to greet her. ''Welcome to the grid, Miss Fangio, it's been hard keeping this under wraps.'' The contract has been a secret from the media, and from most of the other teams, mostly to keep the heat off of her. She signed over Christmas.

Adriana shakes his hand, trying not to be nervous, and probably failing miserably. ''I can imagine.'' He leads her inside, and into the drivers' area backstage. All twenty-two drivers are here today, and all eleven cars will be unveiled. They'll be unveiled in reverse order to last year's constructors, with Alfa Romeo going last as the newest team. She looks for the other driver in an Alfa Romeo jacket. ''Adri?'' A Brazilian accent says.

Adriana is relieved to find him at last. ''Feli! Finally.'' They raced against each other in karts as kids, and have been friends ever since. ''Finally got a seat, about time.'' Adriana says to Felipe.

Felipe hands her some water. ''And, so did you! Abuelo must be so proud!''

Lance Stroll asks, still somehow wearing that green jacket. ''Who are you? And, how are you here?'' Some of the other drivers look to her, clearly thinking the same thing. ''My name is Adriana Fangio, and I'm here to drive for Alfa Romeo.''

The event starts, and the teams slowly whittle down as the driver lineups and cars are revealed. Then, finally, the newest team is revealed. Giancarlo Fisichella will be in charge of them, he announces the drivers. Felipe Drugovich - finally being given a proper seat in the sport. And, Adriana Fangio - racing royalty driving for her abuelo's team. David Coulthard says to Adriana. ''Adriana, you are making history, how excited are you to get going in Melbourne?''

Adriana says, turning her grandfather's ring on her finger. ''Very excited, looking forward to giving these boys a bit of a challenge. Can't wait to get in this car soon.''

Felipe adds, done with his questions tonight. ''I can't wait to get to Imola and see the factory.''

The event ends, and everyone goes backstage to hang out. Felipe and Adriana are taken aside to be given their new paddock passes, and to be asked about their driver numbers. ''I've had 34 for ages, so I'm keeping it.'' The woman types that into her tablet, and says after a second or so. ''Great, Miss Fangio, what about you?''

Adriana says, thinking of her abuelo's race wins. ''24 - for the races my abuelo won.'' Zhou isn't using it, so it's free now. The woman types that up, and says. ''That's great.'' Then, they're released back to the rest of the grid. Adriana finally relaxes, George adds her to the group chat as well. Finally, she's made it here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bahrain - Preseason Testing

This is actually happening, and it's happening to her. She can tell that some of the guys are giving her weird looks as they leave the hotel for testing day. But, she has Felipe next to her, and abuelo looking over her. It is funny, in a weird way, women can't drive on the street here, and she's testing her F1 car today. They arrive in the paddock, and are led to their base. All in maroons, black, and white. Fisichella greets them both happy this afternoon. As does Felipe's engineer, Eduardo. And, Adriana's engineer, Pietro. Their head of race strategy, Francesca, sits them down in the briefing room. They get the lowdown on what's expected of them today, and go to their driver's rooms. Adriana changes into her racing gear, and goes through some exercises with the physio team. She and Felipe get into their garages, surrounded by their teams. ''Okay, Adriana, we're going for ten laps and one pitstop double stack. Then, if you two are comfortable, we can do another run.''

Adriana nods, and puts her earplugs in, then slips her balaclava on before her helmet. ''Sounds good to me, Pietro.'' She pulls her gloves on, and gets in the car. Her heart racing already. Felipe takes to the track first, and Adriana follows him. The car feels great, turns like a dream, and is just perfect so far. She gets in four good laps. ''How is it feeling, Adriana?'' Pietro asks.

Adriana says, turning down into the main straight. ''Feels great, perfectly balanced on the corners, tires are holding up well. How's Felipe doing?''

Pietro says. ''He's reporting the same as you, actually.'' They're joined by the Sauber and Williams cars towards the end of their stint. They finish their stint, and return to the garage. ''Good job, Adriana, welcome to the grid.'' Fisichella says over her radio. Smiling in her helmet, she says. ''Thank you, Fisi.''

After another briefing, they go in search of lunch, finding some of the others sitting around a table. ''Saw some of your laps, those cars are so good already.'' George says.

Felipe grins, swigging from his water flask. ''Gonna be an interesting season, don't you think so, Adri?'' Adriana gets back with her burrito salad, and says. ''Yeah, I'm already in love with the car. I tried the Academy cars last year, they're so slow compared to this.''

Max says, finishing his lunch. ''Gonna be fun seeing what you're both capable of, about time there was an eleventh team. Glad you two got the new seats.'' That means the world, the high praise from the four-time world champion. Adriana and Felipe are called for some photos and interviews. Then, it's back to the hotel for tomorrow.

After testing finishes, the now twenty-two drivers are taken for this year's group photo. Upon seeing it, a wave of pride hits Adriana, she's enshrined in history forever now. And, even better, Felipe finally has a permanent seat of his own! They get to do this together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Australia - First Race

Her heart is in her mouth right now, her first qualifying run of her career. She's in the car, reading her data sheets again, for what must be the hundredth time today. Then, on go the gloves and steering wheel. Felipe is sent out first, and she follows him right after. Time to rock the world together as they said they would all those years ago. Five drivers will be knocked out in the new Q1 system. Felipe gets an amazing overtake on Nico Hulkenberg going into Sector two, and Adriana speeds past both Yuki Tsunoda and Esteban Ocon on their third lap. Pietro comes over her radio. ''Well done, Adriana, that's you and Felipe into Q2. Three tenths down on the Alpines.''

Adriana says, relieved to be in this with Felipe. ''That's great, very pleased with that.''

Next, comes their first Q2 as a team, they get out onto the track for their laps. This time, Adriana is ahead of Felipe, and hunting down some pace against Jack Doohan. ''You are two tenths down on Stroll, Felipe is one tenth down on you, keep going.'' Adriana gets the overtake, and makes it stick. She sees the green in her mirror replaced by maroon as they come down the straight. ''That's Q3 for you both, we are a tenth down on Alonso.'' Pietro says.

At the end of Q3, Felipe will be starting eighth, and Adriana is starting tenth. After qualifying, they go for media. ''Adriana, first race weekend, and to put your car on P10, how does that feel?'' Someone asks her.

Adriana swallows some water, and says. ''It's amazing, everything I've ever wanted, and for Felipe to start eighth is such a boost for us. Excited for tomorrow to see what we can do in the real race.'' Felipe joins her in the media pen, and someone asks them both. ''You two are of such different backgrounds, how will that impact this pairing?''

Felipe just says to the journalist. ''It won't, we've been friends for years. This Alfa Romeo lineup is going to be strong.'' Adriana laughs, and smiles up at Felipe. Something happening in her stomach that hasn't happened since their junior days. Something she hoped she'd gotten over by now.

The race begins the following afternoon, and both Alfa Romeo drivers are excited for it, starting near the front, ready to rock the world together. Adriana can see Felipe from her starting place, and focuses on the lights. She gets a good start, and sticks by both Alonso and Felipe for the opening stint of the race, Oliver Bearman in her mirrors for six laps until she finally makes the pass on Alonso when he goes to pit. On lap 27, she comes in to get rid of her hards in favour of mediums, coming out in 15th. ''The gap to Albon is three seconds, keep your head down.'' Pietro says.

Adriana finally gets her DRS open, and jumps on the throttle to pass Albon for 14th. ''Good overtake, Adriana, next car up is Colapinto in the RB. Gap is six tenths.''

After another tire change on lap 38, Adriana comes out in 13th, just outside the points. ''Where's Felipe?''

Pietro says. ''In ninth, keep on going, final stint.'' The laps tick down to 58, and Adriana comes home in 12th, one place shy of her first points. But, she's here! ''That's p12, Adriana, well done, and welcome to F1.'' Giancarlo comes over her radio. ''And, P9 for Felipe.'' Adriana chuckles while she does her cool-down lap. ''First points on debut for the team, that was such a good race.''

After the race and media, she meets up with Felipe. ''Congrats on the points, Feli!'' She hugs him.

Felipe smiles, looking slightly surprised with himself. ''Thank you, Adri, here we are, I suppose?''

Adriana nods, their arrival into the sport finally hitting her, they've arrived now, and there's no going back. ''Here we are.'' Who would've thought?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

China - First Points

Ten laps to go, she's in eighth place right now, Felipe is apparently down in eleventh. she's the best of the rest, with Carlos Sainz in his Williams breathing down her neck. She swallows some of her energy drink, and keeps her focus on the road ahead of herself. Abuelo looking down on her, guiding her hands as she steers. This is perhaps the most stressed she's ever been, especially after coming fourteenth in the sprint yesterday. But, she's got ten laps to get this done, and a race winner in her mirrors. Pietro comes through her radio, telling her. ''Gap to Sainz is four tenths right now, Adriana, you'll get DRS next lap down the main straight, keep forward, alright?''

Adriana says, voice tight from the anxiety of it. ''Yeah, what's my gap to Antonelli?''

Pietro says, after a second to check the screens. ''Nine tenths, but we're not concerned with him.''

Adriana gets to ticking this lap down, with nine laps to go, she gets her wing open, and opens the gap to Sainz for some much needed breathing room. The blue in her rear view turns to green quickly. ''Who is that, Pietro?''

Pietro informs her. ''That is Alonso, the gap is seven tenths, no need to worry.'' Alonso? One of her childhood heroes? She's about to outscore Fernando Alonso? Who just so happens to be driving a Newey car? Her lucky day. Eight laps left, then seven, then six. ''Six laps left, Adriana, keep it in the lines, and we'll be home safe soon.'' Pietro says.

She keeps focused on the track, no panic in her body at all for the first time since her overtakes on Gasly and Bearman ten laps ago. She's still got that Mercedes up in front of herself, but she's been advised not to do anything rash, so she'll leave it alone. Four laps, three laps, two laps. Then, somehow, she's on her last lap. ''Final lap, Adriana, keep pushing.'' Pietro says as she goes into the switchback. Then, she's halfway through her lap, now with Lawson's Red Bull in her mirrors. Where did he come from? No matter, four points sit in her sights. She rounds the final corner, and takes the flag. ''That's P8, Adriana! Four points in your second race! Felipe in tenth!'' Fisichella says.

Adriana is speechless, six points for the team! ''Vamos!! Vamos, Alfa Romeo! That was for abuelo! Two points finishes for Felipe too, tell him I'm happy for him!''

Fisichella laughs, and says. ''Will do, Adriana.''

In parc ferme, Adriana gets out of her car, and gets her hans and helmet off, balaclava with it, before running to Felipe in tears. He holds her, and says. ''I'm so proud of you.'' She's shaking, he just holds her. They go to the team, arm in arm. Sure, it's not a win, or a podium, but baby steps. Just as they walk back to the garage, the clouds clear for the sun. Adriana stops in her tracks to watch the clouds clear. ''Adri?'' Felipe asks her.

Adriana smiles. ''He's proud of us both, Feli.'' They get back to their drivers rooms, some mate already brewed for Adriana to take into media. She gets into the media pen with her gourd of mate, and is met by Franco and Gabriel first. ''That was amazing, Adri.'' Franco says.

Adriana smiles, her face hurting already, and says. ''Thank you, Franquito.''

Gabriel hugs her with one arm, and says. ''Enjoy this one, Adri, you've earned it.''

Adriana says, promising her friend and fellow rookie. ''So will you, Gabi.'' She's called for a quick interview with Sky, basking in this first point finish. Jenson says to her. ''Adriana, that was incredible, first points for you. You must be so happy.''

Adriana sips her mate, and says. ''I am, still shaking from it actually, and having both of us get points is even more special. Felipe and I want to do this together, and share in each other's happiness.''

After media is over, Adriana retreats to her drivers room, and gets some physio before going for a shower and eating something in the Alfa Romeo motor-home. Felipe joins her, they share a smile together, and link pinkies as they did when they were kids. Excited for Japan already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Japan - The Alfa Romeo Tango

Lap 40 in Suzuka is going well for them both, this purple patch Alfa Romeo are in has lasted into the first three races. They're in the middle pack of the points contenders. Staring at the rear ends of both Alpine drivers. After a beautiful double stack for mediums, Adriana and Felipe are side by side, with both Haas drivers in their rear view. Doohan dives down the pitlane, and both Alfa Romeos get themselves either side of Gasly. Eduardo comes over Felipe's radio, sounding nervous about this manoeuver. ''Felipe, what are you two up to now?''

Felipe just chuckles, and says. ''Something we discussed after practice, that's all.'' The commentators must be going insane at there being three cars across the track, but, there won't be in a moment. They'll get their rear wings open soon, and take ninth and tenth. ''Get Pietro to tell Adri to overtake first.'' Felipe says.

Eduardo sighs, but obliges him. ''On it.'' And, in a moment, Adriana nails the overtake. Felipe coming out of the chain just after her, and overtaking her a slight. ''Car ahead is Stroll.'' Eduardo says. Felipe just chuckles, and begins to crawl up behind Lance. Adriana is right beside Gasly again in his mirrors. Felipe nails the second overtake, with Adriana slowing Gasly down, and jumps on the defensive to help her immediately after. He can't believe this actually worked. They'd been working on this on their bikes during track walk. ''Car ahead is Lawson, gap is one second.''

The race ends with Felipe in ninth, and Adriana in tenth. More points for the team, and they're in the top half of the individual standings too! They laugh together in the garage after post race stuff, Felipe watches Adriana slip her abuelo's ring back onto her middle finger. She's so beautiful. Her eyes sparkle when she looks at him. ''Are you alright, Feli?'' She asks.

Felipe swallows some water, and says. ''Yeah, just... got lost.''

After the race, the grid go out for some dinner at a place Yuki loves. Adriana watches on as Felipe chats with Max and Gabriel. She smiles to herself, there's no one she'd rather race with, she adores him so much, and always has. It's terrifying, with her name and all. He'd never hear the end of it with her. ''Adriana, are you alright?'' Carlos asks.

Truth be told, she's been feeling like this since their junior days. ''Yeah... yeah, Chili, I'm fine.''

Once back at the hotel, Adriana sits on her bed, bags ready to go for their flight out. She looks at her ring, and takes a deep breath in, and exhales. It's odd, nobody alive today in the sport saw her abuelo race, or raced with him. She's shouldering his legacy all on her own, with no one to turn to for information. But, this is her career first, and her first season of many, she races for both of them now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Miami - First Encounters

Media day in Miami, a sort of home race by proxy for both Adriana and Franco. It is beautiful today, not a single cloud in the sky, and warm as well. Shame they're going to be inside for most of the day, except for the special helmet reveals for both Alfa Romeo drivers. Adriana thanks her driver, and gets into the paddock, met by her escort - Maya. Who tells her the itinerary for the day. A press conference with Alex, Ollie, George, and Pierre at eleven. A joint interview for both of them with Nico Rosberg at one. And, capping off the day, the helmet reveal at three. She's well used to this by now, six races into her career. And, at least it won't be the political nightmare it was in Bahrain and Jeddah. Adriana goes to put her things in her driver's room. She walks past hospitality on her way to the press room with Maya. Seeing several very pretty - if similar looking - ladies congregated around a table. Wearing thousands of dollars of jewels and clothing. ''Maya, who are they?''

Maya says. ''Oh, they're the girlfriends of your colleagues, they all look the same to me too, Adriana.''

They all also look like the kind of girl Felipe would rather go for, not her with her calloused hands and driver's neck. She doesn't voice those thoughts to Maya, but she does carry them into press. She's sure she must be zoned out for the whole conference, but she does her best to answer all questions she gets. Once that's done with, she grabs some lunch with the team and Felipe. ''Wanna go meet the ladies, Adri?'' Felipe asks her.

Adriana shakes her head. ''Not today, maybe tomorrow.'' What could she possibly have in common with them? What would they talk about? She's spent her life on track, or wanting to be on track. They haven't. She'll be racing this weekend, they're just here to sit in garages.

After their interview with ESPN, they have some downtime before the social media team come to unveil their new helmets. So, Adriana retreats into her room with her book and some mate. Francesca is no doubt cooking up strategies for the sprint and race with Eduardo and Pietro. Felipe is probably with the rest of the drivers. What she wouldn't give to get into her car right now, that always stills her mind.

The helmet reveals come quickly. Felipe's being a Brazilian carnival theme, and Adriana's being an homage to the Argentine community in the city. Felipe's includes the seal of Brazil on the top, Adriana's has the Sol de Mayo. ''Thank you so much, guys.'' Anna, the social media admin for the team, says.

Felipe smiles, and says. ''You're welcome, Anna.'' Adriana puts her helmet back in its bag, and says. ''You're very welcome, is that us done for the day, then?''

Anna nods, and says. ''Yeah, that's all you had to do today.''

Thankful to be done with media, Adriana goes for a walk of the track by herself. It's weird, and stupid, but seeing the girlfriends of the other drivers just threw her back into her school days. Seeing the same types of girls who would tease her endlessly for not being like them enough. Not having anyone to sit with at lunch because of being the 'weird karting girl'. ''Adri, are you okay?'' Felipe asks her, he must have followed her out here. ''It's stupid, Feli.'' She's 23, an F1 driver, a Fangio, and she's worked up over this? Of all things?

Felipe says, furrowing his brows. ''No, it's not, what is it?'' Adriana sighs, leaning against a tire barrier. ''It's just... seeing the boys' girlfriends brought up a lot of stuff in my head, that's all.''

Felipe mirrors her, and asks further. ''What kind of stuff, Adri?'' Adriana sniffles, trying so hard to fight back the tears and pain of those memories. ''All of them look like the girls who bullied me in school, called me weird for this life I've chosen. They'd leave me out of everything, tell boys not to talk to me.'' She adds, after catching her breath. ''And, like, they're all models. But, here I am in my team polo and leggings.''

Felipe bluntly says, placing a hand on her arm. ''And, you look even more beautiful for it, Adri. No one cares about them, the entire world is looking at you right now.'' He says taking her hand in his, her breath hitching. ''No one will ever treat you like that again, not as long as I'm here, I promise.'' Adriana is struck by that, her best friend's vow to protect her, his assurances to her. And, what's even better? He means it, all of it. She embraces him, and dries her eyes. ''We do this together, Feli.''

Felipe nods, and tucks some hair back behind her ear, her ponytail must be coming loose. ''Always, Adri.'' Suddenly, they draw in for a kiss, perhaps the beautiful day and private moment catches up to them? Adriana only feels her heart racing, and Felipe's gentle hands on her back. But, they reel themselves in just before the two Red Bulls - Max and Liam - round the corner. ''You two good?'' Max asks.

Felipe nods. ''Yeah, we're just fine, heading back to the garage.'' They walk back together, hand in hand.

The weekend goes down a storm for Alfa Romeo. Points in both the sprint and main race. They've only missed the points twice now. Avenging the losses of Bahrain and Jeddah. After media, Adriana gets back to her driver's room, showers, and changes. They almost kissed on thursday, and would have if Max and Liam hadn't interrupted them. She helps her team pack the room up for teardown, and goes to find Franco. ''Franquito, can I talk to you in private a second, please?''

Franco says, happily as always. ''Yeah, sure.'' They find somewhere out of the way to talk, and she tells him about the almost-kiss. ''You and Felipe... almost kissed?'' He asks, jaw on the ground. Adriana nods. ''Yeah, please, don't tell anyone, okay?'' Franco promises her he won't. Which is good. Somewhere in the back of her mind is anger at the Red Bulls for denying her that kiss.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imola - Home Race

Alfa Romeo are home at long last, the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix is their team's home race. Adriana had to take a train into Milan to close a lease on an apartment there as soon as they landed, but the deal is done now. She's got both her apartment in Buenos Aires and Milan now. Neither she or Felipe have talked about the almost-kiss in Miami. They're treating it as though it was just a momentary impulse. Deep down, though, Adriana wanted that kiss. She's wanted that kiss since they met back in junior. But, she's content to just leave it alone for now. Today, before anything begins for them, they go to place a flag and some flowers at the memorial for Ayrton Senna. His memorial near the track where he died thirty one years ago. Felipe has the flag, and Adriana has the flowers. Felipe lets go of her hand to drape the flag around the statue's shoulders. Adriana places the flowers next to the statue. There's never a day that goes by where Adriana isn't carrying her abuelo's legacy, but today Felipe looks burdened instead. This is his legacy to carry everyday. ''It's strange, coming back here as an actual driver rather than a reserve, I feel him so much more now.'' Felipe says, slinging his arm around her shoulders.

Adriana wraps her arms around his waist, and says. ''He was incredible, set such a standard for all of us. I think he'd be proud to see you and Gabi on the grid.''

Felipe nods, and rests his head against hers, only three inches of height separate them. ''I hope so, all of Brazil is looking at us the same way they looked at him.'' He says. ''It feels like so much is on the four of us sometimes. Gabi and I with Senna and Brazil, you with your avô, and you and Franco with Argentina.''

Adriana takes some deep breaths, and says to her best friend. ''At least we've got each other, don't we?'' Felipe nods, and leads them back to the car.

The crowd ahead of the race on Sunday is a sea of maroon, black, and white. With plenty of Brazilian and Argentinian flags flying. Ferrari might have Monza and the Tifosi, but this is something special too. Felipe is due to start from sixth after a penalty from one of the Mercedes drivers, Adriana is starting from ninth. Francesca has them both on two stoppers, starting on hards. ''Radio check, Adriana?'' Pietro says as she waits on the grid.

Adriana says. ''Loud and clear, Pietro.'' The crews are given the hands off order, and it's just them on the grid. After the formation lap, they get to racing properly. On lap ten, Adriana realizes something. ''Pietro, I forgot to take my rings off, am I going to get in trouble?'' Pietro says to her. ''I'll check with the stewards, but you shouldn't, no.'' Adriana presses on, keeping Albon's Williams in her vision as she tries to come back from 14th after a mistake on laps seven and eight.

After the race, where she finishes one position shy of points in twelfth, Adriana gets done with media, and heads for a shower in her motorhome. After which, she gets the kettle on for some mate, She relaxes with a book. Not bad for racing on four hours of sleep last night. She's not stopped thinking of that moment from Miami since, even if they've refused to talk about it. She must fall asleep at some point, because the next thing she knows it's dark outside. The boys will have went out for dinner together, but she was just too tired to join them this time. Her phone buzzes on the coffee table, it's Franco. ''Hola, Franquito, que es?''

Franco says. ''Hola, hermana. Where were you tonight? Felipe was worried about you, so were Gabi and I.'' Adriana sits up on the sofa, and says. ''I raced on four hours of sleep, I just wanted to rest. I also can't stop thinking about Miami.'' She admits to her friend.

Franco asks her, probably the question she doesn't want to answer yet. ''Did you want the kiss with Felipe? Did you want him to kiss you then?''

Adriana swallows to try and get rid of the dryness in her throat. ''I did, and it scares me. I think I've wanted that kiss for some time as well.'' God only knows what that could unleash upon the world. The first male-female driver tandem, Brazil and Argentina, possibly dating each other? Is that even allowed? Could they lose everything over that? ''This could get interesting, Adri, you know that, right?'' Franco asks her.

Adriana nods, hugging her knees to her chest. ''I do, Franco, and I hate it, Fisi could fire both of us for this. But, at the same time, what if it doesn't hurt us? What if we'd be fine?''

Franco asks her, sounding like Alejandro right now. ''Are you willing to take that risk?''

Adriana says, resting her chin on her knees. ''Maybe? I don't know yet.'' She feels herself welling up, so wishing her abuelo was here to guide her. ''Dios mio, Franquito. I'm just scared. I love him so much, and I love this so much. I want both.''

Franco says, voice oddly tranquil. ''Then, have both. You're a Fangio, right? If you want both, have both.'' Can she? Does she dare ask for more than she already has?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Canada - First Rain Race

Qualifying was really good, if a bit hectic with the rain. They've qualified tenth for Felipe and twelfth for Adriana. Neither are really used to rain yet, and the sunshine did not follow the gang from Monaco and Spain. But, it is what it is. Adriana parks up in the garage, and bails out of the car. Getting herself ready for media quickly. Maya shadowing her into the pen, she has no idea where she'd be without all this help from the team. The circus of it all is still something she's getting used to. But, she nurses her mate in her cold hands, and gets into the pen to do her rounds. Someone from L'Equipe asks her. ''Adriana, the team recently brought a new rear wing to Canada, how do you feel it's improved the car?''

Adriana sips her mate, and says. ''It's so much better on the straights already, our old one wasn't doing us well in Barcelona. Happy with our progress so far. We'll see tomorrow.''

Someone from Global News asks her. ''The gap between yourself and Felipe is so small, is it time for Alfa Romeo to have the conversation yet?''

Adriana shakes her head emphatically. ''No, and that conversation isn't going to happen. We're both number one drivers, and that's how we'll stay.'' She tries to ignore the feeling in her chest. Someone from TSN steps forward to ask her about Lance Stroll. ''Adriana, this is the first time this year that Stroll has beaten you both, he's one place ahead of Felipe tomorrow. Do you think that justifies Aston Martin letting Felipe go?''

Laughing, Adriana stirs her drink with her bombilla. ''Not really, no. One race of ten isn't a good sample size. We've beaten Aston Martin nine times this season. We all know why Felipe got dropped, and I'm glad he's my teammate now, so, thank you, Lawrence.''

The same journalist asks her. ''You say that, but don't elaborate on it, what do you mean by all that?'' He's trying to bait her into saying something stupid, and she knows it. She's racing royalty, and no doubt lots of people are waiting for her to mess up. ''I'll not be dragged into a war of words, but I'm glad to race with Felipe. I'd not do this with anyone else.''

Media ends, and Adriana heads back to her room to get some physio and change. She finds Felipe on her way to her car. ''Did you mean all of that, Adri?'' He asks her, eyes sparkling despite the rain. Adriana nods, and puts her bag in the back seat. ''Every single word of it, Feli. They were insulting you, and I won't have that.''

The rain continues into race day, causing a delay in proceedings after the parade. They'll be getting going in about half an hour. So, bored out of her mind, Adriana goes to grab some mate for herself and Felipe, and her truco cards. ''Wanna play?'' She asks him. Felipe takes his drink, and smiles brightly. ''Sure.'' They sit at the strategy table, and play cards while drinking mate. The rain still lashing down upon the Alfa Romeo garage. ''We'll be mounting up in 20 minutes, guys.'' Sporting Director, Alberto, informs them. They both nod, and get back on with their game and drinks, ignoring the whispers of the team around them, and the cameras. ''And, I think I've won.'' Felipe says.

Adriana leans over to look at his hand. ''Dios mio, felicidades, Feli.'' Felipe smirks, his face too temptingly close to hers. ''Obrigado, Adri.'' They tidy up, and go to get ready to get onto the grid. Adriana gets into her car, and belted in. She's pushed into her grid slot, and informed of the aborted start, they've docked five laps off the race. So, 65 laps instead of the normal 70. ''That's about what I expected, Pietro, yeah. Has Edo informed Feli yet?''

Pietro affirms to her. ''Felipe knows as well, yes.'' Adriana nods to herself, she'd never live with herself if they weren't being treated equally.

Neither Alfa Romeos score points this weekend, but they get close. twelfth for Felipe and thirteenth for Adriana. They get out of weigh-ins, and get into media. They do their lap of the pen together. As they did in Australia. ''Felipe, Adriana; that was a difficult race for you both, was there anything that could've been done to improve your positions?''

Felipe shakes his head, his hand coming to rest on Adriana's back as always. ''No, the rain was just too much for us today. We'll be fine come Austria.''

Adriana backs him up, adding. ''We've only missed points a few times this year, it's not going to happen every weekend. We're just happy we kept the cars in one piece.''

Someone asks them both. ''Outside of the Big Four teams, this is proving to be one of the best driver lineups on the grid, why do you both think that is?''

Felipe answers first, most comfortable in front of the media of them both. ''We're such good friends, and have been for so long, we're just enjoying this time together.'' Smiling up at him, and enjoying his hand on her back, Adriana says. ''We're also from similar places, and know each other really well. It feels like we're back in karts again!''

They get back to the hotel later, Adriana jumps in the shower, and gets herself ready for dinner with the rest of the drivers. She had no idea how much she would enjoy this year. She opts for a nice red and black dress and a white blazer. Team colours. Felipe is in a nice blue dress shirt and leather jacket. ''You look nice, Feli.'' She compliments him.

Felipe smiles, looking a slight bashful actually. ''So do you, Adri. Gotta keep up, y'know?'' Adriana laughs, checking her purse for everything she needs. ''Don't say that about yourself.'' They get going to the restaurant, and find the suite where the rest are. Felipe talks to Carlos all through dinner, and Adriana talks to Max about Argentina. ''It's gorgeous, you and Kelly would love it there, I'm sure Penelope would too.''

Max chuckles, and says. ''She's so proudly Brazilian, but I'll see if I can convince her for winter break.''

Adriana cheekily says. ''Convince Penelope first, my papa would go to his older siblings to try and get abuelo to do things.'' Max laughs, and says. ''I'll try that, yeah.''

After dinner, the Alfa Romeos get back to the hotel together, Felipe walking with Adriana to her room like a gentleman. They share a silent embrace, and close in for a kiss, the day must catch up to them at last. But, the sound of the elevator opening splits them up. ''See you in Spielberg, guys.'' Oscar says.

Felipe nods, speaking for them both. ''See you in Austria, Oscar.'' Adriana retreats into her room. and sits down on her bed heavily. Another kiss interrupted, maybe the universe is trying to tell her something? But, why should she, a Fangio, need to listen? She wants both, so she'll have both. It's what abuelo did when he married abuela, who was ten years younger than him. If Felipe feels the same, which she suspects he does, who's to stop them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Britain - A Family Affair

For the first time all season, both Alfa Romeo families will be at Silverstone to see them race! Felipe's parents and siblings have been flown in with Adriana's by the team. Austria was a really good weekend, and hopefully Silverstone will be even better. No rain due, which benefits them greatly this weekend. Fisichella is taking the two families to the racing museum today. The place booked out for them today, Their mothers look at all the old racing suits, their siblings go to see the photo walls, and their dads look at the old cars. Felipe and Adriana look at the record books. Felipe looks at some pictures of Senna and Prost from the old days. Adriana looks at some old photos of her abuelo, seeing him with her abuela. Their shared signet ring on his pinky finger. ''Feli, come here, check this out!'' She says. Felipe comes to join her, his hand on her back as usual. ''What is it, Adri?''

Adriana points to her abuelo's right pinky finger. ''My ring, he was wearing it here, see? With my abuela!''

Felipe beams, looking between her middle finger and the picture. ''He's not wearing it in the other pictures, maybe it was new that last year?''

Adriana nods, looking at the other images. ''I think you're right. Now, let me show you something cool.'' He takes her hand, leading her to the display of Brazilian successes here. Senna in particular. ''Rubens as well, he's here, Massa, all of them.''

Adriana says. ''We race for them, and abuelo. We're here because of them.''

Felipe nods, and says, looking down at her with love, making her head spin. ''We also race for ourselves, Adri.'' He is always quick to remind her of that, to take the pressure off. She doesn't know what she'd do without him sometimes.

After free practice on friday, Adriana bails out of her car, and get ready for debrief with the team. Times were good, and she's very happy with how things are going. They both took new engines for this race, their Maserati engines are a godsend. Then, Adriana catches up with her older brother, Julian, one of her three older brothers. ''I hope you know how proud of you we all are, Adri.''

Adriana swallows some of her water. ''I do, I carry that with me every weekend.''

Julian asks her after a few moments of silence. ''I also hope you know that you and Felipe are playing with fire.'' She does know, and it scares her sometimes, it's funny, going full send into Copse is nothing compared to this. But, she also doesn't really care. ''I do, but, Julian, I'm racing royalty, can't I have both?''

Julian says, his hand on her shoulder. ''For your sakes, I hope so, hermanita.''

They catch up with Felipe's younger sister, Camilla. ''Everything okay, guys?''

Adriana assures her friend. ''Yeah, Cami, don't worry.'' They head to Alfa Romeo hospitality for some lunch as a big family.

Sunday comes quickly, and is beautifully sunny. Their families are in their garages, and the two drivers are on the starting grid. Felipe in eighth, and Adriana ahead of him in seventh. Her abuelo raced here back in his day, and she will make him proud of her today. The Mercedes boys had to take penalties, and that's helped them both. The lights go out for the race, and Adriana sticks close to Oscar Piastri, Felipe in her mirrors. They come roaring out of Aintree and down the Wellington Straight.

On lap 20, Adriana comes out of the pits with fresh mediums. Felipe will box next lap. She's dropped to twelfth as they go into Village. ''No heroics here, Adriana, just keep it in the lines, alright?'' Adriana checks her mirrors, seeing one of the Racing Bulls. ''Got it, Pietro. Who's behind me?''

Pietro says. ''That'd be Franco.'' Adriana hums, and keeps pressing forward to close the gap to one of the Haas drivers. ''Gap to Bearman is three tenths, and you are four tenths faster.'' Pietro says as they head back down Wellington. ''Got it.''

Going into Brooklands and Luffield, Adriana closes up on Bearman, and goes wide into the National Straight. Her mama must be in hysterics as she overtakes five cars around Copse. ''You are in seventh again, Adriana, keep it up.'' Pietro says.

Adriana says. ''Someone check on my mother, please?'' And keeps driving.

On lap 40, she comes back out of the pits with new mediums on, and is still in seventh behind Norris this time. ''You are three seconds clear of Alonso, head down.'' Pietro instructs her.

On the final lap, she's still fighting Norris for sixth. Her abuelo guiding her as he did in China. They come out of Chapel, and Adriana gets the inside, overtaking him around Stowe. In the end, she comes home in sixth place, her highest finish yet! She's speechless on her in-lap, and parks at parc-ferme. ''That was incredible, Adriana, your abuelo would be proud. Felipe in eighth as well, before you ask.'' Pietro says. And, finally, Adriana can breathe again.

She meets up with Felipe, embracing him for the moment. Still unable to talk too much. Sixth at Silverstone, on her first race at the track. They meet the team together, this has to be the best race of the season for the team. Best part is, they're far from done, there's still so much work to do.

They celebrate with a big team and family dinner while teardown is underway for Spa. Adriana shares a look with Felipe, as though both want so badly to say something, but can't bring themselves to do it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Belgium - Point of No Return

Spa is just gorgeous, it really is. The best track in the world, and it's not even close. Fisichella takes his drivers for a tour of the track on a little golf cart as soon as they arrive in Stavelot. Another one of the original tracks where her abuelo raced, albeit with a far different layout to today. The trip from La Source to the Kemel Straight is a rush already, and they're not even in their cars yet. Felipe films the whole run on his phone, Adriana takes pictures as well. She wants to make a memory book of her rookie season. She's got pictures and trinkets from every circuit so far. The team are still riding the high of those points from Silverstone. And, probably will be until summer break after Hungary next week. That hits her as they come back to the garage, they've got two races until summer. As they're going inside, Adriana hears an argument from Red Bull, a man and a woman. ''Fisi, what's going on down there?'' She asks.

Giancarlo, ever a professional team principal, says. ''If I had to guess, Max's girlfriend has taken issue with something.'' Adriana rolls her eyes, thankful she never bothered to make friends with the girlfriends. ''She likes reminding people of her status as racing royalty.''

Adriana raises an eyebrow at that. ''She's not racing royalty, I am. Felipe is the holder of Senna's legacy too.''

Felipe laughs, his hand coming to rest on her back as always. ''Don't go telling her that, it'd burst her little bubble.'' Adriana shrugs, slinging her arm around Felipe's waist. ''Maybe that's what she needs.''

On Friday, they qualify eleventh and thirteenth for the sprint race after being top ten in practice. After media, they head for debrief, and go to grab some lunch with the others. Lewis looks pleased with his sprint pole, Max will be second. ''Any plans for summer, guys?'' Alex asks the two Alfa Romeos.

Adriana fiddles with the cap of her water bottle, and says. ''Buenos Aires, it'll be winter there, but I miss home.'' Felipe nods, and says to the table. ''I was going to head home to Monaco, but it's been so long since I went to Argentina.''

Liam gives them a knowing glance. ''So... you're spending summer together?''

Felipe shrugs. ''Why not? Our families have spent holidays together for years.'' Adriana finishes her lunch, and relaxes with the rest instead of retreating to her motorhome. She's one of this small group now, and will be for the next three and a half years at minimum.

They come tenth and eleventh in the sprint on saturday. And, qualifying goes swimmingly as well. Felipe in eighth, and Adriana in ninth right beside him. Right in front of the two Haas drivers, and behind Oscar and George. Seems like Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren won't be knocked from the top three positions just yet. Adriana gets into the media pen with a distinct feeling that something is going to happen tomorrow. ''Adriana, that last lap you put in was incredible, how are you liking Spa so far?''

Adriana giggles, and says. ''Thank you. I'm loving it here so far, One of the older tracks, and there's such an aura once you get here, you can really feel the history of this place.''

Another journalist asks her. ''Adriana, you are now the most experienced woman in Formula 1 history, how does that feel to you?'' Adriana thinks, her eyes welling up a bit at the magnitude of that achievement. ''It's huge, and humbling. I just really hope me being here opens up the doors for more women to be on this grid. I am so lucky to be here, and ready for the rest of my time here.''

After her rounds, she heads for a shower, and some physio after changing into some more comfortable clothes. She grabs something to eat from hospitality, and goes for a nap.

The race starts hot, really hot, seems like everyone is a bit punchy today. Desperation for summer, probably. Adriana gets loose of the Haas and Alpine cluster on lap 5. Following Felipe until their double stack on lap 19 for new mediums. ''God, this race is carnage already.'' Adriana vents to Pietro.

Pietro says, not impressed himself. ''Yeah, I know. Just, keep it on track, and stay out of trouble, Adriana.''

Adriana drives into Blanchimont. ''Oh, don't worry, I will.'' She gets on with maintaining her eighth place position, eager for points before the more difficult track in Hungary. On lap 29, Pietro says to her. ''Stroll has just shunted Felipe off at Blanchimont, safety car this lap.'' Adriana feels sick, Felipe was behind her the whole way after their stop. ''Is... is he okay?''

Pietro affirms, sensing her fear for him. ''Yeah, he's bailed out, and is on his way to the medics.''

Adriana takes her place behind the safety car, and says. ''I'll see him after the race, Stroll's fucked with the wrong team, I think.'' The safety car lasts two laps, Adriana keeps Lance in her mirrors, and break tests him up Eau Rouge. Playing cat and mouse with him all the way into Stavelot. ''Adriana, don't do anything stupid, okay?'' Pietro pleads with her.

Adriana says down her radio. ''Play stupid games, get stupid prizes.'' They've got six laps left when Adriana sees Gabriel and Franco pull up beside her, Lance still in her mirrors. The trio drive off without him, Adriana just ahead into Les Combes.

She comes in seventh, Gabriel in eighth, Franco in ninth. A South American midfield lockout. Just as it should be. She's told Lance had a tire blowout with old mediums on lap 43. Serves him right. Adriana gets her rings back on, weighs in, and does a quick media round. Desperate to see Felipe again. Maya escorts her to the medical center. Felipe is in a room there, in just his fireproofs, looking a bit rouged up, but no worse for wear. ''Feli, dios mio.'' She sits on the bed next to him, cupping his face in her shaking hands.

He runs his hands up her back to soothe her anxiety. ''I'm alright, Adri, no concussion, just a bit shaken. I'm alright.'' He says to her, voice calm for her. ''Good job on the seventh.''

Adriana says, trying not to cry all over her best friend. ''It was all for you.'' And, maybe it's the emotions of today, or the quiet in the room at last, or the lack of interruptions getting in the way. But, they finally, finally get that kiss they tried to have in Miami and Canada. It was so worth the months of waiting, the room melts away. Their two hearts beat as one. Felipe pulls her closer to him, afraid she'll slip away. Adriana knits her fingers into his hair. They slowly come back to reality. Sharing that same held gaze they always have. ''Feli... if we do this... you'll never be left alone, you know that, right?'' She's never been normal.

Felipe looks deeply into her eyes, as only he can. ''I'm never left alone anyway, Adri. I don't care. Do you care?''

Should a Fangio concern herself with the opinions of idiots? ''No, no I don't.'' He smiles, and pulls her in for another kiss, this one more certain, not rushed or feverish, just full of a promise to each other.

After she visits him, she re-joins Maya outside. Breathless, flushed to her ears, and beautifully happy. Felipe will be released this evening. Maya tells her she missed the podium ceremony. ''To be honest, Maya, I'm fine with that.''

Maya laughs, handing off her water bottle and some lip balm from Adriana's race bag. ''I can imagine.''

They get back to her driver's room so she can shower and change out of her sweaty race gear. Then, Adriana goes to update Giancarlo and the team on Felipe. ''He's alright, no concussion, he'll be back with us in a couple of hours.'' It seems odd to be talking about her boyfriend without him present. Her boyfriend, he's her boyfriend now! And, her teammate too! She's his girlfriend! ''Good, I'm glad he's alright. That crash looked ugly.'' Eduardo says, relieved for his driver.

Adriana says, because she knows this to be true in her soul. ''Abuelo was protecting him, so was Senna. They were looking after him today.''

Francesca nods, normally the rational strategist, but she'll not question her driver's spiritual side. ''I could not agree more, Adriana.''

That evening, the new couple relax in Adriana's motorhome. Just done with dinner, instead of going out with the others. The last thing they want is questions from the rest of the grid. They snuggle on the loveseat with some old movies, before heading to bed. Adriana curls up with Felipe, and kisses him for the third time today. ''I'm glad you're alright, Feli, I've never felt fear like that.''

Felipe kisses her head, placing her hand on his heart. ''I'll always be here beside you, Adri, no one will take me from you.'' He asks her. ''Did anything happen to Lance?''

Adriana yawns and says. ''A three place grid drop for Hungary and a fine.'' She adds. ''Not that we need to worry about that, I think he got the message.''

Felipe asks her, intrigued. ''Yeah? What did you do?'' Adriana leans up to kiss him, and says. ''I think you know.'' He chuckles, and they finally get some sleep together, ready to get to Hungary, and then they can hide out in Argentina for a while.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This will be part one of two or three, I'm not too sure yet! This has been such a fun story to write! Had this idea randomly one evening, and had to do something with it. I'm a sucker for characters with immense legacies to carry. Adriana is the youngest of Fangio's many grandchildren here. And the only one in motorsport. So, added to being the first woman with a permanent seat, and driving for her grandfather's team. That's a lot to handle for someone so young! And, a bit of forbidden, friends to teammates to lovers for a bit of spice.

Next part will focus on Summer break in Argentina and return to driving with Zandvoort, then we go from there.

Enjoy!

[silhouettehistory]

Cold Bird SilhouetteHistory

Silhouettes of the cars of the Penguin character, including Maserati Quattroporte VI (M156) and Ghibli (M157) with widened wheel arches in purple plum color, dark blue Volvo 245 and Rolls-Royce Cullinan in plum.

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[jtl-fics]

New kings with the meals rarely eaten please?

WIP Wednesday - Closed (9/13/23) | New Kings AU

"Whatever," Kevin rolls his eyes knowing that Neil would at least learn something about history just through sheer osmosis. "We're going to have to buy a good camera and a microphone set up too." he says, "I'll start looking into it." he says wondering if there would be reviews online for that sort of thing at this point or if he's better off going to a Best Buy.

"We?" Neil asks brow raised.

"Yes 'We' it's our YouTube show." Kevin crosses his arms. "Besides, if you have enough money to buy Andrew a Maserati then you have enough money to pay half the cost of a good camera for our show." he huffs.

"Kevin I am not using money my mom stole from the mafia to buy you a good camera and mic set-up." he says looking at Kevin like he's an idiot.

[diabolus1exmachina]

Hino Contessa 1300 Coupé

The name Hino was taken from the homonymous town in the Tokyo prefecture where the company's headquarters were (and still are). His first steps were to create powerful military vehicles for the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. Once the greatest war of all time was over, it dedicated itself to the manufacture of diesel engines, trucks and buses. The post-war Japanese automobile industry underwent a major transformation thanks to the numerous agreements that many manufacturers made with car brands in Europe and the United States. Hino was no different. The operations were going from strength to strength, they had already earned an important place in the industry and even theirs was the first trolleybus in the history of Japan. The brand wanted to expand its business by launching into the world of passenger cars. Already under the name of Hino Motors, it signed a collaboration agreement with Renault in February 1953 and two months later they began to manufacture the Renault 4CV (also called Renault 4/4) under license. In Japan it was marketed as the Hino PA and some 35,000 units were sold in the 10 years it was in production. The French brand ceased production of the Renault 4CV in 1961, so Hino set out to take another step in the automotive world: manufacture its own car. They contacted the prolific Italian designer Giovanni Michelotti, who had worked with brands as relevant as Ferrari, Lancia, Maserati, Alpine or Triumph, to draw the silhouette of the new Japanese car.

The Hino Contessa 900 used the base of the Renault 4CV but at first glance no one could recognize that link due to the charming sedan body designed by the Turin designer. Renault's 35 hp 0.9-litre engine was positioned at the rear and was sufficient to animate the rear axle with the 750 kg that the car weighed. Shortly after, the Hino Contessa 900 Sprint was launched, a coupe version that reduced the weight by 100 kg and had an engine powered by Nardi up to 45 CV. With an attractive design, greater habitability -it offered space for five passengers, one seat more than the 4CV- and the proven reliability of its engine, it was not surprising that the Contessa achieved good sales results. 47,299 units were marketed between 1961 and 1964, a small part of them manufactured beyond the Japanese borders. The great reception in the market of its first car encouraged Hino to develop the second generation. Once again, Michelotti was in charge of its design, who had an overwhelming personality. The front with double optics and no grille was clearly reminiscent of the Chevrolet Corvair while the general lines were similar to other models designed by Michelotti such as the Triumph 2000. The Italian designer had been inspired by the English and American cars for this Japanese model with a French engine. Long live globalization! The Hino Contessa 1300 was bigger and heavier than its predecessor, but also more powerful by using a 1.3-liter 55 hp engine from the Renault 8. It began its commercial journey in 1964 and a few months later the sports version with bodywork arrived. two-door, the Contessa 1300 Coupé with 65 CV. The second generation of the Contessa was exported to several countries around the world, being manufactured in Japan, Israel and New Zealand.

[frenchcurious]

Maserati GS Zagato 2007. - source History's Scape.