#but to me it is the max daniel thesis

[blamemma]

daniel ricciardo and max verstappen, 2024 vs. 2016

[yesloulou]

True or False w/ Ziggo Sport: I sometimes consider Max as my little brother

(thank u @ef-1 for helping me find this clip you're amazing 😳❤️)

[lilyrizzy]

something silly & self indulgent, set in the verse of 'in that iron ground.'

cw: parental death mention

“Daniel?” His mum says, her voice airy with the echo of laughter. “What a nice surprise.”

There’s no trace of concern in her voice, though it’s 4 AM in Rotterdam right now, something she must know. Or at least have known once upon a time. Too early for a casual catch-up.

It’s strange to be faced with the different ways his dad’s death affected them all. His mum can be fearless answering the phone, but Daniel’s palms still sweat whenever he sees his light up with the notification that her or Michelle is calling. Stranger still, maybe, that this is still something he thinks about whenever he speaks to his family on the phone.

“Sorry, you sound busy,” he apologises, but even as he says it, staring out at the inky black night, he hears the noise of background chatter recede. His mum’s muffled voice as she makes her excuses to step outside of whatever room she’s in, all the way across the world.

“No, no, Tim and I just have some friends over for our breakfast club, but I’m never too busy for you,” she says easily enough, back to talking to him now. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah Mama,” he promises, nodding though she can’t see him, “everything is- It’s good. Just wanted to hear your voice.”

There’s a pause, where he thinks she might call him out on the strangeness of the hour, but then-

“Not too long till Christmas now, darling.” 

They fall into the easy routine of catching each other up, their familiar dance perfected through more years spent living apart than together now. It’s mostly her speaking to start with, like she knows he needs it to ease himself in. He hears all about Isaac’s new job, and Izzy’s new baby. Stuff he already knows from Michelle, mostly, that he can just hum along to. The last thing is how the cold is finally ebbing from the earth long enough for her to think she can plant some new bulbs soon in her garden.

“And what’s new with you?” She prompts, enough of a tone in her voice for Daniel to know that if he could see her, he’d be getting that pointed look right about now.

Come on young man, tell your mama.

Time’s up.

“We dropped Milly at uni earlier,” he admits after a moment but then doesn’t say anything else, letting it settle between them.

“Oh,” his mum says, something knowing in her voice, and if Daniel stays as an attuned parent to Emilia, despite the new distance between them, he’ll be happy. “How did Max take it?”

That makes Daniel smile at least, looking over his shoulder towards their bedroom, though he knows he won’t be able to see the shape of Max under their duvet through the blinds covering the balcony’s glass door.

His mum hums sympathetically.

“Well, he only pretended not to cry for half of the car journey back,” Daniel says with a laugh, though at the time he’d ached watching Max try and fail to stop his bottom lip trembling as they pulled away from the University of Amsterdam’s welcome fair. “Then he gave in and asked me to pull the car over to give him a cuddle.”

“He did tell me he was nervous for her go,” she says, and nervous is the understatement of the fucking century, but her words make a thick kind of love fill his chest. The same feeling he gets when Max says, “Remind me to call your mum tomorrow, I haven’t spoken to her for a little while.” When he walks in on the two of them exchanging new recipes over Facetime.

“Yeah, she’s our baby,“ Daniel says simply, laughing just to ease the words from his throat, “he isn’t taking it so well, but- But you know Max.”

He can say that because she does.

“Poor Max,” she says with a sigh. “And how is my baby taking it?”

Daniel breathes out the breath he’s been holding in since they dropped Emilia off at her accommodation. Max pressing one hundred quick kisses to her head, making her promise to call them tomorrow to tell them all about her ‘lovely new friends’, while she tried desperately to back them out of the door so they couldn’t cramp her style any worse. Since Max touched his knee and looked at him with wet eyes in the car ride home and said, “This of course is for the best,” like he hadn’t also been right there with Daniel, agonizing over her moving a two-hour car journey away.

Nothing really, when you compare it to two planes and twenty-four hours of travel.

“I’m okay,” he says because it’s mostly true. “I just- Fuck, mum, I don’t know how you and Dad did it. Packed me up and let me move to Europe, two years younger than Milly is now.”

His mum hadn’t even cried in the airport, he remembers. She’d just kissed his cheek very hard, his dad hovering behind telling her she’d make Daniel miss his flight, then hugging Daniel afterwards for just as hard, just as long.

“Ah, well,” she says, words half gentle laughter. “This is the hard part. Welcome back to the era of sleepless nights, except this time they aren’t in the next room, needing you.”

He has to close his eyes against the harsh truth of it. The pain he put his parents through, the pain he feels now, it’s all born from too much love.

“Yeah but Milly always needs me,” he insists, laughing wetly, trying and failing to cover the way he is the one crying now. “Who else is going to teach her how to bag all the hot Dutch boys?”

His mum snorts, and for a moment the ache in his chest is soothed by giggles they dissolve into together. “Don’t let Max hear you say that.”

They lapse into a comfortable silence again once the laughter has trailed off, but Daniel still hasn’t said the thing that made him pick up the phone and call. He promised himself standing at his father’s graveside that he wouldn’t let important things so unspoken between them again, but it doesn’t make it easy.

“Thank you,” he eventually croaks, his throat aching with the words. “Mum, thank you for- For letting me go. I wish I could say the same to Dad, I- My daughter is off to study law two hours up the road and I’m a mess, and- And you guys let me move two continents away just to give my dream a try.”

His dream that never came true, not all the way at least, but that Daniel still wouldn’t trade the life he has now for.

“Oh, sweetheart.” His mum’s voice is gentle, and he wishes so badly she was here to give him a hug. “I just did what you are doing now, for Milly. It’s all a part of it. Sophie would tell you the same.”

She probably has already, to Max at least.

“Yeah,” Daniel says, wiping at his eyes and sniffing a little. “I just- I’m going to miss her, I think.”

For the last nineteen years, the bedroom opposite his and Max’s has been five different colours, has seen four different ‘best friends,’ and had posters of athletes, pop stars, Max’s maps and most recently Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the wall, but- But it’s always had his baby girl inside, sleeping in the bed every night.

“Of course, you’ll miss her. You’re a good dad, Daniel.” His mum says it like a promise, her voice cracking down the middle too. “I tell your dad all the time when I go to visit him. How proud of you he would be, my darling.”

[transbrucewayne]

F1 but it’s ultra specific ship dynamics that I need in order to enjoy the ship:

Versainz: baby’s first situationship (literally pentaltyboxbox’s art is my versainz thesis. “Ay, Max, no. I am not gay and neither are you” 🤨) teammates who weren’t supposed to like each other reluctantly becoming friends and then being intricately connected for the rest of their careers. But totally not in a gay way. Of course.

Chestappen: repressed catholic and some guy who needs dilf pussy so bad he wants to kill himself (this is deeply important to me)

Strollonso: Brat princess Lance. Heros and anti-heroes. I’m on the dark side. Tell Lance not to worry I just want to build a gap with the cars behind. You’re my fucking hero.

Carlando: Baby’s first situationship pt.2?? Lando with a massive crush, first real boyfriend Carlos….i need there to be angst. Lando fell first AND harder, etc.

Britcedes/Gewis: George fumbling all over himself trying to impress Lewis, Lewis just thinking he’s cute no matter what. It’s the coolest man alive/weird little freak he’s obsessed with pairing of my dreams. George: this is my boyfriend he’s cooler than me and also he’s cooler than all of you.

Maxiel: first love married divorced remarried pining missing something that maybe was never there will they won’t they one big game of gay chicken healing from baby’s first situationship etc etc etc (I adore them)

Dando: trying to find solace in another, longing for someone you can’t get back, subversion of expected dynamics (controversial: I fully believe Lando tops in this one). But also. They need to have one brain cell. Lando blabbing on about god knows what. Daniel sweating and popping a vein bc of how much he needs to kiss him.

Twinklaren/Landoscar: third time’s the charm, oh you’re the one I’ve been waiting for, tender glances, young love, first teammate crush syndrome

Danterri: we had something weird in the past. “Find another weed guy I can’t fuck with you…uhhhmm nothing personal I can’t fall in love right now and youre Everything I love so if I ever see you again I’ll never let go of your hand sooo yeah” (we’ve all seen that one web weaving.) Are you dating the female version of me?

Lecciardo: WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED IN VEGAS. Charles needs dick from a guy with unstoppable charisma soooooo bad. Fueling each other’s impulsive sides, etc etc

Sebchal: baby’s first situationship (Charles’ version) (from the vault) I miss you so much I’m going to listen to breakup songs all night long. I still think of you every day. I named you twice in a list of drivers. You may even kiss. If it was the omegaverse Seb is so obviously an alpha.

Brocedes: if it doesn’t make me physically sick to my stomach with anguish I do not want it. I hope you die I hope we both die. Hand in unlovable hand. I still consider him my best friend in my heart. We’re not friends. Are they lovers? Worse.

Chewis (Charles/Lewis. I recognise this is also the name for Checo/Lewis. What is the Charles/Lewis name?) me and the bad bitch I pulled by being in violation of that one article section. You know the post. They suffer together. Kinship in joint pain. You’ve got a long future ahead of you. Praise kink.

Let me know if you want a part 2, if so, send ships you want!

[tiredeg]

What is LaTeX? I’m working so hard on this like… LAnce/Toto/alEX? LANdo/pierre gasly number TEn/maX?

Oh God nooooo LaTeX is a scientific typesetting software, when I said niche I meant niche 😭😭

This is a Max/Daniel fic that I occasionally add to where they're both in academia... People take LaTeX really seriously, like it's cool when you start using it for stuff and then it's so flexible and nice looking that some people use it for everything, like I've received wedding invitations written using TeX (which was so cute)

You can set templates and most people I know use the same template for most things, like I still use the article template I got from someone my first year of undergrad, and the presentation template a girl from the year above me gave me during my masters etc etc

In my au, Daniel is a postdoc in the lab where Max does his undergrad capstone thesis, so they're working together a lot and they really click, like they immediately get on and really enjoy working together. It's a 10 week thing so they get quite close and Max is very obviously into Daniel and Daniel's not technically his Boss™ but he is senior and has like soft power over Max and it would be bad to date an undergrad no matter how weirdly obsessed he is with Max. BUT by the time Daniel realises all of this, they've been flirting for like 2 months and he's accidentally an asshole about it because he just switches it off and flips a switch and starts acting different around Max and it's disorienting and accidentally gaslighting and unpleasant for Max

Max has to write up a dissertation and at the start of this Daniel had shared his own template with Max, so he uses this even though he feels weird now but it reminds him of when it was better

ANYWAY Max is a really good researcher obviously and applies to a PhD in this lab, let's call it the Horner Lab, and gets funding and is excited to start and get to work with Daniel again and maybe they can get back to where they were and it can be good again and he can ask Daniel out now BUT oh no Daniel has been courted away and accepted a position in another university that seems to have a better grant, lets call it the Renault lab

Max is really disappointed at this but he did like the work too so he tries to put it out of his mind, works hard, and generally excels... He definitely bumps into Daniel at a few conferences and they slip back into their same rapport and Max loves those weeks, always tries to drop hints to Horner to send his work to conferences that might overlap with Daniel's topic... They get drunk and kiss one time in the hotel after the conference dinner but Daniel isn't in a great place, has accepted an assistant prof job in a department that he's really not clicking in and doesn't think they'll keep him on past his current contract even though it's tenure track and his work is good, let's call them, um, McLaren. And Max is doing SO WELL, like his research niche has exploded and he's been right at the cusp of some really cutting edge stuff, it's so impressive, and they only ever see each other at these events and Max is always winning poster prizes and talk awards, and Daniel doesn't feel like he can deal with this right now

Max, of course, is using Daniel's template to make every presentation and to draft every paper, and it makes him feel warm every time he creates a new file by making a new copy of the template file called "from_daniel.tex". He still has the original email Daniel sent him with the template, he emails it to his personal email just in case his institutional email ever gets deactivated. He's a bit sick of Daniel going hot and cold on him but he doesn't know why or how to fix it (Max is perhaps a bit blind to other people's career worries, especially because Daniel is still doing good work so it's not obvious from the outside what's going on). Mainly he thinks that if they got to spend more than two weeks a year together and weren't constantly surrounded by their coworkers, they might have a chance to properly talk.

Fast forward a few years, Max is a postdoc now still at the same university (bro go get some experience elsewhere, I know I know but this is for the narrative!) and Daniel comes BACK! He gets hired to fill in for someone really last minute and takes the role and it's tenure track and he's really excited about it but also really nervous about working around Max again... Especially because his last job went so badly for interpersonal reasons, not competency, so he's scared that he fucked things up with Max who is obviously the one in this lab with the clout, so if he acts cold to Daniel the rest will too. And Max is a bit absent for the first while, he also doesn't know how to act, from his perspective they kissed and Daniel ghosted him and it reminds him of their first time around working together, BUT Max fundamentally just likes Daniel so one time Daniel catches him hiding away somewhere making a presentation, and notices Max is using his template still from all those years ago, and he tries to break the ice by asking about it but Max is so tired he just straight up admits to it. They actually talk and realize that they're on the same page and they're both scared for different reasons but they both want the same thing and then they kiss about it and maybe have sex in the bathroom about it, who knows, they're academics, they're both working late

THEN they co-author a paper together and it's a brilliant piece of work that starts a partnership that they keep up forever and they get tenure track positions together at a different university and they write their wedding invitations in LaTeX using Daniel's template and they live happily ever after

[adimouze]

I think ricnation on twitter should stop and accept max's interview, it may be his pr or his real thoughts, we should just let it go because we know max and daniel are very special to each other and if checo's fans are happy with that then we should just ignore them and stop bothering them. I'm being honest some people are too fussy about little things like this. For me seeing checo fail every race is the ultimate victory because it's too ridiculous if we take every word these drivers say to heart.

lmao true true also like max wasn't posting post race helicopter videos with anyone else was he hehe. anyways i think nearly a decade of good maxiel shit can handle a little bit of teasing from the other side. (i do get why people get pissed tho, some checo fans are ruthless) daniel obviously is very comfortable enough to know what max is actually thinking, and if max's teammate was so close to him he would have been offered to write that thesis/love letter. But who did actually write that?? hehe.

honestly i think it's because the qualifying was so shit and daniel is always so popular (and that gets engagement on twitter) that even his little cuntiel shitstirrer comments are now main news.

[gokartkid]

f1 fic rec list

self indulgent! my personal masterlist of hits, also theres 25 of them... 25 days of fic christmas, an advent calendar perhaps!

turn back and return by @rudesses

“No! We are climbing together,” Charles says, because Charles is very generous. He likes to phrase it that way—together. They haven’t climbed together in years.

charles/alex mountaineering au, SUCH good characterisation, the universe is so full and it has this like. longing-not-going-for-it that makes me crazy. THEE chalex fic to me. it holds tension so well and really makes you feel nervous in the high adrenaline moments, and you can tell the care that charles and alex have for each other, and their well established relationship immediately as the fic starts, which i think is so well communicated in so little time!

phantoms and pencil marks by cazio

Pierre woke to a boy sitting next to his bed. Amnesia AU

pierre/charles, amnesia au where pierres been in a accident and has severe amnesia, its written so well from his perspective you can feel his confusion the whole time and its amazing piarles but also a standout character study of pierre it has so many painful moments, i love how pierre he... is meeting charles again and again, but warped and you can see how painful it is for everyone. so so so good. it takes everything i love about amnesia fics and elevates it

Second Star to the Right by @gufettogrigio

It is stupid of Nico to even give Lewis the chance to notice. The hot water kettle is just a bit too heavy at breakfast one morning and Nico loses his grip. Lewis is next to him at the buffet table of the hotel and catches it out of reflex; Nico knows better than to think it’s kindness. He stares at where Nico’s fingers are still refusing to cooperate. "What happened to your hand?" "Nerves" - Nico answers with a shrug, glad for the double meaning in the English phrasing. It's up to Lewis how he wants to interpret it; Nico didn't lie.

nico rosberg/lewis hamilton but also jenson button/nico rosberg but separately, there are alternate endings.

SOO so so iconic, i have reread this multiple times. mind the tags, but it's an incredible nico character study, everyone in this is amazing but especially toto, this line: [Toto laughs, kindly. “You are my World Champion and I’ve only got two of those. I am invested in your continued survival. Always.”] it is everything to me. nicos mentality about himself, his feelings about racing, about the championship, about lewis. wow!

provenance by ecorone

At the end of the world, art curator Lewis Hamilton finds his way back to the artist called no5.

lewis/sebastian, genuinely like. an incredible work of art fic. it's an apocalypse - non driver - surreal fic. its setting is if the end of the world dinosaur times were happening now, and what to do with all your regrets, and follows lewis as the main character. it has so much depth to it, the writing style itself is incredible. the characterisations, the philosophies, the EVERYTHING. i left an insane comment on it just so i could spill my thoughts out better and i can't do it a second time hahaha but i would so so so highly recommend reading, to be honest even if sewis is not your thing just because. imo it is so much more than just a fic about drivers. also read their other stuff bc i do not like lewis/max as a pairing but i will vouch for ecorones interpretation as being. THEE lewis/max thesis.

echo of the future by @tetrapod7

Lewis, once on the path of the Jedi and now in the midst of the Galactic Empire, learns of the chance to save ancient Jedi texts. Max, a stormtrooper, becomes smuggler Daniel Ricciardo's copilot. They too pursue the Jedi texts -- with the hope of selling them to the Empire.  Their stories collide at the Jedi Temple on Genbara. As the danger of an Imperial Star Fleet looms large, Max, Daniel, Lewis, Seb, and Jamie have to figure out what matters most to them, what they owe to each other, and devise a plan for an unavoidable space battle with the Empire -- a battle for their future and hopes.

lewis/sebastian max&daniel i will like. forever and always be a star wars guy x i read this in one sitting it made me feel insane everything about it is perfect, all of the storylines running at once then colliding. lewis in this especially is EXCEPTIONAL, r0s-c0 made me laugh so hard when i read it. droids 4eva! the particular sw verse this is is built up perfectly there are SO many details here and so much world building it makes me want to eat it. the entire atmosphere is quintissentially star wars, a mission running on hope and a few credits. amazing <3

in that iron ground by @lilyrizzy

"Maxy,” Daniel says and it sounds like he’s choking. Max frowns, deeper. He crouches in front of Daniel, resting his hands on his bare thighs. Daniel is still only wearing the boxers and undershirt he went to sleep in. Nothing’s changed. “Daniel, what is wrong?” Max repeats.  Daniel swallows. I don’t want things to change, he thinks again. “My dad’s dead," he says. Or Daniel takes Max home to Perth for a funeral.

max/daniel incredible scholarship on daniel and max, who they are to each other especially in daniels lowest moment, i love how it... it is the lowest point of daniel that we are seeing which brings out so much depth to his character, and who he is especially behind his like, media/character mask. the characterisation of daniels family, how he struggles to process the grief, the complexities around grief and the consistent running undertone of why-mine-and-not-yours surrounding max and daniels fathers. his internalised homophobia/fear of coming out. amazing

sixteen cadences for children in bloom by distressedgremlin

Pierre flips his cap around and marks it on his calendar: 2021, the year of living selfishly

pierre/charles SUCH A GOOD PIERRE. such a good pierre. he deserves to be selfish and to live selfishly. i think seeing him become so confident is so great in this fic and especially the narrative foils between him, daniil and yuki i love, how he evolves in those relationships, becoming a team leader, becoming someone who HE likes. also obsessed with distressedgremlin's sewis fics. so so so obsessed. the le mans fic is everything to me

constellation falling into place by wraysford

For some reason, the last part is what sticks in Nico’s head, you were quick, in that awed, painfully genuine tone of Lewis’, but, he hastily reminds himself, how fast or slow he was back then doesn’t matter anymore or, wherein Nico goes to university and Lewis races

nico/lewis HEARTBREAKING au to me. nico quits racing and lewis doesn't and they meet again. im obsessed with it as a nico character study and a look inside his strange little brain in this universe... its perfect. the underlying jealous and what-could-have-been in every scene, the way lewis is so. GENUINE about wanting to reconnect with him, it kills me.

tomorrow on every shore by @missyourflight

This season on Below Deck Sailing Yacht... Six weeks. Nine charters. Lots of hot tub stuff. *  “Is it not your colour?” Max says. The production team gave the whole crew new uniforms for this season, swapped their usual navy polos for something that apparently pops more on camera. It’s sort of peachy, not Max’s favourite, but it looks good on Daniel. “Please,” Daniel scoffs. “Everything’s my colour.” He bumps his hip into Max. “You weren’t tempted to go with the skort option?” Max bumps back, pretending to consider. “I thought about it, but it’s just not practical on deck, you know?” “Guests are arriving,” Christian says, his smile tight, eyes fixed ahead. “Could we attempt to act like professionals, please?” And then the guests are on the dock, and everyone puts on smiles to greet them, and it’s almost like a normal charter except for all the fucking cameras everywhere.

max/daniel, below deck au, i read this right after binging below deck med so obvs it was perfect. i love everyones characterisation especially christians. + yuki as the chef is perfect. i love the interview sections paired with whats happening in the fic bc its like... i love an unreliable perspective! fantastic au and they are so 3D fleshed out

striving for goodness while the cruel men win by @misonikomi

Lewis had been at a disadvantage. Cruelty had never been bred into her; she had to learn it one piece at a time. When she first started karting, she had tried to blend in with the other kids, an impossible feat. There had been so much violence even then, in the way the kids looked at her, spoke to her, and touched her. She had to learn that violence as well, in order to win

lewis/sebastian, gender swap au, i think one of the first and only i read because i get a bit nervous about them, but incredible, incredible thesis material. the characterisations of lewis and charles and amazing, how they change and are the same as women. perfect narrative foils for each other. sebastian and lewis' relationship in this is fantastic, how lewis' past with nico has affected her into her relationship with seb but also with f1 in general. suzie is standout in this to me, the woman-woman relationships in general are perfect

december makes me quiet by @warriorbarnes

“Hallo?” he greets, and gets to his feet.  “There is a snow storm,” are the words he’s met with. He’s taken aback at first, the accented english not what he’d expected, and has to recalibrate his brain from german to english.  His brows knit together when he realizes who it is on the other end of the line. “Charles?” he asks. or, right before Christmas, Seb gets an unexpected guest.

sebastian/charles, one of my favourite sebchal fics!!! i think it handles that line between awkwardness and getting to know each other so well. any sebchal fic that has charles being normal around sebastian is immediately inaccurate, we know his complexes! i love to read it... so comforting, being snowed in is THE premise!

lucky thirteen by @azzy421

Being the daughter of the most successful racing driver in the world (retired) comes with a lot of privilege and a few very notable downsides.  1. Dad is famous, and it makes people act weird around him and ask Ayla weird things, like what he eats for breakfast or what deodorant he uses. 2. Sometimes he gets talked into going to Germany for the summer to talk about engines and aerodynamics with Uncle Toto’s team for months on end. And this is only really annoying because - 3. He never, ever wants to talk about racing with Ayla. Ayla, head over heels in love with the world of Formula 1, is determined that she’s going to prove she has what it takes to start karting, even if it means going behind her dad’s back to do it. When she discovers that not only is there a girls-only karting group next to their temporary home in Germany but that it’s being run by four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel (Ayla’s second-favourite driver of all time) (also retired), she is determined to seize the opportunity with both hands.  And, well. Her dad is lonely. Sebastian seems even lonelier. Solving that problem would be a nice bonus.

lewis/sebastian, i also usually never go for kid fics but this one intrigued me and it is SOOO good. seeing lewis through the lens of his kid, her passion for karting and especially his very, very real fear for her entering that world... so so so realistic and good. it has the exact right amount of self indulgence but also reality, i love seeing the 'future of f1' with mick, lando and george, and how lewis to ayla is still first and foremost her dad. sebastian in this is incredible but also this cannot be prophetic because if he did become an f1 hermit it would make me so sad xx

how to get it, how to live it by grandsprix

Alex wants to say no, because - well, because his ex was a closet case, and Charles is the kind of beautiful Alex is going to feel insecure about, and he has half a tub of strawberry cheesecake Haagen Daaz and a rental of Dune waiting for him at home after his shift, and is that worth giving up to give some French twink a blowjob in the staff bathroom? or, Alex works in a gay bar in Soho, and Charles is lost.

alex/charles, obviously love every grandprix chalex fic, but this is my favourite! i am so charmed and in love with charles' characterisation here, his clumsy confidence and how he is immediately offended by alex not wanting to have sex-sex with him haha also alex's like... slow sense of impending doom at becoming closer to him. perfect

come on, starboy by @yekoc

Daniel’s just slinging his bag over his shoulder to head out to the parking lot when there’s a noise behind him, the hollow metallic echo of a locker door slamming. Turning, he sees that kid. Max. The running back who always fumbles.  He’s standing in front of the locker he just slammed, muscles tense. His too-big mouth is drawn into a flat line. He has his phone in his hand: he looks at it, puts it in his pocket, and grinds his fist against the bank of lockers in front of him.  “Hey,” Daniel says, because he feels creepy now, just looking.  The kid looks up at him, startled.  “Oh,” he says. “Hi.”

max/daniel, obviously like anyone reading this list will have read this or if you haven't you should?? max and daniel are perfect in this actually perfect. it has that... stuck in a small town that you are outgrowing but will you ever be able to stretch. standout to me: the spectre of max's dad. we hardly see him properly but you can tell the impact he is having on max, and by extent on daniel. this is also possibly my favourite lewis, second only to new wave (new emotion). the way he steals the show for me in every scene he is in, his college aspirations, fears for the future, wanting to gone beyond the simplistic perceptions of him... amazing. number 2 yekoc favourite is glory from a high rise but i am only reccing one per author strictly to not make this list insane

the heartbeat is a hunger by @thelittlebirdthatkeptsomanywarm

2019 FORMULA ONE SPORTING REGULATIONS Art. 34: BONDING Teams are required to register all bonds between drivers with the FIA at the beginning of each season. New bonds must be formally recognized through a bonding ceremony under supervision of at least one FIA representative [...]. Art. 34.1 [added on 1.01.1993] Bonds between drivers competing for different teams are prohibited. I'm so unused to being - well, understood perhaps. - Vladimir Nabokov's first letter to his future wife, Véra

lewis/sebastian, lewis/nico, SUCH a good bonding au... a really interesting look into how dystopian something like this could get, and i think a realistic look into how sports is constantly pushing us to the limit so if there were more ways to do so.... they absolutely would take advantage? lewis and nico's relationship is so interesting here, and seb as the trope inversion is SOOO. it is so well executed.

new wave (new emotion) by nothoughtsjustvibes

In which Max realizes he’s in love with Daniel and flies to Colorado to make it Lewis’s problem. Lewis just wants him to leave – preferably on a plane to Australia.

max/daniel lewis&max, my favourite lewis. ever!!!!!! max in this is STELLAR as well, their relationship is so so funny and so well balanced, i mostly love how... lewis deals with AD21 mentally in this? and how he's like urgh max is here? i will be nice. to hey. max is pretty cool :) in a very organic sense and also lewis being a mentor figure when i have 2022 lh superimposed over 2008-2016 menace lh in my mind is very funny. lewis micromanaging max's problems to fix them is my favourite thing, also every small interaction with charles in here is brilliant.

crude generalisations and vulgar simplifications by @janinaduszejko

Alex remembers attending his first Cabinet meeting - he’d been awed by the imposant room, the history this place held, where wars had been declared, disasters averted and ensured, with its stately inner ring of ministers, surrounded by the bustling outer ring filled with their advisors and assistants. The gratitude he had felt in that moment, being a part of the centre of it all, the place where power housed. Almost six hours later, he’d stumbled out of the stuffy room with George at his side, eyes wide with commiseration as he’d led Alex through the narrow halls.  “These ministers.” Alex had said, a hollow look in his eyes. “Are they all-?” “Afraid so.” George’s voice had been kind, but knowing, like he’d expected this and had grimly prepared himself.  “Halfwits.” Alex had moaned, as George had patted him on the back in sympathy. “Fools and idiots, every last one of them.”

george/alex, so so osos oso os good. i LOVE a political au i love intrigue i love stupidity i love jargon <3 and this baby has it all!!! i love any kind of misunderstanding/torment in a fic and in this one... alex u are so good at torment <3 george also coming up with the weirdest solution to their workplace romance is SO him. christian horner in this made me laugh a lot. this was i think the start of my galex downfall

steal the air out of my lungs (make me feel it) by @baking-soda

Max has never been so tired in his life. He can’t believe he’s going into call like this, that he couldn’t get to sleep last night. What an idiot. “Hey,” Daniel says, sauntering into a work room balancing a green smoothie and two large coffees from the caf. He puts one in front of Max. “You ready to save lives, Maxy?”

max/daniel obviously like. titular maxiel material, but i read it again and often! i am not a med student by any means but ive done placements in hospitals + medsci papers and reading this was like. it is exactly the feeling! when ur in it and you are a cog in a very big machine made for helping people and it is the most exhausting thing you have ever done but the most fulfilling... max in this fic is so so so amazing. the dissonance between how he sees himself and everyone else around him sees him. scenes that stick with me: when hes going to text his dad about the intubation but then he deletes everything because he thinks it wasn't impressive even though he had just been riding high. and every scene where he comforts the rookies but he like.. doesn't even realise himself he's doing it. to him he is being normal. love &lt;3

Invent us as we were (real tears, hard love) by diamondcrystalink

“Seb, aren't you freaked out?” Every human who doesn’t work with mimic engineering hates seeing mimics down to their components, it's said to ruin the illusion. Sebastian didn't even hesitate to help him. “Why would I be? It's just you,” Sebastian replied without much thought, his concentration on shaping the lattice to the gash. - Charles is an android who should have had his memory wiped at the start of the season per regulation, Ferrari decided otherwise. Sebastian doesn't know.

sebastian/charles, android-au-i-love-you! illegal ferrari goings on i love you!!! i am forever and always a sci fi lover and this hits all the spots for me, the idea of charles as the golden boy of ferrari because he was literally made crafted and perfected by them, the ethics/philosophies of being an android (charles hating remembering that he is), the way it starts and ends with a dream as well, bookended perfectly. so so good

the alps by @grandprix-ao3

Yuki catches his first glance of Pierre somewhere without him in pre-season testing. He’s blue and pink, he’s glowing, a flat-brimmed cap with Alpine’s A emblazoned on it sitting backwards on his head. Pierre and his sunglasses, the microphones in his face, the questions, the novelty, the half-arrogant grins. “He looks different in pink,” Liam remarks, halfway to a joke. Yuki hates it. It reminds him of all the distance between them, all the words he’s too scared—too late to say. There’s a gap between them, now. It's mountainous. It’s brutal.

yuki/pierre, this is one of my favourite all time yukierre fics so i couldn't not include it. every single thing about it is perfect, yuki struggling with his feelings, the way he and pierre are drawn to each other again and again. the struggle with what people seem to see so easily and making that real. ALL TIME!

cleaner better breed by @toastandvegemite

The lights inside the glass box turned on and Daniel saw the android for the first time. Something hooked in his chest. “Did they have to make it look so real?” he murmured to Michael, turning his head slightly. (RedBull builds a robot driver. They call it Max.)

max/daniel this had me on the edge of my seat the whole time, the idea already of technology displacing high risk/reward activities like sport is so fascinating combined with the fact that sports is such a political tool in terms of soft power, almost unmatched, so how to wield that soft power effectively with a robot? make him a bit human and likeable. all of daniels internal monologues feel so true to form throughout this fic, and the ending. AGH! catch! love this au

Everything I do, I'm gonna think of you by @misonikomi

Charles's eyes scan up and down his body, expression somewhat unimpressed. Seb takes inventory of himself. Nondescript jeans, gray Puma sneakers, plain gray t-shirt. Not much to look at, he admits. Or: Charles is Bella Hadid, if Bella Hadid used to kart and was also a bit disillusioned with modeling, and Seb is still Seb.

sebastian/charles, SUCH A GOOD AU!!! i love fashion and i love f1... this is like a perfect in between. a really really good charles character study again i love taking the drivers out of their... natural habitats! and this as well, it doesn't shy away from how charles in this universe has lead to quitting karting, homophobia, gender etc. and sebastian is so unabashedly seb and them learning how to be together and charles gradually showing more of himself... the modelling world in this as well is so rich. its so good!!!

home (is wherever I'm with you) by actparci

On the drive back to the hotel Max had turned to him, blue eyes fierce and piercing.  “Promise me you won’t stop being angry. You’re angry because you know what you can do. Use it, control it, let it fuel you. Other people won’t understand but that doesn’t matter, you know what you’re capable of.” You and me, he’d seemed to say, we’re the same. Charles wonders now how he ever thought Max wouldn’t understand. Or: Charles leaves Ferrari, tries to win a championship, and learns some things about belonging. All the while, Max is there

max/charles, i do not read much lestappen at all but this was amazing. charles moving to red bull and its done so well, because. i am a forza-ferrari-forza-charles guy forever but i am also addicted to alternate universes! all of the moments where there are differences between the teams, having the cheesy but so emotionally cathartic races and interactions and wins... its too good!

For the thrill of it all by @boxboxlewis

Charles unfolds from his headstand with cervine grace and stands up. “Geooooorge,” he says slowly. “George, George… George.” His eyebrows fly up, and he narrows his eyes at Alex. “Your friend who needs a place to stay for a few days, he is George? The George from your classes? That one? Posh George?”

george/alex, this is a series so technically cheating... essential george characterisations here! they are both so british (deeply derogatory) all of the dialogue is so perfect!!! i love their dynamic as flatmates, charles i love you but if i were flatting with him id kill him xx [If this were real, if they were dating, he wouldn’t fuck George, not tonight; he would draw it out, the anticipation, he would allow them the luxury of a long slow discovery. As it is he pulls back] my favourite line because alex is in every universe deluded. that boy loves you!

transmotion by heroics

Vettel's eyes fly to Lewis's, and he looks as shocked as Lewis feels. Then he grins. "You again." "Me again," Lewis says. He's lived in Frankfurt nearly four years now, and the German feels clumsy on his tongue in a way it hasn't since those first few months.

sebastian/lewis, literally what can i say. football, fashion designer au. the sebastian in this fic is so well fleshed out, and i love how its the.. uncertainty of being between stages in life, and how they struggle as adults with their relationship. lewis having moments of unintentional cruelty that they have to pull apart, and sebastian the same, the perils of homophobia in sport. charles and pierre in this i love, when pierre and lewis talk about his fashion show. pierre is a lh fanboy in every universe!

okay. that's it! they are literally in no order and also so muddled i am so sorry. if you are on this list i am such a big fan of you and just want to show my appreciation xx

[brakingpoint]

Idk if you have seen this question go around twitter and tiktok, but i have seen a lot of people discuss "if the 20 drivers on the grid were in the hunger games, how would they perform?"

I would like to hear your take! :)

thank you SO much for sending me this... i would not call myself a hunger games connoisseur because i put all my energy into hyperfixating on the prequel instead but i AM a hunger games enthusiast and i spent far too long thinking about this in the shower. also i'm doing the 2022 grid bc i don't have the vibes of the 2023 newbies totally locked down yet

(also i'm doing this as everyone roughly competing in individual games as opposed to against each other. bc i think that is more fun)

max: adjusting for inflation (how old he was when he started f1 vs the age you have to be to do the hunger games) he is like, a career tribute in training from district 2 who jumps up and volunteers when he is about twelve and then effortlessly wins the whole thing. gives an insanely nonchalant victory interview, does the victory tour like he's being held at gunpoint, and then is never seen again

charles: finnick odair if he kept almost getting murdered by other people's poor decisions. receives the most strategically pointless gifts from sponsors. literally put him in a desert arena and he will inexplicably be sent raincoats by the dozen

checo: ceo of coasting his way to the final like, three or four tributes based on a combination of luck, occasionally clever moves, and mostly just getting forgotten by everyone. his downfall comes when he overestimates the loyalties of the tributes he's in an alliance with and they stab him in the back (literally) with no remorse

carlos: objectively promising, great scores when he does his little demonstration, capitol haircare brands are tripping over each other to do a deal with him when he wins (because surely he will) but in practice he's another one who mostly just shithouses his way to the final three/four by being in the right place at the right time

lewis: scarily good. wins 75% on strategy, stealth, and speed and 25% by occasionally lashing out and murdering someone off the face of the planet but somehow avoids blame for it. also you know he somehow manages to wear the fuck out of whatever heinous fit he gets put in to ride in those chariots

lando: almost inadvertently starts a revolution because from the second he shows up in the reaping he gets such a devoted nationwide teenage girl fanbase that there are legitimate riots when he dies through an objectively silly unforced error in the final days of the games. also almost inadvertently gets assassinated before the games even start because he says something landogate worthy about the president in his interview. he was just having a laff

esteban: is genuinely just sort of having a nice time camping out in the trees and avoiding all the drama. it is just very unfortunate that in some idk quarter quell gender ratio fuckery he managed to get reaped alongside his childhood bestie pierre who has devoted his entire time in the arena to murdering esteban and esteban specifially

fernando: absolutely fucking terrifying. they have to stop showing his murders on tv because he's a little too gory even for the central thesis of the hunger games as an institution. he's just chill about it though. cracking his little yokes

valtteri: builds up so much pure boiling rage from being constantly ignored compared to the other tribute from his district that after a week or so of surviving because everyone kept ignoring him he finally snaps, swings through the forest on a vine tarzan-style screaming TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN, FUCK YOU, takes out four career tributes in the space of fifteen seconds, and then slams right into another tree killing himself instantly

daniel: crowd favourite going into the arena. makes a little joke at the reaping, serves in all his silly little outfits, gets great scores, secures the most sponsors, has the most charming interview in the history of the hunger games. and then when he's on the little platform waiting for the games to start he gets a bit too excited, starts doing a little dance, and gets blown up immediately

seb: another unlikely child prodigy victor with a polarising but highly effective tactic of utter ruthlessness paired with being very charming and also crying a lot. he is at his most powerful and dangerous, however, when he moves into the mentoring side of things because not only is he just an objectively good mentor but he does it while plotting to take down the capitol from the inside at the same time. the hunger games trilogy vs the hunger games trilogy if katniss had sebastian vettel for a mentor

kevin: impressive scores from the gamemakers (voted most likely to have a bit of a katniss moment during the evaluation; fok smashes door on his way out?) but doesn't really do a whole lot during the actual games. makes it pretty far and has a couple of genuinely impressive kills but is let down by a lack of sponsors and getting a little too invested in his vicious rivalry with nico hulkenberg

pierre: bit of a rollercoaster ride. impressive pre-games energy, good scores, looks hot in the interview, but tries to hang with the career tributes very early on and nearly flops his way to an early grave. not to be discouraged, he strikes out on his own and makes it impressively far as a free agent, but keeps putting himself back in danger by focusing too much on a) regaining the respect of the careers who really couldn't care less and mostly just want to kill this guy every time he shows up and b) taking any opportunity to slaughter esteban. killed around the time of the cornucopia feast (yuki's fault)

lance: exceptionally dangerous but not intentionally so. at first the general commentary take is that he's very good at making his kills look like an accident, until they finally get the right camera angles and it transpires that all of his kills are in fact total accidents that come about through his own recklessness and stupidity. unlikely fan favourite due to his perpetual exasperation with his mentor (brad)

mick: the son of a fearsome victor from days gone by but largely underestimated due to his nice guy reputation. attempts to leverage this by taking a kind of johanna mason angle and appearing utterly unthreatening until the last minute when he plans to brutally and efficiently kill every other remaining tribute, but his tactic backfires dramatically due to the incompetence of his mentor and sponsors and he starves to death in the middle stages of the games

yuki: gets unexpectedly far due to his small stature making it easy to hide and by forming an alliance with pierre that charms the crowds and prompts widespread speculation about whether there is a romance brewing in the arena. unfortunately he gets them both killed with his reckless enthusiasm about the feast at the cornucopia

zhou: yet another one who gets really far mostly by being ignored. once he gets into the arena, that is. the entire buildup to the games is defined by his rapid ascent to capitol fashion icon. he wins the whole thing through a combination of laying low and getting sweet sweet sponsor gifts and then is permitted to stay in the capitol where he enjoys a prosperous career as stylist for future tributes

alex: he either dies in the very first brawl at the cornucopia OR sneaks his way to the final handful of tributes and wins the whole thing, no inbetween. if he does make it to the end he has at least one dramatic near death experience due to overestimating the kindness of the careers he forms a brief and tentative alliance with but he gets excellent medical care from his sponsors who are mostly supporting him because they saw a really cute video of his cats back in his home district

nicky: again he either dies immediately OR he coasts to the end by being a bit mid and forgettable foxface style and when there's around four tributes left he attempts a raid on their encampment to get food and somehow, in a series of events that no number of replays have ever successfully put into a logical sequence, blows up half the arena and everyone in it, leaving the games without a victor and setting into motion a series of events that lead to the downfall of the capitol, the destruction of half of panem, and a dramatic coup. after all this max verstappen finally looks out of the door of his house in the victor's village in what remains of district two, where he has been playing sim racing games for the past ten years, sort of shrugs his shoulders, and goes back to hanging out with his cats

bonus nico rosberg: district one career tribute, runner up, mostly remembered for the intense psychological warfare between himself and lewis after they formed an alliance in the first hour of the game that got so deeply homoerotic that the gamemakers were like full time on the phone to president snow like hey man. we might have to allow two victors this year or people are gonna be really mad. but luckily nico and lewis solved that problem themselves by turning on each other when they were the only two people left and engaging in a like three-week long increasingly toxic cat and mouse chase that had the entire nation glued to their televisions 25/8

[blamemma]

not to be saddo on main but truly for me the thesis of maxiel is fond. that's all it is. it's max growing up in a sport with daniel as a constant. fond. and its daniel growing outwith the sport and all that entailed but still championing max. fond. and it's the trials and tribulations and it's the familiarity and its the same jokes with the same laughs and the same smiles. its fond. they are so unbearably fond of each other !!!!!!!!!!!

[thearchercore]

Hello, hello. It's my first time writing you something but I can't help after skipping (don't blame me, I'm not the biggest fan) Dts. It is very clear that Dts favours some drivers (like Lando, Carlos and Daniel), while others do not even have 2 minutes of screentime (even if you are the WC winner). I also realised that some drivers who had more screentime in earlier seasons like Charles or Checo did not get as much this year. And now I can not help thinking about your thesis with drivers who fall into "media drivers" and "racing drivers". It is very clear who is all for racing and who is not. Sorry for this long as post, but this was on my mind.

(And Netflix, where the hell is the "Charlie" moment? I know you have it!!!)

yeah! @valyrfia pretty much clocked it in her grid dynamics essay

truth be told, drive to survive is a show and each show (even unscripted) will have protagonists, main characters, and manipulated storylines. for DTS, they will always push individuals like daniel and gunther, so it's no surprise. also the ferrari episode was really funny because charles can't pretend to save his life so the dinner with fred and carlos was just a badly acted out convo in 4k lol.

we have to remember, drive to survive will aim for drama, not racing. they will show moments in the races just to support the narrative they're trying to push. that explains why max had like 5 minutes of screentime & was only shown winning abu dhabi. why we spent 2 episodes of tensions in alpine and did not see anything from qatar or the triple header (except for checo's crash)

seems like they're perhaps trying to push a storyline of charles being the ferrari beloved, so when lewis comes in he can have the underdog storyline but who knows, i wouldnt take it too seriously lol

[fiveredlights]

nono but LISTEN. i love the workskin formatting that you did with ohds and fool me once. it's beautiful and genuinely impressive that you did that so consistently for this 50k fic. and i hope the degree goes well because that website was beautiful too and i cannot fathom the amount of time and learning that went into it! but i also loved glitter on the floor. i always understood which website we were on and who was talking. i got to know jeanie and jake and rowan ric3stappen and the rest of them in that fic! the lack of time consuming coding (especially when the formatting has got to take time anyway, it's looks SO real) does not detract from the story and people and atmosphere. so if that's the style you think you'll go with for the mattlan spinoff, or there's something else you might go with, that's not going to remove anything from the experience! go with whatever works, it's going to be great either way.

and i am SO looking forward to a mattlan spinoff! i really do not care that you're done with telling the maxiel story (which does feel finished) because matthew and callan are ALSO my boys and absolutely nobody is doing it like them. i do Not know what their relationship is but i would love to. mostly because then i'll probably be even more confused! absolutely fascinating stuff they get up to

i think it is really interesting to compare the differences in storytelling between a traditional social media au (glitter on the floor) versus a work skinned work (old habits)! i think part of the reason old habits with the work skin works so well is because there's a level of immersion that is very believable? there's a reason why i didn't choose random drivers or face claims or whatever because i would never be able to get over the fact that they are not matthew and callan.

conversely, i think the lack (?) of full immersion in a traditional socmed au is also its strength! because there is so much room for interpretation in just the words versus the pictures. with that you're able to get away with much more.

to me anyway, i would only be able to write f1 adjacent au's with a work skin. any other au there's just that off kilter balance with the images being ever so slightly off that would bug me? idk if i'm describing this right, but for example in chapter 1 the photo daniel posts to show he's in new zealand bugs me because I know he didn't take that photo. and it's just not a daniel-style photo. it's such a nitpicky thing but i'm like that unfortunately.

on matthew and callan, i've started to plot out and everything and i can tell you they are silly silly silly boys. very stupid. in a charming but also annoying way. they both need a good shake in a cookie jar. dare i say they're worse than max and daniel? but i'm also having SO MUCH FUN with callan's move to mercedes. i just wrote the press conference on the weekend where it's announced with horner, toto and daniel and it's a delight. the working thesis of the fic is just how long will callan merritt wait... he's patient but he's not max and daniel who took quite literally 12 years to go from teammates to dating...

apologise for the yapping i've just put so much thought into these type of fics and how i present them! most of my life is just observing social media at this point and thinking how to translate that into fics...

[onboardsorasora]

https://www.tumblr.com/onboardsorasora/760887271328301056/formularicciardo-daniels-intro-at-the-us-gp

Max just standing there with his hands on his hips and waiting for Daniel to come always makes me laugh

Lmao I don't think I ever noticed him just standing there enjoying Daniel's excitement loool maxiel thesis

[f0point5]

Uhhh tell me why you think Daniel is Down Bad coded. I see him more as a The Prophecy kinda guy

Oh have I been WAITING for this question because I will die on this hill (also the prophecy is so Charles)

✨Daniel Ricciardo x Down Bad - A Thesis✨

“Did you really beam me up?

In a cloud of sparkling dust,

Just to do experiments on,

Tell me I was the chosen one”

Daniel to RB. They chose him when they were coming off this period of being unbeatable, chose him when they had their pick of drivers. Chose him to drive alongside their golden boy like he could be their next one.

“Then sent me back where I came from,

For a moment I knew cosmic love”

How when the real golden boy came they started to relegate him to second driver. Right after he had become their number one after Vettel. Right when he'd had a taste of what he wanted, they started to take it away.

“Now I'm down bad crying at the gym,

Everything comes out teenage petulance,

"What if I can't have him"

I might just die, it would make no difference,"

From the moment he realised that it was Max they were really betting on, he started acting out, seeing slights everywhere (eg. how he talked about how he felt him being even partially blamed for Baku 2018 was unfair and evidence of favouritism to Max), throwing his toys out of the pram, “teenage petulance”, because nothing felt fair anymore. The attitude of, "well if I can't be him, if I can't be number one here then I don'twant to be here at all. Would they even care if I left?"

“In a field in my same old town,

That somehow seems so hollow now”

The Red Bull second seat was where he'd started but it didn't feel good enough anymore. What was once an honour now felt like mocking.

“They'll say I'm nuts if I talk about the existence of you,

For a moment I was heaven struck”

History will not remember him as a Red Bull golden boy. They'll talk about Max followed Vettel and how Daniel bridged the gap. But he knows that for a moment he was dipped in gold

“How dare you think it's romantic,

Leaving me safe and stranded”

They never wanted him to leave, but it felt unfair that they would think he could stay. Sure, he was safe, he was what they wanted him to be, but he wasn't what he wanted to be. How could they think he could accept that?

In conclusion, for me that song fits his relationship with Red Bull most, Down Bad and Loml.

[herohimbowhore]

Smile by Maisie Peters can be used to explain Daniel Ricciardo from 2018 to the end of 2020, as well as Red Bull's search for someone to replace Daniel and fill the hole he left within the team.

By now, we've all grown aware of how unexpected Daniel leaving Red Bull was and the rapid driver change-ups that followed in his wake.

I think it's evident that Red Bull was not prepared to replace Daniel. From everything that we've learned about contract negotiations, Red Bull was expecting to re-sign Daniel.

Got bridges to burn and places to run

Yeah, this smile is a loaded gun

There was an hour-long private meeting with Dietrich Mateschitz, after which both Dietrich and Daniel came back smiling and it was thought that the contract was all but signed. During the meeting, Dietrich offered Daniel a matching salary to Max and reaffirmed it after learning what they were paying Max.

It's my party, my body, my business

It's my town and my crown and my hitlist

It's my world and you're just living in it

Daniel left Red Bull when no one expected him to, and in hindsight, yeah it was a bad decision. However, given the information available at the time, it didn't seem like the worst decision ever. Like, yes, Renault had its issues, but they were offering to build a team around him and were giving him a very nice contract.

Leaving Renault after 2020 seemed like a questionable decision after all that they had promised him. However, in hindsight, it was a decent decision because Alpine is a disaster and a half on a good day and to be honest there's not been many good days recently. Their 100 race plan is more like a 100 ways to not have a team.

No more Mrs. Sweet and Miss Nice

No more Mrs. Fuckin' Polite

Time for Mrs. Takin' What's Mine

You don't need him

Daniel since he has returned to the Red Bull ecosystem and started to love the sport again has made it very clear that he wants Checo's seat. There are several articles, interviews, and podcast appearances in which Daniel continues to confirm that he is indeed trying for that Red Bull seat. And despite what people may think, he has put in the results that would begin the conversations about moving to the main team, especially after the awful year that Checo has had. The pace that Daniel has shown in the AlphaTauri is not insignificant, while it didn't translate to points finishes as much as he may have liked, it shows what Daniel Ricciardo can do when you give him the car.

If he tries to control me, he's finished

Won't be crying, there's plenty of fishes

And I, and I, and I'm fishin'

You should know that you won't find another

I think Will Buxton has said it best: "And I think Red Bull has probably come to the realization that the only driver who can replace Daniel, is Daniel." Will Buxton goes on to say that if they can bring the Daniel of old back, then Red Bull will stick him back in the car to drive alongside Max because the Daniel/Max driver lineup was one of the best that Red Bull has had. Red Bull, since 2019, has been trying to fill the space Daniel left and for a time they've done so with Checo. However, after the disastrous 2023 season, there are so many questions about whether Checo is the person for that seat. Especially if the other teams do close the gap and don't drop the ball like they did this year.

______

Just a short analysis from my drafts that I thought I would post in celebration of submitting my Master's Thesis. Just two more final papers and I'll be done with grad school.

[amphibiangeorgerussel]

it's wip wednesday-sunday 😋

may i introduce my maxiel thesis that literally nobody asked for. she's about 80% done so keep your eyes on a certain ao3 account 👀

“You should come out tonight,” Daniel leans back against a control board and hopes he doesn’t accidentally press anything important with his elbow, “There’s gotta be a decent club around here.” “I’m not good in clubs,” Max says, which doesn’t surprise Daniel. Max looks like he’s spent all eighteen years of his life planted firmly in a cockpit and nowhere else. “Come on. I’ll school you," Daniel grins, “We’ll find you a girl. They’ll be all over you now, Maxy,” He says before he can stop himself - that definitely counts as an HR violation. “Everyone wants a race winner.” Why hasn’t he stopped talking? Max blushes impossibly further. Daniel winks, just to make matters worse. “The drinks are on you, of course, gotta pay the team back somehow.” That makes Max laugh again, loud and obnoxious. “Fine, Daniel,” Max rolls his eyes, “You can wine and dine me.”

[f1uckinghell]

MAX AND DANIEL BEING OLD AND HAPPY IN THEIR FARM IVE ME ALL THE FLUFF GIVE ME THEM SITTING ON THE PORCH WATCHING THEIR GRANDKIDS PLAY THAT SAME ROPE GAME GIVE ME DRINKING COFFEE GIVE ME CUDDLING ON A SWING GIVE ME FLUFF TAG PROMPTS

I am so sorry for what I did 😭😂

send me prompts for cute little prompt fills

——

„Dad I swear to god if you don’t sit down here right now-“

Isabel sounds exasperated, and Max can’t blame her. Daniel can’t sit still, can’t leave her to work for once, always standing around, offering to drive the tractor, giving advice he has already given her hundreds of times.

„Alright, alright,“ Daniel groans, sitting down in the wicker chair that creaks only slightly worse than his joints. Max can’t help but laugh.

„Let her work, Dan.“

„Have some tea, Dad,“ Isabel tells him in a gentler tone now, wiping her hands on her work flannel. They have fine lines and a few pigment spots now, but Max still remembers when they were so little that they could hold on to only one of his fingers. „I’ve got it, yeah?“

Daniel nods, looking a little bit lost. Max reaches out and squeezes his hand. „She’s got it.“

„I know, I know,“ Daniel sighs, and then finally leans back in his chair. It’s hard for him to let go, but he has to eventually. It’s hard work, and even with their automatic machinery and all of their helpful tools, it’s too much for him now.

„You should call Clara,“ Isabel suggests, handing Max his phone that’s been lying on the porch table, „I bet she’ll be happy to be distracted from writing her thesis.“

„That’s a great idea, sweetheart,“ Max says, smiling up at her from where he sits. She smiles back. „…I’ll fix you a snack in a minute,“ he adds, and she sighs with a little laugh.

„You’re almost as bad as Dad!“

„Just some fruit-“

„Yeah, okay, Mom.“

„Hey, that’s unfair!“ Daniel protests, but Isabel throws up her hands.

„I’m picking my battles!“ she laughs, and quickly flees the scene to get back to work.

„Mothers are harder to say no to,“ Max tells Daniel, rubbing his shoulder. „Call Clara, I’ll join you in a second.“

„Okay,“ Daniel sighs dramatically. Before Max can go, Daniel pulls in his hand and kisses the inside of his wrist like he’s done countless times in their long life together.