#f1 engineering

[bucket-of-f1]

im so excited to send things here i have SO many things to ask..

first (and im going to say this in way more words than i need to.. but idk how to not yap) why do older f1 cars look so much harder to control than modern ones?

f1 cars' steering and controllability seem to have smoothed out a ton in the 00s (could be wrong bc i dont watch a lot of onboards regrettably.. but thats my recollection) and in the present day it feels like almost every movement of the steering wheel is exactly what the driver intends for the car to move. but if you look at older onboards like even as recent as senna and alesi in the 90s, its like theyre wrangling a bull by the horns!! its like the car is this wild animal the driver has to keep at bay, the drivers hands on the wheel are wibblewobbling back and forth like crazy throughout every turn and it looks like they have the most insane reflexes on the planet in order to keep the car on track. it blows my mind every time!

so anyways what created that change in how manageable the car is? does it have anything to do with tyre or engine or balance changes, is it just new innovations in the steering column, is it just having the luxury of power steering?????????? even if you dont have a solid idea on the answer to this id LOVE love love to see what you think, and im souper excited to watch this acc grow :3 random super detailed extremely miniscule historical f1 fact blog sounds like actual heaven to me so i hope you have fun with it and keep filling my brain with nifty stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For some background, I didn’t have the time for a massive massive deep dive on this but I’m doing my best from memory and also I do go and check some of the more specific things I throw in.

Okay, so there’s a few things you gotta think about with this:

Engines

Tires

Aerodynamics

Electronic systems

Let's go down the list.

Engines have changed a lot over the years. The further back you go, the more wild the engines get, and the rules shift all the time. V10, V12, V16, turbos, rocket fuel, shifts in how much fuel can be used at a time, shifts in whether they could refuel (both of these could make cars heavy or light to a massively varying degree wildly affecting handling over the course of just a lap), etc.

Tires have also changed. At one point there was more than one manufacturer of tires (remind me to tell y'all about that one US Grand Prix). At one point there was like five or six compounds, including a "supersoft" built for insane lap times. For a while there in the 1990's-2010's we ran grooved tires, no slicks. Imagine everyone always using intermediates. That would affect grip levels like crazy. (does everyone know how F1 tire compounds work? maybe I should write about that)

As aero restrictions change, the downforce levels shift to an unprecedented degree. There was a time where there as technically no limit on how many wings a car could have, leading to some very interesting double wing, mini wing, and no-wing cars all racing at the same time. No-wing cars died out pretty fast once the benefits of wings became obvious, but it did happen. Peugeot ran the 9X8, a car with no rear wing, in the WEC LMH (Le Mans Hypercar) category for a little quite recently. Like, 2022-recently.

Anyway, the downforce changes definitely affect handling

The last, and most important, is electrical systems. The thing about those is that they change all the time. Sometimes, power steering was allowed, sometimes it wasn't. Assisted Braking Systems? Occasionally. Active suspension? Not anymore.

If you do go watch onboards, you'll see driving styles change with the cars. Nowadays, the style is a very smooth turn, no jerky or sudden movements of the wheel unless they've saving a slide. This is due to a combination of all those factors above -- it's just he driving style that fits the current restrictions. If you look in the 2000's you see the style get WAY more jerky, with micro-adjustments all the time.

As you noted (you being the lovely perfect amazing anon who asked a question, like the lovely perfect amazing anon that you are), in the 1980's and further back yes those cars we're absolute NIGHTMARE'S to control. If you watch Lewis Hamilton’s drive of Senna’s McLaren at São Paulo this year, you’ll notice the camera attached to the car bounces like crazy. The cars just weren’t the most stable — everyone had nailed down that power-to-weight ratio, but the fast-evolving and quickly-restricted aerodynamics innovations led to a bit of a mess on the downforce end of things. AND, they were still using stickshifts, and if you get far back enough it was H pattern shifting instead of sequential.

Imagine driving a V12 turbocharged rocketship on wheels and barely enough downforce with ONE HAND because you're trying to upshift out of a chicane while fending off some Brazilian kid on a warpath to take the world championship before the age of 30.

In the rain.

[finifugue]

'the F1 movie needed to have Brad Pitt fuck his female engineer because there needed to be sexual tension!' BORING. If they wanted sexual tension they should've made it historically accurate and true to real life and had Brad Pitt fuck his teammate

[lizablackthorn]

what ferrari does to men

[wafflesrisa]

Say what you will about winners and losers of the 2024 São Paulo GP, the ones who had it the hardest were the mechanics and engineers. They worked injured, sleepless, burnt out. They worked after nearly a month away from family. They worked without time to eat or rest. First to the track and last to leave. And they’re not flying home in private jets

[starkwlkr]

exile | mark webber

an: hello!! guess who’s back with f1 dilfs fanfics 😫 n e ways, this might have three parts like my previous mini series with the f1 dilfs but i MIGHT do another part idk yet so enjoy!!! also this takes place during the 2023 season <3

part 2 part 3 (sad ending)

THE MCLAREN TECHNOLOGY CENTRE

A small group of kids eagerly gathered around as Y/N stood by a whiteboard, marker in hand. She had been asked by the Mclaren media team to make a video and she gladly accepted.

“So, who here knows what a race engineer does?” she asked, grinning as a few hands shot up. “Yes! We help drivers go as fast as possible, but safely. We analyze data, make sure the car is in top condition, and—most importantly—we get to yell at them over the radio when they don’t listen to us.”

The kids giggled as she playfully rolled her eyes, mimicking a stern race engineer voice. “Oscar, box this lap. No, not next lap. This lap.”

Oscar, standing off to the side, smirked. He had expected Y/N to be good at this, but he hadn’t expected this—the way she absolutely lit up around the kids, how she made everything sound exciting, how effortlessly she engaged with them. She was completely in her element, smiling and laughing, as if she had done this a thousand times before.

“Alright, who’s got a question?” Y/N asked, turning back to the group.

A boy near the front eagerly raised his hand. “Were you the race engineer for your husband?”

The room went quiet for a split second. Y/N’s grip on the marker tightened, but her smile didn’t falter. “No, I wasn’t—”

“She was at McLaren, and he was at Red Bull!” another kid blurted out. A chorus of voices quickly followed, chiming in with facts about which teams raced against each other, completely derailing the conversation. Y/N exhaled, relieved, as the moment of awkwardness passed.

After the video wrapped up, she started packing up her things when she noticed Oscar still lingering nearby.

“Hey, Oscar,” she greeted with a small smile. “Didn’t know you’d be watching.”

“You were great,” he said simply. “The kids really liked you.”

She shrugged. “They’re fun. Easier to deal with than some drivers.”

He huffed a quiet laugh, shoving his hands into his pockets. Most people, after seeing how good she was with kids, would say something along the lines of “You’d make a great mom” or “Ever think about having kids of your own?” But Oscar didn’t say that. He knew better.

Most people thought they knew why she and Mark had divorced. That it had been the usual story—two people growing apart, life taking them in different directions. But Oscar had heard the truth from the source. And he knew that the decision hadn’t been as simple as wanting or not wanting a family. It had been about something much bigger than that. About what it would mean, what it would cost, and who would bear the weight of it.

And in the end, neither of them had won.

[iamred-iamyellow]

⋆ ˚｡⋆౨ৎ˚ Telepatía - [Part 1]

♥ next | masterlist

♥ pairing: platonic f1 grid x latina!fem!engineer!reader x lando norris

♥ smau + written (reader is lewis' ferrari race engineer)

♥ none of the pictures are mine, all were found on pinterest

♥ warnings: misogyny, swearing, and some suggestive language

♥ face claim: wolifecindy on insta & girls on pinterest

♥ a/n: I'm so sorry if my Spanish is incorrect, I'm a no sabo kid

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

liked by mercedesamgf1, lewishamilton, and 239,384 more

yourusername visiting lew at merc

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mercedesamgf1 always happy to have you

*liked by original poster*

yourbestfriend THATS MY GIRL

yourusername love you <3

user60 you don't belong in f1

user73 shes lewis' new race engineer?!

user50 can't believe they're making the seven time champ work with her

user80 no one should be surprised when they loose

user1 lose*

user12 lose* 🤡

user6 that's rich coming from a man who can't spell lose properly.

user8 I'm so proud of her

fredrikvestiofficial I'm gonna miss you as my engineer

yourusername I'll see you in the paddock freddy dw xx

user40 shes probably just a fan of the hot guys

user7 maybe you should take a look in the mirror

user10 she's literally been working in motorsports since she was 19 ffs

user9 please let the rumors be true please please

user2 y/n at Ferrari is my dream

user14 you're so pretty

user6 unrelated but where'd you get those sunglasses

user15 our queen y/n

user56 they cant seriously be trusting her as Lewis' engineer?!

oscarpiastri happy to see you again

*liked by origional poster*

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✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

liked by scuderiaferrari, lewishamilton, and 946,853 more

yourusername I'm so incredibly honored to be where I am today. Ferrari has always been the dream for me. I can't wait to work with you @/lewishamilton. Forza Ferrari ❤️

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lewishamilton Feliz de que estés aquí. Deseando trabajar con usted.

*liked by yourusername*

user6 LEWIS SPEAKING SPANISH 😭

user7 he's so sweet

user12 the only man ever

yourmom muy orgullosa de ti mija 💞

yourusername gracias mama te amo 💗💗

charlesleclerc welcome to the Ferrari family

yourusername can you adopt me so I'm a leclerc

alexandra.saint.mleux it would be our honor

mercedesamgf1 back off she's susie's daughter

user8 merceds' admin is amazing

fredrikvestiofficial I already miss you :(

*liked by origional poster*

premaracing congrats y/n 🎉

*liked by origional poster*

user80 I can't believe she's really their new engineer

susie_wolff so proud of you <3

*liked by origional poster*

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ ☾. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

-Australia 2025-

"It's the first race of the long awaited 2025 Formula 1 season. Welcome back everyone," Crofty said as he camera zoomed in on the track.

"It's definitely an exciting sight to see Hamilton in a Ferrari. Not to mention his new race engineer Y/n L/n who has just moved up from F2." Martin Brundle added.

"I'm really looking forward to what the two have in store today."

"Kravitz over to you."

Ted was walking around the track attempting to speak to Lewis before the race began. He caught a glimpse of Hamilton speaking to an interviewer beside his car.

"How are you feeling about today's race?" the interviewer said, holding the mic up to Lewis.

"I'm feeling pretty confident. The car was really good in testing, we had some good pace in quali, and I'm excited to work with Y/n this season."

"Speaking of Y/n L/n, do you think it will be a big mistake for Ferrari to bring her on the team? Especially as your engineer... knowing how much is on the line?"

"She's phenomenal at what she does and I trust no one more than her to get the job done."

"Don't you think there's some other people that have more experience than she does working in motorsports...?"

"Y/n has climbed up the ranks from f4, 3, 2, and now 1 just like the rest of us. If you're suggesting that she'll be a worse engineer because she's a woman, no. She won't be."

"That's- I wasn't saying she wasn't a good engineer because she's a woman. There's always risk when bringing on a new member. I was wondering if you think the risk is worth the potential reward."

"There's of course always the possibility that your race engineer is not a good fit for you as a driver, but there's not a larger risk due to the fact that she's not a man."

The interviewer continued to stumble over his words. Lewis' PR manager walked over to him, whispered something in his ear, and they both strolled away.

The camera panned to you in your seat in the garage with your headset on, carefully analyzing the data on the screen in front of you.

"You know I've worked with a fair share of awful male engineers in my day." Martin said on his mic and Crofty laughed softly.

~

Lewis had won the first race of the season which caused an eruption of applause from the crowd. The team let you stand on the podium to receive the constructors cup in their honor. It was definitely a day for the history books.

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

liked by lewishamilton, landonorris, and 853,430 more

yourusername first place, serving face

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landonorris @/scuderiaferrari Voy a coger ella para ti

yourusername QUÉ?!?! 😧

user3 LANDO WHAT

user18 😭

schecoperez 🤣🤣

scuderiaferrari pardon?

user7 checo types like a dad 😭

user4 @/user7 that's caus he is one

yourusername @/landonorris DID CARLOS TEACH YOU THAT

landonorris @/yourusername yeah why?

fernandoalonso @/landonorris in latam you just said you'd fuck her for them

carlossainz55 I think what he was trying to say is he wants to steal you from ferrari

yourusername gave me a fucking heart attack omg

user3 I was gonna say ain't no way he's saying that on main

user17 LANDO STAND UP

user8 oh she ate I fear

user9 👑

francisca.gomes STUNNING

yourusername YOUR'E STUNNING

user2 beauty and brains

user10 not all the men bitching and moaning over y/n being an amazing race engineer

user8 she shut them up real quick

user3 women 🛐

user18 that's literally my wife

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

-F1 July Summer Break-

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yourusername you know I'm just a flight away

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lilymhe gorgeous

yourusername you're gorgeous

landnonorris and you didn't invite me?

yourusername if you wanted you could take a private plane 🤷‍♀️

landonorris hola desde inglaterra

carlossainz55 how come you're trying harder to learn spanish for her but not me

carlossainz55 lando answer me

lewishamilton roscoe misses you

yourusername dile que yo también le echo de menos

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ ☾. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

liked by yourbestfriend, landonorris, and 652,383 more

yourusername mystery man

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user90 half a season in and she's already dating a driver

yourbestfriend shut your bitch ass up

user5 @/user90 you're just jealous you cant bag a driver

user1 its totally possible the guy in the last pic is not even on the grid be so ffr

user2 literally the most beautiful woman I've ever seen

user8 I love women

user9 I don't watch f1 for hot guys I watch f1 for hot girls hdsjskd

✧˖ °. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁‧₊˚ . ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ . ݁˖°✧

end notes: thank you for reading <3 part 2 coming soon

[fcaruana]

Who would you take as your plus one to a wedding? [Options left are: Charles Leclerc & Lionel Messi]

- Lionel! - What a great duo! going to a wedding together with Leo... - But I marry him. I marry Leo at the wedding. - Well, but he's with Anto.. - Yeah, yeah.

[aristhought]

charles leclerc and bryan bozzi ♡

[alexturntable]

ScuderiaFerrari You know the drill… it’s Bahrain briefing time 🎧

[maxedes]

sooo,,,, wHO WAS GONNA TELL ME THAT MY WIFE HAS COME HOME

[snowonhuronstreet]

instead of driver/engineer I propose engineer/engineer!lestappen enemies to lovers fic

(pls tell me somebody wrote this already 😭)

[nvm-illustration]

I've been going through a massive blue period. Stipping things back to pencil, less graphic, more intimate and I'm loving how much more I'm enjoying it. I've released this current series as prints - something which I've not done in around 3 years. I've also taken my work to Inprnt as I really did not like the direction society6 was heading.

So if you'd like to grab a print, you can find them all available here : https://www.inprnt.com/gallery/nvm/

There's currently 10% off prints and there are fair few lovely prints available there that I've not uploaded here.

[leclercskiesahead]

alex_albon Roses are red, Williams is blue, shakedown’s done, what an effort crew 💪

[rb19]

From the Archives: "Verstappen 'driving style' myth is a trait of greatness" Jan 19, 2021 by Matt Beer

"As a driver, it doesn't matter if you have an understeering car, oversteery car, slippery surface, grippy surface, you constantly adjust your driving style to that. If you just say 'this is my driving style', this is how it's going to be, you will not be quick. I think you learn in your whole racing career from go-karting to F3 to whatever, every weekend the car behaves a bit differently, so you always have to adjust to it. It's every weekend, constantly you're adjusting your driving style a little bit to make sure that the car is working well. And of course you try to set the car to your liking but it will never be fully to your liking. You always have to fine-tune. Or at least you try it. And at the end that’s what makes a driver fast."

Throughout F1 history the very best have had very different careers, been very different personalities, and on the surface seemed like very different drivers. But if they share one defining trait it's their capacity to handle different situations and adapt to what is required in each moment: they have a wider operating window. Verstappen speaks of adaptability as if it is second nature. Probably because it is. This is a young man who has been carefully moulded into a world-class driver. The devotion to the craft of driving, instilled at such a young age, is why at 23 he has greater intuition and 'feel' than most will have at the peak of their powers. [...] Verstappen's ability comes from his intuition, which in turn a legacy of years of relentless preparation and practice. So, when he finds himself dealing with a skittish rear end, or in greasy conditions, or driving through rivers like in the 2016 Brazilian Grand Prix, he has an extraordinary bank of data to use to handle those challenges. And he can access it automatically. It's why he handles them better than most, why even if a data overlay of a given lap or a comparison of a race stint might have shown Gasly or Albon where Verstappen was quicker, and a binary idea of what he was doing to be quicker, it doesn't fully account for how he was doing it. Driving a car is a dynamic process, with multiple inputs and countless adjustments. It's an immensely complicated sensory puzzle and piecing it all together through conscious thought is difficult, if not impossible. Most of what makes Verstappen so effective is happening on an unconscious level. [...] So, what can lazily be described as Verstappen's 'driving style' is far more complex than that. He doesn't have one way of driving, he has the skills required to drive in multiple different ways and is building more and more experience to know what way works best in any given moment. That manifests itself in such delicate, refined inputs that most drivers can see what he's doing and get close to replicating it, but not quite. And that's worth tenths of a second at a time, especially when it comes to the 2020 task of taking a capricious car and driving around its vices. This is what is second nature to Verstappen now, why the speed seems to come so effortlessly. In 2020 he augmented that with further gains in maturity and judgement. This is a vital second trait that will, car permitting, allow Verstappen to translate his performance into championships. [...]

[inkdrinkerworld]

Fast Lane

Cw: Sirius Black x fem!reader, idiots in love (eventual), swearing, f1 jargon, fluff, angst, James and Remus are romantically involved, Peter Pettigrew, word count: 2.9k

The buildup to any new Formula 1 season is silly. It’s a whirlwind of confusion, an avalanche of information coming out seemingly every hour or so and it makes your palm itch.

You know the news will come soon. It’s bound to, and it shouldn’t make you this nervous.

You’d aced the interview, you’d passed all analytical questions, you’d aced the strategy issues and more.

You’ve already signed the bloody contact but the pit in your stomach only tightens as time passes and nothing is announced.

What if they’ve changed their minds?

“Stop stressing, it’s silly season, babe. That’s all.” Your best friend, Marlene is sitting on your sofa watching you chew your nails as you stare at the tv, on the sports channel, and your phone, opened to every tabloid page you could access.

“This is huge though Marls,” you sigh, setting your head in her lap. “As sexist and backward as this is, I’ll be the first female engineer in this team, ever!”

Excitement and nerves take you over as you speak and Marlene smiles for you despite it.

“And I’m damn proud of you, don’t forget that. You earned this babe, but you’re going to send yourself into a tailspin waiting for the news.”

You nibble on the inside of your cheek as you weigh a response.

“What if I fuck it?”

Marlene rolls her eyes and squeezes your shoulder. “You won’t fuck it, because you’re insanely gifted at your job.”

Just then your phone pings six times in a row and you know the news has hit.

Your heart races as you pick it up and open the messages from at least four group chats. Your family congratulates you again, some friends do too, but the notification that puts the biggest frog in your throat is the one from Gryffindor Racing.

‘Welcome to the team, our new race engineer,’ and it’s a photo of you in their red and gold colours with their best driver; Sirius Black.

Well best is subjective, he’s good behind the wheel, but his aggression sees him crashing out at least half of the races on the calendar and he’s become the most expensive driver to keep in a team because of it.

But he’s good. He has an insane relationship with his car, it’s just the aggression that does him in. It’s a feat that will be yours to resolve and you’re not entirely sure how to do it.

“Welcome to silly season.” Marlene whispers and you can’t fight the laugh that bubbles from you.

Silly season doesn’t get any less silly as the preseason begins; testing is your worst nightmare because your driver is the most aggressive one on the track.

Your week goes a little something like this;

Day one: look at the car, review the engines and do a simulation of how it should run.

Day two: meet with Sirius Black and find out that he’s as attractive as the media spins him to be.

He’s got inky hair that falls in waves that kind of look like ringlets and eyes that are so grey you’re sure there’s a bit of purple, or maybe lavender to them.

His personality doesn’t lack either but it grates on your nerves the way he sizes you up the second he sees you in your coveralls.

“You’re my race engineer, pretty girl?”

You roll your eyes. A flirt, through and through. “Not my name, Mr. Black.”

Sirius scoffs at the formality in your tone when you introduce yourself. “Just Sirius, babe. Mr. Black is my old man.”

“Whatever you say, Just Sirius. Is there anything you don’t want me to tell you when I’m in your ear?”

He smirks and you realise belatedly what you’ve said. “You can say whatever you want in my ear, gorgeous.”

A voice chimes in before you can respond, “Sirius, leave the girl alone.” The man you turn to see has a pretty scar running through his face and pretty hazel eyes. “I’m Remus, the other engineer here.”

You smile and shake his hand, “Nice to meet you,” you watch Sirius roll his eyes.

“Sirius has a habit of trying to flirt his way through everything, you’ll learn to tune it out.”

Sirius scoffs, “Like you can resist me, Lupin.” Remus only shakes his head. “James and I do a fine job, Siri.”

You smile at their back and forth, comforted a little by the thought that Sirius flirts with everyone and it’s not just because you’re here.

“Where is your better half?” Sirius asks and your eyebrows shoot up.

“James had a cramp, said he’ll be down when he gets it rubbed out.” Remus turns to you then. “James is part of the pit crew. You’ll meet him tomorrow more than likely, he’s really not feeling up to code.”

“Sorry to hear that, but at least he doesn’t have to endure Sirius’ flirting.”

Sirius is aghast and Remus laughs. “James loves being flirted with, I fear it’s his only flaw.”

“It’s no fun if you all gang up against me.” Sirius mutters and Remus rolls his eyes.

“Maybe you can turn it around this season.” You say before you walk off, a satisfied smile on your face when you hear Sirius tell Remus,

“She’s a rude thing,” there’s a pause. “But I like her all the same.”

“She’ll bust your balls, Pads.”

“I might let her.”

Marlene grills you for the details when you get home and laughs at your frustration at him being a flirt.

“He’s formula one’s most eligible bachelor, best driver and resident pretty boy. He’s got to have the attitude to back it up.”

You scoff, dipping a dark chocolate digestive into your cup of tea.

“I don’t know how I’ll survive this with both of you.”

All she can do is laugh.

Day three: run the track and find out that it’s more taxing than the others you’ve done before.

And day four, day four tests your limits to the maximum.

Day four is when you run sprints with the drivers and it’s your first real test. You have breakfast with Remus and his boyfriend James who reminds you of the giant from the BFG.

“Okay Sirius, everything’s all set. Is your water system all good?” You’re nervous, maybe a tiny bit more than he is.

You can feel the cameras on your back as you stare at the screens before you.

“Everything’s perfect. What’s the weather like?”

Your gaze drifts to the maps, “Clear skies for three hours, but we won’t be on track long enough for the weather to turn.”

Sirius grins behind his helmet, he loves a challenging race, but rain during a sprint is an unnecessary risk. It’s a few days before the first race of the season and he wants a clean start.

The sprint starts easily enough, no one wants to push the limits of the car before the first race.

Except you can feel a nervous energy settle over the track when Barry pulls up right on Sirius’ rear.

He’s trying to go on the outside wall and Sirius isn’t leaving enough space to let the driver overtake. You can see the accident waiting to happen.

“Sirius, he’s approaching the DRS zone and if you can’t up your speed, you’re going to have to let him through unless you want a crash.”

“Let me do my job, Cogs.”

You sigh and flip your speaker up as you stare at the screen and the data on the car. There’s a frog in your throat the entire time. The cars in front of Sirius come into view, you can feel your heart hammering in your throat.

Sirius is playing hardball and waits till the last second to shift gears and speed up, gaining two places.

“That was risky, Black. Good job.”

Sirius is up to fourth now after his little stunt. “Was clean, wasn’t it?”

You laugh as you hear him click off the comms. He’s a cheeky bastard, and you can’t help but like him already. He’s got reason to be cocky, but not if he crashes out.

The rest of the race is uneventful. Sirius ends up with a podium finish in second and you’re happy for him, but your eyes are glued to the screens.

There’s a lot of wear on the car for just a twenty one sprint race and the Grand Prix is meant to be seventy one laps.

Sirius finds you inside the hotel, pouring over papers and your laptop trying to work out how he’s going to make his tyres last.

“You know everyone else is celebrating, babe.”

You shrug, “Your tyres were too degraded. I don’t know if it’s the heat or if you were too aggressive on the track and I need to find a way to fix it.”

Sirius groans, slumping into the seat across from you despite it.

“How much degradation are we talking about?”

You sigh, scratching the back of your neck. “Forty percent in under half a race.” The only solution you can think about is underheating the tyres but that can be an issue in and of itself.

“I did go hard because it was a sprint, but not that hard.”

You nod. “I’m thinking it was a mix of the heat and you going at it on the track, so maybe under heating the tyres will work?”

Sirius frowns, “I can’t go out on cold ones.”

You shake your head. “But you could on cooler ones. The heat is supposed to be up to at least thirty seven celsius, Sirius. You’re burning through tyres at thirty.”

Sirius tuts. “What about if we try for hards and then mediums? The compound should help with the wear.”

You shrug, glancing back at your analytics. “A two stop is doable, but remember the new rules. These tyres are inspected at the end of the races and we don’t get a large selection anymore. They need to last two races minimum.”

Sirius is insanely impressed. Sure he’d known you’d be good at your job, but this good is scarily impressive.

“Okay so I don’t break hard and I time my acceleration much neater so we don’t wear them out.”

Your eyebrows raise, “You better stick to it. You’re heavy on the brakes and you wait the last second before going through with turning on the corners, you need to adjust that if only for this race. Manage the tyres through the straights and we’ll be finishing somewhere near the front.”

Sirius grins and you catch a quick peek at sharp canines and his nose ring’s stud glints a little. “You’re the boss. Make sure to call in dinner, babe. They have killer roasties.”

Qualifying is a mess. You’re up at five, in your garage at five thirty in a black tracksuit and your hair pulled back as you greet one of the other engineers; you’ve not met him before.

“Morning,” you mumble, pulling your laptop out and setting it up as a second screen.

Remus comes in soon after, this time wearing glasses and sits opposite of you. “Nervous?”

You shrug, pushing your own up as you take a glimpse at him and then look back to your laptop. “Only slightly,” you take a sip of your tea and sigh. You’re chock full of nerves but you can’t say that out loud because then that’s true. “I don’t want any surprises today.”

You never did get your wish.

The second driver at Gryffindor Racing is Peter and he’s ten times as reckless as Sirius and it messes up the team’s qualifying.

Sirius is being clean, he’s managing his tyres expertly and every time you go on the radio is to congratulate him on making it into the next round of qualifying.

In the last round of qualifying it all goes to shit.

Peter isn’t leaving enough space, he’s riding Sirius’ ass all the way and Sirius doesn’t fail to let you know it.

“He’s running me off the track and cutting into my lap time! Why’re we in-fighting during the last round of qualifying?”

You don’t know. You really don’t. “Tell Peter to let off him, we don’t need a crash and two dnfs. It’s not even the first goddamn race.” You call out to Peter’s engineer who relays the message but Peter ignores it.

“Sirius, foot to the floor. DRS zone is ahead, I don’t need to tell you how to use the differential controls to mess with your traction, do I, Black?”

“You’re funny,” Sirius gears down and you can see the way he shifts his wheel traction and you’re halfway to cheering in his ear when you notice Peter inch even closer.

“What the fuck is he on?” Sirius mutters through the comms and you wonder the same damn thing. There’s a funny feeling in your chest as you watch the screen.

“Tell him we’re not racing.” You hiss to Peter’s race engineer, more than furious when the message goes through and Peter refuses to listen to team orders.

Peter doesn’t leave enough room and as Sirius turns his car his wheel clips Peter’s front wing and he spins out.

“Fucking cunt,” you mutter, eyes glued to your screen as you watch Sirius crash into the wall. “Sirius, are you okay?”

There’s only heavy breathing for a bit, “I’m fine, will we make it to the race?”

You look over the car’s health, “At the back of the grid if everyone beats your lap time.”

Sirius swears, “What were we looking at?”

You sigh as you read the words, he was set to finish at least second. “A 1:30:1. ”

“Fucking Peter.”

You share the sentiment, but Peter’s little incident has cost him all his time and his car won’t restart. He’ll start at the back of the grid undoubtedly and he’ll have an investigation with the FIA over the fighting in qualifying that could’ve ended much worse.

Sirius is livid as he brings the car into the garage, but there’s a balm to his anger when he remains in the top three. Third is much better than twentieth.

“Does he usually fight you like that?”

You ask and Sirius rolls his eyes.

“He’s a fucking prick,” Sirius doesn’t divulge anything more and James and Remus come over to console and congratulate him at the same time.

“At least this will give them something else to talk about,” James says, trying to lift Sirius’ mood. “Second driver tries to muck up the first driver’s race and he’ll no doubt have a heafty fine to pay.”

That perks Sirius right up.

“What say we have a nice lunch to celebrate that?” Sirius turns to you as he asks the question. As much as you’d like to go, being the only woman with the three of them after today’s mini fiasco doesn’t seem like a smart idea.

“Finish on the podium tomorrow and I’ll consider it, Black.”

James laughs at Sirius’ frown, his friend’s grey eyes glinting a little.

You walk off, boots clacking on the pavement as you make your way to your hotel room.

Sirius sighs wistfully as he watches you go. “I think I’m in love boys.”

James laughs even more. “You’re hopeless if you already are after knowing the lass for a week.”

Remus mutters, “A woman that has no interest in him, by the way.”

Sirius rolls his eyes. “You’ll see boys, she’ll come around yet.”

Race day goes by much smoother, you make a cup of tea, carry your dark chocolate digestives to the pit wall and look over the analytics for the day.

Assured blue skies, heat currently sitting at thirty two celsius, and Sirius’ tyres look great for the race.

As soon as the thought crosses your mind, it’s like you’ve summoned him to the pit wall.

He’s wearing his tracksuit at his hips, white undershirt compressed to his body- you try really hard not to stare at him.

“What are you doing here?” You ask as you sip your tea and Sirius smiles, leaning on the edge of the wall.

“Just came to check up on you,” you roll your eyes. Sirius leans in close, “Have you seen the news?”

You shake your head, biscuit halfway to your mouth. “I try not to check it.”

Sirius fishes his phone from his pocket. “Look,” he types a couple of things into his phone and then shows it off to you.

Tabloids are going off on your management of Sirius during Peter’s weird show in qualifying and his disobedience of team orders.

Apparently there were interviews after and Peter had been very smug about the whole thing and it may launch an investigation if he does anything off in today’s race.

“Oh my god,” Sirius nods, the smile on his face immovable. “Wait so if he crashes into anyone or if you two scrap again?”

Sirius shrugs, “I don’t see how we could scrap, I’m seventeen places ahead of him.”

You shake your head but there’s a smile playing on your lips too.

“What’s up with his race engineer? Why does he not listen to team orders?”

Sirius frowns, “His race engineer’s my cousin’s boyfriend, Ted. A nice guy overall, gods know how he ended up with Peter. Peter’s a prick and he’s full of it.” Sirius cuts himself off before he can say more.

“Does everyone you know or you’re related to work in Formula 1?”

Sirius chuckles at that, “That’s all the relation I have here,” you hear the commentators for today’s opening race behind you. “Gotta get back to the car, but everything’s perfect for today yeah?”

You nod, “Everything’s perfect, Sirius.”

The first race of the season is perfect, Sirius retains a podium finish, in second, and starts the first season in many without a crash. You feel on top of the world.

[polarprude]

the 81 and 55🚬