#just seeing people say they never want daniel to go near red bull ever again etc etc. makes me laugh personally

[blamemma]

( i know kym illman is talking out his arse. im so confident in saying that. that man knows nothing. he just wants his name in the news for a couple more days as it brings him clicks on his youtube and instagram. and god i hate red bull right now. but lol. if red bull turned around tomorrow and said sike bitch, daniel ricbull 2025. i'd forgive them in a heartbeat. i'd buy all the merch. i'd get i <3 red bull tattooed if i have to. i simpyl would not care. if it meant daniel was back on track. i'd forgive. i wouldn't ever forget. but i'd forgive )

[sillystappen]

Broken Melodies (aka a siren!Max fic that for some reason just came to me).

Nobody is on the beach by the Zandvoort track at night. It's far too cold and dark for any sane person to want to go there. And yet, here Daniel is, kicking the sand and cursing his stupid McLaren car for being a pile of shit all season. Qualifying earlier had been horrific, again, and a starting position of 17th was just plain awful.

The wind and salty air bites at his skin and Daniels tugs his jacket tighter around him. Waves crash against the shoreline and for a while that's all Daniel can hear - no cars, no people, not even a seagull. He just needs to get away for a moment.

"What are you doing?"

Daniel hears a voice and snaps to look behind him, but nobody is there. Maybe he's actually gone crazy, all the pressure and stress has made his brain break.

"In the ocean."

Daniel directs his gaze to where the sand disappears into vast water and sees blonde hair, blue eyes and a strong torso in the shallow water of the coastline. His head is propped up in his hands as his elbows rest in the sand, water lapping around them. This is all fairly normal except for the blue tail flicking behind him. It shimmers a little in the moonlight and the two fins at the end of it splash in the waves, flicking water over his raised upper half.

He's curious, head tilted and not at all afraid of Daniel. "Why are you here, kicking the sand like it offended you?"

Daniel knows what this half-person is, or well could be. Best case scenario, he's a merman. They're harmless to humans but very antisocial, so nobody ever sees them. Worst case is that he's a siren. Sirens feed off of flesh, specifically human flesh, so Daniel really hopes that he's not looking at one.

Daniel, against his better judgement, shuffles as close to the water as he can without getting his shoes wet. "Shit day, needed to get out my frustrations."

"Do you race Formula One? And have a bad quali?" The sea-man asks, watching Daniel closely.

"How did you know anything about that?" Daniel gapes.

"I can hear the commentators," he admits slowly, "I'm a siren."

Well fuck, Daniel backtracks, immediately walking back up the beach while keeping an eye on the siren. He is not about to be killed today, thank you. He need's to be out of earshot before that thing starts singing.

"Wait no! Please, I won't hurt you, I promise," the siren begs, one of his hands reaching out. "I can't sing!"

Daniel halts, staring to find any trace of a lie. The siren looks hurt, as if saying that he can't sing is something to be greatly ashamed of. Daniel supposes it is, if that's how they catch their prey.

"I'm a siren. My name is Max. I can hear for miles, smell any traces of blood in the water, see perfectly in the dark and can swim faster than most creatures, but I can't sing. My, um, songbox is permanently damaged." Max's tail flops into the water with a sad splash and he looks down. "I don't want to hurt you. I wouldn't even if I could sing."

"How can I trust you?" Daniel calls out, still not moving.

Max opens his mouth and makes the most gargled, broken noise Daniel's ever heard. Max gives him a sad smile, "see?"

Daniel nods and makes his way back over, sitting down near where the tide rises up. "I still don't fully trust you but at least you can't lure me to my grave."

Max grins, happy that Daniel has come back over. "What's your name, Mr. Formula One Driver?"

"Daniel," he says before quickly adding a forgotten "Ricciardo."

"Oh, yeah, you had a rough day today. Is it usually like that?" Max questions, smile falling from his face a little.

"Recently? Yeah..." It's painful to admit but it's true. Daniel thinks that his win in Monza last year was a complete and utter fluke and that he should've never have left Red Bull, or even Renault.

"I'm sorry." Max shifts forward a bit so he can gently place a hand on Daniel's shoe without reaching out like crazy. "I know I can't do anything to help but if tomorrow is equally shitty you can find me here again."

Daniel stares at Max's hand. There's thin webs between his fingers and claw-like nails on the ends of them that could easily dig into Daniel. However, Max is being soft, and kind, not pushing too far and always letting Daniel have room to leave. He's close to Daniel, the top half of his body almost completely dry from being exposed to the night's crisp air.

He can see the gills on the side of his neck flutter when the breeze hits, closing up so they're nothing more than raised lines. Daniel can also see the points of his ears, the broadness of his shoulders and the slightest hint of fangs in his mouth, sharp canine teeth that are slightly longer than the rest.

"Won't you be listening anyway? You'll know if I do poorly again." Daniel turns his head away, looking back the way he came and seeing his footprints in the sand.

"Yeah, but I'm not a human. There's no way anything you say to me can get to anyone else. It might be nice to have someone you can talk to," Max offers, retracting his hand so he can lay his forearms in the wet sand and hold himself up properly.

"Okay, I will call out for you tomorrow."

Max's tail flicks water right into Daniel's face as he smiles. "Oops," Max giggles.

Daniel cleans the seawater off with the sleeve of his jacket, chuckling as well. Max tilts his head up as he laughs, and Daniel spies a harsh red mark where his jaw meets his neck and Daniel leans forward over his knees to touch it, curious. Max gasps and freezes. Daniel knows he should stop, knows he should apologise but in that moment his entire body is rock solid, only his fingertips move, grazing, caressing the mark.

"That's where my songbox is," Max speaks softly, "father crushed it. I don't think he meant to go that far but it was done." Daniel's heart breaks a little at how unsure Max sounds, like he's trying to convince himself that it was an accident.

"Sorry." Daniel finally pulls his hand away, "did I hurt you?"

"No, don't worry. It felt nice."

Daniel's fingers tingle, remembering how smooth Max's skin felt and how warm it was. "I'm glad."

They stay chatting on the beach for a while. Max tells Daniel about how fish are disgusting and he has to spend most days diving out of the water to catch birds and then complains about the painstaking task that is pulling all the feathers out. Daniel asks how high Max can jump and Max swims out and shoots himself about 2 or 3 meters into the air before diving back in gracefully. Daniel wishes it was day so he could see Max's tail properly. He thinks it must be beautiful, much like how the rest of him probably is.

In turn Daniel tells Max everything he can about his life and humankind. Max asks about Perth and if it's warmer than the Netherlands and when Daniel confirms it, Max says he wants to swim over there one day, so he can see all the fish and feel the warmer sun. Daniel also tells Max about human food and promises to bring some for Max tomorrow.

Eventually, it gets too cold for Daniel and he has to say goodbye. He picks himself up and dusts the sand off of his body, looking down at Max as he promises to see him tomorrow.

Max understands, "I will see you then. Just call my name and I will come swimming over."

"Thank you, Max. Good night."

"Good night, Daniel," Max waves before pushing himself back into the ocean.

Daniel stays for a moment, just looking out into the sea when he sees a familiar figure jump out of the water, arms spread and giggling, before he splashes back in. Daniel smiles to himself, and heads back to his hotel, feeling better than he did before.

Now with a part 2

[cecoeur]

RE: your latest tags on this post: https://www.tumblr.com/formula-archive/772196084967735296/daniel-ricciardo-doing-donuts-at-the-red-bull

I think we also need to acknowledge that it’s a loss for Red Bull as a team. I know we all hate them and wouldn’t want to see Daniel back there, but genuinely losing him as an ambassador is something I don’t think they ever fathomed. When you think about all of the moments he gave them, not just the wins, but actual MOMENTS. Moments like we’ll never see again in f1 idk I just feel kind of sad for Red Bull that they’ll never get to really celebrate that with Daniel again.

I do not think they would ever come out and admit it, but they know what they’ve lost by losing him. It’s why Christian can’t even speak his name in interviews post-Singapore. They know. I just can’t help but think about the future and how they’ll navigate a loss as big as Daniel, their petty little cutting him out of social miss post is so short sighted but they’ve committed to it now, and they’re gonna get eaten alive when they do start to post him again.

But what’s the alternative? Losing all the content from their most popular era? What about next time they’re in Monaco, no 2018 highlights? What about when Max nears retirement and there’s a tonne of retrospection of his career, no maxiel moments? When the rookie flops and they’re still cycling through their academy hoping to hit gold with another Ricciardo to carry them through?

We joke about Daniel haunting the second seat, but he truly will be a shadow over Red Bull for years and years to come. And u don’t even think they’ve fully come to terms with what that will mean for them. He’s not a Sergio Perez, or a DC, or a Mark Webber. He was literally Red Bull and embodied the last of their best qualities right up until the very end.

He's such a team guy and it kills me that he doesn't have that connection to anyone in F1. That he won't get to continue to build on his legacy and use those talents and his ability to connect with people to draw in more fans. And it IS incredibly sad that he can't do that with Red Bull mostly because you know he wanted that more than anything. He really wanted to be able to go home and have it be the place he stayed. And he would've stayed. I think he could've lived with not getting that seat and if this year had ended any other way, he would've taken the ambassador role, I'm sure of it. But kick a dog long enough and he'll bite... Or in this case, he'll completely sever ties with your organization and make it so you have no choice but to pay out a shit ton of money and promote a driver you know is going to fail.

I've said it before but losing him as member of the Red Bull family was a major blow to Red Bull at large not just the racing organization. I'll be interested to see what happens going forward because his congratulations video for Max wasn't nothing...there's a line of communication there somewhere and we know he still has good relationships with all of Red Bull's major partners (obviously Cash App and Visa but also Ford/Ford Performance).

I think they'll get to a place where they use him for clout again, likely without any real current connection to him. As you say, they'll have to at some point and since they don't have the threat of 11's fans in their replies, they'll probably start incorporating him in a historical context again at some point. But I hope Christian can never say his name again without tasting ash. I hope he always gets a little pit in his stomach when he thinks about Daniel.

Honestly, I could continue to "yes, and" you forever. You were really cooking here. Your last line slapped me across the face so hard I gotta see a dentist, "He was literally Red Bull and embodied the last of their best qualities right up until the very end."

Damn. That's real.