#pierre gasly fan fic

[slvrarrwswrites]

We Said Friends Forever, But I Made Myself a Stranger

Rating: Teen Fandom: Formula 1 Individuals: Pierre Gasly, Charles Leclerc, Christian Horner, Max Verstappen Tags: alternate universe, angst, self-doubt/imposter syndrome, working too hard to escape your problems and as a form of self-punishment, somewhat self-destructive behavior, depression probably, 2019 F1 Season, 2020 F1 season, Piarles if you squint, mentions of covid quarantine Word Count: 11,672 Playlist: Spotify Summary: Pierre and Charles have been best friends for almost as long as either of them can remember, but as time goes on, Pierre feels them slipping further and further apart as Charles’ stars continue to rise as his own remains the same. Notes: This fic very loosely follows the early part of Charles' time with Ferrari but instead of being a Toro Rosso and Red Bull driver, Pierre is a sim and reserve driver for RBR. 

At the end, there’s mentions of covid as it pertains to the 2020 season (delay to the start of the season, quarantine, mask wearing, no fans at races etc.), so just a heads up!

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September 2019 Italian Grand Prix; Monza, Italy

Pierre watched from the crowded Monza pit lane as, for the second time in two races, Charles stood proudly on the middle step of the podium, his eyes shining brightly as he hoisted his first place trophy up in the air, the Tifosi in the stands screaming and setting off cans of red colored smoke in celebration, flags emblazoned with the prancing horse waving freely. His heart ached, the pride he felt for his best friend unable to outweigh the wish that he was the one up there celebrating, that he was the one Hamilton and Bottas were soaking with champagne. Instead, Pierre was the lone Red Bull employee standing behind a pack of Mercedes staff who were cheering for their drivers as they relished in the satisfying feeling of a job well done.

As the drivers traipsed off the podium and their assembled teams began to disperse, Pierre made his way back to the Red Bull garage, head down. He knew that some kind of lecture from Horner to the rest of the team was imminent, especially after such a mixed result, but being able to see his best friend celebrate a victory in person was more than worth it.

As a sim driver for Red Bull, Pierre spent most race weekends at the factory, where he tested various setups in various scenarios and relayed his feedback to the team, but it meant that he was rarely able to spend a weekend at the track. As such, he'd missed Charles' maiden victory, having watched the celebration from the race day command center with the other factory employees who provided support to the onsite staff. But despite the separation, as soon as the on screen celebrations had concluded, Pierre was on the first flight to Nice, not caring about the cost of the ticket or the cab ride to Charles' Monaco apartment where he waited patiently on the doorstep until his best friend returned.

The pair had celebrated into the early morning, finishing off the bottle of champagne Pierre had picked up at the airport and a bottle of wine from Charles' kitchen as they chatted about the race until the sun had risen, the light reflecting brightly off the water as they made their way to bed. It was only as Pierre was grabbing his stuff to drag into the guest room did Charles say the words that still echoed in Pierre's mind, haunting him weeks later. "It'll be you up there one day, Calamar."

Pierre and Charles had grown up together, two kids with bad haircuts and the same dream. Although they were fierce competitors on track, they were even better friends off it and they rose through the ranks together, trading wins in karting races, before making their way through F3 and F2 together, always by each other's side, always inseparable.

But, in 2017, things began to change. Charles got the call that he would be joining Sauber's F1 Team for the following year with the unspoken promise that if he performed well, one day he could find himself in one of the coveted Ferrari seats, the bright red iconic even to those who knew nothing about racing. For Pierre, his only chance to drive an F1 car came from his stint as a test driver during pre-season testing before heading off to Japan to compete in Super Formula.

However, even after a successful season in the lower category, the call that came wasn’t the one Pierre wanted. He did his best to hide his disappointment when Helmut had told him that there weren’t enough seats and Pierre would be sidelined yet again, and instead they wanted him to move to Milton Keynes to work as a sim driver. Despite being worried that the new role would be detrimental to his career long term, he accepted after a week of weighing the pros and cons, praying that a close connection to the F1 team would pay off in the long run.

By 2018, Charles had moved to a top team and was the rising star for Ferrari, their Il predestinato, bringing with it the promise of Ferrari's return to dominance after so many years spent behind Mercedes and Red Bull. And Pierre, well, it seemed like his dreams of even getting back on track were slipping away. 

F1 celebrations were something Pierre hoped he never got used to, but he wouldn’t deny how awkward he’d felt arriving at the venue Charles had invited him to a few hours before. Ferrari’s staff and guests had taken over the VIP section of the club, the more secluded area somehow noisier than the crowded dance floor as the alcohol flowed freely. Winning was always fun, but winning at your home race with a promising young talent like Charles, who was poised to become the new face of Ferrari, meant the team was in high spirits and celebrating hard.

Charles had greeted Pierre loudly when he’d seen him, the young man extracting himself from a conversation with a small group to hug his best friend, a drunk Charles clinging tightly to Pierre as he chattered about how happy he was Pierre was there and how excited he was to celebrate together. But soon enough, Charles was swept away by members of his team who wanted to celebrate with their race winner and Pierre was left alone, watching from a distance.

Pierre left the club just after midnight, leaving behind a drunk Charles who was still surrounded by a handful of members of his team and an assortment of admirers who were willing to do whatever it took to get close enough to bask in Charles’ aura.  He opted to walk back to the hotel Red Bull were staying at instead of taking an Uber, the cool night air pushing away the last hazy remnants of a night of celebration. He hadn’t really partaken in the bottles of champagne and shots of various liquors that had been in steady supply that night and had remained fairly sober despite the fact that everyone around him was happy to drink in honor of Charles’ victory. As a result, his mind was clear as he walked through the quiet streets of Monza, the stillness of the night only interrupted by passing groups of people, their laughter fading away as Pierre continued through the city.

His room was quiet, lights from the street below softly illuminating the furniture, the faint light guiding Pierre as he made his way over to the bed, the Frenchman not bothering to turn on the bedside lamp. He was exhausted, but knew with how his mind was racing that sleep was going to evade him again. It had felt good to celebrate with his friend, but the selfish part of him had wished that Charles had finished in any place other than first. The fact that it was Charles’ second win, one of many that was expected to come, meant that the veneer of winning hadn’t worn off just yet; couple that with the fact that it was his second win in two races and that it was Ferrari’s home race meant that the post-race celebration was wilder that usual, even by F1 standards.

The rational part of Pierre’s mind knew that Charles deserved this, that Charles deserved everything, but to witness his best friend accomplishing everything they’d ever dreamed of first hand made Pierre’s heart ache with a jealousy that had no place in the midst of such a joyous occasion. But jealousy was a nasty thing and instead of continuing the celebration into the early morning, Pierre was sitting at the edge of his bed, head in his hands, once again lost in thoughts of what could have been.

Twenty-three wasn’t old by any means, but with every passing season, the chances of Pierre getting a chance at an F1 drive were getting slimmer and slimmer. Rookies were getting younger every year, teams were putting their faith in younger drivers thanks to the success of drivers like Max and Charles, and Pierre knew that there was a promising group of Red Bull Academy drivers who were gunning for the same seat Pierre sought. His chances at a seat with another team were even slimmer, most had their own driver academies and even if a seat became available, it was doubtful any team would take their chance on an unproven talent without serious scrutiny.

Pierre told himself that he just needed to keep working hard, needed to prove his worth and that eventually an opportunity would come. But late at night, when self-doubt had firmly settled into the furthest corners of Pierre’s mind, he knew that he wasn’t good enough for Red Bull, he wasn’t good enough for Formula 1.  

He wasn’t good enough for Charles.

And here, alone in a hotel room in Milan with the weight of his dream threatening to tear him apart from the inside, he wondered whether it was time to find something else.

The rest of the season continued to pass with little deviation from Pierre’s regular routine. Races came and went with him doing whatever he could from behind the scenes to help the team be successful, but as it became clearer and clearer that there was little hope for Red Bull to catch Ferrari in the Constructors Championship, he spent less time testing various setups for Max and Alex to use during race weekends and switched his focus to testing concepts for next season’s car.

Long hours in the simulator left Pierre exhausted. Sim work wasn’t nearly as exhilarating as throwing a real car around tight corners or sending the car hurtling down impossibly long straights despite the ever evolving technology that made the experience more and more realistic and the nature of the work meant he went through more set up changes in a few hours than any driver experienced during a weekend, leaving him mentally drained by the time he left the factory for his Milton Keynes flat.

With every passing day, the self-doubt that had intensified after Monza threatened to consume him and the rare compliment from Christian or Max’s praise for his work during meetings did little to reassure him that he did belong here, that he was worthy of some kind of role within the team, even if it wasn’t the one, he so desperately wanted.

Subconsciously, he began to withdraw, throwing himself into work, into doing whatever he could to prove his worth. Weekdays were spent working to get everything perfect, running scenarios over and over again until he was able to pull whatever he could from the car, while off weekends found Pierre in the gym or running along Caldecotte Lake until his lungs burned and his muscles felt like jelly. By night, he was too tired to do anything more than throw together a quick dinner before collapsing in bed with exhaustion, only to wake up and do it all again.

His mother expressed concern one day over the phone, mentioning to Pierre that one of his brothers had told her that he hadn’t reached out lately, unusual for Pierre as his family was the most important thing, but he brushed her off, using the excuse that he was being worked harder than ever (true) and once the season was over, he’d have a chance to take a break (half true). The excuse had worked for now and she’d bid Pierre good bye with a plea that he not work himself too hard and he agreed with no intention to keep his promise.

Texts from Charles went mostly unanswered, his best friend sending him photos from various circuits or funny memes that encapsulated their relationship perfectly. In return, Pierre only responded when necessary to ensure that Charles wouldn’t get suspicious and ask if something was up; Pierre had always been a bad liar, especially when it came to Charles, so it was easier to pretend like everything was fine when in reality, for the first time, Pierre just wanted Charles to leave him alone.

Maintaining the charade was easier than it should have been, the success Charles had had all year continuing as the season began to wind down, making him a hotter and hotter commodity with little time for his mostly anonymous best friend. While Charles was out basking in the glory of success with one of the top teams in Formula 1, Pierre was struggling to not drown in his own self-doubt and while his motives for keeping Charles at arm’s length were selfish, he also didn’t want to bring down his best friend when he was deservedly relishing in everything life had to offer.

But despite how well Pierre was able to keep his issues under wraps, it all threatened to fall apart at the last race of the season. Aside from the usual race weekend prep work, there was little that needed to be done that couldn’t be pushed back until after the season’s end, which meant that as soon as the week was over, Pierre was on a flight to Abu Dhabi. There was little at stake that weekend, Mercedes had taken both the Drivers and Constructors Championship a few races before and so long as Max finished ahead of Charles in the race, he’d be guaranteed 3rd place in the Drivers’ standings, achieving his best finish of his career. Things had been so bad lately that Pierre had considered skipping the last race all together, but despite all his personal problems, he was still a racecar driver at heart and didn't want to pass up the opportunity to watch the race from the garage.

It was hard to quiet the voice in the back of his head that whispered that this might be his last race as an F1 employee. The team was happy with his work and even if it were a mere facsimile of what he wanted to be doing, he was still a valuable resource that wasn't easily replaced. Rationally he knew that there was little chance he’d be let go at the end of the season, but even the most straightforward logic was no match against one’s own self-doubt, and Pierre rationalized his thinking by convincing himself that being surprised was better than hoping for something and ending up disappointed. 

December 2019 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix; Yas Island, Abu Dhabi

Pierre arrived late enough in the evening that all there was time for was a quick check in with Christian before heading up to his room. Max had sent him a message asking him if he wanted to play FIFA when he got in, but Pierre had declined, giving the excuse that he didn’t want to disrupt Max’s pre-race routine despite knowing that Max didn’t strictly prescribe to such measures like most of the other drivers. For the same reasons, Pierre didn’t bother to text Charles to let him know that he was also in Abu Dhabi, knowing that his own presence would probably be a distraction. There would be plenty of time after the race for them to catch up. 

The lead up to lights out was uneventful for Pierre, who spent most of the afternoon chatting with Alex and Max during their downtime between meetings and press obligations before they had to retreat to get ready for the race.  

The race itself was fairly uneventful, but there was a buzz in the garage after the podium ceremony, the energy distinctly distinguishable from the normal post race chatter. Max’s second place finish secured his third place finish in the Driver’s standings, the highest finish for a Red Bull driver since Daniel three seasons prior. That success coupled with the relief that the long season was finally over was palpable as the mechanics and pit crew chatted about their off seasons plans as they packed up the garage. 

Once the last of the post race photos had been taken, Pierre made his way back to Red Bull Energy Station, weaving his way around various members of the paddock and carts of equipment, not in any hurry to get out of there and end up in the post race traffic that flooded the area as fans made their way away from the circuit. On a normal day, most of the crowds and cars would have dissipated by the time Pierre was ready to leave, the lengthy post race debriefs every team conducted ensuring that even the most dedicated fans would have made their way home by the time their favorite drivers left. But today, there was little need for such a meeting, not when it was the end of the season and the new year would bring a new car and new challenges. No, instead, Pierre was all but dragging his feet not wanting to be alone with his thoughts.

He almost didn’t hear the shouting of his name until he was almost to the glass doors that were the only thing separating him from the chaos of the paddock and temporary salvation. “Pierre, wait!”

A hand closed around his elbow and he looked up to see Charles standing next to him, face still sticky with champagne from the podium celebration, red race suit mostly unzipped, the upper half hanging off his body, the only salvation he could find in the hot Abu Dhabi air.

Charles looked as exhausted as Pierre felt, but there was a relaxed look of satisfaction on his face. Pierre knew that he wasn’t satisfied knowing that third place in the standings had been in his grasp, he also knew that Charles could also see the big picture and would find his overall result at the end of the season a kind of victory itself. He’d proven that his promotion to Ferrari wasn’t premature and that he deserved to represent the future of the team.

“I didn’t know that you would be here this weekend,” he said, voice louder than usual as to be heard over the elevated noise of the paddock.  

“I got in last night,” Pierre shrugged, glancing at Charles’ hand that was still wrapped around his elbow.

Charles let him go, frowning now, a look of hurt flashing in his eyes.

Normally the wounded look would have made Pierre’s heart lurch, he hated hurting Charles, his best friend had experienced too much pain for someone his age that he never wanted to be the one to ever add to Charles’ burden in anyway, but after the year he’d had, Pierre was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next week, even if it meant ditching his best friend. 

“But you didn’t say anything,” Charles repeated earnestly, as if wanting to believe that Pierre wouldn’t have intentionally left him in the dark, not when it had been months since they’d seen each other and even longer since they’d had a proper conversation.

“I’m here for the team,” Pierre shrugged, for Max and Alex, hanging unsaid in the air between them and Charles took a step back, the look of hurt now reflected on his face, no longer fleeting but permanent.

Pierre knew that the rivalry between Charles and Max had fizzled out a long time ago, that the intense hatred that they felt for each other as kids, as rivals going head-to-head in go karts had turned into mutual respect as they had grown and matured as both drivers and people. But at the same time, hearing that your best friend had chosen someone other than you still stung and upon hearing this, Charles looked away, his hand nervously running through his hair. 

Despite everything, Pierre still wasn’t that cruel and even in his exhausted state he didn’t want to permanently damage his relationship with Charles even if, in the moment, it would have given him some satisfaction to hurt Charles, to make him feel the pain that Pierre had been carrying around with him for months. But logic won out and he did his best to bury the feelings of inadequacy that had been plaguing him, instead, trying to convince himself that it wasn’t Charles’ fault that Pierre felt like a failure.

“I was going to text you after the race.” A lie, but not one so outrageous that would give Charles a reason to doubt him. His mother always told him that he had an honest face; maybe it was the product of being the youngest, the baby of the family, or maybe it was part of the endless optimism he used to have— a quality that he seems to have lost as he’d grown older, more jaded. “You wouldn’t have been able to see me until later anyway.”

That part was true. Between final strategy meetings, race prep, and the chaos of it being the last race of the season, coupled with the fact that Charles still had his final place in the standings to fight for, there was no way the two of them would have been able to spend any significant amount of time together; and even if they could, there’s no way either of their teams would have appreciated them hanging out, not with Charles and Max being so close in the championship.

Charles nodded, the look of hurt still on his face, but seemingly willing to accept Pierre’s excuse. “We must go out then,” he said, stepping back to make his leave. “Later of course.”

“Of course,” Pierre echoed despite the bone deep exhaustion weighing heavily on his shoulders. There was the end of season party that Red Bull would be hosting too, but that would be so busy that he’d only need to make an appearance if he wanted to; be seen by all the right people before sneaking off to crash in his hotel room for a few hours before flying back to the UK. Most of the Red Bull staff would be so drunk that it really didn’t matter if he was there or not. He could sleep on the plane, use the time between Christmas and the new year to catch up on all the rest he’d missed out on over the last few months. He wouldn’t have much to do then, it would just be him alone with his thoughts.

Despite the bitterness and jealousy that had made a home in Pierre’s chest, Charles was still his best friend and he missed him. Missed the ease that came with knowing someone better than you knew yourself, the ease of being able to talk about anything or to sit in silence, both equally as comfortable. He missed the feeling of being known, of being understood, of being loved and appreciated unconditionally knowing that he didn’t need to keep proving over and over that he was worthy of that love and appreciation. But most of all, Pierre missed the silence that came with being with someone who knew you as well as Pierre and Charles knew each other. The thoughts of self-doubt, of uncertainty, it all went away when they were together because none of that was important so long as they were friends. Pierre wanted that feeling back, he just wasn’t sure if he was worthy of it.

“Dinner?” Charles suggested, briefly glancing over his shoulder at the chaos of the paddock behind him. He’ll be all but required to meet up with the rest of the team later to celebrate the end of the season; Pierre could come along if he wanted, but they both knew that he shouldn't if he wanted to remain in Horner and Marko's good graces.

Pierre nodded. “And drinks.”

Charles scoffed. “But of course, mate. That is a given.”

A genuine smile tugged at the corners of Pierre’s lips, the first in who knows how long, and the sensation made his cheeks burn at the exertion. “Text me when you’re finished.” He gestured generally at the paddock around them knowing that even though the season was now over, Charles probably had a million and one things to do before he left the track.

“Of course,” Charles repeated with a grin of his own before heading back toward the Ferrari motorhome.

Late December 2019 Red Bull Racing HQ; Milton Keynes, UK

Pierre was no stranger to Horner's office; he'd spent many days sitting in the brightly lit room with its big windows and photos of historic Red Bull moments hanging from the walls. The man behind the desk didn't have a commanding presence when you first looked at him, but looks were deceiving and in Pierre's experience, it never did anyone well to underestimate Christian Horner. He wasn’t as scary as dealing with a post race phone call from Helmut, Horner dealt with drivers on too regular of a basis to ever be an effective boss with such a domineering personality, but that didn’t mean he was a pushover. Not in the slightest.

No, this man could make or break Pierre’s career and he knew better than to cross him.

"We've been looking at the data," Horner began, sliding a tablet across his desk for Pierre to look at. Displayed on the screen was telemetry data that compared his sim times with the actual times of the two Toro Rosso drivers. He flipped through the graphs as Horner continued, "and you've done an excellent job in the sim, we'd like to give you the chance to prove yourself."

Pierre's head shot up, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but Horner said nothing, instead watching Pierre with that intense look, his hands folded neatly in front of him. Once he was sure he had Pierre's undecided attention, he continued. “A spot has opened up, and as part of Toro Rosso’s rebrand into Alpha Tauri, and we want to promote you into that seat.”    

Horner was smiling at him as Pierre hesitated, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was the end of December and all of the driver lineups had been confirmed for months at this point, including Red Bull and the newly named AlphaTauri. Objectively, Pierre knew that there probably wasn’t anyone as qualified as he to fill in the role on short notice; as far as he knew, none of the rookie drivers had enough license points to qualify and none had logged nearly as many hours in the sim as he had, but that didn’t explain why a seat was suddenly open and who he’d be replacing.

When neither of them spoke, Pierre half shocked into silence, half waiting for further explanation, he finally said, “You’re joking. You’re pulling my leg.”

His reaction made Horner laugh, but even with the ease that his boss was demonstrating, Pierre was still on edge, not sure what to expect or how to respond. Recognizing that Pierre was in a state of disbelief, Horner opened a drawer and pulled out a file folder and set it on the desk in front of Pierre. "This is the initial offer, take it to your team and we can schedule a date to discuss the full terms and details. Welcome to Formula 1, Pierre." 

Pierre took the folder, not daring to open it just yet, his grip so tight on the shiny Red Bull Racing folder that he was probably creasing the pages within, his fingerprints smudging the otherwise pristine navy-blue surface. “Was there anything else that you wanted to discuss?” he asked, still not believing what was happening, certain that there were other reasons why he had been summoned to Horner’s office.

But in response, his boss shook his head, a knowing smile on his face, the look of a man who had given the same news to several drivers before Pierre and knew that sometimes it took some time to sink in. “Go home and take the rest of the year off, Pierre. Call your family, get spectacularly drunk, do whatever it is you want to do to celebrate. Come back in the new year ready to work.”

He nodded and stood, Horner following suit and offering Pierre his hand in congratulations, which Pierre shook, still a little dazed by the news. “We’ll set up a meeting for you to meet with Franz and the two of you can make plans for you to meet the rest of the team.”

Nodding again, he cleared his throat, not quite trusting his voice, but pressed on. “Thank you so much, this is a dream come true.”

Horner smiled, not quite as unnerving as Marko’s, but there was still something behind it, something shark-like that even after all this time as part of the Red Bull program, Pierre wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Enjoy your holiday, Pierre.”

He waited until the lead up to Christmas to tell his family, he and his brothers and their families all crammed under his parent’s roof to celebrate the holiday, accidentally elbowing each other at the dinner table, his youngest nephew screaming with delight at something only he could comprehend.

His family had been elated at the news, all of them jockeying to try and hug him, maneuvering around the dining room table difficult with so many people, their voices growing louder and louder as they all tried to make their congratulations heard. Some of his younger niblings didn’t quite understand what was going on, but they cheered and screamed too, wanting to be part of the celebrations, their shrill voices rising above everything else.  

The reaction of his family made everything feel real, like the volume of the rest of the world had been on mute while Pierre glided through it, unsure of where he was or what he was doing; but now, now it was like the knob had been turned up to eleven, the joy and praise of the people he loved most, of the people who would love him unconditionally breaking through the fog that he’d been lost in for the last several months. His family who had given everything up for him to chase this dream, the ones who would cheer him on on victory and would console him in defeat and yet would love the all the same no matter where he finished, these were the people he raced for.

His dad joked that Pierre better get him and his mom paddock passes for his first race, his brother teasing him, asking Pierre if he’d be able to steal the keys to his new F1 car to take it for a spin, fully knowing that formula cars didn’t use keys. Across the table, one of his sister-in-law’s and his mother were asking another of Pierre’s brother’s about AlphaTauri, how well they did last season and how well they could expect Pierre to do in the car they’d developed.

It was overwhelming, their reaction, and for as much as he loved them, for as much as he wanted to celebrate this accomplishment with them, the people who had seen how hard he’d worked, who’d seen where he came from and where he was going, but looking at the table at all of them, there was still something that had settled in Pierre’s chest long ago that even all the love and support of his family couldn’t quite shake it. As much as he wanted to relish in their praise, to selfishly be the center of attention even if just for a night, what he wanted more was to make his escape to his old room and curl up in the small twin bed he’d long outgrown, seeking out the silence and the loneliness that he’d grown accustomed to.

When things had settled down and dinner had been consumed, he helped his mother clear the table and clean up the kitchen as his brothers and their families went into the family room, using the time to get the kids settled, the anticipation of opening presents was so exciting that it threatened to overwhelm them and evolve into a full-on meltdown if not handled properly. As he diligently scraped the plates clean and arranged them neatly in the dishwasher, his mother paused to look at him.

“What did Charles say when you told him? He must have been elated.”

Pierre looked down at the plate in his hands under the guise of continuing to clean as to avoid his mother’s eyes. Charles had been the second person he’d wanted to tell as soon as he’d gotten out of sight of Horner’s office, the first being his parents, but he’d waited, rationalizing that it would be better to break the news in person. Waiting the extra week plus to see the pride and excitement his parents and the rest of his family had been more than worth it and, in his mind, he rationalized that waiting to tell Charles would be the same.

Continuing to look down, he told his mother this, missing the sad but knowing smile she gave him.

Charles had mentioned hanging out during the winter break before things got too busy with car launches and testing, the time between the end of the season and the start of the next getting shorter and shorter as more and more races were added to the calendar. He had initially mentioned the time between Christmas and New Year’s when things were as busy; most of the factory staff was taking a much needed break before the ramp up to the new season and the drivers were scattered to the four corners of the earth, some at home, some with family, some on vacation relaxing before they were expected to get back into the car and do it all over again.

Except there was no all over again for Pierre. It was going to be a brand new experience and he was equal parts excited and terrified that he’d mess everything up. When he took to the track in Barcelona in a couple months, it wouldn’t be his first time in an F1 car, but he knew that this was his chance to prove himself, to prove to Red Bull, the people in the paddock and to the fans that he belonged in F1. He knew that Red Bull could be a little ruthless with it came to drivers, even in a sport as competitive as F1, the organization had a reputation for tossing drivers aside when it looked like they weren’t getting up to speed quickly enough, and he was determined that he wasn’t going to be another driver who was talented, but not talented enough for F1. No, once he got that seat, he was going to keep it.

With that in mind, he threw everything he had into prepping for the new season. He studied track layouts until they were committed to memory, practicing every track on next year’s calendar on his home sim until he could drive them with his eyes closed, his dreams filled with visions speeding down the main straight at Paul Ricard, the home crowd cheering for him, distinguishable even over the sound of the engine. He worked out even more than he did before, now under the careful eye of a performance coach, his shoulders getting broader, arms thicker with corded muscle.

He pushed himself more than he had before, but instead of spending countless hours at the factory testing setups and running simulated runs for the benefit of other drivers, he was doing it for himself, ensuring that when the season started, he would be ready for anything.

But with all this extra work, it meant that he didn’t have time to hang out with Charles. This season's other new drivers, Pierre’s former friend turned rival Esteban Ocon returning after a season without a seat, and newcomer Nicholas Latifi had a head start of several months to prepare for the upcoming season while Pierre was stuck playing catch up. Every time that Charles texted, asking if Pierre could fly out to Monaco to escape the rain and fog of the UK in favor of a slightly warmer climate and the weak winter Mediterranean sun— even if just for a weekend— Pierre always declined, worried that a day he wasn’t working on racing would be a day he’d fall even further behind. 

Pierre hated to blow off one of his best friends like this, and he suspected that now that Charles wasn’t dealing with sponsors and flying off the new countries several times a month, he was starting to catch on that Pierre was disengaged from their friendship, but even the knowing that his friend was no longer buying his excuses, Pierre was still making them. He rationalized his behavior by telling himself that they’d have more time to catch up this season when they be at the same place almost every weekend, but the voice inside his head kept telling him that if he kept blowing Charles off like this, he might not have a friend to hang out with come the start of the season.

All of this could be avoided if Pierre were honest and told Charles why he was busy, but for some reason, he hadn’t yet told him about his promotion to F1. Rationally, he knew that he should tell him sooner rather than later; AlphaTauri and Red Bull had yet to announce anything and as far as the press were concerned, AlphaTauri’s line up was still the same one that was announced part way through last season. There was no reason not to tell Charles, the deal was already complete, modifications to the original offer had only taken a few days to negotiate and the ink on the contract had been dry before the holidays. Pierre knew that his best friend wouldn’t have wanted to hear it from anyone but him, but there was something about admitting it before it was announced, like there was the possibility that it could all be taken away before it was put into the world.

Telling his family had been one thing, but telling someone who knew you better than you knew yourself? Telling someone with whom you’d shared your hopes and dreams with since you were small children? For some reason that was far scarier.

His introduction as one of the drivers for the newly branded AlphaTauri had been announced at the launch of the new car, the press immediately running to be the first tweet out the news, journalist speculation fueling fan theories as to why things had changed in a matter of months. Immediately after the brand new white and navy livery was revealed, the press was all over him, asking questions about the upcoming season, looking for any clue as to why he would be in the car instead of who the team had originally announced.

Pierre wasn't used to the media wanting to talk to him. Sure, he'd given an interview here or there after winning the GP2 championship, had appeared once or twice on the French broadcast to promote the team and talk about the drivers, but other than those short stints, no one really cared about the mostly anonymous driver who had been sidelined for the last few seasons. The experience was overwhelming, the crowd of reporters jockeying for position as they swarmed him, the number of people and cameras so packed together that he couldn't see the room beyond.

He gave prepared, measured answers, careful to not reveal more than what the team wanted him to say, the media strategy having been carefully crafted by the team of PR specialists that Pierre had never needed to interact with until now. Daniil had been helpful, they had similar senses of humor and used it to their advantage, much to the amusement of the various journalists who were covering the event, but even their improv and off the cuff statements didn’t give away too much. 

After what seemed like an eternity later, Pierre was free, the weight on his chest finally lifting as he escaped to the green room, finally able to change out of his race suit, the methodical, familiar motion of separating the Velcro at his neck then pulling the zipper down until he could shuck off the fabric was a comforting feeling that he hadn’t realized he’d missed until now. It wasn’t the same as peeling out of the suit like it was a second skin, the light fabric drenched in sweat after a good, hard race, but that was coming, all Pierre had to do was be patient.

There was a short media debrief that he needed to attend before he could head home and take care of the mass of notifications that no doubt had flooded his phone over the course of the last several hours, but first he wanted to post something to social media, his official announcement to the fans who had stuck by him as he’d waited for this opportunity. The dizzying number of WhatsApp messages, texts, and Twitter notifications coupled with a handful of missed calls and voicemails were all ignored as he opened up Instagram.

“FORMULA 1!!!!!!!” he typed out quickly, a photo of him standing proudly next to the new AT01 having been sent to him by someone from the PR team specifically for this purpose. “So excited to represent @AlphaTauriF1 this season! Thank you to the team and to @RedBullRacing for making a dream come true! #LetsGetToWork”

It was a pretty standard post as far as announcements went, it didn’t express even a fraction of how excited and nervous he was, but even if he had thousands of words to convey how he was feeling, he’d never be able to put into words the elation at finally achieving he’d been working toward for most of his life.

He sighed, remembering that this hadn’t been just his dream and that Formula 1 had been a dream he’d shared with others, including Charles with whom he still hadn’t told about his promotion. The guilty side of him wanted to wait until after the debrief, until after he’d gotten home and eaten to give him the chance to soak it all in, but that was a lie.

Pierre was still hiding from Charles, was still doing whatever he could to avoid him and had been doing so since Monza the previous year. The fact was that he’d been lying to himself for nearly half a year, pushing one of his best friends aside as he buried himself deeper and deeper into working, using his job and ambition as an excuse to avoid taking a step back and reflecting on how much he’d lost himself in the past year.

He was punishing himself, there was no denying it, but what was a little more pain at this point? He’d probably hurt Charles more than enough lately, so maybe he deserved it. The sooner confessed and let Charles be mad at him, the sooner he could apologize and beg Charles for forgiveness. His friend had a gentle heart and while mad, would probably forgive Pierre, but Pierre wasn’t sure if he deserved it.

Against his better judgment, he swiped down on his phone, scrolling through notifications until found what he was looking for.

Missed Call Calamar 🦑(5)

Pierre shook his head and swiped away the missed call notification. It was just like Charles to call him multiple times and not leave him a voicemail despite knowing that Pierre was probably talking to the media, but usually when Charles was excited or upset, logic often went out the window. 

Knowing that there was no escaping it now, he switched over to his texts, ignoring the notifications with messages of congratulations from other drivers and colleagues, seeking out his thread with Charles.

From Calamar 🦑: ???????!!!!!!! From Calamar 🦑: What the fuck Pierre, I had to hear the news from Arthur???? From Calamar 🦑: How long have you been keeping this a secret??

His fingers hovered over the keys, not quite sure how he should respond. Pierre couldn’t deny that he’d been avoiding talking to Charles about anything, not just the fact that he’d be on the grid this upcoming season. He’d been relying on the fact that AlphaTauri had waited until just before the car launch to announce that there had been changes to their diver duo, not revealing who would be in the car until everything was announced, the new team, new branding, and new driver combining to hopefully be the most exciting reveal leading up to testing in a few weeks.

Theoretically, he could justify not telling Charles because he had been afraid that any leak would have jeopardized his seat. It seemed more often than not that the rumors that seemed to come out of the paddock were true— or at the very least, had some basis in fact— and Red Bull had wanted to avoid the PR disaster of having the fact that they had to replace one of the drivers on their junior team during the offseason.

Without racing as the focus, any minor scandal that occurred in the off season could have the potential to blow wildly out of proportion as journalists and fans have little to talk about or discuss, resulting in wild speculation fueled by conspiracy theories and the barest of facts to back up their claims.

While Pierre could make up such an excuse, doing so would mean telling Charles— albeit indirectly— that he hadn’t trusted him to keep his promotion a secret, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

The truth was Pierre hadn’t wanted to tell Charles. At first, he didn’t know how to, but then he came to the realization that the prospect of telling Charles about his promotion filled him with a dread that he couldn’t describe or pinpoint the reason behind. He wasn’t excited to tell him that the dream they had shared as kids was becoming a reality and it made him feel like a horrible person. Pierre knew he couldn’t tell Charles all of  that without his best friend demanding they immediately meet face to face to work things out, so instead, he’d done what he’d gotten good at in the last year: throw himself into work to escape his problems.

Choosing on taking the cowards way out once again, Pierre fumbled to write a quick response, hoping that Charles was so happy for him that he didn’t dig too deep into Pierre’s reasoning.

To Calamar 🦑: I signed the contract a little over a month ago and have been drowning in pre-season prep ever since 🤣🤣🤣 To Calamar 🦑: I feel like I haven’t had any time to think let alone do anything else 🤪

It was a feeble excuse, although not entirely untrue, but it would have to do.

It was strange, facing the fact that you’d been running from something, but even with acknowledging that he wasn’t fine, it wasn’t something that Pierre wanted to examine too closely right now. He was on the verge of being able to call himself a Formula 1 driver, something that he’d been working toward since he was a kid, and he didn’t want to taint the memory of finally making it by spending too much time examining his behavior the past few months.

No, his dreams were finally starting to come true, and he knew that if he just waited a little longer, everything was going to be fine.

How could they not be?

February 2020 Testing; Barcelona, Spain

The bright Spanish sunshine did little to warm Pierre up as he jogged from the garage back to the joint Alpha Tauri/Red Bull hospitality building, the sleeves of his race suit swinging freely from his hips as the click of a camera’s shutter followed him as he exited the garage.  

His first session in the car had gone better than expected with him ending up in the top five for the day— at one point even taking the fastest lap of the session— a feat he hadn’t expected when he got in the car that morning, but there was still work to be done. He’d spun early on, not quite to grips with being back in a racecar, but overall, the team had been pleased with what he had shown in the morning session and he was excited to get back out on track.  

“Pierre!”

Max was heading toward him with his hand raised in greeting, dressed in his Red Bull polo, his racing gear not necessary today with Alex taking over driving duties for both sessions. He stopped, waiting for the other driver to catch up to him so they could walk inside the motorhome together, but Max didn’t seem to be in a rush to get inside just yet, choosing to lean against the railing that separated the hospitality building from the rest of the paddock despite the chill that hadn’t quite abated in the late afternoon sunshine.

“You looked good out there. How did it feel, being in the car for the first time?”

Pierre shrugged with a laugh, “I think my arms are going to fall off and my shoulders and neck are killing me.” Max joined in on the laughter as Pierre rolled his shoulders and neck with a grimace to emphasize his point, his muscles protesting at the movement, but for now it was the good kind of pain, the kind that hit you after a long workout. “All the working out I did over the break doesn’t seem to have helped me in any way.” 

“It doesn’t matter how often you work out, I think,” Max explained. “You can do all the exercises in the world, but nothing compares to the actual G-Forces in the car and it takes actually driving to get used to it.”

Max trailed off and raised his hand high in greeting, focused on someone walking through the paddock. Pierre half expected it to be Daniel who was often by Max’s side during the weekend despite the pair no longer being teammates, but Pierre followed Max’s gaze and saw Charles leaving the Ferrari garage with Sebastian and several members of their team, his eyes locked on Pierre and Max not listening to what looked like a lively conversation between Sebastian and one of their mechanics. Pierre tried to work up the courage to call out to Charles, to do something familiar, but as soon as he realized Pierre was looking at him, Charles looked away and continued following his teammate into the Ferrari motorhome.

Guilt swirled in the pit of Pierre’s stomach, but he did his best to try and push it away. It was his fault that he and Charles weren’t talking, but he couldn’t worry about it now, he had a job to do. 

Next to him, Max’s forehead furrowed in confusion, trying to take in what was happening. “What’s wrong with him? Is Ferrari’s car shit again?”

There were times, even after he’d known Max for as long as he had, that Pierre wasn’t sure if Max was joking or not. He wasn’t sure if it was a Dutch thing or a Max thing, but despite having a great sense of humor, his jokes and criticisms were often said in the same blunt tone and this was just another occasion where Pierre wasn’t sure if he should laugh, not that he was able to.

Charles hadn’t reached out after Pierre had texted him his excuse as to why he hadn’t told him that he’d been given a seat, and Pierre was beginning to suspect that Charles had started to put the pieces together and had realized that Pierre had been purposefully avoiding him.

He wanted nothing more than to have his best friend by his side, to be able to share this experience together, but Pierre was so deep in his self-loathing it consumed him, and at this point, he was more afraid of Charles' rejection than anything. He'd rather have his best friend mad at him than not be a passing thought in Charles' mind, so he kept to himself and didn't offer an explanation. 

By the time Pierre was free to leave, the sun had set and a chill had settled over the shadowy paddock, the yellowish light coming from the lights mounted on the sides of the garages casting long shadows along the pavement. He shivered, wishing that he had his sweatshirt but it was probably stashed away somewhere in his driver’s room with Pyry who was waiting for him so they could drive back to the hotel and go over tomorrow’s schedule.

He started jogging in that direction, wanting to be out of the cold and hoping that by getting his blood flowing he could get some feeling back into his fingers, but as he rounded around a tire cart, he ran into someone, sending them both to the ground.

“Oh my god, are you alright?” a familiar voice said and Pierre looked up to see Charles pushing himself up off the ground, unaware of whom he’d just run into.

“I— yeah,” Pierre mumbled, wanting nothing more in that moment to disappear. Of all the people, it had to be Charles. He debated on not getting up, on staying on the ground, waiting to be swallowed up, but he couldn’t, so instead he sighed to himself and slowly got to his feet. He sensed rather than saw the moment Charles realized who he’d run into, his body stiffening as he recognized Pierre.  

“Sorry,” was all Pierre could offer, still not looking at Charles, instead checking his hands for any scrapes or bruises, flexing his arms and rotating his wrists to see if he’d hurt anything as he’d fallen.

“So you do know how to apologize,” Charles said bitterly, his tone making Pierre look up at him in shock. “I’d thought you had forgotten.”

Pierre had dealt with a moody Charles before, knew that there were times that Charles could be petulant, more like a spoiled child than the twenty-something man he’d grown to be, but he had never been on the receiving end of his anger. And more than anything, he knew that this time Charles’ anger was justified, that he deserved Pierre dropping to his knees and groveling, begging for Charles’ forgiveness, but Pierre was too much of a coward to give him what he deserved.

Instead, he mumbled a quick “See you later, Charles,” and turned away, heading back toward the joint Red Bull/Alpha Tauri hospitality building, unable to see the anger and betrayal in Charles’ eyes any longer.

September 2020 Italian Grand Prix; Monza, Italy

Pierre was sticky with champagne, his race suit heavy, soaked with his sweat and the remainder of the podium celebration that he’d participated in from the top step mere minutes before. The crowd below in the pitlane had dispersed, mechanics going to pack up the garage— cargo needing to be shipped to the next track before they could head off and enjoy what little was left of their weekend— drivers having disappeared to clean up before having to endure yet another race debrief where every detail was picked over as the team of strategists and engineers tried to figure out where they could make up time, even a tenth of a second meaning the difference between a good result and a disastrous one.

He knew that he too would need to join them, to leave the podium behind, trophy in one hand, magnum bottle of champagne in the other, the black and gold hat crowning him the race winner fit snugly around his head, but he couldn't make himself do it, not yet. He needed a shower, needed to pluck off the confetti that clung to his clothing, needed to replace the mask that smelled like champagne and stuck to his face like a second skin, but he continued to sit, soaking it all in.

Footsteps approached him, probably someone from F1 or track management here to tell him that he needed to leave the podium and return to the team, but they didn’t. Whoever it was took a seat next to him on the top step and waited silently.

He looked up to see Charles, dressed in his Ferrari polo and a pair of jeans, looking at the empty grandstands and the main straight where a year ago fans cheered as he stood on this very step and hoisted his trophy high into the air, confetti raining down around him— the King of Monza, the Ferrari Prince, il Predestinato. There had been no cheering fans this time, not for Pierre, just what seemed like the entire paddock in the pitlane below, everyone seemingly excited for him and in many ways, Pierre preferred it that way. It was the people he worked with or alongside who knew what struggles he’d gone through while waiting in the wings, waiting for his chance to prove what he was made of, and it was those people who understood best what it meant to him. With no fans in attendance, he was able to relish the moment a little longer, able to soak it in and finally start letting go of all of the stress that had been weighing him down. He wouldn’t have any other way. 

Part of him wondered what Charles was doing here next to him. They hadn’t spoken to each other that weekend and hadn’t been speaking much at all, not since their awkward encounter in Barcelona several months prior. Even when they had been forced to quarantine in their homes, when Pierre couldn’t go home to be with his family and was left alone in his small Bologna apartment they hadn’t bothered making up, both drivers stubbornly choosing silence in what had to be one of the most isolating times of their lives. Charles had filled up his time by streaming with some of the other drives, namely George, Alex, and Lando, the four of them forming a little F1 streaming gang while Pierre opted to keep his gaming away from the prying eyes of fans, only a few old friends and former GP2 rivals he was still close to as witnesses to his inability to pick up shooting games.

“I was cheering for you,” Charles said after a long stretch of silence, his voice barely audible over music blasting in one of the garages, loud enough to be audible from the podium platform. “Seb and I both asked to delay the briefing so we could watch you win.”

Sebastian was the only other winner in the Toro Rosso/Alpha Tauri team’s history, and like Pierre, he had claimed his first victory at Monza some twelve seasons earlier, back when Pierre and Charles were still in karts and could only dream about racing in Formula One. Pierre had looked up to Sebastian as a child, had watched him claim his four Championships and had dreamed of doing the same; maybe it was too early to hope to follow in his footsteps, to hope that his career could reach a fraction of the success Sebastian had achieved, but Pierre hadn’t gotten here by dreaming small.

But for now, it was enough to know that Sebastian had been rooting for him.     

Guilt twinged Pierre’s stomach when he realized that he should be happy that Charles had been rooting for him to, that even after Pierre had pushed him away, Charles still cared enough to want Pierre to win, that he still wanted Pierre to fulfill their childhood dream, F1 Drivers, race winners, World Champions. Despite what countless people had told them, despite the kids at school that had bullied Pierre and had told him that he was wasting his time, that he wasn’t good enough, the two of them had managed the improbable and achieved the first two. They were here, together, both winners at Monza.

“You shouldn’t have,” Pierre said stubbornly, “I don’t deserve your support, not after everything.”

Charles huffed, “Yeah, maybe, but I did it anyway and you can’t do anything about it now.”

Pierre didn’t have a response to that, so he continued to sit in silence. He knew that if he didn’t take advantage of this, of the olive branch Charles was offering, then their friendship was probably as good as dead. But despite knowing that this was his last chance, there were so many things that he wanted to say that he didn’t know where to start; he was frozen, terrified of saying the wrong thing. So, he continued to sit there, soaking in the moment.

“I don’t understand, why didn’t you tell me you’d been offered a seat?” Charles said, breaking the silence again.

Pierre had asked himself this same question countless times over the past few months, particularly on the nights he had been alone and unable to fall asleep, his only company being the thoughts that still swirled around in his head, the ones that hadn’t been silenced when he had finally achieved his lifelong dream.

“I—” Pierre hesitated and licked his lips, not sure where to start, but where was a better place and the beginning? “Last year,” he said finally. “You won here, do you remember?”

Charles looked at him, confused, and Pierre continued. Of course, Charles remembered winning at Monza, they both did. “I stood in the pit lane, watching you get your trophy.” He gestured to the long straight below them, remembering what it had been like to look up Charles, to see the red, white, and green confetti raining from the sky as the loyal Ferrari fans sang along as the Italian anthem played, flags waving widely as the sea of supporters cheered for Charles, their future champion.

“I was jealous.”

There were a million words that he could say, countless ways to explain why he had acted the way he had, but when it came down to it, the root of why he had distanced himself from Charles was because he had been jealous.

Jealous that his best friend had achieved his dream of racing in F1 and that he had found success, that he had made it to a top team that believed him, who was willing to favor him over a proven race winner and champion, that he had not only made it, but that it was more than possible that he could add his name and signature to the Championship Trophy, that his legacy would be cemented alongside the greats of the sport.

“Watching you up here, lifting up the trophy above your head. I wanted that for myself.” Pierre looked down at his feet, knowing how selfish it sounded, but if he wanted things with Charles to return to some kind of normal, he needed to be honest, needed to be willing to have the difficult conversation that he’d been avoiding for a year. If Charles still hated him after Pierre bared his soul, then so be it, but now that they were here, he wasn’t going to allow himself to leave the podium without knowing one way or another.

“I was happy for you too, of course, and I hated myself for being jealous because you deserve all the success in the world.”

Pierre felt fingers wrap around his wrist and he looked up to see Charles watching him, eyes wide with concern. Knowing that maybe, just maybe Charles didn’t hate him gave Pierre the courage to keep going.

“I guess it probably started before Monza, jealousy doesn’t come out of nowhere, no? But that weekend was when I first realized. I went home after and didn’t want to feel anything. I kept pushing myself, working longer hours, doing more at the factory because I didn’t want to be alone, or have enough time to stop and think about how miserable I was.

“I didn’t want to bother you with my problems because you were so happy, deservedly so, so I kept it to myself thinking that it would go away and I guess it never really did.”

“But we hung out in Abu Dhabi, you seemed okay then,” Charles frowned, brows furrowed in confusion. “A little tired maybe, but we all were.”

Pierre smiled ruefully and shook his head, remembering what had ended up being the last time he and Charles hung out together. There were times that night that he had been able to forget that it felt like he was drowning in his own emotions— and in those brief moments of respite, things with Charles had felt normal— but when the conversation lulled, and especially after the two had gone their separate ways at the end of the night, remembering the moments of peace made Pierre feel even worse. It was like he was punishing himself for his brief moments of happiness and whatever good feelings the night had left him with had quickly dissipated.

“I never thought I was that good of an actor,” he chuckled, “but maybe if racing doesn't work out, I should give that a try next, no? I never thought I was good at keeping secrets from you.”

Charles’s frown deepened. “Don’t joke like that.”

His tone surprised Pierre, who wasn’t used to Charles speaking with this much force. Charles was usually more easy going, assertive at times when he knew what he wanted, but never sharp, not even when he was angry; at times he could be petulant, more like the youngest sibling rather than the middle child that he was, but even with all their years of friendship, Pierre had never heard Charles sound so defiant.

“You belong here, with us,” Charles gestured aimlessly around them, at the podium, down toward the paddock below, then finally at the trophy still clutched in his hands, the twin of the one Charles had lifted high above his head the year before as Pierre had watched him, jealousy curling in the pit of his stomach as confetti rained down and the crowd cheered for their hero. “That is proof.

“You won a Formula 1 race, Pierre, only about a hundred people can say that they’ve achieved that in like 70 years of racing. No matter what happens after today, you’re a part of history and they can’t take that away from you. Our names are forever tied to this sport; we made it together, just like we planned. You deserve this, you earned this through hard work and determination and never giving up. I’m proud of you.”

The look on Charles’ face— the fierce determination in his eyes, the stubbornness of his pout— reminded Pierre of when they were kids, dreaming about making it to Formula 1, of the times they stayed up while on vacation together and dreamed about racing alongside each other. As they had grown older, those dreams never wavered. When Pierre had been told that he’d never amount to anything, that it would be better if he just gave up, Charles had reassured him that they were going to make it, they were going to be the ones who defied the odds.

And he had been right.

Despite setbacks and hardships, despite the timing not being quite right at first, they had made it. It may have taken Pierre a little longer than it had taken Charles, but they were here, together, competing at the highest level of motorsport just like they had dreamed.

Pierre didn’t have the words to express to Charles how much he meant to Pierre in that moment, how grateful he was for Charles’ unwavering support, even in the wake of Pierre’s treatment of him over the past year. He knew that he’d have to work to feel like he’d truly earned the forgiveness Charles had given him so easily, but the fear that Charles hated him was easing knowing that after everything, his best friend was still by his side.

“You’re beginning to sound a lot like Sebastian,” Pierre said instead of what he was feeling. “Rattling off all those statistics, I think he’s rubbed off on you.”

Charles scoffed, but the way his eyes lit up betrayed his attempt at looking annoyed; Pierre knew that Charles idolized Sebastian, and that any comparison would be taken as a compliment and that this time was no different. “Mate, come on. He makes fun of me for knowing nothing about this sport, but anything is nothing compared to him.”

Pierre laughed for what felt like the first time in ages, head tipping back as he felt his chest expanding— not just from the gasping breaths that he was taking as Charles grinned next to him, proud that the joke had landed— but from the weight of jealousy and bitterness that had made a home there in the past few months starting to melt away. He knew that things weren’t going to get better immediately, that winning a race and more importantly, the knowledge that Charles was right there fighting with him, for him wasn’t going to fix all his problems, but it was a light at the end of the tunnel, a lifeline that he could cling onto when things were rough and it was more than what he’d thought he’d had when he had felt so alone.

But the laughter, as good as it had felt, was short lived; Pierre’s mask was still soaked with champagne and the damp fabric was sticking to his face as he inhaled, making breathing more difficult.

“We should do something to celebrate,” he said, cheeks still wide with a smile. “Not go out obviously, but—”

“Dinner,” Charles said firmly, cutting him off. “We can order room service and catch up.” That determined look was back in Charles' eyes, and even if he had wanted to, there was no way Pierre could have said no to him. When Charles got his mind set on something, there was no convincing him otherwise.

“I’ll text you,” Pierre promised, standing from the podium, his trophy clutched in one hand, champagne in the other.

“Mate, you better, or else I’m going to come find you.”

Charles stood too and wrapped an arm around Pierre’s shoulders, hip checking him as the pair of them walked off the podium. 

[igotlovestruck]

BF 🤝 GF | PG10

wherein pierre’s dating THE y/n, who, according to fans, takes fan service on a different level and has the same energy as her boyfriend (seriously, they both need to think before they click).

↳ TYPE: ig au

↳ PAIRING: pierre gasly x singer!reader (face claim: bibi)

↳ DETAILS AND WARNINGS: suggestive

↳ AUTHOR’S NOTE: some drafts i’ve written/made, just needed to clean up the drafts. there’s more but i’ll edit them first before i post em! enjoy ❤️ also, the pictures of bibi are from waterbomb 2022! :)

this work is purely fictional. names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. © newuniverse, 2023. do not steal, repost in other platforms, translate and/or claim this work as your own.

yourusername

liked by pierregasly, charles_leclerc and 1,329,937 others

yourusername waterbomb 2023 💦 the energy you guys had today was INSANE!! see you again next year 🩵😘

view all 397,726 comments

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pierregasly

liked by yourusername, charles_leclerc and 397,264 others

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view all 7,826 comments

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[paddockbunny]

✨ ANNOUNCEMENT!!! ✨

Ok ok…..I have had this specific Pierre story in mind for a while. The only problem is, I get really in my head with multi-chapter fics and put a lot of pressure on myself to write in-depth long ass chapters and struggle with writers block a lot with them.

However….I have already written the first three chapters of this little story I’ve been musing over and I’m in between posting and keeping it for a later date.

So here’s the synopsis :

Bets were stupid. They were too full of risk and fuelled by idiotic naivety. Nothing good ever came of making bets. And certainly not if the person you were making them with was Pierre fucking Gasly.

So when Aria Armund - his newest “babysitter” - came up with the idea to make a bet that Pierre wouldn’t be able to keep out of trouble till the end of the season, she didn’t think he would actually bite!

If Aria won she would get the satisfaction in knowing Pierre was EXACTLY what she presumed he was.

If he won….he gets to have her, for one night, doing whatever he wants.

Let me know what you think!!!

🥰💕🙏🏼 .

[greenbabybird]

New chapter is up!!!

A formula one inspired romcom story!!!

[giuseppe-yuki]

shapeshifting!reader au blurbs: a series

summary: certain drivers around the grid seem to always have a pet by their side 24/7. a ferret in lando's garage, a cockatiel flying around alex's head as he walks down parc ferme, and yuki carrying a grey bunny into the media pen?? reporters and fans all swear they saw charles walk into the ferrari motorhome with his beautiful girlfriend but how come he walks out with a hedgehog cupped in between his ringed fingers?

or: some moments featuring the drivers and their shapeshifting girlfriend.

2 - logan sargeant - hawk

3 - daniel ricciardo - raccoon

4 - lando norris - ferret

10 - pierre gasly - snake

14 - fernando alonso - cocker spaniel

16 - charles leclerc - hedgehog

18 - lance stroll - fennec fox

22 - yuki tsunoda - bunny

23 - alex albon - cockatiel

24 - zhou guanyu - teacup pig

31 - esteban ocon - flying squirrel

33 - max verstappen - ragdoll cat

44 - lewis hamilton - samoyed

55 - carlos sainz - meerkat

63 - george russell - deer

81 - oscar piastri - duck

ask blurbs:

pierre, esteban - snake, flying squirrel

kimi, charles, lewis, alex, max, lando - tiger, hedgehog, samoyed, cockatiel, ragdoll cat, ferret

zhou - shih tzu

alex, george, daniel, zhou, max, franco - cockatiel, deer, raccoon, teacup pig, ragdoll cat, orange cat

fyi: i plan to update this as i write each fic. i cannot promise that each upload will be timely, as i do have school, so bare with me. if you have any prompt ideas or other shapeshifter!r animal requests, feel free to let me know :)

update: a big thank you to everyone for who followed along with me for my first ever series! it was super fun to plan and write. make sure to stay posted for the f2/reserve/team principal spinoff version! 😉 - anais

[babybearnation]

privacy sign on the door

⎇f1 drivers x gn!reader ; your relationship is about to be leaked (reactions) ⎇contains: alex albon, arthur leclerc, charles leclerc, dino beganovic, george russell, zhou guanyu, kimi antonelli, lance stroll, lando norris, liam lawson, logan sargeant, max verstappen, mick schumacher, ollie bearman, oscar piastri, paul aron, pierre gasly, yuki tsunoda ⎇author's note: fics for friends :D if you enjoyed this long ass fic, maybe considering supporting me over on my kofi. ⎇content warnings: suggestive (alex, liam, oscar), mentions of hate (charles, liam, pierre), arguments (kimi, yuki), mentions of logan's shitty time in f1 (logan) ⎇word count: 2.2k

alex albon:

he's angry in a way he rarely ever is. why can't people just leave you and him alone for once in their lives? when you share the many, many tweets gossiping about the pair of you, he's just so angry. he doesn't care about the publicity - it's part of the job - but you're just trying to live your life and it's not fair that people keep invading your privacy.

when you suggest exposing your relationship, gaining the upper hand on the media and giving a big fuck you to everyone trying to forcibly invade your privacy, alex is hesitant. are you sure you wanna do that? when you say yes and that you're positive in your decision, he finally agrees and you two post a cute lil cuddling pic which is received (mostly) fondly by the many.

y'all fuck straight after tho :D

arthur leclerc:

he wasn't expecting there to be so much media attention when it came to him and his relationship. sure, he's charles' brother and ferrari's development driver, but did people really care that much about him and his love life? well, clearly so, if all the rumours flying about are anything to go by.

when you ask if he wants to go public, he finds himself torn. on the one hand, he'd get to spend all his time with you without having to be sneaky. on the other hand, it'd be a lot of media attention for you. he ultimately leaves the decision in your hands, so when you say you want to, arthur posts a really cute photo of you two together before putting his phone on DND and spending all night with you.

the media storm he wakes up to the next day is surprisingly kind.

charles leclerc:

he's tired. so fucking tired. the media is so obsessed with who he's dating and who's he seeing and this and that and the status of his love life and honestly, he probably saw the gossip stuff before you did, prompting him to bring it up when you ask him what's wrong. you can't help but chuckle fondly at him and his exasperation.

your offer to go public has him stalling, eyes wide and cheeks flushing. it's adorable but you worry you've pushed him too far so you start stammering apologies that he silences with a soft kiss. he asks if you're sure that you want to go public - all too aware of the kind of hate you may receive - but when you affirm that you do, he's immediately pulling you into a kiss and posting a pic of it to his story.

everyone teases him for such a bold hard launch lol.

dino beganovic:

dino's a massive softie so he's been basically soft launching you this entire time. when the rumours start to swirl about the mysterious person in his life being you, the two of you laugh about it, making jokes about how long it had taken for people to realise the truth.

eventually, things get more serious as you shyly, sleepily ask him if he wants to go fully public. he hums and thinks it over before saying he wouldn't mind, but it's ultimately your choice. when you say yes, you want to go public, he picks the very best photo of you (just you) and shares it to his social media, a teasing comment or two referencing the rumours in his captions.

social media goes a little bit wild about it, tbh.

george russell:

media king. knows how to subtly deflect all the questions about you and him and your (potential) relationship together in a way that makes all his astute fans frustrated but unable to really get the concrete answers that they want because he just has such a way with words.

when you tease him about his responses, showing his fans thoughts on the matter, he smirks and suggests maybe going public and you laugh and agree and before long, there's a whole post on his instagram about you that makes literally everyone fawn over him because how is he so sweet!?

f1 couple goals, tbh.

zhou guanyu:

he's pretty private so when the rumours start to swirl about your relationship, he's blaming himself. he never wanted to thrust you into the spotlight without your consent, and now he feels like he's done exactly that. you, meanwhile, had already accepted this as a potential outcome of dating him.

so when you share that you're comfortable letting the world know - that you love him too much to care what anyone on social media has to say - he falls for you all over again, agreeing to post a simple, soft, faceless photo of you two together, tagging your account on the post and making everyone go crazy.

he doesn't regret it at all.

kimi antonelli:

as much as he tries to pretend he's super confident and not at all bothered by the rumours surrounding you two, he's actually very upset and annoyed by all the media attention his love life is getting. he can handle all the attention about his f1 career but his love life? nope. that's a step too far.

when you suggest maybe going public to shut most of the rumours down and let everyone have what they want, he gets angry. why would you ever sacrifice your privacy for him? which of course, makes you angry and you two end up having a very stupid argument that eventually ends in you and him agreeing to go public.

literally no one is shocked at the truth lol.

lance stroll:

he's one more awfully worded article away from paying every damn motorsports news page to shut the fuck up about the pair of you. why did they even care so much about who he was dating? he gets so upset about it that it nearly scares you, not used to such riotous fury from him.

the only thing you can think of is going public, taking the decision from their hands before they can expose you two. lance thinks it over in amidst a billion kisses before deciding its your call. hours later, you two are watching movies together and ignoring the many responses you are getting to your relationship announcement.

lance continues to stay off of social media, though.

lando norris:

lando is used to this. not a single day has gone by throughout his entire f1 career where someone hasn't questioned him and his love life and who he's dating and who his exes are. it's infuriating, sure, but in that way where its bone deep. it's just a part of him now.

you, however, are refusing to let him stew in silent anger about this and you tell him you want to go public. end the speculation and the theorising. go public and be fucking happier for it. it takes a while to convince him but eventually he agrees and instantly, he realises you were right. he feels lighter and happier now that you two are public.

and now, he can get a good luck kiss from you before every race without worrying about being caught!

liam lawson:

there's so much media attention on him right now that he knew his relationship status would become a topic of interest soon enough. so, when it does, he's almost relaxed about it. unless you're expressing great distress and concern, he's really not bothered about the rumours.

but when you express that you're not distressed and are instead much more interested in giving the fans what they want - hopefully turning some of the negative watchers away from him as well - he's gleeful. pictures and instagram stories are being posted almost instantly and sure enough, it's enough of a distraction for the haters.

you get thanked for that later on..

logan sargeant:

he just wants to delete his existence from the universe. pretend he never existed. seriously. he's so tired of the media constantly barging into his life and now they're trynna get you involved too? like, come on... he's just a dude trynna survive in the world of motorsports. you are his literal saving grace. he doesn't want that taken from him as well.

when you offer to take it public, beat out the paparazzi and the gossip blogs and finally give him control over what he does for once, he says yes, posting a picture that dalton had taken of the two of you giggling and laughing together, practically collapsed against each other.

literally everyone is just glad to see him so happy.

max verstappen:

this man is a 4x wdc. he's used to the media. he's used to the prying questions and poking and prodding paparazzi. he's used to it. is he really fucking upset that you've been dragged into this? of course. but you've comforted him multiple times that you knew what you were getting into, and you'd embraced it ages ago.

when he asks if you wanna go public - as blunt as only max can be - he's not at all shocked that you say yes. you two love each other, you want a future forever together, why wouldn't you say yes? so he shares you with the world and he doesn't look back in regret.

just your typical iconic max behaviour, tbh.

mick schumacher:

mick cannot escape the media and it sucks. of course, there's a legacy attached to his surname, but he's his own person and you don't share his surname, so why are you being dragged by the media? when you tell him that people are spreading rumours about you two being together, he gets a bit shy.

"we could tell people?" mick shyly suggests and you agree. why wouldn't you? you're serious about him, he's serious about you and it doesn't make sense to hide it. so he posts a really cute photo of you two together and the internet kinda goes crazy about it.

suddenly, he finds media is not that difficult to handle!

ollie bearman:

why him? poor baby bear just wants to curl up in a ball and sleep forever when he discovers that people are starting to suspect you and him are together. like please, just leave the sleepy bear alone :(. you can't help but tease him for how cute he is throughout his entire mini breakdown though.

but really, you wouldn't mind going public. that makes him perk up, eyes wide and sparkly. "you wouldn't?" "of course not." well that settles that. ollie's posting about you within the very same hour, his favourite photo of you and him together being the main image, with some of his self-taken photos of you being visible in the same post.

the caption? "my fave." nothing more, nothing less.

oscar piastri:

he's trying to remain calm, and outwardly, it seems like nothing is wrong. but internally, a storm is brewing. you can tell something's wrong and when you ask him, he angrily vents about people invading his, and more importantly, your privacy. he's so passionate and defensive, you can't help but find it charming.

you calm him down before suggesting going public. "we control the narrative, yeah?" he sees the wisdom in what you're saying and lets you pick out the pictures for him to post. he posts them with a simple red heart emoji for a caption (your account is tagged, of course). the entire f1 fandom seemingly explodes, but you two don't care.

after all, oscar still has some pent up emotions to deal with ;)

paul aron:

the rumours that he could be in a relationship with someone seemed to have lit a fire under everyone's asses and now everyone was scouring the internet for hints and clues as to who paul was dating. it seemed like everyone had forgotten about his alpine news. great.

you, ever the comforting presence in his life, soon shakily confessed that maybe... maybe you two should go public about it. end all the theorising and speculation and let it be a source of excitement for a week or so before diverting people back to the news of paul in f1. he agrees and before long, there's an announcement made.

paul kisses you in thanks because he's positive no words can reflect his gratitude.

pierre gasly:

he's honestly not sure how to feel. like... he's pretty used to the media attention, therefore it doesn't really bother him when people start talking about him again. but you're involved this time and he doesn't want you to get hurt or attacked because of your relationship with him.

when he finds you reading through speculative tweets one day, he decides to broach the subject. what he isn't expecting is for you to shove your phone into his face, a drafted instagram post exposing your relationship lit up on the screen. "whaddya think?" he laughs and posts it for you.

he's just a chill dude who's in love tbh.

yuki tsunoda:

another private one, yuki is very determined to ignore the rumours until they go away and leave the pair of you alone. can't he just kiss his partner in peace and quiet? why did the media always have to be involved? you end up having to feed him food and give him kisses to calm him down.

when you try and suggest going public, he reacts negatively, starting an argument between the two of you. it reaches almost catastrophic levels before he realises that, actually, going public isn't that bad of an idea. you two end up agreeing on that before a new, smaller, less serious argument forms on what picture you should post.

it takes a while, but eventually you two go public and yuki falls asleep happily in your arms.

© all rights to babybearnation 2025.

[dannyricsmirrorball]

get him back! • pg10 part 1 ੈ✩‧₊˚

do i love him? do i hate him?

ੈ✩‧₊˚ pairings || pierre gasly x singer!reader

ੈ✩‧₊˚ genre || social media au

ੈ✩‧₊˚ summary || semi inspired by olivia rodrigo’s get him back! reader is alexandra’s best friend and meets pierre through her and charles… everything after is a rocky road.

alt. y/n keeps going back.

ੈ✩‧₊˚ warning || pierre lowkey rlly toxic, dirty jokes, cheating kind of

ੈ✩‧₊˚ a/n || ahhh first fic in forever,, i have so much school work but i’ll try to get stuff out whenever i can xx this was also meant to be one part but there was too much to fit in one hahahah soooo i think they’re will be one more part xx

liked by pierregasly, alexandrasaintmleux, and 320,028 others

yourusername last night was a dream <3

alexandrasaintmleux trop belle 💗

⤷ yourusername 💗💗

alexandrasaintmleux wonder why?

⤷ charles_leclerc 🤔🤔

⤷ yourusername 🙃

⤷ username16 WHAT DOES THIS MEAN

username17 oh my god

username44 GEJDJHTUCJ

gracieabrams BABE 😍

⤷ yourusername ilyilyily

usernams4 omg i hope we see her at the race!

⤷ username92 sameee it’s been like months

lilamoss you’re a dream 🥹

username62 prettiest girl in the universe

liked by charles_leclerc, jackdoohan, and 435,938 others

pierregasly party hard

tagged landonorris, charles_leclerc, alexandrasaintmleux, yourusername

landonorris mate 🤣

username71 y/n?!? what is the crossover

⤷ username93 y/n’s best friend is charles’ gf,, she’s gone to a few races w alex and been in the ferrari garage!

charles_leclerc party animal calamar!

⤷ pierregasly 😅

username61 alexandra feature lfg!

⤷ username16 the crumbs w live off 😭

yourusername 🙃

⤷ pierregasly 🙂

⤷ username28 erm are we interrupting smth?

username14 happy pride to lando and pierre?

username16 alex and y/n both look absolutely gorgeous

liked by username32, username14, and 12,028 others

f1wagworld alexandra joined by best friend and pop star y/n y/l/n in the ferrari hospitality! 💗☺️

tagged alexandrasaintmleux, yourusername

username1 eeee my fave girls

username82 two pretty best friends

username34 bet she’s never watched a race besides the ones she’s been to 🙄 probs doesn’t even watch those either

⤷ username61 yeah and while she’s partying w f1 drivers and coming to races as their guest,, ur busy being a keyboard warrior lol

username7 eee y/n in the paddock!

username63 hot girls love ferrari ❤️‍🔥

liked by username17, charles_leclerc, and 23,082 others

f1wagworld yourusername spotted chatting with alpine driver pierre gasly!

tagged pierregasly, yourusername

username72 OMG

username61 shippp

username4 so ready for y/n f1 wag era

username71 she looks down bad, girl stand up!

username72 charles in the likes?? messyyyy

⤷ username63 he loves the gossip hahaha

username2 too sweet 💘

liked by username14, username10, and 41,082 others

f1wagworld pop star y/n y/l/n spotted in alpine garage!

after being spotted joining best friend and charles girlfriend, alexandra saint mleux, on friday in the ferrari hospitality, y/n was spotted chatting to pierre gasly after qualifying. today it seems the pop star has switched teams for the weekend! spotted in not only the alpine garage, but also pierre gasly’s garage. this comes after y/l/n was, to fans surprise, included in the french driver’s instagram dump ahead of the weekend.

do we have a new wag on our hands? 💙🩷

tagged yourusername, pierregasly, alpinef1

username62 OMGOMGOMG

username2 y/n f1 wag agenda starts now

username99 omf they’d be such a hot couple

username17 miss girl never misses

username04 audibly screamed when i saw her on the screen

liked by username16, username10, and 21,092 others

f1updates party party party!!!

pierre gasly and charles leclerc spotted partying in spain after the latter’s win and the former’s podium at the 2023 spanish gp. also present was charles’ girlfriend alexandra saint mleux and singer y/n y/l/n.

pierre and y/n were seen cozying up through various party goers socials… is there love in the air for the french driver?

usernams81 omg it’s happening

username66 drivers in the wild

username71 oh to party w pierre and charles

username55 woah this is too much for me rn

username16 they’re all OUT of it

username82 pierre and charles pulling bad bitch bffs

username9 they all look incredible wtf it’s unfair

liked by scuderiaferrari, lilymhe, and 218,936 others

yourusername welcome to miami 🌴

tagged alexandrasaintmleux, charles_leclerc

username61 her presence brought good luck to pierre and charles!

username52 she’s so real

lilymhe pretty 🩷

⤷ yourusername love uuu

username5 really hope her and pierre work out

⤷ username4 work out? girl we don’t know anything about their relationship,, they just met

alexandrasaintmleux let’s do it again please ☺️

⤷ yourusername we’ll see 🙃

⤷ charles_leclerc something tells me you’ll be wanting to come to another race sooner rather than later…

username17 cutie charlieeee

pierregasly 😉

⤷ username7 this man 😀

liked by sabrinacarpenter, pierregasly, and 185,266 others

yourusername someone take me to the eiffel tower pls

username1 feral

username6 ummmm the france jersey w number 10?! opposite of subtle missy

⤷ username17 so cute 🥹🥹

pierregasly 🐶

⤷ charles_leclerc gtfo

⤷ alexandrasaintmleux omfg paws OFF

⤷ yourusername you 2 are no fun! 🐶

liked by pierregasly

alexandrasaintmleux please stop being horny on the main

⤷ yourusername u told me to stop doing it on the private as well…

⤷ username16 let me in 😭

liked by username82, username9, and 134,038 others

f1updates y/n y/l/n and pierre gasly spotted cozying up at wimbledon with charles and alexandra.

tagged yourusername, pierregasly, alexandrasaintmleux, charles_leclerc

username16 WTF

username18 IS THIS REAL OMF

username3 oh my god they’re perfect

username74 it couple 🔥

username92 this group face card is crazy

⤷ username03 face cardS too lethal,, never declineeeee

liked by yourusername, declanrice, and 531,800 others

pierregasly another week, another race, another chance!

tagged yourusername

username72 THE HARD LAUNCH?!

username6 ummm gagged

username24 aww they’re so fucking cute

yourusername si fier mon bébé ❤️

⤷ pierregasly 😘

username43 oh to be held by pierre gasly like that

⤷ username1 oh to hold y/n y/l/n like that

username92 cutiesss

ben_thorne you guys! ☺️

charles_leclerc 😘

alpinef1team things we love to see 😍

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, iamrebeccad, and 608,022 others

yourusername 🧛🧛‍♀️

username61 how does she still look so pretty lmfao

username55 vampire is such a banger

alexandrasaintmleux 😍

pierregasly my little vampire 😍

pierregasly bloodsucker fr 🙃

⤷ yourusername not the only thing i suck 🙃

⤷ charles_leclerc 😧

⤷ alexandrasaintmleux mon dieu 😭

⤷ username74 lmfao they match each others freak

username23 BLEEDING ME OUT LIKE GODDAMN VAMPIRE

liked by rachelzegler, landonorris, and 2,989,004 others

yourusername life recently 💙🩷

tagged pierregasly, alexandrasaintmleux

username64 life b4 guts seems non existent like how did i live without it

username5 god they’re actually so cute together

username53 the alpine hearts 🥹

pierregasly la vie avec toi ❤️

⤷ yourusername bébé 🥰

username27 third photo 😫

alexandrasaintmleux mon complice 💖

username92 this coupleeee

liked by landonorris, carlossainz55, and 324,929 others

pierregasly mon cœur ❤️

tagged yourusername

charles_leclerc whipped

⤷ alexandrasaintmleux what.

⤷ charles_leclerc me too ☺️

⤷ pierregasly 🫵🤣

username87 my heart is full

danielricciardo got your very own 🐨

yourusername stealing ur brand @oscarpiastri

⤷ oscarpiastri 🐨

alpinef1team the best couple

yourusername i love youuuu

⤷ pierregasly ❤️

username17 cutie pies

liked by charles_leclerc, lorenzotl, and 698,092 others

pierregasly love 😘

tagged yourusername, charles_leclerc

username62 charles leclerc ahh caption hahahha

yourusername my love 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨

username3 ahhh he loves her smm

username45 awww the sweetest couple

alpinef1team piarles 😘

username52 his gf and his bf in one post

liked by username16, username4, and 3,092 others

f1updates y/n, pierre, and lando spotted partying with friends again!

username6 i swear all they do is party hahaha

username66 sexy peopleeee

username32 the again lmfao

⤷ username4 i can’t remember a weekend where they weren’t 😭

username16 lando 😫😫

username3 y/n looks sawrrrr good

liked by romeobeckham, gracieabrams, and 1,098,834 others

yourusername another bar, another dance

tagged pierregasly, landonorris, luisinhaoliveira99, iamrebeccad

username62 cutest couple

username51 i swear they’re always partying,, do they ever do anything else

⤷ username8 they used to…

username17 does anyone find it odd that alex and charles have stopped going out w pierre and y/n as much

⤷ username2 maybe they just don’t want to party as much

alexandrasaintmleux lol

⤷ yourusername 🙃

⤷ alexandrasaintmleux get ur shit together.

⤷ username16 um woah wtf

landonorris LITTTT 🔥🔥🔥

⤷ username67 what a weird little man

username62 um no pierre in the comments?

username54 here after @f1updates post…

liked by username62, username18, and 27,828 others

f1updates f1 it couple spotted in explosive argument after seen partying with friends

username61 noooo

username15 they’ve been off recently so this makes sense

username42 no god pls don’t break up my family

username10 finally got rid of that gold digger 🔥

username4 aw y/n crying 😢

username16 i just know alex is LIVID

⤷ username23 literally like she don’t play about her bff

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, lilymhe, and 23 others

y/ncriesalot i miss him

alexandrasaintmleux no no he’s stupid!!!

alexandrasaintmleux no thinking about 🥖

⤷ yourusername 🥺

⤷ alexandrasaintmleux put the phone down y/n/n

lilymhe girl!!! i know it’s hard but it’s for the better 🫂

kaiagerber babe he’s not worth it

heidiberger_ don’t waste that pretty face on that ugly man

⤷ yourusername u don’t have to lie tho… i’ve seen his recent 😭

⤷ heidiberger_ he’s trying to thirst trap u! trying too hard at that.

⤷ bawsixteen she’s right that is what he’s doing

⤷ yourusername it’s working 😫

bawsixteen please don’t cry,, i know you u don’t want to hear it but he’s not losing much sleep over this

⤷ lilymhe what is charles doing here??

⤷ y/ncriesalot he’s my friend 🥹 and he’s an insider!

⤷ bawsixteen ☺️

⤷ y/ncriesalot also- charlie ☹️

⤷ bawsixteen i know i know chère

⤷ y/ncriesalot just be honest

⤷ bawsixteen always

⤷ y/ncriesalot is he fucking other girls now

⤷ y/ncriesalot charles?

⤷ y/ncriesalot i know you can see this!

⤷ y/ncriesalot oh okay. got it.

liked by pierregasly, alexandrasaintmleux, and 6,092,737 others

yourusername cry about it 💋

alexandrasaintmleux bella bella bellaaaa

alexandrasaintmleux my wife 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👩

⤷ yourusername loml

⤷ charles_leclerc i’ll allow it just for today

alexandrasaintmleux hottest girl in the world

usernams61 pierre FUMBLED

username10 showing pierre what he’s missing out onnn

username52 somewhere along the seine there is a french man drowning himself

liked by yourusername, alexandrasaintmleux

devonleecarlson mamaaaa 🔥

heidiberger_ linda 😍 i see what you’re doing…

⤷ yourusername 🙃

sabrinacarpenter his loss

username5 i just know pierre is crying screaming throwing up

username52 pierre should be begging on his knees

⤷ username6 too bad she won’t take him back,, girly doesn’t take shit!

pierregasly mon dieu 😫

⤷ username64 hahahha she’s got pierre regretting everything

⤷ username77 🫵🤣 bro u fumbledddd

⤷ username12 must be humbling for him

liked by username10, username23, and 21,092 others

f1wagworld pierre gasly spotted with recent ex girlfriend y/n y/l/n last night!

tagged pierregasly, yourusername

username16 gagged.

username3 girllll stand tf up

username14 the way everyone was laughing at pierre for fumbling but this girl is so horrendously down bad

username26 am i the only one happy about this like parents are backkk

⤷ username5 right we don’t even know what happened,, i take this as a win

username11 who hasn’t gone back to an ex for at least one night hahah this doesn’t mean they’re back together

liked by pierregasly, inhalerdublin, and 4,028,737 others

yourusername certified lover girl ☺️

tagged pierregasly

username62 oh girl

username7 parents back together!

pierregasly belle

pierregasly locked in ❤️‍🔥

⤷ yourusername not made for the single life…😘

username02 we are sooo back baby

alexandrasaintmleux whipped 😐

⤷ yourusername 😫

landonorris parents 😍

⤷ alex_albon gtfo here

⤷ yourusername 😧😮

username74 ok but that first photo 🥹

username9 girl is down bad and i don’t blame her

charles_leclerc all this practice and u still can’t beat me @pierregasly? 😂

liked by charles_leclerc, danielricciardo, and 397,755 others

pierregasly silly girl ❤️

tagged yourusername

username22 does anyone else feel like te caption is kind of infantilising especially w their age gap

⤷ username13 bffr the photos he chose are silly and she’s 23 a full grown adult

yourusername 🥹

username24 gawd she’s so pretty

alexandrasaintmleux my girl 😍🙂

⤷ yourusername foreverrrr

⤷ pierregasly 😐

landonorris alco @yourusername

⤷ yourusername wtvvvv

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, gracieabrams, and 28 others

y/ncriesalot i need him (he tried to fuck all my friends)

alexandrasaintmleux babe 😐

⤷ y/ncriesalot uhhhhhh

bawsixteen il est tellement stupide

lilymhe meme format goes crazy

alexandrasaintmleux i’ll tell charles to crash him out

⤷ bawsixteen uhhhhh

⤷ yourusername he’s too far back anyways 🙂

⤷ lilymhe i’ll tell alex to crash him out

sukiwaterhouse stop that photo 😭

sukiwaterhouse also girl… ☹️

heidiberger_ french baguette bitch

⤷ heidiberger_ that was daniel but i agree

⤷ yourusername DANNY COVER UR EYES THIS IS PRIVATE INFO

madisonbeer ☹️

tatemcrae ☹️

maddieziegler ☹️

madelineargy ☹️

camilamorrone ☹️

liked by alexandrasaintmleux, heidiberger_, and 2,009,545 others

yourusername they never change 🫀

username6 welp that lasted long

alexandrasaintmleux my princess

username82 oh!

username77 ok but first pic… pierre defs regretting life choices rn

⤷ username61 said that last time and then… 💥

username62 break up post and thirst trap all in one

kaiagerber icon

madisonbeer girlfriend 😍

username3 pierre gasly it’s on sight

pierregasly mature

⤷ username33 the girls are fightinggg

liked by username72, yourusername, and 27,982 others

SPILLURGUTS y/n spotted at paris fashion week with LV!

username62 aww she looks beautiful

username88 glad she’s doing well after the break up

username7 fit served

username53 heard pierre will be there too, hope she doesn’t have to face him

⤷ username1 praying for my girl 💗

username1 fit game remains untouched

username92 post break up glowwww

liked by username5, username74, and 34,766 others

f1updates pierre gasly attending louis vuitton paris fashion show with ex? y/n y/l/n

tagged pierregasly, yourusername

username71 girl wtf

username55 “they never change” babe YOU 🫵 never change

username62 IM CRYING SHES JUST LIKE ME

username64 we are sooo back… again!

username10 okay but they look so good

username13 is now a good time to mention that i saw y/n at the airport and when she was boarding her ticket declined and she was like im so sorry this was very last minute and the person said “oh sorry you must be mr gasly’s guest!” 😬

⤷ username73 WHAT?!

alexandrasaintmleux @yourusername ?!

liked by bawsixteen, carmenmmundt, and 23 others

y/ncriesalot lol

alexandrasaintmleux mon dieu 😖

⤷ bawsixteen you are stressing her out y/n!

kaiagerber BAD IDEA!!!

⤷ y/ncriesalot right…?

⤷ kaiagerber i fell right into that one

lilymhe girl the shamelessness is crazyyyy

heidiberger_ at least ur self aware

gracieabrams i can’t 😭😭

liked by pierregasly, landonorris, and 4,088,929 others

yourusername i love that man like nobody can

tagged pierregasly

pierregasly my girl ❤️

⤷ yourusername always ❤️

⤷ username61 until he cheats on you again lol

this comment has been deleted by the post creator

⤷ username8 how do u know he cheated?

⤷ username61 idk he’s just the type

⤷ username17 omg she deleted that person’s comment 😭😭 y/n please wake up

username32 find some shame queen

username7 yeah bc nobody else would go back to him 😭

liked by alexandrasaintmleux

username16 d must be good

liked by yourusername

username45 definition of “i can fix him” delulu

username6 ok but.. last two photos are rlly cute

landonorris 🦵🦵🦵

⤷ alex_albon u r so embarrassing

⤷ yourusername LANDO

liked by pierregasly, yourusername, and 267,939 others

alpinef1 you’re favourite IT couple decked out in the palace skateboards x KAPPA x alpine f1 vegas collection!

tagged pierregasly, yourusername

username10 they’re the cutest

username3 they may be toxic asf but they’re also hot asf

⤷ username67 a match made in hell

yourusername wag duties 🩷💙

⤷ pierregasly my favourite wag mon cœur 😍

⤷ yourusername you’re only wag 🙃

⤷ username11 i wouldn’t be too sure about that y/n

username71 tryna ride my scooter w my man like this

⤷ username82 tryna ride my man like this

liked by yourusername

⤷ username6 omg y/n stand up

liked by username72, username10, and 45,093 others

f1updates pierre gasly and girlfriend y/n y/l/n share a tense silent departure from the circuit after the race. allegedly, the couple got into another one of their famed arguments in the middle of the alpine hospitality - bystanders say the couple were arguing about pierre’s controlling and possessive nature! is this the final end to this couple’s tumultuous ride.

username4 oh wow she looks so drained

username63 “some boys take a beautiful girl and hide her away from the rest of the world”

username7 bro i was in the paddock and you could hear them from outside the motorhome

username7 do we think they broke up?

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

eeee what do we think?! pls let me know xx part 2 coming soon <3

[menagerofmischief]

🎀 NADIA'S MASTERLIST

masterlist of all my already written fics individual drivers -> poly fics -> smau's -> series

request status: open (general, smau, nsfw alphabets, text au's) closed (dia's diner)

some drivers have individual masterlists while for some fics are linked under their name. they'll all have individual masterlists at some point as I will make them when I have free time

ღ oscar piastri

ღ lando norris

ღ max verstappen

ღ carlos sainz

ღ charles leclerc

ღ daniel ricciardo

cooking ...

ღ lewis hamilton

good morning baby

legacy series

ღ george russel

cooking ...

ღ alex albon

cooking ...

ღ fernando alonso

cooking ...

ღ franco colapinto

pretty boy

fan favorite (smau)

ღ pierre gasly

cooking ...

ღ esteban ocon

cooking ...

ღ lance stroll

cooking ...

ღ mick schumacher

cooking ...

ღ ollie bearman

sugar mommy (text au)

ღ kimi antonelli

cooking ...

ღ arthur leclerc

cooking ...

ღ sebastian vettel

pole baby pole

legacy series

ღ mark webber

nsfw alphabet

ღ jenson button

nsfw alphabet

ღ nico rosberg

a well mannered ...

ღ toto wolff

over the sink

cookies and cream

ღ poly fics

lots of bags and lots of thank you's (lando + oscar)

a night for three (max + charles)

ღ smau's

she's everything he's max -> mv33

fan favorite -> fc43

heart song -> op81

ღ series

habs incoming ...

text au's

[niniluvsainz]

the alchemy ☽ gr63

taglist | masterlist | ttpd series masterlist

in which... she turned him into gold, the most prized possession of hers that he will never let go.

george russell x fem!reader

warnings... cursing

faceclaim... emilia mernes

author’s note… my first ttpd fic!! i’ve rushed through this for sure, but i just wanted to get something out! there will absolutely be more to come in the near future!

yourusername

liked by georgerussell63 and others

yourusername boy said "be my photographer i need pictures" yet he won't be my photographer

view all comments.

georgerussell63 i have priorities

↪ yourusername SLEEPING ON THE COUCH!!!

user OMG STAWP THEYRE SO CUTE

user im so single bro

landonorris could've thrown him into the ocean while ur there

↪ yourusername believe me i wanted to. intrusive thoughts and all

user manifesting that gr63 win soon!!

lailahasanovic a beauty

↪ yourusername mwah love ya

georgerussell63

liked by yourusername and others

georgerussell63 POLE IN CANADA! holy molyyy, giving it all tomorrow!!!

view all comments.

yourusername YEAHHHHH

yourusername THATS WHAT IM FUCKING TALKING ABOUT

user GEORGE POLE THE WORLD HEALED

user HE DID THE POSE

user lfgggg

user team gr63 finna celebrate hard

user if george wins im shaving my head

↪ user holding u to that

yourusername added to their story!

↪ p3 for my man! that's how it's done, congrats georgerussell63 !! 🩵

f1gossipgirl

liked by 48,736 users

f1gossipgirl BIG NEWS! yourusername will be performing on june 23rd at lluis companys olympic stadium, the home stadium of fc barcelona! after a little over a month of being on break for her .mp3 tour, the singer returns to the stage! moreover, the concert will be the evening after the formula one race in barcelona, will we possibly see drivers there?

view all comments.

user MOTHER IS BACK

user I MISSED Y/N ON STAGE

user I HOPE GEORGE WINS SO HE CAN CELEBRATE THERE

user WE'RE SO BACK

user omg for sure george, lando, and some of the wags will be there!

↪ user for sure pierre and kika, esteban and flavy, mick and lailah, and lily and alex!

yourusername

liked by georgerussell63 and others

yourusername BARCELONA! un honor cantar para ustedes! demasiadas gracias por venir, las vibras, el amor, todo se sintio! gracias por darle la bienvenida nuevamente al tour, nos vemos en la proxima parada! (such an honor to sing for you all! thank you all so much for showing up, the vibes, the love, everything was felt tonight! thank you for welcoming the tour once again, we will see each other at the next stop!)

view all comments.

flavy.barla such. an. experience.

iamrebeccad you were amazing!!

landonorris heck yeah

georgerussell63 stunning, gorgeous, unbeatable, top of the charts, gorgeous

lilymhe I LOVE YOU YOU ROCKED THAT STAGE

f1gossipgirl

liked by 50,726 users

f1gossipgirl success!! y/n l/n's .mp3 tour kicked off again in barcelona, the show being attended by maximum capacity! as predicted before, a few of the f1 drivers attended their friend's concert! george russell was there supporting his girlfriend, as well as alex albon and lily muni he. later on, fans noticed drivers carlos sainz, lando norris, pierre gasly, esteban ocon, fernando alonso, and charles leclerc. the other wags who attended were rebecca donaldson, francisca gomes, flavy barla, and alexandra saint mleux. fc barcelona players pablo gavi, joao felix, pedro gonzalez were also seen at the concert.

view all comments.

user she is the it girl

user GUYS I THINK PARENTS ARE ENGAGED

↪ user what the hello kitty pls explain

↪ user RUN TO TWITTER!!!

twitter!

replies;

↪ user OMG I THINK ITS HAPPENING PEOPLE

↪ user if they got engaged i'll shave my head

↪ user I DONT HAVE A CHANCE WITH EITHER OF THEM ANYMORE NOOO (im so happy for them your honor)

↪ user oh she absolutely is talking about her man

↪ user about time he put a ring on her finger !!!

yourusername and georgerussell63

liked by georgerussell63 and others

yourusername i think i'm getting married

view all comments.

georgerussell63 I'M HER FUTURE HUSBAND!

georgerussell63 wait why do you think you're getting married, you ARE getting married to this handsome young fella right here

↪ yourusername uh huh sure

↪ georgerussell63 WHATS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN-

landonorris WHOOP WHOOP CONGRATS

maxverstappen1 congratulations to the future weds!

alex_albon i'm for sure being the best man

↪ lilymhe yourusername make me maid of honor

↪ yourusername wasn't thinking of anyone else, lils <3

↪ georgerussell63 i don't think i have a choice alex_albon

charles_leclerc WHOS GONNA PARTYYYYY

↪ alexandrasaintmleux excuse him, congratulations to you both!! so happy for you

carlossainz55 congrats!! why does y/n only have her reaction photo here?

↪ georgerussell63 i made no reaction.

↪ yourusername george was baby crying and strategically aligned the camera crew to not snap a shot in his direction

francisca.cgomes MY BABY IS GETTING MARRIED

↪ yourusername ILY KIKA

fernandoalo_oficial mi nina se casa!! (my girl is getting married)

↪ yourusername si, papa postizo (yes, adoptive father)

user YOURE FUCKING ENGAGED???

user OH MY GOD IM CRYING, PARENTS ARE GONNA BE MARRIED!!!!!

georgerussell63

liked by yourusername and others

georgerussell63 you CAN win this!!

view all comments.

user toto's radio message killed me

yourusername my handsome winner

yourusername WHERE'S THE TROPHY?

↪ lilymhe HE JUST CAME RUNNING OVER TO YOU

↪ alex_albon SO WHEN HE TOUCHED DOWN, CALL THE AMATEURS AND CUT EM FROM THE TEAM

↪ landonorris DITCH THE CLOWNS GET THE CROWN

↪ georgerussell63 BABY IM THE ONE TO BEAT

↪ yourusername CAUSE THE SIGN ON YOUR HEART SAID ITS STILL RESERVED FOR ME

↪ mercedesamgf1 HONESTLY, WHO ARE WE TO FIGHT THE ALCHEMY

user i love this friend group your honor

user GEORGE WON THIS SHIT

lewishamilton 🤛 🏆

yourusername

liked by georgerussell63 and others

yourusername YABADABADOOOO FIANCEE DID IT!! (featuring my live reaction to the last laps where i knew george was gonna win)

view all comments.

iamrebeccad GODLY WOMAN!

↪ yourusername BECKSSSS <333

georgerussell63 fiancee seems to be very talented and handsome

↪ yourusername he very much is <3

lilymhe the most beautiful bride-to-be!!

↪ alexandrasaintmleux agreed <3

francisca.cgomes CAN YOU MARRY ME INSTEAD?

↪ pierregasly okay.

↪ yourusername look at 2022 world cup, baguette. who beats you there? ;)

↪ estebanocon DAMN HIT YOU THERE!

↪ estebanocon wait...

taglist: @ultraviolencesam @Topguncultleader @peachiicherries @lilyferrari16 @tpwkstiles @cherry-piee @marshmummy @khaylin27 @Stinkyjax

[agendabymooner]

MASTERLIST: A-N F1 DRIVERS by agendabymooner

LINK TO MASTERLIST: O-Z F1 DRIVERS by agendabymooner

LINK TO SOMETHING SINFUL (SMUT) MASTERLIST by agendabymooner (MINORS DNI)

note: I CANNOT OFFICIALLY FIT MY WORKS IN ONE POST 😭 so here is my alphabetical f1 masterlist!!!

legends/genre:

a = angst g = general fic hc = hurt/comfort h = humour

s = smut (minors, dni) mc = mature content (minors, dni) f = fluff

★ - newly added ♡ - favourite piece

ALSO CHECK OUT:

MOONY'S CHARACTER DIRECTORY

MOONY'S FILIPINO CHARACTERS DIRECTORY

alex albon (aa23)

front page lover (thai!kpop idol!ofc)

keeper, smau: polly berkshire has obscure interactions with her thirsty boyfriend and it's safe to say that they love each other.

fashion week, smau: the williams driver and polly always got something for everyone to talk about.

double aa, socmed snapshot: a series of instagram stories in which alex is a dad to alice albon

own it, smau: alex's hidden talent is being a good boyfriend with a dash of photographer. ★

fernando alonso (fa14)

the breakup and makeup series (pro wrestler!ofc)

time to rock and roll, fic: the first time beatrice staedtlander and fernando alonso had broken up. (hc) ♡

heaven, smau: back in 2000s, fernando alonso and beatrice anastasia 'trish' staedtlander were every racing and wrestling fans' couple. years after, trish alonso became a mother and a wife... and the grid's crush of the season. fernando was certainly not happy so what's a better way to remind everyone that he was hers? (f, g, h)

from the ground up, smau: tino and tiago alonso were the twins that trish had given birth to at the age of 40, and everyone understood now why she didn't make it to the 2024 canadian gp. (f)

look what god gave her, smau: beatrice 'trish' alonso survived fernando's messy image better than anybody did. (f, g, h)

bonnie and the fame

maneater, smau: bonnie catherine sutton was carlos sainz's ex-girlfriend who returned to the f1 scene as a different woman. turns out, she's fernando alonso's fiancée (f)

ego, smau: never underestimate a woman's self-esteem, it might end up wounding you more than it would her.

oliver bearman (ob8)

ice ice baby, smau: kimi raikkonen's daughter romania raikkonen debuted in formula one with her friends AND it's safe to say that the iceman doesn't like ollie that much.

icy in saudi, smau: aroma raikkonen was ollie's biggest supporter in his f1 debut. plus, she also had her personal 'reverse harem' consisting of her best friends in the f2 grid. ★

ollie on thin ice(man), scenario: kimi raikkonen had proven himself to be oliver bearman's biggest hater at some point. ★

jenson button (jb22)

pride and pettiness (x british!actress!ofc)

one, 2004: in which, ada and jenson met for the first time.

the mr. darcy type, smau: much like the popular love interest, jenson should have known better than to say things that wouldn't impress a woman he grew interested in. OR ada abbott made sure that he worked hard for her time and attention. (f) ♡

shunt the hell up! (x hunt!driver!ofc)

shunt your lovers, kiss your enemies. smau: it was funny how enemies can be your teammate AND your lover at the same time. OR jj hunt, the daughter of the late james hunt, was jenson's biggest rival until a certain baby predicament cost her her entire racing career. (g) ♡

better enemies than strangers, smau: the brawn gp docuseries discussed jj hunt and the surprising turn of events in her rivalry/partnership with jenson in 2009. ★

other works

affection, blurb: in which, jenson learned that he should just say it without being a little too drunk.

pierre gasly (pg10)

newsflash, smau: ensley soleil doesn’t like playboys. too bad, pierre gasly’s down bad for her (attention and love). (f, g, h)

odds, fic: their timing was always wrong, maybe that's why pierre should consider making it even for the two of them as she writes songs about him and their courtship.

lowkey, smau: fans thought that pierre moved on from ensley four months after publicly declaring his (love?) for her. funnily enough... (f, g, h)

indigo, chatfic + smau: there's really no reason for pierre gasly to be jealous over some man that ensley wrote 'high school in jakarta' about. not when she wrote one or more songs about the frenchman. (f) ♡

high school in jakarta, fic: meeting ensley’s close friends would also mean that he’d have to meet her high school sweetheart, who he believed he couldn’t compete against until ensley ensured that his two-day attendance wouldn’t be spoiled by some guy who couldn’t let go of some memories she couldn’t even remember. ♡ 

dancing with the devil, smau: ensley soleil doesn't care about what people are saying about her relationship with pierre especially now that she's married to him. (f)

vintage, smau: pierre gasly is a husband and a fanboy of ensley soleil gasly amongst other things. (f)

hot dad era, socmed snapshot: pierre gasly. 30% f1 driver 70% dilf.

other works

do i make you nervous, blurb: lesson learned: just date her first rather than being friendly in the bed.

lewis hamilton (lh44)

stevie and lewis (hearth sister!ofc)

thick and thin, smau + fic: lewis should know better than underestimating her and her capabilities to yearn for him for years. (hc)

hands on and paws on, socmed snapshot: lewis is a stay-at-home dad to lottie hamilton and his best boy, roscoe, happens to watch his mummys everywhere she goes as she carries baby hamilton #2.

the hamilton daycare, fic: lewis is already a stay-at-home dad so what makes his day out in monaco with his two kids any different? (f) (2/3 of daddy, debriefed!)

where the bad girls are (kpop idol!ofc)

lifted, smau: lewis is married to a kpop idol who happened to be one of the girls to shape the image of female groups in the korean pop community.

crowned couple (x miss universe!ofc)

the couple of the universe, smau: lewis is a careless being this season and everyone's wondering why.

melody series (x performer!ofc)

summary: with her sharp eyes focused on her audience, a burlesque performer who went under the name of melody returned to rythme romantique, an entertainment lounge which exclusively caters to the wealthiest people of monaco — or in this case, to the people with a status that are recognized by all. her three exclusive performances were meant to be a closure for her connections in the principality. still, a certain formula one driver saw it as an opportunity to reconnect with his former flame after two years of her absence. felicity vos learned that this was a rich man’s world and that he could do whatever he wanted, but she also realized that the agreement they settled on years ago was corrupted the moment he expressed his love for her. 

one, million dollar man: monaco was a world of glitz and glamour that she left two years ago. returning to the principality clearly was a huge mistake as she found herself talking to the man who swore to nothing but his love for her.

two, this is what makes us girls: "decorum isn't something you can buy with money or fame." or what did lewis really want from her and why did he show up on the second night of her performance?

arthur leclerc (al12)

the scheming schumachers, smau: sunny schumacher is mick's cousin and what does a family do? they attract arthur leclerc to get him away from his best friend, who happens to be mick's girlfriend. thankfully, the schumacher cousin is something of a welcome distraction for the monegasque.

charles leclerc (cl16)

the leclerc boys series (x hearth sister!ofc)

debunking drama, smau: prequel to of long lines and names; aimee hearth, the mclaren media manager and one of the famous hearth sisters, was rumoured to be dating lando norris. a certain monegasque's baffled reaction became a trending topic in twitter as he counteracts the rumour with an instagram post of his lover. (f, h)

many kids with many names, smau: everyone found out that aimee and charles were having not only one but two babies. turned out, those two babies have at least a million name. (h) ★

of long lines and names, fic: five kids with (almost) five names under six years. OR the three pregnancies that charles had witnessed told him how motherhood and memories could come in two sets of twins and a boy that looked so much like him. (f)

the leclerc daycare, fic: before his last set of twins were born, charles had to watch his boys on his own- not exactly by himself when he's got esteban and pierre acting as his right hand men. (f) (1/3 of daddy, debriefed!) ♡

about names, scenario fics

summary: extension to of long lines and names and the leclerc daycare; charles and aimee's boys and their names go hand in hand OR times when the couple had to tell their kids that their names were signs of love and respect for their namesakes.

one, an amazing boy with an amazing name: hervé's anger left his parents confused after he refused to be called by his first name. thankfully, his mamé pascale had an easy access to his heart that eventually led to an answer to his sadness.

two, the wingman of maranello: jules leclerc learned two things as he travelled to italy with his father: he had an uncle named uncle teague and uncle teague had a best friend that was once charles' godfather.

other pieces

"slut", smau: charles' ex trashed his new girlfriend a while ago, but too bad he wasn't really into the thought of making music with anyone but lou villar.

breaking curses not hearts, smau: frankie bardot atkinson was also known for her curse in the film industry. after breaking her long streaked curse and finally won an oscar, was it finally charles' time to break his curse at monza gp?

kevin magnussen (km20)

family ties, smau: lando norris forgot that his brother-in-law is in the grid with him and lola norris magnussen couldn't help but make of her brother for it.

lando norris (ln4)

lover era (x alessandro sister!writer!ofc)

london boy, smau: nicola 'cola' alessandro moved to britain and what's a better way to introduce yourself to england than taking a trip around with a certain mclaren driver? (f, g, h)

i think he knows, smau: grazia nichols published her debut novel based off formula one, and a fan could have sworn that the the book bf - nolan langford - was based off of lando's character as a driver altogether. (f, g, h)

✿ honey, honey! series masterlist - lando norris x ofc (honey-sue lewis) ft. sidemen

other pieces

too good to be true, smau: just a brief overview of lando’s relationship with a countryside girl who, beyond her introverted tendencies, was an unhinged, unserious yet amazing mother and girlfriend. ★

f1 drivers (general)

✿ 9 to 5 series masterlist - f1 grid x ofc (lester alessandro) ft. fictional wolff kids

✿ f1 voicemail blurbs - series of blurbs with voicemails left by the drivers. ★

too much caring, smau, sv5 + jb22: kpop idol juno was assumed to have cheated on retired driver jenson button with his best mate sebastian vettel. oh how wrong those people were...

[igotlovestruck]

DAISY, DAISY | pg10

PAIRING: pierre gasly x reader

DETAILS & WARNINGS: pregnancy, mentions miscarriages, birth

WC: 829

A/N: again, from baby reveal 📸! i plan on making little stories from that ig au, so here’s pierre’s version! ❤️ i also plan on making one for the other drivers (clement, dennis, felipe, marcus & pato) but like a different one, not specifically dad!au HAHAHA does that make sense? lol idk i’m rambling 😭 but anyway, enjoy!

this work is purely fictional. names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. © newuniverse, 2023. do not steal, repost in other platforms, translate and/or claim this work as your own.

pierre couldn’t believe it, it felt as if he was dreaming when they placed the baby in his arms. daisy anthoinette gasly was small in her father’s arms, the new father felt his heart skip a beat when the baby coos in his arms. she’s a perfect mix of the two of you; nose and lips from the ricciardo’s and the beautiful, captivating blue eyes from the gasly’s.

you share the intimate moment between the father and daughter. tears escaping your eyes as you watched your fiancé hold your baby for the first time. daisy anthoinette was a miracle you two have. after experiencing three miscarriages, you were on the brink of giving up your dreams of building a family with the love of your life. until one day in australia, after pierre went surfing with your brother, he saw you standing in the middle of the beach, waiting for him with pregnancy tests in hand.

“for real? mon amour, please tell me this is real…” he said, voice cracking as he held the two sticks in his own hands. you couldn’t speak, smiling and crying at the same time as you nod your head. pierre pulled you gently in his arms, planting a kiss on your temple. “baby, how do you feel?”

“i’m… i’m scared, p. i’m scared it’ll happen again.” you reply, referring to your previous miscarriages.

he never let go of you, letting you sob in his arms as he said: “baby, i know it’s scary but we’ll do everything we can to keep you two safe. i’m always here for you, if i have to quit racing just to take care of you two—i would.”

the nurses have left the three of you alone, congratulating you for a safe and successful delivery of your firstborn. pierre was in the zone as he stared at his daughter in awe, he couldn’t hear anything but her tiny coos. your pregnancy journey with daisy was hard, but thankfully his mother and your mum would help you most of the time because pierre was away most of the time.

waking up in the middle of the night with the most excruciating pain on your stomach was one of your biggest fears, but thankfully, pierre was right next to you and was able to assist you to the car. he returned to milan, just in time for daisy’s arrival. she wasn’t supposed to be born until after a few days, but the girl was so excited to welcome herself in the world and meet her parents.

“pierre, she’s going to be with us forever. stop staring and give me, your fiancée, some attention too!” you joked, causing pierre to laugh and avert his eyes from daisy to you.

“as much as i want to stare at her, i feel like i’m about to burst out crying any second now.” he chuckled, “mon amour—”

achoo! daisy sneezed, probably the cutest and smallest sneeze you’ve ever heard in your entire life and that brought a huge smile on pierre’s face. “i think i’m gonna cry, for real now” his voice cracked, “don’t tell daniel or charles though”

you smiled at him, “cry, pierre. she’s worth the tears.” you say, “and i’m definitely telling my brother and charles”

hours have passed and daisy was sleeping peacefully in the hospital baby crib, an hour for you and pierre alone. after you had pierre staring at daisy, he was now staring at you. you two have gone through ups and downs, yet here you are, staying stronger than ever—with daisy to join you in this journey together. “okay, now you have to stop staring at me” you chuckled, your hands found his cheek and the pads of your fingertip brush along his beard. “what’s on your mind, baby?”

he gives you a small smile, shaking his head lightly as he felt his cheeks heat. “nothing, just…” he sighs, “with daisy being here now, i remember the early days of our relationship… remember when we first moved in together?”

“daniel almost lost his shit when i told him i was moving with you in milan” you laugh, “our very first night together, you confessed that you feel safe in my arms and i told you that you were such a big baby.”

pierre nods his head, “now we do have a baby of our own… well, our miracle baby.” pierre leans over you, slowly connecting your lips together for a sweet kiss. a routine pierre and you have every night.

“we’re so in love, aren’t we?” you whispered, he gave you a nod.

pierre held your hand in his, squeezing it gently as he brought it in front of his lips before kissing the back. “thank you for giving me daisy. it wasn’t an easy pregnancy, but i’m glad we’ve conquered it together… you’ve conquered your fear, mon amour.”

you know hearts don’t break around here… daisy was now here to fill your hearts with joy and happiness.

yourusername and pierregasly

liked by danielricciardo, charles_leclerc, yukitsunoda0511 and others

ynricciardo daisy is enjoying her stay in australia and in the arms of her grandparents 🌼🇦🇺 it feels so surreal to think that it’s been a year since we found out i was pregnant with our little flower and now she’s here 🥹❤️

view all 2,761 comments

fan1 daisy looks so big now 🥺

ynricciardo ikr!! time goes by sooo fast, soon enough she’ll be walking around the paddock

pierregasly oh god i’m not ready for that

pierregasly but she’ll be the cutest baby there 🥹

danielricciardo the look on mum and dad’s faces! 😆

ynricciardo dad looks so happy, danny! wish you were here tho 🥹

pierregasly those balloons sure kept her entertained for a good amount of time 😄

[bunny-jpeg]

me peering in through your window: do ya'll want esteban ocon and/or pierre gasly fan fics?

[jackhues]

world tour - charles leclerc

request: could you do an ig edit where charles is dating toto's daughter, and she's a singer who's on tour, and everyone thinks she's dating one of the guest singers she's on tour with, and then she and charles just hardlaunch a relationship?

requested by: anon : )

notes: woww, i had lots of fun writing this, first f1 fic guys! thanks for requesting <3

join my f1 taglist!

pictures are not mine!

y/nwolff

liked by pierregasly, oliviarodrigo, conangray, & others

y/nwolff - it's my favourite colour tagged: conangray

view top comments

y/nisqueen: SHE IS THE MOMENT liked by y/nwolff

lucawolff: ew -> y/nwolff: you're ew -> randouser: y/n and luca showing us what it's like to have siblings

conangray: next stop: italy -> y/nwolff: i'm so excited!! -> conangray: i wonder why... -> userone: he knows something, calling it from now

usertwo: anyone else ship it?? -> y/nisqueen: they're just friends -> usertwo: okay but they look cute together

userthree: she's only famous bcz of her dad 🙄 -> y/nisqueen: toto's in motorsports and y/n's a singer, what's ur point?? -> userfour: honestly nepo babies need to move aside, there's ppl with real talent in this world

lewishamilton: so proud of you!! -> y/nwolff: 🥰🥰 -> userfive: SIR LEWIS HAMILTON??! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? -> usersix: he's known her ever since toto became mercedes' principal ??!

userseven: no one's gonna comment on the pierre gasly like? -> usersix: pierre likes everything we all know that

usereight: the vibes are wow

charles_leclerc has posted on his story!

y/nwolff

liked by charles_leclerc, lewishamilton, taylorswift & others

y/nwolff: quick stop at the gp before the concert tmrw

view top comments

userone: WHERE'S CONAN? -> usertwo: he posted the second pic on his story -> userone: soft launch?? -> usertwo: i'm screaming omgg that's so cutee

userthree: how does it feel to live my dream?? 😭

userfour: i love how all the f1 fans are here for this post, and this post alone -> userfive: we're also here for the toto bday posts

usersix: can't wait for your show!!

userseven: charles leclerc liked? no comments on that? -> usereight: she's friends with the drivers, is that a problem??

f1newsandmore

liked by userone, usertwo, userthree, & others

f1newsandmore - y/n wolff spotted behind the scenes of the italian gp in a ferrari cap?? we're as shocked as you are. rumour has it that she's dating conan gray, a guest star on her world tour, though neither of them have come outright and confirmed it. have we been misled? is y/n wolff dating a ferrari driver instead? tagged: y/nwolff

userone: CHARLES LIKED THE POST OF HER IN MONZA! IT'S CHARLES, I'M TELLING YOU

usertwo: she can't wear a ferrari cap?? -> userthree: i think it's a bet. remember when she lost that bet against pierre. she died her hair blue -> userfour: OMG I FORGOT ABOUT THAT

y/nwolff

liked by charles_leclerc, lucawolff, conangray & others

y/nwolff - italy, you've been good to me tagged: charles_leclerc

comments on this post have been limited

conangray: nice to know i don't make the final cut when ur bf is involved -> y/nwolff: i'll get you ice cream

userone: I CALLED IT!

charles_leclerc: mon amour 💖💖 liked by y/nwolff -> y/nwolff: 🤍🤍 -> conangray: stop speaking french, she's currently grinning like an idiot and is turning red -> userone: CONAN OMG 💀💀

usertwo: the way he looks at her in the first pic 😭😭 -> userthree: don't mind me, just gonna sleep on the highway tonight

userfour: omgg, i was not expecting this

charles_leclerc

liked by pierregasly, y/nwolff, lewishamilton & others

charles_leclerc - the colour might be growing on me tagged: y/nwolff

comments on this post have been disabled

part two

[httpsserene]

𝐡𝐭𝐭𝐩𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝟏 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥

𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝟭𝟬: 𝘆𝘂𝗸𝗶 𝘁𝘀𝘂𝗻𝗼𝗱𝗮 𝘅 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿 | 𝗮𝗯-𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴/𝗳𝗿𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲

📖𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆: your mental state is suffering–you’re not sure if you can handle alphatauri posting another thirst trap of your boyfriend to disguise their inability to build a car that doesn’t break within the first ten laps. but, when yuki posts his own half-naked picture on main? he’s asking for it, at this point. clearly, he’s been spending too much time with pierre. 📖𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴: 18+ only. explicit. ab-riding. pierre gasly is his own warning. no penetrative sex. 📖𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 1k words. 📖𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴: yuki tsunoda x fem!black!reader 📖𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: drabble. 📖𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸: best friend • saweetie ft. doja cat

𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲: this is actually the dirtiest fic, in theory yk. yuki has my heart, and i'm single handedly going to fill tumblr with my posts about him, thank you, good night.

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cross-posted on my ao3, htppsss

to see what kinktober uploads have already been completed or to see what's coming next check my f1 kinktober masterlist ! for all of my works see my general masterlist!

you can’t stand his smug ass smirk. he knows damn well how you feel about his thirst traps. sure, alphatauri milks any chance of plastering yuki across their social media page to fail at distracting fans from the fact that their the slowest car on the grid, and that they can’t build a car that doesn’t fall apart like legos. but, yuki, posting practically-naked (he’s only shirtless, so really you’re mildly exaggerating) pictures on his main instagram page?? he’s not george-fucking-russell, so, why the hell would he do that?

there’s only two answers to this question, and they’re both correct. one, pierre gasly—the french bastard. you can’t leave them together unsupervised. and two, to make you mad. 9which you very much are, so, yuki achieved what he wanted. he’s especially thrilled, when you shove him down onto your bed, and straddle his lap, angrily tugging his shirt off. yuki grins up at you, satisfied at where a simple shirtless picture lead him to. he should listen to pierre more often, his ex-teammate might have good ideas, however rare they are. once his shirt is off, you freeze, breathing heavily as you drink in the sight of his torso. you lean forward and start sucking marks into his pecs, biting into the meat of his chest, and tracing the definition of his abs with your tongue. yuki’s moans rumble in his chest, and he lets his eyes flutter shut and basks under the thorough claim you’re leaving on his body. at least you’re kind enough to avoid placing any marks high enough to where they could be seen from the neck of a shirt—alphatauri will just have to post pre-filmed videos they have in the vault while your hickeys fade, they’ll survive.

you erratically jerk away again, and strip your bottoms off, shoving your underwear down and tossing them behind you. you tug your shirt up until it bunches under your armpits, and you drag the cups of your bra underneath your chest, causing them to spill over the top obscenely. roughly grabbing at your boyfriend’s hands, you direct them to grasp at your boobs, and command, “keep your abs flexed.” yuki makes a noise of confusion, but you don’t elaborate any further. you lower yourself to sit on his abdomen, and grind across him slowly, testing the waters. your head falls forward from the zing of pleasure that races up your spine, and you quickly start rabbiting your hips across the dips and ridges of his muscles. 

yuki is rendered speechless at your motions. he was expecting you to ride his dick, not his abs. he’s not going to complain about this, though. you’re rubbing yourself off on his torso—your moans are bitten off and rough, and your grinds are deep and forceful to make sure your clit catches on every sharp edge of his abdomen. it’s the dirtiest thing yuki’s ever seen you do, usually he’s the one being unhinged. he squeezes at your chest rhythmically, dropping his hands to your chest eventually to watch how your breasts bounce at every shift you make—he sighs contentedly, this is heaven. 

he brings one hand to reach around you and palm himself over his shorts, but is denied the chance to do so. you hiss at him meanly, and pull his hand back to your waist, eyes flashing at him in warning. yuki falters under the commanding glint of your gaze, maybe he pushed you too far this time. he adjusts his grip on your body and takes some of the load off you, and guides your hips against his body for you—he could feel your thighs begin to tremble in exhaustion and based on how deadest you’ve become on getting yourself off on his abs, he doesn’t want to feel any additional wrath when your release slips from your grasp. 

a squeal of relief rattles through your chest at how yuki does the hard work for you. he moves your body exactly how you crave, and you find it incredibly difficult to remember why you were mad in the first place. instead of your thighs shaking in tiredness—you’re thankfully not used to being the one putting all the work in, your boyfriend’s stamina is appreciated—they begin to quiver as you get closer to cumming. your own hand comes to tug at your nipples, looking for any last flare of pleasure to push you over the edge. the wetness you’ve spread across his abs has started to lessen the friction you feel against your cunt. yuki sees the frustration furrowing your brow, and shifts his right hand down over your navel so his thumb can rub at your clit. you gasp, throwing your head back at white-hot burst of contentment behind your eyes, and all it takes is a few more furious passes of yuki’s fingers on your cunt, as the coil snaps inside your core, and waves of bliss crash over you.

yuki slips his hand away, and guides you to ride out the aftershocks on his abs. he moans at the sight of pure satisfaction on your face, and how you’ve soaked his torso, reminding him what belongs to you, with no room for vagueness. you eventually slow your roll, and fall to the side off yuki. the two of you pant as you stare at the ceiling, allowing the rapid beats of your hearts to slow.

you tilt your head to face him, and smile dopily at the sight of yuki staring at his navel. you’ve drenched him with your release, and it glistens beautifully on his tanned skin. if you were truly unhinged, you’d take a picture with your hand rubbing your wetness across his skin, and post it for everyone to see. the contrasting shades of your skin under the light of golden hour would look perfect. it would probably cost your boyfriend’s career, so maybe that’s not an equal exchange. 

hummingly faintly, you stumble off 9ithe bed, legs still shaking as you walk towards the bathroom. “you can get yourself off. you’re not fucking me for a week—“ yuki makes an alarmed noise, sputtering in disbelief, struggling to find his words, “oh, don’t get mouthy with me. i could make it so you never fuck me again—i just gave you enough material to last you for that long.” you slam the bathroom door shut, and yuki’s mouth hangs open in shock. fuck, pierre. he’s never listening to his suggestions ever again.

taglist: @lorarri @soph1644 @jaydensluv @fanboyluvr @nissaimmortal @redgonerogue @hollie911 @saintwrld@buendiabebeta@butterfly-lover@lana-d3l-rey@dylan1721 @spicybagel14 @dhhdhsiavdhaj@miahgonzalez16@jjaekin @dkbj14 @f1lover55 @f1lov3r @mindless-rock@biancathecool@barnestatic@sweetpiccolo-blog@my-ylenia @zaynzierulez@reblog-princess-blog @lovingaphroditesworld @katekipshidze @darleneslane @inloveallthetime

© httpsserene 2023

[heliads]

You Agreed to This

Pierre Gasly has a reputation for flirting with anything that breathes. You have a reputation for being scarily focused on racing. When Charles, Lando, and Esteban get it into their heads to dare Pierre to get you to fall in love with him, the results can only be tragic.

a/n: i was frustrated when i couldn't find fics with this vague plotline like two months ago and then i remembered that i can simply make them myself. anyway this is my longest fic to date (6k+ words), enjoy!

masterlist

The whole affair started in the recesses of the Alpine motorhome, too far from prying eyes and chances to stop before it got bad. Miami is boiling hot as per usual, it gets to Pierre just like it always does. He’s trying to fend off the heat by hiding somewhere deep within his team’s complex, team jacket stripped off somewhere on a nearby sofa and fans cranked on high. 

It was just Pierre at the beginning, but drivers tend to flock together in times of heat related stress, and now there are four of them sprawled across floors and furniture in an attempt to alleviate their suffering. Charles found Pierre first, just like he usually does, then Lando followed after media duties were over, and Esteban was last, claiming that if this many rival drivers were there he had a right to die in his own motorhome too, god damn it.

Pierre has mixed thoughts on that. He has mixed thoughts on quite a lot, actually– the blistering temperatures are getting to him, swirling memories into fact into fiction. He’ll get his head in order when it comes time to race, but that won’t happen until tomorrow, once qualis are in order and they’ve all been shunted around for the grid lineup.

Across the room, Lando groans from the shadows of a functionally decorated armchair. “This is miserable.”

Pierre gives him a look. “Your complaining is miserable.” 

Undeterred, Lando keeps up his protests. “We should do something fun. Pierre, don’t you know like a thousand people here? Invite someone over.”

Pierre snorts. “I don’t know all of Miami, Lando. Go to sleep or something.”

Esteban chuckles. “Could have fooled me. Didn’t you tag, like, a hundred people in your latest Instagram story?”

Pierre turns his head to glare at his teammate. They’re still supposed to be friends as of three or so months of being racing partners, but apparently that association doesn’t go so far as requiring Esteban to defend him. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?”

Charles shakes his head, grinning. “It’s the truth, let him speak. You have connections.”

Lando flings a dramatic arm over his eyes to block out the sunlight pouring in through the windows. They’ve all been shut with the blinds pulled down, of course, but some warmth has a way of coming in regardless of what anyone wants. “Pierre’s just sociable like that. He could win over anybody. Or flirt with anybody.”

Pierre rolls his eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous, Norris.”

Charles arches a brow. “What would he be jealous of, your losing streak? I saw you strike out trying to talk up Margot Robbie last time we were in Monaco, don’t lie to me.”

“That was different,” Pierre protests, “she’se literally married, what did you expect?”

Charles coughs pointedly. “Yet you flirted with her anyway. Anyways, don’t argue. You can’t flirt with everybody. Not successfully, at least.”

Pierre leans forward cautiously. “What does that mean?”

Charles laughs. “There’s one person you could never charm in a thousand years.”

Pierre sighs, answers Charles’ unspoken question in time with his friend. “Y/N L/N?”

“Y/N L/N,” Charles confirms, and the other three drivers break into identical grins.

Pierre can accept defeat on that front. Y/N L/N is the only female driver on the grid at the moment, and anyone can tell why she made it despite the odds mere moments after meeting her. She’s crazy intense, more dedicated to racing than even Max or Lewis. Pierre wouldn’t be surprised if she could win a driver’s championship in the next year or two. Talk to her once and you’ll be stunned that she hasn’t done it yet.

Every time Pierre, or any other driver or spectator for that matter, has tried to chat her up, they always end up shut down faster than you can spin out on a slick track with the wrong tires. She doesn’t have time for any of them. The girl lives and breathes and dies for racing, she’s not going to let something like a boy get in her way.

This only makes Pierre more tempted to keep up with her, of course, but he learned a long time ago that was a lost cause. The only reason Y/N would ever look twice at him is if he was a place ahead of her during a race, and given her knack for overtakes, that doesn’t happen all that often.

Lando sits forward, and Pierre decides that he doesn’t like the gleam in the younger boy’s eyes. “Say, I’ve got a great idea to stave off boredom. Pierre, go date Y/N.”

Pierre almost chokes. “Are you insane? Just like that, go date her? How would that help you in any way?”

Lando spreads his hands. “If it would be so easy for you to flirt with anybody, how about you prove it? Surely Y/N isn’t so far out of your league. You’re both in the same line of work, at least you’ve got that going for you.”

Pierre opens his mouth to fight this. He may have a bit of a cocky streak, sure, but he’s a driver, who amongst them doesn’t? Just as he starts to get himself out of this, though, Esteban speaks up instead.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Pierre couldn’t even come close. None of us can.” Esteban says it like a fact, and that’s all it takes for Pierre to change his tune.

“You know what?” He says, feeling his adrenaline start to kick in, “Sure I can.”

Charles’ eyes widen. “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m always serious about girls,” Pierre says, causing a ripple of groans to cascade around the room, “This time I am, at least. I’ll win her over, no problem.”

Lando sits up. “If you’re really doing this, we’ve got to set some rules.”

“Such as?” Pierre dares him to continue.

Charles taps a thoughtful hand on his leg. “It has to be more than a one time thing. Just a single conversation could be a fluke or her feeling bad for you.”

Outraged, Pierre starts to fight that, but Lando picks up the thread of the conversation before he can cut it short. “That makes sense. We have to be sure that she’s actually in love with you. Like, get her to kiss you or something? And pics or it didn’t happen. We need proof.”

Pierre snickers, trying not to feel like control is slipping out of his hands with each passing second. “Anything else? Want me to name our firstborn child after you?”

That makes Esteban crack up. “That’s a little extreme, don’t you think? We’ll settle for being named godfather. All three of us collectively.”

Pierre shakes his head incredulously. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

Charles slaps him on the back. “You have to believe in yourself, Pierre. If you don’t, she’ll never fall for it.”

And so Pierre Gasly gets himself stuck in the con of a lifetime. Is it going to work? The odds are abysmal. Will he make it, though? Well, Pierre never likes to back down from a challenge. He’s not going to let this one get away from him so easily.

The sun is bright and the morning is tense in the paddock. You arrived early, earlier than most of the drivers, all so you could get a taste of what the track was like without anyone breathing down your neck. Some would call you a little too eager, others would say you’re plain stressed out and nothing more to it.

You’d give yourself a little more credit than that, though. You know exactly who you are and what you have to prove. The more time you give yourself to plan and acclimate, the less time there is for mistakes.

That isn’t to say that you ignore all the comments on your pre-race habits. You are well aware of your reputation, even proud of it. You wear it as a second skin, a racing suit, a livery specially designed to flaunt your own achievement. The whispers of those out and about in the world of motorsport follow you wherever you go, dogging your footsteps until you half expect to leave streams of words behind you instead of burned rubber.

That’s Y/N L/N. The one who only cares about the track? The one who lives and dies for racing? That’s the one. That’s the one.

There’s not much else to it. So what if you tend to be a little more intense than most? Being serious is the only method of survival available to you. You can be sweet and fun, play yourself off as the ditzy girl who only got in so her team could capitalize on brand deals, or you can be a woman without a feminine bone in her body, so far from girlish she chokes whenever she sees the color pink. Both are awful alternatives, so you choose the only one you can:  ignore every box they try to push you in until everyone else gives up. Let them whisper. At least they aren’t trying to change you anymore.

That’s how you’ve navigated the paddock up until now, the entirety of racing life as you know it. It’s worked out in your favor, or so you’d say, at least. You push yourself on and off track. You answer the unfair questions they throw at you. You solve the mysteries of why someone is taking an involvement in your affairs and come out on top of any possible rumors.

There are mysteries, though, and then there’s the latest one, which is why on Earth Pierre Gasly has taken to following you around the paddock. They all did, at the start; the drivers, the fans, the interviewers, even the team bosses, all staring at you like you were in a circus exhibition. A girl in motorsport? Couldn’t be. Yet it is. 

That’s mostly drifted off, though, the attention gone once they realized you weren’t interested in belonging to any of them. Most of them did it unintentionally, of course, and the few who got too close on purpose quickly learned they would get nothing from you. Pierre learned that himself, or so you thought. That doesn’t stop his attention from surging up again all of a sudden.

It’s been a solid few weeks of this behavior, and you’re still no closer to understanding it than you were at the start. If you were to put an initial date on this whole affair, you’d maybe say everything began back in Miami. All of a sudden, Pierre, who up until now had accepted that you weren’t interested in him even if he didn’t like that all too much, had decided to renew his affections once more. 

Where you had been content to walk briskly through the paddock by yourself, Pierre is suddenly a few feet behind you, always ready to offer a bottle of water when you need it or issue a joking comment when you seem in need of a laugh. He’s playing his cards carefully, always disappearing the moment you start to take his presence for granted, but why, you cannot tell. Everyone here has a motive. Surely Pierre Gasly has one as well.

You weren’t willing to trust him at first, ignoring him throughout the Miami race and all sessions at Imola. The only angle worth your while is your own, and maybe your constructor’s, too. Still, he stayed. That has to count for something.

And, when the end of a race finds you absolutely desolate after an engine failure, that starts to count a little more than it would have before. This race is early enough in the year that the DNF doesn’t have to sting too much, but all you can think about is how you just gave Max, Charles, and the rest of the title competitors the leg up they need to beat you out.

It’s not a good feeling, to say the least. You find some empty corner of the paddock where you can be alone and let your emptiness consume you. That was your plan, at least, but you’ve only been able to wallow in your own misery for about ten minutes or so before someone else joins you. The only other driver to fail to complete the necessary laps:  Pierre.

Pierre may not have had engine problems like you, but that doesn’t make him any luckier. George Russell spun wide on a turn and took out Pierre before righting himself again. George got off relatively easy for a crash, only needed to swap out some tires and his front wing, but Pierre took the brunt of it and ended up in the barriers. You heard him swearing, frustrated, on the radio after the race; the commentators loved that one, even if he didn’t.

That leaves both of you in the same undesirable position. Pierre arches a brow as he takes in the sight of you:  legs pulled up to your chest where you sit slumped against the wall, expression hopeless and all ambition gone for the moment.

“Mind if I join you?” He asks, “I’m trying to hide from Sky Sports.”

You gesture vaguely at the open floor next to you. “Feel free. I'm not too thrilled about hearing from them, either.”

Pierre collapses in an untidy heap of limbs by your side, pulling at the collar of his race suit so he can unzip it down to his waist, leaving only the long sleeved shirt clinging to his skin. “At least engine failure is something you can’t control. Everyone’s been all over me trying to get me to admit that I should have seen George coming.”

You wrinkle your brow. “That wasn’t your fault. He braked late, it was obvious.”

Pierre glances over at you, clearly fighting a laugh. “Obvious, huh?”

You look away, wondering why you feel embarrassed all of a sudden. You don’t lie when it comes to racing, why bother? Thanks to the vast supplies of driver cameras and radio clips, there’s no point in glossing over what everyone knows to be true. Still, Pierre has a way of making that feel like something you should think twice about, like maybe not all of your attitudes towards drivers and their habits are things you should speak freely on. Maybe some things can be kept just to yourself. Maybe some drivers are beginning to verge beyond mere functionality as competitors.

“Everyone saw it,” you justify, “bad timing, that’s all. Not something you could control no matter how much space you gave him.”

Pierre nods solemnly. “The engine wasn’t your fault either, by the way. There was nothing you could have done to make it work again. You can’t limp through a problem like that.”

You tilt your head back, staring up at the ceiling above you. “I tried, though.”

“I know,” Pierre says. They’re only two words, but for some reason they make you feel better than any of the minutes spent listening to your engineers’ speeches on how they would fix that issue by the next race.

Judging by the slight smile on Pierre’s face, he must know that too. When the seconds stretch into minutes and you never tell Pierre to go, that smile only deepens. The conversation leaves the race eventually, and you end up talking about silly things like movies you’d like to see or places you want to go but never have. You don’t know that you’ve ever spoken to another driver like this before. You don’t know that you could with anyone else.

You have to leave that corner eventually, called away by a team principal with apologies in order. Pierre departs around the same time, claiming that he can’t run from the interviewers forever. You steal one last glance at him over your shoulder as you go, and can’t help but notice the grin on his face. It’s broader than before, proud of something; what, you can’t tell. Despite the fact that both of you have failed out of the race, you still get the feeling that Pierre has won at something more than you today. 

Charles releases an Instagram post later that day of him, Pierre, and a few other drivers out at a club. You see it, and spend too much time wondering how long you have to wait after a photo is posted to like it so it’s not weird. What you don’t see is the conversation that happened later, how Pierre triumphantly told the rest that he was closer than they’d ever believe. You don’t see it, and the next time you see him, you stop to talk with a ready smile.

So it goes the next race, and the next one, and the next. Pierre is there. So are you. You end up finding him eventually; as time goes on, it’s not just Pierre seeking you out but the other way around, too. It’s even, both of you wanting each other just as often as the other. Eventually, you have to admit defeat to the voice in the back of your head telling you that you might have misread Pierre after all. Maybe he’s not just a horrific flirt. Maybe he can be a friend.

And, leaning over the railing of Pierre’s room in the Alpine motorhome so you can feel the gentle wind on your face while you stare out at the paddock, you think you would be alright if there was something more, too. You swore to yourself you’d never even think about another driver in that way, too scared of all your efforts to distinguish yourself from everyone’s expectations for female drivers being for naught, but it might be okay if it was Pierre. Pierre is different, nothing like the rest. It would be alright if it was him.

Pierre stands by your side, back straight and posture perfect as he surveys the mess of people milling about some floors below. “Nervous for the race?”

You tilt your head to the side, considering the question. “As much as anyone, I guess. I like this track, though. Should be good.”

Pierre nods, smiling at that. “And what about me? Am I going to be good, too?”

You roll your eyes. “You don’t need me to tell you that.” 

He doesn’t; this is one of Pierre’s best tracks. He should be up for a podium or at least high in the points if everything goes according to plan.

He just grins. “Indulge me.”

You give him a pointed stare, then head back into the room. “You’re an ass.”

Pierre follows. “You love me, though.”

A pause. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” He asks, unable to disguise a slight shine of surprise from entering his eyes, like despite all the luck he’d had recently, Pierre still didn’t think he would get this far.

You lift your shoulder in a half-shrug, unwilling to commit to anything further. You feel as if you’re standing on a lake frozen over, aware that any wrong move could shatter the ice beneath your feet.

Pierre moves towards the door, and for one horrified moment you think he’s actually going to leave right then and there before you realize he’s closing it instead. He turns back once he’s sure no passersby can see you, and then he’s kissing you and you can’t worry about anything else. Not even the race. Not even the threat that this might send you spiraling until you’re so lost on him that you won’t be able to think straight for the rest of your life.

He leans back at last, smiling at you with the same smile you think you saw on a podium on Monza when he first won a race in F1. “We could have done that earlier,” he whispers, not daring to disturb the quiet victory of the room.

“We could have,” you answer him. Every driver hates losing time. This is no exception.

Your head is light with the most wonderful feeling, and then over Pierre’s shoulder you see something strange. He left the door open. Cracked halfway, even though this door is notorious for never staying open right. He would have had to try to keep it like this. He would have wanted it to be that way for a reason.

Pierre’s phone vibrates and he grimaces, murmuring something about having to talk to one of his engineers before slipping out of the room. He kisses you one last time before he leaves, a quiet touch pressed to your cheek. He takes great care to ensure that you do not see the message blinking up from his screen, and when he goes, you notice that he does not have to turn the knob, only pull open an already ajar door.

Something is wrong. The longer you stand there, alone in Pierre’s room, the more you start to think, and what you think about is not good at all. The timing of the text message. The look on his face when he left. Nothing is adding up.

Voices drift to you down the hall as you stand there wondering, Pierre’s among them. You walk slowly forward, unable to fight a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach like something is about to go very, very poorly. You usually trust your instincts. As it turns out, they won’t be wrong now.

Pierre is standing in a meeting room down the hall, talking in hushed voices to a few other drivers. As you draw closer, you recognize them. Charles, closest; Lando, eyes wide; Esteban, even, staring in disbelief. All three are telling Pierre replications of the same sentiment, which is that they cannot believe he actually managed to do it.

Get you to fall in love with him, they mean. Fulfill the dare, they explain. Like they all agreed a few months ago. Back in Miami, the three of them dared Pierre to get you to fall for him, and like the overconfident, thrill seeking diehard flirt that he is, Pierre agreed.

Worse:  he did it successfully. You know, you had been wondering if this was too good to be true. Looks like it was. All that time you were letting Pierre into your heart, and he was manipulating you into falling in love. How pathetic. How incredibly soul-destroying.

The four drivers look up when you shut the door to the meeting room behind you. Pierre is the first one to notice it’s you, and you don’t ever think you’ll forget the look on his face when he realizes that you know the truth. His entire expression contorts with horror and his hands rise by his sides, trying to force your heart to stay unbroken. Pity it’s too late for that.

“Y/N–” he begins, a little too loud, a little too desperate, “wait– it’s not what it sounds like–”

“Actually,” you say coolly, “I believe that it is. You three dared Pierre to get me to fall in love with him? That’s exactly what it is, right?”

It’s not a question. Charles, Lando, and Esteban have realized you’re here, too, and they wear similar shades of Pierre’s alarm. Charles opens his mouth to say something, perhaps to explain himself, but you cut him off.

“Don’t even try. I know what you did, I don’t want to hear your terrible reasoning for why you thought this was okay. I’m going to go back to my motorhome and we are never going to speak of this again. Don’t talk to me in the paddock. Don’t talk to me at all unless we’re in a media event and you have to. I never want to speak to any of you.”

Lando interrupts, cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Y/N, don’t you think that’s a little extreme? It was just a prank, that’s all. Just a laugh.”

Pierre looks like he’s fighting back deep irritation at that. You just arch one brow. “Just a prank to humiliate me? You disgust me. All of you.”

You let that silence their arguments and leave the room. You think Pierre might have tried to follow you out, but Charles blocks him. You hear the Monegasque’s voice spilling out into the hall as you leave, telling Pierre not to try it. She obviously doesn’t want to see any of us anymore, mate. Best to leave it be.

You wish it was that easy for you. It takes everything in you to make it to your private room in your team’s motorhome and lock the door behind you before the tears finally come flooding out. You’d like nothing more than to fly home and spend the next several days and nights comatose in your bed, but, as if things weren’t bad as is, there’s still a race tomorrow, so you won’t be able to go anywhere for at least twenty-four hours.

The lights go out, the chequered flag waves some time later. You’re not entirely aware of what happened in that race, nor of how you were able to drag yourself out of your room and back to the starting grid, but you blink once and you’re on the podium, so evidently everything worked out. You watch the clips later, the commentators are all in shock. They haven’t seen you race so aggressively in years. It bordered on cruelty.

Pierre, by contrast, had his worst race in months. It seemed like he was hardly in charge at all, more like the car was controlling him. He wasn’t even in the points. No one can understand it. You refuse to think about it any longer.

Another race weekend comes and goes. The interviewers are confused– wasn’t it just last week that you seemed so much happier than you are now? You’re surly in press conferences, answering questions in a clipped and emotionless tone. They’d say you were totally checked out were it not for the fact that you’re still getting good results.

They don’t know everything, of course, but some of the more eagle-eyed reporters are starting to put the pieces together. What’s up with you and Pierre Gasly? Someone asks one day, Weren’t you two good friends recently?

We’re drivers, you reply, Aren’t we all used to pretending things are better than they are?

When you see Pierre after that press conference, he looks dizzy, totally unsteady on his own feet. You don’t meet his eyes. You’re not sure that it’s guilt, but it feels something like that anyway. Everything is wrong.

Pierre is asked about it later, of course, and he’s a little more candid than you were. He never names names, just says that things happen sometimes, things he wishes he could take back. Pierre has to take a moment to get himself together after that to answer the next question, a fantastic display of emotion. How charming of him to wear his heart on his sleeve when he’s just ripped yours out of your chest.

The pattern repeats the next few weeks. Pierre, Charles, Lando, and Esteban try to talk to you on multiple occasions, but you brush them off with nothing more than a well-placed glare and some good avoidance tactics. Even then, you should have known that your cold shoulder couldn’t last forever.

Of course it would be Charles who gets you at last– if there’s anyone on this entire damned grid who could get why you are the way you are, it would be him. Il Predestinato knows what it’s like to have the entire world expecting something of you, and he doesn’t lie easy because of it. Charles finds you late as the sun is setting and won’t let you avoid him forever, even though you try.

At last, you give up and stop making him chase you around the paddock. You’re sitting at a table outside your motorhome, shaded by a sunbleached umbrella and sipping at a bottle of ice water long since turned lukewarm.

“He regrets it, you know,” Charles says by way of introduction.

You refuse to raise your eyes from your intense study of the bottle’s printed plastic label. “He’s going to have to do a lot better than sending his best friend to talk for him, then.”

Charles scoffs. “Oh, come on. You know you haven’t let him get close enough for that.”

Your water bottle receives a very irate glare. “Wonder why that would be.”

Charles sighs. “We were wrong, we all know that. It was a stupid thing to suggest and even more stupid to keep it up that long.”

You look at him at last, anger gone and replaced by mere disappointment. From the way Charles shifts in his seat opposite you, you think that might be an even worse threat for him to face. “Then why did you keep it going? If you knew it was so wrong? Pierre was committed to your prank for weeks. Why didn’t any of you call it quits?”

“He didn’t want to,” Charles admits, “not because of the dare, because he liked being around you. Did you know he was mad at us the day you caught us? He didn’t want us anywhere near that room. Told me privately it’s because he wanted the first kiss for himself, not for anything related to the dare.”

That makes you go silent. The fan whirs overhead, pushing your thoughts around in slow circles somewhere above you. “That makes no sense.”

“Of course it doesn’t,” Charles grumbles, “Happened, though. Regardless of what he thought at the start, Pierre doesn’t want to hurt you. Not anymore.”

You turn towards him. “Is that supposed to make how he felt at the start okay somehow?”

Charles shakes his head. “No, but it makes the ending better, I think.”

He’s right. You lean back against your seat, contemplative. Charles takes this as his cue to leave. He pauses once before he’s out of range, then calls something else back to you. “He’ll kill me if he finds out I told you that, by the way.”

You can’t fight a laugh. “I won’t tell a soul you’re on my side.”

He smiles at that. You’ve missed him, you realize, him and the rest. You thought distance would save you from feeling quite so badly about all of this, but it just cut you off from your best support. Charles disappears into the crowd, a bright flare of red in a multitude of shifting shades, and for the first time since that treacherous discovery, you start to wonder what it would feel like to forgive.

Pierre is in an awful state. So Esteban has told him about a thousand and one times, at least, each utterance delivered with the same derisive snort. Pierre knows he’s supposed to bounce back from this, pretend it was all just a prank, but he’s known better for months now. It might have been a prank the first day, even the first week, but not after that.

Here is the problem:  Pierre, in all his cocky eagerness to show his friends up, failed to consider that Y/N might be able to charm him as well. He might have gone a little overboard in his attempts to make her fall in love with him, perhaps even to the point where he fell in love instead. He isn’t sure when he first realized he had feelings for her, but Pierre is more than certain it was before Y/N discovered she felt the same way.

What a ruin to his reputation. Pierre hadn’t minded, though, not when they were still on speaking terms. He liked the way they could talk for hours, how Y/N’s guard slipped when she started to trust him. She had a way of smiling when she was sure no one was about to stab her in the back. Pierre misses that. He’s sure he’ll never see it again.

Unable to stand Esteban’s dismissive attitude anymore, Pierre picks himself up from where he’d been wallowing in misery on the floor of the Alpine motorhome. He doesn’t know where he’s going yet, only that it needs to be somewhere without a single soul in sight. Still, when he passes aimlessly through the halls and almost runs into another driver, he supposes he should take it as a testament to his distracted mind that he doesn’t realize it’s Y/N until they’re already standing still and staring at each other.

Too late, Pierre remembers she hates him. His eyes drop to the floor and he mumbles an apology, ready to keep moving. She told him not to speak to her anymore; Pierre can hardly fault her for that, and he won’t use his presence as a weapon if that’s the one that will cut her the deepest.

He is surprised, then, when Y/N reaches out to stop him before he can get too much farther. Pierre looks at her hand locked around his, then back up at her.

“Wait,” she says, “I want to talk to you.”

“I thought that wasn’t happening anymore,” Pierre says. It occurs to him that it probably sounds cold, but she speaks before he can try to explain what he meant.

“Things have changed,” she says.

That’s enough to convince him to stay, if not for the feeling of her fingers still on his than anything else. He doesn’t miss the way her gaze keeps flitting from him to the occasional Alpine aide walking down the halls, and to save her, Pierre jerks his head towards a door down the hall.

“There’s an empty room to the left, we can talk there.”

A brief flash of relief crosses her face, and Y/N lets Pierre lead her over to the room. He leaves the door open to give her an easy escape, but she closes it after her anyway. No onlookers. Maybe that’s for the best.

Y/N sits down in one of the chairs, legs crossed, arms folded. She may be here with him after so long, but that doesn’t stop her from throwing up all her walls, even the physical ones. It hurts to remember how easy it had been to be with her that last day. Pierre plays those moments on repeat in his head– the balcony, the breeze, the words, the kiss. He can never stop the later scene from following, how her demeanor had changed when she realized the truth. He didn’t think he could hurt one person that badly. He was wrong.

She’s still silent, so Pierre assumes it’s on him to start talking. “I’m sorry,” he begins, “I know that’s not enough, but it’s true. I was stupid. I should have told you before–”

Regret clogs up his throat and he can’t choke out a single syllable more. Y/N looks suspicious. “Before the kiss?”

“Before anything,” Pierre clarifies, “when we were talking at the beginning. I never should have let it get so far. Doesn’t mean I minded when it did,” he remarks half to himself, “but I should have done it on my own terms.”

When he dares look up at Y/N again, he swears she seems slightly more open, but that could just be his wishful thinking. “Do you mean what you said in the interview?” She asks suddenly, “Do you wish you could take it back?”

“Yes,” Pierre says in a rush, “I want a do over. I want to do it right. I would have done all of it without ever talking to Lando or Esteban or Charles first. I would have done it for me.” His voice is quiet. “I would have loved you without making it a lie.”

Y/N’s eyes are wide, but she isn’t afraid or angry. “Second chances come around more often than you’d think,” she whispers.

“Even for me?” Pierre asks.

She nods once. “Even for you.”

They’re both on the podium that day. His race engineers can’t explain why Pierre’s luck has suddenly had this tremendous turnaround. He can. She can, too. Sometimes your heart likes getting in the way if it knows you’re doing something wrong. It’s a good thing, then, that he’s finally doing something right.

She’s waiting for him once the interviews are over. They’re both exhausted, half drunk on the champagne in the air and wholly pleased with themselves. The sun goes down, and Pierre is happy. It is just as easy as that.

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