#put charles and lewis in the same team as well and let them be the most serene beautiful team

[singsweetmelodies]

russell and sainz as teammates. Who could be hated more?

AHAHAHAHAHAHA OH GOD IMAGINE THE SCENES 🤣🤣 every race weekend there would be at least one "he turned in on me" and if not that then at the bare minimum a LONG complaint over the team radio about how someone's race is being sacrificed and it is VERY UNFAIR. lmfao. it would be a disaster 🤣🤣 personally, i would also love to see the russell girlies and the sainz girlies really go at it on tumblr. now THERE would be absolute scenes 😆

[vivwritesfics]

Requesting either combo Landoscar x male!reader or separately x male!reader pretty please (whatever floats your boat in terms of story, I love your writing style)

I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG!! i've actually been thinking about this for the longest time, but every time i sit down to write i forget about it lmao. I used to write male reader all the time and I've missed tf out of it

It was an unprecedented situation, they found themselves in. Drivers being together wasn't. Look at Nico and Lewis, look at Max and Daniel, look at Max and Charles, look at Max and...

Teammates spent so much time together, it was expected that they were to fall into bed together. But this was new. Nobody really knew what to do with this.

Lando and Oscar stood outside of Zac's office, both of them leaning against the wall behind them. Lando had his hands folded over his chest and Oscar's hands were in his pockets. Neither of them touching, but the team knew exactly what was going on with the two of them.

But they didn't know about the man in the office.

No, not Zac (I might throw up at that lmao). The ex Formula Two champion stood in Zac's office, going over his requirements as a reserve driver.

"When do I get to drive?" He asked.

Zac laughed. "If one of those two breaks their legs or something, you can drive," he said.

A grin crossed his face. "I can make that happen."

They discussed when he'd be put into the car for practice sessions and things like that. His media duties with Lando and Oscar and more. They never crossed into the topic of his relationship with the drivers, not yet, anyway. That was a meeting to have with all three of them.

When he walked out of the office, Lando and Oscar straightened up. "So?" Oscar asked as he and Lando walked towards him.

He shrugged, but then a grin crossed his face. "Zac said I can drive if I break one of your arms," he said. "Who wants to go first?"

Lando threw his arms around his shoulders and dragged him away from the office, down the stairs in the MTC. "You're a little shit," he said through a laugh as the three of them made their way outside, to their cars.

"No more than you!" Oscar called as he jumped in. He grabbed him, pulled him away from Lando and into him. His lips met the top of his head as he fished the keys from his pockets.

Lando and Oscar had shown up in their expensive cars that couldn't hold more than two people. Now, that wouldn't do. But it was fine, because he had his shitty little ford fiesta that he loved more than anything in the world.

"I'm driving," Lando said, raising his hand for Oscar to throw him the keys.

"The fuck you are," he replied, catching the keys before Lando could. "It's my car."

Ever since he'd met the two drivers, he'd wanted a truck, one with a bench seat so that they could all sit in the front. Lando climbed into the passenger seat and Oscar climbed into the back. Lando reached forward to touch the radio, but he playfully slapped his hand away as he pulled away from the MTC.

"We're in my car, we listen to my music," he said as he pulled onto Guildford road and headed towards Woking. "What're we thinking for lunch?"

"Waitrose sandwiches?" Lando offered.

"Waitrose sandwiches," Oscar agreed.

The boys got themselves Waitrose sandwiches and got back into the car. They knew a dinner between the three of them would have looked weird, them crowding around a table, trying to eat. (Well, it wouldn't have looked weird, but there was a certain amount of paranoia that came with the three of them being together).

It wasn't romantic, the three of them sat in an empty car park as they ate their sandwiches. The moment Oscar opened his tuna sandwich, Lando let out a groan and scrambled to wind down the window.

"Want some?" He offered Lando. Lando leaned forward and bit into his sandwich, tearing off a corner of it. He hummed as he ate and offered him some of his own sandwich.

Oscar tried to do the same, but the moment he thrust his sandwich forward, Lando pushed open the door to the car and let out a retching noise, pretending to throw up.

"I don't think he's gonna kiss you after this, Osc," he mumbled through a laugh as he dug into his own food.

"Damn fucking right!" Lando shouted, sucking in deep gulps of fresh air, air that didn't smell like tuna.

Oscar rolled his eyes but leaned forward again. As soon as he did, he was kissing him, looking at Lando. Lando who was too busy with his head out of the window to watch the show. "I don't think it's working, Osc," He said against his lips.

He mumbled a quiet fuck it and climbed his way into the back with Oscar. If they were gonna make Lando jealous enough to join them, they were going to do it right.

[cheriladycl01]

The Rookie Prodigy - Carlos Sainz x Driver! Reader Part 1

Plot: You are a rookie coming into the 2022 season of Formula one into Alfa Romeo with team member Zhou Guanyu, being in a mid tier team can you help them rise up the ranks. What pressures occur for the only rookie within the 2022 line up!

"We have had some amazing announcements this year. We only have two rookies on the grid this year that have a confirmed seat both in Alfa Romeo. So it should be an interesting season for them!" the first reporter says while walking around the paddock.

"Yes, its very uncommon to see a team take on two rookies in the same season, so it'll be interesting to see if they under perform based on these statistics or not" the other one admits.

Currently you were sat with Zhou your current team mate, he was teaching you a little bit of Chinese at your request.

"Are you nervous for today?" you ask him, you'd both done lots of media over the break so people could get to know you before the season start in Bahrain had begun.

"A little, but we will drive the very best that we can. I know it" he says pulling you into a side hug. You'd gotten very close to your team mate, both being rookies on the same team made you both sort of outcasts on the grid. Today would be your first time talking to the other 18 drivers.

"We'll be fine i promise" he says before walking towards his car in the Alpha Romeo garage, you walk over to your race engineer Paul and go through the different strategies to make sure you know what each one means.

"Okay, its time for your first race, you got this. Remember your starting P11 and Zhou is starting P15. So you just got to make up some pace, and you'll be in points region. Get a good start, and overtake Esteban while defending from Mick, Lando may help you with that but you'll need to then defend from him" he advices and you nod. You take your helmet that your best friend designed for you on place it over your head.

Paul, taps the back of your helmet covered head, before bumping fits with you. You pull yourself into the car under the halo before placing the wheel on.

"Okay, lets go and grab some points" Paul says after he'd checked the radio to make sure you had good connection.

At the start lights you had an impeccable start going wide on the outside of Ocon and Gasly and moving into 9th place. Lando had managed to overtake Mick and was gaining.

"Amazing start Y/N P9 as of now. George ahead, attempt overtake at turn 4. He's 0.4 seconds ahead" you hear your race engineer point out. You can see the Mercedes ahead, and going into turn for you go for the risky move and break later than George. You gave him enough room and he swung wide, not wanting to damage the car giving you a gap to get through.

"What's this Martin! Y/N is storming through this track, starting in P11 and she's already made her way up to P8 taking over drivers who have been in F1 much longer than her. This is some incredible driving we are seeing"

Eventually you had to pit, but it was an exceptionally fast pit-stop that was well timed from your team and had you coming out behind Gasly . You went a few laps, dancing around with him where you both had the pace, but the minute your tires warmed up and his had worn out enough you ploughed on ahead creating a large time gap along the straight.

"You've got Alonso ahead, 1.2 second gap, lets close it on those Sector 2 corners" Paul directs. In no time you make your way up to P6, Magnussen was ahead in P5.

"How many laps left? Can i catch him?" you ask your engineer.

"2 seconds ahead and 10 laps, you can catch him if you speed up Sector 1" he advises. You put you head to it, and managed to overtake.

"This is insane Alfa Romeo are storming this season along with Ferrari, right now, we have Charles Leclerc in P1, Carlos Sainz in P2, Lewis Hamilton in P3 and oh what is this, its NOT, i repeat NOT a double finish for Mercedes, Y/N has overtaken George Russell even on the older tires. And her counter part in Alfa Romeo is in P9 this is an amazing start to the season for the two Ferrari teams"

"AND THAT'S IT CHARLES LECLERC HAS COME FIRST AT BAHRAIN, SAINZ IN SECOND, HAMILTON IN THIRD"

"You've done it Y/N that's P4 we now have 14 points at the starts of the season!" Paul voices. You pull up jumping out your car and hugging everyone.

"I don't think i could have done it if Max and Checo finished, they would have come ahead of me!" you admit, you pull your helmet off balaclava coming off with it. The top bit of your hair was sheened with sweat. You run your hands through it trying to get some more volume through it.

"You'll be in an interview with the TOP 5, from today" Fred says patting your back, he guides you to where the interviews out there.

"Oh Carlos, Charles come say hello to Y/N you haven't met her yet!" Fred offers you up and the two Ferrari boys come over.

"Wow, you are more beautiful in real life than you are in your driver picture!" Carlos says taking your hand and kissing it, a blush coming onto your face.

"You are a fantastic rookie!" Charles compliments pulling you into a hug before offering you up his water. You nod realizing you hadn't picked yours up from the garage.

"Thank you, I'm dying" you joke, and sky from his Ferrari bottle before handing it back to him.

"Omg that's Lewis Hamilton" you whisper looking over at the 7 time world champion that was ahead of you.

"Why didn't we get that reaction mi hermosa?" Carlos asks, and you blush.

"It's Lewis Hamilton!" you say just looking at him in awe.

"Hey great race today Y/L/N. Haven't seen a rookie like you since myself"

"Oh my god" you says in awe. He pulls you into a hug and starts to ask you questions, while Carlos keeps interrupting.

"Well its actually funny because I've been watching you for the last two years in F2" Carlos says as Lewis asks you what prior championships you'd won and how you'd got your seat in Alfa Romeo.

"Oh, you did?" you ask.

"Yeah I actually came to the garage one time, not yours but i was there!"

"That's cool man, I also kept up with her career. I just like to ask so people can gloat about their own achievements, its good for the soul" he smiled a little awkwardly at Carlos and his sudden need to prove that he, knew you better? Is that what that was?

"Come on guys, time for interviews" one of the directors call, George, Lewis and Charles start to walk through but Carlos grabs your hand and holds you back.

"Come out with me tonight, to celebrate?" he asks, however your PR manager comes out and pulls you away from him.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @stupidandunnecessary @clayra-g @daemyratwst @honey-belden @moonypixel @lauralarsen @vader-is-hot @ironcowboycopnickel @itsjustkhaos @the-untamed-soul @beebo86 @happylittlereader @ziejustme @lou-larcher5 @thewulf @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @chillyleclerc @chanthereader @annoyingmoonballoon @summissss @evieepepi08 @havaneseoger08 @celesteblack08 @gulphulp @fandom1ruined2me @celebstories @starfusionsworld @jspitwall

[stall1iion]

champions love - seven

Liked by bsf1, bsf2, lewishamilton, roscoelovescoco and many others 

y/n.jpg hung out with my favorite handsome boy while there’s a manhunt for me 😸

view all comments 

username5 girl 💀not her playing with us 

⤷username7 fr- like you mean to tell us she’s been here since the race started, just with roscoe?? 

roscoelovescoco you’s my favourite’s 🐶 

⤷y/n.jpg aww roscoe! I’ll be back with more treats 

⤷username12 idk what’s funnier, the fact that lewis switched accounts to leave that or that everyone literally roles with it 

username4 wait…why is she with lewis and not with max? Like not even in a hater kind of way

⤷username9 nah you're so right, and there’s no max like either…maybe there really is trouble in paradise? 

bsf2 should’ve known you were with the dog, god your like a moth to a flame 

⤷bsf1 right, we checked charles first, should’ve checked lewis fr

⤷bsf1 also answer the phone 

lilymhe your literally so beautiful omg 🤭

⤷y/n.jpg no you 🤭

⤷lilymhe i’m going to kiss you 

⤷alexalbon ALRIGHT! THAT’S ENOUGH 

⤷y/n.jpg never let your boyfriend stop you from finding a wife 

username1 me personally, I think she should be with max and not lewis but again to each their own 

Y/n was trying to convince herself to turn back around, lose the nerve she got after the girls had convinced her to talk to Max but now that she was in front of his room, she felt like the world was closing in on her. She had to take a deep breath before raising her hand and knocking on his door before she really did bolt.

She couldn’t believe why she was there, over a kiss nonetheless. She thought she had it under control, it started causal. Staged smiles, holding hands at team events, exchanging playful banter for the cameras. But..then months passed and the line between fake and real blurred real bad. She found herself looking forward to her time with Max, laughing a little too hard at his jokes, and feeling a warmth in her chest when he smiled at her.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when the door opened up a few seconds later and Max stood there. “Hey…” she said, figuring it would be better for her to say hey first.

“Hey” he said and they stood outside his room for a few seconds, just staring at each other before he snapped out of it and opened the door wide enough for her to step in, “uh..do you want something to drink? I have soda”

“...sure” she said as she went and sat down on his couch and watched as he went to the mini fridge and grabbed a soda to hand to her, and together they popped open the cans and took a sip.

She took a few sips to make sure her throat was clear before she looked up at him, lowering the can before speaking, only for them both to speak at the same time.

“Oh- sorry you go first” she said with a head shake

“No, no you go first” he said and she stared at him for a moment before sighing and going first

“I- um..well firstly I’m sorry for being such a dick the last few days….I kissed you and I was just so scared that I had ruined our friendship that I just bolted…” she said in a nervous sort of stutter, trying to put her thoughts together to create a actual meaningful apology. “I promise, it won’t happen again”

He turned to face you, his eyes searching yours. “ruining our friendship? I kissed you back, y/n, i couldn’t help it and I remember kissing you at the party a month ago but I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to make anything awkward”

Your breath caught in your throat. “Max, what are you saying…?”

“I’m saying I don’t want to be just friends or just fake partners anymore y/n” he admitted, his eyes glancing over every part of her expression. “ I want this to be real- us to be real”

You were silent for a moment, a rush of emotions causing your heart to beat like crazy. Relief, Joy, Anxiety, all mingling with the realization that he did feel the same. “I don’t want this to be fake anymore either…” she admitted as she looked at him.

Max's eyes lit up, and he moved to close the distance between them, cupping her cheeks so she’d stay looking at him. “Well…you’re going to break your promise then” he said and she laughed as she realized the promise she had just said maybe five minutes ago was already broken.

“I don’t think I’ll be torn up about it” she said with a smile and he smiled back at her before pulling her in for their third kiss, but this one was different. It carried all the unspoken emotions they both felt that they couldn’t put into words. It was no longer for the cameras, or part of an act and contract. It was real, and it had everything she didn’t even realize she needed.

As she pulled back, he rested his forehead against hers, both of them breathing heavily. "So," he said with a grin, "how about we start this thing over? For real this time."

She laughed, nodding. "I'd like that, Max. I'd like that a lot."

liked by lewishamilton, maxverstappen1, and many others 

y/nofficial AND HES DONE IT!!! CONGRATULATIONS TO MY FAVORITE BRIT 😭❤️(well done babe and lando but this is Lewis’s post) 

view all comments 

username2 YES P1!! He's made it!!! Lewis Hamilton, the KING OF SILVERSTONE

username6 it’s a proud day to be a Hamilton fan 🙌🏾

username9 WHAT A RACE!! 

username45 HE'S BACK ON TOP!! 

landonorris am I not your favorite anymore 🥺

⤷maxverstappen1 I’m always the favorite 🫵🤣

⤷y/nofficial 💀oh here you two go, can yall act like yall aren’t friends still 

⤷landonorris I am no woman’s peace 

⤷y/nofficial I can see that 😞(also wonderful job today) 

⤷landonorris ew don’t compliment me, it’s weird 

⤷y/nofficial 😃ALRIGHT 

lewishamilton thank you y/n 🙏🏽

⤷y/nofficial it’s my pleasure sir Hamilton 🫡now it seems I have to visit Roscoe before every race if this is the result 

⤷lewishamilton 🤣maybe so 

maxverstappen1 🥺 are you proud of me bae? 

⤷y/nofficial 💀max I swear- yes I’m proud of you 

⤷maxvertsappen1 @landonorris 🤣🫵I’m her favorite and she’s proud of me 

⤷landonorris MAN FUCK YOU 🖕🏻

⤷maxvertsappen1 your still flying back home with us tho right? 

⤷landonorris duh 🙄 

username77 nah but max running up to kiss y/n was so cute 

bsf1 😒 told you so 

⤷y/nofficial 💀girl shut the hell up

⤷bsf2 LMAOOO NO BC I WAS SO RIGHT NOW LOOK AT YOU

⤷username8 what was ashley right about?? share with the class plz?? 

⤷bsf1 sorry no, no tea spilled today 😞

77,230 likes 

y/n.jpg if anything happens- it’s all Lewis’s fault 

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username23 💀😭this aged poorly 

⤷username89 what happened?? 

⤷username23 lol paparazzi caught y/n and max making out 🤣😭

⤷username66 lol making out is putting it lightly 😭😭

landonorris It’s Lewis’s fault chain! 

⤷y/n.jpg it’s Lewis’s fault! 

⤷maxverstappen1 it’s Lewis’s fault! 

⤷alexalbon it’s Lewis’s fault! 

⤷charlesleclerc it’s Lewis’s fault! 

⤷logansargeant it’s Lewis’s fault! 

⤷oscarpiastri it’s Lewis’s fault! 

⤷carlossainz it’s Lewis’s fault! 

⤷bsf1 its Lewis’s fault 

⤷bsf2 it’s Lewis’s fault 

⤷lewishamilton 😃

username78 STOP NOT THE GRID REALLY MAKING A CHAIN TO BLAME LEWIS 😭

⤷username69 did him all the way wrong 

username53 okay so we already got y/n and max damn near fucking in public but can we talk about the videos of Logan and Ashley all on each other?? 😃

⤷username44 THANK YOU! Literally no one is talking about the fact that he had his hands on her ass the whole night 😭

⤷username99 I don’t blame him 😭like that whole friend group is fine as hell 

→ the girls went wild when they watched max walk up and kiss y/n after the race 

→ they did indeed interrogate her for details on their talk 

→ Michael saw the race live and the tweet and was like 🤨that don’t look fake 

→ Logan and Ashley?? New couple or drunken entertainment?? 

Author’s Note!

RAWWWW LEWIS HAMILTON WON THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX!! THE GOAT IS BACK, WHAT A DAY TO BE A LEWIS GIRLIE 🙌😭I just had to finish and take the opportunity by its neck fr, anyways maxy/n is finally official! I decided to be nice and not have a whole lot of miscommunication bc let’s be real, max would probably have hunted her down with her at the grand prix so a conversation was inevitable, now the real question is should max and y/n hooked up now or should we wait? 

taglist: @boiohboii @ale-522 @ietss @theseerbetweenus @jaxx-7 @sainzluvrr @the-untamed-soul @ashy-kit @hc-dutch @nichmeddar @delululeclerc @sweate-r-weathe-r @dhanihamidi @tellybearryyyy @luvsforme @samantha-chicago @theblueblub

༉‧₊˚  CHAMPIONS LOVE ༉‧₊˚

⤷ Following the messy breakup between Max Verstappen and Kelly Piquet, Max’s manager comes up with a solution to divert the attention – a fake relationship. His new girlfriend? Two time olympic gold medalist figure skater, y/n for the USA team. Easy? Well…

[saintescuderia]

STOMACHING YOU // MV33

(a pancakes oneshot!)

AKA - max comes to you after winning abu dhabi 2021 and becoming a world champion

series masterlist here :) // the pancakes recipe here :)

A/N: hello! welcome to another oneshot part of the pancakes!universe. and of course i would choose such a controversial moment to write about. please remember creative liberties in fiction. we love max and lewis equally (oscar's chandler bing level sarcasm is the real goat here c'mon)

TW: emetophobia

(unedited.)

You were mopping up vomit. 

For some reason, it was this pile of vomit that occupied your thoughts. Who had done it? When had they had done it? It was in between the Mercedes and Red Bull motorhome so it could’ve been either. Team members throwing up from the sheer nerves wasn’t something new to you. But today, tonight, after everything... it really could’ve been from anything. Both teams had gone through it tonight. Everyone had gone through it tonight. The vomit before you could’ve very well had been come out of you from everything you had witnessed. 

The nausea you had felt hadn't let up since last night. Last night when Domenicali had specifically requested you to work the bar and you had served all the rich, white men drinks who laughed jovially as Free Practice spun past and you anxiously snuck glances on the Red Bull with the Black T-Cam. Number 33. Verstappen. Max. Your old driver.

He was so close to getting what the two of you had dreamed about for so long.

You really had wanted Max to win. Of course you did. He had been your driver since entering F1. He was your driver and, honestly, there was a part of you that was always going to be reserved for him.

It wasn't the same thing with that you had for Charles - that was something entirely different. But Max was the first and only driver that you had officially trained, that you had gone through all the F1 bullshit with.

Whereas Charles was perfectly media trained, Max always blamed (or credited) his shit-talking to, well, you.

Lewis was a brilliant driver, and with one of the kindest souls to match. Despite everything with F1, the man had survived the brutal ruthlessness of the sport and hadn't let the money or fame corrupt him. You had a lot of respect for him.

But it was undeniable that you wanted one for Max. Lewis had seven already. Can’t we just let Max have one?

Apparently, some big oil rich guy with ties to the FIA shared a similar thought.

Well, for different reasons. 

“Ta.” Said big oil rich guy said, barely glancing at you as set his espresso martini down at the table. Domenicali gave you an appreciative smile before returning his attention to the man who kept going on. You gathered the empty glasses and turned around to walk back the bar as the man kept talking.

“No, look Stefano. Don’t call me racist. Don’t. But Lewis is… we need a knew face for F1. Do you know what it looks like when I go back home and there’s one of… you know, like Max is…”

You almost vomited. 

It wasn't like this was new to you. It wasn't. However, the man being so open about it had you counting how many drinks However, considering the two glasses in your hand, the man was well buzzed enough for his drunk words to reflect the sober thoughts.

From behind the bar, you kept your head down, staring at the Jordan Fours the donned your feet. The Black Cats had been a gift from Max way back when and you had wearing them all weekend for him.

“Everyone is getting bored of Hamilton winning. Put Max’s face. The white hope for Formula !”

Your hand froze. You couldn't help it. Your head shot up to look at the fucking scum that had just said that.

Formula 1 had been a lot of things. Sexist - downright fucking misogynist. Your time as a trainer had a lot of men down playing your skills and work. The added part of your appearance being 'exotic' and 'foreign' only compounded this.

Suffice to say, you also respected Lewis a lot for him being the sole black man on the grid.

So to hear this. Now. In 2021. To hear such blatant fucking racism made your fist curl so much that the stem of the martini glass snapped.

Domenicali noticed. He met your eyes - his petrol friend distracted by the sounds outside - and he gave you a troubled look.  

It wasn’t the first time you had heard something troubling. It wasn’t like Domenicali hadn’t ever quietly sidled up to you before with a special NDA in hand and the following month’s payslip to have some special bonus. 

But this… this was… this was too much.

Your barely registered the blood dripping down from your palm as you threw the towel on the bar and stalked to the door. You passed another worker on your way who called out your name. You barely paid them any attention. Sure, VIP sector of the Experiences lounge held certain expectations - you couldn't exactly just leave.

But you also knew Stefano wouldn't say anything. Not after that. And if anyone else would have a problem with you leaving, you would just tell them to go talk to Domenicali themselves. There would be no way he would penalise you for that. Not when he was likely thinking right now about what 'bonus' he could give you to compensate for what you'd just heard.

You didn't realise you had gone into the bathroom until you were met the stalls. Apparently your body was working on its own accord since the neural pathways weren't registering the nausea that was going through you. Your legs moved to the stalls. You found yourself kneeling. You found bile rising. You found the protein pancakes from this morning exiting into the toilet bowl in front of you.

Now, a few hours later, Michael Masi had made a call, your right hand was wrapped in bandages, Max had won his World Championship and you were mopping up vomit.

Normally, you would've changed your shoes. Now, you couldn't find yourself to care. The Black Cats had suffered a few scuffs here and there and looking down at them, you couldn't find yourself to even care. Looking down at them, you thought about Max and started to cry.

He had won. The internet had broken. Toto Wolff’s calls to Masi still resounded in your ears. Christian Horner’s tears of joy still flashed in your mind. The TV had caught Lewis crying and his father comforting him. The TV had caught Jos congratulating Max. 

You knew all too well that had the outcome been reversed, Anthony would be celebrating like it was Lewis’ first Championship - but Jos would have no sense to even speak to his disappointment of a son!

If anything, you were just glad Max had won so that there would be no worrying tonight about what hidden scars his father would cause him. More than anything, you hated the fact that you were no longer able to protect Max like before. Drama aside, it broke your heart.

But your heart broke today for a different reason. Because even though Max would be okay... you were so fucking disappointed.

You saw - everyone fucking saw - Lewis still make an effort to celebrate on the podium. You saw how Anthony Hamilton still went to shake the hands of Jos, of Christian, of Max. 

And Max almost didn’t fucking shake Anthony's hand.

And that, you took on yourself. You honestly thought you had taught him better than that.

Someone called out your name. You blinked. A quick wipe of your eyes and you schooled your face to greet the wide grin set on the face of one very elated Max Verstappen who was still dressed in his race suit standing before you.

“There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

"Why?"

"Why? What do you mean why? Because I'm a fucking World Champion!" He said like it was the most obvious thing. You looked around and frowned. You checked your watch. Enough time had passed that he would be done in the cool down room. That meant you probably should go there and finish mopping.

So you sighed and made a move on to finish with mopping this up so you could get to the driver's room. Your lack of reaction and going back to mopping clearly stumped the driver - no, World Champion, in front of you.

"You -- what are you doing?” Max said, completely taken aback.

“Mopping up vomit.”

"Get someone else to do this shit."

"This is my job now, Max." You said and looked up at him with a stern look that made Max's smile falter a little bit.

"Can't you get someone else to do it?" He asked, taking the cap off to run a hand through his blond hair. "I'm-- We won."

"You won." You corrected. "I'm no longer affiliated with Red Bull."

"But I..." He stopped and closed his eyes. He huffed and you could tell that he was trying to sort through his frustrations. You had coached him one too many times about using his big boy words and actually talk about his feelings. Since, of course, Jos did fuck all to help Max learn to talk about emotional needs.

"I want to celebrate with you. It's important that I celebrate with you." Max said, eyes still closed.

"You and I both know that's not going to happen. Your mother has a restraining order against me and your father's mood is going to be dampened seeing me." You said. Max's eyes opened and you hated how the joy dimmed.

"But... I'm a World Champion." He said, sounding like a kid again. A defeated kid.

“You’re still Max Verstappen.” You said, the emphasis. The emphasis served to remind him that, World Champion or not, he was still Verstappen. As in the son of the very man who loathed your guts. 

The emphasis also, you hoped was to remind him he was still a person, still Max Verstappen.

You wouldn’t let him lose himself like, arguably, Daniel had in the tempting champagne glory that comes with winning in Formula 1. 

And it was that thought that reminded you of the sad fury of disappointment you had been sorting through before he'd surprised you.

"Are you at least going to congratulate me?” Max asked. "I just became a World Champion finally. Everything we always said and you're mopping up fucking vomit!"

You stopped and looked up at him. You thought carefully of your next words. Taking a breath, you spoke.

"Did you shake Lewis' hand?"

"What?"

"Did you shake Lewis' hand?" You repeated.

"Why the fuck would that—"

"Sportsmanship, Max." You interrupted him and then went back to mopping. "That’s why. Sportsmanship."

This set him off. "Are you serious right now?" He called your name out and when you continued mopping, he came round and pulled the mop away from you. You stepped back and he stepped forward and suddenly both of you had your shoes - his racing shoes and your Jordan 4s - were now in it. "I did it. i finally did it. I proved them all wrong. Everyone said it wasn't going to happen. The commentators. The journalists. Even Christian had his doubts. But I fucking won. I did it. Jos -- Jos said he was proud of me!"

You fought to keep your voice calm and level. "So why are you here? Do you want me to say that I'm proud of you as well?"

Max didn't speak, but continued to breathe heavily. His pride and his anger wouldn't let him say yes.

"I thought you would be happy! We worked so hard for this. And I'm not so fucking arrogant to admit that I did it because of you. And here you are talking about Lewis hand?"

"Yes. Because I'm not taking credit for tonight. Not one single fucking bit of it." Max blinked, your voice starting to raise as you finally got to it. "You say you're not arrogant enough to want to celebrate with me. A nice shout out to the Hospitality worker who gave you the fucking seat and trained you to where you are now. But you know what? I would rather mop up this shit that pretend that I am happy about what happened."

"You're not happy for me?"

"I'm not happy at myself Max." You said, losing anger and heavy a tired sigh, finally looking up at the sky. It was dark but you couldn't see any stars. The light pollution from a night race was always so ridiculous. Suffocating almost.

"Why?"

"Because I thought I had taught you better than that." You said, finally bringing your eyes down to look at him. "You watched the cooldown, Max. You saw what happened."

"Yeah? And?"

"And?" You mimicked him. "I — if I had been up there with you guys tonight, what do you think the first thing I would do?" He remained silent. His shoulders gave a minuscule shrug. "I would shake Lewis' hand. Max. And I would slap you on the back of your neck and make sure you did the same fucking thing. Just like Anthony."

"Are you serious not going to congratulate me not shaking Lewis’ hand?"

"I'm sorry, and you're saying you're not arrogant?" Your eyes narrowed. "Clearly you're not getting it Max so let me be blunt. I would rather be mopping up this fucking vomit right now than stand beside whatever the fuck that was. I don’t mean to rain on your parade here, believe me, this goes beyond you. But the least you could’ve done was shake Lewis hand and prove them wrong!"

"Them?" Max frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Max." You pinched the bridge of your nose "I work in Hospitality. I serve the rich white man. I hear a lot of shit."

It took Max a second. You looked at him and watched his face continue to look at you confusedly until the understanding set in his widening eyes.

"Are you saying..."

"I'm not saying anything." You said with a grim smile. He immediately understood. NDAs were dished out on the daily around here.

You set the broom down and turned to fully face him. You put your hands on his shoulders and stared him dead in the eye. Given his height advantage, you leaned on your tip toes to be able to reach up and press a kiss to his forehead. Coming down, you saw his eyes shine and you gave him a soft smile.

"Maximilian, my brother, I love you. And I am happy for you. But when you're up, don't forget what it was like when you were down. Hold onto that, actually. It'll mean you won't lose yourself and be there for those that will always be down."

And with that, you turned around and went back to mopping.

Max stood there, unable to say or do anything. He was too overwhelmed with emotion. This... more than winning a Championship... this he felt more. He couldn't put this in words. This hurt. But in a good way. It... He felt... He just felt.

Max vaguely heard his name being called and hands pulling at him. Red Bull engineers talking about partying. You kept mopping. Head down, arms moving forward and back and you went about your manual labour task while expensive Champagne was flowing over him once more.

"Where do you want to go? Winner's choice!"

He knew exactly where he wanted to go. What he wanted - what he needed to.

-

Despite winning a Championship, Max Verstappen was still getting an earful from Jos. 

"Why the fuck did you go and shake his hand? And with all those cameras around? Do you know how that looks? He lost. You won. You don’t need to surround yourself with losers. No - fucking - pity. No mercy! Max! Why do you insist on being weak? I raised you better than this!"

Maybe that had been the problem. HIs methods of raising him.

His father’s tirade went to background music as he felt his phone buzz. He still had your contact details saved as before. 

tessio’s wings 💪💪💪

i’m proud of you

Max smiled to himself. It was funny how his father had finally said those words - had finally said he was proud of him - and they were hollow to him. How long had Max longed for Jos to finally say them and when he finally did... Max realised he didn't need them. He didn't want them. What he wanted was you again. To see you smile at him and tell him good job. To show him the love that he hadn't felt for most of his life. He had missed that.

taglist:

@eugene-emt-roe @spookystitchery @vicurious28 @taytaylala12 @c-losur3 @hiireadstuff @samantha-chicago @fionaschicken @casperlikej @bookstore-of-dreams @itsjustkhaos @sam-is-lost @laneyspaulding19 @formula1mount @bokutos-babyowl @stampiej @alilcloudy @bingussthirdtoe @sisinever @lilymurphy03 @inlovewmarlenemckinnon @charllleclerc

[star-lights-up]

OKAY OKAY OKAY BUT: Cherik "The Martian" AU

So I'm rereading the martian today because i am sick again, so obviously I need hard science fiction to combat the existential dread, and my brain just kept latching onto dialogue bits and going "CHERIK! MAKE IT CHERIK"

My thoughts are:

Charles and Erik were friends at one point, maybe during college, maybe at the beginning of training, IDK, at some point they had a bit of a falling out. They're civil enough to still get put on the mission together but it's well known they don't get along.

Though there was that one night, where they were both kinda drunk, and they got together......... ("We can't do this again." Erik said, angrily, in the morning. Charles left without so much as glancing at him, let alone responding.)

There's a sandstorm on sol 6, and the team is trying to evacuate (probably the first class team because that's just easy. Hank = pilot. I bet you moira is the leader lady, lewis, military trained or whatever. And everyone else is there too, but i'm on my asthma medication so I can't think clearly, so they don't get specific roles)

The radio dish comes off, impales Charles, he blows backward while unconscious (lower gravity or some shit idk physics) and crashes into Erik, who then gets hit by more debris. The thing that impaled Charles also impaled his biotelemetry reader, and Erik's got crushed on impact/by the debris, so both of them read as dead to their crew members, who have to leave or else they die too.

Erik wakes up first, since he's not actively bleeding and his suit's not impaled and loosing air. The sandstorm is over, the HAB (think space station/tent) is intact (yay!), but the MAV (think small spaceship good for like, a round trip to and from a larger vessel) is gone (fuck).

He tries to wake Charles up, but ends up dragging him back to the HAB on his own. He takes out the antenna that impaled him and sews up and bandages the cut, while Charles is semi-conscious. It's painful for now, but he'll live. Erik's exhausted, so he goes back to his own bunk and falls asleep, kinda hoping this is all a nightmare.

It's not gone in the morning. He's still stuck on mars in a glorified tent with limited resources and his least favorite person on the team.

They talk to each other, Charles thanks him for helping him, and they decide that they're just going to have to work together to get off of mars alive.

Charles = botanist, erik is the engineer (basically gonna have them split the original main guy's braincell. They already share one anyway).

Potato farming

Along the way, they kinda sorta start becoming friends again. They're relying on each other to survive, they're the only people each other can talk to... They play chess on the computers and watch Moira's awful 70's television and listen to disco that she brought along with her. They farm potatoes and jerry rig rovers and then oops, they fell asleep in the same tiny bunk watching tv together. Oops, they hugged after the potatoes germinated. Oops, they kissed in celebration when they finally made contact with NASA again.

Just like that, they've fallen into a new rhythm. They still argue a lot, but now there's also a good amount of kissing and little fleeting touches while they work together and they put their bunks together and fall asleep in each other's arms ("Do you realize," Charles says one night, Erik curled against his chest, pressing slow kisses to his collarbone, "We're the only people to have made love on a planet other than Earth?" Erik snorts softly, "NASA's not going to be hearing about that, if I can help it." "You realize that the HAB's always recording us, yes? They'll get the footage when we get back to Earth." "...Right. Huh." Erik frowns, then shrugs, "Worth it." Charles laughs.)

Erik gets stuck inside the airlock when the HAB deflates and they loose all their potatoes. Charles is in the rover and, for a while, was convinced Erik was dead. Until he saw the airlock start to roll towards the HAB, and then he started steering the rover over.

After they got the HAB back up, NASA tells them they're sending a supply probe called "Iris." (Transmission goes like this: [08:31] JPL: Keep us posted on any mechanical or electric problems. By the way, the name of the probe we're sending is Iris. Named after the Greek goddess who traveled the heavens with the speed of wind. She's also the goddess of rainbows. [08:47] LEN/XAV: Gay probe coming to save us. Got it. Erik heads back to the HAB. "Hello, darling. How's Houston?" Charles says, not turning from his soil samples or whatever the fuck he's been doing for three days. "They're sending us a pride-themed probe full of granola bars." Erik answers, shoving off his EVA suit. Charles turns to give him a quizzical, are-you-joking kind of look, then bursts out laughing upon seeing Erik's dead serious face. "Well, it's certainly fitting," He says, walking up to Erik and wrapping his arms around his neck, pulling him down for a kiss.)

Anyways. Iris doesn't make it, shit keeps going wrong, BUT eventually their team catches wind of a plan -- a risky plan, but one that could save cherik. So, without houston's permission, they pilot their ship on a course back to mars. They'll do a flyby, and if Charles and Erik can get to the site of Ares 5 and the MAV for that mission, retrofit the MAV, make it to their team's ship without dying/miscalculating and shooting off into the depths of outer space, they can get to that ship and on a course back to earth by sol 549.

They spend a bunch of time retrofitting their rovers for the trip, and so begins the classic cherik roadtrip -- martian style!! (I just want to mention that there's like no space, so just picture them cuddled up for a good night's sleep on the front bench of the rover. there. cuteness among the science).

They flip at one point. I could add details but it's been a while of me writing this and my brain is slowly dying and i'm tired so. that's it.

They make it to ares 5, they retrofit the MAV, then they do The Riskiest Space Flight of All Time. Random shit goes wrong, everyone's improvising, it pretty much seems like they're done for...

They get back to the big ship. They're safe!! (well, as safe as you can be in space.) But they get a hot shower and full meals and much more comfortable bunks (in separate rooms, technically, but Erik refuses to leave Charles's side so they end up in one bunk that first night. Usually they'd try to be a bit more discreet, but what the fuck. They've been stuck on mars. They almost just died. They deserve to fall asleep in each other's arms.)

They are HEROS back on earth. They get married almost immediately -- it seems quick to a lot of people, but they're so trauma bonded that, like, it's necessary. they go to paris on their honeymoon and get lots of free stuff. They never go to space again lol (and gladly)

THE END (fucking finally, it's 12:00 am on the dot and i've been writing this for 45 minutes.)

EDIT: some art I did for this au

EDIT: I fucking did it. I started writing it. Oops.

[mysteriouslyjovialcolor]

Austria 2019

-The Styrian hills are so pretty!!

-Charles and Max front row!!

-“Sebastian Vettel couldn’t run because of a mechanical problem in Q3”

He had a mechanical issue in qualifying for Germany too I think. What is with his Ferrari??

-Why are we calling the Force India, Racing Points now??

-“Feels like the hottest race I’ve ever taken part it” damn, should I predict tire problems?

-“Lando Norris was what- one year old when Kimi Raikkonen made his debut here? They start alongside each other today” That’s so cool

-“Verstappen gets an awful start” Ohmygod he got passed by like three cars. That was horrifying

-Charles flew off though

-Not three cars, he got passed by more than three cars. How did this happen??

-Charles just put such a big gap between him and the second car now

-“Started second, now seventh” I will cry. What the hell is an anti-stall?

-Charles setting a fastest lap. The contrast between these two right now

-“Norris didn’t look at all phased wheel to wheel with Lewis Hamilton. That bodes well for him into the future” yes it does

-Also I forgot where Carlos started but seeing him in p15 is unsettling

-“Max Verstappen has lost more positions in the first lap today, than the previous 14 races combined” oh

-Ohmygod Lando almost got pushed off the track by Sebastian Vettel

-Aah they’re going wheel to wheel. He almost got back that position too

-The orange crowd in the grandstands look like minions

-“The iceman gave Verstappen the whole freezer to himself there” I-

-Magnussen getting a drive through penalty :/

-“Tell me when to start pushing” Charles…are you not, already pushing?

-Lap 23, drivers coming in to box now

-Bad stop for Sebastian :( (He’s down to p7 now)

-“Tires are good. Tires are still good” Lewis is having a good race then

-Aah why did Kimi pit now, he’s p15

-“Decent pit stop for him” I forgot he’s not in a top team anymore 😭

-I’m surprised Red Bull hasn’t pitted yet

-Oh Lewis trying to overcut Valterri

-Lando and Pierre stopping now

-Okay why do all of these look like very bad stops

-Going to enjoy both Daniel and Nico being in the points for the next few laps before they inevitably lose that

-I kind of like this light blue livery on the Mercedes

-I don’t know how but Lewis has a damaged front wing. That’s definitely going to hinder his pit stop time

-“The chase is on now for Hamilton against Vettel” Or it would have been but Max just came out between them

-Charles back to leading the race

-Carlos and Daniel have been on the same tires for 35 laps now

-“Lick the envelope and send it down the inside”Daniel! It’s so cool how he’s able to fend off Lando with those old tires

-Carlos finally pitting, going back to p14

-How is Daniel still out?

-“Lando if you can, just hold Ricciardo in your DRS. Hold him to allow him to have DRS, as long as he can’t pass” “What like, forever?” Hahaha

-Unfortunately that play by McLaren didn’t work out, Pierre has gotten past Daniel now

-Daniel really needs to pit soon

-“Come on mate, let’s get it done. Let’s get it” Watching young Max go up against experienced drivers is always such a treat. You just have to hold your breath the whole time

-“Get it boy.” “Yes boy come on” Haha, that was really good

-Sebastian pitting?? Now it’s him chasing Lewis

-✨Carlos back in points✨

-“Oh I’m losing power. Guys?!” Aaaaah no!!

-Getting directions to push buttons with different numbers while driving at intense speeds would throw me off the edge

-Ah yes Max!! Let’s go!! Back to p2!!

-“Verstappen! There’s no stopping him today”

-“Haha yes” “Alright this is game on”

-This is the most radio I’ve heard between Max and GP in a while

-“They’ve got history of course, back in the karting days. Only 16 days apart” My favorite emotional support rivals

-“I’m sure they will absolutely relish a battle like that, if it comes to fruition at the end of this race” Inchident pt2?!

-Ohmygod is this _the_ race? The race after which they unfollowed each other???

-“But I am expecting three happy drivers on the podium for once” I’m so sorry Martin

-“Here’s the glimpse of the future of f1. The youngest ever front row”

-“Verstappen’s now caught sight of him” Let’s go let’s go let’s go

-“Blistering pace Max, keep it up mate” GP has been the man this whole race. So many encouragements

-“Can Charles Leclerc win his first Grand Prix, or will Max Verstappen deny him that?”

-“He’s right behind him, the last man to beat Mercedes in a Grand Prix, the old dominating Mercedes-Benz in 2018” ”And if Leclerc’s going to do this, he’s going to fend off a mighty adversary”

-“Verstappen behind 1s” “Leave me alone” Valid

-“Bravo Charles Leclerc, that was brilliant defending” Honestly there’s no one like Charles when he’s defending from Max

-Aaaah Max!!!! “Max Verstappen has just sent Holland into ruptures!”

-The way everyone talks about this incident- it was less dramatic than they make it sound. I thought he ran into him on purpose or something

-“It’s one, two, three, four, five…six! victories in formula 1 for Max Verstappen!”

-“Max you drove a mighty race. You are the man. I mean, what a race, we are so proud of you”

-“You and Charles certainly did him [Niki Lauda] proud”

-“It’s hard racing otherwise you have to stay home” He has never changed

-It’s hilarious that Valterri is the one sharing this podium

-Max pointing at the Honda logo in the end was so cute

-Going to go watch Charles win his first race now. I’m expecting karma to come for Max there cause that’s how the lore between these two seems to work

[thearchercore]

As a Lando fan, but first and foremost a Max and Charles fan, I’m quite disappointed in Lando. It’s true what they say, not everyone is happy when you are on top and your real friends show their true colours.

You are right, Max says what he thinks and never filters it. While Charles is a PR King (let’s be honest he’s more of a princess but that’s besides the point) but never once has he thrown shade at Max since they became friends (at least not that I know of)

Now, Daniel is not, has never been and will never be someone about him. Nothing against him, just vibes. But the fact that Max has held him so dear and close to his heart and he goes ahead and throws major shade at Max when Max was being nothing but honest at Vegas then makes sure to hang out with Lando during Winter break the other driver who is Max’s publicly known bestie on the grid (I mean the man even attends P’s birthday parties) anyway I digress. It’s just outright shady and childish.

Max is on another level and not everyone will understand that. True friendship should withstand such challenges. Of course anyone would be jealous and intimidated by such dominance and success but to deny the man like Peter denying Jesus infront of the crowd is just sad. I mean c’mon, did he mean it as a joke? Also was Daniel attempting humour? It’s possible but I can’t see someone like Charles making such weird comments. Even when they were beefing, Charles made it known that him and Max are okay and even though they are not best friends their relationship or hang out outside the paddock (back then things are different now) he still loved racing against Max because they understood each other and how they raced.

It’s actually petty for grown men to belittle their friend because of his success. But what do I know, the sport destroyed a childhood friendship (Nico + Lewis) Maybe only the realest and toughest friendships survive. Viva Charles and Max (whether you ship them or as friends) it’s real and they are always rooting for each other.

Sorry this got long.

yeah, i feel like the difference between daniel's current place in f1 and max's is playing a significant factor. again, max joined RBR when he was essentially still a teenager that was battling with puberty. daniel was there as the mature driver that max looked up to.

now, fast forward to 2024, daniel is fighting for his last chance at f1 after many unsuccessful team moves, and max is much more mature and has 3 WDC titles under his belt. that certainly changes things.

so i'm sure that if for whatever reason rbr kicks out checo and daniel jumps in, their dynamic would be different.

lando, on the other hand, is a different story. @tsarinablogs had a great post where someone suggested "I think Lando couldnt handle his car actually being competitive. Thats what weakened their friendship. It’s easy to be friends when you are driving a slow car, but then the car actually got competitive and he still couldnt beat Max."

again, the truth is -- f1 is a highly competitive environment and everyone will fight for themselves first without a doubt. that's what's happening with daniel and lando. daniel wants that red bull seat, lando wants to beat max. and that is going to be their priority over whatever friendly relationship they may have with max.

on the other hand, there are only 20 drivers in f1 so you have 20 other co-workers who share the same experiences as you. so you will always be closer to them than anyone else because no one would get you that well.

i think what works well currently between max and charles is that no matter how much media tried to put them against each other, they alway showed mutual respect to each other. charles never talked shit about max in press, and the overall vibe they have going on recently is that charles is happy for max's success, and is working hard to gain his own. also their actions speak a lot -- like charles' putting aside ferrari's questionable qatar strategy and rushing to congratulate max on his WDC. or max running to charles to apologise for his mistake in vegas.

their relationship doesn't seem to be definined by their racing results, and their joint racing history also makes them more equal in their own eyes than other drivers.

[heliads]

GIRLFRIEND i adored your lewis hamilton fics and am BEGGING you to write one for our boy charles leclerc!!! reader could be the public relations manager for the team and after another one of ferraris (unfortunate) racing tactics the press is badgering charles about what went wrong and overstepping boundaries and reader (who would be charles' gf or something idk) kinda steps in and puts them in their place

girlfriend!! anything for charles!

masterlist

If there’s one job worse than being a Scuderia Ferrari strategist, it’s being the director of public relations for the same team. The strategists really do try, bless their misguided little hearts, or so they claim, at least, but they do tend to cause a fair amount of trouble. Every race week, you prepare your statements for every kind of mishap, and every race week, you find yourself scrambling to draft responses to all types of new problems. Delightful.

Well, at least it’s interesting. Besides, the need for all these responses keeps you in a job, so you can’t really complain all that much. If there was one person with a legitimate bone to pick, though, that would have to be your boyfriend. He’s the one out there on the track whose shot at the Drivers’ Championship slips away with every bad plan, but for some reason, Charles Leclerc has still managed to keep his public affection for his racing team in fact.

Publicly, that is. When no one’s around but the two of you, when no one can hear you but the moths clustering on the outside of your glowing windows and the curling wind after dark, Charles sighs and runs his hands through his already mussed hair and actually says what he wishes.

It’s sort of funny, actually, that the only person Charles feels safe to be honest with is the PR head for his own company. As if you’d do a thing to hurt either him or his reputation, though. With the daunting task of carrying the hopes and dreams of all the Tifosi, Charles’ image and the man himself are one and the same. If you can protect him in any way, why would you not?

You just have to take care that you’re doing it inconspicuously. Very few people on this earth know about your relationship with Charles, you’d done that on purpose. Both of you were afraid of the toll it would take on your respective careers should the news come out. You would be accused of unfairly favoring a fellow employee, and he would be called out for similar HR violations.

That’s what years of public relations occupations have taught you. That’s the textbook answer:  you don’t date your coworkers and so you don’t have to find out what sort of backlash that blunder would win you. In all reality, you have no idea what would happen. Ferrari loves Charles, and you’ve won them some serious Internet credit over the years. After steering them away from several controversies, you’d think they’d be willing to cut you some slack.

Such a scenario, of Fred Vasseur letting you date his golden boy, isn’t even feasible in your imagination, let alone real life. Your little fantasy of public acceptance will have to stay just that until several miracles happen all at once to twist the popular eye in your favor.

Until then, though, you’re happy with what you have, truly you are. You fell in love with Charles for a reason, despite your best efforts and smartest choices. He is a wonderful man and an even better boyfriend. No one in this world has prioritized you or cared about you even half as much as he does. Charles does nothing by halves– not his racing, not his passion for his sport and career, and certainly not loving you.

With him, you feel wanted, and with him, you are willing to hide until hell freezes over and you’re allowed to go public without risking your job. Right now, you have everything, and there’s no way you’d risk that. Working at Ferrari was your dream, and you’ve had it for years now. Falling in love with someone like Charles was beyond your wildest imagination, but somehow that came true, too.

And, when you speak to Charles, he says much of the same thing. Sometimes, when you talk to him, you can still see the boy who’d promised his father he’d drive for Ferrari, the same kid who stepped into a kart for the first time and knew it would be his world forever. Charles has a spirit wholly unlike anything you’ve ever experienced before, yet he still swears that his life wasn’t complete until he met you.

Despite all of his charm, you had still initially tried to resist your feelings for him. Charles had joined Scuderia Ferrari only a year before you did; both of you were relatively new to the love and scourge of the Tifosi. It had been easy, then, to talk with him, to laugh with him, to let him eke out a place in your heart. It was inevitable. It was glorious. It was him.

You hadn’t counted on falling for him, but before you knew it, your heart was doing slow loops in your chest whenever you saw him, and meetings suddenly became way more interesting because Charles always went out of his way to sit next to you. It didn’t matter that drivers usually avoided public relations and media people like the plague, you were suddenly his favorite person in the world.

You watched and waited for it to stop, for him to get distracted by someone else, but that time never came. Charles still stayed hopeless for you, and when you could no longer hide the fact that you felt the same way, he asked you out at last, high on the adrenaline rush of winning a race. You had said yes, of course, and everything after that was history.

Charles is yours now, and you are his. He makes everything make sense, even when the two of you are gnashing your teeth over godawful strategy calls. It’s good to know that he will always be there to discuss the day’s work. It’s good to know that you will always have him.

That doesn’t mean that the Scuderia Ferrari strategists are in any way let off the hook, though. In fact, since you’ve started dating Charles, your resentment towards their bad calls has only grown. Both of your jobs are on the line whenever the strategy team messes up, and yet the problems keep coming.

For example, this week you’re reckoning with another round of bad calls. This time was another erroneous tyre mixup. Charles somehow went into qualifying with two different kinds of tyres on his car, like the strategists ran out of mediums and they decided two hards and two softs would do the same amount of work.

Spoiler:  it did not, and now Charles will be starting the next race from a less favorable position than hoped. In between furious complaints from Charles and utter incredulity from yourself, you’ve been scrambling to come up with some sort of angle for the Ferrari drivers to play during their next interviewers. Yet another crazy turn of events, but when has Formula One ever been boring?

Just in case, you’ll be patrolling the paddock with the other drivers and their communication managers so you can be available if the reporters start asking the kinds of questions Scuderia Ferrari wants to avoid. You split your time evenly between Charles and Carlos; although you may be dating one of the drivers, that doesn’t mean you’ll be favoring him.

Still, you’re not exactly ignoring Charles either. Spending time with him is easier, you can spot his ticks and the invisible signs that he’s losing his patience better than anyone else. That’s the benefit of loving him, you suppose, it gives you the ability to read his mind without needing something as exaggerated as telepathy.

You can see this right now, actually. This one Sky Sports interviewer has been hounding Charles for a good long while now. Charles has attempted to walk away several times, but the guy can’t take a hint and actually started following him, camera guys running in pursuit. Charles’ grin is starting to slip, and his eyes have long since stopped looking happy.

Carlos is still doing fine, so you bid him a hasty goodbye and turn back towards Charles before anything too terrible can happen. As you’re nearing your boyfriend, though, you hear the interviewer pushing Charles more than he should in a simple moment for the media.

In fact, the guy’s getting physical, which is the one thing that certainly should not happen in an interview. Unable to avoid Charles’ attempts to end the prolonged interview any longer, the other man has run up in front of him, actually grabbing onto Charles’ arms to stop him in his tracks.

Charles looks furious, but you are so far beyond that. You appear right behind Charles, stepping in between the two men as quickly as you can. Judging by the fright that cascades across the interviewer’s face, your expression reflects exactly what you’re feeling right now, and that is not a good thing for him.

“I think my eyes must be deceiving me,” you begin slowly, “because it looked to me like you just put hands on my driver. That would be such a monumentally stupid thing to do, so surely something else must be going on. You must have enough fluff in your head to know that laying even a finger on my driver would be a colossal mistake. I know you’re not doing that. I know you’re not. Right?”

The interviewer visibly blanches. “Yeah, that’s right. I’m not– I wouldn’t–”

Your smile is sinister but oh so perfect. “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear. This interview is over now, right? You were just talking about how Charles has continued to prove himself a capable driver despite setbacks out of his control?”

The interviewer audibly gulps. “Yeah, that. A lot of that.”

“Wonderful,” you grin, “I’ll just stay right here then, to make sure you’re staying on track.”

You take a few steps back for propriety’s sake, but the interviewer doesn’t look like he’ll be trying anything again. You’ve properly frightened him, which feels quite good, actually. Perhaps you should do this more often.

Charles certainly looks like he’s a fan of this. He’s beaming ear to ear, which is certainly a change from the glower that had been on his face only moments before. He’s supposed to be focused on wrapping up this sham of an interview, but he can’t seem to focus for longer than a second without turning around to look at you again. You’ll really have to get after him about trying not to be conspicuous, but you’re feeling pleased with yourself at the moment, so you don’t have the heart for it. Maybe later. Maybe never.

The interviewer shudders. “She terrifies me.”

Charles grins after you, somewhat in a haze. “I know, that’s why I’m so glad she’s my girlfriend.”

Your jaw drops as you realize what he’s said. “Charles!”

Charles’ eyes immediately go wide. “I didn’t– she’s not– shit!”

The public reaction to this is, as expected, insane. For the most part, though, it’s very positive. The fans are glad to see you defending their driver, and thousands of people have voiced their support online for how clearly infatuated Charles is with you. The idea that your bosses would try to split up the two of you is horrible to them, and it’s horrible to you, too.

It’s a good thing, then, that the higher-ups at Scuderia Ferrari would much rather prioritize the future of their drivers and public relations experts than try to cut off this relationship. Vasseur gives you the okay by the next race, and actually adds in some comment about how he’s been wondering if Charles would ever get up the nerve to ask for your number. It appears that the two of you may not have been as expert at hiding your relationship as you thought.

That was your greatest fear, that you would lose your job over this, and now that the danger has passed, you feel an immense wave of relief crest over you. You can keep the life you’d always wanted, and you can continue having Charles be such a main part of it, too. This is exactly what you’d hoped for in your wildest dreams, but your eyes are open now, and full of delight.

Charles is thrilled, too. He immediately rushes to his Instagram to post his favorite photos of you, something he fondly tells you later was a long time coming. The rest of the drivers absolutely destroy him in the comments for being, quote, ‘the biggest simp on the entire planet,’ according to Pierre Gasly, but you don’t think Charles cares at all. He’s got you, that’s what matters most.

And, to make up for the whole debacle, he gets you roses. Ferrari red. He’s a terrible flirt and utterly unstoppable when it comes to winning you over. Shame he’s able to do it every time. It’s almost as if you could never hold a grudge against him for longer than a second. Still, the groveling does him good, and soon enough he’s got a monopoly over your smiles just like before.

So, when the next race rolls around, you’re able to stroll into the paddock holding the hand of your boyfriend. It is not half as terrifying as you’d thought. In fact, it’s kind of extraordinary. Just like him.

f1 tag list: @j-brielmalfoy

[vicsbasement]

Watching Charles closely I came to believe that he might have abandonment issues (for obvious reasons), so yeah, I guess he hasn’t been taking Carlos’ departure from the team very well… Of course Carlos isn’t actively abandoning him, but anyways

Ohmygod, anon. You're absolutely right. I mean, it's a logical response to his past trauma, too. I'm not presuming to know the guy, but from what I can see, I just feel like he's really going through the trenches right now. I'm not going to say that they're extremely close, but, just from what we've been able to see about their relationship and the way they talk about each other, I'm ready to assume that they really seem to be close, especially now that we can see Charles visibly reacting to Carlos' departure from the team. I'm pretty sure there's not an ounce of bad blood between them, especially since they've been seeming so much closer ever since before Vegas. I feel like their friendship had time to develop towards the end of their third year together (trauma bonding and all things provided by a very rocky Ferrari car that put them both in uncomfortable situations that only both of them could understand) and so, now that that was blooming, to have it taken from them must be tough. Carlos has been brought up to be much less emotional about his relationships in the paddock, based on interviews alone, yet I think he's been saving up some emotion for their alone time. Charles, though... he seems to be that guy who wears his heart on his sleeve sometimes, and when it comes to this, he doesn't seem too shy to let people know that he really does like Carlos as a teammate and as a person. I mean, they have so much in common, everyone's said it, Mattia, Fred, constantly talking about their competitiveness and how close they'd become when they started to make everything a race... and they probably know each other well. They've shared small spaces, probably had important conversations with one another, they're both in a position where nobody else would get it, except for the other. And they've never, EVER shown disrespect towards each other. So, yeah. Carlos might not be abandoning Charles, but they're both in rather similar situations, and to bring Lewis into the mix, Lewis, with the bigger salary, with the seven titles, with the past experience... it should be something that makes Charles take pause and probably appreciate what he has right now with a guy who's basically in the same level as himself in terms of... I don't know, I guess gravitas. Lewis has so much, and Charles has the whole team behind him, and yet he turns to Carlos as a friend? Maybe we're not seeing how much of an equal footing they have between each other. They've probably discussed even this between them and Charles must be feeling so comfortable with Carlos by his side... This whole thing rocks his whole world, and I would love Carlos' security just as much as Charles is probably appreciating it right now. Sorry, I got totally off the rails with this, but the point is: what this shows me is that Charles really does care, deeply, about Carlos. And it's a wonder to see, honestly. If I were to be completely honest, I saw their relationship much more unilaterally. I felt like Carlos liked Charles more than he liked Carlos. But right now? Wow. I really do see how much Charles seems to appreciate Carlos' company and friendship as a teammate. And it's an absolute relief to me. The fact that he started the year defending Carlos from the italian press and insisting, on record, that they should focus on the fact that they have a whole year together out of "RESPECT FOR CARLOS"? Wow, Charles. You had my eye, before, but right now, you finally caught my attention. Thank you for sending me this ask, anon! I love analyzing stuff and the content has been pouring lately, so I love just to be able to talk about these two guys without restraints 😅

[petit-papillion]

I'm not sending this message to be hateful or to criticize but I honestly think that we overrate Charles too much. I like him a lot but I find it exaggerated to put him on the same level as max. Maybe at one time Charles could have reached the same level as Max or really had a rivalry with him but now I think it's too late. he missed his chances. Charles is a very talented driver but not a generational driver. I think he made bad career choices, that he should have left Ferrari because even if the team makes progress, it will never regain its former glory. I think Charles is destined for 2nd place. Especially now that Lando is improving a lot, he is starting to surpass Charles in terms of skill just as his team is surpassing Ferrari. I think Lando will be the one to become Max's rival and win a title before Charles. It must be recognized that Ferrari will always make mistakes, and when she doesn't, it benefits Charles's teammate. I doubt that Charles will be the priority with the arrival of Lewis. Charles should have left Ferrari when it was time, now it's too late. I think that that's too bad. But Charles and Max are absolutely not in the same category, Max is too far ahead of Charles and has been for a very long time. I think it is too late for Charles and Ferrari, they missed their opportunity. I can't see Charles becoming champion in front of Lando or Max

Hello Anon. Not really sure what brought on these thoughts, but I respectfully disagree with several of your points.

Not a generational driver? To be honest, I think that term is overused and puts unnecessary expectations on a driver. So much also depends on having the right car, the right people pushing you forward, the right mindset, the right opportunities. Maybe THE generational driver is a woman who only drove karts for fun and never pursued a career in professional racing.

Should've left Ferrari? Where exactly do you suggest Charles should've gone in the last 5 years? Red Bull? Already have a number 1 driver in Max. Mercedes? Had a number 1 in Lewis, and then their car was shit for a long time. George only has 1 win under his belt. McLaren? Also shit for the longest time and Lando is their golden boy who only just this year got his first win. Ferrari may have fumbled some opportunities, but Charles is the only one with a Top 3 finish in the WDC in the past 5 years from a team that is not Red Bull or Mercedes. And besides that, he is a Ferrari man through and through, something I wrote about in early December - a couple of months before his new contract was announced:

Not number 1 priority at Ferrari once Lewis arrives? It's possible. Only time will tell. But Ferrari does not give long contracts like they've given to Charles to anyone else, so there's that.

Not in the same category? It's true that Max is far ahead, just like Red Bull has been ahead of Ferrari. At the same time, it's not like anyone else has been able to come close to Max and the RBR's car's superiority until recently. Fred is doing a fine job making improvements in the team, but it takes a while to turn the ship around.

Lando to become champion before Charles? Again, it's possible, because a lot depends on the car they drive. It takes a combination of a skilled driver and a fast car, as we have seen with Checo not being able to do what Max can with the same car, and Lando not winning any races in an inferior McLaren. The experience driving a fast car may need to be developed as well, and Charles certainly is not the only one who has made mistakes under pressure. I literally just finished watching a race where George and Lando both made mistakes that cost them the lead in a race either of them could've won.

By the way, here is Max this race weekend being asked if he had to bet on just one driver to become world champion, who he would pick:

🎥 archive33mv

Finally, just so there is no misunderstanding: I will always keep hoping that Charles achieves his dream of becoming WDC, just as I never gave up hope he could win in Monaco. I am not as delusional to think it will be easy. Or even if he manages to win it, that he is at the same level as Max is right now. But I would like him to get there...

[lescarbille]

for the carcar prompt: interview

answer to : send me a word and I'll write you a Carcar drabble

(use of the actual McLaren "situation" to write angst / I have a will to write Landoscar friendship angst)

“Would you have done that, Carlos?”

Since the beginning of 2025, the races have been marked by a hint of drama. Ink flows between each circuit, like a rain that never ends. They have forgotten what F1 was at one time and now everything takes on an accent of drama. A comment on Lance Stroll becomes a state affair, bringing back accusations of nepotism, Logan’s astonishing results in IndyCar have launched a wave of hatred on the entire Williams team, the turmoil of Red Bull becomes an argument to assail Max with questions while waiting for him to crack (the Mad Maxnarrative seem to have run out of steam).

The real crux of all this rain, of all this ink, is the tense relations between two pairs of teammates: Charles & Lewis and Lando & Oscar.

The prospect of having two number 1 drivers makes the garages tense as the races become tighter and the team orders disputed.

Lando doesn’t give up a position after an undercut. Oscar nearly sends Lando into the barriers after a risky move. Lewis implies that Ferrari favours Charles and Charles says it might be time for Lewis to retire and take Fernando with him.

Carlos finds himself in the middle of the rain and storm. While his relationship with Oscar is a closely guarded secret to the media, the public sees them as good friends. Lando is his best friend on the grid. Charles his former teammate. They ask him for his opinion at every race.

They just don't know how much Carlos loves Oscar and how he swears to be on his side.

“What would I have done?”

“Refused the swap.”

He wishes he still have the opportunity to say "Fuck off" to Ferrari on team radio, when they messed up his strategy, when they leave him drive alone to focus on Charles like in 2023 in Abu Dhabi.

He let Oscar says "Fuck Off", he knows how he feels, he won't denied his right. Fuck off Zak. Fuck off the strategy. Fuck off McLaren. He's kind, too kind sometimes, but Oscar is everything except an idiot.

Once again, McLaren’s strategies have driven a wedge between its drivers. Oscar and Lando’s already strained relationship is hanging by a thread; it’s a wonder they still speak cordially to each other. He don't think Oscar could say "fuck off" to Lando. They are on a same boat and if it sinks Oscar would still save Lando. He cares too much about their friendship, no matter how difficult it is at the moment.

Carlos hates them, McLaren and the media, for that. They were, are, good friends and now they are haunted by the narrative of Prost and Senna. The clash of the McLaren titans all over again.

“I would have done it", Carlos says. "I would have refuse."

Lando will hate him a little, he don't care, Carlos is right.

Carlos has become more selfish and quicker to defend Oscar, he hates seeing his hurt expression when team strategies are failing him… again.

“Oscar was way ahead, with better tires, he should have gone after Lewis. Lando wouldn’t have succeeded and if he had, the end of the race would have been extremely difficult for him. Oscar did it, he succeeded, he managed those tires better, that’s why he won, he was more strategic. He did well.”

I'm proud of him. As always.

Oscar always does well, but Carlos’ opinion has become biased, he’s just lucky it’s always backed up by facts. Oscar is too good of a driver to be given anything other than his future world championship title.

“Thank you, Carlos.”

When he leaves the interview, he sees Oscar's disappointment in his eyes, as if each of his first places, as if each of his points became a new knife. Carlos hates that, and he will protect Oscar from them, because he loves him.

He puts a hand on his back when he passes by him: I'm here, it'll be fine.

[byronic-mess]

Dinner date

Relationships: Charles/Lewis

rating: gen

additional warnings: none

Lewis smiled as he saw the post the teams posted.

It was approved by him and Charles, obviously. Both of them agreed that the new season was the perfect time to start dropping hints about their relationship. Lewis saw the comments calling it a date and smiled even wider. They had no idea how right they were. Charles sat across from him and raised an eyebrow, asking what had Lewis smiling so much.

“People think we’re on a date.”

“Are we not?”

Lewis smiled and put his phone away, reaching to take Charles’ hand in his own. He looked beautiful in the low light of the restaurant, candles making his skin glow golden. Lewis couldn’t quite believe that Charles was his, that he got to look across the table and see this vision sat in front of him. His other hand fiddled with the box in his pocket, waiting for the right moment to pull it out.

“Of course we are, I'm just saying what others think too.” 

Charles smiled fondly and squeezed Lewis’ hand, saying something about him not caring about what others think of them. He’d agreed to go public with their relationship, but he wasn’t really bothered whether people actually picked up on the hints. He was just looking forward to being able to be more public with Lewis. They’d been together for months now, nearly a year, and Charles wanted to be able to hold Lewis’ hand in public like he couldn’t before. 

The dinner went well, until desserts were brought out and Charles started looking nervous. Lewis paused as he lifted some of his cake up on his fork, catching something glittering on it. He pulled back and studied the piece of cake, seeing a ring laying perfectly on top of the bite he was going to take. Charles rubbed his hands over his trousers as he watched Lewis pick it out, cleaning it off. Charles took a deep breath and whispered out a question, voice quiet enough that Lewis couldn’t hear it. He asked him to repeat it.

“Will you marry me?”

Lewis stared at Charles, before reaching into his pocket and pulling out his own ring box, placing it on the table and letting Charles open it.

“Only if you’ll marry me.”

Charles made a noise that sounded like a sob and put the ring on, prompting Lewis to do the same with his ring. It fit perfectly, and Charles looked radiant as he kept staring at the new ring on his finger.

[probablynothelaenaa]

Risky moves were happening in formula 1 and Charles didn’t like it one bit.

Now don’t get him wrong he was estatic about Lewis being his future teammate and he was also very proud of Carlos for having the strength to move on, but what he was disturbed about was how quickly the news of Lewis’s move got out.

He was disturbed at how the fans found out 8 hours before the teams put out their statements.

That made him think about his own secrets and how they could easily be uncovered by anyone, just like they did with Lewis.

What were his secrets?

Charles has signed a multi year deal with Ferrari.

That wasn’t the secret tough.

The secret was that he had also signed a pre-contract with Red Bull.

A pre-contract that stated ,once his contract with Ferrari was terminated he would have to sign with Red Bull.

Shocking , but what can he say.

A man can only lose so much and a certain dutchman was also very persuading…

Max wasn’t obviously the only reason he was joining Red Bull , but oh boy did he help.

And yes ,you heard him right ,his contact with Ferrari would be terminated.

He didn’t intend on staying with Ferrari for more then 3 years. This year , a year with Lewis and maybe one more just for shits and giggles.

Hell he was getting giddy just thinking about Red Bull and driving that rocket ship. He would never admit that to Max tough.

Speaking of Max , he was currently upstairs searching for something in what the two of them called the racing closet. They had devoted the smallest closet in their shared apartment to race suits and other gear.

Charles was sprawled out on the couch scrolling through instagram.

“Hey schatje?!”

“What?” he said not wanting to get up from his comfortable position.

“Come here for a bit!”

Charles got up with a sigh and walked to their shared bedroom where Max was yelling from.

He saw Max sitting on the edge of their bed with a Red Bull suit in hand and tilted his head in confusion.

“Come here.” Max smiled ushering him closer and Charles obliged, now standing in between Maxes legs and staring confused at him.

“Take your pants off.” Max said bluntly. Reaching for the suit.

Now closer to it, Charles could guess by the red stripe across the under arm and leg it was from 2019.

“I’m sorry ?” Charles asked taken aback.

Max looked at him and then repeated his words more slowly.

“Take your pants off.”

He grabbed the suit and unzipped it looking expectantly at Charles.

Charles took a step back and took his sweatpants off leaving his underwear on.

Max took the suit and held it up for Charles to put his legs through the leg holes.

“Max, what the fuck,?” Charles chuckled while putting one leg trough, then the other.

Max shushed him and lifted the rest of the suit up Charles’s legs reaching to his hips and grabbing the zipper, pulling it up a couple of inches before getting up and taking Charles shirt off.

Charles just sat like a doll and let Max undress him.

He was surprised at how well the suit fit him and realized how he was almost the same size as 2019 Max.

That made a shiver go down his spine.

Realizing how big Max was compared to him. How much more muscle he had.

Charles thought back briefly to all the times Max was able to manhandle him and lift him up like he was nothing.

If you looked at them side by side, they weren’t that different.

Max wove his hands trough the sleeves and zipped up the front of the suit buckling the velcro at the neck.

He sat back down with a sigh admiring his work.

He looked at Charles and smiled lovingly.

“ Why are you so stiff?” he asked giggling. He then twirled his finger.

“Do a spin for me.”

Charles spun around. When he looked at Max he saw nothing else but love and admiration.

If racing with ferarri for 3 more years didn’t kill him, being teammates with the most godly man on the planet would.

But nevertheless….

He looked at Max.

Max looked at him.

Charles’s secret would be fine.

Even if it wasn’t, he couldn’t give a shi.

[thekoalapastriesbakery]

After finishing up logan's magic check up it was onto checking the cars and after looking at Red bull, Mercedes and Mclaren (and atleast one or both cars at minimum having one curse and a number hex's, lewis's car veing the worst right after max and lando's) it was onto Ferrari and you just stood there Flabbergasted the amount of hex's on them were ungodly, and the curse's, dear god you didn't know someone could put that many curse's on an object without killing themself and it just went worse as you went looking at particular areas of the car the only reason charles and carlos weren't dead was the blessings their familys put on them which stopped the curse's from activating all in the same race, this trend continues with the other teams but none are as bad as the Ferrari and Williams cars. (Except maybe Alpine but thats mostly the own teams fault for trying to directly make certain parts of their car entirely out of magic)

–🍑

just for clarity's sake i'm imagining spells as sort of like stretchy webbed fabric around who/whatever they're cast on? the more intricate the pattern, the stronger the spell. loose and/or hole-y spells are largely ineffective for anything but weighing down the thing they're placed on. i feel like this'll help my wording make more sense lol.

you'd never guessed that the witch doctor you'd replaced never once thought to check the drivers' cars.

when you'd been hired, you were given files on each driver and their previous complaints. sure, the drivers the previous witch had paid more attention didn't have any hexes on them—only clumsily torn and redone blessings and charms—but, boy oh boy, their cars did. logan's car, aside from already being almost completely worse than his teammate's, had spells and hexes tangled up in all the parts. you'd had to work with the poor williams mechanics to completely take the car apart, undo or fix all the magic, and then put it back together.

with that discovery, you'd started going through all the teams' garages looking for hexes and curses and poorly cast (or tampered with) blessing and charms. suddenly, you were very glad the fia had hired you well in advance of the second half of the season starting. it seemed silly to hire a witch doctor for cars. that didn't mean you weren't one more trip to ferrari away from requesting an assistant of some kind.

and alpine, god, don't get started on them. you'd spent well over an hour arguing with flavio about letting you dismantle the mess of magic they had in their cars. his argument was that you'd be taking out some vital pieces. your argument was that it was only a matter of time before that much magical duct tape posed a serious danger to the drivers. eventually, you finally managed to get him to agree to letting you scrap all of it.

ferrari's cars ... were a mess. unlike alpine's self-inflicted misery, the whole ferrari garage had possibly decades of amateur blessings, charms, hexes, and curses. you'd made them book a whole day per car for you to work, and then an extra day for the rest of the garage. you wanted to keep as many enchantments intact as possible. the tifosi worked hard to help their favourite team, and you wouldn't willingly do anything to tarnish their efforts. which meant a lot of weaving and undoing and redoing all of the many spells.

you slept for a week straight after getting formula one freshly hex- and curse-free, only to wake up on race week and have to do it all again.

[writingshushf1]

Lover - chapter 1

Summary: the next 4 minutes have decided your whole life.

Rating: +16

Warnings: unplanned pregnancy, grief, mention of death, drinking during (unknown) pregnancy, mention of abortion.

Word count: 3.7k

Note: some fluffy mick x you baby fic! but it’s not what it seems- so, jdssjdjssjd i hope you guys enjoy! this one is already completed so i’ll post every 2-3 days, also available on AO3.

 masterlist

APRIL, 2024.

“The smell here is very strong, not liking it.”

"You'll get used to it."

You were walking around the paddock with Sebastian Vettel; he was your godfather and the fatherly figure you had after your father died, his wife also played an important part of your life, you even spent some holidays with them. Now, he was guiding you to meet one of his “paddock kids”. First, it was Charles Leclerc, he was nice with you two, loving the idea of being important enough for the german driver. Then, it was Lewis, he wasn’t one of his “kids”, but a real close friend of his; the Mercedes’ driver was also very nice towards you. And the last one, Mick Schumacher. The other blonde was the closest to Vettel, you heard of him a lot, but never had the time to meet him, your dad hated the sport for some reason - it was ironic, because one of his closest friends was a racing driver.

The boy was exceptionally nice, yet very shy towards you. His blonde hair was tidy, his racing fireproofs down to his waist, showing the shirt of his team, your godfather told you that he changed from Haas to a new one this year, so his hopes were up for possible podiums and wins. The older german excused himself for a while and you had the time to properly talk.

“I heard of you, a lot.” You said, adjusting your cap.

“Same.” He smiled. “So… How come we didn't meet before?”

“Well… Seb is indeed my godfather, but my dad hated Formula 1. Or any sport that involves vehicles.” The blonde chuckled and you felt your heart flutter, it was weird, how fast you were feeling tipsy for someone you just met. “It’s ironic! I know!”

“Did you lie to your dad about going out with your godfather and ended up getting here?”

“I wish.” You smiled.

Before you could explain, he was back to you two.

“Let’s go to our seats? Mick here is the nicest person and gave us access to his garage .”

“I still can’t get over that you retired, uncle.” You said. “See you after the race!”

“See you, guys.”

You walked with Vettel and sat down. Media knew you very well, since you were a kid, even though your dad didn’t allow you to go on races, you would often be seen with Sebastian and his family. He liked to spoil you and in some way, you were the older sibling to his kids.

It was actually weird that Mick and you never crossed paths before, as long as you knew, his dad was close to the german. Maybe it wasn’t the right time.

Vettel and you were closely watching everything that was happening, the older would explain to you things that you didn’t understand. You found that the sport was actually interesting, however you were getting nauseous and your head felt like it was spinning. You grabbed your godfather’s arm lightly.

“Hey… Can you get some water for me? I’m feeling a little sick.”

“Yes, stay here. Anything else?”

“Some painkillers? My head is pounding.”

Soon he got back with what you needed and you could at least put up with the rest of the race. That was weird, you usually didn’t feel sick, or at least not that badly in the middle of the day. Sebastian kept looking at you, he was very worried about your state, but still cheered for Mick when he got P4. The retired driver explained that he was keeping a good pace since the beginning of the season and now it was the closest to a podium, they were hoping by the next race he would get into at least 3rd place.

After the race, you waited longer to meet with Mick and walked together till the parking place, now with only a few fans.

“So… There will be a gathering later, in Ocon’s place… Do you want to join us?” He asked for both of you.

“Nah, I’m too old for this, but you two should go!” Vettel put his arms around both of you. “ Especially you, Olli.”

“Fine! I’ll go, just let me back at my hotel room and change?” You said. “And we agreed to never use that nickname again.”

“But what should I call you then?” Seb loved to tease you with that, Mick looked confused at both of us.

“By my name!”

“Uhm… Can I ask why?”

“Yes!” Of course, he was going to embarrass you. “So, when she was younger, she used to eat trolli gummy bears a lot, but had trouble saying the ‘tr’... And I thought it was the cutest and refused to call her anything except for Olli.”

“I was four.”

“Still the cutest.”

“You want to kill me with embarrassment.”

“I thought it was very cute.” Schumacher intervened into the conversation.

“See? I’m a genius.”

“You’re too old, go to your hotel room to sleep!” You said, the three of you laughing.

…............................

You were nervous, no one actually knew you there except for Mick, so the moment you walked in with him, people got closer to him, talking and pulling him, while you stood there, being recognized as “the girl who Sebastian took to the paddock”. The blonde noticed how you were looking like a deer in headlights, so he got you closer and introduced you to people.

The night was going fine, you, Schumacher, three of his friends - that you learnt they were Ocon, Stroll, Albon and their significant others were sitting on the balcony, drinking different types of alcoholic drinks and talking shit about life.

“So, how could we have never seen you before? I mean, paparazzi pictures outside yes, but… Never around.” Esteban asked, he was drunk and genuinely curious.

“My dad hated Formula One, so he never let me be around it.” You smiled, remembering the memories. “I told Mick that and how funny it was one of his closest friends was a four time world champion.”

“Was? But you still go around with Seb.”

“Well…” That was the hard part. It’s been two years already, however it would still hurt you every time you have to tell someone new. You felt tears prick your eyes. “My dad died, it’s been a while actually.” They all felt silent. “He was sick, very sick and it got to a point that there was no way of him being what he was.” You sighed and felt a hand on your shoulder from Schumacher. “We didn’t know how his state actually was. Decided to turn off the machines, it was better than maybe to wake him up to see if it had any brain activity and see him suffering.”

“Wow, that was deep, sorry.”

“It’s okay! I’m happy that I spent the rest of his time with him. I try to always remember him with smiles.” You took another sip, feeling your stomach reject that, so you put the drink aside. “We should always remember people with happy memories, it’s how they would like to be remembered.”

“That’s beautiful.” Mick smiled at you, squeezing your shoulder.

“Who wants more booze?” Lance broke the sad moment because of his drunk self- and you were grateful for that.

Everyone laughed loudly and he got more alcoholic drinks for everyone, but you refused, taking the sparkling water.

“Are you ok, girl? Not the biggest fan?” Elena asked you.

“Not feeling the best. I’ve been feeling weird all day.”

“Did you check the last time you got your period? Maybe there’s a little Mick coming soon.”

“No!” You said out loud, hiding your face with your hands. “Girl... Just friends, nothing else.” You laughed along. “I hope that was a joke.”

You looked at the blonde, who had bright red cheeks, waiting for him to give you support on the answer.

“Yeah, it would be pretty weird-”

“I was a joke, relax you two.” Elena squeezed your shoulder in reassurance.

“And I’m not pregnant. Impossible. It’s been a while that I don’t have a nice time with anyone.” You cringed right after that, earning a sweet smile from the girls, who giggled.

“It’s ok, we’ve all been through that.” Stroll got on the subject again, being even more drunk than before.

“Someone will need to carry him out of here.” Albon commented.

“He’ll sleep on the sofa, probably.” Ocon spoke.

….....................................

It was around 3am when Mick offered you a ride home, he didn’t drink anything because he knew he was the assigned driver for Albon and Lily - and now you too, not that he hoped all night that you accepted going with him. You were the last one to be dropped off before he went back to his hotel. The movement of the car was making you sick, your eyes were closed, trying to not feel worse than you’ve been after that last drink. Your throat was burning and the sensation was causing the symptoms to be even worse; the car stopping and going back again was driving you mad.

“Mick.” He was too focused on the road and didn’t listen. “Mick.” You called again, which took him out of his trance.

“What?”

“Stop the car.”

“Why? Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” You took a deep breath, however it was a bad idea. “I’m going to throw up and I don’t want to do that in your car.”

He quickly entered an empty street, stopping suddenly. You opened the door and walked a few steps, until you couldn’t hold anymore, putting everything out of your body. The german got out of the car and closed the doors, running towards you, pulling your accessories and some strands of your hair back. His hands were cold against your body.

“God, this feels awful.” You let go of his touch, it felt too much for you, everything was overwhelming in that moment.

“Do you need me to take you to the hospital?”

“I’m fine, Mick. Maybe that drink didn’t sit right with me. Please, just... Take me to my hotel, I’m exhausted.”

“Okay, but I’ll leave my phone number, in case you don’t want to wake Seb up.”

“Fine. Thank you.”

It still had twenty minutes before you arrived at your hotel, so you ended up drifting off and sleeping on the passenger’s seat. Schumacher was looking at you a few times, smiling at the fact you slept so quickly; he took some of the hair that was sticking to your face due to the sweat, but feeling your skin was cold, so he took his coat from the backseat and put it on top of you.

When you arrived, he squeezed your shoulder slightly, calling your name.

“Hey, we’re here. Do you want me to take you to your room?”

You woke up, taking off your seatbelt and his jacket. “No, I’m fine, I swear. I’ll only call you if it’s an emergency.”

“Right. I’ll believe in you.”

You walked out of his car, getting into your hotel room next to Vettel’s. You got naked and entered the shower, letting the warm water run through your body, calming your nerves. After a long time in the shower, you brushed your teeth and laid on the bed, saving Schumacher's number.

i’m alive, lol

going to sleep

see u

mick: thank god

good night

see u

…................................................................

The next morning, you woke up feeling horrible, with morning sickness, terrible headache. It felt like even though you didn't sleep. Normally, you would think this was some bad hangover, however, things were hitting you differently. One thing you could be sure, you weren't pregnant, the last time you did a test, it came back negative.

You got up, feeling the same as last night, running towards the bathroom and throwing up. Probably it was all the junk food you ate in those last days. You took a shower and changed your outfit; when you were brushing your teeth, a soft knock on your door could be heard.

"Hey, Olli, it's Seb. Good morning."

You smiled, finishing and going towards the door and opening to him.

"Good morning. How are you?" He walked in and opened the curtains before sitting on the couch.

"Me? I'm fine. I want to know about you. Mick left a message in the middle of the night saying you weren't feeling good."

"Oh!" He really needed to tell that to him? "I was, maybe it was the drinks that we had, they weren't strong, but I was with an empty stomach."

"You're sure? Yesterday during the race you were not feeling good either."

"That was the headache, you know I have bad ones."

He wasn't buying your excuses, but he let it go. For now.

"So what will you do today?"

"I was waiting to tell you this later, but… I got a new job! And I'll move to another country." Vettel looked at you, very surprised. "Uncle Seb, it's the one. I did it."

"I'm so proud of you, kid." He hugged you.

This moment made you tear up, finally getting your dream job as a manager in an entertainment company was a big accomplishment. You wished your dad was the one hugging you, saying that he believed in you and everything was happening because you were good. Before you could understand, the german was wiping the tears that were running down your face. He kissed your forehead, looking a bit too worried about you.

"Everything ok?"

"Yeah, it's just… I've always wanted this, so badly and I wanted to share it with my dad, but he's not here…"

"Olli, I'm sure he's proud of his little girl."

"Thanks, it means a lot to me, you know?"

"I know. Can I tell Hanna?"

"Of course you can!" You laughed between tears.

"Where are you moving?"

"Well… For now, they want me in Monaco, most of their clients live in the countries around it."

"That's good! Mick just moved there too, Daniel lives there as far as I remember, Charles too. They're good people and will make you feel at home."

"Thanks, Seb. I know they will." You smiled. "I just hope I didn't scare Mick after last night."

"I'm sure you didn't."

Both of you laughed together before you started to pack your things.

"I'm going back home tonight and booking a hotel for next week there, in the meantime, I'll find an apartment. They want me working as soon as I can."

"That's good! It means they really are invested in you."

"If you say anything else, I will cry again, uncle."

"Okay! Okay! I'll stop."

Vettel decided to get back home with you, because you lived in the same city, close neighborhoods. That night, after booking the hotel, you started to pack your things, the most important thing that you would need to have on the first week at the new apartment.

You were feeling your body being more tired than usual, but it was a long flight and an even longer weekend you had, so it was understandable your tiredness. The sickness was becoming an obstacle now and it made you madder than usual, resulting in a broken cup and a quick visit to the hospital to get some stitches in your palm; of course that wouldn't stop your moving and working.

…..........................................................

Monaco, there you were. New life, new things and a beautiful view from your apartment after a week in a hotel. It was smaller than your old one, but it was worth it. One bathroom, two small bedrooms - which one would be turned into an office - an open plan kitchen with living room and the balcony where you could see the ocean. The feeling of being independent was amazing, especially when you thought that everything was happening because of your dream job.

Immediately you texted Mick. This past week you became closer and your friendship was growing, both of you liked that, because a new city could be lonely for both foreigners.

the view is awesome, omg

*attached picture

mick: how is your view better than mine?

are you jealous?

mick: maybe…

really?

you should come here then lol

mick: i don't have anything to do rn

if you let me…

im knocking on your door in 5

if you bring good wine, im in

mick: then give me 10, ok?

sure, ill get the snacks ready

mick: fine see you xoxo

xoxo

You got all the snacks into different bowls, most of them healthy because you knew that Mick was usually on a diet to keep his weight, even though the smell and taste of them were feeling weird for you. In 10 minutes, he was knocking on the door, asking to get in; you thought it was very funny how loud and noisy he was being, almost saying no, but then you thought about the wine and let him in.

"Wow. It's cozy."

"I know, right? I'm loving it here."

"Do you want to drink now?"

"Oh, yes! The first two weeks have been good, but it's too much work! I need to chill."

When he gave you a glass, the smell bothered you, but you ignored, trying to give it a shot. On the first sip, it was bad, but you could handle it; however the second made you gag slightly. The nauseous feeling came back and you put down the wine, sitting back on the sofa.

"Maybe I won't drink today. My body is not feeling it."

"Really? That's sad, more wine to me, then!"

"I'm feeling like I'm about to throw up. Again."

"Are you ok? The last time we saw each other, you threw up in a corner of a sidewalk."

"I'm fine, it's probably stress."

"Are you sure?" He was very worried about your state of being.

"I said, I'm fine! Mick, you don't need to get worried, okay?" You snapped at him, soon regretting when you heard his voice.

"Oh. Okay. Sorry for that."

"It's okay… I was rude to you."

Later that night, you were laying with your head on his shoulder, watching some random TV show, when you needed to get up to go to the bathroom again. For the fifth time in 1 hour.

"I'm going to ask you again. Are you ok? It's not normal to get up around every 15 minutes to pee."

You sat down and started to question what he said. He was right. It was indeed weird.

"Now you've got me. But I don't know what it could be.”

"Let's think about the most common problems and get into a solution?"

"That would be fun."

And then, you two spent one hour trying to figure out what could be wrong in your body so you were acting like that. And nothing would match, from the simplest to the most obnoxious diagnosis. This was getting boring when he looked at his phone and back to you three times.

"There's one possibility that we didn't think of." He said.

"Which is…?"

"Pregnancy. You could be pregnant. "

"What?" You scoffed. "Impossible. I did a test and it came back negative!"

"When?"

"Around six to eight weeks ago?"

"That was a very long time. A lot of times it could be a false negative."

"Mick, you're scaring me." You felt your anxiety crumble up into a pile; your hands were wet with sweat, your breathing was shallow. He held your hands, looking at you.

"You should do a test, just to keep this option out of our mind. Okay?”

"I'm going to buy one. I'll be back in 5. Stay here please. I know it will be negative, but I need a friend around."

"You can count on me."

The nearest pharmacy was walking two blocks down, so in less than 5 minutes you were in the elevator, feeling your nerves running up your sleeve. It was an embarrassing situation asking for the test when your French wasn’t the best. The worry was growing, you couldn’t be pregnant, at least not now.You opened the door, looking at him and walking towards the bathroom.

The next 4 minutes have decided your whole life. From the peeing on the stick, to waiting for the results and the shock when it was positive. You washed your hands and face a couple of times, trying to put yourself back before looking at it again.

You were pregnant.

From there, everything was slow, like your mind was denying what just happened. Before you could understand, your sobbing was so loud that Mick ran to the bathroom door, knocking softly and calling for your name. It took a few minutes before you opened and walked to him, letting the blonde hug you while you cried into his chest for several minutes.

"I can't believe it. Why? Why now?" Your voice was muffled from your face still against his hoodie. "I was having the perfect life and then… Boom! One night of fun turned into this."

"Hey, I'm with you, Seb is with you. We're going to help."

"It's not just that. My career, I just started it. Maybe they won't fire me now, but in a few months? Hell yeah. And I’m in my twenties! I’m too young to have a kid, I don’t know what they will need."

"I'll be ready to sue them and to learn with you about babies, kids, teenagers."

Between your tears you chuckled a little.

"You don't need to do any of that."

"We're friends, right? So I'll do anything for my future godchild."

"You're too good for me." You sniffled and looked at him. "Thank you, for actually wanting to support me. I don't think the father will want anything with it."

"You don't need to thank me, but maybe you'll have to tell Seb about it."

"Yeah, but as soon as he knows, the first thing he'll do is fly over here to talk about the options. "

"Options?"

"I don't know if I want to keep this baby, Mick. Abortion could be an option… But here I can't do it, in Germany either and I don't have that much money left after I got this place."

"Well… We'll work it out with the decision you make. Because you know why?"

"Why?"

"Because friends support each other on anything."