#the only person at Ferrari who seems to give a shit about Carlos is Charles

[lightsout-andawaywego]

I think the most frustrating part for me is that Carlos got so enormously shafted by Lewis deciding to jump ship and for some reason the common understanding is that he is getting overlooked by other teams is for being difficult to work with when he literally has been nothing but respectful and professional ever since, even when Ferrari themselves have been unprofessional to him.

[ddaelie]

«Ferrari fired wrong driver»

Can someone please explain to me how Carlos Sainz fans can be so delusional?

«I think Ferrari have backed the wrong horse. Carlos knows it as well and wants to give them this as a reminder! Good on him!!!»

«I like Charles, but my issue with him is that he’s inconsistent. Ferrari has essentially dissed Seb, Kimi and now Carlos to back him and he hasn’t proven to me that he can carry a team and win. WDC»

«Sainz is the better driver, thats why they held Leclerc on next to Lewis»

1) Just simple stats from the F1 website:

Drivers: Sainz/Leclerc

Seasons: 10/7

Grands Prix: 206/147

Podiums: 27/41

Wins: 4/8

Points: 1256.5/1405

Poles: 6/26

2) Mexico2024, Singapore2023, Silverstone2023, Austria2023

«We did a double but it wasn't my business»

«Gap to Sainz target 3 / Yeah copy, i'll try but then i'm at risk»

3)«More experienced» Sainz, who is faster only due to the new power unit.

«More experienced» Sainz, who is faster only due to DRS and cutting corners.

«More experienced» Sainz, who slowed down his teammate.

«More experienced» Sainz, around whom the car was built.

«next year's car has good modifications compared to what made him uncomfortable in 2022» - both 2022 and 2023(beginning) cars were shit. and after that someone dares to say that Charles can only win in a perfect car, while Sainz can cope with a wheelbarrow. Excuse me, but who creates this wheelbarrow?

4) «Carlos owes nothing to the team that abandoned him»

YES, he DOES. There are 20 drivers on the grid, reserve drivers and rookies from other formulas. Since you like to point out that they are drivers and they should race, understand that it is okay not to renew contracts. It is still the team he is under contract with until the last lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi.

The way he treats the team with disregard is unprofessional. Just because you're leaving a team doesn't mean you have to burn everything to hell before it.

5)«Carlos doesn't complain about Charles to the media, that's how a mature person should behave» A mature person doesn't whine on the radio for fear of being overtaken. BECAUSE IT ONLY SEEMS TO WORK ONE WAY.

Carlos Sinz be like:

Fulfil Race Agreements: ❌❌❌

Fulfil Media Agreements:✅✅✅

6) Charles: says outright that he doesn't think Carlos was favored in Las Vegas

Carlos fans: What?! Leclerc says he thinks Carlos was favored? How dare he?!

REWATCH FUCKING SINGAPORE23

7) In the end, he tries to show other teams that he is better than Charles and "they should see who they have lost", but only shows everyone that he is ready to spit on team orders, points for the constructors' championship, and thinks only about himself.

And I'm not denying that Ferrari screwed up (I'm not less angry with them) with Sainz's pit stop, I'm not saying that he HAD to give way to Charles, but again, we're talking about points for the team. All this crap with DRS could have led to Charles simply not having time to overtake Max and they would have lost points. They ALREADY lost points in Mexico, +3 DNF Sainz (+1DNF Charles, P11 and P14 during the upgrade test), he should be fighting McLaren for every point, but instead he does what he does. It's one thing to fight for your podium, and completely another to let your teammate down.

[mirrorball-leclerc]

paint the town red - part two

PRESEASON TESTING + EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DOGS

series masterlist

AN INTERVIEW WITH FERRARI'S NEW TEAM

scuderiaferrari posted a new story

i don't think bahrain is ready for the new and improved ferarri. let's get pre-season testing over with to show people what we're made of!

liked by arthur_leclerc, sebastianvettel, tonystark and others

scuderiaferrari preseason testing has got charlos feeling like a couple, our engineers super sleepy, and seb stressed over driver/engineer shenanigans. also featuring our emotional support dog enzo woofstappen and our emotional support ferrari academy drivers. not pictured is tony and seb cuddling as christian horner watches with longing in his eyes (you wish that was you huh?)

tagged: carlossainz55, charles_leclerc, biancastark_potts, harleykeener, arthur_leclerc, sebastianvettel, olliebearman

view all comments

username why do you guys have an emotional support dog?

↳ scuderiaferrari the previous owners had these drivers traumatized. now the drivers are traumatizing seb. yes, the dog is named after enzo ferrari and max verstappen, we blame scott.

username enzo woofstappen is such an iconic name

maxverstappen1 i can't believe you people named a dog after me

danielricciardo I CALL GODFATHER!

↳ harleykeener YES! 100% TAKE HIM WITH YOU!

↳ biancastark_potts STOP GIVING MY DOG AWAY! I'M TELLING STEVE!

↳ scuderiaferrari WHO'S AMERICA'S ASS NOW? STEVE ROGERS OR LOGAN SARGEANT?

↳ username STEVE ROGERS, FORMER CAPTAIN AMERICA, IS CALLED AMERICA'S ASS?

↳ logansargeant i got nothing on steve rogers, i will gladly give up the title to him.

username POST MORE ENZO WOOFSTAPPEN CONTENT! HE'S OUR EMOTIONAL SUPPORT DOG NOW!

↳ scuderiaferrari i'm not allowed to spam post enzo pictures on here, go to my account!

carlossainz55 charles and i look like a couple of besties!

↳ landonorris you two are in love

↳ charles_leclerc you said you loved me? was it all a lie?

↳ carlossainz55 amor no. i love you.

↳ username loving this new ferrari. carlos and charles' friendship seems better now.

↳ harleykeener carlos calls charles honey 24/7. it's sickening.

christianhorner it was not longing. seb is still our golden boy, you people have chuck leclerc.

↳ scuderiaferrari you snooze you lose old man. he’s ours now.

↳ maxverstappen1 wow, your current world champion sure feels loved

liked by biancastark_potts, natasharomanoff, michellejones and others

peterbparker as demanded by one person, here's enzo woofstappen. he's never done a thing wrong in his life except that time he pissed on bucky and when he chased alpine, the cat, up a tree.

view all comments

samwilson he fucking chewed on my wings one time

↳ biancastark_potts maybe you shouldn't have left your wings out in the common area

clintbarton he shit in my shoes

↳ peterbparker you threatened to shave him. it was deserved.

steverogers he chewed my shoes. all of them.

↳ harleykeener he was bitter about the avengers civil war

alexalbon it seems roscoe has competition for cutest paddock pet

↳ lewishamilton roscoe wins. no doubt

↳ biancastark_potts i doubt it, enzo's clearly cuter.

↳ lewishamilton i bet no one's ever told a stark they were wrong, but you're wrong

username who's enzo favorite ferrari team member?

↳ peterbparker charles, but only because he gives him extra treats!

↳ charles_leclerc I DO NOT!

↳ biancastark_potts that's something a guilty man would argue.

username who's alpine the cat?

↳ peterbparker enzo's mortal enemy and bucky's adopted cat. REMEMBER ADOPT DON'T SHOP!

↳ username was enzo adopted?

↳ biancastark_potts he was a gift from a friend. his dog had puppies and he gave me one

bianca stark-potts posted a new story

team bonding but everyone seems to be on their phones???

the new ferrari team sat in a meeting room, both drivers feeling like they were about to be scolded. peter felt like he had been called into the principal's office, which was a feeling he hated.

"why are we here?" harley questioned tony. both drivers turned to look at the younger boy, if he didn't know why they were here then bianca didn't either, meaning they could be getting in trouble.

noticing their tense faces tony chuckled, "you're not in trouble, all of you can calm down."

"oh thank god," peter whispered, "i thought i was in trouble for that america's ass comment."

"oh, you are," tony replied, "but that's for a different day. we're here for a completely different reason."

"and that is?" sebastian questioned, "don't tell me you're firing us already."

"you're kidding," tony muttered, "this is the best performance i've seen from a ferrari in years, the car that is, not the drivers. i'm making a few changes," tony gestured to his daughter, "bianca, if you would please."

"he's being lazy," bianca joked as she stood up, "he wants to throw the 1st and 2nd driver rule out the window. the first race is coming up in less than a week, so what we propose is letting you two battle it out until miami, by that point whoever has the most points will lead in the championship and the other will defend. the next year we rotate and so forth. questions?"

"would it be before or after the miami grand prix?" charles questioned.

"after," bianca answered, "it gives us enough time to gather data and study it. the rule is only implemented if you two agree, otherwise we keep going as is."

"i think it works," sebastian said, breaking the silence, "it also guarantees both of you on the podium or at least one of you every race."

“and if we don’t agree?” carlos questioned.

“then we continue as is, charles as 1st and you as 2nd,” bianca answered, “we know it’s asking for a lot, one of you has to give up the championship for the other. the car is good, we know it can beat red bull, you both have a contract extension until 2025, by that time both of you could be world champions.”

“it is a good offer,” charles reasoned with carlos, “the car is good for both of us, it gives us equal opportunity.”

“and if we are tied when we get to miami?” carlos asked, clearly the spaniard would be the harder one of duo to convince.

“we push it until one of you gets ahead,” tony answered, “however long it takes, but mark my words, one of you will be world champion by the end of the season.”

“i will do it,” charles agreed. everyone turned to look at carlos and the spaniard nodded, “me too.”

tony clapped his hands, “well boys, let’s get that championship back to maranello, one way or another.”

taglist: @celesteblack08 @be-your-coffee-pot

¡leclerc-s speaks! would this strategy ever work out irl? no fucking way but that's the beauty of fanfiction anything and everything can work out as long as you write it the right way. so, the question is, who should get the championship first charles or carlos? i'm leaning towards charles because he won monza in 2019, and carlos hasn't achieved that yet. i also am a charles girl, incase that wasn't yet obvious. so, answer the poll below and tell me who you guys think should win the championship first. let me know if you guys want to be added to the taglist.

¡disclaimer! this is in no way making assumptions about the people involved in this story, this is all fake. it is a fanfiction please don't take any of what is said seriously. this is all for entertainment purposes and as a creative outlet for me. enjoy!

[thearchercore]

After reading your essays about Charles and PR, I have a bit of a rant when it comes to Charles’ image rn, and how (I believe) him and RBR are working together. I mean, it could be very likely considering his and RBR’s posts.

Let’s have a bit of a look at the 3 accounts that are posting Charles almost all the time rn. Ferrari, Charles himself and Red Bull. Ferrari’s posts are 1. Not much, considering he is their driver, and 3. Are either way too polished or just a thirst trap. Considering that Ferrari is his team, they aren’t posting Charles much, since the beginning of the year. And they haven’t changed their tactics, their posts are too polished, too stuffy if you could say, with the inly non-stuffy one being a pic of Charles falling while playing Football and Skiing, and even that doesn’t look authentic or like they’re really pleased about it.

Now, let’s see Charles. Since the beginning of 2024, there has been a shift in Charles’ social media, it isn’t all theist traps, or any of that shit. I mean, yeah he had a few posts that showed his adventurous fun side of his personality, but they were very limited compared to his curated posts, the posts that are what we could consider “safe” and “according to Ferrari’s agenda” kind of. But since ten beginning of the year, there is only one post which falling in this category, which is a post made by his sponsor, APM Monaco, for a shoot. The rest are, charles is drunk, relatable in LA, being goofy while skiing. Almost as if Charles is trying to detach himself from the Ferrari image if that PR robot who only has looks.

Now onto the last side of this, Red Bull. RBR have always been known as fun, spontaneous, almost chaotic. I mean, their slogan is and always have been and always will be Red Bull Gives You Wings. They have been the ones who never restricted their drivers, Max, Checo and Daniel can post whatever they want. But lets be real, I don’t think Max and Checo use their Socials much (with the chance of Max having a private account which we all knew from his twitch saga 😂, but its mire because Max is a private person).

Back to Charles, Red Bull is posting Charles in a way that shows that he’s a beast on track, only him can battle Max, but also in a way that shows the fun aide, the sticker war?? And I believe RBR and Charles are working together in that sense, RBR showing the dynamic between both, as well as highlight the fact that the ones with the most battles with Max that are the most entertaining is Charles, while Charles is detaching himself from that stuffy Ferrari thirst trap-y agenda into the more fun loving, spontaneous person.

And I think they’re doing that in order to prepare for something. Like Charles to RBR announcement when bestie??

yeah, something may be going on behind the scenes! i mentioned charles' rebrand from ferrari-focused posts to more individual approach here and the recent change of posting patterns (ft. posting charles) on the RBR socials here

i got a bit caught by surprise on thursday -- a day where ferrari is known to post contract announcements -- in the morning f1 posted joint post with ferrari about charles' monza win, then posted a pic with charles' monza helmet quote "one team one dream" (which was rumoured to be his OG renewal helmet, renewal got obviously postponed). all posts lead me and my friends to believe that an announcement is imminent and i patiently waited for the charles renewal announcement to drop.

nothing happened.

the same day, however, we got a new article that updated that carlos' negotiations for a new contract aren't working out the way they wanted. apparently ferrari only wants to give carlos a one year long contract, carlos wants a multi-year contract. that once again delayed the contract renewal announcement.

remember that fred mentioned he wanted to have the contracts locked by christmas so they're ready by january.

also seems like carlos' deadline for contract is the testing in bahrain. they want to announce before the testing starts.

there were also rumours that because of that, ferrari is eyeing alex albon as a possible second driver.

again, it's all quite messy and not fully confirmed but just the delayed timeline shows how many complications ferrari may be facing right now.

is red bull part of the game? maybe, maybe not. we can't tell, we can only follow their social pattern and see how they move in the future.

[charles-leclerc-official]

I know you don't do hate on here and I really respect you for it - you're one of the very few accounts, that, despite avidly supporting one particular driver/team, does not go out of their way to shit on the other ones. This makes your race analyses all the more enjoyable, as I can always use them for reference, even against people that try to start fights on the topic of driver vs driver - I know you will always be taken seriously because your takes are as objective as possible (the only subjectivity being a sprinkle of extra praise for Charles here and there, but hey, he deserves it!)

All of this being said, however, I need to ask your personal opinion of the McLaren boys as drivers and as personalities - since as another die-hard Ferrari fan I cannot stand McLaren as a team but have found myself being fond of Oscar on occasion and ugh I just wanted to see if you get the rare flashes of affection too, because it feels almost sacrilegious to say that about a McLaren driver.

Anyhow, love your account, keep up the great work <3

Ah thank you so much, I have my opinions etc, but unless it becomes relevant to what's happening on track there's no point in just trying to knock other drivers, I'd rather spend my time enjoying my team and my drivers than anything else.

On the Mclaren line up, I do very much like Oscar, he's a good driver and I find him extremely relatable to me personally, it's just a shame he's in that orange team. But I get it, he wants to be in a good car and Mclaren are currently the ones able to give him that.

Lando isn't my favorite, I just don't vibe much with his humor.

As a duo they seem fun, I enjoy them on the rpf side of things, for those unaware I am a fic author (pretend to be shocked)

But yeah I can separate them just as people from the team. But I can not and will not cheer for a Mclaren driver to win or be on the podium

I like a lot of drivers. I respect good race craft, if you are good on track chances are I am compelled by you.

You can like a lot of drivers, but there is a difference between liking a driver and who you actively support during races. I like Oscar, I like Max, but on track I am cheering for one man to win and that is Charles, and if not Charles then Carlos because he is in red. I want red on the top step before anything else.

Also with objectivity. I don't post the most objective things, what I try to do is look at what actually happened and figure things out from there, with the goal not being to post my first emotional response but rather to take a step back and see it from there. I don't like the way a lot of narratives get spun about races. And I think a problem in F1 journalism is a lack of transparency when it comes to bias. I try to combat that by being abundantly clear where my bias stands, and where analysis crosses more into opinion. That way a reader can take or leave what I say and have no real doubts about what my angle is on a topic. There are a lot of journalistic outlets that have a clear bias, but because they will never admit it, what they say can be very misleading to a lot of people.

I am very much of the belief that no driver is above critique, and I want when I critique someone to matter. That doesn't work if I am bashing them weekly over nothing. Yes even Charles, if he makes a mistake I will point it out (not my fault he's just had a stellar season with no glaring errors yet. There are few things that maybe could have been better, but my man has yet to stumble) Does that make sense? Like when I do point out an issue with a driver I hope that the words will carry real meaningful weight.

Thank you so much anon, the support truly means a lot <3

[diamond-rings-and-gutter-bones]

you post a lot about F1 yet somehow i have not managed to learn ANYTHING about it

(this is me awkwardly asking you how the car sport works and who all these guys are and why they seem like characters and also if the industry is as misogynistic as my classmate who wants to do F1 says it is)

rolls up my sleeves and cracks my knuckles. hell yes (warning: personal opinions incoming)

basically, the car sport is 20 fast cars going at breakneck speeds around a variety of tracks all round the world. somehow this comes along with the most drama ive seen in any sport (altho tbf ive never been this deep into any other sports before). there are 10 teams, each one with 2 drivers. your teammate is both your ally and your biggest enemy; you both are opposite sides of the same coin. there is nothing worse than being beaten by your teammate according to jenson button.

each *driver* is competing to win the world drivers championship (wdc), won by the driver who accumulates the most points throughout the season. but each *team* is competing to win the world constructors championship (wcc), won by the two drivers with the most points added together. basically, the wdc is glory and fame, but the wcc is actual money for the team. so a team can win the wcc without either of their drivers winning the wdc or vice versa.

i do not feel qualified to provide a good explanation of every single team but i will do a couple short ones!

oracle red bull racing (aka red bull): have won the last 3 consecutive championships. drivers are max verstappen (3x wdc) and checo perez. max is the it boy of f1, checo used to be quite good as well but idk whats up with all that currently. red bull are still currently really good but might (?) be getting worse due to car struggles and their rocket scientist car designer leaving and one driver carrying the weight of the whole team. but for a team thats actually just an advertisement for an energy drink theyre good.

mclaren: i fucking hate this ugly papaya team. sorry oscar piastri (driver whom i do actually like but who unfortunately drives for them). it is always a curse for me when a driver i like is in mclaren because i hate having to give a shit about that team. they do however seem to have the currently fastest car, not sure by what margin. their other driver is lando norris

mercedes: before this red bull domination era, merc were The top dogs. theyd won 7 consecutive wdc's (with lewis hamilton winning 6 of his 7 total, and nico rosberg winning the other one [the lore on those two guys is so deep, one post isnt gonna cut it. think satosugu but More so]) and they were just generally unbeatable until suddenly they werent. their current drivers are lewis hamilton and george russell but lewis is going to ferrari (this was probably the most surprising thing that happened all year) and while we don't currently know who will replace him for sure, it seems really likely that kimi antonelli, an almost-18-year-old, will be given the seat à la shinji. lewis is pretty much the goat (he has won over 30% of the races he has entered. thats not something normal people do. what the fuck) and george russell is also quite good (george also says things like crikey and oh sugar unironically. its endearing trust me)

ferrari: ... i typed the word ferrari and then sighed a weighty sigh. my favourite team because i am cursed. the last time they won a wdc was in 2007 with kimi raikkonen and since then, well, its not been the greatest. current drivers are charles leclerc (the sun of maranello, il predestinato, ferraris favourite sacrificial lamb, etc etc) and carlos sainz (spanish) but carlos is leaving at the end of the season because lewis. every great driver wants to be the one to bring glory and prestige back to ferraris name, and every great driver walks into the belly of the beast only to be spat out and mauled and weighed in the balance and found wanting. charles leclerc, on the other hand, has gone on record saying that if ferrari is a cage he wants to stay in the cage forever. he has that haunted saintly charm to him AND he's pretty. so. he is also my favourite driver but thats more because of his actual driving trust me. he IS really good and he DOES deserve a championship, and i do have faith that he will have a championship with ferrari one day.

that was only 4 teams/8 drivers. other highlights include: alex albon (GREAT driver, one of my faves, stuck in Williams, which is a cardboard box of a car unfortunately. silly guy) and yuki tsunoda (also good driver, currently in vcarb which is basically red bull's smaller sister team. also a great cook) but for more information i will add a link to a post that better sums up some other things that im not the best expert on

the drivers seem like characters because more or less they are; the scale of the stories and arcs being played out in real life by human beings is enormous. fiction cannot even begin to emulate real life in many of these scenarios. the best thing in life is being able to tell a friend a story and then say "that really happened in my racecar sport."

as for the sport being misogynistic: yes it is, but also it isnt nearly as bad as it used to be and its getting better!

[lewisvinga]

I wasn’t the one who originally talked to this, but guess which Formula one team is now up to twenty-three photos and videos for Carlos and four for Charles?!

Ferrari!

I get they’re happy they won, but they’re milking the win and it makes it less special to me. It’s Tuesday. The win is over and done with. They need to give it a fucking rest. Listen, I hate to be that person because I’m not toxic, but if this is how Ferrari acts, every time they get a win, I hope they don’t win again until Lewis joins.

I’m only saying until he joins because then people won’t say things like cancel his contract or you’re gonna regret giving him up and stuff like that.

We all know it’s not gonna happen again anyway because once Max loses, he makes sure never to lose again. If it wasn’t for the crappy, Mercedes car, Max’s only opponent would be Lewis, but right now, Max’s only opponent is his car.

I don’t know if you remember what happened last year when Checo beat Max. He said it would never happen again and then he went on to win the rest of the year. Other than that one time Carlos won. That’s how I feel like it’s going to be this year. If someone else does win, I hope it’s from any other team, except for Ferrari.

I hate feeling like this, but Ferrari and Red Bull fans think they are on top of the world, and that they are the best teams on the grid and they are unbeatable. Well, Red Bull is, but Ferrari is not.

I sincerely hope that Lando, Oscar, Yuki, and Logan gets their first wins, or even podium in Yuki and Logan’s case!

I’m sorry if I seem toxic, but Ferrari admin just shared yet another compilation of videos and photos of the same exact goddamn thing as they had the other 22 times, but from different angles.

I now know what that other anon meant but it’s getting annoying.

Sorry for ranting. You’re probably sick and tired of people coming to complain about other teams

But a quick question. How the fuck did the Mercedes car get worse than last year’s?

still posting on tuesday is a bit much, like the hype already passed 😭

i just rlly hope lewis wins w ferrariiiii, merc has been doing him dirty asf and he deserves that 104th😫

yeah for sure if lewis had an equal car to red bull then there’d be more competition esp between him and max, it’s a shame merc keeps getting worse n worse 😭😭

i don’t mind carlos winning tbh it’s just the fans who make me annoyed asf with their ‘ferrari made a big mistake’ ‘ferrari is gonna regret it’ comments 💀 like PLEASE lewis is a 7x wdc of course he’s gonna be picked over a 3x race winner

i just rlly want logan points 😞😞 and yuki podium would be so💗💗

i thought last year was the end of mercedes shit show IDEK HOW KTS WORSE NOW

[sleepyverstappens]

Your soul and mine

Title: Your soul and mine

Pairing: Charles Leclerc/Lando Norris

Rating: Gen/PG (bar a few curses)

Word Count: 2138

Tags: Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Alternate universe - Soulmate, Soulmate Identifying Marks

A/N:  Me writing a fic without Max *gasp!* apparently miracles do happen, because Max is only mentioned once in this one.J prompted me a Charles/Lando meet cute fic on whatsapp and my brain totally skipped over the meet cute part and instead this happened. I guess it's still quite cute though?Anyways hope you enjoy this one :D

Summary: Most people were very private about their marks, if they could hide it they would do so. So unless you were one of the unfortunate souls with a mark stretching over your face the mark would be hidden away from sight until you found your match. People would wear scarves and gloves all year to keep that little piece of them hidden if they needed to. Only openly showing their marks ones they had started moving, once they had met the other half of their soul.

Read on AO3

No, he thought, no it couldn't be, it was supposed to be Carlos. Carlos who's mark he'd seen just a flash of. A glimpse of it caught when he'd walked in on him unannounced as Carlos changed into his fireproofs. The intricate swirl of a tail peeking out on his shoulder before he could cover himself. Carlos’ eyes worried as they met his own, but Lando had somehow managed to play it off as if he hadn’t seen anything, joking about as if nothing had happened. 

Most people were very private about their marks, if they could hide it they would do so. So unless you were one of the unfortunate souls with a mark stretching over your face the mark would be hidden away from sight until you found your match. People would wear scarves and gloves all year to keep that little piece of them hidden if they needed to. Only openly showing their marks ones they had started moving, once they had met the other half of their soul. 

He'd only seen a glimpse of Carlos' mark, but that tail had looked so familiar, like the tail on his right foot. The tail connected to the little monkey that had been there since he was 15. The same monkey that was staring back at him on Twitter now, the intricate details just like his own standing out against the pale skin of Charles Leclerc's stomach.

Charles Leclerc who he had maybe spoken five words with all throughout last season, the Ferrari prodigy not interested in hanging out with the new rookies even though he'd been one himself only a season before. Happy enough to stick to Pierre or Seb’s side whenever they had some free time during the busy weekends. 

“Fuck,” he cursed softly. He knows the universe wouldn't just put him with Charles randomly, but then why did he hate the idea of being his soulmate so much? His mind had been so set on it being his teammate, the teammate who he got along with so well. Who would laugh at his dumb jokes, whose touches he would still feel long after his long fingers had left his body. Yet none of his touches had made his monkey start moving, not even a smidge. He’d held out hope, hope that maybe Carlos’ touches weren’t right, did they ever actually touch skin? His brain was coming with plenty of excuses of how it could still be Carlos, until he’d seen that picture, that undeniable picture. 

It had to be photoshopped right? People did that all the time and it wasn't like Sun of all tabloids was a trustworthy one. But then how could they have gotten it just like his one? This wasn't a random leaf or puzzle piece that anyone could think up, no it actually had the monkey missing one of its toes like his one. Unless the person that wrote the article was his soulmate there was no way someone had faked that soulmark. 

“Fuck,” he cursed once more, a little louder, some curious looks thrown his way from the other people in the hospitality cafeteria. What did people do when they found out who their soulmate was? Movies always made it so romantic, eyes meeting across a crowded room, the soft touch they’d share, eyes widening as their marks started moving, the rest of the world going quiet as they only had eyes for the one that made their soul complete. Yet here was Lando, sat all alone in the middle of a crowded canteen, cutlery clinking loudly through the noise of people chatting. He needed to get away from all the noise, get some fresh air, sort his head out.

The paddock was bustling with people, but the noise felt less crowding than it had done inside. It’s only the second week of testing and people seem a lot more chill than during the race weekends, waiting somewhat patiently for their favourite drivers as they go for their lunch break. He hasn’t driven yet today, Carlos racking up more miles in the morning before he would jump in in an hour or so. 

Charles has though and Lando wonders whether he’s seen the pictures yet. How the scums from the Sun had managed to catch the exact moment Charles’ shirt had lifted he doesn’t know. The picture showed the young man standing on the balcony of his Monaco apartment, hair a mess and eyes squinted closed as he stretched his arms above his head. People would say it was his own fault for not making sure the mark was covered, but he was at home, a space that was supposed to be safe. And he’d clearly only just woken up, his brain not firing on all cylinders yet and somehow the camera had snapped at that exact moment. 

He hadn’t realised how far along the paddock he’d walked, his feet stopping abruptly as his eyes caught the bright red Ferrari hospitality building. A lone figure sat outside on the terrace attached to it, the hood of his jacket up against the cold as he gripped his phone tightly. Lando could see the forlorn expression on Charles’ face, clearly he’d seen the picture, how they had zoomed in on his stomach, broadcasting his mark to the world. Seeing Charles like this made his heart ache, his head and his heart at war on whether or not he should go to Charles and tell him. Tell him that whilst it sucked what they had done it had made Lando find him, find his soulmate. 

He’s about to step forward, let his heart lead the way, when Charles glances up, their eyes meeting and Lando freezes. He can’t do it, he’s not ready, not ready to give up the possibility of someone else. Of brown eyes and a Spanish accent, instead of brown eyes and a French accent. He manages to make a small smile stretch on his lips before he rushes back to the McLaren hospitality, to the safety of his home away from home.   

---

The next two days of testing fly by quickly, they get through their scheduled programming without much trouble and he gets to set the fourth fastest time, just behind Lewis, Max and Sergio, Ferrari still struggling to find the pace even during the second week in Barcelona. He had tried to avoid the team of the prancing horse as much as possible, only catching a glimpse of Charles as he had walked into the paddock on Thursday morning, other than seeing his bright red car out on track.

So it’s a surprise to find himself sat across from Charles in the first class lounge at the airport. He’d been there first, lazily scrolling through the messages on various social media when Charles had let himself fall into the chair across from him. There’s only two other people in the lounge and yet he’d sat there, right across from Lando, the Brit’s eyes widening a little as he’d found Charles staring at him. 

They drag their eyes away from each other in sync, Charles’ eyes now also focussed on the phone in his hand. Lando can’t help but sneak a few glances up at the Monegasque, seeing a deep frown wrinkling up his forehead as he reads whatever is on the phone. Then Charles huffs loudly, his phone clattering onto the table loudly as he pushes it away from him. 

“What’s up?”

And now that frown is directed at Lando, brown eyes piercing into him before he lifts a condescending eyebrow. “Really? Like you don’t know, like the whole fucking world doesn’t know already.”

“Sorry,” Lando murmured, feeling embarrassed for even asking. He’d just wanted to be nice to the guy, maybe get him to open up about how he’s feeling with all the shit that’s going on and then maybe hint at the fact that Lando is his soulmate. But instead he’d already fucked it up, the angry scowl on Charles’ face really making him question the universe right now. Did he have it all wrong? It couldn’t be, he’d stared at that picture for so long, zooming in on every tiny detail to compare it to his own mark and he’d found nothing different. Fuck, how would he tell Charles and actually make him believe Lando. Show him his own mark before Charles could angrily run out of the lounge, thinking Lando was only taking the piss out off him.  

“I need to tell you something,” he murmured just as the tannoy was announcing that the flight to Nice was now boarding, Charles’ flight. 

“That’s me,” Charles shrugged apologetically, rushing to grab his carry on, wrapping his headphones around his neck and starting to leave. And in a moment of panic Lando reached out for him, halfway out of his chair, fingers wrapping around the Monegasque’s wrist. Skin touching skin. And it’s a fucking cliché, it’s a goddamn fucking cliché but at that moment everything seems to go in slow motion. Charles’s wide eyes finding his own as everything but Charles’s face becomes blurry around them.    

He can’t stop the gasp from escaping his lips, mouth falling open as the rushing of his blood becomes deafening to his ears. This was really happening. Charles really was his soulmate, the other half of his soul. Their body and mind connecting from that single touch. His fingers start to tingle where they are still wrapped around Charles’s wrist and he could feel his right foot starting to itch.

“It’s really you,” he finally managed to get out, the words somehow managing to break Charles out of his stupor as well. 

“What?” Charles said voice hoarse, unable to believe what was happening right now, his eyes flicking over Lando’s face to look for the answer to a question he didn’t even know yet. “What the fuck is happening?”

“We’re soulmates. I… I’m your soulmate. I didn’t want to believe it at first, when I saw the picture, but it’s really you,” Lando said overwhelmed. 

“But, wha… how?”

“The fucking universe thinks were meant for each other apparently,” Lando said with a shrug. Now that there was no denying it anymore, that it really was Charles that was his soulmate and not Carlos his brain gave in easily, not fighting this inexplicable force that had brought them together, that connected them. 

His foot really was starting to itch a lot now though, he stomped his left foot on top of the right one trying to stop it from itching, but it didn’t work. His movement had managed to direct Charles’s gaze towards where he was fidgeting though, his eyes focussing in on his right foot. “Is it there? Your mark?”

“Yeah, it’s itching like a bitch dude, how are you not scratching your stomach off right now?” Lando whined, finally giving up on trying to scratch his foot through his shoe and tugging the laces free. 

“Wait, wait Lando you can’t, not right here!”

“There’s no one here Charles, everyone’s gone to their flights.” He let himself fall back into his seat and tugged his shoe free from his foot, sock falling to the floor as well and then he gasped once more. Because where his mark had been stagnant before, the monkey on his foot was now moving its head to stare up at him, tail flicking as it scratched its cheek, before looping back around. The same movements would repeat themself on his skin now permanently, repeating themself until Charles would die breaking their bond. 

“Can I? Can I see yours?” He asked tentatively, fingers itching to reach out for Charles’s white t-shirt, to move it away and see the same pattern on Charles’s skin.   

With one last glance around the empty first class lounge Charles slowly lifted his shirt, gasping softly as he saw his own mark moving on his skin. The monkey moving its head to the side, flicking its tail, before scratching its cheek and on and on again. He gasped again, a little louder as Lando’s fingers touched his skin, tracing around the shape of the mark, following the lines of the delicate tail.

“Shit, sorry!” Lando cursed, drawing his hand back as if it had been burned. 

“It’s okay. Feels nice,” Charles murmured, sounding so in awe of everything that was happening right now. A bright smile was starting to appear on his face though, as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. “Come here,” he beckoned, drawing Lando up from his seat again and pulling him into a tight hug. 

“Last call for Mister Charles Leclerc,” the lady on the tannoy announced loudly, but Charles just tightened his grip around him, not moving away from the hug, perfectly content in the little bubble they were in.    

“C'est vraiment toi.” 

[thearchercore]

Hi there, it's sad anon here. I just wanted to say that i have been feeling like charles will stay at Ferrari. Which honestly i don't find convincing at all. I mean, i have trust issues with them, every year they keep saying that they'll come back stronger and it never happens. Not only the car is shit, but the strategies and everything else are too. Even if they promise to give charles a good car they lack seriousness in everything else. You can't win a WC like that. Besides all the moving to rbr plot that i support, if charles decides to stay and renew for god knows how long i just hope that Ferrari put their shit toghether, for charles' wellfare. I don't want him to loose time when you have the most competitive team right around the corner willing to sign you😭

Sorry for the bible, i needed to cry here a little bit. Hope i didn't bother you🫶

hello hello!

no need to be sad! we can still be delusional (about ferrari in this case being better). we have to stay tuned into all the updates that come around this winter break silly season -- for example carlos' personal trainer left him after YEARS to work with max instead, or ruth buscombe who worked with both fred and charles at alfa romeo (sauber) quit her job so there are discussions about her possibly moving to ferrari.

when it comes to charles going to RBR -- the entire possible pre-contract plan clearly worked in charles' favor at the end as the negotiations that happened around that time seemed to make charles more confident in the future of that team (and tbh, he still can have RBR as a backup if things end up being the worst) and also put more pressure on ferrari -- you can see the change of their statements about charles in abu dhabi (before it was more even between the preference of either charles or carlos, now fred is blaming carlos for his bad race and saying charles is the leader the team needs) so the entire messaging of the team changed with the last race.

again, i still think there will be more unpacked as we go and i'm SEATED to see where it goes -- clearly max and charles seem to be getting along so i don't think charles using a possible move to RBR to his advantage in negotiations put some bad blood between them, quite the opposite as the entire triple header - abu dhabi timeline really seemed to make them grow closer!