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afterglowsainz · 10 months ago

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i'mgonnagetyouback pt. 2 | max verstappen

part 1

summary: max is determined to win y/n back before leaving las vegas and an unexpected reunion at the hotel's pool might be just what he needed

warnings: none

word count: 1.5k

a/n: okay so i wasn't actually planning on doing a part 2 to this but a few people requested it and since i'm a pathological people pleaser here it its !!

“okay so, step one.” charles’s voice caughts his attention.

if max was gonna get y/n back, he needed to do it that weekend, she was leaving for her other tour dates and he had other races, and he needed a plan. that’s where charles, daniel and lando come in.

“break up with your girlfriend.” the monegasque continues. the other two men in the room nod, agreeing with the ferrari driver.

the second y/n’s concert finished, max felt the urge to go running backstage to her just like old times, but his plans were interrupted by the women he went to the concert with in the first place. his girlfriend wanted nothing more than to go back to the hotel and her daughter was too exhausted to even walk in a straight line, so he took them both to the hotel and then ran into charles’s room to create a plan, calling daniel and lando to join them.

“you’re right.” max says.

the thought of breaking up with his current girlfriend has been on the back of his mind for a while now. he didn’t really wanted to accept it, but he’s been in love with y/n all this time and it just wasn’t fair to be with someone else. step one was the most urgent.

“step two, call y/n and tell her that you wanna talk to her.” daniel speaks this time.

this one was the step he was the most nervous about. they haven’t talked for ten months and now suddenly he was thinking of getting back together, i mean, what if she moved on already? just because he hasn’t doesn’t mean she didn’t either; but he remembered her singing a few hours ago about getting him back, even if it was just to punch him in the face. he would take what he can get.

“maybe mention that you went to see her show as well.” lando adds.

“what if she thinks i’m a creep or something?” charles gives him an incredulous look.

“mate, come on, you’re her ex, not some random dude.” max nods again and felt the stress of anticipation already creeping in.

“it’ll be fine, max, nothing to worry about.” daniel tries to reassure him and lando smiles at him in the same way.

he exhales and stands up from the chair he was seated on.

“i should go back to my room. start things with the right foot.” they all agree with him and wish him good luck.

when he got back to his room, he saw his girlfriend’s daughter already asleep on her bed and his girlfriend laying down and watching something on tv. he prepared himself internally and went into the room.

“hey.” he says. “can we talk?”

he was quick. it was as uncomfortable as breaking up with someone is, but he felt a bit relieved after. she tried to persuade him into thinking about it, he said he didn’t want to hurt her. he told her they could stay at that room and he would just ask for another at the reception, she agreed. she asked if this was because of y/n, he stayed silent for a moment. he couldn’t lie, not that it was all already out there, and y/n was not a secret he had to hide to anyone. he said yes. she asked him to get out. he did.

max went down to the hotel’s reception and asked for an extra room. since it was a bit late at night they asked him to wait an hour until they arranged one of the suites for him. he agreed without complaining and was about to head back to charles’s room, however, already on the elevator he impulsively pressed the button for the last floor that took him directly to the pool. it was dark and there was no one there, the dim lights on the inside of the pool being the only lightning.

he walked over to the balcony and admired the view of las vegas beneath him, from his position he could see the whole downtown, including the track that he would be driving that weekend. if he wouldn’t have been too distracted he would have heard the sound of small steps going his way, stopping right at the entrance.

you thought you were seeing things, or that you had gone mad. you blink twice, and when he didn’t disappear, you knew max verstappen was standing right in front of you. you could recognize him anywhere.

the uncomfortable burning feeling of being looked at got the best of him and he finally turned around. he didn’t say anything, thinking it was his imagination playing games, but it wasn’t, you were right there, just mere inches away from him.

“y/n.” was all he could say. he figured a hello would be the way to go. “hey.”

you looked just as shocked as he was, but that didn’t stop you from answering.

“hi, max.” your voice was more confident than how you actually felt.

you had just done a three hour show and just wanted to relax a bit in the pool before going back to your room, and now you were there, facing your ex-boyfriend.

“you’re staying here?” he asks, regretting it instantly because of course you were.

“yeah.” you answer, not moving a single centimeter. “i have a few shows this weekend.” you explain.

“i know.” he says, almost too quickly. you arch a brow at him but don’t say anything. “i’m racing here this weekend.” you nod.

“i know.” you copy his answer, although you take a few more moments to say it.

“i went to your show.” he says out of nowhere.

this shocks you even more than before because what does he mean he went to your show?

“what?” is all that you could mumble.

“tonight.” he clarifies. “i went to see you. i hope you don’t think that’s… inappropriate.” his eyes finally leave yours and he looks at the pool instead.

“i don’t think… why would it be inappropriate?” you ask, a bit flabbergasted still. “i don’t think that.”

he nods relieved to hear you say that.

“so you went to the show?” you ask again. “you heard me sing all those songs?” you question, a bit shy.

“yeah, it was incredible.” he smiles at you. “you’re the most talented person i know.”

this makes you blush because he still has that power over you. you couldn’t manage to thank him for the compliment, so you just smiled at him, which was enough for him.

“i liked your surprise song.” he states, more confident this time.

“oh.” you reply. “you did?” he nods. “yeah, i guess it’s a fun song.” you chuckle, knowing damn well you wrote it thinking about him.

this was it, he thought. this was the moment he had been fantasizing about since he stepped into the stadium that night. how to get y/n back? this was his opportunity to do something. no charles, daniel or lando to whisper in his ear. it was all him.

“is it true?” he questions.

“what?” you frown.

“what you were singing in the song?” he explains. “i’m not gonna flatter myself thinking you wrote it about me, but, did you?”

you bit your lip trying not to laugh. how could you confess that to him?

“are you asking me if i want you back?” he notices that you ignored his question, but he didn’t care.

“i know i do.” you looked at him for a few seconds too long, processing his answer.

“i thought you had a girlfriend?” you mumble and he shakes his head.

“we’re not together anymore.” finally, he moves slowly from the other end of the balcony toward you and you remain still. “i’ve always been yours.”

you look at him properly this time, you could see every detail of his face now with how close he was to you and you felt like the ten months you haven’t talked to him hadn’t passed at all.

“and i can understand if you moved on already, but i must tell you i haven’t, for me it has always been you.”

the reasons of why you had broken up all those months ago seemed so silly now. he wasn’t a bad guy, and you weren’t a bad person. your break up wasn’t ugly, both of you had just been too busy with your crazy schedules and you thought ending things would be for the best, but not a day had passed where you didn’t regret that decision.

max was everything, and he was here in front of you, asking for a second chance.

“and when i saw you tonight at your show and i just fell more in love if that’s even possible, and i thought of all the time we wasted and i…”

you touched his face with tenderness and cut him off with a kiss that was long due.

—

liked by maxverstappen1, lilymhe and 5.482.049 others

yourusername viva las vegas! 🏁 incredible crowd for and incredible night ⭐️

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user1 omg best day of my life 😭

user2 night 1 post we wonnn

user3 girl we see that emoji 👀

user4 we see max in the likes too 👀

user5 please don’t start this i couldn’t take it 😩

user6 max at the concert, she posted pictures and she sung imgonnagetyouback as a surprise song, las vegas n1 really won 😭

user7 MAX WAS AT THE CONCERT ???

liked by yourusername, schecoperez and 893.482 others

maxverstappen1 Brand new, full throttle… 🏎

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redbullracing congrats legend! 🏆

user8 the only time he smiled during this whole weekend 😭

user9 max is so me cause i also talked shit about this race only to lowkey enjoy it at the end

user10 not him using the lyrics of so high school 😭😭

user11 sir is there something we should know? 👀

yourusername who’s that grand prix winner? 😮‍💨

maxverstappen1 i love you ❤️

user12 WHAT SINCE WHEN

user13 chat is this real ???

user14 y/nstappen back together the earth is healing 🤍

liked by francisca.cgomez, maxverstappen1 and 7.482.949 others

yourusername where’s the trophy? he just comes running over to me 💘

tagged maxverstappen1

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user15 EXCUSE ME MA’AM ???

user16 omg y/nstappen i used to pray for times like this‼️

user17 the alchemy mentioned we won !!!

user18 Y/NSTAPPEN NATION LET’S RISE

alexandrasaintmleux so happy to have you back in the paddock🫶🏽💞

yourusername girl i’m happy to be back😭

user19 the fact that he actually run over to her after winning the race ohhh i’m so normal about them 😩

user20 MAX VERSTAPPEN CAN YOU FIGHT?

maxverstappen1 could never fight the alchemy❤️

yourusername my maxxx ❤️

user21 pls they’re the cutest 😭

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spoonfulofmilo · 11 months ago

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Could you do fic for Toto Wolff with wife reader? He opted to hold her hand during the celebration of the Merc's double podium because there were too many people. "Move through the crowd while holding hands so as to not lose one another – and not letting go afterwards". Just something fluff and comfort. Add something if it's not right. Tag me later!! Thanks :)))

sorry it's so short! but I loved writing this fluff, and honestly churned it out in like 1 hour.

also if you have older requests i am working on them, I am just also working on school work.

luckily, all my assessments are nearly done, and holidays are next week so yay! more updates :)

my masterlist can be accessed here

Please keep requesting - y'all have awesome ideas we agree on a lot of stuff :) - my guidelines are here, and if you want some prompts, they are here.

also feel free to come in and start chatting to me in my asks, would love to get to know y'all better

and if you want to be added to my taglist lmk :)

toto wolff x wife!reader

“AND THAT IS A MERCEDES 1-2 TO THROW THIS CHAMPIONSHIP WIDE OPEN AT THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX AND 3 YEARS AFTER WINNING HIS LAST GRAND PRIX HERE, LEWIS HAMILTON HAS WON HIS 104TH CAREER VICTORY AND WHAT A WAY TO DO IT IN HIS LAST SEASON WITH MERCEDES.”

The rest of Crofty’s speech was drowned out by the cheers of the garage around Y/N as the team who had gone so long without winning, especially Lewis’ side of the garage cheered and yelled and as the pit mechanics came back from where they’d been on the fence yelling and contributed to more noise.

Y/N felt a little overwhelmed. She hadn’t really been in the garage since 2021, due to her husband’s tensions during the year and her wish to continue to just focus on her own career. She tried to insist she was the team’s bad luck charm after Abu Dhabi, until people had pointed out that she’d also been there during the dominant 2020 season. And as she had spent 2022 and 2023, which also were not great years for Mercedes, she’d agreed to do a lot more of her work remotely and come to the grand prixs. She insisted that she was bad luck at the first grand prix, and Toto had basically dragged her along to Saudi.

Maybe she was their good luck charm, she thought, as the garage exploded when Max and Sergio had crashed into each other, making both the red bulls retire. The Ferrari’s had been having problems all weekend but no one truly hoped even when they were sitting in a 1-2.

At least until they’d crossed the line. And then they’d had hope. And then the celebrations had begun. Someone had already found champagne and begun spraying it around, no one thinking about the podium, until all of a sudden everyone was and they were all rushing around and Y/N was all caught up in the rush and being pushed around by everyone, trying to find Toto until she felt a hand slip into hers.

She jumped back, not wanting some strange man holding her hand until she looked up and realised that it was in fact her husband who was trying to hold her hand.

“Sorry…didn’t realise it was you.”

“That’s okay Liebe. I’ve got you. Now lets go watch Lewis on the podium, okay?”

The second she nodded in agreement, Toto slipped his hand back into Y/N’s as he tried to push through the crowd again. Being tall and the team principal helped, and as they weren't coming for the pre podium celebrations, which is where everyone else was rushing towards. As the drivers were hugged and yelled at again by the mechanics (honestly how were they going to have voices tomorrow, and how were the red bull mechanics’ voices not very raspy after doing this practically every week for the past few years). Y/N thought she was going to have to cancel her meetings for the next few weeks as she would just be unable to talk.

Toto pushed through the throng of mechanics, pushing through the Mercedes and Williams colours everywhere, trying to get a good position at the front, and then the announcers began, and Toto and Y/N were wedged against the barrier and they decided to stop and watch the podium.

Y/N watched as Albon mounted the podium, grinning to the feral screams of the Williams mechanics to her left. She’d ended up wedged between James and Toto, smiling at James’ excitement on Alex being on the podium. She smiled at him as the noise from the Williams side of the podium celebration. He smiled back, almost bouncing up and down by the excitement of what Williams was achieving. And as Lewis, George and Bono bounded onto the podium, bringing up a round of screaming and even Y/N raised her hands. And as she raised her right hand, she could feel Toto’s hand, still intertwined with hers. She smiled, locking eyes with Toto.

His eyes twinkled as he smiled down, before his attention was brought back to the podium and yelling at the drivers.

The German and British anthems blared out, and while Y/N knew most of the words of the British anthem (it was mostly just the same words on repeat ‘god save our king’). And while Toto was able to sing the German anthem while Y/N butchered it here and there. She loved listening to her husband singing or talking in his natural language. It was very hot, if Y/N had to admit it.

As they left the podium to go back to the garage, Toto had still not let go of her hand as they continued winding between what felt like millions of people crowding the pit lane.

When they finally returned to the Mercedes garage, and walked up to Toto’s office, Toto finally let go of Y/N’s hand and started to gather up his work and laptop to get ready to return to the hotel.

“Hey, toto?”

“Yes liebe?”

“Why were you holding my hand?”

“Well, I didn’t want to get lost, and I didn’t want you to get lost, liebe.”

“Yeah, but why didn’t you let go of my hand when we got to the podium”

“Do I need an excuse to hold your hand, darling?”

“No but…”

“Then I kept holding your hand because I wanted to keep holding your hand. Is that a good enough excuse?”

“Okay Liebe.”

Toto put all his files and laptop in his left hand after shrugging on his overcoat, and then offered his right hand to Y/N.

“Can I keep holding your hand liebe?”

“Of course you can darling.”

---

taglist: @leosxrealm, @pear-1206, @tallrock35, @wolf-knights, @janeholt3

#f1 x reader #miloformula123fan #f1 fanfic #f1 fic #toto wolff x reader #toto wolff fic #toto wolff #toto wolff x female reader #toto wolff x you #toto wolff x y/n

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formulakatya · 2 years ago

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MET YOU AT THE RIGHT TIME | MICK SCHUMACHER

"living in a movie i've watched and funny, cause you couldn't have called it, met you at the right time, this is what it feels like"

not my gif :)

part 1

summary: where your best friend is sick of you thinking your not deserving of love and so she introduces you to a certain someone

pairing: mick schumacher x professional golfer!reader

notes: hi! sorry for the long wait but part 2 of ‘this is what it feels like’ is finally out, thank you for your patience 😭🤍

warnings: a universe where mick is in ferrari and ferrari aren’t idiots

—

“amazing drive, mick!” you smiled, congratulating the german, “congrats on that win!”

“thank you, (y/n),” mick smiled shyly as both of you exited the paddock and walked down the streets of monaco, the sun setting as nighttime came. “so, uhm…how’s golf going? lily says you’re amazing at it.”

chuckling, you shook your head, “i hope she didn’t oversell me to you.” smiling as mick let out a laugh, you couldn’t help but let out a laugh of your own. “well, i just won my first major— the chevron championship— uhm, and i also managed to win the cognizant founders cup after that…before that i won the honda lpga tournament in thailand.”

“your kidding!” mick exclaimed, looking at you.

“oh no, did she oversell me? because if she did—“

“no, no! absolutely not,” mick smiled. “she talks about you a lot and before i met you i already had a good impression of you based off the things she said…and then i met you and you’re really just as much of an angel as she says you are,” he chuckled.

“really?”

“yeah,” he nodded, “and for the record, she never told me you were winning tournaments left and right…when’s your next one?”

“the lotte championship in hawaii,” you replied, “and why are we only talking about me? come on, lily says you have a dog!”

“she told you about angie?” he smiled as he scrolled through his camera roll quickly to find a picture, “she’s an australian shepherd.”

“stop, she’s so cute,” you shook your head, “i wish i had a dog…”

“i’ll let you meet angie one day.”

“please, that’ll be a dream come true.” laughing, you averted your gaze to the sunset as the both of you neared the restaurant.

mick smiled, admiring you for a split second. “am i allowed to say you’re pretty or is that too soon?”

—

you let out a deep breath as you took your driver from your caddy. spectators were crowded as they watched your group since you were the favourite to win. and you weren’t going to let the pressure get to you, absolutely not.

“approaching the tee, (y/n) (l/n)”

looking out into the fairway, you went through your pre shot routine before addressing the ball. drawing your club back, it wasn’t soon until the piercing sound of your metal club against the ball was heard as you looked where the ball went— twirling your club as you did so.

well done, good shot.

the other 2 players making their way to the fairway as soon as you picked up your tee and walked to your caddy, you gave a smile as you followed your fellow players to the fairway. whispering words of encouragement under your breath, you kept yourself calm as you found your ball in no time.

holding back a laugh upon seeing the small formula one car drawing stamped onto your ball, you looked at your caddy who gave you a thumbs up in encouragement before giving a glance into the crowd.

and you could’ve swore you saw someone you knew there.

gripping your club, you let a deep breath out as you repeated the same routine as before. swinging the golf club, the satisfying sound could be heard once again. squinting your eyes as your gaze watched the direction, you crossed your fingers together as it landed onto the green.

“not bad,” you chuckled, shrugging as you passed your club back to your caddy. “also is it just me or are my friends in the crowd?”

“it’s possible,” he shrugged, laughing as you two approached the green, your eyes glancing around the crowds before returning your focus back to the green as you did a quick analysis.

from where you were it would be a left to right, fast downhill putt. if you were able to find the right line and speed, you’d birdie the hole. and despite not knowing what your score was at the time, it was clear that it would be a putt that would decide your fate as a winner or the first of losers. marking your ball, you took another deep breath before stepping away, watching as your competitor run through her routine before making her putt.

the air grew tense as you wiped the sweat off your head, patiently waiting for your turn.

time seemed to slow down as you set up, your eyes focused on the ball as you concentrated on your putt. the soft sound of the metal hitting the ball could be heard as you watched the small golf ball roll down the green.

“go, go, go,” you mumbled under your breath, watching nervously as the ball slowed down as it approached the hole. “YES!”

smiling as you gave a hug to your caddy, thanking him for his congratulations as you quickly searched the bustling crowd with your, shaking hands with your competitors before you went on the search— confident that you’d find someone you knew in the crowd.

“(y/n)!” the familiar voice of lily could be heard as she squeezed her way to the front of the crowd, “that was amazing! oh my gosh! congratulations!”

“thank you so much, lily,” you smiled as you hugged her before pulling away only to see alex and a familiar blonde stood behind. “mick?”

“hi,” he smiled, giving a shy chuckle as he waved his hand. “lily said you’d be playing so i decided to come. congrats!”

“thanks, mick,” you smiled, a light blush forming on your cheeks as he pulled you into a tight hug, “it means a lot.”

“do you wanna go out to celebrate? dinner’s on me.”

“but you payed last time!” you exclaimed, “let me pay!”

“then take it as a date,” he shrugged. “and let me pay, my love.”

—

“i’m still mad you didn’t let me pay.”

“well…” he chuckled, “that prize money isn’t spending itself and i much rather spend it on a girl like you.”

“and no one else?” you asked playfully, resting your head on your palm as you looked outside the window.

“only a fool wouldn’t choose you,” he paused, “and based off my results in school, i count myself a genius.”

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pressradio · 4 months ago

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I have a few thoughts on it.

1. It was another poor qualification from Charles. And we can’t really blame him for that. He does miracles here and there, but he is a human, not the machine. And considering that he didn’t participate FP1, his car was crashed, FP2 was for Pirelli and FP3 was about finding right set up - P4 is not this bad. But it’s always bad when Sainz is in front.

2. He used his opportunities brilliantly and took that P2

3. Ferrari totally mismanaged this race. Again. And there are two points here:

- Ferrari management doesn’t believe that their drivers can keep it clean if they are allowed to fight. Ferrari dgaf about WDC, it always has been like this. So in no universe they would allow their drivers to risk taking each other out when they are in the real fight for WCC. And it shouldn’t be personally about Charles, you know. They just have to work with what they have.

- We all know that it’s always car 16, but they continued with lico the whole race even when Norris was gaining. Even when Charles was already P3. There might be something really concerning that nor we nor Charles see. And as a driver you can’t just ignore such messages. It’s Mexico, Ferrari cars have always been overheating here. And well again it’s better risk P2 and get P3 than get mechanical DNF.

But I guess if something of this was the point - they should have made it clear for Charles, not feeding him with “lico it’s important, lico”

4. Fuck Liam, you can go to where you came from. Fuck Lance.

5. Thanks to Charles for saving the car, it was a really scary moment, but it was his own creation.

6. Thanks to Charles for the FL, the point loss wasn’t that bad at the end.

7. It was a great weekend from Carlos, but this crying man won’t make me like him even if he is doing great for WCC. 4 more races and we will be free.

Summary: I wouldn’t say that Ferrari sacrificed Charles to gift Carlos (hopefully) last win in his career. But I would say that Ferrari could potentially sacrificed Charles for maximising points (no matter was it about killing each other in a fight or mechanical problems). This weekend didn’t went well for Charles from the very beginning. And I would take P3 + FL and 41 WCC points for a bad weekend. I actually wish all bad weekends were like this, you know.

P.S. i’m pissed, because I cannot not be, but rationally there is nothing to really lose shit over.

#no rereading we die like Charles chances to wdc #charles leclerc #scuderia ferrari #mexico gp 2024

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letswrites · 7 months ago

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C.L- Never be the same

Masterlist

Synopsis

Collaborative playlist

Chapter 1 everybody, let's get into this!!! Enjoy :)

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Chapter 1: A girl with hazel eyes and a hand full of scars

May, 2023

York Veterinary Center, NYC, USA

"You need some break from this!" Heidi said bending over the receptionist's counter "I don't have time for a break" she said while signing a few records "I bet you have you just don't want to" She sighed and stared at her "Probably you have a lot of doctors here. You work a lot and I am one hundred percent you can take a break for a whole week if you asked to. You just don't want to delegate" "What can I do in my time off?" "Don't you have any hobbies, family or friends?" "I have. I have time for them on the weekends" "What about a trip? I know you like the French Riviera" she looked out of nowhere with a dreamy expression on her face "Yes, Monaco personally" "See? Talk to your boss, take a a few days off, go to Monaco" "Nah, I would need to save some money for it" she thought a little "So come to Miami with me" "Miami?" "Yes" "What do you have to do in Miami?" "Go to the beach, watch Miami Heat play, watch Formula 1" "Formula 1" she always forgets Heidi dates Daniel Riccardo "Do you like it?" her last ex was crazy about it. It have been 6 years since they broke up and she haven't seen one race since then "I haven't watched a grand prix for a while now" "Really?" "Yes. 6 years" "Wow. It's a lot" "Yeah. Is Daniel still racing?" "Not at the moment but he's Red Bull's reserve driver" "That's nice" Heidi disagreed with that "Did you attend a race already?" "Never" "Come with me then! I can get you a VIP pass with Dan" She actually missed watching the races and she always wished to go to watch one in person. It would also be expensive even with the tickets on Daniel but less than Monaco for sure "Alright, H, I go with you" "Really?!" "If I get the day off, yes" "Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'm so happy!" She jumped over her and hugged her friend "Okay, now let me work" "Alright"

...

May, 7th, 2023

Miami International Autodrome, Miami, USA

Charles was everything but satisfied with his position that weekend. Carlos started from 3rd position and him from 7th. What a good way to start a race. The thing that made him most angry was how could super Max win the damn race starting from 9th in the grid when he couldn't even gain one single position?! At least he maintained in 7th while his teammate lost 2 positions ending in 5th. Things were shady between the Ferrari's drivers that year. And the "crème de la crème" of the weekend was an annoying journalist wanting to talk to him at all costs

"Is it a good time?" It wasn't a good time, he hadn't stopped Super Max and he climbed the grid to get the pole. But even so, he smiled politely "Yes, sure" he wasn't convincing himself but seemed to convince the lady "Good! Charles, how do you feel?" Broken. Useless. "Not in my best mood, but... Looking forward to better days" "That's the spirit. Can we do something to up your mood?" Force Max to retire next season "Just keep supporting me, seriously, your love messages... Mean a lot to me" the interviewer opened a warm smile "You're lovely" he opened the same smile "I'm just being honest" and he was "would you like to make a retribution for a fan?" No! At least not right now. I was just hoping that you all would leave me alone to hate myself for the crap I'm feeling today "Sure" "Great! Please follow me" Nice! Now he had to relocate. "Wait here" she walked a few feet towards a tall man "Excuse me" She started. The man who was laughing with two girls turned to the lady who Charles knew as 'the interviewer' "Daniel Ric? Are you the fan of mine?" Daniel opened his big signature smile "No. I mean, I am but the surprise isn't for me but for this little one here" Daniel stepped to the side and showed a little girl, who was about 6 to 8 years old, wearing Ferrari's whole outfit. The journalist squatted and asked the girl "Hello. My name is Valeriana, I’m a journalist, do you want to meet my friend?" 'We are not friends' Charles thought. The kid nodded "Charles, would you like to join us?" "Sure!" he said shyly and the child tapped her mouth as she was meeting Santa "Oh, my God" he didn't know why but her reaction gave him the power he wanted back. He smiled and offered a hug to the little one, lifting her up with one arm only "I didn't know the fan was her. Could have warned me so I would have aligned my hair" he told Valeriana running his fingers on his hair, causing everyone to laugh "Hi, nice to meet you, princess" she was still the same way, frozen like a photograph "She's a shy lady, don't be offended" Daniel placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed lightly "Hi!" she said quickly just for him "Hi! How's your name?" he replied warmly, a smile on his face "Celeste" "That's a beautiful name. Is it French?" "Yes" "Nice to meet you, Celeste. I'm Charles" "You're amazing" "Do you think?" "Yes" "Well, thank you, Celeste. You're also amazing" she blushed, wishing to disappear "Would you like me to sign your cap?" "Please" "And take a picture?" she nodded affirmatively " Okay, let's do it. Will you take the picture, Dan?" "Sure!" Daniel grabbed Celeste's mother's cell phone and photographed them "There you go" "Does someone have a pen?” Charles asked. People started to look around for a black marker as if God had asked himself, and the first person who did it was a girl, one of the girls who was talking to Daniel when he first came to the scene "Here" she had a strong American accent and her hands had tons of scars. He didn't feel as hypnotized as he was at that moment in a while. She had brown, straight, short hair but long enough to be tied, hazel eyes, and light skin which he figured out was soft even with all the scars when his fingers brushed on hers at the moment he grabbed the marker "Thanks" she nodded. Charles placed Celeste on the ground and knelled to sign her cap and shirt "There you go, Celeste" she hugged him "Thank you!" he hugged "You're welcome" Then he stood up "Say goodbye to Charlie, Celeste" Daniel told her "Goodbye" he smiled, she was so cute "Bye bye" then she ran for her mother . "Thanks, Charles" "It was my pleasure" then he walked away from the journalist and walked towards the owner of the pen "Your pen, miss" "Thanks" she grabbed it quickly "Would you like me to sign something for you?" "No, thank you" "Or a picture?" "I'm good" Wow, she was tough "Do you know I..." "You're Charles Leclerc, I'm aware" "Oh... okay"' he coughed "Goodbye, then" "Goodbye" If little Celeste didn't appear to cheer up his day, he would be damned.

...

Later that day

"Come on, it will be funny. I promise" Lando threw an arm around Charles's neck and forced him to walk toward the club "Lando" the British man pretended he wasn't listening "Lando" he still didn’t give a shit "Lando!" Charles shouted. Lando stopped and the Monegasque got rid of him "What!? Don't want to have some fun?" "Lando..." "Even Max is here, mate!" he turned to where his friend was pointing. Max was holding hands with Kelly and right beside them Daniel holding hands with a blonde lady he assumed was his girlfriend and with them, the hazel eyes princess who caught his attention earlier that day "Look in my eyes and tell me you don't want to come with me. Do this and I'll let you go"

of course, he wanted now, his girlfriend probably wouldn't but he was not going to do anything wrong "You won. I'm joining you" Lando smiled "Yes! Let's go" and they walked into the club. Already inside the duo decided to split

"I'll have us some drinks, go dance" "Will you find me?" "Sure! Who else would dance so badly in this club?” Charles threw him a deadly look “I’ll call you if I don't, mate" "Alright" Lando made his way to the bar and Charles to the crowd. Maybe dancing made his mind off the championship. Even though his mind was already on something else, the tough girl with honey eyes and scared hands. Charles was so distracted that he bumped into Heidi "Sorry, miss." her drink spilled on the floor “I can pay you another drink” She turned to face him "It's fi... Charles!" he looked confused "Do we know each other?" "I'm Heidi" he still had no clue "I'm Daniel's girlfriend" "Dani Ric?" "Yes!" "Oh! Hi, it's nice to meet you" "Nice to meet you too. Hum... are you here alone?" "No! I am with Lando" "He's such a nice boy, isn't he?" "He is" they smiled politely to each other "You came with Daniel, right?" "Yes, he's looking for a restroom" "Good" "I also came with a friend, she went to the bar to find herself a drink" Heidi looked from above Charles' shoulder "Look her there" he turned to where she pointed "Apparently she found your friend too". Heidi's friend was the girl he was looking for and she was walking toward him, giggling with Lando Norris "Fuck, Lando! You promised it would be funny" Charles thought. "Hey, guys!" Lando started "Heidi! How long. How have you been?" "I'm good, thanks" "Where's Daniel?" "Bathroom" "Oh! Right" "I see you found my friend" "Yes, hum..." he turned to her "That's Charles" "I met him earlier today" "Hello again" "Hi" "Your drink, mate" "Thank you" "Wow, I can't go to the bathroom and you guys already start the party without me" Daniel came to break the tension of the moment "Hi, Daniel" Lando and Charles said in unison "Babe, let's dance" "Alright. See you guys around" Heidi and Daniel walked away from the trio. "Charles, do you mind if I take her to dance?" OF COURSE I MIND, MOTHERFUCKER! YOU HAVE THE WHOLE CLUB TO DANCE WITH AND YOU WANT TO TAKE THE GIRL I LIKE TO DANCE?! Charles thought without actually being able to say cause after all he was taken already "No, not at all" "Alright" Lando offered a hand to her "Shall we?" she giggled "Okay". Charles gave a big sip of his drink "How can she be interested in him and not me?" he sipped again "I might have offered her a drink instead of an autograph".

....

A few minutes later she was walking toward his direction again. He was sitting on the bench with his third drink. This time she was not with Lando "Hello again for the third time today" she smiled politely "Hi again for the third time on this da. Can I sit here?" "Yes, please" "Thanks" "Where is Lando?" "He went back to the bar" "And you rather sit here with me?" "He left his friend alone in a club. I felt bad for you" "I thought you didn't like me" "I don't dislike you. I just have empathy" "You're kind" she smiled, politely "Thank you" "So you don't hate me?" "You are just way too convinced in my opinion" "I'm not!" "You seemed to be" "I know. I was just trying to impress you" "You chose poorly, Mr Leclerc" "I thought so. Sorry" "It's okay" "Are you from Miami?" "New York" "And what are you doing here?" "Heidi invited me to watch the race. She says I work too much" "What do you work with?" "I am a veterinarian" "Wow. So you're very clever" "I am" "And that's why you have so many scars on your hand" "Why did you choose the profession?" "I always went along more with animals than humans" he laughed "Vous êtes drôle" "Merci. Mais je t'avais dit la vérité" "Parlez-vous français?!" "Oui. J'ai apprendré a l'école" "J'ai pensé que vous êtes française" "I'm not. I'm American" "Well, I like animals too" "Do you have a pet?" "Are you trying to get a new client?" "No" she said seriously "I am just trying to talk" "Okay" he sipped his drink again “I don't. "And you? Any pets?" Yes, a black cat. Her name is Sabrina" "How cute!" she grinned, shyly "I would like a turtle too but I live in an apartment in Brooklyn" he laughed "I already saw turtles in Monte Carlo" Her eyes brightened "Monaco?" "Yes. It's where I'm from" "I dream of visiting Monaco" "You would love it. It's... perfect. Even with all its imperfections" She could see how passionate he was about his home country "I believe" he looked at her and for the first time in the night their eyes met and they smiled at each other. But, of course, Lando had to break it "Your drink, lady" "Thanks" "Move" She sat in between Lando and Charles and the Monegasque swore he couldn't breathe. But at the same time he could breathe so perfectly cause his nostrils were happily filled with her scent, her perfume

"What were you guys talking about?" "Monaco. I dream of visiting it" "Do you know I live in Monaco?" "You are both lucky" "Maybe you could visit me one day" "What?!" the other two said in unison "I... I couldn't" "Why not? Is that about money? I can pay for everything for you" "No, Lando, I can't accept that. Especially that we just met" he smirked "So we should know each other mor" She blushed "Yeah, maybe" Charles just wanted to die.

...

About an hour and a half later Heidi and her friend decided to go back to the hotel

"Well, I am leaving now guys. Thanks for the night. I had a lot of fun" "My pleasure, lady" Lando kissed her hand, she giggled and Charles rolled her eyes "Mine too" the Monegasque added "May I have your phone number?" Lando asked "I don't think so" "Your socials maybe?" She chewed her inner cheek "Sure" he smiled "Great!" He opened Instagram and gave it to he, she tapped her account. Charles had an eye on it, trying to get the username without having to ask her or Lando but he didn't succeed "There you go" "Thanks! I DM you" "Alright. Hum... Bye then. Till another day, maybe" "Bye!" The F1 drivers said in unison. As soon as she turned her back, Charles glued his eyes on Lando's phone. Of course, it was a private account. He didn't have much time to see the username cause Lando already was reaching for another drink but he saw a lipgloss on the floor. Had she dropped it on purpose? It didn't matter. Charles just grabbed it and reached out for its owner “Hey!” She turned back “Your lipgloss” “Oh my God! Thank you! It's my favorite” “You’re welcome. Hum… can I also have your Instagram? So we can talk” “Sure! Give me your phone” he did “There you go. I am waiting for your text” “Okay” “Bye, Charles. Enjoy the rest of your evening” “Bye. You too” and that was it, the beginning of their story.

#f1 #f1 fanfic #f1 imagine #charles leclerc #charles leclerc imagine #charles leclerc 16 #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc f1 #scuderia ferrari

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mysteriouslyjovialcolor · 4 months ago

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Austria 2018

-Shortest circuit of the season

-Mercedes have won here since 2014! And have a front row lockout again!

-Championship battle between Seb and Lewis again

-Very random but the graphics are better this season

-Ooh Valterri has pole!

-Oh? Daniel’s 29th birthday? Nice!

-Carlos is in Renault!

-Pfft apparently Ocon and Gasly are already clashing (they’re not even on the same team yet)

-Charles Leclerc is here this season!!!

-I’m looking forward to seeing his old races

-Fernando starting from the pit lane (Maybe I’ll actually see someone start from there this time)

-“Lance Stroll who is a traditionally very fast starter” Is it the Aston Martin that sucks then?

-“Only 2 drivers have ever won a Grand Prix on their birthday” who??

-George Russell!!!!

-Ohmygod Kimi had such a good start and then he lost it!!

-Both the Ferraris going wide

-Can I root for Nico having a good race this time or is that a lost cause?

-Charles going up 3 places 👏👏

-Oh no he went wide! He’s p19 now! (I may have jinxed him 🫣)

-Toto’s reactions are so emphatic

-Not me focusing more on Charles moving from p19 to p17 than focusing on whatever is happening out in the front

-“Nico Hulkenburg in trouble I think there” NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! JUST WHY!

-I hate this Renault

-Sigh, at least let Sainz pick up a point or two

-Oh no! Valterri retiring too??

-I’m sensing that the cars did not in fact get better in 2018

-Stacking pit stops for one team looks very cool

-Yay Sainz in points

-New season and still no radio subtitles, the disappointment is real

-Ricciardo p3!! Red Bull 2-3!!

-Kimi locked up so many times this race

-The Williams and Sauber look so similar

-Fred Vasseur is Sauber’s team principal? No wonder Charles works well with him now, he basically debuted under him

-Lewis running out of power too?

-Just learnt about blistering in real time. Really wish I didn’t learn about that through Daniel Ricciardo’s tires

-Sainz has dropped to p17, my curse on Renault worked a little too well (It was supposed to avoid you Carlos, I’m sorry)

-I’m going to be so sad if Daniel loses p2 on his birthday

-Big sigh

-That was a smooth overtake by Vettel on Hamilton

-Ferrari 2-3 now

-James Vowles: “Lewis, sorry. I have thrown away the win today but you can still go back up there, I believe in you”

-If I was Lewis I would so curse the man out

-Oh come on, let the Ferraris race

-I’m going to be so annoyed if the team just makes them swap positions without letting them fight

-“What about Max Verstappen?” “Is he still in the race?” lol as he leads 7 seconds ahead

-Oh Charles in p13

-p12

-“I’m feeling good so don’t worry” At least Max is having a good day

-Haas is having a good day too, which is really weird to say, but I hope they have a good day at COTA 2024 too

-Oh for god’s sake, Red Bull was supposed to have a better car this season, why is Daniel out rn, on his birthday too

-At least Charles is in the points now

-“We are not okay, we are not okay” I see the Toro Rosso has not improved at all

-From a Mercedes 1-2 to a Red Bull 1-2. If Ferrari manage to overtake Max, it would be a Ferrari 1-2.

-That would be a crazy race run

-“Unless, if the two Ferraris and Red Bull blow their tires up now, Hamilton might still have a chance here” Now that’s a tall order

-Nice move there from Checo

-Woah cars up to p5 have been lapped

-Oh no Charles out of the points again

-* gasp * Lewis actually lost power! No way!

-Who put a curse on the Mercedes this race??

-My only consolation, once again, is that this means Charles is back in the points

-p9!

-“They’re looking maybe for some divine inspiration to help Max Verstappen to win the race here” yes me too

-“I think he should keep that rear tire if he wins this Grand Prix, make a coffee table out of it”

“Kiss it for good luck maybe”

Oh these guys think they’re so funny

-One more lap, ohmygod this is stressful, I can’t believe I’m worrying about tires, what has life come to

-Come on come on come on

-Let’s go Max!!!!!

“Aah this is amazing, in front of all those fans, in the Red Bull ring, with a Red Bull” yesss let’s go!

-Aww the mechanics just pulling him into a group hug

“Your fourth Red Bull victory. It felt like your first now with Kimi Raikkonen chasing you down till the last lap” That’s such a good call back

-The last time Mercedes had a double mechanical retirement was in 1955- that’s crazy. They really did get cursed.

-They’re all so cute on the podium

-Adorable fr

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f0point5 · 1 year ago

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I mean can you really blame some Charles fan for being maybe a bit too agressive towards some people. I mean there is still people trying to push every time the narrative that Charles doesn’t have race pace and is only a qualy marchant when in fact the data prove that he has a bigger gap in race pace. Or the people still saying that Sainz is a better driver. Obviously his fans are gonna be frustrated when seeing these takes. 🤷‍♀️

I know you already answered this but I’d like to add my two cents on it.

Because I hate to break it to this anon but Charles is not the only driver who gets these kind of comments. As a Max fan I’ve seen probably thousands of these kind of comments made about Max whether it be the 2021 title, cost cap advantage, only winning due to Ferrari being incompetent, having the car built for him, not having a competitive teammate… the list goes on.

But I know how good Max is, I have seen him win titles and break records and that is something no one can take from him.

There are still people out there genuinely believing Checo is better than Max. I know that’s not true but I also know I won’t change (most of) their minds even with facts and evidence so I just move on. Max will answer the haters on track and the record books speak for themselves.

Someone just commented on that original ask as well saying “taking it too seriously” is kind of a moot point when people are insulting etc. but I have to disagree. The people being assholes about their takes in the first place (if they’re being aggressive or personally insulting) are taking it too seriously in the first instance. And the people feeling the need to respond to the nonsense are also taking it too seriously. I’m not saying if someone comes in your inbox and starts shitting on you personally for your opinion that you shouldn’t respond, but people are getting into legit arguments on Twitter about drivers like…if you don’t agree just disengage. You’re not going to change this stranger’s mind by arguing with them and at the end of the day it’s their subjective take on something that’s inconsequential to everyone’s lives in the grand scheme of things.

Do I scroll on Twitter and roll my eyes damn near out of my head whenever I see someone talking about how the fia favours RB or how 2021 is still a thing…yes. Do I feel the need to get on and argue every time I see an ignorant take and contribute to the unpleasantness? No. Because taking someone else’s opinions that personally is just not what I’m about. I don’t think it’s a way to enjoy life. I certainly don’t think it’s a way to enjoy sport/entertainment. Why people want to take up space in their own mind for that should be a comfort and a joy to them with that amount of negativity is beyond me.

And yes, agree. Let the drivers manage their careers and everyone’s opinions on track. I don’t think Charles Leclerc is sitting there thinking “well damn user3725 on Twitter thinks Carlos is a better driver, I wish someone would defend me”, so what’s that all for?

I like a debate but if even 1/2 people can respect both sides of the argument then you’re not debating you’re just having a bitch fight over something irrelevant.

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fourkisses · 8 months ago

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it's me, hi .ᐟ 🧸 ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .𖥔˚

navigation ◍ masterlist ◍ send me a mail!

˖⌕ ۫ GENERAL INFO

name: casey ★

age: eighteen !

pronouns: she / her ♡

ꔮ ABOUT F1

truth be told, i only got into f1 pretty recently– just right after lando's win in miami to be specific. since then, all i do is 1) watch cars go fast on weekends; and 2) wish it's weekend already :0

favorite (current) drivers: lando norris, carlos sainz, lewis hamilton, daniel ricciardo

favorite (retired) drivers: kimi raikkonen, seb vettel

favorite teams: ferrari & mclaren

also !! i adore hannah schmitz, RB's principal strategy engineer :D

✴︎ OTHER COMFORTS

i am an indecisive girlie so please note that this list is not a complete one ! i can't even decide where to put my stickers let alone decide what my favorite stuffs are haha

music: taylor swift, gracie abrams, lorde, hozier, NIKI, up dharma down

books: the hunger games, robert langdon series, to all the boys trilogy, a good girl's guide to murder trilogy, daisy jones & the six, and red, white, & royal blue

films, shows, & series: fleabag, heartstopper, how i met your mother, to all the boys trilogy, battleship, daisy jones & the six

#fourkisses ⋆.˚ ᡣ𐭩 .ᐟ #about moi #formula 1

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capyphoenix · 1 month ago

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Ferrari loves that kind of story.This is my opinion//

I think this way:

1. Lewis Hamilton is a 7times world champion. The end of his career? Ive been watching f1 for more than 20 years. There were so many old drivers. Now its when more young people join. Like Capy said don’t think age means been bad. There are terrible young drivers lol

2. Charles won’t leave Ferrari. There’s no multiverse where he leaves. For many reasons:

A) shared dream with his father. Both dreamed about it he is living it. He won’t go rogue. The man has suffered a lot and it’s still there. 2019? Ringing any bell? Add that it was also his wish to Jules and you have the trifecta of Ferrari engraved in his heart.

B) where do you go? Ferrari is the highest of F1 even in Ferrari lowest. Ferrari is F1. “Ask a kid to draw a race car and it will be red, Ferrari red” so he will go where? Mercedes? The ones raising Kimi. McLaren? Raised Lando. No no. He will start and finish in Scuderia Ferrari.

C) the level of devotion that Ferrari has with Charles. I had never seen something like that since Stefano, Todt and Schumi era. The fact that the past owner on Ferrari on his death bed WISH CHARLES TO RUN IN FERRARI AND BE THEIR CHAMPION. You don’t know how it feels to Ferrari to have Charles. They don’t build him a church because they are busy racing.

Ferrari will tell Charles. Hey there’s a new regulation coming in 2026. We will go hard for Lewis, give him the 8th milk the shut out of it. And the rest of your career you’ll have a 7 times WDC as bodyguard. And Charles said ok.

Lewis just want the 8th. That’s it.

You think they got rid of a good duo such as Charlos to put a 7times WDC as second driver?

What’s the logic of that? Lewis doesn’t leave for less and Ferrari won’t either. Why getting Lewis? Just win with Charles and Carlos already.

I think that Fred told Lewis the same that Niki told him once “come, and I’ll make you a champion”

You don’t hire Lewis Hamilton to make leclerc a champion. You give the WDC to Lewis revive the spirit of the team AND THEN YOU BRING GLORY TO YOUR MONAGUESQUE LIFE PROJECT.

Simple as that. There’s no math. Or bad feelings.

2026 is the new regulation. 2025 will be for Lewis. Period. Lewis will get the 8th. Enter in Kimi mode (driving for fun) and then leave or just leave and Carlos will be back. Everyone is happy no one is loosing. I don’t see why getting impatient.

First let’s get a good car and then we debate which driver deserves Ferrari attention next year and on going.

I know Lewis will get the 8 and say Bye! You’re welcome for the glory. I’m leaving as 8WDC and Ferrari driver.

Charles will get the whole hype of it after it. Epic battles with Verstappen. And Carlos back.

I love Lewis. He is my man and I think Capy knows who I am 😝 I sent her a max sticker earlier haha

I don't think he will get the 8th

Runs and hides!

#Capylewis #Capycharles

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cutielando · 9 months ago

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the curse of monaco | charles leclerc

synopsis: in which Charles finally conquers Monaco

my masterlist

There was nothing like racing through the streets you grew up in, Charles would always say to you.

In all the years you had known him and been with him, he had only had one goal: winning the Monaco Grand Prix.

You didn’t know why that was, whether it was a tribute to his late father, a tribute to Jules or just the pride of knowing he conquered the streets he had walked his entire life. Maybe it was a combination of all 3.

Charles had not been treated well by his home race the past couple of years. 2 DNFs, 1 DNS and 2 disappointing results had plagued his mind, making the weeks leading up to the race filled with more stress than he should carry.

But you had a good feeling this time. Ever since he got into the car in FP1, then topping the charts all throughout FP2 and FP3, you felt something in your gut change. For once, after so many doubtful years, there was no worry and disappointment in your heart as you waited in the garage for the qualifying session of the weekend. Every negative feeling was replaced with hope, so much hope that you didn’t know what to do with it.

Charles was the complete opposite. While he couldn’t deny that the car had finally come alive and he had the pace he needed, he felt like he couldn’t let himself hope too much, not after everything he’d been through.

“Come on, you know I’m right. You’ll be on pole and you’ll win the race” you said to him as you lounged in his driver room, watching him get dressed in his fireproofs and racing suit.

“Mon amour, you know how Monaco is. I don’t want to get my hopes up and then be disappointed if I don’t get pole or don’t win” he reasoned, but deep down he was feeling the exact same thing you were.

“But this year is going to be different, I know it will!” you pressed on, making him chuckle in adoration at the hear of your determined voice. “Every other driver has said the same thing and every presenter from F1 TV is saying you’re definitely going to break the curse tomorrow”

“Have you been watching F1 TV again to hear what they have to say about me?” he teased, laughing once he sees the blush creeping on your cheeks.

“That’s not the point. I’m telling you, I have a good feeling about tomorrow. But still, no pressure. You go out there, drive safe and come back to me in one piece. If you end up winning, that’s great, but if you don’t, we’ll get them next year. Sounds good?” you bargained, knowing that he didn’t need any more pressure added on his shoulders than he already had.

He sighed but nodded, pausing his actions to give you a kiss.

“Let’s do it then”

And, true to his word, he came back to you, in one piece, starting from pole in the Monaco GP.

♡♡♡♡♡

There was something special in the air as you entered the paddock with Pascale and Arthur, making your way towards the Ferrari hospitality to watch the race. The entire city of Monte Carlo was absolutely buzzing with excitement, the paddock feeling more alive than ever as their home hero prepared to take on the beautiful circuit that was Monaco.

You didn’t see Charles before he got into the car, you didn’t want to cause him any kind of distraction before he started the race, but you couldn’t help sprinting down to the garage during the Red Flag, knowing you had plenty of time before the race would start up again.

Finding him wasn’t hard at all. He was speaking with his mechanics, drinking some water out of his bottle.

You approached him hurriedly, at which he excused himself from the conversation once he saw you approaching him.

“Mon amour, is everything okay? You’re supposed to be with maman, Arthur and Joris up in the hospitality” he said, worry etched on his face.

“Everything is fine, don’t worry. I just came down here to wish you good luck, you know, once FIA decides to restart the race” you joked, hoping to make his spirits lift up a little.

He chuckled, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes. You could see the stress sitting behind the facade, the worry and pressure tensing up his muscles and demeanor.

Noticing you studying his face and realizing you knew how stressed he was, he smiled and wrapped an arm around your waist.

“You know we’re proud of you no matter what, right?” you whispered, thankful for the loud sounds of mechanics working left and right that helped drown out your conversation to other people around you.

He sighed, but nodded. “I know, but I just can’t shake the stress. I’ve been quick all weekend and everyone knows that. What if something happens and my race goes to shit like every time? I don’t think I’ll be ready to cope with another disappointment from my home track” he confessed, which made your heart squeeze.

His entire life, the only thing that he wanted was to win in Monaco, but the track has always failed him. And for once, he felt like he could finally break the curse that has been following him around for years, yet he still worried that something would completely ruin his race.

“Baby, nobody will think less of you if you don’t win today. Racing is so unpredictable, you put your life in danger every time you get in the car and people know that. We’ll be proud of you no matter the outcome today” you said, holding his face in your hands to make sure he understood you.

He bit the inside of his cheek but nodded, knowing you were right.

“I love you” he murmured, pressing his lips against yours in a passionate kiss.

“I love you too. Be safe out there and show everyone what you’re made of” you said once you pulled away, smiling and pecking his lips once again before leaving him to it.

You made your way back to the hospitality where Charles’ family was waiting for you.

“How is he?” Pascale asked you as you sat down next to her.

“He’s stressed, but he’s doing okay. He really wants to win today” you explained, running a hand through your hair.

Pascale nodded, knowing how important this day was for her son.

“He’ll win, I can feel it” Pascale said, taking your hand in hers.

♡♡♡♡♡

Some people would say that you bewitched your fiancé, some would say that a divine force had finally taken pity upon him, but only one thing was for certain.

Charles Leclerc had finally won his home race, the Monaco Grand Prix.

From the moment he had crossed the finish line and taken the checkered flag, everything that happened was a blur. Between hugging his family, texting your friends, crying because of how proud you were of him, things were a big blur.

Hearing him screaming on the radio had been what had made you break down. He had spent so many hours training, figuring out strategies, doing everything in his power to make sure that things would go well for him around his home streets and his hard work had finally paid off.

You couldn’t hold in the excitement that you felt, the pride you held for the man you loved more than life itself. Which frankly explains why you hurried out of the Ferrari hospitality and ran to the grid where the Ferrari mechanics were waiting for Charles.

The moment you saw him get out of the car and throw himself at his team, the cascade of tears began once again, blurring your vision which now only consisted of the red teamwear all around you.

“Y/N!” you were snapped out of your thoughts by Charles’ voice, who had noticed you crying as soon as he hugged his team.

The Ferrari mechanics quickly made way for you, letting you jump into Charles’ arms and wrapping your legs around his waist as he hugged you tightly to his body.

“I did it, Y/N. I finally did it” he cried into your shoulder, which made you let out more tears and squeeze him even tighter than you already were.

“I told you, I knew you were going to do it. My Monaco winner” you pulled away slightly to kiss him, taking his face in your hands.

The entire team cheered around you, paparazzi taking pictures upon pictures of the moment shared between you.

“I love you so fucking much” you whispered against his lips, making him grin widely.

“I love you too”

And with that, the Monaco curse has finally been broken, once and for all.

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f1 · 2 years ago

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10 F1 drivers who left teams at the worst time

Sebastian Vettel could have been one of Max Verstappen’s closest rivals this season. During his two years with Aston Martin, Vettel stood on the podium twice (one of those podium finishes taken away shortly after) when everything fell right but the car was usually at the lower end of F1’s midfield, with the team finishing seventh of 10 in the constructors’ standings in both 2021 and 2022. Then just as Vettel exits the team, Aston Martin takes a huge stride forward with Vettel’s replacement Fernando Alonso scooping three straight podiums at the start of 2023 and becoming the Red Bull drivers’ closest rival in the points standings. While Vettel had his off-track reasons and had already achieved so much with 53 wins and 57 poles alongside his quartet of titles, you can’t help but wonder if the timing of his exit from the team was one of the most unfortunate in F1 history. That got us thinking about previous F1 champions or race winners from the last 40 years who left a team – whether it be through their own choice like Vettel or against their wishes – right before it made a big performance leap and produced considerably more competitive machinery. 00:00 Number 10 00:53 Number 9 01:38 Number 8 02:36 Number 7 03:21 Number 6 04:21 Number 5 05:29 Number 4 06:12 Number 3 07:09 Number 2 08:00 Number 1 Subscribe: http://the-race.com/youtube_subscribe Website: http://the-race.com/ Twitter: @wearetherace Instagram: @wearetherace Facebook: http://facebook.com/wearetherace Podcasts: http://the-race.com/podcasts Thanks for watching - please like, share and comment, please also hit subscribe to show your support so we'll keep doing what we're doing. https://www.the-race.com http://www.twitter.com/wearetherace #f1 #formula1 #f12023 #formulaone #f1history #sebastianvettel #fernandoalonso #astonmartin #lewishamilton #michaelschumacher #mercedes #redbull #davidcoulthard #mclaren #ferrari #honda #jensonbutton #grandprix #therace via THE RACE https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaTxfj0BzL-MaCy-YUqPRoQ

#F1 #10 F1 drivers who left teams at the worst time #Formula 1

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seasidepierre · 3 years ago

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sunkissed face (bonus part) | charles leclerc

FORMULA ONE DRIVERS MASTERLIST

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5

summary: You've known the start of their story for a while, but have you tried watching it happening through Charles' eyes? Have you tried walking in his designer shoes, when he first met the girl of his dreams?

warnings: Honestly, at this point, I'm just happy to be writing about them again, so enjoy this bonus part!

words count: 4.1k

There was no denying that Charles loved his team. He was a Ferrari fan, ride or die, and to be able to drive for the iconic scarlet scuderia was every bit of the dream he had hoped and wished it was. It was everything he ever wanted, everything he worked for, what he promised his dad would happen and what Jules would have got and that he felt he needed to get, to honour him the best he could. Driving a Ferrari Formula 1 car in the streets of Monaco, his hometown, his streets, his home, was even better. It felt like walking on a cloud, except he knew the storm could come at any point.

In all the sunshine and warmth of the Monégasque Grand Prix, Charles could feel the cold sweat starting to gather, right in the small path of his spine in his back. He knew his home Grand Prix to be unforgiving and all the luck he could find in this world didn’t mean shit here. Talent wasn’t enough in Monaco and he wondered, for the uptenth time since he woke up, if he would finally manage to actually finish the race. Any place would be nice. Obviously a win would be even better, but he knew his car and he knew its pace. If he managed to grab P6, he’d be happy, especially here.

“Are you okay, cabron?” Carlos gently asked.

The older guy had been welcomed in the team a few months ago but he had already found his rightful place next to Charles. It felt right to have him on his side, with a kind word, a funny joke and a way to breathe a little when the competition was getting a bit too intense. Charles liked Carlos. Carlos liked Charles. All good in the world.

“I’m okay,” Charles nodded.

“You look like you’re about to vomit,” Carlos grimaced.

“That would not be cool for our guests,” Charles countered.

Ferrari had organised that event with their main sponsors. They wanted to make sure those people knew what their money was for and that it was appreciated. Rub some backs. Shake some hands. Laugh at some questionable jokes and pretend a whole bunch that they cared about their opinions, of course. Charles already knew it was going to be exhausting. At least the weather was nice and the sun was out, bathing the area in a golden glow that felt a tiny bit recomforting, if you take into consideration the fact that he was currently about to either explode in a giant mess of tiny confettis or, like Carlos said, to throw up. He was starting to feel like tiny ants were gnawing at his fingertips, which usually wasn’t a good sign.

For two hours, Charles had to bump elbows with 50 year-olds who cared about what he had to say, only to be able to quote him on the LinkedIn posts they would make with the selfie they took with him. He couldn’t care less about their opinions on why he was about to win, just because he knew the streets by heart. The ones who actually were interesting were the ones who knew the sport and who took the time to chat about the last races, instead of the constant pretending that they offered, like they knew what they were talking about, like they were here for the race and not just the bling of the Monaco GP.

Charles loved that he was racing at home, he loved what his GP meant for the championship but he also knew that it attracted a lot of people who only came to be seen, only to be able to tell their colleagues or so-called friends that they were there, only to be apart of the so-called society that he wasn’t born in but got thrown into, even though he didn’t like it very much.

Charles loved racing with everything he had. It was his reason to live, it was what made him get out of his bed in the morning, what drove him to work out so much, what both his heart and mind told him to do, at every hour of every day. Those people were there because it was “cool” to be in Monaco. They didn’t care about who would win on Sunday afternoon. They couldn’t explain what the difference was between a blue and a black flag. It was exhausting. And the line that piled up in front of the little table that they had put him and Carlos behind, in an effort to maintain the social distance, was frankly disheartening. It’s not like they were equally interested in Carlos. No, they wanted a picture with the “little prince of Monaco”, as if they didn’t know that there was a prince already and his name was Albert.

Fools.

The line of baldening skulls in front of him was starting to be really frustrating. Charles was getting tired of signing cards, posing for pictures that would end up on Facebook with a caption about how “hard work always pays off and you’ll be in Monaco too!” or just having to smile at all of them. If at least the younger ones he was seeing were kids, he’d be okay, but instead, he had to deal with teenagers who couldn’t give a fuck about him but were forced to pose with him because their dads had said so.

He was about to sign his hundredth card when he caught a glimpse of a white dress with red flowers entering the private area that had been reserved for this event. And it’s not like he cared about the fact that it was a woman nor that he really wanted to put his flirting skills to the test, because he knew he was a blubbering mess, but he welcomed the change with open arms. And if she was just there for a picture, at least it’d be a picture with a woman and not another CEO.

Charles waited, impatiently, to see that dress pop up in front of him. He hadn’t even seen the woman who had slipped into that flimsy little dress this morning, but he knew that he had liked the pattern of it and that was pretty much it. At least she was on theme with the Ferrari event. It would be a nice difference compared to the people he had to ask the PR team to be careful about because they had come clad in Red Bull teamwear. It was so dumb. At least pretend you’re into Ferrari.

But as the hour passed by, the white and red floral dress didn’t appear in front of him, though it did appear in the corner of his field of vision, like some kind of magic that calmed him down greatly whenever he would be able to actually see it. The first thing he noticed was the legs peeking out of the hem of the dress. They seemed really smooth and for a second, he wondered if they truly were or if his eyes were playing tricks on him. Then he discovered that the hair resting on top of the fabric shone in the sunshine and it felt like being blinded by a spotlight.

Eventually, he managed to make it through the never-ending line of people who wanted to shake his hand, even though they’d been told they couldn’t, for safety and health reasons. His wrist was sore from signing all the autographs and he had stopped smiling behind his facemask about fifty selfies earlier. Charles had mastered the art of squinting his eyes just enough to pretend he was equally interested in them as they were in him. Which, in hindsight, might have been equal, knowing they only cared about him in the picture and he couldn’t be bothered to learn their names. The only people he made a conscious effort for were the little kids who looked thrilled and starstruck. He was weak for a small kid. He couldn’t be cold to a small child.

“We’re done, I think,” Carlos sighed, stretching his arms behind his seat.

“How long do we have to be there for, still?”

“About thirty minutes, time for everyone to get out of the area, I guess.”

“Nobody even cared to learn about the team,” Charles groaned. “I can’t believe the marketing staff put all of this together, only to be ignored. They all came to take pictures of my car, none of them took a second to read the panels.”

“Except for that girl,” Carlos nodded, pointing at someone with his index. “She didn’t even come to us. Spent the whole time reading and taking pictures of the panels.”

Charles’ heart somewhat tumbled down his chest. The red and white floral dress appeared clear and straight in front of his eyes, worn by the young woman he had only caught glimpses of so far. She was beautiful. Not model-type beautiful, but Charles never really cared for people who always looked straight out of magazines. From where he was, he could see the little scar on her elbow and the fact that she was close to heat exhaustion, if he believed the fact that her skin was far from matte and that her hair was kind of sticking to her neck.

Still, she was beautiful.

What a foolish idea, he thought, to want to be introduced to the only person there who hadn’t cared one bit about coming to him. After all these fake ass people coming his way, he had to be interested in the one person who wasn’t. Typical CL16 luck, if he was honest.

“I’m gonna go grab something to drink. Want something?” Carlos asked.

“I’m good. I’ll walk a little, got some ants in my legs.”

“Got what?” Carlos scoffed.

“French expression,” Charles shrugged. “My legs feel kinda numb.”

Carlos tssked and hit him behind the shoulder, making him laugh a little. For a couple of seconds, Charles thought about what he was supposed to do. Should he go introduce himself to that girl? Or was she truly not interested in him, the slightest? He wasn’t the shiest guy around but he knew not to bother a lady when he clearly didn’t want to be bothered. And that girl looked so engrossed by what she was reading, it almost felt criminal to go and rip her away from the words she was pouring herself into.

Curiosity always killed the cat.

Charles got up and walked to that girl, as gently as possible so as not to appear as a complete douchebag. She was looking at his car like it was the most incredible thing she had ever laid eyes on. Charles could relate to that pretty well. It always amazed him to sit in a F1 car. It was even more amazing to know that this particular one belonged to him. Sure he couldn’t drive her in the streets and of course, his apartment building didn’t have the adequate parking space for her. He knew that his loan to the Prince’s collection was the option for her to be taken care of and to be appreciated as she deserved. Sometimes, though, he wished he could be the only one to enjoy her.

And then, sometimes, he remembered that she was truly a beauty to be shared with the world. Especially with pretty girls who had a floral dress with the team’s colours on it and an empty glass of champagne, bending so close their noses were about to touch the paint.

Charles cleared his throat, a reflex he couldn’t control, which made her jump a little and straighten back up. He hated that he disturbed her and made her feel like she wasn’t supposed to admire his car. But the lovely shade of embarrassment that he could see creeping up her neck matched his and he knew he would be okay.

“That one’s nice, isn’t it?” He laughed.

“It’s gorgeous”, He could hear her smile, before she turned back to him.

The look of pure surprise on her face was enough to make him smile gently. That’s a look he was used to and that he found familiar. That’s a look he only saw on the little kids’ faces today. The look of a true fan, of someone who knew what they talked about. The look of someone who admired the drivers, because they were a part of the sport they loved so much. The look he had when he first met Michael Schumacher. Not that he had that big of an ego, but it felt nice to be truly seen, after all the time spent with all these hypocrites.

Charles got to notice that she was considerably smaller than him. Not tiny, but a good twelve centimetres separated him from the top of her head. She looked adorable and Charles knew it was problematic, when her eyes finally met his and his heart kind of gasped in his chest.

He was going to be a fool for this girl and he instantly knew it.

“Nice to meet you”, He truly smiled, for the first time in an hour.. “I couldn’t help but notice that you were out there not mixing with the crowd, do we scare you or something?” He scoffed.

“Not at all”, She blushed. “You guys were a little bit out of reach, I thought I’d enjoy the exhibition while you were busy and try again later.”

“The event is almost finished, the major part of the guests is gone”, Charles explained.

“I guess I lost track of time”, She gasped. “It was so interesting to learn more about the team and the history of it.”

“I know, right? I’m Charles, by the way.”

“I know”, She smiled, ending the internal debate between his head and his heart, begging him to take a step back and be chill about her. “Y/N”, She introduced herself, stopping in the middle of reaching his hand out to shake his. “Hmm. Can’t do that anymore. Sorry.”

His head stopped screaming to stop being stupid. As she retracted her hand and settled it on top of her upper arm, his brain finally went amute and gave up the fight. His mind had lost the battle to his heart. He laughed, shrugging, wishing he could shake her hand and feel if her skin was as smooth as it looked. He too had raised a hand to shake but had to take it back to his pants’ pocket.

“So you’re a Ferrari fan?” He started, hoping to diffuse the awkwardness that was settling in.

“That I am. Always been. I have to thank my father for that.”

“He raised you well, then”, He joked. “Are you gonna be at the race this weekend?”

“Yes, I’m here with a couple of friends, we might be able to visit the paddock a bit.”

“Nice”, Charles commented. “I hope you’ll pass by the Ferrari garage!”

He hoped he could see her again. Just a couple of seconds. Or minutes. Or maybe hours, even days, if she agreed. Hell, at this point, he would have taken a lifetime. Her voice felt like dripping honey to his ears, the sparkles in her eyes looked like little stars he could wait to learn the constellations in. He had barely met her and he already wanted to know more about her.

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!”

Charles rocked a little on his feet, unsure what to say next. He knew it was really bad. That he couldn’t dive head first like that with someone. That it wasn’t rational, nor cool, to be attracted to someone over banalities like you were exchanging.

“This one’s my favourite”, He commented.

“Isn’t it the one you won Monza with?” She asked and his heart missed a beat again.

“It is”, He smiled, so happy and impressed that she recognised it. “It’s also the one I won Spa with, a few days before.”

“It was such a difficult weekend”, She grimaced.

“It was”, He shrugged, suddenly thrown back to the difficult events of the weekend, to the tears, to the heartbreak and the sudden ache in his chest that would always accompany the memories of his first F1 win. “But I’m glad I could bring that for our close ones.”

“You did good on that race. I can’t imagine what you must have been feeling like..”

“It wasn’t easy. But I made it through and that’s all he would have wanted, so I’m happy for that. Some of our friends needed some good news that weekend.”

“I guess.”

In the conversation, he didn’t notice her taking a small step backward, closer to the car. Her hand had slipped from her upper arm to rest behind her, but it was now barely a couple of centimetres away from his car. The small cord around it apparently didn’t meet her path, because she was as far from it as she could physically be. For one second, Charles wished he could do what he wanted with the car.

And then he remembered that he owned the car and that he, therefore, could do absolutely anything with it.

“Hey, you know that being with me gives you the right to cross that little cord, right?” He teased.

If her big round eyes weren’t enough, the small gasp she let out when he threw a glance all around him to make sure the majority of the guests were either out or still uninterested in him, sealed his complete infatuation with her with a pretty big bow. Once he was sure there weren't many people left, he unclasped one side of a rope and presented his hand to her, inviting her to come on the other side, which she did, her hand almost taking his before she retracted it. Charles had never cursed Covid more than at that moment.

“God, she’s a beauty”, She sighed.

“I like that you called her a “she”. She’s a “she” to me too”, He laughed.

“It would have sounded weird if I said “he”, I think. She just looks so fierce, it had to be a “she”, don’t you think?”

“I totally agree”, Charles nodded. “Do you want to do something a bit crazy?”

“If you’re suggesting taking it out of this little tent, I’ll have to deny. I’m not sure I can drive her”, She grinned.

“I didn’t talk about driving her. But you’re welcome to sit in, if you want”, He invited.

Another gasp. Another somersault of his heart in his chest. That delightful sound would be the end of him, for sure.

“Are you sure?”

“I’ll let you in on a little secret”, He whispered. “She’s mine. I can do whatever I want with her.”

Her hands flew to her cheeks, in a futile attempt to not look like a complete fangirl. Charles couldn’t care less that she was one. Actually, no, he cared a lot. It was so endearing, after all he went through that afternoon, that it made his chest warm and fuzzy with a feeling he hadn’t had felt in a very very long time.

“You’re gonna need to take your heels off, it’s a delicate paint.”

“Of course,” She almost excused herself, bending down to unclasp the little fastenings of her shoes, setting them down and letting her heels touch the floor.

She lost another eight centimetres and Charles wondered if she could fit in the pocket of his Ferrari dress suit. Then he shook his head slightly and got to work.

“You’re gonna want to put your foot here,” He pointed. “Don’t put too much weight on that part, but support yourself on the halo and you should be good to go.”

Of course, the poor girl struggled in her dress and in an attempt to save her the embarrassment of showing the few people left what colour her underwear was, he delicately put his hands on her sides and slowly lifted her higher so she could climb over the halo. Once her feet were on the seat, she was quick to slide down and sit, which impressed him more than it should have.

Her eyes couldn’t settle on one part of the car. He could see the internal battles over whether or not she was allowed to touch the wheel. He loved that she was careful and respectful, but still overtly giddy about the experience.

Charles had never put a girlfriend inside one of his cars, except for his road cars, of course. But the view of that tiny woman, sitting in his F1 speedster, made him adamant that he had been right not to, because if there was a first to be had, he was so extremely glad that she was the one he’d remember forever.

“Liking it?”

“This is a dream”, She confirmed. “You really can’t see much when you’re down there!” “That’s because you’re a bit smaller than I am”, He laughed, because surely there wasn’t much else he could do without sounding like a proper nutcase who was already head over heels. “My vision usually goes up to the beginning of the halo”, He explained, by showing with his hands where his field of vision would end. “How’s the seat?”

“A bit hard. Does your suit have padding or something?”

“It’s a bit padded, indeed”, He conceded, so relieved that she had curiosity behind the look. “Not much, but it helps.”

“The wheel has so many buttons, how do you remember every one of them?”

“I just learn them, to be honest. And sometimes I ask for help with the radio. Want a picture in it?”

“Yes please, I can’t wait to show my dad!” She giggled.

For one second, he almost fished his own phone in his pocket, but then he remembered that he would look like an absolute dumbass if he did so. He waited a second for you to pass your phone by and immediately went to work.

Charles took the time to photograph her in his car, through different angles and different sides. He even got someone to take a few pictures of them both, even if he wouldn’t have it as a souvenir anymore. Selfishly, he hoped that one day she’d see that picture again and remember that he had been nice, and not completely ridiculously attracted to you. Maybe she’d think about him with a fond heart, like he would her.

It took twenty minutes for her to run out of questions about the car. She asked about the feelings he got from the cockpit, about the focus he had, she asked what was the most expensive part and which one he couldn’t understand why it was there, which made him laugh way more than it should have. She wondered how he could feel at ease so close to the ground, how he could scratch a bothering itch on his back if it happened and how truly hot it got, inside the car. All these questions that made him smile or made him think, that got him to appreciate her curiosity and train of thoughts, that got him to appreciate the fact that she was invested in what he had to say.

It was so refreshing to be able to discuss mechanics, in the most basic form of it, with someone who already had a tiny bit of knowledge about the sport.

Charles showed some buttons, encouraged her to push them, even though it wouldn’t do anything. He pointed to different parts, earning “oh”s and “ah”s that made his heart soar a little, then he helped her out of the car when they both felt like they had extended their time a bit too much.

He didn’t say anything as she fastened her shoes back on, feeling like he was about to say goodbye to a person he would remember forever, wondering what would have happened if he hadn’t let her slip away.

“Thank you so much for the opportunity, Charles”, She smiled again. “Never would I have ever imagined something like that happen!”

“I’m glad I could help in realising a dream, then”, He grinned too. “Hey, have you been able to visit Monaco?”

“Not really, not yet”, She grimaced. “But so far, everything I’ve seen looks so beautiful, you really have a nice place.”

He didn’t really have to think much about it. He didn’t want to regret, one day, not having extended that meeting for as long as he could. He didn’t want to sit in his apartment, in a week, in a month, in a year, in a decade, wondering what would have happened with that girl if he had just got his shit together.

“I’m done for today, let me show you around.”

The smile she gave him was enough to reassure him.

Maybe he wouldn’t have to wonder, later.

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formula-what · 4 years ago

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Brocedes time line for a very patient anon

Lewis quotes in orange, Nico quotes in pink, everyone else is blue.

okay first some background knowledge:

Nico is rich as fuck. only child, born in Germany, brought up in Monaco. son of world champion Keke Rosberg

Lewis was born on a council estate in Stevenage and his dad had to work multiple jobs for him to start karting

Honestly I think the difference in their backgrounds is one of the things that pushed them together, they were both isolated from the rest of the kids, but I’m keeping this purely facts rather than speculation.

2000

They’re both 15 years old and are karting teammates for MBB (Mercedes Benz McLaren) in Formula A

Robert Kubica: “there was always competition. But they didn’t fight. It was friendly competition. There was always laughing afterwards.” // “they would even have races to eat pizza”

They often shared hotel rooms at the races which was a “scene of many wrestling matches between them”

Dino Chiesa (their karting boss) – “many times I was called by reception about some problem in the room. It might be noise, or they might have broken something. They would never sleep so they were always tired the next morning”

“they both liked ice cream so much, particularly vanilla. During the night they wanted to eat ice cream always, so I had to go out everywhere to find some and keep them happy”

Lewis would often persuade Nico to buy him sweets

They would have competitions over LITERALLY EVERYTHING

Lewis: “we always had great competition whether on the racetrack or computer games or playing football”

“probably the first bit of competition we had was when Nico used to ride a unicycle everywhere so I thought, ‘I’ve got to learn how to ride this unicycle. Ive got to be better than him.’ I spent all my time outside the go-kart learning to ride this unicycle”

Apparently it only took Lewis 2 hours to teach himself how to do it

In maybe 2013 ish (when they were still friends) Lewis reflected with– “I have never laughed so much than when we were racing together. Nico was kicking everyone’s butt at that time. We had so great races together and built a great relationship”

“we were just arriving and enjoying go-karts and eating pizzas every weekend, fighting all the time and just having fun, whereas now it’s all business.”

many times they would talk about what they would do when they got to f1, made plans hoping to be teammates and become world champions together.

“Nico would say ‘when I’m in formula one’ and for me it was always ‘if I ever get to formula one’. Because obviously Nico’s dad was a formula 1 driver- he knew he was going to make it.”

Nico joined f1 in 2006 with williams, Lewis 2007 with McLaren. And man I WISH I knew what went down with this two when Lewis nearly one his rookie season (missing out by one point to mr fernando alonso) and then WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP in his SECOND SEASON (again by one point thank you mr alonso)

2008 Australia

Nicos gets his first podium, and ofc Lewis is there (he won it) and they are jumping around in the cool down room. Just, two kids who are literally living the one thing they have spent their whole lives dreaming about together. Lewis won the championship that year and oh wow I can only imagine their celebrations together.

2013

They’re teammates in Mercedes!!!

Nico: “every other day there are moments or things that pop up and I can smirk and thing, ‘that’s exactly the same as it was 15 years ago’”

2013 Malaysian Grand Prix gets an honourable mention. This is the race with red bulls good old multi 21 but merc also had their own team orders, stopping nico from fighting for his first merc podium, but Lewis disagreed with it so it didn’t really spark that much tension between them- more the team.

2014

the start of the turbo-hybrid era so y’all know this was good in terms of performance.

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

They were both fighting for the win and had a collision which prompted a “mock fight” in parc ferme after the race (which I really hope there’s a video of).

Turns out, Nico won because he had used engine modes banned by Mercedes to get a power advantage in the closing laps. which kinda pissed Lewis off

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

Lewis’ fourth win in a row and took lead in the championship. They were fighting till literally the last second and Lewis crossed the line 0.6 seconds ahead of Nico, who says he could have passed him with one more lap.

Lewis defended using the same banned engine modes that Nico had used in Bahrain. Yeah.

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

This is IT. This is peak petty bitch. This is the one people still cry about.

It’s the end of Q3, both of them are out on a lap, Nico ahead of lewis. Nico’s already on provisional pole but Lewis is pretty close.

And then,, Nico just,, parks his car?? He says he made a mistake but the guy doesn’t even crash he straight up just,, rolls to a stop into a slip road. So the yellow flags come out forcing Lewis to abort a lap that was in the makings of pole.

The stewards say it was a-okay but Lewis was convinced it was intentional (and let’s be honest, yeah it probably was) and he even claimed that merc’s data proved it. (low key surprised he didn’t just tweet out the telemetry but I guess he got a stern telling off from mclaren last time)

But *this* is when Lewis tells the world that they aren’t friends anymore. An iconic interview.

Nico then wins the race too, ending Lewis’s four win streak and putting Nico in the lead of the championship.

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

Lewis has an engine failure in quali meaning he starts from the pit lane, but he does good to make his way up the pack but THEN there’s a safety car which puts him ahead of Nico but on a different strategy.

Nico asks if Lewis can let him past as he needs to pit again before the end of the race, which will give him the place back anyways. Lewis straight up refuses, he’s on a role here. He started from last, and Nico started from pole, why should he slow down to let his title rival through.

Mercedes strongly suggest that his blocking fucked up Nicos race but Niki Lauda is on Lewis’ side so he doesn’t get punished (We stan a supportive father figure) even though he did blatantly refuse to be a team player.

And guys, this is the last race before the summer break so you know Nico was left seething for four weeks.

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

Second lap, Nico attempts a clumsy move and there’s contact, giving Hamilton a puncture and knocking him out of the race.

There’s a lot of controversy but basically it turns out he crashed with him intentionally, not backing out of the corner to “prove a point”. Nico ended up finishing second but was punished by the team, forced to apologise, and even booed on the podium.

2014 Abu Dhabi

For some reason it ran for double points?? The first time in History??? But idk???

Lewis had a perfect start and went on to win it and take the title, Nico had a problem and was told to retire the car but he kept going anyway and finished 14th. Nico went into the cool down room to congratulate Lewis on the championship win, which. cute.

Lewis claimed his second championship. Which not only was huge because of the inter team rivalry, but also because of the large gap between his first win. This guy had lost out on winning the championship in his ROOKIE season by ONE POINT, and then WON it in his SECOND season, and then there was like a FIVE YEAR gap before he won it again.

2015

Damnnn this car was fiiiinneeeeeee.

They do more laps in testing than any other car AND do it on a single power unit. And then. Australia. They take a one-two THIRTY FOUR seconds ahead of the third place Ferrari.

2015 Chinese Grand Prix

Nico is second in a one-two but claims that Lewis kept backing him up into Seb, trying to compromise his race (and help out his boyfriend).

Lewis gave zero shits: "It's not my job to look after Nico's race, it's my job to manage the car and bring the car home as healthy and as fast as possible. That's what I did."

2015 U.S. Grand Prix

If Lewis wins here he could also claim the title with three races to spare (you have to remember back then the title fight often went up to the last race so this was pretty cool)

Lewis very aggressively forced Rosberg wide at Turn 1 to claim the lead, and then there was some sexy fighting between the Mercs and Redbull all race. Nico led in the closing stages but made a mistake, running deep into a corner and letting Lewis past with only a handful of laps to go.

Nico finished P2 and had not only lost the race but the championship title. Nico was fuming, saying Lewis’ move at the start was “one step too far”.

This is the infamous cap throw in the cool down room. Lewis throws Nico his P2 hat, Nico straight up yeets it back at him. I tear up just thinking about it. They grow up so fast.

2016

Nico had came so close to winning and I guess this was just, the last straw. All or nothing. This year he literally gave it everything he had. Lewis and him stopped speaking, Nico gave up literally the rest of his life and even stopped sleeping in the same bed as his wife and taking care of his kids, instead spending every moment trying to get into Lewis’ head. Honestly, I think he might be the only one that could beat Lewis. Just because he knew him *so well*. He literally threw away like 16 years of friendship. But also it’s like, he had to be world champion. He *had to*. His dad was champion and his whole life he’s been preparing to win it too. Tough luck that he raced in the same era as Mr. Best Driver The Sport Has Ever Seen.

Nico won the last few races of 2015, and the first four races of 2016. Lewis had a couple car problems and Nico had a good lead on him in the championship.

2016 Spanish Grand Prix

Gentlemen. A short view back to the past. Nico had made a switch error on the formation lap causing the car to go into the wrong engine mode. So he was running a lot slower than Lewis, who was fighting to claim back the lead.

Nico closed the door to keep him back, and Lewis lost control on the grass, and spins into Nico and taking them both out of the race in the first lap. This is probably one of the most iconic crashes. I’m pretty sure there’s a clip of this somewhere in black and white with the titanic music over the top.

Niki Lauda blamed this one on Lewis (I guess even a supportive dad has to be critical sometimes) "Lewis is too aggressive. It is stupid, we could've won this race".

2016 Austrian Grand Prix

Nico had been struggling with a brake issue all race but was still on the way to win it. But in the last lap Lewis had caught him up and gone in for the overtake.

Typical Nico not taking any shit, refusing to be the guy that backs out and they collide. Lewis took the win and a damaged Nico dropped to fourth. From first. In the last lap.

Both of them blamed each other and tired dad team boss Toto Wolff threatened team orders in future races.

The stewards blamed Nico for the incident, issuing him two penalty points for failing to allow "racing room" and causing a collision.

2016 Abu Dhabi

In the final laps of the race, Lewis ignored team-orders from his race engineer and the technical director.

He deliberately slowed and backed Nico into the pack hoping they overtake him, and there would be enough of a points difference to win the title.

Nico finished second and won the title by five points.

And then,,, Nico announced a surprise retirement during the FIA prize giving ceremony.

Lewis’ response:

"This is the first time he's won in 18 years, hence why it was not a surprise that he decided to stop.” (We stan a petty king)

“But he's also got a family to focus on and probably wants to have more children. Formula One takes up so much of your time."

“In terms of missing the rivalry, of course because we started karting when we were 13 and we would always talk about being champions. When I joined this team, Nico was there, which was something we spoke about when we were kids. So it's going to be very, very strange, and, for sure, it will be sad to not have him in the team next year."

And now they are kind of on speaking terms but not really, they are both pretty private but I think they are at the ‘awkward small talk when we run into each other at the supermarket’ stage of the break up.

#this got a lot longer than it should have been #long post

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ay0nha · 4 years ago

Text

The Race That Launched a Thousand Ships: Part 3/?

(Working) Summary & Title: Niki Lauda, the rookie starting his career requests the help of a mechanic, Margot Lancaster who has a buried past that he’s seemed to uncovered.

Pairing: Niki Lauda x femme!OC (mechanic)

Word Count: ~4.5K

A/N: Finals FINALLY ended so I wrote this one a little fast (sorry, it’s a bit rushed) because I got excited, so here we go! Also, again, this is inspired by the movie, but I’m making shit up as I go and it’s going to not follow the movie in a bit. I’m also going to expand on Margot’s back story as the story goes on but here’s the intro to it, I hope it’s not confusing lol. Thank you everyone :)))) Also, I’ve been reading a lot about F1 for this and do yourself a favor check it out, it’s interesting af...Enjoy!

Oh, and if you’d like to be added to the taglist, please let me know!

Taglist: @scuttle-buttle @creme-bruhlee

Masterlist - Part 1 Part 2 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

The weekend approached faster than I hoped it would. In the days leading up to it, I dreaded having to go out with Clay and Niki. There would no longer be a car to talk about or work on to buffer out personalities, which Niki proved the moment he sat in the passenger seat of Clay's car.

"You are family and friend to the Commendatore as long as you win," Clay complained. He had once been a part of Ferrari, but they let him go for the lack of points he was earning. I could tell he was happy to be back, but annoyed Niki was the primary reason, "The minute you don't, ciao, ciao."

"I totally understand. It's business. I would do the same." Niki stated, not bothered by the idea one bit. I'm not even sure he was capable of seeing Clay's point of view. Although I was supposed to route for Niki, deep down I wished he wouldn't place top ten just so he could be humbled.

"But it isn't just business, is it? What we do," Clay continued, hoping to pull more emotion out of Niki, "It's passion, love...which is why we are prepared to risk our lives for it."

"Not me," Niki disagree immediately, "If I had more talent and could earn better money with something else, I would."

"How do you know you will make money here?" Clay questioned his strong self-assurance, "You haven't yet."

"Not yet, but I will." Niki responded, "If you can, I can."

"Jackass," I coughed over my insult, but it didn't go unnoticed by Niki.

Clay took a moment, looking at Niki, then glancing at me in the rearview mirror, "You know, are you ever not an asshole?"

This made Niki chuckle in amusement, "Why am I an asshole?"

"Well..."

"You know, by now I'm both quicker than you and better at setting up the car." Niki said as I scoffed in the back, getting grumpier by the minute, "You can't deal with it, so you're the asshole."

"Oh, screw you," Clay said as we pulled up to the estate. Once the car was parked, he turned to Niki to say, "I brought you along today because you seem like a lonely kind of guy. I thought if I introduced you to some nice people, that could rub off on you. Forget it! Make your own friends. I'll see you inside Margot."

"Come on, Clay. I'm sorry," Niki tried lamely to apologize.

"Good going Niki," I elongated my words as I blew some hair out of my face.

"It's not like you really wanted to stay here." He turned around to look at me in the back seat, "If you did, you'd already be in there with him."

"I mean I don't have very many options at the moment," I said getting out of the car and headed to the door to let myself in, "And it's not like I'm about to steal his car."

"You could," Niki shrugged as he followed me up the green steps.

"So could you, but you-

"Sh!" Niki help up his finger as he looked past me. I questioned him only for him to tell shush me again. Starting to get annoyed I pushed his hand out of my face. But he just pushed past me "Are you leaving?"

I turned to see who he had started a conversation with. There was a beautiful woman in a white summer dress, packing her car in a hurry. There was no question whether she was leaving or not and it didn't seem like anyone could stop her.

"Yes." She responded politely but it was clear her mind was elsewhere.

"Can you give us a lift to the nearest town?" He asked as he moved towards her car, "Anywhere with a train station."

"Sure. Trento's half an hour's drive," She agreed, closing the trunk, "Get in."

There was a slight pang of guilt in my gut, but by now, Clay probably knew I wasn't going to join him. As debated on whether I should stay behind to find Clay but my feet had already carried me to the back seat. The drive itself was surprisingly pleasant, the gorgeous view only helping as we continued. It was a quiet drive, however, the only thing filling it was the woman softly singing to the radio.

Been another blue day without you, girl...

I had to admit, she could sing well. My eyes followed the passing scenery as I relaxed against the headrest in the back seat of the car. The woman drove well, she took her time to enjoy the moments of the road and the music that accompanied it.

Been another sad summer song...

The only reason my eyes left the outside was that Niki started listening a little too intently to the music, which I found ironic because anytime I'd try and play music I would be told it was too noisy and that he couldn't concentrate. It would turn into an all-day battle of the volume going up and down when one of us walked past it. Maybe because he wasn't working, he was allowing himself to enjoy one of the amenities in life.

I've been thinking about you, girl. All night long.

But I spoke too soon as Niki had already reached to turn the radio off.

"What are you doing?" The woman asked worriedly.

"You hear that noise when you accelerate?" He asked, turning his head to feel it better. I heard it the minute we left the estate, but I knew when to keep my mouth shut. We were in an everyday car, everyday cars made these noises. Sure, there could be an easy fix, but nothing detrimental to the drive.

"No." She answered honestly.

"Your fan belt is loose."

"My what?" She questioned, getting more lost by the minute.

"And when you brake, your foot goes all the way down," Niki said to her, miming the brake with his hand, "Which means there's air in the system."

"Anything else?" She asked sarcastically, Niki starting to irritate her. She had to ask, I thought.

"No," He replied, "Apart from the rear brakes are worn out, the front right tire's a bit soft, which explains why you're weaving so much."

"Hmm. How can you tell?"

"My ass."

"Oh, please," I grumbled to myself. I decided to close my eyes, hoping if I couldn't see Niki, I wouldn't be able to hear the rest of his conversation as we continued on the twisty roads.

"Sorry?" She asked in soft disbelief.

"God gave me an okay mind, but a really good ass which can feel everything in a car," He explained.

"Give it a rest," I spoke to Niki as my head swayed slightly with each bump in the road.

"You don't know what you're talking about. This car is fine. I just had service a week ago," The woman insisted, her tone trying to stay cheery as she brushed him off.

"Not a good one."

"I'm sure it was fine," I couldn't help but try again.

"Yes, a very good one, very expensive," She agreed with me, "This car is as good as new. Relax."

"He doesn't know what that means," I sniggered to myself, "Do you mind turning the music back on?"

Having the same thought process, she switched the music back on. Adjusting my head, I started to hear a very low hum, a hum that only meant Niki was right. There wasn't enough tension with the fan belt, causing it to come off its pulleys. All of the accessories powered by the engine started to slow down until the car stopped running. The three of us stayed quiet, scared if we spoke further we'd just continue to jinx the car. I couldn't see Niki's directly, but I knew his face looked smug. The car started to slow down, the woman breaking as best as the car allowed her to until we came to a smoking stop.

I was the first out of the car, immediately opening the hood to allow the smoke to clear as much as possible so I could assess the situation. As it rose into the air, I looked at our surroundings. It was just road, green pasture, and more greenery.

"When it cools off, I can see if there's anything I can do," I spoke to the rest of the group as they got out of the car.

"You're not in a hurry, are you?" The woman asked regretfully.

"No. As long as we're back in Maranello Monday morning," Niki answered.

The woman then asked Niki a question in what I presumed was German, a language that I never really did pick up. I couldn't understand what they were saying anymore but I did pick up on the fact that her name was Marlene. My body naturally tried to eavesdrop despite the language barrier. I tried to stop the way I eyed the two. I pretended to look at the car a bit while Niki stuck out his thumb for a ride, but I couldn't help but feel annoyed at how easy they were able to conversate. As their conversation continued Marlene walked to the middle of the road, strutting slightly before sticking out her hand for the next car to pass.

While she did, Niki came to stand by me to find out the verdict of the car, "And?"

"It done for," I looked up at him, squinting my eyes from the sun and my hand fanning some of the smoke out of my face. I looked over at Marlene, hoping she had made more progress than Niki had in her position, but the next car went flying past her.

That was until the car's brakes screeched and it drove in reverse back to us. Swiftly, two men exited the car and walked past Marlene completely.

"Scusa, sei Niki Lauda?" the first man asked without a greeting. Excuse me, are you Niki Lauda?

"Yes." Niki nodded.

The two men started laughing and clapping their hands together in excitement. One of them immediately went in for a hug. I instinctively took a step back, not wanting to be a part of the celebration. Marlene looked confused, so I decided to join her on the other side of the group of men.

"Hai bisogno di un passaggio?" Do you need a lift?

"Actually, we do, yeah," Niki said.

"Potresti capire l'italiano per tutto questo tempo?" I practically interrogated. I had speaking to Clay all week and I hadn't realized Niki could understand our conversations. You could understand Italian this whole time?

"It's my honor, Niki, please," The man replied, hand on Niki's shoulder, already ushering him towards his car before he had a chance to answer me.

"Thank you. Thank you."

"My car is your car," The man gushed in English, ignoring Marlene and me, "On one condition, though. It's a piece of shit. It's dog shit. But if you drive it, you make my life, Niki, eh?"

By this point, I was regretting my decision to leave with Niki. If I had stayed behind, I'd probably still be plastering on a fake smile, but at least I wouldn't be sandwiched in the back seat of a car between two overly excited fans who only knew how to be loud.

"Niki Lauda, Niki Lauda, Niki Lauda!" The man practically squealed.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Marlene asked exasperated, "Who are you? Should I know you?"

"What, you don't know?" The men responded, "He's Niki Lauda, Formula One driver, and he just signed with Ferrari!"

"Him?"

"Yes."

"Impossible." I smiled at her response.

"Why?"

"Well, you know, Formula One drivers, " She started to explain, "They have long hair, are sexy, their shirts are open to here. "

"Thank you," Niki said normally. If anyone in the car knew him better, they'd know he would genuinely take something like that as a compliment.

"Yes." She smiled at him, "Anyway, look at the way he's driving, like an old man."

"There's no need to drive fast," Niki said nonchalantly, then further explained his reasoning, "It just increases the percentage of risk. We're not in a hurry. I'm not being paid. Right now, with zero incentive or reward, why would I drive fast?"

There was a beat before she leaned over to whisper to him, "Because I'm asking you to."

Niki responded in German with a low voice, much to my distaste. It was nice to hear him speak in his native tongue, but I didn't need to understand the language they spoke to know they were flirting. Niki really knew how to choose his moments. He glanced into the mirror for a second, probably able to see me deepene my frown as far as my face could go. It looked like he went to say something, but Marlene had interrupted his thought process when she responded to him. He gave her one last looked before shifting gears and accelerating.

"Niki," I warned, leaning forward in my seat.

Marlene let out a small gasp while the two men I was smushed between started laughing and cheering, drowning out my warning. Immediately, a wave of nausea hit me which was probably due to my head starting to spin.

"Niki!" I called for him again as I started to get nervous since his speed only increased by the second. There was no sign of him slowing down, not when he had a girl to impress and fans in the back, "Stop, Niki..."

He was dead set on impressing this girl, completely ignoring my continual requests for him to slow down. As the car started to go faster, my breathing started to pick up. I weighed my options which were to either try to swallow the bile that threatened to come up my throat or throw myself out of the car. I would have gone with the latter option if I wasn't stuck in the middle of the two Italian men. But it was too late for me to realize the third option my body decided to take which was to completely lose consciousness.

---

"So you're the secret Niki has been hiding," the infamous James Hunt strolled in as I was messing with Niki's tires, "Margot Lancaster, the woman who entered the race as a man only to disappear off the face of the planet."

"James," Niki detached himself from our area, greeting James at the opening of the garage to stop him from stepping any further. I wasn't sure if it was for my sake or to keep the secrecy of his car's make-up.

"Niki, I knew you were clever but this...this is," James continued, body language pushing the two further, back towards me, "This is the genius setting up the cars."

"And I think this is my cue to go," I pulled the gauge out, going to walk away. I was in no mood to be caught in a pissing contest neither would win.

"Don't. I'm harmless, your secret is safe with me," Hunt sent me a genuine smile. Even though he was being cheeky something about him made me believe his words. He held his hand out towards me, "James Hunt, massive fan."

I eyed him slightly. I hadn't met him formally, but I knew plenty about him by now. I've also shared a few harsh opinions of him behind his back, so as I shook his hand I let all of it go, "Margot."

"How did you manage to agree to this?" He motioned to the setting around us, "More specifically, him."

"Niki is..." I shot him a brief glance. Niki's expression looked almost concerned with what I had to say, a look I could positively say I've never seen before but it was gone before I could overthink it, "Persistent."

"So you're telling me if I'm persistent enough, you'll come work for me," James raised his eyebrow teasingly.

"James," Niki jumped in not wanting to hear my answer, "What are you doing in here?"

"Eavesdropping," He quipped without missing a beat, causing me to conceal a small smile, "No, uh, I've come here the same reasons you have."

Qualifying for tomorrow's race had been rescheduled due to the weather. Qualifying is all about putting everything that you have and that the car has in one lap. So it was frustrating to have to wait to see how Niki would do. The season was coming to an end quick and if Niki didn't get points on race day, he'd still place on the podium, but he wouldn't be crowned World Drivers' Champion. Even though things were temporarily on hold until further notice, I still had my work cut out for me. Consequently, while everyone decided to use today as a day off, I stayed behind to get a jump start. However, it was obvious that while I was on my way in, Niki was on his way out, but he found a lame reason to linger for a bit longer.

"Where did he find you?" James asked leaning against the wall, getting comfortable in our conversation despite the fact it was evident that Niki wanted him gone.

"The bottom of the ocean," I joked, deciding to finish the other three tires, despite the fact that he wasn't really supposed to see me do anything to the car, "Niki's a surprisingly good swimmer."

"Seriously though," Hunt urged further, crossing his arms over his chest, "How'd he do it?"

I had been asking myself the same question nearly every day since he showed up at the shop in London. I didn't try extremely hard to hide, since the racing world honchos wanted me to stay hidden. Most people didn't care who I was, all they worried about was how my spot as world champion was no longer, allowing them to move up a place. If anyone really took the time to look for me, they could have found me, as Niki did. But no one cared about me or bothered to keep in touch. I had been completely excommunicated from the racing world within twenty four hours. So, with the small amount of money to my name, I got as far as it would take me.

"How do you know who I am?" I asked James, not wanting the conversation to revolve around Niki more than it had to.

"How could I not, you're a legend."

"No," I laughed slightly, a little bitterness in it, "Martin Lancaster is a legend."

"I mean they hid it pretty well from the public, but you of all people should know we like to gossip."

It was hidden scarily well from the public from its inception. My helmet stayed on from the moment I arrived at the track until I was done no matter how sweaty I was. People naturally questioned it at first but placing first race after race only helped build intrigue around my image, which the team ate up.

"We? As in drivers? I don't drive anymore. I fix cars," I held up the air gauge aimlessly, "I haven't driven since..."

"The crash..." James finished the sentence for me, with a sympathetic nod, "They shouldn't have disqualified you after that, what you-

"It's fine." I cut him off even though he was probably the first person who'd ever said that to me.

As the tabloids told it, Martin decided after his life flashed before his eyes to settle down with his childhood sweetheart and live out the rest of his days on some random European coast. When in reality I was in the hospital for months, getting dropped by my team once they found out I was a woman, claiming it had nothing to do with my gender, but with my deceit, and having my tracks expertly covered up. I tried to argue it, but ultimately they bribed a doctor to deem me no longer physically capable to drive a car, let alone cleared for an F1 car.

"Women are allowed to drive, why'd you..."

"Dress like a man?" I laughed as I finished his sentence, "How seriously do you think I would have been taken otherwise."

"More seriously than you are now," James shrugged innocently.

"Debatable." Niki finally decided to join the conversation, causing me to scowl.

"Come on Niki, show her some respect she could lap you without breaking a sweat."

"Should we put that to the test?" Niki non-characteristically challenged me. He was testing me, trying to gauge me and we both knew it. James could probably pick up on it as well.

"As entertaining as that would be..." James started to laugh, trying to liven the tension that suddenly washed over the room.

"I'm leaving, anyways." I said, putting the things in my hand down carelessly, "It was nice to finally meet you, James. Best of luck."

"No, stay I've overstayed my welcome," James kept up his enthusiasm in spite of the change in atmosphere, pushing off the wall, "I've got my own car to worry about."

With that, he began to stroll down to his teams section of the grid like he said he wanted to. The tension between Niki and I had only increased by the second. It hung in the air. It was the same air that had been filling my lungs for the past week. Niki and I had barely exchanged words outside what was necessary for work.

"I'm going to finish the tires and take the rest of day off," I mentioned out loud without looking up at Niki.

"The race is soon."

"I'm aware," I said curtly, "I've finished everything you've requested of me. So unless there's something else you need me to do then...."

"Margot-

"Is there something else you need me to do?" I repeated as I felt his eyes burn into the side of my head.

"Well, no-

"Ok then."

"What about the track, aren't you going to look at it?" The track was wet so the question was only meant as an attempt to further the conversation.

"Don't need to, they're all the same," I spoke flatly, "Just a glorified circle."

---

"Are you crying?"

"You've got to be shitting me," I mumbled to myself, pulling the tissues from my eyes, "No, Niki, I'm not crying."

"I was hoping you were."

"That's a little sadistic don't you think."

"I was hoping you were because that I can help with," He said coming closer to me, "But this? This is your fault."

I wanted to roll my eyes, but they hurt. His idiot crew failed to mention the new chemicals they added to the car. When I initially went to look at it and move a few things around, out came a spray that went directly into my eyes. It was partially my fault for not putting on any protective gear, but I didn't think just opening part of the car would warrant for it. So now, thirty minutes into an trying to clean my eyes, Niki came strolling in.

"You should know better by now."

"If you're going to nag me..." I started, but then I noticed how he began to push of his sleeves and walk towards the sink, turning on the water, "I can do this myself."

"So you can see?" He asked as he scrubbed his hands. Each blink burned more and more and my vision was still slightly blurred, but I wasn't about to prove his point.

"You've got light blistering on your right rear tire, the front wing is damaged, and your breaks keep locking and I can't figure out why," I directed towards Niki as he continued to wash his hands, "So if what you're about to say has nothing to do with any of these extremely pressing matters, I don't want to hear it, because I'm busy."

"I'm here to help you," He said evenly while he patted his hands dry, "And I doubt those tissues and your dirty hands are helping. The sooner we finish this, the sooner you’re back to the car."

I ignored him, continuing to blot with the paper towels, even though he was right. I wanted him to leave so I could handle it myself, but I didn't form the words to tell him that. Instead, I waited for him to come to me.

"Here, come here," Niki offered, but his tone was more of a command. I stayed in my position, my eyes burning as I tried to make them look as normal as possible. Since I didn’t move, Niki took the helpless paper towel from my hand and threw them away. Then he went back towards the sink for the wash cloth he had prepped, "Tilt back."

"Niki-

"Be quiet," He said, squeezing the excess water out of the clean cloth before coming over to me, “and tilt your head back.”

I followed his instructions, my eyes no longer being able to deal with the burning sensation. I closed them as he wiped the surrounding area gently. His touch was tentative, acting like if he made one wrong move I'd run off. However, as he continued, he gripped my chin firmly, turning it when he needed to make sure that he got everywhere he had to. His hand was warm on my skin and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. It was a comforting touch, something that helped soothe the discomfort in my eyes, but it was creating a weird feeling in the middle of my chest. As my eyes burned less and less, I blinked away the water from Niki's washcloth. Finally being able to see him, I could see the look in his eye. It was a look I'd never seen on him before, I didn't recognize it and I couldn't decipher it. He scanned my eyes, not only to see if I was feeling better, but to try and read my mind to see if we shared the same thoughts. I had almost let him.

"Alright, that's enough," I pulled my chin out of his hand a bit flustered. I cleared my throat, "Go tell your idiot crew that you can't make that concoction again because when it gets hot they bind and get sticky and when it gets sticky I get pissed."

"You're not focused," Niki said softly, bypassing my comment and staying close to me.

"I am-

"No, you're off. You're not focused and I need you focused," He continued, his tone more gentle than I was used to, "If you had shown up to qualifying yesterday, you would have known what we changed."

"Since when do you listen to them and not me?"

"Since you stopped talking to me." He answered earnestly.

"Maybe I should put on a nice dress and speak German-

"What?"

"Forget it," I tried to brush it off, not quite understanding why I said what I said. It just came out before I even realized what I was saying, "I'll fix it, but next time a heads up would be nice."

"No-

"Margot! Metto quarantacinque su Hunt!" Clay bellowed walking in to see Niki and I rip apart as if we got caught doing something we shouldn't have, "Oh, Niki..." I'm putting forty-five on Hunt.

"Are you two placing bets?" Niki’s intonation was back to normal.

#q #niki lauda #niki lauda x oc #niki lauda slowburn #niki lauda fic #niki lauda x reader #niki #lauda #daniel brühl #rush 2013

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