#audi engine problem

[lancerservice]

Identifying the Most Common Audi Engine Problems: Causes and Solutions

Audi vehicles are renowned for their performance, luxury, and advanced engineering. However, like any car, they are not immune to engine problems. Understanding the common issues, their causes, and potential solutions can help you maintain your Audi’s reliability and performance.

1. Oil Leaks

Causes:

    Worn gaskets or seals, such as valve cover gaskets.

    A damaged oil pan or loose drain plug.

    A malfunctioning oil filter.

Solutions:

    Regularly inspect gaskets and seals for wear and replace them when necessary.

    Check for visible oil leaks and address them promptly to prevent engine damage.

2. Excessive Oil Consumption

Causes:

    Piston ring wear, leading to oil leakage into the combustion chamber.

    Valve seal deterioration.

    Use of incorrect oil viscosity.

Solutions:

    Use manufacturer-recommended oil grades.

    Regularly monitor oil levels and refill as needed.

    Consult a mechanic to assess internal engine wear and perform repairs.

3. Timing Chain Tensioner Failure

Causes:

    Wear and tear over time.

    Infrequent oil changes causing poor lubrication.

Solutions:

    Replace the timing chain tensioner as part of preventive maintenance.

    Stick to Audi's recommended oil change intervals to ensure proper lubrication.

4. Engine Misfires

Causes:

    Faulty ignition coils or spark plugs.

    A clogged fuel injector.

    Carbon buildup in the intake valves, especially in direct-injection engines.

Solutions:

    Replace ignition components as recommended in the maintenance schedule.

    Use quality fuel and consider periodic fuel injector cleaning.

    For carbon buildup, opt for walnut blasting or similar cleaning methods.

5. Cooling System Failures

Causes:

    Leaks in the radiator, hoses, or water pump.

    Thermostat or coolant temperature sensor malfunctions.

    Old or incorrect coolant.

Solutions:

    Regularly inspect the cooling system for leaks and replace faulty components.

    Flush and replace coolant every 2-3 years using Audi-approved products.

6. Turbocharger Problems (in Turbocharged Engines)

Causes:

    Lack of oil lubrication.

    Carbon buildup on the turbine.

    Worn or damaged bearings.

Solutions:

    Ensure timely oil changes to prevent oil starvation.

    Use high-quality fuel to reduce carbon deposits.

    Address unusual noises or loss of power immediately with professional diagnostics.

7. PCV Valve Issues

Causes:

    Blockage or malfunction of the Positive Crankcase Ventilation (PCV) valve.

    Oil contamination in the valve.

Solutions:

    Replace the PCV valve as part of regular maintenance.

    Inspect the valve during oil changes for signs of failure.

Preventive Maintenance Tips for Audi Engines

    Follow Audi’s recommended maintenance schedule.

    Use OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts for replacements.

    Monitor the engine for unusual sounds, smells, or warning lights.

    Invest in professional diagnostic services if you notice performance issues.

By addressing these common engine problems proactively, you can maintain the performance and longevity of your Audi. Regular inspections and timely repairs by Audi-certified technicians will ensure a smooth driving experience and help avoid costly breakdowns.

[drygrasses]

Car repairs……….ASS

[daseuropeanautohaus]

What is the common problem with Audi cars?

Audi is renowned for its luxurious vehicles that combine innovative technology, impressive performance, and sleek design. However, like any other automotive brand, Audi cars are not immune to certain recurring issues. Understanding these common problems can help Audi owners maintain their vehicles effectively and prevent costly repairs. Below, we explore some of the most frequently reported issues with Audi vehicles and provide insights into their causes and potential solutions.

1. Oil Leaks

One of the most common problems Audi owners’ reports is oil leakage. This issue is often attributed to worn-out valve cover gaskets or a failing camshaft tensioner gasket. Left untreated, oil leaks can lead to low oil levels, engine overheating, and potential engine damage.

Symptoms:

    Oil puddles under the car

    Burning oil smell

    Low oil warning light

Solution:

Regularly inspect the engine for signs of leaks and replace faulty gaskets promptly. Scheduled oil changes and maintenance can also help prevent this issue.

2. Timing Chain Tensioner Failure

Many Audi models, especially those with TFSI engines, are prone to timing chain tensioner issues. A failing tensioner can lead to timing chain misalignment, which may cause engine performance problems and, in severe cases, catastrophic engine failure.

Symptoms:

    Rattling noises during startup

    Poor engine performance

    Check engine light activation

Solution:

Address unusual noises immediately by having the timing chain inspected. Regular maintenance and timely tensioner replacements can prevent severe engine damage.

3. Electrical Issues

Audi vehicles are packed with advanced electronics, but these can sometimes malfunction. Problems with the multimedia interface (MMI) system, dashboard lights, or electrical components like power windows and locks are common.

Symptoms:

    MMI screen freezing or not responding

    Random warning lights on the dashboard

    Non-functional power accessories

Solution:

Routine diagnostic checks of the car's electrical system can help identify issues early. Software updates and proper care of electrical components are also essential.

4. Carbon Buildup in Direct Injection Engines

Audi's direct injection (DI) engines are efficient but susceptible to carbon buildup on intake valves. Over time, this can restrict airflow, leading to reduced performance and fuel efficiency.

Symptoms:

    Loss of power

    Rough idling

    Poor fuel economy

Solution:

Periodic intake valve cleaning, such as walnut blasting, is an effective way to remove carbon buildup. Using high-quality fuel and engine oil can also help minimize the issue.

5. Cooling System Problems

Audi cooling systems, particularly in older models, can experience failures due to faulty water pumps or leaks in the coolant system. Overheating caused by cooling issues can result in serious engine damage if not addressed.

Symptoms:

    Overheating warning light

    Coolant leaks or low coolant levels

    Steam coming from the engine

Solution:

Regularly check coolant levels and inspect the cooling system for leaks. Replace worn-out components like water pumps and hoses as needed.

6. Suspension Wear and Tear

Audi's advanced suspension systems provide a smooth ride, but they can wear out over time. Issues with control arms, bushings, and suspension mounts are relatively common, especially in areas with rough roads.

Symptoms:

    Clunking noises while driving

    Uneven tire wear

    Reduced ride comfort

Solution:

Ensure proper alignment and suspension inspections during regular maintenance. Replacing worn-out suspension components will restore ride quality and prevent further damage.

7. Transmission Issues

Some Audi models with dual-clutch transmissions (S tronic/DSG) experience problems like jerking, delayed shifts, or complete transmission failure. These issues can stem from software glitches, worn clutches, or mechatronic unit failure.

Symptoms:

    Difficulty shifting gears

    Transmission slipping

    Warning messages on the dashboard

Solution:

Regular transmission servicing, including fluid changes and software updates, can mitigate these issues. Address any transmission symptoms immediately to avoid more expensive repairs.

Final Thoughts

While Audi cars are known for their quality and performance, no vehicle is without its quirks. Being proactive with maintenance and addressing issues as soon as they arise can help Audi owners enjoy a trouble-free driving experience. Regular servicing by a qualified technician and staying informed about common problems are key to keeping your Audi in optimal condition.

If you’re experiencing any of these issues, consult a trusted mechanic or Audi specialist to ensure your vehicle receives the care it needs. Investing in preventative maintenance today can save you from costly repairs down the road.

By staying vigilant and prioritizing regular maintenance, Audi owners can maximize their vehicle’s lifespan and enjoy its luxury features with peace of mind.

[diagnozabam]

VW AWX: Motorul Diesel 1.9 TDI – Caracteristici și Detalii

Motorul diesel Audi AWX 1.9 TDI de 1.9 litri a fost produs de grupul VAG între 2000 și 2008 și a fost instalat pe mai multe modele ale companiei, având o dispunere longitudinală a unității de putere. Acest motor a fost întâlnit frecvent sub capota modelelor Passat B5 și Skoda Superb din prima generație. Caracteristici tehnice Ani de producție: 2000–2008 Capacitate cilindrică: 1896 cm³ Sistem de…

[fastlaneeuropean]

Addressing Audi A4's intermittent starting issue involves diagnosing various potential culprits, from the starter motor to battery health and electrical connections. Check solenoid functionality and inspect spark plugs, fuel system, and sensors. Timely professional inspection ensures early detection and prevents costly repairs, maintaining vehicle reliability.

[carrepairspecialistsmelbourne]

Audi 2.0 Diesel Engine Problems Professional Mechanics Can Address by Reconditioning

The Audi 2.0 diesel engine problems may differ from the petrol engine issues. However, most of the engine problems are common to all Audi diesel engines. The companies that offer repairs and reconditioning can address all problems, whether they are related to the engine, transmission, braking system, wiring, or other compartments.

Since a car is a very complicated machine, it demands proper maintenance. Whether it's engine, transmission, or braking system, everything needs to be reconditioned. When it comes to getting BMW brake rotors replacement, mainly the discs are changed along with essential components. Apart from this, engines based on different fuels also have different constructions.

Audi 2.0 Diesel Engine Problems That Can Be Addressed by Reconditioning

Injector Problems: Faulty injectors can lead to poor fuel atomization, reduced efficiency, and increased emissions. Reconditioning can involve cleaning, testing, or replacing injectors as needed.

Turbocharger Issues: Turbocharger failures can result in reduced power and efficiency. Reconditioning may involve repairing or replacing the turbocharger components.

Timing Chain Tensioner Failure: Over time, timing chain tensioners can wear out, leading to timing chain problems. Reconditioning can include replacing the timing chain and tensioner.

Oil Leaks: This is common in older engines. Reconditioning often involves replacing gaskets and seals to stop these leaks.

Carbon Build-up: Carbon deposits in the intake system can affect engine performance. Reconditioning may include cleaning the intake valves and ports.

Cylinder Head and Valve Issues: Problems with the cylinder head, valves, or valve seals can be addressed through reconditioning, which may involve reseating valves or resurfacing the cylinder head.

What Does It Mean by Engine Reconditioning?

Engine reconditioning refers to the process of restoring and refurbishing an internal combustion engine to a near-new or reliable condition. It involves disassembling the engine and inspecting and repairing or replacing worn or damaged components, such as pistons, rings, bearings, and seals.

If you own a diesel-powered Audi and want to rejuvenate its engine, various reputable auto service mechanics in Nunawading are offering reconditioning services. They also guarantee to refine the complete engine while improving its overall performance.

Find renowned car repair near your location in Nunawading today!

Source

[maxedes]

nico rosberg commentating sky ger fp3 - spanish gp 2025

they have commented on almost nothing happening on track, just full hour of gossiping. it was beautiful.

- nico got praised for being able to switch between languages by the other commentator

- called fernando one of the best of all times, said it‘s crazy how long ago his last win has been, but that it is his own damn fault that he isn‘t a five time wdc like he could be bc he kept burning bridges. he said he personally has no problem with fernando though

- said oscar is first in the wdc standings because he has a „solid & stable mentality“ and norris in his opinion has a bit more natural talent but is too insecure. he said they have an „interesting dynamic“

- says mental strength is super important because you will be thinking about all of it in the car. eg. „oh i hope i don‘t mess this up again“ „i hope my teammmate isn‘t faster than me again“ (projecting?)

- on briatore: „he slowly snuck back into the sport again,“ then explained all of crashgate & said that it caused him to lose his first win because he was in second when it happened. he said briatore technically isn‘t even allowed to be tp because he has not contract with alpine? he‘s technically still only an advisor. nico said „he is a legend though.“

- called nico hülkenberg one of the best qualifiers of the last season but he has been lacking this season

- said audi should be more ambitious about their goal to start being good in 2030 & that is is problematic how many times they changed leader positions already.

- praised alex & said carlos is in an unconfortable spot because alex is the stronger driver this season. said carlos should be stronger because alex is „no leclerc“

- called james vowles an „absolute genius“ & that he brought structure and communication to the team and that is why they are doing so well this season

- said toto had to start micromanaging & became an aero expert because their team has been so bad in that department

- said fred is „phenomenal“ in bringing talent together and finding talents.

- said they got a ton of guidelines on what they could & could not ask vasseur & the ferrari drivers during press, so you can see that the pressure is there.

- said he got strict instructions & what he was allowed to ask lewis & the other guy on commentary laughed & said „i wonder why“ (i have the clip, will translate & upload later)

- interviewed james vowles: nico asked about his & totos „beef.“ saying: „well did you talk or were you yelling at each other?“ james said they were talking

- nico & the other commentator were making fun of the optics of the yelling between toto & vowles in the paddock (again have the clip, will translate & upload later)

- said lawson was never that impressive in his earlier career

- praised isack for driving incredibly & mentally recovering so easily from the australia crash

- talked about the importance of a good race engineer

- said the worst thing that can happen to a driver is the wind changing during a session (important for an engineer to tell their driver about it)

- said between fp3 & quali, a driver has no downtime. they mainly spent the break in front of the computer looking at data

- nico told his engineer back in the day that he needs him to be more motivated when he is doing bad, because he cannot do well when his engineer sounds like „he‘s falling into deep depression“

- max put a faster lap than george & nico said he still thought george‘s was more impressive

- „it‘s the max verstappen factor that is beating the mclarens, not the redbull. that red bull is definitely worse. sometimes by a lot“

- he called max one of the top 5 drivers the sport has ever seem

- was incredibly impressed by oscars fastes lap

- he said - „with all due respect“ - that norris engineer was wrong when saying the car only had proposing because nico actually heard the cars floor hit the curb. nico proposed sending the engineer a whatsapp to tell him that.

- said it was „a really hard setback for hamilton just now“ when his lap time was so far behind oscar (7/10th) & charles (4/10ths). said it must be so hard for him but also that the ferrari has been looking bad all weekend

[oofmybad]

Get those pretty eyes rolling

synopsis: after you’ve both had a long day at work, you beg and beg billie to help you decompress. gladly, she gets you off.

warnings: dom!billiexreader, slow burn smut, fingering, slight possessiveness

a/n: i cut it off cuz it was getting kinda long. lmk if you want pt.2 of sub!billie

~~~~~~~~~

It’s late on a tuesday evening. you’re exhausted from your long day of delegations at work, but more than that, you’re so, so needy. having pulled your platform mary jane’s off to drive home, you step out of your car in just your frilly cream-colored socks. you punch in the code to your home’s security system, the door’s latch making a clicking noise to let you know that you can enter the building now. you walk in with your laptop bag in one hand and your shoes in another, but quickly drop both of these to the floor in the entrance. you hear your laptop land a little too loudly, “shit”, but you’re too tired to give anymore of a fuck.

“billie, baby?!” you yell into the home, loud enough that your voice can be heard from upstairs. despite your best wishes, only silence fills the home and you realize that billie hasn’t finished working yet. this is a problem for you, not only because you miss her, but because you need her. you pull out your phone and go to call your girlfriend - impatience taking over you.

“hey, pretty. to what do i owe the pleasure?” billie’s smooth voice flows through the phone and into your ear.

“hi baby, nothing much - just wondering when you’ll be home?” your voice sounds a little needy, though, and billie picks up on it.

“oh yeah? you missin’ me?” she giggles

“yeah, i want you here” you say, almost whimpering.

“you want me, huh? i’m in the car, i’ll be home in half an hour. be patient, sexy.” billie coos.

“hurry up, please”

billie decides to tease you, solely for her own entertainment, “why am i hurrying? do we have plans?”

you pause, “um, yeah… kinda”

“oh really?” billie replies, “what plans are those?”

“billie... just hurry.” you deadpan.

“come on, baby. i wanna know what i’m in such a rush for” her chuckle echos through the car she’s driving.

“i’m just dreaming of you” you say, met with silence on the other end, “… thinking of new ways to do each other” you continue.

all you hear is a huff, maybe a whimper, on the other line. “billie” you whine at her not giving you anything to satisfy the ache between your legs.

“i know it hurts, just wait, i’ll get those pretty eyes rolling” billie says in a much lower tone. you can tell that she needs you just as much as you need her. she goes on, “what are you doing, baby?”

“just waiting for my baby to get home. my thighs are open for when you’re ready” you mumble as you nibble on the tip of your pointer finger.

“not far now, baby. be a good girl and wait for me, ok? just close your eyes and dream about it” billie soothes you. you can hear the gas pedal pushing harder on the engine, the rpm revving through your ears. now you know she’s in her audi - the pretty sounds that each of her cars make being second nature to you.

“where are you?” you ask her, getting more and more impatient by the minute.

“my needy girl” billie quips, “i’m going double the speed limit, my love, i’ll be home in ten.”

“baby! be safe, please. hurry up but be safe… please” you laugh, “i need you home in one piece.”

“you know i’m always safe, sexy. just gotta get home to my needy girl and quench your thirst”

a small moan leaves your lips at her last comment. plus, the sound of her driving always has a special way of playing with you. you know that if you were there beside her, her right hand would be deep within your thighs by now - the hum of the car adding to your satisfaction.

after a few moments of comfortable silence, billie says “hold on baby, i’m turning into the drive now” as the call immediately disconnects. not a moment later, you hear the door unlatch itself and billie step into your shared home. billie notices all of your belongings discarded by the front door and looks up to see you lying on the couch, still wearing your work clothes.

“hi, my love” billie calls out, walking over to the couch, and grabs your hands to pull you up to your feet. she throws your arms around her neck and reaches down to hug your waist.

“you look so pretty, all dolled up from work” billie says in your ear. “you think so?” you say with a smile evident in your voice. “uh huh, this short little pinafore dress makes you look so cute” she pulls back to get a full look at you.

“are those my socks?” she questions you, already knowing the answer. you hum and nod, “is that ok?” you ask.

“of course, what’s mine is yours. you look so, so sexy today” billie nods back.

“thank you,baby. how about you take it off of me, maybe?”

“go wait for me in the bedroom. i’ll be up in a minute” billie says, as her head ticks up to point you in the direction of the bedroom.

silently, you obey her order, pulling out of billie’s hold and turning to walk up the stairs - she slaps your ass as you walk away.

“don’t touch anything!” billie shouts up to you as you climb your way up the stairs.

moments pass - billie was putting away the doggy bag she brought back from the work dinner - and you hear her heavy footsteps creeping up towards your shared bedroom. when she finally opens the door to your bedroom, she’s welcomed by you bent over on the other end of the room starting to take your tights off.

“didn’t i say not to touch anything?” billie grumbles as she approaches your body. her left hand holds onto your left hip as her right hand lands on your asscheek with a loud slap.

“ssss” you wince at the impact. billie ignores your cries, teasing you further, “look at you, so pretty bent over in front of me, showin me your pretty little pussy”

you stand up, unable to cope with waiting for her to please you any longer. instead, you take matters into your own hands and roughly grab her by either side of her face and smash your lips into hers.

“please fuck me. right now” you say out of breath against her lips.

“so impatient” billie quips, her mouth resting against yours, her minty breath fanning into your open mouth. billie’s hands lower on your body. she’s now fiddling with the hem of your short dress.

she scrunches your dress in her hands, and ever so slowly lifts the taut material over your ass - the fat pulling up and dropping down from the passing material. with the dress now bunched around your waist, billie squeezes in between your ribs and hips, toying with the toned fat sitting on your waist. your body tenses at her touch, your shoulders closing in.

“i feel your body closing… imma rip it open, just wait baby” billie tells you, her mouth next to your ear. she nibbles on your earlobe sending a tickle down your spine. your knees buckle at her flirting comment but billie is there to catch you - her grip tighteting on your skin even more.

your fingers dig into either side of billie’s neck - you’re searching for any sense of stability - and you feel a low groan rumble in her throat. “i need you, bil” you beg her, your forehead resting on her collarbone. billie holds your chin in between her thumb and first finger pulling your eyes up to look at her. you follow her wordless command, giving her the most bambi-eyed, begging look you could possibly muster up.

billie’s eyes eratically swaps from your left to right eye, her look shifts. now she notices the light glistening in the corners of your eyes, tears beginning to pool in your waterline. “oh, baby” billie coos.

with sudden vigour, billie picks you up by your waist so your feet are hovering above the floor and turns around. much to your surprise, billie throws you down onto the bed behind you. you land with a slight bounce and a giggle creeping from between your lips. billie lowers her body to hover over you, her knees crawling in between your clasped legs.

“open up for me, mama” she coaxes your thighs apart, you obey, and her hand dips down the middle of them - close to where you need her most. with your feet perched on the bed, billie strokes your legs agonizingly slowly, from top to bottom, top to bottom, over and over again. she reaches the top of your leg a final time and moves her hand to the side slightly to stroke your clothed core.

to both of your surprise, you let out a roaring moan at her feather-light touch. your hand quickly slaps over your mouth, surprised and almost embarrassed you made such a loud noise.

“so pretty baby,” billie giggles, “get your mouth open, i wanna hear those pretty little moans” she pulls your arm back from your face. with that same hand, billie reaches down to your panties, hooking her two fingers around the waistband, inching it lower and lower by the second. once she’s pulled your underwear past the top of your ass, she taps your right hip twice to tell you to lift them up. you do exaclty that, and she yanks the clothing down your legs as she sits back on her heels.

your legs are spread far apart, your glistening pussy on display for billie - her mouth almost drooling at the sight - and your head falls back against the mattress in anticipation. billie uses her two middle fingers to leave one long, soft stroke up your folds as she mumbles, “you’re so beautiful”.

of course, a sluttly whimper leaves your lips as your eyes scrunch shut. billie almost pounces forward - using her arm to keep her hovering over you - as she whispers, “i need you to look at me while i touch you”. you peel your eyes open, blinking away the blur, and rake your eyes along billie’s clothed body on top of you.

your hands reach down to the bottom of billie’s shirt, you silently asking billie to remove some of her clothing. “what do you want?” billie teases you, a half-smile on her lips. “you” you reply, “i want to see you” you clarify pulling on billie’s shirt. billie sits up on her knees to smoothly throw her shirt off over her head. you sit up, chasing after her, and begin to unbuckle her belt that’s at head height of your sitting body.

billie’s head teeters down to watch you as you submissively sit below her, your hands hastily undoing her belt with two naked women adorned on the buckle. she wraps her firm hands around the back of your head, gathering a section of your hair as she yanks your head to look up at her.

“you know you’re mine?” billie asks. you stare up at her longingly, not daring to break eye contact as you whisper “yes”, your mouth inching closer to billie’s bare stomach. you leave a sweet, open-mouthed kiss below her belly ring, sucking on the fat between her hips.

as you toy with billie, she inches your dress above your shoulders, leaving you in a frilly, cap-sleeved oxford shirt and nothing else. one by one, billie undoes the buttons; her fingers dance from your neck to between your tits with every button she undoes. now open, billie drags your shirt down your arms, leaving you in a lacy underwire bralette - tits spilling over the brim of your bra.

you pull back from billie’s torso, that same begging look in your eyes as you stare up at her, “touch me… please”.

wordlessly, billie’s hands roughly grasp each of your breasts, the fat bursting from in between her fingers. she uses her hold on you to push you back down onto the bed. landing with a soft thud, you rock your hips against billie in search for any kind of relief.

having decided that she’s teased you enough, billie pushes onto your core using her lower thigh. her hips straddle your own thigh, now. with her chest heaving over you and her hips grinding into you, you let out a relieved sigh - billie matching your noises immediately after.

you look down, craving to see billie’s body against yours, you watch as her slickness coats your thigh, your own coating hers. you grab billie’s hips and help her along, pushing her further into you. this causes billie to collapse on top of you, leaving low whimpers next to your ear. your hands now wrapping around to grab billie’s ass as she continues to grind on you.

billie halts her movements. right before you whimper at the loss, billie replaces her thigh with her hand and dips her middle finger into you. once to coat her finger in your wetness, twice and she curls her finger inside you. your head drops back, slamming onto the matress, and your hands fist the bedsheets below you.

“you feel so good, bil, don’t stop.”

“just for a second, baby” billie replies to you, clearly offering to go get the strap. in an attempt to stop her from leaving, you rush to grab her wrist keeping her inside of you and grind your clit against her palm. “please… no”, you beg. your voice cracking as you speak.

“ok ok, i’m not going anywhere” billie delicately brushes away your hair that’s stuck to your sweaty forehead using her thumb as she continues to move her finger in and out of you. finally, billie pushes her ring finger in, aswell, and uses her thumb to rub tight circles around your clit.

your body begins to shake under her touch - so easily overstimulated ‘cause you’ve been begging for so long. “so good, baby. just hold on a little bit” billie tries to make it last a little longer by slowing down her fingers.

she moves to a slower, but firmer pace. creating long, hard strokes with her hand as her mouth inches lower to kiss your clit. her flat tongue juts out and leaves circles around your sensetive clit. unbeknownst to you, billie is spelling her name with her tongue. you couldn’t care less what word she spelt, as long as she kept you reaching your peak.

“i cant- i’m need to cum” you scream out as your right hand roughly grabs the hair from the crown of billie’s head - urging her to continue. billie hums in approval against you, sending chills through your core. not a moment later you feel the rubber band inside of you snap, the elastic coming undone.

your body starts to violently shake, legs squeezing either side of billie’s head as she strokes your thigh with her free thumb. “goog girl, just like that” she mutters against you.

“don’t stop! don’t stop!” you chant in time with your rocking hips. using your rhythm, billie flatly sticks out her tongue and shakes her head side to side, allowing you to ride her face to completion.

coming down from your high, all that can be heard is your heavy panting and billie’s wet mouth lapping up your cum. “taste so good, baby” billie says with a smirk, her tongue licking you clean.

“fuck” you sigh, utterly exhausted from your orgasm. billie chuckles at that and crawls up so that she can be face to face with you. she roughly kisses you, a string of your wetness connecting the two of you when she pulls away - billie licks your lips to gather it. “you look so gorgeous when you cum, mama. makes me wanna fuck you all over again” she whispers against your skin, her mouth nibbling at your collarbone.

“nuh uh, it’s your turn now” you laugh, your hands grab either side of billie’s face, and you turn your bodies over, now lying on top of her.

[brailsthesmolgurl]

"Let's go for a drive."

Preview: How the LNDS boys drive you around.

SYLUS

Sylus is the type of man who will always have time---even if he does not, he will make time for it--- to come and pick you up. The rumbling sound of a V12 is hard to miss and you could always pick up the sound of it from a street or two away. His matte black Pagani would always catch the eye of passerbys, including the driver. On days when he would be earlier than usual, he would be perched against the side of his car, representing and upholding the image of his own car; expensive, exquisite and tasteful. Given his background as the leader of the N109 zone, it is certainly surprising that this guy does not own a cigar or else he would have fully unlocked the potential of being a mafia boss.

Of course, Sylus entertains the idea that you had previously pitched to him, but he does not back down without a teasing statement. "I think I will consider about your cigar habit if you admit that I do not have a drinking problem." Seeing you crossed your arms in defiance, he smirked and closed the door behind you, enclosing you in the small space of the supercar of his. 190cm in a sports car's bucket seat is outrightly awkward, he seemed like he could barely fit within the space of the car but it still is spacious enough for him to maneuver around.

His driving is mean, just like his attitude to everyone else and you were nearly convinced that he may secretly hate everyone else other than you. But does that make you dislike him? Of course not. If any so, it only makes you feel even more special than ever. Sylus also knows the way you stare at him when he drives. The way your eyes would skim past his arms whenever he turns the steering wheel. If he is wearing anything with long sleeves, he would push or roll up the sleeves to reveal the thick veins that lines his arms. "Kitten, if you were to continue staring at me with those eyes, I may have to pull over."

ZAYNE

Picking you up in his Audi has always been his habit, be it you like it or not. He does not enjoy the idea of you driving him around. Partially because he has a more dominant mindset, but he also finds joy in being the one making plans whilst having you to tag along. At work, his patient's care is his utmost importance, but off of work, your interests are one of his top priorities, and he is more of the 'talk less, do more' type. Given a time, the doctor is never late even when he is off of work and you do not mind him being tardy at all. But it was distasteful to this man. "If I were to be tardy as you had suggested, my death count for my patients would be through the roof at this point."

Chuckling lightly in response, you got in, with Zayne closing the door behind you and strutted towards the driver's side. Once he had got in, he would put on his seatbelt before turning over to check on your seatbelt. A man attentive even to the fine details, yes he is. His driving is smooth, but nowhere slow. He keeps an average 120km/h on the road, always at the fastest lanes. However, if a car were to catch up behind him, he would be attentive enough to signal to the other lane and allowing the car to pass without making much of a fuss before he heads back to the fast lane and continues his driving.

Zayne takes pride in his parking skills, his precision mixed with the cameras that came equipped with his car would technically make him invincible. He usually enjoys reverse parking, perhaps a force of habit whilst being at hospital and with him being bound to OSHA requirements of needing to park in a reverse form. He stares in between the display and the side mirrors till the engine stilled to a pause. When praised on his reverse parking skills, the doctor elicited a small smile, finding joy in your heartfelt comment. "I park like this almost everyday, if you would like me to guide you, I would be more than happy to."

RAFAYEL

"How can I let you drive?" Rafayel easily fishes his car key out of your grip, a cheeky smile on his features. "Especially since you had been coming over so frequently just to accompany me?" He struts over back to the bowl of car keys and popped the car key you had previously picked. Seeing your frown on your face, his smile widened, alongside his will to tease you. "We are going out on a dinner date tonight, of course I will be going for a nicer car!" Then he takes out an oblong shaped key and guides you towards his garage. It is no stranger that Rafayel owns a lot of sports cars, but you must say that it was your first time being in his Ferrari KC23. It was also explained that he got this gift from Ferrari itself, one of the most picky car brands in the world. So you figured he could have done something that had pleased the eyes of the Ferrari people.

During the drive to the restaurant, his hand never left yours, constantly holding onto your smaller hand, his thumb smoothing over the skin of the back of your hand every once in a while. The mix of jazzy tunes and his smooth driving makes car rides with him extremely comfortable. Maybe that also explains why Thomas would constantly grumble about him being late, given that he only drives at a maximum of 120km/h only if he needs to, although quite a contradiction to the power his car holds. When you asked him about why is he driving so slow, his reply was nonchalant but does not lack sincerity. "I do not find the need to rush to somewhere just to jeopardise the safety of the love of my life. People can and will wait if they want to." Him saying that makes your heart warm, knowing that your safety is his utmost priority.

Rafayel however, does have some road rage at certain times. This only involves when he is in a rush to somewhere, especially if it means you would be at the other end waiting for him. This is when he would actually put his car to it's good use. Signals would not be his best friend when he is driving, more like racing through traffic like a mad man. Well, to put it in other terms, he is a mad man in love and nothing would stop him from reaching you as soon as possible.

XAVIER

Xavier is not really a fan of driving, hence compared to the rest of the boys, his urge to be in a metal box, moving transport is not as luxurious nor eye-catching. He only drives only when he has to go outstation for his hunter work and if you happen to be tagging along with him. Otherwise, Xavier takes more pleasure in going around with his bike as it saves him time and being able to get away from traffic jams is a plus point for him. So today it comes another day where he has to travel further for his job and you are tasked to be his partner hence he decided to settle with the car for travels. Opening the car door of his BYD Atto 3 for you, he makes sure that you are all buckled up before he closes the door on you.

After unplugging the charger, he is pretty much ready to go. "You ready for our next destination?" He asked you, his eyes catching you for a brief moment before he looks back at the screen to set the next destination. Xavier's driving is not complete as long as there are snacks accompanying him throughout the car ride. Xavier is also the type to switch drivers only if his sleep is getting through to him and affecting his driving skills. Overall, Xavier himself is a slow driver, he does not preach in the idea of going pedal to the metal just to reach a destination earlier than promised. His average speed ranges around 80km/h to 100km/h and his hands never leave the steering wheel.

"I need to take a break, more like a snack break is what we need." If it ever comes to travelling great distance, he will always take breaks for every hour of the drive, either it would be a toilet break or snack break, either one works for him. Good thing about him is that, even if you said that you are not in the mood for any snacks, he would ought to get you extra snacks because he knew the way of a girl's mind, or more specifically, based on his experiences, whenever you said no it would certainly be a regret halfway down the road. He learned from his past experiences and hence would do whatever he can to cater to your comfort throughout the journey.

[gasgasdaily]

People might only remember the F40 being the best supercar of the 80s but many forgot that the Germans had an ace up their sleeves and was built from the ashes of rallying.

Top to bottom in anti-clockwise: Porsche 959 - Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar form climbing a dusty ledge - Porsche 953.

Porsche has always been built to race but most of their race series was road racing, rallying has always been a back burner. Even in the post-war 40s-60s, the rallies that the factory Porsche team got involved with were long distance rallies like the Targa Florio or the Panamericana but for dirt rallies, its mostly ran by privateers and it actually did well enough.

Thus, when the Group B format was released by the FIA and having witnessed how Audi showed potential with their AWD on the dirt rallies of WRC in 1982, Porsche expected to build a car to race in Group B. However, with Audi and the others already competing in the WRC, the Porsche works team didn't want to fight for the limelight thus they entered a more quiet series back then but even more demanding, and that's the Paris-Dakar, which unlike the actual WRC, doesn't require the restrictions for the already laxed WRC Group B regulation. They wanted to prep the car for 1984 but that didn't materialize in the end.

By the mid of 1983, Porsche realized that they could not complete the car on time for the 1984 season as they could not find a way to test the whole car with the drivetrain. However, some engineers remembered that they were still making the 911SC chassis and they could work with it so they got 5 of them and stuffed the AWD system in there whilst turbocharging the 3.2L flat-6 engine the base 911 came with and took the cars to compete in the 1984 Paris-Dakar Rally with 3 competing and two others as spare and it was codenamed as the "953". Results were rather satisfactionary and with 300hp from the turbocharged flat-6 plus Porsche's reliability, Porsche managed to clock the overall win with the 953 the very season it competed with the other 2 that it entered with one at 6th and the third at 25th thus Porsche liked the results alot.

The 959 was debuted to the public in 1985 at the Frankfurt Autoshow but again it faced problems as Porsche still can't produce it till the very next year but, the reception of the car was rather good so Porsche continued tweaking the car whilst giving the spare chassis and engine that were done to be prepped by Rothmans to compete in the 1986 season. With the new engine that has a smaller displacement at 2.8L vs the 3.2L from the 953, coupled with a twin-turbo system, it makes approx 444hp but it was potent enough for the job and with the car being entered in the '86 season, it once again won and this time, every single car, all 3 of the 959s entered got into the top 10s and with one even clinching the win. However, like many other carmakers, Porsche's dreams were shattered as Group B was disvowed the very same year the car was set to compete in that class.

That did not really stop Porsche's ambition as they finished building the road-going version of the 959 and it also performed well. With the same hp figures of the Paris-Dakar Rally version, the "Komfort" version performed well that it was the fastest vehicle of all time being able to do 198mph/318kmh before the Ferrari F40 took that title a few months later when it launched. Porsche wasn't done still. Whilst making the 959 for customer orders and hearing that the F40 had taken their crown for the "fastest car on earth" title, Porsche wanted to take it back thus they started to push for an update on the existing 959 and they pushed out an "S" model by 1988. What Porsche did was to swap the turbos to a set of bigger turbos and stripped off all the unneeded items in the car like aircon, electric windows and the suspension levelling tech just to save weight and, it did work. It was eventually tested and it reached 211mph/339kmh, taking the crown back from Ferrari.

In total, 343 959 were built from 1986-1993 with 8 being built for their Paris-Dakar team, 29 "S" variant (Fun fact: Bill Gates owned an S that had the aircon reinstalled in there) and the rest being the normal "Komfort" variant.

[jessicaloons]

Chapter 43:

What if your eyes looked up and met mine, one more time?

Masterlist - Previous - Next

"Is it true? Is Sainz senior talking with the team about a seat for Carlos?" I blurted out as soon as I walked into our hospitality, where Felix was talking to John, our head engineer.

"Come with me." he said and lead me to his office.

"He‘s available next season. My contract only runs 'till the end of this season! Valtteri’s until next… so which seat are we talking about?"

Felix ran his hand through his hair, sighing, and my stomach clenched.

"There is not a certain seat in their mind… but yes, there are talks, his father is putting the Audi board under enormous pressure." Felix confirmed.

"We both know for whose seat he’s coming." I said bitterly.

"I think so… he’s out of Ferrari at the end of this season… your contract runs out this season?"

"Does the board want to replace me with him?" I asked, although I was afraid of the answer "I know I didn’t deliver the best results last season, but I still thought we’d continue…"

"No! No, Lizzie! As long as I’m team principal, you’re my driver! I say it how it is, I want you to extend your contract with us. For at least another two years. Our first season together was brilliant. Last season was okay, but it was more on our side than on yours, I have no doubt that this season will be better and I want you to stay with us."

"Yeah but if the board doesn’t want that? If the board is rooting for Sainz?" I said defeated but Felix shook his head.

"If they kick you out for him? After the horrific amount of money he cost us last season? After he endangered you? No. If Sainz is coming, I’m going. And I won’t be the only one…"

"Are you crazy? You can’t do that!" I looked at him shocked but he smiled at me.

"We started this project together, little one, and if we have to, then we‘ll finish it on a high together and that’s final." he smiled and I had to swallow hard, blinking away the tears.

"Okay…" I said quietly and Felix hugged me.

"We all believe in you. You and Valtteri are our drivers! And just because the father of another driver thinks he can tell us what to do? No. Not on my watch."

"Thank you Felix, really." I whispered and he patted my back.

"Not for that. But you know what that means?" Felix asked and I nodded "We have a lot of work to do then…"

"Let’s kick this season off the best way possible!"

P5. Decent. Not too good. But also not too bad. We could work with that. I was happy. But I knew Charles wasn’t. Having this big of an issue in the first race of the season? After being the one driver Ferrari wanted to keep and build a future with? After all the criticism that Ferrari might’ve kept the wrong driver? After his teammate made it onto to podium and he didn’t. I knew he would’ve been devastated, so I waited at the employee parking lot, looking at the gate. When Charles walked out my heart clenched. His head down, shoulders slumped, RayBans hiding his eyes.

"Hey…" I cupped his cheek, making him look at me.

"Let’s just go, please." he sighed and I nodded, unlocking the car.

I started the engine and drove off the parking lot, speeded past the awaiting fans on the main parking lot.

"I already can see the headlines tomorrow… they got rid of the wrong driver…" Charles gritted out after a while and I groaned.

"It’s the first race of the season for fucks sake! You had problems with your brakes and still made it onto P4…" I began.

"No one cares about my brakes! Carlos was on the podium! In a car that was supposed to be harder for him to drive! He made up one position! I lost two! That’s what people will care about!" he interrupted me.

"Since when do we care what fucking other people think and say? First race of the season, Charles! 23 more to go. Stop this nonsense!"

"This year is our year my ass…" Charles grumbled after a while and I rolled my eyes.

"I was honestly hoping that you didn’t win…" I said and he looked at me, taking his RayBans off.

"What?" he sounded hurt.

"Bahrain curse…" I began and he groaned.

"Are you kidding me? I don’t believe in curses!" he said, looking out the window "Besides, Max won Bahrain last year and still won the title…"

"Yeah but he’s Max… no curse out there can stop him… not Bahrain. Not Monza. He’s immune against any curse out there… you on the other hand…"

"Well thanks for believing in me…" he whispered and I grabbed his thigh.

"I believe in you. More than anyone else. That’s why I know that the only one who can stop Max is you. And other than you I believe that this year is your year… YOURS. Not Sainz…" I said and he sighed.

"We’ll see."

"We will and you’ll see that I’m right!"

The media day in Saudi Arabia was the worst and I could see the tension in Charles shoulders, his strained smile. I tried to calm him down as much as I could but when we left the paddock at the evening the exhaustion of the day was still visible.

"How about we let off some steam?" I asked when we arrived at the hotel.

"Yes! I need that." Charles sighed.

"Paddle?"

"You know me all too well…" he chuckled as we got out of the car.

Twenty minutes later we sat down our bags on the bench and stretched a little.

"You know what’s the worst?" Charles said, taking the ball "It was the first race of the season and it already started like this…"

"Come on, it’s better than last year!"

"Maybe, but it’s not good enough… I need to get it out of my head." he shrugged.

"Okay, you listen to me now, Leclerc… you said it yourself, first race of the season. Your brakes were shit. With your car, you shouldn’t even be able to finish the race but you did. In P fucking 4. Get that in your head, okay?" I groaned but he only shook his head and got into position.

"More playing. Less talking." he said and threw the ball up in the air.

It took a while until we both found our rhythm but as soon as we both got it the battles were relentless. I hit the ball as hard as I could, unreachable for Charles, another win for me. The second for tonight.

"Do you like being tortured?" I asked out of breath, lifting my shirt to wipe away the sweat off my forehead.

"You should know the answer to that… I just extended my contract with Ferrari. For multiple years." he chuckled bitterly and took a sip out of his water bottle.

"Ouch?" I laughed putting the paddle down, grabbing his bottle to take a few sips myself.

"Now come one. I want a return match." he took the bottle out of my hand and threw it on his bag "Let’s go!"

"Oh come on… aren’t you exhausted?" I groaned but he shook his head.

"One last match…" he pleaded.

"You just want to make it a draw… you can’t lose…" I smirked and he rolled his eyes.

"Then make me lose… come on…" he was ready for my move and I laughed.

"Alright… let’s settle this."

Thirty minutes later we stood under the hot shower, washing the day away.

"We could’ve let off some steam in a different way…" Charles whispered, kissing up my neck, pulling me closer, my back flush against his chest.

"Yeah? How?" I replied, biting my lips as his hands wandered over my hips, down to my thighs.

"I don’t know… you. Me. Our bed…" he mumbled, littering my shoulder with hot kisses "Or you. Me. The shower…" he whispered in my ear, his hot breath fanning over my skin making me shudder.

His hand slipped between my thighs and I let out a breathy moan, pressing my heat against his hand.

"Shower sounds good!" I breathed out, feeling him press against my back.

"Yeah? I think so too…" Charles hand explored my heat and I moaned, leaning back into him right as he spun me around, pressing my back into the cold tiled wall. His lips crashed down on mine, sealing our mouths shut with an eager kiss full of lust and need. I threw my arms around his neck, my hands carding through his hair, pulling him closer, while our tongues fought for dominance, me on the losing side. But this was a battle I loved to lose.

"There is still some tension in my back… I swear we’re working now for months at it but it’s not getting better!" I groaned and JK stood behind me, putting pressure on my lower back.

"Honestly, it shouldn’t be like this Lizzie… not after the intense training and exercises we made specifically for your back…" he said and I hissed in pain when he applied some pressure on my spine at a certain angle.

"Maybe I have to work out even more. Need to strengthen my spine, my core more?" I gritted out but I heard him sigh.

"Yeah maybe, but honestly? I’d like you to see a doctor, when we’re back in Europe…"

"Oh come on! It’s a little sore back! It will be good in no time!" I smiled at him and bent down, stretching said sore back before I took the resistance band JK held out for me.

"I’m not saying anything else, I just want to make sure! I don’t want to see you out of the car like Sainz today…" he said.

"What do you mean? He’s not racing? He’s out? Like completely?" I leaned back, pulling at the resistance band and JK nodded.

"Bearman will drive his car today and tomorrow."

"Ollie? Are you kidding me?" I stopped, looking up.

"Nope." JK put the band away and grabbed the tennis balls "Come on, focus now."

"He will only have FP3? Damn!" I mumbled, catching the tennis ball.

"I mean, it won’t be easy…"

"Definitely not, but Ollie is a damn good driver, I’m sure he will be able to adapt fast!"

"That’s what I said as well…" Charles hugged me from behind, kissing my cheek.

"Hey! Go away! You’re trying to distract my driver!" Felix joked when he walked by.

"Oh, don’t worry Felix, nothing can distract me, not even this handsome little fella…" I laughed and Charles pinched my side.

"Who are you calling little?" he whispered in my ear.

"Oh come on love birds! Get a room." JK laughed.

"Nope." Charles spun me around and kissed me.

"What’s gotten into you?" I breathed against his lips, feeling the heat rising up my face.

"I just love you? Can’t I show that?" he pouted, looking adorably.

"Yeah but not like in public. Not like that?" I whispered and he sighed.

"Cara mia, no one cares? Why do you?" Charles cupped my cheeks and I shrugged my shoulders.

"I don’t know…" I replied and he pecked my lips.

"Exactly, there is no reason for that. So let me give you one last kiss and then I’ll see you on track." he kissed me gently and I melted into his body "Bye gorgeous girl…"

I looked after him, the sweltering heat of Saudi Arabia burning me up.

"Earth to Lizzie?" JK threw a ball at me and I blinked, rubbing my arm "We’re not done yet."

"Huh?" I looked at him confused and he threw the next ball, this time I caught it though.

"Good reaction… now come on!"

I climbed out of the car when an F1 official walked up to me.

"Lizzie, you’re P3." he smiled and I took off my helmet and balaclava.

"What do you mean?" I was confused.

"Checo got a 5 second penalty, so you’re in P3!"

"Are you kidding me?" I laughed when someone engulfed me from behind.

"First podium of the season, let’s fucking go!" Danny Ric chanted and I squealed a little "Let me take you to your man!"

"Put me down you doofus!" I chuckled but Daniel carried me all the way to the top 3 cars.

"And here we have our third place, Lizzie Doetterer! Lizzie, congrats! P3. First podium of the season. How was the race for you?" Crofty asked and I took the microphone that someone held out to me.

"Umm right now, I’m a little speechless to be honest. We had a good weekend? I mean yeah it could’ve been better in terms of the quali pace, but in the race we were there and yeah now I’m in P3." I answered, smiling at him and waving at the crowd, some Germany flags in the sea of people.

"Well, you were close to Checo the whole race, switching positions every other week, last lap then and it seemed he pushed you wide?"

"We battled hard and then in turn 7 or 8 he might’ve turned a little into me and I had to go wide, but I didn’t think it would result in a penalty." I said honestly.

"Yeah, we didn’t hear you complain on the radio?" Crofty looked at me and I nodded.

"Because I honestly didn’t think it was that bad? Yeah sure, I had to leave the track but I don’t know… I mean I’m happy, I take it. But yeah… it’s like that." I shrugged a little.

"It sure is. Thank you Lizzie! Enjoy your podium!" Crofty nodded and I handed the guy next to him the microphone, jumping into Charles awaiting arms.

"First podium of the season, cara mia." he kissed my cheek and I smiled.

"Same for you! Well done!"

I wanted to say something when we were ushered away, into the cool down room and then onto the podium.

When we were finally done with the media, the press conference long over as well as our team meetings we drove back to our hotel.

"See! Today was a good day! Overall you had an amazing weekend! You just need to believe in yourself. Today P3 and in 2 weeks then P1!" I smiled at him and he took my hand in his, kissing the back of it.

"For me it would be enough to be in front of Carlos…" he sighed and I nodded.

"You will be. I believe in you!"

I sighed and put the phone down, right when it rang again.

"Hi Julie."

"So I guess Netflix called already…" she asked.

"Yeah. They want to film a little private stuff, then they want to be in Australia, Miami, Monaco and they also want to come to Hockenheim, my home race is something they definitely want to film."

"Lizzie, I say it how it is, they wanted to release the show last summer. They postponed it to fall, then to winter. We need to deliver now, you need to deliver now. Or they will release what they have but take away your right of review… just let them film you. Let them come home, maybe how you prepare for a race weekend or something, just give them something… and then let’s move forward." she sighed and I nodded.

"I know, I’ll think about what they could film here and yeah… we’ll see. Let them come to Australia, Miami, Monaco and Hockenheim. The rest I’ll deal with." I replied.

"Alright, I leave you to it. See you in Australia."

"Yup, see you in Australia." I hung up and plopped back down into the pillows, groaning. I switched the TV on and decided shuffled through Netflix until I found what I’ve been looking for. I pressed play and watched a very special episode of DTS.

"There he is… the worst actor the world has seen." I laughed when Charles walked through the door, sitting up.

"What do you mean?" he asked confused and I nodded towards the TV.

" 'Yeah, maybe that was a little bit over-the-top' … I wasn’t aware I was watching an episode of Keeping up with Ferrari…"

"Oh shut it…" Charles rolled his eyes, plopping down next to me "They told me to say it, what was I supposed to do?"

"Is DTS now a scripted show or what?" I said, pressing play again.

"Don’t watch that, please! It’s so cringe…" he sighed and I chuckled.

"Cringe? That’s way above cringe! I can’t believe they made you do this…"

"Me neither but it’s like t-…" he stopped abruptly, smiling sheepishly.

"No it’s like this at home!" I slapped his side and he laughed.

"That’s why I stopped!"

"Good!" I kissed his cheek and snuggled into him "Now let me finish this episode."

"God no…" he groaned but I laughed.

"Just kidding… what do you want to watch?" I asked him and he leaned down, pecking my lips.

"Nothing on the TV…" he wiggled his eyebrows and I laughed.

"I like that…"

"Yeah? Me too…" he got up and pulled me with him down into the kitchen, where he pushed me slightly against the island, grabbing my thighs "Up, pretty girl."

"Not again on there… it was cold and so not comfy!" I grumbled but he just laughed.

"Oh cara mia, you’re a naughty girl? What do you think what I’m about to do?"

"I don’t know… I just thought-…" I began but he interrupted me, putting his finger on my lips.

"Shhh… just trust me…" he grinned and I swallowed hard.

I knew that smirk. All too well. He grabbed my thighs again and I jumped a little, sitting down on the island.

"I trust you, just not that little devil inside of you." I chuckled and he pulled something out of his pocket.

"Close your eyes for me." The grin only getting bigger "Come on."

I closed my eyes and as soon as they were closed I felt how Charles put something over my eyes. Covering them.

"A blindfold? Charles! I told you, not on here!" I pouted, but he pecked my lips, chuckling.

"Don't be so impatient!" he walked away and I heard him rummaging through the drawers "Alright..." he stood in front of me and I felt his hot breath ghosting over my lips "Be a good girl and open that pretty, little mouth of yours for me."

"What? I swear if you start now some kinky shit I'm go-..." I began but he pushed a cold spoon into my mouth, cutting me off. A rich flavour of vanilla engulfed my taste buds, and I swallowed the spoonful of ice cream down.

"And?" Charles asked and I licked my lips.

"Vanilla ice cream?" I said hesitantly.

"Was it good?" he sounded excited and I was confused "You look adorable when you're confused. But come on, did you like it?"

"It's vanilla ice cream? It tastes good. Rich." I said and he kissed my sticky lips.

"Here..." he put a glass against my lips and I drank a sip of water "Open up again!"

The next spoon was chocolate ice cream, silky, chocolatey with the right amount of sweetness and some chocolate chips for some extra crunch. As soon as I swallowed down Charles pecked my lips again.

"And?"

"Very silky. The right amount of sweetness and chocolaty..." I replied before I felt the glass against my lips and I took another sip.

"Open up..." he said as the next spoon was fed to me.

Peanut ice cream. Caramel sauce and something crunchy.

"That's good! I love the peanut flavour! And the caramel sauce and the crispy bits? I love it! But Charles..." I began when he pecked my lips yet again before the glass returned and the next spoon full of ice-cold goodness engulfed my taste buds.

"Salted caramel? And chocolate chips?" I licked my lips before Charles pressed his again against mine.

"Yeah, you like it?" he asked, and I nodded slightly, drinking some water "Alright, next one..."

I opened my mouth and the moment I had the first taste of the spoonful of ice creamed I moaned a little.

"Mhhh Pistachi-ohhhh my god that's good! More!" I said and he chuckled.

"Why did I know that... here." another spoonful of the creamy and delicious ice cream wandered into my mouth "Okay stop making these noises, or it is the kitchen island 2.0!" he lifted the blindfold, and I blinked a few times "Hey pretty girl."

He smiled at me, brushing my hair out of my face when I looked down on the countertop, where he put a white container down. Right next to 4 other similar looking containers.

"Why did you feed me ice cream blindfolded? And why did you feed me ice cream, blindfolded in the middle of the season? I want to eat that whole container of the pistachio and peanut one! Unfair!" I pouted a little and he laughed.

"Go ahead." He held up another spoon of the pistachio ice cream and I groaned "Come on, I know you want it!"

"Of course I want it! It's pistachi-ohhhh..." he shoved the spoon in my mouth, cutting me off "Damn that's good."

"It gets even better... that whole tub? Less then 400 calories." Charles said proudly and I cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah sure. That creamy and rich ice cream? Less then 400 calories the whole tub? You mean one spoon maybe." I sighed but he scooped up another spoonful.

"Nope. This is Lec ice cream. My own brand, I've been working the past few months on it and it's finally ready. I only need to find names and decide what designs and it's good to go. Each tub has less than 400 calories."

"Are you kidding me? When-... how-... what? When did you do that? And why didn't you tell me?"

"Oh stop pouting! I wanted to surprise you! I know how much you love a good ice cream but we have to resist this craving because of our job! So I wanted to create an ice cream we can enjoy without the guilt!" he cupped my cheeks and I smiled.

"This creamy, rich flavour for this little calories? Seriously? I mean… why resist?" I laughed, scooping up another dollop of the pistachio ice cream, indulging in the flavour.

Charles laughed and kissed me, nipping at my lower lip.

"Mhh... why resist? Sounds like a good slogan... now you just need to help me name them! Although I already have an idea for the pistachio ice cream."

"Yeah? What is it?" I looked at him excitedly.

"Pistachi-OH! the OH in capital letters with an exclamation mark! Because whenever I see a tub of that ice cream I will think of the look on your face, the little sound you made when you tasted it for the very first time."

"Swirly Pistachi-OH! Sounds even better!" I said and he nodded "And you should call the vanilla ice cream vanillalove or something, because its your favourite!" I grabbed the container and fed Charles a big scoop of the vanilla ice cream.

"Vanillove. Even shorter." he smiled.

"Sounds good. The peanut and caramel one? It was almost like the different flavours were dancing on my tongue... Peanut Caramel Tango!" I suggested and Charles nodded.

"Chocolate crunch. Nothing fancy. Just straight what it is?"

"Perfect. And now the salted caramel one." I said and tried the ice dream again.

"Salty carmel- carmamel-... why is this word so difficult?" he groaned and I laughed "Salty caram-mmel!"

"That's it! Salty carammmel with at least 3 m's!"

"Salty carammmel? So everyone knows that I can't speak English properly?" now Charles was the one pouting.

"It's cute! Vanillove. Peanut Caramel Tango. Chocolate Crunch. Salty Carammmel and Swirly Pistachi-OH! The 5 flavours of Lec ice cream. Less than 400 calories per tub. But still tasty as fuck." I concluded and he kissed me, his lips tasting like Vanillove.

"Because, why resist?"

„Nicholas said everything is prepared. We'll start the Instagram account nect Tuesday. And the lauch of the ice cream in Milan will be on the 11" Charles said as he opened the hotel door.

"Already? You guys are fast." I plopped down on the sofa, leaning back

"Not we, Nicolas, Guido and Federico are fast." he chuckled and handed me a cold water out of the fridge, right when my phone rang.

"Ewww that's Elijah... I kinda regret agreeing to Netflix." I groaned and silenced my phone "I know it was a good idea at first... but with everything that happened? He asked me if I would consider talking about the whole Diaz incident... after last year there were so many rumours and he asked me if I wanted to clear things up."

"Just let him film a little bit of our weekend and they'll be happy. I know its tough and you don't want it anymore, but jus think about all the interviews they had? Your whole team, Lewis, Seb, Fred, Toto, his wife, Max, some of the most well-known F1 journalists... it's so amazing what they all have to say about you! How they support you! And then seeing how hard you train? But also see where you come from. That it wasn't as easy as anyone said it was? It will be great! Let them film Hockenheim and then they have enough. They can release their show. It will be great. Everyone is happy. Focus on that, okay? And if you don't want to talk about Diaz? Then don't...

I've seen the rumours, and believe me, I want to say a few words myself, but it's not my place." Charles sat down and I leaned against him.

"I know, I know... right now there is already enough going on with the Sainz dilemma... people still talk about it and now he's after my seat as well... and then Susie asking me to be a little more present in the F1 Academy and I really want to, I told her last year that she can count on my support but here I am, not even doing a single thing for it..."

"Because you're a F1 driver! Lizzie, Susie understands that you would be more present if it would be possible, okay? Just stop for a moment to think about what everyone else wants from you and focus what you want, okay?" Charles squeezed my shoulder and l sighed

"Food. I want food. And a shower. Then a nice little walk at the beach, soaking in the sun and then focus on the weekend ahead."

"Let's take a shower, then head down to the beach and have a nice little treat." He kissed my nose and then got up, pulling me with him "Come on. Today is for us. Tomorrow we think about the rest. One step at the time."

"I should still call Elijah..." I grabbed my phone but Charles took it out of my hand.

"Today is for us. Tomorrow we'll figure out the rest. Can you, for once, listen to me?" he chuckled and I nodded "Good. Thank you. Now come on."

I walked out of the press conference back to the Audi hospitality when a little crowd close to the hospitality caught my attention.

"So it’s true, that you’re talking to the Audi board about a seat for Carlos for next season?" a reporter whose back was turned to me, asked and I stopped dead in my tracks

"I’m convinced that Carlos can bring the team to the next level. They lack a bit of consistency, Valtteri is doing a good job in providing feedback about the car, Carlos could bring some of his consistency and experience to the team. He’s fast. Faster than his teammate over a long course of the last season. I have a good relationship with the Audi board and of course they know how good Carlos is." Sainz Senior smiled into the cameras.

"In theory it sounds all good, but Audi still has two drivers. You’re talking about Valtteri and Carlos. So Lizzie Doetterer would lose her seat to Carlos?"

"Look, I’m not saying she’s not a good driver. But it’s her third season now and she didn’t convince me as the big talent everyone said she is… maybe she can find a seat in the F1 Academy. But I don’t see a future in F1 for her. She also lacks of discipline, I guess you all know what I’m referring to, she’s too emotional, too impulsive. That are not good characteristics for a F1 driver." he smirked, looking directly at me and the reporter followed his look spotting me. Will Buxton.

"Lizzie, do you want to join us?" he asked and I swallowed hard.

"No, thanks. I’m good Will. Seems like Señor Sainz has a lot to say." I grit out and walked away, my heart hammering against my ribs.

"Lizzie, we have some-… what happened?" Julie looked at me and I felt how my mouth went dry. Words leaving me. "Lizzie?" she pushed me down into an armchair, handing me a glass of water and I gulped it down in one go.

"Sainz… he talks to the media…" I pressed out and she patted my arm.

"No one here wants Sainz in our team Lizzie! I hope you know that?" she tried to calm me down.

"What does it matter? If the board says he’s your new driver, you can’t change it…" I said, leaning back "I have to do the talking on track. I need to be better than him."

"And you will be. You show him what you’re made of! Kick his ass!" Julie fired me up and I nodded.

"I’m not backing down that easily. He wants my seat? Then he has to come and pry it out of my dead fingers grasp." I said determined and Julie chuckled.

"Dark, but I like the fighter mentality."

"He will regret ever talking bullshit about me."

"Hell yeah!"

Sainz wasn’t backing down that easily as well. He was ruining my laps at all times, he was always in front, being clever enough to not fully impede me, but at least disturb me that much that I had to abort my laps or had to go wide which costed time. It all peaked in qualifying when Sainz drove in front of me to warm his tyres on his out lap. Too slow for my liking especially considering that I had a real shot at starting on pole tomorrow.

"Charles, Norris, Max all on their flying lap. Max currently P1. Sainz P2. You P4." Pete radioed.

"Last chance now?"

"Last chance."

"Sainz is so fucking slow!"

"Copy."

"He’s in my way!" I was frustrated, seeing Sainz warming his tyres in front of me, not intending going faster at any given moment. Fuck it. I accelerated and pushed the throttle full through, overtaking him, right as I passed him, he accelerated as well leaving me behind him.

"Is he fucking serious?" I was seething, but I had no time to be too pissed, I had to give it one last shot.

"Abort your lap Lizzie."

"What? Why?"

"Your tyres are overheated. You probably wont even make it over the line… come back to the pits. That’s currently P4. Charles P5. Only Norris behind who could snatch away P4."

"Okay…"

I sat in the car. Taking a few deep breaths before I climbed out. Disappointed when I saw Norris lap time on the screen. P5 tomorrow. All because of Sainz.

"I’m sorry, Lizzie." Pete patted my back and I only shook my head.

"No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have overtaken him. I ruined my tyres…" I said quietly, putting my helmet away, taking the bottle from JK "He did his best to fuck up my laps and he succeeded."

"Calm down a bit and then go to the interviews." Felix said, as he came up to us and I nodded, walking in the back.

He got in my head. First his father. Now he himself. I threw my helmet on the table and sat down, head in my hands. Right when I had to be on top of my game, I caved in.

"Lizzie?" Julie asked carefully and I sat up, wiping my face "Do you want to wait for a little while or just go now?"

"Let’s get it over with."

"Li-... woah..." Charles let out when I pulled him into the corner and ducked down "What are we doing?" he whispered but I shushed him.

"Elijah... I need a moment for myself. I feel like the only time there isn't a camera in my face is when I have to go to the bathroom or at night... they even were there when I talked to Susie yesterday." | rolled my eyes.

"So you're hiding now how long exactly? Until the race?"

"No idiot. Until the anthem... we'll go and come back and then they have to back off anyways." | whispered and Charles chuckled.

"Okay, I'll hide with you." He kissed my cheek "You could've found a nicer hiding spot tho... just saying."

"You'll survive..."

We waited until it was time for the anthems and I successfully dodged Elijah and his camera crew and when it was time for me to get into the car he just sighed and retreated. I checked my radio and everything and waited for the go from Pete, preparing for the formation lap.

"Radio check."

"Loud and clear. Let's go, Lizzie."

When I stopped the car in my grid spot I focused on the lights. Taking a deep breath and accelerating as the last light got out. At the start I was overtaking Norris right in the first corner and pushed hard to create a little gap. He gave up chasing me, and I focused already on Perez in front. The next two laps I got closer and closer and finally managed to overtake him, right when the yellow flag was waved.

"Watch out. Max is having trouble. You'll pass him at the next turn." Pete radioed.

"Pass him?" I asked right when Max appeared in front of me not fighting me at all.

"We believe he will be retiring his car."

Lap 4 and Max was out. Only Sainz in front of me and Charles, who had overtaken Perez in the meantime.

"Gap Sainz?"

"4.3 seconds."

Damn. The Ferraris were fast. And Charles was coming closer and closer.

"Charles is really fast." I radioed when I had to let him overtake me, he had too much pace and the way he was chasing me wasn’t good for my tyres.

"He is. 0.5 faster." Pete replied and I sighed.

Ferrari build a fast car this season. Too fast for us for now.

"Sainz?" I asked, curious on his pace.

"0.1 slower."

So it would only be a short matter of time until Charles would knock on Sainz door. Ferrari would swap the cars to let Charles take over the lead, not just in the race, also in the drivers ranking. It was Sainz I would have to battle against for P2.

"Manage your tyres for now. Battling Sainz will cost you…"

"I know."

The gap to Charles got bigger and bigger for the next laps and I knew I had to be quicker to be in a good position. But then I got closer to Charles again and I checked my steering wheel.

"Am I pushing too hard or is Charles getting slower?"

"He was asked to hold position."

"What? Can you repeat that?"

I must’ve heard Pete wrong.

"Charles was asked to hold position. Manage his tyres. Not attacking."

"You’re kidding?"

"Lizzie…"

"No fucking way, why would they do that?" I couldn’t believe my ears. Why would they want Charles to hold positions? He was fast. Faster than Sainz?

"Focus on your race."

Race 3 and it already started again like last season.

"And that’s P3. Good race Lizzie." Pete said and I sighed.

"Thanks guys. Good job from everyone!" I said.

"Sainz P1. Charles P2. Norris P4. Oscar P5…."

"Ferrari doing Ferrari things…"

"Lizzie!" Pete said.

"What? He can’t win a race on his own. He needs his teammate to secure his position." the words were out before I could even react. Oh well. Here we go again.

"Off the radio. Now!" Pete reprimanded, but in his voice I could hear that he thought exactly the same.

"Just stating the truth."

"You’re exhausting." he chuckled.

"I love you too."

I parked my car and got out, hugging Charles. He only shook his head and then pushed me towards my team and I celebrated our second podium of the season, although I still didn’t understand why Ferrari didn’t let Charles overtake Sainz. After the interviews it was time for the obligated photo and I stood next to Charles, Sainz on his right.

"No you have to stand on the right." the FIA photographer said and I rolled my eyes.

"Just take the damn picture." I grumbled. Standing next to Sainz, a gap between us.

"Come on, be the better person." Charles said in French when we walked off towards the cool down room but I shook my head.

"I’ll start being the better person when your team starts making better calls." I replied loudly. In English. In front of said team while the camera was panned on me.

"Cara mia…" Charles sighed but I just shrugged my shoulders walking inside. I wiped my face. Almost emptying a bottle when Sainz walked in, followed by Charles. Again he only shook his head slightly and I sighed, sitting down. There was silence in the room. Only the race highlights that were played in the background could be heard. On the podium I only sprayed Charles a little before I left, not waiting for the picture. I felt Charles gaze on me but I didn’t care.

"Alright. Lizzie, you’re next. Your thoughts?" Clarkson looked at me and I picked up the microphone.

"Good race." was all I said and then I put the microphone down again.

"Maybe a little more detailed?"

"We had a good weekend. Our pit stops weren’t the best, unfortunately for Valtteri, but overall we were good."

"Okay. We open up the floor for some questions…"

"Mike Harris. CBS Sports. Question for Lizzie. You said on the radio that 'He can’t win a race on his own. He needs his teammate to secure his position'. Care to elaborate?"

"What’s there to elaborate? It’s pretty self-explanatory. I said what I said." I answered tight lipped, feeling the gaze of Charles and also Sainz on me.

"Mila Janic. motorsport.com. Carlos, after hearing what Lizzie has said, what do you think about her words?"

"Some people have their emotions clearly better in check than others and so some drivers let out their opinions on the radio and complain. She has her opinion, I have mine. I know which one is right." Sainz answered and I had to fake a cough to cover up my snorting.

"There’s a difference between an opinion and facts." I whispered under my breath.

"What did you say?" Sainz looked at me and I looked up "I didn’t understand it? But you said something."

"I just said that there’s a difference between an opinion and facts." I shrugged my shoulders, looking at him. He was mad, but I didn’t care. Not anymore.

"Alright, do we have another question?" Clarkson said quickly and I put the microphone down again.

"Herbert Stein, BLICK. Charles, what is your opinion on what Lizzie said? You’re the teammate she’s talking about? Do you think you deserved the win today?"

"I’m not commenting on what Lizzie said because I understand where she’s coming from. As for if I deserved the win, no, I didn’t. Carlos was overall better this weekend. I have to push to be better the next." Charles answered and I had to roll my eyes.

"You don’t agree with Charles?" the reporter asked me and Charles looked at me.

I contemplated whether to answer or not.

"No, I don’t agree."

"Why?"

"It doesn’t matter who’s better the whole weekend. The race is what matters. Points are earned in the race. So it doesn’t matter if you were the best the whole weekend, if you don’t deliver on Sunday, you won’t make points. Also the other way around. So no, I think when one driver is faster, has more pace and especially when he would be taking the lead in the championship, I’d say I let this driver give it a go and not tell him to hold position. If he’s not faster then, you can still swap back, but just telling the driver off, for no apparent reason? Yeah no." I answered and there was a murmur going around.

"Alright, thank you everyone. That’s it for today, see you all in Suzuka."

I jumped up and walked back, Julie already waiting for me. The way she looked at me, I knew she wasn’t happy with what I said.

"I told you I won’t lie. Never. When they ask something, I answer honestly." I said and she sighed shaking her head.

"Yeah yeah whatever, let’s go."

"Lizzie! Wait." I heard Charles behind me "Julie, can you give us a moment? Thanks." he grabbed my hand and pulled me with him.

"I’m not apologising and I’m not backing down or stop-…" I began but he silenced me with a kiss.

"I love you." he whispered against my lips and then pulled me with him, following Julie "Here she’s yours again. I’ll pick you up later on." he kissed my cheek, then winked at Julie and walked off.

"Almost two years together and you still blush like on day one." she chuckled and I looked away, my face getting only hotter.

"Let’s go." I just said and we walked back in silence.

Charles POV:

"Charles?" I heard Lizzie walking up the stairs.

"Marianne, I’ll call you later. Lizzie just came home. Au revoir." I hung up right als Lizzie walked around the corner "Hi pretty girl."

"As if…" she snorted, plopping down next to me, taking a deep breath "I swear, I don’t even feel my legs anymore. JK was torturing me today..."

"Oh, my poor girl, you want a massage?" I asked her and she mumbled something inaudible.

"I'm taking a shower first and then I want that massage." she kissed my cheek and then got up, sauntering off when the doorbell rang "It's Joris."

"Alright, you go showering I'll see what he's up to." I followed her downstairs and heard the bedroom door close, wandering off into the kitchen.

"Lizzie? Charles?" Joris called out and I opened the fridge.

"Kitchen." I shouted and a moment later he put a big box on the kitchen island "Is that..." I made big eyes, looking at the box.

"Yeah. They called that it's ready so I said I'll pick it up." Joris replied and I nodded slowly.

"I cant believe it... 10 years already.." I breathed out and he took the water that I handed him.

"You know, he would be so proud of you, would he be here? Seeing how far you've made it?"

"How far I've made it? Some race wins, a vice championship and a ton of mistakes... that's how far I've made it..." I huffed.

"Charles..." Joris began but I shook my head.

"I know, I know." I said and he sighed "Now come on. Show it to me..."

"Alright." he opened the box, pulling the helmet in its bag out and sat it down on the counter, then put the box on the floor and undid the string of the bag "Ready?"

I nodded and Joris pulled the helmet out. It was beautiful. The perfect tribute. I was at a loss of words for a moment and picked the helmet up, looked over the details.

"They did an amazing job. It's perfect." I whispered and he nodded.

"It really is..." he replied, and I sat the helmet down "Are you okay?"

"Yeah... it's just a little overwhelming.." I sat down on a stool, eyes still on the helmet "I want to win this race. For him."

"I'm sure you'll do you your best to honour him!" Joris patted my back "And now I have to leave you, you're little secret with Marianne needs some more preparations."

"Thanks Jo, really." I got up and hugged him "See you tomorrow."

I was so lost in my thoughts that I flinched when Lizzie caressed my cheek gently.

"Hey you." she whispered, sitting down next to me, taking my hand, interlacing our fingers "What's going on in there." she kissed my temple gently.

"It's 10 years this year..." I whispered, nodding to the helmet.

"Its beautiful. Jules would be so proud of you. The man you've become, the driver..." she said quietly and I pulled her into my lap, holding her close.

"I just wish that by now he could be proud of me because I had won a title..." I breathed into the crook of her neck, inhaling the scent of her shampoo and conditioner.

"Charles... it wasn't that you weren't made to be a champion, it was more that you're team wasn't... but this year will be your year. I just know it. I know it didn't start the way you wanted it to. And I also know that with the way your team is handling you and Sainz at the moment it doesn't look like it's going to happen, but I have faith in you. I believe in you. In your abilities. This year is your year. I can feel it... and it will start in Japan. Where you will show everyone why Ferrari kept you. You will wear that helmet and you will honour Jules. You'll continue his legacy." she said softly but determined.

"I'll try my best."

"I know you will. You always do."

"God I love you…" I whispered and she giggled.

"I love you too. And now I want my massage!"

"Charles? We will film some C2 challenges today..." Sylvia said and I rolled my eyes.

"Is that really necessary?" l asked and she glared at me.

"I don't care whatever your problem is all of a sudden with Carlos, but here at Ferrari we are a unit. One family. And he is part of the family until the end of the year, so yes, it's necessary." her voice like venom.

"All of a sudden..." I chuckled bitterly and she cocked an eyebrow, right as Carlos walked in.

"Carlos, here, sit down. We have 3 challenges planned..." Sylvia began but I didn't listen.

I hardly participated and by the end of the second challenge she seemingly had enough

"Charles! Can you at least try to look like you're happy to be here?"

"I'm not a good actor..." I just shrugged and she sighed.

"This is for the sake of Ferrari! Can't you just swallow down whatever it is that gives you this attitude?"

"Nope. That's too much to swallow... Ferrari needs us to be good drivers. They need us to win races. Nothing more."

"Yeah? Then do your part!" she spat out and I looked at her "Win races."

She slammed her clipboard on the table, making everyone flinch, then stormed off and I sighed. Drama queen. The rest of the team looked at each other and then decided to leave and look for Sylvia, leaving only Carlos and me alone in the room.

"You could at least pretend like its all fun and games for the cameras..." Carlos said and looked at me.

"What?"

"It's our last year, we should end it on a high. Together. For the sake of Ferrari." He said and I laughed.

"Are you serious? After everything you pulled over the last season?" I asked and he rolled his eyes.

"Look. I don't care about who you're dating. But it shouldn't interfere with your job.

You're a Ferrari driver. Ferrari is important. Not Audi."

"Oh yeah? Audi is only important if they have a seat for you, no?"

"I don't care for next season. I care for this season. So, get your shit together. And do your job. Which is winning races... something you haven't done for a while... me on the other hand..." he got up and walked towards the door "2 wins in the last 11 races..."

"Singapore wasn't your win." my voice was trembling.

"See? That's what I mean. It was a Ferrari win... that should be your main priority. But no. it's because of your little girlfriend crashing out you're still sour an-..."

"And why was she crashing out?" I interrupted him, almost shouting.

"It was a racing accident, she could've backed down, but didn't so she crashed out... it wasn't even a bad crash, nothing happened..." he left and as soon as the door shut close, I slammed my fist on the table. Nothing happened. Nothing happened? I had to win this race. I had to wipe the grin out of his face. Winning was now more than essential. Not just for Jules. But also for Lizzie. I took a deep breath, calming myself down and then got up, searching for Mia, who didn't look too happy when I spotted her.

"I know, I know... I'll apologise to Sylvia later."

"Thank you. And now come. The media pen is waiting." she replied and I sighed.

"I can't wait."

"You're less grumpy when Lizzie is there as well." Mia chuckled and I pushed her a little

"It's cute so shut it."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I rolled my eyes playfully and followed her to the first interview, watching the press conference on the screen behind the reporter. Lizzie was chatting with Logan and Oscar, Pierre next to her was joking around with Carlos. His words still in the back of my mind. He sat there. Joking with Pierre, they even took a selfie together. He was talking about the seat in Audi next season like it was already his. I saw how tense Lizzie was, the unsettled look on her face. And as soon as I was done with my interviews, I wanted to pick Lizzie up, reassure her, but I saw Logan and Oscar leaving, then Pierre and Carlos, still talking eagerly, but no Lizzie, she must've left immediately when they were done. I saw how Pierre looked my way and walked off, I had to find Lizzie.

"Charles! Charles? Mate!" Pierre almost shouted but I kept walking "Hey! Didn’t you hear me?" he put his hand on my shoulder, making me stop "Charles?"

"Where’s your new bestie?" I spat out and he made big eyes. I didn’t want to sound this agitated. But the smirk on Carlos look when he talked about the seat in Audi. Lizzie’s seat. What he said earlier. It was all too much.

"What do you mean?" he looked at me confused.

"Didn’t know you and Sainz were this close… laughing together, making jokes, hanging out together, taking selfies…" I said coldly.

"Are you serious? Mate, he’s just a buddy we’re racing with? Come one?" Pierre asked taken aback.

"No. He’s not. He’s not just a buddy we’re racing with! And you know it! He’s… he did things… no. He’s no buddy of mine. Not since…" I began but he rolled his eyes.

"Yes. Singapore was fucked up. He knows it. He even said that after reviewing the videos he knows he was a little too aggressive! It’s water under the bridge! That’s racing, Charles. You know it. Lizzie knows it and also she’s fine. She’s alive and well. You should draw a line and let it got…" Pierre sighed.

"Let it go? Let it go? You have no idea what he did… you no. You don’t know. You know nothing. Just let it-… no fuck this." I was getting beyond mad. The look on Lizzie’s face in the hospital bed in my mind. Her tears. Broken voice. How she sat on the sofa earlier. All tense. I balled my hands into fists.

"Charles? Come on mate. The season is still long, you shouldn’t hold a grudge over nothing."

Nothing? Again that word.

"Fuck you, Gasly." I spat out, walking away.

"Oh hell no, what the fuck is your problem?" he grabbed my arm, pulling me back.

"LIZZIE LOST OUR BABY THAT NIGHT!" I full on screamed. Shocked about the words myself.

Pierre dropped his hand off my arm and looked at me with wide eyes.

"Because of your racing buddies little too aggressive stunt Lizzie lost our baby. That’s what the fuck my problem is… so no. It’s not nothing. It’s not water under the bridge. Because of him I had to hold my girlfriend in my arms, trembling, crying, blaming herself for something that was entirely his fault."

"Charles…" Pierre began, voice almost a whisper.

"No. I don’t want to hear it. I thought we were your friends. Lizzie and I. Just… forget it." I walked away, leaving Pierre behind, not looking back once. Around the next corner I leaned against the wall, taking a deep breath and wiping away the stray tears that had escaped. Focus. I had to find Lizzie.

"He’s a slimy, stupid, hairy, idiot." she punched into the pads on JKs hands and I had to chuckle "He wants my seat? My seat? The fuck he gets my seat. I’m going to destroy him."

"That’s my girl." I said, and she flinched a little "I thought I had to look after you, because you might be down or something… oh how wrong I was."

"Down? Because of that hairy Neanderthal? Fuck no. I’m furious and I want to see him in my mirrors whenever I cross the finish line from now on."

I hugged her and felt immediately relieved. Calm.

"We’ll start this Sunday." I said and she nodded determined.

The practices all went by in a fast blur. But when I prepared for my final attempt of setting the fastest time in Q3 a sense of calm washed over me. I blocked everything else out. Just focused on the task at hand. My car. The track. I took a deep breath and send it. Nothing else in my mind besides the sheer will to start the race tomorrow from the best position possible.

The lap felt like an eternity but also just a short moment at the same time when I crossed the finish line.

"And that's P1. You've done it! Good job!" Xavi said and I began to cheer.

"YEEEEEEES! Come on now! Let's go!" I shouted in the radio. I did it. Pole position "Where's Lizzie?"

"P2 Verstappen. P3 Lizzie. P4 Sainz..." he replied and I cheered even louder.

"Awesome job, Lizzie!" I screamed and I didn't give a single fuck how people would react over the fact that I was cheering on Lizzie, rather than Carlos.

When I parked my car at the P1 spot and got out I waited for Lizzie, hugging her tight as soon as she was out of her car.

"What a lap, mate!" Max said next to us, patting my back and I let out a relieved laugh.

"I'm just glad it all came together and worked out in the end." I said and he hugged Lizzie.

After a short celebration with the team, I took a big swig out of my bottle when I was waved over for the interview wit Martin.

"Now that's a podium I would sign." Martin Brundle said and I nodded "That last lap of yours looked spectacular. We know you're one of the best qualifiers on the grid, almost always flawless. But that today? Wow!"

"Thank you! I honestly just had a tunnel vision the whole lap. My mind was trained on nothing else. I think I was never this focused."

"The Ferrari's do have a lot of pace this season? They are closer to the Red Bulls then they would like, it seems?"

"We have a lot of pace, that's true, but the Red Bulls are still ahead of us." I replied and he nodded.

"Do you think a win is possible?"

"I will try my best."

"Tell us Charles, how does it feel starting this race from pole position, 10 years after that fatal accident of Jules, who you honour with your helmet this weekend." Martin asked and I swallowed hard

"It means a lot. I honestly don't even have the right words for it. But it's special. Now I just have to win tomorrow to make him proud." I said, feeling Lizzie's look on me. I turned a little and she smiled reassuringly at me.

"I'm sure he would be proud anyway." Martin patted my back and I smiled, walking towards Lizzie who hugged me again.

"He's right, it doesn't matter if you win or not, Jules would be proud anyway, just like your dad..." she whispered in my ear and I kissed the side of her head

"Thanks for always reminding me."

I stood next to my car. Looked up in the sky, closing my eyes. Took one last deep breath. I could do it. I had to do it. I felt a warm hand on my arm and looked down. Lizzie.

"Show everyone who you are today, mon cœur. Show them that you are one of the best. If not the best. I believe in you. We all do." she hugged me close, kissing my cheek "I love you, my winner." before I could say anything she sauntered away and I felt my cheek prickling.

"Charles?" Andrea said and I turned a little, a big smile on his face he handed me my balaclava and the my helmet "You’ll win this today." he patted my arm and I nodded, climbing into my car.

After the radio check, the formation lap, I closed my eyes for a moment. It was now or never. Lights out. Full focus. Full throttle. Nothing else mattered anymore. Just me. My car. The track. It was a tough start. I had to battle hard with Max and unfortunately lost. But I stayed at his rear. Attacked all the time, waited for my chance and finally, I overtook him and pushed the throttle harder than ever before. Like in a tunnel I raced through the corners. Only focus point the top step of the podium.

"Last lap, Charles. Bring it home." Xavi radioed and I pushed with everything that I had. The last few metres felt like the longest ride, I could feel Max at my rear wing at all times. But I kept the throttle fully pushed through. My leg began to cramp. My hands trembling. And then I saw it. The checkered flag.

"You’ve done it! That’s P1!" Xavi in my ear but I ignored him for a moment, taking a deep breath.

"This one’s for you, Jules!" I said, feeling the tears soaking my balaclava.

It was like slow motion, the cool down lap, parking the car, taking a moment before I got out. On shaky legs I stood next to the car. Feeling the emotions overcoming me. I kneeled down. Patted the sticker for Jules on my car, taking a deep breath, when I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned a little to see Lizzie standing next to me, the light of one of the headlights illuminating her. Her eyes sparkling. Her most beautiful smile adorning her gorgeous face.

"You did it Charles. For Jules. He’s so proud of you." I heard her faint voice as she was pulling me up into her arms "You proved them all wrong. I’m so proud of you. So, so proud."

"I won…" I mumbled and heard her soft giggling.

"You did. You won." she pulled away, kissing my helmet and gently pushed me toward my team "Go. Celebrate. This is your moment."

I nodded slightly and when I walked to my team I saw Pierre, looking at me, tapping his feet as if he was contemplating what to do. Lizzie nudged his shoulder and he pulled her in a tight hug out of nowhere and she just shook her head, wiping what looked like a tear from his cheek before she pushed him towards me. I turned my back on him for a moment, celebrated with my team, all smiling and chanting. Then I turned back around and Pierre stood in front of me.

"I’m sorry. I had no idea… I swear would I know what happened… I would never-…" he began, his voice trembling. Lizzie behind him nodded at me and I sighed, pulling Pierre into a hug "I’m so, so sorry!"

"It’s okay… you didn’t know and it wasn’t okay from me to react like this…" I said, hearing his sigh of relief.

"No you had all rights! I can’t believe what happened…"

"We’re good. Lizzie is good. But I’ll never forget what he did…" I said and Pierre nodded.

"No. No you shouldn’t…" we went silent for a moment, but then he patted my back "You won. Suzuka. Jules would be so freaking proud of you."

"Yeah… I hope so."

"Go. Celebrate. You deserve it." he pushed me towards Lizzie again and then walked off.

The next moments felt amazing. During the interviews, the podium, Lizzie was smiling at me the whole time. I felt almost invincible when I lifted the trophy up into the sky. On top of the world. And when we walked down the stairs from the podium, trophy in hand, it all overwhelmed me.

"Hey? Come with me…" Lizzie whispered pulling me away from it all "Take a deep breath for me."

I slowly did, closing my eyes for a moment. Feeling my eyes tear up.

"It’s okay. Let it all out."

"I won." I whispered and she smiled, nodding.

"You won." she replied pulling me into her arms "You did it. You drove brilliantly today. You won against Max…"

"I can’t believe it, I swear…"

"I can. I never had any doubt. This year is your year. My world champion to be." she kissed my cheek and pulled away slowly "I know that this year, you’re going to win the title."

"I hope you’re right."

"I am. I believe in it."

The euphoria of the win in Japan carried me over the next days. It was hectic, simulator work in Maranello, marketing shoots for LEC and then finally the launch party for LEC, where everyone from friends to family showed up to support me.

"And as much as I’m a huge vanilla ice cream lover, the Swirly Pistachi-OH! grew on me, as it’s Lizzie’s favourite." I answered one of the many questions, smiling at Lizzie, who talked with Nicholas.

"How did you come up with the names?"

"Lizzie and I named them. It was a very fun process. She also chose the designs with me. I had this whole idea because of her in the first place. When we were in Maranello last season, we were on a run with our coaches and then we saw some kids eating huge ice cream bowls and Lizzie, and me as well, were a little jealous that they could eat ice cream at any time and as much as they want while we… well we can’t. And born was the idea of LEC."

"Thank you Charles. Enjoy the rest of the night."

And we sure did. After the launch we threw a little after party, which was also a surprise birthday party for Joris who was smiling like crazy.

"To Joris, best friend, assistant and personal photographer you could wish for!" I raised my glass and everyone else did the same.

"To Joris!" Lizzie hugged him, kissing his cheek "Thank you for always dealing with not just Charles craziness but also mine."

"Oh stop." Joris blushed a little but Lizzie shook her head.

"No. Without you we would’ve been a lot of times in real trouble." she chuckled and I nodded, agreeing.

"Yeah, on so many occasions you were our voice of reason." I added and he laughed.

"Then let me be your voice of reason today as well… we should call it a day… or rather a night. Your flight is tomorrow quite early." Joris said and Lizzie laughed.

"See!"

We left shortly after, because Joris was right, our flight to China was quiet early on Sunday morning and since it was quite a long time since we raced in Shanghai, we should be fit and well rested. So when it was time to board the plane we felt fresh and ready for our journey ahead.

"What are you thinking?" I asked Lizzie a few hours into our flight, when she looked up from her notebook.

"I never raced in China… I’m a little nervous to be honest." she whispered and I pulled her to my side.

"Let’s do the track walk together and I tell you everything I can remember about the track, how does that sound?" I suggested and she smiled at me.

"Sounds good…" she still sounded worried and I kissed her temple.

"Don’t worry, okay? It will be fine. You’ll manage to adapt, like always." I reassured her and she nodded slowly, looking out of the window.

I knew how nervous she was, how the articles about her future or rather Carlos future at Audi were nagging at her, although she tried to hide it. Didn’t want to show how it all was affecting her. But I could see it. The next days she was tense, the questions about her future were taking their toll on her and it showed in her performance on Friday.

"P14… 14!" Lizzie was pacing back and forth, shoulders tense, head hung low "How am I supposed to make it into the points from there?"

"It’s just the sprint. You’ll be better in the quali tomorrow." I calmed her down but she shook her head.

"Charles, I can’t make any mistakes! I can’t be this bad. The Audi board will monitor every little mistake that I make. I have to make as many points as possible."

I got up from the bed and grabbed her by the waist, pulling her close.

"You didn’t make a mistake! Lance was impeding you. There was nothing you could do!" I put my forehead on her’s and she took a deep breath.

"Yeah but I still need the points…" she sighed and I nodded, making her head move with mine.

"You will make up some positions, okay? And on the real race on Sunday you’ll show what you’ve got, okay?" I kissed her forehead and she nodded slowly.

"Okay…"

"Good. And now, let’s eat and then go to bed."

"Okay…" she said again and I still saw the doubt in her eyes. How unsure she was.

And by the end of Saturday, nothing really changed.

"I don’t know how you kept your cool against Sainz today." she said, cracking her knuckles looking exhausted.

"I mean, what could I have done, you know?" I said and she nodded slightly.

"I want to go home. I swear I hate this track…" she leaned back, closing her eyes.

"It’s okay. You’ll do fine in the race tomorrow! P8 isn’t that bad! You can still make it into the top 5!" I threw my arm around her shoulder, pulling her into my side "Heads up, okay?"

"I don’t know. I feel like our car is just not working around here…" Lizzie groaned and I kissed the side of her head.

"Tomorrow will be a better day. You’ll see. You’ll do good. I’ll do good. It will be fine."

"I hope you’re right."

I got out of my car, shaking my head in disappointment but also a churning in my stomach. A weekend to forget. For me and Lizzie. I congratulated Max, Lando and Checo and went quickly to my weighing. I took my receipt and made my way to the Audi garage.

"She’s not here." Felix said when he saw me approaching and I looked at him "She’s in her room and she’s…"

"How is she?" I asked.

"She’s okay. All clear. Apart from that? Mad? Frustrated? Sad? Furious?"

"Okay… I just saw the replay on the screens… didn��t look too good."

"It looked worse than it was. She said it herself." he replied and I nodded.

"I’m sorry, Felix. Lizzie looked strong out there."

"What do you guys like to say? It’s like this?" he shrugged his shoulders and I chuckled a little.

"Yeah. When you see her, tell her I’ll pick her up after my debrief."

"Sure."

I waved my goodbyes and went to our garage. Trying to be as calm as possible. Another race weekend, another Carlos shit show. Fred patted my back nodding towards Mia and I smiled at her, thanking my mechanics on my way to her. The interviews were done faster as usual. I wasn’t saying anything about Carlos, trying to stay as neutral as possible. I came back to the hospitality and changed out of my racing suit, getting ready for our team debrief. Grabbing my bag and made it back to the garage, waiting for the debrief to start. I sat alone for a while, then Andrea joined me, handing me my water bottle, right as Fred came in with Jock and Enrico.

"You’re here early." Jock said and I nodded.

"I want to leave as fast as I can…"

"Is she okay?"

"I haven’t seen her. But Felix said yes."

"I don’t understand what Norris did there…" Enrico said and I nodded.

"Me neither but what can I say, he’s not the only one who made questionable decisions today, no?" I shrugged my shoulders.

"Charles…" Fred warned but I only held my hands up in defeat.

I leaned back and watched the interviews of the day playing on the tv in the corner, right when Carlos interview started to play. With every second I watched my mood got worse. He was blaming me for his bad result. I was in his way? What the actual fuck.

"Is he for real? It was my fault? My fault?" I looked at Fred.

"We‘ll debrief it…" he began.

"He pushed me off in the sprint yesterday and then what the fuck was he doing at the start today? And now he’s blaming me for it?" I was fuming and Fred tried to calm me down.

"Charles, please.." he began but I sighed when I saw Carlos entering the room "Calm down, okay?"

I scoffed and looked at Fred, waiting for the room to fill up.

"Alright, some positive things, some negative things. First off, we managed to take home as many points as possible this weekend.." Fred began but I didn't even listen, waiting for the moment I could finally leave and check on Lizzie.

"Charles?" Fred looked at me and I blinked.

"What?"

"I said I wanted your opinion on the race start."

"I already gave my opinion on the radio..." was the only thing I said.

"And I gave mine. The racing line you were going in turn 1, turn 2 was weird and…" Carlos began.

"I was in my racing line as I was ahead of you, if you squabble into my racing line, don't blame me. Russell and Hulkenberg only went by because you were in my line, and I had to go wide. Again." I interrupted him.

"Whatever." Carlos rolled his eyes and I scoffed.

"Exactly... whatever when it’s something you did. Let's discuss and put the blame on me every other time. Yeah, yeah I get it." I said and the room fell silent.

"Alright. Umm- let's move forward, Miami. As you might know, we have a special livery and racing suit for Miami..." Fred began but I wasn't listening again.

I wanted to leave. Now. I wanted to go to Lizzie.

"Charles?" Andrea nudged my shoulder and I looked up

"We're ready, we can leave."

"Alright..." I got up and followed him outside, taking my phone out "I'm going to Lizzie..." Andrea patted my back and I left, walking to the Audi hospitality. I watched her get up from the armchair, flinching a little when she walked towards me.

"Hey you..." she said gently, kissing my cheek.

"Hey, are you okay?" I replied, cupping her cheeks ans looking her once over.

"It looked worse than it was… I’m fine."

"I’m sorry that he ruined your race…"

"Yeah, what can I say… it’s like this. We can’t change it now." she sighed and I took her hand, walking outside and thankfully almost no fans were waiting for us.

I had enough of this day, Lizzie looked exhausted and tired and I just wanted to go back to the hotel, make her eat something, go to bed and then go back home.

"You're awfully quiet..." Lizzie said after a while and I sighed "Oh, that bad? What happened?"

"The same shit as always..." I said, stopping at a red light.

"Okay?"

"Carlos does what he wants, blames me, I say my word, no one cares…" I shrugged and Lizzie sighed.

"I had high hopes that it would change, once Fred takes over..." she mumbled and I chuckled bitterly "They signed you. Not him. You're their future, they should listen to you..."

"Yeah maybe, but apparently it’s not like that." I mumbled and she caressed my cheek, turning to look at me.

"Maybe you need to talk to Fred?" she suggested and I nodded.

"Yeah. Maybe. But for now I just want to go home." I smiled a little, thinking about our upcoming anniversary and the little surprise I had planned for Lizzie.

"Me too. Netflix will bother us for a hot minute tho..." she sighed and I grabbed her thigh, squeezing it, I already took care of that as well "I had a talk with Elijah and we will film a little something…"

"It will be fine, don't worry."

"If you say so." she chuckled.

Oh I knew so. I just didn't say anything. Not raising any suspicions. But it was all well thought through. And the moment we arrived back at home, I started to make the final preparations for the big surprise.

"And Lizzie has no idea?" Elijah asked, while the film crew captured everything I was doing.

"Nope. Not a single clue. For once I was able to keep a secret to myself." I laughed as we walked through the garden gate, Marianne already awaiting.

"Salut Charles! Come on in!" she greeted me, and I felt the giddiness overcoming me. Sure, it was a surprise for Lizzie, and I knew how excited she would be, but it was also for me. Something I've always dreamed of myself.

"Ready to bring him home?" Marianne asked when we stepped in the back, three little puppies playing in the play pen, one of them jumped excited up the fence as soon as he spotted me "Seems like he is ready."

"Hey Arlo." I bent down, picking him up and he began licking my face immediately "Ready, little one?" I turned to Elijah and the film crew "Meet Arlo Doetterer-Leclerc, our newest family member."

"Oh my god, he's adorable." Sarah, the sound lady said and I stepped closer to her, so she could pet Arlo.

"You have everything you need?" Marianne asked me and I nodded.

"I bought everything from the list you gave me, I set up his crate and bed. Now it's only him who's missing." I said and she chuckled.

"I guess you are really ready to go then!" she said and I smiled.

"Let's say goodbye to your siblings and mum..." I sat him back down in the play pen, watching how he tolled around with his brother and sister. Marianne then brought out Arlo's mum and I picked him up and sat him down in front of her "Don't' worry, little one, we will come and visit your mum from time to time."

"You can always come by, maybe we can set up some playdates when his siblings are coming over." Marianne bent down, scratching Arlos's head.

"Definitely..." I agreed and Marianne picked him up and handing him over.

"We stay in touch then!" she smiled and I nodded.

"We will. Bye Marianne." I said and Eijah and the rest of the crew waved goodbye.

"Let's go, we have to hurry a little if we want to be at home before Lizzie gets back." I opened the passenger door and sat Arlo down, putting his harness on and then sat him into the transport box, clipping the harness into the security hook

"Alright. Tomorrow then?"

"Yes, just text us when you're ready and we're coming over." Elijah said and I nodded "See you tomorrow."

"See you guys tomorrow then." I got in the car and drove back to Monaco, Arlo next to me barking "We almost made it Arlo. Soon you'll see your new home, you'll gonna love it." I parked the car, glad to see that Lizzie's car wasn't here, and got Arlo out of the transport box when Lizzie called.

"Hey cara mia." I said, hoping Arlo would be quiet.

"Chicken and salmon for tomorrow and Friday?" she asked and I chuckled.

"Yep sounds good, for tonight I reserved a table at Antonios." I lied. I ordered food because I knew Lizzie wouldn’t want to leave once she saw Arlo.

"Sounds good. I'm almost home, you need anything else?"

"Nope just you.." I stepped out of the elevator, unlocking the door.

"Alright, half an hour and you have me." she laughed.

"Perfect. Love you. Bye." I hung up right in time for Arlo to let out a bark for ignoring him too long "Sorry buddy. Your mum is almost home come on now, I have to get you ready!"

I walked upstairs with him and sat him down, getting the bow I had prepared. I sat down and Arlo immediately jumped between my legs, happily barking and huffing. Tying the bow around him was harder than expected and I soon realised it might not go that easy.

"Oh come on, little one! Hold still! No! No! Stop! Arlo!" how could a small fur ball like him exhaust me after not even 30 minutes! I tried again tying the bow around him, but he just jumped out of my lap, following the reflection of my watch, barking his adorable little barks "Okay, come on now! Good boy! Good boy! Yes, come here." I cooed and he looked at me tilting his head a little, looking adorable "Please, you little nugget! Your mum will be here any minute! Pleeeeaseee!" He jumped back in my lap, starting to lick my face "No! Stop! Stay! Arlo, stay! Good boy! Now just let me… no stay! Arrrghh! Arlo!" I gave up. It wasn’t working. I plopped down and Arlo jumped on my chest "Yeah, we definitely need to go to the puppy school with you, you little rascal!" he laid down on my chest, looking at me with his big puppy eyes "You’re the cutest, little, good boy! Your mum is going to freak out! She’s crazy for dogs! You’ll be spoiled and cuddled and kissed and loved all the time!" he barked a little and then attacked my face with more licks and dog kisses. A notification on my phone let me know that Lizzie just entered our home and I scooped the little rascal up, going out on the terrace, waiting for Lizzie to come up.

"Shhh… just a few more minutes little one! Come on! Don’t bark!" I pleaded and Arlo stumbled over his own feet and let out a little bark "Shhh!"

"Charles? I'm home?" I heard Lizzie coming up the stairs "Are you even here?"

I opened the screen door fully and sat Arlo down.

"Go..." I whispered to him right when Lizzie rounded the corner and as if he understood his assignment he trotted towards her, tilting his head adorably, stopping in front of her.

"Cha-…" she began but then stopped abruptly, staring at Arlo "Wha-... who-... Charles? There is a puppy... a beautiful, gorgeous, cute and adorable puppy... in our flat..." she whispered, and I stepped behind Arlo.

"Lizzie, meet Arlo Doetterer-Leclerc, our new fur baby." I smiled and Lizzie had tears in her eyes, falling down on her knees and scooping up Arlo who happily jumped into her arms, licking her face "Happy second anniversary, cara mia."

"He's really ours? Our fur baby?" Lizzie looked at me and I nodded "Our baby boy?"

"Our baby boy." I chuckled and Lizzie got up, Arlo pressed to her chest, storming right into my arms "I mean initially your's as a gif-..." I began but she pressed her lips on mine, and I was melting into her touch.

"I love you, Charles. So much. This... he's the best gift I could ever receive. Our little fur baby." she whispered against my lips, sniffeling "He's so perfect!" she cooed, kissing Arlos head over and over again "My two perfect boys."

I chuckled and pulled her towards the sofa, sitting down with Lizzie snuggled into my side, Arlo in her arms, littering him with kisses. His big eyes on her. I was right, he immediately fell in love with her, like everyone who meets her does.

Chapter 43 - Welcome to the family, Arlo Doetterer-Leclerc, when I started this story last July I wrote so many little blurbs and created Insta posts and was so excited for when I finally could use them! That Charles now has a puppy in real life is just another one of these funny coincidences 🙈 that THE Lewis Hamilton comments and says he’s happy for Roscoe to have a friend in the hospitality (I actually meant paddock but hey) is also and added bonus 🙈👀 and ALSO CONGRATS CHARLES ON P3 TODAY!

Please leave a comment/ like/ reblog/ message and tell me how you liked it! I'm dying to hear your thoughts!

If you want to be added to the taglist, drop a comment!

Last but not least, English is not my first language and although I tried my best: please excuse any mistakes I made!

Taglist:

@silkenthusiasts @eugene-emt-roe @sunny44 @itsjustkhaos @glitterquadricorn @aundercover @kakorrhaphiphobia @alittlebitofbooksandmagic @ru-kru @shimmermotorsport @janeh22 @kahhorri @18754389 @chiliwhore @hellowgoodbye @queensassybitchsworld @harrysdimple05 @skynel09

All the images I’m using are from Google, Pinterest and Instagram (or self made).

[thef155]

Note: this was posted prior to the LH->Ferrari news

I really, really hope the rumors that Carlos might have only a short-term contract extension (i.e. until the end of 2025) are true. That may be a blow to his pride, and I feel for him deeply, but breaking away from Ferrari by 2026 would be the absolute best thing for him.

If you don’t know, Carlos and Charles are both currently contracted to Ferrari until the end of 2024, and both are now currently in talks for extensions. According to La Gazetta (grain of salt required), Charles is taking a five year extension to 2029 (whyyyy Charles? why do that to yourself?). Meanwhile, Carlos has asked for a 2-year extension, but Ferrari reportedly only want to offer him 1 year for now. Carlos potentially becoming a free agent for 2026 is very significant because that's the start of the next regulations era in F1; a new formula and new rules come into play, ushering in new engines and new cars and opening up the field for new contenders. It’s also when Audi will be stepping onto the grid as they take over at Sauber (currently Alfa Romeo). Importantly, Audi have been long-rumored to be interested in Carlos as the driver they want to sign and build their new team around.

I'm not going to delve into how much Ferrari has treated Carlos like shit, because we all know that story, and none of us are actually surprised to see the team undervalue the man who keeps them afloat when all else fails and gives them their only win in a season. I don't think Ferrari ever expected Carlos to be so competitive and push il Predestinado the way he has, and now it's bit awkward for them. But the fact is that Ferrari have now gone all in on Charles with this 5-year deal, and now they have no choice but to make every other decision around that. It makes sense that they would offer just a 1-year extension if Carlos is asking for 2 years because they know a 2-year contract would be no more meaningful than a 1-year if other teams are seriously interested in Carlos. If Audi (or McLaren, if Lando leaves) really want to get Carlos for 2026, they will have no qualms about swooping in during the 2025 silly season to buy Ferrari out of Carlos’s last contract year. They know what they have with Carlos even if they aren't going to publicly recognize it, so it's in Ferrari’s best interest to keep their options open for shopping if they don’t want to risk being caught out dry in 2026.

But let’s forget all that and talk about the most interesting part of all this to me: that Carlos asked for something as short as a 2-year extension. He knows Charles is getting 5 years, so why?

This tells me that Carlos has finally begun to lose faith that Ferrari is the best place for him. That’s a pretty damn big deal, because—although this gets overshadowed by Charles’s love story with the Scuderia—Carlos’s passion for Ferrari and the Tifosi is no small thing. I think he smiled bigger on the third step of the podium at Monza than he did at Silverstone for his maiden win. Winning a WDC with Ferrari is (or was) his life’s dream.

But maybe 2023–his best year ever—is what Carlos needed to stop ignoring the writings on the wall. Maybe he’s starting to admit to himself that he’s never going to get the support (or competence) he needs from Ferrari to achieve his dreams. Maybe he's understanding that he's found success not because of Ferrari, but in spite of them.

Carlos is too good to be a No. 2 driver. We know it, Ferrari definitely knows it (and that’s their problem), and—most importantly—Carlos knows it. Ferrari can go ahead and search for someone this talented who's also willing to roll over and be their next Rubens Barrichello. Because it sure as hell won’t be Carlos Sainz, Jr.

[diagnozabam]

VW AVB: Motorul Diesel 1.9 TDI – Caracteristici și Detalii

Motorul Volkswagen AVB 1.9 TDI, parte din seria EA188, a fost proiectat pentru vehicule cu unitate de propulsie montată longitudinal. Cunoscut pentru eficiența și fiabilitatea sa, acest motor a fost instalat frecvent pe modele precum VW Passat B5, Audi A4 B6 și Skoda Superb 1. Specificații tehnice Ani de producție: 2000–2005 Cilindree: 1.896 cm³ Sistem de alimentare: Injectoare unitare…

[sngl-led-auto-lights]

Why don’t governments ban white headlights for cars and bikes as the vehicle moving in the opposite direction finds it difficult to drive due to the upcoming vehicle with white headlights?

Governments won’t ban white headlights outright because color temperature itself isn’t the primary cause of glare – instead, regulations focus on beam intensity, alignment, and technology to balance visibility and safety. Here’s why bans aren’t the solution, and how modern standards address glare:

Why white light isn’t banned

Human vision science:

White light (4,000-6,500K) simulates daylight, which improves object recognition and reduces eye fatigue compared to yellow light (3,000K).

Example: EU regulations mandate white headlights (≥ 4,000K) for better peripheral vision.

Efficiency: White LED/HID produces 3-5 times more usable light than halogen lamps at lower energy consumption.

Regulatory standards: Global regulations (e.g., UNECE, FMVSS) allow white headlights, but strictly limit glare through:

Beam cutoff angle (e.g., low beam must remain below the horizon).

Maximum intensity cap (e.g. EU low beam max intensity capped at 1,500 lumens).

The real culprits of glare

Problem Cause Solution Misaligned beam Crash, accident or improper installation Alignment check mandatory during inspection. Aftermarket kit too bright Illegal for 10,000K LED/HID lamps exceeding 2,5000 lumens Fines for non-compliant bulbs (e.g. US DOT fines up to $1,000). Dirty/cloudy lenses Scattered light from oxidized plastics Enforcement of lens clarity standards (e.g. UK MOT test). Tall vehicles (SUV/trucks) beam directly into the rearview mirror, beam angle can be adjusted based on height.

How regulations address glare without banning white light

Adaptive headlights (ADB/AHS):

Use cameras/sensors to dim the portion of the beam that could dazzle oncoming vehicles (e.g. Mercedes’ digital lighting system). Auto-leveling:

Headlights adjust tilt based on vehicle load/terrain (mandatory for HID/LED headlights in the EU since 2006). Color temperature cap:

Some countries limit bulb color temperature to ≤6500K (e.g., India’s ARAI regulations) to avoid bluish glare. Tighter enforcement:

US: NHTSA tests for “blinding glare” in FMVSS 108.

EU: UNECE R112 mandates “sharp-cutoff” low beams.

Why banning white light is counterproductive

Safety tradeoff: Yellow light (3000K) reduces glare but reduces visibility by 20-30%, increasing nighttime collision risk.

Technology neutrality: Regulations focus on performance, not color. Banning white light would stifle innovations like laser headlights.

Real data: IIHS study shows that well-designed LED headlights can reduce nighttime crashes by 19%—glare problems stem from misuse, not the technology itself.

What drivers can do

Report illegal lights: Submit photos/videos of vehicles with glaring headlights to police (cite specific law, e.g., California’s CVC §25950).

Choose compliant bulbs: Look for DOT/ECE markings (e.g., OSRAM Night Breaker 200%: 4200K, ECE certified).

Adjust beams: Use a 25-foot wall to set low beams 2-4 inches lower than headlights.

The future: Smarter headlights Matrix LEDs (Audi, BMW): Black out individual pixels to avoid dazzling drivers.

V2X communications: Cars signal each other to pre-dim beams.

Summary: Glare issues can be solved with smart design and execution, not color bans. If your government lacks glare regulations, advocate for adoption of UNECE/FMVSS standards. Better engineering, not less light, is the solution. 🔧💡

[carrepairspecialistsmelbourne]

5 Common BMW and Audi 2.0 Diesel Engine Problems Along with Transmission

Luxury cars from popular brands are powerful, but they also have problems. Whether you own a Mercedes or Aston Martin, any brand can bother you, like Audi 2.0 diesel engine problems. Only a few car repairers can promise confirmed refining, removing every mechanical issue. However, there are also reputable mechanics who claim 100% rejuvenation, no matter how severe the condition.

When it comes to resolving 2005 BMW 745li transmission problems, only established car repairers can handle the older models. Their years of experience have taught them the technical similarities and differences between the car models. Now, only with one test drive can they measure or find out what exact improvements your car needs.

5 Common engine and Transmission problems in Audi and BMW Cars:

Oil Leaks: It can occur in both Audi and BMW engines due to issues with gaskets, seals, or worn-out components. If left unaddressed, oil leaks can lead to potential damage to internal engine parts and reduced engine performance.

Engine Misfires: It can result from faulty ignition coils, spark plugs, or fuel injectors. A misfiring engine can cause rough idling, reduced fuel efficiency, and a noticeable decrease in functioning.

Coolant System Failures: Problems with the coolant system can lead to overheating, which may arise from coolant leaks, a faulty water pump, or a malfunctioning thermostat.

Transmission Fluid Leaks: Both brands may experience transmission fluid leaks over time, which can be caused by worn-out seals or gaskets. It may lead to low fluid levels and potential transmission damage.

Gearbox Issues: This may include hard shifting, delayed engagement, or slipping gears. These issues can be caused by worn clutch packs, faulty solenoids, or electronic control module malfunctions.

To conclude, Audi and BMW owners may face similar engine and transmission complications that can be addressed only by experienced car engineers. Find a renowned auto service mechanic in Melbourne and book an appointment for a thorough consultation.

Source

[redsnowdrop]

FERRARI’S PROBLEMS

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According to former Formula 1 world champion Nico Rosberg, the Ferrari team is close to an epochal change. For 82 years, the Prancing Horse has been working in the Maranello headquarters, in the heart of the “motor valley”, since the legendary Enzo Ferrari moved his car company there after his origins in Modena.

Now, however, it cannot be ruled out that Ferrari, which is going through a deep crisis during the 2025 world championship, with rumors of Leclerc and Vasseur leaving, is thinking of landing beyond national borders, an event that if confirmed would be sensational.

"I've seen a bit of how the internal mechanisms of Ferrari work," said Nico Rosberg speaking to the SkySports F1 podcast, "and you can see that their level of excellence is not comparable to that of the British teams - and especially Mercedes - in many areas, starting with marketing." According to the former German driver, therefore, Maranello would be a step backwards compared to the Formula 1 teams in certain "modern" aspects, let's call them that. The former Mercedes driver continued: “The fact that they are in Italy makes everything much more difficult for them,” before referring to his own experience: “For example, in Mercedes, whenever Lewis had something to say, he would turn to Toto Wolff, who would immediately make the decision and decide on his own. Done. While in Ferrari there are so many people making the decisions, and even Lewis doesn’t really know what to say: ‘Okay, if I ask him, he says yes and does it, and then the other one keeps complaining’. It’s all a bit complicated there,” thus underlining an excessive bureaucracy, perhaps a bit typical of Italy.

Then Rosberg clarifies: "There are a couple of ideas that I've heard circulating. I think Ferrari is considering opening some sort of branch in the United Kingdom, because that's where the F1 ecosystem is. I've heard rumors - he reiterates - that they're thinking about it too".

The United Kingdom is the home par excellence of Formula 1 teams and across the Channel there are Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Aston Martin, Williams and Racing Bulls. Alpine is also based in Enston despite the engines being made in France, while Sauber is Swiss and Audi is German. Finally, Haas is divided between the United States, Maranello (for the Ferrari engine) and Banbury.

Is the Prancing Horse really ready for what would be an epochal change? We will have to wait and see if Rosberg's rumors will be confirmed. In the meantime, these are hectic days in Maranello not only for the SF-25, which is anything but high-performance, but also for the possible postponement of the brand's first electric supercar, which according to Reuters could only be released in 2028.

Source: Roberto “Maz” Mazzu