#between the red flag and the parc ferme thing...

[rt3nenbaum]

pookie was mad AS HELL

[vitalverstappen]

Homecoming - C. Leclerc

summary: have you ever had a massive crush on your team rival?

pairing: Charles Leclerc x Red Bull driver! reader

warnings: drinking, swearing, use of y/n

word count: 5.5k

a/n: so @coco-loco-nut (aka my irl bestie) and i both wrote fics based on the same concept, theirs is linked at the end!

smau

masterlist

Contrary to popular opinion, Monaco was one of, if not your least favorite racetrack. It was narrow, making it hard to pass and way too easy to defend. Analysts would say all of that makes the Grand Prix exciting, while you found it to be just plain stupid. For the last half of the race, you were stuck in a DRS train in 10th, sandwiched between Alex in front and Pierre behind. 

“Fucking hell guys, this is boring.” You complained over the radio “Sorry I can’t do any better right now” 

And you couldn’t do any better the rest of the race. While your race was nowhere near eventful, you were able to get glimpses of the screens showing Charles crossing the checkered flag first at his home race. You didn’t bother fighting the smile growing on your face. He had worked all of his life for this moment. He deserved every bit of euphoria. 

You slid into parc ferme along with the rest of the midfield, barely able to get out of the car and reconnect your steering wheel fast enough. Sprinting down parc ferme, you found Charles celebrating with his team and family. When he eventually wriggled his way out of their grasp, you were able to approach him. 

“Congrats Charlie. Well deserved man” You said, embracing him in a hug 

“Thank you, thank you” Was all he was able to get out. 

As the podium celebration ensued, you and Max made your way to the media pen. Dozens of news outlets were scattered around the barrier, prompting you to separate from your teammate. The interviewer greeted you before going through the standard questions of what went wrong in the race. 

“Now let’s talk about something that happened after the race” The interviewer spoke, leading you to raise an eyebrow. “I think everyone who wasn’t looking at Leclerc was watching you run down parc ferme to greet him. Can you tell me a bit about that?” 

You couldn’t help but chuckle. At the time, you didn’t think twice about doing it, but being asked about your actions, you probably looked crazy doing it. “Yeah I mean it’s always exciting watching someone win their home race. It’s something I’ve dreamed of since I started watching Formula One as a little girl” 

A pause took over for a moment as you decided on the best way to word your next thoughts. “Charles is a very good friend of mine. He’s someone who welcomed me to the championship with open arms last year. On track I always want to give him a good fight if possible, but off the track I’m always going to support him.” 

Now Charles wasn’t usually one to eavesdrop on interviews. Most of the drivers said the same things over and over again, occasionally rephrasing. But whenever he heard your sweet southern accent, he couldn’t help but to listen in on what you had to say. 

When your words hit his ears, he could feel his heart stop. He wasn’t expecting you to confess a secret crush that no one knew you had to some interviewer, but a guy could dream. Instead, you very publicly friendzoned the Monegasque. 

Little did he know, you did in fact have a massive secret crush that only one person knew about. That one person was your teammate. And boy did he know a lot about it. 

“Did I just friendzone Charles with that?” You asked as the two of you walked towards the Red Bull garage for the team meeting. 

“Honestly maybe” Max said “Depends on if Charles is smart enough to realize you said it because you weren’t stupid enough to reveal your emotions to the media” 

“So then I definitely friendzoned him. Got it” You sighed

You weren’t sure if it was just how boring the entire day was, but the team meeting felt like it was dragging on. While you were zoning in and out of listening to Horner and Marko explain every single thing that was wrong with how you drove, you spotted Max next to you on his phone. 

“What are you doing?” You whispered 

Max’s head snapped up to look at you, quickly turning off his phone as he did so. “Oh, uh nothing” 

You shrugged, not thinking anything of Max’s reaction. He was always a private person, and you understood not wanting anyone to know your private conversations. 

Later that night, you traded your fireproofs for a little black top and jeans, as you and the grid were going out to celebrate Charles’ win. You were the last of the drivers to arrive, all of the boys jokingly blaming it on the fact you took longer to get ready, but in reality you needed the time to calm your nerves. 

You had gone to the club with the grid plenty of times before, but none of them revolved around Charles being the center of attention. You knew he was going to be bouncing around the group, spending time with everyone, and you were sure you didn’t want to make a fool out of yourself. 

Meanwhile, Charles was worrying about himself. When he drank, he got flirty. He knew it, Max knew it, even the fans knew it. The only person he was sure didn’t know was you. And that was only because he never drank as much as he usually does when he’s around you. 

He was already a few drinks deep when you finally showed up. He was near the back of the room, but he could spot your figure from a mile away. As you navigated through the sweaty bodies and sticky floors, Charles was easily able to get your attention by a wave of his hand. 

That wave turned into a hug, followed by a kiss on either cheek from the Monegasque. You realized it was just a cultural difference, and that’s how he greeted all of his female friends, but that didn’t stop your heart from fluttering. 

“Congrats again Charlie” You said finally spoke 

“Thank you mon amour, why don't I get you a drink to celebrate?” He asked, his words already starting to slur a bit 

“I can pay for myself. If anything so should be getting you a drink, for the winner after all” You replied. 

“No, no, no. Let me get it for you.” He insisted “You wouldn’t want to disappoint the winner, now would you?” 

You knew you weren’t going to win this round, so you let him buy you a drink. He followed you up to the bar where he easily got the attention of the bartender. 

“Moscow mule and a vodka redbull, blue edition” He ordered

Your head snapped to look at him, surprised he knew what you wanted. Regardless of how many times you’ve gone out drinking with him, you knew you never told him what your usual was. 

“You know my drink order?” You asked 

“I’m just that good” He shrugged as the bartender handed him the beverages. Charles handed you the vodka redbull as the two of you walked away from the bar. “Feel free to put the rest of your drinks on my tab tonight” 

It was a no-brainer that Charles was going to be the center of attention all night. Not even thirty seconds after you got your drinks, his childhood friends whisked him away. Then it was his friends from Ferrari. And then his brothers. And then those people who claimed they were friends with him, but only got close with him after he became famous. 

But no matter how many times he got carried away, he always found his way back to you. Even if it was just for a second, Charles made sure he checked on you throughout the night. 

The majority of your night was spent with Max, Logan and Oscar. You were lucky you got along well with your teammate, and you, Logan, and Oscar all grew close due to being the rookies the season prior. It also helped that Logan was the only other American on the grid. 

“So what’s going on between you and Charles?” Oscar asked 

“Oh uh nothing. We’re just friends” You said, hoping the Aussie would drop the topic 

Unfortunately for you, Logan decided to call you out. “Oh bullshit. I overheard him insisting on buying your drinks tonight, and we all saw you sprinting earlier to congratulate him” 

“Charles is too drunk to realize what he’s offering” You quickly dismissed 

“Still doesn’t explain your actions in parc ferme” Logan reminded

You looked to Max for help, only for the Dutchman to shrug.

“You are no help” You told him as you turned to the two others “I may have a small crush on him” 

Max almost did a spit take when he registered your words. “Small? You were doodling both of your initials together during the team meeting today.”

“Details, details. How about another round?” You suggested, quickly changing the subject. 

The four of you had just finished a round of shots when you saw Charles approaching from behind Max. The Monagasque rested his arm on Max’s shoulder, clearly needing stability. His eyes widened and a goofy smile formed on his face when he saw you. 

“There you are!” Charles slurred, moving his arm from Max’s shoulders to yours 

“Oooohkayy, I think it’s time for you to go home” You said, shifting to support his weight better “C’mon Charlie”

“Ooo Charlie” Logan teased 

You shot the American a glare, mouthing the words “not now”. Charles somehow got himself off of you, only to wrap his arms around himself, embracing his own body in a hug. 

“Uh, are you good?” Oscar asked Charles, his voice filled with concern 

“Yes, just thanking myself for coming out tonight. I picked a great bar” Charles answered with a goofy grin forming on his face. His eyes were shut as he swayed back and forth, almost knocking into a poor girl behind him. 

Apologies quickly fell out of your mouth to the girl. As you turned back to the group, all of the boys except Charles had worry plastered on their faces. Both Max and Oscar offered to help you take Charles home, but you turned them down. His place was only a few blocks away, and your hotel was about the same. You slung Charles’ arm over your shoulder, before bidding goodbye to your friends. 

“Bye Charlieeee” Logan teased his fingers waving goodbye. Another glare was shot from your eyes before Charles was carried out to the street. 

It didn’t take long to get Charles to his apartment. You insisted he sit down as you got him a glass of water, knowing he was too far from sober to do it without breaking or hurting something. Once he downed his first non alcoholic beverage in who knows how long, he changed and you put him to bed. 

You were sober and comfortable enough to walk yourself home, so once Charles was tucked in, you slipped your shoes on. Before you could get near the door though, you heard Charles calling your name. 

“What’s up?” You whispered as you opened the door to his bedroom. 

His eyes mimicked a puppy dog, pleading and full of concern. “I don’t want this to sound weird, but do you want to stay in the guest room tonight? I just don’t want you walking alone in the dark” 

Even though you knew you’d be fine walking home, you knew Charles would blame himself if something did happen to you. So, you agreed. You changed into one of Charles’s shirts that he insisted on you sleeping in, and made your way to the guest room. 

Neither of you dared to bring up what happened in Monaco. Not that anything bad happened, it was simply you didn’t know how the other felt, and it wasn’t a line either of you were comfortable crossing yet. 

Going into media day, you knew the press conference was going to be boring. It was Monza weekend, and your media group consisted of Lando, Pierre, Franco, and Charles. Having the attention on Charles was fine by you. You would be fine without the media taking your words out of context. 

With each question directed at Charles, you zoned out more and more. Thoughts of what you were going to do during the three week break crossed your mind. While traveling around the world for work was fun, home truly was where your heart lived. Your thoughts were cut off by someone tapping you. Looking to your right, Franco’s eyes met yours.

You had made some small talk with Franco throughout the day, wanting to welcome him into the league the same way you were last year. It was painful to receive the news that Logan was being replaced, but you couldn’t resent the newcomer, he just happened to be the one that was promoted.

“Is this usually this insufferable?” He whispered, genuine concern lacing his voice 

You stifled a laugh, careful not to interrupt Charles “Not this bad usually, but yeah it’s bad” 

“Great” He muttered “Thought I escaped it when I got promoted” 

The press room grew silent, leading you and Franco to press pause on your conversation. All eyes were on the two of you, while you guys gave blank stares back. 

“Did you hear the question?” The interviewer asked 

Franco chuckled awkwardly as he brought the microphone to his mouth. “Honestly? No. Bad first impression, so sorry” 

“No worries. Welcome to F1 Franco.” The interviewer said “For a fun question for the drivers: is there a certain trait that another driver has that you wish you had?” 

Franco thought for a second before opening his mouth to speak “Y/n’s friendliness I think. She was the first of the drivers to welcome me into F1, going out of her way to go to the Williams garage and introduce herself. So uh yeah, her friendliness” 

Warmth ran to your cheeks as the Argentinian turned to look at you. His smile was captivating, making your rosy glow even worse. 

“Wow, that was really sweet. Thank you Franco” You whispered before clearing your throat and picking the microphone up.

Your eyes landed on each of the drivers in the room, trying to think of any trait you would want from any of them. Charles’ ability to learn on the fly came to mind, but you couldn’t rave about Charles without revealing your feelings. 

“Ummmm, this may be team bias, but I’m probably going to have to pick Max.” You finally answered “His ability to perform under immense pressure is admirable. Going into last season as a rookie, I don’t think I could have asked for a better partner, or a better person to learn from.” 

The press conference wrapped up, the news stations leaving before the drivers could. You sat and talked to Franco a bit more, getting to know the newest driver better. Charles watched from the other side of the couch, trying not to make it too obvious. 

“Earth to Charles” Lando said, waving his hand in front of the Monegasque’s face

“Wha-what’s up?” Charles asked, snapping his head to look at Lando

“You were staring. Badly.” Lando pointed out 

“Not staring,” Charles defended, but the pink in his cheeks gave him away “Just…observing” 

“Sure, mate.” Lando smirked as he stood up, “You know, if you actually told her how you feel, you wouldn’t have to watch from a distance like a creep” 

“Really? I had no idea” Charles mumbled. He was relieved to see you didn’t hear what Lando had just said, as you were too engulfed in your conversation with Franco. 

“Just saying” The Brit continued “Everyone can see the chemistry between you two”

Charles adjusted his hat as he stood up next to his friend. “I just don’t want to ruin the friendship. What if it goes wrong?” 

Lando rolled his eyes. “Or it could go right. Look at how she talks to you, how she lights up around you. That’s not just a friendship, mate. She clearly likes you.”

Charles stole another glance at you, your eyes still focused on Franco. With one last sigh, he left the conference room, almost slamming the door behind him.

“What was that all about?” Franco asked you as he looked at the now shut door across the room

“I have no idea” You admitted  “Whatever it is, he’ll get over it”

The Austin sun blazed through the sky as you entered the paddock. You always loved being back home, and of course you went all out for it. You had your hair in two braided pigtails with your favorite cowboy hat resting on top, and a matching pair of boots tucked under your blue jeans. 

Most of the other drivers played into the gimmicks that Texas brought, even if they didn’t do them right. Some donned backwards cowboy hats while others tucked their jeans into their boots, both leading you to wince. Some, like Charles, did both.

“You look absolutely ridiculous” You yelled down the paddock as you spotted Charles in the middle of a media scrum

From what you could tell, they were in the middle of an unboxing of some sorts. Plastic and paper wrapping littered the area as a box was cracked open. Both Charles and the media turned to watch you walk over. 

“What are you talking about? I look fabulous” Charles said, showing off his new hat 

“Yeah,” You replied as you approached him “Except for the fact your hat’s the wrong way and your jeans are tucked in.” 

Before Charles could protest, you took the hat off of his head (from the crown of course, you weren’t an animal) and flipped it. His cheeks grew hot, both from embarrassment and how close you were to him. 

“Thank you” He whispered before untucking his jeans 

Saturday went perfectly for Red Bull. Max won the sprint, while you took second, giving the team a few more points in the Constructor’s race. 

As your day in the paddock came to a close, there was only one thing on your mind: the Texas/Georgia game. Growing up right outside the city meant your Saturdays were spent cheering on the Longhorns, and today was no different. 

You found Charles leaving the paddock at the exact same time you were, giving you the perfect opportunity to ask if he wanted to join you. While you knew he knew nothing about football, it at least gave you an excuse to spend a little extra time with him during the weekend. 

“What’s the chance you’re not doing anything tonight?” You asked as you caught up to him.

“Easily 100%. Do you have something in mind?” He replied 

“I have an extra VIP ticket to the game tonight and a spare jersey. Wanna join?” 

“You know I don’t know anything about American football” He reminded you. Charles truly wanted to go, but he didn’t want to bring your experience down because he was an idiot.  

“Pleaseeee” You begged, flashing him a fake pout “I promise you’ll have fun” 

Charles ran his hand through his hair before sighing “Okay. But this better not ruin my race tomorrow” 

You were right, Charles did have fun. Most of the time was spent on the sidelines, getting up close to the action. Charles didn’t understand a lick of what was going on, but that didn’t mean he didn’t try to. You walked him through all of the basic things he should know, like touchdowns, field goals, and extra points. 

And Charles would let you talk for days if he could. He was captivated by how your intonation changed as you explained the difference between a pass, a rush, and a kick attempt. Did any of what you said stick in his head? Absolutely not. But that didn’t matter. He was with you, and you were with him, and about 100,000 other people in the stadium.    

The rest of the weekend only got better for you. Not only were you working your way into Charles’ heart, you made your way to the top step of the podium. You knew Max was going to be aggressive going into turn one, giving you ample opportunity to sneak into the lead, where you stayed for the rest of the race. Both Charles and Max were on the podium with you, P2 and P3 respectively. 

“So would you say last night affected your race?” You asked Charles once you got to the cool down room. You quickly swapped the helmet in your hands for a towel and the Pirelli cap that were waiting for you. 

Charles chuckled “Maybe, I coulda ended up on the top step” 

You shrugged as you took your seat in the middle of the two boys. “Guess we’ll never know” 

After the formalities and shenanigans of the podium ceremony, you found yourself in the back of the media pen waiting for your turn for an open interviewer. You could feel a presence walking up to you, causing you to turn. Of all people, Franco was the one to approach. The two of you were decent friends, you being one of the first people to welcome him to the F1 grid. 

“Congrats on the win, amiga” Franco said, bringing you in for a hug 

“Thank you, thank you” You replied, “How was your first race at COTA?” 

“It was good! Definitely glad to be racing closer to home. I can’t wait for the next three in the Americas” He said 

As you and Franco made small talk, Charles was watching you like a hawk from across the pen. He listened to every laugh that came out of your mouth from something Franco said, analyzed every light hearted touch of the arm. Max was next to him, well aware of the events of the night prior. It was hard for him to not know about it, you would not stop talking about it in the paddock. 

“The way he held me? I felt like the only girl in the stadium” “He let me explain football to him, Max. No one ever lets me do that around here” “Are you sure he feels the same way about me?” Were all phrases that left your mouth earlier in the day. 

Max was positive Charles felt the same way about you that you did about him. Any of the few remaining doubts flew out the window as he listened to Charles whine. 

“Whatever he said cannot be that funny, right?” Charles asked “Like there’s no way”

Max muttered a “mhm” as he took a sip of the Red Bull in his hand. 

“I just don’t get how he does it so easily! What is it about him that makes him that likeable?” Charles asked “Is it the accent?” 

“Maybe it’s because he’s a natural flirt.” Max said “You couldn’t flirt with a brick if you tried” 

Charles’ glare left Franco and turned to the Dutchman next to him “You didn’t need to say that.” Max threw his hands up in defense.

“But what am I supposed to do if she can’t understand my flirting?” Charles asked 

“Just tell her how you feel. Ask her out on a date” Max suggested as if it was obvious. 

“That’s just asking for her to run me off the track in the next race” The Monagasque said. He ignored Lando’s advice in Monza, and he was likely to do the same to Max. 

A frustrated groan left Max’s mouth as he smacked the back side of his friend’s head. “Oh my god. Do I have to spell it out? She likes you.” 

Charles’ eyebrows furrowed as he watched you say goodbye to the Argentenian. A spot had opened up in the media pen, and Charles’ eyes followed you as you greeted the interviewer. 

“How do you know that?” He asked 

“Mate, she took you to the Texas game yesterday.  She doesn’t take just anyone. I’ve known her for years and I still haven’t gotten an invite.” He explained “In the garage, she wouldn’t shut up about how much fun she had with you last night.” 

“Really?” Charles asked. He couldn’t believe the words coming out of his friend’s mouth. 

“Yes, really. Now if you don’t tell her how you feel, I’m going to do it for you.” Max threatened as he walked towards the next open interviewer.

The bar buzzed with excitement as the sun dipped below the horizon. It being your home race, you ordered both your friends on and off the grid to join in the celebrations. Most of the guys were already there, already a few rounds deep, but it wasn’t until a certain Ferrari driver walked in that you relaxed. 

Charles navigated the crowd, his eyes scanning the room for any signs of you. When he spotted you at the bar, a grin spread across his face. He made his way over, squeezing through the sea of fans and drivers. 

“There you are!” he exclaimed, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. “I've been looking for the race winner!” 

“Yeah, you’ve been avoiding me since the podium” you teased, crossing your arms 

“Right, totally” He fake agreed “Now, drinks on me?” 

A playful smile broke onto your lips as you turned to face the driver. “Actually, I believe it’s my turn. You got me in Monaco, it’s only fair” 

Charles opened his mouth to protest, but you already had gotten the attention of the bartender. He watched as you put up two fingers, and the bartender quickly got to work. As he waited, he was able to catch snippets of chatter and laughter from the rest of the people in the bar. Logan made the trip out to Austin, and was in deep conversation with Oscar and Alex, while Max and Lando were cracking jokes about their battle during the race. 

You handed Charles one of the two drinks you had received “To a dominant 1-2 finish” you toasted, clinking your glass against yours

He took a sip, the refreshing taste of the cocktail invigorating “This is really good. What is it?” He asked, looking at his drink 

“Texas Cactus Water” You answered “Tequila, lime juice, and Topo Chico”

The night wore on, and with each passing drink, the atmosphere became more lively. You were in your element, charming everyone around you. You were sure to spread your attention out to everyone who came to celebrate your win, but you always found yourself going back to him.

“Want another round?” he asked after the two of you finished your drinks.

“Yeah, sure. Put it on my tab” You ordered, knowing he would have said the same to you. 

As Charles approached the bar, Franco suddenly appeared by your side, a broad grin on his face. “Looks like you’ve got quite the fan club” he joked, nodding toward Charles, who was deep in conversation with the bartender. 

“He’s just being nice” You replied, not wanting to think too much about the flutter in your stomach at Charles’ attention “He bought my drinks in Monaco, so I’ve been returning the favor.

Franco raised an eyebrow. “Or maybe he likes you a little more than just ‘nice’,” he said, smirking.

You chuckled, shaking your head. “Please, we’re just friends. He’s friendly with everyone.”

“Yeah, but he looks at you differently. Just saying,” Franco teased, nudging your arm before slipping away to join some other drivers.

When Charles returned with another round of drinks, he slid next to you, his arm casually draped over the back of your chair. “What’s got you smiling like that?” he asked, tilting his head with genuine curiosity.

“Oh, just Franco being... well, Franco,” you replied, trying to sound nonchalant.

“Yeah? What did he say?” Charles pressed, his expression shifting to one of interest.

“Nothing important. Just... you know, how great it is to be back in Austin,” you deflected, not wanting to reveal the fluttering thoughts swirling in your mind.

Charles studied you for a moment, his brow furrowing slightly. “You sure? Because I could always tell him to back off if he’s bothering you,” he offered, his protectiveness shining through.

You laughed lightly. “I appreciate that, but really, it’s fine.”

As the night progressed, Charles seemed to loosen up even more, the drinks giving him a playful edge. He began to get a bit flirtier, leaning closer and making exaggerated gestures as he animatedly recounted his day.

At one point, he casually brushed your arm while reaching for his drink. The simple touch sent a rush of warmth through you. You could sense the tension building between you two, an electricity that was impossible to ignore.

You tried to focus on what he was saying, but the lingering sensation from his touch was hard to shake off. Each time he leaned closer, you felt that flutter in your stomach intensify, battling with the excitement of the moment. 

“So, what’s your strategy for Mexico City?” you asked, hoping to redirect the conversation and distract yourself from the undeniable chemistry brewing between you

Charles grinned, his eyes sparkling. “Honestly? Just to keep up with you. I’ve seen how competitive you can be, and I want to push myself more.” 

You smirked, leaning close enough in to get a whiff of his cologne “Is that so? You better be prepared for a good fight” 

He laughed, the sound deep and warm, and for a moment, the world around you faded. “I’d expect nothing less” he replied. His voice was low, and you could see a flicker of something deeper in his gaze. 

Just then, Max, Lando and Logan rejoined you, breaking the spell. 

“What were you two whispering about?” Lando asked, a mischievous grin on his face 

“Just race strategies” you said quickly, shooting a glance at Charles. The Monagasque nodded, playing along, but you could see a hint of disappointment in his eyes at the interruption

“Strategies for what? How to sneak out of here without us noticing?” Logan chimed in. You shot him a glare in response. 

“Oh come on” Charles said, his eyes rolling but amusement still danced on his face “We’re just having a good time” 

Max leaned in, the smell of alcohol on his lips as he smirked “Just make sure you keep it PG, yeah? Red Bull doesn’t need any headlines about you sleeping with the enemy” 

You lightly punched your teammate, causing him to flinch. “I can handle my own headlines, thank you very much” 

The group continued to joke and banter, but you couldn’t help stealing glances at Charles. He was laughing and enjoying himself, but every so often, his gaze would flicker back to you, that intensity returning.

As the night wore on, the playful atmosphere shifted to something more intimate when the music slowed down. You found yourself back at the bar with Charles, the noise of the party around you dimming to a soft buzz. Both of you had too many drinks, and it was evident by the conversation you were having. 

“Do you ever think what happens after this?” he asked, his tone serious

You looked up at him, surprised. “After what? The day? The season?”

He hesitated for a moment, as if weighing his words carefully. “I mean, after all this. When we’re not racing anymore. What do you want?” 

Charles’ question caught you off guard. It was a vulnerability you weren’t expecting. “I-” you started, then paused, choosing your words carefully. “I guess I want to keep doing what I love. Traveling, meeting new people, but also taking the time to enjoy moments like this.” 

He nodded, absorbing your words. “Yeah, me too. I’ve realized these moments are what make the job worth it” 

You could feel the tension building again, that electric connection almost palpable. “So what do we do about it?” you asked, your heart racing

Charles looked at you, his expression softening, and for a heartbeat, it felt like the world around you disappeared again. “Maybe we should stop pretending and just see where this goes?” He suggested, finally confronting the elephant in the room

The sincerity in his voice made your heart skip “You mean…?” 

He wasn’t sure where the sudden confidence was coming from. Maybe it was the amount of drinks, or maybe it was due to your true feelings finally being on display tonight. “Yeah, I mean if we both feel it, why not explore it?” 

You felt a rush of emotions - excitement, fear, hope. “I’d like that” you said softly, your voice barely above a whisper. 

Before you could process what was happening, Charles leaned down, pressing his lips against yours. It took a second to kiss him back, but when you did, it was everything you had dreamed of since you first met him. 

Suddenly, a loud cheer erupted from the other side of the bar, pulling you away from each other. All of the other drivers were staring at you, each pair of eyes matched with a shit eating grin. 

“You wanna get out of here?” You asked 

“Yeah, I’d like that” Charles said, taking your hand 

======

want more? check out @coco-loco-nut's sister story below!

[superm4ks]

Omg this verstappie rewatch is literally gonna be the whole season lmao

Part 1 2016-2018 > Part 2 2019-2022

In 2013, after becoming the World and European KZ class Champion, European OF class Champion, Continental KF class champion, and 3rd place laureate in the World KF class, 15 year old Max Verstappen had turned that years karting scene into a 'one man show' according to Vroomkart International. The title of the piece wasted no time posing what was, admittedly, a very bold question:

Gentlemen, a short view into the 2023 season

Baku, 2023. Ik what ur thinking. 19 wins and ur gonna start wid fucking Baku? And yes 🙂I will, and so shud u 🫵🏽Max lost Baku. The pole, the sprint and the race. Lingered about 3 secs behind checo after the SC, never closed the gap. And guess what, Baku was actually one of the most important races of this season, Maxs own words. Because that inconsistent pace? Those choppy lap times, killing his tires? Max was learning how to setup his car. Rb19 was clearly rb18s big brother, a real sunday beast, faster, more reliable, but a lil sensitive, demanded some hands on attention from his boy. So Max turned Baku into their fp4. U can c it on his onboard, hear him asking for different settings, toggling wid the balance. Those of us who know Max, we kinda suspected what he was up to. But it seemed others didnt. And whatvr max was about to do to these people in Miami bro, it wud be the type of reckoning u read about in the bible.

Miami, 2023. When max qualified p9 cheers echoed across both Americas. After the Baku loss, the slow start to the season, there was hope. Max Verstappen was about to lose the championship lead. People bought into the fairytale and they were loud about it too. They taunted him, booed him and his mechanics in parc ferme. And then Max was p2 by lap 15. Cut thru the field like butter and the whole stint he kept setting purples. Fastest lap after fastest lap. By lap 40 his hards were outpacing fresh mediums on a track u cud fry an egg on. Red bulls strategy for Max required the impossible and that's exactly what Max delivered. Before Miami, Checo was a title contender. After Miami, he was barely a competitor. Max took the 'tire whisperers' ambitions and grinded them into dust in 45 laps or less. It was the race that marked the beginning of the most dominant individual season in Formula 1 history but at its core, in classic Verstappen style, it was a lesson. A very simple one.

Shot by Brook Ward.

Monaco, 2023

- Qualifying Yk who doesn’t give a FUCK about lessons tho, Monaco. Monaco wont be taught by no man. But it’s 2023. This classic immovable object about to meet the most unstoppable force in modern sport history. Max's very first pole in Monaco, and fittingly so, it came out of an all-timer session. One of those saturdays that make u understand why the tax dodging diva of f1 is going absolutely nowhere. Pole switched between Ocon, Yuki, Sharl and Alonso right up until Max did his thing. 2 mins to the checkered flag, it looked like Nando had it locked. 2 untouchable purples, textbook. It wud have been a beautiful moment, a deserved reward for an old dawg who’d kept at it and had a capable car again. Unfortunately for Nando, though, Sennas illegitimate child clocked in that Saturday. He had a bit of a history wid third sectors that once fucked him. But it's 2023, so this wud be the one that made him. Max put 3 tenths on Alonso's head in one of the shortest, most technical corners of the entire calendar. F1's 'sunday' driver by excellence, the one stop pacemaker, the metronome, the endurance machine, proved that he was all that and also, in fact, the type of elite qualifier who can write his signature on the walls of Monte Carlo.

- Race Monaco is all about Saturday obvi but imo this years race is also worth watching because its actually kind of a banger wid mixed conditions, insane strategies and because this is a verstappie rewatch, u get to c Max at his best: in a chaotic packed field under the rain.

Canada, 2023. Speaking of rain masters. Senna's legend has been clinging to Max from the very first time he traumatized wet cat Rosberg in Brazil in 2016 but it was this year, in Canada, wid Nando and Lewis by his side, the guys who were also there, who saw it happen too, that Max finally matched Senna's win tally. 41. It was a perfect weekend, a testament to the talent that allowed a 26 year old to overtake Ayrton Senna in the record book, and it began, as if in tribute, wid a soaking wet qualifying. Max's pole lap was one second faster than the rest of the grid. One full second. If ur a Nando or a Lewis fan, I wud definitely give it sunday a watch as well because old gays were definitely out there. Also we got this. What yall know about this .

Shot from Nurphoto.

Lemme tell u something rn: Ur looking at 12 world championships, 189 wins, and a 14 year old gap from youngest to oldest. You're looking at statistically, the most successful driver of all time, the guy whose racecraft still seen by many as the finest this sport has ever seen, and a kid who's been sitting between them since he was 17 years old. The same kid who, a few racers later, broke records that existed long before the other two were even born. Yk, Lewis said it better than I ever cud, 'this is quite an iconic top 3'.

Austria, 2023. Why are u a Verstappen fan? U ever been asked that question. Ik i have. 😐 Lots of possible answers. To me Austria has all of them. In Canada, Checo barely made the finish line while Max pushed rbr to their 100th team victory and ((unofficially)) began his chase of the Vettel record. Mind u the mf wont admit that’s what he’s doing, but it is. Him, GP, the whole team. They want it. But we'll get to that. Max is a hunter, and his boy car is the best hound of his career so far. Together, they’d caught the scent. Races like Australia, Spain, Monaco, Canada, they showed it was possible. His management was getting Schumacher shouts, his qualifying was getting Senna's. Clarks proficiency. 2023 can be understood as the result of Max's life long pursuit of perfection, the crowning point of his hard work, the realization of all his potential, that prodigal nature that had been so obvious for so long, finally, entering its prime wid a car that can make history. And yet. AND YET. max has something that all those other legendary mfs lack. Something that is deeply, deeply Max’s. Free practice 1 in Austria and that talented, beautiful creature of God was ready to send it all to hell to make a POINT. Austria was a sprint this year, so already you've pissed him off. During fp1, Lewis impeded Max like once.

((And listen

Lewis saw that boy enter the paddock and immediately called security and along wid seb vettel and raikkonen launched a class action lawsuit against him on the grounds of a) fuck b) them kids. Then 6 years later Lewis and that now grown ass man spent a whole legendary season trying to kill each other. U c how this relationship may have some residue of . lets say. conflict.))

So Lewis impeded Max in fp1 and Max's raytheon hamilton-calibrated sensors activated and he did nothing less but the exact same thing in sprint qualifying. Blocked old mans flying lap. Lewis is limping thru this weekend, mind u, like it’s almost sad. It’s kinda elderly abuse. THEN, the actual sprint. Again, Austria is red bull's home turf. packed wid red bull fans. The car is a rocket, they're on a streak, lots of good photo ops for the team. It started raining. Even better. Lights out, and Checo took the lead first and in the process like . squeezed Max a lil bit. Pushed him on the grass. U can guess what happened next. 😐😐😐😐To answer that first question and to quote somebody who knows him, Max is Max. No matter where, how, against who. Wid a rocketship, wid a hole in his car, winning, losing, fighting for the lead against Lewis Hamilton, fighting for sixth against baby schumi, refusing to comply wid team orders against sainz, scolding danny ric about discipline, waiting 7 months to deliver his justice in brazil, calling russell a dickhead in Baku, whether in front of 300 000 haters in Silverstone of half a million fans in Spielberg, he'll do what he thinks is right. Thats the kind of mf that wins constructors all by himself. 575 points, on his own. Over 1000 laps lead. Max Verstappen has not succeeded in f1 despite his character, but because of it. Because when Checo squeezed him at the start of a stupid fucking sprint that wont make a dent in his records or his lead, Max collected his car and lunged thru the inside line like the title wud be decided in the next turn. He was willing to send himself, checo, and a goddamn haas to hell to remain at the front. And that’s why I'm a fan.

Zandvoort, 2023. 9 consecutive wins. A race that u feel in ur stomach because you know what it means. The sheer size of the accomplishment. That word ringing in everybodys ears since Miami. Inevitable. inevitable. Up until it happened, and then obvi Monza wid the perfect 10, nobody really wanted to believe it. seb's 9 was one of those things held sacred and hallowed by the sport. Like Schumachers points in a season, Ascaris win percentage, Clarks laps lead, and Hamiltons consecutive podiums. Sacred things. And in 2023, the nonbeliever broke them all. Grasped and squeezed wid his very cynical hands. They’re his now. No one else’s. What he did, no one else can do. Max is always outstanding in Zandvoort tbh, thats his track, his fans, his weather. But this years quali was particularly emblematic of the gap to the rest of the grid , and his teammate especially. 1.7s faster than checo. The race was just as impressive. Rain hit early on, complete chaos, and while everybody scrambled to choose the right tires, GP was in Max’s ear, calm as ever, 'it’s up to you'. It really was. It always was.

Zandvoort, 2023. > Monza, 2023.

Japan, 2023. Red Bulls factory crowning weekend. Coming out a disaster Singapore, yet another statement win. Singapore had showed what it took to slow down Verstappen in 2023: not just the wrong setup, but the wrong strategy too. As we'll c in Texas, like we've seen in 2016, 2019, 2020, a machine off the pace alone wont stop Max from winning races. In Suzuka, rocky was back into his operational window, and Max proved exactly who was it that singlehandedly delivered the constructors championship. One of those classic Max weekends. 20 drivers on track but 2 different leagues and he's on his own. Wid a 177 point lead over his teammate, yet another record broken, biggest point gap between 1st and 2nd. ((In the end, the margin was 290)). Max names Suzuka as his most satisfying pole lap of the season. Bro put half a second on the grid in one go.

COTA, 2023. just something in the Americas ((me)) that unlocks the extra prodigal gene in this mf. Talent of the century? Put his ass in North America we can stretch that shit to the millennium idc idc . Miami, Texas, Brazil, Mexico, and now Vegas, to me these are cornerstones of Verstappen excellence. Max holds the record for most wins in a single geographical location over one season. ((Of course he does)) 10 consecutive wins in NA, across state lines, country borders, wid different conditions, tracks, circuits, tires, formats, setups. This years’ Austin GAG? Apparently they didn’t set the tarmac right. track was a bumpy mess. Max struggled from the start wid braking issues and tire wear, but he kept his head cool because he knew he had the basics. There was once a time before the rb19 , when all he had was a cap and 1 year of open wheel experience, and his 18 year old self put on a clinic against a 30 year old world champion on how to defend on old faulty rubber. That’s exactly what Max did in Cota. Bro was able to make up for aerodynamic loss wid nothing but pedal and wheel work. Do not talk to him during braking. Do not fucking talk to him during braking. That’s all Max asked. 50th win. Offically 3rd OAT, behind Vettel, Hamilton and Schumacher. ((He’s now alone in 3rd OAT, wid 53 wins.)). He’s 26. After Merc and Ferrari were proclaimed ‘illegal’ what truly shocked me wasn’t that they tried to cheat, but that they wud try to pull that shit against this Verstappen, in this car, in 2023. They lowered their floors for smoother suspensions to fight Adrian Neweys Frankenstein monster but the real machine was sitting right behind the wheel. And he won. Actually, he mollywhooped those bitches. Not the floor, not the wings, just a damn good racing driver. Good luck next time.

Qatar gp, 2023. Dutch man allergic to winning world championships in a normal way, millions left emotionally berated every year begging for the sweet release of ted kravitzs voice. No I’m jk but actually tell me why this fool cud not have waited for the race to clinch it. Bro had the title confirmed by a sprint where he finished SECOND. As a verstappie, imma tell u to watch this because it’s like. get out of my face rn I love you so much I’m so happy for u also that helmet is so pretty. In Qatar, Max became 1 of 5 drivers who won back to back to back world championships. After the year 2000, 1 of 3. Along wid the biggest championship margin in the most successful season of all time, well. 1 of 1.

Las Vegas, 2023. ummm ok ik this may SHOCK u but he wasn’t a fan. Max spent the whole season bitching about Vegas and breaking records and threatening retirement like that’s literally a fair description of events. Just very verstappen and migraine inducing type of shit. But yes, Vegas. Vegas held no old school appeal whatsoever. And he was right about some things. He never berated the circuit itself, the quality of the racing, just the show around it. U shud build for the track, not around it. It’s not that difficult to understand, or even that unpopular. But Max forgot about one important thing that wud prolly hurt his cause. He has never landed on US soil and not served. The plot armor wud simply never let my baddie have her AHA!!!!moment in Nevada. So I want u to open that cringe FUCKING compilation Sunday stream of the Vegas gp and c what happens when a sleep deprived verstappen and his so called ‘dominant’ ‘untouchable’ ‘unbeatable’ ‘rocket ship’ are released on a frozen track wid barely any data because one of the potholes burst and cut practices into 10 mins. Bitch what happens is good fucking f1 😭😭😭 Some real formula uno cabron 😭😭 Max retakes the lead at the start, overcooks his frozen tires, pushes sharl off, gets a penalty, serves his penalty, comes back wid gods wrath emanating from his fugly white helmet, obliterates the gap to first and Russell along wid it ((🫡)) passes both cars in front in one slick veteran move and sinks his teeth into p1 for the remaining 13 laps. And wins. Maybe not his most characteristic win, but def the funniest one. Stupid ass even sang Elvis. That’s an f1 driver bitch. He can’t trick me.

Here we are. Abu Dhabi. Breathe out. Red Bull won constructors in Japan, Max won the drivers championship in Qatar. It all started wid a lesson, remember? Max was a good teacher. He spent 8 months making sure we learned. Did you?

By Abu Dhabi, 2023, Max had officially set 20 new records, including the record for most records broken in a season by a single driver. 5 of those achievements had already been set in 2022, just upgraded in 2023: most wins in a season, most podiums in a season, most consecutive wins from pole, most hat tricks in a season, and most consecutive top two finishes in history. 3 of his achievements, however, kept him on the hunt until the very last lap: 3rd most wins of all time, over a 1000 laps lead, and the highest percentage of wins in the sports history. Max got them all. He’s now, statistically, the sole protagonist of the most dominant season in f1, and f1’s 3rd most successful driver, behind Schumacher and Hamilton. Max won 19 out of 22 races. 10 of those wins were consecutive. Right now, he’s already on another streak. 3 more wins and he matches his own record. 4 and he resets the book forever. What Max did wid the rb19 needs to be watched again and again and again, because it’ll be years. YEARS .Until we begin to learn how to truly appreciate it. This is just my humble attempt.

In Abu Dhabi, the job was done wid a series of incredible defensive moves that completely shut the door on sharl. No flashy overtakes, no heroics on the inside line. Just strong classic defending. Sharls attack was dealt wid, nullified, the gap was built, set and managed, and Max saw the fireworks 17 seconds earlier than the rest. In 2023, Max was untouchable by all but one. The car he called ‘rocky’. The only car, to this day, according to the man himself, that ever saw him smile before he crossed the finish line. That ever made him happy before it made him a winner.

You tell me.

[lovelytsunoda]

the cedric diggory f1 driver au that nobody asked for but i wrote anyways

all of this started because i was watching goblet of fire and noticed that both renault and hufflepuff share a color scheme

and then i thought that robert pattinson would look very very hot in a race suit

more chaos dedicated to the harbinger of chaos, anj herself (@libraryofloveletters )

in this scenario, the driver lineups are as follows:

ferrari: harry potter, oliver wood, red bull: draco malfoy, blaise zabini haas: fred & george weasley, renault: cedric diggory, zacharias smith

hes lead driver at renault, has been there for two years now

by all accounts, he's a very good driver, especially being as young as he is

but he's still chasing that elusive race win, he just hasn't been able to push the renault far enough

god he looks incredible climbing out of the car, balaclava lines on his face, hair mussed and drenched in sweat

cedric is a humble king always praising his fellow drivers, including ferrari rookie (and his former teammate) harry potter

"yeah, i mean, the pace was there but at the end of the day, it's hard to beat the ferraris. hats off to harry for that one, he really smashed it today, the win was well deserved."

a little wink at the camera, towel around his neck before he backs away with his press officer at his side

he's basically pierre gasly on steroids

the f1 ladies man

literally has fangirls falling over each other to try and get his autograph or a picture with him at signings

he's not the life of the party, leaves that to the weasley twins (they drive for haas, they need SOMETHING to celebrate)

instead he can be found in the back, talking and laughing with the mechanics and the engineers

everybody in the paddock loves him

media darling, you can't tell me otherwise

he's england's sweetheart

the extra tight white fireproofs that show off EVERYTHING

it's silverstone, his home grand prix (although it's also the home grand prix for half of the grid at this point)

and he's feeling great about himself all weekend, cedric has a feeling that he might finally get his win that weekend

a crash in the first corner takes out one of the ferraris and a mercedes

he's not even sure how it happened but somehow he's up into second place with ten laps to go

"alright, ced, the gap between you and blaise is 0.45 seconds, malfoy is almost one second behind. if you can hang on until the drs zone, i think we stand a chance at winning the whole damn thing."

"and diggory has drs! the renault goes down the inside of the red bull of blaise zabini, and he's done it! cedric diggory is leading the british grand prix!"

and the crowd goes MENTAL

"it worked!" cedric screams over the radio. "we're leading the bloody race!"

i imagine that he'd talk a little like george russell on the radio

and when he finally gets to stand on that podium, with the british national anthem pouring out of the speakers as he stands on the top step

hefting the trophy above his head before they're given the all clear to pop the champagne bottles open

god that man would so pretty covered from head to toe in champagne.

a cheeky grin throughout the post race interviews

gets to the cool down room and slumps down in his chair, still in shock over the entire thing as he looks at the little pirelli baseball cap, the british flag and 1st place embroidered on the side.

his girlfriend there in a little yellow sundress filming the podium celebrations

cedric goes over to the blacony above parc ferme (i think that's what it's called? or maybe parc ferme is just where the cars go after a race?) and pours the champagne on her when she's not looking

champagne kisses after the podium celebrations, the paparazzi are swarming and he's holding the trophy in front of their faces for privacy

celebrating afterwards with him you ask???

SPICY CONTENT INCOMING!

a full dinner with the whole team to thank them for their efforts

he's wearing jeans and a white button down shirt, a little cord necklace resting under his collarbone

they're back in the hotel, music playing softly in the background

sharing a bottle of wine and dancing in the candlelight

turns into hot sex

but cedric, despite now having a race win under his belt, still devotes the entire night to pleasing his girlfriend

holding her hand at all times, even when it gets a little rougher by their standards

which it always does during a race weekend when he lands a podium

scratches all down his back

shes on her stomach, one hand behind her back to grasp his hand as he fucks her from behind

calling him 'my race winner' the entire time because it inflates his ego (and turns him on)

endless cuddles afterwards (hes the big spoon, draping his body over hers as he thanks her for being there to support his career, being there for him during every up and down in his career

[formula-what]

Brocedes time line for a very patient anon

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

okay first some background knowledge:

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

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

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

2000

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

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

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

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

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

Lewis would often persuade Nico to buy him sweets

They would have competitions over LITERALLY EVERYTHING

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

F1

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

2008 Australia

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

2013

They’re teammates in Mercedes!!!

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

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

2014

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

2014 Bahrain Grand Prix

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

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

2014 Spanish Grand Prix

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

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

2014 Monaco Grand Prix

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

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

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

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

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

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

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

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

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

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

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

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

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

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

2014 Abu Dhabi

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

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

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

2015

Damnnn this car was fiiiinneeeeeee.

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

2015 Chinese Grand Prix

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

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

2015 U.S. Grand Prix

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

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

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

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

2016

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

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

2016 Spanish Grand Prix

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

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

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

2016 Austrian Grand Prix

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

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

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

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

2016 Abu Dhabi

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

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

Nico finished second and won the title by five points.

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

Lewis’ response:

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

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

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

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

[max-in-emillion]

My World

[Max. V X Lando. N]

Word count: 2,808

Post Abu Dhabi 2021 race in the parc ferme

"- and we have got 3.2 miles of racing action all the way to the checkered flag-"

In his cockpit, weaving around keeping heat in his tires, edging closer to his rival as the safety car is to return to the pits allowing them to race one final lap of the Abu Dhabi 2021 Grand Prix the all or nothing race. He is shaking, yet he stays focused, their was radio silence for the majority of his lap. Max was pushing hard, Lewis coming closer into his sides as he the Red Bull driver does all he can to keep his advantage, to keep ahead of Hamilton for less than minute. Vibrations reverberating through his body and the force applied to his body keeping him in place as he drives to the end. His mind was empty, only a few things in his mind; push forward 4... 3... 2... 3... 4. 5....  as he switched gears, the brief words that he ignored from his pit wall but then one phrase. "You will win this Max"

He drove with no hesitance, once he knew he was on a straight his throttle was at full before he took a final corner and passing the waved checkered flag. I’ve done it

"And for the first time ever, Max Verstappen is champion of the world!"

He heard his boss over the radio confirming his win and he yelled in uncontrollable excitement, his thumb holding down the radio button to keep contact as he did a few celebratory laps around the circuit. "YESSSSSS! OH MY GOD" he screamed between deep laughs. He had done it, he was the champion, and it was surreal, tears were escaping as he drove and yelled profound words and incoherent sentences. It had taken a few minutes to return to the Parc Ferme but he parked in front of the large, respectfully earned number 1 slot, doing procedure before jumping out and taking a knee besides his rear tyre as he silently sobbed as it sunk in, the achievement he had won. He. Had. Won.

He lifted his visor before running to be embraced by his large team, smiling, eyes creasing as tears still managed to fall, his nose scrunched, the praise he was given- it felt amazing that he and his team have succeeded in this. but then he was embraced, Jos embraced him, holding his son tightly. Max just held his dad in return, he did it for them but he knew despite this first set of celebrations, he had interviews, he had procedures and a podium to claim. They lasted a few minuets before he had to go and weigh himself and be interviewed. As he made his way to their small tables, Max finally pulled off his helmet and fireproof covering before drying himself, the soft towel running over his burning face, drying his hair as he looked up to see other drivers waiting but the first to approach was Lando Norris.

"I told you would win this Max",he said smiling, the Brit wished he could have shared a podium with his lover today but he felt grateful to qualify along side his yesterday. Max still held the towel in his hand but smiled happily, he took Lando’s hand and was pulled into a hug by the shorter man, a hand hitting his back as his arm embraced him. the Dutchman copied but instead put his head to his shoulder, taking in this brief public interaction that the lovers knew they could play off if they where asked bout it. Max gently pressed a hidden kiss to his shoulder as he took much needed breaths finally.

"You did, and I did it mijn liefje" he spoke quietly knowing only he would hear, knowing that Lando knew them words. Lando smiled softly, wanting nothing more than to turn his head and press a tender kiss into his hair, but he knew better and kept his head turned out and could hear his as if the surrounding world was silently.

Much to both their dismays, they separated and just smiled and gave a knowing laugh to each other. Lando smiled and spoke before leaving, "Congrats mate, proud of you" he said keeping his love filled grin on his face. max was then encountered by his ex teammate and smiled as he too embraced him, "Who knew that my best friend could be a World Champion?" he said with a chuckle as he then shook him vigorously, "Wait, no it was me " he said clearly on a buzz for his friend despite his own P12 in the final race and P8 in the final championship. Daniel was so happy for his friend he knew that he could do it, he was so proud of him and the overly affectionate man kissed his sweaty head knowing it wasn't a big deal as he has done it to many people over the years and it didn't surprise anyone, so it was a silent relief for both Lando and Max. Max couldn't control his expressions, the amount of thanks that left his mouth in the last 20 minutes was unreal but for once he meant everyone he said. Yet before he could leave to take the podium, he was embraced by Lando's dad, hugging him tightly. "That was a great race. " was all he said to the young Dutchman as his wife looked over his shoulder giving him a loving smile before they returned to their own son and Max just felt choked up ever so slightly knowing his boyfriends parents where accepting, knowing they were supportive about their relationship as well as their careers.

Max took his place on the podium finally, stood among the man he managed to take the championship from, and along side the Spanish man who clenched the 3rd place podium, Carlos Sainz with his boss taking the constructors trophy for this race. The realization hadn't yet sunk in, but Max just was overwhelmed by the sounds of cheers he was greeted with, the screams of his name, the sea of orange in the grandstands. Even as he looked down the sight of his crew and all his drivers and their teams surrounded to watch. Max could see Sergio in the crowds, he knew he couldn’t have done this race without him and the Dutchman just wished he could celebrate a podium with him right now. Their was Daniel wearing the biggest grin on his lips, hollering happily and their stood Lando who yelled just as enthusiastically and Max grinned before he was soon presented with his trophy. He thanked the man before stepping to the metal railing and lifting the trophy over his head with a yell of delight, yet his public celebration felt private as he looked to his lover stood with his own Orange Cap on his head.  

As the early celebrations begun and champagne was sprayed all over him he never felt lighter and more content. Their was very little time for himself in the past three hours since he was called World Champion, their was more interviews than normal- which was expected- their was more pictures being took, their was separate congratulations as he moved from area to area. He had interacted with more fans than he intended too, taking photos with the occasional autograph dished out amongst them, allst whilst being in his drying, champagne soaked race suit. His body was heavy but his adrenaline kept him going, however he was relieved when he could go to his motor home to get cleaned up and changed for a couple hours before he would need to return back for celebrations. As he walked to his motorhome, he felt a gentle buzzing in his heart and body as he had some silence; some time to finally take in the time he needed to truly process everything that has occurred in the past hours, winning, celebrating, congratulations from his Father, from his friends, from his boyfriend's dad and from his lover. His Lover. Lando. He hasn't managed to get time to spend with his fellow driver when that’s all he truly wanted right now, to congratulate him on his over all 6th place, knowing how difficult this season has been for him. Wanting to just talk, wanting to freshen up and wanting to just stay close to the man he cared for so much; so the Champion couldn't hold back his smile as he opened his motorhome to be welcomed by his giggling boyfriend who sat on the couch engrossed in whatever he was watching.

"Well what a wonderful way to enter my home and be welcomed by.”, Max spoke with a tone of mockery and torment in it which grabbed the attention of his favorite Brit. The way Lando tore his eyes from his phone to the source of the voice made his heart melt, "Hello" he said unable to remove the smirk off his lips as he shut the door behind him as Lando rushed to him and couldn't help but grab the older males stubbled face and kiss him passionately which Max instantly responded eagerly too. The taste of the sweet and sticky champagne overwhelming the younger man who soon pulled away with his usual dopey grin.

"Hello my Champion-" Lando said pecking his lips before continuing,"-I'm surprised I got you back so soon." he spoke truthfully as he gave a content sigh.

"I would have been back sooner if it was up to me. Even if it was brief, I just wanted to see you privately but for now we have at least two hours together, two hours." Max told Lando and in the way the Red Bull driver spoke Lando could tell that he was glad to have that time, and in every way Lando felt blessed for what they would otherwise count as such a small time period together, But the McLaren driver was soon pulled from his thoughts as Max continued to speak,"- but first I’m going to quickly change what I’m wearing as my racing suit is soaked and sticky and I just want to be close to you comfortably, but waning I’m not showering as soon as I have to go back out I'll be dosed in more champagne again." he said as he pressed a small kiss to his cheek, "so make yourself comfortable and why don't you order us some take-out, I think after the year we have had we deserve it." he finished as he walked off to the bedroom after grabbing himself a set of clothes to change into.

Max stripped himself from his racing suit and took a sharp intake of breath as the cooler air hit his hot skin in a wave of freshness as he escaped his victorious confinements. He pulled on a simple pair of shorts on after drying his champagne lined skin as he then put one of the jumpers Lando left in his room one of the last times they were together at a race, but the Dutch driver didn't feel like giving the large and extremely comfortable Quadrant hoodie back over to his boyfriend anytime soon so he kept it and only really wore it when he had more more clothes left in his wardrobe or when he has been unable to see his lover for God knows how long. The scent was warming, and it made Max feel like a teenage boy again; he didn't really have a usual teenage life as such so having a relationship that made him feel safe and young was amazing so he just stayed in his own mind as he took in the scent he loved before Max then re dried his hair and replaced his specially made champions hat back upon his head before leaving his room around five minutes later and grabbing himself a water from the fridge. Lando looked over at max when the Red Bull driver rejoined the room again, "Come on Mr. World Champion" he said with his arms open as he sat on the couch, his phone still in his grip from ordering their food. Max rolled his eyes at his boyfriends childish-ness but couldn’t help chuckle as he walked over and placed himself on the empty seat besides him and before he knew it Lando's arms engulfed him and pulled him in close pressing playfully aggressive kisses to his face and lips as he spoke with their lips brushing, "Food will take around 30 minutes ", his words kept short as he lifted his hand to cup his face and turn his playful kisses into a few longer, more affectionate and passionate kisses. Lando felt blessed to have Max in his life, having known one another from a younger age to grow into this relationship they had now was surreal and it went both ways, that both men have had managed to see each other mature and grow side by side and it made them feel so lucky.

Lando had learnt early on into their relationship to tilt his head a little more drastically to avoid the cap that barely abandoned the older mans head and it always ended with either the hat thrown aside or Lando cuddling his head into his boyfriends shoulder, which is how today has ended. The young brit stayed with his hand gripping Max's thigh gently too keep them on top of his legs whilst he dug his head comfortably into his neck. "You know, it's so hard to answer interview questions about the race when I know the instance controversy it can cause, the inability to talk about our relationship, about how proud I am of you. and about the FIA's decisions-" he said from his place in his neck. Max felt himself relax and lean into Lando as he spoke, the hot breath fanning across his clammy skin, "- but seeing you after the race, God I could have kissed you Max Verstappen, but we both know how that would have ended, but I'm also glad Daniel was his usual self and kissed your head, makes it easier for our relationship to stay private and for celebrations to be spent together like that."

Max agreed, they both had to come to a conclusion a while ago about how to keep their relationship together without getting in trouble, or anything like that. And when Daniel found out they where together he always teased his current and ex-teammate abut it, but the Aussie didn't change his ways with his public relations and it made the men safer and glad that their friends where to helpful. "Honestly, Daniel being a pain in the ass his whole life has worked in our favors." the Dutchman said as he leant his head on top of Lando's kissing the crown of his head whilst his free hand moved to cradle the nape of his neck, fingers playing with his thick brown hair affectionately.

Over the few hours they had been able to spend together both men appreciated. As much as the praise and celebrations felt amazing to receive, Max loved the quietness he got from Lando. Just the occasional praise they gave each other about the whole season alone as well as the final race, but even then it was few and far between as they instead just spent time together; whether it was obscure discussions over their takeout that finally arrived, talk about family and how they can't wait to spend with them over Christmas; Max being able to see his new born nephew and Lando being able to see his 1 month old niece which made both the men excited. As they also spoke about just enjoying anytime they can together that wasn’t racing, whether that was streaming, making videos, playing games or even just sitting down together and putting a film on. And just having some 'me' time after the hectic day both men have had.

Neither man wanted to move from where they had relaxed on the couch into one another but Max knew he was lucky enough to have these couple hours given to him so, with much protest from Lando, Max reluctantly stood up, his body heavy as he turned to see the young Brit dramatically fall to the couch. "Child", he once again muttered before he leant down and kissed his head and then a quick kiss to his lips. "If when I get back my food is gone, we're over." he said threateningly as that has occurred one too many times ,"but other than that get some sleep young man whilst I go and celebrate" small grumbles left the curly haired man that slowly turned into a dragged out 'fiiiiiine I wont' making max emit a small laugh as he was leaving the door.

"Love you Max"

[formula-one-thoughts]

2020 Italian Grand Prix

Oh my god. I still can’t quite believe what we all witnessed last Sunday. Despite a slightly mixed up qualifying (with a bit of slip stream drama thrown in for good measure) resulting in Verstappen starting from 5th and Sainz and Perez locking out the second row of the grid, Monza was set to have another paint it by numbers podium, with the overwhelming talking point being Ferrari’s disappointing pace. Oh how wrong we were. In addition to the Scuderia’s weekend being even worse than they could ever have imagined, we were gifted one of the most unexpected podiums in the history of the sport (well, not so unexpected if you were the mystery individual who reportedly placed a 20 cent bet on the top three and got back over €33,000!)

Mercedes lost what could have been an easy 1-2 through a combination of factors, first of which was Bottas’s terrible start. Overtaken by Sainz and then Norris (who took advantage of Verstappen’s poor start), he was swiftly eaten up by Perez and Ricciardo. Such was his lack of pace he thought he might have a puncture, and whilst he did pick up a small amount of damage from contact with Norris, it wasn’t enough to explain the pace with which he moved backwards through the field. Whilst Hamilton was able to motor away undisturbed into the distance, the lack of a teammate to protect him and help with pit stop strategy didn't look to be ideal. I couldn’t help but feel it was a small serving of karma following Hamilton’s less than complimentary comments on Albon and Red Bull during the week, where he suggested Alex wasn’t a strong enough number 2 driver to help Max and the team to victory. It wasn’t however a strong weekend for the Thai driver either. After another disappointing quali he made contact with Gasly, went wide across the first chicane and dropped back to 15th, a position he occupied for the majority of the race. His cause was not helped by a 5 sec time penalty for a first lap episode with Grosjean, and the damage his car sustained. His teammate meanwhile found himself stuck in the DRS train behind Bottas in P7.

Whilst their woeful qualifying result of P13 and P17 had already put Ferrari on the back foot, it really started to go downhill on lap 6. Whilst battling to avoid being overtaken by George Russell, Seb’s brakes failed and he careered quite comically straight through the polystyrene barriers at turn one, before retiring the car. The field was spectacularly bunched up in these early stages of the race, with the DRS train extending all the way from Norris in P3 to Latifi in P19. After the action of the opening laps no one could seem to make a move, least of all Bottas. His Mercedes wasn't only one of the slower cars in a straight line on the track, but also fundamentally isn’t built to follow other cars, being accustomed to leading the field.

The cars came in to pit for the undercut from lap 16, one of them importantly being Pierre Gasly. Lap 20 then brought about the turning point of the race, albeit in a less then dramatic fashion. Who would have thought that Kevin Magnussen pulling over on the exit of the Parabolica would have such insane consequences! With the Dane’s retirement came a safety car, and with that I assumed there would be a steady flow of cars into the pits, terrible timing for those who has recently pitted. Only the race leader and Giovinazzi came in though, and it soon became clear why: the pit lane was closed as Magnussen’s car was being recovered into it. Hamilton’s race lead actually played against him, as it meant his team had the least amount of time to warn him of this. With there being just 19 seconds between the safety car deployment and him crossing the pit lane entry he was alerted to the issue 5 seconds too late. Mercedes error was thus understandable to an extent, whilst Alfa Romeo’s, who had a whopping 75 secs to warn Giovinazzi, was not. However, both teams could have avoided the penalties that soon came their way had their drivers noticed the red cross signals indicating the pit lane closure. Again though, it’s somewhat understandable that they didn’t. Being such an unprecedented occurrence, the only driver to register that the signs meant they could not pit was George Russell.

Once the signs were gone though everyone yet to pit but Stroll filed in, McLaren pulling off a flawless double stack. It turned out that pitting before the safety car was a great call, and when racing resumed Gasly and Leclerc were in 3rd and 6th, respectively. The Monegasque quickly swooped past the two Alfas but it was to be a short-lived high for Ferrari, as he lost the back end of the car at high speed and went careening off at the Parabolica. It could have been an extremely nasty accident but instead we were reminded once again of how brilliant the sport’s safety measures are. Due to the extent of the damage to the tyre barriers the race was red flagged, and Giovinazzi and Hamilton were informed of the punishments for their illegal pit stops – a ten second stop/go penalty. Whilst the combination of the first safety car and red flag cost McLaren a possible double podium, the pause in the race massively advantaged Lance Stroll, who was able to make his mandatory pit stop without, well, pitting! This loophole has kicked up a certain amount of chat and criticism across the world of F1 (especially from a certain Lando Norris), and maybe the rules will be altered to say the obligatory tyre change can’t take place under red flag conditions. As the vast majority of red flags are due to heavy rain, the cars are on wet weather tyres when they come in and hence this has never been an issue before; it will be interesting to see whether the FIA address this for future races.

Another anomaly thrown up by the non-wet weather red flag was a second standing start (as opposed to a rolling start as per usual). I liked this, as it was a more neutralised beginning to the second half of the race rather than being the race leader’s to control. With Hamilton taking his penalty at the end of the lap, which would place him in last, the re-start was Stroll’s to lose, and that's kind of what he did! Losing places to Gasly, the two Alfas, and Sainz, he was in 5th within two laps. Max Verstappen’s race came to a dismal end as he pulled into the pits with power unit issue, but he had an uncharacteristically poor race prior to this, failing to make much of an impact on the cars in front of him. As Raikonnen moved backwards through the field, Hamilton was battling up the order, overtaking with much more apparent ease than Bottas (though admittedly most of the cars in his way were of the slower variety). As the countdown to the finish began, it was Gasly, Sainz, Stroll at the top, a potential podium I found near impossible to imagine. Surely Bottas would wiggle his way up to second, Hamilton would appear in first and Verstappen would return from the dead to plonk his car in third? But the trio were secure, the only possibility of a mix-up coming from Sainz, who lap by lap was nibbling into Gasly’s lead.

It was only on the final lap though that he was able to get DRS, and as much as I love wheel to wheel racing, I was terrified of the prospect of the pair taking each other out and Bottas lucking his way onto the podium. But fortunately, it was not to be, and we were blessed with the first podium not to feature a Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari since Hungary 2012. In complete disbelief, I cried as Gasly crossed the line and the Alpha Tauri garage erupted with joy, the most emotional race ending for me since Abu Dhabi 2016. What it meant to both Gasly and the team was palpable. After an unimaginably difficult 18 months, that saw him relegated from Red Bull and lose one of his best friends in the most tragic of circumstances, Gasly emerged as one of the most deserving ever winners of a Grand Prix. For Alpha Tauri, it was their second ever win and first in 12 years, at their home race to boot. As the Red Bull mechanics congratulated their sister team and Leclerc, Grosjean and many more came to congratulate Gasly in Parc Ferme, the waterworks really started on my sofa. Add to that the Williams drivers’ heartfelt messages of thanks and farewell to Frank and Claire Williams and I was a sobbing mess! Gasly sitting alone on the top step of the podium, taking it all in, is an extremely poignant image I'm sure will live on for years in the minds of every F1 fan.

It was a superb weekend for McLaren, securing a 2nd and 4th on pace that gave them a brilliant boost in the constructor’s championship. Whilst it was a disappointing afternoon for Perez, Stroll continued what has been an impressive season, disproving his doubters with a second career podium. It was sad to see the Williams drivers unable to score at the family’s last race, but they do seem to be on the up and hopefully will be in good hands to return to the top of the sport. With retirements due to both mechanical and driver errors, the weekend couldn’t have gone worse for Ferrari at their home race; as Seb said it was a good thing the Tifosi weren’t there to witness it. Nonetheless, they've got two more Italian Grand Prix to try and claw back a bit of their reputation, with their 1000th race at Mugello set to be an unpredictable one that they can hopefully capitalise from. I can’t wait.  

[alexballracing]

MSVR Elise Trophy 2019 - Round 3: Oulton Park

Oulton Park is great. I don't think you'll find anyone who says differently, as it has elevation, bumps, high speed and technical sections. I haven't driven it since 2016, and I'd been looking forward to it since they announced it on the calendar to replace the Silverstone round. Because I'd not driven the track in so long, we had booked the afternoon test sessions to remind myself where the corners went. We set off at 7am, and after a long drive part of the M6 closed due to a crash, and my air suspension exploding on the way leaving the 5-series on it's bump-stops for the journey, we arrived at the circuit with enough time to sign on and check the car before going out. Unfortunately one of the two 30 minute sessions was pretty much a red-flag-fest, and we only did one flying lap but the second session was mostly green. After about 10 minutes I felt like the tyres had really gone off, as I was having massive oversteer around all of the right hand corners. I carried on, since we run very old tyres and a bit of oversteer isn't unusual, but in the bolt-check after the test we found that the left hand toe-link bolt had come loose, and bent.. Scary! I had checked the car over before the race weekend and knew it was tight before we started on track at Oulton! Just bad luck. I didn't have a spare bolt (well, not with me, I have hundreds at home!) so I had to spend the remaining time at the track running round the paddock asking everyone if they had one - Hangar 111 spent a good 30 minutes looking through every single box in their van for one, without any luck, ES Motorsport tried, Ben Carpenter who runs Ade Wooton had a look but nobody had anything suitable. I was not able to go to a shop, since my 5-series suspension was still shafted, but luckily a team running a couple of historic formula fords happened to be popping out of the track was able to find me one back in his garage.. amazing considering I'd never met them before trying to scrounge a bolt. That's the side of motorsport I love. Many many thanks must go out to Dave at Souley motorsport. With the new bolt, we bashed the car back together and gave it a thorough check over. We were ready to race. 10:10 Qualifying. It was dry for qualifying, but we headed out onto track with a little trepidation as the skies looked threatening and rain was predicted at some point in the day. I had fitted new tyres, and while they're normally great after a lap or two, these never really felt great, and I actually went a tenth slower than I had done in the 30 minute test just a day earlier, despite the toe link issue. The car seemed to slide across the track rather than dig in and grip, but I think it might have been to do with the tyre rubber left by the formula cars, as the test day had been wet in the morning so not much rubber was down. Luckily, despite not being happy with the laps, my time was still good enough for pole! DELAY We were supposed to be having our first race before lunch, so we got the car back from Parc Ferme, and got straight down to giving it a bolt check. Annoyingly, my toe-link had come loose again! I had changed a washer when fitting the new bolt, and I think this had crushed slightly, as the bolt was still torqued up, but had a small amount of play allowing the joint to move. I replaced the washer for a different style, and re-torqued it and hoped it would stick this time. The rain came while we were bolt checking, and it was going to be a wet race for sure. While we were working on the car the Mini JCWs were out on track and had a big crash - so big that they had to repair a barrier, causing a delay to the day, and eventually, after 2 hours of repair time, a decision being made to move us from the long International Circuit to the smaller Island Circuit - I believe the drivers involved were OK, it must have been a mega shunt to make the track unusable! Our races were moved to both after lunch, both shortened to 18 minutes, and with only around 30 minutes of down-time between them after scrutineering and being called to assembly. I hoped nothing would go wrong with the car! 14:10 Race 1. We were given 3 laps behind the safety car to start the race because none of us had driven the Island Circuit before, and it was now raining. We used the laps to find the grip, find the slippery areas and warm the car up. The only downside was that these slow safety car laps ate into our 18 minute race time. After the 3rd lap we were released as if it was as safety car re-start in single file rather than side by side, and I managed to get a good get away, with John LaMaster just behind. He pushed hard for the first couple of laps, meaning I spent more time looking in my mirrors than forwards, but after I got into a rhythm I was able to pull away and won the race with John finishing second, and Ade Wooton getting his first podium in 3rd, a great effort considering the conditions! He and Chris Marks had a great battle by the sounds of it. The brief downtime allowed me to only check the rear toe link (which was fine) while Nicky fuelled the car and we were then called back to the assembly area for race 2. The weather had now started to dry up, as it had stopped raining after the race, and it was pretty windy. It took some thought to decide what to do with the car for it, before driving it down to wait for our turn on track. 15:30 Race 2. This race would also start behind the safety car, but with only one lap following it and then starting in the same way as the first, in single file. I was starting in 10th, as we reverse the top ten qualifying positions for the 2nd race. Obviously while the start in the first race suited me to protect my pole position, this one meant I was starting further from the front than normal. The track was drying with a few damp areas around to catch people out. The race started, and a bit of a squeeze in turn 1 meant that Mark Bithrey got turned around and slid into the wall on the inside. We had half a lap of racing before the safety car was called, meaning our race time was going to be in single digits. With the car cleared from Old Hall the safety car came in and we were racing again. Knowing the race was short, I was pretty aggressive, and made my way forwards. Overtaking was really good fun in this race, as the off-line areas were still damp in places, so it made planning the moves just that bit harder - brill. After a couple of laps I was in the lead, and just focused on making no mistakes. I won the race, with the Johns behind me, Atherton leading LaMaster by just 0.04 seconds! We then packed up to leave the circuit, and found that my shed of a 5-series wouldn't even start. Luckily, Greg from Hangar 111 was there to help again and jumped it, after solving why it was failing to even turn over. We dragged the stupid thing home and I suspect we'll scrap it as I am done with the unreliability! Just like Cadwell, the car was mega all day. Nicky really does a fantastic job of the setup and keeping it spot on for the races. I couldn't do it without her. I need to say thanks to everyone that helped when I was hunting for a bolt - Hangar 111, Ben, ES - all tried to find the bits for me which really is appreciated. Oh, and as always, Applecado and Kraftwerk Tools UK, who make it all possible.

[thisdaynews]

Formula 1 2019 review: Warning! Contains Sebastian Vettel

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/formula-1-2019-review-warning-contains-sebastian-vettel/

Formula 1 2019 review: Warning! Contains Sebastian Vettel

Another season, another trophy in the cabinet for Lewis Hamilton. By winning his sixth world title, the 34-year-old became statistically the second most successful driver in F1, behind only Michael Schumacher.

But while Mercedes were busy hoovering up points for both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, the rest of the season’s entertainment was happening elsewhere – and it often involved Sebastian Vettel.

Even if 2019 brought him only one race win and one pole position, he gets top marks for turning what could have been a tedious year of racing into a thriller. Here’s why…

Vote for your moment of the 2019 season

Vettel in Canada: agitated

The one when Seb lost it

As the pressure was mounting on the four-time world champion to stop the run of mistakes that had begun in the second half of 2018, his team-mate Charles Leclerc was taking most of the points – and all of the glory.

But then in Canada in June, Vettel came back with a bang to dominate qualifying and score his first pole in nearly a year – since the previous July’s German Grand Prix.

Had Vettel’s losing curse been lifted? It seemed as if the F1 circus was rooting for him to win in Montreal.

But then Hamilton applied pressure while chasing him down, and the mistakes returned. The German was going off on to the grass approaching a chicane, then returned to the track aggressively enough to push Hamilton towards the wall. That caused the stewards to pick up their clipboards and issue him with a five-second penalty.

Cue Vettel shouting: “Where the hell else was I supposed to go? I had grass on my wheels. They are stealing the race from us.”

But that wasn’t the end of it. Vettel took the chequered flag, but once he discovered he wasn’t the race winner, he went into another rant.

“No no no,” he said over team radio. “Not like that. You have to be an absolute blind man – you go on the grass, how are you supposed to control your car? This is the wrong world.”

The German’s outrage caused him to disrupt the the usual podium celebrations, park his car by the FIA officials instead of in front of the ‘number two’ board in parc ferme, and storm off into the Ferrari garage. He was then forced by an FIA official to fulfil his podium duties.

On the way, he swapped the ‘number one’ board in front of Hamilton’s car for the ‘number two’ where his should have been. A bemused Hamilton, who must have felt for his rival, dragged him up to share the top step of the podium with him – once Vettel had finally arrived.

Unsportsmanlike behaviour? Not a bit of it… Fans enjoyed it so much that Vettel was voted driver of the day. And Ferrari even joined in with the refusal to accept defeat, upholding their long tradition of flying a flag at the factory in Maranello following a race win.

Four-time champion Vettel has managed to repeat every one of his F1 bad boy traits across the 2019 season

Three poles… or maybe two

Another driver quite happy to dispute the stats this year is Max Verstappen. The loss of his pole position in Mexico in October was not the first time he’s been stripped of a top-three place because of a penalty, but it is the one he appears to refuse to accept.

He was handed a three-place grid penalty after failing to slow under yellow flags on his final qualifying lap when Valtteri Bottas crashed, and even admitted his mistake in the post-qualifying press conference with a nervous giggle.

Then again, his eight career victories have nearly all come amid some form of drama. Take the one in Austria in June – Verstappen’s first win of the year and his second at the team’s home race.

The Mercedes pair were out of contention for the win with engine cooling issues, and so a rivalry blossomed between Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. A gripping on-track battle saw Verstappen chase down the Ferrari and pass with just two laps remaining.

Just as Hamilton had done to Vettel in Canada three weeks earlier, Verstappen forced a mistake and made Leclerc run wide. At least, that’s one way of looking at it. Another, if you’re in the Ferrari camp, is that Leclerc was pushed clean off the track.

There was a long wait to discover if Verstappen would keep his race win. The verdict – that his victory stood – was not called until hours afterwards. The Dutchman called it “hard racing”. Leclerc took his bat and ball home, and began concocting a revenge plan.

Two weeks later, at Silverstone, that plan was enacted.

Vettel in Northamptonshire: in a hurry

Two weeks later… Ferrari attack, as a pair

Ferrari came back with bite at the British Grand Prix. Verstappen and Leclerc faced off in one of the most intense battles of the modern F1 age.

It even extended to the pits as they stopped for new tyres. The race to get back on track as quickly as possible meant a side-by-side duel that the Silverstone pit lane just wasn’t designed for.

They battled hard but fairly, and Leclerc held off Verstappen until a safety car on lap 20 ended their fight.

Enter Vettel to take up the challenge. But instead of taking the fight to Verstappen, he piled into him. The German put himself to the back of the field, and left the Red Bull driver to trail home in fifth.

Vettel not only collected a 10-second penalty, but also another two superlicence points to add to those from the 2018 US Grand Prix, and the Canadian Grand Prix after the “grass on my wheels” incident. They wouldn’t be the last.

A bittersweet Italian Grand Prix

There are many rules for a Ferrari driver. But number one, at the front of the rule book in giant font, is: ‘Don’t mess up in front of the Tifosi.’ Leclerc adhered to it. Vettel didn’t.

Leclerc produced the perfect pole-to-flag victory in September – with a controversially cut corner and an aggressive defensive move thrown in for good measure. He did all that at an F1 circuit steeped in history, fending off Hamilton to become the first Ferrari winner at Monza since Fernando Alonso in 2010. Scenes.

But what of Vettel? Ah, well. First, he lost a place on lap one to the Renault of Nico Hulkenberg. Then it got worse.

Under no pressure from anybody, the German lost control and spun at the Ascari chicane. Then it got worse still.

Attempting to re-join the track, Vettel did something to horrify Ferrari fans and driving instructors alike. Mirror, signal, manoeuvre? Forget it. Seemingly without looking, Vettel returned to the track and crashed into Lance Stroll, who then had to swerve dangerously to avoid a collision with Pierre Gasly.

It was a shocking move to come from a driver so experienced, and another jaw-dropping moment in an already dramatic race.

Then it got even worse.

The stewards slapped Vettel with a 10-second stop-go penalty, and added three more points to his over-crowded superlicence. Three more after that would mean a ban.

So was that the end of Vettel’s dramas for the season?

Don’t be silly.

Lewis Hamilton wrote on social media that he felt “like giving up on everything” in October. And then he remembered he wasn’t Vettel

Ferrari implode, and the others get a go on the podium

The internal power struggle to be number one at Ferrari reached breaking point at the Brazilian Grand Prix in November, with a crash and a double retirement.

Leclerc had been beating Vettel repeatedly on and off the track all season – even when the pair played with remote control cars in the paddock.

In the closing stages of the battle for third at Interlagos, Leclerc made a clean lunge down the inside of his team-mate at Turn One.

Vettel wasn’t happy. He really wasn’t happy. He responded by deploying DRS to attack back on the approach to Turn Four.

The duo went wheel-to-wheel down the straight, As Vettel was pulling away, he turned in on Leclerc and the cars made contact. The result: suspension damage for Leclerc, and race-ending punctures all round.

The feud had finally erupted – and history had repeated. The move emulated one Vettel had made on Mark Webber at the 2010 Turkish Grand Prix in their Red Bull days.

It was heartbreaking for Ferrari, but a joy to see two midfield teams – Toro Rosso and McLaren – make it on the podium. It was a particularly sweet moment for Red Bull’s most recent reject, as he won a drag race with Hamilton on the final straight across the line. For this was Pierre Gasly’s moment.

Gasly – demoted from Red Bull to Toro Rosso in August – and Carlos Sainz joined Max Verstappen on the podium to celebrate a race which won’t be forgotten any time soon.

Listen: ‘Verstappen wins a mad Brazilian Grand Prix’

The one where Mercedes made a mess of things

What happens when it pours down during a race, and cars come a cropper on a corner covered – inexplicably – with soap?

If you’re Vettel, you deliver the perfect race – for once – by coming from last to second, while much of the field crashes or retires.

Such was the strange scenario in Germany in July, one made even odder by a rare Mercedes foul-up. The team arrived wearing 1900s-style outfits to celebrate 125 years in motorsport. They left having been sucked into enacting a full-on tribute to Wacky Races.

To think, after a disappointing French Grand Prix the previous month, that the F1 community had debated whether the sport was getting stale. Germany provided a race for the ages – and a few surprises.

Take, for instance, the drivers to spin off. Bottas – sure. Hulkenberg – understandable. Leclerc – a bit of a shock. But Hamilton? The multiple world champion came to grief at a corner covered, by the looks of it, in soap suds. Had Dick Dastardly paid a secret visit to Hockenheim? No one seemed able to explain – or take any action.

You wouldn’t get that kind of drama in a game of Mario Kart.

However, the most shocking moment of the race was when Racing Point took a gamble on slick tyres in the closing stages as the rain subsided, and Lance Stroll took the lead.

All bets were off on who would eventually stand on the podium, and to add to his list of dramatic victories, Verstappen won, with another display of masterful driving. Daniil Kvyat collected some champagne on the third step next to Vettel.

The one with the bromance

Away from Vettel’s antics, there are many things to be taken from 2019.

There’s the bromance between Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz; the close midfield battle and resurgence of McLaren; the fall of Renault’s performance; the ladder Williams and Haas continue to climb towards achieving competitive form; the Red Bull mid-season driver swaps leading to the discovery that their talent pool is dry; and the continuous discussions about the 2021 regulations.

But what is for certain, is that Formula 1 has provided many moments of laughter, tears, frustration and boredom. And long may it continue. See you in Melbourne in March, Sebastian? You bet.

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