#double dealing f1 series

[everythingne]

double dealing /ˌdəbəlˈdēliNG/

( noun. ) the practice of working to people's disadvantage behind their backs.

formula racing is luxurious and lucrative, everyone knows that.

but what most people don't know about is the secret races that are bet on with hand signals and whispers over radios in the dark. the double dealing. somehow, you have fallen right in.

(formula one x reader, street racers au. masterlist.)

masterlist !

general warnings for this series: kinda basing this off of the fast and furious series, there is mentions of drugs/weapons trafficking, sabotage, car accidents and more. each fic in the au will be individually tagged with its warnings.

notes from nicole: pls send in a dm or comment asking to be put on the taglist, and really don't hesitate to throw in an ask for a fic of certain driver in this series! i've been slowly building this up behind the scenes for a bit and would love to have y'all help build the world with me.

also i spent so long figuring out everyones cars. help.

-

max verstappen - 1 known as the lion, drives a 1999 Subaru WRX. sergio perez - 11 known as checkers, drives a 2013 Toyota 86. george russell - 63 known as shades, drives 2000 Porsche Boxster. lewis hamilton - 44 known as sir, drives a 1996 Subaru Impreza. charles leclerc - 16 known as predestined, drives a 2018 Porsche 911 GT3. carlos sainz - 55 known as operator, drives a 1998 Ferrari F355. oscar piastri - 81 known as goss(ip), drives a 2000 Toyota Supra MK IV. lando norris - 4 known as hotshot, drives a 2001 Honda S2000. lance stroll - 18 known as payday, drives a 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4. fernando alonso - 14 known as the godfather, currently not driving. oversees operations. esteban ocon - 31 known as bestie, drives a 1997 Chevrolet Corvette. pierre gasly - 10 known as jj, drives a 1968 Plymouth Road Runner. alexander albon - 23 known as smokey, drives a 1970 Pontiac LeMans. logan sargeant - 2 known as bandit, drives a 2002 Pontiac Firebird. daniel ricciardo - 3 known as badger, drives a Nissan Skyline GT-R R33. yuki tsunoda - 22 known as insid(ious), drives a 1998 Mazda RX-7 valtteri bottas - 77 known as mullet, not currently driving. handles crowd control. zhou guanyu - 24 known as assassin, drives a 2015 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. kevin magnussen - 20 known as papa bear, currently not driving. handles bet pools. nico hulkenberg - 27 known as the hulk, currently not driving. scouts locations for races.

[driverlando]

✧.* #NUDEGATE

synopsis- Oscar accidentally posts a nude on his instagram story

before you continue: similar to the sex tape leak smau for lando! if you enjoyed please reblog and give me a follow <3

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

—

✧.* Oscar’s reaction

You and Oscar are lounging on the couch, enjoying a rare quiet afternoon together. The TV is on, but neither of you is really watching it. You’re curled up against him, scrolling through your phone, while he’s half-asleep, his arm wrapped around you.

Suddenly, Oscar’s phone rings, startling both of you. He fumbles to grab it from the coffee table, squinting at the screen. “It’s Zak,” he says, his voice tinged with confusion. He answers the call, putting it on speaker.

“Oscar, mate, you need to check your Instagram story right now,” Zak’s urgent voice fills the room.

Oscar sits up, wide awake now. “What? Why?”

“Just do it,” Zak insists. “You’ve posted something you shouldn’t have.”

Your heart drops as you both realise what this might mean. Oscar quickly opens his Instagram, his fingers shaking slightly. He taps on his story and his face goes pale. “Oh my God,” he mutters.

You peek over his shoulder and see it—a very revealing photo that’s definitely not meant for public eyes. “Oh no,” you breathe, your cheeks burning with embarrassment.

“Delete it, Oscar. Now,” Zak commands.

Oscar doesn’t need to be told twice. He quickly deletes the story, his hands moving in a blur. “It’s gone,” he says, his voice trembling. “I’m so sorry, Zak. I didn’t realize…”

Zak’s tone is exasperated but with a hint of amusement. “Oscar, you might want to double-check before you post anything in the future. Your fans probably didn’t expect to see that.”

Oscar groans, dropping his phone onto the sofa. “I can’t believe I did that.”

You can’t help but giggle. “Well, you did say you wanted to give your fans a closer look at your life.”

He shoots you a horrified look before bursting into laughter. “Not that close!”

Zak’s voice comes through the speaker, chuckling. “Look, just be more careful next time. And maybe invest in some clothes.”

Oscar rolls his eyes, still laughing. “Got it, Zak. Thanks for the heads up.”

“Anytime. And Oscar, maybe don’t make this a regular thing, yeah? We’re trying to win races, not start an OnlyFans,” Zak says before ending the call.

Oscar drops his head into his hands, still laughing. “I can’t believe this.”

You wrap your arms around him, grinning. “At least we know your followers are getting a lot of exposure to their favourite driver.”

He groans, his face flushing again. “I’m never living this down, am I?”

You kiss his cheek. “Probably not. But hey, now you’ve got a funny story to tell.”

He sighs, pulling you closer. “Only if you promise to never let me use Instagram unsupervised again.”

You laugh. “Deal. And maybe we should stick to cute couple selfies from now on.”

Oscar nods, a mischievous glint in his eye. “Or maybe… I should make sure all my posts have wardrobe approval from you first.”

You grin. “I can work with that.”

—

—

—

—

SCANDAL ON THE GRID: Oscar Piastri’s Instagram Mishap

By: Sasha, Rumour Radar

In a hilarious yet shocking turn of events, McLaren’s rising star Oscar Piastri has become the latest cautionary tale for digital privacy and social media blunders. Early yesterday morning, fans got more than they bargained for when Piastri accidentally posted a revealing photo to his Instagram story, sending the F1 community into a frenzy. The incident has drawn comparisons to similar celebrity slip-ups, such as Chris Evans’ infamous social media mishap.

The mishap was quickly addressed in a series of tweets by Piastri himself. The first tweet, brimming with sheepish humour, read: “So… that wasn’t supposed to happen. Apologies to everyone. Lesson learned: double-check before posting. #SorryMum”

Just minutes later, he followed up with a more serious note on the importance of digital security: “On a serious note, let’s talk about digital privacy. Make sure you’re securing your accounts and double-checking before you post. Lesson learned. #StaySafeOnline”

As if the situation wasn’t already comedic gold, Piastri’s McLaren teammate and fellow prankster, Lando Norris, couldn’t resist adding his comment. “Oh Oscar mate, you need lessons on how to use Instagram properly. Always give your phone to a responsible adult if you’re not sure,” Norris retweeted Piastri to ensure the ribbing hit home.

To top it all off, Piastri’s model girlfriend, Y/N, chimed in with her own playful jab: “I literally leave him alone for a minute and this is what happens…”

Insiders close to the couple revealed that Zak Brown, McLaren’s CEO, was the first to alert Piastri to the accidental post, calling him in a tone that was reportedly both urgent and amused. “Oscar, mate, you need to check your Instagram story right now,” Brown had said, trying to suppress laughter while maintaining his authoritative stance.

Despite the embarrassing slip-up, fans were quick to rally around Piastri, appreciating his candid and humorous approach to the situation. “At least we know he’s human!” one fan tweeted, while another quipped, “This is why Oscar Piastri is my favourite—he’s real, he’s relatable, and he’s hilariously unfiltered.”

The incident has sparked a flurry of memes and jokes across social media, solidifying Piastri’s place not just as a talented driver, but as a beloved personality in the F1 world.

While the dust settles on this unexpected reveal, Piastri’s misadventure serves as a humorous reminder of the perils of social media. As the young driver himself advised, securing your accounts and double-checking before posting is a lesson everyone can take to heart.

As for Piastri, it seems he’ll be keeping a much closer eye on his phone from now on, with a little help—and a lot of teasing—from his friends and family.

Stay tuned to Rumour Radar for the latest updates on this unfolding story and more celebrity gossip.

—

oscarpiastri

liked by yourusername, logansargeant and 207,256 others

oscarpiastri me when I got a call from Zak to check my Instagram story 😅 Thanks for the support, everyone. And to McLaren for not firing me.

view all 9,268 comments

user1 I wish I was a fly on the wall during that conversation with Zak 🤣

oscarpiastri I promise I’m a responsible person btw!!

↳ yourusername sure honey, sure

user2 you’re such a grandpa when it comes to technology

yourusername Still can’t believe you managed to do this 😭

↳ user3 was he trying to send you the nude or something 😂

↳ user4 they’re kinky af, he was definitely sending her a pic

user5 where can I see this nude? 👀

↳ user6 search up #nudegate on twitter, it’s trending

↳ user5 HOLY SHIT! good to know he keeps a stubble down there 🥵

↳ user6 I don’t even wanna know how big he is erect, like that man is hungggg

logansargeant only you 😂

—

—

✧.* Y/n loves adding fuel to the fire

—

mclaren

liked by yourusername, landonorris and 187,268 others

mclaren nothing to see here, just two guys who love keeping our pr team on their toes #sendhelp

view all 2,618 comments

landonorris why he say fuck me for?

↳ user7 please you know exactly why 😂

oscarpiastri whoops, hey that’s why we have a pr team right?

user8 just a couple of besties 🫶

oscarpiastri is it roast Oscar day or something?

↳ yourusername after the stunt you pulled…yes.

user9 the best duo!! 😂

user10 mclaren pr have the patience of a saint 😭

—

✧.* Lando finally gets his payback

[saintescuderia]

pancakes (pt. 1)

welcome a new multi-chapter fic. enjoy.

AKA - the story of how the naive australian rookie befriended the gym junkie F1 hospitality worker with the shoe collection - and inadvertently broke the grid's most treasured and unspoken rule: you don't go for y/n.

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

P1 - bulgarian split squats

Really, the only way to survive Formula 1 was by going to the gym. 

The gym addiction was something that had existed long before joining the circus of a motorsports paddock filled with politics and rumours, as well as the slim fitting uniforms that always seemed to be accompanied by, in your opinion, ugly ass shoes. 

Sure, Puma was the offical sponsor but couldn’t they get anything other than the Speedcat? And what even was that name? Speedcat? It was on brand, sure, but at what cost? Really? If Formula 1 was trying to grow its popularity they could honestly start with their dress code. Seeing Christian Horner in Skechers really took the intimidation out of him when you served him his double espresso during the Spanish Grand Prix that one time last season. 

One of the perks of working in Hospitality - and there were very few far and in between - was that uniform was not so strict. F1 Hospitality only required an all black service with ‘comfortable shoes.’ This you took for interpretation. Dunks. Jordan 4s. Maybe 1s. Never 13s. Forces were good for a night race - that usually meant more stairs - and Vans were what you reached for in the morning when you knew you’d be working the barista shift. Converse were for ‘throw away’ races.

These were the races where you knew the shoe-care was not important. For example, Silverstone with its torrential UK drinkers who were likely to throw up on your beloved sneakers. Alas, you had learned the hard way when you almost lost your job by rushing to the kitchen to start scrubbing the vomit off your blue and red Cortez during peak lunch.

Never again.

Admittedly, you did try to keep at least one pair of Converse in good care since they were the renowned shoe come leg day. 

Another perk of working in F1 Hospitality was that every circuit’s map layout had been drilled into your head. Meaning you always knew exactly where the communal driver’s gym was located at and could therefore get your daily dose of dopamine before dealing with… well, everything.

You silenced the shrill horror that came from the iPhone alarm. 4:00 read the lockscreen, the light shining brightly into your face. It didn’t help that your wallpaper had a photo with a clear blue sky, making the light even harsher in the darkness. You could’ve very well changed it and avoid the pain you routinely go through every morning. But it was this very photo that reminded you why you were getting up in four in the morning in the first place. 

You had snapped it during a free practice in Italy that had miraculously lined up with a break in your shift. The sky was clear and the red car was small, but clear on the circuit. Ferrari, of course. You still remember the buzz that circled around the paddock staff that day. No matter who you routed for or whatever bias you had, there was a unanimously acknowledgement that Ferrari winning at Monza was special. He was special. 

Then again, you’ve known that long before he stood on that podium in Italy and was given his infamous nickname. 

It didn’t even take you ten minutes until you were out the door. Your gym clothes (pump cover included!) were on the one limpy chair that decorated your poor little hotel room, your shaker sat on top of your gym bag with you black high top Converse right beside it. By the time you had made it to the gym, it was a little past 4:15 and you had already scooped in pre-workout into your mouth ready to get through the oncoming pain. 

Your hips were a little tight, as per normal. The left side even more so. The hood of your hoodie was up, headphones on and blasting the hardstyle house music that would see you through the next two hours. You went through your usual stretches but with today’s added focus on the lower body. 

And then you went about destroying your legs. 

It was about an hour or so that Oscar finally sleepily arrived. You weren’t actually sure what time it was but you were up to doing bulgarian split squats - and hating life - and that was usually at the hour mark. You gave him a curious once over, noting the odd choice of clothing. It was a little odd to see a driver in the paddock wearing athleisure that wasn’t their team uniform.

“Bro, it’s five in the morning.” Oscar groaned, shuffling over to come and sit on the bench next to you. You gave another three more reps - Oscar silently watching you groan in pain through the last two - and then finally dropped the dumbbells. You reached over to take a sip of water and checked the phone for the time.

“It’s five thirteen in the morning.” You corrected. It had been just about the hour mark. “Are we training today or?” It wasn’t the first time Oscar had joined you. The reason his neck was getting stronger was because of you. In your opinion, the trainer Alpine had assigned Oscar was a fucking idiot.

“You’re doing legs.” Oscar pointed out, as if that was enough of an answer. He leaned to lay back down on the bench and stared up as he continued to speak. “Drivers don’t need bulky legs. We’ve been over this.”

You had. Many times. You knew he was right. It still would be nice to have someone to go through legs with you, though.

“So train with light weights.” You offered, trying. Oscar just gave you a look that made it clear he was not picking up any type of weights. You shrugged, not deterred. “I’ll do calisthenics with you. Or we can work on plyometrics.” Oscar’s response was to close his eyes and let out a deep sigh. “Fuck it man, do some cardio.” You came to the last resort, coming to kick his legs as you walked past to load up the smith machine with some different plates. 

“Piss off Tezza.” The Australian-ness continuing to shine through with the nickname that Oscar had specifically designed for you in respect of your shared citizenship to the ‘land down under.’

Except unlike the blond caucasian boy who loved AFL, grew up in Brighton East and attended Haileybury, your Australian-ness was less obvious. Your accent, for one, wasn’t as prominent since your parents were African immigrants. This, of course, didn’t just influence your speech patterns and accent.

Dark skin, dark eyes and dark hair, you weren't exactly the picture of a 'true blue Aussie.' The rite of public school bullying from those who did look 'Australian' (whatever that meant) had you scoffing at vegemite and preferring to follow EPL and La Liga than whatever the fuck was Aussie Rules Football.

Why is it called football if the players pick up the ball?

Still, when a homesick Oscar Piastri overheard one of the Hospitality staff yell out that that they were going for a 'Macca’s run' between the practice sessions on his very first F1 race weekend, he instantly picked up on the Australian-ism. And he didn’t let it go. And cue the beginning of a friendship that had Oscar Piastri calling you ‘bro’ and shortening your last name as per Australian rite.

Even if you had sworn off that sort of thing.

“Oscar, man, if you ain’t here to train then why are you?” You said, locking the plates in place on the smith machine. You lifted up your hood up and ducked under the bar to rest the metal against you shoulders, the hood acting as a cushion. The starting weight was light enough that you wouldn't have to worry about music for your first set. Besides, if Oscar was here, he could be the entertainment for this set. “You forget that this is a driver’s only gym. You could get in trouble." The sarcasm was all too clear in your voice.

No one used the ‘drivers-only’ gym. It was something that every Grand Prix had set up. Mobile, communal and high-end, it had enough equipment to rival the local 24/7 studio franchise gym that seemed to exist in every neighbourhood. Despite the fact that every driver preferred to train at their own motorhome gym - or that every team had their own mobile gym set up in conjunction to the motorhome - F1 still went about packing up and moving their own studio gym to every single location come race weekend.

If anything, it was a nice stop during the presentation walk during the sponsorship lunches where good old Stefano Domenicali would show off all the amazing resources that the Grand Prix space has to offer. 

So, no. F1’s Driver Gym was not used.

The only reason it wasn’t gathering dust was because every weekend it was packed up and moved. That and you woke up at 4am every weekend to destroy your muscles in the familiar red and black equipment.

"You're here." Oscar reminded you. "And not a driver."

You ignored him and just kept up with your repetitions, focusing on engaging your glutes and keeping your core tight. Oscar was silent as you finished your first set. When you finished your last rep, he stood up and came round as you locked the machine. He knew you well enough to pick up the 10kg and help add it to the sides.

"Thanks." You said. Oscar nodded and added the weight to the other side. There was a quiet air for a moment and you went to pick up your headphones to put them back on. Things were getting heavier and you would need music to get through the next few sets.

“I might be leaving Alpine.” 

You looked up at Oscar who dropped the bomb and then looked back at your headphones. You sighed and then dropped the headphones back to land in your gym bag. Headphoneless, you went back to the machine and Oscar took your invitation.

“Zak Brown approached me yesterday and suggested something about picking me up for next year.” Oscar said.

You just kept squatting. Oscar was far too removed to yet be aware of - well, everything.

“And with talk of Fernando quitting, I know that Alpine will be calling me up but do I trust that? Honestly Lando has been doing so well and Ocon has always pissed me off.” Oscar watched as you started to struggle.

He stood up and came around to help you but you just shook you head. You pushed through one more rep and then called it. 

“He does have a punchable face.” You said, now out of breath. Esteban had always annoyed you and before meeting Oscar, you used to dread the weekends where you were put on Alpine.

Your friend handed you the water bottle sat beside your gym bag before you could even ask. You gave a two finger salute in thanks as he continued on.

“And Lily and I got into this massive fight again! Apparently I don’t communicate enough!” He huffed. “But I sent her flowers and chocolates because she’s going through finals and she likes daisies and Cadbury."

“Yeah, but is that her love language though?” You asked, dropping your bottle and going to stack up the final set of weights on the smith machine. Oscar stood up again to help you.

“Her what?” He asked, handing you the plate.

“Love language.” You answered, still panting, and explained, “You’ve got physical touch, gift giving, quality time, words of affirmation and acts of service.” 

“Are you saying people love in specific ways?" Oscar asked, quick to process new information as always.

“Exactly. You did something nice for her, an act of service. Maybe all she wants is a nice, long phone call or maybe some texts complimenting her or something.” You shrugged and then brought up your headphones.

Oscar accepted this, knowing the last set would require music.

He watched you as you settled back under the smith machine bar and went on squatting more than his body weight. He shook his head and ran a hand over his face. He really shouldn't have been surprised at your lack of surprise. Little shocked you. That or your might’ve already known and just kept it to yourself. F1 Hospitality were a part of the Formula One Group and, therefore, were not associated to any one team. They had rotations across all teams and, therefore, every member of staff were required to sign an NDA. Not that ever did anything in this damn place.

Still, Oscar knew that you were one of the few genuine people left in this place.

He knew that there would’ve been so many opportunities where you could’ve easily done something for yourself by recounting something you had overheard while pouring Toto Wolff his coffee or serving Mattia Binotto his lunch. It was the reason why so many teams hired their own internal hospo staff.

It was also the reason why Oscar felt comfortable coming to tell you about Alpine and McLaren before he had even told his own parents, or Lily. The argument with his girlfriend had prevented him from getting any sleep, mulling it over in his mind for hours. Oscar knew you would be able to help him through it all.

And that you would be the only one awake at this godforsaken hour.

By the time you had finished your first set, he was Googling love languages and having a quick read through. 

By the time you had finished your second set, he was halfway through doing the love languages quiz.

By the time you had finished your third and final set, he was seeing what the problem was between him and Lily.

“I think Lily is words of affirmation and I'm acts of service." He said, coming up to the machine as you stepped back and pulled down your headphones. You blinked and nodded, still put of breath. "I think I forgot to check in with her and send her some compliments. Tell her I'm proud of her for getting through exams. Especially because she never is one for gifts, really."

You held out your hand to him. "There you go. Growth."

"I don't know what to do about Alpine."

"Call a lawyer."

Oscar pursed his lips and then considered this. That wouldn't be his first move but thinking about it, it was probably for the best. "That's actually a good idea."

"Isn't that why you're here?" You retorted. "Since you're not here to train. Speaking of which, the fuck is that?"

“What?” He asked and realised you were looking at his feet.

“Zak Brown isn’t going to hire you if he finds out that you’re wearing fucking thongs with socks.” You said, finally recognising the flip-flops he wore with some white socks that really needed to be washed. 

“You’ve been a great help, thanks.” Oscar smiled. You rolled your eyes and went to your gym bag. Pulling out a pair of white Adidas Sambas, you tossed them to Oscar.

“Put these on.”

“Is my footwear really that offensive to you?”

“We’ll go run the track.” You said then gestured to all of him. “It’ll help you burn all of this off.”

Oscar sighed and did as he was told. He laced up the shoes you'd given him that surprisingly fit his large feet and followed you out to the track. He used his pass to get through since a driver running the track at 5:30 in the morning would just be seen as the dedication to the grind. A Hospitality staff member would just be accused of breaking in. 

“Maybe it’s a good thing you’re going through a crisis. I’ve always wanted to do a morning run on the track.” You said with a grin as the pair of you came to the starting line that, in a matter of hours, would be full of mechanics, engineers, reporters, camera crew members and, of course, drivers.  

“If I get a seat at McLaren, you can be my trainer.” Oscar said as you both started warming up into a light jog.

"Ha." You snorted. "As if you could afford me, bro."

next ch [2] >

[f1version]

BARBARA ROBERTS ★ DTN SERIES

series’ masterlist

An old chapter is reopened, that force and distinction that drove Barbara Roberts to the top of F1 for two consecutive years, back home. Malibu Racing is a new temple, the extension of a legacy.

Barbara Roberts, Team Principal and CEO of Malibu Racing F1 Team has her origins tied to history books. A two-time world champion whose on-track abilities couldn’t be ignored. A fierce competitor who came back for more.

At the young age of four, Barbara began chasing the excitement behind the wheel, observing karting races closely, going home, and developing her talent with each lap of her uncle’s old kart. She found happiness in speed, enjoyed visiting the Phoenix Street Circuit each year, obsessed over the Indy500, and watched Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost challenge each other throughout the years. Suddenly, she began to dream about a hot-pink car, all her notebooks filled with drawings of it. She, as well as her family, then understood that racing was a fire that needed to be fueled.

Roberts made her kart racing debut at the age of eight, and after winning her first race, it was a matter of time before her name was engraved on several US-based kart championship trophies. However, further progress would require expanding horizons, which prompted the Roberts to move across the ocean in 1994, supporting Barbara for what could be a challenging career. 

Europe was fast, she stayed faster. By fourteen her collection of kart titles included national, international, and world championships. Every race and practice aimed for that unattainable perfection, being aware of the judging eyes on each step she took. At 16 years old, Roberts was fearless, deciding to pursue another dream of hers, an engineering career. She used to say that the pressure was a reminder of what was yet to come.

Pieces began to fall into place, Barbara embarked on single-seaters as soon as age allowed it. Her first title in Monoposto Racing Club was followed by titles in Formula BMW ADAC, Formula Renault, and the Formula 3 Euro Series — all consecutive titles. And bound to keep the momentum, she started hunting for a seat in Formula One, closing the deal with BMW Williams in a reserve capacity for 2004 and securing a race seat for the 2005 season. 

Debuting at 21, Barbara spent her year fighting at the midfield in struggling machinery, yet was able to finish 10th in the World Championship, once again pouring ink on paper for what would be BMW Sauber in 2006. An improvement in reliability for her sophomore season placed Roberts on track for her maiden Grand Prix victory in the streets of Monaco, an unbelievable, emotional, and well-remembered drive that holds her in the tracks’ spotlight to this day.

For the 2007 season, Scuderia Ferrari took the bet on two young talents: Barbara Roberts and Kimi Räikkönen, giving both drivers the exact same 3-year-contract and an opportunity to make history. 

The pair held a fiery battle all season, ending in one of the most astonishing title deciders in the sport’s history, where the world championship rested on their number of wins due to a tie in the points. The crown sealed on Räikkönen, but Barbara’s own would arrive that very next year, securing it after 8 wins and 15 total podiums.

In her final year of mastery, Roberts became a double World Champion after a year-long battle against Brawn’s Jenson Button, three points separating them. And despite being contracted to race in 2010, Roberts decided to leave F1 behind at the end of the 2009 season.

After her F1 retirement, Barbara has taken on different roles and challenges throughout the years. In 2011 revealing her retirement's original reason, Roberts announced her new position as CEO of her family’s emblematic automobile manufacturer, Malibu Motors, linking nostalgia with modernity. In 2016, they held the biggest car launch in history, presenting one supercar and seven SUVs which resulted into having six of those as the bestselling cars of the year. In 2017, Malibu Motors became part of the Formula 3 engine programme, making the public think that was her only form of a comeback to motorsport. Yet, one year later, a victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans was waiting for her and former rivals, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button. And, in for 2019, she begun sponsoring multiple young women across motorsport, mentoring those in the path to Formula One.

Important figures of the sport, old colleagues, and the public, believed Barbara would be back in the car sooner or later, but after fourteen years, she has opted for a different path. A decade-long project becomes reality in 2023, with two hot-pink cars flying on track, resembling Barbie’s old childhood drawings.

★ Malibu Racing F1 ⓒ 2023

THE PINK MEMBERSHIP — @lorarri @fefieverywhere @inejghafawifesblog @lenean7 @boiohboii @monacokisses @nyxblessed @whenelisefallsinlove @peachiicherries @folklorelvrr @spencerrxids @destourtereaux @lovelytsunoda @landonorizzz @love4lando @evans-dejong @cielolercs @mae119 @spacius @almostjollypizza @elliegrey2803 @thatsadsmallchild @formulaoneluver33 @obsessed-fan-alert @teamspideyman @mikauraur @goldsainz @iamk-shale @fefieverywhere @be-your-coffee-pot @asian-vulcan @schumacheer @opheliaas-stuff @satellitelh @sialexia @folkloresreputation . . . join the taglist here

[charlie-lec-stories]

Masterlist

Charles Leclerc

✘PR’s biggest mess // CL16

«Charles Leclerc/Russell!sister»

❝Lea Russell was the first F1 female driver, making history for the women’s movement in the racing world. But when things got more and more complicated, her life became a constant PR mess.❞

✘Natural // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character»

❝Charles finds himself becoming an incredibly committed babysitter, or is it more a parental instinct?❞

✘Patience and 1/2 of Double Trouble // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character»

❝Charles knew that having his little brother, Arthur, in F1 with him was going to be chaotic, what he didn't expect was to have to deal with Arthur's best friend too.❞

✘Ride // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character»

❝She's battling the fight of her life, he crashed into her life in the middle of the chaos and now won't leave.❞

✘80's Fever (Part I) // CL16

«Charles Leclerc/Vestappen!Twin»

❝What started as a PR activity to promote an 80's series ended up being Charles' excellent opportunity to make his rival fall for him.❞

Part II

❝After the best night of his life, Charles feels that there's an awkwardness that shouldn't be there. What can he do to fix that?❞

✘Clumsy // CL16

«Charles Leclerc/Sainz!sister»

❝Charles' clumsiness is a curse and blessing.❞

✘Fangio 2.0 // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character»

❝Charles finds himself worried about the crazy frenzy around his girlfriend who just got a seat in F1, but this feeling that was constantly minimized by her is going to become more than justified when a threat is made.❞

✘Hand written letters // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character»

❝Y/N, a pretty cold and moody woman, has the hardest shell to break through, but Charles will take his time if he has to.❞

✘A lovely mess // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character»

❝Four times Charles overreacted to becoming a father and one he actually failed to react. Or Charles being a mess through the best and most scary adventure of his life.❞

✘Invisible string // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Vettel!Sister»

❝While on a difficult time in his life, Sebastian discovers that his family is way bigger than he thought.❞

✘Everything happens for a reason // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Stroll!Sister»

❝After a whole life of following her father's orders, Y/N's tired of being the good girl and when she finally stood up for herself with the help of her best friend, all hell broke loose.❞

✘Dirty Little Secret - Halloween Special Series // CL16

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character»

❝Charles' wife went to The Other Side and came back, but her past did too.❞

Part 1: Qatar // Part 2: Guilt // Part 3: Maud // Part 4: Forgiveness // Part 5.1: Clemency // Part 5.2: The whole truth

Feat. Max Verstappen

✘The Socca Fiasco // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝Charles feels like he doesn't do enough compared to his partners so he decides to make a traditional Monaco dish for them. What could go wrong?❞

✘Some Odd Numbers are Even // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝Max knows that he's always been in love with his best friend, even if she was driving for the enemy, and he could live with that, but her dating the rival he has a crush on it's where he draws the line❞

✘One too many // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝When you have one too many it's great to have two boyfriends❞

✘McLaren Detectives Department // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝One day Max is totally furious with Y/N and Charles' relationship and the next he's completely fine with it, Lando is not buying it❞

✘Better // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝You can cure the enmity between Max and Charles, but never their competitive drive❞

✘Good enough // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝Max is not always the confident man he looks like❞

✘Drama King // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝Already used to Max's shenanigans, Y/N finds out that Charles with the flu can be quite a challenge❞

✘Out the comfort zone // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝Sensitive matters should always be addressed with kindness, tactfulness and pinch of fun❞

✘Nightmares // CL16 & MV1

«Charles Leclerc / Original Female Character / Max Verstappen»

❝Everyone deals with their own battle, but they are always easier faced together❞

[chussyracing]

what has been happening in the world of motorsports?

it's very long, so all updates and rumours are under the cut

DRIVERS (and others) MARKET

Esteban will leave Alpine at the end of the year (he will confirm his future in f1 „soon“)

Checo Perez got a contract extension in RBR for 2025 and 2026 (meaning that yes, he will be in the team for the first year of new rules)

since there are whispers about Newey already being signed for Ferrari, there are also rumours about Enrico Cardile looking at potential offers (like the one from Aston Martin) as his role could be diminished by Newey coming

very much a rumour (by DailyMail as well) but Ollie to Haas has been confirmed by them

Yuki extended his contract with RB for 2025 season

FIA passed the rule that drivers can be 17 to achieve Superlicence needed for outing in F1 and the only person it could probably apply to right now is Kimi Antonelli who turns 18 in August, so we may see him in an F1 car sooner than that (on the other hand it can also apply to the FP1 junior outing as well)

another thing that supports is are quotes from Toto (that they told Carlos they want to focus on young drivers and he understood) and form James Vowles (that Carlos is their main target for signing)

there are also unconfirmed rumours that Williams offered Carlos a 4 year deal (2 years with 2 years extension possibility) and that the deal could get announced around Barcelona GP

Guanyu is rumoured to look into Alpine seat possibility (remember he was in their junior academy)

Horner cleared up that the new contract extension for Checo is not actually 2 year but rather 1+1

Sauber (or rather Audi) signed Stefano Sordo as performance director in preparation for 2026

Adam Kenyon has been promoted to Head of Aero of Williams and according to James Vowles he has been with he team since 2021 and was “quietly promoted” in March this year already, they just didn’t announce it with a lot of noise

there are reports that Ferrari dropped the negotiations with Newey around Monaco and since he visited Aston Martin factory

Helmut Marko confirmed that if they cannot find a seat for Liam Lawson for 2025 he has a clause in his contract making him a free agent open to all the teams

Montoya said that Logan already has been told he won’t continue racing for Williams in 2025 and this is what is behind his bad results this year (but when does anyone listen to what Montoya says anyway)

OTHER SERIES

Jamie Chawdick became the first ever female to win an Indy NXT race (after also becoming the first female pole sitter)

after Este speaking about getting dead threats, the same happened to Theo Pourchaire in IndyCar for a crash during Detroit GP (Arrow McLaren stood behind him, the same cannot be said about Alpine)

on the other hand… um. he was hired after David Malukas got injured and he was supposed to drive for the rest of the season, and now they fired him and hired Nolan Siegel instead after he apparently just posted about being excited to drive this upcoming weekend (nobody speak to me about how Ferrari treats Carlos for not extending his contract when you see this please)

Marc Marquez will join Bagnaia in Ducati for 2025 in MotoGP

Arthur Leclerc won his first race with his Scuderia Baldini and rest of the team in GT3 series (with a car sponsored by LEC which based on his race suit is his personal sponsor)

Ferrari won 24 hours of Le Mans AGAIN for the second year in row, this time with car #50 and car #51 coming in p3 for a double podium (Nyck de Vries was p2 with Toyota, Ferrari #83 was running in contention for a win or podium at least until the engine died, Alpine suffered double DNF with both cars)

JUNIORS

McLaren reserve driver Hirakawa tested MCL36 yesterday

Jack Doohan did his FP1 session for Alpine in Esteban’s car in Canada and coincidentally Bruno Famin (Alpine TP spoke about him being on their list for the 2025 Alpine seat)

Ollie Bearman will be doing another FP1 session in Nico’s car in Barcelona for Haas

Jak Crawford tested 2022 Aston Martin car

Kimi Antonelli tested W13 in Barcelona

Kacper Sztuka was dropped from Red Bull junior academy after just 4 race weekends and there is a real concern if he will be able to finish the season without the financial backing that the F1 backing brought him

RULES AND FUTURE OF F1

Red Bull Ring will have temporary gravel traps between T9 and T10 (so it would avoid track limits trauma from past two years in F1 but it would also stay safe for MotoGP)

F1’s revenue increased by 45% in first quarter of 2024 in comparison to 2023

the 2026 rules were announced by FIA: cars will be narrower and shorter and lighter, DRS will be replaced by MOM (manual overtake mode) which just sounds like push to pass tbh as it gives you more energy for some time, there will be new aero modes – basically active aero parts (so again similar to DRS but both on front and rear wing and those will be manually activated and it won’t be depended on how close you are to the car in front) and there are new safety measures with stronger hoop after Guanyu’s crash in Silverstone and better/more lights for visibility and of course no front wheel deflectors thank god, there will be less ground effect and less exhaust engine power with electric engine adding more power

FE also will get some new rules: new gloves with better protection (after a series of hand injuries with current generation of cars) and same rules as in F1 about superlicence were updated

side note many F1 team principals apparently already protested certain parts of the new rules (and also some drivers, Lando said that fans can forget about more than one team running for a victory with new rules and George said it could be dangerous with crazy speeds on straights and very slow ones in turns)

also Domenicali admitted that these regs might be the last with hybrid cars, instead they would focus on 100% sustainable fuels and better “traditional” sound and lighter cars in the upcoming years after that

oh and Newey spoke about the new regs as well and said that FIA was “heavily influenced by one or two manufacturers” when making 2026 technical regulations

and Mercedes and Renault are against alternations to the agreed engine regulations for 2026

Ferrari tested the 2025 Pirelli tyres in Mugello last week

FIA is thinking of doing two sets of testings (instead of just three days like it was in recent years, doing 6 of them instead) which would probably be 3 days in Barcelona and 3 days in Bahrain for 2026 as the teams would need to collect more data with the new regulations coming into place

F1 TEAMS

the investigation against Stake Kick Sauber F1 Team in Switzerland was dropped “after determining that Sauber’s international presence and the inaccessibility of Stake’s services in Switzerland rendered the sponsorship compliant with regulations”

formulauno reports that Ferrari’s Imola upgrade package cost them about 35% of development budget, so more big changes were meant come in Silverstone but the team pushed forward and is expected to bring them in Barcelona already (so maybe new floor? maybe diffusor area where we lose a lot to RBR?) – this upgrade package could be fit to both cars depending on how they do (and if they can do 3 copies)

Mercedes should also bring new floor to Spain with more gains expected from them, Red Bull, VCARB and McLaren are also expected to bring some upgrades

Williams had a fanzone in Montreal and opened another in Barcelona

Red Bull is apparently asking for legality check of the front wings of Mercedes (and probably McLaren and Ferrari and there is a speculation that Aston Martin has a similar front wing in works)

there are speculations about Renault dropping out of F1 after rumours that Alpine is asking for possibility of Red Bull Powertrains as their engine supplier from 2026 onwards

speaking for Alpine, they had some upgrades that obviously helped them quite a lot, but according to Esteban, they have been swapping one chassis (the older one) that is 3kgs heavier and he had it since Miami and he expects them to swap it for the rest of the whole season…

Zak Brown was saying how RBR is toxic right now and he expects more people to leave them

Mercedes is under a wave of criticism because they kind of erased Lewis’ trophy from Chinese sprint from this year on social media (person opinion: I don’t think it was purposeful maybe but definitely very unfortunate under the current circumstances)

slight drama with Alpine (again) from Canada: despite starting much lower with the overweight chassis and grid drop penalty from Monaco, Esteban was running in front of Pierre towards the end of the GP and the team asked him to swap with Pierre who was behind, Esteban didn’t want to but after a lap or so he let Pierre in front, at the end of the race when Pierre couldn’t catch up with Daniel in front, Esteban asked if they can swap back like usual and got negative response

also McLaren could have won the race in Canada and fumbled it because they didn’t call Lando to pit although he was in front of the pit entry when the safety car came out (so it wasn’t bad luck with safety car as some fans called)

RB or VCARB or whatever will be changing their name again because it is pretty confusing right now (Horner said that when they called Yuki about his contract extension with RB he was hopeful for a second that RB means Red Bull)

it is in the stage of rumour for now BUT Alpine is apparently looking for a way out of the deal with Renault as it is open secret they make the weakest power unit out of all factory teams and instead is looking for a new engine supplier to become a customer team (also there is a rumour that this and the fact that Flavio Briatore has been linked to the team are the main reasons that Esteban was looking for a way out), there is also a real concern of selling the team (to Andretti for example) but  Renault CEO said that won’t be happening

F1 DRIVERS

Charles invested in Chrono24 which is marketplace for luxury watches (funny side note: Christiano Ronaldo invested in the same company last year)

Charles was the first torch bearer of Olympic flame as it passed through Monaco, making him second F1 driver to do so after Lewis (and Nico Rosberg was there in the crowd to watch Charles lol)

apparently Lewis is staring in Camilla Cabello’s new music video

Charles will be taking part in Jules Bianchi karting marathon in September

Carlos will have a special edition of a cap for his home race in Spain

Max will have a special helmet for Barcelona, Red Bull Ring, Spa, Zandvoort and Monza which is fully orange as “they are European races with a lot of orange fans” (…bro. monza… um)

Max said he was contacted by teams in WEC for a possibility of him taking part in 24h of Le Mans in a hypercar, Pierre also said he would like to do it one day but remains focused on F1 now and Charles also said it could be something he would like to do after F1 because it calls for a lot of training he cannot afford with current 24 races long F1 calendar

gentle reminder that Checo will have a 3 places grid drop penalty in Barcelona because his team purposedly told him to bring the damaged car to the pits although they knew it would be considered driving under unsafe conditions, just because they were afraid of it ruining Max chances of winning

apparently Kelly Piquet had to post about receiving hate online and Max also spoke out about it under her post (no comment)

Jacques Villeneuve had some pretty brutal things to say about Daniel Ricciardo (mostly that he doesn’t belong in F1 right now and is taking up space for someone talented) and Daniel answered that he probably hit his head too many times

oh also Charles’ issue in Canada was system one, not engine one which is why they remain optimistic with his pool of used engines, on the other hand the issue was up to 80 horse power units and about 1.5s per lap so…

Charles won the overtake of the month trophy for his pass on Lewis from the outside in Miami

Charles posted a new vlog on YouTube (and I have yet to see it AHH)

Carlos revealed in an interview that he has co—owned a burger restaurant with his friends for a year now (Boogie Burgers)

Liam Lawson recorded a song in the studio (it is unknown to me if he is on the vocals or guitar as well tbh but… damn these drivers are just collecting sidequests at this point)

Valtteri Bottas won a 114 km long gravel cycling race (fun fact: there is an incredibly funny headline I didn’t screenshot talking about Carlos getting inspired by Valtteri’s win as a fellow driver without a seat and buying a new bike)

OTHER F1 RELATED UPDATES

the Apple original F1 movie with Pitt will be released internationally on 25th June 2025

Canadian GP organizers were called to stewards after track invasion after the end of the GP (but there were other issues which Stefano Domenicali had to apologize for: flooded parts of the facilities, fans who paid tickets getting a fence in front of them covered by black cloth, fans being sent home on Friday with information that the sessions were cancelled)

F1 wants to involve AI more in the industry and we already saw AI made trophy for the Canadian GP (and apparently last Merc post about Doriane is labeled as made by AI too)

Stuart Pringle spoke up as a Silverstone managing director about the lack of sales for the tickets and mentioned that after years of Mercedes dominance as a British team with a British champion, the Red Bull dominance has hurt them the most (but as everyone else spoke up, it might as well be their sketchy prizes tactics)

Barcelona had a live roadshow with multiple drivers doing donuts/showrun in f1 cars (Carlos, Checo, Jack Doohan…)

F1 Exhibition will also visit London after being successful in Madrid, Vienna and Toronto

FIA launched a new campaign focusing on preventing concussion

[depressedbagpipe]

Ka-Chaow (Charles Leclerc x female!reader)

Chapter one

Words: 3310 Warnings: mentions of alcohol and being drunk (guys, please, don't drink alcohol), some anxiety thrown in there, a couple of bad words, google-translated italian A/N: it's lights out and away we go! welcome to my crazy world in which i got into f1 right when the season was ending and now i can't wait to see every race. also, cause I'm still kinda new and I'm not Italian, any mistakes that i make in regards of *everything*, feel free to correct me, and be nice about it ;) A/N (II): italics are thoughts and phone calls and the email, bold and italics are messages, just bold is the location ;)

Series Masterlist Next chapter

Chapter one

London, November 18th, 2022

The weight of my bag was the only thing preventing me from sprinting to my desk. Several manuscripts I had yet to finish, together with my laptop, and all my personal items, hung from my shoulder as I made my way into Mr. Williamson’s wing. I cringed at the sound of my heels over the polished floors, making various heads turn my way as I sprinted by as fast as I could. 

Eventually, I got to my desk, conveniently placed just outside Mr. Williamson’s office. The slight clutter was hastily thrown away with a flick of my wrist, making space for my bag, and turning my computer on at sprint time. A quick glance at the office before me told me Mr. Williamson hadn’t arrived yet. Thankfully. 

Checking my wristwatch, I sighed in relief at the time. 

9:32 am. New record. 

Now relaxed, I took a seat in my uncomfortable chair and started typing away on the keyboard, going over all the emails and meetings I had to schedule for the day. 

Half an hour later, Mr. Williamson showed up.

‘Good morning,’ he said in his usual hoarse morning voice.

‘Good morning, Mr. Williamson, would you like your usual coffee order?’ I asked in rehearsed practice.

‘Yes, please,’ he responded, struggling to open his office's glass door.

‘You gotta push,’ I noted while I grabbed my coat and my wallet, trying not to laugh.

‘Right,’ he grumbled, finally opening the door and leaving it open. 

He stumbled a bit over the expensive rug, looking around before taking a seat on his bigger and far more luxurious desk. His briefcase fell over when he placed it on it, dangling over the edge, and only once he was fully seated, I left my post.

That’s how every morning went for the past year. I would arrive in time –usually–, be ready at my desk until Mr. Williamson came in late –usually–, make sure he got to his seat in one piece, and go down to the ground floor where the company’s private Starbucks had its own space. 

One Americano, and one iced vanilla latte to go, please. Once again, those words were deeply burned in my memory. 

‘How is he doing this morning?’ Jeremy, the morning barista, asked as he took the order.

I shrugged, swiping the company card over the payment terminal. ‘Still pissed off drunk.’

‘So, the usual?’ he chuckled, motioning me to the end of the bar while Amanda, his workmate, made the drinks.

We both leaned over the counter separating us, talking in hushed voices, so the other customers wouldn’t listen to our conversation.

‘Honestly, I don’t know how much he can go on like this. I’m starting to feel bad for the guy.’

‘Girl, he cheated on his wife, and she rightfully left him. If he deals with his own mistakes by getting wasted every night, it’s up to him,’ Jeremy sent me a pointed look.

I bit my lip. ‘I know, but you should see him. It stopped being funny eight months ago. Do you know how many meetings I had to reschedule because he wouldn’t even pick up his phone? And I don’t mean his personal phone, I mean the company phone in his office. All he has to do is press a single button and talk,’ I winced at the memory.

‘Here you go, have a nice day!’ Amanda gave me the drinks, and I smiled gratefully at her. 

‘Well, as soon as he keeps ordering Americanos, I’m not complaining. I’ve doubled my hours here solely based on his caffeine ingest. And you know how much I need the money, so he better keep those orders coming,’ Jeremy winked.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. ‘If he ends up in rehab, I’ll blame you.’

He shrugged. ‘Fine by me. He’s an asshole.’

I laughed with a small shake of my head. ‘Bye, Jeremy! See you in a couple of hours!’

Getting back into the elevator, I made a mental note of everything that had to be done that morning. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings, until either Mr. Williamson got fed up and left, or I dropped in exhaustion for a quick nap.

The walk back to my desk felt longer than usual, the hefty workload of the week finally catching up to me as it normally did every Friday. I left my own coffee on my desk and quickly gave my boss his Americano, to which he merely responded with a grunt. He had his sunglasses on and was massaging his temples as if his life depended on it. 

Making a face at his state, I bent down and took off my heels, knowing the constant clicking would be painful in his hungover head, and went back to my desk, making sure the door to his office was closed. Grabbing the phone, I was quick to cancel the first meeting he had in ten minutes.

With a sigh, I grabbed one of the manuscripts and resumed my reading, reading every page twice and making sure no typo was missed. 

It was both a blessing and a curse, working at Ink’n’Paper. We were one of the world’s leading publishing houses on all sorts of literature, and consequently, the huge workload that we bore was overwhelming. Ink’n’Paper had been my first and only real job in the publishing industry, starting as an inexperienced intern and working my way up until I became the assistant of a household name in Historical Non-Fiction. It hadn’t exactly been my first option, non-fiction, but the pay was good, and I was desperate to prove myself. Next thing I knew, it had been three years since I’d started, and I was pretty much the only one making sure the whole department didn’t burn down due to my boss’ sudden neglect.

It was a few hours later, still sometime before the end of my workday, that I –or rather, Mr. Williamson– received the email. I had been managing all his accounts ever since the very first day he stumbled into the office completely drunk, Vodka bottle in hand, and screamed how much of a cunt everybody was on that floor, and then passed out on his rug, not before puking all over himself. After the embarrassment and degrading task of cleaning, not only him, but his rug too, I had taken over his entire life, managing even his dental care appointments for him, knowing he wouldn’t even be showing up to half of them.

I was surprised at the sender, for the name was oddly familiar. Maurizio Arrivabene.

Frowning, I quietly opened the message.

‘Buonasera, Stephen. I know it’s been a while, but as you’ll understand, these past few years have been a rollercoaster here. I was actually thinking about your past offer, and I know I’m a year too late, but I would love to look into it more. I’ll be in London next week after the season’s over, maybe you’d like to have some coffee (or tea, whichever you prefer), and talk about the book? I know here at Ferrari we need some push, whatever results we get this weekend. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Take care, Stephen. Sincerely, Maurizio.’

I widened my eyes at the email. Maurizio Arrivabene. Ferrari’s old team principal. I quickly gathered my planner and a pen and pushed open Mr. Williamson’s office door. Thankfully for me, he now seemed much better.

‘Sorry, Mr. Williamson?’ I took a few tentative steps toward him.

‘Yes?’ he lowered his spectacles, halting his typing on his keyboard.

‘You’ve received an email from one Maurizio Arrivabene,’ I pronounced his name in a heavy accent, the same way my dad would whenever he talked about his homeland. ‘Something about a book offer, maybe?’ 

His face broke into a smile. ‘Oh, Maurizio!’ he stood up from his seat. ‘I haven’t spoken to him in a while! How is he?’ he asked me. He still reeked of cheap alcohol.

‘I don’t know, sir, but he wants to meet with you next week.’

He clapped. ‘Fantastic, schedule a meeting with him.’

I coughed. ‘Well, the thing is, he sent an email to you, directly. I believe he’d like something more casual,’ I said, yet I opened my planner to check his schedule.

‘Well, then, I shall phone him immediately!’ he grabbed the phone on his desk, and rapidly frowned. ‘What’s his number again?’

I pursed my lips. ‘He didn’t write any, sir. I think you shall write to him directly.’

‘Of course! Let me just…’ he sat back down and typed something on his computer. ‘What was my email again?’

I groaned soundlessly, quietly making my way to him and fastly typing his correct credentials. Standing closer to him, I noticed the many wrinkles in his suit and the many hair strands that fell on the wrong side of his side part. Shaking my head, I pointed at the email.

‘There it is.’

‘Okay, when am I free for tea?’ he responded after a few seconds, his eyes reading over the words.

‘Well, you did cancel three meetings with the entire Editorial Department so… I rescheduled them for next week, but you should be free Friday afternoon after work,’ I checked all the time slots available, scribbling down the possible dates.

‘Why couldn’t we meet on a weekend? We don’t work on weekends,’ he said.

I paused. ‘You don’t work on weekends. I do. And I’m guessing this is a possible job offer, therefore counting it as part of the workweek at least allows you a free meal covered as company’s expenses,’ I recited off my head. Too many times I have said that.

Mr. Williamson widened his eyes. ‘That’s brilliant! You’re right, let’s schedule for next Thursday.’

‘Friday.’

‘Friday. Wow, who taught you that?’ 

‘You did, sir.’

‘Well, I’m a genius, then.’

‘If only you were sober enough to realize that,’ I muttered as I finished writing on my planner. Louder, I replied. ‘Remember to save the day and respond to the man. Don’t keep him waiting.’

I walked back to the door. Mr. Williamson nodded his head. ‘Will do!’

With another sigh, I sat back on my chair, cracking my fingers before typing in the response to Maurizio Arrivabene on behalf of Mr. Williamson, and making sure to set reminders in his calendar for every day of the week until his tea date. 

The pay is good, at least. 

—

‘You should have seen him. I mean, he’s like a toddler!’ I complained from my spot on the couch. 

‘I don’t know how you keep working like that, you’re basically a babysitter at this point,’ my mother said from the other side of the phone.

I hummed in agreement, looking up at my feet. They dangled from the other end of the couch, as I took up the entire space by laying down. ‘Honestly, I don’t know what to do. I told Rosanna from Human Resources to notify me whenever there was a new vacancy, but it’s been months.’

‘Honey, I can’t tell you what to do, but do you think head editor is the right job for you?’ she asked. 

I stopped. ‘I think so. I mean, I’m good at it.’

‘Yes, but do you like it?’

I paused again. 

That question had been roaming in my mind for months. At first, the job had been nice. Reading manuscripts for a living, correcting the mistakes, meeting with the authors, and getting to know them first-hand… Again, maybe historical non-fiction wasn’t what I originally envisioned my future like, but the pay was good enough to get me my own apartment and to live independently. At the rate the economy was going, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. 

But then Mr. Williamson had suddenly neglected his own job when his life started spiraling down, and I had been the unfortunate soul to try and collect the pieces of his broken person. I was suddenly managing, not only my life, but his, and needless to say, he wasn’t an easy person to handle. Despite the many conversations to get him to sober up, every morning was a complete wild card, not knowing whether he would even show up, and if he did, would he be conscious enough to work.

On the bright side, thanks to his many absences, I had learned how to manage the editorial department pretty much completely on my own. I knew the names of every single worker, even the janitors and the night guards working late shifts. I had written, rewritten, corrected, presented, contacted, hired, fired, and despite knowing I was perfect for said role, my heart still longed for something different. The reason why I even had studied Creative Writing all along. 

‘But only writing doesn’t pay the bills’, Mr. Williamson had said one morning, a month into my newly appointed role as his assistant. And ever since then, I had almost forgotten about my own dream of becoming a novelist. 

‘What do you think I should do, then?’ I asked her.

‘Honey, you’re old enough to make your own decisions,’ she laughed.

‘Mom, I need your advice! I know I’m old enough but right now I’m at a crossroads!’ I complained, lifting my arm and covering my eyes with it. 

‘You know what I think about writing for a living,’ she mused.

I groaned. ‘Yeah, I know it’s not your cup of tea, but I promise, I’m good. Great, even.’

‘I wouldn’t know, you never let me read anything.’

‘Well, yeah, it’s embarrassing.’

‘You need to get over that eventually, honey.’

‘It’s easier said than done,’ I sighed. ‘Besides, everything I have written so far was just reports and boring commercial synopsis for historical books, unless you really wanna read that…’

‘Honey, whatever you choose to do, just make sure it makes you happy. And that at least you’re getting money out of it.’

I took a deep breath. ‘I think I need to sleep this one over.’

‘It’s probably for the best. Let me know, whatever you do,’ my mother said. ‘I gotta go now, book club starts in fifteen minutes and I still gotta walk by Linda’s house to return her copy. Will you be fine?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Good. Wait, your dad wants to talk.’

‘Great.’

‘Hey, chicken pie!’ I chuckled at my dad’s voice.

‘Hi, dad,’ I smiled.

His tone was excited. ‘You’re seeing the practice?’

I nodded before answering, my eyes glancing at the TV, where the first day of race weekend was airing from the Yas Marina circuit. ‘Of course, I am. Not paying much attention, though.’

‘Well, nothing interesting so far. You wanna FaceTime tomorrow for quali?’

‘Yes, please,’ I groaned in delight. ‘I wish I could be there to watch it with you, though.’

I could hear his smile through the phone. ‘It’s alright, chicken pie, I know you’re busy lately. Everything alright with your boss?’

I could hear my mom yelling at him in the background of the call. 

I bit my lip. ‘Ask mom, she got all the details. Shouldn’t you be leaving for book club too?’

It was his turn to groan. ‘Don’t remind me.’

I laughed. ‘What was it?’

‘To Kill a Mockingbird. No bird in it.’

I audibly laughed at him. ‘Please, don’t say that out loud, you’ll be banished from the club.’

‘Oh, what a pity would that be,’ he said in his most mischievous voice possible. ‘Wish me luck, Principessa.’

‘Ciao, Papà!’ I laughed, finally ending the call in a fit of giggles. 

Shaking my head, I leaned my head back on the pillow and continued watching the practice, remembering the puzzling email addressed to Mr. Williamson. 

Multiple explanations littered my head as to how on earth Mr. Williamson knew someone as Maurizio Arrivabene, both from such different spheres, but then again, Stephen Williamson had always been a renowned author and an even bigger editor. It was possible that both men had coincided at some point in history, but I tried not to dwell much on it. I had a week until I found out what the fuzz was about. 

Groaning again once the free practice was over, I finally stood up from my couch and walked towards the small kitchen, opening the fridge in hopes to find something available to eat. Some leftovers caught my eye, and with a shrug, I took them out, threw them in the microwave, and sat down back on the couch once the food was warm enough to eat. 

Browsing through HBO for something to see, I settled on my annual rewatch of Parks and Recreation, anything to get my mind off the horrible week I just had. 

My phone pinging broke me out of my daze. Wiping my hand clean on my dirty pajamas, I quickly read over my friend Angela’s message.

‘You shouldn’t check Alec’s Instagram story, but I also think you should.’

With a frown I opened the app, seeing the familiar purple-ish circle around my ex-boyfriend’s face. The video was enough to bring a few tears to my eyes. His arm was around some other girl, and her crimson-painted lips left stains all over his cheek. His smile was wide, and he looked quite happy, wherever he was. 

I rapidly closed the app off, throwing my phone to the other end of the couch, now in desperate need of a glass of wine just to forget what I had just seen.

Breaking up with Alec had been hard, but seeing him off with someone else was even harder. Not only two months ago we were talking about living together, and now it felt like I was seeing a stranger through my screen. My job had been slowly taking over every aspect of my personal life too, and while I couldn’t blame Alec for feeling neglected all of a sudden, especially after three years together, it still hurt. I still missed him every night, morning, and any other time in between. He had been my best friend for so long, and one of my main pillars ever since I stumbled out of college, completely lost, and in frantic need of guidance in the adult world. We were both still kids that had become adults together, and I was having a harder time than I wanted to admit to trying to forget about him. 

Taking a big breath, I closed my eyes, touching the soft couch in an attempt to ground myself. 

Big breath in, big breath out. 

After a few minutes, I felt myself calm enough, resuming my dinner and my binge-watching, now more than ever desperate for sleep after the intense day. Technically I had every weekend off, but I still had many manuscripts and emails to send the next day, thankfully from the comfort of my own home. 

It was only in bed that I allowed myself to relax, turning off my phone, and grabbing my crochet set. It was a habit I had picked up lately, something so far out of my field of expertise, yet so relaxing once I got the hang of things. Working on my silly bucket hat every night before sleep was pretty much the highlight of my existence. And I was so invested in it, that only after I was finally done with it I realized I had been sitting for three hours in the same position, my eyelids dropping and my back hurting. Getting the needles out of the way, I finally laid in bed, and it only took a few minutes to fall soundlessly asleep.

—

A week later I found myself in the same position, crocheting a summer top in my bed, late in the evening after yet another exhausting week, when I received Mr. Williamson’s message. 

‘Book a flight to Italy. We’re going to Maranello.’

Next chapter

General Taglist: @angiewhoohooo, @azaleaniath

[everythingne]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ ➛ DOUBLE DEALING - RUNRUNRUN (LS2)

What was supposed to be a fun free drive led by Oscar through the streets of Melbourne turns sinister. You quickly learn the true nature of the 'late night training' your boyfriend of nine months endures during race weekends, and why he's been hiding the truth from you.

drag racer!logan sargeant x reader // series masterlist!

warnings/notes: speeding, dangerous driving, mentions of drugs and violence, no one better be surprised i wrote for logan first. y'all remember this series? it's been a hot minute, this is short as a sort of introduction to the whole series, and I hope it's a good start to kick everything off!

"So, at the Grand Prix, why did that guy call you Bandit?"

It's late, the night breeze rolling off the the water and across the little hidden road behind the Melbourne pier. In the moonlight, you sit on the back of Logan's 2002 Pontiac Firebird. The car is an exact replica of the car from Smokey and The Bandit, save for a few updated bits and bobs he'd added along the time you'd known him.

"Well, Miss America," Logan sits next to you, handing you a soda from the vending machine he'd found inside a probably closed building that left their door unlocked, "Someone has taste."

"I'm so sorry my parents didn't raise me on hick movies like yours did." You hum, cracking open the soda as the rumble of another old engine makes you look over. Alex's Pontiac coming around the corner with a few other cars behind it.

"That was all Dalton and the Red Box at the Publix," Logan smirks with a shrug, waving over Alex and the other two cars to park behind him. A Supra rumbling to a stop next to Alex, and a Honda S2000 parking a bit back. You recognize both drivers once they've stopped, and the grinning faces of two McLaren drivers meet you.

"Well well well, drug Lando out for this one?" Logan calls and Alex shrugs, coming over to give Logan a fist bump as Oscar and Lando lumber out of their cars and come over to where you are to greet you both with fistbumps.

"I haven't done Oscar's Melbourne track yet!" Lando smirks as he nudges Oscar to the side and the group comes to hover around your group. They talk a bit and you look over your shoulder out to the water, watching birds dip down in the limited sunlight.

"Ready, darlin'?" Logan asks and you turn back to see him offering a hand to you. Smiling, you take it and let him help you off the car and to the passengers seat before he crosses to the drivers side. The car starts with its normal rumble and Oscar pulls ahead, the rest of you following in a slow pattern until you get out onto the highway.

Logan's hand rests on top of yours on the shifter, you recording the cars around you as they whip up and down the highway. Laughing softly when Lando weaves through the group and nearly hits Oscar who throws a middle finger out the window. After a long while of zipping through the empty highways, the group pulls off to a side road.

But someone is following.

“Yo, who’s on my six?” Logan says into the radio in his car, lifting his hand off the shifter only momentarily before resting it back on yours. With a quick glance out the window, you determine there is a car still behind you.

“Shouldn’t be anyone.” Oscar’s voice crackles through, “All you pull up, Bandit fall back with me?”

“Yeah, gotcha.” Logan says into the radio, lifting your hand off the shifter briefly to kiss your knuckles before he whispers, “it’s probably some dumb teen following us around, don’t worry.”

“Wasn’t worried,” you smile softly, even as the nickname makes your eyebrows scrunch in confusion. Logan drops to the shifter again. You look over as Oscar’s car comes besides yours and he gives Logan a little nod, opening the gap between the both of you and falling back to the car behind.

“Smokey, Bandit, stay close. He’s falling to a stop, can you two give us light?” Oscar’s voice rings through the radio, the cars ahead slow and Lando pulls around first—lights shining and revealing the sleek Porsche Spyder that’s crept on you. The car would be impressive if not for the worry that gnaws at your gut when Logan tenses in the passengers, no dumb teen would own a car like that, you both know something more serious lays ahead.

“Smokey, be on watch.” Oscar’s voice is tense, void, something dark in it you barely pick up on before Logan squeezes your thigh quickly as he gets out of the car and slams his door shut. The window is rolled down, like it always is, and you lean over the center console to listen.

“…No trouble, mate.” Logan’s voice carries across the expanse of highway and holds an underlying threatening tone that makes your stomach twist as he continues, “just wanna know why you’re tailing us.”

You can’t hear the reply over the rumble of Logan’s engine, before Oscar says something lost in the sound of a door slamming and a fight brewing. Lando is out of his car in seconds, and you crawl over the center console to peek through the drivers window with your head as far back against the seat as possible to hide. You can see the guy grab Oscar by the front of his shirt to shove him and Lando is quick to send a punch, knocking the guy aside. Logan’s shoving the guy back as soon as Lando clears his hit. Even straining your ears, you can't understand them over the overlapping shouting.

“Y/n! Sit back!” Alex shouts into his radio as he’s getting out of his car and you practically throw yourself back into your seat while Alex Dukes of Hazzard jumps over the hood of Logan’s car to assist them holding the guy to the side of his car.

“You don’t know who you’re messing with man, back up!” Lando’s voice is clearly irritated before there’s a bit more shouting and Lando’s voice rings, “you think we’d do a fuckin’ drug run? Who the hell even are you?!”

What the fuck is happening?

You look through the back windows, trying to stay pressed to the seat as best as possible. Before the guys are sprinting back to the cars and Logan doesn't even open his door, he just jumps through the fucking window and lands on top of you.

"What the fuck--!" You go to shout before Logan grabs your chin and makes you look at him,

“I love you. I need you to know that.” he whispers, kissing you as he jumps the throttle and uses an arm to gently lay you back against your seat as he peels off down the road.

“Logan!” you shriek, grabbing the door panel for stability. He doesn’t answer, shifting up and slamming down on the gas as Alex drops to let him overtake, Oscar comes to the side of you and Logan shouts into the radio,

“How far?”

“Gonna go about twenty kilometers, take that exit, black out. If we’re lucky we should lose him.” Oscar’s voice crackles across as he narrowly avoids slamming into the back of a semi truck. Logan clicks the radio twice in response and then downshifts to allow Lando around before he speeds up behind him. You don’t know if this is a moment where you try to ask, so you stay back against the seat like Logan had pushed you to.

“Need cover!” Alex’s voice comes through, “he might be in a Porsche but he’s being a dick!”

“Coming back!” Lando says and Logan moves out of the way, watching in his rearview before he curses.

“We’re not gonna lose him, he’s too close.” Oscar comes over the radio, “gonna have to drift it.”

“Pop a u-ey?” Logan says, adjusting his grip and Oscar agrees. There’s a few moments of stillness before you’re skidding off to an exit ramp. Alex comes up besides you and Logan lets him back around, falling into the order of Oscar, Alex, Logan, and then Lando in the back.

“He’s quite aggressive, the fucking muppet.” Lando complains, “Goss, it’s up to you.”

“If the u-ey doesn’t work, Smokey, you need to call Lion.”

“Got it.”

These nicknames are getting hard to follow, you'd realized Smokey was Alex and Bandit was Logan, and by denominator meant Lando was Hotshot and Oscar was Goss, but who the fuck was Lion?

“Who?” You ask, turning to look out the back of Logan’s car to see Lando dangerously close. Logan’s hand leaves the shifter to grab your chin and turn you back forward.

“Logan, what is going on?” You finally find the confidence to ask, which makes Logan feel a little sick. He doesn't answer again, eyes narrowing as he leans over to click off his headlights.

You have no idea how he knows where he's going as they drive blacked out. Eventually there's another off ramp, and you watch as Logan expertly navigate a turn that should cause him to skid off the road before he slows to a nice pace and the cars lights flicker back on.

"All clear, let's head back to the den. We gotta tell Lion what's going on."

Nothing is said until you all arrive to the side of the paddocks, Lando jumping out to open the gate before getting in his car once more. You all slowly pull to a side lot and park, everyone but you and Logan getting out. He's tense, and he leans his head against the steering wheel before sighing slowly.

"Listen. It's not that illegal." He sits back and you scoff, turning to face him.

"That's what you start with? Seriously?!" You scold, whacking his shoulder as he sits up.

"Well, it's--it's all, racing! Like, fuck... this is so hard to explain." He groans, "We do racing, illegally. But we don't do those drug runs, we don't do shit like that. We do racing. Just normal racing for fun. We host like high end races for big money, big bets, stuff like that."

"Just bets? You're telling me this is just bets?"

"Yo, Bandit." Oscar taps his knuckle on the window and you both turn as the Australian says, "We gotta go talk to Lion about it."

Logan sighs, and then leans over to kiss your knuckles before getting out of the car. You're shocked when Lando opens your door and offers a hand to help you out, before leading you over to Logan, who snags an arm around your waist and draws you to his side.

"We'll explain, okay?" He whispers, and you nod, sticking to his side as the group slowly moves through the crowd. You spot a few other drivers off to the side, even some who had long since retired, before you're ushered into Red Bull's hospitality.

"Ay, Lion," Lando calls and Max turns from where he's engrossed in conversation with Charles and Daniel. The whole paddock around you seems to fall hush as Max walks over slowly, setting a drink in his hand down on a table nearby as he nods in greeting.

"Alex told me you guys had a bit of an issue out on the roads." Max crosses his arms taught across his broad chest, eyes icy in their narrow at Logan and Oscar. It's not hurtful, the look more concerned than anything.

"Some guy claimed we were drug runners." Oscar explains softly, "we just ditched the guy. We didn't wanna deal with him. So we blacked out, popped a uey and came right back here."

Max nods, checking you all over silently with his eyes before nodding, "and he was gone?"

"Dusted 'em." Lando smirks with his trademark confidence, making Oscar laugh softly as he hit Lando's shoulder. The room untensed significantly, and Max called over a few of the drivers you didn't see as much -- Fernando being among them, and they spoke softly for a few moments before they dispersed.

"We'll take care of the guy, Alex, get me your camera feed. Any of you who have cams on the cars actually." Max says and the group behind you nods, and then finally Max turns his attention to you and raises a look to Logan. The arm around your waist tightens, Logan's other hand finding yours.

"Does she know?" Max asks softly and Logan shakes his head, making a small smile split across his lips.

"Well, I guess we've got our Carrie." Max hums, whacking Logan's arm, "You're not gonna just leave her outta this now, are you?"

"It's her decision, I haven't told her much." Logan steps out from behind you, keeping your hand tight in his, "I'm not gonna make her stay if she wants nothing to do with this."

"Well, Carrie, if it makes you feel any better," Max hums out your nickname, and you recognize it as the name of the girl in Smokey and the Bandit, making you match with Alex and Logan now. Max continues softly with, "we aren't doing illegal shit. We don't do drug runs, we don't do shit that'll get us in trouble. Between us all we have enough to stay out of most issues with the cops or any law, but I get it if you wanna go."

You look around the room at all the men. And in any usual circumstance you'd feel terrified to be around this many people you didn't know looking like they could easily overpower you. But something with Logan's hand in yours makes you feel safer.

"I'll stay." you hum, "but if I wanna leave at any point... I can, right?"

"As long as you're good at staying quiet about this, sure." Max smiles, looking up at Logan and then giving you a pat on the shoulder as he grins, "welcome to the world of underground racing, Carrie."

[leclercarchive]

Leclerc believes he can complete title 'mission' with Ferrari - ESPN

At the end of 2019, Charles Leclerc signed a five-year deal to remain as a Ferrari driver until 2024. It was big news at the time and a huge show of faith as Formula One's oldest team named a 22-year-old as the driver to lead it into a new decade.

Leclerc had made his debut with Ferrari earlier that year and went on to outperform his teammate, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel, over the course of the 2019 season. The bumper five-year contract, starting in 2020, was his reward, underlining Ferrari's belief that Leclerc, rather than Vettel, would be the driver to end the team's then 13-year title drought.

Fast forward to today and nearly four of those five contractual years have elapsed, yet title success seems as elusive as ever for Ferrari. Without a car capable of sustaining a title challenge, the closest Leclerc has come to his goal was a distant second place to world champion Max Verstappen in last year's standings and he has scored just three more wins to add to the two he already had at the end of 2019.

This year the points gap to Verstappen at the front of the field has more than doubled to 354 (with two races remaining) and Leclerc looks unlikely to finish higher than seventh in the standings. It would be understandable if the lofty hope and expectation that surrounded his arrival at Ferrari five years ago had descended into intense pressure and frustration, but speaking to ESPN in a recent interview Leclerc insists that is not the case.

"There is so much passion around the team that you of course feel the responsibility, but that doesn't add pressure to me," he said. "I'm not someone that is getting pressure, I just enjoy what I do with a lot of passion and a lot of dedication in trying to do the best job possible and hopefully becoming a world champion as soon as possible."

At the start of the 2022 season it looked as though Leclerc might fulfil his Ferrari destiny. He started the year with two wins from three races and led eventual-champion Verstappen by 46 points in the standings after the Australian Grand Prix in April.

What happened next was a story of mistakes -- both by Ferrari and himself -- and misfortune that ultimately left Leclerc second in the standings, 146 points shy of Verstappen. This year the performance of the car has slid further relative to Red Bull, with Leclerc seventh in the drivers' standings and behind Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.

With his contract up at the end of next year and the potential for openings at a number of other teams on the grid, has he thought about what he could achieve in a different car?

"I don't really think to that because Ferrari is so special and I wouldn't change my position with anyone else on the grid.

"Do I want to win world championships? Of course, this is the same for everybody, but do I want to change my place with anyone? No, I don't."

To understand Leclerc's connection with Ferrari is to understand what it means to have a second family in sport. Leclerc's godfather, the late Jules Bianchi, was being prepared to drive for Ferrari when he suffered fatal head injuries in an accident at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix while racing for the now-defunct Marussia team.

Bianchi's manager Nicolas Todt, who had signed Leclerc as a go-karter in 2011, ensured the Monaco native became part of the Ferrari Driver Academy from 2016 onwards, providing crucial support at a time when Leclerc's self-raised funds were unlikely to cover his next step up the motorsport ladder to the GP3 Series. Leclerc then trod the path to F1 that had been cleared for Bianchi before him, arriving at the pinnacle of the sport with Alfa Romeo in 2018 before making his Ferrari debut in 2019 at just 21 years old.

At the 2019 Belgian Grand Prix he secured his first win for the team and from that point onwards the next goal was always going to be a world championship.

"I have always been dreaming of being a Formula One driver, and even more so with Ferrari," he said. "It's a bit of a family feeling now, it's been so many years I have been within the team, whether it is as an actual race driver for Ferrari or at the Ferrari Driver Academy in the years before.

"It's been many years together and I want to finish the mission with a world championship."

When Ferrari launched this year's car in February, the stated intention was to challenge for the 2023 title. But from the moment the SF-23 hit the track in preseason testing, it became clear that the team's goal was extremely unlikely. Since then, Leclerc says he has seen progress, but remains realistic about the gap to Red Bull and Verstappen, who secured both titles in October this year.

"There's been quite a bit of progress, especially in the second half of the season. When we started after the summer break we really did big steps forward in terms of understanding our car, and that is a good positive step in terms of the future and for future development.

"This is positive, but on the other hand it is true that it has been a disappointing season. We ended up last year being second in the championship for both titles and this year we had a target to be winning the championship. At the moment that is definitely not what we are fighting for, and obviously Max just won as well as Red Bull.

"I think we've seen two teams this year, Aston Martin at the start of the year and McLaren more recently, have made big steps forward. This is what gives us the confidence that these big steps can be done, but we need to understand exactly where the problems are coming from.

"We think we understand that but until we put the car down and see huge improvements, it's difficult to predict. It's also all relative in this sport and you are fighting against other cars and it depends on what the others will find. If Red Bull has found something again that will put them again better next year.

"I am personally very confident about the direction we have been taking in terms of development and I'm sure it will pay from next year onwards."

Leclerc is set to discuss his next contract with Ferrari over the winter. Neither side has given so much as a hint in public that they will not renew and it's clear that Ferrari still holds a special place for Leclerc that no other team, regardless of success, can match.

"Most of all it was what made me dream of becoming a Formula One driver when I was very young," Leclerc says of his ongoing passion for Ferrari. "I think this is the same for many of the drivers. It was the case for me, and I have always been dreaming of being a Formula One driver, and even more so with Ferrari.

"Second is a point that someone told me yesterday, I have spent a quarter of my life in the Ferrari family, which is quite a lot and that represents a lot to me too. You get to know lots of people inside the team, you get to understand how much it means to them to work for Ferrari and how much it means to them to get back to winning.

"I know that I feel the same way, I want to be back to winning as soon as possible. It's a bit of a family feeling now, it's been so many years I have been within the team, whether it is as an actual race driver for Ferrari or at the Ferrari Driver Academy in the years before.

"It's been many years together and I want to finish the mission with a world championship."

[lost-decade]

What is your all-time favorite race in your favorite motorsport? 🤔✨️

Hey, thanks for the ask! Hmm, this is quite difficult because my memory for what actually happens in races is pretty bad lol. I tend to remember the flashpoints more than what made the race good (i.e. all I remember about Monaco 2014 was the infamous brocedes quali incident, and I remember Spa 2014 purely for ‘Nico hit me’ and Baku...2017 maybe 🤔 for the Seb/Lewis brake test incident)

I seem to recall the race where Pierre won in 2020 (I think it was early September so Monza I guess) being exciting but I couldn’t tell you what happened.

From an attending races POV, I’ve been to three F1 races – Monaco 2016, Monza 2017 and Hungary 2018. I find that being at a race makes it more (and also somehow less) memorable, because it’s bloody hard to follow what’s actually happening and to get a full picture of the whole race, although you do get a sense of how the battles are unfolding, who’s gaining on who lap by lap etc. My favourite to attend was probably Monaco, because it’s Monaco lol, and also because it rained which made it more exciting. Although the Hungaroring was cool because it’s a smaller circuit and you could get a better feel for the race. I think Lewis won at all three I attended and I was very happy with that (despite the little cry I had on the train back from Monaco because ‘Nico is never going to the win Championship.' Little did I know...)

So that’s F1. I have fallen out of love with it a great deal since 2021 and there aren’t any drivers other than Lewis who I really care about very much anymore, so I’m a bit meh in general about it atm.

FE wise – Santiago Season 4 sticks in my mind. I rewatched it last year actually for research purposes and it was a great race, nailbiting final laps and the infamous jeandre ‘mounting’ incident is legendary. I was counting earlier and on account of there being a fair few double headers, I realised I’ve attended 12 FE races since 2018, and despite the series not being perfect, it’s brought me so much joy and I’ve made so many great friends because of FE, and the majority of races are exciting on a level that current F1 could only dream of.

Not sure this entirely answers your question lol, but I've rambled enough!

[magicshopaholic]

Hi! I just recently discovered your blog and I love the concept of a universe with interweaving storylines. It's so clever and unique. I wanted to ask, since you have such a huge number of fics, which one is your favorite? I also love the idea of original characters because that's quite uncommon in this fandom but reminds me of fanfiction I used to read when I was younger. What's your inspiration for the characters? Are any of them based on you? Can't wait to read more of your work :) - 🍓

Oh, anon. This is every author's dream question, istg.

First of all, welcome! I hope you enjoy my masterlist and future fics to come. My favourite fic: tough, but I'll probably say About You. It was a deeply personal one and needed to be handled just right, but I was really happy with the end product because it established a dynamic between Namjoon and Kaya that I can't quite put into words. It's not one of my more popular works and I can understand why, but it's definitely the one I'm proudest of.

This would probably be followed by The Fifth: Part 2 and You Make Me Live (honourable mentions to Double Take and In Time).

You've nailed my reasoning for going the OC route; my favourite thing about fanfiction in the days of yore (ie the 2000s and early 2010s) was the range of OCs and the excitement of making up your own. It limits my reader base but I can't imagine writing any other way.

Inspiration - this could be a long one. The first OC I came up with was Dilara, and she was supposed to be a protagonist for an F1 fanfic series I'd started writing (yes, shocker, I used to write F1 fanfic). A lot about her was inspired by another F1 OC I'd written, Tracy McNeil (a sports journalist), including the messed up family background and the lowkey insecurity coupled with the need to prove herself. Dilara is definitely far more of a romantic than Tracy, though, and I'd largely chalk that up to the support network she has that takes care of her and allows her to lead with her heart more.

Kaya was next - she's not inspired by anyone in particular, but I was thinking of what Namjoon would be like as a partner; after long gruelling days of arguing with the company, keeping the younger members in line, dealing with pushy journos, he would come home to the most comforting person in the world with whom he would be completely different, free to be himself, vent if he needed to, and show a softer side he'd keep secret from the rest of the world.

Lia was the third and she honestly came to life when I was working with the marketing team in my company and had a shit ton of work, and she was initially my outlet. She quickly moulded to Jungkook's character, though, and the dynamic we all know and love just fell into place. She arrives at the right time to pull Jungkook out of a bit of a low phase and is the right amount of opposite of someone else.

Nari and Sooah, an unlikely pair, came together for me because of another fic I'd written for a different fandom. It was the protagonist and her best friend, the former who was a bit of a party girl and was in a very messy FWB with the male protagonist, and the latter who was her taller friend who worked all the time and fell for the unlikeliest person she could think of without even realising it.

Miso and Chae were the last two. Miso was a bit tough, and is somewhat inspired by Marianne Sheridan from Normal People, just a bit, in terms of her being a bit of a loner and rubbing people the wrong way. Don't want to give too much away, but she could've only been written opposite Yoongi.

Chae, despite being my baby, was one of the hardest to create - although, once I did, I just connected with her instantly. I wanted to write Hoseok being the opposite of his sunshine self, and the person to bring that out would have to be a hell of a character. Their initial childhood meeting is inspired by one of my all time favourite movies, Flipped.

(While I don't think I'm anything like any of my characters, Kaya, Lia and I probably share some similar habits, primarily working a lot and being too tired for drama. Parts of Chaeyoung are also inspired by my teen years - I cringe so hard when I think of those days.)

[f1]

Schumachers set-up input gives Mercedes a super advantage Wolff | 2023 Canadian Grand Prix

Mercedes reserve driver Mick Schumacher has been praised for his role in the team’s recent upswing in form. The 24-year-old, who lost his race seat with Haas at the end of last season, was name-checked by the team’s racers following their double podium finish in the Spanish Grand Prix. Schumacher’s role at the team involves working in the simulator on Fridays during race weekends to hone the set-up of the W14s raced by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell. While all teams have drivers performing similar roles, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff says being able to call on someone with experience of racing the current generation of cars is especially useful. “First of all, it’s great to have a mature, successful and experienced F1 driver supporting us in the sim and with his feedback,” said Wolff. “That is a tremendous advantage on some of the European grands prix having him in the sim overnight, and providing data for the Saturday is a super advantage for us.” The team also has the reassurance that if either driver was unable to race “then we know we have a super guy that would drive the car well” said Wolff. The team had to deal with that very situation when Hamilton caught Covid-19 in 2020 and Russell was called up from Williams to substitute for him alongside Valtteri Bottas. Schumacher finally had the chance to drive the real W14 soon after the Spanish Grand Prix. The team remained at the Circuit de Catalunya in the week after the race for a Pirelli tyre test. Russell and Schumacher tested the latest generation of tyres under development by Pirelli. Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Given the focus of that test was to provide data for Pirelli, there was limited benefits for Mercedes beyond developing their understanding of the prototype versions of the tyres that may – subject to approval from F1’s 10 teams – be introduced in the future. Schumacher had his first Mercedes test run in Spain “He was I think very, very aware that the job of a driver in those circumstances is just to be a decent metronome for the tyre guys to make their conclusions about the tyres,” Mercedes’ technical director James Allison said of the test. While Schumacher was criticised by his former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner for a series of costly crashes last year, Allison praised his professional approach to his testing duties. “Given that if we shunt the thing, that you’re actually paying for all the repairs out of the cost cap, it’s definitely [essential] not to shunt the thing! “So he drove nicely, repeatedly, reliably, and gave us the platform for the tyre engineers to make their conclusions.” Become a RaceFans Supporter RaceFans is run thanks in part to the generous support of its readers. By contributing £1 per month or £12 per year (or the same in whichever currency you use) you can help cover the costs of creating, hosting and developing RaceFans today and in the future. Become a RaceFans Supporter today and browse the site ad-free. Sign up or find out more via the links below: Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2023 Canadian Grand Prix Browse all 2023 Canadian Grand Prix articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[racingliners]

Life In The Fast Lane Chapter 1 - Meeting

Rating: Teen & Up

Warnings: None apply

Pairings: Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s); OFCs & OMCs

Work Tags: Re-write of a previous work; Mentions of IRL current and past F1 figures; Eventual romance; friends to lovers; found family/work family; actual family; racing drivers and their various shenanigans; how to handle pressure (and how not to); with a sprinkling of the power of friendship; tags will be updated as work progresses

Chapter 1/57

Word count: 3.2k

Summary: New faces, and first meetings

Monday 9th January 2023 – Woking

The hotel room was exquisite – or at least was styled to be. The walls and floor were a similar shade of chocolate brown, with a cream coloured double bed sat in the middle pressed up against a quilted headrest that reached right up to the ceiling. Sophie was sat in a caramel coloured armchair, her back firmly pressed against the small cushion as she stared out of the window. All she could really see was trees and the occasional house, not that the view really mattered because she was far too nervous to appreciate it anyway.

Arguably, today was about to be one of the biggest days of her whole life. Her first visit to the McLaren Technology Centre, the home of her brand new team.

She sighed and stood up from the chair and glanced at her silver watch (a sponsor requirement, courtesy of Tag Heuer). Apparently Sophie needed to be driven to the factory for her first day, and someone from the team would be waiting for her in the lobby at exactly 9am, and that was fifteen long, long minutes away.

She had known back in December just what a big deal her Formula 1 debut was going to be, it wasn’t going to matter that she was a British driver driving for a British team, or how long it had been since a woman last raced in F1. She was the first woman to finish on a podium, win a race and championship in just about every feeder series she had raced in. So when McLaren came calling after Nathan Watkins announced he was going to pastures new, Sophie said yes without any hesitation, not even thinking about the mass of media attention she was going to get. Maybe that was why McLaren had paid for such a nice hotel room.

She decided to walk into the bathroom, that in complete contrast to the rest of the room was stark white with marble style panelling on the walls, and every fixture finished in silver chrome. Sophie looked at her outfit again for the third time and sighed, burying her hands into her wavy hair. In the email the team had sent her she was told to dress smart-casual, and considering that it was the middle of Winter she didn’t fancy wearing a dress. So she’d picked a hunter green blouse with a pleated collar and flowy sleeves that met in a satin cuff around her wrists, paired with black skinny jeans and dark brown brogues. Sensible footwear to hopefully help her walk through the slush without falling flat on her face.

Sophie felt comfortable in her decision to not wear anything more on her face than tinted moisturiser and lip balm as she checked her phone again, re-reading the messages from her family, personal trainer Vanessa and a few of her close friends. All of them wishing her well on her first day. Just as she was about to slide her phone into her pocket it rang, her manager’s name flashing on the screen.

“Hey Becks” Sophie sighed as she let herself fall backwards into the bed. “I hope you’re not calling to tell me that McLaren have changed their mind”

“Thankfully, no” Becks, or Rebecca to everyone else, replied with a small sigh. She had been Sophie’s manager for just over three years, and was one of the reasons why Sophie had been able to rise through the motorsport feeder series, as well as arranging the elusive McLaren deal. “I’m just checking that you’re still in one piece”

“Just about” Sophie replied quietly, looking up at the ceiling. “I’m leaving in a few minutes”

“You’ll be fine. Trust me. And if it all goes to pot you can win over the mechanics today at least” Sophie just hummed in response, she was already dreading just how she was going to be perceived. Female racing drivers were apparently like unicorns, and successful female racing drivers were supposedly like blue moons. “I know it sounds stupid and I know you’re coming off the back of you-know-what, but you’re going to be okay. I’m sure of it”

“Thanks Becks” Sophie sighed, standing up from the bed as the time on her watch was now approaching five to nine.

“And try to kick a little bit of arse today”

“I will, bye!” Sophie let out a small chuckle, and hung up. Allowing her manager to have her much needed morning espresso.

Refusing to let her nerves get the better of her, and the fact it was almost nine o’clock, Sophie put her phone into her handbag, pulled on her long black coat, picked up her small leather handbag and left the safety of her hotel room. She opted to use the stairs instead of the lift and huffed when she walked into the large reception area, looking around for whoever was supposed to be meeting her. All she had to go on was a name – Richard Wilson – and that he worked in the team’s PR department, having spoken with him on the phone yesterday to confirm the day’s schedule.

She made her way across the room, past the reception desk and towards an area to the side scattered with armchairs and coffee tables, all yet again in varying shades of brown. Sophie spotted an empty one to sit at and wait for the mysterious Richard to appear, when he ended up finding her first.

“Excuse me” Sophie turned round and put on a polite smile. “Richard Wilson, from McLaren” Richard was tall, probably just brushing six foot, but then again anyone looked tall next to Sophie’s five-foot four frame. He had jet black hair and small warm brown eyes; and appeared to be smiling at her genuinely as he held out his hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you”

“Lovely to meet you too Richard” Sophie allowed herself to smile a little more as she shook Richard’s hand, she suddenly felt a bit foolish to not have her manager Becks by her side. Even though they both knew that Sophie had to get through today by herself.

“We should probably get going, the factory is only a couple of miles away, but you know what traffic is like when there’s even a hint of snow”

Sophie gave a puff of air and a chuckle in response, she knew that problem all too well. She followed Richard out of the hotel entrance and towards the car park, stopping when they reached a black Mercedes. “I wish this was mine, but I’ve just been leant it for the day, hop in”

“The team just let you have a brand new off the line Merc?” Sophie asked as she got in the front passenger seat, admiring the grey interior. Richard just sighed as he leaned back in his seat before starting the car and fastening his seatbelt.

“Pretty sure it’s the team trying to give you a good first impression” Richard whispered with a shrug as he slowly drove out of the hotel car park, heading straight for the McLaren Technology Centre.

  James sighed as he polished off his latte, sat in the canteen looking out over the lake that hugged the factory building. It was an awfully cold grey day in Woking, considering that James was British he really should have been used to it, but maybe living in Monaco for as long as he’d had was having a greater effect on him than he thought.

He was supposed to be meeting his new team mate today, he didn’t know anything about her other than a name, the picture that had been used in the team’s press release, and that she was the first female F1 driver since 1992. Sophie Knightsbridge was all who anyone in F1 could be talking about all Winter Break.

As James pondered whether or not that was a good thing, Katie from PR appeared and made a bee line for him.

“Richard just texted, he’s a few minutes away. You should probably head upstairs” James nodded, and picked up his empty coffee cup to take it back over to the serving counter. “You don’t need to be part of the welcome brigade, but I take it you know where you’re going?”

“My days of getting lost around here are far behind me” James chuckled as he left the canteen and headed towards one of the spiral stairs that sat in the middle of the promenade. He paused as he climbed the stairs to briefly check his phone, before walking with his hands in his pockets towards the meeting room.

  It turned out that Richard was incredibly chatty, though Sophie did wonder if he was compensating for her near silence. It was nice however for someone to take interest in who she was, rather than what she did.

“So, how big of an entourage should we be expecting at testing?” Richard joked as they passed through another set of traffic lights.

“No one really, not until the final test anyway. But it’ll just be my parents since my brother’s going back to uni soon”

“Ah, no boyfriend then?” Sophie didn’t expect to be so taken aback by that question, she took in a sharp breath before answering quietly.

“No, no boyfriend” Richard hummed and stayed quiet for a moment, half realising he had hit a sore spot. The car stayed quiet for a couple of minutes before Richard started speaking again, pretending as if nothing had happened.

“Have you been to the factory before then?”

“No” Sophie sighed leaning back in her seat. “My deal was done in a bit of a hurry, since the team wanted all the paperwork done before Christmas, so I signed the contract in some London hotel” She had to admit though, Sophie would never be forgetting that day in a hurry.

“Yeah that sounds like Andrew” Richard hummed as he turned off a roundabout, and quickly slowed as he approached a security checkpoint. “Morning Jamie” The press officer pulled an ID Card out of his pocket and showed it to the man on duty.

“What on earth did you do to let them give you that?” The security guard huffed in disbelief, eyeing up the black Mercedes.

“It’s just for today sadly, pretty sure it’s just to show off” Richard leaned back and gestured to Sophie, who had already pulled out her passport. The guard’s eyes widened as he stared at her for a few silent moments.

“Lovely to meet you Miss, considering I saw your face in every paper last month I’ll let you off just this once” Jamie wagged a finger has he pressed a button to raise the security arm. “Have a nice day now” Richard waved goodbye to the guard as he slowly drove away.

“Well then, welcome to the factory”

The McLaren Technology Centre was a flat, semi-circular four-story high building sat next to a huge lake that from above helped from a full circle. Panes of glass completely covered the front of the building, it was difficult to see from the road that ran parallel to the edge of the lake, but Sophie could just make out a row of Formula 1 cars inside. It was surprisingly grand for a building that wasn’t even twenty years old, but it really did make a statement. Sophie let out a long slow whistle as Richard pulled the car to a stop right by the front door.

“On a normal day you’ll have to use the car park at the back, but like I said the bosses are really laying it on thick today” Richard sighed as he switched off the car and held the keys in his hands. “One day I’ll be able to afford this, come on” Richard got out first and handed the keys to another member of McLaren staff, who Richard instructed to be very careful when driving the Merc back to the showroom.

Sophie took in a deep breath before getting out of the car, and slowly walked round to meet Richard. She walked by his side as they approached the large glass doors with her shoulders back and her head held high, if she wasn’t feeling completely confident Sophie was at least going to try and look it.

The glass doors slid open automatically and standing on the other side was Team Principle Martin Hawkins alongside Team CEO Andrew White. Sophie smiled brightly as Martin greeted her.

“Good morning Sophie, nice to see you” She just smiled as Martin shook her hand before making way for Andrew.

“Welcome to the team at last, we can give you a your of the factory later but we should probably head upstairs” Richard happily lead the way while Martin and Andrew walked with Sophie, asking her menial things about the weather, how the drive over was, if her hotel was adequate enough, and how they were planning on her running in the simulator the next day (that was the only thing that got a genuinely excited response). And before Sophie knew it Richard was holding the door to a meeting room wide open, and Martin and Andrew were leading her inside.

  James wasn’t entirely sure why he stood up when Richard opened the door, but he did. He smoothed down the front of his shirt and adjusted his cufflinks, looking up right as his new team mate entered the room. The first thing he thought upon seeing her was that she was shorter than pictures suggested, and that her smile was almost blinding.

“Hi I’m James. It’s nice to meet you” He stepped forward with a hand outstretched, he almost smiled with relief when she shook it straight away.

“Sophie, nice to meet you too” As she spoke James was reminded that his team mate was another Brit, from Northampton… or was it Northamptonshire? He couldn’t quite remember, and made a mental note to ask at the earliest opportunity. She took the empty seat next to him none the less, after taking off her coat and hanging it on the back of the chair.

The meeting didn’t last long, fifteen to twenty minutes at most, and it wasn’t really a proper meeting as such. More the higher up management and a few of the more important board members getting acquainted with their new driver, plus five minutes at the end roughly going over the schedule for testing and the first half of the season.

When everything was done everyone around the table stood up, with the suits and other important people going to leave after shaking Sophie’s hand.

“Oh one more thing Sophie-” Martin said, once it was just him, Richard and the two drivers left. “I just want to be clear, if anyone within the team makes you feel unwelcome, or is in any way disrespectful towards you. I want you to tell me straight away, so we can nip any of that behaviour in the bud” Johnathan carefully watched Sophie’s reaction. She looked taken aback before a grateful smile washed over her face.

“Thank you Martin, I really appreciate it” Sophie nodded before hanging her handbag and coat off the crook of her arm.

“I can take Sophie to get her ID pass and locker key before we go ahead with the tour” Richard smiled, clapping his hands together eagerly. James stayed stood on the spot, knowing that his presence wasn’t really required but also that it would be very rude of him to just leave.

“Yes good idea, then the hard work starts tomorrow” Martin’s remark did get a small laugh and smile out of James’ new team mate. Just as Richard and Sophie were about to leave he took a step forward, wanting to be as polite as possible.

“Enjoy the tour, hopefully you won’t get lost”

“Thanks James” Sophie smiled a bright, confident smile. “See you later” And with a sparkle in her hazel eyes and a swish of dark auburn waves, she was gone.

“I hope you won’t have any problems with this” Martin looked at his driver sternly, he’d deliberately waited a few moments after the door had closed before speaking.

“Of course not. Sophie seems qualified enough to be here, why shouldn’t she be given a chance?” James bounced up on his toes with his hands in his pockets while Martin tapped his foot and looked out of the window.

“I can only hope that everyone else in the paddock will be just as welcoming”

  Almost an hour and a half and a full tour of the factory later, Sophie found herself in the canteen with Richard as Martin had left to go back to his office. Her day was almost over, all that was left was for her to meet her mechanics and race engineer before she was free to go back to her hotel and prepare from her run in the team’s simulator the next day.

The canteen was filled with light thanks to the floor to ceiling windows that gave everyone a view of the lake and the vast areas of greenery outside the factory, which could be seen now that the grey clouds were starting to split and let through the odd ray of sunshine.

“So what’ll it be?” Richard asked as he led the way towards the bar.

“Tea. Earl Grey with milk and sugar… no. Better make it sweetener, or my personal trainer will kill me” Seanagh sighed, not wanting to change her preferred mug of tea, or upset Vanessa. Richard happily ordered and paid for their drinks and led Sophie over to a free table. Each one of them was the same, a stark white square with matching chairs that contrasted the dark grey floor. “The team has a very distinct colour scheme” Sophie observed as she took in her surroundings.

“That’s Andrew’s input, everything has to be just so with him. He refused to change a cracked tile on the boulevard once because the replacement wasn’t the exact same colour”

“You’re joking” Sophie scoffed, her eyes wide open. Andrew White had quite the reputation in F1, but she didn’t expect his want for perfection to be so militant.

“But you, hopefully, shouldn’t have to worry about him too much. He’s surprisingly understanding about rookies needing time to settle in” Richard shrugged and sipped away at his latte. “You’ll be fine”

“I’ve got enough people to impress as it is” Sophie chewed on her bottom lip and glanced out of the window.

“It’s the same for everyone” She knew Richard was just trying to be reassuring, but it did nothing. Ever since she had first sat in a go-kart Sophie had always felt a weight of expectation on her shoulders; she’d been taunted at as a child, many of her competitors and their Dads laughed wondering what a girl was doing there. That had followed her though her entire racing career, even last year when she won her third single seater title, it was never enough for some people. They’d say that she had been lucky, or simply had too good of a car. She knew that she wasn’t going to get a completely warm welcome from the entire F1 paddock at testing.

And if she had to constantly beat James Hewitt to get everyone else’s respect, then so be it.

[eleyhsa]

few more things from valtteri's most recent podcast episode:

- valtteri doesn't enjoy the publicity at all and wish it didn't exists, oskari says he thinks valtteri is quite good at faking it in front of the media and quite a good performer

- valtteri says recording a podcast feels quite different and he doesn't have to put his f1 media face on

- oskari and valtteri think they could also do a 2h episode without saying absolutely anything (oskari used to be a paddock presser in f1 back in the day) --- and by the way, valtteri has said before that the whole point of him doing this podcast series is that he's going to be the only finnish driver in f1 next season and he feels that finnish people deserve to know a bit more about him, finland has such a long and rich history of f1 drivers

- "f1 is quite a good school of how to say things for the media"

- valtteri always thinks about and phrases thing in a way that it would greate as little headlines as possible, that's the first thing he thinks before saying anything

- "careful is the word how i deal with the media"

- print media and certain people in it is the most tricky

- valtteri thinks that he has always but more pressure on himself than the media does

- the press recarding his divorce was his worst experience with the media, "there was zero respect towards my ex-wife or the situation", photographers were following him everywhere: "i think the juiciest photo they got was me driving my car"

- he wouldn't change a day with mercedes and stronger than ever

- he says that you usually notice the pressure of this sport in a bad way if you start thinking "don't fuck this up" during a quali lap, compares it to barcelona in 2019 when he had pole by 0.5s, he thought halfway during the lap "damn this feels easy"

- "at the end of the day f1 is just driving cars in circles" an iconic line

- sauna is a holy place

- valtteri has been very careful with his privacy his whole career and feels things in perspective have been quite easy for him because of that

- valtteri is never going to sign a one-year-deal again, he says during the monza weekend when they announced the alfa deal it felt like there was suddenly double the amount of oxygen in the world and even incredibly bad jokes made him laugh (looking at you daniel...wait who said that)

[lovewillthaw-j]

undefined

(please unmute and watch till the end)

Focus on Frozen (1) score (2/?)

Kristoff’s love for Anna theme

I have been listening to Christophe Beck’s Frozen (1) score incessantly and I’m discovering so many little gems inside. This is the second post in this series, the previous one was on the Elsa and Anna sisters theme. The next post in this series is going to reveal a JAW DROPPING discovery I made in the score that just blows my mind to smithereens. And that’s a pretty big deal considering how much my mind has already been blown by the F2 score.

This melancholic theme is hidden in the score, because it is quite soft in the actual movie or hidden by dialogue. The second reason it is hidden, is that on the CD track, this soft theme is sandwiched in between loud, fast moving music which may turn one off from listening to that track and just skip that track, which I did for years (I’ve owned the F1 double disc for 7 years). 

The more I listened, I was shocked to find that this theme appears 5 times, so it’s a pretty major theme! To help us appreciate the track more, I have tweaked some of the audio to make the music louder where I thought it necessary, so don’t be surprised that the dialogue sounds soft - it’s intentional.

This theme is played when the movie portrays Kristoff’s love for Anna.

1. Kristoff carrying Anna back to the castle

The first instance of this theme is in Bminor. (It starts when Kristoff lowers Anna to the ground at the door) It is a melancholic theme played by the strings on the background of a gentle harp motif. The high strings have extra emotion - it’s a type of reverb effect that is applied, I think.

2. Kristoff feels sad to leave Anna with Hans

This one (in C#minor) caught me by surprise cos it’s not on the CD. I think Sven loves Anna too! I’m curious whether a reindeer can truly lift a man by its antlers? I just realised something - I always thought Sven made this face to describe disgust for Hans (and what an awesome face it is!):

BUT: Sven (and Kristoff) have never met Hans before!

Fun fact: Sven is voiced by the GOD of voice acting and cartoon animal sounds, Frank Welker. You may have heard of him as the voice of Abu, the Cave of Wonders (Aladdin); Pascal, Maximus (Tangled);...the list goes on...his nearly 6-decade long resume is amazing.

3. Olaf talks about Kristoff’s love

C#minor again. The notes are almost the same as in # 2. The theme is played very slowly here, again on the backdrop of the gentle harp motif. In the movie, it is really soft so I augmented the music volume.

4. Olaf sees Kristoff rushing back

The theme sounds a bit more cheerful as Olaf gets excited! The background music is active, to portray Kristoff’s galloping back on Sven.

5. Kristoff runs to Anna

In the last part of “Whiteout” (which is an AMAZING track that I will analyse separately) we hear the theme (in G#minor) as Kristoff runs to Anna to save her. Notes are more similar to # 4 than #1, 2, or 3, but it is still unmistakeably the theme.

---

Lastly, we do not hear the theme during the epilogue sequence when Kristoff receives his new sled and kisses Anna. I think that’s because this theme would be too jarringly sad for the overall upbeat and happy feel of the Epilogue score.

Can’t wait to make the next post to share with you all my mega discovery!

KUDOS CHRISTOPHE BECK!!!

[meaningofmotorsport]

Mid-Week Motorsport Headlines - 7th July 2021

F1

After being moved from its original date as the season opener, the Australian Grand Prix has now been cancelled for 2021, as a result of the current situation in the country. This is a shame, as whilst the track may not be the best in the world, the atmosphere is always special there, and I hope it will return to open the 2022 campaign! Just to add, the MotoGP race in Australia has also been cancelled for similar reasons.

Formula E

Nico Muller will miss the rest of the season, as he focuses on DTM, where he races for Audi, and has been a title contender for the past few years! This makes sense as Dragon is not able to produce quite the same opportunities in Formula E. This is a complete split with the team, so going forward they will need to find a new permanent driver. The most likely contender, both for the rest of the season, and into the future, is Joel Eriksson, who beat the other Dragon car of Camara in both races in Mexico!

In calendar news, China looks set to return next year, if sports exemption agreements can be arranged. It last hosted a race in Sanya a couple of years ago. Cape Town is also in talks to join the series, with a possible date in February!

The NIO 333 team, is set to bring all its workforce together at a single facility, which will be based at Silverstone. Previously they were split between Donington Park, where their predecessors were based, and an innovation centre in Oxford! This move will allow all 30 or so staff to work more effectively together.

IndyCar

A new extension deal has been signed, to keep Road America on the calendar for many years to come. This is a brilliant move, as not only is the circuit one of the best road courses in North America, but the fans also come to that track in droves, so it is a win for all sides!

Calderon, an up and coming female racing driver, has had a test in the AJ Foyt IndyCar, driven by Bourdais, at Mid-Ohio. She performed very well, beating the other test driver, and being very close to the times that the main racers set over the weekend! Who knows, maybe she could be joining the series very soon!

MotoGP

Portimao will replace the Grand Prix of Australia, after it was cancelled earlier this week. Meaning we will get two races at that track this year, which I am sure Yamaha and Quartararo will be very pleased about. It could also give us a chance to see if teams have improved at all, from the start of the season!

Other News

After the Fuji round of the WEC was cancelled, there will now be two races at Bahrain, to keep the number of rounds the same! The cancellation of the Fuji 6 hours, puts the races for MotoGP and F1 severely into question, especially following what happened in Australia!

In other WEC news, pictures have been revealed, for the stunning new Peugeot challenger, which will join the series next year. The design is very different to the current Toyota car, especially with respect to the rear wing, which is far from conventional on the French version!

In some good news for Australia, it is targeting a return to the WRC in 2023, after losing its spot for the past few years. Also, we are expecting that the event for the Australian Supercars this weekend will become a double-header!

-M

Thank you very much for reading this article! To keep up to date with when they go out, and to see my reactions to races and other news, follow me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/MeaningofMotor1

Also, if you want to support me, I have a Patreon Page at: https://www.patreon.com/meaningofmotorsport