#i'm in the airport atm like 4 hours early so there's nothing to do

[stranded-in-the-gobi-desert]

i'm v bored so here are some different ideas for my mdzs f1 au

option 1: drivers

nmj and lxc are both very talented f1 drivers, both lauded as future world champions. meng yao did some karting at a young age, but instead decided to become an f1 engineer/mechanic when it became too expensive

my and lxc meet when they're 16/17, when lxc is competing in formula reno and my is apprenticing at his team as an engineer for the summer (it's not the high profile best car team he was going to join until wrh blocked him by having wen chao join the team)

my and nmj meet properly when my gets appointed to be his race engineer (after nmj goes through 2 others quitting or being fired in the previous seasons)

nmj and lxc are long time friends, growing up in the karting circuits together (think piastri and sargeant, or verstappen and leclerc but they're actually friends)

lxc is the one who recommended my as a potential race engineer for nmj (my still getting the job on his own merit ofc)

option 2: part of the f1 circus

nmj is the safety car driver, jgy is the race director, lxc is a high profile f1 journalist/pundit (chris medland + will butxton fusion)

lxc woukd be so proud of his brother lwj destroying the junior formulas, and definitly be paying extra attention to the driver markets during the summer break

jgy and nmj would 100% bond over the useless stewarding in the races (i think the track limits fiasco at belgium 23 would give jgy an aneurism)

they'd share flights to lots of the races (and hotel rooms too)

option 3: they're ALL drivers

meng yao manages to get through karting and the lower formulas by joining a driver academy (very high pressure bc if he messes up once he could get kicked out and lose his seat),

he's a couple years behind nmj and lxc, who are both from famous racing families - nmj's dad is/was a famous rally car driver (carlos sainz esq), and lxc's dad and lqr were both f1 drivers (not champions but decent ones) and his mum used to kart bf marrying (max verstappen esq)

lxc and nmj both enter the sport in upper midfield teams, getting consistent points and a few podiums here and there in their rookie seasons, whilst when my joins he's stuck in a back marker who struggles to get out of Q1 normally (jgs promises him a place in his team if he can prove himself - almost impossible in the team he's in)

they're a well known driver friendship (once again like the 2019 rookies) and they do press videos together sometimes bc they're fan favourites

(side note: the 2019 rookies - george russell, alex albon, and lando norris - also have the height differences of 3zun, both russell and albon are 184cm+ and norris was around 170cm in 2019)