#this is the same kind of people who think F1 would be better without the halo

[maraguanabana]

no way on EARTH I just read that bullshit.

totally unrelated to F1 but I had to complain.

there's this woman from the United States that has to be the most I don't even know what person ever. like fine girl, love and like your country, but your reaching.

'if they want to start making everything electric, why don't we start with the border wall' may I beg your finest pardon, lady. may. I.

the actual fuck is wrong with people.

she's also transphobic, homophobic. (she's anti everything that's not purely "american" and fits her ideology) she commented on a ig post that all you need to avoid skin cancer is 'stop wearing sunglasses, eat healthy, drink water, wear a hat instead of sunscreen' excuse me??? I will not engage on the sunscreen part, just fyi. yes, having a healthy life decreases the chances of getting any sort of cancer. key word decreases. you cannot avoid fucking cancer, ma'am. and sure! drinking water obviously stops your body from developing a melanoma. yup.

istg some people make my brain hurt. let's be honest, some instagram users are so fucking stupid it makes me want to cry.

[changetyre]

How long? II Lando Norris X Reader ⓈⒾ

SUMMARY: Finding your soulmate doesn't always include a happy ending.

WARNINGS: Angst Angst Angst with a sprinkle of fluff. Sickness, death.

A/N: This is a story I wrote a while ago for Wattpad and which I always loved but reading it back now there's been things I've wanted to adjust which is what I chose to do here ;)

Lando POV II 

"Tell me about her," she asked me passing me back our photo. 

I looked at it, my thumb grazing over her in the picture I kept in my wallet.

_____

Y/N POV II 

Lando and I've been together ever since I can remember. We met when we were only toddlers and became inseparable ever since. We both knew in our hearts how much we meant to each other, we knew that we couldn't live without each other. However, another part of us, and everyone around us, told us there would come a point where we'd meet other people.

And we did meet other people, in fact when I went to college and Lando joined F1 we both decided to try to date others and it was the most miserable time in both our lives. Which only reinforced our feelings, we were irrevocably in love.

We were aware that we were a very cheesy couple, the kind of people who just didn't care when people were around us and loved to show our love for one another no matter the time and/or place. We were the kind of couple to gift each other little things and have dinner dates every week. Land never failed to bring me flowers every weekend since we started dating.

Life felt like a dream when we were around each other, we literally felt like we were in the clouds, floating in our own bubble of love. But it didn't take long before it burst. 

Given the amount of time Lando and I had spent together we had discussed anything you could possibly imagine and despite some thinking this was a horrible and selfish thought, when Lando and I talked about losing one another, we always thought he would go first...simply because of his job.

What Lando didn't know though was that every night and every time Lando went on track I would pray, pray for his safety, pray for his health, pray that if one of us had to go...for it to be me...because I could simply not live a life without him...the single thought made me choke up. 

'Be careful what you wish for.'

One year ago I was diagnosed with Breast cancer. For some reason the news didn't come to me as much of a shock as I thought, it was like something in my mind and body had expected this, had somehow mentally prepared me for it. On the other hand, I could tell how much this devastated Lando, so much he'd set his mind on quitting F1 to care for me which I had to practically force him not to. 

We had caught it early on and I only needed a few weeks of chemotherapy. Luckily the news came at the end of Lando's season, he would be home and he wouldn't get distracted on track.

Chemo was worse than anyone had ever described to me, it felt like I'd been completely stripped away from my own body and I was miserable but I knew I had to get through it, I tried to keep a smile all the way through it, for Lando, but I knew he could see right through me and he had as many sleepless nights as I did through it all.

Finally the last week of Chemo, everything was better. Lando was certainly brighter than before although I could tell he was still worried, I could see it in his eyes. Every time I'd say I was tired, huff, breath abnormally, or complain about any sort of pain I could tell Lando's heart skipped a beat.

It annoyed me at first because he constantly hovered, but I never said anything and eventually, I understood. I knew that if I was in his shoes I'd be exactly the same and now I found myself wondering whether I'd wished for the right position to be in because even though I was in pain physically...Lando was in pain too, even more than I was...and it broke my heart to see him go through it.

Now I wanted the season to start more than ever so Lando could put his focus and worry somewhere else other than me, and even though I worried that he might have an accident because of all this distraction I knew how much he adored driving and it was what he needed. 

The start of the season went well, not as good as we expected but it was good enough and the boys still had the rest of the season left.

I was with Lando in Monaco for the race, I was so excited about having him race here in Monaco since we'd recently bought our apartment here and we hadn't been able to enjoy it because of my treatments. 

It seemed like things were finally getting back to normal, Lando and I were floating back up in the clouds again and we were finally finding our rhythm again...it was almost too good to be true. 

I was home making dinner for Lando and me, he'd texted he was almost home and I'd decided to make some food for us. The whole day I'd noticed I was particularly exhausted and I kept running out of breath doing simple things. I had just set the table when all of a sudden it felt like my lungs had disappeared.

I dropped to the ground in pain gasping with all my power for some air. I thought I was going to die right there and then all until I heard the door open.

"Y/N!" I heard Lando's panicked scream. "LOVE!"

He pulled me up and turned me towards him, I clutched my chest. "I can't breathe." I wheezed.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!" He screamed out.

And eventually, for me, everything went black.

__

I woke up on an all too familiar surface. I was in a hospital bed, all sorts of tubes and needles attached to me. I looked for Lando and saw he was outside talking to the doctor, I could see him through the window.

Lando was facing my way while the doctor's back was towards me. I could tell it was a serious conversation and as much as I tried to deny it I knew what was happening. The cancer was back...and this time it wasn't going away.

I saw the anger and pain in Lando's eyes as the doctor spoke to him, he argued. I imagined he kept asking for a solution that simply didn't exist. Lando held his tears in all until he locked eyes with me. I gave him a look letting him know it was okay, I knew and that was enough for him to break down.

The doctor simply patted his shoulder before walking away. Lando walked to the room wiping his tears away as best as he could. Once he came in I could tell he didn't know what to say.

"It's back-" he spoke in barely above a whisper. 

"I know baby." I opened my arms for him and he broke down in tears again. I cried with him, not because of my pain but because of his.

"How long?" I asked him after a few minutes.

Lando kept his head buried in my chest but I could feel him shaking his head.

"Baby how long?" I repeated the question.

His head finally rose up, his eyes were swollen and the tears just kept coming. "They're not sure, he says it could be 6 months or a week." Lando's voice broke at the last words before he buried his face in my chest once more except this time he wrapped his arms around me holding me tightly as if I could slip away at any second.

"I love you..." he wept "I'm so sorry." these last words shattered me.

"I'm sorry too...I love you." I whispered to him as I kissed the top of his head.

"Baby I'm scared-" he whispered into my chest. 

I didn't exactly know how to comfort him, I let Lando cry it out as much as he needed to while I tried to remain strong, I found myself pondering over how I felt, I wasn't scared but I was in pain, and I was so miserable for leaving Lando like this, we definitely didn't have enough time together.

___

The next morning once Lando had come back into my room with a cup of coffee I decided it was time to talk about the next step. I knew deep down Lando still wanted to push for a cure that simply didn't exist but I also knew I didn't want to spend another second stuck in these hideous grey walls.

"Baby I want to get out here," I spoke. I was prepared for a discussion.

Lando simply looked down and gave a shaky sigh. "I know...and I'll get you out." his lip quivered and I could see tears brimming up in his eyes again.

"You're not going to ask me to stay?" I needed confirmation.

Lando got up and walked over to me, he scooted me over and sat down on the bed. "The day I met you-" he took a deep breath trying to keep himself together. "I made a promise to myself that I would do everything in my power to make you happy no matter what-" a tear slipped down his cheek. "I hope you know that if it was possible I'd take your place right now because seeing you like this..." another tear fell down his cheek. "it's been hell." I placed my hand on his cheek caressing it, I was crying too. "But I know you better than anyone and I know that you're not the kind of person to go out in a hospital room and I know you want to do as much as you can before you-" he stopped himself and his breath hitched. He couldn't say it.

"You're right." I quickly said not wanting him to finish because I could tell how hard it was for him. "I want to spend every second I have left with you, with the people I love, out of here." His lip quivered again as more tears left his eyes.

"Let's go then." Lando got back up starting to pack my things.

The news spread through the F1 world fairly quickly and I was flooded with pitiful messages all over my social media. Lando's friends from work who I'd grown close to didn't know what to say when I showed up in the paddock with them for the Monaco GP. Most of them simply gave me glances that spoke a thousand words.

Carlos, Alex, George, and Charles had all been incapable of holding their tears back as they saw me, giving me a hug that only existed for these situations.

After the Monaco GP, Lando and I found ourselves going to our favorite spots within Monaco, I was tired, so tired and I could feel death inching closer every day but I held on, I held on because...I knew he wasn't ready...I wasn't ready.

One morning I woke up to find Lando had planned a whole day for us and it all started at home. I'd walked to the living room to find Lando had prepared a very scrumptious breakfast. And he'd decorated our balcony with roses and candles.

We walked to it and there Lando got down on one knee, pulling out a small black box, which he opened to reveal a ring. My hands flew up to my mouth, I had always dreamed of this day but certainly not like this.

"My dearest y/n, I've imagined this very day over a thousand times in my head and I've come up with hundreds of speeches for this very occasion but it seems none of them would work for what we're going through now." His voice broke. "You have been the first and only woman in my life I have ever loved, you have been my best friend since day one, you've been my rock, my world, my everything and I simply do not want to spend another day not being able to call you my wife...so y/n, my love will you marry me?" I could tell he sped up the last bit to hold his tears back.

"Yes." I let him slip the ring on my finger before he rose up and we engulfed each other in a deep kiss.

"Propose...check" he pretended to hold a list and checked off the first point making me laugh.

"So what's next my fiancé," I asked him.

"Well, why don't we get going and I'll show you...my fiancé." he gave me another kiss.

Lando took me shopping for a bit before he drove us both back home. I'd noticed something else had been set up and once I walked into our room I found a wedding dress hanging in our closet. I gasped admiring the dress, it was simple but beautiful.

"Pietra helped me pick it out for you, we tried getting a more over-the-top one but apparently you can't just buy dresses like that overnight." he shrugged.

"It's beautiful." you admired the dress.

"Well you better get dressed, and I'll do the same. I'm going to get dressed somewhere else and when the time comes your driver will be here." he winked.

"Wait what?" I was confused.

"Just be ready in 2 hours...I love you." he gave me a quick peck on the lips before walking out. I got dressed and ready as best as I could with the time I had left, I did a simple hairstyle, partly because I was never good at doing my hair and partly because I barely had the strength to keep my arms up for longer than 3 seconds. 

20 minutes before the 2 hours were up I heard a knock at the door. I opened it and Pietra, Alexandra, Lily, and Carmen were all standing there in matching dresses. You looked at them confused but on the brink of tears because of how beautiful they looked.  "Did I die already?" I joked, and they laughed but I could tell the thought pained them. 

"You look beautiful." P had to pat her eyes as she looked at me. I had naturally grown closest to her because of the brotherhood between Max and Lando. 

"Thank you for doing this?" I had to hold my tears back too. 

"Let's go." Alex and Lily extended their hands out for me and I took them walking out with them. We walked downstairs and Carlos was waiting in an Aston Martin DB6 Volante, that had been decorated with white flowers. 

We arrive at the beach to find it prepared for a ceremony, all of Lando's friends from the paddock and his friends from Quadrant were there, as well as both our parents. I just about started crying there and then. 

I got out of the car and Carlos stood there offering me his arm guiding me to one end of the carpet that had been rolled out. I saw Lando at the other end and tears quickly brimmed my eyes. As soon as he laid eyes on me it didn't take him half a second before he started crying too, Max Fewtrell quickly stepped in to hand him a handkerchief even though he was shedding a few tears too.

Without You by Harry Nilson started playing, and it was enough for me to let my tears run free. Carmen handed me a bouquet of roses and I began walking down the aisle, and for some reason, all my strength seemed to leave me right there and then. 

I stumbled causing everyone to try to jump forward to grab me, My mom caught me, I could see the concern and the pain in her eyes but she also understood I needed to keep going. She wrapped her arm around my waist and helped me down the aisle. 

And now it's only fair that I should let you know what you should know...I can't live, if living is without you...I can't live, I can't give anymore. 

The song reached this part just as I reached him, he wrapped his arms around me, letting his forehead rest on mine. 

"You look beautiful." he sniffled. 

I placed my hand on his cheek before placing a gentle kiss to his forehead. "Let's get married," I whispered to him. 

The ceremony was short, Lando had wanted to arrive at the vows quickly and once we did he pulled out a sheet of paper, a tear was already rolling down his cheek. 

"My best friend, my rock, my first love, my only love, my life, my world, my everything, these words don't come remotely close to describing what you are to me. I hope you know I consider myself the luckiest man on earth to have met you, to have loved you, to have cared for you, and to have married you-" he chocked up. "But although I thought it was impossible...as much as I feel the luckiest man...I feel the unluckiest too." he looked up to meet my eyes completely distraught. "It's unfair the world is taking you away from me when our love story has only just begun, all the dreams, all the plans, all the promises I have yet to fulfill to you will stay here while you will go." he gulped down, he had a knot in his throat. "I will cherish, love, and protect you for the rest of the time we have left together, I will continue bringing you flowers every weekend, I'll wake you up with kisses in the morning, I'll make you smile and laugh every day, and most importantly I will, with all my power, do my best to keep you happy." he finished. 

I leaned forward giving him a long kiss on the cheek, now it was my turn and since this was all unexpected I hadn't prepared anything but already had enough to say. 

"My Lando...you have made me the happiest woman on earth since the day I met you. You are the most loyal, hardworking, loving, fun man I have ever known and I consider myself the luckiest woman on earth to have fallen in love with you. And the luckiest woman for you will be the first, last, and only man I will ever love." Lando's lips quivered as I said those words, a sob escaping his lips. "I will forever be sorry that we didn't get more time together, that I couldn't give you what we had so long hoped for, a life, kids, to grow old together." I cleared my throat having to compose myself. "I wish there was more I could do to keep you happy in the time I have left my darling, I can't promise you much, but I promise that I will love you with every fiber of my body and soul until my last breath." I ended. 

We were pronounced husband and wife and Lando pulled me in for a long deep kiss, mixed with both our tears. 

It was the most perfect day of my life, surrounded by so much love from our families and friends, surrounded by so much happiness. Once the moon was out and the tide started rising things started getting packed up but Lando and I decided to take a walk along the beach. 

We walked in silence, simply appreciating and cherishing each other's company. Once we were nearing the end of the beach I had to speak about what was on my mind. 

"Lando." I started. 

"No." he immediately replied. 

"Baby-" I was going to keep going. 

"I know what you're going to say and you can't ask me that-" he spoke softly but I could hear the anger and hurt in his voice. 

"Lando listen to me please-" I stopped making Lando turn to me. He looked down and he was crying silent tears. "After I'm gone I need you to promise me you will keep going no matter how hard or painful it is...I want you to give your career 1000% percent like you always have...and someday whenever you're ready I want you to find someone who will make you happy, who will take care of you, who you will fall in love with and start a family with-" I spoke clearly, this was a thought I'd head since the first time I'd found out I was sick. 

"No, I can't." He replied sniffling. 

"Yes you can and you will," I assured him. 

"How will I ever love someone as I love you..." he locked eyes with me. 

"I'm not asking you to love someone as you love me. But you will learn to love again, I just want you to promise you will not shut yourself out, you need to keep going...for me." I walked up to him, wrapping my arms around his neck, with one hand I wiped the tears from under his eyes. 

He looked at me unsure and simply nodded, I knew he didn't mean it right now but it was as much reassurance as I would get from him for now. 

"I'll never find anyone like you." He spoke once we'd started walking back. 

"Maybe not, but you will find someone, there's plenty of women out there Lando, amazing, beautiful, incredibly talented women and I'm sure there's someone else for you." the mood had livened up a little bit. 

____

LANDO POV II 

The next morning I woke up...she didn't. She'd passed in her sleep, in my arms. A smile was still on her lips. I knew she was gone but I still tried to wake her, I still needed her to wake up.

I was inconsolable for months after her death, and my friends and my family had to help me back to my feet. Literally, because it was as though all my strength, all my will to live had died with her that day.

"She made me promise her that I would find someone else, that I'd fall in love again." I stifled a laugh remembering our walk at the beach. 

"She sounds like an amazing woman." She commented. She had a very genuine smile. 

"She was...I never met anyone like her." I sighed, that ache in my heart was still very present but bearable now.

_____________

Bonus A/N: 

If it serves as any consolation I cried my eyes out writing this story. . 

[lovelytsunoda]

holding out for a hero ( iii ) // platonic! mercedes amg

summary: a holiday party at marcus armstrong's house brings changes to y/n's life, in the form of both a british f2 driver she'd rather not show her face around ever again, and a very awkward milestone.

pairing: platonic!mercedes amg f1 x reader, brief olli caldwell x reader

warnings: first kisses, a slew of emotions i don't want to unpack, it's going to be cute and angsty all at the same time, self-deprecation, basically the same warnings as the rest of the series tbh, mentions of an alcohol allergy, paul being a little shit

author's note: this is lowkey based on the story of my first kiss from last december . . . i actually hated it all and we're back to the drawing board on that whole dating thing. i fear my standards may be too high.

this series would make such a good sitcom tbh

"marcus, for the last time, i don't do parties." y/n insisted, frowning at the face on her phone as she stride out of the mercedes building in brackley. "i don't care that i already know most of the people who are going to be there, or that the guys are bringing their girlfriends. the answer is no."

"come on!" marcus armstrong begged on the other end of the facetime call, laughing as the young intern clumsily zipped up her tommy hilfiger jacket, hiding the bottom half of her face under the collar as the wind whipped her face, flakes of snow beginning to fall from the winter sky. "it's not as bad as you're thinking it's going to be. it's literally just at my house, my younger sister is going to be there."

y/n snorted. "come on, armstrong. if you think telling me that your teenaged sister is going to be at the party is a drawing factor, you need to reevaluate things in your life. besides, liam is going to be there and it's going to be ultra painful to see him and his girlfriend being all loved up."

silverstone had been a huge knock to y/n y/l/n's self-confidence. it had taken a lot for her to allow herself to be that vulnerable. to dance in front of the rowdy group of boys, to let her guard down long enough to meet new people, to have a good time.

to tell liam lawson that she thought he was cute, just for liam to shatter her heart into a million peices without even meaning or trying to.

god, she wished she could stop being so sensitive sometimes.

she hadn't been to another race since. she also hadn't spoken directly to liam, occasionally being looped into things on the group chat. as far as she was aware, red bull were shipping him off to japan with cem bolukbasi to run a superformula test.

she was heading back to her car now, the cold air turning her fingers numb as she clutched her phone, digging in her pocket for her car keys.

"i'm not doing it, armstrong."

"and why the bloody hell not? you had a great time in sliverstone, and i'll have james keep liam away from you if that would make you feel better."

y/n had opened her mouth to say something when she felt a pair of hands clapping her on the shoulders.

"she's going." susie wolff insisted. "come on, y/n. you need to get out more. you deserve to let yourself have fun."

"but this party isn't going to be fun, susie."

susie grinned, hands in the deep front pockets of her trench coat. "you won't know unless you try it, kiddo." she turned to the phone. "marcus, she'll be there!"

____

y/n stood in front of her mirrored closet door, smoothing her fingers over her hair, drawn back into a tight half-up ponytail kind of style.

"you look great, kiddo!" angela cullen's voice faintly filtered through the phone speakers, a kelsy karter song playing softly from the turntable in the corner.

"ang, i'm going to make a fool out of myself out there." y/n groaned. "i hate parties!"

"but you know these guys, y/n. you know marcus, you know clem and you know fred. you'll be fine. with that being said, if you want to leave early, call one of us."

"oh, you'll definitley be getting some kind of call." she rolled her eyes, stopping the turntable and sliding the shiny black vinyl back into it's sleeve, fairy lights twinkling above her. "what if they don't like me, angela?"

"and what if they love you?"

after bidding the physiotherapist her goodbyes, y/n pocketed her phone and padded across the dusty apartment floor to her kitchen. the apartment felt too big for her to live in on her own, and technically she didn't, but it's not like her roommate was ever home. she sighed to herself, opening the fridge to stare at the almost empty shelf, making a mental note to order her groceries.

if there was anything that gave her anxiety, it was grocery shopping. there was a voice in her head that always seemed to tell her that the cashier ringing her groceries through was judging her, or that that mother with two kids in a stroller was frowning at the nutritional index of meals she hadn't even made yet.

she grabbed the plastic container with the kirkland signature logo, groaning to herself as she realized that the lettuce in her pre-made ceaser salad had gone off.

"fuck me." she muttered, throwing the entire thing in the trash before grabbing a ziploc container filled with sliced peppers, that way she had at least eaten something before she went to the party.

just in case her anxiety stamped out her appetite

her nimble fingers sailed across the keyboard as she texted clement, asking for a ride to marcus'. she had no idea where she was going, and she didn't want to be lost in london this close to the new year.

i'll be at the apartment in twenty, and i've got my girlfriend with me. she can't wait to meet you! you're going to have a great time at marcus'

she took a deep breath, reminding herself to calm down a little. it was just marcus armstrong's house. what could possibly go wrong? they're the same people she had such a great time with at silverstone, right?

_____

she regretted going to marcus' almost as soon as she walked through the doors to his massive penthouse. at the track, they could pretend that they were all the same. but not here, not out in the real world when y/n walked through the front doors of his doorman building with glass elevators, his penthouse that was bigger than even the townhouse she grew up in with her parents.

in the kitchen, marcus had stacked a sturdy tower of martini glasses. behind them, felipe drugovich was standing on a kitchen chair with a bottle of ferrari trento champagne in his arms.

"i've always wanted to do this!" the f2 champion shouted. "come on, guys. someone get this on tape!"

"dear lord, what are the twenty stooges doing now?" she groaned, leaning against the wall next to jehan daruvala.

jehan laughed. "making a champagne fountain because liam said he saw it in a movie once. felipe wanted to do the honors of puring it, and nobody wants to argue with the f2 champ, especially when he just found out he's not getting a race seat next year, but logan is."

"shit. i guess the feeder series system just isn't working like it used to."

a chorus of cheers from the kitchen island disrupted further conversation, the warm lights shining down on the last person that y/n wanted to see. god, motorsport was a small world, wasn't it?

liam lawson locked eyes with her from across the apartment, giving her a sad and sympathetic smile. she bit her lip to stop from grimacing, meekly waving back.

nobody else knew what had happened between her and liam, and she preferred to keep it that way.

"y/n!" marcus shouted, throwing his arms in the air and waving her over. "come join us!"

"have a drink." clement encouraged, trying to pass her a glass of champagne.

she shook her head. "give it to your girlfriend, novalak. i'm actually allergic to alcohol."

calan williams narrowed his eyes, skeptically sipping from his own glass. "that sounds fake."

y/n laughed, moving closer to the kitchen island. "its a genetic thing. i can't handle anything more than a cooler or a mixed drink. anything stronger will have me throwing up for hours."

"i think there's some smirnoff ice in the fridge." marcus suggested, pointing towards a large cabinet front. ayumu iwasa opened the cabinet, revealing the fridge behind it.

fucking rich people.

"what the hell, pass me one of the peach smirnoff coolers in the door."

"to felipe!" dennis hauger shouted, hefting his beer into the air, arm full of tattoos on display. "our 2022 champion!"

"and to logan, my old teammate!" liam lawson added, throwing his arm around logan sargeant's neck. liam looked drunkest of all, though it seemed like all of the drivers were a wreck. "williams racing's last hope."

she spent most of the night wandering around marcus' massive house, ducking in and out of conversations. she appreciated that the drivers were trying to help her feel at home, but there was still a small part of her that wanted to flee, to run away and sit at home with her emily henry book or watch a korean psychological thriller.

"so who's actually sticking around next year?" jack doohan asked, slumped across marcus' living room sofa. "aren't they cleaning house in f2?" his buzzcut was growing back in, his shaggy blonde hair fitting his face much better, although the look still seemed odd since the length was at that awkward stage.

"it's dennis, you, ayumu, jehan, enzo, theo, me, amaury, roy, ralph." fred vesti started counting off on his fingers, a drunken slur underneath his words if one listened carefully.

"and i'm not going anywhere any time soon!" ralph boomed. "i'm like fernando fucking alonso, motherfuckers! 2023 is going to be my year, just you wait and see!"

"yeah right! the championship is as much yours as it is clem's!" marcus shouted back with a laugh, an aperol spritz in hand as he messed with the stereo.

"oh, fuck you lot." clement laughed, curled up in an armchair with his girlfriend. "you didn't need to do me like that in front of ines, come on, have some class."

"am i forgetting about anyone?" fred hummed. "i skipped clem, but am i missing anyone else?"

"what about zane? he's coming back, yeah?" amaury suggested.

"dude, it's a miracle that you're coming back." dennis snorted. "i thought you were gone for sure after that speeding ticket fiasco. how long did you lose your license for?"

sitting on the couch in between jack and olli caldwell, she felt suffocated. she drew her arms in on herself, trying to create a bubble of space from the aussie on one side and the briton on the other. her palms felt sweaty, her chest heavy.

"are you okay?" olli asked her softly. "do you want to get out of here? we can go for a walk, take a breather?"

she nodded quickly, her voice soft. "please? i love you all, i really do, but this is a bit much."

"yeah, come on. let's grab your jacket." olli encouraged, taking her by the hand as they both slipped out of marcus' living room.

not that anybody noticed they were gone. or that they had left together.

once they were both outside, y/n felt better. the cool breeze on her face, the twinkling christmas lights that had been lit up glowing in the haze as snow began to fall gently.

"so where are you off to next year if it's not f2?" she asked, fingers still laced with olli's as they walked down the sidewalk.

"endurance, i think. alpine are still sponsoring me as a driver, so laurent has been a hige help in trying to find me something else. it's something different, and i'm looking forward to it. what about you?"

"i have no idea." she answered truthfully, dropping olli's hand. "my internship runs out before the season starts in bahrain. then it will be back to the real world, the world where i'm on my own with my five friends and my roommate. i'm hoping that toto will keep me on next year, but i also realize that he might not have that control. it would be a shame to leave, though. i feel like i've finally found my place in this world."

they stopped walking, y/n leaning against the brickwork exterior of marcus' condo complex. olli stood in front of her, hands in his jeans pockets, his breath turning into mist in the air.

"i'm sure it will all work out. and even if mercedes don't take you on, there are so many other motorsports in europe that you can try. and you'll always have us, y/n. any time you want them, i've got wec tickets for you."

"thanks, olli. really."

they drifted into a silence, somewhat easy, somewhat not. olli's hands came up to press against the wall, his face just milimeters from hers. her heart started pounding, anticipation building in her bones.

is this it? is it really happening? is olli caldwell going to kiss me?

and then he leaned in, his lips pressed against hers.

y/n y/l/n had just had her first kiss.

_____

"so let me get this straight, you finally got your first kiss, a boy actually wanted to go out with you, and you're turning him down?"

"well, when you put it like that!" y/n groaned, face in her hands as she slumped back in her desk chair.

it was the week after marcus armstrong's party, the group sitting in the legal department at the mercedes f1 factory in brackley. she had already told the full story, and her face was pinker than a crush cream soda.

"i just don't understand what your train of thought is here, if i'm being honest." george chuckled. "so caldwell kissed you. what's the big deal?"

"because it was my first kiss, george! i've been thinking it over all weekend, and i felt sick to my stomach when olli texted me the morning after." she groaned, running her hands over her face. "you're going to laugh at me when i tell you why."

"i promise you, we aren't going to laugh, y/n." lewis said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. "all of what you're feeling is normal."

she sighed. "it didn't feel the way that the books said it was supposed to feel."

"that's your big reasoning? really?" nyck's tinny voice rang through the speaker on mick shumacher's phone. in abu dhabi, the reserve driver had officially been traded to scuderia alphatauri, and by extension, not allowed into brackley to be privy to this conversation. so, naturally, he was facetimed and looped in anyways.

"mick, can you please mute the traitor." y/n groaned, reaching for the german boy's phone before mick laughed and pulled it out of her reach to mute the call himself.

on screen, nyck was still talking.

"i know it sounds stupid, but i've felt sick about it all weekend. what am i supposed to do, guys?"

"i think that your feeling are vaild, first of all." mick began, "and that maybe olli came on too strong."

mick's finger slipped, unmuting the call enough for nyck to shout. "did i not just say that? were you not listening?"

"you have so much time, y/n." lewis said with a small smile. "but i hope you've learned something about yourself from this, yeah? maybe this was the boost of self confidence that you needed?"

she had thought about the kiss all weekend, hoping that she could make it make sense, and that she wasn't overreacting. and it's not like olli had done anything wrong, although french kissing was a little much for the first date, even when it wasn't even a date, and she was trying to convince herself that telling olli she just wanted to be friends was the best call.

and then, digging deeper, she had to ask herself if she was even ready for a relationship. because when the idea was finally breathing down her neck, the idea of olli, and going on a date, and sharing so much of herself with someone else, it scared the shit out of her.

"he put his tongue in my mouth, lewis!" she whined. "god, i sound like a child."

"he what?" a muffled voice called from the other side of her desk, followed up by a thump and frantic whispering.

"what the fuck?" y/n mumbled, getting out of her desk chair and leaning over the glass cubicle wall. "paul?"

with a shit eating grin on his face, paul aron slipped out from underneath the table, kimi antonelli just behind him. while paul didn't look the least bit apologetic, kimi looked like he wanted the floor to swallow him whole.

"i am so sorry, miss. we shouldn't have been listening." the italian boy bowed his head. "but blame paul, it was his idea."

"what, i wanted the office gossip." the estonian boy shrugged. "he french kissed you, and you friendzoned him? that's a little sad."

"paul get out!" y/n snapped. "or i'll call toto and bono!"

the threat of toto wolff was enough to get kimi and paul to dart out of the room faster than the freca cars that they drove. toto didn't know about the kiss, mainly because she knew that he had otmar and laurent on speed dial and would find a way to put the fear of god into oliver caldwell for hurting his intern.

the bond that she had formed with the wolff family wasn't something she would have traded for the world. she found herself calling or texting toto's daughter rosa more often, with the two being of a similar age.

she just hoped that toto liked her enough to keep her around for another season.

"there are plenty of fish in the sea, kiddo." susie wolff added, striding into the office. "and don't worry, i'm not going to tell toto. although, paul and kimi might. take this as a learning experience. and don't take any advice from this lot." she added, whacking george in the back of the head with a file folder.

"why did i feel like that was directed at me?" the man from king's lynn groaned.

"the right boy will come when the time is right. god knows i met toto later in life. and look at us now." susie continued, pulling y/n in for a hug. "come on, we have an investor meeting with monster, and toto wants you there."

"me? he wants me in a meeting with our biggest sponsor?"

lewis laughed. "you need to start giving yourself more credit. you are so loved here, y/n. you have a future in motorsport law, a future here."

mick, lewis and george all exchanged a look, bright smiles on their faces.

"what are you not telling me? is toto keeping me on for next year?"

"we aren't allowed to say anything just yet." george started. "but, i think toto has a soft spot for you."

"put it this way: you'll know before bahrain, and you might want to pack some summer clothes." susie smiled.

Tags:

@magnummagnussen @diorleclerc @daydreamingleclerc @scuderiamh @sidcrosbyspuck @libraryofloveletters

[pickingupmymercedes]

Rant

I'm gonna give my two cents on the whole Merc drama, because I've been thinking about it for longer than I care to admit.

First things first. That email was ridiculous, and even giving the benefit of the doubt that it was well intended (I don't believe it was), it makes the whole environment so much worse for Lewis himself. And even for his fans (we know how people like to paint Lewis and how it reflects on how his fans get treated). Secondly, George has nothing to do it any of what I'm about to say here, he's a driver for Mercedes and even considering he has a saying in those kind of decisions goes to show people don't know how f1 works. Also, criticizing his driving and throwing hate are very different things and people don't seem to know how to do one without the other, apparently.

So, as a fan, who has been following Mercedes and Lewis since before they became this symbiotic entity we thought would never end, here's how I feel (and anyone is entitled to disagree with that, truly.)

Mercedes, the brand (not the people from within f1 team), has no problems using Lewis's name and achievements to sell. But when it comes to celebrating him, as a driver and as a part of their team, they have been falling short for at least the past 2 years. And that's where the problem lies.

I think what the brand needs to look into is how his face was used time and time again for amg promo, when until very recently, his feedback on the f1 car was completely dismissed.

Is Mercedes slowly (and extremely slowly at that) redirecting their focus and development towards their driver who's staying?! Yes, as they should.

But honest to God, it's a hard pill to swallow seeing Lewis still saying time and time again how Mercedes has been his family for years, yet when the time comes for someone to stand up to him it takes sooo long (and the same happens to George too).

I know he's all "I do my talking on the track" and until last year Mercedes still had the "we don't celebrate p2" talk but jeez, it stung seeing him by himself on that podium in Singapore and knowing it hadn't been the first time as well.

He's tough as hell on the exterior. But he's still that dude that celebrated his wins as if they were the first ones. He cried in every single race he secured his 7 championships.

The interviews in both Monaco and Canada are clear signs of how unhappy he was with HIS performances. And with knowing he could've done better (he said it himself). That in itself screams how he's not "done with 2024" or "just waiting for 2025". He wants to end on a high with the team he's made history with.

He cares about his legacy (and not just numbers) and he cares about Mercedes because it has been his home for 11 years.

Lewis is a driver, first and foremost. Yes, he has other things going on in his life. But he's been saying for years (and I beg people to start listening to him, really listen), his main focus has always been f1. And his results affect him.

What happened in the past weeks was the perfect storm of tons of errors coming together, from both parts (not even going to mention that social admin, although I should because half the backlash came from that alone)

If their course of action is to completely focus on the future, they can't be mad when people (rightfully) point out what's to come for the both of them.

I won't fault the f1 Mercedes for putting Lewis to the side since he's not staying . But I don't believe Lewis fans can be blamed at pointing out how the brand is quick to dismiss him, as a person, while still using him for their image.

[blorbocedes]

inspired by @sionisjaune's tags and THIS nico in glasses art by the incredibly talented @movieboyfriend

Becoming a sports psychologist had been easier than Nico expected. 

All he needed was a bachelor's, which he already had, and a Masters' degree which took 18 months and submitting a paper on eating disorders to achieve. Board certification was annoying, Nico just doesn't have that kind of time, but the workaround was simply calling himself a 'performance enchancing counselor.' A corner office in Monaco, a shiny plaque with his name on it, and a star studded roster of athletes and C-list celebrities he'd hosted parties for during his influencer days for potential clientele, he was all set.

F1 hadn't been the goal but at the same time... who better than Nico, who knew exactly how motorsport could chew you out? His karting dreams were long over, but the smell of gasoline and burnt tyres and the roar of the crowd is still his forte. It just so happened Formula One decided mental health awareness was totally in style now, and one of their main sponsors held an event on mindfulness and how it can be achieved drinking more Heineken. Having a father for a World Champion is helpful, when it means one has lifetime passes, and this had been a prime networking goldmine; not for the drivers themselves and their fragile egos at the implication of psychological help -- but sliding his practice's embossed gold card in the suit jacket of one Toto Wolff.

Lewis saw therapy as something good and necessary, but ultimately for other people. And then Abu Dhabi happened. And then the W-13. And Toto had mentioned what Keke Rosberg's son was up to, how it could possibly help him out of his slump, and hearing that name after so long made Lewis' usual 'thanks but not for me' die at the tip of his tongue.

"I'm not going to imply whether all your issues stem from trying to make your father proud or ask you about your childhood. I would remember. I was there." Nico had smiled over his thin-rimmed circular glasses, with that knowing sparkle during their first unofficial session and Lewis was sold.

"As long as you don't expect me to call you 'doctor,' man. Jeez, who would've thought? Dr. Nico Rosberg."

After that, every week unless he's in LA, Lewis finds himself in Nico's chic Monaco office. It's not stuffy like a therapist's office; a turquoise wall and Nico's dad's helmet is on a shelf display, a German national Team jersey hanging on the wall, there's even a YouTube million subscribers golden plate. Lewis is sprawled on the bean bag, the sunlight from the floor to ceiling windows hitting in beams, and not for the first time Lewis has to reconcile the kid he knew has grown up into the adult in distinguished glasses and same golden blonde hair in front of him. Nico dresses like he's about to give a TedTalk, in his monochrome tee and blazer combo, and that somehow puts Lewis more at ease.

"The car's been so fucking shit. I'm not here to fight for, what, p10? That's not me. And the team..." Lewis rants, and it's so freeing to be able to call the car shit without adding in how they're improving bit by bit and other optimistic platitudes that don't mean shit in terms of the championship.

"And the team's been prioritizing Russell over you, I can see how that can be a source of frustration." Nico finishes.

"What? No. He's not -- the team's not. I'm saying, it's annoying enough the car isn't where we were promised it was gonna be, and now every week I'm getting asked if I want to retire, like what's this all for?" Lewis is momentarily taken aback by Nico's claim. Is that what people think? The team... well, George has adapted to the car easier and has been finishing above him but he hadn't felt any particular favouritism from the team... Although he's been the one running experimental setups and helping the team collect data while his teammate gets dubbed Mr. Saturday. The seed of doubt towards the team makes him frown.

"You don't want to retire. Not until the 8th." Nico points out decisively, getting up from his armchair to walk behind Lewis where his plants are.

"I don't. Even if no one believes me, apparently." Lewis rolls his eyes, hearing as Nico spritzes his plants. He could've sworn they were fake.

Lewis feels a hand on his shoulder, surprising him. "You're just going to have to prove them wrong. Like you always do." Nico smiles down at him with absolute conviction, squeezing it once, and then the weight is gone; Nico moving back to his chair.

The gesture was friendly, but it makes something flare inside Lewis. Something about Nico, maybe the fact he can open up to him the way he can't even with the team; maybe because Nico knew him before seven titles, before he was anyone, makes Lewis instinctively trust him in a way he rarely does with new people. But Nico isn't new, even if the glasses are. Lewis finds himself wanting to know more, wanting to fill the gap between the years.

"Now, let's go over your daily mindfulness affirmations..."

[formulatrash]

That anon acting like being a journalist in motorsport is like being an executive in a capitalist establishment. 🤡 It’s like accusing a McDonalds crew member of being pro capitalism because they work in McDonalds. Like??? As if being treated poorly and paid dirt despite working your ass off everyday is not reason enough to he a socialist. I am a socialist precisely because of my experience as a worker in these filthy corporations! Clown anon!

you're absolutely right but a very large number of people in motorsport and the media are obviously very right wing. even when it's wildly against their own interests or totally in opposition to the concept of journalism or whatever.

especially in worlds like motorsport or the car industry. a lot of people don't like actually covering things, they enjoy being there. whether that's at the Frankfurt motor show or the Miami Grand Prix. and if your goal is just being there then you're willing to work for places where you do actively bad stuff because what you make was never the goal.

that's not how it's ever worked for me and this isn't meant to sound morally superior or whatever because honestly, get what you want i guess. but for me being in paddocks or factories or literally driving cars is so that I can write better pieces and find out more. the pass is to make the media, not the pieces a bartering chip for the pass.

in retrospect, some of that is why it was often pretty lonely. because I wasn't playing the same game as quite a lot of people. and it also makes the industry all the more exploitative because people want that lanyard so much they'll do anything for it.

I was thinking the other day that there's been almost no coverage of the investigation into F1 lobbying the EU and British government on behalf of Aramco, via synthetic fuel. It's a really damning link and I'm not just saying this because I'm quoted in the article but I would absolutely be writing about it if I still had somewhere to do it. it's a really shocking scandal, that F1 is helping hold up combustion car bans by contributing (unproven) information about synthetic fuels.

it's not the kind of thing F1 like people reporting. so suddenly all the men who self-style as hard-nosed business journalists in the paddock are being awfully quiet. because it is more important to still be there.

obviously, I am not still there. I did indeed criticise FE one too many times for their liking and fell out of favour. I am not a model for holding onto your pass. but there is also no point pretending that I could have acted differently just to keep it. anyway, this all turned into a bit of a ramble but turns out there's bad people kind of everywhere and often they're holding the controls.

I think that's part of what's upset me about the Watcher thing. these are guys who deliberately set out to make their own media company so they had that control to make things they were proud of, with the production values they wanted, under their own ownership, without having to fire people all the time. and you're asking them to be more like Buzzfeed? that was the bad old days, friends.

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Running from the Flames {28}

Pairing: Pierre Gasly x OFC Warnings: 18+ only, fluff

F1 Masterlist || Previous Chapter - Next Chapter

April came and went faster than Addie’s growth spurts and our little girl suddenly wasn’t so little anymore. Our three year old couldn’t wait to meet her brother or sister and she had taken her role as a big sister very seriously, preparing herself by carrying around a newborn baby doll wherever she went. It was also how she ‘helped’ me pack for the trip to Baku by shoving all of the doll’s clothes into her suitcase too.

“Sweetheart, you can only pick a few outfits for the doll,” I reminded her as I took the majority out.

“But I want to take them all.” She huffed and crossed her arms defiantly. “Daddy would let me.”

I crossed my arms too. “Daddy is a big softy.”

I knew the moment he stepped into the room behind me as Addie’s face lit up with a beaming smile and she dropped the doll to race towards him. 

Pierre caught her as she jumped into his arms before picking up the doll next. “We have to be gentle with babies, mon fille. It would hurt to drop them.”

Addie took her doll back and kissed its forehead. “Besos make it better.”

She was busy catching Pierre up on how we spent our morning while he was at Alpine’s headquarters so she didn’t notice I finished packing her bag alone and prepared to carry it downstairs to the rest of our luggage. “What do you think you’re doing?” Pierre asked as he blocked the door and took the suitcase from my hand. “No heavy lifting.”

“It’s lighter than Addie is, are you going to stop me from carrying her?” I dared. 

He chewed his lip as he debated arguing it but the look in my eye stopped him short. “No?”

I rose on my tiptoes and brushed my lips over his softly. “Good answer.”

May meant Monaco, and with Monaco came our first anniversary. 

It was hard to believe that it had only been a year since I met Pierre, but there I was, standing in the very same garage I first saw those eyes I had instantly fallen in love with. He had changed my life so significantly that I couldn’t seem to remember the time without him in it. 

People told us we moved too fast, even now they still said we wouldn’t last. But it was easy to ignore their comments when I was surrounded by the people I loved and who love me. That list had grown a lot since Pierre entered our lives.

In just one year, Addie had a father, I had a husband and we had a new blessing on the way. One. Year. And we still had a lifetime to go.

 “What are you thinking so hard about, mon amour?” Pierre asked as he joined me on the balcony overlooking Massenet corner of the track. 

“The first time we sat here.” I took the mug of ginger tea that he had made to settle my stomach, the morning sickness yet to fade completely, and took a seat on the outdoor settee.

“I didn’t think Otmar was going to give me your number that day,” he admitted as he sat beside me and draped one arm along the back of the chair while the other hand came to rest on my abdomen that had popped out a little in the last few weeks. “I may have lied to him about why I wanted it, kind of, I mean I did want to thank you for the gel, but that wasn’t all.”

My lips opened to tease him for lying but a gasp came out instead, my hand coming to my belly. 

“What‘s wrong, Bri?” Pierre straightened in alarm as he took the hot drink from my shaking hand.

“Did you feel that?” I asked as I grabbed his hand back and placed it on the swell of my belly, falling silent as I waited to feel it again. “Talk about something, anything.”

Pierre shifted on the lounge as he pulled my shirt up, laying down on his stomach so his lips brushed gently over my skin while his feet kicked happily in the air behind him. “Je suis impatient de te rencontrer, ma petite. I count the days until I get to hold you in my arms. Woah!”

Pierre’s wide eyes snapped to mine, awe and wonder filling them as he felt the strong kick beneath his palms. 

“I think she likes your voice.”

“Or he,” he corrected as he spread his fingers wider to cover as much space as he could, hoping to catch another kick.

“We’ll see who’s right next week,” I said with a grin at the thought of all the bets that had been placed around the paddock. Most of the drivers had bet on another girl, though some of them, namely Charles, only did it so they could keep calling Pierre a girl dad. 

The baby had other ideas when it came to the ultrasound, refusing to move into a position that revealed the gender. All of Barcelona surely heard the mass groan the crews in the paddock gave when Pierre announced we still didn’t know who was in the running to win the bet. It was lucky I had extra copies of the scans printed out because all of the drivers were suddenly expert radiographers and certain they would be able to tell the gender if they squinted hard enough. 

“That’s definitely a boy!” Danny exclaimed as he pointed to the anatomy. “Look at it!”

“That’s the umbilical cord,” I said with a shake of my head and a giggle. 

“You know, that makes sense,” he said as he elbowed Pierre. “Thought we were getting Tripod 2.0.”

“That was a joke,” Pierre groaned. “I didn’t think they would use it.”

“Sure, mate, I totally, 110%, absolutely believe you.” Danny tried to keep his composure but one look at Yuki had him bending over in a fit of laughter. All eyes turned to Yuki but he looked everywhere except at us and gave an innocent shrug before lying that he was late for a briefing.

“What’s a tripod?” Addie asked, making another round of laughter roll through the drivers who looked expectantly at Pierre, just as I was.

“Yes, darling, explain that one, will you?” I asked with an arched brow as amusement filled me.

“Thanks Daniel, now I’m in trouble,” Pierre muttered before waving the drivers away until only Charles remained.

“I think you got yourself in trouble the moment you opened your mouth in that interview,” Charles teased as we watched Pierre try to explain that a tripod held cameras in place.

“But that’s not funny,” she grumbled in confusion.

“No, but those guys are very silly.” Satisfied he had put out that fire, he turned to Charles as his arm snaked around my shoulders. “Still betting on a girl?”

“Even if I’m wrong, you’ll still be a girl dad,” Charles said with a smile as he handed the ultrasound image back to me. “Is baby healthy?”

I ran my hand over my bump that couldn’t be mistaken for anything but a baby by now and smiled at the question only he would think to ask. “Growing exactly as expected, with ten little fingers and ten little toes.”

“Ah, that’s good to hear,” he said as he knelt beside Addie who was still carrying her doll with her. “Taking good care of your baby too, I see. Can I hold her?” Addie handed the baby over and Charles cocked an eyebrow at the mess atop her head. “Looks like your daddy has been practising on her hair.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad. And it was your mum who taught me to plait so if you’re criticising me, it's really on her teaching skills.”

“My mother is a great teacher,” Charles pointed out with a grin and handed the doll back with the addition of one of his bracelets as a necklace. 

Addie jumped happily around seeing the silver and onyx chain sparkling in the sun. “Thank you, Uncle Charles!”

“You’re welcome, chérie.”

“Can I have mochi?” Addie asked as a delicious looking plate of the treats were carried past.

“Where are you manners?”

“S’il vous plaît, maman,” Addie answered as she pushed the destroyed pieces of food around her plate oblivious to the shock on my face.

“Eat your dinner first, then we will talk about dessert,” Pierre negotiated.

“Elle parle française?” I asked him when I saw he didn’t seem surprised at her casual use of French. 

“Avec moi, oui. Eat up, mon fille.” He winked at Addie before stealing a takoyaki ball so she would have less to eat to get her dessert. “You too,” he said to me as he saw the ramen bowl hardly touched.

“This little one is taking up too much space,” I admitted as I rubbed the tight skin stretching across my belly and earned a kick in response. “Plus, it is kind of mean that I’m not allowed sushi in Japan.”

“Two months and you can eat all the sushi you want,” Pierre said with a chuckle. “I’ll even bring you back here for it.”

“Six weeks and five days,” you corrected. “And not an hour more.”

The caesarean had already been scheduled for a few days before my due date to avoid going into labour and possibly damaging my restructured hip. It wasn’t as daunting the second time around now that I knew what to expect but I wasn’t looking forward to the recovery and bed rest that came with the surgery. But, it was what was safest for both me and the baby since the doctors weren’t sure if my pelvis would even widen as it should during labour with all the pins holding it together. 

The last thing we wanted to do was risk something happening just because I would have preferred a natural birth. It didn’t bother Pierre either since the pre-booked date guaranteed he was going to be there for the birth, or had he referred to it - coming out the sunroof. 

“You still need to eat more than that, amore,” Pierre said as he grabbed an edamame bean with his chopsticks and waited for my lips to part. “Please?”

I could hardly say no when he used his puppy eyes so I let him feed me and was rewarded with a proud smile despite feeling like my stomach was going to burst. 

“Did you want to take a walk?” Pierre asked after paying for dinner and a separate bag of mochi to take away too. 

It was a lovely evening in Suzuka and it wasn’t far to the waterfront but my feet ached along with my back, not to mention I needed to pee for the umpteenth time, so I shook my head ruefully. “Not tonight, but you two can go. Addie could probably do with running off some energy.”

Pierre kissed my temple as he saw my discomfort, his arm curling around my waist before we started the short journey back to the hotel. “I’ll take her out after you are settled in,” he promised.

“Oh yes, that’s the spot,” I moaned as Pierre massaged my swollen ankles that were propped up on his thigh. His strong hands were the best relief and their magic was almost putting me to sleep as another yawn escaped.

“Daddy, can we go now?” Addie begged as she stood by the door waiting with her jacket ready and her shoes on. 

He looked like he was going to ask for one more minute but she had already been waiting for five and that was about the most patience we could get out of her before a tantrum began so I lifted my feet off his lap. “Have fun, my loves.”

Addie ran over and kissed my cheek before taking Pierre’s hand and dragging him to his feet. “Call me if you want me to get you anything.”

“Sushi?”

“Except sushi,” he chuckled as he placed some cushions under my feet and gave me a quick kiss before Addie succeeded in getting him to take a step towards the door. “Get some rest, mon amour.”

Click here for chapter twenty nine.

Tagging: @my-only-way-tocooperatewithlife @prrttysposts @alwaysclassyeagle @dr3lover @adalynneva

[charles-leclerc-official]

Do you think the constructors title has been lost after Canada? I listened to a podcast the other day and they are sure that Canada was the turning point for Ferrari and that not being able to score points here just lost them the constructors and they are now fighting for second with McLaren. (They also said Ferrari could lose this battle as well if they continue like this)

They also said McLaren have already passed them and they have turned their attention from Ferrari to McLaren completely and they expect them to be strong the European tour while they expect Ferrari to fall back. They consider McLaren the only one that can endanger Max from now on.

Personally I think this is a naive opinion and they're in for a treat. Either that or they are McLaren fans. But I also understand that I am a Ferrari fan so my perception may be just as skewed. What do you think objectively? Is all lost this season because we could not get points in one race? And was Canada the most crucial race for the constructors?

Yeah no, I don't think anyone who actually wants to meaningfully analyze F1 would say this. This is a podcast and they are clip farming. Dickriding Mclaren is currently the thing to do to hype things up.

One of the next three races will be the turning point. It may be Spain, to me my guess is it will be Silverstone. We will only really know what the turning point was in hindsight.

I think the chances we look back and go "Canada was the most crucial race for the constructors" is very very low.

Now this is s stupid thing to say on their part simply because it assumes everything will continue the same, and doesn't account for any of the unpredictability of F1. Red Bull could have a double DNF next race, Mclaren could DNF(they will eventually) I don't say this to wish it, but it's almost impossible to complete an entire season without at least one DNF.

This is also a weird thing to say the week before Ferrari and Mercedes are bringing pretty sizable upgrade packages. Like they are failing to account for the fact that these cars are changing and they are changing fast. And someone may make a mistake, some teams may fail to catch up. We simply do not know.

And there are also just the F1 wildcards. Safety car timing, weather, other things that can drastically affect the outcome of a race and thus points. I can't predict these things, so any predictions I make would never be able to account for this. Something will happen, we've already seen some, and the chances nothing else beyond the control of any team affects a race outcome again is high. And it's the constructors, every race counts, so this kind of thing matters.

A lot of people really are failing to account for the fact that when the field is this close the difference the drivers make becomes larger. None of the top teams have run away with it. You can win a race in what is the 3rd or 4th fastest car at this point.

A double DNF is obviously not good for the constructors, and it will make it more of a challenge, however it is far from out of reach, and our drivers are better.

But that's a wild take, seems like they are trying to sound smart and make more bold statements for entertainment and clicks. I highly doubt they will be right in hindsight.

This to me sounds like this podcast are Mclaren fans, and that's fine on them, but their assessment is far off and a very bold statement to make after only 9 rounds of a 24 race season.

[scenetocause]

Hello beloved emptyhalf if you have any Lewis and Lando cute thoughts I would love to hear them. I think about Lando being depressed on Lewis' couch in Monaco fic all the time it cracks me up

oh god lando and lewis is just a whole thing. lewis likes lando soooooooooooo much. lando is lewis' special little guy and also he wants to like, pass on some sort of mantle to him. but because he likes him in super cringe ways lewis wants to steal lando's hat and mess him up a bit and make him blush and feel how much lando's in awe of lewis at the same time as lewis is just like, embarrassingly obsessed with lando. terrible. when they clobbered each other in spain i was like oh no lewis is gonna be thinking about that all race because like, neither of them makes mistakes but someone clearly did there and that is just unpossible. such a great driver lando is legendary but [very quiet] i love you lewis is the heart of the situation. lewis knows he has all the power and platform to be nice about lando and lando obviously is massively in awe of lewis, that time he was talking to max on stream about playing golf with him and they were being soooooo shifty about it because omg actual lewis hamilton and lando doesn't hold the right cards in this situation to cringily fangirl back but he's doing that squeaky laugh thing you fucking know he does when he's flirting.

the fact lewis barely knows who george is, by comparison, is fucking hilarious. george studies lewis with incredible intensity and lewis is just like oh yeah, that guy. he'll fret all race from lightly tapping lando but he'd prob crash george out in turn one and never think about it again. who is george? lewis for one doesn't care and although i am a george enjoyer i think that's extremely funny of him.

monaco-fic-verse drabble under the cut

"Moved over with the big boys, huh?" Lewis isn't really expecting Lando to jump out of his skin in the cereal section of Casino but ok, maybe he could've announced himself better.

"Yeah, erm. Yeah?" Lando is looking extremely furtive about the contents of his basket, which mostly looks like Cheestrings and loo roll.

"It's nice being, y'know, normal." Lewis reaches for the Weetabix, then considers it. "Was this what you were after?"

"Uhm, yeah but you - you can have it. I've got." Lando gestures at the completely cereal-free contents of his basket and Lewis resists the urge to laugh at him.

"Nah man, you have it. You're still settling in, I've probably got a box somewhere." He tips the pack into Lando's basket, claps a hand on his elbow. "Honestly I was just kinda leaving the house for the sake of it, I dunno what I'm even here for."

"Oh, same." Lando nearly manages it without stuttering, then seems to panic like he's been over-familiar. "Like, I don't know, I've got to get used to it haven't I? Finding everything and being on my own and so on."

"It's not a big place, you'll get the jist pretty fast." Lewis gives up on pretending he's not going to buy a baguette, while he's in here and Ange can moan at him about the pointless carbs later. "And there's people around, y'know."

"Yeah." Lando sounds very small, suddenly. "I'd just got used to - I left him at home and it was probably right but it's. Lots to adjust to."

That feels like a confession Lewis has missed a few steps on, glancing round to see Lando looking semi-distressed, fiddling with his ring.

"You can... come round, if you want? Roscoe likes visitors." He has no idea why he's saying this, there hasn't been another F1 driver in his flat since the last thermonuclear fight with Nico but there's... something, to what Lando said that makes him think it might be not like that but somewhere that cuts near to it.

"Oh. Yeah!" Lando says it too fast, seems to pull himself back again. "I mean, if that's alright? I'm just. It's all kind of tricky."

Half an hour later, Lewis coaxes just enough vague detail out of Lando to know the thing is so certain there's no way the guy should still be back in the UK. And this is going to take a lot of cups of tea to untangle.

[wisteriagoesvroom]

hey :)) got any hopes for the race? who do you think is going to be in the top 3? (i'm just hoping for no in-team drama, but maybe that's bc i'm new lol) - @monegasquess

no in-team drama -> oh man @monegasquess you're gonna get me yapping. i feel like we've entered f1 at such a sanitised / different age to what it was before but there always was, is, and will be ✨drama ✨... what form it takes i don't know!

but it is certainly interesting compared to even 5 years ago how the public narratives have changed and how much teams (or maybe specifically ferrari and mclaren as examples) actively rely on happy-brotherly driver narratives to market the sport to new audiences (people like us) now. even with red bull i get the sense that the only reason we're not seeing inter-driver drama is because checo knows exactly where he stands and what is role in the team is, which is definitely interesting to watch. we are experiencing max in the kind of... moon waxing phase because he already has 3 WDCs but we're also seeing indications of how volatile he can get when there's a hint of challenge to getting him that WDC, like silverstone, austria, hungary. it seems like a very different type of drama to the danil/pierre/alex albon eras where they were younger drivers feeling like they had a lot to prove to each other as much as the team... but i digress.

where we're at in the season now makes for extremely compelling racing, especially given the almost clean sweep max made last year / what a friend of mine called "max's leisure sunday morning drive" to p1 every time lol. and this is not to downplay that he is a once in a generation driver who wrangles magic out of the car - due to a variety of reasons it hasn't been easy for him this year and that's what makes for great viewing too: added stakes.

TANGENT ASIDE, my personal hopes for the race... from a mclaren pov....

obviously i'd like an oscar podium in spa (tho a win would be stellar). he's driving well and idk anything about the track conditions or whether they favour the car but consensus seems to be that the orange car is a rocketship whichever way you slice it, so. but also. maybe something people don't talk about as much is how much driver synergy is actually required - amongst the other engineering prowess obviously and huge credit to andrea and team here - to get the car developed to this point. lando and oscar are clearly very evenly matched in skill at the moment. to me, in an oversimplified way, lando has better tyre management, and oscar is better on attack. and also i am thinking about how andrea says it seems lando and oscar discuss the car amongst themselves before they deliver feedback so they are on the same page. so it'll be exciting to see them battle wheel to wheel more... and certainly not without drama.

there also was a really funny and accurate post about how mclaren's DNA has been kind of... repositioned publicly to be all chummy chummy but that's probably going to change if the two drivers ever end up fighting in earnest for a WDC. idk. there are a lot of unknowns. there are a lot of possibilities. there's a reason why fic is the fun sandbox to explore those because we also just never know what might happen with the reg changes by '26 which could toss mclaren all the way back to middle of the pack, it's incredibly hard to say.

one thing for sure though. is that until oscar gets his wdc (which in my biased but also strident opinion he will in his career)... i am unfortunately buckled tf up to watch lmao.

and the sport will change again with the arrival of new talent, new marketing, new audience acquisition, the direction that Liberty Media i.e. the owners want to take it (more street tracks...eugh brother eugh)... so who knows, genuinely.

anyway your ask about this particular race weekend turned into a much longer essay centred around my interest in oscar and the future of the sport sooooo uh yeah staying true to my rep as yappatron 3000 i guess. but with summer break coming up and new folks following the sport all the time, i thought it was worth chatting about!

thank you for the question!

[wolfiemcwolferson]

This isn’t exactly a fic request but like…for each of the F1 ships you write for, what is special to you about each individual pairing?

AHHHHH Anon, this has been making my brain go brrrr since you sent it yesterday and I'm sitting down while I wait for laundry and want to answer this first.

This kind of goes with the way I create stories, but I determine what kind of story I want to tell and work my way backwards so like, I wrote Maxiel first because the story I wanted to tell fit their dynamic and then I wrote a Piarles story because they fit the dynamic of what I wanted to tell (that story was almost Carlando, btw).

It always comes down to the dynamic that they have and how I can draw on that to tell the story I want to tell.

Maxiel for example is all about two people with two different backgrounds coming together - probably an element of miscommunication and feelings avoidance and etc etc. Daniel is so himbo to me and Max and I have a very complicated relationship, but I love him dearly. Maxiel is reluctant love. It's love that gets pulled from your chest without your approval. It's all consuming love that doesn't fade with time and distance no matter what you might want because it doesn't let you go.

Piarles is soulmates in every universe, you know? Like, there's a thing about making time for someone and choosing someone and having an ease with them that you don't have with anyone else. It's friends to lovers. It's instant soulmates. It's seeing someone from across the room and needing to know who they are immediately and not being able to sleep until you know everything about them.

Carlando is all about two people making each other better. I think about every single interview ever where Lando is talking about how Carlos made him comfortable in the beginning of F1 and every single time Lando pops up with Carlos, you can tell how comfortable they are together. It's your best friend waking up in your bed one morning and looking over at you and loving you in that moment. It's the way someone sees all your flaws but doesn't count them as flaws. It's love and affection and family wrapped into one person. It's how you meet someone so young and know even when everyone tells you that it's silly.

Galex - oh, I am so incapable of being normal about Galex. Look, the narrative of their friendship is already delicious, but there's something to me about Alex and George forced to persevere is two ways that are so different and yet exactly the same. How Alex and George are natural balances of each other. Alex who goes rogue at any point, who is so media trained that he manages to be unmanageable in a very controlled way and George is who would never - Mr. Mercedes, Mr. Control, Mr - Anyway. It's laughing with this guy you know has a painful crush on you only for the light to catch his eyelashes and then you have an oh moment on a beach somewhere. It's losing everything except for one person and one thing and in the end you don't lose anything at all. It's how you fall in love somewhere along the way and don't realize it until you're laughing into each other's mouths and whispering it into their skin.

And listen...I won't only write these pairings forever. I have a rare pair Pierre fic in the works.

I love these pairings though and I love the way they work together and bounce off each other.

[vro0m]

Okay SO i have my coffee, I went off about celtic mythology already, apparently I'm in the mood to write today, and I remembered your post last night. LETS GO

WHAT WOULD THE WORLD BE LIKE IF LEWIS HAMILTON HAD DECIDED NOT TO RACE

- shit. it would be shit, definitely

- nico would have more than one championship

- seb would have at least one more wdc with ferrari

- fernando would be a bit more normal because he wouldnt be holding a grudge about being beaten by a rookie 20 yrs ago

- i think val and nico would be teammates and i honestly have no idea how that would look; however, nico would be a fundamentally different person bcs lewis was legit his only friend, and i somehow think he would be both worse and better

- f1 would be even more unapproachable to anyone who wasnt a rich white guy, bcs lewis came in and fucking owned them all, and is the most successful driver of all times, so i shudder to think what it would be like if he werent there

- we'd probably still think some of the rich white men were decent people bcs they wouldnt be outing themselves as racists left and right

- ferrari would still be a disaster 💔

- who wouldve driven for mclaren tho? it was lewis and heidfeld i think during rbr domination era

- barichello? massa? ngl i think barichello shouldve won in 2009 (sorry jense), so how would that have played out, with jenson to mclaren

- god i dont know so many possibilities!!!

💖

Okay so. First of all you're so absolutely right the world and F1 would have been way worse overall.

I made a spreadsheet of all the drivers who have ranked in the WDC standings since Lewis' arrival in F1 in 2007 and where they ended up in the standings each year because I can't be a normal person about this. Then I tucked away all those who were clearly irrelevant to the subject (and that's most of them lol).

Here's what I think. It's long, because I think too much.

In 2007, Raikkonen won. Lewis not being there would not have changed a thing apart from the permanent alteration of Alonso's brain function. I don't remember the context exactly, would he have left McLaren so soon if it wasn't for Lewis' arrival?

If not, could he have won in 2008? The McLaren wasn't excessively dominant that year, Kovalainen finished 7th. But if Lewis was able to extract that kind of performance out of the car anyway, could Alonso have done the same? The less uncertain choice is Massa. He was so close to that title. What would have happened if it had been Alonso in Lewis' position? It's difficult to say.

In 2009, Lewis finished 5th. I don't think it would have made much of a difference had he not been there. So Jenson keeps that one, obvi. (Can you explain why you think Barrichello would have gotten it?) Same goes for 2010-2013, doesn't change a thing for Seb's domination era. The McLaren wasn't good enough for the title in those years, no matter who would have been driving it if it wasn't him, and then the Mercedes wasn't good enough either yet.

The big question is : who would have taken Michael's Mercedes seat if it hadn't been him? Let's not forget that at the end of 2012, it was considered a risky move from him to join them, as the team wasn't doing very well. I'm looking at the drivers who got a seat, lost their seat or moved teams at that time : Perez, Hülkenberg, Gutiérrez, Sutil, Grosjean, Kobayashi, Maldonado, Pic, van der Garde, Kovalainen, Petrov, Glock, Chilton, de la Rosa, Karthikeyan... Would they have chosen Valtteri already? He'd only been a reserve driver so far... Of all these, weirdly, the only one who finished above Nico in 2012 was Grosjean.

It all depends on that really because without a competitive teammate, Nico would have won more than once yeah. At least in 2014 and 2015, on top of 2016. However...

What if Mercedes had gotten a driver for 1 year in 2013? And then who could have gotten that seat in 2014? Massa and Raikkonen were on the market. They were both very very good drivers. Massa was then driving with Ferrari and finished 7th and 8th in the two previous years. Raikkonen was 3rd and 5th with Lotus. Would Nico have won against them? Maybe...

What if Mercedes had gotten a driver for 2 years in 2012? Who would have gotten the seat in 2015? Alonso left Ferrari at the end of 2014, and of course Seb left RBR... Would Nico have won against them? I don't think so. Although either of these pairings would have been highly entertaining lol.

There were no such interesting moves in 2016. So yeah, by the end of that season, either Nico with 2 more titles OR Massa or Raikkonen with 1 or 2 more (rather unlikely imho) OR Alonso or Seb with 1 more (actually very likely if either had gotten the seat in 2015 imho).

Of course then the rest depends on that seat as well and becomes pretty much impossible to predict. So for the sake of the thought exercise let's leave that seat aside and imagine what would have happened if things just went as they actually went except no Lewis.

So Nico wins in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Does Nico retire if he's not exhausted by his fight against Lewis? I guess not? Does he win against Seb in 2017 then? Lewis ended up 46 points ahead of him in reality, could Nico have done the same had it been him? How about 2018, when it was 88 points? I think two questions to consider are how good of a driver Nico really is and how good would he have been without his rivalry with Lewis. In your ask you said he would have been both worse and better. As a person or as a driver or both? What do you think?

What if Valtteri was there then. Who's the best driver between Nico and Val? Because Val is indeed very good. Would he have won in 2019, in 2020? What about Max? Would he have won his first title earlier, later, in 2021 still?

How do their rivalries shape the drivers' performance? Did everybody do better or worse because Lewis was so unattainable? Did it light a fire under all their asses or did it discourage them?

[sainztander]

there's something distinctly hilarious about people thinking that somehow having understeering automatically "makes a car slow" as if 1) people who drive understeering cars, like nando and prost, and to some extent seb and lewis (i think he's said he likes a 'planted rear') aren't capable of driving insanely quickly and 2) no it's not a trait of "midfield cars" to be understeering, engineers will develop to what they think is doable and will suit general engineering demands the best while not being impossible for the driver to manage.

every time i see some of those vaguely "technical" posts on here, i want to laugh. thrilling to know we have a wealth of engineers here who are sure to be the future of f1 and not people who are just commentating on things they understand extremely poorly. (every day that passes, i start to dislike chirlies more than my cfd simulations, which i thought was impossible. do some thorough research before commenting, and stop acting like the whole world is out to get charles or that it's a crime to refuse participating in the muretto's stupidity, thanks. he's not letting himself be defined by the worser moments of this season, stop making that your obsessive focus. and also: have some decency towards somebody who could've died twice already.)

i don't even want to add anything to this bc anon you said 👏 it 👏 all 👏 but i will anyway! so i guess it's just easier to blame anything and anyone for "making" charles lose a championship that, really, has been max's all along i'm not saying this from my high horse of nichilism or whatever, i got my heart broken as well, i was hoping for ferrari to win this just like any other ferrari fan but..... really there was no foul play, no random conspiracy or wasted resources or whatever they're still making up. they simply weren't ready. the team, the drivers, not even the car. like i said already (or, even better: like any technical article written by some actual engineering expert) the updates of the f1-75 worked just as planned. they kept their comfortable lead over mercedes (who was also becoming faster than the rest of the midfield) and battled it at the top with redbull. while i was thinking about your ask i kinda realized that we could summarize ferrari's gaps in performance with the streak of races between imola and monaco. so, in order: mistakes by the drivers, deficit in straight-line speed compared to the rb18, engine unreliability, the strategy team being tragically unprepared. all of these just repeated again and again thorough the season. because of the spectacularity of it everyone latched on monaco and blamed the management for "failing" charles, completely ignoring the more alarming fact that there's no race this season where the ferraris won (or could have won, if we wanna include monaco and hungary) without max having some kind of technical issue or having to start from the back. i went on a tangent there, i'm so sorry anon 😭 but about what you were actually talking about: yeah i would be surprised if they knew about driving styles at this point, since they've learnt the word "oversteering" as being a synonym for "fast". or if they could even entartain the idea of a driver adapting his style to their car (kinda what carlos did this year. but don't tell them ! it's all sainztander !). but still, they were also the same ones that mocked seb all thorough 2019 and 2020... so yeah. why i am even surprised by their antics. my poor problematic sexy f1-75, being trashed every week despite consistently taking poles and being the second fastest car on the track on sundays..... and that's simply because rbr came back from the summer break with the secret to indestructible tyres. but hey, explain tyre deg to them. or make them take a step back to compare ferrari with any other team on the grid. maybe then they'll realize there was never a step back. simply it's rbr that took so many step forwards.

[f1]

Gasly would not change time at Red Bull for anything | 2022 F1 season

Pierre Gasly says that he would not change anything about his tenure at Red Bull as he departs AlphaTauri for Alpine. Gasly, who first joined the Red Bull junior team for his season in Formula Renault 3.5 in 2014, raced his final grand prix for Red Bull-owned AlphaTauri during last weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. He will join Alpine for the 2023 season, alongside Esteban Ocon. The 26-year-old raced almost 100 grands prix with AlphaTauri and drove 12 times for Red Bull’s senior team over the first half of the 2019 season before being demoted back to AlphaTauri (then known as Toro Rosso) over the summer break due to disappointing performances. Gasly won a race for AlphaTauri Asked by RaceFans for his feelings around his final race with AlphaTauri, Gasly said it had not sunk in that he will no longer be with the team he has raced with for so long. “I don’t think it has hit me yet,” Gasly said, “because I’ve just been dressing up the same way, same clothes the last five years. Wearing the same colours and working with the same people, going to the simulator. “After such a long time, you go beyond a working relationship. I know most of the guys’ kids, wives, where they live. We share a lot more personal connection.” Gasly’s grand prix debut came with the team near the end of the 2017 season in Malaysia. After losing his Red Bull drive, Gasly famously won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 2020. He says those two races stand out the most when he looks back at his time at AlphaTauri. “Obviously the win definitely comes first,” he said. “I will say my first race as well in Malaysia – you only get one first and this was very, very special because I didn’t expect it. “I still remember Helmut [Marko, Red Bull sporting advisor] calling me: ‘okay, you’re not going to be a reserve driver, but you’re racing for Toro Rosso this weekend’. I was jumping on my bed in Malaysia. God knows which hotel I was in, but it wasn’t so great for them! But it was a very unique memory.” Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free Gasly says that his time as part of the Red Bull ecosystem over the last eight seasons been critical to his development as a driver. “My time at Red Bull I know has been also very useful in understanding as a driver what I need,” he explained. “Now I know I have much clearer ideas of what I want as a driver. Gasly raced 12 rounds with Red Bull in 2019 “I came there very fresh without clear mindsets and clear direction as to what kind of driver I am and what I need. Now I know that. I know my driving style and I know how to operate at my best. So I think I’ve learnt a lot over the past five years, but definitely always relate the good results with the best memories.” Despite the setback of losing his drive at Red Bull, Gasly insists he has no hard feelings over never getting a second chance at the senior team. “Not at all,” he said. “This was my career and my story with Red Bull. “I really believe that whatever was meant to happen, happened and it’s meant to be like that. I’ve learnt a lot. I think I’m definitely in a much stronger position, I’m a much stronger driver than I was. I’m the person that I am today thanks to the experience that I had out there. I’ve grown up a lot, whether it was on track or off the track. If you ask me, I will not even change it for anything. “I just know I’m 26 now, every year I’m getting better – like a good red wine. I don’t know where this is going to stop, but I just know personally, I just keep getting better and I know the best is yet to come. So I’m really grateful for what’s happened.” Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free 2022 F1 season Browse all 2022 F1 season articles via RaceFans - Independent Motorsport Coverage https://www.racefans.net/

[internetgremlin-writes]

would love love love 48&54 of carlos! your writing is phenomenal babes!

48 - "What? I have never-"

54 - "I don't hate you,"

also thank you??? you're too kind <3 this one took a weird turn, im not entirely sure its what you envisioned but i felt like we needed a little bit of off-track content

i think the wheel has a thing for carlos because 3/4 carlos prompts chosen back to back? i mean same, wheel, same.

intense carlos >>> literally anything else . i know this gif is used all the time but like. THERE IS A REASON WHY

Avoiding Carlos was a skill you were very well developed in. He was quite possibly one of the most ridiculous, confusing men you'd ever met.

You knew who he was, mainly because Carlos isn't the kind of name you hear every day, and because a personal trainer accompanying you every single time you go to the gym is not normal, and neither is having a small crew of people filming a workout.

Of course, you stalked him.

He was quite easy to find. There was only one person following your gym's Instagram page named Carlos, and it belonged to Carlossainz55. He was an F1 driver.

At first, you thought it might have been some kind of error, maybe there were two uncannily attractive people named Carlos and one was a global sports star, and the other was the annoying guy in your gym. That was until you saw one of his Don't Blink reels and yup. That was your gym in the background alright.

Maybe you should have been excited because the idea of sharing a gym with a celebrity was insanely cool. Unfortunately, you lived in the real world, where it was nothing more than the biggest pain in your ass.

Your shift pattern meant you had limited times when you could even get to the gym, and every time you went he was there. You'd know before you were even in the doors because there'd be a small huddle of people clutching red caps and cameras, craning hopefully up at the windows. And then when you were in the gym it was a nightmare. You weren't allowed to film anything, including your own form you were constantly being asked to move out of the way by his people because your left shoe was in the camera shot.

And then there was Carlos himself.

He was loud. He talked loudly, he laughed loudly, he lifted weights loudly. It was distracting, but he never seemed to care let alone apologise. He wasn't obnoxious, he had no problem chatting to the other locals that used the gym but you could have sworn he had a problem with you.

Every single time you were in there, without fail, no matter what you were doing, he always came over and needed the equipment you were using. He was polite and sincere, but it pissed you off to no end. Just because he was famous he thought he was above waiting and sharing like the rest of you? It wasn't okay. So you started getting a bit shitty.

You ignored him when he asked to use your equipment. You refused to move when they were filming. You swore at his fans. You gave him openly filthy looks when he was loud. Once he was sweating so much it was dripping onto the gym floor and you simply threw one of the cleaning cloths the gym supplied at his face.

It seemed, too, that Carlos was rising to your spikes. You'd thought he'd be more mature, but you should have known better that status does not come with maturity. He seemed to be there all the fucking time. He arrived when you did, left as you did. If you were on the treadmill he was on the one next to you, going two settings faster. If you were doing weights so was he, but 20 kilos heavier. It was ridiculous and it was petty.

The day you snapped was the day he cut in front of you to refill his bottle at the water fountain.

"Do you fucking mind!?"

He spun around on the spot, his eyes widening when he saw you, "Sorry-" he was starting to gesture for you to step back in front of him but you'd had enough.

"Jesus Christ I don't know what your problem is with me but can you cut it out!?" He still looked completely bewildered, frantically looking around as if it might supply an answer

"What? I have never-"

"Bullshit! It's like you hate me! You're constantly in my way, you take my stuff, you bump me all the time. I've never even said a word to you before and you seem to have already chosen me as some kind of personal victim-"

"I don't hate you," he cut off your rant, his voice low as if he was trying not to get in trouble

"What?"

"I don't hate you," he repeated as if it would help, it didn't. He reached the front of the queue and took your water bottle out of your limp hand, filling it and then his own before handing yours back to you and stepping to the side. "I like you,"

"You've never said a word to me-"

"Please?" you folded your arms across your chest and nodded, allowing him to talk. "I can't talk to anyone here. Not with my PT and the camera guy over me all the time. But I see you here, a lot. Maybe I am overstepping, but you're very pretty,"

That one shocked you. You weren't the self-hating insecure type, but you also thought that it was very hard to look pretty when you were drenched in sweat and bright red in the gym.

"I took your things because I wanted to talk to you, but you always just gave them to me. I started running by you to see if you'd talk, but you didn't. I don't want you to think I hate you,"

"So being a weirdo was the way to do it?" You raised an eyebrow at him. You didn't have to be a genius to recognise that he really was very attractive. And although it was stupid and annoying and he'd plagued you for months his plan had a sort of cuteness to it. He cracked a smile then, his face finally softening and damn, he was gorgeous.

"Can I take you out? Please? We can do whatever you want, coffee, food, drinks. I don't wanna miss my chance,"

"You don't wanna miss your chance with me?" You couldn't quite believe the man in front of you was virtually begging for you to forgive him, to take a chance on him.

His personal trainer calling for him back in the main room made him start, and he was staring at you in a silent plea.

"I'm free tomorrow afternoon," he was nodding rapidly, retreating back to his PT with an apology, claiming how excited he was to see you tomorrow. You were sceptical, but you couldn't deny the little stirring of excitement in the pit of your stomach.

You left your number at the reception desk because you thought following him to give it to him was too keen, and if he really wanted this date he could put in a little bit of effort to get your number.

[mcgnussen]

why there is such a big difference between mick and kevin - a defence of mick schumacher:

i’ve seen SO MANY tweets and comments about mick, and while i think the tumblr community is mostly supportive of mick, i still want to share my thoughts here. here are some of the challenges mick face that kevin does not. 

1. bad luck

mick has been unlucky. he’s had contact during two race starts which has sent him down to the back. while i think kevin’s experience and talent is what has gotten him to where he is, there have been a few lucky breaks for him, maybe luck coupled with skill, but luck all the same. he was very close to putting his car in the wall during qualifying and during the sprint he was close to crashing with riccardio. 

2. an extended rookie season

due to the car being nowhere last year, with a difficult teammate (who was also a rookie) and a bad working environment, i think we should all consider the first half of the calendar this year to be an extension of his rookie season and not comment on his skill quite yet.

mick makes rookie mistakes, and that is no criticism of his skill or talent, that is just how it is. hamilton, verstappen, leclerc, kevin - everyone on the grid made rookie mistakes in their first f1 season and some of their second. k-mag definitely made mistakes in 2014 during his first season that he would never make now. he has a completely different understanding of his car and how he places it on the track now than he did then, he also knows most of the other drivers and their style of driving from duels with them, experience mick does not have starting from p19 in 2021. making mistakes is how you learn, you need to fail and make the mistake to truly learn the lesson. kevin is on his 7th formula 1 season, those are years worth of experience that mick does not possess yet. 

this is also the first time during his f1 career where mick has been beaten by his teammate, that does shake your confidence a litte, which leads me to my next point. 

3. kevin was severely underrated during his second stint in f1

this is not to mick’s advantage generally, other than the fact it seems k-mag and him are very good at sharing information. i have seen several comments being like “schumacher can’t even beat magnussen, how will he ever beat the good drivers?” in one of the top teams, kevin would be wdc material. and while i will admit to being biased, kevin has had f1 offers since 2015. most of the mclaren board wanted to retain him instead of button for 2015, renault wanted him for another season in 2016, williams wanted him for 2021. the media and fans might not have given him his dues before, but the teams in f1, most of them, certainly have. they know he is fast and that he drives with his heart, they know he is loaded with valuable experiences with different types of f1 cars. all of this makes mick look way worse than he is in comparison. honestly, if he had consistently beaten k-mag with a comfortable lead all season from the very beginning, mick should be in the ferrari next year. 

4. his name 

they are both sons of respected racing drivers, but obviously michael schumacher is a name everyone knows, he is a f1 legend - and that places a lot of pressure on mick. i do think he handles it really well though. during the days where sainz was negotiating with ferrari, i saw many people be like “they should pick mick instead”, and while i sympathise with the sentiment, that is kind of the last thing mick needs right now. he has gone out of his way to prove he deserves to be in f1 without relying on the schumacher name. and to be honest, any talk of mick going to ferrari right now is 100% based on his last name. he is not good enough for a ferrari yet. the best thing for mick right now is to be in a small team and get better with each race and learn the lessons he needs to learn from his mistakes. all of this obviously also means people judge mick harshly, they compare him to his father, an actual living legend, and that is just not fair. 

5. brain versus instinct 

from what i gather, mick is a very intelligent driver who relies a lot on data. this is not to say he has no instinct or that it is wrong, but he attacks a track very logically - and so did his father! kevin is a driver who drives on instinct, not that he does not prepare or use the data, but where he places the car on the track is mostly based on where it feels right, more so than where data tells him to. i think this trait and his years of f1 experience coupled with the new cars is a very good match. mick basically got used to a car, even a shit one, during his rookie season and then is now expected to drive a completely different car with totally different data than before. that is not easy for a logical driver, but luckily it will get better race for race as he understands it more and more.

in conclusion, once mick hones his skill, get more experience, develops his instinct, he will be a solid, intelligent driver.