Donât let me get me ~ MV33 (Platonic) - UNFINISHED
You had always been seen as your dadâs project. Your father wanted a boy and got two at the same time. Twins. They would be his legacy. They would lead the way for the next generation and be up there with the greats.
You were never asked what you wanted, from the moment you were born you were flung into the world of motorsport. Your dad was in F1 when you were born so it wasnât uncommon for you to be seen with someone in the paddock, sleeping in their arms and then as you grew up and began walking there were several videos of you with your mum, brother, dad and other drivers archived on the internet somewhere.
As you got older you and Max were forced into karting. Nothing your mother could say would get your dad to pull you out, no matter how much you begged to do football instead. Karting was the only option for you in your dadâs eyes.
Your dreams of holding the world cup with your national team were quickly, forcibly, changed to become dreams to holding the Drivers championship trophy. Because that would keep your dad happy, and your dad being calm meant your mum was happy.
Your close family and family friends knew your dad had a short temper but none of them believed he would be that way with his boys. Not by the way he spoke about you to others. But everyone has to be wrong sometimes.
You and Max bonded over your hatred of your father. Karting became more of a chore than a hobby; Train, Race, Win, Train, Race, loose, suffer. That was the dismal cycle that fell upon you since you were 10.
Even though there were two of you were a pair first place was always praised, anything less was a failure in your dadâs eyes. He said it built your competitive spirit.
First place got you pats on the back and genuine smiles. Anything below that got you aggressive hits on the helmet and a stern telling off. And so most of your childhood was spent pitted against your own brother.
The kids you karted with quickly took notice and as a result their parents did too. The other kids were told to stay away from the Verstappen children and so not only were you being pitted against your brother you were really lonely as well.
Maxâs anger manifested in the form of aggressive racing, taking his feeling out on the track. Probably the best mentality a future F1 driver could take on.
You however did not take on this mentality, you simply never seen it as an outlet. You took your anger out on the kids after the race, you would confront them with shouting and yelling at them until they cried or their parents pulled you away. Your dad never intervened, this is exactly what was wanted. [UNFINISHED]
You and Max were both fresh faced 17 year-olds who were still trying to navigate their adult bodies when you were promoted, at least you were promoted together.
Ver 33 and Ves 66. Double trouble, as the media so fondly titled you.
You had signed with Williams while Max had signed with Toro Rosso. Two totally different teams. Your father spent his time with whichever son was doing better in the standings. Another attempted manipulation, you and Max could see right through it by now. You had stayed together for 17 years, nothing was changing now.
You got really bad again when the media started finding things out about your childhood and your father. They liked to asked questions about it and each one made you shut down completely. Max or your press officer often had to come and pull you away from an interview because you had completely just stopped talking several times.
The media began to question your stability, whether or not you were in the most stable headspace to be driving a car at up to 200MPH. None of them seemed to claim responsibility for the invasive questioning.
Eventually a statement was e-mailed to every single journalist who was in the paddock at the weekend with a list of topics to avoid completely. However, it took the threat of a lawsuit to get them to behave.
Your anger issues got really bad after your transfer to Mercedes. You were really up in the big leagues now and with that came professional competition, some of the greats. Lewis Hamilton was your teammate, Kimi Raikonnen and Sebastian Vettel fought with you and you and your brother were in competition once again.
Your anger became a massive problem for Mercedes image but you were too good to fire. You were sly on track, sat back a little and took advantage of other peoples mistakes.
The first major incident you had caused was after Lewis made a particularly risky overtake that left you with a punctured tyre and an early retirement.
As soon as the race was over you were marching towards your Teammate. The podium was done and Lewis got his precious P1.
âOi, dickheadâ You yelled from the entry to Lewisâ garage. âI was winning and you fucked up my raceâ Lewisâ entire garage was now on alert, your presence wasnât exactly subtle.
âIt was just an accident kid, It happens and no one was injuredâ It was as if he was trying to rile you up. Jos had been banned from your garage as soon as you had turned 18 but god did it feel like he was right behind you, egging you on.
âNo, I lost out because of you I lost my first placeâ You hissed as you pulled Lewis into you by the collar.
âHit him, Câmon. Hit him. Make your father proudâ
You wound your fist back and punched him right in the face before you could even think about what you were doing. Blood started pouring quicker than you could pull back. You had definitely broke his nose.
All the mechanics reacted quickly. You were pulled away from Lewis, hands held behind your back. Lewis had Engineers and mechanics crouched down in front of him holding tissues to his bloody nose. Your chest rising and falling rapidly as you tried to catch your breath.
To make matters worse there were cameras everywhere. Of course there was and normally Mercedes would welcome cameras but right now it seemed to be causing a problem.
Max got there quicker than Toto did. Someone had clearly gone to get him because he came running in with a member of Mercedes right behind him.
â(Y/N)? What did you do?â He hissed. He didnât really know whether to be angry at you or not. You were on the ground shaking and crying with a surrounding of mechanics, ready to pounce in case you made a move on Lewis again.
On the other hand there was Lewis who looked about ready to collapse as he sat against the wall of the garage with an engineer holding a bloody tissue to his nose.
âHe just stormed in here like he owned the fucking place, shouted at Lewis and then just punched him. Started shaking and crying like he was the one that was punchedâ One of the mechanics filled in, very unhelpfully.
âJust like his dad, look at him. Being violent then acting like the victimâ One very unhelpful reported said, shaking her head
âOkay, right. You, You and you. Outâ Max hissed pointing at anyone who was currently welding any kind of filming or recording equipment. Nobody needed to see this.
Lewis was being taken care of but none of the mechanics knew how to approach you. None of them necessarily wanted punched. Max assumed that the primary reason they wanted him.
â(Y/N)?â Max said gently crouching down beside you. â(Y/N)? Câmon talk to me, what happened?â
âHet spijt me, Het spijt meâ (Iâm sorry, iâm sorry) you whined as you dragged your body towards your brother. âIk weet het niet, ik was gewoon zo boos Max, alsjeblieft, het spijt meâ (I donât know, I was just so angry Max, please, iâm sorry) You sobbed.
âIk denk niet dat ik degene ben die excuses nodig heeftâ (I donât think its me that needs and apology) He said softly, stroking your hair gently. He didnât know what happened but you clearly werenât in any headspace to speak about what happened.
Max sat so that he was leaning against the wall at the opposite side of the garage to Lewis. You curled up into him sobbing into his thighs. It was like you were 15 again, weak and defenceless.
Toto eventually showed up, he looked pissed. It took so long to get him because he was in a meeting with sponsors until a distressed looking team member ran in, apologised for interrupting and stated there had been an incident in Lewisâ garage that needed to be tended to ASAP.
The scene was very confusing, Lewis had clearly taken the brunt of whatever had happened but you looked inconsolable. Your brother just looked up at your boss, the same confused gaze meeting his.
âOkay, someone take Lewis to medical, everybody else out. I will deal with himâ Toto commanded as people began to move around. Lewis was guided to medical by a couple of mechanics who were practically holding him up. Everyone else cleared out with one final judgemental look on their faces.
You had calmed down a little bit by now, soft sobs escaping you at intervals. Max knew you had done something stupid but he couldnât tell you how stupid you were now, not when you could barely catch your breath.
âTake him to his drivers room, no one needs to see this.â Toto said, looking at the open garage shutters as odd members of other teamâs staff walk past. âI want him in my office once heâs calmed downâ
âOkay, (Y/N). Câmon, weâre gonna go somewhere private.â Max said gently, leaning down to you. You looked up and nodded. Max stood up first and pulled you up with him. He walked with you, supporting you by holding your waist, your arm slung over his shoulder.
3 hours later you were sat in Totoâs office, your leg bouncing anxiously as you played with your lip. You were so fired for this. Toto comes into the room looking awfully calm with what you assumed was a lawyer in tow. Fuck.
âNow (Y/N), What happened earlier was really serious. Now thankfully Lewis doesnât want to press charges against you so that is no issue for us but the press are really going to hammer into you for this, there were cameras everywhere.â Toto said, sitting down and folding his hands in his desk.
âCan you tell me what actually happened (Y/N)? It would be really good to know so we can take preventative measures. You cannot get riled up like this again weâre going to have to cons-â He continued.
âI donât knowâ You snapped âI was just angry, then I just heard my father in my head and I just got madder. I couldnât stop myselfâ You said.
âI- was Jos in the garage? If so that poses a whole now security issue for us to deal with.â The Lawyer frowned as he took note of everything you were saying.
âI- no, he wasnât actually there. I just heard him in my head. I think iâm going crazyâ You said, scratching at the inside of your arms. An anxious habit you had had for years.
âNo no. Well we are in the fortunate position where Lewis does not want you charged so this can be put down as an incident.â Toto said. âIf you do however think you are having mental issues iâm going to require you see a therapist if you want to continue with us.â
âYes, bossâ You muttered, squeezing your lip anxiously. âCan I go now?â You asked. You really didnât want to be here right now.
âSign this firstâ The lawyer said placing papers in front of you. Incident reports and another contract that said you took all responsibility and would agree to see a therapist. You signed no hesitation.
You promptly left after that, you didnât want to be here anymore you just wanted to go home. The race was over and you could leave now.
You pulled your phone out of your pocket and phones your brother to see where he was. It rang a couple times before he picked up.
âCan you take me home? my hands are still shaking and I donât think I can drive.â
You were in Spa and you and Max both still lived in Belgium for the time being, just away from your father so getting home wouldnât be an issue, you could just get your car in the morning.
âYeah, where are you?â Max said down the phone.
âIâm on my way to medical to apologise to Lewis and then are you good to leave?â You said
âYeah, I can leave whenever. Just send me a messageâ He said
You breathed out as you hung up. One less thing to worry about for now. Now you just had to go see Lewis, if he would let you see him
You walked in to the medical room and seen a door closed on one of the examination rooms. You asked one of the staff and she said she would ask if he wanted to see you.
He did want to see you, probably to shout at you for what you did. Damaging his perfect face.
You walked in and set down the Belgian Waffle you had brought him as an apology.
âListen, iâm really, really sorry. I didnât know what I was doing. I was just really really angry and then I donât really know what happened an-â You were cut off
â(Y/N), Stop. Iâm not mad so stop apologising. My nose isnât broken, just a bit tender. You did give me a minor concussion though. Youâve got fists kid, shoulda gone into boxingâ Lewis said, looking at you like you were human and not like the monster you presumed you were.
âAs if my dad would have ever let that slideâ You said, half joking half serious. He would have never let that slide. Driving was your only viable career option since the moment you took your first breath.
âListen (Y/N), you got spirit. Youâre charming and a really talented driver. You just need to control your temper a little betterâ Lewis said, looking at you as your eyes widened. He was forgiving you? For something you did? On purpose?
âI want to mentor you. You are good as they come but you need to get yourself under control. No one wants a driver with a messy PR trailâ He teased gently, no malicious intent behind it. Just a teammate joking with him teammate.
âI- Wh- why?â You asked, exasperated that someone would even want to take you in. You were nutritiously introverted, easily angered and very easy to piss off.
âI see something in you, your mentor wasnât exactly the best person in the world was he? He instilled the racing into you but did her really pass on everything that makes you a good driver?â Lewis said âYou need someone to teach you about the non-racing aspects of being a sportsmanâ
âYeah I guess, listen iâll think about. Right now I really need to go. Max is waiting for meâ You said, looking at your watch
âNo hard feeling, mâkay. Iâll see you next weekendâ He nodded at you and you nodded back.
âOnce again iâm sorryâ You said before walking out the door and closing it behind you. You punched the air excitedly and ran off to maxâs car to tell him what just happened.
âSo how was your meeting?â Max asked, it was monotone, he didnât want to give any indication, your meeting could have gone either way.
âI think I was just adopted by Lewis HamiltonâŚâ you blurted out
âHold on- back it up, adopted? by Hamilton?â Your brother asked, looking at you with a raised eyebrow.
âI mean not literally of course but he asked if he could mentor meâ You said, smiling slightly. You really wanted this âI said I would think about itâ You shrugged
â(Y/N)âŚâ Max started as he drove away from your parking space. âNo, this is what I need I think. Someone to teach me who wonât punish me for my mistakes.â
âFairâ Your brother noted
âOh, I also got put the therapyâ You added
âAnd there was the thing I was waiting forâ Your brother sighed as he pulled away from the parking space and began driving to your Belgium apartment, you would pick your car up in the morning.
