That man is always giving him heart eyes. Aren't you just sweet?
Every single teammate Fernando has had has been absolutely head over heels obsessed with him. Always got grown men giggling over him like the princess he is.
A strollonso AU where 18 year old rookie Lance Stroll falls helplessly in love with the notoriously mean world champion. (1.1k words, no warnings) {This is my first Tumblr AU so ignore how bad this is... This was fun to write so expect more!}
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As quali came to an end, Lance could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He had just completed his first-ever quali, and he felt like he was about to throw up.
He heard someone speaking to him over his radio, but he was too busy registering that this was real to listen.
As he got out of the car, he was bombarded by his team, all rushing to hug him and congratulate him. It took him a second to realise why.
He qualified P3.
His face lit up at the realisation—that's insane. P3.
He was going to start his debut race in P3, but he knew it wasn't the race, so it hardly mattered, but just knowing he set the third fastest lap out of everyone on the grid was enough to boost his ego a fair bit.
Eventually, his team fell back into their usual places, and he began gathering his things to leave before he heard a familiar voice speak, a voice he'd only ever heard over the television.
"Lancito, congratulations on P3," he said, lightly patting the youngers shoulders.
He was stunned, and Fernando Alonso was congratulating him. He was so taken aback by the praise that he almost missed the new name. Almost. Lancito? He'd never been called that before, yet somehow it felt right to hear it come off the Spaniard's tongue.
"Thank you. It feels amazing being able to start my debut race so close behind you, Alonso." Lance wasn't sure exactly what to call him, hesitating to even say his last name.
"Am excited to see how you do, Lancito. I wish you luck." He flashed a quick smile before moving his hand off the other man's shoulder and beginning to walk away.
Lance watched him closely, still flustered at the physical contact, kind words, and the new nickname.
"Oh, and," Fernando started, quickly turning back to Lance. "Please, call me Fernando; there is no need to be professional when it is just us, no?"
Lance nodded, smiling at the older man as he turned and left. He wasn't sure he'd be getting any sleep that night.
After getting to the paddock the next day (and barely getting through interviews), he began talking to Nico outside of the garage, trying his best to convince his teammate that starting P12 was a blessing.
Nico was a great driver, so he knew this would just be a chance to stun the crowd with brilliant overtakes.
The conversation was going smoothly, the two meshing surprisingly well, before Lance's attention was grabbed by a man in blue and yellow.
He was hard to miss, and it didn't help that Lance had been absentmindedly searching for him all day.
He was on his way back to his team garage. Lance was unsure where exactly he was coming from; all he knew was that he looked perfect.
Lance wasn't sure how he felt about Fernando, but it seemed to be admiration. It made sense for him to admire Fernando; he had just won the world championship the year before, so a rookie admiring him was more than acceptable, right?
As everyone got into their cars, Lance couldn't help but get more and more anxious, everyone falling seamlessly into their places. Before Lance knew it, the race was starting (and he was off to a horrible start).
He felt himself getting more and more frustrated. Seeing as other drivers passed him, he continued to curse under his breath, but he knew he was going to make it up. He was so confident he was going to overtake them again, get back to P3, and finish his debut race on the podium.
Then he felt the car get worse; his tyres were locking up during what seemed like every turn, and before he knew it, his car was smoking.
"Lance, box, box, we need to retire the car."
Fuck.
He felt sick to his stomach; this had to be one of the worst ways to start his rookie season. He was beyond embarrassed.
He pulled into the pit lane and went to his garage. There was nothing positive about this situation, but somehow it felt even worse knowing that Fernando Alonso wished him good luck the day prior and he couldn't even finish the race.
He unzipped his race suit to his hips and sat down, putting on a pair of headphones and pretending to be interested in the race—his debut race, his first DNF.
The race came to an end after what felt like an eternity, and Nico came back, having scored points in his first race. A part of him was glad for Nico; of course, he more than deserved it, but he couldn't help but wonder what would've happened if he had finished; he wanted to score points. He had to score points.
The debrief passed, and so did the podium, and now the teammates were just sitting together, Nico leaning against the wall as they spoke, talking about whatever came to mind and just enjoying each other's presence before they noticed another driver coming towards them.
It was Fernando, and before either of them could speak, he beat them to it.
"Nico, very good job today." He praised, and Lance felt a pang of jealousy as he recalled Fernando saying similar things to him after quali yesterday. He wished he had raced long enough to get praise from the older man as well.
"Thank you, Fernando. It means a lot." Nico smiled, the conversation between the two ending there.
"Lancito, am sorry to hear you retired. Not a very good start, but it just guarantees Malaysia's going to treat you better, eh?"
Lance nodded, looking up at Fernando. It wasn't every day a 6'0 rookie had to look up to a 5'7 world champion, but Fernando looked good up there.
"Yeah, let's hope that doesn't mean you'll do worse then." He laughed, and with Fernando's logic, he supposed the Spaniard would DNF next.
"Don't jinx me now!" Fernando shook his head, moving closer to pat Lance on the shoulder again, seemingly a new thing between them. "Am getting older; I have to win another championship before I retire, don't you think?"
And before he knew it, the older man was gone again—back into the Renault garage.
He hadn't noticed at the time, but after Fernando left and he turned to Nico, he was met with a very suspicious look.
"So, you two are friends?" Nico asked, more familiar with the reputation Fernando had than Lance.
"Maybe? I'm not sure." He laughed, leaning on the wall behind him. "He spoke to me yesterday too; maybe he's just nice to all rookies like that."
"Maybe" Nico agreed, although he knew that wasn't true, and so did everyone, besides Lance, it seemed.
JEREZ, February 7 2006 — British BAR Honda Formula One driver Jenson Button is seen being a terror in the pits, during a private training session at the racetrack. Photo by Jose Luis Roca / Getty.
