when. australian grand prix, 08 march 2026.
where. albert park circuit.
featuring. rembrandt siegel , @gridbest
the strategy meeting hasn't started yet, and probably won't for another ten minutes, if the clock on wren's phone is anything to go by, which it is, because they've been checking on it profusely, as if they've got somewhere better to be even when they don't. the hallway outside the room smells like generic air conditioning and carpet that's been cleaned too many times, and wren has their back against the wall with their arms crossed, watching rembrandt from the corner of their eye. it's never made sense to them, the way the younger driver had just walked into red bull and immediately started collecting championships like that was something you could just do, like wren hadn't been there first, grinding through seasons, developing the car, and they know seniority means nothing in the sport, most definitely not in red bull, but wren also didn't like the feeling of being discarded like they were yesterday's news.
they shift their weight, roll their shoulders back, lets the silence stretch on until it becomes much too awkward to not talk anymore. “ hey, ” wren says finally, casual as they can make it, eyes still fixed somewhere down the corridor, “ you're gonna let me have the first undercut today, yeah? seems like the least you could do. ” they say it like it's a joke… it is not entirely a joke.
