summary: rafa has never done good in sprint races, but with his girlfriend watching he pulls through
warnings: none
pairing: fem! reader x rafael câmara
genre: fluff
author note: he needs to pull through in the sprints i can’t keep doing this 💔
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rafa has never been the biggest fan of pda, but it seemed that opposites attract. in all honesty, rafa didn’t actually mind her clingy onto him, but it just took him a while to not look so stiff and awkward when in public.
“i can’t wait to see you in your suit”
y/n had made it very clear just how much she likes seeing him in trident gear and he couldn’t help but chuckle as she sighed dreamily.
“hopefully i won’t dnf though”
rafa’s sprint races haven’t been… the best.
and is the reason as to how nikola has been able to decrease their gap. rafa needed points in the sprints or else.
“i’ll go steal their front wings” she said bitterly
“you do that” he says with a laugh
but turns out that y/n didn’t need to steal anyone’s front wing since her boyfriend was able to take pole away from nikola — only just though.
the gap between their times barely existed.
so, while his team were separated in joy by him starting first and stress for a strategy on how to keep nikola behind or possibly out of points ( maybe by using one of their other drivers ), she happily skipped away towards the formula three paddock where her boyfriend would be.
y/n hadn’t paid much attention to where his teammates ended up, but knew both of them ended up in the top twelve somewhere.
she paused upon seeing him get out of his car ( y/n could recognise his helmet anywhere ) and smiled brightly. he hadn't even noticed her. too occupied with taking his gloves off, which made her brighten up even more.
rafa felt the hair on his neck suddenly stand as goosebumps covered him, but before he could turn around someone launched themselves into his back.
“rafa!” he let out a sigh of relief as his shoulders became less tense
“you scared me”
“sorry” she wasn't
y/n reluctantly let go so he could turn around and take off his helmet while she continued to speak.
“you got pole!”
“i did”
“while almost giving me a heart attack!”
his balaclava came off easy and a soft smile dawned his face which made a small giggle leave her lips, but she quickly tried to cover it up with a cough.
“feels good after last week” y/n frowned at that.
although, she's never really met him, y/n didn't mind nikola the way rafa spoke about him, but since he's second in the championship she held a bit of annoyance towards him.
of course, y/n wouldn't wish anything bad to happen to him. maybe a slow pitstop or being held back by other drivers, or even getting stuck in some gravel. nothing bad — just enough to be pointless.
“you'll win tomorrow” she suddenly declared making rafa side eye her
“you will! i can feel it in my gut!”
“... if you say so”
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her gut was right.
for once.
y/n almost screamed when rafa crossed the line in first and watched with batted breath as nikola fell to fourth since he picked up a penalty which meant charlie was moved up to second.
a trident 1 - 2.
unfortunately, noah had been a passenger in an early collision, but he and the others came out unscathed.
the team were jumping up and down, proud that rafa’s finally had more than a point in the sprint.
“thank you guys, feels good to finally have a good sprint”
her heart warmed at hearing how full his voice sounded.
“he did it for you” she jumped and turned towards noah who had a large grin on his face
“what?” he shrugged
“said you had a feeling he’d win”
one of the mechanics who was beside them jumped into their conversation and talked about how rafa mentioned it during his interview yesterday.
( y/n had been too busy celebrating with him getting pole again that she hasn’t even checked social media ).
“didn't think it'd actually happen”
“could your gut say when i'm going to win?”
“nope!”
then she skipped away.
by the time y/n made it down the pitlane, rafa was standing on top of his car with his fists raised while charlie had already jumped into the waiting arms of their team.
she clapped happily as the team hugged her boyfriend tightly before hand shoved her forward. y/n stumbled a little, but was caught by rafa who dug his helmet into her neck, arms secured around her body.
he did.
and he did it with her watching.
rafa pulled away after being tapped by one of the officials who needed him to be weighed and for pictures. his visor was flipped open which gave y/n a clear view of his disappointed eyes.
“i'll be waiting for you under the podium” she leaned forward and placed a kiss on his helmet just as he was tugged away to the scale
when she turned around, the team were wearing large smiles on their faces.
“don’t start”