yuki x alex? 💛
(this is supposed to go to @thetwelfthcrow)
my reaction upon reading this was literally. huh, oh. oh
oh!
but yes of course! classical teacher x student, alex makes yuki feel safe after being dropped into the big f1 and its high expectations. yuki struggles, has to learn to get to know the car, makes mistakes, is aggressive. and then, then rb decides to put alex as his teacher. alex the tall, goofy lil' guy who unfortunately doesn't have a seat but he's so smart, and so nice, polite and yet knowledgable. he's such an animal lover and has a keen eye. but he's mostly just this idiot that doesn't seem to take things too seriously, and yet he does.
and then yuki. the new guy. alex may be bitter at first - why can you offer him a seat but not me? - but as he gets to know yuki, it gets better. it helps him some. he learns to accept his new role as sim tester and reserve driver and everything and yuki is right there so eager to learn and try everything. he's aggressive, wants to prove himself, doesn't want to struggle. and alex simply puts an arm on his shoulder and yuki knows, i got this.
and then there's also a mild role to pierre, someone who also teaches yuki a lot but isn't His Teacher the way alex is. and suddenly, pierre bothers alex. not because of pierre, but alex sees how pierre touches and jokes and dances around with yuki, gets arguably a lot more time with yuki off track, off hours. and it frustrates alex. because when he and yuki are together, yuki looks at him like he's the only guy in the world. but when pierre is there, yuki is distracted. stuck between the two of them. pierre never makes a move on yuki though, so when alex does (after looong pining, you can fit a slow burn in one year), yuki knows who to choose.
but then... the transfer to williams. everyone knew it was gonna come, alex is far too talented to be left without a seat. red bull was helping him (almost) every way they could. alex tells yuki as one of the first few. yuki is torn - no more alex at his disposal whenever he wanted, but also soo happy for him to have a seat again. to be racing. they struggle, at first, but they make do. they're stronger than that.
[context; send me a ship and i'll give you my honest opinion on it!]