I have so many thoughts but listen 🥺 (walk with me) Max and Charles and their childhood best friend. (Max and Charles realizing they are both in love with her and each other) Thank you for listening ❤️😌
realization — cl16 & mv1
written blurbs
charles leclerc x !childhood best friend reader x max verstappen
in which charles and max finally admit what they’ve been pushing off for years— their love for you and each other.
(a/n) : i got many messages about lestappen x reader that I just decided to post this. ive had it for a while i just dunno if i like it or not. AND. JUST REACHED 2K SOOOOOO
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flashback — monaco, age 11
You’re sticky with sweat and sunscreen, your knees scraped from crashing into the curb on your skateboard again—but you don’t care. You’re chasing after Max and Charles down the winding hill behind your building, hair flying, heart pounding, laughing like the sun will never set.
Max is ahead, his wild blond curls bouncing as he runs, calling over his shoulder, “Come on, slowpokes!”
Charles huffs next to you, breathless and flushed. “He cheats,” he says between pants. “He always goes before we’re ready.”
“Don’t be a sore loser,” you grin, and yank his sleeve as you run past him, both of you giggling like it’s your full-time job.
By the time you reach Max, he’s sprawled on the grass in front of the bakery, waiting with that smug little smirk that makes you want to kick him and hug him at the same time.
You collapse between them, your legs tangled in theirs, all three of you covered in grass stains and dried lemonade. The smell of croissants and melted asphalt floats around you.
“I’m gonna marry both of you when we’re older,” you say, not even thinking. Just tossing the words into the air like confetti.
Max snorts. “That’s not how it works.”
Charles turns pink. “Why not?”
Max looks at you, shrugs. “I guess if it’s you, it could work.”
Your heart does a weird little jump. You’re too young to understand what it means, but old enough to feel the warmth settle in your chest.
Later, when the sun dips below the buildings and the sky turns peach and lilac, you walk home sandwiched between them. Max keeps bumping your shoulder on purpose. Charles holds your hand without a word.
You look at them and think— We’ll be together forever.
—
karting track, age 14
You’re sitting alone on the bleachers, helmet at your feet, fingers still buzzing from the last heat. The sun is starting to dip low, casting long shadows across the track, and the air smells like rubber, fuel, and sweat.
Max and Charles are nowhere to be seen.
You try not to let it bother you—but it does.
The three of you were always inseparable. Always. But lately… it’s like they’ve started circling each other like fire and ice. Sometimes you’re caught in the middle, and sometimes they leave you behind entirely, like now.
You spot them down by the garage, deep in conversation. Max’s posture is tense, arms crossed over his chest, while Charles gestures wildly with his hands. You can’t hear what they’re saying, but it doesn’t look friendly.
A few minutes later, Charles storms off in one direction and Max heads toward the track. Right toward you.
He doesn’t look at you as he sits beside you. Just reaches down and grabs your water bottle, drinks like he’s dying, and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
You wait.
“Are you going to tell me what that was about?” you ask softly.
Max doesn’t answer right away. His jaw ticks, his eyes staring straight ahead at nothing. “He said you like him.”
The words hit like a slap.
You blink. “What?”
Max finally turns to you. His voice is low, steady, but there’s something wounded behind his usual sharpness. “He said you like him. And that I need to back off.”
You don’t know what to say.
Because the truth is… sometimes, when Charles smiles at you like you’re made of light, your stomach flips. And other times, when Max leans too close, when his voice drops and his eyes spark, you can’t breathe.
You’re 14 and confused and overwhelmed and you wish someone would just tell you what to feel.
So you deflect.
“I didn’t say that,” you mumble. “I didn’t say anything.”
Max laughs bitterly. “Doesn’t matter. He’s already decided.”
You glance down at your hands. “And what have you decided?”
That catches him off guard. He looks at you, eyes stormy, unreadable. And for a second, you think he might say something—really say something. But then he looks away again.
“I don’t want to fight with him,” he mutters. “But I don’t want to lose you either.”
Your heart aches.
You reach out without thinking and place your hand on top of his. His fingers twitch but don’t pull away. “You’re not going to lose me, Max.”
He squeezes your hand just once before letting go.
You sit in silence as the last race of the day rolls by, engines roaring, hearts racing, everything unsaid heavy in the air between you.
—
age 17 (pls just pretend that the timing make sense)
The day Max debuts in Formula 1, you’re in Barcelona, sitting in the Toro Rosso garage with a lanyard that feels too heavy around your neck. Cameras flash, journalists chatter in every language, and Max—your Max—is standing tall in a fireproof suit, grinning like the world is finally recognizing what you’ve always known.
You should be ecstatic. You are. Sort of.
He looks over at you just before climbing into the car, eyes locking with yours, a grin pulling at the corner of his mouth. You give him a shaky thumbs-up, and he nods like that’s all he needs.
But your smile doesn’t quite reach your eyes. Because you know who isn’t here.
Charles.
He’s back in Monaco. At a funeral. His father died yesterday. You weren’t there. You couldn’t be.
You’d promised Max you’d be in Barcelona months ago, long before anyone knew what was coming. Long before Charles’ world shattered in one quiet, sudden moment.
You texted him. Called him. Begged him to let you come home.
He didn’t reply. Not at first.
When he finally did, it was just—
I don’t want you to miss his debut. He’s your friend too. Just… come back soon, okay?
It broke your heart. Because Charles Leclerc doesn’t ask for much. Never has. And when he does, it’s always too quietly. Too late.
You try to focus on the race, on Max tearing through the track with the same furious brilliance you’ve seen since he was 10. He finishes in the points. Reporters flood him. His team cheers. You want to run to him, to celebrate—but your phone buzzes with a new text.
He’s gone, YN. It doesn’t feel real.
Suddenly, all the noise around you becomes muffled, like someone shoved your head underwater.
You slip away from the garage without saying goodbye.
When you finally make it back to Monaco the next morning, you go straight to Charles’ apartment. You use the spare key under the planter—he always joked it was there for you, not for emergencies.
He’s sitting on the couch, surrounded by crumpled tissues and silence.
The moment he sees you, he crumbles.
You drop everything and pull him into your arms. He doesn’t cry, not like most people cry. It’s quiet, almost reverent—the kind of grief that steals the breath from your lungs. His arms wrap around you like a lifeline, like he’s afraid if he lets go, he’ll fall through the earth.
“I should’ve come,” you whisper, fingers in his hair.
“You did,” he says hoarsely. “You’re here now.”
You stay like that for a long time. Long enough for the sunlight to shift across the walls. Long enough to feel your own throat ache.
Eventually, he speaks again.
“Max did good, huh?”
You nod slowly. “Yeah. He did.”
A long pause.
“I’m happy for him,” Charles murmurs, “but it’s hard not to wonder why some of us keep losing everything while others just… keep rising.”
You press your forehead to his. “You haven’t lost everything.”
He looks at you like he wants to believe that. Like you might be the only thing left tethering him to this world.
Later, when you’re making him tea and digging through his cupboards for something edible, your phone lights up with a call from Max.
You stare at it.
You love them both so differently, and so much.
But right now, only one of them needs you.
So you let the call go to voicemail, turn off your phone, and go back to the boy whose heart has just been split open.
You sit beside Charles on the couch and tuck your legs beneath you. He leans against your shoulder like he did when you were twelve, when he first told you he wanted to race for Ferrari. You put your arm around him and hold him like you’ll never let go.
He doesn’t say anything else that night. He doesn’t have to.
Neither do you.
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present day!
The café is tucked away on a quiet street in Monaco, the kind of place tourists don’t stumble into, where the waiter doesn’t ask for a name—he just smiles and brings your usual. You’re already seated when they arrive, Max and Charles, ten minutes late and bickering lightly as they always do.
“She said noon,” Charles is saying as he drops into the chair beside you, already stealing an olive from your plate. “Which means twelve o’clock, Verstappen.”
Max slides into the seat across from you, sunglasses perched on his head, hair a little too tousled to be accidental. “Twelve is a suggestion, not a law.”
You roll your eyes, smiling anyway. “You’re both late. I should’ve invited Susie instead.”
Max leans forward, smirking. “You like her better than us now?”
“I mean,” you tease, “she listens to me. Shows up on time. Hasn’t crashed into anyone lately.”
Charles puts a hand to his heart, mock-wounded. “Ouch.”
You grin, and just like that, the rhythm returns. It always does. No matter how much time passes or how many races come and go or how many relationships fall apart between the three of you… when you sit at this table, it’s like nothing’s changed.
The waiter brings drinks—sparkling water for Charles, coffee for Max, your favorite tea. You sip slowly as they talk about the last few weeks. Charles is still glowing from a podium. Max is unusually smug about a private test day in Austria that no one was supposed to know about. You let them talk, occasionally chiming in, occasionally just watching.
They’re older now. Sharper in some ways. Softer in others. Charles still gestures with his hands when he talks, like he’s conducting a symphony. Max still pretends he doesn’t care and then immediately contradicts himself with how much he does.
And you? You’re different too. Busier. Stronger. Fiercer than you were at seventeen. You’ve been building something with Susie Wolff that matters—mentoring girls, creating space, shifting the foundation of motorsport one step at a time. Still, when you’re with them, you feel like that girl again. The one who loved them both so much it sometimes made her chest ache.
“So,” Charles says after the food arrives, breaking a comfortable silence, “how’s your calendar looking? There’s a gala next weekend, FIA nonsense, but they’re doing a tribute for the Academy. Thought you might be there.”
“Invited, yes. Going?” You shrug. “Depends if I survive another board call with a room full of men who think Susie and I are ornamental.”
Max snorts into his drink. “Do they want to die? Be honest.”
You laugh. “One of them called me ‘darling’ last week. I didn’t even flinch. Just told him to shut up and open the report.”
Charles raises his glass like a toast. “That’s my girl.”
There’s a pause. You feel it. That old flicker. The way his eyes linger just a little too long. The way Max’s gaze shifts—like he noticed, like he always does. You look between them and smile, soft around the edges.
“Missed you both,” you admit. “It’s been too long.”
Max’s voice is quieter than expected. “You’ve been busy changing the world.”
Charles bumps your shoulder. “Yeah. Doesn’t mean you can vanish on us.”
You lean back in your chair, sun warming your face. “I never vanish. You two just get distracted with your supermodels and your drama.”
Max rolls his eyes. “Ex-supermodels, thank you.”
Charles just laughs and says nothing. The truth is, they’ve both had relationships that fizzled before they even sparked. People who didn’t understand the way they orbit each other. People who didn’t understand you. It’s always been the three of you. It still is.
You talk for two hours. About nothing and everything. Max makes you laugh until you snort, Charles insists on ordering dessert “for the table” and eats half of it before anyone else can touch it. You wipe powdered sugar off the corner of his mouth and pretend not to notice the way Max watches you when you do.
It’s easy. It’s warm. It’s home. As you get up to leave, Charles grabs your hand, just for a second. He squeezes it. Max doesn’t say anything. He just walks close, shoulder brushing yours more than once, like he can’t help it.
You wonder—not for the first time—if the three of you are just waiting for the right moment. If you’ve all been circling something inevitable for years.
And maybe… maybe that moment is closer than any of you realize.
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charles’ moment of realization!
It’s late. One of those Monaco nights where the sky is velvet and the water outside the window looks like melted obsidian. You’re at Charles’ place—because Max is in Italy for sim work, and you’re both too exhausted to be alone. There’s a movie playing in the background, something neither of you is really watching. You’re curled up sideways on the couch, legs stretched across Charles’ lap, nursing a glass of wine. He’s absently tracing patterns on your calf with the tips of his fingers.
You don’t flinch. You never do. It’s always been like this with you—touch without thinking, comfort without caution. That’s what makes it dangerous. He looks at you—really looks—and it hits him so suddenly, so fully, that it actually makes his breath catch. He’s in love with you.
Not in the distant, adolescent way he used to tell himself didn’t count. Not in the playful way he used to flirt to hide what he really meant. No. This is real. Bone-deep. Quiet. Terrifying.
You glance at him. “What?”
He blinks, startled. “Nothing.”
You smile softly, lazy, content. “You’re staring.”
“I always stare at beautiful things,” he says without thinking.
And for once, you don’t tease him for it. You just look at him—eyes soft, unreadable—and then turn back to the screen. He can’t breathe. He thinks about Max. About the way you laugh more when he’s around. About the way Max touches your back without thinking, how your eyes always find his first after a race. About the way Charles’ heart doesn’t ache with jealousy when he sees it—it just aches.
Because it’s both of you. He loves Max, too. He always has. Not in the way he was told to. Not with fire and declarations—but with steadiness. With awe. With understanding so complete it feels like silence between them is its own language.
And suddenly, it makes sense. Why no one else has ever measured up. Why every relationship he’s had has ended with restlessness in his chest and a name on his tongue that wasn’t his partner’s.
Why watching you and Max dance around each other has never made him want to stop it—just… join it. His fingers still on your skin. He wants to tell you. He wants to grab his phone and text Max. He wants to break the rules of whatever unspoken thing the three of you have built and just say it— But he doesn’t.
He just looks at you, your eyes fluttering shut as you relax into the couch. He memorizes the curve of your cheek, the way you mumble something soft in your sleep. The trust in the way you’ve let your guard down here. And then he leans his head back against the couch and whispers into the dark—
“I think I’m in love with both of you.”
It’s the first time he’s said it out loud. And in the silence that follows, he doesn’t feel scared. He just feels sure.
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max’s moment of realization!
It’s the night before the Dutch Grand Prix, and you’re with Max in his driver’s room—feet tucked under you on the couch, laptop in your lap, hair damp from the shower. He’s pacing. Not because he’s nervous about the race. You know Max. He doesn’t pace for pressure. He paces when he’s trying not to feel something.
“You okay?” you ask, eyes flicking up.
He stops, runs a hand through his hair, sighs. “Yeah. I just… I don’t know.”
You close the laptop and pat the space beside you. “Sit down. You’re making me dizzy.”
He does. Not immediately. But eventually. Max always comes back to you. When he sits, his thigh presses against yours. You don’t move away. You never do. He stares at the floor, jaw clenched, brows furrowed like he’s in a head-to-head battle with his own thoughts.
And then, in the quietest voice you’ve ever heard from him, he says—
“Do you ever think we ruined ourselves for other people?”
You turn to look at him slowly. “What?”
“You, me, Charles…” He’s still not looking at you. “I mean—we grew up together. We saw everything. Every win. Every loss. Every ugly, messy part of each other. Maybe that’s why no one else ever feels right.”
The words hang in the air like smoke.
You reach for his hand before you can stop yourself. “I don’t think we’re ruined, Max.”
He finally looks at you. Really looks at you. And something shatters in his expression. Because there it is. The truth he’s been avoiding. The reason no one else ever sticks. The reason you and Charles are the only people who’ve ever seen every piece of him—and stayed.
He’s in love with you. And with Charles. It’s always been both. Not some passing phase, not a blurred memory of childhood affection. No. It’s clear now—stark and soft all at once, like the crash of waves on the shore.
You tilt your head at him gently. “Max?”
He opens his mouth. Then closes it. His eyes flick down to your hand, still wrapped around his. Your fingers curled loosely over his knuckles. Like it’s the most natural thing in the world.
And it is. But right now, he can’t say it. Not yet. Because if he says it out loud, it’ll be real. And once it’s real, he’s afraid it might break the fragile thing the three of you still have. The thing you’ve somehow managed to keep, despite everything.
So instead, he just leans into you. Lets his shoulder brush yours. Lets the silence stretch, not awkward, not uncomfortable—just full. You don’t press him. You never do.
You just sit there, legs tangled, hands linked, the low hum of the night buzzing around you like a secret you both already know. And when he finally falls asleep—with his head tilted toward yours, breaths even—you don’t move. Because even if he didn’t say the words, you felt them. And maybe… that’s enough. For now.
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It’s pouring in Budapest. Not the dramatic, cinematic kind of rain—the cold, messy kind that turns paddock walkways into puddles and curls your hair no matter how carefully you styled it this morning.
You and Charles are hiding out in one of the Ferrari hospitality rooms, waiting out the storm before media. He’s laughing at something you said, eyes soft, hair still damp from the sprint debrief, and for a moment, it feels like you’re both sixteen again—tucked into a bench in Monaco, hiding from curfews and the future. You wipe a raindrop from his cheek, almost without thinking.
“You always get water in your eyelashes,” you murmur. “How?”
Charles grins. “Because I’m cinematic.”
You roll your eyes, but your hand lingers on his face a moment too long. Just then, the door creaks open. You look up—and freeze. Max.
He’s standing in the doorway, Red Bull hoodie soaked through, eyes already fixed on the two of you. On your hand on Charles’ face. On the quiet closeness of the moment. Your hand drops instantly.
Charles straightens, startled. “Max—”
But Max is already backing away, expression unreadable.
“Didn’t mean to interrupt,” he mutters, voice clipped. “Looks like you two are busy.”
And then he’s gone.
—
You don’t see him for the rest of the day.
He misses media. Misses dinner. Leaves all your texts on read.
And you know Max—he doesn’t avoid confrontation. Not unless he’s hurt.
Not unless he thinks he’s already lost.
—
It’s two days before any of you see him again.
Charles finds him first, late at night, in the back corner of the hotel gym. No music, no lights, just Max methodically punishing himself on the rowing machine like he’s trying to outrun his own thoughts.
“Talk to me,” Charles says gently.
Max doesn’t stop.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“You’ve been avoiding us.”
“No, I’ve been busy.”
“Max.”
Finally, Max lets the handle snap back. He stands, pacing, drenched in sweat and frustration and something achingly sad.
“You don’t have to pretend you don’t know what I saw,” he bites out.
Charles blinks. “You mean… in the lounge?”
Max scoffs, bitter. “It’s fine. Really. I always knew it would be you two in the end.”
“Don’t do that,” Charles says quietly.
“What?”
“Act like you’re not part of this.”
Max turns to him, eyes sharp and angry. “What the hell does that mean?”
But before Charles can answer—you walk in. You’d been looking for both of them. The second you saw the room light on, your feet had carried you here on instinct. You stop in the doorway, breath caught in your throat.
Max looks between you and Charles, jaw tight. “Perfect. The happy couple.”
“Don’t say that,” you whisper.
“Why not?” he spits. “Isn’t it true? You looked pretty damn happy together. I just got in the way.”
“You didn’t,” Charles says fiercely. “You never did.”
Max shakes his head, stepping back. “I should’ve known. It’s always been like this—me watching the two of you, pretending I don’t want to be in the middle of it.”
The silence is thunderous. And then you speak—quiet, trembling.
“You’re not watching, Max. You are in the middle of it.”
He looks at you then. Really looks.
You step forward. “I wasn’t touching Charles that day because I chose him over you. I was touching him because I love him. And I love you too. I’ve been trying to figure out what that means for years.”
Charles is beside you now, voice low but steady.
“We didn’t choose each other over you. We were just waiting for you to stop holding it all in.”
Max stares at you both like you’ve just spoken in a language he’s never dared to learn.
“I—” he falters, breath catching. “I didn’t know if I was allowed to want that. Both of you. Together.”
You smile through the sting in your throat. “You are.”
And then Charles moves first. He walks up to Max, slow and careful, and reaches for his hand. Doesn’t force anything. Just holds it. Max looks down at their linked fingers, then up at you—standing there, open, waiting.
And something cracks. Not painfully. Not like before. It cracks like sunlight through storm clouds. He takes one step forward. Then another. Then he’s kissing you.
Not desperately. Not angrily. Just… finally. You feel Charles at your back, his arms wrapping around both of you, pressing a kiss to your temple as Max rests his forehead against yours, eyes closed, breath trembling.
And for the first time in a long, long time— No one pulls away.
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The light filters in through linen curtains, warm and golden and so soft it almost feels like a dream. You blink awake slowly, blinking past the haze of sleep and finding yourself pressed between two heartbeats. Charles is curled behind you, arm slung lazily over your waist, nose tucked into your shoulder. Max is in front of you, eyes still closed, one hand cradling your hip, the other resting somewhere between the sheets and Charles’ arm.
It’s the quietest morning you can remember. No alarm. No paddock chaos. No rushing. Just warmth, and the sound of three people breathing in sync. You shift just a little, and Max’s fingers twitch where they’re holding you. He stirs, opens one eye, and gives you the faintest, sleep-rough smile.
“Hi,” you whisper.
“Hi,” he rasps.
Behind you, Charles hums softly, still half-asleep. “Too early.”
Max grins. “It’s not. It’s perfect.”
You laugh under your breath and let your fingers trace a slow line across Max’s collarbone. Everything about this feels surreal. Not because it’s wild or unfamiliar—but because it feels so right. So simple. So inevitable. Max watches you, eyes soft and unguarded in a way they never are outside of this bed.
“You are not imagining this, by the way,” he says, voice lower now. “I checked.”
You smile. “So did I.”
Charles shifts, lifting his head just enough to kiss your shoulder. Then, without opening his eyes, he reaches across you and lets his hand settle over Max’s.
“Why would we ever have to leave this bed? Can we just stay?” he mumbles.
Max snorts. “I give it two days. Before your PR team sends out a missing persons report.”
Charles groans dramatically and buries his face in your back. You laugh, tilting your head to press a kiss to Max’s forehead. Then one to Charles’ arm. Your hands are tangled with theirs beneath the blanket, warm and steady. You should be overwhelmed. You should be terrified of what comes next. But you’re not. You’re calm. Loved. Held.
Max brushes his thumb across your side. “This is going to change everything.”
You nod, forehead resting against his. “Good.”
Charles lifts his head again, eyes a little clearer now. He looks at you. Then at Max.
“Can we just… promise something?”
Max raises an eyebrow. “What?”
“That no matter how complicated this gets… we don’t run again.”
You hold Charles’ hand tighter. “We stay.”
Max meets both your eyes, something in his chest again—but this time, it doesn’t hurt.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
Neither are you.
And in the quiet, golden morning, for the first time in all your years together, the love is no longer unspoken. It just is. Always has been. Always will be.
summary: one little conversation between Nicole Piastri and the McLaren social media admin brings you back into Oscar's life
fc: gala nikolic
warning: I am aware of all the spelling errors, but to change them I’d have to rewrite, screenshot and insert the slides all over again and I’m just too lazy to do that, so you’ll just have to life with it
a/n: I love them you guys!!! I’m totally open to writing a part two if you’re interested, but I also might just do it anyway. I hope you enjoy🍀
oscatpiastri
oscatpiastri LMAO admin just said ‘I’m so hungry, I could eat YN YLN’ and that was the face Oscar pulled😭😭 what kind of trauma did they unlock??
view all comments…
user I’M CRYING the man was flabbergasted
user I NEED TO KNOW WHO THAT IS IK YOU GUYS ARE GOOD AT STALKING
-> user I could only find a private acc with that name @.yourusername but there is no way to tell if it’s actually her
-> user wow you guys are quick
user oh to be able to read his mind rn
user admin chose violence today
-> user he looked so betrayed my poor boy💀
user how did admin even get such private information about Oscar?? like there is absolutely no history of a YN YLN anywhere in Oscar’s digital footprint
-> user I mean, that’s their entire job no? find things that get clicks and oscar’s past def does that
🔒 yourusername
yourusername university is slowly turning me into a hermit
view all comments…
yourfriend1 caption is so real dude
yourfriend1 one more class with professor brenner and I’ll actually break all of my good pencils
-> yourusername REAL
yourfriend2 movie binge night was so good we have to do it again
-> yourusername ‼️‼️
yourbestfriend girly you’re famous
-> yourusername fuck you mean by that?
-> yourbestfriend have you ever watched f1? does the name oscar piastri ring a bell?
-> yourusername YOURE FUCKING JOKING
yourfriend3 I’m so hungry I could eat oscar piastri🤔🤔
yourfriend4 what just happened
yourfriend5 the art faculty bathroom is actually so peak
yourfriend6 you’re so gorgeous one chance pls pls pls
TEXTS BETWEEN NICOLE AND OSCAR
TEXTS BETWEEN YOU AND YOUR BEST FRIEND
👤 OSCAR PIASTRI WANTS TO SEND YOU A MESSAGE
oscarpiastri: Hello YN, I’m not sure if you remember me, we went to kindergarten together. I just wanted to give you a heads up, incase you haven’t seen it yet. There is a video going around on the internet of the McLaren social media admin mentioning you in an interview and people are taking it all sorts of ways. I hope it doesn’t cause you any trouble, if it does, please don’t hesitate to reach out and I will take full responsibility for it. I hope you are doing well!
INSTAGRAM DIRECT MESSAGES BETWEEN YOU AND OSCAR
yourusername: Hello Oscar, it’s nice to hear from you! Thank you for the heads up, that’s really kind of you. I saw the video and the reactions, but don’t worry, it’s really no trouble. How are you? Maybe we could catch up? We haven’t seen each other for so long
oscarpiastri: Good to hear that it’s not troubling you. I’m sorry anyway. And I’d love to catch up. Are you still in AUS? I’m there from December until February, incase you are.
yourusername: Yep! Still an Australian resident:) I have a small semester break in Janurary, if that works for you?
oscarpiastri: Great! 👍
🔒 yourusername
yourusername touching grass because why am I doing all that over a MAN
view all comments…
yourfriend1 I just looked oscar piastri up and jeezus YN go get him or I will
yourbestfriend my girl is crushing on the f1 championship leader… i always knew you had big ambitions but I didn’t think they were that big
-> yourusername YOU REALLY ARE NOT HELPING IT
yourfriend2 we’ve lost her😞😞
-> yourfriend3 to a MAN of all things smh
-> yourusername YOU GUYS
yourfriend4 why do I have to be on an semester abroad right now of all moments I FEEL SO LEFT OUT
yourfriend5 she was crouching like that for a good 5 minutes btw
-> yourusername STOP EXPOSING ME
-> yourfriend4 why was she even crouching??
-> yourfriend5 he was texting her really dryly and she freaked out bc obviously that means he hates her and she wants to die and he should crash
-> yourfriend4 you are absolutely hopeless YN
-> yourusername I need to find friends that actually love me
yourfriend6 yk when you start dating you’ll have to open this insta to him and he’ll see how pathetic you are for him
-> yourusername WAIT THATS SO EMBARRASSING
🔒 yourusername
yourusername no idea what just happened I just know it wasn’t good at all I’M SO SORRY OSCAR WHEN I SAID I WANTED YOU TO CRASH I DIDNT MEAN IT
view all comments…
yourfriend1 you’re so unserious wearing a tshirt that says your tears don’t fall they crash around me after your CRUSH DNFED
-> yourusername gotta have some humour or I’ll cry
yourfriend2 I’m seeing this as a sign that he’s so obsessed with you that he does everything you say
-> yourusername THEN HE SHOULD LOCK IN AND WIN THE STUPID CHAMPIGNONCHIP OR WHATEVER
-> yourfriend2 CHAMPIGNONCHIP I‘M CHOKING
f1updates
f1updates oscar piastri when asked about the title fight and the support of family and friends for the race this weekend:
“I know a lot of things have to go right today, in order for me to win, but as long as it is a possibility, I will stay positive that I can do it.” Said the Australian. “I’ve got a lot of people here to cheer me on, my mum, dad and sisters, for one, but also an old friend, who I haven’t seen in a long time. They give me the strength to push one last time.”
view all comments…
user I KNOW HE CAN DO IT
user Norris needs to fuck off it’s Oscar’s turn
user I wonder who the “old friend” is🤔🤔
-> user YN YLN? I’m still not over that mystery
-> user that would be the plot twist of a century
user my entire body is vibrating like I just drank four gallons of coffee
user THIS IS STILL MY BOY
🔒 yourusername
yourusername ABU DHABI ARE YOU READY?
view all comments…
yourfriend1 HE WILL NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH HIMSELF WHEN HE SEES YOU
yourfriend2 wow😳
yourbestfriend forget that wanna be athlete and come home to your wife (me)
yourfriend3 your nervous f1 rambling made me invested as well, I’m rooting for the blonde with an attitude problem
-> yourusername max verstappen?
-> yourfriend3 that one, yes
yourfriend4 HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABT TODAYS RACE?
-> yourusername I’m fucking shaking bro, Verstappen idk you like that but please find the closest barrier and take that Norris guy with you
oscarpiastri
oscarpiastri lots achieved. lots learnt. coming back stronger next year
view all comments…
mclarenf1 we are so proud of you oscar🧡
user no one is in doubt that you’ll win the title one day
user not even Norris bottled this hard
user I don’t get why people are so harsh on him all of the sudden, have we all forgotten that he lead the wdc for half a season in his 3rd year in f1??
user op the man you are
user AURA
user oh 2025 you were so promising
yourusername still not sure if I understood it all, but I know that I’m incredibly impressed:)
-> oscarpiastri I’m glad you could make it🙂
-> user OMG IT WAS YN YLN
-> user he’s so awkward with emojis💀💀
-> user GIRL PLEASE OPEN YOUR INSTA I NEED TO BE PARASOCIAL
🔒 yourusername
yourusername nothing to sayyyy🧚♀️
view all comments...
yourfriend1 do we have to act normal now bc he can see the posts?
yourbestfriend you smart little finch, I recognise a thirst trap when I see one😛😛
-> yourusername BE QUIET
yourfriend2 RIP unhinged instagram posts, you will be missed😞
-> yourusername you guys are so dramatic
oscarpiastri I'm not sure if I want to look at the other posts
-> yourusername don't, just don't do it
yourfriend3 one man in your life and you have an entire rebrand smh 🤦♀️
yourfriend4 you? speechless? what have you done to my girl, oscar piastri🤨
yourfriend5 WHAT IS A MAN DOING HERE?
-> yourusername BE NICE
yourbestfriend my girl is gonna be a famous wag🥲
yourfriend6 he can take great pictures at least
f1gossip
f1gossip Oscar Piastri was sighted in Melbourne, Australia with a mysterious woman on his arm. Who do we think she is?
view all comments…
user NO😫
user oscar piastri daring rumours in the first weeks of 2026 what is going on
-> user I started to doubt his abilities
user cant even see her properly but i already know shes so pretty
user wait I think I’ve seen her before?? At the Abu Dhabi GP
yourbestfriend OMG MY GIRL IS ON A GOSSIP PAGE @.yourusername LOOK MY GIRL GOT PAPARAZZIED
-> yourusername GIRL DON'T PUT ME ON BLAST LIKE THAT
user i’m not ready for everyone to become parasocial about him all of the sudden
user not him wearing the fugly ass burgundy shirt on a DATE
-> user we don’t even know if it’s a date, could just be a friend
user did anyone see that comment from @.yourbestfriend?? they tagged a user named YN YLN….. coincidence???
-> user did I miss something?? who is that?
-> user there is a video of the mcl admin saying I’m so hungry, I could eat YN YLN and everyone and their mother has been trying to find out who she is and what correlation oscar has to her since then
-> user yeah and her account is private, so there’s absolutely NO WAY for us to find out anything about her
81_updates
81_updates Oscar Piastri, Mark Webber and friends on Melbourne Beach. Some fans even stated that Oscar was with a girl and they seemed to be very close🤔
view all comments...
user HOLD ME BACK
user I hate to say this, but I think oscar really does have a girlfriend now
user congratulations to whoever get’s to have that every night
user lmao the imprint on his chest looks like a 4
user god that girl is lucky
user I think it’s safe to say it’s YN
user oscar jack piastri I was unfamiliar with your game
🔒 yourusername
yourusername after being forced to participate in all of Oscar’s hobbies, I think it’s only fair if I force him to paint with me, right?
view all comments...
yourfriend1 turn that frown upside down😛
yourfriend2 you guys make me sick
-> yourusername jealousy doesn’t suit you babe💋
yourfriend2 and yes, that’s absolutely fair
yourfriend3 be honest, who won the race?
-> yourusername I love how much faith you have in me, but be fr who is winning the race? A girl who has known about f1 for 3 months or an actual f1 driver??
-> yourfriend3 he didn’t let you win? break up with him
-> oscarpiastri she told me not to let her win🤷 said it would be satisfying for her ego if she beat me on raw talent
-> yourfriend3 oh my sweet angel😞 THAT MEANS LET HER WIN
yourbestfriend no photo credit for the picture smh🙁
-> yourusername sorry babe, credit to you for pic 6, and to osc for literally every other one
oscarpiastri I don’t think you want to see the monster I create when I touch a pencil
-> yourusername as if I was graceful playing paddle
-> oscarpiastri you’d look beautiful while digging in dirt
-> yourusername HKDBHAYPQA
-> oscarpiastri are you ok?
-> yourusername just fine:)) my cat walked over my keyboard:))))
-> yourfriend4 you don’t…..have a cat?
-> yourusername SHHH
oscarpiastri and I did not force you
oscarpiastri
oscarpiastri 🔋☀️
view all comments...
user when hes good with words😍😍
user I’m so obsessed with his gf and I don’t know anything about her
-> user I think that’s part of the appeal
user KARTING OSCAR
user that looks suspiciously like a date🧐
user I can’t wait for them to feel more comfortable and reveal a little more about their relationship
-> user I’m so excited for her to attend more races next year
user I don’t think they will ever confirm anything you guys, this is all we’re gonna get THEY ARE JUST SO PRIVATE
user HES SO CUTE
user our boy has a girlfriend… he’s actually done it
A quiet night at home turns into an unexpected TikTok moment when Y/N decides to test a viral “will he melt into the kiss” trend with Oscar. What starts as playful curiosity quickly turns into something soft, intimate, and very telling about the way Oscar loves her when no one else is watching.
Happy reading 🤍
It starts in their apartment on a quiet evening.
No paddock noise. No media. No rush.
Just Oscar on the couch in sweatpants, hair still slightly messy from the day, scrolling on his phone like he’s finally allowed to exist as a normal person for once.
You’re on the kitchen counter barefoot, watching him more than your own screen.
That’s usually how it goes.
Peaceful. Familiar. Easy.
Then TikTok ruins everything.
Or improves it, depending on who you ask.
“Osc,” you call softly.
Oscar looks up immediately.
“Yeah?”
You swing your legs slightly.
“Come here.”
He doesn’t even hesitate.
That’s the thing about him no second guessing, no dramatic questioning. He just gets up and walks over like you’ve asked him the most normal thing in the world.
“What’s up?” he asks, stopping in front of you.
You smile.
“Nothing.”
His eyes narrow slightly.
“That’s not a real answer.”
“It is if you trust me.”
A pause.
“I do,” he says simply.
That makes your chest feel warm every time.
You slide off the counter slowly and step closer, until there’s barely any space between you.
Oscar’s gaze drops to you instantly, softening without him even noticing.
“You’re doing something,” he says quietly.
“Maybe.”
That earns a faint exhale through his nose.
“I knew it.”
“Just stand still,” you say.
He does.
Of course he does.
Even when he’s suspicious, he still listens.
You lift your arms slowly, looping them around his neck.
His hands hover at your waist for half a second, like he’s waiting for permission he already has.
“What is this?” he murmurs.
“Trust exercise,” you say seriously.
“That sounds like a lie.”
“It’s not.”
Oscar gives you a look.
But he doesn’t move away.
So you lean in and kiss him.
Soft at first.
Slow.
The kind of kiss that feels like home more than anything else.
Oscar freezes for less than a second.
Then he melts.
It’s almost ridiculous how fast it happens.
His shoulders drop.
His grip on your waist tightens just slightly not rough, just certain.
Like something inside him just settled.
Like he’s exactly where he’s supposed to be.
When you pull back, he doesn’t let you go far.
Forehead still near yours.
Eyes half-lidded.
“…what was that?” he asks quietly.
You smile.
“TikTok trend.”
That makes him blink.
“…you just used me for content.”
“I used you for science.”
He lets out a small laugh, still holding you close.
“I don’t think I passed anything important.”
“You did.”
“What did I pass?”
You tilt your head.
“The melting test.”
Oscar stares at you for a second.
“…I don’t think that’s a real thing.”
“It is now.”
He shakes his head slightly, but he’s smiling.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“You like it.”
“I do,” he admits immediately.
No hesitation. No filter. Just honest.
That makes your expression soften a little.
The apartment is quiet again.
Just the city lights through the window.
The hum of the fridge.
Oscar still holding you like he’s not in any rush to let go.
You kiss him again.
Slower this time.
Less playful.
More real.
And this time, he melts even more.
Like he always does.
Like he’s always going to.
Later that night, you post the video.
No caption.
Just the moment.
Oscar standing in your kitchen.
You pulling him in.
And the way he completely softens into you like there’s nowhere else he’d rather be.
TikTok doesn’t survive it.
Comments:
@f1girlies:
HE DID NOT JUST MELT IN A SWEATPANTS ROMANCE SCENE 😭
@piastriupdates:
this is NOT paddock Oscar this is domestic husband Oscar
@lando_norris_fan2:
he folded so fast I thought the video glitched
@f1tok:
the way he just holds her like she’s the only thing keeping him grounded 😭
During a Formula 1 race weekend, Y/N supports Max Verstappen from inside the paddock while trying to adjust to the fast, intense world behind the sport. From the tension of qualifying to the chaos of race day, emotions run high as unexpected on-track moments lead to frustration, uncertainty, and a post-race decision that leaves Y/N strongly reacting. Through it all, Max stays calm in his own way, bringing humor and reassurance into the private moments they share away from the cameras.
Author's Note:
Hello guys I'm back, sorry I wasn't posting but I'm ready to get back into it so let's start this new chapter with some F1 fanfics. Let me know if you like it and if you want more F1 and what else would you like to see.
Happy reading🤍
Joining Max on race week can be thrilling, electric even, but it’s also overwhelming in ways you hadn’t expected.
As a lover of the sport, you try to attend as many races as you can, wanting to support not just him, but the team, the environment, the adrenaline that comes with it all. But being inside the world of Formula 1 is different from watching it. It’s louder, faster, more intense. And sometimes, it’s a lot.
Max knows that.
He always has your back, grounding you with a quiet reassurance that never needs to be loud. A hand at your lower back. A glance across the garage. A soft “you okay?” when things get hectic. He makes it feel manageable.
Like him, you value your privacy. Not everything needs to be shared, not everything needs to be seen. It’s not about hiding, it’s about choosing what belongs to you.
Still, Max has never shied away from your relationship. There’s no hesitation when he walks into the paddock with your hand in his. No second thought before pressing a quick kiss to your lips before the race. And no matter the result, he always finds you after, the celebration kiss becoming a quiet ritual of its own.
He doesn’t need grand gestures. He just needs you there.
Coming back after a month-long break, the Miami Grand Prix is exactly what you expected, flashy, chaotic, impossible to ignore.
Media day is in full swing, cameras flashing, voices overlapping as drivers are pulled from one interview to the next. You linger just out of frame, used to existing on the edge of it all.
“So, Max,” the interviewer starts, a practiced smile in place, “we saw you earlier today with Y/N. How are things between you two?”
The question catches him slightly off guard, not because it’s invasive, but because it’s… different. Most questions lately have been about Red Bull, about performance, about pressure.
But this?
Max lets out a small breath, the corner of his mouth lifting.
“We’re good,” he says simply. “She’s always around the corner, supporting me and the team.”
It’s short. Controlled. Enough.
And that’s exactly how you both like it.
By the time media wraps up, the noise fades into something distant. Max’s focus sharpens, shifting completely.
Now, there’s only one thing on his mind.
Qualifying day always feels different.
There is a tension in the air that even you can feel now, not just as a fan but as someone standing inside it. The garage is sharper, more focused. Conversations are shorter. Every second matters in a way that feels almost suffocating.
Max had kissed your cheek quickly before heading out. Just a quiet habit between you two.
“Watch sector two,” he had said, like you would understand every detail.
You do your best anyway.
Q1 goes by in a blur. Cars flying past, times constantly changing. You catch yourself holding your breath more than once, hands gripping your phone even though you are not even looking at it.
By Q2 you are pacing.
You try not to be obvious about it, but one of the engineers gives you a small smile like he gets it. You give a half smile back, slightly embarrassed but not enough to stop.
Then comes Q3.
Everything feels louder. Even the silence between laps.
Max crosses the line and you look up instantly, eyes darting to the timing screen.
Purple.
You don’t even realize you are smiling until someone next to you laughs softly.
“Not bad,” you mumble, trying to play it cool, but the excitement is already there, bubbling up.
When he secures his position, you let out a breath you did not know you were holding.
Later, when he walks back in, helmet off, hair a mess, he finds you immediately.
“Sector two,” you say, pointing at him like you are part of the strategy team.
He huffs out a quiet laugh, shaking his head.
“Yeah, yeah. I heard.”
You grin, falling into step beside him like it is the most normal thing in the world.
Race day chaos:
The race starts clean.
Too clean.
You are standing with your eyes glued to the screen, heart already racing as the lights go out.
Then it happens.
Corner entry. A snap. The rear steps out and suddenly the car is sideways.
“Oh fuck,” you blurt out instantly, louder than you meant to.
A few heads turn. You don’t care.
“Max, Max, Max—” you start, hands flying up to your head.
The car keeps rotating.
A full spin.
“OH MY GOD,” you say, half shouting now. “What are you doing?”
Full three sixty.
And somehow, he catches it.
Perfectly.
You just stare at the screen, completely frozen for a second.
“…are you serious?” you let out, a breath of disbelief turning into a short, incredulous laugh. “How did he even save that?”
Around you, the garage reacts, tension breaking into quiet amazement, but you are still shaking your head.
“Yeah,” you mutter. “Never do that again.”
The cameras cut to you.
“There is someone who felt that one,” one of the commentators says, laughing lightly.
“That might be the most honest reaction we have seen all weekend,” the other adds. “No media training there.”
You drop your hands, still staring at the screen.
“Jesus Christ, Max,” you mumble, more to yourself than anything.
The race settles, but your nerves never do.
Every lap still feels like it could go wrong again.
Then the message pops up.
Incident noted.
You frown immediately.
“What now?” you mutter, leaning closer to the screen.
A few seconds pass.
Under investigation for crossing the white line at pit exit.
You let out a sharp breath, already annoyed.
“For what?” you say quietly, shaking your head.
You cross your arms, starting to pace again.
The uncertainty lingers for the rest of the race, sitting heavy in your chest no matter what is happening on track.
When he crosses the line, you feel the relief first.
Then the frustration comes right back.
Because it is still not over.
It takes too long.
Way too long.
When the penalty is finally announced after everything is done, you just stare at the screen for a second.
Then you let out a dry, disbelieving laugh.
“Of course,” you say, running a hand through your hair. “Of course they did.”
You press your lips together, clearly irritated now.
“That is so annoying,” you mutter.
Post race interview:
Max is standing there, still slightly flushed, still very much in race mode even with a microphone in his face.
The questions come as expected. The race. The penalty.
Then one of the reporters smirks slightly.
“Max, the cameras caught your girlfriend during the race. She seemed to have a very honest reaction to your moment on track.”
Max tilts his head slightly, already knowing where this is going.
“Yeah?” he says.
“They picked up some… language,” the reporter adds, trying not to laugh. “Any thoughts on that?”
Max lets out a short breath through his nose, a hint of a smile breaking through.
“She was right,” he says simply. “It was not ideal.”
A few laughs ripple through the room.
He shrugs slightly, completely unfazed.
“At least someone is reacting normally,” he adds. “Everyone else pretends to be calm.”
The energy outside is still loud.
Voices, cameras, footsteps, people moving in every direction like the race never really ended.
Inside, it is quieter.
Not silent, but quieter.
You are pacing.
Again.
“I’m still not over it,” you say, arms crossed, walking back and forth like you are personally going to appeal the decision yourself. “Like actually, what was that?”
Max is sitting, half turned toward you, already out of most of his gear. He looks… fine. Too fine, considering everything.
“Told you,” you continue, not even looking at him now. “They always do that. ‘Under investigation’ and you just know it’s going to be something stupid.”
He watches you for a second, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly.
“It wasn’t that bad,” he says casually.
You stop mid-step and turn to him immediately.
“Not that bad?” you repeat, staring at him. “First, you literally spun. A full spin. Saved it, by the way, which we’re not talking about enough. Then they want to investigate you going over the pit lane exit line. You either did it or you didn’t. I don’t understand this whole investigating after the race just to give you a stupid penalty. At least it didn’t affect your final placement.”
He shrugs, way too calm.
“I did cross it according to the stewards,” he says.
“Sure, still stupid the way they handled it,” you shoot back.
There’s a pause.
Then he lets out a quiet breath that is very clearly him trying not to laugh.
You narrow your eyes.
“Don’t,” you warn.
“I’m not doing anything,” he says, but now there is definitely a smile there.
“You are,” you point at him. “You’re doing that thing where you think this is funny.”
“It is a little funny,” he admits.
You blink at him.
“A little funny,” you repeat, deadpan.
“Yeah,” he says, leaning back slightly. “You were very intense.”
“I was stressed,” you defend immediately. “That was stressful.”
“I could tell,” he says. “Everyone could tell.”
You groan, dragging a hand down your face.
“Oh my God, don’t tell me—”
“They showed you,” he cuts in, not even trying to hide it now.
You freeze.
“…they what.”
He tilts his head slightly, watching your reaction like this is the best part of his day.
“Big screen,” he says.
You stare at him for a second, processing.
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
Your hands drop to your sides.
“Max.”
“Yeah?”
“Please tell me I didn’t look insane.”
He hums, pretending to think about it.
“I mean—”
“Max.”
“You said some things,” he continues, ignoring the warning completely.
You close your eyes.
“Oh my God.”
He laughs quietly now, shaking his head.
“It was good,” he adds. “Very honest.”
You drop onto the seat across from him, still in disbelief.
“I literally cannot deal with you,” you mumble. “First the spin, then the penalty, and now this.”
He leans forward slightly, resting his arms on his knees.
“You were right though,” he says, more genuine now. “It was a bit stupid.”
You look up at him, still annoyed, but softer this time.
“I know I’m right,” you say.
He smirks a little at that.
“Of course you do.”
You shake your head, but there is the hint of a smile now.
“I’m serious,” you add. “That was annoying.”
“I know,” he says.
There’s a small pause.
Then, quieter, more familiar.
“You still came, though.”
You look at him properly now.
“Obviously,” you say. “I’m not missing this. Even when you decide to spin for fun.”
“I didn’t spin for fun,” he says.
“Looked like it.”
He huffs out a laugh, reaching out and pulling you a little closer by your hand.
“You’re dramatic,” he mutters.
You don’t even fight it, settling in easily.
“And you’re reckless,” you reply.
“Controlled,” he corrects.
You give him a look.
“Sure.”
He just smiles, like he knows exactly what you are going to say before you even say it.
And somehow, the frustration fades into something lighter.
Guess I Have a Thing for Four-Time World Champions
Word Count: 1,717
Warnings: None, just fluff, teasing, and Max Verstappen being annoyingly competitive.
Summary:
When Y/N is asked about her first official date with Max Verstappen during an interview, she accidentally gives the internet one of its favorite stories. What starts as a sweet memory quickly turns into a viral moment, leaving Max to defend himself during a press conference alongside Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli.
Author’s Note:
Thank you so much for all the love on my Formula 1 driver fanfics! I’ve definitely been enjoying writing them, so expect plenty more in the future. Max is my favorite driver, and this specific scenario got stuck in my head and refused to leave until I wrote it. That being said, don’t worry, I absolutely plan on writing about other drivers soon as well. Thank you all for reading and supporting my work, it truly means a lot.
Happy reading 🤍
The interview had been going relatively smoothly.
A few questions about work.
A few questions about Formula 1.
A few questions about traveling.
Then the interviewer smiled.
“So, we’ve heard a lot about you and Max over the years, but I don’t think we’ve ever heard about your first date.”
Immediately, a smile spread across your face.
“Oh God.”
The interviewer laughed.
“Was it bad?”
“No,” you laughed. “Actually, it was probably one of the best dates I’ve ever been on.”
That immediately got everyone’s attention.
“Really?”
You nodded.
“As someone who loved coming to Formula One races long before dating Max, it was always fun getting invited into different garages.”
The audience listened carefully.
“But then suddenly I kept getting invited to watch races from the Red Bull garage.”
A few people laughed.
“I didn’t mind, of course. I’ve been a Red Bull fan since Sebastian Vettel.”
You shrugged dramatically.
“Guess I have a thing for four-time world champions.”
The audience erupted.
The interviewer laughed so hard they nearly lost the next question.
“That’s insane.”
“I know.”
“And the first date?”
You smiled immediately.
“The official first date was actually karting.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. A few months before we started dating, I mentioned that I’d always wanted to try karting but never got the chance.”
You paused.
“I didn’t even think he remembered.”
The smile on your face softened slightly.
“But Max remembers everything.”
The audience immediately melted.
“So one day he basically showed up and said, ‘Get dressed, we’re going somewhere.’”
The interviewer laughed.
“And you had no idea?”
“None.”
You shook your head.
“Then we pull up to a karting track.”
“That is the most Max Verstappen thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Right?”
The audience laughed.
“But that’s what I loved about it.”
You leaned back in your chair.
“It wasn’t some super fancy date.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No.”
You smiled.
“It was thoughtful.”
You paused.
“Because he remembered something I mentioned once and made it happen.”
The audience collectively awed.
“Okay that’s actually adorable.”
“It gets worse.”
The interviewer immediately perked up.
“Worse?”
You covered your face briefly.
“So before we got in the karts, I told him not to do the whole classic ‘let the girl win’ thing.”
The audience already knew where this was going.
“Oh no.”
“No, listen.”
You were laughing now.
“I specifically told him, ‘I want you to race me properly.’”
“And?”
You pointed dramatically.
“And the second that helmet went on, I realized I had made a terrible mistake.”
The room exploded with laughter.
“Oh no.”
“I remember thinking, ‘Oh shit. What was I thinking?’”
More laughter.
“Because suddenly I wasn’t on a cute date anymore.”
You paused dramatically.
“I was racing Max Verstappen.”
The audience erupted.
“He absolutely destroyed me.”
“Destroyed?”
“Absolutely.”
You nodded.
“There wasn’t a single point during that race where I thought I was winning.”
The interviewer was crying laughing.
“Not one?”
“Not one.”
“But you know what?”
“What?”
You grinned.
“I can forever say that I got my ass beat by Max Verstappen on track.”
The audience immediately stood up applauding while you laughed.
“And honestly, I think that’s kind of iconic.”
The interview clip was supposed to be harmless.
A cute story.
A funny memory.
Something people would laugh at and move on from.
Instead, the internet latched onto it immediately.
Within hours, edits were everywhere.
Half the comments were people losing their minds over Max remembering such a small detail.
The other half were laughing at the image of Y/N realizing she had accidentally challenged one of the greatest drivers in the world to a race.
The clip somehow found its way through every corner of Formula One social media.
And eventually…
Into the paddock.
Which is exactly why Max should have known it was coming.
The press conference had been relatively normal.
Questions about the race.
Questions about the championship.
Questions about tire strategy.
Then one reporter smiled.
That smile alone was enough for Max to know he wasn’t going to like whatever came next.
“Max, have you seen the interview where Y/N talked about your first date?”
Immediately, Lewis started smiling.
Kimi looked suspiciously interested.
Max sighed.
“Unfortunately.”
The room laughed.
The reporter grinned.
“She mentioned being a Red Bull fan since Sebastian Vettel and said she apparently has a thing for four-time world champions.”
Max leaned back slightly.
A small smirk already forming.
“She has good taste, no?”
The room erupted.
Lewis dropped his head immediately.
“Oh my God.”
“What?” Max asked.
“You set yourself up for that one.”
“I answered the question.”
“Sure you did.”
The laughter only got louder.
The reporter continued.
“She also mentioned that your first official date was karting and that you completely destroyed her.”
Now Max looked genuinely amused.
“Well.”
He shrugged.
“She told me not to let her win.”
The room laughed.
Lewis pointed at him immediately.
“And you listened?”
“Of course I listened.”
“Max.”
“What?”
“That was a trap.”
The room burst out laughing.
“It was not a trap.”
“It absolutely was.”
Even Kimi was smiling now.
“That was a trap.”
Max immediately turned toward him.
“It was not a trap.”
“It was.”
Lewis pointed across the table.
“Thank you.”
Kimi shrugged.
“You never race your girlfriend properly.”
The room somehow got louder.
Max looked genuinely confused.
“Why?”
Lewis practically threw his hands up.
“Because you’re supposed to make it competitive.”
“But she told me not to.”
Lewis stared at him.
The reporters laughed.
“Mate,” Lewis said. “She didn’t think you were actually going to race her like that.”
“Then she shouldn’t have said it.”
The room exploded.
Kimi shook his head.
“That’s why you’re in trouble.”
“I’m not in trouble.”
Kimi looked unconvinced.
“You sound like you’re in trouble.”
“I’m not.”
Lewis pointed toward Kimi.
“See? Even he gets it.”
Max looked at the rookie.
“Whose side are you on?”
“Not yours.”
The room erupted.
The reporter looked down at their notes.
“According to Y/N, there wasn’t a single moment where she thought she was winning.”
Max laughed.
“That sounds accurate.”
Lewis looked horrified.
“You can’t say that.”
“Why not?”
“Because now you sound proud of it.”
Max’s smile widened slightly.
“I won.”
The room immediately lost it again.
Lewis leaned away from the microphone.
“This is unbelievable.”
Kimi nodded.
“He doesn’t see the problem.”
“I genuinely don’t.”
That somehow made everyone laugh harder.
The reporter tried again.
“So no part of you considered slowing down?”
Max looked offended.
“No.”
“Not even a little?”
“No.”
Lewis buried his face in his hands.
“See?”
Max pointed toward him.
“She specifically told me not to.”
“You keep saying that like it helps.”
“It does help.”
“It doesn’t.”
Even Kimi laughed quietly at that.
The reporter smiled.
“She also said she can now forever say she got her ass beat by Max Verstappen on track.”
Max nodded.
“That’s true.”
Lewis immediately groaned.
“Please stop.”
“What?”
“You’re making it worse.”
“I’m agreeing with her.”
The reporter looked between all three drivers.
“So if you had the chance to do that date again, would anything change?”
Max didn’t even hesitate.
“No.”
The answer came so quickly that the room laughed.
Lewis stared at him.
“You didn’t even think about that.”
“No.”
“Not one second?”
“No.”
The reporter smiled.
“Why?”
For the first time, Max’s expression softened slightly.
A stressful Monaco weekend pushes Charles to his limits, but no matter how chaotic the race gets, there’s always one constant that brings him back to himself you.
Author Note:
Thank you so much for all the love on my f1 driver fics, I’ve genuinely been having so much fun writing them lately and I’m definitely planning to make more for other drivers soon
if there are any drivers you want to see that I haven’t written for yet, feel free to comment requests!!
Happy reading 🤍
Monaco always felt different.
For everyone else, it was glamorous.
For Charles, it was pressure.
His home race meant expectation, history, and Ferrari’s constant questions about strategy, pace, and perfection.
But none of that mattered the second he looked at you.
Because somehow, in the middle of all of it, you were still his calm.
His constant.
His wife.
The person who had been there long before the trophies, long before the headlines, long before the world decided who he was supposed to be.
And to him, that was what mattered most.
That morning, Monaco was soft.
Quiet in a way the race weekend never usually was.
Sunlight poured through the curtains of your apartment overlooking the harbor.
For once, there was no rush.
No cameras.
No noise.
Just you and Charles.
He was already awake when you rolled over.
Barely.
“Bon matin, mon amour,” he murmured softly, brushing a strand of hair from your face.
You blinked up at him.
“Why are you up already?”
He smiled faintly.
“Important day.”
You groaned softly.
“Every day is an important day for you.”
“Not like this one.”
Still, he leaned in and pressed a slow kiss to your forehead.
Then got up anyway.
You watched him from the bed as he walked into the kitchen.
Barefoot.
Hair messy.
Still half asleep.
You smiled into your pillow.
A few minutes later, the smell of coffee filled the apartment.
And tea.
Because Charles didn’t like coffee the way you did, but he still made it exactly how you liked it.
Every time.
When you finally walked into the kitchen, he handed you your mug without even asking.
“You’re spoiling me,” you mumbled.
“Always,” he said simply.
You leaned against the counter.
For a moment, it almost felt normal.
Like he wasn’t about to step into one of the most stressful races of his life.
Like the world outside didn’t exist yet.
“You nervous?” you asked quietly.
Charles hesitated.
Then nodded once.
“A little.”
You stepped closer and adjusted his collar gently.
“You’ll be fine.”
He looked down at you.
“I always am when you’re here.”
You rolled your eyes.
“Don’t start getting emotional before coffee.”
He laughed softly.
“Oui, madame.”
By the time you reached the paddock, everything changed.
Monaco turned loud.
Fast.
Sharp.
Cameras everywhere.
Team radios already buzzing.
Charles shifted immediately.
Focused.
Locked in.
You could see it in his eyes the version of him the world knew best.
But before he walked away, he stopped you for a second.
Just one second.
His hand cupped your face gently.
“Stay close today,” he murmured.
“I always do.”
A soft smile.
“Je t’aime, ma femme.”
“I know,” you whispered back.
He kissed you.
Quick.
Grounding.
Then he was gone.
The race didn’t feel right from the start.
You knew it before anyone said anything.
Something in the air was tense.
Too tense.
Ferrari strategy calls coming through.
Charles pushing harder than usual.
Lap after lap, you stood near the screens in hospitality, arms crossed, watching every corner like you could will it go right.
Then it happened.
The crash.
Not massive.
But enough.
Enough for silence to fall in your chest instantly.
“No, no, no…” you whispered.
You watched him climb out of the car.
Slow.
Frustrated.
Helmet off.
That familiar expression of anger he tried so hard to control.
But you knew him.
You always did.
“He’s pissed,” someone beside you murmured.
“Yeah,” you said quietly.
Then softer:
“He has every right to be.”
On the screen, he was arguing.
Hands moving.
Jaw tight.
Controlled chaos.
You exhaled slowly.
“…he looks kind of hot when he’s angry,” you muttered without thinking.
A nearby engineer almost choked.
“What?”
You shrugged.
“I said what I said.”
It took a while before he came back.
Long enough for the energy to settle into something heavy.
By the time Charles walked into Ferrari hospitality, his face was still tight.
Still frustrated.
Still carrying the race on his shoulders.
But the moment he saw you
Everything shifted.
Not gone.
Just softened.
His pace slowed immediately.
“Mon cœur,” he breathed out.
You stood up right away.
He didn’t say anything else.
Just pulled you into him.
Not gentle.
Not fragile.
Just real.
Like he needed to feel something steady again.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered against your shoulder.
You shook your head.
“Don’t start.”
He let out a tired breath.
“It was supposed to be perfect.”
You pulled back slightly.
“And it wasn’t,” you said softly. “That doesn’t change anything.”
He looked at you for a moment.
Then nodded once.
Because he trusted you more than he trusted the result.
The drive home was quiet.
No debrief in the car.
No forced conversation.
Just silence that understood itself.
When you got back to the apartment, Charles didn’t even take off his shoes properly.
He just walked in and exhaled like he had been holding everything in since the crash.
You didn’t ask questions.
You never did right away.
Instead, you made tea.
Again.
And sat on the couch waiting.
When he finally came over, he didn’t speak.
Just lay down with his head in your lap.
Heavy.
Tired.
Human.
Your fingers instinctively went into his hair.
Slow.
Calming.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“I thought I had it today.”
You didn’t interrupt.
“I know what they expected from me,” he continued quietly. “And I wanted to give it to them.”
“You don’t owe them anything,” you said softly.
He let out a breath.
“I know.”
Another pause.
Then quieter:
“I just… wanted it to be good. Here.”
You leaned down and kissed his forehead.
“It’s still you, Charles.”
He closed his eyes.
“And I still love you.”
That made him smile slightly.
“Toujours?” he murmured.
“Always.”
His hand found yours instantly.
Holding it like an anchor.
The apartment stayed quiet after that.
Not empty.
Just peaceful again.
And for the first time since the crash, Charles finally looked like he could breathe.
Because no matter what Monaco gave him that day
He still came home to you.
And after a long silence, you added softly, brushing his hair back:
“Also… I’m still not over how hot you looked arguing with Ferrari engineers.”
That made him stop for half a second.
Then he let out a tired laugh.
“Please don’t encourage that.”
You smiled.
“I’m just being honest.”
He shook his head slightly, but he was smiling now.
The tension in his body easing just a little more.
“Only you would say that to me after a DNF.”
“What? I support you emotionally and aesthetically.”
drivers: max verstappen, charles leclerc, oscar piastri, lando norris, jenson button, logan sargeant, george russell, pierre gasly, lance stroll
summary: when you have a truly awful day, your driver is there to help
a/n: trying out a new format! please let me know what you guys think
Masterlist
Snapchat
Private Messages
Snapchat
Private Messages
Private Messages, Boss and y/n
Private Messages
Max Verstappen
y/n
liked by maxverstappen1, alexandrasaintmleux, carmenmmundt, and 728,813 others
tagged: maxverstappen1
y/n: on one of the worst and most annoying days of my life, my wonderful boyfriend knew what would brighten my day immensely — meet Peaches and Apricot!
view all comments
user1: i love them so much
↳user2: orange cats are the best
↳user1: they really are!
landonorris: repping that McLaren pride!! 🧡🧡
↳maxverstappen1: absolutely not
↳y/n: the only orange I support the my Dutch Lion 🦁 liked by maxverstappen1
alexandrasaintmleux: scheduling is a soothing spa day, lovely
↳y/n: oh I’m so there
↳francisca.cgomes: then we can end the day with a sleepover?
↳carmenmmundt: does that include puppy and kitten cuddles?
↳y/n: it absolutely does
↳lilymhe: count me in!
alex_albon: oh those are some good looking cats!
↳y/n: there is not a single thought happening inside their heads and I love them endlessly
↳alex_albon: yeah that sounds like orange cats 🐈
maxverstappen1: happy to be able to help turn your day around
↳y/n: max just coming home to you would be enough to make my day better — this was just the cherry on top
user3: where do i get a guy who loves me like this?
↳user4: same
↳user5: same
↳user6: uhhhh asking for a friend??
↳user7: no you’re not liked by user6
Charles Leclerc
y/n
Liked by francisca.cgomes, pierregasly, estebanocon and 829,813 others
tagged: charles_leclerc
y/n: bad days don’t stand a chance against my love — thank you for the perfect ending to the day
view all comments
charles_leclerc: only the best for you chérie ♥️♥️ liked by y/n
user1: this is what I want
user2: setting the bar high
↳user3: let’s be real it’s in space right now
francisca.cgomes: when you’re back on land, let’s go shopping
↳y/n: retail therapy does sound good right now…
↳charles_leclerc: take my card chérie
↳y/n: thank you my love — I’ll get something for you to enjoy 😉 liked by charles_leclerc, francisca.cgomes
↳charles_leclerc: 🥵☺️
Lando Norris
landonorris
liked by y/n, oscarpiastri, and 778,445 others
tagged: y/n
landonorris: I think this is just what the doctor ordered. dinner, movies and a blanket fort
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y/n: it absolutely was what the doctors would have ordered — and speaking of ordering, let’s get pizza
↳landornorris: only if you promise to keep the pineapple on your half
↳y/n: if you keep the mushrooms on yours
↳user1: both of you need to figure out what actually goes on a pizza…
user2: soooo…
↳user3: sleepover on the highway tonight?
↳user2: oh absolutely
oscarpiastri: is this the reason you ransacked my house for all of my extra blankets
↳landonorris: it was for a good cause!
↳oscarpiastri: 🤨
↳y/n: don’t worry about it osc! I’ll have them washed and back to you in a couple of days
↳oscarpiastri: oh don’t worry about — I hope your day ends better then it started
↳y/n: oh it is!
alex_albon: I don’t know if I’d trusted the structural integrity of that fort…
↳georgerussell63: i wouldn’t
↳landonorris: go away you muppets! I’m trying to help my girl feel better
↳y/n: oh watching them make fun of you is very funny! liked by alex_albon, georgerussell63, oscarpiastri
↳landonorris: babe??
Logan Sargeant
y/n
liked by logansargeant, oscarpiastri, liamlawson30, and 823,812 others
tagged: logansargeant
y/n:
“You got a fast car
We go cruising to entertain ourselves”
I’d follow you on any road trip but especially today’s. Thank you Sarge for your unique ability to brighten my day just by being you
view all comments
user1: Sarge??? I’m so soft
logansargeant: anywhere you wanna go, I’ll go with you
↳y/n: I know 🩵 liked by logansargeant
↳user2: stop stop stop this is TOO cute!
user3: I’m ok I’m ok I’m ok
↳user4: are you really??
↳user3: THIS KIND OF SOFT LOVE IS EVERYTHING TO ME OK?!
↳user3: she really just said thank you for being you 💙
oscarpiastri: hope your day got better
↳y/n: it always does with Logan around
Oscar Piastri
y/n posted 2 stories
[he got me flowers 💐 🥹🥹][and cleared my schedule for the evening so we could cuddle?!?]
user1 replied oh I want some flowers
user2 replied my boyfriend would never
yourbff replied oh so he’s a keeper keeper
↳y/n he absolutely is…
oscarpiastri replied of course I got you flowers — you love them
↳y/n have I mentioned how much I love you lately?
↳oscarpiastri I love you too
landonorris replied you’ve stolen him from me
↳landonorris we were gonna go play some padel tonight!
↳y/n he was mine first!!
↳y/n play padel with your other boys — this one is mine!
user3 replied oh my god Oscar is the goal. The goat.
user4 replied I wanna cuddle with Oscar…
Pierre Gasly
pierregasly
liked by yn, charles_leclerc, alexandrasaintmleux, and 1,834,913 others
tagged: yn
pierregasly: a little home spa evening for my favorite person
view all comments
user1: did he really just create a home spa for his girlfriend?
↳user2: that’s what it looks like!
yn: you are literally the best thing that has ever happened to me
↳pierregasly: that’s my line!
↳user3: where do I get this kind of relationship?
charles_leclerc: I’m going to need you to stop — my Alex is sending me looks
↳yn: ladies if he wanted to, he would
↳charles_leclerc: i want too! I just know how
↳yn: like that stopped Pierre…
alexandrasaintmleux: better treat my girl right gasly!
↳pierregasly: pampering her like a queen liked by alexandrasaintmleux, yn
↳alexandrasaintmleux: good!
George Russell
y/n
liked by georgerussell63, alex_albon, lilymhe, and 728,912 others
tagged: georgerussell63
y/n: just what I needed after today 💚💚
view all comments
user1: I don’t know who I’m more jealous of??
↳user2: both?
↳user1: both is good
georgerussell63: Nowhere else I’d have you be, darling
↳y/n: most comfortable spot I’ve ever laid
↳alex_albon: you used to love me like that
↳y/n: not on my post!
user3: i'm ordering my own george russell — anyone else want one?
↳user4: me
↳user5: me!
↳user6: could you add another??
landonorris: why am I seeing mushy romance on my screen right now??
↳y/n: I know relationships scare you but i promise one day it’ll all make sense
↳landonorris: relationships don’t scare me!!
↳georgerussell63: Come now, don’t lie
↳landonorris: you muppets!!
Lance Stroll
y/n posted 2 stories
[apparently I’m taking a vacation?][oh my god Lance is the sweetest]
chloestroll replied girl take a break!
↳y/n I am!
↳y/n not really being given a choice…
estebanocon replied hope you guys have fun!
↳y/n what do you know you lanky French man??
↳estebanocon well now I’m not gonna tell you!
↳y/n booo!
mickschumacher replied I hope you have a good break!
↳y/n it would be better if I knew what was happening!
↳mickschumacher you’ll get nothing from me
lance_stroll replied I told you you’d enjoy yourself
↳y/n thank you Lance, truly
↳lance_stroll of course hun
chloestroll replied this better be the last time I see you on your phone!
↳y/n yes ma’am 🫡
flavy.barla replied ummmm so jealous right now
↳y/n we’ll get the boys to take us on a double vacation this summer!
↳flavy.barla yay!
Jenson Button
y/n
liked by logansargeant, sebastianvettel, lewishamilton, and 829,183 others
tagged: jensonbutton
y/n: apparently i bagged a man that can cook?
view all comments
user1: i mean if you don’t want him…
user2: not only can he cook but he’s a whole damn snack
jensonbutton: why the tone of surprise?
↳y/n: you don’t look like someone who can do more then grill a steak or fish
↳jensonbutton: luv…
↳logansargeant: he does give off the energy
↳jensonbutton: kid…
user3: oh to be loved like that…
↳user4: I mean mine gives me McDonald’s?
↳user3: better then nothing I guess
not_markw: where do we sign up for a plate?
↳y/n: You had your chance mark! Leave us alone!
Taglist
Please interact with my taglist post if you want to join — I don’t always check the notes on the individual posts
Summary: Meeting Louis Tomlinson, and Charles winning the Italian GP at Monza on the same day? What more could you ask for?
Author's Note: as both a 1d and f1 fan, how could i not write smth ab louis being in the ferrari garage for the weekend🤭 also those pics fucking annoyed me bc tumblr was being a bitch so i just made a collage or else i would've thrown my phone through the window
F1 MASTERLIST🏎
Louis. William. Tomlinson. Was in the Ferrari garage for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. You had been ecstatic to hear the news from Charles back on Friday, and had been thinking all weekend about how to act once you would be in front of him. However, you were as nervous as excited to meet your favourite singer and it didn't help when Charles's PR manager told you both that Louis had arrived on Sunday.
Charles was requested during a certain time slot to speak with him, which he was glad to do so compared to previous celebrities that he had met as Louis was someone you held in high regards, meaning that Charles was intrigued to see why.
You didn't know whether this was the best moment for you to try and talk to Louis, or if you should wait for the start of the race, or even until after the race to meet him. For now, you were simply engrossed in a conversation with Arthur about the Formula 3 and Formula 2 races that had happened a couple hours ago, discussing the latest winners.
You knew Charles was on the other side of the garage with Louis, probably having small talk and taking pictures, but you were unaware of the conversation they were now actually having.
"Saying it once again but it's good to have you here today with us," Charles told Louis.
"My pleasure to have been invited honestly," the singer replied. "Being in the Ferrari garage at Monza is crazy, massive thank you to your team. I'll be rooting for you today, mate."
"Thanks for the support." Charles glanced at you then thought for a second about how to start the topic, until he decided to just wing it. "Is it alright if I introduce you to someone while you're here? My girl's a big fan of yours and I know she's been thinking all weekend about how to stage your meeting."
"Yeah, no problem." Louis nodded with a smile, always down to meet a fan. "Bring her there, I absolutely don't mind at all."
And this is what Charles did, as he called out your name with his signature accent that you had grown to love over the years. Expecting to see him alone, you didn't think Charles would call you while he was still talking with Louis. Therefore, you hesitated for a second about whether to flee your boyfriend and favourite singer. However, when Louis turned to face whoever Charles had called, he gave you such a warm smile that there was no way for you to ignore the man now. So you calmly walked towards them, deeply breathing in and out as a means to compose yourself.
"Great of you to join us", Charles told you with a smile. "I'll leave you two alone for a bit and come back later, okay?"
"Alright man," Louis replied with a nod. "See you later!"
"I- what?" Charles where the fuck are you going? You thought as your boyfriend just waved at you before going to replace you in the conversation you had been having with his brother. No turning back now...
Louis Tomlinson, former member of One Direction and now in a successful solo career with two albums that led to sold out tours, was in front of you. He didn't know whether to talk first, but decided upon it as he was used to the state you were starting to be in.
"Hi love," he gently began. "You alright?"
"Yeah, hmm... sorry, oh my God..." You were so embarrassed right now, not even able to form a proper sentence in front of your favourite artist. "Hi! Yes I'll be fine, I think."
"It's just me, little ol' Louis. We're simply having a chat so nothing to panic about, yeah?"
Sharply inhaling, your answer was a nod, before you slowly exhaled. Okay, this is only Louis Tomlinson. This is my favourite singer, but we're chilling. All good, you repeated in your head.
"Is it fine if I hug you?" You eventually asked as you felt more relaxed.
"Of course love," he agreed before opening his arms. "Come 'ere."
People often said that Louis hugged his fans like a mother did, as a way to protect them and to show how much he cared for them. You didn't think it was entirely true until now.
This was probably one of the most reassuring hugs you've ever had, as you just felt calm and serene. Your mind suddenly stopped stressing over the fact that you were hugging the Louis Tomlinson, and you were now just enjoying the contact. Louis could sense you had become less stiff during the hug, and thought it fine to slowly remove his arms from around you.
"Feeling better now?" He inquired as he kept his hands on your shoulders for a few seconds before putting them back in his pockets.
"Yes, thank you. Sorry, I thought I would be ready to meet you but I guess my brain wasn't entirely agreeing."
"All good, don't be sorry about that." He smiled again, and the only words that came to your mind to describe it were gentle and warm like the sun. "So, what can you tell me about you?"
"Oh, hmm, I don't really know..."
"Any favourite songs?" He suggested with a teasing tone.
"Absolutely, yeah, of course!" And that was it, you were quickly back to your usual self as Louis himself was allowing you to rant about him. "So, from the first album I'd say Only The Brave. Could've made it longer", you added with a laugh, "but still an amazing song. And for the second one, I think Holding On To Heartache. Makes me cry everytime I listen to it, but it's always worth it."
"Wow, do you not like any happier songs of mine?" Louis chuckled. Damn, you made Louis Tomlinson laugh.
"Of course I do!" You retorted. "Silver Tongues is a masterpiece, great way to end the shows. And also every song you wrote for the band is a banger so there's that too."
"You went to one of the shows then?" He wondered. "I hope you did, wouldn't want my new favourite fan to have missed tour."
"I did, yes." Being jokingly called his 'new favourite fan' shouldn't make you blush like it did, but hey! This is still your favourite singer in front of you. "The Paris show, for both tours. I'm never getting over it, feels like I imagined it all."
"Paris, wow that takes me back. Those Saturdays lights man, they were insane."
"That's how you know you always have to come back there every tour, yeah?" You teased with a smile, over the moon when Louis confirmed that France would never leave his concert map. "I'm so happy you put this show on the live album by the way, that's like a fever dream to be somewhat featured on it."
"You liked it?" He asked, to which you nodded. "Got the album alright?"
"Oh, I didn't buy it yet but I'm planning on getting the CD don't worry."
"Forget that", Louis told you. "I'll get you one along with the vinyl and the whole package, yeah? Tell you what, I'll get in touch with your boyfriend's manager to send you all that properly. Sounds good?"
"Yes, oh my God, absolutely. Thank you so much!"
"Least I can do for you, we'll stay in contact." A look behind you notified Louis that Charles was walking towards the both of you, probably meaning that goodbyes were in order. "Very nice to meet you, I hope we'll see each other again."
"Thanks for taking the time to speak with me, I really appreciate it. Enjoy the race!"
Sharing a last quick hug, Louis left you so that he could go mingle somewhere else, before you felt a new pair of arms hugging you from behind.
"Sooo, how was meeting your favourite singer?" Charles asked.
"Amazing, thank you so much. I don't think I would've come talk to him by myself," you admitted.
"I'd be a monster and the worst boyfriend ever if I didn't push you to him. Who knows when you'd have another opportunity like that?"
"True. Now there's only one thing that could make me even happier than meeting Louis," you told Charles.
"Really?" He raised an eyebrow at you.
"Yeah," you nodded. "You on that top step after the race."
"That I can do, I guess."
"You guess?" You scoffed in reply. "Louis Tomlinson is in that garage, so you better win this Leclerc."
"I will", Charles assured you with determination in his eyes. "Do not worry even once about me, I will."
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
And he did. He won in Monaco, his home race. He won in Monza, his team's home race. In. The. Same. Season.
You couldn't be prouder of him. From the first lap, you had been holding your breath when Charles managed to squeeze into P2 while Oscar overtook Lando.
Since then, it had been a rollercoaster of emotions for you and Charles's family with whom you were watching. You had been especially nervous when Charles got undercut by Lando, but it got better when you witnessed your boyfriend taking back the lead of the race later on.
You were scared when you saw the gap between Charles and Oscar getting shorter. Oscar had relatively new hard tyres compared to Charles who had his for the last forty laps or so.
But everything ended well. Charles crossed the finish line, P1 at the chequered flag. A Ferrari victory at home, at the temple of speed.
From then on, everything was a blur. You were a crying mess as Arthur hugged you. Everyone was cheering around you, celebrating a second victory of the Prince of Ferrari at Monza, five years later.
You didn't realise when Arthur pulled your hand and brought you with him to see Charles, the entire Ferrari team coming along. And when he drove his car to the P1 spot, everyone cheered once again. You knew you were far from being the loudest, still too emotional to actually process what happened.
Charles ran to his team, noticing you and Arthur in the middle of the red ocean. He hugged you both; happy tears pouring down everyone's cheeks.
The rest was another blur until you were looking up, with dried tears on your face, at Charles. As he had promised you, he was on the top step of the podium. Victory looked good on him, it always did. He seemed so relaxed, mouthing along to the Monegasque anthem, before the Italian one resonated and then all hell broke loose. Celebrations were in order, both for Charles and Ferrari, who had once again made Italy proud.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
You had been the proudest though, you assured Charles the next morning when you woke up in each other's arms. You both stayed in bed longer than usual, just basking in the peace and quiet you were getting compared to yesterday's fervour.
"It still feels like a dream," Charles told you.
"Dreams are made to be achieved", you softly replied. "You're making yours come true, as you should."
"I hope we are on the right path again now."
"Of course you are." Truth be told, you were waiting to see what would happen during the next races to be sure of it, but if Charles was trusting his team right now, then so did you. "This was such a wonderful weekend."
"Because I won or because you met Louis?" Charles asked with a laugh. "Which happened thanks to me by the way, you coward."
"Because you won, don't worry. Although Louis was a great bonus," you added. "I'm sure he was your lucky charm, you should invite him again."
"And lose my girlfriend to him?" He scoffed at your suggestion. "No way. You are my lucky charm, the only one I need."
"I'll be there for all your next wins then," you confirmed. Whenever you need another one."
A comfortable silence then took place between the two of you, before Charles broke it:
"Would you rather be at his concert or a race?"
"Charles!" You exclaimed as you thought about how ridiculous he sounded.
"Would you, though?"
"Maybe..." Maybe not, you mentally added.
"You're kidding?"
"Unless you keep asking stupid questions like that, yes I'm kidding. Races can't be changed but it's easy to decide that I'll go see him elsewhere," you explained. "Don't worry, you're still my favourite."
"Favourite artist?"
"I can do favourite pianist, but that's it."
"I'll take that, I guess. Right now, I'm the one in bed with you so..."
"And I wouldn't wanna be anywhere else", you said. "I love you, Prince of Ferrari, Il Predestino; wait no, Il Pres- no... Il Predestinato! Is that it?" You asked, a look of hope in your eyes.
"It is yeah," Charles confirmed with a chuckle. "Let's be glad I'm not dating you for your Italian."
"Yeah, yeah... you love me too much to care about how shit my Italian is."
"I do love you very much", he replied before kissing you. "Even if you obsess over British men who disbanded almost a decade ago."
"Hey! That's low, and mean!"
Charles apologised as you threatened to punch him for his previous words, laughter now echoing in your hotel room. Those were moments you would never trade for anything else, not when you had the opportunity to witness Charles's highs after so many lows. His happiness made yours, and you would stay by his side for as long as he'll want you.
It's you and me until the end.
▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀
Anyone remembers when i said i had no idea if/when I'd ever write for a driver again🧍🏻♀️ well that was acc quick to happen lmao
Ig it's a bit addictive to write when you easily find material that helps create the content you wanna put out here - not only did charles win fucking monza but louis was there so that felt like a sign from the universe and i had no choice but to comply
Fun fact, otb and hoth truly are my fav songs from each album (i even have a tat in relation to hoth bc this song means sm to me and i fucking sobbed when i heard it live) + i did went to the paris show for each tour
Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed it and ig this time i really don't know when I'll write again - maybe next gp depending on who wins and/or what happens during the lil break so bye bye for now❤️
Pairings: Max Verstappen x Reader | platonic Rookies × Reader
Summary: You had one goal during the break between Silverstone and Spa - relax and recharge - but it seemed like the universe always had a knack to never let you catch your breath.
Author's Note: this one was so fun to write hehe and yes it's absolutely bc i could include h*rner getting fired🤭 this didn't feature the rookies at first but then i was like "fuck this is my grid mum fic, i need to try and include them somehow" so i went and added a bit of chaos at the end of this chap!
F1 MASTERLIST🏎 | Previous Part | Next Part
Three days.
That’s all it took following the British Grand Prix for drama to happen.
You were just waking up, taking advantage of being home to sleep in a bit – sleeping until noon wasn’t just a bit, but you deserved it so who cared. You turned to the side, noticing that the space next to you was empty. This meant that Max was already up, and your first guess was that he was in the simulator. You hoped that you could convince him to take a break now that you were awake as well, so you left the comfort of your bed to make your way towards the living room.
Bingo, you thought when you saw the back of Max’s head while he was racing in Spa. You wished that you could admire his dedication to prepare for the next race, but right now you just wanted your boyfriend to spend a bit of time with you.
Because Max wasn’t currently streaming, his camera was off and he didn’t notice you when you went to stand behind him. He was solely focused on his race, and you could only imagine the serious expression on his face as he was taking the last corners of the circuit. He seemed satisfied with his performance as he nodded to himself before stretching his arms a bit. Finally sensing your presence, Max leaned back against his seat, as he looked up at you.
“Hi”, you said with a smile.
Max’s expression softened at the sight of you, and he couldn’t help the matching smile that appeared on his face.
“Hey, have you been standing here long?”
“Just enough to know that you’re winning the next grand prix.”
“That’s a bold prediction”, Max teased as he was back to looking at the screen to turn everything off.
“Excuse me for believing that my boyfriend who won the race three times in a row can win again.”
“Well, I didn't win last year so my streak ended. But thank you for the vote of confidence.”
Max was finally out of the simulator, which you really appreciated as you were now able to get your morning kisses. Max’s hands went to hold your waist before he leaned down to kiss you, and you could feel his smile on your lips as you brought your arms up to put them around his shoulders.
“I have faith you can make your tractor work even if the team puts you on the worst tyres again,” you said before leaning in for another kiss.
You thought that you would be getting several more, but Max froze after hearing your words. You were talking as if the next race would go as usual, like nothing had changed, and he realised that you didn’t know yet.
You were about to complain when Max pulled back a bit, but you noticed his confused look.
“What?” You asked.
“Have you looked at your phone?”
“Well, no? Sorry for going straight to see you after I wake up”, you said with a chuckle. “God forbid I wanna look at my boyfriend before a screen.”
Max debated just telling you right now, or going to grab his phone to show you directly, but he thought that you would enjoy the full experience and that you deserved to have it.
“Just go get your phone.”
“Okay…?”
You thought that he was being a bit cryptic right now, but you trusted that it was for a good reason. So you went back to the bedroom, and grabbed your phone that was on the nightstand before turning it on. By the time you were back to the living room, Max had disappeared into the kitchen. He came back quickly enough with your water bottle – the one bearing the effigy of Red Bull Racing that you always left in the fridge to constantly have cold water – which he was ready to give to you.
“Wait, no. What if you’re distracting me with the phone thing, and then I drink this without noticing that you’ve poisoned it?” Your crazy theory made Max laugh, while you suspiciously looked at him. “I’m not going to multitask until I know what you’re planning.”
“You act like this is some elaborate trap to trick you; as if you weren’t the one who filled it yesterday.” Although amused at your reaction for now, Max decided to put your bottle down on the table while he sat on the couch. He just had to wait for you to finally see the news.
“What am I supposed to be looking at? Or, looking for?” You wondered. Your phone was now showing your home screen – a picture of Max on the podium, from his first win after you started dating – and you waited for further instructions from Max.
“Just open Instagram. If you’re lucky, your feed will show you everything in the right order.”
Again, very cryptic. Still, you obliged and opened the application.
Nothing had prepared you for the first post that appeared before your eyes: Christian Horner leaves Red Bull with immediate effect.
You couldn’t even speak, as your only reaction was to look at Max for confirmation. Even if it was the F1 official account that had posted it, you couldn’t believe it to be real.
“Keep scrolling”, Max told you. “It’s not the only thing.”
The post below was enough to make your eyes go even wider if it was possible: Laurent Mekies to take over Red Bull CEO duties. Thinking that good things always came in threes, you scrolled again to see if there was a third part to this. And there was one indeed: Alan Permane promoted to Team Principal.
“You should’ve led with that! Just tell me directly next time!”
“You mean next time my team principal gets sacked?”
“Well, no! Now I don’t want this to ever happen again”, you clarified. “I like Laurent, way more than Horner.”
“You like everyone way more than Horner.”
“Can you blame me?”
Max shook his head with a laugh, already getting ready for your next words.
“Is Helmut Marko next?” You innocently asked.
There it is, Max thought. He should’ve bet on this question, certain that you would mention the other man whom you hated severely disliked.
“Guess you’ll have to wait to find out,” Max replied.
“So it’s a yes? Do you know something I don’t?”
“I always know things you don’t.”
“Well, I don’t like that.” You pretended to be offended. “Sharing is caring, especially when the info would make me happy.”
“I shared this one, didn’t I?”
“Barely”, you argued. “But now that I know, the celebrations can happen.”
“Should I be scared?”
“What? No!” Although your mouth denied it, the mischief in your eyes said otherwise. “Just thinking of opening the champagne, I don’t know.”
“It’s not even one in the afternoon.”
“We’re already late, then. Should’ve started drinking to that the second the news dropped.”
“You’re impossible”, Max said with a sigh.
“And still not drinking”, you added while making your way to the kitchen in the least subtle way.
Shaking his head with a chuckle, Max followed behind you. The bottle he had brought you was now abandoned in the living-room, and would definitely not be drunk by you anytime soon. Thankfully, you did not actually open a bottle of champagne as you decided to settle on some Champomy instead – Max didn’t even know that you had this in the kitchen, but he didn’t complain if it meant that you weren’t getting drunk before lunch.
After pouring two drinks, you gave one of the glasses to Max and raised yours.
“To the best breaking news in F1 this year!”
“Cheers to that”, Max said before tipping his glass in your direction and drinking its content.
As you quickly refilled your glass once it was empty, you thought about something.
“You know what’s everyone gonna say: did they fire him to make you stay, or because they already lost you?” You had seen the comments online, as people had been making theories for weeks before today's events had happened.
“They can speculate all they want, I'm not saying anything more than I’ve been saying during the past few races.”
“Well, I’m still going to wish you luck. They definitely won’t leave you alone during the next grand prix.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve been used to it for years. As long as I know, I don’t really care about people’s theories. Rumours are rumours for a reason,” he added with a shrug.
“Cheers to that, then.”
“I feel like you’ll cheer to anything now that you’ve started drinking.”
“Gotta finish the bottle now that it’s opened,” you told Max before winking at him. “I’m not letting it go bad.”
“Sure, that’s the only reason.” Even though Max rolled his eyes at your words, there was still a ghost of a smirk on his face. He could express his fake annoyance all he wanted, but he still hadn’t put his glass away nonetheless.
Even though Max’s first reaction when learning about the news had been far from celebrating it – Christian Horner was still the one who had helped him become a four-times world champion, he would still indulge you and not comment on it when you eventually told him that you were ordering a cake for the occasion.
He almost thought that you were going to throw a party, but you didn’t and just settled on texting Liam as well as Yuki to express your joy. Thankfully, it seemed to satisfy you and you were now ready to go on with your day as it was originally planned: packing for your well-deserved holiday with Max.
You and Max had only been in Italy for a day and a half when you got the confirmation: Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz would once again play against each other in a Grand Slam final. You were currently on Max’s yacht, somewhere in Sardinia, as you had just witnessed Jannik Sinner win his semi-final against Novak Djokovic – a quick match in straight sets.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
“Max!” You called as soon as the match had ended. You had stayed inside all afternoon to watch tennis – having first started with Carlos Alcaraz winning against Taylor Fritz – while Max had been resting outside and occasionally popping in either for a drink or just to check on you. “Max! Max!” Being too impatient, you left the comfort of the couch and went outside to find your boyfriend.
“What?” He eventually replied when he heard your footsteps approaching on the deck.
“He won!” You exclaimed, a bright smile on your face.
“Who?”
“Is the smile on my face not enough to guess?”
“Yeah, probably. I guess it’s Jannik, then?” Seeing you nod in excitement, Max couldn’t help but feel glad for you. Your joy was contagious, and he couldn’t not appreciate seeing you so happy. “He’s gonna play against the Spanish one, right?”
“Yeah, Carlos. Roland-Garros rematch”, you explained.
Max nodded to show you that he was listening as you then started rambling about the stakes of the match – something about a winning streak and haunted narrative – and how you wouldn’t survive if Jannik lost once again only a month after his previous match against Carlos. Now truly noticing how invested you were, Max had to interrupt you to ask the million-dollar question:
“Do you wanna go?”
“What?”
“The match,” he clarified. “Do you wanna go? I know you didn’t get to see their previous one, but I can try and get us tickets for this one – well, more like invitations.”
“It’s literally in two days.”
“So?” Max just wanted to hear you say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Because if you really wanted to go, he would have the jet ready to take you both to London in a heartbeat if it meant that it would make you happy – Max would do anything for your smile.
“We’ve only been here for a day, though. It feels like a waste to leave so early.”
“We’re not that far,” he stated. “Quick Sunday trip; we’ll be back here before you know it.”
“I don’t know…” You wanted to say yes, you really did. But this was supposed to be a peaceful holiday spent with Max. A way to take a break from everything that was happening outside, while you two would be in your own little bubble for a bit.
As you were internally debating with yourself, Max was simply watching you and waiting for your reply. He knew you. He knew you wanted to go, but would say no for his sake. And even if it would make you happier than ever to go see the match, he knew you also cared about being here with him.
“I’ll be fine,” you eventually said.
“Sure”? Max asked, giving you one more chance to change your mind – he would honestly accept you doing so on Sunday morning as he would definitely still be ready to take you to England until the very last minute.
“Yeah”, you confirmed with a nod. “We’ll watch it here, together. Just the two of us, away at sea. That way, no one will hear me screaming every time Jannik scores.”
“Okay, we’ll do that.”
“Now, move over. I need to catch up on my tan while there’s still sunlight.” A smile was back on your face as you nudged Max’s leg with your foot. Despite all the space there was on the deck, you still wanted to lie down right beside him and you wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Yes, ma’am.” Max rolled his eyes at your attitude, but he still shifted a bit to the side so that you could lay right beside him.
This is it, you thought as you felt Max put his arm behind you on the back of the sunbed. This was the peace and quiet you had both seeked out by coming here. The break you deserved. The rest that you had desperately needed.
Feeling more relaxed than ever, you closed your eyes. Basking in the sun’s warmth with the man you loved right next to you? Yeah, nothing could beat that right now.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
You thought that this – sleeping, eating, tanning, forcing Max to watch tennis, swimming, then doing it all over again – would be your plan for the next week and a half. But it seemed that Max had other ideas for the two of you.
On Sunday afternoon, Max told you to switch your bikini for an actual outfit. He didn’t explain why, and just said that there was a place near the coast that he had wanted to visit. Well, that was news to you. Max hadn’t expressed a wish to go to a specific location – especially one that wasn’t at sea – when you had planned your yacht trip, and you really wondered what it was about.
“You remember the final is soon, right? We can’t miss it, Max.”
“Don’t worry about it,” he reassured you. “We’ll be in front of a screen to watch it, I promise you.”
A screen, he had said. Max had never specified which screen, so you couldn’t be mad at him when it just so happened to be a massive one that had been set up in the middle of a random village's square.
“Max, why are we here?” You asked him as you noticed the hundreds of chairs laid out in front of the screen.
Looking around, you started to notice more details – a kid with the Italian flag painted on his cheeks, a group of friends loudly chatting about aces and match points, an old lady showing off her parasol bearing the effigy of Wimbledon that she definitely had bought ages ago.
But the realisation came a couple minutes later, when the screen lit up and people gasped in excitement when a grass court appeared on it. If you had a ring to do so, you would get down on one knee here and now to beg Max to marry you – that’s how much you felt in love with him at that moment. Immediately turning to Max, who was harbouring a proud grin, you had to make sure you weren’t mistaking the situation:
“Is this for real?”
“Depends on what this is.”
“Maaax,” you whined as you dragged out the syllable. “Are we really watching the final here?”
“Yeah, we are.” Taking your hand, Max led you between the chairs before he found ones that were still free. “Figured it could be nice to take advantage of the fact that we’re in Italy while the country’s champion is probably playing the match of his career.”
“Well, he is.”
Turning around to look for the origin of the unknown voice, your eyes met the ones of the woman who was sitting behind you. She looked around your age and, noticing the same thing about you, she gave you a warm smile.
“Sorry to interrupt”, she said before standing up and dragging her chair on the ground to now sit on your right. “I guess you guys aren’t from around here?”
“You’re right”, you replied. “Just here for a holiday.”
“Makes sense. It’s not a race weekend, so…” When she saw Max tense at her words behind you, she chuckled. “Relax, it’s such a tiny village here that either no one realises who you are or they just don’t care. Today is all about tennis anyway.”
And just like that, you now had a best friend for the next three hours. After introducing yourselves to each other – even Max had done so, you then spent the entire match talking. Max would throw in a comment or two from time to time as he was loosely following your conversation with your fellow tennis fan, but he mostly just listened. He could hear the smile on your face every time you would highlight a good point, and was more than happy whenever he did see it as he sometimes turned to look at you.
He couldn’t help the way his expression softened every time he glanced your way, as he noticed how your eyes lit up and how your grin never faltered. Max had never been a huge tennis guy himself, but for you? He would sit through a ten-hour long match if needed – yes, even if George Russell’s face would keep appearing on the screen every now and then.
And when the match eventually ended with the Italian coming out on top, that’s when Max knew bringing you here had been one of the best ideas of his life. Because the way you stood up, screaming so loud that you almost could lose your voice over it, was probably one of the happiest Max had ever seen you – maybe even happier than when he would win a race, but he didn’t mind.
The square erupted in cheers. Everyone hugged, no matter if they knew each other or not. There were no strangers today; just fans of the same sport, united by a shared joy. Even Max ended up in random group embraces from all around, which you laughed at when you noticed him patting a couple guys on the back.
People danced, drank, sang, and celebrated all evening the win of their national treasure. The atmosphere was easily rivaling one of a Ferrari podium at Monza - Italians knew how to party, there was no denying that.
And amongst the noise, you had eventually found solace in a quiet corner. Max was sitting next to you, a pizza on his lap from which you took a slice. You watched the celebrations getting calmer from afar, although there was still that feeling of euphoria floating around the square. You were still on cloud nine after Jannik’s victory, and you didn’t think that you would be able to forget that match – nor that day as a whole – anytime soon.
Later that night when you were back on the yacht with Max, you could only express your gratitude. Laying next to him on the bed, you turned on your side to face him.
“Thank you”, you quietly said as your voice was barely above a murmur. “You have no idea how much I enjoyed today.”
“I think I do”, Max argued as the memory of your grin flashed in his mind. “I’m glad you had a good time.”
“It was definitely more than just a good time. That was like– the best day of my life.”
“Better than Horner leaving Red Bull?” Max asked with a chuckle.
“Oh, for sure. That’s top five at least, but today was definitely top three.”
“What’s first on the list?” He wondered.
“Well, today was my favourite tennis player winning. But I think my favourite day is any day on which my favourite driver wins a race.”
“Sounds like a nice thing to experience. Any chance I know this guy who’s at the top?”
“Maybe”, you teased. “He’s the guy whom I’ll get to kiss within the next thirty seconds to thank him for that wonderful day.”
“Seems like a very lucky man.”
“He is. And he has a girlfriend who also feels very lucky to have him”, was the last thing you said before closing the gap between you and Max.
The kiss wasn’t a heated one, nor was it one that would be leading to anything more tonight. But it was one in which you were pouring all the love you felt for Max, one to express how much you were grateful and thankful for him. Despite not going all the way to England to witness the match with your own eyes, Max had wanted to find an alternative that was as good – if not better if someone were to ask you – and that would still enable you to experience the joy of sharing this spectacular moment with others. And the fact that you had also been able to spend that moment with him? Well, that was definitely the cherry on top.
You had known for a while that Max was the love of your life. But today more than ever, you had felt so seen and so cherished that you knew. You knew you never wanted to ever let him go, and you could only hope that it was the same for him.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
By the time you got back to Monaco, you felt so disconnected to everything that you were almost forgetting about coming back to the real world. You knew you only had a couple days to enjoy at home before it would be time to fly to the Belgian Grand Prix. So as you were nearing your building, your only wish when entering the flat was to keep relaxing.
However, it seemed that it would probably be impossible. Because when you and Max made it inside, you realised that you weren’t alone. And you got confirmation of it when you reached the living room. While Gabriel was setting the table, Ollie was standing behind the couch as he hopped channels. Without a care in the world, Jack walked past you with a pot. As if everything was completely normal, the Aussie just smiled at you.
“Welcome back!” He said with excitement before putting the pot down on the table.
“You guys are early”, Liam complained as he had just arrived from the hallway with the vacuum cleaner in his hands. “I thought we had more time.”
“It’s fine, though.” Isack was following behind Liam while looking down at his watch. “We did most of what we wanted to do in record time.”
Now starting a group conversation together, the rookies were still acting as if it was normal for them to be here. Meanwhile, you and Max were speechless. Eventually, you broke out of your trance and interrupted them.
“Guys, what the hell are you doing here?” You could’ve asked more nicely, but there wasn’t time for that right now. “I want an answer, quick, as to why you thought you could break in and enter our flat.” You weren’t mad, but more like dumbfounded at their presence.
“Well, you gave us a key.”
“Correction, you gave Kimi a key.” Gabriel’s tone was sharp, as he looked at the youngest driver with daggers in his eyes. “Which I’m still not understanding why him and not me.”
“The key is for emergencies only”, you reminded them. “And we gave it to Kimi because we figured that him living in Italy would prevent any of those living in Monaco from getting in whenever they wanted.”
“But apparently, it seemed like Kimi wasn’t the best choice.” Max’s eyes were fixated on the Italian, as the meaning behind his words were obvious.
“Wait, no! I’m sorry”, Kimi apologised. “They forced me!” He then claimed while pointing at the other rookies in accusation.
“You little shit…” Ollie’s eyes were wide at the realisation that Kimi would betray his friends so easily. “As if you weren’t immediately on board with the idea of surprising them!”
“Everyone just stop talking now”, you ordered. With a sigh, you ran your fingers through your hair as you thought about your next move. “We came back here with the idea of relaxing, and I don’t want to waste all the other relaxing we did while on break. I’m giving you one chance to explain how long you’ve been there, exactly what you did in the flat, and why you believed that it was worth using the emergency key for it.”
Opening their mouths all at the same time, the rookies were ready to explain themselves and individually plead their case. Already sensing the chaos that it would lead to, Max prevented them from talking as he raised his hand.
“Not all at once,” he clarified. Scanning the rookies, his gaze then settled on one of them. “Jack, I trust you to be quick and concise.”
“Y–yeah”, he said before gulping from the pressure Max was putting on him. “Okay, so we knew you guys were coming back today because that’s something you told us after Silverstone. Meaning well, we thought it would make you guys happy to come back to a clean flat and a dinner ready because we imagined that you weren’t going to be motivated to take care of that after just being back from a holiday. So we all arrived around noon to dust everything” – Jack pointed to the vacuum in Liam’s hands – “do your laundry, buy groceries, prepare food” – he then pointed to the pot he had brought from the kitchen earlier on. “And yeah, that’s it.”
All nodding in agreement, the others were backing up Jack’s words. They really hadn’t thought that it would lead to that situation, but they were now realising that maybe it hadn’t been their brightest idea. While silently waiting for you and Max to come to a conclusion – you two were currently having a telepathic conversation to decide the next step, the rookies were sweating from stress.
Eventually, you finally broke your eye contact with Max and faced the rookies.
“We can’t argue that this isn’t super sweet of you to do all that for us.”
“But we weren’t joking around when we gave one purpose to the key,” Max added. “We’re willing to let you keep it, as long as we can be sure to trust you.”
Not knowing if they were actually allowed to speak up yet, the rookies chose to just nod in confirmation.
“We understand that this was supposed to be a surprise, and we do appreciate the effort.” Deep down, you were actually really happy to come back to a clean home and a dinner that honestly smelled delicious. “But next time, just tell us beforehand.”
“Even if it’s supposed to be a surprise?” Isack asked, his nervousness still obvious.
“Yes, even if that defeats the sole purpose of it. I love them – and you, but I’d feel more comfortable knowing ahead of time that people will enter the sanctity that is our flat.”
“The flat is sanctity, okay.” Making a mental note, Ollie nodded at the new knowledge that you really valued your home.
Thinking that the rookies had now all understood what you and Max had been unhappy with, you decided that it would still be nice to enjoy what they had taken time preparing for you.
“So, what’s for dinner? I hope you didn’t trash our kitchen to make a Michelin-star course”, you teased.
“Oh no, don’t worry. We kept it pretty simple”, Gabriel reassured. “You guys can enjoy what is definitely the best pasta of your life.”
“And I would know”, Kimi bragged.
“We also made a chocolate cake”, Ollie said. “And we bought fruits to keep it healthy – there’s some fresh juice in the fridge, by the way. What did we put in it, again?”
“Banana and strawberry in the first one”, Gabriel reminded. “And then, it’s peach with apricots in the second one.”
“You guys made a feast, okay. Well, what are we waiting for to eat?”
“Wait, the sauce! Oh my God…” Suddenly remembering about the last ingredient that hadn’t been ready yet when you and Max arrived, Jack panicked at the thought of it having burnt while you had all been talking. Soon coming back with a smaller pot, Jack sighed in relief when he looked at its content. “False alarm, sorry.”
“Now, you two are ready to eat. And we can finally leave you alone in peace,” Kimi announced.
“What do you mean alone?” Max wondered. “You did all that to not even spend the evening with us?”
“We didn’t want to impose”, Liam explained. “You two can have a nice couple’s night in.”
“I think you already did impose, though. Also, we spent the last week and a half just the two of us so we might enjoy some company.”
“Really?” The rookies marvelled at your invitation, excited at the prospect of spending some time with you and Max.
“Yeah, go sit before we change our mind.” Max motioned to the table, before he decided to get more plates and cutlery from the kitchen as he had just noticed that Gabriel had only set the table for two.
Now over the moon, the rookies all thanked you and Max for being so comprehensive and generous. They couldn’t believe that they were somehow getting away with it, and they now knew to never abuse your kindness ever again – the emergency key would definitely never be used again outside of its original purpose.
So much for relaxing at home, you thought before taking a seat between Isack and Liam. Playing grid mum hadn’t been part of this break at all – you had only planned to take back this function in Spa, and not earlier. But as you looked around the table, you realised that the situation simply felt comfortable and familiar. It was just easy to be there, at home, with Max and the rookies. It was the first time that they were actually all here together, and you didn’t think that you would now be able to have it any other way. The flat wasn’t made for a whole family – especially one as big as the one you had ended up with – but the way the space was filled with chatter and laughter as you were all cramped around the table, just felt natural.
Maybe your family was slightly chaotic – and a bit dysfunctional as Max had said a couple weeks ago – but you wouldn’t trade it for anything else in the world, because it was your weird not so little anymore family.
Thank you for reading, hope y'all enjoyed this one🫶🏻
I really like this chap bc i felt like i hadn't written enough ab the relationship w max compared to the dynamic w the rookies, and I'm glad ab how it turned out bc i just wanted to highlight how much of a green flag max is in this fic
Draft for the next chap (spa & budapest) is slowly but surely being written + i have 2 fics almost finished that i hope to post soon - one is like 90% done and the other is halfway done I'd say (idk if I'm being too confident mais osef😭) so stay tuned for those!!
See you soon, take care of yourselves, love y'all xx
Pairings: Max Verstappen x Reader | platonic Rookies × Reader
Summary: Kimi gets his first podium, and you're crying like you just witnessed your kid walk for the first time. Bonus: Franco being bullied on a plane.
Author's Note: I'm still so so happy ab kimi's podium, i was fr super proud and i can't wait for him to get others + for the rest of the rookies to get one in the future🤍
F1 MASTERLIST🏎 | Previous Part | Next Part
Kimi didn’t care about what people would think. He didn’t care about how it would look when his first instinct after hugging his team was to make his way towards the sea of Red Bull employees. Because amongst those employees who were here in parc fermé to celebrate Max’s P2, there was you.
Your smile was wide, cheeks almost hurting. And as soon as your eyes met Kimi’s, you grinned harder – if that was even possible.
“You did it!” You told Kimi once his arms were around you.
“I did it!” He echoed your words. His voice was muffled by his helmet, but the happiness and joy were obvious.
Pulling back from his embrace, your hands went to hold Kimi’s helmet. The rookie noticed that your eyes were tearing up a bit, and his couldn’t help but do the same too.
“That was a wonderful race, Kimi. I’m so proud of you.” Your tone was soft, conveying how genuine you were.
“Thank you!” Kimi’s eyes were enough to express his gratitude for your support, and they showed that he was smiling under his helmet. When someone from his team called him for his post-race duties before the podium, he quickly turned towards the voice then met your eyes once again. “Bye, I love you!” Next thing you know, he was gone from your side.
It wasn’t supposed to be such a big deal that Kimi was saying that he loved you – you had been mothering him since the season had started and had supported him through his unfortunately numerous DNFs. But still, it made you feel warm inside.
You observed as Kimi hugged George once again before Max went to congratulate him as well. You obviously would’ve loved to see your boyfriend winning this race, but this would definitely be one of your favourite podiums of the year – it wasn’t everyday that one of your grid kids featured on it. And such a wholesome scene it was to watch, as Max had a wide smile on his face while spraying Kimi with champagne. The tension between him and George had dissipated despite the accusations they had made against each other during the safety car earlier. They were just both enjoying their podiums and appreciating their own success – they also had to play pretend at being a happy little family to not ruin Kimi’s first podium.
You were truly over the moon for both Max and Kimi, so you obviously wanted to celebrate with them. And despite Kimi desperately wishing he could say yes, he had been forced to refuse:
“I can’t go partying… I got homework”, he reminded you as he thought about his final exams awaiting him.
“Then we’ll celebrate later if you graduate”, Max said with a shrug.
“When you graduate”. You sent a look to Max, one that meant to be invested in Kimi’s education even if Max’s hadn’t been his focus years ago.
“Yeah… if, when… same thing.”
“It’s not!” You and Kimi both argued.
“Have some faith in me, mate. I studied hard for this”, Kimi claimed.
“We studied hard”, George added as he joined the conversation.
“You’re not the one doing the exam, though. Not sure you could even manage”, you teased him.
“Please, I could ace it.” George raised an eyebrow at you, a challenging look in his eyes. “Could you?”
“I’m pretty sure I helped Kimi more than you did. Weren’t you the one who delegated the work to the engineers?”
You and George held eye contact for several seconds, neither of you looking away. That was until Kimi intervened.
“Okay guys, please no weird tension.” Kimi waved his hand in front of your and George’s faces, thus breaking the eye contact between the two of you. “Max and George finally figured their shit out – kinda, I don’t need another Verstappen-Russell fall out.”
“Good thing I ain’t a Verstappen, then.”
Yet, Max wanted to add. Even Kimi and George thought the same thing, both of them knowing that it was only a matter of time before it would eventually happen. You were practically one already, and it wasn’t an actual change in last names or a ring on your finger that would ever affect how your relationship with Max already was.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Despite you skipping the F1: The Movie premiere in NYC, it almost felt like you were there with how much the rookies were talking about you. Due to the drivers all going to the same place, it made sense that some of them would be sharing a plane. So that was how Ollie, Franco, and Gabriel ended up travelling together with Lando.
“You should’ve forced her to come with us if you were gonna miss her that much”, Lando complained. He was so close to texting you to leave Max wherever he was and to come get your kids.
“Max didn’t want to come so… whose plus one she would’ve even been?” Ollie asked. “I have my girlfriend already.”
“Same,” Gabriel said with a nod.
“I would have gladly taken her if I didn’t care about the risks of Max running me off track once the pictures would be released. Imagine this: Max’s girlfriend was Lando’s plus one at the premiere, I’m done for!”
“I could have taken her”, Franco chimed in.
“Oh trust me, we know.” Gabriel rolled his eyes at Franco's words, and leaned back in his seat.
Lando and Ollie looked at each other, not sure whether they understood what was going on.
“Are we missing something?” Lando wondered.
Gabriel opened his mouth to explain the situation, before Franco interrupted him:
“Nothing’s going on, no. You’re not missing any vital piece of information.” Franco put on his best innocent smile and tried to think of a way to change the topic.
“That’s a lie”, Gabriel argued. “See, little Franco there did the only thing we had told him not to.”
“Which was?” Lando asked.
But Gabriel didn’t even have time to reply, that Ollie immediately understood what had happened.
“You did not?!” His accusatory tone was directed towards Franco, as Ollie couldn’t believe it.
“Maybe…?” Franco looked away, not liking his business being aired out.
“When was it?” Ollie questioned both Gabriel and Franco, his eyes darting between the two rookies.
“When was what?” Lando was completely lost, and he was definitely not enjoying being excluded from the drama.
“We gave one rule to Franco before Imola,” Ollie finally explained. “Just one tiny little rule.”
“Don’t flirt with Max’s girlfriend”, Gabriel added.
“Okay.” Lando was carefully listening and nodding, showing his investment in the story. “And how long did it take him to break it? Two, three weeks?”
“A day”, Gabriel said.
“A day?” Ollie repeated. “That’s insane, Franco. Imola was…” Ollie started counting in his head, to figure out when it had happened. “More than a month ago! We should revoke any grid mum privilege you’ve ever had.”
“I didn’t have many to start with”, Franco muttered.
“Does Max know?” Lando had no idea whether he expected a positive or negative answer, just wanting to know more about the situation.
“He apparently threatened Franco”, Gabriel explained with a snicker.
“That was traumatising. I had Mad Max in front of me,” Franco dramatised.
“Now that’s something I would’ve liked to see!” Lando started laughing, imagining how Max had intimidated the young driver. “He hasn't driven you into the wall since then, though. So consider him being generous with you.”
“Wanna know what I think?” When the three drivers nodded, Ollie shared his thoughts. “I feel like Max didn’t actually see you as a real threat. Sure you tried to flirt with his girlfriend–”
“Extremely fucked up of you to do that”, Gabriel interrupted Ollie to add his comment.
“Agreed. But yeah, Max is definitely not the guy to get insecure. He knew you had no real chance anyways”, Ollie finished explaining.
“Damn… you have no game, mate.”
“Lando, please don’t bully me as well.” Franco sighed. “I have game! But obviously, it works better when I’m not going after a taken woman!”
“We have yet to see this skill of yours this year”, Gabriel teased.
“Oh God…” Franco groaned as he put his head in his hands.
The Argentinian wouldn’t hear the end of it until the plane had landed. And he knew that once Isack as well as Liam would know, those two would definitely gang up on him too – spoiler: they did.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Meanwhile, in Belgium…
Max had offered you to come see him race in Spa, and you had gladly accepted to show him your support while he pursued this new interest of his. You hadn’t given it a second thought, not really caring about missing the F1: The Movie premiere. Max might have taken you if you had truly wanted to go, but he hadn’t hidden at all the satisfied grin on his face when you had told him that you didn’t want to see Brad Pitt overtake your boyfriend and win all the races that Max had actually won last year.
So while most of the drivers were on their way to New York, you and Max were currently on your way to Spa after a quick pit stop back home. You had just finished typing a text to wish Kimi luck for his final exams, when your nose suddenly started itching right before your body forced you to sneeze.
“Bless you”, Max simply said without looking up from his phone. “Hope no one’s talking badly about you.”
“It might just be allergies”, you argued.
“Or the rookies not being able to shut up about you”, Max teased.
It was honestly your allergies acting up, but Max was also not wrong to trust a silly superstition for once.
Hope y'all enjoyed this!! I'm honestly loving writing short chaps in between double/triple headers bc it's like a nice change of pace so don't hesitate to tell me if y'all like them too :)
I think isack was acc on the same plane as them (idk ab liam bc bro appears nowhere) but when i eventually noticed, it was too late to change and i was too lazy to add him🤗
Also we reached 500 followers!! It still feels insane that there are this many people supporting me and my silly fics so thanks y'all🫶🏻🫶🏻
See you soon, take care of yourselves, love y'all xx
Pairings: Max Verstappen x Reader | platonic Rookies × Reader
Summary: The European triple header - or: a poor attempt at flirting, a jealous boyfriend, mother's day, a Cars screening at home, and some cuddles.
Author's Note: obvious enough from the summary, but here is the imola/monaco/barcelona chap! I really enjoyed writing this one so i hope you'll enjoy reading it🫶🏻
F1 MASTERLIST🏎 | Previous Part | Next Part
Franco had been given one rule when he had hung out with the other rookies ahead of the Imola Grand Prix.
“Please, don’t flirt with Max’s girlfriend.” Ollie’s tone was stern, indicating that it was a serious matter.
“Why?” Franco hadn’t met you when he had replaced Logan last year, and he wasn’t even sure of what you looked like. So why were you important now?
“Because she’s nice to us,” Kimi explained.
“Literally the nicest”, Liam added with a nod.
“Yeah, and she takes care of us during race weekends. Even Max hangs out with us, and it’s so fun to spend time with them. So if you flirt with her, then Max will be mad. And we don’t want to be blamed for your fuck-up because we’re all part of the same group,” Gabriel concluded.
“Wow… okay, mate. I won’t do anything so we’re good, don’t worry. I’ll behave”, Franco assured.
After this conversation, the rest of the rookies really thought that Franco had gotten the message.
One rule. Just one tiny little rule.
And Franco broke it on Friday, barely a day later.
In his defence, it wasn’t his fault. Why? Because no one had actually shown him a picture of you, and Franco hadn’t thought of looking you up. So he still didn’t know that it was you he was talking to when he walked up to you with a charming smile on his face.
“Hey,” he simply said. “Red Bull fan?” He pointed to his head in reference to the cap you were wearing.
This was courtesy of Max, who hadn’t wanted you to wear a Mercedes one. Kimi had offered you one of the signed caps that had been amongst those he had given to his classmates, hoping that you would support him at his home race. With a scoff, Max had quickly removed the cap from your head when you had come back to his garage and he had then exchanged it for the one he had been wearing.
“Yeah”, you confirmed with a nod as you readjusted your cap. You were about to introduce yourself to Franco due you two having never met, but you didn’t have time.
“Any chance I could turn you into an Alpine fan?” Franco raised an eyebrow at you, his tone teasing. “I could even give you a tour of my garage if you want.”
It took you a few seconds to process Franco’s words, as well as his attitude, before you realised that he was trying to flirt with you. You kind of wanted to laugh, finding the situation quite funny. You hadn’t imagined that Franco out of all people would try and flirt with you, but then you realised he might actually be completely clueless about who you were.
“Oh, that’s sweet of you but I already know what an F1 garage looks like.” You gave him your best friendly-but-rejecting smile, and hoped he would get the message. “I practically live in them at this point.”
“Even if I’d be your personal tour guide?”
“This isn’t a really convincing argument”, you told him. “Jack put the bar high enough, if I’m being honest.”
“Shit, you’re friends with Jack?” Franco was now unsure on how to keep the conversation going, thinking that you would be one of those blaming him for what happened to the Aussie driver.
“I’d say more than friends, but yeah that tracks.” Sensing Franco’s nervousness, you tried to reassure him. “I’m not mad at you by the way. If anything, it’s Alpine that I want to burn to the ground.”
“Cool… yeah, that’s cool… So he wouldn’t be mad if I tried to ask his friend out?”
“Jack probably won’t be, but my boyfriend might not like that.” The innocent smile on your face felt more like a warning than anything else, due to the sharper tone in your voice.
“My bad, I didn’t know. Sorry about that, then.” Franco was being genuine. He was a charmer through and through, but he wasn’t about to keep trying to pursue you now that he knew you were taken. “He’s a lucky guy, that’s for sure.”
“Who’s a lucky guy?”
Turning to where the voice had come, Franco and you saw that Max had come to stand beside you.
“Her boyfriend”, Franco honestly explained. “It seems like I was unfortunately–” His voice kind of died down when he noticed that Max’s arm had made its way around your waist. Clearing his throat, Franco was now more nervous than ever. “I was unfortunately flirting with a woman who’s got a boyfriend, which is you I guess…”
“You’re guessing well”, Max confirmed as his grip on your waist slightly tightened. “No need to introduce you to my girlfriend anymore, then?”
“Nope, all good. I– I need to go to my garage so… see you later, yeah.” And with that, Franco awkwardly left the conversation. He knew he had fucked up the only thing that his fellow rookies had asked of him, and he really hoped they wouldn’t hear about it.
“More like ‘see you never’”, Max mumbled under his breath once Franco was out of earshot.
“You scared the poor guy, Max.”
“Shouldn’t have flirted with my girl,” Max replied as if it was obvious.
“He didn’t even know who I was!” You tried to advocate for Franco, but in vain.
“Well, now he knows!” Max argued.
You let out a sigh at Max’s jealous attitude, although there was a smile on your face showing that you had a hard time actually being annoyed by your boyfriend.
“Go drive your little car and stop terrorising kids, Max.”
“He will not become our kid, by the way. He’ll stay a regular kid, we already have enough.”
“Just because of him flirting?”
“Trying to flirt,” Max clarified. “Clearly, he was never succeeding.”
“You’re being so mean, he was actually sweet and respectful.”
“He can be sweet and respectful, but far from you. Like… the opposite side of the paddock from where you are.”
“You’re pushing it.” But despite your complaints, you had to admit that jealous and possessive Max was cute. He was never this dramatic when you interacted with other men, so this was actually kind of funny to witness. “I’ll stay very very far away from him if you want, is that alright?” You wouldn’t actually go out of your way to avoid Franco, but what Max didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.
“Yeah, perfect.” Max had a proud grin on his face. “I’ll see you after FP1?”
“Might have lunch with the rookies while we watch the F3 and F2 qualis”, you notified Max. “I’ll keep you updated.”
“No problem, sounds good.” He then kissed you goodbye, before making his way to his garage while you made yours to hospitality.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Following FP1, you met with Gabriel. He had crashed at the end of the session, bringing out a red flag, but was thankfully alright.
“You were doing great out there”, you told the rookie. “P9 in FP1 is promising.”
“It’s practice,” Gabriel pointed out. “Only the first of the weekend so…”
“But that means you’re starting the weekend well!” You wanted to encourage him, genuinely believing that he was improving with every grand prix. “I’m sure you’ll keep this up.”
“Thanks for the support. But now I’m starving, so please let’s get something to eat.”
“Lead the way.”
While you and Gabriel were eating, you watched the F3 qualifying session and discussed upcoming talents. Gabriel teased you about soon becoming the grid mum of every young driver, due to you already noticing them from the lower categories.
When the session was over, there was a small break before the F2 qualifying would start so you and Gabriel just stayed together. It was only the two of you for another half hour, until Gabriel noticed a fellow rookie walking by and called out for him.
“Franco, mate!” Gabriel waved at the Argentinian, hoping to introduce the two of you.
“Hey.” Franco hesitantly approached, giving you a small nod as a sign of greeting.
“This is Max’s girlfriend,” Gabriel said. He held Franco’s gaze for a bit, as a warning for him to remember what the rookies had told him the day before.
“Oh, we actually met earlier!” Unaware of what you would be causing, you thought it would be fine to share the information. “I got offered a private tour of Alpine, can you believe how lucky I am?” Chuckling at the memory, you had no idea that Franco was now wanting to escape the conversation due to Gabriel threateningly looking at him.
“That’s so nice of Franco, yeah”. Gabriel’s tone was far from nice, his eyes now throwing daggers at his fellow rookie. “I hope he didn’t bother you, did he?” Gabriel needed to make sure that what he was thinking – Franco having broken the only rule he had been given – was unfortunately true.
“No worries about him,” you reassured him. “Max actually used the ‘scary boyfriend’ persona on him – sorry about that, Franco.”
“Oh… hmm, it’s fine. No worries,” he told you with a nervous smile. “I think I’ll let you two enjoy your time together. I gotta meet with my team to discuss… stuff, yeah… just stuff.”
“Sure, okay! We’ll probably see each other later in the triple header anyways.”
“Yeah, the triple header. That’s great, super great.” Franco waved as he slowly began to walk away from you and Gabriel, now knowing that he wouldn’t hear the end of it once all the rookies would be aware of the situation from earlier.
“See you later, Franco. Enjoy the weekend, while you can.” Gabriel had an innocent smile on his face, but his eyes were definitely not matching it. He was ready to share the story to his friends as soon as he would have the opportunity, ready to gang up on Franco for his mistake.
Completely oblivious to the tension between the two drivers, you then brought back the topic that you and Gabriel were talking about before Franco had been there. Until it was time for FP2, you stayed with Gabriel as you watched the F2 qualifying session together. You wished the rookie luck, hoping that Italy would be good to him.
And despite only getting P16 in the other two practice sessions, it seems like you had been right to encourage Gabriel as he managed to reach his first Q2 of the season on Saturday – which was unfortunately at the expense of Ollie not getting further than P19, due to a red flag caused as the Brit was crossing the line.
Thankfully, there was no bad blood between the two of them and they honestly both knew that neither of them would be fighting for points on the next day.
You would still be rooting for them to have a nice and safe race, but your focus would mainly be on Max. He would start P2, next to Oscar’s McLaren on the front row, and you were certain that he was ready to do anything in order to secure a fourth win in a row here.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
You could only stop breathing as you watched the drivers reaching the first corner. Oscar was forced to brake early in order to keep George behind him, which gave Max the opportunity to overtake him. It was a clean and precise move, which made you sigh of relief when your boyfriend had successfully taken the lead of the race.
And that was all he had needed to do in order to claim a win here in Imola, for Red Bull’s four hundredth grand prix.
Max found you as soon as he got out of the car and removed his helmet, running to where you were standing with his team in parc fermé. As usual, he hugged you first. You couldn’t quite catch what he was saying due to the cheers around you, but you managed to understand a few words:
“This one’s for my girlfriend”, he bragged before hugging you tighter.
You could literally hear his smirk, which you then felt when he kissed you.
“Congrats, champ. That was beautiful”, you told him before he removed his arms from around you to go interact with his team.
You watched him hug his team principal, his engineers, his mechanics. They were responsible for most of it, but Max was the real star today. A star that you could only admire as your eyes never left him, even when he gave his interview as one of the top three finishers.
Max then disappeared for the cooldown room, before your eyes found him again when he went to stand on the podium. Victory always looked good on him, especially when he was so deserving of it.
It was in those moments that the world had to remember that Max Verstappen was a four-times world champion. Maybe the two McLaren drivers next to him on the podium were leading both drivers’ and constructors' championships, but Max wasn’t far behind and he was definitely not going out without a fight for a fifth consecutive title.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Although Monaco wasn’t your favourite race of the year, you loved being able to spend a week at home. And you knew Max was glad for that too. You didn’t have to come back to a hotel room every night, and you could wake up with the familiarity of your routine.
Except that there was a new variable in your routine this year, thanks to some rookies whom you had adopted along the way.
When you arrived at the paddock on race day, you hadn’t been surprised to see your six grid kids waiting near the entrance. They seemed to be discussing something important, hushed voices overlapping each other.
Ollie was the first one to notice you, and he nudged the other rookies to notify them of your approaching. And that was when you thought things were a bit weird.
“Hi boys, everything alright?”
They all seemed to suddenly be nervous at your presence, straightening up and looking at each other with unsure glances. You noticed that a couple of them were hiding something, which you would very soon discover what it was.
“It’s… hmm, not much… but…” Kimi had decided to be the spokesperson of the group, but he had somehow forgotten his lines. He thought about winging it, and went straight to the point. “Happy Mother's day!”
And that was the cue for Isack to reveal a beautiful bouquet filled with your favourite flowers – they had to thank Max for the information – while Jack was holding a box of chocolates with a card on top of it in your direction.
“Oh!” Was the only word you could manage to get out before you choked up. You wanted to cry. You wanted to sob here and there – not caring about the people that might be watching. The gesture was so pure and kind, you didn’t feel like you deserved it. And with the way that their smiles brightened in anticipation of your reaction, showing how proud they were of themselves for doing that? Yeah, you were done for. “I– sorry, I’m just emotional…”
Noticing that some tears were rolling down your cheeks, the rookies were suddenly panicking and they thought you didn’t like their surprise.
“Sorry, was it wrong to do that?” Liam asked, worry evident in his voice.
“It was supposed to make you happy,” Gabriel stated.
“Yeah! Not sad,” Ollie added.
“We didn’t want to make you uncomfortable”, Kimi said.
Seeing how their mood shifted was enough to make you now properly react to their change in attitude, especially when you saw that their smiles were starting to drop.
“Oh my God, no! Please don’t apologise!” You got closer to them, hoping to be able to show them your gratitude by taking their gifts into your hands. “This is just… like super really nice of you. And I wasn’t expecting that at all, so it took me by surprise. But that is truly so sweet of you. Thank you all so much for this, I don’t deserve it.”
“Of course you do!” Isack claimed.
“Yeah!” The other rookies agreed with a nod.
Chuckling at their enthusiasm, you now wanted to hug them to thank them for the gifts. You barely had time to put down the bouquet and chocolates before the rookies were the ones engulfing you in a hug first. It was certainly not practical to hug six people at the same time, but you tried to make it work until you decided to hug them all individually.
“Are you still crying? Jack wondered, when he heard you sniff in his arms.
“It’s happy tears, shut up. I’m blaming you for that,” you told him before tightening your grip around him.
It meant a lot to you that Jack had been involved with this. Despite him not really being part of the current rookies on the grid, he was still one when Max and you had adopted the group. So it had made sense for the other drivers to include him – they didn’t even think about not including him, it was just obvious to do so.
One by one, you hugged the six of them with a smile so wide that your cheeks were starting to hurt. You thanked them once again, telling them how grateful you were to have them.
“We’re the lucky ones there”, Ollie said. “We don’t care that you’re not like our real mum or shit like that.”
“We did honour our mums, by the way. We’re not bad sons”, Liam assured.
“True. But yeah, we needed to thank you for being there for us during race weekends. Because even if our parents are also there most of the time, it’s super cool to hang out with you because you’re real fun to be around. You’re more than a grid mum,” Isack affirmed. “You’ve become a friend as well.”
“Okay, shit. You’re gonna make me cry again and I don’t have any spare makeup with me”, you joked as you tried to keep your tears in.
They laughed with you as you kept thanking them – it seemed like the only thing you could do. In this moment, you really felt loved and cherished. You wouldn’t trade those kids for anything else in the world; and if someone were to ask them, they would definitely say the same.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
You hadn’t expected a journalist to approach you after the race, given that you were usually invisible in the paddock. Not that you were fully transparent either, but you were never the WAG that people focused on.
“Isn’t it weird that you’re getting so much attention from the rookies? Especially on a day like today.”
You had certainly not expected that question, and were definitely confused regarding the point the journalist was trying to make. The man had not even said ‘hello’ nor introduced himself, and that was probably all you needed to know about him to assess his personality.
“Sorry, I didn’t quite catch the full question. Could you repeat it, please?” You did your best to stay polite, even though you could already feel like the man was about to deal with something that you wouldn’t like.
“Well, we’ve seen you interact a lot with the rookies in the past few weeks – which most people could overlook. However, today is Mother’s Day and it seems like they have been acting as if you were deserving of as much attention as their real mothers earlier today. Anything to say about wanting to replace them?”
To say you were surprised by the man’s claim would be an understatement. Was he accusing you of stealing the rookies from their mothers? When have you ever tried to do that?
“I’m not sure where you found that information.” You tried to be diplomatic, not wanting to cause a scene, and plastered your face with your best fake smile. “I can assure you that I have done nothing to ever make it seem like I wanted to replace – as you’ve said – the kids’ mothers. And–”
“But you have been strangely close to them, right?” He interrupted you. He then did not even leave you time to answer before he kept going with his more-than-false ‘facts’. “Some people even claim that you have invited them to your home, can you confirm or deny? Are you doing all of this because Max does not want to have an actual family with you? Is there any trouble between the two of you?”
Now overwhelmed, you were having a really hard time listening to everything the journalist was saying. People hadn’t seemed to care about the exchange – probably due to the fact that the man wasn’t a well-known reporter and you were just a WAG. Still, the pressure you were currently feeling from his accusations was making you more nervous than ever and you were afraid that you would soon need to excuse yourself – which might make things worse if the man thought you were escaping because his assumptions were right.
Thankfully, someone decided to come save you.
“Is everything okay here?” Liam asked, his tone suspicious, as he came to stand beside you. He had heard the last couple of questions that the man asked you, and he immediately knew to intervene.
“Yeah, we’re fine. She’s just refusing to answer my questions,” the journalist explained. “Is she always this rude?”
“Well, maybe she’s not answering because you’re just spitting bullshit and assuming wrong stuff about her.” Liam shifted closer to you and glared at the man in front of him. “I don’t know who made up all this, but they’re dumb as hell. And if it’s you, then it’s no surprise I’ve never seen you before because your work is probably too mediocre to be read by actual drivers.”
“I will not allow you to speak to me like that!” The journalist was now fuming, overlooking the fact that he was talking to F1 driver Liam Lawson and focusing on how a ‘kid’ was insulting his work.
“Or what?” Liam snickered at the man’s anger.
“I’ll write about you, and I’ll have lots of things to say about how rude you both are to journalists who just wanna do their job. It’s no wonder Red Bull sacked you with an attitude like that,” he said with venom in his voice.
“How the hell are you talking to them?” Ollie, having heard the journalist’ voice get louder from afar, had come to see what the commotion was about. He hadn’t expected to see you and Liam, now wondering what was happening. The only thing he was sure of for now, was that the journalist had no right to yell at you nor Liam.
Now that two drivers were around you, people were starting to notice the little gathering and some of them stopped for a second to see what was going on.
“I talk to them however I want. I am appalled at how rude the youth is nowadays! I am simply trying to write my article, but everyone is really disrespectful around here.”
“If you weren’t the one asking dumb shit to her, then I would be way nicer to you.” Liam crossed his arms, fed up with the man’s attitude.
“My questions are far from dumb! You cannot tell me that it’s not bizarre and creepy from her to spend so much time around the younger drivers. I’m just wanting to know the truth here”, the man claimed.
“Listen, man.” Gabriel was the third driver to join the conversation, and he was definitely not glad with what he had heard so far. The noise had caught his attention, and he hadn’t hesitated in getting closer as the journalist kept getting angrier. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are – and I probably don’t care – but you’re gonna have to tone it down, please. This is a public space, and your very loud irritating voice is bothering the people who actually work here.”
“And if you wanna talk about us hanging out with her, then I’ll give you something to write about.” Ollie, without a care in the world, took the journalist’s notebook and pen before he scribbled down some words. “Reason number one: she’s genuine, kind, and polite – definitely the opposite from you. Reason number two: we share the same passion that’s racing – and maybe you would be a better person if you had it too. Reason number three–”
“That’s enough!” The journalist interrupted as he violently grabbed his notebook back from Ollie’s hands. “I will not let myself be ridiculed by arrogant drivers like you for one more second.” And with that, he angrily stormed away from the conversation.
What you felt was an awkward silence settled between the drivers and you, as you were now embarrassed to have indirectly dragged them in this situation. However, it seemed like they didn’t care about it and were more worried about your well-being.
“Are you alright?” Ollie eventually asked, a soothing hand rubbing your shoulder.
“Did he do anything else to you before I arrived?” Liam wondered, not having been there from the beginning.
“I’m fine, guys. Don’t worry about me,” you reassured them. “Thank you for coming to my rescue, he was…”
“Being a bitch?” Gabriel suggested.
“An absolute arsehole?” Ollie added.
“Fucking pathetic that’s for sure,” Liam stated.
“I wanted to say a bit rude, but yeah those work as well.” You chuckled a bit at your own downplay of the situation. “He was kinda right, though… I don’t know, am I spending too much time with my boyfriend’s colleagues?”
“Please don’t think that man was right.”
“Yeah, Gabi’s right. And we’re not just your boyfriend’s colleagues,” Ollie claimed. “We’re literally your kids, thought we established that this morning”
“Grid mum? Grid kids?” Liam reminded you with a smile. “Ringing a bell?”
You nodded, grateful for the reassurance the rookies were providing you. You thought that you truly didn’t deserve them, and that maybe they were the ones actually taking more care of you than you did of them. But it felt normal to them: you were usually the one mothering. And if for once they could help you by being your knights in shining armour, then they were glad to do so.
Still, it would later seem that they wouldn’t stop needing to count on you when it mattered. And you knew as much as they did that you wouldn’t say no to them, no matter the situation.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Are you asleep?
The text had come from Isack. Looking at the time, you noticed that it was quite late and you wondered if he needed anything. You told him that no, you were still awake and asked him there was something wrong. You didn’t know what you were expecting, but it was definitely not this reply:
I’m in front of your building, can i come up?
I understand if you’ll say no
Now kind of worried, you wasted no time ringing Isack in. It only took a couple minutes before he was at the door, an unreadable expression on his face.
“Sorry to bother you”, he shyly apologised.
“You’re not bothering me at all,” you reassured him. “Is everything alright? Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I am. I just– I was out with some friends et… j’sais pas… kinda tried to go clubbing but it wasn’t really my scene anymore at one point and I left.” Isack ran his fingers through his hair, his frustration obvious. “Next thing I know, I’m walking to yours et me voilà.” He nervously chuckled, still unsure of how you’d react.
“Okay,” you simply replied with a nod. “Well, for starters I’m glad you’re alright. Can I get you anything to drink or eat?”
“Hmm, yes please.” Isack finally entered your home before you closed the door behind him. “Just some water is fine, thanks.”
“No problem. Just go sit and I’ll be back.” You walked to the kitchen, getting a glass for Isack, before going to the living-room where Isack had made his way already. “There you go,” you said as you handed him the glass.
A silence then settled between the two of you, as Isack almost gulped down the drink while you debated asking him more questions about his evening.
“Can I spend some time here? Just for a bit, I won’t stay long and bother you much.”
“You can stay as long as you want, Isack.” You offered him a gentle smile, reassuring him. “Wanna do anything? We got video games, lots of films…” You thought of other ideas as you kept listing things. “We can just chill in silence if you want some peace and quiet. Hmm, we can bake? I have some paint somewhere, or I can teach you how to knit. Choices are endless here.”
“A film sounds nice,” Isack decided.
“Something in mind?”
“Maybe one we might have both watched,” Isack suggested.
“Wait a second”, you told Isack before standing up and going to look at your DVD shelf. Your eyes caught a familiar box, and you smiled knowing that the driver wouldn’t refuse to watch it. “Cars?”
As you had guessed, Isack’s face lit up at the offer and he immediately nodded with a grin.
“Knew you would like that”, you teased as you turned the TV on and put the DVD in the player. You then went back to sit next to Isack on the couch, ready to start watching his favourite film.
You hadn’t thought about how fun it would be to watch Cars with a big fan like Isack, but it was probably the most you had ever laughed while watching a film with someone other than Max. Isack knew every line. He gave you some fun facts about characters, and told you all his favourite things about them.
It was definitely a moment you would cherish forever.
Isack didn’t even notice when Max joined the two of you for the second half of the film, too focused on continuing to show you his knowledge. Meanwhile, Max was softly smiling at the scene. Your eyes met his after a bit, and he raised an eyebrow at you as if to ask if you were having fun. Quickly glancing at Isack, you then looked back at Max and gave him a nod along with a bright smile before going back to listen to the rookie next to you.
Safe to say, you definitely wouldn’t mind watching the rest of the trilogy with Isack one day if it meant that you could relive a similar moment as tonight.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
By Barcelona, Max was over it. From his team putting him on hard tyres for the last laps of the race to the incident with George, Max was just done and he didn’t hesitate showing it to everyone watching.
He didn’t care anymore. He didn’t care that everyone would be looking for him, whether it was his team or interviewers. He just wanted some peace and quiet. So as soon as he came back to his garage, his only goal was to find you. And when he did, he simply took your hand to drag you to his driver’s room.
When he locked the door, you almost thought that he wanted to let out his frustration with some less-than-family-friendly actions and you were ready to indulge him. But he actually just sat on the couch with a sigh, before he motioned for you to come closer. And you realised that Max just needed emotional rather than physical intimacy.
Max waited for you to sit down next to him before he laid back on the couch, his arms going around your waist to pull you closer until you were both lying on your side. Your hand went to take one of Max’s, acting as a sign of comfort. His grip tightened around you, while he hid his face in the crook of your neck.
No words were needed between you. It was easy to understand what Max was going through. You obviously couldn’t fully relate to it, but you understood.
Throughout the years, you had witnessed Max’s highs and lows. You could read him like no one else, and you knew right now how he was feeling. It wasn’t the same kind of disappointment that Max felt after a DNF. This one didn’t hit as hard; it was just an accumulation of small mistakes that had piled up until now before eventually being too much.
And right now, you knew that the only thing you could do for Max was this: just being there for him. Your presence was more than enough for him, and simply holding you close to him was enough for Max to stay grounded.
Slowly lifting his head from where it has been resting on your shoulder, Max gave you a loving kiss on your forehead. A silent ‘thank you for being there for me’. An acknowledgement of your limitless and eternal support, which he wouldn’t trade for anything else.
Max had you, and you had him. The two of you having each other in this world was the only thing that you would both ever need.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Max eventually apologised the next day, on his Instagram account, and you also knew that he had sent a text to George as well.
If someone were to ask you, it was almost like those two brought the worst in each other. But at the end of the day, it was a racing incident that did not deserve to impact whatever relation they had off track – were they even friends? Colleagues harbouring some weird unresolved tension? Sometimes even you didn’t know the exact way Max considered some of his fellow drivers, but there was for sure no pure hatred for any of them and it wouldn’t change.
Everything that had happened on track was fortunately not affecting them off track. You got proof of that when you and Max randomly met George at the Nice airport. The Brit was on his way to Paris to watch the Roland-Garros final – which you were extremely jealous of – and it was like nothing had ever happened between the two drivers as the atmosphere between them was nothing but respectful.
“So, you’re back to being besties again now?” You teased Max once George had left.
“Let’s not push it”, Max replied with a sigh. “You’re just saying that because you want us to join him in Paris.”
“What?” You tried to act innocent as you dragged out the syllable. “Me, wanting to go see what will probably be the most iconic final of this generation? No way,” you tried to deny in vain.
“Sorry, I’ll take you next year.”
“Yeah you better, Verstappen.” You nudged him with your shoulder, showing that you weren’t mad.
“You know, one day you won’t be able to call me by my last name if we both have it.”
“What?”
“What?” He repeated with a smirk. “Didn’t say anything.”
“I–” You were dumbfounded. You watched as Max began walking again, leaving you to stand in the middle of the airport by yourself. Were you crazy? Did you mishear him? No way, you thought. But still, you had to eventually accept that maybe you had misunderstood him because it would be impossible to make Max repeat himself if you had indeed heard him right.
While you were internally debating the conversation that had happened, Max was smiling at himself. His little plan was far from perfect for now, but it was nicely taking shape. He would eventually need some help – perhaps from some rookies that would do anything for their grid mum’s happiness, but right now it was just fun for him to make you go a bit crazy with his cryptic comments. After all, he had to make sure you wouldn’t say no once the moment would happen
Ok so i fr thought i would never be done w this chap lol😭 i loved the ideas i had for it but idk it took me so long to acc write them
Hope y'all are still enjoying the fic!! I'm always looking forward to knowing your thoughts🫶🏻
I've begun writing the canada chap but I'll probs wait till next week to post it bc i wanna see what happens during the lil break in case there's anything worth mentioning (and if not, I'll let my brain imagine smth)
See you soon, take care of yourselves, love y'all xx
Pairings: Max Verstappen x Reader | platonic Rookies × Reader
Summary: The calm before the storm- and the storm - that was the Miami Grand Prix.
Author's Note: idk what happened but inspo was just gone???? Like the miami gp was just not it and i wasn't motivated at all to write it, esp when i was getting ideas for the next parts given that imola was already happening😭 hope you still enjoy this part, even tho it was made w half love lol
F1 MASTERLIST🏎 | Previous Part | Next Part
You needed a break. Max needed a break.
You both debated going away for a week before the Miami Grand Prix was to happen, but then you decided otherwise. You and Max would simply stay home in Monaco, not putting one foot outside until you would have to leave for the US.
The plan was simple: sleep, eat, drink, watch stupid TV shows, and repeat that every day.
But then, the plan changed when your phone started blowing up.
You and Max had been back for a couple days already, having updated the rookies about your whereabouts and wishing them a good rest before the next race. However, it seemed that they eventually took it as their cue to invade your couple time and transform it into family time.
The first text was from Ollie, wondering if you wanted to have lunch with him after he had finished biking with Carlos.
The second was from Liam, asking if you were free to play some video games.
The third from Kimi, needing a reminder on how to use a maths formula because he couldn’t read his own handwriting.
The fourth from Gabriel, sending you a recipe that you could try together.
The fifth from Isack, just wanting to visit you.
And the sixth from Jack, offering you to join him on a shopping trip.
You were about to reply to all of them, until Max stole your phone and started typing.
“You better be nice to them!” You warned Max, trying to read what he was writing.
“I always am”, he claimed while hiding the screen away from you. “Please, don’t contact my girlfriend anymore during our break. You’ll see her next week in Miami”, Max read out loud as he typed the words. “And I signed my name, obviously.”
“Obviously”, you repeated as you rolled your eyes. “I would enjoy seeing them, though. You know that?”
“I know, yeah.” Max handed you your phone back, leaning back on the couch as he glanced at you. “But focus on me for the next few days, please?”
It was hard to refuse his request when he was looking at you with such love in his eyes, his voice soft and almost pleading. You had to admit that spending some peaceful and romantic time with Max sounded perfect right now – exactly what you needed after the triple header.
And Max was right, you could always wait until Miami to see the rookies.
But it seemed like they couldn’t wait until then.
After texting each other in a groupchat you weren’t a part of, they agreed to give you a couple days of rest alone. Then, some of them decided that they missed you a bit too much. So that’s why one evening, you ended up with a facetime from Ollie and Gabriel.
“Hello!” Ollie said as soon as he saw your face on his screen. He turned his phone to the side for a second, showing Gabriel who waved at you. “I hope I’m not bothering you by calling, but we have a slight issue.”
“Hi, you’re not bothering at all. Everything alright?” You noticed that Ollie and Gabriel were outside, and wondered if they were having a problem in the streets of Monaco.
“You can’t be mad,” Ollie warned.
“Why would I be?” Straightening up on the couch, you were almost getting worried.
“We wanted to surprise you with dinner”, Gabriel explained as he re-entered the frame, “but we got lost.”
“Lost? Wait, we’ll circle back to the dinner thing after. But what do you mean you’re lost?”
“Well…” Ollie scratched the back of his neck, seemingly nervous. “I asked Liam for your address, and he didn’t really give it. Like–”
“He just gave us directions from Ollie’s place, but I think we took a wrong turn somewhere.”
“How do you even get lost in Monaco?” Max, who had just appeared behind you, asked. He had his arms crossed, and raised an eyebrow at the rookies.
“Give them a break, Max.” You then focused back on Ollie and Gabriel. “He’s not wrong, though. Kinda hard to get lost in such a small city.”
“Not our proudest moment for sure”, Gabriel admitted.
A silence then settled for a few seconds, as you debated over your next course of actions. While you were thinking, the rookies were already expecting you to tell them to go home and forget about their surprise dinner. But you thought about how sweet it was of them, and decided to welcome them to your home after you exchanged a glance of confirmation with Max.
“Tell you what: Gabriel, I’ll text you my address and you look it up. Ollie, you stay on the phone with me and I’ll guide you if necessary. Does that sound good?”
“Yes, thank you so much!” Ollie’s smile was bright and wide on your screen. “You won’t regret it, I promise.”
“I’ll set the table, then”. Max sighed and then left from where he had been standing behind you, walking to the kitchen.
For the next ten minutes or so, you stayed on facetime with Ollie. You could hear Gabriel guiding him through the streets of Monaco, occasionally confirming to him that it was the right way. Then, the two rookies eventually arrived in front of your building and you hung up before ringing them in.
It seemed that they hadn’t been lying about their so-called surprise dinner, as you noticed that they both had their hands full with bags when they entered. You helped them settle everything down on the counter, putting out the food as they listed what they had brought.
“Okay, so I made mini pizzas. Like loads of them with different garnitures, we just gotta cook them. I also brought muffins – Liam recommended a place where he bought some when he was here.”
“Thank you so much, Ollie.” You smiled at him, before handing the pizzas to Max for him to put them in the oven.
“And I brought feijoada, which my mum helped me make. It’s a specialty from back home,” Gabriel explained.
“Okay, wow. This all sounds great, thank you boys.” You didn’t think your smile could get bigger, but it did. “Go sit down if you want, Max and I will finish preparing everything.”
“You’re sure?” Gabriel asked. “We can help.”
“Yeah, we definitely can!” Ollie agreed with a passionate nod.
“It’s fine, don't worry. Just go and watch some TV,” Max told them as he motioned to the living-room. “We’ll take care of the rest, thanks for the food.”
“No problem”, Ollie said before he and Gabriel went to sit on the couch.
The rookies observed the room, trying to look for every little detail that would help them know more about you and Max. They obviously noticed the rather out-of-place simulator, which was a harsh contrast to the carefully decorated shelf next to it. They saw that there were a lot of pictures of you and Max throughout the years, amongst which a few seemed to have been taken during race weekends.
After they had analysed almost every picture depicting yours and Max’s love story, they decided to follow Max’s instructions and turned on the TV to find something to watch while waiting for the food to heat. Meanwhile, you and Max were still in the kitchen.
“So much for a bit of peace before Miami,” Max mumbled into your shoulder as he hugged you from behind.
“I know, I’m sorry. But how could I have refused when they just wanted to get dinner with us?”
“It’s okay,” Max assured you. “They’re lucky they didn’t try to pull this move last week because you were all mine.”
“I’m always yours, though. You know that,” you reminded him as you turned around to face him.
“Except when I have to share you with the kids”, Max said. His arms were around your waist, which helped him pull you closer to him.
“Even then, I’m still yours.” Your tone was soft and loving, almost making Max fall all over again for you. You gave him a kiss during which you felt him smile against your lips, before you escaped his hold. “Gonna check on the food, wait.”
Max leaned back against the counter as he observed you making your way around the kitchen, opening the oven and carefully looking at the food as if it would tell you itself that it was ready. You confirmed to Max that it was indeed good to go, and you both brought the food to the table.
“What are you kids watching?” Max asked as he stood behind the couch where Ollie and Gabriel were sitting.
“Still channel-hopping,” Gabriel replied. “We’ll just turn off the TV anyways if we’re eating.”
“Wait, no. Check the sports channel first,” you requested.
The Brazilian driver did as he was told, suddenly aware of how focused you were on the TV as you were waiting to see what was on. A couple seconds later, burnt orange filled the screen as the sound of applause could be heard.
“Okay, that seems like a good one.” You quickly sat down next to Ollie, waiting to see more info about what was happening. “Food is ready, by the way. So we can eat after they finally show who the hell is playing.”
Fortunately for you, and unfortunately for the drivers, there was a tennis match ongoing. As soon as you were aware of the current score and watched a couple points, you reluctantly got up from the couch and made your way to the table – your eyes weren’t leaving the TV and Max knew he now had to explain your attitude to the rookies.
“We’re done for, guys.” Max sighed, as he shook his head with a smile on his face. “She won’t pay attention to us if there’s tennis.”
“That’s a lie!” You denied. “I’ll talk to you during changeovers”, you told them with an innocent smile.
“Do you like those players?” Ollie wondered. “I never knew you followed tennis.”
“Because I have to pretend to like the padel you all seem to enjoy so much.” You tried to be dramatic, but there was honestly a part of truth. Padel wasn’t as entertaining as tennis to you, and you were definitely complaining everytime Max wanted to talk to you about it. “Tennis is superior, and you need to realise it.”
“You’re very passionate about it”, Gabriel pointed out.
“Trust me, she is. I remember when Sinner was in Abu Dhabi last year, she begged me to arrange a meeting between them.” Max was teasing you, never planning on letting you live this down.
“Because you were literally hiding the fact that you had met him!” You reminded him. “I had to hear about it from Oscar, who casually mentions my favourite player is in the same paddock as me.”
“Oh, I met him too!” Ollie added. “He’s such a nice guy, really cool too!”
“And that’s why he’s my back-up plan if Max ever leaves me. Those two would be as well if they weren’t happily taken,” you said as you pointed to the TV where Ruud and Fritz were playing.
“Once again, I am not planning on ever leaving you because you are happily taken too”
“You better not,” Gabriel warned. “We’ll take her side anyway.”
“True”, Ollie agreed with a confident nod.
You laughed at the support the rookies were showing you, knowing that you would win custody against Max. Not that you would ever have to fight him for it, because Max would soon make sure that you were tied to him for life.
Although it had become kind of a late dinner due to Ollie and Gabriel getting lost, the four of you still enjoyed the food while the tennis match was playing in the background. You thanked the rookies for taking the time to cook, complimenting their skills that easily surpassed Max’s – he tried to accuse you of lying, but you both knew that Max was a good cook only if you were not far away from him and the dish was simple enough.
If anyone were to observe the scene that was taking place, they could only be able to guess that you were a real family. You and Max might be seen as very young parents, probably victims of teen pregnancy, but the love and care that you were giving the rookies would be extremely obvious to everyone around you.
You thought that you would only be talking about racing with three drivers sitting at the table, but you realised that you had more in common as you all shared bits and pieces of information about your respective lives. The rookies told you about their girlfriends with wide smiles, and Gabriel promised to introduce you to his in Miami. You told them about the first time you went on Max’s jet, still unable to properly register how normal it was for him.
The atmosphere was warm and light-hearted just like when Jack and Liam had been here, but this was still a unique moment. A moment that would only belong to you, Max, Ollie, and Gabriel.
It was quite late when you were done with dinner. You were munching on the last muffin – the three men having silently agreed on leaving it for you – as you noticed the time.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
“We won’t have any right to complain about the new timezone if we don’t make any effort to rest before having to adjust to it”, you pointed out.
“I’m comfortable here, though. But I hate that you’re right”, Ollie sighed as he reluctantly got up.
“You’ll come to realise that she’s always right”, Max joked.
“I already realised that you are always on her side”, Gabriel said.
“Because it’s either I’m right or he’s wrong”, you explained. Seeing the gears turning in Ollie’s and Gabriel’s heads was hilarious as they tried to understand your words. “Do you want us to walk you back? Monaco’s pretty safe but I wouldn’t want you to get lost, again.”
“We should be fine”, Ollie assured.
“I’ll walk you back, don’t worry. That’ll be the post-meal physical activity”, Max said as he stretched his arms.
“I’m coming too, then. Nothing like a good late-night walk.” You were ready to put on your shoes like the drivers, until Max stopped you.
“You can stay here,” Max told you. “Finish watching your little match and tell me all about it when I’m back, okay? I’ll bring them home safely.”
You nodded, before kissing Max on the cheek and hugging the rookies goodbye. They thanked you for the hundredth time to have welcomed them into your home, and wished you a good night. You would next see them in Miami for the upcoming race weekend, hoping that this one would be good to them.
When the drivers left, you immediately went back to watching tennis as told by your boyfriend while he led Ollie and Gabriel in the streets of Monaco.
“Sorry if it annoyed you that we came tonight,” Gabriel eventually said. “We just wanted to spend time with you and her.”
“Mostly her,” Ollie added with a teasing tone. “But yeah, I know we were supposed to wait until Miami.”
“Which we absolutely didn’t”, Gabriel concluded.
“I would have refused if I didn’t want you there,” Max told them. “I know I was all grumpy about it last week, but tonight was actually nice. And it makes her happy as well to see you, so I won’t go against that. Plus, the food was great so thanks for that because we were actually ordering way too much take out recently.”
“Next time, we’ll call before we go out and not while we’re in the middle of going to yours.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Max put his arms around Gabriel’s shoulders. “Or I’ll tell Fernando to drop you, I don’t know.”
“You do know you don’t sound really threatening right now?” Ollie pointed out.
“Because I’m not trying to be,” Max admitted.
This was the type of conversation Max enjoyed having with the rookies: pretending to be a bit mad with their overwhelming presence when he was actually soft around them, almost showing them more love than you did. But Ollie and Gabriel knew that Max was being genuine. They had eventually heard a bit more from Liam and Jack’s dinner, which confirmed that it was just Max’s personality.
It highlighted how well you and Max worked together: you were the extroverted one and he was more introverted, but deep down you were both the same. Max was more subtle: he didn’t use his words as much as you did, rather showing things through actions that could sometimes go unnoticed. You loved loudly and proudly, while he did it more quietly in ways that felt just as meaningful.
And this was how it went with the rookies, which was something they wouldn’t trade for anything else in the world.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
If anyone asked you how you would describe Miami this year, you would answer that it was… eventful.
And not necessarily in a good way.
It had started somehow fine.
Although flashy and packed with celebrities, the atmosphere was one of your favourites. Sure, you didn’t think that three races in the US were needed; but they knew how to bring out good vibes.
Friday had gone particularly well; you were especially happy for Max and Isack, but even more for Kimi. After a good FP1 session, Kimi had become the youngest pole sitter in the history of Formula 1 during the Sprint Qualifying. Barely four hundredths were putting him in front of Oscar, and you could only hope that Kimi wouldn’t trample down the grid to get his first F1 podium.
“I’m so so proud of you Kimi”, you had told him once he was done with his interviews. “That’s a huge achievement, congrats!”
“Thank you!” Kimi was beaming with happiness, over the moon due to his performance. “I don’t know if I can keep the lead tomorrow, but I’ll try my best to at least stay within points.”
“I’m sure you’ll do great,” you encouraged him.
“Also, small request: can you tell your boyfriend to let me get a podium?” Kimi was mostly joking, but he knew he would be under threat from Max who was starting right behind the two McLaren.
“I could try, but no promises.” You chuckled at Kimi’s words, knowing that Max would do everything in his power to get above his starting position and you couldn’t do anything against it.
For once in your life, you were clearly going to be supporting someone other than Max. Kimi definitely deserved his sprint pole, and he was also absolutely deserving of a win one day. Maybe it wouldn’t happen in his rookie year, but points had been a constant result for him and a podium was therefore at least possible before the end of the season.
Still, you would obviously be rooting for your boyfriend too and that’s what you did on the next day during the sprint race. But then, everything went downhill: Red Bull messed up Max's pit stop, which led him to an unsafe release as he slightly collided with Kimi who was in the pit lane to box as well.
You couldn’t help but wince as the TV showed the replay of the incident, and you hoped that it wasn’t going to put either of them at a disadvantage given that Kimi hadn’t had the opportunity to actually change his tyres. Even if it hadn’t been Max’s fault, he would still get penalised from his team’s mistake and that would eventually lead to the less than glorious result that was P17.
Safe to say, Miami wasn’t treating your boyfriend nor the rookies well for now. The groan you let out when you saw Max’s name dropping to the last place was filled with annoyance at Red Bull, as you cursed them in your head. Due to the safety car that had been triggered by Alonso crashing a couple laps before the end, the gaps had been so close between everyone that Max didn’t have a chance of at least staying in points.
The weekend hadn’t really started as a lucky one for Max. But fortunately, he proved to everyone that he was still at the top of his game when he put his car on pole later in the afternoon during qualifying. The margins were really close between Max and the cars behind – barely a few hundreds of a second separating each driver. Kimi would eventually get another chance at a podium, starting P3 on the grid, while the rest of the rookies were scattered once again outside of points.
You wanted to be hopeful, wishing for your boyfriend and grid kids to have a good race. Max would get a second opportunity at winning something in Miami this weekend, and Gabriel would be ever so close to finally scoring points as he had reached his first Q2 of the season.
You wanted everyone to do well, you really did.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
However, things didn’t go as you wished and you were now clearly unwell after the race – it almost made you think that you were actually cursing the drivers with your hopes and support.
Max going from pole position to right outside the podium was something – the McLaren were in a whole other league this weekend, but four out of the six rookies DNFing was worse. You didn’t think a race this year would be as traumatising as Melbourne, and yet here you were in Miami.
Thankfully, everyone was physically fine. It was the mentally part that you couldn’t be sure about, though. It was really a sharp contrast from the joy the drivers had all felt earlier during the Lego cars race that had replaced the traditional drivers’ parade. They had all been so happy, having fun like little kids opening their presents on Christmas day.
And now, it almost seemed like they had spent a day experiencing the horrors of Ferrari with how down they all were.
“I wish we were legal so you could take us out drinking”, Ollie told you with a sigh. “We need to drown our sorrows in alcohol.”
“Even if you were, we’re not getting drunk to forget the race. Usually we get drunk to celebrate the race,” you clarified.
“Then we get drunk to celebrate my P6?” Kimi suggested.
“Shouldn’t you be working on your homework instead?” Liam teased. “It’s almost past your bedtime, and you wanna be drinking.”
The other rookies snickered at Liam’s words, while Kimi frowned.
“Says the guy who didn’t even finish the race…” Kimi mumbled, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Okay, that’s it. No race talk anymore”, you warned. You weren’t about to hear any more comments about the race results, knowing that they could still hurt some of the drivers even when disguised as a joke. “We’re not going out to drink. I think we all need a good night of sleep, so I suggest you get back to your hotel rooms and rest. Is that okay with everyone?”
“Yes, mum.”
Despite their voices being filled with sarcasm, you couldn’t help the smile that appeared on your face. You would never dare consider yourself their actual parent, but being their grid mum always left a warm feeling in your chest whenever you remembered that they actually enjoyed your presence.
After agreeing to get some sleep – and also realising that they definitely had early flights the next day, the rookies reluctantly left you alone. Bidding them goodbye, you didn’t hesitate to give a longer hug to the ones who’d had unlucky races. You could feel the way they were holding you a bit tighter than the others, not really wanting to let go of the comfort you were providing them.
Now alone, you decided to find Max. He had told you earlier after the race how he wanted to spend a bit of time on his own, which you didn’t mind. It only took him one second to answer your call, and the loud background noise that could be heard made you think that he wasn’t on his own anymore.
“So much for alone time?” You rhetorically asked with a scoff.
“Well, Lando and George were quite persuasive. Wanna join us? I could really use some moral support after this difficult weekend.” Max’s tone could only indicate that he was exaggerating, as a dramatic sigh left his mouth.
“You’re asking so nicely, how could I say no? Text me your location and I’ll be there when I can,” you told Max. Looking down at your outfit, you figured it could survive a longer night than planned.
Max was over the moon when he saw you walk up to him – the alcohol in his blood definitely made him happier – and you were immediately engulfed into a hug when you were within his reach. Chuckling at his attitude, you then didn’t hesitate to kiss back when Max’s lips were suddenly on yours.
“No PDA tonight, please.” Lando’s voice interrupted your kiss with Max. Putting an arm around your shoulders, Lando tried to pull you away from your needy boyfriend. “You, my friend, are going to be drinking the night away with us. The party can finally start now that we have the better Verstappen here!”
“She’s not a Verstappen yet, Lando.”
“Yet?” You repeated with a smirk. “You plan on marrying me one day, then?”
“Of course, I’d be dumb not to.”
If you and Max were having this conversation just the two of you in a quiet place, maybe it would’ve been romantic. But the loud music combined with Max being more than tipsy, as well as Lando third-wheeling, just made the moment funny to you.
“Glad we’ve cleared up the obvious,” Lando said in reference to you and Max being married in the future. “Now, it’s time to have fun!”
Finally pulling you away from Max, Lando led you towards the bar where George already was.
One shot turned into two, then three. Soon enough, you weren’t really counting anymore and were simply enjoying the night. You danced with Lando – terrible dancer when sober and even worse when drunk, then with George – you had to admit he had some moves, before finding yourself in Max’s arms once again.
You were definitely having the most fun ever. It was always chaotic to party with drivers, but you didn’t care about how loud the music was or how drunk you were getting when the atmosphere was just the right one.
And maybe you would regret it the next morning, especially when your head would be throbbing in pain, but for now you weren’t thinking about the consequences.
Except that one consequence would eventually be a dozen texts from the rookies who had seen you partying – courtesy of Lando who had posted pictures – after you had told them to go to sleep early.
So much for resting
Hope the hungover was worth lying to your KIDS – Gabi
“Good night of sleep” she said🙄 – Liam
Can’t believe that “WE are not going out drinking” was actually just meant for us – Kimi
That’s like next level betrayal💔💔
We might forgive, but we won’t forget – Ollie
Unbelievable… – Isack
The fact that I was legally allowed to come with you – Jack
Thank you sm for reading🫶🏻🫶🏻 hope you liked this chap!!
Next one should be out before monaco, and it'll be a v short part focused on jack after he got sacked by alpine (I'm still sad and heartbroken for him😔)
Don't hesitate to like, reblog, or comment<3 also you can request some stuff you'd want to happen next and I'll do my best to include it if it works w what i planned to write :)
See you soon, take care of yourselves, love y'all xx
Pairings: Max Verstappen x Reader | platonic Rookies × Reader
Summary: Triple headers are tiring, especially when you have to take care of both your boyfriend and your grid kids.
Author's Note: okayy ig grid mum is officially a series now haha i fr never would've thought that I'd write anything else than one-shots but I've been surprisingly enjoying it + the love y'all are giving is insane so thank you sm for the support🤍🤍
F1 MASTERLIST🏎 | Previous Part | Next Part
Although you weren’t the one racing, triple headers were more exhausting than you remembered.
It was one thing to just accompany your boyfriend. But it was another to also have to take care of six other people.
First, there was Japan.
Thankfully, there had been the break after China; but when you had arrived in Japan alongside Max, Jack, and Liam, the other rookies had swarmed you. From Kimi asking why he wasn’t invited to fly on Max’s jet – “you were literally in Italy for school”, you had replied – to Gabriel complaining that you were playing favourites, you were definitely not catching a break anytime soon.
So you now had to make sure that everyone managed to get time with you – and Max, although the rookies cared more about you than your boyfriend – each weekend and started organising your own race schedule. You tried your best to equally split your time between the six of them, and asked them to make an effort as well. They couldn’t expect you to always only spend one-on-one time with them, so they agreed to hang out with you in duos or trios. Your main argument had been that this way, they could even see you multiple times during the weekend and that’s how you then easily convinced them.
You had spent half of Friday with Jack, who had been replaced by Alpine’s reserve driver – Ryo Hirakawa – for FP1. Then, after FP2 was Isack and Liam’s turn. They had both managed to get into the top ten during the practice, so you decided to take them out after their work day was over.
“Is it okay with you two if Max isn’t here?” You eventually asked them, as you were nearing the paddock’s exit.
“Because he was supposed to be here?” Liam wondered. “I thought you were the one we were spending the evening with.”
“Well, yes.” You let out a chuckle at Liam’s assumption. “It was the plan indeed, but I just felt like telling you in case you had expected him to come too.”
“Trust me, we’re perfectly fine with only you. We see Max way too often anyways”, Isack added.
“I swear”, you agreed with a laugh. “That man is everywhere, it’s crazy.”
“Plus, his team isn’t really that good. Racing Bulls is better, right?” Isack teased.
“Totally agree. Red Bull is mid, honestly. I mean, you both did better than him in FP2 so I’m with the real champions right now.”
Liam and Isack both knew that you were joking, as Max was obviously a better driver than them, but they liked that you were still supporting their small victories in Red Bull’s sister team. They had heard from the other rookies about your hatred slight dislike of Max’s team, but it was still unexpected to actually hear you talk about it.
“But I’m for real proud of you both, you know.” Your tone was now a bit more serious, to show them that you were being genuine. “You boys are rookies and it’s your first full season in F1; so compared to your first race, I know you’re already improving and you’ll achieve great things in the future.”
You meant every word. Simply from the fact that they were part of the world’s twenty best drivers, you were certain of their bright future. They had both earned their seats, and nothing would ever take that away.
You thought of the first race of the season, not even a month ago. They had unfortunately both DNFed the race. You remembered leaving the Red Bull garage back then, making your way to the Racing Bulls one after Isack had to give up his first F1 race during the formation lap. You had seen on the cameras that Lewis’s dad had found him on his way back to the paddock and had consoled him, which you also did when Isack eventually reached the Racing Bulls location. You hadn’t hesitated one second to offer him a loving hug, which he had reciprocated as you rubbed his back before letting him go to his family while you went back to Red Bull. Way later in the race, Liam had also been a victim of the rain and you had offered your support to him as well.
And now, you were able to see their improvement. Even though Liam had been demoted back to Racing Bulls, you felt that he was more comfortable there. He and Isack made a good duo, which seemed to benefit them both as you observed their new dynamic during the rest of the day.
Two happy rookies for now, four left.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
For this one, you left the other rookies no choice but to accept that you would solely be focusing on Jack. He was definitely not having the best weekend for now: replaced in FP1, he only had two sessions to test the car in Suzuka before qualifying. However, an unlucky DRS issue had led him to crash into the barriers during FP2 which meant that he only had FP3 left to make the most of the car.
He had understood your absence yesterday after FP2, when you had sent him a supportive message and offered him to spend Saturday morning with you. So now here you were, having breakfast with Jack before FP3 was to happen. Fortunately, he had confirmed to you that he was physically fine after his crash from the day before even though he could be feeling better mentally, and told you that the car had been fixed for him to drive today.
“Please, always remember that you are more important than the car. Alpine can make another one, but I don’t think your parents could remake you.”
“I know…” he replied. “I just– I still need to prove myself out there. I have Franco’s fans after me, and four fucking reserve drivers waiting for me to slip up. I can’t afford to fail after everything I did.”
“Jack, we’re only on race three. Out of twenty-four,” you reminded him. “I know the pressure is insane right now, but you know your worth – I know your worth. It’s not abnormal that you’re here, racing at the pinnacle of motorsports. You’ve been chosen because you deserve the seat, and even shitty Alpine knows that you’re capable of succeeding.”
Jack stayed silent for a couple minutes, taking in your words.
“Thanks… it means a lot to me. My whole family is behind me, my friends too; but they obviously support me because of our relationships.” He pondered on how to word his next train of thought. “But you, well… you’re not forced to have this opinion of me. So, it’s really worth a lot to know what you think.”
Jack could have cried. You knew he would have. But he still wanted to be strong, especially with you there as you had this high opinion of him. You weren’t giving him the same pressure that he felt everytime he stepped foot in the Alpine car. No, this was good pressure. He wanted to impress you, and the best thing about it? He knew that you would never hold it against him, and never be disappointed with his results.
The rest of your breakfast was spent in a light-hearted atmosphere, before it was time for you both to go to the track. Jack would be getting in the car with some weight off his shoulders, all thanks to you, and he eventually managed to be P14 despite the little amount of time he’d had in the car this weekend.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Qualifying had been the easiest moment for you to split your time between the rookies. You had first begun to watch Q1 in Max’s garage – turns out he had slightly been jealous of you playing grid mum to the rookies and thought that you hadn’t spent enough time in girlfriend mode – before making your way through the other garages depending on who would not take part in the next session.
Both Jack and Gabriel had been eliminated in Q1, so here you were with them at Alpine. The three of you were watching Q2 together, and sharing opinions on who had the best shot at getting pole for tomorrow’s race. Your bet was – obviously unbiased – on Max while the two rookies were thinking that either McLaren would get it, given that Lando and Oscar had both topped the practice sessions.
Not long after, you were joined by Liam who had ended up P14. You had texted him about your whereabouts when you saw on TV that he was out in Q2, offering him to come spend the remaining time of the qualifying session with you and the two other rookies. Safe to say, he had wasted no time in reaching your location after a brief exchange with his team and one quick interview – actual debriefs wouldn’t happen until after qualifying ended as a whole, so he was in the clear to wander around until then.
You congratulated him on his performance in the Racing Bulls car, and asked him if he wanted to take part in your betting pole pool. None of you had put actual money whatsoever on the driver you each had chosen, the prize simply being some bragging rights over the others. It was all done in a friendly atmosphere as the four of you then spent the rest of Q3 together, and got a couple looks as people wondered about your weird little family hanging out in Alpine when only one driver was actually part of the team.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
When qualifying was over, you waited for your boyfriend to come and get you. He wasn’t really thrilled with the idea of having to enter Alpine, and the both of you knew that you were taking advantage of it. Still, you agreed to meet him outside in the paddock. What you hadn’t expected though, was that behind Max were three other people. And the look on Max’s face as half of the rookies followed him to where you had been waiting for him was hilarious, you couldn’t help the laugh that escaped your mouth.
“You know you’re being stalked right now?” You teased Max when he was finally in front of you.
“Said they wanted to file a complaint,” he explained as he pointed to the three drivers behind him. “But I told them to directly speak to you, so they tagged along.”
“We do have a complaint,” Kimi confirmed. “We” – as in him, Ollie, and Isack – “feel like you’ve spent more time with the others, especially me and Ollie. Isack had yesterday with you, but still.”
Ollie nodded beside him, as a way to confirm his words.
“And I’ll agree with you.” You weren’t about to gaslight those kids and tell them that they were overreacting – they were kind of dramatic, but it was endearing. “I’ll remind you that the weekend isn’t over yet, so we still have tomorrow.”
The rookies stayed silent, waiting for you to continue, and nodded to show that they were listening. Beside you, Max was weirdly invested in the ‘drama’ as it was kind of funny how the rookies had come to like you even more than him.
“Tell you what: whoever brings me some points tomorrow, we’ll spend time together after the race. And if you’ll authorise me, I’ll celebrate my boyfriend’s pole tonight. It’s been a while since he’s been performing well, and I don’t want him to get depressed.”
The offer seemed to satisfy them, as they all agreed to those terms.
“I’m still here,” Max reminded. “I can hear you.”
“Oh, I know. Does that mean you don’t want to spend the evening with me?” You argued, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Don’t put words into my mouth.” Max sighed, but he still had that familiar smile on his face. “I’d love to spend the night with you”, he sarcastically added while sneaking an arm around your waist to pull you closer to him.
“Okay, we don’t wanna know more. We’re gonna go”, Ollie said as he grabbed Kimi’s shoulders and motioned for the other rookies to follow him.
“Max!” You exclaimed as you slapped his chest. “You traumatised our kids!”
“We could still find new ones?” He suggested.
“Not in F1, though!”
“There’s still Lando, I don’t know.” Max shrugged before he had an idea. “Or we can make our own.”
“Win tomorrow’s race and I’ll consider it”. You wouldn’t consider it, but what Max didn’t know couldn’t hurt him.
“Oh, I’ll win it alright. I just had some new extra motivation,” he bragged with a smug smile on his face before leading you away from goddamn Alpine and back to Red Bull.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
And the motivation did seem to have a positive impact on Max, as he had crossed the finish line in P1 – his first win since the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix. You obviously knew that Max had won all thanks to his racing talent, but he still teased you about your comment from yesterday when he went to hug you after getting out of his car.
“Have you considered ditching the kids and having our own?” He asked you in between kisses.
“Nice try, but I’ve grown too attached to them so it’s too late now.”
“Fair enough”, he replied. Max gave you one last quick kiss before going to share his win’s happiness with the rest of his team.
The joy on his face was contagious, and you couldn’t help the matching smile that appeared on your face. Max would have a tough season, but he had shown that he wouldn’t give up that easily and that he was still capable of greatness even with both McLaren against him.
Speaking of great things, you were also over the moon due to three of your grid kids managing to get points today. The ones who had gotten into Q3 yesterday had succeeded in finishing the race in the top ten – that is to say Kimi in P6, Isack in P8, and Ollie in P10. You were especially proud of Isack as he had scored his first points as an F1 driver.
So that’s why you were now collecting everyone from their respective garage. You had told Max that you would come back to Red Bull with the rookies, and he agreed to wait. He had planned to celebrate with the team tonight, but he thought that it would still be nice to spend time with you and the rookies before going out to party.
After a quick trip to Haas, Mercedes, and Racing Bulls, you had the three drivers around you and you all walked back to Red Bull where Max was waiting for you. Obviously, race talk was to be expected as soon the four drivers were reunited. So you all began to discuss today’s highlights – there weren’t that many if someone asked you, except for Alex’s radios.
“The only impressive thing about today is Max winning four times in a row here,” you stated. “Y’all didn’t really give me an interesting race.”
“But we all got points!” Kimi argued. “That’s the main achievement. And I also led the race for a while!”
“Of course, and I’m very proud of you! The race as a whole was just… very reminiscent of a certain track where nothing happens.”
“Monaco?” The rookies all wondered, to which you nodded.
“I mean, Monaco last year was actually a bit more entertaining than usual. There were a couple crashes,” Max reminded.
“Says the guy who should have brought his pillow. You’re just saying that because Charles finally won his home race.”
“God forbid a guy is happy for a friend”, Max sighed with a shrug.
Stopping in your tracks, you were left speechless. The drivers kept walking for a few seconds until they noticed that you were behind them, looking at Max like he had grown another head.
“What’s wrong?” Max asked.
“Who taught you that?” You knew the trend from spending way too much time on TikTok, but why did your boyfriend know it too?
“Gabriel and I did”, Isack proudly claimed. “Before the parade, we were just exchanging ideas for our teams’ content.”
“It’s very educational,” Max said. “Maybe I should spend more time around the youth.”
“You act like you’re fifty, mate.” Ollie’s words made you laugh. “But we can fix that tonight; teach you more about social media.”
“I feel like you’re gonna ask me to film a stupid trend at the end of the night.”
“Never”, you reassured him. “As long as you pay the bill.”
“Be careful with the headline: Max Verstappen’s girlfriend is a gold digger and forces him to pay for her at the restaurant.”
You had seen Max laugh in the years that you had been together; seen him chuckle, burst out laughing; or just a sarcastic laugh. But the one he let out at this moment after Kimi’s words, was almost one of a kind. It was the genuine laugh, the one that took over Max within a second and left him breathless.
Max put his arm around Kimi’s shoulder, and you knew at that moment that this was it: Max was as smitten as you with the rookies, and he would never let them go from now on.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
When you arrived at the restaurant where you had booked a table, Max had come back to linger by your side for a bit as a waitress led the rookies to the table.
“They’re great kids,” he simply stated. “Don’t think I can be apart from them now.”
“You didn’t really have a choice from the moment that you started taking them under your wing. Should’ve thought about it before you became a role model for them.”
“More like they chose me as their own”, Max clarified.
“Except for Isack.”
“Except for Isack”, Max repeated with a chuckle. “Can’t compete with Lewis on this one.”
But honestly, even if the rookies had other favourites, the bond they were creating with Max was one of a kind; and you were glad to be able to be part of it.
When you and Max reached your table, the rookies were all sitting down and already looking at the menus. They asked about what you were planning to eat, comparing who had the most similar taste to yours. They even offered to share some of their food with you, after they had seen that you had taken a few bites from Max’s plate. And only when you reached dessert, did they realise that Max was still with them.
“You’re okay just spending the evening with us?” Ollie wondered.
“Yeah, didn’t you want to celebrate with your team?” Kimi added.
Looking at Max, you were carefully awaiting his reply. You hadn’t commented on it when you saw the time pass, and he was still peacefully enjoying his meal.
“Well…” Almost nervous to have been put on the spot, Max took a few seconds before answering. “I’ve won so many races already; doesn’t hurt to skip one celebration.”
He tried to pretend like he was indifferent to this, but you knew better. And Max knew that you knew when he caught you softly smiling at him, mouthing ‘liar’.
“Or maybe you just enjoy spending time with us”, Isack jokingly suggested.
“Yeah, maybe… must be that,” Max kind of confirmed.
But it was that. Max did currently enjoy spending his evening with you and your grid kids more than he would have enjoyed going out to party with his team. And if you weren’t already completely in love with this man, then you sure as hell were now.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Then, there was Bahrain.
To avoid having jealous rookies, Max had offered them all to fly on his private jet from Japan – safe to say, no one had refused the offer. Liam and Jack didn’t hesitate to remind the others that they had done this before, a smug smile on their faces as they confidently roamed around the jet when everyone got on.
“Okay, so this is where I sat last week”, Liam proudly announced as he pointed to a seat. “Jack was right there, and–”
“Mate, shut up. We don’t need you to play tour guide”, Kimi complained.
“Yeah, we’ll be just fine without you…” Ollie added as he side eyed the Kiwi driver. He approached what Liam has described as his seat, and took it as his own. “Though, I gotta admit this one is comfortable indeed.”
“That was where I was planning to sit, Ollie. You can choose somewhere else”, Liam nicely suggested.
“Don’t see your name written there”, the Brit said as he pretended to look around.
“Oh my God… I swear I’ll run you off track,” Liam threatened with a sigh before he went to sit a couple rows behind.
“I don’t want anyone to threaten anyone, please. I won’t hesitate to leave you stranded in Japan,” you warned the rookies. “Is that clear?” Your gaze stayed longer on Liam and Ollie than on the others, hoping that they would get the message.
“Yes Mum,” they all replied in unison. Their tone was definitely sarcastic, as a few of them rolled their eyes along with a smile.
“Be careful with how you speak to her,” Max told the rookies as he went to stand beside you. “You’re on my jet, you respect my girl.”
“We’re being respectful!” Kimi claimed, to which the other rookies nodded.
“Suddenly, you’re all getting along when it’s to be united against us. I don’t know if that’s a good thing, though.” You sat down across Ollie, getting comfortable. “Everyone sit please, I think we’re taking off soon.”
“Yeah, buckle up kids.” Max motioned for the rookies to find a seat, before he confirmed to the cabin crew that they were good to go.
The flight would be a long one like the previous week when you flew to Japan, so you really hoped that you could manage to keep everyone entertained. It honestly didn’t take long for all the drivers – Max included – to find something to do, and you were glad to be able to do your own thing.
You always brought a couple books with you when you were accompanying Max to his races, as you could take advantage of the numerous flights done throughout the season to at least finish several series in a short amount of time. So as usual, you were pulling out your current book and looked forward to finishing it. Last time you had paused your crime novel, you were in the middle of the investigation and making crazy theories – that you sometimes annoyed Max with – about who the killer could be.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
An hour later, you were finally closing your book and putting it down on your lap. Similar to most of the crime novels you would read, you hadn’t predicted who the murderer had been even though it was making so much sense when the detective explained it.
While you unlocked your phone to add your finished book to Goodreads, you could feel a gaze on you. And when you looked up from your phone a couple minutes later, your eyes met Kimi’s. You gave him a smile, silently asking if he needed anything. He took that as a sign to stand up and walk up to you, his face showing some stress.
“Can I bother you with something?” He shyly asked, afraid that he was disturbing your peace. He had waited for you to finish your book before even having the nerves to come up to you.
“Of course, Kimi. How can I help?”
“Are you good at maths?”
“Maths?” You repeated. Kimi nodded and you thought for a second. “I think I can manage high school level, yeah. Want me to look at it?”
The bright smile that made its way on Kimi’s face was almost enough to blind you. He was so relieved at your positive reaction, and he immediately handed you his textbook.
“Take my seat, Kimi.” Max slowly stood up as he motioned for the Italian to replace him next to you.
“You’re sure?”
“Yeah, yeah…” Max ran his finger through his hair, as his eyes settled on the back of the jet. “I’m gonna stretch my legs a bit and get a drink, you guys want anything?”
Both you and Kimi shook your heads. Kimi then took Max’s seat, and observed you as you were reading the maths problem he was having issues with.
“Show me what you’ve done for now,” you said before Kimi also gave you his notes. You looked back and forth between what he had written and the exercise, before you managed to pinpoint what was confusing him. “Okay, got it!”
For the next couple hours, you worked with Kimi on his maths exercises as he showed you his method which you would correct when necessary. He was not a dumb kid, far from it, but he just needed someone else other than his high school teacher to explain things to him. You were definitely not a teacher yourself, but it seemed that your way of seeing things was close enough to Kimi’s. Therefore, he was gradually understanding his lesson better and was able to do his calculations a bit quicker than before as he more easily knew which formula to use.
You didn’t know whether you had just gotten the title of Kimi’s official maths tutor or not, but the esteem that the young driver had for you had exponentially risen and you were definitely his favourite person from now on. He thanked you at least a dozen times, as he was over the moon that he would not get behind his classmates while he was racing around the world.
Although glad that you had been able to help him, you were thankful that Kimi was the only driver who still had school as you didn’t know if you would survive parenting and teaching all the rookies at the same time.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
A short layover to breathe some fresh air, several chaotic card games, and a couple naps later: you were finally landing in Bahrain.
You already knew that the race weekend was starting more peacefully than the last one, as all your grid kids were leaving the plane on equal terms. This meant that the rookies would be less grumpy about having to split your time between them.
On Friday, you spent the first half of the day with Ollie. He was being replaced with Haas’s reserve driver – Ryo Hirakawa – for FP1 and was therefore “free to hang out with you” as he happily told you. His notion of being free wasn’t exactly the same as you, especially when he actually spent the first half hour of FP1 at the pit wall. Still, he eventually took the time to be there with you in his garage during the second half. He introduced you to the mechanics, showed you his driver’s room, and tried to make you spill secrets about Red Bull with some engineers.
You had a good time, and you truly enjoyed seeing more of Ollie in his ‘racing habitat’. You had always spent most of your weekends in the Red Bull garage since you started dating Max, so this was a nice change. Haas was another type of family, maybe – definitely – friendlier than what you were used to with Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. You even had the opportunity to meet Laura, the first and only female engineer in Formula 1, after the session had ended. You were glad to talk a bit with her, and you could only express your admiration towards the fact that she had reached the pinnacle of motorsport.
Eventually, Max called you to know about your whereabouts and suggested that you have a late lunch with him. He then had no choice but to accept when you answered his call on speaker with Ollie beside you, the rookie asking to join you. He also had to agree to Kimi tagging along when you and Ollie met him on your way back to Red Bull.
Fortunately for Max, the two rookies were needed back to their respective garages earlier than expected due to their lack of racing during FP1. So now, he could properly enjoy some alone time with you.
“I know you pretend to be annoyed with them, but you actually love spending time with them.”
“I only put up with it because you love spending time with them.” That was a lie, and the both of you knew it. “I can admit they’re growing on me, but I’m allowed to want to hangout with my girlfriend during the races. Alone.”
“We’re always together outside of races though,” you pointed out.
“Except when we do overtime”, Max added.
“Overtime?” You stifled a laugh. “You act like it’s a full-time job to take care of them.”
“It is a full-time job to be parents.”
“So you admit to being their grid dad?” You teased him.
“Step-dad, maybe…” He reluctantly admitted. “You’re the one who adopted them, I’m just accepting my fate because I’m dating you.”
“You’re unbelievable! You’re the one who began taking them under your wing during testing!”
You were appalled at Max’s refusal to admit of being the one who started this entire thing, until you noticed the smirk on his face. That damn smirk, you thought. That damn smirk that meant that Max was just toying with you, enjoying the fact that he could rile you up anytime.
“You’re just fucking with me”, you concluded.
“Of course I am,” he confirmed with a laugh. “I know what I did. And I absolutely know that I can’t pretend not to enjoy spending time with them. They’re indeed a bit overwhelming sometimes when I just wanna be alone with you, but they’re nice kids and I can’t argue with their passion.”
“You’re just a softie, Max. Who would’ve thought?” You wanted to tease him; but deep down, you were just melting at how sweet Max was. He had truly grown attached to the rookies, as much as you did, and it warmed your heart. “Wait, so you wouldn’t mind if we adopt some more? I have some names to suggest.”
“Please no,” Max immediately refused. “Six is more than enough.”
“But I’m sure they’re nice kids too!” You tried to plead your case, doing the best that you could at giving puppy eyes to Max.
“No”, he refused once again. But after a minute of silence, he eventually asked: “Just out of curiosity, who are you thinking of?”
“Luke and Dino”, you told him with a satisfied smile.
Max pretended to think about it for a moment, grabbing a bite of his food. You were thoroughly watching him, and waited for his reply. Eventually, Max sighed and you knew you had won.
“Maybe when they’re in F1, you can ask again…” He mumbled before you quietly cheered with a fist pump. Max softly smiled at the scene, and shook his head when he realised what he had just promised you.
He now just had to hope that there wouldn’t be any new rookies for at least a few years.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
The rest of the weekend was quite uneventful, the only thing worth noting was the insane heat that had you always carrying an iced drink wherever you went. You had been envying Mercedes’s space jacket that seemed to be doing wonders for Kimi and George, which almost made you go to their garage to ask for one.
Max wasn’t having the best weekend, which was a slight disappointment for him and his team after his superb race in Japan last week. On Saturday, the Dutch driver had only managed to reach the fourth row. He was two tenths off Lando and six tenths off Oscar – who had gotten pole, which was highlighting the fact that Red Bull was not going to have a flawless season. Even Kimi had qualified higher than him, getting P5 after a small penalty that made him lose a position post-qualifying.
The other rookies were scattered across the rest of the grid: Jack and Isack would start right outside points; while Liam, Gabriel, and Ollie had not made it to Q2. You had offered extra support to Ollie, who would start dead last, and encouraged him until the day of the race.
It seemed to have positively affected him, as he gained ten positions during the race and ended up being the only rookie to score points in Bahrain. Max had only reached P6 at the chequered flag, far from the podium he had been used to being on. He knew he had no choice but to accept that this could be a reoccurring performance from his car, and could only hope to keep getting the most out of it to still be a podium contender for the next race.
After the post-race interviews, you wanted to celebrate with Ollie as you were over the moon at his performance and his working strategy that had accommodated the safety car. But you knew he was with his father and brother, so you decided to let him have some family time.
However, you hadn’t thought about the fact that you were now like family to him as well. Because as you were waiting near the Red Bull hospitality for Max to finish his interviews – he was weirdly always in very high demand from every channel when he missed out on a podium, you saw the Bearman men walking up to you.
Ollie was frantically waving at you, yelling at his father and brother to keep up.
“She’s there, come on! Be quicker”, he ordered them as his long legs made him reach you faster than his family.
“Ollie, hi sweetheart!” You went for a hug, rubbing his back. “What a great race you did, I’m super proud of you!”
“Thanks,” he replied with a bright smile. He noticed his family finally there, and introduced you to them. “So this is my dad, and my brother Thomas. Guys, this is–”
“We know”, Thomas interrupted with a deadpan tone. He said your name and reached out his hand for you to shake. “He already talked a lot before, but now he talks even more when it’s about you.”
“Don’t be rude to your brother”, his dad scolded. “Sorry about him. But he’s right, we’ve heard lots about you.”
“Oh! All good things I hope,” you said with a nervous chuckle as you also shook Ollie’s dad’s hand.
“Of course, Ollie just loves telling us about you and your boyfriend spending time with him. It’s honestly reassuring to know he has you if we’re not there for him.”
“Well, I love Ollie – Max does too. So, it’s really my pleasure to have him around.” You were being genuine, and Ollie’s dad could only approve of you being a new adult figure in his son’s life. “You have a good kid, sir. Extremely respectful and really passionate,”, you told him as you softly looked at Ollie.
Ollie couldn’t have expected a better encounter between his dad and his grid mum. His eyes were bright and his smile wide, happy to have made his two families meet.
“Do you want to join us for a late dinner?” Ollie’s dad offered. “You can bring Max as well if he wants too.”
“Oh, that’s sweet. But I wouldn’t want to impose!” You wanted to refuse, but another glance at Ollie and you saw how hopeful his expression was.
“Just a drink then?” Ollie’s dad suggested, to which you nodded.
“Great!” Ollie cheered. “Call Max and get him here ASAP,” he told you.
“Jeez, calm down. It’s almost like you’re more excited to see him than me now”, you teased.
“Well, he’s the world champion.”
“And here I thought you were starting to like me better!”
As you bickered back and forth while texting Max to know his whereabouts, Ollie’s dad observed the exchange and he could only smile at the scene. It was easy for him to notice your motherly nature, gentle and caring. He knew his son was in good hands around the paddock, and he was truly glad to see that Ollie was surrounding himself with good people that could be trusted.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
Finally, there was Saudi Arabia.
You had seen the pictures of some drivers arriving at the airport. And you had witnessed how welcomed they were when you arrived with Max. Like everyone else, he had been gifted a massive bouquet of flowers that you would have been jealous of if anyone other than the grand prix staff had given it to your boyfriend.
As soon as you left the airport before taking a taxi to your hotel, Max immediately gave you the flowers. One could have thought that it meant he just wanted you to take them as Max was already holding your suitcases, but you knew better.
Without a word, you understood what Max meant. He was just offering you the bouquet. For him, it meant more sense for you to have it. The flowers were pretty, like you, and he just felt like you deserved them more than he did. Also, it meant that Max could see a smile slowly making its way on your face and that was worth more than anything else in the world to him.
As soon as you entered your hotel room, your first instinct was to lay on the bed with a relieved sigh. Max was supposed to be at the track soon, and your only wish was to take a nap.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
“I really need to get used to triple headers again. That shit is exhausting,” you complained.
“Just rest,” Max simply told you. “I’ll come back after I’m done with media day and we can go out to eat, is that good?”
“That’s a great plan, yeah.” You turned on your side, ready to fall asleep at any second.
Max softly smiled at you, and hoped that you would be able to get some energy back for the weekend. He closed the curtains a bit before leaving the room, hearing you thank him as he was about to open the door while you were quickly getting into a deep slumber.
When you woke up several hours later, the sun was starting to set. You yawned and stretched your arms before getting up, noticing Max on the couch a few metres away. He looked up from his phone when he heard the sheets rustling from your movements.
“Slept well?” He asked. He actually knew the answer already, due to you not having heard him get back as well as the pillow marks on your face.
“Best nap of my life, top ten easily. When did you get back?” You glanced at your watch, before taking a seat next to Max.
“Half hour ago, I think. Maybe forty minutes. Wanna get some food now or do you wanna do something else?”
“Food sounds perfect right now, I’m starving. I think I could go for…” Your voice got lower as something in your peripheral vision confused you.
“For?” Max repeated, expecting you to finish your sentence.
“What’s that?” You were now forgetting all about food, your gaze focused on the table near the windows.
“What’s what?”
“The flowers.”
“You mean the flowers from this morning? Yeah, what about it?”
“Why did one bouquet turn into seven?” You could have thought you were going crazy, but you were certain Max had only given you his bouquet earlier today.
“Oh, that’s just the rookies.” Max was acting as if it was a normal occurrence, leaving you speechless.
“They gave me their bouquet?”
“Yeah. Apparently they saw pictures of me giving you mine and they felt like you deserved theirs too,” he explained. “They all accompanied me to drop them off when I came back here.”
“Oh, okay…” You felt like crying. Why are those kids so sweet? You wondered. Even if they thought you deserved their flowers, you definitely didn’t deserve their kindness.
“Are you gonna think about it every day for the next week?”
“Absolutely,” you confirmed with a chuckle. “You know me so well – that’s for real so nice of them, I love them.”
“And they definitely love you too”, Max added.
After admiring the seven bouquets adorning the table for a few more minutes, you took a picture of the scenery and decided to make a groupchat with all the rookies to thank them for their thoughtfulness.
You didn’t know it yet though, but the groupchat would never experience a day of silence from the moment it got created. That’d be for you to enjoy – and for Max to dread whenever your phone would notify you of a text – as the rookies were definitely certified yappers.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
If you thought the heat had been too much in Bahrain, it was somehow worse here. You were extremely thankful for night races, but you were definitely not built for extreme temperatures and were already dreading Singapore months in advance.
Like the previous weekend, you were therefore holding a refreshing drink at every given moment and gladly sipped it. Max had stocked up for you in his driver’s room, but you had to discover that there was only Red Bull. Was Max trying to kill you? Perhaps. Was Max trying to kill himself? More likely.
But you just couldn’t be drinking that for the entire weekend. So on Friday evening, you ventured around the paddock to look for something else and met Gabriel on your way. He was unfortunately unable to take part in FP2 due to a fuel leak, and you offered him to join you on your quest for a decent drink.
“Sauber has surprisingly good stuff, if you want” Gabriel pointed out.
“I don’t wanna risk seeing Binotto, though. What about sneaking into McLaren?” You suggested. “The champions must have something nice.”
“You mean other than a life supply of Monster? Is it actually better than Red Bull?”
“Well, technically I do prefer it. Don’t tell Max though,” you whispered with a chuckle. “But yeah, I guess that means Mercedes is out too.”
Eventually, you and Gabriel ended up getting basic tap water somewhere random in the paddock as you were both too thirsty to spend more time deciding where to go.
It was rare for you to spend one-on-one time with Gabriel, but you were glad to get to know him more – you truly hadn’t spent as much with him as you did with the other rookies. Max had always told you about how he held the Brazilian driver in high regards, and you could easily understand why. Gabriel was easy to get along with, and you really hoped that he would one day be able to show his full potential to the world. He had won the F3 and F2 championships back to back, but was unfortunately in the worst car of the grid now that he was in F1. He was still waiting to get his first points of the season, and you were definitely rooting for him to score some before the end of the year.
It still wouldn’t be his weekend yet as once again, he had qualified P20 on Saturday. And although he had gained two positions the next day, he was still last in the race due to Pierre and Yuki both DNFing. Jack didn’t have the best end of a grand prix either as he finished right above Gabriel, both having been lapped during the race by the leaders. Ollie and Liam had been a bit closer to reaching the top ten, but only Isack and Kimi had actually scored points.
You wished you could have spent your post-race time with the rookies to congratulate the point scorers and cheer the others up, but you felt like Max needed the support more despite having finished on the podium. He had gotten P2, bringing some good points to the team. But it wasn’t enough for him – he should have been first at the chequered flag.
Max was pissed. He was mad about the unfair penalty, mad about the FIA, mad about everything. He had refused to say more than two words during the post-race interviews of the top three, and didn’t even participate in celebrating the papaya drivers on the podium – he had preferred to immediately down his fake champagne as if it were a real one.
You knew that it wouldn’t last. Maybe he would throw some snarky reminders during the next grand prix and complain about it for a couple days, but then he would get over it because it would annoy him even more to keep thinking about it.
So you did what a loving and supportive girlfriend would do: you waited for him to come back to his garage, sitting on the couch in his driver room. He was glad to see you when he entered the room, and even more so when you gave him a kiss.
One turned into two, and you were soon ready to give Max the best makeout session of his life. You really thought you would’ve stayed there all night with him until some Red Bull mechanics would force you out as they were dismantling everything. But that was until he was the one to cut it short with one last quick kiss before he let go of your waist. You reluctantly removed your arms that had been around your boyfriend’s shoulders, and waited for him to say something while he had begun to change from his racing suit.
“Text the kids, we’re going out as soon as I’m out of this.”
“The kids?” You questioned.
“The kids,” Max confirmed with a nod. “Tell them we’ll do whatever they wanna do, whether it’s having the biggest post-race dinner of their lives or just doing something fun – ask them if they wanna check out one of the amusement parks near the track.”
“Wow, okay.” You let out a chuckle, not expecting Max to suggest that. You did as you were told, and texted the rookies about Max’s idea.
Anyone free to go to an amusement park?
Max is offering (and probably paying)
Safe to say, replies were sent almost instantly. The rookies were all happy to see that you were the one texting, and they got even happier when they actually read the content of your messages. The smile that was forming on your face was enough of a confirmation to Max, as he knew that you had definitely received positive answers.
“All good?” Max asked you, to which you nodded. “Okay, let’s go then. I don’t wanna see or talk to anyone else here so let’s get the hell out of here before I go insane.”
“Yes sir,” you answered before following Max until you were out of the garage and walking towards the track exit.
When you were finally out of the paddock, you notified the rookies of your whereabouts then sent them your location so that they could find you and Max more easily. Soon enough, the six rookies had joined you and you could all go check out the nearest amusement park.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
You had been at the Atallah Happy Land Park for almost two hours, having already gone on several rides – the first having obviously been bumper cars. It was unusual to see Max being so carefree and relaxed around other people than you, but it seemed that the rookies got this effect on him – on anyone actually. Max was just having fun, enjoying the night.
Right now, you were currently on a bench. You were sipping a drink Max had insisted on buying you after you had made a comment about the heat still being too much for you. Your eyes were carefully observing the drivers from a few metres away. Max was in the middle of organising the order in which he and the rookies would do the next rides, based on how long the queues were and how far the rides were from each other.
You couldn’t help the smile that appeared on your face, as you thought about how lucky you were to have Max in your life. He was being so attentive to the six drivers around him, listening to all of them, and treating them like they were his equals. He was just glad to make them happy tonight, because it made him happy too.
Checking something on your phone, you didn’t notice someone approaching until they were right in front of you. You looked up at the sight of unknown shoes, and met the eyes of a random man. You raised an eyebrow at him, silently asking if he needed anything.
“Hi! I couldn’t help but notice you were sitting all alone here,” he said. “So I thought you might need company.”
The guy wasn’t necessarily creepy or making you uncomfortable – he seemed nice and had a gentle smile, but you wondered if he would eventually notice that seven F1 drivers were now looking in your direction.
“I’m not here alone, though.” You glanced at where Max and the rookies were. Your relaxed form was enough of an indication to Max that you were handling this, and he knew that he didn’t have to intervene.
“But you’re alone right now,” he pointed out. “I’m not trying to be insistent, sorry. But can I still sit and maybe get to know you?”
“I’m fine by myself. Thanks for the offer, though.” You gave the man a smile, one that would be kind enough but still showing that you wouldn’t change your mind.
“Oh, okay…”
From afar, Max was almost wanting to laugh as he noticed how the guy’s posture had slumped a bit – it was a sign that he wasn’t successful in shooting his shot with you. However, the rookies weren’t reading the situation in the same way as Max, and they were confused as to why your boyfriend was leaving you alone to fend for yourself.
“Shouldn’t you go save her?” Ollie wondered.
“This creep is bothering her and you’re not doing anything,” Liam added.
“She’s fine, don’t worry.” Max actually enjoyed seeing the rookies being worried for you – it was cute and endearing, but it wasn’t needed.
“If you won’t protect her: I will,” one of the drivers said before leaving the group to walk towards you.
Back to you, you thought you would now be left alone. But despite his previous words, it actually seemed that the guy would insist a bit more before giving.
“Well, it was still nice to meet you. I’m–”
“Leaving?” Someone behind the man asked.
You leaned on the side to see who had talked as you took another sip of your drink, and noticed that it was Kimi. He was trying to look intimidating, even though he was definitely a few inches shorter than the guy.
“Who even are you?” The man asked, now annoyed that he was being interrupted by a kid.
You wondered if he knew that there had been an F1 race right next to the amusement park, and if he would realise that Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli was standing in front of him.
“I’m with her,” Kimi simply said. “And I think you’ve been bothering her too much, so you can leave now.”
“You’re dating her?”
“What? No! Oh my God, that’s my mum you’re talking about.” Kimi didn’t think before speaking, and he eventually processed his own words a few seconds later.
You wanted to laugh. You wanted to laugh so bad right now, but you figured it wouldn’t hurt to follow the lead of Kimi’s lapsus. You obviously knew that he had meant to describe you as his grid mum, but the lack of precision about your actual parental role was working better in this situation.
“That’s actually flattering that you think I’m young enough to date him, but yeah that’s my kid right there.” Deciding that you had entertained the guy enough, you stood up from the bench and smoothed out the wrinkles of your dress before going to stand by Kimi’s side.
“I tried to be nice and polite to you, you know. But I wouldn’t even date someone who’s already a mother, at a suspiciously young age.” The guy sighed as he ran his fingers through his hair, and turned around to walk away.
Exchanging a look with Kimi, you both bursted out laughing at what just happened.
“That was kinda funny, to be honest. Thanks for saving me”, you told Kimi as you ruffled his hair. “Son”, you added with a teasing smile.
“Stop, I’m embarrassed to have said that.” Kimi covered his face with his hands, blushing as he remembered his words.
“Don’t be”, you tried to reassure him. You put your arm around his shoulders, before pulling him alongside to walk back to the other drivers that had observed the situation from afar. “It was kinda cute how you came to save me – my knight in shining armour who protects me better than my own boyfriend.”
Blushing even more at the praise, Kimi couldn’t help the proud grin that appeared on his face. He realised that you would have actually handled it perfectly on your own, but he was glad that you had appreciated him coming to help you.
When you both joined the group that had been waiting for you, they all asked questions about what had been said. Not wanting to embarrass Kimi in front of his friends, you stayed vague and simply said that the Italian driver had been way too intimidating for the guy and that he had scared him off.
“I honestly have a hard time believing that Kimi would look threatening,” Gabriel teased.
“That guy didn’t stand a chance against Kimi, though. And I don’t know how much longer it would’ve taken for him to take a hint,” you explained.
Max knew what you meant. You would have been fine on your own, but you were still glad for Kimi to have sped up the process of making the man give up on you.
For several more minutes, the rookies kept commenting and making theories about what had gone on - which Kimi neither confirmed nor denied. Out of the corner of your eye, you then noticed that Jack was stifling a yawn as the conversation died down.
“Might be time to go to bed?” You suggested as the other rookies also started to yawn.
“Yeah, I think so…” Jack admitted.
“Are you leaving with us?” Ollie asked, expecting you and Max to walk them back.
“There’s one more ride I wanna do with her,” Max joined in as he slipped his arm around your waist. “So we’ll stay just for a bit, but you go back safely.”
“Text me when you’re back to your hotels”, you told the rookies who all nodded.
After sharing hugs, they then walked away from you and Max. They turned back a couple times to wave at you, yelling thank yous for inviting them. You waved back at them with a large grin on your face, until they were out of your sight.
“So, what have you planned for us now?”
“Just follow me, you’ll like it.”
“Confident are we now, Mr Verstappen?” You raised an eyebrow at him, trying to guess which ride – amongst the tons the park had – you hadn’t been on yet.
“Always, when it comes to you.”
Squeezing your waist, Max pulled you along while he started walking to where he wanted to take you. It only took a few minutes before you noticed which ride was in the direction where you were going.
The Ferris Wheel.
You had often told Max of your love of ferris wheels, trying to go on them whenever you had the chance. But to your luck, or more like lack thereof, there was always an issue: too many people queuing, technical difficulty, arriving right after it closed…
But as you stopped in front of the ferris wheel, it seemed like nothing was preventing you from going on it with Max.
So here you were now, sitting next to Max as the cabin was slowly going up. You could only admire the streets of Jeddah from up there, noticing the track that was near.
“Are you feeling a bit better now?” You eventually asked when the cabin stopped at its highest point. Your tone was quiet and soft, afraid to ruin the peaceful silence.
“Yeah,” Max replied. “Thanks for tonight, I really enjoyed it.”
“Well, it was your idea. I barely did anything.”
“You came. That matters to me,” he explained. “You matter to me. The kids too.” Max leaned back with a sigh. “Fuck, I love those kids.”
“Welcome to the club”, you said with a chuckle. Slipping your hand into Max’s, you squeezed it to remind him of your presence – not that he would ever forget it. “I’m really glad you had fun, that was like the best post-race activity we ever did.”
“I can think of another activity that might be on par with that.” Max looked at you, a smirk on his face.
“I really can’t take you anywhere, of my God!” You couldn't help laughing, which made Max chuckle as well. “If you’re lucky and I’m feeling generous, you might get to do this one too.” You saw the way Max's eyes lit up a bit as he straightened up. “Only if you behave once we’re back on the ground.”
“Yes ma’am,” Max promised with a grin.
A comfortable silence settled again, lasting until you were leaving the ferris wheel. You and Max roamed around the amusement park for a bit, walking hand in hand under the bright artificial lights, until you saw that they would close soon and it would be time for you both to go back to your hotel room.
The smile on your face hadn’t left yet, and your cheeks were still flushed as a result from the heat. Max stole a couple glances at you, admiring how you looked under the night sky of Jeddah. He was truly grateful for you, grateful for your support, grateful for your love.
As he removed his hand that was in yours, Max draped his arms around your shoulders. The gesture made you stop in your tracks and look up at him, before noticing that his eyes were already on you.
“What?” You asked with a confused smile.
“Nothing, you’re just beautiful. Can I not admire my girlfriend anymore?”
“Who would I be to deny you that”, you sarcastically replied as you put your arm around his waist
Taking advantage of the fact that your face was so close to his, Max leaned down and kissed you. It was short, but meaningful. When he pulled back, you didn't hesitate to use your free hand to cup his face and pull him down to kiss him again. His lips smiled against yours, and Max realised he could taste the slight remains of the sugary drink he had bought you earlier.
Not a word was needed between the two of you, as you mutually started walking again in the direction of your hotel. When stopping at crossroads, waiting for the lights to turn green, Max would give you quick forehead kisses. You would smile every time he did it, and the blush on your cheeks never had a chance to go away.
Max usually wasn’t much for PDA, unless it was an arm around you or his hand resting on your lower back, so you were pleasantly surprised at how affectionate he seemed tonight.
It was the consequence of everything that had happened today on track, making you the somewhat only stable thing in his day-to-day life. Max liked having you close to him, and he was definitely not letting go of you for the rest of the night.
Hope y'all enjoyed this🫶🏻🫶🏻 took me a while to write it omg like i respected the poll that showed most people wanted the whole triple header in chap so this ended up being almost 10k words lol
I'm trying to not be too repetitive when i talk ab the race weekends, so I'll keep doing my best during the rest of the season to spice things up a bit and also focus on what happens off track like i did a bit here!!
I've started writing for the miami gp, and it should be out next week (i hope😭) + I'll def write a short part ab jack being swapped w franco bc i need smth to cope w the driver change
See you soon, take care of yourselves, i love y'all xx
Pairings: Max Verstappen x Reader | platonic Rookies × Reader
Summary: Growing attached to the rookies meant that you now cared for them off track as well. So when some of them are not treated well by their teams, you and Max take your role of grid parents very seriously.
Author's Note: ok so i usually don't plan on doing part 2 for my fics but @robinivoryanvalentine gave me ideas and this lil thing was born ig so shout out to them🫶🏻 i have one request left that I'm hoping to write soon now that it's FINALLY school break and i hope I'll also get some inspo w the rest of the triple header🙂↕️
F1 MASTERLIST🏎 | Previous Part | Next Part
From the moment you had accepted that Max’s grid kids were also yours in the process, you had thought that your interactions with them would only be during race weekends. However, when you saw that some drama was already happening even though the season had barely started, you decided that the rookies would become both your on and off track children.
It had begun with Jack.
You had never been Alpine’s biggest fan – you mostly considered Esteban and Pierre as acquaintances during the previous season – and it had gotten worse when Flavio was back in the paddock. Still, you were glad for Jack when it was announced that he would get a full-time seat for the 2025 season – although it was a shit move from Alpine to sack Esteban for the last grand prix of 2024.
The drama had started a bit after Alpine announced their reserve drivers for 2025. First, Paul Aaron. He was a good driver, and had done a good F2 season, despite the insane amount of car issues he had suffered from. Then, Franco Colapinto. Having raced for a third of the 2024 season with Williams, Franco had quickly become a fan favourite due to this charming personality.
The issue wasn’t Alpine having two reserve drivers – it was honestly quite usual. No, the actual issue lay in fans already expecting Jack’s downfall so that Franco could take his place. Everyone was claiming that Jack only had the first five races to prove himself, and then it would be goodbye for him.
Then, it got even worse. Shortly after the New Year, Alpine announced their third reserve driver. You remembered seeing the news and being really surprised because “why do they need so many plans b?” – that’s what you had said to Max, who had agreed and had then proceeded to diss the French team for the next few minutes. And if you thought that they were done, you were wrong because Alpine waited until a few days before the first race of the season to announce their fourth reserve driver.
You truly hoped that Jack wasn’t too stressed about it, but the latest season of Drive To Survive showed you that he definitely was. The scene between Jack and Flavio in the latter’s office had truly scared you, and you couldn’t imagine the amount of pressure they were putting on the Aussie.
It also didn’t help when Jack DNFed at his home race, which led to the fans clearly awaiting the day when Alpine would replace him with Franco. The dinner you had invited him to along with the other rookies had helped, but you knew that it was only temporary comfort until the following races. The next week in China had been a bit better: Jack had finished 13th after the three DSQs, which wasn’t so bad, but you had seen the comments everywhere. ‘Fans’ were still dreaming of Franco taking his seat, not caring one bit about Jack.
You were truly saddened by the situation. Jack didn’t deserve that kind of reaction – no driver did. The only thing he deserved was the opportunity to prove himself, and his full potential couldn’t be seen after two races.
Two. races. were. not. enough.
And yet, it wasn’t Alpine that was currently at the origin of your newly-found anger. No, right now, you were only mad at one team: Red Bull Racing.
You had seen the rumours online. You had heard about them in the paddock. You hadn’t wanted to believe them; they were rumours for a reason. So when Max told you the news before it would be public, you thought he had been messing with you. You had been back in Monaco in your shared flat, when he announced it to you:
“Don’t be mad but…” Max waited for you to look at him before he kept talking. “They’re dropping Liam”.
“What?” Did you hear it well?
“Red Bull”, Max explained. “They’re switching Liam and Yuki.”
“You’re joking?”
“Wish I was, honestly. It’s such a shit decision, but I have no say in this.”
You were kind of glad that even Max wasn’t agreeing with the switch, but it still hurt. You were mad. Mad for Liam. Mad at Red Bull.
“Do they not realise they’re the fucking problem?” You couldn’t help the venom in your tone. “Have been for years. But no, it’s always the driver.”
“I know… Trust me, I wish I could have helped tilt the balance on the other side. Turns out my opinion suddenly doesn’t matter.”
“Shocker”, you sarcastically replied. You knew Max had vouched for Liam to stay; but when his team had decided something, even their star driver apparently didn’t have any right to go against it. “Do they wish to destroy another driver’s career?” You thought about Yuki, with whom you’d been friends for years since he had joined Racing Bulls. “At this home grand prix, that’s fucked up.”
“You know everything Red Bull does is fucked up at this point. That’s like your main take everytime they do something.”
“Am I wrong, though?” You raised an eyebrow at your boyfriend.
“Unfortunately, no.” Max sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “I guess I won’t see you in my garage in Japan, then?”
“I’m not that much of a bitch, Max. I’ll show up for Yuki, obviously.”
“Obviously”, Max repeated with a chuckle. “You’ll text me which garage I have to collect you from, yeah?”
“You know me so well.” You smiled at him, before pulling him close for a quick kiss. “When are they announcing it?”
“I think some media are confirming it today, but the teams will only post about it starting tomorrow.”
“Does Liam actually know?” This was the dreaded question. You knew Red Bull was bad enough that they were capable of telling him after the entire world was made aware.
“He does, yeah.” Max thought for a second. “Don’t know for sure if they told him before Yuki, but they were decent enough not to let him find out through the internet.”
“I hope so.” You pulled out your phone, your thumb hovering over the messages application. “Is it too early to text him?” You really wanted to show Liam your support, but you were scared that Red Bull had actually been too cowardly to not notify Liam until the very last minute.
“Might be good to wait a couple days”, Max suggested. “He might be home right now, so he’ll probably have his family and friends with him.”
You nodded at Max’s words, agreeing to wait until the information would be out everywhere. Still, you made a mental note to start thinking of what you could eventually do to lift the Aussie's and Kiwi's spirits.
𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧
At the end of the week, the whole world had seen the news. Red Bull Racing had definitely swapped Liam with Yuki, deciding that the younger driver had not shown enough potential after only two races.
Trusting yourself, you did what you thought was right and texted Liam as well as Jack. You sent them your address, and offered to have them for dinner that evening. You knew that even though almost the entire grid lived in Monaco, it was actually quite rare for the drivers to hang out. Max, especially, loved to stay home in order to avoid seeing his work friends. However, he was surprisingly glad to have Jack and Liam. Your boyfriend had even helped to cook tonight’s meal, and you were certain the rookies would particularly enjoy this information.
Monaco was a small town, so it didn’t take long for Jack and Liam to arrive at yours. It was known on the grid where each driver lived in the city, but actually seeing where Max lived with their own eyes felt surreal to the young drivers. When you opened the door to see them both awkwardly standing next to one another, it only took one warm smile from you to help them relax. They cautiously followed you inside; admiring every piece of furniture, every picture, Max’s beloved simulator which looked out of place in the living room you had beautifully decorated.
The most surprising thing for Jack and Liam, though, wasn’t the wall full of helmets and trophies nor the silly cushions you had bought with cats’ faces on them. No, it was the shocking view of four-times world champion Max Verstappen who was wearing an apron and currently setting the table.
When he saw you, the loving smile on his face naturally appeared. He then noticed the two rookies behind you and gave them a nod.
“Hi”, he said to them. “Welcome to our home, I guess.”
“Thanks for having us,” Jack replied. “It’s nice here.”
“Yeah”, Liam agreed. He then raised his right hand that had been holding a bag. “Hmm… I brought dessert?”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have!” You exclaimed. “That’s so sweet of you, Liam.”
You took a large box out of the bag, and barely had time to put it on the table that another box got put down right next to it.
“We had the same idea”, Jack stated. “We didn’t buy the same thing, though. Had time to compare when we were in the lift.”
“You guys are so nice, thank you so much!”
Quickly opening each box, you saw that Liam had brought chocolate muffins while Jack had brought profiteroles. You let yourself out to the kitchen in order to put the boxes in the fridge, which meant that the drivers were now alone in the living room.
Safe to say, the atmosphere was quite awkward. There wasn’t any tension per say, but it wasn’t everyday that Max had people from his workplace at home. Remembering what he was wearing, Max looked down at his outfit and swiftly removed his apron.
“Yeah… hmm, sorry… you guys can sit down if you want. It’s almost ready.”
Jack and Liam thanked him with a nod, before they both pulled out the closest chair to them.
“Dinner is ready indeed, but everyone’s washing their hands before we eat please.” You had just come back to the living room. Your tone wasn’t harsh, but commanding enough that no one would disobey – exactly like a mother.
You made sure that everyone, including your boyfriend, had now washed their hands before leading them back to the table. You asked Max to bring the food there, which he did. Together, you had prepared lasagna as well as some potatoes to go with it.
You served the drivers, who all thanked you with a smile. You and Max were sitting next to each other, with Jack and Liam facing you both. You then all began to eat in a comfortable silence.
“Thanks again for having us,” Liam eventually said. “Food’s really good by the way.”
“It is”, Jack agreed with a nod.
“Max is a good cook, right?” You chuckled before offering them seconds, which they gladly accepted.
“Guess I have a plan b if racing doesn't work out,” Max claimed with a shrug. “Can't say that it's really going well recently.”
“We said no work talk, remember?” You reminded him while serving the rookies. “Tonight is supposed to be about anything but your jobs.”
“It’s fine, honestly.”
“Yeah, Jack’s right. If anything, better to talk about it with y’all than anyone else,” Liam added.
“Sure?” You wondered. They both nodded, which reassured you. “Well, if you don’t mind talking about work then I guess we can do so after dinner while racing.”
“Racing?” Liam and Jack repeated.
“Y’all know how to play Mario Kart?” You asked them, to which they positively answered. “Then yes, racing.”
Exchanging a glance, the two drivers in front of you were now even happier to be there. A proud smile made its way on your face, glad to have your boys in a good mood.
Dinner finished quickly enough after light-hearted chats. You learnt more about Jack’s and Liam’s childhood, while they asked you questions about your and Max’s relationship. They were really enjoying their time with you – even more than with Max – and loved getting to know you outside the track.
While the drivers were moving from the dining table to the sofas in front of the massive TV that adorned the wall, you went back to the kitchen to retrieve the desserts. When you came back, Max was giving controllers to Liam and Jack before he turned the game on. Obviously not caring about you being here, Max left the racing mode on ‘150cc mirror’ which clearly wouldn’t bother the other drivers present.
As usual when you played mirror mode, you didn’t do great. After a couple races, Liam and Jack realised that dating a world champion didn’t mean that you had gained his driving skills. So they decided to tone it down, and let you overtake them during the next race. You hadn’t noticed, simply thinking that this track wasn’t their favourite. Max, however, immediately realised what was going on.
“You shouldn’t let her win”, he told them while taking a quick bite from his muffin. “She’s used to losing, don’t worry about her.”
“Fuck you, Max.” You threw a cushion to his face, which didn’t even affect him as he still crossed the finish line in first position. “It’s just this stupid mirror mode that sucks. I'd destroy all of you in normal.”
“You’re like the worst boyfriend ever, mate. I think my girl would kill me if I didn’t let her win from time to time,” Liam explained with a chuckle.
“What?” Max turned to Liam, a serious and intimidating look now on his face.
“I– I mean, not the worst of course!” Liam was scared he had joked about the wrong thing, and tried to take back his words. “You’re the racing driver so… yeah, makes sense you’re better than her.”
“I’m kidding, Liam.” Max simply said. “God, you’re easy to pressure.”
“And you are actually the worst”. Putting down your controller, you took a profiterole and faced the rookies. “Please don’t let him scare you or some shit like that, he’s literally just a silly nerd. If anything, be the ones to intimidate him. I’ll teach you both his weaknesses.”
“I’ll ban you from my garage”, Max retorted.
“Great, I didn’t even wanna be there anyways.”
“I’ll ban you from the paddock”, Max added.
“Then I’ll date another driver who’ll give me access and overrule you”. You innocently smiled at your boyfriend, knowing that he wouldn’t manage to get the upper hand back.
“I’ll run him off track and he won’t be able to race anymore.”
“I’ll join the FIA and give you stop-and-go penalties.”
As they had been sitting between the two of you, Jack and Liam could only watch the exchange between you and Max as if it were a tennis match. They were deeply entertained, and one thought was certainly shared between them: they would definitely side with you against Max, no matter the situation.
Max was their grid mum on track. But you were their grid mum off track, and that was worth so much more to them. If Liam and Jack had been nervous to come spend the evening here, all their worries had now completely disappeared.
If anything, they could even pretend to still be bothered about what was happening to them in the Formula 1 world, just so they could spend more moments like this one. They wouldn’t need to, though. Even without the excuse of wanting to distract them and lift their spirits, you would still invite them to dinner the next day, before offering them a ride on Max’s plane as if it was yours – it kind of was, according to Max who deemed everything he owned as your possession too.
So when the four of you would arrive together in Japan, the other rookies might be jealous. They might ask Liam and Jack about how they pulled it off, and maybe the two would agree in telling a little white lie just so they would gatekeep the family time they spent with you and Max.
And it would eventually become a competition as a joke: who would be able to get the most time with their grid parents?
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Hope y'all enjoyed it!! Y'all cannot imagine how mad i was when the devil (rbr) switched liam and yuki - actually you kinda can bc i posted ab it lol
But i fr hate that they only give liam 2 races to prove himself like THAT'S😭NO😭ENOUGH😭 and for jack, well i saw that oliver oakes confirmed they ain't getting rid of him + plan of having him for the whole season but they aren't giving him enough love imo - like why tf y'all have 4 reserve drivers
Anywayyys i acc have no idea whether liam was made aware of the switch before it went public but let's pretend rbr ain't bitches
Don't hesitate to like or reblog if you liked this<3 and don't be shy to leave a comment so i can know your thoughts as well :))
See you soon, take care of yourselves, i love y'all xx
summary: when max starts posting his new girlfriend, the internet is shocked to find out she doesn’t have ANY social media?
a/n: happy birthday max!
a/n2: inspired by a prompt from @sinofwriting and the fact I don’t have a Facebook, Twitter, or instagram account
a/n3: some of the comments I’ve written read like I’m criticizing the current wags and wag culture — I’m not
Masterlist
maxverstappen1
liked by charles_leclerc, landonorris, oscarpiastri, and 1,728,293 others
maxverstappen1: 💙
view all comments
user1: WHAT
↳user2: that is a woman max verstappen!
user3: what in the soft launch is this?!?
oscarpiastri: good break?
↳maxverstappen1: yeah
↳oscarpiastri: 👍
user3: since when was max dating anyone?!?
↳user4: since now apparently??
landonorris: you know there's a girl in your pictures right?
↳maxverstappen1: since she's the subject of the pictures…yeah
↳landonorris: ok just checking
↳user5: I'm laughing — this man didn't tell anyone he was dating someone did he
↳user6: it doesn't look like it 😂
user7: I love how casually he posted her too…just some faceless photos and a minimalist caption…
f1gossip
liked by user, user, user, and 865,368 others
f1gossip: weeks after debuting his new girlfriend, max verstappen has been spotted on many dates with the mystery female
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user7: no but how is she STILL a mystery?
↳user8: that's what I want to know! Like has anyone got a good photo of her yet??
user9: for once in my life, I'm begging the internet detectives to do their thing and find her
↳user10: trust us we're trying!
user11: I don't think she's on social media
↳user12: what do you mean?
↳user11: if she had a social media presence, the amateur detectives would have found her — someone would have tagged her or she would have posted max or the cats of something
↳user11: the fact that it's been weeks and all we know is she's brunette, is dating max, and apparently has a supernatural ability to know when a camera is around?
↳user11: neither max or lando or Charles (who we know have met her because of max's ramblings during his sim races) have tagged her in ANYTHING — she doesn't have an account to tag
↳user12: …I hate how much that makes sense
user13: no but I want to talk about her ability to dodge the paparazzi??? Like does she sense them? NO one and I do mean no one has gotten a good picture of her yet
↳user14: all hail the Queen
↳user15: that takes serious skills
user16: is it might be a weird sentiment but I love the fact that we're only seeing yn through his eyes?
↳user17: kinda weird but I do like it!
maxverstappen1
liked by victoriaverstappen, sophiekumpen, charles_leclerc, and 1,921,018 others
maxverstappen1: always a fun time with you 💙
view all comments
victoriaverstappen: it was so nice to meet yn max! Thanks for the invite
↳maxverstappen1: we both had a lot of fun and are looking forward towards the next time
↳user18: her name is yn!
user19: she's met the family y'all
↳user20: oh it's serious, serious
sophiekumpen: it was good to see you both again!
↳maxverstappen1: she wants me to tell you thanks for the cookies
↳user21: oh my god…
user22: can I say? These look like legitimately fun dates to go on — not just random pr approved dates or outings
↳user23: I totally agree — like this for sure feels like a real relationship and not some sponsored thing to boost his reputation or whatever…
user24: I love? that max is acting like a young man in love with her? If that makes sense
↳user25: no it totally does — these are random fun dates you take your girl on. Not highly scheduled and photographed pr approved things
↳user24: they are! Totally makes him seem like just a regular guy and not a 4x world champion
user26: the power she holds…to get max to take cutesy soft launch aesthetic photos and to POST them??
↳user27: again I want to be her…
f1gossip
liked by user, user, user, and 778,445 others
f1gossip: and it's the paddock debut of yn, max verstappen's girlfriend! This is the first time they've been seen together in the paddock since they announced their relationship 7 months ago.
view all comments
user28: 7 months and still all we have is her first name and like 3 photos of half her face
↳user29: I admire her commitment to not engage with max or f1 fans
user30: I think I'm starting to be to agree with that person who said yn don't have social media — there's no way anyone can go this long without being identified if they were on the internet
↳user31: ^^ especially with all the internet crazies looking for her
user32: I love the fact that max has someone in his corner who isn't using him for fame?
↳user33: right?? Like she's just there for HIM — she's not chasing the cameras or the fame or the follower counts
↳user34: it's refreshing to not have to wonder what she's getting out of her appearances at races — she's there for him
↳user33: that's exactly it
user35: he looks so happy with her — I'm so happy for him, you have no idea
↳user36: exactly! He even looks happy during his media obligations
↳user37: I don't remember the last time he looked happy (and not the Charles induced happiness) during his interviews…
↳user36: I don't think it's ever happened…
maxverstappen1
liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc, alex_albon, and 1,923,222 others
maxverstappen1: no one else I'd rather have on the other side of the table 💙💙
view all comments
user38: he's so cheesy with her
↳user39: I'm living for it
landonorris: we literally just had lunch yesterday?
↳maxverstappen1: a) you nearly ran out of the restaurant when I ordered the fish b) you're not my girlfriend??
↳landonorris: why would you order that when I'm there???
↳maxverstappen1: to see if I could get you to run away
↳user40: loving the fact max doesn't stop his campaign of terrorizing off the track
user41: ok but has max been taking photography lessons?? Cause he's been posting some bangers lately…
↳maxverstappen1: of course I have — I have the best model, it's only fair I take the best photos
↳user42: who are you wand what happened to mad max??
↳user43: dude he fell in love — that changes people
alex_albon: lily is telling me to tell you to remind yn about their lunch plans
↳maxverstappen1: …this could have been a text
↳alex_albon: yeah but I don't argue
↳maxverstappen1: probably a good choice
↳user44: fearsome f1 drivers? No. Loving f1 boyfriends? Yes
Bluesky
user50: that's such a lovely way to put it…
user51: I love how he loves her too — we haven't gotten a SINGLE personal detail about her from him
↳user52: considering we only got her name from Victoria, I agree
user53: get you a man like max — who loves you quietly and surely and completely
↳user54: who respects your boundaries
↳user55: and apparently takes photography lessons to take better pictures of you (seriously we skipped over that way too fast…)
Taglist
If you want to join my taglist, interact with my taglist post. I won’t be adding from anywhere else
summary: oscar finds a puppy wandering around the streets of monaco that leads him to meet his lucky charm
folkie radio: AN OSCAR FIC FINALLY OMG!!!! i have to say thank you to @cambrayficsrecs for sending this idea !! i LOVED IT and i hope you like this
MASTERLIST | MY PATREON
liked by alexandrasaintmleux, yourbff and 209 others
yourinstagram meet the newest monaco resident: arlo 🤍 swipe to see the goodest boy helping me settle in my new home 🐾
view all comments
yourbff HE'S PERFECT!! miss you already but so happy for you 😭
username1 the cutest addition to monaco!!
username2 remember when you said you'd never get a dog? 😂
alexandrasaintmleux my new favorite neighbor!!! can't wait for our puppy playdates 🤍
↳ yourinstagram arlo and leo are going to be bffs 🥹🥹
username3 told you moving to monaco was the best decision
username4 i'm visiting asap just to meet this angel
yourbff2 can't believe my best friend lives in monaco now
username5 you're living the dream with the goodest boy!
username6 look at that face!! when can i visit?
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texts between alex and yn
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liked by landonorris, charles_leclerc and 583,827 others
oscarpiastri Enjoyed being a temporary dog dad today 🐾 glad this good boy made it back home safe! might have to get one of my own now...
view all comments
username1 MY HEARTTT
username2 OSCAR YOU CAN’T DO THIS
maxverstappen1 Don't let lando see this
↳ landonorris too late. getting a dog.
mclaren Best teammate and dog sitter 🧡
username3 OSCAR WITH A PUPPY THIS IS NOT A DRILL
username4 the wholesome content we needed today
alexandrasaintmleux arlo already misses his rescuer! thanks again oscar 🤍
username5 get this man a dog asap
username6 the way he took care of a stranger's dog 🥺
username7 okay but imagine oscar with his own puppy
username8 JUST GET A DOG
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yourinstagram has added to their stories
replies:
yourbff ARLO OMG 🥺🥺 what happened to him?
↳ yourinstagram sneaky little minx disappeared from the balcony.. he’s safe tho
username1 omg poor you! good thing you found him
username2 is this knight in shinning armor who saved arlo cute?
↳ yourinstagram STOP 😭
username3 i need to visit so i can meet arlo
alexandrasaintmleux I could give you his insta… or his number 👀
↳ yourinstagram STOP IT ALEX
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texts between alex and yn
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liked by alexandrasaintmleux, oscarpiastri and 28,724 others
yourinstagram turns out the nice guy who found arlo last week also happens to be pretty good at driving cars 🏎️ congrats on p2! @/oscarpiastri
view all comments
username1 GIRL WHAT IS YOUR LIFE RN
username2 you move to monaco and suddenly you're in f1 garages???
alexandrasaintmleux told you you'd love f1 🤍
↳ yourinstagram love you !
username3 OMG OSCAR
username4 SHES THE OWNER OF THE DOG
username5 this plot twist though 👀
mclaren 🧡
username6 the way this all started because arlo escaped
charles_leclerc I won you know? 🤔
↳ yourinstagram congrats charles !
username7 YOUR LIFE IS A MOVIE
username8 the best meet cute ever??
oscarpiastri Couldn't have done it without my good luck charm 🐾
↳ yourinstagram arlo says you’re welcome!
username9 IS THIS THE OWNER??
username10 the cutest storyline of the season
username11 THE WAY HE COMMENTED
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oscarpiastri sent you a direct message
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liked by username1, username2 and 14,826 others
f1gossip Oscar Piastri spotted having coffee with the owner of the now-famous beagle puppy in Monaco this morning 👀
view all comments
username1 THE WAY THIS STORY KEEPS GETTING BETTER
username2 from rescuing her dog to coffee dates we love this journey
username3 this is better than drive to survive
username4 THEY’RE SO CLOSE HELLO
username5 this is the cutest thing ever help
username6 the fact that the dog is there too 😭
username7 someone check on lando he's losing his bachelor buddy
username8 the good luck charm strikes again
username9 living a wattpad story fr
username10 HE LOOKS SO HAPPY
liked by oscarpiastri, alexandrasaintmleux and 47,935 others
yourinstagram turns out there's more to monaco than just fancy cars 🤍
view all comments
username1 THE WAY YOU MOVED TO MONACO AND IMMEDIATELY LIVING A ROMCOM
username2 OSCAR?????
username3 arlo the ultimate wingman
username4 this storyline keeps getting better
username5 OMFG WHAT IS THIS I NEED THE CONTEXT
alexandrasaintmleux told you he was cute 😌
↳ username1 OMFG ALEX
↳ username2 i love her
↳ charles_leclerc 😂😂😂
username6 need full story time asap
username7 the way this all started because she lost her dog 😭
username8 living for this plot development
oscarpiastri arlo approved ✅
↳ username1 OSCAR STOPPPPP
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yourinstagram has added to their stories
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texts between oscar and yn
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liked by yourinstagram, landonorris and 986,033
oscarpiastri Great weekend with the team 🧡 Ready to head back home to Monaco though... missing my favorite good luck charm 🐾"
view all comments
username1 OSCCCC
username2 is he talking about the dog? 😭
landonorris which one? 👀
↳ oscarpiastri 🤫
↳ username1 HELLO???
↳ username3 DECODE THIS
alexandrasaintmleux someone's eager to get back 😌
↳ charles_leclerc Your matchmaking services working well
↳ username1 LET ME INNNN
georgerussell63 The power of puppy love
username3 WE ALL KNOW WHICH GOOD LUCK CHARM
username4 the way he said "home" to monaco 🥺
username5 did anyone else catch him waving to someone on facetime after the race??
username6 some of this comments saying “the dog” his name is ARLO and he’s an icon
username7 i’m going to call it right now oscar is dating the dog owner
username8 OSC 😩
yourinstagram 🤍
liked by username1, username2 and 8,739 others
f1gossipinsider Straight from Barcelona to dinner in Monaco... Oscar Piastri spotted at Le Grill with a certain someone 👀
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username1 THE WAY HE DIDN'T EVEN GO HOME FIRST
username2 man flew straight from barcelona to take her to dinner i'm crying
username3 not me zooming in to confirm it's her
username4 THATS DEFINITELY YN AND ARLO UNDER THE TABLE
username5 fastest post-race exit we've ever seen
username6 Le Grill?? Man's not playing around
username7 our favorite story continues...
username8 this man SPRINTED from the circuit
username9 the commitment >>>
username10 our boy's got his priorities straight
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texts between oscar and yn
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liked by lilymhe, oscarpiastri and 45,099 others
yourinstagram turns out watching someone drive in circles for 2 hours isn't so bad after all 🏎️ proud of you @/oscarpiastri 🧡
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username1 OMGGGG
username2 look at little arloooo
francisca.cgomes So lovely meeting you! Welcome to the family ❤️
yourbff we have soooo much catching up to do
carmenmmundt You're a natural! Can't wait for Hungary
alexandrasaintmleux look who's becoming an f1 expert
↳ charles_leclerc Stop taking credit for this
↳ alexandrasaintmleux never 😌
↳ username1 HELLO??
username3 the WAGs adopting her immediately >>
username4 ARE THEY DATING??
username5 oh what a plot twist
username6 THIS IS GIVING ME LIFE
username7 so the key go getting an f1 driver to date you is getting a dog i see
username8 ARLO IS SO CUTE
oscarpiastri Best good luck charms ever 🤍
↳ username1 OSCAR STOP
↳ username2 i simply cannot do this
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texts between alex and yn
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oscarpiastri has added to their stories
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liked by carlossainz55, yourinstagram and 1,099,832 others
oscarpiastri First Grand Prix Win. Incredible 🧡 Thank you to the two lucky charms who changed everything
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username1 IM CRYING
username2 HELLO TWO LUCKY CHARMS ??
landonorris GET IN THERE MATE!! Proud of you 🧡
alex_albon THATS MY BOY
username3 IS HE TALKING ABOUT ARLO AND YN??
username4 im actually sobbing
username5 man won his first race and chose to be THIS cute about it
username6 SOMEONE SAID HE KEPT SHOWING HER THE TROPHY
georgerussell63 CONGRATS OSCO 🙌🙌
username7 from monaco meet cute to whatever this is im crying
username8 THIS IS ADORABLE OSCAR HELLO
username9 not to be parasocial but he's so in love
username10 THE WAY ARLO WAS THERE FOR HIS WIN
yourinstagram we're incredibly proud of you 🤍
liked by username1, username2 and 10,877 others
f1gossip From first F1 win to celebration dinner - Oscar Piastri living his best life in Budapest tonight! Sources say he couldn't stop smiling and kept calling her "my girlfriend" to everyone 👀
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username1 OH MY LORD
username2 is this oscar "i don't like pda" piastri??
username3 I CANNOT BELIEVE MY EYES
username4 the way this all started bc she lost her dog...
username5 I NEED THIS TO HAPPEN TO ME
username6 this is how we find out oscar is not single anymore
username7 EVERYBODY SAY THANK YOU ARLO
username8 lord i've seen what you've done for others
username9 the best meet cute in history
username10 THAT SHOULD BE ME
liked by alexandrasaintmleux, oscarpiastri and 60,826 others
yourinstagram home sweet home with my favorite race winner (and his trophy that he definitely didn't make me pack extra carefully) 🏆✨ still pinching myself about this weekend 🧡
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username1 CRYING
username2 the way we all watched this love story unfold
username3 most precious f1 couple no debate
landonorris Mans giving away his caps now?? love's changed him
lilymhe cutest neighbors ever! dinner tomorrow? 🤍
↳ yourinstagram count on it!
username4 LOOK AT ARLOOO I CANT
username5 i can’t believe oscar has a gf now
francisca.cgomes you two are goals honestly
mclaren Our lucky charm is back home! 🧡
username6 remember when she didn't know what DRS was 😭
username7 she's literally living the dream
username8 how to go from dog mom to f1 wag: a novel
alexandrasaintmleux my biggest masterpiece 🥹
↳ charles_leclerc STOP TAKING CREDIT
↳ alexandrasaintmleux NEVER
↳ yourinstagram arlo was the real matchmaker
username9 HOW DO I GET THIS LIFE
username10 they’re so in love i can’t
oscarpiastri My two favorite things in monaco ❤️
↳ yourinstagram three* don't forget the trophy
↳ oscarpiastri Trophy’s just a bonus 😘
liked by yourinstagram, landonorris and 1,549,022 others
oscarpiastri To the best wingman and matchmaker in F1 - thanks for running away that day in Monaco. Changed my whole life 🐾❤️ (YN says I need to stop spoiling him but look at that face)
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username1 IM FULL PN SOBBING NOW
username2 ARLOOOOO🥹🥹🥹
alex_albon most successful matchmaker in monaco
mclaren Our honorary team member 🧡
username3 i love one fairytale love story
alexandrasaintmleux YOU’RE ALL WELCOME
↳ username1 alex 😭😭
↳ charles_leclerc you're still not getting credit for this
