FORMULA 1 NEWS !

ISABEL LECLERC: THE MOVE TO ASTON MARTIN AFTER QUITTING LAMBORGHINI

isabel leclerc has been confirmed by aston martin to be driving for their team next season. this comes after her surprise quit from lamborghini during the summer break. so, here we are to explain the circumstances surrounding this event.

leclerc had a brilliant start to the season if you ignored the problems with fellow driver max verstappen . . . and if you ignored the spanish grand prix. an unidentified chain of events also led to her now dating verstappen, and both have not commented on how their relationship came to be. this sparked global confusion as one minute they were fighting and the next they were openly walking through the paddock together — and no one can understand how as they were never seen near each other all season.

during the summer break, leclerc announced that she was quitting laborghini for reasons that have not been disclosed by either her or the team. it has been speculated that she was unhappy with the pay she was receiving despite the fact that she is one of the highest earning drivers on the grid, however that has not been confirmed.

driver lineups for the 2023 season were fully confirmed as of the sao paulo race week, so it had been safe to assume that leclerc would not be racing next season. however, after a biking accident on the eve of the grand prix, leclerc has been offered a seat at aston martin with lance stroll's unfortune withdrawal.

leclerc will be teamed up with fernando alonso next season. alonso and leclerc have been seen to be friendly but their relationship off track is not well known due to her being a very private person with her personal life. we can assume that they will be respectful teammates that will bring aston martin higher up on the grid.

although the news is only recent, many have taken it to twitter to express both dismay and excitement about her next season. we would love to know what you think!

x

( dialogue in italics is italian until next line break ! )

MANY WERE IN INTERVIEWS when it was announced that isabel would be returning for the 2023 season. that included charles, who had found out mid-interview and immediately turned to try find his sister only to realise that she wasn't in the paddock yet.

and when she was in the paddock, he jumped on her and almost made them topple to the ground.

"i can't believe you didn't tell me!" charles huffed. "and you told arthur, hm?"

"of course i told arthur," isabel said as if it were obvious, "and—"

"i bet you told max, too," charles crossed his arms as he let go of his sister.

"yeah, charlie, that's kinda what happens when you spend most nights wi—"

"no!" charles cut her off before she could say anything more, covering his ears with his hands. "i don't want to know, belle. please spare the details."

isabel rolled her eyes, "i wasn't even going to say anything bad."

"it was implied."

"do not get me started on you," isabel said pointedly, the beginnings of their conversation completely dismissed as they bickered instead, "because i remember you coming home with a new girl every week."

charles' face turned red, "anyway," he cut back to their original topic and cleared his throat, "you signed with aston!"

iasbel chuckled, "f1 can't get rid of me that easily."

"i'm so happy for you," he brought her in for a hug once again, and a few seconds later, another set of arms joined them. and then another. it was oddly emotional for isabel as she stood in the middle of a four-person group hug in the middle of the paddock.

"she's back! she's back!" noah chanted as he kissed the side of her head quickly. "i knew you'd find a way to stay here."

"yeah," carlos added, ruffling up isabel's hair from her other side. "we can't get rid of you, can we?"

"you would not survive with me gone," isabel responded.

"not true," carlos disagreed, but charles sent him a look that called out his bullshit statement and carlos just shrugged. "okay, kind of true. but it is only for one year, yes?"

"yeah," isabel agreed, "but it is better than nothing, and they seem like a good team, so . . ."

"you're staying!" emilia shoved her way through the boys and flung her arms around isabel's shoulders. isabel had a feeling she'd be on the floor currently if her ribs weren't still a little sensitive. "thank god!"

isabel couldn't help but laugh in genuine happiness at emilia's reaction as she kept both her and emilia from falling over. "i couldn't leave you during your rookie year, em," she grinned.

"good," emilia said as she looped her arm through isabel's, "because these guys are all losers. can't deal with that."

charles scoffed, "we are not."

isabel and emilia both turned and gave him an identical look. charles held his hands up in surrender.

"okay, i'm walking you to the conference area because i saw this really cute journalist," emilia started to lead isabel off towards the other side of the paddock.

carlos chuckled and nudged charles, who shook his head and shoved him back. "shut up, mate."

noah watched the two of them and then looked at emilia. and it clicked. "oh god, what is it with you leclercs?" he shook his head.

charles looked at him in confusion. "what?"

"isabel dates your friend," noah pointed out, "and you end up liking hers."

"yeah," carlos said, "he ran out of a friend group to date so he's moving on to the next available opti— ow!"

"i have done nothing to deserve this bullshit," charles retracted his hand back into his pocket after whacking his teammate. "and i do not know what you are both talking about. don't you have media to do?"

carlos and noah shared a knowing look. "okay," noah gave in, "totally. c'mon, carlos, media stuff."

THE PRESS CONFERENCE WASN'T too boring this time. mainly because it was actually about isabel when she was asked questions, and they weren't questions about max. or charles. or noah. or anyone else that wasn't her.

she was excited to see that mick and sebastian were also sitting on the couch with her. max and alex were sitting up the other end.

"isabel," her head snapped up at the question. it was an older man with greying hair, and he looked professional, so she was hoping the questions continued that way. "it's exciting to see you back on the grid for next year. how are you feeling about the decision?"

"i'm glad to be back," isabel smiled. "yeah, i am feeling good about it. i think this is the most excited i have been about a team in a long time," because a subtle dig at lamborghini was necessary, "and i am really happy to be working with fernando next year."

"and are you worried at all about what will happen when lance comes back to racing?"

"no," isabel shook her head, "i will gladly give him his seat back at the end of next season. i really am just grateful that he put my name forward for the seat."

"and," sebastian added, holding his mic up to his mouth, "the team likes her from how often she's in my garage, so that is also a plus."

the rest of the questions for her were similar until they moved on . . . and then she heard a name that made her burst out into giggles.

all a woman said was 'jos verstappen' before isabel started laughing as if the name of her boyfriend's dad was the funniest thing ever.

max facepalmed and tried to hide his amusement at his girlfriend on the other end of the couch, and even more so when mick tried to get her to stop.

"isabel?" the journalist who mentioned jos turned to face isabel, her question to max on hold.

"that's me," isabel gave her a wave, her face now showing no signs of previous humour.

"is there something you would like to share with us?"

god, i feel like i am back in school, she refrained from rolling her eyes at the condescending tone. "not really. continue."

isabel had been made aware that jos was in abu dhabi when she caught sight of him with one of max's younger half-siblings in the red bull motorhome this morning. she had walked straight because she wanted nothing to do with jos, which meant that it hurt when she noticed max's eight-year-old sister's face fall, but max understood why isabel walked past without stopping. his own father was hardly speaking to him after the phone call in belgium, too mad still over the fact that he was dating isabel. the only reason he showed up was for blue jaye to see her brother.

isabel zoned out as max was asked about his father's support towards him winning the wdc title earlier than abu dhabi until she heard her name get brought into it.

"his opinion of me?" isabel laughed, practically bouncing on the couch she was that amused by the conversation. "oh, jos definitely hates me. i told him i was fucking his son over the phone because he was being a dick. oh, and because of sochi and the aftermath of that, but no one believes me about sochi, so . . ."

"jesus, isabel," max muttered, trying to hide his smile behind his hand so it didn't get caught on camera.

alex had already started laughing and couldn't stop, and sebastian was trying not to let humour show on his face. mick just sat there, unsure if he should laugh or not he was that shocked.

even the journalist how stumbled over her words as she tried to work out how to respond to that.

"what, you asked his opinion of me, i gave damning evidence," she flashed a smile and relaxed back against the couch. "carry on."

the journalist was too stunned to continue so she sat down and the topic changed again to sebastian's retirement.

"ISABEL."

"HI, MAX," ISABEL greeted her boyfriend with a smile as they left the conference area.

"if we ignore all that that you just said about my dad," max said, "would you like to meet my younger sister? she's been asking about you all morning."

"if jos isn't there, then sure," isabel shrugged. "but i don't regret what i said in that conference."

"i know," max said. "i don't care that you said it. i just want you to get to know my family that isn't my dad."

THAT WAS HOW ISABEL found herself standing in the lounge of the red bull motorhome by herself while max went to go get his sister.

she wasn't sure if she was anxious, nervous, or a mix of everything as she waited. and she wasn't sure why, either. she was good with kids but somehow she was finding herself intimidated by an eight-year-old. it also had to do with the fact that jaye had been asking about meeting isabel for months and therefore isabel didn't want to disappoint the girl somehow. overthinking at its finest.

her head snapped up when she heard max's voice speaking dutch words she couldn't understand to his little sister, who giggled and skipped alongside him. she held his hand the whole way and looked up at her brother as if she were constantly starstruck to be in his presence; it was pure adoration and pride. isabel faintly remembered the way she used to look up to lorenzo and jules like that when they were winning their karting races when she first started out.

"okay," max stopped once he was in front of isabel, and he shot her a warm smile to reassure her because he could see straight through her. "belle, this is jaye," he pat the top of his sister's head with his free hand. "and jaye," he then gestured to isabel. "you've heard me talk about isabel before—"

"he talks about you all the time on the phone," jaye blurt out with a smile.

isabel couldn't help but let a smile take over her face. "does he really?" she shot max a look, and he rolled his eyes.

"all the time," jaye repeated, letting go of max's hand and taking a step towards isabel. "can i hug you? please?"

it was in that moment that isabel swore her heart absolutely melted. sure, she was used to kimi and sebastian's kids asking her for this, but this felt different. she nodded, not being able to form words, and jaye took another step to wrap her arms around isabel's body.

"be careful, remember," max added quickly, but jaye was already being careful with her hug before he said anything. it didn't matter either way because the pain in her ribs wasn't as prominent anymore and more just like a very uncomfortable feeling that bordered painful, but the thought of it was still sweet. this was also considering that not that long ago, lando had tackled her to the floor in a 'fight' in the paddock, so a hug was nothing compared to that.

"it is nice to meet you," isabel told the girl as she hugged her back.

"you have a really pretty accent," jaye spoke up as she released isabel from her hug and stepped back beside her brother.

"you are really pretty," isabel shot jaye a wink that made the girl smile brightly and look up at max. "i'm really pretty," jaye told her brother confidently, excitement peeking through.

"the prettiest girl in the world," max pat the top of his sister's head affectionately. "what do you wanna do, hm?"

jaye thought for a moment. "can we get ice cream while dad isn't here?" she asked, her tone a little shyer this time.

max grinned, "absolutely," he then looked back at isabel, "you coming?" he held his right hand out to her now that jaye was holding his left once again.

"if we get ice cream to share and not tell our trainers, definitely," isabel laced their fingers together as jaye led them excitedly through the motorhome to get to hospitality.

x

ISABEL DIDN'T SEE MAX again until friday in between free practice sessions. he went and spent the afternoon with his family that had flown in to abu dhabi and isabel had an afternoon training session that sent her straight to sleep as soon as she had finished dinner afterwards back in her hotel room.

her helmet was different for this grand prix. it was mostly her usual design, but the 52 on it had the german flag within it instead of it being its usual gold, a symbol for sebastian like a few of drivers were doing for his final race.

FP1 went well for lamborghini. noah had finished reading isabel's notes on the circuit and was implementing her racing lines into his own driving. isabel spent most of the time irritating lewis with sebastian by tailgating him. toto probably wasn't too pleased, but lewis had found the humour in it because it was sebastian and not someone else.

FP2. george almost accidentally sent isabel into a wall and so she took immense pleasure in bullying him for it in reference to zandvoort. she did have to reassure him that she was only joking because she wasn't mad about it, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

FP3. isabel spent her time mostly going for flying laps that weren't her very best because she knew that alicia was trying to steal as much data from her as possible. harry was happily deleting the data from her car whenever possible in order to prevent this. she also held little mock races with sebastian again and mick still wasn't allowed to join in.

"OKAY, SO THE PLAN is that we need to stage this starting now."

max nodded, "okay, good plan. and then after quali we'll do it?"

"yes," isabel confirmed with a nod. "a bit different from last time but i cannot be fucked after the race."

isabel and max had a shared interest of fucking with the media. they had done it last grand prix and gave people different stories about their personal lives because it was funny to watch articles get written about differing things. there were articles that said they were arguing from brazil and they had no clue how that was believable when there were photographs of them and jaye sitting together with ice cream on thursday. either way, it had become an entertaining game for them to play with the media.

the upstaged plan even had the red bull employees in on it because they were part of the reason it was happening. some of the mechanics suggested the idea for the recreation as a joke and that was what solidified max and isabel's plan to actually go through with it.

Q1. isabel took q1 easily, just keeping a time that kept her high enough without going flat out.

"okay, you are p7. those eliminated are latifi, albon, bottas, gasly, magnussen, bell, ricciardo."

'bell' was leonardo bell, a reserve for aston martin and lance's current fill-in. he was an ex-formula 2 driver that had also raced in nascar and a few other championships that isabel couldn't remember, and he still raced in another series as that had their season end before f1 did. they currently had him on as a testing and a reserve while lance was unable to race, and when lance was back, leo would go back to being a third driver whilst lance became a reserve. he was twenty-six and had a later start to motorsport than most, but he had the determination and the skills as any other, and it was just a waiting game until he could prove it.

"i hope you do not mind," isabel said, "but i want seb to get through all three sessions if possible. that means i will drop positions if i have to, i don't care." at this point in time she was racing for the fun of it and didn't care if she lost points or whatever from it. she was already out of the championship as of months ago, and she just wanted to have a fun qualifying session before the more seriousness of the race kicked in.

"it's your last race with the team, kid," harry replied, "do whatever you want. as long as you don't crash or anything, i don't care."

"i'll win tomorrow just for you, harry," isabel grinned, "thank you!"

Q2. "why the fuck are the red bulls in the middle of the track," isabel groaned as she aborted her flying lap and glared at the car in front of her.

"that's verstappen," harry informed. "i don't know, but don't worry about it, you've got time to go again."

"i am going to touch his rear-wing," isabel grumbled.

"please don't."

when she finally put in a better lap after the timer ended the session, isabel was sitting p4 and was waiting for the next few drivers to complete their laps as she headed back to the pitlane.

"okay, the first ten is perez, leclerc, sainz, you, verstappen, hamilton, norris, russell, noah, vettel. nice job, kid."

"oh my god, seb p10?" was all isabel took from what her race engneer said. "let's go!"

Q3. isabel took q3 a lot more seriously now as it was about times more than anything.

her first lap put her up into provisional pole by having the fastest of all the three sectors. it only lasted a few minutes until carlos snatched it from her and she was bumped down to p2 in front of charles.

in her last flying lap, she just managed to push herself up from where she dropped to p5 and ended up splitting the red bulls, taking checo completely off the front row by stealing his position by a hundredth of a second.

"that's the front row, belle!" harry cheered over the radio. "starting grid for tomorrow is verstappen, you, perez, leclerc, sainz, hamilton, russell, norris, vettel, noah.

"thank you for an amazing last qualifying session with the team, harry," isabel waved at him from where she could just see the end of the pit wall before going around the track again to enter the pitlane. "i can't wait to do it again with you next season."

"it's always been a wonderful experience to work with you, isabel," harry's voice sounded a little more emotional this time. it wouldn't be long until they were working together again for aston martin, but they had spent a good couple of years together at lamborghini; it was like the closing of a final chapter and entering a new novel entirely. "love you, kid."

"love you, too, harry."

x

"SO, REALISTICALLY, IF I push you into the wall—"

"that's hot," max joked, arms crossed. "i won't be able to help myself."

"ew," kate rolled her eyes as she stood with the couple. qualifying had ended an hour ago and everything was starting to wind down now that it was late. "please refrain from that shit in the garage while we are still here."

isabel giggled, "max, no," she then sighed. "i am going to shove you into the wall and call it karma from when you ruined my lap just before."

"we're all on your side here, girl," kate winked at isabel. "make it hurt, he deserves it."

"ha ha," max said sarcastically. "fuck off, kate," his smile matched his tone.

kate grinned just as jay turned the corner and entered max's garage. he gave belle a small smile — very unlike their first greeting where he thought she was going to break max's rear-wing in italy — and joined the trio at the back of the garage. "there's a camera crew making their way down the pitlane," he told them. "they're at alpine right now."

"that's, what, two up from here?" max asked, and isabel nodded.

"other side of noah's garage," she said.

kate linked her arm though jay's. "okay, have fun, don't break anything," she walked back over to the car with jay beside her. jay gave the drivers a quick wave before getting the car ready to go out into parc ferme.

isabel quickly leaned forward to give max a brief kiss. "i apologise kind of in advance."

max snorted, "no you don't."

"good point, i don't," she grinned, and as soon as the she caught the camera in her peripheral vision, she shoved max into the wall.

despite it not hurting in the slightest, max still grunted when his back hit the wall. "what the fuck?!" he exclaimed. 

"you fucking deserved that," isabel crossed her arms over her chest. "why are you being a dick?"

"why are you being a bitch?"

"learn to fucking drive better, jesus christ," isabel was fighting hard not to smile and she could tell max was doing the same. "next time i go straight through like i am you in melbourne."

max cleared his throat to stop himself from laughing. "and how many times have you done the same to me? and i'm the problem?"

"yeah, you are the problem."

"how—" and then kate raised the covers that red bull usually held up in front of the cameras to stop them from looking in and making it look more dramatic in the process. isabel immediately wrapped her arms around max's waist. 

"man, i missed shoving you around," she hummed. "reliving the past, hm?"

"mhm," max hummed and kissed the top of her head. "i am sorry about quali though. i thought i was over far enough."

isabel just shrugged, "i don't care. i am faster than half the teams that were up there anyway. it would not have ruined anything."

kate walked back over to the two, "definitely wasn't as intense as last year," she said, "but it had the camera crew talking. they thought it was real."

"what idiots," max laughed quietly. "the fucking media."

"complete idiots," isabel agreed, letting go of max and turning to hug kate. "thank you for that."

kate waved it off as she hugged the girl back. "hey, what would christian do if i didn't help out his favourites cause chaos," she laughed. "i would probably lose my job."

x

IN ABU DHABI, THE red bull and lamborghini garages are right next to each other. more specifically, isabel and max's garages are the ones closest together. in previous years, it served as an annoyance. this year was different.

on sunday afternoon, they met in the middle of their garages on the outside, minutes out from needing to get in their cars for the final time this season. both already had all their gear on, their visors flipped up so that they could see each other better.

"one more race," isabel spoke just loud enough to be heard over all the last minute chatter before the race began, "with me at lamborghini."

max nodded, eyes sparkling, "one more," he agreed. "and i'm gonna win."

there it was again; she could feel the deja vu clawing at her. "you're not!" she exclaimed in response, crossing her arms over her chest. "fuck you and fuck your red bull." to make it even better, he mouthed 'illegal car' at the same time she said it, having already known she was going to mention that. isabel just rolled her eyes.

"are you done?" max rolled his eyes back before his face softened into the different personality he had reserved for her. "have a good race," the shift in tone made isabel smile and step closer to him. "enjoy it because then you're free from them, yeah?"

"yeah," she agreed with him, wrapping her arms around his middle, ignoring the uncomfortableness of trying to hug him while in full racing gear. she pulled back a little so that he could rest his helmet against hers, similar to the way she blurrily remembered him doing in the netherlands. "don't push me off the track this year, please," her words were serious and juxtaposed the tease that he could see shining in her eyes. "i am already out of the championship, there really is no point."

max chuckled briefly, cupping the sides of her helmet. "i am still very sorry about that," he mentioned, "but i won't. just race me like france, hm?"

unlike france, though, the yas marina circuit didn't have a long start/finish straight before the line. it was pretty much going around turn sixteen and then approaching the line. either way, isabel still agreed, "only this time, i will win and you won't."

"yeah," he took a step back from her with a smile that was hardly visible under the helmet, "okay, you keep telling yourself that."

"i will," isabel winked at him as she backed up towards her garage, "good luck!"

"good luck, belle," he said before turning back into his garage.

"belle, oh my god," zavier crushed isabel into a hug before she could get into her car. "i'm gonna miss you in here."

isabel frowned a little, "i will miss you more." she had given him the option to move with her to aston martin even though she had a feeling he would decline it, and he did. zavier was well set up in lamborghini after working his way up to head mechanic, there was no reason for him to make the switch to have to go through that process all over again. "but you know i will come here every race weekend to see you and noah . . . and to piss off alicia."

zavier was another person that had watched isabel grow through her past four years at the team. him, harry and luca had all been there pretty much since the start of her career, and things were all vastly different now. 

they had watched her go from dnfing her first ever f1 race to almost winning a world championship. they had watched her rivalry with max grow into the purest form of hatred and then eventually settle down into a relationship. they had watched her go from the bubbliest nineteen year old ever to a let-down twenty-two year old to a rebuilt twenty-three year old who had just been signed for a better opportunity with a team that were going to value her. they had seen it all. but things change and for now, zavier was ready to become a bigger figure in noah's life than he already was. he wasn't going to let alicia run down noah in the same way.  

"you better," zavier let go of her and flipped down her visor. "i'm proud of you, though, so go out and win this for us, yeah?" 

isabel interpreted him perfectly because by us he meant harry, luca, noah, emilia, and himself. not the team. "of course," she felt him tap her helmet before he helped her get into the cockpit of the LR22 for the final time. "i better see you on the pit wall when i finish."

"luca and i will climb it for you if you win," zavier promised. he buckled her in properly before fitting the steering wheel and then stepped away. "have a good race, belle."

BEING LINED UP ON the grid beside max already felt like a repeat of last year. she had almost similar thoughts, too.

get to the turn first. you're stuck between the red bulls so don't let them through. win the race to prove a point. the only difference was that she wasn't telling herself to win the championship like last year, and it was bitter, but she planned to enjoy this race no matter the outcome.

the red lights were starting to blink to life above her and everything else faded out. get to the turn first. don't collide with max.

"it's the abu dhabi grand prix . . . and it's lights out and away we go!"

lap one. isabel made the clean start ahead of max the second the lights went blank. on the short end of the straight before the first turn, she just managed to squeeze in front of max and take it first. it did now mean she was under threat from both red bulls but she had time to establish a cleaner p1 while drs wasn't enabled.

lap seven. max became the race leader with drs and pushed isabel down to p2 ahead of his teammate. the front of the race wasn't too interesting as of currently, so harry had been keeping her updated on the midfield battles going on between esteban and sebastian, and carlos and lewis in the meantime. 

"oh my god, i forgot that i told you i would tell you pick-up lines," isabel mentioned. 

"uh huh," harry hummed, "how dare you forget."

"harry, you know they say nothing lasts forever, so will you be my nothing?"

harry had to mute himself from his end of the radio to stop himself from laughing at how stupid it was. 

"you don't need keys to drive me crazy."

"are you french? 'cause ma-damn, you are fine."

"isabel, these are shocking."

"do you want f1 ones instead?" isabel asked. "i know so many."

"do i have a choice?"

"no, but the f1 ones are worse. ready?"

"once again, i don't have a choice. go for it."

"so this is meant to be from a guy's perspective, as are pretty much all of these," isabel continued her way around the track effortlessly as if she wasn't chatting absolute nonsense on the radio. "and it is pretty bad. 'with my long straight and your curves, we make a damn good track'."

harry choked on a laugh, "belle, what the fuck have you been reading?"

"ooh, okay, i came up with this one," isabel hummed. "you be daniel and i will be max, we can recreate baku 2018."

"that's bad," harry laughed, "but if i remember correctly, the exact same thing happened in australia this year."

"yeah," isabel replied immediately. "maybe that was max's way of flirting with me, you know, going straight through my rear-wing and sending me into a barrier."

"and they say love is dead."

"i know right?!"

lap twenty-three. most of the time was spent with max and isabel trading places in the drs zones and during some of the sharper turns. it was irritating, but isabel found herself enjoying it nonetheless. 

"someone tell max to fuck off," isabel mumbled to harry absentmindedly as he overtook her once again. 

"noted. will do," harry responded.

lap thirty-nine. "latifi's in the wall again."

"jesus christ," isabel couldn't help but laugh a little after what had happened with nicholas ending up in the wall last year. "at least the championship's already been won, then." although isabel was second last year overall, lewis was a key contender to have actually won the title after her dnf. he hadn't placed high enough after being overtaken though after the safety car, so he finished third overall instead.

"can't have too much of a repeat of last year," harry joked. "but you should see this footage, schumacher just tagged latifi and they spun in sync."

"show me after the race," isabel said with a nod. "but put that dead or alive song over it."

throughout, too, he had been giving her updates on how sebastian was going during his last race. he was currently p10 and hadn't been under serious threat from anyone to the point where it could end up in a collision . . . but that was also probably because fernando and isabel had threatened the grid not to take out sebastian because, although it was still a race, it was his last and no one wants to spend their last race in the pitlane with a dnf. 

lap forty-five. isabel stole race leader from max only just. she outbraked him during the chicane and therefore pulled ahead, leaving him to give up the position before a collision occurred. "yes!" she had been fighting him for six laps consistently, waiting for his defences to drop just enough for her to slip through. 

"nice work, belle!" harry grinned from his spot in the pitlane. "keep it up!"

lap forty-seven. "i feel like i have been boring this race," isabel voiced as she worked to defend max on the straight towards the first turn. "would you like me to sing?"

"absolutely not."

"pick a song!" isabel continued. "oh my god, i know the perfect one. frère jacques—"

"not the fucking nursery rhymes again," despite his complaining, harry couldn't help but chuckle anyway. there was a time when she would constantly sing random nursery rhymes until alicia got her in trouble for it, and this was probably the first time in two years since she had started it back up again.

"shut up, harry, you're ruining my song," she sighed, splitting her concentration between max trying to constantly overtake her and singing the nursery rhyme. "ahem. frère jacques, dormez-vous? dormez-vous? sonnez les matines! sonnez les matines! ding dang dong, ding dang dong."

"ten out of ten," harry chuckled as he shook his head. "absolutely incredible. please stop before my ears bleed."

"aw," isabel cooed, "i love you, too, harry— fucking bitch," isabel's tone switched up when max outbraked her. "i swear to god."

harry laughed a little too loud. "go get it back and stop singing to me," he said. 

"but i am trying to serenade you."

"i, once again, am married with kids."

"so?" isabel scoffed, "i'm sure your wife understands how charming i am." she knew for a fact that harry's wife liked her, so any chance that harry had to shoot back a response would be futile. 

lap fifty-two. isabel was hoping she could make up the gap between her and max while she tried to fend off her brother from behind her. there were barely six laps left and max was constantly building a gap even larger because her car was a shitbox in comparison to his.

"okay, okay," she mumbled to herself, knowing that charles had drs activated. all she had to do was out-perform him to the turn and then pull away quicker. she also had to hope that whoever won out of the checo and lewis battle would move to distract charles long enough to let her slip further ahead. 

lap fifty-five. lewis was forced to retire with a hydraulics issue, and so checo made the quick move on charles. from there, isabel broke away from charles and advanced on max, who had fallen down to a five second gap. 

lap fifty-seven. isabel had finally caught up to max with one and a half laps to go. harry knew without being asked to fall silent unless it was urgent because she was working to closing the gap completely and overtaking max to win. for the entire lap she remained close to the back of his car, not taking the chances to overtake and instead waiting it out to try take him off guard. 

lap fifty-eight. final lap. she remained in his slipstream until sector three. during that sector, she broke out from behind him and made multiple advances which he shut down, but it signalled the start of their own mini race within the overall race they were currently in. 

while it was an issue that he had the faster car, isabel wasn't worried about that. she knew for a fact that she thought more logically when she drove because years of having a lesser car equated for needing to make up for it elsewhere. she could pinpoint the exact racing line to take and the exact time to brake to unlock the optimum way of getting around someone that was faster than her. 

it wasn't until the end of sector three that isabel made one last final move around max. turning the final corner, she braked later at the risk of running straight off the track, but she balanced the car quicker and pulled out in front of max. immediate relief washed over her at the fact that the risky move had worked and she was now in favour of winning the grand prix unless max could get around her last minute. 

and, at the very end of it all, isabel had crossed the line first by half a car's length. 

"isabel leclerc, you just won the abu dhabi grand prix!"

it was the first race in abu dhabi she had ever won. and it was also healing almost straight away after what had been stolen from her last year. she could breathe, she could think, and most importantly, she could hear. she could hear the roar of the crowd tangled with the fireworks that were blasting off into the sky as she crossed the line. the engines were loud, but everything else had somehow become so much louder and she basked in it.

"harry, i fucking won," was the first thing isabel said as she slowed and drove around turn one. "oh my god."

"you sure did, kid!" harry cheered for her, "look back at the wall."

when she safely made it around the corner, she glanced back quickly and noticed luca and zavier on the fence. she laughed, waving at them before swerving side to side as if warming her tyres. "thank you so much harry, and thank you to everyone that is not alicia! it's been a good four years with you guys, and i thank you again for getting me this far."

"you deserve only the best, isabel. go enjoy yourself. the first ten is you, verstappen, leclerc, perez, sainz, russell, norris, stroll, ocon, vettel."

IT WASN'T LONG FROM there that most had cleared off the front of the track and sebastian and isabel were left there with mick, who was awkwardly trying to ignore team orders by claiming he had a comms issue. isabel overtook sebastian so that he was in the middle of the three and the spaced out along the start/finish straight. 

on a hand signal from sebastian, the three of them fulfilled their promise of doing donuts in abu dhabi in front of thousands. even though the plan had been put in place for all three of them leaving f1 together, it was now all for sebastian and celebrating with him since mick and isabel had been given spots in the sport still. 

smoke covered the area completely as the tyres locked up to spin, and once the smoke cleared, sebastian was standing up on the front of his car and waving to everyone, taking in the atmosphere of his final race. 

isabel was already getting emotional at the sight of it. the man who had taught her and mick the ropes was retiring. mick was out of his car and walking towards sebastian, the exact same feelings running through him. 

she exited her car after her helmet and balaclava was off and walked over to stand with mick. "how much trouble are you in?" she asked him, feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders. 

"a lot," mick sighed as he used one hand to undo his helmet. "but thank you for talking me into it."

"i promised i'd pay whatever they fine you with," isabel leaned her head against his shoulder as she glanced up at sebastian, who was undoing his own helmet before jumping down from the car. "you were not missing out on this."

"you're the best, belle," mick smiled at her before they both looked at sebastian.

"seb, i'm going to start crying," isabel wrapped her arms around sebastian as soon as he was in front of her. "damn you for making me this attached."

sebastian chuckled, bringing mick into their hug in the process. "if you cry, then i will start, so please don't," it was mostly a joke but he definitely was half-serious. "i'm serious belle, stop it."

"my eyes are blurry," she laughed, "no tears have fallen yet."

"same," mick said softly. "i can't see," he laughed, and the other two joined him. 

"just don't beg at my feet like you did with kimi," sebastian pulled away from the two in front of him. it was hard in a way for him because he always felt like he had this entire duty to be there for mick and isabel because of michael and jules. he had fulfilled his connection with charles when they were teammates at ferrari, and the two of them were still close, but mick and isabel had always been the two that faced constant unfairness and lack of respect from their teams and others just for who they were.

mick, because he was always compared to his father. just because his father was michael schumacher, many believed that mick should be completely living up to his father's name by now and winning races and championships. it didn't help that haas didn't do much for him but hold him back and strip him of opportunities. 

and isabel, because she had always been overlooked just because she was female. so many tried to break her down but she could always push through the misogyny. and then there was the way she was forced into her brother's shadow for the longest time, but that was expected when she finally started going by her full name instead of isa victoria like she had been before f2. what she couldn't push through was the constant suffering from lamborghini. maybe the first clear sign was because they were the reason she dnfed her first ever race, leaving her with a bigger black mark against her name because so many blamed her for the pit mistake that wasn't her fault. and then the way lamborghini acted during the 2023 season? that was unforgiveable.

"you wouldn't step over me like kimi did, though," isabel shot him a watery smile. "but we'll see you afterwards, okay?" she was well-aware that she should have been in the cool-down room ages ago and was therefore delaying the podium ceremony, but that didn't matter. "and, remember, dinner tomorrow night."

"we planned it for you," mick smiled warmly at sebastian. "so show up on time for once in your life, okay?"

"of course, of course," sebastian waved them off, "i'll see you later."

ISABEL hummed when max pulled her into him when she got to the cool-down room. the door was shut behind them and the camera crew hadn't entered yet, so max quickly kissed her before they could get in trouble for it. although the kiss he gave her was short and sweet, charles still grumbled about it from where he was sat in the p3 chair.

"charles, i used to catch you and your exes doing much worse," isabel rolled her eyes at her older brother. the amount of times she had been tempted to pour bleach in her eyes as a kid because of charles was not considered normal by any amount. "i'd keep your mouth shut if i were you."

"i am older than you," charles retorted, "it's different."

she coughed to try hide her laugh, "i am not fourteen anymore, charlie," for good measure, she pulled max in to kiss him just to annoy charles further. "so shush."

"anyway," max cleared his throat, "congratulations," he smiled at isabel with so much warmth that it made her heart melt. 

"and to you," she smiled back. "maybe be faster next time," she teased.

after congratulating her brother and waiting a little longer in the room, they were finally out on the podium. 

"this trophy is so cute," she said once she was handed it and had thanked the person that had given it to her. "look, max," she showed him the trophy in excitement because this was the first time she had been on the podium in abu dhabi.

max looked across at charles in amusement and the two chuckled at her. 

things felt good. isabel was in between her brother and boyfriend on the podium, she was hearing her anthem again . . . and she was getting ready to absolutely drench charles in the champagne substitute. 

the moment she got the bottle open, she immediately turned it on charles and sprayed him right in the face. he spluttered before getting his own open and attacking her back. max joined in and it became a free-for-all until charles eventually went to celebrate with his team and max was getting ready to do the same. 

isabel, on the other hand, hadn't seen alicia at all, and as much as she didn't want to see her team principal, it still was upsetting that she hadn't shown up. however, she could just spot harry, luca, noah, zavier and emilia down with red bull, and that brought an immediate smile to her face. 

"

x

ONLY ONCE THEY WERE back in max's hotel room did they finally celebrate properly at the end of the season since they couldn't on the podium.

"congratulations," isabel stood directly in front of him after dropping her bag by the door. 

"you won," max smiled, "congrats, belle, you deserve it."

isabel didn't think as she took his hands in her own. he looked at her questioningly at how she had suddenly gone silent, but that didn't last long when a phrase fell from her lips so effortlessly and rushed out, almost as if she were blurting it out. "i love you."

max's heart stopped for a second. he caught her eye and absolutely melted into the pools of chocolate that he found himself lost in so often these days. "it's a good thing i love you, too, then."

isabel found herself in his arms instantly. "jump," he said quietly in her ear and she did so, her legs wrapping around her waist as his hands slid underneath her to hold her up. 

"no," isabel spoke again. "i am in love with you." she had shocked herself when she first said it because she had never in a million years thought she would be the first to admit it. but it was the truth. she had fallen so deeply i love with him despite being the one that was so hesitant about them even happening in the first place; being the one who had taken longer to get over the hatred in the first place. it was like that cyclone she had always been used to seeing in his eyes had sucked her in and crashed over her head, bringing her into a new light and seeing the world so much more differently than before. 

isabel leclerc was in love with max verstappen. max verstappen was in love with isabel leclerc. 

"i know, isabel, i know," max kissed her gently. he broke away, for a moment, mere centimetres apart,"i'm in love with you so much more than you could ever understand."

her face scrunched up at his words as they sunk in, "you are not going to put me down, are you?"

"not here," max balanced her with one arm as he reached up to take the claw clip out of her hair. it fell down to a a mess around her shoulders. "maybe over there," he nodded in the direction of his bedroom and she rolled her eyes.

"you are gross," she teased. "i just told you how much i loved you and now you plan to—"

"yep!" max carried her into his bedroom. "consider it my gift to you for getting your first podium and win here."

"wow," isabel drawled as he dropped her down onto the bed. "how kind of you."

"i like to consider myself a romantic," he joked, leaning down over her. "i love you," he said once again, the taste of it addictive and something he was sure he was going to enjoy saying to her forever. 

"i love you," she replied, eyeing her racing number that dangled from his neck in front of her eyes. in a split second, she had pulled her weight down onto herself entirely before flipping them over so she was on top of him. "but jesus fuck, max, i hate being under you so cut that shit out."

max chuckled, his chest vibrating under her touch. "yes ma'am," he winked at her. "my bad."

x

INSTAGRAM — ISABEL.LECLERC

isabel.leclerc: seb, from the bottom of my heart, i love you. i know we are always going to be in contact because you can't get rid of me, but it will be weird not having you around all year. and i said i wasn't going to go on a big emotional rant but i can't help it im sorry in advance

i remember when i was just a kid and you were there with jules after races. i remember when you first took me to the bakery seven years ago because that was the first time you gave me racing advice. and then three years later, i was your reserve driver at ferrari. i think that is really when you became so much more to me than just a friend who took me to a bakery every year and gave me advice, you became my mentor and someone i could turn to for anything, even if it wasn't racing related.

and then there was 2019 and it was my first time actually racing in f1 in australia and, even though you were on a different team and should have been in a meeting with strategists, you came and sat beside my car and talked me through it all. and you and kimi towed me for a few laps and we all got in trouble for it from our teams but it was worth it because you finished fourth and i wouldn't have come last if i hadnt dnfed becaused of my tyres.

you were my biggest inspiration and still are to this day, but really, you are family more than anything.

i hope to see you around the paddock sometime soon old man :)

much love, belle 💗

comments . . .

isabel.leclerc: enjoy these seb photos that ive taken over the years :)

user1: we already miss you seb!

user1: i wanna see people sharing their favourite belle and seb stories go go go
↳ user10: youre all making it sound like he died or something
↳ user1: hes leaving f1 🤷‍♀️we are in mourning. its like the same thing

sebastianvettel: ❤️❤️

sebastianvettel: its been a pleasure to race with you belle :) you're going places, and i can't wait to see how far you can take it! see you at christmas ❤️
↳ isabel.leclerc: ❤️❤️ 
↳ user2: theyre so cute im gonna sob wtf
↳ user3: favourite duo ! i hope to see you guys back racing together soon

user4: the way it went from isabel just knowing seb through jules to her literally being the aunt of his kids amazes me. platonic soulmates fr
↳ user5: and shes the aunt of kimi's kids too!!!! it's amazing how one year as a reserve driver can lead to so much. im really gonna miss them
↳ user6: how do you guys know so much what
↳ user7: theres a few dts episodes about isabel and one is where shes mentioned in s1 briefly with this bc she was their reserve then. theres also another in s2/3 where it talks about her and charles' family and its mentioned more there! user6

charles_leclerc: when seb taught us all how to play uno in jules' garage during a rainy session :)
↳isabel.leclerc: and then you threw the cards at my face and got in trouble for it :)
↳ lorenzotl: you deserved it isabel.leclerc
↳ isabel.leclerc: i did not wtf

user8: belle youve got me crying stop

deniselovetta: i remember watching you with seb and jules at the 2014 monaco gp. seb had dnfed and jules placed 9th. i thought it was a very special moment because your brothers and you were all there with jules but you were so excited to try make seb less miserable after the dnf so you challenged him to see who could name the most f1 world champions. you lost but seb was more surprised that you almost beat him that he actually smiled. it's denise, i hope you remember me :)
↳ isabel.leclerc: holy shit denise hi!!! stop omg i am going to cry i completely forgot about that
↳ user10: who is denise?
↳ user11: the old head mechanic at marussia! user10

user12: no bc when he stood with you at the hungarian gp last year when he wasn't allowed to >> my heart actually exploded
↳ user13: partners in crime bc they both got in trouble together for it 😭
↳ user14: im a new fan, what happened last year?
↳ user12: seb and belle got in trouble for wearing 'political' shit during the national anthem. seb was in a 'same love' shirt and isabel accidentally had on a pride hat still that a fan had given her. both said they would do it again though, and seb further said he would especially do it for belle bc shes bi
↳ user15: belle is bi- what am i missing here
↳ isabel.leclerc: im not too open about it bc i already get enough shit for being female :) i like to keep my personal life separate from my racing life because who i am does not dictate my racing !
↳ user16: omg that makes so much sense now

user17: are we all dropping our favourite belle and seb stories ??? omg okay mine is when isabel made a joke about recreating multi 21 during her rookie year by cross-teaming with seb and helmut marko was not impressed
↳ user16: and it was the one time mark webber showed up too 😭

user18: no omg all the times seb pulled belle away from max bc they were arguing. back when times were simple ✨

user19: there is not a purer trio than belle, mick and seb and im gonna miss them

kimimatiasraikkonen: are you going to do this every time someone retires
↳ isabel.leclerc: dont bullshit me kimi your wife told me you almost cried at my post for you
↳ kimimatiasraikkonen: i dont know what you are talking about

kimimatiasraikkonen: 2018 in monaco when sebastian scared you and then you fell off my yacht. from the top.
↳ sebastianvettel: oh my god
↳ isabel.leclerc: that hurt so bad
↳ sebastianvettel: it was really funny though
↳ isabel.leclerc: dont make me delete this post you loser sebastianvettel

NOTIFICATION CENTRE —

(11m ago) IMESSAGE — SEB 💛

you might have made me
cry more belle

all the comments under your
post are really nostalgic

you say that i had a massive
impact on you but really it's the
opposite 

i'll see you in switzerland near christmas!
(make sure you bring max or else)

(30m ago) WHATSAPP — F1 2022

LANDO NORRIS: how long do we give it until george starts kicking people out of the gc now that the season is over

x

that was the last gp of this book ! still another chapter and there will be eventual bonus chapters after certain events are referenced in the next books of this series etc ofc though !

also i just wanna say it here so it doesnt seem like a random bit of plot:: it has briefly been referenced before that isabel was lgbtq+ but no one really picked up on it from what ive seen ! it probably also helps to know that literally all my ocs are a part of the community bc representation <33

this chapter is one of my favourites its so healing when you remember consider that abu dhabi 2021 was the catalyst for their eventual relationship :)

this chapter is 9.6k words and would be longer but i decided whatever i write next will all be in the final chapter :)