INSTAGRAM — ISABEL.LECLERC

isabel.leclerc: shoutout to that person in the paddock that gave me their phone number after the race. i think it was for me, but i gave it to an alpine employee 🥰

comments . . .

user1: stunning !!!

user2: not belle playing matchmaker 😭

user3: the last slide 💀 pls belle my fragile heart
↳ isabel.leclerc: suffer

charles_leclerc: you're the worst
↳ carlossainz55: good photo of us though
↳ landonorris: L
↳ charles_leclerc: lando you can't talk
↳ user4: the mclaren and ferrari slander rn is 💀

mickschumacher: 😊
↳ isabel.leclerc: 💓

georgerussell63: isabel.
↳ isabel.leclerc: HI GEORGE. BIG FAN.
↳ alexalbon: stop lying isabel.leclerc

user5: congrats on your win !!! absolutely deserved

user6: she fr dropped the team and starts winning again 😭 classic isabel behaviour
↳ user7: if only she could race independent. would def have a wdc by now
↳ user8: !!!!!!

user9: you find memes that i've never seen before in my life like HOW

user10: realising how much im gonna miss you next year on the grid :( someone sign this girl
↳ user11: you're the only one who thinks that
↳ user10: be fr rn how are you gonna have a seb pfp and hate belle 😭

user12: 😍😍

user13: ferrari are fighting for their lives rn don't do them like this 😭

user14: isabel's matchmaking people but i dont think i've ever seen her in a relationship 💀
↳ user15: theres photos of her and her ex when she was in f3
↳ user16: why does this matter 💀 she was 16 then

x

ISABEL HAD NO CLUE who was invited out to the private dinner and party after the grand prix. daniel and pierre got the word out about it, and from there, it was just whoever showed up.

everyone split into groups. esteban, mick, lance and noah were all at a table with drinks in hand. sebastian, lewis and valtteri were just outside through the glass doors.

isabel, max, charles, daniel, pierre, lando and emilia were all by the bar that they could help themselves to.

"you don't get a choice, belle," daniel lined up a few shot glasses. "you won, so you drink."

"i'm not complaining," isabel grinned as she watched daniel pour them. "i don't think i've touched alcohol since i flew to italy," she looked at pierre.

"that was maybe three weeks ago," pierre raised an eyebrow at her.

"so? too long," she picked up one of the shot glasses. "you too, danny ric," she slid one of them towards him. part of the reason emilia had driven was because isabel wanted to drink and emilia wasn't too big on alcohol. emilia was happy to play the role of designated driver anyway since there was no point in letting her friends catch a taxi when she was sober to drive.

"you don't even have to ask," daniel lifted a glass before urging the others to do the same. emilia participated for this one. "okay, alright, miss isabel leclerc won the grand prix, so now it's party time!"

"woo!" the group cheered before they downed the shot.

everything was starting to feel good again. daniel was back to smiling and his friendship with lando wasn't looking as awkward as it did when mclaren announced that daniel wasn't racing with them for the 2023 season. max and charles were talking and laughing again, quite the contrast from how he had just threatened the dutchman days ago.

isabel was glad that nothing between charles and max had been ruined by her. and she couldn't say she was surprised when charles had been okay with it, he only was confused and couldn't fully understand it. the leclerc siblings had grown impossibly close years ago, especially isabel and charles, after they had lost so much. they'd made a promise to each other that any arguments would need to be either avoided or solved immediately because they couldn't afford to lose each other in their little support system. charles only cared that isabel was happy, and so if she found that happiness with max, then why would he ruin that?

"so," daniel looked between isabel and max from the other side of the bar once everyone began to split off again. "give me updates, what's going on with you two?"

max and isabel shared a look. "uh . . .?" she trailed off.

"charles threatened me by burying me in a pit of acid," max chuckled as he swirled his glass, watching the liquid inside move with it.

"ah," daniel grinned as he looked back to isabel, "let me guess, the jules treatment."

"yes!" isabel laughed. "he forgets that i'm not fourteen anymore."

daniel laughed. he remembered it all a little too clearly from when he used to spend time with the leclerc family with jules. "you're surrounded by brothers. what else did you expect?"

max was amused as he sat there quietly and listened to isabel and daniel talk about her family. he was realising more and more that isabel's life was very family-driven, the complete opposite of his own. but that was okay because through her, he was grasping properly on the concept of family; what it really meant.

however, the amusement faded once he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. he knew who it was without even having to check. there was no way it was the team, there was no way it was his mother or his sister since it was late, and all his friends were with him right now. it was easy to figure out who it was.

the vibrating stopped, but then it picked up again and rang all the way through until it stopped again.

"max?" isabel asked softly, poking his arm. he glanced up at her, eyes unfocusing from the swirling liquid in his glass.

"you right, mate?" daniel asked.

"uh, yeah, sorry," max shook his head, pasting a smile on his face that the other two could see straight through. "just tired. i'll be back in a second," he excused himself and made his way through another set of doors that led to a seperate outside area.

daniel set down his glass and started to walk from behind the bar, but isabel stopped him. "can i go?" she asked him, tangling her fingers together nervously.

"yeah, yeah, of course," daniel nodded. "let me know if he's alright, yeah?"

"of course, thanks," isabel shot him a quick smile before hopping off the barstool and making her way outside.

the air wasn't cold, but it was cool enough to nip at her skin the second that she stepped outside. max had disappeared from sight, but upon turning the corner, she noticed him sitting on a small brick wall that acted as a barrier to the bed of plants behind it.

he was staring at his phone, watching it vibrate and ring out in his hand. isabel frowned when she noticed the caller id.

"was it him in monaco?" she asked, startling max, who hadn't realised she was there.

"huh?" he tried to hide the screen of his phone. it didn't help when his knee started to bounce.

"was it him," isabel repeated, "in monaco?"

max didn't need to form an answer because his eyes said enough. they looked drained of life, dark and cold, much more like despair than they were of anger. and isabel knew she had been right.

"jesus," isabel closed the distance between them and snatched his phone.

"isabel—"

"you can stop me if you really want to," isabel waited a few extra seconds, but when max didn't move to stop her, she slid across to answer the call.

"max, you—"

"ouch," isabel mumbled, grimacing as she pulled the phone away from her ear a little. "you're so loud."

jos paused. "who is this?"

"wrong number," isabel responded. "who is this?"

"where is max?"

"you don't know who i am?" isabel frowned. she felt max's hand slip into hers, pulling her closer until she was stood in between his legs. "sad."

it was silent for a moment before he answered, "isabel, why do you have my son's phone?"

isabel laughed quietly. max managed to get her to sit on his thigh by guiding her by her hips. he tilted his head closer to hers so that he could also hear the call.  "because he's asleep," to play the part, she kept her voice low. "and you keep ringing, it is really annoying."

"asleep— wait," jos paused.

"i believe in you," isabel said mockingly, "you can work this out. or are context clues not enough. i thought you were supposed to be smart."

"why are you there?"

"jesus, max, your father is fucking stupid," isabel muttered under her breath. "is it not obvious. come on, jos, you can work it out."

"you—"

"you're so boring," she huffed. "look, i am very tired, having sex with max is hard work," she couldn't help but let a giggle slip at the end of her statement. max stifled his by pressing his face into her shoulder. "so is that all? can i take a message?"

"you're not— that's not possible," jos insisted, "i don't believe you."

"well, i am not giving you proof," isabel rolled her eyes. "i don't want to know what weird shit you are into, but i do not like the idea of video proof existing," this time, she had to bite the inside of her cheek to stop herself from laughing. "so, you'll just have to believe me."

max tapped her hipbone, causing her to look at him. he winked at her, a silent sign that he had an idea, so she held the phone a little closer to him. "mhm, belle," max mumbled, faking tiredness straight into the microphone so that his father could hear his voice.

"aw, sorry," isabel frowned, trying to bite back a smile. she also tried to hide the fact that an uncomfortable feeling bubbled up in her stomach at that sound of him using her nickname for the first time. "did i wake you up?"

"for fucks sake, isab—"

"goodnight, jos," isabel whispered. "stop fucking calling too, you psycho." she hung up at that, and it barely took isabel and max a second to break out into laughter.

"i can't believe you told him," max said as he took his phone back from her.

"i hate your father," isabel shrugged. "a lot."

"a lot of people do," max hummed. "why do you? i mean, it isn't just about miami, is it?"

isabel thought back to miami when jos verstappen had tried to talk to her before she ran off with some bullshit excuse. she had almost forgotten about it now with everything else that was going on. "i think it was 2020," she said. "uh, was the russian grand prix where i crashed out?" she trailed off, talking to herself to try work it out.

max nodded, "yeah, it was," he nodded. "a problem with the power unit, wasn't it?"

isabel chuckled but there was no humour behind it. "that's what the statement said," she shrugged, "it was brake failure."

max remembered it. he had been the car behind her when it happened. they were coming up to the sharp, ninety-degree of turn seventeen and her car showed no sign of stopping. he had figured she was just braking late to hold her position in front of him, but it was clear that wasn't the plan when she crashed into the barriers at a speed that reminded him too much of his silverstone crash.

"but— that doesn't make—" max cut himself off. "are you saying . . ."

"he paid off our old head mechanic," isabel shrugged nonchalantly. "corrupt bastard. no one could believe it because everyone thought that sabotage like that had died out in the 90s." she broke her gaze from him. "your dad doesn't like me winning very much. which is funny because i know my stats are better than his. everyone's are."

"mhm," max couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he did believe it. "i'm sorry, isabel," he said gently.

"don't apologise for him," isabel silenced him. "then you are on his level, and you are not. don't."

"okay," he said.

"okay," she nodded. "are we going back in?"

"i would be able to if you weren't on top of me," max tried not to laugh when she grumbled what was no doubt a string of french profanities before standing up.

"you are a dick," isabel's eyes betrayed the smile that she was trying to hide.

"uh huh, whatever," max pocketed his phone once he was standing. just as she was about to walk back around the corner to go inside, max stopped her. "hey, thank you," his tone was serious this time.

isabel winked at him. "jos is fun to annoy," she said, "but you're welcome,"

x

MAX AND ISABEL WENT in different directions once they were back inside the venue. max went over to daniel ( isabel had messaged daniel with the thumbs up emoji to let him know everything was all good with max prior to it ) and isabel got caught up in conversation with fernando and sebastian.

"isabel," fernando greeted warmly, "congratulations for today!"

"thank you!" isabel smiled back just as warmly. "what can i say, i learnt from the best."

"yeah, me," sebastian said, and the three of them laughed.

"and kimi, jules, and nando," isabel corrected him, "so self-centred," she teased.

fernando leaned closer to her to loudly whisper, "he's reliving his youth at red bull."

"you're one to talk," isabel pat fernando's shoulder. "your time with renault created a monster," she joked.

"he tried to blame his shit with alpine on me, you know?" sebastian added. "in the paddock on friday."

"why? you stir up too much drama with alpine? isabel asked fernando.

fernando shrugged. "they expected me to be loyal but gave me no contract to sign. lawrence beat them to it, so i move to aston."

"what losers," isabel rolled her eyes.

"but," fernando continued, "you are still leaving this season, yes? but you just won today."

"i know you've been racing for like twenty years, old man," isabel chuckled when fernando rolled his eyes, "but i am not enjoying myself at the moment. maybe i will more now with paperwork finalised, but i don't know. i also have a feeling there will a couple of rookies next year, so . . . no seat unless i sit reserve."

sebastian snorted. "and we both know she has no patience to be a reserve."

fernando nodded, "absolute nightmare of a child."

isabel glared at fernando. "we were supposed to be on the same side here, mate," she huffed. "this was a 'let's bully seb' session."

"and now it's a 'let's interrogate belle' session," sebastian changed the subject. "so . . . what's going on with," isabel groaned before he finished, "max."

"huh?" fernando glanced between the two. "there's something going on?"

"i hate you so much, seb," isabel stole his drink from him and took a gulp, gladly welcoming the burn in her throat and the growing fuzz in her brain. why is everyone asking about max today? "you both are sworn to secrecy or i'll kill you," she smiled sweetly at the two.

fernando grinned, now extremely interested. "go on."

she briefly explained only the events of silverstone to them, but she could tell they knew more had happened. "no, i refuse to tell you the rest 'cause seb, you're like my father and no thanks, and nando, you're already in on too much paddock gossip."

"as long as you are being safe, i don't care," sebastian shrugged. "you're happy, i'm happy."

"mhm," fernando agreed. "same. so tell me what happened."

sebastian stole his drink back. "i'm gonna go tell mick," he kissed isabel's cheeks before waving goodbye to the two. isabel couldn't find it in her to stop him because mick was like a vault, you could tell him anything and he would take it to the grave.

and so isabel told fernando, and he hung off every word with some pretty interesting facial expressions.

"so, future wag, maybe?" he joked. "will i see you in the paddock, if you're not racing next year, in red bull colours?"

isabel scoffed, "absolutely not. who do you think i am?"

fernando's smirk irritated her. "someone that's in love with the golden boy over there," he subtly gestured to where max was laughing with daniel, lando and carlos.

"you're the worst," isabel shook her head.

"no, belle," fernando hid his smile, "i'm just right."

x

HER CHAIN WAS STILL around his neck.

she'd caught a glimpse of it the next morning when he opened the door of his hotel room to her. she just assumed that he had forgotten about it and ignored it.

"please let me drive," was the first thing isabel said.

"no," max rolled his eyes and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him.

she huffed but walked with him down the hallway anyway. "at least tell me where we're going."

"no."

"someone's talkative this morning," she muttered sarcastically.

"you're way too bubbly this morning," he rubbed his eyes as they waited for the elevator. "how are you not dying?"

isabel shrugged. she'd drank roughly the same amount that max did, but she'd been up for the past two hours already. her headache had died down and because she told luca she wasn't training this morning, she was filled with too much energy. "years of experience."

"i'm older than you."

"underage drinking," she pat his shoulder before stepping into the elevator. "anyway, will you tell me where we're going now?"

"no."

x

HAD THEY RACED TO the top of the trail in the mountains? yes, but that was expected. and isabel had won that, too.

it had originally started off as them walking the empty trail, but once the top came into view, it became a sprint.

"yeah, yeah, congrats," max chuckled at her bragging. "come look." he grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the top where a large rock sat. from there, everything was a beautiful shade of grass green.

it was the prettiest shade of green isabel had ever seen. there were old stone structures that added further to the charm of the lush countryside below them. 

"i used to run this trail when i was a kid," max said as he hopped up to sit on the flat surface of the rock. "it's very quiet up here."

"does anyone come here?" isabel asked, climbing the rock to sit up on it.

"not many that i know of," he shrugged. he didn't visit belgium as much anymore, preferring to spend his time off in monaco instead.

the silence was peaceful. leaves rustling and birds chirping added to the serenity, filling the void with life.

silences were different now. just months ago, any silence between isabel and max was so suffocating and uncomfortable that it was hard to breathe. now she felt like she could breathe, but the fact that she could breathe too easily now scared her.

"what's happening?" she asked, her eyes trained on the sights below them. "with us?"

"i don't know," max answered. "i haven't thought much about it since we promised not to talk about it, but . . . i don't know."

"i don't think i hate you off-track," isabel said, glancing over at him. "i do not think, i just act, and that is why i'm confused."

"i don't hate you off-track," he told her, "and . . . yeah, same."

isabel sighed quietly. "why are things so complicated now? it wasn't before."

max nodded, "what? back when you wanted to murder me?"

"yeah," she huffed. "that was easier than this."

"hey," max's hand hovered over hers, his fingers brushing her knuckles. "do you wanna see what happens? no labels, nothing, just . . . just what summer break was like."

isabel thought about it. it felt weird and she didn't want to have to openly admit that max was becoming someone that she was getting a little too close to. how embarrassing would that be when everyone found out? they'd gone from insults and fights and arguments and ignoring each other to ending up forming some strange relationship that was making her question everything. that surely was going to make her feel stupid if the world knew.

"okay," isabel flipped her hand up, interlocking their fingers together. he finally met her gaze. "that works."

"okay," max stood up, waiting for her to also get up. "i have more to show you."

"CAREFUL," MAX SAID AS he let go of isabel's hand. he stepped up onto the log after her.

"i am careful," she made a point of this by spinning on the log so that she was facing him. "gymnast, remember?"

there was a creek just off the trail that flowed into a lower-scale waterfall. currently, they were trying to cross the creek because max insisted that it was more fun than the actual trail.

"how could i forget," he smiled at her. "it's called, the, uh . . ." he trailed off. "balance . . .?"

"the beam," isabel walked forward with perfect balance and reached for his hands again. "it was one of my best."

"i can tell," max commented as she kept him steady while walking backwards. "i haven't crossed this in a while."

"i can tell," she mocked him. "just look straight ahead and you won't fall."

looking straight ahead meant looking directly at her. "you're distracting," he said.

isabel pulled a face. "was that an insult?"

"i don't think it was," max shrugged, throwing off his balance for just a second. isabel let go of one of his hands as they reached the end of the log, hopping down onto solid ground and waiting for max to do the same.

"how am i distracting?" isabel asked as he now led her up through a makeshift pathway. "i was not doing anything."

you don't have to do anything, max thought. "you were staring at me," he stopped suddenly. the crashing sounds of the waterfall was louder now.

"this feels like silverstone," isabel looked up at him. the parallels to silverstone were there, but she was seeing it in a different light. his eyes had been a stormy blue then, the ocean amidst a raging tsunami, but now they shone like the waterfall just by them; crystalline, calm, carefree.

"wait," he cupped the sides of her face softly and pressed his lips to hers. when he pulled away, he said, "now it feels like silverstone."

when the fog from her mind cleared, she opened her eyes and placed her hands on his chest before pushing him backwards — but not as hard as she had done it in the uk. "no," she said with a laugh, "that felt like silverstone."

x

next chapter is the dutch gp :)

isabel and max 🤝 being lowkey domestic and not realising cause they're stupid

anyway hi hello how is everyone