MEDIA DAY MEANT THAT max and isabel were sitting on the same couch and were no doubt going to be asked about their relationship for most of the time. sitting with them was daniel, yuki and mick.

"remember," max muttered as he turned to look at isabel. daniel was sitting in between them. yuki was beside max on his other side and mick was beside isabel. "you owe them nothing."

"i know," she gave him a small smile, "might turn back to gaslighting."

"you two are a mess," daniel laughed. "but totally do it."

"ALRIGHT, QUESTION FOR MAX and isabel," a man in the crowd before them said into his mic. isabel had to refrain from rolling her eyes at yet another question about it. so far, a photo of her hugging max after he won the grand prix was shown to them as if they were trying to prove something, and that was already fun enough. now it was just annoying."how long have you two been together? monza took us by surprise after the 'leaked' photo came out."

isabel feigned confusion. "huh?" she said. "i am not dating max, what are you talking about? i was not in monza, i was not allowed to travel. doctor's orders."

"and ew, gross," max played off what she said. "isabel and i? that's disgusting. i have higher standards than that."

isabel bit the inside of her cheek for a moment to stop herself from laughing. "may as well call me a bitch, hey, max?" she turned to look at him, and to the crowd it looked like she was angry, but he could tell she was trying not to laugh. there was that happy sparkle in her eye.

"okay, children," daniel clapped his hands together, glancing between her and max. "break it up. you'll scare off the reporters again." this got a laugh from yuki, who was sitting there in absolute amusement the entire time.

pointing the mic away from his face, mick whispered, "you two are too manipulative."

isabel leaned her head against his shoulder when a different person was talking to yuki. "you just need to learn to mess with the media, mick," she said. "i'll teach you, don't worry."

ISABEL remained in conversation with mick and occasionally daniel as questions droned on for primarily max, until a certain one caught her attention.

"max, about zandvoort . . . can we get your thoughts on what happened?"

"well, you'd have to be more specific than that," max shrugged, "a lot happened. for example, i won. i liked winning, of course."

"okay," they tried again, "you almost let yourself dnf to help isabel with charles. if you were so-called 'enemies', why did you do it?"

all max did was shrug once more, unbothered. "it's an instinct. you see a crash that bad and no one is there to assist, you go. no one was stationed on that corner. i am not as heartless as you all think i am."

"this is a dangerous sport," isabel added, "we all help each other from time to time. i would have done it for him if the circumstance was the same."

a new voice joined the mix. "enough digging, and i don't care about personal lives. let's talk about the sport."

isabel grinned immediately when she spotted the person talking. "oh my gosh, hailey!"

"hey!" hailey grinned brightly. isabel hadn't expected to see her in a grand prix other than australia's, and so it was very much a good surprise. "i've got to ask about the car after the crash, if that's alright with you."

isabel nodded, "absolutely."

"we never heard about what happened afterwards with the car, but you said there was something with the engine?"

"mhm," isabel hummed, "it's a bit blurry and all, but i could smell the engine and i was worried that the car was going to catch on fire. luckily it didn't in the time it took the safety crew to make sure it wouldn't, but . . . yeah, i did not want to blow up."

mick struggled to find it humourous still. him and sebastian had been in a state of complete shock and horror during the red flag when they were watching it back, and hearing her talk about the engine . . . it wasn't pleasant. "sebastian was in shock when it didn't blow up," mick spoke up. "i mean, none of us wanted that to happen, of course, but lando hit the side pretty hard. it was lucky."

lucky. as much as isabel didn't believe in tales surrounding certain things, she couldn't help but connect it to the charm hanging around her neck. in a way, it felt like it knew: the family couldn't afford to lose another.

"there is no sugar-coating it," isabel shrugged, "if the car blew up, i would have been dead. i could not move, and no one was really there. we race knowing the risks, and i would not trade it for anything, at the end of the day."

"thank you, isabel," hailey shot the driver a friendly wink before settling back into her chair.

thankfully, the questions turned to mick and daniel after that. for daniel, his plans after this season, and for mick, his thoughts on haas and what the coming season may bring.

"IF SOMEONE ASKS ME another question about us dating, i will hit them," isabel commented as she walked beside max in the paddock, heading to their motorhomes that were situated across from each other.

"you are holding my hand," max pointed out. "that doesn't help."

"okay," she rolled her eyes, "they can mind their business then. i do not care."

"you are so confusing," max chuckled. "hey, what time are you finishing up here?"

"uh," isabel looked away from him to think. "a few hours, maybe? luca wants me to work with him for a bit because of tomorrow's free prac, and then i'm going to talk to em about the sim, so . . . yeah, give me two, three hours."

"i'll be about three," he nodded, squeezing her hand once before letting go. "i'll see you back at the hotel."

"yeah," isabel confirmed, before smiling up at him. "see you soon."

x

"I CAN SIT FREE practice," isabel collapsed into max's open arms when she got back to the hotel room. "i feel dead."

the only thing they could really work with at the moment was her neck when it came to training, but even that proved to be a challenge if she accidentally used a little too much core strength to hold herself up.

"i've got an ice bath set up for you, come on," max tried to walk with her but she didn't move.

"no," she groaned, "just a little bit of ice—"

"we both know you need more than a little ice." when she didn't move again, he picked her up swiftly and carried her into the bathroom. even the room was already cold just to stand in. isabel completely gave up in trying to fight him and just slumped in his hold.

"you are the worst," isabel huffed as max set her down.

he ignored her comment, "do you want me to stay or . . .?"

"yes," isabel cut him off as she let him help slip her shirt off. "please stay." max sat down on the floor beside the bath tub as she stepped into it, shivering immediately. "ah, fuck," she groaned, holding her breath and slipping into the ice.

"just remember we are in singapore," max said as rested his arm on the rim of the white porcelain. "and that means ice baths all weekend if you are in the car."

isabel slowly blinked twice. "fucking hell." but he was right. it was so hot in singapore that ice baths were typically used before and after each session. why did i say yes to racing here? she asked herself rhetorically as her ribs began to ache once again. but she knew that she wouldn't trade it for the world, so that kept her going for the twenty minutes she had to spend in ice.

FRIDAY MORNING MEANT THE first free practice.

isabel held her hand out to zavier, "help."

"ah, yeah," zavier rolled his eyes, "because racing when you can't even get into the car is a smart idea."

"thanks," isabel grimaced as she stepped into the cockpit. "it's my smartest ever idea, thank you for noticing."

"zavier, stop bullying her," harry chuckled as he walked up to the side of the car. "you doing okay?"

"once i'm in, i will be fine," isabel gave him a quick smile. she held her breath until she was situated in the cockpit and zavier was fiddling with the seatbelt buckles.

"it's gonna hurt, kid, you know that," harry's lips pulled into a thin line, worry shining in his eyes. he looked at zavier, "give us a sec."

"all good," zavier nodded and walked off from the car.

harry crouched down beside her. "look," he said, "i know this is the track you want to race, but next week you're racing in suzuka. that's two difficult tracks in a row. it's not worth risking yourself when you'd be halfway through the healing process by then."

it was starting to burn behind her eyes, so she looked away from harry and stared intently at the steering wheel sitting in front of the halo. "there is five races left after this one," isabel couldn't look at him because she knew she'd start crying. "i have to prove i'm still worth something, harry."

it hurt him to hear. "get out of the car, belle," his voice was low and gentle.

she shook her head, "no, harry," she finally looked at him. "don't. you're— you're supposed to— why—"

"come on," harry reached out to her, helping lift her out of the cockpit and settling her back down on her feet outside the car. "it's not worth this."

harry had been working with her for four years now. he knew better than most how much she would push herself until she hit her breaking point and no one ever really stopped her. luca could stop her prior to the race weekends, but after that, despite only being her race engineer, the responsibility fell into his hands because he was one of the only ones who could get away with it.

isabel's hands began to shake. "you don't understand," she shook her head again. "every other team is reaching out to others and— it's like they've all forgotten about me and— i need to race i— i've got nothing else."

"injuring yourself over and over again isn't worth it," harry stepped towards her and pulled her into a hug. "it's barely been two weeks, just wait until suzuka. see how you go. but this isn't worth it."

isabel couldn't get herself to move. she accepted harry's embrace and stood still, staring at a spot on the floor. "i hate that you care so much," she mumbled.

"it's my job, kid," harry said before catching zavier's gaze. and that was the thing, it wasn't his job, but it was a job he had taken on anyway. "go find emilia, get her ready for the car."

TWITTER —

FORMULA 1 | F1

NEWS: isabel leclerc has pulled out of fp1 last minute and will be replaced by emilia gold once again. the team is yet to release a statement about this decision.

MAX looked up when kate walked over to his car. "is everything good with the car?" he asked.

"she's perfect," kate nodded, "but i thought i'd let you know about isabel before you go out there."

his eyebrows furrowed visibly since his visor was up. "is she okay?" he asked.

"no one's released statements yet, but it's been announced that she has pulled out of this session," kate explained, "and possibly the rest of the weekend. you'll be seeing emilia out there instead of her."

it sucked because that was two races now that he didn't have her challenging him for, but he would admit that he was slightly relieved that she wasn't racing. it was far too soon to get back in the car because daily tasks were still hard enough for her to complete.

"thank you for letting me know," max nodded. "keep an eye out for the statement?"

kate shrugged, "of course!" she stepped back from the car. "you're almost ready to go out, by the way. another minute."

HARRY had to separate from isabel so that he could talk to emilia beforehand, so she had locked herself in her driver room and called the first person she thought of.

kimi räikkönen answered her call and remained silent for a few moments, allowing her to speak first. "hi, kimi," she said.

"hi, isabel," kimi responded. "are you okay?"

"none of this is fair," she blurt out, bringing her knees up to her chest, resting back against the couch cushions.

"uh huh," kimi hummed. "and why is that?"

"i want to race," isabel said. "i know i can race, but everyone is telling me no and— i understand but i feel like i am giving up."

"come on, isabel," kimi chuckled, "you and 'giving up' in the same sentence does not exist and you know it." she didn't know what to say. "you need to accept the fact that you're not fit to race and move on."

"i know," isabel drew shapes into the armrest with her nails. "but it's hard. everyone is doing deals for next year and i feel like i have been left out. no one wants me, kimi. they are all going to forget about me after this season, no? i have worked so hard for lamborghini, i built them back up, but no one is going to remember that."

"people are shit," kimi said bluntly. "you have had a bigger impact on this sport than you understand. your reserve, what's her name?"

"emilia."

"emilia has been accepted quickly onto the grid because of you. if you weren't around, she would have suffered just like you had when you started," he then added, "and you almost won a wdc. you did more than you think."

"i guess," isabel hummed. she knew that kimi was right but it still was hard to believe it fully when the one thing she had dedicated her life to was still falling apart around her. she was ecstatic to leave lamborghini, but she did not want to leave the sport. that was the challenging part. it was harder to figure out where she could even go, too, because everyone was changing around their drivers and finalising their lineups for 2023. there wasn't anywhere to go unless she sat as a reserve or third driver. "what do you think i should do?"

"look at you, finally wanting my advice for once," kimi mused. "is seb letting you down?"

isabel breathily laughed. "no, he's just not here right now."

"so i am your second choice?"

"maybe third or fourth, actually," she joked.

"eh, so kind," kimi's voice turned a little more serious. "but really, i think you should take the weekend off and heal properly. maybe you will be able to race in japan. if anyone thinks you are giving up, they are fucking idiots."

a smile pulled across her face. "thank you, kimi. it means a lot."

"it's not a problem," kimi brushed off. "also, minttu and the kids want to see you, you should come near christmas."

isabel's eyes widened happily. "please tell them i am of course coming." she then paused. "wait, they want me there? what about you?"

"eh, you don't leave me alone, i have no choice," kimi laughed. "but i will see you soon, then?"

"definitely," isabel nodded, "hug the kids for me."

"don't worry about everyone else, and you can race again soon. just relax and enjoy the time off for once in your life," kimi hung up after that, leaving isabel to stare at the wall in thought.

"i hate when he's right," isabel mumbled before standing up and leaving the room.

BY THE END OF the first free practice session, it was clear that noah and emilia were struggling a little to make sense of the car on the track.

emilia had spun off at turn eight and luckily avoided contact with the barriers, and noah wasn't putting in the laps that he wanted.

"i can't figure out why you like this track so much," emilia fanned her face as soon as her helmet was off and she was standing in isabel's garage. "this is torture."

"i have always believed that if you can race this track, you are worth your seat," isabel shrugged before wrapping her arm around emilia. "it's your first time on this track. you have this afternoon and tomorrow, and that is all you need to work it out. you've got this."

"belle, we are suffering," noah announced as he walked into her garage. "i can't work out the track."

"that's why," isabel reached behind her and picked up her notebook that was starting to tear at the corners, "you're lucky you have got me as a teammate." she tossed him the book.

noah caught it and flipped it open. emilia huddled beside him as they scanned through the pages in the book. "is there one here for every track?" he asked, eyes wide as he looked at the various notes and diagrams that were scattered across the pages.

isabel grinned, "one for every track i've raced at. i figured it would help em, but you're welcome to read through it too if you want. i completely forgot i had it."

when she was bored and back home in monaco during the monza race week, she had found the notebook in the safe under her bed. for the 2019 and 2020 seasons, she had made a detailed guide to every track, and then added to it regularly during the start of last year. after that, it was mostly forgotten about. isabel had spent hours post-race drawing and rewatching sections of the race to explain how to improve and what could be done better. now that she didn't need it anymore, she was happy to pass it down to emilia and noah to study.

"belle, you're a lifesaver, oh my god," emilia quickly moved back over to hug her. "thank you so much."

"of course," isabel smiled, "both of you go read," she then gestured outside, "just don't let any cameras or anyone else see it."

x

ISABEL DIDN'T SEE MAX until later on in the day after the second practice session.

the second session was a little better. emilia hadn't spun out and was working on trying to keep a pace and noah was focusing on the racing line.

isabel knocked on the door to max's driver room. "one sec!" she heard him call back.

"it's just me," isabel knocked again, and this time the door unlocked and opened.

"hey," max smiled at her as she shut the door behind her. "kate told me about you swapping with emilia, did something happen?"

"just that i am apparently too stubborn for my own good," isabel shrugged as she walked closer to max and wrapped her arms around his torso. "i spoke to kimi and seb, they think i do too much."

"mhm," max hummed softly, cupping her face with his hands and tilting her head up slightly. "you do. you're injured still. i want you back out there too, but only when you're back to yourself, okay?"

"yeah, okay," she nodded slowly. "you're right."

"i usually am," he dropped his hands. "can we go back to the hotel? i wanna sleep."

isabel let go of him and stepped back. "sure, whatever, i have to go out at seven, though."

"okay," he said, slipping his hand into hers and walking out of the room together. "where are you going?"

"noah and em want me to help them on the sim," she noticed that the garage was mostly empty now, except for a few red bull employees putting things away.

"let emilia know that her second session was actually really good," max brought up.

"definitely," isabel nodded, "she is probably going to die on the spot when i tell her, though."

max pulled a face, "why?"

isabel giggled softly, "em's terrified of your driving. in a good way," she quickly added, "so you saying that . . . she will probably die."

x

AFTER A SUCCESSFUL FP3, q1 was in progress. isabel was sitting beside harry on the pitwall.

noah was safely holding a p10 spot, but emilia was battling her way through, trying to keep up in the top fifteen.

"you've got time for one more lap," harry told emilia through the radio. "one more lap. just relax and keep up the pace."

"this track is shit," emilia's voice crackled back.

"god," harry turned to isabel, "she's too much like you."

"no, she's too nice for that," isabel laughed before focusing back on the screens in front of her.

"come on, em," isabel watched as she was one of the last to complete a lap. "that's gotta be enough."

harry hit the radio button. "nice lap. that is p15."

"holy shit, i made it," emilia cheered happily. she hadn't made it into q2 last weekend, so the excitement was very evident.

"do you want to know who's out?"

"not really, it might give me an ego."

isabel chuckled, "at least she's honest."

Q2. "no," isabel said bluntly. "don't make the change."

the strategists down the end turned to look at her like she wasn't speaking english.

"you heard me," isabel said, "do not gamble their positions on this. the track needs inters still."

harry pressed the radio, "don't box. don't box. go for your last lap on the inters."

"are you sure? there's others on softs that are going faster," emilia said back as she came up to the line.

isabel spoke to her through the radio instead this time, "don't worry about anyone else. stay with the inters."

"copy that."

harry looked at isabel, "i think you're right, belle."

isabel pat his shoulder, "if you had told me to pit for softs, i would have respectfully told you to go fuck yourself. aston's taking too big of a gamble on them.

when emilia got her final lap in, she laughed in disbelief. "no fucking way," she muttered, "harry, did i just make it through?"

"you did!" harry grinned, drumming his fingers against the table. "okay, first ten is leclerc, hamilton, verstappen, perez, alonso, noah, sainz, gasly, norris, you."

"this is unreal, thank you, harry."

"no worries, just focus on your positioning now. come into the pits."

isabel leaned forward to look at the strategists, "still wanted to box for slicks?" both aston martin drivers were knocked out of q2 with their choice in swapping the inters for the softs.

Q3. isabel decided that it was best for emilia to remain on the inters while almost every other driver — except for pierre — was on the soft compound. they had listened to her when she said to get a few laps in on them before boxing for the softs as the track gradually dried further.

a few laps later, emilia was now on the softs looking for a time higher than what she had in p8.

isabel went to say something to harry when she caught sight of something else, "what the fuck?" she squinted at the screen. "he backed off the corner?"

harry also looked puzzled at the red bull car on screen, "he aborted the lap, that makes no sense."

"he's only just got time to go again," isabel glanced at max's car on screen once more before it disappeared to another angle.

"noah's looking good though," harry was just able to say before the camera cut back to max's car.

isabel stared at the red bull. max had clipped the curb of turn eighteen, spun out a little afterwards, and then almost hit the wall at turn nineteen. after turn twenty, he aborted the lap and went into the pitlane instead. she spun in her chair as his car rolled past where she was sitting, and he just shook his head. "well, fuck."

"is everything alright?" emilia asked through the radio as she crossed the line, "how is it looking?"

"alright, em, that's p8 for you! grid for tomorrow is leclerc, perez, hamilton, sainz, noah, alonso, norris, you, verstappen, gasly."

"oh my god! thank you!"

"let her know i'll congratulate her when she's in parc ferme," isabel hopped off the stool. from there, she walked into parc ferme and had her first stop be hugging the life out of her brother.

"belle! careful," charles tried to separate his sister from him, not wanting to hug her too hard.

"you got pole!" she smiled, reaching up to knock against his helmet. "i'm so proud of you!"

"grazie! grazie!" charles laughed with her, "je t'aime."

"moi aussi," she pat his helmet once more before pulling away. "give me a second?"

charles nodded as he glanced over her shoulder at the red bull car sitting idle. "he alright?" he jutted his chin in the direction of max.

"no clue," she shrugged, "i'm about to go find out."

never in a million years did i think i would hear that, charles still couldn't believe that this was a real thing between his sister and max. but nonetheless, he gave her one last smile before heading off to carlos.

noah and emilia hadn't pulled into parc ferme yet, so isabel went over to max in his red bull first. "ciao," isabel said, just loud enough to be heard over the chatter as she knelt beside his car.

"just— just give me a second, please," she heard max say, followed by the sound of his heavy breathing from under his helmet, no doubt trying to calm himself down before he lost his shit once again. he already had over the radio.

so isabel did so. she knelt beside his car in silence until he was ready to talk.

"sorry," max said as he lifted his visor. his eyes were a darker blue, the blue she used to see far too often but hadn't in some time now.

"don't be," isabel reached into the cockpit to take out the steering wheel. she placed it on top of the car in front of the halo. "what happened?"

"i had to box," max sighed, "they made me abort the lap just before the line because of the fucking— fuck," he clenched and unclenched his fists, annoyance rattling through him. "we ran out of fuel, so i had to ditch the pole lap otherwise . . . yeah."

isabel winced, already knowing how bad it sucked to have to abort laps because of the required fuel sample tests. "did they not put enough fuel in the car? that is bullshit."

"that's what i thought, too," max finally lifted off his helmet and took of the balaclava before getting out of the car. "hey, how did your team go?" he changed the subject, not wanting to think about the failed position any longer.

"noah's p5 and em is p8,"

max cracked a smile. "good for them."

"yeah, but speaking of," isabel held onto his halo to help herself stand back up, "i am going to go see them, are you alright though?"

"yeah, absolutely," he stood up in the cockpit and climbed out of the car. subtly, he kissed her cheek before fiddling to take off his gloves. "just annoyed. see you soon?"

"in a bit," she winked at him before disappearing further into the middle of parc ferme.

x

INSTAGRAM — ISABEL.LECLERC

isabel.leclerc: sadly cant race again this weekend but im hoping to be back for suzuka!! good luck to emilia <3

comments . . .

user1: get well soon!!!

user2: holy shit she posted her and max
↳ user3: shes making fun of the photo (hence the memes around it) bc it was all over twotter from last week in monza 😭😭
↳ user4: belle stays the best driver idc shes hilarious

user4: aw :(( no belle in marina bay ?? thats a story of heartbreak right there

user5: there is smth so funny about her posting a meme of charles followed by a photo of max like pls

user6: omg belle does he cook
↳ isabel.leclerc: no he serves ✨
↳ user7: i literally cant anymore what is this behaviour 😭
↳ user8: lamborghini has driven isabel insane part 3439487

emiliagold79: omg its me !!!
↳ user9: awesome performance in monza!
↳ user10: pls come back to indycar em

user10: respectfully looking at the second photo

user11: earl grey-

maxverstappen1: je suis le fucked
↳ arthur_leclerc: you are le fucked
↳ isabel.leclerc: i thought you two were besties now
↳ arthur_leclerc: im trying to be scary belle shut up
↳ maxverstappen1: am terrified 👍 keep up the good work
↳ arthur_leclerc: 😊
↳ user12: is stupidity a leclerc trait or smth

user13: it feels like she just doesnt want to race now bc ?? why is she flying everywhere to the races and stuff? like surely shes fine
↳ user14: my brother in christ she was almost crushed into nothing by a front wing tf do you mean. and its not like shes going to sit in bed for months on end just bc of a crash. chill
↳ user13: you chill
↳ isabel.leclerc: dude i literally crunch when i get up in the morning what else do you want from me 😭 user13
↳ maxverstappen1: can confirm. it sounds like cereal
↳ user15: max what the fuck 💀💀
↳ landonorris: MAX?????
↳ charles_leclerc: cereal- what on earth
↳ isabel.leclerc: max 😭👍

x

WATCHING THE RACE FROM the pitwall made isabel itch to be out there on the track.

the track was damp from rain, the temperature was melting, and cars were colliding left, right and centre. it was the chaos that was the singapore grand prix and isabel loved it. it was also a night race, and there hadn't been one of those since the start of the year so . . . singapore was full of her favourite things that she couldn't participate in. harry had to wrap his arm around her shoulders at one point to get her to sit still.

the race hadn't started off too well for max though, and it had taken him ten laps to get up into the top ten since he kept losing positions with all the issues happening in the midfield.

emilia was battling through in the back, trying to avoid all the cars that were suddenly dnfing with a variety of issues. by lap thirty-three, five drivers were out from a mix of engine failure, track conditions, and when nicholas latifi caught zhou in the wall.

"i don't want to get caught in an accident, i'm not pushing yet," emilia said through the radio as she held p13.

"no worries, no worries," harry replied. "keep it steady, you're doing good." there was a safety car a few laps later.

with thirty-four minutes left of the race, things only got worse for max. his brakes locked up to the point where the starting smoking until he went into the run-off area before spinning the car and rejoining the race.

"he went for the overtake on lando," isabel muttered to harry when he looked at her. "his tyres and brakes are too cold, god, is he stupid?"

"yes," harry nodded immediately. "he is. a good chunk of the time," and when isabel looked at him, he added, "what? i've been dealing with your issues with him for years. i'm allowed to admit it."

"fair enough," isabel shrugged.

thankfully, overall, the problems were all happening with the other drivers. lamborghini were running solid, with noah in p4 currently and emilia p9.

during lap forty, isabel let out a laugh that was a little too loud and hurt a little too much. "fuck, ow," she complained, wrapping her arms around herself.

george made contact with kevin around the corner and punctured his own tyres because of it. as he was going off the track, he had said to the radio, "what the hell happened there?" only for his engineer to reply with, "you turned right into him, george" before the brit had even finished speaking.

"holy shit, two minutes left," isabel stared intently at the screen that was showing emilia's current fight with pierre for his position. "come on, em . . ."

emilia managed to get around pierre with drs and took turn one in front of him. from there, she focused on defending him since the gap to the next car was too large for her to close.

noah had slipped back to p5, but he was still fighting lando for the p4 spot.

all the laps couldn't be completed because of the safety cars deployed at certain points of the race, but checo had won the grand prix nonetheless. charles got p2 and carlos finished in p3. noah had just missed out on overtaking lando, so he finished p5 still. emilia got p9, a huge step up from her last grand prix in monza. max had suffered a race full of ups and downs that left him finishing in p8.

"that is p9, emilia! congratulations! order is perez, leclerc, sainz, norris, noah, ricciardo, stroll, verstappen, you, vettel," harry said.

"oh my god! thank you harry and thank you isabel! couldn't have done it without you both," emilia was beaming under her helmet. "but i still hate this track. isabel, you are insane for liking this shit."

isabel bit back her laughter, "let me guess," she said, "your neck hurts like a bitch?"

"understatement of the century."

"congrats, emilia," isabel said still. "be very proud! you did incredible."

FOR THE FIRST TIME in what felt like forever, max wasn't in the cool-down room.

so after isabel congratulated her brother and carlos for the podium and did the same with noah and emilia, she met up with max outside her garage.

"i'm heading back," isabel told him. "you in the mood to go out tonight still?"

"i mean, it's all about checo so i don't have to think about me," max offered her a small smile. "you sure you don't want to come?"

"no," she shook her head. "i need to race suzuka. i'm just planning on sleeping for the majority of next week and hoping that a miracle happens."

"i don't think that's how that works," max pulled his car keys out of his jacket pocket.

"shh, max," she waved off, "let me be delusional."

x

just remembered that the gp after singapore is the japanese one and that race last year made me so mad dont even

also i miss the driver briefings where they would all just snitch on each other that shit was so funny can we bring that back

i lowkey miss when max and belle hated each other that was so iconic. sometimes i reread old chapters to relive the chaos

their character development is still constantly ongoing and i love it i love them help