MEDIA DAY SURPRISINGLY WENT well. all isabel had to do was go around and talk to various sports broadcasters and answer a couple questions and give a few opinions and then disappear back to her garage to talk with harry.

noah hadn't been so lucky. he had to go to a press conference, along with pierre, lance, mick and esteban. as much as isabel felt bad for him for having to sit through the conference, she was glad it wasn't her.

because if she got asked another fucking question about how she publicly acknowledged max on the track in monaco, she was going to lose her shit. she'd come to terms with the fact that a lot of the questions she got were about other drivers, and she could live with that, but the ones about max were getting old.

FREE PRACTICE ONE AND two were good for isabel, but noah struggled. he ended up in a collision with nicholas latifi in the turn nine area which left noah with a damaged front wing and latifi remained fine, but overall it was an easy fix.

it felt different now to drive around the track in a formula one car with max in front of her. for one, she understood his driving style now and could anticipate how he took turns from a different perspective. max was the same when isabel was in front of him. he noticed that she took the ninety-degree turns a little slower during the practice, but he now understood how her driving style managed to look so smooth. he could pretty much also pinpoint each pattern she did as she took a turn or shifted gears. it was all because of when they drove around the circuit on tori's orders, and even though it hadn't been for long, he could finally understand the way she drove. she understood his too.

maybe that's what the problem had been in the past. they use to collide a lot because both were aggressive drivers, more so in the company of each other. but now he could anticipate where she was going and what she was going to do, and that meant that he could avoid any possible collisions last minute if something were to go wrong.

everything just fell straight into perspective now.

AFTER A PROMISING THIRD free practice, it was now time for qualifying.

"quick radio check," isabel glanced up at where harry was posted as she drove out of the garage and into the pitlane.

"clear, can hear you," isabel stuck her hand out to wave at harry before she drove past the rest of the garages to merge out onto the track.

"copy."

they decided to have noah be one of the first out on the track since baku was one of his weaker circuits. it also helped that the more experienced drivers were out on the track first too, allowing him to not have to focus on any more collisions with other drivers. he'd gotten in a decent flying lap that left him sitting p8 for now, which meant that he should be alright to go through to q2 easily.

baku was a complex track, and thankfully other drivers were managing to steer clear to one side while they were completing slow laps. everyone had a mutual understanding: don't make this circuit more difficult than it already is. especially for the newer drivers who had only really driven it a couple of times before.

baku street circuit had two drs zones that could only be placed on the two longest straights that were close together because the track was made up with more complex turns than other circuits. sector two was the most complex part of the track, with the quick bends that led into the left-right chicane that had to be taken skillfully otherwise you'd lose time and be overtaken before turn thirteen.

isabel completed a hot lap strategically behind carlos so that she wouldn't risk a collision with any drivers who had just begun one. her radio chimed the second she crossed the line.

"that's p5," he said, "leclerc, perez, verstappen, sainz, you. go for a cool-down lap and then come back in to the pits. you'll be into q2 anyway."

"are you sure?" she asked, staying close to the outside so that anyone currently on hot laps could have their time perfect. "and where's noah?"

"you're a second and a half faster than russell," harry explained. "we're happy for you to come in. and noah is sitting p12 currently, so they're focused on trying to keep him in."

"copy that."

from there, isabel easily drifted into q3. noah was going to be starting in p11 tomorrow since he wasn't able to just make it into q3, which sucked obviously, but once again, baku was a track that noah hadn't mastered yet. it was only the second time he had raced in azerbaijan, which was completely understandable. she had a preference for his safety anyway, rathering that he took a little extra time on the still-unfamiliar track than throw himself into complex turns with little experience.

"you're currently p6. order is leclerc, perez, verstappen, sainz, russell, you."

"do i have time to go again?" isabel asked, slowing down. her face was hotter than it normally was because baku was exceptionally warm, the temperature sitting at twenty eight degrees ( celsius ).

"two minutes," harry responded. "take your cool-down and then go again, aim to get ahead of russell."

"i really don't want to be anywhere near george on the start," isabel muttered after disconnecting herself from the radio. the thought of dropping a few grid places crossed her mind because being near george off the start in baku had a high chance of being a nightmare. "aim for p5."

the drivers who didn't have enough time to go again left the track, which meant that there was more room on the narrow areas for isabel to get quicker exits.

as soon as she crossed the line as the last car completing a hot lap, she pressed her radio button. "please tell me i got faster than george."

"half a second quicker!" she could hear harry's smile. "you're starting p5 tomorrow! starting grid is leclerc, perez, verstappen, sainz, you, russell, gasly, hamilton, tsunoda, vettel. nice work!"

x

IMESSAGE — HOTTEST ON THE GRID !

TINKERBELLE + LORD PERCEVAL + CHILLI

LORD PERCEVAL

you said that baku was the
cutoff date right?

CHILLI

youre a terrible brother

YES she said it was the cutoff

LORD PERCEVAL

im just checking 🙄

at least i ASKED

TINKERBELLE

i love you both oh my god

but yes it is :)

i should be fine though,, really

no getting fired

LORD PERCEVAL

i was not expecting that

like i have faith in you but
i also know what youre like

CHILLI

yeah what changed?

TINKERBELLE

idk

i cant fuck up his career

hes kinda a world champion

CHILLI

but what about yours?

you shouldve done it for yourself
first and then worry about him
second

TINKERBELLE

. . .

uh yeah uh huh

i'll talk to you about it later on

LORD PERCEVAL

but i dont understand

how did you both get over
it so quick

like thats impossible

you were arguing when we were
still karting

like fifteen years ago

CHILLI

charles worry about that later
she just said some weird stuff

what do you mean? you talk to
us later?

TINKERBELLE

after the weekends over <3 its
not that important !

LORD PERCEVAL

are you sure

i'll drive over

TINKERBELLE

all fine! ill see you tomorrow<3

i love you both

LORD PERCEVAL

love you !

CHILLI

LOVE YOU BELLE

x

INSTAGRAM — ISABEL.LECLERC

isabel.leclerc: race weekend !!

comments . . .

user1: good luck!

user2: where is that sign from 💀
↳ isabel.leclerc: it was given to me at the airport so i hung it up in seb's driver room

lewishamilton: 👍
↳ isabel.leclerc: 💓💗💞💘💖

user3: what is that photo of carlos 💀
↳ user4: a masterpiece

user5: sebastian vettel and whoever crashes into max verstappen***
↳ user6: real

torihayes: <3
↳ isabel.leclerc: <3

user7: the quote on the sign sounds familiar
↳ user1: she said it in monza last year in a press conference with lewis and seb!

user8: bakus gonna be big i can feel it in my veins

x

"OFF YOU GO!" HARRY tapped isabel's helmet twice before stepping away from the car. she shot him a friendly wink before lowering her visor and pulling out of the garage.

she hadn't been in the car long and was already sweating, and driving out into the sun only begun to amplify the heat. it was going to be a long two hours.

a formation lap later, isabel rolled into the p5 grid spot. as she waited for the rest of the cars to roll in, she scanned the track ahead of her, trying to work out the best possible way to tackle the first corner.

max was directly in front of her and george was to right. max wouldn't be a problem since his main focus for the first sector would be to help checo hold p2 until drs was allowed, and carlos wasn't going to be an issue because he would immediately be trying to beat max to the turn.

however, that did mean she had to fight george to hold her position. and george had a habit of taking people out on the first turn. she couldn't afford to be taken out on the first turn after the rough race in barcelona that had cost her a lot of points. she was going to have to play it safe, and the best case scenario if there was an issue would be only having to pit early. she knew she could make up positions later on with drs as an extra help.

the five lights above were beginning to blink red. her gaze flickered between the lights and the red bull in front of her, not daring to look at george to her right. she had one goal, and that goal was to follow max the best she could through the first turn, hopefully cutting off carlos to gain p4 if possible.

"i love you george, but you are not touching my car," her voice was barely above a whisper as she focused back up on the lights. one second passed, and then the extinguished.

"it's the azerbaijan grand prix, 2022. it's lights out and away we go!"

engines roared to life immediately as everyone shot out from their spots from the grid and tried to slip into the best position to take the first turn. isabel couldn't slip into p4, but she comfortably hugged the inside as she stayed behind carlos, who had slipped in front of her. george kept his distance, taking the turn a little wider than he should've and therefore allowing isabel to build the gap between them.

charles locked up around the corner but managed to hold p2. max was dangerously looming behind him, the clear want to challenge him for the second turn crossing his mind but he never acted on it. isabel was on the end of the red bull-ferrari-red bull-ferrari line with george sitting closely behind her.

lap nine. "yellow flag, sector one," harry's voice chimed through the radio.

"i love you, but i figured," isabel grimaced as she tried to hold her new position of p4. carlos went straight off the track into the runoff area of turn four with no sign of coming back onto the track. it was in front of her, which threw her off for barely a second before she moved into trying to defend george.

"sorry, belle," harry apologised. "alright, virtual sc now."

lap ten. still under the virtual safety car, charles moved into the pitlane, bumping max up to second and isabel into third. george was over ten seconds behind her and she had just been informed that he was also pitting.

"almost everyone is pitting, but there is no reason for you to," harry said. "tyres are looking good. keep an advantage, then we'll decide when to pit."

"copy."

lap fifteen. with charles defending his p4 spot from george, isabel decided to make a move to overtake max. when she was allowed drs after turn 2, she activated it and darted out from behind his car. she tried to pull him wide as she drove alongside him but he didn't budge, holding his position dangerously as they approached the ninety-degree turn. their wheels were millimetres from touching yet neither backed down. isabel only braked and dropped in behind him once he took the apex first, forcing her to fall back in behind him.

"nice try," harry said once she cleared the corner.

lap sixteen. the red bulls had made a considerable gap between those behind them. isabel was six seconds behind, just able to see them out on the straight. "i've seen this before," she muttered as she tried to close the distance between them. max was under a second behind checo, positioned almost exactly how the 2018 baku incident went. max then made the move and managed to overtake checo into turn two.

lap twenty. "box, box, box," harry said urgently as isabel began to reach the area. "follow max in."

"this is a stupid idea," isabel mumbled but did as she was told, slowing to the correct speed and following max into pitlane. either way, she knew she wasn't leaving the pits first, but if her team was quick enough, she would be able to leave barely a second after him.

max moved into his spot first and isabel drove past him, pulling over into her spot since her garage was right in front. a few seconds later, she was given the all clear to drive back out once max was past, and she sighed in relief knowing that she hadn't lost time.

in the meantime, charles has taken over as race leader and that left max in p2 and isabel in p3, with checo behind her in p4.

lap twenty-two. "mon dieu," isabel breathed as she watched smoke billow from the back of charles' car. her heart broke knowing that it was a double dnf for ferrari, and even more so because charles had to retire from so many races. all the luck from the start of the season had clearly run out.

she couldn't dwell on it for too long as he pulled off to the side, leaving isabel to push into p2 as max took over again as race leader. with checo two seconds behind her, she couldn't afford to think about anything else but defending with everything she had.

lap thirty. checo finally got around isabel with drs, leaving him now in p2. she wasn't at all surprised, just happy that she had been able to defend him for eight laps before picking a hole in her defence and taking the opportunity.

lap thirty-nine. "oh, fuck, where'd you come from," isabel had to swerve to the left as george got a little too close to her car. it was a good challenge that he managed to win with a boost from drs, moving up into p3 and pushing her down to p4.

the problem with that? a seven-time world champion was sitting behind her now, and she would have to defend him for as long as possible because there was a large gap between him and pierre.

"if you can hold p4, i'll be happy," although there were still a lot of laps left, harry threw the comment out there because of how she was sandwiched between the mercedes drivers. isabel wouldn't be able to attack if lewis was on her and george was pushing everything into trying to take p2 from checo.

lap fifty-one. with five drivers being forced to retire and otherwise an uneventful race, max verstappen claimed the grand prix win. checo came in second twenty-one seconds later, and then george twenty seconds after that.

"p4, belle!" harry sounded so pleased that it brought a smile to her face. even if she had just missed out on a podium. "nicely done, kid! bring it back in when you're ready! we're super proud." knowing 'we're' consisted of the mechanics, him and tori, it made her feel a lot lighter.

"first ten are verstappen, perez, russell, you, hamilton, gasly, vettel, alonso, ricciardo, norris. noah's p12."

x

AFTER SITTING WITH THE ferrari boys for what felt like forever, isabel finally left their garage and made her way back into the paddock. carlos and charles had been guttered and isabel's heart broke upon hearing how saddened they were by the result. so she did what any best friend and sister would do: make them laugh by shit-talking their team. that did involve them making fun of her as a joke and comparing how shitty their teams currently were, so that was also a plus in making them feel better.

her media duties had been boring before she entered the garage because red bull were the main talk of everything currently, and that was fine with her. what wasn't fine was the fact that she was walking straight into where she didn't want to be.

"hey, loser," she greeted max as he finished an interview. "nice win, i guess," there was a teasing glint in her eyes that max was just able to catch, but the camera spinning their way didn't notice it at all.

"can't be a loser if i won," max responded, matching the way her arms were crossed over her chest. "but thanks . . . i guess."

she squinted at him when she caught how he mocked her words. "yeah, whatever. i actually came to congratulate checo."

max lowered his voice so that those surrounding couldn't hear. "that's bullshit and you know it."

isabel rolled her eyes. "whatever," she repeated. "i see you've improved a little with street circuits. it's a miracle." max wanted to wipe the grin off her face when he noticed how she was still trying to rile him up.

you make me want to scream, he inwardly groaned. fucking annoying. "whatever. is that all?"

isabel had to look up to stop herself from rolling her eyes again. the heat was already bothering her and he was making it worse, leaving her to start to regret even coming over to him. but it's baku, and the deal was ending as soon as she proved publicly that things had somewhat settled. so she held her hand out to him.

"congratulations on your win," her eyes locked on his. where had those cyclones gone?

max bit the inside of his cheek before reaching out to shake her hand, his father disappearing from his mind completely. "congrats on p4."

the camera flashes from photographers around were starting to burn her eyes. at this, she quickly dropped his hand, gave him one last glance, and then turned away before she could get stopped by anyone else.

x

WHEN HER AND NOAH got back to their hotel, he suddenly gasped and turned to her. "oh my god, you're old tomorrow."

isabel's eyebrows furrowed. "what?" she asked, confused.

noah scoffed. "it's your birthday tomorrow, dipshit."

isabel's mouth dropped open before she buried her head in her hands. "you are fucking kidding me," her voice was muffled.

"don't tell me you forgot," noah facepalmed. "you're gonna be twenty-fucking-three! and you forgot?!"

"look, i've had a shit few months," isabel's face burned red in embarrassment at the fact that she forgot her own birthday. "and usually charles and carlos talk about it for weeks beforehand. i am stupid."

"the stupidest," noah agreed as he hit the button and waited for the elevator. "don't tell me you scheduled a flight tomorrow."

she could only shrug. "it's a sixteen hour flight! the grand prix is this coming weekend."

"alright, i'll plan shit with everyone," noah sighed. "you make my life hell. i'll text you all the details when i have it finalised with charles."

"great," isabel's smile was tight-lipped. she wasn't even sure if she was in the right headspace to celebrate her birthday. but then again, sebastian did tell her to make the most of the season . . .

the elevator opened and the two stepped inside. "leave it to me, i'll sort it out."

x

THE HOTEL ROOM WITH max felt different again. all the mood shifts in the same space as him were starting to hurt her head.

she was being sent articles talking about her and max after the race and mostly just being confused on the sudden shift in dynamic. it took her a second to realise that the public had no clue about the plans will and tori had made to make the two drivers share a room for a couple of months. with the public in the dark, no one knew how to respond to the sudden development between the two because it all made no sense.

it still made no sense to max and isabel. things were different since that evening in monaco on the floor of her guest room. things had been different since the yacht. things had been different just from that drive around the circuit that they did the other day. nothing was making sense.

"will's impressed," max read off his phone as the two drivers sat on their respective beds.

isabel picked up her own phone. "so is tori," she sighed. "it doesn't mean i like you, though," she added afterwards, throwing her phone back down beside her.

max could only roll his eyes. "and i don't like you," he said. "but we keep our jobs, so . . ."

yeah, you do until you retire, isabel had to look away from him at the thought. "true," she said aloud, however. "aren't you going out?"

"yep," max nodded as he stood up. "you do know you're invited, right?"

she nodded. george had invited her and lewis, but isabel was happy to stay back at the hotel and play subway surfers and sleep. the flight to canada was going to leave everyone extremely jetlagged, and with the canadian grand prix being directly after this one, she was planning on trying to get as much sleep as possible.

now, though, with noah saying he was going to plan stuff for her birthday . . . she'd be surprised if she got any sleep at all.

"yeah, no thanks," she shrugged. "just don't be loud when you come back."

max nodded and grabbed the bundle of clothes off his bed before heading to the bathroom to get ready. it fell into silence after that.

x

ISABEL GOT JUST OVER an hour of sleep before her phone rang. groaning, she rolled onto her side and picked up her phone from the bedside table, wincing when the bright light hit her face. 

"salut," she mumbled, voice rougher with sleep and almost unintelligible. 

"oh, shit, sorry," tori rushed out. "i didn't think you'd be asleep yet."

"oh, hi, tori," isabel rubbed her eyes with her free hand to try get rid of the blurriness she was seeing. "what's up?"

"i wanted to congratulate you for making it to azerbaijan! i know it was tough to deal with max for a few months and i feel terrible for pushing it all on you but you kept your seat! i'm really happy for you."

"oh . . . yeah," isabel yawned. "completely forgot about that for a moment." her eyes drifted over to the bed across the room and she noticed it was empty. max wasn't back yet. "i should thank you for forcing us to, i guess." i can at least enjoy driving the car for a bit longer, now. "maybe i was being really stupid from the start."

"trust me, belle," tori said, "half the time he deserved all the shit you gave him. i think you knocked some sense into him." when isabel didn't have anything to say, she continued, "i'll let you go, get some rest! i'll see you tomorrow morning before your flight to say happy birthday! goodnight!"

"bonne nuit," isabel responded before hanging up, her head dropping back down to the pillow instantly.

tori's words made her think as she set her phone back on the bedside table. how did i fucking make it to baku? 

all those months ago she was ready to stab something when tori and will proposed the plan for them to keep their job. isabel and max had gone from wanting to kill each other over nothing ( and the feeling only heightening when something went wrong on the track ) to doing fucking crosswords on a plane. 

sure, australia happened. and something like that would probably happen again, but things had calmed. things weren't as bad. they'd kept their seats.

and that was the problem. she didn't want everyone to think that max and her had suddenly reconciled and pushed aside all their problems because they hadn't done that in the slightest. a little respect had grown from the ashes of the fires they built but it was only a matter of time until the embers caught fire again. 

they weren't perfect. maybe they never would be. but all it took between them was for one thing to go wrong and then they'd set alight. one wrong move to the other and . . .

although they weren't walking on eggshells currently, nothing was set in stone. they were ticking timebombs, and although they were in a decent patch at the moment, only time would tell as to what would happen. and that's why she hoped that the public didn't think every problem was solved.

x

TWITTER — private accounts !

belle éclair💗🔒 | tiinkerbellle

replies . . .

sharl 🔒 | lordperceval
hey thats me
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🍐🔒 | superiorfrenchman
yeah no shit

NOAH 🔒| noahnickels
belle get off pinterest
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belle éclair💗🔒 | tiinkerbellle
no i am being relatable 🙄

mexican minister of defence🔒 | checoperezz
should let the mexican anthem play instead
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lando no rizz🔒 | bobnorris
red bull should be banned altogether
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max 🔒| notsidthesloth
mate you drive a tractor

max 🔒| notsidthesloth
just get good at driving
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belle éclair💗🔒 | tiinkerbellle
"you've stunned him" remember
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max 🔒 | notsidthesloth
stfu isabel
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sharl 🔒 | lordperceval
what is going on
|
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seb 🔒 | everyonesfavourite5
is this character development im seeing
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belle éclair💗🔒 | tiinkerbellle
no you just need glasses old man

kimi 🔒 | user12363727483627
true

x

updates for this are probably so sporadic lmao

anyway so monaco qualifying- well- hm

things between belle and max will start to pick up now that they made it through baku ! i have a timeline already planned soooo (but it is still technically a slowburn so)