november, 2023.

COMPETITION IS THE DRIVING force of life. in many empirical beginnings, competition was death for entertainment. gladiatorial combats, fighting wild animals, chariot races . . . all were dangerous and were set up as if it were survival of the fittest: to win, you must be strong enough to survive.

as we move through the years, competition changes. it moves from fights to the death to chess games and sporting matches. people have learnt that death is an inevitable force that forsakens us all, so why waste it trying to die? why not spend the limited lives we have making the most of it and try to accomplish things that will benefit generations to come?

with the invention of motor vehicles brought in a new series of sports: motor racing. cars, motorcycles, boats . . . you name it, it exists. and by the time 1950 rolled around, a new competition was thrown into motion.

formula one.

better known as the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars, formula one was no different to what the roman empire found entertaining. competition, rivalries, battles, death. one of the most prestigious racing sports was full of it.

early years of the racing left so many dead that you were lucky to come out of that cockpit alive each race. safety was seen as secondary because winning was always primary. competition was always first.

how many times had competition drove a wedge between people until they either died or lived long enough to hate each other?

how many rivalries became so big that both sides forgot to see the bigger picture?

the prost-senna rivalry.

the hamilton-rosberg rivalry.

the hill-schumacher rivalry.

the hunt-lauda rivalry

the leclerc-verstappen rivalry.

abu dhabi 2021 had shattered isabel leclerc and max verstappen worse than ever before.

ISABEL hadn't felt a low like that in a long time. it had been her championship and it had been stolen from her grasp before she could even taste victory. they'd called it a racing incident that left her with a dnf from race leader when max took out her tyres during an overtake, but everything had gone still from the moment she spun out and slammed into the barriers.

she was numb and struggling to connect the dots on how she had just let him do that to her and win the championship title that she had been dreaming of since jules had first picked her up and put her in his go-kart.

she was going to win it for jules. for her father. she had promised them that she was going to push herself for that trophy at the prize-giving ceremony until she dropped unconscious. she'd skipped school until she was forced to drop-out, she'd train until she was ill for days, she wouldn't get out off the karting track until she was dragged off by her older brothers. she promised herself she'd stop at nothing to achieve it.

all that, and she'd had the chance snatched away during her third year with the lamborghini. the look on alicia's face was one she would never be able to forget. she'd thought it had been pity, but she knew the face of disappointment better than anyone.

MAX had won his first championship that year. he knew it was a racing incident because he wouldn't purposefully run her off the track, but they had taken each other out so many times during the years that if the roles were reversed and it had happened to him instead, he would've believed it was on purpose, too.

he'd been so happy when he won after all the years at red bull he had spent trying to become impossibly better, but happiness melts like butter into sludge.

his temper had rose like a wildfire when isabel had shown up in his garage, shoving him angrily until his back hit a wall and he had to shove her back to get her off. her eyes were icy and full of flames, and maybe if he cared to look just a little bit harder, he would've seen them glossed with tears. he would've seen them shine in the bright garage lights with unshed tears that had been the closest she could possibly get to crying in years. if he had cared to look deeper.

but this championship was it. he'd made his father proud, had proved to him that all the years of pressure had worked — he was finally a formula one world champion! so it didn't matter that his friend's sister was trying to tear him down for it because he had crossed that line. he had made it.

it was a mindset that he'd had for years, and all it took to break it was to fall in love with the said friend's sister.

x

"FUCK OFF!"

"LET ME the fuck in!"

grumbling, isabel rolled off the couch and trudged to the door at the loud knocking that was beginning to reverberate around her skull. "what do you want?" she asked through the door.

"you to hurry up," was the answer she received. "tori said you're not answering."

in a swift movement, she flung the door open and fell straight into max's arms, not giving him a second to react. "hi," she mumbled, not even bothering to lift her arms to hug him once he caught her.

"what's up with you, huh?" max walked forward, forcing her to drag her feet to walk backwards until he shut the door behind them and were standing inside her hotel room in abu dhabi. "we have to be in the paddock, like, five minutes ago."

"i don't want to," she let max lift her up slightly to drop her back onto the couch like a ragdoll. he rolled his eyes, withholding the urge to loudly sigh in exasperation.

"i don't want to go do media day either, isa," he picked up her black platforms that had been sitting in the middle of the floor and tossed them at her. she caught them before they hit her, glaring at him.

isabel had been dreading media day since she won the last race, the las vegas grand prix. the maths worked as followed: if isabel won and max came second, they would be battling for the title in abu dhabi. if he had dnfed, it would have been an immediate title for her, and vice versa.

but she had won, so here they were, a few points apart and needing the win on sunday to secure the title.

it was tense. for the past few races, they had been staying in separate hotel rooms like they had at the start of the season, both trying to fall into their championship-fighting mentality that they had left behind in 2021, back when they had first been battling each other for it. they were lucky that the fight hadn't torn their relationship to shreds so far because this season had been tight between red bull and aston martin.

championships tore people apart. look at lewis and nico, who had been best friends for years, and had ruined it by being teammates fighting for the title. isabel knew if that same fate hit her and max, she would've quit then and there; she'd already lost so much to this sport, she couldn't handle losing him, too.

they were lucky. when they were on the track, a switch flipped between them and it was like they were no longer in a loving relationship and instead were in a rivalry built on respect ( it's a miracle ). but the season had been good between them, for the first time ever. the full season.

it had its ups and downs, of course. isabel had only dnfed twice this year; once in melbourne after colliding with alex because she couldn't see him through the gravel cloud he kicked up, and once in silverstone because she swore that track was out to get her ( oversteer kicked her ass into a barrier and damaged the car ). max had dnfed once, and it had been when he copped the tail end of isabel's car in silverstone. apparently they couldn't go a full year without taking each other out, either.

she'd also made sure that her and daniel worked out the final bits for the unveiling of their team next year prior to the main championship fight. LECCARDO-MSRTI RACING had been finalised and was ready to be launched.

zavier was set to become their head mechanic after he finished up his contract with mercedes, becase of lamborghini's announcement that they were no longer going to be in formula one after the 2023 season ( mercedes, who had just taken him aboard the team as a mechanic and a member of the pit crew ).

isabel and daniel had swooped in on lamborghini and stolen their employees so that they still had jobs after the season was over; it wasn't their fault that the team had fallen off during the 2023 season because of alicia's undoing. not even the new team principal after alicia had quit at the end of 2022 had been able to fix the problem. the team had crashed and burnt into quite literally nothing.

leccardo's business team was led by nicholas latifi ( who was well into his studies in business school ), lorenzo leclerc overviewed things sometimes when he wasn't working on his own career, and nyck de vries would be joining eventually when he was had completed a bit more of his degree. and below them, the team was huge and based in their headquarters in italy.

the team principal position had been filled for now by a woman named saskia van zandt, who had been team principal for arrow mclaren in indycar for a number of years. isabel had asked harry, but he wasn't interested in the position until she didn't need him as a race engineer anymore.

the most fun part had been the driver lineup. it had been the hardest part of getting their team running though ─ compiling a list had been easy, but choosing at least three from it was tough. in the end, they had settled for ollie bearman after his highly successful run in his career so far ( and isabel loved the kid like a little brother, not that it was chosen on grounds of bias or anything, though ) and they had stolen liam lawson from red bull after they gave the full-time alphatauri seat to daniel for next year, and a main reason they had chosen liam was because of his incredible performance when he filled in for daniel during his injury. they'd also stolen sophia floersch from formula three to sit as their reserve and test driver. it was a lineup they were incredibly excited for.

ISABEL sluggishly put her shoes on, glaring her boyfriend down the entire time. "you are the worst fucking person i've ever met."

unfazed, max rolled his eyes again. "i know," he responded dryly, walking into the kitchen so that he could grab her bag and her aston martin hat off the counter. as he walked back into the room, she had her shoes on and was standing by the door, irritation on her face, "are you sure we can't skip?"

she wasn't excited for media day in abu dhabi this year. with the events of last race, it meant that any attempts at talking to the media today were going to be about the championship fight, and the fact that they hadn't seen this since 2021. the last thing she wanted to do was think about was 2021.

"how about this," max slipped his hand into hers as he opened the front door into the hallway. he noticed that her hand was freezing, no doubt from the aircon. "i'll let you dri—"

"okay!" isabel's smile was immediate, as if she hadn't been complaining about a single thing like a child. she pressed a kiss to his cheek and reached into his pocket for the car keys to the ferrari 488 pista in the garage downstairs. "i'll stop complaining now."

"good." he understood why she was complaining about it, he had done the exact same to daniel last night. he had no interest in standing in the media pen and listening to people dredge up the past. he was focused more on winning his third championship in a row than dealing with it, and he knew that isabel was more focused on trying to snatch the title from him than listening to a bunch of journalists talk about things they didn't understand to try invoke a reaction.

x

"ISABEL, HI!" A BLONDE woman isabel vaguely remembered seeing at one of the races last year grinned at her with a high level of excitement. it was energy isabel tried to match but fell short from after the last guy she had spoken to had asked if this grand prix was causing any relationship problems.

"hey," isabel smiled back kindly, reaching up to fix the green cap on her head over her wavy hair. she'd slept in braids last night after spending six hours on the simulator until lance told her to call it a day . . . or a night, because the clock displayed it was the early hours of the morning. she'd been too lazy to do anything other than going back to the hotel and flop onto her bed.

"i have to ask," isabel braced for impact, but the woman surprised her: "how excited are you? back in for a fighting chance for the championship has to be exciting!"

"yeah!" she breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. "thank you for asking, actually . . . no one else has the decency," isabel cleared her throat before tori could warn her for her comment. "uh, yes, i'm really excited, and i think i want to try get redemption for 2021. i couldn't ask for a better race this weekend."

"that'll be three world championship trophies between the two of you if you win," the woman spoke into her red microphone. "tell me, are you two running out of places to keep your trophies?"

isabel giggled. she'd almost forgotten that the world knew max and her were living together now, and the woman was right: they were running out of room. even with a lot of their trophies staying in their team's factories for display, they still had a fuck ton in their house. the trophy room isabel had once used when max had helped her set up iracing was now full of a mixture of their trophies, each sorted by race and year. the helmets she had stored in there had gotten crowded, too, to where they were considering moving the trophies and helmets that held less significance down into the space under the house where the gym was.

"we definitely are," she answered, shaking her head a little. "our house looks like a museum at this point."

the woman laughed. "i'm glad to see you two are well! but speaking of, do you mind if i ask about next year?" when isabel gestured for her to continue, she did so, "we know that you two are rivals on track . . . but you are moving back to one of red bull's rival teams. can you speak on this?"

isabel shrugged, "absolutely. yeah, no, everything's going great," she said honestly. "i didn't want to sign an extension with aston because of lance, and lance has already been kind enough to let me have his seat for the year. he deserves a seat more than anyone. i'm more excited about bouncing between teams because i was stuck at lamborghini for too fucking long."

this time, tori cleared her throat in warning, but isabel wasn't blind to the smug smile she was trying to hide.

"but," isabel continued, "i'm really happy. this year at aston has definitely been so rewarding and i'm so thankful to the whole team and fernando, of course, but i'm really looking forward to the mercedes move. plus, it gives george one less reason to take me out." a subtle jab at george for zandvoot again. don't get her wrong, she loved george russell like an annoying older brother, but she was going to hold that over his head for the rest of their lives.

it had been news when lewis had announced that he was cutting his mercedes contract short at the end of 2023. with lewis saying that he was taking a year or two off from the sport, it hadn't taken long for isabel to receive an email from mercedes, where she ended up in a meeting with toto wolff during summer break. it was so warming to be so wanted.

"well, good luck for this weekend, we're all rooting for you," the woman smiled so kindly that isabel found herself mirroring it easily.

"merci!"

x

QUALIFYING APPROACHED QUICKLY. IT had left her anxious when she missed only one session of free practice because felipe drugovich had been in her car for it, but the rest of the practice sessions had stacked up nicely. but red bull had still dominated it, and even though that was only free practice, it still worried her. she was beyond lucky she had harry in her ears to talk her through waiting for the q1 session to start.

"you've got it, kid," harry said, "we both know you can easily make q2, don't fret."

"i'm not fretting," she replied, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel. "i know i can make first fifteen easy. it's just . . . i did not think i'd be fighting for a championship again. this shit is rough."

harry's chuckle made a smile rise to her lips. "we did it once before, we can do it again. ten seconds until the session starts, just breathe. we'll get one flying lap and wait it out. okay?"

it was the usual, so she knew, but hearing harry talk her through what she needed was always comforting. he just had that kind of voice. "copy that. thanks."

Q1. isabel had only needed to do two flying laps. the first one had been when the session started, but gradually she had been knocked down until she was p12. to secure her spot, she went for one more before pulling back to sit in her garage. q1 was the least of her worries.

"that's p5, belle," harry didn't need to be asked for the information. the second she was in the garage and the session had ended, he was immediately rattling off the standings so far. "those out are sainz, gasly, magnussen, bottas, zhou, noah, and sargeant with no time."

"awkward," isabel responded upon hearing that lamborghini had been completely wiped out from starting any higher than last at the final race of the season. she felt bad for the american boys, but she didn't feel bad for the team.

Q2. isabel pushed a little bit harder around the corners of q2, wanting to set a quicker time than she had in q1 without pushing her tyres beyond their limit. as the clock on the session stated there were thirty seconds left, she listened to harry explain the competition between those in the elimination zone before silencing him so that she could go for another lap.

so far, max was sitting at the top of the board of the session with lando and charles under him. the current fight was between mercedes, daniel, and williams as they struggled in the bottom five.

the lap flowed better, than her previous ones, and without pushing as hard as she knew she could, she cemented her spot in p3, pushing her brother a rung below.

as she was heading back through the pitlane, max caught her attention when he stopped just outside his garage. she slowed further than she had to out of curiousity.

max held up his hand as he looked at her with his visor up, and waved it slightly so that it looked like a snake taking a wider way around something. in understanding, she gave him the thumbs up before heading back to her garage.

"you good?" harry asked as she was wheeled into the garage.

"yep," she nodded, thinking about what her boyfriend had wordlessly told her. you're going too wide around the corners, he had mimed out what he had plenty of times before. pull tighter. it was a miniscule thing he had picked up on because he was forever observant, and even though it was something that didn't hinder her driving at all, it gained her a few hundredths here and there. he wanted to fight her for pole after all; this was their race.

"okay. those out are hamilton, ocon, albon, gold, ricciardo."

"aw danny," she commented out of habit. "nice run for him though, yeah?"

"absolutely. just couldn't hold out."

Q3. isabel waited in her garage as long as she could. she watched as max continuously got better time after better time, and it was one of the only reasons she was waiting it out. her plan was to let him get in as much as he could on the tyres he had on before going out and doing her best, and once they created a decent gap from the rest of the ten, it would just be a fight between them.

when mclaren finally started to push on max's provisional pole, she left the garage. there were four minutes of the session let, which was plenty of time for her to put in just enough laps. anymore than that and she would be overthinking it and pushing too hard.

on the first flying lap, she bumped herself up into p3. not bad, but it wasn't what she wanted.

after a slow lap, she pushed agaiit wn with two minutes remaining. p1. but that p1 had sparked something in max, and they both went again.

both on flying laps, isabel was pushing herself as hard as possible with the last twenty seconds left of the session. two purple and a green sector later, she held her breath as she crossed the line, waiting for max to do the same ten seconds after her to decide who would be starting on pole tomorrow.

come on, she told herself, the lack of oxygen heavy on her lungs. come on. the world seemed to go painstakingly silent as she waited for the familiar crackle of her race engineer to echo in her ears and tell her she did it.

last year she had started second on the grid. max had just managed pole then by a few tenths. the year before that, it was also his pole. the waiting game was driving her insane. it felt longer than ten seconds, maybe ten years, but every second she went without oxygen was a second that drilled through her until she felt foggy as she maneuvered around the track she had raced so many times before.

and then she heard the crackle.

"alright, kid. that's p2," her lungs caved, and she inhaled too much oxygen at once. "fantastic job out there, though, but max got you by a tenth. would you like the lineup?"

"fuck," she breathed, just needing a second to herself before she broadcasted her voice back to the team. "not good enough," she chastised herself. it's not the end of the world, she could almost hear daniel tell her, just like he had years ago. it's still yours for the taking. but he had been wrong then clearly, because she had bombed out of the race in 2021. he had been wrong.

this breath was clearer. it wasn't shaky like the others. she hit her radio button, "thanks . . . sure," she told harry, voice unreadable, but she knew he could just tell she was upset with herself.

"max, you, leclerc, piastri, norris, alonso, russell, perez, tsunoda, hulkenberg. good work, belle, keep your head up. you gotta championship to win us tomorrow."

"i love you," she couldn't help but smile. "thank you."

"love you more, kid. we're all extremely proud of you . . . oh! fernando's asked to give you the 'i'm proud of you' speech again."

she just laughed and pulled into the pitlane. it was still insane to have fernando as a teammate for the season. she'd looked up to him as a kid, had had a huge crush on his renault era ( which she had told him about unashamedly in a press conference earlier in the season ), and had enjoyed letting him mentor her since 2019, but more so this year than anything.

x

INSTAGRAM — ISABEL.LECLERC

isabel.leclerc: just wanted to say a huge thanks to aston martin this year! and an even bigger thank you to lance, who took a chance and asked to have me fill in for him. whatever the outcome is tomorrow, i'm so thankful for the incredible season we've had this year, and i couldn't've done it without you. here's to one more race in green 💚

(also who the fuck made the haas thing and why did pierre like it)

comments . . .

maxverstappen1: what do i get if i win
↳ isabel.leclerc: you move out.
↳ maxverstappen1: ill be homeless
↳ isabel.leclerc: youre rich you'll survive <3

user1: GOOD LUCK !!! YOURE GONNA KILL IT TOMORROW

user2: my world champion now matter what

user3: max is gonna win
↳ isabel.leclerc: youre gonna look stupid when i win
↳ user4: 😭😭

maxverstappen1: also id beat you in a haas
↳ isabel.leclerc: all youve ever driven is a red bull. ive driven a lamborghini. do you wanna rethink that?
↳ maxverstappen1: ...... okay maybe

landonorris: my world champ 🤞🤞
↳ isabel.leclerc: you posted the same thing on maxs post
↳ isabel.leclerc: what side are you on
↳ landonorris: uhhhh

olliebearman: if you win i get the key to your house
↳ isabel.leclerc: deal
↳ maxverstappen1: ????
↳ isabel.leclerc: it'll annoy you maxverstappen1 it doesnt bother me

charles_leclerc: good luck!!!!

emiliagold79: GOOD LUCK MY LOVE !!! WIN FOR US !!!

user5: history's gonna repeat
↳ user6: do you have any faith in them
↳ user5: no

pierregasly: liked by pierre gasly
↳ pierregasly: also i sent you that meme months ago and you never opened it
↳ isabel.leclerc: im a busy woman 💔

user7: remember when we thought she was quitting 😭 now shes out here about to win wdc wtf

x

RACE DAY HAD APPROACHED quicker than she had time to prepare herself for. after getting back to the hotel late, she'd gone to sleep immediately after kissing max goodnight, and she'd slept as long as she could.

by morning when her door was knocked on a million times, and isabel's annoyance kind of disappeared when she was face to face with the culprit. ollie bearman stood in front of her dressed in his prema clothes with his hair a mess and his face a shade of crimson. "hi," he panted, leaning one arm against the doorframe.

"what did you do?" her eyes narrowed at him.

"what?" he spluttered, "why do you assume i did something?"

"you either robbed someone or you ran here," isabel grabbed his wrist and pulled him inside her hotel room, shutting the door behind him. "which is it?" his hotel was at the other end of the street, and as far as she knew, he really had no reason to be at her door at nine in the morning unless he was on the run from the police or something.

chuckling, ollie let her pull him inside. "i ran here," he answered, lifting his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. "it's fuckin' hot out there, belle, whew," he fanned his face. "thank god you have working aircon."

without saying anything, isabel moved past him to head to the kitchen. she opened the fridge and pulled out two covered bowls of yogurt, placed them on the bench in front of her, and then got out the berries to go with it. ollie followed her into the kitchen and his smile was bright as soon as he saw the food on the table. "belle! my lifesaver," he sighed happily, hopping up to sit on the counter and greedily pinching a bowl of greek yogurt.

"yeah, yeah," isabel rolled her eyes at him as she shut her fridge. "we both know this is the only reason you're here."

so maybe she had made the mistake of signing ollie to leccardo for his rookie season next year, because all he had done since was show up at her door demanding food like an insolent child whenever f2 and f1 races collided, and even in the off season he had shown up at her door after circling the block four times. at least liam didn't show up at her door, she'd give him that.

"true," ollie answered, a mouthful of food obstructing his voice, and isabel hadn't even seen him grab a spoon he was that quick. "grazie!"

"yeah, whatever," she sat down at one of the stools and dropped various berries into her yogurt. it was a good enough breakfast for now because she knew luca would force her to eat what he had planned for her to when she got to the paddock. "stop treating me like your mother."

ollie pointed his spoon at her, "you basically are," just as he finished speaking, the front door clicked open, and it didn't take a genius to know that the only other person with the keycard to her room was max. "i mean, you've signed me now, so . . ."

"he's right," max's voice made isabel perk up as he entered the kitchen and swiftly kissed the top of her head before sitting down beside her. "he's pretty much your kid, isa."

her face scrunched up, "ew," she glared at max before looking back at ollie, "if you were my kid, i'd leave you out on the street."

shrugging, ollie picked up some more blueberries and dumped them in his remaining yogurt. "you're gonna be a great mother some day, isabel," he shook his head with a laugh. "max, would you leave me outside?"

"yes," max said, not a second of hesitation to his response. ollie pulled a face at him. "stop breaking into our house."

ollie just shrugged and went back to his yogurt. "you lot better never have kids," he said lightheartedly, now more interested in his food.

isabel pushed her bowl over to max, but he shook his head and so she finished the rest of it. "i wouldn't leave any of our kids out on the street," she promised him sincerely. "just that one," she gestured to the overgrown child sitting on the counter.

max snorted, "yeah," he agreed, "lucky he's not ours, huh?"

"thank god for that."

ISABEL SAT IDLE ON the grid, waiting impatiently for the lights to extinguish above.

the first light. her helmet was different again this year for abu dhabi. instead of the black and green helmet she had been sporting all year, the black was now replaced with white. the inside of her 52 racing number on the side was patterned in silver with three sets of racing numbers: her father's, jules', and anthoine's. the rest of the helmet was patterned in signatures that covered it entirely; each one belonging to an aston martin employee on the away team. it was what she had wanted to do years ago if she ever moved to another team, but with lamborghini being nothing but shitty to her, she never bothered. this season was different.

the second light. the kiss she'd shared with max at the back of her garage just moments before hopping into the car was just enough to tell her that this year was different. this was not 2021. there would be no dnf and no heartbreak. they'd purposely stayed away from each other since this morning to try get into the right headspace so that they could be their absolute best once they were in the car, but the slightest bit of a touch from him mere minutes ago had cleared her head. had reminded her of what her goal truly was. and that goal was to be standing on top of that podium in two hours time, and then walking across the stage to accept the world championship trophy in a little under a month.

the third light. next year would be with mercedes. george had grown as a driver ( if she forgot about whatever the fuck happened between him and max in azerbaijan. she'd stayed out of it, but there was something about a mention of princess george that left her and lando stirring the pot afterwards for gossip ) and she was looking forward to racing beside him . . . as long as he didn't pull his bullshit starts around on her. they were both rookies of the same year, and had been good friends ever since they were kids, isabel was excited for it. and she also loved the idea of driving for a black and silver team. already imagining the fun she could have with outfits was more excited than racing.

the fourth light. the words harry had spoken to her before she got into the car. he'd wrapped her up into the biggest hug possible, one that his kids had joined in on in the back of her garage, and had refused to let go until she said she was ready. it was a big moment for both of them, much like it had been two years ago, but this year she had more of a fighting chance. isabel had grown, had matured, since she was twenty-two and ready to throw her career away. at twenty-four now, she'd gotten over the shit that used to hold her back and had dominated for majority of the season in green. her chances were better this year, and harry had made sure she understood that before he let her go to head over to the pit wall.

the fifth light. the championship was fifty-eight laps from her reach, and she wanted to prove herself. although it felt like she had gained more respect, it wasn't enough for her. she needed to do it to prove that she hadn't just been some annoying, bratty girl for the past few years because she was spoiled. no, it was because she was sick of getting things taken from her; it had began with people, and ended with what she worked towards. and if this race was fair and she came second, she would accept it ( eventually ) and move on and be happy for max. the only one she would hold a grudge towards would be herself because clearly she hadn't pushed enough if she didn't achieve what she wanted.

the lights extinguished. foot heavy on the accelerator, she didn't care much if max remained race leader during the first few laps, but as long as she held second from those behind her, she could live with that.

"it's the final race of the year here in abu dhabi, the championship decider once again between max verstappen and isabel leclerc . . . it's lights out and away we go!"

lap one. for not caring so much about taking race leader off the start, after max fumbled, the start, she found herself naturally fighting him for the position, forcing him to put more pressure on his tyres early on.

lap forty-eight. the rest of the drivers on the track had disappeared long ago as soon as isabel and max built a large enough gap away from them. even backmarkers that had to comply with blue flag rules were left forgotten as they passed them.

switching positions more times than they could keep track of, max and isabel spent more time fighting than they had consolidating a position. in the beginning, they'd done the stints they needed to on the mediums before both switching to the hard compound, knowing it was going to be a long race. and it was.

by now, max was trying to attack isabel again in sector three. it was difficult to try outsmart her on the corners, but he liked the challenge . . . and he also liked it more now that she was taking wider turns tighter. a challenge. as much as he wanted an easy way to win the title, he wanted a real fight for it.

because this is the way it should've gone back in 2021.

"verstappen is one tenth faster," harry updated.

"i love you,"  isabel checked her mirrors, "but i think i can see that. what the fuck is fuelling that car?"

"if he gets through, don't worry," he ignored her comment. truthfully, harry was stressed. she was less than ten laps away from winning the season, and he was the one she had to rely on right now. "you've got pace, but c'mon, belle, we both know your attacking is better."

she couldn't argue with that. she could defend if her life depended on it, but she valued her attacking. it's what saved her from countless qualifying fuck-ups in the past, and she preferred it over defending any day. she cleared her throat, "harry, do you trust me?"

"uh oh . . . no," he decided, glancing at the others on the pit wall currently listening to their conversation.

"yes you do," isabel glanced back in her mirrors once more, "just trust me."

" . . . alright, kid. do what you have to," he gave in.

isabel hit her radio button so she was no longer heard, and, on turn fifteen, she pulled wide.

max easily slipped through the gap and reclaimed his spot as race leader, and isabel dropped back into p2, tailing him through turn sixteen into the start/finish straight.

"nine laps to go," harry mentioned on the straight, but his voice was barely there as she slipped deeper into concentration. she watched each move max made with such precision, mapping out each familiarity as she remained comfortably in his slipstream, not once going to attack.

lap fifty-five. up until this point, max had been getting frustrated. isabel had backed off, and any move she made out of his slipstream was to fake him out. he understood she was toying with him, but he didn't know how long it would last. that was the frustrating part.

"lap fifty-five, belle," harry spoke up for the first time in a while. he was on the edge of his seat in silence prior to this because the last thing he wanted to do was distract her when she was this close.

"harry," isabel finally broke the silence she had kept since she had let max overtake her. "do you like magic tricks?"

harry was silent for a second longer than usual. "depends," he answered. "what kind?"

isabel ignored the first drs zone along the long straight in sector two. "i can show you, if you would like."

"i'll be waiting impatiently."

"no need," was all she said before hitting the radio button again. "okay," she muttered to herself, keeping the close distance to max around the turn six and seven corners. once through the tight swerves, she entered the second drs zone, and this time, she activated it.

nearing teetering over three hundred kilometers now, isabel pushed on max. she got as close as she could without recreating a reverse version of melbourne last year before dipping to the left and pulling out in front of him. max tried to challenge it back immediately, but he didn't have the bonus luxury of drs.

although he had been overtaken, he couldn't help but laugh. he had been waiting for it, and just when he was sure he was ready for it, he hadn't been fully expecting it.

"how's that for a magic trick, harry?" isabel asked, checking her mirrors once more. max wasn't too far away, but he wasn't too close, either. he was the perfect distance to give herself enough time to prepare for him to start throwing attacks left and right.

"fantastic move, belle!" harry applauded. "now do me a favour and cross that line first."

isabel let a laugh slip. "okay, okay . . . she entered the turns of sector three, "no talking in the turns, now."

lap fifty-eight. final lap. isabel was stressed, not that she was going to let that show, though.

she found the final lap one where she was struggling to breathe, but then again, she wasn't sure if it was that or she was holding her breath again because breathing was one extra thing she had to think about that she didn't have time for.

sector three was almost over, and max had been getting more aggressive. she knew how much he wanted to win this, but she also knew that if she fired back with as much aggression as he currently was, it would only end up the same way it did years ago: with one catapulting into a barrier and the other going on to secure the title.

"fuck off," she watched her mirrors, hardly needing to glance at the track she was so used to driving, more focused on max being annoying behind her. "i'm actually going to punch him after this."

"radio's on, kid."

"i was kidding," she said absentmindedly as she got to turn sixteen, and max was starting to force his way side-to-side with her. her heart quickened to a dangerous level when she noticed the red bull getting a little too close.

"nope, not again," she mumbled, and once she was around the turn, she slammed her foot down on the accelerator hastily, hoping that her reaction time was better than his.

it was.

isabel pulled ahead first, and just seconds later, she crossed the line. first.

the world fell silent. in a world where she was in the heart of a million loud noises ricocheted off every barrier, she found it still. the crowds that had been so loud she could hear them even with the earphones to cancel it out had disappeared. the roaring engines disappeared. she felt like she was in a dark room where every sense is stripped from you until you feel nothing but your own heartbeat banging violently in your chest, wanting to make its escape from the cavity its trapped tirelessly in.

hands shaking against the wheel as her breathing turned into panting, she only heard one voice. "isabel leclerc, you are a formula one world champion!"

like a switch, the voice of comfort she had knew as harry brought back every sense faster than she could blink. "no i'm not," even though she knew it was real, it couldn't have been. had all her hard work finally paid off? had five years of slaving away on and off track finally amounted to something? had she really just proven every teacher she had wrong when they said she wasn't going to go anywhere if all she did was skip school?

she had. she had.

"uh . . . i think i just witnessed your car cross that line first, kid," harry laughed. "you fucking did it! you're in the hall of fame now!"

a laugh bubbled in her throat as she kept control of the car, heading around the track once more until she could head into parc ferme. "we did it, harry," her voice was riddled with shocked and excited laughter as tears began to glass over in her eyes. "we finally fucking did it!"

"you did it, kid," harry had to wipe his eyes, hoping it was subtle enough so that the camera pointed his way didn't pick up on it. "i'll meet you in parc ferme. we're all so proud of you, never forget that."

"thank you to everyone, we won this together," was the last thing she said before switching the radio off. she did it. the words word echo around her head until the end of time:

isabel leclerc, you are a formula one world champion!

ISABEL didn't waste a second once she was out of the car. the first person she spotted was harry, and she ran at him as fast as she could. with so much force behind it, she toppled the barrier keeping everyone out of parc ferme, but that was forgotten as harry carried her over it into the centre of the aston martin employees surrounding her and patting the top of her helmet in celebration. "we did it! we did it!"

it was a blur until she was asked to step back inside parc ferme so that whoever was with the fia could put the barrier back up, and once she was inside, she was immediately jumped on by her older brother. one by one, each of her friends crowded around her until she was in the middle unsure of what to even do.

first it was charles, and he was followed by lando ( who had damn near almost tackled her to the floor ) and then carlos, george, alex, oscar, emilia, noah, ollie and arthur ( who had jumped the barrier ), fernando . . . it felt like the list went on forever. it was oddly emotional to be standing there in the middle of the chaos that was all for her. because she had finally done what she had wanted to ever since she was a kid.

she was a world champion. she had beat max to a title for the first time ever. all it had taken was about fifteen years and a change of heart along the way.

max. the second she thought about him, she spun back around to where she knew red bull usually stood, and there her boyfriend was, patiently waiting for her after he had just celebrated the end to a great season with his team.

isabel didn't waste a second in running over to him, not even bothering to take off her helmet, and only stopping once he had caught her in his arms. "i did it, max," her voice was muffled by the helmet. "i fucking did it."

"you did it . . . that's my girl," his smile was so wide it was starting to hurt. he swayed them back and forth a few times before letting go of her for just a second to unclasp her helmet and slide it off. he pulled off her balaclava before tucking it into the helmet, and kate, on the other side of the barrier, reached out and took the helmet out of his grasp. "you're champion of the world, isa."

as she stood there, hair messy and falling out of its plaits, and her warm eyes glossy with tears that had been dripping like a pristine waterfall down her face, max could only see her as the most gorgeous girl he had ever laid eyes on. she was glowing standing under the bright lights in abu dhabi, and it was a sight he knew he would never forget.

he at least hoped kate or jay were taking photos, because even if he had a mental image of it forever etched into his brain, a physical copy would be just as rewarding.

"good race, though, congrats!" she held her fist out to him first, and he laughed and bumped his against hers before pulling her back in for another hug.

"good race," he echoed back happily, sighing in content. for once, he was happy to lose the title to her, of all people. he did the best he could, and she deserved it after the countless hours she had put in this year. "i'm so, so, so proud of you."

"stop," she mumbled, tightening her hold on him, "you're gonna make me cry, you dick."

and although they'd been together for over a year, it was still such a strange feeling to celebrate after races together, even if one of them didn't achieve what they wanted. the sheer fact that all she had seen max do was smile since they pulled into parc ferme made her heart melt into a pathetic puddle of mush.

AT THE END OF it all, it was her national anthem playing as she stood atop the podium with her brother and her boyfriend on each side of her. before she had to head off to the cool-down room with them, red bull had embraced her with open arms, and so had some of the lamborghini employees, too.

when she was handed the trophy, her smile only became impossibly wider. holding it one hand, she glanced up at the sky, something symbolic that made her think of those she had been doing this for, before glancing down at charles. he was already looking at her with a face that said that he understood, and before he even thought about opening the champagne, he stepped up onto the p1 part of the podium and wrapped his arms around her.

"i'm proud of you, ma petite fleur," he said in french, his accent thicker as it tangled around his words. all she could do was shake her head with a smile, hugging him tighter. "we all are."

x

INSTAGRAM — ISABEL.LECLERC

isabel.leclerc: champion of the world! (i just got the trophy im asjdhfdjsfhdhsk)

thank you to everyone who helped me achieve this lifelong dream, you've all made it the best year of my life to date <3

enjoy some photos from this season :)

comments . . .

landonorris: checo has been saying the car is fucked . . .
↳ danielricciardo: hmm
↳ maxverstappen1: 🤐
↳ charles_leclerc: well
↳ isabel.leclerc: 😬
↳ noahnichols99: the car was indeed fucked i guess
↳ pierregasly: . . .
↳ carlossainz55: 👀👀
↳ user2: what did you lot do?

maxverstappen1: 🏆
↳ isabel.leclerc: ❤️

sebastianvettel: welcome to the world champions, belle! sending love, i'll call you soon 💛

user3: i cant believe you're a world champion!

danielricciardo: PARTY TIME LECLERC
↳ isabel.leclerc: ABSOLUTELY

kimimatiasraikkonen: 💙

lance_stroll: couldnt have picked a better person :)
↳ isabel.leclerc: 💚💚💚

user4: can we connect alex's appendix to this

georgerussell63: ready to do it again next year!
↳ isabel.leclerc: as long as you keep your distance 😘

arthur_leclerc: SO PROUD OF YOU
↳ isabel.leclerc: AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

lorenzotl: ❤️❤️

user8: you looked so gorgeous tonight! congrats on the title <3
↳ isabel.leclerc: thank you 💗

oscarpiastri: eclair!! world champ!!
↳ isabel.leclerc: pastry!!! rookie of the year!!!

user5: thank you for not making us listen to the dutch anthem all year i will forever be in debt to you

user6: WORLD CHAMPION ISA LECLERC!

user7: cant believe youre a world champion :) congrats !!

x

does it make sense why ollie was so close to belle in the wedding chapter now :))

and,, in the engagement chapter:: if you remember back from the monaco gp chapter,, isabel always wears smth dedicated to the team she races for. for lamborghini, she always wore black and gold. for aston, she wore green . . . and it was hinted at in the engagement chapter that she was wearing silver shoes. hmmmm,, wonder what team is silver . . .

THE WILDEST THING TO ME IS I WROTE LEWIS OUT OF MERCEDES BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENT ?? LIKE OBVIOUSLY THE YEARS ARE DIFFERENT IN THIS BOOK BUT ??? MONTHS AGO I MADE THE LITTLE EASTER EGG ABOUT BELLE WEARING SILVER IN MONACO AND HAD "belle takes lewis' seat - lewis takes year off or smth" WRITTEN IN MY NOTES FOR THIS UNIVERSE. mental.

also justice for carlos. give the man a break it's like history repeating for him 😭

ALSO ALSO AS A LITTLE CUTE BONUS,, HERES SOME THINGS THAT ARE CANON IN THIS UNIVERSE THAT IVE HAD IN MY NOTES FOR AGES BUT NEVER EXPLICITLY WROTE::

- isabel's original middle name was 'julianna victoria' but when she was born, her and jules had such a strong bond that it was legally shortened to 'jules'

- isabel's LR22 was put in the lamborghini hq after her zandvoort crash bc it was literally just a pile of scrap and for some reason they wanted to display it. when her and daniel launched leccardo, they got her car back and it now sits as a scrap heap in maserati instead bc its kinda funny

- belle raced zandvoort 2023 hungover and won

- max keeps his vase in their lounge room now that he's moved in with her and its always full of bright, fresh flowers

- the scratching post on their balcony for the cats had to be bolted down bc after a storm one time it blew into the ocean below their house.

- belle gets max to make tiktoks with her - very laila and mick style. (max claims he doesnt want to but he ends up in the frame every time without being asked to)

- isabel took on the role that seb and kimi held for her when she was a rookie with the 2023 rookies. she helped all of them settle into their cars, even though they were on different teams

- the first time isabel had red bull was an accident during '23 summer break. she thought it was her glass of apple juice but max had actually switched their glasses around so she was drinking his red bull. she has not recovered.

- alicia went off grid after the 2022 season and has not been heard from since.

- belle has a subway surfers character of herself

+ theres probably more tbh