Race day

Maeve's point of view

'Verstappen, wake up', I knock on his door.

'I'm coming', I hear.

This week, staying with him... it was really nice.

We played games, we talked, we had a really nice time.

Tomorrow we fly to the United Kingdom.

It feels like we will seperate or something...

We won't be spending all our time together.

Not like I care but it was nice.

I just don't feel lonely with him.

I have friends and family but I feel alone sometimes.

Sienna and Luciana are sweethearts but they grew up in this life basically as WAGS.

They aren't racing drivers, just related to them.

They don't know what I'm doing and how hard it is.

They think they do, they try to understand, they just don't really know.

Max does.

Max knows how it is to, you know, fail.

To have people count on you and then you let them down.

When I close my eyes all these flashbacks start coming back in, me being P3 yesterday.

Life of an F1 driver is hard, we're happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time. It's miserable and magical.

Max just gets me.

'I'm here, let's get some coffee', Max smiles.

I nod, I could use some.

I am looking at the reactions on my story.

'So cute!'

'You will beat him!'

'Vettel we love you!'

But one is stuck in my mind: 'Bet you want to sit on his face a lot'.

I laugh at it mostly, but do people really think Max and I fuck each other?

He may wish.

I'm walking towards Owen, my radio has sucked this whole weekend, it better be good today.

'Nein, nein! Es muss perfekt sein!', I see my father is already talking to him.

'Beruhige dich, Dad. He's doing everything he can', I pat my father on his back. 'Make sure this works Owen, or I will cut off your balls and feed them to Mercedes, copy?'.

Owen laughs, 'Copy'.

'I had to calm down, huh? You threatened to cut off his balls', my dad laughs.

'Had to teach him. Look, Dad, I'm a little worried about this weekend. P3... Carlos and Max both had 18s, Carlos even broke the old record with a 1:17.982. I can't seem to find the time I left behind', I say.

'Ruhe bewahren, das ist alles. My Red Bull was good at straights and turns, so I can't really help you much. But my Ferrari was horrible in the turns. You have to go full throttle in the straights, just remember that. Close to the edge, but not close enough for track limits. Verstehen Sie das?'.

'Ja, danke papa', I smile.

'Now go, give them hell... and remember... being a good winner is great, but being a great loser is better', my dad kisses my forehead.

He means, don't be angry if you lose, be determined to win next time, he's right about that.

'Vettel! Wait up!', I'm walking towards the RedBull home.
I turn around, Gasly is moving his way towards me.

'Hello, Pierre', I smile.

'Maeve, listen... I know you may not like me but my best mate is dating your best mate so we kinda have to', he pants.

I nod, he's right.
'I have some news for you... some important news', Gasly whispers.

This must be serious if he starts to whisper, so my walking slows down.

'Talk', I command.

'Feisty', he smiles. 'Okay so I overheard my teammate talk-'

I roll my eyes, he wants to talk about fucking Esteban Ocon?

'Stop that, we both hate him a lot', he says. 'I'm not your enemy in this scenario Maeve'.

'Yes, yes, go on', I sigh.

'I heard him talking to his manager and they're trying to get you fired'
I laugh. 'How would they do that?'

'Saudia Arabia, Lando Norris', Pierre says even quieter.

My expression changes.

Fuck.

'What do you mean?', I ask, trying to sound guilty.
'Cut the crap, Maeve. For a racing driver, it's easy to see, for a manager too. Sienna basically yelled it across the tribunes'.

'How does Ocon know, he never saw it', I ask.

'He was parked in the garage, of course, he saw it.

They're trying to hack Red Bull's racing
controls, to get the radio footage back', Pierre looks around, he doesn't want to be heard.

'That's illegal, he would be fired for that', I say.

'Not if someone from the outside leaks it, let's say... a ex-manager... or driver'.

'Who would be dumb enough to do that?', I laugh.

'Someone who desperately wants his seat back', Pierre says, still staying serious.

I think really hard, who would want his Red Bull seat back?

'I don't know... who?'.

'Russian... raced for Toro Rosso... has a bad relationship with Max', Pierre helps me.
'Fuck', I figured it out. 'Daniil Kvyat?'.

Pierre nods.

'That would never work, why would Red Bull fire me? They would be guilty as well', I say.

'Because Ocon is busy writing a letter about this situation, blackmail... Maeve'.

'Fucking hell, why the fuck would he do that? What would he get out of it?', I say confused.

'Money, a lot of money... from Daniil. And the most important thing... revenge'.

'Why? Because I didn't fuck him? What a douchebag', I place my hands in my hair.

'Listen Maeve you have to prevent this', Pierre says.

'But what I don't understand... why do you help me?', I ask him.

Pierre laughs. 'Isn't it obvious? I hate the man... besides... if you manage to prevent it, I will be Alpine's first driver'.

'Alright, I get that... so do you have ideas how I can prevent it?'

'That's the tricky part... listen Ocon is a careless driver... but even a more careless lover...', Pierre pauses.

'No... no I don't like where this is going'

'Trick him... forgive him and sleep with him... pretend you carry his child... make him sign papers, papers which say something about the situation... make him sign a false certificate', Pierre whispers.

'How the fuck do you expect me to fake a pregnancy? You know that eventually, I will have to give birth, huh', I laugh.

Pierre laughs. 'He'll believe anything... believe me he has 10 different kids with 10 different moms'.

'Really?', I ask. 'Why can't I use them?'.

'I don't know names, only one... but just a first name... Cynthia... a girl he met in Monaco 2019... the child would be four years or something'.

'So what if I contact her, what if I find her? Then I blackmail him', I conclude.

'That could work, but Maeve you have to be quick... he wants to send the letter in about four weeks... right before Abu Dhabi', Pierre says. 'If you had a chance to be World Champion by then, he will blow it'.

'So I have four weeks to find the woman and blackmail him, basically', I say.

'Yes', Pierre sighs.

'Daniil?'

'Force Ocon to quit, text Daniil to come get his Alpine second driver seat', Pierre laughs. 'That man would do anything for the seat'.

'Understood. Thank you Pierre'.

'No problem, you will help me with it too', Pierre nods and looks around again.

'Good luck today, Pierre'.

'You too Maeve... good luck with everything'.

Fuck my life.