Chapter Text
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It was mid-2023, and the shouting filled the Milton Keynes factory, Max did not understand how it had happened to him again, a fourth Red Bull teammate was fired for not being able to keep up with him, and so, as in 2019 with Pierre, his colleague was fired in the middle of the season for not know how to follow him the step, this time the victim had been Sergio, the screams and crying of the Mexican were heartbreaking, at least with Pierre he was not in the same place as the Frenchman, now yes, now he had to listen to Checo beg for his seat in Red Bull, not wanting to be demoted.
The Mexican had had a spectacular start to the season, everyone believed that he could fight with him for the championship, but that ended as quickly as it began, Checo's decline began in Monaco and from then on he could not get out of the last 10 places, and that's why Red Bull had lost the first place in the constructors' championship against Mercedes and Aston Martin, and in the Austrian team only Max had a guaranteed seat year after year, and it was a lesson that Checo learned the hard way.
Max only knew the experience backwards, having been promoted at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix from Toro Rosso, and from there never leaving his Red Bull seat again.
When both former teammates saw each other, "for the last time" a voice in his head told Max, the older one was devastated, tears were visibles on his face, Max felt bad, contrary to what many believed, he not only had feelings, if not that he also liked his partner, he was aware that thanks to his help he had also won his two world championships.
"Everyone was right" Checo said as he tried to stop the flow of tears "there is no driver who can beat you, you are the lord and master of this team"
"I'm sorry Sergio, they didn't tell me about this" Max spoke quietly, he didn't know what to say to the Mexican born man.
"I know, Helmut was very kind to tell me about each of the mistakes I made this season when it occurred to me to ask them if you had something to do with it" Pérez had never been so real when speaking, the pain was evident in his voice.
"I hope you're happy Checo, you deserve it" the Dutchman whispered, he really hoped the other man was happy.
"No one is happy driving an AlphaTauri Max" answered Sergio with a rough voice, Max could tell that his throat was starting to take its toll "but that's better than not having a seat"
After that, the Mexican left the establishment taking different boxes with him, but something he had told him stuck with the Belgian-born.
The "no one is happy driving an AlphaTauri Max" was something that was consuming him, he thought that they would give the seat to Daniel, but if Checo was going to be the new AlphaTauri driver it meant that one of the two drivers would surely love to be promoted, like Alex in 2019 and Pierre occupying his seat at ToroRosso, or like when he "removed" Daniil's seat.
When he saw Daniel, the Australian did not seem happy and did not hide it. Max tried to understand, but he really finds it difficult to "put himself in his friend's shoes". He had never been the third driver for any team, he had never been without a seat and he only knew about the "promotion" process.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT MAX" Daniel yelled, no matter who else could hear him, he sounded annoyed, which was understandable "I'M THE RESERVE DRIVER, THEY DIDN'T EVEN THINK ABOUT ME"
"But how is that? Who else were they planning?" The Dutchman asked, but he imagined, from what his friend said, that Carlos or some ex driver from the Austrian team would surely be on that list.
“They planned to talk to Alpine or Williams about doing a driver swap, but Checo was afraid neither team would want it, and Christian doubted they would take the deal, so Checo agreed to transfer to AlphaTauri, secure a seat and whatever be whatever that means," the former McLaren driver replied, the rage almost palpable in his voice.
“How sure are you that AlphaTauri will accept? Maybe they don't want to get rid of their duo so easily" Max was not so aware of what was happening with the "little brother" of Red Bull, much less at the bottom of the grid, he knew that Franz feared that after the first leg of Pierre a Alpine will be a blow to the team Italian, but they had hired a driver from Red Bull's own academy to replace him, it was him or De Vries, and as much as Max would have liked another Dutchman in the paddock, that he knew the roockie and Yuki got along spectacularly.
"They literally have no option Max, they depend exclusively on Red Bull, it's their subsidiary" he replied with bitterness in his voice, that seemed to have affected Daniel at the same level as Checo "Nothing against them, but..."
The only driver who had Red Bull did not need the Australian to continue the sentence, he knew "nothing against them, but nothing ensures that they can drive the fastest car well, they drive an AlphaTauri for God's sake".
"Do you know who it will be?" questioned the Belgian-born, he realized that he had not asked the most important thing, who was going to be his new teammate.
"No, I think it will be Yuki, he is the most experienced driver they have" answered Daniel, the frustration of the Australian-born was evident "Tomorrow we will know, I know he is already on his way from Italy".
As Max was traveling to his apartment near the factory, thinking about how his day had been, at one point, as he was getting ready to fix the car, Checo was called to talk to the bosses, and the next thing Max heard was hours and hours of screams.
Arriving at his apartment, he garaged the car that Red Bull provided him whenever he was in England and rode directly from the hotel basement elevator to his apartment, made himself something light for dinner, and told his sister what happened.
The next day Max arrived a few minutes late at the factory, getting ready to see Yuki was a strange process for the Dutchman, he got along well with the Japanese, but he had never planned to have him as a partner. But when he arrived he didn't find the shortest driver.
He didn't have the characteristic black hair, nor the slant eyes, nor was the man significantly shorter than Max.
No.
This man was shorter than Max, but not as short as Yuki, his hair was brown and unruly on all sides, and his eyes were the greenest Max had ever seen.
He was one of the rockies of the season, apart from Sargeant at Williams and Piastri at McLaren, Charles Leclerc was the only European rookie.
There were two weeks left for Zandvoort, for Max's home race, a race in which he could come out champion, with his people, and Red Bull came up with an incredible idea to fight for the constructors' championship with a rookie.
Beautiful, fucking beautiful.
Max didn't meet Charles out of the blue, he knew he was a rookie, he was 20 years old, he was born in Monaco (he found out because he saw him standing in front of everyone when the principality's anthem was playing at the Monaco Grand Prix) and he was one of the high hopes for Red Bull from the academy of the Austrian team.
But the Dutchman really expected to see Yuki there, having the Japanese at least assured that he would have an experienced driver, someone who already knew his way of driving, but Leclerc was new, and unlike that time with Alex, he didn't know, at all, to the new driver.
Daniel would be so disappointed, and Max understood, that was an inadmissible situation, he preferred Christian to fight to bring Pierre back, the Frenchman shouldn't have left AlphaTauri so soon, he would have to text him soon to see how he was doing carrying the situation, because that was his seat.
His disgusted face must have been something very noticeable, since Horner's face when seeing him went from a smile to a serious face, but the Dutchman was not interested, Max did not understand his team's decisions, instead of wanting to turn around for the constructors' championship it seemed that they preferred the crazy decisions.
Was he at Ferrari perhaps?
"Max" was all the Red Bull chief manager said as the team's lead driver approached the other men.
Max's angry face changed to a questioning one, in front of his new teammate was Daniel, his friend had a smile on his face, he seemed very happy to see the young man, he was pointing something about the car to Charles, and the other man just nodded.
"MAXY" the Australian yelled, the happiness really showing in his voice "you have to meet Charlie Boy"
The man born in Belgium did not know how to react, his friend was really happy to see the Monegasque in his seat, and the Monegasque was looking at him as if he were the one who was hanging the moon from the sky.
"Let's let them both get to know each other at their own pace Daniel, better follow me to see something of Charles's simulator, I need your help" Horner's look conveyed everything, the 'treat him well' was something unspoken in his eyes.
They are left alone and in silence for several minutes, Max inspecting the minor with his eyes, Charles seemed nervous. "You would be too if you were promoted to a team from one day to the next and your teammate was the current world champion" said a voice in his head. The Monegasque squeezed his fingers tightly and kept moving, his eyes never meeting Max's, they only looked at the ground and the car.
Max couldn't take the discomfort any longer.
"Why are you running with the Monaco flag?" He knew that was a silly question, but he had to break the ice somehow.
"I was born in Monte Carlo, isn't that obvious?" asked Charles trying to sound nice, he didn't know how to talk to Max, Yuki told him that the Dutchman was funny and a good person if you knew him, but he seemed the opposite there in front of Charles.
"Well no, I myself was born in Belgium but I run under the flag of the Netherlands" Max sounded harsher than he wanted, but he didn't care, in Max's mind that had to be Daniel's seat, or else Daniel's Yuki, Pierre or Alex, to improvise with someone without experience would have stayed with Cecho "Maybe you were born in the south of France but your family preferred to move to Monaco for tax benefits."
"Don't talk about my family like that, you don't know them, you only know me, you don't know anything about my personal life" replied Charles, upset, trying to calm down, but that Max would judge him or his family in that way shocked him "I love Monaco, my dream was always to race on those streets."
“I don't even know you” Max responded harshly, he saw how the Monegasque wanted to make himself smaller, but he won't regret it “How old are you? twenty?"
"Twenty, I'll be twenty-one in October" answered Charles, the youngest driver was disoriented, he didn't understand why Max was treating him so badly, he didn't ask about the Dutchman's age, he knew he was 5 years older than Charles.
“Why did you choose to leave AlphaTauri? How come they are so sure that you would work at Red Bull? Don't you have much confidence in yourself? If Checo couldn't with the RB19, doesn't that serve as a prelude to what the rest of the season will be like for you? Risk your safe seat at AlphaTauri to try your hand at the big leagues?” A bitter taste settled in Max's mouth, he didn't know where all this came from, the boy seemed to be trying to like him, but every time he saw him or looked at the car he could only think that this must have been Daniel's car, with the 3 in front.
“Why are you treating me so badly Max? What did I do to you?" The Monegasque asked, the question destabilized Max, he didn't expect that, the younger man stopped looking at him with admiration to change into a look of sadness, the lower lip of the former AlphaTauri driver began to tremble, he seemed to be on the verge of tears.
"BECAUSE IT BOTHERS ME THAT THEY HAVE GIVEN YOU THE SEAT THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN FOR DANIEL, YUKI, PIERRE, ALEX OR LANDO" Max didn't understand why the man born in Monaco acted that way, as if he didn't really understand what it meant that he had that seat “WHAT KIND OF MERIT DO YOU HAVE TO BECOME A RED BULL RACING DRIVER?
"MAX, TO MY OFFICE" The voice of the general manager of the Austrian team sounded throughout the lower deck, the Dutchman could only turn around and visualize Horner's look full of disappointment and the frown on the Australian's face "Daniel, teach him Charles the factory and tell him about what you know about the car, then both of you can retire by simulating or go home, tomorrow we continue our conversation Charles, I don't know how long it will take to talk to Max"
The last thing he heard was "I'm sorry you had to deal with him Charlie, it's not always like that, I promise" with that characteristic Australian accent, Max didn't understand what was wrong with his friend, until yesterday he was angry and today he seemed to be in the clouds with the driver of 20 years.
Neither on the way nor in the first minutes inside Christian's office did any of them speak, they just looked at each other, as if they were daring the other to start talking.
"What's wrong with Charles? What was all that shit that has no merits? DO YOU THINK I WOULD PUT ANYONE ON MY TEAM TO DRIVE?" Horner raised his voice, annoyed by everything that had happened in forty-five minutes, he didn't want to imagine what would have happened if they were 5 minutes late or Max didn't start yelling.
"Why him Christian?" Max asked as calmly as possible, he knew it wasn't worth yelling at his chief director.
"Because there is no driver on the grid who is at Red Bull's level as much as he is" Horner replied, looking at his main driver, he heard Max's snort and Christian only raised an eyebrow "Or do you think there are better drivers than him?"
"Daniel is better than him, Daniel knows the car at least, he's the reserve driver for a reason" no one will remove from Max's mind the idea that that seat was reserved for the Australian, but because of the grimace that Christian gave him he knew they were not on the same page.
"Daniel hasn't driven since last year Max, how do you want him to feel in the fastest car in the history of Formula 1 when he hasn't driven for so long?" Christian spoke to him as if this were a no-brainer, as if Max was an idiot who didn't know about Daniel's situation.
“He drove at Silverstone” was all he could say, Horner's wry laugh the only response he got at first.
"And he was slower than Logan Sargeant in fucking free practice 2. You don't want to win the constructors' championship or what?" Horner's response was a jab at Max, he knew that, but he still hoped Red Bull would take other things into account.
“Why didn't you fight for Pierre to come back? He would not have hesitated to take that seat.” Max knew that this seat was also the dream of returning to Pierre, returning to the Austrian team was the great goal that the Frenchman had.
"He's in Alpine, there's no way he wants to go back when he has a safe seat there" Christian answered with a smile, he already knew where Max would go from there "Besides, we let him go for a reason, so he doesn't have to think with count on him in the near future”
"and Alex? Williams would not have hindered his return ”the Dutchman doubted that the British team would refuse, perhaps he was asking for more money, but that season and a half with Alex was one of the best in his life.
“First: Williams or Alex would not have preferred to change for a contract so quickly and repeatedly, second: Checo did not want to know anything about going to Williams, although his current level was for that team, and third: we would not have gained anything by bringing Alex back, neither side would win."The Red Bull CEO's voice sounded monotonous, as if he was unimpressed with the situation and the Dutchman's questions.
"Carlos?" The Belgian born was running out of options among all his possibilities, but he would not give up, he knew that there were better pilots than someone inexperienced, and he hoped that Christian would be on his side, even if it was almost unlikely.
"Ferrari won't let go, and I don't think Fred would have thought the trade fair either, they are already struggling with the car, now imagine the SF-23, but with a driver who is completely unaware of how it works" Christian's response was practical, as if he had imagined all scenarios that were in Max's mind right now.
“Then why not Yuki? He has been in AlphaTauri for more years, he is the supposed first pilot since Pierre left" the Dutchman's thoughts went from anger to sadness, he could not imagine the pain and betrayal that the Japanese must be suffering at this moment, he added to your mental list send a message to the most young, to know how he was "If you weren't going to give it to Daniel, at least you had to promote Yuki"
"Yuki isn't ready to be a Red Bull driver, maybe in a few years he will be, but now it was a risky bet" Max couldn't help laughing ironically when he heard the British's words, Yuki was risky, but not a driver who had only 6 months of career.
"Of course, because Leclerc is not a risky bet and he is hyper-prepared to drive the RB19" the sarcastic tone in Max's voice was evident, he still did not see the supposed potential of the Monegasque, he did not know him, he had rarely seen him at the moment that both teams had to record, but if they just got a ride at 20 years old for a reason, it must have been, "you were the only one who got a ride at 17 years old, being a driver at 20 is a great achievement" said the annoying little voice in Max's head.
"They also promoted you in the middle of the season" that annoying little voice in his head kept repeating to Max, but he was promoted after a whole year and little more at Toro Rosso, when Red Bull was not fighting for any championship, they were not situations similar.
“In less than six months he had better numbers than Yuki this year and he already surpassed the marks that Pierre did last year, he dragged that tractor that they have in AlphaTauri to points like no other driver in the history of AlphaTauri or Toro Rosso, oh yes Max, He reached better numbers than you in 2015 and 2016” The Belgian-born was shocked by this information, he didn't know anything about Charles outside of what he learned in the last couple of hours and the basic information, he wasn't interested in knowing anything about the rest of the drivers that he didn't consider a threat, and Charles in an AlphaTauri clearly it wasn't.
Silence reigned in that spacious space for minutes, nothing was heard from outside, Max didn't know what to say, what to counterattack with, he went there with the idea of fighting for his friend's seat, and now he was speechless in front of Christian.
"It didn't bother you when Alex went up in 2019, and that Daniil had more experience than him, you didn't want any of the former drivers to come back, you yourself were in their shoes. Does it bother you that Daniel wasn't the one who stayed with him? seat? Daniel no longer has the conditions to be a Red Bull driver" Horner's voice broke the silence again, he looked at Max with some pity, perhaps he is the person who knows the Dutchman the most outside of his family, no one could understand him as much as the British, and probably already knew all the thoughts that Verstappen was having in his head, so he went to the point, so that Max does not have false illusions "You have until the Thursday before Zandvoort to apologize to Charles, you will not do it now because it will be evident that it is false, because If you don't I'll be forced to take measures for the following season”
“HA, sure, what would you do? Say goodbye? You can't, I'm the most important driver in the history of Red Bull and I already have 2, almost 3, championships to my name. Give him the position of first driver? Helmut wouldn't like that idea and you wouldn't lose your head that much.” Max wouldn't be so easily intimidated by empty threats, he knew that Christian wouldn't make those kinds of decisions, even though at that moment he doubted his ability to choose.
"No Max, you will continue with your seat, you will still be the main driver" Christian's smile was evidence that something bad, very bad, would continue, something that would bother Max "I'll just give him free rein, I'll tell him if he wants to he can overtake you, he can fight you on the track, he can not let you pass, and he will have my support to do it”
Max had a lot to say, Christian couldn't launch such an accusation without hoping the Dutchman wouldn't react, but the Red Bull chief director stopped any kind of continuation of the talk by leaving his own office with a smile on his face knowing he won that one battle.
In the following hours he wasn't alone with Charles for much time, the Monegasque tried not to look at him, better for Max, at least that way he didn't have to fake a grimace on his face other than boredom.
When both were free to continue enjoying what was left of the summer holidays, they were notified that all parties had already published their own statement to publicize the news, the Dutchman could not help but imagine the chaos that must be twitter in that moment, like Mexicans and Latinos would be insulting him when he wasn't at fault. So, he barely had a chance on his trip back to the Caribbean, where he was vacationing just three days ago, he noticed his phone, and it was about to explode.
The first thing he noticed was the trends, ignoring his notifications sector, there he noticed that 100% of the World Trending Topics on twitter were based purely on the "AlphaBullGate".
Max wanted to pretend he didn't see his last name trending, but curiosity tempted him, so he gave in against his better judgment.
At least in most of the tweets he saw they didn't insult him, although there were some who blamed him, as if it were his fault that Checo was slow. Charles was also a trend, specifically twice, but the "ALLEZ CHARLES" was the one that caught his attention the most.
That so many people wanted a not-so-known driver, to Max's eyes and mind, was surprising, he had just taken a seat that was owned by a historic driver in F1 and almost no one seemed interested in that. The Dutchman was distracted by reading each trend, until a mention by Pierre in his side account encouraged him to look for the reaction of his friends.
Max couldn't help but laugh at his friends' reaction, although he was surprised that Daniel hadn't posted anything on his side account, but if he was on his main account, and it was supporting Charles, he would have to talk to the Australian to find out what it was happening to him thanks to the memory of his friends, the Belgian-born man agreed that he had to see the statements published by Formula One, Red Bull and AlphaTauri, he needed to see with his own eyes the damage that that decision had caused.
As expected, among the comments Max was accused of being the one who had caused this situation, apparently everyone ignores the fact that it was Max who was left without a teammate and would have to get used to being a rookie, also some pilots had sent their good you want Checo and Charles. Among the "likes" of the official Formula 1 account, he saw that there were some of the new drivers of recent years.
Max did not understand where these friendships came from, perhaps because he never paid enough attention to the rest of the paddock outside of his select group of friends and acquaintances, but even so, he was surprised that Yuki seemed to be happy for his "friend" when surely they would have met in that season. A little voice in his head told him that he had to post something, that he shouldn't keep quiet.
The two tweets seemed politically correct, impossible to misinterpret, when Charles was overwhelmed he noticed that his profile was not yet verified, although the mass of followers was growing by thousands per minute, so, to pretend to be the good companion that Christian expected whatever, soHe followed, and just then he noticed that Charles was already following him, and that he had quoted his tweet.
All of Charles's tweets could be summed up in one thing: innocence, and that caused a strange feeling in the Dutchman, perhaps he was seeing it that way out of guilt for having treated him the way he did, he didn't give the best impression, but it was too late to remedy that, and it seems that the Monegasque did not hold a grudge against him, but even so the phrase "spend the season with my idol" was branded in Max's mind.
The trip was tiring him and there were still enough hours to get to Curaçao, so thanks, although his head couldn't stop thinking about it, he uploaded a message of support to his friends on his side account, so they knew he was on his side.
As soon as the plane landed in Curaçao, he woke up, he couldn't see his phone until he got to the cabin he was renting, and just there he could see that he had calls and messages from all over the world, from 36 calls from Christian to 3 messages on WhatsApp from a number that I had not scheduled. Max's nerves shot up, he didn't know what he had done, but everyone wanted to talk to him.
So, in a smart decision, the first one he called was Daniel, who had 17 missed calls and 24 messages sent to WhatsApp. The Australian would have to tell him what he went through and did to provoke that mass reaction.
The phone rang twice until Daniel answered.
“WHAT THE HELL MAX?” The Dutchman expected anything except his friend screaming as soon as he answered the phone.
"WHAT HAPPENED?" The answer was immediate, he knew that something had been done, but he still couldn't know what, had his conversation with Charles leaked? no, Red Bull would not allow it.
“WHAT WAS THAT TWEET?” the Australian sounded angry, surely he was making exaggerated movements with his available arm and one or both eyebrows raised "DID YOU FREAK?"
“What tweet? The one that publishes on the side?” Max was confused, so much fuss over a private tweet? "I just wanted to show my support for you, is that wrong?"
"No Max, the problem is that you didn't post it on your side account, you did it on your main account" Max's heart skipped a beat, his mind already considered all the catastrophic scenarios that this would cause, mainly Horner's anger "Everyone saw how you apparently don't like your new teammate and that you wish it was someone else”
"Aso is not a lie either, I wish it had been one of you" Max was not going to regret what he did, it was already done, so he would defend it until the end "in fact, if I could choose, I would have preferred it to be you"
"Max listen to me" the Australian's voice sounded tired, as if this was a conversation he didn't want to participate in, but Verstappen was fast, in most ways of his life.
"No Daniel, you don't understand me, I'm about to win my third driver's championship, and I have to see how they change my teammate FOR A ROCKIE" The Belgian born was starting to get desperate, why couldn't anyone see things from Max's perspective? “I CANNOT EVEN UNDERSTAND WHY YOU LIKED THE NEWS SO GOOD”
“MAX, DO YOU THINK I'M HAPPY TO KNOW I DON'T HAVE A SEAT? WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY TO REALIZE THAT MY CAREER AS A DRIVER IS PRACTICALLY OVER? WHAT WILL THE NEW HULKENBERG BE?" From the tone of his voice, Max knew that as much as he was yelling, Daniel was holding back, not wanting the Dutchman to get the wrong idea.
“THEN WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HIM?” Max, he was angry, “complaining” said that annoying little voice in his head, it was hard for him to understand why his friend was getting mad at him and not at Charles, who took his seat “WHY DON'T YOU COMPLAIN? WHY DID YOU BE SO NICE TO HIM?”
"Because it's no use complaining to a 20-year-old, who has had the opportunity of his life, and I'm not going to be the one to take away that illusion, and even less with how talented he's, after talking to you that day After Checo was fired, I began to reflect, and I realized that if I can no longer being a driver, I can still be a mentor, and even more so if it's Charlie's" The Australian's voice and tone was more even, calmer, as if he wanted that message to stay with Max "Max, you just have to learn to treat Charles well, because otherwise you don't help anyone, neither the team, nor yourself, and much less me, because I will not accept that seat if the way to win it is because Charles resigned because you treated him badly, I love you Max but you don't have to fight my battles"
Max couldn't answer, Daniel had ended the call. First Christian and now Daniel, in a span of 60 hours he had fallen out with two of the most important people in his life, and they all had the same common denominator.
Damn Charles Leclerc, since he appeared in his life everything has gone wrong.
He tried to relax the rest of his vacation, ignoring his phone, but those three messages from the unknown number were making him more nervous every day, so four days after his conversation, and subsequent apology, with Daniel, the Dutchman was encouraged to see who they were and what they were saying.
–
11684xxxx
11684xxxx: Hiiiii Max 🖖☺️
11684xxxx: I'm Charles, Daniel has given me your number 🖖☺️😶🌫️🫣🤭
11684xxxx: apparently you don't want to talk, it's fine!!, I just wanted to tell you that I hope we get along, maybe I didn't give the best impression haha 😊👍😋🥲
–
The last message had been sent just two minutes after Max got up from his plane trip, that strange feeling from before came back when he thought of the Monegasque's reaction to seeing how his teammate, "and idol" remembered the voice in his head, he would like to have another driver as a teammate. The current world champion was in a moral debate, a part of him telling him to ignore the younger man, that he would later tell Daniel that he wouldn't have to do that kind of thing, but the same annoying voice in his head was telling him. insisting that he prove that he was "at least a person civilized”.
The voice in his head won, if someone heard that they would believe that Max is going crazy, and after pressing to write, he also began to believe it, and even more so after scheduling it as "Charles" and not Leclerc.
–
Charles
Max: Hi Charles.
Max: sorry for the delay, I'm on an island and the wifi isn't very good here
Max: How are the holidays treating you?
–
That last message, which Max was convincing himself that he only did it because it was politically correct, caused them to follow a group of messages, few but messages at last, between the two new teammates, nothing personal or professional, such as topics related to their vacation and when they began to prepare the remaining half of the season.
The rest of the holidays flew by for Max, between his conversations with his friends and family, from one moment to the next he was back on AirMax flying to England. It was precisely on the flight that he realized that he never investigated even a little about his new teammate, at least the basic information on how his current season had been would have to do.
On Charles' Wikipedia he saw that Daniel was somewhat right when he said that he was a generational talent like few others, he managed to get AlphaTauri to score points in ten of the twelve races he contested; Of those twelve races, in only 4 Qualis he reached Q3, he had only one Q1 and all 7 classifications remaining reached Q2. The Sprints Races also seemed to be his forte, of the three that there were, in all 3 he reached points, in Baku he was P8, in Austria he finished P7 and in Spa it was his best performance so far, reaching P6.
His best position in a race had been position 6, since he achieved 3 times: in Monaco, Austria and Spa, twice he had reached position 7: Great Britain and Hungary, as well as position 8: Miami and Canada, as well than to P9: Australia and Spain, the first race he took part in also got his first point, a P10 in Bahrain being a roockie is already an achievement, the only two times he didn't get points was in Saudi Arabia where he suffered a DNF due to a collision with Zhou, that explains the red flag, and in Baku was P11 because of a penalty.
Max was pleasantly surprised, in the videos it was clear to appreciate how the Monegasque used the entire track, his forte seemed to be overtaking and taking care of the wheels, in addition to the 49 points in the races, with 6 points in the Sprints Races and his fastest lap in Austria they placed eighth in the drivers' championship, with 56 points, and AlphaTauri sixth in the Constructors' Championship, since Yuki had also added his points, it seemed that Red Bull's Italian sibling team was making its best efforts to refloat and that Red Bull I would not sell it or if he did it out for a high price.
The Dutchman also saw that Charles had won the 'overtake of the month' award for the month of May thanks to his pass of Lewis Hamilton at the Monaco Grand Prix, the youngster seemed worth all the praise he received from Christian and Daniel, but a good half season it did not make him worthy of a seat in the best Formula 1 team, because as much as the excellent season he had managed to have with AlphaTauri was something extraordinary, and even more knowing that it is one of the lowest-ranking teams on the grid, that it was also thanks to a series of external circumstances: Aston Martin only giving the fast car to Fernando, Ferrari still struggling with the SF-23 so there were a couple of races where some of their drivers couldn't score points, McLaren's worst season in many years , Haas Williams and Alfa Romeo seemed not to compete, and in turn neither Checo nor Yuki seemed to be real threats that year. So for Max it was more luck than true talent.
Arriving in Milton Keynes a few days later, as the jet lag was almost killing him, he noticed the serene atmosphere, as if he had suddenly returned to the beginning of the year, when everything seemed to be going well and both championships were already secured, as the 1-2 at the end of the season in the championship of drivers.
Where Max didn't have to get the idea of teammateing an inexperienced driver who had only had one lucky streak in his first 12 races.
All the tranquility that Max had felt vanished as soon as he set foot in the factory workshop, there were both RB19, Daniel, Christian, Helmut, the mechanics, strategists and Charles.
Charles, who is sitting with both legs between Max's RB19.
Charles, who was laughing looking at Daniel.
Charles, who had the most annoying laugh, "and adorable" narrowed that annoying voice in Max's mind, that the Dutchman has ever heard in his life.
Charles, who had one of the most contagious smiles Max has ever seen, who seemed to be able to light up the whole room just by smiling.
The Monegasque was the first to notice it, but his grin of happiness does not disappear, but rather, if possible, it increases, the green eyes lit up like two precious emeralds, that brightness was something that Max was not prepared for, he hoped that Charles would see it. look like embarrassment or panic, but this was very different from the Charles he had seen the last time they were in a room together, and nothing alerted Max that the younger man was acting, only that he seemed genuine.
That bothered Max, how was it possible that after everything that happened in those two weeks Charles still acted so cheerful and happy around Max? "Because you are his idol and he is not like you" that stupid voice in the past had been a great help to Max, being the 'voice of reason' that had been so advised and guided the Dutchman throughout his life, but at that moment it seemed like Toto Wolff himself was turning against the Dutchman.
"HI MAX" The Monegasque shouted, making everyone in the room look at the newly arrived man, Charles's smile reached his eyes, there weren't many people who smiled like that at Max, that provoked various feelings within the Dutchman "oh, what can i call you max right? Or do you prefer that I call you Verstappen?"
Max counted to 33 internally before answering.
"Hi Charles, Max is fine" the world champion suppressed a sigh, he knew he was being watched by Helmut, Daniel and Christian, and he had no intention of fighting anyone because of his treatment of Leclerc "Verstappen makes me feel very old, like an old man"
"Oh okay, you can also call me Charles" The younger man replied, still smiling at Max and swinging his two legs, he saw that he was wearing red pants with blue and yellow edges on the side, he added 'his bad taste in clothing' on his list of things he didn't like about Charles Leclerc "But if you're older, you're 5 years older than me"
"sorry?" The Dutchman's response was immediate, he did not expect someone to call him "older", he had long been considered one of the youngest in the paddock, and now there were other drivers who not only took him as a role model but also not also like someone "Major", his voice was thick with skepticism and false annoyance, he hoped Charles had caught that.
Most of the people present laughed at the interaction between the two new teammates, Charles still didn't move from where he was sitting, and no one seemed to care or tell him that Max's car was not his personal seat, so the one born in Belgium bit the part cheekbones and I bear to see the Monegasque sitting in his car, looking shorter and cuter than Max expected. Because of how cute Charles looked he couldn't concentrate on anything but not really paying attention to whatever it was that Daniel was talking about with the 20 year old.
It all ended when a group of engineers who were working on Charles's car called him, interrupting the chat that the two of them and Daniel were having at that moment. Charles disappeared for a few minutes until he returned to where the two men were still standing, next to Max's RB19.
“Come on Max, check this out” The emotion was palpable in Charles's tone of voice, whatever they did to Checo's ex-car seemed to excite the previous AlphaTauri driver.
What Max didn't expect was that the Monaco-born man wouldn't wait for him to respond, instead he grabbed the older man's hand and dragged him behind him to his car.
Both men standing there in front of Charles' RB19, the Dutchman didn't know what he had to look for, where was the improvement that the engineers had brought about in the Monegasque car. Until I notice.
There, in the middle of the front of the car, in the place where there used to be an 11, now proudly sported a “16”. It was certain that the Red Bull engineers had touched other parts of the car, but at that moment he understood his teammate's excitement, obviously Max wouldn't react like that to a little thing like that, but being a rookie it was clear that Charles would be glad to see him. your number in the car morequick of the season.
Max didn't ask anything, he just slowly let go of Charles's grip, his green eyes matching Max's blue eyes as if he suddenly felt sorry, the Dutchman wasn't a fake person, so he didn't fake a smile, even then. of all those days and the talks he had with his friends and Christian kept thinking about how different everything would have been if Daniel had been given that seat.
If instead of "16" there was the famous "3" by Daniel Ricciardo.
If they were teammates again and Daniel showed that he still had a lot to prove in the great circus that was Formula 1.
If now Checo was the reserve driver for Red Bull.
He didn't know when his mind wandered so far, but he didn't realize that he was no longer standing in front of Charles's car, but beside his own car, with GP showing numbers on his IPad, at the other end of the workshop was Charles, doing the same with his racing director, while they were taking measurements to, surely, make their new racing suit. Max knew that it would take him a while to get used to that, to stop dreaming of Daniel's return, because that wouldn't be possible, although every time he heard that voice with that thick accent from the south of France it was a constant reminder.
But Max thought and reflected, watching the youngster smile and be so into all the new dynamics of the Austrian team that, perhaps with luck, he could end up putting up with Charles Leclerc as his partner for the rest of the 10 races.