Chapter Text
Oscar had been surprised when he'd received the offer.
Mark had pulled him aside only a week or so after the 2025 championship had been finished up. Clearly the offer had come in earlier, but Mark hadn't wanted to distract him. Not with the championship on the line. But now he'd done it and he'd moved his focus to end of season duties and helping Logan with the logistics of his drive for the 2026 season. Mark had deemed him as having enough breathing room.
"I'm sorry, what?"
Mark snorted softly, looking somewhat like he himself didn't quite believe what he was saying either. "Netflix reached out about an opportunity for a spot on a reality competition show that they are doing."
Oscar frowned in confusion, his eyebrows scrunching up together. "Me? What could they possibly want me for? Is It Cake?"
He simply could not fathom it. A lot of strange things had happened to and for him since he'd become an F1 driver. There'd been a lot of opportunities that had seemed out of the left field — like, he was a model now — but a Netflix competition? That was just so bizarre.
"You ever watch Physical: 100?"
Now Oscar was even more confused. "The Korean show? Wasn't that like… for Korean athletes?"
He thought he remembered Hattie saying something about it a few years back. Something about how people were complaining it was rigged or unfair? He hadn't really been paying all that much attention at the time. Maybe he'd even watched it and just didn't remember it all that well? That was more likely than not. He did recognize the name after all.
"They're doing a bit of a spinoff series. Physical: Asia."
And Oscar was back to being baffled again. What did this have to do with him at all? Why had Netflix reached out?
"They plan on having eight teams of six representing different countries in some kind of team showdown," Mark explained. "Australia will be one of those teams."
Oscar blinked. "Why is Australia there? Isn't it called 'Physical: Asia'? Australia isn't part of Asia."
Mark shrugged. "I don't know, mate. We always seem to end up places we shouldn't."
"Like Eurovision," Oscar hummed.
"Like Eurovision."
"So they want me to like… be a member of Team Australia?" Oscar asked, trying to figure out if he was actually understanding correctly.
Mark looked almost sheepish. "That's about the short of it," he said. "Do you want to do it?"
"Can I even do it?" he asked. "I mean, filming is kind of intense, no? And with the schedule of the F1 season and new regulations… When is it even being filmed?"
"They sent out a shooting schedule," Mark replied. "Could be a little tight, but it's doable."
Oscar raised an eyebrow. "You think I should do this?"
Mark wouldn't have gotten this far into the conversation if he didn't think that Oscar should actually do it. He'd tell Oscar that it was too tight or not a good idea. He wanted Oscar to be able to walk on his own two feet sure, but he never shied away from giving Oscar advice before. Seriously, he would have never signed with a modeling agency if Mark hadn't counciled him on it being a good idea to 'diversify' his portfolio or whatever. Oscar figured it was probably a good idea to have more than one stream of income available to him, and it also got his image out there.
Still wild that he got a modeling contract before Charles did. It seemed wrong somehow.
"They're inviting athletes of all different backgrounds and they have alternates prepared should you be unavailable for the full duration," Mark said. "It was a pretty popular show and this would be a good way to have interactions with other Australian athletes."
"Would I even be like… qualified?" Oscar wondered aloud.
Mark shrugged again. "You do quite a lot of strength training, and you have endurance. I think there might be a badminton player on one of the team's rosters so like… you would not be the most out of place athlete."
Oscar's eyebrows drew together again. "Have they already announced other country's teams?"
"I did some snooping and asking around."
"Of course."
So Mark clearly thought that this was something Oscar could and maybe even should do. What did Oscar think about it?
Mark had already made it clear that the schedule was possible, so that was one of Oscar's worries handled. It probably wouldn't be that long to film, and possibly even the bulk of it in the first half of the season. That worked in Oscar's favour since he and Logan weren't really planning on being able to see each other that much during that time. If Oscar wouldn't be doing this Netflix thing, he'd probably just be staying home in Monaco all sad and by himself since Logan would have Cactus.
And maybe it would be nice to work on a team. With racing, even when you had teammates, you were really looking out for yourself first and foremost. Individual results mattered. They mattered more than team results. Oscar had never really gotten a chance to play on a team before. He was utter ass at other sports really. Well, anything that didn't have to do with cars.
Maybe that was a reason to hesitate. He wasn't exactly the most coordinated individual out there after all, but he was plenty strong. The competition was about strength, endurance, and resilience, right? Oscar could do that.
And he'd even be able to work with fellow Australians. It felt like it had been so long since he'd been able to do that. He wanted to make his country proud, as silly a sentiment as that was.
"If it works with my schedule, I don't see why I couldn't," Oscar said finally. "McLaren's okay with it? We're starting with new regs this year, and we don't know how it'll go. There's the potential for injury too, right?"
"There is," Mark acknowledged. "McLaren's pretty happy to give you leeway though since you won them the championship."
It would give him less time in the sim — less opportunities to adapt to the new car ahead of Lando — but Oscar was confident in his abilities. He knew what he could do.
"Then I have no objections."
"Excellent. I'll let everyone who needs to know know and send you all the relevant information. You might want to watch the previous two seasons and talk to Artturi."
"Might want to brush up on my language skills," Oscar quipped.
"Mate, what language skills?"
"Hey!"