𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐒 & 𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐒 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐒 | 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐜

[ 001 ] ❝ spotted at the first race of the season ❞

'Where there is love, there is life.' 
- Gandhi

Lucía had never been to an F1 race before. And in recent years she hadn't watched it on the TV either. And so when she first met Charles Leclerc, a driver for Ferrari, she had no idea who he was. Other than the fact that he was extremely handsome and had the hottest French accent.

Watching Formula One while growing up was something she would spend her weekends doing with her dad. But then he passed away when she was thirteen and her love for the sport dwindled away as she focused on her own sports career. Tennis. She had grown up playing several sports including ballet, golf and netball, however tennis was the one that stuck. By the age of ten she was training nearly every day at her local tennis club, her father finding someone to coach young Lucía. Winning the French Open last year had changed her life. Before then she wasn't really known in the world of tennis, and then she came, barrelling to her first major win on her first attempt at a Grand Slam event. January 2022 rolled around and she scored another win at the Australia Open for women singles. This year she was hopefully competing in all four Grand Slams. 

She met Charles over Christmas break, during his time off after the 2021 season, enjoying his time on holiday and being able to see his family and friends, while she was spending her time at a nice country club, her days filled with warm sun and quiet walks around the golf course. Which was where they met. Charles was with his friends while Lucía was completing the course on her own, finding the sport to be relaxing and something that helped her focus. She had taken a week to herself, preparing for the upcoming 2022 season of tennis. Being on her own meant she was able to make her way around the holes fairly quickly, up until she lost her golf ball. Somehow it found it's way to Charles and his friends, where he brought it back over to her. They clicked almost instantly and Charles, after hearing the annoying hollers from his friends, worked up the courage to ask her on a date the evening after, where they saw each other at a club. 

Weeks later after none stop text messages and face time calls she invited him to watch her at the Australian Open. And by him being there, watching, it encourage her all the more to win. And she did. Charles made it official that night, asking her to be his girlfriend, to which she said yes. They kept their relationship on the down low for as long as they could, hiding it from social media and their fans, but when the F1 season started, Lucía wanted to be there for Charles, just as he had been there for her in Australia. She hadn't expected photographers to snap a photo of them together so quickly. By the end of FP1 rumours of them dating had already spread like a wild fire across social media and news articles. Google Charles Leclerc, and the top result that comes up is;

Ferrari Driver Charles Leclerc Rumoured To Be Dating Tennis Player Lucía Martinez

Lucía stayed away from social media as soon as the rumours got out, not wanting her weekend to be ruined by the comments she knew would be infiltrating her Instagram posts. She was here to support Charles. And that's all that mattered. They could deal with the rumours and maybe officially announcing it on social media later during the upcoming week, when Bahrain was over. Until then she sat outside the Ferrari hospitality building, water bottle on the table and Ferrari baseball cap on her head. Charles baseball cap to be more specific. 

"Red's your colour ma chérie," Charles distinctive French accent teased her as he made his way over, sitting opposite her at the small table. He grabbed her water bottle to take a drink from, hair messy but perfect. He wore a bright smile on his face, feeling good about the upcoming weekend. The car felt amazing. He and Carlos both had the pace to score good points, maybe even podiums. But so did the Red Bulls. Having Lucía there with him made him feel more confident. He wanted to impress her, show her he wasn't the untalented driver some people were starting to say. Carlos had beaten him in the points last year, on his debut year at Ferrari, which had hurt Charles' pride, after having been Ferrari's number one. But with Lucía by his side, and a good car for the 2022 season, he was definitely feeling much more confident and comfortable. "Did you enjoy free practise?" he asked his girlfriend who lent her elbows on the table, gazing at him with a loving smile.