Our Little Secret [ Max Verstappen ]

part one- introducing lilia aleksandra

[Trigger warning: mention of domestic violence.]

Lilia Aleksandra. That became a bit of household name, whether it be for good or bad reasons. There had been women in formula 1 before; Lella Lombardi to name one, but none quite like Lilia. She was exciting, and extremely talented in the junior racing series like Formula 3, in which she was came second place in the standings and then making the jump into Formula 2 and winning in her rookie season, just 2 years ago. Initially she was picked up by Alpha Tauri, but not being given an actual seat for a season, she had to sit on the sidelines. Being a reserve driver was valuable experience, of course, but she itched to be racing against the others full time.

Lilia was rather ruthless, too, but she was someone that could often go unsuspected. So when Sergio Perez announced his sudden retirement at the end of the 2021 season, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Liam Lawson, etc. were the names being tossed up by everyone- fans, journalists, and even other teams on the grid, to fill his shoes, yet Redbull announced that it would be Lilia Aleksandra to complete their 2023 lineup, and not one single person genuinely saw that coming.

Starting from almost nothing, growing up on a caravan park with her father, and mother, before she passed away when Lilia was only 6 years old, she worked her way up from simply karting on the weekends to being a formula 1 driver for redbull racing in 2022. Well, it wasn't quite that simple.
20 years of constant criticism; belittling, patronising behaviour from those around her. Why? Because people, specifically men, hate to see women succeed. They can lie to themselves and say that they believe in equality, but the reality is, even without trying, sexism poisons your opinion. The sexist belief that women are not capable drivers, for example. If you watch a woman crash an f1 car, the first thing that comes to your mind is her gender. Perhaps a sexist joke can be heard in the surrounding area.

In her last season in formula 2, she won the first three races of the season. Then, on the fourth race, she had a DNF due to a crash with her teammate. Almost seconds after she was forced to retire from the race, her name was trending on Twitter. People ridiculing her for 'shocking driving', instantly blaming the collision 100% on her. The same people who had nothing to say about her - male - teammate who had finished P3, 9 and 6 in the first three races, and who also had to retire from the fourth. Why was it that, when she was clearly so much better than him, she was always the one being questioned? Was she worthy of her seat? Was she really a good driver or does she just have a decent car?

These things get to you. Mentally, that is. Lilia's results did begin to suffer because she was not in the right headspace.. and you can't be racing when you're not in the right headspace. It only ends badly. Of course, this has nothing to do with being a woman, but the media managed to mould it into articles about how she was 'too hormonal' , 'not strong enough for the challenges of motorsport'. These were the things she had to continuously battle throughout the season, but still, she came out a champion.

Although there was one more factor. Her father.

After her mother passed away, Lilia really got into karting. Her father was proud of her, encouraging her new hobby. But when she became to prove herself as a true talent, he became extremely harsh on her. It wasn't just this, but he began to drink a lot more as to cope with the loss of his wife. The two were not a good mix. There were many times where he would take a water bottle full of vodka to Lilia's karting competitions, and god forbid she wouldn't win..

He got violent. Verbally and sometimes even physically.
After the collision, even he blamed Lilia. Deeming her a stupid, reckless girl. Thrashing her across the face with the back of his hand with such force she wondered if she may have been concussed.
The thing was, he only supported her when she was winning.

Now, in formula 1, Lilia faces more challenges than ever.
Her main challenge being her teammate, arguably her biggest rival, Max Verstappen.