The Lion and The Bull - Max Verstappen

Chapter 5 - P1

 Race days always made Cecilia nervous but today her nerves were like no other. Today was the Monaco Grand Prix. She knew how dangerous this course can be and she knows the history that this track has. Max would be starting P3 and Checo P4. She arrived at the course 3 hours before the race and helped her father with whatever she could. Max warmed up and gave her a hello as he walked into the garage. "Hey C," Max said. He was wearing his race suit half on with his white long-sleeve shirt underneath. "Hello Max," she said and tried to stay out of the way of the engineers. "I'm glad you're here," Max said with a grin. She smiled back and said, "I'm glad to be here." Her father walked hurriedly up to them and said, "Okay enough chat you two. Max warm-ups now. Cecilia, could you help them turn on the computers?" They both nodded and gave a wave of farewell before going to their so formally assigned tasks. Her father was always stressed on race days and liked everyone to be doing something. Cecilia knew that the tech crew had the computers set up already but she still walked over there to make her father feel less stressed. She stood around the diagnostic booth and chatted with some of the managers and tech crew while they waited for the race to start. Cecilia was going to be watching the race from the garage and to help as moral support for her father. She walked back over to the garage 15 minutes before the race started and saw Max getting ready. He was sitting in the corner silently but looked up when he realized she came back into the garage. He gave her a smile and she gave one in return. She didn't want to disturb his routine so she went to talk to her father. He sat at a desk analyzing the track. "What's up, dad?" She said and leaned in to look at what he was looking at. "I'm just taking another look at the track. I think we have a solid plan for this race," He said and scrolled through their track estimates. "It looks good to me. The computers are all turned on and ready to go," She said, trying to comfort her father. "Thank you, Cecilia, I've missed having you in the pit you know?" He said and gave her a half hug. She smiled and said, "I've missed being here too. I forgot how exciting it is before the race." "Exciting and sickening. But now we actually get to get into the race. I need to go speak to our hydraulics engineer and then we will get Max in the car," Her father said and got up to talk to a man across the garage. Cecilia looked around the garage and marveled at all of the gadgets that they managed to hook up to the walls and realized just how pretty the car is. It would be even prettier when Max got in it. He was still sitting in the corner but he was now talking to his father. Max did not look very happy to be talking to his father and his father looked already disappointed in him even though the race had not even started. Max looked over to her after his father left and gave her a pleading look. She mouthed to him, "You'll do great." He smiled and mouthed "Thank you." Her father came back to the desk and let out an exhale before saying, "It's race time." All of the crew came to gather around the car and make last-minute adjustments before the car left the garage. Max put his helmet and gloves on and got into the car. Cecilia walked next to the car as they rolled Max out and she could barely make out him winking at her as they left the garage. Once the car got to the end of the pit lane, the whole team hurried back to the garage and left it to the ground team to set him up at the start line. Cecilia stood next to her father in the booth and prepared herself for the race. She saw her father's still face and knew that he was most likely praying to god for a safe race. All of the cars were lined up which meant it was time to start the race. The lights turned on one by one until the last one lit and they turned off. All of the cars took off down into turn one, and two of the cars spun off into the barrier from the congestion. Cecilia's heart skipped a beat as Max almost got clipped by Esteban and she grabbed onto her father's chair. Max and Checo moved up to P2 and P3 through the traffic at the beginning of the race. As the race continued the cars got more and more spaced out until Max was leading by over 15 seconds in P1. Checo was behind him in P2. Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon had a collision on turn 7 and had to retire. A yellow safety car was deployed and Max pitted. Max was in and out of the Pit in 5 seconds, allowing him to remain in P1. On lap 59 Max almost ran off into the barrier but was slowed down by the gravel to regain his balance. There were only 20 more laps and Charles Leclerc was beginning to gain on Max. He could not afford another pit so he would have to remain on his worn tires. Cecilia could hear the radio through her father's helmet, "These tires are really worn. How does my pace look?" Max spoke through his fast breathing. Her father looked at the computers and then responded, "If you can keep this pace, you will remain P1. It will be close. Leclerc is losing pace." "Got it," Max said back. Cecilia looked out to the track and watched the cars fly by the start line. There were now only 8 laps left and there was a 9-second gap between Max and Charles. Max was pushing the car as hard as he could but Charles was still gaining on him. Max turned the radio on and Cecilia could hear his fast breathing and panting through the loud sound of the engine. "How does it look?" he asked. Her father looked to the engineers beside him and said, "Max, you can finish this race in P1 if you keep pushing. Keep this pace. Stay focused." "Alright pushing," Max said. Cecilia started fidgeting with her nails as she watched the map of the drivers. Charles was slowly getting closer and closer to Max through each turn. Her father flipped through some programs and pages and then turned to her, "I think he can pull through," he said. She gave her father a comforting smile and he turned back to the computers. Only 2 laps were left and Max seemed to be in perfect flow with the course. Leclerc had caught up to Max with only 1 lap remaining and they were now neck and neck. Max held him off for as long as he could but Charles passed him in a sharp turn. Max used Charles' lead to his advantage and activated DRS on the last straight of the course. He passed Charles and kept his lead all the way to the finish line. Max passed through the finish line a nose ahead of Charles and even all of Red Bull was unsure of the outcome. The tvs in the garage showed a replay and Cecilia heard a large roar and realized what that meant. Max had won the Monaco Grand Prix. She and her father ran into the garage and celebrated with the team. Checo finished P3 and everyone climbed the fence to wave to them as they passed. Max gave them a thumbs up as he passed and the team waved a Dutch and Red Bull flag. The rest of the drivers finished the race and all of the cars lined up at the start. The whole Red Bull team waited at the fence for Max to get out of the car. Cecilia was pushed up at the very front of the fence and cheered as Max came running from the car. He yelled in celebration and gave her a hug. The rest of the team hugged the two of them and gave him hard pats on the shoulder. He switched his helmet for his hat and ran up to the podium. Max on first, Charles on second, and Checo on third. The team lined up below the podiums and all cheered as Max walked up to the highest podium. Max looked down at them and smiled. He made eye contact with Cecilia and gave her a wink. She rolled her eyes and continued to clap as Checo walked up. The national anthems played and then the podium drivers were each given a bottle of champagne. Max sprayed the first half on Charles as he sprayed him and then poured the rest on Checo. He gave one last thank you to the fans and talked to Checo and Charles before coming back down from the podium. He walked back down with his trophy and held it up in the air as everyone cheered. He walked up to Cecilia and her father with a big smile. Her father first shook his hand firmly then gave him a big hug. He turned to Cecilia and gave her an even bigger hug and picked her up off of the ground. She wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him. He gently let her down and talked to some of the engineers about the race. Once he was done with his brief conversation he turned to Cecilia and said, "How about dinner tonight and party after?" "Sounds good to me. I'll text you later," she said almost blushing. He hurried off for interviews and Cecilia was left with her father. "Alright, time for me to get questioned on why we did not pit," Her father said and the two started their walk towards the press room. "Just to make sure, not that I care, but, are you and Max in a relationship?" Her father said with a look of sincerity. Cecilia laughed and said, "So far our relationship has been completely platonic." He sighed and said, "Okay no more needed. Just wanted to know." She smiled and waited for her father to get out of the meeting. She waited just out of reach of the press but close enough to where she could hear Max's interview. "Some people have reported that you have a new friend that you have been hanging out with in Monaco. Has she impacted your focus at all for this race?" the reporter asked. Cecilia made a face of shock but tried not to seem like she was listening. Max was taken aback but said after a moment of consideration, "I would say that this person has not hindered my focus but has only increased it. No more needs to be said." He made a stupid smirk at the camera and Cecilia could not help but smile. He thanked the interviewer and then walked back into the Red Bull office. Cecilia walked into the office to find her father talking to another engineer in private but she could not completely make out what he was saying. He looked up when she walked in and the conversation immediately ceased. "I'm just going to run to the restroom," She said, allowing them to continue whatever private conversation they were having. She had no clue where the bathroom was so she just walked down one of the halls. She saw a bathroom sign but on the way saw a door with the name plaque Max Verstappen. She figured he probably would not be in there but she still knocked. She waited a moment after knocking and decided to continue down the hall when the door opened. "Cecilia!" Max said through the door. She turned around and smiled to see his face poking through the small opening in the door. "Come in," he said and opened the door for her. He was shirtless with only black sweats and socks on. "You did fucking amazing Max," she said and tried not to look at his sweaty abs. He pulled a shirt on and responded, "Thank you for being here to support me. It helped to know that I had at least one supporter in the pit." She walked up to him and gave him a hug. He wrapped his arms over her shoulders and held her to him for a couple of seconds as she said, "You were the only reason I stayed out there today. I usually left halfway through but I had to make sure you didn't die." He laughed and they let go of the hug. "Hey, I'll take it. I survived tho." Max said and gestured to his very much alive body. "Well I better go find my dad before he realizes I'm in your changing room," Cecilia said. "I'll see you tonight," Max said blushing as she walked out the door.