The Bull Prince | Max Verstappen

SEQUEL - Chapter 44

So hello there. I know I let you all know that there won't be anything for a long time, and that is still true, June will be brutal on me so I don't think I will update anything in that month, but here is a new part which might make the waiting sweeter. I also wrote another short story called "The Tribute", maybe you want to check that out while you wait. As always this is a wild mess, but I hope you enjoy it, nevertheless. Let me know what you think and enjoy reading. Cheers!

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The world of racing was celebrating, their Queen had given birth to the heir of the Lauda throne or some bullshit like that, Kelly did not really read what the fans wrote, but she was sure it was something along that line. They always looked at her as if she had put the stars into the heavens. Every word Joanna muttered was holy to them, every gesture a sign from above. It was bizarre and sick. Kelly remembered seeing Joanna for the first time in her home years before the Austrian even got into a kart. She wondered if there had been signs, tried to think back over and over again, but Joanna was ordinary. Nothing about her gave even the slightest hint that she would be as powerful as she was today. For fucks sake, Joanna Lauda was religion by now and they all bowed to her.

It was a brilliant move from Niki Lauda. He knew that no one would pay a girl any mind, that they would laugh into her face and feel generous because they allowed her to drive too. They felt like they were doing her a favour while Joanna slowly but steadily reached for the power. Her father had never believed that a woman could ever have a role like Joanna's in Formula One, so they never bothered to even try, but sometimes Kelly wondered how things would be now if her father would have put his trust in her and not in her brother. If her father for once would have been the cleverer one out of him and Niki Lauda, but he never was.

Niki did not care what gender his children had, as long as they were fast on track. Joanna was the best of the Lauda children, her talent more defined, her looks easier to sell. In the end, despite being only Niki's bastard with some low whore, Joanna got it all. From not even be considered a Lauda in the beginning due to her statues in the family, to the stereotype of Lauda. When the name was called, people thought of her, not of her trueborn brothers, or even her father any longer. She conquered the name she never wanted. Made it hers for the world to see.

Her siblings thought of her as, the little bastard girl, that just took what she wanted without asking for permission. They one that did not listen to her father, that did not obey his every wimp, the one that was more like Niki Lauda than he was himself. She surpassed him, over and over again. Made her father the father of a living legend.

Her father had wanted that too, he wanted to live on beyond his own time, wanted more than his own lifetime was giving him. Nelson Piquet wanted to live on through his children in the way Niki Lauda lived through Joanna and now her child. Just like Jos Verstappen wanted too, but they got the role of the villain, while Niki was the hero of the story. Not that it was like that always, Niki wasn't well liked in the beginning, the rat faced Austrian, but he was driving for Ferrari and winning. Back then that still meant something. He created his own legacy by telling the story himself. Over time changing facts ever so slightly, before these lies became truth. The Lauda family did not always win, but they always told the story.

The Niki and Joanna Lauda had a certain reputation, they were something else. They tend to survive the unsurvivable. The House they lived in was surrounded by myths, it was their seat of power. Kelly wanted to set the Lauda House on fire. Show the world that the Lauda family wasn't untouchable. Joanna might be powerful, but the family had lost a great part of their power as Niki died. Naming Joanna his heir was the only logical move truly to keep as much power as possible, but the family had too many members which were only average, to many which were seeking their own power outside of the family and with Joanna they had a powerful head of the family, but her connection to the other members was weak. So, getting Max to join the family was a masterclass move.