project fd || max verstappen

.02

max's pov - January 28th, 2023

having a female on the grid was something i wasn't particularly excited about. i certainly am not against female rights but i don't believe a female could drive a car that holds as much strength that a formula one car holds. i understand she is a two time formula three champion, but i doubt she would be much competition. even in a mercedes car.

i believed i had yet another championship in the bag, so i really wasn't stressing about the season that was soon to begin. this year i was driving alongside one of my best friends on the grid, daniel riccardo, and i was more than excited. last time we raced together it was a little rough on track but now i doubt it will be that bad again.

as i walked into my apartment i sighed at the lack of feminine touch to the place, following me and my now ex girlfriends break up. she picked up all of her belongings yesterday and now the place was... bland to say the least. we broke up as she claimed to have fallen in love with another man and chose him over me. her boyfriend of three whole years.

as i threw my keys across my counter i went to reach for my fridge in order to grab a beer when i heard a sudden knock at the front door. i moved away from the fridge and made my way down the hall to answer the door. 

through the peep hole i saw a little girl in what seemed to be scout uniform clutching onto a wagon of boxes in her left hand, and a clipboard in the other. i sighed to myself not really in the mood to buy scout cookies, but when she knocked again i waited a few seconds before opening the door.

"hello sir! i am even and i am a proud and happy member of the brown back deers scout group," she explained while doing some hand movement with a smile. "today i am selling cookies of three flavours. our goal is to gather enough money to send out sick friend, elijah, to space camp!"

i smiled down at the girl before nodding. "and what flavours are you selling today?" i asked lowering myself to her height. she smiled at my request and flipped a page over on her clipboard. 

she handed me the clip board and i took it with a smile as i scanned over the three flavours. they were selling coconut, chocolate and red velvet. i handed the clipboard back and pulled my wallet out as the little girls eyes lit up. "i'll take two of each," i said. the girl grabbed two of each flour and when i handed her a hundred dollars she blankly stared at me. "keep the change. and tell elijah to get well soon."

she took the crisp bill and nodded her head. "thank you so much sir!" she squealed. i smiled and went to stand back up but her arms wrapped around me as she jumped up and down. once she let go she gathered her things and skipped down the hall placing the bill into a small pouch of hers.

i closed my door and locked it before feeling my phone vibrate in my back pocket. as i pulled the phone into view the first thing to catch my eye was the incoming facetime call from daniel. i answered the phone and was greeted with daniel's surprised face. "grew up in australia?!" were the first words he said as i frowned. "claire banks. she was raised in australia and moved to netherlands when she was eleven."

i stared blankly at the phone before daniel laughed. "what?" i finally asked so confused.

"the new driver. she's part aussie. i told you the aussies were taking over the track max, and you didn't listen," daniel pointed his finger at the camera as i laughed. these random calls from daniel became much more common when my ex broke up with me, and i didn't mind it. "did you also hear her family has close ties with the leclerc's?"

i shook my head as daniel nodded. i then began to get suspicious on how he managed to gather so much information on the young driver before even meeting her. "daniel, how do you know all of this?"

daniel's screen panned around and showed lando sitting next to him scrolling through his phone. "hey mate," lando waved as i frowned. "i got in touch with charles, and i must say it seems you have some competition against you."

i scoffed and threw my head back. "no oftence mate, but i doubt a female can driver a car like mercedes and rank anything above fifteenth," i explained as lando simply raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. "i do wish her the best of luck though."

"if she beats you within her first three races, then you owe me fifty bucks," lando proposed.

i laughed before nodding. "deal." i was confident she wasn't going to beat at all this season, let alone the first three races.

"anyway, lando and i have to go but i'll check in tomorrow. bye," daniel said before hanging the phone up leaving me staring at my lock screen. my lock screen was still a photo of my ex and i that i forgot to change.

i took the chance to change it to a simple apple lock screen before shoving back into the pocket it came from before making my way into my bedroom to grab my laptop. on the way i felt my phone buzz in my pocket.

as i brought it to my face i noticed it was an whatsapp notification. i opened it too find george had added claire into the grid boys group chat. i also watched as lando's profile began typing.

the grid boys

lando; took you long enough.

george; oh shut up. 

charles changed the group name to 'the grid boys and claire'

claire change the group name to 'cool people and charles'

charles changed the group name to 'claire stinks'

claire changed the group name to 'fast people and charles'

george changed the group name to 'fucking children'

daniel changed the group to 'stop'

fernando change the group to '2023 grid'

max changed the group to 'fight for second place'

checo changed the group to 'karma is coming vertsappen'

lando changed the group to 'n.a.t.o'

the chat fell silent for a bit so i assumed that was now the agreed name. i smiled before turning my phone off and throwing it down onto my bed before getting changed into sweatpants and a hoodie.

i walked back into my kitchen while opening my laptop and sighing into my emails. most were boring business emails so i skipped past them, forwarding most to my manger so he could sort through the important ones. 

once i finished i closed my laptop and went back into my bedroom to get my phone. i didn't have many notifications but the one that did stand out to me was a request to be followed on my private instagram account. i noticed it was from claire so i accepted her and place my phone on charged before turning on my tv.