Racing | C.L (English)

1

.·:*¨༺ REAL LIFE ༻¨*:·.

Alice is consumed with hate at the moment. She is the daughter of Christian Horner, the principal of the F1 constructor Red Bull. Her entire life has revolved around the sport, and she loves it. The sound, adrenaline, and risk all keep her alive. Her job has allowed her to attend the practices, qualifying rounds, and races. However, what she despises is having to pretend to be someone she's not. Her dad believes that the best way to be seen in public is alongside the last world champion, Max Verstappen. They have to go everywhere together, and people assume they are dating, but this is far from the truth.

Alice is not allowed to deny the rumors; otherwise, everything will be ruined. This is what they have told her. Lying makes her feel sick, but she has no choice but to do it. Today, on March 18, it is the first practice of the season in Bahrain. As per usual, Max and Alice arrive at the track together. The interviewers ask Max questions about the expected results, and he answers while Alice walks with her sunglasses on and keeps looking forward.

Max gets ready, while Alice walks and sits where she is supposed to. Alice does not do much during the race. She has a full view of both Checo and Max's cars, the age of the tires, and the radio, but she never talks. She just listens and pays attention to what her father does.

"Hi sweetie," her dad says, approaching her. He hugs her quickly before letting her go.

"Hi, dad," Alice responds with a fake smile. She loves her dad, but F1 has always been his priority, leaving her in second place.

"We are about to start, go and talk to him," he says.

"Why?" Alice asks.

"Because that's what I need you to do," he says and walks away. Rolling her eyes, Alice walks slowly towards Max, who is standing next to his car talking to an engineer. She waits for them to stop talking.

"Did he force you to do this?" Max asks, and Alice nods her head.

"Good luck. I guess that's what he wanted me to say, even though we know that you don't need it. You are the best," she says. This is completely true. They became close friends last year during the season, but her father changed their friendship to a fake dating. Even when it doesn't seem like Max is a good guy, he is respectful and funny.

"Thanks," he says before putting his helmet on and getting into the car.

Practice one begins, and it lasts for an hour. All the drivers can do as many laps as they want and try to get the best time. One hour later, Max and Checo get back to the pit, and they get out of the car. While Checo talks to her dad, Max approaches Alice, who is still looking at the screen in front of her.

"Results," he said, looking at her.

"You know them," Alice said softly.

"I need the positions of the people in front of me and their times."

"Gasly, 1:34.193, Leclerc 1:34.557, Sainz, 1:34.611, and Russell 1:34.629."

"What's my gap?" he asked. He didn't seem angry, just tense.

"0.549. It isn't bad, Max. You were all so close."

"It isn't enough, Alice."

"You still have other chances. This is only the first practice. You have two more: the qualifying and the race. You can still win."

He nodded and walked away.

There was still another practice today, but she needed to get out of the Red Bull garage. She walked through the pit line. There were 10 constructors in total: Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Alpine, McLaren, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Haas, AlphaTauri, and Williams. They all had the best drivers they could get. They were all different teams with different cars and different strategies, but they all had the same goal: winning.