On Top of the World [Max Verstappen - Book 3]

33

2030
With Max back in the driver's seat I had been worried about how our relationship would handle both of us prioritising our driving but it turned out not to be a problem - it was as easy as breathing for us. We kept the routine that we had the previous year, ignoring a lot of public scrutiny that said two drivers for different teams shouldn't train together but we had the benefit of our titles to sort of shut everyone up. 2030 was a big year for Mercedes as Lando and I were largely in competition with each other for the title. Max took a win, Mick took four - Lilly took two (to my delight as I got to stand second on the podium to her on one of those occasions), Pierre took three but Lando and I each managed to take six and easily place Mercedes at the top of the table once more. It came down to the last race for the two of us (as so many of my titles did) but when it came down to it Lando managed to take pole position and later the win, grasping to it like his life depended on it and I understood that need and desire to win, remembering the desperation that I'd had so many times over.

I spent a lot of time in that off season wondering why when it came down to it that I couldn't beat him, worried that I'd lost my edge and desperation for a title or that I had gone soft. That I didn't want it that much. Then Max pointed out that I tortured myself for weeks over that question thereby disproving that point to my great amusement as he pulled me out on a training run for us to prep for the next season.

We did a fair amount of media still (the nature of the job) but always tried to stay away from 'couple' interviews because they just weren't in our comfort zone. I enjoyed keeping our runs, where we laughed until we cried over absolutely nothing, to ourselves. The way that we would take turns to get the first coffee in the morning, before inevitably falling back asleep in the comfort of my bed for another hour before finally getting up and doing our team meetings in rooms next to each other. The therapy we still did as we had residues of different traumas and bad thought patterns pursued us - although rarely couples therapy - mainly just doing that as a check in to make sure things were okay for each of us individually and guarantee we were on the same page. Lando and Liv got married in the summer of that season as everyone close to us wondered what we would do next given we had also been engaged for a year but genuinely neither of us were bothered about getting married, we were so happy just being with each other that it didn't feel necessary - although the articles curiously speculating whether or not we were engaged always made us laugh.

2032
I went back to being champion this year. Lando stayed as my teammate as I went toe-to-toe with Mick and Lilly who had come back with one firecracker of a car and it was fun for everyone. I finished the season with over 70 grand prix wins to my name and made the announcement mid season that I was planning on taking a break with no decided end date - using the word 'sabatical' because I always intended to go back. I had only been driving for 11 years after all and you could not pay me to stop but I was tired and frustrated after a series of fuck-ups from the FIA.  A really scary wet race in Spa had left a terrifying pile up of cars and it served as a final straw for me in a moment I still remember very vividly.

I'm walking into the press conference room with Lando, Max and Toto by my side, a few other drivers are stood off to the side but the people I lean on the most are beside me as I make the announcement that part of me is terrified of towards the end of the season. I sit at the press conference table and swallow nervously as I sit down and look around, pushing my hair back behind my ear as I look at the many cameras that are awaiting my announcement as I am still the President of the drivers association.

"After a unanimous vote the GPDA has voted in favour of boycotting the next two races in Saudi Arabia and Qatar in response to the FIA's blatant disregard of the drivers safety." The room immediately lights up with camera flashes and questions from reporters as they try to make their voices heard in a historic announcement. Eventually my stony face makes them calm down as I continue my speech that I've prepared. I'm giving the announcement from the UK over a week before the race so that none of the teams are put at risk in the same way that they have been in the past and we as drivers are actually able to follow through on it. "The pile up in Spa resulting in the hospitalisation of four drivers was an event that should have never occurred. As drivers we feel we need to take a stand and say when enough is enough. For years we have experienced lengthening of the seasons despite telling the FIA that it was becoming unmanageable and that we were experiencing burnout. We told the FIA that they are pushing us to drive in dangerous conditions and we needed more protection from them as the ruling body to not put ourselves in danger but they didn't listen and it resulted in the situation as we have it today. Further, I will also be boycotting the final race of the season, separate to the rest of the drivers and I am taking this opportunity to announce," I pause as I swallow back the nerves and upset emotions as I take a look at the drivers either side of me who look at me in a way that say 'you don't have to do this'. But I know I do. "I will be exiting the sport after this season meaning that Zandvoort was my final race in Formula One. I hope to be able to come back to the sport in the future but as I said earlier - us drivers are experiencing burnout and I am one of the many who are taking their exit at an early age. I hope to come back, I want to take this break as an opportunity to help fix the sport by working with the FIA because I feel like I can help but right now I mentally don't feel able to get back in the car with the knowledge that other drivers aren't safe or protected." The room had erupted in yells and flashes before I had even finished the sentence and so I had to try and stay calm as I finished what was already a sentence I had never foreseen or imagined myself truly saying.