Dalliance- [Max Verstappen]

[ S I X T E E N ]

When Daisy came back to her room on Friday night everything was dark, and Claire was already cuddled up under her blanket. Daisy tried to be as quiet as possible when she grabbed her things to enter the bathroom. In there she looks into the mirror first, cheeks blushed, lips swollen, and she is sure if anyone would have seen her the person could have counted one and one together and figured out what she was doing just a bit ago. She freshens herself up, not wanting to shower and potentially wake up Claire with it, so the washcloth has to do its work. After changing into her nightwear, Daisy brushes her teeth and finally gets into bed, alarm already set, ready to ring her out of her sleep in just a few hours.

The morning came way too early and even though Daisy came back late last night she feels well rested. Her body found relaxation as soon as her head hit the pillow and she slept tightly through the night. The schedule on Saturday was less stressful than the previous days with just the last training after which the drivers had to give out their expectations for the upcoming qualifying to the press and not much more. It feels more and more natural for Daisy to work with Max, and she is a little sad that she will have to switch with Claire after the fourth race, but experience wise it would be the best to work with both of the drivers.

The Qualifying had Daisy on the edge of her seat again. She crossed her fingers for the RedBull boys and really hoped for the best outcome. Daisy doesn't want to deal with a grumpy Max, and he certainly will be in a bad mood if he doesn't get the best lap possible. During Q1 Daisy's heartbeat is still slow and her nervousness is at a low level since the first part of Qualifying shouldn't be a problem for the boys. When the time is up Vettel, Alonso, Stroll, Albon, and Latifi are out and both of the RedBull cars are in the top ten. While Max can be pretty content with his P3 Checo has to improve his P8 for a satisfying result.

Q2 starts quickly after a short break and again, the RedBull cars end up in the top ten. Max sets the fastest time and Sergio improved to P6. Unfortunately, both of the AlphaTauri's are out and will not enter the last segment of Qualifying.

Q3 has Daisy on the edge of her seat. She hopes that the boys will beat Ferrari and right at the beginning it looks promising. Charles Leclerc spins off the track but manages to bring his red car back and is still not out for the fight for pole position. Then Daisy's heart drops. Max starts complaining about having no power and Daisy sees that everyone who heard his message gets nervous. Right now, Max is on P2, but with this little time left and his struggle with the car, it doesn't seem like he is going to have another shot. There is nothing the team can do quickly and so Max has to bring back his car safely back into the garage.

He is annoyed with the failure of the car, but not as mad as Daisy expected him to be. It was pure luck that no one could beat his time and P2 is a great position to start from. Only Charles will be ahead of him, and Carlos will complete the Ferrari sandwich he is in. On P4 is George Russell right behind Max's position on the grid and Checo managed to get P5.

The mood in the media pen is neutral, but Max is professional enough to stay calm and manages to explain what happened during Q3 and adds that he still thinks that they can win tomorrow by putting up a good fight with Ferrari. When the interviews are finished Daisy sits down to work on some of her tasks and helps Vici so that they can go back to the hotel in time and don't have to stay up late. The mechanics also were longer in the paddock to make sure Max's car is perfectly prepared for the upcoming race tomorrow.

Sunday morning comes and the girls are preparing themselves for the day when Daisy does not expect Claire to pick up a conversation, but she does, and it makes Daisy's heart beat faster with a little bit of fear. "You came back late Friday night." Claire just says, not a real question but Daisy is sure her co-worker is curious how she spent her Friday night even though Daisy thought she would be asleep. Daisy makes sure her voice is not shaking when she tells Claire the lie, she had prepared for this situation. "I was on a phone call with a friend I haven't seen in a while and didn't want to keep you up with my talking." She explains, her voice sounding normal and not in any way suspicious since it could be the truth. Daisy tends to call Sarah on a regular basis, likes to keep her updated, and chat with her about the newest gossip.