Living in someone's shadow is difficult and majority of people know what it's like but not many people learn from their neglection. I went from driving my brothers old kart during the weekends to the first ever female driver in F2 and hopefully one...
Austria was by far the best race of the season. I had amazing battles with three other drivers and ended up first. The wait for the F1 race to start felt like years. Max was on pole with Charles behind, he had told me the morning before that he hadn't felt that confident in the car since the race in Australia.
Julia went back to Monaco after the race in Hungary, so Arthur seemed slightly lost. Almost like he didn't know how to cope during a race weekend without her.
~
The second the crimson red lights turned off, the battle began, my heart was beating out of my chest as I watched my brother and Charles push past each other, sometimes making one another go off the track.
I felt like just watching them fight each other knocked a year off of my life, my hand ended up interlocked with Arthur's.
Even though they were professional drivers, I still hated the thought of one of them spinning out.
By the end of the race I was just counting down the laps left, wanting it to be over, I trusted both of them with my life and I'm sure they would have trusted each others with theirs but they were cutting it a bit too close for my liking.
When the chequered flag came out, I fell a chill run down my spine, by the last corner Charles was leading. He crossed the line only 1 second behind him.
A smile grew on my face, me and Arthur looked each other in the eyes, big grins across our faces as we ran to the pit lane waiting for them do drive in.
I could see the glow in his eyes as he got out of the car, after pulling off his helmet, he ran over to us. He pulled both me and Arthur into a tight hug. A joyful expression remained on his face as the dimples sat on his cheeks.
He removed his arm from around Arthur and placed them both around my waist, looking him in the eyes, it felt like looking at the whole world.
I looked around at the crowds of people, thinking to myself that I didn't care what any of them thought. I placed my hand on the back of his neck, resting my forehead on his.
"Are you sure?" He whispered, quiet enough that only I could hear.
I nodded in response.
His lips quickly landed on mine, it wasn't like before in his drivers room, not even close. It was soft and passionate, a feeling that was almost comfortingly familiar. I didn't care what people around us thought, all I cared about in that moment was Charles.
When we parted, his forehead fell against mine, a smile spread across his face as he exhaled deeply.
The contact of his warm breath against my skin sent a shiver down my spine. I let out a small giggle as he pulled me into a hug.
I tucked my face into the crook of his neck, smiling to myself as I heard the Max and Arthur laughing to each other.
"Go get on that podium, Percival," I muttered, gently pushing him away from me.
His smile grew bigger as he winked at me while he was making his way to the post race interview.
After both Max and Charles had finish their interviews they started making their way to the stairs of the cool-down room, Charles turned back to me smiling widely. Max chuckled to himself, flinging his arm around Charles' shoulders pulling him along with him to the cool-down room.
"Finally," I heard Kika scream as she made her way towards me and Arthur, Pierre behind her smiling from ear to ear.
She pulled me into a hug, Pierre hugging me after her. They were both giggling away as they watched Charles, Lewis and Max make their way onto the podium steps.
Arthur had a look on his face that said "What did I say?" He seemed very happy with himself.
When his gaze met mine, he gave me a toothy grin, placing his arm around my shoulders.
Pierre had both of his hands wrapped around Kika's waist as he rested his head on her shoulder from behind.
I looked up to meet Charles' grin, it was the happiest I had seen him in a long time and it made me feel warm inside, Max seemed happy even though he was second, it was a rare sight but no one could say that the smile that sat on his face was fake, it was like he radiated joy in that moment, watching as Charles got handed the 1st place trophy. He raised it high in the air as the crowd cheered for him, Max followed his actions gaining cheers from the fans as well.
Charles made a heart shape with his fingers, pointing in our direction before he grabbed the champagne spraying the Ferrari employee that joined him on the podium. Max began pouring the champagne over Charles head making them both giggle, Charles wiped his eyes, before trying to get him back but he failed making us all chuckle.
As I watched my brother and Charles laugh to each other on the podium, massive grins on both of their faces, In that moment I knew straight away that I was going to remember that day.
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Anika.Verstappen09 I'm so proud of my boys💙❤️
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@arthur_leclerc I called it, I called it, I CALLED IT! ⬇️ Anika.Verstappen09 🖕
@maxverstappen1 So happy for you both ⬇️ @charles_leclerc Thanks mate😊 ⬇️ @maxverstappen1 You better not hurt her ⬇️ @charles_leclerc Believe me, I will never hurt her ⬇️ @Anika.Verstappen09 🥰🥰
