Heart Engineer | Max Verstappen

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑂𝑛𝑒

Being an engineer in Formula One was the dream of many, but for Dahlia Berkshire, it was her life's purpose. She had spent years honing her skills, determined to prove that a woman could excel in this male-dominated world. and that was clear, Dahlia Berkshire was more than great at her job.

This was the biggest reason she got engaged by Red Bull as the new race engineer of the infamous Max Verstappen after his engineer retired to take care of his new family after years of service, Christian Horner, the team principal, had seen something special in Dahlia. He had recognized her ability to handle drivers like Max, and he knew she was the perfect fit for the job.

─ִ──ׂ──

𝐌𝐀𝐗'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕

✈︎ 𝑨𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒍 𝟰 ┊𝙹𝙰𝙿𝙰𝙽 𝚂𝚞𝚣𝚞𝚔𝚊 𝙲𝚒𝚛𝚌𝚞𝚒𝚝

The surroundings were still calm around the track, with no fans nor media here to annoy Max in his focus, today his only focus had to be on the next day's two practice sessions. The car was good, he and Checo were motivated to get another championship this year, and even tho one of their longest co-worker, Max Race Engineer had to retire the team would not crushed under it.

Max sat on a bench in the garage, reviewing his last race at the Australian Grand Prix, where he lost against Carlos Sainz, he soon felt a warm hand pressing on his back, and with no surprise, the face of Christian Horner beside Max made him smile -" Still reviewing this race ?" asked Christian, his voice had a mix of comfort and his usual strent and serious voice in it.

-" I just analyse it, i won't make the same mistake this weekend." he said calmly, -" well could you at least get your eyes off of it for thirty minutes? you need to meet the new engineer soon" Christian said in a serious tone, he appreciated max constant want to be better but he also needed to meet the person he would have to be a duo with during the races.

Max nodded before putting his phone back in the pocket of his blue jeans, he still had no idea who the team chose to be his race engineer but the only thing he wondered at this moment: ' Will they be able to handle me and the pressure ?', he wasn't always an easy guy and he didn't plan on changing that any time soon.

-"She should be here any second from now," said Christian getting up from the bench as he patted Max's back, max froze before his eyes widened a little -" She ? " he asked surprised. Is the new engineer a woman? he always thought those kinds of jobs were only men's as he had rarely or more never seen any women in this role. Christian could see the surprise on his driver's face and simply smiled -" Yes your new race engineer is a woman, and a talented one."

𝐃𝐀𝐇𝐋𝐈𝐀'𝐒 𝐏𝐎𝐕

Dahlia was peacefully walking around the place, her confidence could be felt a mile away, her high heels boots echoing against the concrete floor.. Soon enough she made her way inside of the Red Bull garage, already filled with many mechanics and engineers who were giving their hardest to prepare for the practices of tomorrow.

As she spots Christian with Max she exchanges a warm smile with the team principal before making her way over to them, her face staying serious. Christian quickly pointed her to Max with a hand gesture -" Max let me present you to Dahlia, your race engineer".

Max analyzed the young woman up and down, taking extra time to analyze everything he could, -" Pleasure to meet you" he said in a stoic voice, "Think you can handle this job ?" he ask in a cocky tone, he wasn't sure yet if she could handle his hot-headed attitude or if she would crush under it in a second. But Dahlia wasn't hurt by his comment, she had gotten plenty of the same genre during her studies, and it wasn't a little duch man that could make this change. " This is what I've been hired for, you wouldn't think Christian could hire an incapable human would you ?" she said responding with the same tone as Max, her body language showing her confidence in her skills.

Max couldn't help but smirk, she definitely could fit in the team. -I wouldn't dare to, I'm sure our duo will be interesting for the rest of the season," he said, as Christian had a smile forming at the corner of his lips, these two would be a fierce duo on the track and that was certain.

─ִ──ׂ──

Dahlia had gotten a tour of the garage by one of the other engineers, Josh who had been here for years, he gave her tips and everything he had in his hidden pocket for her to make a great start at her new job.

Max was standing beside Checo who was drinking his usual coffee, needy of some energy and a warm drink to relax. The Dutch gaze often wandered around Dahlia and his Mexican teammate couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the view -" You're skeptical about her huh ?",

-"No, I'm just wondering what will it be like to work with her." he said, and he meant it, he was sure that if she was here it was because she had talent but he kept wondering how they would get along or if the two-headed tempers would crash onto each other every occasion they could get, either way, he was more than eager to find out.

-" She doesn't seem to be the type you have to be overly nice to, that's what you like don't you Max" Checo said firmly, after all this time he knew Max by heart, and even without a word checo knew what Max was thinking of. Max crossed his arms before nodding his head -" Definitely, this smells like a good season ahead of us with this new engineer".

Max couldn't wait for the race to happen and see the young brunette in action, this was promising to be heated....