'Where there is love, there is life.'
- Gandhi
Lucía had never been to an F1 race before. And in recent years she hadn't watched it on the TV either. And so when she first met Charles Leclerc, a driver for Ferrari, she had no idea who he was. Other than the fact that he was extremely handsome and had the hottest French accent.
Watching Formula One while growing up was something she would spend her weekends doing with her dad. But then he passed away when she was thirteen and her love for the sport dwindled away as she focused on her own sports career. Tennis. She had grown up playing several sports including ballet, golf and netball, however tennis was the one that stuck. By the age of ten she was training nearly every day at her local tennis club, her father finding someone to coach young Lucía. Winning the French Open last year had changed her life. Before then she wasn't really known in the world of tennis, and then she came, barrelling to her first major win on her first attempt at a Grand Slam event. January 2022 rolled around and she scored another win at the Australia Open for women singles. This year she was hopefully competing in all four Grand Slams.
She met Charles over Christmas break, during his time off after the 2021 season, enjoying his time on holiday and being able to see his family and friends, while she was spending her time at a nice country club, her days filled with warm sun and quiet walks around the golf course. Which was where they met. Charles was with his friends while Lucía was completing the course on her own, finding the sport to be relaxing and something that helped her focus. She had taken a week to herself, preparing for the upcoming 2022 season of tennis. Being on her own meant she was able to make her way around the holes fairly quickly, up until she lost her golf ball. Somehow it found it's way to Charles and his friends, where he brought it back over to her. They clicked almost instantly and Charles, after hearing the annoying hollers from his friends, worked up the courage to ask her on a date the evening after, where they saw each other at a club.
Weeks later after none stop text messages and face time calls she invited him to watch her at the Australian Open. And by him being there, watching, it encourage her all the more to win. And she did. Charles made it official that night, asking her to be his girlfriend, to which she said yes. They kept their relationship on the down low for as long as they could, hiding it from social media and their fans, but when the F1 season started, Lucía wanted to be there for Charles, just as he had been there for her in Australia. She hadn't expected photographers to snap a photo of them together so quickly. By the end of FP1 rumours of them dating had already spread like a wild fire across social media and news articles. Google Charles Leclerc, and the top result that comes up is;
Ferrari Driver Charles Leclerc Rumoured To Be Dating Tennis Player Lucía Martinez
Lucía stayed away from social media as soon as the rumours got out, not wanting her weekend to be ruined by the comments she knew would be infiltrating her Instagram posts. She was here to support Charles. And that's all that mattered. They could deal with the rumours and maybe officially announcing it on social media later during the upcoming week, when Bahrain was over. Until then she sat outside the Ferrari hospitality building, water bottle on the table and Ferrari baseball cap on her head. Charles baseball cap to be more specific.
"Red's your colour ma chérie," Charles distinctive French accent teased her as he made his way over, sitting opposite her at the small table. He grabbed her water bottle to take a drink from, hair messy but perfect. He wore a bright smile on his face, feeling good about the upcoming weekend. The car felt amazing. He and Carlos both had the pace to score good points, maybe even podiums. But so did the Red Bulls. Having Lucía there with him made him feel more confident. He wanted to impress her, show her he wasn't the untalented driver some people were starting to say. Carlos had beaten him in the points last year, on his debut year at Ferrari, which had hurt Charles' pride, after having been Ferrari's number one. But with Lucía by his side, and a good car for the 2022 season, he was definitely feeling much more confident and comfortable. "Did you enjoy free practise?" he asked his girlfriend who lent her elbows on the table, gazing at him with a loving smile.
"It reminded me of when I used to watch it with my dad," She reminisced on the memory of her and her dad watching the race on the weekend, back when Sebastian Vettel won the 2010 World Championship.
"Are you okay?" Charles asked, not wanting to mistake what she said as being saddened by being here.
"Of course I am, I'm here with you. This place is amazing." She nudged his foot under the table, gazing around at all the lights on the trees, their yellow hue lighting up the pathways. "I think this track is my favourite."
"You have not yet been to the other ones chérie." Charles chuckled playfully.
"I don't need to see them to know this one is my favourite." It was the lights on the trees that she truly loved.
"I forgot, you're a night owl," Charles added, chuckling as she blushed.
"When does FP2 start?" She asked, taking her water bottle back from him to take a sip. She took the Ferrari cap off and placed it onto the table but Charles snatched it up and tucked his hair into it, putting it back on himself.
"In around half an hour. I just wanted to see how you were. P2 is a good start, the cars definitely got some good pace." Charles grinned, staring at her adoringly.
"I'm so proud of you." She sighed softly, leaning her cheek on her hand, reaching her other arm across the table to grab hold of his hand, slowing rubbing soothing strokes over his knuckles.
"I haven't won anything yet chérie." God, Lucía loved it when he called her chérie.
"But you will. I know you will. You're Charles frickin' Leclerc. Ferrari's badass number 16 driver. This is your year mi amor." She encouraged him, making his smile only widen. Charles couldn't be any more grateful for the support she had provided him these past few months.
"Only because I will have you by my side, Lu," she blushed at his words, the flirtatious Monegasque man having a way with words. Everything he said made her blush these days. She rolled her eyes and scoffed, leaning back in her seat and looking away, trying to hide her flustered state from Charles who just smirked.
"Lucía," Carols made his way over to the couple, arms wide and an energetic smile on his face. "It's finally good to meet you." Of course Charles had told Carols about his secret girlfriend. The two Ferrari drivers had grown closer over the past year, although Charles knew he would never have the same friendship with Carlos as the Spaniard has with Lando Norris, the young McLaren driver. Carlos and Lando's friendship was similar to Charles friendship with Pierre Gasly.
"Carlos, Ferrari's number 2," She teased, glancing between Charles and Carlos as he pulled up a chair to join them at the table.
"I disagree with you but I can respect the loyalty." He laughed, Spanish accent heavy. "Isa arrives later today so I can introduce you both tomorrow." He seemed much too happy about setting his girlfriend up with Lucía. Charles was grinning to himself as he watched in content, seeing his girlfriend in his place of work, being able to have her here with him. He knew the rumours about them had already sparked up on social media. The Paddock was filled with photographers and journalists so it was bound to happen, and they had both known that. Charles had wanted her to be at his first race of the season without a doubt, he was just worried that social media would soon affect their happy bubble.
"You know Lando's girlfriend is called Luísa. Lucía and Luísa. I may get confused." Carlos' face fell as he got lost in thought.
"I'll be the one in red." Lucía turned to smile at Charles, who's turn it was to blush this time.
"His face now matches his clothes," Carlos teased Charles making Lucía burst into giggles.
"Alright, we have got to go now Lulu," He stood up, ready to leave, slipping in the nickname she hated. Lulu was the name both her older and younger brother called her. Her younger brother started to call her Lulu when he was only a toddler, and since then her older brother decided he too wanted to call her it too, mainly just to annoy her. It was either that or Lucifer.
"Shut up," she whacked his arm as he passed by. He moved back to avoid contact with her arm, just slipping past her hit. He lent back forward and pressed a kiss to her cheek, arms wrapped around her shoulders loosely before he and Carlos departed to get ready for FP2.
kymillman ✓
19,381 likes
kymillman British Tennis player Lucía Martinez joined Ferrari at Friday's Free Practise sessions here in Bahrain, supposedly as a guest of Charles Leclerc. Lucía is well known for winning the French Open last year and for also kickstarting her 2022 season by winning the Australian Open in the WTA. At only the age of twenty-one, Lucía Martinez ended Britain's 44-year wait for a women's Grand Slam singles champion.
#formulaone #charlesleclerc #ferrari #grandprix #bahraingp #motorsport #tennis #luciamartinez
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18 March 2022
[ 𝗖𝗢𝗠𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗦 ]
username1 wait... her and Charles would be kinda cute
username2 just wait for the eleven year old fangirls
username3 i feel so sorry for the wags of f1 drivers. They get so much hate.
username4 Lando's dating a Luisa and Charles is dating a Lucia. That's not confusing at all.
↳ username15 imagine if they became friends 🙉
↳ username16 What about Lily or Katerina??? 🙈
username5 Lucia is Mexican is she not?
↳ username13 She's from England but moved to Mexico when she was younger
↳ username14 her mom's Chinese and dad's Romanian too
username6 god she and Charles are so hot
username7 one of the hottest tennis players to ever live
username8 she's so pretty
username9 everyone commenting on her beauty, but have they seen this girl play tennis??? I hope people don't just see her as Charles girlfriend.
username10 get in there Charles ✊
↳ username11 bro punching 😂
username12 forget the race just film Lucía 😂😍
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