Wearing what she would say is one of her favourite outfits, Lu's attire for the Australian Grand Prix consisted of fashionable blue palazzo pants, paired with a patterned top that was cropped slightly, leaving a slither of her stomach on display before the waist band of her pants. Perfect for the warm weather Australia was gifting them. She liked that on race weekends she was able to dress up a bit more than usual. Typically she donned sports shorts and a t-shirt to train in alongside a pair of her many Nike Air force 1's, however with her outfit for today she decided to be brave and wear yellow heels. Without her knowing, Charles had slipped a pair of her trainers into his bag just in case, knowing his girlfriend wasn't overly fond of heels and not the best at walking in them after several hours.
Charles helped her out of the car, jogging round to her side to open the door and hold out his hand for her to take. She laughed as she nearly hit her head getting out but he had already placed his hand on top of her hair to stop any damage, foreshadowing what she had been about to do.
"Oi you muppet!" Lando snickered as he joined them, having just arrived too.
"Look, I'm taller than you now Lando-" Lu teased him, hooking her arm with Charles to stay up right.
"Lu, you're going to fall-" Charles shook his head, amused at his stubborn girlfriend.
"I am not." She waved a hand in the air, "Me and heels are perfectly fine. As Miss Monroe once said, Give a girl the right pair of shoes and she can conquer the world."
"Yes, but your right shoes- are tennis shoes." Charles reminded her, flicking her ear as they walked towards the entrance, passes ready.
"Me first-" Lando rushed in front of them both, scanning his pass before they could beat him there. "Haha," he laughed evilly. Lucía rolled her eyes at his childish but amusing behaviour.
"So, Lucifer, you ready to witness McLaren greatness." Lando threw an arm around her shoulder playfully.
"I thought you said the car was shit-" Lu raised an eyebrow at him.
"Shhh-" Lando threw his arms around wildly, before shrugging. He looked around as if she had just shouted it out loud. "Zak has spies- everywhere-" He was on some sort of crack today. She was sure of it.
"You're crazy," She laughed, nudging his shoulder.
"We all are Lucifer. We drive fast cars at 200 miles an hour." He held his arms out, walking backwards in front of them before turning around and walking away. "Definition of crazy-" he pointed at himself and Charles.
"You got that right," She muttered, rolling her eyes. Charles overheard, chuckling at her comment, throwing an arm around her shoulders.
"Hey, so when we go to Wembley?-" Lando started to speak.
"We?" She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yes, we. I'm watching you win that final. It's Coming Home!" Lando said as if it was obvious. He tried to act cool about it, but Lucía felt her heart swoon in awe at her new friend.
"Aww, Lando," She pouted as she gave him a look of appreciation.
"Shut up-" he nudged her shoulder, now dropping to walk beside her. "We Brits have to stay together. Because nothing ever comes home." He added, a bit more miserable at the end.
"Talk for yourself," Charles huffed making the two of them laugh at him.
"Poor Charlie," She ruffled his hair making him scowl down at her through his sunglasses.
"At least you guys have one World Cup win," Charles scoffed.
"Mate does Monaco even compete in the qualifiers?" Lando snickered, dodging out of the way as Charles went to punch his shoulder. Lucía laughed as the man in red chased the child in orange - correction; papaya.
Lucía watched the race from the Ferrari garage. Stood nervously to the side, out of the engineers way, with her red headset on. She was joined by Isa, the two twining with their Ferrari headsets. Biting her nails, Lu watched anxiously as the cars finished their formation lap, the red lights flickering on, one by one, until all five were red and lit. It was lights out and away we go.
Isa noticed her nail biting and pulled her hand down, smiling at her nervous girl kindly. Isa had been in Lu's place when she first started to attend Carlos' races. She too had been extremely nervous watching her boyfriend put his life on the line to drive fast cars. And while it got easier, knowing that the protections in place worked, she even could admit that the feeling of anxiety never went away. Seeing Lu in her old position, made her want to reach out and wrap the girl in her arms, knowing what she was going through. Charles and Lucía had something special. Anyone could see it. They way the two looked at each other was magical almost. They were so in love, Taylor Swift wouldn't even be able to write them a love song that would give them justice.
"Lover or Red?" Isa asked her, knowing it might distract the tennis player.
"Hmmm?" Lu looked up towards the blonde, biting at the skin under her thumb nail.
"Taylor Swift albums. Personally I like Red." Isa shrugged as the cars exited the first corner. Charles was still in front. He had held onto first position throughout the start and was slowly pulling away from Max by an inch or two.
"Oh, Lover." Lu answered her, tensing up as she watched the screen. "One of my favourite albums."
"Okay, so do you prefer Lover or 1989."
"That's like asking a parent to pick their favourite child." Lu pouted, spinning her head to the side to look at her again, moving her hand away from her mouth to talk, instead wrapping both arms around her waist, hugging herself as comfort.
"Over Speak Now?"
"It's a classic but not my favourite. Better Than Revenge and The Story of Us, are always great car ride songs though. Me and Charles love screaming the lyrics." Lu giggled slightly. It was one of the many reasons why she loved Charles... his unflinching ability to listen to Taylor Swift. Secretly she knew he loved her music. "Now, Fearless, again, a classic, but I prefer a lot more songs on her other albums. But that doesn't mean I don't like the songs on Fearless, just not as much as other songs on other albums. I mean it has to be a classic though- Love Story, You Belong With Me. Masterpieces. And The Way I Loved You. One of my favourite all time Taylor songs." Isa listed to the girl ramble on about her favourite singer, happy that she had managed to distract her from her nerves.
"What's your favourite album?"
"Reputation. It's a close call with Lover and 1989. I love evermore too. Such a beautiful album."
The two carried on talking while watching the race. The mood in Charles' side of the Ferrari garage only increased when Max Verstappen had to retire his car, meaning he would receive no points from this weekend. This would put Charles ahead by a good gap if he finished the race. And while things were looking optimistic on behalf of Charles Leclerc, never think it's over and won until the checkered flag is waving, signalling it is over and they have and won.
Lu bounced on the back of her feet, impatiently waiting as the remaining laps slowly decreased until there were only three remaining. Charles had so far led to the race from start to end and he now had a big gap, twenty seconds to be exact, between himself and Sergio Pérez. The only way Charles wasn't winning this race is if his car suddenly has a failure or he crashes. Both of those looked unlikely but couldn't be ruled out completely.
Charles started his final lap ahead of the rest of the pack. Lucía watched the screen in anticipation, waiting for him to take the last corner before crossing the checkered flag. She watched as his engineers ran out to watch through the fence, cheering and sticking their arms through the gaps as he crossed the line.
58 out of 58 laps lead. Charles had not only won the race, he had also received the fastest lap. Which meant that, alongside leading the entire race and winning pole the day before- he had achieved his first ever Grand Slam. He was only the second Ferrari driver in the past eighteen years to accomplish a Grand Slam for the Italian team in red. Lu leaped into Isa's arms, the blonde girl laughing as her friend's anxiety melted into pure joy and excitement. It lasted only momentarily for Isa however, as she was reminded that while Charles had won, Carlos had sadly had to retire.
"Sorry-" Lu cringed, pulling away. "That was insensitive-"
"No it wasn't. Charles did great today, you should be happy. It's good points for the team too." Isa nudged her shoulder.
"Okay," Lucía sighed, "I'm going to go watch the podium, so I'll see you later?" She smiled softly.
"Definitely," Isa gave her a small hug before Lu followed some of Charles' engineers out to the area below the podiums.
Charles parked his car before carrying out the usual routine with the car setup, turning everything off etc. He ran towards the team in red, jumping into the awaiting arms. He received many claps on the back and helmet as they surrounded him. Lu was stood amongst them, sending him a smile while clapping her hands together. He took his helmet off, placing it on the stand. He had a momentary look of indecisiveness on his face which she noticed. And was confused as he made his way back over to the team. A few congratulated him and he lazily glanced their way, but his eyes were unable to be off his girlfriend for more than a second. She had his full attention. A small gasp left her lips as he stood in front of her and reached over the barrier to pull her in for a kiss, holding her cheek in one hand with his other tangled in the back of her hair. She smiled into the kiss, her lips melting together with his perfectly. Her stomach filled with twists of nerves and excited churns. A small giggled escaped her lips as he pulled away, keeping her face close to his. She could feel his warm breath hit her face and was sure he could feel hers.
"Screw what they think," he murmured in her ear, placing his head in her neck, hugging her. He pressed a delicate kiss to her skin, almost letting out a sigh of content at the scent of her Miss Dior perfume that floated to his nostrils. "I love you." He pulled away to look at her. "And I want everyone to know."
"I love you too. You were amazing," She complimented him, grinning so widely she was sure her smile was about to drop off. "Now go get your trophy so we can go celebrate-" She pushed him away with a teasing look, winking discreetly.
Lucía and Charles both knew that the moment that had just occurred between the two of them would have been caught on camera. They were surrounded by the media. Whether it was photographers, journalists or TV Broadcast presenters. People would known within seconds, if they didn't already. They had officially announced that the rumours were true and that Lucía Martinez, famous tennis Player for England, and Charles Leclerc, Monegasque driver for the Ferrari F1 Team, were a couple. A couple who were truly, madly, deeply in love.
Charles chuckled before making his way to where he was required to be. He was given a Pirelli 1st place baseball cap to put on, hiding his helmet hair. George Russell, who had come 3rd, and Sergio Pérez, who was second, were announced first, before Charles. He made his way onto the highest podium step, waving at the crowd. He could instantly spot his grinning girlfriend amongst his friends in red. He watched as one of his engineer's moved to let her in front so she could see better. It warmed his heart knowing that the people he worked with had loved her within minutes of having met her. She was now apart of the Ferrari family. She was apart of the Formula One family. He had seen how well both the other drivers and their girlfriends had warmed up to her. He sent her a wink as they placed the national anthems, unbothered about whether people saw it or not. He wanted the whole world to know she was his girlfriend. If he could, he'd scream it from the top of his lungs from his podium step.
He swear he saw her wipe a tear away as she clapped with everyone else. When they popped the champagne, funnily enough it was labeled Ferrari, he sprayed the others before leaning over the railing, spray his team and Lu with the sticky alcoholic liquid. He heard Lu squeal at the contact of the cold drops, moving to shield herself behind one of the mechanics. He laughed at her reaction before drinking some of what was left in his bottle, knocking the bottom of it with the other two drivers in a 'cheers' motion. He wiped away at his eyes, blinking the drink away, the burning feeling not putting a damper on his mood. He felt like he was on cloud nine.
His first ever Grand Slam. And he was proudly dedicating it to his girlfriend.
🤍
after party coming next 💕
I probably won't update until next week however as I'm super busy this week 🥺
like always feedback is welcomed 😁 and i hope you enjoyed