Silverstone, the home of Formula 1. It was a track like no other which had its own unique atmosphere. For Red Bull, it also was a home race, since their factory was located in Milton Keynes. Although, it didn't feel like it. Everywhere you looked, you saw Mercedes caps and flags with the number 44 on them. Here and there, there were still a few orange McLaren fans for Lando Norris, but they, like the Red Bull fans, were in the vast minority.
For Madelyn, it felt more like a home race because of her British nationality. She was thrilled to be back at her home track. Her friends and family were also there after being invited by the team. Her parents and brother, who were big fans of the sport, were blown away when they walked into Red Bull's garage. Max proudly showed his car to them after meeting them, which made sense after Madelyn had met his father a few weeks earlier. Madelyn's 20-year-old brother Noah even got to sit in the car for a while, which was a dream come true. Max explained everything about his wheel while Noah listened intently. Madelyn's brother was studying engineering himself and had always been interested in motor racing. Getting a masterclass (or maxterclass as he called it himself) from an F1 driver was almost too good to be true.
It was race day today. Yesterday, they had the first sprint race of the season. It was a new phenomenon in Formula 1. To be honest, both Max and Madelyn didn't really know what to think of it yet. Max in particular was having a bit more trouble with it, and he wasn't the only driver. Everyone was used to a certain routine, and it was suddenly thrown upside down this weekend. Especially having only one practice session before qualifying was something Max was less than happy about. But despite that, Max still managed to neatly secure a P2 during qualifying and turn it into a P1 during sprint qualifying.
Madelyn and Max stood side by side in the garage while her family were talking to GP and Christian. Both watched the Scott family, Madelyn with a smile on her face. "Thanks again for everything you did for my parents and brother this weekend," she said to the driver next to her. Max looked down at her and gave her his familiar smile.
"No problem. It was the least I could do for them," he said and turned his gaze back to the five people on the other side of the garage. He would be lying if he said he wasn't a tad nervous when he met her family earlier this weekend. But her parents were tremendously nice individuals who had been enormously grateful for Red Bull's hospitality this weekend.
"Have your parents always been fans of the sport?" Max asked curiously. Madelyn nodded her head. "Yes. Mainly my dad is the reason I ever got into the sport. For as long as I can remember Noah and I have watched races with him," she told him, smiling at the thought of her childhood days. "I always wanted to work in engineering first, but I didn't have the talent. That went to Noah. Then I found out you could also work in PR. I studied communications for three years, applied to every F1 team, and that's how I ended up here."
Max began to smile at her childhood stories and immediately thought of his own youth. He too could remember how he used to watch Formula 1 races with full admiration for big names like Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso. He didn't often talk about his childhood for certain reasons. He never learned from his parents, especially his dad, how to talk about his feelings and memories, and therefore found it difficult to do so. Fortunately, he was able to do better than his father, who was also present this weekend.
The two talked about the upcoming race as they stood waiting for the race to start. Max his car was already ready on the grid, and he was only in the garage briefly to say hello to Madelyn and her family before he would return to his car. When it was finally time, he quickly said goodbye to the Scotts and walked out of the garage with GP. Madelyn joined her family and Jos behind the little wall where the rest of the guests were also standing to watch the start of the Grand Prix.
As always, the five red lights went on and off before the entire field departed from their starting positions. Max and Lewis immediately took a big distance from the rest of the field and began a fantastic battle for the first position. Max did his best to keep Lewis' slightly faster Mercedes behind him as they drove through the first few corners. Charles Leclerc followed the duo with the two orange McLarens behind him. Lewis stayed in Max's slipstream on their way toward Copse Corner. Just before they reached the corner, Lewis placed his car next to the Red Bull in an attempt to overtake.
Only it went horribly wrong.
Lewis Hamilton left front tire hit Max's right rear tire, and the dark blue Red Bull spun off the track at high speed. The squeak of the rubber across the asphalt could be heard in the garage, with the huge slam into the wall following. The whole Red Bull garage gasped as they witnessed Charles taking the lead of the Grand Prix while dust rose from the gravel by Max's spinning car.
With total bewilderment, Madelyn held her hand in front of her mouth as her eyes began to water. Fear that Max was not okay raced through her body. This was one of the hardest crashes she had ever seen in the sport. The speed at which Max hit the wall didn't bode well, and she hoped with all her heart he would get out of that car without any broken bones. The race was stopped immediately. On the screens in front of them, all the drivers could be seen driving back toward the pits. While the whole garage could hear GP asking if Max was okay, everyone waited tensely for the first footage that could give them reassurance.
For Madelyn, it felt like the world was slowly disappearing around her. Her eyes could only focus on the screen in front of her while all the sounds around her faded away. She was able to breathe slightly at ease when the cameras were pointed at Max and some movement could be seen in the cockpit. Marshals came running from all sides and helped him out of the car as quickly and carefully as possible. From another direction, an ambulance was already arriving with sirens blaring, counting on the most serious case. Fortunately, Max was able to stand fairly on his own two feet, although he needed quite a bit of help from the men around him.
Biting her thumbnail and holding her breath, Madelyn watched as Max briefly raised his hand to the crowd as a sign that he was okay before being escorted to the ambulance by the marshals. She was so focused on the screen in front of her that she didn't notice that meanwhile the rest of the drivers had arrived back in the pitlane. She looked to her right and saw Sergio's crew running out with the right equipment for his car.
She was startled when out of nowhere she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see Bradley standing behind her with a worried face. "Are you okay?" He asked her. She shrugged and briefly looked back once more at the screen showing a replay of the crash.
"I think I'm just very shocked. I've never experienced a crash like that in real life," she told him. Bradley nodded understandingly. "We're all enormously shocked, but he's in good hands. I'll let you know when we can visit him."
Madelyn thanked him with a weak smile and walked out from behind the wall. She made her way toward the exit of the pit box and leaned against the wall as she watched all the teams running through the pit lane. Her thoughts went back to their own little world while the image of Max's car in the wall kept playing through her mind. With much effort, she managed to swallow away her tears and keep them hidden from everyone. She needed to keep herself cool for everyone in the paddock. She couldn't afford for any pictures of her crying in the pit lane to go around on social media and for fans to also speculate about the relationship between her and Max.
For several minutes she continued to watch the other teams from Max's pit box. After a while, out of the corner of her eye, she saw three people walking toward her, all three with concerned looks on their faces. Charles and Pierre faced Madelyn while Daniel came to stand beside her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him to comfort her.
"Have you heard anything from him yet?" Charles asked softly, to which Madelyn shook her head. "No. Bradley would let me know if he heard anything." The three drivers stayed quiet around her. They didn't really know what to say to her but knew that their presence was something she could really use right now.
"It looked like a big impact," Daniel mumbled. Madelyn had nothing to say to that and stared down at the floor. "It's a miracle he stepped away from that alive," he continued.
"Are you okay?" Pierre asked after he saw from her face how brave she was holding on. "I just hoped I would never witness such a big accident in my career, especially in my first year here," she admitted.
"No one hopes to experience such an accident," Charles said. "But that's just part of the sport, as unfortunate as it is."
"I know," Madelyn sighed as she looked back up again to the guys in front of her. "It just scared me more than I thought it would." The three drivers stayed close to Madelyn to make sure she was okay. To see your best friend crash into the wall like that in your first year was very hard, so it was extra nice that her other friends were here to support her while she waited to go to Max.
While they waited outside for the race to restart, it was a complete madhouse in the garage and at Red Bull's pit wall. Christian and GP were busy consulting with the FIA to come up with an appropriate penalty for the Mercedes driver who, in their view, had caused the crash. They were still in discussion when all the drivers were called back into their cars to prepare for the rest of the race. Madelyn returned to her family who was still in the pit box. When she got there she saw that Jos Verstappen was no longer among them. He had probably left for the medical center to look for his son, which was more than logical. Still, Madelyn resented not being able to go with him.
With her family, she watched the first few laps of the race in the garage. Lewis was assigned a ten-second penalty by the FIA, a penalty the team felt was somewhat mild. But they were glad that Lewis was found to be at fault. After about 15 laps Bradley got a text from Jos that he and Max had left in an ambulance, heading for the hospital. Max was doing fine, but just to be sure the doctors at the track wanted to make scans of Max's head. Max's trainer walked over to Madelyn and told her to come along with her so they could meet Max and Jos in the hospital.
During the car ride, things remained quiet between the two. Madelyn stared out the window while Bradley made sure they arrived at the hospital safely. After arriving at the correct ward they waited impatiently together in the waiting room. After half an hour Jos came out of the hallway and told them that they could see Max.
"You go on ahead. I need to discuss something with Jos first," Bradley said to Madelyn and waved her away toward Max's room. That wasn't entirely true, but since Bradley was pretty much certain of their relationship, it seemed like a good idea to him to give them a moment alone. Only Madelyn or Jos didn't need to know that.
Not knowing what to expect, Madelyn walked down the hallway. When she arrived at the right room, which ironically happened to be number 33, she knocked on the door and waited for an answer from inside. Fortunately, she didn't have to wait too long and walked inside when he heard Max say "come in".
Max sat upright in his bed dressed in a Red Bull t-shirt and sweatpants. Immediately a smile appeared on his face when he saw that it was Madelyn standing inside his room. "Hey gorgeous," he said and tapped the sheets on the bed as a sign she should join him. He looked good. He looked a little blurry in his eyes, but other than that, there was nothing special about him. It was as if the 51G accident had never happened. Madelyn took a cautious breath of relief as she walked toward the bed. She took a seat on the spot Max just indicated and pretty soon felt his hand run through her hair.
"I didn't expect to see you already, to be honest," Max admitted as his hand rested on her cheek. Madelyn placed her hand on his and weakly smiled at him.
"You scared the shit out of me," she blurted out after a moment of silence. "Please don't ever do this to me again."
"Well, I can't promise you that. You should ask Lewis to make that promise," Max grinned. Before Madelyn could even laugh at his joke, she got pulled toward him and into a kiss. She smiled against his lips as she carefully placed her hand on his chest. After a couple of seconds, she pulled back from the kiss and looked into his blue eyes.
"How are you?" She whispered. "Okay," he answered. "I'm still a bit dizzy, and my head and chest hurt a little, but the doctors said everything was fine. Nothing crazy to see on the scans except for my golden heart." Madelyn, chuckling, gave him a gentle nudge against his chest before kissing him again.
"Are you okay?" Max asked after they separated. "I am now that I know you're okay," she admitted. "But it doesn't matter how I feel now. The most important thing is that you are okay."
It was as if Max was melting inside because of her concern. He couldn't remember anyone who cared about him as much as Madelyn did. Sure, his family, team, and friends cared about him. But this was so much different than that. She always put other people before her, and he loved her for it. He loved her. Everything about her was something he loved, and he knew it from the first moment he finally got to kiss her that night in Monaco.
"You know what? As soon as we get out of here, I'll take you out somewhere in Monaco. I want to forget about this weekend as soon as possible, and the best way to do that is to spend time with you," Max suggested as he stroked his hand through her hair. His touch made Madelyn feel warm from the inside, and an automatic smile appeared on her face.
"That sounds lovely."
"Simply lovely."
.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.
It's time for the best GP of the year: the Dutch GP
🧡🇳🇱🦁🏆