Olivia's pov:
November 2022
Last race of the season, Abu Dhabi. I still can't get my head around what happened at this exact place last year, Max won his first ever formula one championship, all the butterflies in my stomach and everything felt so crazy.
This year is more chilled, everything is settled. Max is world champion and Red Bull had secured their constructors championship. What a perfect year for my brother and his team, I'm so happy for them.
Today was already Saturday and almost time for qualifying. The third practice earlier went alright, but for Charles we would have hoped for a better result..
I had just walked around the paddock with Isa since the boys are busy as usual before qualifying. But we were returning back to the Ferrari hospitality now. "So Isa, only a month from this day huh?" I asked and smiled. "Oh yes, I'm so stressed Oli" she laughed a bit. Her and Carlos' wedding is taking place in only a month. They are having a winter wedding which will be so beautiful. "I know, thankfully the season ends today and then you'll have Carlos all focused on the wedding" I smiled. "Yeah I could really use that!. How is the wedding planning going for you and Charles?" She asked.
"Oh please don't talk about it. He cares so much for this wedding it's adorable. But with him working all the time I can't do it, it's stressing me out" I answered. "I understand, I know he only wants you to have the perfect wedding. But inside all his focus must be on racing, if he likes to admit it or not" she said.. "exactly, so yeah to answer your question we haven't decided on much yet.. but we will over winter break" I smiled, and then we stepped inside the building. "That's great, I'm sure whatever you're gonna come up with will be fantastic," she smiled. "Yeah I think so too, thanks"..
We talked with the boys quickly before qualifying, and wished them good luck. Then Isa and I went to the back of the garage with our big Ferrari headphones on, and then we were ready for it to start.
The first ones to go out were Pierre, Mick and Seb. And after a few minutes both ferrari's rolled out.. It all went really well, and of course they were onto Q2. And so was Max!.. It was Kevin, Pierre, Valtteri, Alex and Nicholas who were eliminated from Q1.
After a successful Q2, the last session could begin. The most important one. It was really close between Charles and Carlos, so it was really interesting, which of the two Ferrari drivers that would beat the other one in the end. In the end it was Charles who beat Carlos, but it was seriously close between them. - Max grabbed pole which wasn't surprising, Checo got p2 and the ferrari drivers shared second startrow with Charles in p3 and Carlos in p4.
Isa and I waited at the garage for Charles and Carlos to arrive after they had finished a few interviews, it didn't take long before they walked towards us. "Hey! congrats with p3" I said and gave Charles a big hug, followed by a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks love," he smiled. "Yeah, congrats Charles" Isa said and hugged him. I also congratulated Carlos with p4.
When Charles was done with everything for today, we walked through the paddock and out to the car and drove back to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel we changed into comfortable clothes and ordered some room service, since it was getting late and we hadn't eaten dinner yet.
"Wanna look at some wedding stuff?" Charles asked and yawned a little, obviously he was really tired after both practice and qualifying. "Not now Charles, you need rest" I smiled as I was cleaning up our room after we had eaten our delicious dinner. "Sure, but I really do wanna plan our wedding" he answered and stood up from the couch. "I know you do, but you're not hundred percent focused at the moment, so go finish this season and then we can plan it.. there's no need to hurry, we have our whole life together in front of us" I smiled and walked closer to him. "Maybe you're right, I just wanna make sure this wedding is everything you ever dreamed of. I wanna give you everything you want!" He said and also walked closer to me. "It will be everything I dreamed about, as long as I have you" I said and pulled him closer in a tight hug. "You're too sweet, love.." he said and pulled me even closer in a kiss. "I'm just speaking the truth" I smiled and so did he.
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The next day was race day, the last race of the 2022 season, how crazy to think about! I woke up as the first one, so I went straight to the shower and then got ready. While getting ready Charles woke up and then also got himself ready. "Good morning love, you should have woken me up" he said and kissed my cheek while I was straightening my hair. "Nah, you need sleep for today!" I said and smiled. "Fair enough, let's talk about how pretty you look today then!" He said and took a look at me from bottom to top. "This is nothing new, just my normal look Charles" I laughed, while turning off the straightening iron. "Exactly, ergo you look fantastic everyday!" He smiled and walked to the bedroom to find his Ferrari shirt. "You're unbelievable" I laughed at his comment, walking with him. "I know" he confidently said while getting his bracelets on as the last finish to his outfit. "You look really good too, just so you know it!" I said and smiled. I love seeing him in his red Ferrari clothes, red is definitely his color. "Thanks love, I try my best" he laughed and then went to fix his hair which was the only thing missing.
After we were completely finished we ate some breakfast, Charles didn't eat much which is normal on race day. But I ate a lot since I was really hungry this morning, and the breakfast here is to die for, so I ate for the both of us.
At breakfast we met up with Pierre, Daniel and Lando so that was really nice spending a little time together.
We then drove towards the track and were ready for today! When we arrived Charles had some things to do, so I walked to Red Bull to spend some time with Max but he was only available for half an hour. So afterwards I just spent a good amount of time with Kelly, which is completely fine because she's so sweet. "Ready for the season to be over?" She asked. "Yeah! I'm so ready to have Charles home for a couple months" I smiled. "Me too, I can't wait for Max to be more home, and Penelope definitely misses her Maxie" she laughed. "Of course she does, and Kelly I really wanna come by soon. I still owe Penelope a tea party with all her teddy bears" I smiled. "Yeah I actually remember she mentioned something about that to be honest" she answered and smiled. Penelope is so sweet, and I'm so glad Max had found a girlfriend with such a sweet kid that he adores, and also the other way around.
I spent a lot of time talking with Kelly, we also ate some lunch together where Isa and Lily also joined us, it was really nice.
After a few hours I had gotten back to the Ferrari hospitality with Isa. She went to Carlos and I went to Charles. "Andrea, have you seen Charles?" I asked as I couldn't find him around the hospitality area. "I think he's in his driver's room" he smiled. "Okay thanks, I'll try to look for him there" I smiled and then walked towards his room.
I knocked on the door and after a few seconds he opened it. "Oh hey love, come in" he smiled and gave me a kiss. I walked inside and sat down waiting for him to finish getting his race suit on. "Did you have fun with the girls today?" He smiled. "Yeah it was great".. "Sorry that I hadn't been more available today than I use to be".. "don't apologize. You're working, and you have lots of things to do, I had a really great day so don't worry about that" I answered, it was really cute how he wants me to be with him the entire day, but it's just not possible. "That's good to hear, but at least the season is over after tonight and then I will be with you everyday and all day" he smiled while zipping his suit. "I definitely like the sound of that, you deserve this break! But before that, you go out there on track today and do everything you can" I smiled and got up from the couch. "I'll do that" he smiled and then handed me his black ring as tradition, and then he took off his bracelets and put them on a little shelf. "That's great! Good luck today, please be safe" I said as I placed the ring on my finger and then gave him a kiss. "Of course, and thanks love" he smiled big. We then walked out of the room, he walked to his car in the garage and I went to find Isa so we could watch the race together from the seats above the pit.
The lights went out, and the race had begun. Max had a great start, so he kept being in p1 but Checo was pushing from behind. Charles also had a great start but was still in p3 with Carlos behind. Carlos and Lewis had a few moments, so that was being investigated..
Charles kept getting closer to Checo in p2, but with Checo being the Mexican minister of defense, it was so hard for Charles to get past him. I really wanted for Charles to win over Checo because that means Charles will be second in the championship, since those two have the exact same amount of points at the moment. So this race will determine who gets second.
The race went alright. Three dnf's and 58 laps later Max for the second year in a row crossed the line as winner in Abu Dhabi. Right behind was Charles and I couldn't believe it, he actually got p2 and ended as number two in the championship. At the main straight Max, Charles and Checo were doing donuts and it looked amazing with the fireworks in the air, and everyone was cheering for them.
I walked to parc ferme, and I was spotted by a few of the guys from Ferrari, so they all agreed to let me come through and be in front. I was standing next to Mattia and Andrea. After the cars had pulled up Charles ran towards us and hugged everyone, the guys were hugging him so much and clapping on his helmet, they were all so happy for him and the team. Afterwards he walked to me and I pulled him into the biggest hug. "Congratulations I'm so proud of you" I said almost with a little tear in my eye. "Thank you so much love" he said and hugged me tighter before he walked to do his interview.
The interviews were of Max, Charles, Checo and a little extra of Seb because this was his last race in F1, which is really sad.. when it was over, the only thing missing was the podium ceremony.
After everything was done I congratulated Checo and then I also went to Max to congratulate him. I'm really proud of him!. "Ready to head out?" Charles asked as I had finished talking to Max and also Kelly. "Yeah let's go" I smiled and then we headed out. Lots of fans stopped us on our way out to the car, so it took quite a long time because of course Charles agreed to take some pictures and I did as well.
We got back to the hotel and immediately changed clothes and got ourselves ready. We were going to the big after party later, where there will be lots of the drivers and so many other people, and I'm actually really excited for it, I could really use a night out.
The party was so good, we danced the night away and it was a perfect way to end a wonderful season. I was surrounded by most of my favorite people the entire night. Charles, Max, Daniel, Pierre, Isa, Kelly and Carlos. I Simply couldn't wish for more in this exact moment.
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(2150 words)
That was it for this chapter, I hope you enjoyed reading along. Sorry that I haven't uploaded in a while, just been a bit busy. But I'm back, and I will upload more really soon, so stay tuned.
Remember to check out my other stories, that would make me so happy! - lots of love from me 🤍✨