Horner's daughter

Busted.

Zandvoort. Max’s home Grand Prix. It was the first time he’d ever driven there and thus it was his first proper home race. In previous years, Spa was the closest he’d gotten to a home Grand Prix in terms of Belgium’s proximity to the Netherlands and the fact that he was half-Belgian due to his mother. He’d also been born there but had always felt more Dutch than Belgian and so he chose to race under the Dutch flag. For this reason, he was excited to represent his country on the home stage and he allowed himself to hope for a win. He knew the atmosphere would be electric if he managed it.

He did a track walk with his team, which he never usually did, to inspect it and admired the steep banking that was similar to the old Monza circuit. They’d been supposed to return there the previous year but the pandemic had prevented that so this was his first proper look.

He found himself getting slightly distracted on his track walk though and had to keep forcing himself to focus as Y/N had decided to join them. She was ahead of him, talking to her dad and every so often he heard her laugh. He shook his head and listened to his team again, discussing the track and the possible strategies that they could try.

Max had had a varied experience in practice. In FP1, Hamilton had finished first and Max had finished behind him in second. FP2 was a lot different as Charles Leclerc finished first and Max ended the session 5th. He did finish first in the third practice session and also had a successful qualifying, qualifying on pole for his home race.

The Orange Army were cheering every time he went passed and they went wild when he qualified first. His fans were incredibly passionate and they followed him all around the world in large numbers. He really appreciated them and it was a great feeling seeing a crowd all in that same orange hue.

Following qualifying, Max found Y/N. “Hey” he said.

She turned towards him “Oh hi Max. Well done on getting pole.”

“Thanks” he paused, having an idea “Y/N, have you eaten?”

“No I haven’t actually, why?”

“Come with me.”

She followed him as they left the track and entered the town of Zandvoort. She was getting more confused as they went and opened her mouth to ask where they were going. At that moment they arrived at a snack bar and Max directed them both inside.

It was relatively quiet, with only a few tables full with people eating and chatting. Y/N looked at Max as they stood in the queue for the counter. He turned to her “I have a recommendation for you. You should order the frikandel speciaal, it’s so good. I bet you’ve never had one before but it’s a Dutch classic. I always miss them when I’m not in the Netherlands.”

She nodded “What is it?”

“It’s like a long piece of meat that is then cut open and filled with raw onions, mayonnaise and curry ketchup. They’re so tasty. Look” he pointed to another customer passing by, who was holding a long, thin tray filled with an item matching Max’s description. It looked delicious.

“I’ll definitely get one of those” she decided. He nodded in approval.

“Good choice. I’m having one as well but you can’t tell anyone. I don’t think that’s really part of my diet” he laughed and pretended to shush her.

They made their order and sat down to eat it. Y/N stuck her fork into the warm meat and took a bite, chewing slowly to savour the taste. It was as delicious as Max had described. The flavours worked so well together and they sung in her mouth.

Max raised an eyebrow “Do you like it?”

She nodded enthusiastically and swallowed her bite “This is amazing! Why have I never had one before?”