the money shot (max verstappen )

austrian gp (styrian)

lila had been anticipating the austrian track all year. due to covid, they would be holding two races on the one circuit, much to redbull delight. the austrian gp was the 'redbull track' the 'home race' for the team.

it light a match of excitement and anticipation within redbull. the celebrations, if the drivers were successful, were insane. second to none but monaco and perhaps silver stone. the crowds there were also a delight, especially for max as the stands were full of dutch fans.

max had high expectations placed upon him for the weekends as he was known to be well suited to the redbull track. as such, the pressure of qualifying was multiplied by ten-fold.

as he went out on tack for Q1, he could already feel the nerves building. but his fears were not confirmed ashe was even able to solidify himself in pole position.

lewis was right on his tail however in p2 and behind him lando. checo had qualified p4, which he was decently pleased with.

that night lila had to film both max and checo as they walked around the track, explaining it as they went.

she met tammi in the garage as well as will, another member of the redbull photography team. they made their way out onto track and set up their equipment.

shortly afterwards checo joined them and greeted them all and moments later he was followed by max who came over and shook hands with both tammi and will but only greeted lila with a slight nod of his head.

after a quick debrief to the drivers, given by tammi, they set off walking down the starting straight.

they reached the first corner and perez spoke up, " so this is turn one, recently renamed in honour of niki lauda. there is often a lot of chaos here at the start of the race, it can be quite intense."

he laughed slightly and they continued on towards the second corner.

as they walked, the boys would occasionally say something to the cameras, though there wasn't much to note on the straights.

usually talkative and charismatic, max was surprisingly quiet, not having said much at all yet and checo seemed to notice as lila heard him mention it to max as they continued down the track.

"you tired or something ? gotta wake up for the cameras mate," he joked.

"yea, yea. quali is tiring you know," max replied in an attempt to dismiss the inquisition.

they reached the second corner and for the first time, max spoke up, "so here we have turn two."

checo cut him off, "they call it a turn but really it's more just veering to the side a bit."

he chuckled to himself and max gave him an obligatory smile, not quite as captivating as the one lila had grown to love. she could feel the tension in the air between them. his stand-offish nature made her uneasy and it felt strange to be around him. this feeling was amplified while they walked between turns as there were no distractions to lift her mood.

lila was beginning to believe that checo had a sixth sense because just as she was getting into her head about the awkwardness of the situation he came over and struck up conversation with her.

"how did you like the redbull celebrations? I lost you," he asked.

lila became increasingly aware of maxs proximity, only a few strides ahead and well within earshot.

she replied cautiously, " it was so much fun. sorry for running off on you like that."

max was facing away and lila wasn't able to make out whether he was eavesdropping or not.