racing hearts - a Fabio Quartararo fanfiction [🇬🇧]

chapter 16

[Don't let it break your heart - Louis Tomlinson]

With the races, which were almost every weekend, the time flew by even faster than usual and it was already the end of June which meant that it was time for the Silverstone Grand Prix.
In the meantime I was back in second place in the championship, although I had slipped down to third place for two races in between. However, I only had that second place by a narrow margin over Leclerc, who was only five points behind me. Max pulled away from me by 56 points, but I will do everything to change that.

Off the track, Max and I were friends and teammates who got along very well. But we were still opponents on the track and nobody gives anyone anything for free.
However, we can separate both well.
Once the race is over, we leave the race situations behind and get along as well as we did before the race. For us it didn't mix.
When I switched to Redbull Racing last year and got off to a better start than Max and the media immediately jumped at it.

"Will Verstappen be the number two at Redbull Racing?"
"Team atmosphere is destroyed at Redbull"
"The new number 1: Annika Hinz"

And that's how the newspaper were filled, after my first race at Redbull.
However, Max and I knew that everything that was written was total nonsense and none of it was true. There was no first or second driver.
Of course we fight each other, but we were both fair.
We also told the team from the start that neither of us wanted any orders while we're driving and we won't accept them either. We'll just drive and whoever was in front, was in front.
It's still like that now and that's why the friendship between Max and me wasn't destroyed by any races.

At the moment I was sitting in my drivers room and was on the phone with Fabio, who also had a race today.
There was still some time before the start of his race, which is why we just had time to make a phone call.
Fabio told me that he was keen to get points today as he seemed to need them even if he's leading the World Championship by a wide margin.
But I understood him. In racing, you always have to score points, even if you've maybe even secured the world championship. This was simply a racer's instinct.
You couldn't let up, even if you were already ahead. The benefits always had to remain in place.
Because in motorsport the highs are very high, but the lows are also very low.
And no racing driver wanted to get into these lows, which is why the weekly scoring was very important.
He explained to me that his podiums have dropped quite a bit since the last few races and he didn't want to disappoint the team since the start was actually so good.
I nodded, listened and shortly afterwards gave him an answer: "Hey, it's quite normal that there is a phase during the season when you get a little down and things don't go smoothly. But don't let this phase defeat you . I know what you can do and your team knows that too. They will be the last ones to be disappointed just because your results haven't put you on the podium for a few races. Well, although the last one is me."
I heard Fabio laugh, which made me warm.
"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I know how it feels when you think you're disappointing the team. I felt the same way at first but we talked about it and now everything's back to normal. Your team stands behind you Fabio. And so do I. No matter what the result."
"You can always do it, don't you?" he said.
"What do you mean?"
"Building me up," he now said with a grin. Of course I didn't see him since we weren't facetiming, but I heard it in his voice and literally saw it in front of me.
"Well, I can only return that," I replied, also getting a grin.
"Hey, by the way...", Fabio wanted to start his sentence, but my attention was interrupted when I heard a knock.
I apologized to him briefly and saw the door open after I asked in.
Max appeared in the door.
"Man, where are you?" he asked outright, which confused me.
He caught my eye and added, "It's just after two-thirty. You should have been there fifteen minutes ago."
I looked at the clock and froze.
Oh shit.
"Fuck," I whispered to myself and quickly grabbed my race suit, which I wasn't wearing yet.
"I'll wait outside, but hurry up. Otherwise Christian will ask you ten times why you're to late and that this shouldn't happen anymore. I don't think he's noticed yet, so I'm your savior in need now and get you before he notices anything," said Max, laughing, as he saw me trying to get into the race suit quickly, which didn't work so well with stress.
I frantically called out a thank you and he left the room.
"I'm so stupid," I said to myself when I suddenly heard a chuckle. Then I remembered that I still had Fabio on the phone. I picked up the phone and somehow tried to cradle it between my head and shoulder so I had both hands free to put my stuff on.
"Yeah, laugh. Your spoiled girlfriend," I replied to his laughter.
"I like it when you say that," he replied, making me blush.
God, why did he always manage that?
Without responding to his comment, I spoke quickly, "I have to go now. We can talk on the phone again after our races. Just remember what you were about to say before."
I finally managed to zip up the racing suit and quickly grabbed my helmet.
"Sure, otherwise I'll text to you. I doubt that I won't fall straight into bed after my race," replied Fabio, "Good luck and take care of yourself."
"Good luck to you too. And don't let yourself be pressured too much, okay?"
"Okay," he replied and after a quick goodbye I put my phone away and quickly gathered my gloves and water bottle, whereupon I stepped out to Max.
"Finally," he said.
"Hey, that was a new record," I replied.
"If you've got that pace in the race today, then we already know who I'll lap at least twice," he laughed and quickly ran away before I could box him in the shoulder.
"Hey, stay here," I called after Max and ran after him towards the garage.

The race went very well and I gained a point advantage over Leclerc again, who this time ended the day without a point.
Even if I didn't go for a podium, I was happy with myself.
And no, Max didn't lap me twice. Not even once.
However, my mood only got better when I answered my phone afterwards. As Fabio said before, he will text me. And he did.
I read the message.

So, I wanted to ask you if we want to meet up next week in France? I'm off and you've got your race here, so it's almost playing into our hands. Besides, I want to see you again.

A feeling of happiness flooded through me as I read through it. Yes, I finally wanted to see him again.

Fabio and I did manage to meet up a few more times after what happened in the hospital, but definitely not as often as we would have liked. Despite this, our relationship worked flawlessly.
It was very stressful, but it was just beautiful. We were on the same wavelength and as soon as I heard his voice or saw him, I felt always a little better.
It was also good that the media was unaware of the relationship, which gave us peace of mind. While it was well known that we were friends, no rumors arose when we were spotted together. But nobody thought that there could be something between us.
Fabio and I seemed to play our roles very well in public.

I then texted him back, but without expecting an immediate reply, since he had already said that he didn't know if he would still be online after the race.

Oh, I'm definitely in
Why are you exactly next week
in France?

I asked Fabio this question because he told me that he actually stayed in Italy when he only had a week off.
However, I got the answer faster than I thought and when I was on my way to the airport I read his explanation.

I was invited by Alpine. That means we'll see each other more often next week. Also on the track ;)

And now I was looking forward to the French Grand Prix ten times more.