"'ᶜᵃᵘˢᵉ ⁱ'ᵐ ᵘˢᵉˡᵉˢˢ ʷʰᵉⁿ ʸᵒᵘ'ʳᵉ ˢᵗᵘᶜᵏ ⁱⁿ ᵐʸ ᵐⁱⁿᵈ"
in which marla webber fights to prove herself
irl x social media
daniel ricciardo x fem!oc
2022 f1 season
lowercase intended
age gap!
book one of speed drive
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MARLA HAD PRACTICALLY HID from thursday onwards, she refused to talk to any press after the press conference. christian and jack were happy to let her relax after what had happened - her dad had made sure of it. it didn't help walking through the paddock or standing in the garage in front of thousands people who were all talking about the situation. she just wanted this weekend to be over so she could go home and hide from.
sebastian was quick to marla's defence after hearing about it and had called her that night which was then followed by a call from kimi telling her to skip the foreseeable media duties and that he would pay her fine for her. it would all blow over soon, but she was nervous to post any of the drivers now in case more rumours popped up. at least anyone that wasn't max, everyone knew they were more like siblings than anything else.
marla stretched her tired muscles out as her personal trainer grabbed the two tennis balls from the table. the grand prix was soon which meant marla had to forget about the past events. she was lining up sixth which was alright but it wasn't what she wanted after having two good weekends in a row.
her eyes hardened as she looked at the lights focusing on her breathing. the red lights began to shut off one by one, her grip tightening.
her start was strong and she had gained to places, the car was feeling good and she was able to keep p4 for the next few laps. unfortunately around lap 30 she felt the car begin to lose power, something was wrong and russell was gaining fast. "what's going on?" she asked through the radio trying to push the car further.
"problem with the electrics we're looking in to it, keep defending," hugh responded but marla just groaned as she turn the corner seeing george right next to her and eventually overtaking the red bull. she muttered a 'fuck' the car getting slower by the second.
"it's fucked," she said again, this time lewis overtaking her. her race was going south quick, and by lap 36 she had dropped down to eleventh.
"stop stop, we have to retire the car," those were the words she did not want to hear. she had to listen though and pulled over into the gravel. she sat for a second staring at the screen on her steering wheel, this was the worst weekend of her career. eventually she jumped out the car, keeping her helmet on until she was in the safety of her drivers room.
frustrated tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to calm down before going back to the garage to look over the days, no doubt a cameraman was waiting to capture her reaction. she wiped her tears away quickly and splashed cold water to her puffy face. "fucking piece of shit car," she uttered looking at her reflection. this stuff happened to everyone, it was just bad luck but she was beginning to feel as if the universe had something against her - the unlucky years at williams had followed her to red bull.
when she went down to the garage, hugh and a few mechanics stood around the screens pointing out what had happened during the race. marla stood with her hands on her hips, her race suit hanging off her waist. the electrics had failed, causing it to malfunction and lose power. with huff she just nodded.
christian turned round from the pit wall, gesturing for her to join him. she quickly went over, her gaze averting his eyes. his hand grasped her shoulder, a kind smile on his face, "marla it's your first dnf of the season, you've got us great points okay? don't be too hard on yourself," marla nodded in response, grateful for his words but she just wanted to be left alone and move on.
MARLA CURLED UP under her duvet, the hotel television playing a rerun of greys anatomy. after dealing with the media at the end of the race and congratulating max on his win she was quick to let her dad drop her off at her hotel. she was also ignoring her phone, the brunette knew that twitter would be full of people giving their unsolicited opinions and criticisms.
a couple of knocks sounded from her front door, she stayed still hoping that however it was assumed she was sleeping and leave. "marla i know you're awake," daniel's voice came soon after the knocks, she lay for another second debating on just ignoring him again instead she got up, opening the door to see daniel.
she stood for a moment before stepping to the side letting him in wordlessly. marla made her way back into bed, letting her covers engulf her. daniel followed and joined her, he slid in next to her his arms around her shoulders letting her tuck into his side and her head rest against his chest.
"i don't know why i'm so upset, i just thought my run of bad luck was over," she said breaking the silence. daniel's fingers ran back and forth on her arm soothingly, "it's okay to be upset, this weekend was fucked from the get go," he replied. daniel knew the pressure of being a red bull driver especially when max verstappen was your teammate. it was slowly beginning to take a tole of marla and he didn't want to see her burn herself out trying to fight for her place.
the pair laid in each others embrace, watching the multiple reruns of greys that was playing. marla felt significantly better now that she had practically spilled her guts to daniel. she spoke about the press conference, the team, nearly everything and daniel sat and listened intently letting her blow off steam. she asked him about how it was going at mclaren, slightly self conscious about the amount she had just spoke. he just smiled telling her everything was fine, she hummed her dark eyebrows furrowed but she brushed it off.
"it's getting late, i should go," daniel hummed, trying to shift a sleep marla off of him gently. "just stay," murmured tiredly, her hand patting his chest twice, he smiled softly at the girl muttering an 'okay' as she began to fall asleep. he moved so he was now fulling lying down, marla had wrapped her arm around his waist, her wild curls falling in front of her face. he ran a hand through her locks as he began to relax and fall asleep with the aussie in his arms.
