Chaos on the F1 Grid

Chapter 4: Charles POV

Charles woke up that morning feeling happy, truly happy. This season was to be his brothers first in Formula One, and he was beyond proud of him. It wasn't lost on Charles that Arthur had had to sacrifice a lot when they were younger – particularly karting as their family could not afford for both of the boys to continue, so they had prioritised Charles as the older of the two. He knew how much it hurt Arthur to not be able to continue, and to watch Charles do what he loved so much, and this, if Charles was honest, fuelled his determination to succeed even more. Every race he competed in he would do his best for Arthur and himself. Arthur was his biggest supporter, many might have expected the younger sibling to be resentful, but in truth Arthur was incredibly proud of Charles, and appreciated how hard his brother worked. Arthur knew that part of what drove Charles was the desire to do his best for Arthur and he appreciated him for that. Charles never wanted a day to go by when Arthur would feel that Charles hadn't appreciated his sacrifice, and done everything he could to make the most of the opportunity he had been given. Even though the brothers never spoke openly about it, they each suspected that the other knew what they were feeling.

It was only natural that Charles was the first person that Arthur called when he found out about his F1 seat. Charles cried tears of happiness and pride when Arthur told him the news, he knew how hard Arthur had to work to get there, especially after taking such a long pause as a child. It had not been an easy road – especially with the family tragedies that the universe decided to throw their way, but Arthur had persevered. Charles was beyond proud of him and wanted to make sure that Arthur could never doubt that. Over the following few days every time they saw each other Charles couldn't help but hug his little brother and remind him of how proud he was, and how proud their dad would be of him. Arthur had appreciated this so much, but never told Charles that. They had both shared looks of annoyance at dinners with family friends during those days when a stupid comment was made, or Arthur having to give up karting was brought up.

No one could question how hard Charles had worked, nor deny his pure racing talent, but every now and then he wondered how different things would have been for his brother had he not had to give it up. Arthur would have likely gotten onto the F1 grid 3 years after Charles, not the 6 years it took, he also wondered whether Ferrari would have offered Arthur a seat alongside Charles. Even though Charles had always questioned whether he could ever accept being his brothers teammate – given the competitiveness between the two. After all your teammate is the only one in equal machinery.

Family friends constantly commented that the brotherly bond and love would be out of the window the moment they are on the grid, but deep-down Charles doubted this. He still remembered the day that his parents brought Arthur home from the hospital. Charles was nearly 3 years old and had been so excited to meet his little brother, Lorenzo had told him about how important a role being a big brother was and Charles was determined to do it well. Their family photo albums were full of pictures of Charles hugging his little brother, or teaching him how to do something. Lorenzo was immensely proud of how Charles was with Arthur from day one, and continued to be to this day.

Charles knew that with Pierre there was the understanding that when the visor is down, the friendship is done until the race is over, then they would be friends as always. But how could he turn off the love and concern he had for his little brother? Someone he had sworn the day his parents brought him home that he would always protect. He knew it would be difficult, and that his job would demand it, and there was part of him that thought instinct would take over in the car – in truth he hoped that it would. His years of training and conditioning would do what they do and his brother would be just another driver on the grid, but there were moments of doubt in his mind – but he wouldn't speak of this to anyone. Charles often kept his feelings buried deep down – of course he would get frustrated at things, and shout in Italian when he was annoyed at losing a game. But, when it came to his feelings, the emotions that made him vulnerable, those he kept to himself.