COLLISION COURSE - Lando Norris [ff]

Twenty-Seven

“Official Team Statement
Following the events of the past months, we see ourselves forced to release an honest explanation from our perspective to rule out any further misconception.
There is no sort of remarkable relationship of neither romantic nor sexual nature between Lando Norris and Christina Collins, and therefore no economic, financial, cooperative or laboring connection from McLaren to AlphaTauri.
Any of the past events in total and especially regarding the race results in Silverstone, Hungary and Las Vegas had nothing to do with any association of the beforementioned teams and/or drivers.
We support fair sportsmanship in every aspect.
Therefore, we sincerely apologize for the clear misunderstanding.
However, we are deeply concerned about the open reactions from media companies to private people on the internet and do not tolerate any hate or defamation towards our drivers or any other drivers involved in this unlucky sequence of events.
We want to make clear that McLaren is considering taking legal action to ensure everyone’s safety on and off track.
We hope for a bright future of the sport and are looking forward to many more years of fair competition.
With kind regards,
The Team of McLaren Racing,” Charles read the open letter out loud for everyone in the small group standing in a circle to hear.

The statement had been released right in time before the pre-race interviews on Thursday would take place. There had been multiple questions throughout the weekend for Lando to answer, many of them which made him highly uncomfortable. But it had been the only safe option for the team.

“It’s all over the headlines,” Max noted while looking down at Charles’ phone screen who still swiped through the search results in the browser. There were screenshots of the photo the team had posted to every social media platform everywhere. Black writing on papaya-colored background.

“The questions on Thursday were all over the place,” George added. He had been with him at the pre-race interview where they would sit down on a sofa and discuss the latest news of the hopes and expectations for the upcoming Grand Prix every driver certainly had.

Max laughed, “Because this fucking story is all over the place.”

“Did AlphaTauri release a statement?” Carlos asked.
He stood next to his teammate at Ferrari. Within the time the two of them had spent together at McLaren they had grown into close friends.

“Like an hour or so after us.” Lando nodded and took another sip from his drinking straw. Electrolytes were essential before a race, and he really needed to get his body into the right space to deliver decent results at the last given chance of the season before all of them could get their well-deserved winter break.

“Did they also specify that there was no shagging involved?” The Dutchman grinned and carefully boxed his shoulder. It was casual banter that young adults would have, but he did not feel like it at all. There had been some form of relationship between them, and he knew it very well.

Charles smirked. “Well it only says no relationship that’s neither romantic nor sexual. What else have we got?”

“Honestly, fuck you all,” Lando snorted with a roll of his eyes and adjusted his team cap a bit. They did not stop going on about how funny everything seemed to them. Carlos was apparently the only person to realize how important this was for him and somehow, he could tell from his friend’s eyes how much it hurt him to have people crack jokes about this matter– about Christina of all people.

“C’mon! It’s sort of ironic considering how many people accused her of taking advantage of being the only woman on the grid,” George snickered. It was only a lame comment delivered with an especially funny undertone. Still, he hit a sensitive spot.

“She did not take advantage of anything. After all, she is the one to receive literal death threats on the internet, okay? Please, leave her out of this,” Lando defended her as discreetly as he could and maneuvered his voice back to calm before anyone could notice. He did not want people talk bad about her behind her back. Also, he could not blow his cover either. It was a fine line between these two not only wishes but demands of extraordinary meaning.