---
The day Y/N left McLaren was one that Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri wouldn’t soon forget. It wasn’t just a friend leaving—it felt like losing a part of themselves, something integral to the rhythm of their lives. The note Y/N had left behind, scrawled hastily in her familiar handwriting, had been a gut punch. It was brief, filled with gratitude and apologies, but devoid of the laughter and warmth that usually accompanied her words.
Lando found the note first, tucked neatly into his locker in the garage. He read it once, then twice, hoping he’d misunderstood. His heart sank as the reality set in: Y/N was gone, and there was nothing he could do to change it.
He sat down on the bench, the letter trembling slightly in his hands. “Oscar,” he called out, his voice rough. “You need to see this.”
Oscar approached, frowning in concern. He could tell from Lando’s expression that something was wrong—terribly wrong. He took the note from Lando and read it silently. As he did, the color drained from his face.
“She’s really gone,” Oscar said, the words hanging heavily in the air.
Lando nodded, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “She didn’t even say goodbye. How did we not see this coming?”
Oscar leaned against the wall, trying to process the shock. Y/N had been the backbone of their team, the steady hand in the storm, the one who always had a solution when things went wrong. But more than that, she had been their friend. The one who kept them grounded, who made the relentless grind of F1 bearable. Without her, everything felt wrong—empty.
“I should have noticed,” Oscar murmured, guilt gnawing at him. “I knew she was struggling, but I didn’t think… I didn’t think it would come to this.”
Lando looked at him, his expression a mix of frustration and sorrow. “None of us saw it. We were so caught up in the season, in our own issues, that we didn’t see what was happening right in front of us.”
They sat in silence for a long time, the weight of Y/N’s absence pressing down on them. The garage felt eerily quiet, the usual hum of activity muted by the knowledge that she wouldn’t be there anymore—no more morning briefings filled with her sharp insights, no more late-night strategy sessions where she’d remind them that they were a team, that they’d get through whatever challenge lay ahead.
Eventually, Lando spoke again, his voice thick with emotion. “We need to find her, Oscar. We need to make sure she’s okay.”
Oscar nodded in agreement. “But where do we start? She didn’t leave any clues.”
Lando pulled out his phone, his mind racing. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out. She’s not just our race engineer—she’s our friend. We owe it to her to try.”
---
The days following Y/N’s departure were tough. The team continued to function, but something essential was missing. The energy, the camaraderie, the feeling that they were all in this together—it had all been dulled. Lando and Oscar tried to carry on as usual, but it was clear to everyone that things were different.
Lando threw himself into the search for Y/N, reaching out to mutual friends, scanning social media, and even making a few calls to places he knew she liked to visit during the off-season. But it was as if she had disappeared completely. The realization that she had been in so much pain, that she had carried the weight of that final race in Abu Dhabi alone, tore at him.
He spent long nights in his apartment, replaying the moments before and after the Italian Grand Prix, wondering what he could have done differently. How had he missed the signs? Lando was always so good at reading people, at knowing when something was off, but with Y/N, he had been blind. And now she was gone.
Oscar, on the other hand, dealt with the loss in his own quiet way. He wasn’t as outwardly emotional as Lando, but the guilt gnawed at him just the same. Y/N had been there for him from the start, helping him find his footing in F1, guiding him through the pressures of his first season with McLaren. She had believed in him when he doubted himself, and now she was gone because they hadn’t been there for her.
Oscar spent more time alone than usual, replaying the race data that Y/N had left behind, trying to understand the decisions she had made. But no amount of analysis could bring her back, and that realization left him feeling hollow. He missed her—her presence, her wisdom, the way she could make even the worst day seem manageable. The garage felt colder without her, and the joy of racing had dimmed.
---
Weeks turned into months, and despite their best efforts, Lando and Oscar still hadn’t found Y/N. The team moved on as best it could, but the void she left behind was impossible to fill. The new race engineer who replaced her was competent, even brilliant in his own way, but he wasn’t Y/N. He didn’t have the same connection with the drivers, the same ability to make them feel understood and supported. The rapport they had shared with her was irreplaceable.
One evening, after another frustrating day at the track, Lando and Oscar found themselves in Lando’s apartment, nursing beers and staring out at the London skyline. The silence between them was heavy, filled with the unspoken thoughts that had haunted them both since Y/N left.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Oscar finally asked, breaking the silence.
Lando sighed, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. I want to believe she is, but… it’s hard not knowing. I just wish she’d let us in, let us help her.”
Oscar nodded. “She always took on too much, you know? She never wanted to burden anyone else. I just wish she’d realized we were here for her, no matter what.”
They sat in silence for a while longer, each lost in their own thoughts. Eventually, Lando spoke up again, his voice low and determined. “We can’t give up, Oscar. We’ll find her, no matter how long it takes. She’s our friend—our family. And family doesn’t give up on each other.”
Oscar looked at Lando, seeing the resolve in his eyes. He nodded, feeling a flicker of hope. “We’ll find her,” he agreed. “And when we do, we’ll make sure she knows she’s not alone.”
As they clinked their bottles together in a silent toast, there was a shared understanding between them—a promise to keep searching, to keep fighting for the friend they had lost. They didn’t know where the road would lead or how long it would take, but they were determined to see it through.
Because Y/N was more than just a race engineer. She was a part of them, a part of their story. And until they found her, until they brought her back into the fold where she belonged, none of them would ever truly be whole again.
