I love you , I'm sorry • Max Verstappen

prologue

The sun dipped low on the horizon, casting a warm glow over the quiet stretch of beach where Max Verstappen found himself, reluctantly, thanks to Daniel’s insistence. It was supposed to be a break, an escape from the high-octane life they both knew so well, yet Max couldn’t help feeling like he’d rather be anywhere else. But that all changed the moment he saw her.

Alice Brown wasn’t like anyone he’d ever met. Her laughter seemed to echo against the crashing waves, bold and unrestrained, in a way that made him pause. They clashed from the start, two stubborn forces, each pushing and pulling until a strange familiarity settled between them. In their quiet, private world, they became something neither could explain. Friends? Sometimes. Enemies? More often than not. And somewhere in between, something else took shape, something real.

Their relationship was a secret, something shared only in hushed moments and glances that spoke volumes. No one knew except for his closest friends—Charles, Lando, Daniel, Checo, and Carlos. Together, they held onto this quiet, hidden piece of his life, respecting the privacy that he and Alice so fiercely protected.

But one day, as abruptly as it had started, Max walked away. There was no explanation, no warning. Just silence. A few months later, Alice watched, stunned, as the man she thought she’d known was photographed with someone else, his new girlfriend displayed for the world to see. The image haunted her, twisting her heart in a way she hadn’t thought possible.

Alice tried to carry on, tried to push past the pain, but it swallowed her whole. She struggled, wrestling with her own demons, feeling as though she were drowning in a sea of her own hurt. Yet, through the darkness, her music found her again. Songs poured out of her like never before, lyrics raw and unfiltered, every line a piece of her fractured heart. Each word was a catharsis, a release of everything she couldn’t bring herself to say.

When her song was finally released, it became an anthem for the broken-hearted, a melody of resilience and survival. People around the world felt her pain, humming along to the ache woven into her voice. And inevitably, it reached Max’s ears too. His friends teased him, his co-drivers shared knowing glances, and their girlfriends sang along, unaware of the history hidden behind each lyric.

One night, unable to contain himself, he reached out, sending her a single text: “Move on.” It was meant to be a clean break, a final message to sever whatever fragile thread still held them together. But for Alice, those words cut deeper than any goodbye.

Months later, when she was invited to the Grand Prix as a guest, their worlds collided again. The roaring engines, the flashing cameras, the crowded stands—it was all noise to her as she found herself face-to-face with the man who had become both a memory and a ghost. In that moment, amid the chaos and the unspoken words between them, there was only silence.