Acid Rain - [Max Verstappen]

1.8 || barcelona

The sun was shining in Barcelona. Last year it was still freezing till the afternoon, but now it was nice and warm during the start of the winter tests. Maybe spring tests were a better name. For Tuuli, it felt great to be back in her working atmosphere. The last week had been heavy, also for Max. The first day of testing has spread with a conference where Tuuli had held her speech about her sickness, wanting the guys to work no matter what. She'd be around with her camera anyways, she would be fine. Christian had pulled her apart and talked to her a bit in private, wanting her to know that they'd be ready for her whenever she needed the team or if she needed some time for herself. She appreciated it a lot, the crew formed her family on the track and she cherished those guys.

The first testing day had been a great day for her to shoot the first pictures outside on the track. She had settled herself next to Mark Sutton, a coleague who was always nice to her and willing to trade tips and tricks. A couple of pipes laid in front of them behind the barricade and it resulted in some stunning shots of Max' car at the end of the tunnel alike situation the pipes created. Tuuli could feel that the walking over the track to swap the corners to shoot from was very intense and she needed multiple breaks before being able to have steady hands to shoot the pictures. Towards the end of the day, she got back to the pit boxes and sat down in the back to browse through her camera roll. Tuuli took a few sips of her water bottle, taking her medicin from her pocket to swallow them quickly.

Some mechanics looked at her for a moment, seeming to keep their eyes out for her. Tuuli had been her chirpy, sarcastic self and if she wasn't tired or anything, nobody would guess she was that sick. She had been getting out earlier in the morning to do her make up, something she loved doing, just to keep herself busy and keep her mind set positive. Max had been watching her when he got dressed, how she used the colourful shades on her lid and he had kissed her cheek before she put the foundation over it, telling her he'd be in the bathroom. Max was dealing with it in a good way, he knew she didn't want him to keep worrying about her, but sometimes he of course couldn't help it. He wanted to be around her all the time and it felt good knowing that she was somewhere on the track to shoot pictures of him, with other photographers.

"We're about to wrap it up, Tuuls. You ready for dinner?". Elham asked, rolling a tyre towards the rack. "Starving". She groaned and it made him chuckle. He extended his hand and she took it to get up from the chair. Max had his media duties to tell quickly how his first day of testing went. Somewhere this week he also had an exclusive interview for the Dutch media, probably on a day when it was Pierre's turn to drive the car. Tuuli waited in the back of the pit box for the guys to be done and she joined them on their way to the hospitality for the team dinner. It was quite late already, the sun had set an hour ago and everyone was hunrgy from work that has been done today. The atmosphere in the team was positive. The new Honda power source had done its job perfectly today and they managed to get a fifth time.

Of course the times weren't that important during the testing days, as the long runs shows what the car was capable of and how it felt and how it's balance was, is more important that speed. For now. Max joined them after he got changed into his jeans and his shirt, sitting down next to Tuuli with his plate as everyone had kept a chair free for him next to her. "Hi". He greeted her, leaning over to kiss her cheek. "Hi". She replied with a smile. "Had a good day?". She asked and he nodded with a hum, having his mouth full of food at that moment. "Pretty good". Max said after a couple seconds. "How about you? Got the good side of her?". Max grinned, meaning the car by 'her'. "Oh she's pretty". Tuuli chuckled. "I'll show you some later, I'm posting some tonight anyway". She explained and he nodded.

"I'm having that interview tomorrow, but you'll be on the track of course". He mentioned later and she nodded now. "Probably somewhere out there with Vlad". Tuuli said, Vladimir was another photographer for Red Bull, together with Tommo Getty. The three of them went out shooting quite a lot, however there were enough moments where they were each seeking their perfect spot to shoot the pictures at. Max smiled at her, relaxing a bit at the thought that at least someone was with her. After the dinner, it was time to get back at the hotel and have a shower before bed. Tuuli was absolutely fine with going to bed early, since she was very tired as well. Because she prefered to shower in the morning, she was seated in bed with her laptop to upload a few pictures of today on Instagram and to her story.