Acid Rain - [Max Verstappen]

[E P I L O G U E]

      The last five laps of the Belgian Grand Prix. Dark clouds were hovering over the Ardens that surrounded the track of Spa Francorchamps, chance of rain was high and Max wished, he wished so dearly it would start raining now. He was chasing Vettel in front of him and Max knew the German wasn't as steady on full wets as he was on the soft tire. As his wish was a command, the voice of his engineer Gianpiero filled his ears. "Max, rain in turn five, there's rain in turn five". His heart skipped a beat as he felt the raindrops tapping on his helmet, slowly wetting his gloves. "I'm coming in". Max replied over the radio, his gap to Hamilton wasn't big enough, but if he could just gain positions. "Inters?". Max hesitated but for some reason he knew the rain wouldn't stop. It would finally pour down out of the sky and soak the asphalt. "Full wets".

"Max, we're not sure if...". "Just give me them!". He gritted in response and the pit box started to rumble as the mechanics jumped up from their chairs and collected the tyres. The pit wall was stressed, they had to trust their driver now. Christian looked skeptically up at the sky, holding his hand up to feel if the rain became harder. The tyres were screwed onto his car and he came out just behind Hamilton. Thunder broke the sky and more rain fell down, soaking his gloves and almost blinding his view. Max felt the car slipping briefly, however he regained control, teeth gritted together as his fingers tightened around the steering wheel. Spa had never been this wet before. People on the grandstands where soaked, but they didn't care as they watched the relatively simple race turn into a crazy circus.

Max was closing the gap between him and the Mercedes driver, overtaking him while turning onto Eau Rouge. His heart was beating so rapidly in his chest. For Tuuli, for Tuuli, for Tuuli. He forced himself to stay calm, chasing the red car as if he was a bull who became steaming angry when he saw it. Vettel had no chance to fight him with the lacking grip on the inters under his car, the track was too wet for them. Max' fingers felt frozen around the steering wheel, rain coming through his suit by now. Just a few meters left and the finish line was there, the victory for him. His mother and sister where there, his team was there, Tuuli was there, in the soaking rain to cheer him on. He did it. He did it. He swayed over the straight, driving passed his crew who were clapping and incredibly proud on their driver.

Max shook his head in disbelieve, driving the car into the pit lane. His fingers were almost too cold to let go of the steering wheel and he took a moment to breathe before getting out. Hamilton was the first one to get to him, his helmet still on but his visor opened. "That was a risky guess". The Brit grinned, meaning his tyre chance. "Sometimes you just know". Max replied, shaking his hand before running into his team on the side. They padded his back and his shoulder and the crowd that was there for him cheered so loudly he had to look up and wave at the sea of orange. He had a short interview before getting in the cool down room where he drank some water. Max got onto the podium as the last person, his team yelling at him from beneath and the fans waving their flags. The Dutch national anthem started and he folded his hands behind his back, looking up at the sky as the rain dripped onto his face.

"I'll be the rain you need in Spa".

And she was. He squeezed his eyes shut at the emotional wave of exhaustion and the loss of Tuuli hit him hard, but he was incredibly relieved he had kept his promise, he could dedicate this to her, to his Tuuli. He looked back down at his team when the Austrian anthem followed and he recovered himself while taking the big trophy. He kissed it briefly for the pictures and pointed up at the sky, throwing his trophy up before catching it again. Max had his usual media duties afterwards, the press conference and the media square where everyone could tell that this was a special win. The moment Max really realized that he had won the race, was when he sat down in his hotel room, placing the trophy on the table in front of him and he examined it with a smile.

Max took his phone out of his pocket, removing the case to take the picture of him and Tuuli, which he had always kept there, and place it next to the trophy. He dialed her number next. "Hi, this Tuuli. At the moment I'm spending my time at a race track. See ya later!".

Max smiled in response.

"See ya later, Tuuls".

A/N: i'm crying. This is it. This is the end of the story. I hope you enjoyed reading this even though Tuuli passed away. It wouldn't be realistic if I let her live with the cancer she had. I'm sorry for writing such a sad story 😩