Chapter Text
"You weren't aware people were thinking of signing you on already?" Rosberg asked when the teen seemed to start panicking.
"Obviously not! I'm not even that good! And it's only the fourth race of the season! Why would they want me as their next driver?!" Max exclaimed, already grabbing the plush out of the bag again and hugging it tightly.
"Why is Max freaking out?" Carlos asked, heading over to the group. "You better not have done anything." He said, arms crossed and glaring at the older drivers.
"Other than give Max a plush and make him realise that teams are looking to sign him on, nothing," Rosberg said, hands up in defence at the younger alpha.
"Wait? Are people already wanting to sign Max on for 2017? How did you find that out?" Carlos asked with a raised eyebrow. "Are they not normally quite secretive about that information around other drivers?" He asked, turning to check on the teen behind him.
Though when he had turned around, Max had managed to disappear from the group without a sound. "How does he do that?"
"I did not see him leave. It must be some form of trauma thing. Being able to escape with people around so he can get away from his father." Kimi thought out loud to the group.
"Likely. And yes, they are very secretive. I happen to listen to conversations with the managers without them knowing. I was assuming the same was likely the case with what Toto wants to discuss with Max." Fernando said with a smile. "Though if they are actually considering him now, they will be paying closer attention to his skills, and that is more likely to put the pressure on." He added.
"Not to mention, if one team starts showing interest, others will too. I remember when I had to move teams from nearly bankrupting Lotus. As soon as Ferrari showed interest, Red Bull was also expressing interest." Kimi explained.
~~~
Max had to get away from the group of drivers due to the revelation that he was potentially getting scouted once again for other teams for next year already. Sure, he would have been looking at his options after the summer break so he could stay since his contract would be running out, and he would have had time to prove himself properly at that point. Being scouted this early terrified him. He didn't think he had proved himself yet, especially this season, so he had no idea why teams would already be looking to sign him.
Just as he was about to enter his trailer to relax with the cats to calm down, he smelt the strong smell of tomatoes approaching him and turned to see Hamilton approaching at a fast pace. Further behind, the cappuccino smell also made itself known, as if Toto was supervising this interaction. Was he afraid that the two might fight, or was it something else?
Was he waiting for his turn to talk to him?
"Verstappen," Hamilton said, stopping a distance away from Max.
"Hamilton," Max responded, trying not to sound combative.
Neither one of them moved for quite some time before Toto moved closer and cleared his throat, grabbing Hamilton's attention as he gestured to Max. Max raised an eyebrow at that.
"What did we talk about?" Toto questioned, arms crossed as he glared at the 3 time world champion.
"I'm sorry about what happened before qualifying. You should not have witnessed it, never mind gotten in the way of the two of us." Hamilton said, looking at the ground.
Max frowned a little at that. The apology didn't sound sincere. It sounded forced and scripted, like the PR team had come up with it. Toto being there and making Hamilton say it only solidified this. Rosberg may have also been involved and had people around him to make sure he didn't run off, but the apology never sounded forced, and Toto hadn't needed to be there. Not to mention that Hamilton had been the one to instigate the fight and was the one he had to prevent getting at Rosberg.
"Try again when it isn't forced," Max said, arms crossed.
That caused Hamilton to look up in shock at what Max had said, before a low growl ripped through his throat. Max didn't back down, though, despite his instincts screaming at him to submit. He growled back, though it was softer and more defensive. Toto could sense the tension between the two and immediately pulled Hamilton back before he started yet another fight.
"I do apologise for this, Max. We had a long conversation about how he needed to apologise for what he had done, and I was hoping he would be sincere about it." Toto explained and smacked Hamilton when he didn't seem to back down.
"Bri-Nico has apologised as well." Max caught himself on the nickname. He had a feeling Toto would already know who he was talking about, but he would much rather tease Rosberg to his face. "He did a better job."
"That, I can believe," Toto said, watching Hamilton storm off back to the Mercedes. "Nico has always been the emotionally mature one of the pair, as you can see." He commented.
"Yeah. Is that all you wanted?" Max asked as he turned back to his trailer.
"I was hoping to offer you something for stepping in earlier. Not many would be brave enough to do such a thing." Toto explained as Max turned his head.
"I did it because it needed to be done; otherwise, they would've seriously hurt each other," Max said as he turned away and headed into his trailer before Toto could speak again.
Toto sighed and turned to head back to the Mercedes garage. He needed to have a serious word with both of his current drivers about what had happened since they were scaring off a potential new driver for the team when Rosberg eventually retired. The German had started to express interest in retiring at some point, so he needed to look for another driver to sign on. He had a couple of other options, but he wanted Max. The way the kid had driven last year and on his debut were just glimpses of the potential he had on the track.
What would he accomplish in a truly competitive car?
He could give him that competitive car.
~~~
Max is unbelievably pissed off. It was bound to happen eventually, but he DNFed. Just as he predicted, the engine failed on the track, and now he was sitting in the garage stewing over it whilst the race continued without him. He hadn't even taken off his helmet and gloves yet.
"Kid. I know it isn't great, but it isn't the end of the season." Xevi said as he approached Max.
"I told you the engine didn't feel right," Max said, staring at the track. "I told you something was wrong."
"I know, and we did take a look and found no issue. The team are retaking a look at the car now to see what caused the failure." Xevi explained as he passed the tablet to Max, so he could review the data.
Max stared at the tablet in his hands as Xevi left him alone. He really didn't want to look at the data right now and wanted to smash that tablet into the ground, but refrained from doing so and took off his gloves to scroll through the data. He would've disappeared to the trailer with the cats to decompress, but he had been told to wait for the race to finish before he could do anything. He didn't know why he had to wait for the race to be over to disappear.
Though he heard a very interesting conversation coming from the Red Bull garage during the race. He had peeked over to see Vettel complaining to the team principal about one of their drivers and how he needed to sort them out. He raised an eyebrow at that, especially since it seemed that the principal wasn't bothered by the issue and said that they had a plan of action on how to deal with Kyvat and his issues.
What could they possibly have planned to deal with Kyvat?
That had been answered after the race had finished and the trophy ceremony had finished. Rosberg had once again gotten first place, and Hamilton had climbed up to second place. However, once the ceremony had finished, he was approached in the paddock by one of the Red Bull reps.
"Max Verstappen? Christian Horner would like to have a meeting with you about your performance." The rep said as they gestured to the Red Bull garage.
Max's face went pale. This was it. He was about to get kicked out of Formula 1 due to his poor performances over the past year and a half. He didn't want to go to that meeting, but the rep was waiting expectantly for him to follow them along, so he did so. His heart was pounding the entire way to the meeting room, especially when he walked in to see Kyvat and a few other members in the room with the team principal.
"Take a seat, Verstappen," Horner said as he gestured to the only empty seat in the room.
Max swallowed as he walked over to the empty chair and sat down in the empty seat next to Kyvat. If this were about his performance, why would the Russian be there alongside him? Surely, he didn't need to be humiliated in front of the other driver, right?
Right?
"So, you have both been brought into this meeting to talk about a few changes we will be making going into Spain in the coming weeks," Horner stated as paper was pushed to both of them. "We are swapping both of you around. Kvyat, due to the number of issues you have been causing on the track in every race this year so far, you are being demoted to Toro Rosso. I do not want more incidents like you had today to happen again." Horner explained before turning to Max. "Verstappen, on the other hand, will be promoted to Red Bull. Despite the DNF today, you are consistent. We're hoping the promotion will show off your potential, and we can see exactly what you're capable of."
Before Max could even respond, Kvyat stood up, the stench of carbonara flooding the room.
"This is ерунда!" Kvyat snapped, growling at Horner.
"You will either sign the contract and be demoted or be kicked off the grid entirely, and we will promote another driver to Toro Rosso. Your choice." Horner said, remaining calm.
Kvyat continued growling at the team principal, but did sign the contract eventually and turned to Max with a glare.
"Следи за своей спиной." The Russian growled before storming out of the meeting room.
It was silent for a few minutes before Max finally spoke up.
"Are you sure I am ready for the main team?" Max asked as he looked through the contract.
"I don't see why not. We will meet at the Red Bull Headquarters next week with Riccardo, so the two of you can meet, and we can discuss how things will work." Horner explained as Max grabbed a pen. "We will also do a full medical checkup so everything is up to date in our systems, and allow us to gauge meal plans." He said as Max signed.
"Am I able to submit my own through my personal doctor?" Max asked, his heart starting to pound hard in his chest.
"I'm afraid not. We've had it before where someone tried to submit forged documents, so it will be done in the headquarters." Horner explained as Max pushed the contract back over. "Don't worry. All the doctor is doing is making sure you are fit to drive and what needs to be done to keep you in top shape." He assured when he saw the teen starting to panic.
Max took a deep breath to try to calm down. This was fine. It was just a checkup. Hopefully, he could hide the fact that he was an Omega still. Because this was a dream come true in a way.
He was finally promoted to a competitive team.
~~~
Grid Pack Group Chat
19 Members
May 1st, 2016 16:22
Kvyat:
ABSOLUTE BULLSHIT
I'VE BEEN FUCKING DEMOTED
Vettel:
GOOD
THAT STUNT BACKFIRED
DESERVED
Sainz:
Wait
Demoted?
You're my teammate now?
Rosberg:
That must mean
Max is now in Red Bull
Right?
Riccardo:
Just got the confirmation
And a meet-up next week
Räikkönen:
You did deserve it, Kvyat
You can't just crash your car into others to gain an advantage
Kvyat:
FUCK YOU ALL!
IT WASN'T ON PURPOSE
Hamilton:
It isn't the first time it's happened, though, is it?
So it was bound to happen
I did not expect promoting Max, though
Didn't he DNF today?
Sainz:
He did
Engine failure though
Not his fault
Alonso:
Oh, Max got promoted?
This season got even more interesting
Button:
They must've been thinking about it for a while
It wouldn't just be out of the blue
When do you think they'll announce it on the news?
Riccardo:
They said they will next week
Once he's settled in a bit
They said they don't want to overwhelm him
Vettel:
I expected he would get promoted at some point
Didn't expect it to be after the 4th race
But I guess Kvyat's stunts became too much for Horner
~~~
Chat with Hermano Max
May 1st, 2016 17:01
Sainz:
Hey
Heard you were promoted
Congrats!
Hermano Max:
Yeah
I was going to tell you when I had calmed down
Still very overwhelmed
Sainz:
I can believe that
Must be very overwhelming to find out
But congrats!
Hermano Max:
But we aren't teammates anymore
Sainz:
Does not mean we can't support each other
We will still see each other on the track
We will still share a podium
Even if we are not on the same team