"THIS IS THE LAST LAP NOW, Juliette, keep up this work and we'll be able to keep that P3." Vivian Bellamy, Jules' engineer, encouraged her to achieve the podium they all desired for the girl.

To be able to proudly stand on that podium for the first race of the season was a grand accomplishment in Jules' eyes. Her goal now solely focused on getting that 3rd place.

Jules' gloves tightly gripped the wheel, preparing herself for the sharp turn approaching, now creeping towards the checkered line.

She firmly pressed down her foot, allowing herself to accelerate in the small speed trap remaining before she had successfully completed her 57th and final lap of the prix.

"And here's the youngest Leclerc with P3!" The commentator announced her position.

A sigh of relief escaped her throat at the wave of the flags, securing her position on the podium.

"Yeah!" Jules yelled, shifting her view to the enormous crowd surrounding the driver, most cheering at the results, a few disappointed.

"Who else is on the podium, Viv?" Juliette became curious, her brother speeding ahead of her at the start of the race, praying that he had managed to stay the fastest.

"Verstappen P2, Charles P1." A large grin immediately grew on the girl's face at the mention of her brother's name and 1st in the same sentence. She was so fucking proud of him. He deserved all the wins in the world.

Juliette proceeded towards the garage, the team filled with joy at the results, which meant they were currently leading the Constructor's Championship.

The other Ferrari driver came tumbling down towards her as soon as she exited her vehicle, swiftly lifting her off the ground as he tugged his arms around his sister, squeezing her so tightly she struggled to breathe.

"Charles-" A small plead managed to form, her brother immediately realising his mistake.

"Sorry." Charles apologised, "I'm just so proud of you, petite soeur." He murmured softly, still holding her in the embrace.

"I'm proud of us." Juliette corrected, tilting her head up to face her taller brother, greeted by a warm smile on his face.

"Not just P1 and P2 just yet though." He teased, causing Juliette to release a loud scoff, the girl's tongue digging into her cheek.

"We will get there soon, don't worry."

LANDO SCOWLED AT HIS POSITION at the end of the race, he was unsuccessful in his attempt to overtake Juliette during the first few laps as she easily sped away, the Mclaren driver unable to catch up with her consistently quick pace.

"That's P4, Lando." His engineer announced, "P1 is C. Leclerc, followed by Verstappen and J. Leclerc. Good work today with keeping that position."

Lando was supposed to be excited about this result, but he couldn't be. Not until she was ruined. He couldn't bear the idea of her beating him, but it still happened. She always destroyed everything.

Heading towards the garage, the driver was greeted by his team erupting into a rowdy celebration, smiles visible on their faces. All except his.

Lando instantly ripped the helmet carelessly off his head as soon as he left the car, his dark curls slightly flopping downwards, covering a tiny portion of his disappointed eyes. He didn't try hard enough. He never did.

"Lando!" The boy broke out of his angered trance to see his Australian teammate approaching.

"Well done, mate." Oscar firmly pressed his palm onto his teammate's back, Lando somewhat flinching at the contact.

"You okay?" The driver immediately noticed the boy's dissociated behaviour. "Is it about her again?" He asked, Oscar could read Lando's emotions like a book, he always displayed the same demeanour, slightly saddened but fuelled with rage.

"Yeah, couldn't get past her again." He avoided looking up towards the worried boy, peering down at the floor.

"Don't sweat it, you don't have to always be better than her okay? Just stop thinking about her and you'll feel so much better, trust me." He comforted, attempting to perk up his mood for the upcoming interviews.

"Thanks, Oscar." Lando eventually lifted his head, a small smile slowly forming from the kind words from his teammate, preparing himself for the post- race interviews.

STEPPING UP ONTO THAT PODIUM always felt like a dream come to Juliette, it wasn't her first time standing on here, but it will forever be such a special moment in her life, forever remembering each time she felt the trophy brush across her fingertips into her clutch, each spray of champagne that would usually end with the whole bottle drenching the girl, especially with the two familiar faces joining her.

Juliette's hands stayed behind her back, her head tilted upright proudly as her national anthem began to play, following by the Italian one. She could easily get used to hearing that combination any day.

Although, her eyes couldn't help but glide past her brother towards the Dutch boy she had known for most of her life, mimicking a similar proud stance to the siblings.

You could tell the driver had worked extremely hard during the race, small drips of sweat dripping across his reddened cheeks and his sandy hair ruffled gently.

She'd known Max since when her brother started racing, the boy being at almost every race her brother attended during their karting days, allowing Juliette to form a friendship with him. Who knew he would be a world champion 13 years later?

When she joined Formula One two years ago, accomplishing the huge achievement of being the first woman to compete this highly in the sport in decades; a shock to the whole motorsport industry.

Expectations for Juliette were set the greatest for her, too much it would crush some. It almost crushed her. Having to compete with the pressure of being a woman in the sport, as well as being a rookie- replacing the seat of a former world champion. It was a challenge nonetheless.

But Max was one of the drivers who immediately welcomed her, being friendly from childhood aided them to grow quite close.

This wasn't their first time on the podium together, and she definitely hoped it wasn't their last.

"Charlie!" Jules called for her elder brother, bolting towards the slightly downed boy. "You got second, why are you sad mon frère?" She asked, placing a hand of comfort onto his shoulder, her flickering hazel eyes beaming up at him.

"Yeah but I was so close, I should've won." Charles sulked, earning an annoyed nudge from his sister.

"Stop!" She yelled at him, "You did your best and got a great position!"

"But-" the boy's whining was abruptly ended by Juliette's index finger grazing his lips.

"Tais-toi!" She shushed him, not wanting to hear his constant whining. "You did amazing." His frown finally turned upwards, his familiar cheeky grin showing on his face. "Who came first anyways?"

"Max." He responded, not unusual for him to be in conflict with his 'childhood rival.'

"I don't see why you were disappointed?" Jules wondered, "I like Max!"

"You like Max." Charles' eyes widened at the emphasis of the word, referring to the poorly hidden crush Juliette had recently formed over the months.

"I don't!" She defended, refusing to admit the allegations. "Or do I need to shush you, again?"

"No you don't..." The brother paused, a smirk beginning to grow on his lips, "But-" He added, causing Juliette to glare daggers towards the boy, instantly slamming her palm across his mouth, preventing Charles from repeating any other sniggering comments.

But the younger sibling wouldn't prevail for much longer, her once firmly pressed hand being pushed off her brother's lips, allowing himself to wrap his arms around his sister's neck, trapping Juliette in Charles' grasp.

"Hey!" The sister squealed as she was now put in a headlock by her brother, her flowing, brunette waves now being ruffed up by her brother playfully before plummeting down to cover her visibly annoyed face.

"You're such an idiot, Charlie." She huffed, blowing the messy strands away from her skin.

"I love you too, Julie." He hummed, allowing the girl to break free out of his grip, Jules rolling her eyes in return.

Maybe it was still a hint of that childhood crush she had on the driver that made her feel slightly more comfortable around him. But she didn't really know why her heart still slightly stopped whenever he spoke. Juliette determined it to just be a severe case of 'getting over him.' One that took years. Might even possibly be a world record soon.

The music eventually concluded, allowing the celebration section of the ceremony to commence. Juliette instantly lifted the bottle of champagne, followed by the other two drivers, allowing the bubbling liquid to spray aggressively.

Jules approached her brother, a mischievous smirk widening on her lips, aiming the fluid directly at his head, shaking the bottle to enable more  champagne to spritz out.

"Ah!" Charles yelled at the touch of the cold liquid brushing against his head, now trailing his neck, before turning around and aiming for the younger sister, a similar scream erupting from her throat.

The girl scrunched her face, the alcohol now covering her skin, some had even entered her mouth.

It especially didn't help when she felt another spray of the fizzing fluid attack her from two sides. The girl slightly opened one of her eyes to reveal the Red Bull driver now also aiming his bottle towards her. Jules was being teamed on.

"Hey!" She screamed, which escaped more as a giggle as she was now drenched in the liquid from head to toe, the unique smell bound to stick to her for hours after the event. "You guys are such dickheads!"

"You love us really, Julie!" Charles responded, finally finishing his revenge against his sister, lowering the bottle and placing it to the side, declaring the end of the celebration.

Max quickly mirrored the older Leclerc, putting the champagne down, before approaching the younger sibling, catching her by surprise as he swooped his arm around the girl's back.

"I think you're a bit soaked there, Leclerc." He joked, the Ferrari suit slightly darkened in colour from the dampness and clinging tightly to her skin.

"Well you're 50% to blame, Verstappen." Juliette scoffed at his sarcastic remark, rolling her eyes.

"Well..." He hummed, "How about I make it up to you?" The Red Bull driver offered, causing the girl to become intrigued.

"Explain?" Juliette asked, curious as to what this 'plan' entails.

"Well, I heard a little something telling me that Charles has his calendar full for tomorrow with a certain girl, and I'm sure you don't want to be a third wheel. So..." He paused, allowing himself to bring up the courage, "How about you and I tonight go celebrate together somewhere?"

"Is the Max Verstappen asking me out on a date?" Juliette chuckled at the thought turned reality.

"Maybe." The boy smirked, now impatiently waiting for a response to his request.

"Okay, it's a date." She agreed, her cheeks flustering at the idea that the same person she had a crush on back when she was younger had just asked her to spend time with him, romantically.

"Great! I'll pick you up at 7!" He smiled at her answer, his teeth slightly peeking out from under his lip.

"See you then." She mimicked his cheesy grin, before Max ran back towards his team, the same excited expression stuck on his face.

LANDO OBSERVED THE STAGE as he watched the undeserving girl enter, a joyful smile radiating on her lips, infecting the crowd with happiness as they cheered for her. Whatever spell she had hypnotised the audience with wasn't going to work on him, he could see through that manipulative facade she wore any day.

The monegasque anthem began to play as he watch the trio stand proudly listening to the music. God it was like his ears were heavily bleeding. 

The deafening sound finally stopped, giving Lando's ears some peace, but instead his eyes were practically forced to watch the scene of Juliette being attacked by the other two podium sitters, drenched in champagne. That should've been him.

Maybe Lando was too hard on himself, she drove a much faster car than him, so she was almost destined to place higher than him. But he remembers the times he was so close to overtaking her on the track, and the very few occasions where he did. And the disappointment once again overwhelms him.

But then it gets worse, he watches the dutch driver gently wrap his arm around the girl, the two both smiling, both giggling together.

It made his body tighten, his knuckles clench into a pale fist, his teeth lock together and his eyes to squint.

But why? The question lingered in his brain at the sudden anger that flowed through his veins. He shouldn't care about whatever relationship Juliette Leclerc had towards Max Verstappen.

But for some bizarre reason, he did care.

He didn't want Jules to be near the boy, laughing.

Was he... jealous?

Was he actually fucking jealous?

He attempted to get the thought out of his head, to brush away the hatred of seeing the pair together, but he couldn't.

He was uncontrollably jealous...

***

CHAPTER THREE WOO!! YOU GUYS MIGHT NOT LIKE ME FOR THIS BUT I PROMISE YOU, THERE WILL BE SOME LULIETTE CONTENT SOON I PROMISE!! <3