"I am done," Daniella let out a deep breath as she ended her workout routine and sat on the floor. It was not as tough as her regular routine so she was not exhausted.

"But I am not," Max complained as he sat next to her as she drank her water.

It was the day of qualifying and both the drivers had to be in the paddock in a couple of hours.

"Too bad.." Daniella gently nudged him. "But I can't stay here any longer. Toto is already at the garage and he is blowing up my phone."

"That man is obsessed with his drivers," Max commented.

Daniella gave him a challenging yet amusing look as she let out a laugh.

"You are saying that?" She asked. "You do realize that Christian is obsessed with you as well and he probably has a framed photo of you in his bedroom."

"That is not true.." Max defended himself. "There is no photo of me in his...I should probably call Geri and confirm it but I am almost certain he doesn't have a photo of me in his bedroom."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Daniella patted his thigh before standing up. "But I have to go now.."

Max stood up as well and was behind Daniella as she collected her things. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her back to him, causing her to giggle softly. They were lucky, not many people were there at the gym, only a couple more drivers and engineers but almost no one was paying attention to them.

"I will see you later," He placed a kiss on her cheek before letting her go.

"If Daniella doesn't perform well this weekend at least we will know why," George Russell commented as he walked past the couple with his teammate, Alex Albon.

Daniella didn't say anything else and just rolled her eyes.

"Just ignore him," Alex said and gave her a guilty look before dragging George away.

***

"We don't have the pace," Daniella said to her team as she got out of the car and took off her helmet. FP3 just ended and neither of the Mercedes drivers is even remotely happy with the car's performance.

"Lewis also said the same thing," Toto replied, sounding moody.

"I don't understand where we went wrong," Daniella huffed as she looked at the data on the screen. "We were doing so well in Hungary and now..."

"I am pretty sure Red Bull and Ferrari are using something illegal," Toto commented.

"Want me to sneak you into their garage so that you can investigate?" Daniella sarcastically asked.

"Is that possible?" Toto asked as he failed to catch the sarcasm and thought Daniella was being serious.

He only realized that it was sarcasm when Stoffel Vandoorne, Mercedes reserve driver and the recent Formula E champion, let out a snicker.

Toto lightly hit the back of Daniella's head, earning an annoyed look from her.

***

Max was in the garage, a camera zoomed in on him as he talked to his race engineer and team principal. The tv screen in the garage showed the Mercedes garage, specifically the side of Daniella's garage where the engineers were working on her car.

Max's eyes fell on the screen just as the camera zoomed in on Daniella while she was having a conversation with Toto, Nate, and Stoffel. She noticed the camera and gave a wink which caused Max to smile a little. The Red Bull team principal thought the driver was smiling because they had the fastest pace.

***

Both Daniella managed to get into Q3 but the pace they had was not enough and both were disappointed. They qualified below the top five and were also out-qualified by both the Alpines. Because of a bunch of grid penalties, which also includes Max, Charles and Esteban, both the Mercedes drivers moved up to P4 and P5.

Daniella knew it was not going to be an easy race. With Carlos on pole, Perez right behind at P2, and Fernando at P3, it will be a struggle for Mercedes, especially with their current pace. And once Max and Charles manage to catch up it will slimmer their chances for a podium.

Daniella sat in her chair as she went through the data on the tablet in her hand. The debrief was about to start and it looks like it is going to be a long one.

Lewis came in with Toto and they took their seats as well, none of them looking happy.

A small smile appeared on Daniella's face as a cup of coffee was placed in front of her.

"I thought the coffee might help a bit.." Stoffel gave a smile before taking his seat next to her.

"Thank you," Daniella shot him an appreciative smile before wrapping her cold hands around the warm cup and taking a sip.

"Careful, it's hot..."

Toto crooked his eyebrows as he looked at the scene. An idea came to his mind but he shrugged it off as he knows Daniella will not take it lightly if she finds out.

"Okay... let's get started," He said as the last engineer came in and shut the door. "And Dani, slow down with your coffee."

**********

A/N: Uneventful chapter. Not a great qualifying for Merc. How do you think the race will go for Dani? 

George made a brief appearance and made a comment about Dani. Thoughts?

 Thoughts on Dani and Stoffel? 

Toto is being Toto...I won't be surprised if he personally launches an investigation and breaks into the Red Bull garage.

A lot of grid penalties this weekend... I still think Max is going to win.

 Okay, how did Ferrari mess up with the tyres in qualy again and forgot to inform Charles about the change??

 Fernando in P3. Lewis is going to need all the blessings and luck in the world now. 

I hope Carlos manages to stay ahead of Checo. 

It won't happen but it will be so sweet if Daniel ends up on top of the podium today.

 Any predictions for the Belgium Grand Prix?