"What the..." Daniella almost cursed but restrained herself. She was on a flying lap and both she and her team were certain that she would have qualified P3 but because the Red Bull of Sergio Perez crashed the yellow flag was pulled out and the drivers had to slow down.

"And that's P6," Nate informed her as she crossed the chequered flag.

It was clear by the fans' reaction that Max is on pole.

"So close Nate," Daniella mumbled.

"I know, Dani. It's a bit of bad luck but we will make it count tomorrow," Nate replied.

***

"Daniella, you only managed to qualify P6. I am sure you are not happy with that and we will get to it but first, can we talk about the sweet proposal from yesterday?" The interviewer asked the Mercedes driver.

"No, we cannot," Daniella shot the interviewer a fake smile.

"But..."

"I am sure you have a few questions for me regarding quali and other drivers to interview, I really would hate to waste everyone's precious time by talking about something that shouldn't have happened," Daniella politely yet firmly said.

The interviewer, along with everyone who was within earshot distance was taken aback.

"Yes.. Umm.. You are right," The interviewer slightly stuttered. "Umm... Do you think it will be a tough race for you tomorrow since you will be starting from P4 and your boyfriend and both the Ferraris are ahead of you?"

Daniella felt more annoyed after hearing the question. She didn't like how it was phrased and how instead of saying Max's name the interviewer referred to him as her boyfriend. Daniella wished she could break professionalism and answer the question.

"I don't expect it to be easy tomorrow," Daniella replied. "Max, Charles, and Carlos are all amazing drivers and all of us will be fighting for the win. It's..."

"Do you think you have the pace to fight for the win?"

"We will find out tomorrow," Daniella forced a smile.

"One last question," The interviewer said just as Daniella was about to leave. "Do you regret leaving Red Bull now that they are faster than Mercedes?"

"Not even for a second," Daniella replied before walking away, making a mental note to avoid this particular interviewer from now on.

"You won't believe how relieved I am that you didn't tear his head off," Myra let out a deep breath as they both made their way to the motorhome.

"Trust me, I wanted to."

**********

It was race day and the paddock was busy. There was still some time to start getting ready for the race as it was fairly early. Daniella sat inside Mercedes hospitality with a cold coffee and was having a nice conversation with her boss and race engineer.

All three of them were somewhat hopeful as the car seems to run well on this particular track.

"This just came for you," One of the Mercedes employees came over and handed a white box to Daniella.

"Another proposal?" Toto joked as Daniella took the box, looking confused.

"I hope not," the driver suddenly got nervous but when the delicious smell hit her nose she eased down.

As soon as she opened the box a smile appeared on her face. The box was filled with stroopwafels and a small message was written on the inside of the cardbox.

"This is definitely better than yesterday's proposal," Nate said as he took a waffle without asking and immediately had a bite. "Don't tell Myra but this right here is the love of my life."

Daniella let out a small laugh. She slowly ran her finger over the familiar handwriting and was about to grab a waffle for herself but Toto beat her.

"I got to say, Dani, your fans are much better than Lewis'," Toto took a big bite. "He doesn't get treats like this."

"It's not from a fan," Daniella said as she finally grabbed a stroopwafel for herself and took a bite, taking in the flavors.

Toto gave her a confused look.

Daniella turned the box towards Toto so he can see the message written on it.

"With lots of love...Max.." Toto read out loud. He almost felt like spitting out but at the same time, it was too delicious.

Nate tried not to laugh and Daniella just gave a sheepish look as she ate her waffle.

"It's not that good. I don't understand why everyone likes it," Toto mumbled, looking unimpressed.

"Then why are you still eating it?"

Toto glared at Daniella and stood up. He was about to leave but stopped and grabbed another stroopwafel.

"Don't tell anyone," He warned Daniella and Nate before walking away.

He could hear the laughs behind him.

***

No matter how much Daniella pushed her car she couldn't get closer to the Red Bull of Max. There was not enough time and the chequered flag approached sooner than she would like.

Orange smoaks flew everywhere as Max crossed the flag first and won his home race. Daniella finished second, and Charles was third. Lewis was not happy to drop down to fourth.

"P2, Dani. Good job," Nate said. "You made the right call for the tires."

"Thanks bro," She let out a small laugh as she waved at the fans.

Max was the first one out of his car and the crowd cheered loudly as he ran to his team and family.

Daniella was surprised when she received almost the same reaction. She went to her team first who were happy with the second place but still would have preferred a win.

Max was not able to wipe his smile off his face and it only grew as Daniella came over. He immediately hugged her and the cheers got much louder.

***

"What the hell was that?" Lewis snapped at his teammate as soon as she stepped inside the garage after the podium celebration.

Daniella was taken aback by his anger and was confused.

"We could have won the race if you hadn't decided to change the tyres," he added.

Both drivers were ahead of Max with Lewis on the lead before the last safety car was about to end, and at that very moment Daniella the medium tyres were not working for her and asked if she could get a new set of soft tyres and the team immediately agreed.

"The mediums were not working for me and Max was on the softs, he could have easily overtaken me as soon as the safety car ended," Daniella explained as everyone around them stood silent.

"You just handed your boyfriend the win with your selfish decision," Lewis said in anger. "You could have held him back on the mediums but..."

"It was a team decision, Lewis," Toto interfered. "If she hadn't suggested that there wouldn't have been a podium for us today. Everyone else was on the soft tires."

Daniella didn't show it but she was hurt by Lewis' words but she chose not to say another word. She didn't want to make the situation worse.

"I could have won today," Lewis said, voicing his anger and disappointment as he looked directly at Daniella before he left.

Daniella avoided looking at anyone as she didn't know what to say or how to react.

"Just give him some time," Toto softly said to her, feeling bad that she got the direct hit of Lewis' anger. "He will apologize once he calms down."

Daniella barely gave a nod.

"I have to go to the media conference," She plainly said before walking away, not looking at anyone as Myra tried to keep up with her.

Her mood lifted up in the conference with Max and Charles and had a few good laughs as talked about the race and answered the questions for the reporter. But she left for her hotel as soon as all her post race responsibilities were done and Max promised to meet her in her room soon.

Once Lewis calmed down he realized his anger was misplaced and he felt guilty. He looked for Daniella and asked around for her but she was not there. He even called her but there was no answer, which made him feel even more guilty.

***

When Max entered Daniella's hotel room with the key car she gave him, she was nowhere in sight but he could hear the shower running. No doubt she was under the water, trying to relax after the long day.

Max too was tired. He tossed off his phone on the bed and took off his watch before taking off his clothes.

Daniella ran her hands through her wet hair as the warm water fell onto her body. She heard the glass door of the shower open and immediately knew who it was.

A soft calm smile appeared on her face as Max stood behind her, his hands slowly tracing her arms before interlocking their fingers and hugging her.

"You are late," Daniella softly said as she leaned against him, the warm water falling on them, making them feel at ease.

"I got held up," Max replied before placing a kiss on her neck and slowly turning Daniella to face him. "But I am here now."

Daniella smiled and pulled him down for a kiss before hugging him again and resting her head against his chest while Max gently stroked her back.

__________

Instagram story

@daniellamichaels

Posted 30 mins ago

_____

Daniel Ricciardo

Replied to your story

Daniel: DANIELLA MICHAELS PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!

Don't have to if you are with Max

Seen✔

Daniella: Can you stay out of our relationship for just one day?

Seen✔

Daniel: So Max is there with you😏

Seen✔

Daniella: 🤦‍♀️

Seem✔

___

Sophie Leclerc

Replied to your story

Sophie: 😳😍

___

Fabio Quartararo

Replied to your story

Fabio: Hi

Fabio: Congrats on the podium today

___

Lewis Hamilton

Replied to your story

Lewis: Answer your phone

Lewis: I shouldn't have yelled at you. I am truly very sorry.

__________

❃.✮:▹ ◃:✮.❃

A/N: So Lewis and Dani had a bit of a fight 😬 Do you think Lewis' words were justified?

Max being the sweetest boyfriend and sending Dani stroopwafels. Thoughts?

Do you think Daniella overreacted and was rude in the interview?

What will happen next?

Dutch GP: I don't know about you guys but to me, this race gave 2021 vibes.

Max won which was expected but it was exciting to see Mercedes challenging him for a little while. At one point I really thought Lewis was going to win (Nico jinxed it).

I think George made the right call with the soft tyres otherwise he would have lost positions just like Lewis did. They should have put Lewis on soft as well.

Does anyone know what was going on with Yuki's car? It felt like a circus.

Ferrari pitstop was just 🤬at this point I am not even surprised. How can you call in a drive for the pitstop and not have all the tyres ready?

To me, it seems like Charles gave up on this championship and I don't see him closing the gap either now that Max is 100+ points ahead. Thank you Ferrari.

What are your thoughts on the race?

Next is Monza. I am hoping for an unexpected winner 🤞🤞🤞