BBC Sports: "Women like that are bad news for the sport. They're basically groupies!": Dr. Helmut Marko speaks on the Leclerc Photos.

Motorsport.com: Toto Wolff urges fans and team principals alike to go easy on Dakota McManus ahead of her landmark interview with Naomi Schiff: "Dakota is a magnificent young woman who simply made a mistake."

Autosport: Jost Capito: "While we appreciate McManus' talent, we simply cannot have her working for Williams Racing. It's not a very good look for us as a team"- Williams Racing joins the list of teams that have declined to extend offers to McManus following Leclerc Photos.

People Magazine: "I love her. Nothing will change that. Is there something wrong with all of you? She didn't cheat on me, so stop acting like she did." F1 driver Yuki Tsunoda speaks out about his relationship with crew cheif Dakota McManus

Mirror: Dakota McManus will continue to guest DJ at EmoNite Brooklyn ahead of Miami GP following controversy.

2022 Season

TURIN, ITALY

Dakota McManus sat on the back porch of her house in Turin. The house that she had lived in since the 2021 season had begun. The house that later became hers and Yuki's.

She felt horrible. Experiencing the Imola weekend on the heels of what should have been the most embarrassing moment of her life had been a real turning point. The biggest kick to the face was when Fred Vasseur opened his stupid French mouth and told her to her face that because she was seen sleeping with other drivers, they were no longer going to be offering her a job.

The other crew members and drivers had tried to be understanding, but the entire race weekend had been benchmarked by pity stares and whispered comments. 

And Helmut Marko basically calling her a whore to the media, without really using those words.

She was angry, and she was annoyed. At the reporters. At the old-man team principals who ran from the first sign of drama. At Charles, for kissing her back.

But mostly, she was angry at herself for not being able to handle her emotions like an adult.

"He never stopped loving you, you know that?"

Mac turned around, tapping her acrylic nails on the side of her hand-crafted ceramic mug. She and Yuki had made them together. It had been their fourth date, still keeping things lowkey for the sake of both their jobs.

"I feel like such a bitch, P. I'm a terrible person for putting him through this." Kota said softly as Pierre Gasly sat down next to her, his weight shifting the boards on the back deck.

"No, you're not, Dakota. Don't let this one thing ruin your life or your relationship. Yuki's faith in you has never once faltered." The Frenchman encouraged, his hand on Dakota's back as she took another sip of her hot chocolate.

"I'm never going to be able to get another job, not with this thing following me around. I can't have male friends anymore, because now the public doesn't know if I can be left around men unsupervised lest I cheat on Yuki."

"Dakota-"

"Marcus called earlier, he wanted to see if I would go on his podcast. And I just jumped down his throat, Pierre. Ripped him a new one about how I have said everything I want to say about what happened with Charles. It turns out that Marcus didn't even know. News hasn't reached F2 yet, I guess." She laughed grimly. "Maybe Prema and Carlin will give me jobs. Mick and Yuki still have connections. I could always switch to IndyCar, see if Romain and Marcus can set me up somwhere."

"You're not leaving F1. I won't let you do that to yourself."

The Aussie frowned, pulling her sweater tighter against the spring breeze. "What am I supposed to do, Pierre? I'm tainted. Ruined. Haas is the only team that will want to touch me with a ten foot pole because they really need the help. Even fucking Williams think I'm bad news now. Like I'd really want to fuck Nicholas, come on now. Next thing we know, the tabloids will be telling everybody that I fucked Guenther."

Pierre hesitated. "You could always call Toto. He promised you a place in that garage after Mexico, don't think that I forgot."

Dakota snorted, remembering the Austrian's words down to a T, the sad look he gave her in the car as Checo drove her home, an anxious Pierre clinging to her side in the back seat.

She had already been public enemy number one with AlphaTauri after her grandfather left her the position. Dakota was trying to prove that she didn't need anybody's help to get where she was, to prove that she could do it on her own.

Calling Toto would just make her another nepo baby and confirm what the media already thought.

"I can't, P. I'd almost rather change to a different sport, that way I can prove that I did this by myself, without help from anybody else."

The driver sitting next to her shook his head. That was still the same stubborn streak that landed her in that Mexican hospital. The stubborn streak that ultimatley lead to her sordid affair with Charles.

Sometimes, it was really damn hard to give Dakota McManus some advice.

"I think you need to talk to-"

"I won't do it, Pierre. I'm not calling Daniil."

"And why the hell not? He was once like an older brother to you, Dakota. He took you in when you were at your lowest. He took the fucking reserve role at Alpine so that he could keep an eye on you."

"I never asked him to do that! He stayed for himself!" Dakota shouted, unwilling to make another admission of guilt. Unwilling to do or say anything that might make her more of a fuck up in Yuki's eyes. 

But that would never happen, because Yuki Tusnoda looked at Dakota McManus like she hung the moon.  He wanted to be there for her through the good, the bad, the ugly and the worst.

Dakota McManus was the woman that he wanted to marry one day. He just wanted her to be okay, and he felt his own pressing guilt about making a move too soon, about backing Dakota into a headspace where she felt like she needed to sleep with another man to get her feelings in order.

"What are you so afraid of, Dakota? There's something keeping you here, some part of you that doesn't want to leave the team, even though the conscious part of your emotions said that you wanted out."

"I kissed Daniil." She said softly, tears threatening to fall from her puffy, bloodshot eyes. "Look at me. I'm basically a groupie. First Ilies, then Dany, then Charles and now Yuki. What's wrong with me, Pierre?"

"There's nothing wrong with you, Dakota." Pierre said softly, pulling the mechanic in for a hug. He always knew when soemthing was wrong, but hearing Dakota answer wasn't always the easiest thing to listen to. Especially when there was nothing he could do to help her. "First of all, I take the blame for setting you up with Ilies. And you two are still friends, so why does it matter. You barely even dated for six months, it was more of a forced proximity thing. Second of all, you are not a terrible person for kissing Daniil. You were both in vulnerable places mentally, and if that was what you needed at that point in your life, who are the rest of us to judge?"

"And Charles?"

"That one is a little less simple to justify, there are too many layers."

"Thanks a lot, Gasly."

"But you didn't cheat on anybody, remember that. You didn;t do anything wrong, and eventually the media will forget about it too."

"Somebody leaked those pictures on purpose. Nobody knew where we were going to be that night."

She was trying to reationalize again, Pierre realized. A way to find a reason other than wrong palce, wrong time. A reason that would put everything right again in her head.

"Carla has a working theory. Red Bull did this. They've had it out for ever since I signed that contract. You know how that team operates, Pierre. I watched them break you in half, and they left me and granddad to put your peices back together, and now they're trying to do the same thing to me. I'm not going to let that happen."

"Dakota, stop. There is no conspiracy, no bigger reason as to why this happened to you. Sometimes, bad things happen to good people, and that's just it. You need to work on moving on. There is a man in that house who would walk through fire for you, and he is worried sick. Do not throw your entire realtionship, and your career, away over some silly conspiracy theory."

Dakota knew Pierre was right. But a part of her had to agree with Carla Liang. Something about this entire situation felt off. There was no way that it was a coincidence that these pictures were leaked exactly one race weekend after she announced she was cutting ties with Scuderia AlphaTauri and Red Bull Racing.

"Daniil is going to be at the charity football match in Monaco. I think you should talk to him. He always seemed to get through to you in a way the rest of us couldn't." Pierre said again as Dakota moved to stand up, grabbing her mug and turning back towards the screen door. 

She could see Yuki in the kitchen, the rookie occasianally shooting glances towards the deck, keeping an eye on Dakota to make sure she was okay. Mentally stable. 

Because he didn't know what he would do if he lost her.

"I'll call him tomorrow, if it will make you happy. But he's got his own issues to sort out. He's persona non grata right now, after all the fuss he made about the Peace Agreement."

Pierre sighed. "He's still like family to you, and you know it. He's worried about you."

"I know. Isn't he always?"

"And if you won't set up a meeting with Toto, I will.  You're too talented to be taking a job in another series."

Dakota left the Frenchman on the back porch, heading inside to where Yuki was making dinner, pots boiling away on the stove as he prepared the vegetables for the pasta. When he heard the screen door slide shut, he dropped the knife and went straight for Dakota, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

She didn;t have any tears left to cry, just holding her lover close and whispering 'I love you' and 'I'm sorry' over and over again as Yuki traced circles on her skin, his own calming voice mumbling back:

"It's okay" and "I love you" and "I'm not going anywhere."