Online Rivals, Offline Lovers

Chapter 9 - Welcome to the team

[Max Pov]

I sat in the meeting room, flanked by Christian Horner and Helmut Marko, the weight of my frustration heavy in the air. I'd called this meeting hoping that they could stop the sponsorship from going forward, but the longer they spoke, the more my hope began to dwindle.

Horner's words were blunt. "Max, what do you want us to do? Dolf van den Bos is the CEO of Heineken. Honestly, Visa Cash App RB can be happy to have him. He knows a ton of people and is filthy rich. With his money and his connections, I wouldn't be surprised if he turned them into one of the strongest teams on the grid."

I clenched my jaw. I couldn't exactly tell them the real reason I wanted to stop the sponsorship from going ahead, therefor I told them I had heard some rather bad things about him, stuff that would likely mean a PR disaster for the team. "So there's really nothing we could do to keep the sponsorship from going forward?"

"I don't think so, Max... At least in public, he does seem to have a clean vest." Helmut chimed in, his tone resigned.

I looked back over to Horner, who shrugged. "I'm sorry Max, but even if we could stop the sponsorship from going forward... I bet even his attorney makes more money than all of us combined. He would just force their way back in."

Defeated, I sank back into my chair, resting my chin on my fist. Unsure of what to do now, I stared out the window.

Everyone was silent for a minute until Helmut cleared his throat. "You know... there might be a way to help Lexie. Checo has told me that his wife hasn't been doing too well after giving birth to their last baby. Checo is constantly flying back and forth, trying to race in F1 but also trying to support his wife."

Helmut leaned forward, his hands flat on the table, looking at Horner. "What if... we give Checo the rest of the season off, to support her, with a guaranteed comeback, if he wants the seat in the next season."

Horner's immediate response was disbelief. "That is insane-"

Helmut interjected, "It's not. I believe it would be really good for Checo. He has been struggling for a while now. This way, we show that Red Bull has a heart, and we give a young talent the chance to show what she can do."

I looked over at Helmut, the idea was genius, but Horner didn't look convinced at all... "But she has been so slow the entire season! Her best finish was what... 8th?! And she only managed to get that because half the grid was taken out by Stroll. She isn't good enough. If we take her on, we might as well hire Sargeant!"

I sat forward, tying to control the anger in my voice. I didn't want them to know that I had trained her. Until now, Lex and I had been able to keep our shared history under wraps, and I didn't want to expose any of it right now. "You know that's not true! Her car is just shit."

"Does it matter? She's at the back of the grid." Horner threw up his hands. "She's only had bad results the entire season! How do we justify taking her on to the public?"

"She won her F4, F3, and F2 rookie season. Every single one. Even I didn't do that." I shot back. "And she's part of the Red Bull junior team. I think those are plenty of reasons."

I watched as Horner looked to Helmut for help, but Helmut just shrugged. "I think it's a good idea."

***

Helmut and Horner finally agreed to discuss the matter with Checo. However, first they wanted to give Lex a chance to prove herself behind the wheel of one of the Red Bulls. I agreed. I would pick her up and fly with her to Austria during the coming week, where she could test out the car.