unbox'd: rearview

[leeseokmin]

what can i say, the prompt asked for maxiel and i went buckwild insane. i cannot stress how many spots maxiel as an otp hit it for me, but to understand the intensity of how they fuck me up, i did their dynamics unpacked in quotes. I genuinely meant for this to be 400 words on the first scene but it grew out of control so fast; and although its messy and needs a little bit more work for me to be 100% happy with it, the bottom line is i had fun writing it, which is what i want to do with fic overall in 2021. i’ll be unpacking them by the references to f1 within the scene and my fave lines, since it’s a short fic



act i: the yas marina grand prix (2020)

• the references are supposed to be dean ruell=lewis hamilton [mercedes], mingyu=max verstappen [red bull], seokmin=daniel ricciardo [renault], jeonghan=charles leclerc [ferrari], jaime=alex albon [redbull], hermann=sebastian vettel and melvin=christian horner [red bull team principal]


• a grand slam in formula one is based on winning a gp from pole position, leading every lap of the race and clocking the fastest lap of the race
  
  
  
  • in the final race of the 2020 season, max verstappen was about to become the youngest driver (i might be wrong here) to cinch a grand slam. in fact, he crossed the finish line on his last lap with the grand slam under his belt except daniel ricciardo, max’s former driving partner in red bull, stole that in the last lap, in his last race with renault [daniel will be moving to mclaren this season]
  
  

After his early retirement at Sakhir, finishing off the season like this feels like the first sip of cool water after 61 laps in Singapore, top step in Monaco, stealing pole from Ferrari’s Jeonghan Yoon in Imola. It's Mingyu's first—pole position, leading the pack, clocking the fastest lap—dreamlike, wispy.

• This sentence is one of my faves because it’s jam-packed with F1 references!
  • the singapore race is the most challenging both mentally (long, ~2 hrs, not an easy circuit) and physically (the weather drains a lot from the drivers), so it’s always a relief to be done with the race
  • the height of f1 glitz and glamour is top step/first position in monaco. just to understand the magnitude, here is daniel winning in 2018. it was also supremely emotional because daniel is a monaco favourite and lost p1 both in 2016 and 2017 to external factors
  • imola is one of the two italian circuits and is considered the ferrari home circuit. its flooded with tifosi [ferarri fans] and like racing is huge in italy in general, so beating ferrari at imola is like a salt in the wound moment for non-ferrari drivers. also, hinting at the gyuhan rivalry
  
  

Seokmin’s helmet is obnoxious —vomit varnished with glitter

• the helmet in question… fruity:

• i genuinely think you can draw actual rl parallels between danric and seokmin in real life & their respective careers so talking about seokmin in this fic felt true to danric as well HAHA
• i also aged seokmin up to danrics actual age for fun. i should’ve gone into that age gap in the fic a little i think

An engineer hums in assent. Translation: Seokmin Lee is in a car that is supposedly lesser than Mingyu’s, and finished 14 points behind Mingyu in the championship.

• seokmin is in renault here, which i don’t think i explicitly talk about the fic upon rereading. the point is that in the past 5 years, renault is no longer the competitive force they used to be, but danric’s presence has marginally turned it around; in 2020, danric gave renault their first podium since 2011. that being said, here’s where i took creative liberty to place renault among the top field

act ii: australian grand prix (2019)

The honest answer? Yes. The answer the media wants to devour? No. Mingyu’s answer? “It’s too early to tell, but maybe, yeah. I’ll enjoy waving at him when I lap him next season.”

• mingyu's response was janked off an actual interview answer max gave

 

Both the interviewer and Mingyu dissolve into polite laughter. Everyone knows that Seokmin leaving Red Bull is a trade down, voluntarily kissing his chance at a title goodbye. Everyone also knows that Mingyu is the reason Seokmin is gambling with his future, that Seokmin is an impression of a dream at 28-years-old, that Mingyu Kim is the greatest contender Red Bull has against Mercedes and Ferrari since Hermann retired. If they didn't know before, with half of Seokmin's season being ruined by early retirements, they know now, after Red Bull had made a call that shooed Mingyu into P3 with zero attempts to let Seokmin pass Mingyu in P4, on his last race with Red Bull.

• this is a simplified breakdown of the redbull-daniel ricciardo-max verstappen fallout. red bull started favouring max heavily in 2018 despite daniel being the more consistent driver AND max has a nosy ass father so like… yeah
 

It’s the fourth race of the season—Azerbaijan, ironically, where everything went to shit—Mingyu registering the blur of black and yellow through the adrenaline of defending his position, an abrupt realization that he’s left a path wide open for Seokmin, a siren call Seokmin has never left unanswered.

• the baku crash in question
  • the other reference here is that all drivers have their own style of driving, some are defensive, offensive, and some have signatures. danric’s signature is the inside line overtake—he does it brilliantly
  
  

That is their ritual at every double podium. Has been since their first: foreheads pressed together, Seokmin’s hand on the back of Mingyu’s neck.

• i really am a fan of sports superstitions/rituals. danric does a shoey every time he gets a podium but i took more creative freedom here and made up a double podium ritual instead… what if you were seokmin lee, red bull racing #1 and cared for your second, mingyu kim, even if he is recklessly stubborn at times?

act iii: 2016

• idt there are any actual f1 references here… i was just setting it up for the rearview throughline

favourite lines

This expression is one Mingyu is intimately familiar with because this smile—wide, teeth bared, the wild gleam in Seokmin’s eyes—is one reserved for Mingyu especially.

Translation: Seokmin Lee may not be in bed next to Mingyu—or even in the bed across Mingyu's—anymore, but they’re still locked in their own race against each other, an endless cycle.

It takes hate to understand love. It takes Seokmin stealing what should be Mingyu’s to understand love. It takes Mingyu keeping an eye on the rearview mirror at all times for an acknowledgment to be reflected to understand love.

Last years crash plays over in his head again and again and again; Mingyu is hungry for victory on a good day, add Seokmin as competition and he becomes voracious. He didn't have to race Seokmin, not when the call to move over had already come in, but he wanted to. He wanted to goad Seokmin into taking the position from him and it worked all too well, knocking them both out of the race in a collision that comes like the final nail to the coffin of their fracturing relationship.

Mingyu knows what it’s like to go from Torro Rosso to Redbull, painfully familiar with the potent mix of newfound invulnerability and heavy expectation. He made that jump all too easily and now he expects it to be the same for everyone else; Mingyu has a drive everyone calls unhinged. There’s a title, out of his reach, with his name on it. There’s a size 11 sized racing boot his new partner needs to step into for him to get that title.

Seokmin would have grinned at him, proud, indulgent, a warm hand hot on the back of Mingyu’s neck, foreheads pressed together and Mingyu could rival the rivulets of champagne running down their skin with the way his blood would go carbonated, rising to the touch.

Mingyu is impetuous, hot-headed, stubborn in all the wrong ways but he is earnest about wanting to win. He is earnest about love, too and for someone whose anchor to the world is racing, there’s no one who has set him aflame like Seokmin just did.

final thoughts 
like i said, i don't think this is the Perfect SVT F1 au on any level, but it's something i'm very happy i wrote because i was just possessed by the brain worms upon seeing the prompt. i would considering expanding this into a larger universe but i've got longer, more well thought out f1, both au and rpf, fic planned for 2021. i might go back again next weekend and edit for more cohesion but otherwise, i'm delighted people are having fun with it! once again, thank you equational for the brilliant prompt! 

Comments

[deadwine]

my brain is rattling around in my skull i understand nothing and yet im feeling everything, thank you very much for these vibes

[leeseokmin]

hahaha, you're so very welcome! if you're genuinely curious about f1, i strongly recommend watching the Netflix documentary -- drive to survive! it's a lot more palatable for people who are into sports for Interteam Dynamics

[latespring]

finally had time to read rearview, and this afterwards, as another treat!! i've been slowly trying to absorb f1 dynamics from osmosis, i loved seeing your thoughts behind what's going on in the fic. ty for sharing them~