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Charles never imagined that he would end up dating someone like Carlos. He was so kind, sweet and funny. He was also determined to push his car to the limit and Charles knew that Carlos was a brilliant driver when he had a great car.
They started dating after Spa 2019 as Carlos ended up joining Charles and his friends to celebrate his first F1 win. By the end of the night, they ended up being separated from Charles’ friends and spent the night together in Carlos’ hotel room. Charles hadn’t meant for it to happen but he had to admit that he did have a crush on Carlos.
They ended up spending more and more time together to the point where Charles decided to ask Carlos out on a date to which the Spaniard happily accepted. Their first date ended up being in a Japanese restaurant in Suzuka to avoid the horrible weather. They started to split their time between Monaco and Spain.
Charles had never really been in a serious relationship before and at times, he couldn’t help the doubts that entered his mind as to whether he was good enough for Carlos. He felt that he didn’t know what he was doing at times. Carlos was patient with Charles, however. He had dated plenty of girls in the past but Charles was his first boyfriend. He knew that he was more experienced in dating than Charles but he didn’t mind taking his time. There was no rush. He knew that they had to be careful and only their families knew about the relationship. They were happy that both their families seemed to get along and they both felt loved by each other’s family and comfortable in their company.
2020 was difficult as the covid pandemic hit the world and the couple ended up being separated from one another for several months. Charles stayed in Monaco with his family whilst Carlos was in Madrid with his family. They couldn’t wait for the season to restart properly and even then, they knew that there would be restrictions. Throughout all of lockdown, the couple had facetimed each other everyday and there were tough times where they really missed one another, they knew that they would return to race. When the announcement came that the season would restart in Austria, Carlos and Charles felt like crying.
A couple of days after the race in Austria, another announcement hit the world of F1. Everyone already knew during lockdown that Seb would be leaving Ferrari after 2020. The question was, how would Charles’ new teammate be? The answer came on 9th July as Carlos was announced as Ferrari’s second driver for 2021. The Spaniard had kept the news quiet so it came as a complete surprise to Charles.
“This isn’t a joke, you’re actually joining Ferrari?” Asked Charles.
Carlos smiled.
“Yes, I’ll be your teammate next year.”
Charles launched himself at Carlos and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck. Carlos just chuckled fondly as he ran a hand up and down the Monegasque’s back.
Everything had been going well. Carlos moved some of his things into Charles’ apartment in Maranello before pre-season testing. They were both looking forward to the year ahead as restrictions were easing and life nearly seemed as normal as it could be. Charles was hoping for a better year than 2020 and he couldn’t wait to battle alongside Carlos. A couple of races went by and Carlos knew that he needed some time to settle into the car. It would all hopefully work out.
Halfway through the season, Charles was beginning to wonder whether his relationship with Carlos would survive as long as they were teammates. He didn’t really think that anything drastic would change but he was now having doubts. Things weren’t always going to plan at Ferrari, he would have some good races and then some bad ones. They were battling against McLaren for third in the constructors championship. Both Carlos and Charles knew how much it meant to the team to do well given that 2020 hadn’t been a great year. They could do it but they needed to be consistent in both qualifying and in the race. There were times where questions were being asked of the team and things were said behind closed doors away from the media.
Charles could only hope that there wouldn’t be too much drama during the rest of the season. Carlos meant the world to him and he wanted this relationship to last. There was a question flying around Charles’ head during the second half of the season. Could their relationship work out as they were soon to embark on their second year as teammates?
Charles knew that he was overthinking everything, he would be fine and as long as his relationship with Carlos remained happy and healthy, there should be no complaints. There were still doubts though and Charles didn’t know what to do. He needed to talk to Carlos but in the same way, he couldn’t. He couldn’t explain what was going on inside his head.