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Charles couldn’t believe it when he found out that Max and Danielle were having a baby in the same year that he was having a baby with his wife, Martha. At this rate, baby Leclerc would be older than baby Verstappen. Charles had messaged Max to congratulate him and joked that they would be in for a wild ride if the babies were both boys. As it turned out, Charles had jinxed everything because Martha gave birth to a baby boy in the summer whilst Danielle gave birth the baby Verstappen ahead of Christimas who just so happened to be a boy as well.
“We’re in big trouble.” Max had teased his wife.
Harvey Leclerc grew up around cars and karting, just like his father. Casper Verstappen also grew up around cars and racing around karting tracks.
When the boys were young, they were racing at the same kart track and Charles would often speak with Max when they were there. Often, the boys were competitive, just like their dads and they had the habit of pushing each other off the track.
“Papa, Casper pushed me off the track!” Shouted Harvey.
“He did it first!” Responded Casper.
Charles and Max could only sigh.
“They are going to be like us.” Said Charles.
Max snorted.
“Charles, they are exactly like us! They are carbon copies of us! God knows what it’s going to be like if they both go through every category together.”
Both Charles and Max had told their sons about their rivalry from when they were karting at the same track to when they both made it into F1 racing in the top teams.
“Papa, how did you put up with Max? Casper is so annoying, he cheats all the time and pushes me off.” Complained Harvey, one day.
Charles chuckled.
“We used to annoy each other a lot because we were kids and were extremely competitive. That didn’t change when we grew up and eventually, we learned to race alongside each other. It helps that as he got older, we matured and we were able to race without crashing into each other. It does help if you have respect for one another. Maybe, you and Casper will make it into F1 when you’re older and you’ll have to get used to racing alongside him.”
“Hopefully, he’ll stop cheating.”
Charles rolled his eyes.
Both Harvey and Casper ended up racing in F2 together and there were a few occasions where they had a couple of moments like someone going off the track or another would apparently move under braking. Charles and Max would occasionally watch the races together even when the boys weren’t racing for the same team. They found themselves watching the race in Monaco together. Charles couldn’t help but sigh when Harvey nearly pushed Casper into the wall.
“He goes on about Casper and other people doing it to him and now he’s doing it.” Complained Charles.
“You might want to have a word.” Said Max.
Charles raised an eyebrow.
“Like, you might want to have a word with Casper.”
“Danielle has more words than me, he won’t listen to me when I tell him to behave.”
Danielle was smiling from where she was sitting next to Max.
“He knows that I will ban him from driving if he takes an aggressive attitude.” Said Danielle.
“He’s not entirely like me, you know.” Max pointed out.
“No, he just has your stubborn genes.”
“If it helps, Harvey has Charles’ stubborn genes.”
Charles pulled a face.
“He does not.”
“Babe, he’s practically your twin.”
“Yes and Aurora is your twin.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that.”
Max and Danielle chuckled as they continued to watch the race.
Of course, when Harvey returned to the motorhome after the race, the first thing he did was complain about Casper.
“You nearly put him into the wall, Harvey, be glad that nothing happened.” Said Charles.
“He’s a pain though.”
“He’s still your rival after all and be careful about what you’re saying, his family are here, we were watching the race.”
“I didn’t think you liked Max.”
“We’re not best friends but we both have sons who are as stubborn as each other so we can talk about them.”
Harvey huffed and left to go and speak to his mum. Casper then appeared and looked unhappy at the sight of his family sitting in the motorhome belonging to a rival team.
“Dad, why are you here?” Asked Casper.
“Mum and I were watching the race with Charles and Martha.”
“Why?”
“Why do you have to ask questions all the time?”
“I’m allowed to because you’re not best friends with Charles.”
Max rolled his eyes.
“I’m spying on the enemy, are you happy now?”
Casper smiled at his dad’s teasing before he pulled him in for a hug and then disappeared to go back to speak to his engineers.
A year later, Casper won the F2 championship with Harvey finishing P2 behind him. They had many great battles together and on the odd occasion, when Charles and Max thought they were over their rivalry, something would happen. Both families hoped that if the boys got into F1 that they would stop complaining about each other.
The following year, Harvey and Casper joined F1. Max and Charles were ecstatic. Harvey had joined Aston Martin whilst Casper joined McLaren. Max and Charles attended the first race with their families. By this point, Charles and Martha had Harvey, Aurora and Pippa. Harvey was the only one in the family who was racing although Aurora and Pippa did like their sports. Max and Danielle had Michael and Alexander after Casper. Michael wasn’t interested in racing and had taken up tennis whilst Alexander was racing in F3.
Harvey and Casper were put in the press conference together and the boys were sure that they had been set up. Thankfully, they were able to have a joke afterwards given that all they had been asked about was their dads.
“I like that they have to ask about our dads all the time even though they aren’t racing anymore.” Said Casper.
Harvey laughed.
“They’re always talking about our dads because they had such a great rivalry. My dad occasionally jokes that it would’ve been better if we were all girls or if we weren’t racing and it would make life easier.”
“Life isn’t easy.”
“Not when you’re on track.” Teased Harvey
“Oi! I’m getting better at giving you space.”
“So you say.”
Harvey winked but ironically, he was just like his dad who couldn’t wink properly. Casper snorted.
“They’re right, we’re too much like our dads, you can’t even wink properly.”
Harvey frowned.
“Yes I can!”
Harvey wasn’t surprised to see Charles and Max in the paddock after qualifying. He managed to have a word with Casper about it in the media pen.
“They’re literally attached to the hip.” Said Harvey.
“Are you surprised? They’ve been like that since we started karting.”
Harvey shrugged.
“I guess.”
Charles and Max watched on as Harvey and Casper were busy with their media duties. Harvey had qualified P15 whilst Casper was P12. Max nudged Charles at one point to get his attention.
“Can you imagine the scenes on lap 1 if Harvey had been right behind Casper?” Asked Max.
Charles laughed.
“Utter chaos.”
“Hopefully, it will be a good race for the two of them.”
“Fingers crossed.”
Neither Harvey nor Casper managed to finish in the points on race day but they both managed to finish the race and gain some positions. Harvey had finished P12 with Casper ahead in P11. When the cars returned to the pitlane after the race, Harvey headed straight over to Casper and held out his hand.
“Good race, shame you didn’t get any points.” Said Harvey.
Casper smiled behind his visor and shook his rival’s hand.
“Hopefully, we can have some more battles this year.”
Harvey chuckled.
“I look forward to it.”
Charles and Max were once again keeping an eye on their boys when they were in the media pen after the race.
“It’s going to be chaotic if they both get points in the next race.” Said Max.
“If Casper gets points ahead of Harvey, I’ll never hear the end of it.” Moaned Charles.
Max laughed.
“Casper will be the same, they’re both too competitive for their own good.”
“I wonder where they get it from.”