nadine

Some drivers keep their designation public, but they're always alphas, with the occasional beta. The omegas who have competed openly were never really given a choice.

On the current grid, there are no known omegas. Not even the drivers know of any. But then rumors start spreading that there's a secret omega on the grid, and that's enough to send the media into a frenzy. Drivers start getting asked about it constantly because after more than ten years without a known omega, everyone is desperate to find out who it is.

Max, despite being an alpha, hates all of it. He knows omegas are always one step away from being pushed out of the sport. Whenever an omega is revealed, they rarely last more than a few seasons afterward. Sponsors disappear, the media becomes obsessed with them, and every single mistake they make gets scrutinized. If they have a bad race, people blame their designation, regardless of whether the car was capable of competing in the first place.

So after a race, when he's asked yet again about the mystery omega, Max finally snaps. Out of a sense of fairness, protectiveness, and sheer frustration, he lies and says that he's the omega everyone is looking for.

The reaction is exactly what you'd expect. The entire world loses its mind.

People are shocked that a four-time world champion, someone so aggressive, dominant, competitive, and seemingly embodying every stereotypical alpha trait, could supposedly be an omega.

Immediately after the interview, Max gets called into an emergency meeting with Red Bull. Unlike the public, the teams always know their drivers' real designations, so everyone is understandably confused about why Max just announced to the world that he's an omega when he's actually an alpha.

Max explains himself. He says he wanted people to stop hunting for the real omega and leave them alone. He admits it was an impulsive decision made in the heat of the moment, but he doesn't regret it.

And so Max ends up taking the full force of the backlash. He faces the media, the speculation, and the criticism while pretending to be an omega. He knows he's in a uniquely privileged position because:

1. He's a four-time world champion. That's enough to make it impossible for people to seriously question his ability based on his designation, and it protects him from losing any truly important sponsors.

2. Red Bull knows the truth, so his seat is never actually in danger.

Without meaning to, Max slowly becomes the public face of omega rights in motorsport.

Meanwhile, Charles, the real secret omega on the grid, is completely stunned when he learns, along with the rest of the world, that Max is an omega too. But that actually works in his favor. As far as Charles is concerned, Max's announcement only makes his own secret safer. Nobody is going to believe there are two omegas on the grid at the same time.

But, for years, Charles has had a crush on Max. He feels embarrassed by how automatically he assumed Max was an alpha. The revelation completely shatters every expectation he had. But after the initial shock fades, Charles realizes something else: he's still attracted to Max. Even though he's never been attracted to another omega before. For the first time in his life, Charles decides to actually do something about his feelings, so he starts with subtle flirting.

The problem is that Max notices almost immediately. And Max thinks Charles is an alpha.

To protect his identity, Charles has spent years wearing artificial alpha scent patches underneath his suppressants. Whenever the suppressants weaken slightly, the fake alpha scent leaks through. It's entirely intentional. He wants people to assume he's an alpha so nobody ever suspects he's actually an omega.

And Max has never been attracted to another alpha before. He's always thought Charles was ridiculously attractive, but he never paid much attention to it. And the little bit of scent he ever picked up from Charles never did anything for him.

So Max doesn't really have a problem with a supposed alpha flirting with him. The problem is the timing. Charles only starts openly flirting after Max publicly claims to be an omega, which leads Max to the completely wrong conclusion: Charles isn't interested in him because he's Max. He's interested because he thinks Max is an omega.

And, much to his own surprise, that disappoints him, he never expected Charles to act like the stereotypical alpha who suddenly starts paying attention to someone after finding out they're an omega.

CHARLES IS SO OMEGA CODED

Chapters: 1/? Fandom: Formula 1 RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Charles Leclerc/Max Verstappen, Lando Norris/Oscar Piastri, Background Alexander Albon/George Russell, background Andrea Kimi Antonelli/Oliver Bearman Characters: Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri, Alexander Albon, George Russell (Formula 1 RPF), Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Daniel Ricciardo, Gianpiero Lambiase, Sebastian Vettel, Charles Leclerc’s Family, Nico Hülkenberg, Liam Lawson Additional Tags: mutual obsession, Apex Predator Dynamics, Mind Games, Dark Charles Leclerc, Dark Max Verstappen, Possessive Charles Leclerc, Possessive Max Verstappen, Jail AU, Dark Romance, Prison Violence, Past Trauma, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Lando Norris/Oscar Piastri Side Plot, Dom Oscar Piastri, Sub Lando Norris, Power Exchange, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Needs Therapy, no one gets therapy, But They Do Get Hugs, Protective Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel Needs A Raise, Gianpiero Lambiase Needs A Raise, Kimi Antonelli is a menace, George Russell Is A Drama Queen, Alex Albon Loves Him Anyway, Nico Hulkenberg And Liam Lawson Try To Stay Neutral, Kimi Antonelli Ruins Everyone’s Plans Summary:

Charles Leclerc has committed many crimes. The murder that sends him to prison is not one of them. Framed, isolated from his family, and placed in the cell of Max Verstappen, Charles intends to keep his head down, draw no attention, and survive until his brothers come for him. Unfortunately, Max takes one look at him and sees the monster beneath the mask. Even more unfortunately, Charles looks back and sees something just as familiar. They are two apex predators placed in the same cage. By every law of instinct, they should clash until only one of them is left standing. Instead, the prison watches in horror as they find the concept of folie à deux, madness shared by two, in each other. Neither of them expected to find it in a prison cell. That doesn’t mean they’ll look away.

Or:

Good news!!!! AO3 finally accepted my invitation request, which means I can post the prologue!!

Before I do, I wanted to ask something practical: what posting time would work best for you?

Please tell me the time you’d prefer chapters to go up and where you’re reading from / your time zone. I’m from Italy and I’d like to find a posting window that works for the people who commented and helped me here on tumblr.

While I wait for your answer, I thought I’d do something similar to the character sheets for the main dynamics/couples. Nothing too spoilery, just a little guide to the relationships at the centre of the story.

Couples Sheet

Lestappen

Max and Charles are the centre of the story and the reason the title is Folie à Deux.

They are two apex predators placed in the same cage, so they are supposed to recognise the threat in each other and turn the room into a battlefield. Max is territorial, blunt, and dangerous in ways everyone has already learned to fear. Charles is controlled, elegant, and far too used to turning himself into whatever shape a room expects to see. They should collide until one of them gives way.

Instead, they become fascinated (to put it lightly).

Max looks at Charles and sees the monster waiting under all that softness. Charles looks back and recognises something just as dangerous, though Max wears his violence in a different way.

Their relationship begins with observation and turns into provocation before either of them can stop it. They test each other through silences, small shifts in control, and a kind of intimacy neither of them would call intimacy out loud. The more they understand, the worse it gets, because neither reacts the way the other expects.

The obsession grows from that recognition.

That is where the folie à deux begins: two monsters who should have destroyed each other finding, instead, someone willing to look at the worst parts of them and find an equal (aka partner).

Landoscar

Lando and Oscar should make even less sense than Max and Charles.

Max and Charles, for all their differences, share enough darkness to recognise each other. There is common ground beneath the masks and the brutality: control, obsession, possessiveness, the instinct to protect what they decide is theirs no matter what it costs everyone else.

Lando and Oscar have almost none of that at first glance.

Lando survives through attachment, warmth, emotional intelligence, and a brightness that makes people forget how much grief he carries. Oscar survives through control, distance, silence, and the refusal to let anyone touch anything he has not chosen to give. Lando feels loudly even when he tries not to. Oscar feels in ways he has trained himself to keep contained.

Oscar’s need for control (Yes, Dom Oscar) comes from a place where control once meant safety. Lando’s need to surrender is tangled with devotion, and the terrible instinct to give too much of himself to the people he loves. What makes them work is also what makes them difficult: neither of them can approach intimacy casually.

Their relationship builds slowly because it has to. Every boundary matters, as does every moment of trust.

Where Max and Charles recognise each other almost violently, Lando and Oscar have to learn each other piece by piece.

Galex

Alex and George are already together when the story begins, and they are the emotional support couple of the fic in the most prison-appropriate, emotionally damaged sense of the phrase.

Their relationship is lived-in. They have history, routines, arguments they have had before, silences they know how to read, and a kind of devotion that no longer needs to announce itself. Alex knows how to soften a moment without losing control of it. George knows how to turn worry into structure, strategy, and occasionally a lecture no one asked for but everyone probably needed.

They balance each other because they have already made the choice the others are still circling around. Alex and George know what it means to stay. They know what it means to be afraid for someone and angry at them and in love with them all at once.

In a fic full of people being surprised by recognition, Alex and George are the proof that choosing someone once is only the beginning. The harder part is continuing to choose them, again and again, even inside a world built to make that difficult.

Bearnelli

Kimi insists that Ollie is his best friend, which would be more convincing if he did not talk about him like gravity might stop working without him.

Their story is more off-screen than the others at first because Ollie is not physically present for much of the fic. Kimi, however, is extremely willing to compensate for this absence by mentioning him whenever possible, providing unnecessary context, sharing details no one asked for, and acting very confused when people draw the obvious conclusions.

According to Kimi, this is all completely normal best friend behaviour.

Ollie is present in the story through the way Kimi talks about him: casually at first, then constantly enough that everyone around him begins to understand that the absence has weight. He is the person Kimi returns to in conversation, the name that makes him brighten, the point of reference he uses without realising how revealing it is. Kimi may not have the language for what Ollie means to him yet, but he gives himself away almost every time he opens his mouth.

charles holding max’s helmet like this, is probably one for the comfiest photo that i’ve ever seen. my heart is hurting and my brain is already forming hundred of different ideas for a potential fic

Here we go with the character sheet, hoping AO3 accepts my request soon, because I keep rereading and changing the prologue and Chapter 1, and I probably won’t stop until I publish them xD

I also rewrote the summary for AO3, so I’ll put it there.

There are no love triangles in my story because I might like drama, but I also like the trope of “he is the only one for me” on both sides of a pairing. So yeah… Lestappen, Landoscar, Galex, and Bearnelli supremacy xD

New Summary, do not repost on other websites:

Charles Leclerc has committed many crimes. The murder that sends him to prison is not one of them.

Framed, isolated from his family, and placed in the cell of Max Verstappen, Charles intends to keep his head down, draw no attention, and survive until his brothers come for him.

Unfortunately, Max takes one look at him and sees the monster beneath the mask.

Even more unfortunately, Charles looks back and sees something just as familiar.

They had both spent their whole lives fascinated by the idea of folie à deux: madness shared by two.

Neither of them expected to find it in a prison cell.

Or:

A Lestappen jail AU where Max and Charles are two seconds away from making their mutual obsession everyone else’s problem; Lando falls embarrassingly hard for Oscar at first sight; Kimi is a menace with no survival instinct; Alex, George, and Daniel are just along for the ride; and GP and Sebastian Vettel are absolutely not paid enough for this.

Main Characters

Charles Leclerc

Age: 25 First appearance: Prologue Role: Main protagonist Pairing: Max Verstappen

Charles comes from a powerful organized crime family that controls Monaco. The Leclercs have the power to reach much further, but they choose not to, preferring to keep a low profile and remain almost unknown outside France and Monaco.

Charles does not agree with his family’s methods. The Leclerc way is quiet, clean and controlled: fast deaths, no spectacle, no unnecessary attention. Charles, however, sees death differently. To him, the death of an enemy can become a message, a warning, almost a form of art.

He is possessive, manipulative, patient and dangerously charming. Charles studies every situation carefully and uses his charisma to make people lower their guard, turning circumstances in his favour even when anyone else would have no chance.

His and Max view of death is loosely inspired by some conversations between Will Graham and Hannibal Lecter in the TV series Hannibal, specifically the idea of death as a form of art. Charles himself is not based on either Will or Hannibal.

Main relationships besides the pairing: Lando Norris is his best friend, Kimi Antonelli immidiatly attaches himself to Charles when they meet in prison. Charles is also deeply connected to his family, though the prison setting means he does not interact with them as often during the main story.

Max Verstappen

Age: 25 First appearance: Chapter 1 Role: Main protagonist Pairing: Charles Leclerc

Max also comes from an organized crime family. The Verstappen name is not spoken with the same reverence as the Leclerc name, but it is made clear in Chapter 1 that his father ran a large operation.

Max shares Charles’ view of death as something that can become art, but their methods are very different. Charles hides behind charm, masks and manipulation. Max is much more direct. Control matters to him, but he is not interested in pretending to be softer than he is.

He hides emotions that make him vulnerable, but he never hides his darkness the way Charles does.

Main relationships: Alex Albon, George Russell and Daniel Ricciardo are already part of his group before prison. Oscar Piastri meets him in prison and becomes his right hand. Kimi is not part of Max’s group and is more important to Charles, but Max protects him from the moment they meet.

Jos is mentioned in Chapter 1, but he does not appear directly in the main story. (heck no!) Victoria and his mom are not really present in Max's life.

Main Secondary Characters with their own POV.

Lando Norris

Age: 23 First appearance: Prologue Role: Main secondary character Pairing: Oscar Piastri

Lando comes from a family allied with the Leclercs. After his family dies in an enemy attack when he is fifteen, Charles’ father takes him in and brings him to Monaco.

He is one of the rare people who sees Charles’ darkness and never truly walks away from it. He does not always understand it completely, but even when Charles shows the monster inside him, Lando stays.

Lando is clingy, emotionally intelligent and deeply attached to Charles, almost as if Charles is his anchor. He uses a lot of physical contact and can be insecure because he knows he can be “too much".

Main relationships besides the pairing: Charles Leclerc, Daniel Ricciardo once they meet.

Oscar Piastri

Age: 21 First appearance: Chapter 1 Role: Main secondary character Pairing: Lando Norris

Oscar comes from an Australian organized crime family that is not connected to either the Leclercs or the Verstappens. He ends up in prison at seventeen and meets Max when he is nineteen.

He is the only person in Max’s group who meets him in prison rather than before it.

Oscar is quiet, guarded and difficult to read. His expression rarely gives anything away. He is cautious, controlled and hates physical contact because of past trauma. Control is extremely important to him.

Main relationships besides the pairing: Max Verstappen, Alex Albon.

Main Secondary Characters Without POV

These characters appear in most chapters, but the story is told only through Max, Charles, Lando and Oscar’s POVs.

Kimi Antonelli

Age: 16 First appearance: Chapter 2 (mentioned already in chapter 1) Role: Main secondary character without POV Pairing: Ollie Bearman (Ollie does not directly appear in the story and is only present through Kimi’s stories)

Kimi is spontaneous, honest and has no intentional cruelty in him. He meets Max first, and even though Max is not openly affectionate with him, he protects Kimi from the more twisted minds inside the prison from the start.

Once Charles enters the prison, Kimi attaches himself to Charles’ side and basically never leaves. Charles protects him just as much as Max does.

Kimi has a good relationship with almost everyone and is, in many ways, the most important character among the secondary ones without POV. This is mostly because, early on, he accidentally triggers two or three events that lead to the first real, unmasked interactions between Max and Charles. He is a freaking menace xD

Main relationships: Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and eventually almost everyone in the group.

Alex Albon

Age: 26 First appearance: Chapter 1 Role: Main secondary character without POV Pairing: George Russell

Alex comes from a family that owed money to Jos. He meets Max when Alex is eighteen and Max is seventeen.

He is the first person close to Max’s age who sees what Max is and does not walk away. Alex chooses to stay, and that choice becomes extremely important to Max.

Alex is the most empathetic member of Max’s group and the easiest one for outsiders to approach. He looks soft, but he is far more observant and strategic than people expect.

Main relationships besides the pairing: Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri. He gets along with almost everyone, but he does not have a good relationship with his own family.

George Russell

Age: 24 First appearance: Chapter 1 Role: Main secondary character without POV Pairing: Alex Albon

George joins Max’s group because of Alex. He meets Max when George is 17 and Max is 18, one year after Max and Alex first meet.

At first, George and Max do not get along. Their personalities clash constantly. George likes order, structure and planning, and he does not like violence unless it is necessary.

Despite this, when it truly matters, George proves that he cares about Max and the group and that he might have joined for Alex, but he is staying for all of them.

Main relationships besides the pairing: Max Verstappen. He also grows attached to Charles quickly after Charles arrives. His interactions with Oscar are limited, while most of his scenes with Daniel are banter.

Daniel Ricciardo

Age: 33 First appearance: Chapter 1 Role: Main secondary character without POV Pairing: None (unless someone wants a Ricciardo/Vettel pairing..)

Daniel is originally one of Jos’ men. He is the first person in the group to join Max and the first to choose Max over Jos, when Max is sixteen and Daniel is twenty-four.

Daniel is light, loud and constantly joking, but he can absolutely be dangerous when needed. He is very close to Max and becomes attached to Lando quickly once they meet.

For the most part, Daniel talks, jokes, flirts with danger and torments every other character in the room.

Supporting Characters

Sebastian Vettel

Age: 38 First appearance: Chapter 1 Role: Supporting character

Sebastian is the only honest and incorruptible guard in the prison. He cannot be bought, bullied or easily ignored. He is serious, stubborn and determined to enforce the rules without making exceptions.

Charles doesn't know him, but Sebastian seems to know who Charles is and is still determined to keep Charles safe from a distance. He is the reason Max and Charles end up sharing a cell.

For now, Max and Charles are the only two characters he directly interacts with in the story. That could change in later chapters.

GP

First appearance: Chapter 1 Role: Supporting character Pairing: None

GP is also a guard. He is practical and sharp-eyed. He values order, information and survival more than empty morality.

He becomes one of the few people who can tell Max he is being stupid and survive the experience. His relationship with Max slowly becomes a father-son dynamic.

There are other drivers in the background, like Hulkemberg and Lawson, but they’re not as present and they play neutral roles.

to avoid all of that, Charles decided that no one besides his family would know the truth: that he’s an omega, not an alpha. and to keep it that way, in addition to suppressants, he used scent patches: one to block his real scent and another to give him an artificial alpha scent. and for years, it worked.

but over time, with continuous use, the one blocking his scent started to lose its effectiveness, and his real scent would sometimes leak through and mix with the artificial alpha one. it wasn’t a major issue at first, because people just assumed he was dating an omega, and that the scent belonged to them.

the problem is, as much as Max tried to ignore it, that scent, the one from Charles’s supposed partner, was driving him insane. he didn’t want to become obsessed with some unknown omega, someone he had never even seen, and definitely not with a taken omega, especially one connected to a fellow driver. not that he and Charles were close, but Max liked to think they got along and understood each other like no one else on track, and there was a mutual respect between them as alphas. Max would never go after someone else’s omega…

except he couldn’t stop himself from imagining them, from wanting to know more. so eventually, he gives in and starts asking Charles about them, at first in vague, general ways. but the questions become more and more frequent, because every small detail only makes him want to know more. and Max can’t help but think how cruel fate is, to give someone else the omega that was meant for him.

Hi! First of all, thank you to the 2 people who replied to my previous post 🥹

I think I was already leaning more toward the first idea too (the Jail AU) so now I need help with another thing: Charles’ backstory.

Just to give a quick recap of the AU in case someone new sees this:

Charles ends up in prison for something he didn’t actually do (at least, not yet) and becomes Max’s cellmate. Max is basically the most dangerous person in the prison, the kind of criminal no one dares to cross, with half of the drivers in his gang. Something about Charles catches his attention, and Max becomes immediately obsessed with him.

Charles is not innocent either.

In both versions I was thinking, Charles’ family is involved in organized crime and basically controls Monaco. Charles has a good relationship with his family, and he doesn’t hate their lifestyle, but he has always stayed a little bit on the outside of it. He lets Lorenzo and Arthur handle the dirty work.

Charles has always had a darker side. A side most people don’t see.

To strangers, he seems like the softest one and with the least twisted mind.

But Lando, his best friend, knows him too well.

Lando has seen the way Charles looks when he is in a position of power or control. He has seen the quiet fascination in his eyes when violence happens in front of him. For Lorenzo and Arthur, killing or torturing when necessary is just part of the job. Something that has to be done.

But for Charles, there is something more morbid there.

He doesn’t act on it. He never really gives in to that side of himself. He lets his brothers do the dirty work and pretends he is different from them.

But Lando notices the small things. The reactions. The gestures. The way Charles watches. And Lando is convinced that, if Charles ever fully stepped into that world, he would become a thousand times more terrifying than his brothers.

So this is where I’m unsure.

Option 1: Charles tried to leave that life behind before ending up in jail.

In this version, after another person close to him dies because of rival families, Charles decides he wants out.

He still loves his brothers and his mom, but he wants to try having a normal life. He wants to leave Monaco and start over somewhere else.

Lorenzo and Arthur are not happy about it, mostly because they are protective. Lorenzo has been running the family business since their father died, and if Charles leaves Monaco, he would be outside their territory. Somewhere Lorenzo can’t protect him as easily.

Lando, on the other hand, is reluctant for a completely different reason.

He knows Charles can defend himself. And he knows Charles would call his brothers if he needed help.

Lando simply doesn’t believe Charles is made for a normal life.

That darker side of him is too present, even if Charles tries to bury it.

Still, Charles and Lando leave Monaco together and move somewhere else — I haven’t decided where yet.

For a couple of years, they try to live normally. Then a girl they both care about is assaulted and murdered.

Charles, tries to get revenge. Since he is not thinking clearly or planning, he ends up going against a very powerful man, who frames him for the girl’s death.

Charles doesn’t get the chance to warn his brothers before he is immediately sent to prison (Lando of course, commits a minor crime to join him becouse of course he is a good friend).

So in this version, Charles ending up in prison is almost a case of wrong place, wrong time.

Which would irritate him so much because, seriously? He always thought that if he ever ended up in prison, it would be because he had chosen to go back to that old life. Not because fate decided to laugh in his face.

Option 2: Charles never leaves Monaco, but gets framed by rival families.

In this version, Charles is still in Monaco.

He still doesn’t do the dirty work himself, but he stays by his brothers’ side.

Then he gets framed in a similar way to the first option, but this time it is not random at all.

It is a targeted move. Rivals who are trying to take control of Monaco from the Leclerc family decide to hit the one everyone seems desperate to protect, the most fragil and the less dangerous one.. of course, they miscalculated badly.

Because Charles was never harmless. He was just waiting for a reason.

And by sending him to prison, they might have just given him the push he needed to finally let that darker side of himself out.

Again, Lando is along for the ride, because of course he is.

In both cases, the dynamic with Max doesn’t really change. They are both dark, and I know it’s a bit unusual, but I love the idea of both of them being dominant while also not wanting a submissive partner.

There’s a reason why the fic will be called "Folie à Deux", after all hehe :)

charles being like “my man, my man, my man” 😍😘 and max just yapping away as charles looks at him like he is the most specialest boy (he is) and they are just so…