#hun24

bc these were the most crucial moments immediately after the race. before this, Lando came up alongside Oscar during the lap to wave and then he ran over to pat Oscar while still in the car, all of which would have more than sufficed to me. in the same way that I never expected Oscar to feel up to it after a bad result for him and a podium for Lando, I've always loved that he and Lando will always swallow down the disappointment for the moment and give each other something.

but they always do more than I expect !! and once out of the car and weighed, Oscar goes right over to Lando in an exchange that is clearly a follow on from Oscar apologizing for his pace in those final laps over the radio right before. there's that grateful, bashful little head tilt that Oscar does to Lando and Lando smiles and keeps on smiling as he watches Oscar walk away.

and then ! Oscar drifts back over to Lando's spot and just sort of hovers. his "celebration" so far has been limited to standing on the car but after that it feels similar if even less jubilant than his Monaco podium. he scrubs his face and looks for all the world as if it wasn't his first GP win. Lando had been staring off into the distance but he sees Oscar, rubs his own mouth and gives Oscar a smile that Oscar immediately returns on instinct.

and like !! the reaching across that distance of their race results !! Lando knowing he's in the elder, more experienced role and that as he said himself repeatedly in his interviews: he knows all that Oscar has done for him. that many a time, he has needed Oscar. that Oscar has on and off the track accepted Lando's seniority and been the one to step back. but Oscar as a driver is exactly the same as every other driver! he dedicated his entire life to this sport in order to win! a lot of fans revealed themselves to think that Oscar was meant to stay in that secondary role forever, but Lando never did! and no one knows better than Lando what serendipity can feel like when certain fans decide to classify it as being "gifted" a win or a podium. for all that Oscar has only had to wait one season for the McLaren to be a rocket ship, he also isn't established in the sport the way Lando is. again, to quote Lando, you never know what's coming in F1 and you never ever waste an opportunity because when there's only 20 spots, you cannot assume in your second season that you've got plenty of other seasons left.

but then off the track Oscar will suddenly deviate completely from most F1 drivers. he'll always do this: drift into Lando's circle and hover and remain quiet while trying to read how Lando is feeling. and that's when Lando sees Oscar's complete lack of gloating or even celebrating - that Oscar doesn't hug and he's not tactile but when he needs something he Stays Near like a domesticated cat that doesn't know why their human smells like sadness but wants to help. that he needs to see what Lando really thinks and feels about this because Lando is the established one and someone Oscar's (very) intensely admired since karting and who Oscar follows around with his eyes and sometimes bodily follows him even when Lando is talking to someone else.

and then Lando gives him that smile and that proud, reassuring squeeze of his arm and shoulder - ducks his head to show that he knows it's all absurd and he'll be okay… that he "doesn't want this to overshadow Oscar's win". and poor little non-tactile Oscar leans into the touch and lets out a breath and really lets himself smile.

^^^and it reminded me so much of Lando reaching out to Oscar at the start of the Silverstone podium. because Lando was utterly down and out but it was Oscar - who didn't even get a podium - who was smiling and hovering close and not taking his eyes off Lando and giving in to any of Lando's whims and "wanting to cheer us up".

bc Lando is so used to the men in his life affectionately invading his space without a second thought and speaking in big, loud almost comical declarations - that it took a while for him to realize that Oscar's affection is seen in his eyes and in the quiet, strong way he stays so near Lando that at times he's watching him even when Lando is off talking to someone else. so in the aftermath of Hungary, Lando sees his boy hovering and looking awkward and uncertain and reaches out to him with his own brand of affection.

and tbh everything after this was Oscar knowing he could let that quiet, intense happiness really soak in over his first win and that Lando would put in a herculean effort to manage the PR mess spilled all over his own race - because they'd already shown with that touch and the hovering and the smiles that they'd never held anything like the toxic codependency and competitiveness of the two men framed between them. that their individual DNA and the DNA of their relationship had nothing in common with what Nico and Lewis had and whatever it is they continue to have. that other teammates have broken and taken weeks to repair under the kind of strain handed to Lando and Oscar in Hungary.