#oiwr

Chapter 4: Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa is now UP on AO3.

This chapter is very long and originally I would end with Checo. I also intended to cover 2021, but Pierre and Albon ended up wanting to stay longer in the chapter. So 2021 and Checo will have to wait for the next one.

This is the chapter where Max sees that not even Red Bull is safe if you don't deliver results (RIP Alex :( I really wanted you to continue)

But it's also the chapter where Max becomes determined to repay everything Red Bull has done for him.

(I don't know if any of you have seen Clone Wars, but you know those moments when something happens on the Republic's side and you know there's no way to avoid what's coming? Yeah, that's how I felt while writing about the Checo rumors and the seeds for the climax.)

It's interesting to see how happy Carlos looks whenever the conversation turns to Max, and how he refers to Red Bull as his old family. It's so endearing. It really puts into perspective that these two were there for so many important moments in each other's lives. (Qatar 2025 podium, you will always be dear to me.)

Charles saying that "he knows how strong he is"... I absolutely need to reference that somehow in OIWR. Poor Charles, he was deep in the depressive spiral caused by Ferrari at the time.

It's heartwarming to see Max's former teammates being so happy for him. Seb is being very diplomatic, but he's also genuinely congratulating both Max and Lewis.

The video also features Mick Schumacher, which now makes me feel obligated to reference the fact that Mick and Max spent holidays together as children, especially considering how close the Verstappen and Schumacher families were during those years.

Lando talking about how there will be conspiracy theories... I’m definitely going to make that fit into the narrative too, especially because it sounds like Lando said it more as a way of saying that people wouldn’t stop talking about it for days, and that somehow his words would end up being taken out of context.

(also it's fine to not know how to use tumblr i think. i'm still learning as well :D)

Wow, there are so many details I'd like to talk about, but I'd end up giving spoilers. I'll mention a few that I think are relevant regarding the heat suppressants, which are details that are part of the worldbuilding and I don't know if I'll be able to detail them in the fic.

Very long response incoming:

There are heat suppressants, used by Omegas to delay their heat cycles.

Alphas use an equivalent when they go into rut, the difference is that, since society sees Alphas as "superior," only Omegas receive the cruel treatment of not being able to choose their careers (pure misogyny, in short).

The pharmaceutical industry, seeing a great chance to profit from Omegas whose dreams are destroyed (going beyond light jobs like childcare and nursery), decides to create instinct inhibitors. One of the factors for pharmaceutical companies investing in this (besides getting money from Omegas who want to be athletes) is that naturally, over time, the body begins to reject the heat suppressants.

Essentially, instinct inhibitors shutdown the part of the brain responsible for primitive impulses (the person becomes practically a beta, but unlike betas, there are no sexual desires, no desire to talk to people, no attachment behavior, no nesting, in short, the part of the brain responsible for socialization simply shuts down and the person becomes more machine than human).

However, since the development of these inhibitors is very unstable (it is still in the testing phase and tests report that several omegas have become dependent on this medication, in addition to causing problems such as suicidal tendencies, social isolation, and infertility).

This leads to societal criticism about whether it is really worthwhile, but instead of allowing omegas to simply participate in activities common to any human being, they prefer to keep omegas confined to their homes.

Therefore, instinct inhibitors are not widely sold, and access to them is more complicated, with pharmaceutical companies supplying some test samples that end up on the black market.

As is well known, omegas are not allowed to participate in Formula 1, but Vettel was an omega who claimed to be an Alpha (he hid his cycles using suppressants; Red Bull only discovered he was an omega practically when he won his third championship).

Because Vettel was an omega and had given them so many championships, Red Bull began a more lenient policy regarding secondary designations, ceasing to require mandatory tests or formal declarations of alpha, beta, or omega status from their drivers and other employees. Officially, the team still follows the FIA ​​rules, which prohibit omegas in Formula 1, but internally it began treating designations as private medical information, creating a "don't ask, don't tell" culture. To avoid risks and harassment, the team implemented universal safety protocols such as: pheromone neutralizers, hormonal monitoring focused solely on physical fitness, emergency medical isolation areas, and extremely strict policies against coercion and abuse— allowing them to maintain the appearance of compliance with regulations while protecting drivers and staff regardless of their designation. (I confess I was a little inspired by your omegaverse here.)

However, this unspoken Red Bull policy of accepting omegas isn't enough to ease Max's insecurities about being discovered as an omega and being fired (let's just say his father will instill a "don't trust anyone regardless of whether they claim they'll accept you" mentality, and he'll have abandonment issues that I intend to explore further in the fic).

I'm letting you know right away that any question about worldbuilding excites me, so I gave a pretty long answer here.

Lando doesn't carry the same emotional baggage that Charles does when it comes to Max. Charles and Max grew up as rivals, so similar and so capable of understanding each other that, for years, they could only clash. Their relationship is built on competition, resentment, and a level of mutual understanding that eventually evolves into love. On top of that, even if Max barely remembers it, Charles was the only person outside his family who truly saw him for who he was after his presentation. Charles knew his real scent. He knew the truth, even if he himself does not know (yet).

Lando is different.

Unlike Charles, whom Max competed against throughout karting, Lando never actually raced against Max in any junior category. However, they met during Lando's karting years, when Lando was still a young kid watching Max race. I honestly don't know the exact story of how they first met and haven't found it yet, but considering the age gap between them, and considering that Max has always had a bit of a mama duck tendency, it's easy to imagine him giving young Lando advice here and there. In OIWR, those small moments would mean a lot to Lando.

Not to mention the famous photo they took together, the one Lando used as his computer wallpaper for a time. To Lando, those memories of Max taking him under his wing would become something he treasures deeply. They are probably a large part of why he is so determined to build a friendship with Max later on.

Daniel would also play a small role in this. He would encourage Max to spend time with people outside the red bull team while also helping Lando become more confident and less concerned with others' opinions. After all, one thing Max has always done, even with all his abandonment issues, is speak his mind. That's something Lando could learn from.

In many ways, their friendship would be good for both of them.

Which is exactly why 2025 becomes so tragic.

Max is dealing with the pressure of not being able to perform at the level he expects because of the car's decline while Red Bull is slowly imploding around him. Meanwhile, Lando is facing the pressure of fighting for a championship for the first time in his career. On top of that, the media constantly questions him for not being "alpha enough" and criticizes him for allowing a beta like Max to remain a threat.

The result is that their relationship becomes complicated.

Not broken but strained. They stop being able to talk honestly to each other. Conversations become rarer, misunderstandings last longer, and neither of them knows how to bridge the growing distance. That silence stretches on for a very long time.

And when everything finally falls apart for Max in the future, that distance, and everything left unsaid between them, will carry a lot of weight.

It would be more symbolic if Lando was an alpha, why? We know Lando in real life and how sometimes his masculinity is put on the check because he is does not act as "macho" like others drivers, so I thought... It would create a nice parallel and they could bond over that before their "divorce" in 2025.

Max is a "beta" that acts too much like an alpha and Lando is an alpha that acts too much like an omega, in a certain way, they are outcasts by the society in different but similar ways.