This was written following inspiration (and uses some characters and some of the events) from LordCroussette's The Heart of The Champion, a brilliant Harry/Hermione Muggle!AU fic which features Harry Potter as a Formula 1 driver...
This was originally posted on AO3...
James "Jimmy" Sirius Potter couldn't believe it.
It was his rookie year in Formula One and he still couldn't believe it.
Formula 2 champion the previous season, Formula 3 champion two years previously, he knew he would have to do well.
He had big shoes to fill.
His father, Harry Potter, won 3 World Driver Championships.
His aunt, Athena Potter, did the same.
His grandfather, James Potter, drove for the Ferrari team in 1982, before having to fight for a seat over the next 7 seasons.
He knew he had to try his best.
He had to.
It was an hour until the car had to be on the grid. Just enough time to talk to his brother, Albus "Al" Potter, one of the engineers on the Alfa Romeo team that he had signed to at the end of the previous season.
Despite being a year younger than him, Al was the brains of the three Potter brothers (although both Albus and James would admit their sister, Rose, was cleverer then them – but she wanted to follow in the footsteps of their mother, Hermione, and work the Flowers of Cokeworth Foundation ran by Rose's grandmother, Lily Potter, and great aunt, Petunia Dursley, and so decided to study Law).
Hugo, the youngest of the three Potter brothers, was in college, hoping to follow in the footsteps of his grandad Daniel's footsteps and become a dentist, but he still loved watching his brother race…
…just like James loved watching his dad and aunt when they raced.
"You need to watch the inside of turn 10. The telemetry has been showing some problems with the car." Al told his brother's teammate, Valtteri Bottas. "Frédéric has asked Jimmy to have a go today using some modifications to the car which have been approved by the Race Director and the FIA Officials, but I think it's a bit touch and go if will work."
Walking up to his brother, he saw three men, just slightly older than him, walking into the Alfa Romeo garage.
"Is it true?" The one that James recognised as a former competitor in Formula 2, Scorpius Malfoy, said. "They're saying all down the pit lane that "Jimmy" Potter is in this garage. So, it's you, is it?"
"Yes," said James, looking at the two that accompanied the arrival. He could tell that the pair of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale racing driver, they looked like bodyguards.
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where James was looking.
"You'll soon find out some Formula One teams are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."
He held out his hand to shake James's, but the younger driver didn't take it.
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort is for myself, thanks," he said coolly, noticing his brother getting really annoyed with the visitor.
Scorpius Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as some members of your family. A one-way ticket out of the sport."
"OUT." Valtteri shouted at the Aston Martin driver. "Out now."
"Fuck you Bottas." Scorpius responded. "You couldn't hack it with Mercedes, and now you're mentoring a rookie."
"And you only got your seat because of your isä." Valtteri retorted. "Jimmy doesn't have to rely on the Potter name to get ahead."
"My father will have a fit when I tell him –"
"Tell him what? That you will get your arse handed to you… again?" a voice came from behind Scorpius said. "Mike wanted to have words with you Scorpius. Run along now."
As Scorpius left the garage, the two Alfa Romeo drivers laughed at how pathetic the son of the Aston Martin team's owner was.
"Thanks Nico." Valtteri said, glad to see the German driver. "That git is a pain in the arse. Even Sebastian finds him annoying to work with, and he's one of the most patient drivers on the track."
The hour flew, with some of the other drivers popping into the Alfa Romeo garage to say hello to James, with George Russell, Alex Albon, and even Max Verstappen all wishing him luck on his first race in Formula One.
It was only a few minutes before he had to go on his reconnaissance lap, ready to be on the grid, and he sighed.
"You ok big bro?" Al said to him, making sure that everything in the car was ready to go.
James looked around, then at his younger brother. "I just wished Grandad Dan was here. He would have loved to see me be a Formula One race."
"I know Jimmy. He's a massive fan of racing, and he would have loved to have been here, had it not been for his arthritis." Al said, hugging his brother. "Same with mum, she would have been here but with Hugo getting Covid, she had to put the house in quarantine. I was lucky that I tested negative to be fair."
"Yeah, I couldn't not have my brother here. Dad was lucky as well." James said, hugging his brother back. "Talking about dad, where is he?"
"He's probably got caught by the TV lot to do an interview or two." Albus said, "Better to keep the press happy."
"Yeah, grandad James is of the same train of thought. Aunty Athena too."
"And it looks like I can talk to the newest driver on the grid, James Potter, as he's finished with the Sky Italy crew" Martin Brundle, the grid interviewer for Sky UK said, heading over to the Alfa Romeo car. "James, sorry for interrupting you whilst you're preparing for your first Formula One race, do you mind having a quick word?"
"Nah, I don't mind" he said, smiling as he saw who it was. "Anything for you Uncle Marty"
Watching as the cameraman who was following the former Tyrrell driver stood next to him, James nervously smiled into the camera.
"So, James, son of a three-time World Driver Champion, nephew of another, and grandson of another legend, you were last season's Formula 2 champion, you qualified in P15, you've got Valtteri Bottas as your teammate, are you looking forward to what unfolds this season?"
"Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing what unfolds." James said, nervously. "I did have some nerves, and I had to pinch myself a couple of times, but I'm hoping to do well. Valtteri is a brilliant teammate, encouraging me. I could have done better in quali, but it's the way the cookie crumbles. My team have been great, and we hope that things could go well."
Martin turned to the camera as Albus whispered in James's ear.
"My son Alex would sometimes watch the two oldest Potter children, James and Albus, during their karting days before Albus had a accident which ended his fledgling career, and I knew their father, Harry, and their aunt, Athena, when they were younger." He said to the TV audience. "I'm honestly proud to say that the three generations of Potters on the grid have brought some interesting times to the sport."
Turning back to James, he held his microphone "I'm glad Albus went into engineering after that crash he had as a kid."
"Yeah, if it wasn't for Al and that brain of his, I don't know where I'd be." James said, one of his arms around the shoulder of his brother. "He has the brains; I have the looks."
"And the Potter hair!" Albus said.
"Yes, I plead guilty on that!"
The two brothers laughed at that as the interview concluded.
"And as the sun has set here in the desert, its time for a new dawn in Formula One…" David Croft, the presenter of the British TV coverage of the race said on screens all across the world.
But James couldn't hear the commentary that the TV audiences were getting… all he was concerned about was 57 laps of 3.363 miles, 3 DRS zones and not getting caught breaching the track limits.
"James Potter in his first Formula One race starts P15, alongside Yuki Tsunoda. Potter's father and grandfather were legends, and as Martin said earlier, the youngest Potter is going to outshine them."
At the Grim Star pub in Brackley, there was a crowd cheering for him as the TV coverage mentioned the newest driver.
"But all thoughts of how a Grand Prix should be run and won have to be put to one side Martin Brundle, as we have 5 Brits on the grid, and one of them is hungry to do well."
"Yes Crofty, I was privileged to be on the track with his grandfather, James Potter, and proud to be able to say that I was a close to his father and aunt as well as well, but the newest Potter to the grid told me that despite having nerves, he wanted to do his best."
Daniel Granger was watching the Sky coverage of the race, and saw how the camera showed two of his grandchildren, one in the Alfa Romeo car, and the other doing the final checks before the 15 second warning.
Eventually the formation lap started, and James was feeling the improvements that the team had made to the car since Qualifying.
Getting back to the grid, he wanted to make sure that he positioned his car correctly, making sure that he wasn't in breach of the regulations that had been set.
Looking up at the lights, he could see the first one getting ready to light up.
"Brand new season, brand new dawn for Formula 1, it's the Bahrain Grand Prix, and its lights out and away we go!"