James 'Jimmy' Potter was incensed. He had found out the identity of his sister's boyfriend a few days ago while watching the Formula 2 action at the Hungaroring, waiting for the Formula 1 session to start.
It had to be him.
Cormac McLaggen junior. Or 'CJ' as he insisted on everyone calling him.
McLaggen was a complete tool, a complete liability.
Or as everyon he Formula 2 paddock called him, 'McLaggen the Moving Chicane'.
Every time there was even a hint of a chance to get past him in a race, sprint, or even qualifying session, he would deliberately run slow and block the road, meaning that everyone would have to take evasive action to get round him. It had even ruined peoples qualifying the previous season with him blocking peoples attempts at a flying lap on occasion.
And as for track limits, well, it seemed like he thought they didn't exist at all.
It wasn't just his driving that irked James though, no. The man's arrogance knew no bounds. Not only did McLaggen think he was better than everyone else in the paddock, but he also thought himself smarter than them too. He'd never listen to advice, always argued with people when they tried to help him, and refused to accept any blame if things went wrong.
In short, the guy was an absolute arsehole. And Jimmy couldn't stand the sight of him.
Yet the only reason McLaggen kept his place in Formula 2 was because of that old saying - money talks. His slot at HiTech was brought and paid for. There was nothing that could be done about that.
He had even tried to get a slot on the Red Bull Junior Team, but they had turned him down , with Jimmy's dad, Harry, even going so far as to threaten to resign if Helmut Marko had the slot been given.
But now his sister was dating the guy.
Jimmy wanted to throttle that smug little face with his bare hands.
" Jimmy?" came a voice from the other side of the door of his bedroom . "Are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'm still here." Jimmy said, frowning. "What's up Rosie?"
"I...I know you don't like CJ," she said hesitantly, lowering her voice as she spoke. "But.. but.."
"Rosie, how many times do I have to tell you? Just stop!" growled Jimmy.
"Please, J-just hear me out." She begged. "You're the eldest, and I always look up to you. I think I can make him change. "
"Change?" Jimmy said, shocked at what his sister was saying. "Have you ever seen him on the track before Silverstone. The git is a menace. He makes Malfoy look professional. On the track he doesn't listen to anyone, and he thinks he's God's gift to racing."
"But...he has potential," she argued. " He say's he's close to making it to Formula One."
"God help us if he does!" Jimmy said. "He's that bad, even Haas won't want him. He's a menace to society at large."
"Why do you hate him so much?" Rosie asked quietly. "You've never told me why you hate him."
"Because he's an arrogant, self-entitled arsehole who thinks he's better than everyone else. That's why. End of story. "
Rose took a deep breath, and then looked around nervously as if she was expecting someone to overhear them.
"But...he's my boyfriend," she said, looking into his eyes pleadingly. "I love him."
"Oh great, now you're starting to sound like a lovesick puppy. The man's an utter prick! Nothing more, nothing less. If you don't see that, then you're a bigger fool than I thought. I'm sorry sis, but I'm not the only person with the same opinion of him. You ask Théo. He still doesn't forgive the prick after Monza last year. I thought Théo was going to deck him after the stunt he pulled.
"Hell, the amount of times I've been so close to decking the git, it's unreal. But I always got talked out of it by Dad or Théo." Jimmy sighed. "Look Rosie, I don't mean to be negative, but I've seen the way dad looks at him, and dad is the most tolerant man I know. He just can't stand the guy.
"If I were you, I'd dump him as quickly as possible. You'll regret it later if you don't. Trust me on this one."
"But, but..." Rose said, tears in her eyes. "Please, I just.."
"No," Jimmy said firmly , pulling out his laptop. "Let me show you something."
Jimmy pulled up a video of a race from the previous Formula 2 season, and fast forwarded it to a certain point. Turning it towards his sister, he pressed the play button
"This is one of the reasons I hate the git. Had I been a second slower doing what I did, I would have ended up going into the wall, instead of staying on the track."
One Year Earlier...
It was lap 14 of the 2021 Monte Carlo Formula 2 Feature Race. Jimmy Potter was in 10th place, about 13 seconds behind the leader, his teammate, Théo Pourchaire.
He was approaching the Hotel Hairpin, with the car in front of him, the HiTech of McLaggen's being just over half a second ahead of him. Suddenly McLaggen started slowing down, so Jimmy, knowing that he could overtake the slower driver into the braking zone, started moving to the side.
In a way, the young ART driver was surprised that McLaggen had qualified on the second row, especially as normally he was a moving chicane, a driver which caused other cars to have to move to the side to be passed. Even when he was given a blue flag, McLaggen would make it hard for whoever was lapping him to overtake.
But this time, Jimmy had a feeling that the HiTech driver wasn't planning on giving him any room to pass. And he was proved right when McLaggen decided to take the hairpin as wide as he could.
Fortunately for Jimmy, he had applied the brakes a bit harder than normal, and was able to brake earlier than McLaggen, avoiding the potential collision. As the two went into the tunnel, Jimmy had managed to overtake McLaggen.
But going into the Nouvelle Chicane, as Jimmy was midway through the turn, McLaggen cut the corner, going into the ART car.
"And there's contact down at turn 10, as Cormac McLaggen and James Potter have gone out. From how they're parked, it looks like Potter had been on his way round the chicane, and McLaggen has tried to cut the corner."
"Yes, as the replay shows, Potter managed to overtake the HiTech in the tunnel, and as he was in the chicane, McLaggen has gone straight through, taking the front right off of the ART car."
"And Race Control have said that the incident involving the number 9 car of James Potter and the number 7 car of Cormac McLaggen will be investigated after the race. The marshals have already broken out the yellow flags and... yes, Safety car has been deployed."
"What the ****. McLaggen cut the corner!"
"We've seen it James. Stop the engine, stop the engine."
"That was James Potter talking to his race engineer, tell me Alex, what do you think the ART driver will be thinking as he is getting out of the car?"
Present Day...
"That was just one incident that he has been involved in. Fortunately for me, by time I had got back to the garage, I was a bit calmer, but had I got near him at the time, I would have decked him, there's no doubt about it. I can't believe he did that to me. I was on course for a good result, I'd just pitted so I had fresh tyres, and he had to have done that across me. His punishment? A 3 place grid drop. 3 fucking places. What the hell is that?
"Even getting banned from France this year hasn't taught him a lesson. I mean, thank goodness I'm no longer in F2, but I feel sorry for the guys there who have to deal with him. Hell, he and I were rookies in F2 2 years ago, and now..." Jimmy said, sighing. "He acts as green now as he was then. It's amazing. And to think you're dating him? Don't you remember what mum told you before you went to University about arseholes like him?"
"But CJ isn't like that." Rose replied. "I mean, yeah he can be a bit of a prick, but I can change him. I know I can. I love him, and I know that he loves me."
"You've only been dating him for just over a month!"
"Yeah, about the same time as you and Lis!"
"At least Lis isn't like McLaggen. She's sweet, and pretty, and actually quite nice, unlike McLaggen. And she doesn't see me as Jimmy Potter, Alfa Romeo F1 driver, she see's me differently. If anything, she sees me more as Jimmy Potter, the guy who stopped by the side of the road when her car broke down. But McLaggen, he's an absolute arse, and you're only going to get your heart broken in the end.
"Look sis, I don't mean to be like this, but he's bad news. He's not going to change, and you're going to be disappointed. You're too smart to fall for this sort of crap." Jimmy said, sighing. Standing up, he hugged his sister. "Listen, I know you and I aren't as close as Al and I am, I know you prefer to read and study like mum, rather than drool over a turbocharged V6 engine like dad, but I know what guys like McLaggen are like. He's already had 3 girlfriends in the past year and half, and I don't want you to be ending up having a night of marshmallows and hot chocolate, crying into dad's shoulder. Just like I don't want dad to end up having to do a life stretch for killing the git when he drops you for someone else. "
Rose looked up at her brother. Jimmy had always been protective of her, even if he had been obsessed with racing all his life. "Thank you Jimmy. For being my big bro, and for telling me what you did. I'll...I'll need to think about it."
"No problem." Jimmy said, "Hey, if you do break up with him, maybe you'll find someone like dad or granddad?"
"What? Another turbocharged V6 addict? Granddad James is already looking at buying another classic Formula One car, and Granddad Dan has already asked if he could have a go in it! Dad's just as bad, going back to work full time in Formula One!"
"Hey, nothing wrong with a V6... granddad's training me up on his Ferrari 126C2 for the Nurburgring Oldtimer Grand Prix next month." Jimmy said, smiling. "That's if the team OK it, I mean, I know it's the summer break, but the team still have a say in any outside commitments. I know Fernando got blocked from doing the Indy 500 last year because Alpine didn't want him to get injured."
Jimmy sighed. "Look, if you want to stick with McLaggen, then its up to you, but you're my sister and I care about you."
"Aww, thanks Jimmy." Rose smiled, hugging her brother tightly.