Carlos Sainz had made many questionable decisions in his life. Agreeing to babysit, however, might rank in the top three.

“It will be easy,” he’d said that morning to himself, already halfway out the door, keys in hand and sunglasses perched like confidence incarnate. “She mostly sleeps.”

….

There are very few things Max Verstappen fears.

He fears poorly timed safety cars. He fears suspicious noises from the Red Bull engine five minutes before qualifying. He fears Carlos Sainz, his dear husband with a smile that is too innocent and eyes that are too bright, because experience has taught him that expression means Carlos is about to ruin his day in a way that will somehow also make Max love him more.

So when Carlos walks into the kitchen on a Sunday morning carrying two coffees and says, far too casually, “By the way, we’re babysitting today,” Max knows immediately that something terrible is about to happen.