Summary:
Lando is leading the championship for the first time in his career. He should be happy — but it’s the loneliest he’s ever felt. With the media turning him into a villain, the grid watching him with disdain, and Max refusing to even look at him, Lando starts to wonder what the point of winning really is when it’s costing him everything else.

Lando closes the door to his motorhome and leans against it, breath catching in his throat like he’s just run a sprint. His race suit is half-zipped, sweat cooling on his skin, but it’s not the heat that’s suffocating him.

It’s everything else.

The silence. The weight. The sound of the crowd still echoing — not cheers, not anymore. Boos. Whistles. Hatred.

He sinks onto the bench by the window, pulling off his gloves with shaking fingers. His knuckles are raw, but that’s normal now. He clenches them too often — from stress, from anger, from trying not to cry in front of cameras.

He should be happy. He’s leading the goddamn championship. After years of being the nearly-man, the nearly-winner, the almost-there, he’s finally leading