Monza should’ve been a celebration. P2. Fastest lap. A statement race after last week’s DNF. But, like always, the internet found a way to twist it.

“McLaren favors him over Oscar.” “Team orders again? What a joke.” “Norris gets carried by strategy, never by talent.”

By the time the champagne dried on his race suit, the comments were already everywhere — TikTok edits, Twitter threads, Instagram reels. Lando scrolled for three seconds before tossing his phone across the motorhome couch, muttering under his breath. You’d seen it too many times to count.

The irony was, he had been faster. Everyone knew it. He’d earned P2. But to the outside world, he was the villain — the spoiled favorite, the one McLaren bent over backwards for.

And you? You were the girlfriend. Which meant you were “the enabler.” The “gold digger.” The girl who “only got media passes because of him.”

You found him after the media pen, still in his fireproofs, hair damp with sweat. He was pretending he didn’t care, laughing with one of the McLaren comms guys, but the second his eyes met yours, the smile faltered. Just for a second.

“Don’t say it,” he muttered as you walked up.

“I wasn’t going to,” you said softly. Then, after a beat: “But I saw it.”

He sighed, rubbing his face with both hands. “Same shit, different week.”

And here was the thing: you couldn’t fix it. You couldn’t shut down millions of strangers with one perfectly crafted defense. But you could stand there, hands on your hips, and refuse to let him carry it alone.

“You know what they don’t get?” you said finally, leaning closer so only he could hear. “That the only team order that matters is me telling you to stop giving a damn about people who’ve never been within ten miles of a race car.”

That pulled the smallest, tiniest laugh out of him. Real. Exhausted, but real.

And maybe Monza would go down in history as Verstappen’s win, another tally mark in Red Bull’s dynasty. But between the headlines and the hate, there was something else happening — you. Him. The quiet defiance of standing together while everyone else tried to tear him apart.

Because if Lando was the villain, fine. He’d play the part. As long as you were right there in his corner.