#but for seb plot purposes an android he shall be

[nightskylonging]

Android AU, Part Two

So, who in this AU is an android? Oh boy! Let's talk about it!

Some quick worldbuilding first: I already said that the androids chose their own names and that the teams don't know about this. So, what does the world know them by? This has changed over time. Originally, it was generally by the name of the model - so a Red Bull android, say, the seventh, would be RBAP-7 (Red Bull Android Program Seven). Ferrari have the SFAP line, Mercedes the M-P-AMG? AMG-M-P? But humans are incapable of not naming things, so that got thrown out the window. Now, it's common for an android to have a sort of logo animal (coughhoneybadgercough).

Now, let's get into the meat of this post.

Daniel Ricciardo: Android known as the Honey Badger. Brought in by Red Bull.

Max Verstappen: Human. Second person Daniel trusted with his name. These two get along insanely well, and even though androids don't usually do a lot of marketing work, people clock this.

Seb Vettel: Human. The first person Daniel trusted with his name, after Seb figured out that he was sentient. By 2022 has gotten to know most of the androids on the grid through patience and some trial and error. (It doesn't always go over well when you blindside your teammate with 'sentient?, 'course you are, how's your day going?')

Carlos Sainz: Android from the Red Bull program. Known as Meerkat. (Chose this one because he's said a couple times that it's his favorite animal. Also big eyes go stareeeee.)

Charles Leclerc: Android from the Ferrari program that debuted with Sauber. Known as Mouse. He does tell Seb his name while they are teammates, though it takes him a good long while.

Quick sidenote here: I've gone the combo route with the androids. They do have hardware (Ultralight skeletons and insanely fast processing most notably), but wetware is a big component, because it's lighter. So their musculature and external appearance is quite within the norm. Long way to say, C2 are still the 'This is Charles. Charles loves his personal space. This is Carlos. Carlos also loves Charles's personal space' meme, Mediterranean limpets that they are.

Lando Norris: Human. Knows about Carlos's sentience, and by extension has put together that the androids on track are hiding this from most everyone involved in the travelling circus. Puts his foot in his mouth with this a bit, early on with Daniel, who was not expecting Lando to cotton on to this.

As a matter of fact, the 2019 season was notable for all three rookies being human. This doesn't stop rumors from cropping up the way they tend to about 'x driver is secretly an android', usually targeted at George.

Fernando Alonso: Android. Goes by his name. The old man war criminal we all love. Delights in baffling people, and it's extremely common for f1 newbies to just assume he's just a Dude. (That doesn't sound like it might come up when people start discussing android sentience openly, not at all...)

Other human drivers: Lance Stroll, Esteban Ocon, Kimi Raikonnen, Oscar Piastri, Valterri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg, Alex Albon.

Other android drivers: Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly, Logan Sargeant (Not relevant to the story at all, I think), Nicholas Latifi.

A note on team principals: Christian Horner Knows. Never says anything, but he Knows. Toto Wolff would know, but none of the Mercedes drivers are androids. Mattia Binotto does not know, and it's probably a good thing he doesn't.

#i waffled all day over whether charles was an android or not #it would be so interesting to keep the c2 dynamic with that difference in mind #but for seb plot purposes an android he shall be #f1 #f1 android au #i need a title for this #maybe stomach of iron nerves of steel #but that feels veeery on the nose #and i like my titles to be complicated #anyway yes eirian this is all your doing #thank you much