The Team // A Formula One AU

Sebastian

"Nice run," I pant and slap Nico's outstretched hand.

"Nice pass," he replies.

"Shame nothing came of it."

It's the second half of our weekly training game and things are going okay. It's one-one after Nikita's goal just before half time and I'm playing centre back again, which is stressful because I'm the first one Valtteri gets to yell at when things go wrong. Luckily we have Max in midfield which makes my defensive life a lot easier.

"Vettel?" I nod at Valtteri and receive his dangerously rapid pass. I don't know what he's thinking. I take two touches to get it out to Mick who moves it to Charles who takes it forward. Valtteri holds up his hand in apology.

The minutes slide quietly by in this measured game and I find myself on autopilot. We never play the same when Tom is watching, our own spontaneous kickabouts are more competitive than this.

"Vettel!" I hear again and snap into the present. Yuki is running straight for me and Max had to shout to wake me up. I focus and try to slide tackle him but our legs tangle painfully and he falls into the box. It's a free kick. That's what I get for being comfortable.

I stand up and rub my ankle, annoyed with myself for being so complacent. Max pulls me backwards by the shoulders and that's the first time I notice it's not a free kick, it's a penalty.

"How is it a penalty!?" I exclaim to no one in particular.

"Because you're a moron, Vettel," Valtteri shouts back. I grimace. I've got myself on the wrong side of him now.

I can only watch as Nico scores it easily and the score changes to two-one. Thanks to me. I scowl at the sky.

"Don't worry about it, Baz," Max pats my back. He's always trying to console people, but he doesn't know how much I hate being called Baz. "We'll pull it back."

We kick off again and three minutes later I'm on the ball, striding into the midfield looking to make something happen. I see Mick has gone forward since I'm in his position and I sense he also wants some of the action. I slide the ball to him as he makes his run and watch as he chips it with his right foot over the top of Checo. He scores.

That was so perfect.

We run towards each other and double high five just as Charles jumps on Mick's back. He grins as Max ruffles his hair and we shout congratulations then go back to our positions for kick off with new energy. That was Mick's first official Fortress goal and my first assist... Not that I'm counting. I suppose training games aren't so bad.

We can't all play ninety minutes without a break, so Lance takes this opportunity to swap with Esteban, meaning I'm next to someone I have even less experience playing with. His presence forces me to concentrate. He's aggressive though and can keep us from losing our momentum, and we have attack after attack until a corner when Esteban goes up and I stay back to defend.

I watch him jump for Daniel's cross and wince as he's clattered into by Nico. Esteban's very strong himself, so I don't worry until he doesn't get back up. The opposition helpfully choose that moment to launch an attack that's three onto two and I panic, running for my life to get back into position. Charles is sprinting back for all he's worth but it isn't long before Yuki releases a shot and Valtteri can't get dive high enough. I kick the ground. Three-two.

"Come on!" Max's angry because he still thinks Esteban was fouled. He wasn't, but he's not able to play on either. He gets the laughable honour of being substituted back off again and Lewis enters the pitch. No disrespect to him, but our defence is severely weakened by it.

The game finally crawls to ninety-four minutes with no more goals or injuries. I'm relieved. I'm exhausted. We lost, and I had a big part in that. But we also scored a pretty good goal in the second half, and I had a part in that too.