Loyalties Change (Sergio Perez X OC)

The first race (Sergio)

It has been a few weeks since the meeting and you are thinking about your first race. You are about to start the journey to Austria. There is one stop you have to make beforehand. You soon find yourself at Casey's place. You are a little worried that you have arrived early but she will probably know that you are going to be early. You knock on the door to signify your presence. It doesn't take long for Casey to join you

"Are you ready Casey?" you decide to check on her.

"I think so," She responds. You can tell that she is optimistic about this weekend however you do not have the same level of optimism. You get the feeling that something may go wrong. At least you know you can trust Casey to get the car ready. You are aware of the hype surrounding your debut at Red Bull. It makes the feeling worse. You can feel your grip on the steering wheel get tighter.

"Are you alright Sergio?" Casey asks.

"I will be when we get to Austria," You respond. You have decided that it would be better for you to reserve your judgement until after the race. After four hours of travelling, you have made it to Spielberg, Austria. You are making sure everything is in order. You find yourself admiring your race suit. Hopefully, you can have the same luck as you had in Sakhir. It has been a couple of days since your arrival in Austria and you are getting ready for your first race as a Red Bull driver. You head towards the cars because there is not much you need to do outside of the car now.

"So Casey is the car ready?" You snap your mechanic out of her thoughts.

"Yes. the only thing that is needed is you," Casey responds. You double-check your gear. At least you know everything will be alright. It doesn't take long for Casey to assist you into the car. She still seems a little worried. It will probably be due to the fact that you had problems last year.

"You know you don't have to worry about me Casey," You try to reassure her. Something tells you that she has every right to be worried.

"Checo it's my job," Casey retorts as she finalises some things for you.

"Well thank you for doing your job," You decide to send her off with your classic thank you. It doesn't take long for all of the mechanics to clear their respective cars. It doesn't take long for the race to start. The good thing about being close to the front of the line up is you can make a clean getaway. You soon find yourself in an interesting battle with Charles Leclerc. He is being unusually aggressive. You are able to defend your position.

"Good defence Checo," The race principal remarks. At least you are doing something right.

"Thank you," You respond. You make short work of getting past Valtteri Bottas. You get the feeling that the only reason it was easy is because the Mercedes cars are having issues. Hopefully, you don't have any issues. Your thoughts are interrupted by an interesting radio message.

"It looks like both Mercedes cars are having engine trouble. There is a chance that you and Max could make a one-two Checo," the race principal announces.

"I'll do my best," You confirm as you take advantage of the situation. You slip past Lewis. You almost feel sorry for him because you know how frustrating technical issues can be. As the race goes on you find that the only challenge to your one-two with Max is Charles. You are currently trying to get past Charles again. It is a bad idea because you end up contacting Charles' tire. Hopefully, the front wing has come out ok.

"Sergio box for a front wing," The race principal remarks.

"Roger," You are not surprised after all it was your fault. It doesn't take long for you to reach the pits. Thankfully it doesn't take long for the pit crew to replace the front wing. After twenty minutes of racing both you and Max pull cleanly away from Charles. Something tells you that the joy will be shortlived. As soon as the thought crosses your mind you hear a worrying sound. You trust Casey to find out what is wrong but you decide that it would be better for you to let the team know.

"I have a problem. The engine doesn't sound right," You announce. You are praying that your debut for Red Bull won't end in disaster.

"Checo just make sure you can keep control. Casey is working on something," the Race principal remarks. You glance at Max who is dropping behind you. The good thing is it doesn't take long for you to find out what is wrong. Thankfully it isn't the same issue as Abu Dhabi. There is only one question on your mind now. The good thing about the timing of the issue revealing itself when it did was the fact that you only have three laps left.

"So I will be able to finish first?" You decide to double-check. You get the feeling that Max was ordered to make sure that Charles can't overtake you.

"Yes, we've asked Max to keep Charles behind him instead of overtaking you," The race principal responds. You are impressed that Max listened because he is normally the type of driver to avoid team orders. You will have to ask him during the podium cool-down period. It doesn't take long for the race to conclude with you in first place. You are overcome with a sense of joy. Thankfully you are able to get to the pits relatively quickly. As soon as you get out of the car you head to Casey's workstation. You can't help the childish grin on your face.

"Congratulations Sergio," Casey remarks. You pull Casey into a celebratory embrace. You are so happy that you could cry again. It would be embarrassing if you did.

"You do realise that it was all because of you," You retort. It was because of Casey's ability to know what's wrong that gave you the win. You are glad that you have been with Casey for so long.

"I wasn't the one in the car," Casey reminds you. You assume the giggle is because of your modesty.

"Anyway you have a trophy to collect," Casey breaks free of your embrace. It doesn't take you long to reach the cool-down room. You are soon joined by Max and Charles.

"Sorry I cost you a win," You find yourself apologising to Max.

"Don't worry about it. You deserved the win more than I did," Max responds. It doesn't take long for the podium ceremony to begin. You feel the same raw emotion as you did in Sakhir as you lift the first place trophy over your head. You have decided to celebrate with Casey and the rest of the team while you can. You can feel a tear of joy run down your cheek. Hopefully, you can get more victories with Red Bull.