Lando's Love (2021)

Chapter 19

FP1 and FP2 were mixed: the ranking I got was not exceptional, 13th and 8th, but the programmes we had to do had been successfully completed. My 2nd place in FP3 lifted my spirits and made me smile. I was confident for qualifying; I knew that the top 10 was achievable. I had some time between FP3 and qualifying. I decided to rest in my driver's room with Astrid. I must admit that I liked it in Bahrain. It relaxes me before the qualifications. We were, as in Bahrain, in my (new) driver's room, on the sofa. I was in my driver's outfit, Astrid was lying on me, her head buried in my neck. I was playing with her hair as we talked. "You know, I would love to be on the podium with Carlos. We wanted to do one together when we were both at McLaren, but we never managed it. We almost made it at Monza, but I never managed to catch and pass Lance...". She didn't answer me with words but with a slight grunt or groan. This indicated to me that she was listening but thinking about something. I knew she was not thinking about what I had just said to her as there was nothing to think about in terms of a podium I was hoping for.

"What are you thinking about sweetheart? "
"I- How do you know? "
"I realize you're listening to me, but I also know your brain is working at a hundred miles an hour right now, just by the way you're answering me. "
"Don't worry my love, you'll get your podium. "
"I know but what interests me all of a sudden is what you're thinking about. "
"I was thinking that I passed my first semester exams but that's mainly because I still had a month of face-to-face classes while my second semester was only distance learning, so I'm having doubts about passing my end of year exams... I don't know what I'll do if I don't get my exams. "
"So that's it. My dear, I assure you that you will succeed. I believe in you, just like I know you believe in me when I get in this car. You're going to go back to uni and take those exams and you're going to get your year. You are smart, clever, cunning, sweet, caring and above all, beautiful. "

She lifted her head to look at me with a small smile.

"That's very sweet, my love! And you're the most talented driver I know and you're pretty good looking too. "

She winked at me and kissed me. "I love you! "she said. I gave her a big smile, "I love you too, kitty. "I replied. She picked up her phone and looked at me, "Okay, time to go, go kick those other 19 drivers' asses and get the best result you can. I believe in you, and I'll be on the radio for the different events and probabilities during the session. ". Only two minutes later, Jon knocked and entered the room to inform me that it was time to go. It was a grey day but no rain or wind.

I got into the car after kissing the most beautiful girl in my eyes one last time. I did my warm-up lap while listening to Will's instructions. My first lap was pretty good, putting me in the top 15 without needing to do another lap. During my cool down lap, I heard Astrid's voice interrupting Will's: "Lando, Red Flag, Red Flag! Slow down and be careful. Back to the box!". I started to worry. A red flag at Imola during qualifying is not exactly what you want to hear. "What's going on? Tris, what's going on? Is everyone okay? ". I heard her answer calmly, "Lan, calm down! Yuki went into the wall but he's okay, he got out of the car. Don't worry.". I sighed with relief, everyone was fine, that was the main thing. I returned to the pits. Due to the red flag, everyone was going to put on new tyres, so I was going to have to go out again, but I kept my old tyres, they only had 3 laps left after all. The rest of Q1 and Q2 went pretty well. At the end of Q2, I heard Astrid's voice, she seemed sad. I was then afraid that I had not passed in Q3, but it was for another reason in fact... "Well, Lando, you have been placed P1 in this Q2. But I have to tell you that Carlos didn't make it through to Q3. He qualifies 11th. ". No, not Carlos! He was going to have a lot of trouble with that. "Astrid, can you check with Charlotte to keep my interviews to a minimum at the end of qualifying. I'll have to go and see him. ". Once I was back in the box to wait for the beginning of Q3, Astrid approached me to inform me that she had seen with Charlotte for the interviews who would do the best she could to limit the time of each interview. I left for Q3.