Lando's Love (2021)

Chapter 27

The Spanish Grand Prix was, as usual, as boring as possible. After a rather good free practices : P4, P12 and P6, I didn't do well at all in qualifying and the fact that Mazepin blocked me in my first attempt in Q1, made me use the set of tyres I had reserved for my last attempt in Q3. And here I am, qualified 9th... I really don't know what he does in the sport, but I do know: THANK YOU DAD! He remains more dangerous than anything else for us. The beginning of the race was difficult, I managed to gain a position, but the circuit is not a circuit that lends itself to overtaking... Will kept me informed of my pace, of the cars around me, of the progress of Max and Lewis who were in the lead, but the race remained quite boring. The only interesting thing that happened in my race was the fight with Carlos. He knows me only too well; I knew my defence had been quite aggressive, but he was able to avoid me. He knows me as well as I know him, and I was able to stop him from passing so that Daniel could get away a little. At the end of the race, I learned that Max had lost his duel with Hamilton because of the strategy. It happens. I'm disappointed for him but I know he will recover and come back stronger than ever in Monaco. In the meantime, I was only looking forward to finishing my interviews, jumping on the first plane to Woking, going home to the girl I love when she finishes her exams. We'd had a long chat last night; she'd explained that she'd been a bit bored this weekend but had gone for a walk with Sigma to keep herself busy.

I headed off to Canal+, the French TV station for my post-race interview. I was greeted by a big smile from their journalist, Laurent Dupin, if I remember what Astrid told me. "Bonjour Laurent! "I greeted him. He was surprised but quickly took back his smile: "Bonjour Lando! How did you learn my first name?" he answered. "Thanks to my girlfriend who watches Canal + to watch F1. "I said. We laughed a bit before starting our interview. A few questions about my race, my car, the team and then... " Well Lando, you've kind of broached the subject, how is your French girlfriend, the one who makes girls all over the world jealous?" He asked. "She's fine, I haven't looked at my phone yet but I'm sure I have a message from her now. I'm looking forward to going back to England tomorrow where she'll be joining me on Friday or Saturday. "I replied. "Would you please, for us, check if you have a message and read it to us?" He said. I turned to Charlotte who handed me my phone. I turned the lock screen towards the camera to show that I did indeed have a notification from my sweetheart. Everyone could also see my wallpaper: it was a photo of us taken by my parents. "So, you guessed right! And what a beautiful background, you look adorable in this photo, may I ask who took the photo and where it was taken? " He asked. I unlocked my phone and answered: "It's a photo that was taken by my parents when we were at their house between Imola and Portimao. We had a nice weekend with them. "I replied. "I'm really happy to see you both so happy. ". I opened my messages to read what she had written. "So, she wrote 'I don't know when you will be free, but I am proud of you. You did your best, I know. You fought and that's all that matters. I'm sure the team is proud of you too. I love you, Lan. Call me anytime. And say hello to Laurent, Frank, Julien, Jacques and the whole Canal+ team.' That last sentence is from 2 minutes ago so she's watching! "I read the message. "Well, that's thoughtful of her. Hello Astrid! ".

Pierre came behind me to take part in the discussion: "Are we talking about the most famous Frenchwoman in our paddock? Hi Astrid! When are you coming to Rouen?". I felt my phone vibrate and looked at it. I handed the phone to Pierre who read out loud: "I have to go to Monaco with Lando from next Sunday but otherwise I'm not going far from Caen in a short time. We could meet in Caen, or in Evreux.". I smiled as I enjoyed seeing how well she got on with her French compatriots in the paddock. "Great stuff! I'll see you in Monaco and Caen then. I'll call you and we'll plan it! Lando, have you finished with Canal?" he asked me at the end. "Yes, I'll leave you the joy of discussing with Laurent. See you in Monaco!" I replied. I stepped aside to wait my turn for another interview. I listened distractedly to Pierre's interview with Canal since he was still talking about Astrid for the moment. It was done in French, but I understood it better and better.