F1 Imagines

Daniel Ricciardo (10)

incident
/ˈɪnsɪd(ə)nt/
noun
an instance of something happening; an event or occurrence

Y/N - your name

I walk with Max towards the RedBull garage, talking much to better about the race and how we are gonna catch Mercedes. "I don't mind giving you a slip stream in qualifying today. I know how much you need to get in first place for the sprint." I tell Max. "You can give me a slip stream as long as I give you one as well. We are a team, love. We need to beat Mercedes together which I know we will." He says as he pats my shoulder.

"Naw, aren't you a sweetie, M-" as I'm about to finish my sentence, I walk into a tall figure. "Oof, sorry about that." I say as I stare up at the Australian, Daniel Ricciardo. He scoffs before walking off, more so storming off to the McLaren garage. "Wow, that man hates your guts." Max says. I answer with a scoff, "What do you expect? I did take his RedBull seat away from him." I say with a shrug as we reach Christian.

"Ahh, my kids!" He exclaims making us laugh. "You two ready for qualifying today?" He asks as we nod. "Good. Remember, we are gonna all be on softs." He says as we nod. Personally, I hated the soft compound tire. Yeah sure it's nice but not when we are in a middle of a heatwave. My biggest flaw in driving is that I kill the tires too quickly, so often the crew like sending me out on mediums or hards unless is Q3 because it's only once I have to use it. Now I have to use it three times which is going to prove very challenging for me.

The issue was now I couldn't rely on a medium set as I was surprisingly faster on them, so whatever I get is whatever I get at this race. I quickly get ready and warm up, ensuring that I'm ready for the qualifying. "Y/N, sorry to do this but can you just take this over to the McLaren garage? We are a little bit crammed and the guys over at McLaren need this." Christian says as he hands me a stack of papers. I nod, "Sure." I say as I take them and make my way to the McLaren garage.

"Hey Y/N!" The McLaren crew say as I wave at them. "Hey guys. This is for you." I say as I hand the papers to them, "Thanks doll. Whilst you are up, can you just hand this to Daniel and Lando in their drivers rooms? Sorry to do this it's just-" "You guys are cramped. Don't worry, the RedBull garage is this cramped as well." I say with a small smile. They thank me before I make my way to their drivers rooms.

I knock on Lando's first, greeting the Brit before handing him the papers. "Thanks, Y/N. But just be careful when giving this to Dan. He isn't doing too well today and I'm not sure why." Lando says as I nod, thanking him. I make my way to Daniel's room, knocking softly on the door. "Go away. I'm busy." Dan answers with little to no enthusiasm. "Hey Dan. Sorry I have to give you these papers." I answer.

I hear nothing for awhile until the door is opened. Daniel looks horrible. His eyes are bloodshot and his cheeks puffy. He grabs the papers and slams the door closed. Not even a thank you or an explanation for why he looks the way he does. I sigh and make my way back to the RedBull garage.

My mind goes back to Daniel, finding it difficult to get rid of the image of his red eyes and puffy cheeks from my mind. We never hit it off, Daniel hating me for taking his seat away. I didn't care, but what I did care about was the way he treated me. I will never understand why he treats me the way he does when I haven't done anything to him except take his seat, but that was F1 for you, and it's not like he didn't go to amazing teams. He is currently in McLaren who are absolutely amazing right now.

I rid my mind of everything and make my way into my car, knowing I will start qualifying soon. In a flash, I'm on the track doing my best to get a good time. As per usual, I make Q3 but with a few difficulties. "Y/N, you are going through your tires very quickly. Be careful in Q3." I hear over my radio. "Copy." I say before pulling into the pits. My time for the first lap is good, giving me a P4, but I wanted more. I change my tires and go out again, pushing my car to the limit.