ℝ𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕝𝕤 [ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕝𝕖𝕤 𝕃𝕖𝕔𝕝𝕖𝕣𝕔] ✔

Part 6

Y/n's nerves was all over the place, when she woke up the next morning. For starters she had had a nightmare about Charles having a massive crash, and she actually felt... worried. And then of course it was Friday which meant Free Practice 1 and 2. And this was her first Free practice in her first F1 Grand Prix in her first F1 car and the first woman to ever do so... that's a lot of firsts, and she usually doesn't like changes. 

"What's up, looser?" Y/n head snapped up and was met with Charles who first had an amused look on his face that quickly changed to worried. When her head snapped up, Charles could see that she was pale white, and she was eating faster than usual, like she was stressing. Of course Charles had nerves about the race as well, but not like she did right now. He had never seen her like this before. And Y/n didn't even catch him trying to be funny. She just returned to her breakfast in silence. 

"Are you okay?" he tried comforting her, but he had honestly no clue what to do. And he also didn't get an answer. Instead she left the table as soon as she had finished eating and made her way to her driving room to get ready.

When looking herself in the mirror, admiring the famous red Ferrari suit, some of her nerves had settled down. It was like a moment of peace before the storm. "Are you ready for warm up?" Peter entered her room. "Yep" she said trying to sound confidence before grabbing her racing helmet with the number 27 on it and following Peter downstairs. She got through the warm up effortless, but as she was about to put on her balaclava, her nerves returned and she began shaking. 

She almost jumped a little, when she suddenly felt a warm hand on her shoulder. "Here to make a funny comment?" she said looking into Charles' eyes. But there were no sign of pranks or amusement in his eyes. "First of all, we agreed to be professional on track, remember? Also, I actually came to see how you're holding up?" she didn't fall for his words, but didn't say anything back. 

"Hey, look at me" she zoned back, and met his eyes again. "You're gonna be alright. Just think of it as another simple race. Nothing else. Just clear your mind and focus, alright? You've got this" he said and gently squeezed her shoulder. This new type of affection from him was weird to her, but somehow it helped. "Wow... wise words for a man like you, Leclerc" her witty humor was back, and Charles couldn't help but flash a little smile. 

"Well you are my teammate, so you'll have to get results if we want to win the constructor ship." and just like that they went back to their usual feud, and Y/n gave him a little push and giggle to show that she was alright and ready to fight. "That's the spirit" he whispered and winked before walking over to his own car and put on his helmet ready to race.  

"And you are clear to go" Riccardo spoke in her radio. She tightened her grib around the steering wheel, and smiled at the feeling of finally driving the car for real this time. She shot a look at the cheering audience and knew that she had to get a decent result. And she was ready to fight for it. 

"All data is looking good so far, so just give it a go" she listened to her radio engineer, "Copy" she quickly said and increased her pace. She felt a little insecure going around some of the corners, but then she thought about what Charles said, and she took a deep breath trying really hard to focus on the car and how it drove around corners. 

"Corners looking really good, Y/n. Keep pushing, use the last pace and give it everything you've got. You're almost there" she took another deep breath and let her fingers wander over the many buttons to change gear. Only three more corners to go. The first felt a little insecure again, but she absolutely killed the last two corners and increased her pace again, and she felt her whole body finally relax as she crossed the line. "That is P11, I repeat P11. Great first drive, this is very promising"

Y/n knew now how much harder F1 was than F2, so P11 was more than great for a first drive in her first season. And suddenly all those firsts wasn't so bad anymore. When she returned to the pitlane and the garage and stepped out of the car she received a bunch of compliments, and she felt her cheeks getting warm, thank God for the helmet. 

"Well done, Y/n. Almost as good as me" Charles said right before I entered my driver room. He had finished P9 and of course he had to rub it in her face. But for once she didn't really care. Heck, it was almost amusing to her. All she cared about was that her results were actually good. 

Her game face was back on a few hours later, when she for the second time sat in the bright red car and were ready to go. This time Charles had not said anything to her, but they shared a little look before putting their helmets on, and that was enough for her to know what he meant in a way. 

Once again she had to let out a bright smile sitting behind the wheel. She wanted nothing more than to get an even better result, but she knew it required a lot of work. "Keep pushing, Y/n." Riccardo repeated it a few times, and it finally sunk in. And she gave it everything she could possibly comprehend, and finally she crossed the finish line unable to do more. "How did I do?" she said almost expecting it to be worse than before. 

"That my friend was excellent drive, and you got P10, mate. Better than before." his excitement was amazing to listen to, and Y/n herself was overwhelmed. "Oh My God... fuck yeah boys, let's goooo. Thank you for a great first day" she said in between laughs and smiles. This couldn't have gone any better for a first day. 

When she finally got out of the car she cheered alongside the rest of the team, and when she saw Charles she didn't even think twice before running into his arms embracing him in a hug. And then realization hit her like a train and she pulled apart from him embarrassed as hell. He looked at her with his familiar smirk, and she tried to avoid his eyes but failed. "I don't think you have ever hugged me before, at least not voluntary" and of course he had to rub that into her face as well. 

"Well I hope you enjoyed it because it was my first and last hug to you. It was just a moment of happiness for my results" she tried her best to defend her, but that was a tricky one to get out of. "Mhm." was all he said before leaving with a smirk on his face. and Y/n didn't even have time to do anything else before Tabatha pulled her away because she now had tons of interviews before her workday was officially over. 

A/N I hope you like it so far. And as I said before... I have things planned tihi