False Confidence - Lando Norris

Chapter Ten

The heartbreak of Bahrain was soon followed by Lewis testing positive for Covid and everyone running around like headless chickens, trying to sort everything out. Seeing George in Mercedes clothing a few days later was still strange, even though all of us knew it was coming the moment Lewis had to step aside. It felt natural but strange at the same time, whenever we crossed paths in the paddock and my eyes were searching for the Williams shirt whenever he was standing next to Nicky and Jack.

That strange feeling followed us right into the weekend, sticking to every step we took. It didn't help that I still felt uncomfortable around the car after that incident and seeing how wrong it could have gone. I also decided to mention it publicly, standing up for anyone who still couldn't just forget everything but felt like they couldn't talk about it. Showing weakness wasn't a huge part of this sport's daily routine. A few people immediately questioned my mental strength but my performance the next day showed them otherwise luckily. While the practice sessions went quite well as I somehow found even more speed than usual, it never came out in Qualifying. I got stuck in Q2 and just couldn't get to the level that we were on during Friday and the morning. P11 was still a good position for points, but with P4s throughout practice sessions, we thought we would get to fight for another podium. Dan had a bigger chance for it, but we all knew it would still be a struggle for him to get up there and also stay there for the remaining laps.

The paddock somehow felt strangely empty compared to other weekends when I entered on Sunday. We all knew who everyone would be looking at for the sessions, but it was astonishing to see how all the cameras were turned towards George every time he showed up. I couldn't blame them though, we were just as amazed and excited by this change as the fans and the media were. Maybe even more as we knew him a bit more personally and saw how much he deserves to try himself in a Mercedes. I also didn't mind that all the hype was around him for once, as he deserved it and also gave us a bit of a breather from them always following everyone around the pitlane and paddock. It also carried onto the track with most of the discussion either being about him or involving him, which was also understandable.

Luckily from the moment we got into the cars that energy didn't follow us and everyone was left with their own little beast and thoughts. It didn't matter who was in which car, as everyone was your usual opponent and media attention given to one person will not give any kind of advantage to anyone. It was prior to the start of the formation lap when I turned the wheel a bit while looking down at it when I spotted a little sticker behind it. The text on it made me smile but I wondered if it got there thanks to the team or someone else. It had my tiny sunflower sticker, making me suspicious about Dan, although I knew he wouldn't have had time to do it between the time I looked at the car the last time and the time I got inside.

" Who's the sticker from? " I asked as soon as I took a turn and had a bit of free time on the straight to speak to Aaron. He usually let me get my focus fully back during these laps, but I felt like this wouldn't change or mess up anything.

" Lando. Almost got his ass whooped when he came into the garage. " I got an answer back immediately and I could hear the little chuckle in Aaron's voice. That must have been a sight, when Lando tried to sneak to my car and then got caught. " Took you some time to see it finally. " He added, with a real laugh following his words but getting caught off.

I could remember the first day when I dared to mention to the media how getting back into the car and racing felt a bit strange after the last race and then I went to Lando when they started picking my words apart. Most people thought I wasn't ready to take part in F1 if something like that brought my confidence down, but somehow it couldn't really get to me. I wasn't happy about it and Lando listening to me and giving me advice helped a lot, getting me back to my balance in a few hours. He was the one who told me I shouldn't follow other people's opinion about me or the team or the car, because I'm not owned by any of them. Which was now on a sticker right in front of my hand, reminding me that whatever others think should not take up space in my head and does not have to be my real end goal.