A U R O R A // F1

Race Day Monaco GP. May 3rd, 2020

*MATT* Safety car confirmed,
pitlane is open. Box this lap,
confirm box this lap!

*ME* Pit confirm, what
happened there?

*MATT* Verstappen shoved Ricciardo into the wall in nouvelle chicane.

*ME* Sheesh.

My reaction was soon swept over by the elation of what a great turn this was for me. Our plan was to stay out for as long as possible on my first set of softs, and with the safety car late into the race when half the field already pitted, this was insane. I didn't have any time to calculate at which position I'd come out again. I rushed into the pitlane, and fixated on the team member who was supposed to give me the go. Something on the rear, I didn't know what, prolonged my stop for what felt like an eternity. „Come on come on come on", was all I whispered into my helmet, and foolishly let my tires spin when I finally took the go, making my stop even longer.

I groaned when Matt gave me my position - Magnussen overtook me while I was in the pits. The SC took its sweet time, and when it finally came in, my adrenaline ran as high as it never has before.

I heard Franz Tost's words ringing in my ear, to keep my head down today and not risk as much as I did in Shanghai, but pushed his voice in the back of my mind. I knew I could take on the Haas in front of me, I just needed a bit of luck and maybe a good tow. But at the restart, Kev had a better reaction than me, leaving me behind him and didn't leave me any space at all.

I tailgated him for three more laps, then instinctively took my chances into Sainte Devote. We sped side by side in the next two turns, and it wasn't until Casino when my Honda engine finally got the upper hand. Not taking any chances, I closed the door as soon as I could.

I flinched when I looked into the mirrors – I nearly sent him into the wall. Shit. That obviously wasn't supposed to happen. I got carried away.

The consequences rolled in two laps later.

*MATT* We have a 5 second time penalty for that incident with Magnussen. Head down, we
still have 10 laps to run clear.

*ME* Copy. I'm sorry for that.
I'll make up for it.

And I did. I managed a 7 second gap to the Danish driver behind me, securing my best ever F1 finish to date.

Before celebrating, the first thing I did was to climb out of my car and walk up to Kev. I pushed up my visor and leaned in.

"Man, I'm sorry about that move. It wasn't fair."

"Nope, it wasn't."

His face looked pissed, but the anger in his eyes soon started to fade away.

"But anyway, congratulations.", he playfully knocked on my helmet.

I lightened up, relieved. "To you too!"

//

"There's no point in being mad about this, Charles.", I tried to console him.

He rubbed his forehead and shrugged.

"I know, but still. Last year DNF, this year P15, especially now with Ferrari, it hurts."

"I know."

We walked along the water until we reached the end of the path, overlooking the sea.

"You know what you need?"

He met my eyes, I grinned.

"A cleanup for your head." I put aside my purse, took off my shoes and climbed ontop the stone railing.