Mon Champion

Chapter 1

Oscar's POV:

I could feel the sweat inside my
balaclava. I could feel the breeze running through my helmet. I could feel the adrenaline running through my body. Races never got me this nervous, but everything was on the line in this one. I was even on points for the 2021 Formula 2 Driver's World Championship with Oscar Piastri going into this race at Abu Dhabi, and right now, I was set to win it.

On lap 9 my thoughts were interrupted by my race engineer, Matteo.

"Oscar, we need you to speed up, Piastri behind is catching you by 4 tenths a lap. Repeat, we need you to speed up." I was caught a bit off guard by this comment. I'd seen Oscar pull into the pits after lap 1, and I hadn't seen him behind since. Now, however, I could see his red PREMA in the distance.

"I'm trying, but my tires are dying mate. He came out of nowhere." Seeing his car get closer and closer every lap was making my heart beat even faster than it had been before. I knew he'd overtake me anyway when I had to come in, but it didn't make getting overtaken any better.

The very next lap, Matteo's voice came over the radio again.

"Okay Oscar, box this lap. Repeat, box this lap. Please confirm."

"Yeah, box this lap." To be true, I didn't want to box. My tires were dying and I knew they were, but coming in meant Piastri would overtake me, and the championship would slip out of my hands. Yes, his lead would be temporary because he would have to come in again as well, but that fact didn't help my stress at all.

Out of turn 17 on lap 10, I pulled off the track into the pits. I was at a loss for words, though, when I saw the all too familiar red PREMA pull into the pits behind me.

Qu'est-ce qu'Oscar fait ?!, I thought to myself. I knew it was him who came in on lap one because I'd felt him hit my rear into turn 1.

'Matteo, why is he coming in? Why is he not staying out?" My stress had evolved into pure panic. He'd closed the gap to me while my tires had worn. Now he was right behind me in the pit lane, and I needed a perfect stop to stay ahead.

"Calm down, Oscar. His team could mess up his stop. Calm down." Matteo sounded as calm he always did, but that wasn't going to alter my thoughts at all. I could try to calm down, but there was no way I could. This was the most important race of my life, and I would die before I wouldn't win it.

As I pulled into my pit box and braked, I closed my eyes as tight as I could. I spent a second like this, trying to calm myself down. Trying to forget the situation I was in and the stress I was feeling. Trying not to think about how I could lose the championship in a matter of seconds.

When I reopened my eyes, I had nothing to look at except the red and green lights that told me when to accelerate out of my box. After a few seconds, I saw Piastri pull out of his pit box in my mirror. My heart started to race again. I could feel my legs start to shake out of pure anxiety. I looked in my other mirror and saw something that was the worst thing I possibly could've seen. My right rear tire wasn't coming off. My mechanics tried desperately to get it off, but it wasn't budging. I felt nothing but despair as I watched the PREMA drive past me. I wouldn't wish this feeling on anyone.

Miraculously, my right rear came off, and I sped out of my box within nanoseconds of the light turning green. I was numb. My championship was gone, and if I wanted it back, these next 23 laps had to be the best I'd ever done.

I wasn't going to say anything. I wasn't going to think anything. I was going to do nothing but cross the start/finish line 24 times more, and that was it.

After I crossed the start/finish line after lap 16, I heard Matteo's voice once again.

"Oscar, that was the fastest lap of the race so far. You're catching him by 2 tenths a lap." These words were music to my ears, but I wasn't going to show it. I wasn't going to think it. I was going to stay emotionally vacant until I was in first place again.

By lap 20, I was right up the PREMA's gearbox. I decided not to go for an overtake into turn 1, because if there was one thing I wasn't going to do, it was cause a collision and ruin my race, and my championship.

Into the hairpin, my heart told me to go for a move, but my brain told me not to. I decided against it, but I wasn't going to wait any longer when I activated my DRS. Out of the hairpin, I got as close to his rear as I could without hitting him, and turned inside, but Oscar followed my movements and blocked me off. He wasn't going to let me pass him on the straight. If I was going to make a move, It would have to be into the next turn.

Down the straight towards the left-hander, my thoughts raced. I was thinking of my name going down in history forever. I was going to be a world champion, and nothing was going to stop me when I overtook Piastri.

Into turn 6, I turned inside under braking. This, however, was the biggest mistake I'd made all season. I'd turned in too late, and I'd hit Oscar's rear. My right-front tire sheared off. I was out of the race, and my world championship was over. I'd done the one thing I absolutely couldn't do. My biggest fear had come true.

I burst into tears as soon as my car stopped. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't move. I couldn't talk. I couldn't think. I was frozen in shock. I saw marshals running towards my car. I knew it was their job to make sure I was okay, but I didn't feel like saying anything to them. I didn't want to say anything to anyone. I didn't want to look at anyone. I didn't want anyone to look at me. I declined the offer to have the marshals take me back to the pit lane. They told me they couldn't do that, and I told them I didn't care.

I walked all the way back to the garage in complete silence. I wasn't thinking. I wasn't talking. I was just quietly crying. I was at rock bottom. Empty.