The Red, The Silver, and The Girl Who Liked Both

Free Practice 1 & 2

After a silent morning Max and I went early to the gym to do some last minute training. At around 8am we arrived at the track and I watched on as Max and Checo ran through the day's program with the team. Then after a subdued lunch, FP1 began at 1:30pm. I stayed and hung out in the Red Bull Pits as Max clocked a 1m25.009s on the soft tires, two tenths clear of Bottas, with Lewis – whom he is level on points with in the fight for the title - 0.346s off the pace in third, a fraction ahead of Checo, as the top two teams in the constructors' championship locked out the top four. I was impressed with Max, but this was only Free Practice 1. There were still 2 more to go, plus qualifying. While it was too early to see how the rest of today and tomorrow would go, I was fairly confident Max would win this thing.

All of the teams didn't wait very long before sending their respective cars out, as I watched them fly down the track on the screens in the Pits. I heard around that drivers keen to explore the that was supposedly around 10-15 seconds faster according to simulations, which occurred due to the removal of several slower turns. This only meant my nerves were higher for my friend's safety.

I went on a small snack run around 4pm to get myself something for dinner. Max stayed and had a light sort of meal before getting ready to return to the car at 5pm for FP2.

After Max topped, Lewis set the FP2 benchmark of 1m23.691s under the floodlights on soft tires, with 25 minutes remaining, then switched to mediums for his race simulation. That put Ocon, who had shot up with a lap of 1m24.034s just before Lewis, in second place by 0.343s – Bottas third overall by a gap of 0.392s having previously drifted into the Turn 12 barriers on his medium-tired laps. That slide saw him switch to soft tires after just 15 minutes of the session.

Red Bull therefore rounded out the top five, Max (six-tenths down on Lewis) P4 ahead of Checo in fifth. The championship contender had a competitive time of 1m24.989s chalked off early in the session during his medium-tired runs, switched to softs for his qualifying simulations, before keeping softs on for his long runs.

After a bit more conversation with the team. Max and Checo set off for another press conference. I sit in the back, trying my best to keep away from the eyes of any reporter. Then someone is tapping on my left shoulder. I turn and am greeted by Chrisitan.

"Hey, have you eaten?" My uncle asks and I shrug.

"I had a bit of dinner, but I could definitely eat again," I respond, trying to be quiet as the reporters are asking questions.

"Can I take you out? You seem to be bored," Chrisitan says and I smile slyly.

"Sure why not, do you have a place in mind?"

"There's one not far from here, Blue Grill. It's a steakhouse and has got a wine cellar."

"You mention booze and I'm in."

My uncle laughs and shakes his head, "You can have 2 rounds and I'm cutting you off."

"As long as I get something, I'll be happy," I respond with a smile. Chrisitan motions for me to get up, and I grab my purse and follow him out of the press conference building.

"How are you and Max?" Chrisitan asks once we're driving to the restaurant. It's about 7 minutes from the hotel, and considering the conference was so close I'm going to count that in.

"Max and I aren't dating," I reply with a short laugh. Christian raises an eyebrow that I see in the rearview mirror.

"I was under the impression you were, considering you're sharing a hotel room," Christian says with slight amusement.

"We used to do that all the time, it doesn't mean anything," I huff and cross my arms over my seatbelt.

Chrisitan shrugs and we stay silent for the rest of the short drive. The restaurant is fairly busy, but we're seated right away. My uncle tells me he got a reservation for us and I commend his ability to think ahead. As we pursue the menu, I turn straight to the drinks and when the waitress comes around I choose a drink with the most alcohol to fruit juice ratio that is offered. Chrisitan raises his eyebrows at me but stays silent. He orders an iced tea and the waitress says she'll be right back with some bread and butter. I'm instantly reminded of Texas Roadhouse and I groan.