Retrospective ~TW~

Chapter 5

The alarm went off across the room, Totos phone ringing out the horrible noise. I yawn and stretch my arms up to try and wake up a little more. I hear shuffling on the other side of the room and looking over, I see Toto throwing the blanket off of him.

I sit up in my own bed and begin too mentally prepare to take on the day. I mumble a good morning to Toto and he returns it in his gravelly morning voice. I check the time on my phone and notice its 6am. I put my phone back down and get out of bed.

"You don't have to get up just yet Amelia." I hear Toto say from behind me as I open my suitcase. I look over my shoulder and see him smiling softly at me. I then see him turn to walk to his suitcase and I look back at my own as I begin to grab out my clothes.

"It's ok. I wanted to shower before Jack wakes up." I grab out a pair of black jeans and black socks, my boots already over by the door from yesterday. I was going for a simple look today with the weather only getting to about 24ºc.

"Fair enough." He says as he opens his suitcase. He reaches in and pulls out a small plastic bag and hands it to me. "I got you something." He looks calm and relaxed, something that I am sure will have passed by the time Jack and I make it to the track before the race. I smile at him and look in the bag.

"Thank you Toto!" I exclaim quietly as to not wake up Jack. It was filled with what I could assume was Mercedes gear for me to wear to the track. He smiles and gathers up his clothing, walking into the bathroom. I sit on the end of the bed and hear the shower turn on.

He pokes his head out of the bathroom with a cheeky grin and "Couldn't have you not in team apparel." I laugh at him and can also hear him chuckling from the bathroom. I begin to brush my hair, planning on leaving it out for today.

Once Toto leaves the bathroom, I go in with my clothes and put my hair up in a messy bun, showering myself. The hot water that cascaded down was helping to wake me up even further. It was refreshing.

Once done, I get out and begin to get dressed. I put on my new white Mercedes 2021 shirt and tuck it into my jeans. I add a belt for accessory and slip my socks on so I am ready to put my shoes on when we leave.

I brush my teeth and let my hair back down, styling my light brown locks softly to leave it down for the day. I put on a small amount of makeup to hide the small bags I have gotten under my eyes from the jet lag and busy days we had earlier. I walk out and see Toto sat on the end of his bed, looking at his phone. He looks towards me and smiles again.

"The Mercedes shirt looks great." He then stands up and walks over to Jacks suitcase. He opens it and looks at me again. "The race starts at 6pm but you can come down whenever. Jack will probably want to pick out his own clothes, but of course make sure it is reasonable." I nod and look over at the sleeping little boy.

Toto says goodbye and I wish him well as he walks out the door. Leaving just Jack and I in the room. Eventually, Jack wakes up and we change him into some casual clothes and go down for breakfast. He was quite a messy eater and I knew we wouldn't be heading in for a while so saw no point in dressing him in his gear just yet.

Jack and I chill out in the hotel room for a couple of hours after breakfast. I didn't want to take him in to early as I knew he would get too tired, so we decided to have a couple of quiet hours in the hotel room. We watched some children's tv shows and Jack had a 2 hour nap at 11am. I get Jack up and ask him what he wants to wear.

"My Lewis outfit!" I giggle at his excitement and walk over to his bag. I grab it out and look at him holding it up. "Please Mimi, daddy never lets me wear it to the races." I sigh and hand it down to him while he jumps in excitement.

We quickly change him into it and make our way down to the car that will take us to the track. Once we arrive, we make our way to the entrance and scanning in. Once in, Jack runs around excitedly through the paddocks, racing to make it to the Mercedes garage. I hastily walked behind him, the backpack on my shoulders.

"Daddy! Daddy! Look what Amelia let me wear! I am Lewis!" His excited voice shouted as he spotted his father through the crowd of people in the garage. He runs towards him and Toto scoops him into his arms.

"Aren't you very lucky!" Toto looks at me and then back at his son. He puts him down and leads him further into the garage, towards the car. I smile and lean against the wall, not wanting to get in the way of the team as they buzz around to work on the car for the race.

"Jack Wolff, are you wearing my racing suit?" I hear Lewis call from across the garage. I look over and see Lewis who has his team shirt on. He looks over at me and winks as he continues to walk over to Jack and Toto.

"No Lewis, this is my racing suit." Jack exclaims at him, shaking his head as if that was going to make Lewis believe him more. He crosses his arms and grins cheekily at Lewis. Lewis acts offended and moves towards Jack.

"I cant find mine. Are you sure you didn't steal it?" He asks and Jack shakes his head no even more aggressively. "I may need to borrow it then." Lewis puts his hand on his young idoliser. Jack laughs almost hysterically at the comment and we all join him.

"You won't fit in it Lewis! You're too big silly." Lewis laughs at the comment and tells Jack that he will just have to find his own suit. Jack nods appreciatively and looks up at Lewis as they begin to walk off towards Toto together.

"Ahh thats a shame!" Lewis ruffles his hair and Jack giggles, the two clearly having a very nice interaction with each other. I smile at them both and then turn to find Angela and we stand together, waiting for the race to start.

Eventually, the cars make their way onto the track and head to the grid to commence the formation lap so we can get the race underway. We all sat there, nervous over the how the season is going to pan out. Testing, practice, and qualifying are all very different ball games compared to racing.

The drivers commence the formation lap and Jack settles into my lap. I hold onto him and watch the screen as they make their way around the track and back to the starting grid. They all pull into their spots. The lights begin to shine and we all hold our breath.

The lights go out and Lewis and Max speed off into the distance. It was a very anxious race. The two battled the whole time, and when Max overtook Lewis in the final laps, it was as if everyone stopped breathing. The suspense was paramount and everyone was praying for a miracle.

After what felt like forever, the FIA came through the headset and informed us that Max had to hand the position back. The garage erupted in cheers at the call as we watched Lewis retake the lead and speed away.

Lewis held Max off for the rest of the race, and we all cheered as he crossed the line. Jack jumped for joy next to me as his idol finishes the first race of the season in first, and shows that while Max is a serious threat, he has experience and skill that will drive him forward. Bottas came in in third place and the team was super happy with the result of the race.

We all watch Lewis and Valtteri take their place on the podium and when they finally rejoin us all, we cheer and congratulate them for a thrilling race. Toto messages me to let me know that we will have a small celebration for the win tonight at the motorhomes in the paddock.

I gather Jack and make my way there early, Jack needing to use the toilet and I was getting a little parched from all the cheering and hollering.

———

Happy Sunday everyone!
And happy Canadian Grand Prix day!
Won't be watching live as it's on at 2am in Australia and I have work tomorrow but hope it's a good and safe race.
Peace out ✌️