"It will eventually stop hurting".

Barcelona 🇪🇸

Gosh. It's race day again. Round 6 is already here and we're in Spain. Carlos's home race. I'm trying to get rid of the thoughts that Monaco is next. I just need to focus on this race and then mentally prepare for Monaco.
The paddock is busy today. A lot of celebrities on the track as the cars are being set up.
Starting in pole again. Clear air in front of me. But I have max beside me. Then Carlos, then George.
The hour before the start goes by very quick and next thing you know we're off.
I lead into the first corner trying to cut off Max which I succeed at doing. Suddenly we get a yellow flag and it's a Haas. I hear through me radio that it was Kevin. He and Lewis clipped each other and are both in P19 and P20.
On lap 7 we get another yellow flag and it's Carlos!!! He went into the gravel and has dropped back down into P14. God I felt sorry for him. I understand how it feels when something happens like that in your home race. Based on a lot of experience must I add.
On lap 9 Max goes off and i mumble a thank god cause now I have an 8 second gap with Russel behind me. I hear in my radio that George and Max are battling so it will slow them down. Great this gives me a bigger advantage then.
On lap 27 something happened to the car. It was going slow.
Shit. No. Not now. Please not now. Please.
"No,no. What happened?!What happened??!! Lost power!!!!!" I say through the radio.
"Charles we need to retire the car. Box, box, box."
SHIT SHIT SHIT.
I was doing so well!!!!!!
I finally make my way back to the pits.
I go straight to my driver room and slam the door shut. God sake that bloody Ferrari.
I spend a few moments alone when I get a knock and am told that I have to do my interviews now. I slowly get up and make my way to the media pen.
They ask how I'm feeling and respond with....
"Disappointed, like the rest of the team. In those moments there's not much I can do apart from looking at the positives and obviously looking back from the weekend we had a lot of positives, so it's just really disappointing"
At the end of the race Max won. Of course he did. He didn't have a car the conked out on him in his best moments. Or make mistakes. No Max is just the perfect driver with a lot of anger and swearing issues. But that makes Max a great driver.
———————————————————————————
As I start to make my way to my car I hear someone call after me.
"Charles"!!!!!!
"Oh, hey Daniel"
"Hey mate, I'm so sorry about your DNF. You were having such a good race."
"Thanks Daniel"
"How are you feeling?"
"Disappointed, upset, all of the above"
"Come here mate"
And that's when Daniel suddenly pulled me in for a hug. It wasn't a side hug or a friendly quick hug. It was a proper comforting hug. I wanted to cry but I can't. Especially in front of Daniel. He will make a big deal out of it and do a load of stuff to make me feel better but I just don't think I can do that right now. So I take a deep breath and say......
"Thanks Daniel. I needed this"
"Don't worry about it. Hey don't overthink it. I know your probably beating yourself up about this right now but you chance will come again"
"I hope I have a chance next week. I just love Monaco so much Daniel but what happens if it just brings me pain again?"
"I'm going to be honest Charles I can't predict what will happen but even if Monaco is being a bitch next week I know you will get through it. Your Charles Leclerc. I believe in you Charles and when I get my car fixed up I'll battle you"
I had to laugh. Daniel always made me feel better.
"Thanks Daniel I really needed that. I hope Monaco isn't going to be a bitch"
"Come on, how about we go out for a few drinks? It's on me"
"Sure. And they can't be on me cause last week they were on me and Pierre made me broke"
Daniel laughed at that.
"Some things never change"
As I get in my car, I head to the club that Daniel told me to go to. As we get seated and lift our first drink I say.......
"Come at me Monaco"

Hey guys. So that was Spain and Monaco will be next . I'm going to Italy tomorrow so I might not be able to update till Friday but if I get any free time I will try to get it done!! Thanks for reading.