Moscow Mule - [Pierre Gasly]

V

The chequered flag of the Miami Grand Prix fell, and Max Verstappen won, with the two Ferrari's right behind him. Pierre could sadly write 'DNF' behind his name for the standings of this race. He touched with Fernando Alonso earlier in the race, but after Lando Norris bumped into him and crashed pretty severely, the AT03 had a problem and Pierre couldn't finish the race. He was frustrated about it, because it seemed like it would be a good race for them, but it didn't come together in the end. The only thing that comforted him a little bit, was that it wasn't his fault, because it was a mechanical issue. Pierre had brought his car back to the pitlane, where his crew pushed him back into the garage. He hopped out of the car, throwing his gloves into the compartment. "Easy, take a breath, alright?" Pyry said, offering him a towel and a cooling jacket, alongside his water bottle. "I'm fine, it's just a shame," Pierre replied, immediately reaching for the straw of his bottle to get some fluids in his system. "And it was a tough race, with the heat," he continued, already feeling himself calm down more.

"Let's get changed and head to the media, the team has to look for the problem and won't have an answer now anyway," Pyry suggested, which made him nod. Pierre went into his driver's room, peeling the cooling jacket and his fireproof shirt off to reach for AlphaTauri team wear, draping the shirt over his bare upper body. He took a seat, reaching for the banana in the fruit bowl to peel it. He took a deep breath and gathered himself before finishing the banana and throwing away the peel. He got his water bottle and went outside to meet Pyry. Fabiana was already there, having her recorder with her. "Alright, we don't know yet what the problem is," she started as they walked through the paddock to the media square. "It's related to the crash with Lando, but no finger pointing yet, please," Fabiana instructed. Pierre nodded, he had been frustrated the moment the McLaren driver bumped into his car, but before that he went wide a couple of times, and he didn't have the best grip, all adding to the moment for sure. Pierre was guided to the first microphone.

He didn't have much to say, he walked through his race, answered some questions and speculated about the possible points he could have gotten here. It was as pointless as usual, but he remained relaxed and didn't wind up Fabiana with any of the answers he gave. He had some interviews with Sky Sports and Canal Plus, on to Viaplay, and then it was done. They had to wait for a little bit till the race was over. As soon as Yuki came back, they could head into the post-race debrief. He hoped it wouldn't be a long day at the track, he just wanted to put his mind somewhere else and actually immediately hop into the car again, but he had to wait two weeks for that, till they were in Barcelona. Pierre pushed his cap over his head, walking back through the paddock. He paused here and there for the people who wanted a picture with him or an autograph, but next to that, he was quick to get back to the AlphaTauri motorhome. He'd watch the rest of the race there. Yuki was currently in P12, and it didn't look like he would get into the top ten with not many laps remaining. The team had to accept a zero point result for this race.

Pierre flopped down on the sofa with a can of Red Bull, looking up at the screen while he had his phone in his hand. He called his parents first, letting them know he was alright and that the team was on it to search for the problem of the car that caused him to retire from the race. Pyry joined him meanwhile, asking him to get on the massage table to work on the tense muscles in his shoulders. Pierre laid down on his stomach, having his phone with him. He scrolled through Instagram and Twitter, chuckling about some memes the fans had created. His tags blew up each weekend, and he went through them to see what his trackside fans had posted. Pierre looked at the pictures the photographers had taken in the paddock, some pictures of him and Azar there. There was one that was shot from behind Pierre, where she looked up at him with a small smile and those sparkling eyes of her pretty face. He went to her Instagram, hitting the follow button without a thought. It's not like he hadn't looked at her profile before. "Is she that girl I've heard rumours about?" Pyry spoke up, causing Pierre to chuckle.