In the Spotlight (Max Verstappen - Book Two)

Chapter Twenty-Two

"Well done Elodie on a great drive, some fantastic overtakes and a great move on Carlos to get to that second place on the podium there!" I was greeted with when I finally joined the Sky F1 team for a post-podium press conference interview and debrief.

"Thank you! It was an interesting race for sure, bit of a weird one but it was good." I respond happily and the panel in front of me nods smiling.

"It had it all, the drama, the tactics, the overtakes and radio messages!" Natalie said and I smiled nervously as I wasn't sure what they were referring to. "Let's go back to lap one, or turn one even, right after the race start. You had managed to get level with both Lewis and Max and then you back off from the two of them, which turned out to be very fortunate as they ended up touching," Natalie says and I nod, no smile on my face as I remember the incident. "What caused you to bail out because some fans have noticed in the arial shot of it that you turned your head to check on them." She points to the screen between us and I see that it is visible when I turned my head.

"Well, I mean I think you can see what happened from neither of them bailing out...I sort of looked over and saw it about to happen...it's unfortunately in both their nature to not really give up space and I knew that if I stayed along side or tried to take advantage of it then it would end in disaster, especially for Max as he was in the middle so bailing out and choosing to attack later in the lap was my choice but then I had to take that evasive manoeuvre to avoid the collision and yeah...there's not really much to say on that I don't think. Just a racing incident into the first corner in my opinion," I say bravely as I scratch the back of my neck, watching the moment get replayed from multiple angles as I wince.

"Do you think it has a bigger representation for the season as a whole, that you avoided the collision and have now taken the lead in the championship?" Natalie asks and my eyes widen.

"I-what-now?" I say confused, asking her to repeat herself.

"No one told you? You're leading the championship by one point ahead of Charles." She informs me and I do the quick mental maths as I realise she's right.

"Er, perhaps, I mean...wow that's quite a big change. So Charles and I are 1-2 now?" I ask for clarification and she nods. "Perhaps it is but like I said...it's a bit of a racing incident, no? I like to think of myself as a sensible driver...but so are both of them. Was it avoidable, yes obviously, but they both had legitimate right to enter that corner as they did, so it was a racing incident. The season is far, far from over. We've had three races and three different winners which is a fantastic start to the season...I'm not quite sure how I've ended up in first despite being the only one in the top four not to win...but that's fine, I'll take it!" I say smiling and joking around when I randomly get zapped in my sides causing me to screech and juggle the microphone as I almost drop it in shock.

"Ah, then man that got you the one point lead! Mr Daniel Ricciardo, are you joining?" Natalie asks and Daniel looks at my bright red face before nodding and taking the mic offered to him before leaning on my shoulder. I flinch at the touch, being rather sore from the race which he notices and sends me a quick apology before nudging me with his elbow.

"Yeah, thank me, D." He says looking at me expectantly and I just look around confused.

"I don't understand."

"What's new?" Daniel retorts and I zap him in the side causing him to giggle squeal. "I got the fastest lap, taking it away from Charles," he informs me and I make an 'oh' sound in realisation.

"Well, thanks?" I say questioningly and he just smiles and shakes his head at me. "Oh whatever, go away." I tell him.

"I've been asked to stay," he points out and I just shush him. "Let me have this moment, little miss consistency." He calls me and I smirk.