Drive to Survive [Lando Norris]

-35-

What should have been a great nights sleep full of relaxing dreams and growing excitement, knowing that she'd ben in a Red Bull car today, only turned into a sleepless night with Willow tossing around in the bed, never really able to find a comforting position. 

"Jeez, Willow, did you sleep at all last night?" Lily was traveling with the driver to the circuit today, mainly because she would be spending her race weekend at the Red Bull garage instead of her own, and Lily wanted to make sure that she was okay and up for the challenge. Besides, she still had exercises to do. 

"Barely, I just can't stop thinking about everything" she spilled her heart out, a bit surprised that she did so, but it must have been her foggy brain that allowed the words to spill out. 

"I get it. Driving for Red Bull today must be exciting, but you gotta relax a bit, girl. You're a talented driver, and you just need to get out there and have fun" Lily smiled. 

Willow was so grateful for her words, but no matter how sweet, they were, she couldn't get the images of the hurt expressions on Pierre's face yesterday. Both Lando and George had tried to reach out as well, but she texted them both, telling them that she was tired before she turned off her phone, not being able to deal with it right now.

Walking past her usual motorhome and catching a glimpse of her teammate, who was definitely ignoring her on purpose was sending a punch to her guts. Her hands felt sweaty and the butterflies in her stomach had turned into wasps. She felt awful. 

"There she is. Ready to get out there?" Willow did everything in her power to maintain a decent smile as the team boss greeted her. 

"I'm so ready" she spoke confidently, cringing at the fat lie behind it. 

The next couple of hours were spent on talking with the team, doing a quick seat check and finally, suit up. Standing in Checo's drivers room with her Red Bull racing suit on as she looked in the mirror made her heart pump. The suit looked so perfect on her, like it was actually made for her. Well, it was technically made for her, but you know what I mean. 

Her reflection starred right back at her, and a sudden wave of anger hit her. Pierre had no fucking right to be mad at her for wanting this. He was well aware of her dream of a Red Bull seat, he knew it meant the world for her to even become just a reserve driver, and if he couldn't understand why she wasn't allowed to say anything, then to hell with him. If he couldn't see and understand how much she, despite the rules, wanted to tell him, then to hell with him. 

No one had a single right to judge her right now. No one. And just like that, qualifying seemed like a walk in the park. 

--

"Does everything feel okay?" her "new" radio engineer, Philip, asked and the smile spread on the drivers face once again. 

"It's fucking amazing, Philip. Sorry for swearing" she chuckled, only smiling wider as she heard Philip laugh along with her. 

"No need to apologize, Willow. We are excited to have you behind the wheel today. I reckon you can begin your first fast lap now. Track clear" Philip spoke and that was the only confirmation she needed, before disappearing into the distance, speeding down the track. 

The joy she had felt back in Monaco after going out with Lando and scoring P3 the next day was next to perfect. This? This was fucking perfect. Even though the car wasn't exactly built around Willow, it still felt like this was where she was supposed to be. The grin was wider than ever, and Willow barely thought about qualifying, her mind was occupied with the rush of adrenaline that ran through her veins. 

"Excellent drive, P7. Q1 is over." even though P7 was far from where she wanted to be, it was still a decent change to make up for it in Q2 and hopefully Q3. 

Getting out of the car, Willow was met with a smiling face belonging to Max Verstappen. The two drivers actually fell into a nice conversation, and Max couldn't deny that he was excited to see Willow in a Red Bull car. He loved having Checo as a teammate, but he also knew that Checo was older, and probably wouldn't stay at the team for many years. Willow, on the other hand, might just be a good match for Red Bull after Checo, Max thought. 

Scoring a solid P9 in Q2 continued to make the smirk on Willow's face wider. She loved everything around her at the moment, never wanting for it to come to an end. She was dreading going back to AlphaTauri, she was dreading talking to Pierre and probably also Lando. She still left him and George rather confused yesterday. 

"Okay, you can push now. Track clear" Philip spoke, the entire Red Bull pit wall watching in excitement for their reserve driver. 

For a brief moment, Willow thought that she might actually overdose on adrenaline. So much was happening around her, everyone watching in pure excitement, sitting on the edges of their chairs as the last Red Bull (reserve) driver rounded the final corner and crossed the line. 

The cheers that broke out after that was ear-deafening. 

"We are truly delighted to have you as a reserve this weekend, Willow. That was P2" Phillip grinned, the entire pit wall clapping for the Red Bull front lockout. 

"Are you serious?" she spoke in utter disbelief, making Phillip laugh. 

"Dead serious. Brilliant drive, Willow" he spoke back, and that's when hit words finally hit and the (reserve) Red Bull driver broke into one of the loudest cheers, she had ever made. 

Her best qualifying to date in Formula One. In a Red Bull. Front row lockout. And everyone was watching. Was this a dream?