We are like diamonds in the sky

you make me feel

*Helia*

There were only six more turns to go. Six corners and I would cross the finish line in Melbourne in second place.

I had wanted so much more and it had looked like I could do it. The weekend had gone great.

After Max and I had clinched another double podium in Jeddah, we had also clearly dominated the practice sessions here in Australia. We had outpaced everyone and had decided the pole between us in qualifying. This weekend it had gone to me and Max had been seriously happy for me, which, and I only knew this from stories told by Kevin, had never happened before.

He had indulged me and had assured me again before the race that he would have my back.

And then the start had come, I had got away well, but Max unfortunately not. Sebastian had grabbed him right at the start and had already come dangerously close to me in turn 1, only to touch me in the second turn.

I had spun and almost dropped back to the end of the field.

Max had taken the lead again at some point, while I had fought my way through the whole field and managed to leave Charles behind me again two laps ago, only to catch up with Max again, but he had a lot of advantage

So I would finish second and even though I knew I should be happy about that, I couldn't help but feel a little bit of disappointment.

It was my home Grand Prix and with pole I really thought I could get the win here. It hadn't been meant to be.

"Push Helia! Push!" yelled Nio excitedly "Max slows down so you can get past him!".

I stepped on the gas pedal all the way and could see that my teammate was really slowing down a bit.

I couldn't believe it. Charles was a good bit behind me. If we did it smart, we could really swap places before the finish line.

I managed to pull up next to Max, who immediately got in line behind me with two corners to go.

Tears inevitably welled up in my eyes.

He had kept his promise and then I shot across the finish line first and burst into tears.

I flipped my visor up a little and wiped the tears from my eyes as Max closed in on me. I was completely overwhelmed with emotion.

"Helia! You're a Grand Prix winner in Australia!" yelled Nio, completely overwhelmed.

"Thank you.", I sobbed "Thank you to the whole team, that was great work from the whole team, the whole weekend. And thank you to Max, I can't even put into words what this means to me," I sobbed.

"Congratulations Helia. That was a great race.", Christian also congratulated me.

Then I heard a sob "Sunshine, I'm so proud of you!", Dad cried "That was a great race.".

"Thank you Christian and thank you Dad. I wouldn't be here without you."

"I love you Sunshine," he sobbed.

"I love you too, Dad," I sobbed back.

One of the track marshals waved an Australian flag and I immediately pulled over to take it. I proudly waved the flag as I drove alongside Max the last stretch to the parc fermé.

I couldn't get out of my car fast enough.

Flag in hand, I jumped on the nose of my car and was sure I had never heard so much cheering, at least not because of me. I raised the flag in the air as I was lifted off the nose of my car.

Max had grabbed me and was now lifting me up jubilantly. I immediately started to cry again. I bent down to him a bit and shouted a "Thank you!"

Max started grinning broadly, I could just see it in his eyes. He had insanely expressive eyes that were now shining.

"I promised you.", he said "And listen to them. This is amazing.", he laughed and then slowly let me slide to the ground "You just deserved to win today.".

I hugged him tightly and pressed my helmet against his shoulder.

"Thank you. I'll never forget this," I sobbed.

He wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me closer "That was really great." he grumbled.

We stood like that for a long time before he let go of me and smiled again "Go on, get your cheers.", he pushed me towards the team.

Nio and Dad were the first ones I jumped towards. Tears, joy, everything came at once. Then I hugged Heikki, Thilo, Franky, the whole team. Christian hugged me with a smile.

"By the way, Max decided that himself, that he let you through. That wasn't a team order and that's already really unusual, actually we order something like that, but if you sort it out among yourselves, that's good. You work perfectly as a team, that's important.".

He patted me on the back, then Charles also came and congratulated me on my first victory.

I had just weighed myself and taken off my helmet when I was knocked down from the side. Only because Max caught us and pushed us back to the stand did we not fall to the ground.

Kevin lifted me up and cheered.

"Shit, Heli, what the hell was that?" he spun me around "When you were in the back with me, I really thought the race was over for you, but shit!" he laughed.

"It's all thanks to Max. He let me through at the end.".

Kevin looked past me to my teammate, then shook his head laughing "You really wrap everyone around your little finger.", he put me back on the ground "He didn't make room for Checo last year and he gives you a win. I think you guys work well as a team." he smirked and pressed a kiss to my cheek before letting go of me so I could face the interviews.

I couldn't get the big grin off my face, because today it was Dad who got to interview the top three.

He faced me with a big grin and tears in his eyes "What can I say, sunshine?" he asked and everyone was quiet "I'm insanely proud of you. That was a great race. How does it feel to win your home race."

"Great. A big thanks to the whole team. It was a hell of a job this weekend and extra thanks of course to my lovely teammate. Thanks Max. I couldn't have done it without you. I...", I burst into tears and could see that the Dutchman was also wiping his eyes "Thank you.", I just nodded and took a moment.

Max took a step over to me and unceremoniously pulled me into another hug. I wrapped my arms around him and had to swallow. I knew we could go far as a team.

In the cool-down room, we watched a few more race scenes. Charles settled down next to me and took a deep breath.

"What did you actually bribe Max with that he still let you through?" he asked, leaning forward a bit again.

"I didn't. He already promised me in Bahrain after my crash," I shrugged, his gaze going to Max.

"She's nice. I like her, so you do things like that.", Max also shrugged his shoulders, while Charles dropped the water bottle out of his hand.

"That was practically a declaration of love," laughed the Monegasque, picking up his bottle again, "You've never said anything like that about anyone."

"I've never let anyone in front of me," Max tossed me my cap.

"Trust me, he loves you.", Charles winked before pulling me to my feet "We need to get out.".

And then I was alone again for a moment before climbing onto the podium to the thunderous cheers of the Australian fans.

This was my first win and I owed it in large part to Max, who was probably applauding the loudest right now.

He probably didn't understand how much this meant to me and how much it meant to me that he had kept his word. I could rely on him, just as he could rely on me.