Hit the Brakes - Daniel Ricciardo x OC

Part 33

Several Months Later...

I look around one final time for the season, at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The energy is electric - it's like everyone is buzzing with excitement at the thought of the new World Champion being crowned. At this point, it's a close call with Max and Charles - whoever wins this race.. wins the entire thing. 

It's also Daniel's first race back after his crash in Monaco. I could tell he was nervous as over the past few days, his body language is telling me that he's struggling to actually get into the car without realising how much danger he was in last time. I also feel my heart rate raise a little at the thought of what happened, and how there's the chance of something like this happening again, but I choose to just pretend it never happened. 

We've had quite a lot of time apart since the crash as he's stayed in Monaco while I've been travelling the world with RedBull, but this being the last race means that I can have the whole winter break with him.

I also got to meet his family while at the Australian GP - and they're all so lovely. He wanted to come over while I was there, and we came a few days early to explore everything. We went to his hometown, explored the city of Melbourne and I feel like I fell in love with him all over again. We've now been together for around 8 months and we've had no issues since the whole Monaco thing.

Needless to say, a lot happened in Monaco. 

We've hit the race today, however, and Charles has managed to get pole in qualifying. That means that we've got a little bit of work to do to make sure that we get the both the driver and the constructors championship. 

We're all getting ready to send Max and Checo out onto the grid for one last time. I head to Max's garage where he looks at me and smiles while putting on his fireproof gear. I go up to him and give him a hug. 
"Good luck, you're gonna smash it out there. That trophy is gonna be yours." I say. 
"Thanks, Pops. This is what it all comes down to."
"You got this." I reply. 
"How's Daniel doing?" He asks. 
"He's good, not really been able to see him. Gonna head there in a second."
"Wish him good luck from me." He smiles. 
"Will do. Love you, stay safe out there." I reply. 
We give eachother one last hug before I quickly jog to the McLaren garage. 

I text Dan asking him to come out, where he gives me a big beaming smile in the middle of the paddock. I run up to him and hug him, and he picks me up and spins me around. We then have a quick kiss. 
"Good luck out there, I'm super proud of you for coming back." I say. 
"Thank you, you better be watching closely."
"Don't you worry, I'll have my eyes glued to the screen."
I wipe some sweat from his forehead and give him one last kiss on the cheek before leaving as we hear the announcement of everyone needing to head onto the grid. 

I quickly run back out there and grab a headset and watch the monitor on Max's side of the garage as everyone gets ready. Soon, everyone disappears, just leaving the cars to wait for the lights to go out. 

Off we go. 

Soon, Max manages to swerve past Charles through a corner and get the lead, greeted by everyone in the garage celebrating. Daniel goes through and gets to P10, finally in the points. 

It's a super tough battle, with everyone on the edge of their seats as the top 2 weave through eachother, getting dangerously close at some point. We look through and see that in the DRS zones, we can find a couple of seconds to get an advantage against Ferrari. We tell Max and I can hear him celebrating, with us knowing that we can tell that we may have this one in the bag.

That is until, we see him spin a little and get back onto the track normally, making us drop back a couple of places. With 20 laps to go, we start to get nervous. 

I feel a tap on my shoulder, surprised to see someone dressed in orange. 
"I know you're in here, but we need you, now." He says. 
"What's up?"
"We need you to speak to Daniel. It seems like he's having a panic attack in the car, and we don't know how to calm him down."
"Oh my. Right, yeah. Let's go." I say, running with the engineer to the garage. 

Everyone in the garage is staring me down but quite frankly, I don't care. Max will understand. 

I grab a headset and start hearing what's going on, walking to the pit wall.
One of the men on the wall sees me and let's me take his seat. 
"What's going on?" I ask. 
"It seems like Daniel is probably just really nervous about crashing again and he won't stop hyperventilating. He won't reply to any of our messages and it's just like he's locked out."
I press down on Daniel's message button on the dashboard and can just hear him breathing. 
"Daniel?" I ask. 
"Poppy?" He says, me seeing his head shake while in the car.
"What's going on my love?"
"I'm scared."
"Scared of what?" I ask. 
"Crashing. I can't even remember what happened in Monaco, but I just feel nervous. Like it's going to happen again."
"Okay, well you only have 19 laps to go, and you're in the points. And you're not going to crash, you're safe. You have your layers and protection, and the halo. You're safe. Please, calm down for me." I say. 
I can feel his breathing lighten. 
"I'm safe."
"You're safe, baby."
"Poppy?" He says.
"Yes?"
"I love you."
"I love you too." I reply. 

I look back at the monitor and see him practically flying in front of the Aston Martin in front of him. He's weaving around these cars like there's no tomorrow. It's like he's just transformed into a rocketship. 

Max has also managed to push into the lead, and it's looking good for us. Zak comes and taps me on the shoulders, thanks me, and then lets me go back to my garage. 

I go in there, and I'm guessing that my radio was broadcasted on the monitors because everyone is looking at me dead in the eyes. Jamie has the happiest look on her face, but everyone else isn't looking so impressed that I've just helped another team out. 

I go back to my original position with only a few more laps to go. The championship is ours. 

Max flies around the last few corners, with Daniel creeping into P3. The checkered flag raises, and both my best friend and boyfriend are on the podium, with one of them winning the championship.