The little party was amazing and I could see how much Lando liked it.
He definitely didn't expect it, but he deserved it so much.
He also deserved to win, this race and the entire championship. He definitely deserved that too.
But I was sitting on the wrong pitwall, I had to make Max champion. Needless to say, I didn't really want that but I had to stay professional.
"Did you and Lando have a nice night?" Christian asked as I sat down next to him on the pitwall. How did he know we went out last night?
"We just had a little get together with his friends" I said before putting on my headphones.
I could hear how GP was talking through Max on the radio. "Okay Max, pretty much everyone is on the mediums, including Lando. Try to keep him behind you, especially in the first corner" I listened to everything.
I loved Red Bull, Max and pretty much this entire team but I had to admit that I wished Lando would overtake him in that first corner.
I felt horrible because Max was trusting me, he trusted that I would do everything to make him win, or atleast try.
"My tired are completely dead, shouldn't we box?" He asked through the radio.
We were halfway through the race and I didn't plan a stop for a few laps.
GP looked at me, asking what we should do. Lando had a lot of pace, he wasn't struggling with his tires at all.
"We can pit now but I don't think he can finish the race with those tires" I said to Christian and GP. "Do we gamble or not?" Christian looked at me.
I had a feeling we shouldn't stop, not yet atleast but Max was cursing on the radio so I gave in.
"Fine let's box" I immediately regretted my decision because I was sure he would have to do another stop.
And I was right, Max had to stop again and lost a lot of time to Lando, which caused Lando to win the race. I wish I could be happy about that, especially because it was his birthday, but I had to pretend I was sad.
Or atleast disappointed that Max didn't win.
———————
Max always trusted me, he never doubted me until today.
He looked at me as he walked in the hospitality after the interviews.
I was working and analyzing what went wrong even though I already knew. I had to stick with my strategy instead of cracking under the pressure.
"What was that l? Did you want to give your man a nice birthday present?" He said as he leaned against my table.
"Not at all, I wanted to stick with my planned strategy but you were complaining about your tires" Max wasn't impressed by my answer because he just rolled his eyes and walked away.
I closed my laptop and grabbed my stuff. I just wanted to get out of here.
I walked straight to the Mclaren hospitality. I wanted to see Lando and congratulate him.
I wanted to kiss and hug him.
"Baby, I am so proud" I said as I walked in his drivers room. He immediately smiled as he saw me.
I walked up to him and sat down next to him on the couch. "Thanks babe, the press conference was awkward though" he said as he looked at me.
Max probably judged him as well, I was just hoping he wouldn't think I let him win.
"Max really thinks you sabotaged his race" he explained. I rolled my eyes. Of course.
"I didn't, I promise you did this on your own, you won this and Max lost it. He just had no grip left, he wanted to box" I wanted him to know that I had nothing to do with this.
But I also realized that I couldn't work for them anymore.
I wanted Lando to win this championship, I needed to have a talk with Zak.
