Bonjour ma chérie || Charles Leclerc

•Chapter 21•

°He is just a boy, and im just a girl.
Can i make it any more obvious?°

Time was passing, and even though Max had left Carlos about two seconds behind, he was still trying to find Charles' pace.

It was time for a pit stop. Verstappen was the first one to pit. Because of this hunt, his medium tires were wasted. The change from mediums to hards dropped him down to 5th place, ahead of George Russell, whose performance wasn't looking very good. The race leader came into the pits a lap later and changed from mediums to hards, too, and got out of the pit lane in the exact moment so that he would be ahead of his teammate. Of course, Carlos had yet to pit, but this was a safe condition. This is how things remained for the next 13 laps when suddenly Charles engineer spoke again.

"There is a yellow flag in sector two. It's Verstappen and Russel. Vistual safety car will be deployed, but they seem more serious."

"Are they okay?"Charles asked.

"Yes, they are both okay."

"Copy."

Diana stared at the screen in front of her, which played the replay of the incident. Basically, George tried to overtake Max, but the red-bull driver didn't leave space and pushed him off, causing a serious collision. The red-bull car was fine and kept going, but that was not the case for the Mercedes.

"Okay, Charles safely car is out. They will try to remove the debris and the car itself."

"How many laps left?"

"20. Many of those will be behind the safety car. The crash was in turn 7, and the gravel there made things worse for the tractor."

"Copy."

"Is there debris in the track right now?"

"No, negative."

"Copy."

Two laps later, the tractor managed to approach the Mercedes. The stuff came to tie the car and make sure that it wouldn't get more damaged.

"Verstappen got a five second penalty. Red-bull decided to add that to his time at the end of the race. We believe that he won't be a danger for you.

Just then, Diana heard a Mercedes radio on the TV.

"He did not leave any space! This is unacceptable! What a douchebag! Excuse my French, but this is a pure act of arrogance!"

She felt bad for George. He was struggling from the start, and now the race was over for him.

The safety car ended, and there were seven laps left. The difference between the cars was only some tenths of a second.

"Carlos will not attack you. He has to deal with Alonso, who is in 3rd position."

"Copy."

Those last laps were terrifying. Alonso was attacking continuously, but Carlos and his defensive skills kept him behind.

As soon as Charles crossed the finish line, everyone started clapping and celebrating.

"Charles Leclerc wins the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and it is a one two finish for Ferrari in their home race!" The commentator said.

After Fred's signal, Diana pushed the button in order to talk to Charles.

"You won Charles!" She said.

"Oh my God... congratulations to the whole team. We all did a great job. We are back!" He replied.

Diana and Fred ran to the place where the podiums were being set. The giant screen in front of them was showing the three drivers in the little room where they took their hats and sat for a while in order to rest before celebrating.

Alonso took the hat for the winner and placed it on Charles' head, who was laughing. They started talking and commenting on what they were seeing on the screen. Verstappen's incident shocked them. Max isn't known for those kinds of actions. He is known for his anger issues and his aggressiveness. They were visibly sorry for George, though, who had struggled from the start. But this is how racing is. You can't always control everything, especially the car's or the driver's behavior. After seeing the highlights of the race on the little TV, they all got out of the room, where Nico Rosberg was waiting for them in order to ask some questions. Alonso was the first one to answer.

"Fernando, this performance was incredible today! How do you feel?"

"I feel great. A podium is always a welcome, obviously. The whole team did an amazing job, and congratulations to the Ferrari team and drivers they were very strong." He answered.

"Thank you, Fernando. Let's go onto the next Spaniard. Carlos, how was your race. You had to fight with multiple drivers today."

"It was definitely an adventurous race. The risk and the action is a huge part of the sport, and if someone doesn't like the adrenaline, then he is just not capable of being active and competitive."

"Thank you, Carlos. Now, let's hear some words from our winner. Charles Leclerc, you must be very happy right now."

"It's truly an amazing feeling. It feels good to be back and competitive. Hard work always pays off, and the whole team worked very hard the last week..."

His speech was interrupted by a fan who yelled, "We love you, Lord Perceval."

Charles giggled and spoke again.

"I love you too. All the fans are amazing, and we are thankful for each of you."

"Thank you, Charles, and congratulations."

The two ferrari drivers walked towards their team, and everyone was cheering for them, hugging and congratulating both.

Charles stopped in front of Diana and kissed her. The kiss from yesterday came immediately into Diana's mind. This one was even better. This time, everyone was there, staring or taking pictures. But Diana felt like they were only he two of them.

"You have no idea how proud I am of you ," she said and felt her eyes tearing up.

Charles hugged her tightly and and he could hear her sobbing.

"I have to go now, but I'll be back very soon," He said, and she nodded.

She saw him going up the podium with Fred and sitting on the winner's place. Charles looked down towards her and smiled at her. The three drivers were given their trophies. Then the monegacque national anthem started playing, and the Italian one followed.

Carlos was the first to open the bottle of champagne, and he decided not to lose any time. He went straightaway and sprayed Charles. Fernando, on the other hand, was more sneaky. He approached Charles and poured some champagne in his racing suit while he wasn't looking.

Charles was visibly happy. He was smiling and cheering. Diana was smiling, too. She was so proud of him and happy for his win. That was a moment to remember.