My time | OP

1.

A/N - Hi all, this will be my first ever story here. I haven't given this much planning so far, mostly working off the top of my head. Please excuse any spelling errors and please feel free to give constructive criticism. I want to make this story the best I can for all of you. Thank you for reading and I hope you all enjoy! :)

________________________________________________________________________________

2 Years Ago

"Here we are ladies and gentleman, the championship final right here in Yas Marina. Briar Slater and Oscar Piastri neck and neck in the championship fighting today for P1 in the UAE."

The racers were 10 laps off the end of the race, English Briar Slater in P1 and Australian Oscar Piastri in P2. The two had faced serious rivalry through their time with Briar racing for Carlin and Oscar for Prema. The two had never had a great relationship, on or off the track, mainly due to this rivalry but also because Briar thought that Oscar was risky and dangerous when he drove. Lap 24 and everything was looking good for Briar with only a few laps to go and Oscar on her tail. The sound of her engineer became a blur and she instead focused on the noise of the crowd and the cars around her. The championship seemed set, Schwartzman was a whole 38 seconds behind in P3 and Oscar wasn't looking like an imminent threat.

"Right now Slater, this is it, 8 laps to go and it's all won. Piastri is getting close so do what you do best and drive safe." spoke the muffled noise of her race engineer.

Briar and Piastri were coming up to turn 5, right before the speed trap. Oscar had made up time and was now only half a second behind. Briar started her turning, beginning to close the gap between her car and the edge of the gravel track. That's when it happened. She never saw him coming. Oscar came up the side and the pair made contact, causing Briar to spin out into the gravel and Oscar took P1. As much as her swift manoeuvre from the gravel was successful into getting her back onto the track, Oscar was far gone. With only 7 laps left, the gap became further and further, totalling out at 9.4 seconds. She tried so hard to gain her position back but was faced with defeat when Piastri crossed the finish and chequered flag in P1 a whole 7.8 seconds ahead of his English rival.

—————————————————————————————————————————————————
Briar's POV

I was actually going to do it. The end was so near. All I had to do now as bring it home. Me and Oscar were rivals and as much as I hated him for making it so difficult, it was always fun to have someone challenge me. But now, now was my time and I'm not letting anyone take it.

"Right now Slater, this is it, 8 laps to go and it's all won. Piastri is getting close so do what you do best and drive safe."

The sound of my race engineer stick in my head at that moment and I'm ready to bring the championship back to Carlin. Starting the next lap it was all a daze, I was ready to take on the rest of this race. This whole daydream of a season all came down to this moment and one lapse of concentration could mean the championship. I don't know how I saw these words and still let it happen. I was so focused on the words of my engineer 'drive safe', that I was completely unaware that Oscar had gained DRS behind me and had closed the gap between our cars. I was ready to take the turn into the 5th corner, but instead of turning towards the end he of the circuit I was met by the blood red colour of Oscar's Prema. The side of my car made contact with his front wing. I thought it was my corner but instead I was spun out into the gravel and for my idiotic decisions was under review for a penalty.

I swear I could hear the crew in the pit lane for Oscar and I cursed under my helmet at what bad just happened, most likely audible for my whole pit crew to hear. The thoughts flashed through my head at what would happen if I didn't win this championship. Her career in racing relied on this race. Her father was here watching and if Briar knew anything, it was that he expected her to win and she should've done it long before this race.