Banned ~Ollie Bearman~

~YOU FRICKEN DID IT~

prema_team

liked by landonorris, ferrari and 99,045 others
prema_team: we can confirm we will have @millienorris behind the wheel of the number 7 car for the feature race later today in jeddah, due to Frederik catching an illness overnight. full send from P7👊
tagged: @millienorris

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millienorris: so excited to be back behind the wheel❤️
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olliebearman via stories

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She stepped out into the pit lane in her racing suit with her plain black helmet in hand. She didn't get chance to design a helmet due to the short notice she had received. Suddenly the rush came back to her, but she was also incredibly nervous. This was her chance to prove what she could do. P7 put her in a good position but she knew she had her work cut out for her. Formula 2 was very fast paced and one mistake could cause you to drop drastically through the field. She could feel her heart racing as she looked through a gap in the pit wall and out to the grandstands.
"Hey"
She jumped and turned around.
"Oh my gosh Jack, you scared me"
"Sorry, I just wanted to wish you good luck out there. Your gonna smash it"
"I think i'd feel more confident if i'd actually driven an F2 car before this"
"The first few laps may be a struggle but you'll pick it up. You've got a very technical mind when it comes to racing"
she sighed "i hope your right"
"Good luck mil" he said as he gave her a quick hug and walked over to his team.
She checked both ways as she walked over towards the two prema cars. She stood staring at them and zoned out. Ollie came up to her and gave her a hug.
"Don't stress Mil, your gonna be amazing ok"
He pulled away and looked into her eyes.
"This is my chance to prove everyone wrong. I have to do this"
Ollie's engineer called him over.
"It's time, get in that car and race like you used to. The thrill will come back to you before you have even got to the grid. Good luck"
"you too"
He smiled at her before making his way over to his own car. Her engineer came over.
"Alright let's get you in this car"
She nodded as she hopped in and used the halo to lower herself down. She then placed her helmet on. Most drivers put it on before they got in the car but she had always done it this way. This was slightly inspired by Daniel Ricciardo as she had watched him race for years. Him being her brothers teammate the previous two years had been a dream for her.
She got strapped in with help from her crew.
"Radio check" she heard in her ear
"Loud and clear"
"Let's have a good, clean race Millie. Nice to have you back on the other end of the radio"
She smiled at this comment. She saw other cars start pulling out and before she knew it, it was her turn. She saw Lando stood opposite side of the pitlane as he gave her a thumbs up. She did this back before placing her foot on the accelerator and turning her car into the pitlane.
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She reached the grid. Her radio started again.
"alright millie, the P7 spot is just to your right, make sure to pull in safely"
She pulled in and waited for the other cars to pull in. The lights went out and the formation lap started. Turning through the chicane of turns 1 and 2 she felt her hands ache, but it was a familiar feeling. when she finally reached a bit of straight she picked up her speed and could feel the wind rushing through her helmet. She smiled, feeling at home. She began to slow through the final turn and down the straight. She pulled over to the right, and could see Iwasa slightly ahead and to the left, with daruvala directly infront. She looked up and saw 5 lights slowly appear.
1

2

3

4

5

She felt her breath catch in her throat, waiting for them to go out. They turned off and she felt herself immediately set her car off to move. She had a brilliant start and managed to pull herself into p5 going into turn 1 but she was hungry for more. into the second part of the chicane she was battling for P4 and managed to pull herself into that position by the short straight just after. 3 positions in a few turns. That's the millie everyone remembered.
"Okay millie, that's P4"
"Where's Ollie?"
"Currently in the lead of the race"
That brought a smile onto her face.
"Let's get em boys"

It was only lap 2 when she received the message "virtual safety car, slow your pace"
"What's happened?"
"Everyone's fine, Benavides made contact and had to stop"
"okay"

another radio message came on lap 6
"that's fastest lap so far, your catching doohan ahead, keep it up"
A lap later she was called into the pits, the stop went smoothly as she drove back out, now in P12 and still with the fastest lap.
Ollie and Victor were battling lap after lap, until lap 11 they went through turns 1 and 2 wheel to wheel, they touched slowing Ollie down, which millie saw as an opportunity to get past her teammate. She always felt bad in situations like this but unless team orders came through, you always had to put yourself first when it came to racing. To a point, being selfish was crucial if you wanted to bring in results and keep your seat.

On lap 16 Millie saw a cloud of smoke appear from behind her. She was worried her engine blew, but the car felt fine so she continued on. "guys what happened"
"keep driving Millie. Ollie spun, he avoided the wall and he's ok and back on track, just lost a few positions"
"oh no that's terrible for him"
She felt bad for Ollie. He was driving a brilliant race up until now.
One lap later she looked down the inside of Victor Martins but decided against it, which turned out to be a good decision as a few corners later, he took too much curb and went spinning across the track. She narrowly avoided him and continued driving.
"Is he ok?"
"yep all good. Keep going Millie, your P6 now. a few drivers ahead yet to pit"
"copy"
The rest of the race was just about pushing the car to the limits and driving well. Everyone infront of her pitted.
"okay millie this is the final lap. currently P1"
What did he just say. She's leading the race. Her racing instincts kicked in as she drove the lap perfectly. She came round the final corner and crossed the line.
"MILLIE NORRIS YOU ARE A FORMULA 2 RACE WINNER ON YOUR DEBUT" her race engineer called down the radio
"WOOHOOOO LETS GO GUYS. I NEVER LEFT!!! the car was amazing today, thanks team"
She couldn't believe what she had just done. She waved to the crowd as she did one final lap before pulling into the pitlane infront of the P1 sign. She took her steering wheel out and jumped up onto the top of her car before celebrating and running over to the team. She had never won a formula 3 race, so had never experienced the post race celebrations just like this . As she turned around she saw Jacks car parked in p2 and Daruvala in P3. She ran over to jack and gave him a massive hug.
"YOU FRICKEN DID IT" he yelled as he picked her up and spun her around.
She was called over to do a live interview that the whole track could hear. This happened for every formula 2 race winner. Jenson Button was hosting the interview.
"So millie norris. what a story you've had so far. congratulations"
"Thankyou Jenson"
"tell me, how does it feel to have won the race on your debut"
"It feels amazing honestly it's not even sunk in yet. I've never driven a formula 2 car before so i'm just thankful i didn't send it into a wall to be honest"
She heard a few giggles around her
"Do you reckon this will cause people to want you to be racing full time again?"
"i hope so. i want to prove to everyone that i deserve the chance of a race seat but ultimately that decision lies with the FIA"
"speaking of them and your ban, it was ofcourse handed to you due to speaking out about the crash. We know since then that you and Jack doohan have become good friends, how does it feel to know that in just a few minutes you will be sharing a podium with him?"
"Honestly i couldn't think of anyone better to share this with, other than Ollie or Arthur ofcourse"
She looked over at Ollie, who was keenly waiting to congratulate her.
"Well it seems you are wanted so i won't keep you much longer, any final messages?"
She took a moment before leaning in towards the microphone
.....
"i'm back bitches"
She smirked and walked away, listening to the claps and cheers from the crowd. Ollie ran over and engulfed her in a huge hug before kissing her forehead.
"I'm so proud of you millie" he said with a massive smile on his face
"thankyou Ol"

Lando came running up to them and picked her up before spinning her around in the air. "MY SISTER IS A FORMULA 2 RACE WINNER IM SO PROUD!!!"
she giggled as he put her down.
"thankyou Lan, i need to go the podium but we can celebrate later"

The podium celebration was incredible. Receiving the trophy and putting on the Pirelli winners cap was a dream come true. She could get used to this.