The Limit (Sebastian Vettel)

88. An Agonising Wait

"Sebastian, last lap. You are in P6. 1.8 to Hamilton in front. 6.9 to Sainz behind."

"How's Lily doing?" Seb asked. He heard Chris give a little chuckle.

"She is in P8, right up Sainz's ass."

Seb smiled to himself. He knew Lily wouldn't be satisfied with P8 and that she'd be doing her best to get past Carlos.

A few seconds of silence followed. Then Chris's voice sounded in his ear again. "Red flag Sebastian, red flag. Come back to the pits. That will be race over."

"What happened?"

"A couple of cars had a shunt further back. Don't worry, just come in back."

Seb sighed. He hated finishing under a red flag, but he guessed he wouldn't have caught Lewis anyway. He made his way around the lap slowly, expecting to come across the scene of the shunt. As he steered into the pitlane entry he surmised it must have happened in sector 1.

Pulling up behind Lewis, he stopped the car and waited for further instructions.

After a minute of silence he spoke. "What's happening?" It was then he saw Mike stood by the side of the car, gesturing at him to get out. Perhaps the team radio had broken? He undid his belts, removed the steering wheel and got out of the car, replacing the wheel and taking his gloves off, before turning to Mike.

"Did the radio break?" Mike shook his head, an extremely serious look on his face.

"Seb, the red flag...it's Lily."

Seb felt a chill pass through him. Lily? She was ok though right? Breathe Sebastian, he told himself. She'll be ok.

"What? She's ok yeah? What happened?"

"Sainz moved to block her. He misjudged it by the look of it, or he just didn't see her. She went into the back of him and her car flipped over. She hit the wall and bounced back into the middle of the track. Lance hit her. He couldn't avoid her."

"My God! She's ok though? Mike please tell me she's ok," he demanded, grabbing hold of the front of Mike's shirt
with both hands.

"I'm sorry Seb, I don't know. The medical team have just arrived. I've seen Carlos and Lance, but I haven't seen Lily."

Seb's heart sped up. She had to be ok. Letting go of Mike's shirt, he removed his HANS, helmet and balaclava, dropped them into the cockpit of his car and broke out in a run towards the Ferrari pitwall.

As he neared it, he saw Joel over by the gap in the wall. He was crying and two other Ferrari engineers were holding him back. A marshall was stood blocking the gap.

"Lily!" Seb roared, hurling himself towards the gap. He had to get to her. He had to make sure she was ok.

He found himself being hauled back by two marshalls.

"I'm sorry, you cannot go onto the track," one of them told him.

"I don't care, I'm going. My girlfriend is out there!"

"Seb," Joel called out. "She's trapped. She's not responding."

Seb felt his tears escaping his eyes. She had to be ok. He couldn't lose her. If he lost her he might as well be dead himself. She was everything to him.

"Lily!" he roared again, fighting against the marshalls' hold. He'd never felt emotional pain like it. His heart was aching so much. Was his Lily dead? Was she gone forever?

He collapsed onto the floor, shaking. Why wouldn't they let him go to her? He zoned out, not even hearing the sirens of the ambulance arriving on the straight.