behind cameras- c.l

nine

"It's lights out, and away we go!" The commentator shouts as all 20 cars start speeding around the track. "The 2023 Formula 1 season is underway!"

I'm back in the Williams garage, stood at the back with Lily, who's holding her breath. Max had a great start, and has managed to retain the lead, whilst Lewis and Alonso battle it out for second around the first corner.

George has slipped a place already, unfortunately, as he is quickly overtaken by Checo in the undeniably fast Red Bull. My eyes drift over to the red Ferrari, which is also gaining on George.

Down the first straight, Charles manages to get alongside the Mercedes, and they get toward the second corner, Charles manages to barge past him, into P5, with a little bit of contact, which almost sends George into the wall.

I can practically hear George's protests, as he most likely curses out Charles as he drops another place from the swerve into P7.

Lewis has managed to get an advantage on Alonso, and regains 2nd place, about 2 seconds behind Max, who's already got a hefty lead, to no one's surprise.

I let my eyes drift back to Alex's name in the leaderboard, still in P8, but under heavy pressure from Oscar behind. I suck in my breath as the McLaren glides past, and Alex falls into P9, just ahead of Charles' teammate in the other Ferrari.

Lily swears besides me. "Fucking hell." I place a hand on her shoulder.

Over the next 20 laps, Max retains the lead, gaining around 11 seconds on Lewis in 2nd. Charles manages to get ahead of Perez after a risky manoeuvre along the chicane, which puts him comfortably into P4, less than a second behind Alonso.

His DRS is activated along the straight, and he tries to overtake Alonso, but the Aston Martin defends brilliantly and Charles falls back again.

"Wonderful driving from both Leclerc and Alonso there, this is going to be an interesting fight for third!"

I shake my head. With Lewis and Max both so far ahead, it looked like P3 was the best he was going to be able to do. I look back at George and Alex's names on the leaderboard.

George P5, a few seconds behind Charles, and Alex, surprisingly, back to P7, still in the points. He was even gaining on Lando, who seemed to be having engine problems.

He pits, and Alex slides up to sixth place, 3.4 seconds behind George, who was 7.3 behind Charles. It was lap 41 of 55 now, so things were about to get more interesting.

Charles gets the call to box, and goes in for a change of soft tires for the final stretch. Alonso stays out on old hards, but gains a few seconds on the Ferrari. Nevertheless, it looks like a massive advantage to Charles.

Naturally, by lap 48, Charles has gotten ahead of Alonso by a good few seconds and is chasing down Lewis, who has also boxed for softs, and is chasing down Max, who is miles ahead.

George, also on softs now, manages to get ahead of the Aston Martin as well, putting him into P4, but with a sizeable gap to Charles. Behind Alonso is Oscar, then Alex, then Carlos, then Lando, and then finishing up the points is Ocon, after Perez had crashed halfway through the race.

Lap 50. 5 to go. Lewis makes an understeering mistake and swerves onto the gravel- not crashing, but losing significant time as he struggles to get back on track.

Charles catches up and is right behind the Mercedes. His DRS is activated and he cuts past Lewis around the corner, putting him into P2 with 4 laps to defend.

He doesn't catch up to Max, who is ridiculously far ahead, but he crosses the line with a 2.3 second gap to Lewis. From P6 to P2- a pretty incredible drive. Lewis gets the final podium position, followed by George, Alex, Alonso, Oscar, Carlos and, surprisingly, little Yuki Tsunoda, all in the points.