Closer as you get - Charles Leclerc

25.

• language

After the break and a quick key exchange Charles calmed down again. I explained in which situation I've been in and he understood, apologising for the unnecessary drama he caused.

I now leaned down on the car so I was on the same eye level as him. "Hey, you made it into Q3, don't be so harsh on yourself." Charles was quiet for the moment. He barely made it into Q3 in P10, letting it get to himself for no reason. "You still have a few minutes, just show them who they're messing with. Alright? You're Charles Leclerc, not some stupid random man."

Charles still didn't answer and just watched me step back as his car was ready for the road again. I allowed the mechanics to finally take the rest off of the car and Charles quickly made his way out of the pit lane. On the inside I was just praying that my words helped somehow but they probably didn't. When it came to Charles ego during racing, there was no backing off.

"Hey, he's gonna be alright. He's Charles Leclerc, like you said," a hand laid on my shoulder, making me catch eyes with the blonde engineer. I let out a sign at his words. "I'm not even sure if I believe them myself. He's so moody today and I don't know what to do about it or what cursed it," I muttered, walking a bit back and staring at the screen that showed Charles on his out lap.

"Am I allowed to ask the most obvious question ever?" The male asked and I nodded in reply. "Did you ask him what's wrong?" Alex looked at me, his words and gestures chosen carefully. For a moment I wanted to scoff but as I thought about it my eyes dropped from the screens, to Alex and to the floor. "No...actually," I spoke quietly to myself. "Why don't you start off with that before you do anything else?" I noticed him smile through the tone of his voice.

I heard gasps, making my attention jump towards the screens again before I could answer. "What is he doing?! He's going to crash both of them!" I couldn't speak as I heard the mechanics talk, my mouth dropped opened as I saw Charles pull on the inside of the road, trying to pass Piastri in turn 6. It was qualifying, that risk wasn't necessary.

The wheels on one side of each driver touched shortly, putting them into a cloud of dust and smoke. "Xavi, you need to tell him to stop!" I heard a angry Frederic Vasseur from far ahead, seeming fully aware that the fault was on Charles.

Oscar slowed down his car quickly, putting himself behind Charles. "What a stupid idiot," I spoke between shock and anxiety. "You could say that, whatever got into him, he's fucked already," Alex pointed out his team principal who seemed quiet angry.

Charles still managed to set a time that put him into P5. The team settled on pulling him back into the box with Carlos, letting both of the drivers out for one last try later.
"I'll go over, Carlos needs me...maybe try to talk to Charles before Frederic does," he smiled respectfully, patting my shoulder before leaving.

I walked towards the box, the car already getting parked inside. A hand laid on my upper arm, making me turn. To my surprise I was met with the french team principal. "Listen, I will talk to him later but you should have that talk first now. I think he might listen to you, definitely rather than me," the man seemed a bit grumpy but understanding. It meant a lot in my eyes to hear him say it, he thought and probably knew as well what an impact I had on Charles life the second we met. That he trusted me now was something to be proud of.

"Hey, you alright there?" I said as Charles opened his visor, immediately flashed by my face. He nodded quietly. "You know it was wrong and you still did it. It was pure luck that nothing happened," green eyes tried to look away from mine, probably tired of my words even though he didn't seem very emotional in any way, only quiet and hidden.

I breathed out, fixing my hair for a short moment of time. "We said forever one lap ahead, right? We never said try to kill yourself during that. Whatever is going on with you, tell me. We're a team now Charles, you know how to play in a team. Don't hide from me, okay?" Charles silence started to feel like a punishment but I didn't know what it was for.

"Okay?" I asked again, this time a bit louder and harsher. He still didn't answer but his right hand left his steering wheel. I stared at the black glove in front of me, seeing as he offered me a hand. A smile made its way on my lips, taking his hand into mine. I nodded down at him before letting go of his hand again, it going back to its original position.

"We can do this fair and still rock it, right pretty boy?" I grinned, normally I would now tousle his hair, being blocked by his helmet for now but I would definitely make sure to do it later. "Right," his voice sounded strong, making me happy to hear him speak again.

He put his visor down, showing a thumb up to all of us, mostly meant for me. I stepped back again, smile on my lips as I saw Frederic pass me with the same facial expression. One of the sky sports cameras at the entrance to our garage was focused on us. I honestly didn't want to know what was going on in their heads right now.

"Okay, let's do this," the principal spoke as he sat down back on his place. The cars got released into the pit lane alongside with a few others. Due to the traffic the white Alpha Tauri was forced to stop, the number 3 proudly sticking out at the front. Inside that car, the drivers head turned, catching me. I saw a little wave before the car kept on driving, making me smile.

"Carlos said he felt comfortable in his car. He puts a lot of hope into this last lap," I squeeled in surprise as I heard Alex again next to me. "You seemed to have done a good job with Charles as well," he kept on talking, ignoring the fact that he had just scared the shit out of me.

He walked with me back to the screens, pointing out the perspective on Charles. "You see these turns he's taking? Hella clean if you ask me," he smiled, nudging my shoulder. "That's your work I think," he chuckled softly.

"Verstappen sets the fastes lap," I heard through the outside speakers, the others groaning annoyed. It was very different to watching the races at home, here you saw the live reaction and here you could see all the struggle the drivers were having.

"There comes Carlos!" Alex spoke excited, watching the time stop as Carlos passes the finish line. "0.034 seconds behind Max, that's so fucked," I muttered as I saw the time appear behind Maxs own one. "Oh, Daniel?" I immediately spoke after my last sentence, seeing the Alpha Tauri that had just waved at me pass the line, putting himself above Carlos.

I should be disappointed for passing Carlos but honestly, Daniel deserved it. "Whoa! You see that?" Alex spoke, pointing out the time of Charles as he chased around the corners. "That's almost two seconds quicker than Verstappen was!" Charles entered the straight towards the finish line, seeing the checkered flag not even seconds before he passed it.

"Charles Leclerc sets a new record for the fastes lap on the Qatar race track!" Now sounded over the speakers and I glared at Alex, loud noises of joy filling the room. "He broke Lewis Hamiltons time?" I screamed over the others, catching a proud smile and nod from Alex. "You should motivate him more often, he beat it by almost half a second," my eyes stood wide and I didn't know how Alex wasn't laughing at my face.

The screens showed Charles, Max and Daniel parking their cars, immediately going to congratulate Charles. From the way Max nodded at him, you could tell he was speaking with a lot of respect towards his work.  I couldn't wait to talk to him myself when he was going to enter the garage again.