Hope is a dangerous thing for a Woman like me to have

Chapter 19

I had never been so nervous for a race before. Well, it was a sprint race but still; with so little laps, drivers would be giving it their all. Especially Charles who was right behind me in his red car. Max wasn't my aim this race, the red bull was virtually a horizontal rocket ship with wheels and a paint job. Instead, my aim was to stay ahead of Number 16 and defend my position. Even though it was just a sprint race, these points meant a lot for the team as we had not started the season well. We were currently 7th in the championship. 

With 20 minutes til the race, I was in my drivers room, doing reaction exercises with a trainer and breathing exercises. I had my headphones in and was listening to empowering tunes. My current favourite hype song was "ready for it..." by Taylor Swift. 

5 minutes later, I was summoned to the grid where the national anthem was sung. I stood between Ocon and Charles, and I tried to be as subtly far away from Charles as I could. I caught him looking at me at me before the song started but he was wearing his sunglasses so I couldn't make out his expression. He took them off for the anthem though and once again, during the song, I could feel him looking at me. I tried to force myself to keep staring ahead, to not let my curiosity and desire get the better of me but I couldn't help but look at him. We made direct eye contact and he looked disgusted at me. I could feel the hatred towards me oozing out of him, like an unpleasant smell. That being said, I swear when I first looked over his expression was different but he changed it...

Once the national anthem was over, we got into our cars. I had a few minutes to prepare myself before the start and went over some breathing exercises. I could already see Leclerc in my mirrors and I was determined not to let him overtake me. 

The first red light lit up. The engines started to rev. The second. I took another deep breath. The third. I let the breath out. The fourth, then the fifth. 

Then none.

I pushed down onto the throttle with force, accelerating off the finish line. I knew my reaction time must've been good as when we went into the first sharp corner, I was wheel to wheel with Max, something I hadn't imagined happening. I had the outside line, but squeezed through the little gap he left me and once again slammed down on the accelerator. By the second corner, I was ahead of Max Verstappen and leading the race. I could hear the crowd roaring and it pushed me to keep going. Max was still hot on my tail, though, and I knew it was probably only a matter of time before he took back his place. I led the rest of the lap, as well as the second, but then DRS was allowed. By the end of the third lap, Max overtook me on the straight going through the start/finish line. The speed that Redbull had with DRS was insane. I hoped it was illegal. 

With Max back ahead of me and already pulling away, my main focus was Charles who was 2 seconds behind me, but slightly gaining. After my small fight with Max, I needed to focus on managing my tires, which meant going slower than I would've liked. 

"Tires are looking ok for the moment Edom, start pushing again, we can't afford to let Leclerc in DRS range," Daniel spoke into my ear at lap 7. I took a sip of water, before obeying and speeding up. With only 10 laps to go, I had to give it my all. Leclerc wasn't backing down anytime soon and in that Ferrari I was sure he would catch me. 

At lap 13, Daniel piped up again. "Hamilton is battling with Charles, so don't worry about them for the moment, you've got a 4 second gap ahead of them." That was music to my ears. 13 was definitely my lucky number

"Let me know if Hamilton makes the overtake," I ordered. Charles losing a spot on the podium would be the cherry on top. I didn't want to have to share a Cooldown room or podium with him. Especially when Max would be there too. 

At lap 15, I got the news. "Hamilton's done it." Daniel informed me. I held myself back from squealing with glee; I knew radios were played on live television. "Keep going Edom. No risks ok, let's just take this home." I agreed and carried on with what I was doing. 

Crossing the finish line, I could hear the crowd roaring and I joined in, my happiness and pride bursting out of me in a scream I was sure would get played outlaid but I didn't care. It may not have been a Grand Prix, but it was still an F1 podium. 

"YESSS EDOMMMM" Daniel screamed into my headpiece and I could hear the Mclaren team celebrating in the background. 

"Yes Edom! Lovely drive!" It cut to Zak speaking to me. 

"The car was beautiful today. Well done guys." I smiled so hard my cheeks hurt. I pulled into the pits and parked my car up against the number 2 sign. I was super happy with the result but I couldn't wait til the day I parked up at No.1. 

I got out the car and raced to my team, receiving hugs and praise left, right and centre. I was informed Lando had done well and made it to p7, meaning he had managed to also gain valuable points.

Like he had been summoned, Lando came beside me and gave me a hug and congratulated me. He was then ushered away as he wasn't meant to be there. I walked over to a stand with the number 2 on it, where I put my Helmut after I took it off and grabbed the water sitting on it. I saw Charles getting out his car and walking inside to get weighed. He looked over and despite the distance between us, we made eye contact. I didn't even get a congratulatory smile, just a sulky look. To be fair to him, he had been on for a podium today so I understood his disappointment, but for some reason I wanted the recognition of my brilliant drive today from Charles. 

It felt like the validation from everyone else was suddenly so insignificant, all I really needed was Charles to say well done. I wasn't sure why I felt the need to prove myself to Charles so badly. Maybe it was because of the way he always to seemed to look down on me, like he thought himself way better than me. I hated it and so far this weekend I had proved myself the better driver. Surely he had realised he had underestimated me?!

I had a quick interview then went up to the cooldown room where I was alone. I sat in the 2nd chair and felt so proud. I couldn't help but savour the moment, closing my eyes and taking all the feelings in. 

"Brilliant drive Hakimi, you gave me a run for my money at the start there," the voice of Max Verstappen snapped me out of my moment. 

"You also drove well Max," I smiled, aware of the camera man obnoxiously filming us in the corner. "The DRS on your car is crazy though!" He chuckled and sat in his chair and we watched the clip of me overtaking Max on the first lap. 

"Good overtake," Max commented.

"Considering you didn't leave much space, I'll take it." I chuckled at him. We were then joined by Hamilton.

"Well done guys," He said as he entered the room. He went and shook Max's hand, before turning to me and doing the same. 

"You're an excellent driver Hakimi," He said as he shook my hand. "An inspiration to girls everywhere." I beamed.

"Thanks Lewis, that means a lot." He let go of my hand. 

"You're also an inspiration in fashion I've seen," Lewis chuckled. "Going to take my crown soon I hear." No way did Lewis fucking Hamilton just compliment my fashion. I could die happy now. 

"That will always be your title, but I'll enjoy the battle," I winked at him and we both chuckled. 

Once on the podium, the champagne spray was one of the funnest things ever. Max and Lewis both targeted me and I ended up drenched and sticky with champagne. I sprayed down onto my team, took a gulp from the bottle, then passed it down cautiously to my team to allow them to have it. 

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Hi guys! sorry I haven't published anything recently, I've been so busy and I am for a while with back to school but ill try get as much out as I can!

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter xx

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