Ashley POV
Quali was in like three hours. Me and Ollie sat down in the paddock cafe having coffee and talking about some data.
"I think we should save tires. Looks like we have a lot of deg" I said looking through the datasets.
"Ok. Let's save" Oliver said in a very chirpy tone. "What has gotten into you?" I asked.
"Nothing. You had a bad day" he said. "And that is the reason for your sudden delightfulness?" I asked him in an annoyed tone.
"Oh yeah. Because I have been your race engineer for what like 5 years now. I know you. Whenever you have a bad day it always ends high. From what I know and see, you are going on pole" he said very confidently.
"Yeah, if I have a car. Or else I'm thinking about running" I said. "Still you would beat Haas," he said when I hit him hard.
"You cannot say that out loud" I sneered at him. "Well, you know what you know. Now let me go and see if your baby is ready" he said referring to my car and walking away. I still ruffled through the papers when a papaya jacket sat in front of me.
"You are one race old in Formula 1 and you are already replacing Hamilton ah?" he joked. I shot him a glare.
"Fly away, Norris. Before I break your balls" I said. He gave out his usual giggle with noises.
"God, you and your mouth with those noises," I said in an annoyed tone. "That's why you love me, Ash," he said still giggling.
"BTW, I hate you," I said. "Really and choose who over me, Alex? Have you seen the noises he makes?" he asked.
"No, I'll choose George," I said. "Yeah, let's call Carmen and ask her," he said when I curled a paper into a ball and threw it at him.
"That mouth of yours just doesn't have a filter, does it?" I said. "Not with you, my love," he said in his most British accent.
"Well, newsflash. I am fully British. You are half Belgian, so your accents are not working" I said. "Speaking of my family, Oliver sent me something that he wanted me to show you," he said pulling out his phone.
"Aww. How is Mila? Has she got her first words yet?" I asked when he showed me the video. It was Mila trying so hard to say the words 'Mom' and 'Dad'
"Oh...Lando. Look at her. How much she has grown" I said taking the phone in my hand. I replayed the video at least 5 times.
"God, I miss spending time with your family," I said giving his phone back. "Just so you know. You are always welcome home" he said in a genuine tone. I eyed him.
"Alex and George put you up for this, didn't they? After the press conference," I asked him.
"Well, Alex, George, Lewis, Carlos, Theo, Ollie, Bella. Even John. They all know that I am your favorite." He said. John was his performance coach. He was mine in my F2 days and he went on to work with Lando when he got in Formula 1.
"God, what did I do to deserve you people?" I said covering my face. "You deserve everything, Ash. Cause you are the best" he said.
"Alright stop. That's a lot. Guess I owe you all a drink. That did make me feel good" I said.
"Ready for Quali?" He asked.
"Never more" I replied.
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