fast lane - c.leclerc

chapter ten

LAUREN

'LISTEN, KID, you know this track by heart. You proved it yesterday. When those lights go out, I want you to send it, do you hear me?' said Hugh.

'Copy,' Lauren answered confidently. She knew she had it in her. Like Hugh said, she'd already shown it yesterday.

Lauren started humming the lyrics to Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield to reach peace of mind. 'This one is for you, dad,'

The lights went out and Lauren knew her start would define her entire race. She accelerated perfectly, sending the car forward quickly. She knew Max was on her heel so she picked up the pace going even wider to keep him behind her.

'And that's a 1:421 second advantage over Max already. Keep it up, kid' Lauren clutched the steering wheel tightly. She kept her pace, only braking before corners. 

'Any other things I should know,' she asked.

'Norris and Hamilton made a little contact. Norris has damage, he is pitting. Focus on your pace now,'

'What's the gap with Max now?' she asked three laps later.

'3:317,'

'Sweet,' she answered.

Laps flew by. Lauren felt like she was cruising. She was looking after her mediums like they were newborn babies. The gap between her and Max kept increasing. Spectators were shocked. She found herself very excited to rewatch the race to hear Crofty's commentary.

It was lap 34, and Lauren was sweating like crazy. She knew she had to pit soon. Her tyres were becoming increasingly more difficult to manage.

'So I just received word that Max is about to pit. We're following,' Hugh announced.

'No, I'm doing another lap. I want to use them up and then pit,'

'Lauren, that's too risky. You've almost worn them out,' Hugh pleaded. Lauren ignored him, passing the pit entrance and increasing her speed. Her tyres were practically on fire, but so was her speed.

'Alright, kid. I'm killing you after the race,' Lauren chuckled.

'Please do so after I get to hold my trophy,' she accelerated after reaching the long straight.

'Unbelievable,' Hugh started, 'fastest lap again,'

Lauren cheered. She lowered her speed in the pit lane. Her team exchanged her heavily worn-up mediums for fresh hards in 2.8 seconds and away she went.

'Gap with Max?' she asked for the seventeenth time that race.

'Don't worry about that, just maintain your speed,' said Hugh, dismissing the girl.

Lauren warmed up her hards. It took her five laps to get them up to the desired temperature. She was thriving and she felt great. It was almost too good to be true. That's when disaster struck. Charles Leclerc spun off into the barriers. Lauren drove past it. The session got yellow-flagged instantly.

'Fuck,' she cursed. The crash seemed to be pretty intense from her perspective. She was worried about the idiot. The flag remained yellow, but still, she was nervous.

'It will be alright,' Hugh tried to reassure her, 'remember, you're in the lead,' Hugh was tense as well. Lauren was getting more and more annoyed by it.

'Is he okay?' she asked worriedly. She had to be careful as her radio could be heard by the public.

'His car is damaged. He claims there was an issue with the brakes,'