What The Heart Wants (Sebastian Vettel)

64. The Perfect Start

Jessie held her breath as she watched the cars filing onto the grid one by one.   There was only one she was interested in though, the red Ferrari that was starting in third place.  

Qualifying hadn't gone exactly to plan, but she knew Seb was full of confidence for the race.  First though he had to get past Lewis Hamilton, and pole sitter, Charles. 

George Russell would be starting next to him, the Mercedes proving to be the biggest sandbaggers of them all. 

Surprisingly Red Bull didn't seem to have been sandbagging at all, qualifying down in sixth and seventh, between the two McLarens.

She felt Britta grab hold of her hand and squeeze it tightly, then she bit down on her bottom lip as the Alpine of Pierre Gasly came to a halt at the back of the grid.  A steward ran across the track, waving a green flag.  

The red lights on the gantry began to come on one by one.   Time seemed to stand still as the fifth light lit up.   Jessie felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest.  

The lights went out and the cars shot forward.  

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon," Jessie whispered, feeling nauseous with nerves as the two Ferraris and Lewis's black and silver Mercedes fought for the lead heading into the first corner.   "Damn it." 

Seb had had a great start but he'd had to yield to Charles and  Lewis or there would have been contact.  Jessie knew he'd get his chance later in the race, but she also knew he'd be annoyed that he was still down in third.

He wasn't in third for long. As they roared down the start/finish to begin the fifth lap he pulled out and edged past Lewis into second place.

Jessie now felt full of nerves. Would the team let him and Charles race? Or would he be told to stay behind? And if they did would he listen to them? This had the potential to be another Multi 21.

She smiled to herself as she remembered the fallout from that. Her job had been made ten times more difficult than it should have been, and she'd been so cross with Seb. She hadn't stayed cross for long though. He'd looked so adorable when he'd turned up at hers and Joel's hotel room door with a large box of donuts the following day to apologise to her.

"Here Jessie," she heard Domenic, one of Seb's crew call out. He was holding out a set of red headphones for her to put on so she could listen in to the team radio. She thanked him, took the headphones and slipped them on. All was silent for several laps. Then she heard Lorenzo tell Seb that they were aiming for the target, plus three.

She knew that meant they wanted Seb to stay out for three laps more than they'd planned before pitting for new tyres.

"Copy," came the short reply. 

Lap after lap Seb held station behind Charles, just within DRS range.  He made no real attempt to pass him, even though there had been no official team order to stay behind.   What was going on?

Jessie turned and looked at Britta questioningly.  Britta just shrugged. 

It soon became clear to Jessie what Seb's plan was.   His aim was to overcut Charles rather than overtake him on track. She supposed it made sense, it was safer than a risky overtake attempt, but it wasn't like Seb. 

When Charles boxed Seb took the lead and his lap times suddenly got faster as he tried to build a gap before he made his own pit stop.

Three laps later she heard Lorenzo's voice.

"Sebastian, box, box,box

She bit down on her bottom lip, praying that the crew didn't mess his stop up. She trusted them mostly, but part of her was always worried that they'd favour Charles.