Patience // Oscar Piastri

34

"It's true." Oscar finally admitted after sitting in silence and letting his girlfriend throw accusations at him.

Accusations that would change the life of one of her favourite people in the world and he had no idea.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Willow wondered as she sat down in the chair in the corner of her hotel room which was facing towards Oscar who was sat at the edge of her bed.

"Zak didn't want me telling you until I signed my contract. Which I'm doing Monday morning at the MTC." Oscar explained looking down at his hands.

The Australian had felt extremely guilty about not being about to tell his girlfriend and best friend in the whole world about the life changing news he had.

But their relationship wasn't like an ordinary one. At the end of the day they would be rivals next year now and Willow understood that McLaren couldn't risk the news getting out.

But somewhere along the line someone had spread the rumour and like always it ignited like wildfire through the Formula One Paddock as it spread up and down and in the media.

"When are they telling Daniel?" Willow asked.

"Not until after Hungary." Oscar explained making eye contact with his girlfriend.

"That's a month away!" Willow exclaimed.

How could they leave it so long? If Oscar was signing his contract on Monday the news would surely get out before Daniel was told.

It was no shock to anyone that Daniel was not matching Lando in terms of pace. He was not the Daniel he was when he was with Red Bull. And clearly McLaren were done giving him chances.

"I know. But they said they wanted to tell him then so he'll have the summer break to wrap his head around it away from the track." The future McLaren driver replied.

Willow stood in silence for a moment, taking in all this information she had been given before doing something that had taken Oscar completely by surprise.

The American driver stood up from her seat and walked the small distance between the couple before launching her arms around Oscar and in turn making them fall back on the bed.

"Woah!" Oscar exclaimed in surprise as he hugged her bag.

"Congratulations Oscar." Willow smiled before placing a kiss on his lips.

The pair spent the rest of the evening in bed talking about everything from the race tomorrow to them being rivals next year.

—————

"Willow Young wins the British Grand Prix. She started in 12th and fought her way through the pack and capitalised on a late safety car to win in Silverstone." Crofty spoke as he and Martin Brundle watched as she crossed the finish line with her team cheering over the pit wall.

"This win puts her 15 points ahead of Max in the championship heading into Red Bull's home race next week in Austria. We could be gearing up for another showdown like 2021 if these two keep up like this." Martin explained.

"Well done Willow. Fantastic drive." Hugh spoke through the radio to Willow who was on the way back to the pits. "You're really making your mark on this sport in your rookie year."

"Thanks Hugh. None of this would be possible without you guys. I have the best team behind me. Thanks everyone." Willow said as she waved at the crowd cheering her on.

She was inspiring the next generation. All the women who were told they were never good enough to be in this sport. Good enough to drive in motorsport in general. She was showing it could be done and it was possible to compete with the best when given the opportunity and resources.

She would be sharing with podium with Carlando with the McLaren driver being 3rd while the Spaniard was 2nd.

Willow arrived back in the pit lane and climbed out of her car and stood on top of it listening to the crowd and her team cheer for her.

She jumped down and ran towards her team and leaped into their arms while they all continued to cheer for her.

She walked over to the tables set up for the three podium sitters with their hats and water bottles on top.

The American removed her helmet and balaclava and left them on the table. She used the towel to remove the sweat from her face and the back of her neck.

Several of her fellow drivers congratulated her on the fantastic win with hand shakes and hugs before it was time to head to the cooldown room.

—————

That evening after the race Willow went out of dinner with her grandparents in London along with Oscar.

Her grandparents would stop talking all night about how incredibly proud they were of their granddaughter and Willow was even more embarrassed when Oscar joined in.

The elderly couple were flying back to the States first thing tomorrow morning as Willow was due to head to Austria to film some Red Bull team content ahead of the team's home GP.

That morning while Willow packed her suitcase once again, Oscar was on route to the MTC to sign his contract for next year.

Willow was both excited and nervous at what this would mean for the couple. They were finally achieving their dream: racing in F1 together.

But while that was true there was also the fact they would be rivals. Willow was in a car that had given her the opportunity to be currently leading the World Driver's Championship and while McLaren weren't doing well so far, they vowed for a better car next year.

There was a lot of uncertainties in Formula One, both on the track and off it. But for now one thing was certain, Willow knew she'd be racing alongside her boyfriend and best friend in 2023.

—————

Kind of a short one. I need to figure out where I wanna take this story. I might do a bit of a time skip either to the end of this season or the start of the next season.

Let me know what you guys think x