to the finish line || ollie bearman

part 68

i enter the prema garage to see ollie looking really stressed, and kimi at some what attempting to calm him down. he spots me and first is shocked but soon signals for me to come over.

"ol?" i say, placing my hand in his.

"ang, what if i mess up? what if i crash and don't get the points."

"all you need to get today is a few points and even if you don't then there's still tomorrow." i say calmly, contrasting his worried voice.

"what if i crash in both races."

"have you crashed in both races so far this season?"

"no, but i could. and then i wont get the championship."

"ollie, all you need to do is finish this race okay? today is just trying to get more points, tomorrow is the championship battle."

"but i can win it today."

"you can, but even if you don't win the championship you still have an f1 seat for next year right?"

"yes, but i need this. i need to prove i can do it."

"everyone knows your more than capable ollie. you don't want to waste your last race weekend stressed, you need to enjoy it."

"you'll come find my after the race?"

"always, even if you crash out in every race i'm always here to support."

"thank you." he says, before pulling me into a hug.

"now, go get ready for the race. i'll see you after the race okay?" i say, pulling away.

"yeah." ollie says, smiling.

"lina why didn't you say you were coming to the track." kimi says finally.

"it was meant to be a surprise but well, didn't exactly work." i say, laughing slightly.

"too bad, your going back to art right?"

"yeah i'll come see you both at the end of the race." i say.

"see you later." kimi says, and as i start to leave i feel someone pulling my arm back. before i could react, i had ollie's arms wrapped around me tightly.

"ollie, i love you." i say, sniffing his warm familiar scent.

"i love you too." he says; before letting go.

"good luck both of you." i say, before actually leaving the garage this time.

i head back to my garage, and see jules stood waiting with a pair of headphones. he holds them out to me, and i reluctantly take them, confused at what was happening.

"what's this for?"

"your joining us on the pit wall." he says.

"really?!"

"yes, come on we need to head there now." he says, and i follow him immediately.

the pit wall has been something i've definitely missed these past few weeks, and im so glad i get to spend the last two races here with my team before i leave for aston martin.

25 minutes later, the cars were lining up on the grid after the formation lap. kimi was p8, ollie p9 (as he's on pole for tomorrow) and paul in p6 (championship contender against ollie).

im friends with paul, but right now i am sort of hoping his car stalls. only because i know how important this championship is too ollie. and his car had already stalled in the pit lane earlier, so there is a chance of it happening. if it did, there was no way ollie wouldn't win the championship today.

1 light...
2 lights...
3 lights...
4 lights...
5 lights....
lights out.

ollie gets a great getaway, already gaining a position and i see a yellow flag pop onto the screen not to long later. and i realise. paul's car never started.

i had to fight with my emotions to not shout with joy, but jules beside me looks over and smiles. he could feel my happiness radiating off me.

"how many points does he need to win?" jules asks.

"4 points, he need to finish p4." i say, and he was already in p7 on the first lap.

"he'll do it, easy job for him." jules says.

"yeah, zac's doing great look." i say, the nerves building up for ollie.

15 laps later, and fucking hell i could feel my heart beating. ollie was already in p5 and he needed 1 more position to gain. my hands were getting sweaty from the nerves, i couldn't stop my leg from bouncing.

i look across to the prema pit wall, knowing they would be happy just as ollie overtakes maloney in front of him. he's fucking done it.

there's only three laps left, he can do this. he can win today. i didnt notice anything going on around me, i was focused on the race, focused on ollie.

the next 3 minutes were the slowest three minutes of the last few months, and i can imagine how much slower it felt for ollie.

"ollie bearman goes round the last corner, about to cross the line in p3... ollie bearman wins the 2024 f2 championship!"

i was so happy for ollie that my eyes were filling up with tears, but as a team i was happy for zac who had just won. i desperately wanted to head straight to him, but i didn't want to seem rude.

"go." jules says.

"thank you." i say, before quickly taking my headphones off and going to meet ollie.

|| authors note ~ hope you enjoy 🫶🏼

i only have three words to say

what. a. race.