feels like | lando norris

5.

a/n: the italics are anything that's on live tv

May 2024

It was race day and I dressed especially well today because I was on the pre-race and post-race shows. Eli and I got to the circuit earlier than needed so Eli could get a good spot to watch with. We saw Lando while we were looking and he offered to take Eli to the McLaren hospitality to where his friends Max, Ria and Aarava were, before going to get ready for the race.

I met with Will, Laura, Ruth, and Lawrence to debrief the pre-race show.

"Lia, do you want to do the grid walk, since it's sort of a home race for you too?" I look up from staring at the the Mercedes cars getting ready in the pits to Will who asks with a smile on his face.

"Sure, I'd like that." I say smiling at the group. We line up and Tommy, our camera guy, counts down for the live show to begin.

"It's bright and sunny this afternoon in Florida and the Miami Grand Prix is just an hour away. We are your hosts of the pre-race show. I'm Will Buxton and I'm joined by Laura Winters, Ruth Buscombe, Lawrence Barretto, and our newest addition Amelia Parker. So, we've Max on pole as expected but behind them it's all grouped up. We have two Ferraris in the top three, then the other Red Bull of Perez, and the two McLarens and two Mercedes behind. I want to talk about the Ferraris. What can they do to challenge Max?"

"They have to work together. We've seen them get into their own fights before but they need to work together to get at least one car in front of Max. We know the McLarens have good pace so they have to make positions before Lando and Oscar come to battle them." Ruth explains.

"It's all about who has a good start. We saw in the sprint that a good start makes it easy to overtake in the start. So I think if the McLarens can get past Perez in the beginning, they should be able to pass the Ferraris pretty easily." I add before Will introduces the clip explaining what went down in qualifying.

After a couple interviews and analysis, I was pulled aside by Tommy's assistant and taken to the back of the grid. I waited Tommy to make his way over before I saw his fingers go up to count down.

"Okay. They let me do the grid walk this week because it's also a home race for me in some ways. But, we are a couple moments before the lights go out and I am here to present the starting grid. Daniel Ricciardo starts at the back after a grid penalty for over taking under a safety car. He lines up next to Zhou Guanyu. Both Zhou and Kevin Magnussen, who slots into p18, struggling with the pace of the car. Home hero Logan Sargeant is next and he will be hoping to move upward and make to the points in front of him home crowd." I present the drivers and finish off with Max right before the national anthem.

We left the track and I was off the clock for the race so I found Eli at the McLaren garage and we sat in their hospitality to watch the race. Lando was kind enough to tell the security to let me in during the race because I told him I was off the clock.

"I hope McLaren have a good race today, otherwise it would be awkward in here." Eli says quietly to Max, Aarav, Ria, and I. We laugh and go stand at the balcony to watch the start.

Lights out and away we go!

The front cars all get a good start, especially Oscar, so the garage and hospitality clap for him until Checo nearly takes out all the cars ahead of him. Lando loses a position, but the team seems confident that Lando will make some up.

"Ooh, Max was nearly done for there." Ria says, turning to the group.

"By his own teammate." Aarav makes a face before turning back to the TV.

The first stint is kind of boring until Oscar leads when Max pits. The hospitality and the garage under all clap for him again. When Oscar and Carlos pit, we clap again when Lando starts leading the grand prix.

Then all of a sudden, we see the tracks been double yellow flagged. Holy shit, if the safety car comes out.

"Safety car's out!" A guest from the hospitality shouted, pointing at the screen.

"Lando's going to lead. Fuck, Lando is going to lead the grand prix." Max says shaking Aarava's shoulders.

Lando pit and was still ahead of the safety car and in what felt like forever, the safety car was ending. Lando pushes on the throttle but Max was right behind and almost overtook him but Lando held on and eventually, by the end of the lap, extended his lead and was out of DRS.

After a somewhat eventful second half, with a couple small battles and Oscar getting unlucky, Lando crossed the line to start the final lap of this grand prix. Having watched him race since the beginning of his F2 career, I felt myself getting a tiny bit emotional. Knowing how long he has waited and all the comments about him not winning, even though he's one of the most talented drivers on the grid. What made me more emotional, was watching Max, Ria, and Aarav get excited and emotional as well. So by the time he was on the back straight, I was crying along with Lando's close friends. The moment he passed the line, the garage, hospitality, and the grandstands erupted in cheers. Eli and I watched the engineers on the pit lane hugging and jumping on each other. I wiped my tears, but I couldn't wipe the grin on my face, enveloped in the atmosphere created by this team that recently developed a car that wins.

Our group of 5 made our way down the stairs and lined up behind the team as Lando made his way over, running and launching himself into the arms of the team. We watched laughing along with other team personnel. Lando looked up and waved to us, grinning and shaking his head as we clapped for him.

After the post-race interviews conducted by Jenson Button, Lando, along with Max and Charles, who shared the excitement, made his way to the cool down room and podium.

We stood behind the team under the podium waiting for the top three to come and take their positions.

Ria linked arms with me and Max wrapped his arms around Aarav's and Eli's shoulders. I smiled thinking about how welcoming Lando's friends were.  We watched as Charles and Max walked into view, and Ria and I jumped when they announced Lando's maiden win.

He ran on and grinned, waving to everyone and stood atop the tallest step up there. He looked down at his team, nodding at them. He looked back at us and smiled wider seeing our waves and jumps of excitement.

The British anthem sounded and even though I was American, I did feel great pride in my new home country with the British team.

They gave Lando his medal and trophy, which he threw up. And after Andrea, Max, and Charles got theirs, they sprayed Lando with champagne. Lando got ready for his famous champagne pop, and I got my phone out, wanting to get a video. We all cheered and Max pulled us all into a hug, wiping away his tears.

~~

After the post-race show and the press conference, I waited outside the press room for Lando to congratulate him off the clock.

"Melia!" Lando jogged over with his press officer behind him.

"Lando. Oh my gosh! Congratulations!" I hug him and his hands wrap around my back and waist and I hear him whisper "thank you".

I let go and hug his press officer and congratulate him as well.

"Wow, watching that from your hospitality was such a fun experience. Holy shit, you're a grand prix winner, Lando!" I yell, shaking his arm.

"Yep, and now you owe me two track walks. But those can wait, because I can get you and Eli into the club we're going to tonight. And you have to come. I just won, we have to celebrate."

I smile at him before confirming me and Eli will be there.

Lando then has to leave to his team, so I go to the F1TV debrief and then Eli and I go back tot he hotel, after Ria, Aarav, and Max tell us we can meet them at their hotel to go to the club together.

What a day. And what a night it's about to be.

:)))))))

a/n: sorry this one is a lil bit late, I have one more week of summer classes so the next frw updates will be slow (after next week, it will be fast updates dw)

also lando p2 for austria, sad for oscar though

okay byee