Serendipitous Love - Oscar Piastri

𝚇𝚅

Tᴏsᴋᴀ . 𝒶 𝒹𝓊𝓁𝓁 𝒶𝒸𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝑜𝓊𝓁, 𝒶 𝓈𝒾𝒸𝓀 𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒶 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓊𝒶𝓁 𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓊𝒾𝓈𝒽

☆

𝐎𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫'𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐯

I saw it happening. Jack slipped and fell. He immediately called for Cassidy, who was nowhere to be seen. He had run off again.

"Hey, little guy," I kneeled beside him; he looked at me, startled– his eyes getting big. "Did you run off again?" 

He nodded but didn't reply further. I looked at his knees, which were scrapped a bit. 

"Let's wait for Cassidy to have caught up with you. I am sure she knows what to do better than I do." 

He nodded again, and then his gaze shifted off to behind me, "Cassie!" 

"Hello, little racer," she replied, almost out of breath. "And hi again, Oscar." 

I turned around and smiled, "I saw it happening. He slipped and fell. Nothing too bad." 

"Luckily, you were nearby. I almost thought he was being abducted," she kneeled beside me. "I thought we wouldn't run away again." 

"Sorry," Jack replied. "I promise I won't do it again."

"I really hope so," she said and looked at his knees. "Looks like nothing is wrong." 

I stood up and waited for them to do the same thing, "I'm going to hurry back to my garage. See you two around." 

Cassidy nodded as she picked up Jack; she flashed me a smile, "I will see you around." 

 ☆

I qualified 18th. It was my first F1 qualifying, and I didn't get the car into Q2 as Lando did. He told me not to worry too much. After all, it was just my first qualifying of my soon-to-be-first race. 

 It was the start of my rookie season, and the car still felt like shit. But seeing Pierre's Alpine in 20th place, even though Ocon's was in nth, it felt like I didn't make such a terrible choice in leaving the French team. 

I entered the garage and greeted my engineers. They tried working on the car as best as they could, but you didn't need to be an engineer to know that the car would not change overnight. 

"Good morning, Oscar," Andrea greeted me with a smile. "Ready for your first race?" 

I nodded, "I am. I have some positive nerves, but that's a good thing." 

"We're positive in the progress we will make," he said. "I know the car is not where we want it to be, but points should be manageable." 

"Yeah, I'm sure that as the season progresses, the car will be a lot better. Lando has a good starting position for points." 

"I'm hearing my name," the Brit laughed as he walked into the garage. "You're gonna be alright, Oscar." 

"Thank you, I'm sure I will be. Only positive nerves," I repeated my words to Lando. He laughed again and nodded.

"I remember my first race as if it was yesterday; lots of nerves, too." 

Lando's first race, in 2019, was in Australia, my home race. He became 12th. The other two rookies, Alexander Albon and George Russell, ended 14th and 16th. My goal was to at least end up 11th today.

The hours up to the start were filled with a pre-race meeting, talking to my trainer, warming up, and even more conversations with the team. This weekend seemed to be positive, and Lando's enthusiasm was infectious. 

I stepped into my car and felt more ready than ever. The engineers surrounding my car disappeared as the clock hit 6 o'clock. I waited for the cars in front of me to start the formation lap; it was just mere minutes until lights out. 

There has never really been a time where I was less focused. As if everything went into auto-pilot, I focused on the red dots, counting them along, and as soon as they went out, I pushed my throttle down. 

I have a perfect start, moving up two places to sixteenth place. In the next few laps, I gained a few positions due to some early pitstops, including Lando. 

"Next car is Hulkenberg for P13," My race engineer informed me. I pressed the throttle down on the straights and managed to get ahead in turn 1. 

Two more laps, and I felt my car shaking; I looked down and cursed, "I lost my gearbox!" 

"Box, Oscar. Box, box." 

I drove into the pitlane; my engineers stood ready with a new steering wheel, but swapping it did nothing. The screen remained black, and it was the end of my first race. I stepped out of the car, shaking my head. 

"Nothing we could do about it, Oscar," Zak patted me on my shoulder. "It's a shame to end your first race like this, so take your time in getting ready for the media." 

I nodded, "Thank you." 

Lando's race was shitty, too. Multiple pitstops and what seemed to be PU issues they had to manage in order to get his car to finish the race. He finished, but he finished P17, the last of all the drivers that finished.

I did my round through the media pen, answering their questions and honestly telling them it was a shame to end my first race like this. 

"Go finish up; as soon as Lando has done his round, we're having a short debrief, and then you can go back to the hotel or go home," Zak informed me as I made my way to the door.

I looked around the crowd but didn't see my teammate, "Where is Lando?" 

"I think he's still outside," Zak scanned the room, too. "He was going in this direction when I went. Don't worry about it." 

"I will send him this way if I see him," I nodded.

It wasn't hard to spot Lando—he was standing near the entrance. I paused for a moment when I saw Lando talking with Cassidy. A pang of unease settled, and I recognized the casual, easygoing body language. 

Lando leaned in closer, saying something that made Cassidy smile wider. She nodded and took out her phone, typing something in as she glanced at Lando's screen. 

My thoughts started spiraling; was he giving her his number? It certainly looked like they were exchanging numbers, or at least Lando was giving her his. I knew it wasn't my place to feel anything about it; Cassidy and I weren't even close to being official, or at least something that looked like we were going out, but it still felt like a punch to the gut. 

After the race, this was the last thing I needed.