Just Teammates || Lando Norris

04

It was race day in Bahrain and to say Vinnie was nervous was an understatement. It was first F1 race. It was all she'd ever dreamed of since was a little girl and now that the moment was finally here, she couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by it.

"Nervous?" A familiar voice sound from behind and when she looked over her shoulder, she saw Callum had joined her at the area of the truck she was stood on. They were in the middle of the driver's parade and besides having a little chat with Charles, nobody had really spoken to her during it. Vinnie was still mad at Callum, but she was comforted by him being near and she didn't really have the energy to scold him right now. "To say the least." Vinnie chuckled and she watched as a smile appeared on Callum's face.
"You'll be fine." He reassured her, a hand going to her should. "So will you be." She told him, a small smile strung across her lips as she looked up at him.

"Are you going to try and overtake me the second the race starts?" He asked and Vinnie was quick to nod. Vinnie had qualified fifth, while Callum had managed to be just fast enough to snag forth. "I'm not going to on easy on you, you know?" He said with a teasing smile and Vinnie playfully rolled her eyes. "Have you ever?" She asked and it was then that Lance came over, tapping Callum on his shoulder and bringing him into a conversation some of the other drivers were having.

Why the fuck was Callum being all friendly with Lance Stroll after the shit he'd pulled this weekend. Vinnie understood that her and Callum weren't on good terms, but it was blatantly obvious that Lance was a dick. Why would Callum even associate with someone like that? Just as she warming back up to him, she was mad at him again. Vinnie was 100% going to make sure she passed him now. Lance has qualified in 11th, so she didn't need to worry about him. Thank God.

I didn't feel like long until Vinnie was in her car and on the track with the other drivers, doing the formation lap. Soon, the familiar 'it's lights out, and away we go!' was sounding through the ears of the people watching and Vinnie was thrown into action. She gotten a brilliant start. She hadn't even gotten to turn one yet and had already managed to pass Callum. It was much easier than she had anticipated.

Although, it didn't take long until Callum was trying to gain the poison back by going around the outside. However, he went off track. "Nah." Vinnie was quick to say through the radio. "He has to give the position back, no?" She asked. "It'll need to go to the stewards." Julia told her and Vinnie rolled her eyes. She would try and get by Callum again, but she was too busy trying to fend off Carlos who was behind her.

Soon though, Callum was giving the position back. Apparently he'd been advised to by redbull to avoid any possible penalty from the stewards, or at-least that is what Julia had informed her of.  

So it was now the tenth lap of the race and Vinnie was in fourth place. A head of her was Lando, ahead of him was Charles and ahead of him was Max. Vinnie had been told in the morning meeting that she was not under any circumstance to pass Lando if she got the chance, which was probably why Lando was not putting any effort into defending from her.

Vinnie was less than impressed with the call. It didn't seem very fair, but Lando was their number one driver so of course they wanted him to have the best possible chance of winning. Plus Vinnie was only a reserve driver, no team wanted to win with a reserve driver. Everyone knew that reserve drivers were only really there pick up points for the constructors championship.

It was fine, Vinnie was sure that if she proved herself enough then they see her worthy of winning and allow her to race her teammate for it. However, that wasn't going to happen in this race so Vinnie just concentrated on making sure if Lando got past Charles, then she could too. A 2-3 finish would an amazing beginning to season for McLaren.

There was only fifteen laps of the race left and Vinnie had managed to keep her place in fourth. Callum had fell behind Carlos, which she felt quite bad about. Lando was yet to make it past Charles, but Julia had told her 'strategy D' over the radio. It meant that Lando was going to try and get past Charles and when he did, he was going to try and give Vinnie a toe by Charles with him. It Vinnie presumed the team would tell him to so she'd already be peppered for it. She been watching Lando like a hawk. It if it was going to work, Vinnie would have to be very alert and act as soon as Lando made his move.