Dopamine | Adrenaline Book Two

31- Resettling The Score

Las Vegas Grand Prix

Race Day

"We are here at the Las Vegas Grand Prix for what looks like to be a promising race to come. We have three drivers on the run for the championship, two of them being world champions and one who has never won a championship before.

Coming from Brazil, Hamilton is very comfortable but things are a bit more complicated for Leclerc and Verstappen."

"That's right Richard, Hamilton is on a comfortable lead of the championship and if he wins this race he can already consider himself a world champion. Max Verstappen needs to finish first to have a proper change in Abu Dhabi. And even then, Lewis would have to finish off the podium in order for him to take the championship home."

"What about Leclerc?"

"If Leclerc wins this race the Monagasque will still need to win the next in order to take the championship home. But all can happen, Richard! If Lewis does not get a good position in this race and does not make it to the podium that gives a much better chance for the other contenders."

"I see, this race is the only thing that will truly make Las Vegas stop. If it's half as interesting as last year's race we'll already have a great show to watch."

Tensions were high in Las Vegas and as Charles jumped into his car, his nerves began to take control of him. Las Vegas was supposed to be his title race the year before. He was meant to have walked out of it World Champion but his blind trust in Max had steered him the wrong way. Charles thought Max had offered him the first-place win as his own championship was inevitable if he crossed the finish line second. It was that night that made people lose faith in Charles, and although no one would say it out loud, they saw he didn't have the spark of a World Champion. No one understood that Charles had only taken the bait because he had believed in Max's feelings for him at the time.

The Brazilian podium had made it exceptionally hard on Charles to know if he had made the right decision. Hearing everyone chanting Max's name after he'd displayed a great act of selflessness, one that even Charles wasn't sure he would have done himself, made the Ferrari driver think that maybe he had been too rash in saying no to Max's pleas to get back together.

Vegas made it a little easier to remember why he had to stay away from him. His feelings had cost him the championship and he wasn't going to make the same mistake again. Things had changed. The heartbreak persisted but now it was his own choice to stay away from Max.

"Ready, Charles?" his engineer questioned, tapping his helmet and breaking him away from his thoughts. He gave a small thumbs up in return.

"Atta boy," Bryan said encouragingly. Out of everyone in Ferrari, he was the only one putting effort into helping Charles win the title—everyone else simply wanted him out of Hamilton's way.

On the other side of the paddock, the Red Bulls had their main focus on Max and his lasting shot at the championship. This hadn't been the first time the team had experienced such extreme tension and a championship on the line, but this time around they had learned to trust the talents of their main driver and seemed to still be highly hopeful that he'd manage to win that race. Even if their car wasn't superior. In their eyes, Max was capable of making the impossible possible.

To the Dutchman's luck he had managed to secure a pole position for this race and consequently he'd have a head start in front of the Ferraris. If Red Bull and Max both played their strategy correctly, winning wouldn't be that hard.

"No pressure, Max, but if we don't win this race, our chances at the championship will be almost non-existent. Give it your all, alright?" Christian told him as the team prepared the car for the start of the race.