Thorns

10

March 5th
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Lando Norris

A heavy gust blew through my wet curls, the wind blowing through the London Heathrow apron significantly stronger than probably anywhere else in England. The private jet with McLaren Racing and the papaya logo on the side sat still with the staircase deployed in preparation for our boarding. Zak and Oscar were both walking side-by-side in front of me, eager to get on and begin our journey to Saudi Arabia as soon as possible.

As for me, my excitement eluded me. Energy had been drained from my system a mere two hours ago after completing another one of my ass-crack-of-dawn runs. I wasn't even much of a morning person, but I didn't exactly have a choice. Sleep was out of the picture once my eyes opened in the mornings, and the only thing left I could do to avoid the morning anxiety was run it out of my system. That and everything I ate or drank twelve hours prior.

This week my diet and exercise had been fucked. Jon was no longer in the picture to help with my diet preparation, nor was he assisting with my exercises and skills training. I had to tag along with Oscar and Kim the past two days, and I hated it. I hated sharing my time with Oscar, but not nearly as much as having to share it with Kim. She wasn't my favorite trainer in the paddock by far, and she had nothing but looks full of judgment to send my way the entirety of the workouts. I just have a vendetta against them all, I guess.

Especially Lelia. She was the one who abandoned me the past two days after signing all the bullshit Zak forced in front of her. That man jumped through hoops to get me a new trainer as soon as possible, and the person he picked had chosen to prioritize moving all her shit from Milton Keynes to Woking the last two days. And according to Zak as of twenty minutes ago, she was still not completely moved. All the time spent doing what?

Ultimately, I don't agree with Zak's choice. I attempted to argue for solitude, not wanting a replacement for Jon. I didn't need another snotty figure telling me what was good enough and what wasn't. It was just another position for degradation, one more set of lips to remind me of all of my faults.

When I lost that argument, he immediately resorted to Lelia as his first option. She was new to the paddock, still warming up at Red Bull but not comfortable enough to refuse change with a bit of bribery. At that point in time, my recollection of how I knew her had been clear as day, and my desire to have her fill that empty role was sub-zero. Hell, she was all I could think about during the race in Bahrain. There was no forgetting that now.

Zak was persistent in convincing me to poach her and was confused when I said I didn't want her and provided no explanation as to why I didn't. So he handled the matter and I was left with no say after arguing over something so pointless for hours.

It was one of the worst ways I had ever spent a Sunday.

"Earth to Lando! Did you hear what I said?" Zak yelled from where he was walking, which was about three meters in front of me. I looked up, not realizing I had been staring at my feet while I walked. "Lelia will be here in five minutes. Once she boards we are departing."

Fantastic.

I responded with tight lips and a small nod, going back to looking down while we walked to the jet. If it wasn't still so early in the season, I would have found a way to hop on a jet with Carlos or George and avoid being around Zak and Lelia.

Zak and Oscar both started up the stairs, excited to go to Saudi Arabia. I had never seen so much excitement in Oscar, but it was probably based on the fact that he was in second place this past weekend. Zak was so confident that this season was his season, completely disregarding how I finished last season like it was nothing. Like I didn't have one hand on that championship trophy in Abu Dhabi.