Are You Fast Enough? (F1:MV)

Chapter 11

It was a warm day in Spa-Francorchamps, and the singing of birds in the forest were droned out by the roar of engines being revved. As ten rows of cars stood out on the grid, it was all to play for. Max was in P4 after Vettel had an engine change, and the front of the grid was locked out by the silver arrows. Kimi was by his side, looking menacing as ever. The five red lights flashed out, and away they went. Max held his ground as the cars turned on the first corner. Vettel had already climbed to P8, while the Mercedes held the lead. Kimi was in third, but Max was staying out, creeping behind. Eventually the cars all spread out, but Max was still on Kimis tail. 

By lap five, Seb had climbed to P6. Max was attacking Kimi, but the more experienced Finn was defending fiercely. 'Come on, let me pass you icy bastard!' Max cursed under his breath. But Kimi was not having any of it. While Max was focusing on him, he didn't notice the menacing Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel, glaring in his wing mirror. It was lap 10 now, and Max was slowing down while Kimi still held the track, and the Mercedes were sprinting in the lead. By lap 15 the Mercedes pitted, so the Ferraris followed suit. Max led the race for two laps, until he had to pit as well. 

'Box, box!' The radio called. 

'But I'm winning!' Max whined. 

'Well, not really. You need to pit.'

Max sighed. He drove into the pits, and by the time he got back out, he was in P5. The standings were ROS, HAM, RAI and VET. It seemed the top four had recovered from their pitting incredibly quickly. They did have a big gap from the rest, after all. Unfortunately, The gap between Vettel and Max was seven seconds. Soon, it was lap 40 out of 60, and the Mercedes made their final pitstop, followed by Kimi. But Sebastian did not pit, and this confused Max. Max was also ordered to pit again. Luckily, the gap between Max and the driver behind him, Daniil Kvyat, was big enough that when Max got out of the pits, he was only just behind Dany. As they turned into a corner, Max mounted a challenge, and was just able to edge Kvyat into P6. Max had returned to his starting position. It was lap 45, and team radio came on. 

'Ok Max, you're now in P4, Hamilton's tyre blew.'

'Hamilton? What if mine does too?'

'Keep calm Max, stay put. Carry on catching up to Vettel.'

'Okay.' Although Max tried to fight on, the news of Lewis' tyre failure shook him up. This was exactly what he feared when Nico's tyre blew in practice. All cars are running the same tyres. If a tyre problem happens to the top team, it could happen to anyone. This fear of tyre explosions circled in Max's mind for the next few laps. It really pushed him to the edge. 

Max was sweeping through the corners when he received another radio message. 

'Max, Rosberg's tyre blew. P3 now.'

'What is going on? Why are the Mercedes' tyres  failing?'

'We don't know. There will be an inquiry after the race, for sure.'

'Ugh, this is worrying me.'

'Max!' Max's eyes widened. It was Cara's voice. 

'Cara? Is that you?'

'Max, bello, please don't worry. Stay focused, you're doing great.'

'Thank you Cara...' Max smiled. Her voice really settled him. His race engineer came back on the radio. 

'Okay Max, go catch Vettel.' 

'I will. How did Cara get on the radio?'

'She insisted that I let her.' 

'Well, thank you.' 

Max sped up, having regained his composure, he navigated the track more skillfully. He was really more at ease. Another message came through.