Race Engineer - Daniel Ricciardo

Chapter 6

I'm standing in Max's garage, waiting for him to go to the grid. He's putting his balaclava and helmet on, ready to go. Max just high fives Jake, before walking over to his car. He nods his head to me and I nod back. He gets in the car and the mechanics help him to get secured. I just take my headset off for now, while I grab some last minute notes to take with me to the grid.

After Max has left the garage on his way to the grid, I want to walk to the grid. I just slowly make my way to P4, where Max's car will be standing in a few. Some mechanics are already there as well, while others are at the end of the grid, waiting to roll Max here.

"Nervous?" Evan asks, as he just moves to stand in front of me. I shrug, not knowing how I feel.

"I honestly don't know how to feel. I mean, sure, I'm nervous, but also excited" Evan nods. We just wait there, none of the guys saying too much. Some of the mechanics are talking to each other, but that's about it.

Soon enough, Max's car is pushed towards us. He jumps out when he can and walks over to me. I have my headset on right now, because of the noise, but I just push one side away a bit.

"Alright, so try to hold off the Ferrari's at the start. It's crucial to be in front of them the first lap, after that, you have room to pull away. Try to follow Daniel as much as you can, as he's in the same car, so you two should be around the same on the track. Also, don't try to attack straight away, because your tyres will give out soon. Just try to follow and wait your best shot" I say, all to which Max nods and smiles.

"We atleast want to beat Ferrari today, but we've seen them being incredibly fast in the long runs on Friday, so just be smart" I add. Max nods, seeming to be in deep thoughts.

"I'll try to push as much as I can. We can do this!" Max says. It's my turn to nod, and I let him go to the national anthem. I just wait patiently for him to return. When he does, we don't have long until he has to get into the car.

"Do you have any questions?" Max shakes his head, looking around the grid. He's never been so close to the front before. I look around for a bit as well, seeing Daniel grinning at me. I feel my heart beating faster, so I just turn back to Max.

"We need you in the car, Max!" Evan tells him. Max nods and waves at me. I already make my way to the pitwall, as I do have to check all the data for him. I take my seat and plug in my headset. Simon takes his seat as well next to me and grins.

The lights go out for the first time and the cars take off for their formation lap. I see the temperature of Max's brakes and tyres move to the right one, making me smile.

"Alright, everything seems fine, Max. Good luck" I tell him, as the cars line up at the grid once again. I feel a nervous feeling building up in my stomach, as I watch the first light pop up red. The others follow and go out again, as all the cars take off. In the first corner, Max gets overtaken by Vettel and before I can say something to Max, he re-overtakes Vettel, but at the same time, something huge happens in turn 3. My eyes widen as I see the two Mercedes' hit each other and crashing out.

"Wow! What happened? I didn't see" Max asks me, as the virtual safety car is deployed.

"First of all, nice overtaking. Rosberg was in front and Hamilton was catching up, so he wanted to overtake. Rosberg pushed Hamilton wide and he moved onto the grass, which caused him to spin and he hit Rosberg, both spinning off. Virtual safety car is deployed, don't know for how long"

"Alright, atleast I'm in front of Ferrari" I giggle softly, just checking Max's car data, as well as the order of the grid. It makes me smile seeing Daniel leading the race right now.