Lights Out • 1 • Formula One ✔️

Chapter 4

It was safe to say that both the free practice sessions on Friday were eventful. I had managed to spin out in first practice, narrowly avoiding the wall. It was a stupid mistake; I got too greedy with the curb and spun as I went over the apex. Then, in second practice, I had the corner of a front wing clipped off by one of the Haas drivers. I was too pissed off at the time to identify which one and it subsequently cut my session shorter than what we as a team would've liked. This just meant I had to put in some overtime on the simulators, as well as analysing my data so I can pick up where I need to go quicker.

The pace, despite these issues, was pretty good. Both Esteban and I were able to keep up with the Red Bull drivers, and, in the second practice, we were faster than one of the Mercedes (granted, they did have an issue with under steering). Luckily for us, this pace continued through to the next day - the day where it mattered. It took us a while to get out in FP3 because we were waiting for the track to dry up after a brief shower, and didn't want to waste time risking the car for data that wouldn't be useful.

I was in a good mindset for qualifying, some might even call it confident. There was no reason why I shouldn't do well in my first qualifying session of my first official F1 season. This attitude was evident in the way I was driving. Both Esteban and I got through Q1 without any issues, the dropouts being both Sauber and Williams drivers, as well as Stoffel Vandoorne for McLaren who didn't get to put a time in due to an issue on his car.

Q2 was more of a challenge because of how close the field was. Esteban had easily put in a time that secured him the place in Q3, beating both Red Bulls and a Ferrari. I didn't have his luck or experience to begin with, having run wide on the first corner of sector three, and then again on my second run on the final corner. The team wanted to try and start me on the medium compound of tyres, which meant I'd need to set my fastest time on that set. It was after my second botched lap that I received a team radio:

T> 'Just focus, A. You've got this. Don't think - just drive'

A> 'Copy.'

Thanks to the incredible idea from one of the radio engineers, my radio had been modified so that my voice was unrecognisable. She had managed to make it so that I sounded a lot deeper, however in a way that was natural and not robotic. Over the years and development through my F2 years, it's managed to sound more realistic rather than mechanical. 

After the message, I did my best to keep my head down and ignore the time I was setting. My sole focus was just on making the lap clean and quick. All of my muscles were engaged as I pushed to my limit on a new set of softs (it was too much to risk not making it through, better to be safe than sorry). I set the last time of Q2, which, to my amazement, pushed the final Toro Rosso out of Q3 with a new personal best that topped the time sheet. The cars that didn't make it into Q3 were the Haas of Grosjean, both Toro Rosso cars, Sainz and his Renault, and most shocking of all - Lewis Hamilton. He had ran wide at the chicane and into the wall. It happened near the start of qualifying and wasn't an overly fast collision, however his suspension was severely damaged. He was able to retire his car in a safe place that didn't warrant a red flag.

The third qualifying session was pretty uneventful from my perspective and I didn't produce anything exceptional. Once I had set a time, no one below me beat it. The same went for Esteban. I finished sixth, whereas he finished fourth. Sandwiched between us was the Red Bull of Max Verstappen. Daniel did a good job, beating the Ferrari of Kimi Räikkönen by a mere two thousandths of a second to finish second. Vettel, unsurprisingly, took pole, whereas the remaining Mercedes of Valtteri Bottas was down in seventh, behind me. I could almost hear Toto's fist slamming onto the tables in the Mercedes' pit. After him was Alonso (I couldn't believe he was still racing with McLaren), then Hülkenburg, then Magnussen.