Lights Out • 1 • Formula One ✔️

Chapter 14

I'm sorry if it seems like everything's happening quickly in this chapter and it doesn't really focus for a while. This is because I have plans for races later on and I want to get to them quite quickly. Hope you enjoy!

The days went by quick. It seemed like only a day ago I was kissing Max in the rain when in reality it had been a long time. The same goes for our shopping trip to London, now only a positive vision in my memory and a negative impact on my bank account.

Before leaving for China, I had dropped Murray off at my mum's house. It was nice to see her again, but I think she was more excited to see Kudzai than me. She had always loved Kudzai as if she were my sister and teased that if ever Kudzai and I fell out, she'll be blaming me. Of course it was only a joke, my mum was caring. It's a shame that she was unable to fly and come out to my races, I'm sure she'd love it. However she does ensure me that she watches every weekend.

China wasn't a particularly exciting race for us. I had scraped P9 in qualifying and only improved that position by one during the race. Esteban did better, getting P8 and then improving to P5, besting Daniel. Max got on the podium, P3, and I had mixed emotions. Obviously I was proud of my unofficial boyfriend (he has yet to ask me) but then again it was a blow for the team who had began to fall behind in the constructors.

Spain was only slightly better, Esteban and I got P6 and P5 respectively. This was only due to an engine failure from Daniel and an issue with one of the Mercedes. Max had still managed to get ahead despite us having a little battle, so he finished P4.

The next race was Canada. It was held the weekend immediately after Spain which meant that I didn't have any time off. Esteban, Kudzai and I arrived on Wednesday evening so that we could have the entire Thursday for running through statistics and making sure the cars were in order before the race weekend.

At the end of the day on Thursday, I was one of the last to leave the main work space. Obviously there were mechanics around fixing the car, however they were in a separate building. The time on the clock read 23:17 by the time I had left, I was exhausted.

As I exited the building, I put my head in my hands and sighed. I was not looking forward to this race if I'm being completely honest - it was just last year that I had my first major crash here. It wasn't anything too bad. Sergio Perez wasn't able to race because of an illness meaning I had to fill in. It wasn't exactly how I wanted my Formula One career to start; I had spun into a barrier. Luckily for me, it wasn't concrete, however I did take out wipe out another car in the slippery conditions. With that memory always at the back of my mind and the fact that my car doesn't seem to be performing as well as at the beginning of the season, I was a little anxious for Sunday.

"Long day?" A familiar voice asked. I looked up and offered a small smile to the Canadian driver who was just walking past the main entrance. He stopped to look at me, an eyebrow raised. "You look like you could do with a drink."

"You buying?" I joked, walking towards Lance.

"I'll buy you one, I've seen the prices here and let me tell you, it's like they're serving Beyoncé." Lance laughed.

"Deal. I can't drink too much or else I'll be useless tomorrow during FP1 and FP2."

"Same here. Claire would personally kill me herself if I got a hangover. This is the first race where we feel we could get some decent points." Lance and I walked side by side down the path until we came to an on-site bar that was open until three a.m. We took a seat in the surprisingly crowded room near the back, where a waitress handed a drinks menu.

"Fuck me." I whispered to myself, looking at the prices for he drinks. I see what Lance meant by the drinks were expensive, thirty five Canadian Dollars for a vodka and coke! Even the non-alcoholic drinks were pricey, which we would have to get because we'd be in the car soon. "I feel sorry for your bank account."