Gasoline - [Charles Leclerc]

2.0

"Fuck! I am stupid. I am stupid". Charles cursed while slamming his fists on the steering wheel. He had harshly parked the car in the wall near the turn of the castle. His tyres were cold and he was not concentrated enough and then Baku didn't have any mercy. "Are you okay?". His engineer sounded through his radio. "Fine". He snarled and loosened his belts to get out of the car. Charles hoisted himself up by the halo, hopping out and pushing the steering wheel back in. He steamed with frustration beneath his helmet, shrugging the touch of the marshalls off his shoulders when they guided him past the barriers to get him back to the pits. Charles couldn't believe he made such a mistake. He felt like an amateur and he didn't feel worthy to be in that car. Charles got on the back of the vespa to drive back to the pit lane, where his team was waiting for him. If he had just not been stubborn, he could use the runway and then get back on track later. Charles walked into the pit box of his team, finally pushing his helmet off his head and ripping the balaclava away from his sweaty hair.

Andrea didn't say anything when he took his helmet from his driver, knowing it was better to give himself a moment to calm down. Charles was always hard on himself. Andrea swore he could win the race and still find things to whine about while he had driven terrifically. Charles took his drinking bottle and put the straw between his lips, leaning towards the engineers as they spoke to him. It was a simple case that his tires were too cold, he locked up and the walls were too close at that point of the circuit. Charles apologized to the team, taking the blame a hundred procent for the work they had to do to get the car back on the grid tomorrow afternoon. He had prayed the Marshalls would take it away properly, not like Russell's car, which got oil spilled all over while it was brought back to the pitlane. The car was safely back and the work could begin. Charles felt guilty for the team and for himself. He still hadn't proved them why he should be driving next to Vettel this year. Mia was quick to talk to him, Stefania wasn't with them this weekend, so the other PR agent was on his side.

He liked Mia as much as Stefania, the two worked well together too. They briefly discussed the accident and what the media could say about it. It was the best if Charles calmed down for a moment to not blurt things out in front of the camera in a few minutes. Mia was always calm. She was just seated on the sofa, her legs folded over each other while her phone laid in her lap. Charles had his water bottle in his hand, already gotten dressed in his jeans and his teamwear while he went over the qualy in his head. "Are you ready?". Mia gently asked, touching his shoulder as she stood up and walked passed him. Charles nodded and turned the cap back on his water bottle, leaving it in his room. Charles and Mia walked out, multiple photographers shooting some pictures of him while they walked through the paddock to get to the media square. He crossed the usual journalists of RTL DE, Ziggo Sports, Canal+, SkySports and more, answering the more or less same questions about this Saturday and further expectations for the race tomorrow.

Charles had indicated that he had calmed down a bit, however it was still the mistake he had made and he totally blamed himself for that. He was thankful for the hard work of the team and hoped to get through the midfield and up tomorrow to see if a podium was within reach, but Baku could be unforgiving and it could be a from hero to zero race in two laps. Charles finished the interviews in the square, getting back to the pitbox. The session had been redflagged and about to start again, as the marshalls had cleared up the track from the debris of his car and fixed the barrier. He hoped Seb's pace was okay and good enough to compete with the Mercedes bolides, but he feared it was not the case. It became hard to deal with the lack of pace they had by now and everyone knew it, so he wasn't the only one who wanted to improve it. He felt for the team too. They were all so passionate and proud of the Italian prancing horse, yet they needed to do a lot of work to get their car to Mercedes level. Charles watched the last couple laps of the qualy and was delighted to see at least Seb was starting P3.