Lifeline (Daniel Ricciardo)

Chapter 1: Homecoming

Lifeline; noun.

A thing on which something or someone depends or which provides a mean of escape from a difficult situation.

---

HQ, February 2014

Why was this clip so, so stuck? And why was it stressing me out so, so much?

I sighed and took a deep breath; with a bit of luck it would be free in no time.

Feeling around the minute space in the wheel arch, my fingers felt something which I had been trying to reach for the past five minutes. It was a clip no bigger than the size of my little fingernail, yet vital that I removed it from where it was currently lodged.

Closer, my fingers brushed the object once more. It was a good job I had small hands, then again it was just an excuse for the others to ask for my help in the racing bays. Getting clips out of unconventional places seemed to be my speciality.

For another split second it was looking like it was within my grasp but nope, the chance was gone and the clip vanished further into the spring. Of course it could be left in the car, but things were already looking dire for the season and I really did not want Daniel, the driver, to be complaining of unexplained vibrations. Something so small could cause so many problems.

You see, what I really needed was my magnet and mirror to help me see what I was doing, but Sam across the way had been using it- having a similar problem to me.

Not wanting to give up, I tucked my hair behind my ear once more and gave it one last shot. This would not get the better of me.

Whether I liked it or not, whether it was ready or not, the parts were being flown off to Bahrain that evening ready for the final testing period. It was countdown with three hours to go when the freight would be driven to the airport. More time could not simply be whipped out of thin air. There were deadlines, and they had to be met.

With one last ditch attempt I somehow managed to get the clip that had been causing me bother for the best part of twenty minutes. Slightly breathless and no doubt red in the face I had retrieved it, without using my magical little tool.

The relief as I carefully removed it from the body work, that I had been constructing all day, said it all.

Now I only had two hours and fifty-eight minutes to get my section of the car done. Time really was of the essence.

---

"All done, Karin?" I looked up to see Simon, Daniel's chief race engineer, standing over me.

"Give me a half hour," I replied, not putting my minuscule screwdriver down. There simply wasn't enough time to down equipment for the sake of a chat. And Simon knew that. Two positions above me, he certainly had all too much knowledge to know the perils of not finishing your part of construction on time.

"Thirty minutes it shall be. Have you seen Joel?"

"Not recently, he went off to find Gavin." I smiled and nodded, essentially signalling that I really needed to avert my full attention back to the front end of the car. Being my second season working with Joel, I was already becoming ever so slightly agitated that he waltzed around as he pleased, whilst I worked my fingers to the bone. Still, it was my job to shadow him, and my job to give advice when he felt he needed it. It was then my job to put together and take apart the front, left-hand side of the car each time it needed to be.

"Alright, I shall be back at seven."

Simon walking off meant that the countdown on the clock had started again, not that it ever stopped. Everything had to be perfectly in place, if not the finger of blame would be pointed solely at me.