Last Man Standing

Chapter 44

All eyes were on Marylinde yet again as she put on her helmet for the start. She climbed into the car to just escape the cameras. But before she could lower herself in, she was stopped. She looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"Give me a second guys." She climbed back down and threw her arms around Pierre.

"Please, remember what you can do." He said, hard enough for Marylinde to hear it through her helmet but hard enough for the cameras not to pick it up. "I am proud of you, no matter what you will do. You have been brilliant in qualifying, so please, be proud of yourself." He pulled back from the hug and took the helmet in his hand, placing a kiss just above the lid. "Go show them what you can do."

"Good luck Pierre, be safe." He smiled and walked back to his car, parked one grid slot in front of Marylinde in fourth place. Marylinde grinned and tried to get into the car again. She lowered herself in and closed her eyes as she was strapped in.

"Radio check."

"Loud and clear. How are you feeling?"

"Really calm, which is scaring me more than it being scared out of my mind would have."

"It's a good thing. You were meant for this, so it doesn't surprise me you are calm. Just remain focused. We have four more minutes until it is three o'clock." Marylinde confirmed the message. The tires would be put on and she would be left alone within minutes. After that, it would be up to her to make sure she would have the pace and keep the car alive as the team handled the strategy.

She was scared for the start, however. She had done multiple practice starts the day before but the fact she was now surrounded by nineteen other formula one cars and ahead of almost every single one of them gave her an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach.

But she was going to have to go through it, whether she liked it or not.

"Okay, the engineers are going to be leaving you now. Good luck." Several pats on her head gave her a little more confidence. They were wishing her good luck but thanks to all the comments beforehand, she knew they all believed in her.

The green lights went on for the start of the formation lap. Behind the four cars ahead, Marylinde weaved around the track to generate heat into the tires as well as the brakes.

"How are the nerves now?"

"Still not here. Insanely."

"Keep it that way, just keep your head low for the start. You have Norris and Gasly in front, theoretically, you should be able to handle their speed."

"I'll do my best." They rounded the last corner and lined up on the grid. Marylinde's eyes were glued on the lights until the first one finally sprung on. With every light, her mind seemed to calm down even more and the sounds around her started to fade away. The final light. As soon as they went off, Marylinde made sure to get off the line in the fastest possible time. Into turn one, she found herself beside Pierre but he managed to keep in the lead. For the rest of the lap, Marylinde remained right on his rear to try and find herself past him.

"A bit of a fun fact-" Marylinde was about to chop off a head when the team came over the radio with 'a fun fact' while she was trying to focus on her driving to get past Pierre. "you were actually the fastest of the line. Well done."

"I was?"

"Yes, don't sound so surprised, you were right on Pierre's back, you were just unlucky he was incredibly fast himself."

"Who says unlucky, I have all race to get past him."

"Who is in that car because it sure ain't the Marylinde we know."