The 28 Day Race

Prologue

VALE

"Box, box. Box, box."

Eric, the team strategist, calls through the team radio to ask me to pit in this lap. I quickly drop the speed of my car to 80 kilometers per hour as I reach the entrance of the pit lane. I slowly turn into the side of our team garage to get my car jacked for the tire change.

We were going from the medium tires to the soft ones, after warming up the mediums enough in the first third of the race. It wasn't ideal, but we realised that the soft tyres would provide us better grip for this race. The temperature of the circuit has changed significantly since qualifying yesterday, which was why our team was still having some trial and error during our actual race.

As the car drops back down to the ground when the jacks are removed, I adjusted my foot back on the accelerator. The moment the green light turned on, I placed a good amount of force on the pedal and quickly headed out of the pit lane.

With the pit stop, I fell behind by three positions, which isn't so bad knowing that the other teams have not had their drivers pitted yet. But on the soft tyres, we might need to do one extra pit stop.

I needed to get one more podium. With me and another driver, Alexander (Alex for short), being almost tied up for points, and me taking fourth, the battle to secure that third place after this race would be a tough one. It sounds easy, but not when he is leading the race and is driving the best car on the grid.

It was a really hard time trying to climb up with a car that is constantly on the edge of breaking down. Every time we get onto the start line, it was always a 50-50 chance whether we could race till the checkered flag was waved. And being able to be right behind the top driver so far for the season is indeed incredible for the team, and for me.

But if I really want to secure a place in the top teams, I have to win this championship. I need to prove to them that I am worthy of sitting in their machinery and able to push it to its fullest potential, despite being one of the relatively newer drivers to Formula One.

I only joined the grid two years ago, with my rookie year not being the greatest as compared to the experienced drivers on the grid when they were in their rookie year. It was mainly because of the kind of technology we had for our car back then. The team was struggling to figure out what worked best for it and ended up costing us lots of money to fix the damages of our crashes, which were happening way too often.

As I drove into the DRS zone, I pressed the switch for it and I instantly felt the car glide across the straight road and cutting through the air like a sharp pair of scissors to paper. The car easily went into the 300km/h and I took the opportunity to charge past Daniel, who drives for Fiantche, which was a team named after the car company who bought over them.

"Turn 8, defend and stick close to the apex. Don't let (Daniel) Simmons take back his position." Eric called out through the team radio.

"Alright. Time to hug the apex tightly like a koala bear and the tree." I reply back, wondering after I said it if it was broadcasted to the audience to listen. It might end up on my top radio moments on YouTube sooner or later, I'm sure. Oh well.

When Daniel was unsuccessful at overtaking me at Turn 8, I pushed the gears and sped down to the next turn, hoping to gain some distance before the next DRS zone. Letting him have any chance at overtaking me would not be good. He drives in a better car than me, so I have to seize every opportunity I'm given.