Chequered Flag | FORMULA ONE (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I watched as the mechanics and Haas crew stormed back into the garage right before the formation lap.

I put my visors down as the lights in front flashed, indicating the start of the formation lap. I slowly let go of the clutch and let my car roll forward, casually cruising around the Melbourne circuit.

The formation lap was a good time to get comfortable in the car right before the race. It was an opportunity to feel the car, whether everything was working like they should be. There was also much less pressure compared to the race, when we were required to push to the limits.

Once the formation lap was done, we're back onto our grid spot, and I looked around. Verstappen in front, Ember beside me, and Norris behind. This is going to be a tough race, I thought.

T: Good luck, Mick. You're going to do very well this round.

M: Thanks Tayla. I'll do my best.

The lights lit up one by one, and went out altogether. The race had started.

My car launched forward very quickly. In fact, I was quicker than anyone around me. I overtook Verstappen during the first two corners, and was chasing Hamilton down.

Hamilton's pace was very fast, but I was able to catch up with him in a relatively short amount of time. When DRS was enabled after two laps, I was constantly on his tail, enabling DRS to close the gap between us. But, the dirty air from the rest of the track slowed me down.

This was not how I should be overtaking him though. I observed his lap, his braking, his racing line, to seek for any possible overtaking opportunities.

On lap 16, I finally made my move. At turn 13, I braked later than him, went for the tighter inside line and ran slightly wider on the exit. He was forced to back off, giving the position to me.

No one was right in front of me. The gap between me and the Red Bulls was like 10 seconds. I used the clean air I got to put in faster lap times and catch up with Verstappen and Perez.

T: Mick, the Red Bulls are pitting. They're double stacking. Set your engine mode to extreme and push to the limits. We'll overcut them.

M: Got it!

I adjusted the engine settings using the buttons on my steering wheel, and focused purely on driving faster after the two Red Bulls entered the pitlane.

For five consecutive laps, I received a purple mark on my steering wheel. I was also cognizant that the gap between the race leader Bottas and I was shrinking at a rapid rate. However, before I could get close to Bottas, the team called me in.

T: Box this lap, box this lap. Your soft tyres are shot. You need new mediums.

M: Copy that.

I slowed down as I entered the pitlane, and stopped for the crew to change my tyres. It was a quick stop, with me only stationary for 2.5 seconds. I was back on track afterwards, coming out right behind Norris.

T: So you'll be on a one stop strategy. We believe your tyres will last long enough. Ember's on a two stop by the way. She's pitting next lap.

M: Why?

T: Team orders Mick. I can't do anything about it. Now focus on battling Norris. 1.2 seconds ahead.

I acknowledged the message and pushed harder once again. It wasn't long before I was on Norris's tail, using DRS to propel me forward for an overtaking move.

It was about time the drivers came into the pits to change their tyres. That didn't make a difference though, since in front of me was Perez in his Red Bull that pitted very early on.

I went through the same process as I did for Hamilton, which was to find an overtaking opportunity and take it. On lap 35, I used the DRS from the pit straight to carry more speed into the first two corners. Right, left, and I was through.

T: Phenomenal job, Mick! Next up, Verstappen, 3 seconds up front.

M: Okay, let me focus.

Again, I attempted the overtaking strategy that has worked so well for me during the race. However, after one, two, three, four laps, I still couldn't get anywhere near Verstappen. I looked at my tyres, and they didn't look smooth at all.

M: My tyres are blistering, Tayla.

T: Pit only if there's a safety car. You'll lose too much if you come in now.

I groaned once I muted myself from team radio. Was this going to be a tragic strategy failure? I hope not. I tried not to divert my focus away from those thoughts to concentrate only on driving.

Despite that, my car seemed to fall behind the other drivers under a two-stop strategy. A few laps after I noticed the blistering on my tyres, I got passed by Perez. A few more laps later, Hamilton and Ember passed me. Freaking Ember Williams.

I held onto my position all the way until the final lap. When I looked at my rearview mirrors to see Norris right behind me, my heart was pounding like crazy.

I had to hold on to my place until the chequered flag, I thought.

Nope.

On the very last corner of the 58th and last lap, Norris took the inside line and forced me wide. I defended as hard as I could, but his car was just a little bit ahead. Less than one car length.

That was it. I was utterly, utterly disappointed. My race pace was amazing, but I just lost to strategy.

Fuel was added to my internal fire as I saw Ember on the podium, taking a second place finish. For I don't know how many times now, she kept getting the better race strategy than me. It's either the team strategists were too dumb to know that a one-stop could not have worked, or they just wanted Ember to score higher than me. I hope it's not the latter case, because her results infuriated me when I compared them to mine.

"I'm sorry, Mick. I should have argued with the team to let you have a two-stop."

"It's fine, Tayla. You did what you had to do."

Tayla gave an apologetic smile and sauntered away to complete her own tasks. I looked at the podium one last time before turning around, back to my driver room to rest after the race.

Race Results:

Bot, Wil, Ham, Ver, Per, Nor, Msc, Ric, Sai, Vet, Alo, Lec, Gas, Oco, Rai, Rus, Tsu, Str, Gio, Lat

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