letters [max verstappen]

35

June 6, 2021 - Baku, Azerbaijan

What an insane race. I qualified P14, a clean drive that I had been working up to. I had kept my race clean as well and managed to work my way up to P6 by the time the red flags came out for Max's crash. My heart hurt for him, knowing that this race had been his to win and he desperately needed those points in the championship, but I had to focus on myself. At the restart I managed to get the jump on Lando immediately, then was stuck behind the tussle between Charles and Pierre for almost the rest of the race. Then I made probably the best move of my career and pulled a double overtake on them on the inside of turn 16. I prayed my spunky little Williams would have enough speed to keep them behind on the long straight, and with a bit of dodgy defending it did.

"YESSSSSSSSSSSSS!" I screamed as I saw the chequered flag waving. "OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!" My heart pounded in my chest. Did I just get a podium?

"That is P3 Becca, P3. Congrats, you've just made history!" I heard my engineer Jan say.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed. I slowed down, waving to Charles and Pierre who pulled up on either side of me, pumping their fists in the air to congratulate me. "Amazing. A million thanks to the team, you've all worked so hard for this." I said into my radio.

"It's all you, Becca! Future world champion." I could hear the pride in Jan's voice, and it almost made me tear up.

Charles, Pierre and I made it around and into Parc Fermé, and I could barely believe it as I maneuvered my car into the P3 spot. I slowly pulled myself onto the car and stood on the top of the cockpit.

"WOOOO!!" I screamed, and the Williams engineers and mechanics yelled in response from behind the barriers. I leaped off my car and ran over to them, jumping into their arms. They pulled me into an emotional group hug, and I felt almost smothered as they pulled me over the barrier, hitting my helmet and screaming words of congratulations. Claire was further to the side from the action, and I ran to hug her. "Thank you so much Claire." I mumbled into her shoulder.

"Thank you for all your hard work and dedication! You deserve this." She said.

"We deserve this." I clarified, and she nodded with a smile.

I grinned back before my attention was taken away as Charles and Pierre came up from behind me and pulled me into a group hug.

"We're so proud of you chouchou!" Charles yelled into my ear.

"In a fucking Williams!" Pierre added, and I chuckled.

"I love you guys so much! I can't wait for more battles with you." I pulled them close.

They left me, and a few other drivers- Lando, Daniel, Carlos, Esteban, and of course my teammate George came up and congratulated me.

"You fucking legend!" George shouted as he lifted me off the ground, making me giggle.

"You're next, right? Really George, you've earned this more than me." I admitted.

"Shut up and enjoy your podium. This isn't about me, it's about you."

"Aw, don't get soft on me now, Russell." I joked.

"Says you!" He exclaimed.

Eventually I realized the other two drivers on the podium were Checo and Seb, and I congratulated both of them, happy to see Seb get his first podium with Aston Martin and Checo his first win with Red Bull. I made eye contact with James and Oliver, who were now working for Red Bull with Checo, and I ran over to them, making sure to steer clear of Christian.

"We love you!" James shouted.

"I love you guys!" I giggled as I hugged them both. "This all starts with you, thank you so much for everything." As I thought about my path until now, I felt myself start to tear up.