No Going Back (Nyck de Vries X OC)

Drama in Mexico (Race 2)

"Kai, there is something wrong," I use the radio to inform him of the warning.

"I'll keep...eye...," Kai's response is crackly. Great. Another problem that I don't need.

"You might want to consider using the pit board," I say. The truth is I won't know if he's gotten my message till I get to the start/finish straight. Thankfully my message got across as I spotted Kristy who is poking the pit board through a small gap in the fence. Well, it looks like I am going to have to use the Regen on instinct. After fifteen minutes the team made the decision to bring me in early. I don't mind as I am struggling to do everything manually. The truth is I rely on Kai more than I should. There is a part of me that is a little frustrated but I know that Kristy and her team are going to need as much time as possible. I soon brought the car back to the garage. Well, that was a waste of time. The good thing is Kristy and Kai have time to work out what went wrong. It doesn't take long for me to rescue myself from the car. Kai joins me as I get my helmet off.

"Jess, can you tell me what happened?" Kai asks even though he has the telemetry data open on the tablet in front of him.

"Well, the radio went dead. Then I went to arm attack mode which wouldn't work no matter how hard I tried and last but not least but not least the car was sluggish as I came back to the pits," I give my version of events. Kai nods along with my report. It seems his doom and gloom attitude was justified. I'll find out the full story later. I excuse myself as I shed the last of my gear. I have decided that I am going to watch the rest of the free practice session in the comfort of the hospitality area. Thankfully I am able to slip in unnoticed as the VIPs that have joined us have their faces glued to the broadcast. I don't understand why as the free practice sessions are normally uneventful. I stop and listen for a second.

"One of the Mercedes drivers has retired. According to our information, it was Jess Bianchi," One of the commentators remarks.

"I would guess that there was something wrong with the radio as the team were using the pit board to communicate with Jess," The other responds. I find it interesting that they haven't thought about damage to the car. To be fair I have only thought about it just now so I can't guarantee that Kai thought about it. The reason why the thought crossed my mind was that the car was fine yesterday. Well, that was until the collision with Robin. I want to get mad at him again however the fact that he was locked up was out of his control. With that realisation I head back to the garage just in case Kai hasn't come to the same conclusion. Thankfully I am quick to make it back to the garage.

"Kai I have a theory," I announce as I join him. I take the seat that was vacated by Ian who has chosen a different vantage point.

"What's your theory, Jess?" Kai asks as he looks up from his screen. Based on his reaction he hasn't come to the same conclusion as me.

"I think it might have something to do with the damage that Robin caused when he collided with me," I explain. Something tells me that there is a strong possibility that I could be right. Kai seems to consider my theory. He glances at the data.

"Maybe...," Kai trails off as he gets lost in his thoughts. Well, it looks like I am not going to get anywhere for now as Kai has his head back in the data. After an hour and a half of waiting, I have the nasty feeling that I will not be partaking in qualifying. I find myself taping on the table that I am sitting on while I await the dreaded news. If I don't score any points today Edo Mortara will close the gap even further. As those thoughts creep through my mind the tapping gets worse. It doesn't take long for me to be joined by Nyck who seems just as bothered about the situation as I am. I put it down to the fact that my good luck has come to an end. Don't get me wrong I knew it was going to happen but still I wanted it to be when I was a substantial amount of points ahead. Oh well, there is nothing that I can do. I just need to remain optmisitc.