That's Racing Baby | Lando Norris

Chapter 75: Race Nineteen

The top five had pulled away from the rest of the pack so the cars behind Emilia were just dots in her mirror. Emilia could drive a bit more relaxed knowing that she wasn't under any pressure. John kept her updated with where her lap time needed to be and Emilia met that.

However, Emilia's tyres were tired from fighting Valtteri earlier in the race so the cars behind started catching up. Williams pitted Emilia as the train of cars came within DRS range so she wouldn't lose time defending but also wasn't too disadvantaged on her second stint on hards. With it being so hot, a two-stop would be likely due to the increased degradation.

The hards were difficult to warm up and it was a few laps before Emilia feel them give her grip she needed. As she crossed the line to start another lap she saw a black car rolling up the hill. Either the Mercedes had crashed or had a very slow pit stop.

"Hamilton on new hards after a slow pit stop. Tyres will be cold, let's get him." John encouraged.

"Copy." Emilia replied. Lewis helped the Williams driver out by going wide into turn one and Emilia was on him. She couldn't afford to think about who she was overtaking and the circumstances if it went wrong. It was full focus on picking up two extra points for the Championship. The twisty section that was turns three through to six was coming up. Emilia saw a gap at turn three so she had to go for the move. Rookie error. She managed to get her front tyre parallel to Lewis' rear by turn four.

Turn five was a left-hander. As Lewis steered left at over on hundred and fifty mph, his rear left tyre bashed into Emilia's front right tyre. The contact knocked her off track spinning and hitting the barriers with several tens of Gs. Ow.

Emilia's neck jolted from the impact and left her feeling very sore. She thought she'd stop the interaction with the barriers so her hands were still on the steering wheel. The barriers were a lot closer than she thought and a lot less padded than most. But then, not many crashed here because not many were brave enough or stupid enough to make a move in those corners.

"Emilia are you okay?" John asked. Emilia flexed all her body parts before answering.

"Yeah my wrists hurt a bit. I thought I could stop it hitting the barrier. So sorry guys." Emilia replied. She thought about getting out but the barrier had collapsed above the head. The halo probably saved her life. "I'm a bit stuck here."

"Marshals are on the way. Race has been red flagged so don't rush anything." John informed.

"I should have just waited for the straight to overtake him." Emilia sighed. An orange car parked up next to her and she watched a man in a neon yellow helmet climb out and rush over to Emilia.

"Are you okay? Please tell me you're okay." Lando asked kneeling down by the cockpit.

"Think so." Emilia nodded. She reached out her hand that didn't hurt and Lando held hers. "Do you need to go back to the pits?" Emilia wasn't aware of the rules for stopping under red flags for other cars or if there were any rules at all.

"I'm right where I need to be." Lando replied and Emilia could see him smile through his helmet.

Marshals arrived and helped move the barrier so Emilia was able to get out the car. She took a look at her car realising she would need a new chassis and possibly a new engine, Jost would not be happy. Lando wrapped his arm around Emilia.

"You okay?" Lando asked again and Emilia nodded. He pressed his helmet to hers.

"You should go, I'll be fine. It won't take them long to fix the barrier and you have to race." Emilia said.

"Okay, I'll come find you after the race. I love you." Lando answered. Neither of them were allowed to take their helmets off as they were still on track despite there being no racing. Lando got back in his car and drove back round to the pits and Emilia got a lift on a scooter with a marshal to the medical centre.