In the Spotlight (Max Verstappen - Book Two)

Chapter Thirteen

Lights out.

I push on the accelerator with all my might as I click through the gears, pulling off the line quickly and accelerating even quicker than that. Lewis takes the predicted route down the inside and cuts me off as I make the decisive move around the outside of him, our front and back wheels almost level as we go into the first corner side by side, me just slightly behind but we both manage to keep the cars on the track as we make our way through the chicane and I remember what Sebastian says as I give up some space and slot directly in behind him, Charles and Max retaining their positions as they do the same, forming one long slipstream behind Lewis.

I find myself smiling like the Cheshire Cat as I bomb it down the straight, staying on Lewis' gearbox the entire time following his line around the fourth corner not quite able to get ahead as we take the next series of corners maintaining the order. I vaguely see Charles and Max fighting over third position as they lose some time to Lewis and I as we head onto the shorter straight between turns ten and eleven before the almost right-hand corner. I try a move down the inside of turn thirteen but I can't quite make it stick as Lewis outbreaks me and I swear under my breath following him into the second final straight, gaining back the time I lost as I tried the move in his slipstream until I was back on his gearbox into the final turn and onto the straight.

With no DRS in the first two laps, I push all out on the accelerator and press the overtake button, draining my battery slightly as I fake going on the outside line causing Lewis to defend the fake move and I take the inside line last minute, successfully overtaking him into the first corner of the second lap.

"Fuck yes!" I yell down the radio as I'm congratulated by Dani on the move before she gives me new settings to try and hold Lewis behind me, knowing that we're about to head into the straight before turn four. Once again I take the inside line and just about manage to keep the lead as we come out of the turn almost side by side but my front wheel is slightly ahead of his and so I maintain the position for the rest of the lap. When I look in my wing mirrors I can see Charles has still kept third from Max but that there's around a three-second gap between their fight and the one that Lewis and I are having. As we head onto the final straight, Lewis' acceleration beats mine and he overtakes me before we head into the first corner. Still, I keep my head cool and focus on getting through the chicane and staying close as DRS is now enabled for the first time. I open the rear flap faking for the outside line once again but Lewis has clearly learned and I'm forced to actually take it this time as he stays on the inside, the gap between us opening slightly.

I let out an annoyed groan as I slip back behind him, not really hearing the instructions coming to me down the radio as I focus on the rear wing of the Mercedes in front of me. It continues like this until lap fourteen when Dani comes on the radio. "We're thinking plan C?" I hear her call down the line and I rack my brains as I try and think what it could mean. Then I remembered it's the one-stop undercut for if I was stuck in this position where I was just trading places with Lewis non-stop.

"Confirm," I say and then I hear the box call at the very last second, smiling as I see Lewis stay out as I come into the pits, slamming on the breaks and putting the speed limiter on before pulling into the first slot in the pits. The stop is quick and I only get the chance to take one deep breath as I come out on track, fortunately, still ahead of several midfield teams as I focus on putting in a strong out lap to make sure that the undercut works, I've come back out of the pits in P14.

I go to take my first drink of the race after it suddenly occurs to me that I haven't yet and I swear out loud before pressing on the radio button. "Shit, there's no drink," I say down the radio, my throat feeling incredibly sandy from the first thirty minutes I have spent on track. "Why the fuck is there no water?" I ask nervously as I make gains on my new medium tires, catching up to what I guess is the McLaren of Piastri.