What if there never is a next time?

They all know how dangerous the sport is. They put their lives at risk every single race, sitting in a car and shooting over the track with over 300 Km/h. It's a fragile dance between life and death, but that's part of being a Formula 1 driver and it's worth it. When you cross the checkered flag, pushed by a roaring crowd and fireworks, you feel untouchable, unreachable and you know that every failure and every crash was worth it.

Carlos Sainz missed the podium by 2 seconds, but he doesn't care about that. The spaniard looks up to the podium and sees a broadly grinning Lando Norris, who proudly holds up his trophy with tears in his eyes. Carlos couldn't be more proud of his teammate, his Lando. Being able to witness Lando's first podium is everything the spaniard ever wished for and he's more than excited for the future. Today, the Brit reached third place and everyone knows that it is just a matter of time till he reaches the very top.

Lando jumps up and down like a happy kid and shows his trophy to the team with a big smile. Carlos and all other team members burst out into cheers and simply enjoy this big moment. A moment made for history.

After the podium ceremony and some more interviews, Lando can finally return to the McLaren garage, happy and soaked with champagne. He hasn't even fully entered the building as he's suddenly being hugged from behind.

„ I'm so proud of you Lando, I'm so incredibly proud ."

The brit turns around and sees a smiling Carlos with teary eyes. Without hesitation, he jumps into Carlos arms and hugs him tightly. The spaniard embraces him and buries his face into Lando's hair with a big smile.

„ Thank you Carlos for always believing in me, no matter what ."

Is was nothing more than a whisper, but Carlos heard it without trouble.

He tightens their hug, putting one arm around his neck and the other around his waist.

„ I couldn't be more happy to share this moment with you, cariño ."

Lando buries his right hand into Carlos soft hair and curls his finger around them. His breath is slightly shaking and the spaniard could tell that the young brit is on the verge of crying again. To prevent this, Carlos tries a little joke.

„ But I must say that I'm a little bit sad you didn't take out Max or Lewis so I could also stand on the podium. You can say if you don't want me up there, I won't be mad at you."

There it is, Lando's sweet laugh that always lightens up Carlos heart. The Brit lifts his head and smiles at the spaniard.

„ I'm sorry mi ángel, next time we will finish together on top, I promise. "

Both are smiling at each other, still hugging tightly. 'Next time...that sounds great' Carlos thinks and buries his face back into Lando's hair. 'Yes, next time'.

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There will never be a next time for Lando Norris. Today's race, two weeks after his first podium will be his last, but he doesn't know that of course and neither does Carlos Sainz. The start happened sixty minutes ago and it is going very well for both McLaren so far. Charles took himself and Pierre out and Sebastian suffered an engine failure, so Lando and Carlos moved three places up and are now standing on 4th and 5th place.

The team risked a double tyre change 10 minutes ago, because the leaders Lewis, Max and Valtteri started to have massive problems with their medium tyres, so McLaren assumed that they will have to box a third time. It turns out that they were right. Both McLaren drivers are much quicker on their soft tyres and the gap between them and the leaders is melting away. They will be able to overtake them in only 3 laps, so no matter what Mercedes and RedBull will do, Carlos and Lando will be on top. Well, at least that is what everyone is thinking, but sometimes fate has other plans.