That's Racing Baby | Lando Norris

Chapter 85

Emilia was not ready for Abu Dhabi. It would be her last race weekend in F1 for at least a year. Not only that, but Williams had a big job to do to get P3 in the Constructor's Championship. It was a big weekend and Emilia didn't want it to start because then it would be over. Nevertheless, Emilia entered the paddock on Saturday with a smile on her face. Her first two practice sessions had gone well and Williams looked like they had the edge on the McLaren but the truth would be discovered in qualifying.

"It's great to have you back." Emilia said to Christine.

"I'm glad to be back." Christine smiled.

"I haven't brought this up with you yet and it's fine if you don't want to talk about it here," Emilia gestured to the paddock, "but would you want to be my trainer next year, in WEC? It's cool if you have other plans or with another driver but I would love it if you stayed with me."

"Of course I'll stay with you, without a doubt." Christine answered. "We can sort the logistics out another time." Christine saw that Emilia was distracted. She had stopped walking seeing someone sat down between the Haas and the Williams' building but Christine couldn't make out who it was.

"You go ahead I'll catch you up." Emilia said to her trainer still focused on the person sat down away from the paddock. Christine carried on while Emilia headed down the alleyway. She checked behind her to see if there were any cameras following – there weren't. "Are you okay?" Emilia asked. Mick looked up at her. He didn't say anything for a while. "Do you want me to leave?" Mick shook his head.

"I've been dropped." Mick stated. His voice was hoarse it was evident he had been crying.

"What?" Emilia said. She got up, she was ready to throw punches and fight whoever had hurt Mick but she stopped. Maybe that's not what Mick would want. Emilia had learned to not act immediately as previously, that had only created more problems. "What happened?" Emilia sat back down again.

"They wanted Hulkenberg in. They found a loop in my contract and released me. I don't know why. They wanted to tell me as this will be my last race." Mick explained. There was an essence of defeat and disappointment. "I don't want to leave."

"It's okay. You'll be back. Ferrari won't let you slip away." Emilia assured. Williams could be shitty at times but dropping Mick on the last race was appalling. Emilia could not believe it.

"I haven't even been bad. I'm not far behind Alex. They said I just crash too much." Mick said. Emilia knew exactly what Mick was feeling.

"Every rookie crashes. It happens." Emilia comforted. "What do you want me to do? Do you need me to go and beat Gunther up?" It would get Emilia into a lot of trouble but at least it got a smile from Mick.

"No, he's not worth it but it's just brutal. They could have spoken to me before. Not leaving until a couple hours before qualifying." Mick sighed. Emilia stayed quiet letting Mick vent. "I feel like I've disappointed everyone."

"No Mick you haven't." Emilia quickly responded. "It is a massive achievement to get into Formula 1, your mum, Gina, Justine, they're all proud of you no matter what. You haven't let anyone down. Haas has let you down." Mick took in Emilia's words. She thought they were relevant for herself as well.

"Justine and I are moving in together. We bought a house in Norway." Mick said.

"That's great news!" Emilia exclaimed.

"What if she doesn't want to live with me now that I won't be in F1 anymore?" Mick questioned.

"I highly doubt that's the case but if she doesn't, then she's not worth having in your life. But I don't think she'll leave you because of that." Emilia answered. "You can come join me in WEC next year."