Race for the Throne | Formula One

56. Going Crazy

"Hey Arthur!" I ran to catch up with the youngest Leclerc.

His eyes widened. "I'm not supposed to talk to you."

I looked at him confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Absolutely nothing, nothing at all." Arthur started edging away from me.

I grabbed his sleeve. "No, not you too. I came over to see why Charles was acting strange but you're acting even weirder."

"Lorenzo?" Arthur slipped from my grasp. "Sorry, I think Lorenzo was calling me."

I threw my hands up in defeat and wandered towards the Mclaren garage. Ines was chatting with Oscar. She waved me over.

"Hey Oscar." I smiled at the rookie driver.

He smiled nervously. "Hey, I'm not sure what I should refer to you as."

"Please just call me Kat." I had run into the driver occasionally but we had never talked much. "How are you feeling ahead of the race?"

Oscar shrugged. "I'm feeling as good as I can. I think Charles is in a really good place to win it all this weekend."

"Don't let Max hear you say that." Ines laughed.

"Don't let me hear what?" The Dutch Red Bull driver stopped as he walked past us.

Ines and Oscar looked at each other.

I took their hesitation as my opening. "Have you seen Charles lately?"

"Uh, yeah. He's in Ferrari hospitality."

"Do you think he's acting strange?" I asked him.

Max glanced over his shoulder towards Ferrari. "No, not at all. Why would you think that? He's acting completely normal, just like always."

I arched an eyebrow. "Why are you acting strange now too?"

"Not strange at all, I'm always like this. Sorry, Daniel is waiting for me." He hurried off.

"Please tell me I'm not going insane." I watched Max practically run away.

Oscar and Ines watched with me.

"Definitely not insane," Oscar commented.

"I think he might be though." Ines laughed.

"Kat? Is he with you?" Oscar asked, looking back towards Ferrari.

I sighed as I looked where he was pointing. "Yeah, that's Alvaro. He takes the 'never let her out of your sight' a little too far sometimes. I should go talk to him."

Alvaro was in a phone call by the edge of the Ferrari area. Dressed in all black, he was an imposing figure.

I walked up towards him, catching parts of his conversation. "Tomorrow night. Yes. I can do it. What time? That should work."

"Hey," I said as I reached him.

He ended the call. "How can I help you Princess Kathrine?"

"You're lurking." I crossed my arms.

"I'm keeping an eye on you, which is my job, Princess Kathrine," he said seriously.

I sighed. "Yes, but right now I'm safe. You and Mateo already cleared everyone that has a paddock pass. There's surveillance and everything. Why don't you go and do something else? Relax a little?"

"I'll relax when the job is done." There was an edge to his voice.

I took a step back. "Fine, have it your way."

I stomped off."Why is everyone being weird today?" I said to myself.

I pulled my phone out and tapped on my brother's contact when I ran into someone.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there." Carlos steadied me.

"No worries, I wasn't looking either." I laughed.

"Have you talked to Charles?" He asked, seeing I was walking away from Ferrari.

I nodded. "Yeah, I have."

Carlos grabbed my arms. "That's great!"

"Great? He's acting strange and keeps running off and I talked to Arthur and he did the same and so did Max. Now you're acting weird, what's going on?" I demanded.

Carlos' eyes widened and he released my arms quickly. "So you didn't really talk to Charles yet? I'm sorry, I have to go. I have to be anywhere but here."

While Max had only practically run away, Carlos literally sprinted off.

"Fuck you, Carlos Sainz!" I shouted after him.

A few people walking by stared at me. I smiled apologetically at them.

"I'd hate to be Carlos right now." A muffled voice said.

I lifted my phone. "Alex?"

"You called me and you're surprised I answered?" He replied.

"Everyone is acting so weird today so I guess I wouldn't be surprised if you were too," I said wryly.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"I was talking to Charles and he seemed like he was going to say something but he's acting off now. Then Arthur was being weird. So I was talking to Ines and Oscar, they were normal. But Max was being weird. Alvaro is being super lurk-y right now. Carlos, that dick, just actually ran away from me. Like he actually ran away from me. Coward," I muttered.

Alex coughed. "I don't have any explanation for Alvaro, but I do know what's up with the guys."

"Finally, some answers!" I fist pumped.

"About that." Alex hesitated. "I can't tell you what's going on but just know you don't have to be worried about it."

I considered throwing my phone against the wall. "You're no help at all."

"At least I answered the phone?" he said.
"Almost wish you hadn't because now I'm even more confused than before," I sighed.

"Talk to you later then." Alex ended the call.

I looked up to the sky, searching for answers there like my mother did when I was being particularly frustrating, before wandering back to Ferrari as the countdown to qualifying started. Charles was about to get into the car.

"Good luck out there, Shy." I kissed his cheek.

"I'll get pole for you." He tried to wink before putting his helmet on.

I grabbed my headset and sat next to Arthur. I squinted at him. He smiled apologetically. As soon as the Ferraris were out of the garage and on the track, I grabbed Arthur's hand. This was it. I held my breath as they both made it through Q1. Everyone was on the edge of their seats as Q2 wound down, both of them again making it through. My eyes were glued to the screens as Q3 began. Arthur gave my hand a squeeze. As Q3 ended, I jumped off my stool and pulled off my headset. Arthur and I grabbed each other, hugging and jumping.

"He did it!" I screamed.

"Pole!" He yelled back. "He got pole!"

The garage was cheering. Arthur and I ran out to the barrier to see him park at the P1 spot. Charles jumped out of the car and ran over to us, he wrapped his arms around us. He moved to kiss me but forgot he had a helmet on and ended up bumping it against my forehead. I rubbed my forehead, laughing, before kissing his helmet. He got called back for his post-qualifier interview.

"Charles, how are you feeling ahead of tomorrow's race now that's you've got pole position going into it?" The interviewer asked.

"Yeah, I'm definitely feeling very good. I'm feeling very good in the car and it's been driving strong. There are a few things to work on as there is with every race, but I think it's going good. Max will be challenging to beat and I know I will give the race everything I have tomorrow. I also have the best people cheering me on, my family is here this weekend and I hope to make them proud." He smiled at me.

I kissed the tips of my fingers in his direction.