Swerve | 𝑷.𝑮.

Part 19

Francesca was lapping cars now, begging with everything in her not to get taken out.

She swooped past the McLaren of Lando, putting a car between herself and Max, but Lando had blue flags and the instruction to let Max past anyways.

So it wasn't long before the two Red Bull's were back at it again.

Side by side into one corner, Francesca slightly ahead into the next, zooming off down the straight with DRS off of the Haas in front of her with Max on her tail.

Magnussen, Albon, Bottas.

The gap between all the drivers evened out as she got closer to the top 10.

"It's lap 38 out of 50 of this race and Francesca Lewis leads from Max Verstappen."

"Verstappen, 0.3 behind."

"Copy."

Checking her mirrors for the other Red Bull, Francesca managed to bang in the fastest lap of the race. She knew that Max wouldn't be protecting his tyres as he tried to gain on her and get past so she played that to her advantage.

As the laps continued to tick past, Francesca only stayed ahead.

She had a couple of close calls as more cars darted out of the pit lane with cold tyres, but each time, she almost predicted the lock-up and managed to back off of lapping the car or gain extra speed to get past.

Her heart had never beat so fast before.

"Okay, Fran. Two more laps, Max is 1.3 behind."

Those final two laps felt like they took a century to end.

But as Francesca rounded the final corner, almost the entirety of Red Bull were hanging over the catch fencing and she could almost hear the cheers as she passed by them, watching the chequered at wave wildly in the air, signalling the end.

"FRANCESCA LEWIS WINS THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX! WHAT A RACE!"

"P1! FRAN! P1!" Hugh cheers.

"I'M THAT BITCH! DAMN RIGHT!"

"YOUR THAT BITCH!"

The circuit had never been more alight with shouts and cheers.

As Francesca completed her cool down lap and brought the car into Parc Ferme, she had never felt more like she owned the world than she did in that moment.

She climbed out of the car as quickly as she could, balancing herself up on top of the halo and pretending to play the air guitar to the music she could barely hearing because it was drowned out by the shouts and cheers of Red Bull and Aston Martin singing for Fernando.

Her signature celebration echoed on tv screens around the world.

The woman jumped down from the car and sprinted for the team who were waiting for her, Max did the same after getting P2 and Fernando in P3 rushed for the awaiting Aston Martin team.

Francesca was almost in shock as she was grabbed by her team.

Christian had the biggest grin on his face.

Niki was crying.

Jos Verstappen did not look happy at all.

Max turned to his teammate once she had gotten over the initial shock of the win.

And he pounced on her so harshly that their helmets smacked together.

🏎️💨

"I think I'm in shock."

"You won, Fran! You won!"

No one had never seen Max Verstappen so upbeat about coming second.

The cooldown room displayed scenes of excitement, with Max and Francesca jumping in circles and dragging Fernando in when he arrived before they sat down.

"I can't believe you did that." Fernando chuckles.

"Neither can I." Francesca shakes her head.

The tv in the room displayed some of the on track battles and just as they all looked over to it, the lock-up of Nico Hulkenberg which nearly had Francesca in the barriers played.

"My heart was in my throat." Francesca says.

"How did you manage to avoid that?" Max asks.

"No idea." She shakes her head with a laugh.

The camera in the room zoomed in on the woman and she gave it a wink before laughing at something Fernando had said.

As they were bustled out for the podium, Max and Francesca were arm in arm.

You could hear the cheers outside as Fernando and Max walked out onto the podium and received their trophies, Niki stood alongside Francesca, joining her on the podium.

The screaming and shouting only grew louder when Francesca appeared.

She jogged out onto the podium, grinning and waving before she climbed up to the top step. Being presented with her trophy and a shake of her hand before she hoisted it up into the air and made the Red Bull team, her fans and herself scream in joy.

When the Austrian and French national anthems began to play, she didn't cry this time.

She stood proudly with her hands behind her back, unable to stop smiling as she looked out over the crowd below. Christian, Jos, Hugh, GP and Kelly Piquet were front row.

Along with Pierre and Charles.

The second she could, Francesca grabbed the champagne bottle and turned to Fernando.

The Spaniard was covered in the sticky drink by the two Red Bull teammates, aiming his own back at them before Francesca turned around and went for Niki who had already poured the liquid down her back. The smile on her face represented nothing other than pure joy and happiness and she was the only thing that anyone could focus on.

Remembering her words from before:

"The day I add this track to my list of wins is the year I become world champion."

She couldn't help but smile wider at that thought...