WORKING FOR THE KNIFE ━ lando norris.

IX. Small Steps

   

   

Comfortably reclined in her seat, nestled deeply into the heart of the car, Annika waited to be released for the first round of qualifying in Miami. Her visor was up, and there was a camera crew in the corner of the garage, filming anything of her that was visible, meaning her eyes, the bridge of her nose, the sweat that had already begun to gather beneath her lashes. She did her best to ignore the cameras. Whether they were filming for the live broadcast or for Netflix, she couldn't tell.

Sleep had been hard to come by, but she made it work. As long as she was able to drive, she could make it work.

Today, Mercedes was aiming for a double Q3, and potentially even putting Lewis into the top three. Both cars had been given upgrades to the limited-slip differential, which had so far seemed to make a difference around the sharper turns. This adjustment was primarily in preparation for Monaco ─ a war in its own right, one that Annika was not excited for.

At last, the countdown was finished and the tyre warmers were taken off, and Annika shook herself, fighting for alertness. In the warm, reclined seat, it was rather easy to get sleepy. She flipped her visor down and pulled out of the garage to begin her out lap.

Several cars were already out on the track ahead of her, already warming up and priming for their hot laps, so she took her opening lap easy, being wary of the flyers coming up behind her, keeping a low profile and generating warmth in the car. She watched a Williams speed by, an Alpha Tauri, a Haas ─ and then she had made her full lap.

"Get ready to push whenever you can," Lyndon's voice said in her comms.

"Copy." Annika flicked up her gears and went full throttle across the starting line, beginning her flying lap with a promising roar from the engine.

She wasn't even finished with the first sector before she was experiencing her first problem; understeering around a turn that nearly dragged her sideways into the barriers, the same mistake she had made during qualifying in Bahrain. Lyndon was back to her by the time she had righted herself, "Abort the lap."

"Yeah. Sorry. I need to pay more attention," she said anxiously as a Red Bull flew by her.

As if he could read her thoughts, Lyndon said, "Don't pay attention to them. Just focus on your car. You've got plenty of time."

Annika forced herself to take a deep breath and shook herself again, discarding her sudden fear.

She harvested energy for the rest of the lap and then started up again, going full throttle down the opening straight. The wind was making itself known now ─ a fact that made Annika rather nervous.

She passed the curve that had ruined her original lap and slid into the second sector, feeling her time, knowing she was doing well. The DRS zone brought more speed, and she very well could have been flying.

More curves, another DRS zone, and she crossed the line at a speed that made her entire body flicker and spark.

"P2. P2. Excellent work."

Annika pumped her fist and dropped a gear or two for her cool-down lap.

She took another couple of laps, but was unable to beat her previous best, much to her own nervousness. By the end of Q1, she was down in thirteenth, dangerously close to the knockout zone. Her lap was good enough to keep her in, but only barely.