Next To You [ Lando Norris ]

part 16

"Max, keep pushing," Gianpiero says through the headphones and I can feel the tension rise in the garage as Carlos manages to get past him in the corner.

"Copy" Max answers quickly and as they get out of the corner, Max takes back his position and everyone in the room lets out a big sigh. "Good job, keep pushing. Gap to Bottas is 1.5 seconds."

"That was so close," Cate says and immediately turns her attention back to her boyfriend, who is currently 12th, one place before Lando. And I would be lying if I said that I wouldn't want Lando to overtake Pierre, but I'm not gonna say that out loud to her.

"Woah Carlos is off the track!" I hear Cate say and my head immediately shoots towards the screen, which shows Carlos having trouble with his car and I feel bad for him. No driver wants to have trouble with the car during the race.

"Is there any damage, Max?" Gianpiero asks and I fiddle with my fingers, hoping there isn't anything wrong with his car. "No, seems to be okay," Max says back and everyone in the garage sighs in relief. "Copy that. Gap to Bottas is now 1.7 seconds. Keep pushing, Max." "Copy."

--

"Great job, Max. You have the fastest lap now." Gianpiero says and I smile as I watch him take his position in front of Bottas. It's 10 laps later and he has managed to overtake Bottas. He is doing great, but he is still far away from that podium and I'm hoping he gets there eventually. "Copy. The tyres don't feel great." Max answers. "Copy. Engine 6, position 5. It's not urgent." Gianpiero informs and Max continues his race.

It's a nerve-wracking race. 6 laps after he overtook Bottas, Bottas managed to get past Max again, which put Max in 5th position. He was not happy with that, but he kept his head down and gave it everything he had. In lap 38, to our surprise, Pierre was 6th, due to a safety car, and that really boosted the ambience on his side of the garage, only to be disappointed again when Pierre fell back to 10th within the next 8 laps. Cate was experiencing a rollercoaster of emotions today.

During the whole race, my eyes kept wandering back to the big screen, automatically finding his name. Lando Norris.

He was doing so good, every time I looked back I saw his name going up and I would be lying if I denied that I let out a little squeal every time he gained a position, earning me strange looks from the garage, but I didn't care.

Max is almost at the last corner of the track and he is going to finish fourth. Knowing him so well, I know he is not gonna be happy being fourth. Max is someone who will only be truly satisfied when he wins, or when he knows that it's the best he could've done that day, but he missed some opportunities and that's what he hates the most when he knows he could've had done things a little bit different and better, but I was happy that he was just back in one piece.

"Good job, Max. It was a good race, you did a great job." Christian says into the radio. "Yeah, I could've done better, but it's okay. We'll get there next time." Max answers and I know that my prediction, about him not being satisfied with his result, was true.

My eyes wander back to the screen and I watch Vettel cross the line. Next up on the screen is Lando and he is finishing 6th, which is a fantastic achievement and I can't help but smile at the screen. "Well, if it wasn't obvious before, it is now." Cate laughs and I roll my eyes at her. She shakes her head while still giggling and jokingly tickles my side. "Someone is having a biiiiig crush." I burst out in laughter as her fingers tickle my side, earning some annoyed looks from the people around us and Cate immediately stops which makes me laugh even louder. "Just so you know, it was way too obvious that you were supporting him. Way too obvious." She winks and I roll my eyes before she walks away too Pierres side of the garage, leaving me behind with a big smile across my face.