Race days were good, but when it was a warm and sunny day in Imola, it was even better. Emilia would have loved to be spectating the race; getting a nice tan while watching what looked to be an enjoyable race with the Williams starting third and fourth – ahead of the Red Bulls and McLarens. Alas, Emilia was not able to sit back and watch the race, she was participating in it. There would be tomorrow to sun bathe and take in the nice weather before travelling back to England where they would get a week off before voyaging to Spain. Spain would be another sun-bathing opportunity with the hot weather and also a chance for a podium – like todays was.
The team specified that they didn't require a podium out of this race but Emilia felt pressure on her to get several points. There was a large expectation that a podium needed to come out of this race or Spain's race from either driver for them to stay in front of their competitors. These two tracks would be some of their best and they needed to take these opportunities and take away many points.
"How we feeling this morning?" Christine asked cheerily as she entered the room. Emilia was about to start her warm up having had an early lunch. There would be no time after the warm up as she would be needed in the garage and then in the car. An early lunch would have been wonderful if she wasn't so nervous she couldn't eat. Though, this was a regular occurrence. She was sure other drivers had difficulty stomaching a meal before they jumped in the car.
"Good, you?" Emilia wasn't good but the other nineteen drivers weren't good either probably struggling with nerves or pressure. Well apart from Kimi, he never seemed to let the anything get in his way.
"Yeah, ready to get started?" Emilia huffed and got up. The warm up was quick and time flew before Aurelia popped her head in saying she was needed in the garage. Emilia put on her cap and sunglasses before leaving her driver room.
The atmosphere in the garage was incredibly wild and excited. It was busy with people running around making last minute changes to the setup of the cars. Emilia greeted the ones that weren't occupied and carried on through the garage to the pit wall where Jost and Simon were sitting. Emilia fist bumped the CEO and Team Principal.
"Gonna get a good tan out here." Emilia observed.
"Yeah, watch you don't burn." Jost laughed.
"I'll be in a race suit so I can't imagine I'll be the one getting burnt." Emilia defended. "Unless I set the car on fire."
"Morning." George greeted as he strolled over. He appeared pretty calm for saying they were racing in under an hour.
"Gonna get some big points today?" Jost questioned but it wasn't so much of a question more of a command.
"Hopefully." Emilia squeaked. "We just need to drive and then go from there." The mini pep talk was more for herself than the other men surrounding her.
"Yep. I'm sure you'll both do amazing." Simon smiled evidently excited.
"Now you've said that we're going to crash going into turn one." George mentioned. They all laughed awkwardly as they knew how catastrophic it would be if that happened.
"Talking of crashes. I want a clean race from both of you." Jost's tone grew serious as he lectured the drivers. He knew they knew it already but Jost wanted to re-establish it so it was very clear. "No penalties, no dirty driving and no crashing into other drivers on purpose. The last thing I want is penalty points for both of you especially you George." George avoided the CEO's eyes having mounted up quite a few for ignoring double yellows in the previous year. "Am I understood?" Both drivers nodded.
Emilia was into her car afterwards and was feeling ready. She was thinking this could be the last race she got into the car not having a podium. The thought was exciting but she needed to control it as well as manage her adrenaline.
There was a short duration on the grid until the blankets were off and she was driving the formation lap. Emilia tried not to think and just drive. The nerves were definitely there – a lot more than they had been in previous races. But there was a lot of expectation lying on this race. These nerves would do her no good so she shook them off before she parked her car within the boundaries of her box.
There was a longer wait until the lights began to turn on because Emilia qualified better so there were more cars to line up behind her. Emilia had only one car in front of her and that was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton.
Red lights all flicked on. There was a pause. Far longer than the one last week. Or it seemed to be from Emilia's point of view. Then they were off and the race was underway.
Emilia had a good start. It was not as good as George's who was challenging Hamilton going down the straight. Emilia broke hard but cautiously going into turn two not wanting to cause a collision. However, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen had broken even later closing the gap between P4 and P5. It wasn't small enough for him to challenge her for the position yet.
Emilia exited the chicane half a car length of Max having narrowly turned through the corners. The straight was where he began to catch her again. She was going to swoop across the track so she could take the preferred line through turn five. This did not go to plan as Max had gained too much so she would take him out if she moved across. They both broke hard and Max swerved across the track thinking he was ahead and with Emilia braking far too late so contact was made.
The contact lifted her car in the air and Emilia desperately tried to gain control of it but it was useless. Her car was flipped over one time then a half before coming in contact with the barrier.
Emilia's ears were ringing and it had all happened so fast. One minute she was on track breaking into a corner and the next she was upside down against the barrier. She looked around and the barrier was to the left, gravel above her with the track and the side of her car to the right. There was noise in her ears, someone speaking maybe, but she couldn't hear them properly over the ringing.
Emilia's head hurt as well. She felt nauseous. The radio message needed responding to and she knew what they were asking making it an easy response.
"I'm okay." Emilia assured. She figured that she would somehow have to make her way out of the car. Her vision was slightly blurry but the piercing ring in her eyes was quieting. There was a faint roar of cars coming back.
Her body ached everywhere. From her toes all the way through to her head – especially her head and her neck. It throbbed and she needed to get her helmet off to relieve the stress. But sooner than that, she needed to work out how to get out the car. Thinking had gone out the window with her body in shock from the accident.
It was an accident, wasn't it? Max had cut in front of her thinking he was clear of the Williams and wasn't but it was only marginally. And had she not broken too late, she would still be racing. The brakes were still cold and she would have been fine if she'd done it mid race. She wasn't going to be petty and blame Max because they had both misjudged it and she happened to come off worse. Emilia had been clumsy and chosen to work her breaks desperately defending her position which she could have given away and stay in the race. She was alive, it could have been a lot worse.
Emilia knew she needed to unbuckle herself and clumsily did so. By then, there were marshals there offering her their hands to pull her out. They couldn't get very close as the cockpit was in the middle of the car and they didn't want to flip it until she was out.
The steering wheel was next to take out and she just dropped it on the floor while detaching her drinking tube. After that, she was able to get out. Well, apart from the fact that her body was in incredibly sore and unresponsive. To make things worse, she had nothing to grip onto.
There were more people there now presumably the medical car. They reached for her and called for her to get out and she honestly was trying. It was difficult but she pulled herself so her torso was lying face down on the gravel. Her legs were in a bit of a tangle and getting caught on the halo though they got out eventually. She crawled most of her way before people intercepted and pulled her out into the light.
Emilia lay there for a moment breathing giving the people a thumbs up then moving to a seated position against the barrier. Everything in her body screamed but nothing seemed broken or anything, thankfully.
"We need to get you off the track." Someone told her. Emilia nodded and stood up. She was dizzy but made it off track by herself. There was some grass in the shade where she could sit down. That was where she took her helmet off and assessed the damage.
She could see the bottom of the car and had dented the barrier somewhat. Max's car was nowhere to be seen so he had gotten off cleanly. There was displaced gravel that highlighted where her car wasn't airborne and there were not many dents in the gravel at all. She wondered whether she'd caused a red flag as from where she was sitting, there were not flags or boards visible. Her thought was answered as cars flew by under the red safety car.
"We need to get you checked out." The marshal firmly said. Emilia knew there wasn't anything immediately wrong but definitely wasn't feeling good. She nodded and got up following the marshal back to the pit lane as the others cleared up her car.
"I feel sick." Emilia murmured but loud enough for the marshal to hear her. He didn't know what to do and Emilia prayed she could make it to the paddock before she threw up.
Unfortunately, she didn't. She could see the paddock which made it even worse. Her stomach threw up all that day's food and drink. It was vile to see and disgusting to taste. The marshal awkwardly stood and rubbed her back as she vomited on the grass.
The rest of her journey to the pits was fine but she still didn't feel good. Her thinking wasn't clear and logical like it normally would be. She was led into a building where she sat in a room waiting for a doctor.
Once one arrived, the marshal left her and the driver her thanked him many times. Aurelia bounded through the door a minutes later while Emilia was getting her eyes checked. She looked stressed and almost made Emilia feel guilty for crashing.
"You gave me a heart attack, don't ever do that again." Aurelia scolded. She seemed mad for a second then her face softened and gave her best friend a big hug. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"Me too." Emilia replied.
"How are you feeling?" The doctor interrupted having assessed Emilia physically.
"I have a really bad headache, threw up on the way here and my body aches especially my neck and head." Emilia responded.
"All your responses and reflexes look good but just take it easy for the rest of the day. Your headache should subside over the course of the day but the soreness will be around for a couple of days. This was your first big crash in F1 so just take it easy, rest up, and you'll be fine." The doctor advised. Emilia listened carefully and nodded. The doctor gave more advice and handed things to Aurelia and leaving them afterwards.
It was the first real chance she had to comprehend what had happened. She broke too late. She made contact. She flipped once then another half and hit the barrier. That meant she it would be her first DNF of the season and no points scored. That also meant no podium. Fuck.
"Are you okay? You seem really out of it." Aurelia questioned concerned. Emilia snapped out of her daydream or at least she wished it was a daydream because then it wouldn't be real.
"I am really out of it, I'm sorry. I'm just trying to piece it altogether because this headache is not letting me think straight." Emilia complained.
"I'm not surprised. It was a horrific crash. You could have died." Aurelia whispered the last sentence almost in disbelief.
"I go into every race knowing that I may not come out of it."
"Why are we getting so deep?" Aurelia changed moods and began laughing.
"You started this not me." Emilia blamed and fake hit her friend.
"I texted your Grandad but you might want to phone him." Aurelia went serious again. Emilia sighed not having even thought of his reaction to her crash. She reached her hand out and called him. It only rang once before he picked up.
"Oh thank God you're okay Em. You really scared me there." Fred breathed when he saw his granddaughter.
"Did you see it?"
"It looked horrendous. I didn't think you were making it out of that. If Verstappen hadn't cut across–"
"Hey, Grandad. It's fine I'm not mad at him. I should have broken earlier. Let's just be thankful that it wasn't a bad crash." Emilia reasoned. She didn't blame Max for ruining her podium chance because she could have prevented it herself. For sure, she was angry at herself for being reckless on the first lap – again.
"Jost wants to see you in the garage." Aurelia intervened following a ping of her phone.
"I'm just coming. Grandad, I'm okay. There's no reason to be mad. I'll call you later after the race?"
"Okay sweetheart; enjoy the rest of the race." Fred exhaled still unhappy and Emilia wanted to stay and talk to him but she had to go. Her Grandad was so protective and caring for her it was incredibly sweet apart from instances like these where he overreacted and shouldn't be worrying so much. It wasn't good for his health.
Emilia got changed before heading into the garage. Everyone acknowledged her and she spoke to a lot of people from her team prior to getting to speak to Jost who was occupied on the pit wall. Her mechanics and engineers had all been really worried and said how bad the crash looked. Emilia still hadn't fully comprehended it all still.
They watched George come in for a pit stop and then went out to see Jost. He apologised for not coming over to them as he was occupied with calling the pit stop strategy.
"How are you feeling?"
"Got a headache but could be a lot worse." Emilia nodded almost smiling. "How has the race been?"
"Bottas crashed so we're up to third with Hamilton and Verstappen ahead. Perez had a slow pit stop so it looks good but there's still twenty laps to go." Jost filled his driver in. Twenty laps? Emilia could have sworn she hadn't been elsewhere for forty-three laps.
"Sounds good. I'm sorry for crashing it was a bad judgement." Emilia apologised.
"I'm just glad you're okay." Jost patted his driver on the shoulder while giving her a sympathetic smile.
Emilia returned to the garage and put on some headphones so she could hear the communication going on between George and his engineer who was also talking to Jost and the strategists. Emilia noticed a few cameras appear and film her for a few minutes then turning their attention to the constant flow of cars coming to change their tyres. She even saw herself on TV a few times though she didn't see her crash until lap fifty where there was nothing going on in the race.
It looked awful. The way she remembered it was so much slower. It was weird like that. People were murmuring in the garage about it and Emilia was almost in disbelief that she had survived that.
"How long was it until I had got out the car?" Emilia asked her engineer.
"We saw you after a few minutes but you were out of the car in under a minute." John replied. Emilia could have sworn it was longer than that. All the things that went through her mind and actually getting out of the car must have taken longer than a minute at least. It puzzled her but they hadn't seen her throw up so that was a positive.
There were ten laps to go and George looked pretty comfortable in third and tensions were high in the garage. This would be George's first podium and Williams first in quite a few years so it was a massive deal. Though all it would take, was one tiny misjudgement, and it would all be over.
Slowly, the lap count went up and the podium became within their grasp. It all went smoothly and the mechanics ran to the pit wall when George drove past cheering him across the finish line. Emilia hugged her best friend and the engineers feeling much better and less guilty as one of them had come out with a podium.
Cheering and excitement went on for ages in the garage with the loud noise hurting Emilia's head but she didn't care. They'd got a podium. She would have loved to get Williams' first of the season but it just wasn't meant to be. Plus, George fully deserved this.
Emilia was still in the garage when George got out his car. She didn't fully feel like going anyway. Her head was still causing her a massive amount of pain despite taking painkillers and being in a large crowd would probably make her dizzy and feel sick again.
It was certainly audible when the other Williams driver had got out his car because the cheers for him were far louder than the ones for Lewis and Max who were on the podium steps regularly. Though Emilia was sure that wouldn't make it any less exciting for them.
The female driver had the whole garage to herself for a minute while everyone was out appreciating George and it did give her a minute to reflect on her race. Her crash had almost been fatal and yes, she knew at any time that she could die while racing but it was closer than she had ever been. Emilia had been exceptionally lucky to get out with just a headache. It made her realise how dangerous it actually was.
Emilia figured she should go and watch George's podium even if she stood by the side. The driver left the garage and headed towards the stage where the ceremony would take place. Crowds of people were swarming and she really didn't want to get in the middle of that. There was a spot in the shade against a building where she would still be able to see the drivers. She hovered there and waited for George come out.
It wasn't long before his name was announced and a boisterous George came out wildly celebrating. He couldn't contain his joy and Emilia couldn't help but smile seeing how happy he was. He waved to all the team and took his place on the bottom step. Max and Lewis joined him so the national anthems were played. Conveniently for George, Lewis was on the top step so the English national anthem played.
Then came the champagne. The song played as the men drowned each other in the bubbly alcohol. They each took sips of it and appeared genuinely content. Emilia watched wondering what it would actually be like to be up there feeling what they were feeling. After today, she could only ever dream. This was their best shot at a podium all year; Spain and Silverstone might be good, but not as good as this.
George was gazing around and spotted his teammate by the side and waved emphatically at her. Emilia smiled and waved back with less ecstaticity but still excited. He sprayed some champagne at her which luckily didn't reach her but the gesture was kind.
Following the end of the presentation, Emilia headed back to the garage and waited for George. She sat down in the garage and got lost in thoughts. Arms wrapped round her torso pulling her off the chair and bringing her out of her daydream. She squealed a little and the noise built up in the garage. It indicated exactly who it was. She hugged George finally being able to celebrate what Williams saw a victory.
"Are you okay?" George asked sincerely when they'd stopped hugging. He had to speak loudly over the roar of the people. Emilia nodded and grinned to convince her that he was. She didn't want to take away his moment with her accident. George seemed satisfied with her answer and they enjoyed the atmosphere.
Eventually, they had to disappear to cover media duties which bored Emilia. Her headache was still bothering her but the nausea and dizziness had gone completely. Most of the questions were on her accident as not much else happened in her race and George's podium of course.
Feeling tired and hungry, she went back to her driver's room before the team meeting. She didn't see why she had to attend as there wasn't much of a race for her to assess. All the attention would be on George and his fifteen points which Emilia was more than happy with.
"What are we wearing tonight then?" Christine enquired enthusiastically. Due to George's podium, Williams decided to celebrate with a big party. Both Emilia's trainer and manager were invited to it as they were part of the team.
"I'm not that bothered about going." Emilia confessed. She wanted a nice bath and to get into bed after that and try to forget this race. Obviously not forget George's third place but try and forget her crash.
"No, you have to come." Aurelia pleaded. Emilia sighed. She knew it would look bad if their own driver didn't turn up despite the fact that she'd had a DNF that race.
"I'll come for a bit but I'll leave early." Emilia decided. She didn't really want to go but at least they would be with her. The likelihood of her drinking was low as well because of her headache – that probably wouldn't be the best combination.
"Are we matching outfits or complimenting them?" Christine queried. Emilia was about to respond but there was a knock at the door.
"Unless you're bringing food you can't come in." Emilia called. She couldn't be bothered to get up and answer it. It wouldn't be anyone from her team so it would be alright to have a joke with whoever was behind the door.
"It's me, Max." The voice replied muffled by the thick door. Emilia peered to the girls beside her who shrugged.
"Yeah, the door is open come in." Emilia shouted and sat up. She knew why Max was here and didn't want to be sprawled all over the sofa when he came in. Max hovered by the door unsure where to stand. "You can have a seat if you want."
"It's alright I have to go in a minute." Max explained. "I just wanted to apologise for making you crash today. It was my fault, I misjudged it. Honestly, I felt so bad when your car flipped."
"Max, it's okay. I'm not mad or anything." Aurelia both gave her a questionable expression. Emilia chose to ignore her. "I should have broken earlier so it was a mistake from both of us but mainly me. I came out pretty clean, I've just got a headache so it's all fine please don't worry."
"If you're sure?"
"Absolutely." Emilia firmly replied.
"Okay, well that's good." Max beamed. "I have to go but I'll see you around and hopefully not in the barriers."
"Yeah, watch your rear mirrors." Emilia teased. Max smiled and left the room shutting the door behind him. Aurelia and Christine immediately turned to her.
"Why do you think that was your fault?" Aurelia enquired. They both looked like they were pretty mad at him.
"You need to chill and remember I'm the driver here. I know what's intentional and what's not and whose fault it was." Emilia rolled her eyes. She had no reason to not believe the Red Bull driver.
"He still crashed into you." Aurelia mumbled grumpily.
"Honestly." Emilia shook her head. There was another knock at the door. "Come in." Emilia invited whoever was behind the door into the room. It was Lando. Emilia hastily sat up again and fixed her appearance.
"Christine, we still need to grab the thing from the garage that I left earlier." Aurelia announced. She and Christine speedily left leaving Emilia and Lando alone in the room. She was annoyed how quickly they'd rushed out.
"Do you want to sit down?" Emilia asked gesturing to the other end of the sofa. Lando still hadn't revealed the reason for his visit. In fact, he hadn't said anything at all. "So, what's up?"
"What's up?" Lando oozed confusion. "Your car flipped over at least once in front of me and you're asking what's up?"
"Am I meant to do something else?" Emilia questioned a tad puzzled.
"You're meant to be freaked out and scared." Lando argued.
"I did most of that upside down so I've run out." Emilia smiled. She was enjoying winding Lando up for once rather than it being the other way round.
"Seriously." Lando leant forward putting his hand on her knee and made eye contact with her. "Are you okay?"
"Lando, I'm fine." Emilia honestly answered. She was fine mostly. Having a crash at that speed was scary especially as her first in F1 but it could have been worse.
"You could have died." He breathed.
"You can die crossing the road." Emilia pointed out. Lando was being way too worried over nothing.
"Stop joking around. I'm actually being serious." Lando was growing bored of her sarcasm which only tempted her to use it more.
"For once." Emilia added.
"No, it's not funny." Lando moved back to where he had been previously sitting. "I was driving my car practically shitting myself because I may have just lost you. I don't even know you that well yet and that chance could have been taken away from me." Lando was being caring but Emilia didn't really want him to be. If she shut him out maybe he'd lose whatever he was trying to get at.
"You don't need to be that worried. I'm here, I'm fine." Emilia really needed her trainer and manager to come back now.
"I know. I just came to check if you were alright." Lando sighed. His face looked grumpy. Emilia wasn't sure what to do next but Lando spoke up again. "Did Max apologise?"
"Yeah he literally just came in a few minutes ago even though it wasn't his fault." Emilia nodded.
"What do you mean it wasn't his fault?" Lando sounded slightly agitated that the Williams driver was taking responsibility for the accident.
"I should have broken earlier because my brakes were cold from waiting." Emilia persuaded. From the look on Lando's face he she didn't convince him.
"He cut across you." Lando argued.
"It was a racing incident. Let's just leave it as that and don't lose your friendship with Max over me." Emilia advised. They sat in silence again and Emilia could see Lando's mind working on something.
"Emi, you scared the shit out of me today." Lando sighed looking up at Emilia. That wasn't what she was expecting him to say but today had been full of surprises. Emilia's heart fluttered at the way he called her Emi. People shortened her name a lot to Em but Emi was new and she more than liked it. "I didn't realise how much you meant to me until I almost lost you today."
Lando didn't say anything else instead reached for the hand that lay on her knee. She let him take it in hers and prayed there weren't any cameras in the room. Emilia tried to stare anywhere other than his face. From the sound of his voice, he was broken by the thought of losing her. Emilia had no idea that he felt that strongly about her. She felt the same but she could never say it to him. It would break the no dating drivers rule.
"Emi, say something." Lando prompted with the nickname bringing butterflies into her stomach. She didn't know what to say. Though she felt the same, she couldn't tell him that.
"I don't know what to say." Emilia croaked. She let Lando hold her hand still and he traced circles with his thumb on the top of her hand. "I can't date you Lando, no matter what I feel about you?"
"Okay." Lando nodded. He was upset, maybe more than she was but he tried not to show it. He wore a brave smile but the hurt was evident in his eyes.
"I'm sorry." Emilia said.
"It's okay." Lando let go of her hand. "I'm glad you're okay though."
"Thank you." Lando got up and left leaving Emilia alone. She wanted to date him. She wanted to be able to hold his hand and give him proper hugs in public and kiss him and call him hers. But she couldn't. This job was too much. Maybe in another world, where they're just average people instead of race car drivers they'd be able to.
Aurelia and Christine came back a few minutes later bubbling with excitement. They sat down and waited expectantly like something was going to happen.
"What?" Emilia questioned grumpily.
"Did you fuck him?" Aurelia asked.
"What no!" Emilia sat up judging her best friend for her rather forward questions.
"Did you kiss?" Christine enquired. Emilia was looking between the two women baffled from their questions.
"Absolutely not." Emilia firmly denied. She didn't understand their obsession with her and Lando. It was never going to happen. "You guys need to stop; you know I won't date another driver."
"Yeah, but Lando's different, the situation is different."
"No." Emilia shook her head not giving in.
"We see how you look at him." Christine took the volume of her voice down a notch being more sensitive. Emilia sat there and ignored her friends. She didn't know it was obvious the way she looked at him. Lando had worked out that she liked him just the way he liked her. But she couldn't date him, it would never work.
"I can't." Emilia reiterated. Her two friends slumped back disappointed with her response. They didn't know it but Emilia was more upset than they were about it.
"Right, come on we need to go to debrief then party time!" Aurelia perked up and became livelier as the sentence went on practically singing the last two words. The three of them left the room and went to the meeting that thankfully didn't drag on. Emilia spoke to her a teammate a bit more who was seeping happiness and the female driver hoped he could pass some onto her.
They didn't have long to get ready for the party at the hotel which didn't help Emilia beat the conception that she was always late to gatherings. However, she had only packed one dress making her decision of what to wear slightly easier. Aurelia and Christine were also getting changed in her room making the bathroom almost occupied at all points with people using the mirror, toilet or hairdryer. The rest could be done in her bedroom.
Despite the excitement of the other two, Emilia did not want to go out and celebrate. Her head was still hurting and her body still ached making it not ideal for a party setting with flashing lights and high heels. She told herself to stay for a few hours before leaving to get into bed early. The Brit would also not drink to lessen the effects of the crash as alcohol would surely make it worse.
Eventually, they were all ready and surprisingly on time for once. There was a function room of the hotel that had been decorated with Williams signs and colours. Music was thumping and disco lights flaring vividly making Emilia feel queasy already. She didn't think the doctor that saw her this afternoon would be pleased with her going to this but she didn't want to let George down.
Christine and Aurelia went off to get drinks and Emilia having decided not to drink was left standing by herself. She saw George in the corner and went over to speak to him. He was laughing with his trainer and waved at his teammate when he saw her coming over.
"Alright?" George asked and Emilia nodded with a smile. He seemed elated and a really good person to be around right now. His grin was cemented onto his face never leaving it throughout the evening. "Should you be here?"
"Probably not but I couldn't miss it." Emilia smiled.
"Ah I don't mind. I wouldn't have noticed if you weren't here." George teased. Emilia folded her arms. "Nah only joking." George put his arm round her pulling her towards him planting a kiss on top of her head and letting her go again. Emilia was not expecting that.
"How much have you had to drink?" Emilia questioned.
"Way too much." Aleix responded. Emilia nodded and spent at least an hour talking to the pair who were joined by several other team members all congratulating him. Jost called him over to speak to everyone and was handed a microphone. Emilia didn't think this was the best idea seeing as he was slightly drunk but Jost didn't seem to acknowledge that.
"Hi everyone. Just wanted to thank the team for all the hard work they've put in across the weekend. The car was very fast at this track all thanks to your hard work. I think I knew the moment I got the podium was... when I crossed the line after I'd completed all the laps and not a moment before. Unlike my teammate who didn't even complete one." George remarked making the room full of 'ooo' sounds from the cheeky comment. Emilia just rolled her eyes. "You did give us all a heart attack so please don't crash like that next time." There was a hum of agreement with him. Jost took over deciding he should take the microphone before George said anything too stupid. He gave some motivational words praising the team not too dissimilar from what George had verbalised.
He came over still smiling. Emilia wondered how his face still didn't hurt from all of it but she couldn't relate to the feeling of getting a first podium. She was marginally annoyed at George though he meant no harm with his comment.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to be that mean." George dropped the smile so he could genuinely apologise to his teammate.
"It's fine, don't worry about it."
"I'm being serious though. My heart genuinely stopped when I saw you in my rear mirror." George shouted over the music but there was still a sincere tone in his voice. Emilia wasn't sure how to reply to that. She was saved though by her trainer and her best friend who were far drunker than the third place driver. They dragged her off to dance for a bit.
"I think I'm going to go to bed." Emilia sighed when they finally sat down again. The other two girls whined for her to stay but when she declined, they didn't pursue the matter further. Emilia said goodnight to Jost and George again letting them know she was leaving and headed up the stairs to her room.
She was recommended a long bath but it was so late she didn't want to. Emilia made a mental note to get a massage in the morning from her likely hungover trainer. She changed and climbed into bed thankful to be there.
The crash hadn't changed her necessarily; instead opened her eyes more to the danger that she had been warned about so many times but never experienced properly on a scale like that. Sure, she'd had crashed before but none where she flipped over like that. It made Emilia extremely grateful to be in her bed that night and not in a hospital ward or worse.
Well George's race ended up slightly different here to how it actually ended oops. I wrote this chapter before last week's race so that didn't influence it at all. Big shame George didn't get any points in Imola but he'll have another chance I'm sure.
When I started writing this chapter, I was worried about it not reaching 3000 words and then somehow it ends up being over 6500 making it the longest by far. Do you guys have a preference on chapter length, shorter or longer ones?
I hope you enjoyed and have an amazing rest of your day <3