Hi everyone!
Because I have reached 500 followers an extra chapter, which is a bit longer than usual as well!
Also, you can still ask Marylinde some questions about whatever you'd like, so don't be shy and put them in the comments! I already have a handful of really fun ones, but I'd love to hear from a couple more of you!
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Circuit de Monaco,
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Saturday
Qualifying hadn't gone as bad as Marylinde had expected in the tight and tricky circuit that was Monaco. She had expected to be somewhere around p10 but instead had come out on top. Four points in the bag for just doing that.
She felt good with the way the car felt on track and how she could slide past the walls like there wasn't just a gap of a centimetre between the car and the wall. It felt natural and it made her feel like this could be her weekend in which she could finally get the number of points she wanted to fight for and not to forget, the win she was longing for.
It had felt weird in the briefing after the qualifying because there was excitement with Marylinde's excellent job in secure pole with two tenths ahead of number two, Callum Ilott. But Mick had crashed and was forced to start from the pitlane because of the changes that had to be made to the car to make sure he could actually race, resulting in some mopping faces and a busy night. People did not know how to feel.
On top of that, neither did Mick and Marylinde towards each other. Marylinde had still not talked to Mick about the potential fact he liked her in a way she did not see him and Mick didn't want to force Marylinde into talking about something she was not ready for, so neither said a word to each other.
Marylinde stood beside the car, bouncing her leg as she watched the engineers do their thing on the car as it stood on the grid, ready to go. The feature race was about to start and she was looking forward to it.
"Good luck." Callum placed his hand on Marylinde's shoulder. "But let's not repeat the last time we started behind each other." Marylinde rolled her eyes.
"And whose fault was that?" She winked. Over time, they had become able to joke about it.
"Yours obviously." They laughed and Marylinde embraced Callum. "I am sorry for dropping the Mick bomb on you. I'm not even sure he still likes you that way. He was just the first person I came up with. Should have known it wasn't him, but-" Callum looked around. "You-know-who." Marylinde chuckled. Callum had been the one to introduce her to the wizarding world of Harry Potter.
"Well, it's out there now."
"Have you talked to him?" Marylinde shook her head. "You probably should."
"I don't think right now is such a good idea. Before I am in the pitlane, I already have to go back to make it back on time." Callum gave Marylinde a pointed look. She knew exactly what he meant. "But I will don't worry."
"Today."
"Someday." Callum shook his head.
"I will drop by at your hotel room tonight and by then you better have spoken to him or I will drag your arse to his room." He turned around and walked back to his own team. Marylinde knew he was right, but she didn't want to talk to Mick. She didn't want to get the answer that Callum had been right in suspecting Mick liked her more than she did him. She was already freaking out at the possibility, knowing would make it all the much worse. Of course, it was possible Callum had been wrong and they would have a good laugh out of it, but the fear for it being true overruled the possibility it was not.
"You're good to go." Gino turned around and smiled at Marylinde who nodded and reached for her helmet. She had to get it out of her mind at that moment, otherwise, it would lead to yet another crash with Callum. She did not want to have to go through that all over again.
With her helmet now on, she got in and closed her eyes. The mechanics left her and she was given the green light for the lap to the starting line. It was time. She was going to go for it. She needed to get a good start and defend into the first corner. From there on she could get her foot on the throttle and drive away hopefully.
"Okay, so get through the first corners unscathed, from there on head down and go for it. This is your race." Marylinde confirmed the message and weaved over the hot track on her way back to the grid. "Good luck."
"Thank you. We're going for the top one here."
"We agree." Marylinde stopped in her box. Now all she had to do was wait for the rest of the grid to come to a halt before the lights would come on.
"They need to hurry, my tires are going to be ice cubes by the time the lights come on."
"Focus Marylinde, besides, it's too hot for an ice cube, so I'm pretty sure it will not be that bad." Marylinde would have flashed her finger, but the first lights suddenly sprung on.
2... 3... 4...
The final sprung on and Marylinde held her breath. As soon as it went out, she let go of her clutch and pressed her foot onto the accelerator. She shot away from the line and quickly found herself in front of Callum who had a poor start. Oscar Piastri tried to go around in the first corner but didn't stand a chance against Marylinde who let her car run slightly wide so Piastri was forced to let her go as he was on the outside. It gave Logan Sargeant a chance to challenge him further into the lap, giving Marylinde some breathing space.
"So head down, head down."
"Will do." Marylinde adjusted her grip on the steering wheel and got into her rhythm. This was her chance and she had to go for it. So far the weekend was treating her great, so she had faith the race would as well. However, nothing was as unpredictable as racing. One small mistake around the tight track in Monte Carlo could be the end of her race in seconds.
Slowly but surely, Marylinde found herself driving away from the pack, sometimes by a couple of thousandths, sometimes with tenths at a time.
"We are slowly reaching the pit window." The yellow-walled tires were slowly started to grain but because Marylinde could keep her own pace, driving in front of everyone else, she felt like she didn't punish the tires as much as she would behind another car.
"I think we can push it back without compromising ourselves."
"In a few laps, we do have a decent window to pit in. You will still come out in front of those who started on the soft compound."
"I think I can keep up with their pace on this compound for a little longer." The team didn't respond immediately. They were discussing what to do. The tire did seem fine on the telemetry, but they didn't want to risk losing their comfortable win to a miscalculation and a set of tires that suddenly went off the cliff.
"Mary, are you sure?"
"A hundred per cent, they are fine."
"Then we trust you. Once your lap times will decrease as the rest increases, we will pull you in immediately."
"Copy." Marylinde returned her full focus to the track, nailing every corner and minimalizing the punishment on the tires. She was yet to make a mistake and Marylinde was dead set upon not making one.
Three laps later, the team came over the radio again.
"Safety car, safety car. Box this lap. Box." Marylinde was lucky, she was just two corners away from the pit entry and quickly made it into the pitlane. The amount of time lost would be marginally smaller than it would have been in a normal situation. The team was fast to replace the medium tires with a set of soft tires and to send her out again. She had lost two places instead of what would most likely have been four or five in a regular pit stop.
"You're behind Piastri, Vips is ahead. Ilott is immediately behind your and Sargeant is behind him."
"How long is the safety car going to take?"
"Should be one more lap. There just was a lot of debris, they didn't feel like they could let the race continue with just a double waved yellow or virtual safety car."
"What tires are they on?"
"Both ahead on mediums, behind you Sargeant on mediums, Ilott on soft."
"Where's Mick?"
"Currently in p11 on the medium compound."
"Shit, he is doing great!"
"Just focus on your own result, we need you to overtake the two ahead as soon as possible, you have thirteen more laps to go. Not endless time." Marylinde nodded.
"Tell me when the safety car is coming in." Marylinde continued to weave around behind Oscar.
"It is coming in next lap. You have twelve more laps to get yourself back to p1." Twelve more laps, divided by two, she would have six laps each to overtake Oscar and Jüri. "Good luck Mary."
"Thanks, guys, appreciated." She took a deep breath. Jüri would get to drive away from the pack first. Marylinde had to be sharp and not be caught by surprise. And so it happened. Luckily, Oscar had been slightly off guard. He reacted a fraction of time later and found himself side by side with Marylinde into the first corner. But this time it was the other way around, it was Piastri who let it run wide and Marylinde had to back down. Luckily, Sargeant was already too busy with Callum to even think of overtaking Marylinde.
"Keep the pressure on him, you're on the newer tire as well as the softer compound," Marylinde confirmed the message. It took Marylinde one more lap to be right back on Piastri's tail, but so was he on Vips. It was into the chicane that Marylinde got past Vips. He and Piastri had been fighting into the chicane past the tunnel and Jüri had been pushed off, giving Marylinde the chance to get past him as well. Just one more place to go with ten more laps. It should be doable. More than ever.
It was within five laps when Marylinde put it next to Piastri's car onto the finish line again. This time she made the move stick. She was back into the lead.
"Great job Mary! Keep this up! Just four more laps, get yourself away from Piastri to make sure he won't overtake you." She did as she was told. She got the hell away from Oscar and four laps later, she found herself screaming with joy over the radio.
"Guys! We did it! We fucking did it!" She was bouncing in her seat. From time to time, she was quite a bit like Lando.
"Congratulations Mary! It is very well deserved! But stop bouncing before you break your seat. You do have to drive in it tomorrow as well." Marylinde started to laugh.
"We fucking did it, boys! Thank you for the confidence and the amazing pit stop. I wouldn't have been able to do this without you. Also, boys, thank you." She was talking about her friends. "What about Mick? Did he gain a couple more places?"
"He, unfortunately, lost three, he is fourteenth."
"Shit, that's a shame. But there is always tomorrow."
"Exactly and right now, we are going to celebrate this win. Get yourself to the pitlane and in front of that p1 sign!" Marylinde laughed and found her way to the pitlane. Oscar Piastri and Jüri Vips were already standing there. Marylinde parked the car, unbuckled herself and stood on the nose. She threw her hands in the air before jumping off, high into the sky. The cheers of the Prema crew sounded loud and Marylinde jumped into their arms.
"Fucking yes boys." She screamed as she laughed at their loud chants. When they let her go, she pulled off her helmet and gave it to Freja who then hugged her tightly. "I did it," Marylinde whispered.
"I know. I saw and I am proud." Marylinde smiled, tears glossing over her eyes. "I kinda also have a surprise for you." She nodded behind Marylinde who turned around, smiling up at the handsome Alpha Tauri driver.
"Pierre!" She threw her arms around his neck, not even caring about the press surrounding them. "I did it!" Pierre laughed, he had heard her say it to Freja as well. She had just surprised herself more than anyone else.
"I knew you could do it." He whispered, lifting her up off the ground. "But you still had to and even with the most possible amount of pressure on your shoulders, you found a way to do so. You can do anything. And you just proved to everyone your amazing performance last time around in an f1 car wasn't beginners luck, a fluke. It is you, being an incredible driver." Marylinde bit her lip to refrain from blushing. "You're still blushing." Pierre winked. "Now go get the trophy you deserve."