REAL LIFE
The Hungarian sun burned on Amelia's skin as she walked towards the Red Bull garage, not in a McLaren polo for once. As she promised him, she would watch Max and the rest of Red Bull Racing this weekend. Just because her boyfriend drove for McLaren didn't mean she couldn't look at other teams. Over the past few weekends, she'd visited team Williams often enough because of George. McLaren and Williams were, of course, her favorite teams, but without a doubt came Red Bull Racing next. In doing so, she deviated from the rest of her family, who were fans of Mercedes. But she didn't like them as much as they did, especially after last race weekend. That weekend had caused a lot of drama. Worse than all the hassle with Lando's ex, which she still felt wasn't over. She started the race in the McLaren garage, but she quickly ran to the Red Bull garage to ensure her Dutch friend was all right after the massive crash. The race continued. Lewis received what she believes was a fair penalty and eventually won the race. She didn't think it was unfair, unlike many fans. Lewis had driven back to the front from his penalty. But she had to admit that she was a bit ashamed of her compatriot when she saw him celebrate his victory, which she said to the 7-time world champion. Not that he cared much about that. And that didn't surprise her either. She had been talking to the Brit several times. She always thought he was a nice guy and respected him. The only thing she often noticed was that he cared little for the opinions of others. Sometimes it was positive, this time negative. Lando had dragged in a steady P5, something he could be proud of even though he wasn't. But hey, it's Lando, one of the most self-critical people in the entire paddock.
The week between Silverstone and the Hungaroring should have been a week of rest. Lando and Amelia tried to live past the fights that played out in the F1 world and focus mainly on Amelia's move. She had finally received the key to her first apartment. During the rainy days that were supposed to represent the English summer, they were mainly busy transferring her things to her new place. In addition to the move, summer vacation also had to be planned. Both had been given two weeks off from headquarters. They were thinking about going on holiday together but decided to go on a trip with some relatives and friends anyway. It was mainly Lando's friends and family who went along. Most of Amelia's friends were girlfriends of other drivers who had already planned their vacation and wouldn't be able to go with her and Lando. Amelia was unsure whether she would go with Lando's friends and family since she didn't know many of his friends. But her boyfriend insisted she go with him and secured a place for Amber, Amelia's only single friend. Because Mia, well, she and Daniel were serious now. They were very closed about their relationship, unlike Amelia and Lando, but by now, they had told their friends that they were a couple. Much to Amelia's happiness, of course, she couldn't be happier for her best friend. That Amber would come along was what eventually persuaded Amelia to go to warm Croatia.
The two have not had a tranquil week. Before she knew it, she was already crossing the paddock here. This time it was the Hungaroring paddock, meaning it was the last race before the summer break. But it also meant that they are already halfway through the season. The time flew by quickly. Her new, busier life didn't help either. On the contrary, it just made the time go faster. But the life she had now created made her so happy. Lando was undoubtedly the one she owed most of it to. A smile appears on her face as she thinks about how grateful she is for him and how happy he makes her. His bright blue eyes staring at her as often as they can. His loud laugh always making her laugh too. His occasional childish behavior always cheering her up. If he wasn't in Daniel's trailer at the time, who knows what would have happened. She doesn't even want to think about it.
The loud music coming from the Red Bull garage is what startles her out of her mind. She walks in on Max's side and sees the guys in the dark blue overalls busy working on the RB16 with the number 33 on the nose to get it ready in time for the race. Max also walks into the garage from the other side, along with his PR Vicky. While Max hangs around with his engineers, Vicky walks her way with a blue Red Bull shirt in her hands.
"Here, Max made me give this to you. Otherwise, you weren't allowed to be here," she chuckles and hands the t-shirt to Amelia. She unfolds the shirt and takes a good look at it, then she piles it up again and places it over her handbag.
"If I put that on, I won't be allowed to go into my own house," Amelia jokes, causing Vic to laugh too.
"Come on. I'll show you your seat on the pit wall,"
The two of them walk across the pit lane. All but one of the seats are occupied by different engineers from the Red Bull Racing team. Only the seat next to the big boss Christian Horner himself is empty.
"That's your chair," Vicky says as they approach the wall.
"Are you sure? Shouldn't someone else important be here?" Amelia asks as she ducks under the bar.
"No, this chair is completely free," The two ladies turn to Christian, who has now turned his chair towards them. Gratefully, Amelia takes a seat and takes the headphones that the team boss gives her.
"I think you'll be fine," Vicky smiles at the guest. "See you after the race," Vicky says goodbye to the boys and Amelia, then turns to walk back into the garage.
Although it just seemed to be a sunny race, the first raindrops are now really falling. Amelia looks at the radar diagonally in front of her and sees that the rain they hoped would pass them is about to come over them. The tents and umbrellas are already being lifted out to keep all the cars dry, and the slicks have been exchanged for intermediates. At first, it was so quiet on the pit wall. Now there was a lot of discussion with both drivers about which strategy they were going to maintain this race. Amelia followed everything through her headphones, but there was so much talk in code that she understood very little. After about twenty minutes, everyone is ready, and on the screens in front of her, Amelia sees that everyone was prepared to start the race. The formation lap is run, and the drivers take their place on their grid. The red lights go on and off, and the race cars quickly leave their positions despite the rain. Even though she's here at Red Bull, Amelia only watches Lando's start. He has one of his best starts ever and passes Bottas and Perez in no time. Inside, Amelia cheers until Bottas crashes into Lando's papaya McLaren from behind. The Brit loses control of his car and drives into Max's Red Bull without being able to do anything against it. The guys on the wall are yelling loudly at their screens as both of their cars have been shoveled. Max seems to be able to drive on, but Checo is forced to pull over his car. On the small screen in front of her, Amelia searches for Lando's car. His entire front wing is off, and there is a lot of damage to his car. She bites her lip. That doesn't look good. Soon the red flag is raised, and the vehicles that can continue drive to the pit lane. Max's car stops right behind the pit wall. Amelia turns and looks at the Dutchman's car. A whole part of the side was gone. Immediately the mechanics come running out of the garage with tape and all sorts of other tools to fix Max's car. This was not the revenge the Red Bull Racing team had hoped for. Amelia sees Max get out of his car in frustration and walk into the garage, Checo chasing him. She looks further into the pit lane and sees Lando's McLaren in the distance. She turns to Christian and takes off her headphones.
"Is it okay if I go and see how things are at Lando?" she asks him.
"Of course, go ahead. We're busy fixing Max's car here anyway," Christian pats her on the shoulder. Amelia nods at him in thanks and sprints through the drizzle to the McLaren pit wall. There she finds Lando in his overalls with his red Coca-Cola drinking bottle in his hands. His eyes are absent while his race engineer says all kinds of things to him. He clearly isn't listening and is just focused on his mechanics busy working on his car, hoping they'll be on time to fix it. He looks up when he sees her running out of the corner of his eye.
"Hey," she says breathlessly and quickly wraps her arms around him as she crawls under the bar. He curls his arms around her and takes in her scent again, which he hasn't been able to smell all day. "Hi," he whispers back and releases her after a few seconds.
"How's it looking? Can you continue?" she asks, concerned, putting her arm around his waist. He shrugs and takes a sip of his water.
"I don't know. It doesn't look good, and a lot needs to be done, so I'm afraid not,"
Slowly the disappointment appears in his eyes. One of the chief mechanics comes over to them and says something softly to Lando's race engineers. Their gaze quickly changes, which signifies to both Lando and Amelia that Lando's race ends here. Fantastic, he couldn't even do one lap. A deep sigh is clearly heard from Lando. Amelia turns her gaze to him and presses her lips to his cheek.
"There's nothing you can do about this. You know that right?" she assures him and rubs his back reassuringly.
"Yeah, I know. It's just fucked up," he mumbles, biting the straw on his drinking bottle. Amelia chews her lip and looks out over the pit lane, not knowing what else to say to Lando. When she looks to the right, she sees Max walking. Lando sees him too and extends his hand to give him a fist pump.
"I'm sorry, mate," Lando apologizes, and Max immediately shakes his head with a smile.
"Ah, you can't help it. It's just shit that I'm being knocked off the track by a Mercedes for the second time," he winks at Lando, causing Lando to let out a short chuckle as well.
"Better luck next time. But I came to pick up my guest again since the race is about to start again," the Dutchman continues, looking at Amelia.
"I'm coming," she says, and Max walks back to his car.
"Do you mind if I go back? I promised Max to watch this race with them," she asks Lando, who immediately nods.
"Sure, I'll be fine. I'll just sit here for a while to help with Daniel," Lando reassures her and kisses her quickly before she walks away from him. With a smile on his lips, Lando watches after his girlfriend before heading into the garage to change and prepare for the rest of the race.
Halfway through the race, Amelia had switched teams. She was linked with Williams for the second half, who were currently on double points. This would also be George's first points for the team. It would mean a lot to him if she was there for him at the end of the race along with Carmen. Together with her and Sandy, Nicolas's girlfriend, they watched the race tensely. It took forever for Ocon to be flagged as the race winner, but the first points for Williams this season were finally in. The entire crew flew into each other's arms as they celebrated their 10 hard-earned points. The three girls had put their arms around each other and were jumping for joy. It may not have been a lot of points, but it meant an incredible amount to the whole team. This was a sign that they were back, that they still had what it takes to drive for the points. The fact that half the grid hadn't finished didn't count. It took a while before the cars were back in Parc Fermé. Amelia watches George get out of his car and is immediately hugged by Carmen. A smile forms on her lips as she sees how happy George is. After letting go of his girlfriend, he quickly walks over to his little sister, who is waiting for him with great pride.
"You're here," she just hears him say above all the noise as she feels his arms around her. She nods vigorously against his chest. "Of course I'm here. You didn't think I'd miss this moment," she says with a laugh and releases him after a while. "I'm so so proud of you," she smiles and sees tears welling up in his eyes through his visor.
"I finally did it," he finally realizes. A lump can be heard in his throat, and he tries to clear it by coughing a few times. Amelia chuckles for a moment and then pats him on the shoulder.
"Go celebrate with your team. I'll see you again tonight," She gives him one last hug and then heads back to the Red Bull garage. On the way, she passes the McLaren garage and sees Lando inside talking to Daniel. She gives a wave to the boys, who wave back with a small smile and then continues walking towards Max and the rest of team Red Bull.
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