Happy two years old to this book, what a day to finish it.
This is one massive chapter, enjoy <3
"Good morning." Lando mumbled in Emilia's ear waking her up.
"What time is it?" Emilia asked keeping her eyes shut. She had been awake for a while but she lay there waiting for her alarm to go off.
"The alarm is going to go off in a minute but I was already awake so I turned it off." Lando replied wrapping an arm around Emilia.
"I don't want to get up." Emilia answered pulling the covers over her head. It was a mix of her not wanting to start the day because she was so nervous for the race but Emilia also didn't want the day to end because that would mean her time in F1, would be over.
"Do you want to talk about today?" Lando questioned. "Whatever the result is today, it won't change anything between us." Emilia sat up so she could face Lando.
"I know it won't change anything but I'm so nervous I think I'm going to be sick." Emilia admitted. "It's a big race today."
"You weren't nervous yesterday though." Lando pointed out. "What's changed?"
"I don't know. I did this last year as well for the last race in F2. I was fine for qualifying but as soon as race morning turned up, I was shitting myself." Emilia explained.
"You'll be fine. You are so talented and even if you don't get P3 today you'll have done everything you can possible to try and get it. You're unstoppable." Lando replied.
"You're going to have a problem today if I'm unstoppable." Emilia smiled.
"You might be unstoppable but you can be stopped if your car doesn't work." Lando shrugged smiling.
"You wouldn't." Emilia answered throwing a pillow at Lando. The two of them got dressed and Lando headed off to the track while Emilia grabbed breakfast in the buffet.
Emilia did not feel like eating anything. When she was talking to Lando, her nerves disappeared but now that he was gone, she felt very sick again. Emilia pushed her food around her plate knowing that she should eat but she felt too sick to eat. Emilia heard someone move the chair opposite her at the table and sit down. She looked up.
"I am eating." Emilia assured Toto. "You know I get like this before the last race, it happened last year."
"Are you nervous?" Toto asked.
"Of course I am. Are you not?" Emilia replied shoving food in her mouth to prove Toto wrong.
"Yeah I am." Toto stated. "You know you'll be fine today."
"I don't know, I have a tendency to crash. I actually feel more nervous today than I did last year and I only have one Championship to worry about this time." Emilia laughed.
"Whatever happens, you'll have done everyone proud." Toto replied.
"Except my parents but I don't really care about that." Emilia pointed out. She put some food in her mouth and pondered. "Maybe I should have taken the Alfa seat."
"Alfa were not giving you a good deal." Toto responded. "Sure, if you wanted to race that badly in F1 you could have taken it but you stood up for yourself as you always do. It's one of your best attributes but, it does give me a headache with the media some of the time." Toto smiled.
"At the time, I didn't want it that bad but now that I don't have it, I want it." Emilia sighed stabbing at food with her fork.
"Emilia, I like to believe that everything will work out in the end. Look at George, he was stuck at the back for two years and as soon as he gets a competitive car he proves himself good enough for a Mercedes seat. I don't think Lewis will retire this season but he will retire at some point. Then there will be an opening. You can't change the past but you can control the present, which is what you need to do today."
"I am worrying about today, which is why I am not eating." Emilia answered gesturing to her mostly full plate.
"You are already the talk of the paddock, everyone wants you on their team. The result doesn't matter. Williams didn't expect to get P9 let alone P3 so everyone will be hardly disappointed if you don't get it today. You know you're one of the best and I have no doubt that you will show that today and whatever happens with McLaren. Just try your best and that's all that matters." Toto said.
"Thank you Toto." Emilia smiled. She appreciated Toto's advice but was conscious of using up too much of his time. He had two drivers of his own to worry about. "Do you need to go?"
"Yeah I should go." Toto replied checking his watch. "You are welcome to come to our afterparty as well as George and Lando if he doesn't crash into our cars or yours. Good luck, you'll do great but only if you eat some breakfast." Toto emphasised as he got up.
"Yeah I will, thank you. Good luck to you too." Emilia smiled and Toto left. She managed to eat about half of her breakfast. The sickness feeling almost went away but it returned on the way to the circuit either due to Christine's bad driving or the race being that much closer. Christine noticed Emilia's quietness and tried to pump her up.
Emilia's afternoon was packed but it wasn't enough to avert the sick feeling in her stomach. It came to the time where her and George were saying their final goodbyes to the team before the race. They still had to go and warm up before they got in the cars but Emilia had changed into her race overalls anyway. The team gathered in the garage.
"You okay?" George asked quietly while the team were gathering around.
"Yeah I'm just nervous." Emilia replied. Not just nervous for the race but nervous of what she was going to say to the team. "Is it that obvious?"
"Not that obvious. I can do the talking if you want." George offered but Emilia shook her head.
"I want to say something at least." Emilia answered and George nodded. Jost started by saying something.
"Thank you all for joining me in the garage. I mean what a season, wow. We should be so proud of this year. We managed to win two races this season in Monaco and Silverstone."
"And Russia." Emilia added. She could not believe he'd forgotten her win, or maybe he hadn't.
"Oh yes in Russia too. That's three wins. At the end of last season we'd be happy to take three races in the points but everyone's hard work over the winter break meant we produced this." Jost gestured to the car in the garage. "We kept strong throughout the season and didn't drop down the order like our competitors thought we would. And to our drivers, how could I forget, you've added a lot to our team this year and it's a shame to see you leave." Emilia was not convinced Jost thought it was a shame she was leaving seeing as he was the one who dropped her without telling her. "Anyway, I hope next season is a good one, similar to this, except with an exciting new driver line-up. Unfortunately, Nicky could not be here today and Valtteri is obviously racing with Mercedes. But before that, we have to look to today. Hopefully, it will be a good race with lots of points. Good luck everyone, I'm sure it will all run smoothly and then we can party later." Everyone cheered and Emilia clapped and smiled as well but she was unhappy her win was forgotten. It was George's turn next.
"Having spent three years here, this year was definitely the best. The progression I have seen while we've been here is incredible. We've gone from the back of the grid to essentially the front of the grid. If this team keeps progressing, I might be fighting you next season in a Mercedes. I've really enjoyed working here and everyone deserves the victories we've had the season. It's been a good couple of years and thank you to Jost and to everyone for letting me be part of that." George said finishing with a smile. Applause followed. It was Emilia's turn to say something.
"I've only spent a season here but it's been an amazing season despite all the ups and downs. This year for me was a year of learning and everyone has helped so much to do that so thank you. We managed to win three races this year, one of which I won myself and I would have not been able to do without the help from the mechanics, the strategists, the engineers and everyone back at the Grove. I'm very grateful to have had this opportunity even if I was just standing in for Nicholas. It's a shame that I was only hear for a year but this year has been the best of my life both career-wise and personal-wise so thank you for all for being a part of this and for making the beginning of my journey in Formula 1 being so special." Emilia was applauded once she had finished. The group disbanded and everyone went to do their pre-race preparations.
Emilia saw no point in being salty or using it as an opportunity to be spiteful towards Jost. It was an opportunity to look at the positives of the year. Emilia was grateful for the opportunity Williams had given her and for the team working so hard to make the competitive car. That was all true. Emilia wanted to be the better person, to rise above Jost's comments.
"It's a shame we're leaving?" Emilia huffed as she sat down in George's driver room. "I guess it's true for you but he was literally looking for loopholes in my contract. He was looking for any reason to get rid of me."
"And he forgot you won a race." George pointed out.
"How does someone forget that?" Emilia rolled her eyes. "Fucking prick."
"You dealt with it maturely." George said.
"I saw no point making a snide comment then. It was a time for celebration not for insulting Jost. That's for another time." Emilia replied. She still felt sick but had to leave George and warm up.
In no time Emilia was driving out to the grid. There was just under an hour to go until race time and the sickness in Emilia's was not subsiding. Driving her car made it worse and Emilia ran back into the garage to vomit in the toilet. She sat on the toilet shaking after throwing up what little food she had eaten for breakfast and lunch. Great. Emilia gave herself a few minutes to compose herself before returning to the garage to see John. She didn't feel any better.
"Emilia, I was just looking for you. You know the strategy?" John asked and Emilia nodded in response while taking small sips from her water bottle. "You just do your best out there today, I'll keeping the talking from me minimal so you can put your head down. It's been great being your engineer I'll miss you next season."
"Thanks John, you've been the best engineer I've had. I'm glad you came back, I've really needed you at some points this season. You're the reason I got the podium and the win." Emilia answered.
"No, you're the reason you got the podium and win. I just helped you believe in yourself and your abilities and you don't even need me to do that anymore." John smiled.
"Thanks John, I'll miss you." Emilia hugged her engineer then walked back to her grid spot. She had about half an hour until the race started. Emilia had taken up all the information she could and was sitting on the grass listening to music. She still felt sick.
Emilia rushed into the pitlane despite needing to be at the front of the grid for the national anthem. The Williams garage was at the other end of the pitlane. Mercedes was right in front of her and Emilia headed in there. She bumped into Toto who could see Emilia had gone pale. He pointed to a door at the back of the garage which Emilia ran to and only just managed to get there before she vomited again. Emilia took a deep breath. She felt a lot better. She knew she needed to get back out because the national anthem was going to start.
Emilia got up and ran her fingers through her hair trying to look more presentable. She took a deep breath. Finally the nausea had subsided so Emilia hoped that meant she wouldn't be sick during the race. Emilia exited the toilet heading back towards the front of the grid when Toto stopped her.
"You alright?" Toto asked folding his arms.
"Yeah I feel better now." Emilia nodded.
"You'll be fine, good luck." Toto responded.
"Thanks, good luck too." Emilia smiled and jogged to the front of the grid. She had missed part of the national anthem but stood there as if she'd been there the whole time. The anthem finished, everyone clapped and Emilia went to her brief pre-race interview with Sky sports.
"Emilia, how are you feeling?" Jenson Button asked.
"I'm so nervous I've thrown up twice but I'm hoping I'll be fine as soon as I get in the car." Emilia answered quickly. She was definitely coming across as nervous to the viewers.
"What's the plan for today?" Paul di Resta asked.
"Survive I guess. If I keep P5 that's great but the main thing is keeping out of trouble and try and get as many points as possible." Emilia replied.
"Great thanks for your time Emilia." Emilia handed the microphone back and jogged to her spot on the grid. She was hoping to bump into Lando but she didn't see him. Her helmet was on and Emilia was giving the team fist bumps before she got in the car.
The formation lap commenced and Emilia tried to clear her mind and the nerves that had infiltrated her body so she could race. For the final time this season, Emilia lined up on her grid spot doing her little shuffle in her seat waiting for the lights to turn on. The lights turned on then it was light out and away we go.
Emilia floored it being quick off the line. She accelerated down to the first corner where she was careful to not crash into anyone. Checo was in front of Emilia and George was behind so Emilia didn't have to challenge anyone into the first corner. That was a good start to the race.
The cars swooped round turn two then it was flat out to turn five. Emilia had a better exit round the second corner so she could challenge Checo towards the hairpin that was the fifth corner. Emilia made a move down the inside making sure she left room for Checo. She was patient waiting for the corner to open up before slamming her foot on the throttle. Unfortunately for Emilia, the Red Bull had a lot more horsepower than her Williams so Checo flew ahead and Emilia stayed behind in his slipstream. She wouldn't beat him on the straights without DRS.
DRS was enabled on lap three and Emilia was within a second of the Red Bull in front so she had the opportunity to attack Checo. Emilia raced Checo down to turn five where the first hairpin was, he won that race but it meant Emilia would have DRS coming down the straight. With the DRS, Emilia was able to overtake Checo with the extra twelve miles per hour. Checo didn't fight much into the corner and that's where Emilia realised she had gone wrong.
Emilia passed the next DRS detection point ahead of Checo and he easily overtook her on the straight that followed so she was back to fifth place. Luckily, Emilia was a quick learner. On lap four, Emilia waited until the second straight to overtake Checo and move herself up into fourth. Following the second straight, Emilia was just ahead coming into the hairpin that was turn nine. However, Emilia took too much speed going wide and off the track. She remained ahead of Checo so Emilia claimed P4.
"Emilia we need to give that position back." John informed.
"I was already ahead I didn't gain an advantage." Emilia argued.
"We need to give it back before the stewards intervene and give us a penalty." John replied. Emilia decided to listen to John because he probably knew what he was talking about. Though, Emilia wanted to give the position up tactically. There was DRS detection point and Emilia wanted to make sure she was behind Checo when she reached it.
After turn three, Emilia slowed down and moved off the racing line to let Checo past but as soon as he was in front of her Emilia was back on the throttle losing as little time to him as possible. It was a couple of tenths but she would gain those back with the DRS.
Once again, Emilia went for the move on Checo down the second straight this time on the inside rather than the outside. Checo was not giving Emilia a lot of room and squeezing her almost off the track possibly because he knew what was coming. Turn ten had just about enough room for two cars but turn eleven certainly didn't. But which one would back out first? Emilia held her breath having the outside line for turn ten that lead to turn eleven and both of them turned into the corner. Checo was really close to her car.
Emilia got a double win out of that corner. Not only did Checo's front wing not make contact with her rear right tyre, Emilia moved up to P4 as Checo backed out of the corner. She breathed a sigh of relief and focused on getting away from Checo. The Red Bull was a much faster car especially down the straights and Emilia needed to work out how to stay ahead.
For the last section of lap five and first section of lap six, Emilia pushed hard. She needed to give herself the biggest advantage over Checo by making the slipstream as small as possible. Down the first straight, Emilia's eyes were glued to her rear mirrors. It looked like Checo had DRS but she expected he would as half a lap is realistically not long enough to create a one second gap.
Checo didn't get close enough to make a move on the first straight as he was too far back but he still had another straight before Emilia was likely to be free from his grasp for that lap. On the second straight, Checo gained on Emilia who forced him to take inside line. The Williams came into the corner first slamming the door shut on Checo who then couldn't overtake Emilia.
"Watch the tyre wear." John warned once Emilia had completed the overtake. Emilia took that as a sign to not fight Checo as that was not who Williams' battle was with. But for now, Emilia was in front so Checo had all the work to do. There was also a gap between Checo and the car in P6 so Emilia didn't have to worry about that for now.
Checo must have been given the same message because he did not push Emilia and the gap between them slowly increased. Emilia was meeting the lap times she had been set so she must have just been faster than Checo on raw pace.
After the short battle with Checo, Emilia's race was fairly uneventful. That was until everyone started pitting. Emilia was left out for a couple laps longer than George because she felt her tyres were still good.
"Just leave me out as long as possible." Emilia said. Before the pit stop, there was a six second gap to Checo, Emilia didn't want to come out behind him so she wanted to wait to pit but not too long that she would be behind Checo.
"Copy, if tyres start to drop off, let us know." John answered. Emilia wanted to ask about the Championship and how George was doing but that information was not going to help her race.
Emilia was left out another five laps or so before being called into the pits. It was about ten laps after George had pitted so she would have much newer tyres than most other cars around her and Checo didn't seem to be catching too much either.
The pit stop was smooth and Emilia was put on to hard tyres that would last until the end of the race. Checo was a couple of seconds behind Emilia but she got her tyres warmed up before he had the opportunity to overtake. Again, Emilia just seemed to be faster than him because the gap between her and Checo increased. There were still around fifteen laps to go and Max Verstappen was around seven seconds ahead of Emilia.
"George has just come into the garage to retire from the race because of a terminal issue." John said. He had been relatively quiet not communicating much with Emilia as requested.
"What? Why?" Emilia asked.
"We spotted an issue with the car and brought him in to retire the car before he broke down on track." John answered.
"So what does that mean?" Emilia questioned wanting to know where it left Williams in terms of the Championship.
"Ricciardo and Norris are currently P7 and P8 so if they stay where they are you need to finish in at least P3 for us to get P3 in the Championship." John informed.
"You need me to overtake Max?" Emilia asked. Max was still in a Championship battle with Lewis so he would want to avoid a collision as much as Emilia did.
"Affirm. You are half a second quicker per lap that gives you five laps to make an overtake." John replied.
"Cool, I'll get us on the podium." Emilia answered.
"Emilia there's just one more thing." John said. "Max needs to stay P3 to win the Championship. If you overtake him and Lewis stays P1, Lewis wins the Championship."
"So there's two Championships depending on whether I make an overtake or not. Great." Emilia replied. She would have not rather been told that as it only put more pressure on her shoulders and that was not something that would be helpful. "Okay, I'll see what I can do. I'll need silence unless it's really important but keep me updated on lap times."
"Copy."
Emilia put her head down and spent the next ten laps catching up Max. At first, Emilia was only a tenth or two faster which would not be enough but Emilia didn't panic. Panicking was the worst thing she could do. As the laps went on, it was evident that Max was suffering from more degradation than Emilia was probably because her tyres were newer. This meant the increments between their lap times increased so Emilia was catching Max by a second a lap with six laps to go.
On lap fifty-three out of fifty-eight Emilia was within DRS but only just about. Emilia was not close enough to make a move but she had to be patient. This was going to be the most difficult overtake of Emilia's career so far.
Lap fifty-four started and Emilia felt close enough to Max to make a move down the second straight. The hairpin that lead to the first straight came quick and Emilia successfully manoeuvred around accelerating up the straight. The combination of DRS and a slipstream allowed Emilia to gain on Max. She pulled out of the slipstream pondering on a move but Emilia was too far away and returned back to behind Max as they hit the braking point.
The second straight was another chance to attack Max and this time Emilia was closer. Max kept his car on the outside line giving Emilia the inside. The second hairpin arrived and Max squeezed Emilia as tight as he could without crashing into her. Was it legal? Yes. Was it sportsmanlike? Probably not but what did Emilia expect from a man defending his World Championship? Max was going to give it absolutely everything.
With three laps to go, Emilia was within three tenths of Max as they crossed the start/finish line. There was an opportunity to go for the move in the first corner but that was a risky move and not one Emilia thought she could pull off, if only she was closer.
They reached the first straight, and the first real overtaking opportunity, and Emilia was so much closer to Max. She used some but not all of her overtake button saving the majority for the second straight. Once again, Emilia made a move down the second straight and once again Max forced her to go down the inside. But this time, Emilia was much closer and her tyres hung on around turn nine meaning she edged past Max. He was still there, still pushing her for mistakes but Emilia was up to P3 for the moment.
Max did not stray from the rear end of Emilia's car as she hoped for so he was on the attack for lap fifty-six. Emilia was really hoping he was going to run out of overtake because she had. Down the first straight, Max had DRS and Emilia decided to save her overtake button for the second straight even if that meant Max overtook her.
Max went for a move down the inside of the chicane after the first straight and Emilia looked to her left to make she left plenty of room. Max gained P3 momentarily but Emilia knew where the DRS checkpoint was and she made sure she was behind Max as the two of them went over it.
Down the second straight, Emilia had DRS and gave it her all using up all of her overtake up to get past Max. The Red Bull placed itself on the right hand side of the track once again and Emilia pulled out of the slipstream making a move down the inside of the corner. Max stuck with her as she could see the mix of red, blue and yellow to her right. Both of them were foot to the floor, fingers on the gears between turns nine and ten.
Emilia stuck with it for turn ten not wanting to pull out of this move. She was not convinced she would get another chance after this. Max was still there to the right of Emilia as turn twelve approached. Emilia made sure she left room for Max as she broke for the corner, she didn't want to be involved in a crash.
Emilia turned into turn twelve hoping she wouldn't make contact with Max. He tried to make a move but there just wasn't enough room for him there so Max was behind Emilia coming out of the corner. Emilia was up to P3. Though, it wasn't over. Max still had two laps to win back his Championship.
John informed Emilia the gap to Max was almost seven tenths when they got onto the first straight. Emilia presumed his tyres were dead from the fighting so he was further behind her than he would ordinarily be. That didn't mean he couldn't overtake her but it meant Emilia was safe for the first straight.
Like every other lap, the overtake would take place on the straight between turns seven and nine. Emilia got to pick which side of the track and stayed on and she chose the outside line as Max had done. Emilia kept her eyes glued to her mirrors watching the Red Bull grow larger in the mirror. Max dived down the inside and round to turn ten but he didn't have as much grip. Emilia's tyres held on much better due to the fact that she pitted later so she accelerated straight past Max retaining her P3.
Emilia crossed the start/finish line starting the final lap of the race, of the season very much aware that it could all go wrong still. Emilia could not let her mind drift to what her being P3 meant to her, to Lewis, to Toto, to George to Williams. A split second loss of concentration would mean all of this would be over and Emilia would be in the wall so she had to keep focused. Max was still in her mirrors and Emilia gave it her all to get him out of her DRS.
Emilia broke into turn one swinging her car around the corner and up the slight incline to turn two. Emilia kept the speed up and passed a car she must have been lapping on the way to the hairpin. Round the hairpin and onto the straight, Emilia was waiting for the message from John.
"Verstappen, one point two behind, no DRS." John informed.
Emilia said nothing but felt a lot more comfortable now that she wouldn't be having the Red Bull breathing down her neck for this straight. However, due to the slipstream, Max was able to gain two tenths of a second and had DRS down the second straight. Emilia just had to hope he was too far away to make a move.
And he was. Max gained on the straight but nowhere near enough to make a move. Emilia kept concentrated as coming up was the narrow tricky section of the track, any mistake and Max would pounce on it.
Turn twelve was tight but Emilia kept her car on the track. She accelerated slightly to turn thirteen which went under the bridge. Emilia avoided the wall at turn fourteen but only just as she felt her tyres starting to struggle so Emilia was very grateful there weren't any more laps after this one. Turn fifteen was a little bit wider and Emilia used the kerbs to allow her to carry more speed. Emilia drove around at the sixteenth and last corner. She saw her team hanging over the fence to wave her across the finish line and Emilia finished P3.
"P3 Emilia! P3, you did it! We finished P3 in the Championship, well done." John shouted through the radio.
"OH MY GOD WE DID IT!" Emilia yelled. She had to focus on not crashing on her in-lap but she was too excited. Emilia regained her breath after the tense final laps. "We're P3, we did it." Emilia breathed a sigh of relief grinning.
"What a drive Emilia." John answered. There was applauding and cheering in the background.
"I only wish Grandad was here to see it." Emilia replied pondering on Fred. He'd be so happy for her. "I cannot believe I just did that."
"Emilia, it's Jost. Fantastic drive today, congratulations. That was really impressive." Jost said.
"Thanks Jost." Emilia answered. "Can I do donuts?"
"Yes as long as you don't crash." John laughed. Emilia found a space on track and did a couple of donuts enjoying the feeling. Emilia hadn't finished P1 but it felt like a win. She re-joined the track as a McLaren went past. Emilia knew who was in the car and slowed down so Emilia could make half a heart with her hand. Lando would be gutted he missed P3 in the Championship so Emilia didn't know if he would respond to her. Lando did and held up half a heart back to Emilia.
As Emilia finished P3, she got to park up in a special spot in parc ferme alongside the two Mercedes. The Williams driver did not rush to get out her car. Emilia sat there taking in what she had just done. Her Williams was a lot slower than the Red Bulls yet Emilia had been faster than not one but two of them. When things were looking dire for Williams in the Championship after George's retiral, Emilia managed to overtake Max and seal P3 in the Championship. The pressure on Emilia was insane. Her own team were counting on just her to pull off an immensely difficult overtake against a much faster car. Not only were Williams counting on Emilia, Mercedes and Lewis were as well. The weight of the World Championships had been her shoulders and she'd come out the other side with the results she wanted. Emilia at the start of the season would have never even dreamt of something like this.
Emilia removed the headrest and disconnected her drink tube before climbing out the car. The team were waiting for her celebrating at the barriers and Emilia jumped into them. The barrier almost fell over so Emilia stepped back to regain her balance. She hugged Jost, John some of her engineers then Christine who was full of praise for her driver. Next to Christine was George. Emilia wrapped her teammate in her arms and squealed in delight.
"I thought it was all over after I came into the garage." George said after giving Emilia a hug. He had changed into teamwear after his retirement earlier on in the race.
"You doubted me?" Emilia asked pretending to be offended. For once, Emilia had had the confidence in her abilities and rightly so.
"No, never." George laughed. Emilia would have spoken with her teammate longer but Valtteri got her attention beside her.
"Great race today." Valtteri commented holding his hand out and pulling Emilia in for a hug.
"Thanks, glad I could help." Emilia smiled. She wanted to find Max and console him on his Championship loss. After all, Emilia felt she had a part in taking it away from him, but that was motorsport.
Max still in his car when Emilia found him less than a hundred metres from where the celebrations were taking place. He was staring blankly watching Lewis celebrate what could have been his title. Emilia couldn't imagine losing something as big as that so late in the race. He was two laps away from being a World Champion.
"Hey, you okay?" Emilia crouched down next to Max's car. She remembered back to the time where she was in the car, sitting and watching everyone celebrate after she had just lost out on her first podium in Spain. But this, Emilia recognised was on another level. "Max you did everything you could today. You have driven brilliantly this season. Maybe it wasn't meant to be for this season but it'll come. Don't be too disappointed, you'll get another shot."
"Thanks." Max answered glumly. Emilia decided to give Max some space. She didn't expect much of a response from him as Emilia knew she wouldn't be in talkative mood either if she was in his position. Emilia could hear her name being called as she was supposed to be doing an interview with Martin Brundle as she was on the podium. Emilia jogged back to where she had gotten out of her car and where the Mercedes boys were chatting with their team while Emilia was supposed to be doing her interview. She grabbed a microphone and stood next to Martin.
"Emilia, I mean wow, you were incredible today. Talk us through the race."
"Sorry I just need to catch my breath." Emilia said adjusting her hat. "Yeah so I knew we had a lot of pace today but I didn't realise I would be up with the Red Bulls, obviously they're very good cars and have good drivers in them. Not crashing was the main aim for this race. I had a lot of pace and little tyre degradation which is why I pitted later. Max was struggling on his tyres and did such a good job defending. P3 for us in the Championship is massive compared to where the team were last season, we've managed to capitalise on the car and I'm very proud of everyone in the team for getting here."
"We heard a snippet of your radio when your engineer told you George retired, what were your emotions when you heard the news?"
"I was annoyed to be honest." Emilia laughed. "It meant that I had to overtake Max for us to be P3 which is not an easy task. There was a lot of pressure on my shoulders considering John also mentioned what it meant for Lewis and his Championship. I tried to stay calm and not panic because then I might crash and that was the last thing I wanted to do."
"You dealt with the pressure like an experienced driver. No one would be able to tell it's your first season and I doubt it will be your last. What are your plans for next year? Do you want to reflect on this year some more, anything you'd like to say before you leave the sport for a year?"
"I've signed for Dempsey Racing next year, which was announced a couple of weeks ago, so I will be participating in WEC next year, there were potential other plans but they don't look like they're happening. I'm looking forward to the new challenge, endurance racing isn't something I've tried yet so I'm sure that will be exciting. But in terms of this year, it's been an incredible year. I came in as a reserve driver thinking we'd be at the back of the grid until we got to testing and we realised the car this year was really competitive. I never imagined that I would get on the podium let alone get a win. I went through a really tough time after my Grandad passed away and getting in a car accident but I kept going which I wouldn't have been able to do without Lando, George, Alex, Christine and the whole team. I have no idea what the future has in store for me, whether I'll get the opportunity to race in F1 again or not but I have enjoyed this year, it's been the best year of my life because of the people I met, the love I found," Emilia smiled at Lando who was a couple of metres away watching her speak. "The things I won and the things we won as a team. I'm so grateful for Mercedes and Toto and Jost and Williams as well for the opportunity. They believed in me more than I ever did and I wouldn't be here without them so thank you." Emilia smiled as she was applauded by everyone in the pitlane and the grandstands behind.
"Thank you for your time Emilia, good luck for the future." Martin Brundle said as Emilia passed the microphone to Valtteri. Lando opened his arms and Emilia smiled as she embraced him.
"You okay?" Emilia asked Lando her chin resting on his shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm happy for you. After what you did in the race today, you deserve it honestly. When George retired, Will made it seem like it was over and we'd got it but I knew you would have something to say about that." Lando answered releasing Emilia from his arms.
"Thanks, I'm sure you drove a great race as well. We can watch the highlights tomorrow." Emilia smiled. She could hear Valtteri talking in the background about his race and his goodbye to Mercedes. "I do need to speak to Toto at some point."
"Go. I need to go and get weighed anyway." Lando responded.
"Are you coming back for the podium ceremony? I understand if you don't want to under the circumstances." Emilia said brushing her fingers through her hair.
"Yeah of course, I'll be there. I love you." Lando hugged Emilia once again pressing his lips to the side of her check briefly. They still weren't massive on PDA in public.
"I love you too. Don't be too hard on yourself." Emilia reminded. She spotted Lewis over with Toto. There were so many people she wanted to speak to, so many she wanted to sit and have a conversation with about the race but it was so busy and frantic Emilia couldn't. She wanted to share all her excitement with everybody but she had to wait.
"Hey congrats." Emilia greeted Lewis who had walked over to her as he was up next for the interview. The conversation with Toto would have to wait.
"Thank you so much." Lewis responded giving Emilia a hug.
"I'm glad I could do something to help." Emilia smiled.
"Yeah I've made mistakes this season that I thought would cost me. It ended up not costing me because of your help. I'll repay you for it some time." Lewis winked and grabbed the microphone from Valtteri who came to stand next to Emilia.
"You know it's crazy to think we used to hate each other." Emilia chuckled quietly to Valtteri as the pair stood watching the eight-time World Champion take the applause in.
"I know, I was wrong about you." Valtteri replied and Emilia looked to him. "I'm glad we're friends now though."
"Yeah me too. I'm glad you'll be the one putting up with Jost next year not me."
"George never had a problem with Jost so I'm sure I'll be fine." Valtteri laughed.
"Are you suggesting I'm the problem Valtteri?" Emilia questioned laughing. Lewis mentioned her name and Emilia stopped laughing putting her attention on Lewis.
"Emilia's achievement today was just incredible. The Red Bulls are difficult to race for us but to do it in a Williams is insane. I can't thank her enough for everything she did for me today." Lewis said looking over to Emilia as he spoke. Emilia felt Lando appear by her side and he wrapped an arm around her waist to let her know he was there.
"Lewis what are your plans for the future? Have you got a contract for next season yet?" Martin Brundle asked. Lewis thought for a moment.
"No I don't have a contract for next season. You know, I thought I would want to do this racing thing for a long time, but I crossed the finish line today and I've changed my mind. Guys," Lewis paused rubbing his beard as if he was thinking. "I'm eight and out." Lewis smiled. Emilia's jaw dropped.
"Oh my God." Martin Brundle said. He was almost as shocked as Emilia who looked to Lando next to her whose eyebrows were raised. "Lewis thank you so much for everything you've done for this sport. On track and off track you've been an amazing role model for everyone out there. Enjoy whatever life has in store for you."
"Thanks man." Lewis hugged the presenter and handed the microphone back.
"Toto." Martin Brundle said rushing over to the Team Principal behind the barrier.
"I had no idea that was going to happen." Lando commented.
"I thought it was very unlikely." Emilia answered still in shock. Lewis had been almost positive he wasn't retiring but whatever he felt coming across the finish line had changed his mind. Maybe that's what Nicholas Latifi had been on about all those months ago that they spoke. That feeling of crossing the line the final time is such a decisive moment not just for the Championship but for the driver personally as well.
"Toto, what's going on? Did you know Lewis would retire?" Martin questioned.
"I mean not until he told me about five minutes ago. I know he was contemplating it earlier in the season but I thought he had decided to stay. We had a plan in place in case he did retire." Toto revealed. Emilia hadn't even done the maths. She along with Esteban and Nick de Vries were in contention for this seat. It was been the secret she had been keeping for months.
"What was the plan? Do you know what you're doing with Lewis' seat?" Martin asked. Toto thought for a moment before answering.
"I mean it's fairly obvious, Emilia of course." Toto said. Emilia froze completely. Her mouth was open, she could not believe it was happening. The moment, she had dreamt for months, had finally come.
Lando turned Emilia towards him who was still in utter shock. Her face broke into a smile as Lando embraced her. George and Alex appeared joining the hug. Emilia shut her eyes because she felt the tears coming out. She took in the moment. The four of them with their arms wrapped around each other sharing Emilia's moment. If only Fred could see her now, see her getting a shot in a top team. This is what she worked for.
"Emilia, Emilia!" Martin Brundle called from outside the huddle. Emilia appeared and wiped her eyes as a microphone was shoved in front of her face. "How do you feel? What's going on in your head?"
"I'm speechless to be honest. I didn't expect this today. I'm feeling every emotion, it's overwhelming." Emilia wiped her eyes. She didn't mean to cry but it was a mix of happiness, exhaustion and excitement. "I'm really sorry Patrick, I was looking forward to racing with you but you knew this might happen. I hope I can race with you in the future. Thank you to Toto and to Lewis who the focus should really be on. He's just incredible, he's been such a role model for me and this sport will really miss him."
After all the chaos, it was time for the podium ceremony. Emilia, Valtteri, Lewis and Toto headed up the stairs to the waiting area where they would be announced out.
"You're really ready to retire?" Emilia asked Lewis.
"Yeah, it's time." Lewis nodded. "I feel I have achieved everything I want to in this sport for now. I may return later but the feeling when I crossed the finishing line was obviously excitement, I won but I'm tired of winning. I need another challenge."
"Wow." Emilia replied. It was all she could manage to say. She was still in shock of everything that was happening, it had been a crazy ten minutes.
Emilia's name was called out onto the podium and she waved at the crowd and at the people in the pitlane as the stepped up onto the smallest step. It may be the smallest step on the podium but it was the largest step forward Emilia achieved in racing. And next season, there hopefully would be more of Emilia on the top step.
Emilia beamed as she stood on her step clapping the other two drivers as they came out. She searched for Lando who was standing by George and Alex and Emilia made a heart with her hands for him as the national anthems played. It was so surreal to Emilia, she hadn't imagined this would happen. Getting P3 in the Championship was a stretch let alone getting a Mercedes seat.
The champagne spraying followed and Emilia sprayed her bottle over the Mercedes team and some down into the pitlane as well aiming for Lando, George and Alex. Lewis attacked Emilia pouring the remainder of his bottle over her. Emilia wiped her eyes beaming. The four of them stood with their trophies for a photo. Emilia hadn't actually had a chance to speak to Toto yet with everything that had been happening.
"Thanks Toto." Emilia smiled clinking her bottle against his.
"No, thank you Emilia. I look forward to working with you." Toto responded satisfied.
"What about the others? Isn't it a bit mean telling Esteban and Nyck that I got the seat on live TV?" Emilia felt bad for the other competitors for Lewis' seat. She wouldn't have wanted to find out in that way.
"They were never in contention." Toto answered.
"Then why?" Emilia began to ask.
"I had to see if you could deal with the pressure. Today you showcased how well you can do that." Toto laughed. "That's also why it was so important you kept it a secret. Not only to show me that you can put your job before your relationship and to not mention anything to anyone about Lewis potentially retiring to the press but also because they didn't know. In hindsight, I didn't even need to bring them into this, I should never have doubted that you wouldn't be able to cope with the pressure."
"Emilia, which afterparty are you going to?" Valtteri asked resting his arm on Emilia's shoulder.
"Come to ours." Lewis invited before Emilia could answer.
"Toto already invited me this morning and I will come as long as I can bring Lando. Oh and George and Alex." Emilia replied.
"I'm sure we have room for them." Toto smiled as the four of them wandered off the podium back down to the paddock. Emilia looked for Lando in the crowd of people. He was still there standing by the side and Emilia ignored everyone else to go and hug him.
"Thank you for staying." Emilia said.
"I wouldn't miss it. I do have to run off because Charlotte is nagging me about the media wanting to speak to me." Lando responded.
"You go, I love you." Emilia pressed her lips to Lando's quickly who wandered off to the media paddock. Emilia went back to Williams with Christine to showcase her trophy and they took a team photo celebrating their win. Emilia briefly spoke to Jost who congratulated her and told her that she wouldn't have gotten the Mercedes seat if Williams had given her the seat but Emilia just laughed it off. One day, when she wrote an autobiography, long after her career was finished, it would all come out then.
"How do you feel about being stuck with me for another year?" Emilia asked George.
"Is this your secret you've been keeping?" Emilia nodded.
"Wow. I didn't see it coming. It's a shame I won't get to race against Lewis but I'm looking forward to being your teammate again. No one else will stand a chance." George grinned. His engineer approached him and started to talk to him so Emilia went to find her race engineer.
"John, hey thanks so much." Emilia hugged her engineer one last time.
"You didn't even need me today. You did it all by yourself." John pointed out.
"I know but I wouldn't have been able to do it without all the support from you throughout the season, so thank you." Emilia smiled.
"Good luck at Mercedes."
"If they ever need an engineer, your name will be the first I suggest." Emilia replied. She had to leave the team and go to do her media duties. There wasn't time to change so Emilia was wandering through the paddock with her champagne-soaked race overalls. The media duties themselves were bearable with most people complimenting instead of critiquing her for once.
It was all a bit of madness for Emilia and she wanted to find a quiet place. She told Christine where she was going and left the paddock. Emilia climbed the stairs up to the podium again and sat down at the top.
Now that the grandstands were empty, it was a lot quieter. Music could be heard from far away, probably the post-race parties getting started. There was the sound of people in the paddock below, clearing the garages for the last time this season. Emilia enjoyed the peace. It allowed her to actually process what had happened.
Williams had got P3. Emilia was on the podium again.
She would be driving for Mercedes next season.
That was the big one. The most unexpected thing to happen. After Lewis had said last weekend that he thought he wanted to keep going Emilia had disregarded her chance at Mercedes. Since then, he'd changed his mind about where his priorities were but eight titles. That was an insane number of World Championships. Emilia understood the need for a different challenge. Plus, Emilia imagined it wouldn't be the last the sport saw of him, Lewis would return.
The night sky was clear and Emilia looked up at the stars that were blinking back at her. Oh how she wanted her Grandad there with her. To share this moment with him, to see the smile on his face, the joy in his eyes. Emilia wished she could call him and Fred tell her how proud he is of her, how he always knew she would get the Mercedes seat. This moment meant everything to Emilia but how could it be perfect if he wasn't here?
"Hey." Emilia turned her head and Lando was coming up the stairs.
"The stars are out." Emilia said as Lando sat down beside her. She shuffled closer to him and he put an arm around her.
"He's so proud of you Emi." Lando smiled looking up to the sky. Despite the bright lights of the track still being on, there stars were still there.
"I hope so, I'm just sad he isn't here to see it though I'm pretty sure that race would have given him a heart attack." Emilia laughed. "It's still crazy to me that he's not here."
"I can't imagine how hard it is." Lando rested his head on Emilia's shoulder.
"How are you though? It must be tough missing out on P3." Emilia ran her fingers through Lando's hair. Despite winning, Emilia did feel bad for Lando and everyone at McLaren.
"Yeah it's not great I'm a bit gutted but still, you deserved to win today. The stopwatch doesn't lie." Lando replied. Emilia got the feeling that he didn't really want to talk about it. "Have you spoken to your parents?" Emilia hadn't even considered them.
"No, I don't think I want to. I've tried it with them and they didn't try to make it work with me so why should I bother. I don't need them, I have you." Emilia looked at Lando. "How did you find me?"
"I asked Christine where you were." Lando answered lifting his head off Emilia's shoulder to look at her. "How much did you know about Lewis retiring?"
"I knew that he might retire. Toto told me the day after I got arrested and I had to sign an NDA. He told me there were other competitors for the seat if Lewis was to retire so that I had to prove that I should get the seat. Last week Lewis said he was pretty sure he wouldn't retire."
"So why did he? Did you speak to him about it?" Lando asked.
"He said he knew he wanted to when he crossed the finish line. I spoke to Latifi a while ago and he said when he crossed the line in Abu Dhabi last year, he knew he wanted to take a break. Lewis must have felt the same. I mean what else is there for him to do in this sport? He's broken every record there is to break." Emilia replied.
"True." Lando nodded. "So you're really becoming a Mercedes driver?"
"I think so. I don't think it's quite hit me. I still expect Lewis to come back and say he wants his seat back. Obviously there's things like the contract that we still need to sort out but I can't imagine that will be too much of an issue. It's so surreal to me."
"I'm so proud of you Emi." Lando kissed Emilia on her forehead.
"At least we won't have to worry about the long distance anymore. Well other than the distance between me and you on the grid."
"New regulations next year, you never know how it will go. I might be the one ahead on the grid." Lando shrugged.
"Well whatever happens I'll be okay if I have you." Emilia answered kissing Lando on the cheek.
"You still want to move in with me then?" Lando questioned meeting Emilia's gaze.
"Of course I do." Emilia pressed her lips to his. "What party are you going to tonight?"
"I don't think McLaren are really having one after today's result. They're doing drinks and stuff but not a party."
"Want to come to Mercedes with me? I think George is coming and we can invite Alex too." Emilia replied.
"I'd love to." Lando smiled. "What happens with your seat in WEC?"
"There was a deliberate loophole left. We made Dempsey aware of it just in case I was offered an F1 seat, he didn't know which one but he understood that I wanted to race in F1 so he told me to take the F1 seat if it came up."
"You really deserved that seat after everything you did today." Lando smiled. "It's just insane, you're just insane."
"I don't know how I do it. The pressure, I was under so much then I managed to still do it and overtake Max who was defending the title. I don't think it will sink in for days." Emilia beamed. "And I'm not leaving F1, I'm here for at least another season or more depending on what we can negotiate. It's just not hitting me yet."
"You have a bright future." Lando stated.
"We have a bright future." Emilia corrected smiling at Lando.
"I love you." Lando replied.
"I love you too." Emilia said. She sighed happily. "At the start of the season I was just a replacement driver. Now I have a shot at a Championship next year. When I'd found out I'd been dropped from Williams I thought that was my career in F1 over. But now, it's not the end, it's only the beginning."
"That's racing baby." Lando smiled and Emilia kissed him.
And that's it, that's the end! I sobbed writing this chapter and this note at the end.
Thank you all so much for being here I hope you enjoyed the final chapter and that the ending was satisfying. I was never going to give Emilia a sad ending to the season. She has been through so much and she deserved that happy ending. And I think that's the point of this book. Emilia has been through so much, lost so many people, been treated poorly by so many others yet she never gave up. Emilia kept going and believed in herself and look where she is now, she has a Mercedes seat. That's the message in this story. Never give up. I never thought I would finish this story. It's something I started in lockdown in 2021 because I was bored and I doubted that I could ever finish this and I would eventually give up, but I haven't. Despite breaks, I carried on this story and now it's completed. You can do anything you put your mind to. Go write a story, go get your dream job, go and do something you've always wanted to do. Never give up!
I don't want to say too much now because there's a whole author's note coming and a bonus chapter, possibly more if I want to do more than one. But that's this book finished, no more weekly updates, no more me putting Emilia through hell for a couple of months. There will be a sequel to follow but probably not for a couple of months, in the meantime, I will edit the rest of the book and improve it because some bits are not my best writing.
But thank you to all of you. I've been writing this for about two years, I don't know if there is anyone who has been reading this for that long but no matter how long you've been reading this, thank you for being here, even if you don't comment or vote or anything I appreciate you, thank you so much I love you all <3