"Race day, let's go!" Max yelled out as soon as I entered the paddock. It was finally Sunday, and it was time for the real debut! I had finished P16 in the qualifying, despite having done pretty well in the free practices. It was a shame, cause I had a lot of work, in order to get up to the front of the grid, but I was determined to keep my head high and enjoy my debut whatsoever.
"You ready, newbie?" Max questioned as I had made my way around greeting everyone. "Ready as I will ever be," I said, but I bet the disappointment from yesterday's quali still showed on my face. "You want to win?" He then asked, raising an eyebrow. "You know that's unrealistic-" I rolled my eyes, but he protested. "Do you want to win?" he asked, emphasising the word want.
"Yes, I want to win." I just said, looking him dead in the eye as he did the same. "Then you need to believe that you can. Fuck what everyone thinks or says, it's all up here," He said pointing to my head, referring to my mind. "If you don't believe that you're a winner, you won't win. If you do believe you're a winner, you probably still won't win, but I can promise you you'll be a whole lot closer to it," He said and I smiled. He was right, I needed that winner mentality back.
"I will win," I said, earning a smile from him, "No, I will win, but I'm glad you get the idea," He joked and winked at me, so I couldn't help but laugh. I then went to get in my suit so I was ready for everything.
I was starting from the back of the grid, so I had to be quick and make my way up within the first few laps, or else I would never catch up. The lights went out, and it was go time. I was completely in the zone, ready to take on everyone, and within the first lap alone, I had made it past 6 drivers already. After a few more laps, I had a stable position in P8, right behind Oscar and Carlos, who were fighting for P6.
I knew with both of them there, I couldn't just make it past, but knowing the circuit, I could wait them out half a lap, and then, when approaching turn 3 after turn 2, they would be too occupied with each other, that I could hopefully make my way past. I did exactly that, and before I knew it, I was in P6, catching up on the gap to the next group.
"How are the tires, Carter?" I heard it over the radio. "No problems so far, what's the status with the cars in front? Anyone losing speed?" I asked, hoping that some of them had to box soon, so I could regain even more time. "I think Charles, Lewis and Lando will need to box soon." He said, and I could tell that Lewis and Lando were right ahead, along with George. Charles was probably further ahead, along with Max. "Thank you. When they box, I'll box." I said.
Out pits were usually way faster than them, so if I could get in there at around the same time as them, maybe I could get back on the track ahead, and make it in front. "No need to box yet, no." They replied and I groaned. "Fine." I just said and kept focusing on the guys in front.
Lewis was beginning to lose more and more speed, as Lando and George were in front. I decided to take my chance, so I sped up doing a straight road and took over Lewis in P5. "How fast is George?" I asked, seeing as he was seeming to win the inside race he and Lando were having. "Lewis is right behind you with DRS."
"HOW FAST IS GEORGE?" I tried again, "Oh, sorry. He's fast,-" I stopped listening in mid-sentence, as Lando and George made small contact, before a gap was created between them, Lando now taking the lead. I was now head to head with George, but I could tell he was getting impatient, so I kept it calm, letting him have a slight lead before I overtook him on the inside in turn 10.
"LET'S GO!" I yelled out in excitement, as I made it to P4. "Box, yn, box." I heard, and I accepted on the steering wheel. "Did the other's box yet?" I asked after getting back on the track again after my pitstop. "Yes, George and Lewis are still behind, they lost time in box. Lando boxed, seems pretty quick, Charles boxed, lost a few seconds and now head-to-head with Lando." I smiled to myself. I couldn't help but get my hopes up for a podium. I was this close, I only needed to take on one more.
"Max in front? How much?" I asked, and they took a while to respond. " Max has just boxed, he is 10 seconds ahead of Leclerc."
"How much time left?" I asked as I saw that I was picking up the speed, and closing in on Lando. "10 minutes or 14 laps." was replied and I turned my full attention back to the race. "Come on..."
I made my way and was now right behind Lando and Charles. I could tell they weren't going too hard at it, probably not wanting to race hard enough to jeopardise their podiums. It was hard to get around them, as they were constantly trying to overtake each other, therefore taking up a lot of space. I thought to myself for a while, and my only idea was to take them on the outside of turn one, but it was a big risk, as the turn was very sharp.
"Can I take a risk, please?" I asked over the radio, just entering another lap. "What risk?" They asked, and I knew they wouldn't agree if I told them exactly what, so I undermined it by saying, "Not a big one, just want to overtake on a turn." I said, and there was silence for a bit. "Of course, why are you asking?" They said confused, so as I was at the end of turn 14, on my way to 15, I said, "It's turn 1, thank you!" And then as soon as the straight line came, I picked up as much as I could, speeding with all the power, only to make a hard brake, as we reached turn 1... "What?!"
The motion caused the car to drift slightly in the turn, but I just barely made it and overtook both Lando and Charles at once. "CARTER, ARE YOU CRAZY?" I heard, the voice being filled with a hint of anger, but I could tell that he was mostly impressed. "WUHUUUUU!" I just yelled as I was making a bigger gap between Charles, Lando and me.
Not too long after, I saw the checkered flag, and I was ecstatic. "P1 Max, P2 Yn, well done both of you and congratulations on your first podium in Formula One, Yn." I parked the car at the P2 sign and immediately got met by Max as I stepped out of the car. He hugged me tightly and we both went to the team together, throwing ourselves at them with hugs.
After a while, I felt a tap on my shoulder and I turned around to see Lando opening his arms, so I immediately jumped into them, hugging him tightly as well. After that, I took off my helmet, and I couldn't hide my smile at all. "Did you end up overtaking Charles?" I asked, having completely forgotten to look at the P3 position. He nodded after he had taken off his helmet as well. "Yeah, just made it!" He smiled.
Before I could say anything else, I felt myself being lifted by two of the mechanics, making me sit on their shoulders, and when I looked to my left, they had done the same with Max. The cheering and roaring was completely overtaking the whole crowd, as we threw our arms in the air in victory. What a great way to start off the season.
"Congratulations, Carter-" I heard his voice calling out, while I was walking back to get something from my driver's room before the podium. I stopped in my tracks and turned as I saw him making his way to me. "You did great. I was really proud when I saw you take over Lando and I, you know?" He said, his eyes looking at me in a desperate and longing kind of way.
"Proud?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. I tried sounding sarcastic, but something inside me was so happy to hear him say that, that I physically couldn't deny it. "Yeah... I mean, I wanted the podium too, of course, but I'm kinda happy that you're the reason I didn't get it." I felt a slight pain, followed by a feeling of relief. As if something had fallen back into the right spot inside me. Like a piece of my heart had healed.
I didn't say anything, as I was at a complete loss for words. I just stared into his beautiful eyes, as I had done so many times before, and felt as if I was longing for him more and more. My body was begging for his touch, drawing itself towards him like a magnet. It was like all those moments, where we hadn't shared any words, but we both knew how much we loved and cared for each other. I could see his eyes change slowly, and the sorrow was replaced with hints of happiness.
That was just until another voice was roaming the halls. "Yn, Come on, we have to get to the debrief interview!" Lando spoke, with Max right behind him. Max had grabbed what I needed from my room, handing it to me, while Lando stood beside me, looking at Charles. They both looked very confused as they joined our conversation, so I cleared my throat to not drag it out. "Yeah, let's go," I replied and left with them, without another word, only a quick glance at Charles, who was now smiling sweetly, as he watched me walk away.
"Yn Carter, let's start with you! What a day you've had! Tell us about how you're feeling right now, having just made history as probably one the best rookies ever!" The first question sounded and I leaned back, holding up the mic to reply, "I feel on top of the world, it's been a great day, with great results, so yeah, nothing to complain about at all." I said and could hear Lando chuckling, before commenting, "You're too modest," making us all laugh.
"We watched a very exciting race today, and seeing you make your way from the back of the grid and all the way up to P2, it sure was a thrilling race! What do you think is the reason everything went so well today?" I thought about it for a while, then looked over at Max, who was looking back at me. "Honestly, and I'm not saying this because I want to make Max look good, but he helped me a lot today. I came in and wasn't very happy about starting in the back of the grid, but Max proceeded to cheer me up and told me some encouraging words, made me believe in myself, and honestly, I think that is what made the big difference today. It's all about having the mindset of a winner." I smiled.
"Last question is to you, Yn, the moment you made that overtake on Charles and Lando, was it turn 1 I believe? And you drifted around the turn. What was going through your mind in that moment and the moment leading up to that?"
"Did you drift? Today?" Max asked and looked around confused, "It was so cool mate, she passed us at P1 at high speed and drifted casually through the turn." Lando added, looking impressed.
I laughed a bit before replying, "Well, at the moment, I thought 'This is sick!', 'cause I didn't expect to drift, but it was really fun! And right before, I don't think I thought too much, as I knew sometimes when you do, it goes wrong, and you end off the track, so. I was just focusing on not crashing, yes."
"Well done, congratulations all three of you."