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NORRIS
RADIO
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Okay, Lando, you are 1.29 seconds behind
Russell.
I think...his tires are low.
He's getting slower with each corner.
Do you think you can overtake him?
I can.
Go for it if you can on Turn 11, and
watch your energy usage while you give
it a shot. If you don't make it—
You can tell me Plan B if I fail. Let me
try this.
Understood, mate. Good luck.
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NORRIS
RADIO
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4.67 behind Verstappen
How many laps left? I don't want to
check.
10.
Leading Oscar by 4.12 seconds.
Got it.
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NORRIS
RADIO
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Gap to Verstappen is 1.52 seconds
with 8 laps left.
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NORRIS
RADIO
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I've got damage on my front ring!
Okay, copy. Box, Lando, box.
Let's try and make it quick.
I need to catch up to Max.
Pit crew is already ready for you, mate.
Good.
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NORRIS
RADIO
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Verstappen is 2.13 seconds ahead
with 6 laps remaining. Keep it up.
Good work at staying on par with
him after leaving the pit.
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NORRIS
RADIO
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Uh...there's debris on the track! Lots of it!
Parts are everywhere!
Stay calm, mate. Safety car is on the way.
Is Max alright?
He will be fine. He only punctured a tire,
the 'parts' you're seeing are from the wall.
You're leading.
Focus.
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NORRIS
RADIO
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Final lap. Make it count.
Who's behind?
Lewis, followed by George, followed by Oscar.
...
Give me a plan to get Oscar to 2nd.
____________________________________
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NORRIS
RADIO
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Leading Oscar by 1.18 seconds.
Oh, ****!
You're alright. He won't pass you.
What?!
Oscar will not pass you, not with the time
that there is left.
This is your race.
Get it done.
____________________________________
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NORRIS
RADIO
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LANDO!!!!!!!!
HOLY ****!!! HAHA!!!
The garage is in complete shambles,
mate, well done! Well done!
I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!
OH ****, AM I CRYING???
____________________________________
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mclaren This is what a maiden win looks like! 🥇🥇🥇 @landonorris
#LN4 #McLaren
dollybianca 🥳🫶💟
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mclaren It's official; you all can check McLaren 1-2 off of your F1 Bingo Cards now 🧡
@landonorris 🏆 @oscarpiastri 🥈
#LN4 #OP81 #McLaren
WHEN Bianca and Lando get back to their hotel room, he cries for ten minutes.
He's not a guy who cries a lot—according to himself anyway—so he felt weird the entire time and the both ended up finding themselves sat on the hotel carpet up against a wall, his head resting on Bianca's shoulder while they both come down from their highs of the night.
They breathe in-sync, and their hands feel perfect together as their fingers stay intertwined, the mixture of mocktails and hearty dinners making their eyes feel heavy; and Bianca is almost one hundred percent sure that if they don't move to the bed, they might fall asleep on the floor instead.
"I should retire," Lando suggests, wet tears now drying on his face.
"You don't want that," Bianca responds, and he breathes a small laugh.
"Yeah, you're right. I don't."
His trophy is in his luggage, but he's going to have to leave it at the McLaren Technology Center the next time he goes back anyway, so—his words, not Bianca's—he's trying to not look at it too much to avoid getting attached.
Bianca knows he'd been waiting for this moment for years, and she wonders what must be running through his head.
Does he feel like how she did when she got her first Grammy? When she got Best Album of the Year award twice in a row last year? The adrenaline must have been similar, surely. Yeah, there's a great, big difference between putting hours into a music ensemble and putting hours into training to race the most coveted cars in the world, but that's always something to bond over; the pride and proudness when the work pays off.
That's what she hopes is coursing through his veins—pride, proudness, and pure confidence swirling in his brain.
"You're only twenty four," she reminds, as if he would forget his own age. "You've got a lot ahead of you."
Lando nods in agreement. "Mhm. Driver's Championship next."
"How many years will that take?" Bianca jokes, making Lando gasp dramatically.
"Do you really have such little faith in me?" His head turns so he could look her in the eyes, and she snorts at the sight.
His eye bags were still apparent, but against the glistening stars in his eyes after tonight, it was almost comforting to see him like this; a mess, but a mess made from celebration and excitement.
"No. I'll always believe in you," she promises, earning a soft smile from Lando.
"Good," he affirms, and gives her a small kiss on the lips.
It's a quick peck, but she's gotten used to the feeling of his plush lips on her own, and it's the sweetest feeling she's had in a long time.
"You need to sleep," she whispers, placing a hand on the side of his face as he looks at her, and he shakes his head.
"I don't want to sleep," he swallows, and his eyes flicker downwards to her lips once more. "Imagine I go to bed and I wake up and I didn't win at all?"
"Well, you did win, so I don't think you need to worry about that," she gives him another kiss, and his arms find themselves wrapped around her figure.
"I would've won either way," he breathes against her mouth, and Bianca feels the blush on her cheeks begin to rise as his kisses move from her lips down to her neck, and to her collarbones.
"Mm, I'm not making out with you on the floor," she scolds, tapping Lando's back that was covered by a white button-up he had chosen for the night.
He pulls away, and soon enough, he's picking her up bridal-style and making her yelp. Her papaya-toned dress drapes over his arms as he begins to walk away from their spot on the floor.
"'Making out,'" he tsk-s. "That's so unromantic."
"What did you want me to call it?" She asks through a laugh, and when he places her down on the queen sized bed of their hotel room, he looms over her with messy hair and tired eyes.
He quirks his lips to the side as he thinks of a term to settle on.
"Love-making."
Bianca gasps and gives him a light push on the shoulder. "We are not calling it that!"
"It's better than 'making out,'" he fights, leaning down to kiss her once, twice, more than either of them could ever keep track of. "Makes us sound like teenagers," he adds, as he places a kiss on Bianca's shoulder, and it feels like a sign of worship, almost.
"Acting like that's a crime to use common terms," she says through a small laugh, her hands finding their way to the back of Lando's neck as he continues to kiss any open body part of Bianca's not covered by her dress.
He begins to kiss the inside of her right arm, kissing over her bare skin. "I'm already decently immature on the screens, let me have this one," he jokes, and his nose grazes her arm all the way up to the gold bracelet that mirrors his own silver—the first big showy purchase he had made for them during their little stunt.
Bianca wonders what Lando would have said at the time if he knew that he would go from awkward texts to kissing her in hotel rooms after races, from unsure touches to holding hands and locking arms everywhere they go.
Lando takes one of her hands resting on his neck and gives it a kiss on the inside of the palm, letting Bianca's thumb caress his face as he looks at her in the dim light of their room.
Lando Norris, winner of the 2024 Shanghai Grand Prix, and Bianca Taylor, known record-breaking singer; both of whom are completely in love with one another.
How does a PR stunt turn into something like this? Bianca will forever have no clue, but the way that Lando smiles against her palm and the way that his eyes crinkle in the corners is enough to make her know that, whatever made them turn from one thing to another, she's thankful that it happened.
She feels secure, and safe, and held.
And loved.
Knowing that Lando feels the same only makes everything ten times better, and ten times more worth it.
All of the hate comments, the ups and the downs and the dancing around each other's actions in fear of causing a rip in their relationship; it was all worth it in the end.
"You're cute," she compliments, the words slipping out from her lips.
Lando huffs a laugh, and closes his eyes as he leans into her touch. "Says you."
Secure, safe, held, loved, and pure.
That article, that damned article that started it all ended up being a blessing in disguise, somehow, in some way.
Maybe rumors aren't all that bad after all.
What a lovely realization to have, after years of headlines using her name for clickbait and hateful mentions.
What a lovely realization to have, because maybe the next time her name pops up in some random article at 11 PM while she's asleep, it'll be about how the music industry's it girl and Formula 1's it boy have become everyone's favorite couple.
It's 3 AM in Shanghai, and Bianca and Lando should be well asleep by now, and they will be soon—but Lando collapses next to Bianca in the bed, and they just lie down and breathe for a while.
Bianca likes that when it gets silent, the quiet void is never deafening or demanding of attention.
It just remains, and it's comfortable.
She likes it that way.
NOTES!
MANIFESTING A LANDO WIN FOR THIS SEASON
🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️
xoxo, cas