A new chapter on this lovely Saturday.
Also, for everyone who didn't know yet and would like to be there: Prema is doing the annual Prema party online this year and with the information out there right now, we could all join.
Second race weekend
Hanoi street circuit, Vietnam
Friday
Qualifying
"Okay Mary, so we are just going to go for it now, we know what you can do now, so give us a show." Marylinde confirmed the message over the radio and smiled. That morning she had set the fastest lap of the session by three tenths to the driver in second place, Callum Ilott. He had been fuming jokingly as he kept saying how disappointed he was in himself for letting a rookie beat him in a training session. It gave the 'wrong' impression. They had laughed and spent the rest of the morning together at Haas, where Callum had taken the role of reserve driver for the season. It was all they could give him after such a strong season, for there were no empty seats to fill. At least, not yet.
Marylinde took a deep breath as she rounded the final corner to start her final flying lap. She was currently in p2, but with people improving their times left right and centre as the track kept improving, purple sectors were pulled out of cars everywhere. Now it was Marylinde's turn to do so.
She firmly pressed her foot onto the throttle as she hurdled down the straight. She braked as late as she could into the first corner without compromising her exit and tried to remember herself to keep breathing all throughout the lap. Shift, breathe. Brake, breathe. She was so focussed, she almost forgot how to, giving it her all. The walls of the circuit came close at a couple of occasions, but Marylinde never took it too for and therefore completed the lap with two purple seconds.
"That's pole position for now Mary!" Mary cheered softly, knowing that she was one of the final drivers to start a timed lap, but not the last, so someone could still beat her time.
"Who's yet to complete the lap?"
"Mazepin, Lundgaard and Ilott."
"Damnit, how are their sectors?"
"All green, except Armstrong, he has started with a purple, then green and-" Marylinde expected Marcus to cross the line right about then, seeing the team stopped talking. "A final purple one, that's p2 Mary, a shame Armstrong just chipped it away from you. Forty-three thousandths separating the two of you. Ilott is about to finish his lap as well, he's the final one." It was at least p3. After the previous weekend, Marylinde was very happy with that result, though compared to the training session, it was a bit of a disappointment. She had finished two tenths ahead of p2.
"And?"
"Armstrong got pole, just under one tenth away from you. So that's p3. Job very well done."
"Damnit, so close, but thanks for the good car guys, it felt amazing. On to tomorrow. Try to get the big points. Today was only four."
"That's the spirit."
"Where's Mick?"
"Mick finished p6." Marylinde confirmed the message and nurtured the car back to the pit lane to stop in front of the Red Bull garage. They had joked about it, she and Alex seeing it just so happened to be the team she was a test driver for.
"Now you get an early experience of how it feels to drive away from the pit box, in a couple of weeks you'll get to experience driving out of it." Marylinde had laughed, knowing very well that she was going to get to drive the Red Bull in Spain for the first time in her life. She had tried to delay it for a race, so she'd get to drive it around Monaco, but the team had refused. It would be her first time driving in Monaco all together and thought it to be better to do so in her own formula two car rather than an expensive formula one car. The chance of accidentally crashing it too big.
She had also tried to get in the car for Baku, making Christian Horner laugh, saying she had a tending to go for the hardest tracks and noticing very well that the tracks she loved most were all street tracks. Though they also terrified her most, the chance of crashing at them bigger than at a Le Castellet, France with its big runoff areas.
Marylinde unstrapped herself and climbed out of the car, shaking both Alessio's and Filippo's hands and giving them a quick hug to say thank you for the car. It had felt amazing all day and Marylinde hoped they would carry it on to the next day.
"Press conference," Freja said, a smile playing on her lips as she handed Marylinde her hat. "Come on. You don't want to miss your first one." She ushered Marylinde to start walking and just before the press conference would start without her, they arrived and Marylinde sat down. She smiled brightly, patting Marcus on the back, congratulating him before looking past him to give Callum a thumbs up who did the same.
"It seems that the news of becoming Red Bull's reserve driver has done you well." Marylinde smiled broadly, nodding before letting a chuckle slip.
"It did, as can be expected. They showed they have confidence in me and my abilities, sometimes that can give you a boost, though I think this is something I can do every time. I don't need a boost to get to this level." She flipped her hair over her shoulder aside with a smirk. "But all jokes aside, I think I showed off my abilities today. Last weekend I got into a bit of bad luck during qualifying while I was onto a stunner of a lap and then got into a bit of a squabble with my car on Sunday. This weekend I am going to do my best to make sure I show you guys why I am here and why Red Bull gave me the opportunity. This was the start of it."
"She's right," Callum said. "She's really fast, she showed it this morning as well, I just think she was quicker to adapt to the new situation than most, but she's at least where she is supposed to be right now."
"And where might that be?" Marylinde asked, challenging, knowing very well what Callum was getting at, but she wasn't going to let him have the satisfaction of making the comment without any response.
"Behind me."
"Oh, but my dear." She smiled sweetly. "You were just lucky. I don't know if your team told you this, but I got stuck behind a bit of traffic for a moment. Also, you got a toe from my teammate, so when calculating that into the times, I would have been faster than both you and Marcus, once again just a bit of bad luck, so don't let it get to your head that I'm supposed to be behind you." She leaned forward to look around Marcus and blew him a kiss. "Love you though." Callum scoffed as the very few present journalists laughed.
"It's going to be a disaster if the two of you ever get to formula one. One press conference I'll never want to be at is one where the two of you are seated there together with Lando, Alex, George and Daniel. That's going to be an enormous mess."
"It's going to be fun Marcus, there's a difference." She winked and the press conference continued, an occasional joke interrupting the questions or answers, but they had fun.
xxx
"Frej?" The Dane nodded. "Can you tell the team I will get to the hotel on my own? I'm going to see Kev for a bit. He said he had something to tell me." Freja nodded. "Thanks, you're my hero."
"Yeah, just go before I change my mind." Marylinde blew her a kiss and left towards the Haas hospitality. Kevin had promised to wait for her there.
"What are you still doing here?" Marylinde looked over her shoulder to see Pierre standing there. A couple of minutes of waiting had never hurt Kevin.
"I could ask you the same thing. My final session was after yours." She grinned. "But I was going to see Kevin."
"He's your cousin right?" Marylinde nodded. "Nice job on the qualifying though. That's immediately my reason for being here this late, I watched it from here and then had a session with Pyry."
"Awe, you watched it." If Marylinde had known Pierre longer, maybe the as long as she had known the British gang, she would have pinched his cheek, but she thought it was weird to do it with Pierre, so decided against it. "But thanks, a shame of yet again a bit of bad luck, but I'm not complaining, it's a nice starting position for tomorrow. With a good start and a bit of good luck, I will be leading into turn one."
"I'm sure you will." Pierre smiled. "But I think I see Kevin coming, you should go meet him, he's looking around as if he is searching for someone and I'm guessing that's you." Marylinde turned around and looked straight into her cousin's eyes. She couldn't decide whether she was in danger of being teased for talking to Pierre – someone had been so nice to catch him up with everything that supposedly was going on between herself and Pierre – or scolded at for letting him wait while having a nice conversation with the Frenchman and therefore choosing him over her own blood.
"You're right. I'll talk to you later Pierre!" She smiled and walked away from him before Kevin could drag him into whatever it was going to be he was going to do.
"So you and Pierre are really hitting it off then?" Marylinde groaned, she had preferred Kevin scolding her as that would have lasted a minute at most as the Dane couldn't stay mad at his little cousin for more than that, but this was going to last for at least a couple of weeks, especially since her group of friends was doing the same and they were fuelling each other.
"I'm not even going to try." Marylinde rolled her eyes. "But you had something you wanted to tell me?" Kevin nodded and together they walked back to Kevin's car to head to the hotel the Haas team was staying in. "You're not going to tell me?"
"I will, just not now."
"Then why are you dragging me with you?"
"Because I will tell you once we are in my room, you dummy." Marylinde huffed.
"And then they say I am impossible. I'm not even the worst one in the family. That title belongs to you." Kevin laughed, knowing very well the surprise would be well worth it once Marylinde would know what it was. "If it's going to be a disappointment I am going to be so upset. I could have been in bed by now."
"No, you couldn't have been. Your briefing ended just over half an hour ago. There is no way you could have been in bed by then. In fifteen minutes, yes. But not now."
"You're impossible."
"As you've already said." Marylinde tried to come up with a good comeback, but couldn't come up with anything. "Not even a retort for that?"
"I'm just being the wiser one." Kevin laughed. "Can't you just give me a hint?" Marylinde asked as they entered the parking lot, but Kevin shook his head, parking the car to get his backpack out of the back seat, along with Marylinde's. She took it from her and swung it over her shoulder. "I hate you." Kevin laughed again, she could really be a drama queen from time to time.
"Just shut up, we'll just have to go to my room and then I'll tell you." Marylinde agreed and within five minutes Kevin opened the door to his hotel room.
"Louise!" Marylinde immediately engulfed Kevin's wife in a tight hug. It had been a while since she had last seen her. "What are you doing here? Why weren't you at the track."
"I arrived beginning of the afternoon and needed a bit of rest. I'll be there to cheer you and Kevin on tomorrow." Marylinde chuckled.
"You better, I'm going to finally silence those bastards for saying I don't belong here. Mark my words." She hugged Louise again before turning to Kevin. "Was this what the whole thing was about? You wanted to surprise me with Louise's attendance?" Kevin shook his head and stood beside his wife, wrapping an arm around her.
"No, we need to tell you something." Marylinde frowned. They were already married, so they couldn't announce they had gotten-
"No way!" Marylinde screamed as tears sprung to her eyes. "You guys are expecting?" Kevin nodded proudly and Marylinde embraced both tightly. "That's the best news I have heard all year."
"It even beats the news Red Bull gave you?" Louise asked with a smirk.
"A hundred per cent. Oh my gosh, this is so exciting! I expect weekly updates on the pregnancy from now on!" She pointed a finger at Louise. "And I expect to be the godmother."
"Easy on the demands you." Kevin laughed. "The updates should be doable, but the godmother." He caressed his chin. "We'll have to think about it." Louise laughed and hit her husband on the arm.
"Don't worry about it Mary, you'll at least be a very important person in his or her life. We'll make sure of that." Marylinde embraced Louise again and sniffed.
"I'm so happy for the two of you! It's going to be such a pretty baby. I mean, with the Magnussen genes and yours, Louise, nothing can go wrong."