Chequered Flag | FORMULA ONE (COMPLETED)

CHAPTER TWO

Knock, knock, knock... I wonder who that is?

I approached the door and opened it. "Ember?"

"Hey Mick."

"How do you know my room number?" I asked.

"Guenther told me," she shrugged.

"And why would he do that?"

"Because I asked him to. Simple." Ember strided into my room, "Anyways, I'm here to escort you to the paddock. Because I'm your teammate, of course."

"One second." I poured some water into a cup and handed it to her. "You wait here. I need to shower first. You're an early bird, you know?"

I heard a faint 'wow, waiting, yay' as I closed the bathroom door, and I couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.

It felt nice as the pressured water hit me. The warmth of the liquid was soothing. That's the thing I liked about showering, especially on a chilly morning like today. I got myself clean and warmed up, before putting on a comfy t-shirt and a pair of jeans. I stepped out of the bathroom, ready to grab my stuff and hit the road for the Suzuka International Circuit.

Until I noticed my car keys were not where they were supposed to be. For a second, I panicked. I glanced around, seeing if I could remember where I put it last time. I saw Ember by the door, smirking mischievously. She then slowly pulled the keys from her pocket, and shaked it around, making a rattling noise.

"Oi Ember, give that back will you?" I called.

"Not if I'm driving!" She let out a laugh before dashing out of the room, to where I assumed was the car park.

I shook my head. If she wants to drive then so be it. I locked my hotel room and slowly proceeded to the carpark.

And there she was, standing triumphantly by the driver's side of my Mercedes.

"What took you so long?" asked Ember, with her mischievous smirk firmly planted on her face.

"You didn't lock the door for me. You know that." I told her, "And okay, you drive!"

Ember cheerfully jumped into the driver's seat and started the car before I even reached the passenger side. She quickly threw the car into gear and maneuvered it out of the carpark and onto the road.

***

"So sunglasses for you and me." I put on my sunglasses and lent my spare one to Ember before we exited the car. We wanted to minimize media attention here. We're here to work, not to be influencers. Though I must admit, the media was a quite important aspect of our careers.

"Hi Guenther," I called when I reached the garage.

"Hi," Ember repeated after me.

"Hi, hi. Okay, get into your cars," he rushed, "Free practice is starting soon."

I put on my race gear in the changing room, and stepped into my car with 5 minutes until the start of free practice. My mechanics told me about the changes they made to the car as I tried to get comfortable in my seat.

T: Radio check, Mick.

M: Loud and clear!

T: I assume your mechanics have told you about your setup for today.

M: Yes, Tayla.

T: We want to try taking turn 8 on full throttle. We believe the amount of downforce on your car can handle that.

M: Are you crazy?

T: It's not me. Ask the mechanics and aerodynamicists!

M: Okay, noted.

The team released us together, with me in front of Ember. They wanted me to provide a slipstream for her at certain areas of the track.

1.36.332. That's Ember's lap time. Not bad for a first drive, but it could be improved. On the cooldown lap, I ran wide at the hairpin to let her pass.

It was my turn for the lap. After the last chicane, I pushed the throttle hard, shifting up whenever my steering wheel flashed me to do so. I nailed the first corner, and carefully maneuvered my car along the S-curves to follow the optimal racing line. This part of the track was always tricky. If I were to push a little bit too hard, I would spin and crash.

Next came turn 8. I positioned my car to carry as much speed as possible, and attempted the corner flat out. Indeed, the high downforce setup on my car worked! Oh man, that would have saved me a few tenths of a second, guaranteed!

After turn 9, I got back to the throttle as early as possible to get a good acceleration all the way to the hairpin. I hit the apex and propelled myself to the spoon curve. After that was a long straight. It was a good chance for me to catch a slipstream from Ember. I tried to brake as late as possible into the chicane. Left, right, throttle.

I sped across the finish line. 1.31.983. That shot me up into P1, and I stayed there for the rest of FP1.

I used the halo to pull myself up. There's a few minutes before FP2 for me to rest. But first, there's one thing I needed to do.

I headed to Ember's side of the garage. She just got out of her car and was wiping her sweat away using a towel. "How was FP1?"

She kept her towel and drank some water before replying, "Great! Car's good, but how did you get such a quick lap time?"

"First of all, I've got a high downforce setup. So I could take turn 8 flat out."

"Am I going to get that setup then?"

"Probably. But I realised your racing line is a little too wide."

And I went on to explain. "At the S-curves, I saw you turning left and right quite vigorously," I tried to visualise it by wiggling my hand, and she giggled at my inaccurate representation. "Just try to keep to the middle as far as possible, and your lap times should improve."

Just like that, the break was over, and now I needed to get ready for FP2.

I spent most of the session driving around the track, learning about all the ideal breaking points and apexes of each corner. Occasionally, I would do a flying lap to test my theory. When I thought I could do better, I tried again.

In the end, my best time was 1.31.373. Not a huge improvement, but an improvement nonetheless. I was satisfied.

***

We were on our way to my car. It's been a long day and it would be so nice to return to our hotel rooms and get some rest.

I was honestly surprised when Ember told me her car didn't have the high downforce setup like I do. She stated that the team wanted her to get used to the normal setup before trying the special Suzuka one. She kept repeating and emphasizing how much she wanted to take on turn 8 on full throttle. She wanted to get the full Formula One experience, she said.

A part of me wanted to assure her that she'll probably have the Suzuka setup latest by qualifying, since the team already knew that is how to get around the track quickest. But the other part of me wanted to stay quiet, to let her continue. I liked hearing Ember talk. Weirdly enough, her unique voice and authentic British accent soothed me.

Screw it, just tell her. "Ember, you know you'll get the setup you want in qualifying, since it's the fastest setup," I told her, smiling cheerfully at her.

That shut her up.

After a few moments of awkward silence, we finally reached the car. I took the keys and ran to the driver's side before Ember could do anything.

"Oi!" she pouted her lips. "Fine! You drive."

I smirked at her before starting the car.

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