Ocean Eyes- LN4

Chapter 27- Saturday

Charles, Arthur, and Ezra all woke up very late on Saturday due to the late night they had on Friday. Arthur and Ezra stayed in Charles's room for the night and got woken up by Carlos knocking on the door. All three of them scrambled to get dressed and then met up with the waiting Carlos outside the door.

CS- What took you guys so long
AL- Well, you kinda woke us up, so we weren't ready
CL- Yeah, us three had a late night talking, and what not so
CS- Hmm, at least you're up now
EL- I hope that there's actually some racing today cause we need data to come up with a strategy for tomorrow
CL- Also, it's obviously a new track as well, so we as drivers need to learn the track as well
CS- I agree
AL- I don't think you'd be able to race or do qualy later if you don't complete fp3 today
CS- Yeah, it'd be far too dangerous for us to drive
CL- SEB, LEWIS

The two drivers in the distance turned around and stopped walking until the four caught up to them

SV- Ah, what's up, Charles
CL- I was wondering if you have any info on the chances of us driving today
LH- Well, from what Bono has texted me this morning, the weather is set to be better today, so we'll be able to go out on track. However, the track may be a bit damp as it did chuck it down last night
EL- Oh, that's good news then. At least I can start working out a strategy for a damp track
SV- The problem with the track being damp, though, is it tends to be really slippy
CS- It can be kinda like oil has been spilled on the track
LH- It's usually more dangerous than the track being fully wet
AL- Well, I can foresee a lot of spins then
SV- Unfortunately, so can I

The six drivers all came up to where the garages were, so Seb and Lewis had to leave them and go their separate ways. The other four went into the ferrari garage to prepare for the busy day ahead.

Thankfully, the weather had cleared up a bit from the previous day, so the drivers were able to get put onto the track. Like Lewis had predicted, though, the track was extremely slippy, and that caught a few drivers out, especially the younger drivers. First, there were a couple of spins from Max, Mick, and Zhou. Then came the big one. Lando went and planted his Mclaren in the barriers. He wasn't injured or anything, but the Mclaren had sustained a good amount of damage.

When qualifying came around, Lando was unable to take part as his Mclaren was still being repaired by his team. So that meant that he had to start from the back of the grid. However, between fp3 and qualifying, it had rained again, so instead of the track drying out, it became even more slippy. There were a further three crashes throughout qualifying. Nyck broke his suspension and rear end by sliding backward into the barrier in q1. There were no accidents in q2 thankfully for all the drivers. However, that wasn't the case in q3. As Pierre was on his first flying lap, he slid off and hit the barriers that spun his car back across the track. It wouldn't have been that bad, but there was a Mercedes on that part of the track also on a flying lap. This meant that as the Alpine spun back across the track, it collected the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton, and they both went crashing into the barriers. This bought out the red flag and Pierre qualified 10th and Lewis qualified 9th as a result of already having a flying lap on the board.

At the end of qualifying, Max got his first pole of the season, and the drivers who ended up in the barriers got sent down to the medical center to be checked out.

Lando was moving through the paddock, and he found himself bumping into Arthur.

'It's a shame you couldn't take part in qualifying'
'Well it was kinda my fault for planting my car into the barriers'
'I'm sure that you would've got pole if you took part in qualy'
'Thanks for the vote of confidence Arthur'
'Yeah anyway, I've seen that you and Ezra have been getting along quite well'
'He's good company'
'It's just strange cause Ezra usually takes quite a while before he's confident around strangers but he's taken to you straight away'.
'Is that a good thing?'
'Yeah, but I think he may like you just so your aware'
'Thanks for telling me then'
'Anyhow, I'd better be off, Logan will be looking for me'

Arthur hurried off towards the Williams hospitality, and Lando found himself being in the company of Ezra instead.

'Hey'
'Oh Ezra where did you come from'
'I hope that my brother wasn't bothering you'
'No not at all'
'I was just wondering if you want to watch a movie with me tonight and take your mind off what has happened today'
'I'd love to do that, erm in my room'
'Yeah, it'd probably be easier to get in without as many questions'
'True, what time shall I come round then'
'How about 7ish'
'Done, you can pick the movie as well cause I'm not bothered what I watch'
'Okay, see you later then'
'Bye'

Lando went to the Mclaren hospitality ready for the debrief before heading over to the hotel with Oscar.