Drivers Force- [C.L]

14) Feelings

Charles POV

"In 2nd we have Carlos Sainz" I hear Ferrari and fans start screaming and they don't stop. I see him walk onto the podium.

My hand start sweating. My breath quickens. Yet a large smile stays on my face disguising what's really going on in my body.

"And in 1st we have Charles Leclerc" My heart beats faster. My legs start walking before I even realise. I start waving to the crowd. I look down and see Stella talking with Arthur.

I stand on my place at the podium. This is where I belong. Then the familiar tune starts playing. The joy makes me smile and before I know it a tear falls down my face. This is what representing a country feels like. But not any country. Your Country.

I pat my heart and think of my family. Arthur is following in the footsteps. Jules, Lorenzo, Dad and Mum. Thinking of them makes my vision blurry. I turn my head slightly to see Carlos. His smile makes me smile. We look at each other and nod slightly so it's not visible to the crowd.

Then the Italian national anthem starts playing. With 2.3 seconds for a pit stop gained us another point. Along with Carlos getting driver of the day all the points point to us. Ferrari...

We are currently 3rd in the constructors championship with Red Bull and Mercedes fighting for the top. With this many points, I'm sure that we will claim second. Red Bull has 168, Mercedes have 139 and we have 135. With the additional 45 points, we now have 180 and Red Bull now has 191 with the additional 23. Mercedes with their additional 16 has 155.

When the anthems stopped we all stood upright. We all put our caps on. Max got his trophy and his medal. You could see he was disappointed but still getting on the podium is a good thing however knowing him he only wants 1st.

Then Carlos took off his cap and knelt slightly so the medal was placed around him. He gets his trophy and lifts it. I see him searching in the crowd. He points to Stella. He's dedicating it to her. I see her blushing and placing her hand on her heart. My hands suddenly turn into fists.

Then I realise it's my turn. My hands unravel themselves. The medal is placed around my neck with the sun reflecting off it. Then from the corner of my eye, I see the trophy coming towards me. It's large and shiny. It's placed in my hands. I lift it and the crowd starts screeching. I lock eyes with Stella. I smile and wink. I see her face blush even harder. Ha, Carlos!

I place it down and grab my champagne. I give it a shake and poof. I spray Carlos right in the face. He sprays me. I can feel my face get sticky. Then I feel spray from behind me. I feel Max's champagne down my neck. Then I see our constructor. I run over to him and spray him. This is what fun is. Spraying people with champagne.

When we have no boost left in our champagne we get together and stand on the podium. Our suits sticking to each other due to the thick layer of champagne. We all smile. After about 2 minutes we go back in. Me and Carlos hug only then realising the sticky substance when we tried to let go.

All three of us ran quickly back to our garage to change. The stickiness was enough for a small period of time not through a ton of interviews. When I arrived I saw everyone with a large smile on their faces. After a long time with bad luck, this is what we needed. People were walking towards us. Me and Carlos automatically said "Sticky Champagne! Sticky Champagne! Back away." They all backed away not wanting to get contaminated.

We both walked together towards our driver rooms to change. I entered and found Arthur waiting for me.

"Frère tu l'as fait. Tu as gagné. Maman et moi sommes si fiers de toi et elle m'a dit de te dire de l'appeler."
["Brother you did it. You won. Mama and I are so proud of you and she told me to tell you to call her."]

"Merci Arthur. Je t'ai vu parler à Stella"
["Thank you, Arthur. I saw you talking to Stella"]

"Oui je l'ai fait. Elle est très douce. Elle ne sait pas que je suis ton frère."
["Yes I did. She's very sweet. She doesn't know that I'm your brother."]

"Pourquoi pas?"
["Why not?"]

"Je veux que ce soit une surprise"
["I want it to be a surprise"]

"Si tu le dis"
["If you say so"]

"Je vais dire félicitations à Carlos d'accord. Je t'attendrai après tes entretiens"
["I'm going to say congratulations to Carlos okay? I'll wait for you after your interviews"]

"A plus tard Arthur"
["See you later Arthur"]

"Au revoir"
["Bye"]

As he leaves the room I lock it and get changed into a new fireproof suit and over suit so the other one could get washed. Halfway through putting my suit on, there's a knock on my door.

"Hey, it's me" Her sweet angelic voice made me shiver.

"Hi me," I say jokingly

"Very funny Charlie"

"Hold on let me finish putting on my suit"

"Okay sure"

When I finished I opened the door and she came running into my arms.

"You did it. You did it!"

"We did it. As a team. We also got the fastest pit stop and driver of the day"

"Wow, so no really impressive points for other teams then?"

"Yes. Well except Max. He seemed disappointed."

"He needs to get used to losing then if Ferrari is going to carry on this well"

"Yeah. I've got interviews but do you want to walk with me there?"

"Sure"

Before we started walking I asked if Carlos wanted to join but he was on the phone so I didn't want to bother him. We both started walking until Mattia called my name.

"Charles! Stella!" We both turned around "We made it. We finally did it. Charles P1! Fantastic." He pats my back "Stella you absolute genius. How you came up with that was amazing. Can I tell the press?"

"Yeah, you can. I don't mind" Tell the press what. We drove the car.

"Okay, again congratulations Charles. I have to go and find Carlos. I'll see you later" We both waved.

"Okay tell the press what?" I finally say

"You'll find out through the press," She said with a large grin while doing a hair flip. She's clearly very happy. "Enjoy the interviews"

"Thanks" I say very confused. What had just happened? First I get P1 and Carlos gets P2. Then Stella apparently does something fantastic and I have to find out through the press.

I clear my mind and prepare myself to get interviewed. Yet it still bothers me.

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1171 words

Hi! I'm so sorry I haven't updated lately.

I will be on holiday for the next few weeks so it might be hard to update but I'm now currently writing lots to prepare.

To get some sneak peeks at what's ahead then go to my TikTok-urgernerichuman
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Hope you enjoyed

-Author N