midnights, charles leclerc

2.

no one can convince me otherwise. the grid before a race is one of the best things in formula 1. the teams all frantically trying to set the car up for the race and making the final changes that they might need to make, the interviewers running up and down trying to interview someone for television and the drivers just sitting their most likely with someone running around after them or trying to tell them important information, that they probably need during the race.

then the final moments when the mechanics, and everyone else just leaves. and it's just the drivers and their cars. they leave for the formation lap, the final lap around the circiut befire the start if the race. then they line up again. and then...

"IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO HERE IN BAHRAIN!"

the beginning of the bahrain grand prix was crazy.

i was standing in the garage and had my headphones on so i could hear charles on the radio. the nerves in the garage were prominent, all eyes on the drivers.

charles got a good start extending his lead from max verstappen, whilst people were getting overtaken left, right and center in the midfield of the grid.

a few laps pass by and verstappen is slowly creeping up on charles, he goes for the overtake and charles cuts him off. claps erupted in the garage- but they were abruptly cut off when verstappen managed to get around charles. but again that didnt last long when at the next straight charles took his position back. "yes charles" i whispered under my breath.

the race went on and this game of cat and mouse between charles and max continued. one would overtake then the other would take the position back.

on the third last lap, max was still on charles tail, when suddenly max started slowing down and being overtaken by everyone behind him. "there was an issue with his oil tank he's not going to finish the race." one of the mechanics said. i felt bad for max, it wasn't an issue he could've controlled, but she couldn't help feel relieved for charles, it's less pressure on him.

"AND IT IS A 1-2 FOR THE SCUDERIA!"

charles won. CHARLES LECLERC IS A THREE-TIME WINNER OF A FORMULA 1 GRAND PRIX.

i jumped on adrienne and hugged her so tightly. "he did it" "i knew he would". the garage was filled with the mechanics hugging each other and patting each other on the back. mattia binotto spun around in his chair and shook hands with the rest of the people on the pit wall, sending a nod of his head to me. this was obviously huge win for him and the team. a 1-2 in the first race of the season.

"come on em, we have to go to the podium." adrienne said dragging my arm. we met alexandria on the way and the three of us stood at the bottom of the podium with the rest of the team ready to watch the celebrations.

when he came out and stood proudly on the top step of that podium and was smiling proudly down to his team, i knew he felt so happy. but i knew the other thought running his head was "how do i make this last?" and i'm pretty sure that is what the entire team was thinking.

they played the italian national anthem and the monegasque anthem, and the entire team was singing along. the many members of the team that had brought italian flags with them were waving them around in victory. i caught charles' eye and smiled at him. he smiled back and sent me one of his infamous winks, making my smile even wider.

the three racers; lewis hamilton and the two ferraris, carlos and charles all took a photo together after the champagne celebrations.

"charles, i am so proud of you, mon amour." i said as i pulled him into a hug the second i could. "i couldn't have done it without you there ma chérie" he replied. these nicknames is what we had been calling each other all of our lives, ever since we met.

i let go of him and placed a small kiss on his cheek and turned him toward the others for them to greet and congratulate him too.

well that was a successful first race of the season.