Point Of View | Lando Norris

5.

11th February, 2021.

Daniel had to be fucking kidding me.

First thing I see when I check my phone was the comments from people on my picture that pretty much announced I was in London, checked to see Zak Brown's new comment on my picture and until then I was fine.

Until I saw who some of my new followers were.

Not only did Lando already clicked two and two together but also clearly a conversation between his friends and him happened because I was now being followed my drivers I've never met before in my life, excluding Carlos, but I was younger so it doesn't really count anything.

Of course, I also knew I couldn't be mad at Daniel because he didn't know about the events that had taken place and that was how I was going to keep it. It took me a lot of thinking and I just came to the decision that it was the best choice for the sake of my new job and also of his new position.

Anyone with a pair of eyes and the small interest of keeping up to date about the news in the sport knew that since being announced that Daniel would be pairing up with Lando for the 2021 season, the pressure has been on. Not only in the sense of delivering on track - cause McLaren had taken third place in the past season - but also pressure with the friendship between the new teammates.

Both my cousin and Norris had been paired up with people they clicked really well, Max being the biggest example for Daniel and Carlos for Lando, of course. Except you can't expect that dynamic to come with every single new person you get paired up and specially not when is practically forced up on you and I knew that for what Dan had told me the two of them were getting to know each other and creating a friendship and I didn't want any possible drama I had unintentionally created to get in the way of that.

So, not only I had to get it together for a new job and living in a new country, I also had to find a way to avoid the British driver and hide it from Daniel, and for the second part to happen that was only two options. Either I pray that Norris doesn't mention anything or I just face him once and make an agreement. So far, I'm sticking with the praying one.

- Ready for your first day at the factory? - Dan asked me grabbing his jacket before stepping out of the house he was now renting in the UK. Don't ask me why a house instead of a flat since he probably would barely stay here

- No, I still can't believe you used the you own me line to get me here - I said rolling my eyes at him seeing him laugh

- You gave me no choice and there's no one I would trust this things more than my own cousin - He said driving through the streets of Surrey - Plus it's nice to have a few familiar faces in this new chapter

- You say as if you didn't have Michael and were already friends with half the team - I said rolling my eyes at him

- Just play some better music than this please - He said pointing at the radio that was currently playing some unknown song for me and I soon started playing my most recent Spotify playlist.

- Holy shit, these cars are insane - I said looking at the cars in display at the McLaren Technology Centre

- Come see the actual car, then - Zak said pulling me to the MCL35M that would be announced in a few days - Doesn't have a lot of changes, just a few aerodynamic details and the engine of course

- I swear to god this engine better work wonders - I said making the two older man in the room laugh - Don't you have a meeting in a few minutes? - I asked looking at my cousin

- See, this is why I need you here. Come on, I'll bring to my room in here - He said pulling me away fro Zak after we said our goodbyes.

I was done with all the small things I had to do for Daniel's Marketing team and that lead me to an extreme level of boredom and there was nothing I could do about it considering I was not a home and didn't seem like I was going to be home anytime soon.

The meeting was a long one, I didn't really needed to know what it was about so to be fair, I saved some space in my brain and didn't pay attention to what it was about, all I knew was that it should take from 3 to 4 hours and so far only one and a half had passed by. Daniel did tell me to uber home or just drive his newly McLaren but I didn't feel like spending the money or risking to crash a car he didn't even pay for, so I was stuck here trying to find new things to do on my phone

- Daniel, your cousin - Lando said entering the room but stopped after seeing me - Oh. - It was all that came out of his mouth while we both stared at each other without knowing what to do or say

- Uhn... Hi - I said giving him a small smile which was returned - Not to sound rude, can we maybe leave Dubai without Daniel or Max knowing? - I asked praying he hasn't spoken to Max about since I knew the Dutch acted like an older brother to me, close to how Daniel was.

- If this time you give me your actual number, sure. - He said holding his phone and I let all the air I was holding out

- That's easy - I said taking his phone and seating back down in the couch to write it down while he sat down next to me and places his hand on my thigh

- So, was I ever going to know you were my teammate's cousin?

- Maybe in another life, sure. This was not in the plans - I said pointing at me wearing a McLaren jacket

- Why do I feel like Dubai had something to do with the resistance to the job? - He asked laughing and I rolled my eyes at him - Got my answer. We should do Dubai, just London version of it - He said making circles on my thigh

- Depends on what your London version of it is... And Daniel can't dream about it, at least not until you guys are 100% - I said looking back at him seeing him smirk at me

- Will be even better don't worry - He said pulling me into a kiss that didn't last more than a few seconds since I quickly ended

- Did you lost it Norris? - I asked and he denied it

- He's stuck in that meeting for at least another hour - He said rolling his eyes - But I'll respect the boundaries you're placing cause at least we get to hang out, now want a ride or to be stuck here?

- For the record, only cause I've been bored for the past hour.

- Whatever you say