Chase You -1- Formula 1

85. Ask and you shall receive, next year perhaps

A/n: championship standings from the previous l race will be updated later, I don't have the mental capacity to count at the moment.

Beth kept her good news a secret for at least another three days. Until I found out by myself. Beth wasn't sure if I was allowed to know what she heard earlier and didn't want to get me too hyped, but earlier this morning, Seb announced he'd be going to Mercedes. It kind of made sense, a German driver in a German team. However, the extremely powerful Mercedes line-up with the two drivers I admired ever since I was young, was not why this made me so happy. Now, of course, it was fun to have Seb and Lewis in the same team, but this caused an empty seat next to Charles. Much more interesting in my idea.

Nothing was confirmed just yet, nothing that had any influence on my future so far, but from what I guessed, there weren't many other drivers still available to go to that seat. Nor was I allowed to speak to other teams anymore, according to Beth and Mattia. Logically speaking, Beth wouldn't stop me from finding a team if she knew Ferrari was no longer an option. To add, Monza was the most amazing place to announce if I went to my dream team or not.

On the other hand, it was a bit early in the season. For now, I maintained a great place in the championship. With not too big of a point gap to the top teams and I considered myself to be a pretty consistent driver too. I often scored good points and got a few fastest laps in the bag as well, not to brag or anything.

"Ah come on Charlo, you just have to convince Mattia a little." I pinched my fingers together, leaving a minimal gap in between my thumb and index. "You don't even have to lie for me, just acknowledge my pure talent and say we'd be good teammates. We talked about this before, just please help me out a little."

"You're faster than I am," Charles chuckled as we walked through the paddock. I compelled myself to have multiple conversations with him, everything to gain from it. "I have no reason to help you. Do it yourself."

I looked to my side, Pierre walked on my left and shrugged. When I talked to him about convincing Charles, he already thought it was a bad idea. Luckily for me, I didn't listen to him. When I asked Kate she supported my plans and I valued her opinion a bit more. I kinda hoped Pierre had my back on this one too, but that was unfortunately not the case.

"Okay but you partly ruined my holidays, so you better make it up to me," I said. I didn't mean to use this when I started this conversation, though, begging Charles to talk to Mattia for at least half an hour got exhausting. I played it nice the entire time and I was determined to get what I wanted and deserved. "It's seriously not that hard! It's not harmful to anyone and I'm benefitting from it."

"Last year you told me you were going beat me every time if we had the same car," Charles claimed. "You were right, I don't like that. I responded that I had to make sure it didn't happen, so if I can keep you from getting a seat, I will."

"That's pathetic." Pierre joined the conversation, he remained silent for a long while and now he finally spoke. Pierre was a bit all over the place, the past few weeks had been a real struggle mentally, losing his best friend last week and also getting demoted. I tried my best to be there for him, hoping I could help him because I recently went through a similar experience. Not that my advice was the best out there, but as emotional support, I tried to distract him a bit. "We all know the real reason you don't want her as your teammate."

"What?" I asked, darting my gaze between Charles and Pierre. Charles's face flushed red, which made me a bit more curious. "Mate you better elaborate this really quick."