That's Racing Baby | Lando Norris

Chapter 32: Race Nine

George got his pole. He qualified P1 by over a tenth of a second. It was incredible. Emilia could hardly believe it when she got the radio message. She'd qualified P5 which was great for her but obviously the main focus was on George and rightly so.

The team's celebrations were amazing that night. Obviously, there was no alcohol for Emilia and George who sat there with their water but that didn't dampen the celebrations. Last year, the team had been struggling getting one car out of Q1 whereas now they had achieved a pole position. It was insane to think of the progress they had made as a team and even made Emilia question whether the car was legal or not. It had passed all the tests so far and the other teams haven't found anything to sue against so they were stuck behind the Williams. Emilia had to admit, especially with the cost cap, it was suspicious that Williams progressed so much but she hadn't seen anything to suggest its not.

The atmosphere in the garage pre-race was extraordinary. It would be even bigger for their home race. Coincidentally, Silverstone would be Emilia's, George's and Williams' home Grand Prix so the drive to do well would be substantially greater than any other race. Emilia would also finally have her Grandad in her garage so she would feel the pressure to do well. The excitement to have someone in her garage who isn't employed by her or the team was unmeasurable. She couldn't wait.

But for now, she had to concentrate on this race in France. The sun was shining, the track was a good temperature, everything was going to be good, she hoped. There were no issues as of yet and they'd extra checked George's car for anything as they couldn't afford to miss anything. Emilia seriously admired George getting pole in a Williams. It wasn't the fastest car and yet he managed to stick the car in the first spot on the grid. Of course, Emilia was only in her first season, she'd have to wait a while for a pole position.

"The man himself, Mr Pole Position. How we feeling?" Emilia fist bumped George as he entered the garage. She probably shouldn't talk to him because he was in the zone but she didn't want to not acknowledge her teammate striding past.

"Good good. Just want to get going." George nodded pressing his lips firmly together. He was jittery from the nerves which was new but starting P1 was also new for him.

"I'll have caught you up by turn one." Emilia laughed rubbing George's arm in an attempt to calm him down.

"It's not that long a run down to the first corner. As long as I get a good start and stay on track going into turn one it should be good." George replied. He was assuring himself more than her.

"You'll do amazing." Emilia comforted.

"Can I get a good luck hug?" George asked. Emilia sighed and nodded with hugging not being her favourite thing. "Thanks, I'll speak to you afterwards. Good luck." When Emilia turned back around, she saw the camera on her and ignored it. She continued her conversation with John until she was required to drive out to the track. The car felt good and reported no issues with it.

There was a small period of time between parking her car on the grid and starting the formation lap. She spent some of it talking to Toto which she couldn't really avoid and the rest of it remembering the strategies. All the variations of the plan were hopefully in her head as she climbed into the car.

The formation lap occurred and Emilia sat waiting patiently for the light sequence. She did a little shuffle in her seat and found that she could actually move. Usually, her body was stiff because of the tightness of the seatbelts and her little shuffle would involve barely any movement. However, this time she could move more than her arms. Her hips had a little bit of motion as well. She decided she couldn't worry about that as the lights had started turning on. They went out and the race started.