Im a driver!

🏎 7 🏎

We are now on our way to the circuit. The whole engineer team of Lando and me is also there which means that I cannot take off my helmet. Even the engineers are not allowed to know that I will be driving that car.

I already have my suit on, Charlotte helped me put it on since they wanted to flatten my whole body with body tape so I looked more like a boy. When they told me that, I started laughing very hard, they do take it very seriously.

So now I have my suit on, a helmet and gloves.

We drive onto the car park of the circuit and Lando parks the car. "Here we go" I say while taking a deep breath.

Lando has already explained a lot of things about how the car works and so on. This will be explained to me even better later on when we first go for a spin in the simulator. I have already mastered a lot of things because I just spent two hours behind the simulator with Lando, but there is always room for improvement. Whether you are new to racing or you have already become world champion 7 times. There is always room for improvement!

We scan our passes and walk into the paddock. We say hello to Charlotte and Zak. We walk in and Lando and I both sit behind the simulator. We drive for an hour and then go to the garage.

I give all the engineers a punch and then walk over to the car. Again I get a few things explained. They give me my earpiece and I walk to my dressing room to put it in. I take off my helmet and plug in the earphones. I put my helmet back on and walk back to the garage.

"Ready?" Asks the engineer. I nod and sit down in the car. I am fully strapped in and then the engineer signals that I can start driving. I start the engine and drive out of the pit lane.

The first lap goes well and I set a pretty fast time. "How does the car feel? The engineer asks after a few laps. "Very good" I answer in a low voice. "Good" he answers. "Try going full throttle for once" he says when I'm almost at the line. "You got it" I say.

As soon as I cross the line I step on the gas hard. I feel like I'm flying over the track and forget about everything around me. I set a fast time.

I drive for 2 hours and then the engineer says I can drive back into the pit lane. I completed my lap and then drove into the pit lane.

I stop the car and am rolled into the pit lane. I give the engineers a punch and then walk up to where the performance engineer is sitting.

"That was a fast lap" he says while giving me a punch as well. I nod. "I know you're not allowed to say much, so I'll only ask questions that require you to nod and then I'll point out the things that can still be improved" he says. I nod again.

It feels so impersonal to not be able to just talk, but I can't because my voice would give me away.

The performance engineer explains things I can do better and after an hour I go back to my room. I take off my helmet and sit a bit on my phone. After a few minutes there is a knock on the door. "It's me Charlotte" I hear. "Come in" I say.

Charlotte enters the room. "Zak wants to talk to you, are you coming?" She asks. I nod and put my helmet back on. We walk to Zak's office and she closes the door.

Lando and Zak are both sitting at the table. Charlotte and I sit down too.

"You have been doing great test laps Julie, we would like to give you the contract" Zak says with a smile. "Omg really?" I ask as I jump up. Zak stands up smiling too. "Welcome to the McLaren team Julie Adams" he says giving me a hug. I hug him back and then Lando stands up.

"We are going to be a great team" he says as he gives me a hug. "That's for sure" I say as I hug him back.

We sign the contract and Charlotte takes some pictures. "You can put those online after the first race" she says with a wink.