That's Racing Baby | Lando Norris

Chapter 67: Race Seventeen

Emilia didn't get much sleep that night. She rolled over constantly not able to put her mind at rest. She had a big decision to make. One that would impact the rest of her life. It would be easier if Toto agreed with her but he didn't. It made Emilia doubt whether she was going to make the right decision. Though, Christine had changed her point of view. What if she found she didn't enjoy racing anywhere else? That would ruin her chances of getting back into F1. But what if going to Alfa ruined her love for racing to the point where she didn't want to race at all even when a better seat came up?

Emilia sat for a long time contemplating what she was going to do. Initially, she had been decisive and knew that she wasn't going to accept the offer but Emilia wasn't so sure anymore. The lack of time to think about it probably didn't help.

It wasn't a good offer. It was for one year and potentially a few more at Ferrari if she was good enough. Alfa were just as able to throw her away like Williams did. Emilia couldn't do that again. There was also the issue with changing academies. Well, that wasn't the issue, drivers did that all the time. It was the fact that Mercedes was a great academy and people understood her there. Toto knew how to deal with her media antics and was aware she wasn't as confident as other drivers. Emilia wasn't getting any special treatment, Toto did that with all the drivers. Most of all, Mercedes had helped her grow. She had joined after winning F3 and she definitely wasn't the same person then. They had helped her through a lot so she wanted to be loyal to them.

However, if she didn't take this Alfa offer, Emilia wouldn't be in Formula 1 anymore. Of course, she would be a reserve driver and her presence required at some races but she wouldn't go into the paddock as a driver. She would rarely actually be in the paddock at all. That was something she'd taken for granted. The long walks all the way to the bottom where Williams were wouldn't happen. There would be no little run between the motorhome and the garage. She would have to watch the races instead of participate in them. Emilia would have to watch people do what she wanted to do but wasn't good enough to. That would be hard.

Emilia came to a decision in the early hours in the morning after a lot of phone calls. She accumulated only a few hours of sleep so when it came to her alarm going off, she was even less willing to roll out of bed than normal. She groggily made her way to the circuit having a nap in the car while Christine drove.

Before going to Williams, Emilia stopped off at Mercedes to present her solution to Toto. They had an argument but eventually agreed on what they would be doing after the race. They'd met in the middle; it would only be a few hours before the meeting would occur and Emilia's future would be decided. After that, Emilia was stuck doing media duties until the drivers parade. Her warmup followed that then it was race time. There wasn't much time to dwell on her decision and rethink it.

The race was starting shortly and Emilia had the strategy memorised in her head. She had an ice bath beforehand as it was going to be a humid race. The circuit was difficult enough but adding the heat to it made it one of the hardest races of the year. Emilia was too tired to be excited about the challenge.

Unfortunately, the ice bath only worked for a short while. Driving out the pitlane then running around and getting to the national anthem on time meant Emilia was boiling already. Her face was red and sweaty when she arrived at the front of the grid.

Emilia didn't have far to go back to P5 so she had more time than most people to get to her car and ready for the race. Christine helped her get calm so she was able to think clearly having rushed around for the past hour. Emilia got in her car and waited for the green light.

Once the formation lap commenced, Emilia followed a Red Bull on the yellow striped tyres unlike herself. Whoever was at the front was taking it easy slowly working their way back round the grid. The pack was backed up which was good for the front runners as their tyres would be warmer. Maybe the pole sitter was aware Emilia was behind him on softs.