Love Is In The Air - Charles Leclerc

chapter 34

This morning I woke up at peace. I had Alex in my arms and almost all my previous worries had gone away. With both Alex and Pierre showing their support and qualifying going so great my confidence was coming back. I felt Alex waking up in my arms as ahe slightly wriggled. I brushed my hand gently over her face as she opened her eyes. Both her and I started smiling at our eyecontact.

-Good morning beautiful, I said with my morning voice.

-Good morning baby, she said smiling from ear to ear. Are you feeling better today after that fantastic qualifying?

-It feels pretty good yeah, I said smiling even larger than before.

This morning we could take it pretty easy. I didn't have to be at the track until noon. Me and Alex decided to make some breakfast together when we finally got out of bed. Alex entered the kitchen first and I could already hear pans smashing against eachother.

-Are you trying to break everything in my kitchen? I asked laughingly as I entered as well.

-Just a bit, she answered with a cheeky smile.

We made some scrambled eggs with some bacon and a fruit salad. Alex was very organized when she worked in a kitchen, not like me. I would spread out and use all the counter space. That meant that it was chaos when we cooked food together.

After cooking everything we sat down on my balcony. It was a sunny day here in Monaco and the streets were already busy. The food was delicious as always. We ate and spoke about some of Alex's upcoming exams. She had started doing classes online as she was traveling more with me. Even if it wasn't the same as being in class it worked and Alex was supposedly ready to do it for being with me.

Before heading to the paddock Alex did some studying and I had a quick interview. The clock was ticking down faster than I wanted it to. I was nervous. When we finished we got ready and left the apartment.

It was definitely harder to get to the paddock today than previous days. It was always like this on race day here in Monaco, even when I was a child. The paddock was also already full of people. Alex and I squeezed ourselves past a lot of people trying to find the red motorhome. On our way there I heard my name being called.

-Charles! Christian Horner the Red Bull team principal called out. Ready for race day? I know we are. Hoping for a good battle to the end. I mean if you'll even make it to the chequered flag.

-Ah hi Christian, I answered irritated. Well, we will see how it goes. Good luck to you.

-You too, Horner said and continued walking.

I could see in the corner of my eye Alex looking at me mad. I turned around to look at her.

-Why would you let him speak to you like that? She said slapping my arm slightly. He shouldn't be allowed to talk to you like that.

-It's fine Alex honestly he's just playing, I tried to explain. That's just Christian, okay?

-No Charles! Alex raised her voice.

I didn't understand why she cared so much about Christian, that was just who he was.

-You need to stand up for yourself, she said. Next time I'll go after him if you don't do anything.

-Hey I love how much you would do for me, I said laughing. But maybe you shouldn't go after Christian. And anyways I'll show them on track.

Alex just rolled her eyes on me, but quickly turned back to me to steal a kiss in the middle of the paddock. It was weird that we actually could do that without thinking about the consequences.

The last hours before the race disappeared even more quick. Somehow I was already in the car ready for the race. I had left Alex in the garage this time with a childhood friend who was here to support me. I on other hand was now out doing the formation lap. This time last year I wasn't even in the car and all I could think about was doing what I was supposed to do last year.

I am stronger than last year, you can do this Charles. I got ready, took some steady breaths before the adrenaline would kick in and pulled down the visor.

It's lights out and away we go!

I got a good start meaning that I pulled away some from Max. From the front the first lap kind of calm, I had gotten a comfortable gap on a couple of seconds. My engineer told me on the radio though that there was a couple of incidences that could have ended up badly. Luckily none of them ended with a safety car or even a red flag. That was good and that meant that we could continue on with our plan A.

After the first laps Max had caught on some. He was always within 3-6 seconds. The Red Bull had been looking good all weekend, but not this great. The first cars were going in for their pit stops. Our plan was to go for a couple of laps more before doing our stop.

The race continued on with not that many overtakes as it usually was in Moanco. It was now my time to pit. It was a great pit stop and I hadn't lost as much time as predicted. The pit crew had been on their A-game, they knew I wanted to perform this weekend.

-Let's start making up for that pit stop, my engineer said. Veratappen hasn't pitted yet and will probably try to overcut.

-Yes let's go, I said staring hunt.

Max pitted after half the race. He had done a great job on his first sets of tires. All I could do was hope that I had done enough on so that I could come back into the lead and have more than enough time between me and him. I sunk down further in my car. All my focus was on trying to take the next corner better than the one previous. Before I knew it we were in the last stage of the race.

-Okay Charles so your doing a great job, my engineer came on the radio and said. Max is catching up as suspected, but not as much as they need. Just keep on pushing this will be a tight one.

I tried speeding up, but with these old tires it was becoming harder by every lap. On the last five laps Max had caught up to me. He was now following me closely trying to find a place to pass me. Luckily for me this was a hard track to overtake at and I had grown up on these streets.

Max was close a couple of times, but everytime I could keep him behind. The last lap was playing out and I tried so hard not to lose my focus. All I need to do is just to keep him behind this last lap. We were in the second sector slowing down in the hairpin. As soon a I left the turn I quickly pushed my foot on the gas. We entered the tunnel an I could see Max catching up more and more. But he hadn't caught up enough. We got the chicane where my brakes failed in 2019 and I was still infront.

I knew the lap wasn't over yet, but I also knew that the overtaking chances became less and less. By ever turn that was left I started too feel more emotional. Finally I came out on the start and finish straight and saw the chequered flag.

I couldn't belive that I had won my own home Grand Prix. I started screaming on the radio as all my emotions came to me. I thought about how I dreamt about driving here as a kid and how I started karting. I thought about my dad and Jules and all the memories I had with them. I thought about all my setbacks here in Monaco and how I finally had broken my own curse. And then I thought about Alex. She had supported me like no other, especially this weekend and I couldn't have done it without her truly.

I got around to Parc Ferme and everyone were screaming and chanting my name. I undid my seat belt and stood on top of the car. Waving my hands up in the air as happy tears were streaming down my face. I stepped down from the car and ran over to all the Ferrari staff that was standing there cheering. They all surrounded me with hugs.

When all of us had calmed down a bit I walked over to the pedestal a took off my helmet. It was first at this point that I realized that Alex also was standing at the fence cheering for me. I quickly took a clunk of water and ran over to her. I took her in my arms and kissed her passionately. As we parted ways she said:

-You did it baby, you did it.

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