That's Racing Baby | Lando Norris

Chapter 75: Race Nineteen

guess who's back :) sorry it took so long as I've been busy and literally wrote this whole chapter this afternoon so it's a little messy but I hope you enjoy it anyway

"Good morning Mr Russell, it's a beautiful day." Emilia grinned as she unintentionally bumped into her teammate at the entrance to the paddock.

"Lando stay with you last night?" George asked scanning his pass to get into the paddock. Emilia did the same at the adjacent gate and their trainers were just behind them gossiping.

"Nope, it's better than that." Emilia replied. "Okay Lando would be mad I said that so I'll say it's on par with him."

"It being?" George queried who had to wait for an answer because Emilia was taking photos with fans.

"A contract." Emilia whispered covering her mouth with her hand in case there were cameras.

"With Dempsey?" George questioned. Emilia nodded trying not to be too excited. "I'm so happy for you, congrats." Her teammate hugged from the side. "How come you signed it so quickly?"

"He had it prepared already and we adjusted it slightly. Patrick actually wanted me since he knew I lost my seat." Emilia beamed. If Emilia thought she was happy, imagine how happy Fred would have been. The Williams driver lost her smile.

"Hey, it's okay. Fred is so proud of you." George assured. Toto strolled past his two academy drivers and stopped to talk to them.

"Good morning both of you." Toto greeted adjusting his sunglasses.

"Emilia was just telling me how she's going to try her hardest to keep Valtteri behind her." George answered winding Emilia up.

"That is a fat lie. I will let Valtteri past if you want me to." Emilia offered. Toto had spent his evening helping Emilia get the best contract for her so she did owe him.

"No you don't need to let him past necessarily but avoiding crashing into him would be great." Toto replied.

"Yeah I'll try my best but no promises, you know what I'm like." Emilia laughed. She could not afford to crash into Valtteri not just because Toto would smash a table but also Williams needed the points.

"Really funny Emilia." Toto sighed and wandered off. He wasn't in the best mood despite Emilia signing a contract. Maybe because he'd been up late having dinner with Emilia and Patrick Dempsey, he didn't get much sleep.

"It's the stress of the Championship." George explained seeing Emilia slightly offended by her boss' bluntness. "You're not going to crash into Valtteri." 

"I hope not." Emilia sighed as they entered the garage. She greeted her team and warmed up ready for the race with Christine who was elated to find out about Emilia's new contract.

Lights out wasn't far away after the national anthem and Emilia sat in her car turning the steering wheel preparing herself for the race. The formation lap commenced and the cars lined up on the grid waiting for the lights to flicker on. When they did, foots went down on pedals creating a roar of noise as twenty cars waiting for the sign to go. The lights shut off and the race was underway.

The acceleration on the cars around her was so much faster and Emilia struggled getting off the line compared to the Mercedes and Red Bulls around her. Checo was past her into turn one leaving her to shut the door on Bottas. Emilia watched her mirrors wanting to make it through turn one unscathed which she managed.

Emilia kept up her defence for a couple of laps taking advantage of the slipstream in front but the faster cars were putting in times faster than her so the gap built. Valtteri had DRS to aid him so despite Emilia's pace there was nothing she could do to stop the Mercedes passing her down the back straight. It almost felt like a relief to Emilia knowing she didn't have to worry about an angry Toto if she crashed into Valtteri.