Wolff

She's Back

"Welcome back to Bahrain for the 2024 season. This year we have 3 new team additions to the grid this year, but also a very special driver coming back. That's right, Nala Cameron is back two years after her accident and is determined to make her season unforgettable".

Nala sat in the corner of the garage, head in her hands as she breathed in and out. Her helmet was beside her, the one from two years ago that she used for those two races in her supposed "rookie year". She was back now, her race suit tied around her waist and her shoes strapped to her feet. She was ready, but the nerves she had built up were horrible.

"Hey, you alright?", came a warm voice that Nala knew all too well. Nala looked at up to Ollie. Her Ollie. The boy she loved, but also her teammate. Nala smiled and nodded slightly. Ollie's face dropped a little and he sat down beside her. "Tell me what's wrong, Nals", he encouraged.
"Just nerves. But I'm ok", she replied back to him. Ollie quickly leant over, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug before kissing her on the forehead.
"Ok, well if you need me, I'll be over the other side of the garage, ok bub?", he whispered, and Nala nodded, watching him go.

30 minutes later, Nala and Ollie were making their way out onto the grid, heading for the front where they had to be for the national anthem. They stood next to eachother, close but not touching. Once that was done, they quickly went back to their cars, Nala starting in P4 and Ollie in P10. It was quite difficult now to get into Q3 as there were 14 teams. 3 of them were brand new, Andretti, Lamborgini and Porche. Liam Lawson had gone to Andretti after Nala had taken her spot back at Audi.

Soon, Nala had all of her gear on, her helmet fastened to her head and her racesuit fully done up, lowering herself into her car. Audi had become lot more competitive in the past 2 years she'd been gone, so she hoped it would give her a good result.

Five.
Four.
Three.
Two.
One.

"And it's lights out and away we go!"
Nala sped down to the first corner, gaining a spot on the inside line as she turned. She passed the next few corners with ease, keeping her eyes forward and focusing on Verstappen in front of her. He had one the Championship these last two years.

Over the course of the first half of the race, Nala stayed close behind to Verstappen, waiting for the best chance to overtake him and take off. When he pitted, she took that chance. She put in all her effort, gaining the fastest lap as she sped around the track and started overtaking the slower cars who were straggling behind. After a few laps, it was her turn to pit. She quickly got into the pit lane, her team putting in the fastest pit stop of 2.0 seconds and she was off again. She could see Verstappen making his way down the straight as she sped back up to full speed and came towards the first corner. Seeing Verstappen's car behind you was always scary, but then again, Nala wasn't scared of anything anymore.

She sped off, leaving him in her dust as they finished off the last half of the race. Coming around the final corner of the race, tears ran down her face and when she crossed the finish line, she cried out a happy cry.
"Nala, well done. You did amazing!", she heard Alyssa through the radio. She'd missed everything about her job, including listening to all her track engineers messages. But most of all, she had now started to completely her dream of coming back and winning in F1. Nothing could stop her now, she was invincible.

She got out of the car, instantly running over and jumping into her teams arms, so happy. She'd done it. She'd come back. She'd won a race. Suddenly she felt arms wrap around her from behind, and she turned to see Ollie behind her. Her face lit up, and she quickly took her helmet and head sock off, him doing the same, and they shared a kiss. It was the kiss of her dreams, really. She loved it.

Soon, she was up on the podium, the Austrian anthem, her home anthem, playing for her, then she received her first trophy from F1, lifting it into the air with a delighted cry.