Lap 16

max

Devlin took a breath then engaged the engine. Her car shifted into second position. All five lights blurred red in front of her. The heat from the cars made heat rise off the track at extreme levels. When the lights disappeared, so did she.

"Hunt breaks away clean. Verstappen is right with her. Sainz is having issues behind Hamilton."

Devlin engaged her brake as she slowed into the corner. Max's front wing tapped her back tire. She released her brake and started to shift up. She thought she started well enough to leave space between them.

She surged forward and dared a glance in her rearview mirror. Max's front wing was still intact and in decent condition.

"Dev, check for rear tire punctures."

"It looks fine for now."

Devlin was pretty sure it was an accident. Her and Max had agreed to try to not get that close to each other.

Devlin locked up on the next corner which just drew her field of competitors closer. Max was gaining pace on her.

~

She fended Max off as the lap numbers started to climb. She was nearing the back of Nico's Haas, she was going to have to overtake to lap him. Nico took the corner wide as Devlin snuck into the inside. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the Haas sliding towards her. She sped through the corner and cut in sharply. She made a mistake. She looked to the inside of her after she was already over. She had squeezed Max off the track. He raced up towards her on the racing line. He turned quicker than she could react. His back wheel tapped her wheel brow on her front wing. He spun off and away from her.

"Fuck is he alright?"

"Just a second, FIA is chatting with us."

"Fuck."

She pulled away from Max. Guilt bubbled in her stomach.

"Alright Dev, 10 second time penalty for the collision with Max. He's okay and out of the car."

"Gap to P2?"

"7.8 seconds."

"I'm going to push."

"Let's disappear then."

Even though she was the first one to see the checkered flag it didn't mean it was a guaranteed win.

"Let's just wait, Dev. Leclerc is 8.9."

There was silence over the radio. She just tried to focus on her cool down lap.

"Hamilton is 9.5."

There was the second podium spot. She knew Max should have been up there.

"Perez is 10.2."

"P3 then?"

"P3, excellent racing."

"Should have been P1, sorry guys."

She slowed as Charles and Lewis passed her as they headed into the pit lane.

As she disconnected her radio and drink line she felt someone pat her helmet. It was Lewis. He knew that she was kicking herself for the collision.

She tried to put on a smile for the podium. The media pen was brutal.

"Devlin, you had quite a lead after taking Max out, was that apart of the race strategy today?"

"No, unfortunately I put myself in a bad position, Nico was closing the door on me and moved over into Max's racing line accidentally. I didn't look before I moved. As a rookie, mistakes are expected and I made one today."

"But you were unchallenged for the rest of the race."

"I was not unchallenged, Charles and Lewis were pushing me, I had to keep pace with them without seeing them. Defending against time while lapping slower cars is just as hard."

"Thank you for your time."

She just shook her head as she moved to the next reporter.

"Had you not had the incident with Max, do you think you would still be on the podium?"

"Its always tough to say but, I believe so."

"You lost significant pace there at the end, why is that?"

"My front right tire had more wear after the collision so it was difficult to manage the car and keep a quick pace."

"Thank you Miss Hunt."

She hated the media pen. But waiting for her outside of it was even worse. As she was walking Nico came up over to her and patted her shoulder.

"Kid, I'm sorry you got put in that position, the rear had terrible understeer today."

"It's alright. Thanks though."

She had seen how far talking to other drivers would get. Last year there had been speculation around Carlos and Checo red flagging the race in Monaco. She did want to put in that boat, especially with Nico.

~

When Toto yells, the whole paddock can normally hear it.

Mick was right by his side, although voicing his opinion, although much quieter.

"I want to see the race footage from the drone."

"Toto, I can't just give that out."

"Where is the footage?"

There was a pause between them. The FIA official seemed to be considering his choices carefully.

"Christian asked to review the footage."

"Are you fucking kidding me."

The official just kept quiet.

"I want that footage before next weekend."

Mick just glared at the official before walking away.

Toto looked over the official's shoulder and waved Devlin over to him. He turned his back to the official and started to walk back to the garage with her.

"Did you get any questions about the driver standings?"

Toto set his hand on her spine between her shoulder blades.

"No. Why?"

Toto stopped and she followed suit. He cleared his throat after looking around.

"Charles is now ahead of both you and Lewis."

"Oh."

She tried not to sound super disappointed. Her drive had caused her teammate to lose his lead to the young Ferrari driver.

"I know you like to play hero but I can't have you do that if you're going to get penalties."

Her heart dropped. She had let the team down.

"But Nico was sliding-"

"It's all over with now. Be ready for Miami."

He walked away from her. Her mind raced, she had to find Lewis. She stormed into the garage and knocked on his driver room door.

"Lewis?"

"Yeah?"

She turned to see him standing behind her.

"I'm sorry, I fucked up today. Its all my fault."

She nearly knocked him over as she went to hug him. She could feel water start to tug on her eyelashes.

Lewis pushed her out softly in front of him with his arms. He took her in.

"Dev, what do you mean-"

His thumbs softly brushed away the pooling water near her eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey. Kid, it's just one point. We'll get them next time."

She took a deep breath as Lewis forced her shoulders down.

"Get some rest kid, we're going to the States."