Respect and Memories

11 - F1 W05 Hybrid

On lap 27, Russell manages to overtake Alonso.

With Sainz hot on her tail, Emrys sweats as she tries to overtake Fernando Alonso who is also putting up a fight after being overtaken by her teammate.

As they reach the last lap of the race, Emrys puts the pressure onto Fernando Alonso, determined to take p3 from him.

She speeds down corners and tries different methods to get past him but nothing seems to work.

That was until turn 27, she uses her DRS right before the turn and manages to sneak her way into the inside line and go down the straight with a gap between her and Alonso that was slowly closing.

Her nerves wrack her whole body as all she thinks about is pushing as hard as she can down this straight and making it to that finish line before Fernando Alonso even sets his eyes on it.

Now it's safe to say, the universe was truly on Emrys Pierce's side that day because she follows her teammate behind the finish line, taking p3 in her second ever F1 race.

Her hand shoots up as tears flood her face.

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!" She screams into the radio like someone had just been murdered in front of her eyes.

"CONGRATULATIONS PIPSQUEAK! THAT'S P FUCKING 3!! YOUR SECOND PODIUM!"

Emrys parks right behind the P3 sign and immediately gets out of her car; running over to hug her engineers and Lewis.

She returns back to the car and pulls George into a deep hug. He eventually pulls away and taps her helmet.

The rookie driver stands on the wheel of her car and throws both arms up into the air in celebration.

She goes through her interviews and eventually ends up on the podium where they play the American National Anthem.

All three drivers receive their trophies and thrust them into the air with a huge smile.

Next was the fun part; champagne.

Emrys shakes the bottle, pops it open, and sprays George until he's completely soaked.

She then turned to the crowd and sprayed them, not missing a single person as they looked up at her in admiration and adoration.

Nothing in the world made her as happy as she was in that moment. She sprayed the audience and everything around her.

Well, except for her brother of course. Let's say he was the only one there who wasn't sprayed with her champagne.

And it wasn't out of the kindness of her heart either.

~~~~ 🏎️💨 ~~~~

Emrys walks through the paddock listening to the cheers and congratulations with a big smile on her face.

Her aunt couldn't make it, but it's alright. She had sent flowers and a basket full of her favorite candies.

"Emrys!" A voice calls out from behind her.

Emrys turned around to come face to face with Max Verstappen.

"Oh hey," she replied, awkwardly.

He scratched the back of his neck and stood there for a minute. "Um there's this drivers dinner if you would like to come?"

As she was about to politely decline, Max rushes to say something else.

"It'll be fun! A chance for all of us to get to know you better." She doesn't say anything as he continues. "I'm not pressuring you or anything though!"

"I just—you know uh—"

"Want to get to know me better?" Emrys finishes for him, with a kind smile.

Max smiles in relief. "Yeah. We've just never had the chance to talk and you know, new driver on the grid and such."

She nods slowly. "Drivers dinner—" Emrys fiddles with her car keys and looks back at Max.

"I'll be there."

"Great! I'll send over the info to your manager."

Emrys nods and they wave goodbye.

~~~~ 🏎️💨 ~~~~

Emrys figured it wasn't too fancy of a dinner so she wore jeans, a white silk button up, and a burgundy leather jacket.

As she pulled in front of the restaurant, it was crowded with people.

As best she could, she headed into the restaurant and looked around for the rest of the grid.

George waved her down and pointed to an empty seat between him and Charles. She smiled and walked over to the table where she was met with warm greetings.

"Everybody is a Ferrari fan apparently," Charles whispers into her ear. When she looks at him in confusion, he points to her dark red jacket.

She laughs and leans to whisper in his ear. "I'll root for Ferrari, but only for tonight."

The two smile at each other before George grabs her attention.

The dinner went on smoothly and Emrys talked a little bit about herself.

As they were ordering dessert, Lando Norris asked her a question.

"So Emrys—" He said, grabbing her attention. "Did you and Milo do all of your racing together?"

The table quieted down as all eyes were on her and Milo. Emrys slowly set her glass of water down and looked at Lando.

"No. We didn't grow up together."

Most of the table looked surprised and this time, Daniel asked a question. "Wait really? I thought you guys both lived in Vegas together?"

"She moved out when she was 12," Milo said, looking at Emrys, who turned to look at him.

She let out a small huff and rolled her eyes. However, the female driver didn't say anything and simply took another sip from her glass of water.

"It was a big deal back then." Milo picked at his fruit and let out a big sigh. "Quite the drama queen. Made a big fuss about moving in with our aunt."

Emrys set down her glass with a slam. "Drama queen?" She held eye contact with Milo. "Why don't you tell them the real story so they can decide who was the real drama queen."

The table was silent until a cough came from Max. "I think—" he stood up and raised his glass. "We should congratulate Milo, and the Mercedes team for their podiums today!"

Everyone clamored to get their drinks and hold it up for a cheers. Some saying congratulations as well.

In the midst of the excitement and attempts to cut through the tension, Emrys felt a little out of place.

"I should go," Emrys whispered to Charles.

"What? Stay a little longer," he said with a sympathetic smile.

She shook her head, waved slightly to George, and quietly stood up to leave so that no one would see her go.