The Exit - Oscar Piastri FF

2. - New friends

"Arthur!" I exclaimed as soon as I saw him, walking through the paddock just outside the Ferrari garage. He turned to me and immediately came towards me with a wide smile on his face. We shared a tight hug before he pulled away to look at me. "Con! It's been so long!" He said, and I nodded my head. "Too long! How have you been?" I asked and he shrugged whilst looking around. "Enjoying the races from the sideline," What a bittersweet feeling. I was more than happy to see him, but I knew how bummed he was about not being in the lineup for next year. I placed my hand on his shoulder to show my support, and he smiled at me softly. "I'm happy for you, though, miss Red Bull Racing!" He said, sounding excited. "Thanks, Arth, who would've thought, hm?" I chuckled.

"Ah, you came!" A voice was heard from inside the garage. It was Charles who decided to join our conversation, a big smile plastered on his face as always. "Of course, I had to say hello to my old teammate!" I replied, smiling at Arthur, who turned to Charles with a mischievous smile. "Yeah, I'm her favourite after all!" He said proudly. "There's no way you're her favourite!" Charles replied back, causing an offended look to show up on Arthur's face. "Of course I am! If not her favourite teammate, then at least her favourite Leclerc!" He then replied, sticking out his tongue at his brother. Charles was now the one looking offended as he wrapped an arm around his brother, making them both face my way. "You tell us, Yn, who's your favourite, eh?" Charles then asked, followed by both of them making puppy eyes at me. I couldn't help but let out a little laugh while shaking my head at their silliness. 

"What are you guys doing?" Alexander said whilst he and Logan joined from behind me. "We're finding out who is Yn's favourite Leclerc, of course," Arthur replied, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, causing both Williams drivers to laugh as well. "I'm not going to choose between you two!" I ended up saying while rolling my eyes. "What?! But we've known each other for years, and you just met him?!" Arthur exclaimed loudly, gaining a lot of attention from the people around us. "Sorry Arth," I shrugged before continuing, "Well, I have to get going, still have to make it to Mercedes before the race," I smiled at them all politely before walking off in the direction of the Mercedes garage. In reality, I just felt awkward standing beside Logan after everything, I really didn't know how to act around him.

I didn't get very far on my way, however, as I heard a familiar voice yell my name from behind, trying to catch up to me. "Yn! Hey, wait up..." I stopped in my tracks and turned slightly to wait for Logan as he caught up to me. "Hey-..." He started but seemed quite baffled by the whole situation. "Hi," I just replied, averting my gaze elsewhere. "How are you-? It's been a while..." He continued, making me look up at him with a face of indifference. "It has been a while. Surprised you noticed," I snapped, and his expression immediately dropped. "I know I've been a jerk to ignore you, but I'm sorry, Yn... I really am," His eyes never lied. He was sorry, and admittedly I had missed him too. But should I just let everything slide for a simple sorry?

"Sorry won't fix anything, Logan. You broke our friendship when I needed you the most, do you think that that was okay?" I asked, knitting my eyebrows together. "No, but please see it from my perspective, Con... Oscar is my best friend, and we were both moving up into F1, so-" I didn't let him finish, before I said, "So because I didn't move up with you, I could no longer be your friend? That's it, I just drew the smallest draw? I still have no idea why both of you suddenly turned your back on me and started hating me from one day to another. So, until I can get an actual explanation for that, don't bother trying to talk to me." 

With that, I walked off again, walking straight to the Mercedes garage. As soon as I got there, Vesti was already on his way out with a wide smile on his face. "Connor!" He yelled, bringing me into a hug immediately. "Hi Frederik! How are you?" I asked, engaging in small talk to catch up with him a little, before heading back to the Red Bull garage. 

"So, sunshine! Ready for the first race?" Max asked when I entered the garage from my driver's room while adjusting my race suit. "I am! Not ideal to start in the middle of the grid, but I'll fight my way up," I replied with a smile, joining him in the middle of the garage. "I know you will. Before anyone even blinks you'll be in the front with me!" He put his arm around my shoulder and led the way out onto the paddock, probably wanting to socialize with some of the other drivers. "Yeah, let's show them all that Red Bull will be dominating this year," I winked at him, earning a wide smile back, just before we joined Charles and Lando who were having a pre-race chat. 

"What are you two smiling about?" Charles asked with a suspicious look on his face, and Max and I both laughed, shaking our heads. "You'll see," Max just said confidently and I nodded my head. "I already don't like this," Lando then said, laughing a little. "Oh, you shouldn't," I said and patted his shoulder, right before we were called back to our cars, and we knew that the race was about to start.

I was starting in P9 for the race, after a few days with some rocky quali sessions, but I was still confident in myself. Max had given me a few good pep talks throughout the week and I wasn't going to let him or the team down. I was gonna make them proud. And most importantly, I was gonna make sure that Oscar would never forget the way my car looked from behind. Cause, no way that I would let him win after everything that had happened between us. The lights went out in Bahrain, and off we went. 

The first few laps were a challenge, with a few very crowded corners, but I quickly made it to the top half of the grid. The car was a dream to drive today, and the Bahrain circuit was a great one for my style of driving. With all the circumstances being almost as good as possible, and after a pitstop in the middle of the race, I made a few more overtakes and was P3. In front of me was only Charles and Max. It was a close race for a few more laps, until I finally saw the opportunity to overtake again, and I took it! I passed Charles and then turned on the radio to speak to my team. "Can I overtake Max?" I asked, seeing as the gap between us became smaller and smaller. "You have the fastest lap, Yn." Was the response and I just laughed as I was on an all-time high. "Ask him!! Ask Max if it's okay that I overtake!" I spoke back clearer, and there was a minute of silence and only a few laps left of the race. "Max said, and I quote, 'Catch me if you can'" And with that, I gave it my all for the rest of the race, taking every opportunity to get closer, racing the best I could against the reigning world champion that was my teammate. And then...

"YN CONNOR, 2024 ROOKIE JUST OVERTOOK TEAMMATE MAX VERSTAPPEN AND IS NOW LEADING THE BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX! IS THIS GOING TO BE A WIN FOR THE NEW DRIVER- I THINK IT- AND THERE CAME THE CHECKERED FLAG! YN CONNOR, YOU ARE A RACE WINNER!"

I parked my car at the P1 sign before getting out and celebrated the best I could with my arms in the air. Max went to me immediately after parking his own car in the P2 position and we wrapped our arms around each other like there was no tomorrow. "You did it!" He yelled, almost lifting me off the ground. "WE did it! Thank you for letting me pass." I smiled as I took off my helmet. "There was nothing else I could do, Sunshine. You were just better today," He took off his own helmet as well, before looking over to the crowd of people waiting for us. "Come on, let's go celebrate!" He exclaimed, taking my hand in his and we began running towards our team, jumping up over the fence for them to catch us both. 

After a while of celebrating with our team, Charles came over and congratulated both of us and with a smile at me he said, "That was one hell of a first race Connor, congratulations on the win!" I smiled back at him proudly, before all three of us went to the cooldown room. In there, we continued our friendly banter until it was time for a post-race interview. I received a lot of sweet comments and congratulations, as well as a few not-so-nice ones, but at that moment, nothing could tear off the smile on my face. I had won my first-ever F1 grand prix, and I had proven to everyone just how good of a driver I had become. Even Max seemed impressed.

"You joining us for a celebration tonight, sunshine?" Max asked as we were making our way back to our garage after the podium and all the interviews. "I'd love to. Who's joining?" I asked, looking up at him as he swung his arm around me. "Everyone is, of course. We will have our annual first driver's dinner of the season! It's fine dining, so better dress up," He spoke, winking down at me with a smirk plastered on his face. I just rolled my eyes and looked away as I felt my cheeks heat up with his eyes on me. "Good thing I brought a dress then," I just mumbled, earning a laugh from my teammate before our paths parted and we each went into our own driver's room to shower and get ready to head back to the hotel. A weird feeling abrupted inside me, and something told me that tonight was going to be either a night to remember or one to completely forget. Either way, you best believe one thing: I was going to look absolutely stunning.