One Shots - Formula 1 - 2017 season

Daniel Ricciardo - Australian GP

I stare at the screen in front of me, not believing what I'm seeing on there. This can't be true. Not this race, not today. Any other race, sure it would've been disappointing but it would've been fine. But this race, this race was so important. This race, his home race. And he's out of the race. Lap 25, that's how far he made it.

"Are you okay Y/N?" Simon asks, making me look away from the screen, where Daniel is getting out of his car.

"Why this race?" I ask Simon and he shrugs.

"There's a reason for everything," he says, making me chuckle slightly.

"I'm sure there is, but I don't see the reason for this just yet."

"Give it time. And don't be too sad, it'll make Daniel feel even worse. I can't imagine how he must feel right now," Simon says and I nod in agreement. Having this happen to you in front of you home crowd must be the worst feeling ever.

I look back to the screen and see Daniel waving at the crowd, which makes me smile. No matter what happens, he's always thinking about the people watching and how they must feel, even though all everyone is thinking about now is how he must feel.

"Don't worry Y/N, I'm sure Daniel will find something positive in all of this," Simon tells me and I chuckle, nodding in agreement. Daniel always manages to make the worst situations have something positive. Well, except after last year's race in Monaco, but can you blame him?

"It's amazing how he does that," I mumble, but Simon heard me.

"It's what makes him special."

"One of the things."

"That's very true," Simon says before he's called away. Daniel is on his way back to the garage, which means Simon has work to do. I'm left by myself as I continue to watch the race until Daniel gets back.

I watch as he walks into the garage. I'm all the way in the back, so he doesn't see me right away. He walks up to Simon and starts talking to him. I study his face as he does and see the disappointment that's written all over his face. But I know he's not disappointed that he didn't finish the race. Well, he is, but that's not the disappointment I'm seeing. The disappointment on his face is because he feels like he let the crowd down, his home crowd.

Daniel finishes talking to Simon and walks to the back of the garage to get changed. I let him change in peace, knowing he needs a few moments to himself to let his mind settle down a bit. When he walks back into the garage after getting changed, his eyes search the garage. When his eyes land on me, a small smile appears on his face and he walks towards me. I open my arms and give him a hug. I don't say anything and just hold onto him.

"I let them down," Daniel whispers, but I shake my head. I take step back so I can look him in the eye.

"No, you didn't."

"They came here to see me get on the podium. I didn't even finish the race!"

"They came here to see you, period. Sure, it would've been nice if you had gotten on the podium, but no one loves you any less now that you didn't manage to finish the race. Stuff like this happens, there's nothing you can do about it. Everyone knows it wasn't your fault, it was out of your control."

"Do you think?"

"I know. Go on your Instagram later, you'll see."

"Okay. I need to go to the press now though."

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No, I'll be fine."

"Okay, I'll be waiting in your room," I say and Daniel smiles at me. He gives me soft a kiss before following his PR out of the garage.

After a lot of interviews, Daniel walks into this room, where I'm patiently waiting for him. As this is his home GP, a lot of people wanted to interview him.

"Are you okay?" I ask as Daniel sits down next to me.

"Yeah, I'm okay. I've had nicer interview topics though."

"I bet, but I'm sure next weekend things will be way better."

"That's what I kept saying as well, fingers crossed it's actually the case. I don't want to let my fans down again."

"They'll support you no matter what. Just focus on yourself and things will work out, I promise."

"I don't know what I would do without you," Daniel says before he presses his lips softly against mine. I snuggle up to him as Daniel wraps his arm around me and for a few moments, we just enjoy the silence. Well, as silent as it gets at a F1 racing track. But there's no one around and for once, that is a nice change.

We both know all eyes will be on us when we walk out of this room and to the paddock. Everyone wants to know how Daniel is feeling and how he is handling all of this. But I know he'll be fine. The season is still long, there are a lot of races to come and a lot can still happen. China, here we come!

First race of the season is done! So heartbreaking to see this happen to Daniel, he deserved so much more than this. But like he said in interviews, let's go to China. I can't wait for the next race and I hope Red Bull will have a better weekend then. RB13 has been unlucky for them today, let's hope it'll be unlucky for the other teams next week!

Love you all

Evy
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