DETERMINED - LANDO NORRIS

-14-

Norah was sitting in her car, her stomach bubbling with nerves. She had never qualified higher than the best of the rest, so she felt like she needed to prove herself. The dark blue car that was so dangerously close behind her certainly didn't help to ease her nerves.

The colour almost made it more intimidating so Norah just decided to look at the red and silver cars in front of her instead. She knew that if she wanted to keep her spot she would have to stick her elbows out in the first corner. Max is fast and if he sees an opportunity he will take it. That's just how he is. 

Norah could appreciate that, that was when he wasn't lurking behind her hunting for her spot. 

Warming up her tyres in the formation lap she couldn't help but look back at the second orange car that was driving on the track. However, quickly looked back in front when the Red Bull appeared in her mirrors.

It always seemed to take ages for the last car to drive to his spot on the grid,  but being so far in front only exaggerated that feeling. Maybe it was the eagerness from the girl to race, maybe it was the need to get away from that bloody Dutchman as fast as possible. She wasn't sure, all she knew was that it took way too long for her liking. 

However, when the lights started to go on she wished it had taken a little longer.

Light's out

Norah's start was amazing, so amazing she caught up with the Ferarri of Sebastian Vettel. Norah charged down the inside, clashing tyres with Vettel in the process. He didn't see her coming. Luckily, there was no damage done to either of the cars and the move paid off. Max was all over Sebastian now and Norah could pull away slightly from the red car behind her. 

Normally this would be the time for her team to tell her she did good but had to focus on making it stick, however, the board radio never came. 

N> "Radio check"

Norah's assumption turned out to be right when there was no answer coming back over the radio. The connection was gone between her team, meaning she would have to use the pit boards instead. 

She usually didn't rely too much on the team while racing, but knowing she won't be able to get connected when it was necessary made her a little anxious. She wasn't all too confident with the boards, she never had to use them as the only way of communication. 

Everything went smoothly, despite having no radio and zero contact with her team (besides the boards) she managed to keep the position. 

Vettel had pitted in attempt to an undercut, which meant Norah had pit soon too. The girl kept a close eye on the boards to see if her team were signalling for her to come into the pits and just as expected they did. 

The pitstop wasn't as fast as they had liked, but luckily neither was Sebastian's. This resulted in her coming out of the pits in under a second in front. With DRS it was almost impossible to keep the Ferarri behind her. 

Norah was defending like her life depended on it. She wanted that podium and she would do anything to get it, almost. 

They were going full speed down the long straight, side to side. Norah wasn't planning on backing out, but it seemed like Vettel thought she would, so neither was he. 

Looking at the red car beside her she harshly braked. Barely avoiding the German driver, who still didn't nudge. It was almost like he just didn't know she was there, which was unlikely.

It would've been fine, wasn't it for her left suspension giving up on her. Her left wheel flying off her car, before bouncing on the car's Halo, grazing the girl's helmet. 

The car took a sharp turn towards the concrete wall. There was nothing she could do. She couldn't brake, she couldn't steer she was a passenger in her own car, so the only sensible thing to do was to let go. 

L>"Is she okay?"  

Lando could see everything happen, driving only a couple hundred metres back. Every muscle in his body wanted to park his car on the side and help her, however, he knew that was probably the worst thing he could do.  The safety car was deployed immediately. 

Norah's car- or the remainings of it- was laying across the entire width of the track. Lando had to drive to some of the debris to be able to get through. He was lucky enough it didn't pierce his tyre, but it was clear to him the race would be red-flagged. 

"We don't know"

-

THE END

KIDDING DON'T COME FOR ME OKAY, I LOVE YOU I WON'T DO THAT TO YOU. (OKAY THAT'S A LIE I WOULD TOTALLY BE A PERSON THAT WOULD DO THAT, BUT I WON'T PINKY PROMISE)

Also, this is kinda short, Shall I post the last chapter tonight to make up for it? Or would that defeat the purpose of my beautiful cliff-hanger lmao

Word count: 872
Publish date: 20/05/2019