Drive to Survive

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

When Dylan had finally composed herself and walked out the room, she swiftly realised that Max had gone ahead without her, leaving her to make her own way down to the track. This caused her to take another deep breath and try suppress her frustration. She headed down the stairs and towards the door. To get to the garage was not a particularly long walk but it was a confusing access route and the amount of people swarming everywhere would not help her find her bearings.

As she stood on the steps of the Red Bull motorhome, eyes scanning the busy crowds to look for the right path, a flash of orange caught her eye. Recognising the man attached to the ridiculously bright clothing, Dylan launched herself from the steps, running before he disappeared into the crowd.

"LANDO!"

Lando looked up from his phone and had just enough time to slip it into his pocket before he was almost barrelled over by Dylan's incoming hug.

"Hey Dee-Dee, how's your morning been?"

The warmth and friendliness of Lando sent a wave of emotion through Dylan after her disappointing meeting with Max and she swore for a second she could've cried. However, she reminded herself that Lando was Max's friend and a delicate balance of respect and teamwork existed between all of the drivers on the grid. She couldn't guarantee that he wouldn't tell Carlos, or take any action himself, and she couldn't take that risk.

"Really cool, met some nice people." She faked a smile, knowing it wasn't a complete lie as Hunter and Greg had been lovely.

Dylan had learnt over the years that the easiest way to lie and not get caught was to lie on a technicality.

Lando beamed, "I'm so glad to hear it! My buddy's called Jonny. He's-" He looked around before pointing to two lads stood together staring at an iPad, "-just there with Danny's buddy, Ian. They're great guys."

"Oh yeah, I kind of remember them from our induction. I'm glad they're getting on well."

"Hey, speaking of Danny, have you met him? I don't know wher- hey! Daniel!"

Lando spotted the Australian driver halfway through his sentence, waving his arms to gesture him over.

Dylan almost squeaked in excitement at the sight of Daniel Ricciardo, an icon of Formula One.

She'd never had the chance to properly meet him but Dylan had always admired his racing style, his easy-going nature, and his pure determination. She knew he hadn't been having the greatest time at McLaren but this was his year for redemption.

"Alright?" Danny grinned as he came to a stop before the pair.

"Yeah, not bad, mate. This is Dylan, she's Carlos' cousin and Max's DTS buddy!"

Dylan was dazzled with the famous 'Danny Ric' smile and charm. His kind eyes settled on her and crinkled at the corners as he beamed, "Carlos' cousin! You're one of the family! Great to meet you."

"You too! I'm a big fan, you're an incredible driver." She replied, trying to hide the feeling of being star-struck.

"Thank you very much, I have to say I agree." He joked, "Should we head down to track so I can show Lando how much better I am than him?"

Dylan laughed at the comment and then laughed again as she saw Lando's frown. He looked like he was about to retort but she caught him early, "That sounds like a great plan! Ready to go, Lan?"

The younger driver rolled his eyes but acquiesced, swinging his arm around Dylan as the trio turned to walk towards the track. Dylan was grateful that she'd found them as the maze-like route they took her down would not have been easy to navigate alone.