Your way to the top

chapter sixteen

"Ava, are you ready for the race?" my engeneer asks me. Of course I am. What a stupid question. Would I be sitting in my car now if I weren't?
"Always" I say and hold the steering wheel tightly. I see the mechanics walking away from my car, to the side of the track. Now or never. 
"Ava you're free to open the formation lap" I hear over the radio. 
"Copy" I say with a slight smirk on my face.
I do feel ready for the race. I've prepared for it very good the past few days. Valeria is much better now too.
I push my foot slightly down, and the wheels start rolling. It feels great. I hear the engine starting and take a deep breath, before putting even more pressure on the throttle. I start rolling away, same as the nineteen drivers behind me. Closest to me, is George. He somehow managed to get a really good time after they changed some things on the car. Behind him are Max and Carlos. Then comes Hamilton and Charles. Charles had a few issues at qualifying, throwing him back a few positions. 
I go around the corners and look at the fans standing beside the track. There are kids to teenagers to adults to even elderly people. I notice a few with a redbull cap on. One of them even has a sign with my number on it. I can't make out what is written on it though. 
Soon, I enter the start of the track again adn drive into my position carefully. I don't want to get a penalty for something like that. That would just be unnecessary and Christian would kill me. 
"How does the car feel?" I hear Christian asking.
"Great" I say and wait for the first light to turn on. 
I take a few deep breaths before four lights are on. I forget to breahte for a slight moment as I see the last light go on. My body reacts faster than my brain and I start driving. I notice George on my right but I couldn't care less. He starts to push but I don't give in until the last second. I decide to let him go, because I'm certainly sure, that I will be able to get him again sometime in the race. 
I brake a little late, causing me to break a little too much, and causing George to get a little advantage of that. We go into the third corner and I relalize the pressure from behind. It's Max and Lewis. I can't let them past me. I somehow need to keep them behind me. 
I start driving a little riskier and start catching up to George, but I see a yellow flag out of the corner of my eye.
"Yellow flag Ava, yellow flag on turn three" my engeneer says.
"Copy. Who is it?"
"Leclerc. He got hit by Stroll" he says.
"Are they okay?"
"Yeah. Leclerc has spun out and can't get out of the gravel. Looks like an early retire. Stroll is still on track" 
"Copy" I say and keep driving slowly behind George. We come by Charles a minute later. I can see him standing there. He looks frustrated. I mean, it's not great when you get thrown out in the third corner of the race. Not getting points for your team and yourself.
A few minutes later the safetycar drives inside the pitlane. I'm eagerly waiting for George to pick up the speed again. I grip the steering wheel tightly, ready to change the gear.
He suddenly starts speeding but I'm quick to react. I'm close behind him, as I decide to take my chance. I drive up next to him and overtake him in the next corner.
"Great Ava. Keep on going like that" Christian says. 
I decide to concentrate a little more after that. I want that win.

...

"How many laps left?" I ask my engineer.
"Three. Keep the pace. Hamilton and Max are close behind you" 
"Copy" 
I start driving even faster and push even more at every chance I get. Now's my chance to prove myself to the world. I keep on pushing and eventually drive around the last corner. I see the checkered flag waving for me, as I drive over the finish line. A rush of happiness overcomes me.
"Yes guys! We did it!" I shout happily.
"Great work Ava" Christian says. I can hear the smile on his face even through the radio.
"And Max?" I ask.
"He's on P3, Hamilton overtook him on the last lap"
I don't respond to that. I know they'll be mad about that. I'm very aware of who's the favorite in this team and who is the second choice. I already knew when I made the choice to even come here. Christian made that very clear to me. That's why I need to show them that I can be just as good as Max is, if not even better. I'm an excellent driver.
I drive into the pitlane and drive inside up into the winner space. It's inside for what reason ever. I run outside towards my pitcrew and hug them tightly. They throw me into the air shouting and laughing with me. After some celebrating, I walk up the stairs into the cool off room. Max and Lewis are watching some clips from today on here. 
"Great work" Max says with a wide smile and hugs me tightly.
"Thank you" I say and hug him back with the biggest smile on my face ever.
"Congratulations. You drove amazing. Max and I struggled to keep up with you after some time"
Lewis says and hugs me. I obviously thank him.
"I don't know if you were. But I wasn't" Max says and starts laughing. Lewis and I join, and we watch the moment again. I see Charles getting spun around and into the gravel. The frustration on his face is even worse than I imagined it to be. 
The next moment is the restart after the safetycar and me overtaking George. I only now see how risky it was. We almost touched by a few inches.
"That was great" Max says and I smile at him.
We continue watching and look as George's motor starts burning. Good for me but I'm a little sad for him. He would've had a great weekend if it wasn't for the fire. The rest of the race is pretty normal. Of course you can see the eager fighting for the win between Lewis, Max and me.
"Are you ready for the podium?" someone asks and we all put on our caps. 
Max is the first one to be called out. The crowd goes crazy for him, clapping and shouting his name. Next out is Hamilton. Again, the crowd goes crazy.
"On first place, and winner of the 2023 Australian Grand prix, Ava Garcia" a big smile comes over my face, that I can't seem to get rid of. I walk out and wave at my fans. There are so many of them. Wow. I stand up onto the podium and they give out the medals. I thank the guy who puts it on my neck and stand there proudly, as the spanish anthem starts playing. Finally not only the dutch one. I know I'm not the only one thinking that right now.
After the anthem ends, everyone grabs their champaigne bottles and start spraying around. Of course Max and Lewis both start spraying me. I'm wet in a matter of seconds. Having champaign all over me. Normally, I would not like being that sticky right now. But I won the Australian GP. That must be something, right? I try to spray them too but I'm defeated.
"Go on" Lewis and Max say, and I take a sip of it. The crowd starts screaming again. God, I love being a formula one driver. Finally, I made it. That's all I ever wanted.

...

"That was a great race" I hear behind me. I turn around to see my door to my driversroom wide open and Charles standing there.
"Thank you. Sorry for your race" I say.
"Don't worry. Seeing you win is almost as good as winning myself" he says with a wide smile.
"Let me see the trophy now" he says.
"Okay. Okay" I laugh and hand it to him. It's a big, black circle. I don't know how to describe it in another way. It isn't something special materially but more mentally.
"I want one of these too" he says.
"We will get you one" I say and walk closer to him.
"You're going to help me?" he asks with a smirk on his face, as he pulls me closer.
I nod.
"And how are you thinking that is going to work?" he asks.
"We will see after you at least finish one lap" I say and grin.
"That's low" he says sarcastically mad.
"Sorry" I say sarcastically back and we both laugh.
Our eyes meet and he pulls me in for a kiss. That's how I always imagined my life to be. Happy and chasing my dreams. I've finally managed to do what I want.