Drive to Survive

Chapter Sixty-Two

Chapter Sixty-Two

"Welcome to the Austin Grand Prix, live at COTA! Race day is finally upon us, how are we feeling, Martin?"

"I think we're feeling good. Hot! But we're happy to be here and ready to see some exciting on-track action. We've got a Ferrari 1-2 lined up on the starting grid with Perez in the Red Bull behind - he'll be looking to nab both cars by Turn 2! Hamilton is starting P4 with Max Verstappen on his tail in P5, and of course both these drivers..."

The commentary washed over Brad's head. Although it blasted over the megaphones, he'd learnt to tune it out over the years. He already knew the starting grid anyway; it had been all anybody could talk about yesterday. 

Now, he had one mission to achieve before they all went racing.

With the chaos of qualifying, Brad had been unable to pin down Christian and he'd missed his opportunity to chat to the Red Bull team principal about his little catchup with Dylan. He'd been forced to focus on his professional requirements when all he wanted to do was get started on the plan to stop Max looking so miserable. 

The Red Bull garage wasn't too busy when Brad arrived there as it was early in the day and team-members were still trickling in. Immediately, he clocked Christian in front of a computer and he raced over, coughing to get his attention. 

"Morning, Brad." 

"Hey, have you got five minutes for a quick chat?"

The implication in the simple sentence was clear and Christian nodded, standing up and closing down the work he'd been doing. The pair then casually headed out the garage and went for a stroll down the pit lane. 

"So?" Christian said once they were out of earshot. 

"She definitely still has feelings for him. And I'm 99% sure she wants to come back."

"She's not happy at Ferrari?"

"Not not happy, per se. It's Dylan, who isn't going to love her in their team?" He shrugged, "But she just kept saying how much she missed Red Bull and I get the feeling that she'd rather be with us."

They looped around a plant pot and started to head back. 

"Okay." Christian said, digesting the information, "Let's hold out for this race. Max is in P5 and I don't want to intervene if he's gonna shake off this bad streak by himself."

Brad grimaced, debating over whether he wanted to say the truth on his mind or agree with his boss. In the end, he figured honesty was the best policy and he came out and said, "Max is only in P5 because Norris chose the wrong tyre and Russell was impeded. He didn't have the pace."

Christian tilted his head to the side, considering Brad's words. He couldn't instantly dismiss it. In the earlier qualifying sessions, Norris had outpaced Max every time before the team had switched the tyres. And Tsunoda had received a grid-place penalty for impeding Russell, otherwise the other Mercedes would have probably placed ahead of Max as well. 

Following that logic, Max should probably be in P7, not P5.

And that wasn't a starting place Christian could pretend to be happy about.