3D Friday14-22

 

Five minutes into the session, you take place behind the wheel for the second time today. As you roll out of the garage, you notice others leaving their pitbox as well. Among them is your teammate, Daniels. While on your outlap, you decide to have some fun with him.

You slow down on the straight, letting him pass. You quickly warm your tires by wildly steering left to right, careful to stay on Daniels’ tail. When you approach start finish, you put the pedal to the proverbial metal. Approaching turn one, you dive on his inside.

To your surprise, Daniels either failed to see you or simply doesn’t want you to get past him. As he slams the door, you break your front wing on his right rear tire.

“Dammit Mex,” you hear over the radio. “Sorry!” you reply while nurturing the car back to the garage. Halfway past the lap you approach Daniels, who is himself nurturing his car with a flat right rear tire. You wave an apology. Even though he could’ve left you more room, there is no point in arguing who is at fault.

As you enter the pitlane and get wheeled back by your mechanics, Daniels approaches. His rear wing is slain by the flaps of rubber still holding on to the rim of the wheel. As he gets out of his car, you prepare for the onslaught of profanities heading your way.

“Hey, you cunt, not cool,” he starts. “Look at what you’ve done!” He says, as he points to his rear wing. “What the f— did you do that for?”

“Didn’t you see me approaching?” you ask accusingly knowing full well he didn’t, trying to shift the blame.

“Even if I did, you simply don’t do that in a free practice session mate,” he responds. You know he’s right. Still, you are looking for a way out of this conversation. You look at the state of repairs on your car. The mechanics are putting on your new front wing. Daniels sees you looking for a way out.

“Go ahead. Go back out there. You’ve already ruined my session, why not ruin our competitors’ session too. Go on, I dare you.”

With thirty minutes left on the clock, you go back out, ready to take whatever is left for you to take.

As the flag falls, you find yourself eighth on the leaderboard, with Daniels dead last.

Before you head out to the press circle, Marko Helmuts approaches. He pressures you not to put more fuel on the fire. He says the social media’s are already calling for your head after the incident. You agree, and quickly fulfil your obligations after which you leave the track.

You have your dinner, and arrive back at the hotel. Before you go to sleep, you browse your social media. You find that the largest F1 forum is furious over your move on Daniels’. You smile at the flamewars that ensued between your fans and Daniels’.