Status: New story! Bear with me :D
When You Come Around
Qualified
The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve here in Montreal is packed with fans all over the world that came to watch the race. Today is Saturday and the qualifying is starting in 15 minutes. I’m already geared up and now just waiting for instructions to get inside the car.
“Brie, remember just do your best and don’t worry about the time. Do your best, be calm and don’t rush it okay?” my team manager Christian Horner said before setting me off to the first qualifying session, he knows that I mess up bad whenever I’m nervous.
“Yeah, I’ll try” I put on my helmet and got inside the car, the pit crews push me out from the paddock and off I go.
I was the third car who went out, the first was Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Went out for a couple of laps and scored second best timing for the Q1 right after Lewis Hamilton, but for tire preservation my team manager radioed me to go back into the pit and wait out for the Q2. The same thing happened for the Q2, although this time I qualified third and Sebastian qualified second best after Lewis Hamilton. I drove right into the pit garage after the second qualifying session and stepped out of my car, I can see Sebastian Buemi ¬–our test driver talking to Christian and then turn their attention to me.
“What’s wrong?” I said as I pull out my helmet and yanked off my balaclava
“Your stats, they’re good but there may be some problem with the gearbox, did you feel a slight jolt when you change gear?” He said and my head mechanic Jean stepped closer to the conversation
I did feel a light jolt whenever I change the 5th to the 6th gear, but I thought that’s normal.
“Yeah, form the fifth to the sixth, the car jumps a little sometimes. Is it serious?” I asked, fearing for my own safety
“Right now we don’t know yet, but we’re trying to get to the bottom of this. But don’t worry, in terms of timing you’re doing great! Keep doing what you’re doing” Jean Murdock patted my shoulder and walk back to the car with the rest of the pit crews.
“Will something bad happen to me? With this whole gearbox thing?” I asked Christian
“I don’t think so, you don’t have to worry about anything, just worry about the final qualifying session, let us worry about the car okay?” He shot me a reassuring smile, although that did nothing to my nerves.
The pit light turned green, signaling us that the final qualifying session has begun. Unlike the previous sessions, I waited until most of the drivers are out. I’m taking my time, trying to be as calm as possible and not thinking about the whole gearbox problem. I felt a pat on my shoulder and I saw Sebastian standing next to me while putting on his helmet, he smiled through his eyes.
“You’re going to be okay Brie, don’t worry about it”
I just nod and smiled back at him, he got into his car and drove away. With that I took my gears and put them on while watching the timing monitor for Sebastian’s lap.
“You’re ready?” Jean asked, preparing the car
“Yep, get her ready for me” Jean nod and him with the rest of the pit crew pushed the car out
I drove out and think about nothing else except beating Lewis’ time and score the pole position for the first time. The first 2 laps were easy, then I started to feel the jolt whenever I change the gear and the longer I stayed out, the harder the jolt is. I began to feel panicky and stressed out, I missed my breaking point; I messed up my racing line.
“Hey what’s wrong?” Jean radioed me
“Gear jolted again, what’s happening?”
“The gearbox is heating up, two laps max, after that go straight in” he radioed me again and I did what he said, trying to ignore the jolts, I tried making it as fast as I can. There’s still 7 minutes left on the clock for the third session but my two-laps is up, I drove right into the pit and park it inside, knowing there’s no chance of me getting out there again.
I realized that I was leading the third qualifying session with just a 0.1 gap with Lewis Hamilton, kept praying that he wont break the time so I’ll be starting pole this Sunday. I saw Jean talking to Christian and two of the pit crews, they’re all pointing at the car. I took of my gear and open the upper part of my racing suit, tied my hair and walk up to them to talk about what happened.
“So, is it that bad?” I direct my question to Jean and the two pit crews
“Well it is dangerous, but if we change the gearbox you’re going to have to take a grid penalty for changing them. But we all think it’s just overheated, maybe if we rest the car and do some slight tweaking here and there it wont be a problem” Jean answered, if I didn’t know any better I’d say he’s not sure with himself either
“Alright, I wont take the chance of changing the gearbox and being move down the grid. But what are the chances that things will go… bad tomorrow?”
“Well… we’re looking at an even 50% chance but let’s just hope that we can get this fixed in time without changing the gearbox” Jean said as he look at the charts with the car’s statistics
The day ended with several interviews for sports channels and local magazines and Sanjeev Palar, the host for Engine Block on Star Sports, interviewed me. With security guards escorting me into the parking lot, I was just glad that I get to go back to the hotel and rest. Just when I thought I’m getting the hang of this ‘people knowing me’ thing, I was damn wrong. It’s just tiring to smile to people all the time, it’s great having fans but when you have to fake smiling and faking small talks after you finished 3 rounds of qualifying sessions with a shitty gearbox problem, it’s just irritating. I put on my earphones and completely shut myself from the outside world, Sleeping With Sirens is playing their acoustic version of Don’t You Ever Forget Me –my favorite song from their new album and without realizing, I’m drifting away, leaving all my thoughts and problems behind.
“Brie, remember just do your best and don’t worry about the time. Do your best, be calm and don’t rush it okay?” my team manager Christian Horner said before setting me off to the first qualifying session, he knows that I mess up bad whenever I’m nervous.
“Yeah, I’ll try” I put on my helmet and got inside the car, the pit crews push me out from the paddock and off I go.
I was the third car who went out, the first was Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Went out for a couple of laps and scored second best timing for the Q1 right after Lewis Hamilton, but for tire preservation my team manager radioed me to go back into the pit and wait out for the Q2. The same thing happened for the Q2, although this time I qualified third and Sebastian qualified second best after Lewis Hamilton. I drove right into the pit garage after the second qualifying session and stepped out of my car, I can see Sebastian Buemi ¬–our test driver talking to Christian and then turn their attention to me.
“What’s wrong?” I said as I pull out my helmet and yanked off my balaclava
“Your stats, they’re good but there may be some problem with the gearbox, did you feel a slight jolt when you change gear?” He said and my head mechanic Jean stepped closer to the conversation
I did feel a light jolt whenever I change the 5th to the 6th gear, but I thought that’s normal.
“Yeah, form the fifth to the sixth, the car jumps a little sometimes. Is it serious?” I asked, fearing for my own safety
“Right now we don’t know yet, but we’re trying to get to the bottom of this. But don’t worry, in terms of timing you’re doing great! Keep doing what you’re doing” Jean Murdock patted my shoulder and walk back to the car with the rest of the pit crews.
“Will something bad happen to me? With this whole gearbox thing?” I asked Christian
“I don’t think so, you don’t have to worry about anything, just worry about the final qualifying session, let us worry about the car okay?” He shot me a reassuring smile, although that did nothing to my nerves.
The pit light turned green, signaling us that the final qualifying session has begun. Unlike the previous sessions, I waited until most of the drivers are out. I’m taking my time, trying to be as calm as possible and not thinking about the whole gearbox problem. I felt a pat on my shoulder and I saw Sebastian standing next to me while putting on his helmet, he smiled through his eyes.
“You’re going to be okay Brie, don’t worry about it”
I just nod and smiled back at him, he got into his car and drove away. With that I took my gears and put them on while watching the timing monitor for Sebastian’s lap.
“You’re ready?” Jean asked, preparing the car
“Yep, get her ready for me” Jean nod and him with the rest of the pit crew pushed the car out
I drove out and think about nothing else except beating Lewis’ time and score the pole position for the first time. The first 2 laps were easy, then I started to feel the jolt whenever I change the gear and the longer I stayed out, the harder the jolt is. I began to feel panicky and stressed out, I missed my breaking point; I messed up my racing line.
“Hey what’s wrong?” Jean radioed me
“Gear jolted again, what’s happening?”
“The gearbox is heating up, two laps max, after that go straight in” he radioed me again and I did what he said, trying to ignore the jolts, I tried making it as fast as I can. There’s still 7 minutes left on the clock for the third session but my two-laps is up, I drove right into the pit and park it inside, knowing there’s no chance of me getting out there again.
I realized that I was leading the third qualifying session with just a 0.1 gap with Lewis Hamilton, kept praying that he wont break the time so I’ll be starting pole this Sunday. I saw Jean talking to Christian and two of the pit crews, they’re all pointing at the car. I took of my gear and open the upper part of my racing suit, tied my hair and walk up to them to talk about what happened.
“So, is it that bad?” I direct my question to Jean and the two pit crews
“Well it is dangerous, but if we change the gearbox you’re going to have to take a grid penalty for changing them. But we all think it’s just overheated, maybe if we rest the car and do some slight tweaking here and there it wont be a problem” Jean answered, if I didn’t know any better I’d say he’s not sure with himself either
“Alright, I wont take the chance of changing the gearbox and being move down the grid. But what are the chances that things will go… bad tomorrow?”
“Well… we’re looking at an even 50% chance but let’s just hope that we can get this fixed in time without changing the gearbox” Jean said as he look at the charts with the car’s statistics
The day ended with several interviews for sports channels and local magazines and Sanjeev Palar, the host for Engine Block on Star Sports, interviewed me. With security guards escorting me into the parking lot, I was just glad that I get to go back to the hotel and rest. Just when I thought I’m getting the hang of this ‘people knowing me’ thing, I was damn wrong. It’s just tiring to smile to people all the time, it’s great having fans but when you have to fake smiling and faking small talks after you finished 3 rounds of qualifying sessions with a shitty gearbox problem, it’s just irritating. I put on my earphones and completely shut myself from the outside world, Sleeping With Sirens is playing their acoustic version of Don’t You Ever Forget Me –my favorite song from their new album and without realizing, I’m drifting away, leaving all my thoughts and problems behind.