𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚎'𝚜  𝚙𝚘𝚟

I woke up in a dark room with a pair of arms wrapped around me. A headache banging in my head as I wiggled myself out of the arms. I walked into the bathroom and took some painkillers while rubbing my forehead. I sighed before I walked silently into the bedroom towards the bed. The duvet was opened and a pair of arms also opened. I climbed into the bed and let myself stay close to George's warm body. It was 4:38 AM. At least 3 more hours of sleep were to come as the arms wrapped around me softly. A small and gentle kiss was placed on my forehead. George's eyes squeezed together as he was still very sleepy.

George: "are you okay?"

Mike: "hmm-hmm. Just a bit of an headache."

George: "Do you need something?"

Mike: "no... I'm fine. Let's just go back to sleep... get a few more hours."

He mouthed a quiet okay before he closed his eyes again. I snuggled my head in his neck. His head resting against mine as we laid on our sides facing each other. My nose on his chest taking in his scent. My eyes closed shortly after and what felt like a few seconds were 3 hours before my alarm went off. George clicked on the stop button before he sighed. We looked at each other's face staying silent. I softly brushed his hair back before I kissed his cheek and got out of the bed. My body was sore from the accident but I was gonna start from pole even if it was the last thing I would do. My phone started ringing and I quickly picked up. My mom was on the callers ID. I was half Dutch and grew up speaking both English and Dutch.

Mike: "goeie morgen mama." (good morning mom.)

Elli: "morgen lieverd. Ik wilde je nog even snel succes wensen voor je begint met je drukke dag! Zet hem op en laat ze maar eens zien wat racen is!" (Morning honey. I wanted to wish you luck before your busy day starts! You can do this and show them what racing really is!)

Mike: "ah super lief mama! We gaan er gewoon tegen aan en zien wel waar we komen. Ik moet gaan. Doei mama hou van jou!" (Ah super sweet mom! We are gonna go for it and wait and see what result I get. I have to go. Bye mom love you!)

Elli: "doei lieverd! Veel succes vandaag!" (Bye honey! Good luck today!)

I hung up the phone and rubbed my eyes before getting out of the bed just like George did a few seconds ago.

George: "who was it?"

Mike: "my mom."

George: "you speak German?"

Mike: "oh no this was Dutch. My mom is Dutch so I grew up speaking both fluent."

George: "I didn't know."

Mike: "I think only the team knows it as I don't really talk a lot of Dutch. Most of all with my mom and Max at the moment."

He hummed a soft 'hmm-hmm' before he collected his stuff. He said a quick bye as I was changing in the bathroom and he was gone to his own room to change ect. I was now wearing my soft black sport shorts with my Red Bull polo. A pair of white Nike airforce shoes on my feet as I ran down the hotel stairs. I was a tiny bit late. I drove my car to the circuit and jumped out. I locked the car after getting my bag from the trunk and sprinted to the garage while quickly waving at camera's with a smile. I got in and quickly said hi to everybody. I had a quick debriefing before the garages opened for fans to see us. I was now already changed into my racing suit. Max played some loud Dutch music. I loved to listen to Dutch songs with Max as we would always go full out with karaoke.

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Mike and Max: " Jouw blik, jouw stem, jouw glimlach op je mond
Jij bent zo'n mooie vrouw.
Jou ogen zeggen mij 'mijn lieve schat
Ik hou zoveel van jou.'
Ga met me mee toe liefste zeg geen nee
En laat me nooit meer gaan
Jij hoort bij mij als duizend sterren rond
De volle maan"
(Your face, your voice, your smile on your mouth.
Your such a gorgeous woman.
Your eyes say to me 'my baby I love you so much'.
Go with me please love don't say no
And never let me go
You belong to me like thousand stars around the full moon.)

People all came to film us singing along to the songs. A few familiar faces peaked around. The head of Lando, Daniel, Lewis and George. The next song started playing and we were still singing along as hard as we could. We started dancing a bit along as we moved thru the garages. I would say the engineers and mechanics would shut us up if they could but they didn't because of the fans.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

Mike and Max: "Ik ga zwemmen in Bacardi Lemon
Een echte tijger is niet te temmen
Ik ga zwemmen in Bacardi Lemon
Je kijkt me aan
Wat doe je met me?
Wow!"
(I'm gonna swim in Bacardi Lemon
A real tigger cannot be tamed
I'm gonna swim in Bacardi Lemon
You look at me
What are you doing to me?
Wow!)

I bursted out in laughter when Christian smiled at us while shaking his head. A few minutes after Wesley got me to start warming up.

Wesley: "So how does miss hit by a car feel?"

Mike: "little sore but I'm good."

Wesley: "you really should stitch that one tho."

He pointed to my eyebrow. I sighed. I knew I had too but yesterday I just wanted to get back tot the hotel so it would have to wait till after the race. Wesley massaged me a bit before we did some reaction exercises. I got back to the garage and pulled my balaclava over my head and then my helmet ect. I drove my car to the grid and placed it on pole. I hopped out and sat on the side of the grid. Lewis sat down next to me and smiled politely at me.

Lewis: "holding up good I see?"

Mike: "ah I can handle the big boys."

He laughed at me before looking at George and then back at me. Does he know we have a thing?

Lewis: "be sweet to George will ya? I think he likes you... a lot."

Mike: "really? I didn't know."

Lewis: "he's a good guy. Be nice to him please?"

Mike: "yea sure."

He patted my shoulder before standing up and walking off. I giggled softly and texted George about it. He looked on his phone and read the text his head looked up and turned from side to side looking for something. His eyes found mine and he smiled while shaking his head softly. I shrugged my shoulders and he did the same. He lowered his hand while holding his phone that was now locked. I got signed to get back into the car and pulled my balaclava and helmet with neck support on my head again. I let myself fall in my seat before the seatbelts were done. I placed my gloves on and tried to move myself in my seat to see if I could move. Which wasn't the case. Perfect. Formation lap started. It felt absolutely great to lead the pack. Of course I did it a lot in F2, F3 and F4 and stuff but this... this is different. A bit of a proud smile plastered on my face. I placed my car back in place as the rest took place as well. The lights went out not long after and I pushed my feet on the throttle. Max was a little behind me when we arrived in turn 2. He didn't leave me enough space and BAM. Before I knew it I crashed into the barrier.

𝙶𝚎𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎'𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚟

One of the Red Bull's crashed into the barrier. The impact looked quite big. In front of me was the other Red Bull while Lewis was behind me.

George: "who's in front?"

James: "Verstappen in front. Smith crashed into the wall. Safety car George. Safety car."

George: "copy that."

Mike was in the wall. I passed the Red Bull again after some time and saw that she was climbing out just now. She was okay. A sigh I didn't know I was holding left my mouth. The safety car stopped after some more laps and then we went again.

𝙼𝚒𝚔𝚎'𝚜  𝚙𝚘𝚟

I crashed... it wasn't even my fault. Max left me no space. I stepped out of the medical car that stopped in front of the Red Bull garage and walked in shaking my head. My visor still down as I felt tears welling in my eyes. I could get on that fucking podium. I could have scored great points for the team. I walked past everybody not even looking at someone. My head was hanging low. I got into my drivers room and locked the door straight away. I got my helmet and balaclava off and let myself fall down on the small bed that was stood there. I sighed and rubbed my eyes. I changed into my Red Bull polo with my black soft sport shorts again. I pulled my hair in a ponytail and placed my cap on my head with the ponytail they it's hole. A knock came on my door. I unlocked it and opened it seeing my PR.

Indy: "you ready? Media duties and then you can go home okay Mik?"

Mike: "yep let's go."

I got off the bed and walked towards the media pen with Indy a few steps behind me.

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