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George couldn’t believe it when his engineer came over the radio to tell him that he was into Q3. The conditions were horrible and there was no chance of the track drying out anytime soon.
When the red flag came out, George had no idea what was going on until his engineer came over the radio to tell him that Lando had crashed. Alex, on the other hand, had witnessed the crash from the Red Bull motorhome. He was just hoping that Lando was alright and breathed a sigh of relief when Lando eventually climbed out of the car rather slowly. Alex made sure to send a quick message to Lando even though he wouldn’t have his phone on him to wish him well.
George returned to the pitlane when the red flag came out and instantly raced over to his race engineer after he had climbed out of the car. Alex had made his way over to the Williams garage knowing that the red flag would last a while so it wasn’t as if George would be going back into the car straight away. George was busy speaking to a team member when he caught Alex out of the corner of his eye. He excused himself and pulled Alex to a quiet corner.
“What the hell happened?” Asked George.
“He had a bad accident, George, he was slow to get out of the car. I think they’re taking him to the hospital.”
“Shit.”
“I know, hopefully he’ll be alright. I’ve sent him a message so we’ll see what happens.”
“I can’t really celebrate Q3, it doesn’t feel right knowing that Lando crashed.”
“You’ve been amazing, someone was going to go off at some point and it doesn’t look any better for tomorrow.”
“We’ll wait and see.”
“I need to go back to Red Bull but be safe, please.”
“Always.”
Alex pulled George in for a quick kiss before he left the garage and sneaked back to Red Bull.
Alex couldn’t believe it as he watched on after Q3 had restarted. George was on pole, George was on provisional pole in the Williams. It didn’t last long, however, as Max managed to get ahead of George but the Brit was still in an amazing position for the race, P2. Whilst the Red Bull team were celebrating Max’s pole, Alex was quietly celebrating George’s P2.
George couldn’t take the smile off his face in the paddock and not even when he had to go and sit in debrief after the session. He was just so happy and even happier when he made it back to the hotel with Alex. The two of them spent a long time cuddling and Alex was showering George with praise.
“I’m so proud of you.” Murmured Alex.
George couldn’t help but smile into Alex’s neck. He couldn’t wait for the race.
The weather on Sunday was just as bad as Saturday. It rained as the drivers and teams arrived then continued to rain during the driver’s parade. During the parade whilst getting soaked, George had the chance to check up on Lando. He had seen Lando’s interview online after his friend had returned to the paddock but he didn’t see Lando after debrief. He was thankful that Lando was alright and his friend was grateful that the team had managed to fix the car in time for the race even if he was now starting P15.
There was disaster for Sergio and Red Bull on the way to the grid as Sergio slid off the track and ended up crashing into the barriers. The team were in a race against time to get the car fixed but seeing as the rain was relentless, there was a high chance of more chaos to come.
The race was delayed and when the drivers were eventually allowed onto the track, they had to drive behind the safety car with little visibility. A couple of formation laps went by before the race was red flagged and the drivers had to return to the pit. Most of the drivers had been complaining about the conditions and how the track was far too wet to race on.
Many of the drivers were forced to keep themselves entertained whilst they waited for the race to restart. At one point, Alex joined George and Nicky in front of the garage with Nicky holding up an umbrella. They were feeling sorry for the fans who were getting absolutely soaked by the rain.
“Do you think they’ll actually restart the race?” Asked Alex.
Nicky shrugged.
“Who, the conditions out there are so bad. You can’t even see the car in front half the time.” Said George.
After a very long delay, the drivers were leaving the pitlane and back out on the track to follow the safety car once more. They only managed a handful of laps as visibility was still poor and there were no signs of the rain easing. The red flag came out again.
The race director announced that the race would not resume and as the drivers had driven for a couple of laps, it counted towards a race but only half points were awarded. It meant that George kept P2 whilst Max won the race and Lewis was P3.
Drivers and teams were very much aware of how annoyed the fans would be because they had been sitting in the cold and wet weather for a few hours until the race was eventually put off. A lot of people didn’t think it was fair for half points to be awarded when there had been no racing.
For that particular reason, Alex didn’t go to see Max and George on the podium. He felt like George seemed too excited about his podium when he hadn’t even raced. It had technically been the result of qualifying and no one had changed position besides Sergio who had crashed before the race. It had been unfair to fans.
It didn’t surprise Alex that George was late back to the hotel late because he had been with the team. It didn’t surprise Alex either when George asked him why he hadn’t come to see the podium.
“Max didn’t technically win the race, George, and you didn’t get P2. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really happy with your qualifying result but that wasn’t a race. The points shouldn’t count even if they are half points.” Insisted Alex.
George huffed.
“I thought you would be happy for me.”
“I am happy for you but it isn’t really fair that the fans had to sit through all that for the race to be red flagged on a couple of occasions when the race should’ve been cancelled from the beginning.”
“Max still gets the best of the rest so your team shouldn’t really be complaining.”
“I’m not complaining but you look a little bit too happy about your P2.”
“I deserve this after yesterday, the team deserves it after everything they’ve been through.”
“You got it because of qualifying yesterday, not because of today. Today doesn't really count.”
George sighed.
“I don’t want to listen to this, if you can’t be happy for me, I’ll just go back to my own room.”
“I’m just giving you my opinion, George.”
The Brit narrowed his eyes at his boyfriend.
“I don’t really want to hear it right now.”
His good mood was now shattered like a lead balloon as he turned around and walked towards the door before he slammed it shut behind him.
Alex sighed in frustration. He had only given his opinion and now George was annoyed with him. He had only been trying to tell the truth. It wouldn’t surprise Alex if George continued to feel that he deserved his podium. Alex was proud of him but George technically hadn’t been racing. George couldn’t see it that way. To him, he achieved P2 in qualifying and finished P2 in the race. To him, the podium still counted.