ALICE Ch 139

MONACO GRAND PRIX QUALIFIER RESULTS

1. Verstappen (Red Bull)

2. Wilde (FUTA)

3. Hamilton (Mercedes)

4. LeClerc (Ferrari)

5. Woodcock, S. (Williams)

6. Bottas (Aston Martin)

7. Perez (Red Bull)

8. Sainz (Ferrari)

9. Tanaka (Mercedes)

10. Norris (McLaren)

11. Dunham (Freedom)

12. Alonso (Aston Martin)

13. Laakso (AlphaTauri)

14. Darcy (FUTA)

15. Woodcock, M. (Williams)

16. Magnussen (Haas)

DNF Ocon (AphaTauri)

DNF Ricciardo (Haas)

DNF Pattinson (McLaren)

DNF Flores (Freedom)

Bright lights shine on the simple chair.

Glynda Darcy is visibly tense. She’s dressed down in leggings and a FUTA polo and a little self-conscious about it, even though it works for her. Her legs are crossed, one of them jittering restlessly.

“The qualifying round ended just over an hour ago,” the producer says. “Thoughts?”

Glynda looks stoic. “We’re pleased with Alice’s drive. We were hoping that Faye would be a little quicker.”

“With overtakes being so rare in Monaco, this all but guarantees points.”

“One hopes,” Glynda replies diplomatically.

“As things stand now, a P2 finish tomorrow would have at least the potential to place FUTA in second place in the Constructor’s Cup. What are your thoughts?”

“I think that, as always, we want to be as quick as possible and to make the best showing within our ability.” It is abundantly clear that Glynda doesn’t want to be there. The producer isn’t blind, and she’s very brave.

“Do you want to talk at all about some of the upsets this morning? Bad luck for Freedom. A poor showing from McLaren. These are the things that have created this opportunity.”

“There are so many variables in racing. I began in rally, mind,” Glynda says with a little gesture. “Some weekends we struggle with the car. And some weekends the wind blows our way. We can’t always control these things. We just need to be at our best and ready to work.”

“Is that what this is?” the producer asks, waving her phone vaguely. “You’re worried about the car? I mean, in P2 in Monaco, that’s about the only thing that can go wrong, right?”

FF1

Bright lights shine on the simple chair.

Will Buxton looks intense and pensive.

“Never,” he begins, rubbing his chin with a pained expression. “Have I seen such a confluence of misfortunate as we saw in Monaco. Staggering stuff. First, Alexander Ocon crashes in the qualifier. His debris causes punctures for Danny Ric and Valeria Flores, in Valeria’s case causing a crash. She was all right, but so much for her qualifying round. And then Pattinson crashed without anyone’s help, adding insult to injury with Norris having a bad day, likely Covid-related. Utterly disastrous for McLaren.” He shakes his head. “Just like that the Constructor’s blown up again. Brutal. Poor drives from Dunham and Fernando Alonso simply annihilating dreams. All that energy, all that enthusiasm coming into this weekend, and then this absolute gut punch.” He takes a deep breath and gives the producer a sympathetic look. “And that was before the weather report changed.”