ALICE Ch 43

Later, Alice is with Lora in her cramped office within the mobile HQ. Lora is the voice of FUTA Racing’s pit wall and is generally in charge of tactics. She’s the one speaking into Alice’s ear when she’s driving. She’s from England, but her accent is faint. Her dark hair is usually up when she’s working, but today it’s down as Alice sits hunched over Lora’s desk, painting her nails as they chat. Lora doesn’t make much of an effort as far as makeup and her appearance, maybe because of some facial burns that nobody ever asks about. Or because she’s generally heard rather than seen. In any case, she’s a calm, relaxing person to be around.

Much more relaxing than Glynda.

Alice concentrates on her painting as Lora speaks.

“It’s an easy track. Nobody’s crashing,” she’s saying.

“Tell that to Max.”

“Max always gets carried away when he can cut loose. If, and only if, you can get a decent start…”

“Will my engine let me?”

“We’ll find out. You put in a good time yesterday even with the issue.”

“The times were offset because Lando is the benchmark instead of Max.”

“Focus, Alice.”

“I’m so focused,” Alice protests, indignant. She’s doing a good job. Lora’s nails are going to look great.

“If you can get a good start, it’s unlikely that you’ll have an opportunity to pass Flores unless she makes a mistake. You’ll need to be thinking about Danny Ricciardo. His car is slow, but so is yours. He’s aggressive and he has a lot to prove. Doubly so because you’re a woman and you’re new. He’ll be after you, and you can’t just worry about not letting him by. He’s an idiot. He will collide with you in a heartbeat. If it’s a matter of letting him by or not finishing, you’ll have ****.”

“I was half a second quicker than him,” Alice says confidently. “He won’t catch me. It’s the twins and Tanaka that we have to worry about. Williams has a good car. Better than ours.”

“Yes, and the sisters are good, but they’re underbaked. They aren’t ready for Formula One. Williams just felt pressured to make a memorable PR decision.”

Alice smiles. “They are memorable. Did I tell you that I soaked in a hot tub with them?”

“You hadn’t mentioned that in at least ten minutes. It’s Ricciardo that you have to worry about. He’s a good driver when he can get out of his own way, and you’ll have a lot of handicaps. Zone One is where everything will happen. If you give him anything at the thirteenth corner, that’s where he’ll get DRS and come after you at seventeen…”

Alice understands where Lora is coming from, but it still doesn’t sit well with her. She wants to talk about how to win, not how to not lose. Securing points is good, but podiums are better. She’s furious about the engine, although there’s nothing to be done about that. It’s nobody on FUTA’s fault; it’s something to do with the engine maker.

Glynda’s got her hands full.