ALICE Ch 51

Bright lights shine on the simple chair.

In it sits Lewis Hamilton, the man widely considered to be the greatest racer of all time. He sits calmly in his Mercedes livery, looking expectantly at the interviewer.

An awkward moment passes.

“I don’t know how to ask the question,” the interviewer admits after a moment.

Lewis smiles. “No, I get it.” He makes a small, gentlemanly gesture. “It has been a while.” His smile doesn’t go away. “But to answer the real question, I don’t expect that I would have won in Saudi Arabia if Max hadn’t crashed in the qualifier.”

The interviewer nods. “There were still two dramatic overtakes, one in which it looked certain that you were going to collide with Charles.”

Lewis winces. “Yes.” He looks thoughtful. “There’s always a question when this happens whether the outcome is to do with the car or the driver.” He chews his lip for a moment. “I had decided to be aggressive.”

“You aren’t the only one. But not everyone got a happy ending like you did.”

He looks sympathetic. “You mean the FUTA girl. I’ve been there. I’ve lived it,” he says earnestly. “You hate to see it. I would not wish that on my worst enemy.”

“Not even Max?”

Lewis laughs. “Not even him.”

FF1

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix Results

P1 Hamilton (Mercedes)

P2 Verstappen (Red Bull)

P3 Alonso (Aston Martin)

P4 LeClerc (Ferrari)

P5 Flores (Freedom)

P6 Darcy (FUTA)

P7 Bottas (Aston Martin)

P8 Woodcock (Williams)

P9 Laakso (AlphaTauri)

P10 Norris (McLaren)

P11 Sainz (Ferrari)

P12 Dunham (Freedom)

P13 Perez (Red Bull)

P14 Tanaka (Mercedes)

P15 Magnussen (Haas)

P16 Ricciardo (Haas)

P17 Woodcock (Williams)

P18 Ocon (AphaTauri)

P19 Pattinson (McLaren)

DNF Wilde (FUTA)

Bright lights shine on a simple chair.

Erica Bruhl looks effortlessly cute in her F1 polo and cap with her blonde ponytail. Her eye makeup is spectacular and she’s glowing.

“You’re pleased about Lewis winning,” the interviewer says.

“I am,” Erica admits.

“Tell us about Saudi Arabia.”

“Where to start? What a tremendous race for Aston Martin. Fernando Alonso belongs on the podium and the cars have held him back. Bottas is no different. It’s good to see them both in the points. The collapse of Lando is attributable to difficulties with the car. Checo drove poorly.” Erica taps her finger on her knee. “A disappointing drive from Carlos Sainz, certainly. Valeria Flores continues to impress, in this case by keeping a clear head. This makes the standings very interesting, although it’s too early to get a feel for where the points are going. Freedom is coming out very strongly for a new team, and this was a serious setback for FUTA. Faye Darcy brought home some points, but…” Erica trails off, cringing. “These things happen in Formula One. This is where drivers have to show…”

“Show what?” the interviewer prompts.

“Resilience,” Erica replies.