Chapter Two: All Beginnings are Delightful

Lukas took a deep breath before opening the door to his new teams factory. Today he would become a fully fledged Canox driver when he officially signed his contract

He opened the door and went in. The reception area was currently empty, no one was manning the desk. So he took in his surroundings. It was smaller than the Audi teams reception area, quite understandably. Nevertheless they did have a small trophy cabinet displaying their collection of 2nd place and 3rd place trophies

The sound of heels click clacking on the floor came to his ears and he turned his head to greet their owner. She was a young woman in her twenties in a silk sleeveless blouse and a black skirt.

'Mr Weber' she greeted. 'We weren't expecting you so early' She held out her hand 'I'm Marianna'

Lukas took her hand a gave it a warm shake.

'Please call me Lukas' he told her. 'As you English say, I like to start as I mean to go on'

Marianna smiled. He liked it, the way her mouth moved and...

Stop it he told himself sternly Your job doesn't involve falling for the receptionist on your first day

Despite this however once they had arrived at his new team principals office and was asked if he wanted a hot drink, he did secretly wish that Marianna would be the one to bring it

Sam Michael opened the door and asked his new driver to come in. The contract was on Lukas' side of the desk ready to be signed. He started to read and after confirming that everything was in order he signed his name on the dotted line.

His cappuccino arrived then and as luck would have it Marianna did indeed bring it up for him. He thanked her and took a sip as his new boss asked him about the circumstances that lead to his dismissal from his previous team

Lukas paused. He had hoped he wouldn't be asked this as it would certainly dredge up some unpleasant memories. One of the trophies in the foyer had been a 3rd place trophy from the Italian GP the first race he had missed

Yet he knew Sam had been in the sport a long time. He'd started out as a mechanic, then a race engineer and then a technical director before becoming Canox team principal. He had dealt with some complicated personalities and would almost certainly want the truth not soundbites

So after taking another sip of his Cappuccino he divulged the reasons behind his sacking from the Audi team. Satisfied at the explanation, Sam drew the contract over to his side of the desk and signed his name. The agreement was now official

Lukas took his leave from the office and demurred when Sam's secretary Simone offered to take him on a tour of the factory

Chapter Four: A Great Place for a Race

'Claire Brodie, Channel 4. Lukas you've mentioned there are no team orders in the Canox team. In past F1 history, both Williams and McLaren have lost championships due to this policy. Does that worry you at all?'

Lukas thought for a few seconds before replying

'No, because I believe what happened in 86 and 07 was a little more complicated than just simply two drivers taking points of each other. I'm not worried at all.'

Another journalist in the room asked him how he was feeling going up against Oscar Piastri considering his record of the last two years

'I'm looking forward to it. We I'm sure will have some great battles on track, I will for sure keep it clean, but this is a new category for him, a new challenge for me. We will both start from a clean slate and count them up at the end of the year'

The questions continued and Claire allowed her eyes to wander to the other side of the room, where Lukas and Oscar's PA'S were standing. Lukas' PA was most attractive, if not the most attractive of any of the drivers assistants. According to Claire’s handwritten media guide (Her 'Formula 1 Codex' as her brother dubbed it) she was called Keely Moore, and despite being in her team uniform was making Claire’s lesbian heart flutter

After a few minutes the two Canox drivers concluded their ten minute pre season conference and the Audi team was brought in

Devon Butler was in no doubt about what his former teammates chances were

'He's a has been' he said arrogantly. 'He'll be out of the team by summer you'll see. He won't perform against Piastri, the Aussie will ride all over him'

The press pack were all very glad when the conference was over. Devon had turned it into his own private show and Aidan Jackson hadn't managed to answer a single question to his irritation

Claire did think that Devon's comments about Lukas were very below the belt. There was no need to call him a has been for instance. Perhaps he needed this change to show the world what he was actually capable of

It was the first day of action at the first round of the season at the traditional venue of Albert Park, a street circuit around the lake in Melbourne, Australia.

Looking at the Circuit from the first shots of Free Practice 1 several changes to the circuit had been made for this year. The AstroTurf from behind several kerbs had gone and the full compliment of painted lines existed round the circuit. In previous years half of them had been burned off, but this year they all remained presumably to increase the challenge for the drivers

Devon's somewhat savage opinion of his former teammates chances seemed to be born out when at the end of the first day, Oscar was the quickest of the two drivers hovering around 5th and 6th. Lukas by contrast was around 9th and 10th some considerable margin from Devon at the head of the standings. Aidan Jackson wasn't doing too badly though finishing 3rd at the end of the first day

Lukas in his end of day interviews didn't seem worried though about the gap to his teammate or Devon

'It's only Day 1, we did make some valuable progress today and I will look forward to tomorrow'

The next time he talked to Claire things were looking much better. After Free Practice 3 he was much closer to his teammate albeit still behind him, but closer nonetheless

The one hour qualifying session for the next day's race was what everyone was looking forward to and as predicted Devon strolled to Pole Position putting him in prime spot for his 20th consecutive victory. A lot of mutterings on line were devoted to listing the various things that could 'happen' to him to prevent this event from occurring but it seemed preordained somehow

His teammate joined him on the front row with Lewis Hamilton in 3rd. Lukas Weber was a surprise 4th, his teammate Oscar Piastri falling to 7th.

First Blood to the German Claire thought as the drivers slowly made their way through the media pen after qualifying

Last edited by reptongeek (January 8, 2023 12:57 pm)

Chapter Six: Malaysian Mishap

Despite the 1-2 finish for the Audi team the atmosphere in the garage was not what it should be

Whilst Aiden had finished in a strong position, he had taken out Casper and nearly taken out Devon at the same time. Plus he had argued about a team order to lap to a certain delta in order to give his teammate more space. Ironically he would have to disobey this directive when Lukas had to speed up and managed to get fastest lap as a result

Not only that Devon had been sullen the last three days. Most of the headlines had gone to Lukas and not him, a podium position from a pit lane start regarded with greater weight than a 20th consecutive win.

Not only that his heroics had been enough to be awarded Driver of the Day in addition to some extra points for dedicating his podium to the late Murray Walker

'O Captain, My Captain. Thank you Murray for everything you have done for us in the sport of F1. Rest in Peace my friend, this one is for you' he had said in a message that showed his class. Devon by contrast used his slowing down lap to curse his teammate for having him off

The lead Audi driver had however perked up considerably when qualifying had concluded. He had secured pole again and Lukas thanks to a small slide coming out of one corner leading to the end of lap hairpin had only managed sixth. The surprise package this time round was Oscar Piastri who had pipped the two McLarens and finished 3rd, a tremendous result

It hadn't lasted. Morning warm up had been wet and the conditions hadn't improved when the field lined up on the grid for the race. To the surprise of no one the Safety Car lead the field round for the first 3 laps

Lukas had taken a clever gamble and started on intermediate tyres, however because of this he had been slow away from his grid position. Under the regulations he was permitted to get it back but if he couldn't at the end of Lap 1, he was obliged to go to the back of the field

Which was exactly what he did. However because the conditions were drying out after the Safety Car this meant that he had been on the right tyre and so didn't have to pit. Oscar it turned out had done this as well, so it was a Canox 1-2 for a short spell, ending Devon's stranglehold on the lead. He had lead over 270 laps displacing Ayrton Senna but was 35 short of Alberto Ascari

Callum had to do some mind management on his driver when he lost the lead. When Devon had finished giving his opinion on the subject, he looked like he had been put through a paper shredder

Jeff felt sorry for his opposite number for the first time. His driver had shown his true colours for the first time in eighteen months. Easy going when the good times rolled but a pain in the behind when they didn't

Devon got back into the lead when the Canox's pitted for fuel and dry tyres. Lukas unluckily had a sticking wheel nut which cost him two places and he exited the pits in fourth. Robert Kubica the Williams driver set off in pursuit of him.

As the race settled down, Aiden managed to get his second place back off Oscar. The young Aussie was driving superbly clearly wanting to prove something after his non start in Australia, and was holding off his teammate remarkably well. The two Canox's put some light between Kubica as the laps counted down

On Lap 48 however Devon started to drive very slowly. Jeff knew what was going to happen now and unsurprisingly Aiden asked for permission to overtake

'I'll get back to you Aiden' Jeff replied to his driver. However Brian Mills the team principal disagreed

'Tell him to hold position' he ordered. Jeff relayed this instruction to Aiden who predictably pointed out that the team could still win the race, but if they held station they would lose it

'Hold position for the championship' Brian told Aiden. Jeff hoped that would be the end of it but his driver protested again

'That's a direct order' Brian barked at him. 'Obey it or lose your drive, your choice'

Jeff put his head in his hands. The media was going to love this. Aiden wisely did as he was told but as the laps counted down, the problem still wasn't over.

The two Canox's and Kubica had increased their speed after being notified of the radio spat and at the conclusion of Lap 54 what Aiden had forecast happened. Oscar and Lukas swept past the slowing Devon and Aiden followed by Kubica a lap later

And that was how it finished. Oscar took an amazing first win, the first driver since Giancarlo Baghetti to win on his debut. The top three was greeted with cheers that had never been heard before and it was clear this result was great for the sport

The Audi garage wasn't a great place to be after the race. Devon had stormed up to his team principals office and ranted for quite sometime

'THIS IS WHY WE HAVE WINTER TESTING' Jeff heard him yell through the closed door. He really didn't need anymore grief but he got it in the shape of Aiden still trying to put his point across

'Aiden, right now I don't care!' He told him angrily 'This is going to be a very long, very unpleasant year, I can just feel it. Just keep your head down and do your job okay!!'

Last edited by reptongeek (January 14, 2023 4:48 pm)

Chapter Eight: Spain

Following the previous round in China, Devon hadn't been exactly appropriate in his remarks following his inherited win, bluntly telling the Friday Five press conference before first practice that the Aston Martin team had deserved to be disqualified as they had cheated

'If you don't follow the regulations, you get a punished' He said brutally.

Jeff considered this was a pretty off colour remark, especially considering that the Aston Martin team principal was also in the press conference. Asked for a rebuttal he merely said; 'Can we talk about something else'

The atmosphere on the other side of the garage wasn't much better. Aiden had responded to another team order by simply parking his car and retiring from the race costing the team at least six points which hadn't gone down well with Brian Mills

'You talk to him' he had fumed to Jeff, but he hadn't had any more luck than Brian. In the end it was ironically Lukas who reminded him of his responsibilities

'You don't want to race for senior management that's fine' Jeff heard his former driver tell his current one. 'Race for Jeff, for your mechanics and your fans who have paid good money to see you compete, not pull out of the race to prove a point.'

Aidan hadn't said much for the rest of Friday but Jeff saw that the point had been made

Devon was quite another story. His wife Nicole was back in the pits after missing the last two rounds, looking Jeff thought rather uncomfortable in the skimpy outfit she had been seemingly forced to wear. Apparently Lukas' new PA had gone viral as many people had swooned over how gorgeous she looked

It all seemed rather petty and unnecessary, particularly since Lukas freed from the shackles of the Audi team didn't appear to want to have a rivalry with either Devon or his teammate. He simply concentrated on his job, which Jeff hoped the two Audi drivers would start doing. The Canox team were a bit too close to them in championship terms and anymore screw-ups would decrease the gap and increase the pressure

At the end of Friday practice, Lukas had beaten his teammate for the first time finishing 3rd in the standings making Jeff nervous. Casper had been his friend and he would be more motivated than ever to put one over on his former team

The next morning saw Casper claim retribution for Devon's comments in the two weeks since China by ramming him up the back at the Dry Sack curve, breaking his own front wing and Devon's rear wing. The Aston Martin driver was predictably hauled in front of the stewards who deleted his two fastest times from the later qualifying session, meaning he would have to set three times to count for the grid

'Lucky we've got some spares' Callum had muttered. By the time qualifying ended Devon had returned to the top of the pile with Robert Kubica in the Williams joining him on the front row. Lukas had repeated his practice form by finishing 3rd and then it was Oscar 4th and then Aidan in 5th

Jeff rubbed his eyes as he considered whether his driver had been giving it his all. He decided to talk to him about it the next day.

Sunday however brought another turn of the screw. Lukas was fastest in morning warm up again, even getting some airtime as he had a good natured scrap with his countryman Sebastian Vettel. This didn't improve Devon's mood and Jeff could see his wife getting more than a little stressed

His heart went out to her. She looked her age for the first time - she was only 20, and seemingly stuck in a situation she didn't know how to deal with.

'If you need to talk to someone" Jeff told her 'I'm here for you' She accepted his business card with a quiet smile as tears ran down her cheeks. They were quite different tears from the ones he had seen in December. Then they had been happy tears unashamedly streaming down her face. Today however she needed to wipe her cheeks as soon as possible

At the race start Devon screamed into the lead, Lukas got swamped initially losing a couple of places, but calmly and decisively he overtook three cars to lie second behind his old teammate. He wasn't doing too badly either Jeff noted managing to hold a ten second gap to Devon

On Lap 24 Devon came in for his pit stop, however Jeff noted that Lukas didn't seem to be doing the same, despite every other driver pitting too. Instead he was setting the track alight breaking the lap record. Finally after 11 laps he made his stop on Lap 35 which appeared to be his only stop judging by the amount of fuel in his car

When he emerged he was still in the lead and Devon hammered round the circuit trying to catch him. He in fact went so fast that he needed to pit early for his second stop as he was running out of fuel, costing him a place to Robert Kubica

Callum tried over the radio to get him to calm down but he ignored him. On Lap 65 his driver ran wide over the gravel and picked up a puncture. Luckily for him he was not only close to the pits but Aidan was behind him

Jeff requested he drove to a certain delta and Devon emerged in 3rd, in front of his teammate and Oscar Piastri. And that was how it finished with Lewis Hamilton rounding out the point scorers in 6th

Lukas was happier than Jeff had ever seen him as he picked up his trophy for winning the race. He and Robert Kubica happily sprayed the champagne, while Devon just picked up his trophy and left the stage not wanting to bother with the traditional photos

Nicole watched the ceremony with tears streaming down her face. She was so unhappy as she gave Jeff a look that said; 'I'm not looking forward to the journey home'

Last edited by reptongeek (January 14, 2023 4:49 pm)

Chapter Ten: Monaco, II

'Just stay with him, he still has to stop for fuel just like you' Callum told his driver after he had been overtaken on Lap 54. He swallowed nervously

Jeff was looking at the sky and seeing a dark cloud move in towards the circuit. If it started to rain then the cat really would be set amongst the pigeons

On Lap 56 it started to drizzle and Callum asked the mechanics to get some wets ready just in case. The following Lap it got heavier so Devon pitted for his wets and a top up of fuel. Lukas however stayed out.

'What is he doing?' Jeff wondered aloud. At the end of Lap 58, Lukas did indeed pit, but not for wets just intermediates and most surprisingly of all no fuel

Callum looked visibly shocked and he didn't know what to do next. His hand shaking as he pressed the radio button he informed Devon of the current situation and a torrent of swear words filled the air

'I don't know Devon!' He replied to his driver's questions

'You don't know much do you Gray' came the snapped response. Jeff felt a sting of anger rise through him. So much that he felt like telling Devon off.

The race because of the weather and the two Safety Cars had entered it's time limited phase. It would be a two hour race and not 78 laps. Devon continued his struggle with his car which all of a sudden didn't want to perform as well as he wanted.

Jeff knew why this was. The World Champion had set his car up for the dry not the wet, something Lukas must have done given his pace in the Acclimatisation session. And although it was wet, it wasn't wet enough for the full wets. Whilst he could pit for some intermediates this wasn't an option as he would lose second place to the Haas of Mick Schumacher who had also taken some clever strategic gambles and was closing down on Devon

But why wasn't Lukas pitting for fuel. There were two reasons for this. Either he had fuelled up at his first pit stop when he pitted for dries, or (and this was an even worse thought) not actually pitted for fuel at all.

The Monaco GP due to the slower average speed was thirty miles shorter than all the other races, and would Jeff estimated be shorter still now the race wasn't going to go the full distance. So in theory Lukas could manage without a pit stop

With five minutes to go, Branko his race engineer told him he had a slow puncture. Lukas without hesitation told his race engineer he was staying out

'Are you sure?'

'Quite sure' Lukas replied. Jeff suddenly got very tense and the last few seconds felt like an age. Lukas finally took the chequered flag to visible applause from the crowd and the Canox team celebrated wildly. They had just won their third race of the year!

This put Lukas in the lead of the drivers championship - on the same amount of points as Devon, the FIA clearly considering that two on the road wins was higher than one on the road win and one inherited. The Canox team were in the lead of the Constructors as well but only by three points

Lukas and Mick Schumacher pulled up to the Royal Box to get their trophies and the Audi team mechanics got into position to welcome their driver home. However he wasn't there. They waited for five minutes but nothing happened. When Jenson Button had won this race in 2009 he had run down the pit straight because he'd parked his car in the pitlane by mistake.

But it didn't look like the same thing had happened here. Someone spoke on his radio to one of the marshalls who delivered his message in French. He relayed the message to Stefano Domenicalli who nodded his approval to start the podium ceremony with a stony look on his face

After the podium and the champagne spraying, Lukas came over to the Audi mechanics to deliver the 2nd place trophy and the unsprayed bottle of champagne

The Audi team started to pack up. There was definitely going to be some reprisals for this one. Devon didn't even attend the press conference either so it was just Lukas and Mick, the younger driver seriously impressed when he was told that the winner had indeed done the whole race on a single tank of fuel and dealt with a slow puncture

'My Dad would have loved to have seen that' Mick told him, which raised the emotional bar a little. His father's accident on a ski slope had been a great tragedy

Brian Mills was in a shockingly bad mood. He appeared to he having a nervous breakdown, screaming and shouting at people. Jeff wondered if this was because his driver had cost them $2m over the course of the weekend in car damages and fines, or because Lukas had shown him the talent he had cast aside so easily.

Wanting a break from the tension he walked out of the garage and over to the radio perches. Lukas' mechanics were telling him to take off and get ready for his meal at the Palace, while his PA Keely Moore invited Channel 4's pit lane reporter Claire to walk the circuit with her.

The sun was starting to set and the lights of the town made it a very romantic setting. Perfect for a night walk Jeff thought

His reverie was broken by his phone going off. Devon's wife Nicole was on the other end.

'Jeff, where is my husband' she sobbed. The race engineer went as cold as ice. Ducking out of the podium and your press responsibilities was one thing, but leaving a spouse in the lurch was quite another. He took no joy in telling the model that they didn't know where Devon had got to

Callum joined him. He looked emotionally spent already and they were only on the fifth round. The next race in France was going to be harder still if they couldn't turn this around

Last edited by reptongeek (January 18, 2023 4:19 pm)