Chapter Eleven: France

'We'll need an extension soon if you keep on winning' Marianna joked to Lukas as he looked at the trophy cabinet which had now swelled in size thanks to the efforts of both him and Oscar since the opening race ofthe new season

Lukas shared a smile with the Canox receptionist. She wasn't the only reason he spent so much time at the factory but he liked seeing her nevertheless.

He managed to pull himself away when Keely beckoned him over

'You need to read this before the briefing' she said. Devon - who nobody had heard from since he disappeared after the race in Monte Carlo - had resurfaced to post a message on his website

Lukas read it carefully. It was alleging that he had violated the rules by not pitting for fuel during the Monaco Grand Prix and - since he had attended the meal at the Palace alone - must be gay if he couldn't find a girlfriend

'Do you want me to make it a banned topic' Keely asked him

'No, I'll address it if I'm asked' Lukas told her. And address it he did. He informed the assembled press corp that the regulations allowed him to do his rather unorthodox strategy.

'They state that we can refuel the cars, not that we should' he responded making sure to emphasise the appropriate words

'Do you expect then that Devon will use that strategy himself at some point this season?' a reporter asked

'If he wishes to do so, there is nothing to stop him if he wants to' Lukas replied, although he knew in reality that he never would. He wasn't the kind of driver who could pull the strategy off'

The questions moved onto his private life and he politely explained that 'no, I am not gay, I am in fact straight. I'm not currently in a relationship at this time for reasons of my own. Those reasons will remain private until I wish to disclose them'

The press briefing continued until it broke up five minutes later.

Lukas and Oscar then took their leave and walked across the factory to where Toyota were manufacturing their engines for the upcoming French GP. The circuit at Paul Ricard had a two long straights and they were discussing the latest engine update.

While they walked they discussed not the press conference but the fact that Paul Ricard was the latest venue for Hot Laps, a fan experience that allowed ticket holders to ride a lap round the circuit in a supercar. Oscar had done a session at Albert Park and Lukas had done one in Jerez. Paul Ricard would be the first time both Canox drivers had taken part.

It was well timed as the Canox team had been over subscribed for Hot Laps thanks to their performance over the previous five races.

After Lukas and Oscar had toured the engine facility and been given the technical details of their latest  update, it was time to get ready for France

The World Champion arrived still in a bad mood after Monaco. The FIA had fined him for his non attendance at the podium and the subsequent press conferences and had reminded him of his responsibilities. To make it doubly clear they had withdrawn his second place trophy

'It doesn't bother me' he snapped. 'Second IS first place of the losers anyway'

'Butler should count himself lucky his team still need him' Branko Tomovic told his driver. 'I don't think Aidan is going to help him much'

Lukas grinned and resumed helping the mechanics get the spare car ready. The team were taking part in the Medical Extraction test. Every round one team had to supply a car and a driver for this purpose.

Ronny Robinson soon arrived in her overalls for the test and started to tie her long muddy brown hair into a braid before putting her balaclava and helmet on

'Will's noticed that the last three races he attended we ended up winning' she told Lukas with a grin. 'So I've got him booked in for another five races this year'

Lukas shot the third driver a smirk and after determining everything was ready went off for his Hot Laps session.

Every driver took four ticket holders round the track and their were five members of the field taking part in the morning session; Lukas, Aiden, Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon and George Russell. Lukas greeted the other four drivers and waited for his first passenger

'Hello' an Australian girl greeted as she stepped in. Lukas recognised her as Holly who he had met at Albert Park in the fan zone. She had greeted him with a hug and thanked him for choosing her team to drive for and wished him luck for the upcoming season. She also had a fan vlog on YouTube giving her reviews on the races, and Lukas had privately noted that most of these reviews resulted in her crying quite a bit.

'Nice to see you Holly' Lukas greeted. 'Are you ready?' His passenger nodded her ascent and when it was Lukas' turn to go he moved away.

The Circuit de Castellet had been given a face lift since the F1 circus rolled around. Gone was the 176 layouts and day glo tarmac run off. In its place was grass and gravel and it looked a much more aesthetically pleasing experience. He drove skilfully but carefully round the circuit, but just quick enough for Holly to squeal with fright

He brought her back to the pit straight and she gave him a hug goodbye.

Once Lukas had completed his Hot Laps session it was time for Free Practice 2. He ended the day 8th on the time sheets but confident he could get quicker

In qualifying Oscar did out qualify him but only marginally. He was 4th and Lukas 5th. Devon had given his team an almighty scare by going too far over a kerb coming onto the pit straight and nearly hammering his car into the wall opposite. Luckily he just held it

After another morning warm up Lukas once again topped the time sheets. Motorsports journalists were quick to point out that this was the fourth time he had headed a session prior to the race and he had won on the previous two. Did this mean he would win again?

'Not necessarily' he told Claire on the grid 'But I do feel I'm in good shape for the race, we'll see what happens'

In the race he managed his usual trick of getting to the front on another unorthodox strategy, this time running a three stopper. He was just building himself a buffer to Devon behind him when Lance Stroll managed to do what Devon hadn't in qualifying and slam into the pit wall.

The Safety Car was deployed immediately but because of where the field was at that point, it didn't immediately pick up the leader but Devon

This meant Lukas was driving around waiting for the Safety Car to pick him up. However Branko had some news for him on that front

'Devon has hit the Safety Car and Sebastian has run into the back of him' he informed him over the radio.

What is he doing? Lukas wondered to himself. Charlie Whiting F1's Race Director came on the radio asking him to act as the Safety Car for a lap as 'Bernd needs to change cars as he has a puncture'

The resulting mess took a while to clear up and it took eight laps of stabilised conditions to make the track race worthy. Because of his three stop strategy, Lukas lost his lead to the two Ferrari's - who were having an upturn in form following their shocking start to the year and their 4-5 finish at Monaco.

However he did what he did best, put his head down and get on with it and thanks to his speed on the straights managed to overtake both Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc to take the Chequered Flag and a clear lead in the Championship

Last edited by reptongeek (January 18, 2023 4:16 pm)

Chapter Thirteen: Canada

'Did you hear the news about Nicole' Keely asked Claire. They were having dinner at Keely's favourite restaurant in Montreal the day before first practice

Claire had decided to wear a knee length sleeveless black dress with white trim round the neck and sleeves and a white pleat at the back with a black jacket. On her feet she wore her black stiletto knee high boots. Keely was in a purple top and black trousers

The young reporter nodded in response to the question. She had received the notification as she was getting ready and had to fix her make up afterwards, because tears had run down her cheeks

'I'm worries about Lukas' Keely told her her eyes full of tears. One of them welled over her left eye and sat incongruously on her lash refusing to fall

'He's not saying much, but I know he's hurting. He still has friends in the Audi team who are suffering because he's winning and Devon isn't'

Her tear surrendered to gravity and began slowly trickling down her cheek.

'Could you do some investigating for me?' Keely asked 'Find out why he hates him so much'

'I'll do what I can' Claire promised. Keely's tear had now reached half way down her left cheek and she wiped it away. Claire suddenly felt a small attack of 'stage fright'. She was beginning to fall for the beautiful PA, but she needed to find out if she liked girls. However she only managed to get half her question out before their main course arrived.

After that she was too nervous to repeat her inquiry and they continued their meal. However once she had parted from Keely later that night, she received a text from her;

'In answer to your question; 'Sometimes'. And you did look really beautiful tonight'. Claire closed her phone as tears ran down her cheeks again

The following day proved unpleasant for one driver in particular. Throughout the Montreal circuit there were signs telling Devon to 'go home'. And those were the more polite ones. There were several that were far too rude to broadcast.

In addition all of his previous mistakes starting from Winter Testing that season had been compiled by one YouTuber into a video that had gone viral. The final clip (hammering the point home) was of Lukas having a small lock-up entering a straight in Malaysia - amazingly enough his only mistake that year.

Devon certainly didn't help his cause spinning into the gravel at Turn 6 and damaging his front wing causing Callum to throw his headphones to the ground in frustration

When qualifying had been completed however, the World Champion was on pole again with Lukas and Oscar in 4th and 6th

Race day saw an increase in the ambient temperature and Devon top morning warm up for the first time since China. However Lukas was still in second

The first corner had it's customary tangle as Aiden broke his front wing against the Ferrari of Carlos Sainz, and Lukas rose to 2nd behind Devon.

His teammate wasn't doing too badly either scything his way through the field to lie 3rd behind his teammate. Lukas seemed to have the measure of him though.

A crash at Turn 4 on Lap 23 brought out the Safety Car and the Canox cars decided to double stack in the pits for more tyres and fuel. This dropped them down a couple of places but they were still in a good position in 6th and 7th. Aiden using his car to great effect was fighting his way up the order and was now 11th

When the Safety Car came in on Lap 27, Lukas and Oscar started rising up the field until they had reached their 2nd and 3rd places again. Lukas began closing down the gap to Devon who was losing his patience with backmarkers wanting blue flags to clear the way for him

On Lap 32 he got more testy as Lukas was right up his gearbox and so was Mick Schumacher who was ahead of him. Coming into the last corner Lukas smartly overtook both Devon and Mick to take the lead and the crowd roared their approval.  A lap later Oscar also overtook Devon to put himself into second. This Claire thought would be a huge fillip for the Aussie if he could bring it home, as it would be his first podium since Malaysia

Lukas and Oscar it appeared didn't have to stop again and began stretching away from Devon who now had his teammate to contend with in fourth. But surprisingly Aiden was holding a gap of about ten seconds to his Number 1

Why was this? Claire wondered. The previous year when Lukas had been behind Devon when they did all those 1-2 finishes he had done the same

Can't you cope with the pressure, Devon she thought savagely. After the Audi's had pitted the Canox's dropped their pace at the front and concentrated on bringing it home.

However there suddenly was some bad news. Oscar on Lap 65 radioed that he had a gearbox problem and dropped out. The following Lap Lukas had the same problem, but managed to keep going. On Lap 67 however leading onto the final corner he had to surrender his lead to Devon.

Claire was so disappointed and tears streamed down her face. This was such bad luck. As if to increase the woe, on the last lap Lukas suddenly suffered a break in his front wing. Skilfully he crossed the line still in second place but wisely decided to park his car onto the grass surrounding Turn 2.

The Canadian crowd usually so voluble were completely silent as the World Champion lapped the circuit. He had closed the gap to six points in the drivers championship but Lukas was still ahead on 49. Oscar's retirement meant that the gap in the Constructors championship was only four points 63-59.

Interviewing Sam Michael and Oscar after the race was not a pleasant experience for Claire. She had to remain professional despite hurting herself and wanting to cry. The Audi team celebrated their result in extravagant fashion but that didn't change the fact their win was inherited.

Lukas despite his disappointment, had professionally and with great courtesy gone through the podium ceremony and subsequent press conferences. Already the fans on Twitter were already reminding everyone this was the complete opposite of Monaco. The Canox driver even managed a joke as he talked about his front wing.

'I had a Marmot run across the track and unfortunately I couldn't avoid him' he explained 'Obviously he thought I needed another challenge or something'

He continued that him and his team would pick themselves up and go to the next one. Claire smiled through her tears. She wiped them away and continued her duties

Chapter Fifteen: Germany

'For heavens sake Brian, you can't be serious' Jeff told him, trying to keep his anger rising. He had heard rumours that the team had lodged a protest with the FIA about the Canox team and had requested a full factory audit. It didn't take long for Jeff to find out that the rumours were true and Devon was behind the protest

'You know they aren't going to find anything.'

'You don't know that Jeff' Brian interrupted. 'Devon has concerns about them...'

'He's just flexing his bruised ego' Jeff responded his voice rising a little. 'He needs to start doing his job'

'AND YOU NEED TO START DOING YOURS!!' Brian remonstrated loudly. 'BECAUSE AIDEN HAS NOT BEEN GOOD THIS YEAR'

Jeff took his leave before he ended up breaking something. It was true Aiden was underperforming. But that was what happened when you told your number 2 driver his points weren't relevant to the championship challenge

And it could scarcely be said Devon was doing much better. Yes he had three wins on the board but both his Chinese win and his Canadian win were inherited, And the volume of incidents he had had up to this point had not only become an Internet meme, but they were contributing to the wasted budget that could be used for upgrades

The Canox team by contrast didn't have anything like the accident damage that Audi had. Lukas had made only one driving mistake all year - including Winter Testing - and that was so small it barely warranted a mention. And Oscar had only broken one front wing and a couple of suspension arms

Adding to the problems, Devon wasn't doing any of his promotional appearances. He frequently cancelled them at the last minute, forcing Aiden to do them instead

So while Jeff didn't exactly agree with Aiden deliberately underperforming, it had to be said his life wasn't being made very easy

Devon added to his ever lengthening rap sheet on the Friday between practice sessions, crashing a brand new Audi R8 Spyder into the barriers during his Hot Laps session, injuring his passenger into the bargain.

'God, what a mess!' A frustrated Callum said to Jeff. 'When is this going to end?'

Jeff noted that Callum never used the F word ever, so this was a sign that things were getting really bad

'I don't know, but it had better end soon, or we will lose our championships' Jeff told him

Devon pulled it together for qualifying by putting it on pole, Lewis Hamilton was alongside him on the front row with Lukas, Lando Norris, Oscar and Robert Kubica making up the top six. Aiden was down in eighth thanks to a very inconvenient trip to the weighbridge and his electrics packing up halfway through his final flying lap

It was a similar story in morning warm up with Lukas topping the times again. He was interviewed by Claire on the grid who asked him about the factory audit

'It's not ideal, and it does impact our race preparation a little, but I trust the team implicitly and we will be vindicated when the process is complete' he told her.

He didn't however have the best of starts. Devon managed to maintain his pole position at the start with Lewis behind him, however the jostling at the start put Lukas on the back foot and he had to take to the gravel when Lando spun, putting him behind his teammate for a while.

The crowd seemed to love the battle between the two Canox's and it lasted five laps until Lukas smartly and expertly overtook Oscar at the first corner and he was away. Ahead of him was Aiden and he started to chase him down.

A couple of laps later, Aiden surrendered his 4th place at the Veedol S Chicane moving the Championship leader into third. He then put the hammer down to chase after Lewis his next target.

Devon meanwhile was encountering back markers and was getting very jittery and sweary over the radio. Lewis pitted giving Lukas second place which almost immediately became the lead when Devon lost patience behind Mick Schumacher and cannoned into the back of him, taking them both out.

Callum initially was very calm, taking off his headphones only to then succumb to his anger - that had clearly been on a slow boil since Malaysia - and slammed them into his monitor in front of him, breaking the glass and sending sparks all over the place. He then had to leave immediately to be treated for a cut hand that was bleeding profusely

Luckily the Safety Car had come out so there was a bit of a breather. Jeff informed his driver of the new circumstances. He was third behind Lukas and Lewis Hamilton and in front of Lando Norris, Robert Kubica and Oscar.

When the Safety Car came in, Lukas maintained his lead, but Lando lost his 4th place to Robert when the field returned to the pit straight. A couple of laps later, Aiden had a small slide coming out of one corner but managed to hold it before he spun.

Brian however clearly smarting about Devon's earlier crash, interrupted Jeff to criticise his Number 2 driver and that set off a volcanic eruption of unparalleled ferociousness

Over the course of the next two laps Aiden turned the air a deep crimson with his language. Jeff had never heard the F word so many times in four minutes as he had during this rant. He even managed to snuck in a couple of C words too. He ended his stream of swearing by not only posting the fastest lap, but by unplugging his radio

This could be hugely problematic, as Aiden still needed to pit along with the two drivers in front of him. There was nothing for it but to just put the request on his put board and hope he saw it

Luckily he did and he went on his way still in 3rd position. Lukas and Lewis would pit together and swap positions thanks to a cleaner pit stop from the McLaren team. However Lukas would get I back again when he overtook Lewis with 5 laps to go at the hairpin.

And that was how it finished, with Robert, Lando and Oscar coming home behind the podium trio.

Jeff knew his driver would be in severe trouble for his foul mouthed tirade over the radio and so went to Brian to convince him to not fire him. The fact that Devon had crashed again made it easier

Lukas was now more than a win ahead in the championship and could afford a retirement at the next round.

Devon however couldn't. He needed to finish and finish well. Because on this form Lukas was going to be hard to stop

Chapter Seventeen: Belgium

A huge weight had been lifted off the Canox team when the circus reconvened at the classic Spa Francorchamps circuit.

The FIA had cleared the team of any wrong doing and published their findings for everyone to read. Lukas hoped the report would finally get Devon off his and his team's back and they could get back to racing.

However Devon wasn't having it. Despite the lack of evidence and the fact that the 'astonishing revelations' he had promised his fans, they only amounted to the fact that the Canox team budget for the year was an economical £65m and Lukas's salary for the year was only £10,000

'I wanted to show the team how committed I was to their project' he told reporters at the Friday Press Conference

He was then asked if he considered himself to have one hand on the title

'No, I still need to win races' he pointed out 'And what better place to start than the next two. Then I will consider myself to have one hand on the trophy'

This last remark had been for Devon, who hadn't been at the press conference but would certainly watch it. Lukas had been careful not to wind him up too much. He still had friends in the team who were no doubt suffering as a result of his increased competitiveness, now he wasn't a slave to team orders

In qualifying once again the two Audi's were 1-2 with Lukas in fourth. Oscar was in seventh just behind Aiden in sixth. The two McLarens were third and fifth Lando ahead of Lewis

The general mood of the paddock changed however in Morning Warm-Up. Oscar had a huge crash in the session shortly before entering Blanchimont the fast left hander. Mercifully he was okay, but he was taken to the medical centre with severe concussion

Lukas went to see him, straight after the session. Oscar's girlfriend Lilly was there with tears streaming down her face. Looking at the young Aussie so distraught at her partner's accident made him think of Marianna. He had tried not to fall in love with her, but it had been no use. He was being dishonest to himself by not admitting it to himself but he couldn't have a relationship with her

'Because you want to protect her don't you?' Keely asked him later, in the privacy of his driver's room.

'You want to protect her, in case you die or are severely injured in a racing car' she continued, as tears ran down her cheeks. Lukas nodded

Keely wiped her tears

'If you'll forgive me for speaking out of turn, but it's already too late. She loves you too, I see it in her eyes when you speak to each other. You can't protect her from the pain anymore, but it should be her choice'

Lukas agreed to speak to Marianna and the subject was closed

As the time for the race approached, a win was more paramount for Lukas than it had been after qualifying since Oscar had been ruled out, meaning for the second time in the season he was driving solo

He managed to get a good start to lie second behind Devon and managed to stabilise the gap. Driving behind him he noted that while Devon was stretching ahead in the first and last sectors he caught him up in the longer second sector

He got his chance to overtake when the Safety Car was deployed on Lap 15 when Carlos Sainz had a puncture approaching Les Combes at the end of the Kemmel Straight.

As Lukas got ready for the Safety Car to come in again, he turned his engine up briefly. Towards the end of Lap 19, he pounced as they both approached the Bus Stop at the end of the lap and he was through

He concentrated on managing the gap which became wider a couple of laps later when Devon outbraked himself and ran over the grass at the very corner where Carlos had crashed a few laps earlier.

Lukas pitted for his final stop on Lap 32 and having turned his engine down, continued to keep an eye on his nearest challengers in the two McLarens.

He was sure as the three cars circulated nose to tail that the tension in the pits was unbearable. They went so fast that the sixth place driver, Sebastian Vettel was lapped two laps from the end as they barrelled down Kemmel Straight.

And that was how they finished. Behind the three podium finishers the two Audi's of Devon and Aiden. By scoring only three points to Lukas's 10, this meant the gap between the two of them at the head of the leaderboard had increased to 27 points (79-52) and the gap in the Constructors championship was now 19 points (94-75)

Oscar was very pleased to hear the result after the race. It had been determined that his tyre had suffered a puncture by a piece of loose debris, the same reason had caused Carlos to retire albeit at slightly slower speed. This did mean however that the Canox team would be without a spare car as they didn't have the staff to build one for the Italian GP

Nevertheless the win was to coin a phrase, exactly what the doctor ordered. Lukas in the break between the Hungarian and Belgian GP's had calculated that two more wins would leave him needing only 23 points from the remaining five rounds. Now Devon had failed to finish on the podium this target would reduce to 20 points if Lukas could win another race before the East Asian races

And he was determined to do just that

Last edited by reptongeek (January 30, 2023 2:57 pm)

Chapter Nineteen: Turkey

Previously on F1 Claire thought mischievously as she entered the Istanbul Park circuit. Even for her the events of the current season had enough twists for three seasons of Formula 1 Drive To Survive not just one. And she had a standing tradition every January to binge watch Alias and 24, her two favourite TV shows of all time

The championship standings at the end of the European season made depressing reading if you were an Audi fan. Devon required maximum points from every round from here on in and just had to hope that Lukas didn't earn 20 points or he would be champion instead. Going into this thirteenth round he was ahead by 41 points - 89-58 and in the Constructors the gap was thirty points 105-75. The gap would have been closer if the six points from Devon's second place was allowed to stand

'We need 1-2 finishes' Jeff told the Friday Five press conference. Claire had missed him in Italy. There were rumours he had been fired, but Brian had insisted he had just had the last race off due to a 'family emergency'

However nobody bought that for a second as the Ferrari team who had finished a very distant second to the Audi's the previous season, had heard the row in the pit garages after the race in Belgium

Oscar was back too, having recovered from his concussion that caused him to miss Italy. He seemed to have lost none of his speed as he was fastest than his teammate in the practices

Ronny had returned to her third driver duties, and hoped as she told Claire that she could secure a full time drive

'I'd like to think I proved a point in Italy' she said. The young Aussie had finished sixth and in the points following Aiden's late retirement. She'd been '90% happy, 10% not' with her F1 debut, saying she had been a little disappointed with a small trip across the gravel at the second chicane which had cost her a place, but was satisfied with the response from fans and her fellow drivers.

Qualifying followed it's familiar pattern with the two Audi's 1-2 at the head of the grid, Lukas 4th and the returning Oscar 6th. Lewis Hamilton was 3rd, Charles Leclerc 5th and Lando and Carlos were on the 4th row sending the fans in delight at the sight of the two best friends together again

Race day was warm and sunny and Lukas was wanting to extend his advantage as much as possible

'I can't stop pushing' he told Claire on the grid. 'Once Devon gets a run going he's quite difficult to stop as we know. The last time was 20 races, so we need to keep the pressure on'

And keep it on he did. At the start Lukas got a magnificent getaway and powered past into second place behind Devon. Oscar jumped up too to fourth behind Aiden and the field soon settled down.

On Lap 5, Aiden had a daring late braking manoeuvre on Lukas to claim second and he was off too, maintaining that once again familiar ten second gap.

The first of the pit stops took place with Devon and Aiden retaining their advantage, Lukas putting  the hammer down in 3rd to also build a gap back to Oscar

Then on Lap 27 came the shock of the season. Considering what had already happened this season already, this event was seismic. Claire watched the replay in disbelief as she saw Lukas spin into the gravel at the famous Turn 8 corner!

His car was in a dangerous position so the Safety Car had to be deployed, and it didn't take too long to clear. Lukas took a trip on a marshal's scooter to return back to the pits and as the field entered Lap 40, he came to talk to Claire

'There's nothing much to say really except it was just a silly mistake.' He told her ruefully. 'I was trying to create a gap to Oscar for my next pitstop and just put a wheel on the grass on the inside and it spun me round. I'm quite cross with myself, because although these things happen, at this stage of the season it can cost you championships'

Claire let him go, with tears in her eyes. Even though she knew it was a self inflicted mistake, he didn't make them very often. I mean he really didn't. The last time he had made a driver error was back in Malaysia for heaven's sake, and it hadn't cost him anything

The race continued, Devon seemingly finding his mojo again now his title rival was out as his driving had returned to that dull boring metronomic consistency that hadn't been seen since Australia

He predictably won the race ahead of his teammate and scored his second grand slam of the year - his thirteenth overall.

Lewis completed the podium with Oscar in fourth, Carlos and Lando were in fifth and sixth, Charles in the other Ferrari had retired on Lap 50 with a hydraulic problem

The maximum points haul had brought Audi closer to the Canox team, but it was still a gap of 17 points, the Canox team still in the lead with 108. In the drivers the gap had reduced to 21 points. Lukas still in the lead on 89

Devon celebrated extravagantly on the podium making Aiden and Lewis quite uncomfortable. In the press conference he returned to his cocky demeanour telling the press that Lukas had 'choked' and he would come out on top at the end of the year

He was asked by one journalist what he thought when he had seen his title rivals car at the side of the track and he replied with a very sexual remark that would probably get him into hot water

The last four races were approaching rapidly and Devon had just hit form when he needed it most. But would this late spurt be enough