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As soon as lap fifty-three rolled around, I could feel my heart start to quicken, fear seeping into me. I was running out of time to turn this around – and quickly trying to balance the tires while not staying too far behind Noah. As soon as I began lap fifty-five, I heard Isabelle come onto the radio.
“GG, fuck the tires. Go for it.”
I’m sorry, did Isabelle just come onto my radio and curse into my ear? I felt stunned at first, but as her words sank into me, I knew she was right. What was the point of nursing these tires? I wasn’t going to get past Noah if I didn’t push harder, so we might as well risk the puncture. I didn’t want to be on the podium’s second step.
I wanted to be on the top one.
Isabelle didn’t have to come back onto the radio to tell me twice. As soon as lap fifty-six rolled around, I absolutely floored it down the straight, getting within .2 of a second to Noah, our cars almost touching because of my aggressive launch. As soon as I saw the second DRS zone, I knew I would have him.
And have him I did.
Noah’s DRS flap opened, and I cruised by his car, quickly passing him. If there was ever a time to defend, I knew it was now.
Lap fifty-seven flew by, and I was now in first.
“Final lap, GG.”
I started lap fifty-eight, hitting the racing line with such ease I almost didn’t recognize myself. Noah had fallen back to 1.2 seconds, so I was safe from DRS in the first zone. As I reached the second zone, I knew Noah was within the one-second requirement. I lunged my car in front of his, blocking his attack with such ferocity I barely knew myself. Was it a tad more dangerous than my mother would like to see? Probably.
As I saw the checkered flag in front of me, I did what someone could only describe as ‘sending it.’ It was as if, in that moment, nothing else mattered. Not Noah, not the journalists, not even the team’s expectations of me. Everything was gone, blank in my mind. The only thing occupying my brain was the checkered flag in front of me.
When I crossed the finish line, I felt it. My tire had gotten a puncture, but for the first time in my racing career, it didn’t matter. I had crossed the line first.
I felt as though time had stopped, and it was as if my brain no longer worked as I tried to utter something into my radio. I heard someone yell into the feed, but the words were fuzzy and confusing, not registering in my brain.
Nothing at that moment was registering in my brain.
“Wh…what was th- that?” was all I could utter back as I heard distant screaming and cheering through the radio, the sound of the crowd roaring so overpowering that I couldn’t hear Mel’s voice.
But my body knew what was happening. It knew what had just happened. Mel’s voice came back onto the radio, and I felt a rush of tears run down my face. It felt as though all of the emotions that I had held in for the last year had been released. The sadness, the excitement, the fear, the ferocity that I had bottled up inside me came pouring out.
I was F1’s newest World Drivers Champion.
“Congratulationssssss!” I heard Mel scream into the radio.
“Georgia, congrats. You had a hell of a season, and this is a well-deserved win for both you and the team. Can’t wait to do this again next year, Love.” I smiled at Isabelle’s words – the softness of her voice was refreshing and new, foreign to me, but it was nice to hear. I had a sneaking suspicion she might even be smiling.
“Lily did incredible, too – we had her pit and grab the fastest lap to ensure that Noah didn’t get it.”
“I am speechless!” I yelled back into my radio. “Thank you to the team. This one is for you ladies… for every last one of you. Thank you! Thank you to Lily for being the best teammate I could have dreamed of, an absolute star.
“You have outdone yourself today, Georgie,” I heard Fiona say into the radio. “Today, you have shown every single little girl that they can turn their karting dreams into a dream of being an F1 champion – just like Georgia Dubois.”
I pulled into my assigned P1 spot, not caring that the tire was basically dead and flat at this point. I didn’t need this car anymore. She had served me well, and she had earned her retirement.
As soon as I parked, I hopped out of the car, kneeling in front of her, hugging the dead tire as I felt Noah come up to me, patting me on the shoulder. I stood up and faced him, and to my surprise, he picked me up and swung me around in what was probably the biggest hug I had ever seen Noah give.
“Congrats, Dubois. A well-deserved win. I’ll get you next year.” Noah set me down, and I was immediately grabbed by my brother, who had managed to get P3 in the race. Henri pulled off my helmet and threw it on the ground, grabbing me closer and giving me a congratulatory kiss on the cheek.
“I am so proud of you, Peaches,so fucking proud.”
I squeezed my brother as he quickly dragged the two of us off to our family, who had made it to the fencing, their arms wide open for the two of us. I immediately jumped into their arms as the five of us hugged, not a single one of us wanting to let go.
I heard the officials calling for Henri and me to head to the cool-down room to get weighed. I searched the crowd for Luca, desperately looking for my boyfriend, who was seemingly nowhere to be found, but just as I was about to walk into the cool-down room, I felt an arm link around my waist, pulling me into him. Luca grabbed my head and crashed our lips together, pulling my body as close to him as he possibly could.
“I’m so proud of you, Cara. So fucking proud of you.” As I broke the kiss, I looked up and smiled at him, letting him pull me once more into another kiss as the FIA official started yelling behind us, much to the amusement of Henri and Noah.
I begrudgingly let Luca go, heading back into the cool-down room where water was waiting for me. It was only a few minutes before we were being pulled onto the podium for the celebration. I watched Henri go out first, spying on my mother and brothers as he walked out. Luca had joined them now, his filming the podium celebration as he cheered us on next to my mother. Noah walked out next, waving to the crowd as he took his trophy.
