Cruising through the Austin GP
“Hey, where have you been so long?” Lando asked from the home gym when he heard Oscar coming into the appartement.
“Oh, the lines were soo extremely long, you wouldn’t believe it.” Oscar rushed out, dropped some bags into the kitchen, hurried into the bedroom and then back into the kitchen, unpacking the bags.
“You know, I thought about something. What if we take the couple of days before Austin and actually go there with a cruise? You’d still have a gym there, there would be multiple restaurants, pools, entertainment and they updated their cabins, they now all have California king size beds, I’ve never slept in such a huge bed and would love to try it out.” Oscar said after Lando came out of the shower and Oscar handed him his protein smoothie.
“You planned this out way too well to be a suggestion.” Lando smiled.
“Well, I didn’t book anything … yet. I didn’t have my credit card with me.” Oscar admitted and Lando laughed “Okay, just imagine, 5 nights. We’re flying to Hamburg, go on the ship to Bergen in Norway, Reykjavik, then a day on the ocean, New York, Miami. From there we can fly to Austin and start the triple header.”
“Do I actually have any say in this at all?” Lando asked with a smirk.
“Not really, I think.” Oscar laughed “Come on, I’ve never been on a cruise ship before!”
“Just buy the tickets and tell me when to be where.” Lando said.
“A cruise? You don’t even like ships! There are fish all around those, you know that, right?” Max asked while they trained a couple days later.
“Yes, I know. Oscar has never been on a ship and he is really excited.”
“I just can’t imagine you on a cruise ship.” Max said “The old Lando would never agree to something like that. He would talk his way out of it and somehow organize for Nicole to accompany Oscar.” Max said and Lando looked at him. “There’s something else. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.” Lando laughed. “Oscar is pregnant. I found the mother’s pass hidden in the closet.”
“You snooped? And why didn’t he tell you?”
“I didn’t snoop, I was searching for black socks. I don’t know why he didn’t tell me. I didn’t ask or told him I know, yet. Maybe he’s just a little overwhelmed. We said … we would take our time, that we would just enjoy this year and talk about maybe having a pup next year. The only thing I can imagine is that he was probably already too close to his heat during the summer break.”
“God damn. Little Lando having a little Lando.” Max said, starting to pull the rowing machine.
“Jesus Christ.” Lando agreed.
“So, is it like you imagined?” Lando asked Oscar in the morning of their day on the ocean between Reykjavik and New York.
“No, not really.” Oscar said, turning on his back in the nest he built in their balcony suite “I kind of didn’t keep in mind how far north we are. I thought we could spend the day on the balcony, lounging in the sun.”
“Well, we can do that the morning before we stop in Miami and the day we are there before our flight to Austin.”
“Yeah, we can do that.” Oscar said, kissing Lando.
“Okay. You want to stay in bed now as well? Maybe order another dozen of croissants? Seems to be your first craving.” Lando asked with a smirk.
“What?” Oscar asked after a little silence and Lando’s smirk dropped a little.
“I’m sorry. I wanted to give you the time you needed.” Lando said, laying his hand on Oscar’s stomach.
“You knew but didn’t tell me?” Oscar asked.
“Yeah, I thought … maybe you just needed a little time or something.” Lando admitted.
“It just … I didn’t want to keep it a secret or something, it just was so unexpected and it overwhelmed me, kind of.” Oscar mumbled nervously, putting his hand on Lando’s.
“That’s okay, Oscar.” Lando said, stroking Oscar’s stomach “I just really want to tell my mum.”
“Let’s do that when we are in Miami, phone calls are ridiculously expensive on the ship.”
“Is there anything else I can do for you?”
“Be happy that male’s milk production happens under the ribs, so I won’t grow boobs? I think I wouldn’t like that.” Oscar said and Lando laughed.
“I’d still love you with boobs.” Lando said, cuddling Oscar close and kissing him.
The morning of the Austin Grand Prix had Oscar sitting on the bathroom floor, vomiting into the toilet. When he finally seemed to be done, Lando handed him a glass of water to clean out his mouth, holding him close and kissing his hair while flushing the toilet.
“Are you okay now?” Lando asked gently a couple minutes later.
“No” Oscar said and lent forward, vomiting again. In the end, Lando called Sebastian, who was here as a visitor, to keep an eye on Oscar because he had to go to the track.
“Thank you so much for this” Lando said to Sebastian.
“Of course. That’s what friends are for. I’ll stay with him for the day, doesn’t matter if we have to stay here or come to the grid later today.” Sebastian said. He definitely had been about to go himself, wearing an Aston Martin cap and a backpack, but Lando saw some snacks in a bag as well.
“Well, there’s food and drinks in the kitchen, just make yourself at home, okay. Please update me if there is anything changing.” Lando said quickly, pulling on his shoes. “Hey baby” he then said, rushing back into the bathroom to Oscar. “I have to go now, but Seb is here, okay? He will keep you company.”
“You didn’t have to call him, I’m a grown up.” Oscar complained, still sitting next to the toilet.
“I’m not going to leave you completely alone like this, baby. I’ll call before the race, okay? Don’t feel rushed to do anything.” Lando said and kissed his hair.
“Go ahead, you’re going to be late.” Seb quickly said and waved off Lando’s additional thanks.
Sebastian texted Lando an hour later, the vomiting had stopped. An hour before the race, Oscar fell asleep on the couch in the hotel room and he didn’t have it in him to wake him up. Seb sent a picture, an exhausted looking Oscar wrapped up in a blanket on the couch. Lando texted back for Seb to do anything and everything for Oscar to feel comfortable and that he didn’t care if they would be at the race, as long as Oscar was fine.
He made a little stint to the Aston Martin hospitality, apologizing to Lawrence because he had kidnapped Seb to take care of Oscar, who ‘ate something that didn’t agree with his stomach’. Lawrence told him not to worry about it, Seb had already texted that he would join for Mexico instead.
Lando was a little bit distracted during the race, worrying about Oscar too much and only managed to get a grip on himself about half way through, when he fell out of the points after a rookie mistake.
“I’m sorry” he said through the intercom.
“Lando, we still have half of the race to go, but you have to get a grip, alright? We’ll box this lap.” Will said through the intercom.
“Yes”
“Box, box” he heard a little bit later and went to the pits, getting new tires and being back out in a flash. He started picking up the pace, overtaking one by one.
“Yellow, slow down, slow down” he heard through the intercom and saw the yellow flags being waved. “Safety Car coming.”
“What happened?”
“Tsunoda and Magnussen crashed, they both seem to be alright.”
“Okay, that’s the most important thing.” Lando said and the field was pushed closer together during the safety car phase.
“Alright, restart for the next lap. You’re in 7th, Sainz in front, then Ocon, Stroll, Sargeant, Verstappen, Leclerc is leading.”
“Copy” Lando answered and waited for the safety car to end.
The restart was quick. Charles started early, Max was still warming his tires and couldn’t catch up right away, Logan catching up quickly and barely being able to wait until they crossed the line, passing Max right behind it, sticking himself to Charles, the two rookies speeding ahead. Lando passed Carlos on the straight as well, putting himself behind Esteban, who had some trouble getting through turn 4, getting into some dirt and falling behind him. He started catching up on Lance next, staying behind him for a bit, recharging the battery. He started to prepare for the overtake a couple laps later, but Lance wasn’t willing to give his spot up easily. In the end, Lando had the benefit of DRS and the inner line in turn 1, giving him the advantage and putting him in fourth. Lance decided to stick to him, using DRS and gaining ground on Max, who was the next ahead and seemed to have a little trouble.
“Verstappen apparently killed his tires, he’s sliding, be careful on approach.” Will said.
“Understood.” Lando said and a little later he was able to see what Will was talking about. Max’s back slid around and he was in danger of losing control on his car. Lando gained some more ground and got DRS for the main straight, speeding up behind Max, trying to get the inner line in turn 1 when Max’s back broke out on the top of the hill, almost stopping his car. Lando made a split second decision, ripping his steering wheel to the left and avoiding a collision, Lance behind him going right, but not being able to completely miss Max, his front wing hitting Max’s rear tire. Both managed to go ahead, but Max had to pit, his tire losing pressure.
“There is some damage on the front wing, there are only twelve laps left we would keep going if the car feels good” Lance’s engineer said through the intercom.
“Yeah, let’s go. It’s only the endplate, I can manage.” Lance said “We would never be able to pick this up after a wing change.”
“No, we would not. Nice keeping up with Norris, stay with him for now but be careful with dirty air.”
“Copy” Lance said.
“Is Lance going to pit?” Lando asked Will.
“No, seems like they are going to stay out. Verstappen pits for new tires. Redbull starting investigation for the collision.”
“It was a racing incident” Lando stated.
“That decision will be with the stewards, Lando.”
“I know, just saying. What’s the gap?”
“You’ve got 1.8 on Sargeant, Leclerc is 2.1 in front of him. Sargeant is eager for a win.”
“I guess they both are.” Lando said and kept going. He saw Lance in his back mirror. He kept a little distance, but stuck up well. Four laps before the finish, Lando had moved up right to Logan, who put up a hell of a fight for his spot, but with DRS, a left-right manoeuvre, and some luck, he was able to pass him.
“Well done, Lan. Leclerc 1.9 in front, Sargeant is currently fighting with Stroll, no immediate comeback.”
“Understood” Lando said and sped up a little more. A lap later he had some luck, Charles tires locking up and costing him the lead, Lando being able to overtake.
“Amazing, keep the pace. Stroll managed to pass Sargeant. Leclerc .8 behind, speed up to get him out of DRS.” Lando sped up a little more, managing to keep Charles out of his DRS for the rest “Great Lando! This is another win in the books! Leclerc second, Stroll third. Daniel finished 6th. Congrats, man, good job!”
“Thank you! You too, everyone!” Lando said back while waving to the crowds.
Finish of the Austin GP:
NOR367
LEC216
STR74
SAR213
SAI225
RIC128
OCO45
RUS75
VER291
ALB43
BEA56
HAM32
GAS3
HUL5
LAW4
BOT12
LAT0
ZHO2
TSU80
MAG6