Make me a Champion

Formula one was not a safe sport. It was fast and dangerous, and Sirius knew that. Every time he got into his bolide, he could feel adrenaline rushing through his veins. He loved that feeling. He enjoyed driving, rivalry and almost everything about the sport. He was a literal star.

Sirius Black was the youngest Formula 1 World Champion ever. And now he was coming for another title head to head with his teammate, James Potter.

It was the Singapore Grand Prix they were about to attend this weekend. Sirius was aware of all difficulties that came with driving in this climate zone. James was from Colombia, so he was used to the hot climate. When he was younger, he was driving in Formula 4 in Brazil. The atmosphere there was similar to the Singaporean one. While James was discovering the culture of the city for the past week, Sirius had to deal with jetlag and the temperature. He hated when it was hot and humid.

He made it through and was really excited about the race that took place on Sunday. The past few days were really busy. The whole Thursday was meant to be the media day. He has press conferences with a bunch of different people from different teams. There was Marlene McKinnon from Alfa Romeo as well as Severus Snape from Red Bull Racing. They were not much of a threat to him. He had to have a look at James and Barty Crouch Jr. Crouch was Snape’s teammate. Their team was led by Tom Riddle. All the guys out there were weird and no one really liked them. Barty was a piece of shit. He was driving like he was alone on the track and didn’t leave any space.

Snape was bad. Their car was good and that’s what made them a rival for Ferrari. Even if James was still second in the Drivers Championship, Barty was gaining many points. Sirius’s advantage has become lower every race. James was good too, but his abilities on the street tracks were not. That’s why Sirius thought it would be easy to regain an advantage of more than thirty points.

Friday was the day of the free practices. Sirius was the fastest in all of them. On this day, news from Red Bull leaked. Evan Rosier, a guy driving for Toro Rosso (the Red Bull’s juniors team) was about to replace Snape from the next season. At first, Tom Riddle denied all the gossip, but Severus wasn’t pleased for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday contained one free practice and qualifying session.

“Okay, that’s pole position”, Sirius heard his engineer’s voice on his team radio. “Well done, mate”.

“Haha, Remu, I love to hear that!”, he replied cheerfully.

Then the great day came. Sunday was always busy. The race was after sunset, so it was a long day of waiting. Sirius had to do some team meetings as well as attend the drivers’ parade. He enjoyed seeing fans all over the track. They were passionate about sport, about his driving and about his fast car.

Atmosphere in Singapore was not as unique as in Italy or Australia, but it was good. It was a very different experience and he had chills every time he thought about being in the place he was right now.
Finally, he could get into a car. He barely talked with James that day, mostly he spoke to Remus, his race engineer. They were in complete agreement about the strategy for the race. It was a long one, so he was about to change the tyres twice. James was probably doing a different strategy because he started his race on a hard compound.

Sirius led the formation lap and then the race started.

„It’s lights out and away we go”, David Croft chanted. „Good start from Sirius Black, is he going to hold the first position?”

James didn’t start so well. He was overtaken by Crouch before the turn one. Barty dived into the corner wheel to wheel with Sirius. He was madly fast.

„Oh, they’re going wheel to wheel into turn one! Who’s gonna be first after that?”

Sirius was pushing. He wanted to win his second World Driver Championship. He wanted it so bad he pushed Barty off the track. Crouch didn’t leave him much space, so it was justified.
He thought he’d be safe now and easily win. It was only the first lap, but he knew only Crouch would be a real danger this weekend. James didn’t do well on street tracks anyway.

And then in turn two, another Red Bull came right on Sirius’s car. The bolide just flew on the front wing of Sirius’s Ferrari, taking it right off the track. Sirius pressed brakes but with this high speed he did not do much. To be honest the burning brakes just made the track a bit foggy. Fortunately, there were no Red Bull on his car now, but the front wing was gone. He had to go to the pit line and change the whole strategy he and the team came up with. But firstly, he had to go back on track. He couldn’t see the Red Bull car.

In all this mess, another car came into contact with them and then another one. Four cars landed in the barrier. Sirius was hit in the back and by another one on the side.

“Oh my god, what has just happened here?”, the commentators asked. “Safety car has been deployed. Drivers ought to slow down. I mean we should have a red flag here, don’t you think, Martin?”

“Absolutely”, the other man said. “Look at all of these car pieces on the track!”

A few seconds after it the red flag was a real thing. Drivers had to go back to the pit lane. Sirius didn’t move. His car was destroyed almost from every side. There was no way he magically would come back in this race. It was over. He couldn’t get out of the car. His legs hurt so much.

“Sirius, let me know if you are alright”, Remus said right to his ears.

He wanted to tell him that, but he couldn’t. He was too shocked to speak for a while. He hit the barrier, didn’t have the front wing as well as the rear wing. He was also hit on the side. He should have been thankful that the petrol can did not catch fire.

“I don’t know why, but I can’t move my legs. I can’t get out”, Sirius finally spoke through the team radio.

“Shit, we have to deploy the medical car too. I’ll call the stewards.”, Remus promised.

Sirius wanted to scream. Everything went well the whole weekend and now he cannot even leave the fucking car.

“We can see on the replay how Black’s advantage is not that big, so the other cars are so close they could just close him every door he had.”, the spectators could hear Crofty’s voice. “Oh, look there's a medical car. I guess some drivers might have got some injuries after quite a huge crash”.

“Sirius, are you able to leave the car on your own?”, Remus asked once again. Maybe he thought Sirius would be better now. Or at least he had hoped for it.

Sirius denied. He felt a single tear drop on his cheek as he finally took out the steering wheel. He was so furious.

Finally the medical car arrived. Other drivers did not even look at him or come to ask if he needed help. The paramedics did. They took him out of the car. It looked terrible when you saw it from a different angle. Sirius was seated in the car. He said he couldn’t move his legs.

“I am afraid we have to go to the hospital”, the one paramedic said with concern. “The ambulance will be here in a few seconds.”

Sirius barely listened to them. He saw an elevator taking his bolide and the marshals working with the barrier. There were no signs of other drivers. They were alright, probably. Next Sirius was put on a stretcher. It was weird for him. He stayed in his helmet as he was transported to the ambulance.

“The ambulance is leaving the track now. The medical car will return to the pit lane, but we still need to wait for information from stewards about the restart of the race”, said Martin Bundle. You could hear how worried he was. Everyone was actually. A crash like this hasn't happened in many years. Before the second lap there were five drivers out. And one of them has been taken to a hospital.
Remus Lupin was frightened. He pulled his headphones off as he watched Sirius being taken by paramedics. His job was done for today. He could not leave the circuit until the end of the race. He wanted to go to the hospital and see what happened to Sirius. He was his best friend in the whole team. They liked working with each other. Remus was always listening to Sirius, because that’s what race engineers did.

He left Ferrari’s race command centre and went back to the garage. James Potter was there, talking to his mechanics. He tried not to show he was worried too. James always wanted to stay positive. When he was given a five seconds penalty, he would say something like “I’ll get at least seven of the advantage”. He wanted to win the same as Sirius, but he was way more chilled about it. Maybe that was because of the Colombian roots.

Actually James Potter was born and raised in England. He found it really hard to get to the top level as a British driver because there were so many kids in driving schools. He decided to go to Colombia and get a new nationality. Some people would say it’s not ethical, but James’s parents were encouraging him to do it. They moved back to Colombia when he was thirteen. He was finally a citizen of Bogota. When he started racing in Latin America he was told he reminded some people of Juan Pablo Montoya. He hasn’t met him until his Formula Four appearances in Brazil.
He won the competition and Montoya gave him an award. It was the best day in his life. Now, Juan Pablo was a part of his team as James joined his management company when he was sixteen.

The red flag during the Singapore Grand Prix lasted for the next hour. Marshals worked a lot with a barrier and now it was possible to race again. Before the red flag cars had entered the second sector so they restarted from the poles they gained. James was again starting from the second position. Barty Crouch Jr overtook him, but the others couldn’t do it. This side of the track was dirty. James wondered how the asphalte could be dirty. He didn’t understand that but he believed what people had been saying. If something didn’t go the way he wanted, he would blame it on a dirty track.

Many drivers use the privilege to change the tyres during red flag. James did not. He started on a hard compound and he wanted to continue on it.

The first lap was led by a safety car. James could feel adrenaline rushing through his veins as he drove to his place on the grid. He had a low attention span and that caused him poor start performance.

This time he had to focus more than he used to. He decided he would do everything to win this race.

For Sirius.

The five red lights were lit. James tried not to blink. It was a matter of milliseconds.
When the lights went down James pressed the pedals as hard as he could. It was probably one of his best starts. His reaction was right in time.

“Once again, it’s lights out and away we go”, the commentator said. “Great start for both Crouch and Potter”.

James could see Barty’s Red Bull in his mirrors as he went wide into turn one. He knew the others would push more since Sirius was no longer racing.
He managed to stay first for a few laps. Crouch was close. He came after James with a loss of eight tenths. That gave him the right to use DRS and attack.

“They come together into turn fourteen! Who’s gonna be first?”, Martin Bundle asked Crofty.

“I’m afraid it’s going to be Crouch… but… NO! LOOK! What a switchback from James Potter, oh my God!”, the other commentator replied.

“Nice one, James”, he heard his engineer’s sweet voice through the radio.

“Thanks, Emmeline, but I have a race to win now. I’ll take the compliments later”, he laughed.

“Sure, let’s keep pushing”, Emmeline said.

The race was boring. James hated the part when nothing happened. It was the twentieth lap he was leading. One third was past him. Only forty laps to go.

You can do it, he thought to himself.

Cars were already pit stopping. James’s tyres performed well but he could feel how they lost grip with every lap. The strategy was not complicated - one pit stop as others make two. Now it was harder to predict the strategies of other teams. Almost everyone changed their tyres to hard compound during the red flag.

Red Bull was hoping for an undercut. They took Barty to the pit lanes on the twenty sixth lap as he was losing more than two seconds to Ferrari. The mechanics put soft tyres on his bolide once again. Ferrari was concerned about a finish on this set. Softs were good for less than twenty five laps. There were thirty five to go.

“James, please keep the speed. We’re going for plan A”, Emmeline reported.

“Copy”.

He knew what “plan A” meant. Actually he only knew very few of their strategy plans just by a letter. He just couldn’t memorise all of them. But plan A was always the same. Extend the first stint as long as he could while keeping the right pace, and then change the tyres only once. It seemed to be a piece of cake.

Crouch left the pit lanes in seventh place right before Emma Vanity’s McLaren. The gap between him and James was about twenty seconds now.

Potter had to make it bigger. He cut the chicane to become faster on a single lap. He wasn’t allowed to do that.

“We’re going to get a penalty if you don’t stop cutting the chicanes”, Emmeline rebuked him. “We have a twenty-two seconds advantage, let’s keep it for the next few laps”.

James did what had been said. On lap thirty three he came to the pit. Mechanics were waiting for him with a new set of medium tyres.

“So, we have a Ferrari on mediums. Red Bull’s on softs as well as Williams and McLaren. Evan Rosier remains the only driver who hasn’t stopped yet”, David Croft explained to the people who watched the race all over the world.

James left the pit lane. He came right after Barty so their strategy had worked. He was fifth now. His tyres were new, Crouch’s were about eighth laps old.

James pushed and overtook Red Bull two laps after that. In front of him now there was Frank Longbottom who drove for Williams.

“What’s the gap?”, James asked.

“Currently you lose two point one seconds. Two point one”.

It took James another three laps to chase Longbottom. He overtook him on the straight. His bolide was way faster than Williams. It was easy to overtake on straights since the DRS was introduced.
Potter felt like flying on this circuit. He hated street tracks but he was so motivated to win this Grand Prix he became a new version of himself. There were still two cars ahead of him. Now he was finally racing, not just leading.

„Who’s next?”, he asked.

„McKinnon. Ahead of her is Malfoy. He’s the leader at the moment”, his engineer replied.

„Okay. Copy”.

Fuck. Marlene McKinnon was one of his best friends back in England before he moved to Colombia. He hated racing her. She was very competitive even in childhood years. She had to be, though. She was the first woman ever to make an appearance in Formula One. She got there before James and she was certainly going to prove herself.
He saw a rear wing of her Alfa Romeo as he got to the main straight. Even if Alfa Romeo was portrayed as a Ferrari junior’s team, Potter knew he would have a hard time trying to get ahead of her.
He had been pushing so hard that he felt grip was not there. He needed to stop if he wanted to continue with only one pit stop. So he asked for updates about Marlene’s pace. Emmeline was giving them immediately as the second driver crossed the finishing line each lap. She was driving with the same pace as James when he stopped pushing.

On lap forty seven, Lucius Malfoy went to the pit lane for the second time. He had got a puncture. Virtual safety car procedure was deployed due to some pieces of the tyre left on track.
Drivers had to slow down. Marlene was a leader at the moment. James thought it’d be a great opportunity to get close to her and attack. But he had a few insecurities to think about.

„Are you sure our tyres will last till the end?”, he asked Emmeline.

She didn’t give him an answer right off. Finally after ten long seconds she replied that Lucius’s puncture was made because of the kerbs.

„You’d better stay away from them," she warned.

There was also a car in front of him that was lapped by Marlene before VSC. It was one of the Renaults. Their drivers were… idiosyncratic. You could try to lap them and they would crash into you. They were weirdos. James had to focus once again.
It was so hot even though it was night already. He hated the fact the street lights were so bright. It was a long race in severe conditions.

When the VSC procedure ended it was twelve laps to go.

The Renault in front of him was given blue flags. They had no other choice but to let the Ferrari go. James was unstoppable. Marlene was pushing way more than she did before.
James chased her. He was driving right behind her for another few laps. He couldn’t overtake her without the DRS. She was faster on the straights and he was doing better in curves.

He wanted to win so badly. He wanted to say to the camera that he did it for Sirius because that’s what Sirius would have told him to do. Besides that James could finally prove that he is actually not that bad on street circuits.

„DRS enabled”, Emmeline informed. „Just seven laps to go”.

James pushed. He could feel the car begin to slide more in the corners. He tried not to get onto the kerb but that made him slower. He had so many things to worry about that his mind was already boiling.
Finally, when there were only five laps to go, he decided to take the risk. He picked up a pace and overtook Marlene in turn one. He managed to keep the first position and sped up even more on a straight.
It was necessary to win. He had to gain a second of advantage. If he did so, she wouldn't be able to use DRS.

James continued the race with his heart pounding and hands wet from sweat. It was only a few laps, he could do that. Of course he could. He was James Potter after all.

„He wins in Spa, he wins in Monza, and now he wins in Singapore! James Potter is the winner!”, commentators shouted and people on the grandstand clapped their hands. "It's his third win in a row! What a drive from James Potter!"

„Great drive, James!”, Emmeline said. After her there was another voice coming from the team radio. It was the CEO, Lily Evans.

„Well done, James! We’re so proud of you! After what happened to Sirius we knew it’d be hard, but you did it, mate! Vamos!”

„Haha, cheers Lily! Vamoos!”, he replied gently. „This one is for Sirius. I hope you are able to hear that now, mate.”

He came to the pit lane to the special place for his car. He got out of it and went to his team. They were cheering so loud as well as fans on the grandstands. He wanted to hug them all. The other cars also came in a few moments after. Marlene finished second and third was Evan Rosier who had the best strategy of all the people out there.

After hugging half of his team James had to follow the standard procedure that included weighing and giving an interview. It was David Coulthard who was asking questions. James put on his Ferrari cap and went to the camera.

„What a race, James, woah”, David started and Potter smiled. He also waved to the crowd and they went wild for a few seconds. „How did you manage to stay on those medium tyres for that long?!”

„Well it was hard”, James laughed. He noticed he was holding the microphone too close to his mouth so he took it a few inches down. „We were about to do the one pit stop strategy before the red flag so we didn’t change the tyres then. I was really worried when Mercedes got a puncture because they were driving on mediums too. But my team… my team told me to stay out of the kerbs. So I did and I’m here”.

Coulthard smiled at him.

„Oh, yes, the red flag. I guess that was a huge stroke for you and the team”.

„Of course,” he nodded. „It’s always hard to see your teammate getting taken by an ambulance. We’re all worried about him. I’m sure he wanted to win this race and he would definitely do that. He’s a superstar. I mean have you seen his qualifying? He was flying.”

„He was, yeah. We all wish Sirius a quick comeback,” Coulthard said. „But for now I guess you’ll have to get on that podium. Enjoy this one”.