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Leaning against the handrails of the winners' bandwagon, Lando Norris was unusually taciturn tonight, eyes mirroring the magnificent colors of the fireworks. Isolated from the hustle and bustle of Las Vegas, he resigned his mind to wandering, which uncontrollably drifted back to sometime earlier the race.
-THURSDAY
Viewing the visible excitement and confidence on Zak's crinkled face, Lando parted his lips slightly yet deprived of any utterance. Evidently it's a risky decision to lower the skid, even awful. But with their leading advantage narrower, it seemed the last approach to be "more competitive". Hesitating with a hint of uneasiness, Lando pressed his lips tight, letting the deathly hush reign the air. A selfish question consistently lingered on his heart——24 points,3 races left, was there any reason for him to take the risk, which might drag him into a passive situation?
When the familiar voice, calm and casual as it always was, wafted across the silent meeting room and confirmed his choice, the only one yet the decisive one reason appeared in his head. Lando heard himself saying “Yes”. ”But this wasn’t a love story” Squeezing out a bitter smile, he thought to himself.
-SATURDAY
“Lando Norris wins his 7th pole this season in Las Vegas” The moment time counted down to zero, enormous fatigue washed over him with subtle relief. The third lap was an extremely thrilling one and fortunately the former performances were enough to beat Max. Heaving a deep sigh, he took off his helmet with a radiant smile to the engineers surrounding, beads of sweat dripping off his chin.
It was when he headed his way back that he glimpsed the same papaya.P5.With his frown faintly knitted, Lando witnessed his teammate stepping out of the car with his hair curly and face unfazed. The distance between them made it difficult to detect the minor expressions but through the tight jaw, Lando could rumble the internal turmoil beneath Oscar’s composed surface. All of a sudden, Lando averted his gaze, swiftly hiding himself into the hoodies when his teammate’s words came to an imperceptible halt simultaneously and paused for a millisecond, during which Lando’s heart stammering violently against his chest in panic. What he wouldn’t know was that after he whirled around the corner, there was a vague gaze lingering on the direction he disappeared for a long ,long time.
-SUNDAY
Sitting with himself well-equipped in the car, Lando inhaled deeply in a vain attempt to disperse the swirling fragments in his mind. A sprout of the sense of foreboding descended at the bottom of his heart soundlessly, which increased the agitation caused by the ferocious RB nearby. And when his thought wandered to that name…Shaking his head wildly, Lando pretended to neglect the tingling deep down his heart though it wasn’t tricked at all. It wasn’t until the red lights were lit up that he regained his composure.5,4,3,2,1.The instant he slammed the gas, swooshing wind pierced through, blowing away all the filthy mood and scattering thoughts like autumn leaves. A nice jump start. Then turn 1.Trickles of sweats gradually oozed from his forehead as the front wing of Max leapt into his horizon. One more second. Gritting his teeth, he said to himself. One more second. When he eventually braked, everything was too late to remediate. Missing the apex, he lost 2 positions in a split second as George followed tightly behind Max.****The situation grew wild, totally out of their control. The only thing in his grip tight was the steering wheel. Subsequent laps witnessed him pushing violently, pouring his heart and soul into every mile.”We gonna go get Max” Initially he thought it’s a special joke of encouragement, but the following silence in the TR with incessant buzzing of currents revealed to him that it wasn’t. “We are just slow!”However, what spread across the radio following the ridiculous conversation sent a freezing chill down his spine. “Fuel isn’t positive so we need to do some management” His mind stagnated as the words thundered over his head, knuckles protruding. Mechanically implementing the instructions, Lando was numb with repeatedly lifting and coasting. Finally, the DRS of Rb-21 vanished in his vision while George, struggling with over steering, remained few seconds behind. The dramatic play drew its curtains eventually with Lando P2 and Oscar P4.But conversely, the agitation in his heart grew in frenzy and his heart thumped more frequently than ever. Intuitively, Lando thought, a bigger crisis was waiting for him.The chilly night wind whipped ruthlessly on his face, jolting him from deep contemplation. The firework show had finished during his reminiscence without being noticed, which marked the end of this precious, uninterrupted moment. Exhaling, there was another battle outside the grid.
Surrounded by lens and spotlights, Lando tugged at his lip corners ,squeezing out a forced smile to mask his inner anxiety. However when being joked as “muted” tonight, he knew that the abnormal silence had betrayed his misery and tension. Hiding himself into the hoodies, he fled back to his room with an apparently glum and stern look, lips compressed rigidly.
Slouching back in his sofa with his head drooped, he couldn’t help but recall that last moment when he lifted his eyes from the ground and unconsciously captured the gentle smile on his teammate’s face. Suddenly a ring of his phone ripped the temporary serenity in this dark room, echoing incessantly.
Official document was released with a double-DSQ sentence.
Desperated yet relieved, he tugged at his lips and beamed a bitter smile to himself resignedly. Was Oscar in the know when he smiled? The interrupted reminiscence dominated his brain again. Contrary to his artlessness, Oscar always maintained a calm façade. However Lando could always catch his genuine emotions beneath the disguise. While this night, he was too tired to interpret the secret in those deep, brown eyes.