CHAPTER EIGHTEEN, failures and successes


( NOT EDITED / PROOFREAD )

Juliette had gotten P6 as her starting postion for qualifying, the day before. While Charles had gotten P4.

It was a pretty solid start for the French Grand Prix. Though, Juliette desperately wanted to end up with a higher result at the end of the race.

She took a shaky breath as the employees moved her car to the starting line.

The order in front of her was: Lewis at P1, Bottas at P2, Max at P3, Charles at P4, and Carlos at P5.

Juliette's mouth went dry, as she watched the lights in front of her go green.

She pushed at the petal, as she accelerated more and more in speed.

Her eyes sharply glanced at the cars in front of her, looking for any sort of pocket of space.

Which she found.

As they went through turn 2, she drove around the right side of Carlos Sainz, successfully taking his place.

That was a pretty solid overtake.

A little sprout of joy rippled throughout her body. A small smiled graced her lips as she let out a little "Yes!"

Well done! That was a great overtake. Sainz is now 6.2 seconds behind you. And Charles over
took both Max and Bottas already.

Juliette's eyes widened at her engineers words. "Holy shit. Seriously?!"

Yep. Also, the DRS zone is coming up, so try to overtake Verstappen then, he's about 3.8 seconds ahead.

"Got it." Juliette affirmed, as she accelerated in speed.

Her eyes trailed over the Redbull in front of herd her brows creasing as she scanned the area around it, looking for some sort of a chance to over take.

It was now Turn 13, and she had seen an opportunity to overtake him.

She lightly pushed his car, resulting in him losing control.

He slowed down a little, resulting in Juliette taking his position.

That was incredible! Well done, you're at P4 now. Bottas is 8.2 seconds ahead.

That was quite far away. Juliette gulped slightly, as she continued rippling her way through the track, twisting and turning around the corners as she defended her position from Verstappen.

You're on lap 31. 22 laps to go. Try to add some more power.

"Alright." Juliette nodded, as she gripped her steering wheel tightly, heavy breaths coursing out of her lips. "What position is Charles in?"

...
My god. Charles is in the lead.

A soft gasp left Juliette's lips. "What? That's amazing!"

It's too early to celebrate yet. Remeber, he's got two Mercedes behind him.

"Oh, right" Juliette stated softly. Mercedes was obviously the most dominant team in the sport. Their cars were far more efficient than any others in the grid. As well as their strategists, who also play a big factor in their performance.

Mattia said that he needs you to build your way up, to help defend Charles' spot.

Of course it was all about Charles again. Juliette sighed, before affirming that she understood the instructions given.

Yes, Charles had more experience in Formula One. Yes he has been with Ferrari for quite a while. But that never meant that he was a better driver than Juliette.

Juliette didn't want to sound cocky, but she was a damn good driver. She constantly wowed the crowd, but never seemed to impress Ferrari's management as much as she would like.

Her debut season was absolutely astonishing. She got points in almost every race. And people didn't seem to appreciate that.

She didn't know if it was because she was a woman, or if people like Charles more. But she figured it could be both.

She didn't feel appreciated in Ferrari. And as much as she tried to avoid that thought, she couldn't help but feel guilty.

Guilty because Ferrari was Jules' team. She didn't want to give up her promise of winning a WDC with Ferrari. But she was conflicted, her mind was a mess of tangled wires that needed to be cleaned up.

Juliette sighed, as her car slowly approached Bottas's car. She chewed upon her lip, as she analyzed the car.

It was leaning towards the left, meaning that eventually, there would be a pocket of space left for her.

But she didn't want to wait for that to happen. She decided to go ahead with a bold decision, and pressure him.

As turn 8 approached. Juliette attempted to overtake him on the inner part of the turn. Which caught him absolutely off guard.

She let out a frustrated breath, as she accelerated more. Resulting in her front wing and the Mercedes' back wing lining up.

Juliette took a deep breath, as she lightly tapped at his car, leaving a small pocket of space.

Which she took advantage of.

She quickly sped up, as the two cars lined up against eachother, fighting for dominance.

Bottas was not giving up.

But neither was Juliette. It was her home race, and she had an even better motive than anyone could ever have.

It was a few seconds, before Juliette eventually took Bottas' position. She had tapped at his car once more, resulting in him falling back a little. She was now P3.

Fantastic! Bottas is now 7.1 seconds behind. You're getting close!

Juliette smiled at the praise. "Thank you."

It was a struggle to get close to the Mercedes in front of her. Lewis was a quick driver, and debatably one of the best drivers in F1 history. So that sort of intimidated Juliette.

She let out a shaky breath, as she slowly approached Lewis.

There were a few opportunities, here and there. But Lewis was too fast, and that frustrated her.

"I can't get fucking past him!" She groaned, gritting her teeth in annoyance.

It looks like he's loosing power. He's getting slower. You're 1.2 seconds away, kee-

That's when Lewis had completely slowed down at an unusual rate, before absolutely stopping, and sliding into the gravel.

"Holy shit! What the fuck just happened, is he okay?!" Juliette exclaimed.

It's Engine failure. I'll let you know if he's alright.

Juliette took a shaky breath, as realization hit her. She was at P2. And there was now 9 laps left of the race.

He's perfectly fine. He's just a little frustrated.

Juliette sighed in relief. A small smile on her face.

All was going well.

For now.

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Charles' car was going at a slower pace than it was before.

Juliette's brows furrowed. "How much seconds away is Bottas?"

He's quite close. 0.965 seconds back.

Juliette sighed. Charles was slowing the both of them down. She couldn't continue to keep defending her position from Bottas, since he was so close.

She decided to ask something risky.

"Do I have permission to overtake Charles? He's slowing the both of us down." Juliette questioned. The radio was silent at the other end, as she chewed her lip.

Uh, permission denied. Mattia doesn't want you to. Sorry kiddo.

Juliette let out a defeated sigh. She didn't want to lose her position, especially at her home race. And it was getting increasingly difficult to defend against Bottas.

Mattia was a difficult team principal to deal with. At first, he seemed quite supportive and compassionate. But as the season progressed, his true colors started showing. He would make backhanded decisions to target her, and would favorite Charles above her, quite openly. Which humiliated her completely. She was being completely underestimated by him, and she hated it.

Mattia's orders made Juliette mentally curse him. He was being an absolute asshole, and wasn't trying to hide it. He wasn't acting like a team principal, he was acting like a parent who favorited one child over another.

Juliette didn't blame Charles. He had nothing to do with the decision. Although, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy at the bias that the Ferrari management had towards Charles.

Juliette sighed, as she gripped onto the steering wheel tightly. Her knuckles turning white.

That was when she heard her teammates voice tap into the radio.

Juliette. You're right, I'm slowing us down...at Turn 9, I'm gonna leave you some space to take my position.

Juliette gaped at his statement. "But Mattia-"

What about him? As long as it benefits the team then it's more than okay.

Juliette didn't respond. Juliette didn't know how to respond. Out of all the possibilities that wavered throughout her mind, this definitely wasn't one of them.

Her cheeks burned crimson, from the amount of overwhelming feelings that rippled through her.

Turn 9 was now coming up. Juliette waited for the right time, before she smoothly took Charles' position.

Juliette's stomach churned at the thought of being at the lead of the race. She felt as if she was in a dream-like reality.

Juliette couldn't help but feel a bit giddy inside, as she spotted the finish line a few meters away from her.

Tears brimmed her eyes, as she crossed it.

She had just won her first pole postion.

In her home race.

An uncontrollable grin etched onto her lips, as she started her cool-down lap.

That was absolutely divine! We're so proud of you. You deserved this win.

Juliette smiled at the engineers words. "Thank you so so much for sticking with me and helping me out this whole race. It was a struggle, but it was all so fucking worth it!"

Parabens, Juliette! We're so proud of you.

Yeah! You did so well, definitely one of your best races!

The voices of Thiago Silva and Neymar Jr were heard through the radio. Juliette's heart clenched at his words. She was glad that he decided to watch the race in the Ferrari garage.

"Muito obrigado, Thiago e Ney. Obrigado por me apoiar ao longo de tudo" [Thank you so much, Thiago and Ney, for supporting me throughout it all. ] Juliette spoke shakily, as her cooldown lap came to an end.

Juliette practically jumped out of her car, as she quickly made her way to the crowd of red.

She hugged her team, as tears trickled down her crimson colored cheeks.

Juliette made it. She created history. The first female french driver to win a grand prix.

Yuki, her PR manager, wrapped her up into a big hug. "You're so incredibly talented! You completely deserve this win."

Juliette was so overwhelmed from all the love and support. It felt as if life wasn't real, she felt like she was in a dream like state.

Juliette removed her helmet, and removed her hair from the braid that it was in.

Tears continued to well up her eyes, as they stained her cheeks.

Juliette turned around. Her eyes meeting a familiar green.

If it were even possible, her grin grew even more. Charles' expression mirrored hers.

At that moment, Juliette didn't care about what Charles had said to her earlier. All of the petty feelings that concurred within her, had washed away. And was replaced by absolute joy.

She practically tackled him into a hug, a small sob escaping her lips, as she felt his arms wrap around her waist.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Juliette exclaimed. Charles chuckled at the girls' antics. "For what? You were right, we should've switched positions earlier anyway."

"You won because you're a good driver. And you make good decisions. I didn't do anything. It was all you." Charles let go of her, as she stood in front of him.

Charles cupped her cheeks, as he used the pad of his thumb to wipe her tear stained cheeks.

"Jules would be so proud." He whispered softly.

Juliette smiled fondly, at the mention of her brother. "I know."

The two stared at each other for a little longer, taking in each other, before Juliette was pulled away from the Monegasque.

A squeal left her lips, as Thiago and Neymar tackled her into a hug.

Charles smiled at the three, a small chuckle leavening his lips, as he walked over to the Ferrari team, to celebrate with them.

"That was crazy! I'm so glad we came to this GP." Thiago praised, as Neymar ruffled her hair. "We're so proud of you."

Juliette slapped his hand away, before laughing at the two. And hugging them once more.

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Juliette was stood at the top step of the podium proudly. A toothy smile on her face, as a large crowd gathered below the podium.

All the formalities ended, as they were handed the champagnes.

Valtteri was the first to spray Juliette with champagne, before Charles followed his movements.

She sprayed the two back, before they all started absolutely drenching each other in sticky champagne.

The three on the podium could not contain their laughs, Juliette especially.

That day was the day Juliette realized that what Jules always told her was right. That she would make it.

And she did. She finally did. After countless years of exhaustion.

She was glad.

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