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Alexander_Albon

caption: in case you're wondering why lando isn't allowed to decorate cakes any more. literally mate, what even is this? congratulations dakota, i think you'll look great in a mercedes polo.

tagged: dakotaelainee, landonorris

georgerussell replied: do i want to know why it's smudged a bit in the middle there

alexander_albon: uhhhhh probably not. it ends with lando trying to smooth out sprinkles and ends with his dirty ass fingers in the cake.

georgerussell: so he gets to eat that slice. marking his territory. smart.

2022 Season

SPANISH GRAND PRIX

SUNDAY - RACE DAY

Dakota McManus was sitting next to Pierre Hamelin, the race engineer, looking over race data with him on the computer monitor and pointing out certain graphs and stats to the Frenchman. She was well aware of the fact that as the season drew to a close, and Abu Dhabi got closer and closer, that she would be iced out by the engineers as her move to Mercedes closed in. It happened to drivers as well, making sure that team development plans for forthcoming seasons wouldn't end up in the hands of competitors.

Until then, she was putting in one hundred percent of her energy to improving race performance. Despite all the negative energy there seemed to be around her departure and her feelings about Dr. Helmut Marko, AlphaTauri had been like a second family to Dakota, and she just wanted to find a way to repay them before she left.

"Dakota, you have visitors!" Pierre Gasly shouted from the other side of the garage. "You might want to hurry, Lando looks like he's about to drop something!"

"Hang on a second, Hamelin." She said quickly, yanking off her headset and almost running to the front of the garage, a huge smile blooming on her face as she watched Lando Norris balance a cake that was definitely too big foe the plate that it was on.

"Surprise!" Alex Albon shouted, appearing from behind the young McLaren driver. "we're so proud of you, Dakota!" The Williams driver gushed, pulling Dakota in for a tight hug.

When she separated from Alex, Lance Stroll was the next to demand a hug, holding her so tightly that he basically lifted her off the ground.

"How did you have time to do all of this, guys? Toto wouldn't let me say anything until this morning."

"Yuki told us." Lando shrugged, putting the cake down. "Look at the cake I decorated, isn't it amazing."

"Of course he did." The driver in question was in meetings with the engineers. Which is exactly where Pierre should have been. And nobody's trainers were going to be happy that cake was being shared. Knowing Dakota's luck, she'd get in trouble for all of that as well.

"It was a group effort, Lando." Mick Schumacher scolded, raising his eyebrows.

"Thank you, guys. Really, I don't think that I could say it enough."

More and more drivers were filing into the garage to give the mechanic hugs, high fives and words of congratulation.

"We should do something later." Daniel suggested, giving her a side hug as she tried to cut the cake. "Go for drinks or something."

"I can't. Alcohol doesn't vibe well with my migraine meds, and I've probably already taken more than the recommended dose. I can tell today is going to be a bad day migraine wise. There's just too much going on."

She didn't mention how they were slowly getting worse due to the lack of sleep she was getting, plagued with intrusive thoughts about her past with Red Bull, or all the hours she lost after waking up in a cold sweat, too scared to go back to bed.

The conditioning she went through, even just as a testing and development driver had done a number on her self-esteem, especially at such a young age.

But now she was getting away from all of that. For good.

"We'll do something when you feel better, then." Mick smiled. "No rush."

"You look paler than normal." Fernando Alonso huffed, putting the back of his hand against Dakota's forehead. "Are you eating enough? Taking care of yourself? You should come to dinner with me and Andrea. Gosh, who's feeding you."

"Fernando, where did you even come from?" The Aussie laughed. "I swear that you weren't here ten minutes ago."

For the first time that season, things were looking up for Dakota. 

She just needed to keep them that way.