Despite his lack of involvement within the first team, William had come to appreciate the headquarters. It was situated in a rather quiet place in Woking and was stocked full of vintage Mclaren F1 cars. It was a good place to just walk around and get lost in your thoughts.
When he arrived at the headquarters his assistant was waiting for him.
“Hey,” He greeted. “My name is Tom, I take it you’re Leonard Elliot?”
“Yeah, that's me, but you can call me Leo if you want,” Leonard replied.
“Alright then Leo, let's get going,” Tom stated before walking off. “So I take it you know why you’re here today yes?”
Leo nodded. “Yeah, I’m going to be going through trials with the team, no?”
“Yep, spot on. So the first thing you are going to be doing today is just a quick check-up on your abilities but before that, height and weight.”
Both Leo and Tom turned the corner into a doctor's office. A swift exam returned the results, at the time of data collection he was 5’9 ¾ and 175 pounds. Pretty good for a guy two years out of practice. Next up was a quick test of his physical capabilities such as how much G force his neck could withstand and an arm strength test. Afterward, he was swept away into another room where there was a foam tub surrounded by the shell of the monocoque waiting for him.
“Hello!” The mechanic greeted, “I assume you’re here for seat fitting?” When Tom nodded, she gestured for Leo to take a seat.
Settling into the foam, Leo felt oddly comforted. It was like he was returning home. The process went by quickly, once he had settled into the foam and the foam had finished taking form, he stepped out of the tub and was told to have lunch and that Tom would call once the seat was finished. Upon stepping into the lobby, he ran into a few of the other candidates.
“Hey,” Leo said, approaching them, “My name’s Leonard, but you can call me Leo for short. Nice to meet you guys.”
“I’m Maxwell Sterling, and this is my teammate, Elena Rossi,” Maxwell replied.
“Teammate?” Leo asked, “What do you mean?”
“Both of us drive for McLaren’s IndyCar team,” Maxwell explained. “Elena here's fighting for the title this season.”
“Was that necessary?” Elena deadpanned. “I apologize for my teammates' lack of humility Now that you know a bit about us, why don’t you tell us about yourself?”
“Well for starters, I’m the 2022 Formula 2 Champion, and did a small stint at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year.” Leo offered. “Aside from that, I haven’t done much racing lately.”
Despite the lackluster appearance of his portfolio the two seemed impressed by his experience. The trio had a little more small talk, getting to know each other a little more before splitting off in their directions. Leo chose a smaller family restaurant to have lunch in and while he was waiting for his food slipped into his thoughts.
Damn, they both had chances in IndyCar, He thought. Wish I would have had that kind of experience too.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Someone asked.
Leo flinched at the sound, startling him out of his thoughts. He looked up to see another candidate. “Nothing much he said, just thinking.” There’s something familiar about this guy, I just can’t seem to put my finger on it.
“Mind if I take a seat here?” The man asked.
“Sure, I’m Leonard Elliot, but you can call me Leo if you want.”
“Alright, my name is William Hunt.” The man said.
Then it clicked, that was why the man looked familiar. The person sitting across from him was the 2024 F2 Champion. Before he could say anything else, their food arrived and they ate. They ate in relative silence before William, who had finished early, excused himself and left. Once again alone, he started thinking again.
Damn…competition’s kinda insane, now I’m wishing I tried harder to get back into racing. He thought. Welp, I dug my grave now I have to lie in it.
Soon after, his phone rang.
“Hello?” He answered
“Hey Leo, it's Tom, it’s time to come back to the headquarters and get on with the trials.”
“Alright, be there in a few,” Leo said before cleaning up his table.
Upon returning to the headquarters, Tom was outside waiting for him. Gesturing for him to follow, he turned around and started walking back towards the test track with Leo close behind. Once arriving at the test track, he was gathered with all of the other candidates. In total, there were about 7 drivers including Leo.
The first part of their test was simply a rules quiz, a short 15-minute written quiz on the different rules of F1. Next, was an hour-long practice session for the drivers to get used to the car and get to know the track. The spec in question was McLaren's 2024 challenger, the MCL38. Following the end of the practice session, the drivers were given a 20-minute break before the next part of their test began.
After his free practice session, Leo stepped off to the side to get some space while he thought about his track time. While he didn’t feel slow on track, a glance at the timing sheets told him otherwise. His best lap sat about a tenth and a half off P2 and almost 3 tenths back from P1.
Once the break was over, the head instructor called everyone over. “Okay! The next part of your trial is a quick qualification session, followed by a race. You will have two laps to set your lap times and we will count your fastest lap. Beware, if you crash your car, your trial is over and you can start packing up.”
There was a quiet murmuring within the group before the instructor said “With that all said, let’s get ready!”
For Leo, the session seemed to have gone by in a flash, one second he was warming up his tires on his outlap, and the next thing he knew, he was wrapping up his 2nd hot lap. Despite his efforts, he was only able to bring himself up to P4 sitting two and a half tenths back from the pole sitter. However, if his days in F2 had taught him anything, it was that he was at best a mediocre qualifier and the race was when he did his talking.
The race was a 20-lap sprint. There was no incentive to win other than bragging rights, as the instructor had emphasized that you would be evaluated based on more technical skills rather than finish position. At last, when the light powered on and started their countdown, Leo steeled his nerves and waited.
When the lights did eventually go out, Leo felt like he had a satisfactory start. When moving down into turn 1, the words from the instructor crossed his mind, “If you crash out, it’s trial over.” Decided against trying his luck, he decided to take it easy into turn one, even if it meant losing positions, he was confident he could make it back.
His first chance at an overtake came pretty quickly, lap 3 he had closed right up to 3rd place and was practically on top of him going into some corners. The chance came when 3rd place buckled under the pressure of Leo’s pace and locked up into turn 10, giving Leo the chance to slip through.
“What’s the gap to the next car ahead?” Leo inquired over the radio.
“Gap to the car ahead is 0.6 seconds.” His race engineer replied.
Within 2 laps, he had closed the gap down to 2nd and within one more, was practically shoving the car ahead through each corner. However, the car ahead, while not having the speed to keep up, was an expert defender and held Leo behind for 2 laps. Frustrated, Leo decided on the fly that the best course of action was just to send it down the inside. And frankly, it worked. It caught the driver ahead out and allowed Leo to barge his way through.
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“What's the gap and lap number?” Hunt asked.
“It is lap 8, the gap to the car ahead is 1.5 seconds.” His race engineer replied.
With a target to chase, Leo worked on closing down the gap. By lap 13, the gap was almost down to DRS distance with Leo slowly pulling the car ahead in, and by lap 15 the gap was down to half a second with Leo starting to gain even quicker.
Finally, on Lap 19, Leo had come within striking distance of the leader and was slowly mounting pressure on him. Then as they approached the end of Lap 19, the car ahead made a crucial mistake that would prove costly as he went deep into turn 13 compromising his line into the next section of corners. This allowed Leo to surge from lurking in the mirrors to nearly alongside. Under the sudden attack of Leo, the car ahead, which Leo would later find out was William Hunt, was quick to shift defensively, forcing Leo the long way around. This, however, was not Leo’s first rodeo. As soon as William tried to take him wide, he slowed down and performed a switchback, taking the inside line and getting a superior exit. With him in the lead, it was a question of whether or not he could maintain the lead. He had worn his tires down significantly chasing down William and had worn them down even more in his dirty air. Now that he was ahead, it was a different type of battle, him against his tires, could he get his tires to the end of the race while maintaining his lead.
As he moved on to the final lap of the race, William made his move, with his DRS open he hounded down Leo who without DRS and with worn tires was a sitting duck. Thinking quickly, Leo shifted over to the inside line, forcing William to the outside line in an attempt to hold his ground.
Shit! This is not good, at this rate, I won’t be able to maintain my tires or the lead! Leo thought to himself the panic settling in. Calm down Leo, He chided himself. Panic won’t get you anywhere but in a barrier. Let’s think things through. I could try to go elbows out and force him out. That could work but with the state of my tires, I could accidentally crash myself out too.
After thinking about the possible outcomes, he decided that going elbows out was the only choice he had to defend himself. Mentally preparing himself for the next attack he could only forge on. At the next overtaking zone, he spared a glance down his mirror at William who was well within striking distance. Quickly noticing his attack, Leo shifted over defensively, blocking off the inside route and forcing William once again to the outside. However this time, Leo took him deep into the corner, nearly banging tires with him and leaving him just enough room to stay on the track, forcing him to bail out of the attack.
Phew. Leo said to himself, That should be enough to keep him at bay until the end of the lap.
And indeed it was, with Leo finishing 1st with William a close 2nd.
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Race Results
1. Leonard Elliot
2. William Hunt
3. Elena Rossi
4. Bill Hempstead
5. Maxwell Sterling
6. Henry Hempstead
7. James Brown
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With the trial concluded, the instructors informed the drivers that the results would be announced after an evaluation period and that the person who had earned the seat would receive a letter in the mail. With that in mind, Hunt packed his things and started the drive back home.
On his way to his car, he ran into William. “Hey,” Leo had said. “Good race out there man. Almost had me at the end there.”
“Thanks” William replied, “You’re a natural at defending. Dare I say some of the current F1 drivers would have issues against that kind of defense.”
“Thanks, man, Good luck with the evaluation process. For what it's worth, if I don’t get it, I hope you get it.”
“Thanks, Same here,” William replied, smiling before heading to his car.
The rest of the day went by in a flash with Leo settling back into his usual daily routine. After climbing into bed, he just laid there, rethinking his day. It was something he liked doing, it allowed him to grow more as a person. He felt mixed. One side of him was worried that he hadn’t given enough, while the other side of him was stoked that he was finally given a chance.
Finally given a chance huh? He thought. Just a week ago, I would have never even dreamt of something so crazy, and now it's a reality. What a crazy life I’m living.
With that in mind, Leo slowly drifted off to sleep.
The next day, Leo woke up feeling like a child on a Christmas morning. Quickly, he hurried through his usual morning routine of brushing his teeth, taking a shower, and cooking breakfast. Today, he was cooking a scrambled eggs and bacon sandwich. While he was waiting for the oil to come up to temperature, he stepped out to quickly collect the mail.
Anxiously, he quickly sifted through the letters until he found the one he was looking for. Addressed to him was a letter from McLaren Automotives. Within that letter contained a decision that could make or break his future. Quickly opening the letter, he was met with the following content.
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Greetings Leonard Elliot!
We hope this letter finds you well. Recently, you completed our exam for a chance at a seat in our F1 first team. We are happy to inform you that following a lengthy evaluation process, you have been selected as the final candidate for the seat. Your agent has been contacted and we request that you report to the headquarters to start the contracting process.
Best Regards,
McLaren Automotives
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Leo was floored, He had finally done it. Years of hard work and patience had finally paid off. He was going. Then the smoke detector went off, snapping him out of cloud nine.
SHIT! He thought, rushing over to the stove to turn off the fire. Well, It could have been worse I guess. At least it’s just the pan.
Oiling the pan, Leo returned to cooking, this time as someone whose future was finally not in limbo.
Once Leo had wrapped up breakfast, he figured he’d better head over to the headquarters for contract discussions before it slipped his mind. But first, a quick call to his agent for them to meet up at the headquarters.
“Hey, Timber” Leo greeted. “I assume McLaren’s contacted you already?”
“Yep!” Timber responded. “Congrats on the new seat. Now what’s up?”
“I figured I should go in for contract discussion now instead of putting it off. Season’s coming up and I wouldn’t want to blunder my chances. When do you wanna head over?”
“If you want, I can go now.”
“Sure that works, I’ll see you there then,” Leo said.
“Gotcha, I’ll give McLaren a call to let them know we’re coming,” Timber replied before hanging up.
Once the two met up, they walked into the McLaren headquarters where McLaren Racing’s CEO Zak Brown was waiting for them.
“Hey, you must be Leonard. I’m sure you already know who I am. My name is Zak Brown.” Zak started.
“Pleasure to meet you, This is my agent Timber,” Leo replied. “You can call me Leo if you want.”
“Alright then Leo, what do you say we start with contract discussions yea?” Zak asked. Upon seeing Leo nod, He gestured for them to follow him into a conference room.
“Alright, let’s get started. Let’s start with the basics. So, since this is your rookie season, there isn’t going to be much going on with your contract. Most likely will be a simple race for us for x amount of time and get paid a salary of x amount of money.” Zak stated. “Currently we are willing to offer a contract of 4 years, with a starting salary of 3.5 million a season. That, however, can change depending on performances each season. Furthermore, there will be a bonus. As you know, our goal at McLaren is to return to the front of the pack and thus, we believe it is reasonable that for each podium finish you score this season, there will be a bonus of 15 thousand dollars added to the month's paycheck. Any objections to the current proposition?”
Leo thought for a while before turning to Timber. “Looks good. Any thoughts?”
Timber shook his head, giving Zak the go-ahead to continue. “Perfect! Now onto the finer details. I noticed that you drive a Toyota. Unfortunately, since McLaren itself is an automobile brand, we will have to ask you to stop driving that car. However, you will be able to choose from a selection of cars as your replacement. Is that understood?”
Leo nodded.
“Alright, anything else you want to add to the discussion?”
“Actually,” Leo started. “There is. So regarding travel and residency during races, is that something that I will have to take care of myself, or will that be covered by the team?”
“Good question,” Zak replied. “So, travel is your choice, you can choose to travel with the team, or you choose to travel on your own. Housing during the race weekend will be sponsored by our team and we will have your hotel room booked before the race weekend.”
“Ah. I see.” Leo nodded in understanding. “That's all I have”
“Alright, then let’s just sign here, and as of-” Zak checked his watch. “11:15 AM on 10/12/2024 you are now officially a part of McLaren Racing. We’ll assign a personal trainer from our team to your file and a schedule will be emailed to you. Welcome to the team”
“Thank you,” Leo said, standing up. “Have a nice day.”
And with that, Leo’s career in Formula One had officially started.