Chapter 32
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
GRAN PREMIO DE LA CIUDAD DE MéXICO | FRIDAY | FREE PRACTICE
Laurent Dubois has set up camp in the office across from Marcus’s inside WolfBett’s business unit. All the questions are what Nico expects until the man brings up paddock passes and team guests.
Dubois looks up from his notes, his expression bland.
He has thin lips and the kind of eyes that are so pale blue they seem almost clear.
He’s clean-shaven, French, forty-ish, and humorless.
Nico wonders if he wanted to be a driver but grew to be too tall or just wasn’t good enough.
“Your sister visited several times this season, Nico. Correct?”
“No me jodas.” The words escape before Nico can stop them. “You’re not seriously suggesting my sister is involved in this.”
“I am exploring all possibilities.” Dubois consults his tablet. “Nicolina Belmonte has access to multiple team garages through family connections—”
Nico cuts in, voice deadly quiet. “Nicolina is a primary school teacher who’s been through enough hell without your baseless implications.”
Marcus appears in the doorway. “My driver needs to prepare for FP2.” He must’ve been listening in. “And Carlos Belmonte would be very interested in any investigation involving his daughter.”
The implied threat lands. Everyone remembers Carlos’s battles with the FIA. His influence is far reaching.
“I’m simply following protocols,” the investigator replies, unruffled. “Checking all visitors’ activities.”
“Check elsewhere.” Nico stands, fury barely contained.
“And never mention my sister in connection with this again.” He strides from the office, his hands clenched into fists.
The nerve of that pendejo suggesting Nicolina could be involved in espionage.
His sister teaches children how to read and count and fold towels, for fuck’s sake.
“Conejo.” Esteban appears at his elbow, matching his pace as they head toward the garage. “You look like you want to punch someone.”
“Several someones.” Nico’s jaw works. “Dubois just implied Nia might be stealing technical data.”
“Nicolina? I understand being thorough, but that’s just idiotic.”
“It’s insulting.” They reach the garage where mechanics swarm Nico’s car, making adjustments based on FP1 data. The familiarity of pre-practice organized chaos calms him.
Roxana approaches, race engineer headset already around her neck. “How did the interview go?”
“Badly.” Nico pulls his arms through his race suit sleeves, zipping it up over his fireproofs. “They’re fishing for anything they can find.”
“Well, they won’t find it here.” She checks her tablet. “Forty-five minutes until the fast lane opens. Let’s discuss your setup.”
Esteban helps adjust his collar. “Let go of your anger, Nico.”
“Sí.” Nico thinks briefly of Petra dealing with her own investigator somewhere in the paddock, probably handling it with more grace than he managed. The thought of her steadies him as he follows his racing engineer to her station.
“The altitude is affecting brake cooling more than we expected.” Rox highlights specific data points. “See here? Temperature spikes in the medium-speed corners.”
“Adjust the brake ducts?” Nico traces the temperature curve. “Maybe redirect more airflow without compromising downforce?”
Heinrich joins the discussion. “We’ve modeled three options.” He points to a technical diagram on Roxana’s screen. “This one gives us better cooling but might affect stability under heavy braking.”
Nico nods. “Show me the comparison data.”
They dive deep into brake temperatures, downforce levels, and tire degradation patterns, finally settling on some minor changes to Nico’s setup.
Heinrich steps back. “We’ll adjust the front wing angle to compensate for the reduced air density. See how the car performs through FP2.”
Nico nods. “And the diffuser?”
“The team is modifying it based on your feedback from FP1.”
Esteban claps him on the shoulder. “Go find a quiet spot to unwind before you get back in the car.”
Nico nods. He knows when to listen to his trainer, and Esteban knows when to send him off on his own.
The paddock hums with Friday energy as Nico leaves the garage. Teams move equipment, media chases down stories, and mechanics hurry to make setup changes before FP2. Nico’s looking for a quiet place in the pit building.
“Brake temperatures?” Petra falls into step beside him as he nears a lift. It goes up to the F1 VIP suites above the garages. She’s all business.
“Altitude effects. You?”
“Looking for grip.” She grabs his sleeve. “Come on. I know where we can chill.”
They take the lift to the top level, hustle past suites filled with well-heeled fans, then take a set of stairs that leads to the building’s roof. The perspective is outstanding. From here, they can see the long main straight, the challenging first sector, and the stadium in the distance.
“God, I love this crowd.” She points to the grandstands filling with fans despite it being only Friday practice. Mexican F1 fans are legendary for their passion, arriving early and staying late.
Nico traces the circuit with his gaze, visualizing his racing line. “Turn 4 will be crucial with these brake temperatures.”
“The long run to turn 3 makes it brutal if you’re not perfect through there,” Petra agrees, following his gaze.
They fall into technical discussion, analyzing the track layout and discussing setup challenges, both seeking those crucial tenths that make the difference between winning and just showing up.
They’re being watched and photographed, of course, but it doesn’t matter if they don’t let it.
“Your brake temperatures still affecting turn 13 entry?” She studies the corner sequence.
“Working on it. You sorted that suspension issue?”
Petra scoffs. “What issue?”
Nico laughs.
It’s just shop talk between competitors. The way they’ve done since the days when they competed together on WB’s karting team.
“Heinrich thinks the altitude’s throwing off everyone’s calculations.” Nico watches a marshal’s vehicle sweep the empty track. “Every team’s scrambling to adjust.”
“Asuka agrees.” The air density changes everything—brake cooling, engine performance, downforce. She gestures toward the track. “Those tight corners in sector 3 are going to expose everyone’s weaknesses.”
“Es verdad.” It’s true. Mexico City’s unique challenges magnify every setup error.
“Your teammate looked more controlled in FP1,” she says.
Nico nods. “He’s finding his way back to who he was before Graham’s expectations became louder than his instincts.”
“Yeah. It’s good to see.”
They’re avoiding discussing the FIA investigation, and Nico’s fine with that. Talking about it won’t change anything, and he’d rather just plan racing lines and be with her.
Racing strategy and Petra, his two favorite things.
She bumps her shoulder against his as fans wave and cheer, spotting them on the roof. “Your setup ready for FP2?”
Nico waves to the fans, then pushes back from the roof railing and offers his hand. “Close. Just a few adjustments. Yours?”
She squints up at him, then takes his hand and follows him toward the stairs. “Asuka’s found something in the differential mapping.”
At the bottom of the stairs, he kisses her hand then her lips. He doesn’t care who photographs them. Let the world see. Nico Belmonte loves Petra Hayter, and he’s not going to hide it anymore.
FP2 starts clean and easy with installation laps, temperature checks, systems verification.
“Hayter’s just gone purple in sector 1,” Roxana reports. “Setting personal bests through the sequence.” She learned from their foray onto the roof.
Nico checks out the huge screens stationed around the circuit as he flashes past. They broadcast views of the track for fans to watch, and he catches a glimpse of Petra’s dark green car flying through corners like she’s transforming off-track stress into pure speed.
“Your brake temperatures are stable,” Roxana says in his ear. “Heinrich wants you to push.”
“Vale.” Nico sets up for a flying lap, watching Petra’s sector times flash purple again. She’s always been fast here—the technical sections suit her precise style—but today she’s outstanding.
“Hayter’s two tenths up through sector 2,” Rox updates. “She’s really attacking that brake zone.”
Of course she is. Every challenge, every doubt, every question about her integrity, she’s answering them all on track.
Nico pushes harder, finding his own rhythm, but Petra’s pace today is blistering.
If she keeps this up, Sunday’s race promises to be challenging.
“Box this lap, Nico. Box, box. Let’s make some adjustments.”
“Alright.”
In the garage, he watches footage on his monitors of Petra’s car flashing past the start-finish line. She nabs another purple sector.
Baz leans into the cockpit. “Changes feeling good?”
Nico nods. “Better through sector 3.” The car feels more planted, brake temperatures finally cooperating. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
His number one mechanic guides him out to the fast lane and he takes an easy out lap, building temperature in the tires and seeking that perfect window where everything works together.
“Track clear ahead,” Roxana reports. “This is your lap, Nico.”
Turn 1 flows into 2, every apex exactly where he wants it. The car’s screaming through the long straights, a joy to drive. Then hard on the brakes for 4, 5, and 6. The changes work, and the car responds precisely, rotating just right through the technical sequence.
“Purple sector 1.”
The altitude tries to rob power, but Nico’s learned this circuit’s tricks over the years and knows how to compensate.
“Two tenths up through sector 2.”
Into Foro Sol now, the car skating a fine line between traction and slide. Everything is dialed in and he’s one hundred percent in the flow. He crosses the finish line, and the delta flashes green on his display.
“Purple.” Rox confirms it. “You have the fastest lap by three hundredths.”
Nico spies Petra starting her final run as he heads for the pit lane.