Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4 - 7 2018 | Page 277

“There is something wrong, Marcus…in our relationship…and my life…just don’t ask if you love me,
please.”
“Of course I love you, but if you’re not beside me then what’s the point of all of this?”
“Maybe you should try and let me go…I’m sure you will someday…”
I was only 14 when this happened. Call it petty love all you want. But that struck me like nothing
else back then. And predictably, I still haven’t let go…even up till now. For a while I lost all motivation
to live, and the fire I had in my heart to be different was put out temporarily by the sadness of Kate
leaving me. Somehow, through her friends, I figured out where she was going. She moved to
Buckinghamshire in Britain, because her British father thought that she had to study in UK for a few
years. After all she was still a British, even if her mother was a Hong Konger. Back then I made a wish
to go there the moment I was able to do so. I just didn’t think that it would become a reality.
But all love issues aside, I was here for one thing…well two things. And back when I first landed in
Britain, the other thing that I came for was the first priority. So I contacted a team manager from ART
Grand Prix, racing in F1’s support series GP2. Now that I think of it, I really have to thank the
principal of the racing school who allowed me to enrol. It was him who gave me the contacts to ART
Grand Prix. Thanks Charlie!
I joined the team after initial pre-season testing as the 2nd driver for the 2016 season. But at first
people in the team didn’t take me seriously, with me being Asian and all. But I wasn’t afraid. My
mechanics treated me like a friend of theirs, but not a good driver. When I took the first briefing from
the team, the team’s principal didn’t hide his feelings, “Alright listen up rookie, I know you are in love
with racing, so I’m not gonna go through the formality of introducing you to the points system of
Formula racing series. 1st place gets 25 points, 2nd place 18, 3rd place 15…you know all of this. But
don’t think for a moment that it’ll be a cruise down the streets. You’re in for some stiff competition this
season, with the reigning GP3 Champion Charles Leclerc being your teammate, Tough Luck, kid.”
“We’ll see.” It was just words that I spitted out in the heat of the moment. But I’ve got the skills to
bolster my claim. So…yeah, we’ll see.
I’m sure it won’t be interesting for you do sit through my races in full details. So in short, I had
qualified P1, starting first alongside my teammate Charles, whose laptime was 1.5 seconds down on
mine. Mind you, a lap of our race usually takes around 90 seconds or so, so 1.5 seconds is a huge gap.
Plus I had won the race as well. So…let’s just say that they then treated me like a real racing driver.
A season of racing is gone as fast as it came. And with it comes the long wait of off-season downtime.
That was the time when all of us GP2 drivers wait for the call from the big teams – those F1 teams. I
finished the season in 2nd place, tied with my teammate. I was hoping that one of those calls was for
me. Just any team would do, it didn’t need to be Ferrari, or Mercedes! Just a team in F1 is good enough
for me.
And you know what? I got my call on the Boxing Day! What an excellent gift from Santa it was! It
was from Red Bull Racing’s team principal, Christian Horner. And I still remember what he told me,
“Hey kid, you were phenomenal in GP2. Winning your debut race really did get our attention. We
closely followed your results over the course of this season. Ready for the big time? I can give you a
drive in the B team next season if you fancy.”