How Did We Get Here??

As William walked up to the track, he had taken notice of the significant amount of dark clouds that were hanging over the track.

'It better not rain,' He thought. 'I've had enough of bad weather for a while.'

"Good Morning William." Mark said. 'I know you're gonna hate me for this, but rain is a possibility today."

William sighed, "Anything else you want to break to me? Maybe a grid penalty you guys forgot to tell me about?"

"No. Nothing of the sort. I just thought I'd mention it to you so when it did start raining you wouldn't be blindsided."

"So when is this rain expected?"

"Lap 20 to the end of the race."

"Any chance for full wets?"

"Possibly."

"You know what, I'll worry about this when it actually happens. Let's get this race started"

[Pre-race Commentary]

"Hello and welcome to the 2nd ever Miami Grand Prix. The Miami International Autodrome at Hard Rock features 19 corners over 5.41 km. With 3 DRS Zones, racing will surely be entertaining. Taking pole today will be Charles Leclerc, followed by Sergio Perez, Carlos Sainz, Max Verstappen, Stoffel Vandoorne, Valtteri Bottas, William Hunt, Fernando Alonso, George Russell, Lando Norris, Sebastian Vettel, Esteban Ocon, Daniel Riccardo, Lance Stroll, Yuki Tsunoda, Jack Aitken, Pierre Gasly, Nicholas Latifi, Kimi Raikkonen, Mick Schumacher, Callum Ilott, and Nikita Mazepin round off the grid."

Mark: Radio check! Radio check!

Hunt: Loud and clear.

Mark: So the strategy today is to start on the softs, since the track is colder we expect the soft tires to last a lot longer. After the dry stint is up, we'll pit for intermediates.

Hunt: Okay.

"As the five red lights start their countdown. And it's light out and away we go! Charles gets a good start but so does Perez, their neck and neck going into the first turn, who's going to break later? It's Sergio Perez who takes P1 out of turn 1! Everyone else has gotten through without an issue."

Mark: You are currently P6, Next car up ahead is Vandoorne, currency 0.3 ahead. Good start let's keep pushing, you're leading your teammate by 0.7 seconds. The car behind is Bottas, 0.3 behind.

Hunt: Copy.

"Now into Turn 6, Charles has a run on Perez. Round the outside he tries, can he get around? No, Perez gets a better exit and shuts the door, further back, Bottas tries a move on Hunt, can he get through? Hunt keeps his P6."

"Yellow flags in the first sector, what's gone on? It's the Mercedes of Vandoorne! What's happened? As we look at the replay, we see Hunt dive to the inside and Vandoorne just turns in on him. I think that Vandoorne got to take every bit of blame for that. Hunt was clearly close enough to warrant space, and that space was just not given."

Hunt: What the ****! He just turned in on me? Check for damage!

Mark: Everything looks fine.

[Vandoorne's Radio]

Vandoorne: I got hit! ****! Check for damage.

Steve: No damage visible keep going!

"As we move onto lap 10, Charles Leclerc, closing on Sergio Perez into turn 1 they go, Sergio Perez on the inside, Charles Leclerc on the outside. PEREZ LOCKS UP! Into turn 1 Perez has gone steaming ahead. Leclerc goes up into P1! An uncharacteristic mistake from the Mexican hands the lead over to Leclerc"

Hunt: Rain's starting to fall!

Mark: Copy. Do you want to pit?

Hunt: Not yet!

Mark: Copy

"Some drivers are starting to report rain falling on the track. What an interesting turn to this race!"

Mark: Other drivers are pitting, do you want to pit?

Hunt: The mediums still feel fine, I'll keep going for a few more laps.

"Another Interesting story, Pierre Gasly has been given a 5 second time penalty for an unsafe release. Now as all the other drivers pit, Hunt continues on, an interesting decision from the Jaguar team."

Hunt: Box this lap, tires are starting to go off.

Mark: Pit confirm. Box this lap.

"Hunt, Finally comes in for his set of intermediate tires, Out of the pit lane he comes, has his gamble paid off? Yes it has! He comes out still ahead of Bottas who moved up to P6 after his teammate's collision but miles closer to Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen."

Mark: You are still P5, the next cars up the road are Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz.

Hunt: YES!

Mark: Head down, let's push.

Hunt: Copy.

"Verstappen and Sainz have battled it out and finally it has all come down to this, down into turn 1 they go, Sainz with track position, Verstappen on the outside, Sainz on the inside. Who brakes later? Sainz does, but perhaps he broke a little too late as Sainz takes them both wide. And look who's benefited! All this battling has allowed Hunt to close right up and now with both drivers wide, Hunt says "Thank you very much" and swoops in for both positions."

Mark: Good overtake, that's P3. Let's bring this home.

Hunt: Leave it to me.

"Farther back down the track it is the other Jaguar making moves. He started P9 and now he's clawed his way up to P7. Down the back straight DRS wide open, hounding the Mercedes of Stoffel Vandoorne. Vandoorne already fought with the 1 Jaguar and now the other ones come knocking, Vandoorne defends the inside line, Russell goes to the outside, brakes early and does the switcheroo with Vandoorne, takes the inside with a better exit and powers past the Mercedes."

Marcus: Good overtake, That's P6. Good work. The next cars ahead are Max and Carlos, both battling hard, you should catch up to them in a few laps.

Russell: Copy.

"Statistically speaking Hunt should have been long passed by Verstappen and Sainz, but because of the rain, Sainz has been unable to break away from Verstappen. Verstappen has been relentless with his attacks but he hasn't been able to get past and now look who's caught up! The other Jaguar of George Russell has closed right up to the two. Now into turn 1, Sainz goes to the inside, Verstappen to the outside. Sainz brakes later. This time, He keeps it on the track and stays ahead. Now it's Verstappen under pressure as now he's the one being attacked. Through the fast sector 1. Russell's practically pushing Verstappen through and into turn 6, Russell strikes! Down the inside he goes, Verstappen caught napping is forced to concede the position."

Marcus: That's P5. Next car ahead is Sainz. Keep close, maybe you'll get a chance.

Russell: Copy.

Russell: What's the gap between me and Sainz?

Marcus: 0.5 and slowly gaining. Looks like this is as far as we'll get.

Russell: Unlucky

Hunt: I think the rain is getting heavier, I'm losing grip through the last few turns.

Mark: Rain is getting heavier, we expect it to get a bit worse, but still intermediate conditions.

[George's Radio]

Marcus: Hunt has noticed more rain in the last few corners. Gap to Sainz has dropped a tenth. Try to pressure him into a mistake.

Russell: Okay.

"Hunt may be clear in P3, but his teammate is still pushing! He's dropped the gap to Sainz from 0.4s to 0.2. If this goes on we may have a real battle for P4 soon! Speaking of that battle as they head onto the final few laps of the race, Russell's got a great exit out of turn 17 and is closing rapidly on Sainz. Down the main straight they come into turn 1, Russell thinks about it but backs out."

"We're on the final lap of the grand prix and Russell is still hunting for that P4 spot. He's been tucked behind Sainz for the entire race, can he do anything to get past? As they enter the back straight, Sainz finds himself under attack once more. He lost a podium spot to one Jaguar, will he lose P4 to the other Jaguar? Down the back straight, George Russell and Carlos Sainz, a drag race to turn 17. Russell ahead but as they go into turn 17, Russell on the brakes first, Sainz gets back ahead. But it's not over yet. Russell with the better exit gets back ahead but Carlos is still there, it's another drag race between the two and one that Russell will just barely win. Wow what an end to a race that was. The podium is the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc in P1, followed by Sergio Perez in P2 and once again, William Hunt, finds himself on the podium again in P3."

Marcus: P4! P4! What a drive! Good Job!

Russell: WOO! LETS GO! That was so much fun. Thank you guys for making such a great car.

[William's Radio]

Mark: And that's P3! P3! Great drive!

Hunt: YES! LETS GO! WOO! Thank you guys for the car, I had a great time today.

For the 2nd time in 2 weeks, Hunt once again found himself back on the podium. He was truly in disbelief. He couldn't believe that this was real. As he celebrated with the other 2 drivers, the imposter syndrome hit. How did he get here? A few months ago this wouldn't have even been in his wildest dreams, and something this unfathomable was a reality.