‘It was a bad season because you didn’t win the championship. Yes, we both know the car was a big reason for that,’ Dominic said, cutting him off and coming to stand beside him. ‘The second half of the season did a lot of damage. You had no pace in that car to mount any kind of challenge, and I know what it took for you to drag it to the podium. But regardless of the reason, you lost your drive. You need some good PR.’
‘She’s the reason I need good PR, Dom.’ Lukas turned to face his manager. ‘The shit she’s been saying about Easton Rivers is exactly why no one cares how unfair it was that I lost my seat.’
‘I get that, Lukas,’ Dominic said patiently. ‘But the things she says are true. Easton Rivers won his junior championship, he showed pace in his tests…’
‘None of that matters!’ Lukas raged. ‘He’s Thomas Dudek’s driver. Dudek created a seat in the team he runs for the driver he manages! By dumping me!’
‘I know, Lukas.’
‘Plus, Easton comes with money. Dudek didn’t have to give him my seat. Easton could have bought one! He could use all that sponsorship money for a back-marker team like Brock Racing who would gladly paste the name of his backers on their car. Those teams are uncompetitive, he could make a difference there and pay his dues. And what about the fact that we were promised a contract renewal? I met with Dudek, he assured me that there was no truth to Katherine’s reports about Rivers taking my place. That it was all rumours.’ Lukas paced like a caged animal.
‘I had a similar conversation with him,’ Dominic agreed.
‘And we have no recourse? You know there is only one reason he waited until all the top teams’ seats were filled before he announced Rivers as his driver.’
‘I know, Lukas. You’re right. He did it so that you wouldn’t have a competitive seat. He knows that you would take another team to a driver’s and possibly a constructor’s title. I know it hurts that after all these years with the team he made you think he was announcing a renewal but announced Rivers instead. Iknow, Lukas. But we have to face reality. Your now former teammate, Will, is young and recently signed. They would never get rid of him. Not after one season and not with him being an academy driver. Not even with you finishing second and him eighth. And Rivers is in the other seat. Nothing will change that, so we need to look at alternatives. Negotiations will be difficult because you do have a “first driver” stipulation for any contract we pursue.’
Lukas slumped against the gold Art Deco porch post that served no other purpose than being decorative. ‘Have I told you how much I love it when you’re blunt?’
Dominic chuckled sympathetically. ‘I know it isn’t fair, but we need to work on what we can change. We can’t undo anything that happened this year, but maybe we can salvage next year and get you something worthwhile and lucrative.’
Lucrative.
When Lukas had been a child racing around the local go-kart track in the foothills of the Ybbstal Alps of Austria in a kart his father built, with tyres cast off from rich parents looking to get rid of them, money had been the farthest thing from his mind. It had all been about the dream: to make it to Alpha One. Now so much of the negotiation revolved around money, but he would happily take a cut in earnings if it put him in acompetitiveseat. He didn’t want to be at the back of the grid. He wanted to drive…and win.
He owed his father that much. Especially after he’d cost his father his marriage. A comfortable life. A stress-free life.
Would his father be disappointed in him after this nightmare of a year?
He couldn’t know. Couldn’t contact the dead. All Lukascoulddo was make every choice that would take him back to the sharp end of the grid.
‘Whether you like it or not,’ Dom went on, ‘Katherine is loved by the fans, so you need to work with her. Leverage the public’s opinion of the two of you.’
Lukas scoffed. ‘You mean play into the idiotic fantasy of the two of us being a couple? Hell will freeze over first.’
Dominic sighed.
‘Dom, you know how I feel about the media. The off-season allows me my space. My privacy. But more importantly, I don’t want to be around the woman who championed the driver who took my seat. If you recall, it was Katherine who said that it was a “no-brainer” to replace me with Easton. She questioned whether other teams like Brock Racing would actually consider taking on me, a driver at the end of his career. Do you remember that?’
‘I do, but think about how it will appear if the person who is so against you is in a car appearing to have a good time with you. Asking you questions to keep the world thinking about you.’
Lukas laughed as he ran a hand through his hair. He understood exactly what Dominic had done. ‘You asked for her to do this, didn’t you?’
His friend and manager simply smiled. ‘You need to keep in the public eye to keep your prospects alive. If the teams that haven’t yet finalised their line-up for next year don’t consider you, you will be without a drive. And then your only option is retirement. All the reserve driver roles are taken. Every single one of them is younger than you. Even if we do manage to wrangle up some sort of additional driver position, are you going to be happy doing publicity stunts and sim work?’
‘No,’ Lukas admitted. But those weren’t his only options. There was another. One he hadn’t mentioned to Dominic or anyone because he didn’t want to consider it at all.
A new team would be entering the sport next season. A small team that had approached Lukas to lead them. It would make him the youngest team principal in the sport’s history. The car had less than no chance of winning in their first season, let alone scoring points, but it would be an opportunity to grow the organization and grow as a leader with it.
Lukas Jäger: boss of an Alpha One team. He couldn’t picture it. Or rather, he didn’t want to picture being in charge of the day-to-day running of a team. Overseeing the team and car’s performance from an office and the pitwall. Lukas didn’t want that. Didn’t want to consider it even for a moment because it meant his career as a driver would undeniably be over. There would be no way back into the cockpit.
No way to repay his father for all the sacrifices.
‘Fine. I’ll go to Finland, but I have conditions.’
‘I knew you would. Let’s hear it.’
Lukas fought a smile at how well Dominic knew him. ‘It’s obvious we’ll be forced to stay there at least overnight, so I want my accommodation away from Aero.’
