Page 43 of Tipping Point

But something is different. Something is wrong. I went through his stats the last five years and sat through hours of footage of his races. They are solid and nondescript. I went back further, to before his accident.

He’s driving like he used to back then. He’s slower, but he isn’t in as good a car.

It bothers me, this sudden change in style.

I’ve established he hates being a race car driver, and here he is driving as if his life depends on it.

I need answers, and I cannot let it go.

The women are all comfortably weighing up the risks their husbands and boyfriends take, and the lives they lead because of it. Sophia has managed to build a very solid life with Ollie, despite him being on the move constantly. Her biggest fear is going into labour on race day. She wants him present.

“The intensity he brings to the racetrack…” She looks at the other girls for confirmation. “He’s like that by nature. He brings that intensity to everything he does. I’ve never experienced anything like it, and it’s hard to describe, but I think it adds a depth to our relationship that makes it worthwhile.”

Rheese’s girl and the French girl are discussing how their lives changed when they met their guys, the parties and the clothes and grand romantic gestures. It has blown them cleanly off their feet, how they’re being treated.

The French girl spices it up for us. “They push the limits, and being with someone like that, someone who chases a thrill…well. It translates very well to the bedroom.”

They burst into fits of giggles.

Nakato summed it up.

“The sport they chose is solitary. They rely on no one but themselves. We could never,” she says, making quotation marks in the air, “‘own’ them, like you’d expect from a normal relationship. But we aren’t alone. We have each other.” She gestures around her. “There are other women here who know what it’s like, who know what you’re going through. Just knowing that we have that makes it bearable when you go through scary or difficult times.”

They fall into pensive silence.

Faced with their beauty and their luxurious lifestyles, I have, for a moment, forgotten that they are just beautiful women who love men who love to race.

Men who risk their lives for it.

* * *

CAMILLE

I’m going through the footage from the race two days ago. Evan filmed Reese as he strode past Finn. After completing the cooling down lap, Finn is absorbed in conversation with Jack. I was with Jay as Evan filmed this, over at the podiums, filming the spraying of champagne and hoisting of trophies.

I haven’t seen this footage yet.

Rheese is frustrated and disappointed, and it shows. As he walks past Finn, he sneers.

“Bit of a risky overtake in that last corner, don’t you think?”

Fin gives him an offhanded glance. “It’s only a risk if you’re inexperienced.”

Rheese’s face turns redder, an angry flush. He spots Evan filming and walks on.

My neck is sore from sitting hunched over my laptop and I push it aside, lying down on the flat of my back on the bed.

My phone vibrates.

Amy (13:12) Can’t wait to see you next week!

I smile and reply with a GIF of a puppy twirling excitedly.

The next race is at Silverstone, back in the UK, and I’m heading home for a short break before the race.

But first we have to film a ball. As in, an actual ball, being hosted in a ballroom in Vienna. It’s a charity ball, and it’s a big event on the social calendar. The Annual Grande Prima, being the major sponsor, expects all the drivers to attend.

It’s black tie, and if we want to film, we have to dress appropriately.

---