A/N This chapter is a tribute to one of the greatest drivers.

It has been two weeks since Morgan met my family. Thankfully they seem to accept her, especially my dad. The reason why I single out my dad is because of the fact that he is the most protective of me. In fact, he seems even more proud than usual. I shrug the thought off as I need to make sure that I am ready for the first round of free practice of the German Grand Prix. I am a little nervous as I have a special guest. I have the added issue of this being my first time at the Nürburgring GP circuit. Right now I am watching over Morgan however something is different.

"Mick you need to trust... Morgan. If you are worried...about proving your...self you don't have to," my dad remarks.

"That's not what I am worried about dad. It's the off-track drama that's bothering me," I respond before filling my dad in. It doesn't take long for Morgan to grab my attention.

"Have you told your dad not to worry?" Morgan asks to check on me.

"Yeah but nothing will put his mind at ease," I reply as I pull my balaclava over my head. To be honest my biggest problem is the fact that my dad worries too much. The thing is I can't blame him.

"That's fair," Morgan says as she makes the final preparations. With that, I get my helmet on. I just need to put everything aside as I have a job to do. With Morgan's help, I am quick to get myself comfortable. I take a deep breath as Morgan gestures for me to leave. It doesn't take long for me to establish a rhythm. As per usual, The car is sluggish but there is nothing that I can do about it. I should be fine so long as nothing happens. After forty-five minutes of gathering the required data, the first free practice session has come to an end. I am quick to rescue myself from the car. Morgan's team descends on the car but I notice that she is not with her team or on the pit wall. That's odd. I shed my gloves, helmet and balaclava and I head to the one place where she could be. It doesn't take long for me to find her, however, she is talking to Dmitry about something.

"Look Dmitry you and your group are going to have to start treating Yuri and his team with respect. I will not be working with your son. Full stop. Speaking of work I have a lot to do," Morgan says as she gets up. She is not happy. I am suddenly hit by the feeling of someone's death glaring at me. There could only be one person. I shake the thought out of my head as I really need to focus on the weekend.

"Thank you for bailing me out but both Dmitry and Nikita need to learn some respect," Morgan explains the situation.

"Let me know if you have any issues with either of them," I find myself going into protective mode. I just hope that I won't have to confront Nikita again. With that Morgan and I head back to the garage which is now a hive of activity. It has been a day since then and the good thing is the free practice sessions only uncovered some minor issues which Morgan fixed quite quickly. I just hope that the issues don't flare up during qualifying. Right now I am talking to my dad while I get a few things ready.

"Mick you need... to... trust her," My dad reminds me for what feels like the millionth time.

"I do trust Morgan. The issue is the car is bad and we have a jerk of a title sponsor breathing down our necks," I respond. In fact, Morgan is one of a few people in the team that I could actually trust.

"I think it's something else," My dad says as he looks me in the eyes. Maybe he is right. It will have to be something that I think about after qualifying. After a quick conversation, I head to the garage. It doesn't take me long to do the final preparations. After a tense wait, I am sent out.

"Mick we are going to get you to do a couple of push laps before the track gets busy," My lead engineer remarks.

"Ok, Cal," I replied. With that, I get to work on making sure I can set a good time. As the fifteen minutes tick down I feel like I have done all that I can for Q1. To be honest there is not much that I can do unless I receive a miracle. It doesn't take long for me to get some good news.

"Mick you are in P12 at the moment. We'll discuss where you can improve," Cal announces via the radio. Well, at least I know that the car is holding together. After what feels like an eternity I am back out for Q2. This time I don't have much luck. I ended the session in P12. It's not a bad result for Haas but I am struck by the feeling that something is going wrong. I hope it doesn't because I have the added bonus of it being a home Grand Prix. At least I have a chance to score some more points. The mood is tense right now. The countdown has begun. The lights come on one by one. After a brief pause, they go out. As soon as they do I launch the car. I am able to get the jump on the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda. That means I am now in eleventh place. After a relatively calm hour of chasing the Tenth place car, I feel that there is something wrong. I have to hold the paddle to make sure that the gear changes stick.

"I think there is something wrong with the car," I announce via the radio. I hope it has nothing to do with the issues that the car had during the free practice sessions.

"Morgan is working on diagnosing the issue. Just stay calm," Cal replies. I can tell that it is not good. After a few seconds of silence, Cal comes back on the radio.

"Mick, you're going to have a struggle. You are going to have to keep it in fifth somehow," Cal is panicked. Ok, it should be easy but I have a car in front that I want to overtake. Oh well, it is looking like I can't score points. I just need to bring the car home. I take a deep breath as I do the only thing that I can think of to keep the car in fifth gear. That is hold the up-shift paddle. After a few laps like this, I feel a sharp pain through my hand. I chose to ignore it as there is not much that I can do until the race is over. After thirty minutes of wrestling through the pain, it has come down to the last lap. I have a slim chance of catching Antonio Giovinazzi but I am not sure if I can bear the pain for much longer. I grit my teeth as I go for the pass however I am unable to do it.

"That was a mega effort, Mick. Let's bring it home," Cal remarks however I am not feeling the same level of enthusiasm. I could have gotten a point but I couldn't because of the fact that my hand cramped up. If I hadn't had the gearbox issue I would have made it into tenth. I can feel the disappointment set in. The thing is I know that I shouldn't be disappointed with the result as it was impressive that I managed to keep the car going. Thankfully Morgan is there to help free me from the car.

"Mick, I think you should go to the medical building," Morgan remarks as I struggle to undo the straps of my helmet. That means she must see that I am in pain.

"I was going anyway," I reassured her. It doesn't take long for me to make it to the medical centre. Like the last time I was in the medical centre, the doctor was quick to deal with me. Luckily it is an issue that I can work with my trainer to fix. It has been a few hours since the race and I am relaxing in my hotel room. I should really be doing something with Morgan and my family but I can't bring myself to do anything. The disappointment is real. It's weighing on my mind which is making me feel like crap. I hear a couple of voices outside my door.

"No Morgan. I'll talk to... Mick," It's my dad and Morgan. They have probably come to make me feel better.

"Ok. I'll be waiting outside," Morgan replies as I get up and open the door.

"Mick you shouldn't be... upset," My dad gets to work on making me feel better.

"I'm not upset. I'm disappointed. I should-,"

"I've had moments like that. You know what I did?" My dad cuts me off. He's only cut me off a couple of times and they were when I wasn't trusting myself.

"You put some faith in Millie, your lead mechanic. Then you got the job done," I responded. Then it clicks. Morgan is the reason why I am not stuck at the back of the grid. The disappointment seems to fade away as soon as I realise that I am lucky to have someone like Morgan. Speaking of Morgan, she has joined us. My dad leaves us alone now that he has done his part. Sure it may not have been the best weekend for me but I had the support of my family as well as Morgan.