GP Racers

Tokyo — Monday Morning

The Tokyo skyline remained vibrant, but inside Vaayu GP's operations, the buzz had turned urgent. No panic, no chaos — just a quiet, relentless determination.

Maya Rathi sat hunched over her laptop in the team's logistics suite. The screen was filled with cost projections, invoices, and red lines. Her phone pinged with supplier follow-ups, but she ignored it for now.

> "Do we really need the third hospitality truck for Monza?" she murmured.

Click.

> "Do the drivers really need business class?"

Click.

> "What if we ship non-critical equipment two races later, combine containers...?"

Click.

She ran simulations with lower freight weights and fewer personnel. She slashed marketing travel, froze non-essential merchandise orders, and negotiated with vendors — offering early branding space on the car in exchange for delayed payments.

Her plan: is to shave 12% off travel and ops costs before Tuesday noon.

---

Elsewhere — PR Lounge

Rina Patel adjusted her headset, pacing the room like a chess player deciding which piece to move first. On her tablet, a draft PR calendar blinked with empty slots. She stabbed at it with precision.

> "Tuesday morning — interview with 'Paddock Today,' slot Raghav at 10:30. That'll highlight our sustainability focus."

"Thursday — Italian media pre-brief. Push the 'resilient underdogs' narrative."

"Weekend — set up the new 'Tech with Siddharth' reel. DIY car culture still gets traction online."

She pulled up old clips of Raghav's speeches — stoic, poised, but too guarded. Not this time.

She sent him a simple message:

"Show them the leader, Raghav, not the shield. Let them believe in you, again."

---

Garage Area — Monday Afternoon

Siddharth had grease on his sleeves, a pencil behind his ear, and a notepad scrawled with diagrams. His face was set with a kind of engineer's mischief.

> "If we can 3D print the new endplates locally in Italy instead of air-shipping from India... that saves nearly 300 euros per piece."

He called in favors from his university network — former classmates, small-time composite startups in Bologna and Milan. A buddy in Florence agreed to lend a prototype-grade wind tunnel for three sessions, cheap.

He even convinced a data partner to let them beta-test a stripped-down analytics AI tool, normally reserved for premium-tier teams.

Siddharth's philosophy: "Less money. More ingenuity. Desi jugaad."

---

Hotel Rooftop — That Evening

The Tokyo skyline glowed in soft pinks and orange. On the empty rooftop, Coach Arne stood beside Sukhman Singh, both looking out over the city. Neither spoke for a long time.

Sukhman finally broke the silence.

> "Everything okay? The team for some reaseon seems... tense."

Arne took a drag from his cigarette but didn't look at him.

> "Pressure's a part of the air now. You can't fight it. You have to ride it."

Sukhman turned to him, confused.

> "Is something wrong with the car?"

Arne finally looked at him, eyes sharp but not unkind.

> "Car is a machine. Human is the heart. We're betting on yours."

Sukhman blinked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Arne smiled faintly, then flicked the cigarette away.

> "Do better what you are expected to do. Not just for points. For the people holding the pieces together."

He walked away, leaving Sukhman staring at the sky.

---

Tuesday Noon — Narita International Airport

Vaayu GP's crew moved through Terminal 1 in a well-rehearsed march of hard cases, equipment bags, and branded jackets. Despite the reduced staff, every person carried double the responsibility.

Rina was coordinating translations for Monza interviews from her phone.

Siddharth checked a courier update for the new endplates.

Maya was already reviewing hotel invoices for Italy.

And Arne walked silently beside Raghav — both knowing what lay ahead was bigger than just a race.

In the final boarding call for Flight 497A to Milan, the Vaayu GP team crossed into a new chapter — not as a powerhouse, but as survivors sharpening their blades.

And as Sukhman stared out of the plane window, something Arne said echoed again:

> "We're betting on your heart."