It was a quiet day for the 2022 F2 Champion. Then again, since his triumph in the 2022 season, no one else had really contacted him. Sure, he was still a part of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, but aside from the occasional call into the factory, there wasn’t much else F1-related he was a part of. Sure, he had done some outside racing in other series, but F1 was really the series he wanted to be a part of.

  Walking out of his house in North London, Leonard Elliot started his day off like any other person would, collecting the mail. Little did he know that what was in that mailbox was going to change his life forever. Hidden within all of the junk mail and advertisements was a letter of interest from his parent team, McLaren Racing.

  “Junk, junk, junk, ju-” he muttered to himself, slowly walking back to the comfort of his home. Upon reaching the letter, he froze.

  ‘It’s probably just another call-up to the HQ for testing,’ he thought to himself, quickly dismissing the notion of it being anything important.

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  While he had seemingly quickly dismissed the notion of it being anything massively important, a small part of him quietly hoped it was the call-up he had desired. However, to his surprise, when he finally got around to opening the letter, he was stunned into silence.

  Greetings, Leonard Elliot!

  This is McLaren Racing, your parent team in the McLaren Driver Development Programme. We have seen your results from your past adventures in Formula 2 and your more recent outings with team tests. Thus, we have elected to ask you to come to our McLaren Technology Centre to participate in an evaluation process alongside your fellow academy members. We hope to see you there!

  Best Regards,

  McLaren Racing

  Leonard stood there in shock, not knowing how to react. On one hand, he was jumping with joy that he was finally given a chance. But on the other hand, the doubts were starting to creep in. Sure, he was an F2 Champion, but he was also nearly 3 years out of practice. Quickly, he shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Doubts would only hold him back. McLaren had given him a chance, and he’d be damned if he didn’t give it his all.