Eyes on the prize- Sebastian Vettel

40. German races

I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last update! I'm so sorry I've been so bad at keeping up with my books!!
HB3112

The day had come for Joey to travel to Hockenheim for the one and only race as support for the Formula1 weekend. Being part of the Mercedes family meant that, even if they only had a Friday qualifying and one race on each day of the weekend, she would have to be at the paddock from Thursday for the media commitments. Mercedes had decided to launch a one-off livery and uniform for the weekend, and Joey had liked the idea of dressing up in 50s style, for once ditching her jeans and hoodie combo. 

Liam had offered to carry her bags and personal items, as Joey had chosen a tight v cut top and a large polka dot skirt with comfortable heels. Her bright ginger hair was combed in an updo and the look was completed by a pair of 50s sunglasses.

'Jee, lass. You've gone full in' Liam teased her, as she opened the hotel door for him.

'I know, it's nice to be feminine once in a while. But I'm not expecting everyone to like it'

'Well, Seb definitely will' Liam said, with a cheeky wink. 'Let's go. Jesus. Why is your stuff so heavy?'

'Less complaining, more carrying babes' she chuckled.

They soon left the hotel to drive the short distance to the circuit.

Joey had forgotten how much more media was present at a Formula1 event, compared to their normal races. She suddenly felt exposed, covering her face with her glasses a little more.

'What… the hell… are you wearing?' She heard Lewis' voice behind her.

'I'm with the theme, dude' she did a little bow. 'I thought you guys would have joined in too! Valtteri, where's your dress?' 

The Finn let out a small laugh, breaking his serious look for a second. 

'Left it back in Monaco. Coffee?' He offered.

'You already know the answer to that, right? So what's media like? Apparently we're all together at some point'.

'Yeah' Lewis nodded. 'Not sure. I wasn't really listening' he laughed. 'I'm not feeling 100%'

'You sound a bit rough, to be fair, so please walk away from me with your germs' Joey joked. 

'Yeah, thanks.' He rolled his eyes. 'Come in the hospitality, we'll get you some coffee and a schedule'

'Thank you kindly' she replied, with a bright smile on her face.

~•~•

Joey was standing by the Mercedes pitwall, deep in conversation with the engineers regarding race strategy for the first race of the weekend. She had managed to qualify in third but was worried about Leon starting behind her, he was known for his aggressive race starts and she was keen on finding a strategy to jump the first two and put breathing space between her and her ex. Fabian had joined her in Germany with his parents, and he and Norbert were watching her race from the Mercedes garage, ready to move onto the Ferrari one once f1 qualifying had started.

'Try not to slow me down too much, O'Shea' came the voice of Leon behind her. She knew the man was just being salty about her taking his spot at Mercedes which he boasted about the previous year. 'We have all seen your record starting from third'

It was true, Joey never had a good race starting in third but she tried to not let that play on her mind too much. 

She ignored Leon's comments and carried on chatting to her engineer.