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TINY LOVE. All she had to give was tiny love, that was what they said about her. She was too cold, too emotionless, too cruel. She never smiled, never interacted with the cameras, never shared any resemblance of emotion, never interacted with the others, never bothered to show her face to the media. She had no presence, no social media, no known family, very few known friendships.
Ivory Blake had big heart, big soul and no control, but all she had to give was tiny love.
Ivory Blake forged her way to the top, she climbed her way up the ladder, stepping on everyone else she met through the journey. She cared about no one, risked nothing for anyone, she relied on herself, cared for herself and spent her life by herself. She dragged her way up the system, took advantage when she needed to and gave everything she had to her career.
She started off as a nobody, another lonely face in the care system. No known family, no known friends, no one known to care. She took control of her destiny, made her own connections and earned a career she deserved.
Ivory Blake was five when she first came into contact with the world of Formula One, watching Fernando Alonso win one race of many from her social worker's office reception. She was six when her first set of foster parents took her karting for the first time and she fell in love with driving. She was eight when she was chucked back into the system, only getting further away from her dream.
Even at the age of eight, Ivory Blake was intelligent, she was grounded and realistic and knew that she had no hope of achieving her dream when she had little to no money to her name. Yet, at the age of ten, after two more years of group homes and living in almost poverty, she got lucky. She got taken in by one woman who chose to change her life, one woman who made her who she was.
At ten and a half, she yet again fell in love with the sport, spending hours upon hours rewatching as Red Bull and Mercedes dominated the championship, wrapped up in her old blanket with her new mother at her side. At eleven, she began karting yet again, training herself, pushing herself to the limit so she could achieve greatness.
At twelve, after a year and a half of racing, Ivory Blake became the first female European Karting Champion in 2014. She was the first one to prove them all wrong, and she really proved them wrong. For the next three years until she turned fifteen, Ivory Blake continued karting and won the Championship twice more, causing her to become a three time champion.
At fifteen, she was finally old enough to move up to Formula 4, the next step to her dream, and of course she dominated that too. In 2017, she won the Formula 4 championship in her rookie year to just after a nasty championship battle with Jack Doohan.
At sixteen, Ivory Blake upgraded to Formula 3, becoming teammates and short term friends with Mick Schumacher only to win second place in the championship. If you ever asked Ivory about who she thought her best friend was as a child, Mick would always have been brought up. Which is a shame considering she cut contact with him after leaving F3 with only one season under her belt.
At seventeen, Ivory Blake made the decision to quit the formulas, and forge her own path. She wanted to be different, she didn't want to end up like the other F2 drivers, unable to pass onto Formula One. At seventeen, Ivory Blake decided to become a W Series racer, one of the youngest ever until 16 year old Juju Noda took that title.
At seventeen, in the first ever season of the W Series, Ivory Blake won the W Series championship, followed closely behind by her friend Jamie Chadwick. At seventeen, the motorsport world finally knew who she was, her name was finally known to those around the world. Her championships were acknowledged and she for once felt powerful.
And then finally, at the age of eighteen, Ivory Blake carved her name into motorsport history as the first ever female F1 driver, after accepting an offer to drive for HAAS in the 2020 season alongside Mick Schumacher.
At the age of eighteen, Ivy had to die so that Ivory Blake could be born. No longer could she feel, no longer could she care, no longer could she show emotion. Ivory Blake had to be cold, Ivory Blake had to be professional, Ivory Blake had to prove that she deserved to be an F1 driver.
The rampant sexism and hate from the F1 world only made her have to fight harder.
'She will fail.' They said. 'A woman can't be in Formula One.' They said. 'Get her back in the kitchen.' They said.
They said, They said, They said.
They said. If they felt like they had to say something, then Ivory Blake thought it was only fair that she could feel like she had to say nothing.
So she did, she said nothing.
She said nothing in interviews, she answered no questions, she ignored all the reporters, she ignored all the other drivers, she said the bare minimum to her race engineer, she said nothing to her PR manager. She said nothing to everyone who thought they had the right to say something. She was not loud, she was not mouthy, she was not aggressive off track.
Yet on track was a different story.
On track, Ivory Blake was a different level of aggressive, she pushed the car to its limits and was told off by the mechanics more than once for her harsh handling of the car. On track, Ivory Blake was a beast and was often the cause of controversy surrounding her seat in F1.
Her aggression earned her a seat at Aston Martin after the departure of Sebastian Vettel in the 2021 season. Her aggression earned her many podiums and seven wins through her career in a car that could barely stay together for one race. Her aggression earned her so much, but her aggression wasn't hers.
Ivory Blake was cold, Ivory Blake was calculated, Ivory Blake was silent. Yet Ivy was so much more.
Ivy was warm, Ivy was loud, Ivy smiled at everyone she walked past, Ivy apologised to inanimate objects when she bumped into them, Ivy danced around her kitchen in her fluffy socks and matching pajamas to David Bowie at full volume. Ivy was so much more, which was why it was so upsetting that no one was ever able to see it.
No one, until him.
He was able to see the Ivy that no one else could see, he was the one that helped her up and laughed when she apologised to the inanimate objects, he was the one dancing beside her in the kitchen, he was the one smiling back at her in the morning, he was who made Ivy loud with laughter, he brought tears of laughter to her eyes and a happiness that no one had seen before.
And he would never have seen that if it wasn't for that race in Vegas.
After all, Ivory Blake had a big heart, big soul and no control, but all she had to give was tiny love.
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