Red Silver

S1.C9 - The star becomes silver (Canada)

"Isabelle!!! I have great news!" Lewis enters the kitchen screaming "what are you doing?"
"What do you think?" I say. I'm literally surrounded by flour, tomato sauce and vegan cheese.
"Pizza?" He says like a child seeing candies.
"Of course" I say laughing.
"Aw" he comes in and sit in front of me "I love the fact that you are Italian"

"So what's the news?"
"It works. I mean, Bono just phoned me and he said that porpoising is reduced, we have to test it on track but it looks good"
"That's amazing"
"My little star is a genius"
I smile. It works.

We spend the night eating pizza on the sofa of Lewis Monaco flat watching 'House of Dragons'. I'm happy. We are happy and we know it.

"I love Canada"
"I'm glad we are back, I like this track"
We are walking to the motorhome, it's Friday, I feel less stressed entering the paddock, but it can be the fact that I'm thrilled to see if my idea works on track and not only on paper.
I eat poutine for lunch, it feels like home, like when I was a child on holiday here. I go to the garage and watch Lewis and George getting ready for FP1.

"Come here" Toto says "so we can see together if it all works" he is in a good mood as me. He passes me a pair of headphones and I sit next to him.
When the cars go out on track is clear, it works.

-How's the car George?-
-Not bad. The bouncing is not that bad-
-Copy that-

-Lewis? The bouncing?-
-Not bad, still not gone completely but extremely better-
-Copy that-

Toto looks at me smiling "you've made it" and he whispers "welcome to the team Isabelle"

After the session, I get called to Toto's office.
"This is the contract we can offer you. Read it and let me know. If you need a lawyer there's the FIA lawyer in their offices, you can go to him, tell him I send you and you'll have no problem"
"Thank you Toto"
"It's not a lot Isabelle, I want you to know that this is not our best offer but if you accept we increase it with time"
"Thank you for believing in me Toto"
"As I told you we were watching your work, you have a big potential, I think Ferrari made the wrong decision letting you go"

I don't watch the FP2, I go to the lawyer office and discuss my contract for the whole afternoon. It's a basic offer, minimum salary and low position, but, as Toto says, it is an open contract, time and results can increase both my position and my salary.

I go back to the motorhome and find Lewis changing in his room.
"Toto offered me the job"
"That's amazing"
"It's... I want to know what you think about this, about me working on your team"
"I'll be happy to have you here and as I showed you a thousand time I trust you, if the offer is good I'll be the first to congratulate with you. Is it what you want to do in your life? F1?"
"Yes"
"Then you have the answer" he says sitting next to me on the little bed "but remember you didn't get this job because of me. It's really important for me to know you understand this. You are more powerful than you think, little star"
"I know" I say and I kiss him.

I sign the contract before leaving the track and then I go out with Lewis for dinner. He orders the most expensive champagne to celebrate my new job, he is so proud, I have never seen him so happy since I met him.

On Saturday I get to the track really early.
"I think you need to change your clothes, Isabelle" it's Angela, she's carrying a box "here"
"Is it for me?" I ask and she nods.
There's a little message
-Welcome to your new family Isabelle, Toto & the Mercedes team -
I open the box and it's full of team clothes, from shirts to jackets and all the caps, there's a new laptop and a new pit lane pass.

I change my clothes, it's really cold so I put on a black sweater and the black cap.
"Do I look good?"
"I think I'm falling again" Lewis says smiling.
"Lewis"
"For once I say it when you have your clothes on"
"Lewis!" I scream but Angela is laughing.
"I'm joking, you look amazing" he says laughing.

He takes a picture of me and posts it
-Guess you are a silver star now. Really proud of you, welcome to the team-
It's official. I'm part of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team.

FP3 looks good. The car here is not bad. I am back to work, it's such a good feeling.

"Welcome to the team, Isabelle"
"Thank you George, hope I'll be useful"
"I heard you are the one who reduce the bouncing, i already like you and my back likes you too" he laughs.

I have lunch with Lewis and George before going back to the office to learn more about the car. I need to study the car perfectly if I want to be helpful.

Lewis gets P3 in the quali and I run to him with Angela when he gets off the car.
I hug him "P3 Lewis it's amazing"
"It's a good sign"

"What is she doing here? We can take our girlfriend here?" Says Max.
"She's a Mercedes engineer" the reporter says.
"Oh didn't know that fucking the driver means getting a job" he says to his physio.
"What did you just say?" Lewis goes to him.
"Oh c'mon I don't say anything to you Lewis"
"You didn't talk about me but about Isabelle" he is fuming, he gets closer "Don't you ever disrespect her like this ever again"
"Lewis please calm down" I say
"No, people can't treat you like this"
"I'm not the only one thinking it" Max says.
"She's a good engineer Max, she deserves a job in an F1 team" Carlos intervenes.
"If you say so" and he walks away.
"Grazie Carlos"
He smiles and go to the interviewer.
"Calm down Lewis, it's ok, he is not the first person here to assume that"
"Who?"
"Lewis don't worry"
"No"
"Lewis please" I'm begging now.
"Lewis calm down and go to the Sky reporter" Angela tries to calm him too.
"Ok ok, but I don't like how they are treating you, we need to fix this situation"

When we go back to the hotel he is still not calm. We go to sleep but at 1 am I find him on the balcony awake.
"Hey, what are you doing out here? You should be sleeping"
"I can't stop thinking about it"
"Lewis, it's ok really, now come to bed"
"I can't sleep"
"You have to, you need to relax a bit"
"Can't see how"
"I know how to help you relaxing a bit"
"Isabelle, you know we can't the night before the race"
"I know but is it worst than not sleeping the night before the race?"
He hesitates and then he starts kissing me. He lifts me up and takes me back inside.

The race is about to begin. I am sitting with the others engineer, headphones on and eyes on the 44 and the 63 "team. Now I work for the team. 2 cars. 2 races to follow."
The race is good, bouncing is not a big problem today. Lewis gets P3 and... Carlos P2.
I kiss Lewis helmet when he gets off the car and I stand there in the middle of the Mercedes crowd watching him on the podium. His first podium since Bahrain.

After the celebrations he goes back to his room and then to the post race interview.
I go back to the hospitality and see Toto's interview.
"We have seen Lewis girlfriend is a new member of the team"
"Yes, Isabelle is a new member"
"Why did you offer her a job?"
"She is an extremely talented engineer, if you ask me, Ferrari made a huge mistake, we were watching here even before we discovered she is Lewis girlfriend. Their relationship is not a problem, she is really professional, she already helped us with the bouncing"
"We are asking ourselves what if she is passing informations from the Ferrari car"
"I'll tell you this, everyone who has a small knowledge of cars knows that the two cars are completely different, she is using her experience but she is not giving us Ferrari secrets, she can't actually and they'll be useless too"
I have to thank Toto for this, I don't think everyone will understand, but as Lewis said "it'll take time for people to realise"

"We are having a team dinner tonight, I hope you and Lewis are both in" George, who finished P4 , sits near me in the hospitality.
"I'll ask him but I think we are both happy to come"
We go out with the team in a cozy restaurant in the downtown and we spend an amazing night, eating and laughing with the team.

The next morning we all take the same flight, me and Lewis gets two near seats. We watch a film together, it's a long flight.
"I haven't forgotten what Max said. I haven't forgotten all that" he says.
"It's ok Lewis, I think everyone thinks it, we are going to prove them wrong as you always did. Won't we?"
"We will but I don't like it anyway" he comes closer and kiss me "I love you, little star"