razorblade | sebastian vettel ✓

chapter 5 | the adults are talking

«And I just don't recognize this fool that you have made me.»

---

Mark talked and talked, and talked. Cassandra just nodded from time to time, annotating in her notebook the bits she thought she needed to pay more attention to. She wasn't bored, she had done the same protocol of interviewing with far less interesting people before, with men who were nobodies and whose words would get lost among those of others in the same position. But this was different, there was a professional racing driver in front of her, with years of experience, talking his head off and still, the only thing she could think of was how his accent was a bit funny — Abigail said some British people generally thought Australians sounded funny, so she would take that as a reason — and also about her other interview. The one with Sebastian.

Mark Webber was interesting, in the way someone who had been in the sport for years was. Cassandra though, she just wished she didn't look as bored as she perhaps felt. Nothing against him, it was probably the fact he was way older than her, and not in a Matteo-kind-of-way, but she was starting to wonder if the interview with Sebastian would be more enjoyable and less rigid. Or maybe she just needed to stop thinking about Sebastian.

"It's been a decent journey, you know." He finally finished with his answer.

Cassandra nodded again, then took a quick peek at the next question. "And how has your relationship with your teammate been?"

Mark huffed and even added a laugh as if the question was funny. Cassandra raised an eyebrow, then he just gave her a sort-of shrug. "It's been." He pursed his lips. Cassandra knew he would talk. Men always loved to complain about other men when given the chance to do so. "We're clearly at different stages of our careers, he's younger than me, and he's very competitive. Sometimes it is hard not to feel so stranded when you know your teammate is your biggest rival. Some people even say you can't really be friends with your teammate in this sport."

"So it's not good?" She said without any hesitation and Mark chuckled.

"Do you like all your coworkers?" He leaned back on his seat, staring at her expectantly.

That answer was too easy. "Does anyone?"

"Exactly." He thrummed his fingertips on the table. Later Cassandra would probably catch that sound when she re-listened to the recording. "We're not exactly mates if that's what you're asking. We compete against each other on track and try to win together for the sake of the team, things get ugly sometimes yeah, especially when you're against someone like Sebastian."

"So you think he's hard to work with?" Hans would eat that up. She just knew it.

Mark looked at her and even acted like he was really thinking about his answer. Cassandra knew it was on the tip of his tongue. "I think when you're competitive, and you have a team supporting you, for the most part, then you can get a bit ahead of yourself. Even act like a cunt sometimes. Stuff happens, nobody likes to be a loser. It's normal for the relationship between teammates to deteriorate sometimes."

"Would you say the team benefits him more than you?" She raised an eyebrow. Mark was staring at her with a bit of suspicion. She was a journalist after all or something along those lines. That's how they saw her.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" He looked at her phone recording the interview, at the PR person sitting a few feet away from them, and then back at her. Cassandra understood. "Teams have their priorities, they do what they have to do to make sure not only they win but also their drivers. Do I think he's a bit protected? Maybe. Who knows? You'd have to talk to the team about it." His answer was pretty direct in her opinion.