Woman in a man's world

May 10 2018 - Barcelona

Arriving at the track like any other weekend, only this time it isn't just any other weekend. On this Sunday Norah will be making her F1 debut racing for Force India. After winning the 2017 F2 championship she got the chance to be reserve driver at Force India, something she couldn't say no to. There might be a long way left until she can become a world champion but every step in her journey counts.

She walked with her performance coach for the week into the Force India motorhome to sit down with her short-term team just to talk over the whole weekend. They discussed how the week would go and how Norah should be thinking. The team didn't have too much pressure on Norah, they more or less just wanted to get the car on the track and hopefully finish with a point or two. They continued to discuss when they were interrupted by a knock.

"Is she here?" A thick French accent said and Esteban's face poking into the room looking around, his eyes stopped at the girl.

"You're here!" Esteban continued as he walked into the room.

"I'm here!" Nora exclaimed and ran to hug her friend. The pair have known each other for ages so Esteban was just as happy as Norah when he heard the news.

"This weekend is gonna be so fun, sorry I will let you guys finish. See you Norah."

The meeting continued for some time and after that Norah went straight to media duties with her pal Esteban.

"So here we are with this weekend's driver line up at Force India, a little different from other weekends because we have 2017 F2 champion Norah Wellington Knight instead of Segio Perez. Tell me Norah, why are you here this weekend instead of Perez?" An excited Will Buxton said.

"Well unfortunately Sergio is back home with pneumonia, so they made the call earlier this week that he should just focus on getting better for the next race instead of trying to pull off something that could just make his case worse. So they called me a few days prior and told me to get ready for the Spanish Grand Prix, and here I am" Norah said with a warm smile.

"Oh that can not be fun for him, but the more for you Norah. How are you feeling this weekend? Any pressure from the team, yourself, I'm sure you want to prove that you are worthy of a F1 seat for next year." He continued.

"Of course. I want to use this opportunity to show everybody that I belong in F1, but at the same time you can't hope for too much but a few points for the team would be nice."

"And I have to ask about your hair! It is not how we are used to seeing it here on the track. How come the change?"

"Well I'm actually shooting a movie right now where the character i play has black hair so we made the decision to just dye it instead of a wig so yeah a bit different from my normal hair."

"That sounds amazing, can you tell us anything about it?"

"It's called Fighting With My Family and it is based on the real story about the WWE champion Paige and i'm playing her!"

"Well doesn't that sound fun. And you Esteban? How do you feel? I know the two of you are friends of track and you have been fighting for positions before. How do you think Norah will do?"

"I mean she is an amazing driver and she totally deserves this. I hope she can get the opportunity to fight for positions not only with me but any one else on track and learn as much as possible to get some experience."

"Well thank you guys and good luck this weeked to both of you!" Will's excited voice said. They both thanked him and started to walk to the next reporter, this time separated.

"Hi Norah, fun to see you here this weekend. Tell me how are you feeling towards this race, any extra pressure from anyone or is it just gonna be fun?" Another reporter said.

"It's a lot of mixed feelings towards the weekend but it's surely gonna be fun. I have talked with the team and I don't really feel pressured by them, they will help me through the whole week and hopefully I can prove that I belong in F1."

"And how does it feel to be the sixth woman to enter an F1 race after Giovanna Amati in 1992?"

"It's an honor that I get to be that person but it's a bit sad that no woman has competed in F1 since 1992. Hopefully I can try to change that."

"On that point, are you talking with anyone about a place on the grid for next year? We know at least Williams are looking for new drivers."

"Maybe after this weekend I can get to some serious talking about a place on the grid but only time will tell." The reporter thanked Norah and she thanked him back.

An hour went by doing media things, after that it was time for the track walk. The team walked together talking about all of the corners, how to think when driving and a bit of strategy. After a lap with the team Norah went for a jog around the track by herself just to memorize everything and to get a bit of training in. Something the girl had done for many years. The pitlane was filled with people walking back and forth, people getting interviewed and other people taking photos. One camera was pointed to the girl who waved back before focusing back on her jog. Before she could do that she heard her voice being shouted behind her in another thick french accent. Pierre and Charles were standing at the Ferrari garage and they both hugged the girl when she arrived. The tension between Norah and Charles was getting easier every time they saw each other but still a weird feeling in the air between them after everything that happened. The trio talked for a bit before Norah continued her jog around the track.