Battle of The Gods

Sei

As promised, after taking a needed shower and changed into an oversized t-shirt and shorts, and Charles ordered room service for both of them, Alessandra told her friends how she bumped into Toto when she was leaving the paddock, and offered him a ride back to the hotel. She didn't go into the details of their conversation, feeling that it was unnecessary although her friends kept shooting stupid remarks, like they usually did when it was about her and her rival team principal.

The weekend has flown by in a flash, with free practices going well for her team, but was annoyed that the Red Bulls were faster. Charles was close to matching their pace, but the car didn't have enough to match it, or be better than them. She spent the evenings of Friday and Saturday analysing the data and see which setups worked best for the Bahrain track. Charles qualified second, a tenth and a half behind Max, with Checo close behind him and Carlos secured fourth. It was decent, but the team knew that they couldn't do anything to beat Red Bull's pace this weekend, but they were determined to have a good race and grab as many points as they could.

It was Sunday, and Alessandra wished that the race was starting earlier when she woke up with excitement and nerves shooting through her veins. She turned around, as if she was expecting someone in her bed, but knew very well that she was alone, and she didn't want that at that moment. And that thought bothered her. She pushed herself to sit up, stretching her arms above her head, enjoying the feeling of her bones cracking before swinging her legs on the edge of the bed and stood up.

She made a coffee from the small coffee set up she had in her room and took it out on the balcony, leaning against the railings, taking in the beautiful view as she sipped on her first dose of caffeine. She glanced down at the balconies below her, sighing as she thought that probably no one would be up right now, especially when the race is starting in the evening and anyone in their right mind who worked in Formula 1 would be getting as much sleep as they could before the season opener.

Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw a dark head of hair walking on the balcony right below her, his tall frame leaning over the railings like she was, also holding a cup of coffee, which was lifted to his face for a few seconds before bringing his hand back to railing.

"BUONGIORNO ALESSANDRA!" The Italian jumped at the loud voice of her best friend and next door neighbour. She turned her head to the side, her eyes sending daggers to the Monegasque, who was grinning widely at her. He copied her stance, leaning against the railing of his balcony that was right next to hers.

"Cazzo, Leclerc," she muttered, rubbing her temples, "at least let me finish my first coffee first." He chuckled, shaking his head as he sipped on the bottle of water.

"Sorry Ale," he said, "didn't think I'd find you awake."

"gotta get a head start on the competition!," she said, giving him a smile.

Toto was enjoying his cup of coffee, eyeing the view of the first country they were racing in this season, ready for the race. He knew that the season was going to be though, with Redbull and Ferrari ahead of Mercedes and the rest of the grid, but he had faith in his team, in his drivers. He raised an eyebrow when he heard shouting from the floor above him, curiosity getting the best of him when the voice shouted the name of Ferrari's team principal, turning around, resting his back against the balcony and stretched his head, and there she was, laughing with her driver, who was in the balcony next to hers. He chuckled when he heard her say that she wants to get a head start on the competition.

"Don't be so sure, Alessandra!" The two friends gave each other a look before glancing down at where the voice spoke from, finding the Austrian with a smug smile looking up at them. "Morning."

"God, I can never escape him," Alessandra groaned, "all I ask is for peace!"

"You act as if I'm right on your ass every second of every day," Toto retorted back, "although that might be the case on track."