Battle of The Gods

Dodici

Baku had provided an interesting weekend for Ferrari, which then closed off with a difficult race. Charles had gotten another pole during the weekend, which was for the sprint race. He finished second in the sprint race on Saturday, Checo overtaking Charles in the middle of the race, but the Monegasque managed to keep Max behind for the rest of the race. Carlos had a decent sprint, finishing 5th. On Sunday, the race was a snooze fest and a half, with frustrations coming from the Ferrari garages when they watched the Red Bulls drive past Charles. It wasn't their weekend, the Bulls were just too fast. The team finished the race with a good haul of points and Charles on the podium, but they wanted more. Third and 5th wasn't enough.

Miami was one of the few races on the calendar that Alessandra didn't like. She thought it was a superficial race weekend, with the focus not being on the racing, but on the celebrities attending the race. She hated having to put on a fake smile whenever she's trying to walk through the paddock to get to interviews or going back to the motor home to get work done and being stopped by someone from the Formula 1 executive to introduce her to a celebrity who had no clue about the sport, having to hear their fave enthusiasm about how excited they were to be at the race.

She even had to endure comments from male celebrities asking her how she became a team principal because she was a woman, even hearing some mutter behind her back that she fucked her way to the top. It was even worse when some of the Formula 1 officials introduced her as Enzo Ferrari's granddaughter and having to hear that she had the job ready since she was a baby because of nepotism. Never had she wanted a grand prix weekend to come and go so quickly, and she was at least glad that her drivers finished second and third once more, with Max winning the race. She was glad that the upgrade package for Miami worked well, the work done back at home was coming to fruition, giving a positive look for the next upgrade package for Imola.

She had never fled the country so fast in her entire life, and she spent the flight back to Bologna listening to Charles, Carlos and Mick tell her how she deserved better in the community, and how she deserved the respect from guests who were invited to the race solely because of their status. She expected all these comments coming her way, but she especially hated hearing them from people who have zero clue about the sport she's worked in for over 7 years.

Maranello was her safe space, as much as it was her world of chaos when she was working, but she would not trade her life for anything. She felt at ease when she was in Italy, and she was looking forward for her first home race of the season, and first home race as team principal. Imola was only an hour away from Maranello, and she was looking forward to travel back and fourth from the track to the factory, enjoying the convenience of being close to home.

The Italian has been in Maranello for a few days now, spending the first couple of days overcoming the jetlag by working out with her drivers and spending a couple of days relaxed. She was then working day and night at the factory, compiling the data from Miami on the upgrades from that race, and compared it with the wind tunnel data they had for the upgrades in Imola, working on what needed to improve to make sure that the Imola upgrades also work well.

Her drivers have been spending hours in the simulator, preparing for the home grand prix and compiling their own data regarding the potential Imola upgrades, which they gave to their engineers and the team worked together. The team was optimistic that they were going to put up a fight with the Red Bulls on home soil, which got the drivers optimistic and excited, ready to give the tifosi a good show on their land. Alessandra was optimistic as well, and she was ready to battle and celebrate her home grand prix with all of the tifosi.

Charles and Carlos then spent the last few days before the race back in their home lands, taking the time to unwind and prepare for the upcoming triple header, which included the team's home grand prix, Charles's home grand prix, and Carlos's home grand prix, all right after each other. And Alessandra wanted nothing more to get those three wins, watch her drivers win in their home grand prix and one of them winning their team's home race.