Battle of The Gods

Sedici

Alessandra loved Spain. Something about being under the Spanish sun made her feel content, which is why she decided to head to the country a day earlier. She wanted to spend a day in Barcelona, enjoy the culture, admire the architecture and treat herself to some traditional dishes. After a hectic grand prix weekend like Monaco, along with recovering from the massive hangover she had the morning after the win, she enjoyed spending the day and night alone, away from racing, being a tourist for a day.

On Wednesday evening, she checked in the hotel she was staying with the team, meeting her drivers for a dinner, something that has become a sort of a ritual for them before the race weekend starts. It's a way to keep the morals high, and have a good start to the race weekend. Alessandra cherishes her moments like that with her drivers, always reminding herself how lucky she is to have the job that she has, but always remember to make time for her friends, even if her friends are her own drivers.

The sun was beaming down on the paddock as Alessandra walked through on Thursday morning. She knew that it was feeling like summer in the Catalunya region, but she didn't expect it to be so hot. She was glad that she paired her team button up, which had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, with a pair of black linen trousers, the material breathable around her legs as she knew that he had lots of interviews planned for the day and she didn't want to be sweating like a pig through them all.

She met with her drivers inside the motor home, enjoying the cool air from the air conditioning as they ate breakfast before being pulled away by their respective PR managers to start off their media duties. She walked to the press conference room with Chiara, listening to the rundown her PR manager was giving her about her interviews for the day.

"Thanks Chiara," Alessandra said as they entered the room, "oh and remind me to give you the restaurant recommendations I promised for your trip next week!"

"I will," Chiara replied with a chuckle, "now go have a seat. I'll let the chefs know that you're having lunch in your office straight after these interviews."

"And you said I was pompous because of my specific pumpernickels," The Italian rolled her eyes at the sound of the Austrian behind her, glancing at her PR manager who was chuckling before heading to the back of the room with Toto's PR manager, "letting chefs know when and where you're having lunch? Tsk Tsk."

"And here I was enjoying my day," she scoffed as she turned to face him, "you have a knack for ruining things for me."

"I'm right on schedule then," he smirked, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now tell me, what's on the menu for lunch?"

"I'm having a perfectly cooked piece of none of your business," she shot back, cocking an eyebrow at him, "and if I feel like it, for dessert I'll have a slice of you're an idiot." She gave him a wicked smile as the smirk on his face became a scowl, shrugging her shoulders innocently before taking a seat on the couch, with the Mercedes boss following behind her.

The two team principals wished Fred a good morning as he joined them, taking a seat on the other side of Alessandra, then came in Jenson Button, who shook the hands of the male bosses before giving Alessandra a hug. He then took a seat on the one seater, taking the microphone one of the producers handed to him, and then started the press conference when the team bosses got their microphones.

"Welcome to the 2023 Spanish Grand prix press conference. And with us we have Alfa Romeo team principal Fred Vasseur, Ferrari team principal Alessandra Ferrari, and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff," the British champion introduced, then glanced at the Italian. "Alessandra, I'm going to start with you. It's your birthday tomorrow! How are you celebrating it with it being on race weekend?"

Toto quirked an eyebrow at the Ferrari team principal, who's cheeks brightened slightly at the mention of her birthday. He knew that her birthday was in June, but hadn't realised that it's literally only a day away. She cleared her throat before bringing the microphone to her lips. "I'm going to be fully focused on the race, just like I've been every race weekend," she answered, "maybe I'll celebrate it next week, but this weekend's all about the race, especially since it's one of my driver's home grand prix!"