With the motorsport world finally putting light on the women of racing, one racer was ready to work her way up to the Formula 1 grid. As a Formula 2 rookie, she struggled, but with Red Bull Racing behind her, she was sure to cause one of hell of a c...
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As the Red Bull Factory rolled into view and Anneli realised that her first F2 season was about to end, it almost seemed like the year had sped away from her. She felt like the first race was only last week and yet, she would be racing in Abu Dhabi in a few weeks.
Her flight from Switzerland to England had been peaceful as her father had ended up paying for business class, despite Anneli insisting she was just fine in the economy. Kimi was less worried about where she was sitting and more worried about people recognising her or harassing her. It was possible when she was publically seen with Kimi and the majority of race fans knew she was his daughter.
Anneli wouldn't deny that it was a lot easier to go business class but it was important for her to remind her father that she travelled economy most of the time for F2, unless she had decided to travel with Sebastian or her father.
Elijah was partly right about Anneli's opinion of England. She couldn't say that it blew her away when she drove toward Milton Keynes but her driver, a Red Bull employee, had explained that there were nicer areas of the country to go to if she wanted to see nature or history.
Anneli didn't, it didn't interest her but it was nice to know.
"Anneli, welcome to the factory," greeted Christian kindly. "How was your flight?"
"It was okay," Anneli shrugged. "Average."
At that moment, Christian couldn't help but see the resemblance to Kimi's personality. Not to mention, Anneli looked a lot like him in the way her face naturally rested and everything about her was fully relaxed. A look of new members were nervous, it was natural, but not Anneli.
"Shall we head inside?" Christian suggested.
Anneli nodded and allowed the team principal to show her around the factory. Everyone was incredibly supportive of Anneli and she enjoyed to see the all the different departments. The Formula 1 factories were a lot larger than Formula 2.
"We've made some arrangements and Dams have agreed to place our livery on your car in Abu Dhabi," said Christian brightly. "It's officially announced and we're going to let you complete a practice session."
"Sounds great," Anneli nodded.
"I've also heard that you haven't found a trainer for next year so if you like, we can sort that out for you as well," Christian suggested. "We're here to help you, just like other juniors and reserve drivers."
Anneli nodded, watching the mechanics hard at work. Sometimes she wondered if they ever got bored of their job. They never appeared to but, surely, at some point...you want to put down your hat and call it a day?
"Max, Checo, this is Anneli Rikkonen," Christian introduced. "She'll be our reserve driver."
"Nice to meet you," said Checo as he shook her hand.
"Likewise," Anneli nodded.
"Hi," Max smiled, moving to shake her hand as well.
"Anneli here is driving for Dams in Formula 2," Christian explained. "So she'll be at most of your races too in the garage."
Anneli gave a small nod.
It wasn't exactly a thrilling conversation when the people in the room weren't huge talkers. Anneli hated starting conversations anyway so she wasn't much use when it came to that.
She could sense Max staring at her as if trying to work out how to try to start a conversation with the Finnish girl. Or perhaps he was interested in the small tattoo on her neck (a bear - the national animal of Finland as she was proud of her heritage (even if she lived in Switzerland now).
"I'll let you three talk," Christian offered kindly. "Then you can do some sim work."
"Yeah, okay," Max nodded.
Christian gave them a nod before following the staff member who was waiting at the door for him. Anneli guessed it was an engineer since he had an iPad out as they walked.
"Have you flown far to get here?" Checo questioned.
"It's around an hour and a half from Switzerland," Anneli replied
"You are from Switzerland?" Max questioned. "I thought—"
"People think I live in Finland because I am Finnish but I have lived in Switzerland for a long time," Anneli interrupted. "I do go to Finland to visit my mom but I am still living with my dad."
"Ah, that's cool," Max nodded. "How has your f2 season been?"
"Worse than I wanted but it's a rookie season so It could have been worse," Anneli answered. "If I win Abu Dhabi, I will be happy."
"I can give you some tips if that helps," Max offered.
"Sure," Anneli struggled. "I would like to win Abu Dhabi, my entire family and boyfriend will be there."
"Abu Dhabi is special," Max agreed.
Truth be told, Anneli didn't really want to talk about racing but she also understood that's what she was employed to do (not just race in general). She just found it a little exhausting when she had to do it with a team and media already.
"Do you know much about England?" Anneli questioned, shuffling in her spot. "I have only ever been to Silverstone..."
"It's not as nice as Switerzland. I haven't explored much," Max shrugged as Checo nodded in agreement.
"You have been to Switerzland? I live in Baar near Zurich!" Anneli smiled, she loved talking about home. "I'm into snowboarding so I go into the mountains all the time."
"Snowboarding? I wouldn't have put you as a snowboarder," Max stated.
Anneli appreciated the fact that Max told the truth outright and she'd heard from most people that it was the case; that would work well considering Anneli was that way too. There was also a lot of talk that the man was incredibly funny without trying to be.
"You like Snowboarding?" Checo questioned.
"Love it," Anneli corrected. "It gets me away from racing and I have a good group of friends to snowboard with. It is good for fitness."
From there, Anneli, Max and Checo were able to have a nice conversation before heading down to the sim racing. Admittedly, Max beat both of the other two without much thought but Anneli still gave them a run for her money. She clearly had skills.
She hoped she would be happy on the Red Bull Junior team and she truly hoped it was going to help her get an F1 seat. With one race left, her rookie season would be over.
She'd be damned if she didn't win the F2 championship in 2023.
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