Battle of The Gods

Venticinque

November 2023

The eight weeks after the Japanese grand prix were probably the hardest weeks throughout the season for Alessandra. There were so many things unfolding within her team, with the focus still on the championship title, which was edging closer and closer to the end, and the contract talks. Alessandra had various meetings regarding Carlos and Lewis with management whenever she was in Maranello, to finalise Carlos's decision and to make sure everything was checked before deciding that Lewis would be the best move for Ferrari next season.

When the Carlos situation was sorted and confirmed, the team announced that the Spaniard will not renew his contract with the Scuderia for 2024 during the grand prix in Qatar, which had surprised the motorsport world, and created the Russian Roulette of silly season, because the top three teams all have a vacant seat. The questions asked during the couple of weeks after the Qatar grand prix, which was won by George, giving Mercedes an edge in the constructors championship on Ferrari were, who was filling the 3 big seats in Formula 1? Where was Carlos Sainz moving? What is Lewis going to do next year?

When they returned to Maranello after the Qatar race, Alessandra invited Carlos to spend the evening, watching the Real match that was on that night, put on her Barbaque and cooked some meat to eat along with many cases of beer. She knew that moments like these would not happen as often since he would be moving back to England, so she cherished the time she had before he left. Carlos was finding it difficult to separate from Ferrari, even though he was about to live his childhood dream the next season, but he had created a special bond with Ferrari, with Alessandra, so much so that he decided to keep his apartment in Maranello, and promised her that he would visit as much as he could, and will still do their Real Madrid hangouts, and that meant a lot to Alessandra.

During the American grand prix, Mercedes announced Estaban Ocon as their driver alongside George, which was a move that surprised everyone. Alessandra wasn't as close with Esteban, but she knew him quite well from the karting days, and she knew how much he always wanted the seat at Mercedes, and she was happy that he's finally got the chance to truly prove himself with a big team. Esteban's move created a vacant seat in Alpine, which was quickly filled when the French team announced Alex Albon to pair up with Pierre in Mexico.

When the penultimate race weekend came, everyone was excited about the new track in the city of Las Vegas, excited to see the racing, the atmosphere and even the events. And that was the race weekend that answered the questions of who was filling the Red Bull seat, and where was Carlos going, because the team based in Milton Keynes announced that the Spaniard was fulfilling his childhood dream and was driving alongside Max for 2024 and beyond. And as much as Red Bull got attention for their announcement and confirmation of their drivers line up, all eyes turned to Ferrari, who were the only team yet to confirm the driver joining the Scuderia and pairing up with Charles. Williams had announced Fredrick Vesti as their driver a couple of weeks after Mercedes.

The five races held after Japan were a different battle each, with Charles and Max going in with the possibility that they could claim the championship in any race, and the same battle was happening between Ferrari and Mercedes, but no race was the stage that claimed the championships, as out of five races, Charles won two of them, Max won another two, George won one of them, and there was a bit of mix on the podium every time. And these results only meant one thing.

The championships were being decided in the finale.

Alessandra felt a certain buzz in the air when she entered the paddock on Thursday morning, and it was emotional for her, walking side by side with Mick on their last media day of the year. She couldn't believe that the season was coming to a close in a couple of days, feeling as if it was yesterday that she stepped foot in the press conference room, officially introducing herself to the journalists as Ferrari's new team principals.