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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If you asked Anneli Räikönnen how it felt to grow up in Switzerland, she'd tell you it was the best thing that ever happened to her.
Here's the thing...Anneli had never — and would never — be a city girl, she didn't like its claustrophobic feel or the fact she couldn't just walk out of a house and have silence. She hated the way most major cities were overpriced and overpopulated (she knew it wasn't all of them but she'd only been to so many places).
Nothing would ever replace Switzerland's open air, peacefulness and feeling of home for Anneli. She even preferred it over her birthplace of Finland, though going to visit her mother there was always calm and she did love the place (she raced with their flag after all).
Yet, Arthur Leclerc could only go on and on about the wonders of living in Monaco. Surprisingly, none of it linked back to the fact it was filled with wealth or the reputation of the place. He did emphasise how glad he was to live near the sea and how there was great hiking routes or links into France.
Arthur was polite and very conscious that Anneli was his teammate next year; he didn't want to fall out before they even got to the grid. Even better, he wanted Anneli to be his friend, even if she was a little more...reserved than other teammates. Despite that, he found her incredibly funny when she wasn't even trying to be.
"My last teammate hated me," said Anneli to Arthur. "I never knew why, I think it's because I outranked him and his dad thought I was stupid. I threatened him once, it was fun."
Arthur grinned and shook his head at her.
"You won't threaten Charles, will you?" Arthur joked. "Not that Charles would do anything to get threatened, he's a softie, especially when with Robyn."
"Ah yes, Saunders," Anneli hummed. "She had set up a 'get together'. I only learnt what it was from Sebastian a couple of days ago."
"I know Robyn comes across as very excited but she is very kind and caring," said Arthur honestly,"If you want advice, she will give it to you."
"I don't need advice—"
"I'm not saying you do but if you did—"
"But I don't?"
"Okay!"
By this point, Arthur was in full uncontrollable laughter as he realised Anneli really thought he meant to go and ask Robyn for advice right this very moment. He already knew their social interaction was going to be more one-sided humor but he didn't mind.
"I have one rule," said Anneli as they walked towards the docks. "No race talk outside track, please. My dad has always been right about that. It is annoying."
"Okay," Arthur shrugged happily. "So what do you do for fun?"
"Don't let her answer that or you'll be talking about snowboarding for nine hours," came a cheerful voice from just ahead of them.
