Fearless ~Ollie Bearman~ (2)

~media~

"okay so we are gonna film some start of season content of you both individually and then you have press conferences. lance yours is at 2 o clock and you will be with charles leclerc, arthur leclerc, oscar piastri and pierre gasly. Millie yours is at 3 o clock and you will be with ollie bearman, lando norris, theo pourchaire and lewis hamilton" the aston media manager louise said to the two of them as they sat in the aston martin motor home.
It was finally the start of the first race weekend and was the first thursday of the year, meaning media day.

"okay lance, if you can come infront of the camera and just give us a quick overview of the season ahead and how your feeling and then we will do millie"
Lance stood in front of the camera and spoke for about a minute before finishing up. Millie payed close attention to the way he worded things, the stuff he spoke about and how he addressed the fans. She wants to take any opportunity she can to learn from him, on and off track.
"okay millie if you could come and do the same, just try not to have your message sound too much like lances"
"yeah okay" she said as she fixed her hair under her cap before standing infront of the camera.
"whenever your ready mil"

she took a deep breath before looking at lance, who gave her an encouraging smile.
"hey guys, millie norris here. So here we are in Bahrain, finally ready to start the 2024 season, and even more excitingly, my first season in formula 1. I can't even explain how excited i am to have made this step up and to be doing it with an up and coming team like aston. it's just amazing. The car has been feeling very quick so i'm looking forward to pushing myself to the limit to hopefully entertaining you guys and also bringing home as many points as possible. I cant wait to work with Lance and to grow as a driver through my formula 1 experience. Thankyou all so much for the support and i can't wait to see all the green out in the grandstands this year"
she gave a thumbs up to the camera before it being switched off

"okay thankyou millie. we will put this stuff away then lance we will take you to the press conference room" louise said before turning to the camera man, milo.

Millie went and sat on the couch next to Lance.
"that was brilliant. honestly don't stress. you've had plenty of media experience already, it's not much different in formula 1. there's just more of it" he said with an encouraging smile
"yeah i guess. i'll get used to it all"

Lance was told it was time for him to head out, so he said goodbye to millie and ruffled her hair before leaving.

*ping*

Ol<3: excited for our first ever formula 1 press conference!! x

Mil<3: oh yes. and the fact we are in the same one is crazy! x

Ol<3: oh they know what they are doing putting you and Lando together x

Mil<3: it's a recipe for chaos and i love it x

Ol<3: three rookies in one is crazy. reckon jack, fred and arthur are together? x

Mil<3: i don't know about jack and fred, but arthur isn't. he's with charles, lance, oscar and pierre x

Ol<3: woah how do you even know that? x

Mil<3: i was there when lance got told x

Ol<3: ahhhh ok. well i've got to go film some stuff, see you in an hour x

Mil<3: no worries x

———————————————————————

"shit we're late" louise said as they were running through the paddock and up into the main building to get to the press conference room. arriving there was incredibly awkward, the whole room turning to look at her, including the drivers and main interviewer.

"ahh lovely of you to join us millie. just take a seat" he said with a kind smile
she sat down in the last available seat, which second to the far end, in between theo and lando, theo to her right, lando to her left. Lewis was on the left of Lando, with ollie to the left of lewis and on the end closest to the interviewer.

"sorry i'm late. not a brilliant first impression" she said into her mic, making the room giggle

"it's no worries millie, it happens all the time. and you didn't miss a lot, we had just asked how everyone was feeling for the season. how about you? nervous?"

"i think there's certainly going to be an aspect of nerves there especially as a rookie on your first f1 race weekend but i'm mainly excited to get going. i know i'm fast and i want to show it"

the guy nodded before directing a few questions to the others

"Lando, how does it feel that your little sister is on the grid with you this year?"

"ew awful i hate her" he said giggling into his mic, making people in the room laugh too. "no in all seriousness, i'm super excited and i hope that we can have a few fights out on track. i'm so proud of how far she's come and to now be proving herself in formula 1 is incredible"

the interviewer nodded his head before asking lewis his opinions on the rookies of the year

"to have 6 rookies on the grid is extremely exciting. i think it really shows that the sport is moving upwards and gives everyone the chance to see these amazing young talents coming into the sport"

the interviewer then turned to theo and millie.
"championship rivals last year. different teams this year. are you hoping to fight again or would you rather stay out of each others way?"

Theo and Millie looked at eachother, him indicating for her to go first, so she spoke up.
"i do hope i can have some battles with Theo this season. I enjoy waving to him as i pass him on the straights you see so..."
"woah woah woah that happened once" he quipped back
"twice actually" she said with a smirk and a playful shoulder nudge, which caused ollie to subtly send daggers towards the pair.
he rolled his eyes before saying "i hope we can battle sometimes this year. some of the best fights on track last year were definitely with millie and of course ollie in the other prema"

the interviewer nodded before opening up the questions to the room. One woman put her hand up and asked
"this is for millie and ollie. how does it feel to be in a relationship but racing for different teams. do you think it will harm you in any way?"

"oh no absolutely not. i love millie with all my heart, and even racing can't get in the way of that" ollie said immediately, leading to some awwwws being echoed around the room.

Millie smiled at him before speaking.
"yeah i don't think it's gonna have any major damage. like maybe we could come away from a race saying oh you pushed me off or oh you blocked me, but it's not gonna cause a major issue. i'm just excited we get to experience our rookie year together"

a few more questions were asked, some to all drivers and some specified at a few. The interviewer closed up by wishing them all good luck.

As they were walking out, Lewis approached Millie.
"i can't wait to see how you do this season. you racing as a female with us all and at such a young age is very inspiring. i'm always here if you need any help"
"thankyou lewis. and good luck"
"you too mil" he said before catching lando and theo ahead.

She felt an arm wrap around her waist as Ollie appeared at the side of her, planting a kiss to the side of her head.
"you nailed that" he said
"so did you!" she replied
"i've got a free hour, fancy a smoothie?" he asked, taking hold of her hand
"i'm never going to say no to that am i!" she said, giving him a quick peck on the lips
"perfect, let's go"