"ria, how do you feel about entering your first grand prix in formula 1?" a journalist asked her in her first press conference.
"obviously i'm nervous, but i have faith in the team and the car, and i think we're gonna perform really well this weekend." she responded, remembering what her pr manager had told her to say when she was inevitably asked that question.
"another one for ria, how does it feel to be the only woman on the grid? is there any extra pressure on you?" a reporter asked.
ria felt herself get irritated by the question, but kept her cool as she answered.
"i mean, i'm here to inspire young girls who want to race but are told that it's only a men's sport. but i don't feel any extra pressure because once we're in the car we're all racing, no matter what we look like, where we're from or our gender. you could be an alien and i'd still race the same way."
"this question's for the two rookie mclaren drivers this season. we've seen the two of you nurse a rivalry for your entire formula careers. do you think that's going to continue in formula 1? some teammate rivalry?"
this time, oscar picked up his microphone to answer, giving ria a break.
"we don't plan on stopping this anytime soon. it's healthy to have this competition between us, especially as teammates." he answered, sounding professional.
"i'm not so sure about any on-track rivalry if i'm always miles in front of you, oscar." she joked.
"oh, please, you've seen the back of my car more times than you've been on the podium." he jabbed back.
"only to draft you so i can overtake, babes." ria said, leaving oscar without a response.
the reporters moved on to the other drivers to ask them about their cars and the start of the season, giving ria time to zone out. it wasn't until the end of the press conference that oscar had to lightly slap her around the back of her head to get her to realise the rest of the drivers were leaving. unfortunately, ria didn't see the others getting off the couch, so she assumed oscar just slapped her for no reason, causing her to elbow him in his stomach.
"ow! what the fuck was that for?" he exclaimed, hunching over in pain.
"you fucking slapped me, pastry! for no reason!" she responded.
"i was trying to get you to realise the conference was over! i was trying to be nice to you!" he explained. ria sat there quietly as a wave of embarrassment overcame her.
"oh. well. whatever. you still necked me." she said, standing up.
"you're never gonna give up are you?" he asked, following her out of the conference room.
"no, i don't think so." she sarcastically answered, rolling her eyes back at him.
the rest of their journey back to the mclaren garage for their team meeting was silent. not comfortable silence, an awkward silence, where talking makes the situation more awkward.
after what felt like the longest 5 minutes of her life, ria got to the mclaren garage, rushing inside to get away from oscar and to the meeting room where the rest of the team were waiting for them.
***
on friday morning, the nerves were starting to get to ria. it was her first free practice session, alongside her teammates, so the pressure was on.
she came back with a lap time good enough to put her in P13, and oscar was a tenth faster in P12. so far, mclaren had beat both alphatauris, both williams, both alpines, and hulkenberg's haas. it was good for a rookie, but ria wanted to be better than him.
