A star to be driven | f1

04, in which he saw a star

  - George - 

I sighed as I removed my steering wheel and my helmet before exiting the car.  Fp1 and Fp2 had not been an easy race for me, and I've just been trying to get used to the car. It's the start of a new season, and it seems like this car is just not working out for me. 

It's now qualifying and my team is warming up the tyres as I head to the Mercedes room to rest. I've been so stressed as of lately because I don't seem to have much control of the car, and max has already been dominating these few trial races. 

As I sit down, I hear my pr manager walk up to me with a bunch of useless reporters shoving cameras into my faces. Seriously, I hate the media so much. I'm already having a rocky season and all the media wants to do is shove it in my face to get some Netflix content for the overly dramatised drive to survive. 

I wave off the cameras with a small smile before heading to the car to inspect on it, hoping to avoid all the cameras. Whilst walking there, I pass my teammate Lewis, who has been my good mate for a while now. We hung out quite a lot during the winter break and have definitely gotten closer. 

Soon, it's qualifying and I hop into the the W14 car. I hope the mechanics made this car work out for me. As I drive off from the pit lane, i try to manoeuvre the car, but it is completely off the pace for today. 

"Something is wrong with this fucking car mate!" I exhale as my qualifying lap time only manages to put me in 14th place, brushing past Q1. The corners in Bahrain are especially tricky, and the hot weather there is definitely not helping. 

Q2 was not looking too good for me either. I had replaced my new tyres and had gone relatively fast, but i could not control the brakes and only managed to secure a 8th place. It's not a great place for Mercedes which holds a seven time world champion and many world records. 

I hit the pedal hard as my car zooms past the rest in Q3, and the car is feeling a lot better after the switch to soft tyres. However, a slight lock up for me entering turn 6 causes me to secure a spot in 6th place. 

I groan in frustration as I try to explain the situation to my engineer over the radio. I soon drive into the pit lane and park there as I head back to the garage. 

As I was walking there, my pr manager, James, swarms me yet again with lines of fans getting me to sign their shirts. I inwardly sigh and put on a fake show as I grab a pen and roughly sign them. It's great having fans that support me, but it's almost too much for me to handle, and sometimes I wish there wasn't this "media" training that we drivers had to do. 

After all, shouldn't formula one be just about racing, and not about interviews and shows and more? 

As I finally finish signing all the caps and shirts, I rush back to the garage, only for James to tell me that I have an interview coming up in 10 minutes. I try to skip the interview but James remains firm on his word, so I give up and change into my Mercedes sweatshirt and shorts for the interview. 

I enter the interview room early, and notice Lewis already there. I give him a thumbs up as I hop onto the seat nearest to the door. 

"Tired of this media nonsense too?" I question as Lewis nods in agreement. I still wonder how Lewis still manages to act so nice in front of the media after such a long time. But since it's part of my contract in formula one, I have to suck it up in order to maintain my seat here. 

Just as I finish my question, I see an interviewer rush into the room. She turns around and locks eyes with me for a split second, causing my heart to jump to my throat. Her silky brown hair brushes gently past her shoulders, and even though I could see her frazzled and tired state, she still looked absolutely gorgeous from head to toe, as her curves perfectly snatched that white dress.