Love and Rivalry {Female F1 driver}

Welcome to F...

February 2024 came around, and it was finally time to get back to racing. Although the spark I once had for it, wasn't exactly the same anymore, I had decided to get the very best out of it this year. I had spent all winter break training and getting to know my new team and more importantly, the new car I would be driving. 

"Ms. Carter! Ready to start the season?" "Yn! How do you feel being back in Bahrain?" "Can you tell us more about the relationship between you and Charles Leclerc?" "Carter, would you mind stopping for a few questions?"

I was bombarded as soon as I entered the paddock in Bahrain, and I could easily say, I hadn't missed the media at all during the break. They kept writing about the big change in the F2 grid, as well as my relationship with Charles. They couldn't figure out if we were just privately together, or if we did break up, and none of us had commented on it yet. 

"Ms. Carter! Welcome to Bahrain! Are you ready to start the season, rookie?" I heard a loud voice coming towards me, as soon as I entered the garage. "Thank you so much, I can't wait to get on track!" I replied to my team principal. 

"Mr. Horner, there's a call for you," We were interrupted, so Christian excused himself and went to answer the call. That's right, folks. I'm officially a Red Bull F1 driver! And not just any driver, no I am the second driver! I was so excited when Christian called over the break, offering me the contract. He said he was impressed with my results, and that my mindset was exactly what they needed on the team. 

This meant I had spent even more time with Max over winter, and we had developed a kind of brother-sister bond, I would say. Besides Max, I had gotten to know Daniel and Yuki a lot better as well, as we often had training with their team. It had been great fun, but now I was looking forward to getting on track, and showing everyone how much I had bettered myself during the break.

"There she is!" I heard yelling from behind, and I immediately knew who it was, so I turned around in excitement. "Lando, Oscar!" I exclaimed and went to give both of them a big hug. I had seen Lando occasionally, whenever he was back in the UK to visit his family, but even then, I still missed him all break. Oscar too. "Welcome to F1!" Oscar spoke excitedly and I smiled at him widely. "Thank you guys! It's so good to see you both again!" I said and they both smiled warmly.

We then went for a walk around the paddock, catching up on loose ends and spoke about what we had done on our breaks. "When did you have time to relax at all?" Lando asked me in disbelief, and I shrugged my shoulders. "I didn't need to," I said and he now changed his expression to one of disapproval. "I'm serious!" They both just shook their heads.

As we were walking around, someone suddenly caught my eye. It was not only him, but almost the whole Ferrari team, arriving together. He didn't seem to have noticed me yet, so I was quick to avert my gaze, not wanting to be caught looking at him. Instead, I looked to the ground, which caught the attention of both the McLaren boys.

"How about we get some lunch, yeah? We still have time before the briefing, and I'm starving!" Lando said, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. Oscar mimicked his actions and did the same, as he replied, "Great idea, I haven't eaten anything yet today!" And with that, they started walking quickly towards the café, dragging me along with them.

"So, are you excited for your rookie year?" Oscar asked when we had sat down with some food. "I am! I hope I can do it just half as good as you did last season," I said, thinking about all the amazing drivers on the grid. Lando scoffed playfully, "You'll do much better, don't you worry. With a talent like yours, it won't take long to pick up on everyone." He said encouraging, nudging my side with his elbow. 

"As mean as that was, Lando is right. There's no way you won't do good!" He smiled widely and I felt myself feel more calm about the season already. "Just, don't crash this season, please? It was stressing enough being off the track and watching, but you'd mess up for everyone if you were hurt now," Lando said, making me chuckle. "It wouldn't be different than any other driver crashing, Lan," I tried, but he looked at me with an expression as if I had said something dumb.