Overdrive [C. LECLERC]

CHAPTER TWO

The sun had barely gone up, but Maranello was buzzing with suspense and excitement. Today was Ferrari's big day – the launch of the F1-75, an event that marked the dawn of a new chapter in the team's history in Formula One.

For one half of their drivers, Charles Leclerc, he'd woken up feeling oddly optimistic. He'd seen the F1-75 up close, but today was the first time he actually felt an ounce of hope that he'd be standing as the race winner on the podium race after race, accumulating points to clinch the championship.

Arriving at the venue, he was greeted by the sight of cameras and a select group of fans with whom he took a couple of pictures with. Although a couple of journalists posing as fans were part of that group, he knew his official driver duties didn't begin until the launch, so he nicely avoided the questions he was going to answer in about two hours anyway.

Most of that time was spent catching up with other team members and engineers that he hadn't seen in a while, asking about their Christmas holidays and having more technical questions surrounding the car that he couldn't shake off. Of course, he'd also delved into catch ups with his teammate, Carlos Sainz who he's seen here and there over break, but decided to grill him on the developments of his love life – majorly teasing him.

As Charles enjoyed the casual banter with his team and the light teasing with Carlos about his love life, Mia, his press officer, approached with her tablet in hand, a look of organised efficiency on her face. She cleared her throat, capturing Charles's attention away from another story Carlos was sharing about his recent ski trip to Val D'Isere.

"Ciao, Charles. Did you get a chance to go over the email I sent you yesterday about today's schedule?" Mia asked, her tone hinting at the importance of the contents of that email.

Caught mid-laugh, Charles blinked, his expression shifting from amusement to a sheepish grin. "Uh... the email?" he echoed, scratching the back of his neck. A brief moment of awkward silence followed as he searched Mia's face for a sign of leniency.

"Nope," he finally admitted, his voice mixed with apology and charm. "I might have...missed that one."

Mia raised an eyebrow, the corners of her mouth twitching in a fight against a smile. At this point, all she could do was laugh. Having been stuck with Charles since his Sauber days, she should've known not to ask. "Missed it, huh?" she teased, her tone light.

Charles only responded with a flat smile.

"Sometimes I wonder how you manage to find your way around the track..." she mumbled. Charles laughed, responding with "Ah, through a lot of help from people like you, who actually read their emails."

Mia shook her head. "Alright then, let me give you the rundown now, since we can't trust you to read your emails. Today's packed, as you should know. First up, we have the pre-interview about the season with you and Carlos, you share a bit about your aspirations with the car, expectations and what not."

"Then, at noon, we've got the unveiling with the two of you and Mattia. As always, you guys discuss a bit about the car both technically and physically, make sure you keep it at a balance though – we don't want viewers to lose interest because of the technicalities."

Charles, who had already missed the email, was zoned in to everything Mia was saying. Although, he didn't need to as he was super equipped with how the launches go at this point.

"Before you guys go out on track, there's going to be one official press conference in the press room with the three of you. Keep it light but also positive, we can't afford any bad press before pre-season testing. Of course, after, we go straight into getting you and Carlos to do the first official track runs. I'm sure I don't need to tell you to get your head straight for that... no risky moves! It's just a show."