"Growing up having racing at the centre of your family, isn't always as exciting as people think. My father lived and breathed racing, and almost died because of it.
I have always been in my brother's shadow, always known for being Romero's little...
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Lucia
I had left Belgium, 2 weeks before the 2022 formula one season had started. Max spent as much time as he could with me but he had a lot of racing commitments. When he could, I made us dinner at my place and he even took me on walks down the beach, when it was quiet. The word got out to the reporters that I was living in the same apartment building as my brothers rival. But in every apartment building in Monaco, at least one racing driver lived there, whether they were formula one, two or even three. And the building that I lived in also did have a lot of other aspiring models, so no one really questioned or made massive comments about me living there.
It was a relief. My father soon too found out about my living situation and surprisingly he was okay with it. His reaction made me sick and I didn't know what he was planning but I knew it was not going to be good. He always have reasons behind all of his actions.
My father, ever since I started modelling for high end luxury brands, like Dior, Chanel and fashion Ferrari, would demand that I attend at least half of the f1 season's races. And it was always in my modelling contracts that my jobs had to be flexible around the formula one calendar.
It's not that I didn't enjoy going to the races, that was the only good thing about being related to a driver, was being able to attend the races from the paddock. I had managed to avoid the first 5 GP's due to having modelling jobs with Ferrari Fashion, which was only approved by my father because it was Ferrari. Not that I needed his approval anymore, since I moved out and was having less and less contact with my parents, I still longed to make him proud. So far my brother was only able to make him proud, racing for McLaren just like he had.
I was heading to the Spanish Grand Prix, as a guest of Ferrari, as they had a runway show after the Sunday race day. That meant I would be staying in the Ferrari garage. It didn't surprise me at all that my father encouraged me to attend with Ferrari and said my brother wouldn't care that I wasn't in the McLaren garage. I was kinda happy with staying in the Ferrari garage away from my family, it's not like I would be spoken to anyway other than when I'd be modelling for another luxury brand. Every time I modelled for a high end brand, somehow Romero would get recognition or more follows or more interviews and even sponsorships. But this time I was invited all on my own, because they wanted me there, they wanted me to walk there runway and not because I was Romero's little sister.
I hadn't meet most of the drivers, only Daniel Riccardo when he raced at McLaren with my brother, Lando Norris because he racing with my brother and Max because he's my brother's rival. If you hadn't noticed already the underlying reason for knowing these drivers, it's because of my brother. I didn't do much research into f1 either, mostly because I wasn't that interested in the finer details of it all, but mostly because it meant that f1 would consume more of my life than it already did. Nonetheless, I was excited to meet the drivers of Ferrari, since I was a guest I got to have the full guest treatment. Meeting the drivers, being shown the car and then staying in the garage with a headset on. Who wouldn't like a little paddock royalty treatment in their lives.
