La Rosa Gialla

Chapter 47

August/September 2024

Max Verstappen won the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort to the great joy of all home fans. For Ferrari, and especially for Charles, it meant only one thing, we are back where we started. The points of the first two riders, i.e. Max and Charles, were suddenly equalized and all previous races seemed to not even exist. It started again from scratch.

"Adri! We have a problem," Charles pounded on the bathroom door of our hotel room in Milan on a Friday morning before free practice. "What happened?" I called to him and turned down the flow of water so I could hear him better. "Actually, we don't have a problem. We are completely totally fucked!" he was freaking out. I sighed, turned off the water completely and threw on a bathrobe to follow him into the room. I looked at his expression, which was teetering on the edge between scared and desperate. "Andrea broke his leg. You have to take his place again," he said a little more calmly. "Do you really have to make things up again? I thought our relationship had moved on since then," I smirked and took a few steps to the closet, where I froze in shock. On a small couch in the corner of the room, Andre sat with his left leg stretched out on the couch, his crutches resting on the armrest, and an apologetic smile on his face. "What on earth were you doing?" I asked him in disbelief. "I fell down the stairs," he shrugged. "He fell down the stairs! Do you understand? Days before one of the most important races of the season, my personal trainer falls down the stairs and breaks his leg. Before Monza!" Charles looked like his brain was going to burst at any moment. He paced the room back and forth playing with his bracelets. "Charlie?" I addressed him, but he didn't even look at me. "Charlie!" I raised my voice and he winced. I walked over to him and took his hands in mine. "I know there's a lot of pressure on you right now, but try to calm down a bit, okay? Take a deep breath..." He did as I told him and his tight neck muscles slowly relaxed.

"Don't you want to go rest? You make me quite nervous," I snapped at Andrea, who was sitting behind the garage, where I was trying to warm up with Charles before practice. "I'm fine," Andre smirked and Charles chuckled. "You annoy me too," I said through gritted teeth in his direction. I felt like they were just making fun of me. Andrea could easily control most of the exercises even with a cast on his leg, and the only thing I was useful for Charles was kicking the football. But I really suck at it and they didn't hesitate to comment on that.

Fortunately, my misery didn't last too long and Charles finally jumped into the car. I knew how much it meant to him to do well this weekend. And not only good, but as good as possible. He had to win. Because of the championship, but mainly because of how much the Tifosi relied on him. The wait for Ferrari's next victory on home soil has been long. Too long, but this year everything finally worked out for Charlie and he was headed in the right direction.

"It sucks. It understeers like crazy..." I listened to Charles after both free practises, while Andre and Joris kept me company. "He looks pretty cranky," remarked the younger of them, and I looked at him sideways. "Don't even start. You're not the one who has to reassure him every night that it's going to be okay." "And it will get worse. Can you imagine that it would be this equal even before Abu Dhabi?" Andrea added and I gave him one of my most murderous looks. "How can you even say that? If he's going to act like this every race weekend from now, I'm going to drown him in the bathtub," I grumbled. "Is it really that bad?" Joris chuckled and I just nodded.

When I compare Charles from the summer break and Charles after Zandvoort, it was like I was dating two different people. He was taciturn but explosive at the same time. He was annoyed by every little thing that was not according to his ideas. He was withdrawn, but at the same time, he could complain for hours about every little thing. And I just silently suffered him and prayed that this weekend would go well and I would get back the cute teddy bear Charles that I was used to having.

The third practice could already tell a lot, but none of us wanted to give up hope before the actual battle. Charles had the 7th best time and even Hamilton, who has done absolutely nothing this year, was ahead of him. Charles and I didn't speak a word before qualifying. I didn't want to distract him, plus I was afraid he'd freak out about something again, and that wouldn't help either of us. So I just gave him a kiss on the cheek, wished him good luck and with Joris and Andrea retreated to his part of the garage where we could watch qualifying. He finished second. Second behind his biggest rival, Max.

The atmosphere on Sunday was tense, and Charles and I didn't talk much except for the bare essentials. I went through a warm-up session with him and felt a huge sense of relief when it was time for him to get into his car. I never thought I would say that. I was always afraid of every race. My stomach was always clenched and I prayed in my mind that nothing would happen to him. But with the way he had been acting the past few days, I was glad I wouldn't have to look at his sour face for a while. And I say this about Charles as a person whom I love more than anything in the world.

We were halfway through the race and nothing had changed at all from the qualifying standings. Charles drove second and Max built up a decent lead of almost five seconds in first place. But suddenly the Red Bull with number 1 started to slow down on the straight until it finally stopped completely. Charles whizzed past the stalled vehicle and held on to first place even after the restart of the race behind the safety car. And he stayed on it until he passed the checkered flag and thus won the entire race. In addition, Ferrari had a double reason to celebrate, as Carlos finished in third place.

"I'm sorry for how the race turned out for Max. I'd definitely rather fight him on the track than have him retire. But that's just how it goes sometimes and this win really means a lot to me," Charles smiled into the camera. Finally, a smile again, I was almost afraid that I would never see it again.