COLLISION COURSE - Lando Norris [ff]

Five

Sitting in press conferences was Christina’s least favorite part of her job. As a child, she always thought being a Formula One driver was strictly about racing, talking to mechanics and developing the cars further in order to maximize the team’s success. When she had signed her contract with AlphaTauri in late 2018, her first few days at the headquarter where connected with a lot of PR related duties; telling the world the first woman would enter the sport for much longer than just a couple of races had been somewhat of a lifelong task. She had felt like an Olympian while dodging all the rude questions and assumptions thrown at her head afterwards.

“Christina, I’ve got a question for you regarding the photos that are circulating on the internet,” one of the journalists asked to speak.

“I have released an official statement on Instagram, and I will kindly reject any questions regarding my and another driver’s personal lives. Thank you,” she shut the nosy interviewer down and took another gulp from her bottle of water. It would not calm her nerves or her tensed mood, but it would prevent her from giving in to the urge to storm out of the room and catch some fresh air.

“Another question for Christina, please,” another man spoke out, “How exactly do you deal with all the hate directed at you for being a part of this sport?”

“I don’t really give it much thought to be honest. I came here to race, and I will continue doing it for as long as I can. When people attack me that’s not a problem at all, but I don’t tolerate any hate towards my family and friends, and the FIA has released a statement covering that topic just a couple hours ago,” Christina answered and put her bottle to the ground.

“Question for Lando!” A woman raised her hand and the presenter pointed at her and therefore gave her the permission to speak, “There are many comments on various social media posts and reposts of the unsolicited picture taken of you and your colleague insulting and harassing you. Does this affect your concentration on and off track?”

“I wouldn’t necessarily say it affects my racecraft, but it has an impact on me as a person off track. I don’t take it to heart, but it’s still stuck in my head somewhere. Such events usually remind me of the importance of privacy as a public person. All of us spend a lot of time on track or with PR duties and are used to having little to no private life. People who post photos like this and make up stories on the internet are incredibly problematic as they’re invading our leftover privacy that all of us surely deserve not just as drivers but as human beings,” Lando expressed his concerns and feelings and left her deeply impressed. She had always expected Norris to be more on the spoiled side of life as he grew up wealthy and in a stable home with many opportunities many others did not and will never have, so the genuine words caught her by surprise. The Brit was enviably eloquent in the way he wrapped things up nicely, and she also knew that he had a knack for lulling people with his charming candidness. Opposite to her, he had never really needed to defend himself to the press though. He was not usually framed the bad guy. Therefore, she had rarely ever seen this side of him.

The interviewer nodded and looked at George next, “Anything to add?”

“Not really. I believe that often people forget about the fact we’re just humans too. We have families, friends and interests off track. Of course this is more than just a job for us, that’s our passion and what we hardly worked for all our lives but we are also just- at least most of us-“ He laughed, “-young adults in their mid-twenties.”

The woman nodded and wrote their answers down before another person got to ask their questions. And that was exactly how it went on for the rest of the conference until she could finally dash out of the building and dedicate her time to more important things again. At least the awareness, that she would get back to the actual racing after her media and PR duties helped her to keep her calm circled by cameras. They usually scared her to death.