Back To You (Sebastian Vettel)

Chapter 3: Le Castellet

2018 French GP marked the first time that the French GP had been run since 10 years ago. It was the eighth round in the calendar. Seb led the World Drivers' Championship standings with just one-point lead over the British driver, Lewis Hamilton. 2017 season was the first season for those two to have a fight for the WDC title. In the end, Seb lost and Lewis won his 4th title to equal what the German had achieved.

Paul Ricard which was built at Le Castellet, near Marseille, France, wasn't something new for Seb. He had come to the circuit once in 2013, when he was still with Red Bull Racing for an event with their title sponsor, Infiniti.

Since 2015, Seb had moved to his dream team, the team where Michael Schumacher tasted the successful of becoming a 7-time F1 world champion, Scuderia Ferrari. Although he hadn't become a world champion for The Prancing Horse, but he hadn't given up. That remained his goal to achieve.

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Saturday meant qualifying day. Seb was only 5th fastest on the third free practice. Even his teammate, Kimi Räikkönen, was only 13th fastest, but that was because of raining, so they couldn't set optimal lap times.

But still, Seb was sure that it would be a difficult weekend for the team as they were still struggling to make the tyres work. He wouldn't expect a win on the following day. But a podium was still possible.

Some minutes left until the qualifying session. Seb wore his balaclava and helmet. His trainer, Antti Kontsas, was standing next to him. "Are you ready, Seb?"

"I am. But I won't expect much. Mercedes are clearly faster since yesterday."

"I know. But we always believe in you. Do the best!"

"I will. Thanks, Antti."

Seb patted Antti's back before he walked closer to his car, Loria. He got in his car and some crews helped him to tighten the seat belt. The weather in the afternoon was better. It didn't rain like in the morning. And the track had also completely dried.

One hour had passed and Lewis became the pole sitter for the 2018 French GP. His teammate, Valtteri Bottas, was 2nd fastest. Seb also had a great result as he would start from 3rd place. As he expected, Mercedes were faster than his team. The tyres seemed to work better on their cars.

After attending the post-qualifying press conference and answering all questions from the F1 media during the interview session, Seb walked back to the hospitality with his PR, Britta Roeske.

"Britta, have you arranged my flight back home?"

"Yes, I have arranged it. Why?"

"Erm, I don't think that I'll go home," Seb told her his change of plan.

Britta stopped walking, which made him stop as well. "What happened, Seb? Are you arguing again with her?"

Seb shrugged. "I don't know. I just... don't want to be at home."

As she realized that they both were still at a public place, where there were many people around them, Britta decided to continue their talks in Seb's room. "Can we continue these talks inside your room?"

"Sure."

Seb and Britta walked again. They greeted some crews who were inside the garage. They congratulated Seb for finishing the qualifying session on the top 3. Then, they entered the hospitality which was behind their garages. On the second floor, Seb opened his private room and let Britta come in first. He locked the door as he didn't want others to disturb him.

"Seb, I'm sorry to ask this but, are you arguing again with Bernadette?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, more or less."