Reviewing priorities - Sebastian Vettel

6. Melbourne GP

The second week of winter testing had been a lot better for Valeria. She and Seb had discussed their relationship and had realised they couldn't ignore the chemistry between them, so they had started secretly dating, which gave them both a sense of naughtiness and adrenaline that was making them feel alive. Valeria had to admit that being able to vent to Seb outside work had made her feel more prepared to deal with anything the world of F1 would throw at her.

She stretched on her towel, reaching for her book. She had arrived to Australia early in the morning. She didn't have to be at the paddock until the following day, so she had left her stuff at the hotel, explored Melbourne for a bit and then directed herself to the beach. It wasn't summer hot, but hot enough for her to enjoy a day of sunbathing.

She took a picture and sent it to her family with the caption worse places to be and went back to her book. By late afternoon, Valeria felt like her body had had enough vitamin D, so she grabbed her things and decided to leave. She walked to a nearby café and decided to grab an iced coffee. She spotted a group of excited girls in the corner so she followed their sight to see Dan and his trainer, having a chat on a table not far from her. Dan was facing the opposite way from her.

'crazy man, in a public place at his home GP' she thought, as she thanked the man for her coffee. She watched the girls excitedly get their stuff autographed and walk away. She grabbed the picture of her, Jules and Dan she was using as a bookmark and walked towards him. She put on a fake Australian accent and spoke 'oh my god, great fan, could you sign this please?' she passed him the picture before he could realise who she was.

'You are a dick' he laughed, giving her a hug. 'and horrendous accent, mate'

'Are you saying I can't pull off an Aussie accent, mate?' she tried again 'Hi, I'm Valeria, by the way' she introduced herself.

'Michael' he shook her hand.

'how are you finding Straya?' Dan asked her, as he moved a chair for her to sit down.

'Alright, I guess. Warm enough to sunbathe, not enough for a dip, though. I froze my tits off' she laughed. 'but at least i got a bit of a tan. Thank god I got my skin from the Italian side of the family, or I'd be the same colour of my uniform tomorrow' she joked.

She stayed with the two Aussies for a while, reminiscing about the past, talking about Dan's career, his friendship and working relation with Mike, her new job at Ferrari and basically anything that happened in the years they had lost touch.

'it's great to see you're doing well and that you haven't changed a bit' Dan told her. 'it's a change from Ferrari's old PR people who were just so monotone' he joked.

'I'm taking a leaf out of your book, Ricciardo' she joked. 'And you know me, i never conformed' another fan interrupted them. 'This is my cue. I'll see you guys around the paddock' she kissed Dan's cheek 'lovely to meet you' she waved at Mike and walked out of the cafe.

She got back to the hotel just as the sun was setting. She left everything but her phone and her book in her room and she walked to the outdoor pool. She grabbed a lounger and sat cross legged on the end of it, facing the setting sun. She opened her distraught copy of the hobbit and continued reading.

She had loved middle Earth since the cinematic adaptation by Peter Jackson and she had used Tolkien's books as an escape from the outside world. She had read both the hobbit and the trilogy so many times, dreaming of one day visiting the sets.

'new Zealand isn't that far, I should have planned this better' she thought.

'still reading the hobbit? It's been like 20 years' Charles' voice made her turn around.