Reviewing priorities - Sebastian Vettel

35. Unexpected downtime

The first few days in Japan had been amazing, Valeria had felt so much better since Mattia had agreed to take some of her duties off her and had swapped them with some of Pietro's. Valeria had taken charge of some of the social channels and had started being more involved in the creative process for the youtube channel.

'They've just confirmed FP3 is cancelled and quali is moved to the Sunday' she told Pietro, once she came back to the garage. She had just been in an emergency meeting with F1 and the Suzuka GP organisers. The weather forecast for the following day had turned for the worst and the whole country had basically prepared itself for a day shutdown.

Valeria helped the mechanics secure the stuff in the garage, before going to get changed. Seb had just done the same and was waiting for her by the side of the garage, as he caught up with Kimi.

Valeria changed into an Italian rugby top and jeans, threw her uniform in her backpack and joined her fiancée.

'Looking sharp' Kimi joked.

'Don't care, it's comfortable. The world cup is going on and we were supposes to play the All Blacks tomorrow, but the match has been cancelled so we tied... which is not the result we expected. Let me celebrate!' she replied, with a smile.

Valeria caught a glimpse of Daniel in his Aussie rugby top 'Oioi!' she called out. Dan looked up, giving her one of his wide smiles.

'what the hell are you wearing?' he teased her.

'I'd like you to know we have just tied with the All Blacks.' She teased him, walking towards him. Dan was playing around with a rugby ball whilst Mike was setting up a few cones for him to hit with it.

'the only way that happened is because of the worst hurricane of the century. Here, catch!' he threw the ball at her.

Valeria managed to just about catch it, making Dan laugh, as she didn't expect him to actually throw the ball towards her.

'I'd like to remind you I played at uni.' She joked, running around him. 'oi, Mike!' she passed Dan's PT the ball just as Dan tried to take it.

Seb watched her playing around with the two Aussies, she looked so much more at ease when the cameras and the uniforms were gone and the fans weren't looking. They had pretty similar personalities, they were both up for a laugh and a chat with the fans, but also loved to have their own spaces and privacy.

'Ask the Wallabies if they have an opening for me too' she joked. Valeria walked back to Seb, who had recorded her playing around with Dan on his phone.

'What are we doing tonight?' she asked him. 'I'm guessing you're busy tomorrow, doing work stuff?'

'Yeah, Antti has some training, then we have some stuff with Riccardo. What will you do?' he asked her.

'I'll work hard in the hotel spa' she told him with a smile.

'Life is alright for some! Do you want to get some dinner tonight, then? There's this nice sushi place I went to last year with Kimi.'

'sure. I mean, nothing can top your date last year, but I'll try'

'You're such a bitch' Seb laughed.

'Lass uns gehen, Bärchen' Valeria told him. She grabbed her bag and jacket and opened the bedroom door. They stood by the elevator , waiting for it to arrive. Valeria felt Seb grab her hand, her lips curving upwards automatically. They still hadn't got used to being public at race weekends. Yeah, they shared a room and usually travelled to and from the paddock together, but they didn't openly hold hands, or kiss around work.