Sebastian Vettel (One Shots)

A New Era Begins (B.T.Y.)

When he saw Gia sitting on a sofa, he quickly had a seat next to her. "Gia?"

She glanced at him and smiled. "Yeah?"

"Are you sure that you will be okay with me leaving for some days?"

She chuckled. "Seb, it's not the first time for you to leave. The next few days will be very important to you. You should clear your mind of worrying us too much. We'll be fine, I promise."

"Yeah. It's just that... I will be missing you both, but I surely can't bring you with me."

"We will miss you too, without a doubt. But your team need you more. They need a 4-time F1 world champion with them."

Her words made him smile. He was beyond grateful to have a very supportive wife next to him. She was right, the team needed him. But he was still on his stance that his family was his main priority. Then, he looked at Ludwig who was biting his teething toy. "I want to take him."

Ludwig was finally back to his father, sitting on his lap. If Seb knew that having a wife and a child would make him that happy, he would come and apologize to Gia and her family earlier than he did. But he quickly shook his head as there was no point to think about it anymore.

Gia stared at Seb for quite some time. After the 2020 season ended, he told her that he was going to do the transplant on his hair as it was getting thinner. She surely had no problem with that. It was his hair, his decision, and his choice. And she knew that she would always love him, no matter what.

But, when the team posted a video of his arrival to the factory in January and his half bald hair was exposed for the first time, some F1 fans were laughing and shaming him. They joked that he was very stressed in Ferrari that it made him lose most of his hair. Had they never heard of genetic hair loss?

She obviously saw the comments on her Instagram and it made her sad. She would never let him know about that. He didn't have to read about what people said.

"Gia? What is it, gorgeous?"

She was a little startled as she didn't realize that he was looking at her. "Ah, nothing to worry about, Seb."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." She tried to change the subject. "Erm, you know, I've googled a lot of things to know about a 3-month old baby. I found out that babies this age love hugs and it can help with their cognitive development."

"Ah really? I should hug him then."

Gia took the teether toy from Ludwig, so that Seb could hug him properly. He looked so happy and cheerful, and it really warmed her heart. Then, as Seb held him with one of his arms, he used his other arm to pull his wife closer and then kissed her head softly.

---

The launch day had finally come! As Gia had registered on Aston Martin F1's website, it meant that she could watch the launch video through it. She was grateful that Ludwig was sleeping peacefully in the baby box.

As it was half an hour before the launch, she quickly turned her laptop on and sat on her bed. She was proudly wearing the Sebastian Vettel hoodie which was one of the team's official merchandises. She always loved green colour. She also smiled when she looked at his new logo on the right sleeve. The logo itself was purely designed by him, without the intervension from anyone.

She logged in on the website and before the launch started, she could see some nice contents there, such as the fans' video and a video of messages from Seb and Lance. When she was watching the fans' video, her phone rang. She took it and smiled to know that Seb was video calling her.

"Hi, Seb! We are matchy-matchy!"

Seb burst into laugher. "Of course, as we should. You look so huggable with that hoodie."

"You too!" Gia laughed a little. "You've just finished the zoom call with your fans, have you?"

"Yes, I have. They are all amazing. They asked me many interesting questions. You know what? Someone asked me if I have any intentions to play in a James Bond movie."

"Really?!" she immediately laughed a little loudly. But she quickly covered her mouth as she remembered that her baby was sleeping. "Oh God, I almost forgot that Ludwig is sleeping. Erm then, what was your answer?"

"I said no, there's no intentions. I think that I'm quite cheap. Maybe that I could just stand on the side, so at least one day I could say, 'Look! I played in a Bond movie'."

Seb was a total comedian! Gia really wanted to laugh out loud, but remembering that her only son couldn't be disturbed, she tried to hold it. "I can imagine when you said 'Look!'. You would be a proud dad telling about it to Ludwig."

"You know me too well, gorgeous." Then, he talked about his new car. "By the way, about our team's car, it will be green."

Gia was so elated to hear it. "Yes! I'm sure that-"

"But there's a splash of pink as well."

She quickly changed her expression into a confused look. "What? Why?"

"Because BWT is still one of our sponsors. Not the title partner like the previous years, but as a global partner."

"Ah, okay. Don't get me wrong, Seb. I do love pink. I love all colours, to be honest. But I just didn't expect this. I think that you told me once that the livery would probably be British Racing green and lime green."

"Yes, you are right. But then there was a last minute deal between our team and BWT, so they decided to change the lime green with pink." Seb could see Gia nod as she understood the reason behind it. "And I should tell you other thing. I was in talks with BWT as well. And now, they've appointed me as their ambassador."

"Wow that's a great news, Seb!"

He smiled to see that his wife was happy with the news. "Thanks, Gia. BWT and I share the same perspective and goals to make the world a little better. As you know that I've stopped using a plastic bottle. We should start doing something for our children and young people."

"I completely agree with you."

"Oh, there's one more thing, actually. As a part of my deal with them, my helmet for this season would be white and pink with the world map and there's also a message of 'Change the world, sip by sip'. I still have a freedom to change the design a little bit, though."

"It's nice to hear it."

Gia couldn't believe that the man who became her husband wasn't only an F1 driver, a hero for many young drivers, but he was also an amazing human being who didn't only think about himself, but also about young generations.

Before he ended the call, he told her that there would be some media interviews after the launch. Then, he said goodbye as it was nearly time for her to watch the launch video.

At about 4, Switzerland time, Gia started watching the launch. Gemma Arterton, who played as Strawberry Fields in Quantum of Solace, one of Bond's films, became the launch host.

She couldn't stop smiling when he and his teammate, Lance, appeared to unveil their new car. She felt the goosebumps when she looked at the car for the first time. AMR21 was so much more beautiful than she imagined.

She was also surprised that there was a little message from the one and only Daniel Craig who played as James Bond since 2006, in Casino Royale to be precise, congratulating Aston Martin for their comeback and wishing them all the best. After more than half an hour, the launch ended. She turned her laptop off and put it on a table before she came back to sit on bed.

It still felt like yesterday for Gia when she was told by Seb that he would leave Ferrari at the end of 2020 season and he considered to retire right after. But she knew that he was a competitive person. She knew that he still wanted to race. And she was happy that he took a decision to join Aston Martin. A new era had just begun, not only for the team, but also for Seb.