A season like no other- Sebastian Vettel

21. Letting it all out

'You need to be nice to the Imola cat' Valeria told Seb as they crossed the entrance of the paddock together, greeted by the meowing creature. 'Don't you dare call him fat in front of the cameras, god knows what he'll do to you. Why don't you like cats anyways?'

'I'm not telling you' Seb huffed.

'What if I get Noemi to ask you?' She teased him.

'Alright, alright.' He turned around to check nobody else was around. 'When I was younger I got chased by one and it scratched me and now I don't trust cats' he told her in German.

'What the fuck' Valeria couldn't contain her laughter, causing Seb to frown under his mask. 'I'm sorry, this is hilarious. Maybe I'll get a cat to change your mind' she added. 'See you later, my love. Be safe'

'Always' he replied, squeezing her hand a little. 'And please don't get a cat whilst I'm away'  he asked her a she started to walk away.

'Can't promise anything' she replied. 'Maybe I'm already looking' she shook her phone towards him. She walked towards the stand where she and Ted would be commenting on FP3 and the following quali. She was enjoying the feeling of being with sky slightly too much for her own liking, she knew she couldn't really afford to be in a full time racing job once Jules was born, even after the first year at home. With both her and Seb travelling they would lose too much family time if she had to follow a full race calendar around the world.

After a disappointing qualifying that saw Seb only setting the 14th best time, Valeria felt like she had seen enough. She was just about to leave the paddock to finally check into her hotel room when she saw Mattia and Fabrizio chatting not far from her car.

She took a deep breath before walking any further. Out of all the space in the parking lot, did they really have to stand next to that small car?

'Hello' she said, trying to be polite. 'All right?' She asked.

'Oh hi, Valeria' Mattia said.

'We didn't realise you'd still be around, you're quite far along now' Fabrizio added.

'Yeah, I had already agreed to these races when we used to live here, so I couldn't really let the team down' she unlocked her car.

'Unlike your husband, I see' Fabrizio said, in a not so quiet tone, watching her throw her bag on the passenger seat.

'Excuse me?!' She asked, turning around to face them again. 'What did you just say?'

'Nothing' he mused.

'Don't start with me, mate' she warned him. 'Don't you throw shit on my husband'

'Well, I think he's throwing it on himself isn't he?'

'Oh my god how are you so blind?! The guy has literally loved this team from day one. He's lost hours, days, months... to help out the team. Even now he's got absolutely nothing negative to say about the team. Even this year!' Valeria felt like she had started to lose it.

'Valeria, please, calm down' Mattia intervened.

'You don't fucking tell me to calm down.' She turned to the TP. 'Don't you dare. You calling him a second driver after he's the closest thing you have had to a world champion since 2007? You don't fucking say another word about my husband' she continued.

'You're causing a scene' Mattia tried to continue.

'I don't give a flying fuck about the scene. I had enough. Enough of your mind games, enough of the team politics, enough of the way you've all been acting like Sebastian is doing everything on purpose. Do you begin to understand the mental state you've all put him in? The way you told him you were not renewing him? The fact that I had to be the one telling him you were looking around? How does talking to Daniel as early as December stand up to your morality standards?' Mattia opened his mouth to reply 'you know what? I don't give a shit.' She opened her car door 'out of my way, please'