Full Throttle

Q2

I sighed in relief as I pulled off my helmet and balaclava, sweat drenching my face. The afternoon practice had gone more of the same, except I spun out on turn 13. I'd not damaged the car, though, so my Chief Engineer, Jonathon, told me that everything was okay. I felt like an idiot, it was so embarrassing. I knew that everybody spun out, but I also knew that the media would be scrutinising my every move just because of my gender. I untangled my limbs from the cockpit of the car and clambered out. Nicole handed me my water bottle and took my helmet, balaclava and HANS from me, although I stuffed the balaclava into the helmet so that she didn't have to touch the sweaty piece of fabric. I thanked her and wandered over to Nick, who was leaning on a countertop.
"Good run," he said.
"I spun out."
"Everybody spins out."
"It was embarrassing."
"Well, only thing to do it work harder with your training to try and limit the number of spin-outs you have from here on out."
I grunted in response to his question, taking long pulls from the straw in my bottle.
"You're really sweaty," he added.
"No shit, Sherlock. Do you know what the track temperature is," I said as I undid my racing suit and let the top hang down at my legs.
"Uhhh, no. What is it?"
"Fucking hot. Fucking boiling hot."
He laughed at my answer and I grinned at him.
"Sorry, Jessie," I turned around to see my Media Relations Advisor, Katie, standing behind me. "You've got a media interview in a minute. Would I be able to steal you quickly?"
I knew it wasn't a question, it was a 'get your arse over to this interview' but she was just too polite to phrase it as such.
"Yeah, sorry. I don't look awful, do I?" I asked her. She shook her head.
"Cool. See you soon, Nick."
"Seeya, Jess."

I saw a few more of the other drivers now that FP2 had finished: McLaren's Carlos Sainz was with his teammate Lando Norris, who was in his rookie season much like me. We never talked in Formula Two. In fact, that seemed to be a thing with me, no one really talked to me in Formula Two, or when I was in Formula Three. Charles Leclerc was probably the first racing driver that I'd had a semi-conversation with. Speaking of Ferrari, Sebastian Vettel, one of my heroes, was talking to his Team Principle whilst walking back to the Scuderia Ferrari centre with his bottle in his hand. My mouth dropped open but I quickly closed it and looked away before anyone saw me staring. I heard Katie chuckle to herself.
"That's Sebastian fucking Vettel," I whispered in shock to her, more to reassure myself that I saw him rather than informing her of who the person was. We arrived at the place where they were doing the interviews, and Pierre Gasly was just finishing up. He used to drive for Toro Rosso, but had been promoted to drive at Red Bull Racing this season. Katie took my bottle from me and ran over some of the things I could expect.
"Good luck," she whispered to me as I walked forwards in response to Rachel Brookes starting to announce my arrival.
"So, Jessie, first of all I want to say a big thank you for respresenting all of the women in racing, and showing that we can, indeed, make it to the top. How was it out there today?"
I smiled at her and started speaking into the microphone she held at me.
"Yeah, it was good. Boiling hot, I didnt think that it would be this warm approaching winter here, but it's okay, I have got my factor 50 to keep my skin safe from the sun we never get to see in England," I chuckled briefly as Rachel let out a small laugh. "But yeah, the car felt good. It felt fast. I think we're in for a good season."
"Excellent. I too have my suncream on hand to, uh, to stop me from getting burnt. It is abnormally hot for May, in here in Melbourne, are you hoping it'll be cooler for Qualis tomorrow and ultimately Race Day on Sunday?"
"I'm not too worried about myself overheating, I just want the best conditions for the car when I'm out on track."
"Okay. Now, Jessie, nobody really knows about you. I mean, you did very well in Formula Two for, for the three seasons that you raced in it, but nobody really knows much about you. You're 19 years old, you come from a, a small town in the county of Essex back in England. What about your family? How did you get into racing in the first place?"
"Um, I got into racing through karting, obviously. I watched my older brother when I was five and he was eight and my dad always tells me that I wouldn't stop going on about the 'things that drove around in circles making a loud noise', so my parents took me to a track and hired somebody to help me out for the day, and I got hooked on it, although it was 2 more years before I was actually allowed on a kart."
"Amazing," Rachel said taking the microphone back to ask me another question. "You mentioned your older brother there, can you tell us more about your family and growing up?"
"I would rather keep information about my family private, they don't want to be in the media and I hope that other news outlets can respect that."
"Oh okay, I hope so too. One final question and then I'll let you get on your way. This has been requested of other drivers as, as well. What car do you drive now that you're in Formula One?"
I laughed in response to the question and answered with a grin.
"I still have my trusty Ford Fiesta that I saved up for after I passed my driving test."
Rachel laughed with me at my answer.
"Thank you, Jessie, for answering these questions and we'll let you, let you get on now because I imagine you're in need of some food to replace those calories expended out on the track today."
"Thank you, Rachel," I said before turning back to Katie, who handed me back my drink.