Drive to Survive [Lando Norris]

-1-

"Oh for fuck sake!" a frustrated Willow exclaimed at the little text she read on her phone. 

"What's wrong?" Her PR manager, Carla asked not 100% paying attention to the sudden outburst from the driver as she was busy going through some important papers for the upcoming first race of the new season. 

"They've paired me with Lando... again!" She replied. She was referring to the list of driver pairing for the press conferences that would be held later that day. 

It was Thursday after all, and Thursday meant track walks and media day. And since it was the first race, there would be a lot of attention on the press conferences where you'd get a good look on the new and old drivers. 

"You can't expect to be paired with Kimi every time, Willow. It'll be fun, don't worry" Clara said taking a sip of her coffee and returning to her papers. 

"But why not? Kimi is so... well Kimi, silent and unbothered. And Lando is so... all over the place, so enthusiastic." she frowned and leaned over the table to rest her eyes for a bit. She did just wake up an hour ago. 

"Let me guess, she red the conference pairings?" The sound of her trainer, Lilly's voice sadly woke Willow up from her short nap. 

Lilly had a playful smile on her face that grew bigger, when she saw the angry look that Willow send back. 

"I take that as a yes" Lilly said laughing with Clara joining in. 

"Alright I don't need you two to bully me about it all day, what do you want Lilly?" Willow asked suppressing a yawn and an angry glare. 

"It's track walk time" Lilly said with too much enthusiasm for Willows liking, and she groaned when she was pulled on her feet. 

-- 

It's safe to say that Willow had way too much clothes on. Not only wearing her team polo shirt and some jeans, but also a hoodie was a bit too much for the temperatures of Bahrain. But the stubbornness caught up to her, and she refused to take her hoodie off despite the feeling that she was being boiled alive. 

With about 10 minutes left of the track walk they stopped to take some pictures. 'It's good for yours and the teams image' Clara claimed and ordered the photographer to take some pictures. Willow wasn't overly found of all this. 

Her life was about F1, about racing in the fastest and most beautiful cars ever made, about winning and scoring points in such mentioned cars, the feeling that the hard work she and her team was doing paid off. 

All this taking photos, doing interviews and stuff, wasn't her thing. She wasn't asking to be famous, she just wanted to race because she loved it more than anything. 

Finally that dreadful track walk had finished and she had about an hour before the press conference, and Willow soon found herself in her driver's room with some food. She had taken off her hoodie and felt a lot more comfortable now. Just enjoying her food while scrolling through her Instagram. 

It wasn't until Clara peaked into her room telling her that it was time for the press conference that her mood changed again. Who on Earth had decided that they had to do all these ridiculous interviews all the time? If she ever found that person, she would kill them. 

--

"Do I really have to do this?" Willow whined and almost thought about just turning back and away from the building she was currently entering. 

"Yes Willow, now go in there and shine" Clara said with a wink and pushed her inside. 

Loads of cameras and reporters and all sorts of people had already showed up, and Willow swallowed the lump in her throat watching the two chairs up front. One was empty, and the other was already filled out with that same overly happy golden retriever called Lando Norris. 

Willow shot a look at Clara who nodded towards the empty chair and she rolled her eyes at her PR manager a bit and sighed before actually making her way towards the chair. 

She saw the huge smile on Lando's face and already regretted fist bumping him because he would just start a conversation with her, and she just wanted to get in her car and race. 

"It's good to see you again, Willow" Lando said with his British accent looking at her. 

She nodded while fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "You too" she simply replied.

"Chatty as always, I see." he chuckled causing Willow to look at him, but he had already turned his attention to the cameras that were about to roll with a smile leaving her a tad speechless. 

"Welcome Lando Norris and Willow Ford to the first press conferences of the 2021 Formula One World Championship. Now, first question to the both of you, how do you feel?" A reporter said and Lando immediately answered. 

"I'm very excited. I think we have a great car this year, and the whole team has been working really hard and I'm sure we'll put up a good fight" he said very proud of himself and his team. 

Willow couldn't imagine Lando driving for another team. She was positive that Lando was the future of McLaren, and he would probably never leave the team. 

"And you, Willow?" she realized that she had slightly zoned out and quickly found her way back. 

"Yeah uh same. Excited, ready to drive." she said. She could already hear all the reporters whispering. Probably about her and her lack of ability to maintain focus on interviews. 

"And how do you feel the pressure? It is only your second season, and a lot can happen?" someone said.

They were already trying to stir up drama and rumors. Another reason she hated the medias. They were all fake. Everything was fake, and they only wanted to focus on the bad things. Another reason why she let Clara control all that. She didn't wanna get involved. 

"I don't" Willow spoke. 

A/N
First chapter! Very excited <3