𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙚: 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙖 1

𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙨

Charles woke up, the smell of fresh pancakes and eggs waking him from his sleep. He sat up and brushed his hair back, outside the window he could see the beach, the stillness of the water, and the people taking their morning walks in the sand. He walked to the kitchen where Ana was making them breakfast.

"Good morning" Ana smiled, her hair tied back in a high ponytail, she wore an oversized top and bike shorts.

"Morning" Charles sat down on a bar stool in the kitchen, catching his reflection in a mirror on the wall, he realised he was only wearing shorts, and no top.

Ana made Charles' plate, he thanked her. They both ate in the kitchen whilst talking about qualifying. Charles checked the time on his phone, a photo of him and Ana as his Lock Screen.

6:30 AM

"I didn't mean to get you up so early" Ana apologised for waking him, she was hoping he'd get more rest before qualifying.

"It's ok, we still have awhile until we have to go to the track" Charles smiled at her.

"How did you sleep?" Ana asked him, he'd stayed in the guest room while she slept in hers.

"alright, couldn't really fall asleep"

"Neither" Ana admitted, she had stayed up on her phone, reading countless articles about herself. Not in a narcissistic 'I love myself' way, but more in a 'I wonder what people think of me' way. She'd always been a confident girl, but she couldn't help but wonder what people were saying about her.

"We need to do this more" Charles smiled, spreading more butter on a piece of toast.

"Sleepovers?" Ana smiled

"Yeah, sleepovers" Charles laughed

When they were younger, Ana would stay with Charles' family during important karting tournaments. Her family lived in Russia and could never afford to all go with her, but they tried their hardest, Charles' parents always accepted Ana with open arms. Charles would always let Ana sleep in his bed, he'd take the couch, or sleep with Arthur.

Anas phone lit up from a notification.

—
𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙃𝙤𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙧
Try get in earlier today team! We are going to do a breakdown of qualifying and discuss some strategies before we hit the track.
—

"I'm going to go to the track a bit earlier, my first qualifying, Horner is watching me so carefully" Ana placed her phone back down, she knew all eyes would be on her today. She was the rookie and Max's new teammate, and to be honest that's never ended well.

Charles helped Ana clean the dishes from breakfast. The two talked for a little longer and then eventually he left. Ana started a shower, she let the water warm up before getting in and letting her body relax under it completely. She ran her fingers through her hair and used different products to keep it healthy. When she was finished she walked to her room, droplets of water fell from her hair and onto the floor as she looked through the closet for an outfit. She wore her grey Red Bull jumper and matching sweatpants, paired with white Nikes and her bag. She knew she'd get warmer in the day so in her bag she packed a spare top and shorts.

She left the hotel, the cool morning air hit her face. The sun had just risen and the distant sound of traffic floated through the air. Red Bull had given Ana her own car for the weekend, the latest black Honda Accord. She preferred to drive herself around because she hated being a passenger.

The Bob Marley song is this love played in the car as she drove to the track, a cool breeze swept through the car, the windows down, letting in all the cool air. The tall buildings of Bahrain passed quickly as she drove under them, the roads were almost clear, until she began to near the International Circuit. Fans lined up, to watch the drivers make their way into the track. She pulled her car up to the line, quickly taking photos with her fans before security told them to move back, she then drove her car to the gate, scanning her card and then making her way into the track parking. Not many of the other drives had arrived yet, Max's car was already in the parking lot, and so was Lando's and Daniel's Mclarens.

The media had already began to get their cameras ready, the film crew putting them together and the reporters fixing their hair and makeup before they'd be interviewing the drivers and asking them questions. Ana walked passed them all, with her mask on and glasses covering her face. Though she tried an attempt at a 'disguise', it was clear to everyone who she was. One reporter tried to stop her for a moment but she explained she was in a rush, she left the entrance and made her way to the paddock. In the meeting room, Christian Horner stood at the end of the table, and spoke to Max and the engineers. He welcomed Ana into the room, she sat down across Max, Horner then continued his speech.

"We really need to lift our game for a good qualifying session today, practise was good but if we want pole position we need to send it until the finish line." Horner mapped out the track and the drivers went over it together. Max pointed out some corners that he'd recommended to Ana that she slow down on.

The Team completed their meeting and Ana made her way to her personal changing room, she slipped into her inner-wear, and then her undershirt. She then put on her race-suit, lastly, putting on her race shoes and saving her gloves and balaclava to be put on before she got into the car. She made her way back out to the garage where her car was being looked at for a final time before a quick practise session. The noise of the other cars being turned on made her heart skip a few beats, she tried her best to hide her nervousness around her colleagues, she played with the gloves in her hands, before finally putting on her balaclava and her iconic helmet, a black base with the colours white, blue and red to represent her home country.

"All clear" a mechanic called out, she climbed into the car, fitting in perfectly, she felt around and moved the wheel to ensure she was completely ready to go. She'd do a few laps in a practise session, then she'd go back and go over everything once more before qualifying. The only difference was everyone would be watching her today, her family, friends and fans, and that's what made her most nervous.

She received the all clear from the mechanics, she let the car roll out of the garage, when she neared the exit of the pit lanes, the feeling of anxiety seemed to disappear, and when the pit lane light flashed green she pressed her foot on the accelerator and let the car fly away.

"Ok Anastasia, let's have a nice practice session, I will update you on the tyre temperature throughout" Andrei, Ana's race engineer spoke to her throughout the practise and gave her updates on different parts of the car.

She completed countless laps of the track before she was called in for the end of her practise session. She slowed into the pit lanes, turning off her engine before her car was slowly pushed back into the garage. She'd felt satisfied with her practise, she'd gotten used to the car and the track, but a certain nervousness for qualifying creeped back up to her, no matter how hard she had convinced herself of being capable to race in formula 1, she still remained unsure on how she'd compete with the other drivers.

She went back to the meeting room for a short overview of the session with Christian. After that she changed back into a comfortable outfit and relaxed in the Red Bull motorhome, she put on a tv show and let herself relax while she counted the hours until qualifying which seemed to pass by extremely slow.