The Limit (Sebastian Vettel)

53. A New Era

A/N: in this story a Covid vaccine that was 100% effective had been released. I just can't be bothered with Covid anymore haha

"Hi, my name is Lily Katherine Scott, I'm 27 years old and I'm a Formula 1 driver for Scuderia Ferrari.  

People think they know me because they saw me as a child cheering my dad on, but they don't know me, not really, not the real me. 

For those of you that don't know, my father was double Formula 1 world champion, Michael Scott, so I grew up surrounded by the world of Formula 1.  I say he was my dad, he died when I was fourteen.   I'd like to think he'd be proud of me if he was alive today.  I think I've done well, despite the setbacks I've had along the way.    

Being a female in Formula 1, the only female, is hard.  Despite all the talk of equality and inclusion, I have come across a lot of people that think Formula 1 is no place for a woman.  That a woman cannot be physically or mentally strong enough to compete against the men.   They said I'd never make it into F1, they were wrong.  Then they said I'd never make it out of Haas.  Wrong again.  Now they're saying I'll never win a race.  I'm determined to prove them wrong once more. 

The Scuderia believed in me.  They gave me a chance back in 2017, and have been by my side ever since.   I owe them everything.  I hope now I can repay my debt to them.  

My brother Damon? No, we're not close.  We never have been. I have no issue battling him on track the same as any one else.   Sebastian? Things with Sebastian have always been....I don't know what the word is....we've always clashed I guess, even before I took his seat.    Can I beat him on track?  That remains to be seen I guess.  I'm not afraid of him. So what if he's a four time world champion.  He's there to beat, just like all the others..."

Lily opened the door and stepped outside, quickly putting her RayBans on as the bright Bahraini sun hit her. She sighed with relief that her first interview with the Drive To Survive crew was done and dusted. There would be a couple more over the course of the season, but for now she was done.

She'd tried to get out of it. Boy had she tried. She'd refused point blank to take part during her two years at Haas, but Ferrari had been adamant that she did it.

"Lilyflower!" She turned and saw Daniel jogging down the paddock towards her, his Red Bull racing suit unzipped, showing off the dark fireproof shirt he had on underneath.

"Hey Daniel," she said. "How was your break?"

"It was great. I spent half of it back home in Perth, and the other half in LA. What about you? Do anything fun?"

"Not particularly. Spent Christmas at home with Joel. Poppy was at Pierre's family's this year. Spent New Year at home. In fact, spent the whole of break at home."

"You live such an exciting life," Daniel said, grinning at her. She tried to look stern but she couldn't help herself. She laughed.

"I know right. Still, at least I didn't catch Covid like Pierre, Charles and Lando did."

"At least none of us have to worry about that now," the Australian added.

"That is true." A strange feeling came over Lily. She felt like someone was watching her. She turned her head and sure enough, a pair of ocean blue eyes were glaring at her across the paddock. Sebastian.

She'd tried so hard to not think about him over the winter, but it had been near impossible. She didn't think about him like she'd thought about him in the past though. She thought about how she was going to kick his ass this year and show everyone that Ferrari had made the right decision in signing her.