The paddock - Oliver Bearman

Prologue 1

July 3rd 2023:

An air of uncertainty lay on Liliannes shoulders as the month of July began. Having finished her schooling career in the previous month, her fate was out of her control. Her A-level exams had gone well and Lilianne was hopeful for good results. The gymnastics season had also ended with her last acro-competition having been and gone over the last weekend of June. The season ended on a high for Lilianne, where she and Lacey were once again European Champions. She'd been successful throughout her gymnastics career and was hopeful to continue it at European and Olympic level throughout university.

With the Silverstone weekend approaching, Lilianne was growing more excited each day. Her parents had surprised herself and her younger brother with tickets to the Sunday Silverstone Formula 1 race earlier that year, however, with so much free time on her hands, Lilianne had decided she would drive up to the circuit on the Friday and Saturday in the hope of meeting some of the drivers.

Mercedes had always been her favourite team, George Russell in particular was her favourite driver, followed closely by Charles Leclerc and Lando Norris. However, she despised red bull. Their dominance this season was ridiculous and although she didn't dislike their drivers, she found it unfair how far ahead they were of everyone else. It had made the sport somewhat boring to watch. When the same driver and team finish P1 and P2 every weekend it become repetitive. She was disappointed by McLaren's poor performance throughout the season. Norris was a much better driver than he was able to showcase which was frustrating for many fans. Ferrari was by far her second favourite team and despite being a Mercedes fan through and through she was rooting for Ferrari in the championship battle, Mercedes just didn't have enough this season to compete in the championship battle.

Lilianne had collected many team and driver hats, her parents being supportive in her passion for the sport and also rather wealthy they had brought her many. Her Riccardo McLaren 2022 hat was her most treasured, she loved the Aussie and was sad to see him sit without a seat for the 2023 season. However, his happiness as a Red Bull reserve driver showed everyone that he had made the right choice. Within her hat collection she had a 2022 and 2023 Mercedes team cap, a Leclerc 2022 cap, a Russel 2023 cap, a 2022 and 2023 Norris cap, a Ferrari team cap as well as a 2023 McLaren team cap. She had also collected a number of other apparel items such as t-shirts and hoodies as well as team jackets but her favourite items by far were her Lando Norris Miami GP replica helmets, both the 2022 basketball helmet and the 2023 beach ball helmet.

Her personal life had been rocky for a while, her relationship with her boyfriend Edward had been unstable for a while. They'd been together almost 2 years with their anniversary being in the upcoming September. With the stress of her A levels, they'd become distanced and Lilianne wasn't sure it would last much longer, she loved Edward with her whole heart but her life was busy and he had some jealousy problems.

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Thoughts?