HOLD THE STAGE | formula 1

one - actual f1 problems

Their ascent to fame was breathtakingly fast, marked by a series of well-timed meetings, album releases, and social media posts. The media frenzy surrounding her mother's trial only added to their meteoric rise, to Sommer's dismay. The band had reached its own highest summit, being considered the "hottest new band" and winning three Grammys in their first award season.

So it must have been a shock that they'd decide to take a break.

To the close-watching fans, maybe not. At first, the media rumored that Evan and Rina, siblings of the band, had grown to despise each other and everyone else. In reality, after working non-stop, releasing three albums, constantly taking side gigs, and only having holidays off, they had simply decided 2019 would be the year they'd release nothing, already clocking out a little early before winter came. They'd still live together and remain a band. Only they'd have a well-deserved break where they could be family, not business partners. 

Sommer, however, was quickly realizing she didn't know what a break was.

"Many people speculate that the break is because of your schedule, though," Mary continued.

Sommer was the most notorious of them. When the break was rumored, an interviewer whom she asked to hold, broke the news she had also been cast in the 'Kingsman' show. Twitter mostly made a laugh out of it, "That woman must never sleep," as one person wrote in a comment section she scrolled through. To be fair, this was the only thing she had signed on for as of then, and her final shoot day was coming up in a couple weeks. But the thought of not working loomed over in her head, while others thought she was crazy for not utilizing her freedom. She felt undeserving, like when she was young, using self-inflicted busy work to distract.

"At least they don't think I'm a bitch," she reduced, "Another day unscathed, I can rest easy now."

Rest was the last thing on her mind. Evan would be the first to return home since they left, an attempt to hide away from the limelight. Maia was going to focus on modeling. Kaz joked about joining a commune for a couple of months, but with their track record, maybe they weren't. Rina and Liam hadn't picked up anything yet, and their live-in cameraman Spencer officially decided to remain domestic in the huge home they all shared, as he thought Sommer should do too.

The singer scrolled through the top stories, seeing "Max Verstappen Mercedes" trending right under "Neon Lights Hiatus."

She kept her distance from discussing the sport, and to Benedict Friis, the real Red Bull team principal, while he was on set. Everyone was under a gag order, forcing themselves not to ask about the shit show unfolding on him as of late.

In the distance, she could hear his accent in yells, presumably over the phone to someone. Unless he finally had a psychotic break, she thought. The 2018 season hadn't even ended, but he was already losing his mind.

The life of Prescott and Slate, living on the edge. Partying and sniffing white lines of mirrored tables, driving winning cars under the wing of Red Bull was nothing but fiction. The team hadn't won a 1-2 victory its lifetime, and a woman hadn't been in F1 since the fall of Saigon. The main company paid them to rework the original, less glamorous storyline in exchange for their branding. Redbull thought it would be amazing to lean into the novelty of it all. Even have someone from the team make an appearance.

Media darling Daniel Ricciardo couldn't schedule in time, and champion in the making Max Verstappen was no longer Red Bull's promise.

Sommer imagined she was watching the original plot unfold right there behind the scenes. Ala 'Succession' meets 'Drive to Survive,' Benedict Friis as Kendall Roy. Beat-red anger consumed Friis' face as she watched him scream into his iPhone at the edge of location, dropping to his knees in a patch of corn stalks and mud, concealing him in pain while he dealt with driver politics — the novelty didn't exist.