the man- f1

six

seis

the man

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round 1/ bahrain grand prix weekend/ practices & quali

friday march 3rd tali rodriguez woke up feeling very sad. the eras tour began soon (the next week) and all she could think and sulk about was that she had bought tickets before her seat was confirmed so she sadly had to give them away. That aside, practices began that day and her nerves made her want to cry but she was also eager to get in the car and do her best.

as she made her way to the desk in the room to grab the menu for room service a knock on the door made her frown. as she opened the door she didn't see anyone and as she closed the door she saw a flower arrangement on the floor with an envelope sticking out. kneeling down to grab it she saw all her favorite flowers, flowers that she grew to love because of where she admired them for the first time, parc monceau.

jules would take her there any time he could without messing with her karting schedule and his visits to the factory. she loved going there and listen to her uncles soft voice and light giggles.

before she knew it she was tearing up and sniffling as she reached for the envelope where she saw the familiar handwriting that belongs to her grandfather. it was simple, it read 'tali'. as she opened a small note read:

"nous sommes fiers de toi, lui aussi." and along with it, a picture. but not any picture. it was her in jules arms. he was wearing his suit and she was wearing his helmet with the visor up where you could see mischief in her eyes. andrea was seen from the side laughing at the pair and tali could remember that day perfectly. monaco 2014, when he scored his first points. by now she was crying. happy tears of course but also sad ones. they were supposed to be racing together not her honoring his legacy even if it was secretly. she felt it was unfair, and she wanted to be able to hold him just one more time. to let his cologne invade her nostrils and to feel his stubble rubbing against her neck as he would hold her. but that wasn't going to happen so she had to suck it up.

she grabbed the picture and looked at it one last time before putting it in her bag, having plans for it later.

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it was time for practice 1 and she was putting her fireproofs on. music in her ears to help her focus as she reviewed the track in her mind. she was ready to leave jaws open as she drove by and she was willing to drive all night long if it meant shutting rude people up.

practice 1 ended well, securing a P6 after having a good amount of laps in whereas practice 2 went a little worse with a still good but not better than she expected P8. the team was happy with what she had delivered so far and reminded her that it was just practice and that it didn't matter how 'bad' she felt it was. the car felt good and overall, she saw friday as a successful day at work.