Collision Course (A Daniel Ricciardo fanfic)

3. Headline News

Murmurs of indecipherable chatter echoed around the stark white space. On the far wall a triumphant video montage reminded the waiting press of Red Bull racing's short but glittering racing history (with a few notable omissions). It had already looped three times and frustration was building. 

"Here they come" 

Mum grabbed my arm so tightly I thought it was going to fall off. 

"Calm down it's just Christian"

I released my arm from her death grip and watched as the team principle approached the platform. No sharp suits and formalities here, this was Red Bull not McLaren. 

"Good..." Christian looked at his watch "MORNING!"

"Bet it's a Casio" Dad muttered in my ear.

"Bet it's expensive" I added under my breath. Mr Ginger Spice wasn't likely to be wearing Argos' finest after all. 

"Thank you all for coming and I promise to keep this brief" Christian continued, going on to summarise the Red Bull team ethos, and what they were looking for in their drivers and staff.

"What happened to brief?" came the whisper in my ear once more. 

"Shhhhhhh" 

I turned my attention back to the podium as Christian paused, clearing his throat. 

"I am delighted to confirm that the drivers representing Red Bull Racing for the upcoming season will be Daniel Ricciardo and James Dawson"

Flash bulbs burst into life as the two men took to the stage - Daniel, laid back and grinning from ear to ear and behind him, a swagger in his step...my brother. 

"We will now be taking any questions"

And so it began. 

"James, will there be any extra pressure going straight into a championship winning team instead of serving your rookie year at Toro Rosso?"

"Jimmy, please. We might as well start off friends" he quipped. "I guess if the team think I'm ready then that's good enough for me. " 

"And what about your teammate?" another asked "Dan's had a lot of success with Red Bull so far, can you follow in his footsteps?"

"I hope I'm not following him anywhere"

The joke went down well but there was an underlying arrogance in his tone which set my teeth on edge. Maybe it was false bravado but he seemed almost to be feeding off the attention, growing under the spotlight even as I watched. 

"And you Daniel?" the attention finally switched back to the more experienced driver "what do you think of your new teammate?" 

"Well The Aussies and the Poms have had some pretty epic rivalries over the years so I reckon this could be a good'un" he declared cheekily "Welcome to the Red Bull Family".

Question after question kept coming, as did the standard corporate responses but finally the conference was at an end. 

"Now what do we do?" Mum whispered in my ear. 

The interrogation might have stopped but Jimmy, Dan, and Christian were still chatting animatedly together up on the podium.

"Just hover and pretend we're not really here" I hissed back, looking around the room. Aside from a select handful of Red Bull employees the space was filled to bursting with media personnel from all over the world. And us. 

I tried to catch Jimmy's eye, to let him know where we were but only Daniel looked towards our corner and raised his hand in a silent salute of recognition.