Reviewing priorities - Sebastian Vettel

25. A gloomy Spa

'what??' Valeria opened the app. Someone had taken a picture of them leaving the hotel and them at the restaurant, Pietro holding Valeria's hand as he looked at her ring.

Mysterious man seen out for dinner with Sebastian Vettel's girlfriend. She read out loud 'not even my name.' She joked.

Pietro thanked Stefano as he hung up. He opened twitter himself and simply typed. 'I'm not mysterious. My name is Pietro Mair, marketing officer for Ferrari and Valeria happens to be my friend and colleague. Also, I'm definitely not interested in her that way. She's a beauty, I know, but I'm proudly out. 🏳️‍🌈'

'Thank you' she told him, with a smile.

'Anytime, chica. How are you coping with this? You know I'm here if you need me' he asked her, a comforting look in his blue eyes.

'It depends on the day. Some people are lovely, actually most people are. Others are just asses. But isn't that life?'

'Again, if you need a vent...' he reiterated.

'I know, Pi, thank you' she smiled. Sometimes she didn't have to tell him what was going on in her head and he would be a step ahead of her.

Saturday

The car had looked great thought out the 3 free practices and the Ferrari garage was full of tension as Q3 was starting. For the whole length of it, everyone who was wearing anything with a prancing horse on it, could be seen glued to the screens. By the end of it, Ferrari had claimed a 1-2. It seemed like the summer break had finally turned their luck, Valeria, however, was less optimistic than anyone else. She knew how quickly luck had changed for them in the past few months and didn't want to jinx the championship any more.

She walked out of the garage, looking out for Nico's crew.

'wow, you look tanned.' He told her.

'told you we'd compare when I came back. You are possibly more pale than usual' she teased him, grabbing the mic.

'Martin, Crofty. We are back! I'm sure everyone at home missed our comedic duo. Valeria, what a way to start after the summer break.'

'absolutely! Seeing both of our guys on the first row is what we wanted to see, definitely'

'any comments or hopes for tomorrow's race?'

'I won't say anything, I always seem to bring bad luck' she joked.

Valeria walked back towards the motorhome, she knew Seb would be busy with post quali interviews so she had decided to grab a coffee and catch up with some work she already had started for Monza. Back to back races were always challenging, even more so for Ferrari as the following one was their home GP. Valeria always remembered the feeling of the crowd at Monza but she was, now, feeling the pressure.

Pietro sat next to her, as he caught up with his schedule for the following week. 'we have a little piece we need to do with you next week.' He told her.

'Me?' Valeria looked up curiously. 'why me?'

'we have decided to show the behind the scenes people and the tifosi wanted to ask you some questions. The choice was me or you... I wonder why they chose you' he laughed. 'But also Giorgio is doing one and Riccardo too. So don't worry, it won't only be you'

'damn. I'm not that interesting'

'I know that' he laughed, watching her look up to the screens showing the F2 race that was going on. They both watched it for a while, lazily flicking through emails until they heard a gasp and looked up to the screen again. The session had been black flagged as a massive accident had just happened. Valeria's heart skipped a beat. She instinctively touched her left wrist, her thoughts going straight to that damned day. She got up, to get closer to the screen to hear what was happening.