9. July 2016
That night they were making out in bed in Max's room, which was fairly dangerous with the teams around, but they couldn't keep away from each other. Max took his time tenderly brushing over the bruises which were forming on Joanna's collarbone and even down her chest.
Kissing her again, Max stopped to look into her eyes, hovering over her, until he reached out to brush over her nose, which caused Joanna to give him an unimpressed look again.
"How did he even see it?" He wondered out loud, which caused Joanna to turn them around, so Max was beneath her.
"He didn't. It's noted in my medical file. That's why it's such a good job." Joanna whispered back, close enough to share the same air but too far away to actually let their lips meet. Max kissed her again, but something felt off, like she wasn't very present, which caused Max to pull back, before giving her a pointed look.
"Not in the mood?" He questioned, which caused Joanna to shake her head. Well, she wasn't in the mood, but not because she didn't want Max, she did want him very much, but all the problems which were coming with her departure and their current problem with all the drivers acting up, she had other things on her mind.
"Come here. I show you how much I'm in the mood." Joanna challenged before pulling a smirking Max towards her, so he was laying on top of the Austrian. They shared a few passionate kisses before Joanna once again got coughed up in her mind, causing Max to groan before pulling away and sitting up at the edge of the bed.
"Not very much it seems," Max complained, which caused Joanna to sit up as well. Crawling over, before slotting herself behind Max, who allowed her to pull him against her.
"It's all getting a little bit out of control right now. And I can't stop them from acting up, but that's my job." Joanna told Max quietly, which caused the Dutch to look over his shoulder, smiling softly at her.
"Isn't your job to win championships after getting fired as GPDA director?" He questioned her a little bit arrogant, which was adorable in Joanna's eyes.
"It's so adorable when you try to be sassy," Joanna told him, her hand on his cheek now, while Max huffed in annoyance. Rolling his eyes, Max pulled her over after moving, so she was sitting in his lap.
"How did my dickhead teammate manage to act as a cockblock in our bed?" Max found himself sighing in frustration as Joanna's eyes lightened up, causing Max to lift an eyebrow.
"I need to sort things with him. And other things as well." She told him, which caused Max to snort.
"No, listen. I only need to sort things with Daniel. Support Lewis with his love life decisions. Help Seb getting hold of the youngsters and think about my future with or without Ferrari. Oh and I always have to watch my back around Fernando and Mark." Joanna told Max, before pressing a kiss against his cheek.
"It's nice that you still have so much time for me," Max called after her, as Joanna moved away from the bed to phone none other than Lewis Hamilton. Asking if everything went alright with the divorce and the dogs after she had left the mansion yesterday.
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The next morning started horribly. But with Joanna every morning she had to get up at such an ungodly hour was a horrible day. Sitting up after Joanna had finally succeeded in stopping the alarm clock from murdering her will to live, she stretched her arms a little bit while deciding that actually sleeping in Max's room wasn't a good idea.
Sneaking out of the lion's den would be quite a challenge, especially without any coffee. Groaning at the realization that there wouldn't be any breakfast either Joanna leaned over Max, who was still soundly asleep, she groaned again. Even though she was in a bad mood now, she didn't have it in her to actually wake Max up. It wasn't his fault after all.
A little bit unsure on her feet, she made her way over to the bathroom in order to take a shower as long as Max was still dead to the world. Which could in fact be quite some time. Max was a deep sleeper when nothing was disturbing his mind for once. Luckily today seemed to be such a day.
Coming back from the bathroom about half an hour later, Joanna smiled tenderly. Max was still fast asleep snoring softly like there was no worry in the world. He looked so much younger like this, as the terror of growing up as Jos's son has never harmed him, but Joanna knew the other side of the coin as well. The nights when he woke up from a terrible nightmare, bathed in cold sweat and fear in his eyes.
In the first moments of a night like that, she wanted to curse his father, but in the end, it still was what had caused Max to become the man he was today. He was mended into this person by his father and even though she would never agree with Jos's parenting, without it she might have never met Max. Maybe it was a naïve way of seeing things, but it was the easier one. To simply accept what the older Dutch had done to his son and to protect him, so it would never again happen.
Abandoning the wet towel on the floor, which she had just used to dry her hair, Joanna climbed onto the bed, only wearing her black lace underwear from yesterday, before she reached out to get her phone from the bedside table. Kiwi had sent her the details for the day, reminding her, that she should make an appearance and actually eat some breakfast for a chance before they were heading to the track. Andrew also had contacted her, to find out if she was up to a workout session before they would head to the track but the Austrian hoped he was just joking.
Checking the time again, Joanna understood that she needed to head back to her room in order to get changed before sitting at a table with her team for breakfast, but leaving Max was harder than she liked to admit. Carefully leaning forward Joanna brushed her fingers tenderly over Max's cheeks, before cradling his face in her hands. Kissing his lips softly, Max released a contend sigh, which caused Joanna to snicker quietly.
"Your hair tickles." The young Dutch muttered while opening his eyes, causing Joanna to lean back.
"Oh, I'm so terribly sorry." She fake-exclaimed, as Max sneaked his arms around her waist to pull her back against him. Joanna allowed him to draw her into a passionate kiss. Smiling against her lips, Max pulled her on top of him, before flipping them over, so he could look down at the Austrian.
"Good morning," Max whispered before Joanna responded with the same. The youngest Lauda was the most beautiful being he had ever seen, her hair sprawled out framing her beautiful face in softly shimmering gold, which appeared darker almost ginger in the right light and being still damp from her shower.
"Max. I need to go." Joanna protested as he kept starring at her, causing him to lower himself to kiss the tip of her nose. Kissing from her nose to her cheek, to her ear to her throat.
"Fuck it. Stay with me." He whispered against her neck as he sucked on her skin, biting her softly which sparked an aroused moan ripping from her throat. Joanna reached out to grasp onto Max's shoulder digging her nails into his back. Reaching behind himself, Max got a hold of Joanna's hand squeezing it softly, before pining her even more against the bed.
"I can't keep my team waiting forever," Joanna muttered between passionate kisses causing Max to pull away with a questioning gaze. Max frowned, triggering Joanna to reach out and smooth the frown off his face with her fingers.
"I know," Joanna whispered, before kissing Max again. "But what do you think Christian will say when he sees me leaving your room?" She questioned, which caused Max to groan unpleased.
"To keep the hickeys down in the future because they make me look like Casanova," Max muttered, before softly biting the tender skin beneath her ear.
"Bold of you to assume that I would listen to him," Joanna mumbled, before pushing Max away, which let the Dutchman groan, before dramatically letting himself fall back onto the bed. Not in the mood to get up just yet.
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Another ten minutes later she was waiting for the elevator. Checking the time on her phone again, she knew she was terribly late again, but better late than not at all. Exhaling softly as she finally heard the sound which announced the lift, Joanna froze as she saw the man standing in front of her. Swallowing her surprise down, Joanna stepped into the lift, before pressing the button for her own floor.
"Moring, father." She muttered. Niki looked her up and down from beside her, before greeting Joanna as well. She hated the fucking tone in his voice. He could be such a smug bastard if he wanted to be.
"Please tell me it was about sex and not about a contract with Red Bull," Niki said, which caused a light blush to creep onto Joanna's cheeks, but she wouldn't allow her father to see.
"Neither of which is any of your business." She replied and preyed to God for the first time since she left the convent that he would have mercy on her.
"Are you so scared to be lonely?" Niki questioned next to her, which caused Joanna to turn her head, so she could look at him, while Niki pointed at her neck. Well, yes, she knew there were a lot of hickeys. She had told Max to keep it down but he was kind of hard to control in bed when he was doing wicked things to her. A virgin a few months ago and now she wondered if he had taken lessons somewhere, which would have been hot.
"Are you?" She replied, which caused Niki to face away from her again. Joanna knew what to say if she wanted to be hateful. One of the few things she had learned from her father very early on. The truth hurt and if you dished it with brutal honesty it was even more hurtful.
"Just tell me. You will need a friend once this blows up in your face." Rolling her eyes, all Joanna wanted o tell her father was to fuck of, but she didn't. Somewhere deep inside her was still this little girl, who wanted to make her father proud.
"I can do without your friendship." The younger Austrian snorted at the absurd thought.
"No, you can't," Niki said, facing his only daughter again.
"Make a mistake and Ferrari will drop you as they dropped me. End or prolong your carrier on your terms. I won't stand there and watch as you allow your team of clowns and Ricciardo to embarrass you." Looking at her father, Joanna didn't know what to say. Of course, she didn't want to allow anyone to embarrass her, but hadn't Daniel already done that?
"If you can't stop them yourself, move to a team which can make you untouchable," Niki said before they reached the Ferrari floor.
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Joanna had yet to decide if her father had offered her honest advice, or if he tried to manipulate her, so she would drive for Mercedes next year. But now wasn't the time to think about things like that. Now she had to get a good position to start the race tomorrow.
The Ferrari driver drummed the beat of the song she had just heard, while Matteo and the team made sure everything was ready for qualifying. They were all a little bit uneasy. The new update hadn't felt as they've expected, which is why people were worried. It might blow up into their faces in the long runs after all. The red flags yesterday stopped them from testing the new aero package until they were satisfied. They've parley got any lap in, which left the team with little to no data.
"How does the car feel?" Matteo asked a little bit uneasy after giving the young Austrian some data. She looked through it, before passing it along to one of her mechanics.
"Truthfully." He added as the Austrian stayed silent for a moment too long.
"Truthfully, I've no idea." She admitted, which caused her race engineer to nod once. No circus was easy, but Silverstone stressed Joanna out. Never in nine years of her carrier did she score a podium in Silverstone. It was like she was cursed, but Joanna would never believe such bullshit. A few turns and relatively long straits, she could manage that. Hopefully, her team of superstitious Italians were agreeing with her on this.
"Trust the car, pay attention, and do your magic," Matteo told her sternly while glancing down on the driver. He loved this car, so she better not fuck it up.
"I always pay attention. You do your job and I'll do mine. By God, if you send me out into the traffic again...." Joanna started which caused Matteo to snort.
"Stop complaining and make sure we at least slide into Q2." He told her, before settling down in front of his screen, making sure, once again, that the team radio worked. Calling for Joanna to answer, so he could make sure the radio worked the Austrian told him to fuck of, so she could do her magic.
Joanna drove her out lap rather slowly, adjusting to the car and the track, allowing the cars, which were already on their fast lap to pass her without much trouble, but Kvyat didn't seem to like to play by the gentleman's agreement, blocking Verstappen on his fast lap, which would cause a fight later, but that wasn't her problem any longer she had to remind her. Kvyat vs Verstappen was so much more than a simple grid rivalry. Max got his seat and Daniil is still pissed about that, which caused him to get his little revenge on the Dutch now.
"I'm too old for this shit," Joanna muttered, not realizing that she had pressed the radio button, not until she heard Matteo snicker.
"They're not your problem any longer, no?" He questioned her still amused, which caused Joanna to tell him to get back to work and stop bothering her. She wasn't in the mood right now.
Butting her first fast lap in, Joanna had no problems, which actually surprised her. The Ferrari seemed to work just fine with the new aero package. Coming back to the pits, they left it at the one outing, as Joanna easily slid in Q2.
Arrivabene patted her helmet as she came back into the garage, before letting another mechanic show him something. As if the team principal had any idea what they really were doing.
"The car is too slow," she complained when she lost some hundredths, but Matteo shook his head when he arrived next to Emma, handing her a drink and some data.
"You've already left 5 drivers behind you. That's well enough for now. We don't need a top time, we just have to slide into Q3, yeah?" He wanted to know if she understood, but Joanna was by far too ambitious to just slide throw qualifying and Andrew knew. So, the performance coach decided, to sneak his driver the timesheets as soon as Matteo had turned his back on them, so Joanna to look at the things she needed to know.
Nodding at Andrew in thanks Joanna tried her best to not take it too personally. Still, she didn't understand why they treated her like a rookie, who couldn't work under pressure. Joanna was a champion and never lost her cool even in the most dangerous situations, she was shaped to fight and to win. Ferrari only offered her blunt weapons. Yes, the aero package was an improvement, but they could do so much better would they allow Joanna to actually see what they were doing. The Austrian wanted to help wanted to improve, but Ferrari was different. In this team she was only the driver, nothing else needed or appreciated if offered.
"Who is fastest?" The Austrian wanted to know as soon as she was back into the garage, a place in Q3 save in her pocket and Andrew wanted to tell her, but Matteo shook his head in warning.
"Do it the same way again and get us a good position, we can work with. That's enough. No power games! We only have one car. We're clear, Lauda?" Matteo spoke after he showed her, her results again. Telling her what things, she has to pay more attention to, before returning to his seat in front of a monitor and the microphone, so he was able to talk to Joanna, while she was driving.
Watching over his shoulder if Matteo was watching them, Andrew walked over to the car and told her quietly, that Hamilton was having the best time. Just four-hundredths of a second faster than her. So manageable to get.
"You can get them, right?" The Canadian asked her, which caused Joanna to smile at him, before driving out.
The out lap was going smooth like before and there was no one in her way, the conditions were the best imaginable. The tires were at the perfect temperature and even the one turn, which had caused her problems before, went completely as planned. The speed was amazing, faster than they had expected the car would manage.
Matteo stared at the screen when he saw that Joanna was abroaching the second sector, before cursing softly. There was no traffic on the out-lap, but now she ran into the other cars.
"What the fuck is this?" Joanna cursed instantly, trying to squeeze past, but she had lost too much time. She went flat out, trying to rescue her time. Everyone stared at the screens in surprise as Joanna's last sector lit up purple, but there was no use. Her second sector was yellow and the time was up.
"So, okay. Joanna, P5. P5." Matteo told Joanna over the radio, while she clenched her jaw. "Hamilton took pole." He added as if he was deliberately rubbing salt into the wound.
Jonna thought about telling him that they would talk about that later, but they were Ferrari. Nobody would listen to her. She was the driver after all and if they didn't win, it was her fault. That she had traffic on her fast lap didn't bother anyone.
"Are we going to talk about that later or is being sent out in traffic my fault as well?" She questioned while driving back to the pits, not hearing a reply from Matteo or any other person from the pit wall.
"Feels like a no to the talking, huh?" She said well aware that the media would broadcast her reaction but it actually felt good. She was done having her head on the block for Ferrari.
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Joanna didn't understand the point of a debriefing when the team mainly just spoke Italian, although Joanna and Sebastian both spoke only very broken Italian. They were asked to sit there and listen, but not once was Joanna asked for her opinion and what happened in qualifying was not addressed as far as she understood.
Simply waiting until they would tell her she could leave, Joanna didn't even try to pretend that she cared. Playing on her phone, she ignored them and they ignored her until she was finally allowed to leave. Not wasting another moment of her time, Joanna got up, said bye to Seb, before she walked out.
She was on her way out, her backpack slung over her shoulder, as she walked past the Mercedes facility, she stopped dead in her tracks. Andrew how walked next to her stopped a little bit confused until he saw Joanna's gaze.
"You and Kiwi would come with me, right?" The Austrian questioned which caused the Canadian to nod. They've followed Joanna from Renault to Ferrari and they would follow her to Mercedes as well. They were her team after all.
"We love you, Joanna. Of course, we're coming with you. No matter what." Andrew promised as Kiwi came running to them. Resting her hands on her knees the Aussie leaned forwards while trying her best to get back to breathing normal, which caused Joanna to raise an eyebrow. She knew that Kiwi wasn't one to do sports, but she was parley running for a minute.
Glancing at Joanna, Kiwi pointed at her. "Don't judge me. ... Can't all be superhumans like Andrew and yourself."
"Sure." Joanna allowed, before patting Kiwis back. Turning around to Andrew, she told him to take care of Kiwi and bring her back to the hotel, while she would go and meet someone. Nodding, Andrew moved over to make sure the PR agent wasn't passing out in the middle of the paddock, while Joanna walked up the stairs to the Mercedes facility.
A friendly woman maybe a few years younger than Joanna walked up to her and asked if she could help her, which caused Joanna to nod, ready to ask if Toto would be free for her to talk, but before she was able to even open her mouth Toto appeared from what Joanna assumed was his office.
"Seemed like you enjoyed our coffee." The older Austrian said, which caused Joanna to nod.
"Care to offer another one. I think there is room for conversation." Toto nodded at the woman, which caused her to run off to get Joanna's coffee, while Toto opened the door to his office again and allowed Joanna to step in before him.
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Fuck! Joanna restrained herself from kicking the nearest hard surface she saw. Another race ending in a DNF, she was getting sick of this. The Austrian was out of the race again and she seriously started to wonder if she wasn't even able to finish in a Ferrari any longer.
She couldn't help the frustration, her team all looked at her with sad, sympathetic eyes but Emma wished they would be angry for crashing the car and would yell, rather than just feeling sorry for her, because Palmer drove right into her, pushing her from the ideal line. Sending her and himself off the track and into the barrier. It might make her feel better.
Kiwi walked by her side in total silence, the Aussie knew that she should better not open her mouth now unless she wanted the Austrian to throw a water bottle at her. Joanna would gladly do so. It was a well-known fact around the paddock, that the Austrian had quite a temper probably something she had inherited from her father, but Kiwi did her best to keep the media away from that little fact.
Joanna was full of rage and fury until the anxiety kicked in. It took her so much strength not to just run around, throw things and scream at the top of her lungs until she breaks down in tears giving in to her frustrations and bitterness. The youngest Lauda tried to remember that she was too old by now to throw a tantrum, even though it wanted to.
But the worst part was that Ferrari had fucked her over before the whole accident happened. The worst strategy she had ever seen and a pitstop so slow, she would have been fast if she would have gotten out of the car and changed each wheel herself.
"We could just go back to the hotel and get ready for the FIA ball tonight. I will say you need time to rest, so you don't have to go to the press pen." Kiwi offered, which caused Joanna to nod at her. The older woman accompanied her protégé back to the garage after her second visit at the medical center this weekend.
"You know what? Fuck it." Joanna agreed before they simply walked past the garage after texting Andrew to get all their thing and meet them in the hotel. Joanna was so done with Ferrari right now. The Austrian didn't even want to wear a bloodred dress tonight.