MICHAEL MASI'S OFFICE
GEORGE AND ZIA sat in silence. After the race had finished, they had both been called into the race director's office to clear up the situation.
George was still very angry. He had been fighting for points in a Williams, but it seemed everytime he could see a glimpse of them, they got ripped away by some sort of silly mistake.
Zia herself was furious. George had obviously already seen footage of the crash. Why wouldn't he just admit he'd been behind? What was the point in going through all this arguing?
The door opened and Masi walked in, closing the door behind him. He didn't speak until he had sat down behind his desk, facing the two drivers. "First of all, are you both okay? That was a nasty crash."
The pair nodded.
"Alright, well that's a good start. Listen, after reviewing the footage, we've decided that George, you will be taking three penalty points on your licence for that incident, as Zia was in front of you when you cut her off-"
"Are you joking?" he asked in disbelief.
Masi stared at him, wide eyed. "No Mr. Russell, I am serious."
"Thank you." Zia muttered. She gave George a look, as if to say, see?.
"But Ms. Powman, you have been awarded a point also."
Zia snapped her head back to Masi. "What? Why? How is any of this my fault?"
"You initiated the argument afterwards, which in turn held the marshals up from cleaning away the debris."
"Argument? Really?"
"I know this is frustrating but the race was red flagged after you two crashed, and with the both of the still stood beside the cars, it postponed the start more than it really should have."
Zia sighed and leant back in her chair. This was just perfect.
Masi went on to discuss things with both drivers, until he dismissed them. Zia shot up and left the room, not looking behind her once. She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She heard footsteps behind her and George rounded the corner, spotting her. "Powman wait."
"What Russell?"
George stopped in front of her, mouth open, like he hadn't thought this far. Zia looked at him as if to say well? He sighed "I'm not going to apologise for any of this-"
Zia scoffed and turned to leave, but George grabbed her upper arm, causing her to turn back towards him. "I'm not going to apologise, I won't. But I'm just going to say I don't want what happened to happen again. Can we come to a gentleman's agreement?"
Zia stared at him, at a loss for words. "Last time I checked I wasn't a gentleman. But if that's what you want to call it." She pulled her arm back out of his grasp. "I've got interviews about how much of an idiot you are to complete." she said, before turning around and walking away from the Williams driver.
"HE'S SUCH A prick Alice." Zia said as she flopped down onto her hotel bed. Zia's best friend, Alice Breakmon was sat on the sofa, listening to Zia rant about the accident and the British Driver.
"You've said. Like... fifty times?"
"Am I just being petty?" Zia asked as she turned her head to look at her friend.
"Mi amour of course not" Alice said as she walked over to the bed and laid beside her best friend. "That was a cheap move from Russell. It was no way fair at all. He's just desperate."
"Thanks Al."
Inside her pocket, Alice's phone buzzed. She took it our and unlocked it, "It's Alex. I've got to go."
Zia immediately shot up, her mood changing. "Alex? Are you two going out tonight?"
Alice smiled at her teasingly. "Maybe."
Alice and Alex Albon were made for eachother. They had met at a Red Bull party, with Alex joining the sport as a Toro Rosso Driver, and Alice being Pierre Gasly's race engineer. In the summer of 2019, Gasly had been demoted back down to Toro Rosso, and Alex had been bumped up to Red Bull. Alice stayed with Red Bull, leaving Pierre to work with Alex's ex-engineer.
The pair had grown close over the rest of the season, and at the official F1 Christmas Party, Alex finally asked Alice out.
Zia has always been their biggest supporter, knowing how much they cared for eachother. What she didn't like what that Alex was best friends with the same man who took her out of the race earlier that day.
"Tell him I say hi. And use protection." Zia said, smirking.
Alice gave her friend a sarcastic smile before throwing a pillow in her face. "Later Z."
"Have fun!"
Alice blew her friend a kiss before leaving the room and shut the door behind her. Zia sighed as she looked towards her bedside cabinet, where her phone was buzzing. Confused, she picked up the device and unlocked it.
17 MESSAGES FROM GIO 🇮🇹
uh hey z
you might want to come back down to the paddock
z this is really important
ZIA
miss are you ignoring me?
POWMAN THIS IS IMPORTANT
WAIT ARE YOU FIGHTING RUSSELL?
UH Z PLEASE TELL ME YOURE NOT BEATING HIM UP BECAUSE YOU REALLY CANT AFFORD THAT RIGHT NOW
ZIA ISTG DID YOU LEAVE YOURE PHONE ON SILENT?
Zia winced. She had left her phone on silent.
you're not going to answer me in time
zia, carlos sainz walked into the ferarri garage with binotto
they were talking about somthing
OMG THEY'VE JUST COME OUT
ah
carlos looks happy
THEY JUST SHOOK HANDS
ZIA
"Oh shit. Oh shit." Zia muttered. She clicked on Antonio's contact and dialed his number. There was a few seconds of ominous ringing befjre the Italian picked up.
"Finally. "
"Gio I swear to God if you're shitting with me"
"I am not. Sainz looked super happy. Z I think you need to come down her and try and get Binnoto for five minutes."
"Okay. I'll - I'll be there now."
Zia ended the call and grabbed her Alfa jacket. She barely had her arm through the sleeve before she was out the door, sprinting down the hallway towards the elevator. She frantically pressed the button on the wall, silently beging for it to hurry up. Finally, the door opened.
"Ah shit"
"Powman." the startled British voice of George Russell said.
"Russell. Please tell me you've just came up from reception and are getting out of this elevator."
But the look on his face confirmed her worst fear.
Rolling her eyes, she stepped into the elevator anyways, pressing the ground floor button. The doors closed and Zia could feel the elevator move downwards.
The tension was high. The two were still mad at eachother after the accident, and now Zia was afraid her career at Ferarri would be over before it had even begun.
Once the elevator stopped and the doors opened, Zia immediately left, heading towards the exit of the hotel. George sighed as he watched her leave. He knew that Alfa Romeo and Williams were rivals in the Championship.
He knew this wasn't going to be that last time he saw that car on track.
NO PLS CAUSE ALICE AND ALEX ALREADY HAVE MY HEART ☝️
zia's favourite word to describe george :
p r i c k