A/N This chapter went longer than planned but I needed to get some things introduced in case I decide to do a time skip (I haven't made up my mind yet). Please don't forget to vote and/or comment if you are still enjoying the story.
It has been a couple of days since we arrived in Spain. Again it is the day that I dread. Media day. At least that means we will have free practice in the afternoon. Right now I am getting ready for the main Formula E press conference. It should be the last one before the first free practice. For some reason, I have been teamed up with Sebastien Buemi, Robin Frijns and Max Guenther. It seems like the PR people are determined to keep Nyck and I apart. Oh well, there is nothing that I can do about it. I just need to answer the questions truthfully. I reckon the questions will be put to the veterans as they have had more experience than me. Sure I am somehow still on the top of the standings but I am still largely inexperienced.
"How are you all feeling coming into the race at Valencia given that you will be racing on a dedicated track?" Here comes the questions. The good thing is I have had my answer to that question for a while. I realise that the others are glancing at me. The glances are telling me that they want me to go first. That makes sense.
"Despite the crash during the last race, I am feeling hopeful that my team can recover some lost points. As for it being a dedicated track, it doesn't matter since we did pre-season testing here," I answer the question. Hopefully, my response is good enough. It doesn't take long for the others to answer the question. I put it down to the fact that they agree with me about the track is easy as we have had experience with it beforehand. As the press conference goes on I find myself impressed at the types of questions. It still bothers me that we have to do this.
"One last question. Jess, do you think you could win the championship?" The reporter asks.
"It is too early to call but I am hopeful," I reply. I mean we have only had three races so far. Oh well, there is not much that I can do about stupid questions. With that, we are allowed to leave. Hopefully, the others didn't notice that I was annoyed. It doesn't take long for me to be proven wrong.
"Jess, you don't have to worry about the press. They always ask stupid stuff," Sebastien remarks as he catches up to me.
"Sorry, Seb. I have always taken certain questions personally. It is the way I think," I respond. I can feel the curious look on Sebastien's face. He soon shrugs it off as he probably realises that it is none of his business. I mean I wouldn't mind telling him but only if he asks and something tells me he is not going to. With that, we part ways so we can prepare for the first round of free practice. For some reason, I am feeling a little apprehensive. I put it down to the fact that this is my first race back after a major incident. It doesn't take me long to be intercepted by my trainer for the warm-ups. At least it would ve a good time for me to get my annoyance out.
"Molly, can I ask you a question?" I get to work on seeing if I take things personally while I do my warm-ups.
"Sure," Molly replies.
"Do you think I take things personally when I don't need to?" I ask. The thing is I feel like most of the questions that are asked are meant to be a little too personal.
"Look Jess, The thing is you have come to Formula E with rubbish circumstances. You are bound to take things personally. That is why you have people like Nyck and I," Molly responds with a wink as well. She is right. I just need to keep my eyes forward. After ten minutes of prep, I am finally ready to go. I just need the go-ahead from my lead engineer. I get the feeling that he is being a little hesitant as he will want to make sure that everything is good to go. He exchanges a few words with my lead mechanic. After that, she gestures for me to go. It doesn't take long for me to get to work on getting the data for the team. The thing is I feel a little slow. This time I am not worried as the display isn't giving me any indication that there is an issue. It is just me recovering from a nasty crash.
"Jess, do you want to wait for FP2 to work on Charlie Mode 4?" my lead engineer asks.
"No, I can give it a go now and try again tomorrow if I need to," I responded. I reckon it would be a good idea for me to get my qualifying practice done now. I quickly adjust the settings on my steering wheel. Well here goes. To my surprise, the first couple of laps go well except for the fact that I have hit traffic. Not that I mind. I have done all of the required things in terms of CM 4.
"Is there anything else I can do Kai?" I check-in with him. I want to take advantage of the fact that I am feeling comfortable.
"Just make sure you are feeling comfortable," he replies. Ok, that was the answer I needed. With that, I get to work on making sure that taking attack mode won't be an issue. It looks like I am not the only one with that idea. I hold back just so that I can avoid most of the traffic. To be fair traffic is probably an overstatement but I am following the two BMWs and one of the Nissans. Thankfully we are all respectful of each other. I still wonder if the blue flags will come out. I am not convinced as we are all being respectful. It doesn't take me long to get past them. After ten more minutes of driving, I have decided to call it quits as I have gotten enough practice for the day. I soon brought the car back to the garage. I am relieved that nothing went wrong with the car. It doesn't take long for me to rescue myself from the car.
"I am guessing everything felt good," My lead mechanic asks as I get my helmet and balaclava off.
"Yeah. You and your team did well as per usual," I reply. I will be giving more information during the debrief. After five more minutes of waiting for Nyck, the briefing has begun. The good thing for me is they seem to be focusing on Nyck more as he is having some issues. It turns out that it has gone quite quickly. Nyck and I are soon dismissed. With that, I have decided to get something to eat before I head back to the hotel. I find myself thinking about how well today went for me considering the circumstances however my thoughts are soon interrupted.
"Jess, can I speak to you?" A Scottish accent calls out. There is only one person in Formula E that has a Scottish accent. That I know of.
"What can I do for you, Susie?" I ask.
"Well I was wondering if you could help me with something tomorrow in regards to my girls in motorsports initiative," Susie replies.
"It depends but I am sure we can work something out," I say. It would be good for me to become an advocate for it as I know what it is like to endure the struggle of being in a male-dominated world.
"Ian suggested that you show the car to some of the girls that are interested and I thought it would be a good idea," Susie outlines her plans for me as we walk to the Mercedes hospitality area.
"I would love to do that," I accepted Susie's plan. It will hopefully push the thoughts of the last race out of my mind. I don't know why I am thinking about it like that as I need to break away from the past. There is nothing that I could do about it unless I had a time machine. After a quick conversation with Susie, we parted ways as I made it to the hospitality area. I notice that Nyck has the same idea as me. I grab a packet of small biscuits then I sit down next to him.
"I saw you were talking to Susie about something," Nyck remarks.
"Yup. she was wondering if I could help her with a project that she is working on and I said yes before you can ask," I reply. My explanation seems to have captured Nyck's full attention. I further explain what the plan is. It is the day after and I am using my free time between the free practice and qualifying sessions to talk to a group of girls that have come to the race as part of Susie's girls in motorsports initiative.
"Everyone, the time has come to introduce you all to Jess Bianchi. As you can see she is one of the drivers that makes the team go around," Susie introduces me.
"Yes, but it is not all about the driver," I retorted. The girls seem to respond well to that kind of answer. The thing is I know for a fact that not all of them want to be drivers but it is still good for them to see me. I have the added bonus of the time with the girls keeping the apprehension about qualifying away from my thoughts. After answering a few of their questions we move on to the most interesting part. Showing the girls the car.
"Excuse me, Jess. How do you activate attack mode? I'm just wondering as I want to be a Formula E driver one day," One of the girls says as she splits from the group who are with Kristy and some other members of her team. I quickly rescue the steering wheel from the car so I can show her.
"So I use this paddle. The one underneath the up shifter to arm attack mode. Then we have to hit three sensors in the attack mode activation area," I explain while gesturing to the part of the steering wheel that I mean. It is refreshing to see that someone wants to be a Formula E driver.
"What's your name by the way," I ask just in case I see her again after qualifying.
"Erin," The girl replies.
"I am guessing you are karting?" I make conversation. The girl nods.
"I have a race next week," She says triumphantly. She reminds me of myself when I was going through that stage of my career. Hopefully, she is able to make it. Just in case she needs any more advice I grab a pen and paper then I write my phone number on it. I would give her my social media details but I have never bothered about setting up various accounts. After another thirty minutes of entertaining the group, they have all been herded towards one of the engineering stations so that I can begin the first round of qualifying. With a gesture from Kristy, I leave the garage to get to work on setting some good laps. I can tell that I am a little shaky in parts of the track but I know the problem is with me not the car. I just need to relax.
"Jess we are going to get you to use Charlie Mode 4 straight away," Kai remarks via the radio. That means I will be doing the full power lap first.
"Copy. That is CM 4," I confirm the order as I make the required adjustments. I find myself gripping the steering wheel a little too hard. Here goes. I make short work of the track as I remind myself that I need to put on a show for the girls who I hope are watching. It doesn't take long for me to complete the required laps. I bring the car to the garage however I don't pull myself out like I normally do. I am watching group two with keen interest as Nyck is hoping to get in the top ten after the issues he was having yesterday. It doesn't take him long to set a lap that brings him up to the provisional pole which puts me in second for the Superpole shootout. As the session goes on it is looking like I will be joining five other drivers in the top six. I am looking forward to the challenge. I say that as the drivers that have joined me are good.
"Hey, Jess just so you are aware the weather reports are saying there will be substantial rain in the next hour," Kai informs me. Dammit. Well, there is nothing I can do except hope that it doesn't start during the Superpole shootout.
"Ok. Let's hope the all-weather tires do their job," I half-joke. It didn't take long for me to get to work on setting a good lap as I was pushed down to sixth in the group qualifying. It doesn't take long for me to get a quick lap. I bring the car to the garage where I find myself watching the action on the monitor that has been placed in front of the halo of my car. I notice that something is wrong with Nyck's lap. To my horror, Nyck loses control and enters the gravel. I feel relief that he is getting out of the car. That means he will be starting in sixth proving Nyck's team of mechanics can get the car working again. Thankfully the rest of the laps go smoothly. To my surprise, I am second behind Antonio Felix da Costa. With the qualifying session finished I pull myself free from the car where I am met by Kristy. She is not looking happy.
"Kristy, you know it will be ok if you help Scott. My car is under Parc Ferme rules anyway," I say.
"Are you sure?" She asks. The look on her face brightens.
"Yeah. There is nothing that you will have to adjust anyway," I responded. It is true. The settings that can be changed involve some of the buttons on the steering wheel. After an hour of waiting the rain has finally decided to say hello. It has put me on edge. Waiting only makes the twitch in my leg worse.
"Jess are you alright?" Nyck checks on me.
"No, not really," I responded. My leg twitch turns into all out pacing. At least the rain was only a drizzle. I can feel Nyck wrap his arms around my shoulders.
"Look Jess I think the only issue you are going to face is the fact that you might over-consume," Nyck raises an interesting point.
"That's fair," I reply. Even with Nyck reassuring me I don't feel any better. The only time I will feel good is when the race is over. For some reason, Nyck decides to give me a soft kiss as he pulls away from me. I can feel my cheeks turn pink with embarrassment. Dammit. I will have to return the favour later. I have a race to focus on. Nyck and I are soon joined by our respective lead engineers. Like me they are apprehensive. I assume it is because the rain hasn't been this bad. We are soon briefed on how we are going to attack this race. It turns out that the engineers have factored the issue of overconsumption into the plan. After that, I am still nervous as there is a lot that can go wrong. After five more minutes the weather has finally eased which means the FIA has allowed the race to go ahead as planned.
"Ok, Jess just remember to be as conservative as you can. That means you attack and defend only when necessary," Kai reminds me of the plan one last time.
"Kai, I will be fine. I'm not stupid," I retort. I know I have had bad experiences with wet races but I have learnt a lot. Thankfully it doesn't take long for the formation lap to start. Yes, we are doing a formation lap as we, the drivers, have decided it would be safer to do so. With that, I get to work on getting heat into the tires. I am lucky that I don't have to do any weaving as I have worked out a good way to heat the tires using the regen system. It doesn't take long for me to pull up next to Antonio. After a couple of seconds, the lights go on one by one. As soon as they go out I launch the car. After a second of wheel spin, the car finally goes. To my surprise, I am able to get a better start than Antonio.
"Ok, that was a good start. Now focus on saving," Kai instructs.
"I will," I responded. Hopefully, with that start, I have enough distance between me and Antonio not to worry. After ten minutes of being conservative a need to break that streak has arisen. I need to take the attack mode boost for the race. Again it was the FIA's decision to make it one eight-minute boost instead of two four-minute boosts. I quickly arm the attack mode system. I have a problem. I am being followed through the activation area. Antonio is hot on my heels. That means he will be hoping to overtake me. That means the game is on.
"Kai, can you let me know if I over-consume defending from Antonio?" I have asked just so that I don't have to worry about it myself.
"Of course," He replies. At least I know that I have one less thing to worry about. After twenty-five minutes of defending from Antonio, I have finally been forced wide which means he has the gap to overtake me. Something tells me that it is not going to matter as Antonio has over consumed. It works in my favour as I will automatically win because the stewards will not classify a driver whose car has run out of charge. After what feels like an eternity the final lap has started. It is at that point that some of the cars start to slow down including the car belonging to Antonio. I use the chance to take back my position just to make it clear that I am first. Of course, my second win wouldn't have been possible without the help of Kai. I owe him big time.
"Jess, I have some good news. You are first, Edo is second and Nyck is third," Kai remarks as I cross the line with the remaining drivers close behind. It doesn't take long for us to bring our cars to a stop at the Parc Ferme area by the podium. Even though the circumstances were bizarre it is still nice to finally share a podium with Nyck. We all soon free ourselves from our balaclavas and helmets.
"See Jess. I told you there was nothing to worry about," Nyck remarks with a smile on his face.
"Well you know I can't help it," I retort. It is just who I am. Even with the rain, I had fun. I am just glad that I get to top it off by letting loose with the bottle of champagne. Sure we have to do the formal stuff first but I don't care since it will be the French anthem ringing out.