"Are you excited?" "Very much so" "Good morning bitches" I smirk as Daniel climbs in the van and drops on the passanger seat while myself and Lando are in the back. "Good Morning Mister Avocado. Did you slept well?" He stratches his thumb up in the air which let's me smirk even more. "Are you nervous?" he turns around after buckling up. "Very much so, yeah" I answer while taking Landos bagpack on my lap so he can retie his shoes. "You don't need to tho", he mumbles. "I am afraid I come across rude or so. I don't know" Daniel in the front chuckles. "Don't be stupid, you will be great." The driver sits down and the Van starts rolling towards the venue of the Abu Dhabi track. Weird being back not gonna lie. This city holds great memories. Coming back here after all these years is surreal. The last week's had been an exciting time full of adventures and beautiful memories. Ever since Brazil we basically traveled around together to the races. With spending all this time in the hospitality of McLaren and creating content all day long the hype around my person took off even more. So the request from a F1 Podcast for an interview was just a matter of time. And that time is now. Dressed Smartly today I will directly speak about my relations to the drivers and my person. My consistency had been key. There was not a day I didn't post about anything and shared my life. Sue back in Monaco actually has all hands full to manage the requests of collabs, ads and apparently there are quite some packages waiting for me to unbox. But for now I don't bother coming back home. It's the last Raceweek of the year and so I have to produce a little more so I can bridge the winterbreak with exclusive insights. Like all the weeks before I start recording on my face. I grin in the camera and then turn to Lando who stretches down his tongue before waving like crazy in the camera. It's different then when the teams themself shoot footage. On my channels they can be unfiltered. So did a clip go viral where I tested a couple of coffee types with Valteri and basically hated all of them. The disappointment on his face amused the fanbase. But don't forget the time Charles and myself tried to learned a tiktok dance which ended in a shit show and the loud laughter of Pierre and Carlos. There had been so many precious moments along the way in private I didn't share. Lots of them with Lando. Besides the growth of many friendships with the boys our relationship grew the furthest. Late night talks and an open communication made life so much more easy. We don't pressure on us anymore and just go with the flow. I am happy with that as long as we are comfortable, all is good. We finally realized, we are not the kids we were in 2018. Three years later we are adults with high and lows. His career is going strong and so are my studies. It seems to go all well for once. "Have you got my sandwich?" I mumble and lay my head in his shoulder. He stops scrolling through his Instagram feed to get the sandwich out of the bag. "Can you now eat?" This morning I just felt sick in nervousness so the hotel prepared a little snack when my nerves cool down, which is now. "Yeah" I snatch away the food from him. "Do you mind?" Dani holds up his phone. "No go ahead, but we should be there quite soon" I speak with my mouth full. A disgusted look from Lando let's me grin. This annoys him real bad. And I love to just tease him. "Great" the Aussie starts pressing all kinds of buttons from the car untill. "Yo, I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want
So tell me what you want, what you really, really want" Daniel immediately pulls up the volume and starts screaming to the top of his lungs. The poor driver. While finishing my food we sing and dance along just to wave at the fans waiting on the streets to the track. I just hope they can't hear what's going on but I might get disappointed. Daniel wasn't shy with he volume. "zig-a-zig ah", we finish when I widely grinning greet Charlotte who opens the backdoor. We arrived. "Well I see, the mood is great today." "Very good" Daniel gives her a pat on the shoulder as he joins her in the heat. With getting our stuff sorted myself and Lando get out as well. I great her with a little hug. It's my first time this week so she hands me the paddock ticket. On the mediaday I stayed behind to handle a big bunch of unistuff so I am as free as possible for this huge weekend. I can't even start how nervous I am. The podcast today, then later I will met the rest of Quadrant. Max has been kind but the whole crew is something else as an outsider. Than tomorrow I will meat Landos family and last but not least the championship. With the same amount of points this will get decided on Sunday. Thank good my name is not Max Verstappen or Lewis Hamilton at the moment. But I can't deny I root for my dutch brother all the way. It's an honor to call him one of my closest mates. Besides Kelly and his father I've been the person he trusts the most around here. A powerful duo we are. The double dutch trouble, and we earned that nickname. His zero fucks attitude really inspires me and I wish I could adapt but I just take everything too seriously. To remember my heritage I even got a tattoo in its honor just below the one for my mother. Max was the one keeping me company when I got it.
Putting things on my skin that mean a lot to me was a very therapeutic way to handle my past and thoughts. It was my third and biggist tattoo. A young Lioness and flowers symbolizing my growth and my strength that I take from being dutch. It's like this tattoo spreads warmth and comfort down my back when I see all these people waiting at the gates. Facing them never gets easier, but you just get used to the stress and anxiety. Dealing with it until I can breath again. Meeting smaller groups to take photos or whatever is fine but hundreds of humans screaming the names of these drivers and sometimes mine is overwhelming. "I need to go" a look on my watch tells me I should get on with things. No time for the little briefing these boys will receive from Charlotte. "Good luck" Daniel winks. "I am proud of you" a cheeky little peck on my cheek is all I get from Lando. We are in public, here we keep is subtle. "You go girl" "Thank you" I grin nervously. "I see you in the garage" and off I go. 5 minutes of hell with the people and I am through the entrance. Confident I stroll down my path. A little hello to Lewis, a short shitchat with Antonio and I disappear in the little box that turns out to be a little studio. Just a group of four women wait there for me and one comes directly to me. "Hey Anna, pleasure to finally meet you. I am Abby" I wave a hello before getting introduced to the camerawoman, the tone quality manager and the producer - all young and likable beautiful girls. Without a long introduction we take a seat in two comfortable chairs. The producer powders us down and before I could freak up we are rolling. "Hello and welcome back to Speedy power. My name is Abby and today we have a verry special guest with us."She pauses. I smile at the camera since it will upload on other platforms as well." Hey" It's bright here and I am glad I chosen the dress this morning. Under these lights it's heating up pretty quickly. "For the few that might not recognize you, Anna, introduce yourself real quick." Abby smiles. "So my name is Anna Winter, I am 21 years old a student at the International University of Monaco, born in the Netherlands raised in London." "And a very popular person around the paddock aren't you? With 1, 2 million followers on Instagram and 4,4 millions on tikTok you are the biggest formula one content influencer." "I really don't like this label to be honest. I don't influence anybody, I try to inspire and show the unknown and still beautiful sides of this sport." Slowly I lean back. The media training kicks in and I can relax, I was tought to handle these things in absolute grace and perfection. "But still you are a very private person." "I cherish my privacy, it's a way to protect myself. People might think they know me from my content but what I choose to show them is what I approve." "And who is the private Anna?" "I honestly don't know. A few things are certain. I love traveling the world with my friends, I am probably the biggest fan of the sport and still I am frightened of it immensely. I love food and a good movie. But there are so many aspects of my life where I think I don't know myself." She nods and looks down at her notes."Before we come back to that. You mentioned that you love traveling with your friends. The people following Anna might know she has some drivers in her friend group. Do you like to talk about that?" "Honesty I don't like to very much. I know that they are in the spotlight and try to have some privacy. It's not easy for them but there are used to it. Which doesn't mean it's OK to spill private informations about their life. I respect them way too much to do so.""Which we all appreciate and respect. It just shows that you are a great friend." Itbwas pretty clear the boys would be part of this conversation but I will not be reduced to just them. "I try to protect them as far as I can. When they appear in the content it's with their consent." "And we really do love your content. Have you considered to do a podcast yourself?" "God no, what am I supposed to talk about?" I laugh. "Well your life, we asked the community what questions they have for you and lots come in. They are really interested in you." That surprises me a little. "Well that's flattering but I am a student after all. I study long hours and my free time I spend traveling there is not much time left to start a podcast." "Do you mind answering a few questions from the fans?" I nod in silent agreement. This could be interesting. " The first one is from Riccibobbi1+2 Do you still live with Daniel and was is his worst habit as a roommate? My smile dies. This throws me back to the happy days in Monaco. How easy it all was back then."Officially I still live with Dani but since September I have been away traveling around. So I haven't been in Monaco for quite some time. But when I will return I probably get socks thrown against my head. That really is his worst habit." Abby chuckles. "How did it even happen you moved in together in the first place?" "Oh that's not as spectacular. I applied for Uni and got aceepted a month before the semester started. There was no time to find a flat that I could've covered so Daniel offered me to stay at his place." "We don't want to push it here but there had been rumors of dating. Can you comment on these?" I laugh out loudly. "Oh yeah we like to fuck with... Oh damn can I swear?" I hold my hand in front of my mouth. "That's fine" Abby waves off. "Sorry tho. As I said we like to make fun of the rumors. When everyone would believe the rumors I dated half of the grid." "And yet you spend a lot of time with the McLaren team recently. You worked for Redbull as a fillin for a weekend and before that have been a guest of the HAAS team." "When I first set foot in the paddock I was there to support Mick. But with time I got to know the others. I adore Charles and Carlos as well as Pierre and George. Alex is the one to have great laughs and with Max I share a very strong bond due to our heritage. Being Dutch is something that tied us together." I smirk as the lioness on my back sends once more shivers down my spine. She really is giving me the strength." But you still are with McLaren? "" I am." I need to think for a second so I find a plausible excuse. Obviously I am not telling the whole truth." Orange suits me just best and I love Daniel and Lando. They are fun to be around but still with a very inspiring attitude. They drive me to be the best and motivate me to work and study the hardest I can." From that we live away from the drivers and on to female empowerment, woman in the sport and answering more fan questions." Thank you so much for stopping by Anna. I wish you a beautiful weekend and maybe we can catch up another time?"" I would love to, thanks Abby."" One last question: Max or Lewis?" It's the question of the weekend. But for me it's cristal clear."Max, it will go Dutch." "You heard it here first. That was Anna Winter everybody. Let's the what the race will bring and we will do the recap on Monday. Let's see if Anna is right. Goodbye." "Byee" I wave my goodbyes and then take a sip of water. It was a little exhausting. But I smashed it.
Bored I lean against the wall off the McLaren motorhome and bite into my apple. The practice sessions are already done and I scan the people flowing by for familiar faces. Waiting isn't my biggest strength so a chat with someone until Lando was ready to go would be nice. "Anna" Whoops she caught me off guard. "Justine, hey" I greet here. Did she sneak up or something? "How are you?" As she avoids my eyes there must be something wrong. "We must have a conversation. In private" This about be interesting to say the least. "Sure, what's up?" She checks our surroundings before releasing her truth. "I don't appreciate you dropping Mick like a hot potato. He was the one bringing you in, you just can't abandon him." I nearly choke on the slice of apple in my throat. Just a couple of hard slams against my chest open up the needed while for the much needed airflow." You are joking? "" I am not." She takes a deep breath. It really took her some nerve to even suggest such thing. "Mick is my brother. Never ever would I drop him. It's him I choose after all and I don't appreciate your thoughts. It's rude really. After being such a burden to the whole family after I lost my sister I stepped away to give them air to breath. And I suggest that you do the same thing right now, Justine."" Everything alright? " There he is. Immediately my heart slows down, my muscles relax and that heaviness lifts off my chest."I don't know if you met yet. But this is Micks girlfriend. Justine this is Lando." "Nice to meet you" She smiles awkwardly. "Likewise?" with a raised eyebrow he looks at me, his face being just one big questionmark. "She just wanted to say hello right?" "Yes sorry, I better go" she stutters and excuses herself. "What was that?" he smirks confused. "Just someone that said something very silly. Not worth of another worry. How are you?" "It all went according to plan. And you?" "A little upset but happy you finally ready to go." "Did Justine upset you?" I nod. "You came across as the one having the control of the conversation if this makes you feel better." I smirk cheeky up to him. "A little" He starts smiling. "I know. You can be intimidating sometimes." "I am a bad bitch" "And Dutch" "Max, how are you? All good Kelly?" the couple stands infront of us hand in hand. As much as I want to grab on to Lando even the leaving the paddock alone with him could start rumors. So thanks to all the lovely friends we have here that would never happen. Mostly we arrive together with Daniel in the morning and leave with a couple different people. Today it's my dutchi besti and Kelly, who smiles at me. I couldn't get warm with her really but we are friendly. She is a lovely person after all and doesn't deserve the shit thrown at her all the time. "Ready to go?" she smiles and actually swifts Max's arm. "Jupp" I grin over to Lando who returns it.
"Go out really I don't mind. But I am shattered." With just rapped in a robe I sit on the beautiful bed in the Hilton overlooking the view of the city. "Are you sure? We could watch a movie and go to bed early" my hand rests on his arm as he already tucked in bed at just quarter past eight. His eyes seem tired and his voice slower as normally. He really is absolutely done and would probably fall asleep somewhere in the club anyway. But I really don't want to go without him. Max is the only one I know besides Lando from the group of Quadrant. "No I insist. I want you to meet my friends." There is no way that he would back out so I better go out. "Okay then" I get up and rush over to the luggage laying on the floor that I brought over to his room. Up I pull a sparkling top and a neon pink one. "Which one?" I grin at him. He looks at them carefully. "Left" he points to the sparkling one. "Okay" I grin and disappear in the bathroom.
"You are the prettiest discoball I've ever seen." He smirks as I twirl for him dressed up and ready to head out. My jaw drops "You chose this one" I say disappointed. "I don't want to look hideous." Upset I turn to the huge window wall where I can see myself since the sun went down already. Slowly I move around a little. I actually look cute. "I am just making a bad joke darling. You look absolutely gorgeous." He better mean it. "Thank you. You sure about staying behind?" His eyes go soft and he drops his head in the soft pillows. He grunts something which I am freely interpretate as some sort of a yes. "Okay well I will text you tomorrow." With putting sprays of perfume over my body I am finished. "Max is here" it knocks on the door. "to pick you up." Lando finshes his sentence and looks up. "Bye" a little kiss to not ruin my lipstick is all he gets. "I love you" he smirks. "I love you too. Happy dreams." "Have fun" he shouts when I open the door to not just Max but a whole group of people.