「 A C T 1 」
2 0 2 2
Isabella Romero
The sun beams in through the large hotel windows as I roll over in the bed, rubbing my eyes. After getting back last night, I fell asleep instantly, exhausted after the long day. I lift up my phone, seeing I had woken up on time for once and would have plenty of time to get to the paddock
I climb out of bed, entering the bathroom and switching on the shower before pulling my clothes off. I quickly wash my hair and body before turning it off again and drying myself off. As I'm beginning to pull my mercedes top when my phone begins to ring. I shuffle around the room, one arm unable to go through the hole whilst the other reaches out towards my phone. I finally grab it, pressing loud speaker
"What's up, Jace?"
"Just wanted to call to make sure you're awake"
"Yep, I should be there in 30" I tell him, zipping up my jeans
"Really? You're ready to go?"
"Yeah, I just need to get something to eat and do my makeup"
"Good, I'll see you later"
I say goodbye, hanging up the phone. I fix my brows into place, putting on a bit of mascara since I knew it would end on anything but lashes after removing my helmet if I used to much. The last thing I needed was a terrible paparazzi photo with mascara all over my face as my debut into Formula One. I slide on my dunks, making sure to grab my phone and lanyard before leaving the room. The hotel restaurant was pretty quiet due to the early hour of the day, however I was thankful for it, needing some peace before the storm that is qualifying day
I move the switch the car off, climbing out the car and closing the door behind me. Weaving in between the groups of people, I come up to the security gate, scanning my id and pushing the turnstile to allow me entrance. The paddock is just as packed, if not more so, filled with famous celebrities, well-known business men and women, interviewers and many social media influencers as well as people who just had enough to actually afford paddock passes and were here simply because racing was their passion, much like the twenty of us. Due to the 'keep it on the down-low' attitude from Mercedes, I was thankfully not stopped by any interviewers. The walk through the paddock will most definitely not be as calm as the current situation so I should enjoy the peace whilst it lasts. A hand latches around my arm, pulling me out my thoughts
"Thank god you're finally here"
"Hello to you too, Jace. I thought I was on time?" I say, as he drags me behind me
"You are, but Toto was asking for you" He tells me, pulling me into my drivers room, "Get you're stuff on and then come to the garage immediately"
I turn to him and salute, causing him to roll his eyes before closing the door behind him. After placing my things onto the table, I begin to get changed, first putting on my fireproofs and then the race suit. I pull it up to my waist, letting it hang as it was far too hot to put on fully. Grabbing my sunglasses, I leave the rooms, exiting the Mercedes building and walking across to garage. As soon as I enter, Jace immediately catches my eye, waving me over
"Nice to see you arriving on time today, Madeline" Toto smiles as I walk up
"I am sorry about that, sir. It won't happen again"
"How are you feeling in the car?"
"After yesterday, I definitely feel more confident than before but I think today's practice will help consolidate it"
"Good, I know you do well in wet conditions and we are forecasted it during qualifying so I look forward to see how you perform" I nod, smiling as he walk away
"No pressure" I turn, laughing at Lewis
"Yeah right, everyone's waiting for me to fail"
"Ignore what they think, just breathe" He reminds me, smiling gently
"Thanks"
I begin to get ready for the final practice sessions, putting in my earpieces before pulling on my black balaclava. Zipping up my race suit, I make sure all my hair is tucked in. I grab my helmet, sliding it on over my head before stepping back into the main part of the garage and up to car
I pull back into the pit lane just as the heavens begin to open up. The rain barely started 5 minutes ago and it's already lashing down on the track. I got the fastest lap once again, Charles second and Lewis third, making Toto hopeful for a pole position from one of us, however at this rate, there will be a red flag and qualifying won't happen. I tend to do very well in wet conditions so I wasn't too worried whether it is wet or dry. I walk up to Jace
"I'm going to go get something to eat so I'll be in my drivers room if anyone needs me" He nods, telling me he'll see me in an hour. After grabbing a jacket, I pull my hood up and brave the weather, running across and into the main building. The café is full still, I was happy about it as the media would have less of a chance of getting any photos of me in my race suit. I knew all the people in here had been cautioned on what would happen if they were to leak any photos themselves
"Hello, Miss. What can I get for you?" The woman behind the counter asks
"What have you got?" I request
"All we've got left is ham and cheese toasties and chicken and lettuce sandwiches"
"Can I have a chicken sandwich and a water, please?"
"Eat in or to go?"
"To go, thanks"
"Anything to go with it? Crisps?"
"Um, absolutely not, I'm healthy" I joke, causing the woman to laugh as she places my sandwich on top of the glass cover. I hand her my lanyard, which she scans before handing it back to me
"Have a lovely day"
"Thank you, you too" I pick up my now packaged and walk down the few hallways until I reach my room, closing the door behind me and throwing myself down on the couch, already exhausted. Just as I'm about to begin eating, my phone begins to ring. I groan, throwing my head back and get up, lifting the phone to my ear
"Hello?"
"Auntie Isa? Why is it dark?" The voice of a young girl. I smile, moving it away to look down at the face filling my screen
"How did you phone me?" She laughs, causing my smile to grow
"Momma did it for me" She gets up, supposedly running with the phone before she hands it to someone else, "It's Isabella"
"How are you?" Emilia, my older sister, asks, lifting her daughter onto her lap
"I'm good, just tired"
"Me and momma were watching you on the TV" Sofia says
"You are very mysterious, aren't you? They don't even know your name yet?" I laugh
"Yeah, it wasn't my idea. I'm just following orders"
"You're very good, you go sooooo fast, you go like-" she moves her hand across the screen, making a cute noise which was meant to be like a car
"Did you get the tickets?" I ask, directing my question to my sister. Her face drops
"Sorry, all the tickets were sold out for Australia by the time we got through" She sighs
"It's fine, don't be sorry. I'll see you guys soon, besides, I'm going to see you all in a few weeks at dad's gala, charity event thing anyway" A knock comes from my phone and I turn to them with an apologetic smile
"I know, but I know you wanted us to be there, and we wanted to be there too"
"It's alright, I promise"
"Talk to you later, Isa"
"Love you"
"Love you too" She replies, hanging up
"Come in" I sigh, looking down at the untouched sandwich on my lap. Jace pokes his head through the crack in the door
"10 minutes until qualifying"
"Go it, coming now"
After situating myself comfortably in the car, a mechanic hands my my gloves. I slide them on, taking the wheel and pushing it into place. The rain had alleviated however it was still very slippery conditions
"Radio check?"
"You got it" I reply
"Alright, take a few laps getting you're tires up to temperature and then focus on managing temperature along the straights and taking the apex's of the corners"
"Vale"
"Can we please stick to one language?" Nic, my race engineer, asks
"Sorry" I laugh, "I forgot about that"
I pull out of the pits, taking the first lap to get the tires up to temperature before speeding up as I come up to the starting line
"The clock starts in 3..2..1"
I speed down the main straight, slowing down to go around the first three corners. Bahrain is one of my favourite tracks because of the number of straights it has and how much speed you can pick, especially with the number of tight corners that I had to attempt carefully given the unpredictable conditions
"You just set a new best for sector one, try to pick up the speed on corner six next lap"
"Is anyone else reporting rain again? It might just be my sweat but I'm not sure" I ask, voice strained as I drive around the next corner
"No, other drivers are reporting it too"
"How are you feeling?" Lewis asks, walking up to me as I climb out of the car
"Good" I reply, unclipping my HANS device before pulling my helmet and balaclava off, "Glad to have made it to Q3, especially with the weather"
There had been a lot of near misses. The first, I was going for the fastest lap when my back wheels locked up and slipped out from under me, but I gained control of the car just in time. I also made up for it just before the end of Q1, getting the second fastest lap. During Q2, Carlos nearly drove straight into the back of me, apparently he also locked up, but I managed to get out of the way and had gotten the fastest lap. I rustle my hair around, untucking it whilst unzipping the suit
"Yeah, it was wild out there. I'm surprised there hasn't been a red flag"
"I guess they don't think it's that bad yet. It's going to get worse though, which means more dangerous" I sigh, placing my stuff on the counter, along with my gloves
"They won't send us back out there if it's not safe" He reassures me
"I'll see you in a minute" He smiles, nodding as I walk away towards the my race engineer
"How was I?" I ask, taking a seat beside him
"Really good, just make sure not lose any speed going around corner 10 by going wide" He suggest, showing me a replay of me driving and pointing out different areas I could lose extra time
"Do you think there's enough time for me go eat my sandwich? I didn't have time at lunch and I'm going to die of starvation" He looks down at his watch
"Yeah, go get it and bring it back here and we can discuss strategy" I get up, speed walking down the hallway and to the door. Pulling my hood up, I run across the paddock, leaving my hood on as I run towards my drivers room. After grabbing my still packaged sandwich, I run back the way I had came, dipping my head to stop it from getting wet. As I enter the room, I hang my coat up, walking back over to my seat
"Okay, I'm ready now" Unpackaging the food, I take a large bite out of the sandwich, causing Nic to laugh
"Vots so fummy?" I ask, struggling to say the words as I hold my hand over my mouth
"My wheel! I need my steering wheel!" I shout, trying to get one of the mechanics attention as the wheel me out of the garage. They finally hand it to me, just as I'm directed to pull out of the pits and onto the track
"Okay, we're going for at least p5 and be careful, the conditions are getting worse"
"Okey-dokey" I reply
The first lap goes uneventfully, just trying to get my tires to temperature. I speed up, passing by the start and the time stops. By the time I had finished my second lap, someone had already crashed, that someone being Alex. Thankfully, he was unharmed as it wasn't major however he was out of qualifying in P10
"You're currently in P3, give this lap your all"
I speed up, going into sixth gear as I drive down the main straight, taking the first 3 corners perfectly without losing too much speed. I overtake Lewis who had just pulled out of the pits, having changed tires from softs to hards
"You've just got the fastest time in Sector 1, keep this up and you'll get pole position"
"What's pole position?" I ask, mainly concentrating on the driving
"Max, 1:29.708"
"I feel the need for speed, Nic" I strain, pressing my foot flat to the floor. My tires nearly slip out from under me as I go around turn 11, barely saving myself although I managed to not lose very much time
"I need to make up for some time" I alleviate the pressure on the break as I round the corners 12 and 13 and down the straight, taking the outside line
"Come on, come on" I mumble, rounding the last corner. The crowd goes wild as I cross the starting line,
1:29.623
"We're in pole position!" Nic cries through the radio. I can hear other voices in the garage, cheering with one another. I take another lap around, not wanting to completely destroy the tires
"Max is 2 seconds out" Nic informs me. I round the final corner, building up speed as the red bull comes into sight. From the looks of it, he was still warming his tires up after pitting so I decided that I'd overtake, not wanting to be stuck behind him and waste any time. As I come up behind, I make it clear I'm going to overtake, pulling off to the side of him, I notice him turn his head to look out the wing mirror. Instead of allowing me to pass, he pulls out in front of me and breaks at the last second as we come up to the corner. I slam my foot down on the pedal but it's too late, my tires lock up and I go spinning off the track and slam into the wall
"FUCK!" I shout, slamming my hands down on my steering wheel. The stand of people go quiet for a second, looking down at me. A few marshals run up to me and try to help but push them away, storming back to the garage
"He pulled that shit on purpose!" I shout, moving out of the way of the medias cameras as I pull my helmet off
"We know, I've already reported it. He'll get a time penalty" Nic reassures me, turning in his seat to face me
"A time penalty? What he pulled out there could've killed me! He knew how slippery the track would be!"
"Isabella, calm down" Toto says, walking up to me, "We'll bring it to the FIA but for now, go to your room, you can't be seen right now" He tells me, sounding like my dad. I oblige unwillingly, knowing he held the power to take my seat away in seconds. Jace follows silently behind me but decides against following me in, knowing I would be upset
I drop my things to floor, throwing myself onto the couch and cover my face with a pillow, screaming in anger. I was now set to be in P9 for the race, I had no hope for tomorrow
"How are feeling?" I ask, walking up to Lewis as he wipes his face with a cloth to remove the sweat
"Good" He pants, "I'm in P5, good place to be starting tomorrow. What about you?" I sigh
"I'm...frustrated. I was in P1 until I hit the wall, now I'm P9"
"I saw the move he pulled on one of the screen, he was out of line doing that"
"There's nothing that can be done right now, Toto's taken it to the FIA and he'll probably just get a time penalty"
"2 seconds is all it takes to set him back though. Everyone is within 3 seconds of each other"
"Yeah, well it seems I've already made enemies with people that don't even know what I look like"
.·:*¨☆◦✦◦☆¨*:·.
wishing i was isabella rn 😭 literally my dream to race, especially with ferrari or mercedes in like any type of circuit racing but anyway, the chapters has been edited, hopefully it makes me sense now
- katherine <3