Hello all!
It's weird it's not race week this time, but for us Seb fans, probably best this way!
Thank you again for all the reads, comments and votes! Hope you're all still enjoying this and let me know if there's anything you'd like to see more of (or less of!).
Have a lovely weekend!
HB3112
Valeria had not long checked into the hotel in Belgium, when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and was met by Pietro's smiley face.
'good evening, babe.' He kissed her cheek. 'I have just arrived and I'm ready to take you out for dinner to get ALL the details.'
'it's nice to see you too. I'm good, by the way, thanks for asking' she replied ironically. 'come in, I just need to get out of plane clothes' she continued, letting Pietro into hers and Seb's room.
'Jesus. This is fancy' he said, looking around the luxurious room. 'I thought I was lucky being in the fancy hotel too. Maybe I should start banging a driver' he teased her.
'I'm telling Stefano.' She laughed, quickly going into the bathroom to change. She walked out not long later wearing a pair of black jeans and an oversized jumper. 'let's go!' she told Pietro. The two left the hotel, laughing and chatting, Pietro wrapped his arm around her as they started walking to the restaurant he had picked.
They sat at the table, catching up about their holidays over a glass of wine.
'how was Calabria?' Valeria asked him, sipping her Chianti, watching him busy himself with the menu.
'It was good, Stefano really needed to be on the beach. He feels like he's reset now and ready to go. We had so much nice food as well, I think I've gained 5 Kilos if not more' he joked, touching his belly. 'how were Rome and the Maldives?' he smirked, eyeballing her engagement ring, but trying to be inconspicuous.
Valeria smiled, it had taken him a whole twenty minutes before he asked her. She had expected him to ask the question straight away. 'Rome was good. We were busy with family, friends and sightseeing. I think one day we walked the whole historic centre... our feet were done after that! Then Maldives were amazing. Great food, great weather, the water was fantastic!' she unlocked her phone to show him some pictures she had taken of them on her gopro. 'I didn't want to leave' she concluded.
'And how... you know?' Pietro asked her, looking around to see if anyone was listening to them.
'Oh, mate. It was so beautiful. We went to this private beach, he had laid out a picnic, we had champagne... he told me he was going to get a fire going. I was just looking out into the ocean.. he calls me, I turn around and there he is!' she summarised. She scrolled through her phone to find a picture of the place she was describing. 'I bawled my eyes out that night. I still can't believe it!' she concluded. Pietro grabbed her left hand to examine the ring.
'I need to get Stefano to up his game. This is some heavy ring' he joked. 'What are you doing with work, then?'
'We spoke about it. We have informed the people who need to know, but I'm not going to wear this around the paddock, just to avoid any comments' she explained.
The pair continued catching up for a while. Valeria was just finishing off a slice of chocolate cake, when Pietro's phone rang.
'hey!' he picked up, turning his video on.
'Hey, babe. How's Vale?' Valeria heard Stefano's voice come through.
'she's all good, here!' he turned the camera around, catching her with the fork in her mouth and chocolate around the edges.
'Cute. Hey Vale!' Stefano laughed. Valeria gave him a wave. 'you guys might wanna check twitter. Apparently you're cheating on Seb with Pietro?' he told them, laughing.
'what??' Valeria opened the app. Someone had taken a picture of them leaving the hotel and them at the restaurant, Pietro holding Valeria's hand as he looked at her ring.
Mysterious man seen out for dinner with Sebastian Vettel's girlfriend. She read out loud 'not even my name.' She joked.
Pietro thanked Stefano as he hung up. He opened twitter himself and simply typed. 'I'm not mysterious. My name is Pietro Mair, marketing officer for Ferrari and Valeria happens to be my friend and colleague. Also, I'm definitely not interested in her that way. She's a beauty, I know, but I'm proudly out. 🏳️🌈'
'Thank you' she told him, with a smile.
'Anytime, chica. How are you coping with this? You know I'm here if you need me' he asked her, a comforting look in his blue eyes.
'It depends on the day. Some people are lovely, actually most people are. Others are just asses. But isn't that life?'
'Again, if you need a vent...' he reiterated.
'I know, Pi, thank you' she smiled. Sometimes she didn't have to tell him what was going on in her head and he would be a step ahead of her.
Saturday
The car had looked great thought out the 3 free practices and the Ferrari garage was full of tension as Q3 was starting. For the whole length of it, everyone who was wearing anything with a prancing horse on it, could be seen glued to the screens. By the end of it, Ferrari had claimed a 1-2. It seemed like the summer break had finally turned their luck, Valeria, however, was less optimistic than anyone else. She knew how quickly luck had changed for them in the past few months and didn't want to jinx the championship any more.
She walked out of the garage, looking out for Nico's crew.
'wow, you look tanned.' He told her.
'told you we'd compare when I came back. You are possibly more pale than usual' she teased him, grabbing the mic.
'Martin, Crofty. We are back! I'm sure everyone at home missed our comedic duo. Valeria, what a way to start after the summer break.'
'absolutely! Seeing both of our guys on the first row is what we wanted to see, definitely'
'any comments or hopes for tomorrow's race?'
'I won't say anything, I always seem to bring bad luck' she joked.
Valeria walked back towards the motorhome, she knew Seb would be busy with post quali interviews so she had decided to grab a coffee and catch up with some work she already had started for Monza. Back to back races were always challenging, even more so for Ferrari as the following one was their home GP. Valeria always remembered the feeling of the crowd at Monza but she was, now, feeling the pressure.
Pietro sat next to her, as he caught up with his schedule for the following week. 'we have a little piece we need to do with you next week.' He told her.
'Me?' Valeria looked up curiously. 'why me?'
'we have decided to show the behind the scenes people and the tifosi wanted to ask you some questions. The choice was me or you... I wonder why they chose you' he laughed. 'But also Giorgio is doing one and Riccardo too. So don't worry, it won't only be you'
'damn. I'm not that interesting'
'I know that' he laughed, watching her look up to the screens showing the F2 race that was going on. They both watched it for a while, lazily flicking through emails until they heard a gasp and looked up to the screen again. The session had been black flagged as a massive accident had just happened. Valeria's heart skipped a beat. She instinctively touched her left wrist, her thoughts going straight to that damned day. She got up, to get closer to the screen to hear what was happening.
Not long later, they heard of young Anthoine Hubert's passing. Valeria's heart sunk. She had met the man a couple of times, he was really good friends with Charles. She remembered watching him kart against Charles and Pierre, growing up. 'where's Charles?' she managed to ask. Pietro pointed at Silvia who was with the young Monegasque not far from her, outside the motorhome.
She walked towards him, anyone around her had just become a faceless blob. She just wanted to go to Charles and hug him, but she knew there were too many people around. She could see a couple of cameras following him, she walked to him and wrapped her arm around him.
'Charlie, let's go' she whispered sweetly. She could see he was in shock, but trying to hide it. She directed him to a quiet part of the motorhome.
'I'm not here as PR, I'm here as me' she told him. 'talk to me' she added. 'you're going really pale, Charlie. Please sit down on the floor. You are in shock'
The young driver nodded, following her instructions. 'I'm gonna get someone to get you some water and some food, OK? You just...' Charles grabbed her hand, with a smile. Valeria was brought back to the summers in Montecarlo, as she and Noemi taught Charles and Arthur how to ride their bikes. She remembered the time Charles had tumbled off of it, as he tried to bring the bike to speed and had fallen off, causing him to scrape his knee. He had gone running to her and Noemi, Valeria held his hand as Noemi cleaned his bloodied knee.
She messaged Silvia, asking her to bring some water and food to the meeting room they were in. She also let Seb know where she was and not long later, he joined them.
'I came as soon as I heard. How are you Charles?' he asked the Monegasque who was still sitting on the floor, looking straight in front of him.
'better now, but shit' he summarised. Valeria passed him the water Silvia had just brought in. She forced him to eat something. 'Charlie, I don't give a shit about Andrea's training right now.'she told him, after he refused the pastry she was giving him. 'you need to eat. You were about to faint earlier. I'm first aid trained and you ARE gonna listen to me.'
Charles grabbed the pastry, giving her a feeble smile.
She sat on the floor next to him for what felt like hours. She and Seb left the paddock later that day. Valeria was quiet, as they walked back to their hotel. A thousand things were going through her head. She felt Seb squeeze her hand a bit more.
' fancy a walk? I know a cute spot' he asked her.
'Sure' she replied, letting him lead her around to a nearby park.
They sat on a bench, the sun still shining bright, a few people could be seen walking through the park but they seemed to pay them no notice. Probably having changed into plain clothes had helped both of them.
'I come here to think, when I'm having a bad weekend' he told her, taking her hand into his. 'how are you feeling?' he asked, turning around to her.
'Weird. It's heartbreaking. Someone that young, taken so soon. It's just unfair'she replied, squeezing his hand. 'promise me something?'
'anything, Schatzi' he told her, serious.
'be extra careful tomorrow, will you, please? For me'
'of course' he leaned over to kiss her.
Sunday
Valeria had just arrived to the starting grid where a minute's silence for Antoine had been organised. His helmet had been put on a pedestal in the centre, with all the drivers in a circle around it. Valeria spotted Anthoine's mum hugging Charles and Pierre, before joining the circle. The memory of Jules hit her right in the gut, as she took her sunglasses off to pay her respects. She tried to contain a tear, as everyone clapped at the end of the minute. She fixed her black band and put her sunglasses back on. Formula1 had got a lot safer through the years and for that reason when something happened it shocked everyone a lot more.
Valeria walked over to both the Ferrari drivers who were now ready to start the race.
'good luck, Charlie. 'stay safe'
'good luck, Bärchen. Stay safe' she added to Seb. She hugged them both at the same time and walked off. She didn't care what people would say, she didn't care for PR and image that day. She just wanted her childhood friend and her fiancee to be safe. To finish the race. In whatever position.
She walked into the garage in complete silence. She turned her radio up and sat next to Pietro. As the lights went off, Valeria grabbed her colleague's hand and squeezed it. Seb had some issues at the start and with an early stop strategy, he ended up finishing in p4, with Charles taking his first win. The celebrations in the garage were contained. Charles' radio message was played through, with him dedicating his victory to Anthoine. Valeria walked to the podium. She could feel tears coming watching Charles on the top step of the podium, the Monegasque anthem playing, followed by the inno di Mameli. She sang along to it, it had taken too long for it to be played on the podium that year, but she knew nobody could and really wanted to enjoy it.
'Newbie, a word?' Nico asked her with a smile.
'sure' she grabbed the mic.
'mixed feelings weekend, I'm sure'
'Definitely. So proud of Charles, for taking his first victory. Not the mood we would have wanted, it's been a long 24 hours for everyone. If I may, an advice to anyone listening. Days like these are tough for everyone who knew Anthoine or not, be kind, you never know what impact the words you say will have on people.' She smiled, passing him the microphone. She had already heard all kinds of comments about Ferrari, about Seb and his p4. She understood their passion, and shared it, but not that day. That day it didn't matter.