Sebastian was welcomed by all fans who were standing outside the entrance of Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona. He signed some stuff that the fans brought. His press officer, Britta, was waiting patiently behind him. She sometimes looked at her watch in case he had to come to the garage soon.
Seb's trainer, Antti, was also there. It would be his 7th year working with the German. Considering that he had prepared a lot during the winter break, the Finn believed that he would be in a great form for that season.
2020 season would be Seb's sixth season with the Prancing Horse. After failing to win a title in his five seasons with Scuderia, he was determined to finally do it in that year.
Britta looked at her watch once again. She thought that it was time to go inside. "Seb, the time's up. We should go now," she whispered.
"Okay," Seb replied. Then, he talked to the fans there. "Guys, thank you very much. I'm sorry that my team has been waiting in the garage."
Some fans were a bit disappointed because their stuff hadn't got signed by Seb. But they could understand that he should prepare for the second day of Test 2 and they thought that they still had a chance during the lunch break.
As Seb started leaving the crowd, Britta and Antti were following behind him. They all scanned their respective passes before they could enter the circuit. An hour later, he had been in the garage, wearing his red race suit and white balaclava. His trainer was holding the helmet for him before he started wearing it.
"Enjoy the test today, Seb."
"Thanks, Antti. Yesterday, Charles took part in the afternoon session. But today, the 8 hours of test time is all mine," Seb chuckled.
Then, he walked to the mechanics as he was ready to enter the cockpit of his SF1000 car. The mechanics made sure that he was comfortable on his seat before they fastened the seat belt.
The night before, it rained in Barcelona. So, it meant that the track was still wet and all drivers needed to wait until the condition of the track improved. Seb had been connected to his race engineer, Riccardo, by team radio. He explained to him about the programs that he was going to do on that day while waiting until he could start hitting the track.
As the team felt that Seb could have a try, the mechanics took the tyre blankets off. He started driving his matte red car, leaving tyre marks on the garage floor. He was doing an installation lap with using intermediate tyres. On that lap, he was explaining how the track was like to Riccardo.
Seb did 48 laps in the morning and 97 laps in the afternoon. He was the quickest on that day, setting his best time of the day just before the lunch break.
When he got out of his car, he got congratulated by the mechanics inside the garage. "Seb, your lap was brilliant!" Fabrizio, one of the tyre mechanics, praised him.
"Thanks, Fabrizio. But I think that lap time isn't too important. The most important is that we could do all programs for today without a problem."
"I agree with you. Hopefully this season will be yours, Seb. We all still believe in you," Fabrizio said with a very thick Italian accent.
"Thanks again, mate."
Seb was more than grateful that the team still put trust on him. He knew that the winter testing couldn't give the full picture of his team's performance. But he believed that great results he and Charles got during the test would motivate them to be the title contender.
---
Staying at Hotel Maranello Palace, Seb had looked so fresh after taking a bath. After the winter testing in Barcelona, he and the team flew to Italy as he would train on the simulator.
He wore the brand new Ferrari polo shirt, the red shirt with a Ferrari logo between the stripes of Italian flag colours. He also wore the jacket as it was very windy.
On the second day of March, Ferrari would hold a meeting with Seb. But he had no idea what that was about. He asked Britta and she told him that Charles wouldn't be on the meeting, according to his press officer, Mia.
He was guessing that they were going to talk regarding his contract that would be expired at the end of the season. He realized that there wasn't much talk during the winter break, but he remained calm about that.
When he took his phone from the nightstand, he found out that Britta texted him, telling him that she had been waiting at the lobby. He put it inside his jeans pocket after replying her message. Then, he took his car key and left the room.
He quickly came into the elevator and pressed the button of first floor. When the door was open, he could see that she was sitting on the couch. "Morning, Britta," he greeted her after he arrived at the lobby.
"Morning, Seb. Are you ready?"
Seb nodded. "I am. Come on!"
They walked to the parking lot where he parked his car at. He used Ferrari F12 Berlinetta that was provided by the team, with Rosso Corsa colour. It was actually only 4-minute drive from the hotel, but at least he could see the atmosphere outside before he entered the new and magnificent Gestione Sportiva building.
They got informed by the receptionist that he could directly go to the meeting room as he had been waited there. Seb knocked the door first before he got permission to enter the room. There were the Ferrari chairman, John Elkann, Ferrari CEO, Louis Camilleri, and also the team principal, Mattia Binotto.
"Sebastian," John greeted Seb before they shook hands. "How are you?"
"John. I'm good, thanks." Seb also shook hands with Louis. "Good morning, Mr. Camilleri."
"Good morning, Seb."
Britta also shook hands with two important people of Ferrari. Then, John let all of them to sit down. Seb and his press officer sat next to each other. She was preparing her pen and note in case there were things to write.
"Seb, first of all, I want to congratulate you for the great result you achieved during the pre-season test," John started the conversation. "How are your impressions with the car this year?"
"It feels great," Seb was telling what he felt with his new car. "I'm happy that the team works so hard to provide a competitive car. Now I feel that the rear of the car is much stable than in the previous year. There are still some things to do but overall, I feel more comfortable with our new car."
"Those are good impressions," John replied. "And what do you think about this season? Where will we be at?"
"Usually, you won't get the full picture of where we are during the winter testing, because we don't know what programs that other teams have done. But I'm pretty sure that we will still be in the top 3 this season."
There was silence for a moment after Seb predicted what they would achieve that year. But then, he could sense that those men were staring at him and having a quite confused look which he couldn't describe.
"Seb, do you know why we called you to attend this meeting?" Louis broke the silence.
"Erm no, I don't know. I asked Britta and she told me that Charles won't attend this meeting."
John took a deep breath before he said, "Seb, we are very sorry. We regrettably tell you that... we have decided not to renew your contract. So, you are going to leave this team at the end of this season."
Seb couldn't hide himself being shocked. "What? Why?"
"Seb, again we are so sorry to tell you this," Mattia spoke. "We know that you've been working so hard for this team and we really appreciate that. But, looking at last year's result, we think that Charles would be our future and we believe that both of you want to be the number one in this team. But it's impossible. So, we think that... this is the best decision to let you go from our team."
At first, Seb found it ridiculous. He always thought that the team would give him another chance. But he wouldn't complain. He had been mature enough to face that kind of situation. Maybe his time in the team was over.
John knew that it would upset Seb. The last time they talked about his contract was last December. But since he led Ferrari, he wanted to pair two young drivers for the team, whom he thought would be more patient than experienced drivers like Seb or Fernando to wait until they could have a title-winning car and fight for the crown.
As Mattia said, Charles would be their future. They knew how talented he was since years ago and that was why he became one of their young drivers at FDA and joined the team on his second season in Formula 1.
Of course they couldn't make both of them as their number one. They thought that they had given Seb the chance in the last five seasons and he always failed, although the mistakes came from both sides.
"Seb, can you please say something?"
"Ah, yeah." Seb was still absorbing what he had just heard. But then, he replied, "I know that I often made mistakes in the past, which costed us the chance to win the title. I know that I've failed. I will not complain anything on this decision. I will accept it."
"Thank you very much, Seb. You are such a big-hearted person. You should know that we are always proud of you and your achievements. And don't you ever think that you fail. You've brought so many things for us," Louis praised Seb, which was replied by his miserable smile.
"Seb, we are going to announce this on the Australian GP weekend. If you wonder why we do this earlier, it's because we hope that there will be some teams who are interested with you, so either you or the teams will have so much time to think," John explained.
"We hope that you will still be around, Seb," Mattia added. "We know that you are a talented driver. But again, we have to tell you that we can't give you the number one priority anymore. So, we will let you find a team who's going to prioritize you."
"Yeah, I understand. I want to thank you all for the trust you've given me all this time."
"As this is your final season with us, we will try our best to bring you to the top, Seb," John promised. "We will help you to reach your dream to win the title with us."
"Thanks again, John. I will also do my best this season. At my last chance."
The four of them talked some more things before Seb asked for leave because he had to be in the simulator room. Britta and himself shook hands with John, Louis, and Mattia before they left the room.
Seb walked quickly and it was even hard for Britta to follow him. She knew that deep inside his heart, he was very disappointed. A team where he had poured his heart and soul into took the decision unilaterally. They hadn't even negotiated with him. He was suddenly called to attend the meeting, just to hear that he would be 'kicked' after the season ended.
"Seb, wait!" Britta ran a little to catch him up.
He finally stopped, right in front of the door. "Sorry, Britta. I have to train on simulator now. Riccardo and Steven are waiting for me in the room."
"Yes, I know that, Seb."
"Tonight, I want you to come to my room. We need to prepare for my departing statement that will be released when we are in Melbourne," he reminded her.
Britta nodded. "Okay."
Seb entered the simulator room, leaving Britta outside alone. Maybe training in the simulator would make him forget about what had just happened, she thought to herself. The way the team treated him made her a little disappointed. He deserved so much better.