letters [max verstappen]

6

May 2015 - Barcelona, Spain

Friday felt like the busiest day of my life. Practice and qualifying for GP3 and FP1 and FP2 for F1. I also had a small amount of media work to do- I was the only girl racing in GP3 and I was a little more of a gamble for Campos to take as I was in my first year of single-seaters, so a few outlets wanted to talk to me. Beyond that, Susie Wolff was driving for Williams in FP1 and I really wanted to get a chance to watch her and maybe even introduce myself. Then, of course, hopefully, find some room to see Max.

GP3 went ok. I got P12 in practice and P14 in qualifying, which I was over the moon with. In my debrief with Campos, they seemed pleased with where I was starting but eager to help me improve during the year, and I appreciated their dedication. If I could stay in the middle of the pack in GP3 in my first season in single-seaters, that would help me show my potential for GP2 and further. In between GP3 sessions I had been in the Toro Rosso garage for FP1 and 2. Because it was practice, it was the perfect opportunity for the engineers to start showing me how to read the data and what different terms meant. I made sure I was paying very close attention and started to pick things up pretty well. They even let me sit on the pit wall for a bit, where I could see Susie driving by. I liked it with Toro Rosso. They had the same backing as Red Bull, but fewer expectations when it came to race day, which made for a less stressful atmosphere.

By the time I had a free moment, it was about 5 pm, after FP2. Max had come up to me after the debrief saying he had a surprise for me, so I was sitting at a table in the hospitality waiting for him to be ready. Soon he came down the stairs from his driver's room and grabbed my hand. "Come on!" He dragged me up the paddock towards the Williams garage, and I remembered last night I had told him how much I wanted to meet Susie Wolff.

As we approached their hospitality I spotted her standing outside, along with her husband, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. Knowing that they could work for two different teams and have a successful marriage reassured me when I thought about my future. Racing was my whole life, I couldn't see myself spending my time with someone who wasn't involved in it.

They spotted us and Susie walked up to Max, shaking his hand. "Max, hi, it's good to see you again!" She said happily.

"It's nice to see you too Susie. This is Becca, the driver I was telling you about." He said politely.

"Hi, Becca! I've heard a bit about you from Max, it's nice to meet you. I hear you're racing in GP3 this year?" She asked, an engaged smile on her face.

"I- yeah, I'm racing for Campos. It's an honor to meet you, really." I responded shakily, also glancing at Toto who looked back at me amusedly. We continued to chat for a bit, Susie and Toto seemed genuinely interested in my career progress so far and she was more than willing to answer all of my questions. After about half an hour the conversation winded down and we all had places to be, so we said our goodbyes. I reached out to shake her hand, but she pulled me into a hug instead.

"Let's get coffee or something sometime, just you and I? I'd love to stay up to date on your career." She offered.

I nodded excitedly. "Yeah, that would be wonderful, thank you." We exchanged contact information and then they walked away. I turned to Max, the biggest grin on my face. He casually draped his arm around my shoulders as we started to walk back towards Toro Rosso. "How the hell did you even do that?" I asked.

He had an identical grin on his face. "She was at one of the meetings this morning, I remembered you really wanted to meet her so I chatted with her a bit after and told her about you. She said she had heard about you and would love to meet you, so we set this up." He explained. He glanced down at me. "Happy?"