All eyes on her

surviving

2WEI - Survivor 

I'm a survivor (what), I'm not gon' give up (what)
I'm not gon' stop (what), I'm gon' work harder (what)
I'm a survivor (what), I'm gonna make it (what)
I will survive (what), keep on survivin' (what)

~~~~~~~~~~

Monday at the factory

After meeting my new crew I feel great. So many girls around me. It's like a dream. Lewis initiated the equal-gender-crews and so George and me decided to set a statement by having only male and female crew members. So did Toto. Susi is his official stand in and she will come to several races, when Toto stays home with their son. I can't thank Mercedes enough to do this for me. We fought so hard for doing something and to be respected as a woman and now it begins. 

mercedesamgf1 Boss Lady is back. Better don't joke with her. #teamruby #girlsteam #ladyboss

mercedesamgf1 better be prepared -girls are all in sync. 

After the newest Social Media posts of Mercedes my phone buzzes. Daniel texted me asking, if I wanna have a party at the weekend. All english-based drivers are at home. So I guess, we'll throw a party. I informed my team and invited them all. Some girls were more excited than others. But I' sure they will have fun. Daniel agreed that he will plan everything. So we know it will be pure chaos.

In the afternoon I'll need to face the press. I really don't want to but that's business. I tried hard to find something more mature than my usual style, but in the end I asked Aurora for fashion advice. I ended up with a pink pants suit and neon orange heels. Nathalie Pinkham will be interviewing me. 

Interview - 

Nathalie Pinkham - Ruby

Welcome back Ruby! We missed you in public since the last race. Tell us what you did during this time.
Thanks for having me back on Sky Sports. After the final race, we took a little family time and visited Berlin. Alongside some sponsor events Daniel, Poppy and I enjoyed some time away. Then we flew to Australia for Christmas and New Years. We celebrated with Daniels family and after the holidays Dan and me took some time off without Poppy - who stayed with Grace and Joe. 

Sounds like a lovely break. We know, that you posted other things on media. Due to our private friendship, I know you let the people know what they had to know. So I won't ask for it. Or do you want to speak about it?
Aww thanks Nats, but I think we live so much in public, that people think they know all about us and they love to judge about it. As you said, I let people know what they had to know. But I want to ask the people to respect also my privacy and my private life. All I can say for now, is that I'm healthy - mentally and physically, and I'm more than happy to be back in the car soon. 
So for all them haters to clarify: I'm still with Dan, I'm healthy, nothing will affect my job as a driver, yes, i got an all female crew - but that's thanks to Lewis great work over the past years. Oh and something else - if you wanna know things - feel free to reach out via DM to me or write to my press officer Charlotte or my Team Manager Andrea. Before you spread some bullcrap just come up straight to us and ask. We're also people. And keep in mind we also have feelings. It hurts to read some of your comments. Don't get me wrong, I love all the support and I wish I could answer all of you, but then my day should have 100 hours. So keep in mind, that we're also just humans. 

Thanks for being so honest with us. So tell us, what is your goal for the next season.
Defend my title. And improve as much as I can. Personally, on track, with social media and much more. Life is about learning and developing. Never stop dreaming and believing in yourself. You can achieve your dreams. If there is someone who tells you something different, cut them out! Good vibes only.

What's up next? We've got the new season and testing. What's your aim next to George Russell? And who is the Teams #1 driver?
We've got no #1 this year. We're allowed to fight each other. within the first races it should come out who's the faster one of us. But Mercedes did something great. We're like 2 small teams within a team. So all of the organizational work is done from Brackley and everything else is split up. The team tried to go a new way. And I'm very happy to have super strong woman around me. Without all of them it wouldn't be possible. 

So as you told, that there are only women on your garage side - when was this decided and why?
As I told before, it's all thanks to Lewis. He embraced more girls to work in motorsport. Then Mercedes started to work alongside some Unis in the UK and also all over the world. Our goal was to have 50% male and 50% female employees. i think we're close to this goal. It doesn't matter which age, race or gender you are. What counts is your work and your attitude. I saw so many comments on Social Media that girls only watch F1 for the drivers. But that's not the case. For sure, some do. But in my case, I think also some men watch F1 because I'm there. Why isn't that a talking point. Just look at our Media crews. You are there and also so much other women who do a brilliant job. But we're just discussed what we wear and what we look like. As today, without Aurora I would have sat here in yoga pants and a team jumper. So that's one of the main points I try to change this year. So you will see me in comfort clothes more often. I don't care about good looking outfits which are super uncomfortable. I'm an athlete, I do sports for a living, I want to feel good and comfy and not stylish.

As a journalist I agree with the statement. As your friend I wanna take the chance and say something to it.
So for you to know - this is me speaking as Nathalie Pinkham - woman, friend, daughter, mother, human being. I want to support Ruby with her statement. I read also so many things about me being in F1. Alongside all these incredible women, we're more than a face with makeup. We're asked to wear certain clothes. We're discussing also private topics with all drivers, but keep in mind, they are not always ok to speak about certain issues. We try to get statements but we respect everyones privacy. That's why me and my colleagues at Sky decided to ask drivers every weekend if there are topics they don't want to discuss (mainly private topics) so we don't have to ask them on live TV. Just think about this scenario: someone close to you passed away. All person in the world know about it. Everyone is asking about it. Due to your situation you've got no time to grieve. And you get constantly asked about. Would you like it?
Just try to remind those 4 little words during interviews "Would you like it". 

So thank Ruby for the interview and your sight on certain topics. Stay tuned - we'll have a look around the factory with Team Principal-duo Toto and Suzie Wolff.

After the interview Nathalie and I went to the cafe in the factory and had a long girl talk. We had a lot to catch up.