Against all odds

Chapter 9

I took my place between Sebastian and Pierre and as soon as I sat the first question was thrown at me: "First of, congrats on the win and second of, how do you think it affected your following career?"

"First of all, sorry Im late I couldnt get out of the TV pen. Now to your question I hope it affected my career in a positive way. I mean this is a hard question to answer because no one knows the future, but Id like to think that this has had a great impact on whats to come."

A few slightly derogatory questions towards me later another reporter directed their word directly at me: "To what extent do you think you being a woman has manipulated the other drivers into driving more carefully or carelessly and to what extent do you think the drivers took a pity on you and just let you through?"

Like many other sexist remarks in the past this question made me freeze for a moment. Trying to find the right words to say whilst ignoring my blood that was currently boiling, it resulted in mere moments of silence. "Well, as you may or may not know I am not a man so I dont think I can answer your question properly. But I will try regardless and please correct me if Im wrong. I do not think in any way that the other drivers would risk their safety and perform worse to let a colleague take their position. In addition to that neither do I think that anyone took pity on me regarding me being inexperienced."

The following question made me burst: "Do you think that you will last long in this sport seeing that you are a woman in this industry? And following up to that do you think women will ever be as good in motorsport as men are and were over the years?"

At a loss of words my mouth opened and closed once before I answered: "As we previously discussed, I cannot see the future, regardless I hope that I will because racing is my passion. I hope that there will be more women in motorsport because I think racing isnt about the gender but about the sport and the fun, we drivers have whilst driving and the fans have while watching. But before you guys ask another question, I have one to ask. Is the absence of a dick between my legs such a problem for you or is it the boobs that bother you? Because in this entire conference, mind you until now it lasted for 15 minutes, I havent heard one single question that wasnt mildly sexist. I mean I could be mistaken. Pierre? Sebastian? Did you hear one?"

Both men shook their head and Sebastian even went as far as speaking up: "I think I speak for the three of us that if you cant find other questions we will get up and leave this press conference unfinished."

"I am with you guys. I dont know what this is, but this mindset has to change! We are in the 21st century!" Pierre remarked.

The next question went to Pierre: "Pierre, do you think that having a woman on the grid will change the core of the sport seeing that it is and always has been men racing?"

"Wow, okay, thank you for the questions but seeing that there is no one here that wants to ask appropriate ones I will leave. You two feel free to stay and finish up. Have a great day!" I sighed, stood up and walked out of the room.

Closing the door behind me I went into the next empty room which happened to be a conference room and leaned against the wall. I was so disappointed and angry at myself for bursting.

I should have kept it together and just answered the questions.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm down I noticed that my hands were shaking. Pressing them against my thighs and rubbing them up and down I gave them something to do. Suddenly the door next to me opened and I quickly composed myself.

It was Pierre: "Hey you, Im so sorry you had to deal with this today. You really didnt deserve that."

"Thanks Pierre. What are you doing here? Did the conference end already?" I asked putting on a smile.

"Seb and I walked out. Right after you but you were gone already so we just tried to find you." The Frenchman answered waving Sebastian through the door and closing it behind him.

"You didnt have to do that. What if this is bad for your image?"

"We dont care! No one should be treated this way!" Sebastian argued.

"Thanks guys. This really means a lot to me." I smiled weakly.

"No problem. Lets get out of here, shall we?" Pierre asked and both of us agreed.

Meeting Ian in the hallway I let the other two drivers go and walked beside the man.

"Ian, Im sorry reacted that way. I really shouldnt have. I should have kept it together and answered the questions, but I didn't and Im sorry for that. "

"I understand. It was a bad conference, and the reporters shouldnt have asked those questions. You reacted appropriately." He tried to calm me down.

After the debrief with the team I borrowed Maxs car and bought drinks for the whole team. I handed everyone a beer and we stood together in the garage for a while before switching places and continuing our celebrations in the motorhome.

Fortunately, I was still able to drive the mechanics back to the hotel around midnight after most of them drank a bit too much. Even Christian celebrated with us and was as we found out first-hand a very cuddly drunk. He hugged everyone goodbye and insisted on kissing a few of the team members, including Max and I, on the cheek. Luckily his assistant got him to go to bed at 2 oclock.

I also was a bit drunk after most of them went to the hotel or their rooms at around 3 oclock. Only Max, a few of the team members who had rooms close to the paddock or in the Motorhome and I were around. We counted 5 people and all of us were in great spirits. We laughed at stupid jokes and burst out into random songs again and again. All in all, I had a great time until we went to part ways and Max had to hold onto the wall for support.

I just laughed and went to support his bodyweight with his arm around my shoulder. He already was a mix of brother and best friend to me, and we didnt even know each other that well. I went and got him to his room where he fell onto the bed, and I helped him take his shoes of before putting a blanket over him and leaving.

In my own room I took my things and went to the bathroom for a long and hot shower to wash all of the remaining sweat off that didnt wash of when I took a quick shower earlier.

It was Monday afternoon when Max got out of his room: "Maximus! How are you doing? You look like you got run over!" I laughed at the dutchman.

"Oh, dont talk that loud please. My head is killing me. Do you have some painkillers and an explanation on what happened after we were doing those shots?" he groaned which made me laugh even louder.

"Oh, we are in for a treat. But first lets get our poor Maxie some painkillers and me some more coffee. Have you even taken a shower yet? You smell like a whole collection of alcohol."

"I havent and I really would rather have something against my headache before taking one. How are you so well? You took exactly the same number of shots as I did! If not more!" he complained.

"Follow me. I have something in my bag for you to take. I recommend something with caffeine after that because it helps the painkiller to relief your headache faster. I started walking towards my room, I had a few more shots than you yes. But I am Austrian. I dont know how early Dutch people start drinking and to what extent they do but most Austrians tend to have a high alcohol tolerance." I explained opening my door and going through my toiletry bag.

After rummaging through it I pulled out some painkillers and found a red bull on the table in my room which I opened and gave him with the pill: "Here. Take this, drink the red bull, and please for the love of god take a goddamn shower. Jeez you stink!"

"Thanks. Thats really nice of you. Since you suggested this so nicely, I will do that now." He answered after swallowing the pill with the red bull and leaving for the bathroom.

I cleaned up my room and left to get coffee a few minutes later. As I walked by the bathroom, I heard the shower running.