smooth operator - carlos sainz jr. [ discontinued ]

01.

in 2018 netflix had started a tv series, drive to survive, showcasing the 10 formula one teams. not many teams were on board with it, but once the show aired the first season, it became quite popular, more attention on the sport than ever.

in 2019, the lineup changed. teams began to look into younger drivers with more potential than some of the older drivers who were slowing down. four new drivers were brought into the scene, lando norris, alex albon, george russell, and elara campbell. lando at mclaren, alex and elara were at toro rosso and george at williams. late in 2019, the driver lineup changed once again. red bull decided to switch up pierre gasly and elara, since she was proving to be better. she stayed with red bull through 2020, but they held her back. fans started to realize this too because her engineer would tell her to let max pass when it would work out better for him then her. even though red bull provided her way into formula one, they didn't support her dream of becoming a world champion. elara was also out of contract at the end of the season, meaning other teams had their eye on her. and that's when the shocking news came in, elara campbell was leaving red bull.

mercedes used to be the rival, but not anymore, they had a new teammate for lewis hamilton. a 24 year old american, the first female f1 driver to make it competitively. this was a well-kept secret, leah fischer, elara's manager, was an absolute star. she kept the media from asking very little to no questions about where elara was going to end up. but at the last couple grand prix, the media saw her talking with toto wolff, ceo and team principal of mercedes. granted rumors spread from there, and red bull was still certain that she was going to stay with them, but plans change.

"the biggest news in the world of formula one is that red bull's driver, elara campbell, is leaving the team. we know she was out of contract and red bull seemed confident that she would sign with them again, seemingly similar to when daniel ricciardo switched it up. only a couple teams have spots open, one being mercedes. fans and us are speculating whether or not she'll join the world championship team" david croft spoke into his mic, finishing the interview with sky sports.

after that interview aired, elara had previously met up with toto wolff a week or two before to discuss things. the girl knew if she wanted to achieve her dreams it would need to be a team like red bull or mercedes. and luckily enough, mercedes wanted her as their driver. so elara and her pr agent, leah, decided to make the announcement the weekend before the last race of the season, abu dhabi.

++

elara was close with a lot of drivers in the paddock since she didn't have many friends outside the world of motorsport. she had moved to the uk to start her competitive racing career with the red bull junior program. her all time friend though was nicholas grant. the two grew up together in boston, and they kept contact when she left for the united kingdom. every so often he'll come to the races, especially the austin one. she had met leah fischer who was an intern at red bull, and the two were friends since. having raced with max for a couple of years, they became friends, and he introduced her to carlos and daniel, who introduced her to lando and a few other drivers. people would say she was probably the closest with many of the drivers, but there were the select few who knew her the best.

one thing that stayed consistent through it all was her dog, milo. he was a german shepard, who joined the girl when he was a puppy. milo was meant to be company for the young adult, but shortly he began attending the races and was making common appearances at many of the race tracks and media press. how the fia let elara in with milo, no one knows. one day he just appeared at the austrian grand prix and the crowds loved him, so he's now a common appearance.

++

it was the last race of the 2020 season, and everyone was excited. the news of elara switching teams had moved fairly quickly, so walking into the paddock, eyes were on elara. the news was out that she had switched to mercedes, that's all that the interviews were about.

"how do you think the announcement will affect this last race?"

"i'm just going to try and win it. leave red bull like with a good memory and then start fresh next season." variations of this answer is what elara had answered most of the questions. the race weekend came and went really fast, elara flying around the track, snatching the win from her teammate at the last corner.

elara's red bull had been behind max's and she saw the opportunity to overtake it. prove that she is a deserving driver of the title. "here come the two red bulls, both flying down through the last corner to the checkered flag. campbell just snatching the lead from her teammate as they finished the last corner. here she comes, elara campbell wins the last race of the season! leaving red bull with a bang as her teammate, max verstappen comes in second!" crofty cheered as the season came to an end.

"congratulations elara! p1, p1!"

"woo! yes! ah amazing!" she exclaimed. "thank you boys for a wonderful season!"

"we'll miss you elara, and what a way to close out the season. you're a wonderful driver and can't wait to race you on the track next year" christian horner said on her radio.

"thanks christian!" she was sad to leave such a team, but she knew it would be better for her in the end. pulling to a stop in front of the large number one, she got out and waved at the crowd.

"and here's our winner for tonight, miss elara campbell" the interviewer said. "how do you feel after that race and it being the last of the season?"

"i feel amazing! it was an amazing race to begin with and i wanted to finish out the season with a win. i'll definitely miss my team at red bull, but there's more out there for me, and mercedes has those aids. max was an amazing teammate for the past year and a half, but i'll still see him on the grid and outside of the track. special thanks to all the fans who made this season unforgettable and can't wait to see y'all next year!" elara finished with a smile.

with that race, the 2020 season finished, and season 3 had aired.

—

2021 formula one teams & drivers

mercedes
lewis hamilton | elara campbell

red bull
max verstappen | sergio perez

ferrari
charles leclerc | carlos sainz jr.

mclaren
lando norris | daniel ricciardo

alpine
fernando alonso | esteban ocon

alpha tauri
pierre gasly | yuki tsundo

aston martin
sebastian vettel | lance stroll

williams
george russell | alex albon

alfa romeo
valterri bottas | zhou guanyu

haas
mick schumacher | kevin magnussen

—