Against all odds

Chapter 13

We did as we were told and half an hour later, we were already sat on a sofa with microphones attached to our clothes and cameras pointed at us. Both Max and I had a stack of cards with questions on them, but his was noticeably thicker than mine.

"And go!" someone I couldnt make out shouted behind the cameras.

Max immediately started doing an intro: "Hello guys! Im here with Alexandra Duman! And yeah! Because you guys and myself dont know her very well, were doing a get to know me! Lets get started!"

"Wow that was very smooth." I remarked looking over.

"Oh, I know! Do you want to start asking the first question?" my teammate asked, and I nodded.

"My dear Maximus moron! My question is: Were you expecting my win in Azerbaijan?"

"To be honest, no I didnt I mean you drove the car for the first time on Saturday and even though you were performing very good I wouldnt have thought to see you on that podium. Did you think you could win your first race?"

"No! Ive said in many interviews that I think that I couldnt realize Ive won until hours later. It was just an amazing feeling, but I still remember me freaking out when Hamilton went straight in turn 1. In my head it was like: Okay stay calm dont fuck up! I was going insane." I laughed.

"Did you realize that you were in P1?" Max asked curiously.

"I did. Yes, cause I obviously sat there in the car in P2 and them when he went straight on, I knew that I was in first place. Next question: What did you think when I walked up to you on Friday and introduced myself?" I smiled

"I was looking for a hidden camera. No offence but my first thought was: How the fuck will she fit into this sport? Like I was honestly so confused about you being a girl."

"Oh, I get that a lot."

"How did your first race weekend look like? "

I giggled, "Im assuming you mean F1 race weekend, but it was the most chaotic weekend Ive experienced. I got called on Thursday night whilst studying and it was my manager, and he was like youre not going to be racing in F2 anymore. I was so confused and when he told me I was going to Azerbaijan I thought he was joking. But then I got my ass to the airport and my flight was delayed by two hours, so I didnt make it to FP2. Like I already told you on Saturday I didnt sleep on the plane because someones kid was screaming the whole time. When I finally arrived, I met my PR guy and got introduced to the team. We immediately started working and kept on going till late at night. I didnt even go to my hotel that night. Then I slept for like two hours before FP3 and then I drove the car and finally got to sleep properly and then it was race day, and I was shitting my pants. I kind you not I was so nervous."

"Yeah, you told me you didnt sleep! I was so confused because you were almost sleeping before the qualifying started!"

"Yep, I was running on a little over two hours of Sleep in like two and a half days." I laughed, "Next question for you. How do you perceive me as a person?"

"Really?" he asked, and I showed him the card, "Well I think youre a really chill person and youre very cool and fun to be around. Why dont you answer the question about me?" he laughed.

"Okay I can do that. Really energetic and fun. And I think youre very cool too. "

"Thank you. So, the next question is: What would you be doing if you werent racing?"

"I dont know. If I never started karting, I think I would be in university right now and studying law, or medicine because my mother would like that. But if I never took the call form my manager, I think I would be at home or in a lecture hall for my bachelors degree." I replied.

"What are you studying?" Max questioned.

"Forensic science."

"Why that of all things you could study?"

"I like the idea of it. The concept of finding out the reasons and actions behind the death of people and I think its a compromise for my mum also, because its pretty close to medicine."

"Next question. How many languages do you speak? Why is this question in here?" Max mused.

"I dont know actually. Lets see. I speak German, but thats my mother tongue so it doesnt count, English, but everyone does, Italian, but it has been years since I spoke it so lets not count it, Spanish but thats kinda similar to Italian, I had French in school so I dont think I speak it very well, Mandarin but Im still learning, Afrikaans but I havent spoken it for like six years, I know Japanese but Im not good at it, Dutch as you know but I think I have a horrible accent, Russian but Im not anywhere near fluent, I know a few words in Finnish and thats it."

"Wow! Why so many?" The Dutchman followed up.

"My first language was German, but my dad taught me to speak Afrikaans as soon as I started talking because it was his mother tongue and my mom insisted on me learning Dutch because she lived in the Netherlands for half of her life. Italian because we always went to Italy when I was a kind and the rest because I wanted to."

"Cool. Next one why did you start racing? "

"I think I started pretty late; I think. I was six when I sat in my first kart ever. It was because of my best friend at the time, she wanted to go karting for her birthday, so we all drove for like an hour to get to the track and spent the whole day just driving around in circles. My parents never got me to stop. I smiled at the memory, Now a question for you Max. do you think Ill be a good help for the team in the next few races?"

"I do think so yes. As long as you dont get into a huge accident or never finish in the points, I think you can be a great help especially against Mercedes this year. Where do you think youll finish in the next races?"

"I hope somewhere in the points. I think that I need to get to know the car better, but I think Ill do fine. Hopefully. "

We went on answering and asking each other questions and throwing the cards towards the camera until Max and I only had one each.

"Last question from me. Alex what do you want to achieve here in F1?"

"I think thats obvious. My dream of winning came true but I hope I can get a permanent seat and compete in the drivers championship."

"That was my last one." Max stated chucking the card towards the camera.

"Okay, last question from me. Do you think you know me better now that we did this video?" I chuckled.

"Oh, definitely. I now know you like now other!" he laughed.

"Well, thats it from us. I hope you enjoyed watching and like the video and subscribe if you want to see more of these. Bye!" I waved and threw the last card at the camera. Max and I burst out laughing when we saw the projectile hit its target and almost knocked it over.

"Oh my god! Did I break it?!2 I asked.

"Nah its fine!" Max reassured me and we left after getting further instructions.

Spending the last few hours working through Data of Max Checo and me. I learnt mor about the track and the car. Finally, I got into the Honda Acura I got and drive myself to the Hotel.

After a good nights sleep and more hours spent going through Data and working on the car, it was already Wednesday, and all the other drivers arrived. I didnt even get to talk to them until the Thursday.

It was press day and I was paired with Daniel Ricciardo. I knew he was fun to be around and since I already met him in Azerbaijan, I wasnt too nervous about the conference.

We were group 9, so Ian had quite some time to brief me and tell me how to deal with sexist questions, since the last conferences I attended didnt really go well with the media.

Meeting Daniel in front of the room we greeted each other and waited for our entry.

"How you doing?" I asked wanting to start some Smalltalk.