imagine - lewis hamilton

part v

Friday March 18, 2022

"if all this ended today, at least I made everyone laugh."

You weren't too sure how things would go, so you woke up at 6 am, way earlier than usual. You reached over to turn on the lamp and grab your phone off of the nightstand. To your surprise, many DMs and comments of congratulatory messages welcomed you after unlocking your phone. While fighting back tears, you typed up a pinned comment thanking everyone for their thoughts and would get back to each one of them later that night. You plugged in your phone and started your morning routine, this one you'd never forget.

After triple checking yourself in the mirror and your bags, you headed into your Uber to get to the Grand Prix. As you rode in the back of the car, you tried your best to respond to all the comments and messages, but they just kept coming in. Before you knew it, sunlight was hitting your face. It was your Uber driver opening the car door - you had arrived. You exited the car, thanked the driver, and followed signs directing you to the Paddock. When you reached the front of the line, you scanned your badge and saw your name displayed on the screen with the: "FORMULA 1 GULF AIR BAHRAIN GRAND PRIX 2022. Welcome to the F1 Paddock. All you had worked for was just a few feet away from you. You took a photo of the screen documenting a memory you'd never want to forget, not realizing a line had formed. There were a few murmurs and annoying voices behind you, so you hurried up and moved along. You turned to apologize to the queue that formed and all eyes fell looking at your lanyard- "Media" just like them. There were a few surprised faces, and you tried not to laugh. You just took into memory all the faces you'd have to work twice as hard against to earn your respect.

The first three drivers' press conferences flew by and you couldn't get a question in. Between your hand getting skipped or someone asking a question too similar to yours, you felt defeated. There was one final driver's conference, and you were determined to get your voice heard. Walking back into the media center, you placed your notebook and laptop onto your makeshift work area and went to tour the Paddock. You needed a change of scenery to get out of the negative feelings appearing. You took pictures of the paddock and track, mostly for personal memories, but also some to share. Turning your phone off of 'Do Not Disturb', it bombarded you with text and notifications, but one caught your eye - multiple text messages from Ashlyn. Ashlyn had let you know she and your family got F1TV Pro and they were watching every drivers' conference just to hear your voice. Not a single person in that room understood Formula One, but they always supported your passion. They didn't care about the time zone difference because they were proud of you. You took a second to FaceTime everyone and thanked them. You apologized and told them you were trying your best, but it was hard. They gave you all the encouragement and advice on how to get yourself heard: "Grab some paper and wave your hand in the air" "Just yell, girl!" "Get your butt in the front row!" The jokes and hearing their voices made you smile. That right there gave you all the happiness in the world. With your head up high now, you took a deep breath and walked towards the paddock's media center, with a walk like you've done that for years.

As you were walking back, some commotion startled you. There were lots of people running towards the front gates, the opposite direction from you. You were taught "run with them and ask questions later." When everyone stopped, all you heard were camera shutters going off and pointed in a single direction - Lewis Hamilton. He entered the paddock wearing a jacket with a tie-belt over a pair of ecru-colored pants. When you were covering races from home, you saw photos and videos when Lewis walked onto the paddock but in person, it was like no other. He commanded an entrance, stopping everyone in their place. The power he had just walking from the entrance gates to his motorhome was indescribable. Being star-struck, you almost neglected to take photos and videos for social media.

It was time for the final drivers' conference of the day. One final chance to be heard. In front of you were Yuki, Esteban, Nico, Alex, and Lewis. The conference went just like the previous three; you getting skipped. To your surprise, there was one final call to get questions in. "This is my last opportunity," you said to yourself. You stood up, raising your hand. "I do." Making everyone in the room turn to the last row of the room. You took a deep breath, murmured your website name into the mic, then said "I do, it's for Lewis. First Lewis, I hope you're well. The question I have is regarding the W13. Based on pre-season testing, the W13 isn't the smoothest ride. How are you and the team feeling going into the 2022 season with the W13?" Lewis responded with a smile, "I am, thanks. How are you?" You had already passed the mic back, and just nervously shouted from the back row, "Oops, umm I just gave the mic back, but I am well, thanks for asking." This caused the room to let out a laugh. At that moment, you were beyond thankful you didn't visually turn red when flustered, but on the inside, you felt like you were on fire. Lewis answered the question, and that was the end of the drivers' conference. You had done it, and you even made the room laugh. This isn't how you expected the day to go, but if that's how you'd make a first impression, at least it was a good one.

When free practice ended, all you thought was "Damn, Mercedes wasn't sandbagging!" After finishing up your article discussing the press conference, you checked social media. Your notifications were higher than normal. As you read through your mentions, there were tweets saying "Oh this is the woman that had Lewis smiling like that!" "I see you girl, I don't blame him" "We have no choice but to support" This all made you chuckle until you saw a few that made a lump in your throat form and panic. People were claiming you were flirting for clout. Trying to find issues and put an asterisk on what took you years to build. You knew you had to shut that all down immediately. You sent a tweet reading "Hi to all my followers! To my new ones as well. Hope you're all well. A new article is live and I'll be posting a video later tonight. Link to my other socials in the bio. (Side note: Wishing people well is something I ask everyone, it's how I grew up)" You hoped the internet could take a joke and didn't want it to appear aggressive. The last thing you needed was people assuming you were flirting. This day was going so well and you didn't want unnecessary stress in your life. So you swore off Twitter for the weekend, strictly posting race content and not checking your mentions. You even went to limit your Instagram comments, then turned your phone on 'Do Not Disturb' for the day.

The night had ended, but you still had a video to film and a second article to finish. You almost talked yourself out of it, but it needed to be done. You'd be damned if you worked this hard to get to this point and started putting in half an effort. You looked at the clock, not realizing how late it had gotten. You doubled checked the time back home and sent a text to your family giving them your love and appreciation. You headed to the bathroom to do your nightly routine. As you tied your hair down and put on your bonnet, you smiled at your reflection, saying, "If all this ended today, at least I made everyone laugh."

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