the pursuit

14 - Runway

Max Verstappen.

I hadn't forgot what he had said about me, even if it wasn't meant to be shown to the public.

Totos words in the back of the car going to headquarters echoed, "He said that you would be easily beaten."

Now he had the nerve to sit right next to me. Even when there were clearly other places to sit. I appeared cool and collected from the outside as some other drivers filled in and found seats.

I noticed Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly, and Yuki Tsunoda all approach the stage and take their seats. It seemed that whoever organized this conference wanted chaos. Sitting here was the Redbull, AlphaTauri, and us, Mercedes. Mercedes and Redbull have had a long standing rivalry for the past couple of years. And it only got more heated in 2021 when Verstappen and Lewis were tied at the final race and raced to determine the drivers championship winner. It didn't help that the teams were neck and neck in the constructors championship in 2021 as well. Redbull won both championships this year with Max and Checo as their drivers. I looked to Lewis who sat with lethal grace. I couldn't imagine how he felt right now, with his biggest rival ever so close to him. Max Verstappen who drove dirty in his eyes.

Having AlphaTauri here was also a reach, they were owned by RedBull. But always said to never reach their full potential. Their owners team would always be better. However Pierre and Yuki showed no distress in sitting with the RedBull drivers. I just hoped that was what Lewis and I looked like.

When the interviewer took his seat I had no idea who he was. Each driver was handed microphones to talk in to and I noticed the seats in the room being filled. Many cameras appeared to start recording and voice recorders were turned on. I turned towards the interviewer and smoothed out my hair and pants for good measure. If I was being filmed it would be better to look composed and not wrinkled.

When everyone appeared ready the interviewer spoke facing one of the bigger filming cameras.

"Hello. I'm Fred Mitchell and this is our third driver interviewer leading up to the FIA awards tonight. Before we start I would like to thank all of you guys for being here today."

He looked towards us drivers and I nodded my head. Max even said, "Its great to see you Fred." into his mic.

Fred responded back to him. "Its great to see you too Max. Congratulations on your second world championship win!"

"Thank you so much it was a tough season but we made it through." Said Max. Max sounded so nice when he talked to this reporter. You almost wouldn't think he was half the ass he was based off how he presented himself right now. But everyone knows words can sometimes mean nothing in this world.

Actions speak louder than words. Something my mother had told me as a young girl when I started racing. I'm sure many children across the globe had heard the phrase.

Fred directed the next sentence at me. "And we have a new face with us today. 1 of 2 of the rookies this season, Victoria Vidarr. How are you?"

I raised the mic to my lips, "I'm great. It's lovely to be back in Italy. How are you?" I plastered a fake smile to my face. Acting like the picture of serenity. If Max could do it so could I.

He responded "I'm good thanks for asking. There has been talk of you getting some practice in with Mercedes lately, is this true?"

"Yes. Just a little bit though. Getting to know the team has been very fun." I responded. Little did they know how opposite what I said was.

Second Driver. Second Driver. Second Driver.

"Lewis, I assume the same goes for you?" Fred asked.