Dalliance- [Max Verstappen]

[ F O U R T E E N ]

It's warm in Barcelona, sunny with no clouds in sight giving Daisy and all the others a change from the rain that didn't want to stop during the week in England. Daisy savours the warmth on her skin, protecting her eyes with some sunglasses while she walks through the paddock in company of Vicky, Alec and Claire. They will have a rather relaxed start of the day, since the work only starts after the first training session. Yesterday was hectic with the media day and even though it was just Daisy's second time experiencing one, she is sure she will never get used to it. She doesn't understand why Max has to answer the same question over and over again, just because different people write articles. This is why press conferences are easier to deal with, since everyone can use the answers he gives.

Daisy has the choice if she wants to watch the first training from the hospitality or if she wants to be in the garage. Since she loves the feeling of being right where the action is, she chooses the garage and watches the cars on the displays which are in the garage for the mechanics and guest to look at. At first she stands in the back, not wanting to be in the way of anyone, but when both cars are out, she goes a little closer to the display, just standing beside Sergio.

Checo is keeping Daisy company because during this session the junior Jüri Vips will drive his RedBull around the track. Every team is obligated to let juniors or their test drivers hop in the car and get some data for the team. Daisy likes the Mexican even though she didn't spend much time with him yet, but during the second half of her internships she will work with him, so she tries to built up a good relationship with him. He explains her some things and Daisy listens curiously, still learning about this sport every day. It is great to see how much he loves this sport, and it brings Daisy joy to see how happy he is with living his dream.

The first session ends quickly and while the drivers go for a little debrief Daisy uses the time for grabbing a little snack from the hospitality and taking some notes for the article she is supposed to write about this day in the evening. She writes down Max's position, third on the grid and who was in front of him, both of the Ferraris. A little sentence about Jüri who didn't have a quick time, but still fulfilled his job of getting some long run information for the team, then she is ready for the second training session. There is some time left before it would start and Daisy could wander around, but she is not really in the mood to get lost and return to late.

Daisy watches from one of the hospitality rooms this time because she got a light headache from sitting too long in the sun without a hat, a lesson she has learned now, and the loud garage would only fuel the pounding behind her forehead. She glimpses on the screen from time to time, always having an eye on her RedBull buys, hoping that they will have a satisfactory training session. After the second training they will have to deal with the media and after that the preparations for tomorrows qualifying will start.

While Checo takes the seventh place after the time is up, Max ends up on the fifth. Both Ferraris and Mercedes are in front and even though it is just training, Daisy isn't sure how happy the team is with todays performance. Of course, you never know how much they where showing during these sessions, but people will always make assumptions and start speculating if this track doesn't suit a team or a driver.

Daisy slowly starts to walk over to the garage where she will meet up with Vicky and they will wait for Max to bring him to the media pen. Max is looking sweaty and sips on his bottle, trying to cool his body at least a little bit down. He has a towel around his neck and Daisy catches herself thinking about things that aren't appropriate for the situation they are in right now.

Together they walk over to the media pen where Max will have to answer the same questions over and over again. "How was the car?" "Is this the track where Ferrari will beat RedBull again?" "What is the plan for qualifying tomorrow?" and many more Max answers patiently even though he hates the repeating pattern of them. Vicky always records his answer, so that they can make sure the press is quoting Max correctly and don't twist his words for their liking. Daisy keeps an eye on Vicky's work and really hopes that she will get her own shot during this internship.