Racing For Love

Chapter Twelve

There was a week's break before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but the team decided to take the break in Baku rather than coming home to England. I wasn't going to the next couple of races, having spoken to Kate about the necessity of my presence at the track, but also my need to be at home for Joe. I could also maintain a physical distance from Lorenzo which meant it was easier for me not to think about him, and that kiss. The plan was that I would be in the office for Baku and Barcelona, but it was looking likely that i'd be going to Monaco with it being one of the highlights of the race calendar. I tried not to think about all of my connections to Monaco, somewhere i'd avoided for too long.

Matt and James were back in the office for a few days before going out to Baku ahead of media day. Kate still didn't know that anything had happened with Lorenzo and I, although I had confessed to James - our working relationship changing to close friends - I had to share it with someone and after a few glasses of wine with him and his husband, I revealed that Lorenzo brought me food, and we had shared a brief kiss - not revealing the true details of what passed between us. I knew James wouldn't tell anyone, he agreed that it would be risky to pursue anything with Lorenzo which helped my resolve. James' husband Max however was desperate for us to get together, thinking that someone needed to "tame the wild Italian stallion" as he put it. Lorenzo had not been pictured with any women since Bahrain which was unusual for him, normally surrounded by romantic gossip. It made the PR team's job much easier, that's for sure, and despite myself, I wondered if this was something to do with our connection.

Lorenzo continued to message me, but I had dialled back any sort of flirting - I needed to keep him at arms length if I was going to manage not to get involved with him. Since he didn't mention the offer of a kiss for a win in Australia, I figured he'd forgotten about it which was a relief, but I reasoned with myself that messaging him was important for our working relationship, and often messaged Jono too, to make sure that in my own mind at least, there wasn't anything romantic about my messages with Lorenzo.

The team's performance in Baku was unexpectedly brilliant. The street circuit was known for being difficult, but Lorenzo's skill was unmatched and he easily led through qualifying and into the race. Jono kept up the pace, but as we'd seen in previous races, he dropped down from his start at P3 to a P6 position and there he stayed - as the race opened up, it was hard to get the overtakes, even with his aggressive style.

As Joe and I watched, he commented on Jono's performance - Joe knew Jono personally having worked with him, and it was interesting to get the feel of the race from a team principal - even if he wasn't one anymore, those instincts were still there in his commentary of the race.

At the end of the race, Jono managed to get back up to P4, narrowly missing out on the podium and Lorenzo held out the lead. He was having an incredible start to the season and was the talk of The Paddock - I felt a strange pride for him, despite my resolve to avoid any romantic connection, I could still feel that for a friend, surely? As I got home from watching the race with Joe, my phone pinged:

"I missed you at the track today, Miss Annie. I remember a promise of a kiss for my next win - you owe me!"

Annie: "Damn, I thought you'd forgotten about that - you didn't mention it after Australia!" I joked with him, eager to see his response.

Lorenzo: "I think I had that one in advance? This one I will claim when I next see you, which I hope is soon."

Annie: "I promised a kiss on the cheek as I recall, so you got lucky in Australia. I will not see you until Monaco now, perhaps you will have forgotten by then"

Lorenzo: "I got lucky indeed. Maybe when I see you next I will have another win, and I will be lucky again?"

As much as I tried not to flirt with Lorenzo, it was nearly impossible. His messages made my cheeks flush as I thought about just how much I wanted to kiss him again, despite myself. I needed to come up with a plan - clearly avoiding the situation wasn't working, but I needed something that would not jeopardise my position.

Nobody would expect Lorenzo to be with someone like me anyway, not after seeing who he was normally pictured with...maybe, like our kiss in Australia, we could keep something between us a secret? My heart flipped at the tiny bit of hope that I might not have to keep resisting temptation.

***

Back to back weekends meant that the team travelled straight from Baku to Barcelona. Since pre-season testing was done at the Catalunya circuit, we felt confident with both the track and the car's performance ability. We had comfortably led with testing, though there were rumours of changes with the Energy One car which could put them into a better position. For sure, Pablo Hernandez and teammate Dion Dupont were constantly pushing, and after taking P2 and P3 spots in Baku, the race was heating up.

The weather conditions in Barcelona seemed good going into the weekend. Lorenzo would start at P1 with Jono in P4 behind the two Energy One cars. On Sunday however, the winds were strong, and strategy had to change to cope with this. An understeer by Jono at turn 8 caused him to go wide and up onto the curb on the apex, damaging his suspension and causing him to retire from the race. It was a red flag for the rest of the drivers who were frustrated by the pause in racing.

At the restart, Lorenzo was in a battle with both Energy One cars without the support of his teammate. He was pushed off the track at turn 10 before regaining control, but he now found himself in P4. He continued to push, managing an overtake to finish the race at P3, but both of the drivers were disappointed, Jono especially - 2 DNFs so early in the season was not great, and his team were back into strategy meetings once they arrived back in the UK - everyone glad of a two week break before Monaco to regroup.

Lorenzo took a couple of extra days in Spain before going to Monaco - he messaged me after the race, frustrated with the result. He was still on the podium, but for him, it was P1 or failure. Lorenzo had been involved in racing his whole life - Andrea Bianchi was an ex-F1 driver himself and had always seen a similar path for his son - pushing him through junior karting and into F3 and F2 before he finally made it to F1 three seasons ago. Lorenzo was constantly proving himself, and even with a championship win in his second season, there were still those who doubted his ability - most of that doubt seemed to come from himself though. We had spoken briefly about this, but I rarely managed to speak with any depth to Lorenzo - our conversations usually ending with a flirty comment from him as he avoided talking about how he was really feeling.

Those flirty comments increased as the days continued - I would soon be in Monaco, and by the time I saw him, it would have been nearly a month since our kiss in Australia. I had thought that the distance between us would have given me clarity on how I felt about Lorenzo, but instead, I felt even more confused - in spite of myself, I was excited at the prospect of seeing him again, and wondered what exactly that would entail.