Always By Your Side

redbull

It was summer 2021 i was on vacation with the Leclerc family like every year my mother and i never got back on good terms after jules' death but i never hated her for it she had left for america two years ago and we kept in contact through text. we were in our summer villa having lunch when i got a phone call from a new number.

"sorry i have to answer this" i said

"go take your time" charles said

i went into my room and sat on the bed as i answered the call

"hello is this Celine Bianchi" a man said

"yes it is may i know who i am speaking to" i asked

"good morning this is Christian Horner" he said omg why was he calling me was i getting fired from red bull junior why was he calling helmut usually took care of these things

"good morning mr Horner" i said

"Ms Bianchi as you know our driver sergio perez has announced his retirement at the end of the season and you have been doing exceptionally well in F2 these recent years and i would like to formally offer you our seat as second driver in the red bull racing team for the 2022 season" he said

"omg thats amazing yes of course" i said

"ok that's great would you be available to come to our factory for car fittings and other types of meetings next week?" he asked

"yes of course i will be there Mr Horner" i said

"please call me Christian we will be working very closely from now on" he said

"thank you so so much for this opportunity sir i won't waste it" i said

"no problem my dear welcome to red bull" he said before hanging up

i walked out towards the lunch table and sat down

"was it important or just a spam call" arthur asked

"i just became a female formula one driver" i said

"you what" charles said

"Christian Horner just called and offered me a seat at red bull" i said

"OMG lynn this is what we dreamed of since we were 9 its amazing" charles said as he hugged me

"Jules would be extremely proud of you celine of both of you" pascale said as she came to hug me too

"he would" i smiled as a tear fell from my face

a week later i landed in austria and i met with the team

"Dear welcome to red bull this is Max and he is going to be your teammate but you two already know eachother right" christian said

"yeah max and i grew up in carting and F3 together" i said as i went to hug max

"ok so today we will be taking your new headshots and team photos we also have to talk about your car and driver numbers etcetera" christian said

the day was quite long i got fitted for suits and helmets worked on some helmet designs and then i had a final contract meeting with helmut and christian

"hello celine we just need you to sign a few pages and other things but we are here to discuss your number mainly" helmut said

"yes i know the number 17 is not available and i have carried that with me most of my career in honor of my brother so i am willing to have the number 21 if that is available" i said

"we knew how keen you are on the number 17 and we talked with the FIA and they are going to make an exception for you because of the meaning behind it" horner said

"oh my god that's amazing it will mean so much to me to carry his number i have one more request though" i said

"go ahead dear" horner said

"i know the cars need space for sponsor logos and stuff but i would like to request having my brothers logo on my car" i asked hoping for a good response

"that's an amazing idea and a wonderful way of honouring him" christian said

"thank you so much for this" i said

"it is an honour having you on our team we will talk soon and i will send scheduling over soon" horner said

"thank you so much see you soon" i said as i walked out the office and went towards my car

this all felt to surreal i trained hard for the upcoming season while also winning another F2 champion title at the end of the season i went with charles for winter training and the time for my first formula one grand prix came