DYNAMITE// MAX VERSTAPPEN

SIX

It was the first race of the season and Cooper could feel the nerves in her system, it was the a feeling that she was hardly familiar with.

She always had her emotions under control, never let thoughts slip through her mind of what could gone wrong out on the track.

But for some reason today she did, maybe it was the fact that she was in Mercedes this year, and one little mistake she made in the race, or the whole season would get criticized by fans.

She knew she needed to talk to Seb about this because she'll just continue to stress over it, but she also didn't want to worry her uncle when she knew today was also important for him.

So she just kept to herself and tried to push her thoughts to the back of her mind while listening to music to clear hopefully clear her mind all together.

It was times like this that she wish her dad was still her, as she could freely talk to him on days like this without having to take focus off others that needed it, as her dad didn't have to get into a car that goes a danger speed for a living unlike them.

"Cooper, it's time to get in the car."

She heard her personal trainer Daniela say through the door while gently knocking on it as to not frighten her.

If there was one thing that she liked about her trainer, it was that she was very attentive to her feelings, mindset, and just her overall health.

They didn't keep secrets from each other either as they felt being secretive from each other wasn't a good work environment.

If you can't trust someone with your secrets or thoughts then why are you working with them, especially since it's yearly and you have to trust them with your health.

"Just a Minute Daniela." She called out while putting her racing suit on over her fireproofs. "But you can come in." She added with a smile.

"Do you want me to braid your hair?" Daniela asked with a smile seeming that her hair wasn't done yet, mostly from what she guessed was because of nerves.

"Please, I haven't gotten to it yet." Cooper said with a grateful expression on her face.

"Dutch Braid or Fishtail Braid?"

"Fishtail please."

Daniela smiled while nodding grabbing the hairbrush off of the makeshift bed and stood behind her trainee turned friend that was really like the daughter she never had.

As she was taking strains of hair and braiding it she smiled seeing the pictures she had set up of Sebastian, her, and her father.

"Sebastian wanted me to pass along a message to you." Daniela said suddenly remembering what Sebastian has told her when she passed him while walking into the garage.

"What did he say?" Copper asked curiously.

"Kick theirs asses and take no names, you got this kiddo." Daniela replied with a laugh.

"We'll let's remember that for when I lap his old ass." Cooper said with a playful smirk on her lips.

Cooper climbed into her car once it was moved to the P3 slot on the grid with her teammate Lewis Hamilton in P2, and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen in pole.

She was going to play it safe today, not wanting to make the mistakes that she so deeply thought about all night and morning.

But she was also gonna play it safe while pushing it to get into that p1 position and win her first race for Mercedes.

She knew that the odds weren't that good to get the win, but she knew with this car and her skills that a podium would happen, she just need to not crash out.