TAKEOVER → Formula 1

iV| Rapporto

Rapporto = Debrief
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"Hello, I don't think we've officially met. I am Lucia."

"Gunther," The man replied shaking her hand with a grin. "Welcome to the show."

"Oh yes," Lucia hummed in amusement. "I do hear you are quite the star."

"Fuck knows why," Gunther replied.

Guenther Steiner and Lucia Romono were in no way similar. 

At least, Lucia didn't quite think so. If anything, she was more similar to Toto Wolff, whom she had met the day prior. She and Toto got along in the initial meeting so she hoped that would carry on. Then again, Guenther was also part Italian so perhaps they might find a common ground when it came to Italian culture.

Like the driver, Lucia believed the team Principals were allowed to be friends off-track and resume normal work on track. She didn't see that being too much.

"Netflix has been following me all day, it's rather annoying," said Lucia in a hushed voice. "How do I deal with them?"

"Pretend they are not there," Guenther shrugged. "Do not let them stop doing your job, we are not a reality show."

"You say that as if you are not the most popular person in it," Lucia pointed out. "The only reason I am a part of it is because it's good for the brand. End of story."

The Italian woman strongly believed the F1 was not a 'Keeping up with Kardashians' moment and Netflix had no business in the sport. She understood that it brought more money and sponsors but it should have been taken like a serious documentary, not 'But he said' and 'these drivers hate each other'. 

"Eventually, you'll forget they are there," Gunther added.

"I would prefer if they weren't there," Lucia huffed. "I have enough to worry about, like trying not to fuck up this weekend."

"Tell me about it," Gunther laughed. "I just want to make it until the end of the race, points would be nice."

"Points are always nice," Lucia smiled. "The car in one piece too."

"I can't afford the car not to be in one piece," Gunther pointed out. 

Assuming the fact Gunther was hinting at Mick Schumacher, Lucia gave a small hum. She knew it was a small risk taking Mick but she truly believed easing off the pressure would help.

"I wish you luck," Lucia smiled. "See you around, Guther."

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The Team Principal press conference for Bahrain had been something people had been waiting for. Despite a lot of rumours going around during the winter break and through testing, it was these conferences which gave people the information they wanted and also gave other teams a standpoint on where they stood compared to others. 

Lucia had been placed in the conference with Fred and Christian. This was a good thing because if she was placed into a conference with Zak Brown, she wasn't quite sure she'd be able to hold her tongue about what happened with Daniel...even though the man himself was pleasant enough.

The situation for Daniel had been tricky and she knew it wasn't all Mclaren fault — something just told her that McLaren and Daniel didn't have the best relationship and Daniel clearly wasn't performing there for a reason. Right? Something made him lose the love for the sport in those two years.

"Hello," Lucia greeted Fred and Christian.

"Hi Lucia," Christian smiled.

Lucia Romono and Christian Horner had met before during an event or two but they had never really spent any time together to be friends. It was more a mutual 'I know them'. 

"Lucia, let's start with you," Tom, the interviewer, began. "How are you settling into the role of team principal?"

"It has been an interesting couple of months. I would say, intense, long hours at work – but also enjoyable in a way. Certainly, my focus at the moment has been on understanding and knowing the place in great details, such that my action can be as effective and as accurate as possible." Lucia explained. "I have experience from F2 but it is different at the same time."

"In terms of performance from testing, where do you think you are?" Tom questioned.

"I think we can expect a midfield car but it is proving to be compact, just a couple tenths between the top and bottom of midfield. We want to improve on upgrades but we are midfield right now," Lucia explained.

"And in terms of your drivers, is there anything different that you are doing compared to how they were with other teams?"

"We're making sure they know we're not pressuring them for a little bit and we want them to get to terms with the car. We hope this will stop any rushed decisions that we can't afford. Daniel knows what he is doing and with some help to get back to where he was, we feel he will do great with us. Mick needs some guidance but we have a lot of faith in him too."

"Okay thank you, Lucia."

As the interviewer moved to question Fred and Christian, Lucia did her best to focus on what they were saying to gather information about where she stood. She knew Red Bull were going to take over the field but Ferrari were...well...ferrari.

So many things could go wrong this year and all of them were going to go back to Lucia, she knew that, but she was prepared for it. Being the leader of a team that produced the likes of George Russell and Nyck De Vries in F1 got her good points with fans, which she was happy about.

"Okay, how is it looking?" Lucia questioned, entering the debriefing room.

Most people had left by now since the debrief, mainly between the engineers, was over. It was part of being Team Principal that Lucia had to sometimes miss them for official media duties.

"We are feeling good about the weekend,"Giovanni, the chef technical, replied. "Everyone is on the same page and both sides of the garage have a plan."

"Perfect," Lucia beamed. "What do you think, points this weekend?"

"I sure hope so!" Luca nodded.

"Let's race then," Lucia winked.