SHAMELESS, lewis hamilton¹

E P I L O G U E

Mirabella had been in Formula One for eighteen years and yet her pre-race routine was still the same.

Silence. Keeping to herself in her driver's room. In her own thoughts where it was calm until she eventually had to make her way out into the garage, entering the loud chaos of the outside world. Until then she preferred the silence.

But at the moment it was difficult to make her thoughts calm. It was strange since after so many years she had gained experience of perfecting a perfect silence to surround herself in when she needed it. But now she wasn't granted the privilege. No, not when all she could think about was that this race would be her last. This would be her last Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, just like how every other Grand Prix this year had been her last.

It was a decision she came to late last year, in 2037. And she had made the actual announcement at the beginning of this year, mid-January and it had taken the world by storm.

She wasn't young anymore, forty-four years old, yet people were still completely taken by surprise when they heard that she, who was known as the Queen of Formula One, would be retiring at the end of the Formula One season of 2038.

But she was ready. She had won nine championships and that was good enough for her. She had done what she wanted and way more, becoming the greatest in Formula One history. It was way more than she originally had planned and ever dreamed of. But she had achieved it nonetheless.

All she had wanted this year was a season of fun. She just wanted to drive to enjoy herself and not take it too seriously. To enjoy her last year in the sport. She hadn't planned to be a part of the battle for the championship.

She hadn't tried, but it happened anyway and now either Marta Garcia would become a two-time world champion or Mirabella would become a ten-time world champion.

If she was honest she didn't care much which one of them won. She had already won enough for a lifetime. She had won more than anyone else and Marta deserved it, but Mirabella could also admit that the number ten was more satisfying to look at than the number nine.

All in all she didn't care much. It was all the same to her. If she won she won, if she doesn't she doesn't.

She had done what she's always wanted to do. Become great and win. Make the sport more equal with men and women. Nyalea was the first and as the years passed more followed. It wasn't perfect still, but it was a whole lot better than it had been before Mirabella came into the sport. The opinion on women was also different. It was more accepted and most didn't believe women were bad drivers anymore. Many still believe it, but that was more like twenty per cent out of eighty.

Formula One has always been male-dominated⏤it still is⏤and Mirabella has dominated it for around two decades.

The track was her own personal playing field and everyone else were her pawns, obstacles she flicked away until she was the one left standing. There were many boring seasons under her "reign", as people called her time in this sport, to say the least.

One thing she was grateful for was that she didn't have to deal with many rivalries like the one she had with Lewis back when she first joined the sport. There was the one she had with Max and Marta Garcia, but those weren't anything as intense. They were just rivalries that came with being in F1.

There was one though that stuck out like a sore thumb and she preferred not to think of it.

She knew what had caused it.

Back in 2024, she had completely dominated that season. She hadn't lost a single race. Lewis didn't challenge her much that year since he didn't have anything to fight for. Not when he got his eighth title the year before so he was driving for fun in 2024. So, Mirabella won every race up till when she had a check-up at the doctor's, like the drivers usually have, in late September in Singapore.