𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 ☆ 𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭

𝐯𝐢. 𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚

There's no privacy in the world of formula 1. It took Daisy a long time and truthfully she still hadn't fully accepted the loss of being able to keep some aspects of her life out of the public eye. The invasion into the driver's every move in the modern era affected the whole grid of course but some were less of a target to the media.

Naturally the really famous names like Max and Lewis and those with a huge social media following were constantly under surveillance but there was also an additional focus on the minority drivers. It felt wrong for Daisy to group herself with Lewis, Zhou and Yuki because the struggles they all went through were very different but they each faced scrutiny from yet another lens.

Regardless, they were all noticeable figures who stood out amongst the rest of the grid. There was no confusing Daisy for anyone else. Not when there were pictures of her plastered all around the track and a freakishly large number of cardboard cut-outs of her head in the crowd.

So when Stella called ahead warning her that there was going to be members of the Netflix team in their garage for the race to follow Daniel, naturally she was fuming. She could just about handle the overwhelming walk in to the paddock but to know that their garage, a place where she normally felt at home was being invaded with cameras for the weekend made her want to scream.

Normally the paddock walk and meeting any fans who were waiting in the area didn't take too long. Daisy was without fail the first driver to arrive at the track so she was usually there before the massive crowds gathered to catch a glimpse of them. The last thing she wanted to deal with when she was stressed was the thousands of eyes on her and getting stopped every two seconds by someone.

She appreciated the support and always made a point of meeting as many fans as she could earlier in the week or after the race but she was so on edge and jittery with the pressure to perform on race day that she knew she needed to be alone.

There was no chance of slipping under the radar this time though. Not when it was her teammate's home race and the team wanted them to go together to present a united front, as if the fucking power of friendship was going to lead to a double podium for them.

Daisy literally couldn't imagine a worse situation to be in. Well, that's an exaggeration - she definitely could but this was a nightmare for an introvert who needed to isolate in a little ball in her driver's room to get in the right headspace. She had Stella and Mila for moral support but they were trailing behind her and Daniel and joining them would only earn her an earful from PR later and the joy of third-wheeling her friends, who she absolutely loved, but could think of nothing worse than being stuck heading their sickeningly sweet affection for one another.

Amidst the brunt of the attention being focused on Daniel , Daisy did her best to keep a bright smile firmly etched to her features hoping that her anxieties weren't seeping through and souring it unintentionally. She played the part expected of her rather well. Pose for pictures, sign whatever merch was thrusted her way, stop and chat to the fans eager to get her attention. React, react, react. It was all about giving people what they wanted and after a while it became robotic to her.

One thing that she couldn't feign neutrality towards though were the admittedly adorable young girls who were literally beaming brighter than the sun at her. Daisy had never wanted to be a role model nor had she ever made an attempt to be one by conventional standards and while she preferred to just let her racing speak for itself and leave her gender out of the conversation entirely, interactions like these did make her proud to be in the sport and promoting equality even if she viewed it as a distraction from her racing most of the time.

A young blonde girl who couldn't have been older than eight caught her eye in the crowd, her face lit up with excitement as she tugged at who Daisy presumed to be her parent's hands, eager to get closer. Before Daisy knew it the young girl had broke free from their grasp and was darting towards her and under the fencing separating them. Out of the corner of her eye Daisy saw security instantly heading over to escort her back to her parents but Daisy shook her head "she's alright."