"Nice job on P4 today Noemi" George Russell said as Noemi passed by him going to her garage.
"Grazie" She responded not even thinking to respond in English, she was so exhausted from the race and from giving it her all. She could barely comprehend the difference between English and Italian.
P4 however, was immaculate for her first Formula One race. It was the best Aston Martin had done in a few years and way better than she ever expected going into F1. Her car wasn't made to be pushed that far, yet she made it happen. She was used to pushing her car from academy. She didn't get all the personal changes to the car like the drivers in F1 do.
"Noemi, you did a beautiful job out there today, how did you manage to push an Aston Martin that far? It's truly incredible!" A reporter asked her as she was about to walk inside her garage.
"Well, I'm used to pushing a car's limits, that's one of the things you gotta get used to in academy, so this is nothing new to me. Clearly it's really came to my advantage here." She smiled at the reporter, "You can expect to see more of that these next races to come." She gave the camera a thumbs up and walked away into her garage.
"She truly is incredible isn't she," Daniel winked at the same camera as he walked by to his garage.
—
"Good job out there." Fernando patted Noemi on the back, "You did great."
"Thank you," She responded sincerely. Getting that kind of congratulations from Fernando meant a lot, to get complimented by oldest and most experienced driver on the grid truly meant more than anything else.
Noemi was extremely grateful for her seat on Aston Martin, but what she really wanted more than anything was the RedBull seat Checo Perez is supposedly going to lose. However, she knew Daniel should be in that seat more than her and that he most likely would get it before her. He needed that seat to get back on track and get back to the races he used to have. Daniel still has so much potential he just isn't given the opportunities to embrace said potential.
RedBull is his final opportunity to stay in F1, so as much as Noemi wants it she knows it rightfully belongs to Daniel once that motivation is found.
—
"You're not too exhausted are you?" Her PR rep asked, this meant she definitely had some sort of interview or something like that to deal with.
"Nah, i'm good." Noemi responded, in reality she was not good, she was extremely tired, but having a good media presence is important for her, especially being the only woman in F1.
Noemi changed out of her race suit and into an Aston Martin T-Shirt and a pair of black flared leggings, along with her Aston Martin cap.
She walked out into the paddock with her PR rep ready to answer some questions.
An interviewer approached her, "Hello, P4 is an amazing placement for a rookie, how do you feel about it?"
"It feels great," Noemi paused, "P4 is a lot higher than I was honestly expecting, but I gave the race my all, and if I keep doing that I think I'll be able to make it far this season."
The interviewer smiled at her, "I think we're all quite shocked at your placement, how has the rest of the grid reacted to it?"
"So far everyone I've talked to have been extremely nice about it, I've gotten plenty of congratulations." Noemi responded again.
"That's very nice to hear," the interviewer looked at his notes, "Earlier today after the race Daniel Ricciardo walked past an interview after you had walked away and said something about you to the camera, did you happen to hear it?"
"No I didn't catch it actually, what did he say?" Noemi let out a little laugh, nervous about what it was he had said.
"He said, and I quote 'She truly is incredible isn't she'" The interviewer repeated Daniel's words.
Noemi laughed at the comment Daniel had made earlier, "Well, I'll take that as a compliment, that was very nice of him to say."
"You and Daniel have gotten quite close very quickly, how has this happened?"
Noemi sighed, "He was the first person I actually talked to and had a genuine conversation with so he's kinda just been who I've leaned on these past few days for anything I've needed," Noemi giggled a little, "He's very funny and a super entertaining person to be around, he's made my transition from academy to here a lot less stressful, so I am extremely grateful for his help and friendship."
"Now the last thing I want to ask you is, could anything more than friendship possibly come out of this?"
"No," Noemi's smile dropped, "I'm sorry that question wasn't very appropriate. You wouldn't ask any other driver that question about a friendship so please, do not ask me or Daniel that." Noemi and her PR rep walked away.
"That was a good response," Her PR rep Adalynn said to her, "No one should be asking you those kinds of personal questions, they're extremely unprofessional." Adalynn smiled at her and Noemi smiled back.
By this time a few more drivers had trickled into the paddock and were answering questions from the press, one of which happened to be Daniel, she didn't want to draw attention to herself by looking at him nor did she want one of the interviewers to catch her looking at him on camera.
"Noemi, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?" A male interviewer approached her.
"Not at all," She smiled.
"How are you feeling after your stellar performance today,"
"You know, it's better than what anyone was expecting so I'm feeling great," As Noemi was responding Daniel began walking up behind her to attempt to scare her, "But you know I can't let it get to my head after all, this was only the first race of the season." After finishing her response she noticed Daniel next to her, not expecting to see him at all or that close to her made her jump, "Oh my god," Noemi looked down at the ground with her hands on her chest, "You scared the shit out of me."
Daniel laughed at how startled she was and pulled her into a hug to whisper something into her ear, "Meet me in my driver room later when we're all done with the press." And then he pulled away, smiled, and patted her on the back before walking away.
The interviewer continued, "Well, I'm sure neither of us were expecting that."
Noemi laughed at the man's comment, "I definitely wasn't, but that's Daniel for you." Both the interviewer and Noemi laughed about the event that had just taken place.
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Amore Mio - Daniel Ricciardo
Fanfiction"We are a PR teams worst nightmare." Daniel manages to say through heavy breaths. "Good thing no one knows about this then." Noemi adds breathing heavier. The two of them can hear Tsunoda's engine roar to life from the other side of the wall. In a s...
