Starting from the Pit lane - Lewis Hamilton

Fair play

Melissa had already arrived in the new city and immediately fell into bed, luckily the track was a five minute walk from the hotel and she saved herself a lot of problems. She collapsed for a couple of hours and woke up around 6pm, cleaned herself up and went down to the lounge where she met with Chiara, the only Italian apart from her.

Chiara was a beautiful girl, blonde with blue eyes. She was just 20 years old and was there because her father worked in the automotive industry. Chiara, like Melissa, was not interested in motors per se but more in the journalistic experience.
They had bonded a lot since, being at the same level, there was no competition. Melissa, aware of her beauty, never felt envious of other women, on the contrary, she tried to enhance them in such a way as to be able to truly bond with them. Her appearance had antagonized many girls. Chiara, equally beautiful, seeing herself as beautiful as the brunette, did not feel absolutely intimidated.
-Hey do you remember when we talked about our exes?- Melissa asked in a confused tone of voice.
-Oh my God!- she exclaimed -Please, tell me Tommaso wrote to you, among all those you told me about he is absolutely my favourite-
Melissa smiled –no, actually Marco showed up. I didn't tell you much about it because I thought the story was definitively over-
-I'll take a heets and let's go out-
Melissa followed her and covered herself well with a scarf and lit a cigarette too.
-So you were together for so long yesterday and you didn't tell me?- the blonde smiled.
-I honestly don't know what to do. There has never been any kind of love between us but... - she took a break to blow the smoke away -I saw him as having matured a lot. More of a man- she chuckled -and then in a year I'll be 26, I've already graduated and I plan to find a stable job at the end of the internship. By 28 maybe I would like to have a child, I should start looking around a bit. I don't know if you know what I mean- she took a drag again.

Chiara had a different mentality and was also younger. She heard and understood what she said to her but did not fully absorb the meaning. However, that didn't stop her from being close to her. She put a hand on her shoulders and gave her a light caress over her heavy coat.
-He left me a message asking me to meet again. Since it is now an external body of the company, it plays a representative role and travels a lot. It wouldn't be impossible for us to see each other- she said it in a calm tone but underneath something inside her was boiling. Like acid. When she spoke about him she was calm but his name had a sour taste in her mouth.

Chiara joked a little and lifted her spirits. The cigarette was already finished and Melissa had already put it out under her boot a while ago but she was enjoying the company.

On Saturday, after the sprint race, there was another conference to discuss Verstappen's score. Conference in which Marco also participated, by pure chance. He sat down next to Melissa and they chatted quietly between questions.
Lewis, who had placed poorly in the standings, had a frozen look on his face. No emotion transpired. He looked at everyone present like this but he lingered for three seconds longer when he saw the man from the other time whispering something in Melissa's ear and seeing her hide that beautiful smile behind her hand.

He would not have accepted to confirm the eighth position. There was something stirring in him. The hours slipped past him like olive oil and he found himself catapulted into his car just before the traffic lights went out. He pressed the accelerator with all his strength, the pedals of Formula One cars are not at all as light as those of normal cars. From eighth position, also thanks to a bit of luck, he found himself sixth. After twenty laps he had already gained a lot of ground, he had already made the pit and he soon found himself third.
The race ended and he took home the podium.

After the awards ceremony he went into the box and saw the Italian waiting for him. He was a little tired of calling it "Pizza" or "Pasta" but he still didn't know her name. She knew everything about him, since he was a public figure, but he had no clue what his name was. He hadn't asked her yet. Among all those squabbles he hadn't come out and not seeing her at the end for so many hours he hadn't heard anyone call her name. He would finally ask her. He gave her a hint of a smile and approached her, satisfied with the podium.
-So... what race today, uh?- he winked and raised his shoulders slightly, letting out a sincere smile –so, shall we start our weekly interview?- he chuckled.
Melissa smiled slightly – So, given the start, did this podium depend on luck? Well on the other hand you didn't arrive first and in any case Lando arrived second, a pilot with much less experience than you...- Melissa continued to speak freely. Lewis's hearing was muffled and he could no longer hear anything.

"Why is she behaving like this? We had found our balance..." he was confused "Before seeing that braggart again she hadn't allowed herself to talk to me like that. Yes, when we met she called me chocolate but I had started it a bit that time".

-Listen- he interrupted her monologue -never again dare you say that my podium depended on luck, I have been competing since 2007 and that year you stopped wearing diapers. Show me respect because I'm not your friend. And go back to selling those pre-packaged doodles, which you call articles. You know, I was careful with all my answers so that you could learn to ask questions even to athletes but now you're just disrespecting me-
-I only tell the truth-
-the truth is that I brought home a podium today unlike your favorite team!-
-The difference is between us: I seek the truth, you only seek the podium-
-I'm fucking ambitious. Could you say the same!? Wandering around aimlessly with that shitty pen and that worn-out notebook? The difference, you're right, is right there. I aim for the podium, you filter what you see, you tell YOUR truth passing it off as absolute truth. Come home, little girl. You have nothing to do with this. Daddy found you the paid internship with everything paid for but you only took a place away from a boy who dreams of being here in your place. You don't care, you don't understand anything about cars. There was the place and you could afford to take it but didn't you realize that there were other people who would have done anything to be here? Then if you really were to become a journalist, and given your behavior I hope it never happens, you can't treat those in front of you like that. Your friends, maybe. Myself? No.- he said as he walked away.

Melissa started to counter but he, still with his back to her, muttered -Agh, shut up!- and she heard it. Clearly.