second chances ~ ollie bearman (2)

part 10

a week and a half later...

it was the chinese grand prix weekend, and as much i was looking forward to getting back to racing, i knew it would be a struggle to avoid ollie.

since leaving estonia, i stayed with kimi for two days before going to london where i had gotten myself a small apartment for myself. it wasn't where i wanted to be, but at least it was opposite oscar and logan's apartment.

but i can't hide away there now. i can't hide from anything really after today. the paddock is always filled with cameras, nothing goes a secret.

so far, i'd spent the morning working with aston martin. some filming for social media and sponsers, and a meeting to go over the weekend. now it was time for the track walk with some of the engineers.

"is it your first time here?" lance asks as we walk out of the garage in a group.

"yeah, i've done a lot in the sim though." i reply.

"it's a good track, well i like it anyway." lance says, shrugging his shoulders as we reach the track and begin to talk the ins and outs of the circuit.

after we finish the track walk, i stop to talk to kimi for a little before heading back to aston martin. but i don't that far before i was approached by another driver.

"so, do you like the track?" lando asks, catching up to me.

"oh yeah, it seems like a great track. just it being a sprint weekend, and my first weekend here is gonna be tough."

"sprint weekends are tough as it is, especially this early on."

"i'm sure you will do great though lando."

"and you will too. anyway, i've got to get back to mclaren, but i came to ask if you wanted to join me and max on the flight back."  he says, as we stop walking outside the mclaren garage.

" are you sure?" i say, shocked at the offer.

"yeah, well it was max's idea. we've all heard about you and ollie. fans just get out of hand at times,  they forget we are real people too."

"well, i would love to take you up on that offer. thank you, and if you could pass my thanks on to max that would be great." i say, smiling at lando.

"i'll see you at the driver conference." he says, walking into mclaren as i head to aston martin finally.

later that day, it was time for the drivers conference, which was my last thing to do after a very long day. i walk to the media centre with lance after filming a sponser video.

once we arrive, we split off to different driver groups. i head over to lando and max who were calling me over as we were all on the first group.

"i forgot to say but we fly monday night." lando says.

"yeah, that's perfect thank you max." i say.

"it's better to fly that long with friends you know, and we have all heard the rumours." max replies.

"yeah well it's partly his fault. but it's happened now." i say, sighing.

"where are you staying now? are you still in milton keynes?" max asks.

"no i've got somewhere in london now, it's near logan and oscar actually. but im glad to get out of milton keynes." i reply.

"it's the most boring place in england." lando says before we get called into the room for the conference.

max was sat to the right of me, lando to the left. then it was valterri, alex, and then ollie to my amazing luck.i knew i wouldn't be able to avoid him forever, but i had at least hoped it would have lasted longer than this.

the interviewer starts with max, before moving into me.

"last week the car was incredible, you had an amazing week, especially for your first week in formula one. but this week is a track you have never raced on before. will this give you a disadvantage?"

"i would say a little bit, but even so, i've made myself as prepared as possible. i've done countless hours on the sim. but the track definitely suits the car and i would say my driving style. but yeah, i'll have to wait and see."

"do you think you can finish higher than the other rookies, or even in the points once again?"

"well, if i didn't think i could i wouldn't be sat here would i? no, i think i can. hopefully i finish higher than last week, but with it being a sprint week, and my first time at the track i will have to see."

"yes, it's your first sprint week. drivers agree on the fact that sprint weeks are a lot tougher than a normal race week. how will you adapt to it?"

"i don't know, it's sort of similar to the formula 2 weekend setup, but it's been a while since i've done that. yeah, i don't know. ask me afterwards." i reply, before the interviewer moves on to lando.

after asking everyone their questions, it was time for questions from people watching.

"angelina, i have a question for you. do you think last week was just beginners luck? after all, being the only girl here and having the extra weight in your seat to make up for your lower weight must affect your driving." someone asks.

"i- uhm." i start to say, not knowing how to reply to such a question.

"you don't need to answer that." lando says quietly to me, but not quiet enough to not be picked up on the microphone.

".you wouldn't ask that question to any of the other drivers would you? why should it matter if she is a girl or not? clearly you need glasses because you are too blind to see she is an amazing driver. or perhaps you don't want to admit how much of a success she is at her age because your jealous?" max says, whilst i just look down at the ground.

"you okay?" he asks, and i nod

|| authors note ~ hope you enjoy 🫶🏼

yesterdays race was amazing!