Thorns

05

February 27th
Bahrain Grand Prix

Lelia Amani

This morning I was out of bed in a snap.

It was the official beginning of the race weekend. Press conferences, media pen, strategy, car inspections, sponsor dinners... that was what today was going to look like in the paddock. I had never been more excited to show up to a job in my life, and it was an entirely new feeling. I was energized, hopping out of my bed mere seconds after my alarm went off this morning. In all honesty, I slept pretty fitfully last night. I was awake about every other hour, fighting my thoughts for a good night's rest.

But after finally hearing my alarm ring this morning, I felt energized on a full eight hours of sleep that my body didn't even earn.

Back in Miami, I had a job serving for a few months at a local sports bar. The only day I was excited to be there was my very first day of training. After that, I dreaded ever showing up to my shifts during the week. The regulars loved seeing me work, only to express it with crude, sexist compliments. To say the least, that was the most I had worked, and it couldn't have been more than three months. Tessa's dad was kind enough to assist me with finances to allow me to focus my time completely on getting my degree.

Waking up for this, however, was different.

Due to the cooler temperatures at the track today, I had a pair of black leggings, a gray quarter-zip with the Red Bull logo, and my usual white tennis shoes all folded and stacked on the chair in the corner of the room. In what was probably a record time, I was dressed and brushing my teeth. It was barely 07:30, and I was more eager to get to the track than a kid waiting to eat their collected candy on Halloween.

After going out to breakfast with Max and Danny on Monday, our bonds with each other only grew. Yesterday went great for the three of us, having as much fun as we could together while also getting shit done. I was able to squeeze in some time to do a training session with them, while also spending a lot of time with Jeff to get everything situated to be taken over by me. He gave an official date to retire, the day of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Which was barely a week and a half away.

Everyone at Red Bull was almost as excited as they were when Max won in Abu Dhabi 2021.

After brushing my teeth, I grabbed my purse and fled my hotel room. A black SUV had been waiting outside for me, like usual. For the near week I had been here, and only as an apprentice, Christian Horner and Red Bull have provided me with everything I could ask for at the moment. A place to sleep with complimentary meals, transportation when and where I needed it, and welcoming smiles.

I had never felt so good about where I was in life. If there was one thing I knew for sure, it was that I was determined to keep this job. The opportunity of a lifetime was handed to me, and I was starting to realize it very quickly.

Climbing into the backseat of the SUV, I took this chance to give my mom a quick call and fill her in. I haven't made much time to talk to her recently, and I was starting to feel bad for not reaching out sooner.

My phone rang in my ear a few times as the driver began pulling away from the hotel and getting en route to the speedway. "Ciao, Lelia!" She finally picked up, her voice as comforting as a warm hug wrapping around my shoulders.

"Ciau mamma! Comu stai facennu (Hi mom! How are you doing)?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.

My mother was one of the kindest souls on the entire planet. You would never be able to tell if she was having a bad day, because she always showed nothing but her bright smile and made it her number one priority to put a smile on everyone else's faces as well. She was a woman I admired like no other, and I missed her the most. The one nice thing about living in Europe again was how much closer I had been to my mom.