Unchained Melody (Daniel Ricciardo)

Brighter skies

That night when everybody has left, Daniel and Ayla are sitting together on the sofa, sipping on a large glass of red wine. Both lost in their own thoughts about the day they had.
Daniel is distractedly caressing Ayla's legs that are stretched out over his lap.

It's not an uncomfortable silence, the two of them never seem to have those. They both have a lot to think about. Daniel is still feeling like shit and just like Ayla said, he is wallowing in self pity for the moment. Which she understands and she doesn't mind.

Her mind is going a thousand miles an hour, thinking about other possibilities for next year.
There's not a lot though. Yet her mind just keeps going back to that barbecue at Christian's after the Silverstone race. Geri's words about the team not having a seat for this year, but maybe next year, keep coming back in her head.

Perez's results are way off from what they are supposed to be, with Max heading towards his first drivers championship, Checo is now on P5 in the standings with a gap that is just too big to be justified.

Ayla doesn't really like Checo, but she does understand now, how hard it can be to get used to a new car. She has seen it first hand with Daniel and she would feel like a hypocrite if she would judge Checo for having the same issues as Daniel.

The difference between Daniel and Checo is, that Checo has a team who is actually trying to help him, they are doing everything they can to get him more competitive, more on the same level as Max. But Checo keeps blaming the team, when he crashes his car in the barrier it's because they didn't have the right strategy. Or they sent him out too early or too late, making the grip levels tricky.

He never takes responsibility, it's always strategy or the car.
Daniel blames it all on himself, saying that he's just not good enough or that it's his fault that the car doesn't feel right. It's a huge difference and it makes Ayla wonder if Christian would consider taking Daniel back.

She could definitely ask him and discuss all the reasons why Red Bull should take him back. She knows Max and Daniel get along very well, they would be a PR heaven.
She can already imagine the content they would make with the two of them, it would be epic.

But that's not the most important part, what matters most is that Daniel is an amazing driver. He knows the team, he knows the car, he gels with the car and he can get the absolute most out of it.
He would fit right back in.

But he left and she isn't sure how the team will feel about having him back.
She has a gut feeling that she can definitely persuade Christian. He felt like he lost two sons when Seb and Daniel left.

But then there's Helmut. That old stubborn bastard might be a bit more difficult.
If anybody is going to protest against Daniel returning, it's going to be Helmut. He is too proud and too stubborn to see that Daniel would be better than Checo.

She doubts he will listen to her, after all she is 'just' a social media manager. She's of no importance to the team, according to Helmut. He doesn't acknowledge that Ayla, together with her team, has made Red Bull gain a load of followers with the content they create.

Their pictures and videos are being shared all over the world, used in people's TikTok's and Instagram feeds.
Red Bulls social media team has made sure that the team didn't suffer too much after their two most popular drivers left.

But Helmut is 79 and he doesn't see the importance of social media. He's stuck in his old ways and there has been so many times that he has spoken in the media, causing an absolute mess, which they had to try to cover up with excuses and more amazing content.