La Novellina: beyond the helmet

Formula 3 - chapter 2: Pressure

It's the day of the conference.

A lot of journalists are already ready, with their cameras, to interview the new faces of motorsport, hoping for some gossip as if some kids from the Mercedes Junior Team knew all the secrets of the Formula 1 team...

Micky arrives with her father and Marco at the hall but, as soon as she sets foot inside, she is separated from the men and taken to a small room: inside there are already some guys and one, very curious, immediately start questioning her.

"Who are you?" he squeaks, he must be 12 or 13 years old.

"Micky Molinari"

"Yes, but... Who are you?" he continues.

"Michelle Molinari?" she says, not knowing what to answer anymore.

"She, two years ago, was the italian and european kart champion and the Formula 4 champion from last year, if I'm not mistaken. Now stop pestering her..." thunders a voice of a guy from afar.

"Ah yes... I think you wanted to know what he said..." she says to the boy while looking, with a slightly perplexed look, at the guy who, even if he seemed to know everything about her, hadn't even deigned to look at her.

"Don't pay attention to him, he's angry with life... And don't worry about this little boy either" says a girl, approaching Micky and hugging the boy, "This little rascal is Benjamin, he's 13 and he will race in Belgium kart championship. The boring guy down there is Dietrich, he's 20 and he races in Formula 2. And I'm Belen, I'm 15 and this year I'll race in Formula 4. Welcome!"

"Thanks..." was the only word Micky can say to her, because she is interrupted abruptly by the presenter's invitation to leave that room to start the interview.

-

Toto and Micky are the last to enter the room, and they sit near each other at the table too.

The interview starts.

"Toto Wolff, you managed to find new talents for the Mercedes Junior Team, could you tell us a little more about them?" A journalist asks.

"Benjamin is very young but he has a great future in front of him, last week he arrived third in a kart championships of his age group and always do magnificent races" he says, giving the child a knowing look.

"As for Belen, she is our spanish kart champion and the most promising driver in the new Formula 4 grid" he continues, looking at her; she smiles, showing all her teeth, very happy for his words.

"As for Dietrich, you know him very well. He is a talented guy and he will surely continue to work hard in Formula 2 to finally have a contract in Formula 1, he is very determined"

Unlike before, the team principal doesn't even deign to look at the guy, not even the guy raises his eyes from the ground... There must not be a good relationship between them...

And then he turns to Micky, who was still watching Dietrich trying to find out what was wrong with him.

"As for Micky, I am sure that she has a great future ahead of her and the Mercedes Junior Team will do everything to help her"

"Tell us more about her... You can't just say two words about the former student of Dino Chiesa, a past italian and european kart champion and the former Formula 4 driver of the AKM Motorsport team, led by Marco Antonelli!" another journalist says.

"Micky is a very promising driver. I saw her drive in Formula 4... It was wonderful and she is smart, very smart: she knows everything about the car and the mechanics, like a race engineer, and what sets her apart from the rest is her understanding of teamwork. Do you know the first thing that she said during our latest interview? The driver is nothing without the team. So, I decided that i will, with the Junior team, do everything to make her achieve her dreams and grow in this sport"

Micky, blushing, looks at the crowd looking for a friendly look, maybe Marco's, but she doesn't find one; feeling that the situation is heavy for her, Toto places his hand on her shoulder and, as she looks up at him, gives her a little smile.

Many journalists take photos as well as the TV cameras record everything that is happening.

-

Toto continues to answer questions for another hour or more; then, at the end, he gets up from the chair and, after greeting everyone, takes Micky's hand inviting her to join him as all the members of the Mercedes Junior Team leave the room, leaving the journalists to their chatter.

In the corridors, as he talks about how it went, she stops walking suddenly.

"What happens, do you feel unwell?" he asks.

"I don't know..."

"Come on"

The team principal leads her to one of the small sofas of the hall of the facility and, after making her sit down, goes to get a bottle of water; she siped a bit of the liquid while he started talking again.

"Now... Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"Maybe i need something more strong to not feel unwell..." she says.

"You're only 16 and drinking is useless"

"I'm 15, i'll be turning 16 on..."

"May 26, during the Monaco grand prix. I know it well... But can you tell me what's wrong? Please..."

Micky continues looking down: Toto makes her feel tender... He's almost praising her to understand what is wrong... It wasn't a lie, he really cares about his drivers!

"I'm scared... There are a lot of expectations to live up to here... With Marco was different, it was a small team and we all knew each other... But now I'll race with the award-winning Prema racing and I'll be part of your academy... I'm scared I won't make it..." she murmurs.

He strokes her cheek with his thumb.

"Look into my eyes..."

He waits until she does it and then he continues.

"You have the talent, you can do it. I can promise you that together we can make you shine"

"I really hope so..." she ends.