espressoandf1
Akira Mendes didn't claw her way through sports journalism just to be dismissed as "the girl in the paddock." She's sharp, stubborn, and finally living the dream-covering Formula 1 full-time during one of the most chaotic seasons in recent history. The plan is simple: write the stories no one else sees, stay out of the drama, and absolutely do not fall for a driver. Especially not one with too much charm, too many cameras, and a laugh that's far too disarming for someone with that much sponsorship pressure.
But Lando Norris has a way of asking real questions when no one else does. And Akira has a habit of answering honestly, even when she shouldn't.
What starts as banter across press pens and post-race interviews turns into something warmer, riskier and infinitely harder to hide. With the world watching, Akira must balance her integrity, her heart, and a career that doesn't exactly come with a handbook for "what to do when you start falling for your most quoted source."
In a sport built on speed, sometimes it's the quiet moments that leave the biggest impact.
Love, ambition, and media firestorms collide in this slow-burn, F1-season-set romance between a journalist who won't back down and the driver who sees her more clearly than anyone else ever has.
"It wasn't the paddock or the pressure or the racing that scared her. It was the part where he looked at her like she wasn't just part of the story-she was the part he'd been waiting for."