Valeria was sitting in the garage with Pietro, as they watched the end of q1. Paul Ricard seemed to show one possible outcome: total Mercedes domination. Valeria had already prepared herself for Rosberg, hoping Seb would improve on his last lap to at least get closer to Charles, as he sat in p7, with Charles p3.

'Chequered flag, p7' Pietro told her.

'cazzo, bet you a fiver it's going to be my fault somehow' she told him.

'Well you did just move in with the bloke, maybe you're distracting him too much' Pietro joked. Valeria looked at him dead in the eyes. 'I'm joking, I'm joking. God!' he laughed.

They watched as Seb's car was pulled into the garage and he walked out, going to the back straight away. The camera panned to Valeria, who had just got up to walk in the opposite direction, expecting a visit from Nico soon.

'It's like I can sense you, Rosberg' she told him, walking out of the garage, the camera still on her. 'let's make it quick and painless, yeah?'

'Is that what you tell Seb too?' he asked covering his mouth so nobody could hear him or read his lips.

'So you do have a sense of humour!' she exclaimed, laughing.

Nico shook his head, trying to contain a smile: 'live in 3...2... Valeria... any comments?'

'seems like Mercedes does have the upper hand in this circuit. We hope to gain some positions in the race' she replied.

'Sebastian has set only the 7th fastest time in Q1, were there any issues?'

'Not that I am aware of, but our amazing engineers are reviewing data as we speak'

'Thank you'

'anytime, I get paid to talk to you' she joked, passing him the microphone.

She noticed sky Italia just behind Nico, so she stayed out.

'Carlo , I'm here with Valeria... we heard some comments about pace in q3, with Charles urging Seb to be quicker. Sebastian's reply seemed fairly annoyed. What can you tell us?'

'I guess once you put your helmet on, it's time to focus. And sometimes being focused might make you sound a lot different from what you want to convey'

'Is there any issues in Casa Ferrari?'

'No, no issues.' She replied. She knew how much the Italian media loved to bash on Seb and she was not going to give them any ammunition.

'thanks'

'Anytime'

Race day:

Sunday went on to be described as one of the most boring races of all time, with Hamilton and Bottas taking a long lead and leaving the rest more or less in the same way they started the race. Charles grabbed p3 with Sebastian finishing p5. Valeria was almost caught yawning a couple of times as her mind wandered away, as she idly watched the screens, hoping to see the chequered flag soon.

Luckily for her, Mattia had already been interviewed by Nico, after the podium celebrations, so she decided to sit in the motorhome as she waited for Seb to come out of the debrief. The two had decided to use the back to back races to get a mini break in Austria in between the two.

'Ready to go?' Seb had arrived, in plain clothes.

'yeah, sure. Let me just save this' she said. She closed the file she was working on and got up. She had changed into plain clothes too, having opted for a pair of grey jeans, an oversized tee and a pair of trainers. Seb grabbed her hand and gave her a kiss, just before they walked out in the emptying paddock.

'I happened to catch the Italian interview you had to do' Seb started.

'mh? You know the Italian media..' she told him, trying to brush it off.

'You don't always have to be on my side, you know? They will always take more notice of that than they would of anything else you ever do'

'I know, but you weren't in the wrong. And I think both you and Charlie can be misunderstood. Once you put a helmet on, nothing else matters. I kinda know it, on a lesser scale. I was a bitch when I used to kart. I don't like losing' she told him.

They walked back to the hotel and grabbed their stuff. Sebastian had booked them a flight for that evening, so they had to choose not to attend the after party.

Not long later they were at the airport. 'flight 506 to Vienna. We regret to announce the flight will depart with one hour delay'

'fun' Valeria huffed, still playing on her switch, whilst Seb was concentrating on a book.

'Bärchen?' Valeria tried to get his attention, after a while.

'ja, Schatzi?'

'have you ever played Mario Kart?' she asked him.

'once or twice. In the 90s, yeah'

'here' she passed him a controller. 'let me kick your ass'

'Damn it!' she huffed, as some AI hit her with a shell. 'I thought it would be a lot easier to kick your butt' she joked, as Seb had got the hang of the controls and had started beating her a lot. Valeria noticed a young kid watching them, captivated by the game.

'Jack, stop staring please' his mum told him off, with a strong Scottish accent.

'no, no. it's fine.' Valeria smiled. 'do you want to play, Jack?' she asked him. The young lad nodded. 'Have you played before?' he nodded again 'cool, you can play Seb then. You're probably too good for me' she joked, passing him her controller. 'I am Valeria, by the way. He's Seb'

'oh, he knows' the mum joked. 'we just watched you on the telly, didn't we?'

'oh wow! Are you a Ferrari fan?' Valeria asked him. She had sat on the floor in front of him, letting him sit next to Sebastian. He smiled brightly, nodding his head.

'Sorry, he doesn't speak much, this is the most interaction he's ever had with a stranger' the mum told her. 'My name is Elisabetta, by the way'

'Nice to meet you' she shook her hand. 'Italian name' she pointed out.

'Italian family. My dad and granddad are big Ferrari fans, this is why Jack loves it so much'

'Who is your favourite driver?' Seb asked, turning around to him.

Jack didn't say anything but just pointed at him.

'Me?' Seb asked surprised. 'It's an honour to meet you, Jack!' he smiled. He rummaged through his carry on to find one of his caps. 'if you are a fan of mine you need one of these' the German added with a smile, as Valeria passed him a sharpie for him to sign with. He signed the cap and placed it on the child's head, as Elisabetta was taking pictures.

'you guys, this made his day' she said, with a bright smile. 'thank you so much'

'anytime' Valeria smiled. Seb had started getting a few words out of Jack as they played on Valeria's console.

'been to any GP?' Valeria asked Elisabetta.

'No, not really. Grandstands are a bit of a mess for Jack, he doesn't really like strangers. We were looking at Silverstone but between accommodation and the actual weekend tickets, it would be so expensive'

'yeah, I know. I remember my dad bringing me out to Monza and telling me that was my Christmas and birthday present. Not that I could complain, watching Michael win was always a pleasure' she smiled. 'but... I work in PR and marketing, leave me a contact, I'll see what I can do for you guys'

'OH MY GOD. Are you serious?' Elisabetta felt speechless.

'of course, anything for Seb's greatest fan' she smiled. Sebastian playing with Jack had attracted some attention, with people curiously watching a 4 time world champion play Mario Kart with a young lad. When the flight eventually started boarding, Seb and Jack had attracted a small crowd.

'I'll keep you posted, alright?' Valeria gave Elisabetta a hug, as she and Seb got up to walk to the gate.

'Thank you so much, anywyas. I always find it hard flying alone with Jack and you guys have been amazing. You didn't have to'

'It was a pleasure. I'll see you soon, ok?' Sebastian bent over to Jack to say bye. 'keep it safe, yeah?' he nudged his cap.

Valeria grabbed his hand, as they walked to the gate.

'did you let him win?' Valeria smirked.

'no, he was too god for me. I look like a right idiot now' he laughed. 'Glad to see you made a friend too. I swear you could talk to rocks'

'When you haven't been blessed with amazing looks you need to balance it out with personality' she laughed.

'Shut up, you’re the most beautiful womaj I have ever met' he said, making her blush.