Valeria and Pietro were queuing up at the UK border, having just landed in Heathrow on the Wednesday before the race at Silverstone. Valeria had booked a car for the week, having decided to visit her grandparents and her English side of the family on Thursday night, after the first few Interviews would be out of the way.

'I'm still not sure I want to be in a car with you on the wrong side of the road' Pietro joked.

'you can walk it if you prefer' she joked, as she finally reached the top of the queue. She passed her passport to the agent, with a smile and walked through. She looked out for their flight number and walked to the conveyor belt where their luggage would be put.

She looked around, she had seen those plain walls so many times through the years, as she came to visit her grandparents, or moved to study at uni. She hadn't seen her Nan and granddad since she had left London a few years prior. She had spoken to them regularly and she knew they had moved out of the capital for a quieter retirement.

Pietro joined her and distracted her from her memories.

'now onto guess which red case is yours' he joked, as a few Ferrari cases started roll around on the belt.

'what is this that I have heard you're giving Pietro a lift to Silverstone while we have to make our own way?' Domenico appeared with his luggage.

'well, I booked a car cause I'm going to see my family tomorrow, so i thought it would be nice to have company.' Valeria shrugged. 'if you guys trust my driving, I'll give you a lift too' she added. Pietro had spotted their luggage and had followed it around and picked it up.

'That would be nice. We'll chip in for petrol and that. What car did you get? Now you're dating Seb, I'm expecting a Ferrari' Giorgio joked.

'I got some kind of hatchback... I'll probably be a VW or similar' she explained as they walked out of the baggage claim.

It was a fairly sunny day, which is always a blessing in the UK, especially when you're not sure about your driving on the other side of the road. Valeria was concentrating extra hard on the speed limits and signs. It would have taken just over an hour from the airport to Towcester, where Silverstone was, and they had only been in the car for 10 minutes.

'Why is your music such a weird mix?' Pietro laughed as Enya was followed by 'pussy' by Rammstein.

'My playlists cater to my every mood' she laughed, singing along to the lyrics.

'Mercedes Benz, und Autobahn
Alleine in das Ausland fahren
Reise, Reise, Fahrvergnügen
Ich will nur Spaß, mich nicht verlieben'

'I get you want to impress your boyfriend, but please don't make us pay for it. What is this??' Domenico joked.

'Aò, my car, my music, my rules.' Valeria laughed. 'if you don't stop complaining I'll leave you at the next service station.'

'Actually, where's the next service station? I could really do with a coffee' Giorgio interjected.

'Fuck my life. Why are we friends again?' Valeria huffed. 'there's one at the next junction. It will be our one and only stop, please do all your pees and poos and coffee buying' she said, looking at them through the rear view mirror as she indicated to come off.

'what are you having?' Giorgio asked her 'I'll get it for you. To start thanking you for the lift., you know?'

'Oh thanks! Just a small Latte please' she told him. She looked at her phone and noticed Piero had tagged her in a story. It was her singing along to Rammstein and then joking around with the two mechanics. He had captioned it 'road trip fun with @proiettivale, @domenik and @itsgiorgio' she watched it with a smile and decided to share it, captioning it 'if you don't see me at Silverstone is because these dudes drove me insane'

She grabbed the cup of coffee Giorgio was passing her and regrouped with the other boys. 'have we all peed, pooed and done everything?' she asked.

'yes, mum' they joked.

'cool, next stop Towcester' she said, walking out to the car again.

Valeria and Pietro walked in the hotel , after having dropped Giorgio and Domenico off.

'you sharing my story on your Instagram has gained me like... 50 followers. I can't believe I'm friends with a celebrity' Pietro joked.

'You're welcome.' She laughed. 'Hello!' she smiled to the receptionist. 'Valeria Proietti, please? And Pietro Mair'

'is Mair M A I R? I do have that name. Can't find anything with Proietti. Could you spell it, please, madam?'

'It's Papa, Romeo, Oscar... actually, it could be under Vettel?'

'We do have a reservation under that name, but I'm not allowed to give out the key unless the person is present'

'fair. I do get that. I could be anyone' she told her with a smile. 'Seb should be here soon, I'll just hang around if you don't mind' She told her, getting her phone out to call Seb.

'Hallo Kleine. Is everything OK?' he picked up.

'Yeah, all good. The hotel room is under your name so I can't check in. When will you be here?'

'in a couple of hours. Do you want me to speak to them so you can get in?'

'No, it's cool. I got another coffee and I'm just sitting in the sun. I'll see you when you get here, Bärchen'

'love you'

'love you too. See you soon'

The following day

'Vale, Schatzi, it's time to get up' Seb turned around to spoon her, giving her a kiss on the neck.

'but I don't wanna' she moaned. 'if I don't take a shower, can I sleep another 20 minutes?' she mumbled.

'no, but we could take a shower together and save some time' he told her. She turned around, a smirk on her face. 'oh yeah?' she asked. 'I don't think that would save us any time, but OK'

'OK, now we are a bit late' Valeria said, looking at her watch , as Seb was putting on his Ferrari shirt. She quickly put her hair up in a ponytail and threw a couple of things in her overnight bag.

'Don't forget I'm staying at my Nan's tonight' she told him as they walked out of their room. 'but I will be back for FP1.'

'Don't be late' he told her, as he met up with Britta and his PT.

'I'll try not to' she joked, as she joined Pietro. She drove to the circuit, the motorhomes had already started popping up and the crews were hard at work to shape the paddock ready for the weekend.

They grabbed their passes and they followed the other crews in. The sun was still shining bright once Valeria had grabbed her first coffee of the day and had walked to her first appointment. She walked into the press room, ready to meet with the marketing and PR people from all teams and from f1 too.

The day went on quite quickly and Valeria found herself at the last of her engagements, listening to Seb, Lewis and Lando being interviewed.

'Roberto from sky sports. just a question for Sebastian, if possible' she heard a thick Italian accent and her ear perked up. 'You seem to be struggling this year. Would you say your new relationship is distracting you from your goals, with Valeria being around the garage and even this very room?'

Valeria almost chocked on her water, hearing her name. That was a direct question she wasn't expecting. She looked up to Seb as he moved his eyes away from her.

'Both myself and Valeria are 100% invested in our work. So, Short answer... no.' He smiled. 'our relationship doesn't involve anyone but us' he concluded. Valeria gave him a small smile, as all the journalists started picking up their recorders and papers. Valeria got up and walked out of the room herself. Lewis and Seb walked out together, chatting amicably. The Italian smiled at the sight, she had never been a big fan of Lewis, but she knew how much Seb liked and respected him and she could see the feeling was mutual.

'Lewis, this is Valeria, by the way' Seb introduced her.

'I finally get to meet you, heard and seen so much about you before I actually met you' he joked, shaking her hand.

'I hope what you heard and saw wasn't from the Daily Mail or something, cause they make me look like a right bimbo' she joked.

'nah, mostly heard from Seb' he told her, smiling.

'sorry, let me just take this' she said as her phone vibrated. 'Nan? Yes, I can hear you. There is no need to shout. Yes, I know you're calling me through the Internet but there really isn't any reason to scream. Yes, I'm done at Silverstone now, I was about to leave. It'll take about an hour and a bit? I'll send Alan a Google ping so he can follow me on the road if it makes you feel safer. Ask Alan what I meant. Yeah, I'll leave now, see you in an hour or so. I'll call Al if I need anything. Sure. Yes. Yes, will do. Gotta go. Bye' she hung up.

'Old people and technology. You two would get along'she joked to Seb, making Lewis laugh. 'I gotta go, now. Granddad is apparently starving and I need to drive all the way to the... slums' Lewis looked at her, curiously. 'My grandparents moved to Stevenage a few months back.I wanted to make this joke to you since' she laughed.

'Well, i didn't mean it that way' Lewis tried to apologise, as Seb looked confused.

'It's OK, I'm not from there' she joked. 'please explain this to Seb, he doesn't use the Internet. Gotta dash now, granddad gets grumpy when he's hungry. See you tomorrow, Seb. Lewis, it was a pleasure. My cousin will be so annoyed I got to meet you'

'Is he a fan of mine?' he asked surprised.

'Are there many British people who aren't?' she laughed.

'You?' Lewis smirked. 'anyway, here. Let him know I personally thank him for balancing the numbers out' he smiled, taking his cap off and signing it for her.

'I'm fighting the urge to throw that away' Seb joked, as he watched Valeria put the cap in her bag. She gave them both a wave and quickly walked out of the paddock.

She set the destination on her phone and started driving, arriving at her destination just over an hour later.

She parked the car on her grandparents' driveway and walked out of the car to find her Nan at the door, a bright smile on her face.

'hello' Valeria greeted her. 'did gramps send you out on a recon to make sure it was me?'

'Don't even start. He's eaten all the nibbles I had got for you' her grandma, Margaret, told her with a smile. 'come in, come in! So nice to see you' she hugged her.

'Lovely seeing you too, nanny. I've got some wine, the one you like. Where is everyone?' she asked.

'In the back garden. Everyone is excited to see you and hear all about your Formula1 career! And this Sebastian, he sounds lovely' Margaret didn't really watch F1 but her husband did and he had updated her about the latest from the motorsport world. Valeria's British side of the family was mostly composed of avid McLaren or Lewis fans, so her working for Ferrari was seen almost as an insult.

'gramps! I'm here, you can eat!' she joked, giving her granddad, Thomas, a hug. 'Hello everyone. Oh god, it is everyone! Thanks for all coming just for me' she joked, as she said hi to her aunties and uncles and all of her cousins.

'We came cause gramps said he was doing a barbecue, actually' Alan, her cousin, said smirking.

'Of course. Well, I'll keep this for myself then' she said, getting out the cap Lewis had signed for him.

'Say what? How? When?' he asked excitedly.

'well, I mentioned you were a fan and he's a good guy... I'm maybe changing my mind about him' she said. 'Thank you' she added, as her Auntie Jackie gave her a glass of wine.

'So... how is it? Working in Formula1? Dating a superstar? Your mum tells me you have even moved in' Jackie asked.

'yeah, life moves a thousands times faster when you work with super fast cars. It's all good, ups and downs like any other job... but how could I complain? I get to travel around the world, seeing these amazing places, watch fast cars and I get to do it with the man I'm dating. It's great. Even if my contract is originally for a year, we'll see what happens next year'

'I guess you'll have no financial issues' Alan teased her.

'I guess you want me to punch you in the face' she joked.