Chapter 1 #2
As they walked together to the hospitality unit, she noticed Erik, who had finished FP1 in 1st place. The fans in the paddock were crowding around him as he was trying to get to his suite. He looked up and saw her. Their eyes met for a brief moment, and they both continued walking.
Erik had wanted to wave to Ingrid for some reason when he saw her, but he felt stupid.
He had a girlfriend waiting for him upstairs.
Ingrid would know this if she followed F1 as Antoine had said.
The TV coverage loved to show their girlfriends.
Erik was actually an introvert and preferred to keep things private, but he knew this was part of what he had signed up for, so he embraced all the nonsense of media attention to his advantage.
A frank comment here or there about a driver or team, an influencer girlfriend to fit into the stereotype, and famous Gatsby-esque yacht parties in Monaco, which he appeared at for about ten minutes, then played video games downstairs while his guests got wasted.
Erik had his close circle of friends who knew who he really was, and he kept it that way.
When Antoine and Ingrid got to his changeroom between sessions, she checked social media.
“Oh my god, Antoine, we should have clarified who I was!”
“Why?” He and Gaetan both asked at the same time.
“There are all these photos of me online asking if you’ve broken up with Daniela and I’m your new girlfriend!”
Antoine and Gaetan burst out laughing.
“It’s too funny!”
“No, it isn’t!” Ingrid responded. “Daniela is going to freak out.”
“She won’t. I think when she gets here, you two should do photos together. Keep them talking. It’s good for my social media. I’ll message her now.” Antoine took his phone and chatted to Daniela. “She thinks it’s a great idea.”
Ingrid rolled her eyes. “I’m not here to play games, Antoine. I’m here to help you.”
“But this is helping me! See, I’m laughing and relaxed.”
Ingrid couldn’t argue with that. Antoine was going to take a rest, then meet the team for a strategy brief ahead of FP2, so Ingrid went for a walk to find a place for a smoke.
“Have you escaped your guy?” She heard someone say as she was looking for a quiet spot. It was Erik. He was leaning against a truck, almost hidden away.
“He’s having meetings. Shouldn’t you be doing the same?”
“Already done. It’s my quiet time now.”
Ingrid looked around, and somehow, they had managed to find a place at Albert Park with very few people around.
“Not with your girlfriend?”
“No, and I see you have a new boyfriend.” He chuckled as he held out his phone with a photo of her and Antoine.
“I’m so cross about that, but Antoine thinks it’s hilarious and I see you do too.”
“Antoine said you love F1, so you should know there are cameras everywhere here and people love to speculate. The sooner you learn to ignore it, the better, Rookie.”
“Then I hope there isn’t a camera somewhere here because then they’ll say I’m with you next.”
“Don’t worry, I know all the hidden, quiet spots.”
He smiled at her. In the years that she had been watching him in F1, she hadn’t ever seen him smile like that. In fact, she rarely saw him smile unless he was joking around with the guys or messing with the media.
“I don’t suppose you know the hidden smoking spots?”
“I do actually. One of my favourite mechanics is a smoker. You can smoke here if you’d like? Keep me company?”
“I thought this was your quiet time?” She asked as she lit her cigarette.
“Ah, I can tell you won’t bother me.”
They stood there in a comfortable silence for a few moments.
“Introvert?” Ingrid asked.
“Yes.”
“I always thought so. You don’t appear it, but I’m usually good at spotting them.”
“Is that what you do? With your work?”
“Stuff like that.”
They fell back into silence, leaning against the truck.
“I have to go,” he said, then took her hand. “Don’t worry about the photos.”
Both of them felt the tingle left behind after that touch. Ingrid was left behind to think about what shit she had found herself in, and Erik was jogging back to the paddock, replaying the whole interaction in his mind with a smile on his face.
???
It was qualifying day. Daniela and Ingrid arrived at the track together, arm in arm, and walked through the paddock.
Daniela, with her long blonde hair and Ingrid, with her dark bob, made quite the pair.
The same photographer who had stopped Ingrid the previous day stopped them again, and Daniela answered that Ingrid was Antoine’s mental performance coach. Alright, it’s done, Ingrid thought.
FP3 started, and the wheels came off, literally.
Well, the tyres, to be precise. Antoine got a double puncture from debris on the track and lost two of his tyres.
He kept calmer than usual, which was an improvement.
It’s just tyres. He managed to get back out in time but could only place 6th in FP3, losing out to his teammate.
Ingrid managed to coach Antoine back from the edge and get him focused on what was important – qualifying.
She left Daniela and Antoine to relax and went for one of her walks.
She bumped straight into Erik as he was heading to his spot.
“Ingrid.”
“Erik.”
“Should I take you to the real smoking area this time?”
“That wasn’t a smoking area?” She looked at him in shock.
“No, but I didn’t want you to go, and I didn’t think anyone would really mind,” He said plainly.
“I mind.”
“A rule follower.”
“Yes!”
“Ok, follow me.”
He walked them past some trucks to a designated smoking area. There was only one other person there – a mechanic from the Wentworth team. Erik greeted him and then turned to Ingrid. He just wanted to be close to her. He was enjoying these moments.
“You and Daniela look good on camera.”
“I really wish they wouldn’t do that.”
“Yes, it’s irritating, isn’t it?”
“You just want to watch a race and suddenly have to see the girlfriends instead.”
Erik was observing her. She clearly did love her F1, and not just for the ‘hot’ drivers, he thought.
“Second or third row for your guy today?”
“I’m hoping second. Pole for you?”
He shrugged his shoulders.
“You know, it’s as if you don’t care. Perhaps that’s why you always come second?”
“I care.”
“Prove it.”
“Ok, how do you want me to prove it, coach?”
“Get pole today.”
She turned to stare at him with those sapphire eyes.
“Deal.”
And he shook her hand, then left.
Ingrid followed him back because she hadn’t been paying attention to the route they took.
She was only a few steps behind him. She could almost match his long strides.
He got stopped along the way for autographs and photos.
Ingrid passed him and looked back with mischief in her eyes.
Erik, in turn, tried to catch up to her. She was gone.
Antoine and Daniela were getting ready to go back to the garage.
“Where have you been?” He asked.
“Indulging in a bad habit,” Ingrid responded. “Ready to go?”
“Yes, let’s go.”
The three of them went downstairs to the garage. Daniela kissed Antoine good luck. It was Ingrid’s first qualifying with him. She didn’t know what to do.
“Just remember everything we’ve worked on,” she started, “clear, calm, focused. You’ve got this. I want to see a second row.”
“I’ll do it.”
Ingrid moved to the back of the garage with Daniela.
Antoine and his team had never been her F1 favourites.
Now, she was fully invested. It felt different having a client behind the wheel.
She was also keeping an eye on where Erik was on the timesheets.
Antoine made it through Q1 and Q2 without incident; Ingrid could breathe slightly easier.
She and Daniela were holding hands as the flying laps started for Q3.
Corrie took a spin at turn four and crashed into the barriers; the session was red-flagged with 4:47 to go.
Antoine was currently in 5th with a Cavallo ahead of him.
Ingrid wasn’t allowed to communicate with Antoine while he was in the car.
She wrote a note to Bonnie that said: “Second Row, Love Ingrid.”
Antoine got the message.
“Woohoo! We fucking did it! Starting P4 tomorrow! Thank you, everyone. I love you all.”
Erik took pole off of Blake and Amato. It had been close, but he snatched it in the final moments of Q3. When asked in the post-quali interview where that lap came from, his response:
“I made a deal with someone.”
???
Daniela and Ingrid were having drinks at the hotel bar while they waited for Antoine to get back from the track. After two long days of testosterone for Ingrid, it felt good to relax with another woman.
“How are you finding it?” Daniela asked.
“How do you put up with so many men all the time?”
“I don’t!” She laughed. “This is why I’m glad that I’m on tour a lot of the time.”
“With testing, I was only there for like a few hours, so it didn’t feel so bad, but the past few days have been a lot.”
“I hope you get used to it. You’re really helping Antoine.”
“I’m glad it’s helping.”
“It’s helping our relationship too. I think we’re finding more balance. I know you aren’t supposed to talk about it, but I just want to thank you.”