RACE 2 - Max Verstappen

27

"Do you think your engineers will be able to fix the problems with your car before Sunday?" The interviewer asked Daniella and she and four other drivers sat on the platforms with mics on their hands to answer the questions thrown at them. 

"My team is working day and night to give me and Lewis the best version of the car possible for this race weekend," Daniella politely replied. 

"I see the media trainings are not going to waste," Valtteri whispered in Daniella's ears, away from the mics no one could hear him. 

Daniella chuckled and nodded. It's true Toto strictly ordered Myra to train Daniella to be more careful and cautious, he thinks it's necessary after drive to survive portrayed her in a negative way. 

"Do you think you can beat your teammate like you did in Bahrain and win another podium?" Another interviewer asked. 

"Well…Lewis is one of, if not the best driver on the grid, and I have always enjoyed our battles…and every driver wants to perform better than their teammates, but I think we will have to wait till Sunday to get the right answer to your question," Daniella replied, making the interviewer disappointed as it was not the answer he was hoping for. 

"I think she will be on the podium again this Sunday," George said out of nowhere. "Luck has always favored her, like Baku last year for example, or in Bahrain last Sunday."

Valtteri, Lando and Lance shared a look as none of them expected George to say something like that, but the three of them knew well that if Daniella chose to argue with George then the press conference would turn ugly. 

"Are you saying that Daniella won the championship last because of her luck?" Another interviewer asked George. 

"Ye…"

"Of course he did," Daniella cut off George with a fake polite smile. Everyone in the room looked back at Daniella. "I mean if you are in formula one for three years and only managed to get your one and only podium till date due to luck and rain, naturally you will come to believe that everyone else is winning because of their luck, right George?" She looked at him, masking her anger very well and instead giving him a false polite and innocent look. 

"What do you have to say about that George?" Another question was thrown at him. 

George was struggling to say something, his face went pale. Daniella has never challenged his words against her in public, this is the first time and George thought she would just silently endure whatever he said. 

"Do the rest of you feel the same as George?" An interviewer asked the other three drivers. 

"Certainly not," Valtteri replied. "We all work hard for our accomplishments. Of course, it sucks for the driver if they crash or do not finish the race for some mechanical issues but I don't think it takes away from any other driver who gains a podium or points because of that. It's how motorsport is."

"I agree with Valtteri here," Lando added, and Lance nodded his head in agreement. 

"George?" The interviewer put his attention back to George. 

He could feel all eyes on him, he was angry but can't express it in front of everyone and all the cameras. 

"I think we should move on to the next question, I see you all are yet to ask questions to Lando and Lance here," Daniella politely suggested, putting George out of misery and diverting everyone's attention away from him and moving forward with the press conference. 

George shot her a confused look as he was sure Daniella wanted to make him suffer further, but the Mercedes driver paid no attention to him. 

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