Drive to Survive

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Chapter Fifty-Eight

After the press conference, Dylan sat in the comms room, laid across one of the sofas scrolling through Twitter. It was never a smart thing to do but it had been an hour since the press conference had gone out and she was curious, if not a little nervous, to see what the F1 community was saying.

There was lots about Ferrari's hopes for the weekend, links to commentary from Guenther Steiner, photos of young driver Logan Sargeant - who was American and rumoured to be the favourite to replace Latifi next year - and some more speculation about Daniel Ricciardo's future. At this point in the season, there was a lot unknown and it gave F1 twitter much to talk about.

However, she couldn't avoid detection for too long and she eventually stumbled across a thread discussing her and Max.

@janeyf1: Max looked mooooody af in that conference #COTA22

@katydrives992: Are we buying what Carlos said about the switch? #Ferrari #COTA22

        @soph__rivera: You don't think they broke up surely? Feel like we would've heard

        @katydrives992: idk why would she switch to Ferrari she looked so happy at Red Bull?

        @soph__rivera: yeah but chance to work with family? idkkk i just hope they're still together i LOVE her with Max

@shutthef1: Max being his delightfully blunt self with the media today, things we love to see #COTA2022 #RedBull

@f1wagswardrobe: We're on couples watch! Is Dylan James' new shirt colour a choice to be close to family or a sign that we are losing a WAG? #MaxandDylan #COTA22

@opjames77: Love to see the family bond with Carlos and his cousin Dylan! #Ferrari #COTA22

Dylan sighed and closed the app down.

Most people seemed to believe Carlos' story and had just accepted that Max was just his normal grumpy self with the media. With her team change, there had naturally come a little speculation but she was surprised to see how minimal it was. Ruth's strategising had really paid off.

It was a refreshing feeling not to be dreading what the world was saying about her. She had enough to deal with already without that added stress.

As the clock struck 2pm, her phone dinged with a reminder to get going for Carlos' meet and greet. They'd had a break for lunch and Dylan had taken the opportunity for some quiet time so now she needed to track her cousin down.

The Ferrari paddock area was packed with crew and visitors and Dylan slipped through the crowds as quietly as she could. The team around her were still new and she didn't feel as comfortable as she had at Red Bull, where she'd known all the names and faces and been treated so well. It would come with time, she was sure of it, but being in the early stages wasn't the best feeling.

After trying a few different rooms with no luck, Dylan trekked right to the back of the structure and knocked on Carlos' driver room. He didn't reply but she pushed the door open anyway and was surprised to see Charles in there as well.

"Oh- hey guys." She smiled, walking in and letting the door fall shut behind her.

Charles held his finger up to silence her and that's when Dylan noticed music was playing in the room. It didn't have any lyrics and she didn't recognise the piece but Carlos was listening intently as Charles nodded his head.

When it finally came to an end, Charles reached over and disconnected the speaker before turning back to his teammate, "See? That piece has the saxophone in it and the whole thing changes, hmm? Did you like it?"