Chapter Text
Formula one to most people is a hobby.
They sit at home, with friends and family, or even themselves, every other weekend watching 20 cars, 10 teams, battle it out for a drivers and world championship.
But to her, Formula one meant more than sitting on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon cheering on her favourite team. To her Formula one was her whole life.
She remembers watching Schumacher become the sporting legend that he is, Alonso becoming one of the greats and even got a cap signed by Vettel in his glory days at a grand prix that her father took her to when she was young.
Her love for the sport spurred her on to complete a degree in sports journalism and take an internship for sky sports, gaining insight into what its like to be a reporter in the f1 world, keeping up with the changing of standings and every piece of news to break out.
After proving to others within the F1 world just how hungry she was to get a taste of the real thing and roll her sleeves up in the paddock, she was offered a PR job at Ferrari.
She was 23 now, very young to be in the position she had landed, but Ferrari had taken a chance on her in order to bring more youth into their team, and she wasn't going to let them down.
Her job, although seemingly straightforward, put a lot of pressure on her shoulders. Not only is she in charge of the social media aspect, she also has to protect and maintain the image of Ferrari's golden boy, Charles Leclerc.
But no matter the challenge it seemed, it felt more like a dream come true and was willing to work day and night to keep the position she had been so grateful to have achieved.
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You reach the home of Ferrari, Maranello, moving your life out here from England.
You held your breath as you step in through the glass doors, into what felt like the biggest, most daunting building you had ever seen.
Everything felt so clean and professional- clinical even, everyone wearing their iconic red uniforms and of course the iconic prancing horse plastered everywhere.
Although it had been some time since Ferrari had brought a championship trophy back to Maranello, there was an atmosphere here like no other. Everyone was proud to be a part of Scuderia Ferrari, no matter how insignificant their job may seem from the outside. It truly is not only a team, but an experience, even a family, and despite not being in their glory days anymore, there was no feeling of defeat in this building but instead one of hope, that one day the historic team could make its way back onto that top step of the podium, bringing back not only a drivers trophy, but also the constructors.
You sit on the chair by the reception, eagerly waiting for someone to collect you to start your induction to your new job.
Smoothing the creases in your red trousers and twiddling with your ID badge, you barely notice the small red headed woman approach you with a smile.
You stand up, facing the woman, shaking her hand and introducing yourself.
"Ah yes!! A pleasure to meet you, My names Andrea, the senior PR manager for Scuderia Ferrari.", she said, in a thick Italian accent, her eyes sparkling as she spoke. You could see the pride in her eyes when she mentioned Ferrari.
"I see that you are here ahead of schedule, very good, I like your work ethic already" she joked.
You returned a small nervous laugh back, "Well you know what they say, rather too early than late."
You weren't even sure that was a real statement that anyone had ever said but Andrea didn't seem to notice and instead just grinned at you with a smile that could eclipse the sun.
"Now, lets get started, there is much to show you and to discuss." said Andrea, beckoning for you to follow her to the lift, to which you most certainly obliged.
"You are certainly what we need here I think. A fresh, young, determined face is what I think will help bring this team back to greatness and really get us down with the 21st Century." She stated.
Again, you didn't know what to say, so simply responded with a small nervous laugh of agreement.
"And a woman no less" continued Andrea, "Between you and me, I think there's too many men in this sport, it's about time we sunk our claws in and stood our ground in this sport, no matter how little our job may seem."
You nodded in agreement.
"And that leads me to my first piece of advice, never let a man make you feel less than you are worth. If you have a point to say, speak, and if they want to argue tell them to take it elsewhere. It easy to get walked over in this sport as a woman." She said, deadly serious, as the elevator pinged taking you to the floor that you were led to.
"Absolutely, understood." You said in agreement, following the woman down the corridor into one of the rooms. You couldn't agree with her more.
"Now, this will be your office that you will share with a few other members of Charles' PR team, here is your desk up the back here." she said leading you to a large white desk with a laptop and desktop on it, accompanied with a large, red office chair that looked unbelievably comfortable.
"As you may see, we have provided you with a laptop and computer as you will be travelling around a lot and we need you to be able to be ready at all times. As well as these there is a professional camera and a company phone, already loaded up with the login information to all the socials you may need to post on." She stated.
"Notebooks, planners, pens, pencils; typical office supplies, all that you could possibly needed."
"Amazing." You responded, keeping track of everything you had been shown so far.
"Now obviously this seems like a large workload, but of course there are plenty of benefits such as flying across the world, expenses paid, working around some of the most skilled athletes and of course being around celebrities and even royalty." She said, her eyebrows raising in a suggestive way.
"But of course although this may seem like a dream come true, this is still a job, and not an easy one at that. You and the others in this PR team are responsible for the social media image of this team and the overall image of one of our drivers- Charles Leclerc. It is up to you to not only post on ours and his socials, but to record his interviews, prepare questions and answers, film teammate videos, minimise any negative press and present him in a way which is not only professional but also up to date with the modern world.
We want to bring this team back to greatness and we believe Charles can do that, which means we need you to make sure this runs as smooth as possible. I know this seems like a big job to take on at a young age, and truthfully, it is, but I see something in you, a fire, a passion- a great desire to make this team into the best it can be. So what do you say?" asked Andrea.
You were taken aback for a second from the womans words. You hadn't expected for it to get this serious this quick. You knew the pressures of this job, but suddenly thinking of it like that, now that you were actually here, you realised how daunting and monumentous this job actually is and how much this means to you.
But you had got this far and worked too hard to even think about giving up now. This is what you wanted to do. This is where you wanted to be. You were home.
"I'm ready." you responded confidently, nodding your head frantically.
Andrea grinned at you, "Magnifico! Now, lets introduce you to the rest of your team, and of course, our drivers."