'And there's the chequered flag! Here in Emilia-Romagna! And Charles Leclerc and Maya Woods cross the line in P4 and P5!'
'That's a really good result for Ferrari, today, considering the performances they were putting in last season.'
'It is indeed. And, to be fair, there were moments today where I thought they were going to lose it, but Woods is proving a formidable defender for Leclerc. Once she's there, holding the position behind him, there's no getting past her, it seems.'
I pull into the pit lane and jump out of my car, pulling my helmet off and shaking out my hair. The atmosphere in the grandstands is electric, absolutely packed full of the tifosi, a literal sea of red. It feels incredible to know that I'm one of the people they're cheering for. And, while it would've been nice to deliver a slightly better result for them, when you compare it to last year, P4 and 5 is not bad. In fact it's pretty good.
I walk down the line of cars, meeting Charles on the way as he jumps out of his own car.
'Good race, Leclerc.' I say, elbowing him as we pass each other.
'You too.' He takes his helmet off and ruffles his hair, 'Thanks for defending me out there.'
'You're welcome. We're a team now, so I can't fight you anymore.' I joke.
'Well, there's no harm in a little fight sometimes, but I'm grateful you didn't choose violence today.' That makes me laugh.
We walk, side-by-side, through the garages to get weighed, then out to our driver rooms. On the way, Charles turns to me.
'Hey, would you mind giving me a lift back to the hotel after this? I didn't bring my car in today and I can't be bothered to wait for Pierre or one of the others.'
'Yeah, of course.' I accept, 'I'll wait for you out here.'
'Thanks, Maya.'
We both disappear into our neighbouring driver rooms and I grab a shower and a change of clothes before gathering up my things and meeting Charles out the front and heading to the Chevy.
As we get in, I roll the top down and Charles looks over at me.
'Was it quiet when you drove in this morning?' He asks, glancing at the empty space above his head.
'I suppose. I came quite early. Why?'
He chuckles and leans back in his seat.
'You wanna prepare yourself for this. Driving out of here can get pretty wild.'
'What do you mean?'
'The tifosi wait at the entrance to get photos and pictures with you, while you're in the car.' Charles tells me with a laugh. 'There'll be hundreds of them.'
I consider this for a moment, wondering if it might be wise to put the top back up. But then I decide against it, getting my phone out and pairing it to the sound system instead.
'What're you doing?' Charles asks, but I just smile.
'If there's going to be hundreds of people watching us,' I say, 'We might as well give them a good show.'
I wiggle my eyebrows in Charles' direction and he sniggers, watching me with interest as I choose a song from one of my playlists. As it starts to play, his smile seems to grow even more.
'It's our song.' He grins, and I nod my head, turning the volume up as the beat drops on 'Adventure of a Lifetime,' nodding along to the beat and giggling as Charles starts doing his little head wobble.
I turn the engine on and throw the car into gear, pulling out of the carpark and heading for the road out of the paddock. Sure enough, as we round the corner, I can see people packed against the entrance, literally standing in the road. I glance at Charles, who gives me a look that says 'told you so.'
But I don't turn the music down, just slow the car as we pull out into the chaos of the streets, which are just packed with red-clad tifosi, cheering our names. Instantly, there are hands reaching into the car holding red hats and bits of paper and phones. I roll both our windows down so people can get to us, steering the car with my thigh as I sign as many things as I can, smiling for photos and videos. Charles is doing the same out of his window. Distantly, I can hear a group of fans outside singing along to our music.
It's a lot, but not in a bad way. Every signature and photo is accompanied by shouts of 'vi amiamo,' and 'forza Ferrari.' It's horrendously loud and claustrophobic, but the clamour is also so loving. I realise only now how much I was expecting to be hated. I guess I've learnt to expect the worst, so then I'll never be disappointed. But this... This is so different to what I expected.
And as we wade gradually through the crowd, leaning in for photos with smiling face after smiling face, blasting music and singing along with people, I can't help but feel like perhaps this is where I belong. Where I was always meant to be.
Perhaps this team will be the making of me.
Eventually, we break out from the other side of the crowd and I'm able to accelerate away, leaving the screaming and cheering behind and heading for quieter streets. Both Charles and I release sighs, almost in unison.
'As I said, absolutely crazy.' Charles says, breathlessly.
'Amazing though.' I qualify, a huge smile still plastered across my face, 'Absolutely amazing. I've never known appreciation like it.'
Charles tilts his head and smirks.
'Welcome to Ferrari.'
And long may I stay.
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