Sorry for the delay

Maranello, Italy
January 2022

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Have you ever dreamed of an event, so much in detail, that once you stood up, it seemed absurd to you that you still had to live it?

The nights before the events had always played tricks on me; I thought about one thing and reviewed twenty thousand different scenarios on how it could end.

This was one of the usual mornings when I would have to wake up hoping not to have to relive the embarrassment of the first day, and that everything would be exactly like in dreams.

But I woke up late, as if that weren't enough with a stiff neck for not having gotten used to the new bed yet.

Fortunately I had taken a shower the night before and I only had to get dressed, fix my reddish hair and wash my face too pale. I would have thought about breakfast later.

In the elevator I distracted myself by observing my reflection, sweater, windproof jacket and red pants, without forgetting the hat with the visor that hid my brown eyes.

I had dreamed of working at Ferrari for years, without ever thinking about what it would really mean to be part of it.

Italy in January was cold, with a completely different winter air from the English one, but it forced me to close my jacket anyway. I looked at the deserted street and tried to remember the little information I had received to get to work.

In the distance I saw a factory full of people, I walked more confidently, although as I got closer, I noticed that most of the people had the same clothes as me. I could have been mistaken for a normal fan.

I observed that work of architecture in front of my eyes, being amazed by the immensity and height of the building.

Red attracted as always, red had the weight of carrying the meaning of important emotions: love, danger, anger, fear, but above all strength. At that moment I was overwhelmed, partly because of the fans who called the names of the drivers, partly because of the grandeur of the building, but above all by the strength and intensity of the red Ferrari.

I approached the entrance, passing the boys blocked by some barriers and going towards what looked like a main door. A gentleman in a suit tried to stop me, but showing the access card, he let me go, apologizing a few seconds later.

Silence fell once he passed the door. I turned to look at the people and put the card I had used to cross the threshold back into my wallet.

I approached the reception, occupied by two boys and a girl, needing to talk to them, I tried to attract attention by making strange noises, it was embarrassing but it worked.

"Hello, how can I be of any use to you?" The girl asked, noticing me, but seeing my confused face, she repeated the same question in English.

"I would have an appointment with the team principal, Mattia Binotto." I announced, she smiled, asked me to wait a few seconds and then pressing a few keys on the landline, she said something with a probable Italian.

"You are ready to receive you, come with me." He got up from his seat and walked to a long corridor that reflected the colors of the stable. We walked for a good five minutes and on my right I could enjoy the view of the place, given the transparent glass walls.

"Come in here, he's waiting for you." I thanked the woman who was already intent on leaving and knocked twice in a row on the door. The plate on it showed the words Team Principal, confirming that I was in the right place.
A voice answered, in a tone that invited me to enter and so I did.

"Good morning! Hi, I'm the new engineer Abigail Mathews." I announced myself undecided whether to cross the threshold of the door or not.

"Hello, I've been waiting for you, please sit down." With one hand, he motioned for me to come in and took a seat in the chair on his side of the desk and I sat down in the opposite one.

"I spoke with Simone Resta and especially with Guenther Steiner, before starting the whole promotion request, to tell you the truth, they assured me that he would make the difference in our team... Maybe more than in theirs." He concluded, even though he did not seem to have finished the information to communicate to me, he began to observe my expression, which certainly seemed as usual, that is, flat.

My friends had often pointed out this behavior to me, almost as if my facial muscles weren't enthusiastic about smiling at events and decided not to reflect my true emotions.

"In the first few months you will be assisted by another engineer, who will show you the tasks to be performed and how to carry them out. The new single-seater will be presented on 17 February and work has already begun. All this will still be explained to you and you will see it in the coming weeks. In a few minutes there will be a meeting, where we will be present together with the whole team, including the drivers, to talk about this season." He concluded by resting his elbows on the desk and asking me if I had any questions to ask.

"I think everything is clear, thank you. How will it work now, before the start of the season?"

"There will be meetings once a week, for us and for the engineering team, to update ourselves on the various developments, around February we will do tests together with the drivers, regarding the aspects of the car and the final refinements of the car, before the presentation and pre-season tests." He paused for a few seconds to look at something written on his computer, "The working hours will be six days a week, but it will not apply during the Grands Prix, the day off will vary from week to week, so you will not be the same as your colleagues."
He told me that it was time for the meeting and I followed him through a different corridor than the one I had previously walked.

We arrived in a large room: on one side it had glass that divided small rooms with some desks, with computers resting on them, on the other a large half-moon table, surrounded by many chairs. At the end, there was another rectangular one that had a digital whiteboard behind it. Some of the chairs, if not most of them, were already occupied by people dressed in the same way as me.

Binotto began to walk towards the large desk and some late people continued to take their seats. Someone bumped into my shoulder and as usual I began to turn around irritated.

"Excuse me, that wasn't my intention." He answered even before I could speak and Carlos Sainz appeared before my eyes, in English identical to how I remembered him from interviews.

"It doesn't matter, I was in the middle." I smiled cordially. I had never crossed paths with either Ferrari driver in the paddock when I was working for Haas.

I decided to move and take a seat in the last four available chairs and a few seconds later the Spaniard sat in the only seat next to mine, since I was sitting in the last chair at the end of the table, the other free ones were on the opposite side.

"Are you new? I don't want to sound rude, but I've never seen you here." He asked me in the kindest way possible and I was almost amazed at his courtesy.

"I'm Abigail, nice to meet you" I reached out to him, who shook a few seconds later, "You've never seen me because last season I was working at Haas, as an engineer, it's my first day here."

"Wow! Then it means that you have done a good job. The team is great, I hope you'll be happy here." He said without stopping smiling, after which he took out his cell phone and typed something on it.

"Well, we're all here, we can start." Mattia Binotto announced a few moments later, looking at someone behind us.

"Sorry for the delay, having a fast car doesn't mean arriving on time unfortunately." I turned in the direction of the voice and Charles Leclerc, in a red short-sleeved shirt, walked in my direction, then stopped next to my neighbor.

"I didn't answer you because I was coming." He put his hand on Sainz's shoulder "How are you, man?" He said smiling and I realized that I continued to observe him non-stop because he focused his eyes on mine. So as a mature person, I shifted my gaze to the Team Principal who was taking his seat.

I didn't even listen to Carlos' answer and looking straight at the other tip of the crescent, I noticed the Monegasque driver sitting in front of me. And this time I didn't look away.

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I hope you enjoyed it!
✨✨

Ire