Whoever said that karting was just for kids they were wrong. Wait... scratch that, they we're fifty percent wrong. And for those who say that karting wasn't a sport, well, now they were a hundred percent wrong.

You needed the skill and reflex to overpass your fellow competitors, your timing had to be perfect and the most important thing Natalia learned was, not to drift, her scar on her left arm just above her elbow almost to her wrist was a reminder of it.

"Come on Natalia, leave some practice for the rest of us." Grecia Ocampos chuckled, taking off her helmet and getting out the kart, she had come in second during their tournament, as usual, Natalia was in first place.

"You almost had me on turn five during our eighteen lap." Natalia answered, her smile across her lips was big her cheeks heating up a little bit. "I'll try to control myself next time."

From the sidelines Natalia could hear some cheering, her green eyes set on them, her heart picking up its pace while her smile was big. Dylan Briggs, her number one supporter and source of happiness.

"Look at my girl." Dylan clapped and shouted in excitement towards his girlfriend, Natalia rushed towards his opens arms pressing her lips on his. "Gosh you were amazing out there babe," Dylan said afterwards "Don't tell anyone but you are better than most of the guys on the grid." Dylan wrapped his arms around Natalia, pulling her body closer to her.

The green eyes twinkle at his comment, Natalia could feel her ego just hitting the right spot, that was such a compliment, she really did believe she was better, not the best but better.

"Oh really? Better than Leclerc?" Natalia smirked up at him, her arms around Dylan's neck, who just nodded at him. "Russell?" Another nod. "Oh. Better than Hamilton?"

Dylan's face scrunched a little, a little chuckle leaving his mouth. "Okay, now don't go too crazy, no one is better than Hamilton, he's an 7 time World Champion, perhaps better than Max Verstappen, just a little bit better than him." Natalia laughed softly at his words, kissing him again before escaping his embrace to return everything to the karting owners.

Natalia had dreamt of becoming a Formula One driver ever since her father had taken her younger brother and her to a racing championship in Monaco, she wanted to be just like them, the adrenaline, the applause, praise, recognition, she wanted it all. But no woman had been a driver on the Grid, they were always behind the scenes.

"So, I'm meeting the Mercedes team in about three hours, wanna tag along?" Dylan's invitation was like music to Natalia's ears, she loved going to the Mercedes' Factory, it gave her the opportunity to learn and see the new additions to the F1 vehicles. So as expected, she agreed.

The London weather was welcoming and nice for once, the sky was clear and the sun shined behind a few clouds, but still, Natalia was prepared with an umbrella in Dylan's car, just in case of a rain deciding to show up. Changing the sneakers and sporty attire to a more formal dress and flats, Natalia was ready, she was excited to return to a place that also meant a lot to her, Mercedes and Ferrari meant a lot to her, those were the first teams she ever encounter and saw their potential, the first ones she rooted for.

"Just remember baby, don't go all "I know about F1 cars" and such with them, they don't care." Dylan said placing a kiss on her cheek before he could open the door of his car and do the same for her. Natalia nodded her head, of course it would be hard, Formula One is her passion, and not being able to share her knowledge with others? Phew, that would be hard.

They had arrived at the Mercedes Factory, the building was huge, the glass windows that decorated every inch of the place replacing the usual cement wall, a few race cars parked outside the garage for repairs, the big lake in the background welcoming a few birds and ducks. Natalia was here, she felt just like home.

"Oh Dylan, thank heavens you're here." One of the Mercedes engineers greeted them at the door, the place was filled with Mercedes engineers, mechanics, executives and a few reporters, Natalia felt relieved she dressed up for this moment, even though the heels were already killing her.

"What is happening?" Dylan asked looking around, keeping his smile to not cause stares on him.

"We are introducing the new reserve driver and well make the introduction to the drivers for this year's grid, which nothing has changed but you know, protocol." The engineer said, the three of them walked up to the second floor where Toto Wolff's —the executive director— stood.

Natalia smiled happily, her cheeks hurting a bit from the intense pressure she was putting into them, her heart was thumping a lot against her chest, she could feel her hands shake and Dylan noticed too as he left a small squeeze on her.

"Afternoon Dylan." Toto said greeting them, beside him, his wife Susie Wolff. "We have to talk about the date we will showcase the car, we are just waiting for Mick and George to arrive, Susie and I have discussed about adding a new reserve driver just in case since Mick is also part of McLaren."

Natalia listened to every word Toto spoke, a few of the Mercedes technicians and creative associates walked in, Lewis Hamilton walked in with George Russell by his side, both of them chuckling and talking about their holiday activities.

"We could try something new with the reserve driver, we are looking for someone in the F2, we have noticed some good drivers." A creative associate of Mercedes said, Natalia's attention spiked at the words.

"What if you looked into a female driver? I've seen and read that Women Series wants to join." Natalia said, her words were loud enough to be heard in the room, every person inside looked at here for a brief moment. Then, it was filled with laughter by the majority of the guys.

"A woman in the Formula One? With the rest of the guys? No way, no offense Susie." A guy said, he looked at Toto's wife, she had been a driver, but not inside the Formula One. "I am sorry but that's just a very insane idea"

"Natalia, what are you doing?" Dylan leaned down whispering into her ear. "We talked about this."

"Yeah, it's insane but perhaps a female driver could be helpful for testing the cars, it's not a terrible idea." Natalia let go of Dylan's hand as she took a step forward.

"Sorry, but no woman is capable to be as good as a man in Formula One, they don't have the strength and reflects like one of us, they can't be as fast or careful too."

"Okay enough with this comments, we are not here to talk about this." Susie Wolff stepped up and looked around. "We have reporters coming soon, and this topic isn't something engineers or technicians give their opinion about." Her eyes fell on Natalia. "If you want to share your opinions and suggestions, we can talk about this after the presentation, understood?" Natalia nodded her head, a feeling of embarrassment shook her body, her cheeks changed from having her happily smile to a frown, her cheeks burned but this time of feeling seen and critiqued. Natalia wanted to hide and run away.

"My apologies Mrs. Wolff."

"Okay, everyone smile and lets get ready to introduce our new drivers." Toto said looking at everyone, he motioned them to leave the office and be prepared. "Please stay after the session miss?"

"Natalia." Dylan spoke this time, stepping forward. "My apologies sir for her audacity to speak." He added, "She's a karting driver and well, she thinks she's talented enough to be an F1 driver.

"I'm sorry?" Taken back by Dylan's comment she looked at home her facial expression chancing completely to anger and confusion. "You told me today I was amazing, even better than the guys on the grid."

"Oh really? Well, we gotta see that actually." Toto added crossing his arms over his chest turning to look at Dylan.

"Sorry babe, but that was only said to lift up your ego."

"You can't be serious about that Dylan, you applauded everything I did, you come to my karting races too." The anger was boiling inside of her, Dylan was embarrassing in front of the Mercedes head and drivers who were standing behind him.

"Natalia that's enough, end of discussion, we will talk later about this." Dylan stood straight, his posture was looking as if he wanted to intimidate her, but Natalia wasn't buying, mimicking his posture she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Fine." A relieved sighed escaped Dylan's lips when Natalia spoke. "End of relationship." Turning around she apologized and excused herself out of the room, she didn't care how bad this was looking to everyone outside, she couldn't be here with a guy who was being cruel and lying to the Mercedes team, a place she wanted to call home.

Not looking back she left the building, with her phone out she opened her Uber app, she needed to escape this place, and surprisingly Dylan didn't follow her, for him his relationship wasn't important, she finally understood, and all those moment he had been there supporting her meant nothing anymore, she was devastated, angry, sad, so many negative emotions. All she could think of was going home or even better, let her anger and anguish out on a karting race, she could prove to everyone that woman could be part of Formula One, she just needed to know how.

a/n

why are first chapters difficult to write?