"THERE'S A JOURNALIST THAT wants to interview you while you're in melbourne," tori told isabel the next morning as they sat and ate breakfast downstairs in the hotel. "her name's hailey, and from what i've read, she's very professional."

"hailey?" isabel confirmed, and tori nodded. "isn't she the one who did that article on lando last year?"

"yeah, that's her."

isabel shrugged. "she seems lovely from what i've heard. i am okay to do it."

tori stifled a laugh. "i wasn't really giving you a choice. but we need to set ground rules."

"don't be rude,  don't sound self-obsessed, don't make public image worse . . ." isabel listed off as if it were muscle memory. "would you like me to continue?"

this time, tori rolled her eyes. "and no snark," she added, causing isabel to raise her hands defensively. "i highly doubt hailey is going to bring up anything terrible," she handed a notepad to isabel. "here's some sample questions and ideas that she wants to talk about. if you're not comfortable answering anything, she's said that she's happy to skip over anything and leave it out of the article."

isabel sighed out in relief. most journalists weren't like that, so that was a good sign. glancing down at the notepad, some ideas had been scribbled down in tori's neat cursive. from the looks of it, it was asking about personal life and her childhood — something that journalists didn't usually care for. there was a part of her that was genuinely excited for this interview now.

"i'm flying with charles and carlos in a few hours. we're gonna spend some time travelling," isabel set the notepad back down. "i can come up with answers and all that then, yes?"

"sure," tori nodded. "but please, for the love of god, don't do anything stupid in australia. that means i have to bail you out of trouble with the media," when isabel opened her mouth to argue that she wouldn't, tori quickly stopped her by raising her hand. "and don't say you won't because i know what you three are like."

isabel's smile was sheepish. "i promise . . . not to do anything unless charles and carlos do it first."

"you make my job so much harder than it is," tori couldn't help but laugh quietly. as difficult as being isabel's pr manager could be, tori wouldn't swap her for anyone else.

x

"HEY CHARLES," ISABEL SAID as she looked up from the notepad that tori had given her. charles glanced up from his phone to look across the plane's aisle at her.

"mhm?" he hummed, pausing the current movie he was watching.

"i have this interview thing," she tapped the pen against the notepad in thought. "and they're asking about all this stuff and . . . i wonder if i should speak about jules and . . ." she trailed off, knee beginning to bounce. "i mean, how awkward would it be if i start crying," she laughed to herself, and charles couldn't help but let a little chuckle slip.

she was chuckling at the thought of crying since it didn't sound right. ever since 2017, isabel found herself unable to shed a single tear, it was like her body refused to. she was convinced that she'd cried so hard during the 2015 to 2017 period that it just wasn't possible to generate tears anymore. the mere thought of crying was humourous now.

"you do not have to speak about him, or dad, or anyone that you don't want to," charles said slowly, glancing down at the notepad in her lap. "but i think you should. it will help with an understanding about the type of person you are, you know?"

isabel found herself nodding as she nestled back in the chair. "i think you are right," she agreed. "grazie, charles."

he shrugged. "get some sleep. i'll help you with it later."

x

THE OVER SEVENTEEN HOUR flight from jeddah to melbourne was mind-numbing. on top of isabel feeling braindead and wanting to sleep even longer than she had on the plane, she had to greet fans along with carlos and charles as they walked through the airport.

an area had been paved out for them to walk through thanks to airport security, but it didn't make isabel feel much better. she had a love-hate relationship with formula one fans — especially if they were hardcore max verstappen fans.

it luckily went by in a blur due to her tired state: signing things, taking photos with fans whilst apologising for looking like a corpse, having quick conversations. no one really dared to bring up anything red bull related when charles and carlos were with her.

"i am so fucking tired," isabel complained as she pulled the hood of her black jumper up over her head to cover her face.

"do not fall asleep on the way to the hotel," charles laughed, "because i am not carrying you out of the car."

"you are a terrible brother," isabel rolled her eyes before looking at carlos. "would you carry me?"

carlos squinted beside her. "no comment," he said as if he were talking to a reporter during a race weekend. isabel looked baffled, "you're both terrible," she decided as they exited the airport.

snorting, carlos nudged her with his elbow. "says you."

x

ON THURSDAY, ONCE ISABEL was no longer sleep deprived and could function like a normal human being, she sat in a lounge area within the lamborghini section of the paddock. tori got into contact with hailey and they decided to do the interview earlier than the gp week since isabel was already going to be in melbourne before then.

"hi!" a woman approached isabel and sat across from her. isabel immediately recognised her to be hailey from the youtube interviews the woman had done with other drivers. "it's lovely to finally meet you."

"you too!" isabel greeted warmly. "i am actually excited for this."

"so am i," hailey grinned as a cameraman helped to set up a camera in a position so that hailey and isabel could both be seen fairly easily. "you've got to be one of my favourites on the grid."

isabel felt like her heart was melting as a smile pulled at her lips. in the short few minutes that she'd been in the presence of hailey, she already felt more comfortable than she ever had been during an interview.

"okay, i just thought i would run you through a few things before we start," hailey set her cards of questions and information down on her lap and handed isabel a microphone. "if there's any questions you don't want to answer or anything you want cut out from the video or article, feel free to let me know! i want you to feel as comfortable," hailey then leaned closer and lowered her voice to a whisper, "because, man, some people are absolute dickheads from what i've seen."

a laugh bubbled in her throat. lowering her voice, she whispered back, "you're right," she agreed. "some people are just . . ."

"i get it, trust me," hailey shrugged off. "whenever you're ready to start this, we'll hit record. some of the questions i ask might not sound blunt and like it doesn't flow properly but that's because it's going to be written as an article. okay?"

isabel nodded. "ready when you are."

hailey signaled at the cameraman, who pressed a button on the camera attached to a tripod before stepping away.

"g'day, we're in the paddock in the lead up to the australian grand prix in melbourne," hailey addressed the camera, "and i have with me the lovely isabel leclerc!"

"bonjour, guys," isabel waved at the camera.

hailey turned her body back to face isabel. "why don't we start with the grand prix in a few weeks?" she continued when she saw the monégasque nod. "any initial hopes or thoughts? we all would love to see another p1. which, congratulations in jeddah, by the way."

"thank you!" isabel smiled as she faced hailey. "no, yeah, i am very excited. another p1 would be great, of course, but any podium position is also welcomed. i have high hopes, and the australian crowd is always fun." i just really want to beat max to prove a point after last weekend.

"i love your confidence," hailey smiled. "speaking of, let's delve into your childhood, if you don't mind. what built up all this confidence?"

"i grew up with all brothers," isabel leaned back against the couch, "two older and one younger. charles, arthur and i were all really into motorsport, so we constantly pushed to be better than each other," she then shrugged. "i guess the confidence just built up every single time i pulled off a faster lap than them when we did karting."

"i definitely get that," hailey nodded, "grew up with two brothers and god it could be a struggle. can you walk us through the life of isabel leclerc?"

"i would love to," isabel giggled, hands clasped together. "i grew up in a family of six in monte carlo. of course living there meant f1 was a big thing, and my dad was an f3 driver, and a close friend of ours was an f1 driver . . . so i got thrown into the world of motorsports pretty young. charles was the first to start karting, so watching him really got me into it, and then obviously my brother arthur later on."

"wow," hailey said, "they must've been pretty influential."

"very," isabel huffed out a soft laugh. "as you obviously know, jules bianchi was close to our family," her throat constricted a little at the mention of the man that had had such a large impact on her childhood dreams. "i originally wanted to be a gymnast when i was a kid, but i remember going to watch him in the grand prix in my hometown and thinking, 'wow, this is what i wanna do'. and so he helped me get there."

a somber expression painted across hailey's face. "remember, we don't have to talk about anything you're not comfortable with," she quickly reminded isabel quietly. "were there any huge setbacks in your career?" isabel knew what hailey was referencing: the 2015 to 2017 seasons.

"there definitely were," isabel nodded, surprising herself with her sudden courage to speak about this publicly. unlike charles, she had never openly spoken about her personal life in this much detail before, but now that she had, it felt refreshing. "like i said before, i was really close with jules, so when he died, it felt like a part of me did too, in a way," she took a breath. "i skipped out on a few races every now and then when i was in f3, and that really held me back a year or two," she laughed softly. "and then with our, uh, our dad . . . yeah. was a hectic few years."

"i'm glad to see you doing better, though," hailey said honestly. "we all watched you and charles mature so young, and it was really heartbreaking."

isabel shrugged with a small smile. "it made me who i am today. i would do anything to get them back, but without it, i don't think i'd be as successful of a driver. it made me push harder to get here."

hailey nodded. "getting out of the heavy shit," she said lightly, "do you have any hidden talents or anything no one knows about that you're willing to share?"

"i can juggle," isabel smiled more once she heard hailey chuckle, "uh, i really like soccer and gymnastics. i'm terrible at drawing and i cannot set up a tent if my life depends on it."

"wow, that's quite the list," hailey said. "the tent one is oddly specific."

"arthur and i went camping a few years ago for fun. i couldn't set it up and then the whole thing flooded. never again," she shook her head.

"we'll have to get you to set up a tent for a video," hailey grinned, "i'd pay to see that."

"stop," isabel laughed, "you are evil."

"one last thing before we wrap up, how does a rapid fire round sound?"

"ooh!" isabel nodded happily, "yes, please."

"okay," hailey glanced over one of her cards, "full name?"

"isabel jules victoria leclerc," isabel said quickly.

"god, you and charles've both got long names," hailey's eyes widened. "next. favourite food?"

"any type of pasta."

"any tattoos?"

"uh, a '17' on my wrist and i have a little red heart over my heart."

"favourite track?"

"circuit de monaco and marina bay."

"best friend?"

"carlos sainz."

"favourite brother?"

"george russell."

"birthday?"

"june 13, 1999."

"and finally, any goals?"

"to win a world championship," isabel nodded. "a constructor's would be just as good, though."

"well," hailey clasped her hands together around the mic, "thank you so much for your time! you must be itching to relax, i'm sorry to have stolen you from that," she laughed quietly.

"you saved me from third-wheeling on the ferrari boys," isabel joked. "but no, i do not mind, you have been lovely, thank you for having me."

hailey waved her off, "the pleasure is all mine."