For her.
For me.
For the fans still standing by me.
And above all, for Elena.
Because it wasn’t just my name on the line now.
It was hers too.
Chapter Thirty Four – Bahrain Media Day
F1 Pulse Broadcast: Bahrain Media Day, One Week Later
MARTY: Welcome back to F1! Here we are in Bahrain, after a short two week break and the only topic of conversation is Obsidian.
TARA: That’s right. Ever since the story broke about FIA scrutineer Klaus Hartmann and his suspicious history of inspections on Obsidian cars, the paddock has been in absolute turmoil.
MARTY: You can say that again. The investigation’s moved fast. Obsidian’s former Team Principal, Norton Ross, has been suspended pending a full inquiry.
TARA: Suspended is putting it kindly, Marty. He was frogmarched out of the team’s headquarters last week and hasn’tbeen seen since. The FIA’s handed down the harshest penalties we’ve seen in modern F1.
MARTY: Let’s break it down. A hundred million euro fine—
TARA: The largest in F1 history.
MARTY: All constructor points stripped—this year and last year.
TARA: Which drops Obsidian to dead last in the standings.
MARTY: The drivers keep their points, though, and that’s going to raise plenty of eyebrows. Volkov leads the championship by a single point and technically, he’s still in the fight.
TARA: For now. There’s been a lot of debate behind closed doors about whether that’s fair. But the FIA insists they found no direct evidence that either driver had knowledge of the misconduct.
MARTY: Doesn’t mean the fallout’s over. Obsidian’s stock price tanked after the sanctions were announced. Their board has launched an internal investigation.
TARA: And perhaps more importantly, every single one of their customer teams—Stratos, Hawthorn, Céleste, Tempest—have issued formal requests to terminate their engine supply contracts.
MARTY: A clean break. No one wants to be caught in the blast radius.
TARA: And speaking of clean breaks—Obsidian have appointed an interim Team Principal to steer the ship.
MARTY: Valerie Lin. She’s been with the team’s strategy department for years. Not flashy, not loud, but respected inside the paddock.
TARA: And PR is now being handled by Heidi Baxter, who’s got her work cut out for her. Let’s just say she’s been front and centre at every media appearance so far this week.
MARTY: And what about Aleksandr Volkov?
TARA: He’s here. He’s staying quiet. But there’s no mistaking the pressure he’s under. Every camera is pointed straight at him.
MARTY: And not just because of the scandal. Last week he gave a rare quote to the press, calling the past few days “a huge shock” and thanking his “girlfriend” for supporting him.
TARA: That word alone nearly broke the internet.
MARTY: And kicked off a storm of speculation. I’ve seen at least a dozen TikToks analysing who it could be—from models to former engineers to rival team PR reps.
TARA: No confirmation yet. But I can tell you one thing—Volkov’s never looked more like a man with something to prove.
