“I’m sure Mr Volkov is sick of being asked personal questions and I’m also sure that F1 fans have far more pressing concerns.” My comments caused another ripple of laughter through the room. I suppressed a smile and exchanged a risky glance with Aleks. He didn’t look like he could manage a smile at that moment and I quickly focused. “Valerie, given the scale of the sanctions and the timing of the leadership change, how can fans trust that Obsidian’s culture has truly changed — and that this isn't just damage control?”
“Nice,” whispered the journalist next to me.
I cast her a quick nod.
“Thank you Ms Archer,” Valerie replied, her voice crisp and clear. “As you know, I’m a strategist. My background is in the sport, it’s in compliance with rules. Without those rules, this sport would be exceedingly dangerous. It used to be the case that a driver was fatally wounded once in every eight races. Now, such incidents are almost unheard of. We’ve come a long way thanks to rules and taking safety seriously. I don’t take that lightly and I can assure all of the fans, and all our professional colleagues, rivals and peers, Obsidian is working hard to put this behind us and run a clean race, every race.”
“Thank you, everyone,” Richard said, cutting off the clamour for a follow up question. “We’ll leave it there for today as we’ve already run over.” He got to his feet and the panellistsbegan to gather themselves to leave. I leapt from my seat and hurried from the room ahead of the crush.
I’d read Aleks’s growing frustration throughout the panel and I had to get to him to offer comfort and encouragement.
My bag bounced against my hip as I navigated the crowded paddock outside the media centre. I pulled my phone from my pocket and typed a hasty message:
I’m outside the media centre. Where can I find you?
I watched the ticks turn blue. Then waited. The heat pressed down on me, even though the sun had set during that last panel session. Aleks’s reply came through a minute later.
Come to my hotel room. Going for debrief with team now. Will be there in an hour.
That would have to do, so I replied with a thumbsup and drew a steadying breath. I looked around at the bustling crowd and made out Caroline working her way towards me.
“Hell of a question,” she said as soon as she reached me.
“Thanks. You too. You weren’t pulling punches.”
“Go for the jugular, you know that. I expected you to grill Volkov some more. You went off brand.”
I shrugged. “I figured he’d had enough heat.”
“Sure. And you got that quote from him last week about his girlfriend how exactly?”
I glanced around, shaking my head slightly and fighting a laugh.
“Does that matter?”
“Given no one else could find him, yeah. What’s your secret? You train at the same gym as him or what?”
“I got lucky, that’s all.”
Caroline’s brows lifted and she crossed her arms. “Oh really?”
I realised what she’d inferred and instantly regretted my choice of words.
“You know, I’ve wondered for a few weeks if there was chemistry there. The little looks, that night in the club in Seoul when he danced with you. You’re hitting that, aren’t you? You’re the girlfriend.”
“What? I don’t even know how to respond to that.” I was doing a terrible job of covering myself and she knew it.
“That wasn’t a denial.” She turned to go.
I panicked and grabbed her arm, pulling her back to face me. “Caroline, no. There is nothing to report there. Please, don’t.”
“News is news, Elena.”
“This isn’t news. It’s trivia. Be a decent journalist and keep this one to yourself. Find a real story.”
She looked as if I’d slapped her. I released her arm, my cheeks burning.
“I owe you,” I said, desperation cutting in. “For giving me that on-air question for Ross. I owe you. What do you want instead of this?”
