#that one video of him getting ready to get in his car before monza 2021. he knew he was going to win it

[rickybaby]

in relation to your post talking about how daniel absolutely deserved the wdc shouts he (deservedly) got another interesting tweet the other day was "is prime ric better than what leclrec has shown so far" and while there were (pleasantly) many people agreeing that yes, prime daniel was better, so many people also kept talking about how he couldn't touch leclrec, which goes on to show you recency bias is crazy!

Ah yes I have seen that tweet the other day. I was also pleasantly surprised at the amount of people agreeing that prime Daniel was better. I think one of the replies pointed out that the only thing that Charles has over Daniel is his one-lap pace, which I completely agree with.

I have to admit that I am a pretty new fan, so I cannot objectively say who between Daniel and Charles was better in 2020. But I feel that people rating Charles highly come to a large extent from him beating Seb at Ferrari, but that was a Seb who had been worn down by the years of frustration there while Daniel beat the Seb who was still young and was coming off winning those four championships.

I know Charles fans are going to come at me, but it must be acknowledged that he can sometimes be error-prone (tho admittedly his bad luck rivals Daniel’s), something which Daniel never was at Red Bull. The only glaring bozo moment of Daniel’s at RB that I can think of is him tapping the walls during Q2 in Baku in 2017.

Another comment that I recently saw on twitter was how whenever Daniel sniffs out the possibility of a win, it’s like something comes over him and it’s like nothing can stop him from getting that win. It’s like he’s said, he’s never left a win on the table and I think this is something very few drivers have. I don’t think even certain world champions could pull the wins he did and in the circumstances that he won them in.

The reason why we still get Monza 2021 discourse in big year 2024 is because a) McLaren hasn’t since been able to win another one and b) Daniel had no business winning it for the season he was having. And yet, when he saw the opportunity for that win, it’s almost scary to see that calm focus with which he went after it.

[detroit-grand-prix]

Wildest Dreams Chapter 21 - mad woman, part 2

Chapter summary: The unusual 2020 season proceeds on, through Italy, Russia, and Germany. Monza is her favorite place, and Bee wants to get a good result there. Maybe here she can break an unfortunate record that's decades old. But racing in Germany brings up questions about home and identity for her.

Content warning: N/A

Chapter word count: 5,500

Author's Notes: Here is a link to a full-sized version of the image used in this chapter, for mobile. I didn't realize how bad the mobile view compressed it.

I just need to point out that this is where another major deviation from these events in real-time take place. The 2020 Italian GP was actually the Williams' family's final race as far as their involvement with the team goes. I think Dorilton Capital bought them before the 2020 season. But, Claire is still plot-relevant for future things for me, so in this AU, they've pushed that back a year.

I discovered a site that allows you to generate fake twitter screenshots and went a little buckwild with it. A lot of the accounts are just made up, but a few are real and some of my favorite F1 creators. I didn't ask them for permission for the little "cameo", which, maybe I should've but... if any of them have an issue I'll take them out. And I'll link them here!

Live Laugh Lyds - amazing, fun TikTok her, self-appointed president of the Danny Ric fanclub, does fun things like outfits inspired by F1, vlogs, and other fun things

F1Toni - Incredibly informative, talks a lot about the little intracies of F1, some engineering things, history, hows & whys, and is a huge advocate for women and women content creators in the F1 space. Aston Martin also brought her in to talk to Sebastian Vettel in Miami!!

The Red Flags F1 Podcast - They brand themselves as a podcast for "little sluts who live for the drama" and that is an accurate description. It's from an American perspective/"fan who discovered the sport through DTS perspective", so it might not be for everyone, but I absolutely love it. I don't even listen to podcasts, normally, but I love this one.

Here's a video of George tormenting his poor performance coach by driving him around the Nordschleife. I can say this with absolute confidence: I would NEVER.

And here's the video tour that George and Nicky gave of their team motorhome in Spa during the 2020 season!

And finally, here is a picture of the Germania statue that Bee has on her helmet. I don't think it's really the German equivalent of the Statue of Liberty, but it was the closest thing I could find.

Next chapter will probably be the conclusion of the 2020 season and the start of the 2021 season.

Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, Monza, Province of Monza and Brianza, Lombardy, Italy September 6th, 2020

Bee and Emilia left the hotel early on the morning of race day. She had a scheduled interview with the Drive to Survive crew before she needed to get ready for the race - the camera crew wasn’t embedded with Williams today, but they asked each driver to give periodic interviews at most of the races. There were throngs of people gathered around outside the hotel, all clad in red, with prancing horse banners and Italian flags. The fans couldn’t attend the race, but they were gathered outside of the hotel most of the drivers were in, hoping to catch a glimpse of Charles, Sebastian, or Carlos Sainz, who had just been announced as a Ferrari driver next season. 

Bee didn’t pay much attention as she was walking outside, chatting with Emilia as they walked to the car. They both had face masks and sunglasses on, which normally allowed Bee some degree of anonymity - not that she needed it yet, she was still a relative unknown amongst the grid. The only thing that would have indicated who she was was her Williams team kit. 

Except - they were almost to the car, when one woman, standing by the gate, yelled out, “È La Vespa!”

Bee whipped her head around to see a small contingent trying to get a good look at her over the gate. She stopped, took her sunglasses off, and waved to them. Another woman in the crowd shouted, “Buona fortuna!”

“Ciao! Grazie, ragazzi!" Bee shouted, waving to the few people in the crowd that had turned their heads. 

“I didn’t know you had Italian fans.” Emilia said, as Bee drove past more gathered fans near the entrance to the track. “I thought they were all Ferrari fans. And I didn’t know you spoke any Italian, either.”

“It surprises me sometimes, too - having Italian fans, I mean. But I’ve not had a bad race at this track, not since I raced here in Formula Renault. Maybe it just means I’ve earned their respect, or something. And what I said is basically the extent of my Italian vocabulary.” 

“And what were they calling you? La… vespa? Isn’t that a scooter?” 

Bee laughed. 

“Oh, it means ‘the wasp’. Two years ago, I raced in Formula 2 here. You’ve probably noticed that Formula 2 has two races per weekend, right? So I qualified on pole position, got first place in both races, and broke the lap record for the track in Formula 2 cars. After that, the Italian-language motorsport press started calling me La Vespa di Monza, or “the wasp of Monza”. You know, because… my nickname is Bee.”

“Oh… that explains the design for your helmet this weekend.”

“Yup!” Bee said, brightly. She had been using the helmet that Susie had given her ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix as her normal helmet for the season, but Monza was the first race she’d wanted a special helmet for. 

She had opted for a minimalist, matte black helmet with angled, gold, art-deco style lines that formed a minimalist graphic of what looked like a wasp. It was supposed to be a bee, but Bee’s helmet designer decided that it would look better with a more angular, slender quality that made it look more aggressive. It looked amazing. She hadn’t yet developed a personal logo like a lot of drivers did, but she thought about asking the the designer if she could use the design. The bee also had a crown drawn on its head. From the top of the visor to the back were three stripes in the colors of the Italian flag. All of her sponsor and team logos were done in the same gold paint as the bee. 

They went through the usual pre-race rituals - warmups, stretching, national anthem, pre-race presentation. Bee’s car was brought to its spot on the grid, and she clambered over the halo with her step stool. Her mechanics made their final adjustments, and the view from the middle of the grid looked strange, with her sitting in P11. She’d never been this far up. She did her usual pre-start ritual that Susie had taught her, narrowing her focus to just the bank of red lights. She could hear nothing but her own breath.

It was lights out in Monza.

She got a clean getaway, managing to stay out of the inevitable chaos into Rettifilo, and then went flat out into Biassono. She sank into the rhythm of throttle and braking quickly. It was strange to see a Renault and Racing Point behind her. Gaetan kept her up to date on the pace of the cars in front of her. On lap 7, she noticed what looked like a flurry of snow by the first chicane. 

“Vettel out, brake failure. He went through the runoff area.” Gaetan said. Sebastian must have smashed through the styrofoam indicator signs. Bee felt a momentary pang of sadness - she knew that Monza meant a lot to him as a Ferrari driver, and this was his last race as a Ferrari driver at Monza. News had recently broken that his contract was not renewed, which caught everyone off-guard. 

“Copy.”

Magnussen breaking down near the pit lane entrance brought out the first safety car. 

“Pit lane entry is closed, we are staying out for now.” Gaetan said. Bizarrely, Lewis and Antonio Giovinazzi dived into the pit anyway. They’d be getting a stop-and-go penalty for that, no doubt. She went in for new tires two laps later when most of the field did.

Charles Leclerc skidded off in the Parabolica on lap 23, from P4, bringing out another safety car, and then a red flag. 

“Okay, Phoebe, they have to repair the barrier, red flag.” 

“Copy. Is Leclerc okay?”

“Yes, all fine. Line up in race order in the pit lane, please, you are P10. We can put softs on and try to stay out for the rest of the race if you think you can manage them. Tire deg looks fine for now, so we should be okay with that plan. It will be a standing restart.”

Bee was in P10 as of the standing start, with George in P12. 

As they were waiting for the restart, Bee felt her nerves creeping in. She was in the points right now. If she could just hang on to her position - 

After the restart, Lance Stroll went wide at della Roggia and dropped a few places, and Lewis and Antonio both had to serve penalties.

“Gasly in lead after Hamilton’s penalty, you are three seconds behind Kyvat. Pace is good but push a bit if you can.”

She leaned onto the throttle a bit more to up her pace a bit to make up the gap to being within DRS range, but had to be careful at this point not to be caught in a potential DRS train.

“Verstappen retirement, Phoebe. No safety car. ” 

Max had been in P11 at the restart, so that meant George was now. 

“Stay calm, Bee.” She told herself. “You got this.”

“DRS available on Kyvat.” She overtook him as they headed into the Parabolica. She thought he’d try to defend more, but she practically skated past him as she picked up speed through the turn.

“You are now in P9. Ocon is too far ahead for now, so hold position. And stay calm. You have it.” Gaetan said. His voice was doing the thing where it sometimes dropped to a near-whisper, which did have a strangely calming effect on Phoebe. It almost felt like someone scratching an itch in her brain. 

“Copy.” 

Kimi dropped back down to 13th eventually. 

They pulled George into the pits to put him on softs for the last few laps, which allowed him to undercut Perez. Phoebe crossed the line on the checkered flag. She wasn’t sure where she’d ended up - it was a wild race. 

“What was our place, Gaetan?”

After the longest few seconds of her life, Gaetan spoke up, clearly expending a great amount of energy to remain calm: “Phoebe Stallard… that is a P9. That was an amazing drive today. And George, P10. That’s double points for today.” 

The garage was in raptures in the background of Gaetan’s radio. 

“I… we did it?”

“Yes, you had a wonderful drive today. I knew you could do it.” Gaetan said. “That’s three points for today! Amazing job from both of you!”

Bee had to pop open her visor and wipe her eyes with her gloved hand, her eyes had started watering. She wasn’t crying. That’s what she told herself, anyway, but all the same, tears had immediately started flooding her vision and she couldn’t see where she was going.

“I can’t believe it. I…”

It shouldn’t have been that overwhelming, she thought, but it was. After seeing how hard the team - George, in particular, fought to get even a single point last year and finished the season with that single point, the fact that the two of them had both been able to score points felt incredible.

As Bee was trying to do some quick math in her head to tabulate the team’s current standings in the constructor’s championship, another voice came through her radio. “Phoebe, that was outstanding, outstanding work today. Truly amazing. And you are now the first woman to score points in a Grand Prix since Lella Lombardi.” It was Claire. “I’m so proud of you. You’ve made history today.” 

It couldn’t have been a more fitting end to Monza for her. It was her best result so far, her team’s best result in years. She’d done what no woman had done since 1975 - 45 years prior. It was at her favorite track, in what happened to be Lombardi’s home country. 

She did her cooldown lap and circled back into parc ferme. She almost didn’t want to get out of the car. She somehow wanted to hang on to this moment - this feeling - forever. 

She climbed out of the car, and didn’t see George running up to her side to throw his long arms around her, tapping on the top of her helmet. She hugged him back, and he picked her up a few inches off the ground. She could barely hear what he was saying.

They stripped off their helmets and walked to the weighbridge area together. “That was absolutely mega today, double points. Do you know the last time that happened?”

George and Bee continued on to the weighbridge, but kept getting waylaid by the other drivers congratulating the two of them. It seemed that everyone - even competition, was rooting for an underdog team like Williams. Sure, every team wanted to beat the others, but it wasn’t exciting if there were always a few teams at the bottom that weren’t able to be competitive at all. A larger, more competitive midfield was good for the sport and made for better racing, and it seemed that everyone knew it.

They left the weighbridge to head back to the Williams garage, greeted by a hail of deafening cheers. Claire was crying. She rushed toward Phoebe, scooping her into an enormous hug.  

“Claire, I’m gross!” She could feel the sweat that was soaking the back of her suit through her fireproofs, that Claire was running her hands over.

“I don’t care!” 

Things calmed down enough to where Bee could head back to the paddock to report to the media pen. Emilia had brought her a towel and her drink bottle so she could start rehydrating a little before she had to put her mask back on and go talk to journalists. She was a little disoriented from the combination of excitement and post-race exhaustion, and followed Emma, her press officer, from station to station in the media pen. 

The media pen was abuzz - the race results were unexpected. Not only was it the first double-points finish by Williams in two years, and had the first woman in almost five decades earning championship points, but with a full podium of drivers from midfield teams, it was the first time that any the three top teams - Ferrari, Mercedes, and Red Bull - failed to score a podium since 2012. 

While she was talking to Jennie Gow from the BBC, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. 

“Sorry, Jennie -” she turned around to see who it was. 

Valtteri had been walking behind her as he was leaving the media area. “See? I told you it would come soon. Good job.” he said. 

“Thank you.” she said, clapping him on the arm as he walked away.

Bee turned back to Jennie and smiled. “Sorry about that, where were we?”

She finished all of her interviews (there were more than a few) and was talking to Emma as they walked back to the Williams motorhome. She was still over the moon, but exhaustion was starting to set in. It had been an incredibly long day. She wanted to shower, and to get something to eat. She wanted to call her mom. She wanted to -

“Bienchen!” 

She turned around to see Toto striding up the paddock behind her. He clasped Phoebe in a tight hug, ruffling her hair a bit. She was still sweaty but it didn’t seem to matter to Toto. Technically social distancing rules were still in place, but neither of them cared.

“I know I’ve said this before - it seems like I’ve said it so much, but I don’t mean it any less. I’m so proud of you. I knew you were going to match Lombardi someday, and I had a feeling - I was hoping - it would be today.”

Bee blushed, and smiled. “Thank you, Toto. I’m really sorry about your race today, though.” It wasn’t a good result for Mercedes, at least not compared to their normal results. They had been hampered by poor strategy decisions and penalties that caused Valtteri and Lewis to end up in P5 and P7 respectively. It was especially devastating after they’d had a front-row lockout through qualifying. 

“Honestly, right now, I’m not even concerned. I’ll worry about it later on when we have the team debrief. Seeing you drive so well, and seeing both you and George finishing in the points? Plus, I know you know this already, but you made history today.” Toto released her from his embrace, and rested his hands on her shoulders, looking down at her. 

Even with his mask on, Bee could see that he really was proud of her, and it was incredibly gratifying. There was something about Toto that made Bee want to make him proud. Maybe it was because she’d known him since she was a teenager. Maybe it was because he was never one to hold back on how he truly felt about things, and could be notoriously difficult to please at times. When Toto Wolff told you he was proud of you, you knew he meant it.

“You could DNF every race for the rest of the season, and you’ll still have that.”

Bee laughed. “Well, I hope that doesn’t happen.”

They talked for a few more minutes, as Emma stood by. Bee told her that she would be back in the garage shortly, and that she didn’t have to wait for her. She and Toto made plans to meet for dinner when they would be in Mugello the following week, to catch up. Between COVID restrictions in the paddock and the strange, condensed race schedule, the two of them hadn’t actually talked or seen each other in person in quite a while, primarily communicating via WhatsApp, and only occasionally now that Bee wasn’t actively working for Mercedes. Bee had missed talking to him very much.  

She finally got a chance to get back to the Williams motorhome to take shower and change. Claire had sent her a text that there would be a small party in the garage to celebrate. The team had ordered pizza and somehow got it back into paddock in spite of the restrictions. The whole team took another group picture with the pitboard signs, this time, they read:

PHOEBE - P9

1ST CAREER POINTS!!!

GEORGE - P10!!

Bee finally got a chance to check her phone hours after the race had finished, and she was surprised it hadn’t exploded. Social media had been on fire for hours. Her name was trending in Italy and in the US. There was even a tweet from the governor of the state of Michigan congratulating her, which was a bit inconceivable to think about.

She finally called her parents,  and they said they’d watched the replay of the race twice. 

“I wish we could have been there, honeybee.” her mom said. It made Bee a little sad. In her fantasies of being a Formula 1 driver during her teenage years, she’d always envisioned her parents being there to celebrate with her after a good race. They still hadn’t even gotten to watch her race in person since she’d gotten her seat. They still hadn’t been to a race in Monza. 

“Well,” Bee said, trying not to sound as sad as she felt. “I heard rumors that they’re going to be allowing a few fans to attend races in-person soon, so maybe for the Eifel Grand Prix… I can check. It’s not too far to Nürburg from home, if I can get some tickets for you…”

“Of course we’ll come. We would have come to Italy this weekend if it had been allowed. I know you love that track, and I’ve always wanted to see you race there.” John said. “Next year, for sure.” 

Susie called after her parents hung up. It was late, then, but Bee was happy to stay up to be able to talk to her. They talked for a long time. Susie had basically told her the same thing Toto had - that she knew she would match Lella Lombardi, that she’d hoped it would be at Monza, 

that she was enormously proud of her. 

Bee had heard it a lot as she kept racing and kept improving, but she didn’t really mind - it was always nice to hear. 

Knowing she was doing right by the people that had supported her racing career from early on, that she had people cheering for her, fighting for her when need be - it was a talisman.It was something to hang on to when things got hard, when she didn’t qualify well or didn’t place well, or when she was sore, or tired, or sick of traveling. Even when her confidence was shaken.

Nürburgring, Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, GermanyOctober 8th, 2020

By the time the Eifel Grand Prix came around in October, the season had started to normalize as much as could be expected given the circumstances. Fans were allowed to attend in-person, albeit in very limited numbers. Bee had scored a point again in the Tuscan Grand Prix, but it was because approximately half of the grid had retirements for various reasons. She had George had swapped their positions from Monza - she had been P10 to his P9. 

Paddock restrictions had been easing a little, too, so there was a bit more interaction between teams and drivers. It was good, because Bee had started to feel isolated and a bit lonely, like the other drivers were still near-strangers for the most part, other than the ones that were her age. She had been able to see Toto more. She was starting to have more fun, too. Williams had stepped up their social media content efforts, which involved filming fun challenges and videos for YouTube with George.

Ahead of the Eifel Grand Prix, they had made a video called “German Lessons with Phoebe and George”, where Bee taught George some basic German phrases and greetings. It was silly and fun, and fans seemed to like videos of the two of them doing things together like that - it showed an unserious side of a serious sport.

The Eifel GP was confirmed as one of the races where some spectators would be allowed in so her parents were going to be able to come - they would not be able to get paddock passes, but having them there to actually see her compete in F1 would be nice. 

The weekend started poorly, with Free Practice 1 being canceled because of the rain and fog - the medical helicopter was not able to take off, so they couldn’t run a session without it.

“Welcome to the Eifel,” she said to George as they were standing around the garage as rain poured outside. They were waiting to see if the weather would clear up enough for practice to start, but it wasn’t looking good. Bee felt a little bad, because there were two F2 drivers that were scheduled to do tests during FP1 today with other teams, and it looked like they wouldn’t get the chance now.

“This is one of the reasons the Nordschleife is so dangerous. The weather is so unpredictable because of the mountains.” Bee said. “Speaking of which, didn’t you take Aleix for a lap around it yesterday?”

“Yes, and the traction was awful. The track was soaked, even having road tires wasn’t making much difference. It was fun though!” George and his trainer made a video for Youtube, just like Bee and Emilia had at Monza. Aleix’s reaction was fairly similar to Emilia’s, apparently.

“They couldn’t pay me enough to drive anything faster than like… a Ford Fiesta on that track. We both know two people who have almost died there.”

They sat in the garage, away from the rain, and chatted a bit more. After a while though, both she and George started getting a little antsy. They found one of the promotional rubber ducks that were being sold as team merchandise and started having an unofficial contest to see who could keep it up in the air longer, like it was a football. Humorously, the official Formula 1 channel ended up filming it and putting it on Twitter about an hour later. 

Free practice 2 was also rained out. Bee didn’t even bother putting her race suit back on. She had her fireproofs on under a pair of black track pants and a raincoat.

To pass the time, George and Phoebe found the pitboard signs and letters by the pitlane workstation and kept changing them to show silly messages to the handful of dedicated, rain-soaked fans that were seated in the grandstands, through the gaps in the pitwall fence. She wasn’t even sure the letters would be readable from that distance, but it was something to do. 

Eventually, she started getting too cold from the damp and headed back into the garage, sitting and talking with Claire at the engineering station.

“Your parents are supposed to be coming for the race, right?” Claire said.

“As far as I know. They’re supposed to be here tomorrow for qualifying, even. It’s about a… four hour drive from home and they’re leaving first thing. I kind of wish they could come down to the paddock. You’ve never met my parents, have you?”

“Not that I remember, I don’t think. I’ve seen them before. But honestly, it’s still a bit strange to me that you’re - and don’t think I mean this in a bad way, but very obviously an American, so sometimes I forget that when you say “home”, you mean Stuttgart.” Clarie said. 

Bee sighed. Without meaning to, Claire had touched on an internal struggle Bee had had most of her life. 

“I know, it’s weird to me, too. I mean, I imagine it’s normal for anyone that doesn’t live in the country they’re originally from. I’ve never felt like I’m German, or even German-American because I can’t get German citizenship without giving up my US citizenship, but Germany feels like it’s home. 

But when I go to the US, which actually is home, I feel out of place because I haven’t lived there full-time since I was a kid. Before I started doing karting seriously, I’d spend the summers with my grandparents in Michigan, and I’d come back to Germany and things would feel strange for a while again. But, it’s not like anyone looking at me wouldn’t know I’m not German, you know? Until I talk and someone picks up on my accent, I just sort of… blend in.” She shrugged, and went on.

“And then, when I moved to the UK, that was different, too, because I didn’t feel like I had to try to adopt a new identity - like, I know that the UK isn’t home, it’s just where I moved for work. In the UK, I’m an expat, not an immigrant.  I think that’s how my parents feel about Germany, but it’s different for me because I grew up in Germany. I try not to think about it too much most of the time, because I think it was a real benefit for my racing career. I don’t think I would have even picked up karting as a kid if I lived in the states. If I had, I don’t think I could have gotten this far.” 

“It does seem like you kind of were in the right place to do it. Every other American kid that starts out in karts ends up in NASCAR or IndyCar, unless they move to Europe, which very few of them do because of how difficult and expensive it is. It’s hard to leave your family when you’re that young. That’s one of the big reasons we’ve not seen many Americans on the grid.” Claire said. 

Bee’s parents called her early the next morning and confirmed they would be arriving just before qualifying. They were staying in the same hotel, which was pretty much on the track’s grounds. It was nice, because she could sleep in longer and just make the 5-minute walk to the gates. 

She was excited for Free Practice, though - it had been a long time since she’d been at this particular track. She hadn’t raced here since she was in Formula 3. Driving the track in a Formula 1 car would be like driving it for the first time again. It was an interesting track - lots of quick turns, and you had to be very strategic about using the shorter-than-average straights and DRS zones for overtaking. 

After Free Practice, Bee left the paddock briefly to say hello to her parents. Bee’s mom handed her a large plastic container of cookies she’d made. 

“These are for your team, I think I made enough for everyone to have seconds.”

“Wow, they’ll love these -” She opened the container, and frowned. 

“Lebkuchen? But… it’s not Christmas.” They were a spiced cookie frosted with sugary icing, similar to gingerbread, and popular at Christmastime in Germany. They were so tightly associated with Christmas in Bee’s mind that it was jarring to see them in early October.

“Well, I think they’re fine for fall, too. See, I even used a leaf-shaped cookie cutter. Nobody will know any better.”

It didn’t matter if they were Christmas cookies or not - the entire crew was very excited about them. The social media team made a very cute post with a picture of two of Bee’s mechanics posing with theirs. 

“There’s nothing quite like cookies from mom, especially if it’s @racingbee’s mom. Thanks for bringing treats for the team today, Mrs. Stallard! We loved them.”

Bee forwarded her mom the post in a WhatsApp message. “Look, you’re famous.” she said. 

“See?” Josephine said. “They’re not just for Christmas.”

Qualifying was a mixed affair. On the upside, the weather had cleared up and there was no rain expected during the session. George got into Q2, and Bee just barely missed it.

After she changed, she headed back to the hotel to meet her parents for dinner. Toto spotted them in the lobby as he was walking back from the track and John asked if he would join them. For some reason, it still surprised Bee that Toto and Susie got on with her parents so well. Not that there wasn’t any reason they wouldn’t, but beyond John and Toto’s shared interest in cars and racing, she wasn’t sure what they had in common. 

Toto was the type that could get along with anyone, though - she supposed that was why he’d been so successful in business.

For the race, Bee had another special helmet made. It was a challenge to get the design right - she’d wanted to use the colors of the German and American flags, but they weren’t particularly harmonious. 

The helmet was all red, with white paint. On the back, there was an outline of Stuttgart’s skyline in white. Toward the top of the back panel were the words “Schönheit und Schrecken”, or “beauty and terror”, from the Rainer Maria Rilke poem she’d read a few years ago - those lines had resonated with her. 

There was a stripe down the middle, starting from the visor and ending behind the skyline: a black and gold stripe with negative space in the middle for the German flag, and then a blue stripe with a line of white stars for the American flag. On the left side of her helmet was a design that featured the face of the Statue of Liberty, drawn in a stylistic sort of single-tone outline. 

On the right side, there was a similar design featuring the statue of Lady Germania, a personification of Germany from the Niederwald Monument in a town called Rüdesheim am Rhein, commemorating the unification of Germany in the 1800’s. She’d seen the monument once on a school trip to Frankfurt as a kid, and was always impressed with it. 

She looked at it before putting it on while she was getting ready, thinking back to her conversation with Claire. She couldn’t ever be German via passport, not without giving up her American one, but Germany was still home. America was home, too. It was where she was born, it was where her family was. 

They were both home. Both equally, but differently. 

It was another strange race, somewhat like Monza. Maybe the end result wasn’t so strange - Lewis and Max were both on the podium, that was business as usual. 

George, unfortunately, had to retire - Raikkonen tried to overtake him and ended up understeering into the side of his car. Kimi was given a ten-second penalty, and the crash brought out a virtual safety car. George was fine, but there was enough damage to the suspension, plus a puncture, that ensured he couldn’t continue. After four laps under the safety car, Alex Albon glanced off of Daniil Kyvat and knocked part of his front wing off, and Bee was able to pass both of them in the ensuing chaos. Lando’s car eventually lost power, and Esteban Ocon retired from the pits. The safety car came out and everyone but Grojean got new tires. The safety car lasted for an agonizing six full laps. Bee charged up into 10th, passing Kimi, Seb, and Antonio Giovinazzi after the safety car, taking advantage of Giovinazzi being held back by Grojean, who was still on old tyres. 

It was her second points finish. Her parents were there to see it. It was almost as thrilling as her points finish in Monza.

In the press pen, one of the Sky Sports Germany reporters wanted to talk to her - she was frequently interviewed by them, as one of the Germanophone drivers on the grid.

They asked her about how she thought her race went, as pitlane reporters were wont to do.

“I think it went well! I’m in the points again, which is fantastic. I am sad for George, I think his pace was decent before the incident with Kimi, but scoring points for me here in Germany… it’s kind of my home race, you know, was one of my goals for this season, so I’m really pleased. And this is the first race my parents have been able to attend in-person, so it’s really special that I was able to score points here. 

“Ah, so, you consider this your home race, even as an American driver?”

“I think so. One of them, at least. I know a few of the other drivers have different races that they all consider their home races, so I guess this is mine, until we can race in the US again. I grew up in Stuttgart, as you know, and I’ve lived here for most of my life. I love it here. I love the United States as well, but we can’t race in Austin this year. There’s a reason I put both the US flag and the Bundesflagge on my helmet for this race. I’m proud of being the first American in F1 in a long time, but it was living here in Germany from a young age that allowed me to get this far in racing, so I’m always going to consider it home.”

BONUS:

Williams Racing YouTube Channel

German Lessons with Phoebe and George | Williams Racing

Phoebe: Hallo, leute! Guten tag! [Hello, everyone! Good afternoon!]

George: Hello!

Phoebe: I'm Phoebe Stallard and I drive for the Williams Formula 1 team, and today, I’m going to be teaching my teammate George Russell some German before the Eifel Grand Prix this weekend.

[PHOEBE Narration over overhead shots of Nürburgring track]

The Eifel Grand Prix is taking place at the Nurburgring in Nurburg, Germany, on the ‘GP-Strecke’, or ‘GP Track’ layout. The Grand Prix is named for the Eifel mountain range that straddles western Germany and eastern Belgium. This is the first time in Formula 1 history that the Eifel Grand Prix will be run - it was added to the calendar after schedule changes made because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is also the first time since the German Grand Prix in 2013 that the GP-Strecke layout has hosted a Formula 1 Grand Prix.

George: So, you’re American, but you speak German fluently, right?

Phoebe: Yes, that’s correct. I’m from the US but I grew up in Germany - my family moved there when I was five, so I had to learn it pretty early on. And you don’t speak any German at all, right?

George: Er, no… even after being around Toto so much. I’ve heard the two of you speaking German together, it always makes me feel like you’re talking about me. 

Phobe: [laughs] Maybe we are, you wouldn’t know! Anyway, we’re just gonna start with some basic greetings so you’ll be able to say hello to our German fans. So, to say “hello”, it’s pretty similar to how you’d say it in English, it’s just hello with an a sound instead of an e.

George: So it would just be… hallow? Hallo? 

Phoebe: Das ist richtig! Sehr gut! [That’s right! Very good!] We’re off to a good start.

Phoebe: Now, after you say hello, you’ll probably want to know how to introduce yourself, even though most people will probably know your name, but… it’s polite. For this, you would say Ich bin George. 

George: ‘Ish bin George. Issssh bin George.’ 

Phoebe: You could also say, “mein name ist George”.

George: That just sounds like English. 

Phoebe: Well, English and German are basically cousins, so there are a lot of German words that sound pretty similar. Now, if you wanted to tell someone you were from England, you would say, “Ich komme aus England”.

George: “ ish come ows England”. I’m guessing that “ich” means “I”, right?

Phoebe: You’re a quick study, you’ll be fluent in no time at this rate.

George: [laughs] Right, I doubt that. So how would you tell someone you’re from America?

Phoebe: Ich komme aus Amerika.

George: …Oh, that seems kind of obvious. 

Phoebe: Okay, now let’s put it all together, go ahead and say “Hello, my name is George, I’m from England.”

George: Okay, um… Hallow, mein name is George, ish, um… come? What was it… the word after?

Phoebe: Aus!

George: Right! “Hallo, mein name ist George, ich komme aus England”.

Phoebe: Sehr gut! Dein Deutsch ist perfekt! [Very good! Your German is perfect!]

George: I’m going to assume that means that my German is perfect. 

Phoebe: You assume correctly. Now, if you introduce yourself to someone, and they introduce themselves to you, it’s polite to say nice to meet you right? That’s a little more complicated. Well, kind of. You could say “Freut mich, dich kennenzulernen”, which is literally “I am pleased to meet you”, but that’s… 

George: Bit of a mouthful.

Phoebe: Yeah. So, most German speakers just say “freut mich”. 

George: Froit mish. 

Phoebe: Not bad! So, now, I guess, to sort of... round out this conversation, you’ll want to know how to say “goodbye”. I don’t know if you’re a fan of Rodgers and Hammerstein, but you might know this one.

George: Oh, it’s um… off weederseen or something like that, right?

Phoebe: Close! Auf wiedersehen. But that’s also kind of a mouthful, especially when you’re trying to make a swift departure, so what people will normally say is just, “tschüss”

George: Tschüss. Tschüss. Sounds like you’re saying “chews” like, really abruptly.

Phoebe: Yeah! Kind of. I guess? So, let’s put this all together. I want you to introduce yourself and tell me where you come from, I’ll introduce myself, and then you need to be polite , and then you can tell me “goodbye.”

George: Okay, I got this. Let’s do it. So… Hallo. Mein name ist George. Ich komme aus England.

Phoebe: Sehr gut, George! Hallo, George. Mein name ist Phoebe. Ich komme aus Amerika, aber ich lebe in Stuttgart. [but I live in Stuttgart].

George: [laughs] Oh, come on. That’s just showing off. Okay. Anyway. What was it - uh… Fr-fruet mich?  

Phoebe: Ja. Freut mich, George. Gut gemacht! [Well done!]

George: Okay, that was hard. But I got through it. 

Phoebe: See? You’ll be able to eavesdrop in on me and Toto soon. 

George: [laughs]. Okay, what was that last thing? Right. Tschüss!

Phoebe: Danke, leute! Tschüss!