Page 16 of Spin Control

The door opens, and David pokes his head in. “Freddie and Lu have both agreed to the sim evaluations. We’re done for the day.”

“Cool,” I say, clapping my hands together. “I’ll see you in Jeddah, then?”

“That you will,” David says. “And Elizabeth, I’ll see you at the airport on Wednesday.”

“What about tomorrow? What time should we catch up?”

“I think we could both use some time off,” he says. “Relax for a day, yeah?”

Elizabeth laughs humorlessly. “I’m not sure I’ve been relaxed a day in my life, but sure.”

“No wonder you’re so good at your job,” I quip, and David laughs, adding, “Us comms professionals are an anxious breed, it’s true.”

“Well,” I say, standing from my chair. “I’ll let you guys stress in peace.”

As I leave the conference room, my thoughts race with my growing to-do list. I need to check in with Adrien. I need to train with Camden. I need to call Lu and make it very clear to her that she needs to have the sim session of her life tomorrow.

And I definitely need to stop thinking about what other vices Elizabeth Jacobs has.

7

Free time is something I’m not particularly good at. I enjoy having a plan and following a schedule. When my day is neatly organized into specific tasks and blocks of time, I feel not only prepared, but relaxed.

So when faced with no plans for 36 hours, I, of course, immediately make a plan: go to my hotel room and work. I still know next to nothing about this sport, haven’t done true deep dives into Stas Dubinsky and Elio Rocca yet, and there are two new drivers I need to get familiar with. That’s all in addition to my regular media monitoring and the calls I need to make.

So I change into a matching set of silk pajamas, settle onto the bed with my laptop, and prepare to cross several items off my to-do list. Which is why hearing a repetitive beeping noise is confusing. It takes me a shocking amount of time to understand that:

1) my alarm is going off

2) I was asleep

3) I slept for a solid 12 hours, on top of the covers, with my laptop beside me.

I’m awake all at once, sitting up so fast my head spins. But I don’t let that stop me from grabbing my phone, panic rising. But there are no missed calls. No emails marked urgent. No messages in all caps.

I slept for 12 hours and have no reason to feel guilty about it.

David was right. I need to relax. So instead of running on the hotel treadmill, I do yoga. I order breakfast from room service. I get ready for the day slowly. And when I open the wardrobe, I remember that I need to go shopping.

Before my brain and its endless to-do lists can talk me out of it, I grab my phone.

Please tell me that you haven’t left Bahrain yet and love shopping.

CHALONDRA

I’ll meet you in the lobby in 30 minutes.

Five hours later, Chalondra and I head back to the hotel, laden with shopping bags. I basically bought a new wardrobe: comfortable flats and cushy sneakers, smart but trendy suits, coordinating sets, even a couple of gowns for dinners and events. It’s more money than I’ve spent on a shopping trip in my entire life, but I don’t regret any of it. Plus, Chalondra clued me in to years of F1 gossip.

I now know there have always been whispers about Elio. He made his fortune as a vintage car dealer, then leveraged his father’s reputation as a racing driver to ingratiate himself with F1 teams and land himself on the payroll. Though it’s undeniable that he’s rich, handsome, and charismatic, Chalondra added some shading to his portrait, describing him as a little too slick for comfort, competitive to the point of recklessness, and with a knack for weaseling out of tight spots. On three specific occasions, he’s suddenly had the exact high-profile friend needed when shit’s about to hit the fan, be it an influential broadcaster, celebrity fan, or billionaire investor.

Stas, on the other hand, has always struck her as serious, blunt, and introverted. Though an incredibly talented driver with the accolades to prove it, he’s never hidden his distaste for the spotlight. He hates being interviewed, doesn’t even try to fake it during fan interactions, and does the bare minimum for social media, press conferences, and post-race interviews. On top of that, he isn’t a team player.

The team dynamics in F1 require each team’s two drivers to work together in some respects, while competing against each other in others. Sometimes, a driver is asked to do something that is good for the team as a whole but not for them as an individual. Chalondra said the tension in those circumstances is always thick. Where other drivers suck it up and do what’s asked of them, Stas has a reputation for outright refusing to help the team if it means sacrificing himself—unless his teammate is Wes.

“I have no idea how Wes managed it,” Chalondra said between sips of her matcha latte. “But Stas genuinely cares about Wes. He wants him to succeed and actively works to make sure that Wes has good races. He did it even when they were racing for different teams!”

“Are friendships like that normal for this sport?”