Chapter Text
Growing up in a place other than Zaun was hard.
Yes, the city itself wasn’t safe for anyone not attentive enough, but it gave its children some weird aura that kept them glued to its thick air, the industry growing there and so on. In short, it was weird to leave the place you were born at, and Zaun was no exception, as ironic as it sounds.
Frankly, Ekko – a rising superstar for the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team –, and his girlfriend Jinx – last year’s F2 champion by a mile –, got used to their home in Birmingham real quick. They had their own complications with constant traveling, paperwork, PR, media and so on, but they managed to squeeze through, tidying up their timetables, and right now enjoying their winter break.
Jinx opened the door, entering their shared home. The place was cozy, not too much for a racing couple but having all the necessary stuff to live. As she passed the hallway to go to the bedroom, she caught sight of Ekko doing hotlaps on Time Trial in the so-called ‘Sim Room’, which was actually a mini-gym which also had two race simulators.
Hearing the footsteps behind him, Ekko aborted his already-gone lap and turned in his seat. “Hey, princess,” he greeted. “What’s the news?” She left the house early in the morning to meet up with the Williams board in Oxfordshire, a two-hour train ride away from here. Since then, he’d waited patiently for any kind of news from either the team, the media or Jinx herself.
Jinx looked at him with all the love in the world, smirking with her trademark lopsided grin. “Hi.” She approached and kissed him while on her tiptoes, before dramatically waiting and then revealing, “I signed the papers!” She shrieked from joy, jumping into her man’s arms.
Ekko laughed too, spinning her in his arms, happy for her; happy, that for the first time in more than five decades there’ll be a female driver with an actual contract, and it’ll be none other than his girlfriend. “That calls for a celebration, no?”, he asked with joy.
Jinx again gazed up at him with that calm facade of hers, despite all the adrenaline rushing through her veins, a dream coming true. “Sure, Little Man. Sure. But…” she looked at him with clear mischief. “Monaco 50%, full wets, sim damage. Loser cooks dinner.”
He looked at her in disbelief, then chuckled. “You’re a little demon, you know that?”, Ekko asked her with a smile.
“And you love me for it.”
He chuckled. “I guess I do.”
Jinx lost with a 20-second gap.
She’d use the ”But you’re an F1 driver” card on Ekko, but now it was outdated. She was one too. Regardless, Ekko still cooked the meals after several futile attempts of reassuring Jinx that it was nothing.
The Sun’s remaining rays shone through the windows of their house, indicating the start of the evening. Their evening plan wasn’t that hard: have some dinner, a one-hour workout followed by a shower, then do whatever they want until bedtime at 11. Not bad, right?
They sat at the dinner table, eating lean meat with some sticky rice. It was quiet – no media, no Paddock trouble, no FIA fining drivers for swearing at 300 km/h, emails at a minimum. Just peace. Just a couple enjoying each other’s company.
Ekko decided to break the silence, his meal finished. “So, when’s the announcement?” Since they hopped on the sim, they barely spoke about the signing. Overall, they were only focused on throwing quips at each other that barely worked – they’re both used to the pressure, after all.
Jinx looked up, replying: “They said it’d be somewhen in the evening. I just met with the board, not the entire team. So, I’ll go there again tomorrow for photoshoots, interviews and so on. You can come, too.” She then looked down, feeling some kind of negativity she can’t name.
Ekko nodded, his expression turning from questioning to serious. “Jinx, look. The pressure only goes up when you get promoted from F2 to F1. You might say it’s the same thing. It isn’t. The tension is fifty, if not a hundred times higher, threatening to drown you in your own mind. That’s why many great F2 talents fail at F1. I don’t want that happening to you.” He grabbed her hand softly across the table, squeezing it. “You’ve got to keep your head up, Powder. Keep focused. Keep doing what you do. While your achievement as first female F1 driver in 50 years can awe most people, it can also trigger an entire rollercoaster of criticism and sexism, hence you’ll have high expectations.”
Both of their phones chimed, a notification popping up on their screens. An official post from @f1, containing Jinx’s portrait and a caption:
- BREAKING: Powder Lane, last year’s Formula 2 champion, joins Williams Racing for the 2025 season, marking the first time a female driver will race in the sport since Lella Lombardi in 1976!
They both smiled, looking at each other with pure, unconditional love. Ekko made a few clicks on his phone. “I had quite a few talks with Mercedes to sign you as an academy driver back then, and a few calls with Vowles to put you into consideration after Abu Dhabi. It paid off. And now your dream has come true.”
Jinx’s phone chimed again, looking at new notifications.
- James Vowles added you to “Williams Racing”
- Ekko 💖 added you to “20 Rocketship Pilots”
- You got 20+ notifications from “Instagram”
She shot up an eyebrow to him, confused. “Rocketship pilots? Really?” she chuckled. “The Saubers beg to differ.”
They both got a laugh from the remark, their gazes softening shortly after. “I love you, Jinx. I’m sure you’re gonna rock this,” Ekko said, standing up, grabbing her phone and turning off Wi-Fi and mobile data. “Only answer calls from the team and your agent, don’t check your socials until after tomorrow morning. I’ll be in the gym,” he finished, kissing her forehead before leaving the dining room.
Jinx sat there, still contemplating on how to react. After she snapped out of her trance a few minutes later, she followed Ekko, the tension still in the air, lurking around her, trying to break her facade. But she won’t budge.
She’s got to prove herself to millions of people.
The day had gone on with their casual exercise routine, a shower together and peaceful sleep, dearly enjoying each other’s company and finishing the day with tangled limbs in bed.
At the moment, Ekko, Jinx and her agent were being escorted to the conference room, Ekko having been given permission to listen about the minor details listed in their contract. Jinx would be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous. Ekko was right about the tension being much higher than in the feeder series.
The meeting carried on smoothly, everyone paying attention to every detail spoken out across the table. Ekko sat a bit far from the meeting desk, not wanting to capture too much attention and being able to listen at the same time.
Then came a great question from the team principal. “Say, Powder, have you checked your social media accounts since the official announcement? Or posted anything by yourself?”, he asked. Her social media team had already taken care of the news on her side of things with the usual media-level caption. Jinx already presumed where this was going, stealing a glance at Ekko.
The air suddenly felt heavy with the anticipation of what's coming her way. Ekko gave her a nod, the gesture enough to suggest saying the truth. “No, my partner told me to… ‘lay low’ from the Internet till after today’s morning. Then I actually didn’t care to check it while on the train to here,” she chuckled, easing the pressure a bit.
Vowles looked at her with understanding, nodding slightly. “Then I should assume he also told you about the dangerous waters of Formula 1, apart from the obvious fact that you’ll be driving an even faster car. I won’t overwhelm you – you’re a woman who picks up things straight away, after all,” he concluded.
Jinx nodded, getting up as soon as the meeting finished. She followed some staff members to the photo room, trying on her race suit – still concealed to the world until the launch day –, posing for a few pictures and even doing her own sequence for the opening titles!
As soon as the shoot finished, she found Ekko by the entrance to the studio. He checked her race weekend outfit with a smile. “You kinda rock this suit,” he told her. And he wasn’t too wrong: her pale skin almost matched the overall white of the race suit, and her hair fitted in with the blue accents on the sides of the suit. It was almost like a second skin on her.
Jinx looked up at him with a grin of her own. “Yeah? Then you’ll have a good view when looking up at me – on the podium with the first-place trophy in my hands,” she giggled.
“Ambitious, I see,” Ekko chuckled. “Your agent told me there’s an interviewer waiting for you. Won’t take long – barely 5 minutes. You know the drill: don’t ‘over-answer’, stay focused on the questions, and don’t say things you don’t mean.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be waiting. Good luck.”
Jinx replied with her own peck on his cheek, leaving to change into more practical team merch before heading to the room. She sighed, then opened the door.
The room was plain, just some blue accents decorating the walls. In front of her sat a cameraman with a studio-size camera seated on a pedestal. And in front of that, there were two chairs, one occupied by a woman in her 20s, wearing glasses and a simple outfit.
The interviewer stood up as soon as she saw Jinx entering the room. “Ah, Powder, nice to meet you. I’m Sky,” the woman introduced, offering her hand.
“Pleasure,” she replied, a trained smile on her face, shaking Sky’s hand, then taking the free seat. It wasn’t her first interview – she’d taken plenty in the three seasons of F2 she’d raced in. But this is a new chapter, a new beginning. Her first interview as a Formula One driver. Not just a pre-race or post-race press conference, no; it was an actual tête-à-tête.
The cameraman gave them a thumbs up, indicating that all systems are up and running. “Hello, dear Williams supporters! I’m sat here with the newest addition to our family, Powder Lane! Powder, it’s always a pleasure meeting a freshly-signed Formula 1 driver. How does it feel like making your way up the ladder and then reaching the pinnacle of motorsport?”
“...It’s certainly crazy when you look back at what you’ve done over the years. Every driver has a goal, and every goal ticked off means something’s gotta replace it. Got into F2? Win the championship. Won the championship? Make yourself known to F1 teams for them to sign you. Yesterday I ticked that off, but I’m still thinking what to replace it with. It hasn’t clicked yet,” Jinx replied with a chuckle.
Some minor questions were asked – regarding her karting history, her home, how there were few opportunities for racers to grow their career in Zaun, etc. Until…
“Let’s wrap this up with a fact-slash-question. You’ll be the first female driver to take part in a full Formula One race weekend since 1976, in a few weeks time. How do you see this fact play out in the future as you progress further in your career? And, have the perks of being a Mercedes Academy Driver played a part in this sensational news?”
Jinx visibly gulped, suddenly remembering all the chaos, all the effort Ekko poured in to get her into the academy, and eventually into F2. She couldn’t thank him enough, and when she tried, he’d always say “Don’t, it’s worth it” . She then applied her media-trained smile, and replied: “I honestly don’t care too much about what looks people have on me because of my gender, but I intend to show the world that I shall not be underestimated. I focus on only one goal: winning. The Academy has certainly helped me develop as a racer, so big thanks to Mercedes for giving me this opportunity.”
Ekko and Jinx now sat in their seats on the train back home. After the interview, Jinx managed to introduce herself to the entire staff team, having a bit of a talk with them and doing some fun sim racing. All of them seemed nice to her, despite her insecurities when she first stepped foot on their headquarters.
Curiosity took over her, making Jinx open her phone and go to Instagram. In F1’s official page, there were quite a lot of posts about her, ranging from her announcement to how female heritage in the sport keeps growing. She then opened the comment section on the post with the breaking news. Then chaos ensued. Well, before the chaos came the comments from her following list.
- @vi4violence - way to go sis!!
- @kirammanc - Congratulations! 🥂
- @ekko7 - Congrats, my dear 💖
Then the chaos ensued.
- @smeechies - a dishwasher in f1?
- @ambussy - Bad call from Williams. A girl?
- @kinomed - they picked ekko’s sidepiece over sainz?
“Fuck that,” Jinx muttered, slamming her phone down on the other side of her seat. She promised herself she’d stay focused. She had already gotten such insults towards her and Ekko, but the weight was heavier now. She could feel it pressing down on her, trying to suffocate her.
Ekko silently observed the scene, wrapping a hand around her shoulders, bringing her closer to himself, kissing the top of her head. “Don’t pay attention. You know the truth, and that’s all you need.”
Jinx allowed herself to let go, enveloped in her boyfriend’s arms, relaxing a bit. She needed this moment to relax, forget she’s an athlete trying to prove everyone wrong or a woman enduring sexism.
Because then, she was just a human being, away from all the chaos of the world, and she was wrapped in the arms of the person she valued the most, outside her family.
She felt at home in these arms.