Chapter 49

"The teams arrive tonight so let's go shopping." I say to him. He laughs because he knows I don't go shopping that much. "There is a massive mall here and there is a whole bunch of cool stuff there." I continue, explaining myself. "Alright let me shower and then we can go." Lando says, quickly kissing me before rolling out of bed.

~

We walk into the the mall. "Wow. When you said this place was huge I didn't think you meant this huge." Lando comments as we walk through the mall. Passing many shops, even stopping to buy a few things. As we are walking we walk up to a familiar shop. "I remember coming here with my dad once." I say, remembering the two of us walking around the mall, my 7 year old hand wrapped tightly in his. "He was so worried I was going to get lost." I continue with a sad smile on my face. Lando squeezes my hand comfortingly.

Eventually we walk past a shop decorated in familiar logos."Whoa." I say. "There is a F1 merch store here?" He asks but I don't respond. He follows my gaze to the ginormous photo of me celebrating my first F1 podium that is plastered on the outside of the shop. "Wow." He says, which breaks me from my trance. "Yeah. I didn't know they had this." I say. "Let's go inside." Lando says and I nod, following him.

"This is so cool." I say, passing shelves of mini helmets and racks and racks of merch. Hoodies, shirts, caps, everything. "I think they might sell Ferrari merch." I say, motioning to the shelves and shelves of Ferrari merch. Lando laughs and we continue through the store. We spend almost half an hour there before fans started noticing us. The word must have spread that we were here because before we knew it the whole shop was filled with fans. They all wanted photos and autographs. We tried our best to take photos and sign but there was so many people we eventually had to leave, quickly stopping for coffee before making our way back to the hotel.

~

"So you guys caused a mass gathering by going to an F1 merch store?" George asks as we walk down the paddock. "Something like that yeah." Lando says, his arm wrapped around my shoulders. "Wow. Now that's something." Alex laughs. "Anyways. Hannah." George says to me. "Tell us some history or cool facts about the country." George continues. As we come to a stand still together. "Well we have 11 official languages. We have 3 capital cities. The largest diamond in the world was found here. Our history is quite a lot though." I say with a small laugh. "Tell us the basics. We want to know." Charles encourages me. I look around and the four boys who are eager to learn. "Ok." I say unsure as I delve into the history of the country.

"Wow." George says as I finish the story. "Yeah. I told you it was a lot." I say softly. "That's crazy. The fact that that actually happened. I never knew that." Alex says. "Yes. Apartheid was horrible and I'm really sad that there are still people who are experiencing the repercussions because of it." I say. "Don't worry. Im sure it will all right itself eventually." Lando says from next to me. "I sure hope so. I love this country so much." I sigh.

After we changed the topic we appeared for a few minutes before we started being called by our teams for interviews. We said our goodbyes before splitting up.

~

After many interviews and most of them asking similar questions.

Are you excited for you first home race?

Are you nervous?

What is it like?

How do you feel?

The normal and relatively annoying questions. I caught up with the team, running through some things for the weekend before walking to the exit of the paddock. I walk towards the exit where fans have gathered. They all start yelling as I walk closer to them. Deciding to stop, I walk up to them. "Hannah!" Almost off them yell. I smile and sign t-shirts and photos that are handed my way. "Do you mind if I could get a selfie?" A girl asks. "Of course." I reply, quickly smiling before continuing.

~

The smile on my face widens as I walk into the paddock. A fresh Friday morning, since it's winter here it's a little cold but it's manageable. I decided to arrive early so I can make sure everything is perfect. I sign some things for fans before making my way to the garage. "Hey Hannah. You're here earlier than normal." Gareth says. "Yep. Wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Not that I don't trust you guys I just want to make sure for myself." I say and he nods and we chat about possible strategies.

I unpack my special helmet for this weekend. Changing from my normal light blue helmet to a multicolored one, in the exact same pattern as the South African flag. The red and blue running down the sides with the green, black and yellow across the top. (The South African flag for those who don't know)

I absolutely love the way the design for my helmet came out. The colors are bright and they pop out. I look at it for a few moments, admiring it before a knock on my door interrupts me. I open my driver room door to reveal Lando. "Hi baby." I smile. "Hi babe. How are you?" He questions, wrapping me in a hug. "Nervous but excited." I say with a laugh. "Understandable." He says. "Ooh come here, check out my helmet." I say with a big smile. "Wow. This is really cool. I love the colors." Lando comments. "Me too. It's the South African flag." I say excitedly. "Yes babe. I know. I may be stupid but I'm not that stupid." Lando says with a smile. "You aren't stupid at all babe." I smile before giving him a quick kiss.