Scarlet Slipstream · Y/n story by @kiki1027

The Maranello air hangs thick with tension. Rows of journalists pack the media center, cameras trained on the empty podium. The Prancing Horse emblem glows blood-red against the black backdrop.

Journalist near the front

muttering into phone No, nobody knows. Not even the Italian press. Vasseur's kept this tighter than anything I've seen—

Second journalist

elbowing him They're starting.

Vasseur steps to the microphone. The room falls silent.

Frederic Vasseur

voice steady Thank you for coming. I understand there has been speculation. Considerable speculation.

He pauses. A beat. The kind of silence that makes cameras click louder than they should.

Frederic Vasseur

Lewis Hamilton has chosen to step away from Scuderia Ferrari. His contributions to this team, however brief, will not be forgotten. We wish him well in his future endeavors.

A wave of murmurs. Someone drops a pen. The journalists lean forward as one organism.

Frederic Vasseur

But Ferrari does not rebuild. Ferrari evolves.

He gestures, and the door behind him opens.