𝚂𝙷𝙾𝙾𝚃 𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻 ,, formula 1: drive to survive

25

( on screen interview with daniil kvyat during season two of drive to survive )

"....what happened to dakota in mexico city was a wake up call. we all knew she was struggling a little bit this season, and with the transition from student intern to 'holy shit this is my full time job' but i didn't realise it was this bad, that she was neglecting herself that much... sorry it feels wrong to say much more than this, i think you should talk to her first."

( interview with lewis hamilton, mercedes amg petronas motorsport racing team )

"...it scared us all. dakota's so young, just twenty and  i understand that this is a lot for a kid to handle. i feel responsible, in a way, i think we all should have done more to make sure she was still doing okay, that she was taking care of herself. i knew she  got headaches a lot, and that she was taking something for it, but i had no idea it was that bad. . . i thought she was going to die. . . i'd never been more scared in my life."

* TEXT FADES IN ON A BLACK SCREEN*

On October 27th, 2019, Dakota McManus was rushed to the emergency room during the after party for the Mexican Grand Prix with severe migraines and nausea.

It was revealed that McManus has suffered from chronic migraines since her early teenage years, a medical condition that was not disclosed to members of the Toro Rosso team.

When we reached out to Franz Tost and Helmut Marko for comments, neither party responded on behalf of Scuderia Toro Rosso or Red Bull Racing.

 

2019 Season

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO

SUNDAY - RACE DAY

THE AFTER PARTY.

Dakota McManus was in pain.

She had started out okay, chatting with Lance Stroll and his teammate Sergio Perez when the  after party started, and then departing the group to give her congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, the race winner.

It was all downhill from there.

The Latin pop music flowing from the DJ table was grating, each note sending another stab of pain through her head. The blinding lights started to blur together, the left side of her face feeling tender to the touch. She reached into her purse to extract a pair of plastic sunglasses, darkening her vision and placing less strain on her eyes in the hopes that it would alleviate some of the pain

When that didn't work, Mac bailed apologetically from her conversation with Alex Albon to duck away from the bright lights and music of the paddock to retreat back towards the Toro Rosso building, clutching her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out more noise and quell the ringing in her ears before she found herself keeled over in front of the Mercedes AMG motorhome.

"Fucking hell." She hissed under her breath, sitting on the pavement with her back against the wall, a tear beginning to escape.

She had never had a migraine this bad before. Sure, there were a few times back in high school where she had walked out of class to sit in a dark, silent room. An instance on the track last year where the pain had made her physically sick, but otherwise fine after her stomach had been emptied.

But she could never remember it hurting this much.

"Mac?" A soft spoken British voice sounded from behind her. "Dakota, darling, are you alright?"