Those Who Wait (Formula 1 - Daniel Ricciardo)

22... Confirmations

Since the Belgian GP it had become far more obvious to the public and press that Dan and I were a little more than just friends. First came the comments below the instagram photos that we'd all taken on the flight back to Monaco from Spa. Most had been kind, others had been confused and of course there had been the odd nasty comment but none of it really bothered me.

However, we had then spent the Sunday between the Belgian and Italian grand prix' at Reading Festival to watch some of our favourite bands. Alexisonfire, Dan's favourite band and equally fans of him, were playing on the main stage, followed a few hours later than one of my favourite bands Bring Me The Horizon.

Luckily we were quite sure that nobody had been secretly snapping pictures of us when we went skinny-dipping. But now we were being a lot more lax and quite happy to post pictures together on our media accounts. There was even a picture of myself on Dan's shoulders at Reading festival, and we were sure fans were likely to have spotted us together when we were side stage to watch the acts.

*

We drove up to Monza together slightly early ahead of the Italian grand prix, with Dan spending the Wednesday at an event for Ricciardo Kart. We decided it would be silly to travel separately and so I opted to head up with him to stand trackside at the karting event. I wasn't planning on making myself too obvious at his event, but I'd still be there to support him. Plus it was an added distraction to the fact that my mother was undergoing some of her chemotherapy while we were in Italy. In an ideal world I would have been there to support her too but with a grand prix weekend looming I couldn't manage to get back to the UK.

Most of my day on the Wednesday was spent sitting on the fence beside the track watching the many different groups of reporters, from a wide variety of broadcasters, getting to have a go in the karts Dan had put his name to. Just being around the smell of petrol and sound of engines made me incredibly happy, although I was slightly disappointed that I wouldn't get to have a go myself. It was Dan's press day and I had no inclination to overshadow what he was doing; for one thing I was incredibly proud of him and all the hard work I knew he'd put into the project with Birel ART.

In my civvies with a pair of sunglasses covering my eyes I was certainly not as noticeable as usual, but that didn't mean a few keen eyed journalists didn't spot me sitting on the sidelines.

"Hi Noni, how's it going?" The British reporter I knew was from the American channel NBC, smiled at me. He was fully dressed in Ricciardo kart overalls, his name 'BUXTON' emblazoned on his leg, which was luckily a quick reminder for myself. With so many names and faces to remember in the F1 paddock, it was easy to forget a few.

"Hi Will, enjoying the karting?" I replied with a smile.

"I haven't had my go yet, but it will definitely be good fun. Will you be getting in a kart today?" He probed, standing beside where I was sat on the fence and leaning against it while we both watched some Italian reporters hurtling around the track.

"I don't think so, I'm just here to have a look and check out Dan's driving before the weekend," I laughed, of course itching to have a go in a kart myself.

After a quick chat giving him some kart racing tips, Will was called over for his turn, soon replaced by a few other journalists who were all asking me similar questions. Why was I there? Would I be driving? I had to be quite careful with my answers, not speaking directly about being there as Dan's girlfriend.

By the time all of the press were happy with their filmed segments and had been given a try at driving the karts, only a tour of the factory was left for the day. I was quite happy to catch up with some of my revision for the weekend while Dan finished up the day with the tour. I took the time to read over my notes from Rocky and Gianpiero, my simulator times highlighted for me to see where I'd been doing well on the simulator and where I could make up time.