It all started with the press conferences, James "Jimmy" Potter would say.
He hated press conferences. He hated them with a passion, especially when a Skeeter article was referred to.
But this press conference seemed to be one of the better ones, especially as he had been put in the group with Lewis Hamilton, Daniel Riccardo, and Sergio Perez.
Riccardo had spent some time talking about the fact that he had the face of his teammate, Lando Norris, on his neck, as well as the fact he would be leaving the McLaren team, Hamilton talking about the engine penalties, and Perez talking about the time he had spent with the Oracle SailGP team.
But then it was his turn, and he was ready to answer them.
"Jimmy, coming to you now. You've had a mixed season, gaining 7 points, but with the team getting only the one point since Canada, what have been the issues?" the interviewer asked.
"Yeah, I mean, there's several issues, of course after summer break it's been extremely tough for the team. In Spa we had both cars taking engine penalties, Valtteri having to retire, then ending up getting stuck in the gravel trap myself midway through the race. In Zandvoort, getting to Q2, Valtteri having engine issues again, the AlphaTauri of Yuki Tsunoda retiring as well, it was a bit of a crazy race. Although I'm glad I managed to get ahead of Daniel at the end."
There was a chuckle from Daniel Riccardo, who remembered how close it was for the young Brit.
"Being the youngest on the grid, how is it being able to fit in with the others, being the son of a three-time world champion and nephew of another?
"It's great. Apart from the rivalry I seem to find myself in with Scorpius Malfoy in the Aston Martin, off the track its been a close friendship. Lewis has spent some time telling me about the exploits that he and my Aunt had been up to back in the day." Jimmy responded, seeing Hamilton stage a cough. "Checo has been a great bloke. But I will admit, I still have a lot to learn, and having such experienced people to learn from, Valtteri, Sebastian, Fernando, all great folks."
"Jimmy, final one from me. A word on your future, please, your contract being 2 years with Alfa Romeo, but is there any news on what the future could hold?"
"Thanks, yeah, I've been talking with Frédéric, and to the team management. I will admit that I am nervous. I mean, despite there being a 2 year contract, and having a fairish rookie season, there is never any guarantee that I will have a seat next year. I know I'm happy working with everyone, its just a pity that my race engineer, my brother, Al, is leaving at the end of the season, but he made that decision, and I've met his replacement, and I'll be happy to work with him, should I still have my seat next year."
Jimmy sighed as he thought about his potential future in the sport.
"Thanks Jimmy, we now open the questions to the floor."
As the questions opened up from the journalists, Jimmy watched as the David Croft, the interviewer from Sky Sports F1, asked Hamilton about his records as a driver, as the reporter from Grand Prix Plus discussed the Mercedes tyre strategy, and how the reporter from asked about the issues with the Mercedes car in general.
Taking a quick sip of water, he heard a question for him from the journalist from The Sun.
"James, Has the relative performance of Alfa Romeo slipped back to what it was during the first half of the season, and do you think points are still in the offering?"
Jimmy sighed, thinking for a second how best to answer the question. "Yeah, I can still get some points. Despite some issues this season, I know the team are doing their best. I'm hoping for a good rest of the season, and I'm hoping that the issues that both Valtteri and I have had so far have been resolved. The team at Hinwil have been working their hardest under the supervision of Jan Monchaux, the technical director here at Alfa Romeo."
Another reporter stood up, one that Jimmy knew was from the website . "A question for all four as possible. Just a quick note on the sausage kerbs that have been removed on the track. How good is it that the FIA have sort of listened about the sausage kerbs and the dangers around them?"
Jimmy looked at the reporter. "To be honest, as it is my first year in Formula One, I was quite surprised to see how much power the driver actually can affect. Having been used to the lower powered Formula 2 cars, being ill during pre-season testing, working on the sim helped a bit.. But most of us agreed the same thing, that some of the tracks could do with some changing, and George has worked with the Race Director to put our point across. Of course, the sausage kerbs does make racing quite difficult when you're racing side-by-side, not just for us but also for the Formula 2 and Formula 3 guys, I think it's definitely a good way to go."
Eventually the Press Conference would end, but he knew he had a few interviews to go…
The Next Day…
Following the press conference, Jimmy had been asked to do an interview with Sky Deutschland, giving him a chance to use the German he had learnt as a child, followed by an interview with a website, which would be published over the race weekend.
Today, however, he had been told by the PR team at Alfa Romeo that he was wanted for a feature that Sky Sports were producing, a little humorous piece called "The Italian Job".
The premise, he was told, was for him, Lando Norris and George Russell, to each bring a Sky Sports F1 plaque from the Palazzo dell'Arengario in Milan, to the start/finish line at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Jimmy would admit that doing the sketch was fun, as he had sitting next to him in the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio that he had been driving Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham. George had had Paul di Resta and Lando had had Rachel Brookes in their cars, the latter two driving a Mercedes-Benz SL Roadster and a McLaren GT respectively.
He had enjoyed the race between the three cars, heading along the A52 Toll Motorway, with him singing some of the lyrics to one of the songs from a film his granddad, Dan Granger, loved on the return trip, which caused the Sky Sports presenter to laugh.
Approaching the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, he had been told that he had to head towards the pits, drive down them, and then complete a lap of the track, through the chicane, into the Curva Grande, through the della Roggia chicane, all the way through to the Curva Parabolica.
As he started around the Parabolica, he that Lando was in the lead, him in second and George in third. Passing through the line, he had to laugh at how much fun he was having.
Getting out of the car, he was met by di Resta and a cameraman, ready to film his reaction.
"So, Jimmy Potter, 2nd in the Italian Job, how do you feel about losing to Lando Norris?"
"In a way, I didn't lose, as it was all fun in the end" Jimmy said, still on a high from doing that skit. "Although seriously, I'm looking forward to Sunday, and hope it will be a good race."
Answering some more questions, he watched as the 3 cars were being driven away by the production staff, and he just knew that he had to get a Giulia Quadrifoglio for himself.
Not all of the press duties were fun, obviously, the one thing Jimmy did enjoy was the one he had found himself fronted by WIRED and F1 TV. He, along with Fernando Alonso, Mick Schumacher and Pierre Gasly, had been given a card with some of the most searched questions on them.
The first most searched question had been "Does James Potter have a girlfriend". Obviously, Jimmy laughed.
"I think that the questions may get two different sets of answers, obviously because I was born James Potter, its the name on my driving licence, passport, and Super Licence, but I prefer to be called Jimmy, especially as my granddad is also named James Potter, who obviously married my grandmother, otherwise I wouldn't be around."
The other three drivers laughed at that.
"Seriously though, yes I do have a girlfriend, someone who I am serious with. One day I hope to marry her, but first I'd happily admit that I totally love her."
Some of the audience around the area where the skit was being filmed 'awwed' at him.
The second most searched question had been "Where did James Potter get his name?"
When he pulled the strip of paper covering the question, he face palmed. "I'm named after my grandad, obviously. Mum says that dad was still feeling the effects of the test drive he had done when they had named me. My opinion is that Dad just wanted to pay homage to his old man."
Jimmy turned to Mick and smiled. "Just like Mick is a variant of Michael. A homage to a legend in his own right…even though he got beat to the '04 title by my dad!"
Schumacher looked at Jimmy and laughed. "Yeah, I was only a kid back then!"
Looking at the third most searched question, he was worried. "What is James Potter's…"
Pulling the strip, he laughed. "Shoe size."
Looking back at the camera and his fellow drivers he had to take a sip of water.
"Sorry, I get asked something completely different on social media at times. I'm a size 11…" to which the crowd sniggered, "In the shoe that is. In the shoe."
"Yeah, obviously." Alonso replied, setting the other two drivers into laughter. "Sie protestieren zu sehr. You protest too much!"
Which set the quartet of drivers off into laughter.
The fourth question he had been told was one of the most searched was "Is James Potter related to Harry Potter."
Jimmy snorted at that. "Obviously. Last time I checked anyway, being James Potter, the son of Harry Potter, with my dad Harry Potter being the father of James Potter and the son of James Potter. How's that to confuse folks. I just wished people searched for Jimmy Potter instead!"
The group who had gathered round to watch the filming laughed at him, knowing that he was trying to confuse them with a bit of humour.
"How does James Potter deal with nerves before a race?" was the last of the 5 questions, and this was one he knew would be hard to answer in a way.
"Erm… well… the others are great to help, Valtteri is a good bloke to have a chat with, same with my girlfriend, but the biggest help this season is my race engineer, my brother Al. Having grown up with him, my sister Rose, and my youngest brother Hugo, Al and I have been close. Rosie loves to study and Hugo…well he's Hugo. Al has always loved racing and, had thing's been different, he'd be in F2 or F3, but he's a great help.
"But yeah, it's a case of just talking to others. So I would say talking to others has helped with my nerves."
"And you do talk a lot!" Gasly said, chuckling. "But seriously though, I think in a way, talking to each other, to our teams, to our families, they are the best way to deal with nerves… or any issues we're having."