"We'll see how things work out. If you're interested, I could use a new special advisor. We need all the edge now your brother has joined AlphaTauri full time. " Toto said, hoping she would say yes.

"Well..."

Athena, in a way, was flattered. She knew that Toto Wolff was giving her an opportunity to do something better, something more than her occasional work with McLaren and her role with Sky Sports as an analyst for their Formula One coverage.

But at the same time, being a special advisor to the Mercedes-Benz Junior team seemed a bit convenient. Too convenient in her mind.

"Well... I would like to say yes, but I need you to tell me the truth." Athena said to the Austrian. "Do you want me to work for you because I've got the experience as a former Formula One driver, or is it because my brother has got the AlphaTauri job?"

Athena studied the face of the Mercedes-Benz Team Principal, and she realised instantly that her question was redundant. It was clear from his expression that Wolff wasn't wanting her for her Formula One experience, but for his game of one upmanship with Christian Horner.

Looking into the eyes of the Austrian, she knew that her brother would end up as collateral damage in the feud between the Mercedes and Red Bull Team Principals.

She was not going to allow that to happen.

"I can't help but notice that your offer seems to be very much about your feud with Christian Horner, right?" Athena asked him.

Wolff grinned. "Yes, I suppose it is."

Athena considered what her next move should be. The job offered by Mercedes-Benz was good, and it would pay her well, but she just couldn't do it. Not now, anyway. She wasn't prepared to go up against her brother.

She knew Harry was loyal to the Red Bull organisation, but he had never used his connections with the owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, or his former Team Principal, Christian Horner, for personal gain. He'd always been a straight shooter. For all the crap that they had given each other when they were racing together, and the constant banter between the two siblings, she knew that if the shoe was on the other foot, if Harry had only been offered the job at AlphaTauri to further a feud, he would have refused.

She looked at Wolff one last time. He seemed to be waiting for her answer, and she didn't want to give him any false hope, so she simply shook her head.

"No," Athena said. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I don't think I can do that."

Wolff frowned; his plan being thwarted.

The Austrian's phone rang, interrupting them. He told the caller to call him back in a moment, and then turned to Athena.

"I appreciate your honesty. We'll talk again."

Athena shook his hand, and turned, leaving the Mercedes garage.

Two days later...

"It's a Sunday afternoon in the south of France and big prizes out there for the 62nd World Championship French Grand Prix and the 18th to take place at the Circuit Paul Ricard. Welcome along to the French Grand Prix. It is Round 11 as we near part 2 of this Formula One season in 2022."

James "Jimmy" Potter was in his car on the grid, looking forward (hopefully) completing the 53 laps of this 3.63 miles circuit, going through the two DRS zones a total of 51 times each.

Seeing the hustle and bustle of the grid, watching as his team take the blankets off his tyres, the C3 "medium" tyre in the Pirelli range, he smiled as he knew his younger brother was ready to help him win some points by being there on the radio back in the garage.

"Everything alright big bro?" Al called out on the radio. "I just want to tell you good luck."

"Thanks Al." Jimmy responded. "Good luck to you too."

"Stay safe out there James."

"Always" he responded, knowing that he would try his best.

"It's a 70,000, sold out, capacity crowd here, and the starting grid for the French Grand Prix looks interesting."

Knowing it was mere moments until the Formation Lap started, Jimmy could see the car of Scorpius Malfoy next to him, the Aston Martin driver having qualified with the same lap time as him.

"Scorpius Malfoy starts in 16th today, clocking the same time as Jimmy Potter who starts in 15th, with Pierre Gasly in 14th, one of two French runners in this race. Alex Albon alongside him, Q2 for the first time since Canada. Sebastian Vettel starts in 12th, next to him Valtteri Bottas, who has been out in Q2 for the 6th race in a row."

Jimmy could see the Williams car of Alexander Albon in front of him, and the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly's, and knew that the latter of the two would be on their game, especially with the news of the Italian team's new Team Principal coming out.

"And ahead of those, Lewis Hamilton, who becomes the latest to join the 300 club today, 300 Grand Prix starts today, joins Sergio Perez on the second row, behind the front row of the Red Bull, Max Verstappen, and Charles Leclerc, who has the pole position in this race, and it's a fascinating race, Paul di Resta, as the Red Bulls have the extra package for the low downforce."

"It's a hugely different approach Crofty, the Ferraris have gone for the better performance in the corners whereas the Red Bull team have gone for the higher performance in the straights. But don't count out the Mercedes-Benz team, who have been working hard to try and rectify some of the issues with the porpoising in the cars."

"And don't forget what has been happening further back in the grid, it looks like the Alfa Romeo team, coming off a bad weekend two weeks ago for Jimmy Potter, have some competition from both AlphaTauri and Aston Martin teams. I spoke to Jimmy Potter yesterday before Qualifying, and he had said to me that he was determined to do his best over the second half of the season."

"Yes, Jimmy Potter has been working hard following the collision with George Russell two weeks ago at the British Grand Prix to get himself in shape for today."

As the lights changed, ready for the formation lap, Jimmy saw the cars start moving, and smiled to himself. Seeing the car in front of him start to move forward, he put his foot on the accelerator, ready to start the French Grand Prix.

"As the formation lap starts, we go onboard with Pierre Gasly, who is rumoured to be moving away from AlphaTauri at the end of the season, with Nyck de Vries, who we saw in the first Free Practice session, said to be replacing him."

"The AlphaTuari team are keeping tight lipped about this, with a spokesperson giving no confirmation either way on the speculation. However sources have said that the young Frenchman's contract is scheduled to expire at the end of the season, and that the new Team Principal for AlphaTauri, Harry Potter, has yet to make a choice."

"And in the back of the AlphaTauri garage, we see the former 3-time World Champion trying to keep cool. In the Alfa Romeo garage, the crew are trying to keep cool, Al Potter monitoring the screens as his brother in the number 7 car is on his way through the first turn. But with this heat, can anyone keep cool?"

"And as the drivers make their way back to the grid, Carlos Sainz at the back of the grid trying not to keep his teammate waiting at the front, we get ready for 53 laps of brilliant racing."

Jimmy approached his space on the grid, starting to feel nervous, the reality of a race once more.

But he knew he could do it.

He could bounce back.

"And its lights out, and away we go! And Leclerc reacts very well, but Verstappen is quicker. Lewis Hamilton past Sergio Perez, and as we head into turn 1, we see further back Potter in the middle of Gasly and Albon… and Potter goes straight through the middle, passing down the middle of them into turn 1. Potter, who started in P15, has already made 2 places, oh… and we have contact… Scorpius Malfoy tags Mick Schumacher… and we see some damage to the front wing endplate of the Haas…"

'Just like dad did at Monza 2008'. Jimmy thought as he had made his way straight through the middle of the Williams of Albon and the AlphaTauri of Gasly, gaining two places already in the race he had a feeling would be a turning point. 'Just like dad.'

"And there is a spin… and its Yuki Tsunoda in the AlphaTauri, spun around and going off the track there, that's Yuki Tsunoda's weekend a little bit ruined."

Harry Potter was watching the onboard cameras for the two drivers in the AlphaTauri team, watching as he saw Esteban Ocon make contact with Yuki Tsunoda, and on the other one, how his son had gone straight a gap between the Pierre Gasly and the Williams of Alexander Albon.

He saw how Tsunoda recover from the spin, getting himself back on the track.

"Here's the race start again, we see Verstappen and Leclerc getting off to a very good start, and Hamilton passing Perez. Fernando Alonso going off the track slightly into turn one to get ahead, ultimately failing to do so, and that charge down the middle by Jimmy Potter as well, gaining two places with Kevin Magnussen having a good start as well."

Watching the replay of the start, Harry saw how Jimmy had passed straight between the two cars, Williams to the left of him, AlphaTauri to the right, and had managed to make it to the turn with enough to make it through without getting clipped by the two cars.

"He's doing good", Helmut Marko, the senior advisor to Red Bull, said. "Your son made that move with finesse. The tenacity of how he pulled it off reminded me of a similar move you made in the 2008 Grand Prix at Monza. Straight from 13th, straight through the middle of Fisichella and Kubica, making it ahead into the chicane."

"Thanks. I just wished it hadn't been made on Pierre." Harry said, shaking his head. "But at the same time, I'm glad that Jimmy is bouncing back, mentally and physically, after his crash."

"He's a Potter – what do you expect. I just regret not having had him in my program, you know."

"Why?" Harry asked, curious why his boss had said that. "I mean, it had been a consideration, but I wanted Jimmy to make it on his own name, plus some of the other teams would have claimed that you were giving preferential treatment to him because of me."

"At least you didn't let Zak get him into his program. And yes, I did want your son in my program because of him being a Potter, mentored by two three-time champions, but at the same time I know that he could be as good as Max one day."

"To be fair, Athena would be insufferable had Hermione and I agreed to him joining McLaren, he was a big fan of hers as a kid," Harry said, chuckling. "And yes, I do think that Jimmy will be as good as Max one day. He will do well, and if I'm honest, the Sauber Academy has done him some good."

"We're a few laps away from making a 1 stop strategy work. If you can make it to lap 18, between laps 18 and 25, that'll just about work for a one stop Crofty."

Albus "Al" Potter had been looking at the data that his brother's car was sending, and the data from the strategy team.

But he had known from the past races that Jimmy had been in that it was useful to know what the driver felt about the tires.

"How's the tires?"

"They're ok. They're doing well."

"That's understood. Plan A plus 4 then" Al asked, seeing the suggestion that the strategy engineers had given him.

"Plus 4. Confirmed."

Al smiled. Ending the call, he stood up from his desk and watched as the computer screens updated themselves. He knew that the other side of the garage would be telling a similar plan to Valtteri Bottas, hoping to have him pit around lap 18, four laps prior to what the plan for Jimmy was going to be.

"And its Potter on the inside, Albon into turn 4, and… Albon causes Potter to have to go off the track, and Albon has gained the place."

Seeing the footage from the television feed, he saw what was happening in turn 4 of the track, how 14th placed Alexander Albon had been on the corner with his brother, and how Jimmy had been forced off the track slightly, meaning he had lost the place.

"He didn't give me any space!" Jimmy shouted over the radio.

"Understood." Al said, "We've seen it. We're watching the data."

"Cheers."

"And so, lap 40, Leclerc and Tsunoda out, Carlos Sainz having a five second time penalty for that unsafe release when he came into the pits, Jimmy Potter making his second stop of the day, and Max Verstappen, in the lead at the moment. We head over now to Franz Tost, the outgoing Team Principal at AlphaTauri, Franz, thank you for having a moment to speak to us."

"Its good to talk to you too."

"First off, with you leaving AlphaTauri at the end of the season…"

Harry stepped from his seat, needing to take a few minutes out to attend to some personal business. As he headed back to the AlphaTauri garage, he saw Al was walking back into the Alfa Romeo garage.

"You alright Al?" Harry asked his middle son, straightening his jacket. "Is Jimmy ok?"

"Yeah dad, he…I just can't believe he's managed to get back into the swing of things. I mean, I was worried about him earlier, but Jimmy is a natural." Al replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I saw that move on Pierre at the start, he was lucky that there was a gap, being able to charge straight through." Harry said. "I've got to get back, but I just want to say that even though officially I can't help you two, your aunt is still able to, and there is always time for a chat at home."

Seeing that an official was nearby, Harry smiled and headed back to the Italian team's garage, not realising that he was being watched…and photographed…

"And so, onto the final lap, and Max Verstappen has won the French Grand Prix… and the two Aston Martins, celebrating a hundred years… woah, and the Aston driven by Scorpius Malfoy… its slowing down on turn 8… and …yes, its stopped… yellow flags… yellow flags on Sector 2… as the Aston Martin of Scorpius Malfoy has stopped on the turn, the AlphaTauri of Pierre Gasly overtakes the other Aston Martin for the remaining point."

Everybody at the Old Grim Star pub in Brackley was watching the screens as Scorpius Malfoy got out of his car, throwing the steering wheel out in annoyance, the landlord serving a customer whilst trying to watch the race when the pubgoers suddenly cheered, causing him to spill the drink over the customer as he was handing it over, not looking at what he was doing.

"Sorry James," he said, grabbing a cloth. "I'll get you another one in a minute."

"And Jimmy Potter… I can't believe it… he's overtaken Sebastian Vettel. The second of the Aston Martin's had been in the points position when Potter made his move on Bendor to gain 10th place. The lone Alfa Romeo having had a good race this weekend. What did you make of that move Anthony Davidson."

"That, Crofty, was a brilliant manoeuvre. I was proud to be able to race against his dad and the same with his aunt, but Jimmy Potter, following that crash at Silverstone, is on his way to bouncing back."

"No problems Sirius." James Potter told his schoolmate and landlord of the pub, "Tell you what, you and Amy come over to mine tomorrow, and we'll celebrate."

"And as the final few cars come over the line, we're heading down to Athena Potter, who will be talking to the race winner, Max Verstappen."

Scorpius Malfoy marched back into the Aston Martin garage, his two bodyguards behind him and started shouting.

"It's always Potter. Potter this, Potter that… everything is all about Potter getting places ahead of me. Red Bull must be helping the Alfa Romeo team!"

Mike Krack, the Team Principal at Aston Martin looked up from the notes that he had made over the race. Getting up, he walked over to the younger of his two drivers.

"Oi… oi oi oi… calm down… CALM DOWN" Krack shouted. Hoping the incident wasn't being broadcast on television, he sighed. "There is no conspiracy, no Red Bull plot to make you look bad. Jimmy Potter outperformed you on track, and you know that."

"My father will act upon this."

'I'm sure he will' the Aston Martin Team Principal thought 'I'm sure he will!'