My Formula 1 System

Since the livery unveil was now behind everyone, this credibly meant that the new season had officially begun.

To prove just how official it was, the release of the full Formula One calendar backed up the claim many had been making, since the FIA never truly makes a grand announcement to inaugurate a new campaign.

From February to late November, it was once again time for another global tour. This time, 21 races. Perhaps Qatar had been included as compensation for the complete motorsport miss-out from their country last year? Or was it another country entirely? Or did the FIA simply decide to schedule 21 fatiguing races just like that?

Either way, the world was about to witness motorsport's fiercest spectacle once more; from ice-cold spring openers to sun-scorched summer showdowns, and all the blood, sweat, and machinery in between.

All teams on the grid had now made a total recollection and headcount of the assets they possessed, and what potential they could prove on the track over the course of 21 rounds. As usual, some teams would be confident in their squad, while others would not—even in F2, as a new generation of drivers had just transcended into the top tier to fill in certain spots.

Everyone had now tilted their focus into full pre-season mode, kicking off intense training programs, technical drills, and operational rehearsals that would run like clockwork all the way until lights out at the opening race.

Other activities being carried out during this preamble included simulated setups, telemetry assessments, and technical data review by the FIA. Hundreds of complexities were unfolding behind the scenes, but the press knew how to do their best by keeping headlines exciting and focused on the action, just how spectators and the public preferred it.

New theme songs had also been chosen by the FIA and were now booming from almost every street junction, corner store, or mall you walked into. As usual, the chosen collection would consist of about three to five songs, with one serving as the main theme and the others as subordinates. The main songs were typically electro-pop by artists like TwoFluffyEggs, Dreaming Dragons and The Weekday (⁠◠⁠‿⁠◕⁠). The subordinate tracks, on the other hand, were often a mix of rock, electronic or synthwave, orchestral, and sometimes even hip-hop.

It reminded Luca of his antique, beginning days with that small MP3 player of his which, unfortunately... he had lost, and couldn't even remember when or how it went missing.

In order to experience that feeling once again, Luca decided to get one again. He remembered every single song that had been in his SD card stored within, some even saved on his phone, so it wouldn't be a problem getting everything back.

"This is not an MP3 player," Luca said with an examining tone as he probed the device in his palm.

Manuela looked at Vance with an I-told-you-so expression. She threw her hands up in the air and narrated to Luca how she and Vance had been in a feverish argument about what exactly Luca meant when he'd given the instruction: "Get me an MP3 player today."

Manuela, being well acquainted with her client, Luca, knew exactly what he wanted. But Vance had opposed her and interpreted the instruction differently. He knew what an MP3 player was, but he thought Luca had just said "MP3 player" as a generic, catch-all term, just like how people often say "iPod" to mean any music device.

He assumed Luca was simply asking for a way to listen to music, not literally the old-school player. And given Luca's status, Vance figured something flashy and modern would make more sense than a tiny plastic device from the start of the century.

So, he got Luca an M17 instead.

Manuela was visibly displeased that Luca didn't get mad at Vance. He didn't even chastise him; he only just raised a single brow. Instead of reprimanding Vance, Luca simply decided to accept the device as it was, tucking it under his arm like it was perfectly fine.

"After all the crossfire we had and my fight for your preference, you just let him slide? I argued down a wall for you."

Vance was smirking mischievously at Manuela while she complained. It was a hilarious sight to Luca, but he also began to wonder if the two of them were starting to develop some chemistry. He had never imagined Vance had such game.

"Don't worry," Luca said. "It's not that deep. I'll try this one. It's good to try new things once in a while."

After transferring all his songs into the new SD card that came with the device, Luca was ready to go. He got into his second Jaguar, the Jaguar F-Type Concept, and drove off to the HQ through the lone, long, winding road that snaked between the valleys.

Upon arrival, Luca picked up his bags from the front seat and shut the door. He tucked the keys into a slim pocket on the outside of his red duffel bag, then took a deep breath of the warm morning air through the regular kind of nose mask covering his face.

After taking a brief moment to admire the HQ from outside, he turned and waved toward the security stationed at the far gate before heading straight to the physical training building to kick off his drills.

He had instructed someone to be there ahead of him, nice and early. When he entered and made his way to the main workout facility room, he was glad to see Victor already inside, engaged in warm-up exercises.

"You're here."

Luca announced his presence, dropped his bag, and proceeded to get dressed in comfortable gear.

Victor, who was facing the other side of the room, almost stumbled from his lunging-knee-stretch-left exercise at the sound of Luca's reverberating voice.

He turned around and welcomed Luca with a respectful bow before the latter could enter the changing room. When Luca emerged in full workout gear that emphasized his ripped figure like Hercules himself, Victor asked what they would be pushing through today, like a mentee asking his mentor—because that's what they were now.

Luca told him to stick with the regime that had already been drafted out for them this week. When it came to cardio, however, he would step in to demonstrate a few variations and applications to make the exercises yield better and more effective results.

Victor nodded firmly with enthusiasm and got back to work.

Luca, on the other hand, laid his mat beside a group of gym equipment to begin his own session. He summoned the system for a kind reminder of what he had lined up today, even though he had already benched a lot at home prior.

[SYSTEM ONLINE]

[Generating workout...]

[—Belt Squats

—Chest-supported T-bar row

—Cable crossover and weighted ab crunch]

[EXERCISE: BELT SQUAT]

[EQUIPMENT: BELT SQUAT MACHINE, WEIGHT PLATES]

[Host is required to perform deep belt squats with extreme resistance, focusing on explosive upward motion and stability at the base. This builds heavy-duty power in your glutes, hamstrings, and quads; critical muscles for lower body control in high-G turns and braking zones.]

[This will be done for 4 heavy sets of 6–8 reps, followed by 1 drop set to failure, focusing on time-under-tension and depth.]

All these exercises were monster-tier workouts, crafted for absolute powerhouses, like those bodybuilders with elite-level strength and endurance, and muscles bulging like raw slabs of meat.

Luca's muscles weren't bulging or exaggerated like that. They were just firm, solid, and lean, and would only appear comparable if he chose to flex them. But make no mistake, he was still very much on that same elite level in terms of strength and endurance, so he could push through these workout monstrosities just as efficiently as any of them.

[EXERCISE: CHEST-SUPPORTED T-BAR ROW]

[EQUIPMENT: T-BAR ROW MACHINE, WEIGHT PLATES]

[Host is required to execute slow, controlled rows with full extension and contraction. The goal here is to thicken your upper back and lat structure, developing core pulling strength and a wider range of muscular balance for cockpit endurance.]

[This will be done for 5 sets of 8 reps, with a 15-second isometric hold at the top of the final rep in the last set.]

Occasionally, Victor would glance over at Luca, watching him grunt and groan under the weights. He couldn't help but marvel at the sight, because it was rare for an F1 driver to be able to lift kilograms like that.

[EXERCISE: CABLE CROSSOVER + WEIGHTED AB CRUNCH SUPERSET]

[EQUIPMENT: CABLE MACHINE]

[Host is required to perform a superset starting with cable crossovers to contract and stretch the pectorals, followed immediately by heavy kneeling cable crunches to engage the core. This combo challenges both torso stability and explosive upper-body power.]

[You'll complete 3 supersets of 10 crossovers + 15 crunches. The final crunch set includes 5 slow negatives for enhanced abdominal control.]

After the workout was completed, Luca's muscles and joints burned, but he was barely exhausted overall. This was just his scheme, the team's laid-out regime still remained. He would have to tackle that next, so conserving his manpower was the smart play.

Before moving on, Luca questioned his system about his current Attributes. It was a good thing that many of them had reached and even surpassed (40), but the fact that Intelligence was still stuck at (33) bothered him a bit.

Of course, his unbelievable tour in Switzerland hadn't affected Intelligence in any way, so it remained the same while the other stats leaped forward. Had it been in the (40+) range, a new Skill would've been unlocked.

"System, what rugged medium can I take on just to push Intelligence to (40)?"

[Putting into consideration how intensely host has stressed the body in pursuit of Strength, Stamina, Endurance, and Agility, a similarly strenuous regime will now be required to stimulate mental growth.]

"What do you suggest?"

[Protocol initializing...]

[Here are a list of suggestions, host, for a mental grit training]

[Memory Compression— feeding yourself the entire or a huge chunk of the history of Formula 1; drivers, teams, legacy etc.

Strategic and Multitasking Simulations— simulating all possible race scenarios that had transpired from the beginning of time including scenarios like crashes and how to escape alive; everything.]

[End of list.]