My Formula 1 System

Fortunately for Trampos Racing, the telemetry failure issue was resolved and fixed before the 20th Lap, where their drivers on-track would have faced an incumbent DNF due to Mechanical Failure.

For up to seven minutes, the team was in full crisis mode. They relied solely on the radio, the only component of communication still functioning after its earliest revival. With the radio, they manually guided both Luca and Victor through essential data feedback.

Perfect assumptions by their engineers had to be constantly relayed to Luca and Victor; estimates of tire temperatures, guesses on fuel windows, and instructions for ERS toggles. Meanwhile, the root of the problem was being investigated and gradually solved.

The fault was eventually traced, and it turned out to be a combination of issues that only the tech division could fully understand. But it was clear to everyone that Trampos' standing as a 3-star team was the core cause of the whole mess.

Faulty firewall. Processing overload. Poor cable management. And overvoltage.

The faulty firewall allowed irregular data traffic to interfere with priority operations. The processing overload resulted from this, causing the team's systems to fail at refreshing incoming car metrics in real-time, which led to stale dashboard values.

Simultaneously, poor cable management introduced signal interference and unstable sensor communication, which delayed updates even further. A sudden overvoltage spike from the power system then compounded the situation, forcing critical parts of the telemetry hardware into safety mode.

The telemetry lagged so severely that it simply hooked. And in a sport like Formula 1, stale data was just as dangerous as no data at all.

To fix the issue, the engineers along with FIA specialists who had rushed to assist, performed countless reboots. They replaced the compromised cables, updated the firewall, and eventually succeeded in reducing processor strain.

[Operational Status:

Fuel Level: 85%

Tire Condition: V. Good

Telemetry Status: Active ]

Live data began streaming accurately once again—every core metric returned. Stability gradually restored itself within the team, and after official verification, the stewards lifted the Technical Observation off both Luca and Victor.

"…Finally, a bit of good news for Trampos Racing! Telemetry is back online…!"

"…They had nothing but radio to fall back on like it was 1985! So yes, it's go-time again for Trampos…!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

The Trampos fans, who had their hands on their heads throughout the crisis, now threw them even higher into the air, this time in jubilation and relief.

VIP members, Team Presidents like Mr. Lemaître, and various other figures either for and against Trampos, subtly shuffled in their seats right after the stewards' announcement. The tense, uncertain energy that had been cloaking the two Trampos Ferraris had suddenly lifted, much to the disappointment of those secretly craving chaos. And so, attention dispersed once more throughout the rest of the pack.

**Apologies. Apologies, sincere apologies for the mess**

**We lost full telemetry link. But we're back up now**

**We've got full data flow again. Live metrics are active, dashboard is syncing. Repeat, you're both clear. Let's push smart now. Full support from here on**

"Understood."

Luca's reply was calm. He wasn't bothered that the issue might affect his race, he was more concerned about how it would impact the team overall. This would no doubt be addressed thoroughly during post-race gathering and debrief.

"How is Vic?"

After a long period of focusing entirely on his system's internal data, Luca finally remembered that he had a teammate who didn't possess the same golden touch he did. Remembering that Victor was still a rookie, Luca could only imagine how rough the experience must have been for him.

**He's shaken at P20 with errors...

But he's still holding the wheel**

The engineer who spoke wasn't Mr. Berry, so his use of figurative language wasn't cyclic. Therefore, he actually meant it—Victor was still holding his wheel, visibly shaken by the telemetry malfunction and continuing to make racing errors.

Far, far back at the tail end of the pack, trailing by a four-second delta behind Desmond Lloyd in P19, was Victor, his helmet bobbing with every correction called through the radio. His posture was tight, stiff, and his body tense as he executed queasy steering inputs with hesitation, even now that the telemetry had been restored.

The dashboard was running, data streaming live just like it should, but his rhythm hadn't returned. And frankly, it didn't look like it would. Too much doubt had seeped into his driving. Anyone watching, even a child, could tell. Late braking into almost every corner, followed by frantic overcorrections to adjust for those same late brakes.

Victor was suffering from stress, cognitive overload, and physical fatigue all at once. Chronologically, it began with the stress; which then triggered both the mental and physical strain. The telemetry failure earlier had completely disrupted his sense of control, shaken his confidence, and compromised his decision-making instincts. Consequently, anxiety took root, hesitation became his default, and twitchy reflexes plagued his response time.

The telemetry might have been working perfectly again on the screen in front of him but his interpretation of it was all over the place.

Victor gripped the base of his steering wheel with trembling hands, his breaths heavy and uneven, riddled with shudders. It was Lap 11, and the race had only just entered its first true phase of intense action: duels rising throughout the pack, bold overtakes, and fascinating driving from the supers. But Victor, in his own world, had already hit the ceiling of what he could handle.

The circuit's anticlockwise layout only worsened his condition, making him second-guess his direction and every turn-in. At this rate, Victor was falling so far behind that he would soon be lapped because DiMarco, still sitting confidently in P1, was beginning to close the lap differential and would soon enter the same sector as him.

Screeeeechhh!

Victor gave up struggling at some point with a silent defeat. Trampos didn't even know exactly when, because he didn't protest over the radio or make any grunting sound of effort. He simply let go when another blunder of his struck him and his tires.

At Turn 2's sweeper, more than a minute after the official commencement of Lap 12 by DiMarco, Surmann's hands loosened slightly from the wheel the same way they had been doing for eleven consecutive laps. The car was already twitchy, unbalanced, and poor on downforce due to all the minor errors lap after lap, so it worked like the machine it was and succumbed to oversteer.

Instead of braking or lifting at the rangy bottleneck, the rookie left his foot softly on the throttle.

Once Bahrain saw the plumes of smoke emitted by the tires, the crowd rose in unison, and people watching on TV screamed crazily as Victor's Ferrari tore itself away from the racing line toward the Tecpro barrier.

"...WE'VE GOT A SPINNER—TURN 2!"

"WOOOHHHHHH!"

THUMP!

"WOOOHHHHHH!"

Dust rose everywhere and obscured the crash.

"..GOODNESS ME, THE VERY FIRST GRAND PRIX OF THE YEAR AND WE'VE ALREADY GOT DRAMA! THIS IS FORMULA ONE, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!"