My Formula 1 System

Throughout the 169-hectare motorsport complex known as the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Luca's audacious move was still being murmured about. That was, in fact, the first time ever a driver had pulled off such a magnificent feat.

The ability for an F1 car to power almost fully sideways was technically possible, but it certainly wasn't what Enzo Ferrari or the other historical figures had in mind when they were developing the structure and philosophy of single-seaters.

"Does he still have it?"

Only a fool would ask such a question after that inconceivable stunt in the 13th Lap. The only questions being thrown around to one another were: "How?" "Was that real?" "A stumble, maybe? Done unintentionally?" "Could he be on the juice?"

After Rodnick's dishonorable actions that stained Formula 1, it wasn't strange anymore to hear abrupt doping accusations flying from anyone's mouth the moment a driver they disliked executed an applaudable performance.

P4— Jimmy Damgaard

P5— Luca Rennick

P6— Marko Ignatova

[Analyzing Ferrari (Scuderia Z24) and host's distance from 4th Position]

[You are 1.5 seconds away, host.]

By Lap 15, Luca was close enough to the Norwegian Matadori, and he was thoroughly considered a threat by Velocita's garage. With less than 2 seconds separating them, it wouldn't take long before the two rivals clashed. The subtle tension emanating between them grew thicker and louder with time, progressively attracting the attention of everyone involved between Trampos and Velocita.

[Aerodynamics +1]

[Ding!]

[One Attribute left <Tire Wear Management> to level all to (30+)!]

It was general knowledge to everyone that Ferrari cars were especially strong in characteristics like aerodynamics, handling, and everything else in general that when combined, emphasized speed and acceleration.

Red Bull, on the other hand, were robust, rigid, strong, and powerful. Their mechanics weren't the fastest or most accelerative, but at the end of the day, the entire structure spoke of stability and reliability across all fields.

So what happens when a driver from a team honing the least of Ferrari's traits clashes with a driver from a team wielding the best of Red Bull's strengths? Intelligence and quantitative data might already suggest a victor, but the underlying statistics that no one but Luca knew, would say otherwise.

But don't mark Jimmy Damgaard out just yet. The boy's a juggernaut, a rising powerhouse who knew how to drive better than 90% of Formula racing drivers worldwide. So, he was undoubtedly a force to reckon with.

Furthermore, during the winter break, Jimmy had embarked on a phenomenal journey to become an even better driver this season. His expedition was similar to Luca's in the sense of personal development, but the entire motive that fueled him, and the activities that followed were utterly different.

In Luca's case, it was trauma that drove him. He secluded himself and focused solely on rehabilitating his body in order to bounce back. But in Jimmy's case, the journey didn't begin until the night Luca walked into the Gala, looking completely altered in both appearance and aura. The change was unbelievable, and such a transformation could only mean one thing: Luca was going to be more red-blooded this season, perhaps out of vengeance or a lashing out of anger and emotion from Ansel's death on the grid, ultimately to claim the trophy.

To prevent that from happening, Damgaard decided to create his own personal regime before the season began. His draft was to visit 10 closed circuits all around the world and lap them 25 times each.

Only he knew how that would benefit him. Closed circuits don't replicate real competitive conditions anymore, especially in terms of grip levels. The isolation of such a training method definitely suggested it was ego-driven, and it generally appeared wasteful. It consumed all your energy when you could simply engage in simulators instead.

Perhaps Jimmy had some mental warfare going on after seeing Luca bounce into the Galleria. That could've been a psychological journey or simply self-discipline, taking the old circuits as symbols of something greater.

In the end, Damgaard was only able to hit seven out of the ten circuits in his tour. Even though he didn't complete them all, he returned a reshaped young man—a young man afraid of being fully eclipsed by a resurgent Luca Rennick.

At the front of the pack, Antonio Luigi took P1 by overtaking DiMarco so ruthlessly, their sidepods grazed softly, sending out large sparks that threatened to ignite into fire.

"...OH MY WORD—WHAT WAS THAT?! Antonio Luigi just took the lead like a man possessed...!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

P1 — Antonio Luigi ↑

P2 — Davide DiMarco ↓

DiMarco had no intention of letting that overtake from Luigi go unanswered. But he now had a bigger problem to deal with, because the light graze with Luigi's car had already done its damage.

No, there was no dire physical damage in question. The problem was that his momentum had been clipped, and it was just enough to leave him exposed to another rival trailing just behind. Ailbeart Moireach had spotted the opportunity even before it became obvious.

DiMarco's focus was briefly disrupted, and his straight-line speed dulled while Luigi stormed deeper into Sector 3. Ailbeart seized the moment without hesitation, knowing he was just as capable as they were in their technical factor.

"...AND LOOK WHO'S COME KNOCKING! Ailbeart Moireach swoops in! DiMarco's momentum is gone, and now he's under siege...!"

DiMarco did his best, but he couldn't deny Ailbeart the perfect scenario of an overtake that had been passed down from generation to generation. He pushed the Tempesta MkII to tremendous power to boost recovery, but Ailbeart was already at his peak.

The Haddock Racing driver steered his Renault R.S.25 into the narrowing lane beside DiMarco and surged forward without hesitation, before DiMarco could even switch back to defense.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

P2— Ailbeart Moireach ↑

P3— Davide DiMarco ↓

"...And just like that—P2 for the Scotsman! The crowd's on their feet as Davide DiMarco falls to P3 in a single sector...!"

"...Ailbeart Moireach saw the opportunity, knew DiMarco's launch was stunted after the graze with Luigi, and didn't even waste a second...!"

"...Davide DiMarco in P3, Ailbeart Moireach in P2...!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

Velocità crew members threw their hands in the air, and team engineers became more serious.

The fact that their two drivers were now sitting in P4 and P3 wasn't comforting, even though it was technically safe. The team clearly practiced the Tiered Pursuit strategy, meaning they shouldn't be concerned by a line-up like this.

But that wasn't the case—because it was Rennick behind Damgaard, and Ailbeart Moireach was now holding DiMarco at bay. It was a tug of war, where the slightest outcome could swing Velocità's fortunes either positively or negatively.

DiMarco could either reclaim his P2 and reset things to how they were prior to all this, or Luca could eventually overtake Damgaard and then begin pestering DiMarco. Even though DiMarco had the MkII, a pest was still a pest. And thus, it would be difficult for DiMarco to reclaim P2 if he came under that pressure.

Not that Luca could overtake DiMarco and the MkII, could he?

But he'd have to be careful. Although the Z24 wasn't by default a high ERS car, using the Heat-Energy Recycling feature too aggressively around that S-level engine of Red Bull's might actually inflict some harm.

To be sure of anything, Luca would have to eventually come close. Damgaard was still the barrier, but not for long, really.

As the 18th Lap approached them, all top three were on the home straight and the top five scattered throughout Sector 3 in general. Luca prepared himself.

He gripped his wheel tighter, confident he still had another stored barrel of recycled heat energy untouched. So, once the 18th Lap officially began for the supers, he unleashed ERS on the home straight he shared with Damgaard.

"...AND IT LOOKS LIKE IT'S A BLISTERING BATTLE BETWEEN DAMGAARD AND RENNICK TO BE THE FIRST TO CROSS INTO LAP 18! WHO'S GONNA TAKE IT?! LOOK AT THE SPEED...!"

Damgaard had his ERS running too, but his deployment didn't last. It exhausted as quickly as it was activated. On top of that, he didn't even have Zero Drag, while Luca effectively latched onto his slipstream with seamless finesse.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

"...HE'S USING THE SLIPSTREAM TO PERFECTION! THIS IS WHAT WE TALK ABOUT! THIS IS HOW YOU OVERTAKE IN MODERN FORMULA ONE!"

[Slipstream Status: ENGAGING]

Car <— Approaching Slipstream (Minimal aerodynamic effect)

Car <<— Partial Lock (Drag reduction increasing)

Car <<<— LOCKED IN (Maximum slipstream advantage)

[Overtake Window: Optimal]

Damgaard gritted his teeth. Frustration coursed through him because he couldn't begin to weave on the home straight while moving at over 350 km/h. All he could do was watch as the driver behind claimed the advantage without negotiation.

Without compassion in his eyes, Luca even went for DRS.

His rear wings flapped open mechanically. An extra burst of speed was collected instantly, and there wasn't even a shred of drag in his trajectory. Luca nearly broke the barrier into 400 km/h!!!

"...UNBELIEVABLE, ALEX...!"

[DRS Boost +1]

[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 12.5%]