My Formula 1 System

Despite the atmosphere and the chaos, the British Grand Prix began without a waver as if it wasn't troubled. The emotional UK crowd only seemed to add a sharper edge to the moment rather than fracturing it. Above the grid on the home straight, the lights flickered, and all twenty cars bowed before it until its shrewd command.

No matter how turbulent the lead-up was, the braising heat emitted by the cars from a distance was the same, especially for a race at the start of spring. The red lights blinked out as usual, and every driver launched forward with the same objective.

"...The fourth race of the season is officially underway, and what a build-up we've had over these past weeks! All eyes are on the British Grand Prix, the home of legends, and today promises nothing short of fireworks.. !"

Luca's start was a pageant display of its own. After a year of unlocking Grid Launch, he had achieved paragon level and pure perfection in his grid starts, that no rival could hope to replicate. Any driver on the F1 grid starting immediately ahead of him was almost 100% guaranteed to lose their position to him before Turn 1 even arrived.

All drivers except those particular two that were cut from a different breed of steel and machinery. And these two were the kind who didn't only speak their defiance in interviews but made sure to never yield an inch under his blistering starts.

Luca had immense hopes for a start that would catapult him onward with unparalleled momentum, leaving Ailbeart Moireach in his wake. And in that scenario, he believed he would then cling to his dexterous driving craft in order to deftly take the corners, lines, and straights perfectly, and defend against the same Ailbeart while gunning for Luigi.

But Ailbeart Moireach had his own different blueprint for the British Grand Prix. It was utterly polar opposite to Luca, who thought he could take P2 in a whiff of spun rubber.

The Scotsman, Ailbeart, had long eyed Luca's Ferrari and its steaming heat vapour during grid formation. The car appeared outlandishly familiar to Ailbeart, and not just because it was the same car Luca had piloted in the past three races. It was a Ferrari, but a different Ferrari from the one of last season—distinct paint, distinct team insignia.

Therefore, Ailbeart's recognition of the Z24 stemmed from the essence of the driver behind its wheels—none other than Luca.

**Keep an eye on Rennick, Ailbeart. He'll come for you on launch as he always does. Make this start count**

**Understood**

Ailbeart stuck to the order. When the lights went out, he and Luca moved their limbs in a flash and engaged the power of their cars. Luca's movements were far faster, and he didn't jerk slightly to the soft G-force like Ailbeart did.

Grid Launch was activated successfully, and Luca made the early lunge for P2, his plan still fresh in mind! The commentary hollered at his early move, and Trampos cheered for success.

Ailbeart, however, had anticipated that very lunge since it was, as a matter of fact, the only mathematical lunge Luca could make. And unlike Luca, the Haddock Racing legend didn't start explosively. Ailbeart decided to rather incline his craft into precise defense.

The moment he felt Luca's Ferrari surging alongside, he nudged slightly to the right, a subtle yet deliberate block that cut off Luca's inside line before Turn 1 could even open its arms. Luca was amazed by the perfect placement of the Renault because he expected an oversteer since the tires weren't at optimal grip yet.

Ailbeart gave Luca a decision: back off or collision. Luca, who had Silent Restore, thought quickly about this and realized he wasn't at a disadvantage. But under a few seconds, he decided not to be a barbarian simply because of Silent Restore.

Luca acknowledged Ailbeart's racecraft, his sheer timing, and eventually backed off just as Turn 1's bend made its mark.

[Turn type: Fast right-hander] [Angle: 40°] [Braking Point: None – flat out] [Recommended Entry Speed: 250 km/h] [Optimal Apex: Middle of track]

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

**Brilliant defense, Ailbeart. That's exactly what we needed—hold that line**

"..WHAT A START! Rennick launched like a rocket, but Moireach shuts the door with power! Completely unfriendly! Luca Rennick had to bow to that..!"

Luca had to be more careful and patient this season. He could see his great odds for the Drivers' Championship, and so, his blood was hotter than ever for the wins and supremacy. But blind aggression only sabotaged the bigger picture. Recklessness carried the risk of penalties, retirements, or the loss of the mental edge that true champions mastered. So, Luca had to refrain from impulse. Sixteen more races to go. Truthfully, it would be very difficult keeping one's cool for this long, especially since half of the community was fixed on baiting him to rage.

Jimmy Damgaard almost capitalised on his brief drop in momentum. Spatial Awareness alerted Luca with a glimpse of the Red Bull creeping up to claim his abandoned asphalt with rapidly increasing acceleration from lights out. Luca then quickly cut across the racing line and forced Damgaard to hesitate before Turn 2, just as Ailbeart had done to him.

"...This is a statement start! None of the top four budged an inch! They all clutched hard onto their positions through Turn 1 and refused to give up ground...!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

Dreyer followed closely behind Damgaard. He kept his Outback Red Bull locked to the rear wing of the Velocità Red Bull, his intentions of overtaking no clearer. If Damgaard's ambition for Rennick opened even the tiniest crack, Dreyer would wedge himself through without hesitation.

Team radio cracked through, advising him to exercise patience in order to become the only non-preyed predator in that top five horde. By biding his time and remaining smooth on the throttle, Damgaard might overreach or lose guard, and then he would strike. After all, Nyström, who was right behind, was caught in an ugly brawl with Denko Rutherford. Threat wouldn't be coming from there anytime soon.

Audi vs. Renault! Denko Rutherford was actually showing a shocking level of promise in the duel for someone of his seat level. He was straight-up harassing the old veteran Elias Nyström with the conventional weaving aggression throughout the opening lap while the frontrunners advanced further into the British Grand Prix.

"...And look at this fight! Elias Nyström is under siege from Denko Rutherford, who is absolutely refusing to stay in line! The Renault kisses the Audi's diffuser! Nyström has to hold his ground or risk getting bullied out of the Top 6 by lap 5...!"

"WOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!" The full series is hosted on My Virtual Library Empire, known as MV7LEMPYR.

Nyström's Audi wobbled under the constant pressure of the Englishman because of Stadhaven's frequent corners. They were 18 in number! The track used to be well-known for its 50:50 nature, but after the expansion last year, many couldn't refer to it as a standard track anymore.

Stadhaven featured two hairpins, both Turn 3 and Turn 4, and two chicanes! The other corners were medium left or right-handers, sweepers, or simple kinks designed to keep the flow of the track.

Five straights graced Stadhaven, and astonishingly, the home straight was the shortest. Unbelievable. The longest straight stretched from T8 to T9, the only place Nyström found breathing space against Denko because his Audi was subtly faster than Denko's Renault.

Turn 9, a high-speed right-hander, was merely a connection from sector 2 to sector 3 where another straight followed towards the chicane complex that punished Marko Ignatova in the qualifiers.

[>>>

T8

|

|

|

|

T13-T12--T11--T10--------T9

<<<]

Stadhaven had been turned into a labyrinth of technicality, and this reality had Nyström thinking deeply.

He recalled that Denko wasn't the second lead driver for Haddock Racing last season, and so, Denko did not participate in the British GP, but Mark Derfflinger. This meant that this was Denko Rutherford's first-ever Formula 1 British Grand Prix?!

'Unbelievable,' Nyström thought as he remembered this was his own seventh F1 British GP in his career. It made him sour again as he realized he was being pestered by one of these nobodies once again. But this wasn't the time to sulk.

It was time to hatch a sabotaging plan.

'Maybe because he sits above me in the standings does he think he's entitled to bully me off my own line?'

9. | Denko Rutherford | 9

10. | Elias Nyström | 7

'If this is this preek's first British GP, then he knows nothing about this British circuit! I will lure him into a place and watch him spin! Ha!'

For the first time, Elias Nyström was actually right. Experience was needed a lot in F1, even though there were simulators, pre-race analysis, Track Walks, etcetera, that could capture the quirks of the immaculate Stadhaven. Grip levels had even changed after last year's expansion, and so, the same Stadhaven Denko last raced on four years ago for Trampos in F2 was nothing like this Stadhaven.

On the other hand, Nyström knew this track like the veins on his palm, especially the places that could make one spin—as he planned for poor Denko. He would lure the Haddock Racing driver, feigning weakness, and hope he would be proved right when he said rookies, no matter how fast, always belonged beneath the heel of the true OG Formula 1 legends.