My Formula 1 System-Chapter 348: S2 Australian Grand Prix
On race day, George Park Circuit was packed to the brim. The Australian Grand Prix felt like one of those F1 races fans just had to show up for. So many from all over the world pulled out all the stops to be there, maybe missing F2 Saturday but never F1 Sunday's main event.
Australia's spot way out on the map always made it tough, though because flights hit the wallet hard, and the slog of travel brought its own mess of stress and chaos to deal with.
Even the day before, Saturday's F2 Australian Grand Prix, Luca wasn't sure he spotted a single empty seat. He'd gone to watch that race, sitting up in the suites, and from there, he could feel the massive scale of the crowd and the race tearing by below.
It got Luca picturing himself split in two at once. One version of him was out there racing, racing around the track, while the other sat high in the suites, watching that first version streak past in a blur.
Max Addams had grabbed his FIFTH Grand Prix title this season. How wild!
He was totally owning Formula 2 right now, kneeling everyone and outpacing them all. It could've been his sixth win in a row, but Albert Derstappen had thrived better and pulled ahead in Brazil, stopping Max's four-race win streak.
Even so, Max landed P3 there, just trailing Aaronson in P2 by a tiny gap. Luca could only guess how many points Max had stacked up compared to whoever was in 2nd Place. Formula 2 Champion, no doubt.
Luca hadn't caught much news about Miles—Miles Bellingham—these days. Still, he hoped Miles was giving it his all by now. They weren't rivals anymore, so Luca only wished for their progress, not for them to crash and burn.
Perhaps it was simply because he was in such a delighted mood that he had claimed pole for this race—his second Pole Position in his Formula 1 career.
Thursday's Qualifiers had been a smooth run for Luca. He topped the leaderboard for the fastest lap in every session—Q1, Q2, and Q3. Though there were a few fluctuations in the milliseconds across his best laps in all three rounds, they were relatively consistent. In fact, his fastest lap in Q1 was so strong that Q2's and Q3's best times only beat it by mere fractions of a second.
1. Luca Rennick— 1:25.143
Unfortunately for Rodnick, his solid plans for a P1 finish in Australia might've just taken a hit, considering he didn't make pole. Even with one of the top three fastest cars on the grid, George Park's layout posed quite a predicament, and Rodnick ended up securing an "outstanding" P8. Funny how Sam Hamilton chose to describe it that way.
Meanwhile, DiMarco's grid position was simply described as "not-ideal-at-this-stage," given he landed P9 when he had yet to wrack up the kind of points usually expected from Davide DiMarco. And with P9 sitting right behind P8—Rodnick—well, what a setup.
Even Luca was surprised by his rival's grid position, but he simply took it as just a not so great qualifiers. He knew his own could come one day due to certain circumstances.
Still, no one could deny that Rodnick and DiMarco dropping down to P8 and P9 had opened up space and created chances for others ahead to clinch something big.
P1— Luca Rennick
P2— Antonio Luigi
P3— Javier Montez
P4— Ailbeart Moireach
P5— Luis Dreyer
P6— Denko Rutherford
P7— Mikhail Petrov
P8— Marcellus Rodnick
P9— Davide DiMarco
P10— Hank Rice
P11— Yokouchi Yūichirō
P12— Marko Ignatova
P13— Jimmy Damgaard
P14— Jacob Jakobsen
P15— Desmond Lloyd
P16— Ansel Hahn
P17— Erik Haas
P18— James Lockwood
P19— Alejandro Vasquez
P20— Elias Nyström
"…And welcome to Melbourne, ladies and gentlemen, for the Australian Grand Prix at the George Park Circuit! The stands are absolutely heaving, over 100,000 fans packed in, flags waving, horns blaring—it's F1 Sunday, and the air's buzzing as the drivers make their way to their grid spots for the sixth round of this thrilling season...!"
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
"...beyond the prestigious top three, P4 sees Ailbeart Moireach for Haddock Racing, a dark horse who's been climbing quietly. And P5, Luis Dreyer of Outback Performance. These two could shake things up if the front-runners slip...!"
"...the Apex Predator, Marcellus Rodnick, Jackson Racing's defending Aussie champ, who won here last year but struggled in qualifiers sits at P8. An uncomfortable position given Davide DiMarco right behind. That's a spicy battle waiting to unfold. P10 rounds out the top ten with Hank Rice, who's been consistent but needs a breakout here...!"
"...P16, Ansel Hahn, still fighting for Trampos, but the real story starts lower. P17, Erik Haas, then P18, James Lockwood, and P19, Alejandro Vasquez—both Lockwood and Vasquez crashed out in Q2, wrecking their chances and dumping them down here. P20, Elias Nyström, also took a hit with a nasty shunt in Q3. Those crashes were a disaster, especially for Nordvind Racing, who field both Lockwood and Nyström. Having their drivers at P18 and P20 is a massive blow—they're out of points contention before the lights even go out....!"
"..The cars are settling, the crowd's roaring—lights out is just moments away at the Australian Grand Prix...!"
This was Luigi's first time sitting at the second box, right beside Luca's lead at pole—or perhaps, his first time being this close to Luca at all on the grid.
He had never personally fallen victim to Luca's Grid Launch before, but he'd seen enough to know how lethal it could be. Through race reviews and actual Grand Prix replays, Luigi had watched Luca's explosive launches off the line—smooth, snappy, and always quickly perfect.
Luigi remembered when he himself had once started on pole, eyes locked on his side mirrors beneath the golden glow of Stellar, just seconds before the red lights vanished. And when they did, he watched Luca's Ferrari pounce past Luis Dreyer and snatch P10 in the blink of an eye.
Now, as the marshals scrambled off the track and the first red light lit up above the grid in this Australian Grand Prix, Luigi knew he had to make a move. He had to remedy what was about to be another blistering start by Luca.
He subtly shifted his Mercedes just beyond the limits of his grid box. It was almost unnoticeable to the naked eye—but intentional. This was a sly way to try and catch up before Luca could disappear by the first straight.
But Luca, with that Spatial Awareness of his, noticed it immediately.
He sharply reported by radioing it and adding his own humour. "Uhh yeah…ermm, I think Antonio's car is already halfway to Turn 1."
Jackson Racing didn't waste a second. They sent it straight to Race Control, and within moments, cameras zoomed in on Luigi's Mercedes, broadcasting that its front wing was sitting clearly a foot over the grid box line.
"...Car 2 Antonio Luigi, 4-second time penalty for exceeding grid box limits at the start. Penalty to be served during pit stop or added to race time.."
"WOOOOHH!"
"...Oh wow! It seems Luigi tried to get a little cheeky there… slightly over the line—and it's been spotted! That Mercedes is a touch too far forward, and race control's slapped him with a 4-second penalty already—what a way to kick off...!"
But Luigi didn't care anymore. He'd already started with his illegal head-start, and for better or worse, it worked. He had managed to nullify Luca's usual Grid Launch gap, keeping himself tightly in the fight through the first turn.
This put Luca in a precarious position, locked in a duel with the second-best driver in the competition. He knew his driving skills were superior—no question—but Luigi's Mercedes was a beast, and that wasn't even counting the golden FiammaVeloce thrumming beneath it, constantly helping Luigi erase any gap Luca managed to build.
Luca had to rely on Corner Chopping whenever he could, especially since the straights at George Park were far too short for him to confidently attempt a full-on Straightaway Chopping.
By the fifth lap, the two had already exchanged positions seven times. The leaderboard flickered like a heartbeat, unsure who was leading at any given moment. Even the commentators struggled to keep up.
It was Luca's longest, hardest duel yet. The crisscrossing layout of George Park only made it worse, with its sharp turns and narrow paths making it tough to hold a defense or pull off a clean overtake.
But that was what Luca wanted, right? He had always wanted a dogfight with Antonio Luigi—the seasoned F1 driver of Squadra Corse, the same man involved in the chain of events that had led Luca to where he stood now.
Still, he wondered if he was truly ready. While he had the system's overall track layout generation to always keep him aware of what was coming next and even further beyond, Luigi seemed attuned to George Park in a way that felt almost spiritual. It was as if he knew the track at the back of his head.
Why wouldn't he? He had been racing professionally on the highest stage for about five years now, and the Australian Grand Prix had never missed the calendar.
Luca could sense that kind of ingrained memory was stronger. Luigi had this bold confidence, refusing to yield, hitting turns with perfection and steering clear of long side-by-side battles with Luca.
In the end, Luca lost a grueling six-lap duel when he and Luigi reached the third straight heading into the third sector.
He had already dialed in Side-by-Side King to dominate the stretch, but deep down, he feared the raw capability of Luigi's engine, especially the explosive power it wielded, which was monumentally greater compared to his.
Just as he feared, Luigi surged significantly ahead, and before Luca could even think about utilizing slipstream, the short straight was already gone, giving way to the next clustered set of turns.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
[2nd Position]
"...They're barreling down now, and—oh, there it goes! Luigi hits the throttle, that Mercedes roars, and he surges ahead! Luca can't match that raw speed!"
"...Antonio Luigi is clear by a car length—no, two! The straight's too short for Luca to slipstream back, and they're already into the third sector's twists! The gap's holding—Luigi's taken the lead, and the Melbourne crowd is going wild! Listen to that roar...!"
1— Antonio Luigi ↑
2— Luca Rennick ↓
"He's gone—how's my gap?"
**You're 1.2 seconds back, Luca. Stay smooth, we'll fight him in the corners**
[3rd Position closing in]
**Ailbeart's in P3, 2 seconds behind**
Javier Montez couldn't hold off Ailbeart's push, especially with Ailbeart driving that Renault Rotterbad engine, packing serious, notorious power.
Luca huffed a mutter under his breath. He couldn't help but wonder why Ailbeart hadn't pressed forward to challenge Luigi earlier. It was only after Luigi had overtaken him that Ailbeart suddenly decided to show up.
From the race start through that tough duel, Luca had picked up a few points.
[Downforce +1]
[Braking Efficiency +1]
With Grid Launch and Corner Chopping essentially maxed now, earning EXP for them had become more difficult than before. So, even though Luca executed both skills during the run, he received no further notifications from them.
Only Yaw Flex showed any improvement. And understandably so because driving through the spiralling complexity of George Park, the various air forces constantly manipulated the car's balance distribution and turn pressure.
Even though Melbourne's air currents were tame compared to São Paulo's, Yaw Flex still managed to earn one point over the course of six laps—and so did half a bar in the Sync Bar.
This content is taken from fгeewebnovёl.com.
[Yaw Flex +1]
[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 12.5%]
[Ding!]
[Level-up notice:
[HANDLING & DYNAMICS has moved from 100% to 105%
AERODYNAMICS & CHASSIS has moved from 98% to 101% ]
"We are moving up!"
