My Formula 1 System-Chapter 608: S3 Chinese Grand Prix. 5
Fluttering with authority that couldn’t be ignored, the meatball flag signaled only one thing: immediate service required for visibly faulty machines.
The targets were the two drivers who clashed in the pit lane, their cars classified as unsafe by the stewards. Marko’s rear-end damage from the earlier contact and Luca’s compromised front wing were officially deemed race-unfriendly. They could worsen into hazards without warning.
So, as the message echoed across the circuit, both drivers knew their races had just shifted into a battle for damage control.
This inevitably meant a mandatory pit stop for repairs, and heading into the pits just a few laps after leaving was another definition of time-wasting. Priceless seconds would be lost away to the rest of the field surging ahead without care, and their already fragile positions on the leaderboard would sink even further.
Any hope of clawing back into competitive territory might be over for Marko and Luca in the Chinese Grand Prix.
Perhaps that was why Luca refused to yield. He kept his eyes locked forward, pretending the flag didn’t exist, and refusing to comply. He was ignoring it!
It seemed Luca didn’t want to gamble on a hard drop down the order. Too much was at stake for both him and Trampos in the title race. He needed top-tier consistency up until the last race of the season, and this unexpected blow in Shanghai threatened to tear the stability apart.
**Luca, reminder: you must box next lap. Repeat: this is mandatory. Front-wing integrity is compromised**
"Yeahhh....."
**Copy, but you need to confirm. Box next lap, please. That’s instruction**
"...I’m assesssing. Car’s still responsive."
**Luca, we can’t risk disqualification. Confirm—are you coming in?**
"Stand by."
**You’re giving us nothing here. We need a clear yes or no**
"Just... hold on. Let me feel the car."
**Luca, this is not optional. PLEASE CONFIRM**
"The car is fine, the car is fine," Luca said exasperatedly. "Just give me a lap. Tell the stewards the car is fine. The balance is holding. One lap. Let me prove it."
It wasn’t clear how Luca expected his team to take such words, but their reaction was livid.
Whenever Luca showed some stubbornness, it always left Trampos helpless. The Chinese GP was no different. The team’s pitwall was filled with groans and complaints, watching their driver tempt disaster.
"...finally! Off into the pits... Marko Ignatova! He needs a full change for his rear. The damage from the pit lane tangle with Luca definitely wouldn’t let him survive another lap without great risk..."
"...indeed. Squadra’s already rolling out a new assembly, no hesitation there. Getting back in rhythm is crucial here with Luigi at the lead..."
"WOOOOOOOOHHHH!"
The crowd’s cheer entailed that the atmosphere grew more electric with every second. Everything was happening all at once, taking the race’s excitement to a whole new level.
First lap after the wave of the flag and the steward’s announcement, the W09 was displayed on the screens peeling away from the track into the pits. It was expected that Luca would join in, but to the puzzlement of many, his Ferrari swooped past the pit lane as if it weren’t there.
Second lap, and the same thing from the Trampos man. At this point, it quickly became a great issue all across the circuit.
"...Luca Rennick... is not coming in.
He’s blasting past entry again, and again. Oh, that’s bold. VERY BOLD. He seems to be ignoring the meatball flag entirely...!"
"WOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!" 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
"...the stewards won’t like this one bit! Ignatova complies, gets his repairs, and is back on track, but Luca? Up into P7 now, but at what cost?! Dangerous play, young man!"
Race Control opened a direct line to Trampos’ pitwall, sternly demanding an explanation for Luca’s non-compliance with race orders.
Every second Luca stayed out pushed the situation closer to formal punishment, and the punishment for this was an immediate disqualification from the Grand Prix. But the specific timing for justice wasn’t fixed, so Luca had about two to three laps, depending on the discretion of the stewards.
In their defense, Trampos forwarded radio logs to Race Control, proving the hesitation wasn’t on the team’s side.
The messages clearly showed Luca’s headstrong certainty, and the evidence gave the stewards a silver of understanding that perhaps the driver genuinely believed the damage wasn’t severe enough to warrant a mandatory stop.
But this belief still didn’t trump regulation, so the clock was left ticking against Luca, his final warning; an unwanted disqualification.
"...tense moments here in Shanghai—Rennick is a racing zombie, running laps without a plan while at the edge of disqualification. He’s also gaining momentum again! Despite the wounded car, he’s pressing on, eyeing the car ahead. Max Addams suddenly looks in trouble here!"
[Analyzing Ferrari (Scuderia Z24) and host’s distance from 6th Position]
[You are 2 seconds away, host.]
Luca caught sight of the green Red Bull up ahead, bright and burnished by the sun. It wasn’t Dreyer. It was Max Addams.
Luca couldn’t remember when he last lagged behind Max, but the delta brought back a few formative memories in his racing career, especially their rivalry. The same rivalry Max always seemed desperate to revive, but Luca couldn’t care less right now.
The only thing that mattered was the gap between them, not history. His system pulsed his increasing pace advantage, urging an overtake. Even the crowd, confused as they were about his blatant disregard for the meatball flag, roared at the possibility of a fight.
But instead of taking action, Luca’s focus was elsewhere.
Using <Track Awareness> and <Spatial Awareness>, Luca analyzed the Shanghai International Circuit under a different anatomical lens. Every camber and braking zone was mapped in a different clarity as he gripped the wheel tighter, pursuing the Red Bull.
As if the Z24 were an extension of his own body, the chassis followed as his mind hunted for the perfect section of the track with the cleanest space and the safest window.
He wanted to repair with <Silent Restore> without drawing suspicion, using timing and strategy as his friends.
[Turn type: Heavy braking right-hander (hairpin)] [Angle: 180°] [Braking Point: 120 meters before turn-in] [Recommended Entry Speed: 80 km/h] [Optimal Apex: Inside curb]
Sector 2 of the circuit had a signature sequence all the drivers had gotten used to, Luca especially.
From T7, the track fed him the long, tightening sweep of T8 on a smooth platter. The hot air shimmered over the tarmac, the race roaring on. Luca was on a mission.
While flowing through T8 in Max’s wake, he ran the math, fully considering the width span of his car and the angle of his front wing damage.
Quickly, Luca tilted his wheel at the apex with a feather of braking, giving his tires a brief, disharmonic screech while at medium speed. Trampos saw the racing inconsistencies in the telemetry, bothering the team even more.
They wondered if Luca had a nut loose and was staging a crash for himself!
The red Ferrari inched closer to a serrated red-white kerb, too close for any engineer to allow. But before Luca could collide, he tilted away back to his racing line, though a slight contact was caught by the broadcasting cameras.
cht-tk!
A perfectly controlled micro-graze.
To everyone watching, it appeared as if he had simply brushed too deep into the apex.
But as Luca straightened for the short dash to T9, the world was stunned to see that he had manually fixed his front wing damage??!
[Silent Restore +1]
[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 75%]
