My Formula 1 System-Chapter 635: Double-Time
Martin didn’t have the voice to speak yet, but he had more than enough ways to show how much he’d missed his favorite adult—Uncle Luca.
If asked, Laura could list the signs from the past weeks: the restlessness in the evenings, the way his cries turned dull and searching, and the odd pauses where he’d stare at doors as if expecting someone familiar to appear. Some people might brush these off as a baby’s mindlessness—but not his mother.
However, no one needed an explanation, because Martin received Luca breathlessly, like a penguin chick to its parent. It was proof enough.
Seeing Luca and her child happy together was a sight Laura wished she could freeze in time. Whenever the three of them were reunited, it felt balanced and magnetic, a real sense of togetherness with a touch of paradise.
She could have sworn Luca felt it too, and the way he smiled told her she wasn’t wrong.
What surprised her most on that fateful day was how naturally his attention shifted to her—not just as Martin’s mother, but as Laura. Luca asked about her well-being, how she’d been holding up, and what she might be working toward next.
The questions were gentle and genuine, warming her more than she expected.
But Laura frowned inwardly when she realized that Luca was only using the kind questions as a lead-up to what he actually wanted to tell her.
What a bummer. And the more he spoke, the heavier the disappointment grew. The Formula One driver they were going to meet—Marcellus Rodnick?
The same Rodnick whose Ferrari had clipped Ansel’s car at the Spanish Grand Prix, sending it into the fiery crash that claimed his life?
That Rodnick?
Laura’s breath caught as the name settled in her chest. She couldn’t believe she was going to meet such a person, worse still, that her son would, too. The thought left her stunned.
Of course, Luca asked if she was truly comfortable with it, assuring her he wouldn’t hesitate to call everything off if she didn’t want to see the man responsible for the crash.
But Laura hid her discomfort and smiled, saying there was no problem at all.
What was she supposed to say—that she was uncomfortable?
If she did that, Luca would turn the car around and drop them back at Grunewald, essentially ending her story right there.
No. She would do almost anything to keep him close and keep him pleased. Besides, Laura wanted the talk of Ansel to end as quickly as possible. Apparently, she had fully moved on now.
~~~~~~
After a weekend he could finally call rest, Luca began the new week with a return to the team, fully rejuvenated. He had moved past the incredible artifice woven by Squadra Corse and Velox Hispania that had handed Luigi the win; he resolved to stay sharper for anything like it in the future.
Now the team had called, and he couldn’t have been happier: the long-awaited technical development from their manufacturers, Ferrari, had arrived.
Mr. Moritz had already sent him the digital data two nights earlier, but Luca wanted to see it in person. He wanted to touch it, study it, and truly understand it.
He arrived at headquarters right on time. The glass-and-steel complex seemed to grow larger every week, with more structures being erected in alignment with Trampos’ industrial and commercial growth.
A monolithic concrete structure, like a bunker, was still under construction; anyone entering the facility could see it with a single glance to the left.
Opposite the bunker, at the more open construction sites, cranes loomed over the far side, holding up metal rods that formed an architectural skeletal frame. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢
If this didn’t signal that Trampos was becoming a kingdom of its own, nothing would.
The scent of warm electronics and fresh coffee greeted Luca as he stepped onto the premises from his parked car.
Adjusting his charcoal bomber jacket over his black tee and dark denim, he knew that from afar, he looked like a reckless young man. It was ironic, considering he was the exact opposite.
After his mandatory return routine, Luca finally settled into proper team time.
He noticed that the HQ was unusually populated today. It wasn’t just the clusters of fans allowed inside, waving and cheering; there were more engineers, analysts, and logistics staff than he’d ever seen for a standard midweek.
People were moving in double-time, clutching tablets and huddled in intense, low-volume circles near the telemetry banks. The very air felt dense, vibrating with the frantic friction of a thousand minds working toward a single, looming deadline.
Luca guessed it had something to do with the upcoming home race, or maybe just for something more important.
Inside the main building, the atmosphere was so thick with noise that Luca had to pause his mental itinerary indefinitely. The reception area was a sea of shifting bodies and overlapping voices, a chaotic chorus where everyone seemed to have a grievance, a theory, or a secret to share.
It seemed this was one of those rare weeks on the calendar that often had an overwhelming amount of gossip and updates, so much that Luca struggled to keep up.
He couldn’t move five paces without being intercepted.
Mr. Grant and Ms. Vallotton cornered him near the glass elevators. They had something important to share with him about the board’s shifting expectations.
No sooner had he broken away than Colt was there, hovering with a tablet full of data that he insisted Luca see immediately.
Amidst the technical bustle, Luca’s mind flickered to Victor.
He could see his teammate in the distance, looking somewhat isolated despite the crowd. Luca knew he owed the young man some genuine backing; after the brutal way the South African Grand Prix had chewed Victor up and spit him out, a public show of solidarity was the only way to keep the garage from fracturing.
It was a day of a thousand tiny fires, and Luca was the only one expected to put them all out.
