My Formula 1 System-Chapter 644: S3 German Grand Prix

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Victor’s heart pounded against his ribs.

The atmosphere on the circuit was suffocating. The crowd nearest the grid sat in expectant silence, while the stands farther out roared with a distant excitement.

The air shimmering above the tarmac was thick with the scent of unburnt fuel and the searing, distorted heat of twenty engines prepared for battle.

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"...this is it! One race. Berlin. To change it all...!"

"WOOOOOHHHHH!"

Behind Victor sat Elias Nystrom of Nordvind Racing, a man notorious for chewing through rookies without apology.

Ahead, in P11, waited Ailbeart Moireach. Haddock’s Hammer. Multiple Grand Prix winner. A super driver, literally and technically.

It was a hostile pocket of the grid, squeezed between a predator and a legend. But if Victor looked at it clearly, it was an honor, too. This was his most demanding, most prestigious starting spot yet. No backmarker anonymity. No excuses.

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Victor stared at Ailbeart’s Renault. The livery was lustrous and deep,a dark brown and burnt orange highlighted by sharp, black lines. Inside the cockpit, Ailbeart’s silhouette sat perfectly still, waiting for the lights to go out.

Victor swallowed hard at the last count.

[○][○][○][○][○]!!!!!

"...Fifty laps stand between these teams and glory. A shaken-up order for a shaken-up season. Squadra Corse arrive here leading the title race, but Trampos Racing are desperate to rip it back—and they’ve armed themselves for the fight!"

"...Rennick starts on Pole, looking to extend his championship lead and snatch the momentum back for Trampos! But he’s got a mirror full of trouble; Marko Ignatova is looming in P2, ready to play the spoiler for Squadra Corse!"

"WOOOOOOHHHH!"

The hunt was on.

Tyres snapped left and right as cars lunged erratically, elbowing for position. Somewhere in the heart of the chaos was Victor.

An opportunity he never expected flashed before him. Instinctively, he darted his nose forward, attempting an early, hopeful bite at P11 from Ailbeart—maybe even a surprise move on Józef ahead.

Too late.

SHRUM~ growlll

Ailbeart Moireach shut the door firmly with his R.S.25.

**Maintain integrity. Four contacts already** the radio crackled.

"I really thought I had that," Victor exhaled, tightening his grip on the wheel. Hugging the inside line, he shredded the curbs into Turn 1 in pursuit of the Scotsman, who was already over Józef.

By the end of the opening lap, Ailbeart got what he wanted. Taking P10 with ease, he demoted Jozef as if it were wrong for him to be that high.

Haddock fans cheered when the announcement rang out, and Mr. Hugo clapped in approval, clearly expecting this to be only the beginning of Ailbeart’s rise to the podium.

Meanwhile, Victor was spared the chase by an impatient Nystrom. As Lap 2 crept toward its latter stages, the Audi gained leverage inch by inch, taking up Victor’s mind space.

**No contact. Keep control. Keep to your line. Trap him at the bottleneck, then power through the exit**

But Victor didn’t really have time to go through with that. The race wind buffeted his chassis as he got close to Turn 11. Slowing down rapidly to make the turn, his front tires slid, causing chronic understeer. Nystrom, more precise, used that mistake to keep his pace up and just sliced past Victor. It looked really easy for him.

By the time both cars approached T12, the track fully separated them, and the scoreboard flashed the change.

P12– Elias Nystrom ↑

P13– Victor Surmann ↓

Being used to losing his position a lot, Victor didn’t freak out. He accepted it calmly, kept his hands steady on the throbbing wheel, and kept checking his mirrors to see who was coming next.

Yokouchi Yūichirō, confident and purposeful, was closing in super fast. He was already doing great so far in the race, having moved up three spots by Lap 5. He was even moving deadlier than Jimmy and Derstappen, who were tangled like crabs in a bucket further back.

Victor knew if he didn’t drive perfectly and find a way to get his speed back, the whole Q3 eliminees would just swallow him up.

By Lap 7, he got a big chance when Nystrom, driving really aggressively, bumped into the back of Konarski while trying to switch up into the next corner from the tight left.

The contact made Jozef wobble, messing up his driving line right before the chicane in Sector 1, while Nystrom mischievously snatched P11.

Victor saw the opportunity, but with Yokouchi Yūichirō glued to his gearbox, he wasn’t sure who was countering whom anymore. The air between them felt electric!

"Urghh," Victor breathed through clenched teeth as crosswinds slapped the car through T2. His back tires started to slide out just a little bit, but he reacted fast and fixed it right at the steepest part of the turn.

He was like a doctor with how careful he was, but that tiny mistake let Yūichirō pull his Renault right alongside him on the inside.

Victor didn’t get scared, though. He started clicking buttons on his steering wheel like a pro gamer, certain that Yūichirō was doing the same.

He turned his engine down from Mode 7 to Mode 5 so the power wouldn’t make his tires spin too much. Then he changed his differential and moved his brake bias forward to make the car more stable when he turned. He even adjusted his front wing to get more grip, even if it made him a bit slower on the straight parts.

He looked in his mirror to see maintain track awareness, and his heart probably skipped a beat.

A very fast, very scary Red Bull was suddenly right there, looking like it was ready to hunt them both down. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Jimmy Damgaard!

"...And look at this further back in the pack! Jimmy Damgaard is currently up in P15, and he is absolutely flying! Remember, he started way down in P18 because his qualifying was a total disaster, but he is clearly on a mission today. You can just see how much he wants it—he’s driving super fast but also being really careful not to crash..."

"...Right alongside him in this backfield battle is Albert Derstappen, but Jimmy is the one really making moves right now! The big recovery drive is officially happening, and if he keeps going this fast, Damgaard might actually end up being a huge deal by the time this race is over...!"