My Formula 1 System-Chapter 349: S2 Australian Grand Prix. 2
By the 10th Lap, Luca was back in P1. He'd snatched it from Antonio Luigi with a stunning move, committing to the inner lane at Turn 8. Luca had steadily closed the gap, and soon Luigi was stuck playing defense.
Luigi's defense was tough, but George Park's mix of wide outer corners and tight inside lanes made holding position a real challenge.
Weaving from Turn 6, a sweeping outer bend, into Turn 7's sharper kink, Luca saw his chance. He dove inside with Gripper Skill kicking in, locking his Ferrari's tires to the apex like glue, keeping his stance firm while he powered through the tight line, edging past Luigi's Mercedes just before swinging into Turn 8's inner lane for the final pass.
Gripper made a huge difference, even with its incomplete value. Without it, Luca would've thought twice, maybe even taken a runoff to avoid disaster because it was that bold of an overtake. Back in his early days in a single-seater, he would've almost certainly spun out trying that move.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOH!"
[1st Position]
**Brilliant move, Luca! Luigi's 0.8 back—keep pushing, watch Ailbeart in P3**
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1— Luca Rennick ↑
2— Antonio Luigi ↓
[Gripper +1]
[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 25%]
[Analyzing 2nd Position's distance from host and Ferrari (JRX-92B)...]
[2nd Position is 0.8 sec away, host.]
Since Ailbeart Moireach was close enough in P3, Luca felt sure Luigi would hesitate before diving for P1 again. For now, Luca was ready to pull further ahead.
The leaderboard kept shifting fast in this Australian Grand Prix. The drivers were bunched up tight, and anyone could get back a lost position with the right push and a track section with a layout that played to their car's strengths.
Rodnick and DiMarco had climbed to P6 and P7 at one point, with DiMarco snatching P7, only for Rodnick to take it back the next lap. They traded like that twice until Rodnick hit a groove, found rhythm on the 7th Lap. He started gapping DiMarco by 1.2 seconds, but that wasn't enough to shake the Italian.
DiMarco kept flashing danger signs, pressing hard. Rodnick refused to surrender P6—it was just one spot from P5—so he fired back with his own show of force, braced to block DRS moves or heavy slipstream plays whenever they came.
But Rodnick and DiMarco slipped up big time, focusing too much on their own fight and missing the bigger race picture. The crowd erupted when Hank Rice and Denko Rutherford zipped past them in a flash, capitalizing as Rodnick pinned DiMarco to the inside of a sharp turn.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
6— Hank Rice ↑
7— Denko Rutherford ↑
8— Marcellus Rodnick ↓
9— Davide DiMarco ↓
DiMarco had spotted Rice and Denko coming, but he was stuck, unable to react in time. So he vented at Rodnick, blaming him for boxing them in and causing the mess.
Rodnick couldn't hear DiMarco's rant, but he could sense his rival's anger. He was already grumbling to Jackson's mechanics himself, though deep down, he felt a grim satisfaction knowing DiMarco—a fierce rival—was still stuck behind him.
This is how sportsmen thrive.
But it didn't take long before DiMarco overtook Rodnick, slipping past in a bold move.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
8— Davide DiMarco ↑
9— Marcellus Rodnick ↓
Contributing to the leaderboard's wild swings just 10 laps in, only 19 drivers were left on the track, down from 20. Even so, no yellow flags or safety car ever came out, but one driver had DNFed.
It was none other than Ansel Hahn.
Sadly, Ansel's Dallara hit a mechanical failure. His car just lost all power right in the middle of the race!
Ansel panicked for a split second, but F1 drivers are trained for such situations, so he calmly guided the powerless Dallara off the track. The tires bumped over the curbs, then rolled over the grass for a few seconds before the Dallara came to a complete stop.
"...Oh no, trouble for Ansel Hahn! That Dallara has lost power—"
"....First power loss of the season! He's coasting off at Turn 12! That's a DNF for Hahn, and what a blow for the German team. He's out, safely off the track, but that's the end of his Australian Grand Prix..."
Ansel didn't even have the energy to curse, hit his wheel, or rant. This was the Constructor's Championship, where every team's tech was on trial. For the car to break down like that meant Trampos, a small outfit, must've had some serious slip-ups, especially with a Dallara chassis.
**Hard luck, Ansel. You handled it well**
**Come back, we'll figure out what went wrong**
DNF situations like this, there was no necessary need for a safety flag session. If the driver can coast the car safely off the racing line and into a designated runoff or marshal-accessible area, the race continues uninterrupted.
Race control only intervenes when the stopped vehicle poses a hazard to others—otherwise, it's game on. Ansel did exactly what was expected. He cleared the track without endangering the flow of the Grand Prix. Now, the marshals could easily get the cat out when all drivers are beyond that sector.
XXX— Ansel Hahn
Surprisingly, the first DNF of the afternoon was a mechanical failure, not a spinout or crash. Considering George Park's tight, twisty layout, it was very likely that many drivers would lose control in the race's heat.
The same way George Park's sharp corners and short straights prophesied crashes, that was how it demanded strong tire grip and solid traction through the turns to avoid those wrecks.
Subsequently, constant gripping and clawing at the asphalt caused tires to wear down fast. Even drivers on hard compounds could see early signs of tire wear, leading to slight losses of control.
George Park was a long, weaving track, and its relentless turns hit every compound type hard. Soon, pitstops were on everyone's mind.
Just at Lap 12, drivers and teams were already talking about making their first pitstop!
Luca, on the other hand, was holding up just fine for now.
[Tire Wear Management +1]
Ever since he firmly retook P1 from Luigi, he hadn't pushed his tires as hard as other drivers stuck in the midfield pack, where the tight racing was brutal on rubber.
So, with that and Tire Wear Management's extra boost, Luca was in a good spot to stay out longer on the track while the first wave of pitters ducked in and out of the pitlane.
By the 15th Lap, garages were buzzing with activity, and many pitstops were underway, including Rodnick's.
P1— Luca Rennick
P2— Antonio Luigi
P3— Ailbeart Moireach
P4— Luis Dreyer →
P5— Javier Montez
P6— Hank Rice →
P7— Denko Rutherford →
P8— Davide DiMarco
P9— Marcellus Rodnick →
P10— Marko Ignatova →
P11— Mikhail Petrov
P12— Jimmy Damgaard →
P13— Yokouchi Yūichirō
P14— Jacob Jakobsen →
P15— Desmond Lloyd
P16— Elias Nyström →
P17— Alejandro Vasquez
P18— James Lockwood
P19— Erik Haas →
XXX— Ansel Hahn
Luca didn't hit the pits until the 17th Lap. Even then, he was still in good shape and could've stretched it to the 25th Lap, as his system predicted his tires would hold.
But Jackson Racing wasn't buying it. They listened to his reasoning, but firmly insisted he pit on the 17th Lap to swap for fresh hard tires.
Jackson foresaw the race getting even fiercer in the middle laps. By then, Luca's tires would be worn, leaving him vulnerable to being overtaken. To avoid a risky pitstop at a critical moment, Jackson Racing prepped for Luca's pit two laps after Rodnick's.
By then, Rodnick had found the right tire warmth to race with confidence.
"...Luca Rennick, our race leader in P1, is peeling into the pits on Lap 17! The Jackson Racing star, who's been untouchable for many laps in this race now dives down the pitlane..!"
"...can he get back out in P1? With Antonio Luigi and Ailbeart Moireach breathing down his neck, holding that lead looks tough..."
[Analyzing 2nd Position's distance from host and Ferrari (JRX-92B)...]
[2nd Position is 2.5 sec away, host.]
"Not far enough."
[System Update: Pitlane Entry Detected]
[Speed Limit: 80 km/h]
[System's prediction: 12 sec—15 sec]
**Team is ready**
The pitstop was lightning-fast. Every Jackson Racing crew member shouted for Luca to hustle out of the pitlane. By then, Ailbeart Moireach had already surged into P1.
Luigi had pitted on Lap 16, so Ailbeart Moireach was the one trailing Luca when that delta analysis was calculated. Fortunately for Luigi, Dreyer was still shaking off his pitstop lag, so Luigi clung to P2 for the moment.
It was a question of whether he could keep it, as Luca was already roaring out of the pitlane.
He did! Luigi managed to run past Luca, holding his line to secure P2 just as Luca rejoined the track.
"WOOOOHH!"
**Fast stop. Fast stop. Don't worry**
**You're 0.9 behind Antonio, Luca. Might increase. Push hard—keep tabs on Dreyer, he's closing fast**
[3rd Position]
[4th Position closing in]
Luca found himself almost nose-to-tail with Dreyer's Red Bull.
[Analyzing 4th Position's distance from host and Ferrari (JRX-92B)...]
[4th Position is 1 sec away, host.]
"Damn. He's so close for an inevitable overtake. I have to watch for DRS. I have to prevent a straight upon us."
The first straight was still a ways off, with five turns leading up to it. So, Luca hoped he could pull off some sharp Corner Choppings to build a gap before then.
Dreyer aggressively shadowed him into the second wide-handed corner. Turn 3 was a tight hairpin, favoring whoever hit it first. The leader there would pull ahead by at least 0.5 seconds.
Luca kept his senses for Side-by-Side King on high alert. The second Dreyer tried to line up next to him, he'd trap him like a fly in a web.
To pull it off, Luca baited Dreyer toward the outside lane and hugged the inner line tight. Dreyer, driven by his hunger to grab the position, committed hard. But he didn't have Luca's knack for snapping a car to the apex with Gripper Skill's precision.
Dreyer's front wing clipped Luca's rear tire.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
Dreyer wobbled wildly, and Luca bounced like a ball caught in a gust.
"...Oh, contact at Turn 3! Luca Rennick and Luis Dreyer tangle in the first sector! It's a tight hairpin, and that's a nudge—Dreyer's front wing tags Luca's tire! Both cars are still running, but they've lost ground. Stewards will be eyeing this...!"
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
"Shit!" Luca hissed. He was totally stripped of his momentum. When he glanced at his mirrors, Dreyer looked worse, completely in disarray, fighting to regain control.
At this point, Javier Montez could seize the chance to slip past them both.
**Dreyer was tight—slight bump, but we're good!**
Luca wanted to respond to his team engineers, but it seemed they had something else to say. His heart sank.
**Race control is reviewing possible double penalty. Stay focused.**
