My Formula 1 System-Chapter 419: S2 German Grand Prix. 3
[System Update: Pitlane Entry Detected]
[Speed Limit: 80 km/h]
[System's prediction: 12 sec—15 sec]
**We will be avoiding contacts as much as possible. This is a team order**
**Hard compounds are fitted now to stretch your stint well beyond the first pitstop phase. Softs will be equipped in the later laps for a faster closing run**
[Retrieving pitstop info...]
[Service Time: 1.82 seconds]
[Front Tires: Soft → Hard]
[Rear Tires: Soft → Hard]
[Front Wing: Damaged → Replaced]
[System's prediction: 12 sec—15 sec]
[Host's pitlane Entry and Exit: 9 sec]
[You have received (1) Night Mastery EXP]
[Night Mastery +1]
[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 12.5%]
"...an early pitstop for Rennick. Not where he wanted to be at this stage of the race as he rejoins the pack—costly, very costly. That front wing change may have saved the car, but it's put him on the back foot big time..."
The chants and celebrations for Luca Rennick dwindled rapidly the moment his tumble down the order became unarguably obvious. His rejoining position was guessed by many as he reached the pitlane intersection, with drivers P1 to P5 already long gone up the main straight.
[7th Position]
[8th Position closing in]
"...and he's not even safe in P7 either! That pitstop dragged him into dangerous waters—he's under serious threat from Luis Dreyer now..."
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
[Analyzing 8th Position's distance from host and Ferrari (JRX-97)...]
[8th Position is 1 sec away, host.]
Unfortunately, Luis Dreyer, armed with his Red Bull and Cosworth engine, didn't hesitate to exploit Luca's poor momentum and cold tires. Luca could feel the residual heat being dispersed from the machine tailing him, along with the fermenting grudge from the driver behind it. He knew he and Dreyer had some unfinished business, but to Luca, their rivalry was of the traditional kind. Intense, sharp, but also standard and not too dangerous. It was the type of dislike that made racing worthwhile between sportsmen.
Luca refrained from forcing his car to get back into rhythm faster than it was naturally meant to, even though his stats provided a boost to help with just that. In addition, he had just received a team order explicitly instructing him to avoid any contact.
Thereupon, at Turn 4, Dreyer swooshed past him, leaving him at the mercy of the next predator closing in, which was Ansel.
"OOOUUUHHHH!"
P7— Luis Dreyer ↑
P8— Luca Rennick ↓
[8th Position]
**Stay steady, Luca. You were just out of the pits—tire temps low, rhythm not synced. Dreyer had the run. Nothing lost yet, race is long. We're still on strategy. Keep it clean, we climb back**
This was a very risky strategy being played by Jackson Racing. They were clearly going for the long game here, placing their odds on Rodnick, who had the 2.0 upgrade, and on Luca, who was a masterclass in endurance and overall car management. According to their analysis and predictions, this combination could ideally position Rodnick at P1 and Luca somewhere around P2 to P4, which was a result the team would more than gladly take.
Luca had no choice but to drive according to the team's orders. He wasn't a hypocrite—he'd never lash out at others for disobeying team directives if he was just going to do the same himself. Still, if he were to give his honest opinion, he wouldn't put much trust in Rodnick's potential to climb from P20 to P1.
Theoretically, it was indeed possible, especially with the sheer force these HiCEs could generate. But Rodnick had been underwhelming as of recent, and Luca could smell a crash brewing here at Bergwaldring.
Just then, he was alerted by the system's notification of an approaching rival, barely a second away. That was when Luca realized it was Ansel behind him.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!'
The German home crowd swelled into a volcanic eruption the moment they recognized the setup: ex-teammate versus ex-teammate. Trampos crew, however, remained mute. They didn't read too deeply into this, and were only focused on Ansel's upward rise. Jackson, on the other hand especially the management seated high in their luxurious chambers, saw this as the perfect chance to scrutinize Luca's current standing with Trampos and question if he still held any lingering patriotism for his former team.
What happened next stunned them, and the entire racing world.
Luca, shockingly, barely even put up a fight, a moment uncharacteristic of the Luca Rennick everyone knew. Ansel slipped in from the inside of Turn 11, and in that flash of speed, the two exchanged a brief yet piercing gaze through their helmets. Only they knew what was truly communicated in that silent exchange.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
P8— Ansel Hahn ↑
P9— Luca Rennick ↓
"...ANSEL HAHN IN P8! LUCA RENNICK IN P9...!"
**Luca, wasn't that a bit too easy for Ansel? You didn't really put up a fight there**
"Car doesn't feel steady in my hands. It's not ready for action yet."
**Telemetry says you had some grip and options to defend, at least into Turn 11. You sure there was nothing you could've tried?**
"I'm telling you—it might say that, but it doesn't feel good in my hands. Feels loose and twitchy. I didn't trust it through that corner. I could have made contact too."
Jackson engineers quit inquiring and shifted their attention to Rodnick, who was actively climbing up the ranks like a skilled monkey on a tree. The crowd and commentary were still going wild over that Rennick-Hahn encounter, an overtake that just looked like Luca had handed Ansel P8 on a silver platter. Amid all that noise, no one had even noticed that Rodnick, who started the race back in P20, had already pushed through P15 and was now running P12, locked in a duel with Elias Nyström. He was at the peak of what the ThunderKat 2.0 could offer, an engine that surged forward acceleration after acceleration, push after push, relentlessly, like Rodnick were riding a Sync Buff of his own.
P12— Marcellus Rodnick (FL) ↑
"...OH MY GOODNESS! WHAT ARE WE WITNESSING HERE IN GERMANY! MY EYEBALLS ARE OUT OF THEIR SOCKETS!" freewēbnoveℓ.com
Even though Bergwaldring had descended into pure chaos—chants, flags waving, banners flying, and an uproar of ecstatic commentary—Luca managed to find a sliver of peace in his cockpit when his engineers finally went quiet and switched off the radio. While everyone speculated about the overtake, Luca knew exactly why Ansel had slipped by unchallenged. He didn't understand why it had turned into such a fuss, because with the tires now approaching ideal temperature and grip slowly returning, he was already preparing to take that position back.
However, the team radio crackled back on and disrupted the short harmony that had settled within him.
**Luca? Luca?**
**Get ready to hand over position to Marcellus**
