My Formula 1 System

It was a shock that flowed like a wave through the pit lane and echoed faintly all the way to Turn 1 when the sharp, explosive sound of a tire blowing shattered the usual roar of the engines. Unlike other people orbiting the track, everyone in the pit area heard the full blast because the racing machines were farther away. Hearts skipped, and more tension instantly arose in the chaos.

It was an overcut strategy that went terribly wrong for Squadra Corse, a devastating climax for them, and Luigi was the one who reaped the collapse.

If an overcut was executed correctly, it was known to offer momentous advantage to a driver. There was a chance, although slight, that Luigi could survive through his car's decline and expand more gaps to the rivals behind, especially Luca. The risk was taken by Squadra Corse, who believed that Luigi had mastered tire wear governance for a HiCE-powered machine after being a super driver for several months.

It seemed that it would take more time to master such.

The worn tires betrayed the champion; his grip vanished, giving him the feeling he was on a skating rink. The rubber gave way, and while in the middle of the pit lane, disaster fully struck.

"....OHH! DID YOU HEAR THAT…!?"

"WOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH!"

"...IT COULDN'T HAVE COME AT A WORSE TIME! THIS IS A DISASTER FOR THE CHAMPIONS AS ANTONIO LUIGI SUFFERS A BLOWOUT ON THE PIT LANE…!"

Far be it from anyone to be too harsh on Squadra Corse or Luigi—after all, the tire blowout happened safely within the pit lane. There could have been more catastrophic consequences if it had happened while he was still on the track, driving at high speed or not.

Luigi was granted mercy from what could have been a tragedy. Fortunately for him, he had the presence of mind to understand it wasn't a DNF yet. His pit crew and the pit box were just waiting down there, beckoning him to show some persistence.

Luigi took the painstaking stride toward the pit box. The right rear tire was the one that had blown out, the damage hindering his movement to a wrenched dawdle.

The W12 had to practically roll itself with struggle. The chassis pulled awkwardly, the rear swaying unpredictably as the driver did his very best to shepherd the car to refuge.

Fortunately, after what felt like an eternity, Antonio Luigi was able to save his Mercedes, and most importantly, his race. Squadra Corse cheered with relief when he arrived close enough to the pit wall.

Luigi didn't fully enter the box line because he feared the car was at the border of complete incapacitation. Race Control saw this, but they exercised some legal leniency that allowed Squadra Corse's pit crew immediate access even though the car wasn't fully in the box.

Squadra Corse sprang into action the moment Luigi stopped. They were already waiting with tension and urgency to salvage what they could from the calamity. From the looks of it, it was going to be an unhurried pit stop so the team could make full assurance that every component was in proper working order before sending him back out.

"...AND THAT'S A RELIEF FOR SQUADRA CORSE! THIS CLOSE—IF LUIGI HAD BROKEN DOWN ON TRACK, IT COULD'VE DEALT A HEAVY BLOW TO THEIR CHAMPIONSHIP CAMPAIGN…!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

Squadra Corse were left bummed after their overcut strategy completely backfired, handing their nemesis, Luca Rennick, the lead and chewing up precious seconds from Luigi's race pace, almost costing him the entire event there in Monaco.

Their garage immediately ruled the call as something regrettable, and when the second round of stops came, they didn't even think about risking another overcut, choosing instead to play it safe.

It was as if the stigma of the incident stuck to Luigi's mind, because even after rejoining the race, he seemed to have lost that razor edge he'd started Monaco with. His compounds now were fresh and warm rubber after running on them for some time. Everything was optimal, as Squadra Corse had made sure of it. Yet, the Italian feared that deep down, the W12 might betray him again if he pushed too hard.

Perhaps Luigi was biding his time, saving his real push for the later laps after the second phase of pit stops, knowing he had the fastest car in the field.

In contrast to this, also done unintentionally, major rivals like Luca and Damgaard were UNDERCUTTING this time around in the second stop phase, flipping the earlier script entirely!

"...those are pretty early stops from Jimmy Damgaard and Luca Rennick! WHAT COULD BE HAPPENING..?!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHH!"

"...JIMMY DAMGAARD VISITS THE PITS A WHOLE LAP EARLIER THAN RENNICK AND THE MOST! WAY AHEAD OF SCHEDULE...!"

Mr. Grant was genuinely impressed with Bueseno Velocita's decisiveness in pulling off such a severe undercut for Jimmy Damgaard. One could consider it severe and aggressive because Jimmy was visiting the pit lane before Luca, who they'd already planned to undercut the very next lap.

The race had entered its most tense stage, and Grant was out of his seat, standing at the edge of the pit lane by his team's pit wall to feel it all firsthand. Other crew members and the two reserve drivers chilling in their padded jackets in the paddock seats nodded in acknowledgement at Mr. Grant's presence.

From there, the Team Principal had clear vantage sight of Damgaard and the RBioL rolling forward down the pit lane toward the Velocita garage. To the right was Velocita's garage, their pit crew poised like mannequins in perfect formation, ready to execute.

As Jimmy Damgaard barrelled past, Mr. Grant couldn't help but marvel at how the Red Bull looked almost glitchy and monochrome under the artificial lighting of the pit lane. The only burst of color came from the sharp red flash from its rear, indicating that the driver's pit limiter was on.

Mr. Grant still viewed these top-tier supercars as behemoths in the competition, machines so far beyond Trampos' reach. Watching the RBioL stop neatly into its pit box, Velocita's crew sprang into action with flair and accuracy in their actions. Mr. Grant couldn't help but wonder how unstoppable Luca would be if he were armed with one of these monsters under the Trampos banner.

In three acute seconds, Jimmy Damgaard's service was complete, his undercut executed to perfection. Mr. Grant turned back to his own team with sharp claps to jolt their focus because Luca's stop was next, and they had to be ready.

[Retrieving pitstop info...]

[Service Time: 2.10 seconds]

[Front Tires: Soft → Soft]

[Rear Tires: Soft → Soft]

[Front Wing: Replaced]

[Rear Wing: Replaced]

Luca was puzzled when he grasped that his team had swapped out his rear wing yet again in this race. This time there was no real necessity, and most importantly, he wasn't even told, whether an order or permission.

He fully understood the front wing change. The earlier scrape in the race had warranted it. But the rear wing change was excessive, putting mental load on him for Pit Stop Prodigy in order to mitigate the time it could have taken.

"Seriously, guys, things like this… we should be talking about them beforehand. I don't need surprises in the box."

**Copy, Luca. Apologies, mate — necessary to give both wings fresh. We want you to have the best push possible.**

Luca inhaled deeply as he sought to rejoin the race, saying he understood.

**Sorry again, Luca. You're on the right track here — you and Jimmy are now the freshest drivers out there. Looks like you two will be clashing very soon**

Luca didn't like that the team was being incommunicable on matters like this, the lack of forewarning planting seeds of suspicion.

His mind meandered back to the last race in Canada, where the rear wing had also been swapped without clear necessity.

Glancing at his Sync Bar, still holding steady at 12.5%, definitely not promising, but he resolved to watch and see if he'd somehow gain more Yaw Flex points than usual.