My Formula 1 System-Chapter 352: S2 Australian Grand Prix. 5

"...Luca Rennick takes P1.."

[1st Position]

His reclaim of his starting position—P1—didn't last long because the time for his pitstop was called, and Luca had to peel off the track and dive into the pitlane.

"If I could get Tire Wear Management to 50, I'd be making just one stop in a race, no matter the track or weather conditions"

[Analyzing 2nd Position's distance from host and Ferrari (JRX-92B)...]

[2nd Position is 2.5 sec away, host.]

2nd Position here was Ailbeart Moireach who was now ready to claim P1. A sharp and effective team strategy from Haddock Racing had paid off. They'd pitted Moireach early in this second round of stops, one of the first to swap tires. So, while Luigi had fallen to P6 after his stop, Moireach was set to take P1 into the final quarter of the race.

[System Update: Pitlane Entry Detected]

[Speed Limit: 80 km/h]

[System's prediction: 12 sec—15 sec]

"I'm definitely not beating that."

**Team is ready**

1— Luca Rennick →

Luca needed softs for quicker acceleration and raw speed. But softs weren't an option since he'd run his qualifiers on hards, like nearly everyone did.

Usually, qualifiers demanded softs to boost speed and chase the fastest lap. But George Park's tricky layout forced teams to rethink.

Hards offered better grip and stability on George Park's weaving turns, a safer bet than soft compounds that risked spinouts and could dump you at the back of the starting grid due to disqualification by a crash.

That's exactly what doomed Nyström and Vasquez, landing them at P19 and P20 this afternoon.

By the time Luca rolled into the pitlane toward the Silver Stallions' bay, Ailbeart Moireach had seized P1. And as the Jackson Racing pit crew leaped into action, Hank Rice had surged into P2.

Luca sipped his electrolyte drink through the tube in his cockpit. He used the sharp taste to grind himself.

The 5-second penalty dragged on, feeling more like twenty seconds than it should have.

Temporarily out of the race, the leaderboard flickered and shifted like a real-time graph.

P1— Ailbeart Moireach ↑

P2— Hank Rice ↑

P3— Javier Montez ↑

P4— Luis Dreyer ↑

The core pitstop took just 1.8 seconds, a lightning-fast swap that stunned even the Jackson Racing crew. Luca's car seemed to embrace the new hards, as if it was eager for the changes rather than the crew forcing them.

After the penalty was served, the team roared for Luca to rejoin as fast as possible. His Ferrari surged forward, but by a razor-thin margin, Luigi slipped through, jumping from P6 to P5.

Luca had to settle for 6th Position behind him. When he saw the herd of cars crowding his view, Luca took a deep breath.

[6th Position]

"...a whirlwind in the Australian Grand Prix as Luca Rennick losses P1. The penalty stretched his pit time and he is stuck in a tight pack with 10 laps left..."

[System's prediction: 12 sec—15 sec]

[Host's pitlane Entry and Exit: 19.2 sec]

[7th Position closing in]

[Analyzing 7th Position's distance from host and Ferrari (JRX-92B)...]

[7th Position is 1.7 sec away, host.]

**Big rival. Davide behind. Less than two seconds. Push to close on Luigi in P5, you're 0.8 seconds off, gradually increasing, so keep your lines tight**

Velocità fans surged to their feet as one. They looked like a roaring ocean wave waving through the stands as they flung their hands up in the air, sensing DiMarco's overtake on Luca.

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"

They call Velocità The Matadori. Even though Australia was Outback's turf, their colors dominating the grandstands, the Matadori were always louder and fiercer.

As early as Turn 2, Davide DiMarco pounced on Luca, snatching P6 with ruthless authority. No wonder Luigi had rushed to grab P5 before Luca rejoined.

6— Davide DiMarco ↑

7— Luca Rennick ↓

[7th Position]

"...dropping from P6 to P7 in a heartbeat! Davide DiMarco comes alive at Turn 2 and takes P6...!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"

**Don't let it shake you. Davide's got P6 now, 1.2 seconds ahead. You're still in the points, tires are good—focus on catching him back**

Luca was simply grateful that Marko, in P8, was a solid 2 seconds back. This gave him breathing room to build perfect tire warmth and create just that right momentum before another challenge from Marko hit.

DiMarco was pulling away, widening his and Luca's gap over two laps, stretching it to 2.5 seconds. By then, Luca had regained his rhythm, starting to chip away at the gap, slicing it back to 2 seconds and then dipping below.

[38th Lap]

[Analyzing Ferrari (JRX-92B) and host's distance from 1st Position]

[You are 1.8 seconds away, host.]

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

At that moment, DiMarco had already locked onto Javier Montez's tail.

Montez was slipping, a grid faller in his own right. His teammate Dreyer had overtaken him, sparking a wave of murmurs from the Outback Performance crowd, who flinched as their drivers nearly collided in a fierce duel.

Dreyer's triumph came at the cost of Montez's momentum. Before Montez could react, a Mercedes, its raw speed all too familiar, tore up the asphalt beside him, flashed its brake lights, and sealed the overtake by claiming the next turn first.

3— Luis Dreyer ↑

4— Antonio Luigi ↑

5— Javier Montez ↓

6— Davide DiMarco

│ Racecraft: 85

│ Awareness: 83

│ Pace: 88

├─────────────────────┤

│ Total Rating: 87 ⇓⇓│

└──────────────────────┘

[7TH POSITION]

[Unfortunately, host. You did not make the podium]