My Formula 1 System-Chapter 374: S2 Hungarian Grand Prix. 12

[50th Lap]

Before the 50th lap of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Luca found himself locked into his fifth major duel of the race, and his second one against Marko Ignatova.

DiMarco had just headed into the pitlane for a swift change, correcting his tire placement and patching his downforce. But by then, Luca had already cemented himself in the top three. His overtake on DiMarco was completely clean and fast as he waited for no polite handover, but quick execution.

When DiMarco returned to the track, the damage was immediate and steep. He'd fallen all the way down to seventh, his frustration emanating from the entire Red Bull. He was shouting, cursing, and laying into his crew for fumbling what had been a rock-solid run and causing his dismay.

P3— ↓

P4— ↓

P5— ↓

P6— ↓

P7— Davide DiMarco

With that fall, he was planted right in front of Buoso Di Renzo. Now this was a sharp pressure point for both drivers. DiMarco had no intention of slipping further, not with how much he'd already lost. But for Di Renzo? The situation was even more delicate. Jackson Racing were watching the fight with close eyes. If Di Renzo couldn't capitalize on DiMarco's broken momentum—if he couldn't seize the overtake now—it would only stir more doubts about his capability for F1.

But to his credit, Di Renzo delivered. He silenced the murmurs for now by blasting past DiMarco on the second straight, armed with DRS and purpose for impression and lots more.

P7— Buoso Di Renzo ↑

P8— Davide DiMarco ↓

"... Buoso Di Renzo in P7, Davide DiMarco in P8 ..!"

"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"

Rodnick, watching from home, pumped his working fist in celebration and gave a firm nod of approval the moment Di Renzo's Ferrari snatched P7. Out of everyone monitoring the race, he had sworn he'd be the first to condemn Di Renzo if he had backed out or gotten shut down by DiMarco like some helpless toy.

Seeing DiMarco dropped to P8 was an unexpected adrenaline boost for Luca, especially as he found himself deep in his second duel of the day with Marko Ignatova.

With DiMarco now three positions out of the top five, Luca turned his mental lens toward the more significant threats, the big names all around him.

P1— Ailbeart Moireach

P2— Marko Ignatova

P3— Luca Rennick

P4— Antonio Luigi

P5— Jimmy Damgaard

The names in the top five still made for a rough field, but DiMarco's absence, at least, seemed to thin the chaos. Luca calculated that if Damgaard kept Luigi on edge, there could be some ease in the quest for P1.

With the right moment, he might slip past Marko and his passivity, and set his sights on Ailbeart, especially since Luca's machine held an advantage in high-speed torque and grip over Ailbeart's Renault.

However, Marko was anything but passive in their duel. Luca could still feel that initial rub from earlier, the way Marko had leaned in, not by accident, but on purpose to defend. Marko really displayed his seriousness to hold P2, but the brush alerted the stewards. Race control then gave him a penalty warning, confirming just how close to the edge this battle already was.

Eventually, at a point, after swapping positions what felt like countless times over the course of five laps, Luca finally unboxed the upperhand and kept it for himself. The lap before this moment, they had come properly wheel-to-wheel—no more feints or staggered line switches—and at that moment, Luca highly invested in Side-by-Side King like never before.

From the very start of the duel, Marko had been hearsome to the words of his race engineers, who had made one thing very clear, and it was to avoid wheel-to-wheel combat with Luca. Realistically though, Marko hadn't even needed to be told; he already knew for himself.

He stuck to that caution for as long as he could. But caution, especially in Formula 1, never had a long shelf life. And especially not when it was Luca, who was now constantly initiating the full-on side-by-side engagement in his thrive for P2.

[Side-by-Side King +1]

[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 87.5%]

The skill worked steadfastly. And before Marko could register, Luca was firmly ahead, though the battle still had a chance to light up once again.

P1— Ailbeart Moireach

P2— Luca Rennick ↑

P3— Marko Ignatova ↓

Luca gave his Sync Bar a glance. At this stage of the race, it sat at a solid 85% chance of completion, and at 87.5%, it meant just a bar left to fill up. He remembered how he was not able to fill it up in the last two races, and by all odds, he could very well cross the finish line today with the same result.

Luca wasn't exactly sure how to feel about it. A small part of him felt downhearted that the system that was once his every grinding force, was now becoming harder to achieve things. But on the other side, a quiet sense of pride bloomed inside him as it felt like he was racing on his own merit. It seemed he system's grip was loosening, and he was now the one putting his racing career together.

Thinking about this, Luca nodded with determination. The bar might be nearly full, but he told himself not to obsess over it. If it brimmed, good. If it didn't, then so be it. What mattered more was finishing strong. Survive the closing laps. Keep control.

Sitting in P2 was already a powerful spot, but Luca had a bad feeling the leaderboard was still going to shuffle before the end.

And of course, he wasn't wrong. Because around these mid-50 laps, the second wave of pit stops had begun to ripple across the grid. Even the pack leader, Ailbeart Moireach—who had been running with steady control and a 2-second buffer ahead of Luca—was summoned into the pitlane.

P1— Ailbeart Moireach →

P2— Luca Rennick

[1st Position]

P1— Luca Rennick ↑

Unfortunately for Luca, Mr. Berry and the rest radioed to him that he would have to serve that pitstop, and he would serve his before Di Renzo so he could get back on track earlier and refight.

**Luca, you'll have to box now. You need to serve that pitstop before Di Renzo. You'll get back out ahead and still have space to fight**

"But car's all good," Luca pressed, unwilling to give up P1.

**Understood, but telemetry predicts clearer. If you carry on, the current wear pattern means we won't make the final laps with full operational stability. This stop will top you up on everything. You'll be sharper**

Sigh.

Funny enough, Luca wasn't even the one dealing with the worst pitstop headache—it was DiMarco. Even after that earlier setback in the race, he was now being called in for another stop.

Many others had already served their second pitstops earlier, so it was becoming clear that this season's Hungarian GP would go down in memory as the one that burned through three full sets of tire compounds.

When Luca finally turned into the pitlane, Marko swooped into P1. He spat under his breath, muttering bitterly that all that drama and tire smoke from Luca, just for him to hand over the lead.

Ailbeart Moireach, who had already returned to the track earlier, was holding onto P5. So when Luca veered off, Ailbeart was automatically bumped up to P4. But it didn't last long because Damgaard came charging through and took the position with ease. He had stronger momentum, being the first among the top ten to execute his "second" round of pitstops.

Ailbeart Moireach still wasn't safe, because Davide DiMarco was behind him in P6. Both of them had fresh tires, so it was going to be a fair fight though.

[System Update: Pitlane Entry Detected]

[Speed Limit: 80 km/h]

[System's prediction: 10 sec—12 sec] fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

As Luca approached his pit box, he kept a close eye on the leaderboard. He watched as P1, P2 were taken.

Luca wondered how fast this pitstop waa going to be. The car wasn't in a bad shape at all—Operational Status at 70% and tire wear still only scratching at the early stage.

"JACK UP—CLEAR! DROP—GO GO GO!"

**Good stop**

[Pitstop Prodigy +1]

[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 100%]

Luca couldn't believe his eyes.

My lucky day?