My Formula 1 System-Chapter 284: S2 Monaco Grand Prix. 4

"...a result this young Norwegian didn’t expect tonight, an unexpected result in general for the Italian giants, Bueseno Velocità...!"

"...Jimmy Damgaard, #84, A DNF!" The announcement rang out, and the spectators erupted in a loud cheer.

**Yellow flags down, remain alert**

[10th Lap]

The incident had occurred nine laps ago, yet its effect still held strong in the pack as everyone remained fully alert.

Being automatically pushed one position was a gift, one that every driver in the bottom half of the leaderboard was more than willing to capitalize on.

Back then, when the yellow flags were raised and Damgaard’s car—still intact—was towed out, the safety car’s parade began.

However, this time, it wasn’t the usual safety car. Jimmy Damgaard’s DNF due to tire delamination in Monaco became the first to trigger the new Virtual Safety Car (VSC) system.

During the FIA Gala, officials addressed—under the changes—concerns about traditional safety car periods being too time-consuming and disrupting race flow.

To fix this, the Virtual Safety Car was introduced. Instead of deploying a physical car, drivers must adhere to a controlled delta time, maintaining safe speeds while marshals handle incidents.

This minimizes delays and keeps the race rhythm intact.

So, the drivers were expected to believe a safety car was physically on track, and they adhered to every rule all the same.

However, the deployment of the Virtual Safety Car or the Traditional Safety Car depended on the severity of the issue.

In the case of minor incidents, like debris on track or a stranded car in a safe zone, the Virtual Safety Car was preferred, keeping the race neutralized without bunching up the field.

However, for major crashes or hazardous conditions, the Traditional Safety Car was still necessary to guide the pack and ensure safety.

[DATA DISPLAYED IN REAL-TIME:

-Car Speed: 300 km/h

-Heart Rate: 110 bpm

-Operational Status: 80% (Good)

-Breathing: Calm & Steady

-Distance covered: 60000m

-Time: 11 min. ]

Ruefully, Luca remained stuck in the middle of the leaderboard—P10.

It appeared to him that the middle pack of F1 was tougher than the head pack of F2.

A new contender, Lloyd, had pushed himself against the odds, overtaking his own teammate and now bringing his Velox Mercedes closer to Luca, street after street.

Luca, on the other hand, felt vulnerable. He had lost Dreyer, who had astonishingly overtaken Nyström, who he had thought was unbeatable in a duel.

And now, the defensive masterclass Nyström could’ve used against Dreyer was being used against him instead.

[11th Position closing in]

Luca began to gauge his chances of escaping the crosshairs of a Mercedes. Ever since he analyzed Luigi’s car, he had immediately developed both fear and respect for the automobile company.

What if there’s nothing to fear? Luca thought.

After all, if Velox Hispania truly had great Mercedes chassis at their disposal, they’d be a big name—but they weren’t.

This meant Squadra Corse fully owned the best products, and Velox must’ve settled for the second team, using models that weren’t under Squadra’s name.

Luca lowered his gaze to the gearbox cam to see Lloyd weaving with persistence. He called for a car analysis, followed by a chassis comparison.

He needed to be sure because he feared that even an average Mercedes chassis would be on par with some of the great cars on this grid.

Lloyd’s car was a Mercedes (Benz V196), housing a Mercedes-Benz FO 110W as its A-level engine.

[Chassis Comparison]

[Retrieving Data from registered car and car under analysis....]

[...Data successfully retrieved!]

[Selected Modes:

—Ferrari (JRX-92B)

—Mercedes (Benz V196) ]

[POWER & PERFORMANCE:

—Mercedes (Benz V196): 93% «««

—Ferrari (JRX-92B): 96%»»»

[AERODYNAMICS & CHASSIS:

—Mercedes (Benz V196): 90% «««

—Ferrari (JRX-92B): 93%»»»

[HANDLING & DYNAMICS:

—Mercedes (Benz V196): 95% «««

—Ferrari (JRX-92B): 97%»»»

[ENDURANCE & RELIABILITY:

New novel chapters are published on freewёbn૦νeɭ.com.

—Mercedes (Benz V196): 92% «««

—Ferrari (JRX-92B): 97%»»»

[TECHNOLOGICAL INTEGRATION:

—Mercedes (Benz V196): 93% «««

—Ferrari (JRX-92B): 97%»»» ]

It seemed pretty much below Luca’s 92B in all categories, so he reckoned he had nothing to fear from Lloyd’s car.

But that didn’t mean the driver couldn’t work with his own intuition.

The middle pack drove around a block, marking Turn 5, as they rounded into the harbor section, where the leading drivers were already pushing through.

There was no definite leader or leaders yet; the pack was still congested, and the race remained open for action and changes.

P4— Davide DiMarco ↑

P5— Mark Derfflinger ↓

-------------------------------------

P5— Davide DiMarco ↑↑

P6— Marcellus Rodnick ↓

[Straightaway ahead]

Luca gripped the wheel even tighter, the engine rumbling as he made it through Turn 7, trailing behind Nyström’s wake.

His tires quickly gripped the asphalt, and he straightened up to face the stretch that lined beside the harbor.

To the side, Luca could see luxurious yachts parked in a neat line at the waterfront of the dark saltwater. The water was a shimmering beauty because of the harsh intensity of the track’s light.

Some wealthy spectators were on the decks, getting a very nice view of the track as drivers sped past.

Nyström’s slipstream knocked at Luca’s door, but Luca didn’t use it right away. His focus now was to unlatch Lloyd because if he didn’t, he would keep pestering and eventually overtake him.

Desmond Lloyd, in his cockpit, bit his lip when Luca’s brake lights disappeared, meaning he planned to take on the straight with full power.

Lloyd was less than a second behind, so DRS was much suited to take him to P10. His car bit the entrance of the straight, the spectators on the decks cheering him to go for it!

IT WAS ALMOST A CONTACT BETWEEN DESMOND LLOYD AND LUCA RENNICK!

Luca was going to rank that in his Top 3 Best Straightaway Chopping, maybe even rank it higher than the one he executed on Max Addams right in this circuit one year ago.

[Straightaway Chopping +1]

[SYNC BAR: [][][][] 25%]

**Wonderfully executed!**

Lloyd was so stunned for a second that his teammate, Vasquez, overtook him and joined Luca on the rest of the straight to attack the next streets of Monte Carlo.

[Analyzing 11th Position’s distance from host and Ferrari (JRX-92B)...]

[11th Position is 1 sec away, host.]

There was now just a second of space between him and Vasquez—another Mercedes driver—but at least it was enough while at turns to focus on the driver ahead.

But Luca just realized his split-second braking had also subtly increased the distance between him and Nyström.

And it seemed Nyström was now trying to engage with a car ahead. It was a purple single-seater, the manufacturer Luca wasn’t too sure of.

However, he knew the colors, because the team had once approached him for his signature last winter.

Iberia Grand Prix. Audi-powered Spanish team.

That meant Nyström was troubling none other than Hank Rice, former Nevada driver.

Luca wondered how that was possible. He thought it was Dreyer at P8 and Rice at P7. Fortunately, he was quick enough to glance at his dashboard before the change solidified.

P7— Luis Dreyer ↑

P8— Hank Rice ↓

"Son of a—"

All of a sudden, zero-time world champion, Luis Dreyer of Outback Performance, was currently the MVP in the first race of the season, the Monaco Grand Prix.