My Formula 1 System-Chapter 360: Post-Seventh Round. 2

He finished in P1, and Max Addams made P2.

Luca also remembered his then-teammate, Ansel, had crashed in the opening lap so early. The crash had nearly sealed Trampos' fate in Hungary, but Luca pushed through to victory, defying the odds.

This made Luca think if fate could repeat itself and his now-teammate, Rodnick, might crash on Sunday, given his current growing intensity.

Not that Luca wished for it, but it was likely in his opinion because the same state of mind Ansel had back at that time was the same Rodnick currently possessed.

If Luca's memory was correct, Ansel's reckless pursuit for position was what caused him to collide with Miles Bellingham, spinning out in chaos.

Hmmmph.

The kind of fate Luca prayed to repeat was his P1 win there in Hungaroring. He was going to race, and he was glad that the management still put him up for participation despite his DNF in the last round.

And once again, this meant Di Renzo was going to be benched for another round

How sad....

Anyways, drills had begun! Strategies and plans unfurled for Jackson Racing to tackle the revamped 70-lap Hungaroring. Engineers pored over telemetry from simulator runs, optimizing setups for the 5.2 km track's tight twists and low-grip surface. And the drivers simply did what they were known for—racing.

On a bright day, back in London, just a few days after Belgium, Jackson Racing's headquarters was big, modest, and busy as always. The sun was blinding yellow and scorching hot, and any metallic or steel object reflected the blue, vibrant clouds up above with dazzling clarity.

Jackson had a reputation for letting some fans into the premises all the time. And today was no different as about thirty-five people of varying ages were let in, but granted limited freedom of movement to maintain security.

At least, they were allowed to watch by the bleachers at the training track far away as all Jackson Racing drivers raced to warm up and test speed. Luca and Rodnick pushed their Ferraris through quick laps, dialing in various tire compounds—softs for grip, mediums for durability—while engineers tweaked aero settings for Hungary's tight corners. The engines' roars echoed, thrilling the fans, who cheered each screaming pass.

After the warm-up, there were a few special personal driver sessions to set fast laps and train on accelerating and speeding without care to challenge self pace, pushing raw velocity.

All drivers took part—Luca, Rodnick, and Di Renzo—each going for their best times on the training circuit.

Di Renzo with the 92B had a good score, Rodnick with his 97 had an impressive one, while Luca with the 92B had an outstanding score, blazing through the track.

The small crowd cheered loudly, their roars echoing across the other empty bleachers.

"You do like this Luca on Qualifiers, you have pole! C'mon, do the same! You'll have to!" Eddy yelled with a fervorous tone.

The small crowd went wild when Luca wrapped up his session and came out from his cockpit with grace. He approached them to engage since he hadn't for the day, and at the same time, ready to wait for the next drills.

The next drills were going to be core, focusing on team strategy—perfecting pit stop timing to shave seconds, practicing formation runs to defend against rivals, and simulating Hungaro Ring's tight Sector 1 overtakes to master race-day tactics.

To the side, a certain driver was reflecting. It was Rodnick, and his gaze was still fixed on the timing boards.

Deep down, Rodnick was flabbergasted and stunned at Luca's lap time, noticeably shorter than his, meaning it was faster. He could not fathom the reason since his car was engineered as the fastest Ferrari on the goddamn planet, a marvel of speed!

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Yes, even though Rodnick's ThunderKat really powered that Ferrari and was factually much faster than Luca's, Luca could possibly drive faster in certain circumstances, like an empty track, for example.

On an empty track—unchallenged, zooming away with clear lines, no traffic to dodge, and perfect tarmac grip—Luca's lap time could sometimes—just like today's—turn out faster than Rodnick's.

This was because of all Luca's Attributes and Skills, which combined to make subtle differences when navigating the track like opposing current, taking the most ideal lines, almost zero slipping, enduring all the forces. And in F1, minor differences counted a lot.

Rodnick, who didn't understand this, firmly asked to retake his warm-up lap time before they proceeded to the next drill. He wanted to regain his confidence and assurance of being the best, and this was the only way to prove it.

Jackson had all day, so they quickly set him up again for just four flyers at least, and got his car ready for his redemption run.

Luca knew why Rodnick wanted to go again, but he did not say anything. He just went into the garage where some mechanics were tweaking setups, and he took a short rest after about ten minutes getting exhausted by the small crowd's fervor.

While seated in the garage, hearing the ThunderKat roar and cry on the track, Luca noticed that the mechanics were working on a JRX-88X, the third-best Jackson Racing Ferrari chassis. Since it was third-best, its comparison was likely the same as Iberia GP's top chassis, which Hank Rice piloted.

The power distinction on the grid was too much. Luca wondered who would be the best if everyone were just given F2 04s to drive. Only then would frauds like DiMarco and Luigi be exposed, their car advantages stripped bare.

Don't get him wrong, he knew they were good drivers, but they would not be this invincible if they drove for Alpine or Velox.

When one mechanic asked him what was on his mind, Luca laughed and explained that he was just reminiscing on when he used to drive a lower chassis—the F2 04—and also when he won the F2 Hungarian Grand Prix last year with blazing speed.

It seemed a few of them there in the garage recalled too and their eyes lit up.

"Oh. It's true it was you," one said, nodding with respect.

"Yes. Yes. You were moving so fast toward finish, it seemed like you were even driving one of these!" another added, gesturing to the JRX-88X.

They started to ask Luca how he does it—that magical consistent burst of his, explaining it was always rare for a driver to be hitting all categories of the car in the telemetry at the perfect threshold.

Luca wanted to give a fitting and funny explanation, but his words hooked when the sound of crushing carbon fiber resonated throughout the headquarters, a sickening crunch.

Distant commotion followed and shouts followed.

Luca and the mechanics dashed out to the open and under the bright sun to understand what was going on, their hearts pounding in their chests.

Luca's gaze speared to the distance where crew members were running to. He couldn't believe what he saw—a wrecked Ferrari off the track.

What have you done, Marcellus?!