Author's Note

Just so you know, each round will follow one of the racers through their events. After their race, I will show the highlights and results of the other Duels or, if the driver in focus is eliminated, the driver in focus will switch, in some cases.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the very first race!

Round 1 (Australia), Duel 1: Rainbow Dash VS Lightning Dust (Sprint Race, One-On-One)

Albert Park Circuit, Australia

F1 Equestria Duel series

Duel 1: RBD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)

Event Type: One-On-One Sprint Race (5 Laps)

"Welcome, everyone and everypony, to the first round of the Formula 1 Equestria Duel series! I'm Flim and with me is my very good brother and fellow commentator, Flam!"

"Hello, dear brother and hello world! It's great to be here! Shall we cut to the chase?"

"I couldn't agree more! To put it simply, the rounds work like the tennis tournaments held here on Earth. Two drivers for each Duel, whittling the number down until twelve are left to fight it out in the final. Points are scored by the F1 points system and positions at P12 and above are determined in the round finals. And the rounds are determined by the Formula 1 season. Which is why we are here, in lovely Melbourne in Australia for the first round of the Formula 1 series! Now, let's meet our first two competitors!"

"F1 fans of Australia and all other nations, let me introduce your first two competitors! Starting in Position 1, racing for Scuderia Ferrari, hailing from Cloudsdale... Lightning Dust! And her opponent, starting in Position 2, Lightning's teammate in Scuderia Ferrari, also hailing from Cloudsdale... Rainbow Dash!"

"Wow, looks like we have a cracker of a race to start us off! These two are probably the biggest rivals in Equestria, ever since Lightning's recklessness got her booted from the Wonderbolts academy. Rainbow Dash has been a pain in Dust's side ever since. Both were approached by the team boss of Scuderia Ferrari for a chance to race in this championship, and both accept, promising to beat each other! So we've got a hell of a first race today!"

"Looks like we're about to find out! The two rivals and teammates are locking into the grid for the rolling start! Stand by, everypony! We are about to get started!"

She couldn't believe it had come to this. Right on the first round, she was destined to face off against her Ferrari teammate and biggest rival, Lightning Dust.

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her luck.

Sitting down in the cockpit of her Ferrari SF90, she stared down the other Ferrari ahead of her, revving its engine menacingly. Rainbow's Ferrari had the exact same livery as the team, but with the red colour replaced with her natural coat colour of cyan blue and the black replaced with her the rainbow style of her mane. Dust's Ferrari had its red replaced with her coat colour of aqua and the black replaced with orange.

Both cars had the same performance, but both were tweaked to match each of the pegasi's racing styles. Rainbow's SF90 had enhanced engine power and aerodynamics, making her Ferrari as light and quick as possible. Lightning's SF90, however, had enhanced engine power and brakes, giving the Wonderbolt washout an edge in braking.

And since both pegasi had similar driving styles (Lightning's being a bit more 'balls-to-the-wall' reckless), the race was going to be a very close one indeed.

The lights above went out and the two pegasi set off on their warm-up lap.

As soon as the two got back to the straight, the race would begin. But first, they needed to warm their tyres on a practice lap. Every chance they got, they would swerve left and right to warm up their tyres and make them very grippy. But on Turns 6 and 7, Rainbow pulled alongside Dust's car and gave her a rude gesture. This obviously infuriated her, as whenever Rainbow tried to pull the same move, Dust would attempt to push her teammate off the track.

Whatever was going to happen on the track, wasn't going to be pretty.

As the two headed down the back straight towards Ascari (Turn 13), Rainbow could hear the rules of the Duel Type event being explained to the spectators over the PA through her helmet. "The rules of the Duel are simple: Two drivers face off against each other to beat the other driver to the finish. The winners moves on to the next set, which is a full Grid Start race to determine the winners. All other F1 racing rules are kept the same. This event type is a One-On-One Sprint Race. The two rivals are the only drivers on the track. And this particlar event begins with a rolling start, unlike Grid Start events. Given that we are looking at two really talented drivers, this Duel might get very interesting,"

Isn't that the truth, Rainbow thought, doing her best to keep with Lightning as they went around the last three corners, and the Mercedes-AMG GT R Safety Car pulled into the pits. The two turned around the final corner neck-a-neck, ready to race.

Then, Lightning's nose wing crossed over the start line and the race began.

Immediately, both mares stomped down on their throttles and raced to be the first to Brabham and Jones (Turns 1 and 2). But despite being a little bit faster and with a higher level of acceleration than Lightning (due to her powerful engine and lightened weight), Dust was the first one into the turns.

"Lightning Dust takes the lead from Dash as they storm into the first corner!"

There was no dice for Dash in the next 3 turns, but on Turn 6, she attempted to pass again, but as she started to pass her on the inside, Dust turned in on her. Their wheels collided, but although there was no damage, Rainbow was very upset. "THAT BUCKING W****!! SHE JUST TURNED IN ON ME IN TURN 6!!!!" She shouted into her helmet radio.

'Copy that. We're looking into that now,' Was the reply from her race engineer.

She had to wait until Clark (Turn 9) to get her answer. 'Dash, Race Control has ruled in your favour and Dust is to let you past in the next DRS zone. Repeat, Dust has to let you past and you are clear to use DRS.'

Both drivers kept to the racing line as they passed Turns 11 and 12, but as they headed down the back straight towards Ascari, they hit the DRS zone, and Rainbow activated her DRS. The rear wing of her Ferrari opened up, and Dash got a sudden boost of speed, due to the decreased drag. She moved around to the inside, and took the lead away from her rival, before braking for the next set of turns. But the moment Dash was let past, Dust was back on her tail, riding in her slipstream and waiting for a moment to pass.

Coming down the back straight and completing the first lap, Dash was leading her opponent by 0.056 seconds. But the best was yet to come.

Over the course of the next few laps, the positions constantly changed. Both had two different tells that allowed position changes to be frequent. In Brabham and Jones, Dust's slipstreaming of Dash in the tail-end of each lap would give her a boost, allowing her to get around the blue Ferrari. But the same thing would happen in Ascari, except vice-versa.

It would be down to the last three corners that would decide the outcome of the race.

With two laps to go, Dash had managed to get past Lightning again in Ascari, but this time, she wasn't going to let Dust by again. Heading down the main straight, and with expert use of her mirrors, she started to block Dust from getting around. However, going into Brabham, Dust misjudged her braking point. The nose wing of Lightning's car hit Dash's tail, damaging the diffuser and the rear wing. Dash lost control of her Ferrari for a moment, but was able to regain control and keep the lead.

'Dash, are you okay?' Her race engineer asked her, standard procedure for an accident.

"I'm fine, but I think I have tail damage. The car doesn't feel like it should," Dash replied.

'We're analying the damage. Stand by... Okay, you've got damage to the rear wing. DRS has been disabled as a result of the damage for the duration of this race,'

"Oh, FOR BUCKS SAKE!" Rainbow cursed, still attempting to block Dust from getting past at Whiteford (Turn 3). She has less than a lap to hold her off and knock her out of the round. In the next few turns, Dust tried endlessly to get past her rival, but Dash blocked her every attempt. She did get dangerously close at Turn 11, but Dash managed to keep her lead through Turn 12.

In her excitement to get past, Dust forgot about the DRS zones and that it was available to her. If she had used her DRS before Ascari, she would have got past.

Get off my tail, damnit! She thought, blocking another overtake at Stewart (Turn 14). There were only two corners to go: Prost (Turn 15) and Turn 16.

Both drivers kept to the racing line going into Prost, but on the 16th and final turn, Lightning tried one more time.

"Look at this! Dust is having a final go at gaining the lead! Rainbow is doing all she can to hold her off!"

However, as Dash pushed Lightning towards the inside of the corner, the latter took a risk and cut the kerb with her right wheels, putting her side-by-side with Dash they headed down the straight.

Both Flim and Flam were going crazy at how close this finish was going to be. And going at over 260 kph (161.557+ mph), both Ferrari drivers crossed the finish line at what appeared to be the exact same time. However, with the use of the photo finish system, Race Officals were able to determine the results of the race.

The winner, by the tip of her nose wing...

...was Rainbow Dash, car No. 1 for Scuderia Ferrari. P2 was left to a very frustrated Lightning Dust, who was now eliminated from the round.

'Results are in. P1: Yourself. P2: Dust. You are moving onto the final! Well done!'

"YEAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!! YES! YES! YES!" Rainbow cried out, punching her hoof into the sky. "That was awesome! Let's do it again!"

'You'll get a chance to race again in the final. What a performance for the team! Looks like we made the right choice to sign you up for the season!'

"Damn right, you did! I'm so happy to be racing for the legendary Ferrari team! I won't let you down in the final!"

'We just need a high result in the final to get a good start for the season. Bring the car in and get some rest, you're going to need it for the final,'

"Copy that. I'm coming to the pits now," And with that, Dash took a victory lap around the course before returning to the Ferrari garage and shutting off her car, planning on taking a victory nap.