Round 3: China
Final Race (24 laps)

Starting Grid

1. Celestia (Alfa-Romeo)
2. Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
3. Spitfire (Scuderia Ferrari)
4. DangerDean (Scuderia Ferrari)
5. Oscura Galaxia (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
6. Twilight Sparkle (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
7. Luna (Alfa-Romeo)
8. Gallus (Racing Point/Force India)
9. Suri Polomare (Renault)
10. Gladmane (HAAS)
11. Silverstream (Racing Point/Force India)
12. Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso)

"Hello once again, everypony! And welcome back to round 3 of the Formula One Equestria Duels series! The Duels round has already passed and the remaining drivers are lining up on the grid for the race! Flam, my dear brother, who are the ones to watch?"

"Well, from what I can see, we seem to have Celestia starting on pole. She's become the talk of the town, or in this case, internet. Fans both here at the track and watching at home just love the way she drives and that she can put a mid-pack car at the front of the field and win the race. She's starting from P1, so I'm curious to see how she fares here."

"Sitting behind her is a worthy opponent in Viral Velocity. She looked content for a win last round, but a engine component failing costed her the victory. Now, she's looking for redemption."

"It also looks like we have an absolute bitter fight on our hooves as well. DangerDean is currently on P4, with his eternal nemesis, Oscura Galaxia next to him, on P5. We can expect to get a very interesting battle between those two,"

"Also, it appears that Racing Point finally has some drivers in the Final! Both Silverstream and Gallus are in the this race and they are looking to bag some points! We've got some really talented drivers on the grid, I don't know who is going to win, but this should be an exciting race!"

"We're about ready for the start, here we go!"

This was the moment where Silverstream's excitable attitude will need to wait. She needed to focus to score her first points of the season and fooling around wasn't an option, especially on a track such as Shanghai.

'Silverstream, radio check,' Her race engineer, Levi Brooks, reported over the radio.

"Yep, all good here!" Silver replied.

'Alright, radio check complete. 15 seconds to the light sequence,'

But given the fact that she was sitting on second-to-last on the grid, getting into the points range would be harder than she thought, as she had some very competitive drivers ahead of her, all looking to win. Even her teammate, Gallus, was in it for the points as well.

So, in short, this would be a tough race.

But she shook her worries away when the first red light lit up on the starting tree. She engaged the clutch on her RP19 and put her hoof on the throttle, her Mercedes engine roaring to life. Almost immediately, a chorus of other engines joined in and the only sound for miles was the roar of V6 Turbo engines and the 'bing' of the lights activating.

And once the fifth light appeared and all the lights went out, the race in China began.

"This is F1 Equestria! And it's lights out and away we go!"

Out of the back-runners, Silverstream easily got the best start and was already gaining on the mid-pack. Up in the front, Viral got the best start and easily pulled into the lead going into Turn 1. Meanwhile, in the back, Silver raced up the middle of the pack and started approaching the front-runners. Then, the pack entered the first turn and SIlver had gained a massive amount of places. She had gone from P11 to P5 and was nearing the Ferrari of DangerDean. Her charge up the pack had let her take the inside line of Turn 1 and was about to get alongside Dean, when she was forced to the outside going into Turn 2. She then lost two positions to Oscura and Twilight, but the hippogriff was now up the front, well within the points range.

All she needed to do, was stay there.

There was nothing eventful going through Turns 3 and 4 but once the pack had reached Turn 5, everything changed. There was nothing eventful in the front, but in the back, Suri took the inside line to try and gain some ground on the front runners. But as she exited the corner to get back onto her line, she collided with Gallus' Racing Point and was knocked into the air. Thankfully, her Renault landed on all four wheels, but as she moved to get back onto her line, she then hit the Alfa-Romeo of Luna, knocking her into the air.

Luna's Alfa began skidding on two wheels, before righting itself and coming to a halt. Luna was able to get her car moving again, and both Gallus and Suri were able to keep going as well.

'Is the car okay, Suri?' Suri's race engineer asked.

"It was a massive hit, but the car seems okay!" Suri replied, chasing after the pack.

The race continued, but there was no need for a yellow flag. On Lap 4, race engineers in the Ferrari team saw that Dean was setting faster times than Spitfire, who was ahead of him.

'Spitfire, you need to go faster, otherwise you need to let Dean pass,' Spitfire's race engineer reported.

"Okay. We'll see in two laps, but okay," She replied.

But as the two raced down the straight to start the next lap, Spit's race engineer came over the radio again, 'Let Dean by. Let Dean by,'

"But I... I'm pulling now. I'm pulling away!" Spitfire complained, as she slowed to let her teammate past.

'We do our job, stay focussed. We do our job,' And with that, Spitfire let Dean go past her going into Turn 1.

"I'm losing quite a lot of time. I don't know whether you want to know or not but... just to let you know,"

'We are discussing that,'

Two laps after this little Ferrari scuffle, another scuffle took place. This one between Oscura and Twilight. Twilight had been ahead of Oscura, but the evil unicorn was looking to pass, going into Turn 14. And going into the famed turn, Twilight sticking to the racing line and Oscura coming up the inside.

Braking later that Twilight, Oscura then took took a tighter line through the hairpin and took the Mercedes on the inside! However, Twilight pulled the switchback on the Red Bull and got on the inside of Oscura. And when she returned to the apex, Twilight then shoved Oscura's Red Bull onto the grass and took the position away from her. Oscura slowed down and let Twilight have the position, hoping for another chance at taking it.

On Lap 10, a battle for 1st place began between Viral and Celestia. Viral was trying as hard as she could to keep her position, with Celestia trying to take it from her.

Going into Turn 14, Celestia pulled alongside Viral with her DRS wide open. Both drivers then hit the brakes and Celestia's DRS closed. They went into the corner side-by-side, but Celestia had the inside line and easily managed to overtake Viral. And since Celestia had the inside line, Viral either had to concede and give Celestia the spot or go onto the grass. She decided to give her the spot.

On Lap 15, the two Petronas Mercedes' were running on Softs that were seriously worn out, but they both needed to stop for Mediums, as all the others had already switched to fresh tyres. However, since they were so close to each other, they needed to perform a double-stack stop. The Mercedes pit crew needed to be on top form in order to get both cars back onto the track in the quickest possible time.

But the Mercedes team was ready for the undertaking. Viral pulled in first. The pit crew, with utter precision, took off the worn Softs and replaced them with fresh Mediums. WIthin seconds, Viral was away on her new tyres. After Viral was sent on her way, Twilight pulled in. And with the same amount of precision, Twilight's tyres were changed and was sent out as quickly as Viral.

Now, it was the Mercedes team's turn to fight back.

Going into Lap 18, having caught back up to her, Viral was trying everything she could to get past Celestia's Alfa. But try as she might, she couldn't catch the more experly-driven Alfa.

"I'm not liking our chances here, Neon! We've only got 6 laps to go, I can't catch Celestia! I need more engine power!!!!" Viral said, still riding in the slipstream of the golden Alfa for an opportunity to pass.

'Both you and Celestia are at full engine power right now! What do you want me to do?' Her race engineer replied.

"Say something reassuring! ANYTHING!!!"

'Okay,' Her engineer then said, before suddenly saying a line in gibberish. And Viral found it hilarious.

"Okay, that's good enough!"

With 2 laps to go and everything up for grabs, Silverstream had worked her way to the front of the pack. Her light and aerodynamic Racing Point was carrying her to the front. She was now in P4 and only one spot away from her first podium.

The only thing standing in her way was DangerDean in the Ferrari. And she knew that he was a great driver. She knew that he had a faster car, but if she could pull away from him quickly, then she would have a chance.

She knew that her strongest corner was Turn 14, so she planned to make her pass there.

"I want to take Dean and have third! I need more power!" Silverstream demanded, wanting more power.

'Copy that. The highest engine mode is available. Go get him!' Brooks reported. Silverstream touched a button on her steering wheel, and there was a noticeable change in power. She began to close with the Ferrari through some of the long sweeping curves before the long straight. And she was within 1 second of the British Speedfreak going down the straight and she engaged her DRS and began chasing the Ferrari down the straight.

She began closing on Dean quickly and approaching the hairpin, she kept going before coming onto the brakes, her DRS closing. Silverstream had the preferred line and took the Ferrari on the inside. And due to the lightness of her Racing Point, the hippogriff easily accelerated away.

'Yes, that's it! P3! That's all the points we need! Bring it home!'

Going into the final lap, Celestia still held the lead, with Viral doing all she could to take it. Silverstream was trying to catch the two leaders, to no avail. And there was a battle going on for fifth, between Oscura and Spitfire. But going into Turn 9, Oscura lost traction and spun out.

But Spitfire had nowhere to go and crashed into Oscura. Their race was over and there would be no points for either of them.

Meanwhile, at the front, Viral had given everything she had at Celestia but the princess of Equestria didn't break. Instead, Celestia was able to claim her second win. With Viral coming second.

Just behind them was Silverstream, who was well ahead of Dean. There was nothing stopping her. She saw the checkered flag and she crossed the line, gaining her first podium!

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Silverstream cried out, punching her claw into the sky.

'P3! P3! Brilliantly done!' Brooks responded, also overcome with joy.

"YEAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSS!!!!!!!! YES! YES! YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!"

'Well done, Silverstream! P3! Legendary driving today!'

"To the victory box! And when I come back, I WILL PERSONALLY HUG EVERY SINGLE MEMBER OF THE PIT CREW!!!!!!" She exclaimed before putting her RP19 into a donut a Turn 5.

Author's Note

Results

1. Celestia - 25 points
2. Viral Velocity - 18 points + 1 (Fastest Lap)
3. Silverstream - 15 points
4. DangerDean - 12 points
5. Twilight Sparkle - 10 points
6. Luna - 8 points
7. Gallus - 6 points
8. Fluttershy - 4 points
9. Gladmane - 2 points
10. Suri Polomare - 1 point
11. Oscura Galaxia - 0 points
12. Spitfire - 0 points

Driver's Championship

1. Celestia - 63 points
2. Viral Velocity - 42 points
3. Akula - 35 points
4. Twilight Sparkle - 25 points
5. DangerDean - 20 points
6. Rainbow Dash - 19 points
7. Lightning Dust - 18 points
8. Chrysalis - 16 points
9. Silverstream - 15 points
10. Oscura Galaxia - 12 points
11. Luna - 8 points
12. Gallus - 6 points
13. Fluttershy - 6 points
14. Yona - 6 points
15. Cheese Sandwich - 4 points
16. Sandbar - 4 points
17. Gladmane - 2 points
18. Pinkie Pie - 2 points
19. Rarity - 2 points
20. Suri Polomare - 1 point
21. Applejack - 1 point
22. Big Macintosh - 0 points
23. Ocellus - 0 points
24. Spitfire - 0 points

Constructors' Championship

1. Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 102 points
2. Alfa-Romeo Racing - 83 points
3. Scuderia Ferrari - 57 points
4. BWT Racing Point - 19 points
5. HAAS F1 - 18 points
6. Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 14 points
7. Williams F1 - 10 points
8. Red Bull Toro Rosso - 5 points
9. Renault F1 - 3 points
10. McLaren F1 - 1 point