Round 5: Spain
Final Race (33 laps)

Starting Grid

1. Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
2. Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
3. Rainbow Dash (Scuderia Ferrari)
4. Lightning Dust (Scuderia Ferrari)
5. Sandbar (ROKiT Williams)
6. Spitfire (Scuderia Ferrari)
7. Pinkie Pie (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
8. Chrysalis (HAAS)
9. Applejack (McLaren)
10. Silverstream (BWT Racing Point)
11. Gladmane (HAAS)
12. Ocellus (Red Bull Toro Rosso)

"Hello and welcome back to the Spanish round of the 2019 F1 Equestria season! I'm Film, joined by Flam and Martin Brundle and what a race we have lined up for you today in the land of yellow and green! Let's take a look at the Starting Grid!"

"Looks like we have another Mercedes takeover! Viral Velocity has taken pole position, with her teammate and friend Akula next to her in P2. And behind them is the two Ferraris of Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust, both who have had very impressive showings in their duels,"

"Sandbar in the Williams is starting behind them, coming off a very high result at the previous round at Azerbaijan. The young pony has kept the confidence throughout his duel and is predicted to take another high-placed result here in Spain. Don't forget about Pinkie Pie in the Red Bull, right behind the Williams in P7. She had a very strong result in her duel and looks set to sweep the circuit,"

"Speaking of Red Bull, it appears that Ocellus of Toro Rosso has finally managed to qualify for a final race for the first time in the season! She may be starting from the back of the grid, but I have a feeling that Ocellus has some potential that we might see in this race,"

"Looks like we're about to find out, my pony friends. We are about to get underway,"

Moments earlier...
Red Bull Racing garage

A black cloud had fallen on the Red Bull team garage. Pinkie Pie had lost most of her colour and her poofy mane and just didn't act her happy, cheerful and bubbly self ever since the duel with Rarity. The last thing that Pinkie wanted was to upset her friends and she had just ruined Rarity's chances at gaining more points.

To make matters even worse, Suri didn't qualify either and Applejack was the only McLaren to make it into the finals. If Applejack finished the race in 8th or higher, then McLaren would overtake Renault in the standings, putting Renault at the bottom of the leaderboard.

Knowing that she had probably soured the relationship she had build up with her unicorn friend is what broke her the most. For the first time since she temporarily moved away from Ponyville to Yakyakistan, all of her colour had been drained. But unlike last time, her mere presence didn't cause flowers to wilt and balloons to pop. She just kept her saddness to herself.

Pinkie emerged from the back paddock area, still in her grey-colour and straight mane and wearing a Red Bull racing suit, tailored by Rarity herself to fit her equine form. She grabbed her bright pink and colourfully-designed helmet and headed to the grid without saying a word.

But as she crossed the pit road, a very-familiar voice called out to her. "Pinkie, darling! Oh, do please wait!"

Pinkie froze in place. It couldn't possibly be her, could it? Slowly but surely, Pinkie turned around and came to face with Rarity, looking far from upset with the pink mare. And standing next to the ivory mare, was her mentor, Daniel Ricciardo. Pinkie wasn't sure why Rarity was wanting to speak with her before the race, but given the fact that Ricciardo was with her, it definitely wasn't to scold her about the duel.

With that realisation, some of her colour started to come back. By just Rarity and Daniel's presence alone, Pinkie had already regained colour in half of her legs, so while her mane was still straight and she was still feeling down, she knew that something was up.

"Oh, hi Rarity," Pinkie said, with a depressing tone, "Just heading to the grid. Don't mind me," However, before Pinkie could leave the duo, Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder.

"Listen, Pinkie darling. I know that you feel bad about what happened... earlier. But still, it was out of your control. You don't have to beat yourself up over that. It's still very early in the season. There's plenty of time for me to bounce back," Rarity explained, causing Pinkie's expression to soften.

"She right, you know," Ricciardo added, "Many of the rookies in this season are struggling so far and so are me and Hulkenburg. But it's still early and who knows? Maybe we'll come back on top?"

Now Pinkie knew that she had been depressed over nothing. And she had forgotten that it was still only round 5 in the championship; there were still 16 rounds to go. Anything could happen in those rounds...

...and Pinkie knew that.

Before the pink mare could respond, another hoof tapped her on the back. She turned to see Viral Velocity standing next to her, dressed in her Mercedes team racing suit and with her helmet in the grasp of her other front hoof. "Racing under emotional stress is not safe for you or the other drivers around us either. Pinkie, you're a good pony and talented at so many different things, I can't keep up with it myself, despite how good I am at this. You ended up in one of the best teams in F1 you could have. Great performance and speed and a friendly atmosphere. I don't want to have to race an emotional wreck tonight. I want to race the Pinkie everypony knows and loves, and I want to have a fun race with her. So, what do you say? Want to go have some fun?"

Pinkie suddenly felt more of her depression melt away to the heat of Viral and Rarity's words. Her pink-colour started to slowly rise back up, she was almost normal again.

Rarity sealed the deal when she forced Pinkie to face her and said, "I know I should not be saying this but... I hope you win today,"

That was all it took. Pinkie then suddenly tense up, one of her laugh starting to force its way out of her. Her levels of Pink rose to full, completely colouring in her body and mane, before it too then burst out into its original poofy style. Pinkie lept up into the air and cried out, "GROUP HUG!!!!" before streching out her front legs to a ridiculous size and embracing both Rarity and Viral. Ricciardo just laughed at the sight, the pink mare reminding him about himself so much.

"That's the Pinkie I know! I'll be rooting for you, darling!" Rarity happily told Pinkie, before turning to head back to her garage, Ricciardo following her.

"Thanks, Rarity. And Ricciardo!" Pinkie called out, causing the man in question to turn and face her, before she said, "Gee, gee, gee!"

"Oi, oi, oi, oi!" Ricciardo finished, a massive smile on his face.

With all that out of the way, Pinkie then began hopping towards her car.

The field of cars began locking back into the grid, the Formation Lap completed. Pinkie, now back to her usual self, was excited to get underway and win the race for Rarity. In fact, she wasn't worrying about Rarity anymore, because during the Formation Lap, she had used her Pinkie Sense to see how Rarity would go in the rest of the season. The only thing she managed to uncover, was that Rarity was going to win a race in this season. Only she didn't know when.

Pinkie shook that thought from her mind, as the rest of the field lined up in the grid. She knew that it would be tough trying to get to the front, as some very talented drivers were ahead of her. And all of them were vying for points before the next race in Monaco. It would take some time and maybe some luck to make it to the front.

Suddenly, a German-accented voice came over Pinkie's radio. 'Okay Pinkie, radio check,' It was her race engineer, Joshua Schönfeld.

The pink mare responded with her trademark giggling.

The first red light went on, it was go time. Pinkie engaged the clutch and feathered the accelerator. The Honda RA619H engine powering the Red Bull roared to life, which was soon joined by the rest of the field. The next light flicked on.

Three lights.

Four lights.

Five lights.

And it's lights out and away we go!

The lights went off and the race began. Pinkie Pie had gotten quite a good start and had taken P6 away from Spitfire going into the first turn, settling in behind the Williams of Sandbar. Behind her, Gladmane had gotten a great start and managed to pull in behind his HAAS teammate going into Turn 1.

But arguably, the best start had been from the two Mercedes' in the front row. Both Akula and Viral immediately pulled away from the pack, creating a massive gap between them and Rainbow Dash, Viral leading the way from Akula. And all the driver in the front could only watch as the two Silver Arrows (or in Akula and Viral's case, the Crimson Arrows) quickly pulled away going into Turn 3.

As Pinkie exited Turn 3 and saw the two Mercs enter Turn 4 ahead of them, she knew that she would have a lot of work ahead of her.

Two laps later, Viral was still leading with Akula chasing her down. However, just behind them trouble was brewing. Coming off of Turn 3, Lightning had got a much better run than Dash and attempted to make a pass on the inside. However, Dust suddenly moved over and blocked Dash, forcing the Element of Loyalty onto the grass. But both drivers were on the same pace, so one pegasus would have to back off in order for Dash to get back on the track.

Only problem is... neither pony backed off. And things only got worse.

Approaching Turn 4, Dash suddenly lost the back end on the grass. Her car went sideways, her momentum carrying her forward. Dash tried to correct the spin, but it didn't work. Instead, her forward momentum carried her Ferrari into Dust's Ferrari. The front-right tyre of Dash's Ferrari made contact with Dust's rear-right tyre, sending both cars into a spin, their forward momentum carrying the damaged Ferrari's into the gravel trap.

Luckily, nopony else was caught up in the crash. However, Dash's desire to take P3 away from Dust and Dust's desire to hold it resulted in a massive teammate collision. Something that every F1 team dreads in a race. And after the collision, Dash and Dust exchanged quite a few heated words back at the Ferrari garage.

As the mess from Lap 3 was cleared up, the field was led by the Safety Car until the track could be cleared up. But going into Turn 10 (La Caxia), the driver of the Safety Car took the turn too slowly for the pack behind it. Viral Velocity almost went up the back of the SC, but no contact was made.

On Lap 4, the Safety Car pulled into the pits and the race went back to green flag conditions. Now, Pinkie Pie was in 4th, Sandbar being the only driver separating her from the Mercedes' in front. However, Sandbar was on Soft tyres and was pushing them hard in order to catch Viral and Akula. He was wearing down his tyres twice as quickly and he would have to pit soon.

In the back, things weren't going as well for Red Bull. Ocellus was the final driver still in the points (10th place). However, due to the wreck that involved both Lightning Dust and Rainbow Dash, she was also in last place. And due to not being as aggressive with the car as she should've been, causing her to fall behind the mid-pack more and more.

On Lap 6, the Mercedes cars now had 2 second lead over the next car behind them (Sandbar). This were going well, but for some reason, Akula did not stop pressuring Viral into pushing hard and increasing the gap on Sandbar. Now, Viral was getting kinda annoyed with this constant pressuring.

"Neon, I am fine with Akula wanting to push me for an increasing gap. But my tyres, on the other hoof, are NOT liking it! Can you get him to back off?" Viral asked, wanting to conserve her tyres.

'Copy that, chica. I'll relay the message,' Neon replied.

Moments later, Akula's race engineer informed him of Viral's situation. 'Akula, Multi Map 2-1. Multi Map 2-1,'

"Negative on that, Petrov. I want at least a 5 second gap to the car behind before we pit. We'll have a better chance, I think," Akula replied.

'I got word from Petrov. Akula's not backing off until there is a big enough gap to the car behind,' Neon reported to V.

"He cannot be serious!" Viral complained, as Akula kept pushing her.

Two laps later, and Akula was still not letting up. But now, Viral could not take care of her tyres anymore. She HAD to pit that lap.

"Neon, I can't make these tyres last another lap! Akula needs to back off so I can pit!" Viral complained once again.

'Understood, V. He was told, he was told,' Neon responded.

With Akula, Petrov was told Viral's situation and relyed it to the Demon Lord, 'Akula, you need to stop pushing! Viral can not manage her tyres anymore!'

There was a moment of silence, before Akula replied. "Copy that, I'll back off," And he did. And coming around to complete the lap, Viral pitted for fresh Mediums, while Akula stayed out to hold Mercedes in the lead.

By Lap 10, Sandbar was facing a similar situation. He could not hold Pinkie off for any longer and his tyres were going to die sooner or later. But Pinkie did not let up and continued to push him and on Lap 11, Sandbar chickened out and pulled in.

Pinkie raced ahead and took 2nd, as Viral's sudden stop had dropped her to fourth.

'Looking good, Pinkie! That's P2!' Joshua congratulated over the radio, as Pinkie began to close the gap with Akula.

Five laps later, the entire field were running on worn tyres that needed to be replaced. And while coming around to start Lap 16, everyone pulled into the pits for a fresh set of Mediums.

Well, nearly everyone.

The only drivers that stayed out were Akula, Viral and Sandbar. Akula had started on Mediums and wanted to stretch his final stop to the last possible second. Viral had already come in for Mediums and was on fresh rubber, so she had no need to pit. And Sandbar had also pitted for Mediums and was quickly catching the front runners.

However, during the pit cycles, some of the teams had either made costly mistakes or had things go horribly wrong.

The first team to suffer was HAAS. With both Chrysalis and Gladmane close together, they would need to perform a double-stack stop in order to get both cars in and out. But when Chrysalis pulled in, things went wrong. As the new tyres were being put on, the front-left gunner was having a problem. He couldn't get the lug nut on the front-left tyre to lock in. To make matters worse, for every second that Chrysalis was stuck in the pits, Gladmane was stuck behind her as well, waiting for his turn to pit.

Eventually, the nut was locked into place and Chrysalis was on her way. But when Gladmane pulled in, the rear-left gunner was having issues with his pneumatic wrench. But after a few whacks, the gun was working again and Gladmane was on his way, still on the lead lap.

But the team that suffered the worst stop was Racing Point. When Silverstream pulled in, the team readily took off the worn Softs and replaced them with Mediums. Except for the right-rear crew. They had misunderstood the order and was standing by with a Hard tyre. And when Silverstream pulled in, the crew realised their blunder and rushed in to find a Medium. But this took a while and by the time the tyre was attached and Silverstream was sent out, the hippogriff was one lap down to the leaders and in last place. Ocellus was ahead and still on the lead lap.

Nothing much happened for a while, except for Akula and Viral managing to pass Ocellus and put her a lap down and Sandbar dropping down to 5th, after a change in wind direction started working against his setup.

But on Lap 22 and with one third of the race to go, Gladmane and Chrysalis had caught lap traffic in the form of Ocellus and Silverstream, locked in a battle for 9th. SIlverstream had managed to get past the Toro Rosso and was now becoming an obstruction for the two HAAS. Going into Turn 1 on the next lap, Gladmane pulled into Silverstream's slipstream and attempted to pass her on the outside. But SIlverstream aggressively defended her line and moved to block, causing Gladmane to brake hard.

However at that time, Chrysalis was right behind Gladmane. When Gladmane slammed on his brakes, Chrysalis caught a shock and quickly turned right to avoid. Luckily, Chrysalis was able to avoid crashing into her teammate and was also able to get past SIlverstream. However, she was the furthest thing from pleased.

"What the f***?! Gladmane just tried to brake-test me! F****** idiot!" She cried out, clearly pissed. And this outburst drew the attention of HAAS Crew Chief, Guenther Steiner.

The laps ticked down fast and Akula still had yet to pit. He was running with completely worn Mediums and was losing ground to Viral behind him. He needed to pit. And with 5 laps to go, Akula pulled into the pit. His unbelivably worn Mediums were replaced with fresh Softs in record time and Akula was sent out, only just ahead of Viral, Pinkie and Spitfire.

Now, there was an all-out battle for 1st.

Akula led the way for the first two laps, with Viral hunting him down. Pinkie tried to overtake Viral under braking at Turn 1, but Viral pulled the switchback and held on, the greater power of the Mercedes outrunning the Honda-powered Red Bull. And the Crimson Arrows began to pull away again.

However, Pinkie didn't worry. A third place finish would be good enough for her. All she had to do was hold off Spitfire for three more laps and the final podium spot would be hers.

Up ahead, Akula and Viral were locked an a battle for the win. Akula may have had fresher tyres and the faster tyre compound, but Viral had been faster than Akula all day. In fact, she had smashed Daniel Ricciardo's 2018 lap record of 1.18.44 during her battle with Akula for the lead.

They may have been best friends and Mercedes teammates, but they knew what event was in the next round and they knew that they needed the points.

Akula still held the lead as they crossed the line with the white flag out. One lap to go. It was all or nothing.

What followed was one of the greatest last lap duels in history.

Going down the main straight, Viral got the DRS. The back wing opened, she began to make her move to the inside. Akula didn't block and Viral took the inside line and pulled into the lead. But the better grip of the Softs allowed Akula to pull alongside Viral on the outside through Turns 3 and 4.

Going into Turn 5, Akula pulled back into the lead with a late-braking attack. But Viral didn't give in and stayed with the changeling through the next turns. And approaching La Caixa, Viral made a desperate kamaikaze attack on the inside and retook the lead.

Akula had 6 turns left to catch Viral.

And through those corners, Akula gained on Viral bit by bit. By the final corner, Akula was within striking distance of Viral. But she had a better run through the final corner and going down the back straight, the two Mercedes' were neck-a-neck. Akula gave all he had in the final straight... but it was no use.

The chequered flag flew... and Viral Velocity had won, by half a car-length.

Viral had her first win and for the 6th time in a row, the Spanish Grand Prix ended in a Mercedes 1-2, mirroring the finish in the main race.

Just behind them, Pinkie Pie and Spitfire were fighting for the final grid spot. However, Pinkie was just out of reached and completed the podium.

'Well done, Pinkie! P3, you're on the podium! Great driving today. To come from P7 and finish in P3. Great job today,' Joshua congratulated and Pinkie punched a hoof into the sky.

"Not bad, everypony! Not bad at all! What a race!" Pinkie said, performing the parade lap before pulling into the victory box, in front of the '3' sign. And the moment she got out, Viral and Akula got out and embraced her, happy that the old Pinkie was back and here to stay.

Author's Note

Results

1. Viral Velocity - 25 points + 1 (for Fastest Lap)
2. Akula - 18 points
3. Pinkie Pie - 15 points
4. Spitfire - 12 points
5. Chrysalis - 10 points
6. Gladmane - 8 points
7. Sandbar - 6 points
8. Applejack - 4 points
9. Silverstream - 2 points (1 lap down)
10. Ocellus - 1 point (1 lap down)
11. Rainbow Dash - 0 points (DNF)
12. Lightning Dust - 0 points (DNF)

Driver's Championship

1. Viral Velocity - 68 points
2. Akula - 68 points
3. Celestia - 63 points
4. Gallus - 32 points
5. Twilight Sparkle - 31 points
6. Sandbar - 28 points
7. DangerDean - 28 points
8. Chrysalis - 26 points
9. Pinkie Pie - 21 points
10. Rainbow Dash - 19 points
11. Lightning Dust - 18 points
12. Luna - 18 points
13. Silverstream - 17 points
14. Fluttershy - 16 points
15. Spitfire - 12 points
16. Oscura Galaxia - 12 points
17. Gladmane - 10 points
18. Cheese Sandwich - 6 points
19. Yona - 6 points
20. Applejack - 5 points
21. Rarity - 3 points
22. Ocellus - 1 point
23. Suri Polomare - 1 point
24. Big Macintosh - 0 points

Constructor's Championship

1. Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 167 points
2. Alfa-Romeo Racing - 95 points
3. Scuderia Ferrari - 65 points
4. BWT Racing Point - 47 points
5. HAAS F1 Team - 37 points
6. Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 35 points
7. ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 34 points
8. Red Bull Toro Rosso - 16 points
9. McLaren F1 - 5 points
10. Renault F1 Team - 4 points

Special thanks to RDgamer321 for helping me with this chapter. Be sure to check out some of his work, if you like this story!

As for the lap record smashing, I know that Valteri Bottas beat that time in 2020. But remember this story is set in 2019, so that lap doesn't count as it hasn't been set yet.