Round 8: France
Final Race (27 laps)

Starting Grid

1. Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
2. Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
3. Applejack (McLaren)
4. Rainbow Dash (Scuderia Ferrari)
5. Big Macintosh (McLaren)
6. Pinkie Pie (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
7. Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
8. Oscura Galaxia (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
9. Suri Polomare (Renault)
10. Chrysalis (HAAS F1)
11. Gladmane (HAAS F1)
12. Yona (ROKiT Williams)

"Hello, once again! Welcome back to the 2019 Formula One Equestria Series! Flim and Flam with you once again, coming to all F1 fans from Le Castellet, France for the French Grand Prix. The drivers are pulling out of the grid for the Formation Lap, so let's have a look at the grid!"

"Once again, we have a Mercedes 1-2 on the front row! Viral, our current points leader, starting on pole yet again, with teammate Akula just behind her. We've seen these two occupy the front row on nearly every single race track, so let's see what happens this time,"

"Behind the leaders, Applejack sits on P3 for the first time this season, Rainbow Dash alongside her in P4. Row 3, another McLaren. Big Mac sits behind his little sister and Pinkie Pie with him in P6. Quite a few Red Bulls with Pinkie, as Fluttershy and Oscura have been placed behind them. Oscura still suffering from a loss after a five-second time penalty, but she is ready to finally take a win for Red Bull."

"Suri Polomare is behind the Red Bulls, with the two HAAS behind her and Yona bringing up the rear. A pretty interesting grid we have for this race. It's time for the start!"

With the Renault 1-2 success at Monaco, confidence was at an all-time high with Suri. She may had been starting near the back of the grid, but it didn't bother her. All she needed what to finish this race and hopefully win.

She pulled back into the grid and her race engineer, who was none other than Coco Pommel, chimed in. 'Okay, boss. Radio check, please,'

The fashion mare smiled underneath her helmet. It was great to have Coco back under her wing. The scheming mare was thankful that Coco had accepted her apology and agreed to work as a team for this year and for Suri to finally see the light about what she had done wrong all those years ago.

"Loud and clear, Coco. I say it once again, it is great to have you with me for this," Suri replied.

'Same here, now that you are a new pony. 15 seconds to the light sequence. Give it all you've got for this,'

Despite the high spirits of the Renault team, Suri would be in for a tough race. Akula and Viral were all over this track, Paul Ricard suiting their driving styles perfectly. The McLarens were also looking like strong competition, having finally gotten confidence in themselves and their racing ability. But as long as she raced hard and gave it her all, Suri would be fine.

The first light came on. All the drivers fired up their engines, Suri joining in with her car. Soon, the entire French countryside was filled with the roars of V6 turbo hybrid engine, braced at 15,000 RPM, ready for the jump as the second light appeared.

After a few seconds, all the lights were on and quickly switched off. All drivers let off their clutches and the race began.

'It's lights out and away we go!'

Out of all the starts, both of the Mercs and the McLarens got the best starts. Big Mac passed Dash on the start and up with the Crimson Arrows going into the first corner. But everything wasn't perfect for the Mercedes cars. On the jump, the rear-wheels of Akula's W10 struggled to get the power of his V6 to the ground. Because of this, Akula dropped back badly. By the time the downforce kicked in and the tyres found grip, Akula had dropped from pole all the way down to 7th, wheel-to-wheel with Oscura heading for Turn 1.

The drivers bunched up and raced for the first corner, Viral at the tip of the spear. Suri had managed to get a moderate start and joined the pack down the front stretch. This race was well underway.

Quite quickly, the pack soon spread out and the race went quiet. For 7 laps, nothing much happened, other than Akula managing to work his way into 4th, just behind the two McLarens.

On Lap 8, Gladmane began having problems with his HAAS and began to drop behind the pack. But things would only get worse, when his Ferrari engine gave up the ghost and expired in a cloud of smoke.

"The engine's just gone. I've lost the engine," He reported, as he pulled of the track.

'Copy that, Gladmane. Park the car where safe and switch off. Use the extinguisher if you have to,' His race engineer instructed. Gladmane pulled the VF-19 to a stop and got out, his race run.

Lap 12 came along and Akula was currently in a Battle for 2nd, between the two McLarens. As of the moment, he was currently in 2nd, with both McLarens hunting him down.

But on the approach to Turn 8, Applejack came up the inside of Akula for the overtake. The Element of Honesty got on the brakes and turned in, with Akula right next to her. But Applejack straightened out of the exit too early and forced the changeling off the course. And as he re-joined, Big Mac came up from behind and almost rear-ended him. There was no contact though and Akula fell down to 3rd as Applejack raced to catch up with Viral. But while heading down the straight towards Turn 10, Big Mac moved to the right and passed Akula on the inside.

Only problem was, Big Mac had left the track in order to make the move. And the changeling knew that.

"Bucking idiots, the both of them! Applejack pushed me off at Turn 8 and Big Mac overtook me cutting the track! Unbelievable!" He reported, very annoyed.

'We saw it, Akula. The stewards are looking into it as we speak,' Petrov notified him.

"What is the points of the rules if nopony respects s***?!"

Two laps later, the FIA stewards concluded their investigation of McLaren. The verdict: Both McLaren drivers were given a 5-second time penalty, one for Applejack for forcing another driver of the track and one of Macintosh for gaining positions by cutting the track.

'Applejack, we are managing a small problem. You have been given a 5-second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track. Big Macintosh has also been given a 5-second time penalty for cutting the track and gaining an advantage. Both drivers have been given a 5-second time penalty,' Applejack's race engineer reported.

"I HAD UNDERSTEER!!!! THERE WAS NOWHERE FOR ME TO GO!!!!! IT'S HIS FAULT THAT HE DECIDED TO STAY WITH ME THROUGH THE CORNER!!!" Applejack replied, not taking the news well.

'Copy that. Just keep going,'

"I understand. He can be as whiny as he wants, but I'm not going to let that changeling motherbucker ruin my race!"

'Just keep your head down. Still plenty of race to go,'

Lap 15 and Akula had gotten clear of the two McLarens and was now hunting down Viral. But further in the back, the three Red Bulls were in a Battle of 6th between Suri and each other. But the four were soon joined by Dash, who they caught up with.

Soon, that number dropped back to four, when smoke began to fill the cockpit of Pinkie's Red Bull. In order for the smoke to clear, she slowed down a bit until the smoke could clear. "There's something BBQing in here. I can smell it," She reported.

'Copy that, Pinkie,'

But only three laps later, while going through Turn 4, the number dropped again when Oscura suddenly lost the back end and spun out. The spin was so sudden, Fluttershy swerved her Toro Rosso off the track to avoid collecting the Red Bull. This left Suri and Dash to fight it out for 6th.

After quite some time, the last laps had begun to tick down. By now, Akula had caught up to Viral and was fighting her for the lead. But as the two fought for the lead, they soon found the back-runners of Yona and Chrysalis, who were in their own battle for 10th. And while they held up the Crimson Arrows, it wasn't for long. Now, it was just Akula and Viral to duke it out for the win, with only two laps to go.

Akula had set the faster times throughout the whole weekend and had started on pole. But after that disastrous start, it was Viral who had led every single lap up to this point. Viral was also leading the Driver's Championship, but Akula wanted it badly.

The Crimson Arrows were at it again.

The two crossed the line, Viral leading Akula by less than half a second. She held the lead through the first turns, but Akula had a run going into Turn 5. However, Viral didn't see Akula come alongside her and turned into the corner. The two Mercs collided wheels, but kept going.

"Viral turned in on me! Come on, V! Bottas trained you better than that!" Akula called out, surprised.

'Copy that. We'll looking into it,' Petrov replied.

However, Akula quickly spoke again, "No, there's no need for it! Just leave it, Petrov. Viral is not the type of pony to do what she just did on purpose,"

Viral, in the meantime, knew what she had just done and wasn't happy with herself. "Ah, merde! Extent my apologies to Akula, I did not see him there!"

'I'm on it, Madame V. Are you okay to continue?' Neon asked.

"Thanks, Neon. There was no way that I could see him! You cannot see anything in these mirrors, guys! We were lucky that we didn't take each other out!"

With that little mishap dealt with, the race continued. Despite the incident, Viral held onto the lead. But heading down the Mistral Straight, Akula got DRS and used it. On the approach to Turn 8, the changeling got alongside his teammate and the two took the chicane together. But on the approach to Turn 10 (which Viral called "Coasting Corner"), Akula backed off and let Viral have the lead. And there was no dice for the changeling in the final corners.

The white flag flew. One lap left for Akula to take the win.

He also knew his strong point: the chicane on the Mistral Straight was perfect for him to take V under braking.

Viral kept the lead through the first corners, Akula hunting her down all the way. Then, along the straight, Akula got DRS and began to close quickly on V. Taking the inside line, Akula pulled alongside Viral once again. On the apporach, Akula and Viral got on the brakes, with Akula having the better line and he edged the nose of his Mercedes into the lead.

However, Viral pulled the switchback and took the lead back on the other part of the chicane. But Akula wasn't done yet. This time, Akula took the inside line into Coasting Corner. And then, he played his trump card: His higher amount of downforce. With her weaker downforce setup, Viral had to let off the throttle just a bit, so she didn't fly off the track. Akula, however, didn't let up.

With the better amount of grip and downforce, Akula slipped by Viral and outbraked her into Turn 11. And despite how hard Viral tried, there was no dice for her in the final corners. Akula took the chequered flag, his second win of the season. Viral took second, another Mercedes 1-2 result for the Crimson Arrows.

With Akula and Viral finishing 1-2, who would take the final podium spot? With both McLarens suffering from a 5-second time penalty, everyone behind them raced to get within 5 seconds of them.

And the only drivers close enough to achieve this, was Rainbow Dash and Suri Polomare, still locked in a Battle for 5th. Both were well within 5-second of both drivers. But only one of them would take the final podium slot. Also, neither driver knew about the McLaren penalties. They thought that they were only racing for 5th.

Either way, Suri couldn't get past the Element of Loyalty and settled in behind her until the end. It was once she crossed the that Coco delivered the news. 'Chequered flag, Suri. Chequered flag. Race results at this time are as follows. Akula won, from Viral, Applejack, Big Macintosh, Dash and yourself. Applejack and Big Mac have a 5-second time penalty each,'

"Okay, what the result's then?" Suri wondered, completely and utterly surprised by this information.

'Stand by. (...) Okay, final race results are as follows. P1, Akula. P2, Viral. P3, Dash. And P4, you! That's P4! Well done!'

"Ha ha ha ha!!!! YEEEES!!!! Brilliant day today. Excellent points for the constructors," Suri cried out, very happy with her result.

'Very well done, I'll see you in the pits,' Coco signed off, as Suri completed her victory lap and pulled into the pits. While she was upset with not being able to have gotten the podium, she knew that P4 was still a great result for the team and that was exactly what the team needed after their disastrous start.

Author's Note

Results

1. Akula - 25 points
2. Viral Velocity - 18 points
3. Rainbow Dash - 15 + 1 points (Fastest Lap)
4. Suri Polomare - 12 points
5. Applejack - 10 points (5 sec penalty applied)
6. Big Macintosh - 8 points (5 sec penalty applied)
7. Fluttershy - 6 points
8. Oscura Galaxia - 4 points
9. Pinkie Pie - 2 points
10. Chrysalis - 1 point (1 lap down)
11. Yona - 0 points (1 lap down)
12. Gladmane - 0 points (DNF)

Driver's Championship

1. Akula - 109 points
2. Viral Velocity - 108 points
3. Celestia - 71 points
4. DangerDean - 53 points
5. Gallus - 51 points
6. Rainbow Dash - 41 points
7. Fluttershy - 37 points
8. Oscura Galaxia - 34 points
9. Suri Polomare - 31 points
10. Twilight Sparkle - 31 points
11. Chrysalis - 29 points
12. Rarity - 28 points
13. Sandbar - 28 points
14. Lightning Dust - 24 points
15. Pinkie Pie - 23 points
16. Luna - 19 points
17. Applejack - 17 points
18. Silverstream - 17 points
19. Ocellus - 13 points
20. Big Macintosh - 12 points
21. Spitfire - 12 points
22. Yona - 10 points
23. Gladmane - 10 points
24. Cheese Sandwich - 7 points

Constructor's Championship

1. Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 248 points
2. Scuderia Ferrari - 118 points
3. Alfa-Romeo Racing - 104 points
4. BWT Racing Point - 66 points
5. Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 60 points
6. Renault F1 Team - 59 points
7. Red Bull Toro Rosso - 49 points
8. HAAS F1 Team - 40 points
9. ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 38 points
10. McLaren F1 - 29 points