Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire, England

Formula One Equestria Duels series

Duel 6: AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)

Duel Type: Grid Start, One-On-One

"Hello again, all F1 fans! Welcome to the 2019 Formula One Equestrian Series! You are looking at the world-famous Silverstone Circuit, in the United Kingdom for the 10th round of the season. It's time for the British Grand Prix! And what a heritage this track has!"

"Yes. This place was formerly known as RAF Silverstone and served as an airstrip for bombers for the Royal Air Force during WW2. Once the war was won, the base was converted into a race track and held the very first Grand Prix in the world! This very track held the first Formula One race back in 1950! You can't get anymore prestigious than that!"

"Yes, there's no wonder why they call this track 'The Home of British Motor Racing'. But it gets better. Since the human race was credited with being the 1007th World Championship race, our special guest is none other than current James Bond, Daniel Craig!"

"Hey, everyone. Thanks for having me up here with you,"

"You are very welcome, it's such an honour to have you up here with us. It's time for us to get started,"

Viral just sighed to herself, as she climbed into her Mercedes. Of all the ponies, in all the places. It just had to be him, didn't it?

Her opponent for her duel was her teammate and close friend, Akula. Both drivers had a lot to play for. Silverstone was the home race of his mentor, Lewis Hamilton. Akula also held the points lead by just 3 and they were at near half-way in the season. Viral was looking for another victory over her veteran teammate, having beat him in Spain.

But after a collision between the two at the previous round in Austria that had costed them another 1-2 finish, the pegasus wasn't sure about facing him. She knew how explosive and upfront he could be with his anger, his last stand against the reformed hive many years ago proved that.

But then again, she also knew that Akula had a heart of gold and he was a very caring friend. Every time that Viral had lost her cool, he was the one who settled her down. Whenever she wanted to go with a strategy that was wrong, it was Akula that kept her in line. Even before joining motorsports, Akula had kept her out of trouble back home in Equestria.

Akula was a mixed bag. No creature could predict what he would do next. Either way, Viral had a job to do. And her duel opponent was her fellow Crimson Arrow, whether she liked it or not.

She didn't even look in the direction of Akula's car or the changeling at all, just keeping her eyes focused forward. And, of course, Akula was running his traditional shark-mouth livery ever since Bahrain. But for Viral, she had a special one-off for Britain. Her W10 had the colours changed so now the blue was back to silver, the black was changed to blue and the light blue stripe was made red. The Mercedes now had a colour scheme that was reminiscent of the British flag. A mark of respect for the Mercedes star driver. Sure, Hamilton wasn't her mentor, but she still respected the 5-time F1 World Champion all the same.

And it was time to give the crowd their money's worth.

All of a sudden, as Viral was getting settled into her Mercedes, a cheery voice came over the radio in a British accent, 'Good day, Viral! It sure is a lovely day for brilliant racing in the greatest nation of all! What says you, m'lady?' It was none other than Viral's chosen race engineer, Neon Shock.

Viral giggled at Neon's antics. Every single race they had attended, Neon would joke with Viral by speaking to her in a certain country's stereotypical accent and using phrases specific to that country. The only times she didn't use funny accents was when she couldn't get the accent right.

Of course, the pegasus responded in kind with her own British accent. "Let's get a crack on with this, Neon. If this goes well, I'll treat you to a round,"

'I'd be gutted if you didn't. Hehehe. 15 seconds to the green light,'

Once Neon had signed off and the laughing was done, a dose of reality hit V like a brick wall. She was still unsure about Akula. With what happened in Austria, she didn't know what to expect from the Demon Lord. But she would soon have to find out the hard way, as the first red light came on. Followed by the second, then the third.

All five soon lit up and went out. Viral shifted into first gear and gunned it. The warmth of her tyres and the increased downforce of her setup allowed her to rocket of the line with the lead heading into Abbey. But Akula was running a near-identical setup and was right with her through Abbey, Farm and on the runup to Village. Surprisingly, throughout the whole lap, Akula didn't attempt a single pass on his teammate, not even in the heavy braking zones at Village, Brooklands or Vale.

Something wasn't right. Akula never shied away from an opportunity to catch someone under the brakes. Now, he was just riding her rear wing, like some annoying asshole on the highway would do. For two whole laps, Akula just... sat there. Not once did he attempt to pass, wearing down V's nerve alarmingly quickly. She didn't know what was going on with the Demon Lord. Was he trying to force her into an error, or was he just trying to psyche her out? Either way, this psychological warfare was taking its toll on the former NASCAR driver.

But this change in Akula's behaviour didn't last long. On Lap 3, heading into Village, Akula used Viral's nerve against her and caught her under the brakes at the hairpin. Taking the lead from her. But his lead didn't last long.

On the exit of Aintree, Akula went wide and all four of his wheels nearly touched the rumble strips. But without warning, the changeling lost control of the rear and spun out. As he hit the outer kerb on exit, his rear-right tyre made contact with the grass. And the lack of grip caused the back end of his Mercedes to violently kick out. The spin was so sudden, Viral had to jerk her car out of the way to avoid being collected by her teammate.

Thankfully, Viral was able to quickly avoid the spinning Mercedes and continue on. But Akula wasn't so lucky, as his momentum carried his car into the barriers. And although the car was fine, something was wrong with the gearbox. When Akula tried to get the car going again, the car wouldn't enter first gear and remained in neutral.

Without the ability to continue, Akula was out. Viral was moving on.

With the yellow flags out, Neon delivered the fateful news. 'Yellow's out. Back it down. Akula went off and hit the wall. He's fine, but his transmission's buggered. Looks like he's out!'

Viral just sighed and said, "Thanks Neon," Viral felt mixed in her emotions. Sure, she had made it to the final. If she finished 8th or better, she would take the lead in the Driver Standings again. But she had to go through her teammate in order to do so.

The mare didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. But she kept it to herself as she pulled back into the garage.

Author's Note

Thanks to RDgamer321 for the idea behind Viral's British GP livery!