Chapters Round 1 Duel Highlights Round 1: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 1 Best Team Radio Moments Round 2 (Bahrain), Duel 7: Celestia VS Suri Polomare Round 2 Duel Highlights Round 2: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 2 Best Team Radio Moments Round 3 (China), Duel 10: Silverstream VS Big Mac (Grid Start, One-On-One) Round 3 Duel Highlights Round 3: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 3 Best Team Radio Moments Round 4 (Azerbaijan), Duel 2: Sandbar VS Yona VS Viral Velocity VS Rarity (Qualifying) Round 4 Duel Highlights Round 4: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 4 Best Team Radio Moments Round 5 (Spain), Duel 1: Rarity VS Pinkie Pie (Sprint Race, One-On-One) Round 5 Duel Highlights Round 5: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 5 Best Team Radio Moments Round 6 Duel Highlights Round 6: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 6 Best Team Radio Moments Round 7 (Canada), Duel 10: Chrysalis VS Gallus (One-On-One, Grid Start) Round 7 Duel Highlights Round 8 (France), Duel 3: Suri Polomare VS Luna (Sprint Race, Full Grid) Round 8 Duel Highlights Round 8: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 8 Best Team Radio Moments Round 9 (Austria), Duel 12: DangerDean VS Oscura Galaxia (Sprint Race, One-On-One) Round 9 Duel Highlights Round 9: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 9 Best Team Radio Moments Round 10 (Great Britain), Duel 6: Akula VS Viral Velocity (Grid Start, One-On-One) Round 10 Duel Highlights Round 10: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 10 Best Team Radio Moments Round 11 Duel Highlights Round 11: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 11 Best Team Radio Moments Round 12 (Hungary), Duel 4: Cheese Sandwich VS Ocellus (Sprint Race, One-On-One) Round 12 Duel Highlights Round 1 (Australia), Duel 1: Rainbow Dash VS Lightning Dust (Sprint Race, One-On-One) Round 2 (Bahrain), Duel 5: Luna VS Viral Velocity (Grid Start, Full Grid) Round 6 (Monaco), Duel 5: Viral Velocity VS Cheese Sandwich VS Sandbar VS Rarity (Qualifying) Round 7: Final BONUS CHAPTER: Round 7 Best Team Radio Moments Round 11 (Germany), Duel 4: DangerDean VS Akula (Sprint Race, One-On-One) F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 2: PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing) VS SAN (Williams)
Duel 2 was held between two promising drivers: The crazy, pink party mare Pinkie Pie of the Red Bull Racing Team and the young pony Sandbar of the smaller Williams team. Pinkie's Red Bull Racing RB15 had the standard livery, but with the blue replaced with her trademark pink colour and the car was highly lightened and very agile, making it undriveable to anyone but Pinkie herself. Sandbar's Williams FW42 however, kept stock standard and the livery changed from black-blue-and-white to cream-light-blue-and-white.
However, Pinkie made an even crazier move, when she chose to use Hard tyres for her 5-lap Duel, whereas Sandbar decided to use Soft tyres. The addition of Hard tyres on Pinkie's already uncontrollable RB15 made controlling the F1 car nigh impossible. But if anypony could do it, Pinkie could. In addition to the poor grip, cars that run on the hard tyre are 1.5 seconds slower than a car with Soft tyres.
Sandbar had decided not to take any chances and went for the Soft tyres. These tyres are the complete opposite of the Hard, offering the best grip out of all the tyre compounds and the fastest times. However, this results in very poor endurance, meaning the tyre easily wears when compared to the Hard.
At the start of the race, the stupidity of Pinkie's tyre selection became apparent. Every single time she exited a corner, the back end of her car would kick out, resulting in precious seconds lost and an opportunity for Sandbar to get past. But somehow, Pinkie held onto her lead.
All that changed on Lap 4.
When going into Ascari, Pie accidentally gave the corner too much throttle and skidded off into the gravel, eventually hitting the tyre wall. Although the pink mare was okay, she had lost both her front wing and her front-left wheel, rendering her car undriveable. And under official FIA rules, Pinkie Pie had to forfeit from the Duel, handing the win to Sandbar.
Duel 3: AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
The 3rd Duel was nothing less of a clinical execution of a lesser racer by a master. This one was between the unreformed changeling, Akula of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team and the reformed changeling, Ocellus of the Red Bull Toro Rosso team.
Akula had a heavily-customized black-with-red-highlights Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ , with enhanced handling, engine power and brakes. This allowed Akula to be able to take corners at higher speeds that others and give him the edge in late-braking, something in which he excelled at.
Ocellus's Scuderia Toro Rosso STR14 had the dark-blue replaced with a light-blue and was modified to be very user-friendly to the shy changeling. However, this left her STR14 lacking in most of the areas where Akula's W10 EQ Power+ excelled.
Both drivers had run this race on Softs, but there was no contest. Right from the beginning of the race, Akula easily pulled away from Ocellus and kept his distance from the other changeling. He never took a turn off the optimum line, nailed every single braking point and used his DRS whenever it became available, creating a huge gap between him and the Toro Rosso.
Ocellus had no chance, and was left in Akula's dust, leading the 'Demon Lord' to take the win via the Mercy Rule after just 3 laps.
Duel 4: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS CEL (Alfa-Romeo)
Duel 4 was a battle between student-and-teacher, with Twilight Sparkle of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team versus Princess Celestia of the Alfa-Romeo team. Twilight's Mercedes had the standard livery, but coloured lavender-dark-purple-and-light-purple instead of silver-black-and-light-blue. Also, the bookworm's F1 had heavily enhanced aerodynamics and lightness, making it very easy to control but also had very quick acceleration.
Celestia's Alfa Romeo Racing C38 had its livery, but with the red replaced with gold and the white kept as it was. Also, her C38 was modified to be all-rounded and match Twilight's Mercedes in all possible ways. This Duel was going to be close.
And it was.
The gap between the two cars was never anything more than a second. And whoever was in the lead at any given time, would always be in the firing line in this Duel. But on the final lap, Celestia made a daring kamikaze braking attack on Twilight in Turn 15, gaining the lead and holding it for the final corner, securing Alfa-Romeo a spot in the finals.
Duel 5: LUN (Alfa-Romeo) VS CHR (HAAS)
Duel 5 was a chance for the Alfa-Romeo team to get both their drivers in the final, as the two rivals in this Duel were Celestia's teammate in the Alfa team and younger sister, Luna and Queen Chrysalis of the HAAS F1 Team. Luna's C38 was dark blue-and-silver instead of red-and-white and was modified to match Celestia's car in performance.
Chrysalis' HAAS VF-19 had the bronze in its livery replaced with green, and was modifed with enhanced engine power and aerodynamics, to give the changeling queen a shot at taking down one of the Ferrari racers.
From the start of the race, Chrysalis held the lead, with Luna doing anything she could to get the lead. Then, going into Ascari on the last lap, Luna performed a daring overtaking move, only to be overtaken again in the last corner, giving HAAS the spot instead.
Duel 6: CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing) VS FLT (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
No matter what happened in Duel 6, Red Bull was guaranteed a spot in the final, with Duel 6 between Cheese Sandwich of the Aston-Martin Red Bull team versus Fluttershy of the Red Bull Toro Rosso team. Both Red Bull cars were modified to be all-rounders, but Cheese Sandwich's RB15 orange instead of dark-blue and Fluttershy's STR14 yellow instead of dark-blue.
Although the race was very close, in the end, Cheese Sandwich claimed victory for the Aston-Martin team, earning revenge for Pinkie's humiliating loss to Sandbar.
Duel 7: RAR (Renault) VS SUR (Renault)
Duel 7 was estimated to be a repeat of Duel 1, with two long-time rival mares driving for the same team. These two mares were the fashionista rivals, Rarity Belle and Suri Polomare, both driving for the Renault team. Both of the two mares' Renault R.S.19 s were modified to be very light and aerodynamic, just the type of car the fashionistas would drive. However, Rarity's R.S.19 was white-and-purple instead of black-and-yellow and Suri's R.S.19 was orchid-and-violet.
Throughout the Duel, and much to the surprise of the spectators and the commentators, the two Renault teammates didn't trade paint and raced fairly (unlike the slugfest between Rainbow and Lightning), with Rarity commenting after the race that, 'As being two ladies in the same business, we would both think it would be uncouth to get into a fight, unlike Rainbow and Lightning,'
Although the Duel wasn't as explosive as the first one, it was nevertheless exciting, with Suri and Rarity constantly overtaking each other at random corners, until Suri was caught cutting the track limit at Turn 6 on Lap 4, therefore earning a 5-second penalty. And despite Suri beating Rarity to the line, her penalty handed Rarity the victory, by 4 seconds.
Needless to say, Polomare wasn't happy.
Duel 8: VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS SPI (Scuderia Ferrari)
Considered at the end of the season as the best Duel of all, Duel 8 was between Viral Velocity of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team and Captain Spitfire of the Scuderia Ferrari team (also representing the Wonderbolts, alongside Rainbow). This time, both cars were fitted with the same modifications, which were enhanced engine power and handling.
Viral's Mercedes was coloured blue-red-and-orange instead of silver-black-and-light blue and Spitfire's Ferrari was orange-and-blue instead of red-and-black.
This Duel would go down in history as one of the closest finishes and most exiting Duel in the entire 2019 series, with constant hair-raising overtakes, simultaneous use of DRS on both cars and everything in between. And the finish margin was ridiculous! There was only a gap of 2.8 cm between both cars, with victory going to Viral.
Duel 9: BMI (McLaren) VS DNG (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel number 9 was between the 'British Speedfreak' himself, DangerDean of the Scuderia Ferrari team and Big Macintosh of the McLaren team. Dean was the only driver in the whole Duel series not to use a custom livery, sticking with the original Ferrari livery, as it matched his colours. Macintosh's McLaren MCL34 however, was coloued red-and-yellow instead of orange-and-blue.
Dean's Ferrari was made to be as fast as possible, while Big Mac's McLaren was modified with enhanced aerodynamics. So while Dean was faster, Big Mac would be able to catch him in the corners.
Although this wasn't the most exciting Duel in the round, it did have its fair share of moments. When preparing to pass Danger on Whiteford, Big Mac cut into the Speedfreak's line, sending both drivers into the gravel. However, both of them recovered and the race continued. In the end, Danger was able to take victory, putting a second Ferrari in the final.
Duel 10: APP (McLaren) VS GLA (HAAS)
Duel 10 was one final chance to get a McLaren car in the final, which was between Big Mac's teammate in the McLaren team (which had accepted the Sweet Apple Acres as a sponsor) and sister, Applejack and the rich stallion Gladmane, Chrysalis' teammate in HAAS. Applejack's MCL34 was coloured completely in orange and had the exact same modifications made to it as Spitfire's SF90. Gladmane's VF-19 was tuned to be agile and aerodynamic.
In the race, no matter how hard Gladmane tried, he just couldn't catch the farm mare, giving her the win.
Duel 11: SIL (Racing Point/Force India) VS YON (Williams)
Duel 11 was a battle of the rookies. The heavily excitable hippogriff Silverstream of the BWT Racing Point team and Sandbar's teammate in the Williams team and best friend, Yona. Silverstream's Racing Point RP19 was coloured light-pink-light-blue-and-white instead of pink-blue-and-white, and was tuned to be very light and agile, to fit her excitable driving style. Yona's FW42 was coloured in multiple shades of brown to match her coat, and was specially lightened and given more engine power, due to the yak's weight seriously affecting performance.
During the event, Silverstream lead all the way, Yona struggling to catch up. But then, a miracle for the yak then occurred. Going down the back straight, towards Turn 11, Silverstream suddenly suffered from a case of understeer, sending the hippogriff into the concrete barrier. Although she survived the hit, her car didn't. This gave Yona the win, getting both Williams drivers into the final. And the Williams boss was very happy with both his Equestrian driver's results.
Duel 12: GAL (Racing Point/Force India) VS OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
The last Duel of the first round was one of the more interesting. Sliverstream's Racing Point teammate, Gallus and Oscura Galaxia of the Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Team. Gallus' RP19 was coloured in multiple shades of blue, with no signs of pink anywhere. Also, his car was tuned to be fast and light, making it one of the fastest cars in the field. Oscura's RB15 had its blue replaced with black, and was modified with a very powerful engine and enhanced aerodynamics, to make it as fast as Danger's Ferrari.
Sadly, Oscura would not get the chance to race her nemesis (at least in this round), as on Lap 2, she was caught cutting the track limits on Turn 5, earning her a 5 second penalty. And 5 seconds is an eternity in Formula 1. Galaxia ended up losing the Duel by 2.25 seconds, giving the Racing Point team a car in the final.
Meanwhile... Scuderia Ferrari Garage
Rainbow Dash sat in the garage of her team's pit, watching the other duels on a television in the pit. After taking her victory nap, Rainbow headed back into the garage to see what the other drivers she was facing were capable of. However, her nap managed to take the whole of the second Duel, so she missed out on seeing that one, but after that, she was able to watch the others, while her car was set up for the upcoming final race.
Out of all the other drivers she watched race, the ones she made a note to keep an eye on were Akula, Velocity and her teammate, Danger. Although, her over-inflated ego assured her she had nothing to worry about.
As she watched the 12th and final Duel, a voice suddenly spoke in a Italian accent. "Excuse me, Rainbow Dash?" The mare in question looked to her left, and saw a man in his thirties, wearing a Ferrari Team uniform and headset, and holding a tablet in his hand.
This was Concetto Barsotti, Rainbow's race engineer during her time in the Scuderia Ferrari team.
"Oh. Hey, Concetto. What do you have there?" Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof at the tablet.
"The grid positions for the race," He replied, handing her the tablet. She took it and looked.
On it, was the following:
Rainbow Dash (Ferrari)
DangerDean (Ferrari)
Celestia (Alfa-Romeo)
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG)
Cheese Sandwich (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Akula (Mercedes-AMG)
Applejack (McLaren)
Gallus (Racing Point/Force India)
Rarity (Renault)
Chrysalis (HAAS)
Yona (Williams)
Sandbar (Williams)
Rainbow Dash smiled. Both Ferraris were in the top two positions, with her two main opponents in focus in 4th and 6th. And she knew that the grid positions for the final were determined by the fastest lap times set by the contenders of the final. And knowing that she had the fastest lap time of them all made her feel very smug.
"The boss is expecting a good result in the first round, so we can get some points on the board early," Barsotti told Rainbow, as she studied the grid positions.
After studying the positioning of the other racers, she handed the engineer the tablet back and said, "Okay, how about race time? What's the low-down?"
After giving a simple nod to the mare, Barsotti grabbed a chair, sat down next to her and started to explain the rules, "The upcoming race is going to have a 25-lap duration, and will be a Grid Start. Under FIA regulations, penalties are in place and we have to change tyre compounds at least once during the race. However, you have to manage your fuel carefully, as mid-race refuels have been banned in Formula 1 since 2010, so try not to go push the car too hard on the first few laps,"
"Got it. How high do you need me to finish in order to please your boss?"
"At least in the top five, and the boss will be happy. If you can, try to finish ahead of one of the Mercedes cars. That will send a clear message that we mean business,"
"Pffft! The Mercedes drivers have got nothin' on the fastest pegasus in Equestria! Consider it done!" And with that, Barsotti walked off, satisfied that the pegasus wouldn't let the Ferrari team down. Watching him go, Dash eyed over her SF90 one last time before falling asleep in her chair.
She had to be ready for the race.
Author's Note
Yes, I DID use an automatic name generator to find a name for Rainbow's race engineer. I'm not the best at coming up with names for characters, so I have to resort to these methods. I'm sorry if you feel Barsotti's name is dumb or unimaginative.
Also, every single final is determined by the competitors' lap times, with the fastest time ahead of the rest. Those who do not pass the Duels, their times are not counted. The only exception to this rule is during Qualifying Duels, where the whole field is out on the track and the fastest times move on to the final.
And for those asking, the Mercy Rule is where a driver pulls so far ahead of his/her opponent, that the other driver has to forfeit as their opponent has built up a gap that they can't catch in the required amount of laps.
Hope you enjoyed, and stay tuned for the final!
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 1: Australia
Grid Positions
Rainbow Dash (Scuderia Ferrari)
DangerDean (Scuderia Ferrari)
Princess Celestia (Alfa-Romeo)
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Cheese Sandwich (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Team)
Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Applejack (McLaren)
Gallus (BWT Racing Point)
Rarity (Renault)
Chrysalis (HAAS)
Yona (Williams)
Sandbar (Williams)
"Welcome back everypony, to the 2019 Formula 1 Equestria Duel series! I'm Flim and he's Flam, and I hope you're ready for some fun, 'cause we are just about to get into the final of today's round!"
"Yes, dear brother! We are looking forward to a very exciting race to start off the season! We've got quite a few promising contenders, that have managed to make it through the sets of Duels, which were none the less exciting!"
"Some of the racers that you should focus on are positioned on various positions on the grid. Let's meet them!"
"Be sure to keep an eye on Rainbow Dash, starting in pole position for the Scuderia Ferrari factory team. She's one of the fastest pegasi in Equestria, and it shows! The lap times she put in during her Duel with her teammate and rival, Lightning Dust, are nothing short of incredible! She was less than a second from beating the All Time Lap Record, set by Lewis Hamilton only a few days ago! That's just amazing! One of her other teammates in Ferrari is on P2, so we have a Ferrari 1-2 podium start,"
"Don't count out Viral Velocity, the daughter of Lightning Dust, driving for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team. Her Duel against Spitfire, the final member of the Ferrari team was nothing short of incredible! We both almost lost our voices over that race!"
"Hahaha! So true! Viral is P4 on the grid, so she is well within striking distance of the Ferraris on pole. And let's not forget her teammate in the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team, Akula. He absolutely dominated in his Duel, completely crushing Ocellus! He may be sitting on P6, but he is still within firing range of the two Ferraris in front."
"Well, looks like we have our ones to watch! We are about to get started, so stay tuned!"
This was it, the moment to make her Ferrari boss proud.
Having set the fastest time in the Duels, she would be racing from pole position. Just where she liked to be. On P2 was her teammate in Ferrari, DangerDean, aka 'The British Speedfreak'. She believed that this Ferrari 1-2 starting position would give them an advantage. She was even more confident at the sight of her nearest rivals, Viral Velocity and Akula of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team, who were on P4 and P6 on the grid respectively. However, she was so confident in her ability and the team's preparation and setup of her Ferrari, that she thought that the Mercedes drivers wouldn't be a problem.
'Ok, Rainbow Dash. Radio check,' Concetto reported in, asking for a radio check before the warm up lap.
"I think you mean the one and only Rainbow Dash!" Dash replied, "You do sound like you are inside... umm, a tin can, but everything you say, I can make out,"
'Roger that, we hear you loud and clear. We've got 15 seconds to the green light. Remember, all the cars in the final race have the same performance, so you won't have any advantages or disadvantages against the other cars. Yona's Williams and Big Macintosh's McLaren are the only exceptions to this rule for obvious reasons,'
Her team had given her the steering wheel and she inserted it in. When the wheel was straight alongside the wheels, the Ferrari was put on the back on the ground and the crew members cleared the start. And quite soon, all the other crews had cleared the start. They were ready to go.
They did set off for their formation lap and everything seemed perfect for all the cars. Forming back on the grid, they started to rev their engines a bit.
It was almost go time.
"Ladies and gentleponies! Are you ready for the first round of the F1 Duels? It is time to get going!"
One red light appeared on the starting lights, and all the drivers engaged both the clutch and full throttle on their cars. The loud roar of V6 Turbo engines about to rocket off the line filled the air as more red light appeared.
Two lights... Three light... Four lights... Five lights...
The five lights stayed on for a split-second before switching off and the race began.
"And it's lights out, and away we go!"
The cars rocketed off the line, as all the drivers released the clutch at different times. Rainbow and Danger got really good starts off the line and maintained their positions going into Turn 1. The one to get the best start was Akula. Releasing the clutch at the perfect time, Akula had managed to pass Cheese Sandwich and Viral, slotting in behind Celestia and the two Ferraris.
A lot of changes occurred while going down the straight. Too many to list. But roughly, there was a huge exchange of places in the middle of the pack, while the two Williams cars remained in the back. Mainly, Cheese lost quite a bit of ground and was passed by Applejack, Chrysalis, Rarity and Gallus in that order.
Going around the first and second corner, Rainbow saw that the changeling driving for Mercedes had gotten past Celestia and was already behind Dean, and was pushing for second. Huh, impressive. But can he catch up to me, the fastest pegasus in Equestria? Dash thought to herself, as she raced down the straight towards Turn 3.
In Turns 6 & 7, things went wrong for the Ferrari team. Akula, Celestia and Viral had managed to sneak past Dean (who was on Medium tyres instead of Softs) and were gaining on her. Also, Rarity was able to get past Chrysalis in the same turn and started to chase down Applejack. And Yona had managed to go wide in her specially lightened FW42, leaving her to drop to last.
Going into Turns 9 & 10, Rainbow Dash looked behind to see Akula still behind her. She let out deep sigh and thought, This is going to be one hell of a long race,
Not much happened in the the next few laps, but on Lap 7, Gallus tried to get past Chrysalis in Turn 3, but ended up clipping her on the rear wheel, sending both cars into the gravel. However, there was barely any damage to both cars and the race continued. On the same lap, Viral had managed to get past Celestia in the second DRS zone, just before Turn 13.
Lap 8 saw the first of the big accidents of the season. The only driver on Hard tyres out of the whole pack, Cheese Sandwich had started to regret his tyre choice, as he started to lose positions to other cars with Soft tyres. However, the worst was yet to come, as when going into Turn 9, he suffered from oversteer and went off into the gravel. The back-end of his RB15 made contact with the crash barrier, breaking off the rear wing and both rear wheels.
'Cheese? You okay?' His race engineer asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine, but I've stuffed the car. I'm very sorry. I had no grip," Cheese replied.
'No, it's okay. The Hard is just a very tough tyre for a rookie to use,'
"Shoulda listened to Pinkie. ARRRRRGGGG!!!!!!!" And with that, Cheese climbed out of his broken car and waited for the safety car to pick him up.
Two laps after Cheese's incident, the race continued.
Nothing much happened for the next few laps, until Lap 13, where the first few drivers had started to pit. However, when going into change to Mediums, Yona pulled into the pit entry...
...only to find Gallus moving at a very slow pace and Celestia right behind him matching his speed. Yona hit her brakes, as not to crash into the back of Celestia's Alfa. Luckily, her brakes did their job and she managed to slow down rapidly, and Yona was able to stop before hitting Celestia.
"Phew!" Yona breathed a sigh of relief, "That too close for Yona!"
'Yona, what's that? What's that? Drive through the pit lane. Any issues?' Her race engineer asked her.
"No, there was too many cars in pit entry and... Yona wasn't expecting Princess to stop. Best yak nearly went up back of her," Yona replied, as the others two drivers sorted themselves out and Yona pulled into the Williams team pit.
Going into Turn 9 on Lap 15, with Gallus hot on her tail, Applejack accidentally got understeer and went off track, letting the Racing Point griffon get past her. Over her team radio, she apologized for the mistake and raced after Gallus.
Over the next five laps, the two Williams cars of Sandbar and Yona, who were both on fresh sets of Mediums, started to move up the pack quite quickly, while the others were still on 12-to-20-lap-old Softs. By Lap 20, they had reached 6th and 7th, with the rest of the pack chasing them down, after stopping for fresh Mediums.
On Lap 21, whilst making an attempt to pass Rarity, Chrysalis cut inside the fashionista's line and forced her off the track on Turn 14. Rarity couldn't believe that she would make such a move, but she then realized that she was somepony that hated them, and would do anything to beat them, even if it put their lives in danger.
"Yeah, of course. Why am I not surprised?" Rarity said in anger, as she watched the changeling queen pull away from her.
Going into the final laps of the race, Rainbow Dash was still somehow in the lead with only 3 laps to go. However, Akula was right on her tail and looking for an opportunity to get past. Dash was doing anything she could to not let the demon changeling get past.
Oh, you are not getting past me! Not now, not today! Dash thought, exiting Turn 12. But while on the back straight, Akula activated his DRS, and pulled into the Ferrari's slipstream. And going into Turn 13, Akula managed to get around Dash...
...and take the lead from her with only three laps to go.
Dash kicked herself for not blocking Akula, and raced after him, desperate to get her position back.
But try as she might, she just couldn't get past the changeling. Eventually, the white flag was out and the last lap had begun. And over the course of those two laps, Chrysalis had managed to get past Dean, after his plan of attaching Softs on Lap 23 was misunderstood, and the second Ferrari was given a set of Hards.
Dash was given clearance for usage of the fastest Race Mode available and did all she could to get past the Mercedes driver, but to no avail.
In the end, Dash just couldn't pass the changeling and ended the first race of the season in second place.
'Okay, end results are in,' Barsotti reported, after Dash had crossed the line, 'Akula: P1. Yourself, P2. Velocity, P3. Celestia, P4. Chrysalis, P5. Danger, P6. Good job! Really good result to start the season!'
"Yeah, I suppose. I'm sorry about the last few laps. Nopony should go from first to second in the final few laps, especially when in front of a Mercedes... But still, I'm in the top five. And I beat one of the Mercedes cars, so your boss should be pretty happy,"
'And this is only the first race, so there's still plenty of races to go in the season, so that's plenty of time to redeem yourself,'
"You do have a point! Alright, I'll be sure to do better!" And with that, Dash completed one more victory lap, before pulling into the podium box, stopping in front of the sign that had the '2' on it, with both Mercedes cars on her left.
And as she pulled to a stop next to Akula's Mercedes, she thought how much fun this season would bring.
Author's Note
Driver's Championship
Akula (AKU) - 25 points
Rainbow Dash (RBD) - 18 points + 1 (for Fastest Lap)
Viral Velocity (VRL) - 15 points
Celestia (CEL) - 12 points
Chrysalis (CHR) - 10 points
DangerDean (DNG) - 8 points
Yona (YON) - 6 points
Sandbar (SAN) - 4 points
Rarity (RAR) - 2 points
Applejack (APP) - 1 point
Gallus (GAL) - 0 points
Cheese Sandwich (CHS) - 0 points
Lightning Dust (LTD) - 0 points
Pinkie Pie (PIN) - 0 Points
Ocellus (OCE) - 0 points
Twilight Sparkle (TWI) - 0 points
Luna (LUN) - 0 points
Fluttershy (FLT) - 0 points
Suri Polomare (SUR) - 0 points
Spitfire (SPI) - 0 points
Big Macintosh (BMI) - 0 points
Gladmane (GLA) - 0 points
Silverstream (SIL) - 0 points
Oscura Galaxia (OSC) - 0 points
Manufacturer's Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 40 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 27 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 12 points
HAAS F1 - 10 points
Williams F1 - 10 points
Renault F1 - 2 points
McLaren F1 - 1 point
Racing Point - 0 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 0 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 0 points
The record set by Lewis Hamilton that is mentioned in this chapter is a real record. On the 16th of March 2019, Lewis Hamilton set the All Time Lap Record for F1 cars, with a time of 1:20.486. Although, the Race Lap Record is held by Michael Schumacher, with a time of 1:24.125 set on 7th March, 2004.
And as I'm sure you've figured out, I'm not going to run through the races play-by-play. Instead, it is going to be like a highlights reel/team radio montage.
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 1 Best Team Radio Moments
Author's Note
Welcome to the Best Team Radio Moments Bonus! In this chapter, I will put in the best and mostly funniest radio moments from each round's Duels and Final. Some will be seen in the chapters, other will be made up right here! Also, the dialogue will be done in a non-chat or script format style, so the story remains legal, and will be colour-coded like this:
Light Blue = Mercedes
Red = Ferrari
Dark Blue = Red Bull
Orange = McLaren
Yellow = Renault
Dark Grey = HAAS
Light Grey = Williams
Pink = Racing Point
Purple = Toro Rosso
Green = Alfa-Romeo
Italicized = Race engineerItalicized + Team Colour = Team Boss/Crew Chief
The only exception to the rule are the Main Six, who have their own respective colours.
Hope you enjoy!
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 1 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 1: Australia
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Duel 1 After failed overtake on Turn 6, Lap 1
"THAT ******* *****!! SHE JUST TURNED IN ON ME IN TURN 6!!!!"
"Copy that. We're looking into that now. (...) 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,"
Lightning Dust Scuderia Ferrari Duel 1 Same as previous
"The ****? She just drove into me! What was she thinking?!"
"Race Control is on it, Dust,"
Pinkie Pie Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Duel 2 Crash on Turn 13, Lap 4
"WHEEEEEE!!!! Oof!"
"Are you OK, Pinkie?"
"*Pinkie Pie Laughter* Yes indeedy! But I think the car wrecked. Sorry!"
"Don't be. Just try not to use the Hard again, okay?"
"Okie-dokie-lokie!"
Chrysalis HAAS F1 Final Turn 3, Lap 7
"I just took a big hit from behind! What an idiot! He needs to open his eyes!"
"Copy that. Car looks okay, so keep racing,"
Gallus BWT Racing Point Final Same as previous
"I just went up the back of the HAAS and sent her into the gravel. Car feels okay, but can you check?"
"Copy that. We'll look as you come past,"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 21
"Car ahead is Rainbow. Gap is 0.701 seconds,"
"I know how far ahead Dash is! You don't need to tell me!"
"Okay,"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 21
"Be advised, Akula has taken P1 from Dash. Gap to car ahead is 0.932 seconds,"
"Give me more power! I need that point, Neon!"
"Acknowledged. Strat Mode 10 is available, Viral,"
Yona ROKiT Williams Final Pit Entry, Lap 13
"*Sudden gasp* (...) Phew! That too close for Yona!"
"Yona, what's that? What's that? Drive through the pit lane, any problems?"
"No, there was too many cars in pit entry and... Yona wasn't expecting Princess to stop. Best yak nearly went up back of her,"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
"GET IN THERE, AKULA! Brilliant driving today! Well done!"
"That's win number 1 for me. What a race! Well done to the engineers. The car felt perfect today, let's try to keep that up. Did I get fastest lap?"
"That's affirmative. You've got the extra point for Fastest Lap! Brilliant driving!"
"I'll see you guys on the podium!"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
"Finished. That's P3, Viral. Good job today,"
"Better than nothing, I suppose. Ah well, it was still a good race. But I'll try to push for a better result in the next round."
*In Aussie accent* "Maybe a little cooking on the barbie will cheer you up some more, sheila?"
"Ha ha! Only if Akula brings the caviar, mate!"
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 2 (Bahrain), Duel 7: Celestia VS Suri Polomare
F1 Equestria Duel series
Alfa-Romeo Team garage Aftermath of Duel 5
Celestia could't believe what she was seeing.
During the whole of the fifth Duel, Celestia was standing in the race box, alongside her own race engineer, Massimiliano Rossano. However, given the fact that this was the very first night race in the season, and she thought that her younger sister would do well in this race.
But to her surprise, Luna was eliminated again in the Duels, at the hooves of one of the Mercedes drivers.
The princess of the sun just stood there in shock as her sister's race engineer delivered Luna the fateful message. 'Final results: Viral, P1. Yourself, P2. I'm sorry, Luna, but you have been eliminated from this round,'
Celestia just stared at the results board, in complete and utter shock. It showed that Viral had cleanly and expertly defeated her sister, and had moved on to the final. She then trotted back into the garage, and kept repeating 'no' to herself. She just couldn't believe that her sister, the very princess of the night, had just been beaten during a night race.
Eventually, Luna's C38 pulled into the garage, and once inside, a completely disheartened Luna lifted herself out of the cockpit of the car, and trotted away in disbelief. However, when she sat down, Celestia came up to her and comforted her a bit. She then decided to ask the burning question. "Luna, what happened?"
"I don't know, sister," She replied, guzzling down a full bottle of water, "I really thought I had it in the final few corners. But I blew it again!" Luna then reached up, and grabbed onto her older sister's racing suit, looking up into her eyes, "Please, promise me you will win your Duel. Win your Duel for me!"
After a few moments of silence, Celestia then said, "Okay. I will win. For you, dear sister," But as she said this, a loud roar approached the garage. Celesta raced to the front to see.
It was Viral.
Although the others couldn't see, Celestia saw through the pegasus' visor with her magic, and saw that she was giving the Alfa team a very cheeky look.
As the Mercedes past by, Celestia just watched. Then, her expression became one of pure determination.
Without turning to Rossano, Celestia asked three questions about her Duel.
"When's my Duel taking place?"
"There's one Duel left before yours. So you're almost up,"
"Who am I facing?"
"Your opponent is Suri Polomare, driving for the the Renault F1 Team,"
Celestia let out a deep breath before asking the final question, knowing she wouldn't like the answer, "Which Mercedes team drivers made through to the finals?"
"Unfortunately, all three Mercedes team drivers are in the finals," Rossano then came around, and saw the look that Celestia was giving towards the Mercedes garage, "You're not planning on taking on those three drivers at the same time, are you?"
"Don't worry. Once I'm in the finals, I shall show that team they watch their backs," And after her little mini-monologue, she went back into the garage to get ready for her Duel.
One Duel later... Duel 7: CEL (Alfa-Romeo) VS SUR (Renault)
"...And I must admit, that was one heck of a performance from Cheese Sandwich! Well, the racers are re-locking into the grid for the next Duel! Flam, introduce our next two drivers, if you please!"
"With pleasure, brother! Sitting on P5, driving for Renault... Suri Polomare! And against her, sitting on P6, driving for Alfa-Romeo, the Princess of Equestria herself... Princess Celestia! Looks like we've got an interesting Duel ahead of us once again!"
"Yes, I do agree! Alfa-Romeo is playing for a spot in the final, after her sister, Luna's loss to Viral Velocity in the fifth Duel. Renault on the other hoof, are playing for points. With a dismal 9th place in Australia, they are in a desperate need for points! So we've got two racers with really big motivations, which should make for a very interesting race!"
It's time to find out! The racers are locking into the grid once more!"
Celestia had to win this Duel. She had to avenge her sister.
But doing so wouldn't be an easy feat.
She had to survive five laps of racing, fight through nearly the entire Formula 1 grid and on top of that, make it to the line before her opponent! And in this round, she was pitted against Suri Polomare of the Renault team. According to season details from the team's boss, Renault had a pretty poor car this season and their new Alfa-Romeo C38 should be able to compete better than Renault's R.S.19. However, she was facing a very determined driver. A very powerful force, in Celestia's mind at least.
But she had to win this Duel. For Luna.
She looked up, and the first red light lit up. The princess engaged the clutch and went full throttle, the roar of her Ferrari 064 engine roaring amidst the other cars filled the air, dulled out by the cushioning in her helmet. The second light came on, and the pack readied for the jump.
Three lights...
Then, all the lights went out and the race began.
Out of the two, Celestia had gotten the better jump and immediately pulled alongside Suri's Renault. They remained wheel to wheel as they went into the first corner, where Celestia managed to gain the lead, but only for a moment before Suri regained the lead by getting the better line in Turn 2 and taking the lead.
But as she chased the light purple Renault into the next corner, she knew that there was a long race ahead.
As it turned out, Celestia wouldn't have to wait long to get her chance at redemption.
The massive pack of racers made it difficult to find a good point to overtake without hitting the other racers, but once they had gotten past the leader, the two ponies had a clear track ahead of them.
Now, the race was truly one-on-one.
And while Suri was able to hold off Celestia for a while, she couldn't hold her off forever.
And in Turn 8 of Lap 4, the princess made her move. After approaching right behind her, Celestia suddenly moved to the inside and got in to the lead.
All she had to do, was hold it.
And hold the lead, she did.
Over the course of the final two laps, Suri threw everything she had at the Princess of the Sun. But unlike Luna, she wasn't going to give up now or make a mistake. And no matter what Suri threw at her, the fashionista mare couldn't get past the Alfa-Romeo.
In the end, nothing stopped Celestia from taking the win.
After crossing the line, Rossano reported the good news, Final results. Yourself, P1. Suri, P2. Looks like it's safe to say that Luna has been avenged,
Although she was jumping for joy inside, she remained calm. "Yes, but only partially. Luna will be fully avenged when I've beaten the pony that defeated her in the final,"
And after a moment of silence, Rossano then replied to Celestia's ambition, We'll have your cars set-up for the race. Just be sure to do what you intended, alright?
"I promise," And with that, Celestia completed her victory lap and pulled into the Alfa team garage.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS APP (McLaren)
The first Duel of the second round began with the Round 1 winner, Akula of the Mercedes-AMG team versing Applejack of the McLaren team. However, things were different.
Rather than his original black-with-red-highlights colour scheme, Akula had swapped it out with a more black-and-red shark-themed livery instead. A black shark stretched its way across the body of the car with a ferocious shark's mouth on the nose . The changeling came up with this livery hours before the start of the final race in the Australian Grand Prix, but decided to apply it before this round. Also, his Mercedes was modified to be lighter and more agile, whilst retaining its original power and braking capacity. The McLaren remained unchanged.
Once again, just like in Melbourne (when he faced Ocellus), Akula showed no mercy to the Element of Honesty. And once again, Applejack found herself unable to catch up to the Mercedes. Applejack couldn't find a way to get past Vettel during the race, and she ended up losing via the 'Mercy Rule', after just 2 laps.
Duel 2: OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS OCE (Toro Rosso)
Duel No. 2 was held between Oscura of the Aston-Martin Red Bull and Ocellus of the Red Bull Toro Rosso team. This was an opportunity for Aston-Martin to get a driver into the final and FINALLY get some points on the board. And Oscura didn't let her boss down. Since she was in a much faster RB15, the dark unicorn had no problem keeping ahead of the shy changeling, allowing her to take the win.
Duel 3: FLT (Toro Rosso) VS RBD (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 3 looked to be a white-wash for the Ferrari team, with their star driver, Rainbow Dash going against fellow pegasus Fluttershy of the Red Bull Toro Rosso team. Going into the Duel, Rainbow was very cocky, thinking the race was as good as hers.
But, as shown in Duel 5, overconfidence killed the cat.
Exiting out of Turn 7 on the fourth lap, Dash accidentally went too wide. Her back-right wheel touched the grass on the outside of the turn, causing her to spin. As she went sideways across the track, she almost was collected by Pierre Gasly in his RB15, before hitting the gravel trap. Although the Ferrari wasn't damaged, it was stuck in the gravel.
And under official FIA rules, Rainbow (just like Pinkie Pie and Silverstream had to do in Melbourne) had to forfeit the Duel, giving the win to Fluttershy.
Duel 4: SPI (Scuderia Ferrari) VS TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Duel 4 was a hell of a race. Ferrari's No. 3 driver, Captain Spitfire was up against the Mercedes team's No. 3 driver, Twilight Sparkle. Unlike Rainbow Dash, Spitfire saw the Princess of Friendship as a notable opponent and vowed not to make the same mistake that her colleague made.
Also, Twilight would have a race on her hooves, as since they both had some of the more powerful cars in the field, they were positioned further down the grid, to give them more of a challenge. And the race was one well fought, right up until Spitfire misjudged her braking point going into Turn 1 on the final lap. Her Ferrari went up the back of Daniel Ricciardo's Renault and the Captain of the Wonderbolts was eliminated.
All three drivers in the Mercedes team had made it to the finals.
Duel 6: CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS GAL (Racing Point/Force India)
Duel 6 was between another two drivers with a lot on the line. Cheese Sandwich of the Aston-Martin Red Bull team versus Gallus of the Racing Point team. Cheese, suffering from a humiliating crash in Australia is looking for redemption for the previous race and some points for the Red Bull team on the board. Gallus, although he actually completed the race came outside the required Top 10 points finishers, so he is also racing for the same thing.
However, despite being considerably faster than a regular RP19, his skill behind the wheel was easily matched by the training that Cheese received from his mentor, Pierre Gasly. Also, the RB15 in use by the Red Bull team was a much more competitive car than the Racing Point RP19. So, no matter what Gallus tried to do, he just couldn't catch the more-skillfully driven Red Bull of Cheese Sandwich, allowing Red Bull to take the win.
Duel 8: CHR (HAAS) VS GLA (HAAS)
A Duel between teammates, both drivers in the HAAS F1 Team going head-to-head. Only one was going through, but that didn't stop them from going at it. The two unreformable villains went at it, not letting up with their racing moves. However, in this Duel, was the event that triggered a series of events that lead the two HAAS drivers to become rivals.
On Turn 4 on the third lap, Chrysalis made an attempt to pass Gladmane. However, as Chrysalis moved to the inside to pass, Gladmane did a big no-no and moved to the inside line under braking to block her. And Chrysalis wasn't very happy about that, despite being a villain.
Needless to say, she didn't improve the situation. Moments later, going into the hairpin at Turn 10, Chrysalis made an attempt to pass Gladmane again. This time, Gladmane didn't attempt to move under braking. But also, there wasn't enough space for Chrysalis to make a clean overtake. But she tried anyway. And going into the corner, Chrysalis' VF-19 touched wheels with Gladmane. Although there was no damage, Gladmane was just as frustrated with Chrysalis as she was with him.
In the end, it was Chrysalis' move in the Turn 10 hairpin that got her the win.
Duel 9: PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS DNG (Scuderia Ferrari)
A Duel between two friends from rival teams, Pinkie had to face off against her old friend in the Scuderia Ferrari team, DangerDean. And in a rare point, the importance of her goal (making it into the final race of the round) outweighed her friendship with the British Speedfreak. Not that she loses her friendship with him.
And despite having a near-uncontrollable car, she learnt from her mistake in the first round and raced on Soft tires instead of Hards. However, Danger's SF90 was way faster than Pinkie's RB15. But Pinkie didn't stop trying from winning. Danger had led the race the whole time, but going into the final lap, Pinkie started to somehow catch up with Danger, managing to get side-by-side with Dean in the final corners and racing down the straight together.
This was when Dean performed his first and only selfless act the entire season. Instead of going full throttle and racing away, he instead took his hoof off the throttle and allowed Pinkie to have the win.
Duel 10: SIL (Racing Point/Force India) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)
Another Duel of David VS Goliath, with Silverstream of the Racing Point team versus Lightning Dust of the Scuderia Ferrari team. However, this time, Lightning Dust didn't underestimate her opponent and raced to her fullest extent. Lightning didn't give the excitable hippogriff a chance, easily taking victory from the Racing Point driver via the 'Mercy Rule'.
All within just two laps!
Duel 11: YON (Williams) VS RAR (Renault)
Duel 11 was to be a doozy. Yona Yak of the Williams team taking on Rarity Belle of the Renault team. However, instead of being a doozy, it actually showed the weaknesses of the Williams FW42 when compared with the rest of the cars in the field. Right from the jump, Rarity had held her lead against the yak. Although the R.S.19 fielded by Renault wasn't a high-end car (like the SF90 of Ferrari and the F1 W10 EQ Power+ of Mercedes), it was damn better than the FW42. Not only was the FW42 heavier and very unstable, it was a very slow car and not very competitive in the season. The only reason that managed to get Williams a high finishing position in the first round was a very competitive strategy that got both Yona and Sandbar 7th and 8th.
But the only reason that they were able to get into the finals was because their opponents had both crashed in their respective Duels. And this time, there would be no mercy for Yona. Her dreadfully slow Williams was no match for Rarity's lightnened R.S.19, and unlike Silverstream, she didn't suffer from any understeer or oversteer. Rarity easily maintained her position and won the Duel.
Duel 12: BMI (McLaren) VS SAN (Williams)
If Duel 11 proved the weaknesses of the Williams car, Duel 12 only sealed it. This time, it was Yona's teammate in Williams, Sandbar taking on the more powerful McLaren driven by Big Macintosh. Once again, the poor speed of the Williams car left Sandbar in the rear as Big Mac stormed ahead. But on Lap 4, things got worse for the Williams team.
Going through Turn 12, the steering on Sandbar's FW42 failed. Immediately, Sandbar took his hoof off the throttle and his forward momentum carried him off the track, through the gravel trap and into the wall. His car suffered damage to the front wing and both front wheels came off. What's more, his car became stuck in the gravel trap.
Sandbar had to forfeit, and Big Macintosh completed the 12 finalists.
Author's Note
For those of you that actually watched the F1 2019 season, or know it very well, will see that I have put foreshadowing in one of the Duels regarding one of the teams. I didn't hide it that much, so those who don't follow F1 or don't know of the incident that I'm referring too will be able to discover it.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 2: Bahrain
Grid Positions
Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Twilight Sparkle (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Lightning Dust (Scuderia Ferrari)
Celestia (Alfa-Romeo)
Oscura Galaxia (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Chrysalis (HAAS)
Cheese Sandwich (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Pinkie Pie (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Big Macintosh (McLaren)
Rarity (Renault)
Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
"Ladies and Gentleponies! Welcome once again to the Formula 1 Equestria Duels! We are under the cover of the night sky at the Bahrain International Circuit for the second round of the Duels! And under the beauty of night, the next race is about to begin! Flam, my dearest brother, please introduce our key drivers!"
"With pleasure, brother! Looks like we've got a white-wash of a race today! The big three of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team are in in a 1-2-3 position on the grid, taking all the top spots on the grid. We saw the performance of their ace drivers in the first round, and it looks like they are in a great position for a victory here. Although, Lightning Dust of the Scuderia Ferrari team is just behind them, on Position 4, but I doubt that is enough to stop the trio of Twilight Sparkle, Viral Velocity and Akula from running away with a victory!"
"Uh, uh, uh! Just hold onto your horsefeathers, brother! You're forgetting something! Princess Celestia herself in on P5, and she is looking for some Mercedes blood! After her sister lost to Viral Velocity, she made a promise that she would beat the Mercedes team in a clean victory. And when Celestia makes a promise, she makes sure that she keeps it!"
Well, looks like we're about to find out! The race is about to begin! The drivers have already completed their Formation Lap, so we are ready to go!"
It was Celestia's time to shine. And a chance for the Alfa-Romeo team to gain some glory.
But she knew exactly how hard that task would be, as she had four very talented racers ahead of her. Those drivers were Lighting Dust, Twilight Sparkle, Viral Velocity and Akula. In that order. However, she was feeling more confident that what Luna would be if she was in the final, as she had some experience against the Mercedes drivers and two of the Ferraris in Melbourne. However, she couldn't get cocky.
'Radio check, ' Rossano reported, asking for a radio check.
"If Luna is there, please tell her that I will grant her this victory!"
'Okay, your response was crystal clear. We've got about 12 seconds to the start of the race, '
Celestia acknowledged this and then turned her attention to Lightning's Ferrari and the three Mercedes cars in front of her. She knew she had some work ahead of her in order to fulfill her sister's wish.
And suddenly, the first red light came on. Instinctively, Celestia held down the clutch and engaged full throttle. Pretty soon, the roar of Formula 1 engines echoed out into the night of the desert.
Two lights... Three lights... Four lights... Five lights...
The five lights stayed on for a split-second before switching off and the race in the desert began.
"And it's lights out, and away we go!"
Celestia got one of the best jumps off of the line, and was able to get alongside Lightning going down the straight and into Turn 1. In the front, Akula was able to hold the lead, while Twilight was able to get alongside Viral. In the back, the rest of the pack were in a massive clusterfuck behind the five leaders, all taking different lines through the first three turns. And they were so close, the cars were only inches from touching.
Since the back-runners were so close, there was bound to be an accident. And going into the first three turns, there was an accident. Going into the second turn, Cheese Sandwich in his RB15 made to get around the corner, but as he tuned, he found himself running into Chrysalis. His front-right tyre collided with Chrysalis' rear-left tyre, knocking her off for a moment. To make matters worse, the hit had punctured Chrysalis' tyre, leaving her to fall behind.
"F***! Aaaaaah, f***! Puncture! Puncture!" She cried out, as she started to fall behind the back, watching a massive sheet of sparks erupt from underneath Cheese's car.
'Mode punc. Mode punc, ' Her race engineer called out, as Chrysalis switched the car to Mode punc.
"F****** stupid! F****** stupid!"
But the problems didn't stop there. Hitting Chrysalis had knocked something loose on Cheese's car, causing the bottom of his car to scrape against the track, kicking a massive wall of sparks. But at the moment the sparks kicked up, Fluttershy in her Toro Rosso had been drafting him, and quickly found herself being showered in those sparks before pulling out of the slipstream and passing Cheese on the straight.
Although both her and her car managed to survive the encounter, Fluttershy had caught quite a shock.
Not much happened for the next few laps. But up in the front, Celestia had managed to get past Lightning in Turn 13 on Lap 7.
Meanwhile, in the middle of the pack, there was a battle for 8th, between Big Macintosh and Rarity. While going down the straight towards Turn 11, Big Macintosh had his DRS active has he gained quickly for an overtake on the inside. However, while going through the corner, Rarity turned in on Big Mac. And just like with Cheese Sandwich and Chrysalis on the first lap, Big Mac's front-left tyre hit Rarity's back-right tyre. But instead of causing a puncture, the contact caused Rarity to spin out.
"Ah' hit Rarity," Macintosh reported to his crew chief, "But the front wing look okay ta' me,"
'Hold on. We're checking, Macintosh,' His race engineer then said.
Going into Lap 10, Celestia had managed to catch up with Twilight, but needed to get past her. Meanwhile, Viral had managed to get past Akula for the lead. But as Celesta made a move to get past Twilight on the straight towards Turn 11 (who had DRS enabled to catch up with Akula), all of a sudden, the front end of her Mercedes suddenly kicked up and sparked. Somehow, her cars had hit its own front wing and knocked some of it off, which kicked up a lot of sparks. And when some of the sparks hit Celestia's C38 as she was passing Twilight, the princess of the sun caught quite a shock. But not only was her car undamaged, the incident had caused Twilight to slow down and allowed her to get past Twilight. Not only that, but Lightning Dust was also able to get past Twilight.
In Lap 12, another battle had took place, this one between Rarity and Cheese Sandwich for 9th. Going into Turn 1, Rarity tried to overtake Cheese on the outside, but he pulled the switchback on her and regained his position. But Rarity wasn't going to give up. As they headed down the straight towards Turn 4, Rarity activated her DRS and tried again to get past Cheese on the outside. And after almost coping a face-full of sparks, Rarity managed to pull around Cheese.
But as Cheese took the inside line, he went wide and hit Rarity's R.S.19. But as Cheese raced off ahead and as Rarity raced after him, sparks started flying underneath her front-right tyre.
She had a puncture.
'Rarity, we have a puncture front-right. Take care, puncture front-right, ' Rarity's race engineer reported, as Rarity slowed down and went off course.
"That incompetent, uncouth, cheese-eating stallion! I cannot believe him! I cannot believe!" Rarity cursed as she pulled her car to a stop, out of the final.
On Lap 17, the two Red Bull teammates of Pinkie Pie and Oscura Galaxia were locked in a battle for 6th place. However, while they teammates, the data showed that Oscura was setting faster laps than Pinkie. So, Pinkie was given the team order to let Oscura past the next lap and let her race after the leaders. But as they approached the first corner, as Pinkie moved to take the corner wide to let Oscura get past, but she didn't moved over enough, so when the dark unicorn made to get past her, the two made contact, with Pinkie's back wheel running over Oscura's wing.
"What was that?! She hit me! I gave her plenty of space!" Pinkie complained, as Oscura managed to get past in the second turn.
With only four laps to go, Celestia had finally caught up to the two Silver Arrows in front. But now, she had to get past the current season leader, Akula, before she could get to Viral. And no matter what she tried, the princess couldn't get past him...
...until Lap 22.
Going down the straight that led to Turn 4, Celesita was able to get on the inside line going into the corner and managed to get a better line and overtook Akula in the corner. But then...
...as the two exited the corner and hit the outer rumble strips, Akula suddenly lost the back-end and spun out. And although he was able to turn around and keep racing, the demon lord had to pit for some new tires.
And Celestia's luck was about to get even better. Going into the final few laps, Viral's Mercedes may have been leading the race by a substantial amount, but all of a sudden, she started to drop off of the race pace.
"There's something strange with the engine, buck! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!" Viral questioned desperately, wanting an answer to the sudden loss of power.
'W... we have no H-Recovery, Viral, 'Her race engineer reported.
"Yeah, but... I can't-OHHHH MY GODDESSES!"
'And keep calm, we need the car home, '
"Alright, I will try... I'm keeping calm,"
But as the laps ticked by, the front of the pack began catching up with Viral. And going down the back-straight, she was quickly caught by Celestia's C38 and lost the lead. But then it got worse for her, her engine trouble caused her to drop from first all the way to sixth.
Celestia just managed to get past Viral, the same pony that had defeated her sister in the Duels. All she needed to do was hold the lead for a few more laps. However, now she had another opponent to worry about.
Lightning Dust.
With an embarrassing loss to Rainbow Dash in the first round, she desperately needed to get some points. Although Ferrari had a very comfortable position in the standings so far, if Celestia won this race, Alfa-Romeo would overtake Ferrari in the standings. And Lightning didn't want to lose a position in the team championship to some second-rate team.
Throughout the rest of the race, Lightning hammered on the tail of Celestia. But nothing she tried worked, and by the time the checkered flag flew, Celestia had won the race by a full second. Lightning had to settle for second. Twilight had managed to slip into third, with Oscura taking a close fourth. Akula's spin had hurt him and he had to settle with fifth. Viral's engine trouble hurt her more and finished in sixth. Chrysalis, despite the incident with Cheese Sandwich on the first lap, was able go get back up the order and take seventh. Behind her, was Cheese Sandwich, who took eighth. Then, was Pinkie Pie, who took ninth. Fluttershy performed her best race so far and got tenth, and last across the line was Big Mac. The only driver not to finish was Rarity, due to the puncture caused by Cheese Sandwich.
Celestia couldn't believe what she had just accomplished. She had raced against and beaten, yes, beaten , not one, but all three Mercedes drivers! Luna definitely had been avenged.
'Finished in P1! Absolutely masterful driving, Celestia! A nice chunk of points for us! Very well done tonight! ' Rossano congratulated, as Celestia went around on her victory lap, waving to the crowd whenever she could.
"A very great performance indeed! I just want to say a big thank you to the engineers. The car just fell amazing tonight. And thanks to everyone and everypony that came out tonight. You've currently been very good support for me. And I just want to say thank you for the season I'm having,"
'Looks like it's fair to say that Luna has been avenged for this round, '
"Yes, she has," And with that, Celestia pulled her car into the victory box and got out to celebrate with her team.
Author's Note
Driver's Championship
Celestia (CEL) - 37 points + 1 (for Fastest Lap)
Akula (AKU) - 35 points
Viral Velocity (VRL) - 23 points
Rainbow Dash (RBD) - 19 points
Lightning Dust (LTD) - 18 points
Chrysalis (CHR) - 16 points
Twilight Sparkle (TWI) - 15 points
Oscura Galaxia - 12 points
DangerDean (DNG) - 8 points
Yona (YON) - 6 points
Cheese Sandwich (CHS) - 4 points
Sandbar (SAN) - 4 points
Pinkie Pie (PIN) - 2 points
Rarity (RAR) - 2 points
Fluttershy (FLT) - 1 points
Applejack (APP) - 1 point
Big Macintosh (BMI) - 0 points
Gallus (GAL) - 0 points
Ocellus (OCE) - 0 points
Luna (LUN) - 0 points
Suri Polomare (SUR) - 0 points
Spitfire (SPI) - 0 points
Gladmane (GLA) - 0 points
Silverstream (SIL) - 0 points
Manufacturer's Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 73 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 50 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 45 points
HAAS F1 - 16 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 14 points
Williams F1 - 10 points
Renault F1 - 2 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 1 point
McLaren F1 - 1 point
Racing Point - 0 points
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 2 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 2: Bahrain
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 1 Pre-Duel
"Akula, radio check. Radio check,"
"Radio 1-2, 1-2. Copy you, loud and clear,"
"Radio check complete. All is good on this end. You've got 15 seconds 'till the light sequence. Let's see what the shark can do,"
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Duel 3 Turn 7, Lap 4
"******! NOOOO!!! No, don't do this to me!"
"Are you okay, Dash?"
"Yes, but the car's stuck! I can't move!"
Spitfire Scuderia Ferrari Duel 4 Turn 1, Lap 5
"****! ****! ****! Sorry, guys. I stuffed it,"
"Are you okay to keep going? Question,"
"No. Car's stuffed. (...) So do I switch off?"
"Yes. Full switch off procedure,"
Luna Alfa-Romeo Racing Duel 5 Lap 4
"Good job, Luna! P1! The place in the final we needed! Just hold on there for two more laps!"
"I knoweth! I wonneth't alloweth thee down! Yond pegasus is nay matcheth f'r the princess of the night! To put it simply, I won't let thee down!"
Sandbar ROKiT Williams Duel 12 Turn 12, Lap 4
"Steering's failed! Steering's failed!"
"Stop the car! Stop the car! (...) Sandbar, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. But the car's not going anywhere,"
"Roger, full switch off procedure,"
"And please get the mechanics to look into why the steering failed. I don't want it to happen again,"
Big Macintosh McLaren F1 Final Pre-Race
"Radio check,"
"Eeyup! Nnope!"
"Okay, 15 seconds until the green light,"
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Final Lap 5
"How is the front wing? How is the front wing?"
"I don't know! I thought you had to tell me that!"
"Okay,"
Rarity Renault Formula 1 Final Lap 12
"That incompetent, uncouth, cheese-eating stallion! I cannot believe him! I cannot believe!"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Turn 4, Lap 22
"Okay, sorry guys. I got surprised and lost the back-end. I'm very sorry,"
"There's still 3 laps to go. Just keep racing, and you'll place well,"
"Who said that I was going to throw in the towel?"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 23
"There's something strange with the engine, ****! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"
"W... we have no H-Recovery, Viral,"
"Yeah, but... I can't-OHHHH MY GODDESSES!"
"And keep calm. We need the car home,"
"Alright, I will try... I'm keeping calm. (...) I feel like I'm on a Sunday drive in a Chevy Impala and I don't even have any damn music! This is supposed to be a ******* race!"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
"I'm... not really sure but... what I saw as I went past her, I'm really sorry for Viral. Sh drove an excellent race, very well done. But she should've claimed a victory,"
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Final Post-Race
"Celestia, we don't need donuts on our race box,"
Cheese Sandwich Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Post-Race
"Finished in P8, P8. Well done, Cheese! Points on the board!"
"Woo-hoo-hoo! That was a doozy! Great that we got some points for the team! And we got a good result tonight, so yeah! I'm very happy!"
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 3 (China), Duel 10: Silverstream VS Big Mac (Grid Start, One-On-One)
Shanghai International Circuit , China
F1 Equestria Duel series
Duel 10: SIL (Racing Point/Force India) VS BMI (McLaren)
Event Type: Grid Start One-on-One (5 Laps)
"Ladies and gentleponies, welcome back to the third round of the Formula 1 Equestrian Duels series! I'm Flim and I am accompanied once again, by my brother, Flam!"
"Hello, everyone and pony! And welcome back to the series!"
"We are two rounds into the 2019 season, and the tension is heating up quickly! Princess Celestia is currently leading the Driver's Championship, only two points clear of second. Nipping at Celestia's hooves, are the top two Mercedes drivers, Akula and Viral Velocity. And with an even bigger pack behind her, she got a lot to play for,"
"Speaking of Mercedes, they are currently leading the Constructor's Champoinship and are 23 points clear of their nearest rival, Alfa-Romeo. But it's a close battle for second, as Scuderia Ferrari is only 5 points behind the Alfa team. Most of the teams are lagging behind the top 3 in terms of points, with most of them picking up more points last round,"
"Well, getting some points is much better that not scoring at all, which is what has happened to the Racing Point team. Two rounds have gone by and the team hasn't scored any points! Gallus did make it into the finals in Australia, but he finished just outside the top 10. And neither drivers managed to complete the Duel Stage in Bahrain. So they are in desperate need for points,"
"It looks like we're about ready to start the next Duel! Let's see who's driving this one,"
"Starting on P1, driving for McLaren F1, hailing from the Sweet Apple Acres... we have Big Macintosh! And his opponent, driving for Racing Point, from the kingdom of the Hippogriffs... Silverstream!"
"This one looks like it's going to be a close one! Silverstream really need to beat Big Mac in this race to secure a spot in the final. Her team really needs the points to catch up with the front runners! But Big Mac is also playing for points, as he hasn't scored anything yet. It's going to be a close race!"
"We're about to start! Hold onto your hats!"
Silverstream may have been excited about this race, but she knew that she had to win. If she didn't, her team's entire season goal of achieving above 7th in the Constructor's Championship would be in jeopardy. She knew that she hadn't even managed to qualify for a race yet, and she desperately needed points.
However, her country opponent had already raced once in the previous round in Bahrain but didn't manage to get any points. She hadn't even qualified for a single finals yet! Australia saw her crash into the barrier and Bahrain had her face off against Lightning Dust, who eliminated her easily.
But she knew if that she still raced as hard as she could, she might have a chance.
Unfortunately, her chance to score the first point was on one of the toughest tracks in the F1 calendar. Turns 1 and 2 have even managed to unnerve Akula himself, as the data shown in his Duel shows that he has trouble with braking in the long, ever-tightening right sweeper. Then, there is the legendary Turn 14. Drivers need to go from top speed all the way to down to the lowest speed on the track to take the tight hairpin. But at least the hairpin wasn't lined with walls and was quite wide, unlike Monaco or Baku.
But Silverstream wasn't nervous. She was just as excitable as ever.
After a few moments, the light came on. Both her and Big Mac's engines roared to life as the lights came on, one-by-one.
And once they went out, the two leaped off the line and the duel began.
Big Mac had the more powerful car, but Silver's Racing Point was lighter (due to Big Mac's body weight affecting performance) and she got the better jump, pulling alongside the McLaren going into the first turn. Both knew that it was the first pony to mess up that will lose the lead in the first turn.
The one to mess up, was Silverstream.
Going through Turn 1, she saw the upcoming hairpin that was Turn 2 and panicked. She hit the brakes and immediately slowed down, causing Big Mac to race ahead, take a better braking approach and take the lead. Silver kicked herself for her mistake, but kept in the race, sticking with Macintosh. She then remembered a moment during the Australian GP that she though would help.
She remembered, during the race, one of the pit crew told her the story of an Australian Olympic speed skater by the name of Steven Bradbury. During the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Bradbury made it to the finals of the 1000m Men's Short Track Speed Skating event and was lagging behind the whole race. But on the final lap, the leaders all crashed and took each other out, allowing Bradbury to skate past and win the gold. He became the first Australian to ever win the gold medal in the Winter Olympics and became a national hero, and a legend in the sporting world, akin to the likes of Eddie the Eagle and the Jamaican Bobsled Team.
And Silverstream decided to race with what she called 'Bradbury style'. She would hang in there during the duel and not give in, and maybe, she would have a chance.
But little did she know, is that Big Mac actually felt intimidated by Turn 14 and would take the corner slower that most. And on Lap 4, Silver noticed this. But she had only one more lap to make her move. Going into the final lap, she gave the race all she had. She stuck right on the McLaren's tail and followed his movements, not letting up.
And going down the back straight, Silverstream knew she had to make a move.
Then came Turn 14, and the farm stallion cracked under the pressure of dealing with the hairpin and holding off the hippogriff in the Racing Point. He braked too early. Silverstream took the initiative, moved to the inside line and then hit the brakes. Her RP19 responded smartly, and she managed to overtake the farm stallion's MCL34 under braking.
Now she had to hold the lead for two more turns. After racing around Turn 15, she braked a tiny bit and raced through the final turn, well out of the range of Macintosh. And she crossed the finish line, well in the lead. She was now in the final.
'You've done it! P1! Brilliant drive! You're in the final!' Silverstream's race mechanic reported, as the hippogriff started celebrating her victory.
"YEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!! YEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSS!!!! YES!!! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! Thanks! Thanks so much! The car was amazing! I'll push to get us some points during the race. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!" She cried out, as she pumped her claws in the air, taking a victory lap, waving at the crowd before pulling into the pits and embracing every single member of the pit crew.
Author's Note
In case you're wondering (unless you're Australian or have seen the 2002 Winter Olympics), Steven Bradbury is a real person and he DID win the gold medal for Australia in the 2002 Winter Olympics. Just search up his name, my American and international friends, and you'll see that I am telling the truth.
Sorry I took so long with this chapter, and thanks very much for being patient!
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: SPI (Scuderia Ferrari) VS CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
The first Duel of the third round in the season was held between two drivers from the two biggest rival teams of the 2010s. Spitfire of the Scuderia Ferrari team taking on Cheese Sandwich of the Red Bull team. Both had some of the fastest times during practice and they were both in some of the better cars in the season. So the race would be close.
And the race was close indeed, but Spitfire have shown to have much more control over her Ferrari and took the win from Cheese.
Duel 2: GLA (HAAS) VS YON (Williams)
Duel 2 was between two teams starting to fall back down the running. Gladmane of the HAAS team was up against Yona of the Williams ROKiT team. Previously, Gladmane had faced off against tough opponents. But not this time. His VF-19 might have been slow, but at least it was competitive.
Yona didn't even have a chance against the con-pony, and lagged behind for the whole race. There were some moments where the yak was right on the tail of Gladmane, but her Williams didn't have the power to overtake it, leading Gladmane to take the win.
Duel 3: AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS LUN (Alfa-Romeo)
The third Duel was estimated to be another easy victory for the Mercs, as the team's star driver, Akula, was facing off against Luna of the Alfa-Romeo team. Knowing that his teammate, Viral, had beaten her in Bahrain, he planned to keep Luna out of the final of this race.
But that was a little difficult for him, as Shanghai wasn't his favourite track. And on Lap 1, everything became clear. Going into the first and second turns, Akula just couldn't seem to find the right braking point in the right-hand sweeper. And his constant misjudgment of his braking point is what cost him.
Luna quickly picked up on Akula tell, and on Lap 3, Luna made her move. She managed to get on the inside, and took the Demon Lord under braking. But despite being in the lead, Akula wouldn't let up and tried to take back his position with a kamikaze braking attack on Turn 14. But all his efforts were let down by his performance in Turn 1, and he was eliminated by Luna.
And having qualified for a race, Luna was very happy.
Duel 4: OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS SUR (Renault)
Duel 4 was between a pair of mid-pack runners that hadn't qualified for a single race yet. Ocellus of the Red Bull Toro Rosso team was taking on Suri Polomare of the Renault team. These two both hadn't qualified for a final race yet, so both were looking to make it into the race.
And it was close, but everything went wrong for Red Bull on Lap 3. Exiting out of the final turn, Ocellus went a little wide and suddenly got into a tank-slapper. She lost control and went into gravel, before hitting the wall. The entire left-half of her STR14 was destroyed, both left-side wheels and suspension were gone and the rear wing had come off as well. She had no choice but to forefit.
Duel 5: LTD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
A battle of mother and daughter, Lightning Dust of the Scuderia Ferrari team taking on her daughter, Viral Velocity of the Mercedes-AMG team. Both had their own weaknesses on this track. Viral has a little trouble with tight corners following high speeds, so Turn 14 presented her with the most problems. But Lightning had some problems dealing with the long sweeping curves at Turns 7, 8 and 12, as she gives the corner too much throttle and goes off.
The race was close, but with too many mistakes being made on the sweeping corners, Lightning soon found herself eliminated by her daughter... via the Mercy rule .
Duel 6: RAR (Renault) VS CEL (Alfa-Romeo)
The sixth duel was between a princess and one of the mid-pack drivers. Celestia of the Alfa-Romeo team was taking on Rarity of the Renault team. Both of them had something on the line; to become the next driver in the season to pull off a hat trick, by qualifying for a final three times in a row (the first to do this was Viral Velocity). Rarity was confident, as she was trained by Daniel Ricciardo, one of the greatest F1 racers of all. However, Celestia was faster in her C38, despite it being a mid-pack car.
But the race wasn't close at all. Celestia led the race from the beginning and didn't give Rarity a chance. Eventually, Rarity was eliminated by the Mercy Rule, leaving a very disappointed Renault team in losing their star driver and a very pleased Alfa team, having their two drivers in the final, letting them reel in the Mercedes team even more in the Constructor's Championship.
Duel 7: SAN (Williams) VS DNG (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 7 became on of the most infamous duels in the entire series after the finishing of the season. DangerDean of the Ferrari team was taking on Sandbar of the Williams ROKiT team. In this duel, Sandbar had decided to make some mods to his FW42 to make it competitive. He had increased the engine power and equip especially lightened front and rear wings, to increase downforce and speed. However, the engineers of at Williams HQ hadn't been able to figure out why Sandbar's steering failed in Bahrain, but they were still looking into it.
Surprisingly, the extra mods to Sandbar's Williams had done the trick. He was able to keep up with the much faster SF90 of DangerDean. But going into the 4th lap, tragedy struck. While chasing down Dean on the back straight with DRS enabled, Sandbar actually managed to gain on the Ferrari. He had planned to take Dean under the brakes and hold the lead for the final lap. But as he moved up the inside of Dean's Ferrari and the colt began to turn for the hairpin...
...the FW42's steering failed again.
Sandbar immediately slammed on his brakes, but the forward momentum of his F1 car was too much for the brakes to take. Danger did the same and stopped in the gravel trap. But the momentum carried Sandbar through the gravel and into the tyre barriers... at just about 300 kph (186.411 mph).
Everyone and everypony in attendance and all of the other teams just watched in silence and utter horror as emergency rescue vehicles and Chinese paramedics rushed to the crashed FW42. And quite quickly, Sandbar was pulled from his wrecked car. Although he had taken a massive wallop, he was relatively fine. The only problem was that during the crash, he had smacked his head on the halo, knocking him out cold. And fearing a massive head injury, the paramedics rushed him to hospital for recovery. Yona had decided to travel with Sandbar to the hospital, and the Williams team boss had grounded both of the cars, until the cause of the steering failings was found.
And after a moment of relief, now knowing that Sandbar was recovering, the round continued and even though neither racer finished the race, the win was given to Dean.
Duel 8: CHR (HAAS) VS GAL (Racing Point/Force India)
Duel 8 proved that no matter how good a driver is, it's his or her attitude that wins races. In this Duel, Chrysalis of the HAAS team was facing off against Gallus of the Racing Point team. Once the race started, Chrysalis led all the way and Gallus was almost about to be eliminated by the Mercy Rule.
That is, until Lap 3. Going into Turn 9, Chrysalis lost traction and spun out. And while she was bringing the car back around, Gallus raced past and before Chrysalis could get going again, Gallus had eliminated her.
Duel 9: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS APP (McLaren)
Two friends were put against each other in Duel 9, as Twilight was put against Applejack. Nothing really much happened in this duel, but in the end, Twilight was able to beat Applejack to the finish.
Duel 11: OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS RBD (Scuderia Ferrari)
Two long-time rivals faced off in Duel 11, with Rainbow Dash taking on Oscura Galaxia. And it was one to remember.
Dash was not letting up and needed some more points and avenge the humiliation of losing to Fluttershy at Bahrain. However, her loss at the previous round was clouding her mind and she was beginning to make mistakes. Oscura, knowing that Dean had made it into the final after the incident, knew she had a goal to reach and didn't allow anything to cloud her focus. She didn't make a single mistake and she was easily able to beat Dash and claim the spot in the final.
Duel 12: FLT (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
The final duel was between two of the Elements, Pinkie Pie of the Red Bull team was taking on Fluttershy of the Toro Rosso junior team. However, seeing that Fluttershy wouldn't stand a chance if she raced at full tilt, Pinkie decided to race her on Medium tyres to give the shy pegasus a better chance. The Medium tyre compound was the bridge between the Hard and the Soft compounds. While it wears less than the Soft, it isn't as fast. And while it's faster than the Hard, it isn't as durable.
Although there were worries, she had used the Medium during the Bahrain Final and didn't have a problem. So, she was allowed to do so by her boss in the Red Bull team. Fluttershy, of course, was racing on Softs.
And Pinkie kept true to her word, not pushing as hard as she did and therefore, giving Fluttershy a chance. And Fluttershy, after pulling a braking overtake move on Turn 14 on the final lap, was able to win and secure the final spot in the Final.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 3: China
Starting Grid
Celestia (Alfa-Romeo)
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Spitfire (Scuderia Ferrari)
DangerDean (Scuderia Ferrari)
Oscura Galaxia (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Twilight Sparkle (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Luna (Alfa-Romeo)
Gallus (Racing Point/Force India)
Suri Polomare (Renault)
Gladmane (HAAS)
Silverstream (Racing Point/Force India)
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
Celestia - 25 points
Viral Velocity - 18 points + 1 (Fastest Lap)
Silverstream - 15 points
DangerDean - 12 points
Twilight Sparkle - 10 points
Luna - 8 points
Gallus - 6 points
Fluttershy - 4 points
Gladmane - 2 points
Suri Polomare - 1 point
Oscura Galaxia - 0 points
Spitfire - 0 points
Driver's Championship
Celestia - 63 points
Viral Velocity - 42 points
Akula - 35 points
Twilight Sparkle - 25 points
DangerDean - 20 points
Rainbow Dash - 19 points
Lightning Dust - 18 points
Chrysalis - 16 points
Silverstream - 15 points
Oscura Galaxia - 12 points
Luna - 8 points
Gallus - 6 points
Fluttershy - 6 points
Yona - 6 points
Cheese Sandwich - 4 points
Sandbar - 4 points
Gladmane - 2 points
Pinkie Pie - 2 points
Rarity - 2 points
Suri Polomare - 1 point
Applejack - 1 point
Big Macintosh - 0 points
Ocellus - 0 points
Spitfire - 0 points
Constructors' Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 102 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 83 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 57 points
BWT Racing Point - 19 points
HAAS F1 - 18 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 14 points
Williams F1 - 10 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 5 points
Renault F1 - 3 points
McLaren F1 - 1 point
View Online
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 3 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 3: China
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Final Post-Race
"Well done, Celestia! You've won the Chinese Grand Prix of the Equestrian Series! "
"Was there ever any doubt? Hahaha! That's how you run a race, my dear crew,"
That's two for two victories, Tia. Well done!
Cheese Sandwich Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Duel 1 Lap 3
"I can't keep up with that Ferrari, Pierre! She's too fast!"
"Just keep calm, Cheese. Don't throw in the towel yet!"
"Okay, copy,"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 3 Lap 2
"Akula, you need to pick up the pace in Sector 1. Luna's been faster than you in that sector, "
"I already know, man! Just let me concentrate!"
Gladmane HAAS F1 Duel 2 Lap 5
"Okay, white flag is out. One to go. Keep the Williams behind you, "
"Not like she's going to catch me anyways,"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Duel 7 Lap 4
"Red flag, red flag. Race is over. Are you okay? "
"Yeah, I'm fine. Was that Sandbar into the barriers?"
"Yes. Steering failure and he was carried into the barrier by his momentum, "
"How fast was that impact?!"
"At least 186 miles an hour. That's got to be at least 25.1 G's of impact force or more, "
"Yep, that err... may hurt in the next couple of weeks. I'm really concerned about him though. That was horrific!"
"Paramedics are arriving on the scene now. I'll keep you posted on his situation, "
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Pre-Race
"Viral, radio check, "
"Gee, gee, gee! Oi, oi, oi, oi!"
"Guys, I think Ricciardo snuck into Viral's car. *laughter* Radio check complete, "
Luna Alfa-Romeo Racing Final Lap 1
"Which one had the audacity to hit the princess of the night?!"
"It was Suri. Is the car okay? "
"I do believe that I have floor damage,"
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Final Lap 10
"You're closing with Viral, take the inside line into Turn 14. (...) Alright, new race leader. Let's keep it that way, "
"Easy-peasy!"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 18
"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!!!!"
"Both you and Celestia are at full engine power right now! What do you want me to do? "
"Say something reassuring! ANYTHING!!!"
"Okay. *gibberish*.
"Okay, that's good enough!"
Oscura Galaxia Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 24
"****! ****! ****!!!!!! NO!!!!!!"
Spitfire Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 24
"Ah, ****!!!"
"Are you okay? Are you okay? "
"I'm okay. Sorry, but Oscura spun out and I had nowhere to go. (...) Shut down?"
"Yes. Full switch off procedure. We're done here, "
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 4 (Azerbaijan), Duel 2: Sandbar VS Yona VS Viral Velocity VS Rarity (Qualifying)
Baku City Circuit , Azerbaijan
F1 Equestria Duel series
Duel 2: SAN (Williams) VS YON (Williams) VS VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS RAR (Renault)
Event Type: Qualifying
"Welcome once again to Formula One Equestria! We are in Baku City in Azerbaijan for the fourth round of the Formula One 2019 season and things are heating up quickly! Celestia still holds her lead in the Driver's Championship by a big margin, with some talented drivers hunting her down for the lead, with the Racing Point drivers joining in on the fun!"
"Don't forget, dear brother, about the Constructors' Championship. The Mercedes team is still in the lead, with Alfa-Romeo and Ferrari hunting them down! Also, like you said, Racing Point is also joining in on the fun. They've jumped from last to fourth in the standings! FOURTH! AFTER ONE ROUND! Lawrence Stroll has to be happy with that!"
"Yes, but now, we focus on the next round, which is held here, in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, for round 4 of the Formula 1 season of 2019! We are now at our first street course in the season and boy, what a track it is! We are looking forward to seeing the close-quarters racing in the final!"
"Yes, so true. But before we need to get to the final, we need to have the racers Duel to determine the final racers. So, without further ado, let's get the drivers going again!"
"Of course! Now, let's introduce the next four drivers in the next Qualifying round! First off, we have Sandbar of the Williams, alongside his teammate in Williams, Yona. But they also have Viral Velocity of the Mercedes team and Rarity of the Renault team facing them. Following the regular format of the Qualifying duel type, each driver will get one lap to set the fastest time that they can, following a rolling start. This time, since there are four drivers in each round, two will move on instead of one. And there will be 6 Duels instead of 12. However, if more that two drivers crash, another driver in a separate Duel who didn't make it to the final will take be allowed in. Oh! Looks like we got our first driver heading out of pit row!"
"It appears to be Yona, going first for Williams. She has a lot to prove, as the Williams FW42 has been constantly mocked around the world for it's slow speed. Now is the team's chance to show that the Williams is able to keep up with the pack. And Baku is the place to do it!"
"She is pulling out of pits for her rolling start, here we go for Duel 2!"
Moments earlier... Williams team garage
"Yona, be careful," Sandbar told his yak friend, before she was about to hop into her FW42 to take her Qualifying lap. "Baku is not an easy circuit. If you're not careful, this track will swallow you up!"
"Sandbar not need to worry," Yona told him, as she grabbed her yak-sized helmet (which was decorated with traditional yak drawings and symbols, along with her yak-sized Williams racing suit), "Yona will be careful. But Yona will also set fastest time! Yaks best at both of those!" he then proceeded to her car, but before she could get in, Sandbar stopped her.
"Please, just be careful. And stay off the walls!" He said.
Yona just smiled and replied, "Yona will be careful," And with that, she put on her helmet, tightened the chinstrap and climbed into the cockpit of her car. The neck brace was placed behind her and she started the car up. The V6 Turbo Mercedes hybrid engine powering the FW42 roared to life, the fuel hose was disconnected and Yona roared out of the garage and onto pit row.
Sandbar only watched her go onto the track, stuck around the garage and watched Yona begin her rolling start.
As Yona raced around the track at a moderate pace, she instantly saw why Sandbar was concerned. Going through Sector 2, she saw how narrow the track was and even gulped when she took the fearsome Turn 8, the turn where her mentor, Robert Kubica (and Lightning Dust's and DangerDean's mentor, Charles Leclerc), crashed during Qualifying 1 (And Q2 for Leclerc). She knew that she needed to be careful going through that corner.
Passing through Sector 3, she opened up the taps and raced full throttle down the back straight. SHe passed the start/finish and started her lap, immediately on the brakes for Turn 1. She turned the car tightly and raced into the next corner and flowed through the track like a true champion. But she really needed to focus as she was approaching the Castle Section, and Turn 8. But she needed to post a fast lap. She had to.
As she slowed down and took Turn 7, a feeling of nervousness had worked its way into her consciousness and she started backing off the throttle down the straight leading to the turn. But once she got at the corner, she hit the brakes and turned in, the front didn't seem to want to turn the car around the corner,
Understeer. Yona tried hitting the brakes, but she was going too fast.
She crashed into the barrier at Turn 8 at 107 kph (just over 66 mph). However, the crash barrier at the corner did its job and adsorbed the impact and Yona remained unhurt.
'Yona? You okay?' Her race engineer asked, clearly concered.
"Yes. Yona okay. Little winded but okay," Yona replied, before letting out a sigh, "Yona sorry. Yak wrecked car in scary turn. Now, Yona not in final race,"
'Don't worry. You'll get another chance in Spain, next round. You better get your butt over to pit row. Sandbar is worried sick about you,'
"YONA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sandbar cried out when she saw his best friend crash into the beginning of the Castle Section. He couldn't believe it. Had the steering failings come back? Immediately, he rushed to the engineer box and tapped Yona's race engineer on his shoulder. However, he held up a finger and told him to wait, while he communicated with Yona. And once he was done, he turned to face Sandbar.
"Was that a steering failing?" Sandbar asked, sternly.
"No. Steering column was working just fine. The data shows that she had understeer," The engineer replied, as he pointed towards the data. Now, Sandbar wasn't an engineer, but he could see that the data of Yona's run clearly showed that she had understeer.
Sandbar retreated back into the garage, as a medical car picked up Yona and the track-side engineers fixed the barrier for the next runner.
Moments later, the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG estate medical car arrived at the Williams garage and Yona stepped out, unhurt. Instantly, Sandbar rushed up to her and embraced the yak.
"Nothing broken, Yona?" Sandbar asked. Yona just shook her head.
"Yona sorry, Sandbar. Yona tried but track very difficult. Too difficult for best yak," Yona then pulled Sandbar in close to her face and forced him to look into her big, olive-coloured eyes. "Sandbar, win for Yona. Promise Yona that you will win,"
There was no way that the pony colt could say no to such a cute face and to one of his friends. "I promise, Yona. I will win for you," Moments after he said this, he was called to his car, as he was the next to set a time. Embracing his yak friend one last time, he rushed to his FW42 and set off on his lap.
As he paced around Turn 8, and cruised through the Castle Section, he prayed to the Equestrian goddesses that his steering wouldn't fail, as a tight city circuit would be the last place he would want to have his steering fail. He was told by the Williams engineers that the fault was found and the steering was fixed, but he wasn't sure.
So, he prayed that the steering would hold.
Coming down to the straight, he hit the throttle and raced towards the line to start his lap. He saw the green flag wave and he started his lap, braking for Turn 1. Following through Turns 2, 3 and 4, he was 3.231 seconds faster than Yona. As he rounded the next set of turns, he knew that he was approaching Turn 8. Once more he prayed that nothing went wrong as she slowed for the corner and turned the wheels. But unlike Yona, his FW42 responded to his input and turned into the corner. He hit the apex with the correct line and raced up the small hill next the castle that the chicane got its name from.
Mentally, Sandbar breathed a sigh of relief. He had cleared the hardest section of the track. Now, all he had to do was post a fast time and win the Duel. Blasting through the much wider and faster curves of Turns 13, 14, 15 and 16, he began to shatter stereotypes about the FW42 on a small basis. No-one had ever seen a painfully slow FW42 drive at the speed Sandbar was pushing his Williams to ever before. And, oh boy, did it sound fast! As Sandbar blasted down the back straight, DRS wide open, he opened the taps fully and pushed his tuned ROKiT to the limit.
As as quickly as the pony could think, he crossed the finish line and completed his lap. "How about that?" Sandbar asked, confident he posted a quick time.
'Lap Time: 1.42.072. Well done! That was a quick lap!' His race engineer reported.
Then, Sandbar took a slow lap around the track before pulling into the pits and getting out of his car. Yona saw him and rushed up to him to give the pony a massive yak hug, but while she was rushing to him, she tripped on her hair and rolled to a stop in front of him, panting and wagging her tail like a dog.
Sandbar just smiled at the yak's antics and turned his attention to the leaderboard. On it, was the current grid positiona for the finals race:
Gallus - 1.40.733
Fluttershy - 1.40.971
Sandbar - 1.42.072
Ocellus - DNQ
Yona - DNQ
Celestia - DNQ
Viral Velocity - Yet To Run
Rarity - Yet To Run
Twilight Sparkle - Yet To Run
Rainbow Dash - Yet To Run
Pinkie Pie - Yet To Run
Applejack - Yet To Run
Lightning Dust - Yet To Run
Akula - Yet To Run
Luna - Yet To Run
Suri Polomare - Yet To Run
Cheese Sandwich - Yet To Run
Chrysalis - Yet To Run
Silverstream - Yet To Run
Gladmane - Yet To Run
Big Macintosh - Yet To Run
DangerDean - Yet To Run
Oscura Galaxia - Yet To Run
Spitfire - Yet To Run
So far, it seemed that he had set a pretty good lap time. Sure, it may not have been the best time, but at least it was competitive. He decided to head to the back and get some rest.
Viral was the next to head out, but this time, the Mercedes team was at a disadvantage. Both of the top drivers hated tight city circuits like Baku. Viral especially hated tight corners with no room to move and that meant she hated the Castle Section. But while taking her lap, she accidentally turned into Turn 8 too early, hit the inside barrier and crashed into the barriers. He run was over. And, oh boy, was Viral furious. Having crashed at the turn she hated the most, she began bashing the steering wheel and screaming profanities directed at her hatred of the Baku circuit. It took the entire pit crew, including the use of Akula's magic to calm her down when she got back to the pits.
Rarity didn't fare much better. While she was able to set a lap time, it wasn't the best she could've set. Rarity's lap time was a poor 1.42.745. While she was able to qualify for the final, she wouldn't be granted a high spot on the grid come finals.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: CEL (Alfa-Romeo) VS GAL (BWT Racing Point) VS FLT (Toro Rosso) VS OCE (Toro Rosso)
Duel 1 was supposed to be close but turned out to be anything but. First onto the track was Ocellus in her STR14. Although she looked like she was handing the track like a champion, in reality, she felt very intimidated by both Celestia being in her round and the speed in which she had to take the Castle Section. In fact, when she came around for her hot lap, her intimidation got the better of her, which caused the timid changeling to make multiple mistakes. But the worst was when she took Turn 8 at around 70 kph, when most drivers race through the turn at at least 100 kph. This cost Ocellus a few more seconds, and she finished her lap with a dismal lap time of 1.44.496.
Next up was Celestia. She was expected to post a time well within the time needed to gain a spot in the final and further extend her lead in the Driver's Championship. But this was not the case. As she set off on her timed lap, she started to feel the pressure of the tight Baku course. And not even the great driving of Celestia herself could deal with this track. Going into the infamous Turn 8, Celestia let her nerves get the better of her and she locked her brakes and skidded into the barriers. Her run was also over. Also, this incident would spark reactions from all the other drivers and has also been unofficially credited as the sole reason that most of the top-tier drivers failed to qualify for the finals.
The third driver onto the track was Gallus. And after Celestia's crash, it was doubted if any of the drivers could qualify with a competitive time. But nopony told that to Gallus. He was as confident as ever and was determined to set the fastest time. He didn't let Celestia's shocking crash stop him from setting a really quick lap time of 1.40.733.
Finally, was Fluttershy of the Toro Rosso team. She also felt confident with the track, as it suited her clean and respectable driving style. Somehow, she managed to keep her STR14 under control and was able to set a very quick lap of 1.40.971.
Duel 3: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS RBD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS APP (McLaren)
Duel 3 was between three of the front-runners and back-runner, Applejack. After Celestia's crash, nopony was sure who would take the top spot.
And first up, was Twilight. She was intellectual with her car and made multiple adjustments to her car. The car's aerodynamics were tweaked, the fuel load was lightened to it's limit and many more calculations were made to make sure that Twilight would have the best chance to set a fast lap. And she did very well, but it wasn't the best lap when compared to Gallus' time of 1.40.733. The lap time was a 1.42.021.
Next, Rainbow Dash was up. Although, this time she was lacking her part of confidence and cockiness. Possibly when she found out about Leclerc's accident, or when she saw Celestia's wreck. Either way, she had a lot of trouble with the circuit and posted a time of 1.42.830
Next, was Pinkie Pie. She didn't have a care in the world and despite feeling bad for Celestia, she planned on racing to the best of her ability. And race to the best of her ability she did. She posted a very fast lap time of 1.41.782
Last up was Applejack. While the tight streets and corners of the Baku Circuit suited the McLaren car, it was Applejack's driving that let the team down. She felt intimidated by the city and being a simple, outdoorsy cowpony didn't help. She didn't handle the track well. Her lap time was a very bad 1.43.011.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie had the fastest laps and moved on.
Duel 4: LTD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS LUN (Alfa-Romeo) VS SUR (Renault)
Duel 4 was between two of the top drivers against two of the secondary drivers from the mid-pack teams.
First onto the track was Akula, for the Mercedes team. Many expected that Akula would power through the stage and take the victory easily and snatch the pole position from Gallus. But then again, those who expected that didn't even know Akula well enough. Akula, in fact, absolutely HATED city courses with every fibre in his changeling body. Although it was the Monaco circuit that Akula hated the most, Baku was close behind it. The only thing that saved Baku from being his last favourite track was the long straightaways in the first and third sectors, which Akula could use to perform his signature late-braking attack in Turn 1.
Although Baku wasn't his favourite circuit, he still tried his hardest to set a lap that could get him into the final and close the points gap between him, Celestia and his teammate, Viral. Also, he needed the points to extend the lead that Mercedes had in the Constructors Championship. And Akula did post a competitive lap time of 1.42.476. It wasn't the best, but it was competitive.
Next up, was Lightning Dust. She was very confident in her ability and the fact that Dash had bowed out of her Duel only made her more cocky. She bragged that her driving would set a time that would destroy Gallus' time. Dust could talk-the-talk, but could she walk-the-walk?
No.
As she blasted down the home straight at full speed to start her flying lap, she locked her brakes while slowing for Turn 1 and she flat-spotted the tyres. Although she was able to fix her mistake, the flat-spotted tyres were very badly done in. When she slowed for Turn 12, the tyres gave out and she lost control, crashing into the barriers. She would not post a lap.
After Dust, was Luna. And out of all the drivers shook by Celestia's crash, Luna was the most shook. She began to doubt herself, wondering if she could even complete a lap if her sister can't. However, just before Luna was about to take to the circuit, Antonio and Celestia came in to comfort her. And that seemed to kick something inside of her. She set off on her lap and she did very well. Her lap time was a very quick 1.41.103.
Finally, Suri took too the track. She wasn't very confident in her ability to handle the track. It showed, as going into Turn 1 to start her flying lap, she locked her brakes and skidded into the escape road. And according to the rules, taking to the escape road on a flying lap results in a disqualification.
So, Akula and Luna would move on.
Duel 5: CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS CHR (HAAS) VS SIL (BWT Racing Point) VS GLA (HAAS)
Duel 5 was between the mid-pack racers. Except for Cheese and Silverstream.
First up, was Cheese. He also wasn't fazed by Celestia's crash and gave his run the best performance he could. He set a very nice lap time of 1.41.781. But that's where all the luck for all of the drivers in this duel ends.
Next, was Chrysalis. Her VF-19 had problems with downforce in the back wing, which caused it to have trouble in the braking zones and low to medium-speed corners. This was proved when she entered the Castle section. But unlike Celestia and Viral, she didn;t his the tyre barriers. Instead, she hit the concrete wall at Turn 9 and bounced off the walls like a pinball, before losing the front-right wheel and suspension.
After her, was Silverstream. Although her Racing Point was a much better car than the HAAS car, it was SIlver's attitude towards the circuit that let her down. She was expected to keep up with Gallus, but Silverstream was scared of the tight walls of the track. Her nature at this track was her downfall. Going into Turn 4, she stopped the car and got all because she was overwhelmed and scared.
Finally, there was Gladmane. For some reason, he was able to have more control over his VF-19 that Chrysalis did at Baku. But his luck would run out in the final sector. Coming in to blast through Turn 15, he suffered from understeer and went into the barriers.
Now, according to FIA rules in this series, if more cars crash in a Duel then the number required for a finals race to be run with 12 drivers, then the driver(s) that have covered the most distance will move onto the final. And in this case, Gladmane had gotten the furthest on his flying lap, so he would move onto the finals, alongside Cheese.
Duel 6: BMI (McLaren) VS DNG (Scuderia Ferrari) VS OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS SPI (Scuderia Ferrari)
The final Duel was to be very interesting, as three of the front-pack drivers had a mid-pack driver in their duel.
First onto the track, was Big Mac. He knew that McLaren was at rock bottom in the points standings and they desperately needed points. But Macintosh was sure to deliver. Despite being the same as his sis and being intimidated by city circuits due to being from the country, he took it on the chin and powered on through that feeling to post a lap time of 1.42.651.
Next, was DangerDean. And he was running a one-off livery for his Ferrari. On the side pods, a symbolism consisting of two D's (one normal and one mirrored) and three white chevrons facing towards the front. Also, a thin white stripe and a wider black stripe on the bottom half. On the front wing, a white eagle silhouette with Dean's cutie mark below the number 15. On the wing, was a logo saying TBS. With all of the decals, the car still kept most of it's Ferrari sponsor decals. Dean saw what had happened to his teammates and Charles in Q2 and he vowed that he wouldn't end up like them. But despite not crashing on his flying lap, he did see why Dash and Dust struggled on this course. He did have some trouble with Sector 2 and his lap time was a 1.42.112.
After Dean, was Oscura. She was determined to meet Dean in the finals and pushed herself to set the fastest she could. However, she pushed too hard going through Turn 16, as she suffered from oversteer. Her RB15 went rear-end into the concrete barrier and she was livid!
The final driver onto the track before the final race was to take place the next day was to be Spitfire. She wanted to join Dean in the final and ensure that Ferrari took its second place spot in the Constructors Championship. However, just like Oscura, she pushed her SF90 too hard, this time in Turn 12. She spun out and crashed.
Dean and Big Mac would be the last drivers in the final.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 4: Azerbaijan
Starting Grid
Gallus (BWT Racing Point) - 1.40.733
Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso) - 1.40.971
Luna (Alfa-Romeo) - 1.41.103
Cheese Sandwich (Aston-Martin Red Bull) - 1.41.871
Pinkie Pie (Aston-Martin Red Bull) - 1.41.872
Twilight Sparkle (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) - 1.42.021.
Sandbar (Williams ROKiT) - 1.42.072
DangerDean (Scuderia Ferrari) - 1.42.112
Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) - 1.42.476
Big Macintosh (McLaren) - 1.42.651
Rarity (Renault) - 1.42.745
Gladmane (HAAS) - N/A
"Hello, once again! Welcome back to Round 4 of the 2019 F1 Equestria Duels series, here in Baku! I am joined once again by my brother and fellow commentator, Flam!"
"I've got to say this, brother, but I am quite looking forward to having some special guests with us for next few rounds. It gets quite lonely up here in the broadcasting booth and I just can't wait to meet our first guest!"
"Well, hold on to your patience. We've got a final to run! Quite a few mid-pack driver are taking to the grid today, after a series of terrible accidents plagued the top teams during the Duels. And believe me, seeing Celestia, our current points leader, crash into the barriers at Turn 8 during her hot lap surprised a lot of fans! Me included!"
"Yes, but you forget that her sister, Luna in on the track today! And we've got very talented drivers on the circuit. But I still have no clue who is going to win!"
"Looks like we are about to find out! The drivers are locking into the grid for the start of the race! Hold onto your hats, viewers! We are about to get underway, here in Azerbaijan!"
Sandbar knew that he was in for a tough time on the narrow streets of Baku. But being the chilled pony that he was, the stress didn't bother him. All he had to do was race as hard as he could and give it his best shot.
'Sandbar, radio check. Radio check,' His race engineer, Tobias Knight, checked in.
"Copy, loud and clear, Tobias," The colt replied.
'All right, comms are all good. Stand by for the lights,'
"Let's show the world that Williams is no push-over!"
As all of the drivers waited for the lights to appear, Sandbar looked over some of his opponents. Being the only WIlliams in the field since Yona crashed during his Duel, he had quite a bit of work cut out for him. Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie sat directly ahead of him, along with Dean and Akula behind him. Some of the best drivers in the series had him surrounded on the grid. But he knew that Akula hated the Baku circuit, Dean would probably struggle with the tighter corners, Twilight would go 'Twilighting' while under the pressure of pack racing and Pinkie... he wasn't sure what to expect with her.
But he shook those thoughts away as the first red light appeared on the tree. Some of the other drivers began readying their engines for the start. But Sandbar waited for the third red light to appear before engaging the clutch and pushing the Mercedes M10 EQ Power + engine in his Williams to full rev. Eventually, engine revving filled the soundwaves on TVs across both Earth and Equestria (as well as the air in Baku), as the F1 cars sat on the grid, waiting for the lights to go out.
Eventually, they did and the cars blasted off the grid.
"And it's lights out and away we go!"
Sandbar didn't have the best start, but it wasn't the worst as the entire field spread out over the somewhat narrow straight, heading into the first corner. The colt hadn't gained any positions but he didn't lose any either, before passing through the first turn. Looking on ahead, he saw the blue Racing Point of Gallus easily pulling away from the field.
Gallus had shown no signs of fear or stress throughout the entire race weekend and easily started pulling away from the field going into Turn 2. Fluttershy was the next driver after him and had to hold off advances made by Luna and both of the Red Bull drivers looking to get past. However, despite having a non-pace setting car, Sandbar easily held a comfortable spot in 7th. However, he needed to get to the front of the field in order to make his point. But he knew exactly how he was going to achieve it.
Only 2 laps in, there was a clear pattern emerging. As Gallus easily pulled away and extended his lead, the more powerful front-runner cars began to make advances going down the back straight. Both Cheese and Pinkie successfully managed to overtake both Luna and Fluttershy down the straight before Lap 3. Sandbar was the only exception to this, as his FW42 was easily keeping pace with the two Mercedes W10s of Akula and Twilight and the Ferrari of Dean.
On Lap 5, Akula had managed to successfully managed to pass both Dean and Sandbar on the back straight, just after Turn 17. But Sandbar stayed with Akula's slipstream and managed to pass Twilight when Akula did the same in Turn 20. However, Twilight saw that Sandbar had overtaken her Mercedes and she was in utter shock.
"I JUST GOT PASSED BY A WILLIAMS!!!! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN??!!!!" Twilight cried out.
'He was in Akula's draft and was riding him past you,' Her race engineer explained.
"OH, SHUT UP BARRY!!!! THAT'S NOT THE POINT!!!!"
And when Akula saw that Sandbar was following him and letting the changeling do the work for him, he chimed in as well.
"There's something definitely wrong with my car. There's a Williams keeping pace with me," He reported.
'Looks like he's using you to get to the front of the field,' His race engineer pointed out.
"Somepony needs to get him off me! I can feel his gaze burrowing into my helmet, he that f****** close!"
Going into Lap 10, Luna was trailing behind the two Red Bulls of Cheese and Pinkie, with Fluttershy close behind her. But coming down the main straight to begin Lap 11, Luna suddenly pulled into the pits. As she cruised down pit road at the required speed limit, Fluttershy took P4 and the gap behind her to Akula was closing rapidly. She pulled into the pit, took on a set of fresh Mediums and soon exited the pits, with Akula just crossing the start/finish line at that moment.
In that moment, she began her undercut attempt on the three Red Bull cars.
'I thank thee for such a quick cease. Now, I shalt hunt those folk down!" Luna thanked, before continuing her race.
One third of the way into the race (In English, Lap 12), there was a battle for 10th going on between Big Mac, Rarity and Gladmane. All three of them were in teams that were in lower spots on the Constructors Championship than the team bosses would like and all three were pushing to make sure that they secured that one point for a P10 finish and hopefully push for a higher place finish.
However, on the very next lap, everything changed. Going down the straight to start Lap 13, Big Mac in the McLaren was holding off attempts at passing by Rarity and Gladmane, in the Renault and HAAS respectively. However, while going down the back straight that lead to Turn 3, his MCL34 then hit a drain cover that tore up the underside of his car, causing him to slow down and have to pit on that lap.
This, in turn, allowed Gladmane to capitalize on the incident and passed Bic Mac on the inside before the yellow flag flew in Sector 1, with Rarity hot on his rear-wing. But as the two cleared the first sector, Gladmane then accidentally locked the brakes going into Turn 5 and flat-spotted his tyres. Even worse, his forward momentum then carried him down the escape road on that corner, allowing Rarity to take 10th place. Gladmane then performed a poor J-turn and got back onto the track, hoping to pit for a fresh set of tyres.
But the sudden turmoils weren't over yet. On Lap 18, Twilight and Dean began battling for 8th, as despite being in top-tier cars, their nerves prevented them from reaching the top at this track. However, Dean had more experience with racing fast cars in heart-pounding instances and was proving to be much better at handling the situation then Twilight, who began 'Twilighting' again.
This allowed Dean to take her under the brakes at Turn 7. And Twilight wasn't happy.
"NOW DEAN JUST PASSED ME!!!! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME???!!!!" She cried out.
'Just keep calm. You'll get him back!'
Eventually, most of the drivers had to come in for new tyres and replace their older ones. All except for one. Luna. She then inherited the lead as all of the drivers pulled into the pit for fresh tyres. But as Dean cruised to the exit, all of a sudden, Rarity came out of her pit took take a spot from Dean. However, her release was a little to aggressive and pulled alongside Dean's Ferrari, almost forcing him into the wall.
"Whoa, geez! Rarity just put up a very aggressive release and nearly sent me into the wall!" Dean reported.
'Roger that. Car looks okay,' His race engineer reported.
After the little Rarity-Dean incident in the pit, the race positions had changed drastically. Now, the two Red Bulls were leading, with Gallus, Fluttershy, Luna, Akula and Sandbar chasing them down. And it didn't take long for that to change, as on Lap 22, Gallus caught the two and easily took the lead from them in Turns 3 and 4.
However, everything then went horribly wrong two laps later. Going into Turn 1, Cheese had gotten quite a bit of speed down the straight, riding in Pinkie's slipstream and using his DRS. He made a move to overtake the pink Red Bull on the inside but as he made his move, Pinkie aggressively defended her line and moved to block. But Cheese was coming in hot and the stallion slammed on his brakes. But he couldn't slow down enough.
Cheese's RB15 went up the back of Pinkie's car. The rear-end of Pinkie's RB was lifted onto the nose of Cheese's RB, breaking the yellow Red Bull's front wing in the process. Then, she slid off the nose and started skidding down the escape road, flat-spotting her tyres. Cheese, meanwhile, ran over bits of his own wing, before joining Pinkie on the escape road. While both cars were okay to continue, Pinkie needed another set of tyres and Cheese needed the same and a new front wing.
With the two Red Bulls out of it, the top 4 spots were left to the following drivers:
Gallus #32 Racing Point
But with only quite a few laps to go, everything was still up for grabs. The laps ticked by quickly and Gallus began to pull away again, leaving the Princess of the Night, the Demon Lord and Sandbar to battle for third. And with only 3 laps to go, Sandbar was waiting for his chance at at Top 3 finish.
'Sandbar, our data is showing that performing an overtake after Turn 1 will get the best result for this race,' Tobias reported.
"I disagree, Tobias. I have a plan and it involves with me having to stay with Akula's slipstream," Sandbar disagreed, doing all he could to stay on the tail of the black and red Mercedes in front of him. Akula was faster in the straights but Sandbar could easily catch him in the corners and while he stayed in the changeling's slipstream.
Eventually, the laps ticked down until the white flag flew with one lap to go. Gallus had a big enough gap from the other drivers and was easily going to claim the win. But Luna, Akula and Sandbar were still battling for 2nd going into the final lap. And knowing Akula needed a high-placed result after two races of terrible results, in order to stay ahead of the Alfa-Romeo team in the standings, he knew what Akula would try.
Passing through Sector 2, Akula hammered on the tail of Luna but didn't make any attempt to past, as there was nowhere to move. But as the three cars entered Sector 3 and raced around the fast corners before the back straight, Akula began to close slowly and stay with Luna's slipstream towards the final DRS zone. And when the DRS zone came, Akula made his move. Going down the back straight, Akula moved to the outside of Luna and made an effort to overtake. Of course, Gallus had already finished the race, taking the win.
Then, Sandbar made his move.
As Akula successfully passed Luna and moved back into line, Sandbar came out from behind him and took the Demon Lord on the outside. He only just beat Akula to the line, by the tip of his Williams's wing.
Noone could believe what had just happened. And the electronic timing confirmed the impossible. Sandbar had beaten Akula to the line by no less than 0.010 tenths of a second! It was unbelievable!
'We've got the results now,' Tobias reported to Sandbar, 'Gallus, P1. You've finished P2! Well done, you've put Williams on the podium once again!!'
"That's more like it! YAHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Sandbar exclaimed, punching his hoof into the sky. And back at the Williams garage, the pit crew and team members were in complete celebration upon seeing that Sandbar had brought the slow, heavy and off-pace FW42 to a podium finish in its 8th event start of the season (including the main season).
As Sandbar brought the car around into the victory box, both Akula's Mercedes and Gallus' Racing Point were already there, behind the '3' and '1' signs respectively. Akula was celebrating with his pit crew and Viral, who all felt proud and amazed with Akula's podium result at a track he doesn't like. Gallus, meanwhile, was also doing the same thing, celebrating his first victory.
But once Sandbar stopped his Williams in front of the '2', everything changed. As Sandbar jumped out of his FW42, both Akula and Gallus approached him and the three embraced each other. All of them were proud of each other for finishing this agonising street course.
And Sandbar swore that he heard Akula whisper to him, 'Good race out there, Sandbar. Well done,'
Author's Note
Results
Gallus - 25 + 1 points (for Fastest Lap)
Sandbar - 18 points
Akula - 15 points
Luna - 12 points
Fluttershy - 10 points
DangerDean - 8 points
Twilight Sparkle - 6 points
Pinkie Pie - 4 points
Cheese Sandwich - 2 points
Rarity - 1 point
Gladmane - 0 points
Big Macintosh - 0 points
Driver's Championship
Celestia - 63 points
Akula - 50 points
Viral Velocity - 42 points
Gallus - 32 points
Twilight Sparkle - 31 points
DangerDean - 28 points
Sandbar - 22 points
Rainbow Dash - 19 points
Luna - 18 points
Lightning Dust - 18 points
Fluttershy - 16 points
Chrysalis - 16 points
Silverstream - 15 points
Oscura Galaxia - 12 points
Pinkie Pie - 6 points
Cheese Sandwich - 6 points
Yona - 6 points
Rarity - 3 points
Gladmane - 2 points
Suri Polomare - 1 point
Applejack - 1 point
Big Macintosh - 0 points
Ocellus - 0 points
Spitfire - 0 points
Constructors Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 123 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 95 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 65 points
BWT Racing Point - 45 points
ROKiT WIlliams F1 Racing - 28 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 20 points
HAAS F1 Team - 19 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 15 points
Renault F1 Team - 4 points
McLaren F1 - 1 point
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 4 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 4: Azerbaijan
Silverstream BWT Racing Point Duel 5 Flying Lap
"Guys, I don't think I can do this. This track is getting to me,"
"Are you okay to continue? "
"No. I can't take this anymore,"
"Okay. Park the car where safe. Once you're feeling okay, bring it back to the pits, "
"Sorry, guys,"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 2 Flying Lap
"Viral, you okay? "
"Yeah, I'm fine,"
"Okay. Switch off, switch off, "
"*********!!!!!!! **** THIS TRACK!!!!!! **** IT!!!!!!"
"Calm down, V, "
"I AM NOT GOING TO CALM DOWN, NEON!!!!!"
"Calm yourself. I know you hate city tracks but I need you to calm down, "
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Duel 1 Flying Lap
"Are you okay, Celestia? "
"Yes, I am fine. Sorry, Turn 8 is a lot harder than it looks,"
Twilight Sparkle Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Pre-Race
"Twilight, radio check, "
"*noises of 'Twilighting'*"
"Twilight, you okay? "
"*continued 'Twilighting'*"
"Well, at least the radio works, "
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 1
"Well, here we go. 36 laps of absolute hell. Let's get this over with,"
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Lap 2
"Okay. Looking good, Fluttershy. End of Lap 1, you're in P2, "
"Okay... I'll do my best to hold it,"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 6
"There's a Mercedes AND a Williams ahead of me! That's gotta be every Ferrari driver's nightmare,"
"Be patient, Dean. One of them might make a mistake, "
"I'm sorry, but when was the last time you've heard the Mercedes team make a mistake?!"
Pinkie Pie Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Finals Lap 11
"Luna just pulled into the pits. Looks like she's attempting an undercut, "
"Thanks for letting me know! Consider her... left in the dust! *Pinkie laughter*"
Big Macintosh McLaren F1 Final Lap 13
"****, I jus' hit somethin'!"
"Looks like it was a drain cover. We're showing massive damage to the floor, "
"Alright, box this lap,"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 18
"Nice pass. Keep your head straight, there's plenty of laps to go, "
"That's gotta be one of the best performances of my career so far! Hahahaha!"
Rarity Renault F1 Team Final Lap 20 (Pit Lane)
"Go, go! Watch for traffic. WATCH FOR TRAFFIC!! Traffic! Traffic! "
Cheese Sandwich Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 20 (Pit Lane)
"I don't know about you but I think that was a very aggressive release from the Renault team. I'm not sure who's at fault there... but I think that Rarity could've given Dean some room,"
"The stewards are looking into it, "
Gallus BWT Racing Point Final Post-Race
"THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT IN GRIFFONSTONE, BOYS!!!!!! YAHOO!!!!!!!"
"Brilliant drive today, Gallus! You are the champion of Azerbaijan! Absolute master-class! "
"That has to be the best race I've driven so far! See you on the podium!"
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 5 (Spain), Duel 1: Rarity VS Pinkie Pie (Sprint Race, One-On-One)
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya , Spain
Formula One Equestria Duels series
Duel 1: RAR (Renault) VS PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Event Type: One-On-One Sprint Race (5 Laps)
"Hello, once again, all fans of motorsport! I am Flim and welcome to Round 5 of the Formula One Equestria Duels series! We are in lovely Catalunya, Spain for our race at the legendary Catalunya Circuit and with me in the booth once again, my brother, Flam!"
"Hello, all fans! But brother, we aren't alone in the booth this time. Are we?"
"How right you are! For this round only and many others to come, we will have some special visitors to join us in the booth! And today, ladies and gentleponies, may we welcome to the booth, Martin Brundle!"
"Hello, everyone. Great to be here,"
"So good to have you up here in the booth, Mr. Brundle! You've driven many races here at Catalyuna Circuit. What can you tell us?"
Well, when I raced in F1, this track was a lovely relief after the previous round at Monaco, which is the round after this. The track is known for drastically changing conditions. One day, a team might have the fastest setup in the field, only to suffer the next day. And since most of the track is more sweeping and straight, I have a feeling that the more powerful cars will have an advantage here,"
"Thanks for the great insight! Let's get into the Duels, shall we? In this round, Pinkie Pie of Red Bull will be facing off with Rarity of the Renault team! Looks like we have a cracker of a race to start of with!"
"So true! Two friends on opposite teams, both mentored by two great drivers once on the same team last year! What a coincidence!"
"Looks like were about to find out. They're off on their Rolling Start,"
Of all the rotten luck! Pinkie Pie thought, I hope that I don't upset her when I win, that would be very sad. Oooo! Maybe I'll throw her an apology party once the racing is over!
For the first duel, Pinkie had been paired up with Rarity. And this wasn't good at all. Rarity and the rest of the Renault team had been struggling in both seasons in the championship. Rarity was well down at the back of the standings with only three measly points to her name, placing her in 18th. Suri was no better, tied with Applejack for 20th in the standings. And worst of all, Renault was second-to-last in the Constructors standings, only three points ahead of McLaren. And in the main season, the team was only third-to-last, with both drivers tied for 12th in the standings.
Pinkie knew that a string of more losses and failings to make finals will break her unicorn friend, but Red Bull wasn't much better. They were 6th in the standings, trailing way behind their main rivals, Ferrari and Mercedes. Pinkie, Cheese and Oscura needed to push!
But Pinkie was unsure of what to do; lose the duel and upset the team or win the duel and upset Rarity even more. And when Pinkie tried using her Pinkie Sense to see what would happen to Rarity at the end of the race, but that didn't help either, as it kept showing up blanks.
All Pinkie could do, was just race her hardest and hope for the best.
The lights on the tree went green and the two set off on their rolling start. Pinkie trailed behind Rarity's white-and-purple R.S.19, as the mare in question followed the Mercedes pace car. In the one-on-one duels (not Qualifying), the driver who was the lowest in the standings out of the two started ahead of their opponent to keep the race fair. And that rule was fairly effective in keeping the field close together in the points.
Pinkie couldn't help but feel bad for Rarity, as the pace car pulled into the pits and the two rounded the final corner before going full throttle down the straight to begin the race.
And almost immediately, Pinkie's fears were realised.
Going down the back straight, Pinkie easily caught Rarity and passed on the approach to Turn 1. Passing through Turns 1 and 2, Pinkie's pink RB15 easily began to pull away from the Renault, which was struggling to keep up through Turn 3. Things only got worse and worse, as Pinkie continued to pull away from Rarity.
Nothing really much happened, except on Lap 2. When Pinkie crossed the finish line on that lap, the checkered flag was being waved from the signal box, to Pinkie's confusion. That was, until Pinkie's race engineer revealed what she didn't want to hear.
Half-way through Lap 2, Rarity called for mercy. The race was over and Pinkie had eliminated the unicorn via the Mercy rule. Much to Pinkie's regret.
As the pink mare took a 'victory lap', nothing was said by her over the radio. As Pinkie pulled into the pits, the enginners and Cheese expected her to celebrate her victory, only to see Pinkie leave the garage without saying a word. Once she had taken her helmet off, it was clear that Pinkie had changed. Her mane had deflated and gone straight, and her coat had lost its bright pink colour.
Pinkie had lost her bright colour, because her hoof had been forced...
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 2: VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS GAL (BWT Racing Point)
After the heartbreaking duel (in Pinkie's case, anyway), was a duel that showed that Mercedes was back. Viral Velocity was facing off against the winner in Azerbaijan, Gallus of Racing Point. Viral had a promising showing in Australia and China but in Bahrain and Azerbaijan, she had suffered setback after setback. But now she was back and in full force.
Once the race had started, Gallus didn't stand a chance. Almost immediately, she had passed the Racing Point and began setting blistering lap times! At one point, she had set a faster lap time than her mentor, Valterri Bottas' fastest lap in Qualifying 3 that got him pole in the main race.
Gallus could not catch up to the expertly-driven Mercedes and was eliminated within 2 laps.
Duel 3: OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)
The next Duel was between two drivers of rival teams; Oscura of Red Bull was taking on Lightning Dust of the Ferrari team. But as the two cars pulled out onto the grid, everyone and pony had noticed that the Mission Winnow sponsorship decals on not only Lightning's Ferrari, but also the other Equestrian Series Ferraris.
You see, at the start of the season in Australia, Celestia and Luna became suspicious when during the main race, the Mission Winnow sponsorship decals were removed from Vettel and Leclerc's cars during their race but had stayed on for the Equestrian race. But when they saw that they had only been removed for the race in Australia, they began an investigation. And after much searching and questioning, they found out that Mission Winnow was another name for Philip Morris International, who are the owners of the Malboro brand.
And when the princesses asked about and found out what product that Malboro was, they were furious.
Outraged that their ponies in Scuderia Ferrari were driving cars with cigarette sponsorship on them without their consent, the sisters demanded that the team removed the Mission Winnow decals for the rest of the season. While Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto tried to get Philips Morris International to back them up, pressure from the Royalty of Equestria and the FIA (who were backing them up) forced the team to remove the sponsorship decals for the rest of the season, starting with the Spanish Grand Prix. And while Mission Winnow brand owner Philip Morris tried to make a legal case against the sisters for removing the decals without his consent, he lost that case as well.
Now, the pony-driven Ferraris were racing without the Mission Winnow branding, much to Binotto's and Morris's ire.
Both cars were close, but now that Ferraris were now back on familiar territory, they began to perform as well. The long and sweeping curves of the Catalunya circuit suited the more powerful and faster SF90 and Lightning was easily able to pull away.
But Oscura wouldn't throw in the towel like Rarity and pushed hard. But all five laps came to an end, with Lightning coming out on top.
Duel 4: OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS YON (WIlliams)
Next up, was a face-off between two mid-to-back runners. Yona would be taking on Ocellus. The shy changeling in question hadn't even scored a point yet. Hell, she hadn't even qualified for a single final! And to make matters worse, Yona had fitted the same upgrades that Sandbar FW42 had to her Williams, to make it faster. And it was these upgrades that got Sandbar a P2 finish at Baku.
But as the two took to the track, her fears were anything but reality. The upgrades that were fitted to Yona's Williams only added more weight to her already-heavy FW42, negating all the power that the upgrades were supposed to provide and affecting the downforce and agility. Yona's 'upgraded' Williams was more prone to understeer with all the weight and she had no chance.
Ocellus easily beat the yak and Yona had the upgrades removed from Williams for the next round.
Duel 5: RBD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS BMI (McLaren)
Next up, was the Mission Winnow-removed Ferrari of Rainbow Dash was against the McLaren of Big Macintosh. Big Mac was really pushing for points after running two finals and not scoring a single point. And he was really flying in his pace! However, this time, his and Applejack's McLarens were running without their A Better Tomorrow branding. After the Royal Sisters had won their 'Mission Winnow' case, they immediately began searching for other front companies that promoted tobacco companies.
And after some investigation with the help of the FIA, they found that one of McLaren's sponsors (the aforementioned A Better Tomorrow) was owned by British American Tobacco and asked McLaren team principal, Andreas Seidl , to remove the branding for the rest of the season. And Seidl, not wanting the two sisters' wrath, obliged and had them removed.
However, no matter how hard that Macintosh drove, his MCL34 just wasn't fast enough to catch Dash and he was eliminated easily. Dash was back on a roll.
Duel 6: DNG (Scuderia Ferrari) VS GLA (HAAS)
One of the most unexpected results of this round, Dean was facing Gladmane of the HAAS team. The start was as one would expect; Dean easily started pulling away and was about to make it into the final via Mercy. But going into Turn 13 (Europcar), all of a sudden, his right-front tyre then blew and ripped off the suspension on that side. Out of control, Dean skidded off the track and into the gravel. Luckily, the gravel slowed the Ferrari before it hit the barriers.
Dean had to forfeit, giving the win to Gladmane. However, a select few believed that Gladmane had tampered with Dean's SF90 before the race. Applejack demamded to see the pit stall surveillance and she did so alongside FIA stewards. However, after going over the whole footage, there was no evidence of Gladmane tampering with his car.
Also, one of the Ferrari engineers assigned to Dean's car talked, saying that he knew that something was wrong with the tyre pressure but didn't tell anyone, because he thought that the tyre would last the five laps (but he also stated that this is the first time that he has done this, due to being newly hired). As a result, the FIA dropped the investigation and Gladmane was allowed to keep the victory.
Duel 7: SIL (BWT Racing Point) VS LUN (Alfa-Romeo)
Both of the drivers in Duel 7 were teammates to really talented drivers; Luna of Alfa-Romeo was taking on Silverstream of Racing Point. Both of these drivers had teammates that have won previous rounds and needed their own wins. Celestia had won the Bahrain and Chinese Grand Prixs, while Gallus had won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in the previous round. Now, their teammates wanted to see themselves on the podium.
The two raced with all they had and it was Silverstream who came out on top.
Duel 8: CHR (HAAS) VS CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
It was supposed to be a Red Bull victory, but ended up different, when Cheese Sandwich was to take on Chrysalis of the HAAS team. However, during the race, Chrysalis' upgraded VF-19 was able to easily keep pace with the Red Bull.
This made Cheese panic and he went off the course at Turn 3, before his RB15 was brought to a stop in the gravel. He was out.
Duel 9: AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS CEL (Alfa-Romeo)
This time, the two top-placed drivers in the championship were facing off. Whoever made it to the finals would get to have the lead in the championship. Now, Akula had just come out of a very heartpounding and sweat-inducing race in Baku and had this race to get some more points in before the next round at his old nemesis: Monaco. And he needed the points, or Celestia would definitely have extended her lead.
During the race, the princess of the sun once again demonstrated her superior driving skill and kept in the lead for most of the race and was blocking any attempt of Akula getting past, despite the changeling having a faster car. And Akula wasn't having any more of it. Going down the back-straight, Akula pulled into Celestia's slipstream and rode the Golden Alfa's tail towards Turn 1, DRS wide open. And as Celestia broke for Turn 1, Akula pulled out of the slipstream, overtook Celestia and then broke for the corner.
It was a perfect braking-attack move, one that would make Daniel Ricciardo proud. And it was this move that scored Akula a place in the finals.
Duel 10: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS SAN (ROKiT Williams)
Next up, two drivers with very different personalities. Sandbar of Williams was taking of Twilight of Mercedes. Ever since his P2 finish at Baku, confidence was at an all-time high for him and he was ready for Twilight. But Twilight knew that she had to get a result here before heading to Monaco for the next round, so she would have to beat Sandbar.
However, once again, Sandbar shattered public stereotypes and easily beat Twilight in his specially-upgraded FW42.
Duel 11: SPI (Scuderia Ferrari) VS SUR (Renault)
Duel 11 was to be a white-wash and an even bigger disaster for the Renault team. Suri was taking on Spitfire in this duel and the writing was on the wall for the fashionista mare. No matter how hard Suri pushed the car, she could not catch Spitfire and called for mercy after three laps.
Duel 12: APP (McLaren) VS FLT (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Finally, the Elements of Honesty and Kindness were taking each other on. But Applejack seemed to be pushing her McLaren hard, fighting for a spot in the finals. She knew that the team needed points to get them out of last and Applejack definitely delivered.
It also helped that Fluttershy wasn't being aggressive at all with her driving, sealing Applejack's place in the final.
Author's Note
In case you were wondering, the Mission Winnow and A Better Tomorrow scandal is a real thing. And it isn't the first time something like this has happened in motorsport, trust me.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 5: Spain
Starting Grid
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Rainbow Dash (Scuderia Ferrari)
Lightning Dust (Scuderia Ferrari)
Sandbar (ROKiT Williams)
Spitfire (Scuderia Ferrari)
Pinkie Pie (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Chrysalis (HAAS)
Applejack (McLaren)
Silverstream (BWT Racing Point)
Gladmane (HAAS)
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
Viral Velocity - 25 points + 1 (for Fastest Lap)
Akula - 18 points
Pinkie Pie - 15 points
Spitfire - 12 points
Chrysalis - 10 points
Gladmane - 8 points
Sandbar - 6 points
Applejack - 4 points
Silverstream - 2 points (1 lap down)
Ocellus - 1 point (1 lap down)
Rainbow Dash - 0 points (DNF)
Lightning Dust - 0 points (DNF)
Driver's Championship
Viral Velocity - 68 points
Akula - 68 points
Celestia - 63 points
Gallus - 32 points
Twilight Sparkle - 31 points
Sandbar - 28 points
DangerDean - 28 points
Chrysalis - 26 points
Pinkie Pie - 21 points
Rainbow Dash - 19 points
Lightning Dust - 18 points
Luna - 18 points
Silverstream - 17 points
Fluttershy - 16 points
Spitfire - 12 points
Oscura Galaxia - 12 points
Gladmane - 10 points
Cheese Sandwich - 6 points
Yona - 6 points
Applejack - 5 points
Rarity - 3 points
Ocellus - 1 point
Suri Polomare - 1 point
Big Macintosh - 0 points
Constructor's Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 167 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 95 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 65 points
BWT Racing Point - 47 points
HAAS F1 Team - 37 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 35 points
ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 34 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 16 points
McLaren F1 - 5 points
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.
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 5 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 5: Spain
Rarity Renault F1 Duel 1 Lap 2
"I can't keep up with her! She's too far ahead!"
'Stay calm. You'll catch her,'
"NO, IT WILL NOT! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT??!! No, I've had enough! I'm calling mercy! Box this lap!"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Duel 6 Lap 1
'Dean, you okay?'
"Yeah, I'm fine. One of the tyres just blew up for no reason,"
'The stewards are looking into it. Full shut off procedure,'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Pre-Race
'Okay chica. 15 to the green light,'
"Alright, best of luck to the team. Be sure to advise me how Pinkie Pie does in the race, she's been through a lot and I want to make sure she does well,"
'Copy that, V. I'll keep an eye on your amiga,'
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 3
'Are you okay? Are you okay?'
"Yes, I'm fine. Just got took out by somepony too reckless for her own good. What an utter ********!""
Lightning Dust Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 3
"****! ****! WHAT THE ****?! I JUST GOT TAKEN OUT BY MY OWN TEAMMATE!!! SHE IS SUCH A KLUTZ, THAT RAINBOW CRASH!!!! ****!!!!!"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 4 (Safety Car Conditions)
"The safety car is driving waaaay too slow!"
Ocellus Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Lap 5
'Ocellus, we need you to push on this set. You are falling behind the mid-pack rapidly!'
"I'm trying! Just let me run my race!"
Gladmane HAAS F1 Final Lap 23
"Tell Chrysalis I'm sorry about the brake-test. Silverstream just suddenly slowed down and I had nowhere to go,"
'Copy. We'll ferry the message to her,'
"Thank you. Thank you very much,"
Chrysalis HAAS F1 Final Lap 23
'Chrysalis, Gladmane is apologising for the brake-check. He says it wasn't his fault,'
"Well, who's fault was it?"
'It was Silverstream. She suddenly defended her position and Gladmane had nowhere to go,'
"I see, then. Tell him I accept his apology,"
Gladmane HAAS F1 Final Post-Race
'Gladmane, the first one to come see is me, please,'
"Uh-huh-huh. No problem,"
Chrysalis HAAS F1 Final Post-Race
Chrysalis, this is Guenther. I will, I will... er, make sure that this incident is sorted out. Stay calm and come back easy, we talk afterwards,'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
"What's the finish?"
'You got him.'
"Yes! That's how it's done. And Pinkie P3? I'll call this a good day. And extend my thanks to Akula for the clean finish. I would not have wanted to repeat what the Ferrari's did earlier."
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
'Get in there, Akula! P2! Nice race today! That's a P1, P2 for the Crimson Arrows!'
"Crimson Arrows, huh? I like it,"
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS BMI (McLaren) VS OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS GLA (HAAS)
The first Duel was between Akula of Mercedes, Big Mac of McLaren, Ocellus of Toro Rosso and Gladmane of HAAS. It was expected that Akula would make it into the final. The truth was anything but.
In fact, it would be a surprise if Akula would even set a competitive time. For Akula despised the Monaco circuit as much as he despised Starlight Glimmer and Thorax combined! There were a lot of nicknames for the Monaco circuit and Akula had his own; 'D'yavol, Odetyy Kak Angel', which is Russian for 'Devil that dressed as an angel'. And his nicknames didn't stop there. He had one for every single corner of the track!
Even the corner names weren't the most special thing going on at the course. Because Akula, Viral and Twilight's Mercedes' all had their halos painted bright red, with the message 'Niki, we miss you' on the inner ring, in tribute to Niki Lauda (who died in his sleep a few days before the beginning of the event).
However, the special commemoration livery didn't do Akula any good in helping his troubles with the circuit, as he turned in too early at Mirabeau Haute and clipped his front wing. But things would get worse further down. On approach to the Nouvelle Chicane at full speed, one of the wheels on Akula's Mercedes hit a bump in the road and sent the car into a skid... at 330 km/hr. The Demon Lord lost control and, in a crash eerily similar to Sergio Perez's crash in 2011, Akula slammed into the barriers with enough force to rip the Mercedes in half. Immediately, the red flag was called and paramedics rushed to assist Akula, who emerged from the front-half of his wrecked car, bleeding badly from his wings.
But aside from the bleeding wing roots, he was okay.
Next up, was Ocellus. Unlike the previous event in Baku, she didn't let Akula's shocking crash get the better of her. Her mentor, Alexander Albon, gave her a few lessons to help deal with the pressure at the track. And they did the trick. The shy changeling kept her cool and set a time of 1.11.201.
Following the Toro Rosso, was Big Macintosh. Nothing had changed for the bulky stallion and despite his mentor's (Carlos Sainz Jr.) best attempts to calm him down, he crashed out at Tabac, suffering from understeer.
Finally, Gladmane took to the circuit. Through his lap, the conpony showed really great pace... until the final three corners. First, he clipped his back wheel going through La Rascasse and going through Anthony Noghes, Gladmane did an Austin Powers and clipped the wall at Turn 19 with his other back wheel and spun it.
His HAAS came to a stop, completely blocking the track. But Gladmane was able to get himself out of his predicament easily and post his time, a 1:16.754. His botched lap ensured that he would not get a high grid spot in the final.
Duel 2: RBD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS CEL (Alfa-Romeo) VS SIL (BWT Racing Point) VS DNG (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 2 was nothing short of a complete and utter disaster for all four drivers. Celestia was first onto the track, but just like in Baku, her natural talent was compromised by the technicality of the Monaco Circuit. Coming through the Casino Square, she emerged at the exit only inches from the barrier.
However, she did NOT move off the line in time. As such, she hit the hump at the exit of the turn, sending the Alfa into the air. Upon landing, the suspension was shot to pieces and the bottom of the car was torn up, leaving the Sun Princess stuck and given a DNQ.
Next up, was DangerDean. He (like many others) wasn't a massive fan of the track and it showed. However, he didn't last for long. Going through the Tunnel Straight, Dean suffered from understeer and hit the wall, ripping off the front-left wheel and suspension. However, this impact wasn't violent and Dean was just fine.
Following Dean, was his teammate, Rainbow Dash. She was cocky with Monaco as she would push her car to the limit on the course. However, it was this factor that proved to be her undoing. Going through the Grand Hotel Hairpin, she gave her Ferrari too much throttle and spun out on the exit to the hairpin. Although her car was okay, her lap was ruined as she posted a 1:14.400.
Finally, was Silverstream. With the help of her mentor, Sergio Perez, she was able to get over her fear of the tight circuits and took to the track with her excitable attitude. However, going through the Swimming Pool section, the hippogriff hit the sausage kerbs and her Racing Point flipped over.
With all of the field sustaining accidents, only Rainbow and Silverstream would move on.
Duel 3: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS GAL (BWT Racing Point) VS LUN (Alfa-Romeo)
Duel 3 wasn't much better than the previous, as first onto the track was Oscura. She knew that Dean had failed to qualify and wanted to set the fastest time possible to rub it in his face. But this wouldn't come to light for her, as she would spin out and wreck her rear wing.
Gallus was up next and once again, he didn't disappoint. He took to the track at full throttle and didn't make a mistake. His lap time was 1:10.210, giving the griffon and guaranteed pole position. Again.
Next up, was Twilight. Now, Twilight was fascinated by the history of the Monaco Circuit. But no amount of resarch could keep her from going to an early Amber Lounge party with the barrier. As she set her lap, she was doing quite well for the Mercedes team, but Monaco wouldn't let her go without a present. So, Twilight spun out on the approach to Tabac and DNQ'd.
Finally, came Luna. Shocked by her sister's crash. She was unsure that she would do any better. But she would outshine her sister at Monte Carlo, clocking a time of 1.11.534.
Duel 4: APP (McLaren) VS YON (ROKiT Williams) VS FLT (Toro Rosso) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 4 was slightly better for the drivers, with less crashes. And first up, was Yona in the Williams. This time, her FW42 was lightened even more to compensate for the yak's weight, to make up for the disasterous result in Spain. This time, the upgrades seemed to work as her Williams was much better and faster. However, Yona got too happy with the throttle going through La Rascasse and spun out, wrecking the front wing.
Following her, was Lightning Dust. Despite the tight and narrow track, Dust thought it was a good idea to try and explore the limits of her car in the Duels at Monaco. It didn't end up well for her, as she would spin out and crash at Nouvelle and make contact with the barriers.
Next up, was Applejack. Just like in Baku, she was intimidated by the tight nature of the Monaco circuit and couldn't focus as much as she should have. Because of that, she suffered understeer and hit the barriers at the Grand Hotel Hairpin.
Finally, was Fluttershy. Despite only getting either mediocre results or failing to qualify, that would change in Monaco as the shy pegasus finally felt ready to start pushing herself for better positions. It showed as she clocked a lap time of 1:11.611
Duel 6: PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS SUR (Renault) VS CHR (HAAS) VS SPI (Scuderia Ferrari)
The final Duel would end the horror of racing alone on this outdated street course from hell and those who would qualify would then experience the terror of racing on this circuit. And the first driver out onto the track in Duel 6, was Pinkie Pie. This time, for the first time ever, she would race on Softs. But not even the Soft tyre would save her. Pinkie Pie's RB15 understeered at Mirabeu Haute and she was forced to take the escape road, rendering her lap time null and void.
Following her, was Chrysalis in the HAAS. Out of all the drivers, Chrysalis was arguably the most shocked and concerned about Akula's crash in Duel 1. And she wanted to make it to the final and avenge her lover's crash. Unlike Gladmane, she didn't fail. With her newfound determination, she powered through the track to set a time of 1.11.703.
Up next, was Spitfire. The Captain of the Wonderbolts tried to take it safe but it would result in a lap time of 1:12.624. A very poor result for the Ferrari team.
And lastly, was Suri. She knew that Monaco was the home of her favourite fashion styles and she had to race with her teammate in he final in the most prestigious race on the calendar. And just like Rarity, she raced as best as she could and kept under control, posting a lap time of 1.11.223.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 6: Monaco
Starting Grid
Gallus (BWT Racing Point) - 1:10.210
Rarity (Renault) - 1:11.020
Ocellus (Red Bull Toro Rosso) - 1:11.201
Suri Polomare (Renault) - 1:11.223
Luna (Alfa-Romeo) - 1:11.534
Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso) - 1:11.611
Chrysalis (HAAS) - 1:11.703
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) - 1:12.402
Rainbow Dash (Scuderia Ferrari) - 1:14.400
Gladmane (HAAS) - 1:16.754
Yona (ROKiT WIlliams) - N/A
Silverstream (BWT Racing Point) - N/A
"Welcome back to the 2019 Formula One Equestria Series! I'm Flim, joined by Flam and Oliver Panis for the 6th round of the 2019 season. Welcome to the Final Race of the Monaco Grand Prix! Our drivers have lined up on the grid and they are away on their Formation Lap, along the Riviera!"
"Let's take a look at the grid! Gallus, claiming another Pole Position in his career! Rarity chasing him down from P2. Rarity has put Renault on the front row once again, just behind the griffon. Following her, Ocellus in the Toro Rosso, taking her highest starting position so far in the season and Suri Polomare on P4,"
"Luna and Fluttershy are next on the grid, with Chrysalis in the HAAS just behind, now recovered after seeing her lover hit the barriers in his Duel. Viral Velocity is just behind, the only Mercedes on the grid for Lauda. Many are hoping that she pulls through,"
"Rainbow Dash and Gladmane are just behind Viral, with Yona and Silverstream rounding out the grid, having failed to set times, but got the furthest on the course before crashing. The racers are coming back around and locking into the grid, we are about to get underway!"
This was Rarity's time to shine. Time to prove that the Renault team was no pushover and was still powerful.
Only two things stood in her way; Gallus ahead of her in the Racing Point and 39 laps of the utmost concentration in the most beautiful location on the F1 calendar.
Rarity waited for the lights, when her race engineer, Mireille Jacquet, came over the radio. 'Madame Rarity, radio check,'
"Loud and clear, darling," Rarity replied.
'Roger, lights shall come on in a moment. Bonne chance,'
There was no more radio chatter after that for a while, as Rarity had given her team strict instructions not to talk to her during the race, unless absolutely necessary. This was vital in helping Rarity keep her focus on this track, a fact which the team understood and carried out.
The first light on the tree lit up. Rarity fired up her Renault E-Tech 19 engine, getting the V6 Turbo Hybrid to full rpm. Her car was soon joined by the others as the second light, then the third and the fourth and the fifth. And the lights went out and the race began.
"And it's lights out and away we go!"
Rarity got a really good jump and pulled alongside Gallus in the Racing Point on the run down to Sainte Devote, a whole pack of cars behind them. The griffon and the mare took the first turn side-by-side, as the track tighented into a bottleneck. Going through the first turn, Dash and Gladmane cut the corner in order to avoid colliding with Viral in the Mercedes. As a result, neither driver was given a penalty.
All the way up the hill and through Massenet, Rarity and Gallus were still side-by-side. But as they approached Casino Square, someone would have to back off.
Surprisingly, that someone was Gallus. Approaching Turn 4, Gallus saw that the Renault was still on his side and he knew that somepony would need to back off or they would collide. But Rarity would not back off, so Gallus had to concede and gave Rarity the lead as she lead the pack towards Mirabeau Haute.
But going through Mirabeau, things started to go wrong. Gladmane tried to make a pass at the tight right hairpin. But eh should've known better as during his attempted overtake, Dash blocked and shoved the HAAS in the wall, snapping off bits of the front wing.
"F****** DAMMIT!!!! SHE TURNED IN ON ME!!!! I have front wing damage! Front wing damage!" Gladmane cried out over the radio.
"F****** idiot. He just attempted a pass at Turn 5. What was he thinking?!" Rainbow cried out, utterly amazed that the HAAS driver would try such a stupid move.
'Copy, we are looking into it. We had the onboard at the time,' Barsotti replied to her.
Going through the Grand Hotel Hairpin, Rarity still held the lead from Gallus, with Ocellus and Suri chasing him down. In fact, all the drivers went through the hairpin single file, except for one.
In a desperate attempt to gain more positions early into the race, Chrysalis tried to squeeze past the Toro Rosso of Fluttershy. However, the move was never on and all Chrysalis did was make contact with the wheels of the STR14 and bounced a bit. There was no damage, however, and both cars continued on.
A few laps in and there were no DNFs yet. But that wouldn't last for long. In Lap 5, and going through Portier, SIlverstream was going to make an attempt to pass Gladmane on the inside. However, the hippogriff suddenly straighted out going through the corner and hit Gladmane. But it got worse, as the impact tipped the HAAS onto its side and forced it to roll into the barriers.
'Gladmane, are you okay?' His race engineer asked.
"Uh-huh-huh! Just tipped over by an idiot in the Force India, or whatever the buck it's called now," The conpony replied, clearly upset about being the first car to retire.
Things weren't any better with Racing Point, as on the home straight, the marshalls were showing a black flag with the #36 below it. Brooks saw this and reported this to the hippogriff. 'Silverstream, we have a black flag. Box this lap and we'll get the car into the garage,'
"WHAT?! WHY????!!!!!" Silverstream cried out, utterly shocked.
'Stand by, I'm checking with the stewards... Okay, black flag is for forcing another car out of the way and putting another driver in harm. So, box this lap. Box this lap,'
It took a moment for the mess to be cleared up, but the Sector 2 yellow flag was put away and the race went green again. However, with Gladmane down and Silverstream black flagged, this left Yona in last place. A place where she didn't want to see her Williams.
'Ok, Yona. You can push on this set, so bring it in! Currently, Rarity has the quickest car in free air,' Her race engineer reported.
"Yona know what Yona needs to do! Just let best yak focus!" Yona said, just wanting to focus on the course.
More laps passed and Viral had worked her way from P8, all the way up to P6. But on Lap 16, things went wrong again. In a desperate attempt to get past Chrysalis in the Tunnel, Luna tried to pass her on the inside line. But this resulted in her losing control and exiting out the other end the wrong way and her right side wheels missing.
This accident brought out the safety car, which didn't please Viral at all, as she was coming in to pit and warm up her tyres.
'Viral, stay out! Stay out!' Her race engineer immediately called out, as the safety car left the pits.
"Why?! I need to warm my tyres, Neon! They'll lose traction if I don't!" Viral said back, as she caught up with the pack and slowed down to keep with the safety car rules.
'Luna has crashed at the Tunnel straight. Yellow flags are being shown in all sectors and the safety car is out,'
"Buck! Buck! BUCK!!!!! CELESTIA DAMMIT!!!!!" Viral swore, as she tailed behind the Toro Rosso of Ocellus and put her music back on in order to chill out
After a few more laps, the safety car pulled in and the race went green again. But a few laps later, tragedy struck again. Due to Viral taking the next lap under green to warm her tyres, Chrysalis and Yona had moved up to 6th and 7th respectively. However, on Lap 24, both pulled into the pits. Chrysalis was first into the pits and she changed her worn Softs for fresh Mediums.
But as Chrysalis was released, she pulled out of the pits right when Yona was pulling into her pit lane! The two collided with each other and both cars had to be retired. The pit crews lifted up and dragged the two wrecked cars into their respective garage areas, both drivers classed as DNF. But since the incident didn't take place on the track and all the wreckage was cleared within minutes, there was no yellow flags and the race continued on.
But the green flags didn't last for long. Now lagging behind the leaders, Dash was getting very desperate. The car she was being held by, was none other than Viral Velocity in the Mercedes. She had recently changed to Mediums and was driving slower than Dash, who was still on very warn Softs.
Now, Dash was getting very annoyed with this "slow driving". So, in absolute desperation, Dash then attempted to make a pass on Viral. However, she had attempted to pass on the outside of Viral at Tabac. A move which is, to put bluntly, is incredibly stupid.
As a result, Dash performed a Maldonado, tripped over her front wing and went into the barriers, taking some of the barriers with her. Happily, Viral was able to bridge the gap between the barrier and the Ferrari taking the barriers with her and was able to stay on the lead lap. However, the incident caused the race to be red flagged and some of the laps were skipped over, so the race finished on schedule. This left the race with only 7 laps to go, because the wreckage to some time to clear up.
The red flag conditions were eventually ended and the race continued. Rarity and Suri now held the top two positions, with Gallus behind them, who had set the Race Lap Record earlier in the race. However, the griffon was pushing his Racing Point to the limits, trying to get back into the lead that was taken by the two Renaults.
Eventually, he found his limits and lost control exiting the Swimming Pool section. His RP19 went into the wall and the contact punctured his right-side tyres, meaning he couldn't drive away and was rendered. However, given the fact that there was still very few laps left to run, Gallus was given the Fastest Lap point, despite the fact that he crashed.
Also, the wreckage wasn't terrible and could be cleaned up easily. As a result, only Sector 3 was given the yellow flag, meaning that Sector 1 and 2 were still in green flag racing conditions. It was all about to come to ahead in the final few laps.
The yellow flags were dropped in Sector 3 and the race went all green with on 5 laps to go. Now, Viral was in P5 and thanks to the yellow flag, was now within striking distance of Ocellus in the Toro Rosso. Knowing that Ocellus wasn't a very aggressive driver, the second Crimson Arrow began pushing for 4th place and get as much points as possible and maybe get Fluttershy as well and claim the podium, just like Akula did in Baku.
But she now only had a small amount of laps to pass two drivers on the track with very little places to pass. And given the fact that the track was very short, those laps were soon running out. On Lap 37, she decided to make her move on the Toro Rosso. Heading down towards the Nouvelle Chicane, Viral moved to the inside and attempted to overtake Ocellus for 4th. However, Ocellus seemed to not know that Viral as attempting to overtake and turned in on her.
Luckily, Viral only suffered from some front wing damage and could keep racing. However, she was livid that the young reformed changeling would attempt such a manoeuvre.
'Good try, V! You'll get her eventually!'
"Yeah, just turns in when I try to overtake. I can see why Akula doesn't like the reformed changelings that much,"
And in Viral's desperation to catch back up with Ocellus, she hit the sausage kerbs at the Swimming Pool section and nearly spun out. Luckily, she was able to save it.
One lap to go. Rarity was still holding the lead from her team, with Suri attempting to take lead from her teammate and claim the first win for Renault. However, the team boss wasn't very happy that the earth pony was trying to take Rarity's well deserved victory and gave Suri a Multi-Map 2-1 order.
Happily, Suri realised what Rarity was going through and that she was pushing hard to claim the victory. So, she did as she was told and backed off. However, she was still within range of Rarity to ensure a Renault 1-2 finish and NOT a Renault-Toro Rosso 1-2 finish.
Despite how hard Ocellus pushed, Suri was unwilling to give an inch. And soon, it was all over. The two Renaults passed through Antony Noghes and pulled side-by-side, with Suri pulling behind her unicorn by about a front wing length, in order to let Rarity have the victory with a symbolic finish.
And what a finish it was.
"YES, DARLINGS!!!!! WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!" Rarity cried out, pumping her forehoof into the sky and pounding it against the halo in celebration.
'Brilliant work today, Rarity! P1! What a finish! That one was for Niki!' Jacquet cried out to her in celebration, knowing that Lauda was probably looking down on the race with a big smile on his face, knowing that an underdog just scored the victory.
"That victory was for all of us at Renault, too! I'll see you on the podium!" She signed off, before completing a parade lap and pulling into the victory box. Suri followed suit and stopped next to her, before jumping out and embracing the fashion mare and jumping around with her.
And quite quickly, the two mare were joined by the entire Renault garage team, both Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hülkenberg as well as Pinkie Pie and both of the Crimson Arrows. They saw, after quite a bit of tragedy and heartbreak at Catalunya, Rarity had bounced back and won the crown jewel Grand Prix of the world.
Author's Note
Results
Rarity - 25 points
Suri Polomare - 18 points
Fluttershy - 15 points
Ocellus - 12 points
Viral Velocity - 10 points
Gallus - 8 points + 1 (Fastest Lap) (DNF)
Rainbow Dash - 6 points (DNF)
Yona - 4 points (DNF)
Chrysalis - 2 points (DNF)
Luna - 1 point (DNF)
Gladmane - 0 points (DNF)
Silverstream - 0 points (Disqualified)
Driver's Championship
Viral Velocity - 78 points
Akula - 68 points
Celestia - 63 points
Gallus - 41 points
Fluttershy - 31 points
Twilight Sparkle - 31 points
Rarity - 28 points
Chrysalis - 28 points
Sandbar - 28 points
DangerDean - 28 points
Rainbow Dash - 25 points
Pinkie Pie - 21 points
Suri Polomare - 19 points
Luna - 19 points
Lightning Dust - 18 points
Silverstream - 17 points
Ocellus - 13 points
Spitfire - 12 points
Oscura Galaxia - 12 points
Yona - 10 points
Gladmane - 10 points
Cheese Sandwich - 6 points
Applejack - 5 points
Big Macintosh - 0 points
Constructor's Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 177 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 96 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 71 points
BWT Racing Point - 56 points
Renault F1 Team - 47 points
Red Bull Scuderia Toro Rosso - 43 points
HAAS F1 Team - 39 points
ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 38 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 35 points
McLaren F1 - 5 points
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 6 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 6: Monaco
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 1 Flying Lap
'Akula, are you okay?'
*static*
'Talk to me when you can, Akula. Talk to me when you can,'
Gladmane HAAS F1 Duel 1 Flying Lap
"****! ****! ****!!!!"
'Are you okay to continue, Gladmane?'
"Uh-huh. Just lost control. Car doesn't feel damaged. Lap time is going to be shot to bits though. Ah, ****!!!"
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Duel 2 Flying Lap
"Sorry, everypony. I forgot about the hump, silly me,"
Twilight Sparkle Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 3 Flying Lap
"*Twilight Scream*"
'Twilight, are you okay?'
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just suffered a bit of oversteer,"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Duel 2 Flying Lap
'Are you okay? Are you okay?'
"Yeah, but my pride is shot to bits. Why does this track hate me so much? That I don't understand,"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 5 Post-Lap
'Excellent drive, Viral! Lap time is a 1:12.402. Nice job!'
"Well, that time was sure something! I'll see you in the garage for a refreshment, Neon,"
'We gotta' stay hydrated! Hehe!'
Sandbar ROKiT Williams Duel 5 Flying Lap
'Sandbar, are you okay?'
"Yeah, I'm okay. But I'm stuck in the car!"
Gladmane HAAS F1 Final Lap 1
"******* DAMMIT!!!! SHE TURNED IN ON ME!!!! I have front wing damage! Front wing damage!"
'Copy, Gladmane. We saw it. We saw it. Are you okay to keep going?'
"NO!!! CAN'T YOU SEE THAT MY WING IS ******?!"
'Okay, box this lap. Box, box,'
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 1
"******* idiot. He just attempted a pass at Turn 5. What was he thinking?!"
'Copy, we are looking into it. We had the onboard at the time,'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 16
"My tyres are starting to get very cold, Neon! I need to come in and warm them!"
'Viral, stay out! Stay out!'
"Why?! I need to warm my tyres, Neon! They'll lose traction if I don't!"
'Luna has crashed at the Tunnel straight. Yellow flags are being shown in all sectors and the safety car is out,'
"****! ****! ****!!!!! CELESTIA DAMMIT!!!!!"
Chrysalis HAAS F1 Final Lap 24
"****!!!!!!!!! NOOO!!!!!!!!!! COME ON!!!!!!!"
Yona ROKiT Williams Final Lap 24
"Yona sorry. I'm out,"
'It's okay, it wasn't your fault. Full shut off procedure, we'll roll the car back in,'
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 25
"Okay, Viral is really getting on my nerves! Get her to move over!"
'Just keep pushing you'll get her,'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 25 (Red Flag Conditions)
'Any damage to the car?'
"No, I made it through there. Hey Neon, mind playing Crash by Decyfer Down ? I feel like a little karma is in order,"
'You just keep doing your job and I'll do mine. Keep a straight head and stop on on the grid, this race isn't over,'
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Post-Race
'Yes, Fluttershy! P3! Brilliant driving, you owned the Riviera today!'
"Thank you. I-I'm glad I've made everypony proud. Yay! "
Ocellus Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Post-Race
'Chequered flag is out. Race is over,'
"That was intense! How did I do?"
'P4! P4! Great driving today!'
"Yes! That's more like it!"
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 7 (Canada), Duel 10: Chrysalis VS Gallus (One-On-One, Grid Start)
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve , Canada
Formula One Equestria Duels series
Duel 10: CHR (HAAS) VS GAL (BWT Racing Point)
Event Type: One-On-One Sprint Race (5 Laps)
"Welcome, all fans of motorsport to the 2019 Formula One Equestria Series! I'm Flim, once again joined by my co-commentator and brother, Flam!"
"Were are now in Montreal, Canada, on the man-made Notre Dame island for the Canadian round of the season. This island was actually used in the 1976 Summer Olympics for rowing and canoeing events. In fact, this circuit got its current name from Canadian racing legend, Gilles Villeneuve, father of Jacques Villeneuve, after his death in 1982. This circuit is fast and a killer on the brakes, with the heavy braking zones,"
"Thank you for the insight, brother. We are about to get underway, stay tuned!"
Later...
Two cars sat on the grid, ready for the next race. The second driver on the grid, at the wheel of his blue-and-white RP19, was Gallus the Griffon. Coming off great results in China and Baku, it came crashing down with failing to qualify for the round in Spain and crashing out in Monaco. Luckily, Gallus was able to set a new Lap Record in Monaco, so that was a bit of confidence back.
Now, that confidence grew. This time, he was now at the home track of his mentor, Lance Stroll. And he was able to get a massive amount of great advise from the Canadian. And he felt that he was ready to get himself a second victory.
Alright, just need to keep the car under control and have my paw to the floor in the straights. I should win this easily, He thought, as he waited for the light sequence. And soon enough, the first light came up. Gallus engaged the clutch and pushed his Mercedes engine to full power. Chrysalis did the same to the Ferrari engine in her HAAS.
All the lights soon followed and then went out. Gallus and Chrysalis launched off the line and begun the race. Chrysalis had the inside line going into the Senna 'S', however Gallus pulled the switchback and got the lead through the second part of the 'S'. Gallus applied more throttle and easily pulled away, with the Changeling Queen in hot pursuit.
Although Chrysalis was putting up a great fight, Gallus was eventually starting to pull away through the fast chicanes down the back straight. However, Chrysalis was able to gain back a bit of time at the Hairpin when Gallus messed up his braking point. And Chrysalis was able to catch back up with the griffon going through the final few corners.
However, Gallus began to pull away going through Lap 2. His and Silverstream's Racing Points were deadly fast the whole week. During Free Practise, both Silverstream and Gallus had been close to the Top 4 the whole time. With this in mind, Gallus easily began to pull quickly away from Chrysalis.
This resulted in the Changeling Queen pushing her HAAS harder in an attempt to catch back up. However, this would be her undoing, as coming out of Turn 14 on Lap 4, she pushed it too hard and lost the back end at 152 km/h (or 95 mph). This resulted her spinning out and hitting the Wall of Champions, which caused the HAAS to flick back around and hit the wall again with the front of her VF-19, snapping of the front wing and one of the wheels.
Her race was run.
And as Gallus raced past the finish line to start Lap 5, when he got the message from his race engineer. 'Gallus, yellow flag is out all sectors. Virtual Safety Car is in effect. Please back off the throttle,'
"Copy that, I'm backing off," Gallus replied, as he backed off to 40% of the race speed. "Wait, Chrysalis wrecked? Does that mean I win?"
'Yes, you are moving on to the final. You are moving on,'
"Yes!! Alright, I'm bringing it in. Oh, and send my condolences to the HAAS team," He stated, as he brought his RP19 around the track and into the garage.
Author's Note
Hey, guys. Just a quick note on the voting blog I posted. I really need some more votes, so could those who read this also vote by clicking on this link please?
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: SIL (BWT Racing Point) VS RAR (Renault)
The first Duel was between two fast mid-pack drivers, Silverstream and Rarity. It was proven in Free Practise that the Equestrian Racing Points were fast, but so were both the Human and Equestrian Renaults. Daniel Ricciardo was able to get himself into P4 during Qualifying. This one would be close and it was.
Silverstream and Rarity went at it for the whole five laps, with multiple lead changes. However, it was the fashionista mare that came out on top, with a daring pass in the final chicane.
Duel 2: APP (McLaren) VS PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Next up was Duel 2, with Applejack taking on Pinkie Pie. Now that the Equestrian McLarens were out of the street tracks and now back on road and race track, both Applejack and Big Macintosh were finally able to gain some ground on the rest of the mid-pack. Although, upon seeing the track map, they were scared that they would encounter another tight track. But when they arrived, they were pleased to find that the track was just to their liking and were able to get vital info from their mentors.
And during her Duel, Applejack came into her own. With the helpful advise she got from her mentor, Lando Norris, she dominated her own Duel, easily beating out Pinkie Pie in the Red Bull.
Duel 3: YON (ROKiT Williams) VS DNG (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 3 was between Yona of the Williams team and DangerDean of the Ferrari team, with everything on the line. Both of the drivers were lacking in points and needed a meaningful result in the final of this round in order to get back into contention. But the Human and Equestrian Williams' were proven to be slow in Free Practise.
There was no contest. Danger easily was able to outrun the yak and take the victory with the Mercy rule,
Duel 4: OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
The following Duel was between Danger's eternal nemesis, Oscura Galaxia and Twilight Sparkle. The Gilles Villeneuve circuit kind of suited the Mercedes cars with its high speed straights and balanced layout. However, Oscura had proved to be extremely fast the whole of Free Practise. In fact, she was the fastest Equestrian driver during the sessions, despite the fact that the Ferraris were the fastest cars in the field.
But Oscura would not falter. Twilight would try as hard as she could, but the evil doppelganger of herself would not give in and aggressively defended her line. This allowed her to take the win and move on to face Dean in the finals.
Duel 5: CEL (Alfa-Romeo) VS OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Duel 5 was a cakewalk for the Alfa-Romeo team, with their star driver, Celestia, facing off against Ocellus of Toro Rosso. In fact, the results didn't defy the expectations of the crowd and Princess Celestia easily took the victory and the spot in the finals.
Duel 6: SAN (ROKiT Williams) VS AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
The following Duel was close, with Akula of Mercedes taking on Sandbar of Williams. Now, the poor downforce of the FW42 was of hinderance at the high speed circuit. However, Sandbar's upgrades made sure that the lack of downforce was not an issue. So, this would be close.
And sure enough, Sandbar took the lead in the early stages of the race. But it didn't last long. Going into the Hairpin, Akula managed to take Sandbar under the brakes to take the lead. And after that move, Akula held on to take the win.
Duel 7: CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS GLA (HAAS)
Duel 7 was between Cheese Sandwich, a fun-loving stallion that sounded way too similar to Weird Al Yankovic and Gladmane, a greedy con-artist that sounded very much like Elvis Presley. Both weren't the best drivers on the Canadian circuit, but they were going to give it their all.
However, on the very first lap it was clear that Cheese's Red Bull was much faster than Gladmane's HAAS. The reason behind this was because during the main race, Gladmane's mentor, Kevin Magnussen, was having all sorts of problems with his car and was running right near the back of the pack, with the Williams. And Gladmane was running with his mentor's race setup. And it was because of this that Cheese easily took the win via the Mercy Rule.
Duel 8: VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS SPI (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 8 was between two very well known pegasi; Viral Velocity was taking on Spitfire. Two of the top teams were taking on each other for another spot in the finals.
But the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve definitely suited the high-speed and downforce of the Mercedes W10 and Viral was able to take the win easily.
Duel 9: FLT (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS LUN (Alfa-Romeo)
Duel 9 looked to be interesting, with Fluttershy of Toro Rosso taking on Luna of Alfa-Romeo. Although Luna had the lead for the first two laps, it was a daring braking attack that allowed Fluttershy to take the lead with only three laps to go.
However, on Lap 5 and with victory surely within the pegasus' grasp, everything changed. As Fluttershy rounded Turn 5 and made her approach to Turn 6, a woodchuck then ran across the track. The yellow pegasus then panicked and hit her brakes, sending the Toro Rosso into a spin. While the car wasn't damaged, the tyres were flat-spotted and Luna had the lead back. Fluttershy wouldn't recover and Luna took the victory.
Thankfully, the woodchuck wasn't hurt.
Duel 11: LTD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS RBD (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 11 was the rematch everyone was looking forward to. Rainbow Dash and Lightning Dust would be facing off again. Once again, Dash had the upper hoof. However, Dust did not give up easily and hammered on the tail of her teammate and rival through the whole race. Eventually, Dash suffered understeer going through Turn 6 and Dust took the lead, and with it, the win.
Duel 12: SUR (Renault) VS BMI (McLaren)
The final Duel of the round was between Big Macintosh of McLaren and Suri Polomare of Renault. After the Renault 1-2 victory at Monaco, confidence was at an all-time high going into Canada. It also helped when the setups that Ricciardo and Hülkenberg had gotten them high positions on the grid for the main race.
However, Macintosh was still without points and needed a meaningful result soon. Luckily, his MCL34 was proving to be much faster than the setup Suri had applied to her R.S.19. He easily took the win and the spot in the final.
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 8 (France), Duel 3: Suri Polomare VS Luna (Sprint Race, Full Grid)
Circuit Paul Ricard , France
Formula One Equestria Duels series
Duel 3: SUR (Renault) VS LUN (Alfa-Romeo)
Event Type: Full Grid Sprint Race
"Hello, once again! Welcome back to the 2019 Formula One Equestria series! Flim here, once again, joined by Flam and we are at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France for the 8th round of the Formula One season. Looking at this track from up in the broadcast booth, this track seems far different from all the others tracks we've raced at so far. Brother, what else would you like to add?"
"Well, Flim, this track is very popular amongst drivers and teams and it's easy to see why. When this track opened for the first time in the 70s, it was praised for being one of the safest track in the world. Here's an aerial shot of Turn 10, look at the amount of run-off area you have! Plenty of room get out of the way, if you have broken something on the car. And if you don't count last year, this is the first time that F1 has returned to the Paul Ricard circuit since 1990 and the first time the French Grand Prix has been held since 2008. What a history this track has,"
"Well, we are about to start the Duel round, so stay tuned!"
Later...
As the field lined up on the grid for the rolling start, Suri felt many emotions wash over her at once. This track, this country was the home of her team. To be knocked out of the duel at her teams home Grand Prix would be an absolute embarrassment for the Earth Pony mare.
But the odds didn't appear to be in her favour. It would be a sprint race and her opponent was Luna. Suri had heard rumours that Celestia, upon seeing her little Lulu fail to get a meaningful result after being with Alfa for 7 races, began to give useful tips to her sister in order to help her post better results. And seeing how good a driver Celestia was, this had Suri worried.
It didn't help that the Paul Ricard circuit was long and fast circuit, with massive straights followed by tight corners, perfect for braking attacks. Suri was lucky that she wasn't paired with Akula. The demon changeling would be all over this track, as well as the other two Mercedes drivers and even the Ferraris. But the Renault wasn't exactly the fastest car in the field. And both of the princesses knew how to make the Alfa-Romeo C38 work better than their mentors could.
But Suri shook those thoughts away as the green light appeared and the grid set off for the rolling start. As she pulled off the grid, Luna immediately pulled alongside her and stayed there through the whole lap. You see, the starting positions for the Equestrian racers in the Duels is determined by the points standings. The driver that is lower ranked in the standings gets to start ahead of their opponent and vice versa, to keep the race fair. In Suri and Luna's case, they were both equal in position. So, they would have to start side-by-side (like how all the racers had to do in Australia), with Luna starting just a tiny margin ahead of Suri (as Luna had made it to the final of the previous round, while Suri was eliminated in the Duels).
As the two Equestrian drivers passed through the final set of corners, they both began to pick up their pace, so they wouldn't fall behind the drivers ahead of them and not hold up the drivers behind them. And once they crossed the line, it was on.
Luna immediately began to pull away along the main straight, Suri right on her tail. While the Alfa was quick, her Renault was no slouch either. It kind of helped that being behind put the Renault in Luna's slipstream, allowing Suri to keep pace. Also, Suri's R.S.19 had an advantage in slow, tight corners, whereas Luna was faster. The Earth Pony knew that Turns 3-6 and Turns 11-15 would be her best chance. She knew that the lead would change every lap.
However, no such debacle would happen on Lap 1, as Luna was just too good for the mare to get a run on. But after Lap 2, everything changed. Every time the pair went through the slow section at Turns 3, 4 & 5, Suri would make use of her advantage and slipped past, only for Luna to take the lead back along the Mistral Straight. Then, through the final corners, Suri would take back the lead and lose it again along the main straight.
This pattern kept up for the whole race, all the way into the final lap. Luna took the lead away from the mare once again. But Suri knew where the princess's weak point were. This race would come down to the final turn. As expected, Suri slipped her Renault back into the lead through Turn 3 and held it, until Luna took it away at Turn 7 and down the Mistral Straight.
But once the two reached the final few turns, Suri made her move and began to close. And on the approach to Turn 14, Suri pulled alongside Luna's Alfa on the outside. With the fashion mare being on the outside, she had the inside line going through the final corner and was able to pip Luna to the line.
Suri knew that victory was hers. This was her time to shine and she would prove it in the finals.
Author's Note
Sorry that I didn't add much into the race in this chapter (and possibly in the Duel Highlights), but the Circuit Paul Ricard is not an easy circuit to make interesting, nor is it much fun to write. I apologize for this and hope that you are enjoying the story as a whole and I will try to get through this round as quick as I can.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: RBD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS SAN (Williams)
Duel 1 saw Rainbow Dash taking on Sandbar. Two teams that had dominated Formula One in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s, but had fallen back with the arrival of Mercedes and new team leaders. But, as the Equestrians had proved, they could still put up a fight.
Dash and Sandbar raced hard through the whole race, but Rainbow's experience with speed and all the lessons she received from four-time World Champion, Sebastian Vettel, proved to be valuable and guided the Element of Loyalty to the victory.
Duel 2: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS APP (McLaren)
Duel 2 had Twilight Sparkle take on Applejack. Ever since arriving at the Paul Ricard circuit, the alicorn became fascinated with the history of the track, how the track had changed over the years and famous drivers like Keke Rosberg, Niki Lauda, Jackie Stewart, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost and others had raced on the same track she was about to take on. And after seeing her two teammates adapt well and set very competitive times in Free Practise, she had a feeling that she would do well.
However, Applejack also took a liking to the Paul Ricard circuit. The massive run-off areas and open plains that decorated the landscape was a very welcoming sight to the farm mare, especially after racing on all the tight, packed circuits in the previous rounds.
And Applejack was in NEED of a meaningful points result. She was determined to place well. And in the Duel, Applejack's determination got her the win.
Duel 4: GAL (BWT Racing Point) VS GLA (HAAS)
Duel 4, Gallus was taking on Gladmane. With the P5 result from Canada under his belt, as well as the victory in Azerbaijan, Gallus was feeling confident about France. But the track played against the griffon and his results in Free Practise were not good signs of things to come.
And in the Duel, Gallus' fears were realised.
The open nature of the track was Gallus' weakpoint and he felt that he wasn't being pushed as much as he could have been. So, he began to fall back to the HAAS more and more, until the race was over and Gladmane had won.
Duel 5: PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS CEL (Alfa-Romeo)
Pinkie Pie and Celestia were up next, this was to be close. With such massive run-off areas, it was almost impossible for Pinkie Pie to wreck her Red Bull this time. But with Celestia as her opponent, her push for victory wouldn't be easy.
Somehow, despite being up against a very experience and talented driver, Pinkie Pie would take the win and move into the final.
Duel 6: AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)
The following Duel was expected to be a close finish. Star Mercedes driver, Akula, was facing down Lightning Dust in the Ferrari. Dust was confident in her abilities and she thought that she was going to be able to handle whatever the changeling could throw her way.
Her thoughts were far from the truth.
Despite the track favouring the straight-line power of the Ferraris, Akula was all over this track, with it's long straights followed by sharp corners. Perfect for some braking attacks. And he used them to great effect.
In the race, Dust didn't stand a chance. Akula was all over Dust and easily got by her at Turn 3, but it didn't stop there. Using his advantage, Akula worked his way up the field. By the time the final lap had started, Akula had worked his way to 2nd place in the pack, while Dust was languishing down in 5th. Her fate was sealed and Akula would move on.
Duel 7: OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS SPI (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 7, Oscura would be taking on Spitfire. Now, Oscura was still sour over her 5-second penalty she got in Canada and she was determined to get what she deserved was rightfully hers: A win over Dean, without letting his stupidity get in the way. Her Red Bull was fast the whole weekend and it showed.
Her determination to meet Dean in the final once again got the better of Spitfire, with the dark unicorn beating the Wonderbolt easily.
Duel 8: OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS YON (Williams)
Duel 8. The backmarkers of Yona and Ocellus would be taking on each other. Yona had fitted new upgrades to her Williams, so her FW42's performance would be on par with Sandbar. Ocellus, meanwhile, was given more lessons from Albon in order to improve her racing capability with the STR14.
With both drivers getting better support, both in different ways, the Duel would be close.
And it was. The Toro Rosso and the Williams were both evenly matched. But Yona would proved to be the better driver, taking the victory, despite damaging her front wing in a collision with Lance Stroll's Racing Point.
Duel 9: SIL (BWT Racing Point) VS CHR (HAAS)
Silverstream would be taking on Chrysalis in Duel 9. The excitable hippogriff was very proud of her teammate's finish in the previous round and was looking for some personal glory in this round. However, her opponent was Chrysalis, who was looking for a good result. So, the two were ready to face each other.
The Duel didn't last long. On the approach to Turn 8, Silverstream missed her braking point my a significant margin and went up the back of Kevin Magnussen's HAAS and got sent into the infield. Silver was out and Chrysalis would move on.
Duel 10: RAR (Renault) VS BMI (McLaren)
Rarity and Big Mac were once again going to face off in Duel 10. The two had clashed at Bahrain before, with Big Mac spinning out Rarity on accident mid-way into the race. But this time, it was more one-sided. The bulky stallion, just like his little sister, loved the wide-open space of the circuit, making him feel much better with driving.
Rarity didn't stand a chance and was swiftly eliminated.
Duel 11: CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Duel 11 saw Cheese Sandwich take on Viral Velocity. And from what was seen at Free Practise, it didn't look good for Cheese. Viral had taken an IMMENSE liking to the French circuit, it's long straights and tight chicanes had Viral in love with the track so much, that she even lowered the downforce on her Merc in order to get some extra speed.
And for Viral, it seemed to work. Her downforce-reduced Mercedes was much faster that Cheese's Red Bull. The party stallion didn't stand a chance by such a well-driven mare and he called for mercy. The Duel was over within one lap.
Duel 12: FLT (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS DNG (Scuderia Ferrari)
The final Duel. Fluttershy was to be taking on DangerDean of Ferrari. Upon seeing that his opponent was the timid and shy pegasus, Dean felt confident in his abilities and bragged that the race would be over within two to three laps. But as the two cars came around to start the race, Fluttershy recieve a message from her mentor, Daniil Kvyat, which said, 'Nikogda ne sdavaysya (Russian for 'Never give up').'
And that's just what Fluttershy did. No matter what Dean attempted, he could not get away from the Toro Rosso hounding him each lap. And things got worse for the British Speedfreak. On the second-to-last lap, Dean locked his brakes in the approach to Turn 3, badly flat-spotting his tyres. Even worse, Fluttershy was able to sneak past Dean at that time, taking the lead away from him.
The more Dean pushed his Ferrari to catch the Junior Red Bull, the more his hurt his tyres. Until, on the final lap, the tyres gave up and in a repeat of what happened to Kimi Räikkönen at the 2005 European GP, his front-right tyre blew on the approach to Turn 10, taking the suspension with it.
Fluttershy had won, just by hanging in there and forcing Dean into an error.
Author's Note
Another point I need to make here: Before the season began, each driver was taught to speak in the languages of the different countries they will be visiting. And that does include Russian, because they have a Grand Prix.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 8: France
Starting Grid
Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Applejack (McLaren)
Rainbow Dash (Scuderia Ferrari)
Big Macintosh (McLaren)
Pinkie Pie (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Oscura Galaxia (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
Suri Polomare (Renault)
Chrysalis (HAAS F1)
Gladmane (HAAS F1)
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
Akula - 25 points
Viral Velocity - 18 points
Rainbow Dash - 15 + 1 points (Fastest Lap)
Suri Polomare - 12 points
Applejack - 10 points (5 sec penalty applied)
Big Macintosh - 8 points (5 sec penalty applied)
Fluttershy - 6 points
Oscura Galaxia - 4 points
Pinkie Pie - 2 points
Chrysalis - 1 point (1 lap down)
Yona - 0 points (1 lap down)
Gladmane - 0 points (DNF)
Driver's Championship
Akula - 109 points
Viral Velocity - 108 points
Celestia - 71 points
DangerDean - 53 points
Gallus - 51 points
Rainbow Dash - 41 points
Fluttershy - 37 points
Oscura Galaxia - 34 points
Suri Polomare - 31 points
Twilight Sparkle - 31 points
Chrysalis - 29 points
Rarity - 28 points
Sandbar - 28 points
Lightning Dust - 24 points
Pinkie Pie - 23 points
Luna - 19 points
Applejack - 17 points
Silverstream - 17 points
Ocellus - 13 points
Big Macintosh - 12 points
Spitfire - 12 points
Yona - 10 points
Gladmane - 10 points
Cheese Sandwich - 7 points
Constructor's Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 248 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 118 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 104 points
BWT Racing Point - 66 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 60 points
Renault F1 Team - 59 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 49 points
HAAS F1 Team - 40 points
ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 38 points
McLaren F1 - 29 points
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 8 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 8: France
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Duel 12 Pre-Duel
'Radio check, radio check,'
"Can you hear me? Can you hear me?"
'We hear you, loud and clear,'
'Flutter, can you read me?'
"Daniil?"
'One thing before you set off. Nikogda ne sdavaysya,'
*silence*
"Spasibo, Daniil. Spasibo,"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Duel 12 Lap 5
"FRONT RIGHT PUNCTURE!!!! FRONT RIGHT PUNCTURE!!!!"
'Copy. Stop the car, Dean. Stop the car,'
"Not again. Not ******* again,"
Viral Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 1
'V, just be advised. Akula has dropped back to P7, you are on your own up there,'
"How did he do that?! He's way too good for that to happen!"
'Looks like wheelspin. His data is showing a wheelspin,'
"I see. Just let me know when he catches back up,"
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 1
"Hehehehe!!! Akula's not as good as he claims, is he?"
'What happened, Dash? Question,'
"Nothing much. Akula just dropped from pole to 7th. How he is Mercedes' star driver, I will never know,"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 12
"******* idiots, the both of them! Applejack pushed me off at Turn 8 and Big Mac overtook me cutting the track! Unbelievable!"
'We saw it, Akula. The stewards are looking into it as we speak,'
"What is the points of the rules if nopony respects ****?!"
Applejack McLaren F1 Final Lap 12
'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,'
"I HAD UNDERSTEER!!!! THERE WAS NOWHERE FOR ME TO GO!!!!! IT'S HIS FAULT THAT HE DECIDED TO STAY WITH ME THROUGH THE CORNER!!!"
'Copy that. Just keep going,'
"I understand. He can be as whiny as he wants, but I'm not going to let that changeling ************ ruin my race!"
'Just keep your head down. Still plenty of race to go,'
Oscura Galaxia Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 18
'Are the tyres okay? How are the flat spots?'
"Tyres are pretty much square. Box this lap for a new set,"
Pinkie Pie Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 22
"Can you contact Toro Rosso and get Fluttershy to speed up a bit, please? I think I see the back-markers catching us,"
'Affirmative, we'll contact them now,'
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Lap 22
'Pinkie just asked if you could speed up a bit, please?'
"Oh. Of course! How much margin does she need?"
'Your margin should be fine, just uh... don't slow down,'
"Okay. Don't worry, I'm not slowing down... I'm not trying to kill her,"
Chrysalis HAAS F1 Team Final Lap 22
'Blue flag for Akula and Viral. Blue flag,'
"For my love? Anything. (...) There he goes,"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 23
'Gap to Viral at 1.32,'
"I can see how far ahead she is, Petrov! Just give me full power!"
'You have full power,'
"Perfect. No more talking now,"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 23
'Watch your tail, Madame V! Akula is closing fast!'
"He wants a repeat of Spain, does he? Let's have at it, then!"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
'Get in there, Akula! What a spectacular final lap, you drove like a pony possessed! It's another P1, P2 for the Crimson Arrows!'
"Was there ever any doubt, Petrov? What a fantastic weekend, everyone. Viral really raced me for the win, got to give my congrats to her for giving her all. What a phenomenal crowd that came here and saw the race, just want to thank them for all the support. Let's do this again next week!"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
'That's the chequered flag. P2, Viral. P2. Brilliant drive today, you led every single lap!'
"Ahhhhhh, I really wanted to win this one. But Akula got the better of me this time. Either way, you have to be happy with that result! Another great result for the team. I'll see you on the podium!"
Big Macintosh McLaren F1 Final Post-Race
'Mate, well done! Even with the penalty you still have P6! Well done, my friend,'
"Eeyup,"
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 9 (Austria), Duel 12: DangerDean VS Oscura Galaxia (Sprint Race, One-On-One)
Red Bull Ring , Austria
Formula One Equestria Duels series
Duel 12: DNG (Scuderia Ferrari) VS OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)/i]
Duel Type: Sprint Race, One-On-One
"Welcome, everypony! You are watching the 2019 Formula One Equestria Duel Series! I am Flim, joined once again in the booth by Flam and today, the youngest driver and the first Dutch driver to ever win a F1 Grand Prix, Max Verstappen!"
The Red Bull Ring has played host to the Austrian Grand Prix 31 times! And is known by a few names, formerly called the Österreichring, then the A1-Ring before becoming known as the Red Bull Ring we know today. Max, you've had quite a bit of experience with this track. Anything you wish to add on?"
"This track has always been appealing to fans. It may only be 4.3 km long (2.6 miles), have only 8 corners and average lap times nearing just one minute, the fans love this track. Remus, which is the tight hairpin after the long straight in the first sector is a hotspot for daring braking attacks, which I've had the pleasure of performing myself,"
"Yeah, we saw what you could do at that corner just two days ago! Let's get started with the racing, shall we?"
You've beat her before, Dean. You can beat her again, Dean thought to himself, as he strode down the grid, towards his Ferrari.
His opponent in the Duel, the final duel of the round, was none other than Oscura Galaxia. His proclaimed 'eternal nemesis'. Her Red Bull had been returned to its original colours, however, the car was now decorated with black flames with red highlights.
As for Dean's Ferrari, after the Mission Winnow scandal at Spain, the British Speedfreak switched the livery on his Ferrari back to the one he used in Azerbaijan for the rest of the season. Also, he had his own suspicions on Mission Winnow at the start of the season, but didn't want to state them for reasons only known by himself.
And here he was, in Austria. About to face off with his sworn enemy. But he wasn't too concerned. The Ferrari SF90 was a much better F1 machine in his hooves than the RB15, in his opinion at least.
But as he approached his car, ready to undertake the race, who else should he run into than Oscura. She was already dressed into her fire-proof suit and had her helmet at the ready in her magic. "Oh. Hello, Dean," She begrudgingly greeted, changing her tone when speaking the pegasus' name to one that basically said 'I hate you with every fibre of my being.'
"Hello, Oscura! Ready to see me walk away with second win?" Dean greeted, poking fun at her for the fact that he had a win and she didn't.
Oscura growled, before replying, "We'll see about that, Dean,"
"Yeah, yeah. You're all bark and no bite," Dean stated, before breaking the conversation, slipping on his helmet and getting helped into his Ferrari by the mechanics. He was handed the steering wheel, which he inserted into the column and straightened, the Prancing Horse logo in the middle of the wheel just waiting to be raced.
The car was dropped down onto the tarmac and the Ferrari engine roared to life, soon joined by the Honda of Oscura's Red Bull. The Mercedes pace car pulled away, with Oscura taking point behind it and Dean following for a lap of the Red Bull Ring.
On that rolling start, Dean picked out his points where Oscura could be passed. The most notable points were definitely Remus, Schlossgold and Red Bull Mobile, where the dark unicorn could be taken under the brakes. This was it, Dean thought, as they rounded Rindt and the pace car pulled into the pits and Oscura began to increase her speed. Time to give my nemesis another thrashing,
Oscura pulled around the final corner and went full throttle and raced away, Dean doing the same and racing after her. And the race was on.
Almost immediately, Dean made a move to take the lead. Using DRS down the massive straight before the Remus hairpin, he pulled alongside Oscura and caught her under the brakes. However, Oscura would get DRS down the next straight and took her lead back in the very next corner.
At the end of Lap 1, Oscura held the lead. But Dean wasn't finished with her yet. Dean would make another attempt at the same corner, but Oscura became wise to this and blocked him under braking. She managed to hold the lead for nearly the rest of the race, however Dean would not let up and kept with her the whole time.
The duel was so tense and close, Flim and Flam were on the verge of losing their voices by the end of the race.
On the final lap, everything changed. This time, Dean made a faint attack into Remus. However, he never made the attempt to get past, instead saving it with a risky diving attack into Schlossgold. It was a massive lunge, but it was doable. And while Oscura saw him coming, she immediately jerked out of the way.
But a split second later, she reversed that decision and turned into the Ferrari instead. Her RB's front-right wheel banged into Dean's side pod. But while the impact sent Oscura into the gravel, Dean carried on his merry way. It was obvious to Dean what the unicorn had just attempted and stated, "That didn't work, Oscura! You've hit the wrong part of me, my friend!"
Eventually, the yellow flag was displayed and Dean nursed his damaged Ferrari across the line and took the win, in one of the greatest duels in the entire series up to this point. And joy-of-all-joys (to Dean, at least), Oscura was far beyond pissed. Shouting multiple profanities at the pegasus over the team radio, she only finally settled down when the medical car came to pick her up.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: RBD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
The very first duel. The Mercedes top driver would be facing Ferrari's top driver. And at one of the greatest tracks on the calendar, this was highly anticipated to be one of the best duels.
However, during the Free Practise sessions earlier in the week, Viral took some time between practise sessions and reviewed the Team Radio moments from France. However, she didn't take too kindly to Dash's comment about Akula during the race start, to put it mildly.
To put it bluntly, she was beyond furious.
Only seconds after viewing the video, she stormed out of the Mercedes garage, intent on getting physical with the Element of Loyalty. Thankfully, before she could find Dash and rip her a new one, Akula stepped in and calmed her down, taking the opportunity to devour all of her built-up rage (remember, he is a changeling). There was an investigation launched by the FIA to determine what should be done about Viral's sudden flared temper, but it was soon dropped. Although, Viral was warned that if a similar incident occurred again, she would be penalised accordingly for unsportsmanlike conduct and for bringing the sport into disrepute.
But Akula had a reason why he stopped Viral. He didn't want to see his friend's Super Licence revoked and see her kicked from her seat, just because she let her NASCAR 'Boys, have at it,' ideals get the better of her. Also, he knew that his opponent in the duels was to be the rainbow pegasus.
As for Rainbow, she wasn't intimidated by the Demon Lord. She was confident that her driving skill would be enough to deal with him. She thought that there was nothing special about him and that Mercedes only picked him, because he was an F1 expert. However, she didn't know the true reason why Mercedes picked Akula to be their Equestria Series star driver. Akula had been a test and reserve driver for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team since the beginning of the V6 Turbo Hybrid era (2014). Lewis Hamilton had trained him ever since he took the job. Niki Lauda himself, who was the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes team up until his death, thought extremely highly of him and was not hesitant to put him in the main seat of the Mercedes team for the pony-intergraded F1 season (an idea which he supported massively).
Akula was the perfect Formula One package. And it was time to show the ignorant Dash what he was capable of. And, oh boy, did he impress.
At the start of the race, Akula didn't get the best jump and fell behind Dash. The pegasus immediately took the lead going into the first corner. She once again questioned, on her radio, why Akula was the star driver for the best team on the grid after such a lousy start. Little did she know, was that horrendous start was all part of Akula's plan...
Right on the backstretch heading towards Remus, everything changed. The Demon Lord suddenly got the jump on Dash down the rest of the straight and made a banzai attack move up the inside, taking the cyan Ferrari under the brakes and forcing her wide. After that, Akula took off, a shell-shocked Rainbow Dash left in his dust.
Not matter what happened, the gap to the shark-mouthed Mercedes would not decrease and by the end of the first lap, it was over. Dash had been humiliated by the Demon Lord of the Changelings, eliminated by the Mercy Rule after just one lap.
Duel 2: GAL (BWT Racing Point) VS BMI (McLaren)
The next duel was between two teams that had clashed before in the duels, but with different drivers. Gallus in his non-pink Racing Point was up against Big Mac in the red and yellow McLaren. Big Mac had butted heads with Racing Point before, but he was facing the other Racing Point of Silverstream and he lost.
But he was ready to show what he was made of. It also helped that the McLaren MCL34 he was driving was a very competitive car at Austria. His little sister's mentor, Lando Norris, qualified within the Top 10 and finished his race 6th. The McLaren was damn better than the RP19 in Austria.
It showed when Big Mac easily triumphed over the griffon and took the win.
Duel 3: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS CHR (HAAS)
Duel 3, two sworn enemies were taking on each other. Although it looked like Twilight had the advantage, Chrysalis was using the setup that her mentor, Kevin Magnussen had used during qualifying and was also the same setup that he had used in Australia. And was proven to be fast.
Chrysalis was able to keep her VF-19 within the ball park of what Twilight and her W10 Mercedes could offer, eventually getting past for the win.
Duel 4: VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Duel 4 was ready and Cheese Sandwich would be taking on Viral Velocity. But there was a problem. Gasly, Cheese's mentor, had struggled all week and was even lapped by his own teammate during the main race. And Cheese was running Gasly's setup, which seemed to work for him.
Viral, however, was just too good for Cheese and easily eliminated him after 2 laps.
Duel 5: CEL (Alfa-Romeo) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 5, Celestia was to take on Lightning Dust. For Celestia, she had started off the season well. A P4 result in Australia was followed by two wins in Bahrain and China giving her the points lead. But setback after setback had dropped her to third, just behind the Crimson Arrows. But now she was ready to undertake more championship results.
Lightning Dust, on the other hoof, was trying to get herself a meaningful result after a bad start to the season. She did have herself a few good results, but the washout wanted more. She wanted to get herself a win. While there was still plenty of races to go, she wanted her one of her wins to be at one of the most well known tracks on the calendar. She had already missed out in Spain, Monaco and Canada, but she was determined to have her win in Austria.
But Celestia was just too good for the pegasus and Celestia was in the final.
Duel 6: FLT (Toro Rosso) VS SAN (ROKiT Williams)
Fluttershy wasn't sure of her chances in Duel 6, as she would be facing off against Sandbar of the Williams team. It wasn't because of her car, that was for damn sure. Throughout the whole week, her yellow STR14 was a dream to drive in her opinion. She was able to push her Junior Red Bull car to the front of the mid-pack, not only beating out her teammate, but also both Albon and Kvyat in Free Practise.
The four Williams were another story. They struggled the whole week, not managing to outdrive any of the other teams in practise. And that wasn't a threat. But Sandbar was. When the chips were down, the earth pony colt knew how to play his cards right and squeeze out extra performance from his FW42 that the Williams engineers (or anyone else) did not know was there. Sandbar had managed to get the slow, overweight piece of crap that was the 2019 Williams on the podium in one of the most challenging tracks on the calendar, beating out Akula in the Mercedes in a dash to the line.
Flutters knew that she faced a tough opponent, but she was not going to give up. She knew that she had a great car and she knew how to use it. And use it she did. Not once did Sandbar make an attempt to pass her, for she was just too good behind the wheel of her Toro Rosso. It also helped that nothing came together for Sandbar and he was eliminated.
Duel 7: SPI (Scuderia Ferrari) VS YON (ROKiT Williams)
Duel 7, Spitfire in the Ferrari was taking on Yona of the Williams. At first, things didn't look good for the yak. Spitfire was one of the three fastest Ferraris in practise, only being beaten out in times by DangerDean and Charles Leclerc. As for Yona, she was the slowest Williams of the four. She had been beaten in times by Russel, Kubica and Sandbar the whole week. She didn't have a hope in hell of making the final.
Thankfully for her, Lady Luck was on her side. Throughout the whole Duel, she lagged severely behind Spitfire and was very close to being eliminated via mercy. However, on Lap 3, fortunes turned in favour of the back-marker. Going through Red Bul Mobile, the back end of Spit's SF90 kicked out violently and sent her into the barriers. While the car looked okay, the engine was severely damaged and the Wonderbolt could not continue, letting the Williams into the final.
Duel 8: RAR (Renault) VS APP (McLaren)
Rarity and Applejack, two friends were facing off in Duel 8. Even after failing to qualify for the French Grand Prix and finishing poorly in Canada, spirits were still high with the fashion mare. EVen though the R.S.19 wasn't the best car in field at Austria, it wasn't appallingly bad either. However, Applejack had been strong throughout the week, just like her brother. Their MCL34 had beaten the crap out of the field black and blue in Free Practise, only outshined by the front-runner teams and Fluttershy.
However, going into the Duel, everything went wrong for the British factory team. Something just wasn't working right with the engine and the farm mare began to suffer. Rarity easily exploited Applejack's problem and took the win for Renault. And once the race was done, the problems of AJ's McLaren became clear. For some reason, the litium-ion battery wasn't charged properly and was causing the electrically powered KERS and TERS to fail, cutting the MCL34 of some of it's power. And even more strangely, this was only affecting Applejack. Big Mac, Norris and Sainz seemed to be fine. The McLaren engineers would get some time to figure it out before the next round.
Duel 9: OCE (Toro Rosso) VS SIL (BWT Racing Point)
Duel 9 was between two mid-pack teams. Ocellus was taking on Silverstream. Having witnessed Fluttershy's incredible duel with Sandbar, a fire was lit within the reformed changeling. If her teammate could fight off Sandbar, she could probably do the same. Although her STR14 wasn't as fast as Shy's, it was still a good mid-field car.
To make matter better, Silverstream's RP19 wasn't the best car. Both Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll failed to get out of Q1 in Qualifying and failed to finish within the points in the race. Ocellus was confident that she could win, but she tried her hardest in the duel. However, the hippogriff wouldn't give up, even though she eventually lost.
Duel 10: LUN (Alfa-Romeo) VS PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Duel 10, Pinkie Pie was taking on Luna. It was only at this round that the tips that her sister offered her paid off. Luna was staring to perform better, just like Giovinazzi (who got into Q3 and finished 10th in his race). She was also improving and even outshining her mentor in some areas.
However, Pinkie Pie had just as good of an advantage as Luna did. Her mentor, Verstappen, was an ace at this track. And the Austrian crowd that came to the race were massive Verstappen fans. With the support of the crowd and a mentor who knew how to drive this track well, Pinkie was feeling good about her chances.
The duel was close, but it was the experience of Pinkie's mentor that got her the victory.
Duel 11: SUR (Renault) VS GLA (HAAS)
The second to last duel before Dean and Oscura went head-to-head, and Suri was taking on Gladmane. Both former villains, now racing in the most professional sport in the world. Although, it became obvious which driver was going to make the final. Gladmane's mentor, Romain Grosjean had struggled with his HAAS all week. Nothing seemed to work for the Frenchman and Gladmane began to feel his pain.
His HAAS was horrendously slow in the duel, easily being outperformed by the R.S.19. There was no chance for the con-pony and he was eliminated.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 9: Austria
Starting Grid
DangerDean (Scuderia Ferrari)
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Celestia (Alfa-Romeo)
Big Macintosh (McLaren)
Pinkie Pie (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
Chrysalis (HAAS)
Rarity (Renault)
Ocellus (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Suri Polomare (Renault)
Yona (ROKiT Williams)
"It's race day, here at the Red Bull Ring in Austria! Welcome all viewers to Round 8 of the 2019 Formula One Equestrian Series! Flim and Flam here, joined by Max Verstappen in the booth and we are about to get underway, as the drivers take off on their formation lap! But let's see who is racing for the points today!"
"For the first time this season, Dean will start on pole for Ferrari. And what a duel he had with Oscura! I think we nearly needed oxygen masks after that! Just behind him is Viral Velocity and Akula in the Crimson Arrows, both vying with each other for the championship lead, 37 points clear of their nearest competitor,"
"Fluttershy in the Toro Rosso just behind the front-runners, joined by Celestia and Big Macintosh. Pinkie Pie is just behind them, in the Red Bull and she is looking strong today. I think she might come away with the victory,"
"Chrysalis in the HAAS after the Red Bull, with Rarity starting the second-to-last row. Joining the Element of Generosity, is Ocellus the Changeling in her Toro Rosso. With the final row completed by Suri Polomare and Yona,"
"Our drivers are locking back into the grid! We are about to go green in Austria!"
Earlier Scuderia Ferrari garage
"Well, Dean. You've made it to the final," Danger said to himself in his trailer, all dressed in his fire suit and his HANS sitting perfectly on the back of his neck. His helmet sat on a small table away from him, a balaclava draped over it.
"Plenty of competition, great track, great crowd, mares to please in the garage and no Oscura to worry about," He told himself, staring at his helmet, visions of him racing in his Ferrari and being showered in confetti and champagne on the winner's podium rampant through his mind.
He snuffed a laugh, before speaking again, "Let's get us a win," The pegasus then grabbed his helmet, stuffed the balaclava inside and left the trailer. After passing through the paddock area and the garage, he emerged on the grid, slipped on his balaclava and hopped into his Ferrari, as it sat proudly on pole position.
Once inside the car and buckled in, he put on his helmet. The helmet was nicely designed in a bright red colour, with racing stripes on top and with the two 'D's' that were also seen on his Ferrari. On the side, white lightning bolts and the number 15. Of course, there was the standard Ferrari sporsorship decals on the helmet along with the custom design, which included logos of Shell, UPS, Lenovo, Ray-Ban and Magneti Marelli (all are brands that sponsor the Ferrari team).
Sadly, the crowd wouldn't get to see much of his helmet design, due to the halo device obstructing the view. But nevertheless, he was still going to put on a incredible show for the fans and for all the mares in the garage.
Once he had placed the steering wheel into the vein and the car was lowered onto the track, a female voice that Dean recognised well spoke to him. 'Radio check, Dean,' It was a old friend of his, Crimsonia Dragonsfire. His chosen race engineer.
"Great day for a race, Crimsonia! Let's put on a show for the fans and the mares!" He replied, ready to race for the Prancing Horse.
'Aright, we are about ready to set of for the formation lap. You have been put on the softs, Akula and Viral are also on softs. Fluttershy and Celestia on medium. And Big Mac is on soft. No one has a hard on,'
Dean let out a snicker, having heard something both dirty and funny. Then, the lights went green and the field set off for their formation lap. It didn't take long and the drivers were back on the grid, locked into their positions and ready to go.
The first light came on and Dean fired up the Ferrari, the roars of 800 Italian horses joined by German, French and Japanese horses as the lights flicked on, one by one.
The light went out and the race begun.
"A nd it 's l ig ht s o ut an d a wa y w e g o!!!!!!! "
Dean easily had the best jump out of the entire grid, as he maintained the lead going through Niki Lauda Kurve. Both of the Crimson Arrows were right behind him, neck-a-neck going into the first turn. But it was Akula who had the edge over the others and made a daring attack into Remus, sneaking by both Viral and Dean at the same time and taking the lead. However, Dean took the lead back at Turn 3. By the end of Lap 1, Dean held the lead, with Akula and Viral hunting him down.
Dean settled into his seat and took the Niki Lauda Kurve again, ready to hold off the Crimson Arrows for the race.
In the back, things starting going wrong for the changeling queen. She was running the same setup that she had used in the Duel, but it was now working against her in the race. It was proven that if the VF-19 had the right setup, the Dallara-designed car was capable of being the fastest car in the mid-field.
However, nothing was working with Chrysalis and she immediately fell back to 11th by the end of the first lap, only outpacing the Williams of Yona. Even though she had started on mediums, her HAAS was struggling for grip. "The car feels like I'm driving in the wet! I have no grip!" She reported, pushing her car to catch back up with the mid-pack.
On Lap 6, Dean and the Crimson Arrows had all but left the pack in their dust. The gap between Akula and Celestia was 4.2 seconds. And it wasn't that Celestia wasn't pushing, as she pushing and was trying holding off Fluttershy, Big Mac and Pinkie Pie.
However, approaching the end of Lap 8, Fluttershy suddenly pulled into the pits early for a set of softs. This left Celestia with Pinkie and Macintosh on her tail. The only problem was, that with a fresh set of rubber, Fluttershy would eventually catch her in the pit cycles. All Celestia had to do, was manage her tyres well and hopefully get a quick stop.
Lap 14 and the field started to come in for fresh rubber. However, the front-runners were staring to gain on the back-markers and would probably manage to lap them in the pits. In the back, Chrysalis was still holding off Yona, when the call came through to pit.
Coming around Rindt, she slowed down and aimed for the pit entrance. However, she didn't know that Yona was pitting as well and when she slowed down, she caught Yona by surprise and forced her to swing out and slow down. Just as that happened, Dean and Viral blew by to put them a lap down. But when she swung out, Akula then blasted by. But her sudden swing-out caused Akula to panic and move out of the way, sending him off the track somewhat. Thankfully, there was no collision and everyone was okay.
But Akula was furious. "WHAT THE F*** WAS THAT???!!!! I ALMOST KILLED SOMEONE!!!!"
'Copy, we saw it. Are you okay?'
"I'm fine. There's no damage. Whoever that was needs a penalty. Unbelievable. F****** idiot!!!"
On Lap 19, all drivers had completed their stop cycles and were pushing for positions. Well, nearly all.
Celestia was still out on track, having not pitted with the others. But the tyres would not take it and she needed to pit. Eventually, she came in at the start of Lap 20 for fresh softs. However, as she was stuck in the pits, Fluttershy was catching up.
She was released from the pits and emerged only just ahead of the Toro Rosso. But it wouldn't last long.
As they entered Remus, Fluttershy had the jump on the Golden Alfa and with DRS wide open, she caught Celestia under the braked and took 4th away from her. She pulled away from a clean overtake and pushed to gain back up with the leaders.
'That's it, Fluttershy! Nice work!' Her race engineer congratulated.
"Thank you, but the race isn't over yet,"
On Lap 25, Dean still held the lead. But, just like Celestia, his tyres were almost dead. They still had life in them, but he needed to come in soon. It was expected that he would come in at about Lap 31, but on Lap 26 he pulled into the pits. The Crimson Arrows stayed out, Viral taking the lead of the Grand Prix with Akula hunting her down.
Dean pulled into the pit box, the Ferrari pit crew expertly replacing the softs with mediums and sending him back out in record time. However, Dean still needed a miracle in order to get back into contention for the lead. And by miracle, Dean needed a Safety Car.
But things weren't any better with the Mercs. Akula knew that if Viral placed ahead of her, she would take back the points lead. And Akula didn't want to lose his lead again, after working so hard to get it back.
"I want to use my engine when I can, Petrov," The changeling reported, wanting the lead of the Grand Prix.
'Akula, we will be turning both cars down soon,' Petrov replied.
"But I still have engine life!" But Akula would not get an answer, until two laps later.
Viral had managed to hold off Akula for a while now, the changeling trying all he could to take his lead back. After a double-stack pit stop on Lap 26 that put both Mercs on mediums, they still held the lead. But on Lap 27, she then felt that her car was down on performance, like Bahrian was repeating itself. However, she realised that Akula was not any faster a few turns later. Something was up.
Before she could key her radio, it chimed for her. But the voice that spoke to her was not Neon's. The voice belonged to Mercedes technical director James Allison . 'Viral, this is James. We are managing an issue with the gearbox that is critical. Repeat, we are managing a critical gearbox issue. Please stay off the kerbs unless directed otherwise, both cars,'
Viral felt her heart sink. There was an issue with the gearbox and she only knew now?! And since both her and Akula had to stay off the kerbs, they would be losing quite a bit of time to the pack. But since there was nothing she could do, she keyed her radio and replied, "Gearbox issue, stay off the kerbs. Roger that,"
Seconds after, Akula was contacted by Allison. 'Akula, this is James. We are managing a critical issue with the gearbox. Please stay off the kerbs unless directed otherwise, that's both cars,'
Akula immediately realised that the vibrations caused by hitting the rumble strips must be damaging the gearbox on both cars. Knowing what was going on, Akula simply said, "Acknowledged,"
With only 6 laps to go, Dean really needed his miracle to come now. If nothing happened, the win would easily be fought out between the Crimson Arrows. Dean needed a safety car to come out. And sure enough, it did.
Back in the mid-field, Suri and Rarity were fighting with Ocellus for 8th. But on the exit of Rindt, the front-right wheel on Suri's R.S.19 suddenly detached from the car, nearly hitting Rarity as it came off. And with one less wheel, Suri brought the three-wheeled Renault to a stop off the track and got out. Her race was done.
This incident brought out the safety car, bunching the field back up together. Just what Dean needed.
With three laps to go in the Grand Prix, the safety car pulled in and the race continued. But this time, Dean was right behind the Crimson Arrows. He needed to get past them for the win.
There was no dice the first time around, as Viral and Akula were too fast. But with two laps to go, fate would decide the race win. Heading into the Remus, Akula tried to take Viral under the brakes. The two Mercedes clashed wheels as Akula tried to pull ahead, but Viral didn't let up. They were side-by-side heading down the straight into Schlossgold and Akula tried his luck again.
But as Akula got on the brakes and turned into the corner, the front end of his car began to slide. He was understeering. And Viral was right next to him.
When Viral tried to stay alongside Akula through the turn, the changeling understeered into his teammate. The Crimson Arrows clashed wheels again, understeer sending Akula being sent into the gravel and taking Viral with him. Luckily, the two maintained their momentum through the gravel and made it back onto the track, keeping the race under green.
However, their detour through the gravel had caused the teammates to drop back to 7th and 8th respectively, well out of podium contention. For the first time in the season, neither Crimson Arrow would finish on the podium. Even if another SC was brought out.
And Viral was understandably pissed. "F***************!!!!!! F***!!! F***!!!!! F***!!!! F***!!!!! THAT F****** IDIOT!!!!!!! FOR F**** SAKE!!!!!!!!"
'Tyres are OK. Pressures are OK. Watch for traffic and rejoin safely,'
"AKULA JUST RUINED OUR F****** RACE!!!! WHAT THE F****** S***????!!!!!"
'Keep calm, get your head down. We can still get some points for this,'
Akula, meanwhile, was not happy either. "F***!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!! F****** NOOOOOO!!!!!! GOD-F******-DAMMIT!!!!!"
'Are you OK? Are you OK?'
"I just took out Viral. Car is okay, but there's no way that we're having the podium. I am f****** stupid. I should've waited,"
Just then, team boss Toto Wolff came over his radio. 'Don't beat yourself up over it, it was out of your control. Keep your eyes forward, we can still pick up some points for this race,'
"Thanks, Toto. I'm keeping calm. *sigh* I should've waited for one more lap. Son-of-a-b****!!"
With the Crimson Arrows out of it, this left Dean in the lead with two laps to go. All he had to do was hold off Celestia, Fluttershy and Big Mac in order to win. And holding off those three would be a cake-walk for the British Speedfreak. He expertly used the power of his powerful Ferrari to pull away easily and hold it for one more lap.
And as he rounded the final corner, Dean saw the chequered flag flying from the marshal box and the Ferrari pit crew on the pit fence, cheering him on to the finish. Dean took the flag, taking the win of the Austrian Grand Prix. Just behind him, Celestia fought off Fluttershy and Big Mac to take second, letting the two behind finish 3rd and 4th respectively.
But it was all Dean, the victory was his. 'You've done it! You are an official Formula One winner!' Crimsonia cried out over the radio.
"YEAAAAAHHHH!!!!!! VICTORY NUMBER TWO!!!!! Graze mille, grazie mille!" Dean cried out, punching his hoof into the sky. He was so happy for his overwhelming victory against the two Mercs. And as he pulled into the victory box, he rejoiced with the members of his team as Celestia and Fluttershy pulled into the box.
However, just before he went over to celebrate with Celestia and Fluttershy, a surprise visit came when Viral arrived at the box, having managed an 8th place finish. She held out a hoof and Dean accepted, shaking hooves with the fellow pegasus.
When it was time for the podium ceremony, the three drivers were all happy with their trophies . Dean was so happy in fact, he gleefully spayed down Crimsonia with champagne (who had joined him on the podium, as part of a experimental podium ceremony planned for next season). He was just so happy with his weekend. AFter a race that took out his nemesis, he went on to win one of the most prestigious Grand Prixs of the season.
Dean couldn't be more happy.
Author's Note
Results
DangerDean - 25 + 1 points (Fastest Lap)
Celestia - 18 points
Fluttershy - 15 points
Big Macintosh - 12 points
Pinkie Pie - 10 points
Ocellus - 8 points
Akula - 6 points
Viral Velocity - 4 points
Rarity - 2 points
Chrysalis - 1 point (1 lap down)
Yona - 0 points (1 lap down)
Suri Polomare - 0 points (DNF)
Driver's Championship
Akula - 115 points
Viral Velocity - 112 points
Celestia - 89 points
DangerDean - 79 points
Fluttershy - 56 points
Gallus - 51 points
Rainbow Dash - 41 points
Oscura Galaxia - 34 points
Pinkie Pie - 33 points
Suri Polomare - 31 points
Twilight Sparkle - 31 points
Rarity - 30 points
Chrysalis - 30 points
Sandbar - 28 points
Big Macintosh - 24 points
Lightning Dust - 24 points
Ocellus - 21 points
Luna - 19 points
Applejack - 17 points
Silverstream - 17 points
Spitfire - 12 points
Yona - 10 points
Gladmane - 10 points
Cheese Sandwich - 7 points
Constructor's Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 259 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 144 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 122 points
BWT Racing Point - 104 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 72 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 70 points
Renault F1 Team - 61 points
McLaren F1 - 41 points
HAAS F1 Team - 41 points
ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 38 points
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 9 Best Team Radio Moments
Author's Note
I have another survey for you guys. Click here to vote.
I will not post next Team Radio Moments until I have enough votes, so get voting!
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 9 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 9: Austria
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Duel 1 Lap 1
'Akula has just dropped back. Looks like he had wheelspin again,'
"And I say again, why is he the star Mercedes driver?"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 1 Lap 1
"I'm sorry, Dashie. How does that dust taste?"
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Duel 5 Post-Duel
"Another final for the greatest princess. *Giggleing*"
'Very nice driving, Celestia. Let's get a great result in the race and get second back,'
Oscura Galaxia Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Duel 12 Lap 5
"****!!!!!!!! ****, ****, ****, ***************!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! ******* DAMMIT!!!!!!!! THAT STUPID PEGASUS HAS DONE IT AGAIN TO ME!!!!!!!!! I WILL BEAT YOU ONE DAY, DEAN!!!!!! I WILL!!!!!!!!!!!"
'Calm down, Oscura. Still plenty of races to go,'
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Pre-Race
'Radio check, Dean,'
"Great day for a race, Crimsonia! Let's put on a show for the fans and the mares!"
'Aright, we are about ready to set of for the formation lap. You have been put on the softs, Akula and Viral are also on softs. Fluttershy and Celestia on medium. And Big Mac is on soft. No one has a hard on,'
"*snicker* Thanks, Crim,"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Pertonas Final Lap 1
"Jesus, Akula's on a roll isn't he?"
'Yeah, he's in a new zone. Nothing you can't handle, V,'
Chrysalis HAAS F1 Final Lap 2
"The car feels like I'm driving in the wet! I have no grip!"
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Lap 8
"Umm, I like to suggest that we box this lap and undercut Celestia. If that's okay with you, that is..."
'Okay, Fluttershy. It did work for Luna in Baku, so let's try it. Box this lap, "
Pinkie Pie Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 8
'Watch Fluttershy here, she's going for the undercut,'
"I know what game she's playing. I've got my eye on her,"
Yona ROKiT Williams Final Lap 14
'Watch it, you have Viral and Dean coming through. (...) Okay, watch for Akula now,'
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 14
"WHAT THE **** WAS THAT???!!!! I ALMOST KILLED SOMEONE!!!!"
'Copy, we saw it. Are you okay?'
"I'm fine. There's no damage. Whoever that was needs a penalty. Unbelievable. ******* idiot!!!"
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Final Lap 20
"Geez! Fluttershy just muscled her way in there!"
'Not as shy behind the wheel, is she?'
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Lap 20
'That's it, Fluttershy! Nice work!'
"Thank you, but the race isn't over yet,"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 27
'Viral, this is James. We are managing an issue with the gearbox that is critical. Repeat, we are managing a critical gearbox issue. Please stay off the kerbs unless directed otherwise, both cars,'
"Gearbox issue, stay off the kerbs. Roger that,"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas
'Akula, this is James. We are managing a critical issue with the gearbox. Please stay off the kerbs unless directed otherwise, that's both cars,'
"Acknowledged,"
Suri Polomare Renault F1 Final Lap 30
"Oh, what the ****? The entire front-left tyre just came off!"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 36
"****************!!!!!! ****!!! ****!!!!! ****!!!! ****!!!!! THAT ******* IDIOT!!!!!!! FOR ***** SAKE!!!!!!!!"
'Tyres are OK. Pressures are OK. Watch for traffic and rejoin safely,'
"AKULA JUST RUINED OUR ******* RACE!!!! WHAT THE ******* ****????!!!!!"
'Keep calm, get your head down. We can still get some points for this,'
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas
"****!!!!!!!! NOOOOOOOO!!!!! ******* NOOOOOO!!!!!! GOD-*******-DAMMIT!!!!!"
'Are you OK? Are you OK?'
"I just took out Viral. Car is okay, but there's no way that we're having the podium. I am ******* stupid. I should've waited,"
'Don't beat yourself up over it, it was out of your control. Keep your eyes forward, we can still pick up some points for this race,'
"Thanks, Toto. I'm keeping calm. *sigh* I should've waited for one more lap. Son-of-a-*****!!"
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Final Post-Race
'Very nice race, Celestia! P2, right where you belong!'
"Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrdadadadadadada!!!!!! I wanted the win, but the Ferrari was just too far gone. Still, podium and a nice chunk of points. Let's keep chipping away!"
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Post-Race
'YES, FLUTTERSHY!!! FANTASTIC JOB!!! P3!'
"Yay! I hope you enjoyed that performance. I must say, that undercut worked a treat,"
'Yeah, it must have. Very fantastic race today, enjoy the trophy!'
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
"Guys, I'm very unbelievably sorry. We should've have had the 1-2 finish. But, I got greedy and pushed for the win. And that pushed us out of the podium. I'm very, very sorry,"
'Yeah, it was quite a shame. Don't let it get you down. We still have the points lead in both championships and there's still plenty of races to go. Just bring the car in and we'll talk about it once you are in the garage,'
"Copy,"
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 10 (Great Britain), Duel 6: Akula VS Viral Velocity (Grid Start, One-On-One)
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!
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: DNG (Scuderia Ferrari) VS LUN (Alfa-Romeo)
The very first duel and DangerDean was facing Luna. Luna, despite still failing to qualify for races, was beginning to get better and better at driving. However, she had a problem. Silverstone was Dean's home track. He had grown up racing on this track ever since Equestria first opened their portals to Earth. Even worse was the fact that Dean had come off a brilliant win in Austria, his momentum seemed to be carried into Britain, as he was one of the fastest cars in Free Practise.
And the Duel was nothing but a massacre for Luna. Dean immediately took the at the start and never lost it. Luna tried, but the British Speedfreak couldn't be bested. Dean easily took the win and progressed into the final, to the admiration of the British crowd.
Duel 2: OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS APP (McLaren)
Duel 2 and Oscura was taking on Applejack. The dark unicorn was still bitter with Dean after her loss to him in Austria and was determined to crush him here and now. But what people were not expecting was seeing her RB15 wth a special livery. The Aston-Martin branding on the rear-wing and just ahead of the side pods had been replaced with the iconic 007 logo . And on the back part of the rear wing had a picture of a number plate that read 'PPW 306R' (which was the number plate of the "Wet Nellie" Lotus Esprit S1 seen in The Spy Who Loved Me ). Due to the fact that the 2019 British Grand Prix was the 1007th Formula One event, Red Bull was given permission to run with 007 logos for the race. And it didn't stop at the cars. In true Red Bull fashion, the pit crew and drivers all had single-breast dinner suit designs on their fire suits.
However, the special livery didn't do Oscura any good as she was trumped by Applejack in the McLaren, much to the unicorn's chagrin.
Duel 3: RAR (Renault) VS SAN (ROKiT Williams)
The British Spirt didn't just stop with Dean and Applejack. In Duel 3, Rarity was taking on Sandbar. And as things turned out, the favourite to win was not Rarity. It was Sandbar. In fact, all of the British teams seemed to be the best. Aside from Dean, both of the McLaren and Williams cars were among the fastest in the mid-field (Racing Point is Canadian, it doesn't count).
That pace was carried into the Duels, where the Williams trimphed over the Renault and easily won the Duel.
Duel 4: SIL (BWT Racing Point) VS CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull)
Duel 4, Silverstream in the Racing Point was up against the Red Bull of Cheese Sandwich. Unlike Oscura's Red Bull, Cheese had a different number plate on the wing. Cheese's number plate read 'TT-378-20' (the number plate of the DBS V12 used by Bond in Casino Royale ). Also, he was much more into the festivities that Red Bull was known for. In fact throughout the whole weekend, he wouldn't answer anyone unless they referred to him as "00174".
Silverstream was still trying to achieve a meaningful result. But for some reason, she was out of luck heading into Britain. "00174" would hold off the Racing Point and win.
Duel 5: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)
In Duel 5, Twilight Sparkle would be taking on Lightning Dust. For Twilight, this was her chance to prove what she was worth. It was even more special, as her Mercedes had the iconic white-and-neon-green livery used by Brawn GP, the team that became Mercedes one season after Brawn bought the $500 million Honda team for only 1 British Pound.
She needed to prove her worth to the team, to the public why she was chosen to race with the defending constructor champions. And at the British Grand Prix, the Princess of Friendship did impress. It helped that Lightning Dust had been struggling with her Ferrari all week. Twilight was an easy winner.
Duel 7: YON (ROKiT Williams) VS OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Duel 7. Yona was taking on about Ocellus. Ocellus was starting to improve her driving by massive amounts, Albon's tutoring helped massively. Behind the wheel of the STR14, she was owning the mid-field despite being shy. However, she would be up against Yona in her Williams and the yak was fast.
Despite how good Ocellus was behind the wheel of her Toro Rosso, Yona was better and it was the yak that took the win.
Duel 8: PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS GLA (HAAS)
Next up, Pinkie Pie was facing off with Gladmane. And just like her best friend, she was getting in on the James Bond fun. The number plate on the wing was the iconic 'BMT 216A' (British registration of the iconic DB5, first seen in the 1964 Bond film, Goldfinger ). And she didn't answer anyone unless they referred to her as "00220".
"00220" would be joined by her fellow 00 driver, as she would beat the HAAS and win the Duel.
Duel 9: GAL (BWT Racing Point) VS CEL (Alfa-Romeo)
Two drivers that had met each other on the track before were going head-to-head in Duel 9, with Gallus taking on Celestia. They had met each other on the track, having fought over 5th place in Canada. Gallus won that battle and he was ready to show the world that he was no push-over on the open circuits.
But in his quest, he pushed over somepony else.
Heading into Copse, Gallus went wheel-to-wheel with Celestia in a attempt to dive past her. However, he plowed into the side of the Sun princess, flipping her into the grass. The Alfa-Romeo rolled several times over before coming to rest in a sandbox near a wall. Thankfully, she was alright.
But her crashed had given Gallus the victory. Although Gallus' victory came at a price, as he was given a 5-place grid penalty for causing a wreck bewteen himself and Car No.100. This meant that whatever his starting position was, he was to be dropped 5 places.
Duel 10: BMI (McLaren) VS RBD (Scuderia Ferrari)
Duel 10 and Big Mac would be taking on Rainbow Dash. The big farm stallion was confident that he would be able to join his sister in the final. And he was loving the setup his mentor had provided him. Also, he was very confident in his abilities as a driver.
It also helped that Rainbow was still suffering from the shell-shock after being humiliated by the Demon Lord. She wasn't feeling herself and began to drop of her pace. Throughout th whole weekend, she was the slowest Ferrari by some margin.
It was easy for Big Mac to blaze away and take the win.
Duel 11: SPI (Scuderia Ferrari) VS CHR (HAAS)
Duel 11 and Spitfire was taking on Chrysalis. The Wonderbolt Captain didn't want to end up like Crash and raced hard in her Ferrari. It also helped that her opponent was Chrysalis. The Changeling Queen was struggling to find the right setup for her VF-19.
It was almost too easy for Spitfire and she took the win.
Duel 12: SUR (Renault) VS FLT (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
The final Duel and Suri Polomare was taking on Fluttershy. And the shy pegasus was on the top of her game. After her third place finish at the Red Bull Ring, her confidence in her F1 driving ability got a massive boost. Now, she was placing consistent top results on the timing sheets, being on par with and even beating out both human Toro Rossos.
Her renewed confidence in herself was all she needed to knock Suri out of the running and take the final spot in the race.
Author's Note
Special thanks to ZoneSky for suggesting the livery that was used by Twilight!
Also, the idea to have Pinkie and Cheese name themselves "00220" and "00174" came front the page on the Red Bull Team website about the 2019 British Grand Prix partnership with 007, referring to Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly as "0033" and "0010" respectively.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 10: Britain
Starting Grid
DangerDean (Scuderia Ferrari)
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Applejack (McLaren)
Big Macintosh (McLaren)
Spitfire (Scuderia Ferrari)
Twilight Sparkle (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Sandbar (ROKiT Williams)
Yona (ROKiT Williams)
Pinkie Pie (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Cheese Sandwich (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
Gallus (BWT Racing Point) - 5 place penalty
"Welcome back, all motorsports fans! We are in Britain for the Equestrian Series Final of the British Grand Prix, here at Silverstone! We are about to get underway here at the Home of British Motor Racing and joining me and Flam in the booth is current Bond actor, Daniel Craig! Let's have a look at the grid as our drivers set off on their formation lap,"
"Staring on pole for the second time in a row, is DangerDean. Viral Velocity is joining him on the front row in her Mercedes. McLaren had taken control of the second row, with Applejack and Big Mac just behind them,"
"Next row back, Spitfire in the Ferrari and Twilight in the Brawn-themed Mercedes. And the next row behind them is dominated by the Williams, Sandbar and Yona placed just behind them,"
"Red Bull has lined up just behind Williams, with Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy on Row 5. Joining them at on the final row are Cheese Sandwich in the Red Bull and bringing up the rear is Gallus for Racing Point, with a 5-place grid penalty for taking out Celestia in his Duel,"
"The field is coming back around to the grid, my friends. We are about to get underway here in Britain,"
Earlier Mercedes team trailer
Viral kept her orange eyes fixed to the laptop screen in front of her, as the video she watched showed the #9 Sun Energy Chevy of Chase Elliott holding the lead on the final lap of the 2018 Watkins Glen race from the #78 5-Hour Energy Toyoda of Martin Truex Jr . Many emotions washed over the pegasus, as the #78 ran out of fuel and Chase easily cruised to the line to take the win.
And something broke inside the mare, as the #9 Chevy took the chequered flag. Unprecedented levels of emotion built up in her. Emotions of anger, jealousy, hatred and resentment. "No..." She said to herself, as she began to pace about her room. She kept repeating it to herself, "No... no... no... no... no! That was supposed to be my win. That was supposed to me my car. That was supposed to be my drive! I should be driving that car, not that no-body, prodigal, daddy's boy PIECE OF S***!!!!!!"
She then snapped and punched the laptop screen with so much force, she actually cracked the screen. She backed away from the laptop, breathing heavily to try and balance some of her anger. But it was all in vain, she still felt her jealousy of Chase Elliott working it's way through her veins.
"I hate you," She whispered to herself, in another attempt to remove some of the anger.
But she didn't know that somepony else had heard what had happened. Or rather, someling . Viral was caught off guard when a familiar voice asked, "But why, Viral?"
Viral felt a shock go down her spine, as she turned to look who was there. Sure enough, Akula was standing right in the doorway, staring at her with an emotionless gaze. The mare then swallowed down some of her saliva and greeted her changeling friend. "Oh. Hey, Akula. You... heard everything, didn't you?"
"Every single word, V. Every single word," Viral just looked away in shame when the half-demon said this and said demon noticed this. "I sense quite an unhealthy amount of anger coming from you, Viral. Possibly the biggest amount of anger I've ever felt you have had. Let me help," He walked up to the mare and lit up his horn. Viral made eye contact with her changeling friend and found herself unable to look away, as Akula stated to inhale deeply. A bright red aura flowed out of Viral's chest and into Akula's mouth.
Eventually, the stream of haze ran out and Akula slurped up the remaining aura and licked his lips once it was all gone. "Ah, so filling. That was delicious," The changeling turned his attention to the pony and asked, "Feeling better?"
Viral simply nodded, but Akula knew that she wasn't feeling 100% percent. "Viral, what's going on? I know that you are still not feeling okay. Please talk to me, I want to help you,"
The mare knew that she had no other choice other than reveal what happened to her. Besides, when she arrived at the test track for her team, Akula told her what had happened to him. It was about time that she told him what had happened. Even if... it was terrible.
"Alright, you have me against a wall. It's about time I told you what happened," Viral said, sitting down on the bed he had been sitting on for a while. Akula joined her on the bed and sat next to her.
"What happened? I thought you were living your dream in NASCAR?" He asked, confused.
Viral just let out a sigh, as she began to explain what happened. "I was only in NASCAR for three years, Akula. I signed with Hendrick Motorsports in 2013, to test the new Gen 6 cars that were starting to be used in the main series. My mentor was none other than Jeff Gordon, four-time Cup Series champion. Me and Jeff became really good friends, just like how you are with Lewis. However, I was shocked when I found out that he would be retiring at the end of the 2015 season. But, I also had a bit of excitement. I would get the chance to take over the #24 and compete with the big boys in the Cup Series! I would be the first Equestrian to compete in NASCAR! But..."
"But what?"
"But, Rick Hendrick went behind my back and signed fellow rookie Chase Elliott to the #24 at the end of the season. I... let my anger get the better of me and I quit the team. I was just jealous and angry, I didn't think things through. I'm pretty sure that I might've become a 'Nightmare Viral Velocity' or something if I wasn't careful, I dunno. Well, I went shopping for another sport to clear my mind and I found IMSA. I was signed to the Scuderia Corsa team and I drove the 488 GT in the GTD class for 2016. And I was pretty good at my new trade. 1st overall in my class. You already know that I then became a test driver for Ferrari one year later, and now I found myself being signed to the Mercedes team in Formula One, on your recommendation and the fact that my planned teammates do nothing but bicker with each other. And that's my tale,"
Akula just stared into his friend's eyes for a few seconds before speaking up, "I think I see the problem. Your jealousy of Chase getting your seat has finally taken over you,"
"That video showed his very first win in the Cup Series. But I know that I would have gotten way more wins well before would've!"
"Let me ask you this, V. Do you think that Chase would be able to do what you are doing right now?"
That really hit a cord with the pegasus. She had seen Elliott's racing background and she knew that he had never strayed away from the ovals. Not once had he competed in a sport that wasn't associated with NASCAR or oval racing. Viral had tested with Hendrick for a few years, won her class in IMSA, tested for Ferrari in 2017 and 2018 AND was now racing with Mercedes in the Equestria Series!
Besides, Viral was getting more media coverage in Formula One than she was in NASCAR. NASCAR, while internationally broadcast, had a more national-focused fanbase. F1 was a true international sport, with millions of fans over the world tuning in to each Grand Prix. Viral was in a much bigger spotlight now and she knew that.
"No," Was all that she could answer.
"Exactly," Akula stated, seeing that Viral was starting to see the light, "You've been in more sports that most drivers could. And now you are no longer nationally famous. You are famous all over the world. Don't forget that,"
"Yeah, you're right. Thank you for that, Akula," She thanked her changeling friend with a warm smile. Akula retuned the smile and gave her a quick hug before letting her head to the garage and get ready for the race.
But before she left the trailer, Akula called out to her. "Hey, V. Be sure to beat Dean, okay? If you beat him, I'm sure that it will knock his ego down a few notches. That'll be healthy for him,"
Viral just giggled and replied, "I'll be sure to. See you on the podium," And with that, she left the trailer and headed for the garage. Of course, she had her helmet with her the whole time. It was the same design of helmet she had in all her other forms of motorsport, coloured in bright red with blue flames underneath the visor and a bright-orange Double V design that started at the bottom and crossed over her visor as it reached the top of the helmet. Of course, there was room for the sponsors of the Mercedes team, including Mercedes-Benz, Petronas, Monster Energy, Puma, Bose, Epson, Tommy Hilfiger and Marriott Bonvoy.
Quite easily, she found herself in the garage. She hopped into her Crimson Arrow, which was then rolled out of the garage and placed on the grid, just beside and behind the hometown colt of Dean. His bright red Ferrari was to be Viral's toughest opponent. Still, she had a strong car and was very talented. So, she was ready for him.
'Okay, Milady V. Your car is ready to go out there and bring home the tea and crumpets!' Neon announced, once again in her British accent.
"Great to hear your voice, Neon. Let's get this done and give that Dean a proper thrashing!"
'Righty-o, V! Fifteen seconds to the light sequence. Good luck!'
Just as Neon had finished, the light sequence began. Viral engaged the clutch and gunned the engine. Soon, the British countryside was soon alive with the sounds of V6 Turbo Hybrids.
"It's one light! Two lights! Three lights! Four lights! Five lights! (...) And it's go, go, go, go!'
The lights flicked off and the race began. Dean and Viral immediately took off away from the main pack, going side-by-side through Abbey. However, Dean had the upper hoof through Farm and Village, taking the lead. But Viral was not ready to give up and stayed with the British Speedfreak down Wellington Straight.
Meanwhile, things were heating up in the mid-field. Multiple drivers going wheel to wheel in the first sector. However, the closest battle was between the two Williams for 7th. Yona was trying to outpower and outbrake her teammate, but to no avail. Both FW42s were too even. And that would be their undoing.
On the exit of Aintree, the two Williams touched wheels. It was unclear who had caused the incident, as both drivers were suffering from control problems. Thankfully, Yona and Sandbar weren't at each other's throats. They were quite the opposite and apologised profusely, thinking that they had done each other in.
However, both Williams had punctures and needed to pit for fresh rubber. But things were worse for Sandbar, as the punctured tyre had caused the Williams to drop down. As he moved forward, the tarmac was destroying the floor. And as he pulled into the pits, he was given the order to drive into the garage. And he did, voluntarily retiring from the race.
And while Yona was able to make it to the pits, she was now 19 seconds behind the pack. She would need to driver hard in order to catch back up.
But as that was happening, a compelling battle between the McLarens had caught the attention of the cameras.
Applejack held the through the first sector, but Big Mac was hot on his sister's hooves. Heading through Copse, the bulky stallion pulled alongside Applejack and went wheel-to-wheel with her on the run-up to the chicane. However, Applejack managed to outbrake her brother at Maggotts and kept her position.
Also, the move left Spitfire with a chance to sneak past Big Mac. But he held his position and kept after his sister.
Speaking of Spitfire, the Wonderbolt Captain and Twilight were locked in a battle for 5th for about 3 laps. For most of the while, Spitfire held the lead against the Mercedes. The better power of the Prancing Horse easily keeping the Brawn-Mercedes at bay.
However, on Lap 4, Twilight gained a massive run down Wellington Straight thanks to the DRS and made a move to the outside at Brooklands. However, Spitfire had the better line and held her position. That is, until she went wide on exit and allowed Twilight to sneak past on the inside. Twilight used her traction to hold it while on the outside through Luffield.
However, Spitfire used the Italian power she had at her disposal and regained 5th on the inside through Copse.
Not much happened for the next few laps. However, on Lap 9, Gallus tried to make a move on Fluttershy, who had just dropped a position following a wheel-to-wheel engagement with 00174. However, the griffon came in too hot at Brooklands and clipped the back of 00174's Red Bull, knocking off the front wing.
This meant that Gallus would have to pit for an order of front wings. And since he was so far back with the Red Bulls, that means he would be put far behind the main pack. But he needed the wing and pitted.
Dean and Viral were still at it at the front. For the duration of 14 laps, the British Speedfreak and the Crimson Arrow went at it. The two great rival teams of the decade were at it on the track. But it seemed that Dean had the upper hoof, as he had led 12 of those 14 laps.
However, salvation came for Viral. On Lap 16, the yellow flag was shown and the SC was deployed. Just behind them, Big Mac had lost the back end and went into the gravel at Vale (Turn 17). While Mac was unharmed and the McLaren was undamaged, he was stuck and the marshals needed to fish him out.
With the yellow flag out, both Dean and Viral pitted for fresh rubber. Dean's pit was closer to pit entrance and was able to get into his box first. However, Viral pulled into her pit, her worn Mediums were replaced with fresh Softs in record time. Just as she pulled out of her pit, she found herself wheel-to-wheel with Dean.
However, Dean pulled back and allowed Viral to take the lead at the pit exit. This allowed Viral to pull away, the lead well within her grasp as she caught the SC and settled in.
After just 3 laps, the Safety Car pulled back in and the race went green again. This time, Viral got the upper hoof and pulled away easily from Dean, her softer tyres giving better grip.
But it was the Red Bulls in the back that had the best start. With 00220 leading the charge, all three Red Bulls were abel to make some ground and advance just below the Top 5, just behind Twilight and Spitfire. And once they were past, Twilight caught Fluttershy's draft and used it to pass Spitfire and 00174.
Lap 22 and the Red Bulls were pushing for 3rd, with Twilight in tow. Quite soon, they had caught the McLaren and began trying to force Applejack into an error. However, as 00220 tried to make a move on Applejack, her front-left tyre suddenly got a puncture.
The pink mare was forced to slow down and pit that lap for new tyres. But she wasn't the only pony that suffered from that problem. One lap later, both 00174 and Twilight suffered from front-left tyre failures, as a result of delamination. They both pitted for fresh rubber, however they had dropped down the running order.
With two laps to go, Dean then pulled into the pits for new tyres. Having gotten the word about the tyre failures, it was decided that Dean should be brought in, just in case. So, he did. And he was taken off his okay mediums and replaced them with hards. The reasoning behind this was because all of the tyre incidents had been with the soft tyre and Dean was on the medium. So, he was on the hards.
However, this sudden pit stop had put him 30 seconds behind Viral, with one lap to go.
Viral was confident that with a massive gap on her nearest rival, she would be able to easily have the win and the Fastest Lap. And with her slightly worn softs, V pushed her Union Jack Mercedes to the limit, trying to set the Fastest Lap.
However, a sudden message from Allison would put a hold to those plans. 'Viral, it's James. You have major degradation to your front-left tyre. Please do not push for the fastest lap, just get the car home.'
Viral wasn't too upset with this and immediately complied. Besides, she still had a massive lead and Dean probably would catch her if she drove moderately quickly.
However, Lady Luck would soon play V a bad hand. Going through Luffield, the front-left tyre suddenly went. Now, her Mercedes was scraping the front-left corner of the floor on the track and she was slowed right down.
"Ah, s***!!! Tyre puncture! Tyre puncture!" Viral cried out.
'Copy, V. Go to mode punc, mode punc! You still have a 30 second gap to Dean, just keep going!'
Viral immediately did so and kept pushing, passing through Woodcote, down the original start/finish and through Copse. Dean was now 27 seconds behind and closing fast.
Now through Maggotts, Becketts and Chapel. Dean, 22 seconds behind.
Down Hangar Straight and into Stowe. Dean, 16 seconds behind.
Out of Stowe and towards Vale. Dean, 10 seconds behind.
And into Vale, the shredded tyre locked into position. Viral lost more time to Dean, who was now 8 seconds behind.
'7 seconds to Dean,' Neon reported, as Viral nursed her Mercedes round the final two corners. 'Now 6 seconds to Dean. (...) Five second to Dean,'
Viral came around the final corner and saw the chequered flag flying. Dean was closing in rapidly... but not fast enough. Viral crossed the finish line and took the win.
'YOU'VE DONE IT!!!!' Neon cried out, the surprise of the win evident in her voice.
All Viral could do was let out a deep breath. "Holy s***, that was too close!" Viral stated, as she caught her breath. "Oh, goddesses. I think I nearly soiled myself! *sigh* What a race and what a finish. Ah, I love Silverstone,"
'I'm glad I don't have to clean that up! Hehehe! See you on the podium!'
Viral pulled her damaged Mercedes into Parc fermé, the front-left tyre only just holding itself together. Dean and Applejack had already beaten her there, with Dean waiting for the arrival of the winner and Applejack celebrating her first podium with her team. And when Viral stopped and got out, Dean looked at her destroyed front-left tyre and just shook his head, as if to say "How you held onto that, I have no idea,"
The stallion then winked at her before embracing the pegasus, happy for the mare that she had won. And what a finish she had.
Author's Note
Results
Viral Velocity - 25 points
DangerDean - 18 points + 1 (Fastest Lap)
Applejack - 15 points
Fluttershy - 12 points
Pinkie Pie - 10 points
Spitfire - 8 points
Twilight Sparkle - 6 points
Cheese Sandwich - 4 points
Yona - 2 points
Gallus - 1 point
Big Macintosh - 0 points (DNF)
Sandbar - 0 points (DNF)
Driver's Championship
Viral Velocity - 137 points
Akula - 115 points
DangerDean - 98 points
Celestia - 89 points
Fluttershy - 68 points
Gallus - 52 points
Pinkie Pie - 43 points
Rainbow Dash - 41 points
Twilight Sparkle - 37 points
Oscura Galaxia - 34 points
Applejack - 32 points
Suri Polomare - 31 points
Rarity - 30 points
Chrysalis - 30 points
Sandbar - 28 points
Big Macintosh - 24 points
Lightning Dust - 24 points
Ocellus - 21 points
Spitfire - 20 points
Luna - 19 points
Silverstream - 17 points
Yona - 12 points
Cheese Sandwich - 11 points
Gladmane - 10 points
Constructor's Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 290 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 171 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 122 points
BWT Racing Point - 105 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 84 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 84 points
Renault F1 Team - 61 points
McLaren F1 - 56 points
HAAS F1 Team - 41 points
ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 40 points
View Online
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 10 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 10: Britain
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Free Practise 1
"Ah, great to be back on home soil. The feeling on Silverstone is amazing and the car just feels awesome. I'm feeling really good about our chances,"
'I do my best for you, Dean. I do my best for you,'
Sandbar ROKiT Williams Free Practise 1
"Something's not right with the car, but I can't put my hoof on it. I need to come back in,"
'Copy. We'll box if the car is unrunable,'
Gallus BWT Racing Point Free Practise 2
"Guys, I really need a quick break right now. My left arse cheek is getting a bit numb. Massive pressure point down there,"
Spitfire Scuderia Ferrari Free Practise 2
"There's something between my legs, flying around the cockpit. I managed to catch it, so we can have a look,"
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Free Practise 2
"What in Equestria is he doing? Get the ******* Williams out of the way!"
'Copy, we're on it,'
"Is it normal for Williams cars to be that slow?"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Free Practise 3
'Looking good so far, Dean! You're the only one still out there,'
"Okay, buy say... that I'm P1,"
'You are P1, purple in all sectors,'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 6 Lap 2
"Can someone get in contact with Akula?! He's really freaking me out with the way he's been behaving,"
'Okay, I'll try,'
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 6 Lap 3
'Akula, Viral is wanting to know your status,'
*silence*
'Akula, do you read me?'
Pinkie Pie Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Pre-Race
'Radio check, please,'
"The name's Pie. Pinkie Pie,"
'And how do you like your martini's then, 00220?'
"Shaken AND Stirred!"
'Alright, 20 seconds to the light sequence,'
Sandbar ROKiT Williams Final Lap 1
"Yona just hit me! What in Equestria is she doing?"
'Copy, we saw it. We saw it,'
"I've got a puncture, I've got a puncture! (...) Ah, ****!"
'Okay, understood. We'll box this lap, box this lap,'
Big Macintosh McLaren F1 Final Lap 1
'Tough break, Macintosh. You'll get her next time,'
"Eeyup,"
Gallus BWT Racing Point Final Lap 9
"Box, box! I lost the ******* wing!"
'Okay, we'll get another wing ready,'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 15
'Viral, Dean's last lap was a 1:30, can you please push a little harder on him?'
"I would but it's bad for the tyres! So, no!"
'Alright, just do what you can, V. Just do what you can,'
"You need to hope for a miracle, Neon!"
Big Macintosh McLaren F1 Final Lap 16
'Are you okay? Are you okay?'
"*Sigh* Eeyup,"
Spitfire Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 16
'Currently P5, you're doing great...'
"Oh! One of the McLaren's just went off at uhh... Turn 16,"
Oh, okay! We saw it. Perfect, that's one less. You are now P4,'
"That was an easy pass,"
Cheese Sandwich Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 16
'SC, SC. Mode charge,'
"What happened?"
'Macintosh went off at Turn 16. He's alright but the marshals need to recover his car. Looks like he lost the back end and spun,'
"What, did he hit a banana peel?"
'No, I think he got red shelled,'
Pinkie Pie Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 22
'You have overtake available. Go get her!'
"Ah, ****!!! Puncture! Puncture!"
'Okay, back off the throttle and go to mode punc!'
Twilight Sparkle Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 23
"*Twilight Scream* I've got a puncture!!!"
'Okay, see if you can bring it around to the pits. We'll get some fresh rubber on,'
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 25
'Okay, Dean. Box, box, box. Box, box, box,'
"But my tyres feel fine! Why do I need to pit?"
'Three cars have suffered punctures on the Soft compound, so we want to put you on a safe tyre,'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 26
'Viral, it's James. You have major degradation to your front-left tyre. Please do not push for the fastest lap, just get the car home.'
"Ah, ****!!! Tyre puncture! Tyre puncture!"
'Copy, V. Go to mode punc, mode punc! You still have a 30 second gap to Dean, just keep going!'
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 26
'Dean, Viral has a puncture. She's currently show at Turn 9,'
"What?! Who is slow?!"
'Viral. Puncture Turn 12,'
"Can we win this?!"
'If you get on with it!'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 26
'7 seconds to Dean. Now 6 seconds to Dean. (...) Five second to Dean,'
"Is that the chequered flag, Neon?!"
'YOU'VE DONE IT!!!!'
"Holy ****, that was too close! Oh, goddesses. I think I nearly soiled myself! *sigh* What a race and what a finish. Ah, I love Silverstone,"
'I'm glad I don't have to clean that up! Hehehe! See you on the podium!'
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Post-Race
"AHHH ****, Mate! ***** sake!"
'She's a lucky mare. She's a lucky mare,'
Applejack McLaren F1 Final Post-Race
"YEEEE-HAW!!!!!!!! WE DID IT!!!!"
'Fantastic drive, Applejack! P3! What a race, champ!'
"*Sobbing*"
'Are you crying, AJ?'
"Ah, definitely not!"
'Tears of joy, come on!'
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Duel Highlights
Duel 1: CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing) VS FLT (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
The first Duel and Cheese Sandwich was facing down Fluttershy. And it was under serious circumstances. Now 11 races into the season, Cheese was stuck in second-to-last with 11 points to his name. Meanwhile, Fluttershy of the Junior Red Bull team had beaten the crap out of both Red Bull outfits black and blue and was 5th in the standings, only being beaten by the Top 4 of Celestia, Dean, Viral and Akula. And there were rumours that Cheese would be out of his seat if he didn't get a move on.
Cheese really needed to improve. And the duel was his chance to show Fluttershy, Christian Horner and the media what he was capable of. However...
To give credit, Cheese was able to keep up with the timid pegasus and was even able to get past! It was a shame when he suffered a puncture after hitting something on the track at Turn 7. This resulted in a DNQ and Fluttershy would move on again. And Cheese was in serious jeopardy of not seeing the end of the season at all .
Duel 2: YON (Williams) VS CHR (HAAS)
The second Duel put the two back-marker teams against one another. Williams' Yona was taking HAAS' Chrysalis. Chrysalis was confident, as she had gotten a few tips about the track from her lover, Akula. The only problem was the car. It was still the same slow and back-hard and tricky-to-drive VF-19 that they had started the season with.
While the FW42 wasn't any better, being light on downforce, draggy and overweight, Yona was starting to get herself familiar with the car and was starting to keep up with the faster Sandbar. And she had found a setup that worked well with her driving style.
And it was this that resulted in Yona moving on to the final.
Duel 3: LUN (Alfa-Romeo) VS BMI (McLaren)
Duel 3 and Luna was taking on Big Macintosh. The MCL34 and the C38 were quite close in the field. However, the difference between the attitudes of the two drivers was like chalk and cheese. In Luna's case, she was seriously frustrated. She had gone quite a few races without managing to qualify for a final and she felt like she was regretting her decision to sign for a seat in F1. Thankfully, her sister and Giovinazzi convinced her to keep trying.
Big Mac, on the other hoof, was feeling down on himself. After his spin at Silverstone that resulted in a DNF from the Top 5, Macintosh was going through a dark moment. He was clearly not following Unofficial Formula One Rule 31: Prepare for Heartbreak. He was doubting his abilities and his driving was beginning to suffer as a result.
Quite early into the race, Mac lost the back end and spun into the gravel at SudKurve. Luna was moving, much to her pleasure.
Duel 5: TWI (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS OSC (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
Dark clouds began to gather over the Hokenheimring, as Duel 5 got off the ground. In this Duel, Twilight of Mercedes was taking on Oscura of Red Bull. And for Twilight, the time was right to get things right. Unlike Akula and Viral, Twilight didn't heed the warnings and ran the same livery that Hamilton and Bottas ran. The nose of her Mercedes was painted in bright white, before it peeled away into her lavender Mercedes livery. The livery was a reference to the (not entirely true) story of how Mercedes had to strip the white paint from their cars at the last minute in the 30s to meet the minimum weight limit.
As of Oscura, she was running the livery she had used in Austria. But it wasn't the car that would win this race, but the driver. As on Lap 3, it began to rain. And on that lap, Oscura pitted for Intermediates. Twilight stayed out and would pull a massive lead over the dark unicorn. And there was a reason for that.
Despite the rain starting, the track was still way too dry for the Intermediate tyre to be used. Twilight knew this, because she had done the calculations all in her head before she made her decision to stay out. As a result, Twilight easily took the victory by the Mercy Rule.
Duel 6: RBD (Scuderia Ferrari) VS PIN (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
The rain began to pour once Duel 6 was ready to start. In this duel, two best friends from rival teams would face each other. Yes, Rainbow Dash from Ferrari would face against Pinkie Pie of Red Bull. Rainbow now had recovered from her shell-shock and was now trying to get back into competitiveness.
Pinkie was a challenging opponent, but nothing seemed to be coming together for her, as she locked her brakes and hit the gravel at Hairpin. Unable to get herself out, she had to forfeit.
Duel 7: CEL (Alfa-Romeo) VS VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
In Duel 7, Viral Velocity was facing off against her rival #2, Celestia. She had faced off with the princess multiple times in the season, finishing second to her twice. Now, she would need to beat her in order to advance her position. But she wasn't overly worried. First off, she was very talented behind the wheel of her Mercedes. Also, she had received plenty of advice from mentor Valtteri Bottas and Akula, so she was quite confident.
Speaking of Akula, she felt like she needed to thank him for all the help she had gotten from him. And having run a livery as a sign of respect for Lewis, she decided to do the same for her changeling friend. So, she painted her Mercedes in an identical pattern to the livery that Akula had used at the start of the season. But instead of black-on-red, she went for a black-and-red slash design. And as a further homage to Mercedes history, she did what Akula did and stripped her Mercedes of all sponsorship decals.
In the actual race, all the tips from her mentor and Akula paid off and she was easily able to take the victory from the Princess of the Sun and her Golden Alfa.
Duel 8: SPI (Scuderia Ferrari) VS SAN (ROKiT Williams)
Duel 8 and two legendary teams from F1's history would go head-to-head. Sandbar of Williams and Spitfire of Ferrari would face off in this duel. Ferrari and Williams were both historical rivals, having faced off against one another in the 80s for World Championships with the likes of Keke Rosberg, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet.
Sandbar, however, was no Nigel Mansell. He was just a young pony. And since he was young, he was prone to making mistakes. It seemed as if Sandbar had taken a step back at Germany. Somehow, he had made a serious adjustment to the angle of the rear end components of his car, result in heavy rear end grip and serious oversteer.
It was no surprise when Sandbar lost the backend at the exit of SudKurve and hit the barriers, causing him to forfeit.
Duel 9: SIL (BWT Racing Point) VS GLA (HAAS)
In Duel 9, Silverstream was to face off against Gladmane. Something that the two drivers had in common was their lack of race qualifications. Both of them hadn't qualified for a race in a while. And thy were determined to make the cut here in Germany.
However, it didn't excuse how bad their cars were. The RP19 and VF-19 were not the best cars on the grid and were easily outpaced by the MCL34, STR14 and R.S.19. It would be down to the driver that had the better amount of skill that would win the day.
In the end, it turned out to be that Silverstream was the better driver, as she took the win.
Duel 10: APP (McLaren) VS LTD (Scuderia Ferrari)
In Duel 10, Applejack was facing off against Lightning Dust. Upon seeing who her opponent was going to be, Applejack was worried. The Hockenheimring had plenty of long straights, which perfectly suited the powerful and fast Ferrari's. The MCL34 was not on the same level as the SF90 in terms of speed.
It didn't help the farm mare that Lightning was getting great tips from her mentor, Charles Leclerc, to be a better driver.
Eventually, those fears were realised. Dust was just way too fast for AJ and easily took the win via Mercy.
Duel 11: RAR (Renault) VS OCE (Toro Rosso)
Duel 11 and Rarity was up against Ocellus. This duel was a close one, as the differences between the two cars were not existent. The STR14 and R.S.19 were both decent mid-pack cars, and were capable in great hooves (or hands). Whoever was the better driver would take the victory in this duel.
To everyone's surprise, it was Ocellus who took the victory from Rarity and put both Toro Rossos on the grid for the final.
Duel 12: GAL (BWT Racing Point VS SUR (Renault)
The final duel in Germany and it was fought between Gallus and Suri Polomare. And the griffon was in serious trouble. The Hockenheimring was a track that played against his driving style. Also, the RP19 was not a very effective car in the short term race pace. The R.S.19 was better overall in most cases, which was the factor that gave Suri the victory.
Author's Note
My apologies that this chapter took so long, but I was busy with other things (like real life).
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 11: Germany
Starting Grid
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Rainbow Dash (Scuderia Ferrari)
Twilight Sparkle (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Fluttershy (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Lightning Dust (Scuderia Ferrari)
Spitfire (Scuderia Ferrari)
Luna (Alfa-Romeo Racing)
Ocellus (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Suri Polomare (Renault)
Silverstream (BWT Racing Point)
Yona (Williams)
Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
"Guten Morgen, race fans! Welcome to the 2019 Equestria Series German Grand Prix! Flim and Flam speaking to all of you fans once again from the commentary booth! We are about to get underway here at the Hokenheimring, so let's have a look at the grid!"
"We have Viral Velocity, your points leader, stating on pole, followed closely behind by Rainbow Dash. She will be looking for a good result, with not having the best track record. Behind them are Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy on Row 2. Fluttershy having a fantastic season so far, with 5th in the Championship so far,"
"Ferrari dominated the Third Row, with Lightning Dust and Spitfire taking P5 and P6 respectively. Behind them, are Luna and Ocellus, with Suri Polomare and Silverstream rounding out the Top 10,"
"Finishing up the grid is Yona in the Williams and, surprisingly, Akula. From what I hear, his lap times in his Duel were invalidated due to track limit breaches. He's looking for a win here, but it looks like he will have to fight to get it!"
"Looks like we are about to get underway! Here we go!"
Earlier... Mercedes trailer
"It's just strange that they wouldn't show up, my queen," Akula stated, staring into Chrysalis' eyes.
While Chrysalis wasn't dressed in her race uniform, she was still a member of the HAAS team. The reason she was allowed anywhere near the Mercedes area was because of her connection with Akula. As a result, she was allowed to be near her lover whenever she needed to be.
"I'm sure that they have a good reason. Don't stress it too much," She replied, trotting up to him. "At least you have me and your other friends to keep you company,"
"I just can't stop thinking about it. Why wouldn't show up?" Akula questioned, still confused. The Demon Lord was never one to act crazily (no, that was Strict Thunder's job), but he just couldn't fathom what was going on. Why wouldn't his own friends show up to the one race he got them V.I.P tickets for? What could possibly be more important than seeing their best friend race? And it was beginning to drive the Demon Lord crazy.
Luckily, Chrysalis had a remedy for this problem. Before Akula could continue his rambling, the Changeling Queen yanked him around and locked lips with him. This caught the changeling by surprise, but he soon relaxed and deepened the kiss with his queen. About 5 minutes passed by as the two love-bugs continued to make out and smooch, before Akula was called to the grid.
"I need to go, my queen. I'm going to show the crowd exactly what Mercedes is capable. What I am capable of," Akula stated, staring into his lover's eyes once more.
"I know you will surely blow them away, my love. Just please be careful," Chrysalis replied to him, as he left to take to the grid.
Akula just turned back to his queen and smiled. "You know me better than that, my Queen. I always know what I'm doing," And with that, he left the trailer and headed to the grid to get ready for the race. Of course, he had his helmet with him and the HANS device and a balaclava to go with it. Of course, the helmet was of his own design. Cards were littered all over the helmet, every single one of them ace cards from all four suits. The design was simple, but effective and it even was a bit of symbolism, being the only driver in the series that actually had former F1 experience and is being currently employed by one of the teams. In other words, he was the only 'ace' in the deck of drivers. And yes, there was plenty of room for the sponsors to be placed.
Akula just proceeded onto the grid and hopped into his bright silver Mercedes, inserted the wheel and settled into the seat. Then, the radio came to life with the voice of his chosen race engineer. It was none other than former Renault F1 driver, Vitaly Petrov . 'Akula, radio check,'
As usual, Akula replied with his traditional radio check. "Radio 1-2, 1-2. Copy you, loud and clear,"
'Okay, we are about to go green. Fight through the pack and take the win. Shouldn't be too hard for you,'
"It always is, Petrov. Let's get this done," Akula stated, as he eyed up the cars ahead of him. Between him and the victory was 11 other top drivers. But he knew that he could take them all. The first light on the tree lit up and Akula gunned his Mercedes engine. All the others joined in as the lights began to add up.
Soon, all the lights were shining, before going out and, under a light haze of rain, starting the race.
"The drivers are all set. Your points leader on the right of your screen. The lights are out, here we go!!"
Viral got the best jump and began to pull away into the first corner, Dash, Twilight and Fluttershy chasing her down. Akula got an okay start and managed to sneak by Yona through the first corner. Akula gunned it down the straight towards Turn 2, taking Silverstream and Suri under the brakes.
Passing through Turns 3 and 4, Akula pushed his Mercedes to the limit down Parabolika and picked some more spots from Ocellus and Luna. But, the top 6 were too far ahead for any type of move to be pulled on them and Akula spent the rest of the first lap trying to reel them in. And by the end of the first lap, Akula had climed up 5 places and was now 1 second behind 6th, which was Fluttershy.
But as the 3rd lap rolled around, the rain got harder and harder. Until it reached a peak point and all the top drivers had to come in and pit for wet tyres. This pit allowed Akula to gain some time on the leaders and be within striking distance on Lap 4.
Viral still led the way, Dash close behind her. After them, Twilight, Lightning Dust and Spitfire were locked in a battle for 3rd. But heading down the short straight towards Turn 2, Akula decided to join in the fray and pulled into the Wonderbolt Captain's slipstream on the approach down the straight.
And as the group slowed down for the near-hairpin, just like Daniel Riccardo did at the 2017 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Akula pulled out of the slipstream and sailed up the inside of the two Ferraris and his Mercedes teammate, catching them all under the brakes and taking 3rd for himself. And upon seeing such a daring move, the crowd roared in approval as the changeling moved up to take off after Dash and Viral.
8 laps in and the rain didn't seem let up. While it wasn't wet enough to warrant a red flag, like in Canada, it was still raining pretty heavily. Thankfully, all of the drivers had come in for wets and the conditions were manageable. But it was becoming difficult to see, especially for those caught in the slipstream of other drivers, as they would be blinded by a shower of mist.
Also, the track was still very slippery and many cars had to use a slower engine setting and slow down a bit to avoid slipping off the track. However, Yona seemed to ignore this message and maintained her speed in the hope that she would be able to pick up a few more spots from other drivers. However, she slipped off the track at Turn 15 and brought out the SC.
This allowed Akula to get back into contention with the Top 2 of Dash and Viral.
On Lap 12, the Safety Car pulled in and the race continued. This time, Akula was right where he needed to be. And he chose Dash to be his drafting partner, as they three exited NordKurve and began the run to Turn 2. Of course, he wouldn't be able to get past, as the Ferrari he was drafting was way too fast for him to get by, but he would get a better chance on the approach to Hairpin.
As Dash pulled alongside Viral in an attempt to get past, Akula pulled out of the draft and went three-wide with the two cars, before catching them on brakes once more and taking the lead of the Grand Prix, ahead of a shocked Dash and impressed Viral.
"Oh, yeah! That felt good!" Akula stated, feeling very proud of his move.
By Lap 16, the rain and track had begun to clear up. The wets that all of the drivers were on were beginning to slow them down and most began to think about a set of Inters or even Softs. And on Lap 18, some of the leaders came in for Inters, with Akula and Viral getting the best stop, with a lightning quick double-stack stop.
However, one lap later, Twilight then pulled into the pits and put on a set of Soft tyres. Having done the calculations in her head, the Princess of Friendship thought that taking a risk and putting slicks on would be worth it. And when she did put them on, it seemed to pay off. Twilight was now the fastest car on the track.
But when notified by Petrov that Viral wanted to pit for slicks, Akula told her to be patient and wait to see what the weather did. Thankfully, she listened to reason and held off on a pit.
On Lap 20, the answer became clear. The rain had stopped and the track was drying up. With that in his knowledge, Akula contacted Petrov to notify that Viral could pit for slicks if she wanted to do so. However, Akula also said that Viral should exercise caution if she does, as the track was still slippery.
Sure enough, Viral pitted for slicks the next lap. And the gamble seemed to pay off, as Viral was now the fastest car on the track. She even managed to take the lead back from Akula and put him into third (as Twilight passed him as well with Viral). Akula didn't mind. He still had plenty of laps to catch then and he needed to harvest some more battery.
But on Lap 23, everything went wrong. Of course, it helped that Fluttershy had been taken out by her own teammate earlier when trying to put Ocellus a lap down. Although she was still able to continue, she had lost a whole ton of positions.
However, things went wrong for the home team. Coming around Turn 15, Twilight had begun to struggle and lose traction. This caused her to go wide and end up on the drag strip that was just off the circuit and had been turned into an ice-skating rink thanks to the rain.
Earlier, on Lap 15, Silverstream had gone off at the exact same place. However, not only was the hippogriff able to not end up in the gravel trap, she had also kept the Racing Point's Mercedes engine running. Therefore, she was able to continue racing.
But Twilight wouldn't be so lucky. She slid of the track and ended up in the gravel. Her momentum was just enough was that she just bumped the wall and knocked over some of the 125th Anniversary banners she hit onto her car. But worst of all, Twilight's W10 was stuck in the gravel. This left the Princess with a DNF.
And that wasn't then end of the problems for Mercedes. As Viral approached the same corner, she was notified by Neon as to what happened. But before Viral could make anything happen, she suffered the same problem and slid off into the gravel. But unlike Twilight, her momentum was enough that she was able to get back out onto the track. However, she managed to impact the wall and knock off the front wing.
She cut back across the field and entered the pits. But things got even worse, as the pit crew wasn't ready for a wing change. The crew panicked and the wing change took longer than what was normal. The pit took so long, Viral had dropped from the lead, all the way to 8th. And to make things even worse, Viral was given a 5-second time penalty for entering the pit lane from the wrong side of the safety bollard.
It was all up to Akula to give Mercedes the victory at their home race.
The laps continued to count down and Akula still held a comfortable lead over Dash. In fact, he had lost the lead to Dash because he stayed out on the Inters until the track dried up enough and he came in for slicks.
All Akula needed to do was to hold the lead and hope that no safety car would come out. However, the yellow flag was called on Lap 27 after Silverstream binned it at Turn 8. Although she was once again able to not hit the gravel and get back on the track, she had hit the back of Luna's Alfa-Romeo and had broken her front wing. And the Safety Car was deployed while the marshals picked up the pieces from the road.
But this left the top drivers within striking distance of Akula. Dash, Lightning, Fluttershy and Spitfire were all now able to make a move and to make matters even worse, Viral was catching back up. Luckily, the safety Car took quite a while and when it pulled in, there was only 6 laps to go.
And as the green flag waved, Akula got the jump and began to pull away. But the two Ferrari's of Dash and Dust were close behind. But the Demon Lord had an ace up his sleeves, all that energy he had saved from harvesting during the damp conditions had allowed him to use the highest power strat for the rest of the race, whereas the Ferraris chasing him were trying to save battery in order to get to the finish.
"I want to use my engine and battery when I can, Petrov!" Akula stated, pushing his car harder in order to keep the distance to the Ferraris.
'Copy, you can go to strat 2 and use Overtake whenever you can,' Petrov replied.
"10-4," Akula acknowledged, as he used the buttons on his wheel to set the hybrid system to strat 2 and using his KERS whenever he could. And with this deficit, Akula would hold on to the lead. Dash would hunt her down, but the amount of dirty air and the fact that Akula had plenty of battery to use, she couldn't reign him in.
Akula pulled around the final corner of SudKurve and took the chequered flag, taking the win for him and Mercedes. Just what the fans of Germany were looking for.
"YAAAAAAHAHAHA!!!!!! THAT WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE HAD!!!!!" Akula cried out, punching his hoof into the sky and waving at the crowd.
'Get in there, Akula! Well done! P1! From last to P1, what a legendary drive,' Petrov complimented, as Akula pulled into parc ferme and jumped out to celebrate with the team. Chrysalis was amongst the Mercedes crewmen and the Demon Lord happily embraced her and gleefully sprayed down Petrov with champagne during the podium ceremony.
For the Mercedes team, this victory was just what they needed after disaster in the human race.
Author's Note
Results
Akula - 25 + 1 points (Fastest Lap
Rainbow Dash - 18 points
Lightning Dust - 15 points
Viral Velocity - 12 points (5 sec time penalty)
Spitfire - 10 points
Fluttershy - 8 points
Luna - 6 points
Ocellus - 4 points (1 lap down)
Suri Polomare - 2 points (1 lap down)
Silverstream - 1 point
Twilight Sparkle - 0 points (DNF)
Yona - 0 points (DNF)
Driver's Championship
Viral Velocity - 149 points
Akula - 141 points
DangerDean - 98 points
Celestia - 89 points
Fluttershy - 76 points
Rainbow Dash - 59 points
Gallus - 52 points
Pinkie Pie - 43 points
Twilight Sparkle - 37 points
Lightning Dust - 36 points
Oscura Galaxia - 34 points
Suri Polomare - 33 points
Applejack - 32 points
Spitfire - 30 points
Rarity - 30 points
Chrysalis - 30 points
Sandbar - 28 points
Luna - 25 points
Ocellus - 25 points
Big Macintosh - 24 points
Silverstream - 21 points
Yona - 12 points
Cheese Sandwich - 11 points
Gladmane - 10 points
Constructor's Championship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 328 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 214 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 128 points
BWT Racing Point - 106 points
Red Bull Toro Rosso - 96 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 84 points
Renault F1 Team - 63 points
McLaren F1 - 56 points
HAAS F1 - 41 points
ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 40 points
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 11 Best Team Radio Moments
Author's Note
Okay, I've made a change to the Team Radio Moments appearances. Instead, of two after ever two races, I will be doing one after each race.
Also, fahrer means 'driver' in German. I'm telling you this so you don't get the word confused with fuhrer .
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 11 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 11: Germany
Spitfire Scuderia Ferrari Free Practice 2
"******* ******* KUBICA!!! WHAT A ******* IDIOT, BLOCKING ME ALL THE TIME!!!!"
Chrysalis HAAS F1 Free Practice 3
"Oh, what the **** are the Toro Rossos doing?! That was a dangerous move!!"
'Copy, it has been reported,'
Sandbar ROKiT Williams Free Practice 3
"**** ME GUYS!!!! What are we playing at??!! Guys, come on! Come on! We need to be the ones capitalizing from these **** ups! Not the ones IN the **** up!!"
Cheese Sandwich Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Duel 1 Lap 3
"I hit something, I may have damage,"
'Copy that, is the car okay to continue?'
"****, I just went off. I'm sorry, guys,"
'Okay, full switch off procedure. You okay?'
"Who cares?"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Duel 4 Post-Duel
'Chequered flag, chequered flag! What a race, champ!'
"Did you like that performance? Hahahaha!!!! This is why I love this track!"
'Very nicely done, Akula! Very nice. (...) Uh, Akula. I just got word from the stewards that you will be placed at the back of the grid come race time,'
"What? What happened?!"
'They're saying you exceeded track limits at Turn 1 on every lap. All those lap times you set have been invalidated,'
"Ah, s***. No matter, I'll still have the victory at the end of the day. Mark my words, Petrov. We will prevail,"
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 4
'Can you describe the conditions to me at this moment, please?'
"******* WET, Barsotti!!!! I can't see **** in front of me!!!"
Twilight Sparkle Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 4
"Whoa!!! Where did he come from?!"
'Copy, we saw it,'
"He may be a changeling, but he HAS to teach me that one day!!"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 4
'Mein fahrer, you're not going to believe this. Akula just made a pass on Twilight, Dust and Spitfire all at the same time!'
"That's Akula for ya!"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 16
'I do believe ze track is drying up soon mein fuhrer. Be prepared for ze slicks in two laps, I think,'
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 20
"Petrov, inform Viral that if she wants to box for slicks, she may do so. The slicks could be risky but if she can handle it, she may pit,"
'Copy, I'll send it'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 21
'Tires are on, take these these to the finish mein fahrer,'
"Danke, Neon,"
'Da, Da. Schnell!'
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Final Lap 23
What the floop is Ocellus doing?"
'What's happened, Fluttershy?'
"Ocellus turned on me!! No. NO!!!!!!!!!!!"
'Data shows that the car is still okay to continue. Box this lap,'
Twilight Sparkle Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 23
"**********!!!! NOOOOOO!!!!! NO!!!! Come on, Twilight! *sigh* I'm very sorry. I'm very sorry,"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 23
'Mein fahrer, Twilight just went off at Turn 15. She vas on softs, so slippy sector 3,'
"Ja, this tyre is starting to feel risky. It's slippery as hell. (...) ******! Box, box! I lost ze front wing!!"
'Ja, ja. Come in, we'll get you on inters,'
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 31
"There's too much dirty air, ****!!!!"
'Copy. 3 laps to go. 3 laps to go, Dash. Keep focused, you'll get him!'
"I want this win, Barsotti!"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
"YAAAAAAHAHAHA!!!!!! THAT WHAT WE SHOULD HAVE HAD!!!!!"
'Get in there, Akula! Well done! P1! From last to P1, what a legendary drive,'
"Everything worked in our favour this time! Make the right calls and it payed off!! I do feel bad for what happened to Viral and Twilight. They were driving so well and got screwed over by tyre choice, they deserved to share the podium with me. But still, you got to be happy with that result, huh?"
Rainbow Dash Scuderia Ferrari Final Post-Race
'Chequered flag, Dash. Go to Scenario 12. You are P2, nice job today,'
"Nearly, nearly had him! Nearly had him! HAAAAARRRR!!!!!!!!"
'I know you wanted the win, but you've got to be happy with that result. Dust was P3 and Spitfire, P5. Great points for the team,'
"Ah, I needed one more lap! Just one more lap. Still, great result. Lots of points for the team. Grazie, grazie a tutti,"
Lightning Dust Scuderia Ferrari Final Post-Race
'Race is over. P3, very good job! Two and Three for Ferrari,'
"YEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!! Oh, that feels good!!! Naturally, I wanted to win. But still, podium is nice for me!!! Grazie mille! Grazie mille! Grazie, grazie, grazie!!!"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
'Mein fahrer, ze gap to Spitfire vas 6.3 seconds when you crossed ze line. I think you keep your position, V,'
"That could've been better, Neon. But still, managed to recover from that accident and finished fourth. Not a bad day at the office,"
'You did a good job today, mein fahrer,'
"Danke, Neon. Danke,"
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 12 (Hungary), Duel 4: Cheese Sandwich VS Ocellus (Sprint Race, One-On-One)
Hungaroring , Mogyoród, Hungary
Formula One Equestria series
Duel 4: CHS (Red Bull Toro Rosso) VS OCE (Red Bull Toro Rosso)
Duel Type: Sprint Race, One-On-One
"Hello once again, you are watching the 2019 Formula One Equestria series! Flim and Flam here once again, coming to you live from Mogyoród in Hungary, for the 12th round of the season. But there was some shocking news from the Red Bull outfit, who announced a sudden driver swap. Anything you need to add on this development, Flam?"
"Why, yes I do. It was only just at the beginning of the weekend, when team boss Christian Horner announced that Cheese Sandwich would be demoted to the Toro Rosso team, with his seat in the main team taken up by Fluttershy. It was a hard swap, but it went through anyway..."
Cheese couldn't believe that it had come to this. It was the last thing he wanted to happen to him and it happened anyway. Gone was all the support from his favorite mentor and new friend, Gasly. Gone was his Aston-Martin sponsorship and the free DB9 car he got for working with the team. And gone was his happiness.
Because, only a few days earlier, the happy and fun-loving stallion had lost his seat at the main Red Bull team and was demoted to Toro Rosso.
The reasoning behind why the stallion was dropped to the junior team was because of the poor performances throughout the season. Cheese was second-to-last in the standing, only just ahead of Gladmane. And second-to-last was not a place where a main Red Bull driver was expected to be. So, the decision was made to replace Cheese with Fluttershy (who was fifth in points).
When the teams turned up for the race and Cheese was told to pack up his stuff and head down to the Toro Rosso garage, it seemed that he took his demotion well. But when the first practice session was completed and as he was getting to grips with the STR14, he broke down in in tears in his part of the trailer. To make matters worse, Pinkie was not happy with the decision to send the fellow party pony to the junior team. It made her spiteful towards the upper ranks of the team, although she maintained her bubbly attitude towards the pit crew, her race engineer and Fluttershy.
But what was done was done and Cheese had a job to do, whether he was ready to or not.
So there he was, sitting in the cockpit of his yellow Toro Rosso, staring down the light-blue Toro Rosso of his new teammate. He knew that while the young changeling was very shy, she knew how to drive. However, Cheese quickly adapted to the slower Toro Rosso, with no thanks to Albon. Ever since the swap, Cheese was given Albon as his new mentor in Toro Rosso while Ocellus started learning more tips and tricks from Kvyat. However, Cheese often rejected Albon's help.
Either way, he didn't care for Albon. But he had to race. Ocellus began to pull of the grid for the rolling start. Cheese just let out a sigh and followed his teammate around the circuit. As they came back around through the final three corners, the stallion was contacted by his race engineer, Pierre Hamelin. The exact same person that was Gasly's engineer from his time in Toro Rosso. Still, it was only a small crumb of comfort in a massive cookie of despair.
"Okay, you are approaching the starting line. Once the race starts, we will go to Engine 3, Scenario 10," Pierre reported.
"Copy. Let's hope this works," Cheese replied, all the happiness and joy in his voice gone. But as the pair came around the final corner and as the safety car pulled into the pits, his new racing instincts kicked in and flushed all of his pain away. Although the SC pace was kept through the final corner as Ocellus had launch control, the reformed changeling gunned it out of the final corner, starting the duel.
Cheese saw Ocellus take off and gunned the Honda engine of his STR14 after her. However, the jump that Ocellus had gotten ensured that the stallion would not be able to catch the changeling on the first lap. But from what had been proven in Free Practise, Cheese had shown considerably better pace than her.
It was no surprise that he began to close on his teammate, and on Lap 2, he was within DRS range. He had a chance of taking the lead. However, he never opened the wing. It seemed that he had taken a page from Akula's book and had stuck to shadowing his opponent. In reality, the real reason that he was not using DRS was that he had a plan, but he needed Ocellus to think that his DRS was malfunctioning.
And on Lap 3, he pounced. Going down the main straight, Cheese caught the draft and activated the DRS. This caught Ocellus by serious surprise, as the cheese-coloured Toro Rosso closed in. And going into Turn 1, he caught Ocellus under the brakes and took the lead away from her. However, Ocellus had the better line and took the lead back on the exit. But Cheese had gained some ground on his opponent and went for it again into Turn 2. This time, Cheese had the better line and edged just ahead of the changeling, but she still had the better exit as the two Toro Rossos when wheel-to-wheel through Turn 3 and down the straight to Turn 4.
Turn 4 was only wide enough for only one car, so as the two cars raced down the straight one would have to give way for the other once they got there. However, neither driver let off. As the two entered the corner, Cheese had the better line and rode the racing line.
Ocellus was not as lucky, and was forced off the track by her teammate. This allowed Cheese to pull quite a gap on his opponent. And it was a gap that Ocellus would not be able to close back up. Cheese would take the victory after two more laps of racing, a clear 4 seconds ahead of his opponent.
And as the chequered flag flew, all of his disappointment had flowed out of him like gravy. Cheese was back.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 1 (Australia), Duel 1: Rainbow Dash VS Lightning Dust (Sprint Race, One-On-One)
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.
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 2 (Bahrain), Duel 5: Luna VS Viral Velocity (Grid Start, Full Grid)
Bahrain International Circuit , Bahrain
F1 Equestria Duel series
Duel 5: LUN (Alfa-Romeo) VS VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Event Type: Full Grid Grid Start (5 Laps)
"Ladies and gentleponies, welcome back again to the Formula 1 Equestrian Duels 2019 season! I'm Flim!"
"I'm Flam!"
"A nd we lc om e a ll !"
"We are in Bahrain in the Middle East, for the second round of the Formula 1 season. And what a track Bahrain has! This is the first of three races to be held under the lights at night, bringing out the beauty of the night in this desert. During the night, this track becomes the jewel of this desert."
"We're already four Duels in, and for very talented drivers have already made their way into the final. Looks like the drivers are setting up on the grid now. Let's meet our two Duelers! Sitting on P5, driving for Alfa-Romeo, The Princess of the Night herself... Princess Luna! And her opponent, driving for Mercedes-AMG Petronas, the daughter of Lightning Dust... Viral Velocity!"
"Looks like we're in for another heck of a race, brother! Viral Velocity wowed us with her incredible racing skills in Melbourne, coming in third place behind both Rainbow Dash and her Mercedes team-mate, Akula. She has an incredible racing pedigree and she could prove to be one of the best racers in this series!"
"Ah, yes. But she has to deal with the very Princess of the Night on a night track! Luna is pretty much on home territory racing in the dark, under the lights of the track. So she should be able to get a bit of an advantage here! We didn't get to see her full potential in Melbourne just a few weeks ago, so I'm hoping we see it here!"
"Looks like it is time to find out! Here we go again! Duel No. 5 of the Bahrain round of the Equestria Duels series!"
Finally, Luna felt her own confidence grow inside her ever since the citizens of Ponyville had accepted her years ago, during Nightmare Night.
Racing under the cover of her glorious night, she knew that she could race to her best, knowing that her beautiful night sky over her was shining down on her.
But as she looked in the mirrors at her opponent, she felt a big bit of worry go through her. The Mercedes one spot behind her had managed to easily thwart her sister in the previous finals back in Australia, and was able to claim third place in that race. And to make matters worse, she had been trained by Valteri Bottas, one of the best racers in the world and team-mate of the previous year's champion of the world, Lewis Hamilton.
Luna and her sister weren't so lucky.
While Celestia was given the tutelage of 1-time champion Kimi Räikkönen, Luna was given the newly-signed Antonio Giovinazzi. She was told that Antonio had only ever driven in two GPs, back in 2017 for Sauber (which was renamed to Alfa-Romeo in 2019). In both GPs, Antonio finished 12th in the Australian Grand Prix of 2017, and crashed during the Chinese GP of the same year. But still, the Princess of the Night had received some valuable advise from the Italian, as he had more experience behind the wheel of an F1 car the both her and Celestia combined. Also, when Luna lost her Duel against Chrysalis in the first round, it was Antonio who comforted her by revealing to her that he didn't do so well in his own race, coming in 15th place. And this made her feel much better knowing that her time for a victory would come.
Now, here she was, about to race against Viral Velocity in her second Duel of the season.
"Hey, I've just noticed something, dear brother of mine. I've noticed that the entire F1 2019 grid is on the grid alongside our two Duelists! What are they doing there?"
"Oh, my brother. They're supposed to be there! This is a Full Grid-style Duel! The racers of the official 2019 season have taken time off of their schedules so they can race alongside their students in this style of Duel. However, the racers are under Formation Lap rules. While they are allowed to race at full throttle, they are not allowed to overtake each other, unless they have no other option. Whereas the two rivals will have to fight their way through the traffic to win the Duel!"
"Why, thanks for the healthy reminder, brother! And just in time, too! We are about to get underway!"
Eventually, the first red light on the starting tree lit up. All of the driver hit full throttle and engaged the clutch, and the roar of Formula 1 cars echoed out into the empty desert. As the red lights appeared one by one, Luna looked back in her mirrors. Viral was right behind her on the grid, in position 6. And behind her, was Kimi and Antonio. She just gave a quick glance at her two fellow Alfa-Romeo drivers, before turning her gaze to the lights, which were now all red.
Luna let out a deep breath, the lights went out and the Duel began.
Viral has easily gotten the better start of of the two, and immediately pulled ahead of the Alfa-Romeo. But unlike what she was expecting, Luna didn't fall behind her at all. Instead, the princess's dark blue-and-silver C38 easily kept pace with her own W10 EQ Power+. But now, they had to fight their way through traffic. The two drivers moved to the racing line to take the first corner. They slotted in between Max Verstappen and Räikkönen, as they raced down towards the first corner. Viral leading, Luna trailing.
After two laps, both drivers had fought their way through most of the pack and were now testing each other's skill, with Luna attempting fake overtakes to test Viral's defenses and Viral testing how different her car behaves in different situations.
After the third lap, only one car stood between the two rivals and being cleared of the pack: the #44 W10 EQ Power+ of Lewis Hamilton. However, Luna and Viral had to catch him first. They didn't have to though, but it would be the best for them if they managed to get clear of the field.
But all that came to a head, going into the final corner in the third lap. Luna just stayed with Viral, riding in her slipstream down all the straights and through all the corners. She had planned this all out. The princess knew exactly what she was going to do. Going into Turn 14, Viral pulled alongside Hamilton to get past him, Luna still on her tail. But just as she was about to turn into the corner...
...Luna suddenly pulled alongside her, got the best line of the three and overtook both Viral AND Hamilton to take the lead with only two laps to go!
Luna mentally jumped for joy as she raced down the back straight in the lead, but immediately regained her focus as she raced to the first corner.
'Good job, Luna! P1! The place in the final we needed! Just hold on there for two more laps!' Her race engineer told her.
"I knoweth! I wonneth't alloweth thee down! Yond pegasus is nay matcheth f'r the princess of the night!" She replied in Old English, "To put it simply, I won't let thee down!"
And to be honest, she did exactly as she promised. For the next lap, she led the whole way, Viral just staying on her tail. The reason she couldn't get enough speed to pull past was that DRS is strictly prohibited during a Full Grid Duel (the only exception to this is the final round, because it was a full race).
She felt very confident. She though that she could take the victory from a talented Mercedes factory team driver.
But then, everything changed on the last lap.
And it was Luna's confidence that killed her chance. Going into the sharp hairpin that was Turn 8, Luna acidentially misjudged her braking point and went wide, allowing Viral to easily overtake her and take the lead... with only 7 corners to go.
Luna kicked herself over that incident, and raced after the Mercedes.
But try as she might, she couldn't catch the much faster Viral, and she ended up losing her Duel.
Her potential had been wasted for another few races.
As she cruised past the line, her race engineer reported the bad news. 'Final results: Viral, P1. Yourself, P2. I'm sorry, Luna, but you have been eliminated from this round,'
Luna just stared ahead of her in disbelief, as the pegasus that had beaten her stared doing doughnuts at the side of the track, celebrating her victory over the princess of the night. "Alas, t appears mine own attempteth at vict'ry wast unsuccessful. Again,"
No more words were exchanged between Luna and her race engineer, as she pulled her dark blue-and-silver Alfa-Romeo into her team's garage. She had been eliminated from the second round.
She then trotted away and sat down in a nearby chair, about to compile her loss to Viral...
...when her sister, Celestia, approached her and gave her a deep cuddle to comfort her. And after a few seconds of comfort, Celestia pulled away and asked one simple question...
"Luna, what happened?"
Author's Note
Yes, I put Luna's lines in Old English. If you have a problem with that, please keep it to yourself.
Also, if you see a text that looks like this: "And welcome all!", then it means that Flim and Flam say this line at the exact same time, just in case you didn't know.
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 6 (Monaco), Duel 5: Viral Velocity VS Cheese Sandwich VS Sandbar VS Rarity (Qualifying)
Circuit de Monaco , Monaco
Formula One Equestria Duels series
Duel 6: VRL (Mercedes-AMG Petronas) VS CHS (Aston-Martin Red Bull) VS SAN (ROKiT Williams) VS RAR (Renault)
Duel Type: Qualifying
"Welcome back, all motorsports fans, once again to the Formula One Equestria 2019 season! I am Film, joined today my Flam and one-time winner at Monaco, Olivier Panis for Round 6 here in Monte Carlo on the gorgeous French Riviera!"
"Ah, yes, dear brother! It's just a shame that the commentary booth faces away from the coastline. The backdrop of the Riviera for this track is just incredible eye-candy for us ponies! We don't have anything like this in Equestria,"
"It may be nice, brother, but don't let the backdrop fool you! This track is infamous amongst both drivers and fans for the number of accidents caused at this track. Mr. Panis, you know this better than anyone. Care to elaborate?"
"Of course. Driving at Monaco requires nerves of steel and unbreakable concentration, with a bit of luck needed as well. Even the smallest error could spell disaster. The best names in Formula One have crashed at this circuit, most I had the pleasure of racing against,"
"Do you have any advise for the drivers?"
"Yes. Keep calm, be patient and pray,"
"Thank you for the insight, Mr. Panis! We'll be getting underway shortly, so stay tuned!"
Later... Renault team garage
"Of all the things that could happen, this is THE! WORST! POSSIBLE! THING!" Rarity exclaimed, her gaze not averting away from the screen.
In fact, the entire Renault pit crew were staring at the screen. For on it, was the live coverage of the driver that had gone on ahead of Rarity's scheduled run.
On the track, all TV coverage was concentrated on the cameras at the Swimming Pool section and all showed one thing.
A cream-and-light-blue-coloured Williams, upside down at the exit to the Pool section, with bits of debris strewn across the track, marshals flying the red flag and paramedics using a tow truck to flip the F1 car back onto its wheels.
While taking his lap, Sandbar had clipped the inside wall while entering the Casino Square, knocking off the right-side wing on the nose. However, this didn't get Sandbar to stop and he just continued his lap. However, that missing wing part would come back to bite him in the flank, as when he entered the Swimming Pool section, the sauage strips that lined the rumble strips caused his car to gain some air and due to the corrupted downforce, the FW42 then tipped over and rolled into the barriers. The impact with the barrier sent the car into the air sent the colt into a roll, before he ended up upside-down.
Although the Williams was in pieces, Sandbar was okay. However, he was trapped in his cockpit until the car was righted.
Throughout all of the Duels, there were quite a few crashes. However, Sandbar's was the most shocking by far (excluding Akula).
Rarity was the next driver to head out, but with the red flags out, she would have to wait until the debris was cleared. In the meantime, it would allow the unicorn to recover from her moment of temporary hysteria.
Later...
The wreckage of what once was Sandbar's FW42 had been cleared up and Rarity was given the green flag to take her lap. But Rarity still had a tiny bit of fear keeping her doubtful. What if she ended up like Sandbar? Or worse?
However, Rarity had to do her job and race. So, with some hesitation, the unicorn then entered her garage, dressed in her full race suit and her helmet in her grasp, ready to race.
But before she could hop into her R.S.19, she felt somepony put a hoof on her shoulder. Rarity turned, to see Suri Polomare was the pony that had stopped her.
"Rarity, you got a minute?" Suri asked. Rarity just nodded in response and turned to face the mare. "I know that this track is tough, but I know that you have got what it takes to tame it! You can do this, for all of us fashion ponies back home and for your friends!"
Rarity was surprised. Suri would never try what she had just did, but she just did it. Then again, they were in the same team and at one of the fashion capitals of the world. The two fashion mares had to make a great impression on the Monaco crowd!
Rarity smiled at Suri and said to her, "Thanks, darling. I really needed that," The two then embraced, a rare sight, "I'll see you in the final!" And with that, Rarity left the embrace, threw on her helmet and entered her white-and-purple Renault.
Once inside her car, the tyre blankets covering the tyres were removed and the fuel hose was disconnected. Rarity rolled her car out of the garage, out of pit road and up the Beau Rivage for the first time since Free Practise. The narrowness of the Monaco course felt like the difficulty of treading a needle of a sewing machine to Rarity, but she knew that she could deal with it easily.
Within seconds, she had completed her warm-up lap and began her timed lap. She blasted through Sainte-Devote and up the hill, towards Massenet. Her Renault caught a tiny bit of air as she hit the crest of the hill and went through Turn 3, lifting off just a bit. But going through Casino Square, she nearly lost the back-end. However, she was able to save her car and kept under control through Mirabeau Haute, the Grand Hotel Hairpin and Mirabeau Bas. Rarity went back onto the throttle, nearly to full speed down the Tunnel Straight, before getting hard onto the brakes for the Nouvelle Chicane. Back onto the throttle and through Tabac and kept her speed up through the Pool Section, before slowing for La Rascasse. Passing through the final corners of Anthony Noghes, she crossed the line, her Renault still in one piece.
'Lap over. Time was a 1:11.020,' Rarity's race engineer reported. Rarity mentally jumped for joy as she pulled the car around the track once more and brought the car back into the garage, happy that she had a great time for the race.
Rarity was the last driver to take her lap. Viral Velocity was the first onto the track. However, this time it was different. At Baku, Viral was nervous and she had crashed. But this time, the confidence of her victory in Spain and the Mercedes 1-2 was carried over into Monaco. While the pegasus was still fearful of the circuit, she handled it like a true champ and posted a lap time of 1:12.402. And while it wasn't fast enough to get pole, it was competitive.
As for Cheese Sandwich's lap, he would get a bit too throttle happy going through Massenet and clip the outside wall, losing a bit of his rear wing and losing control through Casino Square, making his second crash of the season.
Author's Note
NOTE: There are a few things that I forgot to mention about the Equestria Series that I'll mention now.
The Equestrian Duels and the Final Race both take place after the main series race. So, the humans will go first, then the Equestrians.
The ponies participate in the same Free Practise sessions as the humans, so the mentors and Equestrians can share info about setups.
Despite the name, the Duels take the place of Qualifying, as the laps times in the Duels determine the grid. This also means that the 107% Rule is not used in the Equestrian division, due to the reduced grid.
Before the race weekend begins, the Equestrian drivers are allowed to look around the location of the track before the week begins.
F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 7: Canada
Starting Grid
Oscura Galaxia (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
DangerDean (Scuderia Ferrari)
Viral Velocity (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Akula (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Gallus (BWT Racing Point)
Celestia (Alfa-Romeo)
Lightning Dust (Scuderia Ferrari)
Cheese Sandwich (Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing)
Luna (Alfa-Romeo)
Applejack (McLaren)
Rarity (Renault)
Big Macintosh (McLaren)
"Welcome all, once again to the Formula One 2019 Equestria Series! We are on the Notre Dame island in Montreal, for the Canadian round of the F1 season. I am Flim and joining me once again, Flam. We are quite looking forward to this race and we are possibly going to see some rain for the first time in the series. Let's take a look at the grid,"
"Oscura Galaxia of Red Bull has the pole, for the first time in her career and the first pole for Red Bull in general. Behind her, is DangerDean in the Ferrari. We can expect to see the front row fight for the lead all day,"
"Behind them, we have a Mercedes 3-4-5, with the Crimson Arrows of Viral Velocity and Akula taking Row 2, with Gallus behind them in the Racing Point. Alongside, Celestia in the Alfa-Romeo, looking like a true threat to the front row,"
"Lightning Dust and Cheese Sandwich behind them on Row 4, with Applejack and last round's champion Rarity behind them and Big Macintosh all alone on the final row. And it looks like we are about to get underway here in Canada!"
Earlier that morning... BWT Racing Point Paddock Area
Morning on Earth. How Gallus loved it. So much different to the mornings in Griffonstone, where all the adults screech loudly all at the same time, forcing everygriffon up at that time. One member of his pit crew told him that 'his mornings are alot like being woken up by a crowing rooster, except much worse'. But since the griffon was used to getting up at a certain time, he was always one of the first up.
Today was no different. As the sun began to rise over the horizon of Montreal, Gallus snapped his eyes open and awoke from his sleep. Letting out a yawn, he threw off the blankets, grabbed his race suit and exited the trailer. After emerging from the trailer, he decided to go and see who was up before getting himself some breakfast. Walking down the paddock area, he enjoyed the relative peacefulness of the silence in the area.
It didn't last long, as once he did a lap of the paddock, the griffon then ran into his mentor, Lance Stroll.
"Hey, Gallus. Nice to see you on this fine morning!" Stroll greeted his protégé. The griffon rushed over and shook hands with his mentor, surprised to see him up this early. "You going to get something to eat?"
"Nah, I'm not hungry yet. I'll get something sooner or later," Gallus replied.
"Okay, I see. By the way, someone wants to see you. He's waiting in the pit area. I'll see you during the race," Stroll then told him.
"See you then, Lance," And with that, Gallus waved goodbye and entered the pit area. But he was not expecting the creature he ran into, was none other than star Mercedes driver, Akula. He was just standing in the pit box, staring up into the sky with his red eyes, not even acknowledging Gallus' presence. The griffon slowly approached the changeling, when Akula broke the silence.
"I wasn't expecting you to be up this early,"
"That's just Griffonstone rubbing off from me. But why did you want to see me?" Gallus questioned, walking over to stand at the changeling's side.
Akula didn't change his expression and turned only his head to face him. "You're not afraid of rain, are you?"
"What? No!" Gallus snapped.
Akula just smiled. "Good. Because I have a feeling that we are going to get a little wet come race time," He then pointed a bloodied hoof to the Canadian skies. Gallus followed where the changeling was pointing and saw it. A massive, dark rain cloud. Heading in their direction.
"That's a massive raincloud. You think that the FIA is going to cancel?"
"I doubt it. We haven't gotten a chance to use our wet condition tyres at all this season. Besides, we can't let a little rain upset the racing experience for the fans,"
"I hope so. I'd better get myself something to eat, or my tummy is going to be very upset,"
"I'll see you when it comes time to race. I'd better go find Viral, see how she's doing," And with that, Akula trotted back to his pit area, leaving Gallus alone to head back to the paddock area.
Hours later... Circuit Grid
When it came time to race and the crowds had filled up the grandstands, it was clear that Akula wasn't kidding. The entire sky was blocked out by a massive cloud of grey and a light haze of rain had begun to settle onto the track. Thankfully, the rain didn't look like it was going to pick up anytime soon and the race was allowed to go ahead as scheduled.
Gallus sat in the cockpit of his RP19, eyeing up the tailgates of the two Mercedes W10s of Viral and Akula. And behind him sat the golden Alfa-Romeo of Celestia, so Gallus was within some very nice company on the grid.
All of a sudden, his race engineer, Felix Cohen, came over the radio. 'Afternoon, Gallus. Radio check from the pit wall,'
"Copy you loud and clear, Felix,"
'Roger. The race will start from behind the Safety Car. There will be no formation lap, as a result. The first lap after the Safety Car will be the first race lap. Do you understand that?'
"Yep, I understand. Let's have a good race,"
The Safety Car then pulled away, as the grid set off after it, beginning the first lap of the Final.
"Now, I would say that 'it's lights out and away we go', but that's not going to happen this time, sadly,"
For two whole laps, the field drove under safety car conditions, warming their tyres and brakes before the start of a race, like they would do during a formation lap. And since the rain that had fallen on the track would be too much for the dry tyres to handle, everyone would be starting on Wets. The Wet tyre was designed for rain conditions, with special grooves cut or moulded into the rubber (like the grooves on regular cars seen on the road) to allow the tyre to quickly displace the water between the ground and the rubber on the tyre, keeping the car gripping the road.
But as the second lap started, some of the drivers were becoming impatience and wanted to get going.
'Okay, how are the conditions, V?' Neon asked.
"Still pretty wet for now, Neon. But maybe one more lap and the track will be good," Viral responded, anxious to get going.
But at the end of Lap 2, it was announced that the safety car would be in and the race would begin. Going through the Hairpin, the SC then pulled away from the pack and entered the pit lane. Seeing this, Oscura then picked up speed to get herself a lead over Dean.
And seeing this, Dean chased after her, with the rest of the field following behind him. And as Oscura crossed the line to begin Lap 3, the race well and truly began. Going into the first corner, there were no incidents and the pack spread out easily.
Nothing much happened, but it was becoming clear that the track was drying up and the rain was settling down for now. But nopony wanted to risk it and kept on the Wets. However, that wouldn't last long.
In the mid-field, some of the driver fighting for points were starting to lose grip and needed to come in for some fresh rubber.
"There's no grip! The track is too dry for the Wets, I need to box!" Lightning reported, trying to keep control of her Ferrari.
'Okay, we hear you. The rain has picked back up. The rain has picked back up. Stay out, if possible,' Her race engineer responded.
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! THERE IS NO RAIN!!!" Lightning snapped.
But Lightning's engineer was right. The rain was picking back up, slowly. Not enough to affect the track, but it was picking up. And Akula noticed this.
"Petrov, can you please inform Viral that she should NOT box for Inters. Repeat, Viral should NOT box for Inters," Akula informed.
'Copy that. What is the reason? Question,' His race engineer questioned.
"I can feel the rain picking back up. If she does box, those Inters won't do her any good. She needs to stay out!"
Akula's engineer agreed and ferried the message to Neon. And the message reached her just in time, because Viral then chimed in on the radio. "Neon, it's getting too dry! Let's box for Inters,"
'Stay out, V! Stay out!' Neon immediately responded.
"Box, Neon! I NEED THOSE INTERS!"
'Stay out, stay out! Akula thinks that you should not box for Intermediates. Recommendation is not to box for Intermediates!'
"Copy that. Staying out, staying out,"
Surely enough, the rain began getting harder and harder. Eventually, the conditions turned the track surface into a circuit-shaped puddle. But the water levers were so high, even the Wets were struggling to clear all of it and the cars began to aquaplane .
It was especially worse down at the Hairpin, with all the cars struggling with grip and aquaplaning all over the track. And with all the water being kicked up, visibility had been reduced to almost zero. Eventually, all of the drivers began crying out over the radio for something to be done.
"Ah' have no grip! No grip! Very difficult to keep the car controlled!" Applejack cried out.
"Get the stewards to deploy the Safety Car, Petrov! Aquaplaning heavily!" Akula suggested.
'Acknowledged, Akula. The stewards are listening to your comments, as well as all the other drivers,' Petrov replied.
"We need a Safety Car, Rossano! A lot of aquaplaning, a lot of aquaplaning!" Celestia reported.
Eventually, the FIA stewards that were present decided that the rain was getting too heavy for the race to continue and sent out the safety car. However, some drivers didn't know that the Safety Car was out, as they were nowhere near the start-finish line.
"THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS!!! WE NEED TO COME IN!!!!" Luna bellowed.
'Stay out, Luna! Stay out!' Her race engineer told her.
"TOO MUCH WATER!! TOO MUCH WATER!!" Rarity cried out, struggling to keep the car under control going through the Hairpin.
'Safety Car has been deployed. Stay out,' Mireille told her.
"THERE IS A LOT OF AQUAPLANING!!! WHY DO WE HAVE TO STAY OUT??!!"
Eventually, the chaos subsided and all of the grid lined up behind the Safety Car as the yellow flag flew in all sectors. However, Mother Nature would not play along and the rain continued to pour. All of the drivers to the circuit at the pace of the Safety Car, some begin to wonder how long the Safety Car would last.
It didn't help when the amount of water being kicked up by the front-runners caused all those in the mid-to-rear of the pack to be near blinded by the amount of water. And soon, it was decided to fly the red flag and halt the race until the rain calmed down or stopped.
All of the cars went to the grid and stopped in the order they were placed in at the time. The pit crews of the cars on the track immediately rushed out with jacks, umbrellas and other necessary equipment. Thankfully, the crews reached the drivers and set-up before the rain picked up even more and drenched the track.
It was then decided to bring the cars back into the garage and suspend the race until the weather cleared up, allowing the drivers to warm up with refreshments.
After two hours of torrential rain, Mother Nature eventually decided that the race had suffered enough and the rain began to let up. The cars were rushed out of the garage and the race resumed, albeit under the Safety Car. Eventually, the rain cleared up and green flag flew on Lap 21. Once again, Oscura took the lead with Dean in hot pursuit.
Eventually, the track dried up enough and the two leaders eventually pulled into the pits to swap their warn Wets with Intermediates. The Intermediate was basically the bridge between the slick tyres and the Wet. They were used when the track was too wet for the dry tyres to be used, but too dry for the Wets to be used. They were basically the same as the Wet tyres, but the grooves were more shallow in order to prevent excessive heat build-up.
The two enemies joined the field in 7th and 8th respectively. The Crimson Arrows inherited the lead, with Gallus and Celestia just behind them. However, they were starting to lose ground to the other behind them and soon they came in for Inters, with Akula choosing to go with the Soft-compounded P ZERO tyres to replace his worn Intermediate-compound Cinturato tyres.
Eventually, Oscura and Dean caught back up with the front, but now were losing ground to Akula. It appeared that the track was dried up enough for the dry tyres to be used, so Dean immediately pitted for Softs. Oscura stayed out on the Inters, as they were working well for her.
However, while the Inter tyres on Oscura's Red Bull were good enough to let the dark unicorn take the lead away from Akula, it was Dean that was gaining the most ground. Eventually, with only 7 laps to go and on the approach to Turns 3 and 4, Oscura understeered and went straight on over the grass, missing Turn 4. As the dark unicorn re-joined the track and moved back onto the racing line, Dean (who saw an opportunity to make a pass) was squeezed towards the outside wall and was forced to slow down to avoid a collision.
"What the buck! She just came back on the track so dangerously! What was she thinking?" Dean complained, not pleased with his nemesis' manoeuvre.
'Copy, Dean. We're onto it,'
A few laps later on Lap 32, everything thing changed when the FIA stewards came out with an announcement. Oscura Galaxia of Red Bull would be given a five-second time penalty for an unsafe re-entry and forcing another driver off the track. Needless to say, Oscura wasn't happy when she got the news.
"ARE YOU F****** KIDDING ME??!!! I HAD GRASS ON MY WHEELS, THERE WAS NOWHERE TO GO!!!! IT'S DEAN'S FAULT THAT HE DECIDED TO GO THE STUPID WAY, LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES!!! I SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED THAT HE WOULD ATTEMPT THAT!!!" Oscura snapped.
'Copy, Oscura. Just stay focused and we can still win this race. Stay focused and we can still win,' Her race engineer told her, trying to calm her down.
And just after that moment, Oscura realised that if she just put a five second gap between her and the Ferrari, she would be able to keep her win. So, the unicorn calmed down as said, "Okay, I am already focused. Let's just get this over with,"
But try as she might, Dean would not be shaken. Although the track was still a bit damp and Dean almost lost control of his car in Turn 5 on Lap 34, he would always catch back up and keep within five seconds of the Red Bull. And as the chequered flag flew on the last lap, Oscura crossed the line first.
And 2.18 seconds later, came Dean. And since the British Speedfreak was within five seconds of Oscura, the red pegasus would be credited the victory. And 6.2 seconds after Oscura, was Akula.
While this was happening, Gallus was in 5th, trying all he could to hold off Celestia. Viral was already long gone, with 4th hers to keep. But while Gallus was happy with finishing 5th, he did not want to finish behind Celestia at his mentor's home track. He had promised to Stroll before the race that he would finish in the Top 5, and he was only just inside, with one of the best racers in the season hot on his tail.
But happily, Lady Luck seemed to be on the griffon's side. Nothing seemed to come together for the Princess of the Sun and Gallus held her off for one more lap, before coming to the line and finishing in P5. He instinctively punched his claw into the sky upon reaching the finish, having lived up to his promise.
'Chequered flag, chequered flag. Well done today, Gallus! You did a great job!' Felix congratulated.
"YESSS!!!! WOOHOOHOO!!!! WHAT A RACE!!!" Gallus cried out, very happy with his result. With lots of joy in his mind and heart, he completed the parade lap and pulled the car into the pit lane.
However, when he got to the pits, he saw something unusual. Parked on the side of the pit entry, was Oscura's Red Bull. It was required by FIA regulations that all cars that made the top 3 are to park in the victory box and the drivers to proceed to the cool down room before attending the podium ceremony.
However, still upset at the stewards decision for giving her a penalty for something she had no control of, Oscura refused to park in the victory box. Instead, she parked her Red Bull at the entrance of pit lane, switched off, got out and just left her car there. She then refused to attend the podium ceremony, until she had calmed down a bit and an FIA offical collected her and took her to the cool down room.
But while passing through the victory box on the way to the cool down room, she took the opportunity to make her point. While passing through the box, Oscura then walked up to Dean's Ferrari, removed the #1 sign from in front of the car, placed that sign where her RB15 should've been, moved the #2 sign from where her car should've been and placed it in front of Akula's Mercedes and took the #3 sign and placed that final sign in front of Dean's Ferrari.
And with her point made, she proceeded to the cool down room, her point made.
Author's Note
Results
DangerDean - 25 points
Oscura Galaxia - 18 points (5 sec penalty applied)
Akula - 15 points + 1 (Fastest Lap)
Viral Velocity - 12 points
Gallus - 10 points
Celestia - 8 points
Lightning Dust - 6 points
Big Macintosh - 4 points
Applejack - 2 points
Cheese Sandwich - 1 point
Rarity - 0 points
Luna - 0 points (DNF)
Driver's Champoinship
Viral Velocity - 90 points
Akula - 84 points
Celestia - 71 points
DangerDean - 53 points
Gallus - 51 points
Fluttershy - 31 points
Twilight Sparkle - 31 points
Oscura Galaxia - 30 points
Rarity - 28 points
Chrysalis - 28 points
Sandbar - 28 points
Rainbow Dash - 25 points
Lightning Dust - 24 points
Pinkie Pie - 21 points
Luna - 19 points
Suri Polomare - 19 points
Silverstream - 17 points
Ocellus - 13 points
Spitfire - 12 points
Yona - 10 points
Gladmane - 10 points
Applejack - 7 points
Cheese Sandwich - 7 points
Big Macintosh - 4 points
Constructor's Champoinship
Mercedes-AMG Petronas - 205 points
Alfa-Romeo Racing - 104 points
Scuderia Ferrari - 102 points
BWT Racing Point - 66 points
Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing - 54 points
Renault F1 Team - 47 points
Red Bull Scuderia Toro Rosso - 43 points
HAAS F1 Team - 39 points
ROKiT Williams F1 Racing - 38 points
McLaren F1 - 11 points
Alright, I have the results for the question I posted earlier in the blog. Looks like the Junior Formula class that the CMC and other fillies will be:
Formula 2!!!!!
Thanks to all that sent in their votes and I will reveal the race grid for the event in a later blog. See you there!
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
BONUS CHAPTER: Round 7 Best Team Radio Moments
Round 7: Canada
Fluttershy Red Bull Toro Rosso Duel 9 Lap 5
"I-I'm sorry, everypony. A little woodchuck ran onto the track, I panicked and flat-spotted the tyres,"
'Are you okay to continue?'
"Yeah, but the Duel's over. I'm sorry,"
Chrysalis HAAS F1 Duel 10 Lap 4
"Oh, COME ON!!!!!!"
'Red flag. Red flag. VSC in effect,'
"I cannot believe my luck! I cannot believe it!"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Pre-Race
"Akula, radio check. Radio check,"
"Radio 1-2, 1-2. Copy you, loud and clear,"
'Copy your last. Race will start behind the Safety Car, there will be no formation lap,'
"Acknowledged,"
Celestia Alfa-Romeo Racing Final Lap 9
'Okay, Celestia. Box this lap for Intermediates, please. Box this lap for Intermediates,'
"Are you 100% sure that is the best strategy, Rossano?"
'Oscura and Luna are on Inters at the moment and they are the fastest cars on the track so far,'
"Okay, in this lap,"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 12
"Petrov, please notify Viral that the Hairpin is a possible danger zone. It is incredibly slippery there. It's like the uhhh... tarmac was just replaced with sheet ice. And you can barley see in front of you with all the mist,"
'Copy. I'll send it,'
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 9
"Yep, aquaplaning a lot now. Guess I should thank him for keeping me in line. Without wets, I'd be screwed,"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 11
“I feel like I’m riding a speedboat right now! Why did you put me on the Inters?!"
'Copy, Dean. Box this lap, we'll get you back on the Wets,'
"Mother Nature doesn’t like Formula 1 racing, apparently,”
Cheese Sandwich Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 13
"I know how wet it is on the track, but visibility here in the back is absolutely terrible. I wouldn't be able to see through it if I had heat vision,"
'Okay, Cheese. Understood,'
Oscura Galaxia Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 13
'Red flag is out, Oscura. Red flag is out. Go to the grid, please,'
Lightning Dust Scuderia Ferrari Final Red Flag
"Where are the umbrellas? I'm starting to get very wet in my flank area! ****, we're sitting here in the rain. Might as well do something about it,"
Cheese Sandwich Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Red Flag
"Oh, what do you know? The halo also serves as an umbrella holder! How about that?"
Viral Velocity Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Red Flag
'V, if you want to get out of the car, Akula currently back in the garage, om-nom-nomming on some beef jerky. You're welcome to join him,'
"Neon, you're either taking the piss out of me or situation. Which one is it?"
'Hehehe. No seriously, if you want to get out, we'll get you some food ready,'
"Alright, I'm coming. I never knew Akula enjoyed beef jerky,"
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Lap 24
'Viral just pitted for options and the others are starting to do so. We recommend pit for options,'
"Confirmed. Pit for options,"
'Okay, Akula. Which compound?'
"Soft compound, soft compound,"
'Understood, Akula. Box this lap for Softs, box this lap for Softs,'
"Box this lap,"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Lap 28
"What the ****! She just came back on the track so dangerously! What was she thinking?"
'Copy, Dean. We're onto it,'
Oscura Galaxia Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Lap 32
'We've got a five second time peanlty,'
"ARE YOU ******* KIDDING ME??!!! I HAD GRASS ON MY WHEELS, THERE WAS NOWHERE TO GO!!!! IT'S DEAN'S FAULT THAT HE DECIDED TO GO THE STUPID WAY, LIKE HE ALWAYS DOES!!! I SHOULDN'T BE SURPRISED THAT HE WOULD ATTEMPT THAT!!!"
'Copy, Oscura. Just stay focused and we can still win this race. Stay focused and we can still win,'
"Okay, I am already focused. Let's just get this over with,"
DangerDean Scuderia Ferrari Final Post-Race
'That's it, Dean!! P1! First win of the season!'
“Did... did I just win? I thought... err... never mind. That is not the way I wanted to win, but I would've past her anyway if that wall wasn't there, so uh... I'll take the victory and strive for more!"
'Sebastian and Charles are looking forward to seeing you on the podium,'
"I think you mean on the TOP step of the podium, with the winner's trophy,”
Akula Mercedes-AMG Petronas Final Post-Race
'Race results are; P1, Oscura. P2, Dean. And yourself, P3. Oscura has a five-second time penalty,'
"Okay, who won?"
'Dean will have the victory, Oscura will be P2,'
"Heh heh. Nice work, Dean. Forced an error and took the win. Let's see if he can get another win,"
Oscura Galaxia Aston-Martin Red Bull Racing Final Post-Race
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no! They cannot do that to me! I am not going to be placed behind that incompitent, small-minded idiot that is DangerDean! You have to be an absolutely BILND AND STUPID PEGASUS, WHICH HE IS, to think that I will have control with grass on my wheels. He's lucky I didn't hit the wall!! This is UNJUSTICE AGAINST ME!!! It's just not fair!!"
'You won the race on the track, Oscura. That's more important. You are the winner for us and for the team,'
'We apricate your efforts, Galaxia. Just keep your head down and stay calm. We'll take care of...'
"No, I am NOT staying calm, Christian. This is JUST NOT FAIR!!!! I'm very pissed off right now, I have my reason and I have a right to be pissed. I don't care what anyone else says, I'm putting my hoof down!!"
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F1 Equestria: Duels of the Century
Round 11 (Germany), Duel 4: DangerDean VS Akula (Sprint Race, One-On-One)
Hockenheimring , Hockenheim, Germany
Formula One Equestria Duels series
Duel 4: DNG (Scuderia Ferrari) VS AKU (Mercedes-AMG Petronas)
Duel Type: Sprint Race, One-On-One
"Welcome, all fans of motorsport! This is Round 11 of the 2019 Formula One season and you are watching the Formula One Equestria series! Flim and Flam here once again to bring you the best of Equestrian F1 racing this year! We are at the Hockenheimring for the German Grand Prix and I must say, Mercedes must be having the time of their lives right now!"
"Yes, they are. For once again, Mercedes is dominating this season! Their two top drivers are having a 1-2 result in the Driver's Championship and Mercedes is leading the Constructor's Championship by quite some margin. In fact, they have a very good reason to celebrate here, as they are the title sponsors of this race and are celebrating their 125th Anniversary in motorsports!"
"Yes, but will their home pride be enough to help them take the victory here at Hockenheim? Time to find out,"
This was the biggest challenge that Akula was facing. But he wasn't that nervous.
Sure, he was now 22 points behind his nearest rival, Mercedes teammate and best friend Viral Velocity. However, the F1 circus had now arrived at Hockenheim for the German Grand Prix. Akula loved the circuit that had played host to the more recent German Grand Prix, serving some time with the legendary Nurburgring Grand Prix Track and Nordschleife. The track, located in the forests of the town of Hockenheim, had plenty of fast straights followed by tight corners. Perfect for late-braking attacks.
The Demon Lord was known to make an odd braking attack during opening weekend, using this technique to catch out many drivers in Free Practice, including mentor Lewis Hamilton. In fact, he had the fastest car in the field. With his Mercedes W10 under his control, Akula had broken the Formula One lap record of the Hockenheimring 5 times.
Speaking of his W10, it was different. Gone was the black and red shark. Now, his Mercedes was coated completely in bright silver paint, with no single sponsorship decal on his car. The only bit that wasn't silver was the halo, which was painted in dark black.
Given the fact that Mercedes was the title sponsor of the Hockenheimring track and that they were celebrating their 125th Anniversary in Motorsport, Akula wanted to run something special on his car. However, he didn't want to use the proposed livery that Hamilton and Bottas used in the main race. Instead, the changeling took a page from Ferrari's book. Just like the Prancing Horse had done at the 2001 Italian Grand Prix to commemorate the 9/11 Terror Attacks, Akula stripped his Mercedes of all sponsorship decals and decided to run in a plain silver-and-black Mercedes, just like how the Silver Arrows raced in the past.
This time, he would get a much bigger challenge, in the form of DangerDean. Dean would be his opponent, driving his brightly coloured Ferrari. Akula knew that he had the car to beat. But it was time to find out if the practice had paid off. He pulled his Mercedes onto the grid, stopped just behind Dean. The lights went green and the the two set off for the warm up lap. As the lap passed, Akula noted the places where he could catch Dean under the brakes. Those places were the NordKurve, Turn 2, Hairpin and Mercedes.
Once the two approached the final corner, the Safety Car pulled into the pits and Dean built up speed. Akula stayed with him and the two took off down towards NordKurve, Dean leading the way.
Akula was quick to make a pass attempt, trying to sneak up the inside of Dean going into the first corner. It was tight, but doable. The right-side wheels of the Mercedes skipped over the kerb and Akula went wheel to wheel with Dean. But the pegasus used the superior straight-line speed of the Ferrari to pull away. Nevertheless, Akula tried again into Turn 2. He caught Dean under the brakes again and rode alongside him through Turns 3 and 4. But Dean seized the lead again through the sweeping Parabolika. Akula then pulled into the slipstream of the Ferrari down towards Hairpin.
Yet again, Akula caught Dean under the brakes. But this time, Akula had more luck. This time, Dean accidentally locked up and Akula was able to sneak past and take the lead. But Dean hung in behind, waiting for an opportunity to pass. But nothing worked for the pegasus as of then. At the end of the first lap, Akula had the lead by 0.3 seconds with Dean hot on his hooves.
But Akula used every single meter of tarmac to his advantage, pulling more and more quicker lap times as the Demon Lord got into the groove. Dean just couldn't keep up and fell back steadily. Eventually, Akula had held on to his lead and took the victory after the final lap.
'Chequered flag, chequered flag! What a race, champ!' Petrov reported, as Akula slowed down for the Post-Duel Lap.
"Did you like that performance? Hahahaha!!!! This is why I love this track!" Akula stated, waving to the crowd as he completed one more lap.
'Very nicely done, Akula! Very nice...' Petrov then cut himself off for a few seconds and delivered some bad news, 'Uh, Akula. I just got word from the stewards that you will be placed at the back of the grid come race time,'
Akula's heart sank. "What? What happened?!"
'They're saying you exceeded track limits at Turn 1 on every lap. All those lap times you set have been invalidated,'
"Ah, s***. No matter, I'll still have the victory at the end of the day. Mark my words, Petrov. We will prevail,'" Akula finished the conversation, pulling his Mercedes into the garage.
The changeling couldn't believe his luck. Whatever had plagued Lewis and Valtteri during the main race had now hit him. Now, Akula was hoping that the same thing wouldn't happen to Viral and Twilight.
