My Formula 1 System-Chapter 493: S3 Qatar Grand Prix

The Qatar Grand Prix actually turned out to be the most unpredictable race ever! Predictability had no seat in Lusail that night, and plans were devoured whole like they never existed!

All trajectories formulated by the top teams in order to win this unique night race totally veered off course, even starting from the opening lap, just like how disaster untimely struck Trampos a few seconds into the Bahrain Grand Prix. Even Trampos didn’t escape the predicament that plagued the entire grid, upending their strategies and evaporating their certainties.

As usual, Luca had already whetted himself using his system in order to prevail in impasses like this that often besiege everyone on the grid. He had Skills and Engine Features that helped him adapt, survive, and also capitalize. So, as the rest of the pack and their teams plunged into chaos, question marks, and pulverized rhythms, he was totally fine.

But that didn’t mean his team too—Trampos—weren’t affected. Even Victor was subject to the demise no one saw coming there in Doha, Qatar.

Luca was at pole, Damgaard in P2, Marko in P3, and Dreyer in P4. It was a packed top four spots, and the race began at lights out. However, the atmosphere that came with the supposed night race drastically changed over the course of just seven laps.

In the middle of Lap 7, Race Control’s meteorologists noticed a rapid rise in the ambient temperature of the circuit and its surrounding lands, which was basically a desert with dotted infrastructure and buildings.

The temperature in the northern outskirts of Doha suddenly began to rise way past the pre-race predictions. The thermometers at the sides of the track and the satellite feeds for Race Control immediately began to read steep inclines that sent the stewards into panic. At the same time, teams also observed the sudden temperature change, and by then, the cold night atmosphere had turned to the average afternoon.

By Lap 9, it became clear to everyone that Qatar was going under a heat wave. Track temperature literally rose 9°C within minutes and barometric pressure dropped, indicating that there was stagnant air.

The expected cool desert breeze so characteristic of an Arab country’s night race was nowhere to be found. Everywhere became sheathed in a blanket of heat—the spectators complained, panicked, and sought their own solutions, but no one except the drivers were at real danger with the unpredicted heat wave.

Since the tarmac temperature had risen over 17°C above its ambient value—and the atmosphere still uncertain and rising—the esteemed F1 drivers and their cars were affected the most. If the heat wave didn’t end sooner, it would become catastrophic.

Physically, all drivers, Luca included, began to sweat profusely and were tormented with sudden fatigue that led to reduced concentration and higher chances of mistake. Their cockpits were hot—Luca included—and their visors were fogged, which further reduced visibility in what was already a night race.

Cramping, muscle fatigue, racing suit discomfort, and ultimately loss of morale. Imagine combining all these physical anguish with the harrowing effects the heat wave had on their cars too!

Excessive heat causes faster tire wear and grip loss, something everyone knew, so they wondered how the pitstops would unfold, because strategies had been totally dissolved with the harsh heat wave.

Although Luca was good at Tire Wear Management, he couldn’t do anything about the heat that was licking at his tires. So, this was one of the crises that struck him hard. However, when it came to Brake and Hydraulic overheating, which other drivers suffered, he was untouchably immune to those.

In fact, he was on a roll!

[Heat-Energy Recycling +2]

[Heat-Energy Recycling+3]

Who would have guessed a calamity of this sort would end up playing right into Luca Rennick’s hands? Although the sudden thermal spike had indeed compromised his tire longevity like everyone else, it inadvertently helped his car thrive better by converting the surplus heat into usable energy and stability.

So, Luca was almost immune to the overheating chaos, and in P1, he visibly appeared quicker than anyone else. But he was smart not to push his car to its regular exertion, because with the fast-degrading tires, he might simply end up into the barricades, and Silent Restore wouldn’t be able to do a thing.

"Feels like the track is melted cheese."

**We’re registering a heat spike across the sector. Hydraulics still green, brakes holding, but this might change quick. Tire degradation is accelerating. Switch to tire setting 2. Stay alert. You’re our spearhead**

Meanwhile, further back in the field, the other Trampos driver wasn’t enjoying nearly the same grace. The heat had crept into the lower half of the grid like a parasite, and for someone like Victor, the effects of the heat wave were merciless. His tire wear was alarmingly aggressive, braking response sluggish, and he began dropping lap times quicker than the delta could calculate.

The team radioed him multiple times, urging restraint and defensive driving, but Victor was already battling the car itself more than the competitors around him. This put a lot of fear in Trampos as they wondered if the same thing that happened in Bahrain would happen again, causing Victor to crash.

But Victor wasn’t alone, really. In a grid full of drivers like Matteo Bianchi, who had never experienced such an atmospheric calamity like this before, Victor Surmann of Trampos Racing was actually doing fine—averagely.

Lloyd’s engine had peaked in temperature more often than tolerable, Lockwood’s rear end had twitched dangerously at every medium-speed corner, and Yuchiro’s brake feedback had turned erratic with each sector. As for Matteo, he had practically clung onto grip and sanity; the rookie had locked up nearly every lap, driving defensively like someone who had lost all rhythm. In comparison, Victor’s effort was commendable.

At some point of Lap 12, five laps into the heat wave, murmurs began to rise from the race directors and FIA officials stationed in Race Control. The thermal sensors spread throughout the track infrastructure had begun flashing red repeatedly, signaling that surface temperatures and ambient levels were reaching dangerous thresholds.

With some cars already reporting brake fade, unstable tire wear, and hydraulic fluctuations, a bold but rational idea began to circulate among the stewards: issuing a red flag.

The idea was to temporarily suspend the race and bring all twenty cars back to their garages, allowing time for the peak of the heat wave to pass. A red flag, often reserved for severe crashes or major obstructions, was considered the most fitting due to the unpredictability and danger this weather presented to both machine and man.

Suspending the race would not only give teams a chance to inspect and cool their overheating components but could also prevent DNFs or full crashes.

However, the duration of the heat wave was dangerously ambiguous, with no certainty as to when or even if it would taper off. This uncertainty made the officials hesitant. Suspending the race might mean never restarting it at all, especially if conditions didn’t improve within the FIA’s maximum delay window.

The last thing the sport needed was the embarrassment of cancelling the Qatar Grand Prix for the second year in a row.