NOVPUBThe final moments of the South African Grand Prix belonged to Luca and DiMarco.
Could you believe that even after a 10-second time penalty, DiMarco was still able to retake position after position—from P7, where he rejoined, all the way up to P2? And in doing so, he grazed Luigi again. But this time, Race Control overlooked the contact, because it was pronouncedly obvious that Luigi had orchestrated it to bait DiMarco, hoping he'd get hit with another penalty.
The entire Squadra Corse garage exploded over the incident, fuming and ranting about the contact. But DiMarco didn't flinch. He locked eyes on Luca and began his pursuit into the final laps. He had the raw speed and brutal power, but Luca had the smoother, more intelligent finesse, giving him a professed upper hand in the trickier, tighter areas of the circuit that DiMarco's style still struggled to master.
However, with time, the MkII's power gradually cut down the delta, using sectors where it could go insanely fast to rectify and even aggravate Luca's advantage. From being a distant pursuer, DiMarco was now approaching fast for a last-minute duel... at the final lap!
Luca swore he would not lose P1 at such a phase of the race. Even though his system was now predicting that the Blue Red Bull (RBioL) would likely overtake him right at the crucial finish line moment, he silenced its warnings and put all faith in himself to thread the final corners perfectly.
He never doubted the capability of his 92B, at least not with how far he'd taken it already. Even as DiMarco weaved in his mirrors, both of them heading toward the finish line, Luca remained firm. A slipstream threat warning flashed up indicating that DiMarco wanted to claw past him at the last second using the extra boost.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
The first photo finish in Formula 1 in three years! No one could believe it. Who had crossed the line first? Luca Rennick or Davide DiMarco?
Both cars surged forward with max throttle, side by side with their wheels nearly scraping and front wings aligned almost perfectly. It took an agonizing few seconds before the results came in, but Luca's system was quicker and gave him the result immediately as usual...
[1ST POSITION]
[Congratulations, host. You have made a podium!]
Luca shook his fist in triumph as his Ferrari crept past the timing beam. DiMarco's Red Bull had overshot too much after the finish, needing a longer stretch to brake as a cloud of smoke was emitted from his tires. The stands erupted, thousands of checkered flags waving in unison.
"...What a photo finish! Between Rennick and DiMarco—separated by mere hundredths of a second!" the commentator gasped. "An absolute thriller to wrap up the first South African Grand Prix!"
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
**Luca, that might be P1! We're not sure yet—they're reviewing it!**
**We're waiting for confirmation from race control. Stay cool. That was incredible—hold position and bring it in**
Since his system had already confirmed his P1 finish, Luca wasn't anxious about the result at all. He stepped out of his car with confidence, removing his helmet and mask with a big smile on his face, like a man who had already won.
"…Luca Rennick looks happy and confident that he's taken the win—and… yes! It's official now! HE HAS DONE IT!" the commentary burst with excitement, just as the photo finish result popped up on the big screen, displaying Luca folding his arms with smugness.
Photo finishes were no longer time-consuming to analyze. Within moments, the result was out, broadly labelled—Luca Rennick, South African Grand Prix Winner! He crossed the finish line with a razor-thin lead of 0.021 seconds ahead of DiMarco. The gap was barely visible to the eye, but it was enough. DiMarco, despite his monstrous drive and blistering pace from the back, was confirmed in 2nd Place.
The crowd went absolutely wild after that and even in Jackson Racing's side of the paddock, they were jumping and hugging each other in excitement. The crew couldn't contain it because they had just beaten Velocità and Red Bull's top-tier MkII weapon in what might go down as one of the closest wins in modern F1.
Flags waved, horns blasted, fists punched the air. Luca looked over at them, raised both arms to the Jackson Racing grandstand, and gave a double thumbs-up. He then made his way toward the visible Jackson Racing stands, taking his time to celebrate with them one after the other.
DiMarco, inwardly furious about the result, was storming in Luca's direction with the same determined pace Luca had. Luca acted as if he didn't notice him at all, and he did not alter his course or slow down. Eventually, both drivers brushed shoulders hard. So hard that they might've felt their shoulder blades shift from the impact.
Yet, neither of them flinched and neither turned back. Both of them just continued walking in opposite directions, letting the fire burn and burn.
"...LUCA RENNICK AND JACKSON RACING HAVE MADE HISTORY IN SOUTH AFRICA!"
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
"...Luca Rennick becomes the first-ever driver to win the South African Grand Prix in Formula 1 history—what a moment! What a drive! This is more than a win for the young Italian who grew up London! This is Legacy! He singlehandedly denied Davide DiMarco the center of the podium! And he restores his spot at the top of the Drivers' Standings! LUCA RENNICK! Remember the name RENNICK...!'
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
"...And Jackson Racing... what a statement they've made today! From the start of the season until now, they've remained at top, defending their championship title with all they have and now standing at the top step of the podium in one of the most anticipated Grand Prix debuts on the calendar...!"
"...We knew this race would crown someone memorable, but we didn't expect this. Jackson Racing and Luca—fourth win of the season, first winners of the South African Grand Prix, first team to take a top step since the era of Unrestricted Power began—WHICH WAS TODAY!"
"...3rd Position, Antonio Luigi....!"
"...4th Position, Marko Ignatova...!"
"...5th Position, Luis Dreyer...!"
"WOOOOOOOOOOOHH!"
Even though Jackson Racing were celebrating as the team whose driver had won the race—the first team to conquer South Africa—logically speaking, Squadra Corse emerged victorious because they scored the most points overall, with Luigi and Marko finishing P3 and P4, bringing in 27 points in total. That was 2 points more than Luca's 25, which was all Jackson had since Rodnick retired.
Even though it wasn't enough for Squadra to take 1st place in the standings, Jackson Racing had to stay alert because if such tiny marginal results kept repeating themselves, Squadra would eventually overtake them. After all, they were right there in 2nd place.
----
Final Race Standings – South African Grand Prix
🏁 Top 10 Finishers:
P1 – Luca Rennick 🇮🇹 (Jackson Racing)
🏆 +25pts
P2 – Davide DiMarco 🇮🇹 (Bueseno Velocità) +18pts. (+1FL)
P3 – Antonio Luigi 🇮🇹
(Squadra Corse) +15pts
P4 – Marko Ignatova 🇷🇸 (Squadra Corse) +12pts
P5 – Luis Dreyer 🇪🇸 (Outback Performance) +10pts
P6 – Ailbeart Moireach 🇬🇧 (Haddock Racing) +8pts
P7 – Elias Nyström 🇸🇪 (Nordvind Racing) +6pts
P8 – Jimmy Damgaard 🇩🇰 (Bueseno Velocità) +4pts
P9 – Hank Rice 🇬🇧 (Iberia Grand Prix)
+2pts
P10 – Javier Montez 🇪🇸 (Outback Performance) +1pt
▾Remaining Finishers:
P11 – Alejandro Vasquez 🇪🇸 (Velox Hispania)
P12 – Mark Derfflinger 🇩🇪 (Haddock Racing)
P13 – Yokouchi Yūichirō 🇯🇵 (Alpine Swiss F1)
P14 – Desmond Lloyd 🇬🇧 (Velox Hispania)
P15 – James Lockwood 🇬🇧 (Nordvind Racing)
P16 – Mikhail Petrov 🇷🇺 (Iberia Grand Prix)
P17 – Ansel Hahn 🇩🇪 (Trampos Racing)
P18 – Józef Konarski 🇵🇱 (Alpine Swiss F1)
P19 – Erik Haas 🇩🇪 (Trampos Racing)
⨉ DNF (Did Not Finish):
P20 – Marcellus Rodnick 🇺🇸 (Jackson Racing) – Mechanical Failure
-----
Tragedy struck Jackson Racing the same way good fate had earlier hit them. Either way, they still clung to 1st place while rivals collected points steadily, with Squadra reaching the 200 mark as the standings now reflected the intense momentum of an F1 season at its peak.
PROVISIONAL CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (ALL 10)
Position | Team
| Points
--------------------------------------
1.
| Jackson Racing
|
231
2.
| Squadra Corse
|
205
3.
| Bueseno Velocità
|
161
4.
| Iberia Grand Prix
|
116
5.
| Haddock Racing
|
110
6.
| Outback Perf.
|
110
7.
| Nordvind Racing
|
69
8.
| Velox Hispania
|
8
9.
| Alpine Swiss F1
|
2.
10.
| Trampos Racing
|
1
Over to the Driver's Standings, Luca had just further cemented his position at the top with a 23-point lead over Luigi. At least for one more race, he could stay there provided he finished in a points-paying position above P9.
The rise was cut short for Hank Rice as not only did he lose 3rd Place, but he was also dropped to 5th Place by both DiMarco and Ailbeart. Rodnick, now all the way down in 8th Place, was in an extremely bad and horrible position. It gave Luca a wave of nostalgia looking at Rodnick's points, because oddly enough, that used to be the highest score on the board just two months ago.
PROVISIONAL DRIVER'S CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS (TOP10)
Position | Team
| Points
--------------------------------------------
1.
| Luca Rennick
|
139
2.
| Antonio Luigi
|
116
3.
| Davide DiMarco
|
108
(+1)
4.
| Ailbeart Moireach
|
96
5.
| Hank Rice
|
94
6.
| Luis Dreyer
|
91
7.
| Marko Ignatova
|
90
8.
| Marcellus Rodnick
|
79
9.
| Elias Nyström
|
68
10.
| Jimmy Damgaard
|
54
[Ding!]
[Congratulations on winning a race]
[You have been rewarded with the following:
