The screen turned dark, music building up to something of importance. A light turns on, revealing a set. It's a dark room with a dark background, a light shining on a single chair in the middle of the shot. The chair is not pointed at the camera but looks slightly left from the camera. The following shots show several drivers sitting down on those chairs, appearently looking at an interviewer positioned right next to the main camera.
'Hiïi.' Alex Albon said before looking at the camera, waving and smiling like a little child which makes 95 procent of dts watchers laugh. That five procent of people being new DTS fans, Pierre Gasly lovers and actual Alex haters, that last one is zero procent though because no one hates Alex Albon.
CF1 cars zoom by as an introduction to all the different looking cars and the drivers who drive these beasts that we call machines. Though the CF1 cars don't look as beast like as f1 cars. Well, most of them anyway. Pit stops and crashes showing the environment of being on the CF1 grid. Focus, professionalism, and a touch of chaos all in one racing series.
'This is the pinnacle of motor sports, no where else do you see what you see in Formula one, because no sport has the same cars as formula one.' Will Buxton said, smiling at the camera.
'Coming into this CF1 season there are clear favorites and clear underdogs.' Jennie Gow explained. 'Red-Bull have two very similar cars for their drivers, whilst other teams like Ferrari have very different designs for both their drivers.'
'There are also three new rookie drivers by the names of Oscar Piastri, Logan Sargeant and Nyck de vries. Nyck de Vries has the best car out of all of them and could be a nice surprise going into this first season of CF1.'
Let's explain how the weekends go shall we. Through out the seasons the FIA did some crucial changes to the weekend schedule to make sure the process was as fair as possible. At the start of the season the weekend would start with a randomized order going into a sprint race. The top 8 finishers get points like in real life AND the result is where you start the race event from. Through out the season a qualifying event was added where in Q1 drivers start from a randomized order and the event works exactly as real life qualifying. Worst five get eliminated and in Q3 the order for the sprint and race is decided. Each weekend has a sprint as it is a way for more drivers to earn points during the weekend. Going from a 10 drivers earning points a weekend to an average of 13 drivers earning points every weekend.
Then the sport also has some very clear rules to protect the safety of the drivers. When a driver ends up upside down or has a hard hit during qualifying the retire from the event but have a chance to continue by starting from a low position in the sprint (depending on how far into qualifying you went,) unless the impact was big enough to retire the car from the entire weekend. If a driver who was given the green light to return to racing crashes in the sprint as well or retires from the weekend after a heavy crash in qualifying a reserve driver from that team will replace him. If both drivers retire a reserve driver from a team who the team has connections with can came and stand in, that is a last resort though.
There are also rules for crashes between two drivers. If a driver is stopped on track and another driver hits them and they have to retire they get to keep the result they got (unlike if you crash by yourself.) if the driver who is responsible for the crash ends up in front of the driver he crashed into that will be seen as crashing and gaining an advantage and he will be given a 4 place grid penalty for the next event or during qualifying, penalty for BOTH the sprint and the race. The stewards will keep in mind that if a driver standing still close to the starting line the chance of a driver being able to avoid him is smaller so an incident will them be penelized with a lower number like 2 places grid penalty.
If unfair or even worse, cheating happens on or off track a long process will start with hearings and talks which will be followed by a ruling that could give teams and / or drivers points deductions or penalties depending on what the team and / or driver did.
After some chaos in 2023 from 2024 onwards driver swaps and driver changes that leave someone left as a reserve driver is no longer allowed MID SEASON. The FIA wants to avoid instances where chains of events unfold like they did in 2023. 👀
All these rules out of the way, let's get into the fun shall we.
'The start of the season has been very, interesting to say the least.' Will Buxton explained.
Cars zoom by, a Ferrari in the lead.
'We have the championship in the bag don't we.' Charles said to a teammember jokingly.
'Charles Leclerc has achieved a start to the season with Ferrari we haven't seen in a long time.' Will Buxton explained.
'Charles only has two modes; the hills where the sun shines, everything is perfect.' Will Buxton said.
'Charles Leclerc WINS again, he has now won three out of the first four races!' Crofty exclaims.
'But the other mode he has, is a little different.' Will Buxton explained. 'More like a valley with rain and depression.'
'Charles has spun in the sprint, his chances for the race are surely ruined.' Martin Brundle called out.
'I think Charles has deeply underrestimated how leading the Disney cars Formula one championship is like.' Max verstappen said to the interviewer.
'Ferrari's seemed to have only one problem within the team, Carlos Sainz. He wasn't getting many performances of importance in which kept Ferrari from getting close to RedBull. Though now, Charles his luck seems to have run out and the team has a lot more problems on their hands.
'If you think Formula one you think Ferrari. I myself am very aware of what I am leading here, pride and history. Charles may have his downs, but he's still leading the world championship hugely. I mean, what can this rookie do.' Fred Vasseur said.
'My name is Nyck de Vries and I drive for Scuderia Alpha Tauri.' Nyck de Vries said to the interviewer.
'How do you enjoy your CF1 career so far?' The interviewer asked.
'Took me long enough. Of course Charles Leclerc won the first two races, but in the third weekend I showed the world what I could really achieve.' Nyck said.
'Nyck de Vries is a Formula 1 race WINNER!'
'I think I've been able to show all the doubters what I can really do, and that is fight for the very best. It was worth the wait that's for sure.' Nyck said.
'This rookie has come out of nowhere, a forever Mercedes reserve driver stuck in CFE. Gets a drive at Alfa Tauri after years of hard work and has completely destroyed the expectations people had about him, in a positive way.' Jennie Gow explained.
'Nyck's story has motivated a lot of reserve drivers, CF2 drivers and young kids all over the world who dream of achieving what the best drivers in Formula one get to achieve. Nyck will be motivated to show the world that he can do the impossible. The question is, is he capable of winning the drivers world championship in his ROOKIE season in Formula one?' Will Buxton asked, revealing the main question of the story.
'Ladies, gentlemen and cars, welcome to the crown event of round eight in the Disney Cars Formula one world championship. Fernando has qualified first and has won the sprint race, will he follow up and win the race, or are the two main title contenders coming into play here? After a bad sprint for both contenders they return to their qualifying spots. It is Charles Leclerc starting in fourth place, Nyck de vries, starts tenth.'
'Qualifying isn't really my thing, I prefer the races. Where it's not JUST about speed and track knowledge. Racecraft, both attacking and defensive racecraft come into play, it's a whole different game.' Nyck explained.
'Both championship contenders have not scored any points so far this weekend, will that change here, in the all so important race?'
The music builds up as the drivers stare at the red lights slowly appearing on the screen. You can hear Charles breath as you look on his onboard, then the same thing with Nyck.
"AND IT'S LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO!" Crofty yells in full excitement as the drivers move from their starting positions.
'Wait, wait, wait, Charles is off the line bad, he's losing places!' Martin Brundle called out.
'Meanwhile Nyck gains in the midfield!' Crofty called out.
Nyck could see Charles who was now directly in front of him, seemingly struggling to get the tires up to temperature.
'You can't win the race here, only lose it.' His race engineer warned Nyck to make sure he was careful. Nyck saw how Charles struggled and got behind him, waiting for the next corner. At the next corner Charles had to slow down a lot to get the car turned, Nyck finding a gap down the inside and zooming past into fifth position.
'Awesome move mate, let's keep going.' His race engineer said happily, clapping and excited yelling heard in the background.
'Pierre Gasly has gone off the track and filled the track with gravel, it is enough for the FIA to call a virtual safety car.
'Box Box.' The race engineers of both Nyck and Charles said. Nyck entering the pit's now in p4, Charles in p7.
Nyck's pitstop went very smoothly, so smooth in fact he jumped Kevin Magnussen who was driving in p3 as he stayed out during virtual safety car. Charles his pit stop on the other hand...
'WHERE IS MY FRONT LEFT TIRE!' Leclerc yelled as he only saw three mechanics put a wheel on his car, a mechanic finally showing up SEVEN seconds later!
Charles went back out on track but he had lost positions now, this was going to be a long race.
'Nyck de Vries has now passed Alex Albon and is Chasing down Lewis Hamilton four seconds in front of him with nine laps remaining, this is Nyck's chance to close down and pass Charles in the drivers world championship. The question is, can he close the gap?' Martin Brundle asked to hype the crowd up.
'Alright mate, head down, Lewis four seconds ahead.' Nyck's race engineer said.
'Copy.' Nyck said, locking in and absolutely flooring it.
'Nyck is getting closer now, gap is two seconds...'
'The gap has now closed down to one second. One seven time world champion in Formula one, one rookie here in CF1. Only one crowned winner of round eight of the world championship.' Crofty hyped up the crowd and watchers at home.
Nyck de Vries has DRS, he has the speed, he gains he gains.... A moment of silence falls on the racetrack as Nyck dives down the inside and the two go side by side preparing for the corner that follows. You may think a rookie would back out here, but reminder that Nyck is Dutch like Max Verstappen. It's you brake or we both crash. (I am just making a joke I am neutral in the conflict (from the fans) between two very talented drivers.)
Cheers break the silence as a different camera shot shows Nyck in front of Lewis. Shots showing the Alfa Tauri crew going absolutely ham as they are now second in the constructors ahead of Ferrari and Nyck leads the drivers championship.
'Win number three mate, you are spectaculair.' His race engineer compliments him.
'UNBELIEVABLE!' Nyck yells in excitement. 'wOw.'
'P12, P12. Really sorry about that Charles, we will discuss after the race.' The race engineer told Charles. Charles hit his steering wheel in frustration as he parked his car, shaking no to himself as he stared in the distance where Nyck celebrated.
'We really gotta figure this out, we really have to fix this.' Charles said over the radio before turning of his car.
'Charles will have to fight hard if he wants to keep fighting for the title. Winning is awesome but when you are not consistent, you are not winning the title.' Will Buxton said.
'Nyck de Vries is a real problem for these professional drivers, I'm really interested to see what he does in the rest of the season to continue his championship hunt in his rookie season.' Jennie Gow said with an excited look on her face.
Coming up next in drive to survive:
'McLaren are far from where they should be.' Will Buxton said to the interviewer.
'I can't go on like this, I can't be finishing last every race that's not what I'm here for.' Lando Norris told Zak Brown.
'Do you think you can achieve what you want with McLaren?' The interviewer said.
Oscar smiled very obviously at that question. 'That is up to them.' He said.
'Max finished second in the first race, that will set himself up well for the season ahead. Sergio finished behind him in third place.'
'The season is still long, I believe that I can catch up.' Sergio Perez told the interviewer.
Hi, thanks for reading chapter one. From this day forward I release a chapter each day. Which means in ten days I'll upload the final one. Hope you're excited, have fun reading the coming days (or just wait until I upload last chapter in ten days from now)