My Formula 1 System-Chapter 660: Di Renzo’s QF Montage
After surviving the first cut without much effort, Buoso Di Renzo steered his silver Ferrari out of the garage for the start of Q2. A formidable growl escaped the engine as it transitioned from the shadows of the pit box into the searing glare of the afternoon sun. The Jackson supporters cheered. The Silver Stallions clapped as the machine left base.
Di Renzo recalibrated his hold on the wheel, feeling the carbon fiber through his gloves like an extension of his own bones. He was confident the 97 was computed perfectly for today’s task. This was the moment where the volatile energy of the pit lane faded, replaced by the stifling silence of his own concentration.
As he disappeared, the team’s eyes turned to their screens, waiting to see if the track temperature would alter their carefully planned strategy.
**Copy. You are clear into the home straight**
**Gap to the car ahead is just a second. Let’s keep the out-lap disciplined and bring the tires up to their optimal window**
Long replies wasted energy—Di Renzo didn’t bother. Clicking the radio button twice, a double-beep signalled his acknowledgement.
As he accelerated down the rest of the straight, he caught a glimpse of a rival red Ferrari, Victor Surmann, already out and trying to attempt his first flyer of Q2. Apparently, Surmann was the ’car ahead’ mentioned earlier. The pace gap between them was, as a matter of fact, too small for a driver who had started a lap earlier and one who had just joined the track. Di Renzo didn’t know much about this rookie, but he was certain he had made it into Q2 out of pure luck.
**Copy. Tires and temps are in the window. You’re clear for fliers now. Watch for traffic**
It wasn’t a race for position, but Buoso Di Renzo felt compelled to overtake the Trampos rookie, and he did. Even from behind a visor, he could almost sense the boy’s surprise at seeing a preeminent driver like him out so early in the second session. Victor was probably worried that an early start from elite drivers might jeopardize his survival time—after all, Q2 was where the heavyweights stopped playing around.
But Di Renzo didn’t care much. Nothing about Victor was his concern right now; he had his own delta to worry about.
2:05 PM
The Ferrari-powered machine made it through the first out-lap, with the primary objective being to warm the tires. Di Renzo wasn’t the kind of driver who performed crazy, logic-defying feats like Luca, nor did he attempt the aggressive lunges of Damgaard and his predecessor.
Di Renzo was a "textbook" Formula 1 driver.
There were a couple of them on the grid.
Haddock Racing’s star, Ailbeart Moireach, is a good example. He’s the big 5 driver with the lowest crash count over a span of five years, and also the driver with the fewest penalties received.
Although Di Renzo wasn’t widely likable, he was still the kind of racer who competed conventionally. He executed exactly as he’d been trained for a decade, doing only what was needed on the track to secure points for himself and the team. Perhaps the disdain for him was merely contextual.
**Gap to the Mercedes is six seconds. Go for it**
And so, his first hot lap began.
The white anti-slip paint must have peeled just a millimeter as the silver Ferrari grazed over it, joining the other significant handful of cars lost in the expanse of the Eurasian streets.
11– Buoso Di Renzo (+5.607)
There are a couple of perilous zones in the Baku City Circuit. The first occurs as early as Turn 3, a sharp 90-degree left-hander that, along with Turn 2, forms part of a rigorous opening sector. It follows a DRS zone that often invites aggressive overtaking attempts, frequently resulting in locked wheels on the narrow city streets. Its backdrop is a formidable Government House, a piece of Soviet-era architecture that casts a large, swallowing shadow over the cars as they pass.
Then there is the castle section, which is well known, and the downhill expanse of Turn 15—a section that is definitely going to teach one of the drivers a lesson this weekend.
As his data suggested, Di Renzo braked gradually. With his hands steady on the wheel, he tilted precisely, and the edifice readily blurred away, granting him T4.
From his cockpit, he caught a quick peek of Audis and Renaults winding ahead in the distance, their rear wings fluttering. To him, they were just targets. He saw a Velocità car struggling with oversteer at Turn 4—probably Bianchi—and internally noted that the track grip was still a bit green.
4— Buoso Di Renzo (+1.131)
Di Renzo’s montage continued as the clock ticked down, and as other drivers joined the track, bringing unwanted traffic to an already narrow layout.
6— Buoso Di Renzo (+1.891)
He wasn’t really a master of street races, but the JRX-97 did most of the job for him. It was a machine designed for such tasks—built for acceleration, balance, and corner speed. The car is a legend, and the quicker people realize how many GOATs have sat in its cockpit, the earlier it’s revealed that the 97 might as well be in the top three F1 machines based on pedigree.
Driving this beast gave Di Renzo the confidence—and the capability—to achieve more. So far, everything was going well; before Rennick joined the grid, his cornering had been the most flawless of any driver. That specific micro-detail gave him the edge, and his name climbed higher on the timing screens, ascending from P6 to P2.
2— Buoso Di Renzo (+0.564)
However, as is typical in the volatile nature of Formula 1, the high didn’t last. Di Renzo’s name descended on the timing screens as the session evolved with all twenty cars on cue. He was suddenly caught in a thick pocket of traffic, forced to lift off the throttle to avoid hitting a slower car, which ruined his momentum. Simultaneously, a sharp, unpredictable gust of wind pushed his chassis off its line and forced his hands into a split-second correction.
A sense of slight confusion rippled through the cockpit; even for a textbook driver, the conditions were becoming unsettling. It was a reminder that one cannot maintain absolute perfection across every sector.
Meanwhile, the rivals with clearer minds and hungrier guts began to climb the order with little resistance.
Soon, there would be a revolution against Rennick, Luigi, and the rest!
With only minutes left, Di Renzo was on his final set of soft tires. He was currently P6 again, but the bubble was moving. He needed one more perfect lap to feel safe. He nailed the 90-degree turns of the middle sector, his eyes locked on the apexes. He could see the timing board in his mind: he was gaining on the Alpine of Gasly and the Red Bull ahead—Dreyer.
2:19
The checkered flag for Q2 was waving. As Di Renzo crossed the line for the final time, his Ferrari screamed in triumph. He had put together a lap that was a masterpiece of all he knew. And that gave him an encouraging position, none other than P4.
