19 Apex Predator

Luca Rossi wasn't just fighting for wins anymore.

He was hunting.

And he was being hunted.

The Spanish Grand Prix had exposed cracks — not in his driving, but in the integrity of those surrounding him. The sabotage was no longer subtle. It was strategic. Coordinated. Lethal. And whoever was behind it was playing for keeps.

Barcelona had ended in a stunning overtake and a second-place finish, but the celebration had been brief. Within hours, Olivia had confirmed that someone inside his garage — someone he might've shared coffee with, joked with — had been feeding intel to Veltrix Racing, his fiercest rivals.

Now, with the Canadian Grand Prix ahead, Luca's mindset had shifted. He wasn't just driving to win. He was driving to dominate.

He had become an apex predator.

Montreal.

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve sat on its own island, surrounded by the St. Lawrence River. A deceptively fast track — full throttle in the straights, brutal braking into the chicanes.

It was a paradise for speed junkies.

And a crucible for the unprepared.

Luca arrived early, eyes hidden behind dark shades, a black cap pulled low. No smiles. No casual waves. His team noticed the change instantly.

Tom tried to break the tension. "You know, there are easier ways to become a legend. Like golf. Or skydiving without a parachute."

Luca smirked, faintly. "Those don't fight back."

In the engineering bay, Olivia was all business.

"We scrubbed the car. Everything. Wiring, ECU, even the bloody telemetry backups. Whatever backdoor they used, it's gone. But..."

Luca looked up. "But?"

"We still don't know who gave them access. There's a leak. And it's not digital."

Free practice sessions went cleanly — almost too cleanly.

The car felt balanced, precise. The kind of feel a driver dreams of. But Luca didn't trust it. The calm before the storm never lasted.

He watched the paddock closely. Watched who lingered too long near his garage. Who made too many notes. Who looked away too quickly when their eyes met his.

He wasn't just a driver this weekend.

He was a hunter.

Qualifying – Saturday Afternoon.

Track temperatures dropped as clouds rolled in. The cooler conditions favored precision over power — and Luca delivered. He threaded the chicanes with ruthless efficiency, leaving barely a whisper of rubber on the curbs.

P1.

Pole position.

By less than a tenth of a second.

Behind him? Markus Voss — the Veltrix golden boy, the team's brutal enforcer. Smooth, technical, and utterly without mercy.

Luca knew what was coming.

Race Day.

The Canadian anthem faded. The engines roared to life. The lights on the gantry blinked red one by one.

Then—black.

Go.

Luca launched cleanly, defending the inside line into Turn 1. Voss was aggressive — slicing across the apex behind him, applying pressure instantly.

Lap after lap, they danced the high-speed duel. Every braking zone was a challenge. Every DRS straight was a threat.

But Luca held him back. Just barely.

By Lap 22, it was time to pit.

Tom's voice came through the radio. "Box this lap. Undercut not an option. They're waiting. We hold track position."

Luca dived into the pits, perfect on the entry.

But something was wrong.

Not with the car.

With the air.

He felt it — a presence. Not physical, but there.

An unease.

Like someone was watching him, closely.

The stop was clean. Tires changed. Car launched.

Back into the fray.

But Voss didn't stop. Not yet. Veltrix gambled on a longer first stint.

Tom's voice came fast. "They're trying the overcut. Push now — these next three laps are everything."

Luca pushed.

Hard.

The car screamed down the back straight, braking late into the Wall of Champions chicane. Inches from disaster. Centimeters from glory.

Voss pitted on Lap 25.

Came out just behind.

The gamble failed.

But something shifted.

The telemetry showed Voss's car had gained 3 tenths in the pit stop — a time leap that made no sense.

"Tom," Luca said. "That's not right. No pit crew's that fast."

Tom's voice was tight. "Yeah. We're checking. That stop was almost... artificial."

By Lap 40, the rain arrived.

Light at first.

Then heavy.

Chaos erupted.

Cars spun. The safety car came out.

Luca and Voss were now nose-to-tail on the restart.

Wet tires on slick tarmac.

Grip was a myth.

Green flag.

Racing resumed.

And the hunter became the hunted.

Voss went wide at Turn 3, feinting a dive.

Luca didn't bite.

Instead, he braked late into Turn 6, forcing Voss onto the wetter line.

The Veltrix twitched, corrected, fell back half a second.

Luca's radio crackled. Olivia's voice.

"Voss's battery output is off the charts. Something's boosting his ERS illegally. If he gets by, we won't catch him."

"Illegal?"

"By the book, yes. But we'd need proof. And he only uses it when no one can see."

Luca's lips curled into a tight grin.

"Then I'll make them see."

The final five laps were brutal.

Voss used every inch of the track, deploying bursts of power that pushed the limit of legality. Luca fought to keep him behind, forcing him into the corners, into the wet patches, into the walls.

Lap 68.

Final lap.

Voss attacked.

Down the back straight, ERS fully deployed. He slipped inside — going for the apex of the final chicane.

But Luca had planned for it.

He braked later.

Willed the car through the curve, tires screaming.

They went side by side into the final apex.

Voss clipped the curb.

The Veltrix car twitched.

Hit the wall.

Hard.

Luca crossed the line.

First.

The crowd erupted.

Tom's voice broke with emotion. "You did it. Bloody hell, Luca, you did it."

But Luca didn't celebrate.

His eyes went to the monitor — watching Voss's car being lifted by the marshals.

The predator had struck.

But not without cost.

Later that night, in the dim lights of the debrief room, Olivia approached.

"We found something," she whispered. "Hidden protocol in the Veltrix firmware. Illegal energy deployment. You forced it out of hiding."

Luca nodded slowly. "Will it stick?"

"Depends. Veltrix will deny. But we've got it on video. You lured him into using it where everyone could see."

Luca leaned back, exhausted but focused.

"You said we had a leak in our camp."

Olivia hesitated.

"We caught them."

She handed over a name.

Luca's eyes narrowed.

It wasn't someone from engineering.

It was someone higher.

Much higher.

Someone who had access.

Someone who wasn't done yet.

The predator in Luca had been awakened.

But the real threat was still out there.

Watching.

Waiting.

And the next race would decide who would survive at the apex.

End of Chapter 19