Post-Race Interviews: The Calm After the Roar
The champagne still lingered in the air. Mechanics filed out of the paddock. The sun dipped low over Barcelona, casting long shadows across the pit lane. But microphones were just beginning to be raised.
Callum Graves (P1)
> "There's always pressure. I welcome it. But I won't lie — Holtz is growing fast. Montoya too. We'll need to be sharper in Netherlands."
His eyes darted briefly at the journalists, and for a flash, there was something unspoken in his gaze. Not fear — but alertness. The weight of defending greatness and legacy.
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Erik Holtz (P2)
> "Barcelona is about rhythm. I found mine. But the car didn't feel as connected in the last laps… we'll look into that. Still — very happy with the results."
Holtz's answer was smooth, but his jaw was tight. Off-camera, he had already asked his race engineer about unexpected understeer on exit — a glitch that hadn't shown up in simulations.
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Sukhman Singh (P3)
> "It's been a long way back. I'm not at my best yet… but today reminded me that I still belong here. And I am planning to get back to that form that I have last season."
The Indian media had flooded his mentions with pride and relief. Back home, #SukhmanOnTheRise was trending, along with fan tributes — some remixing his last-lap overtake into rousing edits backed by Hindi music and triumphant drums.
Harinder posted a photo of Sukhman's podium moment with the caption:
> "No more in the dark. He's stepping into the light again. It seems he has finally left that past behind."
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Charlotte Reid (P5)
She answered coolly, arms folded. The hint of a smile tugged at her lips only once — when someone asked if she was enjoying racing again.
> "Winning is enjoyable. I'm not here for anything else."
Later that night, she would scroll through her messages and stop at Sukhman's quiet "Well driven today." She typed a reply. Deleted it. Then simply liked his text with a 👍🏻.
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Social Media Reactions: The Digital Pulse
Twitter/X Highlights:
@RacingMinds: "Callum's still the king, but Holtz is getting dangerously close. That podium was earned."
@F1IndiaFanclub: "YES SUKHMAN!! BACK ON THE PODIUM!!!"
@GridWatchGlobal: "Reid is flying under the radar. She'll be dangerous in the next two circuits."
@ThePitlaneLeaks: "Something's off with Jia Tan's telemetry… that snap was not driver error. #conspiracycorner"
Instagram Reels:
Fan edit of Sukhman's final overtake on Montoya with background audio of "Rise Again" by The Score.
Erik Holtz wiping his helmet and nodding at his pit crew — captioned "The German Machine Awakens."
TikTok:
Clip of Charlotte's aggressive double-pass over Bellamy and Meier hitting 1.1M views. Users in awe.
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Back in the Garage – The Chinese Team Investigates
Jia Tan sat cross-legged in his driver's room, sweat drying on his neck. He replayed the lap again on his tablet, watching the sudden twitch in Turn 7. Over and over.
> Jia (murmuring): "I wasn't touching the wheel back then…"
In the team's data center, his race engineer and a senior technician began poring over the logs.
> Engineer: "See this spike in rear differential response? It's... not something we triggered."
> Tech: "Could it be a short?"
> Engineer: "We've checked twice. Battery box integrity, wiring harness — everything is fine and clean."
The technician lowered his voice.
> "It feels like someone injected a false input."
Both went quiet. Then:
> Engineer: "Don't say that out loud again. Not yet."
They filed it under Category D: Electromechanical Irregularities. It would be buried in folders until a proper inquiry was opened.
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Updated Leaderboard After 3 GPs
Rank Driver Country Points
1️⃣ Callum Graves 🇬🇧 UK 68
2️⃣ Erik Holtz 🇩🇪 Germany 45
3️⃣ Alain Bellamy 🇫🇷 France 32
4️⃣ Diego Montoya 🇧🇷 Brazil 31
5️⃣ Jia Tan 🇨🇳 China 29
6️⃣ Thiago Martins 🇦🇷 Argentina 26
7️⃣ Sukhman Singh 🇮🇳 India 23
8️⃣ Charlotte Reid 🇦🇺 Australia 22
9️⃣ Amelia Foster 🇬🇧 UK 16
🔟 Omar Irani 🇲🇦 Morocco 6
11 Yuki Sasakai 🇯🇵 Japan 2
12 Lukar Meier 🇨🇭 Switzerland 1
13 Dante Rizzo 🇮🇹 Italy 1
14–20 Ravi Deshmukh, Noa Takahashi, Rosa Calderon, Jonas Frigg, Miguel Costa, Khalid Zidan, Finn Carter — 0
> 📝 Note: Holtz leapfrogs to second. Charlotte closes gap with Amelia. Sukhman vaults four places ahead. A tight midfield war is brewing.
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In a darkened room, screens flickered again. One of them paused on Jia's replay.
> Mysterious Voice: "You have pushed it too far."
> Other Voice: "No one's asking questions… yet."
> Mysterious Voice: "Phase Four will begin soon. But only with precision. Got it."
> Other Voice: "Yes boss."
The camera zoomed in on the telemetry spike.
> The voice speak again, "Leave a few glitches. Enough to confuse… but not enough to reveal."