Formula Lego: Season 10
Season 10 provided tons of drama, with three racers being in contention for the title, right down to the last lap of the last race, before the final crowning of a brand new champion.
Driver Changes
With two new teams joining the sport in 253, the team sizes had to, once again, be adjusted, with each team having to downsize from seven drivers to five, cutting team sizes in half over the span of two seasons.
Team Osborne had no qualms about firing Donici and Payne, since they underperformed greatly in Season 9, even with the bad car they were driving. However, Vikalkin & Norris’ retirement, as well as Sanchez’ death, left three new seats open. To fill those slots, they hired completely new drivers, who had impressed them at the Driver Test Races: Jack Reiver, Meaghen Bolt, and Sarah Aither.
The National Team continued with the same tradition they always had done, which was firing the slowest half of their drivers. However, since they were running with an uneven number (seven) of drivers, they rounded down, and only fired the slowest three, who ended up being Reem Tcaci, Anette Rata, and Thomas Collet. They only had to hire one new driver, and Maria Garcia (a very, very quick fighter pilot in the air force), was an excellent choice for them. Unfortunately, she didn’t provide the results that Jenny Spalding was hoping.
Octan, disappointed with their results, had decided not to renew Walter Faber or Max Feser’s contracts during Season 9, which left him planning to keep the other five drivers for Season 10. However, after the trauma surrounding Kira Sanchez’ death, her rival and friend, Octan driver Lily Gasly retired from the sport. Furthermore, former champion Salem Hoods was a majority shareholder in Silva Automotive Motors, which was going to field a car and team in Season 10. Understandably, she left to the Silva Team, leaving Kai Octan the task of finding two new drivers very quickly. Miguel Angel Hernandez, and Diego Gonzalez had both finished in the top ten after the Driver Test races, but had not been selected yet by Fire, Osborne, or National, so Octan signed them very quickly. They didn’t perform as well as Kai had hoped, but, as always, he kept them on for another season, giving them another chance.
Fire had to choose at least two of their drivers to let go after Season 9, but they ended up firing three of their drivers: Russel Perez, Eva Renita, and Nhadi Yousuf. Renita couldn’t find a drive for Season 10, but both Perez and Yousuf moved to Silva. In the Driver Test Races, Fire set their sights on Jakov Franjic, and made him an initial offer that was not matched by Osborne, or National (at that time, Octan was not paying any attention to the Driver Tests, because they believed they had all the drivers they needed for Season 10). He finished in the top half of the racers, coming in 15th, however his inconsistency led Lila Abeke (The incoming Fire Team Chief) not to renew his contract for Season 11.
Silva, the new Legoian team, had one confirmed driver by the end of the Season before they entered the sport: Salem Hoods. However, Russel Perez managed to impress them at a private test, and the team extended him an offer to drive in Season 10. He accepted, and even managed to convince the team to hire his Season 9 teammate, Nhadi Yousuf. Silva still needed two more drivers, so they hired the 8th and 9th place Driver Test Race drivers, Aoife Thomas, and Grace Evans. The drivers were hard to judge, since the car they were provided with was really bad, and only Salem Hoods even managed to score over the entire season.
Quantos, the first non-Legoian team, was mainly there to try and provide Cklserolvan drivers with an entry point to Formula Lego, so all of their drivers were brand new to the sport, hailing from Cklserolva. Their first swath of Drivers, Zarya Ilic, Adrjana Gutnik, Diana Perko, Aleksandar Rosya, and Konstantin Bosko, were promising, and the team managed to score positively, having only one finish in the negative points. Rosya proved the most promising of the bunch, and found a drive with National for the next year, and Diana Perko found a seat with Octan.
Team Rosters
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | Vance Lewison | 9 Seasons National, S2 Champion |
| 27 | 27 | Eva Sayll | 5 Seasons National, 4 Seasons Octan, S6 Champion |
| 44 | 39 | Anna Aster | 3 Seasons National, 3 Seasons Octan, S9 Champion |
| 77 | 45 | Elizabeth Collet | 2 Seasons National |
| 91 | 48 | Maria Garcia | Rookie |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 58 | 17 | Lily Octan | 5 Seasons Octan |
| 64 | 19 | Julia Young | 4 Seasons Octan |
| 58 | 23 | Ella Fader | 2 Season Octan, 3 Seasons National |
| 92 | 26 | Miguel Angel Hernandez | Rookie |
| 93 | 27 | Diego Gonzalez | Rookie |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 7 | Avayah Osborne | 9 Seasons Osborne |
| 14 | 23 | Sira Bowler | 3 Season Osborne, 5 Seasons National |
| 88 | 29 | Jack Reiver | Rookie |
| 89 | 30 | Meahgen Bolt | Rookie |
| 90 | 31 | Sarah Aither | Rookie |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80 | 1 | Camilla Cyne | 1 Season Fire, 1 Season Octan |
| 76 | 2 | Sarah Martins | 1 Season Fire, 1 Season National |
| 84 | 4 | Ariadne Stryke | 1 Season Fire |
| 85 | 5 | Aurora Kryze | 1 Season Fire |
| 94 | 8 | Jakov Franjic | Rookie |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95 | 1 | Zarya Ilic | Rookie |
| 96 | 2 | Adrjana Gutnik | Rookie |
| 97 | 3 | Diana Perko | Rookie |
| 98 | 4 | Aleksandar Rosya | Rookie |
| 99 | 5 | Konstantin Bosko | Rookie |
| League # | Team # | Name | Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | Salem Hoods | Team Rookie, 9 Seasons Octan, S1 Champion |
| 62 | 2 | Russel Perez | Team Rookie, 1 Season Fire, 2 Seasons National |
| 87 | 3 | Nhadi Yousuf | Team Rookie, 1 Season Fire |
| 100 | 4 | Aoife Thomas | Rookie |
| 101 | 5 | Grace Evans | Rookie |
Technical Changes
The teams all lengthened their cars, to fit within the new safety regulations that required the HALO to have a certain amount of support. This also allowed the Engines to be sized up slightly, since their size was regulated as a certain ratio to the total size of the car. All of the other regulations that were changed also related to safety, besides clarifying that a Heat Energy Recovery System was, in fact, allowed in the rules, but regenerative braking was still not allowed. This confusion had originated because the published 252 Technical Regulations had stated that Heat-based Power Regeneration was forbidden.
While many predicted that Osborne would benefit from the larger engine size, as their engines had always been large, Michael Osborne made the decision to instead focus on making the current engine better. This proved to be the wrong decision, especially with most of their drivers departing the sport. They focused heavily on adding a second power source – a mechanical turbine driven by the heat waste from the brakes and engine. It proved useful in reducing the amount of fuel that they needed to put in the car, but because their new drivers were less trained, and had issues with their fuel consumption, so the system didn’t see almost any use with Jack Reiver, Meaghen Bolt, or Sarah Aither. Sira Bowler, and Avayah Osborne, however, reported that the system worked splendidly, and provided a much-needed speed boost throughout races. Their biggest downside, though, was the reliability issues faced throughout the season. Avayah Osborne and Sira Bowler both faced DNFs twice through the season with Brake, Clutch, and Engine failures, and Jack Reiver crashed out of race 4 after his brakes failed him.
National (with their tricky extra gearbox) still held their position in first place, although their challengers were much closer this season. Their UX11 engine was not wasted development, though, as it proved a very impressive improvement over the UX10. They, too, like Team Osborne, worked on building an HERS (Heat Energy Recovery System), however their drivers, who had more experience being careful with fuel and energy management, led their system, which was mechanically inferior to Osborne’s, to be more effective over the season, and secure National their second Constructor’s Title. Unfortunately, none of the three former champions on their team managed to repeat their success, although Anna Aster came just 10 points away from a repeat title, in 3rd place. All in all, Jenny Spalding was pleased with the season, although she would have preferred to win both titles.
Octan had a strange Season 10. While they managed to clinch the Driver’s championship, they came in third in the constructor’s championship. Their biggest change was the removal of the bubble pods atop their wheels, and replace them with systems more similar to the other teams. Kai Octan intensified research on the URX rotary engines, and produced a very interesting sounding, very fast engine. However, the poor driver options available at the start of the year led to a disappointing showing from every driver except their best one. They ended 3rd in the standings. Their Wankel Engine received more fine tuning, and with the lengthened cars, they had space for a larger engine. They also significantly increased the amount of cornering power that their engine could withstand, which resulted in a huge increase of potential cornering speed for Octan, which, like many of the great innovations of this season, was largely under-utilised across the season. Their engine was more efficient than many of the other teams, which led to Kai Octan choosing not to develop a HERS, which proved a bold move in the following years.
Fire was the team that benefitted the most from the engine size upgrade. Their engineers, who were absolutely in tune with the engine that they had worked with for years in their regular super cars, adapted the Fire Powertrain to coax every possible drop of performance out of it, and it payed off. All of their drivers finished in the top half of the drivers, with at least 40 points. They even nearly won both titles, missing out on the drivers by 5 points, and the constructors by 1 sole point. Their regular supercar engine already had a HERS, which had been removed for their Season 9 entry, but as the regulations changed, they added it back on. This left them valuable development time to work on the body and engine in other ways. Their body was minorly changed, just fine tuning the downforce available from different front and rear wing configurations, which had never been needed before, as they had always raced at the same track, in similar conditions. On the engine side, they adapted their Powertrain to be configurable based on different track conditions, as well, such as altitude, humidity, and temperature. Through the variety of different tracks seen during Season 10, and never before, this adaptability helped them to come within grasping reach of both titles, even if they ended up falling short. Bryne Ellys was pleased with her team’s performance, although heartbroken over failing to achieve either title.
Quantos, whose parent organization designed and manufactured fighter jets and plane engines, proved worthy of joining Formula Lego during their debut season. Although they didn’t manage to score a podium, their rookie drivers were given the technology that allowed all but one to score. Their engine was built to Fighter Jet standards, utilising as much performance as humanly possible from the engine. It was impressive, since it had been completely developed within a single year. Their Aerodynamic package, too, was quite good, since they had access to a wind tunnel at their Parent Organization’s headquarters. Overall, they were pleased with their debut season, and promised bigger and better things for the future.
Silva’s car was, to say it politely, not worthy of being on the FL grid. It had terrible reliability, horrible handling, awful downforce, and an uncompetitive engine. The street-car manufacturer had believed that their knowledge was transferable, like Fire’s had been, however Formula Lego proved to be a challenge to those not versed in its ways. Their team strategy was also very bad, especially when they consistently tried the same maneuver, which never worked: After the first pitstop of every race, if one of their drivers performed an overtake, they would be called in to box, and receive a new, fresh set of #2 tires (which the driver wasn’t always able to finish the race on), in hopes that the tires would keep them ahead of their rivals. Unfortunately, it generally just lost the drivers places to other cars that they were unlikely to make up, especially in a bad car. Over the season, they kept the position for the remainder of the race just twice, and lost positions around 30 other times. In the final race, the only race where one of their drivers scored points, Salem Hoods refused to come in to the pitlane, and instead continued until the next time she actually needed too. Silva’s debut season was an all-around joke, thanks to their terrible, no good, very bad car and strategy.
New Locations
The Season 10 Promotional Motto was "1 New Race, 2 New Teams, 3 New Countries, 4 New Tracks", which referred to several things that changed for Season 10. First, yet another race was added to the Calendar, which now sat at 8 races. Second, both Quantos and Silva joined this season, bringing with them a whole host of new drama and excitement. Third, Formula Lego travelled outside of the EotLP for the first time ever, to Fortionale in Cklserolva, Verskaell in Srebvona, and Monta Roblov in Côte Blanche. Finally, they also added a new city within the EotLP to the Calendar: Karebyr, the second largest city in the EotLP, and home to Octan, Fire, and Silva.
This provided a huge logistical challenge to the sport that had previously only raced at a single location (Cagne Island), and had a single special race in the same country. The Season 10 Transport Logistics were very intense for those involved, and provided new challenges to teams, drivers, and the sport.
Season Progression
Race 1
Race 1 was held on Cagne Island, at the John Fel Osborne Circuit. Octan's Julia Young won, coming ahead of Fire's Camilla Cyne, and National's Anna Aster.
Qualifying
The Qualifying round was relatively uninteresting, as three national drivers took the top three spots. Evangeline Sayll, Anna Aster, and Vance Lewison qualified on Pole, 2nd, and 3rd respectively, with Julia Young and Avayah Osborne rounding off the top five.
Race
Despite a boring qualifying session, the start to Season 10 proved to be the perfect start to a dramatic season. Anna Aster had a much better start, and the defending champion took the lead right from the get-go. Young and Osborne also took a good start off the line, passing Vance Lewison on the inside before the first corner. At the first corner, things straightened out, Aster gaining nearly half a second on every other driver. Camilla Cyne, who had qualified in 11th, under-braked around the outside off the pack, gaining four spots, to seat herself behind Vance Lewison. Through the next few laps, the positions at the front stayed relatively stable. However, Fire made a bold decision not to pit her for tires at the end of the 16th lap (the first of four expected pit stops). She was the only out of the top ten not to pit, and rocketed up into first. She punched it down, and, by the 20th lap, her rapidly degrading tires had led her to a nearly 20-second lead. Her tires were beginning to fail, though, and she was on track to lose four spots when she inevitably had to pit. But then, in a stroke of luck for the Fire car, on lap 22, just before Fire called Cyne in for a pitstop, Lily Octan’s engine suffered a failure on track, and sprayed parts all over the track. A yellow flag was called, and the safety car was deployed. Cyne pitted immediately, coming out with harder tires (#4). She returned in 2nd place, behind Aster. The safety car bunched the cars up together again, and at the restart, Aster managed to maintain her lead from a pressing Cyne and Young. Young made it past Cyne during lap 47, as she cut down the inside of the Fire driver on Turn two. Young then moved on to pressure Aster for the lead, while Cyne defended vigorously from Evangeline Sayll, who wanted to move onto the podium. However, at around lap 52, the three National drivers who had started in the top five (Aster, Sayll, and Lewison), began to feel the wear on their now 28-lap old hard tires, and were forced to pit for #1 tires, the fastest and least durable of the 5 varieties. Young and Cyne now bumped themselves up into the top two spots. Cyne attempted to put pressure on Young, and the two pressed forwards, giving them both enough time between them and Aster (in third place with much newer tires) to pit for their own #1s. Aster managed to pass Cyne during Lap 58, but was re-overtaken by the end of the next lap. Cyne also dabbled with the lead once again during lap 60, but Young kept her car in front, and Race 1 became Young’s second victory, and Cyne's (as well as Fire's) first second place.
This Race was Camilla Cyne & Fire's first 2nd place, and Julia Young winning the race suddenly threw Anna Aster's chances at a repeat Title into question.
Race 2
Race 2 was held on the Rennia Kira Sanchez Memorial Street Circuit. National's Evangeline Sayll made a comeback from Race 1, winning from the get-go. Her teammate Anna Aster came in just behind her, and Octan's Julia Young finished out the Podium.
Race
After a disappointing drop from Pole to 6th place in race one, this race proved that Evangeline Sayll was still capable of winning. Sayll qualified on Pole for the second race in a row, and managed to keep the position this time, through a heated battle with Anna Aster. Aster’s race engineer called her in 4 laps earlier than Sayll, providing her with an undercut, but while Aster moved to a second set of #3 tires in lap 20, Sayll moved onto #4s, and combined with the extra 4 laps that Aster had to run on her #3s, Sayll managed to outlast Aster, who was forced to pit for #1s on lap 42 of the 50-lap race. Julia Young stayed on the Podium for the second race in a row, moving up from her 6th place start after a singe-pit strategy, moving from a set of #5s to a set of #1s in lap 40. The newer tires going into the final stint of the race, helped tremendously. Camilla Cyne’s race engineer tried to utilise the over-cut again, but the longer laps (and therefore fewer laps in the total race), sabotaged the strategy, and her 2nd place qualifying position got squandered on a 5th place finish. As far as many were concerned, the race was not as interesting as most, because of the lack of major changes in position across the race. After the second race, Young maintained her hold on the Title Lead, with Aster staying second. Sayll and Cyne were now for 3rd after their results countered each other.
Race 3
Race three provided a new winner, at a familiar circuit. For the second time of three in Season 10, the racers and cars returned to Cagne Island. Thanks to an incredible strategy, Fire managed to take their first ever Victory, with Camilla Cyne and Sarah Martins taking 1st and 2nd, respectively. National's Evangeline Sayll managed to slip onto the podium as well.
Qualifying
Julia Young took her first pole of the season, edging out Anna Aster by just three tenths of a second. Aster herself had come incredibly close to Sira Bowler's time, coming just three thousandths of a second ahead of the Osborne Diver. Fire's top two racers, Cyne and Martins, qualified in P5 and P7, making their win all the more incredible. Sayll, who eventually came 3rd in the race, qualified just below that, with a solid P4.
Race
Fire attempted a different strategy this time around, starting the race on #1s, then undercutting to #3s during Laps 16-20 (each driver on a different lap), forcing other front runners (Aster, Sayll, Young, Osborne, Bowler) to pit earlier than they expected. Since they all started on #4 tires, intending to run for a long stint, the undercut forced them off of the slower tires early. Fire then took another risky strategy, moving only to #3 compounds, while the other front runners had moved to #5 compounds. Then, from laps 48-52, they pulled them in for another set of #1s. Octan, National, and Osborne had all planned to finish on their #5 compounds. Suddenly, the two Front running Fires (Cyne and Martins) shot to the front, and finished with a 1-2. It was Fire’s first victory, Cyne's first victory, and Martins' first podium. Although any considered Fire’s strategy overly aggressive in the beginning of the race, it proved magnificently effective. Team Osborne also suffered a crippling blow when 3 of their 5 cars suffered reliability issues; Jack Reiver’s Gearbox suffered enough issues that his car began to smoke, and was retired on Lap 13. Sarah Aither suffered from engine valve failures, which continually stalled her engine. She completed just 3 laps before retiring from the race at the end of lap 4. Sira Bowler also suffered engine issues, and her engine violently exploded on lap 47. Luckily for Fire, she was already going into the pitlane, and no Yellow Flags were brought out. Cyne finished the race nearly 10 seconds ahead of her teammate, who in turn finished 23 seconds ahead of Sayll. Thanks to the unexpected time loss from unexpected pit stops, the rest of the field was pretty bunched up.
Race 3 gave Cyne the lead in the championship, something that she would taste several other times in the season.
Race 4
Formula Lego's first foreign race, at the Fortrionale Race Track in Cklserolva provided a 4th winner in 4 races, when defending champion Anna Aster powered to a win, ahead of her teammate, Eva Sayll. Octan's Julia Young and Fire's Camilla Cyne finished 3rd and 4th, respectively, leaving the Driver's title standings very strange: Aster was in the lead by 10 points (250), and Cyne, Sayll, and Young were all tied for 2nd, with 240 points.
Qualifying
Qualifying saw a few new names thrown around, as Octan's Ella Fader scored her first Pole Position, followed by Cyne, and Osborne's Sira Bowler. The eventual podium finishers (Aster, Sayll, and Young) qualified P6, P5, and P8 respectively.
Race
Aster ran a slightly different setup than the other front-runners, opting to start on #3 tires, rather than the #1 or #2s that the others started on. She overcut all Five racers ahead of her after their first set of pitstops, but as her tires began to wear down, it looked as if she was about to lose positions again. However, Osborne's Jack Reiver saved her when he flew off the track into a barrier, leading to a red flag.
Reiver was fine, and his crash allowed Aster to switch tires to #1s, which she could finish the race on. According to the 252 regulations, which had been implemented the previous years, any driver who changes tires on a Red Flag will have five seconds added to their time after the race (RFTP). Therefore, most of the other drivers decided to continue with their planned pit stops, and not change tires. Aster, Sayll, and Cyne all decided to change, though.
Aster, who was barely holding onto first before the red flag, punched it on her much newer tires, and eventually finished the race 10 seconds clear of the field (or 5 seconds clear of the field, after her penalty was added). Sayll herself had powered up from 7th place to second place on her newer tires, and finished 4 seconds clear of Cyne, leaving her in third. However, Cyne too had a time penalty, and finished just 3 seconds ahead of Young, who had pitted normally, so with Cyne's time penalty, Young managed to grab a podium, which hurt Cyne's title bid, and benefitted Young's.
The race also saw Fire's first DNF, when Sarah Martins' Gearbox suffered issues, and her car was retired by the team boss during the Red Flag, after further inspection from mechanics. Two Silva drivers (Russel Perez and Nhadi Yousuf), also collided with each other on the Red Flag restart, although their debris was cleared in just one lap under Yellow Flags and the Safety Car.
Formula Lego's first foreign race, National dominated, and took their second 1-2 of the season. The defending champion, Anna Aster, finally managed to win her second career race, despite Red Flag Pit Stop Time Penalties (RFTP), with Sayll coming second, even with the same penalty. Julia Young was bumped up to 3rd, after Cyne's RFTP moved her down off the podium. As the points were tallied up, Aster took the lead in the Title, and Sayll, Cyne, and Young all came tied for second.
Race 5
The first ever Verskaell Grand Prix produced a sixth unique winner in six races (Which tied the previous record), as Sira Bowler's Osborne engine proved to be much more suited to the high altitude of Verskaell than it had been to other tracks. Camilla Cyne came second, which propelled her into the lead in the Driver's Title battle, while her Teammate Sarah Martins' third place, Julia Young's 4th, Avayah Osborne's 5th place, and Quantos' P6 (with Aleksandar Rosya) together pushed National out of the Constructor Points range, which narrowed the gap between National and Fire to just 3 points.
Qualifying
For the first time in her career, Sira Bowler took the hat trick home from Verskaell, qualifying on Pole, Winning, and taking fastest lap. Rosya qualified behind her, in an impressive P2. Martins took P3 on the starting grid, beside her teammate Cyne in P4.
Race
Bowler led off the line, and kept herself well ahead of the battle for second between Martins and Rosya, which allowed her to speed away, and gain several seconds by the first pitstop. Unlike several of the other races this season, almost all of the racers ran the same tire strategy-a single set of both #2s, and of #4s. Although some started on the #4s, and some on the #2s, this limited the amount of strategy that came into play with the final results. Martins did finally pass Rosya after her pit crew performed a very quick stop. However, because almost the entire top half of the grid pitted simultaneously, Bowler never once let go of the first place in the race, and set the fastest lap on her final time round the circuit, as she cruised to an easy-looking win. Her teammate, Avayah, placed fifth overall, ahead of Rosya, whose car just failed to be quite competitive enough as the race crept on. Martins, who held onto second for a long time, was eventually legitimately overtaken by Cyne, while Julia Young climbed up from her starting position in P8 to P4 by the end of the race. Aster, who had led the championship by ten points after the the last race, finished 7th, which pulled her down into 3rd overall. Cyne jumped from being tied for second with two others to leading by 10 points, while Young scored 15 points more than Aster (with a 4th place finish), which placed her 5 points ahead of Aster, in 2nd. Meanwhile, Eva Sayll, who had also been tied for second, scored 8th, winning her only 30 points, and leaving her 30 points behind the leader. This marked the beginning of the end of her bid for a second title. A single yellow flag was called during the race, on Lap 37, well into the second tire stint, when Quantos' Zarya Ilic took a corner slightly too aggressively, and crashed into the tire barriers off the track. She was uninjured, luckily.
Race Five set a new record: the most different winners in a row (6: Josep Vikalkin won Season 9 Race 7, Young won Season 10 Race 1, Sayll won Race 2, Cyne won Race 3, Aster won Race 4, and then this race). Sira Bowler took her fourth career victory, ahead of two Fire Cars; Cyne and Martins. With the second place, Cyne took the lead in the championship battle, ahead of Young, then Aster. Sayll came way down in 8th, which effectively marked the end of her bid for a second title in Season 10.
Race 6
The First ever Côte Blanche Grand Prix provided much drama on the Driver's Title side, and kept even the Constructor's Title fight interesting for many. Anna Aster brought home her third career win, but fierce fighting from her main title competitors drew them all level on points, rather than splitting away. Meanwhile, National managed to widen their lead on the Constructor's Title by a single point, raising their lead to 4 points.
Qualifying
Eva Sayll took her third Pole of the season, followed by her teammate Aster. Fire's Camilla Cyne and Sarah Martins qualified for a side-by-side start, with P3 and P4, respectively. Julia Young qualified characteristically low, in P7, behind National's Vance Lewison, and Fire's Ariadne Stryke.
Race
The Monta Roblov Street Circuit is characteristically narrow, tight, and fast, if you know what you're doing. Unfortunately for Sayll, she took a very cautious approach, which Aster didn't. Aster had taken the lead by Lap 5. Meanwhile, Young shot up, very characteristically of her at Street Circuit (She had improved by 7 places at the Kira Sanchez Memorial Race, and by 3 at Season 10 Race 2), passing three cars in 7 laps. Once again, the pitstops were relatively minor in this race, as literally everyone ran #1s and #2s, thanks to the relatively low amount of wear on the Street Circuit. Young eventually passed Cyne on lap 50, at very sharp right-hander, where she shot dangerously close to the barriers to get around her title rival, which was the same way that Aster had passed Sayll on Lap 5. Young passed Sayll 2 laps later, to come P2 at the end of the race. Aster had an easy drive after she initially passed Sayll, and coasted to a sweet 5-second lead by the chequered flag. With Young behind her, and Cyne just off the podium in P4, all three of them drew level on points with just two more races to decide the victor. None of the Osborne Drivers fared very well at the hot, humid, low-altitude venue, with Sira Bowler their highest finished, in P9. National widened the gap between them and Fire in the Constructors' Standings by just a single point, ending the race with 25 Constructor's Points to Fire's 21. However, this wouldn't be the last we heard of Fire in the Title fight.
Race Six provided even more drama to the season, as Aster won, with her main rivals finishing 2nd and 4th, drawing them all level on points, with 4th place Sayll now 25 points behind the pack. On the Constructors' side, National managed to widen the gap to their main rivals, Fire, by a single point, and the 4 - point gap left many on the edge of their seats.
Race 7
The Penultimate Race of Season 10, and first Karebyr Grand Prix, was drama and action packed, as Julia Young's surprise victory was revoked on a penalty call, and Camilla Cyne took the victory, in a very controversial outcome. However, with all three title contenders finishing on the podium, they were spread over only 10 points, leaving the Title up for grabs between them.
Qualifying
Eva Sayll took her 4th Pole of the season (half of the total season), but once again failed to transfer that to race pace. Cyne qualified in P2, with Avayah Osborne coming behind them, and Anna Aster qualified to start alongside her. In almost a predictable scenario, Young qualified much lower, and fought her way back up from P8.
Race
Cyne took the lead early into the 45-lap race from Sayll, with Anna Aster also securing P3 from Osborne's underpowered Osborne very easily. Young fought her way back up to P6 by the first set of pit-stops, around lap 15. However, she had regulated her tires very well, allowing her to try and overcut her competition. It wasn't as effective as Octan hoped, but she did pass Osborne before she was forced to pit herself for new tires, on lap 17. Octan took a gamble on her tires, as well, moving her to #1s, rather than the #3s the other front-runners had gone with, betting on her being able to get far enough ahead to take another set of #1s before the end of the race. It very nearly worked, too. Young absolutely rocketed up through the standings, passing Osborne on lap 18, Aster and Sayll both on lap 21, and then finally race leader Cyne on lap 25. She then put her foot to the ground, and put as much distance as she possibly could between her and Cyne. When she finally couldn't stay out on her current set of #1s any longer, on Lap 34, she was 19 seconds ahead, and had an expected pit-stop time loss of 21 seconds. However, the Octan pit-crew performed incredibly, and saved her a second from what was expected. However, as she inched towards the pit-lane exit Cyne was gaining too fast. But Young refused to let her take the win that easily. She shot out of the end of the pitlane at a steep angle, forcing Cyne too veer off the track, before returning in P2. The Race Stewards took note of the situation immediately, but didn't make any call. Young attempted to gain back the time she had lost in the pits, and widen her lead, but Cyne refused to be left behind. Cyne dragged life out of her 20-laps and aging #3s, ending in P2, just 4.891 seconds behind Young, managing to only lose just under a half-second per lap to Young. Meanwhile, Aster, too, had been narrowing the gap between her and the leaders after she passed Sayll on lap 1, keeping herself in the title battle with another Podium. However, before the podium celebrations could happen, the Stewards announced their decision on the Lap 34 incident: a 5-second penalty on Young. Cyne had finished just barely close enough that
This post-race change put Cyne into the lead of the Title Battle again, with 430 points, 5 points ahead of Young, who was, in turn, 5 points ahead of Aster. On the Constructor's side, Fire managed to draw level with National on points, each going into the final race with 27. Three drivers and Two teams were going to enter the final race with everything to win, and everything to lose.
The first Karebyr Grand Prix drew the title rivals 5 points apart from each other, each, with Cyne taking the win after a controversial decision by the stewards to award Young a 5-second penalty after an incident between the two as Young exited the pits on Lap 34. With Aster finishing out the podium, the top three were all within a 10 point range, led by Cyne, with 430 points. On the Constructor's Title battlefield, Fire managed to draw up level on points with National going into the final race, setting Season 10 up for an epic finale between both the drivers and teams.
Race 8
The Final Race of Season 10 provided tons of drama, as two teams, and three drivers were all in contention for their respective titles. Octan's Julia Young eventually came home with the win, and title, while her main rival, Fire's Camilla Cyne, finished back in third, dashing her dreams of a title for this season. National's Anna Aster, while technically still in contention, needed a miracle to win a second title, and didn't manage to find that miracle, but did manage to win the Constructor's Title by just a single point from Fire.
Qualifying
Camilla Cyne stormed to her first Pole position, taking the top grid spot by nearly a second, ahead of Eva Sayll, Aster, and Osborne's Avayah Osborne. Young qualified P5, which left her with a lot of ground to cover. Quantos' Aleksandar Rosya qualified P13, which set him up for an incredible final race push, as well.
Race
From the start, Sayll did everything she could to slow Cyne down, to help her teammate Aster make up ground. Aster intentionally kept behind Sayll at first, opting to let Sayll do the battling, and conserve her own tires for a push at a later time. However, Sayll and Cyne battling slowed them down, which allowed Young to pass Osborne, and then Aster. As all of the top 15 had started on #2s, they had to pit around Lap 20. Sayll followed Cyne in on lap 21, hoping to keep the battle going, both moved to a second set of #2s. Meanwhile Aster floored it, and shot ahead on her tires, which she had carefully conserved. Young kept ahead of her, though, even though she had not regulated her tires as well. Finally on Lap 24, it seemed certain Young would need to pit for tires, while Aster might have nearly 2 laps left. But then, exactly what Young needed happened: Avayah Osborne's engine began smoking badly. She pulled off to the side of the track, and jumped out of the car, and a yellow flag was called. Aster pitted for #3s, coming out in P3, behind Cyne but ahead of Sayll. However, Young didn't go in. Octan made a huge gamble, and it payed off. After a lap of almost no wear on tires, the crew were beginning to take the stray Osborne car off the track when it erupted into flames. The race was red-flagged, and all the cars returned to the pit lane. Finally, after 25 miraculous laps on dying tires, Young switched to a set of #1s. Because of the new Red Flag Pit Stop Time Penalties, she was handed a 5-second time penalty, but at the restart, she still started from the front of the grid. She shot away, refusing to engage Cyne (who restarted in P2). Aster, who needed to complete 37 laps on tires rated for 32, once again needed to conserve tires, so National coordinated Sayll to act as her rear defensive shield, slowing down anyone who attempted to get near to her teammate. Aster drove quickly, but smoothly, keeping her tires where they needed to go. Rosya had tried the same thing as Young, staying out way too long on the yellow flag, and it had worked for him too, as he had jumped from P12 to P7. He then managed to place himself absolutely perfectly to pass both Sira Bowler and Sarah Martins going into the final corner of Lap 28, and began threatening Sayll from there. Young and Cyne began to spread apart, as Young's #1s were much faster than Cyne's older #2s. She pitted quite early, on lap 37 (after just 12 laps on the 16-lap rated #1s), and was passed by Cyne in the pits, returning to the track 5 seconds behind her title rival. She gained back her spot just a few laps later, though, when Cyne pitted on Lap 42 for a final set of #2s. Aster, trying to make the one-stop work, narrowed the gap between her and Cyne to just 6 seconds. Sayll communicated back to the team that she was feeling real pressure from Rosya behind her, and was ordered to simply slow him down, but accept that she may lose the spot. Sayll, noticeably disappointed at being ordered to sacrifice her final race, still agreed to support her teammate and friend. Over the next few laps, she defended gorgeously from Rosya, slowing them both down by nearly twelve seconds by lap 48, when National abandoned their previous strategy with Aster, and ordered her into the pits. She took a new set of #1s. Young pitted on Lap 52, coming out behind Cyne again, but began to gain very rapidly on the Fire, whose tyres were beginning to deteriorate. Aster managed to just barely stay ahead of Sayll and Rosya, who were also running their third set of #2s, and then pushed forwards, as Sayll kept bunching up the pack behind her. At the end of Lap 57, Young passed Cyne on the Long Straight, and just kept on, gaining time on her from there. Aster's new tires powered her towards Cyne's rapidly slowing car, putting the pressure on the Fire driver. On Lap 60, Sayll finally slowed too much, letting Rosya and Bowler speed past her on the second corner. But Sayll had succeeded at her goal. Rosya, who finished 4th, never got within 15 seconds of 3rd, despite flooring it for the next four laps. Meanwhile, Aster steadily gained on Cyne, until the penultimate lap, when she passed her, and moved up into second. Young crossed the chequered line as the Season 10 Title Champion. Aster's second place wasn't quite good enough, as she stayed in 3rd overall. And, with Cyne's 3rd, she finished just 5 points short of Young.
Finishing second would have secured her a title, as the tiebreakers leant in her favour: They had an equal number of wins, and both finished with 6 podiums, but had she finished second, that would have been once more than Young, giving her the title. So, in a way, Aster and National managed to strip Fire of their first bid at the title, and give it to an Octan Driver instead.
National won the Constructor's Title by a single point, leaving Fire heartbroken at losing both titles by incredibly small margins, but to two different teams. Jenny Spalding said she was happy that Aster had been able to contend for the title, even though she didn't win it, and Mikael Cagne was understandably elated at Young's victory, although he wished his team had contended with more than one driver. Bryne Ellys and Ermyth Alded both expressed that they were proud of their ability to contend on both stages, even though they hadn't quite won either one.
The Final Race of the season summed up the dramatic season in an equally dramatic fashion. Young started all the way down in 5th, but through clever strategy and a lucky red flag after Avayah Osborne, she clambered right back up to 1st. With a final incredible push, Aster passed a slowing Cyne on the penultimate lap, and Cyne lost the points she needed to win the Title. Julia Young was the Driver's Title Champion for Season 10.
Post-Season
Jenny Spalding was understandably elated at winning National's second-ever Constructor's Title, and discussed how she was proud of Aster for being able to compete for a second title, even if she didn't quite manage to win it. She was also proud of Sayll, for effectively giving up her final race to help Aster score second-place, as she knew that couldn't have been easy for her to do.
Bryne Ellys and Ermyth Alded both expressed how proud they were that they had come so tantalizingly close to winning the title, even if they were heartbroken at losing both, and to two different teams. But both also expressed that they were sure that they would win a title eventually. Alded continually reinstated that Cyne would've won the final race, and by extension both titles, if her team had given her a better strategy. Because of that, she was sure that Cyne would win a title in the future.
Kai Octan and Mikael Cagne were understandably elated at their first title of any kind since Cagne himself took both titles way back in Season 3. Young joining their ranks of legendary title winners, such as the first title holder, Salem Hoods, and the winner by the greatest margin, Cagne, with a 125 point gap to the second-place finisher. Both were thrilled, and hoped to continue their success the following year.
Michael Osborne, and his daughter Avayah, who he had transferred administration of the team to, both expressed their disappointment with the season, as they suffered major reliability issues, and never managed to contest for either title, despite Sira Bowler's win in Verskaell. They pledged to continue improving their vehicle, so that they might contest again in a few years.
Tomo Docrik, the owner of Quantos, and Pierre Zendeli, his Technical Chief, both were proud of their initial entry into Formula Lego, with Aleksandar Rosya scoring quite well on several occasions. When National signed him for the next year, and Octan signed Diana Perko, they considered their entry already a success, as their goal with the team was to demonstrate the skills of Cklserolvan Drivers, and introduce them into Formula Lego.
Salem Hoods, who was the listed owner of Silva, and Jeremy Cohen, their Lead Technician both discussed their abysmal performance in their debut Season. But while Hoods claimed it was an inherent issue with the team and their design process, and stepped out of the cockpit at the end of Season 10, Cohen maintained that it was just their growing pains, and that they would come back better than ever for the next season.
Josep Vikalkin announced that he would be returning to Formula Lego for the 254 Season, on a 2-year contract with Fire. Many were surprised by that move, as most had expected him to return to Osborne, where he had spent all of his previous Career.
A new team also announced their arrival to the sport, which had been in the works since early Season 9: the first Mezhdomnovene team, Angel. Unlike Quantos, their main objective wasn't to display new talent. They wanted to win. And they had a very, very different approach. With approval from the EotLP GP, they began development on an Electric Powertrain. To avoid having to rewrite the Technical Regulations before they originally intended to, the EotLP GP simply added on extra sections, outlining exceptions to the rules if your car was running an electric motor. The privately owned Angel struck several deals with other manufacturers, including both Osborne and Fire, to help supply components, hired a huge design team, and funded their own state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing facilities. Their entrance was equally hyped up, and Season 11, with several teams making improvements to try and catch up with National, looked to be a blisteringly entertaining season.