The crowd in the stands rose slightly as Dubois's DAMS car came into their view, and Leo could hear the distant wave of noise even over the engine sitting three inches behind his head.
Dubois was carrying the weight of his home stadium, while Leo was carrying a nagging timer counting down his remaining days.
Neither of them could see the other's burden.
He tracked Dubois through the braking zone for Turn 10. The Australian was precise here — clean, efficient, the kind of driver who had studied this circuit in his sleep and arrived with a blueprint. He wasn't taking risks. He was executing everything tactics he'd learned.
'He'll be strong in the middle sector,' Leo noted. 'He knows every bump on this track. He'll use the local knowledge the way a home crowd uses it — as a weapon.'
The DAMS car pulled ahead as Dubois hit his final warm-up sector.
Leo let him go. He crossed the line at the end of the out-lap and the dash updated.
