[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 145

Let’s get started. Just think about what I mentioned earlier.

“Leave it to me.”

With the overwhelming applause of the stars pouring down and the audience filling the entire circuit, I stepped onto the track.

“Wow!!!”

“Yooihyun! Yooihyun! Yooihyun!”

“Ferrari! Ferrari! Ferrari!”

Even though I was wearing a high-performance helmet optimized for soundproofing and in-ear communication, the countless voices of fans cheering together broke through that barrier and reached me.

That sound entered my ears, spreading through my head and heart, pounding my body like a throbbing engine.

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

I could feel my heartbeat so vividly it felt like it was going to explode.

The excitement hadn’t faded. I never thought I would feel this overwhelming excitement on the circuit again after becoming a three-time champion, and it was true…

“Ah…”

Now, that clear fact was becoming the ‘obvious’ fact.

The roar of the racing car and the fans who seemed to scream as if the sky would fall, the long track illuminated by bright lights in the hot night.

It felt as if everything here welcomed me, as if this was exactly where I was meant to be.

The clamor from the grandstands and the countless fans watching the live broadcast surrounding the circuit showed no signs of diminishing.

Perhaps because the distance among the audience was so close or far, my name and Ferrari echoed louder in the air, vibrating and resonating.

‘Real track, real audience…’

I had run annoyingly on the For One track, and I had been bored hearing the cheers of the audience there.

The real track and real audience truly felt different.

I embraced the waterfall of emotions pouring down without resistance.

As I set foot on the track, this moment of return was too precious to me, and I wanted to remember this feeling and emotion forever.

Right. This moment right now was exactly the start of the long-awaited practice session 1.

– Let’s not worry about lap times, let’s just focus on the track first. The weather is hot anyway, so we went with hard tires.

The tires selected for this practice session were hard tires, C1.

Super hard – Hard – Medium – Soft – Super soft. The five tires officially used in F1.

They correspond to C1 – C2 – C3 – C4 – C5, but only three types of tires are allowed on the circuit, designated by the FIA with consecutive numbers.

For this race, considering Bahrain’s weather, three tires were chosen: from C1 to C3, from super hard tires to medium tires.

Even though C1 is a super hard tire, it is referred to as hard because of its classification as hard – medium – soft.

So, in this race, for this specific occasion, the super hard tire C1 is considered a hard tire, the hard tire C2 is considered a medium tire, and the medium tire C3 is considered a soft tire.

“Okay, just let me know when the tire temperature is suitably up. While it’s important to build the track, we need to push V-1 to check its real performance as well.”

To heat the tires quickly, I maintained full acceleration towards turn 1. It was essential to handle the tires roughly at the start to raise their temperature as quickly as possible.

Vroom-!! Shhhhhh!!!

The speed of V-1 quickly surpassed 300 km/h. It was a speed that seemed outrageous to others and was indeed such.

“Phew…”

Rather, I felt calmer. My mind was as clear as the cloudless midday sky, and my crouched body suddenly felt alive.

It might sound cheesy, but one could say the soul of the driver awoke.

Indeed, once driving begins, drivers become completely different people, so it cannot simply be dismissed as a cheesy phrase.

Before I knew it, I reached turn 1. It was a sharp corner close to a hairpin turn, possibly around a 70-degree angle.

I closed the DRS I had opened and transformed the hybrid suspension into a high rake form to maximize downforce.

Whooooosh-!

As I leaned forward, the air resistance intensified. Starting from the front wing, the chassis was pressed down firmly. The increased downforce made it easier to take the corner, and consequently, the maximum speed for cornering increased.

Along with that, a rapid braking.

Screech! Tsk!!

The loud noise screamed as the carbon brake pads tore apart.

In the blink of an eye, my speed decreased. Yet, I entered the corner while maintaining the maximum speed that V-1 could endure.

Grumble-! Grumble! Grumble!

V-1 followed the textbook line of out-in-out. The rumbling sound grew as the gear number decreased, as if roaring to go faster.

“Hmph…!”

I turned the steering wheel, overcoming the gravitational acceleration pressing down on my body.

Reading the track information entering through my eyes, I unconsciously controlled my speed, direction, and gears through intricate movements of my hands and feet, repeating this process within split seconds.

However, within that control, where one mistake could throw everything off, there was an indescribable smoothness. The movement of the race car, as flexible and smooth as a snake, started from my hands and feet.

It was water. The water from a river endlessly flowing towards the sea.

There was no way to describe the supernatural movement other than saying it simply ‘flows.’

Though I am not nature myself, I possess something akin to innate qualities from the moment I was born, akin to human instinct. Thus, instinct is the only natural essence given to humans.

Flowing like water, my movements pursuing speed could be regarded as nature itself.

Yes, I was flowing.

Water flowing over the river that is the track, perhaps the river itself.

As I exited turn 1, I aligned my chassis towards the upcoming turn 2, a left corner at a 120-degree angle.

Once again, I executed trail braking, which involves deceleration and acceleration simultaneously, entering and exiting the corner.

Turn 2 was cleared.

Next is turn 3, a right turn.

This corner, although a corner, was almost flat, like a straight line, with a shallow depth. I passed over the curb, gliding without reducing speed.

I maintained suitable acceleration without deceleration, elastically exiting. For such shallow corners, it was better to go for acceleration rather than slowing down immediately in anticipation of the next maneuver.

Moreover, after corner 3, there was a long straight path leading to corner 4.

– Right now, it’s good. Keep pushing.

There is no reason not to push.

The exit speed directly leads to reducing distance on the straight.

Moreover, since this was practice, it didn’t have much significance, but the faster the exit speed, the easier it became to overtake on the straight.

This is because combined with acceleration systems like DRS and slipstream, it adds more elasticity.

So, even in practice, the critical variables for race day should be attempted more boldly. Unless a major mistake occurs, there’s little risk in failing.

So, it must be done, and that’s why practice sessions exist.

– Honestly, it was flawless. Turn 1 was absolutely perfect. But I think you could take turns 2 and 3 more aggressively.

“More aggressively?”

– Yeah, considering the tire temperature hasn’t even risen yet. Once the performance starts coming out, you can raise the maximum speed limit or turn the steering angle more; feel free to be more ambitious.

As I sped down the long straight, fully accelerating through turn 4, I listened attentively to Enrique’s words.

When it came to driving, I was at a completely different level, feeling embarrassed just to be listening to his advice, but in terms of compiling and judging information with various equipment, Enrique was a step ahead.

Just as there exists a world in which drivers are unaware to engineers, there is also a world in which engineers are oblivious to drivers.

– For corners 1 and 2, it’s good to increase the speed, but it may be better to turn the steering angle more. Since the next corners follow in quick succession, considering the linkage, that might be faster. And for turn 3, let’s enter at full throttle right from the entrance. The telemetry analysis results came out the same, and even Hamilton, currently in first place, is doing the same.

“Alright, I got it.”

For corners 1 and 2, I would focus on the steering angle due to increased grip, and for turn 3, on acceleration.

While I was reflecting on Enrique’s words, he sent another message, seemingly pondering whether he had more to say.

– Hmm… but you don’t have to follow it exactly.

“What do you mean?”

– Just as it says. There’s no need to strictly follow the telemetry or Hamilton. Lee Hyun, find the path that you think is correct. That’s the reason you’re hailed as the fastest driver.

“……!”

Inside the racing car speeding at an outrageous speed, I could only swallow hard at Enrique’s words.

His trust in me, in spite of being an engineer who relied solely on precise figures, was proof that he believed in me beyond that.

“For now, I’ll try everything I can. If my best isn’t the best, just tell me straightforwardly. Don’t feel pressured for no reason.”

– Alright. Let’s focus for now. Sector 2 is coming up after the fourth corner.

For those who trust me, I will put my trust back in them. That’s what the interaction of trust is all about.

Today, I am not racing alone. I am racing alongside those lurking in the dark.

I am the representative of many people standing behind me.

The race car, V-1, was racing along with hundreds of people.