[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 161
We boarded the team bus without further chatter and headed straight to the laboratory.
The laboratory was a 5-minute drive from the Bahrain Circuit. Mr. Minotto, who was with us in the car, used even that brief time as an opportunity to hold a meeting disguised as small talk.
“Your opinions are the most important. It’s you two who are stepping into the real combat, so feel free to share your thoughts. If there are any overlaps with the options prepared by the strategy team, let’s adjust and coordinate as much as possible.”
Most of what he talked about was regarding the main event happening tomorrow. Of course, due to the short travel time, we couldn’t discuss many things, and he only explained the general direction and purpose of the meeting.
However, even that short conversation showed how thoroughly Mr. Minotto and the team had prepared for the first Grand Prix of the 31 season.
I suddenly felt that the reason I could step onto the stage of the circuit was right here.
“Thank you, Director.”
It’s not just me and Leclerc fighting on the circuit. There were those battling behind the scenes, working hard to fulfill their roles just as much as I was.
That’s why Formula 1 is called a team sport. For a good race car to be created, a “team” that moves organically and actively, like a well-made machine, must come first; how could this not be a team sport?
In reality, those who know even a little about F1 focus on judging the process and results of the Grand Prix in terms of team performance rather than solely on the driver’s ability. They try to find the causes and effects at the team level rather than the individual level.
Formula 1 is about race cars, drivers, strategies, and more. Many people are involved both directly and indirectly in this sport, not just the drivers.
Naturally, everything starts and ends there.
“There’s nothing to thank me for yet… I know you’re tired from qualifying, but please bear with it a little longer. It won’t take long.”
“Yes, Director.”
“Understood.”
Leclerc and I answered calmly. It wasn’t just to alleviate Mr. Minotto’s worries or to show off. Although I was indeed tired from exerting myself during qualifying as Mr. Minotto had worried, it wasn’t to the extent that I would collapse right away.
No matter how tough qualifying is, it can’t be harder than the main event.
But…
“My body still feels too light. I don’t know about the main event, but I feel like I could go through qualifying one more time…”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, really! Truly!”
This… seems a bit too good, even if my condition is good.
The rigorous trainings I’ve been consistently doing to endure long and grueling races seemed to be paying off.
Even as a woman, I still had energy left, and as a man, Leclerc must be overflowing with strength.
‘Indeed… training should be done first and then we’ll see.’
Such seemingly trivial efforts bring about small changes, and those small changes gather to create significant transformations. From that perspective, the power to turn the impossible into the possible is actually nothing. It’s just about doing it ‘consistently.’
However, while ‘consistently’ is something everyone can do, it’s also something that not just anyone can achieve. If knowing that was enough for everyone to succeed, this world would be overflowing with geniuses and prodigies.
Therefore, willpower is ironically a massive force that is simultaneously nothing yet achieves everything.
“I’m okay if we run all night until we find an answer, Director.”
Leclerc read my thoughts as if he could see right through me.
That’s right. We, Ferrari, had the will. No matter if we fail, we had a firm resolve never to fall.
In the brief silence, we felt a sense of camaraderie that didn’t need words. That emotion, vividly shared through our looks, felt just like a battlefield even though this place might not be one.
As I was feeling that warm and passionate atmosphere…
“Can’t we just go do some simulations again? I want to race with Red Bull and McLaren’s fastest lap ghost set up…”
Perhaps because we didn’t create a twist until the end of Q3, Leclerc was showing his discontent with fiery eyes.
The atmosphere suddenly cooled down, but it was a good thing. A driver shouldn’t lack competitive spirit or a sense of vengeance.
The director of the great Ferrari, Mr. Mattia Binotto, seemed to feel his determination as he suddenly grabbed Leclerc’s hands tightly and ignited his will.
“Yeah…! Do whatever you want to do!”
“Yes, Director…!”
Amidst their cringe-worthy determination, there was an interrupter.
“Haha! What are you two doing? We still have plenty of meeting topics to go through.”
With Enrique’s loud laughter, everyone began to smile at what might have been a foolish sight. It was the first moment of ease for us who had been living under extreme tension from before the season started to now.
“Nice to see… really.”
For a moment, a fleeting thought crossed my mind that perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to lose with such a team…
‘No, we absolutely can’t lose. Absolutely.’
That thought merely flashed by.
We were people gathered for victory. If we gathered for that, then we needed to have it to be happy.
And I thought that I would certainly bring that to us.
*
*
*
“We’ve arrived.”
It didn’t take too long to reach the laboratory.
As our youngest engineer, Won-jin, got off the bus, he exclaimed in surprise.
“It’s really close. We could have walked here!”
Mr. Minotto picked up on his words.
“There was quite a fuss back at headquarters about bringing the laboratory here.”
“They must have spent a lot. This location is top-notch for a building like this…”
“They spent so much I can’t even describe. …By the way, do you see the Mercedes logo next door? They’re even closer to the circuit than we are. Just imagine how much they spent!”
“Um… a lot, a lot?”
“Yeah, a lot, a lot.”
The two were talking animatedly, gesturing widely. Listening to their conversation felt like I was losing my own wits.
“Let’s go inside. The members of the strategy department arrived early and have already set everything up, so we can move right along.”
The laboratory we entered, guided by Enrique, was as spacious and impressive as the one in Italy’s headquarters. The equipment and facilities were all state-of-the-art, and since they were rarely used unless it was the season, or the specific Grand Prix of that season, they felt almost brand new.
Moreover, all the key equipment used at headquarters had been flown in, so it was likely superior to that of the headquarters.
“Ferrari really seems amazing…”
This is all the power of money. Indeed, this was a moment when I could feel once again that Ferrari in this world is a megacorporation.
Leclerc and I were given about 30 minutes of personal maintenance time before the meeting started, thanks to Mr. Minotto’s consideration. We changed into clean clothes but hadn’t taken showers yet.
They say that consideration is repaid with even greater consideration. We quickly finished showering in 10 minutes and entered the meeting room. There were many people waiting for us, and that time felt too precious to waste.
With a feeling of satisfaction, I swung open the meeting room door.
“Ah…!”
“Ah…”
“Oh… you all arrived early, haha…”
Everyone sitting in the meeting room made groaning sounds.
I nudged Leclerc in the side with my elbow and said.
“What’s going on…? Did we arrive too early?”
“By the looks on their faces, it seems so… Ahem!”
As I slowly tried to understand what was happening, it seemed that without us, who were to be the center of the meeting, it couldn’t proceed, so for them, it was like having a sweet 30 minutes of leisurely nap. It appeared that everyone was quite despairing because we had come too early.
“Maybe we should come a bit later—”
“As always. If you give them rest time from the start, they won’t understand disappointment unless they’re pushed hard from beginning to end. There are still lots of people who haven’t figured it out yet…”
“……”
I ignored Leclerc, who stared at me with a dumbfounded expression while scratching his head, and quickly took my seat.
As Leclerc sat in the remaining chair, the meeting started immediately.
The director, Mr. Minotto, kicked off the meeting.
“First, before we start, I’d like to thank Leclerc and Mr. Yooihyun. You did well with the still incomplete V-1. Thanks to you, it looks like we can set our targets a bit higher than we initially planned.”
It would have been fair to praise us for our qualifying results, but Mr. Minotto dismissed that tough process with a simple “thank you.” It didn’t seem like he was taking our hard work lightly; rather, it felt like a firm resolve not to let go of the tension because this was just the beginning.
“It’s nothing…”
“It might be incomplete, but the car is fine. The performance isn’t at its best, but the balance is well managed…”
While it was true that the V-1 was still incomplete, I couldn’t say it was a bad car at all. There were indeed still issues with power output, but in other aspects, it had undergone several stages of truly innovative advancements due to the inventions of new technologies.
Even we, who drove the V-1 all day, felt that we were far from extracting its full potential.
“Director, before we start the meeting in earnest, I have something to say.”
“Go ahead.”
Anyway, the meeting wasn’t just about complimenting the car.
I decided to bring up a topic to keep the meeting from going off on a tangent.
“I’d like to set our goal to 5th or 6th place.”
“What? 5th?”
“Did I hear correctly?”
The expressions when I brought up such a shocking topic…
“You heard correctly. 5th or 6th.”
The potential backlash seemed intense.