[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 162
Yoo Yi-hyun proudly placed his name in 6th position alongside Ferrari.
At the Ferrari pit during the qualifying of the Bahrain Grand Prix, the engineers and strategy team members were letting out sighs of relief.
“Phew… With this kind of performance, he really has a shot at 9th or 10th.”
“As long as there are no accidents, we should be able to enter the points.”
“This Grand Prix, we might even manage to snag a single point. It’s been quite a while since we’ve scored points…!”
Before qualifying even started, the realistic goal of 10th place had already been almost secured thanks to Yoo Yi-hyun, bringing them a step closer, or rather, comfortably closer to that target.
Achieving 6th place would normally demand that the target ranking be set at the same or higher level, but that wasn’t possible.
The engineers knew very well that the 6th place in qualifying was nothing short of an absurd miracle achieved solely by Yoo Yi-hyun’s individual ability.
His precarious yet precise and clean cornering using hybrid suspension, the operation of the DRS that kept opening and closing amidst cornering, and his insane concentration perfectly mimicking Ricciardo’s racing line.
“Really incredible… How does he do that at his age? Is he some kind of rookie prodigy?”
“Honestly, I had a lot of doubts, but from practice runs until today… he’s just too perfect.”
“I never thought the race car we built would be able to go that fast… Today, it feels like we are seeing the limits of a person rather than the limits of a race car.”
They took considerable pride in their race car V-1, yet today they had to admit that their pride had been shattered. It wasn’t that the V-1 had performed below expectations but rather that the boundless potential of a driver like Yoo Yi-hyun made their pride seem small.
They thought they had created a vessel capable of holding an ocean, only to find it felt as if the universe itself was flooding in.
“I’m scared now. What kind of car should we make? Should we immediately put in an extreme suspension…?”
“It’s still the same kind of instability… but with that physical form, I feel like we could handle it. Am I the only one?”
“I agree. Even if it’s unfinished, we really have to put it in for the next Grand Prix.”
Their driver, who they felt could smoothly absorb the extreme suspension proposed by Won-jin, which had been accepted in the headquarters meetings but deemed too early for application, truly felt like an unknown monster.
Thanks to this, the engineers were busily sharing their impressions of this unknown entity.
“When he competes, everyone said that his skills would suffer. But he’s actually performing even better, so there’s no room for doubt now.”
“Doubt? What utter nonsense… is there still someone who doubts him? Just how much more does he have to show to be believed?”
“True, it is a fact that he hasn’t been verified in an official competition… but after today, I doubt anyone will find grounds for suspicion.”
“If anyone still has doubts, that’s just a disease.”
The stage phobia experienced by rookie drivers, overwhelming them with the grandeur of the circuit filled with audiences, was absent in her case.
Rather, it seemed like their gazes had a positive impact on her. When the audience focused on her, she returned that attention with something beyond imagination.
A continuous cycle of expectation and reward unfolded endlessly.
Yoo Yi-hyun, who achieves what she believes she can, felt like the protagonist of an RPG game, a hero in a story confronting a demon king. She was continuously growing, overcoming trials and tribulations. Watching her growth had become quite an entertaining content in itself.
“This is really fun. Watching Driver Yoo Yi-hyun feels like watching the main character in a web novel…”
“At that level, wouldn’t it be criticized for having no plausibility? She’s only nineteen, plus she’s a girl, a world-class talent who ends up debuting in F1 and flying around… isn’t that an overpowered character?”
“Thinking about it this way, it also seems unrealistic. Life really is unfair.”
“Right, life is indeed quite unfair.”
While they lived with the word unfair on their lips, the engineers looked at her racing with expressions of satisfaction more than anyone else.
At that time, they had no idea.
That Yoo Yi-hyun would utter such implausible words.
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Why couldn’t they anticipate it? She was someone whose very existence seemed implausible; were her words expected to hold any realism?
The meeting space, which had started with a heavy atmosphere, erupted. It was an instinctive and rational backlash from the engineers and strategy department staff.
“Excuse me? 5th or 6th?!”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“We know the driver is performing well, but realistically, we need to set practical goals…”
Everyone in the meeting room stood up and chimed in, creating an utterly chaotic atmosphere.
The only ones watching the situation quietly were Minoto, Logan, Shin Juhyun, and Enrique, along with Leclerc, who was also a driver.
“That’s being too ambitious. There’s still a significant performance gap between us and Red Bull and McLaren, so we’ll be at a disadvantage in the power struggle. If we push ourselves too hard, it’s likely we’ll lose our pace due to tire condition management.”
“V-1 will withstand, but there’s no guarantee the tires will hold up. The hybrid suspension technology we developed from scratch significantly reduces tire lifespan, doesn’t it?”
The engineers’ words were profoundly realistic and undeniably correct. From both a strategic and technical standpoint, their arguments were entirely justifiable.
“Director, it’s still early in the season. We can be ambitious in the 21 Grand Prixs to come. For now, it might be better to accumulate points and gradually build a foundation.”
“Driver Yoo Yi-hyun, please reconsider. What we should be aiming for now is stability, not risk.”
The opposing opinions were so firmly rooted that they seemed impossible to overturn. They weren’t just personal opinions but sincere claims for the team, so even Minoto couldn’t easily dismiss them.
As the head, he couldn’t directly counter their straightforward opinions, especially since he himself felt the same way, and what they said was absolutely correct; what could he respond with?
In such cases, there’s only one way to resolve it. The one who threw out the agenda must face it head-on.
Minoto simply looked silently at Yoo Yi-hyun. His gaze was sharp, seemingly asking, “How are you going to respond?”
Yoo Yi-hyun, patiently waiting until the engineers’ lengthy rebuttals came to an end, began her argument with the same calm expression she had maintained all along.
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“Hmmm…”
As I listened to the rebuttals from various corners, I let out a sigh.
I knew the backlash would be severe. Both the engineers and the strategy department team members had to think primarily about ‘reality.’
Still, this was too much. I expected at least one person to support me… but everywhere I looked, it was all against me.
I understand. It’s a ridiculous statement even to myself. I couldn’t be sure if I could maintain 6th or 8th place. In a long main event, the performance of the race car is more crucial than the driver.
With the current V-1, just maintaining the 9th or 10th place would be a considerable achievement.
So, knowing all this reality, why did I throw out the implausible bet of 6th place?
It was greed, and it was a question.
“I achieved 6th place in qualifying. So why should I settle for 10th?”
My tone could sound a bit arrogant, and sighs erupted here and there.
However, I didn’t mind at all.
Having achieved 6th place despite the clear performance gap of the race car, why should I give up on the battle for ranking myself?
I proved it. I demonstrated in front of them and everyone watching around the world that I could leap across that gap of several steps just by my existence.
The last lap of Q3, though it is embarrassing to say from my own mouth, was simply perfect. Acceleration, deceleration, DRS, handling, overtaking points, and timing… I executed every optimal maneuver possible in that situation.
It was beyond ideal; I accomplished a racing performance that anyone could picture in their mind but would never be able to execute.
With that, the proof was complete. I’ve shown my potential, so it’s now time to be rewarded with belief. However, belief cannot be drawn so easily and spontaneously.
So, I have to persuade them.
“It might sound arrogant or immature. But I have proved myself to you more than a few times. I have always shown it with actions, not words. Can you please believe in me just this once?”
A few heartfelt words. They might seem to appeal to emotions, but not at all. Rather, compressed within them was the clear and undeniable fact that only truth exists.
The word ‘prove’ encapsulated the brief yet significant history of Ferrari driver Yoo Yi-hyun.
How difficult it had been to reach a point where I could use this word. Starting today, it didn’t feel shameful at all to use this word, nor was it insufficient.
“…”
“Haah…”
“This is something…”
People turned away awkwardly or sighed deeply, burying their heads to the floor.
Everyone was acknowledging it.