[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 174
The broadcast by Ricciardo, which started as if by pretending not to know, spread quickly by word of mouth.
It was the only broadcast turned on at a time when no current F1 drivers were broadcasting, and that alone drove fans from other teams (especially Ferrari) who couldn’t endure the wait until the main event into total offensive.
F1 fans who set up tents or occupied RVs around each team’s laboratory were all, without exception, watching Ricciardo’s broadcast.
It was proven when Ricciardo’s broadcast turned on once.
When the screen went dark and the loading screen appeared before Mr. Yooihyun came on, that was the second time.
When Leclerc appeared late, that was the third time.
When a 20-lap race started under the ranking match rules, that was the fourth time.
A total of four roars like thunder shook throughout Bahrain.
For fans starving for a race, such an impromptu event could not have been more enjoyable.
Despite the suffocating weather, the cool beer served in ice cups was electrifying, and the feeling that everyone present shared the same emotion, the excitement in their hearts, 100% was truly…
“Wow, k*ll me now. I’m so happy…”
“Look at them having a second match like this. Insane, really…”
“From the conversation, it doesn’t seem like the teams coordinated in advance. This is real F1.”
It made them feel like they could d*e today without any regrets.
The overwhelming heat enveloping Bahrain felt more like a festival for the world, like the Olympics or the World Cup.
That was probably due to the matchup of Red Bull vs Ferrari.
A clash between renowned powerhouses leading the current era and remnants of the past trying to rise again.
After qualifying yesterday, the two teams viewed as each other’s biggest rivals, shrugged off the advantages and disadvantages of the race cars and opted to compete solely based on their skills—nothing could be more exciting.
Amid the cheers, some who felt discomfort with the Red Bull vs Ferrari match-up spoke.
“But isn’t it just following the ranking match rules? Shouldn’t we consider it a team fight? It seems more like a personal skill battle.”
“Well, they’re driving the same cars… That’s true. But because they’re not in their own cars, we can see this. If they had raced in team race cars, normally we wouldn’t get coverage.”
“That’s fair.”
“Then don’t complain and just watch.”
As the perplexed people said, this could better be expressed as a battle between drivers rather than a team fight since there was nothing representing the colors of either team, which justified their claims.
However,
“Hey, how can you say that when drivers are so important? The different drivers lead to different results every time.”
“Just look at this result. Who would have predicted that Ferrari would be ahead of Red Bull? I bet no one expected it.”
“Drivers are part of the team too. While it’s important which car you drive, who is driving is equally important.”
Thus, it made them find this matchup even more intriguing.
Soon the race began, and the lined-up race cars took off with unstoppable motion. What couldn’t be seen in reality for various reasons unfolded on the track.
Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc, Sergio Pérez, and Mr. Yooihyun shook off all the constraints of reality and started to paint colors on the track as much as their imagination allowed.
The racing line determined by mathematical calculations and efficiency was nowhere to be found. It seemed that they were merely pursuing extreme efficiency, but the lines they drew were all different.
Leclerc chased Ricciardo.
Pérez chased Leclerc.
Mr. Yooihyun chased Pérez.
Or perhaps, they weren’t chasing each other at all.
“Wow…”
“…That’s amazing.”
“Can that movement happen there?”
They were pursuing. They were pursuing their ideals, their dreams. None of the four hesitated for a moment or moved with doubt; they were moving toward their goals.
The spectators watching the four drivers, corrupted by pure desire, soon began to merge into their emotions.
The sleepless night in Bahrain deepened, and the burning heat showed no signs of cooling down.
They were racing.
*
*
*
Click! Snap!
I moved my hands more busily and meticulously.
According to the changes in speed and the shape of the track, the gears and DRS clicked hundreds of times even in a single lap. The feedback on speed was executed at my fingertips, as natural and instantaneous as the life activities of a living organism.
The realm where my body reacts faster than my mind has long been reached. What I desired was not merely a reaction but something one dimension higher. The natural state that transcends the boundaries of cognition and awareness was my goal.
I wished for things to become ordinary. What seemed astonishing and impressive to others, I hoped would be perceived by me as mere manifestations of nature’s laws.
A kind of ‘perfection’ that leaves no room for human consciousness or thought.
Sitting in a race car created by humans while saying this is funny, but…
All that constitutes a race car, the principles by which it operates, were all predetermined from the beginning.
So, it would be okay to pursue ‘perfection’ within that.
“Let’s ease up a bit. I need to loosen the flow of consciousness.”
While driving the race car at over 300 km/h, I deliberately loosened the flow of my consciousness. It was an attempt to disconnect the sensations of my hands and feet from consciousness as much as possible.
My hands gripping the steering wheel relaxed. The tension in my legs, touching the pedals, eased. Like dandelion seeds blowing away, the sensations in my hands and feet gradually seemed to fade.
Before I knew it, my hands and feet were dancing in sync with the race car’s movements.
The gears shifted up and down in accordance with the principles of nature. I turned corners within the compromises of the collision between my limits and the principles’ limits and sped down the straight.
At that moment, I and the race car had become part of nature.
“It’s fast.”
And it was fast.
It wasn’t just the speed of the race car that was fast. The overall flow, tempo, and pace of taking the laps had accelerated beyond comparison to before.
It felt like time was sped up, and an unfamiliar sensation I had never felt before took over my whole body.
A new path that had never been seen before was opening up.
But while it was good to be able to see a new path, the relentless unfamiliar sensation due to the new path shook me persistently.
“It’s too fast…”
It was extremely difficult to cope with the accelerated flow of time. I had to move either a beat faster or slower than the originally required timing…
“The timing is all jumbled. It’s hard to keep up…”
I could hardly catch the timing.
Just deciding whether to take the timing quickly or slowly was a fork in the road, and after making a choice of unknown correctness, the ensuing situations became all the more perplexing.
Since I just took one timing fast, should I take this one slow?
Since I just took one timing slow, should I take this one fast?
Should I move according to the original timing instead…?
Once I crossed a wall, another wall appeared, and it felt like the wall had grown thicker, sturdier, and endlessly higher.
Others might think I was worrying about unnecessary things. In reality, that timing was merely an instance of less than 0.1 seconds—a mere moment of timing.
Changing the timing by decimal points wouldn’t make any difference visible.
However, shortening the lap time is achieved through the accumulation of those infinite decimal points. As decimal upon decimal stacks and gets piled up, it becomes ‘seconds’ and then ‘minutes.’
What you know is what you see. That’s why, more than anyone else, I, who knows the process and principles well, could not help but obsess over that minuscule timing.
“I can do this. I must do this.”
Drivers, we defy even physical limits and go against time. Before time passes, we move one step ahead.
Right now, at this moment. I was a time traveler, a ray of light going against the natural order.
How long had I raced in this state of ecstasy?
Suddenly, a sound like “ding!” echoed in my ear.
Ding-!
[You have achieved the fastest lap time recorded in For One!]
[You have earned the unofficial title of ‘Bahrain Speed Racer’ at Bahrain International Circuit!]
[Your character will be displayed in the unofficial Hall of Fame!]
When the flood of messages ended and my consciousness finally returned,
“1st place… I see…”
There was no one in front of me.
It was clean air.