[TS] Formula One Streamer - Chapter 80
Vroooom-!!!
I ran.
Shukaak!!!
Debris* scattering into the air as the race car passes by.
*Foreign substances on the track that occur during the race.
Clack!
Dalkak-!
【 DRS Activation 】
【 DRS Deactivation 】
While stepping on the accelerator and brake pedals and pressing the DRS button hundreds of times, I simply ran as KING commanded.
AI set to F5 level blocked my path, while behind me, they tightened the noose with slipstream threats.
The pink race car surged forward, controlling and cutting through the bland white, plain AI race cars.
“Just go for it. At your own pace.”
After the formation lap, KING’s voice came casually.
Lee Haeri approached simply without overthinking.
So, as she had been doing.
She drove the race car as she believed her way was the answer until now.
Vroom-!!!
Haerari entered the high-speed section of the straight.
Pressing the pedal hard, the race car suddenly jumped forward.
Her head tilted back doubled or tripled the sense of speed.
There’s nothing to think about, Haeri thought. The high-speed section doesn’t require any technique.
All she had to do was turn on DRS and press the pedal firmly.
Of course, for beginners, just stepping on full throttle requires tremendous courage.
When she first encountered For One, she struggled to adapt to the speed of the race car because of the vivid sense of virtual reality.
Guguguk!
【 328km/h ↑ 】
But it wasn’t the case now.
Her body, her senses adjusted to the repeated situation.
This wasn’t reality nor ‘virtual’ reality, so there was no need to hesitate about risks or anything.
Pressing the pedal firmly, Haerari felt ecstatic under the weight of gravitational acceleration and slowly surveyed the mini-map to grasp the situation.
Three cars were lined up in a row, one in front and one behind.
Haerari’s position, wedged in the middle, allowed her to use or be used by slipstream.
If this were a corner or close to one, her thoughts would have gotten complicated, but now she was just passing halfway of the straight.
That meant the battle for position simplified considerably.
Overtaking on the straight depends on the exit speed from the corner before entering the straight.
If not, an overtake mostly happens through slipstream.
Since all three, AI and Haerari herself, had similar cornering exit speeds at F5 level, she just had to focus on the slipstream.
She was confident in this.
Preferably, rather than meticulous planning, Haerari preferred the rough fight that came with facing challenges head-on, and especially when it came to overtaking, she felt more confident than any streamer participating as a student.
It was always her who jumped into the fight first.
That competitive spirit didn’t always lead her to good results, but she believed that such struggle and proactivity made the race what it was, so she never broke her stubbornness.
It was the same now, even with KING watching her.
She pushes ahead.
Being wedged in the ambiguous middle position, pushing ahead was the answer.
Being in the middle meant she could overtake while also at risk of being overtaken.
If she dawdled, she’d give up her position to the race car trailing behind, which would slipstream her and push her down the ranking.
If she lost the side, each side and the front would close off, effectively shutting down her option of overtaking.
But she shouldn’t rush.
Slipstream is a technique that carries the risk of the rear-end instability in airflow and loss of chassis due to engine heat.
Since there was still the entire straight before the next corner, it would be better to take some losses from the beginning than to get ahead using slipstream.
Once she was in front, she wouldn’t be able to use slipstream, and that opportunity would naturally pass to the trailing race cars.
In short, the key is to play the mind game of when to go for it.
When Haerari had moved just beyond half of the straight, she waited calmly for her moment.
Using the instantaneous rebound of the race car that surpassed maximum speed with DRS and slipstream, she turned the steering wheel and slipped to the side.
Pressing the accelerator hard, she shot forward like being pulled into a black hole, her pink race car bolting to the side.
Whoosh-!!!
Lee Haeri struck first in this battle.
It wasn’t an ideal timing, though.
Typically, the most efficient way to overtake is just before reaching the corner, using slipstream to successfully get ahead.
You can take the corner quickly with that rebound, while the car behind has to slow down since it’s lost space.
But that’s in a one-on-one situation.
If there’s one car in front and one behind, meaning a sandwich situation, then it’s necessary to hasten the timing to maintain the status quo.
So right now, it’s a play to obstruct the track rather than the concept of overtaking, to defend against the AI trailing behind.
In other words, it’s about blocking the path.
While there’s a disadvantage of tire wear and an increase in lap time if you stray from the racing line, that can be sufficiently compensated for later through adjustments in performance.
Rrrruuuunnnnn!!!
Haeri engaged in wheel-to-wheel combat.
Going wide around the corner that emerged at the end of the track, she took a large radius and accelerated to cut back inside.
Haeri’s pink race car welcomed the next corner alongside the two AI race cars that showed no change in rank as she intended.
It was a smooth choice, a smooth process, and a smooth result.
It was just very smooth driving, done as usual.
*
*
*
“Stop using unnecessary techniques and just turn the corner with the basics.”
“If you keep turning DRS on and off, I’ll pull your button out. From now on, no useless control either.”
“Haeri, that’s not it. What about tire wear?”
“Haeri, let’s stay calm and composed.”
“Hey. You get out.”
[Hey! Lip Gal lol]
[LOL Teacher ultimately spoke informally to the older sister who is 6 years older;;]
[Ah lol The good players are always the older siblings~]
[If you’re jealous, just get better at it lol]
[But it seems like Haeri is enjoying herself]
[Am I the only one who sees her pupils dilate every time she speaks informally?]
[That girl is sadistic to the viewers, but turns out she’s a masochist]
[I’d like to get hit a bit too…]
[KING♥Haerari wish day 1]
The saying “You see what you know” is more painful than I thought.
Yeah. To me, a three-time F1 champion, watching F5’s eccentric behavior was quite the ordeal.
There wasn’t a single aspect of her pedal work, the angle of the steering wheel, or even the pressure of pressing the DRS button that I liked.
Why was she driving so terribly?
Lee Haeri was blinded by the competitors right in front of her, driving without considering the characteristics of the circuit or the details of the corners and high-speed sections.
No, it wouldn’t be correct to say she didn’t consider it; one could say she couldn’t consider it.
As verified in the first educational broadcast, most users, including Lee Haeri, likely had no understanding of the circuit as a whole.
It’s funny to say this to someone from a prestigious university, but still…
Her driving was quite foolish.
Being F5, it was to be expected that she would have poor skills… but still, isn’t this driving too shortsighted?
At this rate, there would be no advancements.
KING: Do you know how many corners are on the Bahrain Circuit?
Haerari: I don’t know… Maybe about 10…?
KING: …Come out.
Unable to bear it any longer, I pulled her from the race car just 30 minutes after the race started.
“You said you’d seen my training. Why don’t you know how many corners there are? Don’t you study the circuit?”
What most users, including Lee Haeri, needed wasn’t technique or anything of the sort.
As I mentioned in the first educational broadcast, they must first accurately grasp the circuit that will be the stage for the drivers.
A driver must be someone who can control the situation.
Once they can control, they can control the race car and dominate the whole race.
To do that, a thorough understanding of the target is essential.
Yet they don’t know how long the Bahrain Circuit is, how many corners there are, or where and how many high-speed sections there are.
Saying they don’t know the circuit on an unknown track where anything can happen is no different from claiming they want to drive with their eyes closed.
“I’m sorry, sir. I’ll work harder.”
With a laughable attempt at being cute, Lee Haeri clung to me.
I knew she was a passionate driver, but this was a futile effort, filling a bottomless pit with water.
Such foolish humans needed to have their way of thinking completely corrected, even if it meant hitting them.
Ah, but I don’t mean I would actually hit them…
“Hehe, teacher… I love you!”
Maybe hitting them would be quicker?
“Alright, from now on, if you don’t know the circuit, there will be no practice. Since today is the first day, I’ll let it slide for now, so let me explain the Bahrain Circuit, and then come to the grid.”
“Yes, sir!”
Since she called me teacher, I thought it would be quicker to explain while walking the track together, so I deactivated the preset AIs and moved to the grid.
It would be best to explain the corners, high-speed sections, and overall circuit structure, as well as general operation methods for now.
“Okay, I’m going to explain this just once, so listen carefully.”
“I can watch the broadcast again to hear it…”
“Shut up.”
I planned to start from the grid and walk a lap of the circuit alongside Lee Haeri.
Walking gives better efficiency as it allows for a physical feel and direct visual confirmation than just looking at the circuit map.
She was smart, so she would understand quickly.
As we walked the long straight leading up to Corner 1, I began the explanation.
“The Bahrain International Circuit has wide track widths, with four long straight sections, making it a circuit where overtaking often occurs. It’s difficult to defend, but easy to attack, allowing for fluid racing even from the back.
That said, being in front isn’t necessarily disadvantageous. The features of the circuit I mentioned apply to all race cars, so if you take the lead, you gain the advantage of clean air.”
As I combined TMI with various discussions, I soon found Corner 1 in front of us.
“How does it feel walking here? The distance from the start to Corner 1 is a bit long, right? It’s not long, but it’s not short either. If the start is good, it means it’s relatively easy to overtake. The width allows for more space to use.
But don’t be too reckless at the start. There are often incidents at the beginning when the cars get tangled, and if an accident occurs, it’s almost impossible to recover. So you need to read the flow. It’s a matter of knowing whether it would be better to slip to the left or right or to hold your position; it’s a subtle mind game.”
“Now that I hear it, the early battles really seem difficult, teacher.”
“That’s why you need to build basic knowledge before driving. You’re a smart one, so you understand all of this, right? Now let’s move on to Corner 1. Corner 1 is…”
As I intended to provide a high-level lesson, it seemed like my explanation was about to get long.