F1: Starting with a Simulator Master

Chapter 113 The Dark Forest Law

With this substitute contract, Rochefoucauld became the only driver in recent years to be "shared as a substitute driver" across multiple F1 teams from different factions.

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Steiner knew that those struggling mid-to-lower-tier teams were probably also under pressure from the main sponsors of the opening race.

Otherwise, Luo Xiu would have directly sat in the F1 cockpit of some company for his first stop, such as Haas, AIpine, or even Aston Martin.

Steiner couldn't help but think about these issues from an insider's perspective, but unfortunately, when Haas fired him, he didn't even offer any further explanation.

However, this substitute contract, which circulated only under the table, produced an extremely ironic chemical reaction in the paddock.

That €1000 million bounty for boosting is like an invisible sword of Damocles.

In those mid-to-lower-tier racing teams that have been struggling to survive for years, the owners who are desperate to make ends meet and the regular drivers who are paid according to their salary are subtly put on opposite sides because of this windfall.

The way the bosses look at their own drivers has completely changed.

They're like vultures scavenging carrion, eager to scrutinize their drivers' telemetry data for errors, and even hoping they'll get food poisoning during this high-pressure race weekend.

If they can legally and legitimately free up a seat for a weekend and squeeze that Chinese kid into the cockpit for a race, 1000 million euros will be in their pocket immediately.

For those drivers who used to hang on at the back of the pack, hogging their own territory and blatantly consuming other people's exhaust fumes, they felt a chilling sense of unease.

They no longer dared to casually complain on the radio that the race car was difficult to drive.

Because they know that if they make a mistake, the boss will immediately kick them out.

As for the clause in that contract that stipulates only one appearance by a substitute player?

In this arena filled with lies and betrayals, not even a punctuation mark can be trusted!

No one in the race car knew what kind of dirty deal Xu Zihao, the Chinese tycoon, had made with his boss behind the scenes.

Therefore, they only believe in themselves and never in the integrity of capitalists.

After all, this is F1!

This is a meat grinder for top drivers, with only 20 seats available worldwide.

If you just give up that cramped carbon fiber cockpit once, and that crazy guy who replaced you happens to run a better time than you—

Then you can forget about ever sitting there again.

Buzz—

At the end of the long straight, the knocking sound of the V6 single-turbocharged engine downshifting and revving tore through the air.

A red-painted afterimage swept past the railing outside the Hass P-room at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.

Steiner's thoughts were pulled back to the Prema race car that flashed by.

Prema is Ferrari's proudest backyard, where they have always valued their lineage above all else.

If other racing teams sign bounty contracts for money, then why is Prema the one to be the shelter?

It is said that secrets flow everywhere in the paddock, and that the paddock is full of leaky walls.

What made Steiner curse again was, what kind of bewitching potion had those brainless Italians been given?

They actually put this Asian rookie directly into the F1 test track in Maranello during the winter break?

"Perhaps this is the real scheme that damn agent had instigated Luo Xiu to join Prema F2. To use Prema as a springboard to get Ferrari to arrange an internal testing opportunity in F1."

The Ferrari Imola test data from that winter break had already been studied countless times by data analysts from various teams.

The secret test results of Rochefoucauld driving an old Ferrari F1 car at the Imola circuit may have been the final straw that led Haas's owner to kick Steiner out of the game.

He not only broke the lap record of the old race car, but what amazed the data analysts even more was the data from the long-distance test.

Having a fast lap time is one thing, but in long-distance simulations that closely resemble actual races, running 300 km/h in just over an hour is quite another matter.

kilometer.

Most importantly, he was incredibly fast and seamless from beginning to end.

The Delta time difference for each lap, the lap time curve under tire wear, is so smooth that it looks like a theoretically perfect result directly copied and pasted by a computer.

This level of stability is comparable to that of a perfectly functioning industrial machine.

Steiner suddenly sat up straight on the high stool in the broadcast booth.

He suddenly realized the most absurd point in the entire timeline of events.

It was only the day after Luo Xiu's seemingly miraculous data from Imola was leaked to other teams through some channel that the Chinese tycoon named Xu Zihao calmly issued that money-spraying "bounty contract".

This means that even if Rodriguez performs better than current drivers at Ferrari's home track, even if Ferrari's management is absolutely tempted—

But in the end, Prema and Ferrari, those foolish but arrogant Italians, actually compromised!

Although they didn't directly grant him a permanent F1 seat, they allowed Rodriguez to remain an independent player, permitting him to openly maintain contact with other F1 teams throughout the season?!

"If I were Ferrari's team principal instead of that treacherous and incompetent Vassell, Ferrari would have won the world championship long ago. Those idiots—"

Steiner couldn't understand it.

How much water has entered the brains of these guys who have been chanting the slogan of rising up for more than ten years but have not yet risen up?

Beep—

The first free practice session of the new F2 season is about to end.

The countdown timer for track control interrupted Steiner's thoughts.

Because next up was F1's special guest, Steiner, taking the stage.

He picked up the extra-strong coffee his assistant had prepared for him, and before taking the first sip, he casually glanced at the F2 lap time leaderboard on the screen.

With just that one glance, his already unstable facial expressions spiraled out of control once again.

Underneath his already small eye sockets, his eyes suddenly widened like copper bells.

At the very top of the screen, a purple block representing the fastest player in the entire arena displayed the name he was most familiar with.

Luo Xiu / Prema

What made his eyes widen was the string of white numbers that followed:

1:43.023

Looking at this string of numbers alone might not evoke any particular feeling.

But when he looked at the second column, at the youth academy prodigy whom everyone inside and outside the paddock considered the biggest favorite to win the championship this season, and on whom Red Bull had placed high hopes—

Isaac Khajar is ranked second.

His final lap time was:

1: 45.099.

On this Bahrain circuit, where a lap is 5.417km long and takes less than two minutes to complete—that's a full two-second time difference.

This means that Luo Xiu can lap the second-place player in less than 50 laps!

This is a standard F2 race!

Steiner's already unsteady hand suddenly wobbled.

The scalding hot espresso spilled from the rim of the cup, landing directly on the back of his hand, and even a few drops splashed onto his usually cherished haute couture suit.

But he seemed to feel no pain at all.

His attention remained on the top of the main screen, on the number 1:43.023, which symbolized absolute dominance.

After standing there stunned for a full five seconds, he slowly turned his neck.

Through the one-way glass of the Sky Sports broadcast booth, he looked once again down at the track, at the pit lane belonging to the Haas team.

房。

Steiner knew that all the owners of the mid-to-lower-tier teams would use every dirty trick in the book to make room for this Chinese kid in the cockpit for even one race!

Thinking of this, he could hardly contain his pleasure.

Because what he found most ironic and exhilarating was—

Haas is absolutely not competitive among these teams. Even if Roche chooses Sauber, he would never choose Haas!

That idiot, Reio Komatsu, has the contract I helped him sign in his hand, but he can only stare helplessly!

"Guenther, get ready to cut to your shot."

The familiar countdown from the live broadcast director came through my headphones.

Steiner didn't even bother to bend down and wipe the coffee stains off the back of his hand.

He looked down at his former employer, who was still struggling, and couldn't help but grin.

It was a smile more scathing and more straightforward than any capitalist in the world.

He spoke into the live microphone in front of him, uttering his first words as a guest broadcaster this season, which were also his most profound thoughts at that moment.

"What the fu————

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