F1: Starting with a Simulator Master

Chapter 115 Bahrain Flight Circle

After the warm-up lap, the tires are just entering their optimal operating window.

Luo Xiu took his second flight circle seriously, and it finally began.

On the main straight in the grandstand, the green indicator light on the steering wheel lit up. Luo Xiu pressed his thumb down, the rear wing flattened, and the air resistance at high speed decreased sharply.

The V6 engine's revs were forcibly pushed up to the 8750 rpm mark, near the rev limit.

The readings on the steering wheel display jumped wildly, eventually settling at 316.5 km/h.

Ahead is T1 right turn, also known as Schumacher turn, the only turn on the Bahrain circuit with an official name.

This bend was named in honor of Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher, and also to show support for him after his skiing accident in late 2013.

With Luo Xiu at maximum speed, his right foot was still welded to the accelerator pedal as the 150-meter brake plate swept past the edge of his vision.

130 m.

110 m.

Luo Xiu slammed on the brake pedal with his right foot just as he was approaching the absolute last braking point of the 100-meter mark at top speed.

The hydraulic pressure in the brake line instantly exceeded 120 bar, and the longitudinal deceleration load of up to 4.5 G pressed down on the chest like a solid hammer.

The powerful inertia is enough to cause most rookies to experience uncontrollable blackouts and forward head tilts.

But Luo Xiu's neck muscles, which had already reached the A-level physical fitness level, acted like an industrial-grade hydraulic linkage, easily stabilizing the helmet and keeping his vision perfectly level amidst the violent shaking.

With his left hand, his fingers moved rapidly, shifting down four gears in quick succession.

The exhaust pipe spewed out blue flames as it aggressively downshifted and revved.

Bahrain's T1 is a slightly downhill corner, and a large forward shift of the center of gravity can easily cause the right front wheel to lock up.

In those fractions of a second when the car's speed suddenly dropped, Luo Xiu's left foot completed an extremely delicate decompression action—an ultra-fast traction brake.

By using engine braking, he skillfully relieved some of the braking pressure, and the rear of the car showed a barely perceptible sliding angle as the center of gravity shifted, allowing the race car to slide through the apex of the corner with the centripetal force.

This is followed by a series of left and right turning combinations, T2 and T3.

The apex of T2 is merely a transition point for the center of gravity; you shouldn't accelerate too quickly.

As the left tire fully gripped the T2 curb, Luo Xiu's gaze remained fixed on the exit point of T3, pinpointing precisely the breakaway point in the blind spot of the right turn of T3.

As T3 straightened out, Luo Xiu decisively floored the accelerator.

The new Dallara race car's right tires were covered in red and white curb dust, kicking up a wisp of sand from the outside.

In the first timeout, the purple color, representing the fastest speed in the entire event, was unsurprisingly selected.

As the first timing segment on the screen lit up with a blinding purple light, the senior race engineer of the Prema team abruptly ripped off his headset. Looking at the T1 curve on the telemetry data that completely defied conventional braking logic, he couldn't help but utter a curse, as if he were possessed by Steiner.

After exiting the corner, entering the first DRS zone of the flight lap, the rear wing was flattened again. The race car approached 290 km/h.

With terrifying top speed, it cut into the 100-meter braking zone before the right turn of T4.

Downgraded to third gear.

The new generation F2 car's ground effect chassis is extremely sensitive to steering input at high speeds, allowing Luo Xiu to accurately throw the car into the apex of the corner.

At the moment of full throttle exiting the corner, the car slid outwards due to centrifugal force, with the left tire ultimately returning to the track less than two centimeters from the white line at the edge of the track.

There was no waste of mechanical grip, and no score was invalidated due to crossing the line.

Immediately afterwards, the car pulled to the far right and plunged headfirst into the famous high-speed S-curve section of T5, T6, and T7.

This is the ultimate test of the aerodynamics of the 2024 model.

Due to a lack of actual competition data, rookies in the paddock must frequently release the throttle to alternately control their center of gravity and avoid losing speed.

But Luo Xiu's mind had already constructed a complete model of this track during the practice races.

Enter the left turn of T5 with full throttle in fifth gear, followed immediately by the right turn of T6 in the opposite direction.

Luo Xiu's right foot never left the accelerator pedal.

The new chassis structure generated tremendous downforce, pressing the race car firmly against the asphalt surface covered with a large amount of hot melt rubber.

The horizontal G value remained at 3.5 G, and as the center of gravity shifted, it broke through to a maximum of 5 G!

With the powerful performance of his core muscles, Luo Xiu withstood the continuous gravitational pressure and emerged from the left turn of T7 at full load.

The next T8 is a hairpin right turn with a downhill slope.

At this crucial braking point with the lowest margin for error in the entire race, Luo Xiu precisely downshifted to second gear, locked onto the apex of the corner, and made no unnecessary slippage.

Apply throttle smoothly when exiting a corner to maximize the conversion of tire traction into forward acceleration.

The car then approached the area with the highest retirement rate at the Bahrain circuit – the combination corners of T9 and T10.

No description is too harsh for this combination of curves: torture, hell, disgusting, exciting, perverse, extreme, nightmare, despair, and exhilarating.

Because T9 is an extremely short, slight left turn, followed immediately by the extremely narrow left turn of T10, which requires turning the steering wheel while simultaneously applying heavy braking.

In this sharp downhill bend to the left, due to the physical boundary of the center of gravity shifting to the right and forward, the left front wheel experiences the least pressure and is very prone to losing traction and locking up and smoking when braking. If you are not careful, it may even spin in place.

If this happens, all the efforts of the entire aviation community will be in vain.

0.5 seconds before entering T9 turn, Luo Xiu's thumb rapidly moved the knob on the complex steering wheel.

This was an extremely demanding micro-management maneuver within the lap; at the very last moment before the corner, he manually adjusted the brake ratio towards the rear of the race car.

When entering the left-hand corner T9 at full throttle, in order to create the maximum entry angle for the subsequent T10, Luo Xiu, despite the inertia, kept the car firmly against the right edge of the track.

Approaching node T10.

Because the car was completely on the right side of the track, the extremely narrow left turn at T10 ahead was "straightened" to the maximum extent.

Luo Xiu slammed on the brakes and swiftly turned the steering wheel to the left.

Because of the rearward braking ratio setting just now, the rear of the car inevitably became extremely agile and began to drift.

Normally, a driver would only be able to passively recover at this moment. However, this posture was exactly what Luo Xiu had anticipated. This was exactly the drift he wanted!

He deliberately used this slight oversteer, swinging the rear of the car to the right while greatly flattening the steering angle of the entire car when entering the corner.

With a slight return of the steering wheel to center and a precise release of the brake pedal, the left front wheel, which had lost most of its braking pressure, firmly gripped the ground without a trace of smoke rising.

The race car glided smoothly over Bahrain's most challenging braking point with unparalleled fluidity.

Next up was the second DRS detection zone on the entire track. Luo Xiu precisely activated DRS, and the car shot off like an arrow towards T11.

With a slight touch of the brakes, Luo Xiu navigated the T11 left turn, which had a blind spot, and used downshifting for engine braking to drag the car out of the turn, quickly pulling it to the left.

Immediately afterwards, facing the T12 full-throttle long right turn located in the blind spot on the uphill section, out of absolute trust in the Temple of Thought, Luo Xiu did not lift off the throttle at all, but welded his right foot to the throttle and rushed directly into the corner.

Second time slot, keep farming purple!

After the slightly narrower right corner of T13, the car reached its top speed and entered the final straight.

At this point, only the last two corners, T14 and T15, remain on the timing lap.

When downshifting and braking hard on the right turn of T14, Luo Xiu deliberately took a slightly outside driving line, completely sacrificing the T14's performance.

The ultimate speed at the apex of the corner. This compromise has only one purpose—to achieve the most linear exit throttle angle at T15, the final acceleration corner.

At the T15 right exit, Luo Xiu floored the accelerator in advance.

The red and white race car swayed slightly under the engine's enormous torque limit, its wide rear wheels rubbing against the ground.

The race car naturally shifted outwards due to centrifugal force, with the left rear wheel precisely pressing on the boundary line of the artificial turf, without wasting a single inch of track width.

The steering wheel was straightened, and the thumb was pressed down hard, instantly activating the third stage of DRS, and the rear wing flipped flat for the last time.

Third time slot, fastest purple rank in the entire event.

Crossing the finish line, the result is final!

1:38.007

This is an utterly absurd number.

This result not only led the field, but also ridiculously broke the track record of 1:38.907 set by Leclerc for the Prema in 2017, when he represented the Prema.

Botoletto stared at the number frozen on the broadcast screen, a terrifying number that was almost two seconds faster than his own.

He has already ranked third overall.

He closed his eyes, his head throbbing, his heart filled with primal fear, which then turned into indifference.

He realized that for himself and other drivers, the tragedy of last year's Monza F3 would undoubtedly be repeated.

For all the remaining F2 races this weekend, including the sprint and the main race, they can only compete for second place.

Because any attempt to compete with car number 12 for position is a thankless task.

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