F1: Starting with a Simulator Master

Chapter 123 Ferrari's Arrogance

As if sensing the leader's gaze, Luo Xiu in the cockpit raised his hand expressionlessly. As his fingers pressed down, the dark goggles covered with several layers of plastic film were slammed shut with a cold, crisp "click".

He didn't protest over the radio about the tuning scheme because it was too late.

According to the FIA’s extremely strict “closed zone” rules, the period begins from the moment the car leaves the pit lane to participate in Q1 and continues until the end of tomorrow night’s race.

Suspension, ground clearance, gear ratio, power unit, rear wing, sidepods—most core components of a racing car cannot be modified without damage.

Violations can result in penalties ranging from being forced to start the race from the pit lane to being disqualified.

Aside from minor adjustments to the front wing angle and tire changes, the high downforce and low top speed setup of Roche's No. 55 race car is now finalized.

As the technicians quickly removed the tire insulation blankets, Luo Xiu chose to respond to the tuning plan with silence. Race car number 55 revved the engine and sped away from the pit lane.

No matter the tuning, when Luo Xiu drives onto the Jeddah circuit under the night sky, he maintains the same level of extreme precision.

Even when he ran over the curb in a high-speed blind corner, causing the ground effect car's chassis to bounce violently, the steering wheel in his hands seemed to be welded to the steering column, without the slightest attempt to correct the car's trajectory.

He completed just one valid timed lap, setting a new real-time third-fastest lap time and advancing to the next round in a single lap.

"P3. Very safe result, Bo, Bo." The track engineer's clearly relieved command came through the headset, "Switch to Mode 8, cool down the brakes."

Luo Xiu coldly followed the instructions to cool down the race car on the return lap, smoothly drove into the pit lane, and cleanly drove the car back to the pit garage.

During the recent flight, Luo Xiu endured several instantaneous lateral tearing forces of up to 5G, but his heart rate curve remained surprisingly stable on the physiological monitoring screen transmitted back to the engineer, without even touching the 160 red line.

On the broadcast screen, Roche and his teammate Leclerc's times were frozen together, with a difference of 0.4 seconds in their lap times.

Also driving only one set of red tires, Leclerc, with all its might, ranked P7.

With the clock stopped at Q1, Verstappen (P1) and Perez (P2) – the two Ferraris easily secured Q1 with their absolute racing advantage, both advancing smoothly to the next round.

After a short break, Phase Q2 is about to begin.

Luo Xiu sat in the race car and saw the real-time data of his car through the custom-made display screen mounted directly in front of the cockpit.

The third-lowest top speed of the entire race.

Similar to the practice matches, Luo Xiu gained a lot of time in S1 and S2, but lost a lot of time in the high-speed stages of S3.

Luo Xiu couldn't hold back any longer.

"The top speed is too low; we've lost too much time on the high-speed sections. Trust me, the lap time could be 0.2 seconds faster. Just lower the front wing angle by two notches, and then—"

The car's front wing had too much downforce, resulting in a significant loss of top speed on the straights. He requested that some downforce be reduced in order to achieve the best lap time.

"It's unnecessary. Reducing downforce in Turn 13 would be dangerous for you."

The engineering team explicitly refused.

"Q2, switch the racing engine mode to mode 1, that's enough for you to advance."

Jeddah is a deadly street race with zero buffer zone; reduced downforce means it's extremely easy to lose control and crash into the wall.

So far, although Luo Xiu has performed exceptionally well, it hasn't been enough to convince the team to follow his instructions.

The team's bottom line was simply to secure a spot in Q3, but Luo Xiu wanted to compete for the fastest P1 position in the entire competition.

The dispute was reported to the command center, and the microphone at the main station flashed green.

"Proceed as planned."

Team leader Vasser made the final decision at the control console, pressing down on the communication key with one finger and cutting off the channel connection in an unquestionable tone, firmly choosing the engineering team's conservative suggestion.

Luo Xiu took a deep breath and refrained from yelling over the radio.

He still used the same car, which had the third-worst straight-line speed of the entire race, and achieved a consistently excellent lap time in just one lap.

After a quick sprint, he clocked out and returned to the P room, his breathing had long since returned to normal.

Safely advanced to Q3.

But Luo Xiu knew that with the current setup of this car, it had almost no chance of competing for pole position, because his opponent was Verstappen.

The car could go faster, but people became his obstacle.

In contrast, the camera captured the number 16 car locking its front wheels while entering a corner at the limit, with its front wing almost smashing to pieces against the barrier.

In the first flight lap, he made a mistake entering a corner and his operation was deformed, so he only managed to get a P10. In order to be on the safe side, he had to use up a brand new set of red tires that were originally reserved for Q3. In the end, he barely managed to stay in the league.

Q2: In a close call, both Ferrari cars advanced to the next round.

Time flies, and the countdown for the final 12 minutes of Q3 has begun.

-

Luo Xiu held an excellent strategic advantage: two complete flight laps could be paired with two sets of brand-new, unopened soft tires.

A technician stood outside the pit lane observing the departure situation. Soon after, a departure opportunity arose, and he signaled to hurry up and send out the car.

Other technicians quickly removed the tire insulation blankets.

Entering the arena, warming up the tires, and sprinting forward.

Luo Xiu pushed the car to its limits, giving it his all in every corner.

After one lap, the gap was locked at a desperate fraction of a second, with Verstappen moving into first place, Hamilton into second, and Perez into third.

Despite being pushed to the limit, car number 55 was still just one step short, and Luo Xiu only managed to finish fourth overall.

On the other side, Leclerc, using old tires, achieved a subpar, uncompetitive result, finishing ninth overall.

Luo Xiu remained silent and did not respond to TR's instructions. He simply cooled down the race car step by step, smoothly drove into the pit lane, and cleanly drove the car back to the pit garage.

As the race car was pushed back into the garage, Luo Xiu spoke.

His tone contained no complaint or anger, yet it was tantamount to a coup.

"Level the front wing, otherwise there's no need to race anymore, the ranking won't improve, and you're not worthy of competing for pole position."

Luo Xiu had already mastered this race car, and if he didn't reduce the downforce now, his cornering advantage would never make up for the loss on the straightaways.

Even though there will be an improvement in road grip on the next lap, this improvement is something that every car can enjoy. If no changes are made, Luo Xiu's ranking will not be able to improve any further.

The convoy and Luo Xiu were locked in a stalemate.

Time ticked by, and only three minutes remained until the end of the match.

Just then, the 16/LEC mark representing Leclerc's name on the big screen began flashing wildly.

With the second set of new red tires on the No. 16 race car, the golden time of the best track grip and traffic conditions began the sprint!

In the broadcast booth, the commentator's voice was already cracking from shouting.

"Leclerc began his second Q3 flight lap —"

"—First lap, purple! Leclerc sets the fastest lap of the entire race in the first lap!—"

"—Second lap, green! This is Leclerc's personal best this weekend! Is it possible for Ferrari to break Red Bull's dominance at this race!?—"