F1: Starting with a Simulator Master

Chapter 143 NB!

Beijing time, 3:45 AM.

The sports channel broadcasting center of a major coastal province in China.

As is customary, the F1 race has ended, and the live stream should quickly switch to the next program.

Right now, it's time for the Chinese national football team to play a crucial match in the World Cup qualifiers, but the once orderly scheduling in the control room has now completely fallen into chaos.

Outside the huge soundproof glass curtain wall of the studio, several directors were staring intently at the real-time viewership data panel with excited expressions, completely lacking their usual composure.

The red line representing viewership ratings did not plummet like it did when broadcasting niche events; instead, it climbed upwards in an unusual arc.

"It's broken! It's broken the all-time high record!"

A data monitor's hand trembled as he gripped the mouse, his voice cracking as he shouted, "The last time our channel's ratings reached this level—was—was when Liu Xiang was at the Athens Olympics!"

The director slapped his own bald head, his eyes bloodshot from the mix of sleepless nights and excitement.

"What more do we need in football?! What more do we need in football?! Kick the national team out of the league! Quick! Don't let the signal drop, weld it to F1!"

That night, the same arrangement was simultaneously played out in the control rooms of several provincial satellite TV stations across the country. The originally packed program schedules of each TV station were overturned by a single sentence from the shrewd leaders.

Meanwhile, the professional commentators, dressed in suits and ties and ready to deliver a professional commentary on the life-or-death football match, looked at each other in bewilderment.

Some are happy while others are sad. F1's viewership continues to soar, but it's been tough on the F1 commentators from all sides.

"Talk to me about Luo Xiu! Talk for as long as you want! We're working hard to gather material!"

A single sentence from the director in the in-ear monitor became a collective nightmare for all the F1 race commentators who were forced to work overtime tonight.

Faced with this filling time, comparable to the time it takes for the red flag to fly on the track, the commentators from each broadcasting platform almost all pulled out all the stops with their best skills.

Some local stations lacking professional F1 knowledge or temporary substitute anchors could only dutifully and clumsily stare at the replays of those last-minute overtakes, trying again and again to come up with something new for the audience.

"Uh—we can see that Luo Xiu only forced a turn at T27, the last corner before the finish line—"

When the replay of those short ten-odd seconds was shown for the eighth time, the sweating streamer was completely speechless and could only forcibly shift the focus.

"Did everyone notice? The front and rear suspensions of racing cars are completely different! Some use a front-pull, rear-push design, while others use a front-push, rear-pull design—"

On some online live streaming channels known for their "casual chatter," the commentators let loose and started performing stand-up comedy.

They had long forgotten about the race data and started gossiping about everything from whether Luo Xiu had dated a blonde girlfriend while training in Europe to the outrageous love stories of the twenty current F1 drivers.

As long as the atmosphere is lively enough, the screen is constantly filled with gifts and tips.

But in the Five Star Sports studio, which boasts the highest ratings tonight and represents the pinnacle of domestic racing-themed commentary, three of China's most senior F1 commentators have already shifted their focus from Jeddah to deeper topics in their debate.

"Now we can draw a conclusion!"

The soldier's voice showed no signs of fatigue: "Luo Xiu's phenomenal performance as a substitute driver will definitely make him replace Sainz and become a full-fledged Ferrari driver!"

"That's not necessarily true."

Fei immediately retorted, "I heard that Sainz's recovery from his appendicitis surgery was incredibly fast. He was even able to watch the races in the pit lane during his second practice session. Ferrari still has its pride; it would be too embarrassing to just kick Sainz away like that—"

"But don't forget, where's the next race?"

Fei Ge seemed a little excited.

"This is the highly anticipated return of the China Grand Prix after five years! And it's in Shanghai!"

Good heavens! If Luo Xiu could become China's first official F1 driver, and more importantly, wear Ferrari's red jersey and race in Shanghai, what would that mean? How high would his commercial value be?

You know, Ferrari has a history of wanting more than it has ever done!

"Hmm—and Xiao Zhou—don't forget Zhou Guanyu! He's China's first official F1 driver!"

After a moment of contemplation, Fei Ge agreed with Bing Ge's deduction.

"Haha—what's there to be afraid of? I dare to dream! Alright, whatever the future holds, viewers, we've already witnessed history tonight."

Fei Ge finally heard the director's notification through his in-ear monitor: they had prepared some footage and could insert it now.

"I just received news from the director that our live broadcast today will last for a long time. Later, we will bring you a highlight reel of Luo Xiu's matches and a special program on his growth trajectory."

Let's summarize: Rochefoucauld, as a substitute, made his F1 debut with an outstanding performance, overpowering Verstappen to win his first career Grand Prix. And from what I understand—he's only about 17 years old this year?

"If this birth year is ultimately confirmed by the FIA,"

The soldier gasped, "Hiss—then Luo Xiu—will directly break the record of 18 years and 228 seconds held by the current world champion Verstappen."

A historic record! He officially became the youngest Grand Prix winner in F1 history!

"That's for sure!"

Fei-ge, standing to the side, said confidently, "Didn't you see how he looked when he sang the national anthem? That expression, that demeanor, I'm not even sure if he's 17 yet—"

The commentators from various TV stations talked eloquently in the studio, each showing off their unique skills, and managed to squeeze out one sporting event after another that was originally scheduled for the day.

Because the backend data doesn't lie. As long as the red Ferrari No. 55 or Luo Xiu's figure are still on the TV screen, even if there's a long string of boring scenes and the show is canceled, the viewers' retention time is outrageously long.

Prior to this, domestic television stations had very little firsthand information about Luo Xiu, leaving television programs desperate.

The editors behind the scenes immediately turned to various social media platforms, wanting to "borrow" as much material about Luo Xiu as possible.

Coincidentally, everyone ended up pointing to the exclusive Vogue footage of Luo Xiu that Xu Zihang usually shoots, which is quite plentiful.

From his first karting competition to obtaining his racing license abroad, to his stunning debut in the European F3 Monza, and the daily hellish training, everything was reused.

As these materials were broadcast repeatedly on national television, the egregious misconduct of the Jiji Racing Team, which was still a factory team last year, in the CTCC was exposed and publicly punished by the entire internet.

The Jiji Racing Team, which had already withdrawn from the factory team sponsorship, was forced by this unprecedented public pressure to issue an extremely humble apology statement.

It wasn't until the first rays of dawn broke in Jeddah that the situation changed.

Xu Zihang, who had just returned to his hotel after a night of partying, was so startled by the incessant vibrations of his phone that he almost fell off the sofa.

Legal representatives from major television stations across the country lined up to contact this "General Manager Xu".

They immediately stated that they would proactively pay the high copyright fee for the news material used in last night's program.

The Third Young Master Xu, who had originally planned to catch up on sleep at the hotel, was exhausted, but also overjoyed, experiencing firsthand what it meant to make money while lying down.

Even more sensitive than the media's sense of smell is the capital's sense of smell.

At the same moment that Jeddah’s giant “Heaven and Earth” drone show shocked the world, the headquarters buildings of several major domestic car manufacturers and top domestic mobile phone brands were brightly lit that night.

Marketing executives from major companies were dragged out of bed overnight for an emergency meeting, where they immediately cancelled the brand endorsement deals they had planned to sign with several of the hottest celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry.

In less than two hours, top-tier contract letters worth tens of millions of dollars flooded Xu Zihao's inbox like a torrential downpour.

Capital operates in such a simple and brutal way. They predicted that the sooner they could buy a ticket to this rising Chinese sports superstar, the better they could seize the initiative.

Yao Ming's NBA era was merely a period of basic subsistence, the first perfect combination of sports and commerce.

Luo Xiu's F1 era was a period of capital overflow, the ultimate form of sports, technology, business, and traffic.

On this sleepless night, domestic capital, with its almost brutal efficiency, completed a grand visual spectacle.

The Bund in Shanghai, Sanlitun in Beijing, Taikoo Li in Guangzhou, Causeway Bay in Hong Kong, MixC in Shenzhen, Chunxi Road in Chengdu—

In all first-tier cities, prime commercial spaces and massive circular screens that had long been monopolized by various high-end luxury brands were replaced before dawn.

A giant face of Luo Xiu floated tens of meters in the air.

No fancy dynamic effects are needed; it's just a standard photo of an F1 driver.

In the picture, he is standing in front of the SF24 race car, wearing a bright red Ferrari team uniform, with his arms crossed.

Those eyes, revealing little emotion, coldly surveyed the massive, dense flow of traffic that had just awakened during the morning rush hour.

There was no exaggerated voiceover, only four minimalist Chinese characters at the bottom of the screen:

China's racing legend.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Europe, which has always prided itself on being the core home of F1, is experiencing a physical network paralysis.

There was no preparation or warning.

Less than half an hour after the checkered flag was lowered in Jeddah, Reddit's F1 section, the world's largest gathering place for motorsport enthusiasts, as well as established motorsport forums, simultaneously crashed.

The loading animation in the center of the webpage struggled for only a couple of seconds before it jumped to a pale webpage crash message.

Six months ago, when Rochefoucauld won the Monza F3 Grand Slam, many European fans who followed the lower-level races had already created a dedicated discussion forum for him called "XIULUO".

However, these long-established forums clearly underestimated the madness of that night.

The match in Jeddah had just ended, and the flood of discussion posts and visits caused the forum servers to crash completely.

Those moderators who usually maintained a high and mighty demeanor were now staring intently at the warning panel in the backend, which was now completely red, and were sweating profusely with anxiety.

Aside from frantically calling server operators to request emergency capacity expansion, there's nothing else they can do right now.

What drives these hardcore car enthusiasts crazy is that they searched the entire internet but found very little information about Rosé in English, with only a few secondhand tidbits leaked from Verstappen's core simulator circle.

This eagerness to learn more about champion Rosicky led this group of hardcore racing fans to make a bold decision.

Since we can't find it in English-speaking circles, let's search overseas.

A large number of Chinese student car enthusiasts studying abroad have become the most sought-after guides online.

Tens of thousands of enthusiastic car enthusiasts with overseas IP addresses did not hesitate to open machine translation software and, like flooding into a new continent, rushed into Chinese racing forums via the internet.

Hupu F1 section, Baidu F1 forum, and even Bilibili's bullet comment section —

Overnight, the comment sections of these platforms were flooded with machine-translated requests for help, all in an effort to piece together and learn more about Luo Xiu's legendary past, from his growth to his beginnings in this country.

Racing fans from the East and West have reached a rare and fervent consensus and adoration on the internet because of a young Chinese man.

This cross-border export of racing culture quickly gained traction on iRacing, the world's most hardcore virtual racing platform, in just one night.

From low-elo, casual games to high-elo games with 4,000-5,000 MMR, the once-favorite opening greeting "GLHF" (Good Luck Have Fun) used by foreign players is being replaced at a visible rate, whether in ranked matches or casual games.

Before departure, the public chat screen was filled with two slightly crude yet powerful Chinese pinyin abbreviations: o.

"Awesome!"

It has gradually become a unique symbol that needs no translation, and has become incredibly familiar to racing fans around the world on their keyboards.

And just as this revelry was getting more and more intense...

In the iRacing European server, in a monster-level room with an average iRating of over 5000, two brand new IDs quietly entered.

Ma—Verstappen

XIU—LUO

There were no spotlights, no Red Bull, and no Ferrari.

On this virtual track where only individual skill matters, the entire room was instantly filled with "H00000000".

Immediately afterwards, two chat messages popped up in the lower left corner of the public screen.

Ma Verstappen: NB!

XIU—LUO：NB~

Subsequently, all five red lights at the starting position went out simultaneously.

Game start.