F1: In Ferrari, Schumacher at the start.

A dozen minutes later, in the Williams team's simulator room.

Compared to top-of-the-line simulators like Ferrari's, which are equipped with a six-axis hydraulic system and a panoramic surround screen, Williams' equipment is obviously much more retro.

The room wasn't large; in the center was a truncated F1 cockpit, with three huge curved screens in front of it. Although the physics feedback system was a bit outdated, the built-in physics engine and track data were still top-of-the-line in the paddock.

Lin Feng changed into a light racing suit, put on gloves, and easily stepped into the cockpit, securing himself in the six-point harness.

"Radio test. Lin, can you hear me?" Paul's voice came through the headset.

He was sitting at a control panel outside the glass wall, with several computers displaying complex data in front of him.

"I heard you perfectly, Paul. Track loading to Albert Park, Melbourne. Weather set to sunny, track temperature 35 degrees. Put me a set of medium tires, fuel load set to qualifying mode."

Lin Feng gripped the steering wheel with both hands, his gaze becoming focused.

"Roger. Track data loading... Ready. You may leave the pit lane at any time."

As Paul finished speaking, the images on the three screens in front of him flashed, and Lin Feng's perspective had already shifted to the sunny exit of the Melbourne maintenance area.

Lin Feng shifted the clutch paddle behind the steering wheel and pressed the accelerator.

The digital race car burst out of the pit lane and officially entered the Albert Park circuit.

This is a typical semi-street track that combines street racing and permanent circuits. It has several high-speed corners that put cars' aerodynamics and chassis response to the test, as well as several low-speed right-angle corners that require heavy braking.

The first lap is the warm-up lap.

Lin Feng didn't rush to push the limits. Instead, he used the steering wheel to constantly change lanes left and right on the straightaway, feeling the steering feel of the race car.

"The steering wheel dead zone is a bit too large, and the suspension is too stiff, like a rock..."

As Lin Feng drove, he used the system to quickly analyze the vehicle's dynamic feedback in his mind.

As he drove past the last bend and onto the long straight,

"Paul, get the timer ready, I'm going to push it for one lap."

"Received, Lin."

Lin Feng slammed the accelerator to the floor. As the engine revved, the scenery on the screen began to rush past.

First bend, hard brakes! Downshift!

Lin Feng habitually applied a slight brake as he entered the corner, trying to give the front wheels of the race car more grip.

However, the very moment he turned the steering wheel, the FW46's characteristics were fully exposed.

"Damn it, I pushed my head!"

Lin Feng clearly felt strong resistance coming from the simulator's steering wheel; the car's front end refused to point towards the apex of the corner, instead sliding outwards due to inertia. This was a typical case of understeer.

He had to ease off the throttle a little and correct his direction to barely get through the first bend, but his exit speed had already been greatly reduced.

The car's performance on the subsequent high-speed corners made Lin Feng frown even more.

In the high-speed consecutive corners of No. 11 and No. 12, which required strong downforce to keep the car firmly on the ground, the rear of the FW46 seemed to be coated with lubricant, constantly trying to swing out.

Lin Feng had to constantly make tiny counter-steering maneuvers to save the car, which greatly drained his energy and caused his lap time to drop sharply.

After completing one lap, I crossed the finish line.

Paul, standing outside the glass wall, looked at the lap time on the screen—1 minute 21.4 seconds.

"Lin, Bialik is about 0.6 seconds slower in the simulator," Paul said tactfully.

He had expected the newly crowned champion to immediately set an amazing lap time.

"I know, Paul." Lin Feng's voice didn't sound frustrated over the radio. "The factory tuning of this car is a complete mess. The front suspension is too stiff, causing understeer when entering corners, and the rear suspension is inefficient, causing fishtailing in high-speed corners."

Lin Feng sat in the cockpit and slowly closed his eyes.

At this moment, he activated the [Legendary Chassis Tuning Mastery] skill granted to him by the system.

In an instant, a flood of complex data and intuition about F1 car suspension geometry, aerodynamic fluid distribution, anti-roll bar stiffness, and differential lock-up rate rushed into his brain.

"Paul, listen carefully, write down the following tuning parameters."

Lin Feng opened his eyes, his fingers rapidly adjusting the knobs on the steering wheel, while simultaneously issuing commands at an extremely fast pace.

"Soften the front anti-roll bar by two notches; increase the front camber angle by 1.5 degrees; adjust the brake ratio 2% rearward to reduce the burden on the front wheels when entering a corner."

"Also, the differential lock-up rate was too high during cornering and coasting, so I reduced it to 48%. I also slowed down the rear suspension damping rebound by one notch so that the rear end could grip the ground better when exiting a corner."

Outside the glass wall, Paul and several data engineers were completely dumbfounded by Lin Feng's rapid-fire instructions.

"Wait, Lin." Paul quickly pressed the intercom button. "Are you sure you want to make such radical changes? Increasing the front wing camber will indeed alleviate understeer, but on the four straights of Albert Park, it will add enormous drag, and your top speed will drop significantly. Moreover, with the anti-roll bar so soft, the car's body roll in high-speed corners will become very difficult to control."

In Paul's view, this kind of tuning was simply robbing Peter to pay Paul, full of a kind of wild and crazy approach.

"Paul, data is static, but people are dynamic. Trust me, do as I say. Enter the parameters and get me a brand new set of soft tires." Lin Feng's tone left no room for argument.

Paul hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded.

After all, the boss had just instructed that the young man should be given absolute technical freedom.

"Parameters updated, red tires installed, you can begin."

Lin Feng took a deep breath and engaged the clutch again.

This time, as he drove back onto the long straight and approached the first bend, he felt a completely different response.

Slam on the brakes and enter the turn!

With the increased downforce from the front wing and the softened anti-roll bars, the car's front end seemed to have eyes, obediently cutting into the apex of the corner. The understeer problem had virtually disappeared!

Although his speed on the straight was indeed about two to three kilometers slower due to the increased front wing tilt, the time Lin Feng gained in the corners far made up for the loss on the straight.

Highways 11 and 12 have consecutive curves.

Lin Feng didn't reduce his speed early like he did in the previous lap; instead, he maintained an extremely high speed and threw the fuel in directly.

The reduced differential lock-up ratio and adjusted rear suspension damping miraculously stabilized the rear of the vehicle from the brink of slippage.

"Beautiful!" Lin Feng couldn't help but exclaim from inside the cockpit.

He was like a knight taming a wild horse, pushing this unruly race car to its limits on the track. Every brake was close to locking, and every exit from a corner was accompanied by a perfect, slight sideslip.

Crossing the finish line!

Inside the control room outside the glass wall, there was a deathly silence.

Paul stared wide-eyed at the number on the big screen, incredulous.

1 minute 48.66 seconds!

This time is more than two seconds faster than before! It's even 0.8 seconds faster than Alex Alben's best time in the simulator!

For a sport like Formula 1, where the difference is measured in milliseconds, a 0.8-second improvement is a significant leap forward.

"My God..." A nearby aerodynamic engineer couldn't help but swallow hard. "His tuning scheme just now actually pushed this car to its limits!"

Paul, as if waking from a dream, pressed the intercom button with trembling hands: "Lin, you...you just ran 1 minute 19.2 seconds. That's insane. How did you pinpoint the chassis flaw and provide the perfect countermeasure after just one lap?"

Inside the cockpit, Lin Feng took off his racing gloves and rubbed his slightly sore wrists.

Hearing Paul's shocked voice, he couldn't help but laugh.

"It's a feeling, Paul, it's called a driver's intuition. Maybe this car prefers to hear Chinese." Lin Feng unbuckled his seatbelt, pushed open the simulator's hatch, and jumped out.

He glanced at the clock on the wall; it was exactly five o'clock in the afternoon.

"Alright, clocking out."

Lin Feng stretched his limbs and waved to Paul outside the glass wall.

"Tomorrow, we'll readjust the suspension on the car in this direction. Now, does anyone have a recommendation for a good fish and chips place nearby? I'm starving."