F1: In Ferrari, Schumacher at the start.

"Good morning, viewers and racing fans! Welcome to Five Star Sports' exclusive live broadcast of the first free practice session of the 2024 F1 World Championship Australian Grand Prix! I'm Li Bing!"

Good morning everyone, this is Fei Ge.

"Today is absolutely a milestone in Chinese motorsport history that will be forever remembered! After that miraculous victory in the Saudi Arabia round, our Chinese driver Lin Feng will officially don the Williams team jersey and debut as the starting driver!" Li Bing's voice was high-pitched. "Adding Zhou Guanyu from the Sauber team, for the first time on the Albert Park circuit, we now have two official Chinese drivers on the track! Twin stars shining in Melbourne!"

"That's right, Brother Bing, these past few days have been like Chinese New Year for racing fans in China." Fei Ge chimed in with a smile, "Look at the footage the director showed, the density of Chinese national flags in the stands today is even more exaggerated than at our home race in Shanghai."

On the screen, the broadcast cut to Albert Park bathed in bright sunlight.

The track temperature is gradually rising, and the green light at the pit lane exit has already turned on.

Zhou Guanyu of the Sauber team was the first to drive his black and green race car onto the track to begin basic system checks.

The live stream chat immediately erupted with messages of encouragement for Guanyu.

Just then, the director suddenly cut out a picture-in-picture from the bottom right corner of the screen, and displayed the word "Replay".

"Hey? Bing-ge, look at this pre-match clip the director cut to. It's footage from this morning at the entrance to the paddock." Fei-ge's tone suddenly turned gossipy.

In the video, Lin Feng, dressed in a dark blue Williams uniform and wearing sunglasses, is walking side by side with team leader James Walls in the passageway of the paddock.

The two chatted and laughed, each holding a cup of coffee, looking very relaxed.

But at the next corner, they ran into a group of people in red uniforms.

Ferrari team principal Vasseur, along with Ferrari's two official drivers – Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who had just returned from injury.

"Oh ho, what a small world!" Li Bing immediately perked up. "This is the first time Lin Feng has met Ferrari's executives and drivers in public since the transfer saga broke out."

Although there was no sound in the broadcast, silence spoke louder than words.

Vasel looked very embarrassed. He stopped and seemed to want to greet Lin Feng, but he hesitated and lowered his hand halfway through.

After all, he was the one who personally went to negotiate with Lin Feng, and he was the one who watched Lin Feng throw that reserve driver contract on the ground.

Leclerc nodded politely to Lin Feng.

Sainz's expression was rather complex.

He withdrew from the Saudi Arabian race due to acute appendicitis, only to watch this Chinese rookie win the race in his own car and even steal the world's headlines. Now, with his wound not yet fully healed, he has been forcibly recalled. It would be a lie to say he wasn't angry.

Facing this group of former colleagues who were in the same P-room just a few days ago but are now at each other's throats, Lin Feng in the video didn't even take off his sunglasses.

He simply put one hand in his pocket and casually nodded his chin at Vassell and the two drivers as a greeting.

Then, without even stopping, he walked straight past the Ferrari camp.

There was no provocation, no anger, only a complete disregard for you.

"Wow, Lin Feng's mental fortitude and aura are amazing!" Fei Ge couldn't help but exclaim. "This is the best response to the arrogance of Ferrari's management. You wanted to lap me? Fine, see you on the track."

"Yes, young people should have this kind of wildness," Li Bing said with a smile. "Alright, let's switch back to the pit lane. We can see that the Williams team's number 28 car has had its thermal blanket removed. Lin Feng is about to enter the arena!"

With a deep roar, the dark blue race car sped out of the pit lane like a cannonball.

During the first half hour of practice, Lin Feng did not rush to set a lap time.

He was riding a set of yellow medium tires and was cruising a long distance on the track.

"Brother Fei, don't you think the Williams race car's dynamics are a bit strange?" As the director kept the camera focused on Lin Feng for a long time, Li Bing keenly noticed the problem. "Look at his entry posture in low-to-medium speed combination corners like No. 1 and No. 2."

"I saw it! Extremely aggressive!" Fei Ge gasped. "The front of this car is incredibly sensitive. Lin Feng is practically throwing himself into the corner. The rear of the car clearly slipped slightly the moment he entered the corner, but he managed to pull the car back using extremely precise counter-steering, and he maintained a very high speed exiting the corner!"

In the live broadcast, the No. 28 race car looked like it was dancing on a tightrope.

With each hard braking, the front wing of the race car almost touched the ground, sparks flying everywhere; and at the apex of the corner, the rear of the car twisted violently as if it were about to go out of control at any moment.

The scene of driving at an incredibly fast speed amidst extreme struggle is visually striking.

[Radio Communication Access]

The Williams team's radio icon popped up in the lower left corner of the television screen.

Paul: "Lin, we've received the long-distance data from the first section. The tire wear on the front suspension is better than we expected, and the understeer issue is completely resolved. But did you run into some trouble at Turn 11 just now? The telemetry data shows a momentary fluctuation in lateral G-force there."

Lin Feng's voice, accompanied by the background noise of the engine, came out smoothly: "The chassis suspension is perfect now, Paul, this is exactly the oversteer I wanted. But! The downshifting problem I told you about yesterday is still there. Every time I brake hard in 8th gear and downshift to 4th, the MGU-K's intervention logic is too abrupt. It applies too much extra resistance to the rear wheels in the initial braking phase, causing the braking balance to be broken instantly, which is why the rear of the car becomes erratic."

Paul: "Got it. We'll check the hybrid system after practice to see if we can smooth out the torque release curve."

Lin Feng: "As soon as possible. This engine braking sensation feels like someone is secretly pulling my handbrake every time I downshift."

After listening to this Team Radio segment, the two commentators in the studio looked at each other in bewilderment.

"It seems Lin Feng is extremely sensitive to the mechanical condition of this car," Li Bing exclaimed. "The Williams FW46 is notoriously difficult to drive, with severe understeer. Lin Feng has clearly modified the race car to be extremely biased towards oversteer. Most people would crash into the wall after just one lap with this kind of car, but he has managed to squeeze speed out of this unstable setting."

"A genius intuition, plus the freakish car control he showed in the Saudi Arabia round." Fei Ge nodded in agreement. "Practice session one is over. Let's look at the results. My goodness... Lin Feng, on medium tires, is seventh! He's behind two Aston Martins and a Mercedes! And his teammate Albon is only fourteenth."

Live stream chat:

"Holy crap! Lin Shen isn't going to help the poor, he's practically going to launch a devastating attack!"

"Lao Gan Ma (a popular chili sauce brand) worked!"

After a short break, the second free practice session officially began at 4 p.m.

Because FP2 is very close to tomorrow's qualifying session and the track temperature is similar, all teams will switch to red soft tires for the last twenty minutes of this session to simulate a qualifying sprint.

This is the moment to truly test the absolute speed of a race car.

"Fifteen minutes left! All the cars have switched to red tires!" Li Bing's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Verstappen just set an absolute benchmark lap time of 1 minute 17.640 seconds. Ferrari's Leclerc is right behind him, only 0.15 seconds slower. Sainz is currently in fourth place."

"Lin Feng is out! Williams has changed his tires to a brand new set of soft tires!"

All eyes were instantly drawn to the blue number 28 race car.

Not only the commentators and fans, but even Vassell in the Ferrari pit lane put down his coffee and stared intently at the timer screen in front of him.

"Lin, the track is clean, unleash the machine's limits," Paul said over the radio. "Regarding the MGU-K issue, we've uploaded a temporary patch that should slightly alleviate the rear wheel drag."

"Got it, watch this."

Lin Feng suddenly pressed the DRS button on the main straight, the rear wing opened, and the race car shot across the timing line like a blue lightning bolt.

Start the timer!

Stage 1.

Facing the consecutive bends 1 and 2, Lin Feng entered the braking zone at a speed of up to 310 kilometers per hour.

With the left foot on the brake, the right hand continuously moves the downshift paddle.

boom! boom! boom!

The temporary patch seems to have helped a little, reducing the jerkiness during downshifts.

Lin Feng cut into the apex of the corner, and his right front wheel went directly onto the red and white curb. The car bounced violently, but the steering wheel remained as steady as a mountain in Lin Feng's hands.

"The results for the first stage are out... a purple lap! An absolute purple lap!" Fei exclaimed. "Lin Feng was 0.05 seconds faster than Verstappen in the first stage! How is that possible? Williams' straight-line top speed was good, but his cornering speed is terrifying!"

The second stage followed immediately.

This section includes several medium-length straight sections and several combination curves that require precise alignment.

Lin Feng made full use of the car's softened front suspension, making the front of the car extremely obedient. Every line he took was textbook precise, making the most of every inch of the track.

"Green circle! Lin Feng has broken his personal best in the second stage! He is currently ranked third in the overall standings!"

The third stage is also the most challenging, consisting of a series of high-speed corners that test both the downforce of the car and the courage of the driver.

Turns 11 and 12 are extremely dangerous high-speed left and right turns.

If the downforce is insufficient, the race car will immediately lose control and plunge into the gravel runoff area.

Lin Feng's gaze was fixed on the exit point ahead.

No slowdown!

He chose to trust his instincts and the bottom-line perception the system instilled in him.

"boom!"

The race car roared into Turn 11. Under the immense lateral G-forces, the rear of the FW46 inevitably began to slide outwards.

But in the instant of the slide, Lin Feng's hand swiftly completed a counter-steering maneuver, while his right foot subtly adjusted the throttle, using traction to forcefully pull the race car back onto the right track.

"My God! He's drifting through a high-speed corner!"

With a screeching sound as the tires screeched wildly against the ground, Lin Feng perfectly cut through the apex of Turn 12, the race car sweeping wildly along the outer guardrail, almost missing it by just a few centimeters.

"Last right-angle turn, hard brake, downshift, out of the turn! Full throttle!" Li Bing practically roared.

The blue race car crossed the finish line, and the numbers on the timer froze instantly.

1 minute 48.66 seconds!

"Fifth! Lin Feng is fifth!" Fei Ge exclaimed excitedly, his face flushed. "He's less than 0.3 seconds behind Verstappen! He's left Mercedes, McLaren, and Ferrari's Carlos Sainz all behind him!"

"Incredible! This is absolutely the biggest miracle in F1 this year!" Li Bing clapped his hands. "A Williams, consistently performing well in both Practice 1 and Practice 2, ranking fifth overall in Practice 2! Lin Feng has proven to Ferrari's management that arrogance comes at a price!"