F1: In Ferrari, Schumacher at the start.

On Saturday morning, the air in Melbourne was crisp and clear, typical of early autumn.

Sunlight streamed through the tree-lined path at the entrance to the enclosure, casting dappled shadows on the asphalt.

With two hours to go before the third free practice session, the staff of each team had already begun to bustle about in the pit area.

Lin Feng held his phone in his hand, walking towards the convoy's reception area while making a video call to his parents back in China.

On the screen, Lin Guoqiang and Chen Yafang are huddled in front of the camera, with the familiar old sofa in their home in the background.

"Dad, Mom, did you see that clearly? This is the paddock of the Melbourne Circuit." Lin Feng flipped his phone camera around, scanning the huge team touring cars and various sponsors' GG signs. "Much more spacious than when I was racing in F4, right?"

"Look closely, look closely, it's really impressive!" Lin Guoqiang couldn't stop smiling on the other side of the screen. "Son, your mother and I watched yesterday's live broadcast. Just drive well in today's qualifying race, don't feel pressured. It's not shameful if we can't beat those big teams."

"What do you know? Our son is doing great now." Chen Yafang rolled her eyes at her husband, then leaned closer to the screen, her voice full of concern, "Xiaofeng, I saw that video you posted. Is the food in England really that bad? You've lost weight. Your cousin said he wanted to buy two cases of beef sauce from China and send them to you, but I stopped him. That stuff is full of preservatives. Eat more vegetables over there, don't just rely on chili sauce to make your rice more palatable!"

Lin Feng felt a surge of warmth in his heart as he listened to his mother's nagging. He smiled helplessly and said, "Mom, that was just for a skit filmed to cooperate with the sponsors. The team has a nutritionist, so I won't go hungry. Don't send the beef sauce; I have enough chili sauce here to last until the end of the season."

As they were talking, Lin Feng turned a corner and ran into two people wearing papaya-orange team uniforms.

It was two McLaren drivers – Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

The two were holding coffees and walking along, discussing something in hushed tones.

Upon seeing Lin Feng, Australian driver Piastri, the host, was the first to stop and flash a bright smile.

"Good morning, Lin, welcome to my home turf." Piastri greeted him proactively. He was usually reserved, but he had a good impression of this Chinese newcomer who had recently stirred up the scene.

"Good morning, Oscar." Lin Feng told his parents, "I ran into a colleague, I'll hang up now," then put away his phone and replied with a smile, "Your home field was really great. Apart from a few seagulls that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere on the track, everything was perfect."

Upon hearing this, Lando Norris, a young British man with curly hair, immediately came over.

"Hey bro, I saw your save at Turn 11 during practice yesterday afternoon." Norris looked Lin Feng up and down, a signature smirk playing on his lips. "That way of swinging the car back against the wall was really sexy."

After saying that, Norris gave Lin Feng a flirtatious wink and even licked his cheek with his tongue.

Lin Feng's smile froze instantly, a chill ran down his spine to the back of his head, and he couldn't help but get goosebumps all over his body.

"Uh... thank you for the compliment, Lando." Lin Feng subtly took a half step back, a slight smirk playing on his lips. "But I think your racing suit is sexier. I have to go to the garage now, see you later."

After saying that, Lin Feng quickly quickened his pace and slipped away, as if some ferocious beast was behind him.

After returning to the Williams garage, Lin Feng first went to the physiotherapy room for his usual pre-race warm-up.

The physiotherapist stood in front of him and slammed several tennis balls against the wall at high speed and irregularly. Lin Feng had to use his nerve reflexes to instantly judge the landing point of the ball and catch it with one hand.

Next came the painful neck muscle resistance training. Lin Feng wore a specially made headgear, and the therapist used elastic bands to pull his head tightly, simulating the centrifugal force of a race car in a high-speed corner.

After half an hour of warm-up, Lin Feng's forehead was covered with a fine layer of sweat.

His nerves and muscles have been fully activated, and he is in peak condition, ready to explode at any moment.

The morning's third training session proceeded smoothly without any major incidents.

Paul and his engineering team worked overnight to flash a new patch onto the MGU-K powertrain to smooth out torque delivery during downshifts.

Lin Feng ran more than a dozen laps on the track, but the feedback was still not optimistic.

"The patch is somewhat effective; the drag during downshifts has been reduced a bit," Lin Feng reported over the radio. "But it's like putting a band-aid on a broken bone. In the hard braking zone, the rear wheels still have a very brief tendency to lock up. But it's okay; the chassis's limits are enough to compensate for this loss. Use this setup in qualifying; don't mess with it."

Four o'clock in the afternoon.

The track temperature began to drop extremely slowly.

The atmosphere in the stands had reached a fever pitch, with countless flags fluttering in the wind.

The qualifying session for the 2024 Australian Grand Prix has officially begun!

"Q1 is already halfway through! The track is evolving very quickly, and everyone is constantly breaking records!" Li Bing's voice was as loud as ever in the Five Star Sports live broadcast room.

The atmosphere inside Williams' room was extremely tense.

In previous qualifying sessions, Williams' biggest goal was to avoid being eliminated in Q1.

But things are different now.

Driving car number 28, with three minutes left in Q1, Lin Feng used a set of used soft tires and achieved a time of 1 minute and 17.2 seconds, easily ranking sixth and advancing safely.

Teammate Alben also narrowly escaped elimination, finishing in 15th place and making it into Q2.

The competition became exceptionally fierce in the following Q2.

The mid-table teams were practically fighting tooth and nail to secure a spot in Q3.

Albon made a minor mistake at Turn 11 on the last lap, driving his car onto the outside grass and ultimately finishing in twelfth place and being eliminated.

Lin Feng, on the other hand, made the most of the vehicle perception ability that the system had given him.

Even though the engine braking still had flaws, he managed to compensate for the program's shortcomings by downshifting a few hundredths of a second earlier through manual operation.

1 minute 48.66 seconds!

As Lin Feng crossed the Q2 timer line, Paul excitedly shouted over the radio, "P6! Lin! You're in Q3! We're in Q3!"

A long-suppressed cheer erupted from the entire Williams garage.

James Walls even had to recall which year it was the last time Williams made it into Q3 with its speed.

"Well done, Paul. Get a brand new set of red tires ready." Lin Feng breathed a sigh of relief in the cockpit.

Qualifying Q3, last twelve minutes.

Standing here are ten of the fastest machines on the planet right now. Two Red Bulls, two Ferraris, two McLarens, two Mercedes, one Aston Martin, and... one Williams.

The feeling was like a thug holding a brick mixed in with a group of gangsters in suits.

The countdown has three minutes left. All the race cars are performing their final flying laps.

Lin Feng drove out of the pit lane and followed behind Ferrari driver Leclerc. He deliberately slowed down during the warm-up lap to create a clean track space and ensure there was no turbulence ahead.

"Clear the track. Lin, this is the last lap, let's squeeze this car dry." Paul's voice was unusually calm.

"receive."

Lin Feng glanced at the temperature sensor on the steering wheel; the front tire temperature was just within the optimal operating range of 95 degrees Celsius.

After the last corner, floor the accelerator!

DRS activated!

The blue FW46 roared past the starting line with a piercing scream that tore through the air.

First bend, hard brakes!

Lin Feng pressed his left foot firmly against the brake pedal, and the deceleration of more than 4G caused his body to lurch forward violently, while the seatbelt tightened him firmly in the seat.

Downshift, add throttle, and cut into the apex of the corner.

The right front wheel grazed the red and white curb with extreme precision, wasting not a single millimeter of track width.

The second stage features a series of high-speed curves.

The race car moved like a nimble snake, changing direction nimbly between turns 9 and 10.

The suspension groaned slightly under immense pressure, but the wheels remained firmly gripped to the ground.

"Purple circle! Lin Feng got a purple circle in the second stage!" In the live broadcast room, Fei Ge was so excited that he stood up.

The most terrifying turn, number 11, is here.

Lin Feng had no intention of slowing down. He drove the car straight into the bend at a speed exceeding 260 kilometers per hour.

The rear of the car slid violently the moment it entered the corner, the rear wheels screeching against the track and belching a puff of smoke. But Lin Feng's steering wheel remained terrifyingly steady, a feeling of effortless control. He even stepped on the accelerator a split second before the slide occurred!

The race car swept past the exit of Turn 12 with an extremely exaggerated yet perfect drift.

The last right-angle turn!

Downshift! Lin Feng felt an uncomfortable tug from the MGU-K again. But he immediately steered with a sharper turn, forcefully turning the car around, and floored the accelerator, hurtling towards the finish line!

The timer has stopped.

1 minute 48.66 seconds!

The rankings on the screen refreshed instantly.

First place: Verstappen (Red Bull)

Second place: Leclerc (Ferrari)

Third place: Norris (McLaren)

Fourth place: Sainz (Ferrari)

Fifth place: Lin Feng (Williams)!

He was only 0.02 seconds slower than Sainz in fourth place, and even left Red Bull's number two driver Perez and Mercedes' Russell behind!

"Beautiful!!!" Paul cheered over the radio, "P3! Lin! You've created a miracle!!"

Inside Williams' pit hut, the mechanics hugged each other, jumping and hopping. James Walls clenched his fist and swung it forcefully.

"Haha, Paul, I told you this tractor could fly again after a little repair." Lin Feng laughed over the radio, completely relaxing.

He turned the knob on the steering wheel to switch the race car to slow lap mode, preparing to slowly drive back to the pit area.

From the stands, the huge cheers could be heard clearly even through helmets and engine noise, and many Chinese fans were waving the national flag vigorously.

"Good job, Lin. Now switch the engine mode to... wait...!"

Just then, something unexpected happened!