"Which track?" Dominik asked. As a professional driver, it would be a bit unfair not to ask Viktor and just choose a track he was good at.
"How about Bahrain? My best lap time on the simulator is at Bahrain," Viktor countered, and the two immediately agreed.
Three of the customers also sat down at the non-six-axis simulators nearby and participated in this "e-sports competition." These three must have been very familiar with the Sakhir track to dare to try.
Although Dominik knew Viktor had chosen his strongest track, he was secretly delighted. He had been a bit worried about his condition after a few beers, but since Bahrain was chosen, he didn't have to hold back.
After all, Dominik's F2 Bahrain record was 1 minute 41.266 seconds, set in early winter testing of 2021 while driving a Carlin car. Many people can't even remember F1's single-lap records, let alone the fastest F2 lap from a winter test last year.
Then, during car selection, Viktor chose the W12. Dominik smiled slightly as the team selection on the screen scrolled back, finally stopping at the Williams Team FW43B car. The people around him all gave Dominik an admiring look.
After all, most people believe that professional drivers should give way to amateur players in some aspects, though professional players must still win in the end. Passersby just thought the W12 would be faster than the FW43B, but only Dominik knew that the 2021 Williams was about two seconds slower per lap than the Mercedes during long runs.
You have to understand that on an F1 track where a lap only takes a minute and a half, being two seconds slower per lap almost means that Williams would be lapped by the end of a Grand Prix. Although he had test-driven the FW43B car during this year's practice session and the speed wasn't slow, that was only for the tuning of that specific race. Who knew what the feel would be like on a six-axis simulator?
After some simple car settings, with qualifying set, they were now ready to start. Unlike in real life, there was no Q1, Q2, or Q3 here; instead, it was a single session to determine the starting order. This type of qualifying made Dominik feel a surge of self-doubt, as it meant asking someone who had only driven one lap to push for the fastest lap in a car with over 900 horsepower.
Besides the 5 people in the shop, the remaining 15 drivers were all AIs with a difficulty of 100.
As qualifying started, Viktor immediately drove onto the track to secure a clean window. The other three drivers followed closely behind. Dominik, however, was not in a hurry, because at this point, most of the AIs had also released their cars for their out-laps. If he released his car now, he would not only be blocked but might also accidentally block other cars and incur a time penalty.
Dominik kept his eyes on Viktor's screen and operations. After watching him drive a lap, he couldn't help but be secretly astonished. He hadn't expected such a master among the common people; 1 minute 30.987 seconds was a time that could make it into Q2 in the real world. Fortunately, after observing a lap, he found that the shaking of the six-axis simulator didn't seem as intense as he had imagined.
After most drivers had completed their flying laps, the television suspended from the ceiling displayed all the drivers' times. This timing television was only used when there were offline duels in the shop.
It was just like a real F1 timing system, with three green sections, because everyone only had one valid lap time. AI Verstappen was in first place with three purple sections at 1 minute 29.248 seconds.
Dominik took a deep breath, slightly calming his nervous heart, and prepared to release the car. Many people around him began to whisper, because releasing the car now, while the track was very clean, meant that Dominik would only do one flying lap. At this moment, not only were there a circle of fans standing around, but even Viktor stood behind Dominik, ready to see a professional driver's lap on the simulator.
(Car release animation, exiting the pit lane)
As the animation ended, the out-lap began. Dominik Corvinus's expression suddenly turned serious. He weaved left and right, feeling the sensation of the six-axis simulator. Although it was very different from a real car, this feeling was not unpleasant. After feeling out most of the lap and coming to a few hundred meters before Turn 14, he suddenly accelerated to 4th gear. Dominik could feel a strange pushing sensation, like leaning backward. At this point, he was slightly sweating, as if all the alcohol in his body was forced out.
Exiting Turn 14, he went full throttle, flying through Turn 15, and entering the start/finish straight. The two speakers beside his ears on the six-axis simulator made Dominik feel, before each upshift at high gears, that it was even louder than a real car. That's for sure. In a real car, there's wind noise and other sounds, plus drivers wear team communication systems and earplugs, so the engine sound won't be as loud as it is on the simulator.
As Dominik's throttle was floored on the start/finish straight, the FW43B car reached 340km/h on the straight. Immediately, he braked hard at the 150-meter board. The six-axis simulator tilted slightly forward. Dominik felt this wasn't that scary, so he downshifted from 8th to 3rd gear. While downshifting, Dominik was somewhat surprised by the simulator's first-class response, even better than the Williams factory simulator feel.
After the corner, at the apex of Turn 2, he accelerated with high torque in 3rd gear. Here, both Viktor and the three fans were using 4th gear with low torque. Dominik knew from the previous practice lap that the Williams car in the game had weak low-torque tuning, so he chose to downshift one gear to use the high torque of 3rd gear, subtly sliding through the Turn 2 and 3 combination.
This driving style was indeed effective on the FW43B in the game, because after Turn 3 there is a long straight. Although a little time would be lost in Turn 3, faster straight-line acceleration and higher top speed would help the car regain time on the second long straight.
The roaring car, with Dominik on the simulator, plunged into Turn 4 at over 290 km/h, downshifting from 6th to 3rd gear. Suddenly, the simulator jolted. He had taken too much curb. Dominik gripped the steering wheel, and after fine-tuning his direction, he sped towards the upcoming Turn 5, 6, and 7, three high-speed corners. Dominik tried his best to keep the car within the racing line. As he approached Turn 9, his first sector time was 0.2 seconds slower than AI Verstappen, but already faster than Viktor.
After exiting Turn 10, he opened DRS, and his speed climbed with the gears. Before the 100-meter board on the long straight, he downshifted from 8th to 4th gear. This heavy braking made the six-axis simulator seem to go crazy. It gave Dominik a sudden jolt forward, and he felt as if he had returned to his karting days, where the rear wheels would lock up during full deceleration. That feeling reappeared on him.
Dominik smiled, which also caused a burst of laughter among the fans nearby. The surrounding laughter, however, made Dominik feel inexplicably confused.
The subsequent Turns 13, 14, and 15 were mostly high-speed corners, and his second sector was purple. In Turn 15, he even climbed to 290km/h. As the lap ended, a string of numbers appeared on the screen (1 minute 29.832 seconds).
A round of applause erupted in the shop. This meant that Dominik's Williams had even defeated a host of 'spaceship' cars. Although this was just a game, such a realistic simulator was enough to prove the point.