[Side Quest Triggered: Top Driver Track Logic Research]
[Requirements: During the F2 season, watch and study every subsequent F1 Grand Prix. After each Grand Prix, your lap times must meet the required standard.]
[Rewards: After each Grand Prix, depending on task completion, gain +5 points to all attributes except Physical Endurance and Emergency Reaction, plus 5 Free Ability Points.]
Alex Sun urgently pressed the system, "Will I be able to watch every race from the pit bay? And can my attributes eventually go beyond 100?"
The system replied in its cold, mechanical tone, "The host will be granted VIP viewing access to F1 teams at every race. Team selection is at the host's discretion.
Attributes exceeding 100 are currently not possible. After reaching 80 points, each additional point requires 5 reward points. After 90 points, each point requires 10."
Even knowing the cost of upgrading would rise sharply, Alex Sun didn't hesitate.
"Accept the mission!"
Compared to his own slow, conventional progress, the combination of watching races and gaining attribute points was clearly his only way out.
With the system's support, breaking through the Monaco bottleneck finally felt within reach.
[Mission accepted.]
[Imola Grand Prix F1 VIP ticket unlocked. Host may freely choose which team to observe. Attribute growth will be gained during viewing.]
Alex Sun calmed himself and reviewed the race calendar. Memories from his previous life surfaced clearly.
Between the Bahrain and Monaco rounds, there were three F1 races: Imola, Portugal, and Spain.
He knew those results by heart. Verstappen had dominated at Imola, displaying near-perfect track control. The Portuguese and Spanish Grands Prix, meanwhile, were swept by "Sir Lewis" Hamilton, whose racing lines and pace management were textbook examples.
"To break through this bottleneck, I have to fully understand the core logic of top drivers." Alex Sun's gaze sharpened as his decision solidified.
Verstappen's Imola victory was exactly what he needed—precisely the blend of attack-and-defense rhythm and limit-driving control he was currently lacking.
Without a moment's hesitation, he replied to the system, "I choose Red Bull."
[Confirmation successful.]
The system notification had barely ended when his phone vibrated.
Alex Sun opened the verification email from F1. The attached VIP invitation for the Imola round was detailed and explicit. This wasn't a standard paddock club ticket, but exclusive Red Bull team pit bay access.
It clearly listed designated pit bay viewing periods during the race weekend, pit lane access privileges, and a private viewing platform that allowed close observation of Red Bull's preparation area. One line stood out in particular: "Close-up observation of Verstappen's full pre-race preparation."
Alex Sun finally felt at ease. He immediately pulled up information on the Imola circuit and the Red Bull team, locking onto his core objective and drafting a viewing plan—focused entirely on studying Verstappen's driving logic to accumulate experience for breaking the Monaco bottleneck.
Just as he was carefully marking up his plan, the door to the simulator room opened. Race engineer Mark walked in and spoke bluntly.
"Alex Sun, your lap times have hit their ceiling. Don't force it. Take a break and reset—you might find a new breakthrough."
Mark's assessment perfectly matched Alex Sun's own understanding. The conventional training route had already reached its limit, and forcing it would only drain him further.
He didn't stubbornly push back. Instead, he accepted Mark's advice and prepared to ease off. At the same time, he had his own plan—relaxing didn't mean stopping. This was the perfect opportunity to refine his track logic and lay the groundwork for a future breakthrough.
Alex Sun's adjustment was simple and direct. He pulled Guanyu Zhou into simulated wheel-to-wheel training.
After finishing the day's basic physical training, he immediately messaged Guanyu Zhou.
"You around? Bahrain champ got time? My Monaco lap times are capped—I want to practice something different, like two-car battles."
Guanyu Zhou, who was resting, replied almost instantly with a tease.
"Starting with trash talk? Fine. Since you're hyping me up that much, I'll allow it. Let the champion teach you what top-tier defense really looks like."
Alex Sun locked it in immediately.
"Then let's run F1 2020 in two-player career mode. Train and relax at the same time."
They agreed to crank the AI difficulty all the way up to 105. What was supposed to be cooperative training against the AI quickly devolved into a private "mutual sabotage session."
At Tamburello on the Imola circuit, Alex Sun would often use the slipstream to dart to the inside just before corner entry, attempting surprise overtakes that forced Guanyu Zhou to brake early to defend.
But Guanyu Zhou was no pushover. After Monaco's tunnel corner, he would consistently open up a small gap with precise throttle control, then lock down the narrow exit line, completely sealing off Alex Sun's overtaking options.
Alex Sun threw every sneaky corner-entry trick he had at Guanyu Zhou. In response, Guanyu Zhou turned into a defensive lion on his favored tracks, practically ignoring the AI and focusing solely on shutting Alex Sun down. More than once, he forced Alex Sun off the track, leaving him utterly miserable.
In the days that followed, the two entered battle mode every evening after finishing physical training.
Through repeated exchanges of attack and defense, Alex Sun saw improvement across multiple attributes, and his proficiency on other tracks climbed rapidly.
After reviewing his training data, Mark sought him out specifically, his tone carrying clear surprise.
"Your lap times have improved noticeably—especially your attack-and-defense rhythm on tracks like Imola. Your talent really stands out."
Yet none of that progress translated to Monaco. It was as if an invisible wall stood in his way, trapping him at an insurmountable bottleneck.
Even Mark was out of answers. All he could do was speculate.
"This kind of barrier either gets worn down slowly over time, or you break it with a leap in ability—forcing your way through with higher-level performance."
That made things even clearer to Alex Sun. His natural talent allowed steady growth, but it wasn't enough to cross this critical threshold. Only the system's massive attribute boosts could give him the higher-level perspective needed to shatter the constraint.
With just three days left until the Imola round, after one session ended, Guanyu Zhou—still riding the momentum of winning a bet the day before—mocked him arrogantly.
"All that careful training from your 'father,' and you spent your gains learning how to shut doors, huh?"
They had always joked around as "conjugate father and son." That was simply how they interacted.
Alex Sun shot back without hesitation.
"Defensive driving is still improvement! Just wait until I'm back from Imola—I'll show you how to counter-defense."
"You still dare bring that up? I haven't even settled the score from all the trash you talked earlier!" Guanyu Zhou laughed as he quit the game.
"Enough messing around. I've got a pile of media interviews to catch up on. I postponed a bunch of sponsor events just to practice these battles with you." As he spoke, he sent over a schedule packed with delayed interviews, his tone teasing, without a hint of complaint.
Alex Sun took Guanyu Zhou's help to heart, his resolve to break through with the system growing even firmer.
Moments of sudden insight were rare and unpredictable. What he wanted was the system's post-race rewards. He didn't want to spend another single day stuck at this bottleneck, making no real progress.
The conventional path had reached its end. Only by using the system's viewing privileges and attribute bonuses—extracting the core logic directly from F1's top drivers—could he finally break through.
...
(40 Chapters Ahead)
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