Jeddah Circuit. The Red Flag ended. Race Restart.
Because Ye Tian had to take evasive action to dodge Esteban's "Torpedo" earlier, he had lost position.
The current order was:
P1: Max Vesper (Crimson Energy)
P2: Louis Hamson (Scuderia Fire)
P3: Ye Tian (Hawk)
This was a nightmare scenario.
Jeddah was notorious as a "Procession Track." Aside from the main straight, there was almost zero room to overtake.
As long as the top two didn't make a mistake, passing them in a Hawk—which struggled in dirty air—was statistically impossible.
"Ye, 15 laps to go."
Gary spoke fast, anxious. "Vesper and Hamson will team up to box you in. This is a street circuit. If they defend the inside line, you have..."
"No road left, right?"
Ye Tian interrupted him, watching the Safety Car snake ahead of them.
His fingers tapped the paddle shifters rhythmically.
Click. Click.
"Roads are made by people walking on them."
"And if there is no road..."
Ye Tian stared at the tiny, dangerous gap between the cars and the concrete walls.
"Then I'll chisel one out."
Safety Car In!
Max Vesper, as the leader, played the game perfectly. He backed the pack up, slowing down to a crawl to cool Ye Tian's tires, then—
BOOM!
He floored it right at the exit of the final corner!
Race Resume!
The top three cars crossed the line like a single organism.
As Gary predicted, Vesper and Hamson had an unspoken truce.
Hamson didn't attack Vesper. Instead, he positioned his red Ferrari right in the middle of the track, blocking Ye Tian's view and dumping turbulent "dirty air" straight into the Hawk's intake.
"Blocking tactics?"
Ye Tian sneered.
Sector 1. The Snake (Turns 4-10).
The cars weaved through the high-speed S-bends.
It was a single-file zone. The defender had absolute advantage.
Vesper led. Hamson blocked. The dirty air made the front of Ye Tian's car feel light, like it was floating on ice.
"Now!"
Suddenly, greed took over.
Louis Hamson wasn't content with P2. Seeing Vesper slide slightly at Turn 6, Hamson saw a chance!
The Seven-Time King pulled out to the outside line, trying to overtake Vesper!
"Opportunity! They are fighting!" The commentator screamed.
Red Bull and Ferrari were side-by-side!
Two wide cars occupied 90% of the track width.
They left only a tiny sliver of space on the extreme inside.
A gap less than two meters wide.
Between the concrete wall and the Ferrari.
And the surface there was covered in marbles and dust.
Any sane driver would lift off and wait for them to crash.
But Ye Tian wasn't sane.
He was a madman.
"MOVE!!!"
Ye Tian didn't lift. He stomped the gas!
The Hawk VF-25 let out a banshee scream. He didn't go to the outside.
He aimed the white nosecone straight into that suicidal "Death Gap"!
"What is he doing?! That's a dead end!!"
Hamson checked his mirror and felt his blood freeze.
That gap was too small for a car! If Ye Tian touched the curb, he would launch into the air and kill them all!
[System Skill: Dragon Tail Swing (S-Class)!]
[The Legend Senna: Spatial Folding!]
In a 280 km/h corner.
Ye Tian did something that defied physics.
As he entered the gap, he yanked the hand-clutch to lock the rear wheels momentarily!
SCREECH!
The car drifted sideways!
But not to turn. He drifted to "get skinny"!
By sliding the car at an angle, he effectively reduced the width of the car relative to the gap!
SCRAPE!
The left rear tire ground against the concrete wall, sending up a shower of sparks!
The right front wingplate scraped against the sidepod of Hamson's Ferrari!
He jammed the car between the wall and the Ferrari like a wedge!
"What the Fxxk?!"
Hamson felt a gust of wind and a metallic screech next to his ear.
Before he could react, a white phantom had already sliced past him!
And Ye Tian wasn't done.
Using the momentum from the slide, he snapped the car straight and dove down the inside of Max Vesper!
One cut. Two kills.
Vesper was focused on Hamson on the outside. He never expected a ghost to come from the inside wall!
By the time he saw Ye Tian, the white Hawk was already ahead of him!
"Impossible!! There was no room!!"
Vesper's mind broke. His hands shook, and the Red Bull ran wide over the curb.
The screen refreshed:
P1: Ye Tian (Hawk)
P2: Max Vesper (Crimson)
P3: Louis Hamson (Fire)
The crowd detonated!
"DOUBLE OVERTAKE! HE PASSED TWO WORLD CHAMPIONS IN THE SNAKE!!"
"This is the greatest overtake in history!"
Snow Jiang jumped up in the media pen, throwing her notebook in the air. "Ye Tian!! You are insane!!"
On track.
Ye Tian was back in P1.
Clean air hit his wings. The car finally gripped.
"Phew..."
Ye Tian wiped sweat from his eyes.
"I told you. Don't block the road."
"Now that I'm in front..."
Ye Tian checked his mirrors at the stunned champions.
"Enjoy the smell of my exhaust."
He upshifted, ready to pull away.
But then.
Disaster struck.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
The dashboard turned a terrifying blood-red.
[WARNING: Gearbox Temp High]
[Hydraulic Pressure Loss]
"Ye! Don't shift! Don't shift!"
Gary screamed on the radio like he was being murdered.
"Gearbox oil temp is 145°C! That violent downshift during the overtake shattered the sync gears!!"
"What?" Ye Tian's heart sank.
"Hydraulics are leaking! If you shift aggressively again, the whole gearbox will explode!!"
Straight line.
Ye Tian couldn't upshift. The speed capped at 290 km/h.
Behind him, Vesper's Red Bull opened its DRS wing. 330 km/h.
The dark blue monster was growing rapidly in the mirror.
"Damn it..."
Ye Tian looked at the dashboard.
3rd Gear: LOST.
5th Gear: FAILURE.
The car was crippled.
"Gary, how many laps?"
"12 laps! Ye, retire the car! Save the engine! Retire!"
"Retire?"
Ye Tian looked at the killer intent radiating from Vesper's car behind him. He listened to the sickening CRUNCH-GRIND coming from his transmission.
He reached out and turned off the radio.
"There is no such word as 'Retire' in my dictionary."
"Even if I have one gear left..."
"I will crawl across the finish line!"