His friends are dicks. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’ll stream clothed from now on.”
“No, no, no—” No? “I mean yourracing. You drove the sim line through twelve and fourteen during the stream, but also during all three practices and Qualifying.”
“Yeah, it’s faster.” And Julien has the result to prove it. Today he’ll start third while Matt is starting somewhere in the bottom ten.
It’s bold of the American to assume his experience makes him more knowledgeable than the rookie. Especially since Julien knows his record.
“It’s definitely faster on the one-lap, but I wanted to warn you not to leave yourself open to overtakes during the race. Sam prefers overtaking in the straights, but?—”
“How do you know that?”
“Know thy enemy.” As if Red Boar has ever been Kaas’s enemy. “Thomas is weaker in the chicane, but he loves to power around the outside with brute force. That line between twelve and fourteen will leave you vulnerable to him.”
Huh.
Still, even if itistrue, there’s an obvious problem with this advice. “Sam and Thomas both start ahead of me.”
“Oh.” Matt finally pauses. It lasts several seconds. “Well, if Sam angles his car inwards, stick to the outside. He and Thomas are obsessed with each other—they won’t notice a third car slipping past until too late.”
Does literallyeverybodyknow about Sam and Thomas?
There’s no reason for Matt to help him, but what if it’s true? What if Julien is leaving himself vulnerable every single lap?
Then again, what if this is just another Thomas-getting-to-him situation? Another Japan?
“Why would you help me?”
“Um, ha ha,” Matt seems almost bashful as he scratches at his scalp. “Y’know, eRacing gets a bad rap. With Romeo public, you kinda represent all the gaming kids—the ones who couldn’t afford to go karting. I think it’d be cool if you won as a reserve.”
What does that matter to him, though? Clearly Matt could afford karting as a kid if he’s a full-time Formation 1 driver now.
“I mean, the odds are against me finishing in the points, much less winning the race. If it can’t be me, I’d like it to be you.”
“Right.” Still, Julien can’t let his guard down. “Nobody in Ferraro has mentioned any disadvantages to my line.”
“Maybe because of the faster one-lap pace? It’s an overtake-heavy track, though, so race strategy matters more than Qualifying.”
Race strategy.
Because the best result for the team is a one-two that favors the championship leader.
“Do you think Ferraro knows?” Julien would hate to think the worst of his team, but after Japan, it’s hard to trust anyone. “I mean, do you think they’ve told Thomas I’m weaker there?”
Matt’s eyebrows draw inwards. “Honestly, I dunno. It’s not a secret Thomas wants to win his home race, and Ferraro has to keep their number one driver happy. You could be an obstacle.”
An obstacle. “Thanks.” If anything, at least Julien has more to think about before they line up.
“Anytime. I’m just glad I finally said something. It was eating me up like, all weekend.” Matt breathes out and it almost sounds like a laugh.
Y’know, he’s not a bad guy. He’s just kinda weird. And jumpy.
Julien should extend some sort of peace offering. “Hey, did you want to join the stream sometime?”
“Me?!”
“Yeah. The guys would love to have anactualFormation 1 driver on. Personally, I’d like to have some competition for once.”
Matt nods quickly. “Yeah! Absolutely, just tell me when.”
