Same race, yet a different race.
The city walls of Baku never stopped flashing by. Behind a visor, two blue eyes were squinted and focused. They were Matteo's, scanning each apex and braking zone. The cockpit of the RbioL was louder than a thousand shrieks, but Matteo managed to remain focused in his helmet as the laps skipped.
The circuit demanded this. Tight walls, uneven curbs, and not-so-satisfying straights. For a driver to thrive here, he had to be in some kind of trance. Those were the exact words of Haddock's Team Principal in a certain interview pre-race week. Matteo thought it made a lot of sense.
For the time being, he was hunting. Not hunting for position exactly, but hunting for perfect laps in a row. Hunting for perfect laps is the only way to earn the right to stay where you are. It keeps your tires niche and also the car behind out of DRS range. So, if you don't hunt the lap time, the race eventually hunts you.
