F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 105 What do you think of him? (2-in-1 4K)

Like the Van Amersford team, JAWC uses a Volkswagen engine. Normally, this engine should be fine, but when matched with the gearbox, it can cause a chain reaction of vibrations, leading to the wear and tear of the overall components.

So how can we slow down this decline?
Of course, drive gently.

But whether it's Bromqvist or Verstappen, they are both drivers capable of competing for the championship. Will they allow themselves to drive gently?

The results are obvious.

Their aggressive driving caused mechanical failures to occur more quickly.

As for Wu Shi, all he could say was that we were different.

His absolute perception and exquisite control allow him to avoid or reduce such vibrations, thus protecting his engine remarkably well.

Susu!

Wu Shi sped along, whizzing past. With a clear lead and no competitive pressure, his brain was under minimal load, much like the engine and tires, giving him free time to think about whatever came to mind.

As usual, the 22-lap race saw collisions at the back of the pack, or people losing control and running off the track. This is what makes F3 more exciting than F1, with huge unpredictability in the back row.

At 35 minutes and 22.967 seconds after the start of the race, Wu Shi crossed the finish line. After lapping the track once, he parked the car in the parking area. Compared to Silverstone, the crew members seemed calm and composed.

Wu Shi was happy to do so. He went over, high-fived Ai Lan, finished the weighing, and then took off his helmet.

"You just said during the competition that you knew what problems might be causing the clutch?" As an engineer, Alan was definitely most interested in this.

"Yes, I understand. Let me explain it to you slowly."

Wu Shi explained his perceptions to Ai Lan in a way that others could understand.

Hearing this assertion about the subtle meshing of the engine and gearbox, Alan was quite surprised. His eyes lit up, and he said, "Your mechanical engineering skills must be very high."

"Oh, really?" Wu Shi was unaware of his own ignorance. Although as a driver, he was required to understand subjects such as mechanical engineering, and F1 drivers would be tested on their knowledge in this area.

After all, a driver who can only drive but cannot provide feedback on vehicle information will not go far, because such a driver cannot understand why the car can be fast or where it is not fast enough. Therefore, he cannot help the engineers tune the vehicle, which greatly reduces his role in the team.

On the other hand, a driver with highly competitive speed must have a unique understanding of the race car and be able to detect differences in the tuning; otherwise, he couldn't drive that fast.

“Of course, you realized early on what to pay attention to when shifting gears, something the other drivers were completely unaware of, and that’s your absolute advantage,” Alan nodded.

It's no wonder Wu Shi didn't give feedback to the team; after all, in his view, this was a normal situation, and problems would arise if he paid a little more attention.

It seems that maintaining superhuman perception and control for an extended period has led to a difference in his thinking compared to that of ordinary drivers.

“However, the problem you mentioned can only be solved by adjusting the mechanics. No one can control the vehicle like you do,” Alan added.

"Then that's settled. I don't need to change the engine for now," Wu Shi said with a smile.

"Actually, you can switch to a new engine for the next race. After all, starting in eleventh place won't give you any advantage."

Alan shrugged. If it weren't for the inability to quickly assess the feasibility of the problem Wu Shi mentioned, and the fact that the third match was only three hours away, he would have demanded an immediate engine replacement.

According to FIA regulations, replacing the engine will affect all three races in one round.

In other words, if you change the engine during practice, you will start ten places later in the grid for the next three races at the same station.

However, if you change the engine in the third game, then you will only receive the penalty in the third game.

Because of the short timeframe, Verstappen's vehicle did not have its engine replaced; it was only repaired.

At 3 PM, the third match was about to begin.

Compared to the previous races, this race had one more driver, bringing the total to 27. The driver in the race was Hector Hearst from the UK.

He was a complete novice, still getting familiar with the track, and hadn't participated in qualifying, so he was naturally the last one to start.

“We see that Wu, the champion of the first two races, only started in eleventh place, while Verstappen took pole position. He was originally second in qualifying, but because Bromqvist changed the engine, he still had to start ten places back.”

"Ocon is to his left, and Jack, driving the yellow car, is in third place."

"Oh! The match has officially begun, and we all hope for a good start. Antonio Foco has had a very good start!"

"Hmm! No, Wu got off to a better start! He was faster than everyone else! He quickly squeezed into the middle lane and overtook two yellow cars! He jumped three positions!"

"And, I think Felix's speed is also good; he's moved up to third place here!"

The commentator's excited and enthusiastic voice was highly infectious, and he excitedly and quickly informed everyone of every change that occurred at the start of the race.

Wu Shi had just reached eighth place when the track situation suddenly changed as he tried to overtake again.

All the cars inside were braking late, and the only consequence of these inexperienced drivers doing so was that they ended up running a long loop!
Without exception, he was completely pushed out and crushed directly onto the grass.

Dust and bits of grass rose up as he prepared to merge onto the track. He glanced at the five race cars beside him and immediately sensed something was wrong.

On a tiny bend, what are you doing with five race cars lined up side by side?!
He quickly turned the steering wheel even more, showing no intention of entering the track.

Sure enough, as soon as they finished exiting the turn, the vehicles were involved in a chain collision.

The worst-case scenario was that one car went out of control and slid onto the grass, while the other car remained stationary, displaying itself in a 360-degree arc.

The affected vehicles then began crowding off the track in an attempt to avoid the crash.

Having anticipated this, Wu Shi did not hesitate to increase his speed, rolling from the lawn all the way onto the track.

Although he escaped a car accident, the cars in better positions had already overtaken him, and after going back and forth, he was still in eighth place!

He was unaffected by these events and continued driving steadily, eventually reaching the hairpin bend with the lowest speed in the entire course.

Upon arriving here, the track became crowded again as all vehicles slowed down.

Wu Shi carefully slowed down and pressed down to the innermost apex of the bend, but due to the external obstruction, he could not quickly move to the outside and therefore did not overtake anyone.

In order to get out of the corner faster, he kept squeezing outwards until he pushed the other car onto the shoulder. Only after the front of the car turned around did he stop squeezing.

It was at this moment that, from fourth to eighth place, the five cars were crammed together.

Everyone had just come out of a slow curve and was in second gear, just like the dynamic start pattern.

Wu Shi was the first to feel the traction return. He steadied the steering wheel with his left hand and quickly turned the knob in the middle of the steering wheel with his right hand to adjust the engine power to qualifying mode. Then he stepped on the accelerator and increased the engine speed.

Buzz!

The vehicle's acceleration is more rapid, and with perfect gear and RPM matching, the powerful force is directly transmitted to the tires.

The friction between the rubber and asphalt propelled the race car forward at breakneck speed!

Woohoo!

With godlike gear matching and more aggressive engine power, Wu Shi quickly seized the initiative and moved directly to the same position as the fourth-placed player.

Alan TR: "Don't adjust the engine power arbitrarily, it will cause serious hidden dangers!"

Why is it that so many vehicles' qualifying power is only used in qualifying?
That's because during qualifying, the car cools down after each lap, and after a few laps, it goes straight into the maintenance area for upkeep.

If these subsequent conditions are not met, and the engine is driven so roughly, then engine failure is imminent!
Wu Shi was also quite shrewd; he knew the opportunity was rare, which was why he made that move. After gaining the advantage, he had already adjusted the engine power back. The camera on his T-frame accurately captured this maneuver.

After being reminded, Alan couldn't help but sigh, "In such a complicated situation, he still had the energy to control the engine power."

Adjusting the vehicle's condition while driving isn't particularly difficult; the challenge lies in his ability to think of and make adjustments on his own, without any instructions from the fleet or in the absence of routine adjustments.

This shows that his actions just now were a result of his improvisation.

Such keen operational awareness and precise operation are hardly those of an F3 rookie.

But then again, does Wu Shi's performance these days show any signs of being a rising star?

On the track, Wu Shi, who was tied with the fourth-placed car, was on the right side of the row of cars, and the next turn was a right turn, which meant he had an inherent advantage on the inside.

So he braked late without hesitation, which completely blocked the fourth-placed player's entry path into the corner, forcing him to brake late as well and slow down.

Screech!

White smoke was coming out of Wu Shi's tires, just like before, the tires were locked and not locked at the same time.

When he slowed down enough to enter the corner, the sixth and seventh-ranked players were both on the racing line and had no intention of attacking either of them.

To be honest, this was the F3 team at that time, with varying levels of skill.

He was certain that if Pan Zi had been in sixth place, he would have already squeezed into his inside lane.

After all, in order to interfere with the fourth-placed player's cornering, he squeezed outwards very hard, which made his inside cornering only one car length inside the outside corner.

He had already completed the turn when the front of his car entered the bend.

Buzz! ! !

The race car engine roared.

"Wow! Unbelievable! Wu has risen to fourth place! He overtook four opponents by combining two turns!"

The commentator kept repeating "unbelievable, unbelievable," completely forgetting how to explain the situation.

"Yeah!!!"

Louise, sitting in front of the TV, jumped up and said to her friend, "Did you see that! Did you see that? I told you he could beat him!"

"Yes, yes, Wu Shi is the strongest." Ophelia, who had been dragged along to watch the match, yawned.

What's so interesting about racing? It's just a bunch of cars buzzing around in circles.

Wu Shi overtook a car; it was just that the others were slower, so he could pass.
Is it difficult?

Ophelia was puzzled, but that didn't stop her from letting Louise be happy here.

At the same time, the broadcast was being watched by two men dressed in suits and shirts.

One of them wore a red hat, and his aged, wrinkled skin seemed to have concealed some gruesome burn marks.

The other man had his arms crossed over his chest, his muscular physique making his suit look bulging.

"What do you think of him?" Toto asked.

"You know what? He's achieved so much since his debut, it's simply incredible."

The old man's tone was somewhat hesitant, and he paused for a moment before continuing, "If this report hadn't been presented to us, we might have missed out on an excellent driver."

"He's only running F3."

"But he is now invincible."

"Then let's go and make contact with him," Toto nodded.

Having reached fourth place on the field, Wu Shi finally caught a glimpse of a clean track.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing.

The advantage is that it avoids the risks of driving through crowded lanes, and the risk of dropping out is already quite low.

The downside is that he's almost a second behind third place! Not to mention that Pan Zi, who's in first place, has already disappeared.

In the time to come, we must gradually make up for the losses.

At the end of the first lap, all three cars opted to enter the pit lane; their front wings were damaged and had to be replaced.

Of course, they usually don't change their names, but instead choose to withdraw from the competition.

Entering the second lap, just as he had driven three-quarters of the way across the track, he suddenly saw a yellow flag being waved on the sidelines, indicating that the safety car had been deployed.

Not knowing what was going on, he circled back to the starting straight and saw two huge front wing pieces left behind on the outer shoulder of Turn 2.

The safety vehicle slowly led everyone past, and Matthew immediately went up to pick up the debris.

The third lap was completed by the safety car.

Alan TR: "You've brought us closer."

Wu Shi (TR): "Yes, very lucky."

He was originally one second behind third place and an astonishing four seconds behind first-place Verstappen.

As a result, once the car formation pressed down, the gap between everyone was reduced to less than a second.

Before the race restarted, Verstappen, who was in the lead, suddenly slowed down, and his car swayed from side to side.

Because of his slowing down, all the vehicles behind him were also crushed.

At that moment, he suddenly accelerated and drove through the penultimate bend.

The second-placed driver, Aokang, reacted too slowly, allowing the other driver to gain a distance. Because the safety car had just left and the yellow flag was still in effect, overtaking was not allowed, which directly interfered with the drivers behind him.

If this were on a public road, Wu Shi might have experienced road rage and cursed the car in front of him as an idiot, but this is a race, and anger would only affect his driving.

His focus wasn't on Rosenqvist (not Bromqvist) in third place, nor on Ocon in second place, but on Verstappen in first place.

The guy had already turned the corner, but fortunately the yellow flag hadn't disappeared, allowing O'Connor to catch up quickly.

But at the next corner, the yellow flag had disappeared, and Verstappen accelerated, continuing to widen the gap between himself and Ocon.

After realizing what was happening, Aokang quickly closed in. He still couldn't overtake, but the speed limit had been lifted, which made Wu Shi, who was in fourth place, very unhappy.

Overtaking will be permitted once you turn past the last bend and cross the grid lines of the starting straight.

Green flags were waving ahead, and Wu Shi was ready.

　Today's version is a two-in-one.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)