F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 107 The Straight Road, Let Victory Be Achieved! (4K)

Undoubtedly, Wu Shi's conversation with the crew attracted everyone's attention for a while, whether they were watching on TV, sitting on the scene, or working in the pit room.

But soon, everyone's attention returned to what they were focused on.

As the commentator said, this is an impossible task. Even if they could get close to Verstappen, that would be towards the end of the race. Right now, these laps are just cruising and there's nothing to see.

While others might ignore it, Ai Lan, Wu Shi's engineer, kept her eyes glued to the data on the screen.

After achieving a clean lap, the tire wear rate of car #32 slowed down slightly, and the engine load was also lower because it no longer needed to inhale the exhaust heat from the car in front.

Soon, Wu Shi crossed the finish line again, and the lap timer for the thirteenth lap appeared:
1 minutes 32 seconds 989!

This result broke the record for the fastest lap, drawing the commentators' attention back.

But he just stared at the screen without saying a word, because it seemed that there had been some minor accidents in the cars behind him. He didn't know which driver had gone off the track, kicking up a cloud of smoke.

Susu!

The fourteenth lap, during Wu Shi's speed reading, showed:
1 minute 33.003 seconds.
Alan opened his mouth slightly. How much difference was there between these two laps?
However, this is not too outrageous.

On the fifteenth lap, the following appeared during reading:
1 minute 33.003 seconds.
and many more!

Alan began to feel something was wrong. How could the lap time be controlled so steadily?

Seeing Alan's expression, the team leader patted him on the shoulder and said:
"Do you know what Joss showed me when he came to me to ask him to join the team?"

Alan took off his headphones, turned to look at the team leader, and shook his head.

The team leader's eyes lit up as he thought of the most crucial part of the table. He had even considered asking if the data had been entered incorrectly.

"It is his lap timer when he and Verstappen were testing Formula Renault at the Jerez circuit in Spain."

"A set of tires goes from brand new to being replaced in a total of twenty laps, and the difference in each lap is no more than ten milliseconds."

"That's impossible! The difference between the new and old tires can't be that small!" Alan retorted directly.

"Of course, but what if he had calculated it all from the beginning?"

Alan remained silent. If the approximate lap time after tire wear is calculated from the beginning, it can be used as the calibration lap time for running around the track.

"He's not a machine, how could he control it so precisely?!" Alan was still incredulous.

"He's doing it again," the team leader said with a smile, without saying a word.

Lap 32: 1 minute 999 seconds.
Lap 32: 1 minute 996 seconds.
At this moment, Wu Shi had already run within a second of Verstappen!

“Max, he’s closing in on you,” Vestapan’s engineer said in TR.

Before answering, Verstappen glanced at his rearview mirror and saw that the number 32 car was almost within attack range. He then tensed up and asked, "What was his lap time?"

"1 minutes 33 seconds."

"Tell me the decimal point!"

"It's 1 minute and 33 seconds, with fluctuations of less than ten-thousandths of a second."

A brief silence fell over TR.

On lap 33, Verstappen improved his time to 1 minute 202 seconds, setting a new record for his fastest lap.

However, at that moment, Wu Shi was only 0.4 seconds away from him.

On the nineteenth lap, Verstappen's running style became significantly more aggressive, and his lap time reached 1 minute 33.060 seconds!

The two tied on this lap.

However, on the twentieth lap, Wu Shi shrunk by 0.3 seconds, closing in on Pan Zi with a time of 1 minute 32.735 seconds.

"Wow! Wow! It really is just like he said! Wu! He's caught up with Verstappen! He's right behind him! But there are only two laps left, only two laps left, does he have a chance?!"

When the commentator saw the two Van Amersford cars simultaneously turn onto the starting straight and surge past the starting grid one after the other, he roared with excitement.

The roar from the stands on both sides of the starting straight was deafening!
No one expected the final two laps to turn out this way.

While everyone was excited and thrilled, Wu Shi's sharp gaze almost pierced through his goggles.

Overtaking a strong driver in two laps is an extremely difficult feat.

Add to that the fact that this powerful driver has the nickname "Tagore," and it becomes even more difficult!

Wu Shi is absolutely certain that Verstappen's defensive determination far surpasses that of Ocon!

After all, teammates are the biggest competitors. He didn't trigger Ocon's "BUFF", but he definitely triggered Verstappen's "BUFF" at this moment!
Turn 1, a near-right-angle turn, is the corner that Wu Shi excels at.

However, Verstappen grew up with him and knew him very well, so he didn't bother defending him at the center or inside; he was practically blocking him from the outside.

Wu Shi had to admire this guy. That was indeed his plan. Ever since his go-karting days, he had always managed to squeeze out time in the corners thanks to his unique cornering technique.

However, one bend doesn't mean anything. The two race cars sped through the bend one after the other and entered the second straight. Here, Wu Shi used the slipstream to reduce drag and regained the lead he had lost at the first bend.

As Wu Shi entered the combination of corners 2, 3, and 4, he aggressively squeezed the inside line. Verstappen reacted quickly and immediately blocked him, almost completely squeezing him off the track.

Once you exit the track at Turn 2, it's easy to cut directly to Turn 3.

However, the track advantage gained from cutting the watermelon had to be given back, so Wu Shi did not fight back, but instead slowed down and gave way.

After Turn 4 comes Turn 5, a large circular bend. Because of its large curvature, the only difference between it and the straightaway is that the driver needs to slightly turn the steering wheel and counteract a "small" amount of G-force.

"Wu was following very closely! Following like that could easily cause the engine and tires to overheat, but with only one and a half laps left, he couldn't afford to worry about that anymore!"

Following the commentator's perspective, we saw the two cars turn through Turn 6, enter the short straight, and then pass Turn 7 (obtuse angle), arriving together at Turn 8, where Wu Shi had planned to overtake Aokang.

Here, Wu Shi did not intend to overtake because the conditions were not sufficient, but no matter how insufficient they were, he would try to attack.

Verstappen was almost constantly looking at the road ahead and then at the rearview mirror, while the number 32 car behind him was like an eel, always trying to squeeze in.

He felt immense pressure; his heart rate rose rapidly, and his brain was working at breakneck speed, consuming a huge amount of energy, which made him feel somewhat dizzy.

He has been competing with Wu Shi every year since 2008, and has been competing for 6 years!
His mind was filled with Wu Shi's method of opening the orifices, and his own method of opening the orifices based on Wu Shi's method.

Wu Shi stared at Verstappen's car. He knew Verstappen's driving characteristics and style. The two were driving the same race car, and in terms of familiarity with the car, he was definitely far superior to Verstappen! Therefore, he knew where the car's limits were when Verstappen was driving it in his usual way on each corner.

On the 12th, he continued to launch attacks to coerce the enemy.

Verstappen struggled to control the car and maintain his position. In the following combination of turns 13 to 16, he continued to defend, considering almost every moment whether to change lanes or to brake hard.

After a series of turns, both cars almost skidded.

"hiss!"

The team leader clenched his fists. He couldn't let two cars retire from the race! At this crucial moment, he still felt nervous!
Wu Shi noticed that Pan Zi's rear wheel was slipping slightly, and a smile finally appeared on his face. No one can maintain the limit of driving forever; everyone will make mistakes when pushing their limits endlessly.

He knew the opportunity had arrived!

His slippage was because the tires were almost at their limit, while Panzi's slippage was a mistake!
After pushing Panzi to the limit for one lap, he learned about Panzi's weakest point on the entire track, and the next step was to continue pushing him!

Then make him make another mistake in the same spot!
Even at just 17 years old, Verstappen struggled to cope with such immense pressure!
At Turn 17, he continued to force his way inside, but instead of completely overtaking, he forced Pan Zi to use an even more extreme blocking method.

At their closest point, the two vehicles were almost nested together, one in front of the other.

In the afterglow of the setting sun, the camera focused on two Van Amersford Ford race cars that had returned to the starting straight.

Wu Shi didn't ride the taillights this time because he needed to cool down, so he stayed on the right side of the road.

Approaching Turn 1, Panzi once again moved to the center line to block.

"Verstappen's defense was very tight; he hardly wanted to give up any overtaking space, but then we saw, oh! Both cars slipped again!"

"They're still locked in a fierce battle! Turn two, turn three, turn four! Still unable to overtake!"

The commentator's voice was deafening, and everyone held their breath. Only after entering the sharp bend could everyone breathe a sigh of relief.

But as everyone knows, the battle here subsided only because of the long straight, and Wu Shi's car couldn't keep up with Verstappen's car, otherwise the engine and tires would definitely overheat, resulting in the loss of the usual overtaking maneuver.

After turns six and seven, we soon encountered a combination of turns eight through eleven.

"Wu made a breakthrough attack on Ocon here before, will he make a move on Verstappen here? Yes, he did! Is he trying to replicate the crossover from before!?"

"No, he wasn't close enough, Verstappen was too aggressive, their cars are going to collide! Move aside! They moved aside at the same time!"

Wu Shi understood Verstappen's toughness, and Verstappen understood Wu Shi's toughness; both of them saved the car at the last moment.

Now, not only was Wu Shi covered in a cold sweat, but Pan Zi was also sweating profusely, and the entire pit garage of the Van Amersford team was so tense that it was almost suffocating.

The race is nearing its end, with the final turn, 12, twisting and snapping together.

"Wu is probably unlikely to surpass him."

The commentator took a deep breath as the two race cars drove on the straight between Turn 11 and Turn 12.

Wu Shi had an incredibly clear picture of the race track in his mind. He could feel the car slipping during the last six turns, and the tires were nearing their limit.

He caught a glimpse of Verstappen to his side. This time, he braked much later into Turn 12, and Verstappen naturally wouldn't brake too early to let him pass.

Sizzle! ...

"Both of them are locked in at the same time!"

Yes, even now, the terrible tires mean that Wu Shi can't guarantee they won't lock up.

Both cars lost more than 0.3 seconds on this corner, allowing the third-placed Ocon to close the gap.

However, the battle between the two continued. As they entered Turn 13, Wu Shi maintained his absolute dominance, while Verstappen locked up once again.

White smoke billowed up, but car number 32 braked and entered the corner!

"Oh! What happened?! How could Verstappen make such a critical mistake!"

The commentator didn't understand, but Wu Shi knew very well that in the two-lap battle, he had disrupted Pan Zi's perception of the vehicle's braking limits.

After locking up multiple times, this guy probably wouldn't know what level his tires were at. All he needs to do is keep pushing and find a good spot, like Turn 13!
This bend is the part that Panzi is least familiar with!

"Oh! Wu Shi turned! He didn't lock up! He kept locking up because of the poor condition of the tires, how come he managed to control it here!"

Whoosh! Buzzing roar!
The engine roared to life, Wu Shi's brain trembled, each shift of the paddle shifters felt like a blow to his soul, and the rubber splattered from the wheels resembled splashes of sweat.

At the last moment, car number 32, with absolute precision and near-zero deviation, quickly navigated two small corners after exiting the turn.

As we approached Turn 16, intermittent white smoke was emitted from all four wheels. Wu Shi's humanoid ABS activated, ensuring the vehicle maintained its final grip.

He saw that Panzi, who was following behind, was right behind his rear wheel; it wasn't quite time to give way yet.

He squeezes outwards from the inside, and must enter slowly and exit quickly at Turn 17, otherwise he will not be able to gain the advantage on the final straight!

Kaka!

The car's limits were fully pushed, and after leaving white smoke at Turn 17, Wu Shi finally managed to get past Verstappen's car and wed it behind the rear wing.

Then, on the straight road, may victory be yours!
Swish!
"He's crossed the finish line! Wu! He's won the championship! He's won the championship!" the commentator roared.

In the pit lane, even the usually composed Alan jumped high into the air, and cheers echoed throughout the maintenance area corridor.

In the stands, a few spectators stood up in unison, their wild shouts echoing throughout the room.

The waiting reporters had shining eyes and were breathing rapidly.

This victory was completely unexpected and beyond everyone's comprehension!
A race that starts from eleventh place and goes straight to the championship!
Remember, this is F3! This is a standard racing series!
This wasn't due to performance advantages, but entirely due to the driver's extraordinary skills!
"Oh, oh, I'm so excited, I'm speechless! Oh god, what a match this is!"

The commentator's voice was hoarse and even choked with emotion. Only those who know F3 can understand the true value of this victory!

At the same time, across the ocean, in Blakely, United Kingdom, at Mercedes headquarters.

The old man in the red hat clapped his hands.

The burly young man next to him stood up immediately.

(End of this chapter)