F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 109 First Imagine

Wu Shi had no idea what impact his victory at the Hogheimer's circuit would have. After returning to the Netherlands, he prepared to resume his monotonous life of physical training and running simulator duets.

However, on Monday, Sid told him that Mercedes team manager Toto Wolff wanted to speak with him, and the meeting was scheduled for Thursday.

This news instantly made him want to skip Tuesday and Wednesday and go straight to Thursday.

However, he calmed down as soon as the news passed through his mind.

2014 was the year of the new engine. At that time, Mercedes had already demonstrated the strength to establish a dynasty, so joining them would naturally be the best option.

That would give him the chance to become the youngest F1 driver, the youngest pole position driver, the youngest driver with the fastest lap in the race, the youngest qualifying champion, and the youngest race champion.

And, the youngest WDC!

But that's just wishful thinking, a self-indulgent mental climax.

Who were the two drivers for Mercedes in 2014?

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

Hamilton, needless to say, has shown talent and strength that Toto and Nicky Lauda value, so this position is a no-brainer for him.

As for Rosberg, he is a good friend of Hamilton and has been competing against him since childhood, demonstrating top-notch skills. He even won his first victory at the Australian Grand Prix, the opening race of this year.

Mercedes has no reason to replace Rosberg; if they want his seat, they'll have to wait until he retires.

Others may not know, but Wu Shi does. This guy won the WDC in 2016 and then retired immediately, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

He thus earned the title of "Fifteen-time Champion"—surpassing the seven-time champion Schumacher as a teammate, surpassing the future seven-time champion Hamilton as a teammate, and adding his own championship, for a total of fifteen championships!
However, this is only one possible path in the future. Rosberg chose to retire at the peak of his career after 2016, mainly because he was exhausted during the entire season of competing with Hamilton for the championship. He had difficulty sleeping night after night and even needed to take psychiatric medication.

He knew how bad his mental state was, so he retired after winning the WDC Dream Award.

However, if Wu Shi's early involvement triggered other changes, Rosberg would not have felt any mental pressure.

Well then, there's even less of a chance.

Therefore, he can basically deduce that Mercedes' arrival this time, even if it brought seats, must be for its engine customer team.

Currently, the four teams using Mercedes engines in the paddock are Mercedes, McLaren, Force India, and Williams.

McLaren is out of the question, because it will be using Honda's engine next year.

Meanwhile, India's Power has Perez and Hulkenberg at their disposal, both of whom have achieved good results in the past four Grand Prix events, with Perez even taking the podium in Bahrain.

Obtaining their seats is extremely difficult. Hulkenberg was at his peak from the start, and some even say he is the next WDC contender. As for Perez, putting aside his performance, the massive sponsorship funds behind him alone are something Wu Shi can't compete with.

So the last target is Williams, well, that doesn't seem right, their two drivers this year are Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas.

Massa, needless to say, is a veteran of the paddock and has achieved a third-place finish in the annual competition.

Bottas, the Finn, didn't have a great season last year, but he's in hot form this season!

After thinking it over, Wu Shi suddenly realized that if he wanted to win a spot, his talent and current achievements were just the key; something more important might lie beyond those two.

Top teams don't lack WDC drivers, and mid-tier teams, in this era of abundant talent, don't lack mature and stable drivers. Lower-ranked teams certainly need drivers, but they need money even more! "What's wrong? I saw you looking so excited just now, then suddenly freeze, and then you looked completely lost."

Verstappen had just finished a training session when he saw Wu Shi staring blankly at his phone, so he couldn't help but come over and ask him what was wrong.

"I thought of some sad things."

"Don't overthink it. Being happy is the most important thing in life," Pan Zi said simply, then went back to training.

Wu Shi really didn't want to make a fool of himself, but his father soon called to tell him that in addition to Tianyan Group, some other companies in China seemed to want to join as sponsors, but the sponsorship fee was a difficult issue to discuss.

If the sponsorship fee is sufficient, then everything is negotiable. Money talks, and this saying still applies to some teams even in the paddock—those teams that don't benefit from the money are themselves the ones who are rich and powerful.

If the sponsorship fee is average, then whether or not they can still hire him now is a question.

Sponsorship ultimately comes down to an exchange of benefits.

Apart from giants like Tianyan Group, Penghang, Hainan Airlines, and Beiben, whose sponsorship fees are exorbitant, no other company would be willing to spend millions to sponsor a driver.

These companies sponsor Wu Shi primarily because of their owners' personal interests or because their businesses involve racing, and they want Wu Shi to go back and advertise for them, which would facilitate their promotion in China.

Because Sid's agent speaks five languages—English, Spanish, Italian, German, and Russian—but not Chinese, coordinating with domestic companies becomes a major problem.

Wu Shi has been considering expanding his management team at times.

As he gets older, he must gradually understand, get involved in, and take control of this matter himself.

"Ugh!"

Wu Shi sighed, his head starting to ache again. A driver is only a true driver when he's on the track; once he's off the track, there are just too many things to consider.

But things will work themselves out. Listen to Panzi, don't overthink it, let's train first!
On Thursday, Wu Shi and Sid flew to the United Kingdom and entered Mercedes-Benz headquarters.

When the two arrived at the conference room, they were both taken aback.

Because sitting across the table weren't Mercedes' business people, but Toto Wolff and Nicky Lauda.

“Every era produces exceptionally talented young people, and in this era, you are that young person.” Nikki Lauda made no attempt to hide her admiration for Wu Shi from the very first sentence.

"Thank you for your praise." Wu Shi still held this legendary senior figure in high esteem.

“I have high hopes for you, just like I had high hopes for Hamilton back then, so why don’t we talk about cooperation?” Nicky Lauda’s straightforward style caught Wu Shi and Sid off guard.

What Hamilton? What partnership? Is this Mercedes' F1 seat?
Both of them were having fantasies.

But Wu Shi was more cautious. After all, he had already fantasized about it on Monday and even dreamed about it twice, so his threshold was higher and his resistance was stronger. Therefore, he spoke up:

“Great! I took a picture with Hamilton at the 2007 China Grand Prix. At that time, I said I wanted to become an F1 driver. I never thought I would have the opportunity to be here now and talk about cooperation with a top F1 team in the paddock.”

　Thank you so much, Shindo Chihiro, for your support! Thank you so much! I'll add an extra 4K chapter tomorrow!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)