F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 116 Two Contracts
Hamilton, on the other side, naturally saw this scene as well; he had just been chatting and laughing with engineer Peter Bonnington.

After all, he had won three Grand Prix races in a row, and he was also having a good run at this race, so he was very confident of winning and could communicate easily and freely.

"Who exactly started that rumor?" Like Tony, Peter was also very puzzled.

As a veteran engineer, he knew that any news coming from the paddock had a source, especially news coming directly from within the team. It wasn't necessarily entirely true, but it was at least partially true.

"What's the point of worrying about these things? This year's cars are strong enough, so let's focus on the upcoming races."

Hamilton wasn't indifferent to the changes in the standings; rather, he felt that the opportunity to win his second world championship had arrived, so naturally he didn't pay as much attention to other things.

In the rear area of ​​the repair shop, Toto, Nikki, and Sid arrived at a conference room.

After sitting down, Sid immediately said, "As you know, this matter has nothing to do with us. We wouldn't be foolish enough to break the contract."

Toto remained noncommittal, only saying, "We are still dealing with this matter. We invited you here today simply to show you our sincerity. We don't want our contract to be damaged by some rumors."

Sid breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that it was time to set the tone for this matter.

“We’ve prepared a supplementary agreement; take a look at it first.” Toto pulled a stack of papers out of his bag.

Sid took the document and began to read it. Because the document contained a great deal of information, he had to read it carefully. By the time he had finished reading it once, more than twenty minutes had passed.

The supplementary agreement mainly addresses the confidentiality clauses, stipulating in detail that if the information is leaked by Wu Shi's side, the contract will no longer be effective; if the leak is caused by Mercedes-Benz's internal leaks, then it has nothing to do with Wu Shi's side.

In addition to this part, the sponsorship fee was also changed.

The previous contract already contained relevant provisions. After all, Wu Shi was too young, and stipulating a high sponsorship fee would make it easier to pass the board's resolution.

This supplementary agreement increased the sponsorship fee from $30 million to $50 million.

“I don’t quite understand this upgrade,” Sid said.

A sponsorship fee of 50 million US dollars is not high for joining a team like Mercedes, but it was already a huge difficulty for Wu Shi to raise 30 million US dollars, let alone 50 million US dollars.

“I understand all this, so here’s another contract.” Toto pulled out another contract.

Sid took it and saw that the client was not Mercedes-Benz, but a company he was not very familiar with.

He didn't rush to say anything. He first read through the contract, which basically said that Wu Shi would receive a sponsorship of 20 million.

He realized that Toto's proposed additional $20 million in sponsorship was actually part of another arrangement, so he said, "I understand, there's no problem with that."

“Alright, we’ll discuss the specifics on Monday.” Toto casually signed a few names on several contracts, but didn’t have Sid sign them.

He put the contract away and stood up.

Sid stood up and shook hands with him before leaving the meeting room.

After leaving the arena, he called Martina to tell her what had happened.

"They brought this trouble upon themselves and dragged us into it; that's really not very ethical," Martina said on the phone.

"I think so too, but at least it didn't affect the seats. This is just a matter of moving from one hand to the other, and it doesn't affect the actual performance of the contract."

"After things are settled here, I'll ask for leave and go to China," Martina said before hanging up the phone.

Sid shook his head; it was a real headache, things were getting more and more complicated.

Just as he had a moment to himself, another call came in. Seeing the name on the contact's note, he realized it was his old classmate, who must be working on the Reynolds equation.

He found it a bit strange, but he answered the call anyway.

"Hey, what brings you to call me?"

"Haha, didn't we hear you have a hot driver on your team? We've considered it and we're interested too."

“Hmm? We haven’t considered participating in the Renault 3.5,” Sid said directly.

“Oh! I didn’t explain clearly. I switched to Sauber three months ago. I’m contacting you on behalf of Sauber.”

“Okay, we can schedule a time to talk.” Sid did not refuse. Although Sauber is not as competitive as Mercedes and Williams, it is still an F1 team. For a driver like Wu Shi who has not yet shown his talent in F1, entering F1 first is always the best choice.

He pondered for a moment, and it seemed that the contract with Mercedes was no longer limited to Mercedes itself; the entire paddock had probably heard the news, and other teams were also on the move!
Susu!

After three safety cars, the game finally ended.

Wu Shi maintained his lead until the end. After all, overtaking on this track is quite difficult. As long as he can stay in control, he can bring victory back.

Unlike the excitement of the crew, he returned to the rest area after the awards ceremony and called Sid to get the latest updates.

"There's no problem with the contract being fulfilled, so you don't need to worry too much. Just focus on the game."

"Yes, I know."

Upon hearing the result, Wu Shi finally breathed a sigh of relief. He was about to chat with Louise again when he saw that Leclerc had sent him a lot of messages.

"Hey! You got an F1 seat? Didn't you used to have a better relationship with Ferrari?"

"I'm going to join the Ferrari Junior Drivers Academy."

Is this news true?

The last message was a news link, which he clicked on.

The headline photo shows Sid with Toto and Nicky Lauda heading to the back area of ​​the Mercedes-Benz Arena, while the headline is in large bold font:
"Wu's agent, Sid, appeared in the Mercedes pit room, which may corroborate the rumors about Wu having an F1 seat contract with Mercedes."

Gan!
What kind of efficiency is this?!

According to what Sid just said, he went in around 11 a.m., and it's only 12 p.m. now, yet the press release has already come out.

He quickly scanned the contents.

"Damn it! Mercedes offered me a ten million dollar annual salary?! Bullshit!"

"Where the hell would I get a hundred million dollars in sponsorship?! Wouldn't it be better to use that much money to buy Power in India and live the life of a rich kid like Storr?!"

"When did I become the Mercedes-Benz heir?!"

The wording in the news was so outrageous that it left Wu Shi speechless.

However, it is precisely because the content is too abstract that the only useful piece of information is highlighted—that he has a stake in the F1 seat contract with Mercedes.

At that moment, Foucault and Verstappen walked over together, and the first thing they said was, "Is this thing true?"

Wu Shi naturally shook his head and said, "I don't know who is spreading rumors!"

"Tsk tsk, forget about rumors or not. Since you've said that, you must have already been in contact with F1 teams. I remember you said before that you had reached an agreement with an F1 team, right? It wouldn't be Mercedes, would it?!" Foucault said excitedly.

"Mercedes has had excellent results this year, and I've heard it's because of their powerful engines," Verstappen said, his first thought being the race car, and then the rumor.
"This rumor isn't too far-fetched. If I were an F1 team principal, I would have signed you long ago."

"How about we consider acquiring a racing team?" Wu Shi changed the subject, following Pan Zi's lead.

"I have no money," Pan Zi said frankly.

"Hey, as the person involved, aren't you going to clarify things?" Foucault was frantically refreshing his Twitter feed, quite the gossip.

"I don't like to express my opinions online."

Your account is flooded with comments!

"Really? Let me see?" Wu Shi leaned closer.

"Oh, isn't this your account? Why are you looking at it on my phone?" Foucault was stunned.

"I can't use my phone for more than two hours a day, and if I use it any longer, I'll be going over the time limit," Wu Shi casually offered as an excuse.

(End of this chapter)