F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 161 If we're going to do it, let's do it in Mercedes!

"Wow! Wu Shi has moved up to second place! He's knocked Rosberg off! That was a fantastic run!"

Amidst the praise from the commentators and the audience, Wu Shi couldn't feel happy. He was frantically reviewing the lock-up that occurred at the last corner.

He should have a clear understanding of the car's steering grip, so why did he still turn the steering wheel too much in the end, causing understeer and lock-up?

He felt there were two reasons. First, he was greedy. He thought that by adjusting the braking ratio to favor the rear wheels, he could gain more front wheel grip in the corner, which would be enough to handle the steering. However, he did not expect that this would not be enough.

In other words, there was a slight deviation in the computational simulation in the brain.

This is a man-made disaster.

Second, there are natural disasters.

Jonathan only warned about the northerly wind at Turn 9, but failed to mention that this wind could cross the artificial lake in the middle of the track and head towards Turn 15.

With a tailwind, the car will naturally go faster than expected, which will increase the pressure on the brakes. This will cause the front wheels to lose their grip very quickly and eventually lock up on the track.

Wu Shi was quick-witted, and Jonathan was also quick to analyze the data. He quickly replied in TR: "It's not your fault. You've done a great job. I should have been keeping an eye on the wind and reporting it to you at all times."

Just now, the Williams crew actually heard Red Bull inform Ricciardo that there was a strong tailwind at Turn 15, but the crew members listening to this TR ignored the message, since it wasn't a tactical issue and there was no need to report it to the team.

Moreover, with so many screens in front of the crew clearly displaying the wind conditions at various points along the track, the crew naturally assumed that this was a problem that did not need to be reported.

Jonathan was dissatisfied with his oversight and wrote it down in his notebook, as this was a point that needed to be reviewed after the game.

After Wu Shi finished cooling the vehicle, he took it back to the repair area.

He was the first to finish Q3, and at that point he was still ranked second.

Following him was Vettel, who had only run five laps, with a time of 1 minute 27.757 seconds, placing him fourth.

It seems Williams is still able to keep up with Rafa in the lap times at this race.

Wu Shi had some expectations for the main race. Even if the long-distance test was not as good as Ferrari's, could he pull out a window by stopping three times?
Yellow (soft) - White (neutral) - Yellow (soft). He needs to inform the strategy team of this idea after the game, since having a huge amount of computer simulation data is more reliable than thinking about it himself.

After Vettel crossed the finish line, the camera focused on Rosberg, who was in the middle of the third timeout. He had tied with Wu Shi in the first two timeouts.

However, in the third timeout, Mercedes was significantly faster, crossing the finish line in 1 minute 26.921 seconds, surpassing Wu Shi and taking second place!
In the final half minute, Hamilton crossed the checkered lines for his final flying lap.

He didn't actually need to run anymore, but he figured he might as well run this soft tire.

Just by looking at the first two timing segments, you can tell how fast the old man was. After entering the third timing segment, the speed of this car on the straightaway was even more terrifying.

Although the old man's movements were constantly being adjusted in small increments, it wasn't that he wasn't precise enough; it was just that the wind was really strong today.

Soon, the old man arrived at Turn 15, and under everyone's watchful eyes, his left front wheel also slightly locked up.

The ensuing chain reaction led to Mercedes's route being almost identical to that of Williams's (number 59).

But no one said it was a pity to make the same mistake.

Even if a mistake is made, the speed on this lap is still far ahead!

1 minutes 26 seconds 327!

'Damn, a Mars rover!'

With his racing suit half-open, revealing a Williams T-shirt underneath, Wu Shi was looking at the data and couldn't help but curse inwardly.

Following closely behind Mercedes was Massa, who crossed the finish line again, narrowly beating Vettel with a time of 1 minute 27.718 seconds to finish fourth.

Q3 is over, and the final results are in.

Two Mercedes-Benz cars started from the front row.

Two Williams cars started from the second row.

Two Ferraris started off in three rows.

Wow, it's quite neat.

Ricardo of Red Bull finished seventh, and Sainz of Toro finished eighth.

Bottas and Grosjean of the Lotus team finished ninth and tenth respectively.

After the qualifying results were announced, all the cars in the pit area had passed the post-race inspection to ensure there were no violations. At this point, the reporters began their interviews.

The interview with the old man and the princess (Rosberg) naturally focused on their battle. In this round, the princess was a full 0.594 seconds behind the old man, which is enough to fill a Williams car.

The old man remained composed during the interview, saying what needed to be said and refraining from saying what shouldn't be said, then smiled and nodded to accept the reporter's congratulations.

"Hey Nico, congratulations on getting the front row starting position. We saw you make a mistake on your first run, but you made up for it on the second. What do you think of this result?"

"Thank you. The wind was indeed quite strong on the track today. Sudden crosswinds can affect the control of the car at many times. I think my performance today was still acceptable," Rosberg said.

"You are 0.594 seconds behind Lewis, while Wu Shi is only 0.115 seconds behind you. Do you think you will face competition from Williams in the main race?" Reporters always like to pick on difficult points and find fault.

“I don’t think we have enough speed over long distances,” Rosberg said quickly, sounding more like he was trying to boost his own morale than confident.

On the other side, Wu Shi was being interviewed by reporters. "Congratulations, Wu Shi! Achieving third place in the first qualifying session is truly remarkable. You encountered some minor issues in the final race, which seems to have cost you the chance to challenge for a front-row start."

“Yeah, there was a lot of crosswind on the track today, something I haven’t experienced in a long time. It made the track conditions more complicated, and I shouldn’t have ignored it, even though my engineer had warned me about it before the start. I think this is something I need to learn from.”

"Your speed in qualifying was quite good. What are your thoughts on tomorrow's race?"

"Well, our long-distance performance during winter testing wasn't ideal. Tomorrow is my first race, and I think I need to hold onto my position because Ferrari's long-distance speed is not to be underestimated."

"You mean you can't compete with Mercedes, and might not be able to withstand Ferrari's attack?" the reporter seized on the key point.

"That's one way to put it. Tire wear over long distances is not a good prospect, but I'll do my best tomorrow."

Wu Shi nodded politely. Although the FW37 had undergone another round of adjustments after the winter test, and the tire wear was actually better, it was obviously not something that could be said directly. It was better to be vague about it.

Since you're ranked third, why bother looking at the fifth and sixth people?
If we're going to do it, let's do Mercedes!

On Saturday night, Wu Shi received a call from his father, who said he couldn't come to watch his first game.

The busyness of CEOs of large companies is unimaginable to ordinary people, especially those in business lines who need to coordinate with too many departments, have endless meetings, make countless decisions, and face a constant stream of new problems every day.

Wu Shi said that both father and son are happy working hard for their respective careers, so there's no need to say this.

Then Martina called, but she couldn't come over. After all, the turmoil inside Rafa was still ongoing, and her relationship with President Meng was neither close nor distant, so the impact on her was unclear.

As for Louise, the poor little girl couldn't possibly travel all the way to the Southern Hemisphere to watch the game by herself.

Joss Verstappen did come, and as soon as the qualifying session ended, he called Wu Shi over for a chat.

Now, this once robust former F1 driver has gray hair, showing signs of aging.

“You’ve stood tall enough now; your time has come,” Vestapan remarked.

Wu Shi shook his head and did not reply.

"Last September, I was busy with Red Bull, otherwise would I have let Mercedes break their contract with you so easily?!" Old Verstappen was quite impulsive, and when he got angry, he would curse not only Toto, but also Marco.

"There's nothing wrong with breaking the contract; I just didn't do a good job."

Wu Shi didn't care, after all, his guaranteed income in 2015 was $2000 million + 500 million euros.

If you feel wronged, then go tell my $2000 million.

Wu Shi is not at a point where he can ignore money. Having some money on him makes him more willing to drive, doesn't it?
"Hahaha!" Old Verstappen shook his head and said, "You gave up the world championship."

"The world champion is right there, it can't run away."

Wu Shi knew perfectly well that once something had happened, what means were there to mediate? Obviously not.

"Good! As expected of a champion who fought his way up, you speak with such presence!" After saying that, Old Verstappen changed the subject and asked, "Have you considered investing in the company?"

"what?"

“Martina should have set up a driver management company for you. I think we can cooperate and try to expand, whether it’s building a team or establishing a karting driver training system,” Verstappen said.

Wu Shi pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "This has not been in my consideration for the past two years."

At 4 p.m. on Sunday, Albert Park Circuit was almost full.

Today's temperature is only 20 degrees Celsius, and it will turn from sunny to cloudy.

The tire wear was significantly lower than expected, so the team decided to stick to their final strategy: a one-stop service.

There were only seventeen cars on the grid. Manor team's two cars failed to participate, while Bottas missed the race due to a soft tissue contusion in his back during qualifying.

At a static start, the straight is very short for the front row drivers, with the pole position less than 300 meters from the braking point at Turn 1.

Therefore, front-row drivers need to be careful to stick to their lane when starting.

Based on last year's situation, the soft tires can probably run about 12 laps.

Jonathan TR: "Magnussen's car had an engine failure during the scouting loop. There were oil stains in corners 3 through 5. Be careful."

During the warm-up tire test, Wu Shi responded in the TR: "Yeah, I saw it."

Two parallel light-colored oil stains on the runway.

At this moment, Williams' assistant team leader, Claire Williams, was wearing sunglasses and watching the game from the pit lane.

Approaching Turn 15, Hamilton compressed the line so that the drivers behind could get into position more quickly and prevent their tires from losing too much temperature.

All cars are in position.

Five red lights turn on one per second.

Wu Shi moved his hands, and then he saw that all five red lights were lit.

(End of this chapter)