F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 166 YES! Twenty-three laps to go!
Rosberg felt agonizing, as it seemed the team had relinquished their choice when they switched him to medium tires.

Mercedes is indeed faster than Williams, with superior performance in both high-speed and low-speed corners.

However, that comparison was made with the same tires.

At this moment, Wu Shi, driving a Williams on soft tires, was able to maintain a lap time of around 1 minute and 32 seconds.

This lap time was almost a second slower than Hamilton's on soft tires, but almost half a second faster than Rosberg's on medium tires.

If the difference in each lap is only half a second, the next thirty-four laps will only create a 17-second gap, which is not enough for a single entry window.

However, don't overlook the fact that Rosberg's medium tires have already completed 13 laps and their performance seems acceptable so far, but what about after another 20 laps?

Just as Mercedes was in a dilemma, Westbrook's Jonathan said to Wu Shi in the TR: "I think the tires are in good condition, we can push a little harder!"

"Copy".

Wu Shi did a quick mental calculation; it was the twenty-fifth lap, and the tires had already run 11 laps and were in excellent condition.

In fact, just by looking at Hamilton, who is still running ahead, you can tell that under ideal conditions, he could easily run at least twenty-five laps on the soft tires – after all, Hamilton's soft tires were severely worn out in Q2.

Even if Williams' car wears out tires more, it's enough to last for twenty laps.

In other words, the next pit stop will be around lap 35, at which point I'll switch to the last set of new medium tires and run all the way to the end.

Thinking about it this way, Jonathan's words become understandable. The tires' lifespan far exceeded expectations, and Wu Shi wanted to widen the gap between himself and Rosberg as much as possible.

Even if it doesn't make it out of the station window, it can still use the new tires to chase after it.

The pairing of the new and the old is full of stories.

"Wow! Wu Shi's lap time looks pretty good. Rosberg's white tires can't catch up with him," Bing Ge commented.

"Yes, it seems the lower temperature today is making the tires very comfortable! Does this mean Wu Shi can maintain his second-place position?" Fei Ge said.

"That depends on Mercedes' strategy later. If Rosberg also takes a second stop, they might be able to catch up," the soldier analyzed seriously.

"Hahaha!" Fei Ge burst into a maniacal laugh.

"What's wrong?" the soldier asked with a smile.

"It feels so surreal. Mercedes is actually having to figure out how to catch up with a Williams, and this Williams is being driven by a Chinese person," Fei said.

"Yes! It's really impressive. Even if Wu Shi withdraws from this race, he will still be a hot commodity that all the teams are eyeing!" Bing Ge exclaimed.

"He's about 1.6 points faster than Massa on average, which is quite rare in the same group. Massa isn't a pay-per-view driver."

Fei Ge felt that his mindset, formed over so many years of watching F1, had been shattered.

"I have absolutely no idea how he managed to keep the pregnancy going and maintain the pace of pregnancy."

As the soldier was speaking, Mercedes-Benz's TR appeared on the broadcast screen.

Mercedes team's TR: "You're not fast enough."

Hamilton TR: "Yes, the tires are degrading very quickly now."

The simultaneous interpreter immediately translated it.

兵哥立即看向了圈速榜，惊讶道：“吴轼这圈跑到了1分32秒135！汉密尔顿的圈速下降到了1分33秒011。”

"It looks like Hamilton is about to enter the station."

As soon as Fei Ge finished speaking, the Mercedes team summoned Hamilton to the pits.

Of course, this pit stop had nothing to do with the other drivers on the track, as Hamilton had already built a lead of more than 30 seconds in the early stages.

"Mercedes' cars are still fast this year."

"But just looking at the Australian Grand Prix, it's hard to tell whether Hamilton or Mercedes is faster," Fei Ge laughed.

"Haha, you don't have to be so disparaging of Rosberg. Last year, he fought Hamilton to the very last stop." The soldier laughed.

"If Hamilton makes a mistake while changing tires, will Wu Shi still have a chance to overtake him?" Fei Ge started to fantasize.

"That's impossible, the distance between the front and back is too great." The soldier looked at the camera in the maintenance area.

This time, it seems that Six Star Dairy didn't have enough milk, and there was no instant milk production. Hamilton's tire change was a bit slow, taking 3.3 seconds, but that little time wasn't enough to change anything.

Unlike domestic crosstalk groups, the official commentators focused more on the commemorative significance. David announced in an impassioned voice, "Hamilton has pitted! His pit stop has indirectly created a new, almost unbreakable record for F1!"

"Of course, this record does not belong to Hamilton, but to Wu Shi, a driver from China!"

"Wu Shi, at the age of 16 years and 102 days, has achieved the lead in the main race! This will be the youngest leader in F1 history!"

Wu Shi on the track didn't care about this brief lead at all. When he circled around and came to the starting straight, Hamilton on the other side was already at the pit lane exit.

At this point, there was still a full 7-second gap between the two.

On lap 33, the new white car did not pick up speed, and Hamilton's lap time was only 1 minute 751 seconds.

But on lap 32, Hamilton's speed suddenly increased by an order of magnitude, reaching 1 minute 123 seconds.

Wu Shi's soft tires are currently in the late stages of their prime, and it is expected that they will start to degrade after a few more laps.

Jonathan TR: "Looks like they're preparing to pause."

Upon hearing this, Wu Shi glanced at the rearview mirror and saw that the Mercedes No. 6 was already far behind, estimated to be nearly five seconds behind. Clearly, Rosberg hadn't made any progress in the last few laps and was instead trying to maintain the tire.

Wu Shi (TR): "If he needs to protect the pregnancy, then I can't protect the pregnancy either."

After saying that, he looked at the knob on the steering wheel that adjusts the engine power and said, "Let's release it a little more."

After today's battle, he now knows exactly how much Mercedes is ahead of Williams.

The current situation is entirely due to two mistakes Rosberg made.

The first mistake was that Rosberg overdid it during their struggle, which was caused by Rosberg's impatience.

If Rosberg doesn't rush to surpass him, but instead takes his time to wear down his tires, Williams' tires will degrade much faster than Mercedes'.

At that point, Wu Shi would have no choice but to back down.

Of course, Rosberg was probably thinking about getting past Wu Shi as soon as possible to compete with his teammates for first or second place. Without God's perspective, no one knew that Wu Shi could defend so fiercely.

The second mistake was the team's tire change, which was a chain reaction caused by the first mistake. Originally, even if it was Xinbai, they could still catch up, but Panzi blocked them for a lap and a half.

So even a Mars rover can fail when faced with an incredibly complex competition.

Wu Shi's lap time continued to hover around 1 minute 32.1 seconds.

As a result, tire wear is accelerated.

Jonathan stopped looking at Wu Shi and kept staring at Rosberg, waiting for Mercedes' reaction.

If they keep pulling like this, by the time they enter the pits on the 35th lap, they'll be almost seven or eight seconds ahead.

When Wu Shi comes out in his new white uniform, he'll be right in front of Vettel and will definitely go all out to catch up with Rosberg.

On lap 33, Rosberg continued with his tire-preserving running style, and by this time he was 7.361 seconds behind Wu Shi.

Wu Shi's improved lap time after accelerating again surprised the Mercedes-Benz strategy team!
Anyone who didn't know better would think he was driving a different Mercedes!

On the same lap, Verstappen's engine started smoking, bringing the Toro Rosso to a stop on the grass and triggering a brief red flag.

The camera pans to Verstappen in the Toro Rosso pit lane, the former F1 driver looking utterly disappointed.

On the 34th lap, the gap widened to 7.935 seconds.

“Push as much as possible,” Jonathan said in TR.

"clear."

Williams' team radio call had just ended when it rang again on Mercedes' end.

Mercedes TR: "Push a little."

Rosberg TR: "How many laps left?"

Mercedes TR: "Twenty-three laps".

Rosberg yelled in the TR, "YES! Twenty-three laps to go!"

With the number of turns remaining on the steering wheel, how could he not know how many turns were left?

He was questioning the team: with 23 laps left, how dare they push on those old tires?!
If he had changed to a soft tire at the pit stop, would he have been in such a passive position?!
(End of this chapter)