F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 167 This is all thanks to the car team
Because the soft tires lasted much longer than expected, Wu Shi's lap time didn't drop to 1 minute 33 seconds until the 321th lap, which was similar to Rosberg's.

"BOX, BOX, BOX!"

We've already made five rounds of profit, which is a huge windfall!
As Wu Shi drove into the maintenance area, Claire raised her sunglasses, glanced at the crew members who were preparing intently, and then looked at the No. 59 Williams that had driven in.

She has a keen eye for anyone who makes a mistake during this tire change.

Click!

The sound of the jackhammer rang out, and the crew skillfully removed the tires, while the other four immediately installed them.

Pfft!
The tires were installed, and the vehicle was brought to the ground.

Buzz!

Wu Shi floored the accelerator to the maximum speed limit and sped out of the repair area.

"The Williams team played exceptionally well today! 2.81s!" Bingge shouted excitedly.

"Let's see that Wu Shi is now out of the pit lane, 3 seconds ahead of Vettel and 14 seconds behind Rosberg."

"Rosberg's current lap time is around 1 minute 33.2 seconds, with 17 laps remaining," Fei Ge read out the data.

"What is 14 divided by 17?" the soldier suddenly asked.

"Can't you calculate it?"

The soldier counted on his fingers, chuckled, took out his phone, and said, "I'll just press the calculator."

"0.82."

"It only takes less than a second to close the gap on each lap," the soldier said, but he didn't seem very excited.

If Rosberg only closes the gap by one second per lap, then he wins, because after catching up, he still needs a good lap time to overtake.

"Wu Shi's average lap time on that soft tire was 1 minute 32.436 seconds, right? He only needs to run 17 laps on this medium tire. I wonder what kind of lap time he can achieve."

Everyone watched in silence.

On lap 33, Wu Shi's new tires made their debut with a lap time of 1 minute 211 seconds, almost the same as the old man's new white tires.

On the forty-second lap, the lap time was improved to 1 minute 31.985 seconds!

In the Mercedes-Benz service area, Toto frowned deeply.

On lap 43, Kimi pitted after his left rear wheel broke down. Shortly after leaving the pit, his engine malfunctioned. Following team instructions, he stopped the car on the grass, triggering a brief yellow flag.

At this point, Wu Shi was only a little over 12 seconds behind Rosberg.

On lap 44, Perez overtook Button and entered the points zone.

Wu Shi was 11.001 seconds behind Rosberg.

On lap 45, Eriksen went off the track, ran over the gravel run-off area, and was overtaken by Sainz when he came out.

Wu Shi was 9.985 seconds behind Rosberg.

On lap 49, Button's McLaren Honda experienced engine trouble, but he still tried to finish the race.

Wu Shi was 8.456 seconds behind Rosberg.

On lap 30, Hamilton set the fastest lap record of 1 minute 945 seconds, improving Rosberg's record set in 2014 by one and a half seconds.

Wu Shi was 6.75 seconds behind Rosberg.

On lap 30, seemingly in response to Hamilton's lap time, Wu Shi also set a new fastest lap, improving his time to 1 minute 311 seconds.

In just this one lap, he closed the gap with Rosberg by 2.8 seconds.

At that moment, he was only 3.95 seconds away from Rosberg.

Of course, tires aren't used like that, so on the fifty-second lap, Wu Shi's speed returned to 1 minute and 31 seconds.

Rosberg's medium tires had already completed forty-one laps, and the wear was still ongoing.

On lap 54, Wu Shi entered Rosberg's one-second zone on the curve after turn 9.

Everyone in Williams' P room was intently focused on the screen.

"They're here! They're finally here!" the soldier shouted.

At the two high-speed corners, 11 and 12, the soft tires, which were in their optimal performance range, gave Wu Shi an extremely strong handling space.

He stayed close to the right edge of the track, finding the right angle to enter the apex of Turn 12 from the entrance of Turn 11.

During this period, the speed was maintained at over 200 kilometers per hour, and the speed would only decrease to the cornering speed when approaching turn 12.

This was the running method used in the qualifying rounds, which Wu Shi used directly in the main race.

When Rosberg saw Williams speeding past in the rearview mirror, he broke out in a cold sweat!
"After Turn 12, there is a DRS zone. If Wu Shi's car is one second behind Rosberg, he will have the right to activate DRS! So will he choose to attack here?"

"DRS activated! Williams' amazing straight-line speed is fully unleashed, and Wu Shi is rapidly closing in on Rosberg."

"But the distance doesn't seem to be enough; Wu Shi needs more space to close the gap before he can find a way to overtake."
"Wu Shi moves towards the inside! Rosberg changes lanes to defend the middle line!"
"Oh! No brakes! That Williams went straight toward the apex of Turn 13, Wu Shi didn't brake!"
"What is he doing?! Oh my god! His front tires are smoking, but he's got the car under control!"

The words from David's mouth flew out like a machine gun.

Wu Shi's extreme late braking did not result in a complete overtake; he was indeed still quite far behind Rosberg.

Rosberg had already entered the apex, while Rosberg only slowed down enough to turn after cutting through the apex.

He stared intently at the flashing red taillights of the Mercedes ahead.

Wow, it's still charging.
Wu Shi drove the Williams closer to the inside edge, still preparing to cut into Turn 14 from the inside. Rosberg, seeing this, still chose to defend along the middle line. Wu Shi's reckless charge just now made him hallucinate the Verstappen he had seen earlier.

Did these two newlyweds ride in bumper cars?!

His anger continued to grow, not only because of Wu Shi's attack, but also because of the wrong pit stop strategy and the messy start of the game.

It's hard to imagine the barrage of criticism he'll face after the race, losing to a rookie driving a Williams while driving a Mercedes.
Wu Shi wasn't sure if his eyes were playing tricks on him—he was indeed quite tired. There was a slight swaying in the Mercedes ahead, which only happens when the driver makes a sudden, subtle correction to the direction.

The tires are in such bad condition?!
He had originally planned to wait until the last two laps to launch his real attack, but changed his mind at the last minute. At Turn 14, he still relied on extremely late braking, almost plunging his front wing into Rosberg's rear wheel.

Buzz!
The two cars began to accelerate one after the other on the straight road, and after just one press of the accelerator, the "whoosh" of downshifting sounded again.

Rosberg cut into the corner from the center line, while Wu Shi, who came shortly after, moved almost from the outside line to a position parallel to the apex of the corner before suddenly turning into the apex.

Rosberg was clearly faster entering the corner, but because he was on the center line, his exit angle was insufficient, preventing him from accelerating quickly.

Wu Shi was a body length slower when entering the turn, but after he rounded the bend, he was straight ahead of the straightaway between turns 15 and 16.

Buzz!

Wu Shi adjusted the engine output power and the gearbox knob, and Williams' acceleration was quickly increased.

Rosberg made no hesitation in giving up space, his idea being to reclaim the DRS after Turn 16.

However, he found that Wu Shi was following closely behind him, showing no sign of overtaking him.

What a shrewd fellow!

After cursing inwardly, Rosberg lacked Verstappen's shameless courage to slam on the brakes before the DRS was activated, and instead accelerated toward the straight.

“I need more engine power,” he told the crew in the TR.

"Mode Two," the crew replied.

Swish!

Both cars rushed through the DRS inspection line, and Wu Shi was slightly behind in getting the inspection.

Buzz! ! !
Both Mercedes engines were roaring and raging, and from a distance, the heat from their exhaust pipes seemed to distort the air.

"Will we pass this time?!" The two from Six Star Sports got excited, and they would almost always ask this in a suppressed voice when they were excited.

The answer is certainly yes.

Rosberg's tires were so bad that even with the engine power increased, the speed couldn't be increased much.

With DRS, Wu Shi completed the turn-off shortly after the starting grid line, just like a fast train passing a slow train.

Rosberg immediately began defending the paint.

Wu Shi, completely unconcerned, aimed at the outside line and cut into the apex of the corner, pressing down on Rosberg.

The race car, billowing with heat, looked like a fireball crashing into it.

Rosberg glanced out of the corner of his eye and slowed down the direction of the left turn.

Wu Shi precisely controlled the vehicle, leaving enough space before turning left into turn two.

The difference in tires is even more pronounced here.

Despite Rosberg's gentler exit line from the corner, his rear wheels experienced slight slippage.

"Yes! It's a pass!" In the studio, the soldier jumped up in excitement.

"A brilliant overtake! Wu Shi perfectly utilized the track space and tire advantage to overtake Rosberg! He's back in second place!" David commented.

clap clap clap! ! !
Applause erupted in Williams' P room.

Claire beamed with joy, and Jonathan finally didn't have to pinch his cheeks to suppress his laughter anymore; he could laugh out loud.

Compared to the joy on Westbrook's side, the Mercedes pit stop was much quieter, with everyone silently watching the screen.

Toto crossed his arms over his chest, lost in thought.

After passing Rosberg, Wu Shi regained clean air and successfully widened the gap to one second after three combination corners.

Rosberg's radio was eerily quiet for a long while before he suddenly said, "This is all thanks to the team."

Peter immediately replied to Rosberg in TR: "Nico, I know you're upset, you've done enough."

It's clear to anyone with a discerning eye that the mistakes made in the early stages of the race are what set the tone for the normal course of the race. Therefore, Rosberg's view that the team's strategy was flawed is undoubtedly a one-sided blame.

Therefore, Peter had to remind his partner.

On lap 55, Eriksson overtook Sainz.

On lap 57, Hamilton, who was in the lead, had already pulled a lap ahead of Ricciardo, who was in seventh place.

On the final lap, Lewis Hamilton crossed the checkered line first under the waving checkered flag, securing his 34th victory.

Wu Shi crossed the finish line second, and Jonathan's congratulatory voice immediately came through his earpiece: "Congratulations! You've secured your first F1 podium finish, our dear runner-up at the Australian Grand Prix."

"Thank you! It's all thanks to the team." Wu Shi was in a good mood, but he started spouting platitudes.

The crowd erupted in applause, but Wu Shi didn't wave. As a rookie, he had no fan base in Australia.

Looking up at the stands, you see either the Iron Buddha Temple fans in red hats or the Mercedes-Benz fans in black hats.

(End of this chapter)