F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 178 is not such a tragic thing.

10.080 seconds—that's the gap between Wu Shi and Vettel. He felt a bit anxious and asked the team, "Can his tires still keep up?"

Jonathan TR: "He's a bit slower, but you'll be slower fighting Hamilton."

Mudd!

Wu Shi cursed inwardly. He couldn't widen the gap between himself and Hamilton, and even if he replicated the DRS maneuvers in the next two rounds, it would be meaningless.

At this point, it was clear to everyone that he was in a dilemma.

A pole position won in the rain does not necessarily translate into a victory on a sunny day.

Realizing this, Wu Shi's intense resentment was ultimately defeated by reason, and he asked in TR: "What is my best strategy now? Please tell me."

Upon hearing this, Jonathan felt a lump in his throat. In the previous race, this young man was full of vigor and gave it his all for second place. In this race, starting from pole position, he was stuck here.

"You should try to save the pregnancy. Given the current rate of wear and tear, the wear and tear on this set of hard tires will come very quickly," he explained.

Wu Shi remained silent after hearing this. He was well aware of the tire situation, but he still felt uneasy when he heard the team's words implying that Hamilton should be given a pass.

In the midst of his emotional rollercoaster, lap twelve quickly came to an end, and Hamilton easily pulled away halfway down the straight using DRS.

This stark difference on a straight road is unstoppable—unless you draw a dragon.

After seeing this, commentator David couldn't help but sigh: "In the radio voice just now, we heard the advice given by the Williams team. Wu Shi no longer has any reason to continue fighting Hamilton."

"If this continues, it will only result in mutual destruction. Even after Rosberg breaks through the pack of cars behind him, he will still face attacks from two Mercedes drivers."

He paused when he mentioned two Mercedes attacking a Williams, then laughed:

"Haha, this is really unbelievable. We considered Ferrari and Red Bull when we were attacked by two Mercedes, but we never expected it to be Williams."

"Through two Grand Prix races, Wu Shi not only proved himself, but also brought the Williams car into the realm of competition for victory."

He stated it with the same firmness as drawing a conclusion, clearly showing his unique appreciation for this young man from China.

"Wu Shi is still very young. He will know that in F1, a large performance gap between vehicles cannot be compensated for by the driver's operation."

"But I don't think it's such a tragic thing. As mentioned before, he is still very young and will have many opportunities in the future."

As he spoke, the 59 Williams was already nearly 0.4 seconds behind the 44 Mercedes at Turn 15. Once the hard tires reached operating temperature, the Mercedes' superior acceleration performance was on full display.

Mercedes' decision to reserve more hard tires for Hamilton shows that they have higher hopes for the performance of hard tires in today's race.

After turning the corner and entering the long straight, Wu Shi turned on DRS, but it was already too late to close the gap.

Turn 1, no chance to attack.

"The hard tires are really terrible," Wu Shi complained in the TR. If it were medium tires, he would probably still have a fighting chance.

“I know you have to protect the tires; we need to proceed with the pit stop as planned,” Jonathan said.

"Ok, I know."

Wu Shi did not try to suck in Hamilton's wake on the subsequent straightaway, as that would have increased tire wear and shortened engine life.

After surpassing Wu Shi, Hamilton accelerated his speed once again.

On lap 14, the Mercedes team told Hamilton, "Your gap is 9.9 seconds, 9.9 seconds."

On the same lap, Rosberg overtook Grosjean and Hulkenberg. Jonathan, who was closely monitoring Rosberg's progress, immediately informed Wu Shi upon seeing this:
"Rosberg has surpassed Hulkenberg, and he is now 6.3 seconds behind you, 6.3 seconds."

"Please tell me about the difference in the clean circle later," Wu Shi said.

On lap 15, Sainz, Hulkenberg, and Grosjean, who had not pitted before, all made their pit stops.

The entry of the three cars into the pit lane has attracted much attention, as they likely opted for a two-stop strategy, similar to Vettel's.

Sainz switched to hard tires, while Hulkenberg and Grosjean switched to medium tires.

The tire changes were all fairly standard, with Grosjean slightly faster, entering the final two seconds.

Kimi, who was on the same lap, also pitted and switched to medium tires to continue racing. At this point, Kimi dropped from 12th to 18th place.

Clearly, the Vettel's medium tires' lifespan far exceeded expectations, making Ferrari realize that medium tires are surprisingly effective today.

They were probably planning to pit Kimi early in order to knock out some riders.

Jonathan said after Rosberg crossed the finish line, "Rosberg will be 0.5 seconds faster than you every lap, the main difference is in the third period, where you can be closed by at least 0.3 seconds."

“Then he shouldn’t be able to catch up with me before the tire is changed,” Wu Shi said.

Jonathan didn't reply to that question; instead, he was discussing with Rodrigo what tire to change to next time they stopped at the pits.

The strategy team naturally brought up Massa's case for comparison.

Massa, who also pitted on the fourth lap, was in better condition on his medium tires than Wu Shi, naturally because the struggle between Wu Shi and the old man wasted tires.

“Massa’s lap time is 0.5 seconds slower than Wu Shi’s. If Wu Shi were on medium tires, the gap would be even larger,” Rodrigo said.

"How's the tire wear?" Jonathan asked.

"It's alright, I expect it to slow down significantly after about eighteen laps."

"The hard tires will last for four more laps."

Jonathan silently did the math: four more laps of life, but an average of more than 0.3 seconds slower per lap—hard tires are a losing proposition no matter how you look at it!

The strategy team had already made up their minds by this time, but Kimi's lap time quickly attracted attention. He started his pit stop after Sainz, but overtook the rookie in less than a lap.

They then began to pursue Bottas ahead, and judging by their closing speed, they were quite fast.

For the next two laps, the camera focused almost entirely on the veteran driver, watching him overtake Bottas and then Perez.

At the end of lap 17, Vettel's pit stop instantly drew everyone's attention from one LaFerrari to another.

"It's a medium tire! Vettel has switched to medium tires again!" The soldier had sharp eyes and spotted the tires the crew had carried out.

"Look at how long it took Ferrari to change tires this time! Huh?! 2.4 seconds! It only took 2.4 seconds! Is Ferrari on the rise?!" the soldier exclaimed exaggeratedly.

In an average tire change time of 3 seconds, this 2.4-second tire change is truly remarkable!
On the track, Hamilton, with no obstacles ahead, continued to accelerate, while Wu Shi maintained a steady pace, and Rosberg continued to close in at a speed of 0.5.

“Rosberg is 5.1 seconds away from you.” Jonathan would report the status at each timing interval so that Wu Shi could control the speed.

Vettel exited the station, landing right behind Rosberg.

(End of this chapter)