F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 192 Hamilton's speed is slowing down

The sudden disappearance of the yellow flag and the convoy's "Push" command made Wu Shi completely disregard the tire, and he adjusted the engine mode, slightly increasing the engine output power.

He must create enough distance from Vettel on his out lap to give the team time to change tires.

Jonathan looked at the rising curve on the screen and knew that there were almost no problems on the track.

He had complete confidence in Wu Shi's driving stability. He turned and waved to the crew members watching the race from behind, took off one earphone, and said:
"Everyone! Get ready! No mistakes allowed! Even the slightest mistake could cost you a podium!"

The rare appearance of track engineers and crew members speaking out made everyone aware of the situation; they knew perfectly well whether they could maintain their podium position, and they knew exactly when the tire change would take place.

The crew began their preparations with great tension. After checking each of the four tires, they rolled out. The mechanic responsible for carrying the wheel guns repeatedly confirmed that the guns in his hands were functioning properly, and the guns behind him were also placed in their designated positions and were ready for use.

It's not their fault for being careless; they had made these mistakes during previous practice sessions—forgetting to take a tire, having a malfunctioning wheel gun, not having a spare gun on hand, and so on.

The mechanic in charge of the jack greeted the two backup technicians behind him, exchanging "OK" gestures to indicate that he understood.

The personnel responsible for observing the maintenance area also stood inside the safety line, paying close attention to the situation at all times.

During a tire change, the entire crew was mobilized, and no one was idle.

“Very good, you’ve now extended your lead to 1.7 seconds. Now it’s up to us.” Jonathan’s voice rang out in TR, and everyone was on high alert.

Wu Shi drove into the maintenance area, pressed the speed limit button, and drove all the way to his own pit lane.

The broadcast camera followed him the whole time, and a timer window appeared in the lower right corner of the screen.

Wu Shi's control of the race car was extremely precise. He plunged into the marked line of the preparation area, brought it to a steady stop, and the front and rear jacks immediately lifted the car up.

Four technicians held the tire in place, and with a series of clicks from the rotary tool, the technicians neatly removed the tire. Another four technicians then precisely fitted the new soft tire onto it.

Kaka!

The tires were installed, the jacks were lowered, and the observer signaled that the passage was safe!

Buzz!

Wu Shi stepped on the gas and drove the car onto the expressway.

[2.78s]
call!
The entire crew breathed a sigh of relief. The results were pretty good, and thankfully no mistakes were made. Everyone high-fived in celebration.

The timer on the broadcast screen continued to tick, but the camera was focused on the Ferrari speeding down the main straight.

Williams' slow, limited-speed driving in the pit lane made the spectators in the main stand hold their breath.

"It's coming, can we get ahead of Vettel?"

The soldier was also very nervous. The feeling of looking at his own driver and looking at other drivers was really different!
Wu Shi didn't think about Vettel's position; his only task now was to get out of the pit lane as quickly as possible and get through Turn 1.

As the detection antenna passed the exit line of the pit lane, the engine revved up instantly, and the car shot forward, heading straight for the center line of the track.

"They've caught up! But the gap between them isn't that big!" the commentator exclaimed.

Wu Shi turned into the bend, and Vettel's tires behind him had warmed up after the speeding car, putting him at a disadvantage.

Therefore, he must play his line as well as possible and not give Vettel any opportunities!
Buzz!

The race car followed the line to the highest point, and without being able to see the next apex of the corner, the steering wheel was turned left into the apex of corner number 3. This scene had been rehearsed countless times in the simulator and in the mind, and the attack on the corner was perfectly precise.

Vettel couldn't close the distance directly, and once Wu Shi's tires warmed up, he probably wouldn't have many opportunities to launch an attack.

The experienced Vettel was not prepared to rely on tire wear to gain this ill-timed overtaking opportunity.

What he's doing now is constantly putting pressure on Wu Shi, waiting for this rising star to make even the slightest mistake so he can launch an attack at his own pace. Unfortunately, this wait is destined to be incredibly long.

Unlike other drivers, Wu Shi has precise data for every corner in his mind. He can control the car to the extreme, and as long as he doesn't lose focus or change his driving style, he will almost never make a mistake.

The distance between the two quickly narrowed to 1.1 seconds, with Wu Shi running his lap to the limit.

After two laps, the distance between the two increased to 1.5 seconds.

Meanwhile, Wu Shi set a new fastest lap record of 16 laps, with a time of 1 minute 42.784 seconds.

"The position is stable; it seems there won't be an attack for quite some time," the soldier said.

"Yeah, we saw Hamilton pit for tires on lap 14, and Rosberg pitted on lap 15. Mercedes is really even-handed, their strategies are completely the same," Fei Ge remarked.

With riders entering the pits one after another, it means that the lagging riders don't have any clean laps to catch up, so they naturally can't do any overcuts.

Once the market stabilized, there was almost nothing to watch on the track except for the battles among the midstream groups.

As a result, not long after the 17th lap began, thick white smoke billowed from the rear of Kvyat's car, and he drove directly into the gravel area.

Matthew, who was nearby, immediately rushed forward with a fire extinguisher.

Fortunately, it wasn't an out-of-control crash. Kvyat stopped the car at the opening of the fence, and Matthew quickly put out the fire and pushed the car off the track.

As the car sped around and around, the only thing to watch for the audience was the roar of the engine and the screech of the air as it sped past.

There wasn't much to film on the broadcast camera, so it focused on Wu Zhenlin in the P room, where he was wearing Williams headphones and watching the broadcast from behind the control panel.

Actually, he didn't know much about this; he was just staring at the position data of "Wushi," which represented his son's name.

"Uncle, the camera is filming you from behind."

Louise had been photographed with Wu Shi in the Mercedes-Benz Arena's P-room before, so she was more sensitive to this kind of thing. After noticing the broadcast camera on the side, she immediately reminded him.

"Go ahead and take the pictures."

Wu Zhenlin smiled and waved to the camera in the direction Louise was pointing.

On lap 19, Rosberg's electrifying voice rang out:
"Please, could you reduce the amount of communication you have with me? There's no need to repeat things we've already said. I'll be more careful, so I can concentrate on driving, okay?"

Louise pulled at her headphones, pursed her lips, and said, "This microphone is terrible. Wu Shi's voice is still the best."

In fact, Mercedes just told Rosberg about the gap between him and Hamilton, as well as the gap between Wu Shi and him.

However, Rosberg could see Hamilton, and he could also see Wu Shi behind him through the rearview mirror; the distance between the three was not very large.

As long as you can't get close to the DRS zone, you don't need to pay any attention to this data!
After two laps, Rosberg said to the team, "Sorry, I know you mean to tell me Hamilton is a bit slow, but I need to manage my tires."

Why do races often become just about running laps? It's because tire management is an extremely important part of the race.

"The top five drivers are all using the same strategy: yellow in, yellow out. Massa, who has switched to medium tires, is now almost 10 seconds behind the leading group," the commentator said.

At this moment, Verstappen overtook Nasr, and the camera focused on Verstappen again.

On lap 22, Jonathan reminded everyone in the radio:

“Vettel is closing in on you, you have to pick up speed. The gap between you is now 1.01 seconds. Hamilton is slowing down, and the distance between you is closing.”

　①An undercut is a strategy where the following car pits first, gaining a better position by leveraging advantages in tires, environment, and rhythm. An overcut, on the other hand, involves the following car pitting later, taking advantage of the clean laps created by the car ahead to push up speed and overtake. In this era, overcuts are not common because when the car ahead pits, it means everyone is in the pit window, and tire wear is severe. Pushing too hard can easily lead to a spin, as Vettel experienced. Therefore, an overcut has become a very risky strategy, requiring drivers to have the ability to run fast laps on tires with no grip—most of those with this ability are already ahead in qualifying and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, won't lose their position in the race. Hence, overcuts are now very rare.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)