F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 196 After the Match
By the time Wu Shi drove his vehicle back to the pit lane, the other drivers had already completed their post-race checks.

He parked the car, completed the weighing, and everyone congratulated him along the way.

As he walked through the aisle where the hostesses stood, many people greeted him in his familiar mother tongue: "Congratulations! Wu Shi!"

He waved to them and ran into the lounge.

Hamilton was constantly pulling at his hair, and he wasn't exchanging any words with his teammate Rosberg, but the smile on his face showed that he was in a pretty good mood.

"Wow, congratulations, kid! How does it feel to stand on the podium at home?" Hamilton came up and gave him a high five.

“Quite impressive.” Wu Shi smiled and nodded, saying, “Congratulations to you for breaking the record of no one winning two consecutive championships in the previous tournament.”

"Haha, this is indeed something to be excited about."

On the other side, Rosberg also stepped forward to give Wu Shi a high-five and congratulate him, saying, "Congratulations, today's match was really tough. I didn't expect you to be able to stop Vettel."

"Everyone's tires are under considerable strain, and there's not much room for maneuver," Wu Shi said.

Since Wu Shi arrived late, the awards ceremony outside was already prepared. He drank a few sips of water, tidied his hair, put on his hat, and then heard the host's shouts outside.

"Let's welcome Wu Shi, the third place winner of today's competition!"

"Wow! W ...

As soon as Wu Shi stepped out of the rest room and appeared, cheers rose higher and higher, demonstrating the enthusiasm of the fans after the local driver took the stage.

The sustained cheers surprised Rosberg and Hamilton, who went on stage later.

The three drivers were ready, and three national flags appeared on the electronic screen behind them: from left to right, the German tricolor flag, the British Union Jack, and the Chinese national flag.

Unfortunately, "God Save the Queen" was sung again this time. However, as David said, when Wu Shi stood on this platform, all Chinese car fans could look forward to the time when the national anthem would be played.

After the national anthem was played, Zhao Wen, the deputy mayor of Shanghai and director of the F1 China Grand Prix organizing committee, presented Hamilton with the championship, followed by Zhan Guojun, vice president of FASC, who presented Rosberg with the runner-up title.

According to the rules, the third place should also be awarded by the latter, but the third place winner at home sometimes enjoys special privileges arranged by the tournament schedule.

Mayor Zhao handed the third-place trophy to Wu Shi, who quickly bowed to accept it.

"What a young hero! Keep up the good work!"

"Thank you, I will continue to work hard!"

"well."

Wu Shi raised the trophy towards the audience, and cheers erupted once again.

As the awards ceremony concluded, an excited Hamilton picked up a bottle of champagne and was about to spray it when the two leaders quickly dodged away.

Fortunately, Hamilton wasn't planning a sneak attack. He first sprayed the Mercedes crew standing on the sidelines, and Rosberg followed him there.

Wu Shi shook his head and then took a sip.

Hamilton and Rosberg's teammates below the spray booth immediately ran over and started spraying Wu Shi.

"Haha, now he can drink his fill," the soldier laughed.

After the champagne, a routine interview was conducted by a Fox Sports reporter.

The reporter came up, shook hands with Hamilton, and said in a steady voice, "Congratulations, Lewis."

Hamilton, all smiles, shook hands with the reporters and then addressed the entire audience, saying, "Hello!"

Over the past decade, the old man has amassed a considerable following in China, and his "hello" still elicits a great deal of cheers.

Hamilton immediately replied, "Thank you!"

And he waved in greeting.

After the old man finished his performance, the reporter asked, "That was another amazing PTW. What happened during it? How did you manage to do it?"

"First of all, the team gave me a very good car."

Wu Shi listened quietly to the standard answer.

The reporter then asked in his second question: "You just greeted the fans in Chinese, which was quite good. I'd like to ask who you learned that from?"

The old man, still smiling, paused only briefly before immediately pulling Wu Shi close and saying:

"As you can see, I have a wonderful young Chinese man by my side. We established a friendship a long time ago and can speak a few simple Chinese sentences, thanks to Wu Shi's help."

Wu Shi, who was watching the drama unfold, was stunned. Goodness, this old man did something so sudden just to attract domestic fans!
However, he and the old man had a good relationship, so he waved to the cheering crowd in response.

The reporter nodded, ending the interview with the old man, then turned to Rosberg and asked, "You finished second today, how do you feel now?"

“Yeah, it’s still a bit tough to be in second place,” Rosberg said directly.

On the other side, the old man said to Wu Shi, "Didn't you catch up with Rosberg from behind?"

"It's too difficult. Even though I can feel you're pressing down on the car, it's still hard to do." Wu Shi shrugged. The performance gap between vehicles can't be bridged by just talking.

Williams was already the third fastest car in the paddock, and it was already quite an achievement that he could outpace Ferrari. No one else could have driven it better than him.

"If you stop, you might still have a chance to fight back."

“Really? Don’t be ridiculous. The tires couldn’t possibly support a complete stop. But I heard from Jonathan later that Rosberg complained that you were driving too slowly and were holding the car up?”

"This is the team's order to slow down. We need to maintain an absolute lead in the team standings. It's his business if he throws a tantrum in TR, but if you don't want to hear his complaints, then don't put so much pressure on him," Hamilton joked.

"How could that be? If I didn't chase him, Vettel would chase me. I was forced into it." Wu Shi said frankly that this race was no easier than the previous two.

To outsiders, he was just running lap after lap, but he was exhausting himself trying to keep the tires moving.

If they don't do this, like Massa, they'll be left 20 seconds behind, becoming the dividing line between the front and midfield groups.

At this point, the reporter had finished interviewing Rosberg and turned to Wu Shi.

Before he could even ask a question, cheers erupted from the audience.

"Congratulations, Wu Shi. It's a pity I can't speak Chinese, otherwise I think it would be the most exciting thing for everyone to see if I could interview you here in Chinese today."

"Thank you." Wu Shi shook hands with the reporter and nodded in thanks.

"We see you achieve third place and stand on the podium again. If my calculations are correct, you should be in second place in the standings right now. This is a remarkable achievement, especially considering you played an excellent game at home today. How do you feel?"

"Yeah." Wu Shi had barely uttered a sound when cheers erupted from the crowd.

He paused for a moment, then answered the reporter's question in English, as required by the FIA ​​that drivers must use the official language for official interviews.

However, after answering the reporter's question, he switched back to Chinese and repeated his statement:
"I feel great right now, I'm really excited to have achieved such a good result in my first time playing at home."

"When I was on the track, I also felt the enthusiasm of the fans. I think this kind of enthusiasm is a very precious support for every driver."

"The main challenge in today's race was tire control. I spent a lot of energy on it, but because of the difference in vehicle performance, I didn't have a good way to maintain the pace of chasing Mercedes. However, I think I did very well today because I held my position."

"In any case, the team and I are satisfied with this result. I am grateful to the team for all the preparations they have made for me; they have put in a lot of effort."

"Of course, finally, I also want to thank my compatriots for their support. I heard all the cheers and applause today. Thank you all! Thank you!" After he finished speaking, he bowed to the audience, and cheers erupted.

The reporters all feigned surprise, put their hands to their ears, and turned to look at the audience.

"Yes, every driver with such passionate fans would be just as excited as you. I'm so glad to witness history with everyone again. I'm sure you felt a lot of pressure when you stepped into the F1 circuit."

"But now, you have bravely withstood the pressure and are standing here. Congratulations again!"

"Thank you!"

The third round of the Formula 1 Grand Prix has come to a perfect end.

The discussion surrounding this less-than-stellar match afterwards was quite extensive, primarily due to the colonists' poor offensive operations.

Verstappen could have simply pulled open the guardrail where he was parked on the straight, a task that could have been resolved in half a minute, but it took him a full three laps!

This caused Kimi, who originally had a chance to catch Vettel, to be defeated by the safety car. Otherwise, in the last few minutes, we could have watched Ferrari fight amongst themselves.

Secondly, Rosberg lashed out at the team in the TR, believing that Hamilton deliberately held back, and publicly stated in the post-race press conference that Hamilton was only concerned with his own pace, making it risky for the team to secure a 1-2 finish.

That's certainly true. If Wu Shi, driving a Ferrari, had been following Rosberg, we might have witnessed a spectacular chase – a view widely touted by Wu Shi's fans.

According to Wu Shi himself, he doesn't like to speculate on what might happen. In reality, apart from being slightly unaccustomed to the car in Sepang, the Mercedes W06 performed disappointingly the most other times.

In the world of racing, a 0.5-second difference in a lap time is considered to be a level above the rest.

Therefore, Rosberg's complaints are essentially about his inability to catch up with Hamilton. If he could catch up, he wouldn't be complaining.

Wu Shi naturally hoped that the two of them would meet, and maybe he could happily pick up the wallets in the back. Unfortunately, it was an indisputable fact that Rosberg was slower in this matter.

To the public's surprise, Niki Lauda stood up for Hamilton, believing that Hamilton was right and that every driver is selfish.

Although Hamilton is still in the lead, the championship is a race where every point counts, so there's nothing wrong with him trying to beat his teammate in any way he can.

Most importantly, he felt that every driver in that position would have done the same thing.

That's true, and Wu Shi agrees. Talk about friendship on the field? Then why come to the competition? Just put on a show.

Finally, there is the discussion about Wu Shi himself. Even though his fellow rookies, Verstappen and Sainz, performed well enough, they were not as good as him at all.

After the Shanghai leg, Wu Shi's total points surpassed Vettel's, placing him in second place, which was truly surprising.

It's important to know that the race car Wu Shi was driving at this time wasn't the fastest car in the paddock, and it wasn't even the second fastest car, yet he still managed to get second place in the overall standings!
The general consensus is that Wu Shi was too consistent!

Unlike novices who always make mistakes, he made absolutely no mistakes!
In addition, stability also refers to Wu Shi's driving style. Throughout the race in Shanghai, his precise lap time control and accurate tire management amazed the professionals.

Online discussions are mostly about Wu Shi's future achievements, with many comparing him to Hamilton's first season. Some even believe that Wu Shi's performance this season has surpassed Hamilton's first season.

After all, the car that the old man was driving at the time was definitely one of the fastest in the paddock, while Wu Shi's car at this time, compared to Massa, was only at the third-fastest level in the paddock.

Whether a person is faster or a car is faster can be easily determined when there are teammates to compare.

Some drivers compete with their teammates for the championship, which means their car is fast; other drivers compete with strong drivers from other teams, which means they are fast.

Wu Shi at this time undoubtedly fits the latter definition.

On the internal network, there aren't that many professional car enthusiasts; most of the discussions revolve around Wu Shi's current popularity and expressing expectations for his potential world championship win.

The idea of ​​becoming a world champion is exciting to even think about.

Because of Wu Shi's influence, F1's popularity in China exploded, with various media outlets vying to report on it, far more enthusiastically than when Wu Shi first entered F1.

The influx of newcomers has also prompted veteran F1 fans to share their knowledge, such as the relationship between tire color and hardness, the use of two different tire compounds at each race, and why F1 races no longer use fuel.

Of course, Wu Shi could not see these situations.

The next practice session in Bahrain will begin on April 17th. The continuous race weeks leave the drivers with absolutely no time to rest.

He didn't even have time to explore the country before heading straight to the W team's headquarters, as the continuous development of the race car cannot be separated from the feedback from the drivers.

More importantly, it's about fine-tuning for the next match.

Each racetrack has different characteristics and requires different setups. F1 setups are often very complex, and sometimes a team's performance can be inconsistent, which is due to setup issues.

In just four days, Wu Shi and Ma Sa worked overtime. Wu Shi was even more tired because he had to complete more physical training to strengthen his body.

On Thursday at noon, when Wu Shi and Masa were resting and sitting together, Wu Shi couldn't help but sigh.

Why is the Mercedes so fast?

Massa glanced at his teammates, sipped his energy drink, shook his head, and said:
"Without a large amount of financial investment, it is impossible to enhance a race car. We have done the best we can. No, you should say that you have done the best you can."

He patted Wu Shi on the shoulder and said, "No one can do better than you. I am not one to admit defeat, but I only feel inferior to you."

Wu Shi was somewhat embarrassed, feeling that Massa had misunderstood; he wasn't really at Versailles, but genuinely surprised by Mercedes' speed.

Mercedes' performance at Sepang once led some to believe the car was no longer up to par, but it turns out that it was simply a case of Mercedes struggling to adapt to the heat.

It was just a matter of not being used to it. If Mercedes had prepared the tires in advance for that race, allowing the old man and the princess to use different strategies, Vettel and Wu Shi would have had absolutely nothing to do.

Unfortunately, there are no "what ifs." F1 is a competition involving many factors, including cars, drivers, strategies, and luck, and every single one of them is important.

"I just feel that if we could be faster..."

“Kid, not every driver can sit in the fastest car when they first come to F1. It’s already lucky that you were able to join a mid-to-upper-tier team,” Massa interrupted Wu Shi.

Wu Shi didn't quite agree with this statement. He did have the opportunity to sit in the Mercedes-Benz single-shell car, but unfortunately, he was affected by all sorts of bizarre things.

“Yes, focus on preparing for the competition. Overthinking won’t help your performance,” Wu Shi said.

The two got up and returned to the testing room, where the engineer was still calculating data.

At that moment, Jonathan called out, "Wu Shi, come here."

Wu Shi walked over and saw the dense array of data on the computer screen. He asked, "Lap time prediction, tire degradation prediction... why are there two sets of data?"

“This is a model that uses different formulas to calculate the results for your different running patterns,” Jonathan said.

"What? Different running styles?"

“Yes, you should know yourself that when you’re at your best, your driving is just like a robot with pre-programmed parameters,” Jonathan said.

Wu Shi scratched his head. Indeed, when he was fully focused, his driving was that precise. At that time, his brain was filled with all sorts of precise data, except for the scene in front of him.

He knows how much to turn on each curve, how much to apply the brakes, and how much to adjust each lap depending on the situation.

This is probably the running style Jonathan was referring to when he was in peak condition.

"Are you able to control it yourself?" Jonathan asked.

"Yes." Wu Shi nodded; there was no need to hide it.

"Excellent!" Jonathan exclaimed excitedly, "There's a lot to be done here!"

(End of this chapter)