F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 204 Can this be tolerated?
The Bahrain Grand Prix ended amidst the lamentations of the tifosi. At the post-race press conference, the three men, Lao Han, Princess, and Wu Shi, sat at the front of the stage.

I remember at the last stop, it was the same three people. That time, Wu Shi was sitting in third place, listening blankly as Rosberg complained about Hamilton.

This time, everyone's talking nonsense, but Hamilton is still emphasizing that Ferrari and Williams can threaten him, and that it's too early to talk about a third world championship.

Wu Shi said that FW37's potential is hard to tap, and the team has been considering upgrades, but progress is not optimistic.

Rosberg stated that the brake issues affected the race, and the clutch was not working smoothly, making the race quite difficult.

In short, all three podium finishers at the Bahrain Grand Prix complained about the cars not being good enough, and it's hard to know what the drivers who didn't make it to the podium were thinking.

Vettel apologized for his mistake, which was indeed a result of his performance being affected by pressure.

However, when asked by reporters about his thoughts on Wu Shi winning second place, he smiled somewhat shyly and told reporters:
"Wu Shi is truly the most talented driver I have ever seen. Many people may think he is just fast."

"But only those of us who drive in F1 know just how terrifying his abilities are."

“I dare say that if he could sit in a more competitive car, no one could compete with him for the championship, just like he did in lower-level formula and karting.”

Vettel's high praise, however, caused quite a stir for Wu Shi, with many people believing it was an overstatement, drawing a barrage of criticism from netizens on social media.

The truth is sometimes unimportant online; all people want is to express their emotions and opinions, without caring about logic or reasoning.

Subsequently, Alonso also spoke up for Wu Shi, saying on Twitter: "Wu Shi is the king of the new generation. He has convinced all of us with four games."

While attending the fashion show, Hamilton also took the time to post a photo of himself and Wu Shi outside the venue, with the caption: "Anyone can question his talent because none of these people have actually come to F1."

Faced with the praise from several renowned figures, Wu Shi naturally thanked them one by one, and said that he was just a newcomer in his first year and there were still many areas where he needed to improve.

Because there are nearly 20 days between the Bahrain Grand Prix and the next Spanish Grand Prix, the teams are not as rushed as they were last week.

In addition, the Barcelona Circuit in Catalonia is one of the F1 testing venues, and many teams have sent a portion of their teams there in advance to conduct private tests with older models.

The purpose of private testing is mainly to bring about aerodynamic upgrades, and it is usually carried out by the team's backup drivers or junior trainees.

It's a bit of a shame for Williams; their aerodynamics department is weak, and it's estimated that it will be difficult for them to bring about an upgrade in Spain.

During the two-day private test, Wu Shi was given a rare break and stayed at Itali's home.

Louise will graduate from high school next year, and her academic pressure is increasing year by year. However, when she heard that Wu Shi was back, she also took leave to come back.

Wu Shi didn't say anything. If someone is willing to take time off to be with you, you can't very well try to persuade them under the guise of doing it for their own good. What's done is done, and there's no point in saying anything more. It's better to spend some quality time with her.

"So, where are you planning to go? Or what do you want to do?"

Wu Shi stretched, and occasionally getting away from the roar of the engine made his mind clearer.

"It's only been two days, and there's not much fun to do outside. Hmm, let me think... how about you teach me to drive?"

Louise said happily, opened F1 2014, and started adjusting the configuration with the controller in hand.

Okay, I was just feeling sentimental about being far removed from racing, and now I'm all back to it.

The graphics in 2014 were quite good; at least the scene textures were decent, although the car body materials were somewhat overly bright and distorted.

"Which track?" Louise turned around.

Wu Shi sat down next to her and said, "It depends on which track you want to run on, I can do either."

"Then let's go to Monaco!"

Louise chose a Monaco save file and started playing.

The race car she chose was the Mercedes No. 6. She said, "You've driven this car before too."

Wu Shi nodded, "Yes, in Singapore."

Without realizing it, that memory is no longer so vivid.

"Hey, I haven't played in a while, so I might be a little rusty," Louise said, giving a heads-up.

"Let's practice together. I haven't played with a controller much before."

The race begins, and the screen starts directly from Turn 17, showing the Silver Arrow autonomous driving system on the track in first-person view.

Once you pass Turn 19 and head towards the long straight, control is finally given to the player.

Louise pressed the right trigger and floored the accelerator. As she approached Turn 1 and the guide line turned yellow, she hurriedly pressed the left trigger and then kept pressing the "X" button to try to downshift.

If this were done in real life, not only would it likely end up on a wall, but the gearbox would at least be totaled.

Fortunately, the game's assist mechanism allows the gears to decrease as the speed decreases.

Louise braked a little late, so she entered the corner very quickly. While braking hard, she hurriedly turned the steering wheel to the right to enter the corner, resulting in the car's front wheels losing all grip and the car crashing into the guardrail.

"Ugh! I messed it up!"

Louise muttered something and quickly accessed the settings to restart the game.

Just like before, the race car appeared on the long 17-turn track.

Louise learned her lesson this time and braked very early, but slowed down again just before the corner, and the blurry figure behind her flashed by.

She quickly pressed the accelerator, trying to regain speed, but accelerating at that moment, the terrifying acceleration of F1 cars directly increased the speed. When she tried to turn, the car understeered and crashed straight into the guardrail.

"Ugh, this is so hard!"

Despite her complaints, Louise has reopened the business.

She liked playing go-karts when she was a child, which shows that she actually had a passion for racing, but Wu Shi lapped her in one go.

Now, in the game, my competitive spirit comes out instantly.

Wu Shi did not "like to be a teacher," but simply sat beside her, put his arm around her shoulder, and played with her hair.

Louise's repeated attempts resulted in every single mistake a novice would make—

If you brake hard and turn without adjusting the brake balance, the front wheels will lose traction, resulting in understeer and the car will understeer and crash into the wall.

In an attempt to overtake his opponent, he braked extremely late, missed the final braking point, and even after pulling the trigger, he couldn't stop, and the entire car crashed into the runoff area.
Braking too early and then accelerating completely disrupts the rhythm;
When turning, if you're focused on steering, you can't coordinate with the brakes and accelerator to adjust the vehicle.
Poor control of the braking force during traction braking can lead to understeer, causing the car to understeer and crash into a wall.

At first glance, it does seem difficult to run a race well using a controller.

An hour later, Louise finally won the race in 14 laps.

"Yeah!!!"

She cheered and squeezed next to Wu Shi, asking, "Can you drive it so I can see?"

Wu Shi nodded, picked up the handle, and began to try it out.

The biggest difference between a joystick and a steering wheel is that using a joystick to precisely control direction will always result in a significant deviation.

Fortunately, Wu Shi has a good grasp of braking points and knows how much speed to enter the corner, so he won't make the same mistake as Louise.

"Wow, why do you drive so easily!" Louise muttered.

"That's how racing is. When you watch videos, everyone thinks it's nothing special, but when you actually drive it, you'll find that you can't control the car precisely at all," Wu Shi explained, and then said, "Let me teach you."

"\(^o^)/~Good!"

Louise was very happy, then pried Wu Shi's hand off the handle and sat down in his lap, leaning against him like a sofa.

Wu Shi was considerably taller than Louise, his chin resting just above her head, and a faint fragrance of her hair wafted over.

Wu Shi, who plays Louise, felt that he was about to have an unspeakable secret.

"What's wrong?" Louise looked up at Wu Shi.

"Hmm, it's nothing, let's drive."

Wu Shi took Louise's hand, grasped the handle, and began to teach her step by step.

"When playing the game, you don't need to pay too much attention to the guide lines, as they can sometimes mislead you. You should remember the checkpoints on the side of the track as markers for when to start braking."

This is a common mistake made by beginners: they think they have to wait until the yellow line to brake. In reality, sometimes you need to brake earlier and sometimes you can brake later.

Without years of dedicated study, it's difficult to truly understand this.

Of course, some people are naturally gifted and can quickly find a good line even when they are new to a track.

Once he focused on driving the race car, Wu Shi forgot about other things and held Louise's small hand as they raced three laps.

"Okay, I'll drive it myself now."

After receiving instruction, Louise felt full of fighting power, especially since she had just run away so easily.

As soon as she got behind the wheel, she found that things had changed. She moved the joystick too much in the corners, and when she tried to turn the steering wheel back, she turned it back too much, causing the vehicle to sway from side to side.

Sometimes, when she sees the wall rapidly enlarging beside her, she subconsciously steers to the other side, and then has to correct the direction immediately. Luckily, the assist system is on, otherwise she would definitely turn into a spinning top.

Louise isn't as quiet when playing games; she's just as lively and active as she was when she was a child.

After looking around for a while, Wu Shi realized something was wrong. The soft, squishy texture moving back and forth and side to side caused friction that quickly made him lose his composure.

Seeing Louise's excitement on the track, he didn't notice that he wanted to adjust the steers handle, but found it was too close; if he reached down, wouldn't that...?
Wu Shi hadn't expected to feel so powerless when facing a racing game, and he even felt somewhat flustered.

After all, he's a young boy who exercises a lot every day, so it would be strange if he didn't have internal heat!

"Yeah! Record broken!"

Louise raised the handle high and leaned back.

"hiss!"

Upon hearing the sound, Louise sensed something was wrong and quickly realized the anomaly. She immediately sat up straight, folded her shoulders, and pressed the handle against the empty space in front of her.

An awkward atmosphere immediately filled the air.

"cough."

"that."

Wu Shi's cough and Louise's voice, barely audible, rang out at the same time.

"I'm sorry," Wu Shi said.

“No, I don’t need your apology,” Louise said softly.

Once the matter was brought up, the awkward atmosphere dissipated considerably, and Wu Shi wanted to leave.

Louise, who had been sitting stiffly, suddenly leaned back.

hiss!
Louise, you're playing with fire!

"Can you hug me?"

Louise leaned against the chest behind her, but lowered her head, letting her hair cover her flushed face.

Upon hearing this, Wu Shi did not refuse and reached out to pull her into his arms.

The fragrance of soft jade is gentle and pleasant.

The two hearts, pounding, felt each other.

Louise suddenly twisted her body, turned around, and looked at his face.

“kiss”

The small voice was full of temptation, and Wu Shi's Adam's apple bobbed up and down.

Can this be tolerated?
Two days is neither a long nor a short time.

Before returning to the UK, Wu Shi learned from Martina that she had successfully navigated the upheaval caused by President Meng's departure and, due to her excellent business skills, seemed to be being transferred to a department within the F1 project.

Wu Shi could only scratch his head at this; the Ferrari business was a murky mess, and you never knew how much infighting and power struggles were involved.

Ferrari's performance has rebounded this year, and in 17 and 18, they even have the potential to win the championship.

As for why this momentum didn't translate into results, it's unlikely to be the fault of peak Vettel, but rather the result of internal team struggles manifesting on the track.

Wu Shi wasn't particularly interested in this either; he just wanted to finish this year's race first.

During this period, Sid did not find it easy because he had established himself in F1. On the contrary, he became busier because he was associated with more and more companies.

On the other hand, Bianchi recovered well after returning to his hometown, but due to some complex and permanent head injuries, he was no longer able to drive an F1 car.

As he had said before, he started running a go-kart track and invited Wu Shi several times to discuss the things he had mentioned earlier.

However, he is indeed busy during the F1 Grand Prix season, and he plans to wait until the summer break to discuss it further.

Back at the Williams factory, Wu Shi immediately sensed the strong work atmosphere.

The engineers didn't get any rest at all; they were working overtime almost every day to conduct research and development.

Wu Shi's arrival replaced Paul and Lynn in the testing process.

The most difficult part of R&D work is finding the right direction and improving components to achieve the desired results.

Wu Shi's engineering knowledge is not bad—or rather, every outstanding F1 driver is unlikely to be bad in this area.

Many F1 drivers may not have academic qualifications, but with their work experience, they can easily obtain employment contracts from relevant colleges and universities.

With Wu Shi's involvement, at least the various test data became more accurate, and his opinions were increasingly considered in research and development.

Williams' core issues remain understeer, lack of downforce in corners, poor tire management, performance degradation caused by the front wing nose cone when following other vehicles, and engine overheating.
In conclusion, this car has quite a few problems, but its merit lies in its top speed under light throttle conditions.

While Williams was developing faster vehicles, Mercedes held an internal meeting.

(End of this chapter)