F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 205 Who are you calling old?

Up to the Bahrain Grand Prix, Mercedes' performance was far from bad, in fact, far ahead of the competition.

In terms of team points, they lead Williams by 53 points with 150 points, while their direct rival Ferrari trails by 59 points.

In short, Mercedes will most likely still win the team championship this year.

From the opening race to now, Mercedes has demonstrated unparalleled speed. To defeat them, one must work hard in areas other than speed.

This is clearly evident in the cases of Williams and Ferrari.

In terms of individual points, Hamilton leads the standings with 90 points, and just one more point would tie him with Ferrari's total points.

Wu Shi, who came in second, was 21 points behind Hamilton, and this was not just a matter of being behind in points.

It's obvious to anyone with eyes that if Mercedes drivers perform normally, Williams simply cannot take the victory from them.

The gap between Hamilton and Wu Shi will only widen.

Rosberg, who had trailed in the previous rounds, has now climbed to third place, and with 60 points, he is only 9 points away from catching up with Wu Shi.

If he can perform more consistently, like the veteran, then neither Ferrari nor Williams will likely be able to continue to take points away from him.

To outsiders, Mercedes' sweep of the top two spots in the drivers' races might seem boring, but for the team, it's the ultimate goal they're striving for.

Toto Wolff chose to hold this internal meeting because they were encountering some problems in their pursuit of the ultimate goal.

The two Mercedes drivers sat together, dressed in clean and bright team uniforms, neither of them showing any expression.

The engineers from the team were also mostly present.

Toto took out the results sheet for the first four races and said, "We encountered some problems in the first four races. The stability of the vehicle did affect us and caused us to earn fewer points."

After he finished speaking, Rosberg tapped the corner of his eye with his index finger.

"In Bahrain, the post-race data shows that brake cooling is indeed a major problem. Both Nico and Lewis gave us the same feedback."

"So this shows that when we can't consistently get a front-row starting position in qualifying, this weakness will be magnified and then affect the whole race!"
"Our engineering team is now considering updating the kit to provide better heat dissipation for the brakes."

Toto didn't blame anyone; instead, he laid out the problem and continued:
"We will do our best to build a car that can win the championship, and the rest will depend on the performance of your two teams."

“I want to emphasize again that we are fair to both of them on the track, and I do not want to see the two Mercedes cars suffer a loss of collective interest because of the competition.”

"You must remember that you are not just driving for yourselves, but for the team. The victory is not just your own achievement, but the achievement of the entire team."

Toto finished speaking swiftly and decisively, then looked at the two drivers.

Hamilton nodded, looking like a student attentively listening to a lecture, and began:

“I understand all of this. I’ve always done it this way, and I will try my best to bring back as many points as possible.”

After saying that, the old man pursed his lips, indicating that that was all he could say.

He performed well in all four races, so he naturally felt that these words had nothing to do with him. As for the fact that the car was stuck and dragged down Rosberg, it didn't cause any damage to the car, so it didn't count.

Rosberg noticed Toto's gaze, opened his clasped hands, placed them on the table, and said:

"In the previous races, I was affected by various factors and was not able to perform to my full potential. I will try to overcome this in the later races. I just hope that my strategy and Hamilton's strategy should be exactly the same, without any bias."

Toto nodded and looked at the two track engineers.

Bono, the old man's track engineer, spoke first:

"Our crew does not conceal any strategies internally; we proceed according to the plan discussed beforehand."

"Sometimes the strategy team does need to consider a differentiated strategy, but this is also determined based on the position in the market."

In the previous race, Rosberg saved an extra set of soft tires, which resulted in fewer opportunities for him in practice. Everyone understood this, and there was no need to explicitly state it.

However, as Bono said, considering the possibility of a three-phase shutdown in Bahrain, the differentiation strategy is to avoid being wiped out in one fell swoop like in Sepang.

The princess's track engineer pouted, and said while waving his hand:

“I think we will discuss this issue with the strategy team. This is more for the benefit of the team. Sometimes I think someone has to take on additional risks.”

This statement is obviously meant to exonerate Rosberg, suggesting that Rosberg's problems in the previous races were caused by sacrificing his personal interests for the team's benefit.

Toto had foreseen this scene long ago. In just a few races in 2014, the friendship between these two friends who had been together since their karting days broke down like a rotten melon on the ground.

With the 2014 model as a precedent, both drivers knew from the beginning of the 2015 season that it would be a battle between the two of them in the end.

In situations where there is no intense struggle leading to vehicle damage or even a complete breakdown, Toto doesn't want to get too involved; as long as everyone maintains sufficient restraint, it's fine.

But who knew that Ferrari would suddenly appear this year, and then Wu Shi would appear from Williams' side. In addition, Wu Shi is currently ranked second in the points, and the runner-up position for drivers has already been taken by someone else, so he is naturally somewhat dissatisfied.

Toto sometimes thinks before going to bed about what kind of results Wu Shi would achieve if he replaced any Mercedes driver.
The moment the idea popped into his head, his heart raced.

However, as the team leader, he quickly calmed down. Just like the opposing voices in the team before, Hamilton, Rosberg winning the championship and Wu Shi winning the championship made no difference to Mercedes.

Given this, why abandon a stable, experienced driver in favor of an unpredictable rookie?
Ultimately, some insiders, including those at Daimler, held prejudices against Wu Shi's nationality and ethnicity.

"I'm bringing this up today so that everyone knows that we will be following a new decision-making process that will ensure fairness while being efficient."

Toto got up, pulled up the whiteboard, and began to showcase his unique management and operational talent.

The meeting, which he led, lasted for more than two hours and went through the issues in the team once again.

Just as in 2014, when two drivers were forced to issue a public statement promising no more infighting that would harm the team's interests, today's meeting is also about uncovering the ins and outs of the power struggles.

This is quite different from Ferrari. Because Ferrari lacks a strong enough leader and is riddled with internal factions, it is impossible for them to resolve matters quickly and simply.

Different management styles naturally led the two powerful teams to different futures.

After the meeting, Hamilton seemed relaxed. He looked at Rosberg and extended his hand, saying, "Fairness. I've been doing this since 2014."

Rosberg glanced at him, then shook his hand and said, "Yes, as long as it's fair, that's enough."

Mercedes' internal meeting did not release any public information, but some Italian media outlets have somehow obtained information and started spreading rumors that Mercedes will replace its driver next year.

However, British media then published a completely opposite report, saying that Mercedes would give both drivers the utmost respect.

While major media outlets reported relatively objectively, smaller media outlets started to play with historical narratives. One independent British car review site stated that Mercedes was dissatisfied with Hamilton's selfishness, believing that he would always prioritize his own interests at the expense of the entire team.

The team doesn't want a driver like that and will most likely replace Hamilton next year.

At the same time, the team also disliked Rosberg, believing that the driver's ability to control his emotions was too weak, and that he performed even worse than rookie drivers.

If he didn't have German citizenship, he would have been fired long ago.

So what was he predicting?

He predicts that Toto will eventually move his wife Susie from Williams to Mercedes to continue as a test driver, while also making the well-coordinated duo of Wu Shi and Massa Mercedes drivers for next year.

Why was Wu Shi considered? Not only because of his performance, but also because Toto and Susie had adopted him as their godson.
This extremely abstract manuscript was deleted not long after, but Wu Shi did see the screenshot Louise sent him.

He took a deep breath. It was only 2015, and there were already people spouting such nonsense.

However, news within the paddock is always unfounded; seemingly random reports often contain some useful information.

After reading most of the media reports, Wu Shi basically believed that something must have happened inside Mercedes-Benz during this period.

However, this doesn't concern him much. The calendar is done year by year, so whatever happens can be dealt with next year. Anyway, Sid will keep an eye on it, so he doesn't need to worry too much.

Speaking of Sid, this professional is planning to send his 5-year-old son to Bianchi to try go-karting training.

As for why this matter needed to be discussed with Wu Shi, it was because Bianchi said there was no need to consider the cost of the little one, but Sid insisted on paying for it. Although he eventually paid for it, Sid still felt it was necessary to discuss it with Wu Shi.

Back in the paddock, the FIA ​​held a debate on May 4 about whether to increase the number of engines available for the season.

Red Bull and Red Bull naturally gave their full support to increasing their numbers, but unfortunately Ferrari, Williams, McLaren, and Force India all disagreed.

Adding an engine means each team will have to spend an extra 130 million euros.

Horner expressed his great dissatisfaction after the meeting. After all, for four races, Red Bull and Toro Oil basically had to disassemble a new engine for each race, and the quota had been used up. Now they could only patch things up.

At the pre-race press conference, each team basically revealed the upgrades for this race.

Mercedes has made changes to its aerodynamics, but how well it performs will definitely have to be seen in practice.

Anyway, Niki Lauda has said publicly that Mercedes is still very unstable in the face of Ferrari and Williams.

Upon hearing this, Wu Shi covered his face in disbelief. The old man was just making him a target of hatred! What does "Wu Shi of Williams" even mean?
If Massa hadn't had a good relationship with him, those words might have subtly caused disharmony within the team.

Vettel said that he saw the difference between Ferrari and Mercedes during a private test drive in Barcelona three months ago.

No matter what upgrades Ferrari brings to this race, it won't be satisfactory.

The teams that are good say they are not good, and the teams that are not good say they are even worse.

Focusing on just one thing won't work.

On the contrary, Renault, which had been plagued with problems, updated its engine settings, and the director confidently said, "This is a smoother and more reliable engine."

What does Red Bull, which uses Renault engines, have to say about this?

They all think the rule of four engines a year is simply unreasonable. What else can they say? Of course, they don't trust it.

McLaren has adopted a new paint scheme, replacing the silver-grey color with black, which looks somewhat like a lotus flower.

Speaking of Lotus, they also mentioned that they changed their aerodynamic components in hopes of competing with Red Bull.

A reporter immediately asked why not compete with Williams, which also uses Mercedes engines.
The spokesperson for Lotus's fleet glared at the reporter, as if to say, "Why bring up something you don't want to talk about?"
Lacking funds, the Indian team postponed the update to the next race, the Monaco Grand Prix.

Williams did not bring about an update, for the same reason as the Indian Forces: a lack of funds and an inability to make good use of the limited funds available.

Even though Wu Shi had tried his best to provide the engineering team with various data, he still couldn't resist changing the parts, which was something Wu Shi couldn't help with.

"I heard Audi has started a project to join Formula 1?"

After the press conference, the drivers sat together for a meal, and Massa suddenly asked a question.

"I've heard the news that our former sporting director, Massimo Rivola, has been recruited by Audi. Could this be a hint that they might come to F1?"

Vettel didn't mind revealing some news that had already been reported in the news.

Upon hearing this, Brother Tou immediately laughed and said, "How many years has this been going on? I remember I was already saying it when I won the championship (2005), it's been ten years already."

Wu Shi laughed when he heard this, "Maybe we'll have to wait another ten years before Audi comes to F1."

Everyone just laughs at Audi, a team that's been rumored to be joining F1 every year but never actually does for various reasons.

When Audi was actually going to join F1, it didn't need anyone else to say anything; the drivers were more sensitive, since a new team meant new seats!
Even if it's a reincarnation, a big brand like Audi is a powerful reincarnation. Putting aside everything else, its funding and technology are definitely not the same as those of smaller racing teams.

Furthermore, the Volkswagen Group (Audi is one of Volkswagen's sub-brands) does indeed lack a project in F1, but Volkswagen Group Chairman Ferdinand Piëch opposes participating in F1.

Yes, he resigned a while ago.

The reporters were delighted again, thinking this seemed to indicate that Audi was about to join F1.

However, the drivers were certain that no one contacted them, meaning it was most likely FAKE NEWS.

“Mick went to run F4,” Massa brought up another topic.

Previously, Schumacher's press officer said that Schumacher's rehabilitation treatment had made some progress.

However, the drivers who were close to Schumacher knew a different story.

As Massa mentioned, Mick Schumacher went to race F4, which is probably why the press officer came out to announce Schumacher's latest situation.

“Mick is only three or four months younger than you, right?” Brother Tou said, putting his arm around Wu Shi’s shoulder.

"I was born in December 1998, but I'm not sure about Mick's birth age," Wu Shi said honestly.

Vettel, seeing Wu Shi's still youthful face, said:
"When you're on the track, I always feel like I'm facing not a child who hasn't even reached adulthood yet, but a veteran who has been driving F1 for ten years."

"Hey, who are you calling old?" Brother Tou joked.

(End of this chapter)