F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 208 Easily Wins the Championship
"Wu Shi, the game restarts after you cross the grid line again. You should start to exert your strength and not give the back too much time to prepare. You can adjust the engine mode to 4."

Jonathan's voice came just in time; when drivers are under extreme stress, the track engineer's words of advice are especially important.

After Wu Shi responded, he adjusted the settings, swayed left and right twice after turning 15, and finally increased the temperature of the tires and brakes. He then immediately accelerated into the racing line and turned into turn 16.

With dynamic start-up, the leader gains the upper hand; if they make a sudden maneuver, they can almost immediately pull ahead of the following cars for a period of time.

Vettel's eyes were fixed on Wu Shi; he no longer cared about anything else and aimed at the white-clad Williams.

Even so, when Wu Shi suddenly started moving after warming up the tires, he was a beat too slow.

Buzz!

The engines roared, the broadcast camera focused on the starting straight, and the gradually rising track temperature caused the air in the camera to swirl.

Each F1 car seemed to be thrown into Turn 16; even from this perspective where the speed is not apparent, one can still feel the immense power contained within F1.

Wu Shi glanced at the rearview mirror. Vettel wasn't following very closely, and his sudden start had worked.

However, he couldn't relax, because the DRS would be available immediately after this lap, which was why Jonathan told him to unleash some engine power.

Having worked with Jonathan for so long, he naturally understood this meaning.

So once it started, it didn't slow down at all.

Just after Turn 5, Jonathan's voice rang out: "Switch the engine mode back to normal."

'Just a second away?'

Wu Shi wasn't quite sure, but he still made the adjustments as instructed.

At the same time, Ferrari, who overheard the team's radio, immediately informed Vettel of the situation.

“Oh! I know, I’m looking for opportunities,” Vettel replied.

The Germans knew that the Circuit de Catalunya was an extremely difficult place to overtake, with a pole position conversion rate of almost 90%.

Therefore, to defeat your teammates on the track, you must wait for the right opportunity.

Clearly, after the dynamic start, there is absolutely no opportunity to attack.

Wu Shi was incredibly stable when he was in the lead, like a precise machine.

Whoosh!

After completing a lap, Wu Shi set the fastest lap time of 1 minute 30.231 seconds.

Such a fast lap time naturally created a one-second gap between him and Vettel.

That's not all. Kimi probably also realized what Mercedes left behind after leaving the track.
That's the spot on the highest podium!
So he followed Vettel closely, even at the cost of some tire wear, in an effort to overtake his teammate, resulting in a time difference of only 0.4 seconds between them.

The result after one lap was surprising, but also reasonable.

As can be seen from the qualifying rounds, the Williams car remains highly competitive in Wu Shi's hands.

Furthermore, their tire management capabilities are unparalleled in the paddock, making Massa's data completely unreliable.

At this moment, the camera panned away and focused on Hamilton as he walked off the track. The director clearly understood the importance of camera language.

Meanwhile, DRS was activated on the track.

“Wu Shi, you don’t need to worry about Vettel’s attack for now. He needs to compete with his teammates, so watch your tires. You have a big advantage, so be sure to stay calm,” Jonathan said.

Even after hearing this, Wu Shi's heart was still pounding. This powerful shock could not be brought about by the thrill of motorsports, but by the victory of that race.

He had absolutely no intention of saving effort; from that moment on, he was in complete control of the race car.

After DRS was activated, the fighting in the rear was indeed fierce.

Massa closed the gap very quickly, overtaking both Toro Rosso cars in succession.

Bottas, who came later, was also very sharp, and he actually overtook his teammate Grosjean and immediately set his sights on Ricardo ahead.

When the races for the front-line teams become dull and boring, the camera naturally turns to the mid-line teams.

Only the Wei team was still paying attention to Wu Shi's situation, but no matter how they looked at it, it was too stable, and they couldn't find any explanation.

This consistency was consistent throughout Wu Shi's career, but it was only when he was in the lead that it was surprising.

Verstappen, who attends almost every race, finished reviewing the lap data in the Toro Rosso pit lane and then smiled at the engineer beside him, saying:

"This kid is still so consistent."

"Oh yes, he has rarely made mistakes since he entered F1."

This is something engineers have to admit.

Old Verstappen's smile widened, but soon his smile faded.

On lap eleven, Bottas surprisingly overtook Verstappen, pushing Toro Rosso down one place once again.

To be honest, if it weren't for the two Mercedes cars retiring, Verstappen would have almost been pushed out of the points zone.

After all, behind Pan Zi at this moment were Ricardo and Grosjean.

Today, Lotus's performance was also exceptional, leading many to realize that this might be the advantage of Mercedes' engine.

Hulkenberg and Kvyat pitted at the end of lap 11, signaling that the first pit window had arrived.

"How are the tires?" Even though he could see the data, Jonathan still had to ask, after all, this kid's situation was different from other drivers.

Other drivers say the data shows the tires are okay, but this driver thinks they aren't.

But the data showed it wasn't working, while he said it was okay.

"I'm ready to wait for your notification before entering the station," Wu Shi replied.

This means there's still some capacity left, depending on the team's arrangements.

At this point, Wu Shi was already 5 seconds ahead of Vettel, 10 seconds ahead of Kimi, and 15 seconds ahead of Massa.

Williams and Ferrari occupied the top four spots, while Mercedes was absent, making these two teams the leading group.

Further on, between the two Lotus models, there's a Red Bull and a small Red Bull.

"If the game continues like this, the outcome will be a foregone conclusion," the soldier said.

"Everyone's on their own, it all depends on the strategy we choose later." Fei nodded.

On lap 15, Vettel pitted and switched to medium tires, a change that took only 2.3 seconds.

This left the soldier speechless with amazement; Ferrari's tire changes this year so far have been nothing short of astonishing, the speed is just too fast.

"What will Williams do?" the soldier asked, voicing everyone's question.

"Wow, Vettel's new entry cadence is incredibly fast."

Fei Ge had just called out when the broadcast camera pointed at the entrance to the maintenance area, and Wu Shi entered the station to change a tire.

The camera followed the entire time, without any intention of moving away.

Everyone knows that Wu Shi's championship was half due to his own efforts and the other half entirely in the hands of his crew.

Buzz!
The crew worked closely together and successfully changed the tire in 2.9 seconds.

"Excellent! No unexpected problems!"

"Williams' tire-changing procedure is definitely heavily trained," Fei commented.

"If I were Sir Williams, I would also make the team train rigorously, because sometimes being a little slow can affect the podium finish."

"Yes, I feel that besides training, it's also related to the condition of the crew members." "I think so too. With the chance to stand on the podium, or even win the championship, those mechanics are more motivated than the others."

After Wu Shi exited the station, he was still ahead of Vettel.

On lap 17, Kimi pitted and switched to hard tires.

"Another misalignment strategy," Fei said.

"It seems Ferrari really likes doing this this year."

"I don't think it's because they like it, but because they've had a taste of success before."

"Could this be a repeat of the last stop, with Stint Kimi giving chase at the very end?"

I think it's difficult.

"why?"

"Because Vettel was blocking Kimi's way."

"Haha! So it seems like only teammates guarding each other can stop it!"

The two comedians started talking without even realizing it, actually because the competition was just too boring.

Not every F1 race is interesting, or rather, only a few F1 races are interesting.

Of the five races this year so far, if it weren't for Wu Shi's presence, the only interesting ones would probably be Ferrari's strategic victory at Sepang and Mercedes' double retirement in Spain.

The rest of the competition will soon be forgotten.

Even years later, when people mention 2015, all they will remember is Mercedes-Benz's retirement.

As the race progressed lap after lap, not many changes were noticeable.

"Kimi's top speed was quite slow; on the long straight, he was a full 5 km/h slower than Massa!"

"Mercedes-Benz's engine is firing on all cylinders."

"Hey, have you noticed? Even though Mercedes withdrew from the race, it still looks like Mercedes everywhere you look."

"The front row is still Mercedes versus Ferrari!"

Massa pitted again on lap 32, signaling the start of the second tire change window for the three drivers.

However, Wu Shi did not move, nor did Vettel and Kimi behind him.

In this way, each company's strategy is basically revealed.

On lap 40, Vettel pitted and switched to hard tires. The 2.2-second tire change took everyone's eyes to see.

Jonathan couldn't help but sigh. If Ferrari had been able to stay behind Wu Shi for about two seconds during this race, then the two tire changes would have almost been enough to take Wu Shi down.

Unfortunately, when the vehicles became lighter fuel-efficient, Ferrari fell even further behind Williams.

This is entirely because as the vehicle becomes lighter, the FW37's cornering performance improves, leaving Ferrari with even less room to maneuver.

The team's strategy was to follow, so Wu Shi also pitted one lap after Vettel.

The crew members were still very nervous, but after experiencing this feeling many times before, they gradually adapted to this high-pressure working state.

Boom!
The vehicle landed, the tire change timer started, and it lasted 2.5 seconds!
"A very good entry! Wu Shi will be ahead of Vettel when he comes out."

The camera followed Wu Shi as his vehicle left the repair area.

In the shot of the straightaway, Williams had just started to accelerate when the Ferrari behind him was already almost past the fence.

Unfortunately, Vettel couldn't cut the 6-second deficit in one lap, and Wu Shi was firmly stuck in front after coming out.

The two did not even engage in any fighting.

"The result of the competition is already known," the soldier said, without seeming particularly excited.

The director thought so too, and for a long time afterward, there were no shots of the front row.

By lap 50, the time difference between Wu Shi and Vettel was already more than 10 seconds, and Kimi posed no threat to Vettel at all. The time difference reached an astonishing 20 seconds, and the time difference between Massa and Kimi even reached 30 seconds.

This situation seemed really strange to everyone, or perhaps this track was just like that, requiring drivers to have a good grasp of the tires.

On lap 63, Sainz overtook Verstappen.

The match then ended uneventfully.

On lap 64, Jonathan had already informed Wu Shi in the TR: "Your time difference has reached 14 seconds, with only three laps left."

"Copy".

Wu Shi gave a brief response, but did not relax his vigilance.

The race continued until the very end; he remained focused on driving, but no longer fully aware of his surroundings.

65 laps, 66 laps.
As Williams, number 59, turned from Turn 16, the checkered flag waved on the high platform next to the checkered lines.

Wu Shi entered the starting straight, the starting grids on both sides of him flashed rapidly, and then he crossed the finish line!

"Congratulations, Wu Shi! You're the champion! You've won your first championship! This is a wonderful start!"

Jonathan's voice came quickly.

Wu Shi's pounding heart calmed down; he won his first point, but he didn't feel that excited.

Perhaps it was because the outcome of this split was decided too early, and he had already mentally prepared himself for it.

However, he still cheered a few times in TR.

However, the commentators on the official live stream started celebrating loudly:
"Wow! Wu Shi crossed the finish line! He's the Spanish Grand Prix champion! The youngest F1 champion in history has been born! He's made history once again! Just as I said before, he will continue to make history!"

It's clear that David has a great fondness for Wu Shi.

Wu Shi politely waved to the audience in the stands, but most of the people there were Ferrari fans, and the cheers weren't as loud as expected.

He took as much tire debris as possible back with him.

"Congratulations, Wu Shi!" Suddenly, an old, hoarse voice rang out from the TR.

"Thank you, Sir! That was a wonderful game."

Wu Shi parked his car behind license plate number 1. The area around the parking area fence was already crowded with people wearing Williams jerseys.

They burst into enthusiastic cheers as soon as they saw the car stop.

Wu Shi stood on the car, raised his index fingers with both hands, turned around in front of the whole audience, then jumped off the car, rushed to his team, hugged them, and clapped them one by one.

At that moment, two Ferraris drove in, and the noise in the audience suddenly increased.

"Young man, don't worry. They'll cheer for Ferrari, and sooner or later, they'll cheer for you alone, for this great driver."

An engineer who was shaking hands with Wu Shi turned around when he heard the voice, and immediately said the following.

"Yeah, thank you! I'm not worried about it at all. Your cheers are enough, aren't they?"

Wu Shi laughed and said that he really didn't care about these things.

He came to compete, and winning the championship was his ultimate goal. Even if the championship seemed to come quite easily, it was still far better than the audience cheering for a tragic hero.

　I'm not feeling well today, sorry.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)