F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 212 Rosberg Can't Stop Again
Just as aerodynamics is an empirical discipline, so too is race car tuning. There is no formula to calculate optimal performance, nor is there any driver who can provide the best advice.

Everything has to be tried on the track.

Despite being scheduled for their third practice session of qualifying simulation, Williams and his partner kept going in and out, constantly adjusting the vehicle settings.

The data collected by the simulator yesterday was continuously applied to reality today, and it was found that there are still considerable differences between reality and simulation.

On the next lap, Wu Shi pressed the "mark" button at turns 6, 10, and 19. The problem was most obvious on these turns. Despite being different types of turns, they all had the same issue—oversteer.

If there were oversteer on other tracks, Wu Shi was confident he could control it as long as it wasn't too severe. But here, that wasn't necessarily the case, as there wasn't enough room to regain grip during a drift.

The crew experienced their most tiring race of the season, having never had so many adjustments before.

However, there was some progress. On lap 18, Wu Shi found some speed, cooled off for two laps, and when the track conditions allowed, he began to try speeding.

From bends 1 to 8, before entering the tunnel, the main challenge is to pay attention to speed; going even slightly too fast will cause the car to understeer. The accuracy of steering is not as critical.

As he turned into the tunnel after turning 8, the image that flashed through his mind was of Master Pei slipping here 22 years ago, indirectly ruining Panzi's flying lap.

A Ferrari coming from behind couldn't brake in time, skidded, and came to a stop across the road. Panzi happened to be there when he saw the two cars, which was quite a sight.

After exiting the tunnel, turns 10 and 11 form a small "V" shape. Here, you need to turn left from the right side of the track to enter turn 10, and then immediately turn right to enter turn 11.

The entire operation has very little time margin. If the driver's reaction speed and accuracy are not up to par, losing a lot of time is a minor issue; the bigger problem is crashing into Turn 10 or understeer and hitting the guardrail after Turn 11 if you are not careful.

Wu Shi was very cautious, not daring to go onto the shoulder of the road, otherwise, if he were to jump into the air, it would inevitably cause a head-on collision.

Kaka!

After a series of bumps, the race car entered a long straight section.

Turn 12 is a sharp turn, but it's considered one of the more driver-friendly corners on the track.

After this point, turns 13 and 14 will begin to test the driver's accuracy. The distance between the tires and the guardrail is inversely proportional to the driver's courage and precision.

Turns 15 and 16 are frequently featured in Monaco cornering highlights. However, in 15, the guardrail at Turn 15 had a raised shoulder, preventing drivers from grazing the guardrail as they did later.

That's why it's even more difficult to grasp the limits here.

Buzzing! Buzzing!
Frequent gear shifting, the inability to press the accelerator for long periods, and the constant adjustment of the brake ratio and toe-in make driving a lap of this car exhausting!

Wu Shi was most worried about Turn 15. In his memory, there was no shoulder at all, so every time he passed by, he had to remind himself to use a new driving method to deal with it.

Swoosh!

Williams crossed the finish line with a time of 1 minute 17.511 seconds, placing him only eighth.

Jonathan looked at him seriously; it was too slow.

Two Mercedes and one Ferrari were all in the 1 minute 16 second race, while Red Bull squeezed in ahead of them.

Massa's performance was even worse, at just over 1 minute and 18 seconds, almost ranking near the bottom.

The team had to bring Massa back in for adjustments.

Williams' struggles during the final three practice sessions left a deep impression on everyone.

Ferrari's improved lap times brought a smile to Vettel's face during an interview.

The two Mercedes drivers were overshadowed by Vettel, but they didn't show much emotion. When reporters asked them about the previous race, Hamilton smiled, while Rosberg turned away and said they wanted to talk about something else.

Clearly, the collision in Spain has completely destroyed any possible connection between the two.

There are no rumors in the press about how Mercedes will handle the accident, but news has surfaced that Toto spoke with the two drivers, sparking some speculation.

At 2 p.m., the track conditions for qualifying were not very good, and the gloomy sky did not seem to be on our side.

With air humidity reaching 60%, the track temperature was only 33°C.
The road surface is very dark in color. I don't know if it's because of the water or if the newly laid asphalt is this color.

In addition to being difficult to drive, the Monaco circuit was also very crowded. Coupled with the possibility of rain predicted in the weather forecast, drivers flocked to the track, resulting in extremely bad traffic conditions.

“Let’s start the first flying lap,” Jonathan said.

"it is good."

Wu Shi wanted to stretch his palms, but he didn't have the chance at all on the last stretch of the road. After turning 19, he entered the curved starting straight.

This is the only place in Monaco with a DRS (Driving Rescue System), but overtaking is almost impossible.

hoohoo!

The engine roared at full power; if it didn't go all out now, it might not have another chance.

Jonathan's timing was quite accurate; the traffic was indeed good, and Wu Shi didn't encounter any other vehicles for quite a distance.

Just as he rounded Turn 8 and entered the tunnel, before his eyes had even adjusted to the dim light, he spotted a shadow ahead and quickly swerved to the left before turning back.

Screech!
The tires screeched as they struggled, and the entire rear of the car lost traction as it swerved back, the tail swinging straight forward.

Tsk! !
Wu Shi was fully aware of the vehicle's condition, with no time to think, and could only rely on instinct to keep the race car running smoothly.

The space to regain the balance point of grip was very narrow, the steering wheel trembled from side to side, and after several large turns, combined with the back and forth opening and closing of the accelerator and brake, the rear of the car was finally turned back when exiting the tunnel.

It all happened in an instant, and by the time the vehicle slowed down and stabilized, my heart felt like it was going to jump out of my chest.

"Whoosh!"

"Why is there a car in the blind spot!" Wu Shi shouted.

“Grosjean’s gearbox has some problems. I’m very sorry I didn’t pay attention to this issue in time,” Jonathan said.

Actually, it wasn't his fault at all. Grosjean's car suddenly slowed down, and since they were in a tunnel, the control center hadn't received a synchronized message yet, so Wu Shi rushed in.

After catching his breath several times, Wu Shi finally calmed down. This was terrifying!

The race organizers finally noticed the problem and issued yellow flags in some areas. As a result, at least six cars were affected in their first flying lap, and Wu Shi was the one most affected.

After being forced to give up a lap, Q1 suddenly became urgent, as Wu Shi still hasn't had a valid lap.

Fortunately, the second window of opportunity for the high-speed lap soon arrived, and this time Wu Shi had a smooth ride without encountering any obstacles.

However, after finishing the race, his time was only 1 minute 17.611 seconds. The broadcast camera then conveniently focused on Williams' pit stop, where everyone looked serious, seemingly lost in thought.

"Everyone's lap times aren't great, and we expect to get into Q2 around this time."

Jonathan said in TR that he was asking Wu Shi if he wanted to do another speed lap.

"I need to try again. Will the traffic conditions on the track improve later?"

"Of course, Perez, Vettel, Hulkenberg, Kimi and their scores are similar to yours, and they're already preparing to go back to the pits."

Wu Shi certainly didn't want to continue pursuing the limit and breaking records, but rather he wanted to run this complex track more often to build up his skills.

As a group of people returned to the pit lane, fewer and fewer cars remained on the track, until only a few were still racing. Jonathan looked at Wu Shi's perspective; the speed of this lap was very fast, and by the time he passed the second timing segment, his time was almost 0.5 seconds faster than his own.

"You've broken two records ahead of you," he promptly reminded him.

Wu Shi immediately understood and released some time in the third timing segment.

Susu!

He sprinted across the finish line in 1 minute 17.415 seconds, ultimately finishing in eighth place.

This made many viewers less optimistic about Wu Shi, but the commentators were generally professional, and when the tournament organizers played the TR message that Jonathan had reminded them of, they knew what was going on.

“吴轼最后应该是放了的，前两段他的速度要快了将近0.5秒，跑进1分16秒没有什么问题，结果最后却在1分17秒4。”

"He's putting in a bit too much; it feels like he's trying to cool it down."

Q1停表，前四名罗斯伯格、汉密尔顿、维斯塔潘、科维亚特跑进了1分16秒，其余车手都在1分17秒开外。

Starting from 17th place, the time for each position was 1 minute and 18 seconds.

The eliminated drivers were Alonso, Nasr, Ericsson, and two Manor cars.

"Verstappen's performance was quite impressive. Everyone's attention was previously focused on Wu Shi, and they have somewhat overlooked this talented driver who is only 17 years old."

"Yes, he also earned quite a few points; third place in Q1 is a very strong result."

When commentators discuss rookie drivers nowadays, they automatically exclude Wu Shi, since no one treats this youngest driver in the history of the paddock as a rookie anymore.

"Judging from the practice matches, Williams is struggling quite a bit here."

"Wu Shi is usually about 0.5 seconds faster than his teammates. If he doesn't release the time in the third time slot, his time is expected to be around 1 minute and 16 seconds. It seems that his speed is still not fast enough."

"So we can reasonably infer that Wu Shi might not even get a second-row starting position today. That would be Wu Shi's worst qualifying of the season, especially on the Monaco circuit. He might not even get a podium finish."

During the commentators' discussion, the break ended, and Q2 began.

The tires used in Q2 will be used in the race, so drivers who make it into Q3 often try to complete only one flying lap.

However, in Monaco, no driver dared to make such a guarantee; everyone opted to complete a minimum flying lap and an extreme flying lap.

Normally, in this situation, you could use the old Q1 supersoft tires for a basic run, and then switch to new supersoft tires for extreme laps.

This allows drivers entering Q3 to start on supersoft tires that maintain better performance.

Just as they were resting, a few raindrops began to fall. Jonathan reached out and caught some under the awning; it was indeed raining.

Everyone immediately switched to the new ultrasoft tires and couldn't wait to get their cars moving.

This makes the Q3 closing line unpredictable.

However, one unexpected event after another occurred. Wu Shi had just completed his warm-up lap when Button encountered a problem at Turn 1 and stopped on the track.

After a brief yellow flag, the track resumed operation. Button only encountered some gearbox issues, but was able to drive the vehicle after adjusting the mode.

But because of this delay, Wu Shi had to undergo another warm-up procedure.

On the third lap, we were finally able to go at full speed.

After driving through the long straight, the tires were at a very good operating temperature.

Just as he had anticipated, he didn't need to worry too much about the turn before turn 5 on the track. The rear wheels had enough grip, and he could adjust the brake balance to reduce the braking burden on the front wheels and thus gain more grip on the front wheels.

However, after Turn 5, the downhill section, combined with a stop-and-go-style corner design, puts the driver's braking skills to a severe test.

After the long tunnel, the sudden brightening of the environment did not have much impact on the eyes behind the goggles, and Wu Shi's driving remained stable.

Susu!

In the second half, his heart was beating very fast, but he couldn't feel it because there were so many things that required his full concentration.

Swish!
1 minutes 16 seconds 741.

Jonathan breathed a sigh of relief, having broken the 1 minute 16 second barrier, but when he turned his head and saw Massa's time, his vision went black: 1 minute 18 seconds.

"Hamilton improved the time after you, 1 minute 15.889 seconds."

在大家还在为1分16秒而奋战的时候，梅奔已经在Q2随便突破1分15秒了。

After completing the minimum lap time, Wu Shi made a rough prediction of the subsequent maximum lap times.

Obviously, getting under 1 minute and 15 seconds is difficult; Williams' competitiveness in this race was simply poor, there's not much to say about it.

While cooling down, he was thinking that maybe he should give it his all in Q3.

Leading the standings made him want to say that inspiring phrase, "Plans have changed, but we're ready to win the championship!"

However, he wasn't one to flaunt his abilities, so no one could figure out what he was thinking.

After two laps of cooling off, the track conditions were good, and Wu Shi started racing again. Hamilton, Rosberg, Button, Hulkenberg, and Massa were all racing in sync on this lap.

After only a short while, Jonathan's voice suddenly rang out in the TR, and Matthew was also seen waving a yellow flag outside the guardrails on both sides of the track.

"Rosberg locked up, yellow flag, had to let it go this lap, final result P9."

Jonathan said in his usual calm tone, but Wu Shi couldn't help but shake his head upon hearing it.

Princess, what are you doing?! You almost made it into Q3!
Of course, Wu Shi was not the most tragic.

Massa's time was 1 minute 17.278 seconds, ranking 15th.

This made Sir Williams, who was watching the game, look rather serious. At times, he is a rather strict manager, and he was clearly not satisfied with Massa's performance.

Rosberg also influenced Hulkenberg, Barton, Grosjean, and Hamilton.

Apart from Hamilton, the other three lost their chance to reach the limit and were unfortunately eliminated.

Master Pedrone finished 11th with a time of 1 minute 16.999 seconds and was also eliminated.

Wu Shi drove the car back. He wasn't too surprised to hear that Massa had been eliminated; only he knew how difficult it was to drive this car here.

When you accelerate into a corner, you understeer if you press the accelerator too hard, and when you accelerate out of the corner, you drift. It's ridiculous.

If he hadn't been able to sense the tire's position relative to the ground in time, he was certain he would have crashed.

In other words, Massa had to slow down in order to avoid a crash.

　There will be another chapter later.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)