F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 218 Team Voice

If a team hasn't won a championship for many years, it's highly likely that it will lose much of its ability to win championships.

This was Williams' situation at that moment.

Its early internal research and development work was relatively conventional; the goal was simply to build a decent car.

However, when Wu Shi's points were too impressive, and he was always able to provide timely feedback on issues, the research and development team began to shift its focus towards Wu Shi.

This kind of offset has both advantages and disadvantages.

The advantage is that if you can improve according to the driver's method, then the speed will definitely be improved.

The downside is that if the driver's skill can compensate for minor issues during the improvement process, the car may gain speed but become increasingly strange.

It can be said that Massa is the person most qualified to speak on this matter.

The FW37 has more speed than at the beginning of the season, but it doesn't feel as comfortable to drive anymore.

To improve cornering performance, the constantly adjusted suspension and aerodynamics make the car's steering more sensitive.

Anyone who has played FPS games knows that high sensitivity really tests a player's positioning ability; subtle differences on the mouse can make a world of difference on the screen.

Massa felt it was necessary to communicate with Wu Shi about this matter.

Upon hearing Massa's statement, Wu Shi nodded. It is indeed easy for a racing team to take a risky approach when its research and development capabilities are insufficient but it still strives for speed.

However, the fact that Massa was able to communicate with him before the team meeting is enough to demonstrate the Brazilian's respect for him.

“You should ask these questions. You have far more experience than I do, and I believe your advice will be helpful.”

Wu Shi's idea was simple: everyone wants their car to look good, and nobody likes driving a car with terrible balance.

"Okay, I need to go and prepare the materials with my crew."

At the team meeting held the following day, Massa and his team engineer Dave raised their opinions.

"Based on our analysis, the FW37 is now far less balanced than it was at the beginning of the season. This is based on various data we collected on the track."

Dave sent the chart to everyone, but the curves on it would be very confusing for non-professionals, so he continued his explanation:

"This is a comparison image. At the same speed, the direction angle that the race car can turn has changed to 13.9-14.3°, while before, this data was 13.5-16°."

"If the turning angle is too large, understeer will occur immediately."

Dave analyzed the charts one by one, and finally said:
"I think the current development of vehicles needs to be corrected. If we continue in this direction, the car will become increasingly difficult to drive."

As soon as Dave finished speaking, Jonathan shoved the microphone to his mouth and said:
"Our speed has become even faster, and we even have a significant advantage in competing with Ferrari."

"If we were to change our R&D direction now, can you be sure that we would still maintain this level of competitiveness?"

"I believe that the R&D process is currently on track. The vehicles are becoming faster and more competitive, which is beneficial to the development of the entire team."

Jonathan's rebuttal surprised Wu Shi, because Jonathan agreed that the handling space would be smaller after the vehicle was tuned.

However, he immediately understood after just a moment's thought.

He's now capable of competing for the championship, so he can't just deny his previous research and development direction. If he misses a few races, he'll be completely finished.

Furthermore, what appears to be a debate about the direction of research and development actually seems more like a debate between the two crews over who has the final say, judging from the way Dave and Jonathan are acting.

Massa probably never considered vying for any power, after all, he himself is aware of his declining performance, and he will probably retire from the field in a few more years.

Claire, who appeared at today's meeting as the deputy team leader, placed the charts she was holding on the table, pondered for a moment, and said:
Did you communicate with the R&D staff beforehand?

Dave nodded. Although this was something he only wanted to bring up for discussion today, he already had an idea for a while:
"Rob Smedley advised us to roll back the development schedule and re-verify the results of the development at the normal pace."

"Pat Simonds also said that the change in aerodynamics was very necessary, as the car's struggle in the corner was an abnormal phenomenon."

The two people who were brought out directly were the former, an old man that Massa brought from Ferrari, who had been promoted from track engineer to performance director.

The latter is the technical director, who specializes in research and development on aerodynamic efficiency.

Claire glanced at it, but instead of immediately drawing any conclusions, she said:

"I will have a separate meeting with the R&D department to discuss this matter. For now, I will report on the preparations for the Canadian Grand Prix."

Both crews reported on the current situation, including the compatibility of the development and the problems the drivers are currently encountering.

After the basic meeting, Jonathan pulled Wu Shi aside and said seriously:

"Wu Shi, I know you are a friendly person, but you cannot compromise on the issue of research and development direction!"

"You can't guarantee that you'll maintain your speed if they change their development direction, nor can you guarantee that the improved vehicle will suit you!"
"Once you fail to make the race car more compatible with you during the development process, you will quickly lose all your advantages."

"This is your first season. Although you have achieved remarkable results, this is just the beginning. To achieve even better results, you cannot show any signs of weakness, not even problems caused by the vehicle."

Seeing Jonathan's expression, Wu Shi knew that the track engineer was worried about him.

He couldn't very well tell the engineer that as long as the vehicle was still drivable, he could adapt to it and drive it, could he?
So he didn't refute Jonathan's words, but nodded and said:

“I understand, and I will still report all the situations I encounter to the R&D department. I also want to pursue faster speeds, but what Dave said is also true: the vehicles are becoming increasingly difficult to drive.”

“I know, I know about the situation you mentioned, and I will report it to the R&D team. But we need to have a say, we need to establish a leading position in the R&D department.”

Jonathan said.

Looking at the serious expression on the track engineer's face, Wu Shi nodded. This engineer was doing his best to solve all the problems outside of the race.

"Thank you," he said.

Jonathan was a little surprised, but still responded with a smile:

“You are the most talented driver I have ever seen. I think that this kind of collaboration will help us both achieve unexpected results in our careers.”

“Then, it’s a pleasure to cooperate!” Wu Shi extended his hand.

Jonathan shook his hand firmly.

A routine meeting did not lead to attacks between the two crews, which is the current situation for the Williams team.

After all, Claire had just solidified her position, and to be honest, the team was mostly comprised of her faction. It would take some time for different factions to re-form.

Therefore, in this situation, Claire's decision was more based on a consideration of the overall interests.

She eventually believed Jonathan's explanation: Wu Shi's ability to lead the points standings and reach the podium in every race was enough to show that FW37 should follow Wu Shi's lead at this point.

Even if the vehicle becomes more difficult to drive, it's only more difficult to drive; it still remains competitive. But if development is rolled back, wouldn't that cause its competitiveness to plummet?

The R&D department can't be sure about this. It's often difficult to find a good solution for the overall engineering of a race car, even though everyone knows there are definitely many ways to solve the problem.

Currently, Williams only has one solution approach and cannot explore other approaches.

Not to mention that Williams is a private team facing serious financial problems and simply cannot afford to go in two different directions;
Even those well-funded racing teams wouldn't spend a long time developing two different routes.

Doing so would only divert research and development resources and cause research and development to lag behind.

The recent news from Weichang has been quite lively, as the internal discussions on the research and development direction have yielded results.

Toto continues to insist that the team will treat both drivers equally and has not made any further statements regarding Hamilton's loss of the championship after being recalled for tire changes.

However, according to Italian media reports, although Toto, who owns one-third of the shares, has a great deal of authority over the team management within Mercedes, authority does not equate to control.

The Germans received far more support within the team than the British.

Of course, this support is not solely determined by nationality; in many cases, it is also related to skin color.

However, the internal situation at Mercedes is similar to that at Williams, with the two teams engaging in more serious disputes due to their own interests.

Compared to Rosberg, Hamilton has more confidence; he is already a two-time world champion and is on the verge of winning his third.

It is an undeniable fact that Rosberg has been in poor form since the start of the season.

British media also published articles on this, claiming that a difficult consultation is taking place within Mercedes-Benz.

The team is facing an impending fierce internal conflict, a situation that team principal Toto Wolff is very reluctant to see and has repeatedly emphasized in internal meetings.

Fortunately, this level of internal strife did not escalate, and the R&D department was completely unaffected, not to mention the AMG engine development unit, which operates independently from the Mercedes team.

They announced that they would be using a second engine in the Canadian station.

As for the other teams, there haven't been many issues revealed. Right now, everyone's attention is focused on the future direction of F1.

Although the previous six races, except for the Chinese Grand Prix, had some noteworthy highlights, the overall decline of Formula 1 is an undeniable fact.

Spectators are complaining that the races are getting boring, so the F1 Strategy Group is still considering reintroducing refueling, but no teams are supporting it.

On the other hand, they wanted to bring the development of "customer chassis" to the forefront, which aroused strong opposition from smaller teams such as Force India, Lotus, and Sauber.

After all, if this trend continues, wouldn't they become the second team of the front-row convoy?

What's the point if independence is completely eroded?

Wu Shi also opposed the news.

With F1 technical regulations becoming increasingly complex, the differences between teams are already becoming smaller and smaller. Adding a "customer chassis" would be less effective than making it a standard-compliant race.

Force India also took this opportunity to raise the issue of income inequality in F1, arguing that smaller teams should be given appropriate consideration.

The Financial Times of the UK reported on this matter.

Wu Shi wasn't involved much in these issues regarding F1's development direction and team conflicts; he was more concerned about Pan Zi's situation.

Panzi still refused to admit responsibility for the collision with Grosjean, and then Massa claimed in the media that such driving habits were dangerous.

Then Panzi said to Massa, "Why don't you think about the clash with Perez last year?"
The debate ended with the FIA ​​deciding to penalize Pan Zi by five places.

As soon as the results came out, Pan Zi, who had nowhere to vent his anger, called Wu Shi.

“I don’t think this is my fault. He braked too early and caused the collision. We were all fighting for our lives. This is just normal driving behavior.”

Wu Shi thought of Pan Zi's pouting face and said:
“It’s all in the past, there’s no point in saying anything now. You wouldn’t have cared about these things so much before.”

"Hmm, that's true." Pan Zi calmed down after a moment.

“His tires are older than yours, so when you’re closing in, you should observe his braking points. That way, you’ll have a better chance of overtaking him,” Wu Shi said.

At the time, Grosjean's tires were very old, while Panzi's tires were new after he stopped, and the speed difference between the two was not small.

"I was getting a little impatient." Pan Zi recalled that this was indeed the case.

After chatting for a while, Wu Shi hung up the phone.

Panzi is still very reckless, or rather, inexperienced, unlike the old man who followed Vettel for seven laps and never encountered this situation.

However, Vettel's situation also shows that Pan Zi has encountered a formidable opponent, and if he doesn't act hastily, he might not have a chance to surpass him.

Time passed day by day, and soon it was June 5th, the day of the first and second training sessions for the Canadian leg.

Toro Rosso replaced Verstappen's powertrain again, so Verstappen will be penalized another 10 places, bringing the total penalty to 15 places.

Well, running this qualifying race is basically pointless.

The Villeneuve circuit was not hot at this time, allowing Mercedes to regain the lead during practice, with Ferrari and Williams close behind.

Lotus, after catching up, seems to have shown good competitiveness.

During the second practice session, it started raining, and Hamilton went off the track at the end, triggering a red flag, which was seen as a demonstration of tolerance for mistakes.

The following day, during the third practice session, Massa repeated Haaland's mistake, running off the track and crashing into the wall, causing a red flag. He even commented on the radio:
"Guy, this car's steering is impossible for a human to drive. Before I could even turn it, the car slid off course."

At this moment, the elderly German farmer, Vettel, was unaware that the red flag had appeared and had overtaken a slower train.

On the afternoon of June 6, before the qualifying session even started, Button withdrew from the race due to an ERS malfunction. If the organizers hadn't reviewed the situation, the main race would have been delayed.

Just as unlucky as Button was the German farmer, whose engine malfunctioned, ending his race after only completing one flight lap.

Massa also failed to achieve his desired result, and was eliminated in Q1 along with Vettel.

Sainz, Verstappen, Eriksen, Alonso, and Nasr were eliminated in Q2.

Panzi's performance was not bad, but unfortunately he was penalized fifteenth and was disqualified, which meant he was destined to start at the back of the pack.

In Q3, both Mercedes cars were very fast, but Rosberg was 0.3 seconds behind his teammate Hamilton.

As expected, Wu Shi squeezed in again during that split second.

Although Massa's elimination disappointed Williams and his teammates, Wu Shi's front-row start immediately swept away the negative emotions.

(End of this chapter)