F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 220 Little Dark Room

On the large screen, footage of the accident was being played repeatedly from multiple angles.

First, there's a fixed shot of Turn 1, where you can see Wu Shi in a leading position on the outside, and he starts closing the door as soon as he enters the turn.

The door wasn't closed too tightly; it was just meant to slightly squeeze Hamilton to create more space for Turn 2.

However, Hamilton's vehicle understeered and collided directly with Wu Shi.

Wu Shi's left rear wheel was subjected to an external force, immediately causing it to lose balance and the front of the car to veer to the left.

Since everyone had already entered the turn, the speed wasn't particularly fast.

It's unclear how Wu Shi managed to do it, but as soon as the front of the car pointed to the left, the wheels started spinning and smoking, and then with a slight movement, he collided with Hamilton.

"Hamilton made a mistake and headed the ball, and Wu Shi also made some haphazard moves afterward. It seems he still lacks experience," the commentator remarked.

The next scene shows Wu Shi's car, and you can see that there is plenty of space left when the Hamilton doors are closed.

Then, switching to Hamilton's in-car system, when Wu Shi turned around, the old man's car seemed to be out of control. He turned left twice, but the vehicle could not be well controlled.

Next up is Rosberg and Kimi's video feed, which perfectly captures the situation during the two collisions.

Wu Shi could see it very clearly: the old man was really pushing the front of the car. How could he not push the front of the car when braking so late?
"I never expected Lewis to make such a basic mistake," the mechanic next to him remarked.

Wu Shi nodded. He could only keep his thoughts to himself and could not say them out loud.

“Wu Shi, the tournament organizers will have you and Hamilton both come over,” Jonathan said.

"Are we going to be put in the small dark room?"

Wu Shi didn't know what this was about.

"Don't be nervous, we're just asking about the situation. The team has already submitted your data, and everything is logical and normal," Jonathan reminded them.

Wu Shi nodded, and on the other side, Hamilton also came over with Bono.

The two didn't say anything extra on the way. When they arrived at the small dark room, three FIA ​​staff members sat in front, and the two drivers each sat in a chair.

'It seems it really was just an inquiry.'

Wu Shi saw that he did not ask him anything privately, and knew that the matter was not serious.

"Lewis, I've analyzed the data the team gave us. Now, can you tell us about your situation at the time?"

“Yeah, my start wasn’t very good. I released the clutch too late, and I saw Wu Shi approaching me quickly on my right.”

Hamilton spoke while gesturing to indicate the condition of the two cars.

"He had a great start and overtook me on the starting straight. I was a bit anxious and thought I should enter the corner later to catch up."

"However, I misjudged the situation. When I tried to brake, there wasn't enough distance, and the speed was too fast. The front wheels couldn't maintain their grip and change direction, so I ended up having a minor collision with Wu Shi."

Several staff members listened and nodded. From Hamilton's perspective, the initial collision was very minor, at most resulting in some rubber damage to the front tires.

For Wu Shi, the situation was more serious. The disrupted rear wheel balance caused the car to spin, and the rear suspension was also damaged to some extent, which may prevent him from completing the entire race.

"Okay, Wu Shi, could you also tell us about what happened back then?" The staff member gestured for him to enter.

"Of course, just like Lewis said earlier, I had a very good start, and then I entered the corner normally from the outside."

"The next corner was in the opposite direction, and I wanted more space to enter the corner from the inside, so I turned the steering wheel a bit to the left. At that point, I should have left at least 1.5 car widths of track space."

"In my opinion, any F1 driver can corner through this space."

"Before I could react, a collision occurred. The vehicle swerved, and I was a bit dazed. I was probably trying to control the vehicle subconsciously."

"However, after losing balance, the entire vehicle completely lost its grip, and then, for some reason, it bumped into something again."

After hearing Wu Shi's account, the staff member nodded and looked at Hamilton, saying:

“You braked very late. If the track is open, you can still take a wide corner.”

Hamilton nodded, pursing his lips, without saying a word.

The staff member continued, "In other words, when you're preparing to brake late, you're almost guaranteed to run into Wu Shi, that's true, isn't it?"

Hamilton remained silent.

Wu Shi understood what was being said: the old man had torpedoed him, and he wondered if he would be punished by being sent off at the next station.
Before he could even chuckle to himself, the staff member turned to him and said:
"After the collision, you eased off the accelerator, but then increased the pressure again. Was it because you were nervous?"

Wu Shi nodded without saying anything.

"When your race car is spinning, more throttle input increases the torque to the rear wheels, restoring some grip."

"You may have realized the problem when the car started moving again, so you released the accelerator, but you were so close to Lewis that he didn't have time to react."

"In the end, you two collided. There's a key point here: your gear should have started shifting up before the collision, but instead, it downshifted."

Wu Shi pondered for a moment and said, "I think the engine speed was too low at the time, and the torque when exiting the corner might not be enough. After all, this is not a racing line, and it is different from normal driving."

"Can you prove that this will be faster?" the staff member pressed.

“I can’t prove it, but I can recreate the scenario for you, which might be faster,” Wu Shi said.

The staff member glanced at Wu Shi while taking notes.

After they finished recording, the two were released from the dark room.

As soon as we stepped out of the room, the old man asked, "When an accident occurs, you should immediately press the clutch and not touch the accelerator."

“Of course I know, but I haven’t experienced these things myself, so I can’t handle this problem in the best way.” Wu Shi nodded.

"Lewis, at Turn 1, when you're understeer, you shouldn't take any more risks. You understeered, so leave it on the track; that's your responsibility."

Upon seeing this, Jonathan immediately spoke firmly.

Neither Hamilton nor Bono refuted this statement.

Generally speaking, the rules state that the lagging vehicle must give way to the leading vehicle to avoid a collision, while the leading vehicle only needs to ensure sufficient driving space for the vehicles behind.

This rule has specific provisions for different corners on different tracks.

This year, the organizers did not emphasize the latter for Turn 1 at the Villeneuve circuit, so it is reasonable for Wu Shi to close the gate even more aggressively.

The old man glanced at Jonathan, then left with Bono without saying anything more.

"What did you say inside?" Jonathan asked.

Wu Shi informed him of the situation.

“Yes, that’s the data, everything is correct, will it really be faster?” Jonathan nodded.

"The speed difference won't be too big." Wu Shi had no need to hide anything from Jonathan, so he told the truth.

"Did you think there would be a car crash?"

"I can feel it."

Wu Shi nodded. He had felt the obvious change in airflow around the right rear wheel. At that time, he had no way to avoid a collision, so he could only think of a way to deal with the old man's golden right front wheel.

Regardless of the race committee's decision after each similar collision, Hamilton usually benefits from it.

Knowing about many similar incidents, Wu Shi at that moment only thought about ensuring that the old man would not benefit either.

Everything that followed naturally fell into place.

You should know that Verstappen's aggressive driving is fearless, except for two people, one of whom is the old man.

The most famous example is Silverstone in 2021, where Panzi was given 51G by the old man.

Therefore, when Pan Zi was confronting the old man, he had to consider whether the old man would send him away again with the same move.

With these concerns in mind, Pan Zi's toughness softened somewhat when facing the old man.

That's how it is in the paddock; every driver needs to have their own style. If your style is strong enough, then everyone will be wary of you.

Verstappen relied on his toughness to the point that even Rosberg was afraid of him on the track, so much so that even after Rosberg retired, he still kept a close eye on Verstappen.

Wu Shi possesses sufficient strength; he can be as forceful as Pan Zi, so he will certainly do the same.

If you're going to make way for others on the track, you might as well give up your seat to the drivers from Wuhan.

To deal with the old man's seemingly legitimate tactics, the only way is to ensure that he doesn't get any reward after each use, and eventually he'll stop using them.

Wu Shi understood this well, and he succeeded this time.

He could tell the old man was testing him, trying to figure out if he was doing it on purpose. He didn't know what the old man's final conclusion was, but anyway, if he dared to do it again, Wu Shi would still take both of them away!
Jonathan, unaware that Wu Shi had a very clear understanding of the matter, continued to comfort him:
"After this incident, you also need to pay attention to your offense and defense against Hamilton. I will ask Massa to talk to you about it when we get back."

"Yes, thank you." Wu Shi nodded.

With the top two drivers in the overall standings retiring from the race, Rosberg was undoubtedly the happiest.

Although he didn't say anything in TR, his suppressed tone had become more relaxed compared to before.

On the fifth lap, after the race restarted, he quickly widened the gap between himself and Kimi.

Massa and Vettel were constantly chasing ahead, and the camera mostly focused on the two of them.

Just ten laps later, Rosberg had already pulled ahead of Kimi by 7 seconds, and that's when the first pit stop began.

Vettel sped through the race, and after entering the pits, except for a slight delay when he encountered Alonso, he displayed the formidable strength of this four-time champion.

By lap 25, he had moved up to 8th place.

Massa finished sixth because of his better starting position.

Watching the game, Wu Shi also felt that it was indeed quite boring, just as the audience had said.

Ferrari and Williams are the second strongest cars after Mercedes, which is why they have been able to catch up all the way.

Among the drivers behind, only Alonso possessed an extremely strong fighting spirit; the other drivers had no such intention whatsoever.

After all, under the current rules, whether you are overtaken or not will not affect your points or ranking at all. Therefore, most rear-seat drivers will waste their tires on blocking front-seat drivers from returning to their positions.

Kimi pitted on lap 26, and after coming out, he switched to soft tires and fell behind Bottas.

As a result, he made a driving mistake, spun around on the hairpin bend, and wasted a lot of time.

第34圈，罗斯伯格领先Kimi22秒，马萨38秒、格罗斯让38.3秒、博塔斯38.6秒、维特尔38.8秒、霍肯伯格49秒、科维亚特57.2秒。

To be fair, Mercedes' engine remained powerful in 2015, allowing Lotus, which was originally at the bottom of the pack, to maintain sufficient competitiveness.

Massa used his old tires to drive the little train, dragging it along the way.

On the next lap, the little train encountered a groundhog crossing the road and almost sent the little guy to another world.

On lap 36, Rosberg was warned by the team that his brakes were overheating and had to slow down.

“That’s the difference between him and Hamilton,” Wu Shi suddenly said.

“Yes, he has this problem often.” Jonathan nodded in agreement.

The top drivers often seem unreliable because it feels like they win inexplicably while driving a great car.

This is because top drivers have already solved most of the problems during the race, making it impossible for others to tell what's going on.

Even without 2024 and 2025, Verstappen would still be described by many as a water crown driving a Mars rover.

Massa pitted on lap 37 and came out behind Vettel, meaning he was undercut.

For the next few laps, the cameras were focused on Vettel, the Ferrari driver who was constantly looking for opportunities to overtake Bottas.

“The frontrunner is under no pressure,” Jonathan said.

"Eh!"

Wu Shi exclaimed in surprise, because as soon as Jonathan finished speaking, Rosberg slipped and slid back onto the track on the grass.

He looked at Jonathan strangely. "Brother, are you also a milk king?"

After 46 laps, Ao Ge retired from the race due to exhaust problems with his car.

On lap 49, Grosjean collided with Stevens while lapping him, and the race organizers are investigating.

At this point, the organizers announced the conclusion of the collision between Wu Shi and Hamilton: no further investigation would be conducted.

Wu Shi clicked his tongue but didn't say much, since everything was dirty.

By lap 53, Rosberg was already 37.8 seconds ahead of Kimi, which was terrifying.

Vettel finished fourth, still behind Bottas.

On lap 57, Button retired from the race due to exhaust problems.

Both McLarens failed to finish the race again.

It's truly a pity to think that when Alan left Ferrari, he thought McLaren would be a good place for him.

The rest of the race was uneventful. In the final few laps, the front row drivers began to slow down in order to save fuel and pass the 100KG fuel limit check.

On lap 70, Rosberg crossed the finish line, securing a point that was hard to come by this season. He shouted loudly in the radio, venting his pent-up emotions.

After Wu Shi withdrew from the race, everyone once again witnessed Mercedes' unparalleled competitiveness, with second-place Kimi being pulled ahead of Rosberg by a full 41 seconds.

Vettel then relentlessly attacked Bottas and eventually overtook him to finish third, a feat that went from P18 to P3, and one of the few noteworthy aspects of the match.

Bottas was just a hair's breadth away from lifting Lotus onto the podium, and the disappointment in the TR after the race was indescribable.

Massa was a bit slow and ended up in fifth place.

After the match, during the awards ceremony, Rosberg was very happy spraying champagne, and Vettel was no less so.

The interviewer walked onto the stage and said to the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon."

“There were some unexpected events in today’s match, but the result was wonderful. No one was injured. Now, let’s congratulate the third-place finisher, Vettel.”
"Second place winner Kimi; and first place winner Nico Rosberg!"

Cheers erupted from the audience.

The interviewer nodded, smiled, and looked at Rosberg, saying:

"Hi, Nico Rosberg, you won the championship! We saw you were very excited just now. This is your first race win of the season. Congratulations!"
"After the accident ahead, your lead was very easy. You slipped once, but you managed to maintain your position. This championship was hard-won! Congratulations again."

Rosberg nodded, swayed slightly from side to side, and couldn't suppress the smile on his face:

"Yes, this championship was hard-won. I've had some problems since the beginning of the season and it's been very difficult for me. I've been waiting for this championship for a very long time."

"Winning a championship today is crucial, and I am truly delighted."

"Of course I saw the accident ahead. I was there, and I was worried about them. But the convoy told me they were not injured, which is great."

The reporter listened with a smile and nodded, then continued, "Now that your score has surpassed your teammates', how should you maintain this momentum in the upcoming matches?"

Rosberg smiled, thought for a moment, and said:

"It's a tough task. My car has some issues, like the brakes overheating. I have to put a lot of effort into dealing with this in every race."

"I hope to improve this issue in the future, so that I will be able to become more competitive."

The reporter nodded and said, "Okay, thank you."

Then they looked at Kimi. Everyone was used to interviewing Iceman; it ended with a few brief words of congratulations and objective explanations.

When the interviewer looked at Vettel, cheers erupted from the stadium.

The interviewer gestured with a surprised expression towards the cheering crowd, then turned to Vettel and said:

"The fans were incredibly enthusiastic! Third place winner, do you know why?"

“Yes, of course I know.” Vettel nodded.

The interviewer continued, "You will gain 15 points, while the top two remain unchanged. After the settlement, you will have 107 points, placing you in second place. Congratulations!"

"Thank you! I'm very happy to have achieved this. It was unexpected. I started almost from the back of the grid, but I ended up finishing third." Vettel was still quite excited.

The interviewer continued to explore this topic: "Now you've overtaken two Mercedes, and a Williams is blocking your way. Do you think you have a chance to win the world championship from behind?"

Vettel was clearly taken aback by this, and his smile became shy. It was a difficult question to answer.

Everyone knows that he got to this position purely because the top two teams withdrew from the competition.

But since the reporter had already asked this question, the four-time champion, still full of confidence and with considerable trust in Prancing Horse, replied:
"Yes, I am thinking about it now. Our car is somewhat weak this year, and I am pessimistic, but I am really considering it now."

The four-time champion's speech thrilled Prancing Horse fans, who cheered loudly.

The fans of the Iron Buddha Temple saw hope for Ferrari to regain the championship and were naturally very excited.

The podium interviews came to an end, but the broadcast continued because the director knew that everyone wanted to see what was going on with the two drivers who had been put in the dark room.

(End of this chapter)