F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 247 Three Yellows and One White

"After the bend, it's a straight road, and Wu Shi couldn't keep up."

“Wu Shi couldn’t keep up, but Rosberg could.”

The time difference between the three people in the front row was very close.

Hamilton is in the lead, Wu Shi is 1.5 seconds behind, and Rosberg is 3.4 seconds behind.

In other words, the difference between Rosberg and Wu Shi's seconds was only 1.9 seconds.

"There's no need to worry about that, Wu Shi's lap times are quite fast."

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Shi's fastest time was circled: 1 minute 54.377 seconds.

This is faster than the old soft tires.

"It seems he's ready to squeeze the tires dry."

"They're probably going to stop for the second time, so this set of medium tires only needs to be used for about fifteen laps."

"The last set of soft tires can last for another fifteen laps? That doesn't seem reasonable."

"It should be reasonable. There is not much difference in lifespan between the medium and soft tires in practice. The soft tires establish an advantage earlier, so this approach is acceptable."

While the commentators were discussing the situation of the three players in the front row, the tournament organizers announced a punishment for Massa.

"What's going on? Is there a penalty for using mixed tires?"

"Hey, hey, hey, seriously, bro! What is Williams doing?!"

The soldier and Fei were speechless for a moment, and after that, they were filled with fear.

Even when Jonathan told Wu Shi about this, Wu Shi was shocked.

What kind of trick is that?!

The director also broadcast a replay of Massa changing the tire.

The right rear tire was replaced with a white one, while the other three were yellow.

Before that, Dave went to fetch a yellow tire himself, only to find that the technicians had already put it on.

He looked at the tire he was holding with a puzzled expression.

That look was saying, "What's going on? Did I pick up the wrong tire?"
At this moment, three yellow cars and one white car were running in Massa's car.

"Massa was penalized by being sent through the pit lane and not allowed to change a tire, which will cost him at least 17 seconds!"

"Yes, this is what the team was doing when they were penalized 17 seconds for nothing?"

The commentators were completely baffled.

"Perhaps their strategies differed; Wu Shi wanted to switch to white tires, while Massa wanted to switch to yellow tires, so things got mixed up?"

"Then I can only say that it's fortunate that it didn't happen to Wu Shi, otherwise the convoy would probably be cursed to death after this stop."

On the track, even without making the wrong switch, Wu Shi's position was still precarious.

Although cruising is different from qualifying, they have one thing in common: in order to achieve speed, tires will inevitably wear out.

In order to keep up with Hamilton, Wu Shi had to brake later and accelerate earlier.

All of these forces ultimately act on the tires.

By the 15th lap, he could clearly feel the white tires wearing out rapidly.

Rosberg, who was right behind him, had narrowed the gap to 1.5 seconds.

"What is Wu Shi planning to do now?" the soldier asked, a question everyone wanted to know.

"He didn't defend Hamilton much just now, and he probably won't defend Rosberg either, the difference in their vehicles is too great."

Vettel entered the pits at the end of lap 15, becoming the last driver in the front row to do so.

His second advantage on the track was largely wiped out in these few laps. It's unclear what Ferrari was thinking when they adopted this strategy for him.

“Vettel has switched to medium tires,” Jonathan said.

How many laps are left?

"28 laps."

"Oh, does he want to finish the race in one stop?" Wu Shi immediately guessed Vettel's idea.

“It’s very likely, but will the tires be able to hold up?” Jonathan asked.

“Of course,” Wu Shi affirmed.

"That"

"call!"

Wu Shi breathed a sigh of relief, rounded the bend, and said:

"But it requires extreme tire protection, which is very difficult to achieve because the tires become very unstable in the final stages."

Wu Shi paused again before continuing:

"That was a situation beyond my control; the risk was too great."

Jonathan nodded: "Copy."

Vettel's strategy, which differed from that of the front row, naturally caught Mercedes' attention.

After listening to Wu Shi's words, they also asked the two drivers for their opinions.

Hamilton was alright, and he expressed his thoughts relatively easily on the long straight:
“We can easily make up the time on the track, and the one-stop strategy will never be faster than us.”

Rosberg waited a moment before speaking:
"I'm driving with my whole heart; I need to be extremely focused on these issues."
"You can think about these issues yourselves."

Rosberg's TR made Fei Ge laugh out loud, saying:
"Rosberg is always like this; he can't communicate complex content at crucial moments."

The soldier nodded and said:

“Different drivers have very different driving styles. Some drivers need to be fully focused and concentrate on every aspect.”

"If you need to tell the driver complicated information, you must do so on the straight, and try not to disturb the driver before entering the braking zone, otherwise it is easy to cause the driver to make a mistake."

They were right; Rosberg is someone who can't be distracted on the track.

Once his attention is diverted, he is likely to make various mistakes.

For example, if you only remember to brake when you are close to a bend, you will miss the braking point, have to brake hard, drive off the track, and lose time.

In 14, he often made mistakes when he was in the lead, and this factor also played a part in that.

Wu Shi, a naturally gifted driver, is like Verstappen; many corners have become instinctive for him.

They probably didn't even think about how to start it before their hands were already moving.

Therefore, they are able to conduct complex communications in the curves.

After all, it's the hands and feet that are moving, what does it have to do with the brain?
Mercedes listened to Williams and Wu Shi's conversation, and Jonathan naturally listened to their conversation as well.

Hamilton's words were of no use, but Rosberg's words were.

Jonathan's mind raced, and he said to Wu Shi:
“Nico needs to be very, very focused on his driving. He can’t afford to be too distracted. Although he’s closing in on you, I think it will be very difficult for him to overtake you. You need to do your best to defend against him.”

After these words were spoken, Mercedes indeed told Rosberg:

"The Williams team told Wu Shi that they would defend you with all their might, and you need to find a way to get past them as soon as possible."

"His speed was already slowing down, and Lewis was gradually putting distance ahead of him."

After a while, Rosberg responded, "I'm trying, I'm trying to keep up with him!"

After the conversation ended, the race cars sped along the track.

Wu Shi's slowing down was a last resort.

Williams' aerodynamics are poor, so it relies heavily on tire mechanical grip when cornering.

To keep up with Hamilton, tires will inevitably wear out more.

In order to complete the team's planned two-stop strategy, he had to make some trade-offs.

Whoosh!

On lap 18, Hamilton was in the lead, Wu Shi was 2.1 seconds behind, and Rosberg was 3.4 seconds behind.

Perez remained firmly in fourth place, without wavering.

Grosjean just overtook Ricciardo to move into fifth place, 2.5 seconds behind Perez.

At this stop, Lotus's strength was as everyone had witnessed.

At this point, the top five teams all used Mercedes engines, which is enough to demonstrate the advantage of this power unit on high-speed tracks.

I reckon Grosjean will catch up with Perez soon.

Red Bull, on the other hand, suffered from engine problems and was simply not up to par.

The situation is a bit more complicated for Ferrari. Kimi is still in the rear, and the situation is uncertain.

Vettel is in seventh place, three seconds behind Ricciardo.

The current rankings are distorted for Vettel, as he is the only driver to have stopped at the front. In reality, he would have a lead of around 22 seconds.

Behind Vettel were Kvyat, Kimi, and Verstappen.

Massa dropped to eleventh place due to a prank by the team.

Just now, the team told Massa that he can just keep running like this and there's no need to change the tires.

On lap 19, Rosberg entered Wu Shi's 1-second zone.

It took Rosberg five laps to erase a difference of only 0.9 seconds, clearly showing a significant gap between Rosberg and Hamilton on this track today.

Of course, it was also related to Wu Shi getting a new tire.

Rosberg did not receive the first DRS, but he did receive the second DRS.

After Turn 1, the two cars sped through Turns 2-4 without slowing down.

Wu Shi could already see the swaying Rosberg in the rearview mirror.

In this DRS zone, he will be caught up by at least 0.3 seconds.

Rosberg still had no chance to attack.

Therefore, he did not take many defensive measures.

However, things always happen in ways that are beyond our expectations.

Rosberg changed lanes immediately after entering the braking zone.

At that moment, Wu Shi knew that Rosberg was going to force his way into the paint.

However, he did not rush to change lanes in the braking zone to block the way.

At the end of the long straight, there's both a lane change and braking, so understeering is inevitable.

Wu Shi could not allow himself to get caught up in it.

Therefore, he braked using the conventional method.

Sure enough, Rosberg, who braked late on the inside, rushed in in the blink of an eye.

White smoke billowed from the tires under heavy braking.

Wu Shi caught a glimpse of Rosberg rushing across the middle of the road.

This one is still going too fast; it needs at least 3 meters to slow down enough to turn.

His speed at that moment was enough to enter the turn.

Turning from the center line into Turn 5, I took turns passing Rosberg.

He has regained second place.

Rosberg, who was behind, didn't turn his car in until much later.

Due to severe understeer, Rosberg lurched along the kerb as he entered Turn 6.

The straight sections between curves 5 and 6 can be ignored.

This resulted in Rosberg entering Turn 6 in a very poor position.

Wu Shi had already passed Turn 6, while Rosberg was just turning out.

The director also realized that Rosberg's attempt to surpass Rosberg was a complete failure.

So they immediately turned the camera on Mercedes' pit room.

Toto remained expressionless, while Mercedes' CEO shook his head slightly.

Regardless of what the two bigwigs think of Rosberg's performance, Rosberg's nationality is enough to offset these negative opinions.

The game continues.

Rosberg, in his haste, missed his chance to attack.

After Wu Shi was brought out of the one-second zone, he circled back for more than half a turn and was chased back into the one-second zone.

This time, Rosberg won't be so reckless.

He needs to run at least one more lap before he has a real chance to attack Wu Shi.

The front row stabilized again, but Grosjean launched an attack on Perez.

At this point, Ge Daqi had narrowed the gap between the two to 0.4 seconds.

This distance allows for a sharp attack, but special attention must be paid to the distance from the vehicle in front.

In some narrow areas, if the car in front brakes, the car behind must immediately brake as well, otherwise a rear-end collision is likely.

After turns 2-4, Grosjean pulled away from Perez's rear.

The DRS on the long straight immediately gave Lotus enough speed.

Perez, who was in the middle of the line, was helpless and was overtaken by Grosjean from the left.

Before Turn 5, Grosjean was a car length ahead, and Perez was unable to mount any counterattack in the braking zone and at the corner entrance.

This scene is just like Hamilton surpassing Wu Shi.

On ultra-high-speed tracks, speed is key.

"You've reached P4 now, keep pushing! Keep pushing!" Lotus's TR sounded.

Clearly, the speed Lotus demonstrated gives them the ambition to reach the podium.

After all, Lotus haven't tasted victory since Kimi left them.

By the end of lap 20, the time difference between Wu Shi and Rosberg had narrowed to 0.67 seconds.

Clearly, Rosberg will launch another attack after lap 21.

Wu Shi remembered what Jonathan had told him: to stop Rosberg.

Swish!

On the starting straight, thanks to DRS, Rosberg closed the gap by 0.26 seconds again.

The difference between the two players narrowed further to 0.41 seconds.

Just then, Jonathan's radio crackled to life: "Turn 19, Turn 19, Ricciardo's car has malfunctioned, lost power, and stopped on the road."

This descriptive statement is not the main point; the main point is:

"Race Control, Race Control, DRS DISABLED! DRS DISABLED!"

DRS is off!
Yellow flags also appeared at the same time.

Ricardo's parking spot was extremely dangerous, and it's highly likely that the virtual safety car will be triggered later.

This temporarily slowed down Rosberg's attack.

“WHY? WHY? Is everyone helping him?!” Rosberg shouted in TR.

But no one would tell him why.

Sure enough, after Rosberg roared, the virtual safety car appeared.

Speed ​​limits have been imposed on all tracks.

The front row drivers had already passed the starting straight before Ricciardo, so they naturally didn't have the option to immediately enter the pit lane.

But at the end of this lap, should we pit for a tire change?
The strategy team quickly provided an answer: no need to change the tire.

After all, it had been about ten laps since the last pit stop, and the medium tires hadn't yet shown their full potential.

Furthermore, entering the station at this time would inevitably require a three-stop strategy.

Therefore, all the drivers in the front row, except for Grosjean, unanimously chose not to change their tires.

Grosjean had his reasons for changing the tires.

He stopped on the ninth lap, which is now eleven or twelve laps in, and the softer surface he switched to was almost at its limit.

Looking at it this way, this person really hit the jackpot.

Perez was also notified to stop for a tire change, which seemed to mean he was to drive straight to the end.

The virtual safety car continued until the end of lap 22. As soon as VSC was deactivated, Wu Shi responded quickly from the start and closely followed Hamilton.

“You’re in Lewis’s 1-second zone, you need to use his DRS to help you.”

The virtual safety car not only protected Wu Shi for two laps, but also reduced the time difference between the three drivers in the front row by a whole level.

"Copy".

Subsequently, the three people in the front row formed a brief DRS train.

"Lewis, you need to create a gap. Wu Shi is using DRS to block Rosberg."

Bono gave Hamilton team instructions.

　PS: Originally, the three yellow cards and one white card were for Bottas of Westbrook. Bottas had already been on a losing streak with Westbrook, and this incident completely eliminated any potential podium finishes.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)