F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 261 can be faster
During the break after practice, most drivers did not rest, but continued to discuss qualifying with the engineers.

At 3 PM, the qualifying race started in Q1, and the green light came on in the pit lane.

Verstappen took the lead onto the track, followed closely by Sainz.

Wu Shi waited for the two Mercedes drivers to leave the station first.

Shortly after, Verstappen set a time of 1 minute 35.415 seconds to temporarily take the lead.

Kvyat finished second, while Grosjean and Sainz had less than ideal results, finishing only third and fourth, a full 0.5 seconds behind.

Rosberg, who came on next, also completed the race and took the lead with a time of 1 minute 33.961 seconds.

But just half a minute later, Hamilton overtook his teammate with a time of 1 minute 33.595 seconds.

It was thought that the two Mercedes drivers would secure their positions, but Wu Shi started to work hard to set lap records in Q1.

Swish!
With a time of 1 minute 33.301 seconds, they took first place!

"Wow, that's exciting! Looks like all three drivers are aiming for pole position!"

Q1 has only just begun, but the tension between the drivers is already very high.

After completing his effective timed laps, Wu Shi did not return to the pit area like Hamilton and Rosberg.

He is still racing on the track, but he needs to further improve his understanding of the details of the track due to the lack of long-distance tire testing.

Although the Suzuka circuit has been repaved, its surface is still quite rough, which causes significant wear and tear on the tires.

Based on the data from practice races, Wu Shi basically concluded that hard tires would be more suitable for long-distance running.

However, if you are in a leading position, you will have to use medium tires because hard tires are significantly slower than medium tires.

In several high-speed curves, tire grip and airflow are necessary to achieve a decent speed.

After running five more laps, Wu Shi returned to the maintenance area.

Jonathan stepped forward and whispered in his ear:

How are the tires feeling? What do you think the strategy for the race should be?

“White-white-orange, white-orange-orange, I think the latter would be better, but the former might be more conducive to maintaining the position,” Wu Shi said.

"Let's wait for the qualifying results. How much speed haven't you unleashed yet?" Jonathan asked.

"I'm not sure, I've only walked a few laps of the track, and the track conditions are still improving."

"In particular, the water accumulation on some shoulders is decreasing. It is expected that once these areas dry, the time will be 0.5 to 0.8 seconds faster, but this is not entirely guaranteed."

Wu Shi thought for a moment and said that the track's grip was extremely complicated due to yesterday's rain.

Some road shoulders may look dry, but they are actually very slippery.

Moreover, it's easy to slip and fall onto the grass, and grass that's soaked with rainwater is even more slippery!

Therefore, as track conditions continue to improve, it will become easier and easier to run.

"okay, I get it."

Jonathan returned to the console.

With eight minutes remaining in Q1, the two Ferrari drivers finally decided to come out.

But Vettel wasn't fast, only managing a time of 1 minute 34.431 seconds.

Kimi did the same, only managing a time of 1 minute 34.171 seconds.

Clearly, after leaving Singapore, Ferrari's situation has returned to what it was before.

Then, the two Mercedes drivers took to the field again.

Wu Shi had no intention of doing a second lap, so he watched their car the whole time.

He could tell from the video alone that Mercedes' aerodynamics were better than Williams'.

However, its stability in corners is still not as good as that of Ferrari and Red Bull.

However, the latter two are completely outmatched by Mercedes in terms of cornering rhythm; the difference in engine performance becomes very noticeable on such high-speed tracks.

Swish!

Rosberg crossed the finish line first, returning to the top of the leaderboard with a time of 1 minute 33.015 seconds.

However, Hamilton repeated the previous scenario, setting a time of 1 minute 32.844 seconds to take first place.

Wu Shi squinted at the results, finding it difficult to comment.

"Mercedes has returned to dominance on the field!"

"They're just too strong! They've already shown such strength in Q1! It seems Mercedes is determined to take pole position!"

Everyone was stunned by Mercedes' incredibly fast lap times.

“Relax, our predicted lap times are no slower than this,” Jonathan and Wu Shi said.

"Phew, I understand. I'll just do my best in my race," Wu Shi replied.

In the final stretch of Q1, Eriksen slipped, which was due to an incorrect assessment of the ground's grip.

Verstappen stopped his vehicle in the middle of the track due to a malfunction, triggering a yellow flag.

Q1 stops the clock 30 seconds in advance.

The last two Marusias and two Saubers were eliminated, along with McLaren's Button.

Speaking of Button, many media outlets have recently reported that he will retire at the end of this season because McLaren is unable to provide a competitive car.

After a 7-minute break, Q2 starts running.

Hamilton and Rosberg took to the field early this time, and Wu Shi followed closely behind the two Mercedes drivers.

As if in response to Hamilton's lap time in the previous race, Rosberg took the lead with a time of 1 minute 32.632 seconds.

This is already 0.2 seconds ahead of the fastest lap in Q1!
The Williams players all looked serious when they saw this lap time.

Claire paced back and forth, looking somewhat uneasy.

Jonathan clasped his hands under his chin, waiting for the data on the screen. Mercedes' speed still far exceeded everyone's expectations.

Hamilton's lap was a bit worse than his teammates', falling behind by 0.157 seconds.

However, a time of 1 minute 32.789 seconds still stands out from the crowd.

I thought Wu Shi, who ran away last, wouldn't bring any more surprises.

But when the white Williams crossed the finish line, he came in third with a time of 1 minute 32.801 seconds!

Everyone immediately realized that there might still be a chance!

Jonathan breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing the data; Wu Shi's prediction was accurate, and he still had some leeway.

At the end of Q1, Wu Shi said it would be 0.5 to 0.8 seconds faster, and now it is already 0.5 seconds faster.

If there were another 0.3 seconds left, then there would definitely be a chance to compete for pole position!
"Wow! Incredible! Wu Shi still showed enough speed to launch an attack on the Mercedes!"

"Could we be witnessing three cars vying for pole position in Q3?!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm already excited!"

The commentators, who had been mostly calm during the qualifying matches, suddenly raised their voices, making it seem like the main match had begun!

However, when Wu Shi returned to the pit area and learned the lap times of the two Mercedes drivers, he was not as excited as the commentators.

“This is a very difficult gap to bridge,” he told Jonathan.

“Yeah, we all know that, so just do what you said before and run at your best!” Jonathan replied.

Wu Shi believed that this gap was difficult to overcome because the situation on the track was not as good as imagined.

Furthermore, he pushed to the limit on this lap compared to the other drivers, which was completely different from his Q2 driving style.

After all, in Q2, the front-row drivers will hold back a bit to reduce the risk of making mistakes.

“We’ve already tuned for qualifying, so if we don’t get pole position, the loss will be huge.”

Claire said to Chief Engineer Rod with some concern.

"There's nothing we can do now; he has to rely on himself."

Rod crossed his arms over his chest, staring intently at the screen in front of him.

After completing their valid times, the three outstanding drivers returned to the pit area.

The other drivers then began to speed off.

Massa achieved a good result, ranking fourth, and thus returned to the pit area early.

The two Ferrari drivers didn't come out until just halfway through Q2.

Vettel finished the race in seventh place with a time of 1 minute 33.844 seconds, which was not ideal.

Even though they don't need to push so hard in Q2, the speed shown by the two Ferrari drivers is enough to show that their competitiveness in this qualifying session is not as strong as expected.

This is normal; just as Williams bets on qualifying, Ferrari might use a setup more geared towards the race.

Kimi's speed was quite good, running a time of 1 minute 33.361 seconds to get into 4th place, pushing Massa out of the running.

In the last two minutes of Q2, the top six drivers were all in the pit lane.

They only completed one flying lap, and because their position was secure, they clearly weren't planning on doing a second flying lap.

The other nine drivers are still racing, vying for the last chance.

Red Bull, which is relatively competitive at the Singapore Grand Prix, is struggling here.

Kvyat initially finished in 8th place with a time of 1 minute 34.201 seconds.

But he was then overtaken by his teammate with a time of 1 minute 34.153 seconds.

Perez also achieved a good speed, pushing Kuwait down another spot.

One after another, these events really made Red Bull nervous.

Fortunately, no one overtook Kvyat at the last moment.

Although Bottas set a new personal fastest lap record, he only managed to push his teammate Grosjean off tenth place.

It posed no threat to Koviat.

Bottas secured the last ticket for Q3.

In this round of rankings, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Sainz, Alonso, and Verstappen were eliminated.

Verstappen's vehicle malfunction was not resolved, so he did not play in Q2.

"Bottas' lap time is pretty good; he's often faster than Grosjean."

The commentator mentioned it when he saw Bottas break into Q3.

The break between Q2 and Q3 is slightly longer, about 8 minutes.

But the final ranking battle is just around the corner, and no one can get a proper rest and relaxation.

Even Bottas, who barely made it into Q3, still has a chance to secure a sixth or seventh place.

In other words, there were no slackers in Q3; everyone was fighting for the ranking they wanted.
The most tense 12 minutes of Saturday are about to begin.

Rosberg and Hamilton arrived at the track early, both using softer medium tires.

Wu Shi did not follow through with his previous decision, but waited a while before going to the track.

His first flying lap will probably have to wait until much later.

During the warm-up lap, he directly revealed the line he was going to take later—

There was no other way; he needed to double-check whether his most extreme ideas could be realized.

After the other riders warmed up and sped off, the course changed again, and the changes were generally positive.

Rosberg, who was the first to go out, quickly completed the warm-up lap and started speeding.

The Suzuka circuit has a very long starting straight where the DRS can be fully activated and the top speed can reach over 330 km/h.

Rosberg's Mercedes reached a top speed of 337 kph just before the braking zone.

He then slammed on the brakes and veered right into the curve.

Because of the high entry speed and heavy braking, the front wheels will be slightly understeerable here.

However, Mercedes' powerful front wing downforce compensates for some of the loss of grip, allowing the front wheels to handle greater steering torque.

Rosberg turned around abruptly.

As it exits the corner, its speed drops to 222 kph, but it will need to slow down further.

Because Turn 2 is a combination turn connected to Turn 1, you need to slow down to enter Turn 2, the "U" shaped bend.

After exiting Turn 2, you will have a valuable opportunity to accelerate, and after this acceleration comes a series of "S" turns.

The requirements for brake balance and differential parameters are slightly different from those for Turn 1, but the differences are not very significant.

Therefore, most drivers complete their setup before entering Turn 1 and then don't make any further changes.

Rosberg did the same, his car twisting and turning through four corners before arriving at Turn 7.

Rosberg had just begun adjusting the brake balance.

Mercedes has excellent overall balance, so drivers don't need to constantly adjust parameters.

Rosberg drove very smoothly from Turn 7 out.

When he entered turn 11 from turn 10, because he had to go right first and then left, his left wheel locked up slightly, causing a brief loss of balance in the vehicle.

However, it was no big deal; the engine's powerful surge after exiting the corner immediately propelled it toward Turn 12.

For the remainder of the track, Rosberg made no further noticeable mistakes until he crossed the finish line! Whew!

1 minutes 32 seconds 584!

This result undoubtedly secures first place.

After being surprised by the potential that Mercedes could still unleash, everyone turned their attention to Hamilton.

"The only Mercedes that can compete with it in qualifying is another Mercedes."

The commentator made a definitive conclusion without hesitation.

"Don't you think Wu Shi has a good chance anymore?"

"His lap time is only 32.8 seconds."

"You were just saying Wu Shi could compete for pole position!"

"I was definitely speaking too loudly back then, hahaha!"

After seeing Rosberg's results, the commentator lowered his expectations for Wu Shi.

After all, Rosberg had already clocked a time of 1 minute 32.632 seconds in Q2.

It has improved by about 0.05 seconds now, and by the time the second lap is over, the speed will probably be even faster!

If Wu Shi wants to achieve this result, he needs to improve his time by 0.22 seconds!
Half a minute later, Hamilton crossed the finish line with a time of 1 minute 32.660 seconds.

"Rosberg is in incredibly good form at this stop!"

That's a beautifully said statement; only the good things were said, while the bad things were left unsaid.

Rosberg is in good form, while Hamilton is in somewhat poor form.

"But don't worry, this is only the first valid timed lap. They will most likely switch to new tires and try again on the second flying lap."

"Hey, let's take a look at Wu Shi. Why did he do an extra round of warming up?"

"Oh! It's Massa! He's waiting for Massa!"

"Do you want to create a wake vortex?!"

While the strategy of using a slipstream is not prohibited by the tournament organizers, it doesn't mean that you can use a slipstream at any time.

After all, this requires the rider who pulls the slipstream to make a sacrifice, and also requires extremely precise teamwork.

In the recent TR, no instructions from the Williams team were heard.

In other words, this was basically something that was decided before the qualifying rounds.

Wu Shi followed behind Massa, the DRS and slipstream giving the race car unparalleled speed.

He increased his speed to 336 kph in the middle of the race.

He immediately made a cut.

This is something that needs special attention when pulling a wake.

If the car behind doesn't turn before the curve, it will be in a relatively chaotic situation.

This will result in a significant loss of downforce when entering a corner, making it counterproductive.

In order for Wu Shi to pass through smoothly, Masa had to loosen the oil in advance.

As soon as he released the accelerator, the DRS automatically turned off, meaning he couldn't speed around the track for that lap.

Such a slowdown in pace is something that teammates who aren't on good terms with each other would almost never agree to.

After all, Q3 is a precious time.

Before reaching the braking zone at Turn 1, Wu Shi's top speed reached an astonishing 340 kph!

This not only means that his top speed is faster, but also that he can maintain a relatively high speed for a longer distance on the track.

Heh!

The heavy braking reduced the speed to just over 200 km/h in an instant, while simultaneously making a right turn.

Severe understeer can plague any driver.

Wu Shi was no exception.

His brake shift settings were high, so the rear wheels were bearing more braking torque, while the front wheels struggled to steer using the limited grip available.

Heh!

Wu Shi stared intently at the track, his steering wheel as precise as a clock gear, guiding the car into the bend without the slightest deviation.

Only such skillful operation can maintain this balance.

Entering the corner is just the beginning; as he exits the corner, he begins to adjust the vehicle's parameters.

He was able to navigate the subsequent "S" bend with a more suitable setup.

sieve!!

The race car sped past at speeds of 180-220 km/h, and Wu Shi stepped on the gas even earlier as he came out of Turn 7.

Acceleration in the corner almost completely depletes the tires' lateral grip.

The tires suffered the most brutal damage!

After exiting the corner, the car accelerated again, even slightly faster than Rosberg.

Jonathan quietly looked at the telemetry data.

The lower downforce compared to Mercedes makes cornering more difficult, but it also results in better acceleration and top speed.

Soon, we arrived at the combination bend 10-11.

The vehicle was traveling from right to left at a much slower speed than Rosberg.

However, because of his better entry rhythm, Wu Shi started accelerating much earlier when exiting the corner!
Wu Shi is doing everything he can to compensate for the vehicle's insufficient downforce!
Since there isn't enough downforce when entering the corner, enter slowly and exit quickly to achieve a more balanced speed.

Hoho! !
The engine roared as the race car sped through the high-speed Turn 12.

The commentators glanced at the live timer, which looked about the same as Rosberg's.

"Wu Shi's lap time is much more extreme than Rosberg's."

"Of course, Williams is already slightly weaker than Mercedes, so only by pushing his limits can he achieve greater speed!"

"His best strategy is to aim for a time of 33 seconds or less on the next flying lap."

When the broadcast camera focused on Wu Shi's T-shaped frame, everyone felt that his choice was too risky.

However, in Wu Shi’s view, he had to do all this for every one of the two speed laps!
Only by doing this can he truly understand the limits and have a better chance of surpassing them in the next racing lap!
Heh!

Turns 13 and 14, a combination that tests the vehicle's performance across the entire track, are approaching.

The entire car seemed to be trembling as it tried to maintain its high-speed balance until the front of the car was aligned with the long straight ahead, at which point the struggle and resistance finally ended.

Roar!
Accelerate at full speed!
Turn 15, the race car flashed by in an instant.

With only three turns left on the track, everyone held their breath, eagerly awaiting the results.

Click, click, click!
I forced my way onto the shoulder of turn 16, and the stiff suspension transmitted all the vibrations back to me.

The car completed the turn amidst violent shaking and then immediately headed straight for the shoulder of Turn 17.

Wu Shi was a little more cautious here, which resulted in the front wheels getting a steady grip.

Buzzing and roaring!

I couldn't wait to accelerate, and once the torque from the rear wheels picked up, it propelled the entire race car forward.

Whoosh! Sizzle!

The rear wheels lost traction and spun slightly, but the front wheels were pointing precisely towards the final corner.

Jonathan clenched his fists instinctively, and only breathed a sigh of relief after the car had finished entering the corner.

It almost got out of control just now!

Swish!
Wu Shi crossed the finish line.

The sign has been refreshed.

P1: Wu Shi 1:32.581
Three-thousandths of a second!
clap clap clap! ! !
Williams and his crew applauded, and Wu Shi's mechanic even jumped up from his seat.

"Excellent! You did a fantastic job! You've been promoted to P1 for now!"

Jonathan also got excited and started talking.

But after a brief moment of excitement, he quickly calmed down and said:
"After cooling down, we need to prepare for the next flying lap."

“Copy,” Wu Shi replied.

At the same time, the Mercedes TR also started playing.

"Nico, Wu Shi has broken your record, by three-thousandths of a second."

“Oh! Oh! I made mistakes exiting Turn 11 and Turn 16. Do I need to try again?!” Rosberg said immediately.

"Yes, you need to try again, but the track is very congested right now, so you need to come back first."

"OK."

Meanwhile, Bono is also communicating with Hamilton:
"Lewis, Wu Shi is 0.079 seconds faster than you, you still have a chance."

"Yes."

Hamilton said in TR.

Three minutes later, Massa also completed his first flying lap.

With a time of 1 minute 33.337 seconds, he is currently in fifth place, 0.092 seconds behind Vettel.

Everyone was biting very, very hard.

Because of the variety of race strategy options, teams will not hesitate to bring out another set of medium tires for racing.

Soon, all the drivers completed their first flying lap, and the track conditions continued to improve.

With approximately three minutes remaining in the race, all the drivers began preparing to enter the field again.

Rosberg and Bottas came out first, followed closely by Hamilton.

Wu Shi also went out at the same time.

The four of them were warming up their tires at different times.

Just as the drivers were speeding along, a yellow flag suddenly appeared in the third time slot.

"OHHHH!!! NO!!! Kvyat ran into a wall!"

The commentator shouted loudly.

"Yellow flag! It's definitely going to be a yellow flag, we're doomed! Nico and Lewis's flying lap is ruined, their last flying lap is ruined!"

Upon hearing this excited shout, the spectators immediately realized, could it be that...?
"Yes! Yes! Q3 will end with a yellow flag!"

"Neither Mercedes driver will have another chance to break their record!"

"The pole position in this qualifying session will once again fall to Wu Shi!"

"This incredibly lucky teenager has secured pole position again!"

“Oooooohhhhh!!!”

The commentator was full of enthusiasm, and Jonathan was also extremely excited as he spoke into the microphone:
"Kvyat crashed into the tire wall at turn 16-17. Stop now, congratulations! P1."

"P1!"

"You're P1!"

"Huff! Huff! WHAT? WHAT?"

Wu Shi, who had just finished rounding the bend, couldn't help but pant.

On the other side, after receiving the news, Rosberg immediately shouted in TR:
"WHY? WHY?!"

He finally found his rhythm, but then this happened.

In contrast to Rosberg's excitement, Hamilton was much quieter.

After a long pause, he finally said in TR:
"Did we miss the opportunity again? I could have been faster; I should have been faster on the first flying lap."

The accident at Kvyat effectively ended Q3.

With only one and a half minutes left in Q3, there wasn't enough time to completely clear the debris from the track.

Logically, this should have been the end of the qualifying season.

However, the race organizers remained silent and continued to wait. Then, several Matthews even went to the track to clean up the debris.

Rosberg, who had already let the ball go, came over and immediately shouted:
"Matthew is on the track, so why are people cleaning it up now? This is too dangerous! Too dangerous!"

However, the organizers ignored this until Q3 time was completely exhausted.

The track has not yet been cleared.

Indeed, in just one minute, Matthew couldn't do much.

Finally, the qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix concluded.

Wu Shi got pole position!
　PS: Verstappen was penalized three places in the race for stopping his car in a dangerous area during qualifying.

　　The Kvyat, however, suffered severe collision damage and required a chassis replacement, forcing it to be transported from the repair area.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)