F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 266 Hurricane
Kvyat received a warm welcome at home, but it wasn't as lively as expected.

After going through a complicated process, the tire warming session officially began at 2 PM.

After completing the entire lap, Hamilton almost came to a stop before the final corner, T18.

It wasn't that he wanted to cause trouble, but rather that Rosberg was hardly making any progress.

This caused a very long delay, until both Mano and Rosberg had reached the back of the pack before he finally caught up.

No one knew what tricks the two were up to; all they knew was that this made everyone's hearts sink.

For the final stretch, Hamilton didn't suddenly accelerate and then brake hard to raise the temperature of the tires and brakes; he just moved forward slowly, like driving in a neighborhood.

Rosberg, naturally, could no longer slow down the traffic.

Even Wu Shi couldn't slow down the carriage.

All the race cars reached their positions at a constant speed.

The top 13 drivers all started on supersoft tires.

The five red lights came on and then went out, and the competition began.

The three in the front row moved in unison, and Rosberg, who usually makes mistakes at the start, had a perfect start today.

The camera only lingered on the first three cars for a moment before focusing on the competition in the back seats.

Kimi took off and surged forward, overtaking his teammates.

However, further down the line, Hulkenberg spun out of control at Turn 2. Verstappen narrowly avoided the collision, but Eriksson was unable to dodge it.

The impact was so severe that it triggered the yellow flag, and a safety car was deployed moments later.

No one expected the safety car to arrive so early.

The race resumed on the fourth lap, and the front row positions remained unchanged.

Hamilton tried to pull away quickly, but Rosberg was closing in, with a difference of only 0.3 seconds, which was quite dangerous.

However, the unexpected happened much earlier than the overtaking. On lap 7, Rosberg suddenly slowed down.

"The accelerator, there's a problem with the accelerator."

Rosberg reported the situation in the buzzing TR.

Mercedes also asked him to try changing the settings, but that was basically a waste of time.

Finally, after only seven laps – three of which were with the safety car – Rosberg retired from the race due to a vehicle malfunction.

Wu Shi came in second, just over two seconds behind Hamilton.

"The speed difference between the two isn't as significant as it was before at this station," David commented.

"But overtaking under the influence of polluted air is still somewhat difficult, especially since Williams' tire management is even more challenging."

Not long after the two finished speaking, on lap 12, Grosjean crashed into the guardrail with a "bang," triggering the safety car again!

However, since it was only 12 laps and everyone's basic strategy was to stop once, no one in the front row chose to change tires.

The safety car was removed on lap 15, and after the race restarted, Wu Shi and Hamilton had a slight edge in speed.

This did not allow Wu Shi to catch up with Hamilton; instead, it slightly increased tire wear.

So after lap 25, Wu Shi was still reduced to more than 3 seconds.

Rodrigo wasn't worried about the suspension.

He believed that once Wu Shi pitted, Hamilton would not dare to linger outside the track for too long.

Sure enough, on the 30th lap, when the first stop window arrived, Wu Shi entered the pit.

Mercedes did not hesitate at all and recalled Hamilton for pit stop on the second lap.

Nothing unexpected happened during this time; Hamilton remained stuck in front of Wu Shi for more than a second after he came out.

Once in cruising mode, Hamilton drove steadily without making any basic mistakes, making it difficult for Wu Shi to seize any opportunity to attack.

After returning to the field, both players maintained a lap time of approximately 1 minute and 41 seconds.

Around lap 40, Hamilton set the fastest lap time of 1 minute 40.573 seconds.

Rodrigo knew that Hamilton's lap time was much faster than Wu Shi's, and that this was Hamilton's way of showing off.

The demonstration was valid.

He sighed inwardly. The difference in tire wear meant that the theoretical probability of overtaking on the track decreased as the race progressed.

There's no way around it; when drivers' tire management skills are similar, the competition comes down to the car's performance.

"Mercedes and Hamilton have become much more composed than before the summer break. They no longer take any risks and try to minimize the occurrence of basic mistakes."

By the last lap of the race, the outcome was basically decided, David concluded.

Hamilton once again crossed the checkered line first, then swayed the car from side to side, showing his excitement at winning.

When Wu Shi crossed the finish line, he had already calmed down.

The 15th race, the Russian Grand Prix, has concluded, with Hamilton recovering 7 points.

Wu Shi's lead has been reduced to 15 points.

With the Americana Grand Prix approaching on October 25th, Sky Sports released a report predicting the outcome of the competition.

Several senior commentators have offered their opinions.

Most believe that if Hamilton remains consistent, Wu Shi will have little chance of being surpassed.

However, some people believe that maintaining a perfect record or making no mistakes in the remaining matches is a very high-pressure situation, and unexpected things can easily happen.

Some say that Williams appeared to be even faster at the Russian Grand Prix, and that Williams continues to improve the FW37, meaning Mercedes will face an even greater challenge.

While the media discussed the passion, Williams internally had to remain calm and composed.

During the Russian Grand Prix, Wu Shi came very close to Hamilton.

However, when Mercedes treated Williams as a competitor, Williams immediately found it difficult to analyze Mercedes' data.

Just like deliberately concealing data during practice sessions, teams that maintain their lead in the race also have the right to retain some of their strength.

Therefore, Williams could not determine why Mercedes was so close in the previous Grand Prix.

Regardless of Mercedes' situation, Williams' optimization efforts must continue.

After the incident at Suzuka Circuit where Williams started from pole position and was overtaken, the team changed its strategy.

After all, even on a track like Suzuka where overtaking is very difficult, it's impossible to convert to pole position.

This is enough to prove that the direction of team development must be balanced with the main race.

The most crucial aspect of research and development for the main competition is the aerodynamic components.

In fact, Williams has been making patchwork adjustments all along.

Wu Shi’s feedback always brought about some changes, but few of these changes actually made the race car better.

Amidst the tension, the Grand Prix on October 25th is fast approaching.

Pirelli had already confirmed before the Grand Prix that its continued partnership with F1 would last until 2019.

On the other hand, there's been new information regarding the potential acquisition of F1:
It is said that F1 is considering negotiating the sale of its shares to a Chinese investment fund and appointing Lauda to replace Ecclestone as head of FOM.

Meanwhile, Renault's acquisition of Lotus is still ongoing.

Red Bull still hasn't found a suitable engine supplier.

Ferrari used its last "token" for an engine upgrade.

Honda's engines are also constantly improving, but I think the progress is really hard to see.

Before the 16th Grand Prix, a huge variable emerged—

Patricia, a super tropical storm in North America, evolved into the strongest hurricane in just 24 hours.

Even though it hasn't fully made landfall, it has already brought torrential rain to Texas.

Friday morning's practice sessions took place on wet ground, and in the afternoon, torrential rain flooded the track, making any track testing impossible.

Saturday morning was slightly better, but by the end of practice session, heavy rain and strong winds had flooded the entire track—the water level reached 10 centimeters. In this condition, forget about driving an F1 car, driving any other car would be difficult; perhaps driving a boat would be better.

The organizers had to use water pumps to drain the water.

In the pit lane, most of the drivers were doing nothing.

Ricardo and Kvyat danced in the puddles, while old Verstappen and old Sainz competed to see who could wear their son's suit.

In conclusion, under these circumstances, Saturday's qualifying session will undoubtedly be cancelled.

"The weather will be better tomorrow, but it's still uncertain," Jonathan and Wu Shi said.

"Well, the rain station might be a bit better."

Wu Shi said.

His biggest advantage in rain conditions is his accurate control of grip; no other driver, no matter who, can do it to that extent.

After all, the grip on wet surfaces changes with each lap, and these subtle differences are very difficult to judge.

However, he is able to accurately grasp changes in grip and gain more advantages as a result.

And advantages can sometimes be accumulated.

Saturday's qualifying session was indeed cancelled; in this weather, no race of any kind could take place.

The qualifying session has been postponed to 9:00 AM on Sunday.

The next day, the rain was still falling, and the track grip became extremely complicated.

However, qualifying cannot be skipped, so the organizers opened the green light for the pit area.

Not long into the first qualifying session, Sainz triggered a red flag.

The match took a full ten minutes to resume.

For most drivers, the situation was extremely chaotic.

Wu Shi naturally sped off as soon as the green light came on in the pit lane. While his performance may not be outstanding, he was certain to make it into Q2.

Faced with special circumstances such as rainy days, Williams' decision was very simple: first improve the basic rankings, and then try to pursue higher rankings.

So when Q2 started, Wu Shi was the first to go on the track, using half-rain tires and running a time of 1 minute 56.598 seconds.

This time was much faster than the average time of 1 minute and 59 seconds on the field, so Wu Shi immediately went back.

After most riders experienced slippage, someone finally started setting a time of 1 minute and 57 seconds.

The old man's first lap time was 1 minute 57.555 seconds, which would definitely get him into Q3, but he didn't want to lose to Wu Shi in any aspect.

So he continued racing, since he could use the semi-weather tires however he wanted, but his second lap time of 1 minute 56.929 seconds still left him nearly 0.4 seconds behind Wu Shi.

He planned to charge his phone before speeding off again, then the rain got heavier.
The rain directly interrupted Q2.

And the rain was getting heavier and heavier, showing no signs of stopping.

Mercedes and Williams' teams are waiting quietly, with some already realizing that Q3 might not be possible.

Sure enough, an hour later, according to the relevant rules, the race organizers canceled Q3 and the start time was determined according to Q2.

"very good!"

Jonathan's face lit up with joy as he awarded the final starting time to Wu Shi:
"Lewis, he started behind Rosberg, which is good news for you."

The two Ferraris, having been penalized, ended up in sixth and ninth place, respectively.

Therefore, the fourth and fifth places were occupied by two Red Bulls.

Wu Shi nodded, but still said, "Rosberg did almost no good in stopping Lewis."

“It’s better than nothing,” Jonathan smiled.

In fact, Rosberg's performance this year has been terribly poor.

I don't know how many times I've wasted my chances by making a wrong start.

No one knows what caused this, since most people are too far removed from the driver to know Rosberg's mental state at that moment.

Many people fail to connect a driver's mindset with their performance. They ridicule professional drivers for making basic mistakes, believing they could do it too.

Under high pressure and with full information load, people are very prone to making mistakes.

Otherwise, why would calmly handling matters be considered an excellent skill?

By the time the main race started in the afternoon, the rain had finally stopped affecting the track.

In fact, the heavy rain subsided not long after the qualifying session ended.

Just before the main competition began, the rain gradually stopped.

However, the track is very slippery, and no one knows when the heavy rain will return.

Therefore, no one dared to risk starting on dry tires and betting on the weather.

Before getting on the bus, Wu Shi looked at Hamilton behind him.

The world champion was already seated in his car and putting on his gloves.

He then turned to look at Rosberg on the other side, who was discussing the situation with his engineer.

Afterwards, Wu Shi got into his car, and Jonathan squatted down beside him and said:
"Have you remembered the key points of this match?"

Wu Shi nodded and said, "I know. I remember all the buttons. I'll press them when I feel it's appropriate."

As the tire warm-up began, one F1 car after another started, kicking up water and creating trails of mist that obstructed the view.

With partial rain tires, the warm-up lap is more like the formation lap in go-karting, mainly used to test the start of the race car and determine its position.

Wu Shi did not delay and parked the car at the first starting position on the right side of the track.

He felt a little cold as the tires made contact with the wet, slippery ground.

One race car after another took their positions, and the roar of their engines grew louder and sharper.

All vehicles were in position, and five red lights overhead lit up one after another.

Wu Shi stared intently, his hand unconsciously gripping tighter and tighter.

Suddenly, the red light went out.

Buzz!

Wu Shi reacted instantly, released the clutch, and the engine unleashed its strongest torque in the optimal RPM range.

However, semi-wet tires have much lower grip than dry tires, so throttle control becomes crucial.

Wu Shi was completely focused on the grip and torque balance of the rear wheels.

From a high vantage point, it was only visible that Wu Shi had a clear advantage over Rosberg from the very start.

Before entering Turn 1, he encountered no obstacles at all and was able to enter the turn with ease, which was the first time this season!

Rosberg's start was a little slow.

This brief lapse allowed Hamilton, who had changed lanes to the inside, to catch up.

When we reached Turn 1, the two Mercedes cars were side by side.

Hamilton allowed the entire car to press against Rosberg, squeezing Rosberg with an incredibly forceful stance.

Rosberg actually moved aside, running completely off the track.

By the time he drove back to the track, two Red Bulls had already caught up from behind!

"This is going to trigger an investigation! How could they drive like this!"

The soldier jumped up and down immediately upon seeing this.

“This is generally how it is within a team; the FIA ​​usually doesn’t issue specific penalties,” Fei Ge said.

"Rosberg is too weak! Don't give up your position! Let's see if Hamilton dares to run into him!" the soldier continued to complain.

He had barely finished speaking when the first timer turned yellow, and a chaotic accident occurred in the back row.

　The card has been approved.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)