F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 268 Another Security Car

"Why is it so slow?" Fei Ge asked, somewhat puzzled.

"Slow train, Hamilton is fast, but it's very difficult for him to overtake the slower train," the soldier said.

The broadcast cameras switched back and forth, which was a bit dizzying, but it still clearly showed the situation on the field.

"After Wu Shi came out, it seems that his position has dropped to second place. No, Ricardo is about to enter the station as well."

"Well, a lot of drivers pitted on lap 18, and Hamilton made everyone decide to use dry tires."

"Hamilton lost out."

The two of them immediately realized this.

After all, once Wu Shi came out, the road ahead was clear and there were no obstacles, which meant that he wouldn't have to waste time like Hamilton.

On lap 20, Wu Shi indeed set an astonishing time of 1 minute 49.654 seconds.

This is an overwhelming advantage of dry tires!

Hamilton, despite his speed, slipped during his battle with Kvyat and only managed a time of 1 minute 50.1 seconds.

The time difference between the two continued to widen.

And after the people in front had all entered the station, Hamilton found himself not only behind Kvyat and Ricardo, but also behind Rosberg.

At this point, Wu Shi was leading Ricardo by 5.9 seconds, Rosberg by 6.1 seconds, Kvyat by 9.7 seconds, and Hamilton by 10.4 seconds.

However, when it came to dry conditions, Mercedes' speed immediately began to surpass Red Bull's by a significant margin.

So on lap 22, both Mercedes launched an attack on Red Bull.

Rosberg easily overtook Ricciardo at Turn 12, and a few seconds later, Hamilton overtook Kvyat at the same spot.

Mercedes regained its speed on the dry ground, as did Ferrari, with Vettel rapidly closing in on Kvyat.

The two fought fiercely, but when Kvyat was slightly careless and pressed down on some wet spots, he slowed down and was immediately overtaken by Vettel.

Overtaking in rain-soaked conditions often looks so simple and straightforward; whoever can control the car wins—even though it's now considered a dry race.

“Great, keep up the pace, you’re still in the lead,” Jonathan said.

On lap 24, Wu Shi, in clean air, continued to push his limits.

A lap time of 1 minute 43.953 seconds set a new fastest lap record, but this fastest lap did not last long, as the other riders were also constantly setting their own fastest laps.

同圈，罗斯伯格1分43秒534，汉密尔顿1分44秒815。

Hamilton continued to be slowed down despite the obstruction.

Williams saw the speed difference between Wu Shi and Rosberg.

At this rate, Rosberg will catch up with Wu Shi's second difference in about ten laps.

Then, with the help of DRS, he surpassed Wu Shi.

Instead of reminding Wu Shi of this obvious danger, Williams told Wu Shi:

"Your lap time is very good, keep it up, we want you to maintain this lap time."

The team's TR startled the commentators for a moment, but David quickly realized:
"This is likely a strategic move by Williams, but what exactly it is remains to be seen."

David paused for a moment, then immediately said:

“We see that Lewis’s lap time is very slow. He’s hovering between 1 minute 44 seconds and 1 minute 45 seconds. This could be because he’s running slowly, or it could be because he’s protecting his tires!”
"Williams keenly noticed Hamilton's strategy!"
"Now, for both Hamilton and Wu Shi, their only opponent is each other."

"In other words, Williams doesn't care if Rosberg wins the championship, as long as Wu Shi finishes ahead of Hamilton!"

This explanation was enlightening for the audience, as it was clear that it would be difficult for Wu Shi to actually stop the two Mercedes-Benz cars.

But soon they had new doubts.

If Rosberg overtakes, will he run over Wu Shi's car?

The two drivers need to work together better, right?
David quickly provided the answer:

"Williams made a very bold decision. They didn't think Rosberg would help Lewis, and in fact, they did."

"At Turn 1, Lewis overtook Rosberg in such a dismissive manner, which already fueled Rosberg's anger."

"On lap 17, Rosberg relentlessly pursued Hamilton, determined to beat him on the track."

"Clearly, even when the team issues strong instructions, Rosberg can still not execute them perfectly."

“He could tell the team: ‘Blocking Wu Shi from winning the championship is already helping Lewis, and Lewis finishing behind Wu Shi is entirely Lewis’s own business.’”

"Oh! Things are getting more and more interesting!"

In the blink of an eye, on lap 26, Wu Shi and Rosberg were less than 4 seconds apart.

Although Hamilton wasn't pushing at full speed, beating the Red Bull, whose engine was malfunctioning, was like beating a primary school student.

Hamilton activated DRS on the half-straight and outpaced Ricciardo, who was only traveling at 303 kph, with a top speed of 330 kph.

While the two were competing, Kimi watched from the sidelines. It wasn't that he didn't want to stop them, but rather that he was the one being lapped.

Kimi was already moving very slowly earlier, and the brakes were overheating so badly that he had to slow down.

Not long after, Ferrari was unable to remotely resolve the brake overheating issue, making it pointless to continue racing, so they had Kimi retire from the race.

On the same lap that Kimi retired from the race, Eriksson's car stopped on the main straight.

“NO POWER,” Erickson said in TR.

Jonathan immediately frowned.

Eriksson parked right on the straight after Turn 1.

This place is extremely dangerous!

This will most likely trigger a yellow flag or a safety vehicle.

Sure enough, a yellow flag appeared in the second time slot.

But just five seconds later, the race organizers announced that the safety car would be deployed!

Jonathan clenched his fist and almost slammed it on the table.

Claire, who was watching from behind, also covered her mouth and looked upset.

"Our advantage is about to disappear."

Both the soldier and the soldier knew that the safety vehicle had caused Wu Shi a great deal of damage!

We're going to just give back the advantage we worked so hard to gain?!
Then, on lap 28, Vettel, Perez, Hulkenberg, Button, Nasr, Sainz, and Alonso all went into the pit lane.

Wu Shi followed behind the security car, and Rosberg quickly caught up.

The four-second difference was negated by the safety car.

What's even more frustrating is that the ten-second difference between him and Hamilton has now dwindled to less than two seconds.

The safety car announced its departure on lap 32.

So, on the last few curves, Wu Shi pressed down hard on the car until he felt the tires were cold before suddenly slamming on the brakes to pull away.

Swish!
After turning 20 and entering the starting straight, the race officially restarted.

“Nico, let Lewis go over there. He needs to surpass Wu Shi.” A voice suddenly rang out from Mercedes’s TR.

Is he faster than me?

"Yes."

Rosberg didn't say anything. The game had just restarted, and you're already saying Hamilton is faster than me?
This is absolutely F**K!
Wu Shi drove straight along the straight road, feeling the pressure from behind.

At turn 1, he only braked when he was almost at the crest of the hill.

The steep incline here can support very late braking, but the driver has to control it well, otherwise they will leave the gear in neutral.

Wu Shi, on the other hand, made no defensive move. He knew that by taking the lead and pulling Rosberg away from the start, he would prevent the opponent from launching an immediate attack.

Swoosh!

When turning, the car is pulled by the potential energy of the downhill slope, so the front of the car can easily swing through.

Whoosh! Buzz!

The engine roared to full power, instantly propelling Hamilton forward onto the long straight. Rosberg followed closely behind, showing no intention of letting Hamilton pass.

Even when Hamilton tried to overtake using the slipstream, Rosberg moved to the center line to defend.

The broadcast camera focused precisely on Toto, the Mercedes team manager, who remained expressionless.

Meanwhile, the competition for seats in the back row was also extremely fierce after the restart.

Kvyat braked too late at Turn 1, causing the car to understeer quite a distance before regaining its steering ability.

Vettel overtook him directly and caught up with Ricciardo at Turn 12.

On lap 34, Jonathan pressed TR and said:

"Rosberg 45.312 seconds, Lewis 45.938 seconds, you are faster than them, keep it up."

Wu Shi automatically filtered out this message; the dryness of the ground at this moment had a dual nature.

Even after driving on a dry tire, some areas remained slippery.

Many drivers reduce their entry speed to navigate these corners more smoothly.

On the straights, the racing lines were completely dry, but the area outside the racing lines remained a mess.

Stagnant water and rubber granules occupy these barren lands.

Once a wheel rolls into it, it will almost certainly slip.

Therefore, the track is still very difficult to run on at this point.

Wu Shi gained a 1.5-second advantage by dominating the first lap.

These advantages are being eroded.

The safety car not only allowed Mercedes to close the gap with Wu Shi, but also caused the other drivers to be pressed together.

Therefore, the competition on the track was very exciting.

Vettel overtook Ricciardo on the outside of Turn 2.

Verstappen easily overtook Kvyat at Turn 1.

Kvyat immediately remarked that Verstappen went into the corner like a torpedo.

Verstappen managed to control the car; this was simply an extreme use of the brakes, not a reckless torpedo.

On lap 35, Wu Shi further improved his lap time to around 1 minute and 43 seconds.

However, both Mercedes drivers broke the 1 minute 42 second barrier.

Hamilton was faster, finishing in 42.725 seconds, closing the gap with Rosberg by 0.239 seconds.

Like Wu Shi, Rosberg took advantage of his start on the first lap to pull ahead of Hamilton by 1.3 seconds.

On lap 35, Verstappen's target became Ricciardo, and he was rapidly closing in on the Red Bull driver.

Young calf fighting big calf, a staple of the show.

In this lap, Rosberg reduced Wu Shi's second difference by 0.004 seconds.

Hamilton narrowed the gap by 0.241 seconds.

Clearly, Hamilton was faster than Rosberg.

This is normal. Before the safety car, Hamilton was driving at a speed that was almost a second slower per lap than two people, so his tires were naturally better protected.

On lap 36, the tiny second difference between the top three drivers made them look like a small train with its head and tail connected.

At this point, Wu Shi was 1.3 seconds ahead of Rosberg and 2.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton.

Then came Vettel, Verstappen, Ricciardo, and Hulkenberg.

Hulkenberg also climbed to 7th place without anyone noticing, and launched an attack on Ricciardo, whose speed had dropped significantly.

Using the DRS between Turns 11 and 12, Hulkenberg rapidly closed in on Ricciardo.

Mercedes engines have once again proven their dominance on cold, high-speed tracks.

However, Hulkenberg was too eager, and after cutting into the inside line, the vehicle noticeably wobbled when turning.

The drastic change in grip made it impossible for the race car to brake and steer simultaneously.

He then pushed his way past Ricardo.

Ricardo thought this was a form of pressure, so he didn't give way, and as a result, his wing immediately collided with Hulkenberg's forewing.

It was only then that Ricardo realized that this guy really couldn't control the vehicle!
The two race cars squeezed out of Turn 12.

Thankfully, the US has a large area, and the runway is big enough for airplanes to run on, otherwise both of them would have crashed into the wall.

Hulkenberg suffered a heavy loss due to his recklessness, while Ricciardo returned to the track and got stuck in front of his teammate.

Hulkenberg returned to the track, but after only a short meeting, he discovered that the front suspension was severely damaged and he was no longer capable of driving.

He parked the vehicle on the lawn, and the third timer immediately turned yellow.

Meanwhile, Sainz was given a 5-second penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

On lap 37, the lap times decreased due to the yellow flag in the section.

Hulkenberg's vehicle remained on the lawn.

“Safety car,” Jonathan said in TR.

“BOX BOX BOX.” Mercedes recalls Rosberg.

Wu Shi did not follow them inside, because from the beginning, his only focus was on Hamilton.

"Rosberg has been recalled. It seems Mercedes doesn't want to watch the two of them fight anymore," the soldier analyzed with a smile.

“I think Rosberg’s tires are almost used up,” Fei Ge had another idea.

Regardless, the safety car reappeared, and behind Wu Shi was his old rival—Hamilton.

However, the safety car didn't last long this time, finishing after 39 laps.

Wu Shi still kept Hamilton in check, while Hamilton swayed back and forth in a show of defiance, as if warming the tires.

Buzz!

Wu Shi didn't care about anything else and stepped on the gas, catching Hamilton, who had just straightened the car, completely off guard.

Dynamic start-up leaders have this advantage; they can always come up with new and innovative features.

第40圈，吴轼1分43秒4，汉密尔顿1分43秒95，两人秒差1.3秒。

第41圈，吴轼回到了是1分43秒整上下千分之几秒，而汉密尔顿则1分42秒96，略微追回0.1秒。

第42圈，吴轼依然1分43秒上下千分之几秒，汉密尔顿1分42秒579，直接追回了0.4秒，进入1秒区内。

Meanwhile, Rosberg, with his new tires, overtook Vettel at Turn 12 and moved back to third.

"Two safety cars completely ruined Wu Shi's race!"

Seeing Wu Shi being pursued again and soon unable to hold on, the soldier couldn't help but sigh with regret.

However, that's how competitions are; unexpected things can happen.

"It's a pity. If this continues, Wu Shi will be surpassed again, and then he won't have another chance." Fei Ge shook his head.

"This is a rare opportunity. If we win the championship, we might actually win the world championship this year! Our own world champion!"

The soldier felt increasingly distressed as he thought about it.

On lap 43, Wu Shi was once again closed to within 0.2 seconds, and Hamilton had two more DRSs, making it difficult for him to resist the pursuit.

But just then, Kvyat drove onto the right kerb before entering Turn 20.

The slippery road shoulder and the grassy area on the side instantly ruined the race car's balance.

The car spun rapidly, crossing the entire track, and crashed with a "bang" into the guardrail at the entrance to the pit area.

The safety car came out again.

(End of this chapter)