F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 278 Rosberg's Pole Position
The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is ​​held at the Yas Marina Circuit, a track that Wu Shi has always felt resembles a pistol.

In 2015, the Yas Marina Circuit had a total of 21 corners, but when he later raced there, it only had 16 corners.

However, it is still a racetrack, and the two high-speed straights are still distinct.

In addition, the 2015 track featured a large number of extremely difficult low-to-medium speed corners.

The Turn 12 that left such a deep impression on him was then Turn 17.

Because of the long straights and complex low-to-medium speed corners, this is a track that really tests the track setup and trade-offs.

For Williams, the trade-off has always been a preference for high speeds on a straight line.

However, it's not as simple as just optimizing high-speed performance here; the corners will punish every race car that loses grip.

In addition, the track's asphalt is very smooth, which makes the requirements for grip even higher.

Williams will also need to rely on historical experience and the three qualifying games to determine the final setup.

There wasn’t much slickness in the practice session at 1 p.m. on Friday, with Hamilton and Rosberg displaying undeniable speed.

Wu Shi's performance this time was rather unusual, finishing only 15th with a time of 1 minute and 45.9 seconds.

"Did you encounter any problems?"

Jonathan immediately inquired after FP1 ended.

Wu Shi shook his head, only slightly distracted by the many things he had thought of.

However, after a practice match, he has adjusted his mindset.

When death is not in front of us, anyone can easily say it's not scary. But when death reappears in our minds, no one can deceive themselves.

Actually, it wasn't that Wu Shi actively adjusted his mindset. Rather, as his adrenaline surged and he ran more and more enthusiastically, his mind gradually began to blur the memory of that still vivid collision.

Now all he can think about is the sprint.

During the second training session at 42 p.m., he quickly regained some speed and ranked 10th with a time of 1 minute 977 seconds.

As soon as the practice match ended, Wu Shi returned to the pit room and shook his head repeatedly.

"We have to apply pressure. We can't close the gap much on the straightaway, and without applying pressure, we can't accelerate at full speed," Wu Shi said.

Massa agrees with this; his fastest time in the second training session was only 1 minute 43.5 seconds, ranking 12th.

With the final race approaching, all the teams have stopped practicing hiding things and are racing like crazy.

Both drivers raised concerns, forcing the team to take the issue seriously.

Therefore, the engineers had to find ways to make improvements during the remaining working hours on Friday.

Wu Shi remained with the engineers, discussing data changes.

The only way to increase downforce now is by changing the forewing.

Besides that, there's the suspension adjustment.

"Let's apply the highest possible downforce," Wu Shi concluded.

"Let's try three sessions tomorrow."

Rod Nelson nodded. Of course, he couldn't simply adjust the race car according to Wu Shi's instructions; instead, he conducted curve measurements.

When the resistance from higher downforce causes a significant drop in speed on straightaways, it's impossible to increase downforce further, otherwise it would be counterproductive.

The final data was finalized very late, and the engineers were finally able to return to their hotel to rest.

Wu Shi also fell asleep.

In his dream, he seemed to crash into the railing with a "whoosh" sound, and the intense G-force jolted him awake.

He sat up straight in bed, checked the time, and saw it was already 5 a.m. local time.

Without thinking about resting any longer, he got up and started studying the track data the engineer had given him.

I had the images of every route I ran during yesterday's second training session in my mind. The grip on these routes varied greatly, and it wasn't easy to distinguish them all clearly.

At nine o'clock, he went to the motorcade to continue his work from the previous day.

On the simulator, the simulation results for high downforce were not good, after all, Wu Shi did not achieve a faster time.

Massa, on the other hand, improved by 0.3 seconds.

This result has Williams' engineering team very anxious.

Such instances of being both miraculous and unpredictable have occurred in every convoy.

Even the invincible Mercedes suffered a crushing defeat in Singapore, didn't they?
The team has contingency plans in place to address potential issues, and a large number of parameters will be tested in the final practice session.

This was a considerable challenge for Wu Shi.

He ultimately only completed 11 laps, spending most of his time adjusting parameters.

On the final lap, he successfully achieved a time of 1 minute and 42.3 seconds.

Because everyone's scores were very close, this score instantly propelled him to 4th place.

Williams can finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Massa's speed was also impressive, finishing in 8th place with a time of 1 minute 42.9 seconds.

Although these two results are not top-notch, there is still room for improvement in the third practice session, as the tires and engine are not in their best condition.

Obviously, qualifying races will be much faster than that.

This means that Wu Shi's time will definitely be consistently below 1 minute and 41 seconds.

As for the specific improvement, the team estimates it to be around 41.3 seconds, and a more ambitious estimate would be 41.1 seconds.

This result is not reassuring, as India's power performance in the two practice matches was simply too overwhelming.

If they become another strong competitor besides Ferrari, it could cause Wu Shi to rank 7th.

This was so unacceptable that even Jonathan couldn't help but recall the events in Mexico.

"Fortunately, your do-or-die attitude brought you a championship."

"Yes, in my opinion, this is how you have to compete for the championship. You have to seize every opportunity to get even one more point."

"At that time, there were a full 7 points in front of us."

Wu Shi said with a smile that the Mexico matter was, in his opinion, the best decision he made throughout the entire season.

The characteristics of the Abu Dhabi circuit mean that Williams is extremely unsuited to this location.

Even the Indian forces have more advantages than Williams here.

This uncertainty can only be truly understood after the competition has actually taken place.

Wu Shi always hated being deceived by the idea that the future would be better. If you can't even seize the opportunities in the present, how can you seize the future?

Jonathan nodded; this was also one of the reasons he admired Wu Shi.

This young man possesses a maturity unlike any other, a maturity that every world champion must have.

He patted Wu Shi on the shoulder and said nothing more.

The afternoon qualifying race was also a foregone conclusion; no one could afford to falter in the final moments.

At 17 PM, the qualifying rounds officially began.

In Q1, both Mercedes drivers demonstrated extremely high speeds.

汉密尔顿跑出1分40秒974位于第一，罗斯伯格跑出1分41秒111位于第二。

They only raced around once before returning to the pit lane, and this result truly didn't require any further effort from them.

Fortunately, after adjustments, Williams regained his speed.

Massa clocked a time of 1 minute 42.303 seconds on his final flying lap, placing him seventh overall.

Wu Shi finished 5th with a time of 1 minute 42.001 seconds, but was overtaken by two Force India vehicles.

Of course, the worst-hit team wasn't Williams, but Ferrari.

Vettel failed to get a full run due to a poor timing on his release, finishing in 15th place with a time of 1 minute 42.94 seconds.

They were surprisingly eliminated in Q1.

This is practically a joke.

However, Ferrari's decline is actually a good thing for Williams.

After the start of Q2, India's performance remained strong.

Hulkenberg clocked a time of 1 minute 41.925 seconds with just one lap, placing him among the top performers on the track.
Wu Shi also unleashed more of his performance, and after just one lap, he finished third with a time of 1 minute 41.4 seconds.

As it turns out, high downforce does indeed have an advantage on this track.

Unlike previous races, Wu Shi gained all his advantage time in those slow corners.

This certainly gave Williams engineers some inspiration, but since it was the final race, those inspirations should be saved for next year's car. Massa finished 7th with a time of 1 minute 42.049 seconds.

Mercedes, Williams, Power Indulgence, and Red Bull both advanced to Q3.

The other two are the Ferrari Kimi and the Toro Rosso Sainz.

At this point in the qualifying rounds, the outcome is pretty much clear.

Starting from Q3.

Mercedes' speed is unstoppable. The two drivers can easily reach a time of around 1 minute and 41 seconds, setting a good example and firmly occupying the first and second positions.

After thorough preparation and adjustments, Wu Shi achieved a time of 1 minute 41.101 seconds on his first lap.

He instantly rose to the second-highest position after Mercedes.

With five minutes remaining, Wu Shi drove the vehicle out again.

After a warm-up lap, he pushed hard on the starting straight.

The strong resistance made him feel that the race car was being pressed down by the wind.

However, as he approached Turn 1, he braked hard and turned into the corner, and the feeling of flying close to the ground made him feel incredibly relaxed.

As expected, cars with high downforce are more comfortable to drive.

The following turns 2-4 are sharp corners, where drivers need to weigh the relationship between car speed and downforce.

Wu Shi passed through this bend at almost the maximum speed that the car could handle.

He could clearly sense that if he went any faster when entering the bend and speeding through it, the car would slip due to loss of traction.

Turns 5-7 are another set of slow turns involving both medium and low speeds, forcing vehicles to reduce their speed.

This complex combination of corners was comparable to driving into a residential area, with the car reaching speeds of up to 70 mph at one point.

Perhaps later generations considered that such a bend was not very meaningful, so they combined the three bends into one and optimized it into a "U" shaped bend.

When he emerged from the hairpin turn on the 7th, the long straight of the DRS awaited him.

However, due to the current resistance issues, Wu Shi found it unpleasant to drive on such a straight road; he always felt like someone was pulling on the back of his neck.

Just like in later generations, when No. 8-10 passed through here, Wu Shi seemed to still be sitting in that red prancing horse.

However, after the DRS was used up, the complex combination of curves brought him back to reality.

Turns 11-14 are not only slow and uncomfortable to drive, but there is also no space to overtake in the turns.

After passing Turn 14, there is a short straight for acceleration, but it is far less smooth than the later version that combines Turns 11-14 into one turn and then exits the turn.

After accelerating and passing through the two large obtuse-angled turns 15 and 16, you will soon reach turn 17.

Wu Shi squinted, as if a black and red Red Bull race car was following him.

But the practice races had already shown him that Pan Zi, who dominated the paddock, was still a rookie, and he would not encounter that track king here.

Swish!

After easily navigating the last few sharp corners, the race car crossed the finish line.

1 minutes 40 seconds 996!

Wu Shi shook his head, wondering how he had managed to run a time that was 0.1 seconds faster than expected.

"P3, Kimi overtook you briefly while you were speeding by, but you caught up again. Congratulations, P3!"

Jonathan said in TR.

“Oh! Very good!” Wu Shi exclaimed.

The battle for pole position in qualifying still rested on the shoulders of Mercedes' two drivers.

However, something unexpected happened: Rosberg took pole position with a time of 1 minute 40.237 seconds!

Hamilton trailed Rosberg by 3 seconds.

This result was indeed somewhat unacceptable to Mercedes.

During the interview, the reporters pointed out this issue directly, asking Hamilton:

"Lewis, Wu Shi is behind you again this time. He's very likely to keep bothering you. Have you thought about how to deal with him?"

Hamilton pinched his nose, unsure of what to say. If Wu Shi wasn't ranked sixth, would second or third place make any difference to him?

“I remember Wu Shi saying before that Williams is not good at this track, but his performance today still surprised us. I think we have been deceived by them once again.”

This answer was unexpected, but the reporter still said:
“Williams continued to invest in their car this year right up until the last Grand Prix, which is probably a major reason why they are achieving faster-than-expected speeds.”

After interviewing Hamilton, the reporters waited quietly for Wu Shi to arrive at the interview area.

Everyone who looked at the young driver couldn't help but think that he might be a new world champion tomorrow.

This is something that has never been seen since 1950, even in the world of Formula 1, which is known for its many talented drivers.

When the reporters saw the still-youthful face, they were momentarily at a loss for words.

"Wu Shi, congratulations! You've achieved another great result in the rankings. Was this unexpected for you?"

“No,” Wu Shi shook his head and said.
"I think qualifying is when there are the fewest surprises. When everything is ready, it's all about which driver can get a faster time on the track."

Is it raining today?
NO
Is it windy today?

NO
"So everything is fair, and it's not some unexpected outcome."

After the drivers' interviews concluded, the reporters realized that the two team leaders were also worth interviewing.

Toto couldn't avoid the interview.

"Toto Wolff, as you can see, you are now facing a Grand Prix that will decide the world championship. How are you going to deal with the challenge from Williams?"

Toto's expression was somewhat serious, but he turned his head and smiled, saying:

"I now somewhat regret providing the engine to Williams."

Although Toto said it with a smile, the reporters all felt a chill.

Toto ignored whether these people had misunderstood him and continued:

"We've worked hard for a year, and the results of the competition will be revealed tomorrow. It's truly an exciting time."

"In fact, we are prepared to face anything that may happen."

"Of course, we also always hear Wu Shi say that the competition is not over and anything is possible."

"I agree with this statement: whatever the outcome may be tomorrow, we should wait until tomorrow to see."

The reporters didn't press further, because Toto's earlier comment, made with a smile, was enough to uncover a major story.

Some media outlets wanted to immediately publish and interpret Toto's statement.

Some media outlets are planning to wait until the results are released tomorrow before making a fuss about this statement.

Some media outlets even asked Claire directly during their interviews:

"What's your take on Toto saying he regrets providing you with engines?"

"Isn't that just a simple joke? The engine is only one important component of F1. There are many other things that we need to develop. The outcome is not determined by the engine alone," Claire replied.

"Yeah, regardless of the speculation, you have a very high chance of winning the drivers' championship tomorrow. Are you ready for that moment?" the reporter asked again.

"Yes, in fact we are prepared for anything, whether we win the Drivers' Championship or lose it all due to an accident, we are ready."

"No one can predict the outcome with 100% certainty until the results are actually in."

Claire responded politely to the reporters' questions with a smile.

After the interview ended, her phone kept ringing.

She was reluctant to answer the call, as she knew countless companies were eyeing Williams, hoping to secure sponsorships before Wu Shi won the driver's championship.

Use your brain to think about it: how could Claire let someone else take advantage of her like that?

However, he also needs to communicate well with these sponsors, since a one-year driver's championship does not mean a permanent driver's championship.

Moreover, when Williams went all-in in the 2015 season, most commentators were pessimistic about Williams' 2016 season.

This is the bargaining chip that the sponsors use to negotiate.

But Claire also knew that no matter how Williams' car performed next year, Wu Shi would still get a lot of screen time.

After all, what everyone loves to see most is the rise of ordinary people and the fall of champions.

This year, Wu Shi's story is one of grassroots rise to power; next year, it might be the story of a champion's downfall.

Who can tell?
Saturday night was destined to be anything but peaceful, because Sunday's events would be of great significance.

(End of this chapter)