F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 284 Winter
Having spent a full month in the country, Wu Shi gained a great deal.

Most domestic companies sponsor him because of him personally, so even sponsorships with racing teams will go through Wu Shi in the process.

This essentially binds Wu Shi to Williams; once Wu Shi leaves Williams, these sponsorships will also leave Williams.

Wu Shi even joked after the sponsorship contract was finalized:
"I did become a paid driver this year."

After finalizing the sponsorship contracts, the specific details of his collaboration with the Williams team in 2016 were also finalized.

First, he has a high degree of freedom of choice in the contract, which is inevitable.

Secondly, an annual salary of $1000 million is the limit that Williams can offer.

They also need to consider Wu Shi's scoring and podium performance throughout the 2016 season.

But for a world champion who is still growing, this annual salary is not high, and is even too low.

Currently, drivers with world championship titles in the paddock generally earn more than this amount annually.

Based on some clues, Vettel's annual salary is estimated to be $3000 million.

Alonso's annual salary is even higher, reaching $4000 million.

Hamilton earns $3100 million a year, while Rosberg earns $1830 million.

The only one with a relatively low number of earnings is Kimi, who earned only around $700 million.

However, this is linked to the driver's competitive performance. Kimi is 36 years old now, and the gap between him and his teammate Vettel this year is not small, so naturally he cannot get a high salary.

A comparison reveals that Williams' annual salary was not high.

Unfortunately, Williams simply couldn't offer any more money. If he asked for too much, he'd be bankrupt by the end of the 2016 season.

Therefore, in order to compensate Wu Shi and also to retain him, Williams included a clear clause in the contract—

If Williams sells shares during Wu Shi's contract period, Wu Shi's funds will be given priority.

This clause did not actually satisfy Wu Shi; wasn't it just empty promises?
However, he currently has a good relationship with the Williams family, and after considering all factors, he agreed to the plan.

After all, no one can predict the future.

The paddock is no longer what it used to be. Capital giants, mainly the three major companies of France, Mercedes-Benz, and Lufthansa, control most of the teams in the paddock, turning the entire F1 into a game with an extremely high entry barrier.

Williams' decline was inevitable from the moment BMW withdrew from engine supply.

If it weren't for the Mercedes engine saving the day in the last two years, Westbrook would have lost a fortune long ago.

The biggest lesson the Williams family learned from BMW's withdrawal is that maintaining complete control over the team will not attract real capital.

Their willingness to sign such a contract with Wu Shi indicates that they have realized that private caravans will face increasingly difficult circumstances in the hunting grounds.

Wu Shi has a lot of capital behind him. If that day really comes, it might be better to let that capital intervene through Wu Shi.

After discussing these matters, Claire returned to Europe, leaving somewhat saddened.

Even with such great honors, reality remains incredibly harsh.

Claire has left, but Williams' business team remains in Hangzhou, and their negotiations with Geely are still ongoing.

Both sides initially asked for an exorbitant price, then tried to negotiate a lower price.

By the end of the year, Williams had only reached a preliminary agreement with Geely on some aspects of the cooperation.

At next year's FW38, there will be a Geely logo, and Wu Shi's racing suit will also feature this logo.

As for deeper cooperation in areas such as technology, we will continue to discuss it.

The Williams family felt uneasy because Li Shufu's ambitions were too great.

Wu Shi, acting as an intermediary, did not participate in the discussions. He simply and his father, Wu Zhenlin, quietly established a third company, which still bore his name in its full name.

This company will focus on financial matters such as fund management and venture capital.

The company was ultimately registered in the UK for several reasons: firstly, the tax-free policies of British overseas territories are more favorable for startups; secondly, asset management is primarily conducted in Europe and the US; and thirdly, Wu Shi is under 18 years old, making the UK the only place where he can act as a legal representative. Wu Shi still holds 92% of the shares, while Wu Zhenlin holds 8%. This shareholding split was to avoid annual economic scrutiny from the EU regarding companies with a single shareholder.

Subsequently, he invested in Ferrari and BYD stocks, which are stocks with absolutely guaranteed long-term returns.

The domestic new energy vehicle market is currently in a state of chaos, and it's not yet time for BYD to dominate the market, so this is a good time to enter the market.

The same is true for Ferrari. Ferrari, which only went public in October of this year, has seen its stock price plummet to a low point.

This is due to both the long-term losses in F1 racing and the outspokenness of former F1 CEO Sergio Marchionne.

He has stated publicly on multiple occasions that Ferrari will not build four-door cars or SUVs.

The capital market took one look and thought, "This is terrible! The most profitable cars are SUVs. How many sports cars can be sold in a year?"

These were two things that left a deep impression on him. As for other major events in the financial field, he, not being an insider, naturally couldn't know them all.

For investments like cryptocurrencies, he lets the professionals in his company handle them; if he didn't get involved in these things, he probably wouldn't understand them at all.

In short, he wants to make use of all available resources to achieve orderly asset appreciation.

As an F1 driver, he is a walking, giant billboard; it would be a real shame if he didn't do something.

Only after all these things were finished did Wu Shi's real winter vacation begin.

He could finally enjoy family life, and his father gave him a mountain bike as a birthday present.

For someone of Wu Shi's wealth, this was not a particularly valuable gift.

It would also be nice to ride a bicycle around the capital.

After a two-week trip within China, Wu Shi returned to Europe. Upon landing, Martina, who had come to pick him up, said to him:

Ferrari has also extended an invitation to you.

"Who can I replace? Or do they want me to compete with the four-time champion?" Wu Shi asked.

“Didn’t you already think of it? Replace Kimi.” Martina shrugged.

"If it were the number two driver, I don't think there would be any need to make a move before 2016."

Wu Shi stated frankly that a very important reason why Williams was able to win the championship this year was that the team was willing to make him their number one driver and provide him with unlimited resources.

If they go to Ferrari, which is not a championship car to begin with, and there will be internal competition, how will they compete for the championship?
"It's up to you to decide. Maybe the new Ferrari will surprise you," Martina said with a smile.

Let's talk about it after 2016 ends.

Wu Shi twisted his aching neck. No matter what he said this year, he would definitely stay in the Wei team, even if it meant serving a year in jail.

“I support your decision,” Martina continued with a smile.

Although he is now rich, Wu Shi still lives in Martina's house and goes around with Louise, who is on winter vacation.

He lived a completely relaxed life throughout January.

As February arrived, the team's work piled up one after another.

As in previous years, the preseason testing was held at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona, ​​Spain.

测试分为两轮，分别在2月22日至2月25日和3月1日至4日。

By this point in time, all teams have finalized their starting and reserve drivers.

With the addition of Haas team, the paddock is now back to 11 teams.

The two new Haas drivers, Grosjean and Gutierrez, will start.

Lotus, now known as the Renault team, retains Bottas and has Magnussen as his partner.

Meanwhile, F1 will be entering its first intensive season with 21 races, so mid-season testing has been cancelled, making pre-season testing particularly important.

(End of this chapter)