F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 293 Are you ready?
In the winter of 2016-2017, Wu Shi still chose to return to China.

I'm here to take a driving test. Although I can take the test in Europe, I still feel more comfortable with my hometown's driver's license.

Moreover, since there are no training hours now, you can get your driver's license in less than a month and a half at the fastest.

Wu Shi liked this efficiency; the only slightly difficult task for him, solving the math problems, was completed in just three days.

"Young man, are you a freshman in college?" the coach asked.

“Yes.” Wu Shi nodded.

"Your driving skills don't seem like those of a beginner. You're not nervous at all on your first time on the road." The instructor, sitting in the passenger seat, stroked his chin.

"Hehe, I'm from the countryside. I used to drive a tractor for my family when I was a kid, so we're all familiar with each other," Wu Shi said with a smile.

"Great job! You're the best in this group. Everyone, listen up! Look at the stopwatch! It's already 80!" the coach shouted.

Wu Shi slowed down gradually: "I didn't pay attention while we were chatting, haha."

To most people at the driving school, this is just a young man who has just turned eighteen and is taking his driving test.

However, for some domestic media outlets, this is quite a piece of news.

Wu Shi had no idea that a reporter had followed him to the driving school, nor did he know that his driving test had been secretly exposed.

Fortunately, he only practiced the third part of the driving test once to familiarize himself with the process, and then his instructor told him to go directly to register for the test.

"Hey, that's really weird, why are there so many people loitering outside the driving school?"

The instructor led a car full of people, ready to set off to practice for the third stage of the driving test.

"Hey! These guys are coming for me!"

The instructor slammed on the brakes, glanced at the passenger seat and the students in the back, and said:
"What's going on? I don't swear when I teach driving, you guys have to be my witnesses later, cyberbullying is too rampant these days!"

This situation completely baffled the coach.

"Um." A girl who looked like she had just finished the college entrance exam raised her hand from behind.

"What's wrong?" the coach asked.

"They must be after that student named Wu Shi from before," the girl said.

"Him? What happened to him?" the coach asked, even more puzzled.

“He is the F1 world champion,” the little girl continued.

"What championship?" The coach had never heard of that.

"It's the champion of the top-level racing competition," the little girl continued.

"What?"

The coach was even more confused. How could a newly adult and a top racing champion be connected?

Jingle bell bell~
A phone call landed on the coach, and when he looked at it, he saw it was from the boss.

"Hello, Mr. Zhang."

"Coach Peng, you don't need to drive for the time being. Come to my office."

Not long after, a poster was put up outside the driving school—"F1 World Champion Wu Shi is learning to drive at our driving school! What are you waiting for?!"

Of course, not long after, WS RACING sued him for defamation and other reasons.

However, the driving school still managed to capitalize on the buzz.

Upon learning the news, Wu Shi was both amused and exasperated by the farce he had caused.

To keep it a secret, he didn't tell anyone about it; otherwise, given his current status, the local top official would have met with him to discuss it.

It seems his fame has increased; otherwise, with so many drivers in China, why would he be the only one to be exposed just for getting a driver's license?

Oh, wait, the other drivers got their licenses a long time ago.

The news that F1 world champion Wu Shi returned to China to take his driving test quickly spread overseas and became a hot topic abroad.

"My God! We all forgot he's only just turned 18!"

"What kind of coach would dare to teach an F1 world champion how to drive?"

"That's insane! That coach can brag about it for the rest of his life!"

"Oh! He still needs to take a driving test? It seems that China's driver's license management must be very strict. No wonder it can produce such excellent drivers!"

There are great scholars who will debate the scriptures for me.

But this news was quickly overshadowed by another piece of news—

Wu Shi, the youngest world champion, has officially announced that he will join Mercedes in 2017!
boom!
Although it was expected, the announcement by Mercedes still caused a stir both inside and outside the paddock.

Wu Shi was able to win the championship back then driving a Williams car that was inferior to Mercedes. Now that he's sitting in a Mercedes, wouldn't he be invincible?
The online discussion exploded.

"Next year's race will be predictably boring. The best drivers will be driving the best cars, and everyone else will be just vying for second place!"

"Oh! What are those Ferrari guys doing? Didn't Wu Shi participate in Ferrari's youth training races? Why aren't they talking to Wu Shi about seats?!"

"Wu Shi joining the Mercedes? He'll be crushed by Lewis! Williams was faster in 2015! It's just that Massa is too old!"

There were those who praised me, those who criticized me, and those who tried to persuade me to follow their methods—the list goes on.

Shortly after, Sir Williams also publicly commented on Wu Shi's move to Mercedes in his personal capacity:

“We have a wonderful collaboration with Wu Shi, and we know just how outstanding he is.”

“We are also delighted to see him join the championship contenders, where he will continue his legendary career.”

"We wish him all the best at Mercedes, and Williams will always be grateful for Wu Shi's outstanding contributions."

Following Westbrook's statement, other team leaders also offered their congratulations on social media.

Marko said, "Wu Shi is an excellent driver. He is so young and has unlimited potential, but we are not worried about that because we have Max Verstappen. They will definitely have some exciting clashes in the future."

Horner also said: "Congratulations to Wu Shi on joining Mercedes. It's a great collaboration, even though both sides are quite young."

Wofa team manager Maurizio also posted a congratulatory message, stating:

"This is a perfect match, just like our two world champion drivers. Everyone is in the most suitable position and will achieve great results."

This statement was clearly a response to previous comments about why Wu Shi did not join Ferrari.

Three days after the official announcement, Wu Shi and Hamilton jointly attended the press conference for the starting drivers of the 2017 season.

The old man and Wu Shi were both wearing Mercedes-Benz team uniforms. They both walked into the venue with smiles on their faces and were talking to each other.

After the two sat down, the reporters began asking questions.

"Lewis, Wu, hello, I'm a reporter from Sky Sports in the UK. Do you maintain a good relationship within the team?"
"As everyone saw, there were a lot of unnecessary frictions between the drivers within the team last year. Will it be the same this year?"

Hamilton looked at Wu Shi and gestured for Wu Shi to speak first. Wu Shi also declined and let the old man speak first.

Hamilton then stopped refusing and brought the microphone to his mouth:

"We are both teammates and competitors, but all our actions will be carried out in accordance with the team's requirements."

"Do you not deny the existence of internal competition? Could that cause a repeat of the Spanish Grand Prix incident?" the reporter pressed.

“Hasn’t this already happened? We bumped into each other last year.” Hamilton smiled.

"Hahaha~"

Everyone obliged and laughed along.

After laughing, Hamilton continued:

“We will do our best to ensure that there is no more internal friction. There have been too many regrettable things in the past, and that was not because we wanted to do it intentionally.”

The reporter looked at Wu Shi.

“We will try to maintain harmony within the team. Actually, I would like to say that my relationship with Lewis is not bad. Of course, you might say that Nico and Lewis have an even better relationship.”

Laughter erupted again in the paddock. It was unexpected that Rosberg, even after leaving the paddock, was still being mentioned every day there.

"We are a team capable of competing for the championship. Any driver who sits in such a car will be eager to fight for their honor."

"No one can stop a driver from fighting for his honor, but that doesn't mean drivers can compete without any scruples."

"Our common goal is to complete each race safely and consistently, and help the team get every point it deserves."

Wu Shi finished explaining his thoughts.

"Um, is there a rule within the team that defines who is the number 2 driver?" the reporter asked again.

Wu Shi and Hamilton exchanged a glance and shook their heads simultaneously, saying, "NO."

In fact, before the press conference, the press officer had already provided a number of questions for reference, with the aim of ensuring that the two did not say anything inappropriate.

Then, the reporters asked a variety of other questions, but no matter what they asked, they all wanted to know what kind of story the two would have in 2017.

After the press conference ended, Wu Shi received a message from his father containing several poster images.

The poster features a photo taken by Wu Shi some time ago.

There were people dressed in racing suits standing next to F1 cars, others in casual clothes leaning against the top of an AMG SL convertible gazing at the sunset, and still others sitting in an AMG GT. In short, it basically covered all of Mercedes' product lines.

After reading it, Wu Shi sent a silly smiley face emoji. The contract included domestic business activities, so how could Mercedes not use it?

In other words, the new car hasn't been released yet. If it is released, they will most likely ask him to shoot a promotional video.

For the next five years, as long as I'm still at Mercedes, this is a job I can't escape.

In fact, Wu Shi's publicity effect is quite good, and he has already become a trending topic on domestic media platforms.

On video platforms, some bloggers also use several posters to explain the Mercedes-Benz series of models.

Most importantly, Wu Shi's youth is very beneficial for Mercedes-Benz's AMG series endorsement, as young second-generation buyers and enthusiasts are drawn to the brand's appeal when purchasing or using luxury cars.

The most recognized brand is undoubtedly Ferrari's prestige, while Mercedes-Benz aims to elevate its status in the hearts of Chinese people by leveraging Wu Shi's image.

Most Chinese people buy into this, after all, who wouldn't want their country to produce more outstanding figures?
After finishing his business activities, Wu Shi had to focus on adapting to the new environment at the Mercedes factory.

When finalizing the contract, Mercedes agreed to let Wu Shi join Mercedes with Jonathan and others.

Toto is a team-oriented person, and he believes that Williams' team might not have shown much potential before.

However, in 2015, they collaborated with Wu Shi to create a miracle that is difficult to replicate.

Toto acknowledges these engineers with legendary experiences.

Of course, not everyone was willing to leave with Wu Shi. Some people had worked at Williams for seven or eight years, or even more than ten years, and they were unwilling to make a change.

Jonathan readily agreed to Wu Shi's invitation.

"I'm glad you remember me!"

This is what he said to Wu Shi at the time.

"Of course I will never forget everything you did for me in 2015."

Wu Shi responded that Jonathan did not only do his job at that time, but he incorporated almost everything related to the competition with Wu Shi into his work.

He knew when to comfort Wu Shi and when to encourage him.

No one is heartless, and Wu Shi was no exception; he also needed comfort and encouragement.

More importantly, Wu Shi and Jonathan developed a very high level of chemistry during their two-year collaboration.

Even if they don't communicate sometimes, they both know what the other might be thinking.

This is experience accumulated from each and every game.

Why did Hamilton complain about the change of car crew in 2016? He even brought it up in front of the media after Rosberg won the championship?

It's because a well-coordinated and integrated team is more effective in combat.

That's how Hamilton and Bono played together.

Unfortunately, Bono's voice was absent from Hamilton's TR throughout 2016.

After the engineering team resolved their issues, Wu Shi was largely relieved. He had faith in himself, but he was still worried about potential problems with the race car.

During the precious winter months, instead of spending his time at fashion shows and other commercial venues like Hamilton, he stayed at the factory.

He needs to adapt to Mercedes' racing cars as soon as possible and establish a proper communication method with Mercedes' R&D engineers.

Unexpectedly, shortly after arriving at the factory, he ran into someone who was not exactly an acquaintance—James Allison.

“We happen to be short of a technical director,” Toto said to Wu Shi with a smile.

“Oh, I didn’t expect to meet a young world champion here. Hello, Wu Shi,” James Arison said immediately.

“I never expected to meet the pillar behind so many team championships here, Mr. Allison, hello.” Wu Shi shook hands with him.

Watching the two walk away, Wu Shi pondered for a moment and concluded that Toto was probably trying to poach Allison.

Wow, Mercedes really has a lot of talent!
When Ferrari won six consecutive championships, Allison was the aerodynamics director of Ferrari at the time, a true veteran.

When Wu Shi heard about Allison's departure from Ferrari in July, he even asked Martina about it.

Martina stated that many of the veterans from the Schumacher era are unable to adapt to the current changes within Ferrari.

The underlying message is actually: "One emperor, one set of ministers."

Ferrari wouldn't be Ferrari if it didn't have internal strife.

In Wu Shi’s view, Mercedes was able to establish a new dynasty simply because Toto had a monopoly on power within the motorcade.

Without fierce political struggle, the convoy's fighting capacity would not be weakened.

The Red Bull dynasty that followed was the same; everyone's goal was to achieve results.

Once the results were achieved, internal power struggles began within the team, and Red Bull's dynasty collapsed.

Wu Shi shook his head. Why think about all this nonsense now? He should go and get to know the directors of each department first.

Time passed slowly, and soon it was March 2017.

On March 1, Allison officially announced his joining Mercedes-Benz as Technical Director.

Perhaps it was that brief encounter, but Wu Shi and the new technical director had a very pleasant conversation.

Arison was also curious about how Wu Shi achieved such results in 2015, when he witnessed the birth of this miracle at Ferrari.

According to him, if Wu Shi had driven a Ferrari in 2016, he might have had a chance to compete for the championship.

Wu Shi did not deny this claim, but still felt it was highly dubious.

Ferrari did a lot of work in 2016, and if he went there, he would only look dejected and sad.

After all, he can detect the signs of engine failure, and then what?

If it happens during practice or qualifying matches, that's one thing, but if it happens in the main race, he'll just have to accept it.

Although the events of 2016 have been settled, 2017 is a brand new season.

Ferrari demonstrated impressive competitiveness in the second preseason test of 2017.

Hamilton even publicly stated: "Ferrari was the fastest in the Barcelona test, and I think they are the favorites to win the championship."

Wu Shi also joined in the fun, saying, "Competing with Ferrari will be incredibly stressful."

Since both Mercedes drivers said so, the Iron Buddha Temple believed them. In their view, Vortadala had a chance this year!

However, rational fans pointed out that Lewis and Wu Shi never tell the truth.

Let me remind everyone that in 2015, Wu Shi said he couldn't do it in every practice session, but he consistently finished in the top three in qualifying, occasionally in pole position, and always ended up on the podium.

However, it is true that Ferraris are fast, and as for whether Mercedes is hiding anything, no one knows.

But the preseason testing results still keep Toto on his toes.

He appeared very worried during an internal meeting at Mercedes, believing that Mercedes' advantage this year was very small.

When asked about the very small advantage, he specifically looked at Hamilton and Wu Shi.

The other senior middle-level managers felt that this scene was familiar, only that Rosberg was replaced by Wu Shi.

In addition, Honda suffered another setback during preseason testing when its engine caught fire, forcing it to be taken back to Japan for repairs. It is unclear what serious problem it encountered.

Even more unfortunately, news soon spread in the paddock that McLaren and Mercedes would be buying Mercedes engines next year.

Even before the opening round of the 2017 season, discussions about the new rules for 2018 had already begun in the paddock.

Most of them are about aerodynamic structures, some are about Halo, and finally some are about hybrid engines.

These discussions yielded no results and a final decision will have to wait until the actual meeting.

Time quickly passed to late March.

The 2017 opening round, the Australian Grand Prix, is just around the corner.

At the press conference in Melbourne, Wu Shi, Hamilton, Alonso, Vettel, Ricardo, and Verstappen all appeared together.

The reporters' questions were very targeted, but they were all familiar topics.

Finally, when reporters asked the six drivers which reforms would be more beneficial to F1.

"Everyone uses an equal engine," said Tou Ge, who was suffering from the GP2 engine.

But this is obviously impossible.

And so, Friday's free practice session began.

Wu Shi sat in the Mercedes No. 59. Even though the car had already run a lot of mileage during the preseason testing, he was still quite excited about the race.

"Are you ready?" Jonathan asked.

For Wu Shi, the practice match is his debut, and everyone will be waiting to see him compared to Hamilton.

“Of course,” Wu Shi nodded.

(End of this chapter)