F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 301 The matter is over

On lap 15, the safety car came out. Wu Shi maintained his lead, followed by Vettel, Ricciardo, Hamilton, Bottas, and Kimi.

Meanwhile, the organizers have announced that the incident between 59 (WUS) and 5 (VET) at the pit lane entrance will be investigated.

"This should be investigated! Wu overtook the car under a yellow flag! He should be punished!"

"Sebastian is ahead, Wu's behavior is simply incomprehensible!"

"Black flag! Results canceled!"

Many fans in the audience who support Vettel and Ferrari were overjoyed.

Wu Shi's fans, however, did not hold back in their rebuttal.

"Slow is slow! Get out of here and eat the exhaust fumes!"

"Wasn't Wu Shi in the lead just now? Do you really enjoy distorting the truth?"

The convenience of social media allowed this debate to erupt from the moment the incident occurred.

However, this is not a solution for the teams and drivers involved.

Mercedes' sporting director left the command wall and went to the FIA ​​to inquire about the situation.

When Toto saw Wu Shiqiang overtake Vettel, he actually wanted to applaud, but he also realized that the situation on camera was somewhat controversial, so he held back.

However, in any situation where it is difficult to discern the situation, one should decisively seize the lead.

In the first Stint, Vettel, Hamilton, and Verstappen proved that when the performance difference between vehicles is not significant, it is difficult to overtake them today!

The safety vehicle circled twice before restarting after the debris was cleared.

With dynamic start times, Wu Shi's advantage is not as obvious as with static start times, but with the initiative in hand, it's difficult for Vettel to catch up.

Most importantly, although Vettel's tires weren't much older than Wu Shi's, they had still undergone the intense test of overtaking.

If he doesn't resolve the issue with Wu Shi at the start, his chances of success will become increasingly slim.

With the safety car's roof light off, Wu Shi conducted a braking test.

Vettel's speed was slowed down, but he wisely did not decelerate rapidly, and even allowed the car to slightly overtake Wu Shi from the side.

"The track hasn't been reopened yet, does he want to overtake me now?"

While warming up his tires on the track, Wu Shi complained in the TR.

Although the safety car's overhead lights are off, the car is still under safety car control for this lap and will only be deactivated after Wu Shi crosses the starting line.

Vettel's actions at this time were undoubtedly inappropriate.

However, in the end, they still had to reduce their speed quickly to let Wu Shi pass.

“His driving is so strange, he’s like a spoiled child,” Vettel’s voice came through the TR.

“Yeah, he’s probably still a kid.” Ferrari TR replied.

Noticing that Vettel had slowed down and was keeping a safe distance behind him, Wu Shi unexpectedly accelerated.

hum!
Mercedes' dynamic acceleration performance is particularly outstanding, giving it the upper hand and instantly leaving Vettel behind.

Even with his quick reflexes, Vettel still needs time to execute his maneuvers, naturally falling behind at the start.

The drivers behind were much better off; they only caught up after the first two drivers had accelerated.

Hamilton had excellent control at the start, and used this advantage to overtake Ricciardo as the race entered lap 18.

I thought the old man was going to show off his prowess, but when I overtook him, I realized that Ricciardo's tires weren't warming up and he was going very slowly.

Bottas and Kimi overtook Ricardo one after another.

After falling behind by a small margin, Vettel did not give up immediately, but continued to close the gap.

This is natural, as he uses supersoft tires, giving him a lap time advantage over Wu Shi.

However, an embarrassing situation occurred again. After Vettel approached Wu Shi using DRS, he was completely blocked by Wu Shi's line and could not overtake him quickly!
Ferrari's expression turned grim again. The first Stint had entered the station early precisely because he didn't want to follow Wu Shi and inhale his exhaust fumes, but after all that effort, it was still the same.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

The organizers announced two rulings.

First, Hamilton was penalized 5 seconds for interfering with Ricardo at the pit entrance.

Secondly, Wu Shi was penalized 5 seconds for interfering with Vettel at the pit lane exit.

"No, why is there a 5-second penalty?!"

What is the basis for this penalty?

The soldier and the flying man were extremely puzzled. What did they mean by interfering with the penalty time?

"Are the Mercedes liaisons incompetent?!" the soldier shouted in dissatisfaction.

In the P room, Toto listened to the sports director's report, his brows furrowed.

Was Wu Shi in the lead when he exited the station?

“They say Vettel is in the lead,” the sporting director replied.

Toto looked at the veteran and said, "They said Vettel was in the lead, but only gave him a 5-second penalty?"

"The photos do show a slight lead, but I questioned that. The angle of the photos doesn't prove Vettel is in the lead; more substantial evidence is needed," the sporting director said.

Toto immediately realized that the race organizers were clearly being dishonest, either penalizing overtaking under a yellow flag or penalizing interference with Vettel's driving.

At this critical juncture, Mercedes cannot follow the former penalty, otherwise a black flag might be issued.

The loss would be great.

"They're not sure either," the sports director added.

"I see."

Toto rubbed his head. With the acquisition of F1 and the major changes in leadership, communication difficulties immediately increased this year.

Having been in the paddock for so many years, what dirty things haven't I seen?
Wu Shi's existence may have displeased some people, otherwise, it would not have been easy to reach a judgment in such an ambiguous situation.

“Wu Shi, you just got a 5-second penalty. Try to create some distance,” Jonathan said in TR.

Wu Shi was taken aback. A 5-second penalty?
Why 5 seconds? Shouldn't it have started at 10 seconds or, to put it bluntly, gone black?

He didn't understand what was happening outside the racetrack, so he didn't say anything.

Saying the wrong thing could easily trigger unnecessary public opinion.

He glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that Vettel, on supersoft tires, was very close. If Mercedes hadn't had such a strong straight-line speed that it could keep up with Vettel, he would have been finished long ago.

However, his task now is not only to block Vettel, but also to create a lead of at least six or seven seconds, otherwise he may very well be eliminated here during his next tire change.

He checked the condition of the tires and found that as the oil level decreased, the wear and tear on the tires did indeed decrease.

According to his estimate, the last stint, W08, will be very fast!

But overtaking from second place back to first place is no easy feat.

The most important issue now is that we must maintain our leading advantage.

Wu Shi spent two laps planning his tire usage before accelerating.

第23圈，原本一直卡在1分35秒2的他将速度提升到了1分34秒9。

The acceleration of about 0.3 seconds did indeed surprise Vettel behind.

However, the supersoft tires can keep up with this speed very easily.

However, by lap 26, Vettel's speed had dropped back to 1 minute 35.3 seconds.

The supersoft tires are no longer suitable.

Wu Shi then slightly increased his speed again, bringing his lap time to around 1 minute 34.7 seconds.

A difference of 0.5 seconds per lap means that it only takes ten laps to open the window!

After assessing the situation, Mercedes' strategy team's next step was to estimate Vettel's pit stop time and his approximate lap time after switching to soft tires.

Vettel started on supersoft tires and is currently using them; the next tires he'll switch to will definitely be soft tires.

Ferrari was equally nervous, as their previous strategy had inadvertently benefited Vettel.

If Vettel can maintain the gap during the final stop, he will be able to overtake Vettel by taking the penalty time.

Ferrari's strategy team now needs to make judgments based on Wu Shi's lap time and what tires he will use for the last stint.

The computational workload on both sides was enormous, with the headquarters computers in the UK and Italy beginning to perform massive data simulations.

第31圈，维持了5圈1分35秒3左右配速的维特尔圈速再度出现了下降，来到了1分35秒5。

而前方的吴轼却稳定的如同变态一样，完全将圈速控制在了1分34秒700-1分34秒800这0.1秒之间——

Most F1 drivers have this ability to control speed; the difficulty lies in maintaining it for how many laps.

Ferrari's strategy team is sweating bullets; Vettel is now nearly 3 seconds behind.

"Should we pit?" Ferrari's strategy engineer was considering.

Now that Vettel has entered the pits, he can use the new tires to make up the distance, and Wu Shi will face a huge disadvantage.

However, Ferrari's soft tires are not very good, so now it needs to run another 27 laps before pitting.

Wu Shi's current soft tires are expected to last for 28 laps. He switched to them on lap 14, and counting from lap 18 when the safety car was removed, he has only run a total of 13 laps.

Even if you burn through your energy quickly, you can still reach the 40th lap.

When Wu Shi gets new tires, there will only be 17 laps left in the race, and the tire clearance will be enormous.

The data and strategy engineers at headquarters and on-site are constantly organizing the predicted data and quickly comparing all favorable possibilities.

However, time is very tight on the track. One and a half minutes is one lap, and the situation changes every lap.

There is another variable on the field, namely Hamilton, who is in third place.

This guy is eyeing Vettel's position intently, just over 3 seconds behind.

If Vettel pits for tires, he will drop behind Kimi in fourth place.

Even if Kimi quickly moves aside, Vettel will still be blocked by Hamilton in third place.

If Mercedes allows Hamilton to enter the pits even slightly later, Vettel will inevitably be delayed.

"Will not."

The strategy engineers, who spend most of their time in the paddock, immediately came to the conclusion that Hamilton would not help Wu Shi stop Vettel, no matter what, even if Mercedes issued a team order!
So, after calculating all the timing, Vettel pitted at the end of lap 33.

He changed the tire in just 2.7 seconds, and came out 3 seconds behind Kimi.

At this point, Wu Shi was in the lead, followed by Hamilton (7 seconds), Kimi (24 seconds), and Vettel (27 seconds).

Bahrain's penalty time for entering the pit was between 24.5 and 25.5 seconds. With the penalty time added, Wu Shi was still behind Vettel in the order of play.

Mercedes became tense because of Vettel's pit stop, and Vettel's clean lap time on soft tires was very important.

Lap 35, first clean lap, Vettel's lap time is 1 minute 34.004 seconds!

They instantly closed the gap of 0.7 seconds.

Toto and Lauda both realized that Wu Shi could still take the lead without the penalty time, but with the penalty time, everything would be ruined.

On lap 36, Kimi moved off the racing line to let Vettel pass, without wasting a single second of Vettel's time.

Swish!
Vettel set a time of 1 minute 33.826 seconds in one lap, setting a new record for the fastest lap of the event.

Two laps, cutting 1.6 seconds.

The crisis began to spread.

On lap 37, Vettel finally slowed down slightly, finishing with a time of 1 minute 34.291 seconds.

Even so, they still managed to recover 0.5 seconds.

Mercedes continued to wait, with a penalty in hand, and in the second stint, Wu Shi had not yet widened the gap.

Their only solution has become to let Wu Shi overtake them in the last stint.

On lap 38, Vettel maintained his speed.

On lap 39, Vettel slowed down to a time of 1 minute 34.5 seconds.

Meanwhile, Wu Shi's lap time had returned to 1 minute 34.75 seconds.

On lap 40, Wu Shi still hadn't pitted, and the time difference with Vettel had reached 23 seconds, less than a pit stop away.

Even without penalty time, Vettel was already in a clear lead in the standings.

Now it was Ferrari's turn to worry, because the later Wu Shi came out, the greater his tire advantage would be. However, Ferrari's worries didn't last long, as Wu Shi pitted on lap 41.

After the vehicle came to a stop, the crew members stood still and no one touched the race car. It was a full 5 seconds before they all received the order to start moving.

Heh!

Because of the 5-second penalty preparation time, the mechanics' movements were incredibly smooth.

Bang!
They replaced it with a set of soft tires.

Wu Shi glanced at it but didn't say anything. The supersoft tires were not well-suited to the Mercedes-Benz, and only the soft tires could support the subsequent pursuit mission.

"Does Wu Shi still have any new soft tires?"

"That's all, we've used them up almost all in practice matches."

"These are old soft tires!"

"He probably only ran a few laps."

Wu Shi did indeed switch to old soft tires, which he had only used for three laps in Q1.

When he returned to the field, he was less than 9 seconds behind Vettel.

“You need to catch up with him as soon as possible; we still have plenty of time,” Jonathan said.

"Copy".

Wu Shi never expected the situation to develop this way; the entire match was utterly chaotic.

But now, things have become incredibly clear—his only task is to catch up with Vettel and then find a way to surpass him!

Swish!
On lap 43, Wu Shi set a time of 1 minute 32.893 seconds.

Ferrari immediately responded, instructing Vettel to increase speed.

吴轼则继续推进，第44圈，1分32秒789，维特尔也将圈速重新提升到1分33秒3。

However, in just these two laps, Wu Shi had already closed the gap by 1.5 seconds, reducing the time difference between the two to 7.3 seconds.

"Is there any chance that Wu Shi can catch up?" the soldier asked.

"There should be a chance, but how do we surpass them after catching up?" Fei Ge also raised a question.

Sure enough, Vettel slowed down.

His tires had already completed 10 laps, and there were 14 laps left in the race. He couldn't maintain a fast lap time, or he would likely suffer a tire blowout.

第47圈，吴轼依然保持着1分32秒9的圈速，而维特尔的圈速已经回落到1分33秒8。

On lap 51, Wu Shi entered Vettel's DRS zone.

"They caught up too fast!"

The soldier remarked that even with light oil, it shouldn't be this fast.

However, on the other side, Hamilton, after switching to the old soft tires that he had also used for 5 laps, did not lap time much slower than Wu Shi.

However, he was also penalized 5 seconds, leaving him a full 16 seconds behind Vettel when he came out, making it virtually impossible for him to catch up.

Now Mercedes' hopes for the entire team are pinned on Wu Shi.

After turns 14 and 15, the first DRS zone arrived. When Wu Shi activated DRS, Mercedes' terrifying acceleration performance allowed it to quickly approach Ferrari.

However, Vettel blocked the narrow section of Turn 1 very well.

Wu Shi did not launch a rash attack; he needed to wait for the right opportunity.

After Turn 3, on the second DRS, Wu Shi once again sped up to close in on Vettel, even pulling away to be right next to him.

However, after losing the wake, his speed decreased, the overtaking process was prolonged, and Vettel closed the door with unusual ferocity.

Wu Shi yielded half a step, and even if he clashed with Vettel at this point, it would still be Vettel's fault.

But his real rivals are Vettel, but not entirely Vettel.

The two withdrew from the competition, which benefited the old man.

All I can say is that this year, driving a race car with a certain advantage, he's no longer barefoot like he was in 2015.

But what about Vettel? After repeatedly outperforming the veteran but still failing to win the championship, he's gotten a bit cocky.

Therefore, their offense and defense inevitably carry a more ferocious aura.

Or perhaps he was still angry that Wu Shi had forcibly squeezed him at the exit.

Swish!
After Turn 4, the second timing segment begins, featuring a variety of complex curves, a section where Ferrari has an advantage.

In polluted air, Wu Shi's front wheel steering was severely affected, making it difficult to follow other vehicles.

However, after Turn 10, he turned on DRS again and immediately closed the gap.

The 11th, 12th, and 13th medium-to-high-speed curves that follow the straightaway are the Mercedes-Benz's advantageous sections.

Thanks to the vehicle's design features, the impact of polluted air is not as significant as before.

Therefore, Wu Shi is still getting close to Vettel.

After Turn 13, there is an extremely long straight without DRS.

Wu Shi quickly followed, sucking in the tail current.

Vettel caught a glimpse of Wu Shi in his rearview mirror, and the car was firmly stuck in the middle line, slightly inside.

Turns 14 and 15 are two turns in the same direction, with no inside line, so Wu Shi will have no chance to overtake.

But Wu Shi was very bold, forcibly pulling his head towards the inside line, with one of his tires on the white line, completely alongside Vettel!
An exceptionally bold move!

It perfectly matches Wu Shi's driving style!
Despite his anger, Vettel remained completely unaffected, gripping the steering wheel steadily.

When he enters the bend, he only needs to turn inwards to a certain extent. If he doesn't want to crash, Wu Shi will have to give way!

"Oh dear! What a pity!"

Seeing Wu Shi slow down and pull back in his car, the soldier slapped his thigh hard.

At turns 14 and 15, Vettel had a clear advantage on the inside. Wu Shi, who came out from behind, had a faster exit speed, but his line was blocked, so it was all for naught.

Two cars came out one after the other, and on the starting straight, there was another section of DRS.

Wu Shi had only taken one bite of the tailflow when his speed had already surpassed that of the Ferrari, so he didn't hesitate to make a cut inside.

But the inside line is the dirty side, and turns 1 and 2 are reverse curves. Can Wu Shi overtake them?

In fact, it is possible; Wu Shi's tires are much newer, giving him a huge advantage in straight-line speed.

The turn was completed before the braking point.

Wu Shi is someone who likes to brake extremely late, and when the silver arrows turned into the apex of Turn 1, Vettel was already inevitably completely behind.

The subsequent second turn did not provide Vettel with an opportunity to take the cross line.

Swish!
As soon as he exited Turn 2, Wu Shi completed all the overtaking maneuvers.

Inside the Mercedes-Benz P-box, the crew members excitedly pumped their fists.

Toto smiled, but didn't seem too excited.

Because Wu Shi had taken the lead too early on the starting straight, the DRS detection zone at the end of the straight was given to Vettel.

After Turn 3, there is this section of DRS, where Vettel still has a chance to overtake.

In fact, Vettel also used this point to quickly catch up with Wu Shi.

However, Wu Shi immediately adopted the same tactic Vettel had used against him: holding the center line and using tricky lines when entering corners, leaving Ferrari with no chance to exploit the situation.

Vettel, however, dared not force his way into the paint like Wu Shi did, because the risk of losing control was too great!
Once the fourth turn came out, the effects of the better tire performance were obvious, and Wu Shi immediately pulled away a short distance.

Ferrari, which was initially in the lead in the second time slot, lost its advantage due to the polluted air and had to follow Wu Shi.

"I doubt Watts will be able to catch up," the soldier said.

"Yes, at the beginning of the race, Vettel couldn't do anything to Wu Shi. Now, with a light fuel load, Mercedes' understeer has improved, making it even harder for Vettel to deal with Wu Shi," Fei Ge added.

The two men's points were quite valid; even if Vettel had the DRS bonus on the third section after Turn 10, he couldn't catch up.

However, Vettel still managed to get a DRS on the starting straight on the next lap, but he still couldn't catch up.

Soon, the distance between them gradually widened.

On lap 54, Vettel left Wu Shi's DRS zone.

At this moment, Hamilton had caught up to him by 3 seconds.

You can imagine just how fast a Mercedes-Benz with a light fuel load can go!
However, we should also thank Wu Shi for his tenacious fighting and the slow train that started at lap 53, which gave the old man a chance to catch up.

But time was running out. At the end of lap 56, the old man entered Vettel's DRS zone.

On lap 57, the final lap, Hamilton tried his best but was still stopped by Vettel.

If only two more laps! No! Just one more lap!
Hamilton thought to himself as he crossed the finish line alongside Vettel.

It's a pity, all our efforts were in vain.

But whose fault is this?
The initial mistake led to the subsequent passivity.

In fact, Wu Shi's risk largely stemmed from his failure to hold onto second place.

"Congratulations to Wu Shi on his three-game winning streak! What a perfect start!" the soldier exclaimed.

"However, we should also be careful. Last year, Rosberg started with four consecutive wins, but Hamilton almost caught up with him later."

Zizzi~!

Jonathan's voice rang out in TR: "Congratulations on three consecutive wins, an amazing achievement!"

“Yes, thank you! Thank you for your strategy, everyone was great all weekend, a wonderful victory!” Wu Shi replied in TR.

On the return lap, he parked his car in position 1, got out, and ran to his crew, hugging and celebrating with everyone.

Hamilton parked the car in third position. After getting out, he took off his gloves while looking at Wu Shi's tires.

Upon arriving at the lounge, Vettel immediately went to confront Wu Shi.

If Rosberg were here, he would be very familiar with this scene. Isn't this exactly what Vettel said about Kvyat last year?

This year, it's just that Hamilton is the one watching from the sidelines.

“When you came out, I was ahead of you, I was in front of you, you can’t overtake me,” Vettel said.

"I'm in front; you can see the front of my car."

Wu Shi calmly said that there was no need to argue about this issue now.

Vettel rubbed his sweaty hair and didn't say anything more, but his face was still very pale.

The atmosphere at the awards ceremony became even more unsettling.

"These three seem to be getting on each other's nerves now," the soldier remarked.

When interviewed, Wu Shi was asked what happened when he first left the station.

He didn't hold back and said directly, "I think I was in the lead at the time, and in fact, the tournament organizers never said I was behind."

When asked by the interviewer, Vettel said, "I think I was in front, and he came out like he was going to crash into me. That's my opinion."

"Did this cost you the championship?" the interviewer continued.

“I used supersoft tires on my second stint. My speed was good, and if I’m in front when the race restarts, I can create enough distance,” Vettel said.

Although he didn't answer the question directly, he was indirectly implying that he would be the champion if nothing unexpected happened.

The Bahrain Grand Prix ended in a rather unpleasant manner.

Ferrari and the four-time world champions' immense influence instantly put Wu Shi in the spotlight.

Many fans are criticizing Wu Shi for taking the championship from Vettel.

This may be the first time Wu Shi has clashed with a race car driver with a huge fan base.

However, just when everyone thought Wu Shi was going to be thoroughly criticized, a car enthusiast suddenly provided a set of photos online.

The photos are taken directly opposite the exit of the pit lane. These photos show that Wu Shi is in the lead, with the white line marking the boundary between the track and the pit lane.

This immediately reversed public opinion, and Vettel and the FIA ​​were subjected to online bullying.

Wu Shi spoke out, saying, "The matter is over."

He dislikes extreme comments online, whether they are criticizing him or supporting him. He believes that discussing things on the track outside of the track is meaningless.

(End of this chapter)