F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 306 Summer Break

The summer break is a rare time for drivers to relax.

That being said, while the driver market was far from stable, many drivers were still in contact with teams.

For long-term contract drivers like Wu Shi, these things don't need to be considered during the summer break.

Aside from the business activities required by Mercedes, he was quite free.

So, taking advantage of Louise's vacation, the two of them traveled around China for a week, climbing Mount Hua and visiting the Terracotta Army, which was considered as traveling all over the beautiful country according to plan.

But as soon as he got back to his home in Itali, Wu Shi couldn't resist turning on iRacing and getting ready to go for a run.

Because I logged into Louise's account, I discovered that the pro player named Anatoly Tucker was still tirelessly trying to play a game or two with him.

However, he wasn't interested and just drove around slowly, following Louise's driving license level.

They basically won every time, and after watching for a while, Louise excitedly said she wanted to run.

Wu Shi naturally stepped aside, leaning on the back of his chair as he watched her run.

Louise does have some talent for racing, otherwise she wouldn't have played go-karting as a child.

However, Wu Shi won too many games, so when she tried to play against him, it was no longer at a level she could handle.

"Ugh, why is this car so slippery when I drive it?!"

Louise complained as she turned the steering wheel.

"You've given it too much gas!"

"Wasn't it because we were going too slowly just now? We wanted to speed up."

"Driving can be a hasty process, but sometimes you can't rush."

Wu Shi then leaned over and began to teach him step by step.

Sure enough, with the help of the experienced driver, Louise's driving skills improved rapidly.

In reality, that's how racing is. The difficulty always lies in the braking point, braking angle, and throttle angle. As long as you understand these points, you can set a good lap time.

However, without help from others, most people cannot find the optimal solution to these difficulties, which is what is often referred to as "track talent".

During the holiday, Wu Shi also tried the lunch prepared by Louise.

Hmm, the taste is alright.

"Hehe, I'll make it for you every day when I graduate and have time," Louise said happily, pleased with the compliment.

Looking at Louise's smiling face, Wu Shi wondered whether he should reveal the truth to her in advance, since there would be even less time left after graduation.

Of course, if you're just a housewife or something similar, you'll have plenty of time to do these things.

But it all depends on what Louise thinks. She studies so hard; she doesn't want to stay at home all the time.

Martine is Louise's role model, and Louise naturally wouldn't be content with such an ordinary life.

During the entire summer break, Wu Shi only contacted Verstappen a handful of times.

Verstappen said he was unavailable.

He was penalized 10 seconds for colliding with teammate Ricciardo at the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break.

Pan Zi believes this is due to his poor driving skills, so he plans to spend the entire summer break on simulators.

Finally, he said to Wu Shi, "I'm not a world champion, I'm not qualified to enjoy life yet."

Clearly, Verstappen's competitive spirit will always remain. Although he doesn't say much usually, he always has the world championship in his heart.

In fact, Verstappen is not like some drivers who simply wait for a good car and automatically get WDC.

He prefers to be involved in shaping a good car.

In short, Pan Zi continued to work hard during the summer break, constantly running laps on the simulator, trying to memorize every detail of the track.

Driven by grief and anger following his father's death, Leclerc quickly rose to the top of the F2 standings and soon revealed that he had signed a contract with Ferrari.

Wu Shi had more comprehensive information than the reporters, thanks to the help of Bianchi and Nicolas Todd. Ferrari is currently considering giving Lock & Lock a seat next year.

The source of the seats has been secured by Sauber.

After Vasseur took over as team principal for Sauber, Sauber soon confirmed that it would continue to use Ferrari engines.

Because of this confirmed long-term partnership, Sauber had virtually no room to refuse Ferrari's requests.

When Wu Shi learned of this news, he and Louise were in France inspecting the construction progress of the WS-Bianchi Karting Team.

In this way, Wu Shi and Lock & Lock's group ended up swapping homes, which was quite a coincidence.

Wu Shi came to see this motorcade partly to check on its progress—after all, he was a registered member, so he couldn't just ignore it—and partly to see Ji Chen.

Ji Chen has already participated in some competitions, but his results are not very good.

Therefore, Ji Chen's mother was somewhat worried when she met Wu Shi.

However, Wu Shi knew that not everyone could handle extreme pressure like Verstappen.

He didn't say anything kind, nor did he show indifference; he simply said to the child:

"The competition is not just about how fast you drive, but also how adaptable you are."

"If you can only run your fastest time when you are in your best condition, then you can't do anything except break records in private."

"Remember, racing is all about the mind. You can't drive well if your mind isn't calm, you can't control the car if your mind isn't strong, and you can't maintain a good car if your mind isn't resilient."

"You are still young, so it's normal to feel scared, worried, and lonely in unfamiliar environments."

"But you have to understand that for us, if we want to enter a higher level of competition, we will inevitably have to face unfamiliar environments."

"You can't run away, you can't hold grudges, you can only have the strongest will, otherwise all the thoughts you didn't correct in your childhood may destroy you at the most critical moment."

"Can you do all of these?"

The core of Wu Shi's words was that he wanted Ji Chen to have a strong heart so that he could drive safely.

Otherwise, even if they get a championship car, they might lose the chance to win the championship due to their mentality.

Even someone as strong as Rosberg was tormented beyond recognition during the three years from 2014 to 2016.

He finally won the world championship, put an end to his obsession, and then quickly retired.

Even Vettel, who recently got into trouble, can't be said to have a very mature mindset.

But they are all Europeans, which gives them a natural advantage in F1, so they don't feel as much psychological pressure.

In contrast, Hamilton grew up in a harsh environment due to his skin color, which made him perform better under pressure.

This is the difference that comes from cultivating one's inner strength from a young age.

Ji Chen's mother wanted to answer for Ji Chen, but Wu Shi stopped her, looked at Ji Chen, and said:

"Your mother cannot answer this question for you."

"I don't need your answer, because the answer is for you to find."

After saying this, Wu Shi talked with the other children in the team for a while and learned that the team was not bad overall. It was not the strongest, but it was not the weakest either. Only a team like this could hone the skills of young drivers.

On the way back, Louise leaned against him and suddenly said, "You looked so fierce just now!"

"Huh? Is this fierce too?" Wu Shi asked in surprise.

“Yes, when you came to Italy with us, I was thinking that if I were to live and study in another country where I didn’t speak the language, I would definitely cry in bed at night,” Louise said.

"Haha, how do you know if I've been crying in bed?" Wu Shi laughed.

"Huh?!" Louise sat up straight immediately.

"Haha, you haven't cried at all." Wu Shi gently flicked her nose.
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In the final days of the summer break, Vettel, Kimi, and Ferrari all finalized their contracts.

Vettel has signed a contract extension until 2020, and in fact, he has nowhere else to go now.

He left his old employer, Red Bull, because he wanted to pursue victory with Ferrari.

For Mercedes, Vettel cannot imagine competing with Wu Shi or Lewis.

Red Bull has also confirmed that Ricciardo and Verstappen will continue to partner up next year.

McLaren has revealed that it will extend Vandoorne's contract for another year, but it remains to be seen whether Vandoorne will stay with McLaren.

Meanwhile, the head of the company is waiting to see how the collaboration between McLaren and Honda will be resolved.

After all, the boss had had enough of Honda engines.

So, not only has Alan not finalized a contract with McLaren, but he is still negotiating with Renault and Williams.

Some people speculate that, after all, the coach is getting old and may really have to retire.

Meanwhile, Liberty Media continues to leverage its strengths, planning to launch a virtual online Formula 1 championship.

The final is scheduled for the end of November in Abu Dhabi, and the winner will be invited to participate in one of the Grand Prix events of the 2018 season.

This is indeed a good way to expand F1's audience and influence.

Racing is indeed a sport that is very distant for ordinary people.

Most F1 fans probably have never even touched a go-kart in real life.

This is simply because the time, energy, and financial costs are too high, and not everyone is willing to spend these costs.

Simulators are much better than physical ones; they can be assembled at home, and anyone can participate in general elections.

Returning to the factory, Wu Shi had a complex and peculiar feeling.

They were both nostalgic for the carefree and pleasant days of the past and full of anticipation for the work that was about to begin.

The technology plan led by Alisen is progressing steadily, and Wu Shi was immediately pulled in to participate in the research and development work as soon as he returned.

"The engine power has increased?" Wu Shi felt it as soon as he stepped on the simulator pedal.

"Haha, how about that?" Allison was quite surprised by Wu Shi's sensitivity.

"Of course it's good."

Wu Shi nodded. Better kinetic energy efficiency brings not only an advantage in top speed, but also faster acceleration.

In this way, the exit speed will be increased again.

In addition, Mercedes has introduced many new features, significantly improving the overall performance of the vehicles.

Mercedes' hard work is naturally related to Ferrari's victory in the last race before the summer break.

In the period leading up to the competition, Wu Shi's simulator feedback provided valuable data.

With the Belgian Grand Prix drawing ever closer, many teams have released related information.

Ferrari has further optimized the front suspension, adding shock absorbers, which is expected to allow for better utilization of angle of attack and ground clearance.

Sauber, Williams, and McLaren have all updated their aerodynamic designs.

Honda's engine problems remain significant, although some improvements in reliability are reportedly being made.

However, this resulted in Vandoorne being penalized 35 places because he used a fifth engine, a fifth kinetic energy recovery system, an eighth MGU-H, an eighth turbocharger, a sixth battery, and a sixth electronic system.

No wonder the CEO has so little confidence in Honda; he has been suffering from this since 2015.

Renault's R&D center has shifted to 2018. Verstappen said during dinner with Renault engine engineers that without much acceleration, he could get close to Mercedes and Ferrari, but he would fall behind on straightaways.

To compensate for this lack of power, Red Bull will also adopt a more aggressive aerodynamic setup in Belgium, with very little downforce at the rear.

However, all the efforts of all the teams were destroyed by Mercedes at the very beginning of the Belgian Grand Prix practice session.

Wu Shi and Hamilton finished first or second in all three practice matches, even though the strong winds and heavy rain on Saturday morning disrupted their practice rhythm.

In the afternoon qualifying rounds, Wu Shi and Hamilton once again took first and second place without hesitation.

The pole position time has also improved by 4.2 seconds compared to last year.

Vettel was nearly 0.5 seconds behind pole position, which completely stunned Ferrari.

When the race started, both Wu Shi and Hamilton were incredibly consistent, with perfect starts and flawless cruising, reminiscent of Mercedes in 2014.

However, Vettel kept closing in on Hamilton, keeping the difference to 2 seconds.

Therefore, Vettel still believes that Ferrari is capable of competing with Mercedes, but they were unable to maintain good speed because they didn't have pole position.

A reporter then asked him, "Are you confident you can get pole position if you do it again? The difference should be almost 0.5 seconds."

Vettel found the question somewhat difficult to answer, noting that the gap with Hamilton was only 0.2, which was still something that could be closed.

But he felt it was unlikely that he could match Wu Shi's 0.5 difference.

Wu Shi was also asked whether he now had a very high probability of winning his second world championship.

Wu Shi's answer was the same as before: he did not make any definite guarantees.

Hamilton said he only has a chance to win the race if he gets pole position, but it will be very difficult to beat Wu Shi in qualifying.

Furthermore, his and Wu Shi's scores have been increasing, reaching 66 points.

He is currently 11 points behind Vettel, so his most important goal is to surpass Vettel and take second place.

Off the podium, however, the conflict between Ocon and Perez intensified.

In this match, the two players were evenly matched, especially Ocon, whose offense and defense were too strong, causing Perez to suffer heavy losses and ultimately finish in 17th place.

Perez criticized Ocon's behavior as inappropriate, for squeezing in when there was no room to overtake.

O'Conn, unfazed, tweeted with a mix of boasting and anger:
“We had a good game until Perez tried to kill me twice! But he couldn’t finish the game with a P9 no matter what.”

Such sarcastic remarks are extremely offensive.

Force India also began emergency intervention, and the two drivers will no longer be allowed to compete on the track.

Reporters also asked Wu Shi for his opinion on the matter. There's nothing they can do; he's a hot topic right now, and everyone wants his opinion on everything.

Wu Shi could only say:
“Aokang has always been like this. I met him when I was in go-karting, and we even competed against each other for a whole year in F3.”

"But you know, that's just his style."

Gasly might be a better answer to this, since he and O'Connor were good friends when they were children, only to have their friendship fall apart later.

Unlike most drivers in the paddock, Ocon's family was not wealthy. To support his pursuit of F1, his family sold their house and garage.

The whole family squeezed into a campervan for four or five years, driving it wherever there was a competition to participate in.

From that point on, O'Connor faced a problem: he couldn't lose, at least not to his teammates.

Being able to understand does not mean being able to agree.

Aokang is too aggressive. Sometimes, even when it knows it can't overtake or defend itself, it will still resolutely try to take you down with the idea of ​​mutual destruction.

Perez clearly disagreed with Ocon's statement; he drives quite properly, so he released a video refuting Ocon's claims.

However, Aokang got even more excited and said again: "You have a wife and children, aren't you afraid of competing with me like this on the track?"

Upon seeing these comments, Wu Shi was at a loss for words; Aokang's personality was far too extreme.

(End of this chapter)