F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 308 Singapore 2017

After the humiliation of being defeated by Mercedes at home, the high-pressure environment inside Ferrari has become increasingly severe.

For them, the Singapore station was a good place to turn the tide, although at this point they were 65 points behind Wu Shi and talking about competing for WDC seemed futile.

However, this coastal circuit is indeed not Mercedes' strong suit, and both Ferrari and Red Bull want to compete for more points here.

Wu Shi conducted a very long test on the track on the simulator, and Mercedes is still trying to find ways to improve the vehicle's disadvantage here.

While they were making their efforts, McLaren finally announced that it would terminate its partnership with Honda.

With this in mind, there's probably something to discuss regarding Touge's contract renewal.

Although abandoned by McLaren, Honda still did not want to leave F1. They found Toro Rosso and exchanged some of their funds for a partnership.

Of course, Toro Rosso's agreement to cooperate with Honda is also related to the situation on Red Bull's side.

After being tormented by Renault to the point of being unrecognizable, Red Bull has been trying to find a strong engine supplier.

Mercedes and Ferrari do not want to create unnecessary competition for themselves, so they naturally would not agree to supply engines to Red Bull.

Since Red Bull is dissatisfied with Renault, it can only consider Honda.

Perhaps the collaboration between Toro Rosso and Honda is just Toro Rosso testing the waters, and maybe they'll start using Honda engines in two years.

Meanwhile, Sainz's recent major conflicts with Marko and Horner have given Renault an opportunity to bring the newcomer into the team.

Red Bull agreed to a two-year loan, while Palmer faces the unfortunate prospect of leaving the paddock.

That's how it is in F1. Even if you manage to get in, if you don't perform well within a year or two, you risk being eliminated.

After sending Sainz out, Toro Rosso considered bringing Gasly up.

As the season enters its second half, the situation in the driver market is becoming increasingly clear. Before long, all teams will basically finalize their driver lineups for next year.

On September 15th, F1 arrived in Singapore.

As expected by all the teams, Mercedes' speed advantage was diminished in the three practice sessions, and Red Bull took the lead.

Seeing an opportunity, Ferrari was actually secretly gathering strength, preparing a sharp sword to strike Mercedes.

On Saturday, both Red Bull drivers performed exceptionally well in qualifying, finishing first and second in both Q1 and Q2.

However, it wasn't until Q3 that everyone truly showcased their abilities.

Vettel demonstrated exceptional lap time, clocking a time of 1 minute 39.491 seconds on his second flying lap to secure pole position.

This speed caught the Red Bull duo off guard. Verstappen gave it his all but only managed a time of 1 minute 39.814 seconds, finishing second, 0.3 seconds behind.

Ricciardo's performance was somewhat lackluster, finishing fifth, 0.3 seconds behind Verstappen.

Despite the fact that the race car was not adapted to the track, Wu Shi once again demonstrated to everyone his precise grasp of the track's limits.

In several shots around the bend, he was seen speeding past the guardrail almost brushing against it, the advertising banner flapping loudly in the wind.

However, the car's limits are there, and in the end he only finished third, 0.026 seconds behind Verstappen, with a time of 1 minute 39.840 seconds.

Kimi was 0.2 seconds slower than him and ranked fourth.

Hamilton finished 0.3 seconds behind him, placing sixth.

When the results came out, Toto couldn't help but shake his head.

Overtaking in Singapore is notoriously difficult. Wu Shi, currently in third place, might still be able to secure a podium finish, but it will be extremely difficult for Hamilton to move up the leaderboard.

However, this is also good, as long as the point difference is large enough, Hamilton will no longer risk a fierce internal battle with Wu Shi.

On September 17th, the temperature in Singapore dropped, and before the start of the match in the evening, there was even a heavy rain.

This caused a small-scale panic in the pit area, and the mechanics quickly changed the race car's tires to rain tires.

Several teams, including Force India and Renault, even went so far as to use full wet tires, causing their repair budgets to exceed their limits significantly. They really didn't want their drivers to cause any more damage to the cars.

“The slippery ground isn’t a big problem; the real issue is visibility,” Wu Shi told Jonathan.

Rainy days and nights—these two factors combined were a headache even for Wu Shi.

Already having poor visibility, various forms of light pollution can also cause visual distortion.

The only good news is that there will be no rain during the race, and after a few laps, the water mist will no longer affect the race.

“OK, be careful,” Jonathan said.

"Hmm." Wu Shi suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Shortly after the two finished their TR conversation, the safety car moved to the back of the convoy.

One by one, red lights lit up.

Perhaps it had been too long since he had started from the front row, because at the moment of the start, Vettel hesitated.

Wu Shi, who was behind Vettel, was immediately affected, but he reacted very quickly and tried to move to the middle to grab a position.

Vittel was keeping a close eye on Wu Shi. Although he started slowly, he moved faster to block the path in the middle.

Wu Shi had no choice but to give up the best center position and return to the right side.

On the left side of the track, Verstappen, who also started from the front row, was also slow.

Verstappen instinctively moved towards the center, also trying to block the drivers behind him.

However, Kimi, who started fourth, was very experienced and immediately climbed up through the gap on the far left.

After forcing Wu Shi to the right, Vettel naturally also noticed Verstappen on the left.

He pushed further to the left, attempting to cut off Verstappen's route.

This move worked!
Verstappen had to veer left to avoid Vettel.

However, Kimi, who had come up from fourth place, was on his left at that moment!

Verstappen suddenly realized that he was sandwiched between the left and right sides.

Kimi, who was climbing ahead, didn't notice Verstappen's slight leftward shift at all, and he inevitably turned right in order to get back to the inside from the outermost line.

Bang!
In an instant, Verstappen became the sandwich filling.

Kimi was on his left, and Vettel was on his right.

The top three were all caught in the collision!
Wu Shi, a war correspondent who was very close to the three, was stunned by the scene and suddenly remembered why he felt something was off when Jonathan said those words.

This is Singapore in 2017!

Ferrari is sandwiched between Red Bull and Ferrari!
Kimi's right rear wheel flew off, and the right front suspension was also smashed, causing the entire race car to lose control.

After gliding for a distance, he cut straight into Turn 1, and then struck Verstappen like a precisely guided missile as he entered the turn.

Fortunately, Wu Shi was quick enough to get past this juncture with Vettel, otherwise he would have suffered the same fate.

Wu Shi knew that Vettel's car was damaged, so he was looking for an opportunity to overtake him.

As he approached Vettel, he discovered that the Ferrari in front of him had a very serious problem!

"There's oil leaking from its tail!"

As soon as Wu Shi’s voice rang out in the TR, Vettel’s car suddenly spun out, swinging 180 degrees and running backwards on the track.

Susu!

Wu Shi drove by.

Vettel sat in the driver's seat, facing the direction from which cars were coming, watching one race after another drive past him. Fluid was leaking; the car had malfunctioned and could no longer be driven.

Amidst the whistling wind, Vettel's hands were no longer on the steering wheel.

Kimi is finished, and now Vettel is finished too.

The group in the Ferrari pit lane were all astonished, angry, saddened, and heartbroken.

Meanwhile, the safety car had already been deployed on the track and instructed all vehicles to pass through the pit lane, giving Matthew time to clean up the debris on the starting straight.

Wu Shi returned to first place, behind him was Hamilton, who had overtaken Ricardo.

The front row, which originally belonged to Ferrari and Red Bull, has become Mercedes's.

But Toto wasn't very happy to see this; he quickly became nervous.

Will these two pull some kind of trick when the show starts later?
While he was still undecided, the race reached the fifth lap, and the safety car was removed.

Wu Shi didn't hold back at all; he just suddenly accelerated and started sprinting at a certain point in time.

Hamilton immediately followed, but the initial distance difference prevented him from closing the gap.

The track was still wet and slippery, so Hamilton did not choose to follow Wu Shi and get caught in the full slipstream.

Therefore, Wu Shi entered with an advantage at Turn 1, and this advantage was further expanded when he came out of Turn 3.

Hamilton couldn't catch up with Wu Shi, who was in the lead, and Toto breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing the Ferrari and Red Bull, he was really afraid that Wu Shi and Hamilton would also come.

This situation was exactly what the team had anticipated.

Just by looking at the qualifying results, it's clear that Hamilton didn't find his pace this weekend; he's much slower than Wu Shi.

The story then returns to the two Mercedes leading the pack, with Ricciardo in third.

Even though the safety car came out twice, on laps 11 and 38, it did not affect the overall situation.

As previously agreed, the Mercedes team did not favor any particular driver, but instead pitted for tires according to their leading positions.

Wu Shi led the entire race, with Hamilton 12 seconds behind him.

Ferrari's unexpected performance allowed Mercedes to achieve a 1-2 finish even on their least favorite track!
Now, Wu Shi has scored another 25 points, bringing his total score to 302 points, far ahead of the leader!

After this match, Hamilton's total points reached 222, surpassing Vettel's.

However, the gap between him and Wu Shi has widened to 80 points, and his chances of winning the championship have plummeted.

Vettel is in third place with 212 points, going from an 8-point lead over Hamilton to a 10-point deficit, dashing Ferrari's hopes for this year.

As Wu Shi stood on the highest podium in Singapore, many Chinese spectators remained, displaying considerable enthusiasm. Of course, there were also many people who had traveled from China to watch the performance.

After he finished the interview, Lin JJ, who had been waiting in the P room, came up to congratulate him.

After taking a photo together, the two shook hands, and JJ said with a smile, "I want to write a song for you sometime!"

"Oh! Really? I usually enjoy listening to your songs, and it's a great honor to receive a song written by you!" Wu Shi said politely.

JJ has a few songs that are really good, and they're on his playlist.

"Haha, okay, wait for my good news; I've always been a Mercedes fan, and I'm really excited to see one of our own win this honor. I'll definitely write a great song for you!" Lin JJ laughed loudly.

"Haha." Wu Shi laughed along, feeling a bit strange having a Singaporean talking about his own people.

However, there's no problem with the fact that we all share the same ancestry.

The dramatic collision at the start of the Singapore Grand Prix, like all previous major collisions, sparked public discussion.

Car enthusiast forums are always full of discussions about who is right and who is wrong.

Most people believe that Vettel's reckless driving forced Verstappen to swerve, thus causing the accident.

However, the race organizers did not impose any penalties. In their view, Vettel was unaware that Kimi was beside Verstappen, so it was just a simple track accident.

In this way, the matter is settled, since Ferrari is the one who suffered the most.

Ferrari team principal Maurizio could only apologize for the accident, saying he had let his teammates down, but he said there was still hope for the season.

However, everyone knows that this statement is just for show. Unless Wu Shi withdraws from all the remaining matches, Vettel will have no chance of competing.

Even if Wu Shi withdraws from all the races, Mercedes still has Hamilton!

From the initial elation at the start of the season to the current despair, the Iron Buddha Temple team has long been accustomed to it.

However, Verstappen was probably the most frustrated person in the accident.

He can be quite reckless at times, but this collision had absolutely nothing to do with him.

A perfectly good podium, or even a race win, just slipped through your fingers.

The Singapore leg wasn't a particularly significant event in 2017; the only real point is that after that event, there was absolutely no more debate about who would win the WDC.

This idea is undoubtedly correct.

In the ensuing Malaysian Grand Prix, despite Red Bull's strong performance, the final result remained unchanged.

Verstappen, starting third, relied on his suddenly competitive car to take down Hamilton as soon as DRS came on the fourth lap.

However, the process of pursuing Wu Shi was fraught with difficulties.

Not to mention the difficulty of closing the gap, even after Verstappen caught up with DRS on lap 22, it still took him a full four laps to find an opportunity.

As a result, Wu Shi turned around and went into the pit lane, making Verstappen's overtake pointless.

In the second stint, Wu Shi's control over distance was simply too strong, with Verstappen always hovering between 1.1 and 1.6 seconds.

Verstappen didn't break into the 1-second zone until the last few laps.

However, there was not enough time for Verstappen to launch any attack, and Wu Shi won the Malaysian Grand Prix by 0.6 seconds!
Compared to the drama of the Singapore Grand Prix, this race has garnered much more attention.

Not only will this Malaysian Grand Prix be the last – the local government will not renew its contract with F1, and the Sepang Circuit will become history.

Furthermore, it is due to the extremely strong offensive and defensive combat and cruising capabilities demonstrated by the two new generation members who joined F1 in 2015.

In the post-race interview, the two young men praised and laughed with each other, making Hamilton, who stood on the third-place podium, seem like an outsider.

Wu Shi leads Hamilton by 90 points with five games remaining.

In other words, if Wu Shi surpasses Hamilton by another 10 points in the next game, he will be crowned the 2017 World Champion in advance.

This is naturally not a difficult task, so most sports newspapers gave a positive answer, believing that this young man from China will win his second world championship.

After winning this world championship, he equaled his teammates Hamilton and McLaren's Alonso, becoming another veteran in the paddock.

However, Wu Shi is still quite young, and no one knows how many honors he will receive in the future.

Mercedes also scored 564 points thanks to the performances of Wu Shi and Hamilton, surpassing Ferrari in second place by 211 points.

With five races remaining, Ferrari can score a maximum of 215 points, so Mercedes has essentially secured this year's Constructors' Championship.

At this point, Toto breathed a sigh of relief, waiting only for the Japanese Grand Prix, after which everything would be settled.

Ferrari's slump since the summer break has also subjected them to much controversy, with the oppressive atmosphere within the team growing stronger day by day.

Before the Japanese Grand Prix, Marchionne held a meeting to try to understand why Ferrari had fallen from a promising start to this point!

(End of this chapter)