F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 316 Ferrari's Home Victory
With the season just past the halfway mark, Wu Shi leads the standings by 63 points over Hamilton.

Hamilton's only hope for catching up from behind is that Wu Shi makes a major mistake at more than one stop.

Mercedes is now 144 points ahead of Ferrari, making the team championship a foregone conclusion.

During this period, the driver market in the paddock remained active.

Leclerc had originally signed a preliminary contract with Marchionne to join Ferrari.

However, with Marchionne's passing, the validity of this contract is now in question.

New owners Elkann and Camilleri prefer to let veteran Kimi run for another year, while Leclerc will stay at Haas or Sauber to continue his development.

As a result of this incident, Ferrari broke with its usual practice of announcing its team roster for next year at the Italian Grand Prix.

Clearly, they still have a great deal of hesitation.

Wu Shi was acutely aware of Ferrari's hesitation, because right now, he was communicating with people from Ferrari.

“I don’t actually want a Chinese person to join our team, but you are excellent and Ferrari needs to win, so we are willing to give you this opportunity.”

Ferrari's current team principal, Maurizio Arrivabene, made these remarks.

Wu Shi didn't react much; there were plenty of people in the hunting grounds who discriminated against him.

He said in a very calm tone:

"If you don't like me being in the Ferrari team, I don't need to prove to you how much I want to go to Ferrari."

“Not everyone is Sebastian. He has a deep connection with Schumacher and watched him achieve glory at Ferrari since he was a child, but I am not.”

The stalemate between the two left everyone else feeling awkward, until Martina finally spoke up:
"We're just talking about work, not anything else, right?"

She looked at Maurizio, her face smiling but her brows furrowed.

Maurizio looked at Wu Shi with even greater displeasure and said:

Even including this year, you're only a three-time world champion. Mercedes can't have the fastest car forever.

Wu Shi interrupted the team leader and said:

"Three world championships is already a remarkable honor, considering you didn't win one in three years at Ferrari."

Maurizio finally lost his temper and said, "Very well! Ferrari will never welcome you!"

“Okay.” Wu Shi nodded.

Martina sighed and followed Maurizio as he got up to leave.

Sid watched the man's retreating figure and said, "He has no intention of having a proper talk with you today."

"I see. Maybe it's a case of a new broom sweeping clean. The big boss above wants me to replace Kimi, so he's the one who stepped in."

Wu Shi said that Maurizio is a very capable person. He can manage both F1 and football and is a key member of the Agnelli family.

Ferrari did not win a championship between 2014 and 2018, but they came very close in 2017 and 2018.

Even without Wu Shi, Hamilton would have defeated Vettel and caused Ferrari to fall short.

However, it is clear that Wu Shi's appearance caused Ferrari to suffer an even more crushing defeat and lose even more face.

“Now any team that wants to win the world championship has to consider making you their driver or putting you out of the competition.”

Sid turned around and looked at the contract that Maurizio had thrown on the table.

The contract offered substantial promises, but they were not worthy of Wu Shi.

Just as he just said, Wu Shi's achievement of surpassing Hamilton itself proves the gap in Wu Shi's strength in the paddock.

“You still need a good car. If I were in McLaren with Alonso right now, I guess I'd be discussing with him whether we should just go race in NASCAR.” Wu Shi shrugged.

In 2016, he did try driving a slower car, a Williams that lacked competitiveness, while watching Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull overtake him one by one.

He has no way to stop these race cars except by crashing into them. They are so much faster than you on both the curves and the straightaways. What can you do to compete?

“How should the reply be worded?” Sid asked again.

"Just give a normal response. I wasn't angry because of what he said."

"no problem."
-
After leaving the meeting room, Maurizio looked at Martina and said:
“His eyes are full of arrogance. He doesn’t seem like a team player. I would much rather Leclerc join the team than him.”

Martina, a seasoned veteran of the paddock, chuckled upon hearing this and said:

"You like people who are stable and have a team spirit, but unfortunately he doesn't meet your expectations for a team spirit."

Although he didn't refute it, he did tell Maurizio that Wu Shi's consistency was undeniable, both on and off the track.

Maurizio didn't want to argue about it anymore; he got straight to the point:
“As the team leader, I would never let him in, even if you have a close relationship with him, even if many Italians regard him as a driver trained by Italians.”

Martina remained calm and waited until Maurizio left before calling Camilleri.

"The negotiations are over; we couldn't clarify this matter," Martina said.

"Is it a contract issue?" Camilleri asked.

“It’s not just a contract issue; not everyone approves of Wu Shi,” Martina said.

"Okay, I know."

Camilleri hung up the phone and looked at Elkan beside him.

At only 44 years old, Elkann is now at the helm of the entire Agnelli family.

This outstanding young man was appointed by his grandfather as the successor to part of the family business as early as 1997.

“What Marchionne couldn’t finish, you have to finish. I need Ferrari to win the F1 championship. I’m giving you time,” Elkann said.

"I understand, I will do it."

Camilleri nodded. He was known for his strategic vision, and a look at the history of F1 would show that Wu Shi would be the driver that every team would dream of.

“I need four years; the changes to the team won’t be easy,” Camilleri said.
-
Back at the Mercedes factory, Sassi, who had been ousted from Ferrari, inexplicably joined Mercedes.

To be honest, Ferrari really has something to offer; they're driving all the talent away.

The Italia Grand Prix officially began on September 2nd.

The Iron Buddha Temples remain fervent, especially in Italli.

Of course, they had their reasons for their enthusiasm; Ferrari got the front row starting position.

Wu Shi and Hamilton both started from the second row.

Ferrari's engines have been increasing power since the Monaco Grand Prix, especially after the summer break, the power is terrifying, and the Belgian Mercedes engine is no longer as powerful as theirs.

For a high-speed track like Monza, the implications of more horsepower are self-evident.

Mercedes also filed a complaint with the FIA, stating that Ferrari's engine definitely had a problem.

However, the FIA ​​stated that Ferrari did not have any problems.

Binotto breathed a sigh of relief upon receiving the FIA's certificate, hoping to resolve the matter quickly.

"The FIA ​​fully understands our engines."

They asked questions, we answered them, we explained.

"And so, they were satisfied and declared our car legal. As far as we're concerned, we're glad they put an end to these doubts once and for all."

It's clear that Binotto is quite happy to have technically defeated Mercedes.

Today, Ferrari is very likely to win at home, which naturally makes the home fans ecstatic.

It's worth noting that Ferrari's last home victory dates back to 2010 with Alan, which is a very long time ago.

Before the Grand Prix began, dark clouds covered the sky, and no one knew if it would rain.

Wu Shi put on a coat and stood next to the race car.

“Kimi starts from pole position, he should block Vettel, so there’s a chance at Turn 1,” Jonathan said.

"Will he really stop Vettel?" Wu Shi asked rhetorically.

“This isn’t an easy question to answer. Here’s what I think: Vettel wasn’t in particularly good form over the weekend, and even if he’s slow, Kimi won’t let him pass,” Jonathan said.

“Yes, I will try.” Wu Shi nodded.

As the bell rang, he took off his coat, pulled up his racing suit jacket, put it on, and began to enter the racing cockpit.

Once everything is ready, patiently wait for the tire warm-up to begin.

Kimi rarely leads the pack to warm up the tires anymore; one has to accept getting old.

After lapping around the track, the low temperature caused by the low air temperature meant that the tires did not warm up quickly.

Five red lights come on, then go out, and the competition begins!
Vettel got off to a very fast start, immediately closing the gap with Kimi, and then Wu Shi and Hamilton were not far behind, quickly squeezing up.

The four cars were tangled together, as if a major explosion was about to occur at any moment.

The broadcast cameras were glued to the front row, and just then, the first timing segment flashed a yellow flag.

However, this did not affect the four cars in the front row. They bypassed turn 3 and headed straight for turns 4 and 5.

Wu Shi's right side was completely blocked by Hamilton, leaving him with little room to move.

But right in front of him was Vettel, making his situation extremely frustrating!
However, Vettel is also facing a terrible problem: Kimi's lead has failed to create a gap, which has resulted in him being blocked when entering corners!
Just as Vettel pressed onto the apex of Turn 4, Hamilton on the right outside line had already overtaken him.

Waiter's rhythm was terrible, and before he could react, he crashed into Hamilton's left rear side with a thud.

Wu Shi realized almost the instant he saw Hamilton's head-crushing movement that their trajectories were bound to collide.

So without hesitation, I braked and swerved to the right to avoid it.

However, Spin's Vettel still managed to wrestle his forewing with a powerful tail sweep!

Hey!
Wu Shi felt a sudden headache, but he still managed to control the vehicle and catch up with the two people in front of him, although the speed had slowed down considerably.

The broken fore wing dragged along the ground, leaving a trail of sparks and lightning.

Vettel then spun in place and landed at the back of the line.

Although the severe rear-end collision had triggered the safety car, pitting at the end of lap 1 to replace the front wing and tires still resulted in significant damage.

When Wu Shi reappeared, he was already ranked 15th. The reason he was still able to maintain this ranking was because he wasn't the only unlucky one.

At that time, the impact of the accident at the rear was more widespread.

Of the four victims of the accident, Hulkenberg, Ricardo, and Eriksen all need to go to the pits for repairs, while Hartley withdrew from the race altogether.

"This is a huge loss," the soldier said, shaking his head.

"When the city gate catches fire, the fish in the moat suffer too. Wu Shi was in a position where he couldn't hide or charge forward either," Fei Ge said.

Wu Shi drove back onto the track and, while in the safety car, endured the lingering pain to conduct a self-review.

To be honest, he thought Vettel would be faster, so he chose the route closer to Vettel.

Who knew that Vettel would lose his rhythm after being blocked by Kimi, giving Hamilton an opportunity.

When he tried to move to the outer line, the old man blocked the entire space. Even if the accident hadn't happened, Wu Shi would have been inexplicably pushed to fourth place, simply because he had taken the wrong route from the start.

However, at the start of the game, all four vehicles were clustered together, limiting the driver's field of vision, so he really couldn't consider a better route.

At the end of lap 3, the safety car entered the pit.

On lap 4, Wu Shi began his sprint, and the moment the dynamic start allowed him to catch Vandoorne's slipstream on the straight.

Just as the forewing was about to hit the vehicle in front, Wu Shi suddenly turned his head.

Vandoorne was taken aback; why was he on the outside?

However, Wu Shi, relying on his even faster speed, managed to cut off half of Vandoorne's car at the last bit of distance, then rushed in from the center line of Turn 1, completely blocking Vandoorne's path.

Vandoorne had to slam on the brakes, completely disrupting his rhythm, and at Turn 2 he could no longer keep up with Wu Shi's trail.

By the time he regained control of the vehicle, he felt dizzy; this guy was driving way too recklessly!
After easily defeating Vandoorne, Wu Shi saw Sober ahead.

This Sauber had a pretty good line, using the slipstream from the cars in front to create a fast pace.

Without DRS, he actually got caught in two wakes.

However, once DRS appeared, he pulled up to the same row on the first long straight.

He turned to the side and saw number 16, Lock & Lock.

Before Turn 1, he pulled over and then returned to the center line to enter the turn normally.

After another lap, he passed Gasly and moved into 12th place.

At this moment, Alonso's car speed continued to decrease, and Wu Shi easily passed him.

Looks like Poor Guy's engine is having problems again.

Immediately afterwards, Wu Shi overtook one person every two laps, until he reached fourth place.

Vettel, who was behind him, also caught up completely, finishing in fifth place two laps later.

The drivers ahead have already created a significant gap and possess competitive cars, making it no easy task to overtake them.

First up is Verstappen in third place. His defense is quite annoying, especially given Red Bull's relatively strong performance this year.

However, there is still a difference of about ten seconds between the two, so it is too early to talk about surpassing each other.

On lap 26, Verstappen pitted for tires and came out in seventh place.

“Push,” Jonathan gave the brief instruction.

Wu Shi wore out his tires after two laps and then pitted to change to supersoft tires.

He came out in ninth place, behind Storol.

There was no other way; he had to overtake the driver in front of him again.

It wasn't until lap 35 that he finally broke away from Storol, Sainz, Perez, and Ocon.

After returning to fourth place, Wu Shi will find it difficult to catch up with Verstappen, who is 12 seconds ahead of him, in the remaining race.

At the forefront, Hamilton and Kimi's battle has reached a crucial juncture.

Kimi led the entire race, and even when he briefly fell behind Hamilton during the tire change, he regained the lead once Hamilton changed tires.

With the championship right in front of him, veteran Kimi was extremely excited.

Hamilton was unable to close the 5-second lead for a long time, lap after lap, until lap 53.

Although Kimi had not yet crossed the finish line, the entire stadium erupted in a huge roar and red smoke.

The deafening cheers surprised many drivers on the track.

Finally, Kimi crossed the finish line under the checkered flag! Helping Ferrari regain the home championship after 2010!

The scene at Tiefo Temple was absolutely chaotic, and the Ferrari pit lane was even more frenzied.

On the podium, Massa, acting as the interviewer, went up and handed the microphone to Kimi.

What should have been a lengthy explanation, Kimi simply summarized in one sentence:

"I am very happy to win this championship at Ferrari's home track. I am very happy."

However, these seemingly apathetic words once again ignited the frenzied cheers of the Iron Buddha Temple fans who rushed onto the track to celebrate.

Wu Shi sat in the P room, watching these waves. People from other countries could not understand the Italians' feelings for Ferrari.

Ferrari is Italy's national enterprise, the last vestige of glory for the entire Italian company—its fig leaf.

In the current context of industrial decline in Europe, the existence of such a company is enough to stir up patriotic sentiments among Italians.

On the podium, Kimi and Massa were also familiar faces from the Iron Buddha Temple.

Kimi, needless to say, was the last man to save face for Ferrari, and Massa almost continued Kimi's victory.

These two are considered heavyweights by veteran French football fans.

"It's rare to see you so free at this time," Leclerc said, dropping by for a visit.

"Haha, sometimes it's good to have some free time," Wu Shi said with a smile.

“I would love to take your place, but unfortunately I don’t have the chance,” Lock & Lock said.

"Why don't you go celebrate with them?" Wu Shi asked rhetorically.

Lock & Lock also has a dream of playing for Ferrari, whether it's Bianchi or Ferrari's youth academy, it's enough to prove his purity.

“That’s not my honor. Let’s celebrate it when I’m able to stand on that stage,” Leclerc said.

"There will be a chance."

Wu Shi leaned back and drank a few more mouthfuls of water, but asked himself inwardly if he wanted to sit in a Ferrari.

He must have had these thoughts, but they weren't nearly as strong as they used to be.

Having spent so many years in the paddock and heard so much about Ferrari, he didn't believe that once the Prancing Horse emblem was torn off, what lay beneath could still retain its sanctity.

The conclusion of the Italia Grand Prix gave Ferrari fans a thrill and allowed Ferrari to regain its former glory.

However, Vettel was caught in a media storm, with Italian media criticizing him in particular, believing that he had made another huge mistake after Baku, Le Castellet, and Hockenheim.

Especially at many crucial moments when they could have scored points, they suffered a complete defeat.

This isn't the first time Vettel has lost to Kimi in qualifying this year; it's happened multiple times.

However, Vettel did not believe it was his fault, saying directly that Hamilton did not leave enough space, so Hamilton should be held responsible.

He even believed that the referee's decision was unfair.

However, the old man answered directly, saying that there was plenty of space on his left at the time, and even gave an example:

“If Wu Shi were in that position, he would not cause any trouble. Even if he wanted to test the waters to gain more positions, he would be far more cautious than Sebastian.”

When Wu Shi saw Hamilton on camera, he really wanted to curse. What business is it of mine if the two of you are arguing?! You just had to drag me into this.

So he said on Instagram: "I'm just an unlucky guy, don't talk about me!"

This comment immediately attracted a lot of people who found it amusing.

A photo of him lying in a pornographic room with lifeless eyes also appeared in the comments section.

After the Grand Prix, Mercedes held an internal technical meeting and concluded that insufficient engine power was a major reason why Hamilton was unable to catch Kimi.

Therefore, there is an internal requirement to expedite the adjustment of the race car's performance.

Wu Shi simply listened throughout, gaining a basic understanding of the subsequent racing car development process.

“Singapore, we must reclaim our victory,” Toto said.

Everyone responded, and Toto nodded in satisfaction.

Wu Shi was naturally among the crowd. It might be more difficult for him to revive the Mercedes-Benz Arena's glory in Singapore than at other stops.

Everyone knows this, so they work even harder!

The team's morale is high!
Ferrari, a week after the Italian Grand Prix, has finally officially announced its starting drivers for next year.

This official announcement immediately caused a stir in the car enthusiast community!
Kimi, who just won the Ferrari home race title, will transfer to Sauber next year, and Leclerc will replace him.

Many emotional fans were puzzled. What did Kimi do wrong? He had just won a race!
However, it is an undeniable fact that Kimi's competitiveness has been declining for a long time.

Ferrari was able to keep Kimi because he still had his moments of brilliance and could work well with Vettel.

While Mercedes and Red Bull both have their own new generation of leaders, Ferrari also needs one to prove their youth training capabilities.

Kimi doesn't care. He's already 39 years old, and staying in the paddock is more about contributing his remaining energy and earning some salary (that's probably the main thing).

Vasseur warmly welcomed Kimi to Sauber, because the help a veteran driver can provide to the team goes beyond just points.

Sauber's collaboration with Alfa Romeo next year has given Vassell even more ideas.

In addition, Little Red Bull is also facing difficulties in selecting seats.

Gasly didn't want to stay with Red Bull, and Hartley's performance was simply too lackluster.

The only notable player in Red Bull's youth academy is Daniel Tiktum, who is still in Formula 3 and doesn't yet have a super license.

In this situation, news broke that Marco would be recalling Kvyat.

Seeing the changes in the driver market, Wu Shi tried to contact Xiao Zhou, but it would be a little difficult for him to come to the paddock next year.

The main issue is academic performance.

After encountering numerous setbacks, Wu Shi realized that even though he was a world champion, his team was still an outsider in this small hunting ground.

After all, it's a game for older, white men; if they want to get a piece of the pie, they'll have to keep working hard.

With nothing else to do, he began researching the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore.

The track has undergone changes this year, mainly at turns 16 and 17, and some other turns have been smoothed out to reduce bumps.

While Wu Shi was watching the racetrack, Hamilton was attending a fashion show.

The old man first went to Shanghai, and then to New York, to launch his first clothing collection.

This was developed in collaboration with designer Tommy Hilfiger, who is also a sponsor of Mercedes-Benz.

In addition, the old man was also photographed shopping with rapper Nicki Minaj.

It's safe to say that the biggest F1 influencer is Sister Liu; everyone's talking about her right now.

Wu Shi was also very curious, not about the rapper, but about the clothing line launched by Lewis.

The old man mainly gave him some boots, jackets, and sportswear.

Amidst all these events, the Singapore Grand Prix arrived.

What will happen this year on this track that Mercedes is not particularly good at?

(End of this chapter)