F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 318 Three-time World Champion
After leaving Singapore, Wu Shi attended the Berlin Motor Show in Germany, as arranged by Mercedes-Benz.

Actually, it was just a brief appearance, and it didn't take too long.

Then I went to experience the delivery process of a custom IWC watch and filmed a short delivery video with the staff.

As the third world champion was gradually confirmed, Wu Shi clearly felt that his commercial activities were also increasing.

Moreover, these sponsors were quite savvy, having Wu Shi and Hamilton attend all the events together, with each responsible for promotion in the Eastern and Western markets respectively.

According to Toto, Lewis has a huge influence in the European market.

However, Wu Shi also wielded considerable influence in the Eastern market, even though he never promoted himself as deliberately as Hamilton.

This week was probably the time when Wu Shi had the fewest car accidents, which even made him a little anxious.

So after returning to the factory, he immediately began simulated racing at the Marina Bay Circuit in Singapore.

With the information from the competition as a reference, he and the engineer discussed and modified the simulator parameters.

"The tracks at 16 and 17 are newly paved, so the grip will be noticeably weaker."

"How much smaller?"

"Try adjusting the parameter down by 0.13."

"."

The engineer frowned. "You can feel such a small adjustment? That's incredible!"

However, they still made adjustments according to Wu Shi's ideas.

"There was also the DRS section between turns 13 and 14, during which there was a slight tailwind, and our speed was 3 km/h faster than in windless conditions."

Wu Shi continued to extract the data that was imprinted in his mind from that night.

The engineer remained silent, simply setting things up according to Wu Shi's ideas.

After the simulation parameters of the entire track were set to the conditions of Saturday's qualifying race, Wu Shi sat in the simulator again.

As the Mercedes No. 59 drove on the Marina Bay Circuit, the information transmitted by the advanced simulator was still far less than what was actually on the track.

After a round of warm-up, the tires reached the predetermined temperature. Wu Shi tested the tires' condition by pressing the accelerator hard and making sharp turns. In reality, this wouldn't be necessary.

Once everything was ready, he prepared to try out the techniques he had learned from the old man during this lap of speed.

Susu!

At the end of the lap, the lap time was actually much slower.

He adjusted the tire wear back and started trying again.

Heh!

This time, he spun out at Turn 1, similar to Hamilton's situation, but Wu Shi did not give up on the whole lap and continued to run.

Because he can't develop the habit of restarting after every slight mistake, since in a real race you have to keep running no matter what.

At the same time, he should also treat the changes in mentality caused by mistakes as part of his practice, otherwise, if similar situations occur during the competition, it will be easy for his mentality to collapse.

After one lap, it's naturally impossible to reach the level of that night.

"Wu, you and Lewis are both practical drivers. The simulator provides you with too little information, making it difficult for you to perform to your full potential," the engineer advised.

“YES, I know. I want to try again. This will provide you with more data, won’t it?” Wu Shi said.

“Of course, you can continue if you want. I just wanted to point out that you haven’t tried the next stop, the Sochi circuit,” the engineer reminded him.

“OK, let’s do it my way first!” Wu Shi said.

Hamilton's circle of stars inspired him greatly, and he wanted to turn that inspiration into his own skills.

Previously, he could only learn by himself, but now that a top driver has finally shown his unique understanding, he naturally wants to learn from him.

We should learn from the strengths of others!
He reset the car to its initial state and began racing lap after lap.

The engineer stared at the screen, somewhat surprised to see the previously fluctuating data increasingly fitting the updated curve.

The five people working together here were completely unaware that it was getting dark.

They sat there from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m.

Wu Shi was exhausted after maintaining a high level of concentration for thirteen hours straight.

Today's attempt has failed.

"Hey, Wu, you're pushing yourself too hard. You shouldn't be like this. You're already fast enough," the engineer said.

"I know, but I feel like I can go even faster."

Wu Shi shrugged. He believed there would be even faster lap times, and he was determined to achieve that.

"Continue tomorrow?" another engineer asked.

"Of course, let's continue."

"The Sochi circuit setup simulation."

“Russell is willing to come, isn’t he? And Lewis isn’t in a hurry, so why should I be?” Wu Shi said with a smile.

The group shrugged and said, "Okay."

"Hey! If you guys aren't tired, I'll treat you to something to eat."

"Oh ho! Can I fleece you properly?"

"Of course, kill as many as you want!"

Wu Shi didn't care at all. With his current income, he wouldn't go broke just by eating, even if he ate at Michelin three-star restaurants every day.

But these engineers are different; their income is not high, just average.

If they fail to get promoted after a few years, they will use their F1 experience as a stepping stone to go to various car companies to get higher pay.

Wu Shi treated these people to a big meal.

The next day, the group reunited and faced the Marina Bay Circuit again.

During this time, Alisen and Sasi both came over to take a look, curious about what Wu Shi and his few simulator engineers were up to.

After learning about the situation, he left without saying much.

On the second day of the trial, Wu Shi was in significantly better condition than the day before and regained his feel for the simulator.

When one of a person's senses is deficient, other senses will try to compensate by enhancing or substituting for it.

Wu Shi felt that he experienced this system compensation phenomenon on the simulator.

He has thoroughly mastered every action on every part of the track, and the adjustments on the steering wheel, such as brake ratio and gear balance, are perfectly integrated into his operation.

In this way, as long as the simulator parameters remain unchanged, he feels he could even run a lap with his eyes closed.

Unfortunately, he was still unable to break the record the next day, as he eventually hit the wall when pushed to his limits in certain areas.

On the third day, Wu Shi continued.

This time, he sat in the simulator, went through the process in his mind, and started immediately.

This lap was the same as always, it went very smoothly, nothing special, I just executed all the planned running techniques perfectly.

Then, 1 minute 35.873 seconds.

"YESSSSS!!!"

Before Wu Shi could react, the engineer had already jumped up.

"You did it! You did it! You're 0.077 seconds faster!"

"Wuhu!"

The group's happiness quickly attracted the attention of the others.

Everyone came over.

"How did you do that?" Allison was also somewhat surprised.

"I learned a lot from Lewis."

Wu Shi smiled and said:

"By combining Lewis' and my best approach to the entire track, we can achieve this speed. No, there should actually be some redundancy."

"Hmm, let me check your data."

Allison nodded, then returned to the data monitoring center and retrieved the data from the previous round.

If this lap represents the operator's ultimate effort, is there any further assistance that can be provided in terms of tuning?

At each bend, the engine's traction control, output power curve, gear ratio, and other parameters can be continuously adjusted.

However, after observing for a while, Arison did not actually make any adjustments.

After all, each track has different characteristics, so his main task is to record these ideas so that they can be used as a reference next year.

The strength of a large racing team lies in the data accumulated through repeated research and development and tuning; sufficient data can drive lap times to new heights.

After resolving the problem that had been troubling him, Wu Shi happily remarked:

"I'm prepared to try again."

"What's the point of trying?"

"Drive with your eyes closed." Wu Shi was in high spirits.

"what?"

As the car made its way through the last corner on the warm-up lap and crossed the checkered line, Wu Shi closed his eyes.

Buzz!

The race car engine roared, and Turn 1 was fast approaching. He braked into the turn as if his eyes were open.

Several engineers frowned slightly because the wiring was slightly off.

However, this slight deviation is not enough to cause a crash.

Wu Shi continued driving, and his movements after entering the bend were incredibly smooth, exactly the same as before.

Susu!

After one bend after another, when the race car crossed the finish line in the simulator, the engineer was stunned by the result.

"You could start the bus from the second row with your eyes closed."

"Hmm, I still feel like I made several mistakes."

Wu Shi shook his head, closing his eyes. The biggest problem was still fear.

But it was just for fun, just to show off his skills. In a month or two, he basically won't be able to do it anymore.

This is because I took advantage of the fact that the repetitive experience of these three days was still imprinted in my mind and tried to play.

With Wu Shi's obsession with Singapore resolved, Hamilton returned to the factory. The two then turned their attention to preparations for the Russian Grand Prix at the Sochi circuit.

During this busy period, several more teams have officially announced their starting lineups for next year.

Italian Giovanni Castro, with the help of Ferrari, secured Sauber's seat, replacing Eriksson.

Although Eriksson has some connections with Sauber's shareholders, Sauber is now Ferrari's junior partner.

Haas has confirmed that it will continue to use Magnussen and Grosjean as its starting drivers next year.

Toro Rosso has officially announced that Kvyat will return for the 2019 season, while Hartley will retain his place.

However, this is only because there are no better candidates at the moment, and it is clear that Toro Rosso is very hesitant to keep Hartley in the team.

Horner had considered promoting Tiktum from F3, but the young driver has now lost his leading position in F3.

Mick Schumacher took the lead in F3.

As a result, Tiktum immediately accused Schumacher Jr. of cheating by using a specially tuned cheat car in the F3 race.

As expected of a young person, they dare to say anything.

Horner immediately said that Ticktum's thinking was naive.

Such immature behavior has practically sealed Red Bull's fate.

The entire paddock knows what car Mick drives, and even which team is tuning his car. But does that prove he's cheating?

Of course not, he is the son of racing legend Michael Schumacher.

The paddock is just a small circle; once you enter Formula racing, it's all the same group of people you know.

No matter how much trouble you cause, some things can't be broken, especially since you're just a small-time driver with no powerful connections.

Time then came to the 16th round of the season, the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who lapped the limit in Singapore, was not in the same form as before, and the gap between him and Wu Shi in qualifying reached 0.297 seconds.

Ferrari, on the other hand, continues to ruin their own races with their “remarkable” negative optimization.

Within the Red Bull team, Ricciardo had long since given up on the idea of ​​fighting.

Verstappen blamed the engine's turbocharger, demanding it be replaced with an older one, which caused the team to start directly from the back of the grid.

It can be said that after winning qualifying, Wu Shi and Hamilton were basically unchallenged in the race.

However, Verstappen performed amazingly, starting from the back of the pack on yellow tires and running all the way to lap 42 without changing tires, leading for a full 13 laps!
If it weren't for the need to change to tires with a different compound, Panzi probably would have been able to lead until the end of the race.

Of course, if they could avoid changing the tires, Wu Shi and Hamilton wouldn't have stopped so early.

Ultimately, Mercedes was brought back from Russia.

The king of Sochi has once again taken control of the area.

Five days later, the back-to-back Japanese Grand Prix was just around the corner.

Just like at the Sochi circuit, the two Mercedes cars don't have any real rivals here.

Because Wu Shi had a huge lead in points, Hamilton was willing to play the good guy in the race, so there was no fighting.

After another tedious first and second round at Mercedes, Hamilton readily admitted:
“When the gap between me and my teammates is too large, we are not allowed to engage in malicious competition, which is the right thing to do. It was because I did not keep up with the pace of the leader.”

The old man's dejected remarks caused many fans to sigh, and rumors about his retirement suddenly became rampant.

Similarly, Ferrari's drivers' championship contender Vettel is also going through a difficult period.

His suffering was not the same as Hamilton's.

Since he and Wu Shi were not in the same car, his lagging points could be blamed either on the car or on himself.

However, his collision with Verstappen at the Japanese Grand Prix ruined another race, suggesting that his problems this year are far greater than those of his car.

Vettel's form has been inconsistent this year, and he has repeatedly given way to Kimi in qualifying, which has made his tactical strategy in the race extremely passive.

Before entering the penultimate race, the U.S. Grand Prix, Wu Shi's lead had reached 78 points.

With four games remaining, Hamilton can only score a maximum of 100 points, making it virtually impossible for him to beat Wu Shi.

As for the teams, Mercedes already had a 200-point lead over Ferrari and had secured the Constructors' World Championship.

Vettel is falling further and further behind Hamilton, now 38 minutes apart. It seems like there's still a chance, but given Ferrari and Vettel's current form, it's practically impossible.

Two weeks later, the U.S. Grand Prix arrived. Even though Mercedes had a sudden tire management problem and the tire settings were not right, which caused Wu Shi and the old man to be slower, it still did not prevent them from locking in the world championship title.

Wu Shi finished fourth with 12 points, while Hamilton finished third, narrowing the gap between the two to 75 points.

However, with only three games left in the competition, even if Wu Shi didn't score a single point, Hamilton would have lost his chance to defeat him.

With three races to spare, Wu Shi secured his third world championship title.

As for the U.S. Grand Prix race, Kimi took the win, and Pan Zi came in second.

After the match, Vettel faced even greater public pressure. His performance was once again inferior to that of Kimi, who was about to retire, raising doubts about whether he still had the mentality and ability to compete for the world championship.

However, the four-time champion seemed somewhat aloof and didn't pay much attention to these matters.

Following the U.S. Grand Prix, Williams announced that it would recruit George Russell in 2019.

The 2018 season is drawing to a close, but the battle between teams has not stopped just because the championship race is over.

Mercedes continues to attack Ferrari's ERS (Energy Recovery System), arguing that Ferrari's dual-battery design violates regulations.

In fact, dual batteries can indeed bring higher output power and charging efficiency, which is an option when the performance of a single cell is insufficient.

Maurizio stated that it was legal when they used this design at the beginning of the season, and it should still be legal now.

At the same time, he also began to retaliate against Mercedes, saying that the lane widener on the W09 rims was illegal and that it was covered with small holes and grooves to cool the tires.

Of course, he pointed out that the most important problem is that this design will have aerodynamic effects.

This would be a serious violation of Article 3.8 of the regulations.

The Binotto organization drafted the indictment.

Then at the Mercedes factory, Wu Shi saw engineers immediately seal the holes with silicone to avoid complaints from Ferrari.

This change resulted in a poor performance for Mercedes in Mexico, with Wu Shi and Hamilton absent from the podium.

However, the FIA ​​later stated that Mercedes' design was legal.

They believe the openings on the Mercedes rims are for cooling rather than guiding airflow, and the lane wideners are inherent and do not affect the other issues.

Now, Mercedes' competitiveness in Brazil has returned.

Of course, Wu Shi, who was deeply involved, knew that Mercedes-Benz's fluctuating competitiveness was not due to a small design, but involved much more complex engineering.

Most importantly, the 21 games throughout the year have exhausted everyone.

Even though Wu Shi enjoyed driving, driving was only a weekend job; he had a lot of other work to do during the week.

Some positions can be rotated, but the staff in other positions cannot be changed, which will lead to some jobs being oversaturated!

As long as the Grand Prix continues, the teams must operate at full capacity.

However, Liberty Media stated that there will still be this many tournaments in 2019, and the Vietnam Grand Prix will be added in 2020. Their goal is to increase the number of Grand Prix tournaments to 25 by 2025!
Wu Shi privately remarked, "No wonder America is such a big capitalist; they really exploit people to the point of death!"
F1 revenue is skyrocketing, but it's because they have to suffer and work hard.

Hamilton publicly stated:

"I feel like I've already played my 25th game this year."

"So I don't think adding more Grand Prix races is a good idea. When there are eighteen events, that's probably the best compromise."

Although the engineers and drivers of each team were complaining, the race had to continue.

After Mercedes brought back two championships from Brazil, the final Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was just a spectacle for Middle Eastern royalty.

In the final leg of the season, Toro Rosso officially announced the removal of Hartley, a player whose performance was not up to par, and awarded the last spot for next year to Alexander Albon.

Just as the pre-race interviews had been lackluster and uninteresting, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was also incredibly dull during the race itself.

Wu Shi brought home the champion, Hamilton drove back as runner-up, and Vettel drove back as third place.

The three drivers' rankings in the final Grand Prix also corresponded to their rankings throughout the year.

All three drew donuts on the straightaway to celebrate the end of the tournament.

This delighted the fans who came to watch the race; they loved seeing these flashy performances.

Ah, the smoky smell of rubber rubbing together with the aroma of fuel is truly intoxicating.

Finally, Alonso also drew a circle, announcing that he will leave F1 next year to participate in other races.

The FIA ​​also gave the two-time world champion a nice farewell gift: a 5-second time penalty and 3 points deducted from his driver's license.

Amidst the dazzling fireworks, the commentator shouted passionately:

"Wu Shi! He did it again!"
"He is now the youngest three-time world champion! Congratulations on his re-crown!"

Fireworks, cheers, and golden raindrops mingled in the thick night of Abu Dhabi.

Newly crowned three-time world champion Wu Shi was lifted up by the Mercedes-Benz crew, and people watched as he was tossed into the air and then landed in the hands of the crowd.

Even though the later stages of the match inevitably became tedious, the legendary story continues.

The long season of 2018 has come to an end.

Compared to 2017, Mercedes did not lead the season strongly.

When the four Grand Prix winners were initially vying for the title, everyone thought this year would be a fierce battle.

However, Mercedes and Wu Shi proved everyone wrong with their actions: I was just kidding.

When Mercedes regained its speed, Wu Shi's exceptional consistency quickly solidified his dominance.

Hamilton's bold remarks last year became the focus of criticism when he was distracted off the track.

In fact, the old man's condition this year can be said to be quite good, but without comparison, there is no harm.

Hamilton has stated publicly on more than one occasion that his participation in off-track activities will not affect the race; it's simply a matter of winners and losers, and no one will agree with his statement.

Vettel's situation is even more difficult. His performance this year is not as good as last year, and he often loses points that he should have earned to Kimi.

The decline of the four-time world champion was almost predictable; he was far less spirited than at the beginning of the season, but he still emphasized that next year would be a new beginning.

Verstappen outscored Ricardo this year, scoring 237 points, a 153-point lead, and became the Red Bulls' key player.

However, this is also related to Ricardo's condition. When Ricardo decided to leave Red Bull, his performance visibly declined.

Pan Zi unfortunately lost to Kimi by 4 points, and only ranked fifth in the standings.

Leclerc scored 39 points for Sauber, a commendable performance in his rookie year.

Gasly finished his rookie season with 29 points ahead of his teammate Hartley.

With the arrival of the long winter holiday, weary people can finally get some rest.

(End of this chapter)