F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 337 Toto Slams the Table Again

Shortly after the Imola Grand Prix, the F1 Commission approved testing of the "sprint" format this year.

The first sprint race will be held during the British Grand Prix on Saturday, July 17.

Therefore, each team will only be allowed to use two sets of tires during Friday's practice session.

Qualifying will take place on Friday afternoon, and this qualifying session will only determine the starting grid for Saturday's sprint.

The second practice session will be held on Saturday morning, and only one set of tires can be used.

After that, the sprint race will take place.

Sprint races will be able to use two sets of tires, which will be decided by the teams themselves.

The top three finishers in the sprint will receive points: 3 for first place, 2 for second place, and 1 for third place.

The starting grid for Sunday's main race is determined by Saturday's sprint race, which is why some people call the sprint qualifying race.

The sprint qualifying session, which was making its debut on the Grand Prix stage, clearly still had many problems.

For the teams, Friday morning is the crucial day to complete their qualifying practice in preparation for the afternoon's qualifying session.

The practice sessions on Saturday morning will be about finding a balance between short distances (sprints) and long distances (the main race).

This undoubtedly places a huge burden on the team, and the drivers will face even more demanding tasks.

However, team managers are more concerned about the budget, because the unique nature of sprint races necessitates the investment of corresponding resources.

In particular, sprint races, due to their short duration, are likely to encourage drivers to drive more aggressively, similar to Formula 2, leading to a surge in repair costs.

So the paddock started saying that each sprint race would give each team an extra $15 in budget, and if the car was damaged during the race, an additional $10 would be provided.

In short, Liberty Media is still trying to make every game on Friday through Sunday interesting.

The teams and drivers just need to adapt and provide feedback on the changes; everyone is in the same boat.

Mercedes' championship win last year resulted in the least amount of time available for wind tunnel testing, so their research and development efforts were focused on engines, while the iteration of aerodynamic technology was relatively slow.

Nevertheless, Wu Shi was still quite busy at the beginning of the season.

New parameters are constantly being provided, requiring him to test and provide feedback.

So the two weeks passed almost in the blink of an eye, and at the end of April, the Grand Prix came to Portugal.

The weather in Europe was still quite cold during this period, and Portugal was no exception, with temperatures not exceeding 20°C.

Wu Shi and Hamilton maintained their lead in both practice matches on Friday.

On Saturday morning, Verstappen took the lead.

When Wu Shi got out of the car, he glanced at the RB16B. Red Bull had made many changes to the brake scoops, side wings, and upper part of the floor, making it very different from the one used at the unveiling station.

At the rear of the car, the area of ​​the central part of the diffuser is significantly reduced, so the curvature is more obvious, which causes the airflow to clump together and flow backward.

However, since he never actually drove the car, Wu Shi couldn't understand why it could bring about so many changes.

The qualifying session for the Portuguese Grand Prix will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

The weather was similar to Friday's, with extremely strong winds.

In Q1, Ricardo, Storol, Latifi, Mick, and Mazepin were eliminated.

Russell, Bottas, Alonso, Kakuta, and Kimi were eliminated in Q2.

Red Bull failed to achieve good results in the two consecutive qualifying sessions, seemingly because their cars are very sensitive to wind direction.

Q2里，吴轼和汉密尔顿互刷了一遍成绩，前者1分17秒911，后者1分17秒968。

The results are very close, so there will definitely be a big battle in Q3.

However, when the drivers took to the track in Q3, they found that the wind had become even stronger.

“The track conditions are terrible,” Wu Shi said.

His first flying lap was disrupted by strong winds, causing him to go against the wind on the straightaway and directly losing at least 0.2 seconds.

The strong winds continued to affect several turns, making it difficult to handle turns 5 through 8 effectively.

In the end, he only achieved a time of 1 minute 18.232 seconds.

其余车手的情况也并不好，汉密尔顿1分18秒348、维斯塔潘1分18秒209。

Just as the group was preparing to try again on the second lap, the organizers suddenly announced two penalties.

“Your and Verstappen’s results have been cancelled,” Jonathan said.

“OK, so we still have one more lap,” Wu Shi said.

He knew what was going on; he crossed the white line at Turn 11, which was a very ambiguous area.

However, Verstappen's results being cancelled was something he really didn't expect.

“At Turn 4, he was affected by the wind and was blown outside the white line,” Jonathan then said.

"Is Lewis in pole position now?" Wu Shi continued to ask.

“Yes, his grades will remain the same,” Jonathan replied.

Wu Shi waited silently, but Jonathan's expression grew increasingly serious.

Because the wind force did not decrease, it meant that the conditions on the subsequent flying lap track were far worse than the previous one.

He pursed his lips, praying that the wind would subside.

But clearly, God did not listen to him.

On the second flying lap, all the drivers were affected by the strong winds.

Hamilton achieved a "good" time of 1 minute 23.166 seconds.

Fortunately, Q3 did not stop after crossing the line, so he could try another lap, but unfortunately the final result was also poor.

Wu Shi, who was right behind him, stopped his watch at Q3 when he crossed the finish line, with a time of only 1 minute 18.936 seconds!

Now it was the commentators' and audience's turn to be shocked, because they didn't know where Wu Shi's score would rank!
Verstappen wasn't much better, finishing his Q3 with a time of 1 minute 18.746 seconds.

"Wow! Everyone's results on the last speed lap were terrible!" Haoran was clearly surprised.

"Q3's overall lap times are significantly slower than Q2's," Fei Ge said.

"We can only hope that Wu Shi will be able to perform to his full potential tomorrow," the soldier said.

Wu Shi drove the car back and shook his head upon learning the results.

Hamilton in pole position, Verstappen in second.

Yes, Verstappana's results are all second.

Perez came in third, a fraction of a second faster than him.

It was unusual for him to drive a Mercedes and not enter the front row to start the car.

When he finished weighing himself and came to the interview area, the microphone was immediately placed in front of him, and the reporters couldn't wait.

"Wu Shi, the results for Q3 don't seem to be very good. You'll be starting from the second row."

"Yes."

Wu Shi nodded, showing little sign of frustration, and continued:
"The wind was very strong in Q3. We not only had to overcome the resistance, but also had to be wary of the huge impact that the fluctuating wind had on the race car."

"There was a gust of wind at Turn 11 that almost blew me into the run-off area. That happened on my first flying lap, and then my time was cancelled."

"The wind was much stronger during the second flying lap, and the track conditions were extremely bad. I couldn't fight against the power of nature."

After Wu Shi finished speaking, he pulled up his mask.

The reporter then asked, "So, are you confident you can overtake the three drivers ahead of you tomorrow?"

"Well, our race cars are actually very close, so it would obviously take a lot of time to start on the track."

"But we will do our best to push and strive to get a better ranking."

After Wu Shi finished speaking, he immediately left the interview area and returned to the meeting area at the back, where he sat down.

The Mercedes team is very quick to act; they have just published their Q3 lap times and analyzed all the sensor data.

Although they keep saying it's due to the wind, the team also needs to find out exactly why they're slowing down.

The first video released was of his first flying lap, with the camera focused on Turn 11.

"The crosswind was really strong at the time, so I tried to keep the route as flat as possible. If it were any flatter, I would lose my balance," Wu Shi said.

"Perhaps so. Let's take a look at the second flying lap."

Mike Elliott drew a comparison between himself and Hamilton.

It is evident that Wu Shi made numerous corrections in the corners, clearly indicating a problem with the car's stability.

Hamilton, on the other hand, made fewer corrections, but at the cost of slower speeds, which is why he only had a time of 1 minute and 23 seconds for that lap.

"Based on the data just now, we believe that the complex fins on the side wings cause the vehicle body to undulate sideways, resulting in an increase in the gap on one side of the floor, which may be the reason for the vehicle's dynamic imbalance."

Mike launched into a long-winded explanation, but Wu Shi and Hamilton didn't want to hear the technical details; they just wanted to know how to solve the problem!

However, it is clear that this problem cannot be completely solved today or tomorrow; the only solution is to adjust the settings as needed.

“We have to keep working tomorrow,” Mike said.

Wu Shi nodded, some things can't be rushed.

Hamilton turned his head and said:

"I didn't expect the tournament to disqualify your first result. Your problem is obviously not as obvious as Verstappen's."

Wu Shi didn't sigh, but thought for a moment and said:

"If they want to disqualify Verstappen, they will inevitably come after me as well. If I had played it safe there, I might not have crossed the white line."

"But who knew? I thought I was conservative enough, but this unscrupulous wind just had to blow in a big gust."

"Haha."

Hamilton chuckled, a hint of melancholy in his eyes, and said, "Luckily, I've always been more conservative than you." "Haha."

Wu Shi laughed along, and what he said made sense, since he was indeed more aggressive in each pole position video comparison.

However, how can they take pole position from Hamilton without being aggressive?

It's worth noting that Hamilton's lap times are among the best in history.

The two talked for a while about their common problem—aerodynamic defects—before ending their conversation.

Wu Shi returned to the hotel in a good mood, watched TV for a while, and then went to sleep.

The following day, the sun shone brightly, but strong winds still swept through the track, and the temperature remained below 20°C as usual.

Pirelli brings the three hardest formulas, C1-C3, so the strategy must be to stop production.

Wu Shi started in fourth place, with Perez in third place to his side and Verstappen in front of him.

After the formation circle and the warm-up circle, everyone took their positions.

"Overtaking on this track isn't as difficult as on Imola, but given the similar performance of the cars, the slipstream should have a significant impact," Fei said.

"Well, it all depends on whether Wu Shi can get a seat when the train departs," the soldier nodded.

beep!

On the track, the first red light came on.

Wu Shi refocused his attention, having many considerations about the route he would be taking later.

Since it is foreseeable that Verstappen will definitely target Hamilton, there is no doubt that the right flank will be very open.

However, the right side is also the dirty side, and Wu Shi cannot judge whether he can keep up with the others when starting.

beep!

The fifth red light came on.

Wow!
Suddenly, the red light went out briefly, and the 2021 Portuguese Grand Prix began!
Three out of the four cars in the first two rows started smoothly.

Verstappen, positioned on the dirty side of the track, moved and immediately merged into the left lane, arriving behind Hamilton with almost no obstruction.

Wu Shi faced the exact same situation, because Perez's start was slower.

In the blink of an eye, they fell behind during the acceleration.

But Perez clearly turned on the battery immediately to make up for it.

Wu Shi had already moved the car to the left, leaving only about one and a half car widths for Perez.

Perez's car sputtered sparks from the bottom, but he still couldn't catch up.

With Turn 1 already in sight, Wu Shi braked and calmly entered the turn.

"Oh! Wu Shi is very fast. He has overtaken Perez, and Max in front is trying to attack Lewis."

"But Lewis only needs to guard his own line, and Max has no way to do anything about it!"

"None of the three can do anything to the others!"

"Lando is trying to get past O'Connor on the perimeter! His approach is very risky!"

The commentators shifted their attention from the front-row drivers to the rear-row drivers.

Soon, Hamilton led his car line back onto the starting straight.

Two Mercedes cars speed past a Red Bull sandwiching it, and the footage on the straightaway shows dust billowing and the three cars shaking, making the extreme speed even more apparent!
Just as they were halfway through the straightaway, Verstappen and Wu Shi pulled away one after another, trying to scare their competitors.

Suddenly, even larger plumes of smoke rose up behind them, and it seemed as if huge fragments were flying into the sky.

“Kimi and Bottas collided, safety car,” Jonathan said.

Immediately, Matthew stood on both sides of the track holding yellow signs with flashing yellow lights.

“Everyone needs to go through the repair area twice. Pay attention to that section; there are a lot of debris,” Jonathan added.

When Wu Shi arrived at the entrance to the repair area, he glanced at Kimi's race car and saw that it was badly damaged.

"Is Kimi alright?" Wu Shi asked.

“It’s alright, he can move around freely,” Jonathan replied.

On lap 4, the safety car continued to lead the car line through the pit lane.

On lap 5, the debris on the track was finally cleared, and a crane lifted Kimi's Arro car away.

On lap 6, the safety car's roof lights will be turned off, and the race will restart when Hamilton crosses the finish line of the starting straight.

The old man didn't use any fancy tricks; he simply accelerated immediately after exiting Turn 15.

This prompted Verstappen and Wu Shi to follow, both of them using the wake to accelerate rapidly.

Susu!

Reaching the three-quarter mark of the straight, Verstappen had to turn back, as he was already too fast for the old man to stop him, and he would inevitably have to attack.

So without any hesitation, he wanted to block the old man's inside line.

However, at the same time, Wu Shi's car did not move at all, still closely following Hamilton's route.

With Verstappen making room, Wu Shi gained space to continue his sprint.

Buzzing!

Hamilton slowed down and downshifted into the corner first, but Verstappen suddenly spotted Wu Shi on the outside.

Upon reaching the white line, Wu Shi's car was already in the lead, so he did not hesitate to turn right into the curve while slowing down.

The front and rear braking ratio had been adjusted to 55% in advance, which gave the front wheels enough grip to steer, but the rear wheels slid violently, which was terrifying to watch!

Verstappen also began to turn into the corner, his car pointing towards the apex.

However, Wu Shi on the outside was faster, almost making him unable to cope.

"Wow!! Wu Shi has overtaken them on the outside!"

"Crazy! Absolutely crazy!"

Swoosh! Crack! Crack! Crack!

After speeding off the outside, Wu Shi's car was thrown off the track, ran over the shoulder, and hit the green run-off area before finally returning to the track.

The camera located at Turn 2 captured this scene precisely.

"Wow!"

"This isn't out of control at all!"

"Only Wu Shi would dare to do such a thing!"

After surpassing Hamilton, Wu Shi's goal became Hamilton.

His eyes were already fixed on his teammates.

But he couldn't relax, because Verstappen's threat remained enormous.

DRS was activated on lap 9.

"Those three will probably start fighting!" Haoran said.

"Of course! Is there even a question? How could these three possibly get along peacefully when they're so close together?"

Wu Shi and Hamilton were 0.6 seconds apart, while Verstappen and Wu Shi were 0.9 seconds apart.

As soon as DRS started its first lap, the distance between the three players kept getting closer.

"Control your lap time!" Jonathan's voice came quickly.

"Copy".

Like Hamilton, Wu Shi agreed, but still maintained his own pace.

This made it impossible for Hamilton to shake him off, but the tires would also suffer greater wear and tear in the process.

“Tell him to hurry up! Verstappen is right behind me!” Wu Shi said in TR.

“I will tell him.” Jonathan said no more, because Verstappen was in Wu Shi’s DRS area.

Bono instructed Hamilton to speed up.

“I can’t finish the job if I accelerate any further,” Hamilton replied decisively.

Wu Shi didn't know what the old man said, but by the 11th lap, he knew he couldn't take it anymore.

Therefore, after the engine mode was actively adjusted, he suddenly approached Hamilton at a time when Hamilton did not expect it.

When the DRS (Driving Speed ​​Restriction) arrived on the starting straight, he used the slipstream to pull over from the inside, and his speed continued to increase.

The two Mercedes drivers were almost side by side; Hamilton did not slow down, nor did Wu Shi.

Heh!

In those suffocating milliseconds, it's unclear who stepped on the brakes first.

However, it was too late for both of them; everything was too late.

*Crunch!*

Two Mercedes cars simultaneously veered off the track at Turn 1, landing on the huge Heineken logo on the ground.

Hamilton, on the outside, circled back first because he had a wider lane and was better able to control the vehicle.

Wu Shi's race car bounced twice on the shoulder and dropped to third place when it returned to the track.

Yes, Verstappen had already passed by during their fight.

Snapped!
In the P room, Toto slammed his fist heavily on the table again.

(End of this chapter)