F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 341 Leclerc holds his pole position once again!
The tires on the No. 59 Mercedes car were removed on Tuesday after the Monaco Grand Prix.

As the nuts of F1 racing car tires, they need to bear the enormous forces of braking and cornering during the race, and their material strength is very high.

It's understandable that it took so long to remove it.

The outcome of the accident is also very clear.

Toto stated that this was because the tire-changing gun operator did not align the tire-changing gun with the nut, resulting in the interface not engaging, which caused the nut cap to break under the immense force of the tire-changing gun.

Allison put it more technically, explaining that when the axle and nut are connected, there is a huge clamping force, which prevents the tires from accidentally coming off during a race.

If the tire-changing gun is not angled correctly when changing a tire, it is obviously impossible to remove it properly.

The two answers do not represent the truth.

This is a bolt that did not fully meet the quality standards. Whether it was the position where Wu Shi stopped or the angle at which the tire-changing mechanic removed the tire, a slight deviation could not have caused such serious consequences.

However, the team publicly blamed the tire-changing technician.

However, the matter was quickly resolved, and the team implemented appropriate penalties and post-race training in accordance with management regulations.

At the same time, the inspection of the qualification of parts and components materials has been strengthened.

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix following the Monaco Grand Prix will also be a challenge for Mercedes.

Wu Shi's current points are also lagging behind, although not by much, it is still not a good sign.

He hadn't encountered this situation for quite some time.

When this situation recurred, Wu Shi felt a little strange.

However, he was still able to adjust his mindset because, in his view, this was just a temporary setback.

The atmosphere within the team has become even more tense, not only because of their lagging position in the drivers' championship, but also because of the strong competitiveness of Red Bull's car this year.

Drivers give it their all on the track, and engineers must give it their all off the track.

Any delay in research and development could bring significant disadvantages.

Any mistake in research and development could lead to irreparable losses.

This sense of oppression is far greater than at any time in previous years.

Not long after, Wu Shi traveled to Azerbaijan with the convoy.

The lingering effects of the pandemic continue to impact the Grand Prix, so Baku remains without spectators.

"The temperature is quite comfortable today," he said, sitting in the garage.

"With a ground temperature of 50°C, we probably don't need to worry too much about tire temperature," Jonathan said.

Wu Shi neither confirmed nor denied that all street racers like Mercedes would face tire temperature management issues.

He's already used to it.

During this preparation period, Mercedes did indeed try to adjust and increase tire temperature.

The team's final solution was to appropriately increase the downforce of the front wing in order to improve the temperature.

Since they haven't driven it on the track yet, Wu Shi and Hamilton don't know whether this plan is good or bad.

Thursday went by quickly, and Friday arrived in the blink of an eye.

The first training session began at 12:30 pm.

Wu Shi drove Mercedes No. 59 onto the track.

After just a few laps, he realized the problem with the current tuning scheme; he couldn't find a sense of speed.

The low-drag rear wing resulted in a lack of downforce on the rear wheels, making the rear of the race car too sensitive.

It's important to know that in street racing, any degree of slippage can lead to a collision.

"We have no speed."

Wu Shi told the team that the car's balance was terrible.

To make matters worse, Kakuta, Norris, and Mazehira kept slipping and going off the track, disrupting the continuity of the race.

So he only ran 20 laps in the first training session and then waited in the warehouse for the second training session in the afternoon.

Hamilton, like him, also lacked speed.

The crew conducted additional adjustments before the second training session.

During this time, Wu Shi and Hamilton sat together, both with somewhat solemn expressions, because the competition was really too weak!
However, they still didn't communicate much, even though they were now in the same boat.

So at 4 p.m., the second practice session continued.

This time, Hamilton exclaimed on TR that the car had no speed.

He then scraped against the guardrail, causing damage to the race car.

Red and yellow flags began to appear frequently.

Latifi's car broke down and blocked the road, while Leclerc continued to climb the wall.

In the end, the second training session ended hastily after only twenty laps.

Wu Shi's speed increased slightly, but because the adjustment direction was fundamentally wrong, this improvement was meaningless!

The results of the two practice matches on Friday were not optimistic; Wu Shi finished 11th in one match and 9th in the other.

Hamilton finished 7th in one game and 15th in another.

Mercedes' technical team is racking their brains; the two practice matches revealed a multitude of problems that need to be addressed.

The reporters clearly didn't let the crowd off the hook. Wu Shi and Hamilton said some pessimistic things before immediately joining the engineers in their work.

Toto stayed behind to deal with the reporters, and he directly admitted that the car's setup was wrong.

In the garage, Wu Shi told the engineers:
"The problem I'm facing now is simple: the downforce at the front end is too great, which makes steering less sensitive."

"But the lack of downforce at the rear makes the car more prone to fishtailing, so I have to go as slow as possible in the corners."

"In addition, the front downforce makes the front wheels prone to overheating. Yes, they are overheating now, and the temperature cannot be stabilized within the operating range."

Wu Shi's problem is also Hamilton's problem, so how to adjust the setup depends on the ideas of their respective engineers and the driver's direction.

The Baku circuit is extremely complex, testing not only mechanical grip but also aerodynamic downforce and straight-line performance!

Of course, the most important thing is mechanical grip, which is crucial for the first few right-angle turns.

Mechanical grip is closely related to the suspension, such as camber and toe angles, and tire pressure also has an impact.

Wu Shi needs to make the race car as close to the limits of his control as possible.

He is not afraid of the lack of downforce at the front, because this problem can be properly compensated for by adjusting the brake balance.

Therefore, the rear wheel's grip and stability become even more important.

Since we couldn't go onto the track to try it out, we relied more on experience than on some functions when tuning the car.

While simulator data can certainly be used, it's not very helpful for last-minute cramming.

The car's adjustments were finally completed before curfew; we'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the results.

Wu Shi sat wearily on the ground, looking at the F1 race car in the garage that had no tires installed.

The rear hood was also not covered, and the winding pipes of the V6 hybrid engine perfectly showcased the violent beauty of mechanical power.

He shifted his body and moved closer to the race car, stroking the carbon fiber rear suspension as if feeling the car's pulse.

Jonathan noticed Wu Shi's slightly dazed eyes and said:
"We have prepared three sets of parameters, which can be tried during the third practice session tomorrow. This way, we can at least determine the correlation between the various calibration parameters."

"Ah."

Wu Shi nodded, pulling his attention back to the fact that nothing had gone right this weekend.

The three sets of parameters Jonathan mentioned were a method used by his crew to shunt the trains.

Because it can quickly and accurately provide feedback on the vehicle's status, engineers can directly and precisely adjust the race car as long as they have the correct curve parameters.

The three sets of parameters are intended to serve as calibration anchors.

Mercedes' shortcomings in street racing were expected, and although Wu Shi was somewhat worried, he didn't take it to heart.

It wasn't that he was arrogant, but rather that he was too concerned about these things at times, to the point of losing sleep over the highs and lows.

Insomnia will definitely be fatal for tomorrow's qualifying match.

In a game played in milliseconds, the slightest lapse in concentration or slowness can ruin the match.

Over the past few years, Wu Shi has become accustomed to completely relaxing at night and showing indifference to the competition, which allows him to fall asleep quickly.

In 2016, Rosberg was unable to adjust his mindset, so his mental state appeared somewhat erratic.

If it weren't for his good psychologist, he probably would have broken down before even reaching the final match with Hamilton.

That's F1 for you. Even if you're technically skilled, if you can't handle the pressure, you're still a second-rate driver.

The third training session began at 1 p.m. the following afternoon.

Wu Shi drove onto the track early because there had been too many accidents in Baku, and he was afraid that if he was late, he would miss his chance.

After warming up the tires, he quickly began trying extreme positions.

The most important thing to be careful about when making the No. 1 right-angle turn is not to be too greedy, and to remember which tire compound you are using and how good the grip is.

Because the car will drop from around 360kph to 120kph, braking even a little too late will cause you to miss the apex of the corner.

However, perhaps because this is the first corner, not many drivers made mistakes.

Well, it's not a big deal if we make a mistake, since there's a large buffer zone here.

Well, the old man might have a problem with that.

When Wu Shi entered the corner, the braking ratio was adjusted to 55%, which could easily cause the rear wheels to slip.

However, he just went through it. The lack of downforce on the front wheels led to a decrease in grip, forcing him to take an unconventional approach.

No one thought Wu Shi's easy passage through Turn 1 was anything special, until someone noticed his braking balance.

The next turn, number 2, is still a right-angle turn, but it suddenly narrows, so you need to slow down when entering the turn.

If a driver tries to go too fast, they are still prone to understeer.

In street racing, as long as you push the head, it's a sure thing to go up the wall.

After passing the coastal straight road, you will arrive at the No. 3 right-angle bend. This bend is easily affected by sea breezes, and the difficulty is the same as that of the No. 2 bend.

Wu Shi came to test his limits, not to expose his true colors, so he exercised restraint.

After three left turns, the right-hand right-angle turn #4 arrives.

This section is actually easier to handle than the previous few turns where you have to turn back.

The key to the next combination of turns 5 and 6 is to stay close to the guardrail at the center of turn 5 in order to get the best line for turn 6.

Up to this point, the race car, after being tuned yesterday, was incredibly stable, and Wu Shi was still satisfied.

But the most difficult part of Baku is about to begin.

Just past Turn 7 is the famous Castle Bend.

This area is exceptionally narrow, with only a single, narrow racing line separating the closely spaced 8th and 10th turns.

Therefore, if the timing is not right, then going past turn 9 will inevitably result in crashing into the wall.

Lock & Lock often brakes too late here due to pushing the limits, resulting in understeering and crashing into the wall.

The famous "I am stupid" quote originated here.

However, because there were too many accidents here in previous years, the bends have been widened appropriately, so it is not as dangerous as in previous years.

Wu Shi remained unusually calm when faced with this combination of bends.

It neither braked too early out of fear, nor braked too late out of greed.

To be fast here, you have to be just right.

Swoosh!

Car number 59 was at just the right speed, turning into the corner, and continuing forward after passing the apex.

Once he had skillfully navigated the castle bend, he began to slow down.

Since we were already running at our fastest speed in the first time trial, we definitely have to let go in the second time trial.

Once the speed is reduced, the subsequent curves are not a problem, and even the somewhat complicated curve number 15 is easily passed.

This is also the end of the second timing segment.

When the teams saw Wu Shi's telemetry data, which showed that he was the fastest in the first timing segment, they knew that Wu Shi had followed up.

After cooling down, Wu Shi did another lap. This time, at Castle Bend, he could clearly feel that the braking point had changed as the tires degraded.

If he had followed the braking point from the first flying lap, he would have ended up on the wall like Lock & Lock.

After two tests, he had a basic understanding of the process, and then began to focus on the details of the second and third timing segments.

After eight laps, he returned to the garage and had a one-on-one conversation with the engineer.

The parameters of the front and rear wheels were slightly modified, and then it was taken to the track for another run.

However, after only a few laps, the track was red flagged.

Oh, Panzi went up the wall at turn 15.

Even after Panzi was taken away, the track remained unsettled.

Latifi and Sainz went into the run-off area at Turns 3 and 15 respectively.

Ma Zeping also scraped the rear wing at turn 15.

Wu Shi paid close attention to all the bends where accidents occurred, and clearly, his judgments were correct.

During this break, Wu Shi and the engineers made further adjustments to the race car.

After the track was restored, he started running on a new set of tires and improved his lap time to 1 minute 42.931 seconds, placing him 6th overall.

This result is not good.

What's worse is that even if you add up his fastest times across the three timed segments, it's only about 0.3 seconds faster than this time.

This is still 0.5 seconds behind Red Bull's three fastest lap times.

Such a gap is like an insurmountable chasm; the rankings are bound to be terrible.

It's unclear whether Mercedes is truly down or hiding something.

Hamilton improved his lap time to 1 minute 42.697 seconds, placing him third overall.

It wasn't that he was fast, but rather that he caught a slipstream at the end, which improved his time by at least 0.4 seconds.

Just as Wu Shi was about to try again, Russell triggered the virtual safety car, ending the third practice session early.

Although Mercedes improved its lap time a bit after last night's tuning, it still can't match Red Bull's.

Wu Shi and Hamilton sat at the conference table, while outside there was a cacophony of noise.

After the final meeting, Wu Shi discussed the condition of the race car and the track with the engineers in the garage.

More worrying than the current speed issues is the potential for unexpected events during qualifying.

To avoid being affected as much as possible, the best thing everyone can do is choose a better time to release their vehicles.

The qualifying race for the Baku station began at 4 p.m.

However, just a few minutes into the race, a red flag appeared on the track, which naturally disrupted the plans of all the teams.

After Stroll's right front wheel broke off against the wall, the car came to a stop on the track.

The street race in Q1 was already very crowded and chaotic, and with the young master adding to the congestion, the outcome was obvious.

The replay was immediately shown, revealing understeer at Turn 15. This turn, being located on a slope, can easily cause drivers to misjudge the situation.

Wu Shi sat in the race car, looking at the screen in front of him, quietly waiting for the track to be cleared.

When it was almost over, he and Hamilton went straight to the field to line up.

Stroll's accident made everyone realize the need to achieve effective results as soon as possible.

The two Ferraris in the front row were the first to set a time, but both were 1 minute and 42 seconds.

Verstappen then improved the time to 1 minute 41.760 seconds.

His onboard camera footage showed that he wasn't pushing the limits, but he still experienced a rear-end slip at Turn 15, almost causing an accident.

Clearly, qualifying for the Baku circuit is exceptionally difficult for anyone.

吴轼是第6个出成绩的，1分41秒444成功将维斯塔潘压下去0.3秒。

Just as he crossed the line, yellow flags appeared again in the second and third timing segments.

The camera then cuts to Bottas crashing into Turn 15, which inevitably triggered the red flag.

Wu Shi was glad that the yellow flag appeared after he crossed the line, otherwise it would definitely have affected his ranking.

After the interruption, Hamilton returned to the garage in frustration and asked the team:

How does my lap time look?

Bono told him, "In the first two timeouts, you were 0.1 seconds slower than Verstappen, which is about the same as Wu Shi's speed."

“Oh, then it seems I’m not that slow. I just need to finish this lap,” Hamilton replied.

The lack of competitiveness in Friday and Saturday's racing is clearly a major concern for the old man.

After the track was reopened, Hamilton went out to queue again, but he was very far back in the line, still using the half-painted tires.

Otherwise, if another accident occurs, he might have to waste another set of new tires.

Fortunately, no one interrupted him this time, and he successfully pushed his ranking to 5th, only trailing Wu Shi by almost a second.

At the last moment, all the cars returned to the track.

Hamilton will definitely attempt a second flying lap to find his limits, since his tires are already worn out, so he might as well use them more.

Wu Shi also needs to try out some special settings in certain places.

Finally, Hamilton improved his time to 1 minute 41.545 seconds, placing him second overall.

"I don't think Mercedes is as bad as they made it out to be in practice!" Bing Ge said.

"Haha, so many media outlets didn't believe Mercedes' uncompetitive comments after the practice match; they all thought he was hiding something," Haoran said.

“I knew it, they must have hidden it,” the soldier said.

“We can’t be so hasty. This is only Q1. We have to wait until Q2 to draw any conclusions,” Fei said.

"I think they were already moving very fast in Q1," the soldier insisted on his judgment.

In Q1, Latifi, Mikel, Mazepin, Storl, and Bottas were eliminated.

"Um, Wu Shi just told the team that he caught some of the wake," Haoran said.

"No wonder it was so fast," the soldier said.

“There are two full-throttle sections here, and the benefits of taking advantage of the wake are huge, especially after coming out of Turn 16,” Fei said.

As the group analyzed the track, Q2 arrived.

The two Red Bulls were the first to leave the stadium, but were interrupted by Martin's dangerous clearance.

Verstappen and Perez both asked Martin what he was doing on TR.

However, this was just a minor incident, and the track soon became lively again.

Vettel was the first to set a new time of 1 minute 42.224 seconds.

Next up were Perez and Verstappen.

Perez set a time of 1 minute 41.630 seconds, placing him first!

In contrast, Verstappen only lasted 1 minute 41.756 seconds.

"Perez is even faster than Verstappen!" the soldier exclaimed.

两辆法拉利也不甘示弱，勒克莱尔和塞恩斯分别做出1分41秒659和1分41秒740的成绩，分别位列第2名和第3名。

When it was Mercedes' turn to perform, everyone was surprised to find that both Wu Shi and Hamilton finished in just over two minutes.

"They've let it go."

Something must have happened.

Wu Shi and Hamilton did another round of warm-up tires before they started speeding.

"Do you think their tires didn't heat up properly?" Haoran realized the situation.

"That's possible. Mercedes often faces this problem of tires not warming up on the streets!" the soldier agreed.

After two warm-up laps, the Mercedes 2's times were announced.

Wu Shi finished third with a time of 1 minute 41.644 seconds.

Hamilton finished second with a time of 1 minute 41.634 seconds!
"Wow, the lap times of the top three are so close!"

"This is going to be interesting."

As expected, none of the three teams chose to finish Q2; they still wanted to compete!
Red Bull is still leading the charge.

Verstappen took the lead with a lap time of 1 minute 41.625 seconds!

Wu Shi was two-thousandths of a second behind and ranked second!
Perez is five-thousandths of a second behind and in third place!

Hamilton is 0.9 milliseconds behind and in fourth place!
Leclerc was 0.034 seconds behind and ranked fifth.

"No way! Hahaha, what a difference!" the soldier continued to shout, also finding it too dramatic.

"Wow, Q3 is going to be really interesting. These guys are so close!" Fei Ge exclaimed.

"It's rare to see several drivers so close at the same time," Haoran said.

After two flying laps, the drivers from the three teams all stopped in the pit lane.

They finished, leaving the time to the remaining drivers.

This is also a tacit understanding among the street racing teams.

Top drivers go first because they have a lower probability of accidents.

With 1 minute and 40 seconds left in the race, the camera suddenly focused on a McLaren.

Ricciardo crashed headfirst into the guardrail at the exit of Turn 3.

The red flag is triggered, stopping Q2!

While still speeding along, Vettel heard the team's voice message: "The race is over. We're out."

Vettel, of course, saw the red flag and immediately asked on TR, "How much slower am I than him?"

"Three-hundredths of a second."

"Ah!~"

Vettel is extremely frustrated. He had finally gotten into some form this season, and then this happened!

Q2 ended with the red flag in effect, and Vettel, Ocon, Riccardo, Kimi, and Russell were eliminated.

Wu Shi, sitting in the pit lane of the race car, saw what was happening. He patted the mechanic next to him and said:

"Apply pressure!"

The mechanic was puzzled and brought Jonathan over.

Jonathan, who had years of experience working together, immediately understood Wu Shi's idea. After discussing it with the engineering team, he had someone twist the forewing a couple of times.

Soon, Q3 will begin.

The three major racing teams were the first to come out, with Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull releasing their cars one after another.

None of the three teams seem to have any intention of creating a slipstream.

However, it's understandable that Mercedes came out first, as they need two warm-up laps to finish the race.

They finished their second warm-up lap in 1 minute and 46 seconds.

Wu Shi was in front, and Hamilton slowed down slightly to minimize the impact of the wake.

His slowdown immediately caused Leclerc behind him to be caught in his wake.

Swish!
Leclerc became the first driver to achieve a valid result.

1 minutes 41 seconds 218!

Sainz, who didn't catch the slipstream, finished in 1 minute 41.576 seconds!

This demonstrates just how powerful the wake effect is in the third timing phase!

Wu Shi knew he could only rely on himself, so he started this lap by running at the most extreme pace.

At the last minute, he had the engineers increase the angle of the front wing, which increased front drag, but the downforce allowed him to recover some speed in low corners!

These are his thoughts after reviewing Q2.

Susu!

Once past Castle Bend, the race car's speed began to increase rapidly.

He easily grazed several corners in a row, but when he arrived at Turn 15, he cautiously applied the brakes early.

Heh!

Even so, the rear of the car still shook when cornering, and the rear wheel scraped hard against the wall!
"Oh no! It's all over!"

"That would result in a huge loss!"

"Soldier Brother and Flying Brother immediately called out."

Sitting in the car, Wu Shi knew that the situation was alright and that the collision would not significantly affect his lap time.

After the 15th, the track no longer presents any challenges.

He sped through the straight road.

Swish!
1 minutes 41 seconds 361.

"It's still too slow."

"It must have been caused by that attack just now."

"No, the difference between having a wake and not having one is about 0.3 seconds. I think it's caused by the wake issue," Haoran said.

Sure enough, Hamilton crossed the finish line in 1 minute 41.439 seconds.

"Wu Shi is already very fast. I feel that without the wake lag, the Mercedes is in danger!" the soldier said.

"I think there's still a chance; Wu Shi can run even faster," Fei Ge disagreed.

"Although the slipstream difference is huge, I think Wu Shi can still try to improve his lap record. His lap limit is terrifying."

Haoran also agreed with Fei Ge's opinion.

Wu Shi truly created too many miracles in his career. When everyone thought there was no hope, Wu Shi would use his strength to tell everyone that hope still existed.

Leclerc's sudden rise to prominence has complicated the situation.

Currently, Wu Shi is second, Hamilton is third, Verstappen is fourth, and Gasly is fifth.

After a 3-minute break, with only 3 minutes left in Q3, the teams began preparing for their second flying lap.

"Red Bull should let Perez pull the wake," the soldier said.

"Definitely."

However, after the two finished speaking, Haoran exclaimed in surprise:

"Verstappen is ahead of Perez!"

"."

“Wu Shi is out again, as is Hamilton; this time they’ve switched places,” Fei Ge said.

"Mercedes' strategy isn't to let them go find their own tails to eat, is it?" the soldier said with a smile.

"Haha, this is too much freedom. Hamilton is clearly not interested in Wu Shi's tail end now," Fei Ge laughed.

"Wu Shi didn't have that idea either, because if the car in front doesn't wait before the straightaway, it's not good for catching the slipstream, and it will actually affect the speed on the curve," Haoran reminded him.

The two cars need to be very close to each other to catch the wake, which in Baku requires a difference of about 6 seconds.

However, within this second difference, the closer one gets, the greater the impact on stability in the curve.

Therefore, the following vehicles will try to stay as far away from the vehicle in front as possible before reaching the last straight section.

Only when the third timing phase arrives and the car in front actively slows down to allow the car behind to catch up can a perfect wake-catching coordination be achieved.

This requires extremely close cooperation.

Leclerc was just lucky; he unexpectedly encountered a slowing Hamilton and caught the wake.

He was also the only person today who perfectly caught the tailwind.

With all three teams on the track, the second flying lap of Q3 marked the beginning of the decisive battle!
First, Verstappen took the lead, followed by Perez speeding along.

The next moment.

Snapped!
red flag!

"what!!!"

"red flag!!"

"Leclerc is benefiting again!"

"Leclerc has secured his pole position again!"

Haoran chuckled. This was too comical; it was practically the same script as Monaco's!

However, this time it was Kakuta who lost motivation after being put on the wall.

Sainz crashed into the escape tunnel and destroyed the front wing.

The track was completely blocked, and with only 1 second left on the countdown, everything ended prematurely.

"Ah, it's like this again." Wu Shi shouted in frustration when he saw the red flag.

“Yeah, there’s always an unexpected turn of events,” Jonathan said.

The broadcast camera focused on Leclerc's Halo selfie, where his Lock & Lock goggles were up, his eyes crinkled with joy, and he looked incredibly happy.

After weighing the item, Wu Shi did not show much resentment.

Mercedes' qualifying performance was poor, but their race pace was good.

Well, at least that's true compared to the lackluster Ferrari.

Therefore, he is confident that he will take the lead tomorrow.

"Hey! You're looking at me like you want to eat me alive!" Leclerc patted Wu Shi on the shoulder.

"Haha, no, not at all, congratulations!" Wu Shi quickly replied with a smile.

"Haha." Leclerc chuckled foolishly.

(End of this chapter)