F1: Absolute Car Feel

Chapter 344 Two Stops, One Stop

After finishing work on Saturday, Wu Shi returned to his hotel.

That night, before he could fall asleep, a thunderstorm suddenly appeared outside his window.

Soon, a light drizzle began to fall on the racetrack.

Wu Shi threw off the covers, got out of bed, and looked out at the rain.

The next morning, the rain stopped and the track was cleaned, so the grip was probably reduced considerably.

Wu Shi arrived at the racecourse early to check on the track conditions.

Back in the garage, he said, "It'll be slippery, and the wind is too strong."

“Yes, Pirelli’s new tire pressure requirements are being implemented at this station,” Jonathan said.

“I know, then let’s go for higher pressure. It’s fine, at least the tires will be more durable.” Wu Shi found a chair and sat down.

"Are you sure? You know the ground temperature won't be much better in the afternoon," Jonathan asked.

“Yes, of course, this is my own idea.” Wu Shi nodded.

“OK.” Jonathan slightly adjusted the list.

Given Wu Shi's status, it would be difficult for the engineers to stop him from making any changes to the train's configuration.

The drivers' parade proceeded as scheduled in the afternoon, even though only 15000 tickets were released for the race.

Wu Shi leaned against the side of the open-top bus, enjoying the refreshing breeze.

“It’s a bit windy, isn’t it?” Vestapan remarked from the side.

“Yeah, it is indeed very big. How much impact will it have on you?” Wu Shi asked.

“That depends on where the blow is coming from,” Verstappen laughed.

“Oh, I really wish it were blowing at Turn 1,” Wu Shi joked.

“Then I hope you’ll be blown out too,” Verstappen retorted immediately.

The two chatted as they waved to the stands.

A reporter on the bus suddenly handed over a microphone and asked:
"Hey, you two world champion contenders, what are you talking about?"

"Um, we were talking about how to start the competition later," Wu Shi said.

"He wanted me to be blown away by the wind at Turn 1, and I told him that if we were going to be blown away, we'd both be blown away together," Verstappen laughed.

"Hahaha." The reporter chuckled and said, "It seems you two are both very relaxed."

Wu Shi and Verstappen both raised their eyebrows and said:

"Are we going to be so nervous that we don't say a word?"

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the director focused the camera on Hamilton, who was wearing sunglasses and remained silent in a corner of the bus.

After the parade, the drivers returned to the garage to prepare for the race.

At 2:30 p.m., the reconnaissance lap began, and all vehicles arrived at the track and parked.

Within half an hour, the French national anthem and pre-race performances were completed, and the drivers returned to their cars to prepare for the start.

At 3:00 PM sharp, the tire warming session began.

Wu Shi started the car first. The ground was unusually smooth after being washed by the rain, probably because the rubber particles that had accumulated in the cracks of the road surface in the past few days had been washed away.

Moreover, the wind was indeed quite strong, affecting the balance of the race car, making it easy to oversteer even with slight turns in the corners.

Many drivers are complaining about this situation.

Wu Shi didn't say anything; what he was unsure about was the tires beneath his feet.

Mercedes' core strategy today was to stop the game, which was actually because Red Bull would be slightly faster, leaving Mercedes without any initiative.

Will Mercedes follow Red Bull's lead and be suspended for the second time? Wu Shi is pondering this question.

However, the data released yesterday showed that a second suspension was not necessary.

Wu Shi took a deep breath. Well, all he could control was his own speed. As for the situation with Red Bull, he could only wait and see how the team analyzed it.

The race cars returned to the starting grid, and Wu Shi saw them taking their positions in the rearview mirror, until the safety car also moved up.

Race staff waved green flags and crossed the entire track from the back row, and the first indicator light immediately lit up.

Beep, beep, beep
The loud engine noise masked the warning sound of the red light.

All five red lights are on, lights off and the race starts!
Wu Shi, Verstappen, and Hamilton all played very well; there was no difference between them!

Wu Shi quickly gained the upper hand, and Verstappen tried to find a position to attack by swaying left and right, but unfortunately, he was not far enough away.

As if taking a breather, Turn 1 came into view.

Wu Shi entered the curve precisely but suddenly felt the rear end hit. Startled, he immediately reversed the steering wheel and controlled the car through the curve.

“Oh! Max has gone off the track! Lewis has overtaken him!” David exclaimed.

Wu Shi only just realized what had happened. Damn it, what a jinx! A strong wind really is blowing in!

He glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed that the Red Bull behind him had been replaced by a Mercedes.

Uh, Pan Zizhen was really blown away?

Wu Shi was momentarily distracted, but quickly reached Turn 3 and entered normally.

Verstappen, trailing behind, was trying to capitalize on the old man's momentum and launch another attack, but unfortunately, he didn't get the chance.

Hamilton blocked Verstappen and began to accelerate, heading towards Wu Shi.

"Ah, this happens again. How many times has this happened this season? Isn't Mercedes going to do anything about it?" Bing Ge said as he noticed Hamilton's lap times.

Haoran immediately said, "It's normal to accelerate in the first few laps; Mercedes also needs to maintain a safe distance."

Sure enough, Wu Shi also began to sprint quickly, and his lap time soon improved to 1 minute and 38 seconds.

However, the lap time was not stable, seemingly due to the strong winds, sometimes fast and sometimes slow.

But after ten laps, Wu Shi's lap time stabilized at 1 minute and 38 seconds, without any further significant fluctuations.

The difference between him and Hamilton quickly widened to 2.3 seconds.

While the gap wasn't widened significantly, Hamilton couldn't catch up with Wu Shi either.

Hamilton couldn't pull away from Verstappen behind him, with a difference of only 1.6 seconds.

By the 15th lap, Wu Shi had further increased his speed and successfully ran the fastest lap time of 1 minute 38.691 seconds.

At this point, he pulled away from Hamilton for nearly 4 seconds.

Jonathan saw Wu Shi accelerating again and subconsciously checked the condition of the tires.

The tires were wearing out faster than expected, and he wanted to warn Red Bull but was afraid that Red Bull would overhear him and implement a targeted strategy.

All radios remained silent, but the Mercedes strategy team stared intently at Red Bull's telemetry data.

Judging from the current situation, Wu Shi and Hamilton's first and second place leads are relatively stable.

However, Verstappen pitted on lap 18 very soon.

This was somewhat predictable, as the first four drivers had already created a pit stop window ahead of the fifth driver, and the drivers further back had also started their pit stops long ago.

The window that stops is right here.

“Box,” Jonathan said.

“Copy.”

Wu Shi made a strong push on the 19th lap and finally entered the pit.

After he stopped, he heard the engine behind him getting louder and louder.

Heh!

After changing the tires, Wu Shi drove into the expressway and caught a glimpse of Hamilton in the rearview mirror.

Mercedes opted for two trains to enter the station!
However, this was more than enough, because Wu Shi was already 4 seconds ahead of Hamilton, a difference of enough seconds to complete two tire changes.

“额，维斯塔潘的进站圈1分58秒099，吴轼的进站圈1分57秒789，汉密尔顿的进站圈1分58秒684。

"Hamilton was pulled one second ahead of Wu Shi and 0.8 seconds ahead of Verstappen in this lap alone."

Haoran said.

“Yes, we can see that Wu Shi’s timing in advancing his career is excellent, which is one of the reasons why he was able to threaten Mercedes-Benz by advancing his team in 2015,” Fei Ge said.

"Looks like Wu Shi is going to win this battle again," the soldier said.

"Hey! Wu Shi has passed by! But Hamilton hasn't!" Haoran shouted.

On the track, Wu Shi naturally sped past, but Hamilton came out and ran into Verstappen.

You know, the tires that have been replaced with new white ones are even colder than the old man's heart right now!
The old man was almost unable to defend against Verstappen and was quickly overtaken by him.

"Three seconds! Verstappen chased Hamilton for a full three seconds on that pit stop lap!" Haoran was still surprised.

“If Hamilton’s entry speed is the same as Wu Shi’s, then he might be able to avoid this undercut,” Fei Ge said.

"Hamilton's move was indeed too slow," the soldier nodded.

After the three judges finished their evaluations, the track became quiet again.

However, Wu Shi, sitting in the race car, was far from calm. He knew that with these white tires, there was no way he could push them to the end.

Therefore, he maintained his lap time at 1 minute 37.7 seconds and then stopped fluctuating significantly.

However, this brought about a great deal of mental strain, as he had to pay attention to the condition of the tires every minute and every second, and use them in the gentlest way possible.

Each bend was navigated quite smoothly, as if I were holding a block of tofu while speeding along.

Verstappen was closing in quickly, even setting a fast lap time of 1 minute 37.052 seconds on lap 22.

但随后几圈，维斯塔潘也稳定不到这个成绩，圈速马上波动到了1分37秒7甚至于1分38秒。

Therefore, Verstappen was unable to catch up with Wu Shi quickly.

Of course, he still has a difficult problem to solve: Hamilton is still chasing him from behind.

After getting the DRS on lap 23, the old man never left.

Verstappen didn't pull away from Hamilton again until lap 29.

"It seems the race is going to be like this. All three are blank slates and will continue running like this," the soldier said.

But on lap 32, Verstappen was suddenly recalled.

"Ah! Verstappen needs a second timeout!"

"This is imitating the Spanish Grand Prix! Two timeouts followed by one timeout, but Verstappen is already in second place, so his only target is Wu Shi!" the soldier said.

Verstappen's pit stop lap was very fast, taking only 1 minute 56.764 seconds.

This is enough to show just how far he pushed!
The tire change was a little slow this time, which made it take him 0.4 seconds longer to get off the field.

Verstappen switched to an old set of yellow tires and dropped to fourth place after leaving the pits.

At this point, Wu Shi was leading Hamilton by 5.3 seconds, Perez by 20.1 seconds, and Verstappen by 23 seconds.

On lap 34, Verstappen's first clean lap after changing tires, he set a lap time of 1 minute 36.743 seconds.

This became the fastest lap of the entire event.

However, that wasn't enough. On lap 35, he set a lap time of 1 minute 36.404 seconds, improving upon that.

On the same lap, when Perez let the other car pass, he practically ran off the track to give Verstappen all the space.

"Look at the teamwork between the two Red Bull drivers! Mercedes!" the soldier exclaimed.

“I think this is a paradox. The number 2 driver generally doesn’t have Hamilton’s skills, so he can’t pose any threat to Verstappen. But if you have Hamilton’s skills, you can’t choose to be the number 2 driver,” Haoran said.

“That’s the problem Mercedes is facing now. I think Toto will definitely have to make a decision as soon as possible. Keeping Wu Shi is the best option,” Fei said.

"I've always wondered why Toto would sign Hamilton?" the soldier asked.

"This estimate is related to Hamilton's commercial value; his influence outside the paddock surpasses that of other drivers."

Haoran said that this is the result of the old man's frequent visits to various meetings and events, not just the influence he brings as an F1 driver.

"Verstappen is catching up too fast, he's closing the gap on Hamilton by 1.9 seconds every lap! Wow, he closed it by 2.5 seconds on lap 37!" Haoran exclaimed in amazement.

"Is it going to catch up with Wu Shi soon?" the soldier asked.

“Do the math yourself. He’s 12 seconds behind Wu Shi now. At one lap per second, he only needs 12 laps,” Fei Ge said.

"Haha, how can you calculate it like that! Verstappen's speed will definitely decrease," the soldier said.

Sure enough, from lap 38 to lap 39, Verstappen's closing speed became less than 1 second.

“It’s an illusion,” Haoran said, then added, “Verstappen was just harnessing a slow train.”

On lap 40, Verstappen closed the gap by one second, now trailing Hamilton by 6 seconds and Wu Shi by a little over 11 seconds.

At this point, there were still 13 laps left in the race.

“Push,” Jonathan told Wu Shi.

"Can Lewis stop him?" Wu Shi asked. "Don't overthink it," Jonathan said.

The commentator couldn't help but chuckle when their conversation was shown.

Mercedes' clownish arrangement is truly speechless.

Wu Shi and Hamilton both improved their lap times, raising their original 1 minute 38 seconds to 1 minute 37 seconds.

This only slowed Verstappen's pursuit down a bit, but it didn't prevent him from catching up at all.

On lap 48, Verstappen caught up with Hamilton.

Hamilton was almost impossible to defend against. This time it wasn't that he didn't want to defend, but rather that the white tires that had been used for a full 28 laps were simply too much for him to handle.

After all, the white tires at this station are C4 compound, which is far from the hardest setting.

"Five laps to go, five seconds behind, does Verstappen have a chance?" The soldier looked a little nervous.

"Not necessarily. With these yellow tires running like this, won't they wear out?" Fei Ge didn't believe it.

“Um, I saw someone backstage say that Verstappen’s tires are now being kept under wraps to him,” Haoran said.

"Haha, netizens are so talented."

It's no wonder netizens say that, because Verstappen's lap time has been hovering around 1 minute and 36 seconds ever since he switched on the tires, which seems too fast compared to Mercedes' white tires.

"It's probably related to light-load oil. Yellow tires are more suitable for light-load oil, and Red Bull's tire management is better than Mercedes'," Fei said.

On lap 50, Wu Shi and Verstappen were only 3.3 seconds apart.

On lap 51, the difference narrowed to 2.4 seconds.

On lap 52, Verstappen closed to Wu Shi's position by a little over a second.

After turning at turn 15, the two cars rushed onto the starting straight one after the other.

Wu Shi crossed the checkered line, and the race entered lap 53, which was the last lap!
"Red Bull's straight-line speed is unbelievable!" the soldier exclaimed.

Because at this point, Verstappen was already rapidly closing in on Wu Shi without DRS.

On the short straight after Turn 2, Wu Shi was further overtaken.

“The difference is 0.9,” Jonathan said.

Wu Shi took a breath. How was he going to stop Verstappen for the remaining two-thirds of the final lap?!
In the series of curves from 3 to 7, Wu Shi used a clever trick: only his right rear wheel was on the white line, but when the right front wheel returned to the white line, the rear wheel slid off.

There's a gap in communication during this period, and if someone gets caught, they might be investigated.

But he has to find a way to squeeze out more time; he has to be faster when going around sharp bends, so this is the only way!

As they emerged from Turn 7, the time difference between the two remained at 0.8 seconds.

“Verstappen has a chance!” the soldier said.

From the moment Wu Shi entered acceleration mode, the battery was fully unleashed; he wanted the highest acceleration and the highest top speed!
Tsk tsk tsk! ! !
The friction between the tires and the ground seemed insufficient, and he felt a slight spin when accelerating.

The engine is willing but unable!
Buzz! ! !

Mercedes No. 59 charged into the main straight, followed closely by Red Bull No. 33, moving with lightning speed.

"Max is frantically closing in on Wu Shi. He's right behind Wu Shi now, in 0.6 seconds! 0.5 seconds!"
"The gap is getting smaller and smaller, there's only one car length left, Verstappen is about to pull ahead!"

"Oh! Wu Shi is counterattacking. He blocked Verstappen's inside line at Turn 8, but his entry speed into the corner was too fast, and Verstappen was going to attack him!"

"Wu Shi! He's off the track! He's made it past Turn 9! He's made it past Turn 9!"

The commentator's loud shout indicated his shock, but Wu Shi paid no attention. From turn 9 to turn 11, it was the high-speed section of the track.

Will his recent advantage from the sharp turn help him win?
He's not sure!
Wu Shi's heart pounded. In this final moment, he lost all ability to struggle and could only push his race car with all his might.

Buzz! ! !

Both of them were completely silent in their TRs; at this final moment, neither of them knew what to say.

At the 11th "Ω" shaped bend, Wu Shi was riding along the center line, while Verstappen behind him was trying to overtake him from the outside.

"Oh! Max is catching up again. Can the five-time world champion stop his friend's attack?"

"The two players are in vastly different tire conditions. We'd like to see Max take on the world champion, or the world champion demonstrate his unshakeable status!"

David said loudly.

The scene appeared quite tense.

But even if Red Bull is in top form, it's impossible for it to eat Wu Shi raw like that.

After entering the short straight after Turn 11, Wu Shi showed no relief at having secured his position and instead took an illogical fast-in, slow-out approach at Turn 12.

As expected, Verstappen, who was moving from the inside to the outside, wanted to attack, but was affected by the strange route that intersected at the bend.

However, Wu Shi's original advantage has vanished, and now the two are locked in a battle for the last three corners!

Turn 13 is a huge, curved corridor where cars travel at extremely high speeds.

Wu Shi gained a slight advantage exiting the corner and quickly left the race car in the middle of the road.

When he realized that Verstappen was going to attack from the left, he immediately swerved the car slightly to the left, leaving a very narrow space, although he did not completely block the racetrack.

But who is Verstappen?
He's a tower cannon! There's no gap he's afraid of! There's no gap he can't squeeze through!
Buzzing!
Verstappen drove over the white line without hesitation, sending bits of grass flying up from the left wheel.

Wu Shi then made another move, surprisingly allowing the car to turn, which pushed the car further towards the outside line in the curved corner.

Sizzle! ...

A patch of grass flew up as Verstappen landed on the outer edge of the turf, but he still maintained firm control of the car.

Heh!

Finally, the short, curved route No. 13 reached its end.

Verstappen has finally found his moment; he has transitioned from an outside player to an inside player.

However, Turn 14 is not a traditional turn, but a large "U" turn, and the racing line is not completely fixed.

Wu Shi had sharp eyes and directly bumped into Verstappen's car when the brakes slowed down to 140 Kph, pressing him down as he went through the corner!
Sure enough, even Verstappen was shaken slightly by this wheel-to-wheel collision.

But his heart was far stronger than any other driver's. He instantly adjusted his state, ignored Wu Shi who was right next to him, and calmly took the corner.

"Two race cars are driving side by side on Turn 14! They look like they're connected!"
"But Max is gradually gaining the upper hand. There's only one corner left. Wu Shi's line will become the inside line. Can he hold the line with this move?"

The commentator's excited voice had just stopped when the two of them exited the corner in unison!
As if they were of one mind, Wu Shi and Verstappen did not choose to hug the apex of the corner, but instead rushed to the left side of the track.

"Oh! Is Wu Shi trying to completely knock Verstappen off the track?!"
"No, he didn't. He accelerated first, and his car swayed!"

"Snapped!"

As if greeting Verstappen, Wu Shi's left rear wheel lightly patted Verstappen's right rear wheel.

This is because the torque output after applying the accelerator exceeded the tire's grip, causing the vehicle's rear wheels to slip!

But that was enough; with that slight touch, the advantage of acceleration was in Wu Shi's hands.

Buzzing sound!
Even with the accelerator at full throttle, Wu Shi remained fully focused, because he needed to shift up the gear at just the right moment!
Buzzing!

Swish!

The two cars roared toward the main straight, leaving only a cloud of dust at Turn 15.

Verstappen activated the final DRS.

sieve!
beep!

The spectators in the main grandstand had no idea which car crossed the finish line first.

They felt that Wu Shi exited the bend first and then took the lead by more than half a car length.

But Verstappen quickly made up for it after turning on DRS, so no one knows what the situation is now.

But machines are precise.

Four-thousandths of a second.

"The two cars were separated by only four-thousandths of a second! Verstappen failed at the last minute! Wu Shi actually held on!"

Haoran immediately shouted.

"Calm down, calm down!" Fei Ge quickly said.

"How can we stay calm?! Who thinks Wu Shi can hold out?!" The soldier also started to jeer.

“Don’t forget the cut at Turn 9!” Fei said.

These words immediately silenced the studio and the audience in the Chinese region.

Yes, whether or not a penalty is imposed for cutting through a corner is entirely up to the FIA.

At this moment, Toto took off his headphones and headed to the tournament office. The sports director had just gone there, and he was going there now as well.

The same thing happened at Red Bull; Horner also personally went to the tournament office.

“Massie, listen to me! Wu Shi had the advantage at the time, his car was in the lead, but he was squeezed out by Verstappen!” Toto said to Massie after he went in.

“NO! NO! NO! Wu Shi couldn’t possibly have cornered normally! Even without Max, he would have gone off the track! He had planned to use cornering to his advantage!” Horner continued.

“Shut up! You’re making wild assumptions about why Wu Shi can’t take corners, but why don’t you say that Max is the same?” Toto immediately turned his anger on Horner.

Horner glared at him and shouted, "YEAH! YEAH! How could Max not control the car! If he can't control it, he'll cut into the corner!"

Masi was at her wit's end when she saw the two team leaders about to start arguing.

However, he ultimately adopted Mercedes's suggestion. Yes, it was Mercedes's suggestion, not Toto's.

“FIA: Will not investigate [59] WUS’s behavior at Turn 9 on lap 53.”

"We won the championship!"

Haoran cheered immediately after translating.

"I can finally relax!" the soldier breathed a sigh of relief.

"This match was so exciting! If Wu Shi had been just one meter taller, he would have lost," Fei Ge remarked.

"Yes, Wu Shi and Verstappen will definitely fight to the death this year, and there will be many more such scenes in the future."

The soldier was beaming with excitement. Being able to watch such a match was exciting enough, let alone the fact that Wu Shi ultimately won.

On the track, Wu Shi rested his hands on the steering wheel, looking somewhat exhausted.

He exhausted himself during the long 33 laps in an effort to protect the condition of his tires.

After 33 laps, the tires were still a part of his mind, as if the white tires were completely imprinted in his brain.

After the race car circled the track once and returned to the pit area, stopping at position number 1, Wu Shi got off the car.

Looking back, I saw that the tire tread was severely grainy, and there were even some signs of tearing.

This is the damage from the last lap.

Because he was afraid of getting a flat tire, he came back very slowly and was the last to park his car here.

He walked over to the crew and hugged them.

People patted his body and helmet; the crew was extremely excited.

Wu Shi, however, only felt exhausted. He rallied his spirits and said to everyone, "We are the champions!"

"Yeah! We are the champions!"

The engineers and mechanics shouted.

Wu Shi raised his right hand high, pointing his index finger upwards.

After a reporter captured this scene, it quickly became the cover of the French Grand Prix coverage.

"Another miracle! Wu Shi wins the French Grand Prix!"

This is what all media professionals are thinking right now.

Wu Shi went to the lounge and gulped down a whole bottle of water.

Verstappen stood to one side, watching the final lap on the screen.

“You didn’t punish him,” Verstappen said.

"I'll do my thing, and leave the rest to them," Wu Shi said with a helpless smile.

"Yes, but I still want to give them a good scolding after the game."

Verstappen couldn't smile and felt very tired.

Hamilton, who won the bronze medal, stared at the video footage for a long time without saying a word.

When he was competing against Wu Shi, he only felt that there was a difference in vehicle configuration.

But when the two faced the same opponent, he realized that there was a real difference in their abilities.

The three watched silently as the final lap of the battle was played on repeat.

"Let's go, it's time to go up to the podium."

Hamilton was the first to come to his senses and patted Wu Shi on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)